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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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 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.
QUEENSLAND MP Clive Palmer owns so many companies, properties, cars and aircraft he can't list them all on the official parliamentary register.
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.
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.
IF quitting sugar tops your New Year resolutions the good news is you can start cutting back now. Here's how to start curing your addiction to the sweet stuff before January even hits.
SO you've conjured up the wedding, white-picket fence, 2.5 kids and making partner at work. But it's time to stop dreaming and start planning.
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
