US town evacuated after train derails

A small town in the US is being evacuated after a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded. Source: AAP

AUTHORITIES have urged residents to evacuate a town in North Dakota after a 1.6-kilometre train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded.

The Cass County sheriff's office said on Monday night it was "strongly recommending" that the 2,400 residents of Casselton and anyone living 8km to the south and east evacuate.

The sheriff's office said the National Weather Service was forecasting a shift in the weather that would push down a plume of smoke from the train wreck, which could increase the risk to health.

The BNSF Railway train left the tracks about 2:30pm on Monday, and as many as 10 cars caught fire. No one was hurt.

Authorities said a second train carrying grain had been involved in the incident. BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said the train carrying grain derailed first, then knocked several cars of the oil train off adjoining tracks.

Ryan Toop, who lives near the accident scene, said he heard explosions and drove as close as about two city blocks to the fire.

"I rolled down the window, and you could literally keep your hands warm," Toop said.

Another witness, Hannah Linnard, 13, said: "I looked out the window and all of a sudden the train car tipped over and the whole thing was engulfed in flames and it just exploded.

"The oil car tipped over on to the grain car."

The railway tracks pass through the middle of Casselton, and Cass County Sheriff's Sergeant Tara Morris said it was "a blessing it didn't happen within the city".

The train had more than 100 cars, and about 80 of them have been moved away from the site.

Morris said it could take up to 12 hours before authorities could get close to the fire.

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Qld police use Eve for G20 practice

Police in Brisbane will use the New Year's Eve celebration to prepare for November's G20 summit. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND police say they will use New Year's Eve to prepare for when Brisbane hosts the G20 in 2014.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Mike Keating says up to 2700 officers will be on duty statewide on Tuesday night.

He says more than 200,000 people are expected to welcome in 2014 in the centre of Brisbane alone, plus tens of thousands more in other cities and towns.

Around 80,000 of those are expected in the South Bank cultural quarter, which will host the world leaders' summit in November.

"We can build on the experiences we have had for many years with these types of events in the city," Mr Keating told reporters on Tuesday.

"It's a good lesson for any event in the future in the South Bank area and that includes the G20."

Mr Keating said the large police contingent will be keeping a close eye on everything from anti-social behaviour to drink driving.

Alcohol bans are in place in areas including the South Bank.

Up to 600 officers will be on duty in Brisbane and a similar number on the Gold Coast.

"I've never met anybody who enjoyed waking up in the watchhouse on New Year's Day - it's not a really nice way to start your new year," Mr Keating said.

"For that matter you don't want to end up in a hospital waiting room or an emergency centre."

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Measles linked to Sydney dance event

Dancers who attended a recent Sydney competition have been told to look out for measles symptoms. Source: AAP

DANCERS who participated in a Sydney competition recently have been warned to be on the lookout for measles symptoms.

NSW Health issued a health alert after being made aware of three measles cases in people who probably contracted the infection at the World Supremacy Battleground hip hop competition.

The competition was held at Sydney Olympic Park on December 7 and 8.

The first case came to NSW Health's attention on December 27, with a competitor from Adelaide coming down with measles.

On Monday night, further cases were reported by a New Zealand patient and a Sydney resident.

NSW Health communicable diseases director Dr Vicky Sheppeard advised anyone who attended the dance event to be alert for measles symptoms.

"Measles is highly infectious and is spread through coughing and sneezing," Dr Sheppeard said in a statement.

"Symptoms can include fever, tiredness, runny nose, cough and sore red eyes which usually last for several days before a red, blotchy rash appears."

The time from exposure to the onset of symptoms can be up to 18 days.

NSW Health believes that there may be other cases in the community now or secondary cases could be developing.

Anyone with measles symptoms is advised to contact their local public health unit or phone ahead to a GP to ensure that the waiting area is not shared with others.

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Wet 'n' Wild postpones Sydney NYE event

Sydney's Wet 'n' Wild has postponed a New Year's Eve party just hours before it was due to start. Source: AAP

ABOUT 10,000 people are believed to be missing out on a New Year's Eve party in Sydney as it has been postponed just hours before it was due to start.

Tickets for the event at the newly-opened Wet 'n' Wild theme park cost between $110 and $200 and it will now take place on Australia Day.

NSW Fair Trading says it expects the event promoter to provide a refund to people who cannot attend the postponed event in January.

According to a statement on the Wet 'n' Wild website, One Cube Entertainment, a promotions company organising the event, made the decision to postpone the NYE Festival due to a major technical production issue.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and are currently working on something even better for Australia Day," a One Cube Entertainment spokesperson said in the statement.

An artist manager told AAP One Cube Entertainment had attributed the cancellation to Wet 'n' Wild expressing occupational health and safety concerns.

The manager, who spoke on the basis of anonymity, said contractually his artist was still entitled to a full fee.

NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said under Australian consumer law, a remedy was available if a consumer did not get the service they paid a supplier for.

"You can seek to have refund provided," he told AAP.

Mr Stowe said some ticket holders could not or did not want to attend the postponed event on Australia Day.

"We are expecting the promoters will provide refunds to the consumers who cannot attend," he said."

People who paid for tickets on credit cards will be able to apply for a charge back from their credit institution, Mr Stowe added.

A father called Mick told Macquarie Radio his daughters had been trying to contact Wet 'n' Wild since finding out about the event postponement on Facebook.

"We have been trying to contact Wet 'n' Wild this morning and get a number for this promoter because obviously the kids want a refund but no luck so far," he said.

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Kids to benefit from big federal programs

Kids with bad teeth are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of two major federal programs. Source: AAP

KIDS with bad teeth are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of two major federal government programs focused on children starting in the new year.

A new schools funding system begins in 2014 and will pump hundreds of millions into schools and their more than three million students around the country.

The federal government has pledged an extra $2.8 billion in total over the next four years, although the individual state's allocations are still to be finalised.

From January 1, a $4.1 billion dental benefits scheme aims to improve the oral health of children aged two to 18 years and adults on low incomes. The scheme is to run for six years.

Parents will be able to access Medicare payments capped at $1000 over two years for a wider range of specific services, from basic dental check-ups and cleaning through to emergency care.

Previously, eligible persons could only get money back from the government to help pay for a single dental check-up each year.

The new package will cover 3.4 million children and one million adults.

Federal parliamentarians will face a new crackdown on expenses rorting when a new system comes into force after a number were this year forced to pay back travel expenses.

From January 1, MPs and senators required to repay claims found to be ineligible will be hit with a "significant financial penalty" worth 25 per cent of their claim.

Repeat offenders and their offices will receive mandatory training on expenses rules.

In the workplace, victims of office bullying will be able to take their cases to the Fair Work Commission, which can hold mediations and has new powers to make orders to prevent bullying.

But it won't have the power to order compensation.

Some 2000 of Tasmania's unemployed are set to benefit from the federal coalition government's Apple Isle jobs program, after it was brought forward by six months to Wednesday.

Businesses in Tasmania, which suffers from high unemployment and little economic growth, will be in line for one-off payments of $3250 if they hire a job seeker for at least six months full-time work.

As well, there's also potential for lower grocery prices from January 1, after retailing giants Coles and Woolworths agreed to stop funding fuel discounts through their supermarkets divisions.

Future fuel discounts will be covered by their fuel retailing businesses, after an agreement was reached this year with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

There would have been more federal changes from January 1, but these have been held up in the Senate where the legislation is still being examined.

These include plans to halt tax benefits for families whose teenaged children have finished school, tighten pension eligibility criteria for Australians living overseas and replace student tertiary "start-up" scholarships with loans.

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Motorcyclist critical after head-on smash

A MOTORCYCLIST is fighting for his life in hospital after he collided head-on with a cattle truck near Wagga Wagga.

Police said the collision occurred on the Sturt Highway about 8.5 kilometres west of Wagga, about 10.40am (AEDT) Monday.

The rider, a 66-year-old man, was taken to Wagga Base Hospital with life threatening injuries.

The 28-year-old driver of the semi-trailer was taken to the same hospital for blood and urine testing.

The highway was closed for over six hours, but has now reopened.

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Vic child killed after tree branch fall

A CHILD has died and a woman was seriously injured after a tree branch fell on them at a park in Bendigo.

Police said the pair were at Rosalind Park when a large branch has fallen from a tree about 5.20pm (AEDT) and killed the young girl.

The woman, aged in her 30s, was taken to Bendigo Hospital in a serious condition with head injuries, a fractured leg and possible spinal injuries.

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Holiday toll rises to 21

A HORROR NSW car crash that claimed the life of a young girl and injured five others is one of three fatal smashes that has lifted the Christmas holiday road death toll to 21.

The young girl died at the scene of the single-vehicle crash that occurred about 50 kilometres south of Cessnock on George Downes Drive, Bucketty, shortly before 1pm (AEDT) Monday.

Police said a woman in her 30s, believed to be the driver, and another young girl suffering a serious head injury were airlifted to hospital.

Three other people were treated at the scene for abrasions and minor injuries then airlifted to Westmead Hospital by a second rescue helicopter, NSW Ambulance said.

The young girl's death takes the NSW road toll to seven.

In the second fatal crash on Monday, a Melbourne motorcyclist died after he collided with a car in the city's west.

The Maribyrnong man, aged in his 30s, collided with a Ford Falcon as the sedan turned into Bunbury Street at Footscray late on Saturday night.

He died at the scene.

The Ford driver, a 36-year-old Wyndham Vale man, is assisting police with their inquiries.

The motorcyclist is the third person to die on Victorian roads during the holiday period.

In Perth, a 51-year-old woman who was hit by a car on Christmas Eve died in hospital this evening.

Astrid Hall was struck on Roe Highway in Beckenham, in Perth's south-east, on December 24 and died at Royal Perth Hospital on Sunday as a result of her injuries, police said.

Three people have now died on WA roads over the holiday period.

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

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Cyclone closer to WA's north coast

A category two cyclone off the Western Australian Kimberley coast is expected to intensify. Source: AAP

A CATEGORY two cyclone off Western Australia's Kimberley coast is expected to intensify as it heads towards the Pilbara.

Tropical Cyclone Christine was 280 kilometres off Broome at 2pm (WST) on Sunday and was moving towards the Pilbara coast about 10 kilometres an hour, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The bureau said the cyclone was "expected to intensify further as it moves towards the Pilbara coast".

It is forecasting the cyclone to bring heavy rainfall and gales of up to 100km/h south of Cape Leveque on Sunday.

Gales are expected to extend further west along the Pilbara coast to Whim Creek late on Sunday or Monday morning as the cyclone approaches.

On Monday, the cyclone is forecast to bring "very destructive" gales and heavy rainfall to Mardie and possibly as far west as Exmouth, with winds possibly reaching 165km/h.

Coastal communities between Pardoo and Mardie have been warned of the potential for a dangerous storm tide late on Monday or early on Tuesday.

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Times Square preps for New Year's Eve bash

NEW York City's Times Square is getting ready for New Year's Eve.

The square will host millions on Tuesday night counting down the last few moments of 2013.

Starting on Saturday, six Citibikes from the city's bike share program were being installed in Times Square and connected to 12-volt deep cycle batteries.

New Yorkers and tourists will generate power by pedalling. That will help illuminate the famed ball that will descend New Year's Eve.

Each bike will generate an average of 75 watts an hour. It takes 50,000 watts to power the ball, which is lit by 30,000 LEDs.

Additionally, a giant paper shredder and a dumpster were installed in Times Square on Saturday to allow visitors to destroy bad memories of 2013.

The annual event is dubbed Good Riddance Day.

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Spike in mosquito-borne virus in WA

THE number of West Australians diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya has surged, with most contracting it in Bali.

The latest notifiable disease report from WA Health shows there were 54 cases in the year to December 16, up from three at the same time last year.

Australian Medical Association vice-president Michael Gannon said the increase was significant.

"I think it just reflects the sheer number of Australians travelling to Bali for holiday," he told Fairfax.

"And when you travel to the tropics, you get exposed to infections that you won't get exposed to at home, so it's important that you take different precautions."

Chikungunya symptoms are flu-like, including fever, chills and muscular aches.

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Holiday road toll rises to 18

Three more people have been killed on Australian roads, lifting the holiday road toll to 18. Source: AAP

THE Christmas holiday road death toll has risen to 18, with the latest victims including a cyclist who collided with a ute and a woman whose car smashed into a tree.

The cyclist, 21, died in Tasmania after he collided with the ute on the West Tamar Highway in Launceston on Sunday morning.

The death of the Trevallyn man is the second road fatality in Tasmania during the holiday period.

In NSW, a 69-year-old man was killed after losing control of his motorbike when he hit a gravel embankment at Khancoban, near the border of NSW and Victoria, on Sunday morning.

The man, who was riding near his son on another motorbike, died at the scene, with the death taking NSW's road toll to six.

A 31-year-old woman died in a car crash southeast of Perth on Saturday night.

She was a front passenger in a white Holden Commodore sedan that was travelling from Narrogin to Williams about 6.45pm (WST) when it left the road and hit a large tree at Minigin.

The woman and the 30-year-old male driver were trapped in the car and had to be freed by emergency workers, but she died at the scene.

The driver was critically injured and airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital.

Two people have died on WA roads this holiday period.

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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US driver survives plunge off cliff

A driver who survived a 90-metre plunge told rescuers he intentionally drove off the ocean cliff. Source: AAP

A DRIVER who plunged 90 metres off a Southern California ocean cliff was rescued after firefighters waded into the surf to free him from the car.

KNBC-TV says the 19-year-old man, who was in hospital in a critical condition, told paramedics that he intentionally drove off the cliff.

Authorities were called to the scene at about 2am local time on Friday.

They found the car being slammed by waves.

Firefighters, lifeguards and local police helped in the rescue. The driver was finally pulled free and flown to hospital.

The crash site is on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, about 32 kilometres south of downtown Los Angeles.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged 5 to 25)

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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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Vic transport costs to rise in 2014

VICTORIANS are set to pay more to use public transport and for the first time motorcycles will pay to use the CityLink freeway from New Year's Day.

And as the new year rings in with the sting on hip pockets, motorists can say goodbye to pesky vehicle registration stickers, which will be abolished from January 1.

The labels for light vehicles in Victoria, including passenger cars, will be a thing of the past, with the state government estimating it will save Victorians $19.5 million a year by reducing the red-tape burdens.

The move follows the removal of registration labels in other states.

Upgrades in technology mean police and VicRoads can monitor registrations without the need for the windscreen stickers.

Public transport fares will rise by 2.5 per cent under changes announced recently by the state government.

Two-hour fares will expire after exactly two hours and weekend fares will jump from $3.50 to $6 for a daily zone one and two pass.

Other changes include new charges for motorcyclists, who for the first time will be tolled to use CityLink from January 1.

The road operator will toll them using technology so they will not have to carry an e-TAG.

CityLink is the only toll road in Australia that does not toll motorcycles.

Under its contract with the Victorian government, it was always expected motorcycles would be charged, but they will be tolled half the rate for cars.

The tax grab on poker machines is also set to rise from April.

Taxes on poker machines in bigger venues will be increased by 4.2 per cent, while the minimum player return ratio will be reduced from 87 per cent to 85 per cent.

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Arctic 30 members granted exit visa

If Russian authorities approve activist Colin Russell's exit visa he could be home for New Years. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN activist Colin Russell will finally make his way home after Russian authorities granted the Greenpeace campaigner an exit visa on Friday.

Mr Russell, 59, was one of 30 activists arrested and detained in September for protesting against a Russian oil rig operated by Moscow-based energy company Gazprom in the Pechora Sea.

Known as the Arctic 30, the group, made up of 28 Greenpeace activists and two freelance journalists, had been accused of hooliganism.

The charges were dropped last week after the Russian parliament passed an amnesty law and freed the defendants.

Greenpeace communications manager James Lorenz confirmed Mr Russell, from Woodbridge in Tasmania, had been granted an exit visa on Friday night.

"Colin has received a final piece of the puzzle, which is the exit stamp in his passport," he told AAP.

"We have heard he is enormously relieved to be going home. It's been a long time."

Mr Russell is expected to fly to Amsterdam, where Greenpeace International is based, with his wife Christine and daughter Madeleine.

He will make his way to Australia in a few days' time.

Britain-born Australian resident Alex Harris and Adelaide resident Jon Beauchamp were also granted exit visas.

"We're leaving Russia, it's over, we're finally truly free," Ms Harris, 27, said in a statement.

"It feels like the moment I've been waiting for, and my family too, but also for millions of people around the world who have worked for this, and I simply cannot find the words to say how grateful and humbled I am by their support.

"People I will never meet have campaigned for our release - they wrote emails, they marched, they protested, they made a noise that became deafening, even in the Kremlin.

"I promise I will repay those people by using my freedom to stand up for the Arctic."

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Boats are stopping: Morrison

The Australian government says no asylum seekers arrived in Australia by boat in the past week. Source: AAP

THE Australian government says no asylum seekers arrived in Australia by boat in the past week, as it declares its tough border protection policy is working.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said 355 asylum seekers on seven boats had been intercepted by Australian authorities since the start of December.

None arrived in the week leading up to Friday, despite unusually favourable weather during the December monsoon season.

"This represents a 70 per cent decline on last December, when there were 1149 (arrivals) on 20 boats - so far this is the lowest number of arrivals in December for five years," Mr Morrison said in a statement.

"The boats have not yet stopped but they are stopping."

Mr Morrison said that in the 100 days since the September 18 start of Operation Sovereign Borders, there had been an average of 145 asylum seeker boat arrivals on three boats a fortnight.

That compares with about 920 people on more than a dozen boats a fortnight between the introduction of the previous government's regional resettlement arrangement with Papua New Guinea and the establishment of Operation Sovereign Borders.

Critics say the policy is inhumane, while the UN Human Rights Commission pointed to deficiencies in the running of the asylum-seeker processing camps on Nauru and in PNG - including unhygienic conditions and limited processing of asylum claims.

Last week Mr Morrison said he had been aware since early December of a 92-page letter from 15 doctors formally employed at detention facilities that highlighted a low standard of medical care at the Australian-run detention centre on Christmas Island.

Mr Morrison said Australia would continue to send asylum seekers to Christmas Island, while medical service provider International Health and Medical Services and his department would investigate the claims made in the letter.

On Monday Mr Morrison said a family of asylum seekers, including an intellectually disabled woman, would be reunited in community detention so she could be properly cared for by her relatives.

"Today's decision is based on meeting the immediate health and welfare needs of the intellectually disabled woman," he said in a statement at the time.

On Friday he said there would be improvements to Australia's offshore processing facilities.

"Particularly to ensure appropriate accommodation and health facilities for families on Nauru, where new funding has been put in place," he said.

Comment is being sought from Labor and the Greens.

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Summer music fests get under way

The heat is on and so is the annual line-up of summer festivals getting under way across Australia. Source: AAP

YOU might sizzle in the hot sun and be swamped in a crowd crush but your ears will thank you.

The heat is on and so are the annual Australian summer music festivals, promising sweet music from some of the world's biggest names.

One of the blockbuster events, the Big Day Out, will kick off from January 19 on the Gold Coast for those who fancy hot, long Aussie days with a sprinkling of good rocking.

Headline acts this year include rockers Pearl Jam and smooth-talking rapper Snoop Dogg, AKA Snoop Lion.

The festival then makes its way to Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.

Another iconic event, Falls Festival, kicks off on Saturday in Lorne, Victoria, on Sunday in Marion Bay, Tasmania, and on Tuesday in Byron Bay, NSW.

American alternative rock band the Violent Femmes will be joined by singer, songwriter and Beyonce's cool little sister Solange, Crowded House frontman Neil Finn and local outfit the Cat Empire, who will all grace the stage.

For those who crave something more mellow, Queensland's Woodford Folk Festival began on Friday and runs until New Year's Day.

Now in its 28th year, the event bills itself as one of the world's largest folk festivals and more than 500 acts will perform.

Folk fans can ring in the new year with a line-up that includes UK singer-songwriter Beth Orton and Melbourne songstress Clare Bowditch.

Three-piece band the Basics, featuring Wally De Backer, who most probably know better as Gotye, will also perform.

For those seeking something with more grunt, Soundwave heads to town soon.

The festival begins in Brisbane on February 22 before touring to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth with heavier acts including Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Megadeth, Placebo and Korn.

For those a little bit more country, the famous Tamworth Country Music Festival gets under way on January 17.

Meanwhile, blues fans can get their fix at the Thredbo Blues Festival, now in its 20th year, which kicks off the same day featuring Wendy Matthews, Jeff Lang and Rick Price.

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WA paraglider trapped on cliff

EMERGENCY volunteers are working to rescue a man trapped on a cliff face in WA.

Police say the 26-year-old was paragliding in Sandpatch, near Albany in the state's south, when something went wrong.

Rescue Service firefighters and State Emergency Service volunteers from Albany are at the scene and a rescue helicopter is on its way.

A spokesman for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said crews were working to raise the man up the cliff face.

A police media spokeswoman said the man's injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

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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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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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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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Thousands turn out for community lunches

THOUSANDS of Sydney-siders who would otherwise be alone for Christmas will spend the festive season celebrating with their communities.

More than 600 people - including a few famous faces - turned out for the Wayside Chapel Christmas lunch in King's Cross.

Blaxland resident Stephen South has attended the lunch and church service for four years.

"I don't have any family and this is my family," Mr South told AAP.

"On a day like today, if you don't have family it's really hard."

The Wayside Chapel's 200 volunteers provided 80 turkeys, 40 hams, 700 mince pies and 140 bags of potatoes for the day.

Actress Claudia Karvan made her third visit to the street party this year, and actor David Wenham attended.

"I can't stay away - it just puts a smile on my face that stays there for the whole day," Karvan said.

"It totally encapsulates the spirit of Christmas, I think.

"The open-heartedness, the generosity of the day, the inclusiveness - everyone from all different walks of the community, whether you're sleeping rough or wealthy and isolated, it doesn't matter, you can come down here."

Between Christmas singing, Wayside chief executive Pastor Graham Long said the day was about people not being alone.

"Don't be alone and miserable," he said.

"Come and be miserable with us."

In Ashfield, more than 3000 people were expected at the Exodus Foundation's free Christmas lunch on Liverpool Road.

Volunteers prepared 65 hams, 50 turkeys, 400 kilograms of potatoes, 200 kilograms of green veggies, 400 kilograms of pumpkins, 1300 litres of gravy, 2500 mini puddings and 330 litres of custard.

"You can imagine, we've been preparing for this for months," Reverend Bill Crews said.

Santa Claus will give presents to needy children and adults.

"All these presents have been donated, which is another example of how generous Sydney-siders are," Rev Crews said.

At Redfern's Australian Technology Park, the Salvation Army hoped to feed 1200 of Sydney's less fortunate and disadvantaged.

"Every year we're humbled by the generosity of the over 150 volunteers who give up part of their Christmas Day to bring joy, hope and happiness to those who would otherwise go without," Salvation Army spokeswoman Robyn Evans said.

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Locals help out after Grinch steals gifts

Generous people have been dropping off gifts for two Victorian families whose gifts were stolen. Source: AAP

GENEROUS people have been playing Santa and dropping off gifts for two Victorian families whose gifts were stolen from under their Christmas trees.

Police at Wodonga near the Victoria-NSW border are calling the thefts "an unthinkable act of heartlessness".

But they say they have been overwhelmed by the number of donated presents that have been arriving at the police station throughout Christmas Day.

The Salvation Army also gave presents to the children at one of the homes.

"The occupants of the houses were asleep and realised all their gifts were missing when they went to open them this morning," a police spokeswoman said.

The two homes are on different streets, Wilca Way and Hartwig Road, on the southern end of the town.

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'Santa Claus' shot in US with pellet gun

A US man is recovering after being shot in the back with a pellet gun while wearing a Santa suit. Source: AAP

POLICE say a man dressed as Santa Claus delivering toys in southeast Washington, DC was popped in the back with a pellet gun as he walked down the street.

Video posted on the WJLA-TV website shows the man waving and walking down the street and exclaiming, "This is awesome."

He starts to say "Merry Christmas" when suddenly he turns around, shouts in pain and says he's been shot in the back with a pellet gun.

The man is recovering in hospital.

In the video he says he is glad no one else was hurt.

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Abduction alert cancelled for QLD boys

POLICE have cancelled an abduction alert issued after two young boys were taken from a home near Brisbane.

Police said the boys, aged 3 and 4, were taken by a 30-year-old man on Christmas Eve.

However, on Wednesday night police cancelled the child abduction alert after receiving information from the public.

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Man stabbed, woman left unconscious

A man has been found stabbed and a woman found unconscious, in Sydney suburb of Guildford. Source: AAP

A MAN has been found with stab wounds to his neck and a woman has been found unconscious in Sydney's west.

Police were called to a house on Woodville Road, Guildford, just after midday on Tuesday after reports of a man and woman fighting in the yard of the premises.

The man was found with stab wounds to his neck while a woman, aged in her mid-20s, was found unconscious.

The man's age is not known.

Both were treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance Paramedics and taken to Westmead Hospital.

Their condition is not yet known, police say.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, while a crime scene has been established on Woodville Road with two southbound lanes closed.

They will be examined by specialist forensic officers.

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A very merry Christmas for Aussie shops

THE Christmas clock is ticking, and the tills have been ringing.

Last-minute shoppers have helped push Australian retailers towards what's tipped to be their biggest Christmas since the global financial crisis hit.

Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) CEO Margy Osmond says the overall spend in the four-week run-up to Christmas this year is expected to hit $29.6 billion.

"We think Australian retailers will probably have the best Christmas they've had for four or five years," she told AAP on Tuesday.

She said the last-minute rush had favoured the big retailers.

"A lot of the specialty stores have done much better this Christmas but there's no doubt in the last couple of weeks it's the department stores that are the big winners because it's the place you can go and tick every box all in the one spot," Ms Osmond said.

Residents in smaller states - the Northern Territory, the ACT, Tasmania - had generally gotten their Christmas shopping out of the way early, while their counterparts in NSW and Victoria were more likely to have left it till the last minute.

Kevin Finch was looking harried in Sydney's CBD on Tuesday evening, ticking off the people he was still buying for.

"My mother, my father, some family friends, and my grandma," he told AAP.

"Stupidly, I thought today would be a bit quieter."

He said he wouldn't be venturing out for the Boxing Day sales on Thursday, but keen bargain-hunters can get in earlier than that.

In a break with tradition, department store David Jones has already launched its post-Christmas sale online, while the Myer online sale will kick off at 9am (AEDT) on Wednesday.

ANRA's Margy Osmond is expecting a 5.6 per cent boost on post-Christmas sales figures from a year ago, with an expected $1.9 billion spend on Boxing Day alone.

Retailers predict stores around the country will take in more than $15 billion over the next three weeks, with the bulk of that likely to be spent on Boxing Day.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman told AAP he expects "a huge number of people" to head for malls around the country when the bricks-and-mortar sales start on Thursday.

But Mr Zimmerman didn't think the lure of early sales online would take away from the familiar frenzy seen in department stores on the day.

"There's a real atmosphere around Boxing Day sales, it's full of people, it's full of excitement and noise and generally speaking there's entertainment around," he said.

"You may well find that people will be encouraged to come out, they'll think it might not be quite so busy as it's been in the past because of the online sales, but I suspect it will be just as busy."

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Indon official in trouble over plane rage

AN Indonesian official has allegedly ordered his staff to prevent a plane landing because an airline refused to free up a seat for him.

Marianus Sae, the head of Ngada district in East Nusa Tenggara province, is being sought for questioning in relation to the incident, police said Tuesday.

When Sae was told there were no seats left on the Saturday morning flight from the provincial capital Kupang to his district's Turelelo Soa airport, he phoned his security officials there and ordered them to put their cars on the runway, the Kompas.com news website reported.

Unable to land, the flight operated by state-run domestic operator Merpati Nusantara was forced to return to Kupang, local news reports said.

"We have questioned several people involved and are awaiting the permission of the governor to question the district chief," provincial police chief Ketut Yoga Ana said.

The alleged action "clearly violated the law" and was punishable by up to three years in prison, he said.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said Sae had endangered the lives of the people on board.

Sae said he "begged them for a seat because I had an important meeting with district council but the flight was fully booked. I explained to them I was the district chief but they ignored me," he was quoted as saying by Kompas.com.

The airline said it had rebuked its employees for refusing to issue a ticket for the district chief.

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Police officer punched, spat on

Three men have been arrested after a police officer was punched and spat on in Sydney. Source: AAP

A POLICE officer has been punched and spat on and three men arrested following a fight in Sydney's southeast.

A scuffle started outside a bar on Botany road in Botany on Monday night when police tried to remove a patron from the bar.

Police allege a 22-year-old man punched an acting sergeant in the head and spat on him before running from the pub.

He was caught a short time later.

Police arrested another two men, aged 36 and 40.

They were all taken to Redfern Police Station where the 22-year-old was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to police.

He was refused bail and will appear in Central Local Court today.

The two other men were both charged with assaulting police and were granted bail to appear in the Downing Centre Local Court on January 13.

The acting sergeant suffered a cut to his head and was taken to Prince of Wales Hospital for treatment.

Two other officers involved were not hurt.

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Rock bottom price: Stolen ring auction

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

AN auction for a $27,000 ring recovered from an accused jewel thief is just hours from ending but has so far failed to reach even half of its value.

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.

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

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The latest bid has now hitched the price of the 1.53-carat yellow diamond ring to $13,250 - only $250 more than the previous offer.

The bid, made from Victoria, is only the 11th offer made on the ring.

The majority of earlier bids were from Queensland residents, however there have also been bids from New South Wales and Victoria.

"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."

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

Police allege he stole two rings from Crown Family Jewellers at Indooroopilly in November. One of the rings was accidentally thrown out while Watts was in custody.

The auction at graysonline.com ends tonight at 8pm.

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Wellbeing higher for widows than couples

When it comes to marital status, widowed people have the highest levels of wellbeing, a survey says. Source: AAP

WIDOWED people are reporting higher levels of wellbeing than married couples, while women aged 18 to 29 are the unhappiest age group, a survey shows.

National wellbeing deteriorated to 63.5 points in the last three months of the year, down from 64.4 points in the previous quarter, according to the National Australia Bank Wellbeing Index.

When it comes to marital status, widows and widowers had the highest levels of wellbeing while singles had the lowest, the survey of 2,100 Australians showed.

"In particular, mental wellbeing, feeling part of the community and physical health are significantly stronger contributors to the wellbeing of widows when compared to married couples," NAB economists said.

Those with no children reported higher levels of wellbeing than those with children, while the highest earners - those on $100,000-plus - were happier than those on lower incomes.

Overall, wellbeing was highest in South Australia and the Northern Territory and lowest in Tasmania, due to a sharp increase in anxiety over the quarter.

Those in regional cities reported the highest levels of wellbeing, compared with people in capital cities and rural areas.

When it comes to age, women aged 18 to 29 reported the lowest levels of wellbeing while women aged 50-plus reported the highest levels.

"The most important influences on positive wellbeing include personal relationships, your home and personal safety," NAB economists said.

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NAB enters undertaking with ASIC

THE National Australia Bank has entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission following an inquiry into an October 2012 share price spike on the Australian stock exchange.

The undertaking relates specifically to NAB's responsibility for potential market misconduct undertaken by the trading personnel of a contractor, which led to the spike, ASIC said on Monday.

"NAB has agreed to adopt specific monitoring and control systems for its direct market access trading and ASIC will supervise the certification of those systems for the next three years," the watchdog said in a statement.

It said the NAB would also make a voluntary contribution of $2 million to fund independent financial literacy projects in Australia.

ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said the undertaking was a timely, effective way to ensure there was genuine change to monitoring and control systems following the October 18, 2012 spike.

"It is imperative that entities have adequate monitoring and control systems in place to ensure this type of activity does not occur."

She said ASIC's investigation of the contractor and its trading personnel continued.

The third party equity index arbitrage business contracted to trade on NAB's behalf has not been named for legal reasons.

By 18 October 2012, following their decision to take an existing arbitrage position to expiry (which involved closing out a negative shares position), the Contractors Trading Personnel arranged to buy 197 of the shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX200) from one of NABs brokers, Goldman Sachs Australia, at the prices at which those shares matched in the ASX opening auction that morning.

ASIC said the NAB acknowledged concerns its contracted traders may have breached the Corporations Act in the way they placed sell orders in larger volumes than they intended to trade in an opening auction in order to later trade shares at advantageous prices for the bank.

In a statement the NAB said it had worked closely with ASIC throughout its investigation and the bank took its regulatory compliance obligations very seriously.

"NAB does not condone or accept any activity that undermines or has the potential to undermine market integrity."

The bank said the equity index arbitrage business formed only a very small part of its overall trading activity and "NAB terminated the operations of this third party business in late 2012".

"The issues that have been identified do not raise concerns as to NAB's broader trading activity or control environment," the bank said.

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Thai protesters step up campaign

THAI opposition protesters on Monday stepped up their campaign to disrupt upcoming elections, trying to block candidate registrations as part of efforts to banish Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her family from politics.

The main opposition Democrat Party, which has not won an elected majority in parliament in about two decades, has vowed to boycott the February 2 polls called by Yingluck after weeks of street rallies by her opponents.

It is the latest chapter in a years-old political crisis which broadly pits a Bangkok-based elite against mostly rural and poor supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a divisive former prime minister who was ousted in a coup in 2006.

Hundreds of demonstrators on Monday surrounded a stadium in Bangkok where representatives of political parties were trying to register to run in the polls ahead of the December 27 deadline.

Nine parties, including Yingluck's Puea Thai, managed to enter although officials were unable to fully complete their registration, according to the country's Election Commission.

About two dozen parties filed complaints with the police because they were prevented from entering.

But it appeared to be only a temporary setback with the election authorities expressing confidence that the parties would be able to register in time.

"For those parties that cannot enter the stadium we will contact them and made appointments for them to submit documents," Election Commissioner Dhirawat Dhirarojvit told AFP.

Puea Thai party said that Yingluck was on top of the party's list of candidates - a position that would usually make her Puea Thai's pick for prime minister if it wins the polls.

Her candidacy is certain to anger the demonstrators, who want to rid Thai politics of the influence of her brother Thaksin - a billionaire tycoon turned prime minister whom protesters accuse of controlling the government from his home in Dubai.

At least 150,000 people joined the latest anti-Thaksin mass protest in the capital on Sunday, according to an estimate from National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut. Organisers said the turnout was much higher.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has vowed to "shut the country down" to prevent people voting.

The demonstrators' self-proclaimed People's Democratic Reform Committee is calling for an unelected "people's council" to be installed to oversee sweeping but loosely-defined reforms before new elections in about a year to 18 months.

They have vowed to rid Thailand of the "Thaksin regime" and oppose the election, saying it will only bring another government allied to the former premier, who fled the country in 2008 to avoid jail for a corruption conviction he contends is politically motivated.

Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001 and Thailand has seen several bouts of political turmoil since he was deposed, with rival protests sometimes resulting in bloody unrest.

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Two men killed in gyrocopter crash

THE pilot of a gyrocopter that crashed in Victorian bushland, killing him and his passenger, has been remembered as an experienced flyer and beloved father.

The bodies of both men, named in media reports as 51-year-old pilot Reg Thaggard and international student Jordan Peng, were found in rugged terrain in Kinglake National Park early on Sunday morning.

A police plane finally spotted the wreckage of the aircraft in dense bushland after search crews had spent hours scouring the park for both men.

It was supposed to have been a 15-minute flight from the Yarra Valley conference centre, taking off just after 7pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

But Victoria Police Acting Senior Sergeant Colin Anderson said the pair had been flying over a remote area of the ranges to view bushfire damage when the aircraft went down.

"It's devastating to all concerned - people involved that have to retrieve people from the situation and those directly involved with the people that have been killed," he said.

One of the pilot's friends, Damien Mould, said losing Mr Thaggard was like losing a family member.

"It's devastating to me," he told the Nine Network.

"He's a family man. He's a wonderful guy."

He leaves behind a wife and several children.

Mr Thaggard's passenger is believed to have been an 18-year-old student from Singapore.

The cause of the crash is not yet known.

Many in the flying community believe the crash couldn't have been the result of pilot error.

"He's an extremely good pilot," Mr Mould said.

"I'm sure he would have down everything in his power to try and get that aircraft down safely."

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Snake on train sparks police warning

A Queensland train passenger was let off with a warning after he was caught riding with a snake. Source: AAP

A MAN found carrying a snake in a box on a train has prompted a police warning to passengers that pets are not permitted on the Queensland Rail City Network.

The Police Railway Squad intercepted the man and his python on Friday afternoon.

"Although the harmless python was appropriately boxed and the authorised owner was returning from a veterinarian appointment, it is still an offence to travel with an animal on a train," police said in a statement on Sunday.

The passenger was issued with a warning notice for carrying an animal on a train and permitted to continue his journey supervised by Queensland Rail staff.

The maximum penalty for carrying an animal on a train is $2200.

Police and Queensland Rail have urged rail passengers to to arrange appropriate alternative transport for their pets.

Assistance animals such as guide dogs are exempt from the train ban.

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'Pink batts' inquiry set to begin

A royal commission into the Rudd government's home insulation scheme will begin tomorrow. Source: AAP

A ROYAL Commission of Inquiry into deaths and injuries linked to the Rudd government's home insulation scheme will begin on Monday in Brisbane.

Four young men died while working on the roll-out of the so-called "pink batts" scheme set up in 2009.

Three of the men were Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Mitchell Sweeney and the fourth New South Welshman Marcus Wilson.

Their families believe the $2.8 billion program - implemented by then-prime minister Kevin Rudd to inject money into the economy during the global financial crisis - was rushed and lacked adequate safety standards.

The inquiry will also investigate the affect the program had on the reputation and profits of long-standing home insulation businesses.

Heading the Royal Commission is barrister and commercial dispute resolution practitioner Ian Hanger, QC.

Mr Hange has until June 30 next year to provide a report of his findings and recommendations.

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Spacesuit flaw postpones ISS repairs

NASA has delayed until Christmas Eve the next outing to repair the International Space Station. Source: AAP

A NEW flaw has emerged with a US-made spacesuit, forcing NASA to delay until Christmas Eve the next outing to repair the International Space Station.

The problem came up in a system that handles water condensation in veteran astronaut Rick Mastracchio's spacesuit after he re-entered the space station airlock following a spacewalk that lasted more than five hours, NASA said.

It was not believed to be the same type of issue that caused a dangerous water leak in the helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano in July.

An investigation into that situation is ongoing.

Faced with unexpected repairs due to an equipment cooling breakdown at the orbiting lab on December 11, NASA arranged makeshift snorkels inside the 35-year-old spacesuits and absorbent pads in the helmets for these spacewalks in case such a leak happened again.

"During repressuristion of the station's airlock following the spacewalk, a spacesuit configuration issue put the suit Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion - specifically whether water entered into the suit's sublimator inside the airlock," the space agency said in a statement.

"This issue is not related to the spacesuit water leak that was seen during a July spacewalk."

Now, astronauts are resizing a spare spacesuit aboard the ISS for Mastracchio, 53, to wear on the next spacewalk to complete the pump replacement.

The outing was planned for Monday, but will now take place Tuesday, beginning at 7:10am (2310 AEDT).

NASA released the news late on Saturday, after the spacewalk by the two American astronauts ended with the successful disconnection and removal of the old pump.

NASA mission control in Houston checked in with them frequently to see if they were experiencing any wetness in their helmets, and each time the spacewalkers reported no problems.

Space agency officials told reporters this week that Hopkins, 44, would be wearing the suit Parmitano had worn when he experienced the leak that nearly drowned him, noting its water pump system had been replaced.

The spacewalks were called for after a faulty valve forced a partial shutdown in the system that regulates equipment temperature at the space station.

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Gay couples wed in Utah after ruling

A US judge has struck down Utah's same-sex marriage ban in a decision that marks a drastic shift towards gay marriage in a conservative state where the Mormon church has long been against it.

Friday's decision set off an immediate frenzy as the clerk in the state's most populous county began issuing marriage licences to dozens of gay couples while state officials took steps to appeal the ruling and halt the process.

Cheers erupted as the mayor of Salt Lake City led one of the state's first gay wedding ceremonies in an office building about three miles from the headquarters of the Mormon church.

Deputy Salt Lake County Clerk Dahnelle Burton-Lee said the district attorney authorised her office to begin issuing licences to same-sex couples but she couldn't immediately say how many had been issued.

Just hours earlier, US District Judge Robert Shelby issued a 53-page ruling saying the constitutional amendment Utah voters approved in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples' rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.

"In the absence of such evidence, the State's unsupported fears and speculations are insufficient to justify the State's refusal to dignify the family relationships of its gay and lesbian citizens," Shelby wrote.

The decision drew a swift and angry reaction from Utah leaders, including Republican Governor Gary Herbert.

"I am very disappointed an activist federal judge is attempting to override the will of the people of Utah. I am working with my legal counsel and the acting attorney general to determine the best course to defend traditional marriage within the borders of Utah," Herbert said.

Late on Friday, the state filed both a notice of appeal of the ruling and a request for an emergency stay that would stop marriage licences from being issued to same-sex couples. It's unknown when the judge will make a decision on whether to grant the stay.

If the ruling stands, Utah would become the 18th state to allow gay marriages, said Jon Davidson, director of Lambda Legal, which pursues litigation on LGBT issues nationwide. That's up from six before the US Supreme Court last year struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The District of Columbia also allows same-sex marriage.

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Khodorkovsky starts life as a free man

Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky has arrived in Germany after being freed from a Russian prison. Source: AAP

RUSSIA'S most famous prisoner, Kremlin critic and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has begun life as a free man in Germany after his surprise pardon by President Vladimir Putin.

Khodorkovsky has been reunited with his son in Berlin, a spokeswoman for the former tycoon said on Saturday.

"The eldest son of Mikhail Borisovich, Pavel, has already seen his dad," a spokeswoman for Khodorkovsky, Olga Pispanen, said on Russian radio Echo of Moscow.

"They are now together in Berlin."

Khodorkovsky's parents, Marina and Boris, were also preparing to fly out to Germany to "finally see and hug him," the spokeswoman added.

Released on Friday after 10 years behind bars, Khodorkovsky is "feeling well" and will give a news conference on Sunday, she said, with the date and place to be confirmed later.

Khodorkovsky's 79-year-old mother, who has cancer, said she was taking sedatives to help her cope with the strong emotions sparked by his release.

"We survived grief but it is also apparently hard to survive joy," Marina Khodorkovskaya said in an interview broadcast on Russian state television on Saturday.

Putin stunned Russia on Thursday by revealing that Khodorkovsky had turned to him for pardon on humanitarian grounds, citing his mother's health.

In a head-spinning succession of events, less than 24 hours later Khodorkovsky was granted pardon, walked out of prison and flew to Germany in a secret operation worked out behind the scenes with Berlin.

Prison officials said Khodorkovsky had requested to fly to Germany, where his mother has undergone treatment before.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Khodorkovsky was not forced into exile and was free to return to Russia.

Former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who helped negotiate his release, arranged the flight for him on a private jet and picked him up at the airport in Berlin.

From the airport, Khodorkovsky was reportedly taken to Berlin's luxury Adlon Hotel near the Brandenburg Gate from which Genscher was seen leaving on Friday evening.

About 20 cameramen and photographers as well as two TV vans were waiting for a possible glimpse of the former tycoon outside the landmark hotel in sub-zero temperatures on Saturday morning, according to reports.

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Attacks in Iraq kill 4 police, 2 pilgrims

OFFICIALS say attacks in western Iraq and south of Baghdad have killed six people - four policemen and two Shi'ite pilgrims.

Police officials say gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at a police checkpoint in the western city of Fallujah on Saturday morning, killing four policemen.

And in the town of Latifiyah, 30km south of Baghdad, a mortar shell hit a group of Shi'ite pilgrims heading to the holy sites in the city of Karbala.

The pilgrims were commemorating Arbaeen, the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Imam Hussein, a revered Shi'ite figure.

Medical officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media.

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Gunman had botched vasectomy: Neighbours

AUTHORITIES in the US are trying to determine whether a Northern California man's anger over complications he suffered from a 2010 surgery prompted him to go on a shooting rampage at a Nevada urologist's office, killing one doctor and critically wounding another before committing suicide.

Reno Police Lieutenant William Rulla said on Friday detectives were working to obtain Alan Oliver Frazier's medical records to learn more about his physical and mental health.

Frazier, 51, made it clear in a suicide note that he had planned the attack and that his "focus was on the physicians at the specific office," Rulla said. Police recovered the note at Frazier's home.

Investigators have declined to specify the kind of surgery he had or say whether the doctors he targeted had anything to do with it.

But a couple who lived across the street from Frazier at Lake Almanor, about 130 miles north of Reno, said the operation he had had was a vasectomy. They also said Frazier frequently posted complaints in an online chat group about the pain he suffered from what he claimed was a botched surgery.

An international expert in men's reproductive health care said that while it's uncommon, some men experience pain more than two years after a vasectomy.

Neighbour Mario Tognotti told The Associated Press on Friday that Frazier told him and his wife that he sought help from doctors for his pain and had approached a lawyer about the situation. Tognotti declined to comment further.

His wife, Jari Tognotti, told the Reno Gazette-Journal in an email Thursday that Frazier encouraged friends to learn more about the kind of painful allergic reactions that men like him sometimes suffered as a result of vasectomies. She said it involved "immune-type reactions while their bodies are trying to absorb the sperm."

Dr Paul Turek, president of the Society of Male Reproduction and Urology, said that while vasectomies remain among the safest forms of permanent contraception, there are potential short- and long-term side effects. He declined to comment on Frazier's case, but noted about 60 to 70 per cent of men who undergo vasectomies develop an allergy to their sperm in the form of "antisperm antibodies."

Turek also said it's rare but possible to experience pain more than two years after a vasectomy.

"Developing over time can be a low-grade discomfort in the scrotum that's basically relieved by reversals because it's due to congestion that causes back pressure," Turek said.

Any sperm allergy appears to be localised to the immune systems on reproductive tracts, he said, and antisperm antibodies have not been shown conclusively to have any significant effect on other organs.

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Former judge to head new Vic parole board

FORMER Victorian Supreme Court justice Bill Gillard QC will be the first full-time chair of the state's parole board.

Mr Gillard will head the new-look Adult Parole Board and is joined by community representatives Rudolph Kirby, Glenda Frost, Peter Harvey and Keith Wolahan.

Retired County Court judge and serving board member Frank Shelton will be deputy chair.

The state government has overhauled the parole system on the recommendations of former High Court judge Ian Callinan, who delivered a scathing review of the board's performance after a series of murders committed by parolees.

Until now, the board has been chaired by a sitting Supreme Court judge, most recently Justice Elizabeth Curtain.

Board members are now only allowed to serve a maximum term of nine years, while registered victims must be given at least two weeks' notice of a prisoner's parole release.

The government has changed legislation to automatically cancel parole for serious sex and violent offenders who commit further crimes.

Laws have also been passed making it a crime to breach parole, with a possible jail term added to any other time owing.

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Woman killed in three car Vic crash

A THREE-CAR smash in southern Victoria has killed a woman and injured a man.

Three cars collided and a motorcyclist skidded off the road on Phillip Island Road at San Remo on Friday afternoon.

Police say a woman aged in her 50s died, while a man in his 60s was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, a cyclist has died at the same hospital following an alleged hit-and-run collision a kilometre from his Melbourne home last month.

Brighton East man Julian Paul, 53, was cycling home on November 26 when he was hit from behind by a car, leaving him with severe spine and brain injuries.

He died in The Alfred on Wednesday night, police said on Friday.

A 31-year-old Moorabbin woman was charged a few days after the incident with failing to stop after an accident and failing to render assistance.

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NSW police officer nabbed drink-driving

A NSW police officer has been charged with high-range drink-driving.

The male officer, attached to Sydney's Central Metropolitan Region Command, was issued with a court attendance notice on Thursday for driving with a high-range PCA.

The man is due to appear in Orange Local Court on January 23.

A police spokesman said no further details would be released due to a policy change in the way such matters were reported to the media.

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Milky Way to be mapped in 3D

The European Space Agency has launched a project set to provide the mapping of the Milky Way. Source: AAP

THE European Space Agency has launched a project set to provide the first realistic three-dimensional mapping of the Milky Way.

As part of the mission, a highly precise telescope dubbed Gaia will orbit the sun at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres beyond the Earth's orbit.

The rocket was launched on Thursday on a Russian Soyuz rocket, taking off from a space station in French Guiana.

The aim of the five-year mission is to map more than a billion stars, thereby creating a three-dimensional map of their positions and movement in space.

Scientists hope the information obtained will help them to better understand the structure and evolution of our galaxy, thereby shedding light on how it came into being.

New data on the movement of stars is also meant to allow scientists to predict incidents like the meteorite that exploded over Russia in February.

The comprehensive map, expected to collate data filling the equivalent of 20,000 DVDs, is set to be completed in 2020.

The first useable scientific data from the telescope is expected in January.

An earlier attempt by the agency to map the Milky Way took place from 1989 to 1993.

Experts say the mapping technology used for Gaia is 50 times more precise than that of its predecessor.

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Work deaths stop Incitec bonuses

EXPLOSIVES and fertiliser maker Incitec Pivot is withholding management bonuses partly because of two workplace deaths.

Chairman Paul Brasher opened the company's annual general meeting by expressing sympathy to the families of the workers killed this year in Canada and Queensland.

"Whilst our safety objective was met in terms of number of recordable injuries, we tragically had two fatalities this year," he told shareholders.

"As a consequence, no short-term or long-term incentives were paid to management in 2013."

A truck driver in Canada and a New Zealand man working as a contractor at Mount Isa, in far north Queensland, were killed in 2013.

"Tragically, we suffered the loss of two work colleagues during the year and I want to express our sympathy to the families of the two men who were killed in those incidents," he said.

Chief executive James Fazzino said the tragedies were a "very sad loss".

"Any year with such tragic events is a failure," he said, adding 86 per cent of its work sites were injury-free in 2013.

"It illustrates that we must be more determined than ever to drive our zero harm culture."

Incitec Pivot's net profit in the year to September 30 fell by 27 per cent, compared with the previous year, to $372 million.

Mr Brasher said the failure to meet the profit target was also behind its decision not to award bonuses to management this year.

"There is no point in complaining about low fertiliser prices or a high Australian dollar," he said.

Incitec Pivot shares rose seven cents or 2.83 per cent to $2.54 at 1458 AEDT.

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Gaia space probe set for blast-off

A STG2 billion ($A3.72 billion) European probe that will map more than a billion stars in 3D is due to be launched into space.

British scientists and engineers have played key roles in the design and construction of the spacecraft, called Gaia.

The two-tonne robot is expected to blast into orbit on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the European space port in French Guiana on Thursday.

Its five-year mission is to pinpoint many millions of stars with unparalleled precision, and discover thousands of previously unknown objects, including exploding stars, planets orbiting other suns, and nearby asteroids.

Scientists also hope Gaia will yield clues about mysterious Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

The observatory will operate from a stable location 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth known as the L2 Lagrangian point.

Situated with the Earth shielding it from the Sun, the craft will be perfectly placed to observe the wider universe. As it spins slowly, two telescopes will sweep across the entire sky and simultaneously focus their light on the largest digital camera ever put into space.

The flood of data beamed back to Earth will be enough to fill more than 30,000 CD-ROMs.

"The results from Gaia will revolutionise our understanding of the cosmos as never before," said Professor Gerry Gilmore, from Cambridge University, the UK's principal Gaia investigator.

"Our understanding of what's out there has been driven by looking at what we can see. We've never had a genuine opportunity to look at everything, to know what's there, and to know where they are in relation to each other.

"We don't even know how much we don't know - there are sure to be objects out there that don't even have names yet, since we don't yet realise how strange they are."

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Toll wins Coca-Cola Amatil contract

Toll has won a $380 million contract to distribute Coca-Cola Amatil's products across Australia. Source: AAP

TOLL Group has won a $380 million contract to transport Coca-Cola Amatil's beverages across Australia.

The five year contract involves bulk distribution and interstate road, rail and sea transport, and nearly doubles Toll's existing revenue gained from this work.

Toll's head of contract logistics Bruce Wilson said the contract build on the company's existing relationship with Coc-Cola Amatil.

"As a long term supplier of transport services to the beverage industry throughout the Asia Pacific region, we look forward to working with Coca-Cola Amatil to improve their supply chain," he said.

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Big paper mill fire in Sydney

AROUND 100 firefighters are battling a serious blaze at a paper mill in Sydney, with the fire spreading from stacks of paper to a three-storey building.

Three ladder appliances were deployed on Thursday afternoon to pour water on the fire near Botany Road at Matraville.

Fire & Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins said the blaze had spread from paper stacks into an adjacent three-storey building.

"We're going to be here for many hours; it's quite a serious fire," he told Macquarie Radio.

Firefighters also had to battle burning oil inside a building.

Workers were evacuated from the site but no injuries have been reported.

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Cops deny 'Black Widower' link to WA death

DETECTIVES in Western Australia don't think a notorious killer dubbed "The Black Widower" was in Australia at the time of the mysterious death of a Perth woman nearly 14 years ago.

The charred remains of 24-year-old hospitality student Deborah Michelle Anderson were found in a burnt out car in a shopping centre car park in January 2000.

Police have been baffled by her death for more than a decade.

She told family she needed the car for a trip to the zoo but it was later revealed the car had been driven to Geraldton and back on the day she died.

Ms Anderson's family are convinced she was murdered and reports in Scotland suggested police are probing a possible connection to convicted killer Malcolm Webster.

But after initially refusing to confirm or deny they were looking at a link, a WA police spokeswoman said late on Thursday that they had not been contacted by Scottish police.

"Information suggests that Mr Webster was not in Australia in January 2000," the spokeswoman said. Late last week, Webster failed in his appeal against convictions for the 1994 murder of his first wife Claire Morris in Scotland, and the attempted murder of his second wife Felicity Drumm in New Zealand five years later.

Ms Morris died in the flaming wreck of a car after an apparent accident. But it was later shown she had been drugged, and Webster had staged the crash.

Ms Drumm was also drugged and left asleep in a car with a jerry can of petrol in the boot, but was awoken by a phone call before Webster could complete his plot.

Both women had several life insurance policies worth several million dollars.

Reports in Scotland suggested Webster fled to Australia after his failed bid to kill Ms Morris.

At the time of Ms Anderson's death, police said they were highly suspicious about the cause.

"We've got a girl that by all accounts isn't depressed, is enjoying life, is doing well in her course, (has) good prospects (and) is about 20-odd kilometres away from her home, dead," Midland detective Rick Weskin said.

"Anyone would be suspicious of that and we certainly are."

In 2011, Ms Anderson's aunt Kathleen Cox hired a psychic to travel from Britain to investigate at the crime scene, after saying they believed she had met foul play.

And Derek Ogg QC, the prosecutor who brought Webster to justice, said there could be more victims from the five years he spent in Australia before his return to Scotland in 2004.

"There's no rational basis for thinking that Mr Webster, for some reason, completely changed his personality during his visits to Australia," Mr Ogg told the Seven Network.

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Companies given time to respond to ICAC

The ICAC has recommended two NSW mining licences that were corruptly approved should be cancelled. Source: AAP

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has given the holders of corruptly-approved mining licences linked to former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and other Labor figures one month to convince the government not to cancel them.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Wednesday released a report urging the mining licences for Doyles Creek, Mount Penny and Glendon Brook be cancelled.

The ICAC report comes just months after it handed down corruption findings against Mr Obeid, mining minister Ian Macdonald and former union official John Maitland.

The Doyles Creek licence was awarded by Mr Macdonald to Mr Maitland and a consortium of investors in 2008, allowing the former union heavyweight to turn his initial $165,000 investment into $15 million.

Mr Macdonald was found to have rigged a 2008 tender process by granting the Mount Penny tenement which covered land owned by the Obeid family who earned $30 million out of the deal, with the prospect of making an extra $70 million.

The ICAC found the approvals for the mines were so tainted by corruption the licences should be expunged or cancelled and any pending applications refused.

Legislation cancelling the mines could be accompanied by the power to compensate affected innocent parties, while the government should also consider confiscating money made from the corruptly-obtained licences, the ICAC said.

But Mr O'Farrell said he would give leaseholders NuCoal and Cascade Coal until January 15 next year to make their case as to why the recommendations shouldn't be implemented before taking action.

"The NSW government will then make a decision based on public interest," he said.

Although he would not comment on whether the government would consider seizing assets or profits, Mr O'Farrell said he wanted to "see an end to this sorry saga of Labor corruption".

But Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said that giving the companies a chance to keep their licences was a "pathetic response, when strong and decisive action is necessary".

NuCoal Resources Ltd acquired the Doyles Creek licence in 2010 and will make an announcement to the market before the start of trading on Friday.

Chairman Gordon Galt said NuCoal was "extremely disappointed" with the ICAC recommendation.

Cascade Coal, which now holds the Mount Penny licence and the licence at Glendon Brook near Singleton, said ICAC's recommendations were unfair to both the company and its shareholders.

"Cascade Coal and its shareholders will be making its case to the government as well as considering all options available to vigorously protect its legal and commercial interests," it said in a statement.

Mr Macdonald also lashed out at the recommendations, saying the ICAC reports had been "extremely destructive for the NSW economy".

"This has created a level of uncertainty, negatively impacting upon the vital jobs and investment," he said in a statement.

He accused the ICAC of handing down findings based on hearsay, conjecture and speculation and said the process denied him basic natural justice and had defamed him.

Opposition Leader John Robertson welcomed the recommendations, saying he would support measures brought forward by the government in response to the report.

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Abuse victim's anger at church mediation

THE Catholic Church's response to sex abuse was "Towards Hurting" rather than "Towards Healing" one of the victims has told an inquiry.

The man said he had no faith left after being abused by three Marist Brothers at school and then participating in the church's mediation process Towards Healing, which he called a "sham."

He felt this way when he learned that the order of brothers withheld the fact that an independent mediator in his case actually worked for the Catholic Church.

The 49-year-old identified as DK, who was abused while a boarder at St Augustine's Marist College in Cairns from 1976-81, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse of his desire to forgive, and to educate his children in the Catholic system.

But this had changed because of the process to which he was subjected.

In 1999, DK reported the abuse, which included one brother fondling him when he was 11, another watching him while he showered and a third, Brother Ross Murrin, whom he considered a friend, molesting him twice. Murrin is in jail for unrelated abuse offences.

He was offered a Towards Healing process arranged by Brother Alexis Turton, the Marist Brothers' professional standards director in 2010, with an "independent mediator", Michael Salmon.

DK found out later from a TV program that Mr Salmon was the director of the NSW Professional Standards Office (PSO).

He said this "made me really, really angry because I felt I was lied to".

Under the protocols of Towards Healing, which was set up by the Catholic Church in the early 1990s to deal pastorally with abuse victims, it is recommended that a PSO director not be a mediator.

The March 2010 mediation, which started on an angry note as DK confronted two brothers he believed knew of the abuse, ended amicably, with all parties agreeing to a settlement of $88,000. This was negotiated away from the mediation.

In a statement which he read, DK said the mediation made him feel "really dirty and filthy".

"From 1976 to 1981, I was sexually abused; there was horrendous physical abuse and there was control and emotional abuse by angry, cruel men, who ruled my life and had more control over me than my parents," he said.

He added that he had put his trust back in them for Towards Healing and, by three o'clock that afternoon: "I just felt that the same angry, cruel men had done the same thing to me 25 years later. It's the same abuse.

"I don't call it Towards Healing, I call it 'Towards Hurting'."

Under questioning by Angus Stewart, counsel assisting the commission, Br Turton admitted he had not formally handed the complaint to Mr Salmon, who as director of the Catholic Church's PSO, should have managed it, not mediated it.

Br Turton said he prepared a draft email to DK on February 22 explaining Mr Salmon's position in the church but he never sent it because DK happened to ring and he told him.

DK said that he was now experiencing healing because, although the documents before the commission were searing and painful to read, he was finally getting the truth.

The hearing continues on Thursday.

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Sattler suing Perth station for $500,000

Shock-jock Howard Sattler (R) is suing his former employer 6PR, claiming he was unlawfully sacked. Source: AAP

VETERAN shock-jock Howard Sattler is suing his former radio employer for more than $500,000, claiming he was unlawfully sacked for asking former Prime Minister Julia Gillard if her partner Tim Mathieson was gay.

Mr Sattler caused a national outrage this year with an interview in which he posed the question to Ms Gillard.

Ms Gillard responded that the notion was absurd.

"You hear it! He must be gay. He's a hairdresser," Mr Sattler continued, sparking a vitriolic backlash and his termination from Fairfax Radio's 6PR station in Perth the next day.

Mr Sattler, who is suffering from a form of Parkinson's, has lodged a writ with WA's Supreme Court claiming he was unlawfully dismissed, and the manner of his sacking has made it impossible for him to find work.

Through his lawyer Bruce Havilah, Mr Sattler has claimed more than $500,000, calculated on six months remaining on his contract and a promise of another three-year deal to come.

The writ reveals Mr Sattler earned $190,000 in the first year of his contract and $195,000 in the second year, plus $100 for each live and recorded commercial read on air.

"I am confident that the circumstances will clearly show my claim is justified," Mr Sattler said.

"I will continue my fight for justice with the same tenacity I have fought for others."

The claim will contend that Ms Gillard's office had accepted in writing that the interview would be candid and that it would touch on controversial topics such as same-sex marriage and religion.

"He asked her to respond specifically to a myth about her de facto partner where he voiced that myth," Mr Havilagh said.

"He denies that the contract was breached ... or if it was breached, it was capable of rectification by an an on-air apology."

Mr Sattler said he was only able to launch the legal action through the generosity of others and also had to cut back on medical treatment because of his strained financial position.

But he only regretted asking the question because it led to his sacking.

"It never occurred to me at the time that this would lead to me being sacked," Mr Sattler said.

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Pressure grows for NSW pub lockouts

EMERGENCY service workers and doctors are demanding NSW government action to stop the carnage caused by alcohol-fuelled violence.

NSW confirmed it was the capital of drunken violence at the weekend, with 540 arrests during a trans-Tasman operation meant to curb the problem.

The NSW opposition is renewing its calls for a trial of reduced trading hours and lockouts in the state's licensed venues after the success of those measures in Newcastle.

The Last Drinks coalition, a group representing concerned emergency department staff, police and paramedics, has joined the chorus.

Its spokesperson, Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation president Dr Tony Sara, says the pressure is firmly on the government.

Dr Sara says a trial in select trouble spots would show positive results in a short time.

He said measures in Newcastle cut alcohol violence by 37 per cent and emergency department admissions by 26 per cent, so were worth a try in Sydney.

He challenged NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to explain what harm a trial could do, believing the government was under the thumb of the powerful liquor lobby.

"How could it hurt?" Dr Sara told AAP.

"It might reduce profits a bit, but either they lose some money or we continue to have people hurt and maimed.

"I think the community comes before profits."

But Mr O'Farrell rejected calls for tougher laws, arguing authorities had done their part.

"Police and government agencies are doing their bit and the hotel industry, by and large, is responsibly getting on with their task," he told reporters on Monday.

"What we now need is for the community to come to the party."

NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson says police tell him privately they support tougher measures such as pub lockouts.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione agreed that cultural shift was crucial.

"Police will never arrest our way out of this problem," he said.

"If we don't start today we will lose a generation of young people to this love affair with alcohol."

Mr Scipione said a 23-year-old man who was punched and stomped on in front of dozens of revellers at Bondi Beach at the weekend was no longer in a critical condition.

The Australian Hotels Association NSW would not comment.

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Aurizon to cut rail fleet, cancel project

FREIGHT and coal haulage operator Aurizon will take a hit of almost $200 million as it cuts the size of its rail fleet and cancels a major Queensland project.

The company, previously known as QR National, is reducing its locomotive fleet by 28 per cent and cutting the number of wagons by 12 per cent in a bid to bring down fuel and maintenance costs.

Aurizon's downsizing will appear as an asset impairment expense of $130 million to $150 million in its accounts for the first half of the 2013/14 financial year.

The company will also incur a $47 million impairment on recent changes to several projects, including Glencore Xstrata's decision to stop the Wandoan project because of weakening thermal coal prices.

Aurizon had proposed a 210 kilometre Surat Basin rail corridor from the Wandoan mine in a joint venture with the Swiss multinational.

"There's not any job losses that are related to that," chief executive Lance Hockridge told reporters on Monday.

In July, Aurizon launched a second voluntary redundancy program in a bid to save $230 million by 2015.

Some 248 voluntary redundancies have since been accepted.

"I think the bulk of it is done," Mr Hockridge said.

More than 2,000 employees have left the company since it was privatised by the former Queensland Labor government in 2010.

Mr Hockridge said he was "cautious but confident" about the thermal coal sector, as well as the future of projects in Queensland's Galilee Basin, where Aurizon has agreed to develop a rail project for the GVK-Hancock joint venture involving billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Aurizon shares dropped two cents to $4.68.

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