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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Asset sales tipped at Tribune Co

US media conglomerate Tribune Co has exited bankruptcy after four years of court supervision, with the future of its assets including The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times uncertain. The Chicago-based company said it emerged from bankruptcy...

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22 killed in wave of Iraq attacks

A WAVE of bombings and shootings across Iraq has killed 22 people as the country grapples with anti-government rallies and simmering political crises ahead of major Shi'ite commemoration rituals. No group immediately claimed responsibility for...

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Venezuela axes New Year's with Chavez sick

VENEZUELA has called off public New Year's Eve festivities and social media sizzled with worry after the government revealed cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez had taken a turn for the worse. The streets of Caracas were quiet as front-page...

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Nine shot dead during party

NINE people have been shot and killed in a rural village in northwest Colombia, apparently during a party, a police official has said. None of the four women and five men who were slain have been identified, no suspects have been arrested and...

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Police searching for missing Sydney man

AN appeal has been issued for information on a 48-year-old man who has gone missing from his Sydney home. Barry Kodesh was last seen between 9am and 10.45am (AEDT) on Sunday at his home in Everton Street, Pymble. Police and family members are...

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Greeks want probe of tax scandal minister

GREEK MPs have called for a probe into former finance minister George Papaconstantinou's alleged role in scrubbing names from a list of accused tax dodgers, days after he was ejected from his party over the scandal. Seventy-one MPs from Prime...

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Two firefighters shot dead in US

THE police chief in Webster, New York, says that four firefighters were shot while responding to a blaze in the town and that two are dead. Chief Gerald Pickering says "one or more shooters" fired at the firefighters Monday morning. Officials say...

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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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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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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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Top Putin foe Navalny faces new charges

RUSSIAN investigators have opened their third criminal case in five months against an opposition leader who poses one of the main challenges to President Vladimir Putin in opinion polls. The Investigative Committee said it had charged anti-corruption...

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Mandela spends Christmas in hospital

AILING icon Nelson Mandela is spending Christmas Day in hospital, the South African government says, dashing hopes for a festive end to his longest stay in care since being released from prison in 1990. "Former president Nelson Mandela will spend...

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Wave of Iraq attacks kills at least 47

A WAVE of attacks targeting both Iraqi security forces and civilians has killed at least 47 people and wounded at least 110, security and medical officials say. The attacks, which hit more than a dozen different Iraqi cities and towns on Monday,...

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Bangladesh fire was sabotage: inquiry

A FIRE that killed 111 workers at a Bangladesh garment factory last month was caused by sabotage and managers at the plant prevented victims from escaping, the head of an official inquiry says. "We have found that the fire that gutted Tazreen...

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Pope meets Abbas, renews call for peace

POPE Benedict XVI has received Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and called on all parties involved in the Middle East crisis to find the courage to work together for peace and reconciliation. In a statement following the meeting on Monday,...

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'Man with rifle' puts schools in lockdown

State Police spokesman Lt Paul Vance says schools in a town close to Sandy Hook have been put in lockdown after a reported sighting of an armed man. Picture: Getty/AFP Source: Getty Images SCHOOLS have been put in lockdown in Ridgefield,...

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US stocks higher as fiscal cliff looms

US stocks have opened higher, two weeks before the world's biggest economy could go off the "fiscal cliff". The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 41.51 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 13,176.52 in early trade on Monday. The broad-market S&P...

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No 2012 vintage from Chateau d'Yquem

CHATEAU d'Yquem will not be producing a 2012 vintage after harvest rain prevented the grapes from reaching the levels of concentration required to make the world's most famous sweet wine. Pierre Lurton, who runs the celebrated estate behind the...

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Italian engineer kidnapped in Syria

AN Italian engineer has been kidnapped in Syria along with two other workers from the steel works in the port city of Latakia, the foreign ministry in Rome says. "In all such cases, the safety of our countryman is of the utmost priority and...

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Doomed French elephants win reprieve

TWO sick middle-aged elephants that French officials wanted to put down have been given a Christmas reprieve after an appeal to President Francois Hollande and an internet campaign to save them. Baby and Nepal, who both have tuberculosis, had...

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Huawei to open R&D centre in Finland

CHINESE telecom firm Huawei has announced plans to invest 70 million euros ($A86.7 million) to open up a research and development centre for smartphone and tablet software in Finland, home to rival Nokia. "The Finnish R&D centre will be a...

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Aussie firms among least optimistic

AUSTRALIAN small businesses are currently among the least optimistic in the Asia-Pacific region, a survey shows. Research by accounting firm CPA Australia found 60 per cent of Australian companies expect to grow their business in 2013, just...

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Small business hopeful for 2013: MYOB

SMALL business confidence may have reached a turning point after some difficult times in the past couple of years. An examination by software provider MYOB of its business monitor series from October 2010 to July 2012 points to a stabilisation...

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Surge in household energy disconnections

THERE has been a massive rise in the number of Victorians who have had their electricity or gas disconnected because they have failed to pay their energy bills. The Essential Services Commission (ESC) reported that in 2011-12 almost 24,000 electricity...

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Tibetan, 16, who set herself on fire dies

A 16-YEAR-OLD Tibetan girl has died after setting herself on fire, Chinese state media say, in an area that has become a flashpoint for protests against Beijing's rule. The school pupil self-immolated on Monday in the village of Dageri in China's...

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2Day FM 'didn't check with UK hospital'

THE London hospital that treated Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine says the Australian radio station behind a prank call did not check with them before the hoax was broadcast. The Sydney station, 2Day FM, said it had tried to contact King...

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Labor's stock slides in latest Newspoll

AFTER a year in which Labor made some inroads against a more popular opposition, the government is back where it started from - a measly 32 per cent of the primary vote against the coalition's 46 per cent, the latest Newspoll shows. The Australian...

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Nation cautioned against Mandela panic

SOUTH Africa's former President Nelson Mandela is "doing very, very well" while undergoing unspecified medical tests at a military hospital, the nation's defense minister said Monday. The office of the presidency said the anti-apartheid icon was...

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Students want sex ed sooner: study

HIGH school students want sex education sooner and topics including pregnancy and puberty taught in primary school, a study has found. But most teachers of grade five and six students are uncomfortable talking about the reproductive system in...

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News Corp announces end of The Daily

NEWS Corp has announced a new head of its British newspaper arm and said it was ending publication of its iPad app, The Daily. The media conglomerate said Mike Darcy, a former chief operating officer of BSkyB, will replace Tom Mockridge as CEO...

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Pressure mounts over Israeli settlements

PARIS and London called in Israel's envoys for consultations on Monday as the Jewish state faced mounting diplomatic pressure over plans to build 3,000 settler homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Germany and Russia also raised concerns...

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US stocks open higher

US markets opened higher on Monday as traders ignored more discord in fiscal cliff talks in Washington to follow Europe's bourses higher after Spain finally made an official request for bank rescue funds. Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones...

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Pope takes to Twitter

POPE Benedict XVI will join Twitter from December 12, with regular tweets in eight languages from the account @pontifex in time for Christmas as the Vatican tries to woo the global internet generation. "The first tweets will be answers to questions...

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RBA to deliver a pre-Christmas rate cut.

CONCERNS about slowing domestic growth should move the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to deliver an interest rate cut in time for Christmas. The RBA board meets on Tuesday (December 4) for its last monthly rate decision until February next...

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Britain seeks appeal over terror suspect

BRITAIN'S interior ministry said on Monday that it has applied for permission to appeal against a decision by judges to block the extradition of terror suspect Abu Qatada to Jordan. "We confirm that we have submitted our grounds for appeal," a...

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Clinton lobbies Czech govt on power plant

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lobbied the Czech government on Monday to approve an American bid for a $US10 billion ($A9.63 billion) expansion of a nuclear power plant amid fierce competition from a rival Russian offer. Clinton made...

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Pedophile 'treasure' tag dreadful: Brother

THE description of a convicted pedophile by his religious order's newsletter as a "treasure" is shattering, the head of the Patrician Brothers says. Brother Philip Mulhall said Brother Thomas Grealy, who was convicted and jailed for the rape...

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Garment workers protest 'deathtraps'

People protest outside the garment-factory where a fire killed more than 110 people on Saturday. Survivors told AFP that the factory did not have proper fire exits. Source: AP THE builders of the nine-storey factory in which 110 workers died...

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Bieber booed by football fans

JUSTIN Bieber has had a hostile homecoming during his half-time performance at Canada's football Grey Cup, facing boos and jeers. The Toronto crowd booed when the 18-year-old pop star's face popped up on the JumboTron screen. They booed when...

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Thousands at funeral for Egypt activist

THOUSANDS of Egyptians have turned out for the funeral of an activist who died overnight after he was critically injured in clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square last week. Gaber Salah, a member of the April 6 movement known by his nickname "Jika",...

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Women, kids crushed in deadly stampede

Indian Hindu devotees cross a bamboo bridge as they gather to pay homage to the setting sun during Chhat Puja on the banks of the Ganges River in Patna. Picture: AFP Source: AFP AT LEAST 18 people have been killed and more than a dozen injured...

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US stocks jump on 'fiscal cliff' hopes

US stocks have scored solid opening gains on hopes that political leaders will find a way to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts in January. After five minutes of trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial...

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Syria opposition to be based in Egypt

A NEWLY formed Syrian opposition bloc that has received Arab and international backing is to be based in Egypt, its head Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib has told the official MENA news agency. "It has been decided that the Syrian National Coalition will...

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Berlusconi accountant held hostage

SILVIO Berlusconi's accountant was taken hostage in his home last month by armed intruders who demanded a 35 million euro ($A43 million) ransom from the former Italian prime minister, police say. The police have arrested three Italians and three...

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S African gunman guilty of Dewani murder

A JUDGE has found a South African man guilty of killing Swedish newlywed Anni Dewani while she was on her honeymoon in Cape Town two years ago, amid claims her husband organised the hit. "I'm satisfied that the accused has committed the crime...

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No need for abuse comment apology: Barnett

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett says the state opposition's response to his comments about the royal commission into child sex abuse was wrong and inappropriate. Opposition child protection spokeswoman Sue Ellery called on the premier to...

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Speedster Clunes loses insurance gig

A STRING of speeding fines has cost British TV star Martin Clunes more than his driver's licence. The Doc Martin and Men Behaving Badly star, 50, has lost his job as the promotional face of UK insurance firm Churchill, after admitting to the...

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Intel to seek new CEO, Otellini to retire

COMPUTER chip giant Intel Corp has announced that chief executive Paul Otellini will retire in May, and that a search for a new CEO is under way. "The board of directors will conduct the process to choose Otellini's successor and will consider...

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Two charged over NSW child sex assaults

A CATHOLIC brother and a former Catholic teacher have been charged in NSW over alleged assaults on children dating back to the 1980s. Sex Crimes Squad detectives investigating allegations of abuse on an eight-year-old girl in 1985 and two 13-year-old...

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Toyota tests cars that communicate

TOYOTA Motor Cop. is testing car safety systems that allow vehicles to communicate with each other and with the roads they are on in a just completed facility in Japan the size of three baseball stadiums. The cars at the Intelligent Transport...

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