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, with the news their daughter is finally on her way home.

Sarah Armstrong was stopped at Ulan Bator airport in mid-October because authorities wanted to question her in relation to corruption allegations.

On Christmas Eve, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman confirmed the 32-year-old had boarded a flight out of the country, which had taken off by 7pm (AEST).

Mum, Yvonne, told AAP she had been bracing for a Christmas spent thinking of her daughter stuck in Mongolia.

"All I wanted to hear was that she was on a plane," she said on Monday from her Tasmanian home.

She got the good news via text message from a friend in Mongolia.

Mrs Armstrong said her daughter had told her on Friday that she thought she would be allowed to leave within days, but she had been trying not to get her hopes up.

Also on Friday, it is understood, Foreign Minister Bob Carr again contacted the Mongolian ambassador to Australia about Ms Armstrong's case.

Senator Carr also flagged the Australian government's concerns when he met the Mongolian foreign minister in November.

Ms Armstrong is a lawyer for Rio Tinto mining subsidiary SouthGobi Resources.

The company on Monday said Mongolia's Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) had ended its questioning of the lawyer.

SouthGobi has been informed by the IAAC that the 32-year-old "is no longer a suspect in their investigations", the coal firm said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange where it is listed.

Mongolian officials said Armstrong was wanted over an investigation into the former chief of Mongolia's mining authority, who is suspected of illegally handling mining licences, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Senator Carr said it was "great news" - and good timing.

"I understand her family have been advised of her departure from Mongolia and look forward to seeing her for Christmas," he said in a statement on Monday.

"I thank the Mongolian government and particularly Foreign Minister (Luvsanvandan) Bold for their willingness to resolve this matter.

"I also applaud our consular staff ... including consuls general David Lawson and Tony Burchill, who worked tirelessly in making representations on Ms Armstrong's behalf."

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 houses had to be evacuated after two gas leaks were discovered on Newman Morris Circuit.

Firefighters put a 50 to 100-metre exclusion zone in place as they waited for repairmen to arrive.

In Florey, a fallen tree caused damage to several houses in Summerville Crescent.

Part of the tree crashed through the roof of one home and into the lounge room.

ACT Rural Fire Service crews, the ACTSES and ACT Fire & Rescue will help families clean up through the night.

Just before 7pm (AEDT) on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for Canberra and Queanbeyan.

The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, the Bureau said, but a more general thunderstorm warning remained in place for parts of NSW and the ACT.

Authorities later said the Oxley residents were being allowed to return to their homes.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 office of the city's Communist Party committee.

The victims were aged from four to six years old.

Four children survived, said the official.

Police detained the driver for questioning and were investigating the cause of the accident, the official Xinhua News Agency.

Photos on the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post's website showed a silver minivan partially submerged in a grassy pond, with one of its three windows on the right side broken.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said in a statement that cited no sources that the van was made to carry seven people but was overloaded with 17. The human rights group said it took 70 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Serious traffic accidents are common in China, due to poorly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 palace in Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi said he and Assad exchanged views on the conflict and discussed possible steps forward, which he did not disclose.

"The situation in Syria is still worrying and we hope that all the parties will go toward the solution that the Syrian people are hoping for and look forward to," Brahimi said.

Syria's state news agency quoted Assad as saying his government supports "any effort in the interest of the Syrian people which preserves the homeland's sovereignty and independence".

Brahimi has apparently made little progress toward brokering an end to the conflict since starting his job in September, mostly because both sides adamantly refuse to talk to each other.

The government describes the rebels as foreign-backed terrorists set on destroying the country. The opposition says that forces under Assad's command have killed too many people for him to be part of any solution.

Brahimi's two-day visit was to end later Monday. It is his third to Damascus as an envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League.

The security situation in Damascus and elsewhere in the country has declined since Brahimi's previous visits. Instead of flying in to the Damascus International Airport as he did on earlier visits, Brahimi drove to Damascus over land from Beirut because of the fighting near the Syrian capital's airport.

Reports by anti-regime activists of the airstrike Sunday on a bakery in the central town of Halfaya that killed scores of people also cast pall over Brahimi's visit.

Amateur videos posted online showed the bodies of many dead and wounded scattered in a street.

On Monday, Syria's state news service blamed the attack on "an armed terrorist group" - its shorthand for the rebels - accusing them of filming the aftermath to "frame the Syrian army."

In the videos, however, armed rebels are clearly among those tending to the dead and wounded.

Anti-regime activists say the civil war has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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," Schaeuble told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "But I will also say that does not mean anyone can blackmail us."

Asked whether a debate raging in Britain about a possible referendum on the country's future in the 27-member bloc was "dangerous", Schaeuble said: "Our British friends are not dangerous. But a referendum would create uncertainty," he said.

He said he only got "cross" with Britons over football, adding he hoped for "more British engagement in Europe, not less".

Britain has belonged to the European Union since 1973 but has not joined the 17-nation eurozone.

Schaeuble has served as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's main ally in Berlin in plotting an austerity-driven course to resolve the eurozone debt crisis as well as greater political integration of the bloc.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative, said last month that he still supports British membership of the EU but cannot accept the "status quo" and wants a "new settlement" that involves repatriating some powers.

He has so far avoided offering a clear "in-out" referendum despite strong pressure for clarity on the issue from his party.

Tensions flared last month when Cameron opposed a new trillion-euro ($A1.25 trillion) EU budget for the next seven years, saying it was unacceptable to increase spending at a time when many countries were taking austerity measures at home.

A recent poll in the UK's Observer newspaper found 56 per cent of Britons surveyed would vote to leave the EU given the chance.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 to swim to nearby cliff, his 28-year-old brother was unable to swim to shore and was eventually winched to safety by a PolAir helicopter.

The younger brother had been in the water for approximately one hour and suffered hypothermia and abrasions, police said.

Both men were taken to Sutherland Hospital in a stable condition.

Detective Superintendent Mark Noakes, Commander of PolAir, is urging people to stay safe around the water this summer.

"Taking precautions, such as wearing lifejackets, could be the difference between life and death," he said in a statement.

"Had these two men not been wearing lifejackets the results could have been tragic."

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 (AEST) on Sunday.

Police said 10 of the mostly Chinese tourists - aged between 26 and 60 - were taken to Gold Coast Hospital.

After the accident, authorities told AAP a 50-year-old male driver was in a critical condition with head and chest injuries and another man, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was also critical.

But later on Sunday, police said the two men aged 51 and 34 were in a serious but stable condition.

Another five passengers are still being treated for non-life threatening injures and three passengers have now been discharged.

There were also a number of passengers being treated at Robina Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Police said Henri Robert Drive, which was closed for several hours after the accident, had since re-opened.

Mount Tamborine was the scene of Queensland's worst bus crash, when 11 people were killed and 38 were injured in 1990.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 those who have "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers.

While not specifically mentioning allegations of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell said he was "deeply sorry" for the hurt that had occurred, calling it "completely contrary" to Christ's teachings.

"I am deeply sorry this happened," Cardinal Pell said.

"I feel too the shock and shame across the community at these revelations of wrongdoing and crimes."

In his statement, Cardinal Pell said people had "suffered at the hands" of fellow Christians, Christian officials, priests and religious teachers.

The Christmas message comes after the federal government this year announced a royal commission to investigate child abuse in Australia, including in the Catholic Church.

It follows claims abuse by clergy was covered up by Catholic Church hierarchy.

Faith in "God's goodness and love" was needed "to help those who have been hurt", Cardinal Pell said in his message.

"We need the hope that comes to us from Christ's birth with his call to conversion, to sorrow for sins and the necessity of reparation," he said.

"The light of Christ shines through this darkness."

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 ushered in the Christmas cheer with The Ten Tenor's rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful at 8.30pm (AEDT).

But the cheers really kicked off when Australia's most loved children's music group said their final goodbye to the event.

"Three of the members are hanging up their skivvies so tonight is their very last television performance before handing over to new band members," the Carols co-host Natalie Barr said.

"So this is it Australia, the end of an era," Matt White said.

The crowd jumped to their feet, shooting out arms and legs in unison with the original Red, Yellow, Red, Purple and Blue wiggles as they sang and danced to Fruit salad, Hot Potato and Jingle Bells.

"The Wiggles have been performing at Carols in the Domain for 20 years ... and we have always had such a wonderful time," Red Wiggle Murray Cook said, adding that next year will see the three new Wiggles perform.

Earlier in the evening candles began waving as Troy Cassar-Daley sung Have Yourself a Merry Christmas - later coming back with guitar in tow to sing Jingle Bells Rock.

Georgie Parker and Jay Laga'aia teamed up for the Christmas favourite Here Comes Santa Claus and Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer, eliciting a big cheer from the crowd.

Meanwhile The X-Factor favourites The Collective channelled the 1980s, with a rendition of the Wham! classic Last Christmas, prompting some more screams from the audience.

"Slightly popular. The Twittersphere just exploded, The Collective is in town," White quipped.

The X-Factor winner Samantha Jade, backed by a chorus, also wooed the crowd with Away in a Manger.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

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 1000km north of Perth, has been placed on a total fire ban on Sunday by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).

All open air fires are banned, and hot work such as metal welding and grinding is not allowed without an exemption. The DFES has warned that those who flout the ban face fines of up $25,000 and/or up to 12 months in jail.

Residents in the inner-Pilbara's Shire of Ashburton face hot, dry, windy conditions that could see a potential bush or grass fire take hold, DFES said, announcing a severe fire warning.

The area faces overnight temperature lows in the mid to high 20Cs before daytime maximums expected in the low to mid 40Cs, with the searing weather tipped to continue until Boxing Day, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

Motorists are being urged to avoid driving near the abandoned town site of Wittenoom, where a fire southwest of the area - despite posing no danger - has seen roads closed in the area due to thick smoke.

Several non-threatening fires are also burning on either side of the North West Coastal Highway in the Shire of Ashburton, causing a potential smoke hazard for motorists, DFES said in a statement.

The department has urged residents in affected areas to have bushfire plans and survival kits on standby, and to tune in to local radio and other media for updates.

"Do not wait for a warning before you act. If you see flames call triple zero," the DFES said.

19.19 | 0 komentar | Read More