Convicted Russian spy Danilov released

A RUSSIAN physicist convicted of spying for China has been released on parole and is continuing to protest his innocence.

Valentin Danilov was arrested in 2001 on charges of passing classified information on space technology to China. He claimed the information was already publicly available.

He was acquitted in a 2003 trial, but retried the next year and convicted and sentenced to 14 years.

After his release on Saturday, Danilov told a news conference in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk that he would pursue his case with the European Court of Human Rights.

Before his arrest, Danilov was a professor at Krasnoyarsk Technical University.

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French police fire tear gas on protest

NOTRE-DAME-DES-LANDES, France, Nov 24 AFP - French police have fired tear gas for a second day running as they seek to evict protesting squatters from protected swampland where Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault wants to build a new airport.

Clashes between police and protesters resumed at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, outside the western city of Nantes, as officers fired tear gas and squatters threw stones and glass bottles at them in return.

The squatters had called for a new rally against the airport for Saturday and were expecting to draw thousands of people to the protest.

The crackdown at the 1,650-hectare site began on Friday, when police detained three people amid clashes that wounded two officers, a demonstrator and two television journalists as angry protesters hurled petrol bombs, bottles, stones and firecrackers at police.

Officials said two of those detained were later released.

On Saturday, some 40 police trucks were parked in four columns in the middle of the proposed airport site, where about 500 squatters have set up camp.

Police were clearing the road to the area after protesters blocked it to barricade an impromptu village they set up on November 17 during an initial rally.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls took a tough tone on Friday, saying: "It is out of the question to let a cyst grow" and vowing to do "all we can to ensure the law is respected and construction can start".

The airport north of Nantes, which is scheduled to replace the city's current airport in 2017, is a pet project of Socialist Prime Minister Ayrault, who was the city's mayor from 1989 until this year.

It has been opposed by the Greens and various politicians on environmental grounds, and eco-warrior protesters have set up numerous camps around the area.

The movement has pitted the Socialist government against its environmentalist allies, who have called for President Francois Hollande to name a team of mediators to hold talks on the standoff.

The 580-million-euro ($A722.9 million) project was approved in 2008, with construction expected to start in 2014.

The airport is set to have an initial annual capacity of four million passengers, and supporters say it will provide a major boost to tourism in western France.

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Tough penalties to cut Russia road deaths

RUSSIA will introduce tough punishments for drunk driving of up to 15 years in prison and $US16,000 ($A15,500) in fines to combat the "horrific" annual death toll on its roads, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says.

Medvedev said about 28,000 people lost their lives in road accidents last year in Russia - one of the highest tolls in the world - even though the fatality rate had been falling in recent years.

"The road tragedy statistics are still horrific. None of us are without blame and we have to start with ourselves," Medvedev said in a video blog posted on the government website.

The video - viewable at blog.da-medvedev.ru - begins with Medvedev sweeping around the driveway of his residence at the wheel of a black jeep, conspicuously wearing a safety belt.

He said the government would put forward legislation that would introduce a minimum punishment of five years in jail and a maximum of 15 years for causing death while drunk at the wheel.

Drunk drivers who are found speeding or jumping red lights will face massive fines of 500,000 rubles ($A15,500) in Moscow and Saint Petersburg and 250,000 rubles in other regions.

Medvedev's video blog - his favoured form of floating new ideas - appears to be a response to a string of highly publicised accidents that have made the public more aware of road safety problems in Russia.

Prominent Russian actress Marina Golub was killed in a traffic accident in October while travelling in a taxi hit by a speeding car.

And in one particularly horrific incident in Moscow in September, a drunk driver rammed a bus stop at high speed and killed seven people including five orphans from a children's home.

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Catalan leader seeks 'freedom' in election

THE leader of Spain's Catalonia region has rallied crowds cheering for independence to fight for "freedom" in snap elections he has cast as a vote for nationhood.

Artur Mas, president of the northeastern region, is openly defying a furious Madrid by promising a referendum on sovereignty for Catalonia if Sunday's vote gives him a mandate.

"We are not vassals of the state," he told thousands of people chanting "independence" in a Barcelona stadium on Friday, wrapping up a bitterly fought campaign before a day of pre-vote reflection on Saturday.

Mas urged supporters to be "builders of freedom".

"Catalonia is one of the oldest nations of Europe and all through history we have had to fight against very high obstacles, very strong setbacks," he said, slipping into English to reach a foreign audience.

"We have fought against armies, we have fought against dictatorships, we have overcome setbacks and now we are alive, our culture is alive, our language is alive, our nation is alive."

Catalonia is fiercely proud of its language and culture, which were suppressed by General Francisco Franco until the dictator's death in 1975, but returned to life under Spanish democracy.

The region has been welded to Spain since the nation's symbolic birth when Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon, which included Catalonia, married in 1469.

In a forest of banners, Catalan and European flags at the stadium where Mas brought his campaign to a close, some placards called for Mas as president of a new Catalan nation.

"I'm for independence," said one supporter, 20-year-old student Anna Roses.

"Artur Mas does not say the word because Madrid is putting on the pressure, but it's the only solution."

As Spain struggles in a recession, with one in four workers unemployed, many Catalans are straining against Madrid, which they blame for spending cuts and their troubled finances.

Mas accuses Madrid of raising far more in Catalan taxes than it returns and estimates the gap, or fiscal deficit, at 16 billion euros ($A20.3 billion) a year, a figure Madrid disputes.

Emboldened by huge protests in Barcelona demanding independence on Catalonia's national day, September 11, Mas demanded greater taxing powers from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

When he did not get the concessions he was seeking, he called the snap election.

Rajoy's right-leaning government is determined to thwart any referendum, however, saying it flies in the face of common sense and vowing to wield the Spanish constitution if necessary.

The prime minister condemned Mas's decision to call regional elections two years early, saying it was wasting precious time needed to salvage the economy and "creating a great division".

Speaking in Brussels after a European Union summit on Friday, the Spanish leader said he hoped for a return to "common sense" after the election. "In the end, I don't know what all this has all been for," he said.

Latest polls show Mas's nationalist alliance, the conservative Convergence and Union, heading for a win in Sunday's vote but falling short of the absolute majority he is seeking.

Surveys a week before the vote showed Mas's party taking 60 to 64 of the 135 seats in parliament, not far from the 62 it now holds, with Rajoy's Popular Party and the opposition Socialists fighting for second place.

Nevertheless, pro-referendum parties are widely expected to enjoy a large majority in the new parliament.

Catalonia accounts for more than one-fifth of Spain's total economic output, a quarter of its exports, as well as boasting one of the world's greatest football teams, FC Barcelona.

But the region also has a 44-billion-euro debt, equal to one-fifth of its output, and was forced to go cap in hand to Madrid this year for more than five billion euros to help make the payments.

On the eve of the vote, some Spanish newspapers decried the dirty nature of the campaign.

Mas flatly denied as "libel and slander" allegations published in conservative daily El Mundo from a supposed draft police report saying he had a Swiss bank account beyond the reach of the taxman.

El Pais condemned Rajoy's government for leaving the allegations ambiguous in the public's mind by failing to clearly deny or clarify the nature of the accusations.

"You can't throw the stone and then hide your hand," the paper said in an editorial headlined "Playing dirty".

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One dead in Qld highway crash

ONE person has died and three others have been taken to hospital after a three-vehicle crash south of Gladstone.

Queensland police said the three vehicles collided at 3pm (AEST) on Friday on the Bruce Highway, near Miriam Vale.

One person died at the scene.

Two men understood to have been travelling in another vehicle have been airlifted to Bundaberg hospital in critical conditions.

One of them, a 27-year-old, suffered serious head and abdominal injuries.

Another woman has also been taken to the hospital by road ambulance with non-life threatening injuries.

Two children and two adults who were in another car were not injured.

Police have blocked off traffic in both directions of the Bruce Highway.

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Xmas shopping creeps into Thanksgiving

FORGET the traditional Thanksgiving holiday dinner. Many in the US are choosing to get an even earlier jump on Christmas shopping, even if it means sleeping on the footpath outside stores.

The early morning shopping chaos that has become a day-after-Thanksgiving tradition has crept back this year to eat into Thanksgiving Day itself.

What was known as Black Friday - the day when stores traditionally turn a profit for the year - started on Thursday evening in many places.

When Macy's opened its doors in New York City at midnight, 11,000 shoppers showed up.

Target opened its doors at 9pm on Thursday, three hours earlier than last year. Sears, which didn't open on Thanksgiving last year, opened at 8pm.

About 17 per cent of shoppers said earlier this month they planned to shop at stores that opened on Thanksgiving, according to an International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs survey of 1000 consumers.

Overall, it's estimated that sales on Black Friday will be up 3.8 per cent to $US11.4 billion ($A11.03 billion) this year.

Michael Prothero, 19, and Kenny Fullenlove, 20, missed Thanksgiving dinner altogether. They started camping out on Monday night outside a Best Buy store in Ohio, which was scheduled to open at midnight.

"Better safe than sorry," Prothero said.

Americans have grown more comfortable shopping online, which has put pressure on stores, which can make up to 40 per cent of their annual revenue during the two-month holiday shopping season, to compete.

That's becoming more difficult. The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, estimates overall sales in November and December will rise 4.1 per cent this year to $US586.1 billion, or about flat with last year's growth.

But the online part of that is expected to rise 15 per cent to $US68.4 billion, according to Forrester Research.

"Every retailer wants to beat everyone else," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, a research firm.

"Shoppers love it."

Indeed, there were 11 shoppers in a four-tent encampment outside one Best Buy store in Michigan. A $US179 Toshiba LCD television was worth missing Thanksgiving dinner at home.

"We'll miss the actual being there with family, but we'll have the rest of the weekend for that," said Jackie Berg, 26, who arrived on Wednesday afternoon.

Some workers were expected to protest the Thanksgiving hours.

A New York City-based, union-backed group of retail workers called Retail Action Project planned protests in front of several stores, including AnnTaylor, Forever 21 and others that were opening at midnight on Black Friday and earlier.

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First Palestinian killed since truce

A PALESTINIAN has been shot dead by Israeli forces near the Gaza border, the first casualty since the two sides agreed to a truce ending their week-long conflict.

An Israeli army spokeswoman could not confirm the incident, saying only that "disturbances" had broken out on the Palestinian side of the Gaza border early on Friday, prompting Israeli soldiers to fire warning shots.

The Palestinian emergency service identified the dead man as Abdelhadi Qdeih Anwar, 21.

They said he was killed in the southern Gaza Strip village of Khuzaa. Seven other Palestinians suffered gunshot wounds.

"The occupation forces opened fire on a group of farmers," Gaza emergency service spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya said.

There was no immediate reaction from the Gaza Strip's Hamas leadership, which has previously urged Palestinians to respect the ceasefire terms.

Eight days of Gaza violence that ended with a truce agreement announced late on Wednesday claimed the lives of 163 Palestinians and six Israelis.

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Damascus bomb kills four

A BOMB blast in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus has killed four people and seriously wounded a member of a faction backing Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The explosion late on Thursday in the Yarmouk camp targeted the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.

Four people died and a PFLP-GC activist was seriously wounded when the bomb planted under his car went off, the group said. It blamed the rebel Free Syrian Army for the attack.

Yarmouk has been pulled into Syria's fighting before, most recently earlier this month when clashes in and around the camp killed and wounded dozens.

The refugee camp is also close to two southern neighbourhoods of the capital - Tadamon and Hajar Aswad - that have seen weeks-long clashes between rebels and government troops.

Regime forces shelled the two neighbourhoods on Friday and also raided the central Damascus neighbourhood of Bab Sreijeh, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Activists said several people were arrested.

In other violence around the country, Islamic extremists, including members of the al-Qaeda inspired Jabhat al-Nusra group, battled on Friday with pro-government Kurdish gunmen in the northern town of Ras al-Ayan, near the border with Turkey.

The Islamist militants entered the town earlier this month and have since clashed almost daily with the Kurdish gunmen.

The Islamic militants and the Kurdish factions have also added to the complexity of Syria's conflict.

When government forces withdrew from Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria in July, they were quickly replaced by Kurdish fighters from the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD.

The Kurds would battle the rebels when they attacked predominantly Kurdish areas in Syria. The Kurdish group is affiliated with the PKK, rebels fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast region of Turkey. For its part, Ankara has sheltered and backed Syria's opposition.

As for the Islamic militants, they are fighting on the side of the rebels and have played a bigger role in the Syrian conflict in recent months, with many openly saying they want to set up an Islamic state. The opposition is split, with some groups strongly opposed to extremism.

Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with an uprising against Assad's regime, inspired by other Arab Spring revolts, but quickly morphed into a civil war that has since killed more than 40,000 people, according to activists.

When the unrest began, the country's half-million Palestinians struggled to stay on the sidelines. But in recent months, many have started supporting the uprising although they insisted the opposition to the regime should be peaceful.

Earlier this month, the FPLP-GC clashed with anti-government Palestinian gunmen in Yarmouk.

The Observatory reported that the body of Syrian novelist Mohammed Rashid Roweily was found late on Thursday in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, nearly two months after he was kidnapped.

State-TV said Roweily was "liquidated by terrorists".

Ruwiely, 65, was once the representative of Arab Writers' Union in Deir el-Zour and had written several novels. The Observatory said his decomposed body was found along with four other bodies, including that of a retired army officer. All were kidnapped around the same time.

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Obama hails all Americans on Thanksgiving

US President Barack Obama pardoned a pair of turkeys to mark the start of Thanksgiving festivities. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has wished Americans a happy Thanksgiving and urged the nation to move forward as one while remembering people in need of help.

With families across the country set to enjoy the traditional turkey dinners that mark Thursday's annual public holiday - first celebrated by pilgrims who fled religious persecution in England - Obama said not everyone was so fortunate.

"As we prepare to gather around our dinner tables, there are families in the northeast who don't have that luxury," he said, referring to tens of thousands of citizens in New York and New Jersey reeling from superstorm Sandy.

"Many of them have lost everything ... homes, possessions, even loved ones.

"And it will be a long time before life goes back to normal," he said of Sandy, which crashed into the US last month, killing 43 people in New York City alone, causing widespread damage and leaving thousands without power.

In his weekly message, brought forward by 48 hours on account of the holiday season, Obama also sought a semblance of political unity after a rancorous and bitterly divisive election campaign that saw him win a second White House term.

"Thanksgiving is a chance to put it all in perspective - to remember that, despite our differences, we are and always will be Americans first and foremost," said Obama, who trumped Republican rival Mitt Romney on November 6.

The president, a Democrat, also heaped praise on US armed forces personnel serving around the world.

"To all our service members it is my honour to be your Commander-in-Chief. And from our family to yours, happy Thanksgiving," he said.

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Cut costs or perish, Rinehart tells miners

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has unveiled her new book and her vision for the nation in Sydney. Source: AAP

MINING billionaire Gina Rinehart says Australia's mining industry needs to cut its costs if it is to survive.

"People overseas aren't going to buy our produce because we're Australians and we're nice people," Ms Rinehart said at the launch of her book Northern Australia and Then Some at a dinner in Sydney on Thursday.

"They're going to buy our produce if we keep our costs down."

"One of the things that I'm really concerned about is the cost competitiveness of our industry because our industry doesn't sell on the local market, it sells on the world market."

Ms Rinehart, who is chairman of iron ore miner Hancock Prospecting and the world's richest woman, is on a two-day blitz of Australia's eastern states to launch her book.

She was joined at the launch by Ten Network chairman Lachlan Murdoch and Hungry Jacks founder, family friend and Fairfax Media board member Jack Cowin.

Ms Rinehart is also on the Ten board and holds a near-15 per cent stake in Fairfax.

Also attending the dinner at Sydney's luxury Four Seasons hotel were former Future Fund chairman David Murray and Ms Rinehart's youngest daughter Ginia, to whom the book is dedicated.

The launch date was chosen to coincide with the 60th anniversary of her late father Lang Hancock's fabled flight over the rain-soaked cliffs of Western Australia's Pilbara where he discovered the Hamersley iron ore deposits.

Ms Rinehart's 220-page, hardcover book is described in its preface as "a compendium of speeches, articles and images".

The $40 book includes articles previously published in mining journals, transcripts of television interviews and speeches by Ms Rinehart.

Advertising millionaire John Singleton was among the figures who contributed complimentary tributes to Ms Rinehart in the book.

A series of photographs show Ms Rinehart with her father in a number of situations including at her 21st birthday and on one of the family's iron ore tenements in the West Australian Pilbara.

Mr Hancock wrote his own book, Wake Up Australia, to outline his vision of the essential place of mining at the centre of the nation's economic and political future, in 1979.

After the launch, Ms Rinehart took questions from the floor and was asked by one guest why she had invested in media companies.

Ten and Fairfax have both proven to be poor share price performers.

Ms Rinehart said Mr Cowin had invited her to invest in Ten much earlier, but she could not afford it at the time.

"We've now got the opportunity to be in Fairfax, well a partial opportunity that one, and also in Ten," said the businesswoman whose bid for a seat on the Fairfax board was rebuffed.

I think it's good for people just outside the media industry, and basically I am, to know something about other industries, (and) to be on these boards," she said.

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Cheap rates promote vulgar calls: Pakistan

PAKISTAN has ordered mobile phone companies to ban cheap, late-night calling rates because they allegedly promote vulgarity among young men and women.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) says it has asked companies to suspend attractive night-time rates in keeping with government policy.

"We have issued the directive to all the mobile telephone companies to shelve night call packages. The step was taken after lengthy discussions," PTA spokeswoman Malahat Rab told AFP.

"These directives are issued in the light of the government decisions and this decision has also been taken by the government."

Members of parliament also demanded action.

"We strongly object to the night phone packages and recommended that the PTA either fix a time limit for this facility or ban it," said Kalsoom Perveen, who heads the committee in the upper house of parliament that made the recommendation.

"These packages are not right for our youth," she told AFP.

Shafqat Hayayt Khan, an opposition lawmaker who sits on the information technology committee in the lower house, also backed the ban.

"There is no doubt that these cheap night call rates packages are promoting vulgarity. We will make the PTA implement this decision," he said.

Pakistan is no stranger to clamping down on phone and internet services.

Mobile networks have been shut down to prevent militant attacks and Pakistan has since mid-September blocked access to YouTube to protest against the American film "Innocence of Muslims".

In November 2011, the PTA also tried to ban nearly 1700 "obscene" words from text messages, but the move was met with uproar - both at the attempted censorship and the inclusion of innocuous terms such as "lotion", "athlete's foot" and "idiot".

In 2010, Pakistan shut down Facebook for nearly two weeks in a storm of controversy about blasphemy and continues to restrict hundreds of online links.

Mobile phone companies challenged the latest PTA order in court.

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Russia warns Turkey on Patriot missiles

NATO has received a request from Turkey for Patriot missiles to defend its border with Syria. Source: AAP

RUSSIA has warned Turkey against deploying surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria, saying it should instead use its influence to help broker peace in the war-torn country.

"The militarisation of the Syrian-Turkish border is of course a worrying sign," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a briefing on Thursday.

Turkey, he said, should use its influence with the Syrian opposition to help the two sides in the civil war start a dialogue as soon as possible instead of "flexing muscles and placing the situation on a dangerous course."

"Such steps clearly do not add optimism from the point of view of a political settlement," he told reporters regarding the possible missile placement.

Lukashevich spoke after Turkey had turned to NATO to request the deployment of Patriot missiles, something alliance chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday "would augment Turkey's air defence capabilities to defend the population and territory of Turkey."

He added it would contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along NATO's southeastern border, where Turkey has frequently retaliated for Syrian mortar fire into Turkish territory.

Rasmussen said NATO would consider the request for Patriots "without delay." The approval is expected in coming days, diplomatic sources have said.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Ankara this week that the surface-to-air missiles were "a precautionary measure, for defence in particular."

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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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New EU budget summit may be needed: Merkel

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel says the European Union will need to hold a new summit on its budget in early 2013 if the bloc's leaders fail to agree this week on a 2014-2020 spending plan.

"I don't know if we will have a definitive deal tomorrow or the next day - we want that," Merkel said during a debate on Germany's own budget on Wednesday.

"If necessary we will have to meet again at the beginning of next year."

European Union (EU) president Herman Van Rompuy says he will draft a fresh proposal on the bloc's contested trillion-euro budget in hopes of saving an extra-ordinary summit this week from collapse.

In an invitation to the EU's 27 leaders, Van Rompuy pledged "a revised version" of controversial proposed cuts to the EU budget for 2014-2020 to be considered when leaders begin the two-day talks on Thursday evening (European time).

Meanwhile French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday told his cabinet he hoped the European Union would come to a "compromise" on the bloc's contested trillion-euro budget being discussed at a summit this week.

Austerity-driven nations are demanding huge cuts to EU spending to match domestic belt-tightening for the 2014-2020 budget but face opposition from poorer nations to the east and south who benefit from the Brussels budget.

"The president hopes that Europe will come to a compromise as Europe must have a budget," government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem quoted Hollande as telling a cabinet meeting.

She said he had made "several contacts" with leaders ahead of the two-day summit, and would take up a "resolutely European and balanced approach" there.

Britain is seeking to secure a cut of up to 240 billion euros ($A298.69 billion) in the 2014-2020 budget.

EU head Herman Van Rompuy, who will broker the talks, last week suggested a 75-billion-euro cut to the proposed 1.047 trillion euros ($A1.30 trillion) budget but that made no one happy.

Italy, one of 11 net contributors to the EU budget, has been demanding the end to rebates and discounts enjoyed by Britain, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands and has said it will veto the budget if it went against Rome's interests.

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Hopes for Gaza truce before Clinton leaves

Violence continues to rage in the Gaza Strip as the two sides hold talks for a ceasefire. Source: AAP

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, Nov 21 AFP - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas hopes a Gaza truce will be announced before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves the region, a senior official says.

"President Abbas told Clinton that Egypt was the key to everything," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat after a meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah between Clinton and Abbas on Wednesday.

"President Abbas wished that before Clinton leaves Egypt a ceasefire will be announced," Erakat said.

Clinton met with Abbas for 45 minutes at his West Bank headquarters. Neither made any comment to journalists afterwards.

She has also held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is scheduled to travel on to Cairo, where Egypt is mediating indirect talks between Hamas and Israeli officials, before returning to Washington.

"The secretary of state assured president Abbas that the United States has done everything possible to reach a ceasefire" in the conflict between Israel and Gaza militants, Erakat said.

"Every hour that passes without a ceasefire is a human catastrophe in Gaza," added Erakat, who accused Israel of obstructing efforts to reach a truce, without elaborating.

Abbas and Clinton also addressed the issue of a Palestinian bid for enhanced United Nations status, and she "urged Abbas to postpone this effort," Erakat said.

"Abbas said that with all due respect we are not going to the UN to confront the US or anyone else ... but we are going there to maintain the two-state solution and the peace process," Erakat added.

The Palestinians have said they will apply to the United Nations General Assembly for non-member state status on November 29, a move opposed by both Washington and Israel.

Meanwhile Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday voiced his support for diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza on the eighth day of the conflict and spoke of his concern at the escalating violence.

"Hatred and violence are not the solution," the pope said, adding that he encouraged "the initiatives and efforts of those who are trying to reach a ceasefire and promote negotiations."

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Nolan's Ned Kelly sells for almost $1m

ONE of Sidney Nolan's classic Ned Kelly series of paintings has been sold at auction for close to $1 million.

Auction house Sotheby's said it was delighted with the results from its offering of 69 lots in Melbourne from traditional, modern and contemporary art, which achieved a total sale of $4.276 million on Tuesday.

The jewel in the sale was Nolan's painting Ned Kelly: Crossing the River, which sold in a telephone bid to a private collector for $960,000.

Sotheby's was expecting the 1955 piece to fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

A spokesman for Sotheby's would not say whether the collector is Australian.

The piece, from Nolan's second Ned Kelly series, was sold by his daughter Jinx Nolan, who has hung the painting in her home in the US for decades.

It has not been seen publicly since Nolan's wife Cynthia exhibited it in Sydney in 1975.

In 2010, another of Nolan's Kelly series, the 1946 piece First-Class Marksman, sold for an Australian record $5.4 million.

Tuesday's auction set four new artist auction records and strong bidding pushed several works to sell above their estimated range.

Two superb examples by Jeffrey Smart achieved impressive results.

The New School II (2004) sold for $456,000 (estimate $400,000-600,000) while Reflected Arrows (1974) sold for $324,000 (estimate $150,000-250,000).

Reflected Arrows was the poster image for Smart's 1999 retrospective exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

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Eighteen killed in India stampede

At least eighteen people have died in a stampede during a Hindu festival in eastern Indian. Source: AAP

INDIA has launched an inquiry into a stampede that killed 18 women and children when a makeshift bridge collapsed at a Hindu festival, as devotees returned to pray at the scene of the tragedy.

The incident in the eastern city of Patna, near the holy Ganges river, occurred late on Monday as tens of thousands of worshippers rushed to offer prayers to the setting sun as part of the Hindu ritual of Chhath.

Despite the disaster, thousands of worshippers returned to the site before sunrise on Tuesday to pray as part of the festival schedule, offering fruits to the gods, lighting candles and bathing in the sacred water.

Relatives of victims gathered at a mass cremation on the riverbank, with many survivors saying poor organisation of the event caused the stampede.

Sunil Mahto said he was lucky to escape the crush of human bodies tumbling from the collapsed bridge.

"I blame the police and officials for failing to control the large crowds which were expected at this time," Mahto said.

"I thank the almighty that I am alive."

Along the muddy riverbank, the remains of the rope and bamboo bridge were still in place and the ground was scattered with discarded clothes, home-made sweet offerings and abandoned shoes.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe," Bihar state home secretary Amir Subhani said.

"I visited the site last night and will go there again to talk to witnesses, police and others."

Groups of stunned people, some sobbing and wailing, had waited through the night outside Patna's main hospital where many of the victims were taken.

At least a dozen people were seriously injured.

"People were in so much panic after the stampede that they threw away their baskets full of offerings and left there to save their lives," Akhilesh Prasad, a tea vendor at a nearby lane, told local reporters.

Patna police superintendent Jayant Kant said 10 women and eight children were confirmed dead.

The low-slung bridge had been erected to help pilgrims over rough terrain en route to the Ganges, and gave way under the crush of the crowd, Kant said.

Power was lost at the scene when the bridge crashed, complicating the rescue.

Chhath, dedicated to the Hindu sun god Surya, is particularly popular in Bihar, India's second most populous state after neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

An estimated 400,000 devotees thronged to 65 riverside locations specially prepared by Bihar authorities to cater to worshippers travelling to the Ganges, which is revered by Hindus.

Around 50,000 people were present at Adalat Ganj, one of the worship locations in Patna, when the bridge collapsed.

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Spain raises $6.4 billion in bond sale

SPAIN has raised nearly five billion euro ($A6.2 billion) in a successful debt auction that saw strong demand as the country holds off on seeking international help to manage its finances.

The Treasury sold 4.2 billion euro in 12-month bills at an average interest rate of 2.79 per cent, down slightly 2.82 per cent in the last such auction October 16.

It sold 712 million euro in 18-month bills at a rate of 3.03 per cent, up from 3.02 per cent.

Demand on Tuesday was more than double the amount offered for the shorter bills and nearly six times for the longer bills.

Spain, which already has been offered 100 billion euro to help refinance its struggling banks, says it wants to know all the conditions that might come attached to any rescue package before deciding to apply for further international assistance.

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Senate fails to agree on Murray bill

A DISPUTE over a crucial part of the Murray-Darling Basin plan has forced a federal government bill to further debate in the Senate.

The upper house on Tuesday adjourned without passing a bill allowing for changes to be made to the amount of water that can be sustainably taken from the basin.

The legislation must pass the chamber this week if Environment Minister Tony Burke is to present a final basin plan to parliament for consideration by the end of the year.

After a protracted debate, the coalition's spokesman for the Murray-Darling Basin, Simon Birmingham, said the bill signalled that parties were coming close to the end of a very long, tortuous and drawn out process in water reform.

"For more than 120 years, particularly the Murray Darling Basin states have argued and squabbled and bickered over water reform," Senator Birmingham told the chamber.

He welcomed government co-operation with the opposition on this legislation.

Labor senator Doug Cameron said the bill "might not be everyone's nirvana, but it's a massive step forward".

But Australia Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the "something is better than nothing" argument didn't fly because the plan was "locking in failure".

The minor party moved a flurry of last-minute amendments, but all were defeated.

Any adjustments to the sustainable diversion limits (SDLs) cannot exceed five per cent above or below the total amount, and must be put to parliament and the public.

Under amendments made in the lower house, the environment minister of the day has the final say on any adjustment levels, not the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

Opposition water spokesman Barnaby Joyce said it was the 2.1 million basin residents who stood to lose considerably if any more of their water was diverted downstream.

"We have to be extremely cautious of how this process works," Senator Joyce said, adding he'd need to know exactly how the adjustment process would work before agreeing to any final basin plan.

The opposition, though agreeing with the bill, moved an amendment to ensure any adjustments must operate on a "no-detriment" basis - meaning they wouldn't have adverse social, economic or environmental outcomes.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon also moved amendments to recognise the water-saving efforts of basin communities in his home state of South Australia, but both were voted down.

Debate on the Water Amendment (Long-Term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012 has adjourned.

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Islamists reject Syria opposition bloc

THE main Islamist rebel groups in Aleppo province, including Al-Nusra Front, have rejected a new Syrian opposition bloc, saying they want an Islamic state.

In an internet video posted on Monday, a spokesman says: "We, the fighting squads of Aleppo city and province, unanimously reject the conspiratorial project called the National Coalition and announce our consensus to establish an Islamic state" in Syria, a spokesman announced in the video.

"We reject any external coalitions or councils imposed on us at home from any party whatsoever," he said.

The unidentified speaker sat at the head of a long conference table with at least 30 other men and a black Islamist flag on the wall behind him.

He listed 14 armed groups as signatories to the statement, including Ahrar al-Sham and Liwa al-Tawhid.

After the statement, another man held up a copy of the Koran, saying forcefully to the camera that it should be "your constitution".

"God is greatest," the group said in unison.

Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, the head of the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, told AFP the statement did not represent the opinion of all rebel groups in the province.

"These groups represent a number of military factions on the ground and reflect their position, but not all military forces in Aleppo agree with this," the defected former colonel told AFP by phone.

"The military council has announced its support for the National Coalition and is collaborating with them," Okaidi added.

The National Coalition, formed in Doha on November 11, aims to present a united front to the international community and is lobbying for weapons and cash to help it topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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Gaza toll hits 91 as truce efforts build

Israeli strikes have killed 23 Palestinians, including 14 women and children, Hamas officials say. Source: AAP

ISRAELI air strikes have killed 13 more Palestinians, bringing the Gaza death toll to 91 as global efforts to broker a truce gathered pace.

The latest bloodshed on Monday in the densely populated coastal enclave came after a night of earth-rattling air raids and sustained fire from Israeli navy ships.

Israel's military said it had taken over programming from a Hamas-owned television station "to broadcast warnings".

As the violence raged for a sixth day, ceasefire efforts gathered steam, with senior Hamas officials in Cairo saying Egyptian-led talks on Sunday with Israel were "positive" but were now focused on the need to guarantee the terms of any truce.

After a strike on a Gaza City home killed a family of nine on Sunday, the bloodiest day of the conflict with 29 killed, angry mourners flocked to the funeral of the five children and four adults whose bodies were carried through streets wrapped in Palestinian flags.

"Do children fire rockets?" shouted a man through a loudspeaker, as the crowd roared back: "No!"

The violence, which comes amid an Israeli election campaign, raised the spectre of a broader Israeli military campaign like its 22-day Operation Cast Lead, launched in December 2008.

Analysts say Israel's leadership appears satisfied with the success of Operation Pillar of Defence, which it launched on Wednesday aimed at halting Palestinian rocket fire, and that could it be ready for a ceasefire.

But the Jewish state has warned it is ready to expand the operation, while Gaza's rulers Hamas may feel emboldened after securing the support of the recently installed Islamist governments of Egypt and Tunisia.

Since the start the violence, Israel has pressed a relentless aerial campaign over Gaza which has shown little sign of letting up, although the intensity of the strikes has fallen since a high of 332 on Friday.

The army says it has struck more than 1350 targets in Gaza, as militants have fired more than 850 rockets over the border, at least five of them aimed at greater Tel Aviv and one at Jerusalem.

An Israeli spokeswoman said there was a lull overnight, with 16 rockets fired over the border during the morning. Another three were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

The latest negotiations conducted behind closed doors in Cairo ended without agreement, although all sides have expressed a willingness to engage in more talks.

One Hamas official described the talks as "positive" and now focused on the need to guarantee the terms of truce.

Hamas - emboldened by Arab support - has demanded Israel lift its six-year siege of Gaza as a basic condition for the end to rocket attacks.

The Islamist movement is also believed to be seeking a guarantee that Israel will stop assassinating its leaders. Israel's targeted killing of a top Hamas military commander on Wednesday was the trigger which started the current flare-up.

But Israel has showed little sign of being ready to call off or even briefly halt its campaign.

This has piled even more pressure on Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to promise to visit the region soon.

Ban was due in Cairo on Monday for talks with the Egyptian leader ahead of a visit to the West Bank to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Israeli officials said they expected to receive the UN leader on Wednesday.

Palestinian officials had earlier said it was possible a deal would be reached as early as Monday.

But Israel's Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, insisted "the first and absolute condition for a truce is stopping all fire from Gaza".

At the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israel was ready to "significantly expand" its operation and on Monday, public radio reported 40,000 reservists were amassed near the Gaza border.

Analysts believe Israel would closely co-ordinate any invasion of Gaza with the United States and go in certain of Washington's full diplomatic support.

US President Barack Obama has already sided with the Israeli by blaming the violence on Palestinian rocket attacks.

But Obama said on Sunday it would be "preferable" for the Gaza crisis to be resolved without a "ramping up" of Israeli military activity.

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Queen celebrates 65th wedding anniversary

THE Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary.

They will spend the big day together privately at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday after an evening out at the Royal Variety Performance on Monday night.

The Queen is the first British monarch to reach a 65th wedding anniversary.

Although the couple's schedule is free of public engagements on the big day, the Queen has audiences in the morning with the outgoing and incoming Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh and the High Commissioner for Belize.

Their Blue Sapphire anniversary falls in the same year that the monarch marked her historic Diamond Jubilee.

Philip, 91, was forced to miss some of the key celebrations during the special bank holiday weekend honouring the Queen's 60-year reign after falling ill with a bladder infection.

He was taken to hospital the day after braving cold, wet and windy conditions on the royal barge for several hours during the Diamond Jubilee pageant on the River Thames.

The Duke was also taken to hospital in August for a recurrence of the bladder infection during his summer break in Balmoral in Scotland and previously had a successful procedure to clear a blocked coronary artery last December, spending four nights in hospital over Christmas.

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Greece first met in 1934 when they attended the wedding of Philip's cousin, Princess Marina of Greece to Princess Elizabeth's uncle, the Duke of Kent.

Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who became a naturalised British subject and changed his surname, married on November 20 1947 at Westminster Abbey, where the the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wed last year.

The ceremony provided the nation with a morale boost in the austere post-war days amid the widespread rationing facing the country.

The royal bride wore an ivory silk Norman Hartnell gown, decorated with 10,000 seed pearls, glittering crystals and featuring an intricate four-metre star-patterned train.

The night before, thousands of well-wishers braved the cold November air to stake their place along the processional route.

Millions of people listened on the wireless to news reports or watched coverage on the weekly cinema newsreels.

The newlyweds celebrated afterwards with guests at a wedding breakfast in Buckingham Palace's Ball Supper Room.

They honeymooned at Broadlands, Hampshire - the home of Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten - and also at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate.

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Asian markets close up on hope for US deal

MOT Asian markets have closed higher on optimism US politicians will be able to agree a deal to avert a "fiscal cliff" that would tip the world's biggest economy back into recession.

The Nikkei in Tokyo enjoyed a third straight rally due to the yen's weakness after the front-runner to become Japan's next prime minister said he would push for unlimited monetary easing if his party won next month's general election.

Tokyo climbed 1.43 per cent, or 129.04 points, to end at 9,153.20 on Monday, Sydney rose 0.57 per cent, or 24.6 points, to 4,361.4, and Seoul was up 0.93 per cent, or 17.27 points, at 1,878.1.

Hong Kong ended up 0.49 per cent, or 103.35 points, at 21.262.36. Shanghai closed up 0.11 per cent, or 2.25 points, at 2,016.98 after dipping below a key support level to a nearly four-year low earlier in the day.

US President Barack Obama - on a Southeast Asia visit - has met congressional leaders from both parties to open talks on pulling back from the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts, due to take effect on January 1.

Fears around the world over the looming deadline have depressed markets for most of the month.

The two sides stressed willingness to find common ground and avoid a face-off like that over the country's debt ceiling, which almost brought the country to a standstill in August.

The comments helped Wall Street on Friday. The Dow finished up 0.37 per cent and the S&P 500 added 0.48 per cent, although the Nasdaq shed 0.57 per cent.

On currency markets the increased confidence that a deal can be sealed in Washington saw investors move away from the safe-haven yen, providing support to the under-pressure euro and the dollar.

The euro bought $US1.2761 and Y103.65 in early trade, up from $US1.2741 and Y103.60 in New York late on Friday. The US dollar was slightly down at Y81.24 from Y81.31 after it hit Y81.59 in earlier trade, its highest level in nearly seven months.

The US dollar climbed 2.3 per cent against the yen last week, its best week since February.

The yen was also under selling pressure after opposition party chief Shinzo Abe said last week he would press the Japanese central bank to carry out a more aggressive monetary policy, which would flood markets with the local currency.

Abe is the leader of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which is expected to win the election on December 16.

The Nikkei rose 1.9 per cent on Thursday and another 2.2 per cent on Friday on expectations of a win for Abe, who is a former prime minister.

"After Friday's rise, there is renewed energy in the market," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.

"With the weaker yen and stronger US stocks, the market is looking more bullish," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Oil prices rose. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, added 82 cents to $US87.74 a barrel in the afternoon. Brent North Sea crude for January delivery gained 69 cents to $US109.64.

Gold was at $US1723.1 by 1100 GMT (2200 AEDT) compared with $US1,707.80 late on Friday.

In other markets

- Wellington closed 0.13 per cent, or 5.23 points, lower at 3,942.61.

Fletcher Building was off 0.94 per cent at NZ$7.38, Telecom fell 0.42 per cent to NZ$2.38 and Contact Energy slipped 0.39 per cent to NZ$5.14.

- Taiwan fell 1.03 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 7,129.04.

HTC dropped 2.01 per cent to Tw$243.5 while Hon Hai Precision was 0.56 per cent lower at Tw$89.2.

- Manila rose 10.27 points, or 0.19 per cent, to close at 5,449.55.

Manila Electric Co. was 0.63 per cent higher at 254.20 pesos, and Philippine National Bank jumped 4.6 per cent to 75.30 pesos.

- Kuala Lumpur shares lost 5.97 points, or 0.37 per cent, to end at 1,623.31.

Telekom Malaysia was down 1.1 per cent at 5.45 ringgit while UEM Land shed 1.3 per cent to 2.22.

- Bangkok gained 0.27 per cent or 3.52 points to 1,283.65.

Banpu dropped 0.55 per cent to 363.00 baht, while PTT lost 0.64 per cent to 312.00 baht.

- Jakarta ended down 37.845 points, or 0.87 per cent, at 4,313.439.

Aneka Tambang dropped 0.80 per cent to 1,240 rupiah, Bank Permata slipped 0.71 per cent to 1,390 rupiah, while Astra International climbed 0.65 per cent to 7,800 rupiah.

- Singapore's Straits Times Index closed up 0.18 per cent, or 5.30 points to 2,950.93.

City Developments fell 1.18 per cent to Sg$10.87, while United Overseas Bank shed 0.33 per cent to Sg$17.91.

-Mumbai rose 0.16 per cent, or 29.63 points, at 18,339.0 points.

Maruti Suzuki rose 3.87 per cent to 1,494.6 rupees, while Bharti Airtel rose 2.89 per cent to 309.8 rupees.

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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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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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Invasion would cost Israel support: UK

A GROUND invasion of the Gaza Strip would lose Israel much international sympathy and support, British Foreign Secretary William Hague says.

Hague told Sky News it was much more difficult to limit civilian casualties in a ground assault and it would threaten to prolong the conflict.

His comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the armed forces were ready to "significantly expand" their operation against militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Britain has said that Hamas bears the principal responsibility for the crisis due to perpetual rocket attacks on Israeli territory.

But Hague said it would be hard for the international community to maintain sympathy with Israel if it launched a ground operation.

"That, of course, is a different proposition," he said.

"The prime minister (David Cameron) and I have both stressed to our Israeli counterparts that a ground invasion of Gaza would lose Israel a lot of the international support and sympathy that they have in this situation.

"It's much more difficult to restrict and avoid civilian casualties during a ground invasion and a large ground operation would threaten to prolong the conflict.

"So we have made our views very clear on that with Israel, just as we have made very clear our view that the barrage of rockets from Gaza onto southern Israel is an intolerable situation for the Israelis and it's not surprising they have responded to that.

"A ground invasion is much more difficult for the international community to sympathise with or support - including the United Kingdom."

He said Britain would like to see an agreed ceasefire, with an end to the rocket attacks being an essential component of any peace deal.

"In the absence of that ceasefire, we of course are calling on all involved to de-escalate, to avoid civilian casualties and to abide by international humanitarian law," he said.

Hague said it would be a "mistake" for the Palestinians to try to gain observer status at the United Nations at this point as it would be "divisive" with the United States.

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One Direction's Harry back with Taylor

ONE Direction heart throb Harry Styles has rekindled a relationship with US chart sensation Taylor Swift, reports UK newspaper The Sun.

One-fifth of the British boy band, floppy-haired Styles, 18, has been spotted holding hands and flirting with contemporary country singer Swift, 22, in Los Angeles on the set of American X Factor.

"It was a big deal her inviting him to the show with her mum. It was her way of showing she is ready to trust him," a pal of Swift told The Sun.

The pair were introduced in the US in early 2012 but during a brief relationship, Styles was caught kissing a model while touring New Zealand.

"Taylor was really embarrassed by what happened and was nervous about giving him another go. But this time they have spent more time getting to know each other," the friend said.

The relationship news is sure to devastate the doting global fans of Styles and his band mates.

When One Direction toured Australia in April, concert tickets sold out in three minutes and teenage fans flooded city streets to catch a glimpse of the latest sensation from Britain.

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