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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Knox 'afraid' to front Italian court

US murder suspect Amanda Knox has emailed an Italian court to say she is "afraid" to show up for her trial on charges of killing British student Meredith Kercher, judge Alessandro Nencini says.

Knox, who is a defendant, along with her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, is letting herself be tried in absentia.

She has signalled she would not return to Italy to serve her sentence if she is found guilty.

"I am not in the courtroom because I am afraid," Knox said in a message in Italian that was read out in court by Nencini on Tuesday.

"I am afraid that you will be influenced by the vehemency of the accusations, that you will be blinded by their smokescreens."

The judge dismissed Knox's email as "unorthodox" and said those who "want to speak at a trial should come to the trial".

He said lawyers for the defence vouched for the authenticity of the message.

Ms Kercher was 21 when she died.

She was found on November 2, 2007, half-naked and with multiple stab wounds, in the apartment she was sharing with Knox and two other female students in the central Italian university town of Perugia.

Knox and Sollecito were arrested days after the crime.

In 2009, they were jailed for 26 years and 25 years, respectively, after Perugia judges concluded in a first instance ruling that the pair, along with a third person, had killed Kercher during a group sex game.

They were acquitted in 2011 after an appeal court deemed incriminating DNA evidence to be unreliable.

Freed from prison, Knox returned to her home city of Seattle.

But the verdict was annulled in March by Italy's top appeals body, which ordered a retrial and moved proceedings from Perugia to Florence.

Judges are expected to issue a new ruling in January, but it could be appealed again.

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Business as usual as Pope turns 77

THOUSANDS of goodwill messages have poured in to the Vatican for Pope Francis, who has turned 77.

But no special celebrations were planned for the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, with Tuesday expected to be a normal working day for him.

The pope celebrated his daily mass in the Santa Marta chapel at 7am (1700 AEDT), and was preparing his speech for his weekly audience, scheduled for Wednesday.

Francis was given a surprise party at the weekend, when he met a group of children at a charity office inside the Vatican.

They each sported a letter of the alphabet on their shirt, and lined up to spell out the message Happy Birthday, Pope Francis. There was also a cake, with candles.

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Bus carrying 13 rolls in NT

A BUS has rolled in the Northern Territory, seriously injuring two people.

Police say the crash happened on the Stuart Highway 128 kilometres south of Alice Springs, about lunchtime on Tuesday.

Thirteen people were on board.

The seriously hurt pair are being treated at Alice Springs Hospital.

The other 11 reportedly received minor injuries.

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Syria peace talks to open in Montreux: UN

The UN has called for $US6.5 billion in aid for the expected 4.1 million Syrian refugees in 2014. Source: AAP

THE long-delayed "Geneva II" peace conference for Syria will open in the Swiss lakeside town of Montreux because of a lack of hotel space in Geneva, the United Nations says.

"The international conference on Syria ... will be held due to logistical reasons ... in Montreux," said Khawal Mattar, spokeswoman for UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is trying to organise the conference.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month finally set January 22 as the date for the talks, which have been repeatedly postponed since June.

But a luxury watch fair will be taking place in Geneva at the same time.

The global elite will also begin gathering for the annual World Economic Forum that begins in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on January 22, many of them passing through Geneva.

As a result, the city's hotels are fully booked, leading organisers to look for alternatives.

Montreux was decided upon, Mattar said, for a variety of reasons, including security considerations and the availability of hotel space in the scenic town at the other end of Lake Geneva known for its jazz festival.

The conference centre at the Montreux Palace will only host the first day of high-level talks on January 22, hosted by Ban and including all invited country delegations.

Negotiations between the two Syrian delegations and Brahimi will then continue at the UN's European headquarters in Geneva on January 24, but it has not been decided how long the talks will continue, Mattar said.

Meanwhile, UN agencies have launched what they say is the biggest-ever relief appeal for a single emergency, as they called for $US6.5 billion ($A7.3 billion) in funds for Syrians in 2014.

The UN's humanitarian affairs and refugee agencies said on Monday that $US2.3 billion is needed to provide for people inside the war-torn country, with the remainder for Syrian refugees in the region.

"We're facing a terrifying situation here, where, by the end of 2014, substantially more of the population of Syria could be displaced or in need of humanitarian help than not," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in Geneva.

"This goes beyond anything we have seen in many, many years, and makes the need for a political solution all the greater."

The agencies warned that they were planning for up to 4.1 million refugees by the end of 2014 - of a total pre-war population of 22.4 million.

More than 2.3 million Syrians have so far fled the country since the conflict began in 2011, with more than four million estimated to be displaced inside its borders.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP), one of the bodies participating in the multi-agency plan, separately announced it would feed 4.25 million Syrians next year, at a cost of $US2 billion.

The WFP said almost 6.3 million people in the country needed "urgent, life-saving food assistance".

It pledged to focus on preventing child malnutrition, giving food supplements to 240,000 children aged 6 to 23 months.

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Pressure grows for NSW pub lockouts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I think the community comes before profits."

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

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

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

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

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione agreed that cultural shift was crucial.

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

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

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

The Australian Hotels Association NSW would not comment.

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Aurizon to cut rail fleet, cancel project

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some 248 voluntary redundancies have since been accepted.

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

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

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

Aurizon shares dropped two cents to $4.68.

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Kiwi extends gains over Aussie dollar

THE New Zealand dollar has extended its rally against its trans-Tasman counterpart as the divergence between the neighbouring economies makes New Zealand interest rates more attractive.

The kiwi rose as high as 92.49 Australian cents on Monday, the highest since October 2008, trading at 92.40 cents at 5pm in Wellington from 92.26 cents on Friday in New York.

The NZ dollar traded at 82.78 cents from 82.56 cents at 8am and 82.63 cents on Friday in New York.

The kiwi has been making fresh five-year highs against its Australian counterpart as the slowing economy in Australia and burgeoning local recovery underline the different stages of the interest rate cycle each nation's central bank is in.

New Zealand's Reserve Bank is keen on hiking rates next year, while Australia's is sitting on record-low rates to keep the stimulus coming.

Investors will be looking to see any hint of an easing bias when the minutes to this month's Reserve Bank of Australia policy meeting are released on Tuesday.

"Their central bank is quite determined to get the Aussie dollar lower to get a more sustainable mix in their economy," said Dan Bell, head of corporate sales at HiFX in Auckland.

"It looks like the kiwi/Aussie could get up to the 95 cent level" over the next month before it "runs out of puff," he said.

The kiwi fell to 85.04 yen at 5pm in Wellington from 85.31 yen on Friday in New York, and was little changed at 60.16 euro cents from 60.19 cents.

The trade-weighted index was steady at 77.92 from 77.90.

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Wesfarmers sells underwriting operations

DIVERSIFIED conglomerate Wesfarmers is selling its Australasian insurance underwriting operations to Insurance Australia Group (IAG) for about $1.85 billion - its biggest ever divestment.

Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder said the sale followed approaches by a number of parties that were interested in the underwriting business.

Wesfarmers had spent a lot of money in recent years getting the Australian and New Zealand insurance underwriting business into much better shape.

"But it hasn't delivered satisfactory returns on average over the last five years to Wesfarmers," Mr Goyder told reporters.

"And over a period of time, if any of our businesses don't generate satisfactory returns, we'll look and see what we do with it."

Mr Goyder said the sale of the insurance underwriting business also reduced some of the risk in Wesfarmers' portfolio of industrial, mining, retail and financial businesses.

There was inherent volatility in the insurance business because of catastrophic events like earthquakes in New Zealand, and Cyclone Yasi.

The sale does not include the insurance division's broking operations in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and its Australian and New Zealand premium funding businesses which will remain part of Wesfarmers.

Wesfarmers expects a pre-tax profit of about $700 million to $750 million from the transaction, which will be included in the financial results for the second half of the 2014 financial year.

Mr Goyder said Wesfarmers had not yet decided what to do with the proceeds from the sale.

The sale is subject to regulatory approval, which is expected to take several months.

The acquisition comprises Wesfarmers' underwriting companies trading under the WFI and Lumley Insurance brands, and a 10-year distribution agreement with Coles.

IAG chief executive Mike Wilkins said the acquisition was a compelling strategic fit for IAG.

"Acquiring these businesses supports the group's strategic priorities of accelerating profitable growth in Australia and sustaining our market-leading position in New Zealand, and we expect attractive EPS (earnings per share) accretion," Mr Wilkins said.

IAG expects the acquisition will lift earnings per share by a modest amount in the first full year of ownership and by at least five per cent in the second year.

The acquisition will be partly funded from a $1.2 billion placement of shares to institutional investors, at $5.47 per share.

The integration of Wesfarmers' underwriting businesses is expected to generate pre-tax net benefits of about $140 million a year, with a significant proportion derived from reinsurance.

The integration process is expected to be substantially complete within two years, with pre-tax integration costs of $120 million.

Shares in Wesfarmers were 20.5 cents higher at $41.51 at 1515 AEDT. IAG shares are in a trading halt until the start of trading on Wednesday, December 18. They last traded at $5.70.

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Police assaulted at NSW soccer game

A POLICEMAN had to use "defensive strikes" to force a man to release his grip on his groin during a brawl at a Newcastle A-League soccer match.

Another police officer was punched in the head by another man in the melee, which saw a spectator punched in the face three times on Saturday night.

Police from the Public Order and Riot Squad and local officers were patrolling the match between the Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers at the Hunter Stadium when a fight broke out and objects were thrown at 9.40pm.

They say the crowd turned hostile towards them when they intervened.

During a scuffle, a 21-year-old man allegedly grabbed the policeman's groin and refused to let go.

The man, police say, had been hindering police when he was pushed out of the way and fell on the ground.

He was arrested and charged with assault police.

He will appear in Newcastle Local Court on January 16.

At the same match police spoke to three spectators who were allegedly causing trouble.

One man refused to follow a police direction to return his seat.

Police allege he punched another spectator in the face three times before turning on the officers who tried to arrest him.

The 41-year-old is accused of punching one officer in the side of the head.

He was charged with assault police and behave in an offensive manner.

He will also appear in Newcastle Local Court on Monday.

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Aussie held over alleged arson in Thailand

A 47-YEAR-OLD Australian man has been arrested by Thai police and faces charges of assault and arson after clashing with the manager of a motorbike rental company in southern Thailand.

Kent Wesley Farrar, from Victoria, was detained on Friday after becoming allegedly angered by the bike's excessive use of fuel after renting the bike for a week on the resort island of Koh Chang, and demanded a refund.

But the manager, Narong Borploy, 55, said Farrar turned down the offer of another bike and started fighting after being refused the repayment.

Farrar, who sustained head injuries in the clash, then allegedly grabbed a fuel canister and poured petrol over three rental bikes and set them ablaze.

Thai police said Farrar then grabbed a knife and began threatening passers-by before being subdued at the scene.

Farrar faces charges of arson and assault and a damage bill of 100,000 baht (A$3500).

Thai Police investigator on the case, Police Captain Banjerd Krachangsaeng, was unavailable for comment when contacted by AAP.

Farrar's arrest comes in the lead up to the peak holiday season in Thailand and an influx of Australians over the Christmas period. Up to one million Australians visit Thailand each year.

Australian travellers are regularly warned over renting motorbikes in Thailand, often associated with scams by operators to extract additional fees for unspecified damages allegedly caused during the rental period.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the department was aware of Farrar's arrest and consular staff were seeking to meet with him and provide assistance.

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Missing Qld man found after four days

A MAN who went missing for four days in southwest Queensland, sparking a massive air and land search, has been found.

Two aircraft, police and State Emergency Service volunteers helped search a property south of Quilpie after the man, in his 50s, was reported missing on Saturday morning.

But he had not been since Thursday, December 12, police said.

The man had been working on his property and went to check bores but did not return.

His bogged vehicle was found on a neighbouring property on Saturday.

Police said the man was found at 5.20pm on Sunday on a property near Eulo, in the area they'd been searching.

He was airlifted to Roma Hospital for treatment.

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Fawcett auction items sell for $200,000

PERSONAL items belonging to late actress Farrah Fawcett have fetched $US200,000 ($A224,997.19) at auction.

Items including the iconic red swimsuit she wore for an Esquire magazine shoot, her passport, a script from her 1984 TV film The Burning Bed, and a People's Choice Award went under the hammer at Heritage Auctions in Dallas in Texas on Thursday.

Margaret Barrett, the director of entertainment and music auctions for Heritage, said: "The intense competition for Farrah's items in this auction speaks to how popular she continues to be with collectors."

In addition to Fawcett's belongings, the suit Gene Kelly got wet in 1952 movie Singin' in the Rain sold for just over $US106,000.

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