A MAN has drowned at a beach on the NSW Central Coast after getting caught in a rip.
Police say the 27-year-old man was one of six people swimming at Budgewoi beach when four members of the group got into trouble because of strong currents at about 5.25pm (AEDT) on Saturday.
Most of the group were helped out of the water by friends but the 27-year-old could not be reached.
He was later taken from the water by beachgoers but could not be revived.
INDIAN police charged six men with murder, hours after a woman who was gang-raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi nearly two weeks ago died in a Singapore hospital.
New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the six face the death penalty if convicted, in a case that has triggered protests across India for greater protection for women from sexual violence, and raised questions about lax attitudes by police toward sexual crimes.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was aware of the emotions the attack has stirred, adding it was up to all Indians to ensure that the young woman's death will not have been in vain.
The victim "passed away peacefully" yesterday at Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore with her family and officials of the Indian Embassy by her side, Dr. Kevin Loh, the chief executive of the hospital, said in a statement.
After 10 days at a hospital in New Delhi, the Indian capital, the woman was brought Thursday to Mount Elizabeth, which specialises in multi-organ transplants.
Dr Loh said the woman had been in extremely critical condition since Thursday, and by yesterday her condition had taken a turn for the worse, with her vital signs deteriorating.
"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days," Dr Loh said.
"She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds, but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome."
The woman and a male friend, who have not been identified, were on a bus in New Delhi after watching a film on the evening of Dec. 16 when they were attacked by six men who raped her. The men beat the couple and inserted an iron rod into the woman's body, resulting in severe organ damage. Both were then stripped and thrown off the bus, according to police.
Indian police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, which left the victim with severe internal injuries, a lung infection and brain damage. She also suffered from a heart attack while in the hospital in New Delhi.
Indian High Commissioner, or ambassador, T.C.A. Raghavan told reporters that the scale of the injuries the woman suffered was "very grave" and in the end "proved too much."
He said arrangements were being made to return her body to India later today.
The frightening nature of the crime shocked Indians, who have come out in the thousands for almost daily demonstrations.
As news of the victim's death reached New Delhi yesterday, hundreds of policemen sealed off the high-security India Gate area, where the seat of India's government is located, in anticipation of more protests. The area is home to the president's palace, the prime minister's office and key defence, external affairs and home ministries.
The area had seen battles between protesters and police for days after the attack.
Ten metro stations in the vicinity also were closed, Mr Bhagat said.
Police were allowing people to assemble at the Jantar Mantar and Ramlila grounds, the main areas allotted for protests in New Delhi, he said.
Mourners began gathering at Jantar Mantar to express their grief and demand stronger protection for women and the death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. Women face daily harassment across India, ranging from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport to rape.
They put a wreath studded with white flowers on the road, lit a candle and sat around it in a silent tribute to the young woman. Members of a theatre group nearby played small tambourine and sang songs urging the society to wake up and end discrimination against women.
Dipali, a working woman who uses one name, said the rape victim deserved justice.
"I hope it never happens again to any girl," she said.
Dozens of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi marched silently to the bus stop from where the rape victim and her friend had boarded the bus on Dec. 16. They carried placards reading "She is not with us but her story must awaken us."
Nehra Kaul Mehra, a young Indian studying urban and gender policing at Columbia University in the US, said "We come from a feudal and patriarchal set-up where we value men more than women."
"We kill daughters before they are born. Those who live are fed less, educated less and segregated from boys," she said with a black band of protest around her mouth.
Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, assured the protesters in a statement that the rape victim's death "deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, the shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such an impunity."
The protesters heckled Sheila Dikshit, the top elected leader of New Delhi state, when she came to express her sympathy with them and forced her to leave the protest venue. They blamed her for the deteriorating law and order situation in the Indian capital.
Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the woman's death was a sobering reminder of the widespread sexual violence in India.
"The outrage now should lead to law reform that criminalizes all forms of sexual assault, strengthens mechanisms for implementation and accountability, so that the victims are not blamed and humiliated," Ms Ganguly said.
Prime Minister Singh said he understood the angry reaction to the attack and that he hoped all Indians would work together to make appropriate changes.
"These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change," Mr Singh said in a statement.
"It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action."
He said the government was examining the penalties for crimes such as rape "to enhance the safety and security of women."
"I hope that the entire political class and civil society will set aside narrow sectional interests and agendas to help us all reach the end that we all desire - making India a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in," Mr Singh said.
Mamta Sharma, head of the state-run National Commission for Women, said the "time has come for strict laws" to stop violence against women. "The society has to change its mindset to end crimes against women," she said.
The tragedy has forced India to confront the reality that sexually assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, forcing them to keep quiet and discouraging them from reporting it to authorities for fear of exposing their families to ridicule.
Police often refuse to accept complaints from those who are courageous enough to report the rapes, and the rare prosecutions that reach courts drag on for years.
Indian attitudes toward rape are so entrenched that even politicians and opinion makers have often suggested that women should not go out at night or wear clothes that might be seen provocative.
On Friday, Abhijit Mukherjee, a national lawmaker and the son of India's president, apologised for calling the protesters "highly dented and painted" women who go from discos to demonstrations.
"I tender my unconditional apology to all the people whose sentiments got hurt," he told NDTV news.
Several Indian celebrities reacted with sadness over the woman's death. Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, "Her body has passed away, but her soul shall forever stir our hearts."
Separately, authorities in Punjab state took action Thursday when an 18-year-old woman killed herself by drinking poison a month after she told police she was gang-raped.
State authorities suspended one police officer and fired two others on accusations they delayed investigating and taking action in the case. The three accused in the rape were arrested only on Thursday night, a month after the crime was reported.
"This is a very sensitive crime, I have taken it very seriously," said Paramjit Singh Gill, a top police officer in the city of Patiala.
The Press Trust of India reported that the woman was raped Nov. 13 and reported the attack to police Nov. 27. But police harassed the girl, asked her embarrassing questions and took no action against the accused, PTI reported, citing police sources.
Authorities in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh also suspended a police officer on accusations he refused to register a rape complaint from a woman who said she had been attacked by a driver.
A FRENCH constitutional panel has thrown out a plan to tax the ultra-wealthy at a 75 per cent rate, saying it is excessive.
The constitutional council ruled that the highly contentious tax, which President Francois Hollande promised to impose while campaigning, was unfair. It was intended to hit those with incomes over 1 million euros ($1.29 million).
The French government approved the tax in its most recent budget, but even before many said it would do little to stem the country's mounting fiscal problems and would drive away the wealthiest citizens.
Mr Hollande's popularity, meanwhile, has been tanking as the country's unemployment continued its rise for the 19th straight month.
In recent weeks, Gerard Depardieu - France's most famous actor - moved to Belgium to avoid his home country's high taxes.
PAKISTAN provisionally unblocked access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube after taking measures to filter blasphemous material and pornography, officials said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in September ordered the blocking of YouTube after the US-based website refused to heed the government's call to remove a controversial anti-Islam video.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has notified all internet companies to "immediately unblock/restore complete YouTube website provisionally till further orders".
Weeks of protests in Pakistan over the crudely made Innocence of Muslims film saw more than 20 people killed and caused serious damage in major cities.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Twitter that the decision to allow access was due to huge public demand, and that the telecom regulator would install a firewall to maintain a block on unseemly content.
"There was a great demand to unblock YouTube from all sections of society... expect the notification today," Mr Malik said.
"PTA is finalising negotiations for acquiring a powerful firewall software to totally block pornographic and blasphemous material," he added.
The Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) confirmed they have also received the notification and welcomed the announcement.
ISPAK Convener Wahajus Siraj said that when the ban first came into force, internet video traffic in Pakistan plummeted by up to 30 per cent.
"It is a good development because many people, especially students and institutions, were using YouTube for education, and were facing difficulties as alternate websites were not as good," he said.
According to PTA there are 2.1 million Internet subscribers in Pakistan.
TWENTY-six people were injured in a collision between a Hong Kong-bound passenger ferry and a buoy in Macau, authorities said.
The ferry crashed into the buoy in Macau's Outer Harbour around 10 minutes after it left the ferry terminal at approximately 12:15 pm (0415 GMT), Macau Maritime Administration senior technical officer Lam Son said.
All of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the ship was towed back to the terminal, Mr Lam said.
"It was said that the boat went off course, so it crashed into a buoy," Mr Lam said, adding the ferry was not speeding and that the visibility was poor at only 0.8 nautical miles.
"Just by looking at the vessel, it doesn't seem to have extensive damage, but initial investigations showed that one of its underwater wings had fallen into the sea," he said.
Mr Lam said there were 175 passengers and eight crew members on board the vessel, and that everyone was accounted for. He also said the waterway reopened after forty-five minutes and that an investigation into the incident is under way.
Twenty-six people onboard suffered minor injuries, a government statement said, adding that "the ship lost power but did not have water leakage nor did it have the risk of sinking".
Television footage showed injured passengers being rushed off the ferry in stretchers, one-by-one, by emergency services.
A lot of passengers fell out of their seats because they were not wearing safety belts, a ferry passenger surnamed Leung told local television news channel Cable TV.
"Once the collision happened, I thought about the Lamma Island accident, so my wife and I immediately looked for life jackets to put on our son and ourselves," Mr Leung said, referring to the deadly October ferry collision in Hong Kong.
Thirty-nine people died and 87 were injured in Hong Kong's worst maritime disaster in decades, when a high-speed ferry collided with a pleasure boat carrying around 120 passengers on a company trip to watch National Day fireworks.
ENGLAND has experienced its wettest year on record, with parts of the country due to receive further heavy downpours on the last weekend of 2012.
The UK Met Office confirmed that with a total average rainfall of 1095.8mm across England up until Thursday, 2012 is the wettest year since records began in 1910.
The figure surpassed the previous record of 1093.3mm in 2000.
"Since April we have had some really wet weather across England and that is largely a result of the shifting jet-stream pattern," Met Office spokesman Andy Yeatman told British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
"It means it has now been the wettest year in England since records began in 1910, and there is more rain to come."
Forecasters say it is possible more than 100mm will fall before January 1, as England's soggy festive season continues.
CHINA has launched commercial and public services across the Asia-Pacific region on its domestic satellite navigation network built to rival the US global positioning system.
The Beidou, or Compass, system started providing services to civilians in the region on Thursday and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020, state media reported.
Ran Chengqi, spokesman for the China Satellite Navigation Office, said the system's performance was "comparable" to GPS, the China Daily said.
"Signals from Beidou can be received in countries such as Australia," he said.
It is the latest accomplishment in space technology for China, which aims to build a space station by the end of the decade and eventually send a manned mission to the moon.
China sees the multi-billion-dollar program as a symbol of its rising global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.The Beidou system comprises 16 navigation satellites and four experimental satellites, the paper said. Mr Ran added that the system would ultimately provide global navigation, positioning and timing services.
The start of commercial services comes a year after Beidou - which literally means the Big Dipper in Chinese - began a limited positioning service for China and adjacent areas.
China began building the network in 2000 to avoid relying on GPS.
"Having a satellite navigation system is of great strategic significance," the Global Times newspaper, which has links to the Communist Party, said in an editorial.
"China has a large market, where the Beidou system can benefit both the military and civilians," the paper said.
"With increases in profit, the Beidou system will be able to eventually develop into a global navigation satellite system which can compete with GPS."
In a separate report, the paper said satellite navigation was seen as one of China's "strategic emerging industries".
Sun Jiadong, the system's chief engineer, told the 21st century Business Herald newspaper that as Beidou matures it will erode GPS's current 95 percent market share in China, the Global Times said.
Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Sydney, Australia, said that making significant inroads into that dominance anywhere outside China is unlikely.
"GPS is freely available, highly accessed and is well-known and trusted by the world at large," he said.
"It has brand recognition and has successfully fought off other challenges."
Mr Morris described any commercial benefits China gains as "icing on the cake" and that the main reason for developing Beidou is to protect its own national security given the possibility US-controlled GPS could be cut off.
"It's that possibility, that they could be denied access to GPS, that inspires other nations to develop their own system that would be free of control by the United States," he said.
"At a time of war you do not want to be denied" access, he said.
The Global Times editorial, while trumpeting Beidou as "not a second-class product or a carbon-copy of GPS" still appeared to recognise its limitations, at least in the early stages.
"Some problems may be found in its operation because Beidou is a new system. Chinese consumers should... show tolerance toward the Beidou system," it said.
A WOMAN has been airlifted to hospital after becoming trapped in a long-drop outdoor toilet in central Queensland.
The woman, 65, was climbing off a trailer when she fell backwards into the 2.5-metre-deep open hole on a property at Wartburg, a spokeswoman for the AGL Action Rescue Helicopter said in a statement.
The Gladstone woman suffered a fractured leg in the tumble and spent a number of hours down the hole before being found by her husband.
Emergency services managed to get the woman out of the hole in what was described as a "very difficult extraction".
The woman was airlifted to Bundaberg Base Hospital in a stable condition.
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin signed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children, making the legislation official less than 24 hours after his office received it from Parliament.
The bill has angered Americans and Russians who argue it victimises children to make a political point, cutting off a route out of frequently dismal orphanages for thousands of children. The Russian-language hashtag "PutinEatsKids" was trending on Twitter just minutes after Mr Putin signed it.
UNICEF estimates that there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia while about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt a child.
The law also blocks dozens of Russian children now in the process of being adopted by American families from leaving the country. The US is the biggest destination for adopted Russian children - more than 60,000 of them have been taken in by Americans over the past two decades.
The measure is retaliation for an American law that calls for sanctions against Russian officials deemed human rights violators. The US State Department has said it regrets Russian Parliament's decision to pass the bill, arguing it would prevent many children from growing up in families.
Children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov says that 46 children who were about to be adopted in the US would remain in Russia if the bill comes into effect.
Mr Putin has said that US authorities routinely let Americans suspected of violence toward Russian adoptees go unpunished.
The passage of the bill followed weeks of a hysterical media campaign on Kremlin-controlled television that lambasts American adoptive parents and adoption agencies that allegedly bribe their way into getting Russian children.
A few lawmakers claimed that some Russian children were adopted by Americans only to be used for organ transplants and become sex toys or cannon fodder for the US Army.
A spokesman with Russia's dominant Orthodox Church said that the children adopted by foreigners and raised outside the church will not "enter God's kingdom."
A TEENAGE boy has been injured by a bullet he threw into a bonfire.
Police said the 13-year-old boy was throwing bullets into a bonfire in the backyard of his home in Penrith when one of them exploded about 9.40pm on Friday.
The bullet hit the boy in the stomach and he was taken to hospital. He was not seriously injured, police said in a statement.
Penrith Local Area command duty officer, Inspector Harry Goedings, said: "This young man was very lucky. Had the bullet hit him in the head, we could be dealing with a fatality."
A MAN who died after falling from a runabout off the NSW Central Coast was not wearing a life jacket, police say.
A 57-year-old Monterey man was fishing on Thursday from the rear of the boat approximately 1km off Forresters Beach, while his 64-year-old brother from Canley Heights operated the vessel.
Police said the younger man fell from the stern of the boat and was not wearing a life jacket, and his older brother was unable to rescue him.
Just after 1pm (AEDT), emergency services were alerted to a man in the water. The 57-year-old was taken to shore by lifeguards, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, police said.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner, but said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
CHINA'S new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.
The measures suggest China's new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November share their predecessors' anxiety about the internet's potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their insistence on controlling information despite promises of more economic reforms.
"They are still very paranoid about the potentially destabilising effect of the Internet," said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"They are on the point of losing a monopoly on information, but they still are very eager to control the dissemination of views."
This week, China's legislature took up a measure to require internet users to register their real names, a move that would curtail the Web's status as a freewheeling forum to complain, often anonymously, about corruption and official abuses.
The legislature scheduled a news conference Friday to discuss the measure, suggesting it was expected to be approved.
That comes amid reports Beijing might be disrupting use of software that allows Web surfers to see sites abroad that are blocked by its extensive internet filters. At the same time, regulators have proposed rules that would bar foreign companies from distributing books, news, music and other material online in China.
Beijing promotes internet use for business and education but bans material deemed subversive or obscene and blocks access to foreign websites run by human rights and Tibet activists and some news outlets. Controls were tightened after social media played a role in protests that brought down governments in Egypt and Tunisia.
In a reminder of the Web's role as a political forum, a group of 70 prominent Chinese scholars and lawyers circulated an online petition this week appealing for free speech, independent courts and for the ruling party to encourage private enterprise.
Mr Xi and others on the party's ruling seven-member Standing Committee have tried to promote an image of themselves as men of the people who care about China's poor majority. They have promised to press ahead with market-oriented reforms and to support entrepreneurs but have given no sign of support for political reform.
Communist leaders who see the internet as a source of economic growth and better-paid jobs were slow to enforce the same level of control they impose on movies, books and other media, apparently for fear of hurting fledgling entertainment, shopping and other online businesses.
Until recently, Web surfers could post comments online or on microblog services without leaving their names.
That gave ordinary Chinese a unique opportunity to express themselves to a public audience in a society where newspapers, television and other media are state-controlled. The most popular microblog services say they have more than 300 million users and some users have millions of followers reading their comments.
The internet also has given the public an unusual opportunity to publicize accusations of official misconduct.
A local party official in China's southwest was fired in November after scenes from a videotape of him having sex with a young woman spread quickly on the internet.
Screenshots were uploaded by a former journalist in Beijing, Zhu Ruifeng, to his Hong Kong website, an online clearing house for corruption allegations.
Some industry analysts suggest allowing Web surfers in a controlled setting to vent helps communist leaders stay abreast of public sentiment in their fast-changing society. Still, microblog services and online bulletin boards are required to employ censors to enforce content restrictions. Researchers say they delete millions of postings a day.
The government says the latest internet regulation before the National People's Congress is aimed at protecting Web surfers' personal information and cracking down on abuses such as junk e-mail. It would require users to report their real names to internet service and telecom providers.
The main ruling party newspaper, People's Daily, has called in recent weeks for tighter internet controls, saying rumors spread online have harmed the public.
In one case, it said stories about a chemical plant explosion resulted in the deaths of four people in a car accident as they fled the area.
Proposed rules released this month by the General Administration of Press and Publications would bar Chinese-foreign joint ventures from publishing books, music, movies and other material online in China. Publishers would be required to locate their servers in China and have a Chinese citizen as their local legal representative.
That is in line with rules that already bar most foreign access to China's media market, but the decision to group the restrictions together and publicise them might indicate official attitudes are hardening.
That comes after the party was rattled by foreign news reports about official wealth and misconduct.
In June, Bloomberg News reported that Xi's extended family has amassed assets totaling $376 million, though it said none was traced to Xi. The government has blocked access to Bloomberg's website since then.
In October, The New York Times reported that Premier Wen Jiabao's relatives had amassed $2.7 billion since he rose to national office in 2002. Access to the Times' Chinese-language site has been blocked since then.
Previous efforts to tighten controls have struggled with technical challenges in a country with more than 500 million Internet users.
Microblog operators such as Sina Corp. and Tencent Ltd. were ordered in late 2011 to confirm users' names but have yet to finish the daunting task.
Web surfers can circumvent government filters by using virtual private networks - software that encrypts Web traffic and is used by companies to transfer financial data and other sensitive information. But VPN users say disruptions that began in 2011 are increasing, suggesting Chinese regulators are trying to block encrypted traffic.
Curbs on access to foreign sites have prompted complaints by companies and Chinese scientists and other researchers.
In July, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said 74 percent of companies that responded to a survey said unstable Internet access "impedes their ability to do business."
Chinese leaders "realize there are detrimental impacts on business, especially foreign business, but they have counted the cost and think it is still worthwhile," said Lam. "There is no compromise about the political imperative of controlling the Internet."
SURGEONS in Turkey are seeing a spike in the number of men seeking facial hair transplants, according to newspaper reports.
Since moustache and beard implants were introduced in 2000, Istanbul-based specialist Selahattin Tulunay said the procedure has grown to about 25 per cent of his workload.
"Thick hair is a status symbol, and a sign of strength and virility," said the doctor, adding that Arabs, mostly from the Gulf countries make up the majority of his customers.
"Both in Turkey and in Arab countries facial hair is associated with masculinity and its lack can cause social difficulties," Dr Tulunay told British newspaper The Guardian.
"In Turkish there is a word for it: kose - baldness of the face - and it is usually not considered a good thing. Businessmen come to me to get beard and moustache implants because they say that business partners do not take them seriously if they don't sport facial hair."
Hair transplant travel packages attract about 50 Arab tourists to Turkey each day, said a travel agent specialising in the follicle tours.
They cost about STG1400 ($2192) and include medical and overnight costs incurred during the four days that the procedure usually takes.
A MAN who died after falling from a runabout off the NSW Central Coast was not wearing a life jacket, police say.
A 57-year-old Monterey man was fishing on Thursday from the rear of the boat approximately 1km off Forresters Beach, while his 64-year-old brother from Canley Heights operated the vessel.
Police said the younger man fell from the stern of the boat and was not wearing a life jacket, and his older brother was unable to rescue him.
Just after 1pm (AEDT), emergency services were alerted to a man in the water. The 57-year-old was taken to shore by lifeguards, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, police said.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner, but said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
DOCTORS in Singapore battled to save the life of an Indian student who sustained horrific injuries in a gang-rape after she was dramatically airlifted from a hospital in New Delhi.
As India's prime minister vowed that the attackers of the 23-year-old would face swift justice, medics at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital described her condition in the intensive care unit as "extremely critical".
"She is being examined and the hospital is working with the Indian High Commission (embassy)," the hospital added in a brief statement.
The Indian government, which is paying for the woman's treatment, approved the decision to transfer her from Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where she had been treated since the December 16 assault on a bus in the centre of the capital.
Visa arrangements were also fast-tracked to enable the victim's relatives to keep watch over her in Singapore."Since the day of the incident, it has been our endeavour to provide her the best of medical care," Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement, warning that her treatment in Singapore could last many weeks.
"Despite the best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us."
According to police and prosecutors, six men took turns to rape the woman and assault her with an iron bar, leaving her with intestinal injuries, before they threw her out of a bus that they had taken for a joyride.
While doctors in Singapore did not give details about the treatment she has received since her early morning arrival, their counterparts at Safdarjung said Mount Elizabeth had been chosen as it has a multi-organ transplant facility.
B.D. Athani, medical superintendent at Safdarjung Hospital, told reporters the woman had already undergone three operations in New Delhi.
"With fortitude and courage she has survived the after-effects of the injuries so far, but her condition continues to be critical," Dr Athani said.
India has been rocked by a wave of protests since the attack, including one in Delhi on Thursday which brought several hundred people onto the streets. Riot police prevented them from marching on government buildings.
The protests have reflected not only the revulsion at the savage nature of the attack but also the simmering anger over the level of violence against women.
Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women, with the number of rapes in the capital rising 17 percent to 661 this year.
Gang-rapes are reported on a daily basis, with police revealing on Thursday that a 42-year-old woman had been found overnight dumped on a road in southeast Delhi after she was gagged, sedated and then raped by three men.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a gathering of chief ministers from across India Thursday that there was a "problem" which "requires greater attention" by the central and state governments.
Six men are in custody in connection with the assault. Mr Singh, whose government has been stung by criticism about the notoriously slow Indian justice system, said their case would be dealt with "expeditiously".
The government has already set up a commission of inquiry into the attack while a separate panel has been asked to suggest stiffer punishments for the most extreme cases.
"Laws regarding the safety of women will be reviewed," Mr Singh added.
India was rocked by a wave of protests in the week after the attack, prompting authorities to seal off large parts of the capital.
Several thousand riot police were again on duty today to prevent a group of around 500 people, mostly women, from marching on the presidential palace.
"We want justice," the protesters chanted, with some demanding the sacking of the Delhi police chief for authorising the use of teargas and water cannon at previous protests.
Meanwhile President Pranab Mukherjee's son, Abhijit, landed himself in trouble for describing some of the protesters as "dented and painted" women - a phrase used by mechanics who mask rust on used cars with liberal coats of paint.
Among his vocal critics was his own sister Sharmishtha who described his comments as "a bit of a shocker" and said her father also disapproved.
FIRE has ripped through a crowded neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest city and wounded at least 30 people after a huge explosion rocked a building believed to be storing fireworks, officials say.
The blast and fire on Wednesday led to panic in the densely packed area of Lagos, a city of some 15 million people, with residents jumping from windows to flee and others salvaging goods from their shops in the neighbourhood's large market.
Fireworks continued to explode well after the fire began while smoke was heavy and the blaze intense, making it difficult for rescue workers and firefighters to approach the scene.
Huge crowds gathered in the area, including onlookers and those seeking to help.
Details were still emerging, but officials said it appeared to have begun at a warehouse storing fireworks, where a fire caused a major explosion that shook parts of the sprawling city.
The fire then spread, with at least nine buildings in the neighbourhood ablaze when an AFP journalist arrived on the scene.
Residents rushed to help firefighters as they neared the fire, bringing containers of water and helping to carry hoses, but the volatile situation made it difficult.
"We have treated up to 30 people so far," Red Cross worker Nicolas Adesile told AFP at the scene, adding there had not been any reports of deaths.
One man treated for a cut on his leg said he jumped from his building to escape.
"I had to jump from the first floor to save my life," he said.
Officials were seeking to confirm further details on the incident, with the force of the explosion so strong that rumours even spread over whether there had been a plane crash.
The National Emergency Management Agency said fire was believed to have caused the explosion at a shop storing fireworks. The shop was severely damaged and crumbling.
"NEMA has mobilised response agencies and volunteers to an explosion in a building suspected to be loaded with (fireworks) in the Jankara area of Lagos," agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib said in a statement.
"Search and rescue officers of NEMA (are) having hectic time to reach the place due to traffic and crowds," he said.
A MYANMAR airline says the black box has been found after a dramatic Christmas Day crash-landing, as survivors told terrifying tales of escape and expressed disbelief that only two people died.
Details of the accident remain unclear, though Air Bagan and officials have blamed heavy fog for the aircraft's crash into a rice paddy field in central Myanmar (Burma) where it burst into flames.
Four foreigners were among 11 people injured.
Australian survivor Anna Bartsch on Wednesday described the landing as a fast, very bumpy roller-coaster ride. She recounted looking out the window, seeing flames and racing out to safety.
"It's amazing that the injuries were not more serious," said the 31-year-old. "It could have been much worse."
Air Bagan is sending the black box to Singapore to study the cause of the accident.
AN Australian man held hostage by militants in the southern Philippines for more than a year has appeared in a video as proof that he is alive.
Warren Richard Rodwell said on the video that he is being held in isolation. He said he understands there are negotiations for his release under way but added, "I personally hold no hope at all for being released."
He said he was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, a notorious al-Qaeda-linked group.
Philippine intelligence officials said on Wednesday they believe the video, which has been circulated on YouTube, is authentic.
Rodwell appeared thinner than in a previous video posted in January. He held a copy of a local newspaper dated December 15 and said the recording was made the following day.
Rodwell was abducted by six gunmen on December 5 last year in southern Zamboanga Sibugay province by several armed men who are believed to have fled in speedboats.
Bloodstains were found at the coastal home from which he was taken. A search of nearby islands failed to find any trace of him.
The kidnappers demanded an initial ransom of $US23,000 from his wife, with whom he runs a store in the seaside town of Ipil on Mindanao island.
According to police, Rodwell's wife said she had no way of raising the ransom.
CHINA has opened the world's longest high-speed rail line that more than halves the time required to travel from the country's capital in the north to Guangzhou, an economic hub in southern China.
The opening of the 2,298 kilometre-line was commemorated by the 9am local time departure of a train from Beijing for Guangzhou. Another train left Guangzhou for Beijing an hour later.
China has massive resources and considerable prestige invested in its showcase high-speed railways program.
But it has in recent months faced high-profile problems: part of a line collapsed in central China after heavy rains in March, while a bullet train crash in the summer of 2011 killed 40 people. The former railway minister, who spearheaded the bullet train's construction, and the ministry's chief engineer, were detained in an unrelated corruption investigation months before the crash.
Trains on the latest high-speed line will initially run at 300kp/h with a total travel time of about eight hours. Before, the fastest time between the two cities by train was more than 20 hours.
The line also makes stops in major cities along the way, including provincial capitals Shijiazhuang, Wuhan and Changsha.
More than 150 pairs of high-speed trains will run on the new line every day, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Ministry of Railways.
Railway is an essential part in China's transportation system, and the government plans to build a grid of high-speed railways with four east-west lines and four north-south lines by 2020.
The opening of the new line brings the total distance covered by China's high-speed railway system to more than 9300km - about half its 2015 target of 18,000 km.
A 24-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the murders of an elderly couple whose bodies were found in their burning house last Saturday.
In an out-of-sessions court hearing, Ross Konidaris of Sunshine West, in Melbourne's north, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson.
Last Saturday, fire destroyed the home of the elderly couple in Yarraville, in Melbourne's inner west, and police said the fire was suspicious.
Konidaris, who was arrested in Yarraville on Wednesday, was remanded in custody to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.
NELSON Mandela looks "much better" and doctors are pleased with his progress, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma says.
Mr Zuma joined Mr Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and other family members in wishing a merry Christmas to Mr Mandela at his hospital bedside, according to the president's office.
"We found him in good spirits," Mr Zuma said in a statement.
"He shouted my clan name, Nxamalala, as I walked into the ward. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making."
Mr Mandela, 94, was admitted to a hospital in Pretoria on December 8. He was diagnosed with a lung infection and also had a procedure to remove gallstones. Officials have previously said Mandela was improving, but noted doctors were taking extraordinary care because of his age.
Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela's family appreciated the support they had received from the public.
"That is what keeps them going at this difficult time," he said.
Mr Mandela was brought to the Pretoria hospital from his home in Qunu, a rural village in Eastern Cape province where he lived as a child.
In the Johannesburg township of Soweto, worshippers offered prayers for Mandela while attending Christmas Mass at Regina Mundi, a Catholic church that was a protest stronghold during the apartheid years.
THE popular Snooty Fox restaurant at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges has been destroyed by fire.
CFA brigades were called to the restaurant on the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road on Tuesday night.
No one was hurt in the blaze which was attended by 11 fire trucks. The cause of the fire is not known.
The restaurant had been open on Christmas Day and was also planning a big New Year's Eve.
Residents in the area were advised to keep their windows and doors closed because it was believed there may have been asbestos in the air.
EIGHTEEN people headed home for the holidays died when an open truck veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in northeastern Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe state radio said on Tuesday another 46 passengers crowded on the back of the truck were injured in the crash in the remote Honde Valley region known for its steep and winding roads and tracks.
Bus and truck accidents, common in Zimbabwe, are mainly blamed on poor vehicle maintenance and speeding.
Zimbabweans traditionally travel to their rural villages for the holidays. Travellers this year complained that bus companies increased fares, in one case from $US4 ($A3.90) to $US10 ($A9.70) for a 150 kilometre trip.
A TROPICAL storm is set to hit the Philippines on Christmas Day and could spark floods and landslides, forecasters say.
Tropical Storm Wukong is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the southern island of Dinagat from 10pm on Tuesday (0100 AEDT Wednesday) as well as nearby islands Samar and Leyte, the state weather service said.
"These could bring floods and landslides, particularly in landslide-prone areas like southern Leyte and Samar," the service's Nathaniel Servando said.
Servando said storm surges of up to four metres were also expected on the coasts of the three islands.
However, he said the storm was expected to spare the large southern island of Mindanao, which was devastated by Typhoon Bopha early this month.
Wukong would pass northwest across the central islands on Wednesday and blow out to the South China Sea on Thursday, Servando said.
No evacuations have been reported so far, with civil defence chief Benito Ramos saying it was up to local officials to take the decision after assessing the dangers in their areas.
Floods and landslides unleashed by Bopha, which hit on December 4 and was the strongest storm to batter the disaster-prone country this year, killed more than 1000 people and hundreds more remain missing, according to officials.
The Philippines is hit each year by about 20 major storms or typhoons that occur mainly during the rainy season between June and October.
A BURMA passenger jet packed with foreign tourists crash-landed and burst into flames in a field in eastern Shan state, killing at least two people and injuring 11 others, officials said.
Black smoke was seen billowing from the charred wreckage of the Air Bagan aircraft, which came down near Heho airport - the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake.
Long isolated from the world under decades of junta rule, Burma has seen an influx of tourists and business travellers in recent months following a raft of political reforms.
Fifty-one foreigners were among the 63 passengers on board the Christmas Day flight from Yangon via Mandalay, according to the information ministry.
The ageing Fokker-100 jet crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog, breaking its tail and catching fire, according to the ministry.
Air Bagan said a Burmese tour guide on board the plane was killed. Earlier the information ministry said an 11-year-old had died but the airline said it was not aware of any child fatality.
A motorcyclist on the ground also perished.
Two Americans, two Britons and one Korean man were among those taken to hospital in nearby Taunggyi, according to Air Bagan, which described the incident as an "emergency landing".
Two French nationals were also slightly injured, according to a French embassy official in Yangon.
The information ministry said on its website that the plane appeared to have landed in a field next to the runway due to the bad weather.
"Because of the emergency landing near the airport, the plane broke up in the middle," a government official said, adding that passengers were evacuated.
The two pilots were among those taken to hospital, according to Air Bagan spokesman Ye Min Oo.
"The cause of the accident is not clear yet. Only the pilots will know the cause, but we can't contact them yet as they have been sent to hospital," he said.
Air Bagan is one of several domestic carriers seeking to profit from a tourist boom in Burma as it emerges from decades of military rule.
It is owned by tycoon Tay Za, who is known for his close links to the former junta and has been blacklisted by the US Treasury which once described him as "a notorious regime henchman and arms dealer".
The Fokker 100, which is no longer manufactured, was one of two operated by the airline along with four ATR turboprop aircraft, according to the company's website.
A surge in demand for air travel as Burma opens up has stretched the impoverished country's aviation infrastructure, in particular in remote airports.
Yangon International Airport, the country's main terminal, is set to exceed its limit of 2.7 million passengers this year and the Department of Civil Aviation warned in July it needed urgent upgrading.
Mongolian authorities have cleared an Aussie lawyer of corruption allegations, freeing her to leave. Source: AAP
THE parents of an Australian lawyer who was barred from leaving Mongolia for two months have received an early Christmas present, with the news their daughter is finally on her way home.
Sarah Armstrong was stopped at Ulan Bator airport in mid-October because authorities wanted to question her in relation to corruption allegations.
On Christmas Eve, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman confirmed the 32-year-old had boarded a flight out of the country, which had taken off by 7pm (AEST).
Mum, Yvonne, told AAP she had been bracing for a Christmas spent thinking of her daughter stuck in Mongolia.
"All I wanted to hear was that she was on a plane," she said on Monday from her Tasmanian home.
She got the good news via text message from a friend in Mongolia.
Mrs Armstrong said her daughter had told her on Friday that she thought she would be allowed to leave within days, but she had been trying not to get her hopes up.
Also on Friday, it is understood, Foreign Minister Bob Carr again contacted the Mongolian ambassador to Australia about Ms Armstrong's case.
Senator Carr also flagged the Australian government's concerns when he met the Mongolian foreign minister in November.
Ms Armstrong is a lawyer for Rio Tinto mining subsidiary SouthGobi Resources.
The company on Monday said Mongolia's Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) had ended its questioning of the lawyer.
SouthGobi has been informed by the IAAC that the 32-year-old "is no longer a suspect in their investigations", the coal firm said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange where it is listed.
Mongolian officials said Armstrong was wanted over an investigation into the former chief of Mongolia's mining authority, who is suspected of illegally handling mining licences, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Senator Carr said it was "great news" - and good timing.
"I understand her family have been advised of her departure from Mongolia and look forward to seeing her for Christmas," he said in a statement on Monday.
"I thank the Mongolian government and particularly Foreign Minister (Luvsanvandan) Bold for their willingness to resolve this matter.
"I also applaud our consular staff ... including consuls general David Lawson and Tony Burchill, who worked tirelessly in making representations on Ms Armstrong's behalf."
DOZENS of people have called for help after a thunderstorm battered Canberra.
The ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) received 30 calls for help on Christmas Eve.
In Oxley, families were forced from their homes because of leaking gas.
Four houses had to be evacuated after two gas leaks were discovered on Newman Morris Circuit.
Firefighters put a 50 to 100-metre exclusion zone in place as they waited for repairmen to arrive.
In Florey, a fallen tree caused damage to several houses in Summerville Crescent.
Part of the tree crashed through the roof of one home and into the lounge room.
ACT Rural Fire Service crews, the ACTSES and ACT Fire & Rescue will help families clean up through the night.
Just before 7pm (AEDT) on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for Canberra and Queanbeyan.
The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, the Bureau said, but a more general thunderstorm warning remained in place for parts of NSW and the ACT.
Authorities later said the Oxley residents were being allowed to return to their homes.
A VAN has plunged into a roadside pond in a rural area of China, killing 11 children.
Three children died at the scene of the accident in Guixi city in Jiangxi province and another eight died later in hospital, said an official from the propaganda office of the city's Communist Party committee.
The victims were aged from four to six years old.
Four children survived, said the official.
Police detained the driver for questioning and were investigating the cause of the accident, the official Xinhua News Agency.
Photos on the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post's website showed a silver minivan partially submerged in a grassy pond, with one of its three windows on the right side broken.
The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said in a statement that cited no sources that the van was made to carry seven people but was overloaded with 17. The human rights group said it took 70 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
Serious traffic accidents are common in China, due to poorly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
THE international envoy tasked with pushing to end Syria's civil war says the situation is "worrying" after discussing the crisis with President Bashar Assad.
In brief comments to reporters after meeting the Syrian leader at the presidential palace in Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi said he and Assad exchanged views on the conflict and discussed possible steps forward, which he did not disclose.
"The situation in Syria is still worrying and we hope that all the parties will go toward the solution that the Syrian people are hoping for and look forward to," Brahimi said.
Syria's state news agency quoted Assad as saying his government supports "any effort in the interest of the Syrian people which preserves the homeland's sovereignty and independence".
Brahimi has apparently made little progress toward brokering an end to the conflict since starting his job in September, mostly because both sides adamantly refuse to talk to each other.
The government describes the rebels as foreign-backed terrorists set on destroying the country. The opposition says that forces under Assad's command have killed too many people for him to be part of any solution.
Brahimi's two-day visit was to end later Monday. It is his third to Damascus as an envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League.
The security situation in Damascus and elsewhere in the country has declined since Brahimi's previous visits. Instead of flying in to the Damascus International Airport as he did on earlier visits, Brahimi drove to Damascus over land from Beirut because of the fighting near the Syrian capital's airport.
Reports by anti-regime activists of the airstrike Sunday on a bakery in the central town of Halfaya that killed scores of people also cast pall over Brahimi's visit.
Amateur videos posted online showed the bodies of many dead and wounded scattered in a street.
On Monday, Syria's state news service blamed the attack on "an armed terrorist group" - its shorthand for the rebels - accusing them of filming the aftermath to "frame the Syrian army."
In the videos, however, armed rebels are clearly among those tending to the dead and wounded.
Anti-regime activists say the civil war has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011.
RUSSIA and India have signed deals for military aircraft estimated to be worth several billion dollars during Russian President Vladimir Putin's day-long summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Ten agreements were signed during the summit, including a contract for the supply of 42 Russian Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets to be manufactured under licence in India, the Indian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
A separate contract was signed for the delivery of 71 Mi-17 V5 attack helicopters.
Analysts estimated the deals to be worth about $A3 billion.
An agreement was also signed between India's Elcom Systems and Vertoleti Rassi for setting up a joint venture in India for the manufacture of Russian helicopters.
"Russia is a key partner in our efforts to modernise our armed forces and enhance our defence preparedness," Singh said.
Russia supplies 60 to 70 per cent of India's defence equipment, and the two countries have embarked on several joint ventures, including development and production of supersonic BrahMos missiles.
In recent years, however, France's Dassault Rafale and US-based Boeing have won contracts for supplying military aircraft.
The two leaders also discussed trade, investment, co-operation in the nuclear energy sector and the situation in Afghanistan, they said at a press briefing.
India and Russia have been trying to boost trade and investment and expand it in areas other than defence. Two-way trade stood at $A7.25 billion in 2009 and was estimated at $A10 billion in 2012, the Indian government said.
Monday's agreements included a memorandum of understanding between the Russia Foundation for Direct Investments and the State Bank of India to promote up to $A2 billion of direct investment between the two countries.
The other pacts signed aimed at boosting co-operation in the fields of science and technology, information technology, pharmaceuticals and cultural exchanges.
Singh and Putin discussed a nuclear energy plant at Kudankulam in southern India, which is being built with Russian assistance.
The first two units are near completion, but the third and the fourth unit have run into trouble with India enacting a nuclear liability law that Russia said would affect the price agreed for the project.
No details were given of the Kudankulam discussions, with Singh saying: "Negotiations for the construction of units three and four at Kudankulam have made good progress."
The two sides also discussed regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan and West Asia.
"We reviewed the ongoing developments in Afghanistan and agreed to work together against threats posed by extremist ideologies and drug trafficking," Singh said.
TWO brothers have been hospitalised after being thrown from a jet-ski in Sydney's south.
Emergency services were called to Cape Solander in Kurnell about 2pm (AEDT) on Sunday, after the accident.
While one of the brothers, aged 30, managed to swim to nearby cliff, his 28-year-old brother was unable to swim to shore and was eventually winched to safety by a PolAir helicopter.
The younger brother had been in the water for approximately one hour and suffered hypothermia and abrasions, police said.
Both men were taken to Sutherland Hospital in a stable condition.
Detective Superintendent Mark Noakes, Commander of PolAir, is urging people to stay safe around the water this summer.
"Taking precautions, such as wearing lifejackets, could be the difference between life and death," he said in a statement.
"Had these two men not been wearing lifejackets the results could have been tragic."
GERMAN Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warned Britain in a Sunday newspaper interview against "blackmailing" its EU partners in a bid to bring powers back home from Brussels.
"We want to keep Britain in the EU and not force it out," Schaeuble told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "But I will also say that does not mean anyone can blackmail us."
Asked whether a debate raging in Britain about a possible referendum on the country's future in the 27-member bloc was "dangerous", Schaeuble said: "Our British friends are not dangerous. But a referendum would create uncertainty," he said.
He said he only got "cross" with Britons over football, adding he hoped for "more British engagement in Europe, not less".
Britain has belonged to the European Union since 1973 but has not joined the 17-nation eurozone.
Schaeuble has served as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's main ally in Berlin in plotting an austerity-driven course to resolve the eurozone debt crisis as well as greater political integration of the bloc.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative, said last month that he still supports British membership of the EU but cannot accept the "status quo" and wants a "new settlement" that involves repatriating some powers.
He has so far avoided offering a clear "in-out" referendum despite strong pressure for clarity on the issue from his party.
Tensions flared last month when Cameron opposed a new trillion-euro ($A1.25 trillion) EU budget for the next seven years, saying it was unacceptable to increase spending at a time when many countries were taking austerity measures at home.
A recent poll in the UK's Observer newspaper found 56 per cent of Britons surveyed would vote to leave the EU given the chance.
AT least 10 people have been hospitalised after a bus rolled several times down an embankment on the Gold Coast hinterland.
Seventeen tourists and a driver were on board the 20-seater bus when it rolled down Mount Tamborine just after midday (AEST) on Sunday.
Police said 10 of the mostly Chinese tourists - aged between 26 and 60 - were taken to Gold Coast Hospital.
After the accident, authorities told AAP a 50-year-old male driver was in a critical condition with head and chest injuries and another man, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was also critical.
But later on Sunday, police said the two men aged 51 and 34 were in a serious but stable condition.
Another five passengers are still being treated for non-life threatening injures and three passengers have now been discharged.
There were also a number of passengers being treated at Robina Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
Police said Henri Robert Drive, which was closed for several hours after the accident, had since re-opened.
Mount Tamborine was the scene of Queensland's worst bus crash, when 11 people were killed and 38 were injured in 1990.
Cardinal George Pell, leader of the Catholic church in Australia, says he is "deeply sorry" for the pain caused by those in his organisation. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited
AUSTRALIA'S most senior Catholic has apologised to those who have "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers.
While not specifically mentioning allegations of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell said he was "deeply sorry" for the hurt that had occurred, calling it "completely contrary" to Christ's teachings.
"I am deeply sorry this happened," Cardinal Pell said.
"I feel too the shock and shame across the community at these revelations of wrongdoing and crimes."
In his statement, Cardinal Pell said people had "suffered at the hands" of fellow Christians, Christian officials, priests and religious teachers.
The Christmas message comes after the federal government this year announced a royal commission to investigate child abuse in Australia, including in the Catholic Church.
It follows claims abuse by clergy was covered up by Catholic Church hierarchy.
Faith in "God's goodness and love" was needed "to help those who have been hurt", Cardinal Pell said in his message.
"We need the hope that comes to us from Christ's birth with his call to conversion, to sorrow for sins and the necessity of reparation," he said.
"The light of Christ shines through this darkness."
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 the car they were in collided with another car in Mount Ousley just after 1pm (AEDT) on Sunday.
Police said the woman was taken to Wollongong Hospital but died a short time later.
Her 80-year-old husband is in a serious but stable condition with suspected spinal fractures.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or the circumstances leading up to it is urged to contact Southern Region Crash Investigation Unit on (02) 4232 5411 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
* The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2012 until 2359 January 3, 2013, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.
