SOUTH Australian swimmers have had a New Year's scare with shark sightings forcing the closure of two popular beaches.
Police said Moana Beach, south of Adelaide, had been evacuated and closed on Monday evening (ACDT) after a 2.5-metre shark was spotted 100 metres from the shore.
A short time later, nearby Christies Beach was closed following another sighting of a 2.5-metre shark.
Police said it was not known if it was the same animal in both sightings.
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SYDNEY'S famous fireworks have attracted not only locals, but brought in overseas visitors keen to experience New Year's Eve down under.
American Melissa Sjostedt says she's wanted to see the fireworks on the bridge since reading about it in a four-page spread in the National Geographic 10 years ago.
"Ever since that I've always wanted to see this for real, live, in person," the 30-year-old from Florida told AAP from Dawes Point Reserve.
Mathieu Herman, 30, from New York City, said he'd made the trip to Australia specifically for New Year's Eve.
"I saw it last year on TV and it looked fabulous. I said to myself 'it's something I've just got to do'.
"I love Australia and if the fireworks are as good as they're supposed to be, I might move here."
Sisters Liann, 25, and Joanne, 19, from Flintshire in North Wales, got to Lady Macquarie's Chair at 10.30am to snag the best view of the fireworks.
"It's been a cracker day so far except for the achey bum, I should have brought more pillows," said Liann as she reclined, drink in hand, on a beach towel.
"It's our first time in Australia so we don't know what to expect.
"But it's got to be better than back home, it's minus five (degrees) there at the moment."
Essig Roland and his girlfriend Marika Rauecker, both from Austria, were anxiously waiting at 7pm (AEDT) just to get into the packed venue.
"What can you do but just stand here and wait" said Mr Roland, who'd been queueing for an hour.
Pop princess Kylie Minogue, chosen as the event's creative ambassador, was a big drawcard for the couple making the trip down under for New Year's this year.
"We're big Kylie fans we've already been to her concert in Austria," he said.
Sydney's lord mayor says the city is spending $6.6 million on its New Year's Eve event. Source: AAP
THOUSANDS of revellers have gathered at Sydney's sparkling harbour to take part in the party that kicks off New Year's celebrations the world over.
Temporary cyclone fences surround the city's best vantage points as people armed with fold-up chairs, picnic blankets, nibbles and booze stake a claim.
Lucky types are bobbing on boats in the harbour while others are happy to simply line the sides of roads, with jubilant partygoers spilling from pubs onto the streets.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore says about 1.5 million spectators are expected to line Sydney Harbour to watch the fireworks.
Another two million Australians will catch the $6.6 million event on their teles, as will at least one billion people worldwide.
"This is really putting Australia on the map in terms of welcoming people to the New Year," Ms Moore said.
Pop princess Kylie Minogue, chosen as the event's creative ambassador, developed the theme 'Embrace' and chose its colour scheme and soundtrack.
She will be honoured with a musical-note firework which will be one of 100,000 individual pyrotechnic creations this year, including koala, octopus and hand images in lights.
Minogue said being home to host New Year's Eve was a dream come true.
"It's been a huge year for me and the finish line is tonight," she said, adding that her boyfriend was the first in line for a hug come midnight.
Minogue said her 25 years in the music industry hadn't been easy and had its ups and downs, but it had been "an amazing ride" overall.
Other celebs who have headed Down Under to ring in the New Year include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx and Jonah Hill.
They will be joined at The Star casino's Marquee Nightclub by Gossip Girl heart throb Chace Crawford, Glee's Matthew Morrison and Arrow actor Colton Haynes.
Out on the streets, more than 3000 police officers will be on crowd control.
"If you act up, you are going to be arrested and charged. There's no view of the fireworks from a police cell," warned Assistant Commissioner Alan Clarke.
At Mrs Macquaries Point, 6283 people had already claimed a spot by midday while the super keen began queuing for the panoramic views of Sydney Harbour and the city skyline 24 hours before the gates of the Botanic Gardens opened at 10am.
Many have queued for hours under the sun.
"It's a much younger crowd than usual, a lot of backpackers rather than families like previous years," said Karla Davies from the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust.
American Melissa Sjostedt said she had wanted to see the fireworks on the bridge since reading about it in a four-page spread in the National Geographic 10 years ago.
"Ever since that I've always wanted to see this for real, live, in person," the 30-year-old from Florida told AAP from Dawes Point Reserve.
People going to the CBD to watch the fireworks have been urged to leave their cars behind and take public transport, with road closures in place and extra trains and buses laid on for the night.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge will be closed in both directions from 11pm on Monday to 1am on Tuesday.
THE head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has urged followers to write to their representatives in Parliament to oppose the government's plans to allow gay marriage.
In a letter read to congregations over the weekend, the Archbishop of Westminister, Vincent Nichols, called for Catholics to express their views "clearly, calmly and forcefully."
Nichols who is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales says he is concerned about how a change in the law would affect what children are taught about marriage.
He says he wants members of Parliament to "defend, not change, the bond of man and woman in marriage as the essential element of the vision of the family."
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led government plans to introduce legislation in January to allow gay marriages. Recent opinion polls suggest a large majority of the public supports the change.
The Central African Republic troops are battling to re-capture a rebel-held city, officials say. Source: AAP
GOVERNMENT soldiers in the Central African Republic are battling to re-capture a rebel-held city, a military official says, despite regional efforts to seek a peaceful end to the growing crisis.
The military official said the fighting in Bambari, which rebels from the Seleka coalition seized on Sunday, was "especially violent", and a humanitarian source said witnesses some 60 kilometres away could hear detonations and heavy weapons fire for several hours.
The new violence came the same day as the Central African Republic's neighbours took steps to tackle the crisis in the chronically unstable country, where rebels have advanced towards the capital Bangui, stoking local and international alarm.
Foreign ministers in the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) announced late on Friday that more troops of the Central African Multinational Force (FOMAC) would be sent to the country.
"Five hundred and sixty men are already on the ground, and we agreed to a request by the ECCAS general secretariat to increase their numbers and allow them to accomplish their mission as a rapid deployment force", as Seleka rebels threaten the capital, Chad's Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat said after a meeting in the Gabonese capital Libreville, which is seen as a potential venue for peace talks.
The international force is "to deploy so Bangui and all cities that have not been captured (by the rebels) so far cannot be targeted by the rebels", added Gabon's Foreign Minister Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet.
ECCAS deputy secretary general Guy-Pierre Garcia said earlier that the rebels and the Central African government had agreed to unconditional talks.
"The goal is to get to negotiations (between the government and the rebels) by January 10," a source in the Central African Multinational Force said.
Central African (CAR) President Francois Bozize's appeals for help from former colonial power France and from the United States have fallen on deaf ears.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Friday that France had no intention of getting involved in the crisis, and would only intervene to protect its own nationals there.
The French defence ministry said late on Friday that 150 troops had arrived in Bangui from Libreville as a "precautionary measure" to protect French and other European citizens.
Fears about the deteriorating security situation led Washington to evacuate its embassy in Bangui and the United Nations to pull out staff.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that it too had evacuated some workers, although it stressed it would continue to provide aid to the growing number of displaced people.
A diplomatic team from FOMAC has begun talks with authorities in Bangui and sent a delegation to the rebel-held strategic town of Ndele in the north to meet members of the rebel coalition Seleka, which launched its offensive on December 10.
The UN has demanded rebels halt their offensive, and urged Bozize's government to ensure the safety of civilians amid fears of a breakdown in law and order in the country.
A coalition of three rebel movements known as Seleka - or the "alliance" in the Sango language - has taken a string of towns, including four regional capitals, among them the garrison town and key diamond mining hub of Birao.
The coalition wants the government to fulfil the terms of peace pacts signed in 2007 and 2001, providing for disarmament and social reintegration, including pay.
Bozize took power in a 2003 coup and has twice been elected into office.
In 2006, France, which supported Bozize in his rise to power, had lent logistical help and air support to fight off rebels.
While Seleka says it has no plans to move on the capital, a statement last week announcing it had suspended its advance was followed within a day by news of further rebel victories.
A Chilean court has sought to prosecute any suspects in the killing of singer Victor Jara. Source: AAP
A CHILEAN judge has ordered the arrest of eight ex-army officers for the brutal murder of leftist folk singer Victor Jara, killed in 1973 just days after General Augusto Pinochet came to power.
This is the first time a Chilean court has sought to prosecute any suspects in the killing of the pacifist singer - a crime that became emblematic of the bloody Pinochet dictatorship that left more than 3000 people dead.
Two of the former soldiers were accused of murder, while the others were said to be accomplices, Chilean justice officials said in a statement.
An international arrest warrant was issued for one of the suspects, Pedro Barrientos Nunez, who lives in the United States.
"After bringing together many elements, there comes a time when one must end the investigation and try to move toward a resolution," Judge Miguel Vazquez Plaza told reporters.
Jara family lawyer Nelson Caucoto said he was "quite satisfied" with the decision.
The singer, whose lyrics spoke of love and social protest, became an icon of Latin American popular music with songs like The Right to Live in Peace, The Cigarette and I Remember Amanda.
Jara was married to British dancer Joan Turner, with whom he had two daughters.
He was also a member of Chile's Communist Party and a fervent supporter of the Popular Unity coalition that backed Marxist president Salvador Allende, who came to power by popular vote in 1970.
Jara was arrested the day after the September 11, 1973 coup that installed Pinochet as dictator.
His body was found days later, riddled with 44 machine gun bullets. He had been held, along with around 5,000 other political prisoners, in Santiago's biggest stadium, where he was interrogated, tortured and then killed. He was 40.
Among other horrors, the singer-guitarist's fingers were crushed, broken by rifle butts and boots.
The case was revived in 2009, and Jara's body was exhumed, after a soldier who had been in the stadium after the coup admitted to the shooting - though he later retracted his confession.
In December 2009, thousands of Chileans attended an official funeral for the singer, whose original burial had been conducted by his widow in near-secrecy and almost total anonymity.
Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have paid tribute to cricket great Tony Greig who has died in Sydney. Source: AAP
JULIA Gillard and Tony Abbott have paid tribute to Tony Greig, saying Australia has lost a sporting icon and legend.
Greig, a former England captain and cricket commentator, died in a Sydney hospital on Saturday after suffering a heart attack. He was 66.
Responding to the news, Prime Minister Gillard called Greig a "wonderful example of someone who came to Australia from somewhere else in the world and embraced his adopted country as his own".
"As a superb all-rounder, ambitious national captain and authoritative commentator over the best part of half a century, Greig's standing in the game is matched by very few others," Ms Gillard said in a statement.
"Australia has lost one of the iconic voices of sport."
Ms Gillard said Greig's life in cricket "wasn't always without controversy, but no one could doubt his passion and commitment to the sport he loved".
The Sydney-based, South African-born Greig had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in October and suffered a heart attack at his home on Saturday morning.
It's understood his family were at his side at St Vincent's Hospital when he died.
The opposition leader described Greig as an "Australian legend".
"Tony Greig is an icon of cricket and a household name in Australia," Mr Abbott said in a statement.
"His distinctive voice was synonymous with cricket every Australian summer for more than three decades.
"He may have played for and captained the old enemy England, but Tony Greig will be remembered as an Australian legend too."
AT least 16 people, mostly drug addicts seeking a fix, have died after drinking toxic cough syrup in an eastern Pakistani city.
The deaths started occurring on Wednesday in the industrial city of Gujranwala, about 70 kilometres north of Lahore, police and doctors said.
"We have received 54 patients at hospital who said their condition deteriorated after taking cough syrups and 16 of them have died," local hospital chief Anwar Aman told AFP on Saturday.
The victims were aged between 20 and 40 and most had a history of drug addiction, Aman said, adding that so far the culprit syrup had not been identified.
Senior police official Azam Mehr confirmed the toll and said samples of cough syrups available at local pharmacies have been collected and sent to laboratories.
"Police and the health department have started inquiries and investigations into the deaths," Mehr said.
Last month at least 19 people were killed in Lahore after drinking toxic cough syrup.
In January about 100 heart patients died in Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, after taking locally made tainted medicine.
Peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi called for real change and a transitional government in Syria. Source: AAP
RUSSIA, one of the few remaining allies of President Bashar al-Assad, says it is pressing the Syrian leadership to put into action previous pledges for dialogue with the opposition.
"We actively encouraged ... the Syrian leadership to maximally put into action its declared readiness for dialogue with the opposition," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Friday when asked about his meeting Thursday with Syria's deputy foreign minister.
Lavrov said Russia also encouraged Assad's government "to underscore that they are open to discussing the widest range of items in line with the agreements reached in Geneva on June 30".
Russia's top diplomat warned on Thursday that time was running out for the parties to save an accord reached by global powers in Geneva that calls for the introduction of a transitional government, but makes no explicit call on Assad to step down.
UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi pushed on Thursday for the plan after several days of talks with the leadership and opposition representatives in Damascus.
Lavrov said after his meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad that "the chances for such a solution ... are diminishing."
Russia has refused to back international pressure on Assad to step down and Lavrov made clear on Friday that Moscow's position on this point had not changed.
"The international community must not incite either side towards violence or pose preliminary conditions," said Lavrov.
"With all due respect to the international community, it is, of course, the Syrian people who must decide" Assad's fate, Lavrov stressed.
Moscow on Saturday will host Brahimi in a new bid to save efforts at ending a 21-month conflict that is estimated to have claimed more than 45,000 lives.
A top Russia official had earlier on Friday said Moscow had also sent an invitation for talks to the head of the opposition National Coalition as it presses on with its diplomatic campaign.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the RIA Novosti news agency the talks with National Coalition head Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib could take place in Moscow or at a foreign location such as Geneva or Cairo.
Lavrov told reporters that "as far as we understand, they (the National Coalition leaders) are not against this offer" for new talks.
The last Moscow meeting with representatives of the National Council in July ended in mutual recriminations and saw the opposition accuse Russia of inciting further violence by supporting Assad.
THE UN ends its peacekeeping mission on Monday after 13 years in Asia's youngest nation East Timor, with the country still hoping to overcome its bloody past and rampant poverty.
East Timor this year held largely peaceful elections, voting in a new president and parliament, as the country marked a decade of formal independence and paved the way for the foreign forces to leave.
But as the last remaining UN police and troops depart, the fragile democracy is still struggling with widespread malnutrition, high unemployment and maternal mortality rates among the worst in the world.
East Timor was occupied by Indonesia for 24 years, with about 183,000 people dying from fighting, disease and starvation before the half-island state voted for independence in 1999 in a bloody referendum, prompting the first UN mission.
There is little concern about violence in the immediate future, yet few employment opportunities, crushing poverty and a rapidly expanding population could threaten peace in the long term, analysts say.
"There's always in this situation the potential for something serious to go wrong," Professor George Quinn from the Australian National University College of Asia and the Pacific told AFP.
More than 40 per cent of young Timorese are jobless, according to AusAID, and although the predominantly Catholic nation has a small population, the fertility rate of 6.5 per woman is the world's fourth-highest, UN data shows.
Despite $US1.5 billion ($A1.45 billion) of aid pouring into the nation of 1.1 million people in a decade and abundant offshore oil and gas reserves, about 41 per cent of the population live on less than the local poverty line of 88 US cents a day.
In the capital Dili, barefoot children eat scraps from the ground in slums and vendors make a pittance at fruit and vegetable markets.
World Bank data from 2010 showed 45.3 per cent of children under five were malnourished, up from 40.6 per cent in 2002. On the UN's human development index, East Timor ranks 147th out of 187 nations, below Pakistan and Bangladesh, and well below the regional average.
East Timor's economy has also become visibly two-tier since 1999 - some are raking in US dollars from government infrastructure projects in urban areas, while the majority are subsistence farmers in far-flung villages.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao insisted after his July re-election that energy revenue would transform East Timor "from being an undeveloped, low-income country by 2030, by making use of all our material and human potential".
While the country's Petroleum Fund has swollen to $US10.5 billion and makes up between 80 to 90 per cent of government revenue, critics point out the reserves are fast falling as they call for diversification of the economy.
Rural Timorese also complain the money has not changed their lives.
"East Timor has always had a problem with properly disbursing its income, and that problem still persists," Professor Quinn said.
Despite East Timor's problems, the departure of the remaining UN forces - which numbered 1600 at the mission's peak - underscores the progress the country has made.
The withdrawal has been welcomed by most, especially leaders who insisted the country was able to handle its own security well before responsibility was handed back to national police in October.
THE Victorian government will delay a decision on a major construction tender until a union bid to halt the process is heard.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) made an application in the Federal Court on Friday to stop the state's tender process for the new $630 million Bendigo hospital until a full hearing next year.
The union, which has a union-friendly agreement with builder Lend Lease, sought an injunction to temporarily stop the government's tender process, arguing the state could be breaking the Fair Work Act if it excludes the company.
Earlier this month, it emerged building giant Lend Lease - one of two companies shortlisted to build the project - could lose the project because it breached the Baillieu government's new building code by signing a four-year pay and conditions deal with the CFMEU.
Lawyers for the state told Justice Peter Gray on Friday the government would not make a decision on the tender until April 1 or before a further court hearing, whichever comes first.
A date will be set for a full hearing in the Federal Court before the end of March.
BRITISH platinum miner Lonmin says chief executive Ian Farmer, off work since August due to a "serious illness", is stepping down permanently from his role at the troubled group.
Simon Scott will continue as interim head until a permanent successor is found, the world's third-largest platinum producer said in a statement on Friday. Scott would eventually revert to being chief financial officer, it added.
Friday's announcement follows a turbulent end to the year for Lonmin, whose shareholders last month approved a rights issue to boost its finances after violent strikes disrupted work at its Marikana platinum mine in South Africa.
"Lonmin plc announces that Ian Farmer, who is being treated for a serious illness, has informed the board of his request to step down as chief executive officer (CEO) and as a director of Lonmin with immediate effect," the company said.
"The board has appointed an executive search agent to pursue the selection and engagement of Ian's successor as CEO. In the meantime, Simon Scott will continue in his role as acting CEO with the full support of the Lonmin board.
"Simon has requested that he should not be considered as a candidate for the role of CEO. Following the appointment of a new CEO, Simon will dedicate his time fully to his role as chief financial officer."
Farmer, 50, was chief executive for four years at the end of a career with Lonmin lasting more than a quarter of a century.
Lonmin chairman Roger Phillimore said Farmer's ability, commitment and drive would be missed.
"He has been CEO for the last four years and the consistent improvement in Lonmin's operating performance over that period owes much to his leadership," he said.
The end of Farmer's tenure was overshadowed by the violence at Marikana that left 46 people dead, including 34 who were killed by police gunfire on August 16.
The recently announced rights issue, worth $US817 million ($A790.94 million), was aimed at reducing Lonmin's level of debt and increasing its financial strength in the wake of the violence.
Major shareholder, Swiss commodities giant Xstrata has called for a management shake-up at Lonmin, citing serious financial problems at the mining group.
The government has granted planning approval for the redevelopment of The Block in Redfern. Source: AAP
THE redevelopment of The Block in the Sydney suburb of Redfern is one step closer after the state government granted planning approval.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said on Saturday that the Department of Planning and Infrastructure had approved the Pemulwuy redevelopment project in the inner-city suburb.
Mr O'Farrell said Pemulwuy would include 62 affordable houses, a 42-unit student housing complex, a gym, a child-care centre and a community gallery, as well as open space.
He said there would also be shops and a 115-space underground car park.
"The approval of this project by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure will allow for the creation of a vibrant new housing, community and cultural precinct close to transport and the University of Sydney," Mr O'Farrell said in a statement.
"This part of Sydney has been crying out for renewal for many years and it is fantastic this long-running issue has now been resolved."
A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy has been injured after he fell from a four-wheel drive southwest of Darwin.
The boy fell from the window of the stationary 4WD on to concrete at Peppimenarti around midday (CST) on Saturday and suffered a head injury, CareFlight said.
He was rushed to the community's health clinic but after his condition began to deteriorate, CareFlight was called.
The boy was flown to Royal Darwin Hospital for observation on a CareFlight helicopter where he remains in a stable condition.
The Pope has pressed his opposition to gay marriage in his Christmas address to the Vatican. Source: AAP
THE Pope has pressed his opposition to gay marriage, denouncing what he describes as people eschewing their God-given gender identities to suit their sexual choices and destroying the very "essence of the human creature" in the process.
Benedict XVI made the comments in his annual Christmas address to the Vatican bureaucracy on Friday, one of his most important speeches of the year.
He dedicated it this year to promoting traditional family values in the face of gains by same-sex marriage proponents in the US and Europe and efforts to legalise gay marriage in places such as France and Britain.
"People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given to them by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being," he said.
"They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves.
"The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man's fundamental choice where he himself is concerned."
It was the second time in a week that Benedict commented on gay marriage, which is currently dividing France, and which scored big electoral wins in the US last month.
In his recently released annual peace message, Benedict said gay marriage, like abortion and euthanasia, was a threat to world peace.
The Vatican went on a similar anti-gay marriage media blitz last month after three US states approved gay marriage by popular vote.
After the peace message was released last week, gay activists staged a small protest in St Peter's Square.
Italy's main gay rights group, Arcigay, called the Pope's comments "absurd, dangerous and totally out of synch with reality".
And a coalition of four US Catholic organisations representing gay, lesbian and transgender people said the Pope had an "outmoded" view of what it means to be man and woman.
The company that was set to run a heliport in Sydney Harbour says it is putting the project on hold. Source: AAP
THE company that was set to run a heliport in Sydney Harbour says it is putting the project on hold to consider the operation's "feasibility".
Newcastle Helicopters, which was set to operate a floating heliport to provide for quick transfers to and from Sydney airport and scenic flights over Sydney harbour, announced on Saturday that it would be halting the plans until further notice.
"Effective immediately, Newcastle Helicopters has put the project of the Sydney Harbour Floating Heliport on hold until further notice, in order to consider the feasibility of the operation going forward," it said in a statement.
"It is Newcastle Helicopter's intention to address the relevant concerns and queries with thoroughly considered and accurate information, and is taking the appropriate steps to do so."
The announcement comes after Fairfax media reported on Saturday that the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) landing barge in Sydney Harbour was reportedly approved two weeks before it had asked about air safety or air traffic control regulations.
In a series of tweets earlier this week, Malcolm Turnbull also criticised the operation, saying he was told the decision to approve the helicopter service from a barge in Sydney Harbour was made by the RMS without consulting the premier or cabinet or community.
"Frankly what troubles me most is safety, summer afternoon, harbour full of boats, most with kids, noreaster ......," the federal member for Wentworth tweeted.
On Saturday, Mr Turnbull posted further tweets, urging people opposed to the heliport to sign a petition.
"So the NSW Govt Maritime Services dept only start to think about safety AFTER they have issued the helipad licence," he tweeted.
A spokesman for NSW Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner said: "Newcastle Helicopters has advised the NSW government that the Sydney Harbour Floating Heliport project has been put on hold, pending further discussions with relevant stakeholders."
A 15-YEAR-OLD Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for promoting girls' education has urged Pakistan to reverse a decision to rename a college in her honour to avert militant attacks on students.
Malala Yousufzai, who became a symbol of youth resistance to the Taliban, made the request after students broke into the school, tore down Malala's pictures and boycotted classes in her home town of Mingora. They said renaming the college endangered their lives.
A senior government official, Kamran Rehman, said Malala had called him from London, where she was being treated for critical wounds from the attack on October 9. The Taliban said it targeted her for promoting education for secular girls.
Malala's case won worldwide recognition for the struggle for women's rights in Pakistan and the Taliban have vowed to target her again.
Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in the country's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
A bomb ripped through the office of local militant commander Maulvi Abbas in Wana, a main town in the South Waziristan tribal region in the northwest, killing him and three of his guards, two intelligence officials said on Friday.
Abbas was an associate of Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan militant group, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief reporters.
It was unclear who had planted the bomb. The attack came weeks after a suicide bomber in the same town attacked Maulvi Nazir, a prominent militant commander who is believed to have a non-aggression pact with the army.
Nazir was wounded in the attack and seven of his men were killed.
Since then there has been tension between followers of Nazir and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in the region.
British defence giant BAE Systems has announced a $A3.93 billion deal to supply aircraft to Oman. Source: AAP
BRITISH defence giant BAE Systems has announced a 2.5-billion pound ($A3.93 billion) deal to supply military aircraft to Oman.
The group said in a statement on Friday it would supply 12 Typhoon fighter aircraft and eight Hawk trainer jets, delivering from 2017.
"BAE Systems welcomes the decision by the Sultanate of Oman to purchase 12 Typhoon and eight Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft," it said.
"This contract is further recognition that both Typhoon and Hawk are leading aircraft in their class, providing the best capabilities available.
"As well as supplying aircraft, BAE Systems will provide in-service support to the Royal Air Force of Oman's operational tasks. Deliveries are expected to commence in 2017."
Earlier this year, BAE Systems had attempted to merge with European aerospace giant EADS, but the deal collapsed under the weight of political wrangling and unexpectedly strong opposition from Germany.
AT least 20 men accused of raping women ran in Indian elections in the past five years, according to a think-tank report published amid growing outrage over the gang-rape of a student on a bus.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) study was released on Thursday as political parties lined up to condemn the rape of the 23-year-old woman, which has triggered widespread protests against how women are treated in India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and opposition MPs have condemned the savage assault last Sunday but the ADR said many Indian parties fielded candidates who were facing rape accusations.
"Since 2007, political parties gave tickets to 20 rape accused to fight in state elections. This is shocking and requires urgent action," Jagdeep Chhokar, the founder of ADR, said.
"The politicians who come out to condemn rape are the ones who are openly giving the rape accused a chance to fight elections. This is hypocrisy," he said.
The report stated that political parties had also given tickets to 260 men who were charged with other crimes against women, including molestation.
It did not record how many of the accused candidates had been found guilty.
"Political parties should stop giving tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds and all those lawmakers who are accused in rape cases should be thrown out of power," Chhokar added.
Further protests were held in New Delhi on Friday, with scores of female demonstrators marching to the president's palace.
The rape victim was coerced onto the off-duty bus and raped by six men before being thrown off the vehicle.
She was seriously injured and remains in intensive care.
Five people, including the bus driver, have so far been arrested.
A COURT in Japan has jailed a 66-year-old man for a year for stealing 10 yen (12 cents) from a temple offering box, reducing his original sentence by eight months.
A district court ordered Masafumi Tsuruhara to spend 20 months in prison earlier this year after being caught taking the coin at Kongou-buji Temple in Wakayama, western Japan.
Tsuruhara appealed to Osaka High Court, insisting he had just been "playing with it", press reports said on Friday.
A judge on Thursday said the sentence was "too heavy", they added. A court spokeswoman confirmed the jail term had been reduced to one year.
"It's 10 yen, but it is still cash," the judge was quoted by local media as saying. "The motive is selfish. His criminal responsibility cannot be treated lightly."
Under Japanese law, theft is punishable by up to 10 years' jail or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.
A partnership between Qantas and Emirates is set to receive approval from the competition watchdog. Source: AAP
CHRISTMAS has come early for Qantas, with the competition watchdog approving its alliance with Emirates, but the struggling Flying Kangaroo did not get all the yuletide presents it wished for.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Thursday it was likely to give the tie-up the green light when it handed down a final decision in March 2013.
"The ACCC considers that the alliance is likely to result in material, although not substantial, benefits to Australian consumers," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.
However, the ACCC rebuffed their request for a 10-year term.
Mr Sims said the ACCC was prepared to grant only a five-year authorisation, citing concerns on their ability to lift ticket prices on some trans-Tasman routes through cutting or limiting capacity.
Therefore, the ACCC said in its draft determination it would impose a condition on Qantas and Emirates that would "restrict the ability of the alliance to reduce or limit growth in its capacity" on four routes between Australia and New Zealand.
The four routes - Sydney-Auckland, Melbourne-Auckland, Brisbane-Auckland and Sydney-Christchurch - represented about 65 per cent of trans-Tasman capacity in the 12 months to June 30, 2012, the ACCC said.
"The condition requires the applicants to maintain a base level of capacity on the routes of concern for the term of the authorisation and to increase capacity in accordance with a specified growth factor," the ACCC said.
Requirements to grow capacity would be put off until a later date, the ACCC said, given Qantas and Emirates' claims about there being excess capacity on the relevant routes.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce welcomed the draft decision, saying the airline had put in a strong case to the ACCC that highlighted the benefits of the partnership for travellers and Australian tourism.
"We will now focus on responding to the issue raised by the ACCC in relation to the trans-Tasman as we move to securing final approval of this landmark partnership," Mr Joyce said in a statement.
Qantas had said previously it was considering launching new routes across the Tasman as part of its alliance with Emirates, with direct service between Perth and Adelaide to Auckland believed to be among the options being looked at.
The proposed tie-up involved an extensive codesharing arrangement, reciprocal frequent-flyer benefits and joint marketing, pricing and coordination on certain routes between the two carriers.
It was regarded as a key plank of Mr Joyce's plan to turn around Qantas' struggling international operations, which reported a $450 million loss in 2011/12.
In addition to the public benefits, federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said the alliance would help Qantas expand in Asia.
"The solid commercial position provided by the alliance also provides the opportunity for Qantas to invest in additional aircraft capacity and international services, especially to meet the growth in Asia but also its broader international network," he said in a statement.
Some analysts have said the deal could boost Qantas' earnings by up to $150 million, but Qantas had not offered a estimates on how the deal would boost the bottom line.
Qantas closed up one cent at $1.46.
EUROPE'S main stock markets retreated in opening deals on Thursday, with London's FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.05 per cent at 5,958.44 points.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 index lost 0.33 per cent to 7,642.99 points and in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.34 per cent to 3,652.08.
Trading in shares in the NYSE Euronext trans-Atlantic stock market was suspended for what a spokesman for the company said was technical reasons, but there was market speculation that US rival InterContinental Exchange (ICE) might be mounting a takeover offer.
BRAD Pitt and several colleagues are praising US President Barack Obama's current stance on drugs.
Last Friday, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot dead 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The massacre occurred barely a month after voters in two US states - Washington and Colorado - legalised marijuana in November's elections.
In light of the shooting, Obama recently said that prosecuting pot users is "not a top priority".
Pitt, Russell Simmons, Danny Glover and John Legend all serve as executive producers on The House I Live In, a documentary highlighting the human rights injustices resultant of America's anti-drug war.
They are all happy that The White House has focused its attention on other matters.
"President Obama should be commended for expressing the will of the people in Colorado and Washington," the producers say in a joint statement to ET Online.
"Our jails are overburdened with nonviolent drug users in this country, too often serving harsher sentences than violent criminals. This defies all common and economic sense.
"The President's statement reflects a saner and more sensible drug policy, and a step away from the decades long failed war on drugs."
Russia's lower house of parliament passed a law banning Americans from adopting Russian children. Source: AAP
PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has backed pending parliamentary legislation that would make it illegal for Americans to adopt Russian children in reprisal for a new Washington human rights law.
"I understand that this was an emotional response by the State Duma, but I think that it was appropriate," Putin told the first major press conference of his third term as president on Thursday.
He complained bitterly that local US courts had found several Americans not guilty of manslaughter charges following the death of Russian children under their care.
The Russian legislation - awaiting final approval in the Duma lower house of parliament on Friday - is named in honour of a Russian child who suffocated in a locked car during the summer heat.
"The judges will not even let us attend (the US trials) as observers," Putin said.
Russia's new legislation came about after US President Barack Obama last week signed into law the so-called Magnitsky Act, named in honour of a lawyer who died in 2009 after blowing the whistle on a $US235 police embezzlement scheme.
Magnitsky died under pre-trial arrest that his mother said had exposed him to "torture conditions".
Putin said the United States had no moral right to pass judgement on Russia's legal system.
"They themselves have plenty of problems," Putin said of the the United States.
"I have already talked about this: listen, Abu Ghraib. Guantanamo.
Putin said the US authorities "are holding people in jail for years without charging them. That is unbelievable.
"And what's more they don't just hold them in prison without charge, they hold them in shackles, like in the mediaeval ages," Putin fumed.
"Inside their own country they have legalised torture. Can you imagine if anything like that happened in our country?"
THE Australian market finished on a 16-month closing high as US politicians appeared to make progress on their budget negotiations .
At close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 21.8 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 4,595.2 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had risen 22.5 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 4,610.5 points.
On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 29 points higher at 4,602 points, with 167,860 contracts traded.
Australian Stock Report head of research Geoff Saffer said the Australian market had its highest close since late July 2011 after US politicians appeared to be making progress on their "fiscal cliff" negotiations.
Just two weeks remain before tax increases and government spending cuts, referred to as the fiscal cliff, start taking effect in the US if no deal is reached.
"I think it was mainly widespread buying today on hopes that US politicians will reach a compromise before the end of the year," he said.
Mr Saffer said the Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes of its December board meeting also suggested that the cash rate could be cut further in 2013 which prompted investor buying.
The Australian market recorded gains across the board with mining, utilities and healthcare the best performing sectors.
BHP Billiton jumped 31 cents to $36.66, Rio Tinto soared $1.18 to $64.70 and Fortescue gained 13 cents to $4.60.
The four major banks all finished in positive territory.
ANZ was up two cents to $24.51, National Australia Bank gained 12 cents to $24.60, Westpac added six cents to $25.81 and Commonwealth Bank jumped 16 cents to $61.45.
The spot price of Sydney gold closed at $US1,702.59, up $US10.84 from Monday's close of $US1,691.75.
Market turnover was 1.77 billion securities worth $4.99 billion, with 536 stocks up, 434 down and 352 unchanged.
AUSTRALIAN bond futures prices were lower after the release of the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest board meeting reduced traders' expectations of future interest rate cuts.
RBC Capital Markets fixed income strategist Su-Lin Ong said local bond futures prices fell following the release of the RBA's minutes at 1130 AEDT.
"The minutes from the December meeting suggested it was quite a close decision and I guess the interpretation is that with the cash rate down to three per cent the hurdle to cut further may be quite high," she said.
"So that weighed quite high on fixed income markets."
The RBA cut the cash rate to three per cent in December, from 3.25 per cent previously.
Ms Ong said developments in negotiations on the 'fiscal cliff' of tax hikes and spending cuts due to apply in 2013, unless US political leaders can agree to alternative measures, was likely to drive bond markets over the coming days.
"I think most attention is on these fiscal cliff negotiations, we have had some progress since the weekend and I think there is an expectation that we are inching closer to both a compromise and agreement," Ms Ong said.
US President Barack Obama has offered a proposal to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner which would raise revenue by $US1.2 trillion ($A1.14 trillion), and cut spending by the same amount.
At 1630 AEDT on Tuesday, the March 10-year bond futures contract was at 96.640 (implying a yield of 3.360 per cent), down from 96.670 (3.330 per cent) on Monday.
The March three-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.220 (2.780 per cent), down from 97.235 (2.765 per cent).
AN international flight was diverted after a drunken Perth man allegedly tried to smoke a cigarette on the plane before punching and spitting on crew members.
The 34-year-old man was taken off the flight, enroute from Sydney to Japan on Monday night, when it was diverted to Cairns.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege the man was heavily intoxicated and was abusive towards the crew and other passengers.
He had to be forcibly restrained by the crew and was arrested when the plane landed in Cairns, police said.
Assistant commissioner Shane Connelly said the public needed to remember that when they travelled on an aircraft their behaviour was subject to Australian laws.
"Enough is enough. An aircraft captain and co-pilot can ill-afford to be distracted from their duties of safely flying an aircraft by having to deal with drunk, violent or disorderly passengers," he said.
"The cabin crew are there to make your flight safe and enjoyable.
"They should not have to restrain violent passengers, be abused or assaulted, or be interfered with in conducting their duties."
AFP responded to more than 1000 alcohol-related incidents at Australia's 10 major airports during the 2011-12 financial year.
Out of those incidents, 145 were for offences related to offensive and disorderly behaviour and excessive alcohol consumption.
AFP said the plane was forced to dump its fuel load when it diverted to Cairns and the airline would seek to recover significant costs.
The man was due to face Cairns Magistrate Court on Tuesday charged with smoking in an aircraft, disorderly and offensive behaviour on board an aircraft, and interfering with crew or aircraft.
The offences carry a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.
He will also be charged with assaulting crew general, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
The SA government has negotiated price cut for around 20 per cent of the state's electricity users. Source: AAP
ABOUT 200,000 South Australian households will get an electricity price cut from January, with the state government indicating more will follow in a looming discounting war.
The government has negotiated a 9.1 per cent price cut for about 20 per cent of the state's electricity consumers in return for locking in the new prices for two years.
Small businesses will get a 4.5 per cent price cut under the same deal.
The Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) will also lose its price-setting powers from February when the state's electricity market becomes fully deregulated.
The government says the new deal will benefit all consumers, including those on cheaper market contracts, as increased competition among existing and new retailers prompts a "race to the bottom".
"With the deregulation of the electricity retail market here in South Australia, we will see a price war that will put further downward pressure on electricity prices," Premier Jay Weatherill told reporters on Tuesday.
"This is a fantastic present for South Australian energy consumers."
Mr Weatherill said ESCOSA would remain in place to monitor prices and the government would reintroduce regulation at the first sign of collusion or other anti-competitive behaviour involving energy retailers.
Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan said South Australia was the first state to act on the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreement earlier this year on energy market reform.
"This decision is a great result for people of SA and will mean greater competition, more choice and lower prices," Mr Swan said in a statement.
The South Australian Council of Social Services also welcomed the price cut, which it said would save the average household $180 a year.
The Energy Retailers Association of Australia and the Energy Supply Association of Australia both welcomed the changes and said the deregulation would offer consumers more choice and better services.
SA anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela has undergone a successful procedure to remove gall stones. Source: AAP
SOUTH African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela has undergone a successful procedure to remove gall stones a week after being admitted to hospital for a lung infection.
"The medical team decided to attend to a lung infection before determining when to attend to the gall stones", a statement from the office of the president said on Saturday.
The 94-year-old is being treated at a private hospital in the capital Pretoria. Initial tests revealed he was suffering from a recurring lung infection.
The former president underwent a procedure via endoscopy to have the gall stones removed, the statement said.
"The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering," it added, using the clan name by which Mandela is affectionately known.
Mandela was previously hospitalised for an acute respiratory infection in January 2011, when he was kept for two nights before being released for home-based care and intense medical monitoring.
Mandela has a long history of lung problems, dating back decades to when he contracted tuberculosis while in prison.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner who led the country to democracy in 1994 was flown from his rural home village of Qunu to Pretoria on December 8.
It was not clear when Mandela was moved to the private hospital from the One Military facility, the country's top military healthcare centre, where government officials initially said Mandela was being treated.
The Mediclinic Heart Hospital, where he is currently being cared for, bills itself as the first and "only hospital of its kind - a private, specialised heart hospital - in South Africa."
A doctor who spoke to AFP said gall stones were not a serious ailment and can happen to anybody.
"They occur when fluid collects in your gall and crystalises. The stones can cause discomfort," said Mark Sonderup, vice chairman of the South African Medical Association.
The presidency appealed for privacy for Mandela and his family. Local and international media have been camped outside his home and the hospital.
News of Mandela's hospitalisation always causes panic among South Africans, as the elderly statesman is hardly seen in public.
Television images earlier this year showed the tall, grey-haired icon seated on a couch at his rural home, surrounded by grandchildren.
Mandela stepped down from office in 1999 after serving one term, in 2004 he announced his retirement from public life, but continued to make a few public appearances.
A KARRATHA man's arm was crushed as he worked at the dock supplying Chevron's massive Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia on Saturday, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) says.
The man was airlifted to a Perth hospital after his arm became trapped between the dock and a barge at the Mermaid Marine Supply base in Dampier, which is used exclusively by Chevron.
MUA WA secretary Chris Cain described Chevron and its contractor as "cowboys", saying poor safety standards had been a problem at the Mermaid Marine Supply base for months.
"It's becoming clearer and clearer that Chevron and their contractors like Mermaid are cutting corners to make up time and money on the Gorgon project," Mr Cain said.
The union said WorkSafe WA had been warned that poor training and management made an accident "inevitable".
Safety representatives had arranged for WorkSafe WA inspectors to visit the site on Friday.
"We've got serious issues when the day after WorkSafe says there's no problem, ambulances are called to an accident of the type exactly predicted by health and safety representatives," Mr Cain said.
The union said the accident raised serious questions that need to be answered, such as why WorkSafe was called to investigate the accident hours after it happened.
WorkSafe and Mermaid Marine have been contacted for comment.
FIREFIGHTERS are battling an out-of-control grassfire burning near properties in southwestern NSW.
The fire, covering 4600 hectares, is burning at Geegullalong Road, around eight kilometres east of Murringo, near Young.
NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) spokesman Ben Shepherd said 140 firefighters, 43 fire trucks and six aircraft were trying to bring the fire under control.
He said fire crews were working to protect a number of rural properties in the area but no residents had been evacuated from their homes.
Locals were being advised to stay in their homes as the fire-front approached, he said.
"A lot of people have done some preparation around their property and we are moving crews into those properties as the fire-front arrives," he told AAP.
He said the Lachlan Valley Way was closed in the area because of the fire.
Strong winds were pushing the fire in a north and north-easterly direction, and it was unlikely the blaze would be brought under control on Sunday night, Mr Shepherd said.
The RFS have issued a watch and act alert for the area.
Police say the gunman who shot dead 20 school children at a US school forced his way in. Source: AAP
SHATTERED families and grieving residents are devastated that most of the 27 people shot dead by a US school gunman are children aged just six and seven.
President Barack Obama is due to join the vigils in the small Connecticut community of Newtown on Sunday, to lead national mourning after this latest massacre that has revived calls for a debate on gun control.
But the political ramifications of the tragedy are far from the minds of most in this picturesque town, where parents of the survivors and the dead are struggling to come to terms with the stunning loss.
Robbie Parker, a 30-year-old hospital assistant who cares for sick newborns, says the death of his loving six-year-old Emilie should "inspire us to be better, more compassionate and caring toward other people."
He included the family of the apparent shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, in his condolences, addressing them through the news media to say: "I can't imagine how hard this experience must be for you."
Robert and Diane Licata described how their six-year-old son Aiden ran past the shooter in his classroom doorway to escape after seeing his teacher gunned down - and recounted their desperate search for him.
Diane Licata told CNN she had rushed to the school to see her daughter led out of the building but there was no sign of Aiden.
"So the kids start to come out and when I saw her, you know, the sense of relief is incredible, but it's really short-lived because I still have one in there. And I'm waiting for him to come. And he didn't come out," she said.
"When you're standing there waiting....it's an indescribable feeling of helplessness."
Licata eventually received a text that her son was safe at a nearby police station.
Aiden was later able to explain his escape.
She said his class heard noises that initially sounded like hammers.
"Then they realised that it was gunshots."
"Aiden's teacher had the presence of mind to move all of the children to a distance away from the door... and that's when the gunman burst in," Licata said.
The gunman had "no facial expressions" she said, adding that he "proceeded to shoot their teacher."
Many US children are taught how to react during an emergency, so Aiden and his classmates quickly made their way to the door where the gunman was standing and ran past him. Some of them survived.
"He (Aiden) really, really, really cared about his teacher. He knows that she's been hurt but he doesn't know the end result. He knows the kids that he saw getting shot."
A police spokesman said Lanza is believed to have shot his mother at the home they shared before launching his attack at the nearby school.
He had two handguns but the coroner told reporters that most of the children and staff were killed by multiple gunshots from his assault rifle, a .223 calibre Bushmaster, a civilian version of the US military's M4.
Lanza's father Peter expressed shock and grief at the horror caused by his son.
"No words can truly express how heartbroken we are," he said in a statement vowing to continue co-operating with law enforcement.
"We, too, are asking why?"
Connecticut State Police released the identity of the victims, aged six to 56. They included 16 six-year-olds and four seven-year-olds.
Twelve of the 20 slain children were girls and eight were boys.
The six adults killed were all women, including the school's principal and its psychologist.
The motives of the shooter are still the biggest mystery.
Asked whether any suicide note, emails or other clues to the killer's mind had been found, Connecticut State Police spokesman Lieutenant J Paul Vance said investigators have gathered "some very good evidence."
Lanza was a shy, awkward and nerdy boy but hadn't apparently given any warning sign that he was a mass murderer.
The weapons, news reports said, were registered in his mother's name but she was widely seen as an upstanding resident in the town.
The tragedy drew messages of support from around the world, and candlelight vigils are being held.
Of all US campus shootings, the toll was second only to the 32 murders in the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech University.
The latest number far exceeded the 15 killed in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which triggered a fierce but inconclusive debate about gun control laws in the United States.
However, the White House has scotched any suggestion that the politically explosive subject would be quickly reopened.
A LARGE fire has broken out at a scrap metal yard in sydney's west.
A fire and rescue spokesman said six firefighting crews were sent to the scrap yard in Greenacre just after 6.30pm (AEDT) on Friday.
The fire will burn for a long time time, the spokesman said.
"It's scrap metal so it has oil, plastics, paint ... but then once you heat up aluminium then it will burn as well," he told AAP.
"We may end up having to keep a fire engine there all night."
One person has suffered burns and been taken to hospital, the spokesman added.
RUSSIA is developing a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the military has announced, in an apparent attempt to remind the United States of Moscow's rocket capacities.
Revealing the existence of the project for the first time, rocket forces commander General Sergei Karakayev said that several test launches of prototypes had already taken place and the work was on the "right path", Russian state media said on Friday.
Karakayev said the latest test was on October 24 at the Kapustin Yar firing range in the Astrakhan region of southern Russia.
He appeared to link the solid-fuel missile's development to controversial US plans to install missile defence systems in central Europe which have long angered Moscow.
"The solid fuel missile will allow us to realise possibilities like the creation of a high-precision strategic missile with a non-nuclear warhead with practically global range," Karakayev was quoted as saying by the state RIA Novosti news agency.
He said that the new 100-tonne missile would be able to overcome any existing missile defence system.
Karakayev added the missile would also be effective in combating any future missile defence system that the United States could install in space.
He said that the missile would ultimately replace Russia's new generation of intercontinental missiles the Yars and Topol-M.
HONG Kong shares have risen 0.71 per cent to a 16-month high following another improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity and on hopes for fresh policies to boost the mainland economy.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index on Friday added 160.40 points to close at 22,605.98 on turnover of $HK72.35 billion ($A8.90 billion). The index has rallied 16 per cent since the beginning of October and is at its highest since August 1 last year.
HSBC said China's manufacturing activity hit a 14-month high this month, another sign the world's No.2 economy is picking up steam.
The bank's preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit 50.9, up from a final 50.5 in November when the figure returned to growth after 12 consecutive months of contraction.
Anything above 50 indicates expansion while a figure below signals contraction. The December reading is the highest since October last year.
Traders were also buoyed by expectations legislators in Beijing will hold a key annual meeting this weekend that will lay out major economic policies and goals for the next year.
"The two positive factors (for the Hong Kong market) - China's economic recovery and continued liquidity flow into Hong Kong - remain intact," said SHK Financial strategist Daniel So.
And South China Research said that with recovery under way in China, more easing in the United States and a brighter outlook for Europe "we envisage that the Hong Kong stock market will rally to a high of 26,000 points... in the coming year".
China Life rose 2.3 per cent to $HK24.05 and Ping An rallied 3.5 per cent to $HK62.95, but Longyuan Power dived 5.4 per cent to $HK5.23 after the wind-farm operator announced a share placement to raise $HK2.91 billion.
Chinese shares closed up more than four per cent in their biggest single-day rise this year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index soared 4.32 per cent, or 89.15 points, to 2,150.63 on turnover of 117.7 billion yuan ($A17.94 billion).
"The market is gaining momentum on expectations that the upcoming Central Economic Work Conference may release an official target for 2013 GDP growth and offer clues on urbanisation," Tebon Securities analyst Huang Cendong said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Financial-related stocks led the gains. Soochow Securities surged by its 10 per cent daily limit to 7.36 yuan, while Bank of Nanjing also rose 10 per cent to 9.13 yuan.
And among cement producers Shaanxi Qinling Cement jumped 10 per cent to 5.87 yuan, Gansu Qilianshan Cement rose 5.60 per cent to 10.18 yuan and Anhui Conch gained 4.69 per cent to 18.76 yuan.
A PERTH coroner has lifted a suppression order on the identity of a key witness to a murder 12 years ago after she recanted her story.
Natasha Tracy-Ann Kendrick, whose name had been previously suppressed for legal reasons, said in a November 2011 statement to West Australian police that she saw the bloodied and strangled body of Sarah McMahon, who has been missing since November 8, 2000.
Ms Kendrick originally told police she was called to a house in the northern Perth suburb of Marangaroo by her friend Gareth Allen, who said his trucking company co-worker and part-time housemate Donald Morey had killed a girl at the property and help was needed cleaning up.
She said in her statement that she and Mr Allen's wife, Marta Margaret Allen, had cleaned up after seeing Ms McMahon's naked body on Morey's bed, with rope looped around her neck and congealed blood on her face, and also saw the body being removed from the house, wrapped in Morey's quilt and placed in Mr Allen's ute.
But testifying on Thursday at an inquest into Ms McMahon's disappearance, Ms Kendrick denied any knowledge or involvement in the matter, saying she was "messed up" on drugs when she made the statement to police.
"I don't remember seeing any body," she told Perth's Coroner's Court.
"I didn't see any girl - I would remember.
"I didn't even go there as far as I know.
"I don't know what happened to Sarah McMahon."
Ms Kendrick, who said she had a terminal disease, told the court her illness and the drugs made her "really mentally confused".
And while her statement to police bore her signature, the key content was incorrect, she said.
In a recording of a telephone conversation with her brother that was played to the court, Ms Kendrick said she'd done the right thing in making the statement to police.
"Someone's got to do something - this is wrong," she said in the recording.
"I admitted my part in it. I feel good about it.
"I'm not going to go to my grave thinking, f***, if only that one statement might have helped and I hadn't done it."
After her brother asked her who did it and she replied, "Don Morey", she added, "He's a serial killer. He's done it over east".
While she said to her brother in the recording, "I've even signed a statement", she told the court, "This is not my statement".
"I was rambling a lot and on drugs," she said of the conversation with her brother.
"Obviously that's me and I was more messed up than I thought."
She also told her brother she was concerned about threats to her son.
On the final day of the inquest on Friday, Morey is scheduled to give evidence.
He is serving 13 years for the attempted murder of a Perth prostitute in 2004.
At the opening of the inquest, coroner Alastair Hope was told that police had long suspected the involvement of 57-year-old Morey in Ms McMahon's disappearance.
JAPAN scrambled eight fighter jets after a Chinese state-owned plane breached its airspace for the first time, over islands at the centre of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.
It was the first incursion by a Chinese state aircraft into Japanese airspace anywhere since the country's military began monitoring in 1958, the defence ministry said.
The move on Thursday marks a ramping-up of what observers suggest is a Chinese campaign to create a "new normal" - where its forces come and go as they please around islands which Beijing calls the Diaoyus, but Tokyo controls as the Senkakus.
It also comes as ceremonies mark the 75th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing Massacre, when Japanese Imperial Army troops embarked on an orgy of violence and killing in the then-Chinese capital.
F-15 jets were mobilised after a Chinese Maritime Surveillance aircraft ventured over the islands just after 11am (1300 AEDT), Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters.
"It was a fixed-wing Y-12 aeroplane belonging to the Chinese State Oceanic Administration. We confirmed that this aeroplane flew in our country's airspace," he said.
"It is extremely regrettable. We will continue to resolutely deal with any act violating our country's sovereignty, in accordance with domestic laws and regulations."
The Y-12 is a twin-turboprop.
Japan mobilised eight F-15 jets and an E2C early-warning aircraft, the Asahi Shimbun reported, citing a defence ministry source. But the incident appeared to have passed off without any direct confrontation.
In Beijing, China's foreign ministry termed the flight as normal.
"China's maritime surveillance plane flying over the Diaoyu islands is completely normal," said spokesman Hong Lei.
"China requires the Japanese side to stop illegal activities in the waters and airspace of the Diaoyu islands," Hong said, adding they were "China's inherent territory since ancient times".
The coastguard said its regular patrol had spotted the plane.
"At about 11.06am today, a patrol boat from the Japan Coast Guard confirmed the flight of a fixed-wing aeroplane, which belongs to the Chinese Oceanic Administration, in our country's airspace around Uotsuri Island. It was confirmed at a point about 15 kilometres south of Uotsuri," said a statement.
"The patrol boat immediately informed the fixed-wing aircraft: 'Fly without intruding into our country's airspace'. It replied to the effect that 'this is China's airspace'."
The State Oceanic Administration is part of the Ministry of Land and Resources. Its roles include law enforcement in Chinese waters.
Chinese government ships have moved in and out of waters around the islands for more than two months, but there have been no reports of any airborne action.
Four maritime surveillance vessels were logged there earlier in the day, the coast guard said, adding it had ordered them to leave.
Such confrontations have become commonplace since Japan nationalised the East China Sea islands in September, a move it insisted amounted to nothing more than a change of ownership of what was already Japanese territory.
But Beijing reacted with fury, with observers saying the riots that erupted across China had at least tacit backing from the Communist Party government.
Ex-Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva is set to be charged over the deaths of 90 protesters in 2010. Source: AAP
FORMER Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been charged with murder, his party says, over a civilian's death during a crackdown on anti-government rallies two years ago.
Abhisit and his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban were formally charged on Thursday at Bangkok's Department of Special Investigation (DSI), making them the first officials to face a court over Thailand's worst political violence in decades.
"The DSI has charged Abhisit and Suthep on section 288, which is murder. They both denied the charge," senior Democrat Party lawmaker Thavorn Senniem told AFP.
Hundreds of riot police flanked the building, as about 20 supporters carrying roses and dozens of protesters holding pictures of those killed in the unrest watched the former leader arrive.
About 90 people died and nearly 1900 were wounded in a series of street clashes between "Red Shirt" demonstrators and security forces, which culminated in a deadly army operation in May 2010 to break up the protest.
The charge against Abhisit, who was prime minister at the time, relates to the fatal shooting of taxi driver Phan Kamkong.
DSI chief Tarit Pengdith announced the move last Thursday and said it was prompted by a court's ruling in September that Phan was shot by troops - the first completed inquest into the bloodshed.
Abhisit dismissed the case against him as "political" last week, saying he had no choice but to take tough action.
He said he would accept trial rather than "bargain" over a proposal by his political rivals in government for a wide-ranging amnesty plan that many believe could allow the return of the Reds' hero, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
But experts believe British-born Abhisit is unlikely to face jail because of his close ties to the Thai establishment.
A separate terrorism case against 24 Red Shirt leaders, including five current MPs, for their part in the rallies was again postponed on Thursday after two witnesses failed to turn up.
The Red Shirts were demanding immediate elections in their 2010 protest.
They accused Abhisit's government of being undemocratic because it took office in 2008 through a parliamentary vote after a court stripped Thaksin's allies of power.
Polls in 2011 brought Thaksin's Red Shirt-backed Puea Thai party to power with his sister Yingluck as premier, sweeping Abhisit into opposition.
Support from the Thai elite means Abhisit is "unlikely" to go to prison, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University, adding that the former premier "has a sense of political invincibility".
He told AFP that Abhisit's arraignment was part of a "political tit-for-tat", with prosecutions against both sides, but said it still could deter the use of force against demonstrators in the future.
"It is a very important charge, because it means that the sense of impunity is being challenged," he told AFP.
The DSI said earlier on Thursday that after hearing the charges Abhisit and Suthep would be released without bail because they were prominent figures.
Tarit told reporters at DSI headquarters that it was "very awkward" for him to file the charges against the pair because of their position in society and since he himself had served on the official body that oversaw the crackdown in 2010.
MINING magnate Clive Palmer says only his wife knows whether he'll found his own political party.
Mr Palmer suggested more than two weeks ago he was considering establishing a United Australia Party but hasn't made any further announcements since then.
The former LNP life member, who has publicly fallen out with Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney, couldn't be drawn on his intentions on Thursday.
"If I started a party that would depend on what my wife said. I'm the boss of our family but I've got her permission to say so," Mr Palmer told reporters on the Gold Coast.
"I'm totally under her control so you'd be best to have a press conference with her to find out what I'm doing.
"My wife is a difficult person. Takes her a while to be convinced on things but sometimes she just makes a decision instantly.
"When she does I have to follow."
LNP defectors Alex Douglas and Carl Judge have both been linked to Mr Palmer's proposed party, with Dr Douglas expressing an interest to join if it's founded.
Mr Palmer refused to be drawn on whether he'd spoken to either MP about the party but did reiterate his support for their decisions to leave the Queensland government.
"One of the rarest things in politics is political courage, the ability to do something, stand up and go against the trend," he said.
Emergency workers have been honoured for their bravery during the Quakers Hill nursing home fire. Source: AAP
A YEAR after a ferocious fire killed 11 people at Quakers Hill Nursing Home, the people who led the rescue effort have been honoured at a ceremony in western Sydney.
Three elderly residents died during the inferno and eight died from injuries afterwards.
On Wednesday, the paramedics, nurses, firefighters and other emergency services workers who helped save lives on November 18, 2011, were recognised for their bravery at a ceremony at Schofields Fire Station.
Castle Hill Station Officer Brett Johnson, who led the first fire crew to arrive at the burning nursing home, told reporters the scene appeared calm at first.
"When we turned up, there was no sign of smoke, there was no flames out of the windows," he remembered.
Frantic nursing staff, who had already begun evacuating the frail nursing home residents, told the firefighters a fire was burning in one of the wings.
It was only after extinguishing that first fire that the crew realised the extent of the emergency.
"I noticed that the other wing was completely alight," Station Officer Johnson said.
"It's like a very slow, sinking, overwhelming feeling. Because we're in this industry, we had a very good understanding of what sort of tragedy was at hand then. I knew then that we had already lost lives."
After 14 years as a firefighter, he said, nothing had touched him more or would stay with him longer than the Quakers Hill Nursing Home fire.
NSW Ambulance Service Inspector Nathan Sheraton said his training got him through the chaos.
"You have firemen running out of the building in every direction with elderly residents on their arms, and people are groaning and screaming in pain," he told AAP.
"It can become quite chaotic. But we build this resilience; we remain calm ... we just put our heads down and we do what we are trained to do."
NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the professionalism of emergency services staff saved dozens of lives that night.
But nursing home staff also deserved special thanks, she said.
"I thought it was very moving to see the nursing home staff honoured today and they were clearly very emotional," she said.
"They knew these people. They knew the residents."
Nurse's assistant Judith Watts, who isolated the initial fire and continued treating residents through the smoke and the panic, fought back tears as she accepted her commendation from Commissioner Mullins.
"I'm just grateful that it's being recognised finally," she told reporters afterwards, shaking with emotion.
"It means a great deal that everybody has recognised the job we've done."
Roger Dean, who worked as a nurse at the home, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 11 people who died from the fire.
Dean has also pleaded not guilty to eight charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to a further eight residents.
Fire and rescue crews have brought a 10-hectare bushfire under control in Sydney's northwest. Source: AAP
FIRE and rescue crews have brought a 10-hectare bushfire under control in Sydney's northwest.
The fire broke out between Magdala and Pittwater roads, in North Ryde, about 2pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.
Strong winds fanned the flames, which reached two metres in height.
Property protection lines were created along Magdala Road, while a successful back burn contained the fire.
In total, 15 crews battled the blaze supported by three water bombing helicopters.
No property was threatened and no one was evacuated.
Fire crews will remain at the scene overnight to monitor the area and extinguish flare ups.
Residents are encouraged to call 000 if they see any bushfire outbreaks.
Thailand's King called for unity in the divided nation during a speech to mark his 85th birthday. Source: AAP
THAILAND'S revered king has called for unity and stability in the divided nation as huge crowds of adoring, flag-waving citizens packed Bangkok for a rare speech to mark his 85th birthday.
At least 200,000 people flooded the capital's historic district, with aerial television images showing a sea of yellow as supporters of King Bhumibol Adulyadej dressed up in the colour associated with his reign.
The king, who is seen as almost a demi-god by many in the politically turbulent nation, told the crowd that the "goodwill" Thais had shown by attending the ceremony together "gives me the confidence that your kindness is key to bringing unity to the people and the nation".
"If Thai people are virtuous, there is hope that no matter what situation the country finds itself in, it will be safe and retain its stability," said the monarch in his short public address from the balcony at the Anantasamakom Throne Hall in front of the Royal Plaza.
Chants of "long live the king" followed the royal motorcade as it made its way to and from the hospital where the king has lived for three years since suffering a respiratory illness in 2009.
Bhumibol, whose 66 years of service makes him the world's longest reigning monarch, suffered a minor brain bleed in July, but has since made several official appearances including meeting Barack Obama during the US president's visit to the country last month.
The monarch has no official political role, but is seen as a unifying figure in a country that is frequently riven by political unrest, and his birthday is marked by country-wide celebrations, a public holiday and Thai Father's Day.
Any discussion of the royal family is extremely sensitive in the kingdom, where the palace has been silent over the organisation of an eventual succession.
Thailand is in the grip of a long-running political crisis pitting royalists against supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and the current government led by his sister Yingluck.
The bitter divisions have led to sometimes violent street rallies in recent years.
Yingluck was among the dignitaries at the ceremony, as well as most key members of the royal family with the exception of Queen Sirikit.
Doctors treating the 80-year-old queen, who was diagnosed with a slight loss of blood flow to the brain after being taken ill in July, said she was still too weak to attend the event, according to a statement from the palace on Tuesday.
The NSW government is under fire over a report revealing a record number of transport complaints. Source: AAP
THE NSW government has come under fire after a report revealed a record number of complaints against Railcorp and a drop in the overall number of on-time trains.
The Auditor-General's NSW transport report, released on Wednesday, found complaints about on-time running were up almost 18 per cent on 2011.
On the roads, the report also shows there's little joy for Sydney's road commuters, as average speeds slowed on five of the city's seven major roads.
Afternoon peak-hour speeds on the M2 Lane Cove Tunnel/Gore Hill freeway dropped from 60km/h down to 52km/h in the space of 12 months.
Auditor-general Peter Archterstraat said only nine of the state's 16 rail networks achieved 92 per cent the on-time running target, down from 14 previously.
The East Hills, South, Western, Northern via Strathfield, South Coast, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Hunter and Newcastle and Central Coast lines are all operating below the 92 per cent target, according to the report.
Complaints about hygiene have increased by 26 per cent, with 35 complaints lodged every week.
Opposition Transport spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said during eight peak hour periods in the past year, less than 60 per cent of the network operated on time, with train reliability at its lowest level in four years, .
Commuters were being charged up to $156 extra in fares each year, a figure that is set to increase again from January 1.
"Trains are getting later, dirtier and more crowded under Barry O'Farrell," Ms Sharpe said in a statement.
Greens MP and transport spokesperson Cate Faehrmann said critical infrastructure decisions were being made according to the government's privatisation agenda, rather than in the best interests of the community.
She said NSW has been sent down a risky path by committing to a public private partnership (PPP) to build the North West Rail Link.
"We've had a series of failed transport PPPs in NSW and now the auditor-general himself has raised serious concerns - we can't afford to stuff up public transport infrastructure because of this government's ideological obsession with privatising public services," Ms Faerhmann said in a statement.
NRMA Spokesman Peter Khoury said the slowing of commutes for Sydney drivers shows that as the economic hub of Australia, Sydney should be doing better instead of stifling businesses.
"The longer it takes to deliver goods and services, the harder it is to make a buck," he said.
"It's not the way to run an economy. It's not the way to run a city."
Mr Khoury said the report showed the NSW government needed to increase spending on roads, developing the WestConnex project and completing upgrades to the M2 and M5.
"Decades of neglect has resulted in making life harder for commuters, but if we do finish projects that are on the drawing board and continue to improve public transport then we will see a substantial improvement in how Sydney moves around," he said.
AGL Energy has launched legal action to challenge a price ruling by the Essential Services Commission OF South Australia (ESCOSA).
AGL began legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of South Australia on Tuesday ahead of a final price determination on December 14.
"AGL maintains that ESCOSA has wrongly exercised its power under the legislation to review prices due to special circumstances," AGL said in a statement.
In its fiscal 2013 earnings guidance AGL said adverse regulatory pricing decisions in Queensland and South Australia would reduce underlying profit by approximately $45 million in fiscal 2013.
WorkCover NSW will hold a safety discussion on cranes following an incident in Sydney last week. Source: AAP
THE construction industry has vowed to improve crane safety and emergency evacuation procedures in the wake of a fire outbreak at an inner Sydney building site.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) last week when a crane caught on fire and collapsed at Broadway.
Following a safety roundtable meeting on Tuesday, called in response to the crane emergency, WorkCover manager John Watson said the safety watchdog would work in partnership with industry to ensure the safety of workers.
"The purpose of today's roundtable was to bring together industry players to discuss how we can ensure the safety of workers and the public, and prevent incidents like last week's happening again," Mr Watson said in a statement.
He said attendees had agreed on the same objective, to ensure "all workers go home safely at the end of the working day".
A special industry communique has been distributed to crane operators, Mr Watson said, to remind them to undertake fire prevention and control measures, and to review their evacuation procedures and systems.
Among the other measures agreed, the Industry Plant Consultative Committee has been tasked to review existing risk control advice and industry practice.
WorkCover will also release a safety alert and will continue to monitor tower crane safety.
Meanwhile, Mr Watson said WorkCover's investigation into last week's incident was ongoing.
"WorkCover is carrying out a thorough investigation into the incident which includes the causes, systems of work, maintenance of equipment and adequacy of control measures.
"WorkCover has taken possession of a number of relevant components ... for testing and analysis in an attempt to identify the cause of the fire.
"Any action taken by WorkCover will be dependent on the findings of the investigation."
The CFMEU says across-the-board accountability is required to improve crane safety.
The union's NSW secretary, Brian Parker, said a crane safety roundtable on Tuesday was positive, with industry support for pre-erection and pre-commissioning inspection of every crane used in the state.
The emergency meeting comes after last week's crane fire and collapse, which saw hundreds of people evacuated from the University of Technology Sydney at Broadway.
"If these plans are put in place, it means cranes will be inspected every time they're used, not just once a year," Mr Parker said.
"Furthermore, it's the CFMEU view these inspections should be undertaken by an independent third party.
"Self-regulation within the industry has been encouraged, putting workers at risk."
WorkCover's investigation into last week's incident is ongoing, but Mr Parker said it was rumoured the fire ignited after leaking hydraulic oil flowed onto the crane's engine.
WARNING women that eating chocolate can make them fat may actually drive some to eat more, research from the University of Western Australia (UWA) shows.
The joint study with the University of Strathclyde in Scotland found low restraint eaters - those not on a diet - showed a strong impulse to eat chocolate when presented with negative messaging, including warnings that chocolate could lead to obesity.
Women on a diet were also prone to rebel against attempts to scare them off chocolate, particularly by ads featuring thin models.
Researchers found dieters shown ads featuring thin models displayed an increased desire to eat chocolate coupled with greater feelings of wanting to avoid consumption, or indulged in higher consumption - and ultimately felt more guilt.
Lead author Professor Kevin Durkin said the reaction of a warning having a contrary effect was known as "reactance".
"Reactance could be more marked among the low-restraint participants because they are generally less preoccupied with regulating their food intake and thus find external attempts to intervene in freely determined behaviour more jarring," Prof Durkin said.
The study involved 80 female participants between the ages of 17 and 26, categorised into low or high restraint and scored on a specifically designed "chocolate questionnaire" developed by UWA-based psychologist Professor Werner Stritzke.
The research was published in the journal Appetite, which specialises in behavioural nutrition and the cultural, sensory, and physiological influences on intake of foods and drinks.
There is no solution in sight in the latest UN climate change talks, officials say. Source: AAP
ABOUT 100 ministers and a handful of heads of state have gathered in Doha for the final, high-level stretch of UN climate talks marked by bickering over cash and commitments needed to curb greenhouse gases.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to address the gathering of more than 11,000 participants around 1200 GMT (2300 AEDT) on Tuesday.
He's expected to urge countries to put aside differences for the sake of the planet's future.
Even as the alarm was again raised about the dangerous trajectory of Earth-warming gas emissions, observers say the nearly 200 nations at the talks remain far apart on issues vital for unlocking a global deal on climate change.
Poor countries insist Western nations sign up to deeper, more urgent cuts in carbon emissions and commit to a new funding package from 2013 to help them cope with worsening drought, floods, storms and rising seas.
Resolution of both questions by the meeting's end on Friday should smooth the way to a new, universal treaty that must be signed by 2015 and enter into force in 2020 to roll back global warming.
The UN goal is to limit warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 deg Fahrenheit) at which scientists hope we can escape the worst climate change effects.
UN climate chief Christiana Figueres expressed "frustration" on Monday at the pace of progress, as some delegates began to voice fears of deadlock ahead of the ministers' arrival for the final, political push.
Five heads of state and government were scheduled to address Tuesday's plenary meeting - from Gabon, Mauritania, Samoa, Ethiopia and Swaziland.
The Doha talks are meant to finalise a second period of the Kyoto Protocol, the world's only binding pact on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, but delegates disagree on its timeframe and country targets.
The first leg of the protocol bound about 40 rich nations and the EU to curbing emissions, but excludes the two biggest polluters - the US, which refused to ratify it, and China which was left out because it is a developing country.
Another area of disagreement is money.
Developed nations are being asked to show how they intend to meet a promise to raise funding for poor nations' climate mitigation plans to $US100 billion ($A96.4 billion) per year by 2020 - up from a total $US30 billion in 2010-2012.
The developing world says it needs a total of $US60 billion from now to 2015 - but so far no commitments have been made.
A report warned on Sunday that Earth could be on track for warming above 5C by 2100 - at least double the 2C limit targeted by the UN.
And on Tuesday, an economists' report said even an impossible zero-per cent pollution target for the developed world by 2030 won't stop calamitous climate change, and poor nations too must do their part.
