A 57-YEAR-OLD man has been killed after a car accident on the Gold Coast.
Police were called to the scene of a single vehicle accident in the suburb of Nerang where a car had crashed into a tree around 3am (AEDT) on Saturday morning.
The man, who was the only person in the car, was taken to Gold Coast hospital but died from his injuries.
Police are continuing their investigations into the accident.
HUNDREDS of candidates vying for a seat in Japan's parliament made their final pitches on Saturday in an election expected to see the return of the country's old guard.
Opinion polls show the Liberal Democratic Party on course for a convincing victory in Sunday's lower house election, with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda set to pass into history as the sixth consecutive one-year premier.
Hawkish LDP leader Shinzo Abe is predicted to return to the premiership, a job he held without much distinction in 2006-7, in a move that may herald a hardening of Japan's foreign policy at a time of heightened tensions with China.
As light rain fell over Tokyo, some of the over 1,500 candidates running in the poll stood before train stations to make final pleas to voters, while their staff held banners with the candidates names and parties printed in bold typeface.
Abe donned a white windbreaker to speak with with voters in Wako-city, Saitama prefecture, north of the capital, reiterating his promise to reform Japan's education system, Kyodo News said.
Abe has pledged in previous campaign speeches to "repair the Japan-US alliance and firmly defend our territorial soil and waters".
In one of the last gauges of the public mood before Sunday's vote, polls published Friday showed the LDP and its junior coalition party set to achieve a possible two-thirds majority in the lower house ballot.
That would hand Abe a mandate to try to fulfil his campaign pledge of bolstering Japan's military and coastal defences, particularly on the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.
On Thursday Japan scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese plane entered airspace over the Japanese-held chain. Tokyo said it was the first time a Chinese state-owned plane had breached its airspace.
North Korea's rocket launch earlier this week could also boost the right-wing vote in a country that lives uneasily next door to an unpredictable Pyongyang.
Polls indicate that despite a strong current of anti-nuclear feeling since the March 2011 tsunami sparked reactor meltdowns at Fukushima, an array of smaller parties promising an atomic exit may struggle to gain traction.
NSW motorists are now able to renew their car registrations using a new iPhone app developed by the state government.
Roads Minister Duncan Gay said Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) were moving with the times with an app that allowed people to register their cars, check their registration and set reminders.
It will also tell motorists where to find the nearest location for a safety inspection.
"We all know you can renew your registration online - now you can do it by app on your iPhone or iPad," Mr Gay told reporters in Sydney on Friday.
"It's another way of helping people."
A similar app for Android phones is being investigated by RMS, he said.
Mr Gay reminded motorists that from January 1 they will no longer have to display the rego sticker, under changes announced earlier in the year.
"Customers will continue to receive registration renewal notices but from next year will no longer be inconvenienced by having to remove the old sticker and display the new one," he said.
SOUTH Korea's navy has retrieved debris from the first stage of North Korea's long-range rocket, which will be analysed to determine its level of ballistic expertise, the defence ministry said on Friday.
"This debris is expected to be an important piece of information in determining North Korea's rocket capability," said defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok.
The section salvaged by the navy appears to be a fuel tank, inscribed with the name of the "Unha-3" rocket.
The analysis will be carried out by a team of civilian and military experts, as well as US specialists in Soviet missile technology.
The first stage of the rocket launched on Wednesday fell in the sea off the Korean peninsula, while the second splashed down east of the Philippines.
The recovered debris was found on the sea bed, some 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of the southwestern port of Gunsan, Yonhap news agency said, at a depth of around 80 meters (260 feet).
Before its last rocket launch attempt in April -- which ended in failure -- North Korea had warned both Japan and South Korea that any effort to salvage debris from the rocket would be considered an "act of war".
The warning was not repeated before Wednesday's launch.
Pyongyang said its latest launch was a purely scientific mission aimed at placing a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite in space.
Most of the world saw it as a disguised ballistic missile test that violates UN resolutions imposed after the North's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
"We see it as a weapon of an enemy state, and since this launch was in violation of UN resolutions, we do not have to return it even if North Korea demands," said Kim.
The UN Security Council has condemned the launch and warned of possible measures over what the US called a "highly provocative" act.
UP to 1000 cleaning contractors will be audited by next year in a bid to catch shonky operators who underpay workers.
The Fair Work Ombudsman on Thursday announced the random audits following concerns over a high level of non-compliance with fair work practices by cleaning contractors.
United Voice, the union representing cleaners, welcomed the audits, saying major corporations such as Westfield also needed to take some responsibility if they employed shonky contractors.
The ombudsman said in a statement that inspectors had recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars for underpaid cleaners over the past three years.
Auditing of 376 cleaning businesses in 2010 found 149 were non-compliant with federal workplace laws.
The most common contraventions were underpayment of penalty rates, inadequate record-keeping and failure to keep to minimum shifts.
Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson said the 2010 results and ongoing complaints from the sector prompted the decision to undertake a follow-up campaign.
"We are mindful that this is an industry which employs large numbers of young people and migrant workers who may be vulnerable if they are not fully aware of their workplace rights."
United Voice National President Michael Crosby said the audits were a shot across the bows of major corporations like Westfield, which was one of the largest users of contract cleaners in Australia.
"Underpayments, cash payments, short shifts, bullying and sham contracting are rife in this industry," Mr Crosby said in a statement.
"These contractors don't operate in a vacuum. They are in business because of the refusal of property owners to accept responsibility for the consequences of their contracting decisions."
Mr Crosby said the ombudsman had recently warned business operators they risked breaching workplace laws if they knew underpayments were occurring.
ELEPHANT and Rhino poaching surged to record levels in 2011 and is worth at least $US19 billion ($A18.08 billion) a year, according to a report commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The report, launched on Wednesday, found criminals view it as high profit and low risk because governments don't give it a high enough priority or have an effective response.
Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig, who hosted the launch, said strong demand and high prices for rhino horn and elephant ivory in particular have spurred poaching.
Ivory estimated to weigh more than 23 tons - representing 2500 elephants - was confiscated in 2011, Wittig said.
"And the illegal poaching of rhinos surged to a record high in 2011, with a final death toll of 448 rhinos in southern Africa alone," he said.
The trend continued in 2012, with ivory prices up to $US1000 a pound and rhino horns up to around $30,000 per pound.
Wittig stressed that it isn't only rhinos and elephants that are at risk.
"There may be as few as 3200 wild tigers left in the world - and the increase in poaching makes extinction of tiger species a very real threat," he said.
According to the report, although illicit wildlife trafficking has a well-documented link to other forms of illegal trafficking, the financing of rebel groups, corruption and money laundering, "the issue is primarily seen as an environmental issue, which puts it low on governments' agendas".
WWF called for governments to be held accountable for enforcing regulations on wildlife, including imposing sanctions where necessary, and a campaign to reduce demand for endangered species.
The report was produced for WWF by Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a strategic consulting firm that says it "works to raise living standards in developing countries and address global issues such as climate change".
Mali's PM Cheick Modibo Diarra has quit his post following his arrest by the military. Source: AAP
MALI'S new Prime Minister Diango Cissoko says his priorities are to regain control of the north from Islamists and organise a general election in the troubled west African nation.
"The priority is the recovery of the north and the organisation of elections," he told AFP on Tuesday.
"... I want to create a government of national unity," he said following his appointment in place of Cheick Modibo Diarra, who quit on Tuesday under military pressure.
"I want to tell Malians that they must get together, because it's only a unified people that can confront their problems."
Interim president Dioncounda Traore appointed Cissoko - a veteran public servant who recently served as ombudsman - just hours after Diarra was forced out.
Diarra quit after being arrested by soldiers on orders from former coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo, a move swiftly condemned by the UN and United States.
The UN security council joined calls from France, the United States, the European Union and regional bloc ECOWAS for the military to stop meddling in political affairs, and threatened targeted sanctions against those preventing the restoration of constitutional order.
The latest episode of the Malian crisis looked like a "quasi-coup" carried out by the former but still influential military junta and its allies, said London-based analyst Samir Gadio.
"The objective is most likely to prevent a direct ECOWAS military deployment in Mali which would undermine the power base of Captain Sanogo and his associates," he said.
A member of Diarra's family, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the former premier was "under house arrest. There are soldiers at his house and he is not free to move around".
THE former boss of a collapsed West Australian hotel chain has pleaded guilty to charges of breaching the Corporations Act.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Wednesday said Bryan Raymond Northcote, formerly chief executive and executive director of Compass Hotel Group, had pleaded guilty in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court to three charges of breaching the Corporations Act.
Compass Hotel Group, comprising 12 hotels and taverns, went into receivership in March 2011 after being listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in January 2008.
Mr Northcote pleaded guilty to one count of breaching his duty as a director between October 9, 2007 and April 22, 2008, by dishonestly withholding information from the company's board and using his position to gain a financial advantage.
ASIC alleged a company owned and controlled by Mr Northcote, Yard House Australia and New Zealand, entered into an agreement with a hotel broker whereby it would receive 50 per cent of all sales commissions paid by Compass Hotel Group and vendors to the hotel broker for hotels purchased by the group.
Yard House subsequently received $1.566 million in commissions.
Mr Northcote also pleaded guilty to two counts of submitting documents to the corporate watchdog that were misleading by falsely claiming he had resigned from Yard House in October 2007.
"This case is an example of ASIC taking action when gatekeepers fail to act honestly," ASIC deputy chairman Belinda Gibson said.
Mr Northcote will appear in Sydney District Court on January 25, when it is expected a sentence date will be set.
AHL Group, which is 75 per cent owned by Woolworths, bought the pubs and hotels from Compass Hotel Group for $86 million in September last year.
Compass Hotel Group had about $100 million in debt when receivers Taylor Woodings were appointed.
A TEENAGE girl has become the eighth Tibetan child to set herself alight to protest Chinese rule over ethnic Tibetan areas.
The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet says 17-year-old Wangchen Kyi self-immolated and died in western Qinghai province on Sunday evening, after calling for the long life of the Tibetan people and their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
London-based Free Tibet says the girl was 16.
The ICT says Wangchen set herself on fire on the nomadic grasslands of Zeku county, where she was later cremated.
That county's propaganda department confirmed the self-immolation on Tuesday.
More than 90 ethnic Tibetans have self-immolated since February 2009 to protest what activists say are threats to their religion and culture under Chinese rule. China says it fully protects Tibetans' rights.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has announced a $1 billion overhaul of the Darling Harbour precinct. Source: AAP
WITHIN four years Sydney will have Australia's largest exhibition space, a new hotel and an 8000-capacity entertainment venue.
The Darling Harbour redevelopment announced by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell announced on Tuesday, will generate billions of dollars in economic benefit and create thousands of jobs.
The consortium that will undertake the one billion dollar overhaul of the precinct includes: Lend Lease, AEG Ogden, Capella Capital and Spotless.
The Entertainment Centre and existing exhibition space will be torn down and replaced by December 2016.
Plans include 40,000 square metres of exhibition space, the largest in Australia, plus the new "red carpet, premium" entertainment facility.
A hotel complex with 900 rooms will also be built, as will an outdoor event space for 25,000 people at an expanded Tumbalong Park.
A new neighbourhood of apartments, student accommodation and space for high-tech business will also be created at the southern end of the site near the University of Technology, Sydney.
Once completed, the revamped space will generate $200 million a year, or $5 billion over 25 years, in economic benefit.
"This plan fulfils a key election commitment and will create jobs for 1600 people during the three year construction, which starts at the end of 2013, and provide ongoing employment for 4000 people across the precinct," Mr O'Farrell said.
"The redevelopment goes far beyond improving facilities - it's also about reshaping the city.
"Darling Harbour already attracts 25 million people a year and this development will create a more vibrant place on Sydney Harbour," he said.
VICTORIA should create a new offence to deal with young people who send sext messages without permission, rather than using existing child pornography laws, an inquiry has been told.
Children's Court President Judge Paul Grant said under current laws, children who sent explicit images or videos were either charged with child porn offences or given police cautions.
"I have felt that to describe some of this behaviour as child pornography material is an unwise thing to do," he told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into sexting on Monday.
"I think the child porn laws were developed for a certain purpose and that they are now being used for a different purpose.
"I have suggested we should have a different charge - a low-level charge which would attract a less serious penalty."
Bond University IT law professor Dan Svantesson told the inquiry current privacy laws were also inadequate for dealing with problems arising out of sexting.
Dr Svantesson gave the example of a teenage girl who had an explicit video of herself taken from her phone without her permission and sent to others.
"I think no one would doubt or disagree that that is a violation of that girl's privacy, but the thing is that Australian privacy law does not protect that girl."
He said there needed to be a clear legal course of action for such cases.
The inquiry is due to report back to parliament early next year.
PERU'S labour minister has resigned amid an uproar for allegedly roughing up an airport worker as he rushed to catch a plane.
Jose Villena's resignation came as a surprise, and he was immediately replaced by Teresa Laos, a lawyer.
On November 27, Villena arrived late at the airport in Arequipa and stormed up to the counter demanding that his plane, already taxiing down the runway, be stopped, according to employees of the airline Lan Peru.
They said he hit one female employee and threatened to have other workers fired as he pressed his case.
Villena apologised on Friday, but denied hitting the employee.
However, Peruvian media published a medical report that said the woman had a bruise on her forearm.
Women's groups, human rights organisations and public opinion screamed for the minister to be fired
Uganda's President has denounced the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Source: AAP
UGANDA has heaped scorn on UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo at a southern African nations summit that agreed to put together a new, neutral force there.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni denounced the inability of MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission, to prevent conflict in the troubled region.
"It is a very big shame," said Museveni, a key broker in the crisis.
"It is some sort of military tourism."
On November 20, M23 rebels seized the key town of Goma in the mineral rich province of North Kivu, having shrugged off attacks by MONUSCO combat helicopters and put government troops on the run.
"So many people in uniforms and they just sit on problems," Museveni said of the UN force.
The rebels pulled out of Goma last week after the Congolese government agreed to discuss some of their demands.
The two sides are set to hold talks in the Ugandan capital on Sunday.
MONUSCO has a total of 19,000 men in DR Congo, more than 6000 of whom are deployed in the eastern region affected by M23's recent military offensive.
But they are inhibited by their mandate - as they have been in other instances in DR Congo over the years.
Museveni was speaking at a summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the Tanzanian economic capital Dar es Salaam.
The summit's closing statement on Saturday called on the United Nations to modify the mandate of MONUSCO to give it more freedom to fight rebel forces in the territory.
But it also came out in favour of a new, neutral force to rein in the M23 rebels as well as Rwandan Hutu rebels active in the region and other armed groups.
Uganda, which has denied accusations in UN reports that it, along with Rwanda, has supported the mainly Tutsi M23 rebels, had been among those pushing for such a force.
"I am confident that with the neutral international force, we can solve these problems with logistical support from the United Nations," Museveni told the summit earlier.
"It will help the people of Congo and neighbouring countries."
The SADC summit statement committed to deploying the organisation's standby force into the troubled eastern part of the country, which borders both Rwanda and Uganda.
It approved an offer by Tanzania to lead the force, which could be ready to go by next Friday.
Tanzania agreed to provide a battalion to the force and South Africa will supply logistical support.
The new force's mission would be to patrol DR Congo's eastern border with Rwanda and neutralise the various rebel groups active in the region.
Images of the moon's crust point to a violent past in which it was battered by comets and asteroids. Source: AAP
NEW images of the moon's battered crust point to a violent past in which it was battered by comets and asteroids during its first billion years, US scientists say.
The new findings come from the GRAIL mission, a pair of spacecraft named Ebb and Flow that are orbiting the moon and measuring its gravitational field.
"It was known that planets were battered by impacts, but nobody had envisioned that the (moon's) crust was so beaten up," said Maria Zuber, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist leading the mission.
"This is a really big surprise, and is going to cause a lot of people to think about what this means for planetary evolution," she said in a statement about the findings, to be published this week in the journal Science.
Unlike the Earth's crust, which is repeatedly recycled through the process of plate tectonics, the moon's hard crust dates back billions of years, offering clues to the formation of the solar system, including Earth.
The GRAIL mission has allowed scientists to stitch together a high-resolution map of the moon's gravity, reflecting surface structures like mountains and craters as well as subterranean features.
The images suggest the moon's crust is 21-27 miles (34-43km) thick, considerably thinner than was previously thought, according to Mark Wieczorek, another GRAIL scientist.
"This supports models where the moon is derived from Earth materials that were ejected during a giant impact event early in solar system history," he said.
Around 98 per cent of the crust is deeply fragmented, porous material, the result, scientists say, of very early, massive impacts.
"This is interesting for the moon," Zuber said. "But what it also means is that every other planet was being bombarded like this."
