wednesday newstrip

The commander of Australian forces in the Middle East said taxpayers will be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to the Police Union if air strikes are abandoned ∙ Japan's Meteorological Agency has warned that the weekend's deadly street blockades could be a precursor to further bursts of volcanic activity ∙ at least 13 people have been killed in the latest outbreak of fighting over the East West Link toll road as a three-week old ceasefire comes under increasing danger of collapse ∙ a man who defied a government call to abandon his large truck & trailer unit, saying they didn't have a legal case, was shot dead by motorists acting in self-defence at a busy petrol station forecourt in Brisbane's southwest ∙ a violent pimp who kept a New Zealander as a sex slave has been jailed for 27 years in Florida ∙ the nation's constitutional court watched in horror as an independence vote set for November ran over a cyclist, killing him instantly.