Painted night skies kick off New Year

SYDNEY and Melbourne have kicked off the party that starts the world's new year by painting the night sky.

A kaleidoscope of colourful fireworks were launched into the skies of both cities before an estimated two million revellers on Tuesday - a warm-up act to the "big one" at midnight.

At the country's drawcard event in Sydney, party-goers at the iconic harbour foreshore weren't disappointed by the 9pm (AEDT) display.

Over eight minutes, red, green, pink, purple, and gold brightened the grey canvas that was Sydney's cloudy sky.

Cheers were especially loud for a waterfall of pink and gold crackers that fell from the Harbour bridge, and for a rush of gold pyrotechnics that closed the fireworks.

Earlier, thousands of onlookers at Mrs Macquarie's chair were treated to an aerobatic show with a stunt plane doing loop-de-loops and mid air stalls, and some hair-raising low flying just metres from the water.

During the night, some seven tonnes of fireworks were to light up the sky in the form of 11,000 aerial shells and 25,000 shooting comets launched from seven barges spread across six kilometres of Sydney Harbour.

For the first time in a decade, 1000 fireworks will also be shot from the top of the Opera House, as well as from the Harbour Bridge and jet skis stationed in the harbour.

In Victoria, more than 500,000 revellers packed the city centre to catch a glimpse of some of the 7.5 tonnes of fireworks launched from 22 locations, including city rooftops, by a team of 44 pyrotechnists.

On a mild Melbourne night, the mood at the family event was relaxed, with lots of kids, babies, mums and dads stretched on blankets with picnics waiting for the fireworks to begin.

New mum Nicola Sutcliffe said she was enjoying the music, but not the long queues for food ahead of the 9.30pm fireworks.

"This is the first time we have been out with a child for New Year's Eve and it's good that there is something like this event," she said.

Police in both states were out in force on the night at celebration hot spots.

A NSW police media spokesman said the night had gone well so far, with no major incidents reported.

Brisbanites were treated to the state's largest fireworks show yet.

The skies above the river city were lit up at 8.30pm with some of the 30,000 pyrotechnic effects that will be fired from three barges and three city rooftops at 8.30pm and midnight.

In Tasmania, tens of thousands converged on the waterfront and Salamanca, where the state's biggest food festival, Taste, combined with the finish of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Partygoers looking up from their plates were treated to fireworks exploding over the docks at 9.30pm and midnight.

South Australia sang in the new year with live music in Adelaide's Elder Park, where local bands provided the entertainment on top of fireworks.

The new year will prove dangerous for some, with residents in parts of regional SA urged by authorities to leave their homes and seek safety as "catastrophic" fire danger conditions are predicted for January 1.

Western Australia will largely leave its patch of sky alone on the night, with Perth saving up its pyrotechnics display for Australia Day.

There are still a few places to ring in 2014 with a bang, including Rockingham and the Shelley foreshore.

A key draw promises to be the headline act for the Salt on the Beach NYE party at North Fremantle, New York hip-hop trio De La Soul.

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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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Clouds don't dampen New Year fireworks

Spectators have begun descending on Sydney's popular spots for the New Year's Eve fireworks show. Source: AAP

A CLOUDY Sydney sky has come to life with a kaleidoscope of shooting comets and giant wheels of colour as the city's New Year's Eve spectacular kicked off.

For eight minutes Sydney Harbour exploded in red, green, pink, purple, and gold, at 9pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, with the first of three fireworks displays scheduled for the harbour city's New Year's celebrations.

Some pyrotechnics shot to dizzying heights and exploded, while others fell like fiery teardrops. Others shot heavenward and seemed to hang there, before fizzling without a bang.

Cheers were especially loud for a waterfall of pink and gold crackers that fell from the Harbour Bridge, and for a rush of gold pyrotechnics that closed fireworks.

Emesh, 34, came to the 9pm show with his wife and two children.

"It was amazing," the Parramatta resident told AAP.

"The best was the sparkles, all of them mixed up together.

"These are the best fireworks I have ever seen."

Sydney's 9pm pyrotechnics have come to rival the city's midnight spectacular, with many families keen to get in, and out, of the city before the revelry kicks into high gear.

The 9pm show was accompanied by an eclectic soundtrack, including music from artists Mental as Anything, Danny Elfman, Selena Gomez and Avril Lavigne.

Earlier, thousands of onlookers at Mrs Macquarie's chair were treated to an aerobatic show with a stunt plane doing loop-the-loops and mid-air stalls, and hair-raising low flying just metres from the water.

The city's fireworks director, Fortunato Foti, hopes people are surprised by this year's show, which comprises about seven tonnes of fireworks.

Tuesday's three fireworks displays include 11,000 aerial shells and 25,000 shooting comets that will explode from seven barges spread across six kilometres of Sydney Harbour.

For the first time in a decade, 1000 fireworks will also be shot from the top of the Opera House, as well as from the Harbour Bridge and jet skis stationed in the harbour.

Ahead of midnight's 12-minute extravaganza, the city's more than 1.5 million revellers will be treated to a special one-minute cracker show at 10.30pm, based on an absurdist self-portrait by the night's artistic ambassador Reg Mombassa.

"Essentially the idea is that every person perceives the universe in their own heads," the Mambo artist and Mental as Anything rocker told reporters on Tuesday.

"We are going to empty the contents of one such head onto the Sydney sky so hopefully people will be amused by that."

While remaining tight-lipped about the particulars, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the bridge effect, to be unveiled just after midnight, will be "bigger than ever".

For the first time in a decade more than 1000 fireworks will also be launched off the Opera House's sails.

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Man arrested over double murder

A man has been arrested on suspicion over the double murder of a mother and her daughter in Perth. Source: AAP

A 19-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested on suspicion over the double murder of a mother and her daughter in Perth.

The bodies of Tamara Alexandra Horstman, 26, and her mother Maureen Anne Horstman, 67, were found on Sunday afternoon after Tamara failed to arrive at work.

The parents of one of her friends went to the Warwick address to check on her and alerted police, who arrived about 2.30pm (WST).

Police have not revealed how the women died but it is believed Maureen suffered chest injuries and Tamara suffered head injuries.

Tamara's twin brother, who also found the pair, was questioned by police but was cleared as a suspect on Tuesday morning.

Detectives arrested another man in Mirrabooka on Tuesday and he is assisting police with their investigation.

Tamara's 2008 model Mazda3 sedan, which had been missing, was found in Mirrabooka on Monday after a member of the public heard about the search via the media and alerted police.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Cyclone impacting WA's north coast

Residents in and near Port Hedland have been told to take shelter as Cyclone Christine intensifies. Source: AAP

A RED alert remains in place for communities from Pardoo to Mardie in the Pilbara as tropical cyclone Christine starts to impact the region.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said the alert was current at 6.10pm (WST) for communities including Port Hedland, South Hedland, Whim Creek, Roebourne, Point Samson, Wickham, Karratha and Dampier.

"There is a threat to lives and homes." DFES said in a statement. "You are in danger and need to act immediately."

It urged residents in affected areas to "get ready to move to the strongest, safest part of your house".

"Keep your emergency kit with you. Stay away from doors and windows, and keep them closed. Stay indoors until the all-clear is given by authorities," DFES added.

It said relocation points had been set up at the JD Hardie Centre at Port Hedland, Karratha Leisureplex at Karratha, Civic Centre at Marble Bar, high school gym at Tom Price, and Ashburton Hall at Paraburdoo.

A yellow alert is current for people in or near Marble Bar, Tom Price, Paraburdoo and Pannawonica.

A blue alert has been issued for coastal areas between Wallal and Pardoo, between Mardie and Onslow, the inland area from Marble Bar to Newman, and between the Collier Ranges and Three Rivers.

In its latest update, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said the category-three cyclone was 75kms northwest of Port Hedland and 155kms northeast of Karratha.

It's moving towards the Pilbara coast at 16km/h, the bureau advised.

BoM said the "very destructive inner core" of the system "has begun to impact the coast between Port Hedland and Whim Creek".

It said Port Hedland was currently experiencing destructive wind gusts of up to 130km/h.

The bureau expected Christine to track south southwest, with the system's centre likely to cross the coast close to Whim Creek by about midnight.

BoM warns that winds of more than 200km/h are likely near the centre as the cyclone crosses the coast.

Winds of more than 130km/h are expected in the Karratha and Dampier region later Monday night and are forecast to hit Tom Price at 8am (WST) Tuesday.

BoM says gale-force winds up to 120km/h are currently occurring between Wallal and Roebourne, and should hit Karratha Monday night.

Coastal communities between Pardoo and Wickham including Port Hedland are also being warned about the potential for a for a "very dangerous storm tide tonight".

Heavy rainfall is expected near where the cyclone is tracking, and flood warnings have been issued for the Pilbara.

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NSW workers comp changes for 2014

Controversial changes to workers comp laws are among many new laws to take effect in NSW next year. Source: AAP

INJURED workers and children attending childcare will be among the winners and losers at the start of 2014, as new laws kick in across NSW.

Among the raft of new legislation to come into effect on January 1 are controversial changes to workers compensation introduced by the O'Farrell government to rein in a $4 billion budget blowout.

Up to 20,000 injured workers across the state who need ongoing medical treatment will lose out in 2014 due to the changes, the Law Society of NSW says.

"For example a worker with an amputation injury who has, up until now, been having their artificial limbs replaced by the insurer will now lose this entitlement," President John Dobson said.

Meanwhile kids will no longer be able to enrol into a childcare facility unless their parent or guardian provides an immunisation record.

Parents or guardians reluctant to vaccinate on religious or other grounds or due to medical conditions will also have to produce documentation.

"No longer will it be at the discretion of child care operators to accept or deny children who aren't immunised," Health Minister Jillian Skinner said in a statement.

"By law these operators will be unable to do so and should they do so they can be fined."

People looking to swap the city for the country air will be some of the winners in the new year with a number of grants rolling out.

From Wednesday a move to regional NSW for full-time employment will see eligible people pocket $10,000.

An existing $7000 grant to city homeowners purchasing properties in regional areas will be extended to include long-term renters in metropolitan Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong who make the country change from January 1.

"This is about attracting much-needed skills to our regions and developing sustainable and more vibrant regional communities," Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner said.

Meanwhile the tax free threshold for land tax will increase from $406,000 to $412,000.

For those into combat sports, such as boxing, cage fighting and Ultimate Fighting, stronger health and safety requirements will come into effect, including that combatants comply with protective clothing or equipment.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal will also commence in 2014.

The tribunal is billed as a one-stop shop for 22 state tribunals, which the government says "will improve their quality, consistency and transparency".

"NCAT enables these services to exist as a network, rather than in isolation, which will improve their quality, consistency and transparency," acting Justice Minister Michael Gallacher said in a statement.

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Holiday toll rises to 21

Three more people have died on Australian roads, taking the Christmas holiday road toll to 21. Source: AAP

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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Perth gets ready for NYE parties

An extra 1000 police officers will be on the streets on New Year's Eve in Perth. Source: AAP

LIVE music, fancy-dress parties and fireworks are on offer in Perth for New Year's Eve, but police are warning revellers to act responsibly.

An extra 1000 police will be on the streets on New Year's Eve, to clamp down on rowdy or anti-social behaviour and drink-drivers.

Assistant Commissioner Gary Dreibergs said with so many people expected in Perth's entertainment precincts, people should look out for their mates and plan their trip home before they go out.

"To put it simply, respect yourself, and respect others," he said.

"All too often we see minor matters escalate into serious incidents because someone who has consumed too much alcohol isn't able to make the right decision to step away from a minor disagreement or other trivial occurrence, such as being bumped by someone else."

Police have also warned people not to hire drivers who are advertising their taxi services online illegally.

Family entertainment in Perth includes fireworks in Mandurah and Rockingham, and a party at Perth Zoo with live music.

On New Year's Day, about 35,000 people are expected to attend the Perth Cup at Ascot Racecourse.

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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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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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Death toll in Beirut blast rises to 7

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

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

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

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

The Lebanese government has declared Sunday a day of mourning.

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Refugee group calls for ambassador asylum

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Bigger and better for NYE celebrations

Bigger and better is the promise from Australian capital cities preparing for New Year's Eve. Source: AAP

BIGGER and better is the promise from Australian capital cities preparing their New Year's Eve pyrotechnic-infused celebrations.

Melbourne will ring in the new year with a fireworks show promised to be seen from anywhere that has a view of the city skyline.

More than 550,000 revellers are expected to pack the city centre, with fireworks to be launched from 22 locations, including city rooftops, by a team of 44 pyrotechnicians.

Celebrations will take place at four key places including Docklands, Flagstaff Gardens, Treasury Gardens, and Kings Domain.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the addition of Kings Domain this year ensured the city was covered from all angles to ensure revellers had a good viewing and crowds were dispersed safely.

The drawcard end-of-year event in Australia will be in Sydney, where a third fireworks show has been added.

A 10.30pm (AEDT) pyrotechnics display will light up the sky over Sydney Harbour on Tuesday night along with the traditional 9pm and midnight shows.

Seven tonnes of fireworks were loaded onto barges in Sydney on Friday in preparation.

About 1.5 million people are expected at the harbour and another 1.1 billion worldwide will watch a telecast of festivities.

Brisbane has also revealed a stronger display this year, with a promise for the biggest fireworks show ever seen in Queensland.

Brisbane River will light up with 30,000 pyrotechnic effects fired from three barges and three rooftops at 8.30pm (AEST) and midnight.

More than 70,000 revellers are expected to watch the show at vantage points including South Bank Parklands, Kangaroo Point, the Botanic Gardens and Eagle Street Pier.

The new year will be welcomed in WA with less bangs but more beach.

New York hip-hop trio De La Soul will headline the Salt on the Beach NYE party at North Fremantle, while Rockingham and the Shelley foreshore are also tipped to draw revellers.

The beach will even reach inner-city Perth, where 80 tonnes of sand and sprinklers will be brought in at the Leederville's pub beach party.

Aside from marking the end of 2013, midnight in the ACT will also mark the end of the territory's centenary celebrations for the founding of Canberra.

The nation's capital will stage a free family concert and dance party in the city, with fireworks displays at 9pm (AEDT) and midnight.

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Vic transport costs to rise in 2014

The cost of using public transport in Victoria will rise by 2.5 per cent in 2014 under new changes. Source: AAP

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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Cambodian garment workers block traffic

STRIKING workers making shoes and clothes for Western brands have blocked roads and briefly scuffled with police in Cambodia.

The workers are demanding a two-fold increase in the minimum wage to $A180.

The protests on Friday snarled traffic in and around the capital Phnom Penh.

Human rights activist Om Sam Ath said protesters blocking a highway leading to Sihanoukville throw stones at police, who fired into the air.

He said four workers were injured, but it was unclear how serious the injuries were.

Most of the country's 500 factories have been closed since Thursday, when the manufacturers association urged its members to cease operations, citing the fear of violence.

The garment industry employs more than 500,000 people and is Cambodia's biggest export earner.

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Holiday road toll rises to 12

The Christmas holiday road toll has risen to 12 following the death of a teenager and a cyclist. Source: AAP

THE Christmas holiday road toll has risen to 12 following the death of a teenage driver and a cyclist.

An 18-year-old woman died on Friday after the ute she was driving rolled near Narrabri in north-west NSW.

Earlier on Friday, a female cyclist was killed in an alleged hit-and-run near Adelaide.

Police allege a 37-year-old woman hit the cyclist at Lower Inman Valley and drove off.

About an hour later, a solo police patrol on the Southern Expressway at Lonsdale spotted two people in a car with front-end damage and a cracked windscreen.

Both occupants were arrested and the female driver was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

A motorist in Queensland died on Friday afternoon after crash involving a truck on the Mount Lindesay Highway.

The deaths took the national holiday road toll to 12.

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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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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Man found dead after Brisbane siege

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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First Greenpeace activist gets exit visa

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Cyclone could develop Christmas Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AAP anr/ldj

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Canada and US face Christmas blackout

UTILITY crews have rushed to restore electricity to hundreds of thousands of people who face a Christmas without lights after a storm downed power lines throughout eastern Canada and parts of the US.

Just under 200,000 homes in Toronto, Canada's largest city, were without power on Monday following a weekend ice storm that wreaked havoc through Ontario to the Atlantic coast.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said utility workers from Michigan, Manitoba and elsewhere were working to restore power.

Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said some customers may not get power back until Boxing Day.

About 80,000 customers in smaller towns and rural areas in Ontario also remained without power, utility companies said. Nearly 34,000 customers remained without power in Quebec.

An icy mix of rain and freezing rain played havoc with the electricity grid as ice-laden trees fell on power lines.

The first full day of winter on Sunday also brought ice and high wind in the upper US Midwest and northeastern New England states and flooding in the south.

More than 390,000 homes and businesses were without power on Monday in Michigan, upstate New York and across the northern New England region to Maine, down from Sunday's peak of more than half a million.

Most were in Michigan, whose largest electricity companies said it would be days before power was restored.

At least 11 deaths in the US have been blamed on the storm, including five people killed in flooding in Kentucky and a woman who died after a tornado with winds of 210km/h struck in Arkansas.

More than 5,500 flights were behind schedule by Monday evening, the majority of those in New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Dallas and Houston.

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Man dies after car hits tree in Qld

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

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

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

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

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

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Belfast peace talks fail to reach deal

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

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

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

Talks ended around 4am on Tuesday without agreement.

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

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Cleveland kidnap hero lands book deal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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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Victory smells sweet for this winner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Ex-UK minister jailed for fudging expenses

A FORMER British legislator and Cabinet minister has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to making nearly STG13,000 ($A23,950) in bogus expense claims.

Denis MacShane, who served as Europe minister under former Prime Minister Tony Blair, admitted to filing 19 fake receipts for "research and translation" services between January 2005 and January 2008.

The money from those claims was used to fund trips, including one to Paris to judge a literary competition.

MacShane's admission capped several years of scrutiny of his expenses, following the 2009 scandal that found UK lawmakers had billed the public for items such as pornographic movies and an ornamental duck house.

He was sentenced on Monday at London's Old Bailey Court to six months in jail.

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Swedish Christmas goat engulfed in flames

A giant straw goat in Sweden symbolising Christmas spirit has been burnt down for the 27th time. Source: AAP

VANDALS in Sweden have burned down for the 27th time a giant straw goat meant to symbolise Christmas spirit.

The 13-metre high and 3.6-tonne heavy straw goat was engulfed in flames early on Saturday after unidentified assailants attacked it in the Swedish town of Gavle, 150km north of Stockholm.

The straw goat is a centuries-old Scandinavian yule symbol that preceded Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts.

Since 1966, when the tradition of erecting the giant straw goat in the town square was introduced, Vandals have burnt it down 27 times.

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Six horses slaughtered in SA stable

Six miniature show horses have been hacked to death at a stable south of Adelaide. Source: AAP

A $100,000 reward is being offered to catch the "extremely sick" person who slaughtered six miniature show horses in a South Australian stable.

Police describe the animal killings at Clayton Bay, about 70km south of Adelaide, as "bizarre and cruel", with no leads on a suspect.

Three miniature horses in the same stable were not harmed but six others were found dead with their throats cut.

The owner's son, Daniel Spong, told ABC Radio it may have been a targeted attack but he doesn't know why.

"It just would take an extremely sick individual, I think, to carry this out," he said.

"We just can't believe it.

"These horses each have their own characters and personalities, and each of the staff and family have their own personal relationships with the animals." He said the distraught owners were offering a $100,000 reward.

A police spokesman said the horses are believed to have been killed some time between Friday night and Saturday morning.

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Man critical after CBD assault

Two men are in a critical condition, following a night of alcohol-fuelled violence in Brisbane

Police would like to speak to this man in relation to a serious assault in Brisbane's CBD early Sunday morning. Source: Supplied

Police would like to speak to this man in relation to a serious assault in Brisbane's CBD early Sunday morning. Source: Supplied

A MAN has come forward over a bashing in Brisbane CBD overnight, which left another man with critical injuries.

A man voluntarily attended Petrie police station a short time ago and is currently speaking with detectives.

The other man is still in hospital in a critical condition with life threatening injuries.

EARLIER, police relased CCTV images of a man as part of ongoing investigations into the serious assault of a man in Brisbane's CBD.

Police are searching for a man who intervened in a couple's fight, seriously injuring a 38-year-old man in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The couple were arguing on the footpath of Queen Street near the intersection with Wharf Street around 4am when an unidentified man stepped in, seriously injuring the 38-year-old.

Brisbane region detective inspector Ian Park said the partner of the injured Arana Hills man was by his bedside in hospital.

"She's very upset obviously by what's happened," he said.

He said the man today remained in Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a critical condition with serious injuries after being resuscitated at the scene.

Insp Park said alcohol may have been a factor.

"I guess it's a fair assumption that at 4 o'clock there is going to be alcohol involved, so we would appeal to people to just be careful with alcohol and look after themselves and each other and not to drink to excessive levels, which is always a deadly cocktail."

There were reports that people performed CPR on the man before paramedics arrived.

Alessandro Vosolo, who is staying on the 44th floor of the building, said the fight sounded violent and lasted less than four minutes.

"Fighting, screaming, arguing like guys getting thrown around, that sort of thing," he said.

One witness said he was on the 20th floor of the hotel and heard the fight.

"A dude got beat up... We heard it but then police rocked up."

Police insp Park said a number of witnesses had already been interviewed but appealed for more people to step forward, particularly the man, understood to be Caucasian and in his 30s, who was involved in the fight.

The injured man was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a critical condition.

"Initial information suggests that a man and a woman were seen arguing on the footpath of Queen Street near the intersection with Wharf Street when another man intervened just before 4am," police said in a statement.

Police said the two men were then involved in a fight in which a 38-year-old Arana Hills man sustained a serious head injury.

-----

Detective inspector Ian Park said police were also investigating the assault of a man who got into a fight with a hotel staff member at the Orient about 4.30am.

A 37-year-old man fell down the stairs and suffered serious head injuries when his head hit the concrete pavement.

"I believe the may have been a disagreement between this person and a staff member but as to what actually took place is subject to investigation," Insp Park said.

The man was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital where he is in a serious condition.

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In a third incident, a man was allegedly glassed in the face at the Family Nightclub on McLachlan St in the Fortitude Valley about 3am Sunday.

Police said a 19-year-old was struck in the face with a glass, receiving cuts to his cheek area. Police said the man did not have life-threatening injuries.

A spokesman said security staff and patrons stopped the alleged attacker and held him until police arrived.

A 20-year-old Calamvale man has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm. He is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday morning.

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Businessman, Jewish advocate Bronfman dies

EDGAR M Bronfman Sr, the billionaire businessman and long-time president of the World Jewish Congress, which lobbied the Soviets to allow Jews to emigrate and helped spearhead the search for hidden Nazi loot, has died aged 84.

The Canadian-born Bronfman died at his New York home on Saturday surrounded by family, according to the family charity he led, The Samuel Bronfman Foundation.

Bronfman made his fortune with his family's Seagram's liquor empire, taking over as chairman and CEO in 1971 and continuing the work of his father, Samuel. Under Bronfman's leadership, Seagram expanded its offerings and was eventually acquired by French media and telecom group Vivendi Universal in 2000.

But Bronfman's wealth, combined with his role in the World Jewish Congress, an umbrella group of Jewish organisations in some 80 countries that he led for more than a quarter century, allowed him to be a tireless advocate for his fellow Jews.

"He was the first of his kind, a titan of industry that dedicated himself fully to advocating, advancing and encouraging the Jewish people," said Dana Raucher, executive director of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Bronfman the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honour. In the citation, Bronfman was heralded for working "to ensure basic rights for Jews around the world."

In a 1986 Associated Press profile, he said his position and money helped him have access to world leaders.

"It's a combination of the two," Bronfman said.

"In the end, it doesn't really matter why that access is available, as long as it is there."

The year before, he had become the first congress president to meet with Soviet officials in Moscow, bringing his case for human rights and taking a little time to promote Seagram's interests. He visited again in 1988, by which time Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union, a key goal of the congress, had begun to rise under the reforming leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the congress also helped lead the effort to gain $US11 billion ($A12.45 billion) in restitution for heirs of Holocaust victims.

Jews in German and Nazi-held countries were stripped of their possessions, their artworks and even the gold fillings from their teeth in the regime's death camps. Much of the gold wound up in Swiss banks, and the institutions came under heavy criticism decades after the war ended for failing to make adequate reparations.

In 1975, the Bronfman family made the news for a far different reason when one of Edgar Bronfman's sons, 21-year-old Samuel 2nd, was abducted in a New York suburb.

The family paid a $2.3 million ransom and Samuel was later found when authorities raided a Brooklyn apartment. The missing money was found under a bed and two men were arrested.

The two were convicted of extortion, but acquitted of kidnapping, in a sensational 1976 trial in which the defence accused Samuel Bronfman of staging his own kidnapping as a hoax intended to cheat his father out of the ransom money. Samuel Bronfman denied the allegation and the prosecution called it "ridiculous".

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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.

Khodorkovsky is expected to give a press conference in Berlin on Sunday, when he will outline his future plans.

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NSW Police retrieve abseiler's body

An abseiler has fallen to his death and a woman has been lifted to safety in the Blue Mountains. Source: AAP

A MAN who fell to his death from a Blue Mountains cliff was reportedly trying to save his girlfriend after she became tangled in ropes.

The man in his 30s was abseiling with a woman in her 20s at Malaita Point, a popular abseiling spot on the edge of the Jamison Valley, near Katoomba, on Saturday morning.

Emergency services were called around 8.30am (AEDT) after the woman became tangled in ropes mid-way down a cliff.

Police say the man then plummeted down the cliff and the woman raised the alarm.

"It just so happened that at the time there were some tourists walking past and (they) came down to this lookout to admire the view, and they heard the female calling for help," Inspector Ken Schack-Evans told reporters at the scene.

An operation to retrieve the man's body was completed on Saturday evening.

The woman was winched to safety at about 1.30pm and wasn't injured, NSW Ambulance duty operations manager Murray Traynor said.

A rope system was used to haul her to the top of the cliff in a rescue operation involving ambulance and police helicopters.

Police will investigate the incident and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

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Attacks across Iraq leave 13 people dead

A STRING of attacks across Iraq has killed 15 people, including a senior military commander, a colonel and five soldiers who all died during a raid on an al-Qaeda hideout, officials said.

Police officials said army Major General Mohammed al-Karawi, the colonel and the five troops were killed on Saturday when they stormed the booby-trapped hideout in the area of Rutba, in Iraq's volatile Sunni western Anbar province.

Al-Karawi, who commanded the Iraqi army's 7th Division, was leading a search operation hunting for al-Qaeda fighters in the area. Four soldiers were wounded in the operation, the police said.

Also in western Iraq, gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at a police checkpoint in the city of Fallujah earlier on Saturday, killing four policemen.

In the north, near the city of Kirkuk, an army officer and a soldier were killed when two mortar shells struck a military camp, officials said.

And in the town of Latifiyah, 30 kilometres 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.

Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims make their way every year to Karbala for Arbaeen. Al-Qaeda fighters and other Sunni insurgents frequently target Shi'ites, whom they consider to be infidels. Iraqi security forces also often poorly protect Shi'ite marches and pilgrimages to holy sites.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

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

Violence has spiked in Iraq since a deadly crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in a northern town in April. At least 367 people have died in attacks across the country so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.

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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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Thai protesters on the march again

THOUSANDS of anti-government protesters have resumed their marching in Bangkok, demanding that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down to make way for a government free of nepotism and corruption.

The demonstrators, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, left their protest site at the Democracy Monument in the city's government quarter on Thursday morning and marched to the busy Sukhumvit Road, in Bangkok's tourist belt.

Later in the day the protesters, many blowing whistles and shouting "Yingluck out" and "We don't want corrupt government", said they planned to march along Sukhumvit Road and back to the Democracy Monument in a show of strength.

Marchers said some of the protesters planned to break off from the main body of the demonstration and march to the US Embassy to protest against perceived official US support for the Yingluck government.

The noisy but peaceful march followed a lull of several days in a campaign that attracted as many as 150,000 marchers earlier this month and triggered skirmishes with police and pro-government activists.

Suthep, secretary-general of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee, has rejected Yingluck's bid to defuse the crisis by dissolving parliament and calling a snap election on February 2.

He said anti-government groups will hold another, larger, demonstration on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Election Commission chairman Supachai Somcharoen denied reports that the poll would be postponed, saying it would take place on February 2 as scheduled.

Suthep said another election would only help entrench the corrupt political machine of Yingluck's elder brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a coup in 2006 and fled the country in 2008 to avoid a two-year jail term for abuse of power.

Suthep's campaign has attracted wide support in Bangkok but is strongly opposed in the country's relatively poor regions of the north and north-east, where Thaksin is revered for his populist policies.

Thaksin's Pheu Thai party won the last election in July 2011 with a majority of over 4 million votes, and Thaksin-supported parties have won every national election in Thailand since 2001.

The main opposition party, the Democrats, have until December 23 to decide whether to support Suthep's call to reject the election or take part in the uphill electoral battle.

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Korean man's body believed to be in grave

Police will dig up a shallow grave in Brisbane as they search for a missing South Korean man. Source: AAP

MIN Tae Kim went to exchange his hard-earned Australian savings for South Korean money for his return home but ended up in a shallow grave on a vacant property in southwest Brisbane.

Police said late on Thursday that they had exhumed the 28-year-old man's body after blood was found around the grave site in Algester.

Two men and a woman are being held and questioned over Mr Kim's disappearance, although no charges have been laid.

Detective Inspector Rod Kemp said Mr Kim had been working hard at a local abattoir to build up his savings before his planned return to South Korea next month.

But he needed to change $15,000 cash into South Korean won and advertised on the Gumtree website in hope of finding a better exchange rate.

Mr Kim left his Cannon Hill share house with his cash to do a deal with an unknown person about 2pm (AEST) on Monday.

It was the last time he was seen alive and Det Insp Kemp said police were looking into "foul play".

Mr Kim's disappearance comes after 22-year-old South Korean woman Eunji Ban was allegedly bashed to death while walking to work in Brisbane's CBD last month.

The Council of International Students Australia president Thomson Ch'ng said the incidents would rock people's confidence in Brisbane being a safe place to study.

"Two incidents within three weeks is not good for Brisbane and Australia," he told AAP.

"The fact is, international students are important bridges between Australia and the international community and whatever happens here (in Australia), the world is watching."

Det Insp Kemp said it would be very unfortunate if Mr Kim became the second South Korean murdered in Brisbane in less than a month.

"If it is and if he has been brutally murdered, it's a shocking thing for us and a concern for us, most certainly," he said.

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'Jihadists in Syria torturing prisoners'

PRISONERS held by an al-Qaeda-linked rebel group that controls large areas of northern Syria have been subjected to systematic torture and summary executions, Amnesty International says.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) runs a string of prisons in the northern provinces of Aleppo and al-Raqqa where detainees have undergone flogging and other forms of abuse, Amnesty wrote in a report based on interviews with people who had been held by the extremist group.

Former detainees told Amnesty of being held for unknown reasons; handcuffed in painful positions for long periods; and beaten by members of the group.

Some said they had witnessed trials in the group's sharia (Islamic law) courts, in which death sentences were handed down to persons accused of crimes such as fighting against ISIL or of committing adultery.

"After years in which they were prey to the brutality of the al-Assad regime, the people of al-Raqqa and Aleppo are now suffering under a new form of tyranny imposed on them by [ISIL], in which arbitrary detention, torture and executions have become the order of the day," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa, on Thursday.

The rights group called on ISIL to "end its appalling treatment of detainees" and asked the international community "to take concrete steps to block the flow of arms and other support to [ISIL] and other armed groups implicated in committing war crimes and other serious human rights abuses." "The Turkish government, in particular, should prevent its territory being used by [ISIL] to bring in arms and recruits to Syria," said Luther.

ISIL was established by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq, who sent fighters to Syria to join the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

The militants initially fought under the name of the radical al-Nusra Front. However, in April, al-Baghdadi announced that the two formations were merging as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Al-Nusra's leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jaulani, objected and won the support of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Nonetheless, many of al-Jaulani fighters appear to have decided not to back him and are now working with ISIL.

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Troops return from Afghan mission

THE last mission of Corporal Brendon Heape's tour to Afghanistan sounded simple - be home in time for his seven-month-old daughter Mikaela's first Christmas.

"I wasn't meant to, but luckily enough I got the chance," he said at Sydney Airport on Thursday after flying in with fellow troops.

Leaving for a tour just weeks after she was born, with only a quick visit in September, the proud father said he was amazed at how big she'd grown.

"We're so excited to be able to share Mikaela's first Christmas as a full family," happy wife Catherine said.

Cpl Heape was just one of 259 defence personnel who returned from Afghanistan on Thursday following the wrap-up of Australia's combat operations.

At the RAAF Amberley base, west of Brisbane, 55 Royal Australian Air Force personnel arrived home after seven months in Afghanistan.

Among them was Airman Scott Penrose, who cried with joy as he hoisted daughter Ella into his arms. He made it home the day before Ella's seventh birthday.

Ella was in good company in welcoming home a much-missed parent.

"I waited 114 days to hug my daddy," were the words on the back of one nine-month-old baby boy's shirt.

Just over a hundred touched down at Sydney Airport after taking the last flight home before Christmas.

Although this contingent was the last to return from Oruzgan, there are still about 400 Australian troops left in Afghanistan to mentor the Afghan National Army.

At an earlier stop in Darwin, Corporal Shane Imrie said the hard work of Australian forces had started to pay off.

"At our level it's hard to see the bigger picture, but we certainly did a lot of work," he said.

"Going back to the early years you can definitely see a big difference."

"There's a lot more women going to school, and kids, and that's obviously a great thing."

For Corporal Katie Davis, 22, it was easy to put the emotions of being home into words.

"Best thing ever," she said, embracing her younger sister Julie and best friend Natalie Harrison.

She said she went into her nearly nine-month tour with an open mind but was happy to be home as an early gift to her sister.

"Cheap Christmas," quipped Julie.

It was a similarly emotional reunion for Major Jon Lane and his wife Sally Beaumont, separated for 10 months while he worked as a psychiatrist at a hospital in Kandahar.

As he wiped tears from his eyes, Major Lane said he'd missed the Australian landscape the most.

"The green, water and somewhere that doesn't just have dirt and dust and rocks," he said.

But there's still a bit of a way to go until they're back in their hometown of Hobart.

So what's the first thing on the list when he finally gets there?

"Ah, have a beer. It's mental health."

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Sea ice trip reopens Mawson's Huts route

TWO Australian explorers have made it over dangerous sea ice to Mawson's Huts in Antarctica, which have been inaccessible for several years.

Conservator Ian Godfrey and heritage carpenter Jon Tucker navigated 70km of sea ice on an amphibious vehicle to reach the huts.

Their visit was part of a privately funded expedition of nearly 30 scientists and others to commemorate the centenary of Douglas Mawson's exploration of the Cape Denison area.

The Mawson's Huts Foundation says this is the first time it has attempted such an ambitious and potentially hazardous crossing of the ice.

It was a joint operation between the foundation and the Australian Antarctic Division.

The huts on Cape Denison have been inaccessible for many years because an iceberg about the size of the ACT blocked the entrance to the bay.

Dr Godfrey said the trip across the sea ice was the journey of a lifetime.

"Mawson's Huts seem to be in good condition but we may only have a day here so we're doing all the essentials such as changing data loggers and assessing the condition of the building structure," he said.

He was hopeful the success of this mission meant the Mawson's Huts Foundation could resume annual visits.

Expedition manager Rob Easther said several of the scientists had planned to also make the full journey to the huts to conduct many of the experiments carried out there by Mawson's 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic expedition.

However, weather conditions mean it's likely the modern expedition team will have to leave the area sooner than hoped.

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Boy critical after 'horror' Sydney crash

A young boy is in a critical condition after a crash involving a cement truck in Sydney's southwest. Source: AAP

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy is in a critical condition after being thrown from a van in a "horror crash" involving a cement truck in Sydney's southwest.

Police said the Toyota Tarago was stopped in a breakdown lane on the Hume Highway just before noon (AEDT) on Thursday when the cement truck crashed into its rear.

The boy, who was sitting in a rear booster seat, was thrown some 10 metres from the van by the force of the crash and suffered head, chest and pelvic injuries and leg fractures, CareFlight said.

The green van was left a mangled and crushed wreck.

Describing it as a horror crash, CareFlight said one of its trauma doctors performed emergency roadside surgery on the boy.

The six-year-old was then placed in an induced coma before being flown by helicopter to Westmead Children's Hospital in a critical condition.

His 13-year-old sister, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the van, sustained minor injuries including cuts and abrasions and was also taken to Westmead.

Their mother, standing outside the van at the time of the crash, suffered suspected pelvic injuries and was taken to Westmead Hospital for treatment, police said.

The driver of the cement truck and his passenger were trapped in their vehicle before being freed by emergency services and taken to hospital.

The truck driver, believed to be in his 30s, is undergoing mandatory blood and urine tests.

Southbound lanes of the motorway have been re-opened.

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Korean man's body believed to be in grave

Police will dig up a shallow grave in Brisbane as they search for a missing South Korean man. Source: AAP

MIN Tae Kim went to exchange his hard-earned Australian savings for South Korean money for his return home but he may never get there.

Police have found a shallow grave on a vacant property in southwest Brisbane they believe could contain the 28-year-old South Korean man's body.

Detective Inspector Kemp says two men and a woman are being held over his disappearance.

Blood was found around the grave site, in Algester, and forensics officers are preparing to exhume the contents.

They hope to know by Friday if it is Mr Kim's remains.

"We're not sure what is in that grave at this time," Det Insp Kemp told reporters.

"It could be a dog, we do have fears that is human though and it could be the missing person."

Det Insp Kemp said Mr Kim had been working hard at a local abattoir to build up his savings before his planned return to South Korea next month.

But he needed to change $15,000 cash into South Korean won and put an ad on the Gumtree website to get a cheaper exchange rate.

Mr Kim left his Cannon Hill share house with his cash to do a deal with an unknown person about 2pm Monday.

It was the last time he was seen alive.

"We feel that he may have met with foul play, we don't know," Det Insp Kemp said.

Mr Kim's disappearance comes after 22-year-old South Korean woman Eunji Ban was allegedly bashed to death while walking to work in Brisbane's CBD last month.

The Council of International Students Australia president Thomson Ch'ng said the incidents would rock people's confidence in Brisbane being a safe place to study.

"Two incidents within three weeks is not good for Brisbane and Australia," he told AAP.

"The fact is, international students are important bridges between Australia and the international community and whatever happens here (in Australia), the world is watching."

Det Insp Kemp said it would be a very unfortunate if Mr Kim became the second South Korean murdered in Brisbane in less than a month.

"If it is and if he has been brutally murdered, it's a shocking thing for us and a concern for us, most certainly," he said.

Police expect to find out the results of forensic testing on the gravesite on Friday.

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US 'regrets' Indian diplomat's treatment

THE US has voiced regret to India over the treatment of a diplomat whose account of being stripped and cavity-searched triggered outrage as the prosecutor in charge of the case defended the arrest.

With New Delhi vowing to "restore the dignity" of diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Indian media reported that the 39-year-old was being moved from her post as deputy consul general in New York to the UN mission in a bid to thwart her prosecution.

In a strongly worded statement, Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said the diplomat had "clearly tried to evade US law designed to protect from exploitation the domestic employees of diplomats and consular officers".

Khobragade is free on bail after her December 12 arrest in New York for allegedly paying a domestic worker a fraction of the minimum wage and for lying about the employee's salary in a visa application.

Bharara, who was born in India, stressed that the employee allegedly worked "far more" than the 40 hours a week in her contract and visa application.

The worker is said to have been paid just $US3.31 an hour - well below New York's required $US7.25 - despite signing a contract to pay her three times that amount for childcare and other services.

"Is it for US prosecutors to look the other way, ignore the law and the civil rights of victims (again, here an Indian national), or is it the responsibility of the diplomats and consular officers and their government to make sure the law is observed?" Bharara asked.

While India retaliated against American diplomats in the usually US-friendly country, Secretary of State John Kerry tried to end the row in a telephone call to India's national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon.

Kerry "expressed his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India", in a call to Menon, the State Department said.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said it was "particularly important to Secretary Kerry that foreign diplomats serving in the United States are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas".

The fury in India grew after an email from Khobragade in which the diplomat said she had been repeatedly stripped and cavity-searched by the US authorities after her detention.

"I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a hold-up with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity," she said in the email.

But Bharara, the US attorney, insisted that Khobragade was arrested in the "most discreet" way possible, was never handcuffed or restrained and was searched by a female deputy marshal in a "private setting".

"One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse?" he asked.

But the diplomat's allegations of harsh treatment at the hands of the US has caused huge offence in a country that sees itself as an emerging world power.

In an address to parliament, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said it was his "duty to bring the lady back.

"We have to restore her dignity and I will do it at any cost," he said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the diplomat's arrest "deplorable".

Bulldozers dragged away concrete barricades that had been set up outside the US Embassy.

And US consular officials have been told to return identity cards that speed up travel into and through India, with their import clearances for duty free alcohol and other goods suspended.

State Department No.3 Wendy Sherman spoke to Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and voiced hope that Indian authorities "will continue to fulfil their host government obligations regarding the safety and security of our personnel and mission premises", Harf said.

Harf said the State Department had not received any notice that India wanted to change Khobragade's credentials to the UN mission.

Such a move "would have to be approved by all appropriate authorities" at the UN and State Department, she said.

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Amnesty granted to Greenpeace Arctic 30

GREENPEACE'S Arctic 30 have expressed relief after the Russian parliament voted to grant them amnesty, the environmental organisation says.

Three months after 28 activists and two freelance journalists were arrested at an Arctic oil platform, the Duma has voted for an amendment that extends an amnesty decree.

The activists, who have been charged with hooliganism, are now waiting on a final vote to grant them freedom.

Greenpeace said it looked to be only a matter of time until they can return to their families.

"The legal proceedings against the Arctic 30 are now almost certain to come to an end and the 26 non-Russians will be free to return home to their families as soon as they are given exit visas by the Russian authorities," the organisation said in a statement.

Tasmanian activist Colin Russell and permanent Australian residents Alex Harris from Sydney and Jon Beauchamp from Adelaide have expressed relief at the vote.

"I know Colin Russell is desperate to get back to Tassie and return to a normal life after this extraordinary ordeal which has been so taxing for him, his wife Chrissie and daughter Maddy," Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner Reece Turner said on Wednesday.

Mr Turner said Ms Harris was looking forward to the simple things when she returns to Australia.

"When I was in St Petersburg recently I asked Alex Harris, who works in our office, what she was going to do first when she's back home in Australia.

"She said apart from seeing her friends and her dear cousin Gemma she was really looking forward to walking along Manly beach as a free woman."

The group of environmental activists were imprisoned in September after protesting against Russia's Prirazlomnaya oil rig in the Arctic.

The captain of the Arctic Sunrise, Peter Willcox said he should never have been charged and jailed in the first place.

"We sailed north to bear witness to a profound environmental threat but our ship was stormed by masked men wielding knives and guns.

"Now its nearly over and we may soon be truly free. But there's no amnesty for the Arctic," he said in a statement.

Greenpeace said it was unclear when the non-Russians in the group, including Mr Russell, would be able to leave the country.

Earlier this month 26 of the activists from 17 nations had their passports returned to them but they do not have the correct visas to leave Russia.

Greenpeace said the campaign to free the Arctic 30 has involved 860 protests in 46 countries.

Meanwhile more than 2.6 million people wrote to Russian embassies, the organisation said.

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Amnesty granted to Greenpeace Arctic 30

GREENPEACE'S Arctic 30 have expressed relief after the Russian parliament voted to grant them amnesty, the environmental organisation says.

Three months after 28 activists and two freelance journalists were arrested at an Arctic oil platform, the Duma has voted for an amendment that extends an amnesty decree.

The activists, who have been charged with hooliganism, are now waiting on a final vote to grant them freedom.

Greenpeace said it looked to be only a matter of time until they can return to their families.

"The legal proceedings against the Arctic 30 are now almost certain to come to an end and the 26 non-Russians will be free to return home to their families as soon as they are given exit visas by the Russian authorities," the organisation said in a statement.

Tasmanian activist Colin Russell and permanent Australian residents Alex Harris from Sydney and Jon Beauchamp from Adelaide have expressed relief at the vote.

"I know Colin Russell is desperate to get back to Tassie and return to a normal life after this extraordinary ordeal which has been so taxing for him, his wife Chrissie and daughter Maddy," Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner Reece Turner said on Wednesday.

Mr Turner said Ms Harris was looking forward to the simple things when she returns to Australia.

"When I was in St Petersburg recently I asked Alex Harris, who works in our office, what she was going to do first when she's back home in Australia.

"She said apart from seeing her friends and her dear cousin Gemma she was really looking forward to walking along Manly beach as a free woman."

The group of environmental activists were imprisoned in September after protesting against Russia's Prirazlomnaya oil rig in the Arctic.

The captain of the Arctic Sunrise, Peter Willcox said he should never have been charged and jailed in the first place.

"We sailed north to bear witness to a profound environmental threat but our ship was stormed by masked men wielding knives and guns.

"Now its nearly over and we may soon be truly free. But there's no amnesty for the Arctic," he said in a statement.

Greenpeace said it was unclear when the non-Russians in the group, including Mr Russell, would be able to leave the country.

Earlier this month 26 of the activists from 17 nations had their passports returned to them but they do not have the correct visas to leave Russia.

Greenpeace said the campaign to free the Arctic 30 has involved 860 protests in 46 countries.

Meanwhile more than 2.6 million people wrote to Russian embassies, the organisation said.

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Two facing charges over fatal Vic attack

TWO men accused of attacking a 36-year-old man in Melbourne could be facing more serious charges after he died in hospital from his injuries.

Police had initially charged the pair with intentionally causing serious injury and other offences after finding a 36-year-old man had been brutally attacked in the streets of Fitzroy on Monday evening.

But the man died in hospital on Wednesday, leading homicide detectives to consider laying different charges.

"The charges are likely to be upgraded," a police spokeswoman said.

Narada Seresen, 35, of no fixed address, and Jasper Meagher, 26, of Carlton, will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday over the incident.

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Britain to move to plastic banknotes

PLASTIC bank notes are to be issued by the Bank of England for the first time when the new STG5 ($A9.19) note featuring Sir Winston Churchill appears in 2016.

A STG10 ($A18.39) note featuring Jane Austen to follow around a year later will also be made from polymer rather than the cotton paper currently used, the Bank said.

It follows a three-year research program that concluded plastic notes stay cleaner for longer, are more difficult to counterfeit and are at least twice as longer-lasting.

A public consultation across the UK, giving people the chance to handle the notes, found 87 per cent of 13,000 individuals who responded were in favour of polymer.

Bank governor Mark Carney said: "Ensuring trust and confidence in money is at the heart of what central banks do. Polymer notes are the next step in the evolution of bank note design to meet that objective.

"The quality of polymer notes is higher, they are more secure from counterfeiting, and they can be produced at a lower cost to the taxpayer and the environment."

The new notes will retain their familiar look, the Bank said, including the portrait of the Queen and a historical character.

Meanwhile, the Bank announced new guidelines on how it chooses historical figures to feature on bank notes, which include the aim that they should "reflect the diverse nature of British society".

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