Motorcyclist critical after head-on smash

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

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

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

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

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

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Vic child killed after tree branch fall

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

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

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

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Holiday toll rises to 21

Live BBL: Renegades v Heat

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Cyclone closer to WA's north coast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Spike in mosquito-borne virus in WA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Holiday road toll rises to 18

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

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SA bushfire under control

A serious bushfire south of Adelaide has been contained the Country Fire Service says. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS have protected a South Australian country town from an out-of-control bushfire, with two fire crew volunteers injured while quelling the blaze.

An emergency alert was issued at 3pm (AEDT) on Saturday about a serious bushfire burning towards the town of Mallala, north of Adelaide.

About 200 Country Fire Service (CFS) personnel battled the blaze at Lower Light with 35 appliances and the help of water bombers.

A CFS spokeswoman said firefighters contained the blaze after it had travelled seven kilometres in three hours.

"The fire was fast-moving and came close to a farming community and within three to four kilometres of the Mallala township," she said.

"But fortunately CFS firefighters managed to protect the township."

A male CFS firefighter was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening chest injuries.

A female CFS firefighter was treated at the fire for smoke inhalation.

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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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Arctic 30 members granted exit visa

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Boats are stopping: Morrison

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

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Summer music fests get under way

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Toddler saved after falling into pool

A family member's quick actions have saved a toddler who fell into a pool on the NSW Central Coast. Source: AAP

A QUICK-THINKING family member used CPR to save a toddler who fell into a pool on the NSW Central Coast.

The two-year-old girl was pulled unconscious from the backyard pool on Thursday afternoon, but she was breathing by the time paramedics arrived and she regained consciousness.

CareFlight director Ian Badham praised the quick action of the family member.

The girl was airlifted with her mother to The Children's Hospital at Westmead.

"Because she had been underwater for a while, she was taken to the hospital to be checked out and kept under observation," Mr Badham said.

She remains in a stable condition.

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Nine road deaths dampen festive season

NINE people have died on Australian roads this festive season, including two friends killed in a single-vehicle incident in NSW on Boxing Day.

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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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Locals help out after Grinch steals gifts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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'Santa Claus' shot in US with pellet gun

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

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Abduction alert cancelled for QLD boys

A CAR driven by a man who took two young boys from a home south of Brisbane has been sighted in northern NSW.

The 2003 Toyota Camry was seen in northern NSW, including the Pottsville area, on Christmas morning.

Police say the boys, aged three and four, were taken about 3.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday by a 30-year-old man driving the silver sedan with the Queensland registration 564 IGC.

The man, who was known to them, took the children from a house in Errol Street, Loganlea.

Police say the boys may be at risk and they are seeking urgent public assistance to find them.

The children are described as having very short haircuts, one having a tanned complexion and the other fair.

Both are believed to be wearing denim shorts and one boy was not wearing a shirt.

The man is described as being of Papua New Guinean appearance, 180 centimetres tall, of heavy build, tanned complexion, with collar-length dark, curly hair, a black, bushy beard and wearing black shorts and a black T-shirt.

Police urge anyone with information to phone 131 564.

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A very merry Christmas for Aussie shops

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Indon official in trouble over plane rage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Police officer punched, spat on

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Raid reveals drug dealer's bikie links

AN accused meth dealer from Ipswich will spend Christmas behind bars after a raid linked him to the Hells Angels.

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Man lay dead for days and no one noticed

POLICE have urged the public to check-in with their neighbours this Christmas, after a man lay dead in his house for four days.

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Booze bus pulls over top cop

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Lifeguard facing charge over accident

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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.

After spending more than 10 years behind bars, Russia's former richest man was quietly escorted from his prison in northwestern Russia on Friday and boarded a plane to Berlin in an operation worked out behind the scenes with the German government.

The lightning speed of his release led some observers to suggest that Khodorkovsky might have flown into forced exile but Putin's spokesman dismissed such suggestions.

"He is free to return to Russia. Absolutely," Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday. He declined however to say whether any conditions were attached to his release or whether he would be free to participate in politics.

Putin had stunned Russia on Thursday by saying his fierce critic had asked for clemency on humanitarian grounds as his mother was ill.

"Guided by humanitarian principles," the Russian strongman signed a pardon decree on Friday.

In his first remarks since his release, Khodorkovsky said in a statement on Friday he did ask Putin for a pardon but his request did not amount to an admission of guilt and thanked Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Germany's foreign minister from 1974-1992, for helping negotiate his release.

"I am very much looking forward to the minute when I will be able to embrace my loved ones," the father of four said, without specifying his future plans.

Khodorkovsky's 79-year-old mother Marina, who has cancer, was expected to fly out to Berlin, where she had undergone treatment before, to see her son.

The Russian opposition magazine The New Times, for which Khodorkovsky wrote a column about his prison life, said the former tycoon called the editorial office to express gratitude for support.

"The most important today is Freedom, Freedom, Freedom," the magazine quoted him as saying.

"A lot lies ahead, the release of those hostages who still remained in prison, first and foremost Platon Lebedev," he said, referring to his jailed business partner.

Genscher said he was unaware if Khodorkovsky planned to remain in Germany: "I think that he wants to take a deep breath and wait to take his family in his arms tomorrow."

Interviewed on CNN television, Khodorkovsky's son Pavel, said he was in a state of "happy shock" following his father's release, adding that they had spoken on the phone.

"He's doing very well, sounds certainly very good and very happy."

Pavel said he "didn't think" his father would seek political asylum in Germany.

Khodorkovsky's release coincided with an amnesty for prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes that is expected to free the two jailed members of Pussy Riot band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, just as the Kremlin readies to host the Winter Olympics in February.

Thirty foreign and Russian Greenpeace activists including an Australian man, arrested on hooliganism charges after their protest against Arctic oil drilling, are also expected to escape prosecution.

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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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Investigators probe UK theatre collapse

At least 88 people were injured when the ceiling collapsed during a show at London's Apollo Theatre. Source: AAP

INVESTIGATORS are seeking to establish why the ceiling of a packed London theatre collapsed, injuring 76 people and coating terrified audience members with rubble.

A sell-out crowd of around 720 people was in the Apollo Theatre in Soho on Thursday night when ornate masonry and rigging fell about five storeys on to their heads.

Witnesses said they heard creaking noises in the 112-year-old theatre, but thought it was part of the show they were watching, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Then debris and dust filled the air, sending coughing, terrified theatregoers - many of them families enjoying a pre-Christmas treat - fleeing for the exits.

Rescuers commandeered three iconic red London double-decker buses to transport the injured, while the city's normally tourist-thronged "Theatreland" was brought to a stunned halt.

Ambulance staff treated 76 patients, taking 58 to hospital, where seven were described as having serious but not life-threatening injuries.

A surveyor examined the theatre overnight and said the roof was secure, but investigations are now being carried out by the local authority to establish what happened.

The abnormally heavy rain that fell in the hour before the ceiling collapsed shortly after 8.00pm (0700 AEDT Friday) is likely to be one line of inquiry.

"We will not know the cause of the incident until all investigations have been completed but checks are ongoing," said councillor Nickie Aiken of Westminster Council.

"This appears to be an isolated incident, but we will continue to work with theatres throughout the day to ensure that all safety precautions are in place."

All historic theatres are required to undergo rigorous safety checks on their roofs every three years, she added.

Witnesses told of terror inside the Edwardian-era theatre, which has three tiers of balconies, the uppermost of which is said to be the steepest in London.

"A section of the theatre's ceiling collapsed on to the audience who were watching the show. The ceiling took parts of the balconies down with it," senior firefighter Nick Harding told reporters.

"In my time as a fire officer I've never seen an incident like this."

Desmond Thomas, 18, part of a school party watching the show, said they heard noises before the accident.

"Maybe 10 minutes into the performance we heard a tap-tap noise, we thought it was rain," he told AFP.

"There was a crack and then it suddenly seemed to get bigger and suddenly it collapsed. The next thing we knew the whole theatre filled with dust and smoke."

Simon Usborne, a journalist for The Independent newspaper who was watching the show, said there was "chaos".

"Loud bangs, cracks. Thought was part of show then whole interior of theatre filled with curtain of dark grey dust and debris, falling on heads of anyone not sheltered," he tweeted afterwards.

"People emerging soon after bloodied - children crying - family show - people dumbfounded."

No Australians were reported to be injured in the collapse. "Consular staff are in contact with UK authorities, but have not been advised of any Australians affected at this stage," a spokeswoman for the high commission in London said in a statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was being kept updated on the incident and was "grateful for the fast work of the emergency services in helping the injured".

Some of the injured were treated in triage centres set up in the lobbies of the nearby Gielgud and Queen's theatres.

"In the finest traditions of Theatreland, they very quickly rallied around," said fire brigade spokesman Graham Ellis.

He said that "heavy ornate plaster" had fallen from the roof on to theatregoers in the circle, dress circle and stalls.

Audience member James Kearney, who was given a ticket to the show as a present, told AFP there were "people with blood on their heads in shock" behind them.

Kearney's companion Dee Stephenson said there was so much dust afterwards they had to feel their way out.

"Everybody was in a trance-like state. A lot of people were in absolute shock," Stephenson told AFP. "We were extremely fortunate."

Based on an award-winning novel by Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has been running in London since August 2012.

Haddon said on Twitter that the incident was "horrifying" and that he was "hugely relieved that no one died".

The owner of the Apollo, Nimax Theatres, said the ceiling collapse was a "shocking and upsetting incident".

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No inquest for Ningaloo snorkelling couple

THERE will be no inquest into the death of a couple who died while snorkelling near Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef, with a coroner saying there is no evidence to support suggestions they may have suffered deadly jellyfish stings.

Canberra woman Kathreen Ricketson, 41, washed up at Elle's Beach south of Coral Bay on May 15 as her two children, a 13-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy, looked on.

After the boy saw Ms Ricketson and partner Rob Shugg face down in the water, he raised the alarm.

Attempts to resuscitate her failed and Mr Shugg disappeared before he could be recovered, sparking a massive air, sea and land search.

The 48-year-old washed up on the same beach nine days later.

The coroner's registrar at Carnarvon Magistrates Court has since advised that a formal finding was handed down after an inquiry.

"The coroner has made findings that both deceased died by way of drowning," the registrar wrote.

"The coroner determined that death occurred by way of accident.

"There is no evidence to confirm or deny the involvement of irukandji."

Media reports speculated the deaths could have been linked to a spate of irukandji jellyfish stings in Ningaloo waters in April.

While some species of the jellyfish can be deadly, the victims' lives in those cases were not threatened.

Ms Ricketson's website said she and her partner were planning to write a book about their travels around the country.

On a blog, she described the trip to Ningaloo as a "dream come true".

A trust fund was set up for her children, who are being cared for by relatives.

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Conditions at Nauru horrendous: senator

Greens' Sarah Hanson-Young says conditions for children being held at Nauru are "heart wrenching". Source: AAP

THE living conditions for children at the Nauru detention camp are "heart wrenching", Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says.

The senator has just returned from a four-day trip to the Pacific nation, where she toured the Australian offshore detention facilities housing asylum seekers.

The camps, located in the middle of a phosphate mine, house single adult males and families separately in conditions Senator Hanson-Young described as "harsh".

There was no grass or shade at the facilities, or a space for children to play.

"They live 24/7 on gravel, housed in tents, where it is upwards 40 degrees," she told Sky News on Thursday.

"They can't escape that."

Senator Hanson-Young decried the fact that so close to Christmas, children in the centres had no toys or a school to attend and were confused about why they were being detained.

All detainees she encountered referred to the facilities as prisons, reflecting the "horrendous reality" of the offshore detention policy supported by the federal government and Labor.

"The reality is we are destroying the lives of these children," she said.

The United Nations refugee agency in November warned that asylum seekers being detained at Australia's offshore centres were being subjected to arbitrary, mandatory and indefinite detention in unsafe and inhumane conditions.

Officials inspected detention centres at Nauru and PNG's Manus Island in October, finding harsh conditions there failed to meet international standards.

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Abuse victim's anger at church mediation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The hearing continues on Thursday.

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Sattler suing Perth station for $500,000

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

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

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

Ms Gillard responded that the notion was absurd.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Court to rule on bail for alleged bikies

Apple forced to extend warranties

TIME to return that broken iPhone or iPad. Apple Inc is forced to extend its Australian product warranties after an investigation by the ACCC.

Why 2013 is the year of Jessica Hart

YES, we know she criticised Taylor Swift, but it's time to move on. If you ever doubted Aussie model Jessica Hart's star power, just wait until you see her Vogue cover.

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Indigenous services watchdog axed

PM Tony Abbott has axed a watchdog that monitors service delivery in remote indigenous communities. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government has axed a watchdog that monitors service delivery in remote indigenous communities.

The coordinator-general for remote indigenous services, Brian Gleeson, will finish up when his contract expires on January 31.

The midyear economic and fiscal outlook reveals the government will save $7.1 million over three years by scrapping his office.

Mr Gleeson has been monitoring a national agreement, which expires in June, on remote service delivery between the Commonwealth and states and efforts to close the gap on indigenous disadvantage.

He reports every six months, fronts Senate estimates hearings and has conducted 149 visits to 29 remote indigenous communities.

A bureaucrat from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet will take on the scrutiny role for the last six months of the national agreement.

Mr Gleeson, who learned of the decision on Tuesday, said he would have liked to continue in the role, and that its independence had proved effective.

"I've built a personal trust and relationships with all the communities. They ring me up when they have an issue," Mr Gleeson said.

"Having a person in a bureaucracy doing the role may not have the same traction."

He was confident there was enough state, territory and the federal government support to come up with successor arrangements once the national agreement expired.

Indigenous legal aid funding is facing a $9 million budget cut.

Amnesty International condemned the decision, pointing to an increase in indigenous incarceration rates.

Meanwhile, the federal government is allocating $28.4 million over two years towards a remote school attendance strategy in 40 remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, WA, SA, Queensland and NSW.

It reportedly involves sending truancy officers to children's homes to take them to school, and could be in operation from the first term of 2014.

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Woman charged over Vic man's disappearance

POLICE have charged a woman in relation to the alleged kidnapping and suspected murder of a Melbourne man.

Wayne Amey, 54, was last seen leaving a Toorak restaurant on December 10.

Police searched for his remains in bushland near Inglewood in northern Victoria on Tuesday.

Homicide Squad detectives charged Robyn Lindholm, Mr Amey's former partner, with being an accessory to murder and she faced an out of sessions court hearing on Tuesday evening.

She has been remanded in custody to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

A 54-year-old man continues to assist police with their inquiries.

A third person, John Anthony Ryan, 36, is now wanted for questioning over the suspected murder.

Detective Inspector John Potter says Mr Ryan is possibly armed and dangerous and anyone who sees him should call triple-zero.

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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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Eight more dead in Bangladesh riots

10 people have been killed in Bangladesh's violence over the execution of an Islamist party leader. Source: AAP

EIGHT more deaths were reported in Bangladesh in intensified riots and protests sparked by the execution of a top Islamist leader, as the prime minister warned of a crackdown on the violence.

Police said Islamist supporters torched houses and fought running street battles with officers in towns and cities during a third day of unrest over the execution of Abdul Quader Molla for war crimes.

Two people were killed on Sunday in the northern town of Patgram and another six elsewhere overnight, police said, as Islamist supporters enforced a nationwide strike over the execution of Molla, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

"Police fired shotgun pellets to disperse the Jamaat protesters who torched at least 20 houses belonging to ruling party supporters," government administrator Habibur Rahman told AFP of the violence in Patgram.

Molla's hanging on Thursday night triggered fresh unrest in the impoverished country, already reeling from political violence in the build-up to a deeply divisive national election scheduled for January 5.

Twenty people are now known to have died and dozens more have been injured in the clashes since Thursday between outraged Jamaat activists and police and between the activists and supporters of the ruling Awami League.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of strong action against the rioters, saying "we have shown enough patience. We will not tolerate anymore."

"People of the country know how to reply to these atrocities (the latest violence), we (government) also know how to respond to, control you (the rioters)," she told a rally late on Saturday to commemorate those killed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Molla, 65, became the first person to be executed for his role in that war. Jamaat called the hanging a "political murder" and said it would avenge it.

Molla had been found guilty in February by a much-criticised domestic tribunal of having been a leader of a pro-Pakistan militia that fought against the country's independence and killed some of Bangladesh's top professors, doctors, writers and journalists.

He was convicted of rape, murder and mass murder, including the killing of more than 350 unarmed civilians. Prosecutors called him the "Butcher of Mirpur", a Dhaka suburb where he committed most of the atrocities.

Of the six killed overnight, police said three died in the southern town of Companyganj, two in the northern town of Ramganj and one in the coastal town of Laxmipur.

At Companyganj, an opposition bastion, police fired rifles to disperse at least 8,000 rampaging Jamaat supporters who torched four government offices and attacked officers with crude bombs and guns, a senior police officer said.

In Ramganj, activists of Jamaat and its main ally, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, attacked a convoy of ruling party lawmakers, leaving two people dead, sub-inspector Ershadul Alam told AFP.

Molla was one of five Islamists and other politicians sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, which the opposition says is aimed at eradicating its leaders.

The sentences have triggered riots and plunged the country into its worst violence since independence.

Some 250 people have now been killed in street protests since January, when the first verdicts were handed down.

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Red-suited revellers hit NY bars

The costumed New York pub crawl known as SantaCon has seen thousands of Santa's partying in bars. Source: AAP

SANTA Claus came to town despite snow and widespread criticism of the costumed New York pub crawl known as SantaCon.

New York City's SantaCon started on Saturday morning in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. Thousands of red-suited revellers then spread out through the city's bars and snowy streets.

This year's SantaCon takes place in New York amid criticism that the event has become too rowdy. SantaCon participants were told to make charitable donations and encouraged to bring small gifts to bestow on one another and passers-by.

Organisers say similar events were set for more than 100 other cities worldwide on Saturday, including San Francisco; Portland, Oregon, Newport Beach, California and Vancouver, British Columbia.

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Man arrested after shots fired in Tas

A man is in custody after shots were reportedly fired in a Tasmanian street. Source: AAP

A MAN is in custody after shots were reportedly fired in a Tasmanian street.

Police received calls from the public reporting several shots being fired in the street by a man in Swansea on Tasmania's east coast, just before 5pm (AEDT).

Investigations are continuing.

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Severe storm warning for wind and hail

ANOTHER round of severe thunderstorms is set to pummel the southeast.

7.15pm: The weather bureau has warned that while one severe thunderstorm is skirting dangerously close to Brisbane's CBD, another one is brewing just over the NSW border.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Peter Otto said an earlier warning was still current for areas to the west of Brisbane, but the storm was unlikely to reach the city centre.

Further west, he said golf-sized hail stones have fallen on Mt Barney, with larger stones reported at Boonah.

"That storm is moving over the Ipswich area at the moment," he said.

"There is another cell south of the border that is likely to hit Rathdowney in the next half hour and it may head north after that. It's another very dangerous storm with large hail stones expected."

6.45pm: Very dangerous thunderstorms are forecast to affect Rosewood, Marburg, Lake Manchester, Upper Brookfield and Fernvale by 7.20 pm and Enoggera Reservoir, Enoggera, Mount Nebo, Highvale, Samford and Albany Creek by 7.50 pm.

Other severe thunderstorms in northern NSW are forecast to affect Mount Barney, the McPherson Range, Rathdowney, Maroon Dam, Kooralbyn and Lamington National Park by 7:50 pm.

Damaging winds and large hailstones are likely, with hail larger than golf balls reported at Boonah earlier.

6.20pm:  The Bureau of Meteorology has updated their thunderstorm warning, alerting residents that very dangerous thunderstorms were moving north.

The storms were detected on weather radar near Boonah, Aratula, Harrisville, Peak Crossing, Bundamba Lagoon and the area south of Amberley.

Very dangerous thunderstorms are forecast to affect Ipswich, Redbank Plains, Amberley, Rosewood, Marburg and Lake Manchester by 6:50 pm and Lowood, Fernvale, Mount Nebo, Highvale, Samford and the D'Aguilar Ranges by 7:20 pm.

Other severe thunderstorms were located near Bonalbo(NSW). Damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

Hail larger than golf balls was reported at Boonah at around 5:40pm.

5.20pm: The weather bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning after storms were detected over the Scenic Rim region near Mount Barney, Laravale and Kooralbyn.

The southeast Queensland warning said damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

Forecasters from the Bureau of Meteorology said the thunderstorms were moving in a northerly direction, with Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast put on alert.

The storms are predicted to hit Beaudesert about 5.30pm.

More to come.
 

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services advises that people should:
* Move your car under cover or away from trees.
* Secure loose outdoor items.
* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.
 

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Qld man refuses to help find his shooter

POLICE are appealing for a woman who drove a man with a gunshot wound to a Brisbane hospital to come forward.

The 35-year-old was shot in the right hip and has since undergone surgery.

But he is refusing to co-operate with detectives and won't tell them who did it.

Police have instead released CCTV footage of a woman who drove him to the Prince Charles Hospital around 1am (AEST) on Friday but left before officers arrived.

They say they would like to speak with her.

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Thirteen dead in 13 days on Vic roads

Thirteen motorists have been killed on Victoria's roads in the first 13 days of December. Source: AAP

THIRTEEN people have died on Victoria's roads by the 13th day of December, Friday the 13th.

A man died when his cement truck rolled off a bridge and crashed into a river on Friday morning in the 12th fatal accident in 13 days.

Road policing command Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill said the number of fatalities in such a short time frame was extremely concerning heading into the festive season.

"This is a horrible start to December, especially as we head into what we know is a high-risk time of the year on Victorian roads," Mr Hill said.

"I don't want to see any more ungiven gifts under Christmas tree this year, however we are likely to see another 10 deaths on our roads and potentially 250 people seriously injured."

Three pedestrians have been killed so far in December, a figure that could rise with a woman fighting for her life in hospital after been hit by a car at Brighton East on Friday morning.

The warning comes as Victoria Police launch their Summer Stay road campaign, a two-month blitz aiming to reduce the road toll over the holiday season.

The campaign will target drink/drug driving, speeding, fatigue, driver distraction and drivers not wearing a seatbelt.

Victoria's road toll stands at 225 compared with 271 deaths at the same time last year.

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Last goodbye for Mandela before burial

ANXIOUS South Africans have queued through the night for the chance to say a final farewell to Nelson Mandela before his body is moved to his rural, boyhood home for burial.

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PM Abbott hosts his first COAG

League's most under siege in 2014

A BALL is yet to be kicked in 2014 but already pressure is mounting on a select few. We name our 13 most under-siege figures in the game.

Welcome to the incredible 'dive of death'

IT'S one of the most dangerous places to dive on earth and has claimed eight lives. Yet this spectacular, enormous "black hole" continues to lure thrillseekers in search of the ultimate plunge.

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Japan plans $60b economic stimulus

JAPAN'S Cabinet has approved billions of dollars of stimulus spending in a supplementary budget meant to perk up a faltering economic recovery and cushion the impact of a sales tax rise next April.

The Y5.5 trillion ($A59.49 billion) in fresh stimulus approved on Thursday is aimed at creating at least 250,000 jobs and is heavily weighted toward construction projects. It also includes Y600 billion ($A6.5 billion) in payments to home buyers and one-time payments of Y10,000 ($A108) per child to low and middle-income families.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised the extra stimulus to counter a 3 percentage point increase in sales tax to eight per cent in April.

Parliamentary approval of the stimulus in early 2014 is expected since Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners hold majorities in both houses.

Japan's economy, the world's third-largest, emerged from recession in late 2012, growing at a brisk 4.3 per cent pace in the first quarter of the year. However, the pace of expansion slowed to 1.1 per cent in the third quarter as corporate investment remained sluggish and exports were sapped by lacklustre growth in emerging economies.

So far, the biggest driver for the recovery has been hefty government spending, which is also the type of spending the tax rise is aimed at making up for.

The economy may get a boost in coming months as consumers speed up major purchases to beat the sales tax rise. But the government has forecast a short-term contraction in the economy after the higher tax takes effect. Another increase in the sales tax, of 2 points, is expected in 2015.

Abe appears to have forced Japan out of its deflationary rut with a growth strategy centred on pumping trillions of dollars into the economy through public spending and aggressive monetary easing by the central bank.

The flood of money has helped weaken the Japanese yen, boosting corporate profits in yen terms and making exports of some Japanese manufacturers more cost competitive. It is also helping to spark inflation, thanks to rising costs for a wide range of imported commodities, from crude oil to soybeans to computer parts.

The supplementary budget approved Thursday, along with local government spending on public works and grants for lending to small enterprises, is meant to put another Y18.6 trillion ($A201.19 billion) into the economy. Abe says this will add a full percentage point to Japan's gross domestic product.

The spending does not involve any new public debt since much of the money to be used was left over from previous, unspent budgetary allocations. The rest comes from taxes and other government revenues.

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PM tributes troops in valedictory speech

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has kicked off parliament's annual valedictory speeches, marking 2013 as the year Australian troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Following a tribute to retiring clerk of the House of Representatives Bernard Wright, Mr Abbott praised the service of Australian troops after almost a decade in the Afghan province of Uruzgan.

"Our troops have done a magnificent job, but they've paid a high price," he said.

"We hope that the years of service and sacrifice will be honoured by a province and a country that respects the values that we tried to bring to that province."

He said the nation had also endured floods in Queensland and fires in NSW.

"But so often in this country, nature at its worst brings out Australians at their best," he said.

He noted the change of government in September and promised it would be for the better.

"I am determined to ensure that it is a very long time indeed before this country has three prime ministers in one year," he said.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten acknowledged the thousands of Holden workers who will soon be out of a job following the announcement that the company will cease manufacturing in Australia.

"We will continue to stand up for their futures every day," Mr Shorten said.

He too noted the devastation of natural disasters across the country, which began with the Tasmanian bushfires earlier in the year.

"The worst in over 30 years, through one of the state's harshest heatwaves," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss described the past year as "long and somewhat tumultuous" while his Labor counterpart Tanya Plibersek said it had certainly been curious.

"I don't think history will look kindly on the last parliament," Mr Truss said.

"It was raucous and I don't think it reflected well on the process of our democracy."

Ms Plibersek said people watching the nightly news would have thought the past year was almost entirely one of conflict but parliament had achieved things.

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NRL star Ferguson guilty of groping woman

Rugby league player Blake Ferguson has been found guilty groping a woman at a Cronulla nightspot. Source: AAP

A MAGISTRATE has accused NRL player Blake Ferguson of being "reckless" after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting a young woman in a dimly-lit Sydney pub.

Ferguson was at Cronulla's 2230 Bar in June celebrating his NSW origin selection with teammate Josh Dugan, when he grabbed the 24-year-old woman's crotch, Sutherland Local Court heard on Wednesday.

The former Canberra Raiders player pleaded not guilty, arguing that he mistook the woman for another blonde he met earlier in the night.

He also said he hadn't groped her crotch but touched her on the inside of her upper thigh.

Police prosecutor Rick Mansley argued Ferguson's mistaken identity story was an eleventh-hour concoction and he made up the "phantom blonde girl" to disguise his crime.

Magistrate Jacqueline Trad rejected Ferguson's account and said he had been "reckless" by not seeking consent from the women he fondled.

His actions violated standards of decency, whether or not he mistook the victim for another blonde he kissed at nearby Northies earlier that night, she said.

The attempt by Ferguson's lawyers to discredit evidence from the victim because she had been drinking and changed her version of events after watching CCTV footage was rejected by Magistrate Trad.

Defence lawyers' suggestions the woman was lying about not knowing Ferguson, predicated on an argument she had photobombed him before the assault, was a "long bow to draw," she said.

The CCTV footage, she added, showed the victim "distressed and upset" and supported her version of events.

In the footage, Ferguson poses for photographs and hugs a young woman.

He then turns and moves to his victim, who can be seen behind him.

Ferguson is slapped and shoved by the woman, who then leaves him and heads across the bar.

Boxer Anthony Mundine stood up for his mate Ferguson, telling the court he was taught to respect women.

"He knows how to handle himself (and) how to treat them and what-not," he said.

While he will be sentenced early next year, Ferguson's NRL career appears in tatters - in the short term at least.

The NRL said in a statement that it was powerless to sanction Ferguson given he is without a club, after being sacked by the Raiders in September following a string of misdemeanours.

Having suspended Ferguson earlier this year for repeated alcohol offences, the NRL admitted it would take some convincing to accept him back into the code.

"Whether someone is a rugby league player or not, the actions are completely unacceptable and entirely contrary to the values of our fans and the game," NRL chief operating officer Mr Jim Doyle said.

"Today's ruling would have to be strongly considered if any club at any level of the game was to apply for a registration on his behalf."

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Victim's plea for answers from Church

JENNIFER Ingham wants to know why one good, fearless person never stepped up against the wrongs and depravities in the Catholic Church.

Ms Ingham, 51, had been "held captive" by Father Paul Brown, a parish priest in Lismore in NSW who abused her from the time she was 16 in 1978 until 1982.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard on Wednesday how Brown took advantage of her extreme vulnerability.

He continued his abuse after she finished school, secured a waitressing job in Sydney for her, arranged to meet her regularly at a motel in Glebe and would pay for her to fly to his home at St Joseph's Parish Church, Tweed Heads.

Ms Ingham said she suffered bulimia, had ongoing psychiatric problems and attempted suicide.

Three decades later, in 2012, she approached the church and received information about Towards Healing - its internal facilitation process for handling sex-abuse claims.

In June this year she met Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett, who apologised for being unavailable during the facilitation.

Ms Ingham said she wanted Bishop Jarrett to answer: "Why in the Diocese of Lismore, then across all of Australia, then the world, why not one good fearless person could have stepped out against the depravities and wrongs that existed."

She wanted to know why no one in the church spoke out against turning a blind eye to the abusers and moving clergy from town to town "to protect them and the church from being discovered."

The second thing she wanted answered was: "Why did nothing happen when I finally acknowledged my abuse by Brown to the church?".

She told him she thought it was "that they were given a direction by the Vatican to bury evidence and lie".

He was shocked by this and tried to answer her "but to me it was just noise", she said.

"He said he could not understand how a man of faith 'held her captive' for four years and could not fathom the corruptness in the church in recent years.

"I felt in reality Jarrett had no answer ... he simply did not know."

Ms Ingham, whose husband sat with her as she gave evidence, cried as she spoke of telling three senior Catholic clergy as early as 1990 and 1993 about the abuse but there had been no response.

After her initial contact with Towards Healing, she found the church's director of professional standards in Brisbane, Patrick Mullins, very compassionate but when he left the role the facilitation "got murky".

She was told it was an insurance matter.

A settlement was reached and Ms Ingham received $265,000, most of which was paid by Catholic Church Insurances.

Earlier the commission heard the Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge say the reforms in Towards Healing were ongoing.

He said it was if the church was hit by a tsunami when the scandals about abuse surfaced over a decade ago.

He said the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, of which he is a member, was working towards a system where the pastoral and reparation aspects of the Towards Healing process would be truly compassionate and just.

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Ministers' families on outside under code

Cops step up hunt for shooter

POLICE say they want to speak to this man in relation to the shooting of a mother-of-five on the steps of a townhouse in Brisbane's north yesterday.

Police hunt man over mum's shooting

POLICE say they want to speak to this man in relation to the shooting of a mother-of-five on the steps of a townhouse in Brisbane's north yesterday.

Palmer's interests too many to list

QUEENSLAND MP Clive Palmer owns so many companies, properties, cars and aircraft he can't list them all on the official parliamentary register.

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Second motorcyclist killed in Tasmania

A MOTORCYCLIST has died after colliding with a utility in country Tasmania, in the second motorcycle fatal in the state in 24 hours.

Police say the Honda 600cc bike collided with the ute at Beaconsfield in the state's north, at about 11am (AEDT) on Sunday.

The 47-year-old motorcycle rider from Beaconsfield died at the scene.

Speed is believed to be a factor, police say.

The 77-year-old ute driver was badly shaken, but did not suffer any injuries.

The death comes after a 58-year-old motorcyclist, who had earlier been taking part in the annual toy run, died in a single vehicle crash at Claremont in Hobart's north on Saturday afternoon.

A 17-year-old female passenger was also injured in the crash and taken to hospital in a stable condition.

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John Legend lands his first Aussie No.1

John Legend's All of Me has become his first No.1 single in Australia, topping the ARIA chart. Source: AAP

JOHN Legend's All of Me has become his first No.1 single in Australia, topping the ARIA chart.

Legend is in the country touring as support act to Alicia Keys, and while the racy video clip featuring his wife, model Chrissy Teigen, must have given the song its initial viewings, the track has sold enough to be certified Gold in Australia after four weeks in the charts.

The Monster for Eminem and Rihanna is back down to No.2 after three weeks at the top, while Magic! climb four places to a new peak of No.3 with Rude.

Spending their eighth week within the Top 10, Pitbull and Ke$ha climb back up to their former high of No.4 for a third non-consecutive week, while Avicii is back down two places to No.5 with Hey Brother, and Guy Sebastian holds at No.6 with Like a Drum.

Katy Perry is down three places to No.7 with Roar, Bastille and Justice Crew hold at No.8 and No.9 respectively, while the new No.1 album holder in the country, Taylor Henderson, is back up a couple of places to No.10 with Borrow My Heart.

Over on the ARIA albums chart, the self-titled debut set for Taylor Henderson is the new No.1 this week.

After a single week at the top, One Direction drop down a place to No.2 with Midnight Memories, while climbing up a place to a new peak of No.3 is Willy Nilly - The 12th Man's Biggest Hits for comedian Billy Birmingham, which pushes Prism for Katy Perry down to No.4.

Human Nature climb a place to a new peak of No.5 with The Christmas Album, while Michael Buble returns to the Top 10 with 2011/2012 No.1 album Christmas, rising five places to No.6 this week, accumulating its 16th week within the Top 10.

The self-titled album for Dami Im drops four places to No.7 and Eminem is down three to No.8 with The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

Robbie Williams drops a couple of places to No.9 with Swings Both Ways and Lorde is down two spots to No.10 with Pure Heroine.

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Choppers, 16 crews battle fire

Sinead Duncan took photographs of the fires from Buderim and closer to Kawana Way. "We're just trying to get out of Brightwater at the moment .... it's getting bad." Reader picture: Sinead Duncan Source: Supplied

FIRE crews are asking Sunshine Coast residents to avoid an out-of-control grass fire near Mountain Creek.

3.50pm: Sinead Duncan took photographs of the fires from Buderim and closer to Kawana Way.

"We're just trying to get out of Brightwater at the moment because we've been visiting friends," she said.

"The smoke is still thick and billowing, but thankfully the wind is keeping most of the smoke away from the houses."

The grass fire near Mountain Creek. Picture: QPS/Sara Matulich

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

Jackie Clark said aerial support was trying to control the situation.

"It's getting bad," she said.

Resident Nadine Brooks took these pictures from her vantage point at nearby Grand Pde, Parrearra. Reader picture: Nadine Brooks

"Police, fire and ambulance have set up on Kawana Way."
 

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

Resident Nadine Brooks took these pictures from her vantage point at nearby Grand Pde, Parrearra. Reader picture: Nadine Brooks

3.30pm:  Resident Nadine Brooks said there seemed to be two or three different blazes from her vantage point at nearby Grand Pde, Parrearra.

"It looks like they are moving north," she said.

"We are lucky the smoke is not coming (our) way."

3pm: TRAFFIC is heavy along the Sunshine Coast Motorway thanks to a large grass fire.

Motorists are reporting congestion from the Dixon Rd turnoff to Mountain Creek.

Kawana Way has been closed as 16 fire crews battle the blaze.

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

1pm: The fire at Kawana Way, near Brightwater Estate, was first reported at 11.20am.

Helicopters are currently water bombing the fire between Brightwater Estate and the Chancellor Park area, and 16 fire crews are battling the blaze.

No property is under threat, but a large smoke haze has settled over Mountain Creek and neighbouring suburbs.

Residents have been advised to close windows and doors, with reports of ash the size of fingernails falling on the area.

Motorists using Kawana Way have been urged to drive to conditions.

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

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Abbott, Shorten to attend Mandela service

PM Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will attend a memorial service for Nelson Mandela. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will present a united Australian front to honour and farewell Nelson Mandela.

The pair will this week fly to Johannesburg to join world leaders past and present, mourning the former South African president who died at his home on Thursday (local time) aged 95.

A huge memorial service is planned for the nation's first black leader on Tuesday, with US President Barack Obama already confirming his attendance.

On Saturday Mr Shorten's office said the Labor leader had accepted an invitation from Mr Abbott to accompany the prime minister to South Africa. Both men will miss most of the final 2013 parliamentary sitting week.

It is unknown how long the men will be out of Australia.

"There is a long bipartisan history of Australian support for South Africa and the campaign to abolish apartheid," Mr Abbott said, announcing his intention to attend the service.

After facing criticism for not lowering flags at the news of Mr Mandela's death, Mr Abbott said Australian flags will be set at half mast on the day of the official memorial.

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Barnett won't be rushed on new WA laws

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett has defended the state government's efficiency at passing legislation, saying parliamentarians shouldn't be rushed to vote on bills.

The state government has come under fire for not introducing by the end of this year a planned law that would send violent home invaders straight to jail.

It was the first election pledge by the Liberals in February before they convincingly won a second term.

And parliamentary debate over some of the bills that have been introduced has become bogged down, with a proposed law to increase regulation of the taxi industry descending into filibustering.

But Mr Barnett said he wasn't going to rush, reintroducing bills when necessary.

"Given there was a significant number of new members, I was not going to simply reinstate legislation at the stage it was before the election," he told reporters on Friday.

"That would have meant you would have had a significant number of members of parliament voting or conceding, if you like, on legislation that they hadn't had the chance to see.

"So I said we would actually go back and reintroduce legislation that had not finished its passage.

"I think that was a very proper thing to do."

Mr Barnett said he hoped bills on workplace reform, amalgamation of port operators, and the merger of utilities Verve and Synergy would be passed through the upper house next week.

Thursday was the last sitting day of the year for the Legislative Assembly but the Legislative Council has another week.

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DFAT confirms Dili embassy protest

FEDERAL authorities have confirmed a protest was held outside Australia's embassy in East Timor amid a spying row between the two countries.

About 100 protesters in East Timor's capital Dili reportedly threw rocks at the Australian embassy on Thursday, with police responding by using tear gas.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on Friday confirmed a protest had taken place outside the embassy.

"The Australian Embassy in Dili has advised that a small-scale protest was held outside the embassy on 5 December," DFAT told AAP in a statement.

More details on the protest are being sought from DFAT.

A spokeswoman for East Timor said the protest was small and non-violent. Further details are being sought.

The protesters, mostly students and young Timorese rights activists, carried banners reading "Australia is a thief" and "Australia has no morals", Agence France-Presse reported.

The protest comes after East Timor expressed outrage over reports that Australia secretly bugged ministerial deliberations in Dili in 2004 to gain leverage in negotiations on an oil and gas revenue-sharing deal.

On Tuesday, Australian intelligence agents raided the Canberra office of a lawyer representing East Timor in an arbitration case at The Hague over the deal.

East Timor says it won't be deterred from challenging the multi-billion dollar oil and gas treaty with Australia despite the raid.

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Brooks 'agreed to buy William snap'

FORMER News International executive Rebekah Brooks sanctioned a payment of STG4000 ($A7,300) to a public official for a picture of Prince William dressed as a Bond girl in a bikini at a Sandhurst party, a UK jury has heard.

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Indigenous shake up on council's agenda

THE man charged with leading Tony Abbott's indigenous affairs shake up hopes to help reverse the trend of prime ministers leaving office regretting they didn't do enough for Australia's first people.

Former ALP president Warren Mundine, who chairs the prime minister's newly formed indigenous advisory council, and the body's 11 other members met with Mr Abbott for the first time in Canberra on Thursday.

Improving indigenous children's school attendance and educational levels is their top priority, followed by boosting employment opportunities and reviewing land ownership and other drivers of economic development.

Mr Abbott told the council they had a mammoth task ahead.

There has been much goodwill in recent years and lots of money spent but not enough change at the grassroots, he said.

"Let it not be said in three years' time that this was just another talkfest," Mr Abbott said.

"Let people be able to say ... that practical change is happening."

Mr Mundine said efforts to close the gap on Aboriginal disadvantage, social stability and empowering communities were key issues.

"We're going to be looking at that through economic and commercial eyes," Mr Mundine told AAP.

Mr Mundine hopes the advisory council can help reverse an historic trend.

"Every prime minister in our lifetime has left office and they have always said that one of the saddest things is they didn't do enough in this area," he said.

Council members include Westpac Bank chief executive Gail Kelly and Rio Tinto Australia managing director David Peever.

The council will also be involved in mining magnate Andrew Forrest's review of indigenous employment and training programs as well as a separate review into Indigenous Land Corporation and Indigenous Business Australia.

The federal government is reviewing two embattled government-funded indigenous bodies to determine if they should be merged.

The Land Corporation has been under fire for going $200 million into debt to purchase Ayers Rock Resort for $317 million in 2010.

The resort has hit financial woes, reporting losses of more than $100 million.

Indigenous Business Australia was last year warned not to hold conferences that looked like "junkets" after senior staff travelled to Gold Coast theme parks.

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Analysts tip positive start for Nine share

Analysts expect shares in the Nine Entertainment Company to start trading on a positive note. Source: AAP

NINE Entertainment Co's shares are tipped to make a successful stock market debut but analysts say there are longer term doubts about the company's earnings.

The company, which owns the Nine Network, Ticketek and ninemsn, will list on the Australian Securities Exchange at noon AEDT on Friday with a list price of $2.05 per share.

That price is at the bottom of the range put forward in the company's prospectus, which analysts say will give its shares room to move higher on Friday.

"The IPO price at $2.05 does give it a bit of room to move on the upside," IG market strategist Evan Lucas said.

"I think tomorrow they will probably get away nicely... it should be an okay float," he said.

At its listing price, Nine will be valued at $1.93 billion, making it the biggest initial public offering this year.

Mr Lucas said Nine's first day performance should be better than that of Dick Smith Holdings, which finished its first day of trading on Wednesday flat at its list price of $2.20.

But he said questions remained about Nine as a long term investment due to the uncertain outlook for free to air television.

"There is always going to be a question regarding the advertiser revenue it is generating but its digital assets do look reasonable," he said.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said Nine shares wouldn't be for everyone.

"It's an industry where evaluations should carry a reasonable amount of risk premium and some investors may prefer to steer clear of it altogether," he said.

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Eight carry great ape 'stud' to check-up

PERTH Zoo's primate patriarch, 126-kilogram Sumatran orang-utan Dinar, will remain the key player in a world-famous breeding program after getting full marks in a detailed health check.

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Trade talks in doubt, yet again

Trade Minister Andrew Robb urged delegates of the WTO to strike a deal to liberalise global trade. Source: AAP

TRADE Minister Andrew Robb has urged delegates at a crucial World Trade Organisation meeting in Bali to strike a deal to liberalise global trade amid growing signs negotiations will once again fail.

Speaking in front of trade ministers and representatives from around the world, Mr Robb on Wednesday said that further delays in reaching a deal to reduce trade barriers would risk the credibility of the WTO.

Efforts to slash barriers to world trade and establish a global set of rules began with the so-called "Doha Round" in Qatar in 2001, but a deal has always remained out of reach amid ongoing disputes between rich and poor countries.

The comments came as India's Anand Sharma earlier told delegates at the same plenary session that his country could not accept a proposal on food security under a package being considered.

A proposal that New Delhi feels could endanger its efforts to subsidise food in the huge nation "cannot be accepted", Mr Sharma said.

"Agriculture sustains millions of subsistence farmers. Their interests must be secured. Food security is essential for four billion people of the world," he added.

"Yes, we have rejected it," he later told reporters, calling it a "final decision".

But Mr Robb warned that it was developing nations that had the most to lose if a deal was not struck by Friday, when the summit is scheduled to wrap up.

"For the first time since the WTO was established nearly 20 years ago, we can see the prospects of a first-harvest outcome from the Doha negotiations, and we must seize that opportunity," Mr Robb said.

"If we succeed this week, we will pave the way for more ambitious negotiations and the promise of significant growth in income and jobs around the world."

"The cost of failure this week will fall most on developing countries who will lose the opportunity to boost sustainable economic growth and jobs."

Despite India's position casting doubt over whether the summit would finally deliver a deal, other delegates continued to talk up prospects of a successful conclusion to negotiations that have already been underway for 12 years.

United States Trade Representative Michael Froman said an agreement in Bali would prove to a sceptical world that the WTO was a vital institution, while also warning the talks in Bali were "perilously close to a different path".

"In the past few weeks in Geneva we have crept closer to disaster on multiple occasions, yet at each moment of crisis, the vast majority of members considered the consequences of failure, pulled back from the brink and pulled together instead," Mr Froman said.

"Leaving Bali this week without an agreement would deal a debilitating blow to the WTO as a forum for multilateral negotiations. If that happens, the unfortunate truth is the loss would be felt most heavily by those members who can least afford it."

Mr Robb told delegates that Australia would support "whatever steps are necessary" to finalise the WTO package by Friday.

"We all have a collective responsibility to ourselves and to the multilateral trade system to conclude the package by the end of this week," he said.

The main stumbling block to completing a deal, Mr Robb said, was agriculture.

The WTO's insistence that any deal should be unanimous has also been blamed as a reason for the organisation's failure to reach an agreement.

It has been estimated that a successful conclusion to talks in Bali could eventually add tens of millions of jobs across the globe, of which many would be created in developing countries.

Mr Robb was expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan on Thursday on the sidelines of WTO summit, which is scheduled to wrap up on Friday.

The trade minister was expected to travel to Singapore for another round of talks on Saturday on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, seen by some delegates at the Bali summit as an impediment to the WTO deal being struck.

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