Last French troops exit Afghanistan

FRANCE has flown its last combat troops out of Afghanistan, two years before allied countries in the 100,000-strong NATO mission led by the United States are due to recall their fighting forces.

Around 200 soldiers of the 25th Belfort infantry regiment, responsible for overseeing the hastened French exit from the 11-year war, took off around 2.30pm local time (2100 AEDT), an airport official said.

They are expected to return to France on December 18 following a three-day decompression stay on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Their departure means France has around 1500 soldiers left in Afghanistan, the vast majority in Kabul. They are due to stay into 2013 to take responsibility for repatriating equipment and training the Afghan army to take over.

Only several hundred French soldiers involved in cooperation or training missions will remain in the country.

At the height of its involvement, France had 4000 soldiers in Afghanistan as the fifth largest military contingent in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), behind the United States, Britain, Germany and Italy.

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NSW healthcare system 'working well'

RATES of premature death from cancer, heart disease and stroke have fallen across NSW, but further improvements could be made in the state's health care system, a report says.

Results from the third annual Healthcare in Focus 2012 report, which compares the performance of the NSW health care system with other states and countries, found fewer years of life are lost to cancer and heart disease in NSW than in most other countries, Bureau of Health Information chief Kim Browne said.

"NSW is performing quite well when we compare internationally," Ms Browne told AAP.

"(But) there are areas where we've got opportunities to improve compared to international comparators."

The report indicated NSW has one of the lowest rates of potential years of life lost to cancer, outperforming France, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the US.

Only Sweden has a lower rate, Ms Browne said.

Fewer years of life were lost to cardiovascular disease and stroke in NSW than in most other countries, the report found.

Ms Browne added fewer years of life were lost to heart attack in NSW than in any of the 10 other countries examined in the report.

But there are areas of the health care system that can be improved, she said.

"Unplanned readmissions for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are mid-range ... but they're higher than places like Canada, the UK and Switzerland," she told AAP.

NSW also has a high rate of hospitalisation for diabetic, medical and surgical care complications, a statistic Ms Browne would like to see decrease.

"It's a bit of a mixed picture but overall when we look internationally NSW tends to perform fairly well," Ms Browne said.

Health care system users were surveyed as part of the report and the majority rated their experiences and treatment positively, she said.

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Opposition claims Egypt 'vote rigging'

THE opposition accused Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood of attempted "vote rigging" in today's referendum on a new constitution for Egypt.

The National Salvation Front, in a statement, expressed "deep concern... over the number of irregularities and violations in the holding of the referendum," charging it "points to a clear desire for vote rigging by the Muslim Brotherhood."

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Mandela undergoes gallstone surgery

SOUTH Africa's presidency says Nelson Mandela has undergone successful surgery to remove gallstones.

The presidency said the 94-year-old Mandela underwent the surgery overnight. The presidency said Mr Mandela's doctors wanted to treat a recurrent lung infection before putting him through the surgery.

The statement said: "The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering." It referred to Mandela by his clan name as a sign of affection.

Mr Mandela has been in hospital since Dec. 8.

Mr Mandela is revered for being a leader of the struggle against racist white rule in South Africa. He served one five-year term as president before retiring from public life.

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Bodies removed from US massacre school

THE bodies of 20 young children and six adults massacred by a lone gunman in a quiet US town were finally removed from the blood-soaked school, police said.

The formal identification of the victims in one of America's worst mass shootings marked a new chapter for horrified residents of Newtown, Connecticut, where Friday morning a 20-year-old man walked in with at least two powerful pistols and shot everyone he could find in two rooms of the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"By early this morning, they were able to positively identify all of the victims and make formal identification to all of the families of the victims," said Connecticut State Police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance.

The removal of bodies, which were initially left for investigators, "has been accomplished," he said on CBS television. "That was done overnight."

The gunman shot dead 18 children inside the school and two more died of their wounds shortly afterwards. Six adults, including the school principal, perished before the gunman died - apparently in a suicide.

Authorities offered little clue as to the motive for the shootings in Newtown, a wooded and picturesque small town northeast of New York City.

Hours after the shooting, hundreds of people gathered for a vigil, the crowd filling the church to capacity and spilling outside its doors.

"This is a kind of community, when things like that happen, they really pull together," the priest, Robert Weiss, said during the Mass.

A letter from Pope Benedict XVI was also read during the service.

Pope Benedict XVI sent his condolences to the community, in a letter read aloud at a vigil in Newtown Friday evening.

The pope "has asked me to convey his heartfelt grief and the assurance of his closeness in prayer to the victims and their families, and to all affected by the shocking event," Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said in the letter.

"In the aftermath of this senseless tragedy he asks God our Father to console all those who mourn and to sustain the entire community," the letter said.

David Connors, whose triplets were at the school during the shooting but were unharmed, said he was still horrified.

"It's hard. I've never imagined a thing like that could happen here."

"Our faith is tested," state Governor Dan Malloy told the congregants.

"Not just necessarily our faith in God, but our faith in community, and who we are, and what we collectively are."

Earlier the governor had said "evil visited this community today."

US President Barack Obama, wiping away tears and struggling to maintain his composure, said he was aghast over the tragedy.

State police spokesman Vance said just one injured person survived, indicating that the gunman was unusually accurate or methodical in his fire.

The majority of killings, which began at around 9:30am local time, "took place in one section of the school, in two rooms," Vance added. The children were aged between five and 10, officials said.

The killer was identified as Adam Lanza, 20. Initially, police told media they thought the murderer was his brother, 24-year-old Ryan Lanza, whose identity card had been found on the shooter's dead body.

The surviving brother was in custody and being questioned, according to US television reports.

Many news outlets said another victim found in a home in Newtown - the 28th body in the day's bloodshed - was the shooter's mother, who was a teacher at Sandy Hook and whom he had killed before driving to the school.

Mr Obama went on national television to express his "overwhelming grief." He ordered flags to be lowered to half mast.

And there were similar statements of grief and shock around the world.

The head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, spoke of his "deep shock and horror," the Queen sent a message to Mr Obama in which she said she was "deeply shocked and saddened," and French President Francois Hollande expressed his condolences to Mr Obama, saying the news "horrified me."

Of all US campus shootings, the toll was second only to the 32 murders in the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech university.

The latest number far exceeded the 15 killed in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which triggered a fierce but inconclusive debate about the United States' relaxed gun control laws.

However, the White House has scotched any suggestion that the politically explosive subject would be quickly reopened.

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US inflation drops as petrol prices plunge

US consumer prices fell in November due to a sharp drop in petrol prices at the pump.

The consumer price index fell 0.3 per cent from October, the first decline in CPI since May, the Labor Department said on Friday.

A steep 7.4 per cent decline in the petrol index more than offset increases in all the other indices, the department said.

Overall energy prices fell 4.1 per cent, despite rises in prices for natural gas and electricity.

The energy index, though volatile on a monthly basis, showed only a modest 0.3 per cent rise from November 2011.

Food prices meanwhile rose 0.2 per cent from October.

Excluding food and energy prices, core CPI edged up 0.1 per cent following a 0.2 per cent increase in October.

The data underscored the tame inflationary pressures in the weak economy that is still struggling to recover from the severe 2008-2009 recession.

Year-over-year, CPI rose 1.8 per cent in November, slowing from a 2.2 per cent rise the prior month.

Core CPI edged down to 1.9 per cent.

The Federal Reserve this week said it would keep its benchmark interest rate at 0-0.25 per cent, where it has been for four years to support the recovery, as long as the unemployment rate is above 6.5 per cent and the inflation outlook is below 2.5 per cent.

"The Fed's inflation guide, the PCE deflator, is running even lower than CPI inflation, at 1.7 per cent year-over-year in October. That's below the 2.0 per cent target, meaning policymakers will retain a laser-like focus on reducing the unemployment rate," said Sal Guatieri of BMO Capital Markets.

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Two dead after barge capsizes

TWO construction workers were confirmed killed and 10 others missing after a barge carrying a crane capsized off South Korea's southeast coast, the coastguard said.

The 2600-ton barge sank off the city of Ulsan after the 80-metre crane collapsed, Yonhap news agency quoted coastguard officials as saying.

Twelve people have so far been rescued with two others confirmed dead, and a search is underway for the 10 missing workers. The accident happened during construction of a new port.

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Adele named top Billboard artist of 2012

IT'S another year and another Adele domination on the music charts: The British singer is Billboard's top artist of 2012.

Billboard said on Friday Adele is the year's biggest artist and her diamond 21 album, released in February 2011, is this year's top album. Adele earned both prizes last year.

The year's top three songs are Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know, Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe and fun.'s We Are Young, respectively.

Adele is also the top female artist. Drake is the top male artist, One Direction is the top new artist and Maroon 5 is the year's top group.

Billboard said Drake, Taylor Swift, fun. and Don Omar are the top acts in the R&B/hip-hop, country, rock and Latin fields, respectively.

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Emu joins man on jog

A MAN in Virginia Beach picked up an unusual jogging partner when an emu began following him.

Animal shelter supervisor Wayne Gilbert says Virginia Beach residents contacted the city after the emu showed up Thursday alongside the jogger in the Highgate Green neighborhood.

It turns out that the bird had merely drifted away from its home. Emus are legal to own in the area.

Mr Gilbert tells news media outlets that animal control officers located the bird, which was returned to its owner.

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Italy priest tells he's to be a father

A SICILIAN priest has stunned his congregation by announcing during a mass he's set to become a father and is quitting to marry his partner.

"It's my last mass. I am in love with a woman and in a few months I will be a father," Vito Lombardo, 33, told his flock in the city of Trapani in northwestern Sicily, local newspapers said on Friday.

The relationship had been going on for a while but the priest waited until his partner was five months pregnant before announcing his departure, the reports said.

According to the Giornale di Sicilia daily, Lombardo tipped off the Vatican about his decision to marry before announcing it to his parishioners.

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China arrests man with 4 wives, 10 kids

CHINESE authorities have arrested a legislator found to have four wives.

A district official in the northern province of Shanxi said Li Junwen also had 10 children, and had been detained on suspicion of document forgery. Bigamy is a criminal offence in China, while rules restrict most couples to just one child.

Another 14 people were sacked or given warnings or demotions for negligence or helping Mr Li arrange identity documents for his illegitimate children, said the official reached by phone at the Xiaodian district party committee in the provincial capital of Taiyuan.

The 43-year-old Mr Li had been an appointed representative from Xiaodian and the Communist Party head of the village of Xiquan.

The allegations against Mr Li have been featured prominently in state media as part of an anti-corruption drive.

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Weekly US jobless aid applications drop

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has fallen sharply for a fourth straight week, in a sign the US job market may be improving.

The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the lowest in two months. It is the second-lowest total this year.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the drop indicates that companies are cutting fewer jobs. But employers also need to increase hiring to rapidly push down the 7.7 per cent unemployment rate.

Applications spiked five weeks ago because of Superstorm Sandy. The storm's impact has faded. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 27,000 to 381,500.

Before the storm, applications had fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000 this year.

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'Lincoln' leads Globe movie nominations

STEVEN Spielberg is bringing new glory to Abraham Lincoln.

The Civil War epic Lincoln leads the Golden Globes with seven nominations, among them best drama, best director for Spielberg and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.

Tied for second-place with five nominations, including best drama are the Iran hostage-crisis thriller Argo and the slave-turned-bounty-hunter tale Django Unchained.

Other best-drama nominees are the shipwreck story Life of Pi and the Osama bin Laden manhunt thriller Zero Dark Thirty.

Nominated for best musical or comedy were: the British retiree adventure The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; the Victor Hugo musical Les Miserables; the first-love tale Moonrise Kingdom; the fishing romance Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; and the lost-soul romance Silver Linings Playbook.

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Kidman in running for Globes double

NICOLE Kidman has scored two nominations for next year's Golden Globes awards - and other Aussies in the mix include her pal Naomi Watts, and Hugh Jackman.

Kidman was nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role, for her confronting performance in The Paperboy (in which, in one scene, she urinates on Zac Efron's foot).

She also is in the running for best performance by an actress in a made-for-TV movie or miniseries, as writer Martha Gellhorn in Hemingway & Gellhorn.

Naomi Watts was nominated for best performance by an actress, for her harrowing lead in The Impossible, about the 2004 tsunami hitting Thailand.

And Hugh Jackman was nominated for best actor in a comedy or musical, for his Jean Valjean in the big-screen Les Miserables.

The best movie nominations, considered an early indicator for Oscars favouritism, were Ben Affleck's Argo, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, Ang Lee's Life of Pi, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty.

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US retail sales rise 0.3 per cent

AMERICANS spent more on cars, electronics and building supplies in November, and shopped more frequently online. The data suggests the economy is rebounding from disruptions caused by Superstorm Sandy.

The Commerce Department says retail sales rose 0.3 per cent in November, offsetting a 0.3 per cent decline in October. When excluding gas station sales, retail sales increased 0.8 per cent. The drop in gas station sales reflected lower prices.

The gains were widespread except at department stores, where sales dropped. That's a troubling development at the start of holiday shopping.

Still, sales at non-store retailers, which include online shopping, rose three per cent. That's the biggest monthly gain in 13 months.

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Overseas adoption process takes 4 years

PROSPECTIVE parents are waiting more than four and a half years for the completion of overseas adoptions, official figures show.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) says it took an average of 56 months for the processing of an inter-country adoption in 2011-12, compared to 37 months in 2007-08.

AIHW spokesman Tim Beard said the dramatic increase could be attributed to lengthening processing times in other countries - which are now an average of 30 months, up from 19 months four years ago.

"Processing times are affected by factors such as the number and characteristics of children in need of adoption, the number of applications received and the resources of the overseas authority," he said.

"These are all factors outside the control of Australian authorities."

Despite the lengthy waits, Mr Beard said Australian adoption authorities had actually improved their own processing times.

The total number of completed adoptions in Australia in 2011-12 was just 333 - a record low and a steep decline from the 384 finalised in the previous year, the figures show.

The number was 1494 in 1987-88.

Among the adoptions finalised in 2011-12, overseas children outnumbered Australian children for the first time.

Mr Beard said the generational decline in adoptions reflected social and legislative changes.

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Central banks extend currency swaps

THE world's five top central banks have agreed to extend temporary currency swap arrangements by a year, the European Central Bank says.

The swap facilities were one of a range of emergency measures used by central banks to prevent the financial system from failing at the height of the financial crisis.

The ECB, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank decided on "an extension of the existing temporary US dollar liquidity swap arrangements until February, 1 2014," the ECB said in a statement on Thursday.

The swap arrangements had previously been authorised until February 1 next year.

The five central banks also decided to extend bilateral swap lines in their own currencies by a year to February 1, 2014, the ECB statement said.

These swaps enable the provision of liquidity in each jurisdiction in any of their currencies, "should market conditions so warrant", it continued.

Swap lines enable central banks to deliver specific currency funding to banks, businesses and other institutions in their jurisdiction during times of market stress.

The move "will enable the eurosystem to continue to provide euros to those central banks when required and to provide to its counterparties, when necessary, Japanese yen, pounds sterling, Swiss francs and Canadian dollars (in addition to the existing liquidity-providing operations in US dollars)," the ECB explained.

The Bank of Japan would consider extending both sets of swap arrangements at its next monetary policy meeting, the ECB added.

The ECB will also continue to conduct regular US dollar liquidity-providing operations with maturities of about one week and three months "until further notice", the central bank said.

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Putin rejects foreign advice on democracy

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has angrily rejected what he described as attempts to enforce foreign patterns of democracy on Russia and vowed to preserve the nation's identity against interference from abroad.

Putin's speech was his first state-of-the nation address since winning a third term in March's election despite a wave of massive protests in Moscow. Putin has pursued a tough course on dissent since his inauguration with arrests and searches of opposition activists and introduction of laws that impose heavy fines on protesters and rigid rules on civil society groups.

Speaking to politicians, officials and clerics who gathered in the Kremlin's ornate Saint George's Hall, Putin said Russia would follow its own view on democracy and shrug off any "standards enforced on us from outside."

"Direct or indirect foreign interference in our internal political processes is inadmissible," he said. "Those who receive money from abroad for their political activities and serve alien interests shouldn't engage in politics in Russia."

One of the laws passed by the Kremlin-controlled parliament requires non-governmental organisations that receive foreign funding and engage in vaguely defined political activities to register as "foreign agents," a move the groups said was aimed to intimidate them and destroy their credibility with Russians for whom "agent" is synonymous with "spy."

Putin also pledged to support "institutions that represent traditional spiritual values," a hint at even more state support for the Russian Orthodox Church.

In August, three members of the punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for performing a protest song in Moscow's main cathedral. One was released on appeal, but two others are serving their sentences despite international outrage.

Moscow' task on the global stage will be to preserve its "national and spiritual identity," Putin said, adding that a strong military should "guarantee Russia's independence and security."

He added that Russia would continue to push for "coordinated collective efforts" in dealing with global issues.

The Kremlin has said that its continuous refusal to support international sanctions against Syria's President Bashar Assad is rooted in international law that bars interference in a sovereign country's affairs.

Putin sought to boost patriotic feelings by promising to honour heroes of World War I and restoring the historic names of old imperial regiments of the Russian army.

In a speech that focused heavily on social issues, Putin encouraged families to have more children, promised to create 25 million new jobs and develop new incentives for teachers, doctors, engineers and others.

He also made new promises to boost the fight against corruption.

Russia is considered to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. A group that tracks global perception of the problem ranks Russia 143rd out of 183 countries.

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News 'paywalls' grow

THE free lunch for digital access to most US newspapers is disappearing but paywalls seem at best a partial answer to the industry's woes and analysts are split on the decision to block out readers.

More than 300 US dailies now have some type of paywall, many allowing some free or "metered" content, according to the trade website News & Tech.

The Washington Post, one of the last major US newspapers to offer its content free of charge online, will likely begin a metered paywall next year, according to sources quoted by the daily.

Big newspaper groups including McClatchy have begun implementing paywalls at their dailies, along with Gannett, which has paid subscriptions for most of its local papers but not for its flagship daily, USA Today.

Paywalls may work best at newspapers with unique content such as The New York Times, which offers comprehensive global coverage, and The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, the world's leading business dailies.

But Alan Mutter, a former Chicago and San Francisco newspaper editor who now consults on media ventures involving journalism and technology, said paywalls are not a universal solution and could even backfire.

"It won't solve newspapers' problems - it's palliative," he said, noting the industry has lost $13 in print revenue for every $1 of digital revenue gained.

"It's a wall keeping people out, and it's not strategically wise when they need to be growing their audience."

At best, Mutter said, newspapers can gain a modest income from paywalls, and be able to count digital subscribers for advertising purposes, even if these are already print subscribers.

With the industry still looking for its silver bullet, publishers must find more creative strategies to reach the younger audiences favoured by advertisers.

"They need to create new products that resonate with 20-somethings and 40-somethings," Mutter added.

Dean Starkman of the Columbia Journalism Review, however, contends that the Washington Post's likely paywall is "a very good and long overdue move."

"The paper has become the American newspaper industry's poster child for the folly of clinging to a free digital strategy," Starkman recently wrote.

Billionaire Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway company has been buying up newspaper titles, sees paywalls as key to new revenues and said in June that the free model for online news is "unsustainable."

Media analyst Ken Doctor, of the research firm Outsell, said paywalls have been successful at most newspapers and predicts that at least 400 US titles will erect content barriers by the end of 2013.

"It is the most positive change in newspaper economics in the last five years," Doctor said, noting that companies in Europe and Asia are following a similar strategy.

He also believes the Washington Post can benefit from a paywall because it covers the DC area "more broadly and deeply than any other news organisation," offering content that can't be found on aggregators such as Google and Yahoo!

But Doctor said the most successful digital subscriptions are those that are integrated with a newspaper's print edition, illustrating the dilemma of the Internet for their business model.

When a paywall is imposed, he said "people become less likely to drop their print subscription" and a newspaper can offer a print edition, digital access on PCs and use of mobile apps for a single subscription fee.

But Mutter said that with paywalls going up at many newspapers, it will become difficult for a newspaper such as the Washington Post to differentiate itself.

"If I already subscribe to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, will I also subscribe to the Washington Post?" he said.

One answer to the conundrum may come from Slovakia, where a startup called Piano Media has organised newspapers for a combined digital subscription, so readers don't have to choose among publications.

After starting in Slovakia in 2011, the company quickly expanded into Slovenia and then Poland.

"We recognised that publishers in bigger markets were equally desperate to find ways to monetise content with technology that was both efficient and secure," said David Brauchli, a spokesman for Piano who happens also to be the brother of outgoing Washington Post editor Marcus Brauchli.

"Readers have been receptive. Our system works," he added.

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100 countries back new Syrian coalition

MORE than 100 countries have recognised a new Syrian opposition coalition, opening the way for greater humanitarian assistance to the forces battling Bashar Assad and possibly even military aid, France's foreign minister says.

The formation of the Syrian National Coalition appears to be the step the international community has been waiting for to extend deeper assistance to the opposition, which before had been criticised for not being sufficiently organised or representative.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called the Friends of the Syrian People conference meeting in Marrakech, Morocco "extraordinary progress." He noted that the European Union is now renewing its weapons embargo on Syria every three months rather than annually to give them more flexibility as the situation on the ground changes.

"We want to have the ability to continue or to change our attitude on this point - the fact that the coalition, which is asking for the right to defend itself - is now being recognised by a hundred countries, yesterday the US and first France, I think this is a very important point."

The conference comes hours after President Barack Obama declared its new coalition was the "legitimate representative" of its country's people.

At the conference, Syrian opposition spokesman Walid al-Bunni called for "real support" and not just recognition. The Syrian National Coalition, formed in November during a conference in Doha, Qatar, has been calling for increased international support, including military material.

"We need not only bread to help our people," opposition member Saleem Abdul Aziz al Meslet told The Associated Press. "We need support for our Syrian army - we need to speed up things and get rid of this regime."

Some of that support appeared to be forthcoming with Saudi Arabia announcing a $US100 million ($A95.44 million) aid package at the conference.

Western countries have been reluctant to send arms to Syria, not the least because of their experience in Libya where the West actively backed one side in a civil war in a country that later became awash in militant groups.

There has been a noticeable hardening of the Western rhetoric though as the war in Syria has ground on for nearly two years killing more than 40,000 people according to estimates by rights groups and as the rebels score new battlefield victories, there are fears that Assad may turn to his chemical weapons arsenal.

In her speech at the conference on the severe humanitarian needs of Syria's people, coalition vice president Suheir Attasi said that they have now created the necessary relief structures on the ground to receive aid, as had been requested by the international community.

Obama's announcement follows his administration's blacklisting of a militant Syrian rebel group with links to al-Qaeda. That step is aimed at blunting the influence of extremists.

Fabius, the French minister, said there were differences of opinion among participants over the US move, with a number of Arab countries objecting to the terrorist label and the new Syrian opposition leader pointing out that it was hard to call a group making an important contribution to the fight, terrorists.

The new president of the coalition, Mouaz Khatib, did however condemn "all forms of extremism" in his conference speech, a veiled reference to the jihadi groups operating in the country and he specifically called for reconciliation with the country's Alawite minority from which Assad comes, calling on them to fight with the opposition.

"We call on them to accept the extended hand and work together against the violence of the regime," he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was expected to attend the conference, but cancelled following an illness and will be represented by Deputy Secretary of State for the Middle East, William Burns.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday the recognition contradicted earlier international agreements that foresee the "commencement of an all-Syria dialogue" that would include all sides of the conflict, in which more than 40,000 people have died so far.

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Kidman gets Oscar boost via SAG nomination

NICOLE Kidman's Oscar campaign has received a major boost with the actress scoring a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her sexed up performance in The Paperboy.

Kidman, who also received a nomination for her TV movie Hemingway & Gellhorn, will have plenty of mates at the January 27 SAG ceremony, with Naomi Watts and Hugh Jackman also receiving SAG nominations on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

The SAG Awards are one of the major pre-Oscar award ceremonies, with a nomination keeping Oscar campaigns alive, while SAG snubs can torpedo hopes.

Russell Crowe (Les Miserables), Toni Collette (Hitchcock) and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) were snubbed by SAG voters.

Jackman, for his leading performance in Les Miserables, is one of the frontrunners for the best acting Oscar and his SAG best actor nomination continues his journey to a possible Academy Award statuette.

Watts, for the tsunami survivor film The Impossible, is also a great shot at an Oscar nomination after winning over SAG voters.

Kidman's nomination for The Paperboy, based on Peter Dexter's book, was one of the big shocks of the SAG nomination ceremony as the Australian redhead has received little recognition for the role until Wednesday.

With Kidman also receiving the nod in the TV category for Hemingway & Gellhorn, her Oscar chances have received a major boost.

Kidman, Jackman, Watts, Crowe, Weaver and Collette have another chance on Friday (AEDT) when the Golden Globes nominations are announced - another major pre-Oscar bellwether.

The Oscar nominations will be revealed on January 10 while the Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 24.

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NKoreans hail rocket launch; UN condemns

IN Pyongyang, North Koreans clinked beer mugs and danced in the streets to celebrate the country's first satellite in space. In Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, leaders pushed for consequences for Wednesday's successful rocket launch, widely seen as a test that takes the country one step closer to being capable of lobbing nuclear bombs over the Pacific.

The surprising, successful launch of a three-stage rocket similar in design to a model capable of carrying a nuclear-tipped warhead as far as California raises the stakes in the international standoff over North Korea's expanding atomic arsenal. As Pyongyang refines its technology, its next step may be conducting its third nuclear test, experts warn.

The UN Security Council, which has punished North Korea repeatedly for developing its nuclear program, was to meet behind closed doors on Wednesday. The White House called the launch a "highly provocative act that threatens regional security," and even the North's most important ally, China, expressed regret.

In Pyongyang, however, pride over the scientific advancement outweighed the fear of greater international isolation and punishment. North Korea, though struggling to feed its people, is now one of the few countries to have successfully launched a satellite into space from its own soil; bitter rival South Korea is not on the list, though it has tried.

"It's really good news," Jon Il Gwang told The Associated Press as scores poured into the streets after a noon announcement to celebrate the launch by dancing in the snow. "It clearly testifies that our country has the capability to enter into space."

The North acknowledges three prior failed attempts at a space launch, in 1998, 2009 and this April. It also is believed to have attempted a launch in 2006. The April launch failed in the first of three stages, raising doubts among outside observers whether North Korea could fix what was wrong in just eight months, but those doubts were erased on Wednesday.

The Unha rocket, named after the Korean word for "galaxy," blasted off from the Sohae launch pad in Tongchang-ri, northwest of Pyongyang, shortly before 10am (1200 AEST), just three days after North Korea indicated that technical problems might delay the launch.

A South Korean destroyer patrolling the waters west of the Korean Peninsula immediately detected the launch. Japanese officials said the first rocket stage fell into the Yellow Sea and a second stage fell into the Philippine Sea hundreds of kilometres farther south.

The North American Aerospace Defence Command confirmed that "initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit."

In an indication that North Korea's leadership was worried about the success of the launch, the plan was kept quiet inside North Korea until a special noon broadcast on state TV declared the launch a success. Pyongyang was much more open during its last attempt in April, and even took the unusual step of inviting scores of foreign journalists for the occasion, but that launch ended in failure.

Space officials say the rocket is meant to send a satellite into orbit to study crops and weather patterns.

But the launch could leave Pyongyang even more isolated and cut off from much-needed aid and trade.

The UN imposed two rounds of sanctions following nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 and ordered the North not to conduct any launches using ballistic missile technology. Pyongyang maintains its right to develop a civilian space program, saying the satellite will send back crucial scientific data.

The White House condemned what National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor called "yet another example of North Korea's pattern of irresponsible behaviour."

"The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and fully committed to the security of our allies in the region," Vietor said in a statement. "Given this current threat to regional security, the United States will strengthen and increase our close coordination with allies and partners."

Vietor said the international community must "send a clear message that its violations of UN Security Council resolutions have consequences."

China expressed its unhappiness but called for a moderate response from the United Nations.

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'Shocking' British collusion in N Ireland

PRIME Minister David Cameron says there was a "shocking" level of British state collusion in the 1989 paramilitary murder of Northern Ireland lawyer Pat Finucane.

But a year-long, 500-page review found there was no "over-arching state conspiracy" to murder Finucane, who defended high-profile members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Gunmen from the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) used sledgehammers to break down the door of Finucane's house in north Belfast before shooting the 38-year-old Catholic father-of-three 14 times - one of the most controversial murders of the 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.

The review found that two state agents were involved in the murder, along with another person who later became a state agent.

The British army and the Northern Irish police had prior notice of a series of planned attacks by pro-British paramilitaries but did not act, it found.

Finucane rose to prominence defending members of the IRA - the paramilitary organisation responsible for many of the 3000 deaths in the British province - including hunger striker Bobby Sands.

The UDA, which fought for Northern Ireland to retain links to Britain, stood on the other side of the conflict from the IRA, which wanted a united Ireland free from British control.

Senior lawyer Desmond de Silva, who conducted the independent review, found the murder could and should have been stopped.

"I have concluded that two agents who were at the time in the pay of agencies of the state were involved in Patrick Finucane's murder, together with another who was to become an agent of the state after his involvement in that murder became known to the agency that later employed him," his report said.

De Silva said the collusion had taken the form of "the passage of information from members of the security forces to the UDA, the failure to act on threat intelligence, the participation of state agents in the murder and the subsequent failure to investigate and arrest key members of the West Belfast UDA."

Making a statement to parliament after receiving the review, Cameron apologised to the Finucane family on behalf of the British government, saying the report exposed "shocking levels of state collusion".

"I am deeply sorry," Cameron told MPs. "Collusion should never, ever happen."

De Silva's report found that government ministers were misled as to the extent of security force leaks to the UDA and other loyalist paramilitaries.

"My review of the evidence... has left me in no doubt that agents of the state were involved in carrying out serious violations of human rights up to and including murder," the report said.

"However, despite the different strands of involvement by elements of the state, I am satisfied that they were not linked to an over-arching state conspiracy to murder Patrick Finucane."

The Finucane family have requested a public inquiry into the murder.

Cameron said that while he respected their campaign, he had told them when they met last year that "I would do everything I could to try to get the fullest, truest picture of what happened as quickly as possible."

But he said he believed a "costly, lengthy public inquiry... might not, may well not get as far as this."

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Egypt seeks to delay loan request: IMF

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Egypt has asked to delay its request for a $US4.8 billion ($A4.60 billion) loan agreed in November as violent protests mount in Cairo ahead of a referendum on the constitution.

"In light of the unfolding developments on the ground, the Egyptian authorities have asked to postpone their request for a Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF," a Fund spokeswoman said in a statement.

"The Fund remains in close contact with the authorities, and stands ready to continue supporting Egypt during the ongoing transition and to consult with the authorities on the resumption of discussions regarding the Stand-By Arrangement," the spokeswoman said.

The IMF announcement followed violent protests in Egypt over a deeply disputed constitutional referendum proposed by the Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi.

The IMF and Egyptian authorities provisionally agreed on the loan on November 20. The IMF executive board had been expected to review the deal in this month.

The planned IMF loan is aimed at helping the government bridge financing shortfalls through fiscal 2013-2014 as the country rebuilds an economy left battered by the 2011 overthrow of the Hosni Mubarak regime.

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Climate science 'lost in translation'

POLICY-MAKERS are "hanging back" in their response to climate change while they wait for scientific certainty that might never come, a new study suggests.

The report from the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility shows some decision-makers, from politicians to farmers, are delaying taking action on adaptation and risk planning until the uncertainties in climate change information are reduced or disappear altogether.

"But they'll be waiting a long time," report co-author Anthony Kiem told AAP on Wednesday.

Dr Kiem was among University of Newcastle researchers who found a chasm between the way scientists and policy buffs think about climate science.

He said most decision-makers expected more certainty on climate science within the next five to 10 years, so they were not taking urgent action now.

"Effectively they're just hanging back and not making the decisions; they're waiting for the perfect science," Dr Kiem said.

"There's certainly a bit of a gap or a disconnect between what decision-makers need and what climate science is providing."

He said more science communicators and education on both sides could help bridge the gap and ensure that important findings were not "lost in translation".

The report calls for a national "knowledge-broking" program to help address the communication challenge, allowing scientists to understand what information is needed by governments and to make climate science information more useful for decision-makers.

Existing roles like that of Australia's chief scientist were helpful but "ad hoc", Dr Kiem said.

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UK proposes gay marriage in civil ceremony

THE British government says it is proposing to allow same-sex couples to marry in civil ceremonies, but will ban the established Churches of England and Wales from conducting ceremonies.

Culture minister Maria Miller told parliament the new law would allow other religious institutions to "opt-in" to carry out gay marriage ceremonies.

Miller said the Church of England and Church in Wales had made clear their opposition to offering same-sex ceremonies, so the government would "explicitly state" it will be illegal for those churches to offer gay marriage.

While Roman Catholics had joined the established churches in expressing opposition to same-sex marriage, other groups such as Quakers are in favour.

"I feel strongly that, if a couple wish to show their love and commitment to each other, the state should not stand in their way," Miller said.

"European law already puts religious freedom beyond doubt, and we will go even further by bringing in an additional 'quadruple legal lock'.

"But, it is also a key aspect of religious freedom that those bodies who want to opt-in should be able to do so."

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Crisis widens job market gap for women

WOMEN have always faced higher unemployment rates than men, and the sluggish global economy in recent years has only made the situation worse, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says.

On a global scale, women saw their unemployment rate close somewhat on that of men in the 1990s, but the financial crisis since 2008 has reversed that trend, the UN's labour organisation said in a report.

"Gaps that already existed before the crisis have increased after the crisis," said former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, who heads the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

She presented with the ILO the Global Employment Trends for Women 2012 report, which showed that women's worldwide unemployment rate from 2002 to 2005 stood at 5.8 per cent, while 5.3 per cent of men were registered as unemployed.

By 2011, 6.4 per cent of women were unwillingly out of work, compared to just 5.7 per cent of men, the report showed.

"The crisis raised this gap from 0.5 to 0.7 percentage points and destroyed 13 million jobs for women," the report said, adding that "projections do not show a significant reduction in this elevated gap by 2013, or even 2017."

This is bad news for the world economy, the organisation said, pointing to an OECD report indicating that a quarter of annual economic growth in Europe in the 1990s was due to increasing employment among women.

Narrowing the gap "is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do," Bachelet said.

The gender gap in unemployment meanwhile varies widely in different regions, with countries in central and eastern Europe for instance seeing higher unemployment among men than women.

This, the ILO explained, is due to the fact that "initially the crisis hit the male-dominated sectors such as construction."

Globally, however, women are harder hit by crises, the ILO explained, since they are more likely to be working on temporary contracts or to have lower education levels.

Women are also more likely than men to exit and re-enter the labour market or to be forced to take part-time work for family reasons.

"Today in the world, in unemployment. . . women are in a very unequal situation," Bachelet said.

"It's not only about glass ceilings, it is also about leaking pipelines," she said, stressing that women in all positions "have to face. . . invisible barriers."

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Sullivan to steer Catholic Church

AN Australian Medical Association (AMA) chief will help the troubled Catholic Church deal with the "issues and ramifications" of the federal royal commission into child sex abuse.

The secretary general of the federal AMA, Francis Sullivan, will take up the Catholic Church post after five years with the medical lobby group.

The announcement from the AMA did not specify Mr Sullivan's new role, but the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia announced last month they would establish a 10-member council of lay people and members of the clergy and the church was due to announce the head of that council on Wednesday.

AMA president Steve Hambleton described his departing colleague as a "highly respected advocate".

"It is with much regret that the AMA is losing such a strong and well-connected colleague, but he is taking on a role for which he is uniquely equipped and very passionate about," Dr Hambleton said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Francis has been a diligent and hardworking leader and manager for the AMA.

"He has not only been a trusted CEO and adviser to the AMA leadership, he has been a friend and confidant."

Before joining the AMA, Mr Sullivan spent 14 years as the chief executive officer of Catholic Health Australia.

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US trade gap widens in October

THE US trade deficit widened in October as exports fell sharply from the prior month amid a slowing global economy, government data shows.

The trade gap increased to $US42.2 billion ($A40.41 billion) from a revised $40.3 billion in September, the Commerce Department said.

Exports fell by 3.6 per cent, while imports fell by 2.1 per cent.

The decline in exports was the sharpest since January 2009, led by a 4.8 per cent drop in goods exports.

"Trade looks to contribute slightly to US GDP growth again in the current quarter, but pronounced weakness in exports and imports says all there is to say about the US economy's momentum," said Sal Guatieri at BMO Capital Markets.

The politically sensitive trade shortfall with China, one of the United States's biggest trading partners, expanded to a record $28.1 billion, bringing the year's 10-month total to $245.5 billion.

The three-month average trade deficit rose to $41.7 billion in October from $41.5 billion in September.

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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 in the first half of 2012 and an inkling that businesses feel more optimism going into 2013.

The proportion of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) expecting the economy to improve over the next 12 months had steadied at 19 per cent in March and June this year, after being in sharp decline from 47 per cent since October 2010.

"Our research indicates the small and medium business sector has reached a turning point, with economic confidence and revenue expectations steady over the second half of the previous financial year," MYOB chief Tim Reed said in a statement on Tuesday.

"With almost three in every four expecting either stable or rising revenue this financial year we could see a concurrent rise in economic confidence into 2013."

Mr Reed also said federal government changes to tax-free thresholds from July should help boost business performance.

"The tax-free threshold increase for individuals to $18,200 may see more part time workers join and stay in the workforce, allowing operators to draw from a larger group of skilled candidates when employing new staff," he said.

"Another positive contributor is the small business instant tax write-off increase to $6,500, which I encourage taking advantage of to invest in equipment that improves productivity and cash flow."

Mr Reed said 45 per cent of SMEs also viewed the tax loss carry-back scheme as positive.

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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 customers were cut off, a jump of 33 per cent on the previous year, while more than 20,000 gas customers were disconnected - up 50 per cent.

The report found that almost half of the disconnected customers were reconnected within seven days indicating that they were residents who had trouble paying their bills.

"As the high rate of reconnections at the same address implies, most of the disconnections are of customers who struggle to pay their bills - not 'skippers' or movers from a residence," said ESC chief executive David Heeps.

"If retailers could better identify and support customers in hardship, then the adoption of a payment plan may head off disconnection as a last resort."

The Victorian Council of Social Services said energy retailers were treating customers in hardship too harshly.

The welfare body said that disconnecting people too often proves the energy industry needed to brought into line and it was time the state government stepped in.

"More people are being disconnected from their essential energy supply than at any time since the industry was privatised and the state government needs to step in to pull the industry into line," said VCOSS chief executive Penny Wilson.

She said energy retailers are entitled to be paid but they have a legal obligation to help customers in financial difficulty by offering flexible payment options or special hardship assistance.

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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 northwestern province of Qinghai, an area with a high population of ethnic Tibetans, just before 7pm (2200 AEDT) on Sunday, Xinhua said.

Her body was cremated four hours later and returned to her family, the news agency said, adding that local government officials were investigating.

More than 90 Tibetans have set themselves ablaze since 2009 to protest China's rule of the Tibetan plateau, rights groups have said, with the frequency of incidents increasing sharply in November. Most have died.

According to a partial list drawn up by the London-based campaign group Free Tibet the teenager is among the youngest girls to have set themselves on fire.

Xinhua reported on Sunday that a monk and his nephew had been detained for inciting eight Tibetans to set themselves alight.

Many Tibetans in China accuse the government of religious repression and eroding their culture, as the country's majority Han ethnic group increasingly moves into historically minority areas.

Beijing rejects this, saying Tibetans enjoy religious freedom. The government points to huge on-going investment it says has brought modernisation and a better standard of living to Tibet.

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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 Edward VII's Hospital five times to discuss the prank call conducted with two nurses, one of whom, Jacintha Saldanha, was found dead on Friday in a suspected suicide.

But a hospital spokesman said: "Following the hoax call, the station did not talk to anyone in hospital senior management or anyone at the company that handles our media inquiries."

The 2Day FM hosts who made the call last week, in which they obtained private details of Kate's acute morning sickness by pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and William's father Prince Charles, spoke on Monday of their grief at the nurse's death.

Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who have been in hiding and undergoing counselling since their hoax sparked global outrage, said they were devastated.

Saldanha, a mother-of-two originally from southern India, was found dead in nurses' accommodation near the hospital on Friday.

She had picked up the prank call and put it through to another nurse, who revealed details of Kate's condition.

Results of the post-mortem could be published later on Monday, although the timing has yet to be confirmed, a police spokeswoman said.

Kate, who is thought to be around nine weeks pregnant, spent three days being treated at the hospital.

2Day FM's owner, Southern Cross Austereo, reacted to growing alarm over the story by pulling the two hosts off air until further notice, axing their show, suspending all advertising on 2Day FM until further notice and forbidding any prank calls across its network.

The company, which faced a diving share price and threats of a cyber attack on Monday, expressed its "deep and sincere condolences" to the nurse's family.

"We are very sorry for what has happened," said CEO Rhys Holleran.

"We are also providing support to our people who are deeply saddened by this tragic and unforeseen event."

Greig said she was prepared to attend any inquest in London and see the nurse's family face to face.

"If that's something that they want to do, to get some closure, then I'll do that," she said.

"It was meant to be a silly little prank that so many people have done before. This wasn't meant to happen."

"I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened. I remember my first question was, 'Was she a mother?' I can't imagine what they (the family) would be going through."

Saldanha had two children. Her husband, Ben Barboza, expressed his sadness on his Facebook page with a short note "Obituary Jacintha."

"I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances," he wrote.

He said she will be laid to rest in Shirva, India.

Meanwhile, there were indications that the Duchess of Cambridge was still struggling with acute morning sickness, with her husband, Prince William, cancelling a Sunday night engagement.

Palace officials said her illness means she will probably not attend the UK premiere of The Hobbit film on Wednesday, where she and William are scheduled to be the guests of honour.

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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 newspaper on Tuesday says Labor's primary support climbed as high as 36 per cent during the spring session of federal parliament on the belief the worst was over with the introduction of the carbon tax.

The paper says the AWU slush fund controversy, although fended off by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as smear and sleaze, has taken a toll, whittling its vote to 32 per cent - where it was in February.

On a two-party preferred basis, the Tony Abbott-led coalition has opened a clear election-winning lead of 54 per cent to Labor's 46 per cent.

At the August 2010 election, Labor lost its parliamentary majority with a two-party preferred result of 50.1 per cent to the coalition's 49.9 per cent.

The paper says if an election were held now, based on the Newspoll results, the Gillard government would lose at least 14 seats.

However, Ms Gillard maintains a commanding lead on who would make the better prime minister, leading Mr Abbott by 43 per cent (down three points) to 34 per cent (up one point).

Voter satisfaction for Ms Gillard's performance eased one point to 36 per cent, with dissatisfaction steady at 52 per cent, while satisfaction with Mr Abbott slipped two points to 28 per cent and dissatisfaction falling two points to 59 per cent.

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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 being kept in the hospital for a third day for more tests.

Mandela is revered by South Africans, and by many people around the world, for being a leader of the struggle against racist white rule in South Africa and for preaching reconciliation once he emerged from prison in 1990 after 27 years behind bars. He won South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994 that marked the end of apartheid.

South Africans tensely awaited word Monday on Mandela even as authorities tried to offer reassurances, but gave no details.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula spoke to journalists outside 1 Military Hospital in the capital, Pretoria, after seeing Mandela, 94. She offered the first government confirmation that Mandela, who has received military medical care since 2011, is at that hospital.

"He's doing very, very well," she said. "And it is important to keep him in our prayers and also to be as calm as possible and not cause a state of panic because I think that is not what all of us need."

A statement issued later Monday by the office of President Jacob Zuma said Mandela "had a good night's rest. The doctors will still conduct further tests today. He is in good hands. "

On Saturday, Zuma's office announced Mandela had been admitted to a Pretoria hospital for medical tests and care that was "consistent for his age". Zuma visited Mandela Sunday and found the former leader to be "comfortable and in good care," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement. Maharaj offered no other details about Mandela, nor what medical tests he had undergone since entering the hospital.

In February, Mandela spent a night in a hospital for a minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint. In January 2011, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but what turned out to be an acute respiratory infection.

Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his years in prison and had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985. In 2001, Mandela underwent seven weeks of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, ultimately beating the disease.

After serving one five-year term, the Nobel laureate retired from public life and later settled in his remote village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape area. He last made a public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament. He has grown increasingly frail in recent years.

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What not to eat at Christmas

BRUSSELS sprouts may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they definitely should not be on some plates at Christmas.

The controversial vegetable is a traditional festive staple in countries including the UK.

But it can be a dangerous accompaniment to blood-thinning drugs like Warfarin, as one Scottish patient found out.

The Scottish man was prescribed the drug for heart failure and warned to stay away from green leafy vegetables, especially brussel sprouts.

The vitamin K in the vegetable can interfere with the drug and cause adverse effects including bleeding, which can be fatal.

Despite the advice, the man consumed 15 to 20 brussel sprouts on three to four occasions in one week during the festive period and was admitted to hospital three days after Christmas, where his condition improved.

His treating physicians from the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Glasgow warned doctors and patients about the dangers of consuming excessive quantities of brussel sprouts at the Christmas table.

"Doctors should consider counselling patients who must remain anticoagulated at all times ... against excessive consumption of this traditional Christmas fare," they wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday.

Meanwhile, those considering starting Christmas with a grapefruit breakfast or tossing a grapefruit salad might want to check their medication first.

Chemicals in grapefruit called furanocoumarins can interfere with up to 85 known medications, including cholesterol-lowering drugs, and can cause serious side effects in the case of 45 of them.

The fruit interacts with medications to increase the concentration of the drug in the bloodstream, putting patients at risk of overdose.

But Christmas can be a time of overindulgence for everyone, which carries its own risks.

Australasian College for Emergency Medicine president Dr Anthony Cross said emergency departments regularly see the effects of overindulgence at Christmas.

Often, it was a result of too much cheap food and wine, he said.

He suggested people buy a little less, but spend more on quality goods.

"Eat the good stuff and drink the expensive stuff," Dr Cross said.

Heart Foundation clinical issues director Dr Robert Grenfell said heart failure patients needed to watch their fluid intake, particularly alcohol, as it could affect their treatment.

Details about medications that react with grapefruit can be found on the website of the National Prescribing Service: www.nps.org.au

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Poorer people miss out on weight surgery

OBESE Australians most in need of stomach-reduction surgery are missing out, new research shows.

A survey of almost 50,000 obese Australians found those living in socially disadvantaged areas on low incomes were less likely to have bariatric surgery than their higher earning, better-educated counterparts.

This was despite evidence that people from lower socioeconomic groups were more likely to be obese.

The research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday, found obese people earning more than $70,000 a year were five times more likely to have bariatric surgery than those earning less than $20,000 per year.

Those living in the least disadvantaged areas were four times more likely to have surgery than those living in the most disadvantaged areas, the study by researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), University of NSW and the Sax Institute found.

Clinical guidelines recommend bariatric surgery only be carried out for those with a body mass index (BMI) over 40kg after other non-surgical options have failed.

ANU researcher Dr Rosemary Korda said it was the first study examining bariatric surgery in Australia according to socioeconomic status.

"We know that obesity is concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups but our research shows that those who need bariatric surgery the most are the least likely to receive it," Dr Korda said.

There was limited availability of bariatric surgery, which includes gastric banding and bypass procedures, in public hospitals, she said.

Meanwhile, Medicare subsidised the surgery for private patients, effectively restricting lapband surgery to patients who can afford private health insurance and large out-of-pocket costs.

Of the 49,364 participants in the study, 312 had bariatric surgery but only one of those was treated publicly.

Co-author Professor Emily Banks of the Sax Institute said the decision to have surgery should be between a patient and their doctor, based on medical need.

"If surgery was distributed among a wider range of patients, inequalities in obesity and health-related problems could decline," she said.

In 2009, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing recommended bariatric surgery be made more available in public hospitals because people who needed it most were missing out.

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New laws cause rise in child abuse reports

STRICTER child protection laws have led to a surge in Aboriginal child abuse notifications in the Northern Territory, research shows.

Notification rates for the maltreatment of Aboriginal children increased on average by about 21 per cent a year between 1999 and 2010, according to NT government child protection figures published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday.

The number of substantiated cases grew by 18 per cent a year.

The biggest increases in substantiated cases were for emotional abuse, which grew by 30 per cent a year, and neglect, which rose 22 per cent a year.

The increases began around 2002, when national attention focused on the maltreatment of Aboriginal children following two state-based inquiries in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the authors said.

Mandatory reporting obligations were strengthened in NT in 2007, the same year the 'Little children are sacred' report into the sexual abuse of Aboriginal children in the territory was released.

"The timing of these changes was consistent with the surge in notifications by many of the reporter groups, including health professionals, school personnel and police," the report's authors said.

"The spotlight placed on child maltreatment in the Northern Territory through two inquiries and the resulting legislative and service responses, including strengthened mandatory reporting obligations, created a surge in notifications."

There were more than 35,000 child protection notifications during the period and 66 per cent of those related to Aboriginal children.

The research was led by Dr Steven Guthridge from the Northern Territory department of health.

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Christmas shoppers hitting the streets

AUSTRALIAN shoppers will be weighing up who's been naughty or nice as they splash out $285 each on Christmas gifts this week.

Friends and relatives of ACT residents are in for a particular treat, though, as it is estimated they will each spend nearly $500 this week getting their Christmas shopping done.

The Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) said the penultimate week before Christmas would see shoppers flocking to the nation's stores.

Victoria is set to be a hotspot of shopping, with people spending $171 million more this week than they did the previous week, according to predictions from ANRA and the GE Capital Christmas Retail Index.

"Victoria has always been kind to the retail sector; we're hoping the surge to the shops before Christmas sets the tone for 2013," said ANRA chief executive Margy Osmond.

"Australians will spend $6.5 billion this week on Christmas gifts - $934 million on domestic online and almost $5.6 billion instore - to fill the contents of many a Christmas stocking."

Retailers are cautiously optimistic about Christmas trade despite October's flat retail figures, which were recently announced.

"October's cash rate cut didn't give the retail sector the lift we might have hoped for but the cash rate cut was not immediately passed on by the banks and consumers no longer respond immediately to a cut," added Ms Osmond.

"We are hoping as Aussies realise there is extra cash in their wallets they will splurge a little on the Christmas season or, at the very least, in the post-Christmas sales."

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Six dead as heavy snow hits Balkans

FREEZING temperatures and heavy snowfall have killed at least six people and caused travel chaos across the Balkans.

Officials said four people have died in Croatia and two in Serbia as a result of blizzards in the region of southwestern Europe over the weekend, closing airports and roads and blocking public transportation in big cities.

People travelling in vehicles waited for hours on several roads in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina, including the main highway leading from Belgrade to the Hungarian border, before rescue teams could free them from 50cm of snow that had fallen in just a few hours.

A woman gave birth to a healthy baby in a stranded truck on her way to a hospital, and named her Snezana, or Snow White in Serbian, state TV reported.

Ivica Dacic, who serves as Serbia's prime minister and interior minister, ordered all available police personnel to take part in the rescue operations.

The airport in Zagreb, Croatia, was closed for several hours on Saturday, and some of that nation's roads were closed because of high winds and heavy snow. The situation improved in Croatia on Sunday, but a warning against driving remained in place because of icy roads.

Authorities in Serbia and Croatia warned people to stay indoors.

Blizzards have also hit Slovenia and Bosnia.

As the storms headed east across the Balkans on Sunday, Romania's army was trying to clear snowbound roads as the country voted in a parliamentary election.

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13 die after Taiwan bus falls into ravine

A TOUR bus has plunged 300 metres down a ravine deep inside Taiwan's mountains in Hsinchu County, killing 13 passengers.

Ten others were injured in the crash which occurred on Sunday, according to the Hsinchu fire bureau.

Authorities said the passengers were mostly alumni of a local elementary school, in their sixties, who had booked the bus to visit an indigenous mountain village.

"Some died because they were thrown out of the bus," Lin Yuan-yuan, a fire bureau official, told DPA.

"Others were killed inside, as if they were thrown by the bus to the wrong spot at the wrong time."

Local media reported slick road conditions at the crash site.

Investigators are expected to question the driver, who survived the crash.

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