Indian gang-rape victim cremated

India has been engulfed by an outpouring of grief as the body of a gang-rape victim arrived home. Source: AAP

THE victim of a gang-rape which triggered an outpouring of grief and anger across India has been cremated at a private ceremony in New Delhi as it emerged she was planning to get married in February.

The unidentified 23-year-old, the focus of nationwide protests since she was brutally attacked on a bus in New Delhi two weeks ago, died on Saturday of her injuries in a Singapore hospital where she had been airlifted for treatment.

She was cremated on Sunday away from the public glare only hours after her body was repatriated.

The funeral pyre was lit after traumatised relatives and friends said their final prayers at a ceremony in southwestern Delhi, according to mourners who revealed she had been due to wed her boyfriend, who was injured in the same attack.

"They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi" for February, said Meena Rai, a close friend and neighbour.

"I really loved this girl," she said. "She was the brightest of all."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress Party, were at Delhi airport to console the victim's parents as they arrived home on a chartered plane with their daughter's body at 4.00am (0930 AEDT) on Sunday.

The victim's death has prompted government promises of better protection for women and deep soul-searching in a nation where gang-rapes are a daily occurrence and sexual harassment is routinely dismissed as "Eve-teasing".

Waves of protests have erupted across India since the attack on the night of December 16 when the woman was not only repeatedly raped but also sexually assaulted with an iron bar, leaving her with terrible intestinal injuries.

Thousands took part in late-night candlelit vigils on Saturday after Singh led appeals for calm to prevent a repeat of the sometimes violent protests.

As police said the six accused of murdering the unnamed woman could face the death penalty, there was a widespread determination that the killing would serve as a tipping point for how the nation deals with violence against women.

"We are aware that this is not the first case, nor will it be the last case of gang-rape in India, but it is clear that we will not tolerate sex crimes any more," said Bela Rana, a lawyer who joined a rally in central Delhi.

The city has been dubbed the "rape capital" of India. A report in Sunday's Hindustan Times said more than 20 women had been raped there since December 16.

According to police and prosecutors, the murder victim's ordeal began when six men lured her and her male companion onto a bus that they thought would take them home.

Instead a group of joyriders, who had been drinking heavily, launched a savage attack lasting some 40 minutes that only ended when the victims were thrown off the bus.

The attack has prompted intense debate among Indians who had grown almost inured to an epidemic of violence against women.

Gang-rapes are so common that they rarely get a mention in the newspapers. Victims are often deterred even from reporting them for fear of shaming their families or receiving a brush-off from police.

The Times of India said in an editorial on Sunday that two key questions must be addressed in the aftermath of the incident: "What exactly will the government do now to make the country a safer and better place for all women? And what will all of us do to tackle deeply entrenched prejudice and misogyny in our society?"

The government has already promised to bring in tougher sentences for the most extreme sex crimes and speed up a notoriously slow justice system.

A statement issued by United Nations spokesman Martin Nesirky said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "offers his sincerest condolences" to the victim's family and "utterly condemns this brutal crime".

"Violence against women must never be accepted, never excused, never tolerated," the statement said. "Every girl and woman has the right to be respected, valued and protected."

Ban urged the Indian government to take steps to deter such crimes and bring perpetrators to justice, and to "strengthen critical services for rape victims", the statement said.

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19 Shi'ites killed in Pakistan bus blast

A CAR bomb attack on buses carrying Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims to Iran has killed 19 people and wounded 25 in Pakistan's insurgency-hit southwest, officials say.

The remotely-triggered bomb hit a convoy of three buses in Mastung district on Sunday and set one of them ablaze, said Tufail Baluch, a senior government official in the district.

"At least 19 people have been killed and 25 injured. All of them were Shi'ite pilgrims," he told AFP, adding most of those killed were burnt to death.

"The bomb was planted in a car. The condition of some of the injured is critical," Baluch said.

Some 180 Shi'ite pilgrims were on their way to Iran in the buses when the bomb ripped through one of them, said Akbar Hussain Durrani, a senior government official in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

One bus carrying some 45 pilgrims was badly damaged, he said.

Mastung is some 30 kilometres south of Quetta.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The province has become an increasing flashpoint for sectarian violence between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shi'ites, who account for around a fifth of the country's 180 million people.

Baluchistan is also rife with Islamist militancy and with a regional insurgency which began in 2004. The insurgents demand political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's oil and gas resources.

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National road toll rises to 29

THE death of a pedestrian killed after being hit by two separate cars in Tasmania has taken the holiday road toll to 29.

The 21-year-old man was standing on the Tasman Highway when he was struck by a ute at Cambridge, east of Hobart, at about 2.40am (AEDT) on Saturday.

The ute did not stop and shortly afterwards a sedan travelling west on the highway ran over the man, who was injured and lying on the road. The man died at the scene.

In Victoria, a man died following a crash involving two cars at Hoddle Street in East Melbourne.

One car ran into the back of the other vehicle just before 5.20am (AEDT), propelling it into a tree on the footpath.

A male passenger in one of the cars died at the scene.

Meanwhile, a NSW motorcyclist died following a collision with a ute in the state's north.

The man in his 60s was riding his motorbike on the Summerland Way, near Whiporie, when it hit a Mazda ute at about 10.45am (AEDT).

The motorcyclist died at the scene while the driver of the ute was not hurt, police said.

On Friday night, a 38-year-old woman died after a head-on collision near Bundaberg in central Queensland.

Four other people were taken to hospital as a result of the crash.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012, until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Fukushima an 'unprecedented challenge'

THE clean-up at Fukushima after its tsunami-sparked nuclear meltdowns is unlike anything humanity has ever tried, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says.

"The massive work toward decommissioning is an unprecedented challenge in human history," the newly elected Abe said on Saturday during a tour of the plant.

"Success in the decommissioning will lead to the reconstruction of Fukushima and Japan."

Abe was at the crippled Fukushima Dai'ichi facility just days after being sworn in following the triumph of his pro-business Liberal Democratic Party in national elections.

The prime minister's trip to the still-ruined site, on which he was accompanied by an AFP journalist, is part of a push by his administration to tackle an issue that has been a major talking point in Japan over much of the past two years.

Observers widely expect Japan to restart its nuclear program on the LDP's watch, despite public concerns that the party was partially responsible for the extent of the catastrophe because of a culture of complicity during its more than five-decade rule.

His government announced on Thursday that it would review a pledge by the previous administration to scrap nuclear power within three decades and would give the green light to any power plants deemed safe by regulators.

Japan's entire stable of 50 reactors was shuttered for safety inspections in the aftermath of the March 2011 disaster at Fukushima, where a tsunami swamped cooling systems, sparking meltdowns.

The reactors at the plant raged out of control for months after the initial catastrophe, spewing radiation over a wide area and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

Abe's visit comes around a year after experts said they had brought the wrecked units under control. However, melted fuel remains inside their cores and their full decommissioning and cleaning-up is expected to take decades.

Dressed in a protective suit and wearing a face mask, Abe was taken by bus to see two of the damaged reactors.

Thanking workers for their efforts at this time of year, when many people are celebrating New Year at home with their families, he said: "Decommissioning work is hard work, but it is progressing. We owe it all to you.

"We, the government, will give full support."

The disaster at Fukushima was the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. Work to clean up at the site in Ukraine is still going on, more than a quarter of a century after a reactor exploded.

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30 people rescued after WA shark sighting

SURF lifesavers have rescued 30 people stranded on a rock off the Perth coast after reports of a six-metre great white shark lurking in the area.

Surf Life Saving WA said Twilight Beach in Esperance was closed between 11.15am and 12.30pm (WST) on Friday after a helicopter tour group spotted the shark.

It said 30 people were on a rock a short distance from the shore, but rather than ask them to swim back, a boat was sent to pick them up.

"Lifesavers transported 30 people via boat from Twilight Rock to the mainland without incident," Surf Life Saving WA said.

It follows the sighting of several other sharks in the south west region on Friday including three one-metre sharks that were feeding near Margaret River.

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India gang-rape victim has brain injury

Doctors in Singapore are battling to save the life of the student gang-raped on a bus in India. Source: AAP

AN Indian gang-rape victim is "struggling against the odds" to survive after suffering a heart attack and brain injuries, as medics criticised a decision to fly her to Singapore.

In a bulletin issued the day after her arrival in Singapore, doctors at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital said the 23-year-old was battling an infection in her lungs and remained critically ill after the December 16 assault in Delhi.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital where she was airlifted to from India, said in a statement on Friday.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury," he added.

"A multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilise her condition over the next few days."

On Thursday night, the hospital revealed that the woman, who is a student in Delhi, had undergone "three abdominal surgeries and experienced a cardiac arrest in India" as it gave the first detailed rundown of her condition.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been treated in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital since she was thrown off a bus in the capital after six men took turns to rape her at the back of the vehicle on December 16.

She also suffered severe intestinal injuries as a result of being assaulted with an iron bar, according to police and prosecutors.

The decision to fly her in a special air ambulance was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet on Wednesday, the government having already promised to pay all her medical bills.

But while ministers have insisted that the decision was taken purely on medical grounds, newspapers have suggested that authorities who have struggled to control nationwide protests over the attack were keen to have her transferred out of the country.

An unnamed doctor who was part of a team of experts consulted about the transfer told The Hindu newspaper that they had only been asked whether it was safe to move her rather than if it was the best course of action.

"The question was not whether there were any deficiencies in treatment that would be met by moving her.... She was being given the best possible care."

Samiran Nundy, chairman of the organ transplant and gastro-surgery department of Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told the paper that the transfer made little sense.

"I just can't understand why a critically ill patient with infection in blood and body, high grade fever and on the ventilator is being transferred," he said.

"It will take weeks in this case to even look into the possibility of an intestinal transplant so why hurry and take the patient out from a facility which works so well. It seems more of a political move."

Singh has ordered an official inquiry into the gang-rape and promised new laws to protect women as well as stiffer penalties for the worst sex crimes.

The government announced on Thursday that it would post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to publicly shame them. The campaign will begin in Delhi, which has been dubbed India's "rape capital".

"Our prayers are with the brave young girl. The best possible medical care is being provided to her," the premier told reporters on Friday.

"You have my assurance that our government is committed to bring the guilty to justice as soon as possible."

His comments were echoed by Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main ruling Congress party and India's most powerful politician.

"Our only wish today is that the victim recovers and culprits are punished and no time is lost in bringing perpetrators of such barbarous and heinous crimes to book," she said alongside Singh.

The woman's family has flown to Singapore to keep a vigil at the hospital.

Although they have not spoken to reporters, Singapore's Straits Times newspaper quoted an official who had spoken to her father and two brothers.

"These are simple, rustic people, who have never dreamt of boarding an aircraft, much less travel to a foreign country in an air ambulance," said the source.

"The father said he is reassured that the best is being done for his daughter and the rest lies in the hands of God."

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Coast holiday traffic clears after 35km jam

CONGESTION on the Bruce Highway heading towards the Sunshine Coast has been cleared.

5.22pm: Cars travelling from Murrumba Downs to Beerburrum had been travelling at just 30km an hour with traffic banked up for 35kms.

Kym Cartwright from The Australian Traffic Network said traffic was cleared on the highway about 3pm.

"The Bruce Highway is travelling normally now," she said.

There are no issues on any of the other major highways or motorways.

Pine Rd at Richlands has been reopened after it was closed following an earlier crash.

2.30pm: According to Jayce Barker from ATN, the line of traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast has been extended by around 35km.

All traffic is still moving at a top of 30km an hour.

Traffic has also become heavier on the M1, with delays being experienced from Robina back to West Burleigh.

It is still particularly heavy at Oxenford and Coomera near the theme parks.

Meanwhile, Pine Rd in Richlands has been closed following a two car crash at the intersection of Archerfield Rd.

The crash occurred around 1.30pm and four people were taken to hospital.

Their injuries are unknown at this stage.

1.03pm: Jayce Barker from ATN said cars are continuing to travel at a top of 30km an hour between Narangba and Caboolture but heavy congestion on the M1 and Gateway Motorway merge has been cleared.

Despite this, traffic is still causing problems closer to the Gold Coast, with reports of heavy congestion between Reedy Creek and West Burleigh.

There have also been reports of delays near Dreamworld at Coomera and Warner Bros. Movie World at Oxenford, as well as slow moving traffic through Robina and the Tugun Bypass.

An earlier crash at Browns Plains has cleared and a woman involved in a motorcycle crash at Mt Kilcoy has been airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital suffering from serious head injuries.

11.52am: Earlier, the Pacific Motorway was also experiencing long delays, with traffic snaking back to the Gateway Motorway merge at Eight Mile Plains.

Traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast on the Bruce Highway was moving at 20-30km/h between Narangba and Burpengary.

Jay Lane from the Australian Traffic Network said the congestion was not caused by any traffic crashes, and it appears that everyone is just heading on holiday at the same time.

"Everyone seems to be making the most of the two day space between now and the weekend," he said.

Police have tweeted asking those travelling on both the Bruce Highway and the M1 to have patience and stay calm.

The only delays being caused by crashes are on Browns Plains Rd at Browns Plains and Mt Kilcoy Rd at Mt Kilcoy.

No one was injured in the crash at Browns Plains around 11am this morning, but the left-hand lane heading east was blocked.

Mr Flood said traffic was building back from Ranchwood Ave to the Mt Lindesay Highway.

Meanwhile, a woman crashed her motorcycle around 10.26am this morning on Mt Kilcoy Rd.

The 28-year-old is suffering from serious head injuries and will be flown to hospital.

An emergency services spokesperson said paramedics were with the woman waiting on a helicopter.

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Myki only ticket in Melbourne from weekend

Melbourne's public transport system will only accept the myki smartcard from Saturday. Source: AAP

AFTER Friday, myki will be the only ticket in town.

Melbourne's public transport ticket Metcard will be relegated to the history books to make way for the new $1.35 billion myki smartcard system.

Metcard sales on trams and buses and Metcard use on trains, trams and buses ends on Friday, with myki the only ticket that can be used from the first service on Saturday.

This means commuters will need a myki card before boarding and there will be no top-up facilities on trams.

Cards can be topped up online, at a myki retail outlet or 7-Eleven, at a Premium Station ticket office or at a myki machine, found at all Metro train stations and some tram stops and bus interchanges.

Meanwhile, the Public Transport Users Association has welcomed the reintroduction of paper tickets as an alternative to myki on Mornington Peninsula buses.

The paper ticket will only be available to seniors card holders on routes 787 and 788.

Their introduction comes after it emerged the seniors daily fare covering that region would no longer be available under myki, forcing commuters to pay between $5.42 and $9.02 for a day's travel compared to the current $3.80.

The seniors ticket, which can be bought from the bus driver, is valid for one day's travel on the peninsula and in metropolitan Melbourne.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said the paper seniors ticket is "proof positive" that paper tickets can be made to work alongside myki and that two-hour and daily short-term tickets should be retained.

"Given the system can accommodate this option, it should be made available to occasional travellers, visitors and tourists who neither want nor need to pay $6 for a myki card that won't be used again for months," he said.

Regional centres such as Geelong will receive myki in the first half of next year.

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Coast holiday traffic clears after 35km jam

CONGESTION on the Bruce Highway heading towards the Sunshine Coast has been cleared.

5.22pm: Cars travelling from Murrumba Downs to Beerburrum had been travelling at just 30km an hour with traffic banked up for 35kms.

Kym Cartwright from The Australian Traffic Network said traffic was cleared on the highway about 3pm.

"The Bruce Highway is travelling normally now," she said.

There are no issues on any of the other major highways or motorways.

Pine Rd at Richlands has been reopened after it was closed following an earlier crash.

2.30pm: According to Jayce Barker from ATN, the line of traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast has been extended by around 35km.

All traffic is still moving at a top of 30km an hour.

Traffic has also become heavier on the M1, with delays being experienced from Robina back to West Burleigh.

It is still particularly heavy at Oxenford and Coomera near the theme parks.

Meanwhile, Pine Rd in Richlands has been closed following a two car crash at the intersection of Archerfield Rd.

The crash occurred around 1.30pm and four people were taken to hospital.

Their injuries are unknown at this stage.

1.03pm: Jayce Barker from ATN said cars are continuing to travel at a top of 30km an hour between Narangba and Caboolture but heavy congestion on the M1 and Gateway Motorway merge has been cleared.

Despite this, traffic is still causing problems closer to the Gold Coast, with reports of heavy congestion between Reedy Creek and West Burleigh.

There have also been reports of delays near Dreamworld at Coomera and Warner Bros. Movie World at Oxenford, as well as slow moving traffic through Robina and the Tugun Bypass.

An earlier crash at Browns Plains has cleared and a woman involved in a motorcycle crash at Mt Kilcoy has been airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital suffering from serious head injuries.

11.52am: Earlier, the Pacific Motorway was also experiencing long delays, with traffic snaking back to the Gateway Motorway merge at Eight Mile Plains.

Traffic headed towards the Sunshine Coast on the Bruce Highway was moving at 20-30km/h between Narangba and Burpengary.

Jay Lane from the Australian Traffic Network said the congestion was not caused by any traffic crashes, and it appears that everyone is just heading on holiday at the same time.

"Everyone seems to be making the most of the two day space between now and the weekend," he said.

Police have tweeted asking those travelling on both the Bruce Highway and the M1 to have patience and stay calm.

The only delays being caused by crashes are on Browns Plains Rd at Browns Plains and Mt Kilcoy Rd at Mt Kilcoy.

No one was injured in the crash at Browns Plains around 11am this morning, but the left-hand lane heading east was blocked.

Mr Flood said traffic was building back from Ranchwood Ave to the Mt Lindesay Highway.

Meanwhile, a woman crashed her motorcycle around 10.26am this morning on Mt Kilcoy Rd.

The 28-year-old is suffering from serious head injuries and will be flown to hospital.

An emergency services spokesperson said paramedics were with the woman waiting on a helicopter.

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Myki only ticket in Melbourne from weekend

Melbourne's public transport system will only accept the myki smartcard from Saturday. Source: AAP

AFTER Friday, myki will be the only ticket in town.

Melbourne's public transport ticket Metcard will be relegated to the history books to make way for the new $1.35 billion myki smartcard system.

Metcard sales on trams and buses and Metcard use on trains, trams and buses ends on Friday, with myki the only ticket that can be used from the first service on Saturday.

This means commuters will need a myki card before boarding and there will be no top-up facilities on trams.

Cards can be topped up online, at a myki retail outlet or 7-Eleven, at a Premium Station ticket office or at a myki machine, found at all Metro train stations and some tram stops and bus interchanges.

Meanwhile, the Public Transport Users Association has welcomed the reintroduction of paper tickets as an alternative to myki on Mornington Peninsula buses.

The paper ticket will only be available to seniors card holders on routes 787 and 788.

Their introduction comes after it emerged the seniors daily fare covering that region would no longer be available under myki, forcing commuters to pay between $5.42 and $9.02 for a day's travel compared to the current $3.80.

The seniors ticket, which can be bought from the bus driver, is valid for one day's travel on the peninsula and in metropolitan Melbourne.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said the paper seniors ticket is "proof positive" that paper tickets can be made to work alongside myki and that two-hour and daily short-term tickets should be retained.

"Given the system can accommodate this option, it should be made available to occasional travellers, visitors and tourists who neither want nor need to pay $6 for a myki card that won't be used again for months," he said.

Regional centres such as Geelong will receive myki in the first half of next year.

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Xmas Day storms blamed for 3 deaths in US

TORNADOES across the US south and brutal winds, have knocked down countless trees, blown the roofs off homes and left many Christmas celebrations in the dark.

Holiday travellers in the nation's much colder midsection battled treacherous driving conditions from freezing rain and blizzard conditions from the same fast-moving storms.

As predicted, conditions were volatile throughout the day and into the night with tornado warnings still out for some parts of Alabama. The storms were blamed for three deaths and several injuries, and left homes from Louisiana to Alabama damaged.

In Mobile, Alabama, a tornado or high winds damaged homes, a high school and a church, and knocked down power lines and large tree limbs in an area just west of downtown around nightfall.

Meanwhile, blizzard conditions hit the nation's midsection.

Earlier in the day, winds toppled a tree on to a pickup truck in the Houston area, killing the driver, and a 53-year-old north Louisiana man was killed when a tree fell on his house.

Icy roads already were blamed for a 21-vehicle pile-up in Oklahoma, and the Highway Patrol there says a 28-year-old woman was killed in a crash on a snowy highway near Fairview.

The snowstorm that caused numerous accidents moved out of Oklahoma late on Tuesday, carrying with it blizzard warnings for parts of northeast Arkansas, where 25 centimetres of snow was forecast. Wind gusts of up to 48km/h also caused about 71,000 customers to lose electricity.

Blizzard conditions were possible for parts of Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky with predictions of 10 to 17.5 centimetres of snow.

An apparent tornado caused damage in the west Alabama town of Grove Hill, located about 130km north of Mobile.

Trees fell on a few houses in central Louisiana's Rapides Parish but there were no injuries reported, said sheriff's Lt Tommy Carnline.

Near McNeill, Mississippi, a likely tornado damaged a dozen homes and sent eight people to the hospital, none with life-threatening injuries, said Pearl River County emergency management agency director Danny Manley.

Mississippi governor Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency in the state, saying eight counties have reported damage and some injuries.

At least three tornadoes were reported in Texas, though only one building was damaged, according to the National Weather Service. Tornado watches were in effect across southern Louisiana and Mississippi.

More than 500 flights nationwide were cancelled by the evening, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com. More than half were cancelled into and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport that got a few centimetres of snow.

Christmas lights also were knocked out with more than 100,000 customers without power in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

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Manila fires spark riots

ANGRY residents beat a man to death and threw rocks at firefighters after a shantytown fire left thousands of people homeless and another Christmas Day blaze in the Philippine capital left seven people dead.

A resident was beaten to death by his neighbours after shouting that he started Tuesday's shantytown fire in suburban San Juan city, a senior fire officer said.

The man was reportedly drunk and was not responsible for the fire, which started in a house where children were playing with lighted candles, the officer said.

About 5000 people were left homeless and 13 people were hurt in the shantytown. The injured included two firefighters and a volunteer hit by rocks thrown by residents who were impatient and tried to grab fire hoses to save their own shanties.

As firefighters struggled to penetrate the narrow alleys, one of them was mauled by a mob and rescued by a police officer. Two fire trucks also were damaged in the violence.

"It's Christmas and many of the men in the neighbourhood were drunk," the officer said, adding that some residents brandished knives.

In Quezon City, another of the 16 cities that make up metropolitan Manila, a pre-dawn fire on Tuesday killed a veterinarian and six household members who were trapped inside a house, an arson investigator said.

The blaze was suspected to be triggered by an overloaded electrical circuit, he said.

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US killer ambushes firefighters

A US ex-convict set a house and car ablaze, and shot dead two firefighters before killing himself. Source: AAP

A FORMER convict set a house and car ablaze in his lakeside New York state neighbourhood to lure firefighters, then began shooting at them, killing two.

He then engaged police in a Christmas Eve shootout before killing himself.

Several homes were damaged by fire while police used an armoured vehicle to evacuate the area.

Police could not establish a motive and said the killer's sister was unaccounted for.

Police said the gunman, 62-year-old William Spengler, shot at the arriving firefighters, probably with a rifle.

"It does appear it was a trap," town police chief Gerald Pickering told a news conference.

"These people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires. They don't expect to be shot and killed."

Spengler had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death in 1980 at the house next to where Monday's attack happened, Pickering said.

Spengler was granted parole in 1998 and had led a quiet life since, authorities said. He lived with his 67-year-old sister, Cheryl Spengler, and mother, Arline, who died in October.

Police said he was not allowed to own weapons.

A friend said Spengler didn't seem violent but "couldn't stand" the sister who lived with him. Roger Vercruysse said Spengler "loved his mama to death".

He said he believed Spengler "went crazy" after she died in October.

Two firefighters died at the scene on Monday and two were taken to hospital. A fifth man who was passing by was also injured.

Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. After the gunman fired, one of the wounded men managed to flee, but the other three couldn't because of flying bullets.

Pickering said seven houses were destroyed and police have not been able to get inside to determine if there are any more victims.

The incident happened in a neighbourhood which is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet at this time of year.

"We have very few calls for service in that location," Pickering said.

"Webster is a tremendous community. We are a safe community, and to have a tragedy befall us like this is just horrendous."

The incident came after other shootings, including the massacre of 20 students and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Grieving firefighters declined to talk to reporters. At an impromptu memorial vigil on Monday evening, about 100 people stood in the cold night air, some holding candles.

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Myanmar plane crash kills child, rider

A PASSENGER jet has crash-landed near an airport in northeastern Myanmar (Burma), killing an 11-year-old passenger and a motorcyclist on the ground.

The W-9011 aircraft with 71 people on board crashed on Tuesday while attempting an emergency landing three kilometres from Heho airport in Shan state, Information Deputy Minister U Ye Htut said.

A government official said a fire was reported in one of the engines as the plane approached the airport. He said the impact of the landing broke up the aircraft "in the middle".

Nine passengers and two crew members were among 11 injured people taken to hospital.

Among the passengers were 51 foreigners whose nationalities were not immediately known

Six crew members and two security men were among those on board.

Heho is an airport serving Kalaw township in the Taunggyi district, 480km northeast of Yangon.

It is the main airport serving Inle Lake, one of Myanmar's top tourist destinations.

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Floods dampen Christmas spirit in UK

The River Wye floods surrounding lowlands near Ross-on-Wye. Picture: AFP PHOTO/Paul Ellis Source: AFP

HUNDREDS of UK homes and businesses have been swamped by floods, from the southern-most parts of Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotland.

Despite a brief respite from the downpours on Sunday, water levels have continued to rise as rain washed down hills to swell rivers.

Others will be swapping turkey and presents for mops, buckets and sandbags as they desperately try to clear up and protect their homes from further flood threats.

Many will be unable to return home, instead spending the festive period with relatives or in temporary accommodation.

The Christmas spirit is somewhat dappened in York. Picture: AP Photo / John Giles

There is little let-up on the immediate horizon.

The Environment Agency still has one severe flood warning - meaning there is "danger to life" - in place for the River Cober at Helston in west Cornwall, where people have been evacuated from their homes.

Up to 30mm of rain is expected to fall between midnight and noon, which is expected to further contribute to the possibility of flooding, the EA said.

Flooding has forced thousands of people to put Christmas preparations on hold across the UK.

The EA currently has 145 flood warnings in place, urging people to take immediate action, across the UK, the majority in the Midlands and the South West, and a further 268 flood alerts.

Scotland has also been badly affected, with floods and high winds battering the east coast over the weekend.

There are currently 23 flood warnings in place across Aberdeenshire, Caithness and Sutherland, Dundee and Angus, Tayside and the Borders, and further outbreaks of rain are expected across the country from lunchtime.

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Cooler change in NSW for Christmas Day

SYDNEYSIDERS can expect to wake up to cooler weather on Christmas Day as a southerly change moves in bringing gusty winds and the chance of showers.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts a maximum temperature of 23 for the city and 24 in the western suburbs.

Forecaster Chris Webb said it would be rather windy along the coastal fringe, easing during the day with a shower of two expected here or there and the possibility of an early morning thunderstorm.

The northeast of NSW can expect some widespread and fairly active thunderstorms in some quarters.

Mr Webb said severe storms could occur in the northern and central tablelands, the north coast and in the northwest slopes and plains district as the southerly change moved through.

The state's southeast including Canberra can expect isolated showers and early morning storms clearing.

The northwest can expect a chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms while in the state's southwest it should be fine.

AAP ld

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