US denies Iran prisoner swap report

The US has denied it had proposed an exchange program to get a former US Marine out of jail in Iran. Source: AAP

THE US has denied reports it had offered Iran a prisoner swap to retrieve former US Marine Amir Hekmati, who has been imprisoned in the Islamic republic since 2011.

IRANIAN media had reported that Hekmati's lawyer asked for his release in return for the freeing of Iranians in the US.

"Those reports are not accurate," State Department spokesman Jeffrey Rathke told a news conference. "The US government has not proposed a prisoner exchange for Mr Hekmati."The purported proposal supposedly came through Swiss intermediaries. The US and Iran have not had official diplomatic relations since 1980.Rathke renewed calls for Hekmati's release and urged Tehran to free two other Americans - Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor, and Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian - and to help find Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007.Relations between traditional foes Washington and Tehran have improved somewhat in recent months and the two countries have had direct exchanges over Iran's nuclear program.Arrested in August 2011, Iranian authorities convicted Hekmati of spying for America's Central Intelligence Agency.He was initially sentenced to death in 2012 but Iran's top court subsequently reduced the penalty to 10 years in prison.

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Australian plane spots objects in sea

Australian planes have spotted objects in the ocean in the AirAsia search area, an official says. Source: AAP

AN Indonesian official says objects have been spotted in the sea by an Australian search plane hunting for the missing AirAsia jet.

JAKARTA'S Air Force base commander Rear Marshal Dwi Putranto says he has been informed that an Australian Orion aircraft had detected suspicious objects near Nangka island, about 160 kilometres southwest of Pangkalan Bun, near central Kalimantan, or 1120 kilometres from the location where the plane lost contact.

"However, we cannot be sure whether it is part of the missing AirAsia plane," Putranto says, "We are now moving in that direction, which is in cloudy conditions."

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Travellers stranded as snow hits UK

Air and road travellers in the UK have been left stranded by heavy snowfalls. Source: AAP

WILD and wintry weather has swept the UK and stranded travellers with heavy snow covering roads and forcing two airports to close.

MANY motorists simply abandoned their vehicles as drivers became stuck in Sheffield.

One driver tweeted he had been in a queue for more than four hours.Motorists have been advised to check before travelling and, in some parts, avoid journeys unless essential.People travelling from Sheffield to London had to take refuge in a church after their coach became stuck in the snow before leaving the south Yorkshire city, passenger Chloe McIntosh told the BBC."Some people from the houses nearby have come and offered us tea. Then they opened up the church."Liverpool's John Lennon Airport and Leeds Bradford International closed while runways were cleared of snow as a band of wet weather crossed the country from Merseyside and north Wales through the Midlands and Yorkshire.Leek, near the Peak District in Staffordshire, had the worst of the snow with 10cm, the Met Office said, with Cranwell in Lincolnshire also recording 7cm.Four flights into Liverpool from Malta, Berlin and Bucharest were diverted to Manchester Airport, while a fifth from the Isle of Man returned as the Merseyside hub was closed for more than an hour while its runway was cleared.Police warned of hazardous conditions on Friday night, especially in Staffordshire and Cheshire, with several roads made impassable.Snow had been predicted to fall in parts of north Wales, the North West and the Midlands, with a Met Office Level Three amber cold weather alert in place and a yellow warning of snow across a large swathe of the UK.The Pennines and Peak District also had plenty of snow.The snow played havoc with some Friday football matches, including in the West Midlands as West Bromwich Albion lost 3-1 to Manchester City in blizzard conditions.The Met Office had earlier said there was a 90 per cent chance of severe cold, ice or snow in parts of England until New Year's Eve.An area including Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, the Midlands, East Anglia, the North West, Yorkshire and as far south east as London and Kent is on a separate yellow alert for snow.Christmas night was the coldest night of the year so far, with minus 8.5C recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire.Temperatures could also drop as low as minus 10C in some places at the start of next week as cloud and wet weather give way to clearer skies.

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Motorcyclist dies after Vic crash

A MOTORCYCLIST has died in hospital after colliding with a car earlier this month.

THE 38-year-old man from Craigieburn crashed on Cooper Street in Epping on December 15.

He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he died on Wednesday afternoon.Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

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Family and friends farewell Tori Johnson

TIBETAN monks and sunflowers have accompanied Tori Johnson's coffin on its way from his funeral, a week after the man, hailed a hero, lost his life in a siege in Sydney's city centre.

HUNDREDS of mourners, including survivors of the Lindt Cafe siege and dignitaries, on Tuesday joined Mr Johnson's family at a private church service just a 100 metres from where the 34-year-old cafe manager was shot dead.

"Celebrating Tori's Love, Generosity and Life," read the memorial booklet for the man who was shot as tried to wrestle a gun from Man Haron Monis in the final moments of the 17-hour siege.Tori's father, Ken, read the eulogy at St Stephen's Uniting Church, where NSW Premier Mike Baird, NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Governor David Hurley joined mourners.Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull also attended, while Sydneysiders lined Macquarie Street outside to pay their final respects during the hour-long service.Johnson's long-term partner, Thomas Zinn, who read one of five tributes, was the first to leave the service while a white hearse carried Mr Johnson's coffin to a private cremation in Sydney's east.A group of siege survivors, including co-workers, a little later walked from the church to a makeshift memorial near where a sea of flowers had just hours earlier been removed before rain could destroy the tributes.They added their flowers to the hundreds of bouquets that had been placed under a marquee to protect them from the weather.Standing together, they watched, along with Reverend Bill Crews who'd led the service, while funeral staff placed dozens of white roses and sunflowers on a black table.They then embraced each other, while a nearby busker played Silent Night on a guitar.And, passers-by continued to lay their flower tributes as the survivors left.

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Future Brisbane skyline revealed

Brisbane are given a glimpse of the city's future skyline with the unveiling of Casino proposals. Source: AAP

RIVAL proponents vying for the right to develop a casino on prime riverfront land in Brisbane have laid their cards on the table.

THE Queensland government's decision to move public service offices to a new site at 1 William Street will free up the existing government precinct between George Street and the Riverside Expressway after 2016.

Enter two giants - incumbent Brisbane casino owner Echo Entertainment and James Packer's Crown Resorts - who are battling it out for the once in a lifetime development opportunity.The pair's rival consortiums on Monday revealed artist impressions of their proposals and both had exceeded the government's expectations, Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said.Both projects would include a casino, hotels, residential accommodation, a pedestrian bridge to South Bank and luxurious bars and restaurants.Crown's proposal boasts a rooftop the size of The Gabba, public gardens, infinity pools and a suspended waterfall from its pedestrian bridge.The Echo plan would feature a "signature addition" to the Brisbane skyline - an arc-shaped sky deck perched above a high-end hotel and ballroom.Echo had the advantage of not needing an additional casino licence because it would relocate its existing Treasury Casino, chairman John O'Neill said.The old site would be turned into a department store.Both proponents on Monday responded to union accusations linking Hong Kong businessman Stanley Ho - who has been banned from a similar development in Sydney - to the Echo consortium."Let's be very clear - we are not in business with Stanley Ho," Echo's chief executive Matt Bekier said.The company was providing 50 per cent of the capital, while a 25 per cent partner, Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook, had a business relationship with Dr Ho.The government will finalise the assessment process by mid-2015.

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Three killed in India bomb blast

THREE people have been killed in the second bomb blast in a week in Imphal, capital of India's north-eastern Manipur state.

THE bomb planted by the roadside near Khuyathong area, close to Imphal market, killed three labourers and wounding four others," IANS news agency reported, citing a police official.

One of the injured was in critical condition, the official said.The dead included two men in their thirties and a woman in her sixties, state-run Doordarshan television reported.Security forces were at the scene and searching the area for the bombers.No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

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Pakistan military kills 67 militants

Pakistan's military has killed 32 militants in clashes in a troubled tribal region near Afghanistan. Source: AAP

PAKISTANI jets and ground forces have killed 67 militants near the Afghan border, days after a Taliban school massacre.

THE killing 148 people - most of them children - at a school in Pakistan's northwest earlier this week stunned the country and brought cries for retribution.

The military has since struck targets in the Khyber tribal region and approved the death penalty for six convicted terrorists.It says its ground forces killed 10 militants late on Thursday, while jets killed another 17, including an Uzbek commander.Another 32 alleged terrorists were killed by security forces in an ambush in Tirah valley in Khyber on Friday as they headed toward the Afghan border, the military said.Khyber agency is one of two main areas in the northwest where the military has been trying to root out militants in recent months.Khyber borders Peshawar, where the school massacre happened, and militants have traditionally attacked the city before fleeing into the tribal region where police can't chase them.The other area is North Waziristan, where the military launched a massive operation in June.In the southern province of Baluchistan, Pakistani security forces killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader along with seven of his associates in three separate pre-dawn raids, said a tribal police officer, Ali Ahmed.The news comes after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday announced that he would lift a moratorium on executions in terrorism-related cases.Meanwhile, a Pakistani prosecutor said the government will try to cancel the bail granted to the main suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks - a decision that outraged neighbouring India.

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Bodies returned to siege victims' families

The bodies of the two Sydney siege victims should be released to their families before Christmas. Source: AAP

HE says he is making it up as he goes along but grieving father Ken Johnson has emerged as an unlikely galvanising figure following the Sydney siege.

THE proud dad of slain shop manager Tori Johnson praised the nation's spirit and tolerance after returning to the growing mass of flowers at the Martin Place tribute site for the second day.

Mr Johnson met and spoke warmly with religious and community leaders on Thursday night."I think Australia is trying to pave a way for tolerance," he said in a nod to unstable gunman Man Haron Monis' attempts to link his attack with the Islamic State."We get on and that is what we want and we want to keep that flow going."I want solidarity," he told the Nine Network.He now has the heart rending task of organising a funeral before Christmas after Tori's body and that of mother of three Katrina Dawson, who was also killed in the siege, were returned to their families on Thursday evening.Authorities expect to complete examinations on Monis by Friday.While Mr Johnson tried to take on the role of healer, anger still burned for many as Prime Minister Tony Abbott admitted the deaths could have been prevented if authorities had been better prepared.The siege had been "a horrific wake-up call" said Mr Abbott, who has announced a review into why the self-styled Islam cleric was not under greater official scrutiny."This was an atrocity - it may well have been a preventable atrocity, and that's why this swift and thorough review is so important," Mr Abbott said.Monis was on bail over a raft of violent charges, including being an accessory to the murder of his former wife, when he took 17 people hostage on Monday morning.The 50-year-old had been on an ASIO watch-list in 2008 when he sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, but dropped off the list."Just like about everyone else from the premier down, I was incredulous and exasperated at this," Mr Abbott said."It was extraordinary he was on our streets."Senator David Leyonhjelm earlier on Thursday called for gun laws to be watered down, saying the siege wouldn't have happened if the hostages could have had concealed weapons."That nut case who held them all hostage wouldn't have known that they were armed and bad guys don't like to be shot back at," Senator Leyonhjelm told ABC radio."To turn an entire population into a nation of victims is just unforgivable."But former prime minister John Howard remains certain the laws he enacted after the Port Arthur massacre had made Australia safer."It's just an exercise in logic to understand that the more guns there are in the community, the greater the likelihood of mass murder," he told ABC radio.Senator Leyonhjelm quit the Liberal Party in disgust at the 1996 laws and has also been a member of the Shooters Party.With thousands pouring into Martin Place to pay their respects, the growing sea of flowers continued to take over the tribute site and forced the NSW government to ask for advice from overseas."The NSW government is in contact with authorities in London and Boston regarding flowers, tribute notes and condolence books to ensure we are operating on prior international best practice," NSW Premier Mike Baird said.The grass outside London's Kensington Palace was buried beneath flowers following Princess Diana's death in 1997.

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Abbott, Baird launch Sydney siege review

Tony Abbott says he wants quick answers from a review into the deadly Sydney cafe siege. Source: AAP

TONY Abbott says he wants quick answers from a review into the Sydney cafe siege.

THE head of the prime minister's department and NSW Premier Mike Baird's most senior public servant will examine how Iranian refugee Man Haron Monis was granted citizenship and came to the attention of police and spy agencies.

Mr Abbott also said he wanted to know how a man with a history of violence had a gun licence.Court documents from 2011 reveal Monis had a gun licence while working as a security officer but it had expired, but NSW Police say there's no record of him having held a firearms licence.Monis, who had been on bail as an alleged accessory to murder, and two hostages died at the end of the Lindt cafe siege early Tuesday morning.He had also been on an ASIO watch list in 2008 when he sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, but dropped off the list."We do need to have the answers as quickly as possible so that any lessons can be put into place as quickly as possible," Mr Abbott said.Immigration laws will also be reviewed to remove any doubts about gaps in security checks, he said.Mr Abbott all but confirmed Iran had previously sought Monis for extradition over fraud charges."I share the exasperation of the Australian public at what appears to be someone who has been having a lend of us at the very least for so many years," he said.A committee examining new data retention laws - the third round of counter-terrorism measures proposed by the Abbott government - held a minute's silence before taking evidence from security officials.ASIO deputy director-general Kerri Hartland said her agency was working with NSW and federal police to investigate the siege.She said terrorist attacks against Australia were not hypothetical."Australia is a terrorist target and recent events have once again demonstrated that Australia is not immune from acts of terror," Ms Hartland said.Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said requiring telcos to keep two years of customer data was essential to fighting terrorism.He said accessing data had already prevented two major terrorist attacks in recent years, but police feared the emergence of small internet providers that dumped their data after only months would have grave implications for disrupting crime.Former attorney-general Philip Ruddock questioned why the new laws exempted internet cafes."It would be just another place for people to say, 'I can go there and nobody can monitor my movements'," he told the committee.The committee heard small providers were kept out of the laws because of the compliance cost.Another Liberal member, Senator David Fawcett, suggested the laws be amended to limit data access to only government agencies.Labor members of the committee said the government had not released figures on how much it would cost the industry and what public money would be used to compensate companies.Attorney-General George Brandis has promised to cover the "reasonable costs" of the industry.

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