DETECTIVES are trying to determine whether foul play was involved in the death of a man discovered in an ACT home unit.
A friend of the 52-year-old found his body at lunchtime on Saturday at a building in Bega Flats, Reid, police say.
A crime scene has been set up, with investigators working to establish the cause of death.
A CHINESE man who hacked three children to death and injured 13 others at a daycare centre in southern China has been sentenced to death.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday that Wu Yechang was convicted of intentional homicide in the Guigang Intermediate People's Court in China's Guangxi region for the September 2012 attack that horrified the country.
It was one of several violent attacks on children in China in recent years that have resulted in tighter security at schools and kindergartens.
The attacks also have led to calls for more attention to mental illnesses and prompted concern over rising stress in Chinese society.
Wu suffered from illness and loneliness when he targeted the children at the Red Apple daycare centre in Guangxi's Pingnan county, Xinhua said.
He told police in 2012 he initially wanted to kill himself but decided to do something bigger.
Reports say the jobless man bought an axe and was wandering when he saw the daycare centre.
EIGHT hinterland NSW towns have baked through their hottest day on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology says records were broken across northern and central inland regions of the state on Friday.
In Walgett, residents sweltered through temperatures not experienced anywhere in the state for more than 70 years.
There the mercury reached a record 49.1 degrees Celsius - the highest temperature posted anywhere in NSW since 1939, when 50C was recorded in Wilcannia.
Other NSW records set on Friday include 47.8C in Mungindi and Narrabri and 47.6C in Coonamble.
In Moree temperatures climbed to 47.3C, smashing the previous record of 46.1C set in 1932.
Tamworth, Coonabarabran and Mudgee also hit their highest-ever temperatures on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The bureau says further records could be revealed on Saturday, when official maximum temperatures are transmitted from additional climate monitoring stations.
THE recently opened Wet 'n' Wild theme park in Sydney won't be hired out for big events in the near future following the last-minute cancellation of a New Year's Eve music festival.
Thousands of people who bought tickets to ring in the new year at the western Sydney theme park were let down at the last minute when the organisers, One Cube Entertainment, cancelled the event six hours beforehand, citing technical issues.
After announcing the cancellation on Facebook, One Cube Entertainment promised an "even better" festival would take place on Australia Day.
However, Wet 'n' Wild owners, Village Roadshow Theme Parks, on Friday said that event would not go ahead.
Ticket-holders are being refunded, with One Cube Entertainment working with promoters to ensure they are processed as quickly as possible.
Village Roadshow Theme Parks spokesman Darrin Davies said they were extremely disappointed at the cancellation.
He could not comment on media reports One Cube Entertainment was vastly inexperienced for such an event, having been set up four months ago.
"We entered into a commercial agreement with them to hire a venue and that's all it was," Mr Davies told AAP on Friday.
"From our point of view we are not currently entertaining more requests for hiring the venue."
Mr Davies said the decision was not linked directly to the New Year's Eve incident.
"We've had this event cancelled and we're focusing now on what we do best, which is running a theme park," he said.
Annual music festival the Big Day Out takes place in Sydney on Australia Day, which also played a role in the decision not to host the festival, he added.
Mr Davies said while the park had no current booking requests, it would take any on their merits.
About 8700 people bought tickets for the event, described by One Cube Entertainment as a "world first", "new and fresh" way for Sydneysiders to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe assured all ticket holders they would receive full refunds.
Mr Davies said Village Roadshow Theme Parks returned the hiring fee to One Cube Entertainment on the grounds that refunds would take place.
The Fair Trading hotline is 1800 213 428.
New Year celebrations around Australia have been marred by deaths and violence among revellers. Source: AAP
ONE man died and two others are in critical condition after violence marred New Year's Eve celebrations in Western Australia, NSW and South Australia.
While millions of people rang in 2014 without incident, there were ugly scenes in Victoria, where revellers clashed with police at an out-of-control Melbourne party.
In the most serious incident in the country, a man died after a fight at a beach party on tiny Wedge Island off the West Australian coast.
Police say the man died after being assaulted just before 1.30am on the 400-metre-long island, 160 kilometres north of Perth.
Two other people were injured, with one flown by rescue helicopter to Royal Perth Hospital.
In the state's southwest, a woman died after a suspected drug overdose, WA police said.
In Sydney, an estimated two million people lined Sydney Harbour to view the 12-minute midnight fireworks display, with pyrotechnic displays also going off at 9pm and 10.30pm.
But in nearby Kings Cross, 18-year-old Daniel Christie was left in critical condition after being hit in an allegedly unprovoked attack about 9pm.
He is fighting for life at St Vincent's Hospital.
His alleged attacker, Shaun McNeil, 25, was refused bail on Wednesday, with a Sydney court told Mr Christie was shielding others when he was struck.
In Adelaide, a 63-year-old man was left in critical condition after being stabbed several times.
Police charged a 55-year-old woman with attempted murder over the stabbing.
More than 100 people were arrested in Adelaide suburbs, authorities said.
More than 170 were arrested in NSW during festivities, charged with offences including assault and robbery. Ninety-seven people were charged last New Year's Eve.
NSW Ambulance Deputy Commissioner Mick Willis said more than 1000 patients were treated in the metropolitan region overnight.
"Overall the crowd was very good ... but sadly, again, through the use of alcohol and drugs we saw a number of violent clashes," he told reporters.
On the water, more than 100 New Year's Eve revellers had to be rescued from boats across Sydney, with three people taken to hospital.
Further south, at least two police officers were assaulted at a New Year's Eve party in Melbourne.
About 15,000 people attended the monster bash at Edinburgh Gardens in North Fitzroy that forced authorities to set up a triage facility to treat about 20 revellers.
Twenty-three people were arrested in Melbourne's city centre, while at least 160 people were treated by ambulance officers in the city surrounds.
In Queensland, more than 80,000 people packed Brisbane's inner city about midnight and 44 people were arrested, down from 62 last New Year's Eve.
The Gold Coast recorded less crime, with 92 arrests compared with 121 during the previous celebrations.
A 20-year-old man from Perth was killed in a brawl at a New Year's Eve party on a remote WA island. Source: AAP
A MURDER investigation is under way after a 20-year-old man died following a fight at a New Year's Eve beach party in Western Australia.
Police say the man from Kelmscott, in Perth's southeast, died after being assaulted on the remote Wedge Island, 160 kilometres north of Perth, shortly before 1.30am (WST) on Wednesday.
A man and a woman, both 25, were injured in the brawl.
The man was flown by rescue helicopter to Royal Perth Hospital with a serious arm injury, while the woman was taken by ambulance to the Joondalup Health Campus in Perth's north.
A police spokeswoman would not confirm reports the dead man was attacked with a machete.
She said reports that the fight involved hundreds of people were incorrect.
Wedge Island is 400 metres long and lies just off the coast.
WA's Major Crime Squad is investigating the man's death.
THE government can reduce health expenditure by rectifying "piecemeal" reform and investing in treating more people in the community, the Greens say.
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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.
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.
THE Renegades are desperate for their first win in this season's BBL, as they host reigning champions Brisbane Heat.
IT STARTED with Cosmic Avenger 20 years ago. Now Michael Thomasson has about 11,000 video games. That's more than you or anyone else on the planet.
BIZARRE tourist attraction or eerie ghost town? This town at "the end of earth" - which has only one permanent resident - is both.
MANHATTAN tailor Anthony Giliberto received a call that would change the course of his life, the day he met Jordan Belfort, "the Wolf of Wall Street".
IT'S been a bumper year for investors in 2013, and things are looking good for more growth in 2014, the experts predict.
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.
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.
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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