2013 arrives with a pop and pink

SYDNEYSIDERS have paid homage to Australia's princess of pop as they ushered in the New Year with sparkle, glam and a little bit of cheek. 2012 was farewelled in a cascade of pink and gold as hit tunes from Kylie Minogue's 25 years in show business...

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European stocks mixed on last day of year

EUROPEAN stock markets diverged on Monday, the final trading day of 2012 amid fading hopes of a deal to avert the US "fiscal cliff" of sharp tax hikes and spending cuts. The London and Paris markets were operating for only half a day, resulting...

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Sydney leads New Year's Eve party charge

IT'S the party that starts the world's New Year celebrations and Sydney didn't disappoint yet again. As one of the first major cities in the world to welcome in 2013, Sydney has set the standard. Just ask the millions who watched the spectacular...

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Aust goes with US after NZ nuke ban

WHEN it came down to a choice between the United States and New Zealand on defence co-operation, the cabinet of Bob Hawke found there was really no choice. It was the US all the way. The choice followed a decision by the new NZ Labour government...

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Peace envoy talks up Syria plan

PEACE envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says he has a proposal to end the deadly 21-month conflict in Syria "that could be adopted by the international community". "I have discussed this plan with Russia and Syria ... I think this proposal could be adopted...

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Bad brakes cited in Moscow crash landing

RUSSIAN investigators have blamed a defective brake system for a Moscow airport crash that killed five crew members when a plane skidded off the runway and smashed into a highway. Rescue workers recovered the flight recorders from the four-year-old...

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Cops jailed over detainee's torture, death

A BAHRAIN court on Sunday jailed two policemen for seven years each after convicting them of torturing to death a Shiite detainee in the wake of last year's crackdown on protests, a local daily said. The Gulf kingdom's high criminal court found...

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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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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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'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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'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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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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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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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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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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Indian president's son in rape demo gaffe

THE Indian president's son has landed himself in hot water with his own family for denigrating women who took part in mass protests over a gang-rape as being middle-aged and caked in makeup. Abhijit Mukherjee, who is also a member of parliament,...

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Iran president sacks cabinet's sole woman

IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sacked Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the sole woman in his cabinet, state television reports. The minister had proposed price hikes for a number of medicines due to the plunge of the Iranian...

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One Pound Fish singer returns to Pakistan

INTERNET sensation One Pound Fish Man has returned to a hero's welcome in Pakistan, vowing to take his signature tune in honour of cut-price produce to France and the United States. Hundreds showed up at Lahore airport in eastern Pakistan to honour...

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US jobless applications fall to 5-year low

THE average number of people seeking unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing. The Labour Department said that weekly applications dropped 12,000 to a seasonally...

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Toyota ups 2012 sales forecast

JAPAN'S Toyota group has forecast a 22 per cent jump in worldwide sales this year to 9.7 million units, driven by surging demand which may help it regain the top spot in the global auto market. Those figures could put Toyota ahead of General Motors...

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Man dies when car flips over in WA

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

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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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Millions of unwanted gifts to go on sale

CHRISTMAS is a time for giving and Boxing Day is a time for giving away, with 14.3 million unwanted presents received around the country this year, says classifieds website Gumtree. The value of unwanted gifts has soared to $475 million, says...

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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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Xstrata hikes cost estimate for PNG mine

SWISS mining giant Xstrata says it will cost $US300 million ($A290 million) more than previously expected to develop the Frieda River copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea. The Swiss company had, according to a statement, handed over a feasibility...

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Syrian troops 'using killer gas bombs'

SYRIAN troops have deployed bombs containing a killer gas while fighting rebels in the central city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activists say. "Activists in Homs say that six rebels died on Sunday night on the Khaldiyeh-Bayada...

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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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Elderly woman dies in NSW crash

A ELDERLY woman has died following a crash near Wollongong, marking the first death on NSW roads during the Christmas toll period. Police said the woman, aged 79, was travelling with her husband and another married couple, aged 73 and 74, when...

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Monti won't run but could still rule

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who handed his resignation in on Friday, will not directly campaign to run the country. Picture: AFP Source: AFP ITALY'S caretaker Premier Mario Monti has said he won't run in February elections, but if political...

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Egypt opposition cries fraud in referendum

EGYPT'S opposition says it will appeal a referendum that voted in a new constitution backed by ruling Islamists, vowing to keep up a struggle that has spawned weeks of protests and damaging instability. Polling "fraud and violations" skewed the...

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Archbishop calls for forgiveness

CHRISTMAS a great time to fix feuds and forgive, Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen says in his final Christmas message. Dr Jensen, who retires in mid-2013, has called on people to be more just and generous. "Reconciliation is a big theme for...

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Wiggles, Aussie talents 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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China shows off its new high-speed rail

A display shows the speed aboard a high-speed train in Hebei province south of Beijing. Picture: AFP Source: AFP CHINA has shown off the final link of the world's longest high-speed rail route set to begin whisking passengers from Beijing to...

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Ex-butler pardoned, expelled from Vatican

POPE Benedict XVI has pardoned his former butler Paolo Gabriele, who was sentenced to 18 months in jail for leaking secret papal memos, but banished him from the Vatican. "This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI visited Paolo Gabriele in prison...

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Damascus car bomb kills 5

A CAR bomb blast in northeastern Damascus killed five men and wounded dozens of people on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "A car bomb blast in the district of Qaboon killed five men, wounded dozens of other people and caused...

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Bollywood star Khan charged with assault

INDIAN police have charged Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan for allegedly assaulting and breaking the nose of a South African businessman at a luxury hotel earlier this year, a report said Friday. The actor ran into trouble after Iqbal Sharma registered...

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Turf war fears as biker gangs hit Europe

A WAVE of biker gangs from the US, Canada and Australia arriving in Europe has raised fears of deadly turf battle like the Nordic biker wars of the 1990s, European police agency Europol warned. Gangs such as the Comancheros and Rebels from Australia,...

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Delhi bus rapists face life sentences

INDIA'S government, facing swelling protests over the gang-rape of a female student on a bus, vowed to press for life sentences for her six attackers and promised stricter policing. Home Secretary R.K. Singh also offered state assistance to...

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Two dead in supermarket looting

TWO people died and two more were seriously injured as mobs looted supermarkets in Rosario, Argentina's third largest city, an official said. Matias Drivet, a city hall official, gave the toll after similar violence shook other cities in Argentina...

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Sudan's war-torn S Kordofan to be divided

SUDAN'S war-torn South Kordofan state is to be divided, giving separate status to the western part dominated by nomadic Arab Misseriya tribesmen, the government said. Vice President Ali Osman Taha "announces the establishment of West Kordofan...

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Iran 'hangs six drug smugglers, rapist'

IRAN has hanged seven men, six of them for drug trafficking and another for rape, in prison in the central province of Isfahan, Kayhan newspaper reported. The seven, aged 25 to 45, were executed on Wednesday, the province's public prosecutor,...

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The Queen goes 3D for Christmas

SHE made her acting debut at the London Olympics. Now the Queen is hitting the screen again - in 3D. Buckingham Palace says the monarch was "ready to embrace something new" for her annual Christmas broadcast in honour of her Diamond Jubilee...

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US weekly unemployment claims rise

THE number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines. The Labor Department reports that a seasonally adjusted 361,000 people sought unemployment aid during the week ended December...

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Iran coal mine collapse and blast kills 8

IRAN'S official news agency says a collapse and explosion in a coal mine has killed eight workers in the country's east. IRNA on Wednesday quoted Ahmad Talebian Moqadam, who is governor of Tabas city near where the accident occurred, as saying...

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Review slams BBC over Savile report

THE BBC has been cleared of covering up allegations of child sex abuse against its late presenter Jimmy Savile, but an official probe has found widespread chaos at the corporation. The BBC's deputy director of news, Stephen Mitchell, resigned...

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Time names Obama person of the year

TIME magazine has named the recently re-elected US President Barack Obama as its person of the year for 2012 - the second time it has accorded him this honour. The venerable American news magazine said the United States is in the midst of huge...

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