Hail, winds, rain to hit NSW

Hail has fallen on Newcastle and severe thunderstorms are likely to hammer parts of New South Wales. Source: AAP

HAIL has fallen on Newcastle and severe thunderstorms are likely to hammer parts of NSW with damaging winds and heavy rainfall.

THE storms could also cause flash flooding in areas around Newcastle, Gosford, Armidale, Tamworth, Moree, Narrabri, Dubbo, Parkes and Wagga Wagga, the Bureau of Meteorology said in a severe thunderstorm warning issued Monday afternoon.

Almost 43 millimetres of rain has fallen on Newcastle and two centimetres of hail has hit the city's Bar Beach.In Dubbo about 2.5 cm of hail came down.The storms, which are moving towards the east to southeast from Newcastle, have prompted the SES to remind people to avoid from fallen power lines and bodies of water.It also advises people to grab their pets, stay indoors, unplug computers and appliances and stay away from windows.The BOM is predicting the foul weather to return to NSW on Tuesday, with showers likely everywhere except the state's north.It expects temperatures ranging from the mid-20s down to as low as 12 degrees, the forecast minimum for Camden in Sydney's southwest.The temperature is due to dip to 7 degrees in parts of the Southern Tablelands.An update is expected from the BOM on Monday evening.

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Defence civilians to vote on strike action

DEFENCE public servants are set to vote on industrial action in protest against a proposed federal government pay deal.

COMMUNITY and Public Sector Union national secretary Nadine Flood said the union would apply to the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday for a ballot of members to take industrial action.

Ms Flood said defence staff were outraged at an insulting offer of a 1.05 per cent pay increase a year, with cuts to conditions, including removal of two days leave, and working an extra 3.5 days a year.Once endorsed by a vote of union members, industrial action would encompass a range of work bans and stoppages of up to 24 hours, she said."Taking industrial action is always a last resort but Defence staff will be joining their colleagues across the Australian public service in sending a clear message that they are not going to cop this," Ms Flood said in a statement.

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Hundreds flee South African wildfires

WILDFIRES are raging in the Cape Town area on South Africa's southwestern coast, prompting hundreds of people to leave the area, media reports say.

HUNDREDS of firefighters were battling flames fanned by strong winds on Monday, pledging to protect residential areas.

Four buildings, two of which had thatched roofs, were reported to have been damaged.A luxury tourist lodge in the Table Mountain National Park was also engulfed by flames, but no one was hurt, a representative of the lodge was quoted as saying.The extent of the damage was being assessed.Residents of a home for the elderly who had been moved out were being allowed to return, according to the website News24.No injuries were reported.Firefighters were using about 30 vehicles and several helicopters.Some of the areas in flames were only accessible on foot, making it likely that the fires could only be contained on Tuesday, according to broadcaster eNCA.The cause of the fires was not immediately known.

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Carnell reveals struggle with anorexia

FORMER ACT chief minister Kate Carnell has revealed her struggle with the eating disorder anorexia which saw her weight dwindle to just 30 kilograms.

NOW head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ms Carnell recalled being sick and having tension headaches all the time.

She said felt rotten about herself and what she was doing to others in her life."... and having an absolute focus on food. I was stick thin but people said `wow you are looking so great.' I wasn't - I was looking really skinny," she told ABC television.Ms Carnell's battle with anorexia started when she was 12 or 13. At 15 she started an extended stay in a psychiatric unit.She said people didn't understand eating disorders."It is hard to understand why you can't put a piece of food in your mouth, chew it up and swallow it. How hard can that be. When you've got anorexia it's like moving a mountain," she said.Food still remained a greater focus in her life than it should."I still have to have little discussions with myself about body image. I still naturally think I am too fat," she said.Ms Carnell described her experiences at a function on Monday where the advocacy group The Butterfly Foundation released a report outlining the high cost of eating disorders which affect almost a million Australians.Butterfly Foundation chairman David Murray said their report demonstrated the large benefits of intervention."Early intervention pays big time, with about a 50 per cent cost reduction for the government in the health system by getting the problem early enough," he said.

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Four buffalo bulls found dead in NT

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after four valuable purebred buffalo bulls were found dead on a research station in the Northern Territory.

THE Riverine buffalo bulls were found at the Beatrice Hill Research Station on Saturday morning.

Two of the three had been dismembered, and a fourth buffalo was later found with gunshot wounds and had to be euthanised by staff.Residents on the property did not report hearing any gunshots, said Sergeant Paul Wood.The animals were located close to the Arnhem Highway near the Windows on the Wetlands education centre, and Sergeant Wood said they may have even been shot from the road."Given the location, it is possible that someone saw something," he said."This is a very serious matter and these sorts of incidents will not be tolerated."Anyone with any information is urged to contact police on 131 444 or the Animal Welfare Branch on 1300 720 386.

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Three shot dead near Toowoomba

THREE people have been shot dead at a property on Queensland's Darling Downs, police say.

OFFICERS were called to an address in Biddeston, 25km west of Toowoomba, shortly before 7pm (AEST) on Monday.

A crime scene has been established, a police spokesman said.Police have cordoned off a red brick bungalow house belonging to a single-parent family with several children, a neighbour told AAP.The man said the house, about 30 metres from his own, was frequented by police."It's put Biddeston on the map for all the wrong reasons," he said.Forensic officers and detectives will remain at the scene throughout the night.

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McDonald's sales weaken in US and Asia

MCDONALD'S says a key global sales figure fell 2.2 per cent in November as US sales continue to soften and it contends with ongoing difficulties from a food-safety scandal in China.

THE world's largest hamburger chain said on Monday that the drop in global sales at locations open at least 13 months included a 4.6 per cent decline in the US and a four per cent decline for the unit that includes the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

McDonald's Asian business has been trying to bounce back since the summer, when a TV report in China showed workers at one of its suppliers repackaging meat that was alleged to be expired.The claim has not been publicly confirmed by the supplier or the government.The Illinois company said comparable sales for Europe fell two per cent.

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Pope decries 'unimaginable' Middle East

APPEALING for the protection of Christians in the Middle East, Pope Francis said it was "unimaginable" that they could be driven out of the region after 2000 years.

"WE cannot be resigned to imagining a Middle East without Christians," Francis said on Monday at a special meeting of cardinals, known as the consistory.

While the number of Christians has been dwindling throughout the Middle East, recently there has been an exodus of the minority community from Iraq and Syria following the steady advance of the Islamic State extremist group."The latest developments, especially in Iraq and Syria, are very worrying," Francis said. "We are looking at a terrorist phenomenon of previously unimaginable dimensions."He described it as an "unjust situation" that requires not only constant prayers, but also an adequate response from the international community.Earlier this month, an Iraqi Christian politician spoke at the Italian parliament in Rome of the fate of non-Muslim minorities in Iraq."Yezidis have faced genocide, while Christians have faced ethnic cleansing," Hadaya Anwar, a member of the provincial council of Niniveh, in northern Iraq, told a press conference.Anwar said that 120,000 to 130,000 Iraqi Christians have fled to Kurdish areas not controlled by the Islamic State since early August. In addition, some 30,000 have left the country, he said."Us Christians in Iraq have always been the victims of attacks, it's not news, it has been happening for 1400 years," Anwar said. "But today we are the target of the most ferocious aggression that we have seen in the history of Mesopotamia."Francis is expected to return to the issue of Christian minorities in the Middle East when he visits Turkey in late November.

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Parents of ill UK boy to remain in Spanish

A SPANISH judge has ordered the detention for 72 hours of a British couple who took their critically ill five-year-old son abroad against doctors' advice.

A SPOKESMAN at the National Court in Madrid said the judge ruled on Monday the couple must be held while the court considers whether to grant Britain an extradition request.

The judge could have opted to let the parents to go free while the case is considered.The spokesman said Ashya King's parents told the judge they don't want to return to the UK.They were arrested on Sunday in southeastern Spain after a European arrest warrant was issued by Interpol at the request of British police.Their son is receiving medical treatment for a brain tumour and is currently at a Malaga hospital.

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Christmas hopes boost business confidence

RETAILERS' hopes of a good Christmas have driven the number of companies expecting profit growth in the coming months to a 10-year high.

OF the 800 businesses surveyed by researcher Dun & Bradstreet, 40 per cent expect their profit in the final three months of 2014 to be higher than in the same period a year ago.

Just 11 per cent expect a fall.That has sent Dun & Bradstreet's profit expectations index to its highest level in a decade.Retailers were the most optimistic of those businesses, indicating they are confident consumers will spend big this Christmas.More businesses also expect to hire staff and increase investment, and Dun & Bradstreet's economic adviser Stephen Koukoulas said rising confidence could boost the economy."Not only are expected sales at an 11-year high - a sign of buoyant activity - but expected profits are at a level well above the long run average," he said."In the past, firms have only held this level of optimism when the underlying economic conditions were strong."D&B's data suggest that the economy is poised to run at, or even above, trend levels in the second half of 2014, with expected employment and capital expenditure also well above the long run average."Even better for businesses, the survey showed an increase in the number expecting prices to moderate, which would mean less pressure on the central bank to lift interest rates."A low inflation climate will be vital for the Reserve Bank of Australia to keep its interest rate settings on hold," Mr Koukoulas said.Businesses in the retail, services, finance and real estate sectors are the most optimistic about the coming three months, while there was a drop in the number of companies in the manufacturing, construction, transport and utilities sectors forecasting profit growth.Growing business confidence was backed by improving conditions in the second quarter of 2014, Dun & Bradstreet said, with profits higher among those businesses surveyed.

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