Khodorkovsky starts life as a free man

Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky has arrived in Germany after being freed from a Russian prison. Source: AAP

RUSSIA'S most famous prisoner, Kremlin critic and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has begun life as a free man in Germany after his surprise pardon by President Vladimir Putin.

Khodorkovsky has been reunited with his son in Berlin, a spokeswoman for the former tycoon said on Saturday.

"The eldest son of Mikhail Borisovich, Pavel, has already seen his dad," a spokeswoman for Khodorkovsky, Olga Pispanen, said on Russian radio Echo of Moscow.

"They are now together in Berlin."

Khodorkovsky's parents, Marina and Boris, were also preparing to fly out to Germany to "finally see and hug him," the spokeswoman added.

Released on Friday after 10 years behind bars, Khodorkovsky is "feeling well" and will give a news conference on Sunday, she said, with the date and place to be confirmed later.

Khodorkovsky's 79-year-old mother, who has cancer, said she was taking sedatives to help her cope with the strong emotions sparked by his release.

"We survived grief but it is also apparently hard to survive joy," Marina Khodorkovskaya said in an interview broadcast on Russian state television on Saturday.

Putin stunned Russia on Thursday by revealing that Khodorkovsky had turned to him for pardon on humanitarian grounds, citing his mother's health.

In a head-spinning succession of events, less than 24 hours later Khodorkovsky was granted pardon, walked out of prison and flew to Germany in a secret operation worked out behind the scenes with Berlin.

Prison officials said Khodorkovsky had requested to fly to Germany, where his mother has undergone treatment before.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Khodorkovsky was not forced into exile and was free to return to Russia.

Former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who helped negotiate his release, arranged the flight for him on a private jet and picked him up at the airport in Berlin.

From the airport, Khodorkovsky was reportedly taken to Berlin's luxury Adlon Hotel near the Brandenburg Gate from which Genscher was seen leaving on Friday evening.

About 20 cameramen and photographers as well as two TV vans were waiting for a possible glimpse of the former tycoon outside the landmark hotel in sub-zero temperatures on Saturday morning, according to reports.

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Gay couples wed in Utah after ruling

A US judge has struck down Utah's same-sex marriage ban in a decision that marks a drastic shift towards gay marriage in a conservative state where the Mormon church has long been against it.

Friday's decision set off an immediate frenzy as the clerk in the state's most populous county began issuing marriage licences to dozens of gay couples while state officials took steps to appeal the ruling and halt the process.

Cheers erupted as the mayor of Salt Lake City led one of the state's first gay wedding ceremonies in an office building about three miles from the headquarters of the Mormon church.

Deputy Salt Lake County Clerk Dahnelle Burton-Lee said the district attorney authorised her office to begin issuing licences to same-sex couples but she couldn't immediately say how many had been issued.

Just hours earlier, US District Judge Robert Shelby issued a 53-page ruling saying the constitutional amendment Utah voters approved in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples' rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.

"In the absence of such evidence, the State's unsupported fears and speculations are insufficient to justify the State's refusal to dignify the family relationships of its gay and lesbian citizens," Shelby wrote.

The decision drew a swift and angry reaction from Utah leaders, including Republican Governor Gary Herbert.

"I am very disappointed an activist federal judge is attempting to override the will of the people of Utah. I am working with my legal counsel and the acting attorney general to determine the best course to defend traditional marriage within the borders of Utah," Herbert said.

Late on Friday, the state filed both a notice of appeal of the ruling and a request for an emergency stay that would stop marriage licences from being issued to same-sex couples. It's unknown when the judge will make a decision on whether to grant the stay.

If the ruling stands, Utah would become the 18th state to allow gay marriages, said Jon Davidson, director of Lambda Legal, which pursues litigation on LGBT issues nationwide. That's up from six before the US Supreme Court last year struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The District of Columbia also allows same-sex marriage.

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Gunman had botched vasectomy: Neighbours

AUTHORITIES in the US are trying to determine whether a Northern California man's anger over complications he suffered from a 2010 surgery prompted him to go on a shooting rampage at a Nevada urologist's office, killing one doctor and critically wounding another before committing suicide.

Reno Police Lieutenant William Rulla said on Friday detectives were working to obtain Alan Oliver Frazier's medical records to learn more about his physical and mental health.

Frazier, 51, made it clear in a suicide note that he had planned the attack and that his "focus was on the physicians at the specific office," Rulla said. Police recovered the note at Frazier's home.

Investigators have declined to specify the kind of surgery he had or say whether the doctors he targeted had anything to do with it.

But a couple who lived across the street from Frazier at Lake Almanor, about 130 miles north of Reno, said the operation he had had was a vasectomy. They also said Frazier frequently posted complaints in an online chat group about the pain he suffered from what he claimed was a botched surgery.

An international expert in men's reproductive health care said that while it's uncommon, some men experience pain more than two years after a vasectomy.

Neighbour Mario Tognotti told The Associated Press on Friday that Frazier told him and his wife that he sought help from doctors for his pain and had approached a lawyer about the situation. Tognotti declined to comment further.

His wife, Jari Tognotti, told the Reno Gazette-Journal in an email Thursday that Frazier encouraged friends to learn more about the kind of painful allergic reactions that men like him sometimes suffered as a result of vasectomies. She said it involved "immune-type reactions while their bodies are trying to absorb the sperm."

Dr Paul Turek, president of the Society of Male Reproduction and Urology, said that while vasectomies remain among the safest forms of permanent contraception, there are potential short- and long-term side effects. He declined to comment on Frazier's case, but noted about 60 to 70 per cent of men who undergo vasectomies develop an allergy to their sperm in the form of "antisperm antibodies."

Turek also said it's rare but possible to experience pain more than two years after a vasectomy.

"Developing over time can be a low-grade discomfort in the scrotum that's basically relieved by reversals because it's due to congestion that causes back pressure," Turek said.

Any sperm allergy appears to be localised to the immune systems on reproductive tracts, he said, and antisperm antibodies have not been shown conclusively to have any significant effect on other organs.

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NSW Police retrieve abseiler's body

An abseiler has fallen to his death and a woman has been lifted to safety in the Blue Mountains. Source: AAP

A MAN who fell to his death from a Blue Mountains cliff was reportedly trying to save his girlfriend after she became tangled in ropes.

The man in his 30s was abseiling with a woman in her 20s at Malaita Point, a popular abseiling spot on the edge of the Jamison Valley, near Katoomba, on Saturday morning.

Emergency services were called around 8.30am (AEDT) after the woman became tangled in ropes mid-way down a cliff.

Police say the man then plummeted down the cliff and the woman raised the alarm.

"It just so happened that at the time there were some tourists walking past and (they) came down to this lookout to admire the view, and they heard the female calling for help," Inspector Ken Schack-Evans told reporters at the scene.

An operation to retrieve the man's body was completed on Saturday evening.

The woman was winched to safety at about 1.30pm and wasn't injured, NSW Ambulance duty operations manager Murray Traynor said.

A rope system was used to haul her to the top of the cliff in a rescue operation involving ambulance and police helicopters.

Police will investigate the incident and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

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Attacks across Iraq leave 13 people dead

A STRING of attacks across Iraq has killed 13 people, including a senior military commander and four soldiers who died during a raid on an al-Qaeda hideout.

Police officials said army Major General Mohammed al-Karawi and the four troops were killed on Saturday when they stormed the booby-trapped hideout in the area of Rutba, in Iraq's volatile Sunni western Anbar province.

Al-Karawi, who commanded the Iraqi army's 7th Division, was leading a search operation hunting for al-Qaeda fighters in the area.

Also in western Iraq, gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at a police checkpoint in the city of Fallujah, killing four policemen earlier Saturday.

In the north, near the city of Kirkuk, an army officer and a soldier were killed when two mortar shells struck a military camp, officials said.

And in the town of Latifiyah, 30 kilometres south of Baghdad, a mortar shell hit a group of Shi'ite pilgrims heading to the holy sites in the city of Karbala.

The pilgrims were commemorating Arbaeen, the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Imam Hussein, a revered Shi'ite figure.

Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims make their way every year to Karbala for Arbaeen. Al-Qaeda fighters and other Sunni insurgents frequently target Shi'ites, whom they consider to be infidels. Iraqi security forces also often poorly protect Shi'ite marches and pilgrimages to holy sites.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to media.

Violence has spiked in Iraq since a deadly crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in a northern town in April. At least 365 people have died in attacks across the country so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.

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Milky Way to be mapped in 3D

The European Space Agency has launched a project set to provide the mapping of the Milky Way. Source: AAP

THE European Space Agency has launched a project set to provide the first realistic three-dimensional mapping of the Milky Way.

As part of the mission, a highly precise telescope dubbed Gaia will orbit the sun at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres beyond the Earth's orbit.

The rocket was launched on Thursday on a Russian Soyuz rocket, taking off from a space station in French Guiana.

The aim of the five-year mission is to map more than a billion stars, thereby creating a three-dimensional map of their positions and movement in space.

Scientists hope the information obtained will help them to better understand the structure and evolution of our galaxy, thereby shedding light on how it came into being.

New data on the movement of stars is also meant to allow scientists to predict incidents like the meteorite that exploded over Russia in February.

The comprehensive map, expected to collate data filling the equivalent of 20,000 DVDs, is set to be completed in 2020.

The first useable scientific data from the telescope is expected in January.

An earlier attempt by the agency to map the Milky Way took place from 1989 to 1993.

Experts say the mapping technology used for Gaia is 50 times more precise than that of its predecessor.

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Former judge to head new Vic parole board

FORMER Victorian Supreme Court justice Bill Gillard QC will be the first full-time chair of the state's parole board.

Mr Gillard will head the new-look Adult Parole Board and is joined by community representatives Rudolph Kirby, Glenda Frost, Peter Harvey and Keith Wolahan.

Retired County Court judge and serving board member Frank Shelton will be deputy chair.

The state government has overhauled the parole system on the recommendations of former High Court judge Ian Callinan, who delivered a scathing review of the board's performance after a series of murders committed by parolees.

Until now, the board has been chaired by a sitting Supreme Court judge, most recently Justice Elizabeth Curtain.

Board members are now only allowed to serve a maximum term of nine years, while registered victims must be given at least two weeks' notice of a prisoner's parole release.

The government has changed legislation to automatically cancel parole for serious sex and violent offenders who commit further crimes.

Laws have also been passed making it a crime to breach parole, with a possible jail term added to any other time owing.

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Woman killed in three car Vic crash

A THREE-CAR smash in southern Victoria has killed a woman and injured a man.

Three cars collided and a motorcyclist skidded off the road on Phillip Island Road at San Remo on Friday afternoon.

Police say a woman aged in her 50s died, while a man in his 60s was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, a cyclist has died at the same hospital following an alleged hit-and-run collision a kilometre from his Melbourne home last month.

Brighton East man Julian Paul, 53, was cycling home on November 26 when he was hit from behind by a car, leaving him with severe spine and brain injuries.

He died in The Alfred on Wednesday night, police said on Friday.

A 31-year-old Moorabbin woman was charged a few days after the incident with failing to stop after an accident and failing to render assistance.

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NSW police officer nabbed drink-driving

A NSW police officer has been charged with high-range drink-driving.

The male officer, attached to Sydney's Central Metropolitan Region Command, was issued with a court attendance notice on Thursday for driving with a high-range PCA.

The man is due to appear in Orange Local Court on January 23.

A police spokesman said no further details would be released due to a policy change in the way such matters were reported to the media.

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Investigators probe UK theatre collapse

At least 88 people were injured when the ceiling collapsed during a show at London's Apollo Theatre. Source: AAP

INVESTIGATORS are seeking to establish why the ceiling of a packed London theatre collapsed, injuring 76 people and coating terrified audience members with rubble.

A sell-out crowd of around 720 people was in the Apollo Theatre in Soho on Thursday night when ornate masonry and rigging fell about five storeys on to their heads.

Witnesses said they heard creaking noises in the 112-year-old theatre, but thought it was part of the show they were watching, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Then debris and dust filled the air, sending coughing, terrified theatregoers - many of them families enjoying a pre-Christmas treat - fleeing for the exits.

Rescuers commandeered three iconic red London double-decker buses to transport the injured, while the city's normally tourist-thronged "Theatreland" was brought to a stunned halt.

Ambulance staff treated 76 patients, taking 58 to hospital, where seven were described as having serious but not life-threatening injuries.

A surveyor examined the theatre overnight and said the roof was secure, but investigations are now being carried out by the local authority to establish what happened.

The abnormally heavy rain that fell in the hour before the ceiling collapsed shortly after 8.00pm (0700 AEDT Friday) is likely to be one line of inquiry.

"We will not know the cause of the incident until all investigations have been completed but checks are ongoing," said councillor Nickie Aiken of Westminster Council.

"This appears to be an isolated incident, but we will continue to work with theatres throughout the day to ensure that all safety precautions are in place."

All historic theatres are required to undergo rigorous safety checks on their roofs every three years, she added.

Witnesses told of terror inside the Edwardian-era theatre, which has three tiers of balconies, the uppermost of which is said to be the steepest in London.

"A section of the theatre's ceiling collapsed on to the audience who were watching the show. The ceiling took parts of the balconies down with it," senior firefighter Nick Harding told reporters.

"In my time as a fire officer I've never seen an incident like this."

Desmond Thomas, 18, part of a school party watching the show, said they heard noises before the accident.

"Maybe 10 minutes into the performance we heard a tap-tap noise, we thought it was rain," he told AFP.

"There was a crack and then it suddenly seemed to get bigger and suddenly it collapsed. The next thing we knew the whole theatre filled with dust and smoke."

Simon Usborne, a journalist for The Independent newspaper who was watching the show, said there was "chaos".

"Loud bangs, cracks. Thought was part of show then whole interior of theatre filled with curtain of dark grey dust and debris, falling on heads of anyone not sheltered," he tweeted afterwards.

"People emerging soon after bloodied - children crying - family show - people dumbfounded."

No Australians were reported to be injured in the collapse. "Consular staff are in contact with UK authorities, but have not been advised of any Australians affected at this stage," a spokeswoman for the high commission in London said in a statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was being kept updated on the incident and was "grateful for the fast work of the emergency services in helping the injured".

Some of the injured were treated in triage centres set up in the lobbies of the nearby Gielgud and Queen's theatres.

"In the finest traditions of Theatreland, they very quickly rallied around," said fire brigade spokesman Graham Ellis.

He said that "heavy ornate plaster" had fallen from the roof on to theatregoers in the circle, dress circle and stalls.

Audience member James Kearney, who was given a ticket to the show as a present, told AFP there were "people with blood on their heads in shock" behind them.

Kearney's companion Dee Stephenson said there was so much dust afterwards they had to feel their way out.

"Everybody was in a trance-like state. A lot of people were in absolute shock," Stephenson told AFP. "We were extremely fortunate."

Based on an award-winning novel by Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has been running in London since August 2012.

Haddon said on Twitter that the incident was "horrifying" and that he was "hugely relieved that no one died".

The owner of the Apollo, Nimax Theatres, said the ceiling collapse was a "shocking and upsetting incident".

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DuluxGroup sees modest growth in 2014

Shares in paint supplier DuluxGroup have risen after the company forecast modest growth for 2014. Source: AAP

SHARES in paint, glue and garden goods supplier DuluxGroup have risen after the company forecast modest growth for 2014.

Managing director Patrick Houlihan on Thursday told shareholders low interest rates, expansionary consumer confidence and rising house prices were helping its Australian operations.

"In addition, we have seen signs that new housing construction will improve, though of course most of our exposure to this segment of the market is late in the cycle," he said.

"Given this, we expect modest market growth in 2014 in Australia."

Rebuilding activity in the earthquake damaged city of Christchurch is expected to help in New Zealand but China and Papua New Guinea are more challenging, the company advised.

DuluxGroup shares added 18 cents, or 3.4 per cent, to $5.48.

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Conditions at Nauru horrendous: senator

Greens' Sarah Hanson-Young says conditions for children being held at Nauru are "heart wrenching". Source: AAP

THE living conditions for children at the Nauru detention camp are "heart wrenching", Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says.

The senator has just returned from a four-day trip to the Pacific nation, where she toured the Australian offshore detention facilities housing asylum seekers.

The camps, located in the middle of a phosphate mine, house single adult males and families separately in conditions Senator Hanson-Young described as "harsh".

There was no grass or shade at the facilities, or a space for children to play.

"They live 24/7 on gravel, housed in tents, where it is upwards 40 degrees," she told Sky News on Thursday.

"They can't escape that."

Senator Hanson-Young decried the fact that so close to Christmas, children in the centres had no toys or a school to attend and were confused about why they were being detained.

All detainees she encountered referred to the facilities as prisons, reflecting the "horrendous reality" of the offshore detention policy supported by the federal government and Labor.

"The reality is we are destroying the lives of these children," she said.

The United Nations refugee agency in November warned that asylum seekers being detained at Australia's offshore centres were being subjected to arbitrary, mandatory and indefinite detention in unsafe and inhumane conditions.

Officials inspected detention centres at Nauru and PNG's Manus Island in October, finding harsh conditions there failed to meet international standards.

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'Jihadists in Syria torturing prisoners'

PRISONERS held by an al-Qaeda-linked rebel group that controls large areas of northern Syria have been subjected to systematic torture and summary executions, Amnesty International says.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) runs a string of prisons in the northern provinces of Aleppo and al-Raqqa where detainees have undergone flogging and other forms of abuse, Amnesty wrote in a report based on interviews with people who had been held by the extremist group.

Former detainees told Amnesty of being held for unknown reasons; handcuffed in painful positions for long periods; and beaten by members of the group.

Some said they had witnessed trials in the group's sharia (Islamic law) courts, in which death sentences were handed down to persons accused of crimes such as fighting against ISIL or of committing adultery.

"After years in which they were prey to the brutality of the al-Assad regime, the people of al-Raqqa and Aleppo are now suffering under a new form of tyranny imposed on them by [ISIL], in which arbitrary detention, torture and executions have become the order of the day," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa, on Thursday.

The rights group called on ISIL to "end its appalling treatment of detainees" and asked the international community "to take concrete steps to block the flow of arms and other support to [ISIL] and other armed groups implicated in committing war crimes and other serious human rights abuses." "The Turkish government, in particular, should prevent its territory being used by [ISIL] to bring in arms and recruits to Syria," said Luther.

ISIL was established by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq, who sent fighters to Syria to join the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

The militants initially fought under the name of the radical al-Nusra Front. However, in April, al-Baghdadi announced that the two formations were merging as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Al-Nusra's leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jaulani, objected and won the support of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Nonetheless, many of al-Jaulani fighters appear to have decided not to back him and are now working with ISIL.

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Thai protesters on the march again

THOUSANDS of anti-government protesters have resumed their marching in Bangkok, demanding that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down to make way for a government free of nepotism and corruption.

The demonstrators, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, left their protest site at the Democracy Monument in the city's government quarter on Thursday morning and marched to the busy Sukhumvit Road, in Bangkok's tourist belt.

Later in the day the protesters, many blowing whistles and shouting "Yingluck out" and "We don't want corrupt government", said they planned to march along Sukhumvit Road and back to the Democracy Monument in a show of strength.

Marchers said some of the protesters planned to break off from the main body of the demonstration and march to the US Embassy to protest against perceived official US support for the Yingluck government.

The noisy but peaceful march followed a lull of several days in a campaign that attracted as many as 150,000 marchers earlier this month and triggered skirmishes with police and pro-government activists.

Suthep, secretary-general of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee, has rejected Yingluck's bid to defuse the crisis by dissolving parliament and calling a snap election on February 2.

He said anti-government groups will hold another, larger, demonstration on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Election Commission chairman Supachai Somcharoen denied reports that the poll would be postponed, saying it would take place on February 2 as scheduled.

Suthep said another election would only help entrench the corrupt political machine of Yingluck's elder brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a coup in 2006 and fled the country in 2008 to avoid a two-year jail term for abuse of power.

Suthep's campaign has attracted wide support in Bangkok but is strongly opposed in the country's relatively poor regions of the north and north-east, where Thaksin is revered for his populist policies.

Thaksin's Pheu Thai party won the last election in July 2011 with a majority of over 4 million votes, and Thaksin-supported parties have won every national election in Thailand since 2001.

The main opposition party, the Democrats, have until December 23 to decide whether to support Suthep's call to reject the election or take part in the uphill electoral battle.

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Korean man's body believed to be in grave

A South Korean man has gone missing after reportedly trying to exchange $15,000 into Korean won.

Police will dig up a shallow grave in Brisbane as they search for a missing South Korean man. Source: AAP

MIN Tae Kim went to exchange his hard-earned Australian savings for South Korean money for his return home but he may never get there.

Police have found a shallow grave on a vacant property in southwest Brisbane they believe could contain the 28-year-old South Korean man's body.

Detective Inspector Kemp says two men and a woman are being held over his disappearance.

Blood was found around the grave site, in Algester, and forensics officers are preparing to exhume the contents.

They hope to know by Friday if it is Mr Kim's remains.

"We're not sure what is in that grave at this time," Det Insp Kemp told reporters.

"It could be a dog, we do have fears that is human though and it could be the missing person."

Det Insp Kemp said Mr Kim had been working hard at a local abattoir to build up his savings before his planned return to South Korea next month.

But he needed to change $15,000 cash into South Korean won and put an ad on the Gumtree website to get a cheaper exchange rate.

Mr Kim left his Cannon Hill share house with his cash to do a deal with an unknown person about 2pm Monday.

It was the last time he was seen alive.

"We feel that he may have met with foul play, we don't know," Det Insp Kemp said.

Mr Kim's disappearance comes after 22-year-old South Korean woman Eunji Ban was allegedly bashed to death while walking to work in Brisbane's CBD last month.

The Council of International Students Australia president Thomson Ch'ng said the incidents would rock people's confidence in Brisbane being a safe place to study.

"Two incidents within three weeks is not good for Brisbane and Australia," he told AAP.

"The fact is, international students are important bridges between Australia and the international community and whatever happens here (in Australia), the world is watching."

Det Insp Kemp said it would be a very unfortunate if Mr Kim became the second South Korean murdered in Brisbane in less than a month.

"If it is and if he has been brutally murdered, it's a shocking thing for us and a concern for us, most certainly," he said.

Police expect to find out the results of forensic testing on the gravesite on Friday.

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Companies given time to respond to ICAC

The ICAC has recommended two NSW mining licences that were corruptly approved should be cancelled. Source: AAP

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has given the holders of corruptly-approved mining licences linked to former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and other Labor figures one month to convince the government not to cancel them.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Wednesday released a report urging the mining licences for Doyles Creek, Mount Penny and Glendon Brook be cancelled.

The ICAC report comes just months after it handed down corruption findings against Mr Obeid, mining minister Ian Macdonald and former union official John Maitland.

The Doyles Creek licence was awarded by Mr Macdonald to Mr Maitland and a consortium of investors in 2008, allowing the former union heavyweight to turn his initial $165,000 investment into $15 million.

Mr Macdonald was found to have rigged a 2008 tender process by granting the Mount Penny tenement which covered land owned by the Obeid family who earned $30 million out of the deal, with the prospect of making an extra $70 million.

The ICAC found the approvals for the mines were so tainted by corruption the licences should be expunged or cancelled and any pending applications refused.

Legislation cancelling the mines could be accompanied by the power to compensate affected innocent parties, while the government should also consider confiscating money made from the corruptly-obtained licences, the ICAC said.

But Mr O'Farrell said he would give leaseholders NuCoal and Cascade Coal until January 15 next year to make their case as to why the recommendations shouldn't be implemented before taking action.

"The NSW government will then make a decision based on public interest," he said.

Although he would not comment on whether the government would consider seizing assets or profits, Mr O'Farrell said he wanted to "see an end to this sorry saga of Labor corruption".

But Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said that giving the companies a chance to keep their licences was a "pathetic response, when strong and decisive action is necessary".

NuCoal Resources Ltd acquired the Doyles Creek licence in 2010 and will make an announcement to the market before the start of trading on Friday.

Chairman Gordon Galt said NuCoal was "extremely disappointed" with the ICAC recommendation.

Cascade Coal, which now holds the Mount Penny licence and the licence at Glendon Brook near Singleton, said ICAC's recommendations were unfair to both the company and its shareholders.

"Cascade Coal and its shareholders will be making its case to the government as well as considering all options available to vigorously protect its legal and commercial interests," it said in a statement.

Mr Macdonald also lashed out at the recommendations, saying the ICAC reports had been "extremely destructive for the NSW economy".

"This has created a level of uncertainty, negatively impacting upon the vital jobs and investment," he said in a statement.

He accused the ICAC of handing down findings based on hearsay, conjecture and speculation and said the process denied him basic natural justice and had defamed him.

Opposition Leader John Robertson welcomed the recommendations, saying he would support measures brought forward by the government in response to the report.

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Court to rule on bail for alleged bikies

FIVE alleged outlaw motorcycle gang associates jailed for meeting in a Sunshine Coast hinterland pub should learn on Thursday whether they will spend Christmas behind bars.

The alleged Rebels associates applied for bail in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday, the same day that Justice Martin Daubney granted bail to a confessed bikie charged over a Gold Coast brawl after a Supreme Court hearing in Brisbane.

Father-of-four Luke John Saggus, 32, was charged at the weekend with riot over the Broadbeach fight which sparked a state-wide crackdown against criminal bikie gangs.

Justice Martin Daubney said his links to the Bandidos don't warrant ongoing detention for a minor offence.

The alleged Rebels associates were arrested last week and charged under new laws with being participants in a criminal organisation and being knowingly present in public places with two or more people who are participants.

Steven Smith, Scott Conley, Joshua Carew, Dan Whale and Paul Lansdowne face a minimum of six months' jail if found guilty.

CCTV footage from the Sunshine Coast hinterland hotel where the alleged meeting took place last month was played in the court.

Prosecutor Sarah Farnden said the hotel was a well-known Rebels haunt, according to police.

The court heard Lansdowne, Carew and Smith were on bail on drug trafficking charges, while Carew was also serving a suspended sentence for couriering cocaine.

Lawyers for the five argued their clients were not flight risks and the circumstances of the alleged offence were not serious.

"There's nothing but a few people at a hotel," James Godbolt, for Lansdowne, said.

Lawyer David Stevenson, for Smith, Conley and Whale, added that Conley and Whale were the sole breadwinners of young families and Christmas was around the corner.

He also cited a recent Supreme Court judgment that found solitary confinement, which is now mandatory for bikies in Queensland prisons, carried a high risk of psychological harm.

Chief Magistrate Tim Carmody said he would hand down his decisions in all five cases on Thursday morning.

At the Supreme Court, Justice Daubney dismissed prosecution arguments that Saggus presented a flight risk after his family, who were in court, offered up a $100,000 surety.

Justice Daubney also ruled Saggus's admitted Bandidos membership was not reason enough to keep him locked up ahead of his next scheduled court appearance in January.

Outside the court, Saggus' lawyer Tim Meehan said his client would contest the charge and was "very relieved" about the bail decision.

"The charge that has been preferred against my client by the police and the specific allegations are, in the grand scheme of things, not particularly serious," he told reporters.

"The only reason he had to show cause in order to be granted bail was because he was a member of the Bandidos."

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Bega pulls out of cheese takeover battle

Bega Cheese has pulled out of the three-way battle for control of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter. Source: AAP

BEGA Cheese has pulled out of the three-way battle for control of Warrnambool Cheese and Butter.

The other Australian player in the fight, meanwhile, says it still has the best takeover offer, despite Canadian dairy giant Saputo sweetening its bid.

Bega Cheese, which started the bidding war in September, will let its bid lapse when its offer period closes on December 20.

Bega owns almost 18 per cent of Warrnambool shares, and said it would consider its options regarding that stake once its offer closes.

Murray Goulburn said on Wednesday its offer of $9.50 for each Warrnambool share "remains the highest current value offer" for Warrnambool's shareholders, before accounting for any increases in price that depend on certain ownership thresholds.

Saputo on Tuesday maintained its offer of $9.00 but has increased the amount it will pay if certain share thresholds are met. The bid is final.

Saputo's offer will rise to $9.20 if it gets more than 50 per cent of Warrnambool's shares, $9.40 if it gets more than 75 per cent, and $9.60 if it obtains more than 90 per cent.

Murray Goulburn said there was a significant risk Saputo would not achieve the 50 per cent, 75 per cent or 90 per cent ownership level required to trigger its offer increases.

"This risk is heightened due to the presence of a number of industry participants on WCB's share register, who currently own approximately 46 per cent of WCB in total," Murray Goulburn said.

As well as Bega Cheese's holding, Murray Goulburn has over 17 per cent, and Kirin-owned Lion about 10 per cent.

Saputo currently has nearly 17 per cent but WCB shareholders who accepted the Saputo offer before December 17 have withdrawal rights.

Murray Goulburn's bid of $9.50 is conditional upon it obtaining more than 50 per cent of Warrnambool shares.

It has also filed an application with the Australian Competition Tribunal for authorisation to merge with Warrnambool on the grounds that a merger would be of public benefit.

The tribunal is expected to make a decision by the end of February.

Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou has urged Warrnambool shareholders to wait until the outcome of the merger application authorisation so that Murray Goulburn's offer can be considered on its merits.

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Almost 190 Cootes truck join NSW registry

AFTER months of pressure over a fatal tanker crash, almost 200 Cootes trucks will now need to comply with NSW standards.

NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay said on Wednesday that Cootes' parent company McAleese Group had voluntarily removed its vehicles from the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme and transferred them to the state's registration scheme.

"Almost 190 trucks will now be under the stringent inspections NSW carries out on all of its heavy vehicles," he said in a statement.

It comes after two people were killed in October when a Cootes tanker overturned and exploded in Mona Vale on Sydney's northern beaches.

Earlier this month Mr Gay threatened to ground Cootes' entire fleet when a gas leak was found in one of its LPG tankers.

"I emphasise the compliance campaign with Cootes has been ongoing since the Mona Vale accident and we will not complete our work until our truck inspectors are satisfied the fleet is safe and the company's regulatory and audit regime is adequate," Mr Gay said.

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Costello made acting Future Fund chair

Former federal treasurer Peter Costello will take over as acting chair of the Future Fund. Source: AAP

THE federal government has appointed Peter Costello acting chair of the Future Fund.

The investment fund, which meets federal public service superannuation liabilities, was set up by Mr Costello when he was treasurer in the Howard coalition government in 2006.

Mr Costello, who's been a member of the fund's board for four years, will stand in for David Gonski, who has taken up a position as chair of ANZ bank.

Mr Costello begins his three-month appointment on January 11 while a permanent chair is sought.

His full term on the fund's board is due to expire in April.

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Qld lifts pokies ban on big notes

Poker machines in Queensland's pubs, clubs and casinos will now accept notes bigger than $20. Source: AAP

INCREASING the value of notes Queensland's poker machines can accept is a bad move that will escalate problem gambling, critics say.

For the past 12 years, electronic gaming machines in the state's pubs, clubs and casinos were restricted to accept nothing larger than $20 bills.

Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie has approved a change to allow $50 and $100 notes.

The move, lobbied by major casino owner Echo Entertainment, was condemned by charities and counselling services, which say it will have a negative effect on problem gamblers.

Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mulherin says the government's own discussion paper on lifting the restriction identified that limiting the size of notes to $20 prevented gamblers from making "large spontaneous bets".

A state government discussion paper in February also said the note-size limit was reviewed in 2003, Mr Mulherin said.

"That review found the policy was working and had succeeded in 'adjusting the behaviour of people who were at risk of developing a gambling problem'."

He accused the government of giving in to the gambling industry.

"The slipshod process for deciding on new casino licences is proof of that," he said.

"Even before any community consultation has been undertaken, the government has decided new licences will be available just because groups like the James Packer-led Crown casinos want one."

Premier Campbell Newman says the poker machine changes will have little effect on problem gamblers.

"This is a change about the notes you can use - no changes to the limit," he said.

"There's a $100 limit, which puts a real lid in terms of problem gamblers."

Mr Newman says the limit in NSW is $10,000.

"We've got some tight controls here and we haven't slackened them off."

The lifting of the ban on $50 and $100 notes was among recommendations by a government-appointed expert panel that reviewed the state's gambling laws and policies.

Controversial proposals being considered include doubling the maximum of each poker machine bet to $10 and allowing gaming at pubs and clubs before 10am.

The government is expected to release its full response next year.

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Eight more dead in Bangladesh riots

10 people have been killed in Bangladesh's violence over the execution of an Islamist party leader. Source: AAP

EIGHT more deaths were reported in Bangladesh in intensified riots and protests sparked by the execution of a top Islamist leader, as the prime minister warned of a crackdown on the violence.

Police said Islamist supporters torched houses and fought running street battles with officers in towns and cities during a third day of unrest over the execution of Abdul Quader Molla for war crimes.

Two people were killed on Sunday in the northern town of Patgram and another six elsewhere overnight, police said, as Islamist supporters enforced a nationwide strike over the execution of Molla, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

"Police fired shotgun pellets to disperse the Jamaat protesters who torched at least 20 houses belonging to ruling party supporters," government administrator Habibur Rahman told AFP of the violence in Patgram.

Molla's hanging on Thursday night triggered fresh unrest in the impoverished country, already reeling from political violence in the build-up to a deeply divisive national election scheduled for January 5.

Twenty people are now known to have died and dozens more have been injured in the clashes since Thursday between outraged Jamaat activists and police and between the activists and supporters of the ruling Awami League.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of strong action against the rioters, saying "we have shown enough patience. We will not tolerate anymore."

"People of the country know how to reply to these atrocities (the latest violence), we (government) also know how to respond to, control you (the rioters)," she told a rally late on Saturday to commemorate those killed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Molla, 65, became the first person to be executed for his role in that war. Jamaat called the hanging a "political murder" and said it would avenge it.

Molla had been found guilty in February by a much-criticised domestic tribunal of having been a leader of a pro-Pakistan militia that fought against the country's independence and killed some of Bangladesh's top professors, doctors, writers and journalists.

He was convicted of rape, murder and mass murder, including the killing of more than 350 unarmed civilians. Prosecutors called him the "Butcher of Mirpur", a Dhaka suburb where he committed most of the atrocities.

Of the six killed overnight, police said three died in the southern town of Companyganj, two in the northern town of Ramganj and one in the coastal town of Laxmipur.

At Companyganj, an opposition bastion, police fired rifles to disperse at least 8,000 rampaging Jamaat supporters who torched four government offices and attacked officers with crude bombs and guns, a senior police officer said.

In Ramganj, activists of Jamaat and its main ally, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, attacked a convoy of ruling party lawmakers, leaving two people dead, sub-inspector Ershadul Alam told AFP.

Molla was one of five Islamists and other politicians sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, which the opposition says is aimed at eradicating its leaders.

The sentences have triggered riots and plunged the country into its worst violence since independence.

Some 250 people have now been killed in street protests since January, when the first verdicts were handed down.

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Red-suited revellers hit NY bars

The costumed New York pub crawl known as SantaCon has seen thousands of Santa's partying in bars. Source: AAP

SANTA Claus came to town despite snow and widespread criticism of the costumed New York pub crawl known as SantaCon.

New York City's SantaCon started on Saturday morning in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. Thousands of red-suited revellers then spread out through the city's bars and snowy streets.

This year's SantaCon takes place in New York amid criticism that the event has become too rowdy. SantaCon participants were told to make charitable donations and encouraged to bring small gifts to bestow on one another and passers-by.

Organisers say similar events were set for more than 100 other cities worldwide on Saturday, including San Francisco; Portland, Oregon, Newport Beach, California and Vancouver, British Columbia.

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Aussie held over alleged arson in Thailand

A 47-YEAR-OLD Australian man has been arrested by Thai police and faces charges of assault and arson after clashing with the manager of a motorbike rental company in southern Thailand.

Kent Wesley Farrar, from Victoria, was detained on Friday after becoming allegedly angered by the bike's excessive use of fuel after renting the bike for a week on the resort island of Koh Chang, and demanded a refund.

But the manager, Narong Borploy, 55, said Farrar turned down the offer of another bike and started fighting after being refused the repayment.

Farrar, who sustained head injuries in the clash, then allegedly grabbed a fuel canister and poured petrol over three rental bikes and set them ablaze.

Thai police said Farrar then grabbed a knife and began threatening passers-by before being subdued at the scene.

Farrar faces charges of arson and assault and a damage bill of 100,000 baht (A$3500).

Thai Police investigator on the case, Police Captain Banjerd Krachangsaeng, was unavailable for comment when contacted by AAP.

Farrar's arrest comes in the lead up to the peak holiday season in Thailand and an influx of Australians over the Christmas period. Up to one million Australians visit Thailand each year.

Australian travellers are regularly warned over renting motorbikes in Thailand, often associated with scams by operators to extract additional fees for unspecified damages allegedly caused during the rental period.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the department was aware of Farrar's arrest and consular staff were seeking to meet with him and provide assistance.

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Police assaulted at NSW soccer game

A POLICEMAN had to use "defensive strikes" to force a man to release his grip on his groin during a brawl at a Newcastle A-League soccer match.

Another police officer was punched in the head by another man in the melee, which saw a spectator punched in the face three times on Saturday night.

Police from the Public Order and Riot Squad and local officers were patrolling the match between the Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers at the Hunter Stadium when a fight broke out and objects were thrown at 9.40pm.

They say the crowd turned hostile towards them when they intervened.

During a scuffle, a 21-year-old man allegedly grabbed the policeman's groin and refused to let go.

The man, police say, had been hindering police when he was pushed out of the way and fell on the ground.

He was arrested and charged with assault police.

He will appear in Newcastle Local Court on January 16.

At the same match police spoke to three spectators who were allegedly causing trouble.

One man refused to follow a police direction to return his seat.

Police allege he punched another spectator in the face three times before turning on the officers who tried to arrest him.

The 41-year-old is accused of punching one officer in the side of the head.

He was charged with assault police and behave in an offensive manner.

He will also appear in Newcastle Local Court on Monday.

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