Israel counts 800-plus Gaza airstrikes

ISRAEL'S military says it has struck more than 800 targets in the Gaza Strip as it expands a fierce air assault responding to rocket launches from the Palestinian territory.

The military's count early on Saturday included 180 overnight airstrikes. The campaign began on Wednesday with the assassination of the ruling Hamas militant group's military chief after days of heavy rocket fire from Gaza.

The Gaza Interior Ministry said Israeli aircraft had struck government and police compounds, smuggling tunnels and a three-storey apartment building.

Militants have struck back with about 500 rockets, including one unprecedented attack aimed at Jerusalem.

The Israeli military has also called up thousands of reservists and massed troops and armoured vehicles along the border with Gaza, signalling a ground invasion could be imminent.

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Ikea sorry for using East German prisoners

IKEA has admitted that political prisoners in communist East Germany were forced to make some of the Swedish home-furnishings giant's products in the 1980s and apologised.

Ikea released a report by independent auditors Ernst & Young into allegations by the former prisoners that they had to make furniture and accessories in prison workshops. They were threatened with solitary confinement and other punishment if they refused.

Some Ikea executives were aware at the time, 25 to 30 years ago, that East German suppliers were possibly using jailed dissidents as labour along with regular criminals, the report said.

"We deeply regret that this could happen," said Jeanette Skjelmose, sustainability manager of Ikea, which runs self-service megastores round the globe selling stylish but cheap furniture of its own design.

In the 1980s, many western companies outsourced some of their production to East Germany, attracted by cheap labour rates.

"The use of political prisoners in production has never been acceptable to the Ikea Group," Skjelmose said.

"At the time, we didn't have today's well-developed control system and obviously didn't do enough to prevent such production conditions among our former GDR suppliers."

Ikea ordered the study after ex-prisoners aired the allegations last year on German television.

The repressive East German communist government collapsed at the end of 1989 and within weeks, the political prisoners were freed.

Ikea said it would make a financial contribution to a history research project on forced labour in East Germany by a German group, UKOG, the Union of Organisations of Victims of Communist Despotism.

"There is no decision yet on the size of the funding. A dialogue is still ongoing with UKOG," Josefin Theorell of Ikea Group said in Sweden.

Ikea said the audit checked thousands of pages in archives and interviewed 90 retired or current Ikea staff and East Germans.

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China to focus on ASEAN economic ties

CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao is to focus on economic co-operation at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings this week that will include US President Barack Obama.

Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying said on Saturday that China was more interested in deepening economic ties in the region as a stabilising force in the global economy than focusing on lingering disputes in the South China Sea.

"We need to focus on co-operation and development and send correct signals to the market," Fu said. "We should not be distracted by some problems and deviate from our direction."

Tensions have been flaring over maritime disputes in the region, including rival claims by China, the Philippines and Vietnam to South China Sea islands and waters that are believed to be rich in gas and oil and straddle busy shipping routes.

Fu told a news conference that China and other countries bordering the South China Sea had successfully managed their disputes and prevented them from escalating into major conflicts.

"Dialogues, negotiations and management have given us peace and stability, allowing us to focus on economic development and make achievements," she said.

Fu reiterated China's stand of resolving disputes on a bilateral basis instead of bringing them up at regional or international meetings.

The meetings are scheduled to start on Sunday in Phnom Penh and are organised by the 10 members of ASEAN. China is not part of the group but holds talks with it. Leaders from Japan and South Korea are also to take part.

It had not been decided whether Wen would meet Obama separately, Fu said.

While in Cambodia, Wen will make a formal visit to the country and hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen. The two sides are expected to sign documents on economic technology and education.

Wen is then scheduled to make a state visit to Thailand before ending his trip on Wednesday. He will meet with members of the Thai royal family and hold talks with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on a range of issues, including trade and investment.

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Obeid associates deny sham farm purchases

A NUMBER of figures linked to the Obeid family have denied being part of sham purchases of coal-rich farms that stood to make the Obeids tens of millions of dollars, a corruption inquiry has heard.

On another stunning day, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry also heard that an associate of former Labor minister Ian Macdonald tried to retrieve a legal file linked to the inquiry after Mr Macdonald told him he'd met with ICAC officers.

ICAC is investigating Mr Macdonald's decision in 2008 to open NSW's Bylong Valley to coal mining and how it benefited Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid.

Mr Macdonald is accused of doing the bidding of Obeid family members, who allegedly hid their involvement through complex trust and company structures.

The inquiry has heard that the Obeids stood to make $100 million from mining deals in the area.

A friend of the Obeid family, Rocco Triulcio, on Thursday denied trying to hide his involvement in the purchase of a farm, Donola, in the Bylong Valley in 2008.

Mr Triulcio and his brother Rosario have a 50 per cent stake in the $600,000 farm bought with the Obeids.

The farm was owned by a trust company, Geble Pty Ltd, whose sole director and shareholder at the time was the Obeids' solicitor, Chris Rumore.

Mr Triulcio rejected suggestions the complex ownership structure was an attempt to hide his involvement in the purchase.

He insisted he bought the farm "for leisure" even though he only visited it once in four years and had no valuation done prior to buying it.

His brother Rosario also denied being part of a sham purchase.

"You wouldn't have known whether they ran goats or rats or cows there, would you?" counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, asked.

"I'm assuming they didn't run rats," Mr Triulcio replied, to which Commissioner David Ipp quipped, "Not four-legged ones."

Greg Skehan, a Sydney lawyer, denied acting as a front man in another company, Voope Pty Ltd, set up to progress the Obeids' interests in coal mining.

He said a complex arrangement under which he held the shares in Voope, described as a "clean skin" company, on trust for the Obeid family was not a move aimed at hiding their involvement in it.

The inquiry also heard evidence that John Gerathy, a long-time associate of Mr Macdonald, tried to retrieve a legal file linked to the inquiry after a call from Mr Macdonald to him around September this year.

Mr Gerathy, a lawyer, said in the call, which took place before the start of the ICAC inquiry, that Mr Macdonald told him he had been to ICAC.

After the call, Mr Gerathy said he tried to retrieve a legal file relating to legal work he did for Tianda Resources, a company the Obeids are alleged to have tried to involve in a deal about one of the Bylong Valley properties.

Mr Watson suggested Mr Gerathy's actions were the result of Mr Gerathy's involvement with Tianda potentially being related to allegations of corruption.

The inquiry continues before Commissioner Ipp on Friday.

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Fears held for missing Vic woman

FEARS have been raised over the disappearance of a young Victorian woman after her abandoned car was found in Melbourne.

Sarah Cafferkey, 22, was last seen by her family at her home in Bacchus Marsh, 50km west of Melbourne, on November 9.

Police found her car in Melbourne's northwest on Thursday night and hold fears for her safety.

Her family says Ms Cafferkey suffers from a rare form of asthma which requires constant medication.

She is described as Caucasian with a fair complexion, thin build, black shoulder length hair and green eyes.

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Ex-priest to face Vic court on sex charges

A FORMER Victorian Catholic priest has been committed to stand trial for sexually molesting children.

David Edwin Rapson, 59, will fight charges that he abused boys between 1973 and 1990, including at the Salesian College Rupertswood in Sunbury in Melbourne's north where he was a teacher.

During a committal hearing this week, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard accounts from several former pupils of the school who claimed they were abused by Rapson.

The court heard on Friday that in the 1980s a pupil at Salesian College was abused when he went to speak to Rapson about problems he was having with his father, who was ill.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said in a statement to the court that Rapson gave him scotch whisky and they chatted, before the priest molested him.

On Thursday another former pupil said in a statement to the court that he was given a drink by Rapson that made him feel dizzy and he later woke up to find himself being raped.

Another former pupil said in his statement that he was given a Milo that tasted "a bit strong and quite acrid" before being molested by Rapson.

On Friday, Magistrate Greg McNamara committed Rapson to stand trial on charges including one count of rape and four counts of indecently assaulting a child under 16.

Asked what he pleaded, Rapson replied, "Not guilty."

Rapson will face the Victorian County Court for a directions hearing on December 11 and trial in August next year.

He was released on bail.

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Accused Sydney killer faces third trial

A SYDNEY jury has been told they must not draw any "adverse inference" from the fact a man accused of killing his gay lover is facing a third trial.

Philip Wan Por Leung, 51, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of 72-year-old Mario Guzzetti, who died at the home they shared at Alexandria, in inner Sydney, on April 7, 2007.

Paramedics found Mr Guzzetti lying on his back at the base of a staircase, with a hysterical Leung cradling a pillow under his partner's head and rocking him from side to side.

The crown alleges the couple argued while Leung was making carrot juice, resulting in Leung striking Mr Guzzetti and applying pressure to his neck area.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Derek Price told the jury they had "heard there have been two previous trials".

"Due to matters of law, the accused is standing trial. You must not draw any inference adverse to the accused from that fact," he said.

Earlier, Leung broke down sobbing during evidence being given by Josephine DiFrancesca, a friend of him and Mr Guzzetti.

Ms DiFrancesca was questioned about a phone call she made to Leung on the morning of Mr Guzzetti's death.

"Did you hear Philip crying over the phone?" crown prosecutor Mark Hobart SC asked.

"Yes," she said, adding that she assumed something was wrong and called her husband to go to the house and check on the couple.

She said her husband found Leung holding Mr Guzzetti and told his daughter to call an ambulance.

Fiona Cunney, who lived next door, told the court she heard noises about an hour before paramedics arrived.

She said she heard "crushing sounds", like a shelf with pots and pans falling, and what she believed was Mr Guzzetti "singing opera" for about 10 seconds and then silence.

Leung later started crying "like a baby", Ms Cunney said, but she decided not to call police because she "didn't want to get involved".

Defence barrister Winston Terracini SC questioned her evidence, alleging Ms Cunney did not like Leung and had had prior arguments with him over renovation works.

Friend Raymond Carter said he was called to the police station where Leung was being held but could barely understand him.

He told the court Leung repeatedly screamed, "Mario is not dead," before saying he and Mr Guzzetti had argued while he was making carrot juice.

"Mario kept at me," Leung allegedly said.

Mr Carter, a former boyfriend of Leung's, added that he'd never witnessed any violence between the "loving and caring" couple but had heard of occasional arguments.

He said Leung was "stubborn" and "not a very diplomatic person" but never violent.

"He'd walk away, slam the door and it'd be a day or two before you'd see him," he told the court.

The trial before Justice Price continues.

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Baby had suspicious injuries: NSW inquest

THE mother of an eight-month-old baby girl who sustained "highly suspicious" and "traumatic" injuries while in the care of her nanny has wept during a Sydney inquest, telling the coroner she just wants to know what happened.

Melissa Pagett told Glebe Coroners Court on Thursday her daughter Emily was a "very happy little baby" who completed their family.

Emily was found dead on the morning of October 25, 2004, in her home 20km north of the tiny community of Enngonia in the northwestern NSW.

She was found with multiple broken ribs and a haemorrhage to her neck but an exact cause of death has not been established.

She and her two siblings had been left in the care of their nanny, Shiralee Robinson, for three days prior to her death while her parents attended a wedding in Mudgee.

Several family members cried in court on Thursday as a video of Emily's short life was played, including footage of her as a newborn, having a bath and snuggling with her dad.

"I'd just like to know what happened," Ms Pagett said through her tears.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Mark Cahill, said the inquest had heard evidence that the bruising to Emily's neck and the rib fractures were "suggestive of an assault ... imposed by a third party".

He referred to evidence given by two experts, paediatrician Dr Paul Tait and forensic pathologist Professor Roger Byard, who agreed the pattern of the injuries was "very unusual".

"Both Professor Byard and Dr Tait expressed the view that the injuries are highly suspicious," Mr Cahill said.

The injuries also appeared to be more consistent with the level of force used by an adult, he added.

"Given the nature and constellation of the injuries and given their traumatic nature, there is a suggestion, but it's no more than a suggestion, that death was associated in some way with the inflicting of these injuries," he said.

However, Mr Cahill said this was "a possibility and nothing more".

The inquest heard Ms Robinson told police she put Emily to bed with a fresh nappy around 6pm the night before she died, and found her cold and not breathing around 8am the following morning.

Emily's nappy was clean and she appeared to have been dead for some time before emergency services arrived at the scene.

"The only persons who had access to Emily were Ms Robinson and (Emily's siblings)," Mr Cahill said.

Ms Robinson had no history of violence, abuse or neglect involving the care of infants and she had been well liked by the family, the inquest heard.

Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund will deliver her findings on Friday.

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Qld minister pressured over lobbyist lists

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman insists there isn't a problem with nepotism in his government. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman insists there isn't a problem with nepotism in his government and he wouldn't have a problem with being lobbied by his chief of staff's brother.

Housing Minister Bruce Flegg resigned on Wednesday amid allegations he misled parliament by failing to record more than 30 contacts his office had with his lobbyist son, Jonathon.

One of the emails proposed a candidate for a deputy director-general position and included a CV.

Mr Newman conceded he had only been briefed about the emails just before Dr Flegg resigned, and was "horrified" when he later learnt their full content.

The opposition now wants the ethics committee to investigate whether Arts Minister Ros Bates knowingly tabled an incomplete lobbyist register, which had to be corrected a month later, on Tuesday.

The revised version contains three previously excluded meeting requests from Luke Myers, the brother of the premier's chief of staff, although the register said no further action was taken.

Mr Newman said Ms Bates shouldn't resign because her administrative failures weren't as serious as Dr Flegg's.

The premier also doesn't have a problem with Mr Myers lobbying Ms Bates, or himself.

"He's got a right to earn a living but it has got to be declared," Mr Newman told reporters.

The opposition says Ms Bates has failed to explain why contact with Mr Myers was left out of her register.

Ms Bates says the discrepancies only came to her attention on Tuesday, when she tabled a corrected register.

"This was done in the interest of openness and frankness. Instead of applauding the fact, this opposition tries to make some scandal out of it," she told parliament.

Mr Newman believes Ms Bates has been up-front about her lobbyist register.

He counter-accused the opposition of potentially breaking the law by not lodging former ministers' lobbyist registers with state archives.

"Did they shred them?" he asked.

Mr Newman wants to know who was lobbied before IBM was awarded the contract for the failed Queensland Health payroll system, and would use any possible inquiry to investigate this matter.

Federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming said Dr Flegg's resignation couldn't have come a day too soon.

"I have had a gutful of pollie relies getting insider jobs. Worse still not 'fessing up to (it)," Mr Laming tweeted.

Mr Newman said nepotism claims were only hype.

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Toyota recalls 2.77 million vehicles

Toyota has recalled 2.77 million vehicles worldwide over steering shaft and water pump defects. Source: AAP

TOYOTA Motor Corp says it's recalling 2.77 million vehicles across the world for a steering shaft defect that may result in faulty steering and a water pump problem.

Japan's top carmaker said no accidents have been reported related to these two problems announced Wednesday.

The steering issue could cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle, while the water pump problem could render it inoperable.

Some 1.51 million vehicles are being recalled for the steering defect in Japan and 1.25 million vehicles abroad, including 670,000 in the US.

Affected models include the Prius hybrid, Corolla, Wish and other models produced in Japan from 2000 to last year, and from 2000 to 2009 overseas.

Toyota is also recalling 630,000 vehicles spanning five hybrid models, including the Prius, for a defective water pump.

Last month, Toyota had a recall for faulty power-window switches.

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UN 'failed to protect' Sri Lanka civilians

THE United Nations failed to protect civilians in the 2009 close of Sri Lanka's civil war, says an internal review leaked to the BBC and New York Times.

"Many senior UN staff simply did not perceive the prevention of killing of civilians as their responsibility," the two news outlets cited a draft of the report as saying late on Tuesday.

It charged UN staff with "a sustained and institutionalised reluctance" to help the people they were sent to Sri Lanka to assist while calling the UN's response "a grave failure".

The UN said as many as 40,000 civilians died in the final months of the 26-year conflict, in which both the victorious government troops and defeated ethnic Tamil separatist rebels were accused of atrocities.

UN staff in Colombo "had insufficient political expertise and experience in armed conflicts and in human rights" and were not given "sufficient policy and political support" from headquarters, the BBC cited the draft report as saying.

The UN did not make public its figures of mounting civilian casualties or that "a large majority" of the civilians killed died because of government shelling, the draft report said. The Sri Lankan government, which denied shelling civilian areas, pressured the UN to withhold the information, the BBC reported.

The draft report, compiled by an investigative panel headed by former senior UN official Charles Petrie, said the UN was a victim of bullying by the Sri Lankan government, including "control of visas to sanction staff critical of the state", the BBC said.

"Decision-making across the UN was dominated by a culture of trade-offs" as it chose not to speak out against violations of international law by both sides in the conflict to try to increase the UN's humanitarian access to the war zones, the draft report found, according to the BBC and Times.

John Holmes, former UN humanitarian chief, told the BBC that while the UN could be criticised for its record in Sri Lanka he doubted that a change of tactic would have achieved different results.

Another former senior UN official, Edward Mortimer, charged that UN staff left the war zone in September 2008 when the population needed them most.

"I fear this report will show the UN has not lived up to the standards we expect of it and has not behaved as the moral conscience of the world," he said.

The UN did not comment on the leaked report but said it would soon publish the final version and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon intended to draw lessons from it to improve the UN's response to other crises, such as Syria.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday denied allegations in the leaked report that it had intimidated UN humanitarian workers during the final stages of the island's Tamil separatist war.

"There was no intimidation," Plantations Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters in Colombo.

"No such thing. How can you intimidate them? They don't get intimidated by anyone."

Samarasinghe, who is also the country's human rights envoy to the UN Human Rights Council, said he did not want to comment directly on the report, but added that Colombo was willing to address any shortcomings it raised.

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Software mogul in hiding after murder

Software mogul John McAfee says he fears for his life if he hands himself in to Belize police. Source: AAP

ANTI-VIRUS software pioneer John McAfee says he is moving every four hours to avoid Belizean police who want to question him about the murder of his neighbour, a fellow American.

Belizean police said they want to question McAfee, 67, about the murder of Florida native Gregory Faull, who was found dead in a pool of blood at his home by his housekeeper on Sunday.

McAfee, founder of the eponymous anti-virus company, told CNBC television that he had been "accused of something I didn't do".

He said he was staying on the move out of fear for his own safety, worried that police want to "shake him down" and extort money from him.

A police report said that Faull, 52, was shot in the back of the head. There were no signs of a break-in, and a laptop and mobile phone were missing.

"We are looking for McAfee to interrogate him," police spokesman Raphael Martinez said. He emphasised that McAfee was "not suspected of murder".

Martinez added that the three people who worked for McAfee were being interrogated.

Police raided McAfee's mansion on Ambergris Caye, an island off the northeastern coast of Belize, late on Sunday to question the millionaire about the murder.

Earlier in the year, police searched McAfee's mansion looking for weapons and drugs, and detained him for several hours. The software millionaire, however, claimed he was arrested because he refused to make a donation to a local politician's campaign.

McAfee, who made millions when he sold his anti-virus software company in the early 1990s, has been living in Belize for the past four years.

Wired Magazine said McAfee had been hiding on his property during the police raid, burying himself in the sand with a cardboard box over his head so he could breathe.

"It was extraordinarily uncomfortable," McAfee told the magazine. "But they will kill me if they find me."

Asked about the shooting of his neighbour, McAfee said he knew "nothing" other than he had been shot. He even said he was worried that Faull's killers had actually been looking for him.

"Under no circumstances am I going to willingly talk to the police in this country," McAfee added.

"You can say I'm paranoid about it but they will kill me, there is no question. They've been trying to get me for months. They want to silence me. I am not well liked by the prime minister. I am just a thorn in everybody's side."

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Eric Clapton watch sells for $3.47 million

A wristwatch belonging to British guitarist Eric Clapton has sold for $3.47 million at auction. Source: AAP

A PLATINUM wristwatch belonging to British guitarist Eric Clapton has sold for 3.4 million Swiss francs ($A3.47 million) in Geneva, auction house Christie's says.

The "exceptionally rare" watch made by Patek Philippe in 1987 was snapped up by an anonymous Asian buyer on Monday, Christie's spokesman Christiano De Lorenzo told AFP, adding that the price was in the middle of the estimate.

The only other time the platinum perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases was on auction, in 1989, it sold for just $US250,999.

Clapton, 67, known for his work with rock bands Cream and the Yardbirds and for songs including Crossroads, Layla and Tears in Heaven, had purchased the luxury timepiece privately after that auction for an undisclosed price, De Lorenzo said.

The British guitarist's watch did not fetch the highest price at the Christie's "Important Watches" auction, where sales totalled 27.04 million Swiss francs.

That honour went to another Patek Philippe platinum wristwatch, made especially for American collector JB Champion in 1952, which raked in 3.78 million Swiss francs.

It thereby set "a world auction record for a watch without complications," Christie's said.

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Taser use by Qld police improving: report

A new crime watchdog report has found that use of tasers is improving amongst Queensland police. Source: AAP

A NEW report from Queensland's crime watchdog has found improvements in police use of Tasers but says some worrying practices persist.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) report found a decrease in the number of times police used Tasers, compared with last year.

There were declines both in instances of probe electrodes fired at the body and the use of "drive stun" mode, in which Tasers are held against the skin.

The CMC also found the number of people tasered despite being suspected of having a physical health condition has decreased slightly.

But the report said Taser use on indigenous people was of particular concern as they were more likely to suffer heart attacks and lung disease, placing them at greater risk of harm.

Indigenous people comprised 22.6 per cent of all people tasered, though they account for only 3.5 per cent of the Queensland population.

The frequency of multiple prolonged taser shocks on a single person had decreased considerably since the death of Antonio Galeano, 39, in June 2009, the CMC said.

Mr Galeano died on the floor of a home in Brandon, north Queensland, after he was tasered repeatedly when police were called to a disturbance at his girlfriend's house.

Senior Constable Craig Myles has admitted tasering Mr Galeano eight times in an attempt to subdue him, although the Taser he used registered 28 applications of 50,000 volts.

A Queensland police and CMC review recommended 27 changes to Taser policy and practices, 24 of which have been implemented.

The findings of an inquest into Mr Galeano's death will be handed down on Wednesday.

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Obeid told neighbour of $100m 'windfall'

Former NSW Premier Morris Iemma admitted Labor has seen "better days", during an ICAC hearing. Source: AAP

THE son of former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid told a neighbour his family stood to make $100 million from buying a rural property opened up to mining by former NSW resources minister Ian Macdonald, a corruption inquiry has heard.

The revelation came on the second day of Independent Commission Against Corruption Inquiry (ICAC) hearings into Mr Macdonald's 2008 decision to open the Bylong Valley in central NSW to coal mining and how it benefited Mr Obeid.

Mr Macdonald is accused of doing the bidding of the Obeid family, who hid their involvement through complex trust and company structures.

On another sensational day, a former neighbour and friend of the Obeid family, Nicole Fitzhenry, said Eddie Obeid' son Moses told her his family stood to make $100 million from buying the property known as Cherrydale.

She said the conversation was one of many that occurred with Moses at her home in Sydney's Elizabeth Bay in the months after the property was purchased in late 2007.

"(Moses) said everything was going ahead and it was going to be a huge windfall for the family," Ms Fitzhenry told the inquiry.

"He said basically that they were going to make $100 million.

"He said that it was something to do with coal, leases on the farm, and that they would be making a lot of money."

Mr Macdonald had also been mentioned in the conversations about the Cherrydale Park property.

"Basically it was just, 'Ian's going to help Dad out'," she said.

Moses had advised her to buy a property next to Cherrydale because "we'd make a lot of money ... from the mining," Ms Fitzhenry told the inquiry.

In one of the day's more bizarre moments, Ms Fitzhenry said she came home on one occasion to find four men, including Eddie Obeid, Moses Obeid and an unnamed NSW minister having a meeting in her kitchen.

"There were two reasons. One, because it was noisy ... and two, they preferred to do it somewhere where people weren't used to seeing them".

In his evidence, Ms Fitzhenry's husband Peter said Moses Obeid told him that buying Cherrydale "would be a life-changing experience".

Earlier, former NSW Labor minister Frank Sartor said Eddie Obeid had suggested he could help him out financially.

"He said, 'What do you want to retire on?' I said, 'I don't know, it'd be nice to retire on a million dollars.' He said, 'I could help you with that,'" Mr Sartor said.

"That made me feel very uneasy."

Former premier Morris Iemma told the hearing it was "unusual" that Mr Macdonald had limited the tender process to smaller miners.

The decision, relating to coal resources worth hundreds of millions of dollars, should have been raised with cabinet, something Mr Macdonald failed to do, Mr Iemma said.

Nathan Rees, who succeeded Mr Iemma as premier, told the inquiry he would have been "concerned" if he had known Mr Macdonald had limited the tender for the exploration licences to smaller miners.

If he had been aware of Mr Macdonald's actions, Mr Rees said, there would have been a "spirited discussion" about whether it was "going to deliver the best result for the people of NSW".

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Man shot by police at Melbourne stadium

POLICE say they shot a man after he threatened an officer with a handgun during a confrontation in the car park of Melbourne's Etihad Stadium.

The man, in his 30s, is being treated in the Royal Melbourne Hospital for gunshot wounds.

Commander Rick Nugent said four plain clothes officers had been in the car park investigating stolen cars when they saw the man approach one of the vehicles.

An officer approached him, identified himself and requested to speak with him before he produced a gun from his pants and threatened the officer, Cmdr Nugent said.

"He was threatening the policeman with the firearm and moving towards him and the policeman sought cover," he told reporters.

"Other police came to his aid, one of whom produced his firearm and shot this male person.

"The members were threatened by a male with a firearm and they had to resort to the use of a firearm.

"It doesn't appear he did fire at police but we're still investigating that."

Cmdr Nugent was unable to say how many times the man was shot or where he was hit.

The wounded man has been arrested along with three other men in their 20s in relation to the stolen cars.

Witness Theo Karanikos saw the man on the ground next to a car, screaming that he was in pain.

"I could just see him lying on the ground," Mr Karanikos told reporters at the scene.

"He was just yelling that he was in pain and wanted help."

Seven Network cameraman Chris Martin said he heard a lot of screaming.

"I heard a few popping noises and then a lot of screaming, get down and all that kind of thing," he told Fairfax Radio.

"And then just police came from everywhere."

The man was in a stable condition in hospital after being shot about 3.10pm (AEDT).

Cmdr Nugent said the incident would be investigated by the crime command area of Victoria Police and would be oversighted by the ethical standards department and the Office of Police Integrity.

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Tokyo stocks close down 0.93%

TOKYO'S benchmark index has fallen 0.93 per cent on fears over a US budget standoff and worries about the slowing Japanese economy, while a strong yen also weighed on shares.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday closed down 81.16 points at 8,676.44, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares lost 1.12 per cent, or 8.16 points, to 722.58.

All eyes are on Washington where a fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes is looming - which will likely send the world's biggest economy into recession - if legislators cannot agree on a new deal.

"The stand-off over the fiscal cliff impasse is extending its paralysis to the stock market," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Adding to the sense of dread for the global outlook, Japan on Monday released data showing its economy contracted 0.9 per cent in the July-September quarter, underscoring fears that the country's post-disaster recovery has stalled.

Investors are also looking to results from Japan's major lenders later this week at the tail-end of the latest earnings season.

"The market is in a lull before the release of major banks' earnings later this week," CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith told Dow Jones Newswires.

In Tokyo trade, department store group Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings was down 3.27 per cent at Y709 after cutting its full-year outlook, while convenience store operator Seven&i Holdings lost 1.56 per cent to Y2,332.

The yen's strength dragged down exporters, with Sony off 2.61 per cent at Y856 and Toyota down 1.75 per cent at Y3,085.

Suzuki Motor jumped 4.49 per cent to Y1,835 after posting a sharp rise in first-half profit.

Mazda Motor rose 0.95 per cent to Y106 after news of a tie-up with Toyota to make vehicles in Mexico for the North American market.

In currency trading, the euro bought $US1.2727 in Tokyo, up from $US1.2709 in New York late on Friday, while it fetched Y101.14 from Y100.99.

The dollar was flat at Y79.47.

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US fights for Human Rights Council seat

THE United States is competing with four Western countries for three seats on the Human Rights Council in the only contested election at the UN's top human rights body.

The 193-member General Assembly is scheduled to vote on Monday for 18 members of the 47-member council.

African, Asian, Eastern European and Latin American countries have put forward uncontested slates whose candidates are virtually certain of victory.

Several human rights groups have criticised a number of these candidates as unqualified including Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Venezuela.

The five Western nations competing for seats - the US, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Sweden - were all deemed qualified by the rights groups.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based advocacy group UN Watch, called the absence of competition in four out of the five regional slates "scandalous".

He said at the group's annual luncheon at UN headquarters ahead of the vote, on Friday, that the United States was the last of the five candidates to enter the race and found that many countries had already made commitments to the other candidates.

"Most people that I've spoken to say America is polling somewhere either fourth or fifth," he said. "If they do lose ... we think it will be a setback for the council. We don't agree with everything America has done, but UN Watch thinks America has been a leader of the few good things that have occurred."

Philippe Bolopion, United Nations director for Human Rights Watch, said that to its credit, the Western group is the only regional group allowing true competition in Monday's election.

"As a result, and despite its highly effective engagement in the Human Rights Council, the US faces a tough yet healthy competition," he said.

Bolopion said it was sad that the Africa, Asian, Eastern European and Latin American groups at the UN "have pre-cooked this election by offering as many candidates as they have been allotted seats". He said this is "making a mockery" of the standard set by the General Assembly that all candidates for the council "uphold the highest standards" of human rights.

The Human Rights Council was created in March 2006 to replace the UN's widely discredited and highly politicised Human Rights Commission. But the council has also been widely criticised for failing to change many of the commission's practices, including putting much more emphasis on Israel than on any other country and electing candidates accused of serious human rights violations.

Former President George W. Bush's administration boycotted the council when it was established over its repeated criticism of Israel and its refusal to cite flagrant rights abuses in Sudan and elsewhere. But in 2009, then newly elected President Barack Obama sought to join the council, saying the US wanted to help make it more effective.

In that contest, the US was elected on an uncontested slate winning 167 votes, far more than the 97 vote majority needed.

Amnesty International's UN representative, Jose Luis Dias, said member states "should return a blank ballot if they feel a candidate does not meet the high human rights standards expected of council members".

Amnesty has written letters to all candidates urging them to demonstrate their commitment to human rights, he said.

For example, Dias said, the organisation has called on Ethiopia to instruct the security services to remove barriers to the work of human rights defenders and journalists and has highlighted Ivory Coast's 2010 Supreme Court ruling upholding a husband's right to "discipline his wife and children, provided that this left no visible marks".

The African candidates are Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya and Sierra Leone. The Asian Group candidates are Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. The Eastern European Group candidates are Estonia and Montenegro, and the Latin American and Caribbean Group candidates are Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.

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Denmark to scrap world's first fat tax

Denmark's government will scrap a fat tax it introduced a little over a year ago in a world first. Source: AAP

DENMARK'S government will scrap a fat tax it introduced a little over a year ago in a world first.

"The fat tax and the extension of the chocolate tax -- the so-called sugar tax -- has been criticised for increasing prices for consumers, increasing companies' administrative costs and putting Danish jobs at risk," the Danish tax ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"At the same time it is believed that the fat tax has, to a lesser extent, contributed to Danes travelling across the border to make purchases.

"Against this background, the government and the (far-left) Red Green Party have agreed to abolish the fat tax and cancel the planned sugar tax."

Denmark's centre-left minority government is made up of the Social Democrats, Social Liberals and Socialist People's Party, and requires support from other parties to pass legislation in parliament.

The government and the Red Greens reached the agreement as part of their negotiations on the 2013 budget bill.

The previous right-wing government introduced the fat tax in October 2011 to limit the population's intake of fatty foods.

According to the Danish National Health and Medicines Authority, 47 per cent of Danes are overweight and 13 per cent are obese.

"Now we need to try to do something else to address public health," Food Minister Mette Gjerskov said, news agency Ritzau reported.

The fat tax has been levied on all products containing saturated fats -- from butter and milk to pizzas, oils, meats and pre-cooked foods -- in a costing system that Denmark's Confederation of Industries has described as a bureaucratic nightmare for producers and outlets.

The measure added 16 kroner ($A2.62) per kilo of saturated fats in a product.

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Bid to highlight pregnancy depression

MORE needs to be done to spot and support women suffering with antenatal depression, according to British midwives.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said more attention needed to be paid to the condition, which is less known and talked about than post-partum depression.

The RCM made the comments on Sunday after a new survey found that more than one-third of women who suffer depression during pregnancy have suicidal thoughts.

And four in five mothers surveyed who suffered with depression in pregnancy went on to struggle with post-partum depression.

Half of the 260 women surveyed said that their illness affected their relationship with their baby, according to the research conducted by the RCM and Netmums.

The chief executive of the RCM, Cathy Warwick, said the survey showed that there was an urgent need to identify and help women with depression in pregnancy and after the birth of their baby.

"If we can identify women as early as possible then we could prevent them declining into much more serious mental health problems," Ms Warwick said.

"The (UK) government has made a promise to women that they will be offered better support postnatally and that more will be done to spot and support postnatal depression.

"However, we know that antenatal and postnatal services are suffering as a result of budget cuts and a shortage of midwives. This is in addition to the postcode lottery of service provision for women with postnatal depression.

"If this situation is not rectified, the NHS (National Health Service) will continue to fail women with mental health problems during pregnancy or birth and the government's pledge would be judged to be an empty promise."

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Dozens arrested in Gold Coast drug blitz

Gold Coast police have arrested almost 50 people during a drug operation in Surfers Paradise. Source: AAP

IN a clear warning to school leavers, Gold Coast police have conducted a drug blitz on the glitter strip a week out from schoolies celebrations.

Police say Operation Sentinel 8 saw 48 people arrested or detained on 49 charges including drug offences, being a public nuisance and drink driving.

Drug detection dogs played a key part in the operation.

Cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine were among the dangerous drugs police seized, Superintendent Paul Ziebarth said.

"With Schoolies Week and the festive season approaching it is important to look after each other, watch your mates and don't take part in risky activities," he said in a statement.

"These proactive policing strategies will continue but everybody has a responsibility to keep Surfers Paradise safe and we rely on information from the public to target these operations."

Operation Sentinel was launched in March 2011 to reduce drug and alcohol-related violence in the Gold Coast's entertainment precinct.

Nearly 30,000 school leavers are expected to descend on Surfers Paradise from next week in the annual end-of-year Schoolies Week celebrations.

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