Death toll in Beirut blast rises to 7

LEBANON'S state news agency says a 19-year-old man wounded in the car bombing in central Beirut has died, raising the death toll in the attack to seven.

The National News Agency says Mohammed Shaar died on Saturday from massive wounds sustained in the Friday blast, which targeted prominent Lebanese politician Mohammed Chatah.

The 62-year-old Chatah, who was a critic of Syria and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, also was killed in the explosion.

Officials say Chatah is to be buried at noon on Sunday in the towering Mohammed Al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut.

The Lebanese government has declared Sunday a day of mourning.

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SA bushfire under control

A serious bushfire south of Adelaide has been contained the Country Fire Service says. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS have protected a South Australian country town from an out-of-control bushfire, with two fire crew volunteers injured while quelling the blaze.

An emergency alert was issued at 3pm (AEDT) on Saturday about a serious bushfire burning towards the town of Mallala, north of Adelaide.

About 200 Country Fire Service (CFS) personnel battled the blaze at Lower Light with 35 appliances and the help of water bombers.

A CFS spokeswoman said firefighters contained the blaze after it had travelled seven kilometres in three hours.

"The fire was fast-moving and came close to a farming community and within three to four kilometres of the Mallala township," she said.

"But fortunately CFS firefighters managed to protect the township."

A male CFS firefighter was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening chest injuries.

A female CFS firefighter was treated at the fire for smoke inhalation.

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Port Hedland evacuates due to cyclone

A cyclone warning has been issued for coastal areas along Western Australia's northern coast. Source: AAP

SHIPS are being moved from a major port in Western Australia ahead of a developing tropical cyclone expected to hit on Saturday night.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says a tropical low north of WA is expected to develop into a tropical cyclone by Saturday night as it moves southwest.

The low is 340 kilometres north-northwest of Broome, moving at nine kilometres an hour.

The Port Hedland Port Authority began the evacuation of 29 vessels in the inner and outer anchorage areas on Saturday morning.

Another 12 ships in the inner harbour also began evacuating on Saturday.

The port authority said in a statement it anticipated the last vessel would leave the shipping channel by 3am on Sunday.

Gale-force winds and widespread rainfall are expected to hit the Port Hedland area on Sunday.

Winds with gusts of up to 100km/h are forecast to develop through Saturday night on the west Kimberley coast between Cape Leveque and Broome.

BOM advises gales and heavy rainfall may extend to Exmouth and adjacent inland areas on Sunday night and Monday.

If the tropical low system develops as BOM expects, a severe tropical cyclone will likely hit the Pilbara on Monday or Tuesday.

A cyclone warning is in place for coastal areas from Cape Leveque to Whim Creek.

The State Emergency Service is urging residents in or near coastal communities between Dampier Peninsula and Onslow in the Kimberley and Pilbara to prepare emergency kits.

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China one-child policy change approved

Chinese state media says the National People's Congress has approved to change its one-child policy. Source: AAP

CHINA'S top legislature has sanctioned the ruling Communist Party's decision to allow couples to have a second child if one parent is an only child.

It's the first major easing in three decades of the restrictive national birth planning policy.

Implemented around 1980, China's birth policy has limited most couples to only one child, but has allowed a second child if neither parent has siblings or if the first born to a rural couple is a girl.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the standing committee of the National People's Congress approved a resolution on Saturday to formalise the party decision.

It says the national lawmaking body has delegated the power to provincial people's congresses and their standing committees to implement the new policy.

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Refugee group calls for ambassador asylum

Scott Morrison says a request for asylum by Zimbabwe's ambassador will be judged on its merits. Source: AAP

A REFUGEE advocacy group has called for the Australian government to grant asylum to the Zimbabwean ambassador to Australia.

But the Refugee Action Coalition has used ambassador Jacqueline Zwambila's plight to highlight the "government's inconsistencies in dealing with the issue of protection visas".

Ms Zwambila revealed she was asking the Australian government for asylum because she feared for her life if she returned home when her term ends on Tuesday.

She is aligned to Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said that with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's supposed coalition with the MDC at an end, there was no doubt Ms Zwambila was at risk should she be forced to return to that country.

"The Australian government should act quickly," he said in a statement.

However, Mr Rintoul said many asylum seekers were arriving by boat with cases as compelling as Ms Zwambila's.

"But under (Immigration Minister) Scott Morrison's regime there are two rules - one for plane arrivals and another for asylum seekers coming by boat," he said.

"The Zimbabwean ambassador needs protection, and so do all those asylum seekers who arrive by boat."

Ms Zwambila told Fairfax Media on Saturday she knew it meant the end of her term when Mr Mugabe won elections earlier this year.

"Once the elections of 31 July were stolen by the current government - which is illegitimate - I knew that this was the end of the line," she says in a video on the Canberra Times website.

"End of the line for the people of Zimbabwe ... and for people like me, who were appointed by the ex-prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai."

Mr Morrison said an application for a protection visa would be assessed on merit "and in accordance with the normal rules that apply in these circumstances".

"The government does not provide commentary on individual cases as it can prejudice their case or, worse, place people at risk," he said in a statement.

Mr Mugabe, 89, long considered an international pariah, finished with 61 per cent of the vote at the election, amid claims of intimidation and tampering with electoral rolls.

He called on his opponents to accept defeat or commit suicide, telling the New York Times that "even dogs will not sniff at their flesh if they choose to die that way".

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Toddler saved after falling into pool

A family member's quick actions have saved a toddler who fell into a pool on the NSW Central Coast. Source: AAP

A QUICK-THINKING family member used CPR to save a toddler who fell into a pool on the NSW Central Coast.

The two-year-old girl was pulled unconscious from the backyard pool on Thursday afternoon, but she was breathing by the time paramedics arrived and she regained consciousness.

CareFlight director Ian Badham praised the quick action of the family member.

The girl was airlifted with her mother to The Children's Hospital at Westmead.

"Because she had been underwater for a while, she was taken to the hospital to be checked out and kept under observation," Mr Badham said.

She remains in a stable condition.

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Tourists die in poorly ventilated hotel

TWO Italian tourists have been found dead in their poorly ventilated hotel room in Nepal's capital, Katmandu.

The man and woman were found after the hotel's owners alerted police they were not responding to calls, police official Umesh Raj Joshi said on Thursday.

Police broke the windows, which were taped shut, and found the bodies on the bed.

Joshi said they appeared to be regular visitors to Nepal.

Gas and kerosene heaters are common in Nepal during the winter because of a shortage of electricity.

They are dangerous if used in closed rooms.

Two Chinese tourists died from gas poisoning from a heater in a mountain resort room near Katmandu earlier in December.

About 500,000 tourists visit Nepal a year.

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Nine road deaths dampen festive season

Nine people have died on Australian roads this festive season, including a teen who fell off a ute. Source: AAP

NINE people have died on Australian roads this festive season, including two friends killed in a single-vehicle incident in NSW on Boxing Day.

A man, 31, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene of the crash on the NSW Central Coast. A second man, 22, was trapped in the wreckage and died before he could be released.

The crash, which occurred just before 5am (AEDT), left three other men aged 29, 22 and 27 in hospital.

Police said they hoped to speak to the injured men, all from Sydney suburb Auburn.

In Canberra, a motorcyclist died after losing control of his bike late on the evening of Christmas Day.

The 22-year-old hit a traffic island in the inner-north suburb of Lyneham about 11pm on Wednesday.

He died in Canberra Hospital.

In Perth, a 17-year-old boy died after falling off the back of a utility on Christmas evening.

Police say the boy suffered severe head injuries when he fell from the tray of the Nissan ute.

A 24-year-old man in the Northern Territory was killed after losing control of his motorcycle on a dirt road near the Todd River in Alice Springs on Christmas Day.

Two Victorian women killed in a head-on collision two days before Christmas were the first fatalities for the 2013 Christmas period.

A 69-year-old Queensland man died on Christmas Eve when his car hit a tree near Bundaberg.

On Monday night police found a man dead in a sedan spilt in two following a high-speed crash into a tree north of Moree in NSW.

The deaths take the national toll to nine, compared with 16 recorded by Boxing Day in 2012.

The national road toll period runs from midnight on December 23, 2013, until midnight on January 3, 2014, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Man found dead after Brisbane siege

POLICE have discovered the body of a man believed to be a gunman who held a mother and daughter hostage for hours in Brisbane.

A gunman had held the pair at a home on Earnshaw Road at Banyo for more than five hours on Thursday while police tried to negotiate.

The pair were rescued after a police Special Response Team managed to enter the house through an upstairs bathroom window and found them tied up.

As police were still trying to negotiate with the gunman, a drone and a robot were sent to the house, the first time Queensland police have used a drone in an operation.

Inspector David Morganti said officers used a remote camera to identify where the man was.

"Eventually those remote techniques were successful and we were able to identify that he was in what appeared to be a state upstairs where he was not moving," he told reporters.

He said police entered the house and confirmed the man was dead in an upstairs room.

An emergency declaration surrounding the home and neighbouring streets was lifted after police discovered the body at 7.25pm.

Insp Morganti said police were still investigating whether there was a connection between the man and the two females held hostage.

Earlier, police Inspector Sean Cryer told reporters the woman, in her 40s, and the teenage girl rescued from the home were emotionally distraught but did not appear to have major injuries.

Officers had been called to a disturbance at the house just before 11am (AEST) and saw a man with what they believed was a gun and heard two shots.

Neighbours were evacuated and streets cordoned off as police declared an emergency situation at 11.45am (AEST).

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First Greenpeace activist gets exit visa

Russia has dropped charges against 29 activists following their protest at an oil rig in the Arctic. Source: AAP

RUSSIA has started issuing visas to foreign crew members of a Greenpeace protest ship and dropped the criminal case against the last member of the team of 30.

Italy's Christian d'Alessandro was notified by investigators that the case against him had been dropped, Greenpeace said on Thursday.

Earlier, Russia closed the cases of the other 29 crew members of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship under a Kremlin-backed amnesty.

The 30 were accused of hooliganism following a protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.

Anthony Perrett of Britain was the first crew member to be given an exit visa, and happily showed off the document to journalists outside the offices of the Russian Federal Migration Service.

"He will be able to go home before the New Year!" Greenpeace tweeted.

But Russian officials could not guarantee all the activists would get home before 2014.

"We're not sure how it will turn out," a spokesman told AFP.

"But we are hoping that things will be in favour of the Greenpeace activists."

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Christmas came early for shy girl: cleric

Thousands of worshippers have attended mass while others have flocked to the beach for Christmas. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS should strive to make every day Christmas Day for the people around them.

That is the message delivered to a standing-room crowd at St Mary's Cathedral's annual Christmas mass in Sydney.

Thousands of worshippers flocked to the cathedral on Wednesday night for the service, led by Father Brendan Purcell.

He told a story he thought of when asked recently if he had witnessed a miracle.

He spoke about a young girl who was so embarrassed by a skin ailment that she refused to go to school and hid in her room.

He said somehow her sister persuaded her to go to school on the last day of the term, and the principal told her she would progress to the next year, despite missing around three months of school.

"They made that day Christmas for her," Fr Purcell said.

"It's up to us to make every day Christmas Day for the people around us."

Most families in and around Sydney were forced to celebrate Christmas Day inside due to rainy weather.

But it was a different story in northern parts of NSW, Victoria and Queensland, where sweltering heat drove families and santa-hat sporting holiday makers to the beach.

Despite the sizeable crowds, there were few major incidents on the beaches.

"We have had tremendous numbers on the beaches and a lot of volunteers turning up to help," Gold Coast Surf Life Saving duty officer Laurie Cavill said.

"There has been isolated rescues but no major incidents."

Further south ambulance crews were called to Ballina and Byron Bay for a dislocated shoulder and drunk beach goers.

"All in all it's been a good day and volunteer life savers across the state have been been on top of their game. So far nothing bad has occurred," Surf Life Saving NSW spokesperson Matt Miller told AAP.

In Perth, surf life savers also had a "pretty good day" with a spinal injury and dislocated shoulder among the few incidents reported.

Alice Springs mayor Damien Ryan said the aquatic centre was the hot spot for the town on a rainy Christmas.

"In other parts of the world they sing about a white christmas," he told ABC Radio.

"But this morning when I got up and the rain clouds were halfway down the wonderful Macdonnell Ranges. It looked like they were snow capped - it was pretty close for us."

In Melbourne, where temperatures reached 31.8C, Santa dropped by the Royal Children's Hospital to distribute gifts.

Also benefiting from the Christmas spirit were two Victorian families who had their presents stolen overnight.

Their Wodonga neighbours banded together and donated gifts to them.

Further afield, the thoughts of many Australian families were with the 2200 Australian troops deployed overseas.

Despite the end to Australia's mission in Uruzgan province and the return of troops just before Christmas, 500 remain in Afghanistan.

Major General Craig Orme, Commander Joint Task Force in the Middle East, said senior officers would spend Christmas Day visiting troops in the region.

"Christmas on operations is a hard time. The work continues and the absence from family and friends is reinforced," he said in a statement,

"But our personnel deployed across the Middle East Area of Operations will make time to mark the occasion with their deployed family."

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Indonesia cuts Christians' jail sentences

Nearly 8,500 Christian prisoners in Indonesia have been given sentence cuts to mark Christmas. Source: AAP

NEARLY 8,500 Christian prisoners in Indonesia have been given sentence cuts of 15 days to two months to mark Christmas.

"Remissions were given to Christian inmates who have shown good behaviour," Akbar Hadi, a justice ministry spokesman told state news agency Antara on Wednesday.

More than 160 prisoners were eligible for immediate release thanks to sentence cuts, he said.

Indonesia traditionally offers sentence cuts to prisoners to mark religious holidays and Independence Day.

There are more than 150,000 prisoners across the country and overcrowding is a problem in many of the more than 400 prisons.

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US gunman 'had told patients to flee'

Phone recordings reveal chilling details of a man who entered a US urology clinic and began firing. Source: AAP

NEWLY released phone recordings paint a scene of terror inside a US urology clinic where callers hid in bathrooms and exam rooms from a suicidal gunman who killed one doctor and shot another.

Callers including a woman hiding under a desk and another who whispers "he's going to ... kill us", with gunshots audible in the background, can be heard on the tapes, released on Tuesday.

Alan Oliver Frazier, 51, told patients to leave or he would shoot them after he entered the Urology Nevada office in Reno on December 17 and began firing a pistol-grip, 12-gauge shotgun.

The shooter, from northern California, said he was angry because "he had a vasectomy here and they ruined his life", a male witness told a 911 dispatcher from a locked bathroom where he and about 10 others hid.

"He says, 'As long as you're a patient, you can leave. Otherwise I'm going to shoot you,'" the man said.

The bathroom was outside the urology office where the shooting occurred.

Frazier used the shotgun to kill Urology Nevada president Dr Charles Gholdoian, 46. He also critically wounded another doctor, then turned the gun on himself.

A woman hiding under a desk was talking so softly on the emergency recording she could barely be heard.

"I hear gunshots outside my office," the woman said.

"I just heard another one ... He's going to (expletive) kill us."

"Oh, my God ... He's outside my door," she said.

Among the 50 calls police said they received was one from a woman in a locked office, gasping for breath between sentences.

"He's in the middle of the office," she said.

"We think he shot one of our doctors."

Police arrived at the scene within minutes.

They confirmed Frazier had been a patient at the facility who had complained about a botched surgery in 2010.

The unemployed former power plant worker said in a suicide note he planned the attack and his focus was on the physicians, police said.

Detectives are investigating Frazier's involvement in an internet chat room where he reportedly complained about complications from the surgery, city spokeswoman Sharon Spangler said.

She said a neighbour said Frazier told him the day of the shooting that he was leaving and not coming back.

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Flood worries as WA cyclone threat eases

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a flood-watch warning for the north Kimberley region. Source: AAP

A DAMAGING tropical low is expected to bare down on Western Australia on Christmas night but cyclone fears are declining.

And strong winds are forecast for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

The Bureau of Meteorology says a tropical low in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, to the north of Wyndham, is expected to cross the Kimberley coast on Wednesday night.

The weather system could bring heavy rainfall, flash flooding and thunderstorms with winds up to 100 km/h.

While the weather bureau says the weather is typical for this time of year, the winds could damage property and make road conditions hazardous.

A flood-watch warning is still in place for the North Kimberley.

The bureau cancelled a earlier cyclone warning for the Mitchell Plateau to the Northern Territory border

The low is no longer expected to become a tropical cyclone.

However, heavy rainfall is still forecast over the north Kimberley for the next few days, with falls up to 125 millimetres forecast from Kalumburu to Kununurra expected in the coming 24 hours.

Further east, strong winds are expected to lash the southern NSW coast during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, which starts on Thursday.

Gale force winds are forecast for the Illawarra coast on Boxing Day and a strong-wind warning has been issued for the Hunter Coast and Sydney Coastal area.

The weather bureau forecasts 15 to 25 knot winds increasing to 35 knots offshore on Thursday for the Illawarra coast.

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race starts from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day and follows a 628 nautical mile course out into the Tasman Sea.

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Four generations at royal church service

PRINCE George is nowhere to be seen as four generations of the British royal family attend their traditional Christmas Day church service at Sandringham on the Norfolk estate.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge looked relaxed as they walked St Mary Magdalene Church, holding hands as temperatures stayed just above freezing.

One member of the crowd shouted: "Where's the baby?"

Wearing a tartan Alexander McQueen coat and hat by Gina Foster, Kate smiled and waved to the crowds.

She was seen curtseying to the Queen, who was wearing an orange coat, as the family attended a private service earlier in the morning.

Prince Harry, still sporting a beard from his exertions in the Arctic with the charity Walking With the Wounded, attended alone despite rumours that girlfriend Cressida Bonas might join him.

About 3000 well-wishers gathered outside the church to watch them arrive.

Before the service a pilot entertained them by drawing a smiley face, heart and kiss in vapour trails in the sky.

The service opened with a rendition of Christians, Awake followed by Once In Royal David's City.

Last year the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge missed the service, choosing to spend Christmas Day with Kate's family in Berkshire, while Prince Harry was on tour in Afghanistan.

There had been unconfirmed reports that George's grandparents Michael and Carole Middleton would attend this year. There was no sign of them but it is thought they may arrive at the estate on Boxing Day.

The royal habit of spending Christmas at Sandringham is believed to date to Queen Victoria's reign.

The family traditionally open their presents on Christmas Eve and will enjoy a Norfolk turkey with all the trimmings after the service.

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Cyclone could develop Christmas Day

A TROPICAL cyclone is expected to form in northern Western Australia on Christmas morning with warnings issued for parts of the state and the Northern Territory.

A blue alert has been issued for people in or near the coastal and inland communities between the WA and Northern Territory border and the Mitchell Plateau.

That includes people in Wyndham, Kalumburu, Troughton Island and surrounding areas.

"Although there is no immediate danger, you need to start preparing for dangerous weather and keep up to date," the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) warns.

Residents have been warned to secure or remove loose material from around their homes and ensure their emergency kits are complete.

The Northern Territory Emergency Service has also advised people in affected areas to tie things down and seek shelter when conditions deteriorate.

The service warned that driving conditions may be hazardous and urged people to avoid flooded roads and watercourses.

At around 6.30pm (CST) on Tuesday the tropical low was estimated to be about 270km northeast of Kalumburu and 335km north of Wyndham, moving south at 4km/h towards the north Kimberley coast.

The low may develop into a tropical cyclone in the next 12 to 24 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Gales with gusts to 100km/h may develop on the coast on Wednesday morning.

Heavy rain is also expected over the far north Kimberley region during Wednesday and Thursday.

AAP anr/ldj

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Man dies after car hits tree in Qld

A 69-YEAR-OLD man who died after his car crashed into a tree northwest of Bundaberg has become the first fatality on Queensland roads in the Christmas holiday period.

The crash near Avondale was reported to police at around 12.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday after it was discovered by a member of the public.

Police said initial investigations indicate the vehicle left Baumanns Road and crashed into a tree.

The driver and sole occupant, believed to be a local man, died at the scene.

The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2013 until 2359 January 3, 2014, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Belfast peace talks fail to reach deal

OVERNIGHT talks in Belfast have failed to resolve deep-seated divisions over parades and flags that have triggered widespread rioting in Northern Ireland.

Richard Haass, director of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, led the multiparty talks.

The hope was that he could forge a compromise plan by the end of the year on areas of bitter dispute: parades, British and Irish flags and emblems, and remembering the dead from Northern Ireland's four-decade conflict.

Talks ended around 4am on Tuesday without agreement.

Haass insisted the process was "still alive" and said he might return to Belfast before the end of the year.

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Qld crash takes Xmas road toll to 4

A 69-YEAR-OLD man who was killed when his car crashed into a tree northwest of Bundaberg has become the first fatality on Queensland roads in the Christmas holiday period.

His death near Avondale at around 12.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday takes the national road toll for the holiday period to four.

Police said a member of the public reported the crash and the driver and sole occupant, believed to be a local man, died at the scene.

The death follows that of a man in northern NSW who was killed when the car he was in also hit a tree and split in two during a police pursuit.

A second man in the Holden sedan was critically injured in the high speed crash about 4km north of Moree at about 11pm (AEDT) on Monday.

Police said officers were attempting to catch up with the car after it passed a stationary RBT site on the Carnarvon Highway.

The death was the first in NSW for the holiday period and followed the deaths of two women in a two-car collision on the Calder Highway near Ouyen in Victoria's northwest at about 1pm on Monday.

* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2013 until 2359 January 3, 2014, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Medicals scrapped for older SA drivers

SOUTH Australian drivers aged over 70 will no longer have to undergo annual medical tests to keep their licence.

The move is aimed at supporting older people to be more active and engaged in the community, said Health and Ageing Minister Jack Snelling.

South Australia has the youngest age for a mandatory medical check across the nation, despite having the oldest mainland population.

"While some jurisdictions have compulsory medical testing for drivers at 75 and 80 years of age, there are some who do not have aged-based testing at all and that is what South Australia will move to from 1 September, 2014," Mr Snelling said on Tuesday.

Research had not shown that age-based testing reduced crash rates for older drivers, but it had prompted some to cease driving.

SA's crash rate was similar to Victoria's, which had no age-based testing, he said.

A working group is to be set up to see what alternatives could be implemented to ensure road safety is unaffected by these changes.

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Victory smells sweet for this winner

The ring up for auction at graysonline. Picture: graysonline.com Source: Supplied

SOME may have pooh-poohed whether it would ever be sold, but a 'lucky' bidder has snapped up Brisbane's most infamous ring.

A West Australian became the new owner of a 1.53-carat yellow diamond ring on Monday night, after successfully placing a bid of $16,000.

The GraysOnline auction came down to the wire, with last minute bids adding $2000 to the ring's selling price.

The ring, valued at $27,000, was one of two swallowed by David Watts after he allegedly stole the jewels from Crown Family Jewellers at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre in November.

The ring up for auction at graysonline. Picture: greysonline.com

The auctioned ring was returned to the store by police after Watts underwent a colonoscopy earlier this month.

The other ring was accidently thrown out by police while Watts was in custody.

Embarrassment for Queensland police today. Forced to admit they've bungled the stolen diamonds case. Officers were waiting for the alleged robber to pass the rings, but they didn't keep their eyes on where it went

Crown Family Jewellers spokeswoman Francesca Antonaglia-Monteverde said proceeds from the auction for the 1.53-carat yellow diamond would go to the Leukaemia Foundation.

"This is a unique ring," Ms Antonaglia-Monteverde told The Courier-Mail.

"From the mine to the jeweller to the cutters to the designers, down someone's throat."

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Cleveland kidnap hero lands book deal

Charles Ramsey has told WEWS news what was going through his head when Amanda Berry ran into his arms. Courtesy of WEWS

The man who helped rescue three women held captive in a Cleveland house has landed a book deal. Source: AAP

THE man who famously put aside his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive in a Cleveland house over a decade has signed a contract to publish his memoirs.

Charles Ramsey signed the deal with the Cleveland publisher David Gray & Co on Thursday.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight and Berry's six-year-old daughter escaped to freedom May 6.

Collaborating as Ramsey's co-author will be freelance writer Randy Nyerges.

The former US Senate staff speechwriter co-wrote Day of the Dawg with former Cleveland Browns defensive back Hanford Dixon.

"What you saw on TV doesn't even begin to tell the story," Ramsey said in the company's announcement of the signing.

Ramsey and Nyerges started work on the book early this month, David Gray said. Ramsey, who had been working as a dishwasher, is devoting full time to the project.

"Charles says outrageous things, but what a story he has," Nyerges said. "America doesn't know yet how truly brilliant this guy is."

The book, which does not yet have a title, will be published next spring.

"He's completely unfiltered," Gray said, according to The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. "I think that's part of his appeal. He says what he thinks. I am really intrigued by him - as a person, with the story he had to tell, and with his ability to tell it."

Last May Ramsey, 44, heard screaming from Ariel Castro's Seymour Avenue house next door. Ramsey ran over, helped a woman who said she was Amanda Berry escape through the front door, and called 911.

He was hailed as a hero, and his animated TV interviews, offering blunt opinions on race, class and life in the inner city, made him a sensation.

Seeing a white girl in that situation was "a dead giveaway" that she was either homeless or had other problems, he said.

"When a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms, something was wrong," he said.

Viking announced last week that it has acquired a planned book by Berry and DeJesus. The book is currently untitled and is scheduled to come out in 2015.

Knight is working on her own memoir, which Weinstein Books plans to publish next spring.

Castro was arrested and eventually sentenced to life in prison. He was found hanged in his cell in September.

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Ex-UK minister jailed for fudging expenses

BRITAIN'S disgraced former Europe minister Denis MacShane was jailed for six months on Monday after admitting he falsely claimed thousands of pounds in parliamentary expenses.

MacShane, 65, made bogus claims worth STG12,900 ($A23,763) to fund trips to Europe, including a visit to Paris to judge a literary competition.

The former Labour MP, a fluent French speaker, muttered "Quelle surprise" as he was led from the dock at London's Old Bailey court.

Judge Nigel Sweeney said MacShane, who was Europe minister from 2002 to 2005, would have to serve half his sentence in prison and pay legal costs of STG1500 ($A2763). "You have no one to blame but yourself," the judge said.

Sweeney told MacShane his dishonesty had been "considerable and repeated many times over a long period".

He had shown "a flagrant breach of trust" that "reduced confidence in our priceless democratic system", the judge added.

MacShane submitted fake receipts to parliament for "research and translation" and spent the money on the trips.

The fraud revelations forced him to resign as the member of parliament for Rotherham, northern England, in November 2012.

Several other MPs have been jailed for fiddling their parliamentary expenses after a major expose by the Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2009.

The expenses scandal rocked British politics and continues to fuel debate on politicians' pay.

MacShane had been an MP since 1994, serving as a minister under former prime minister Tony Blair.

Police started examining MacShane's expenses nearly three years ago after revelations published in the Telegraph, before dropping the case.

But the investigation was reopened after a parliamentary standards committee report published a year ago - which included details that had not previously been seen by police - found that he had made bogus claims.

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Australian journalist accused by Thai navy

A VETERAN Australian journalist is facing up to five years in a Thai jail in what human rights activists claim is an attempt to curtail press freedom.

Alan Morison, editor of news website Phuketwan, has told AAP that he and fellow journalist Chutima Sidasathian were confronted with defamation allegations by Thai police last week.

Mr Morison says the charge came five months after his site published excerpts from a news agency report that alleged Thai authorities were trafficking captured Rohingya asylum seekers from Myanmar (Burma).

"We were shocked and surprised when we were sued by the Royal Thai Navy, especially given that all we did was carry a paragraph from Reuters," Mr Morison told AAP from his home on Phuket on Monday night.

Mr Morison said the pair were also accused of breaching Thailand's Computer Crimes Act and if convicted face maximum jail terms of five and two years or a fine of up to 100,000 baht (AU$3400) or both.

The journalists were originally due to appear in court on Christmas Eve and Mr Morison feared he would await trial behind bars.

The pair have now been told to report back to police on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Canberra was aware of the case.

"Embassy officials in Bangkok are providing consular assistance to an Australian man who has been called to give a statement before police on 24 December," she told AAP.

Human Rights Watch has attacked the legal action, calling it an attempt to stifle reporting.

"The Thai navy's lawsuit is a reckless attempt to curtail journalists reporting on alleged human trafficking by its officers," the group's Asia director Brad Adams said in a statement.

But Mr Morison said he believed the suit may stem from a simple mistranslation of his website's English-language article into Thai.

And the incident won't send him packing.

"I've been here for 10 years," he said.

"Phuket is a paradise for tourists and it's even more of a paradise for journalists."

The Royal Thai Navy could not be reached for comment.

A response has been sought from Reuters.

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WA police crack down on demerit scam

AT least 60 West Australian drivers suspected of rorting the demerit point system by claiming someone else was driving their car when they broke a traffic law will be charged.

An audit of traffic infringements over the 12 months to November found 360 potential cases of drivers falsely declaring that another person was driving their vehicle at the time of an infringement.

Only 60 cases have clear photographic evidence to charge people, but further reviews could identify more cases for prosecution, WA police said.

The review was ordered after a driver was accused of advertising on the Gumtree website for strangers to be paid to take his demerit points for speeding.

Drivers who accrue 12 demerit points are banned from driving for three months and points can accrue over three years.

Registered vehicle owners can nominate another person as being the driver at the time of an infringement, with demerit points transferred to that person.

Commander Alf Fordham said that police would continue cracking down on the demerit points scam.

"We now have processes in place to ensure we catch people engaging in this practice and we will get you, both as the driver and the person incorrectly accepting the points," he said.

The infringement management office had now developed criteria that would trigger an investigation into a renomination, he said.

Falsely nominating another driver can lead to charges of wilfully misleading police, which can incur a $1600 fine, or false statutory declarations that can result in two years' imprisonment and a fine up to $24,000.

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