Walmart workers hail their wage protest

WALMART workers have hailed their wage protest, saying their walkout on "Black Friday" had shown the world's largest retailer their determination to fight against all odds.

Hundreds of protesters targeted Walmart stores across the United States on Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, accusing the bargain superstore of ripping off its own employees.

The protests were designed to disrupt the Black Friday shopping frenzy, after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday, when deep discounts pull in waves of customers.

"Today's protests at Walmart stores across the country are a reminder of the enormous power of working people uniting to demand a better future with a living wage, affordable healthcare and respect on the job," said Mary Kay Henry, president of the 2.1 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Her optimism was shared by Colby Harris, a Walmart sales associate who walked off his job in Lancaster, Texas late on Thursday.

"Our voices are being heard," said Harris. "And thousands of people in our cities and towns and all across the country are joining our calls for change at Walmart. We are overwhelmed by the support and proud of what we've achieved so quickly and about where we are headed."

The main force behind the wage protest, the Organisation United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart), said it was pressuring for "decent pay, regular hours, affordable healthcare and respect."

The powerful UAW auto-workers union also came on board, saying that because of Walmart's size, the company "has enormous power to set the trends not just for the retail and service industries, but for the economy as a whole."

Another prominent supporter was Robert Reich, labour secretary under president Bill Clinton, who saw the debate over conditions at Walmart, owned by the multi-billionaire Walton family, as reflecting deeper problems in US society.

"The widening inequality reflected in the gap between the pay of Walmart workers and the returns to Walmart investors, including the Walton family, haunts the American economy," Reich wrote in a post to his blog titled, Why You Shouldn't Shop at Walmart on Friday.

Walmart, which denies there are any widespread complaints, last week filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board to try to block the Black Friday protests.

On Friday, the retail giant downplayed the controversy, saying in a statement that "only 26 protests occurred at stores last night and many of them did not include any Walmart associates."

In addition, Walmart US said it had its "best ever Black Friday events," featuring 1.8 million towels, 1.3 million televisions and 1.3 million dolls sold in the first hours.

About 200 activists outside a huge Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey chanted against what they called the dark side of the biggest US private employer, which has 1.3 million non-unionised workers, or "associates," as they're called. Critics say the average Walmart hourly wage is a meagre $US8.81 ($A8.53), although the company says the figure is closer to $US13. ($A12.58)

"Walmart pushes wages down!" they chanted.

Protesters included unionised workers, street activists from the Occupy movement, a roller-skating woman in a Marie-Antoinette mini-dress, a faux pastor known for his anti-capitalist campaigns, and a lively brass band.

The protesters, however, did not appear to include any employees from the Walmart outlet, where the doors were open to a steady stream of shoppers, many re-emerging with shopping carts piled high.

Jaclyn Kessel, one of the organisers of the demonstration, said Walmart employees "are afraid of getting fired" and she didn't expect any to come.

In Los Angeles, nine protesters were arrested for blocking an intersection in front of a Walmart in Paramount, local media reported. About 400 people gathered for that protest, the LA Daily News said, citing police estimates.

In Secaucus, shoppers had to negotiate an increasingly thick crowd of protesters in the entrance, many of whom were dancing to the brass band, watched by a half dozen patient police officers.

Drivers in several passing cars tooted horns in support, but most paid no attention to the disturbance.

Karen Mendoza, 30, expressed sympathy with the protesters as she went into Walmart with her 55-year-old mother, saying that the kind of low-end jobs the store offers are part of an increasingly unforgiving economy.

"With the economy today it's really, really hard to get a job anywhere," she said. "My mother works at a factory. She's been there for 27 years, and they're getting rid of people all the time."

The roller skating Marie-Antoinette figure, whose name is Marni Halasa, agreed.

"I'm here to support the low-wage worker," she said. "Basically, unless you come from money and have access, there's very little social mobility in America," Halasa, 46, said, before gliding away on her skates.

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Thai protesters urge Thai PM to quit

THAI police have fired tear gas and detained dozens of demonstrators as clashes erupted at the first major street protests against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government.

The violence, while relatively small scale, appeared to mark a new phase in Thailand's long-running political crisis pitting Thai royalists against ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra - Yingluck's brother - and his supporters.

About 17,000 police were deployed for the rally in Bangkok's historic district, which was organised by the royalist group Pitak Siam, a relatively new force in the kingdom's fractured political scene.

"In the name of Pitak Siam and its allies I promise that we will topple this government," the movement's head, retired general Boonlert Kaewprasit, declared from the rally stage.

The demo comes two and a half years after dozens of people died in a military crackdown on "Red Shirt" protests against the previous government in the heart of the capital.

About 20,000 people were estimated to have joined Saturday's rally, according to police, far short of the half a million organisers had hoped would attend.

Tensions flared as police fired several rounds of tear gas at protesters trying to ram through barriers near the main rally site in the Royal Plaza using a truck.

"Tear gas was used in one area because protesters did not comply with the rules," said national police spokesman Major General Piya Uthayo.

About 100 protesters were detained while knives and bullets were confiscated, he said.

Thirty-seven people, including a number of police officers, were treated for cuts and other injuries, officials said.

The authorities called in an extra 5,700 police after the clashes, but said they would allow the rally to go ahead at the Royal Plaza so long as the other protesters gathered peacefully.

Yingluck on Thursday voiced fears the protesters aimed to use violence and to "overthrow an elected government and democratic rule", in a televised address to the nation.

The government invoked the Internal Security Act (ISA) in three districts of the capital to cope with possible unrest, giving the police additional powers to block routes, impose a curfew, ban gatherings and carry out searches.

"We will evaluate the situation daily and if it escalates we are ready to invoke emergency rule," Thai police chief General Adul Sangsingkaew said on national television.

Thailand has been rocked by a series of sometimes violent rival street protests in recent years, although an uneasy calm had returned after national elections in 2011.

Two months of mass opposition protests in 2010 by Red Shirt supporters loyal to Thaksin - who was toppled in a coup in 2006 - sparked a deadly military crackdown that left about 90 people dead and nearly 1,900 wounded.

At their height, those rallies drew about 100,000 people demanding the resignation of the previous government.

Thaksin's sister Yingluck is now prime minister after his political allies won a landslide election victory last year.

Thaksin, who made billions as a telecoms tycoon, is adored by many poor Thais for his populist policies while in power, but reviled by many in elite, military and palace circles who see him as authoritarian and a threat to the monarchy.

The demonstrators at Saturday's rally, who included supporters of the influential "Yellow Shirt" royalist movement, called on Yingluck's government to stand down.

"I can't stand that they disrespect the king. I want the government to quit," said 48-year-old farmer Namsai Jantarat from the northern province of Chiang Mai.

Observers say prosecutions - often targeting people linked to the Red Shirts - for insulting the monarchy have surged since royalist generals overthrew Thaksin following a series of mass protests by the rival Yellows.

The Red Shirts threatened to strike back in the event of a new coup.

"This rally is illegitimate," Red Shirt leader Thida Thavornseth said at a news conference on Saturday. "We will come out in force if there is any sign of a coup or the government loses control."

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Arafat's remains said to be exhumed

The remains of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be exhumed on Tuesday. Source: AAP

THE remains of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be exhumed on Tuesday as part of a renewed investigation into his death, a Palestinian investigator says.

Arafat died in November 2004 in a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill. Palestinian officials claim he was poisoned by Israel, but have not presented evidence. Israel has denied such allegations.

Earlier this year, the detection of a lethal radioactive substance in biological traces on Arafat's clothing sparked a new investigation. Tests were inconclusive, and experts said they need to check his remains to learn more.

On Tuesday, Swiss, French and Russian experts will take samples from Arafat's bones, said Tawfik Tirawi, who heads the Palestinian team investigating the death.

Arafat will be reburied the same day with military honours, but the ceremony will be closed to the public, Tirawi told a news conference.

Earlier this month, workers began prying open the concrete-encased tomb in Arafat's former government headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government in the West Bank, had hesitated before agreeing to exhume the remains, in part because of cultural and religious sensitivities.

Since mid-November, the gravesite has been surrounded with a blue tarpaulin and roads leading to the Arafat mausoleum were closed.

Arafat is still widely revered in the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian officials said they don't want the process observed by media and others.

The new probe into his death began this summer, after a Swiss lab discovered traces of polonium-210, a deadly radioactive isotope, on clothes said to be his.

The clothes were provided by Arafat's widow, Soha, and given to the lab by the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera.

Separately, Mrs Arafat asked the French government to investigate, while the Palestinian Authority called in Russian experts.

Arafat's death has remained a mystery for many.

While the immediate cause of death was a stroke, the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear, leading to persistent conspiracy theories that he had cancer, AIDS or was poisoned.

Many in the Arab world believe Arafat, the face of the Palestinian independence struggle for four decades, was killed by Israel.

Israel, which saw Arafat as an obstacle to peace, vehemently denies the charge.

There is no guarantee the exhumation will solve the mystery.

Polonium-210 is known to rapidly decompose, and experts are divided over whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing.

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Girl shot dead in public urination row

A 17-YEAR-OLD girl has been shot dead by a man, allegedly after objecting to his urinating near her home in New Delhi.

The man also reportedly shot the girl's mother in the incident, in the Nizamuddin area late on Wednesday.

Police began investigating after a complaint was filed the following day and said on Friday they would soon arrest the accused, a former tenant in the building where the family lives.

"The man ... was relieving himself at the staircase leading to the house, when the girl and her mother objected and shouted at him to leave," area police chief Sunil Kumar said.

"An angry argument followed, after which the man left. He returned to the girl's apartment with a pistol sometime later and shot them," Kumar said.

Kumar said the "sudden provocation" resulting from the argument had led to the murder.

Nearly half of India's 1.2 billion people do not have toilets at home and many people urinate or defecate in the open.

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Toxic seafood warning in Sydney bay

A TOXIC algal bloom which potentially poisons a range of seafood has been detected in Sydney's Botany Bay.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries said it had detected a species of algae which produces paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins.

It said it found toxins above safe levels for human consumption in shellfish from Botany Bay during routine monitoring on Friday.

The NSW Food Authority has warned people against eating oysters, mussels, cockles, clams or the gut of rock lobster or abalone taken from the bay or the Georges River.

It's also warning people against eating periwinkles, sea urchins or crabs.

Cooking won't destroy the toxins, it said.

Anyone who experiences symptoms of paralytic shellfish poisoning are being advised to seek medical assistance.

Symptoms include tingling in the mouth, pins and needles, unsteadiness on the feet, weakness of the arms or legs and nausea.

Shellfish bought from commercial seafood outlets were not affected, the Food Authority said.

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One dead, four hurt in highway crash

A TOURIST is dead and as many as four others have serious injuries after a three-car crash northwest of Bundaberg this afternoon.

Police said the accident happened at Granite Creek, near Miriam Vale, about 3pm. The highway is closed and traffic is being diverted.

A Queensland Fire and Rescue spokesman confirmed one person had died in the accident but was unable to confirm their gender.

It is understood three other tourists travelling in the same vehicle were taken to Bundaberg Hospital. The driver of a utility was also taken to hospital.

Two adults and two children in one of the vehicles involved in the crash were uninjured.

Police said two men had been airlifted to Bundaberg, both in a critical condition. A woman was also being taken to Bundaberg with non-life threatening injuries.

Initial reports said a 23-year-old female was unconscious with serious head injuries and was being airlifted to hospital.

A 27-year-old male had head and abdominal injuries and was also being airlifted.

Two other people, a 25-year-old female with multiple cuts and a 19-year-old man with minor wounds, were being taken to Bundaberg Base Hospital.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.

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Son of WA's top cop back in jail

THE son of Western Australia's top cop is back in maximum security prison after failing a drugs test, breaching his parole on a conviction for attempting to manufacture methamphetamine.

A clearly emotional Karl O'Callaghan chose to reveal he had personally delivered his son Russell, 31, back to authorities after the Department of Corrective Services discovered he had lapsed in his drug addiction battle.

The younger O'Callaghan was sentenced to 16 months behind bars last year for attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, following a clandestine drug lab explosion in which he suffered severe burns.

The commissioner's son was released in May and had been living with Mr O'Callaghan since his release.

Mr O'Callaghan said there had been no sign that his son had suffered a relapse until he was contacted on Thursday to say his son had returned to drugs, and having done so must return to prison.

"It was a requirement of his parole that he does not consume at all, and he failed his drug test," Mr O'Callaghan said.

"Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug, and it is not uncommon for people who are methamphetamine addicts to relapse.

"That does not mean to say they have failed their recovery. It means they have hit a stumbling block.

"All we can do is to continue to support him.

"I am his parent, I am his father and we will extend unconditional love while we work through this."

The younger O'Callaghan will now have to front a Prison Review Board hearing to determine how long he spends in prison. He had been released on parole after serving eight months of his 16 month sentence.

He was originally arrested and charged following a clandestine drug lab explosion at a Department of Housing unit at Carlisle, in Perth's south, in 2011 in which he and four others suffered burns.

Two children, aged three and four, escaped injury.

O'Callaghan spent more than two weeks in hospital for treatment to burns to his head, shoulders and arms, and then suffered further through his conviction and eventual jail term.

O'Callaghan had his sentence reduced by six months after he agreed to give evidence against the two other men allegedly involved in the attempted manufacture of the drug.

His father said on Thursday his son's rehabilitation appeared to have been progressing well until he received the call from WA's Corrective Services department.

"I am very disappointed and Russell is very disappointed, and I gave him a hug before he left," Mr O'Callaghan said.

"I picked him up and delivered him into the hands of police.

"This is one of the difficulties of being commissioner and also being a father of someone who has these types of problems. That is my job.

"It was very tough, but I will continue to support him.

"These are tough calls - I have got to behave as commissioner of police, and I have also got to behave as a parent - that is how it is."

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Qld man charged with attempted murders

A MAN who was shot in the shoulder during a wild brawl in far north Queensland will face two counts of attempted murder from his hospital bed.

The 36-year-old was shot on Monday night at a house in Cooktown.

During the fight a 31-year-old woman had her arm slashed and a 51-year-old man suffered lacerations to his hands, shoulder and leg.

The charged man is due to face a bedside court hearing in Cairns Base Hospital on Friday on two attempted murder and a number of other charges.

Police are still investigating the incident but say all three knew each other.

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Philippines protests China passport design

THE Philippines has protested China's new passport design, which includes the image of a map of the entire disputed South China Sea.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Thursday said it was unacceptable because it impinges on the sovereignty of the Philippines, which has claims to territories in the South China Sea.

"The Philippines strongly protests the inclusion of the nine-dash lines in the e-passport as such image covers an area that is clearly part of the Philippines' territory and maritime domain," he said, quoting a diplomatic protest sent to Beijing.

The so-called nine-dash lines take in about 90 per cent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometre South China Sea on Chinese maps.

The boundary was first officially published on a map by China's government in 1947 and has been included in subsequent maps, forming a key basis for Beijing's claims to the area.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the South China Sea, which straddles key shipping lanes in the region and is believed to be rich in resources.

In December, the Philippines is hosting a four-party meeting with Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei in a bid to resolve the territorial dispute.

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Dan Kelly's pistol sells for $122,000

A PISTOL that belonged to bushranger Dan Kelly, the youngest brother of of Ned, has sold at auction for $122,000 in Melbourne.

The sale of the weapon, an East India Company-issued cavalry pistol, to a private collector on Wednesday was well above the reserve price of $70,000.

Dan Kelly's name had been scratched onto the walnut stock of the pistol with the date 1876.

Auctioneer Charles Leski said the gun had been discovered in 1900 in Rockhampton by gunsmith H P Hansen who had bought a lot of old and rusty firearms.

In a newspaper report of the day, it was reported that Mr Hansen cleaned the dirt, rust and grease off an old pistol which revealed the Kelly name.

The newspaper report went on to say a muzzle-load single-shot pistol, which was found on a Kelly pack-horse at the Glenrowan siege where Dan died, is possibly this gun.

It remained in the Hansen family since then and was being offered for sale by a descendent.

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NSW govt 'gouging' motorist's pockets

THE state government is gouging the pockets of motorists by rolling out more mobile speed cameras, the opposition says.

Opposition roads spokesman Ryan Park said NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has broken a promise not to use mobile speed cameras as revenue-raisers, after the government made record revenues in its first year.

He said in 2011/12, the state government has reaped $3.61 million in revenue from mobile speed cameras, more than double what was brought in the previous year.

"In opposition, Mr O'Farrell said mobile speed cameras were revenue-raisers, but now he is using them to gouge record amounts of money out of the pockets of motorists," Mr Park said in a statement.

Mr Park said those revenues will only increase once 109 new fixed speed cameras and 42 mobile speed cameras are rolled out, along with increased hours mobile speed cameras operate.

"Clearly this is a desperate grab for cash at the expense of motorists."

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UN chief urges 'immediate' halt to rockets

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate halt to rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

"I reiterate my call for an immediate cessation of indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants targeting Israeli populated centres. This is unacceptable," he told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday.

"Now is the time for diplomacy and stopping the violence," he said, a week into deadly Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip from which militants have been firing hundreds of rockets at the Jewish state.

UN ambassadors have announced the Security Council will hold an open debate on the Gaza crisis on Wednesday afternoon if a ceasefire is not called before then.

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DR Congo rebels seize airport: UN official

REBELS in the Democratic Republic of Congo have seized the airport in Goma and are moving toward the centre of the main city in the mineral-rich east of the country, according to the UN and witnesses.

"The airport is under the control of the M23," a United Nations official said on Tuesday on condition of anonymity, referring to the rebel group of former soldiers who mutinied in April, setting off the latest cycle of violence in the chronically unstable area.

A column of rebel fighters was seen heading from the airport toward Goma proper, several kilometres away, according to an AFP photographer.

Loud explosions shook the area and there were reports of looting.

The city of 300,000 is the regional capital and currently is also sheltering tens of thousands of refugees who have fled the clashes.

The international community has raised alarm about the fighting, which has sparked fears of a wider regional conflict in the region.

The UN accuses neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda of backing the rebels, charges both countries deny.

Washington has warned the fighting was "an extremely dangerous and worrying situation" and the EU, Britain and France have also raised alarm.

The latest round of fighting erupted last week after the US and the UN slapped sanctions on the leader of the M23.

The rebels have said they plan to fight the DR Congo government "until it falls", and the United Nations warned they have a real possibility of capturing Goma.

The UN has some 1500 "quick reaction" peacekeepers in Goma, part of some 6700 troops in the Nord Kivu province, backing government forces against the rebels.

Aid agencies have evacuated staff from the city and the UN had planned to remove non-essential personnel on Tuesday.

On Monday, Kinshasa rejected the rebels ultimatum for direct talks within 24 hours, calling it "irrational rantings".

"We prefer to negotiate with Rwanda, the real aggressor," said government spokesman Lambert Mende.

Rwanda late on Monday had accused government troops of deliberately bombing its territory.

The M23 rebels are former soldiers who mutinied in April after the failure of a 2009 peace deal that integrated them into the regular army.

The fighting is the most serious since July, when UN helicopters last went into action against the M23.

The mineral-rich east has long been a powderkeg, the launchpad of rebellions dating back to 1996, with Rwanda and Uganda both playing active or behind-the-scenes roles in much of the warfare.

Two wars that shook the whole of DR Congo between 1996 and 1997 and then again from 1998 to 2002 both began in the Kivu region.

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Israel halts threatened Gaza invasion

ISRAEL has put on hold its threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence.

The move came as UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged both Israel and Gaza militants to halt their fire "immediately" as he held talks in Cairo aimed at securing a deal between the Jewish state and Hamas, the Palestinian territory's Islamist rulers.

And US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to pay a surprise visit to Cairo and Jerusalem to throw Washington's weight behind the ceasefire efforts, US officials said.

A Palestinian source said she was due in Ramallah on Wednesday.

Following the first night in Gaza without Palestinian fatalities since the campaign began on Wednesday last week, Arab League ministers were due to arrive in the war-torn strip for the latest in a string of top-level solidarity visits.

But the overnight lull was broken during the morning by new Israel air strikes on Gaza City and the north, which killed three and raised the overall death toll to 112, the Hamas-run emergency services said.

Israel's move to postpone any decision on a ground operation was taken during a late-night meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his key ministers, the Forum of Nine.

"A decision was taken that for the time being, there is a temporary hold on a ground incursion to give diplomacy a chance to succeed," a senior Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.

"They discussed both the state of the diplomacy and the military operation," he said of talks which are understood to have focused an Egyptian proposal laid out in the Cairo talks between a Hamas team led by Khaled Meshaal and an unnamed Israeli envoy.

Israel is reportedly looking for a 24 to 48-hour truce which would allow the two sides to work out a more permanent arrangement, with Tuesday's ceasefire talks "expected to be decisive", Haaretz newspaper said.

"It's now a 50-50 between a ceasefire and expanding the operation," a senior Israeli official told the paper.

"We would prefer a diplomatic solution but, if we have no choice, we'll go into Gaza. There is no other way."

Hamas is understood to be seeking guarantees Israel will stop its targeted killings, and end the Jewish state's six-year-old blockade on the Gaza Strip.

As diplomatic efforts intensified to end the bloodshed before Israel's relentless bombing campaign escalates into a ground invasion, the UN chief urged both sides to hold their fire, warning any continuation would endanger the whole region.

"All sides must halt fire immediately," Ban said in Cairo after holding talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, who is expected to lead a top-level delegation of Arab foreign ministers on a visit to Gaza during the afternoon.

"Further escalating the situation will put the entire region at risk," he said, warning an Israeli ground offensive "would only result in further tragedy".

The UN secretary general was to arrive in Jerusalem on Tuesday night for talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres, and meet other top Israeli and Palestinian officials on Wednesday.

Inside Gaza, where 112 people have been killed and 920 injured in the aerial bombardment, many families have fled their homes in northern Gaza, which has taken the brunt of the air strikes, to seek safe haven in the south.

Since the violence erupted on November 14 with an Israeli targeted killing of a top Hamas military commander, militants have fired more than 1000 rockets at the Jewish state, killing three people and injuring dozens.

Of that number, 670 have slammed into southern Israel and another 359 were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

The violence comes as Israel heads towards general elections in January, raising the spectre of a broader Israeli military campaign along the lines of its devastating 22-day operation over New Year 2009, when Operation Cast Lead was launched at the end of December 2008.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel was ready to "significantly expand" the operation, and all the signs pointed to preparations for a ground operation, with the army sealing all roads around Gaza and some 40,000 reservists reportedly massed along the border.

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Sydney factory fire contained

A FURNITURE factory blaze in Sydney's inner west has been contained.

Emergency services were called to the fire on Rich Street in Marrickville about 3.30pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman from Ambulance NSW said eight people had been treated for minor smoke inhalation at the scene, with two of those taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital after inhaling the fumes from burning lacquer.

The patients were in a stable condition, but no further details were known, she told AAP.

Superintendent Tom Cooper said the blaze was "well alight" when fire crews arrived and had engulfed the roof, with officers from 10 surrounding stations helping fight the flames.

A Fire and Rescue spokesman said crews would remain at the scene all night in case the blaze reignited.

He said the cause of the fire was unknown and was being investigated.

Roads surrounding the scene have been reopened after their closure caused significant peak hour delays.

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Logging bill 'threat' to foreign relations

A PROPOSED importation ban on products made with illegally logged wood will damage Australia's international relations, parliament has been told.

The Senate is debating a government bill that bans the importation and sale of any products which contain illegally logged timber.

Opposition senator Richard Colbeck said the coalition would not support the plan because the federal government would not make some "sensible modifications."

He said many of Australia's trading partners had expressed concerns.

"We don't want to provide a blunt instrument for rogue environmental groups to attack legitimate businesses," Senator Colbeck told the chamber on Monday.

A bilateral approach would be better, he said.

Greenpeace claims 80 per cent of timber exported from Papua New Guinea was illegally logged, based on the organisation's own definition, Senator Colbeck said.

"If a government says to us something is legal than who are we to say that it is not," he said.

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne spoke in support of the bill.

Senator Milne pointed to the impact illegal logging had in causing floods and landslides in the Philippines last year. Up to 1000 people were killed.

Every two seconds, an area of forest the size of a football field was illegally cleared, according to a World Bank report, she said.

People buying outdoor wooden furniture had no idea whether imported timber products had come from illegally-logged forests because there was no certification.

The Greens will move amendments to strengthen the bill.

Debate on the Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill 2012 continues.

Liberal senator Ian Macdonald said Australia once had a sustainable forest sector but the Greens had slowly destroyed what was a major industry.

"This bill wouldn't be needed if Australia had continued its vibrant, sustainable native forest industry," he told the chamber.

Australians and local companies imported illegally-logged wood from the Asia-Pacific whereas previously the nation had exported timber.

"Thanks Greens party, you have contributed to the raping and pillaging of some very special tropical timbers in countries in South-East Asia and in the Pacific," Senator Macdonald said.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said the bill was far from perfect but made a "genuine effort" to tackle illegal logging, so he'd support it.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Joe Ludwig implored the coalition not to try and delay efforts to crack down on the illegal timber trade.

Contrary to opposition claims, Australia's timber industry would have ample time to prepare for the regulatory changes as they'd only come into effect two years after the bill becomes law.

"(This) gives businesses sufficient time to establish and implement their due diligence systems and processes," he said.

The bill would assist Australia's domestic producers by removing the unfair competition posed by illegally logged timber.

Senator Milne moved an amendment calling for sustainable, not just legal, timber products to be guaranteed under the terms of the bill, but it wasn't supported by the government or the coalition.

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Hong Kong stocks close higher

HONG Kong shares have closed up 0.49 per cent following a positive lead from Wall Street on hopes US politicians will be able to avert a looming fiscal crisis.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 103.35 points to end at 21,262.36 on turnover of HK$46.24 billion ($A5.78 billion) on Monday.

Chinese shares ended up 0.11 per cent, or 2.25 points, at 2,016.98 on turnover of 36.1 billion yuan ($A5.63 billion), after briefly dipping below a key support level to a nearly four-year low on worries over the domestic economy.

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SE Asian nations disagree over China

SOUTHEAST Asian leaders have disagreed over how to handle territorial disputes with China, overshadowing talks at a regional summit meant to strengthen trade and political ties.

The leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations had hoped to present a united front on the South China Sea row to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at annual talks.

But that effort broke down on Monday just before Southeast Asian leaders were scheduled to meet Wen, amid divisions between Chinese ally Cambodia and the Philippines.

Cambodia, this year's ASEAN chair, said on Sunday that Southeast Asian leaders had agreed not to "internationalise" the disputes and would confine negotiations to those between the bloc and China.

The apparent deal would have been a victory for China, which has long insisted that it should only negotiate directly with rival countries and that the Philippines should not seek support from the United States.

However Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Monday publicly rebuked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, telling his fellow leaders no such consensus had been reached and he would continue to speak out on the global stage.

"The Philippines ... has the inherent right to defend its national interests when deemed necessary," Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters, quoting Aquino's comments to his fellow leaders on Monday morning.

The feud echoed unprecedented infighting at an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh in July, which ended for the first time in the bloc's 45-year history without a joint communique.

The Philippines and Vietnam had wanted the communique to make specific reference to their disputes with China. But Cambodia, the hosts of the talks and a close China ally, blocked the moves.

ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan, have claims to parts of the sea, which is home to some of the world's most important shipping lanes and believed to be rich in fossil fuels.

But China insists it has sovereign rights to virtually all of the sea.

Tensions have risen steadily over the past two years, with the Philippines and Vietnam accusing China of increasingly aggressive diplomatic tactics to stake its claims.

Temperatures could rise again later on Monday when US President Barack Obama arrives in Phnom Penh to join the East Asia Summit, a two-day event also involving the leaders of Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand and Australia.

Obama has previously angered China, and emboldened the Philippines, by calling for the rival claimants to agree on a legally binding code of conduct to govern their actions over the sea.

Analysts said he would likely repeat that call in Phnom Penh, as well as make comments highlighting the importance of freedom of navigation in the sea.

ASEAN officials had said they would push Wen during their talks on Monday to quickly start high-level, formal negotiations on a code of conduct.

But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang insisted that China wanted to continue with the current arrangement of lower-level talks on the issue. "We already have good discussions with ASEAN," Qin said.

Even with the South China Sea row festering, countries involved in the East Asia Summit were expected to focus on ways to expand economic ties.

ASEAN nations are set to officially launch negotiations on Tuesday for an enormous free trade pact with China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

And despite their own territorial rows, China, Japan and South Korea are likely to hold talks in Phnom Penh on Tuesday aimed at kickstarting three-way free trade negotiations, according to Qin.

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Softball-sized hailstones hit Brisbane

HAILSTONES the size of a softballs rained down on Brisbane's south and southwest suburbs during the height of the thunderstorm that swept through the city on Sunday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said there were reports of hailstones 9cm in diameter falling during what it described as a "dangerous thunderstorm", which shut down Brisbane Airport for a short period.

Forecaster David Grant said hailstones 4-6cm in diameter also had been reported in the west and inner west of the CBD.

It was the second consecutive day for Queensland's southeast being battered by ferocious storms.

Power company Energex said the storms had knocked out electricity to more than 100,000 homes and businesses over the weekend.

More than 18,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Sunday when almost 25,000 lightning strikes were recorded, with many hitting the electricity network.

Many of the lightning strikes occurred when a storm raced through the Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast council areas early in the afternoon and in a separate storm hitting the Logan, Brisbane and Moreton Bay council areas.

Energex asked southeast Queenslanders to remain patient while crews worked to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.

Qantas cancelled three out of four flights to Sydney on Sunday, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

They advised Brisbane-based passengers to return home while they promised to find hotel rooms for about 300 other passengers who would not be flying out.

One passenger told AAP the storms that swept through were very fierce, causing the airport to shut down operations for at least 30 minutes.

Virgin had to divert three flights flying into Brisbane on Sunday with two going to Rockhampton and the other to Coolangatta, where passengers were put on buses.

It also cancelled five flights out of Brisbane where the planes would not have been able to reach their destination city - such as Sydney and Adelaide - before curfews took effect.

Emergency Management Queensland advised people to move their cars under cover and away from trees, not to attempt to drive, walk or ride through flood waters and avoid using the phone during a thunderstorm.

The Department of Community Safety told AAP at least 160 calls had been received on Sunday, to help with minor flooding, leaking roofs and tarping.

At about 7pm (AEST) fans at Brisbane's Harvest music festival had to be evacuated because of the hail, with music lovers taking to Facebook to express their disappointment.

International acts such as Santigold, Grizzly Bear and Sigur Ros were due to take the stage at the festival, which was held at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens.

"We just got evacuated from Harvest Festival... All the good bands were about to start", said Brooke Baldock of the Gold Coast.

Amy Chambers, who lives in the inner-city suburb of Dutton Park, said Sunday night's storm was sudden and violent.

"There are a lot of trees and tree limbs down," she said.

"The rain was coming down horizontal and there was hail about the size of a dollar coin. I've heard it was much bigger in other parts."

Ms Chambers said the wind blew so hard it forced her front door open.

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Traffic accident sparks riot in China

THOUSANDS of people have gone on the rampage in a southeastern Chinese city after a traffic accident, smashing police cars and overturning three police vans.

One resident said people became angry because police and paramedics took nearly an hour to arrive after the accident. A Hong Kong-based human rights group said it was to do with corruption.

Residents said police were stopping cars and checking people for drink driving when the accident happened on a main road in Fuan.

The accident happened when a car sped away from the check point, smashing into three motorcycles and injuring five people.

Onlookers became angry because police officers and paramedics took nearly one hour to arrive, said a witness, who estimated 1000 to 2000 people clashed with police and overturned three police vans.

Photos carried by online southeastern news sites show hundreds of people swarming across a wide street with two vans thrown onto their sides. In one photo, three people are standing on top of an overturned van.

The official Fuan police microblog said on Sunday a sedan had collided with a car and three motorcycles, leaving five people injured.

"The accident made a small number of local people dissatisfied," said the statement.

Later on Sunday, the propaganda department of Fuan's Communist Party put out a statement countering accusations police and paramedics had been slow to respond.

It said police had immediately called paramedics and traffic police and a patrol car drove to a hospital to pick up three doctors. The five injured were taken to hospital 40 minutes after the accident happened, it said.

"As the rescue work was going on, some relatives of the injured people and onlookers got out of control," said the statement. "They started to push and shove the doctors and knock the ambulance and so the ambulance left the scene under police escort."

It said "a handful of lawless people misled some people who didn't know the truth" and they began targeting police vehicles.

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Curti's death 'worse than a nightmare'

THE sister of Roberto Laudisio Curti has described her brother's death as "worse than a true nightmare".

Ana Laudisio has spoken of the "brutality" of her brother's last moments before he died in Sydney's CBD after being tasered by police officers 14 times on March 18.

Roberto, a Brazilian student, was staying with Ms Laudisio, who lives in Sydney.

Ms Laudisio said she received a strange phone call from Roberto about 4.30am on the day he died.

At the time she did not realise her 21-year-old brother had taken the hallucinogen LSD, and said Roberto was not a regular drug user.

She said after the call she sent her brother a series of text messages, telling him she loved him and it would "all be ok". Later that day she found out Roberto was dead.

"The hardest moments are unpredictable when they come and the pain they bring," Ms Laudisio told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes program on Sunday.

"I've been through a lot in my life, but honestly this is the most painful thing."

Ms Laudisio said she and her sister had raised their brother after their parents died when Roberto was aged 10.

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