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

Love Actually was, actually, right

FEELING a little low this Christmas? If you're looking for joy, happiness and hope then this is the place to go.

QLD News

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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.

QLD News

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.

QLD News

Booze bus pulls over top cop

THE Christmas breath-testing blitz has begun, with not even one of the state's top policemen able to skip the booze bus.

QLD News

Lifeguard facing charge over accident

UPDATE: A GOLD Coast lifeguard who ran over two tourists on Surfers Paradise beach could face criminal charges, police say.

QLD News

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