Melbourne into 2013 with hands and feet

MELBOURNE reached out and grabbed 2013 with hands and feet, as fireworks shaped like digits lit up the skyline in the southern capital. An estimated 550,000 flooded into the CBD to witness the fireworks display, a 10-minute spectacular that...

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Nearly 90% of Syria dead killed in 2012

NEARLY 90 per cent of those who have died in Syria's 21-month conflict were killed in 2012, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says. More than 45,000 people have been killed since the conflict broke out in March 2011, but 39,362 of those...

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Bob Brown joins Sea Shepherd board

FORMER Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has joined the board of anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd. Dr Brown, who retired from the Greens leadership and the Australian Senate last year, will join Sea Shepherd Australia's board of directors early...

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US stocks drop as 'cliff' deadline looms

US stocks have opened lower on the last day of the year as Washington politicians appeared still far from a deal hours before the deadline to avoid the fiscal cliff. Five minutes into trade on Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off...

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European stocks mixed on last day of year

EUROPEAN stock markets diverged on the last trading day of the year, amid fading hopes of a deal to avert the US "fiscal cliff" of sharp tax hikes and spending cuts. The London and Paris markets operated for only half a day, resulting in thin...

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Fireworks light up foreshore at Gold Coast

CARTOON superheroes shone on a high-rise wall as fireworks lit up the beachfront for the New Year's Eve curtain-raiser at Surfers Paradise. Thousands of revellers took in the 9pm (AEST) show, a precursor to the main event at midnight, which is...

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Putin urges unity after year of protests

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has used a traditional New Year address to call for unity following a year of protests against his return to the Kremlin for a third term. The country's "development and fate depend on our enthusiasm and labour,...

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Afghan soldier killings highest ever

MORE than 1000 Afghan soldiers died in action this year, the highest since the Taliban insurgency began, as the army assumes more responsibility before NATO forces withdraw in 2014. "In the past nine months, 906 Afghan army soldiers were killed....

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Obama 'sceptical' of armed school guards

US President Barack Obama has pledged to enact stronger controls on gun ownership. Picture: AFP Source: AFP RECALLING the shooting of 20 first graders as the worst day of his presidency, President Barack Obama has pledged to put his "full weight"...

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Five to die for murder of Saudi diplomat

A SPECIAL tribunal in Dhaka has sentenced to death five Bangladeshi men for the killing of a Saudi diplomat early this year in what appeared to be a street crime gone wrong. Khalaf bin Mohammed Salem al-Ali, a 45-year-old official in the Saudi...

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Vietnam War medals stolen from Qld home

FIVE Vietnam War medals have been stolen from a home in Brisbane's south. An unknown number of offenders gained access to the home in Mount Cotton Road, Mount Cotton about 2pm (AEDT) on Sunday, police said. The medals, which are of great sentimental...

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Merkel has 'women's bonus', says rival

ANGELA Merkel's main challenger in next year's German elections says the chancellor has an advantage over him because she is a woman. Peer Steinbrueck's told weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview published on Sunday that...

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Obama blames Republicans for fiscal cliff

US President Barack Obama has blamed a Republican refusal to raise taxes on the rich for the "fiscal cliff" crisis as top lawmakers haggled in a desperate end-of-year search for a stop-gap deal. Obama slammed foes in Congress as the clock ticked...

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Spanish police arrest 17 'Voodoo pimps'

SPAIN'S Interior Ministry says police have arrested 17 people on suspicion of smuggling Nigerian women into Spain and forcing them into prostitution using threats including claims they would cast Voodoo spells on them if they didn't comply. ...

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'Syria collapse threatens region'

THE UN envoy for the Syria crisis is warning that further deterioration of conditions in the country could send an unbearable stream of refugees into neighbouring countries. Speaking Saturday after meeting in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister...

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Plane on fire after running off runway

A PASSENGER airliner is on fire after running off the runway while landing at Moscow's Vnukovo airport. There was no immediate confirmed word on whether there were any casualties in the crash of the Tu-204 belonging to Red Wing Airlines. Russia's...

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Karachi bus explosion kills five

AN EXPLOSION on a bus in Pakistan's largest city Karachi left at least five people dead and wounded 35 others, police said. It was not immediately clear what had caused the blast in Sadar, a congested shopping area of Karachi, officials said,...

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Iran hangs drug traffickers, rapists

IRAN has hanged an Afghan drug trafficker and four Iranians, three of them convicted of rape, local media reported. The 27-year-old Afghan from Herat, identified only by his initials MM, was sent to the gallows in the northern city of Damghan...

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Iran to relocate airport after oil found

IRAN plans to relocate an airport in the southwest of the country after discovering oil deposits under its runway, media reported. The National Iranian Oil Company "intends to buy Ahvaz airport due to the existence of oil deposits under the...

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Fifteen tied up and killed in Nigeria

SUSPECTED radical Islamist gunmen have attacked a village in northeast Nigeria, tying up men, women and children before slitting their throats and killing at least 15 in the troubled region's latest attack. The assault happened early on Friday...

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Swine flu kills nine Palestinians

NINE Palestinians have died in an outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain known as swine flu, the office of Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad says. "Latest figures and information ... show that 187 cases have so far been recorded, the majority...

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Film composer Bennett dies aged 76

SIR Richard Rodney Bennett, a British composer, pianist and arranger who was nominated three times for Academy Awards, has died in New York City at age 76. His publisher Novello & Co said in a statement that Bennett died on Dec. 24 following...

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Man to face Qld court over woman's murder

A MAN is expected to face murder charges in a Queensland court after a woman was stabbed to death in a small town on the Northern Territory border. A police statement said the 32-year-old man had been charged with murdering a a 41-year-old woman...

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India plans 65 all-women police stations

THE woman chief minister of India's West Bengal state unveiled plans for 65 all-female police stations, as authorities tried to assuage growing anger over a gang-rape in New Delhi. "Sixty-five all-women police stations will be set up across...

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China passes law on visiting parents often

VISIT your parents. That's an order. China's national legislature on Friday passed a law requiring adult children to visit their aged parents "often" - or risk being sued by them. The amendment does not specify how frequently such visits should...

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Cop mistakes Bible for gun and shoots man

A POLICEMAN in Brazil has shot and killed a garbage collector after mistaking the Bible he was carrying for a gun. Police on Friday told reporters that Antonio Marcos dos Santos was stopped by police as he was heading to church in the city of...

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US stocks fall ahead of meeting

US stocks have opened lower as the New Year's Eve "fiscal cliff" deadline looms. In the first few minutes of trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 74.33 points (0.57 per cent) at 13,021.98. The broad-market S&P 500...

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Praying Hitler in Warsaw ghetto

A STATUE of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees on display in the former Warsaw Ghetto, the place where so many Jews were killed or sent to their deaths by Hitler's regime, is provoking mixed reactions. The work, "HIM" by Italian artist Maurizio...

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Pony back with circus after Xmas kidnap

A TINY pony is back at its Austrian circus home more than a week after apparently being kidnapped by a woman who wanted to give her sick daughter a Christmas surprise. Fridolin the pony, who is only about 60 centimetres tall, went missing from...

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Peace envoy urges 'real' change in Syria

INTERNATIONAL peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has called for "real change" and a transitional government in Syria but the armed opposition has swiftly retorted that it cannot include President Bashar al-Assad or his top lieutenants. The envoy unveiled...

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US stocks slip as 'fiscal cliff' looms

US stocks have edged lower as the deadline for the White House and Republican lawmakers to reach a deal to avert the looming "fiscal cliff" crisis creeps closer. In the first five minutes of trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average...

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Egypt's Morsi to visit Germany

EGYPTIAN President Mohamed Morsi is to visit Germany on January 30, the official news agency MENA reported, quoting a presidential spokesman. Mr Morsi is to make the trip at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the spokesman, Yasser...

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Militants kill two police, 21 missing

GOVERNMENT officials say dozens of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two tribal police posts in northwest Pakistan, killing two policemen. Twenty-one other policemen are missing and presumed kidnapped....

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Missing man found safe in Brisbane

A 71-YEAR-OLD man has been found safe and well after going missing in southeast Brisbane, police say. The man, who suffers from a medical condition, was last seen leaving a store in Stones Corner on Thursday afternoon.He was located safe and well...

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Man charged over Qld bomb hoax

A 55-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with making a bomb hoax to a Burleigh Heads shopping centre. The Burleigh Heads man was charged following investigations into a telephone call received at a West Burleigh Road shopping centre on Thursday morning,...

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Syria military police chief defects to opposition

SYRIA'S military police chief has announced his defection from President Bashar al-Assad's regime, accusing the army of having turned into "murderous gangs," in a video posted online. "I, General Abdel Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, commander of Syrian...

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Syria deputy FM travels to Moscow

THE Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad, was headed for Moscow, an airport source in Beirut told AFP, amid reports of a US-Russian initiative for a transition in Syria. The Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Muqdad, was headed...

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UAE busts Saudi-Emirati 'terror' cell

UAE authorities have announced busting a cell of Saudi and Emirati members plotting "terror" attacks in the two countries and other states. The suspects "imported material and equipment with the aim of committing terror acts," said an official...

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Tube strike can't stop London shoppers

STRIKE action has heavily disrupted London's Underground train network, as hundreds of thousands of bargain hunters headed to the shops for the traditional Boxing Day sales. All 13 of the Tube lines were running a reduced service after just...

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National holiday road toll reaches 17

AUSTRALIA'S national road toll stands at 17 after a man was killed in a single car accident in Western Australia. Perth Now reports the man died when his car flipped on the North West Coastal Highway at Yannarie, which is about 1200km north...

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US stocks up ahead of 'fiscal cliff' talks

US stocks have opened slightly higher, as President Barack Obama heads back to Washington to try to secure a year-end "fiscal cliff" deal with Republican lawmakers. In roughly the first 15 minutes of trade on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial...

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Spain seizes 11 tonnes of hashish

SPANISH police have seized 11 tonnes of hashish smuggled from Morocco on trucks with fuel tanks rigged to hide the drugs and arrested 35 people in what has been described as the breakup of a major smuggling ring feeding the European market. The...

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Six killed as Pakistan Muslim leader hit

GUNMEN have opened fire on a car carrying a senior figure from an extremist Muslim Sunni group in the Pakistani city of Karachi, killing four policemen and two other people, police say. The target of the attack, Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi, was...

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Policeman injured in gang-rape protest dies

AN INDIAN policeman injured in clashes during a protest over a gang-rape in New Delhi died overnight, a police spokesman said, as much of the city centre remained sealed off following the violence. Subash Tomar, a 47-year-old constable deployed...

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US braces for wild Christmas weather

FORECASTS of blinding snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened to complicate Christmas Day travel around the US Midwest overnight as several Gulf Coast states braced for a chance of twisters, high winds and powerful thunderstorms. A blizzard watch...

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Spooks spill the beans online

HUNDREDS of ex-spies, and some current spooks, are posting about their work on social networking sites, it has been reported. A Fairfax Media survey uncovered more than 200 Australian intelligence officers who had disclosed their classified...

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Nigeria gunmen kill six at Christmas mass

GUNMEN have attacked a church in northern Nigeria during midnight mass on Christmas Eve, killing six people including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze, residents and police say. "A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight...

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Queen calls for togetherness at Christmas

LOOKING past the scandal which has at times shaken the royal family in 2012, a humble Queen has sent out a global thanks to those who helped celebrate her 60-year reign. During the monarch's Christmas message, in which she became the first royal...

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Fukushima kids getting fatter

CHILDREN in Fukushima are getting fatter as outdoor activities have been cut in the area due to radiation fears after last year's nuclear disaster, a Japanese government report said. The education ministry said it had surveyed the heights and...

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Stolen puppy found by Melbourne police

A 12-WEEK-OLD puppy stolen from a pet shop eight days ago has been recovered and two people arrested. The white Cavalier-Shih Tzu cross was found in a house at Heidelberg West on Monday night with police arresting a Keilor East man and a Heidelberg...

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S&P downgrades Egypt credit rating

RATINGS agency Standard and Poor's has downgraded Egypt's long-term credit rating because of "elevated" tensions over its political crisis, and warned it could be lowered further. The country's long-term rating was lowered to B- from B because...

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Drone kills two al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen

TWO al-Qaeda members, including a Jordanian, have been killed in a suspected US drone strike in Yemen, government and tribal sources say. "A drone strike targeted a vehicle killing two al-Qaeda members - a Yemeni and a Jordanian" in Manaseh...

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Hundreds of Congo kids in foster homes

SEVERAL hundred children remain separated from their parents a month after fighting over the key eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma displaced nearly a million people, aid agencies say. Since the M23 rebels seized Goma on November...

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Fire in Syrian refugee camp kills boy

OFFICIALS say a tent in a Syrian refugee camp in southern Turkey has caught fire, killing a two-year-old boy and injuring four siblings. A government official said the fire, triggered by an electric heater, engulfed a tent in the Telhamut refugee...

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China busts child trafficking rings

CHINESE police have rescued 89 children and arrested 355 suspects after busting a series of child trafficking rings, officials say. Officers from nine regions, including Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan, Anhui and Guangdong, took part in a joint drive...

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US stocks lower on fiscal cliff pessimism

US stocks have opened lower at the start of a shortened Christmas Eve session amid pessimism about prospects for a "fiscal cliff" deal by the end of the year. In the first few minutes of trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was...

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Man killed as awning gives way

A man has died after an awning collapsed at a shop front on the Gold Coast. A GOLD Coast man "in the wrong place at the wrong time" died and five others were injured when an awning collapsed on a busy Gold Coast shopping street. ...

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Ex-governor, jilted wife eye same seat

This 2006 photo shows Mark Sanford after winning his second term as South Carolina governer. He is joined by his family, from the left, sons Bolton; Landon; his then wife, Jenny; and son Marshal. Picture: AP Source: AP FORMER South Carolina...

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Peace envoy Brahimi back in Syria

INTERNATIONAL peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has arrived in the Syrian capital on a new mission to try to resolve a brutal conflict that has raged for almost two years. Officials said the UN-Arab League envoy, seen at the Sheraton Hotel in central...

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Second-hand exporters mimic charity

CHARITIES are reportedly having millions of dollars diverted away from them by second-hand clothing exporters who are imitating appeals and donation bins. According to an investigation by Fairfax published on Monday, the exporters launch appeals...

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Korea says North 'rocket' could reach US

NORTH Korea's recent rocket launch amounted to the test of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a half-tonne payload as far as the US west coast, the South Korean defence ministry says. North Korea launched its three-stage Unha-3 rocket on...

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Kenya arrests 61 over tribal violence

KENYAN police have arrested 61 suspects over a brutal attack on a remote village in the southeast involving two rival communities that left 45 people dead including women and children. Villagers were hacked to death and their homes torched in...

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