Over it - banish the term fiscal cliff

SPOILER alert: This story contains words and phrases that some people want to ban from the English language. 'Spoiler alert' is among them. So are 'kick the can down the road,' 'trending' and 'bucket list'. A dirty dozen have landed on the 38th...

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Sydney's firework go off with a roar

Sydney's lord mayor says the city is spending $6.6 million on its New Year's Eve event. Source: AAP SYDNEY'S skyline has exploded in gold, pink, green and blue as part of the traditional New Year's Eve family-oriented curtain raiser. The...

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UK singer remanded on child sex charges

ROCKER Ian Watkins has reappeared before a Welsh court to face allegations of plotting to rape a baby girl. The 35-year-old vocalist, whose band Lostprophets has sold more than 3.5 million records worldwide, was arrested with two women earlier...

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Iran tests weapons near Strait of Hormuz

IRAN'S navy says it has test-fired a range of weapons during ongoing manoeuvres near the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The Monday report by the official IRNA news agency quotes exercise spokesman Admiral...

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East Timor hailed a UN success

TROOPS sent by Australia and New Zealand have all gone home and only a handful of United Nations police will be left when the UN flag comes down in East Timor's capital of Dili after six years. "As of Monday, the liquidation team will be there....

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Syrian troops hit Homs, kill 23 children

SYRIAN regime forces have pressed a fierce offensive in Homs after overrunning a key neighbourhood of the central city, according to a watchdog, which also listed 23 children killed in violence across the country. The latest bloodletting on Sunday...

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Russia investigates Moscow plane crash

RUSSIAN medics have begun identifying the bodies of four crew killed when a passenger jet careened off the runway of a Moscow international airport and smashed into a highway. Rescue workers recovered the flight recorders from the four-year-old...

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French paper to publish comic on Mohammed

A FRENCH weekly known for publishing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed to the ire of conservative Muslims says it plans to release a comic book biography of Islam's founder that will be researched and educational. Satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo...

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Rape case attackers charged with murder

INDIAN police charged six men with murder, hours after a woman who was gang-raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi nearly two weeks ago died in a Singapore hospital. New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the six face the death penalty if...

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French panel overturns 75pc tax on rich

A FRENCH constitutional panel has thrown out a plan to tax the ultra-wealthy at a 75 per cent rate, saying it is excessive. The constitutional council ruled that the highly contentious tax, which President Francois Hollande promised to impose...

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Pakistan to lift ban on YouTube

PAKISTAN provisionally unblocked access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube after taking measures to filter blasphemous material and pornography, officials said. Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in September ordered the blocking...

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Macau-Hong Kong ferry crash injures 26

TWENTY-six people were injured in a collision between a Hong Kong-bound passenger ferry and a buoy in Macau, authorities said. The ferry crashed into the buoy in Macau's Outer Harbour around 10 minutes after it left the ferry terminal at approximately...

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British girl missing in Pakistan returns

A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl is on her way home to Britain more than three years after she was abducted by her father and taken to Pakistan, police say. Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson disappeared in November 2009 after going to stay with her father, Razwan Ali...

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Sydney men arrested after police car crash

TWO men have been arrested after a car collided with a police vehicle in southwest Sydney. The crash occurred on Graham Avenue at Casula about 6pm (AEDT) on Friday. The car was similar to one involved in an alleged robbery at Casula on Thursday...

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Seoul retrieves N. Korean rocket debris

SOUTH Korea has recovered what it believes to be debris from the engine of the long-range rocket launched by North Korea this month, the defence ministry says. "If it is confirmed to be engine debris, it will be very useful for analysing North...

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Russia urges Assad to talk to opposition

Peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi called for real change and a transitional government in Syria. Source: AAP RUSSIA is urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to meet the opposition and keep all options open for a transitional government....

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UN peace envoy urges real change in Syria

Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi is seeking help from Russia to get the warring parties to negotiate. Source: AAP INTERNATIONAL envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has called for "real change" in war-torn Syria including a transitional government with full...

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Cambodia jails pair over union boss' death

CAMBODIAN rights campaigners have condemned the sentencing of two men to 20 years in prison for the 2004 murder of a prominent union leader, saying they appear to be scapegoats. Chea Vichea, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government,...

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European stocks rise after festive break

EUROPE'S main stock markets have risen following the festive break and a rally in Tokyo, as traders focused on whether the United States would avert the 2013 "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts. In late morning deals on Thursday, London's...

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France won't aid Central African Republic

The UN ordered non-essential staff to leave the Central African Republic because of fears of unrest. Source: AAP BANGUI, Central African Republic, Dec 27 AFP - More regional troops are being sent to secure the capital of the Central African...

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Russian ban on US adoption nears approval

RUSSIA'S upper house of parliament is set to vote on a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children, the final legislative hurdle requiring clearance before the controversial law is sent to President Vladimir Putin for signing. The highly...

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Egypt's Morsi signs new charter into law

EGYPTIAN President Mohamed Morsi has signed into law a new constitution voted in despite weeks of opposition protests, but he was left facing an economic crisis and international disquiet over his rule. The Islamist-dominated senate convened on...

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BBC severance pay under scrutiny

THE British public spending watchdog is to investigate BBC severance packages after it emerged that almost 200 senior managers received pay-offs of more than STG100,000 ($A158,000) each in the past three years. The National Audit Office (NAO)...

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Kazakhstan mourns deaths of elite guards

KAZAKHSTAN is mourning the deaths of 27 people in one of its worst aviation disasters. The disaster wiped out much of the top echelon of the state border service including the acting chief. The KNB state security service confirmed that all 27...

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Popular Vic restaurant destroyed by fire

THE popular Snooty Fox restaurant at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges has been destroyed by fire. CFA brigades were called to the restaurant on the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road on Tuesday night. No one was hurt in the blaze which was attended by...

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Zimbabwe truck crash kills 18

EIGHTEEN people headed home for the holidays died when an open truck veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in northeastern Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe state radio said on Tuesday another 46 passengers crowded on the back of the truck were...

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Storm threatens typhoon-hit Philippines

A TROPICAL storm is set to hit the Philippines on Christmas Day and could spark floods and landslides, forecasters say. Tropical Storm Wukong is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the southern island of Dinagat from 10pm on Tuesday...

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Mandela 'looking better' for Christmas

NELSON Mandela looks "much better" and doctors are pleased with his progress, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma says. Mr Zuma joined Mr Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and other family members in wishing a merry Christmas to Mr Mandela at his...

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Aussie lawyer gets early Christmas gift

Mongolian authorities have cleared an Aussie lawyer of corruption allegations, freeing her to leave. Source: AAP THE parents of an Australian lawyer who was barred from leaving Mongolia for two months have received an early Christmas present,...

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Canberra homes damaged by storm

DOZENS of people have called for help after a thunderstorm battered Canberra. The ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) received 30 calls for help on Christmas Eve. In Oxley, families were forced from their homes because of leaking gas. Four...

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Eleven children die in China road accident

A VAN has plunged into a roadside pond in a rural area of China, killing 11 children. Three children died at the scene of the accident in Guixi city in Jiangxi province and another eight died later in hospital, said an official from the propaganda...

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UN envoy worried after talks with Assad

THE international envoy tasked with pushing to end Syria's civil war says the situation is "worrying" after discussing the crisis with President Bashar Assad. In brief comments to reporters after meeting the Syrian leader at the presidential...

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Germany warns Britain against EU blackmail

GERMAN Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warned Britain in a Sunday newspaper interview against "blackmailing" its EU partners in a bid to bring powers back home from Brussels. "We want to keep Britain in the EU and not force it out,"...

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Brothers thrown from jet-ski in Sydney

TWO brothers have been hospitalised after being thrown from a jet-ski in Sydney's south. Emergency services were called to Cape Solander in Kurnell about 2pm (AEDT) on Sunday, after the accident. While one of the brothers, aged 30, managed...

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Tourists in hospital after Qld bus crash

AT least 10 people have been hospitalised after a bus rolled several times down an embankment on the Gold Coast hinterland. Seventeen tourists and a driver were on board the 20-seater bus when it rolled down Mount Tamborine just after midday...

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Pell says sorry to victims of clergy abuse

Cardinal George Pell, leader of the Catholic church in Australia, says he is "deeply sorry" for the pain caused by those in his organisation. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited AUSTRALIA'S most senior Catholic has apologised to...

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The original Wiggles woo Carols crowd

THOUSANDS of arms and legs waved and flailed at Sydney's Carols in the Domain, as the original members of The Wiggles celebrated their last carols bonanza. More than 50,000 people packed into the Domain on Saturday, as the popular annual event...

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Fire bans, warnings as WA set to scorch

A MID-40C scorcher will see a total fire ban for around 2600 residents on the northern WA coast, while 6000 people in the state's Pilbara region are bracing for severe fire danger. The Shire of Exmouth, in the coastal region of Gascoyne about...

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Syria's chemical weapons safe, Russia says

RUSSIA'S foreign minister says the Syrian government has consolidated its chemical weapons in one or two locations amid a rebel onslaught. Sergey Lavrov says Russia, which has military advisers training Syria's military, has kept close watch...

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Two charged over $580,000 cigarette haul

CIGARETTES worth more than half a million dollars have been seized and two men charged following a routine police truck stop in Victoria's north, police say. Officers pulled over a light truck north-bound on the Hume Freeway at Seymour, about...

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List unveils top English tongue-twisters

"PHENOMENON", "remuneration" and "statistics" have topped a list of the most commonly mispronounced English words. Speakers also have a problem getting their tongue around "ethnicity", "hereditary" and "particularly", according to the UK body...

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Obama vows action after online petition

US President Barack Obama has vowed to take action to stop gun violence in response to online petitions signed by more than 400,000 people after last week's primary school massacre. "In the days since the heartbreaking tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut,...

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Pope makes new anti-gay marriage stance

THE Pope has taken his opposition to gay marriage to new heights with a strong denunciation of how people are manipulating their sex and gender to alter their God-given nature. Benedict made the comments on Friday in his annual Christmas speech...

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Dutch impound Steve Jobs superyacht

STEVE Jobs' Dutch-built superyacht has been impounded in Amsterdam because of a dispute between the late Apple founder's estate and designer Philippe Starck over an unpaid bill. "The yacht has been impounded," Rotterdam-based lawyer Roelant Klaassen,...

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Russia cuts Khodorkovsky's jail term

A RUSSIAN court has reduced the sentence of jailed Kremlin critic and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky from 13 to 11 years, setting his release for 2014. The Moscow City Court on Thursday decided to cut the prison term served by the Yukos...

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Nigeria gunmen kidnap French national

A GROUP of 30 gunmen who stormed a residence in northern Nigeria where expatriate workers were staying kidnapped a French citizen after killing two people, police say. "I can confirm the abduction of a French national," the Katsina state police...

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WHO head warns diseases set to rise

THE head of the World Health Organisation says infectious diseases will spread more easily in the future due to globalisation, changing lifestyles and rising population densities. "The future looks very bright for microbes, not so good for humanity,"...

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