Drink-driving charges up over Christmas

THE number of motorists charged with drink-driving over the Christmas holidays jumped 11 per cent this year, NSW police say.

Over the course of Operation Safe Arrival, which ran from December 21 to January 4, police said they charged 992 people with drink-driving on NSW roads, up from 894 last year.

They said during the operation period, there were 15 fatal crashes on the state's roads, which resulted in the deaths of 17 people.

There were also 1995 major crashes, which resulted in 654 people being injured, police said.

Commander of Traffic Services Assistant Commissioner John Hartley described as alarming the rise in the number of people charged with drink-driving.

"What was concerning was the increase in people caught drink-driving," he said.

"Nearly 100 more people were caught this year, showing a blatant disregard to the road rules, their safety and the safety of other motorists."

He said a review of all deadly crashes had shown that "most were as a result of drivers disobeying the law or making a mistake which has proved fatal".

During Operation Safe Arrival, police also issued a total of 15,452 traffic infringement notices, compared with 17,663 last year.

They issued 11,903 infringements for speeding, 726 fewer than last year.

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Tas firefighters turn to third blaze

THREE fires are burning out of control and threatening communities along the east coast and central Tasmania, with thousands of people stranded as roads are cut off.

An emergency warning has been issued for a large bushfire near Bicheno, 180km northeast of Hobart, with about a dozen properties already lost.

Changing weather conditions mean the fire is likely to effect major roads the Tasman Highway and Coles Bay Road.

People were being urged to leave Swanick and Coles Bay soon with a risk of them becoming cut off.

As fires rage across Tasmania, up to 77 fire crews were out on the job.

The new front comes with the danger from the largest fire in the state, on the Tasman Peninsula, far from over.

The massive Forcett bushfire is still burning out of control, affecting the towns of Bream Creek, Copping and Boomer Bay.

The Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) advised residents of Eaglehawk Neck to activate their fire plans, while people in Primrose Sands, Connellys Marsh and Susans Bay were told it was too late to leave the town.

Property losses from the Forcett fire have been huge with 30 per cent of the buildings in the small community of Dunalley, 55km southeast of Hobart, destroyed, including the school, police station and bakery.

At Connellys Marsh, 40 per cent of the buildings are gone along with three houses at Copping and several at Primrose Sands.

Twenty houses have been lost around Murdunna.

Several thousand people, many of them tourists, remain stranded with roads in and out of the area closed.

Around 700 were taking refuge at the Port Arthur historic site, another 2000 at a community centre at Nubeena and more than 50 at the Dunalley pub.

Reports said up to 1000 had been rescued from beaches by boat overnight but police could not confirm that number.

They said boats had ferried in 3000 meals as well as fuel, water and medical assistance.

"Where we possibly could we were moving people out by vessel overnight," Tasmania Police Acting Commissioner Scott Tilyard told reporters on Saturday.

"The vast majority of people still remain down there."

No deaths or serious injuries have been confirmed.

The Arthur Highway will be closed until fallen wires, trees and debris are cleared, which is expected to take some time.

A third fire in the Derwent Valley northwest of Hobart had eased and only a handful of structures had been lost, Tasmanian Fire Services chief officer Mike Brown said.

Conditions across southern Tasmania on Saturday were cooler than on Friday, when Hobart reached 41.8C - the highest since records began in 1883.

TFS chief officer Mike Brown said similar conditions in 1967 had resulted in the loss of 2000 homes and 62 lives.

"I would imagine there'll be numerous stories about the heroic and risky approaches that were taken out there," he said.

"The big outcome for us, and we think it's because of the way we put out our warnings and our advice and clearly a lot of people did heed those warnings, is that at the moment there looks to be no loss of life or injuries.

"That's the big positive outcome."

He said changing conditions on Saturday - with a top temperature of 26C forecast for Hobart - would help.

"Today with the slightly more benign conditions at least we can start making an impact on the fires themselves," he said.

A police hotline has been activated for people concerned about relatives and friends; the number is 1800 567 567.

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Star Wars creator George Lucas engaged

Star Wars creator George Lucas (R) is engaged to investment firm president Mellody Hobson. Source: AAP

STAR Wars creator George Lucas is engaged.

A spokeswoman for Lucasfilm Ltd says the 68-year-old director is engaged to 43-year-old investment firm president Mellody Hobson. No other details were provided.

Hobson serves as chairman of DreamWorks Animation and is a financial contributor to US network ABC's Good Morning America.

Lucas helped to launch the modern blockbuster age with his Star Wars sagas and Indiana Jones adventures. The original Star Wars still stands as the No.2 film in terms of tickets sold domestically, behind only Gone with the Wind.

Lucas has three children: Amanda, Katie and Jett. He was previously married to film editor Marcia Lucas from 1969 to 1983.

Disney completed its acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise from Lucas for $US4.06 billion in cash and stock last month.

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Aussies buy record number of cars

Australians bought a record 1.1 million new cars last year, a 10.3 per cent increase from 2011. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS bought a record number of new cars last year, with big jumps in purchases of sports-utilities and commercial vehicles.

There were 1.1 million new cars purchased in 2012, a 10.3 per cent increase from 2011, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reported on Friday.

Passenger vehicles were the highest selling segment of the market, with 576,855 units traded, up 3.1 per cent from the previous year.

The biggest market movers were 4WDs, with sales up 25.3 per cent to 305,825, and commercial vehicles, which rose 12.2 per cent to 198,302.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says the result was an all-time high for the new car market.

"Australia avoided much of the global financial crisis aftermath and with production resuming in Thailand and Japan, the automotive industry was able to respond to the enthusiasm of the car buying public," Mr Weber told reporters in Sydney.

"The record 2012 is a combination of these factors."

He rejected suggestions the figure was a "false number" inflated by incentives and bonuses at dealerships.

"The number that we have here is a very valid number," he said.

Toyota was the highest selling brand in 2012 with 218,176 sales, followed by Holden and Mazda.

The Mazda3 was the best selling model of last year.

Mr Weber predicted there would be a slight fall in the number of cars sold in 2013, to just over one million.

He also defended the local car manufacturing industry, despite sales of the Holden Falcon and Commodore being at "historic lows".

"The reality is that three domestic producers are in the top five brand sales," he said.

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Argentine president stirs Falklands row

Argentina's president has urged Britain to relinquish control of the Falkland Islands. Source: AAP

ARGENTINE president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has reignited the row over the future of the Falkland Islands in an open letter to the Prime Minister David Cameron, calling on him to relinquish British control.

The letter, published as an advert in the Guardian newspaper, says that Argentina was forcibly stripped of the Malvinas - the Argentinian name for the islands - in "a blatant exercise of 19th-century colonialism".

The 59-year-old president, who made several calls for the return of the islands during last year's 30th anniversary of the two countries going to war, urged the British PM to abide by United Nations resolutions she says back the Argentinian cause.

"One hundred and eighty years ago on the same date, January 3rd, in a blatant exercise of 19th-century colonialism, Argentina was forcibly stripped of the Malvinas Islands, which are situated 14,000km (8700 miles) away from London," she said in the letter, copied to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"The Argentines on the islands were expelled by the Royal Navy and the United Kingdom subsequently began a population implantation process similar to that applied to other territories under colonial rule.

"Since then, Britain, the colonial power, has refused to return the territories to the Argentine Republic, thus preventing it from restoring its territorial integrity.

"The question of the Malvinas Islands is also a cause embraced by Latin America and by a vast majority of peoples and governments around the world that reject colonialism."

Cameron and de Kirchner clashed over the Falklands when the pair came face to face at the G20 summit in Mexico last June.

He rejected her demand for negotiations over the sovereignty of the islands and told her that she should respect the result of a referendum next year, when the Falklanders will vote on whether they wish to retain their ties with Britain.

The Argentine president had earlier taken her demands to the United Nations, appearing at the annual meeting of the little-known UN Decolonisation Committee on the 30th anniversary of Britain's ousting of an Argentinian invasion force from the Falklands.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the Falkland Islanders "are British and have chosen to be so".

"They remain free to choose their own futures, both politically and economically, and have a right to self-determination as enshrined in the UN Charter," she added.

"This is a fundamental human right for all peoples.

"There are three parties to this debate, not just two as Argentina likes to pretend.

"The islanders can't just be written out of history.

"As such, there can be no negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless and until such time as the islanders so wish."

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US to place salvors on grounded oil rig

US Coast Guards have vowed to prevent any environmental threat from an oil rig that ran aground in Alaska, as experts prepared to board the the structure to help decide how to salvage it.

Oil giant Shell's Kulluk mobile drilling unit "remains grounded but stable" and there is no sign of a fuel spill, incident responders said, adding that they hope to put a salvage team on board after airborne assessment.

The rig was being towed to Seattle when it broke free in heavy seas on New Year's Eve and washed ashore near Kodiak Island, about 480km southwest of Anchorage.

It has about 150,000 gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel and roughly 12,000 gallons of oil and hydraulic fluid aboard, according to the far northwestern US state's KTUU television station.

"The Conical Drill Unit (CDU) Kulluk ... remains grounded but stable," said an update by a joint body including the Coast Guard and Shell Alaska, which organised flights on Wednesday to assess the situation from the air.

"Once conditions are deemed safe, Unified Command intends to place an assessment team on the Kulluk to further evaluate the vessel's condition," it added, describing the rig as "upright and stable".

Eighteen crew members had already been evacuated from the rig before it broke free late on Monday, KTUU reported. By Tuesday it was described as "upright and rocking with a slow, but stable motion".

Shell said three people suffered minor injuries during the response to the Kulluk's grounding, according to the television station.

"The extreme weather conditions and high seas continue to be a challenge," said Shell incident commander Susan Childs. "Our priority right now is maintaining the safety of our response personnel and evaluating next steps."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has set up a no-fly zone around the rig, and the Coast Guard is maintaining a safety zone of one nautical mile around it, said the latest update.

Alaska's Coast Guard chief, Rear Admiral Thomas Ostebo, said his primary concern was ensuring the unified command has the personnel, assets and equipment needed to safely salvage the Kulluk.

"I have overflown the Kulluk twice and am fully aware of the remote location, weather challenges and the extensive plans that will have to be developed to ensure this incident is managed in safe and effective manner," he said.

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Single mums slam Macklin comments

SINGLE mothers have reacted angrily at "appalling" and "degrading" comments by Families Minister Jenny Macklin, who said she could survive on the $35 a day Newstart allowance.

Ms Macklin made the comment on Tuesday about the federal government's changes to Newstart, which welfare groups estimate will make some families between $60 to $100 a week worse off.

Corinna Taylor, a 43-year-old Brisbane mother of two, who expects to be moved on to the new system and lose $90 a week, said the comment was "appalling".

"I found it quite degrading," she told AAP on Wednesday.

Ms Taylor said the new arrangements will force her to seek charity help or family loans.

It will also force many single mothers to rort the system, she said.

"But I would challenge anybody to live on $35 a day and not in some way have to rort the system."

The government's changes will put those in different circumstances in the same basket, she said.

"I now will live on the same allowance as my 19-year-old nephew but he rents a room for $120 a week," Ms Taylor said.

Office manager Cate Flaherty, a single mother of two, agrees.

"As a single mother who has always worked part-time and raised polite, considerate children, I feel that I am now being treated as somebody who adds no more value to society than some junkie who sits on the couch all day," she told AAP.

Ms Flaherty says her budget will now be cut by $230 a fortnight, almost double that of a non-working single mother.

"We've actually copped a bigger hit than non-working single mothers, and what's really bothered me is that they're saying it encourages people back to work, but they wouldn't be punishing the ones doing the right thing all along," she said.

"It's made it harder for me to work."

Ms Flaherty said she felt "gutted" by Ms Macklin's comments.

"It makes you feel worthless to society when you're doing such an important job," she said.

"I should be a die-hard Labor voter but I've put a boycott on Labor for the rest of my life."

Terese Edwards, chief executive of the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, said Ms Macklin's comments had been greeted with "great dismay and distress" by single mums around the country.

"It has resonated as salt in the wound for these mums who are facing such an uphill battle," she told AAP.

Ms Edwards said she went to a supermarket on Wednesday to check prices and found it would be impossible to make ends meet on $35 a day.

She said if rent cost a single mum $28 a day, plus school bus tickets for two children, cereal for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for lunch, and sausages and vegetables for tea, it would total nearly $54.

That was without fruit, toiletries or cleaning products, not to mention electricity, healthcare, clothes and the rest, Ms Edwards said.

Parramatta single mother-of-two, Luana Barrett, 41, said she would like to see Ms Macklin survive on the Newstart allowance and take care of her eight-year-old daughter, Mikayla, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

"She's more than welcome to come to my home, look after my daughter, drive my bodgie car to work and try to make ends meet," Ms Barrett told AAP.

A casual shop assistant, Ms Barrett broke down in tears as she described how her family would try to cope with the cuts.

"I don't think I can afford to send Mikayla to dance class this year.

"It's only $20 a week.... I don't know how I'm going to find that money.

"We suffer mentally (worrying about our finances) but it's the kids who will suffer the most."

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Ivory Coast mourns for stampede victims

60 people have died in the Ivory Coast after crowds stampeded during New Year's Eve fireworks. Source: AAP

THE Ivory Coast has begun three days of national mourning after a stampede among crowds gathered for celebratory New Year's Eve fireworks in Abidjan left at least 60 dead and dozens injured.

An AFP journalist saw many injured children, while images broadcast by RTI television showed bodies stretched lifeless on the ground outside the city's main stadium.

Piles of abandoned shoes and clothing could also be seen at the stadium, where soldiers and police were deployed, along with UN peacekeepers.

"This is a real tragedy on this New Year's Day," President Alassane Ouattara said at the scene.

"We are all in shock," he added, announcing that three days of national mourning would be held starting on Wednesday.

The government said 60 people had died, with an average age of 18. Earlier, the head of military rescue workers, Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako, told journalists that 61 had died.

"Forty-nine wounded were evacuated" by rescue workers, Sako said, adding that other injured victims had gone to hospital on their own. Another rescue official said at least 200 people had been wounded in all.

Sako said the flow of people at the stadium had caused a "very large crush" and that "in the crush, people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd".

Officials said around 50,000 people had gathered for the fireworks.

Witnesses said the stampede had broken out after the fireworks ended, though the cause remains unclear.

It erupted near the stadium's main entrance, where security had set up tree trunks as crowd control barriers.

According to a police source, the crush occurred when two streams of spectators going in opposite directions crossed paths.

A security source added that rescue services "took some time to arrive".

Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said the "exact circumstances" of the tragedy are "under investigation by the security services".

Visibly shaken children were among the roughly 40 wounded taken to a hospital in the wealthy neighbourhood of Cocody, in the north of the economic capital.

A mother named Zeinab who had taken two of her children to the stadium found one of them in the hospital, a small boy who lay on a bed in a groggy state.

Zeinab said she "hurt all over" and showed a journalist the scratches on her body.

"I don't know what happened, but I found myself lying on the ground with people stepping on me, pulling my hair or tearing my clothes," she said.

She said she had been knocked unconscious and that a young man had pulled her from the crowd.

The New Year's fireworks, the city's second in two years, had been touted as a symbol of national renewal under Ouattara after a violent post-election crisis that tore the country apart from December 2010 to April 2011, killing about 3000 people.

The unrest began after Ouattara's long-time rival and former iron-fisted ruler Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down.

He was later arrested by forces loyal to Ouattara, with UN and French military backing, and transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he is accused of crimes against humanity.

Though the troubled west African nation - the world's top cocoa producer - is still recovering from the political and military crisis, Ouattara had struck a note of optimism in a New Year's message on Monday evening.

He said the former French colony had "possibilities like seldom before" ahead of it, promising it would soon reap the rewards of economic growth and development.

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Kardashian, West feel 'blessed' over baby

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West say they're feeling blessed over their first baby together. Source: AAP

KIM Kardashian and Kanye West are feeling lucky about their first child together.

"It's true," the 32-year-old reality TV star said in a statement on her site. "Kanye and I are expecting a baby. We feel so blessed and lucky and wish that in addition to both of our families, his mom and my dad could be here to celebrate this special time with us."

Kardashian's father, Robert Kardashian, died in 2003. West's mother, Donda West, died in 2007.

Kardashian added in the blog post that she was "looking forward to great new beginnings in 2013 and to starting a family".

The 35-year-old rapper revealed to a crowd of more than 5000 in song form at a concert on Sunday that his girlfriend is pregnant.

Kardashian was in the crowd at Revel Resort's Ovation Hall with her mother, Kris Jenner, and West's mentor and best friend, Jay-Z.

The news instantly went viral online, with thousands posting and commenting on the expecting couple.

Most of the Kardashian clan tweeted about the news, including Kim's sisters. Kourtney Kardashian wrote: "Another angel to welcome to our family. Overwhelmed with excitement!"

West told concertgoers to congratulate his "baby mum" and that this was the "most amazing thing".

The rapper and reality TV star went public with their relationship in March.

Kardashian married NBA player Kris Humphries in August 2011 and their divorce is not finalised.

West's Sunday-night show was his third consecutive performance at Revel. He took the stage for nearly two hours, performing hits like Good Life, Jesus Walks and Clique in an all-white ensemble with two bandmates.

Kardashian is expected to spend New Year's Eve at a public appearance at a Las Vegas nightclub.

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Two-year-old boy attacked by dog in Sydney

A Rottweiler will be destroyed after a two-year-old boy was attacked at a family home in Sydney. Source: AAP

A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy remains in hospital after he was attacked by a Rottweiler while visiting family in Sydney's west.

The boy and his parents were visiting a home in Fullerton Street, St Helens Park about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Monday, when he was attacked by the owner's five-year-old Rottweiler, police said.

The boy was playing with other children in the backyard of the premises and suffered serious facial injuries in the attack, while his father was also bitten several times on the leg as he tried to free his son.

The boy was taken to Campbelltown Hospital before being transferred to Westmead Children's Hospital in a stable condition, while his father also was treated at hospital.

The dog was surrendered to Campbelltown Council by the owner and will be destroyed.

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Police seize $1 million of liquid ecstasy

BOTTLES of liquid ecstasy with an estimated street value of up to $1.1 million have been seized from the boot of a car at Sydney's Bondi Junction, police say.

Seven 25-litre bottles allegedly filled with the drug were found in a Holden Commodore after its driver was stopped by police last Thursday.

Police said subsequent testing confirmed the contents as being 1,4-Butanediol, also known as GBL or Liquid Ecstasy or Fantasy.

The find led to a search warrant being executed on a residence in Penshurst at about 3pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

A further container was seized from the location, as well as $28,000 in cash and drug paraphernalia, police said.

The estimated potential street value of the drugs seized is between $875,000 and $1.1 million.

A 30-year-old man from Penshurst has been charged with one count of supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.

He was refused bail when he appeared in Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday and will reappear in Central Local Court on the January 8.

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US dollar down against euro

THE US dollar weakened against the euro in Asia on Monday with traders fleeing the US currency as hopes faded that a deal could be reached to avert the fiscal cliff in the United States, analysts say.

The euro advanced to $US1.3227 in early Asian trade from $US1.3217 in late US trade on Friday. The US dollar also lost ground against the yen, slipping to 85.88 yen from 85.98 yen.

The euro bought 113.57 yen from 113.62 yen.

Traders were pessimistic a deal could be reached to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts before a January 1 deadline, with negotiations appearing deadlocked, said Yang Weiming, premium client manager for IG Markets Singapore.

"Previously there was greater optimism on the fiscal cliff, now their expectations have been lowered," he told AFP.

Analysts fear that if a deal is not reached to prevent the US going over the fiscal cliff, the American economy could be tipped into recession.

Despite overnight negotiations, US Democrats and Republicans said little progress appeared to have been made.

Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell warned that negotiators were still a long way from success, with Democrats not responding to a "good faith offer" his party had made.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid agreed talks were at a standstill.

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Firefighter dies on job in Gisborne

VICTORIANS have expressed condolences to family and colleagues of a CFA firefighter who died while battling a house fire northwest of Melbourne.

The 45-year-old married father of two was attending a house fire in Gisborne just before midnight (AEDT) when colleagues found him unconscious away from the house about 1.30am (AEDT) on Sunday.

Fellow brigade members found him lying beside a tanker and administered first aid and called an ambulance, but paramedics were unable to revive him.

The CFA extended its sympathies to the family and colleagues of the man, who was a volunteer with the Gisborne brigade.

"CFA is saddened by this loss and our deepest sympathies are with the firefighter's family, his friends and colleagues," CFA chief officer Euan Ferguson said in a statement.

"We also extend our deep sympathies to the members of the Gisborne fire brigade.

"We will be doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time."

The CFA is offering counselling to the man's family and colleagues.

Acting Premier Peter Ryan said it was a tragic loss.

The reason for the man's death will be subject to separate inquiries, he said.

"I do send though to his wife and his children the heartfelt sympathies of all Victorians," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"I do so on behalf of not only the government but the whole of the parliament of Victoria.

"This is a tragic day for the family."

Mr Ryan said it is also a time to reflect on the extraordinary contribution volunteers make in protecting people from the threat of fire.

About four brigades attended the fire in Brantome Street, which took about an hour to control.

One person was home at the time but they were uninjured.

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NDIS, education before election: Gillard

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says her government has two major items to implement in 2013 before going to an election - introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme and undertaking further major education reforms.

Ms Gillard took time off from her holidays to make an appearance at the Woodford Folk Festival on Sunday.

She says the government would continue to work to keep the economy strong and jobs rolling, but the other two issues were her "two big ambitions for 2013 before we get around to winning that election".

"I want to see us launch the National Disability Insurance Scheme on the first of July," she told the festival crowd.

"Then the other thing I've got a really big focus on is delivering on further education reforms.

"We had a fair old wake up call in international testing (recently). We can make sure our kids can get a world-class education."

She said the government had already made changes to a number of schools that had been struggling.

"What we've got to do now is take it and upscale and give it to every school and make a difference to every school.

"I'm absolutely determined that we're battling through on that."

A federal election is not due to until October next year, where Labor hopes to regain its majority.

Ms Gillard has led a minority government with the support of key independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott since 2010, but she said the situation had not dented her agenda.

She pointed to a number of achievements including introducing the carbon tax, putting healthcare on a sustainable footing, introducing the Queensland flood levy, education and aged care reforms. But did not mention asylum seeker policy.

"The really big decisions this government's taken would be effectively the same," she said.

"We would have done the same things as a majority government because they are the right thing to do.

She said the introduction of carbon pricing was in some ways made better by the negotiations needed in a minority government.

"It meant we could work across both houses - the house and the Senate - not just put something in the Senate and have it knocked over, which was the history of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, but actually work in a way which the proposition that went to the parliament was going to get carried."

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