Refugees

Hundreds of men have refused to leave the Manus Island centre since it was shut down on 31 October, citing fears for their safety.

On Thursday, multiple men inside the centre said that PNG police had given them a one-hour deadline to leave.

Australia said it was a PNG operation.

Under a controversial policy, Australia has detained asylum seekers who arrive by boat in camps on Manus Island and Nauru, a small Pacific nation.

Without water, catering, power and medical services, about 600 men are occupying the decommissioned centre, where they have been interned by Australia since 2013.

The centre was closed on October 31 when companies providing services walked away from their contracts with the Australian government, following sustained public pressure.

The court found the services were available for the refugees at up to three alternative sites in the island's main town, but the refugees say they will not swap one prison for another.

Peter Dutton accused the detainees of being economic refugees, fleeing poverty rather than persecution, while still being able to pay up to $AU20,000 to people smugglers.

Mr Dutton said there was anecdotal evidence that detainees had amassed "the world's biggest collection of Armani jeans and handbags on Nauru," and he said their detention was being funded by "the generosity of the Australian taxpayer."

About 60 asylum seekers and guards came to blows in the running battle, as the governments of PNG and Australia met in Port Moresby to discuss refugee resettlement.

Coast guard Mohamed al-Alay told Reuters the refugees, carrying official UNHCR documents, were on their way from Yemen to Sudan when they were attacked by an Apache helicopter near the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

Mohammed Abdiker, emergencies director at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said 42 bodies had been recovered.

He said the attack at around 3:00am on Friday (local time) was "totally unacceptable" and that responsible combatants should have checked who was aboard the boat "before firing on it".

 US District Judge Derrick Watson cited "questionable evidence" in the government's argument that the ban was a matter of national security.

President Trump described the ruling as "unprecedented judicial overreach".

The order would have placed a 90-day ban on people from six mainly Muslim nations and a 120-day ban on refugees.

Mr Trump insists the move is to stop terrorists from entering the US but critics say it is discriminatory.

An earlier version of the order, issued in late January, sparked confusion and protests, and was blocked by a judge in Seattle.

Criminal investigators from Sri Lanka are believed to have visited Hong Kong looking for them, their lawyer said.

The Sri Lankan police have denied the allegations.

Law enforcement authorities from mainland China or other countries have no jurisdiction in Hong Kong.

The lawyer representing the men, Robert Tibbo, said that at least two officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka police visited Hong Kong in December looking for them.

RNZ reports Mr English is meeting with his Australian counterpart, Malcolm Turnbull, in Queenstown today for their annual leaders' talks.

Mr Turnbull struck a deal with the former US President, Barack Obama, for America to resettle 1250 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru, but it is unclear whether the administration of new President Donald Trump will uphold the agreement.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw said there were two clear messages Mr English should be giving Mr Turnbull today.

Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz outlined the company's plan in a memo sent to employees Sunday in response to President Trump's executive order banning travel from seven Muslim majority countries.

"We are living in an unprecedented time," Schultz wrote in the memo, which listed several actions the company says it is taking to "reinforce our belief in our partners around the world."

The refugee hiring proposal, Schultz wrote, will begin with a focus on people who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel.

Zainabu and her son Abdul-Aziz are from Congo, but have spent the last six years in a refugee camp in Uganda.

"This will be the first Christmas I can enjoy with my son," she said.

"In Africa I was not safe. I couldn't care about Christmas. If you are not safe, how can you enjoy it? Christmas was always too sad.

"But now I am here. I am happy, and able to enjoy Christmas for the first time in a very long time."