NRL's Russell Packer jailed for two years

Rugby league player Russell Packer has been sentenced to two years in jail for assaulting a man. Source: AAP

NRL player Russell Packer has been left stunned and behind bars after being sentenced to two years' jail for a drunken assault in which he repeatedly punched a man and stomped on his head.

While the sentence shocked the Newcastle recruit, his legal team and supporters, it's been labelled too lenient by an advocate of tougher measures to combat the type of alcohol-induced violence that left three young men seriously injured in Sydney over the past month.

Packer's barrister lodged an immediate appeal against the two-year fixed jail term handed to the 24-year-old on Monday but had his bid for bail rejected by Magistrate Greg Grogan.

Mr Grogan said he was concerned about community safety if Packer was released and he appeared to have been a ticking time bomb on the night of the assault.

In sentencing Packer, Mr Grogan said the public was sick and tired of the type of behaviour shown by the Kiwi international that night.

The father of two kissed his emotional partner as he was placed in handcuffs and led out of the Downing Centre Local Court.

Packer pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actually bodily harm and failing to leave a venue.

The court heard he was kicked out of the Chambers Hotel in Sydney's Martin Place at 1.30am on November 23 last year because he was too drunk.

In Martin Place, the 112kg prop argued with another man after being accused of stealing cigarettes from a woman sitting nearby.

Mr Grogan told the court Packer punched the man in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground.

Packer punched the man several more times then stomped on his head, the court heard, leaving the victim with two fractured facial bones.

Mr Grogan labelled Packer's behaviour "cowardly and deplorable" and said the result could have been much worse.

"The person fell to the ground and luckily it would appear did not suffer those injuries seen in media reports as of late," Mr Grogan said.

But a victims' rights campaigner on Monday labelled the sentence "too lenient".

Enough is Enough spokesman Ken Marslew said the young man assaulted by Packer was lucky to have lived.

"The judiciary is failing in its duty of care to society," he told AAP.

Mr Marslew also accused Premier Barry O'Farrell of wasting an election mandate to curb alcohol related violence in the state by "sitting on his hands".

Newcastle Knights football general manager Warren Smiles told reporters outside court the club would support Packer and his family through the court process.

The NRL refused to register Packer's contract with the Knights on December 6 and he had been stood down from all club duties.

Packer played 110 NRL games in six seasons for the New Zealand Warriors and two Tests for the Kiwis before being recruited by Newcastle for the 2014 season.

Packer's sentence was delivered as Sydney assault victim Michael McEwen was released from St Vincent's Hospital three weeks after a vicious attack at Bondi Beach left him in a coma.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Daniel Christie continues to fight for his life in the same hospital after he was punched on New Year's Eve.

And Alexander McEwen, 19, was placed in an induced coma after he was assaulted at Penrith over the weekend.

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Swiss central bank reports loss on gold

SWITZERLAND'S central bank says it will report a loss of 9 billion Swiss francs ($A11.09 billion) for 2013, denying shareholders and governments of annual profit sharing.

The Swiss National Bank said on Monday it lost 15 billion francs in the value of its gold holdings, but that was partly offset by a gain of 3 billion francs in foreign currency and more than 3 billion francs in profit from selling its stabilisation fund that bailed out Swiss bank UBS AG.

The bank said in a statement it could not provide dividends to shareholders or profits to the Swiss government and 26 cantons.

Gold prices fell sharply in 2013 as the US Federal Reserve wound down an inflation policy that had driven up gold prices.

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GM to outfit Chevy vehicles with 4G

GM says it will start outfitting most Chevrolet vehicles with 4G cellular capabilities in partnership with AT&T.

The technology will let drivers make phone calls and allow passengers to surf the Web without burning through the voice and data limits on their phone plans.

General Motors Co said at the International CES gadget show Sunday that the 2015 model year Chevrolet Corvette, Impala, Malibu and Volt will be the first to come equipped with the capabilities this year, followed by the Equinox, Silverado, Silverado HD, Spark and Spark EV.

While the hardware will be standard, pricing plans have yet to be announced.

The cellular capability will be integrated with GM's OnStar roadside assistance service. OnStar currently costs upward of $US199 ($A223) a year and has more than 6 million subscribers.

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Child killed in horror day on NSW roads

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy has been fatally struck by a 4WD on the NSW Central Coast.

Emergency services were called to Three Points Avenue, Macmasters Beach, about 6pm (AEDT) on Monday.

Paramedics tried to save the boy but he died at the scene.

Police say the driver of the vehicle - a woman in her 60s - stopped to help the boy.

She has been taken to Gosford Hospital suffering shock and will undergo the usual blood and urine tests.

An investigation is underway.

It is the fourth death on the state's roads in less than 12 hours and the second involving a 4WD.

A 38-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a ute at Wetherill Park, western Sydney, about 2.45pm (AEDT).

Around midday an elderly woman was fatally injured in a smash at Matraville, in the city's southeast, when the Datsun she was travelling in was involved in a smash with an Audi 4WD.

On Monday morning a truck driver was killed in a two-truck crash on the Hume Highway near Yass in southern NSW.

The 48-year-old Glenmore Park man died at the scene, police said, while the driver of the second truck was not injured.

Police will prepare a report on each crash for the coroner.

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Race to find India collapse survivors

Thirteen bodies have been pulled from the wreckage of a building that collapsed in India. Source: AAP

INDIAN rescuers are racing to try to save up to 20 people still feared trapped in the ruins of a partially constructed building that collapsed "like a pack of cards".

Emergency workers have pulled 13 bodies from the residential building that crumbled mid-afternoon on Saturday while poorly paid labourers were working on the site in a coastal village in the tourist state of Goa.

A senior officer overseeing the rescue told AFP 15 to 20 people were feared still buried but the chances of finding anyone alive were "getting bleak" as time passed.

"There were some 40 people working when the building collapsed," said the officer, who did not give his name as he is not authorised to speak to media.

"We have pulled out 25 dead or alive, so we believe (up to) 20 to be still inside."

The accident is the latest in a string of deadly collapses in India that have highlighted shoddy construction standards.

Huge demand for housing and pervasive corruption often result in cost-cutting and a lack of safety inspections.

In September a run-down residential block in Mumbai collapsed, killing 60 people.

The officer said the death toll for the latest collapse remained at 13 but was expected to rise.

Rescue workers using cranes, bulldozers, shovels and bare hands struggled to shift concrete slabs and other debris to try to free the labourers trapped under the building in the seaside village of Canacona, south of the state capital Panaji.

Photos showed workers tunnelling under pancaked floors of smashed bricks, rocks and dirt to reach those trapped, after one witness told AFP the building collapsed "like a pack of cards".

The army joined fire and emergency workers to dig through the rubble and cut through iron rods immediately after the collapse, efforts that continued through Saturday night.

Goa police are searching for the builder and the contractor who have gone missing since the tragedy.

Officers have registered cases of endangering human life, causing death and negligence against them and others involved in the building's construction.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday pledged to "immediately arrest" those found responsible for the collapse of the building, which reports said was five storeys high.

In June, 10 people were killed when an apartment block collapsed in Mumbai, while in April 74 people died after a seven-storey building collapsed during construction on the city's outskirts.

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China reports drop in mining deaths

Deaths in coal mining accidents in China reportedly dropped by 24 per cent in 2013. Source: AAP

SAFETY at China's coal mines improved in 2013, with the numbers of accidents and deaths decreasing from the previous year, the government says.

China has the world's deadliest coal mines, and authorities have made it a priority to improve safety by enforcing rules.

The central government said on Saturday that there were 589 mining accidents last year, leaving 1049 people dead or missing.

It did not give prior-year figures, but said the numbers declined by more than 24 per cent.

Industry reports from a year ago say more than 1300 people died in mining accidents in China in 2012 and 1973 died in 2011, according to the State Administration of Work Safety.

Both figures do not include missing people.

Last month, a gas explosion at a coal mine in western China's Xinjiang region killed 22 people in one of the deadliest accidents of the year.

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Minister admits prisoner transfer 'dumb'

WA police have recaptured two violent prisoners who escaped from a security van in Perth. Source: AAP

IT was "very dumb" to allow a rapist, who later escaped a security van, to be transferred from Perth to another prison to be near his family at Christmas, WA's corrective services minister says.

Rapist Cameron John Graham, 22, and 23-year-old Kelden Edward Fraser, who was on remand, escaped while being transferred from Greenough Regional Prison, in the state's mid west, back to Perth on Friday afternoon.

The prisoners were not handcuffed and the external door of the van was not locked.

The pair allegedly stole a car and were captured at 1am (WST) on Sunday when police used a plane to find their camp around Mullewa, near Geraldton.

Graham was jailed last November for 11 years after breaking into a woman's home, threatening to murder her sleeping children, repeatedly raping her and forcing her to drive to an ATM and withdraw cash.

The victim and her family have since moved overseas.

Prisoners can be temporarily transferred to another facility to maintain family relationships if it is deemed helpful to their rehabilitation.

But opposition spokesman Paul Papalia told AAP on Sunday it was a "failure of the system" that such a dangerous offender, who had been in jail for a short time, would be allowed a transfer.

Corrective Services minister Joe Francis admitted someone had made a "very, very dumb" decision and Serco, a private company, had failed in its obligation to provide a secure transfer.

"I didn't authorise the transfer," he said.

"It was, quite frankly, one of the dumbest decisions."

Department commissioner James McMahon has put a ban on all non-essential transfers, and on Saturday, took the blame for the incident.

But Mr Papalia said while it was a "noble sentiment", it was ultimately the minister's responsibility.

Mr Francis accepted he was responsible to the people and parliament, but not for the day-to-day running of the department.

He said when he took over the portfolio, he wanted to create a new leadership team to address concerns about the integrity, procedures and structure of the department, which was what the new commissioner was doing.

Mr Papalia wants a parliamentary inquiry and a transparent review of the government's deals with Serco when parliament resumes.

"Will the failures of Serco be made public?" he asked.

"There should be an open and thorough inquiry."

Mr Francis said he would not prejudge what the parliament might do, but was aware of the increasing number of failures by Serco.

"They are skating on thin ice," he said.

The minister said the least he could do for the victim was call her and say he was sorry.

"This poor woman will probably be reliving a horrific crime," he said.

"Of course it would cause her grief. My heart goes out to her."

The escapees are expected to be charged with offences including escaping legal custody and stealing a vehicle later this week.

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US icebreaker sent to help trapped vessels

An American icebreaker will attempt to free two ships stuck in ice in Antarctica. Source: AAP

AN American icebreaker will try to free two ships trapped by thick Antarctic ice.

The US Coast Guard's Polar Star accepted a request from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to help the Russian ship Akademik Shokalskiy, which has been marooned since Christmas Eve.

It will also aid the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long, which was involved in a dramatic helicopter rescue of the Shokalskiy's 52 passengers last Thursday before also becoming beset by ice.

AMSA on Sunday confirmed the Polar Star, which was on its way from Seattle for an Antarctic mission, had diverted course and was on its way to help.

It will take about seven days for the icebreaker, with a crew of 140 people, to reach Commonwealth Bay after collecting supplies from Sydney on Sunday.

The AMSA spokeswoman said the Polar Star had greater capabilities than the Russian and Chinese vessels.

"It can break ice over six metres thick, while those vessels can break one-metre ice," she told AAP on Sunday.

"The idea is to break them out, but they will make a decision once they arrive on scene on the best way to do this."

AMSA will be in regular contact with the US Coast Guard and the captain of the Polar Star during its journey to Antarctica.

Twenty-two crew remain on board the Shokalskiy, which sparked a rescue mission after a blizzard pushed sea ice around the ship and froze it in place on December 24.

The scientists, journalists and tourists on board the research ship were airlifted to safety last week, via the Xue Long's helicopter.

Those passengers are now on board Aurora Australis on their way to Australia's Antarctic base at Casey Station, and then Tasmania.

The Aurora was forced to suspend its resupply of the Australian base to rush to the aid of the Shokalskiy, but it is not yet known what impact the incident will have on scientific program.

China has vowed "all-out efforts" to assist the Xue Long, which is surrounded by ice of up to four metres thick and is 21 kilometres from open water, according to state news agency Xinhua which has reporters on board.

"If the ship is stranded for a very long time, which is very rare indeed, then we'll have to evacuate the people on board and leave the vessel there," Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration director Qu Tanzhou said.

Chris Turney, leader of the Shokalskiy's expedition to retrace the steps of Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson, defended the mission on Sunday.

"The science on the expedition was supported by a number of major research institutions including NOAA (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the University of Wisconsin and a host of others," he said.

Turney said there was a long history of both governmental and private vessels going to the assistance of others in the Antarctic.

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Train death woman 'walked past boom gates'

Police say a woman killed by an express train in Brisbane walked past boom gates and into its path. Source: AAP

A WOMAN killed by an express train had walked around boom gates and into its path, Queensland police say. It is believed that the woman was running late for a different train that had stopped at Cannon Hill station, in Brisbane's east, and didn't see the express service coming when she walked on to the track.

Inspector Joe Jaramazovic says investigations indicate that the woman walked around the traffic barriers in Barrack Road, near the station, after she unsuccessfully tried to push open a pedestrian gate just before 7am (AEST) on Friday.

A number of witnesses saw her walk on to the track while the boom gates were down and red lights flashing, he said.

The express train is believed to have been travelling in excess of 50km/h when it hit her.

Police believe that the woman is a 31-year-old Asian in Australia on a working visa.

They are working with consulate officials to confirm her identity.

Insp Jaramazovic says the incident is another tragic reminder of the dangers of level crossings.

He says it's not uncommon for a person stressing about missing a train to forget to look left and right before crossing on to the tracks.

"It's unfortunate we have a lot of these cases and far too many close calls," he said.

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NT man charged with attempted murder

NORTHERN Territory police say a man who allegedly tried to kill a woman on New Year's Eve had a domestic violence order out against him.

Serious Crime Squad detectives on Friday charged a 40-year-old man with the attempted murder of a 35-year-old woman in a suburb on Darwin's fringes.

The woman was allegedly assaulted at an Acacia Hills home between 7pm (CST) on Tuesday and 8am the next day.

"The woman was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital on Wednesday morning and has since been released," Detective Senior Sergeant Karl Day said on Friday.

The man was arrested on Thursday and has been charged with deprivation of liberty, attempted murder, aggravated assault and engaging in conduct that contravenes a domestic violence order.

He has been remanded to appear in Darwin Magistrates Court on Monday.

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