Vic teenagers bash man, steal car: police

A GANG of teenagers attacked and robbed a Melbourne man in the hallway of his residential care home before they fled with his car, police say.

The teenagers, aged 14 to 17, had been driving for hours towards the NSW border when they were finally stopped about 250km from the man's home, a police spokeswoman said.

Two of them jumped out of the car and fled into the bushes, only to be flushed out by the dog squad about an hour later.

The teens, who are still being questioned, are accused of assaulting the 47-year-old man in Dandenong around 1am (AEDT) on Saturday.

The man had to be taken to hospital following the attack, where he had his personal belongings and car stolen.

Police later spotted the car north of Melbourne near Kilmore, but had to call off a pursuit when it failed to pull over and kept driving on the wrong side of the highway.

The car ran over a spike belt around 5.30am near Winton.

The two girls and three boys were arrested at the scene but have not yet been charged.

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Brisbane man accused in US over Silk Road

US prosecutors have accused Brisbane man Peter Phillip Nash of being one of the central figures in the hidden, encrypted internet "black-market bazaar" Silk Road.

It is alleged the Silk Road website was used by several thousand drug dealers to distribute hundreds of kilograms of heroin, cocaine, LSD and other illegal drugs and illicit goods to more than 100,000 buyers around the world over the past two and a half years.

Nash, 40, was employed since January 2013 by Silk Road's San Francisco-based owner Ross William Ulbricht, known by the alias Dread Pirate Roberts, as the primary moderator of the website's discussion forums, prosecutors said.

Nash, who went by the aliases "Batman73" and "Anonymousasshit", was named in an indictment unsealed on Friday by prosecutors in New York.

He was arrested in Brisbane by Australian Federal Police on Friday and faces extradition to the US.

Two other alleged Silk Road employees, Andrew Michael Jones, 24, of Virginia, and Gary Davis, of Ireland, were also named in the indictment.

Ulbricht paid the site administrators and forum moderators salaries ranging from approximately $US50,000 to $US75,000 ($A56,590 to $A84,885) per year for monitoring user activity on the Silk Road website, responding to customer service inquiries and resolving disputes between buyers and vendors, it is alleged.

The trio is charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in US federal prison.

They are also charged with narcotics conspiracy and conspiracy to commit computer hacking.

Ulbricht was arrested in San Francisco on October 1.

Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, praised the help of the Australian Federal Police with the investigation into Nash.

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Govt backs Rio to help NT town

THE federal government has backed Rio Tinto to take the lead in helping unemployed Nhulunbuy residents as part of closure of the mining giant's alumina refinery.

Rio met with workers on Thursday to reveal its three-stage timetable to close the loss-making Gove refinery in the Northern Territory (NT) by July next year, putting more than 1,000 people out of work.

Rio also released a statement late on Friday outlining a plan to assist the town.

Among the strategies were offering fly in-fly out work to Rio projects in other areas; and financing transitional support and mentors for local businesses and specifically Aboriginal businesses.

Nhulunbuy residents along with NT Labor MPs Warren Snowdon and Lynne Walker have called for a package similar to the federal government's $60 million commitment to communities affected by Holden's closure in four years time.

Some locals say all the federal government has done is refer them to Centrelink.

Gove's closure will decimate the town of only about 4,000 people.

Ms Walker, Nhulunbuy's NT MP, said the Territory's chief minister Adam Giles was allowing Rio to walk away in a short, brutal time frame compared to Holden and Ford's planned departures over several years.

"Industrial shutdowns usually occur over a minimum two-year time frame to allow for alternative job creation," she said.

NT attorney-general John Elferink said the government had placed demands on Rio to ensure the needs of Nhulunbuy locals were met as well as possible.

Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane's view is that the alumina refinery's closure and Nhulunbuy's dependence on Rio Tinto is not comparable to the closure of one industry in a part of Adelaide or Victoria such as Holden or Ford's exit.

Senior Commonwealth officials will visit Nhulunbuy in early January in the first of regular meetings with the community, Rio Tinto and the Northern Territory government, he said.

"The Australian government will work closely with stakeholders to provide the community the support it needs without duplicating what Rio Tinto and the Northern Territory government are doing."

Rio's bauxite mine will continue in the region, retaining about 350 workers.

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WA stolen generation test case fails

AN Aboriginal family split up by the West Australian government's past policy of forcibly removing indigenous children has lost a Supreme Court bid for compensation.

Donald and Sylvia Collard, from the wheatbelt town of Kondinin, were seeking redress from the WA government after their seven children were removed without consent by state officials and placed in state care between March 1958 and December 1961.

The action was considered by the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA (ALSWA) to be a test case for thousands of other indigenous West Australians.

But on Friday, WA Supreme Court Justice Janine Pritchard dismissed the case.

Members of the Collard family were present to hear the outcome and were devastated by the decision, ALSWA chief executive Dennis Eggington said.

They had shown unwavering courage and resilience in sharing their traumatic stories for the case, for the benefit of all members of the stolen generations.

"This test case was more than a case for the Collard family alone," Mr Eggington said.

"It was a test case for thousands of our people who were also stolen from their families and we knew that this case could have the capacity to rights the wrongs of the past.

"You cannot underestimate how difficult this process was for family members but they persevered and can hold their heads high in the knowledge that they played such a significant role in this historical case."

The Collard family is taking time to consider the decision, which was explained in a complex 410-page judgment, and whether to take the matter further.

Lavan Legal, which lodged the writ in May 2010, acted on a pro bono basis.

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Big paper mill fire still burns in Sydney

EXTRA ladder trucks have been called to a large blaze at a Sydney paper mill where more than 100 firefighters are battling to stop it spreading to surrounding buildings.

The fire broke out in stacked bales of paper at the mill at Matraville around 11am (AEDT) on Thursday but later spread to a three-storey building.

Three fire engines with ladders were deployed to pour water on the fire but further ladder trucks were called later in the afternoon, with the fire taking hold in the roof of an adjacent unoccupied factory.

A Fire & Rescue NSW spokesman said firefighters had extinguished burning oil at the site but it could take a long time to contain the main blaze.

He said the paper bales where the fire took strong hold could burn for days.

Workers were evacuated from the site but no injuries had been reported.

Botany Road was closed eastbound at Macauley Street in Port Botany on Thursday afternoon, with motorists being diverted into Beauchamp Road.

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Missing man's body believed to be in grave

POLICE believe they will soon know if a missing South Korean man's body is in shallow grave found in southwest Brisbane.

Detective Inspector Rod Kemp says two men and one woman were arrested on Wednesday night over the disappearance of 28-year-old Min Tae Kim.

Their enquiries led them to a shallow grave in the suburb of Algester on Thursday morning.

Det Insp Kemp says blood was found near the site, where forensics officers are preparing to exhume the contents.

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

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

Mr Kim, 28, was last seen by his housemates at their Cannon Hill home about 2.45pm (AEST) on Monday.

He had gone out to exchange $15,000 cash into South Korean won with an unknown person he had contacted through the Gumtree website but he never returned home.

His disappearance comes less than a month after 22-year-old South Korean woman Eunji Ban was murdered in a CBD park on her way to work.

When asked what it would mean if Mr Kim could be the second Korean murdered in Brisbane in a month, Det Insp said it would be shocking.

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

Det Insp Kemp said Koreans had nothing to fear specifically but also warned international students to be aware they can be targeted by criminals.

"Obviously it's a strange environment for them, they can be seen as a soft target at times," he said.

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Bega doctor can appeal against sentence

FORMER NSW doctor Graeme Reeves has won the right to appeal against his sentence.

But Reeves, who was found guilty in 2011 of removing Carolyn DeWaegeneire's clitoris and genitals, has lost his appeal against his conviction.

The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal will now consider whether Reeves' sentence should be reduced.

Reeves was originally sentenced to three-and-a-half years jail with a non-parole period of one year, but the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the inadequacy of the sentence.

In February this year, the NSW Court of Appeal found the sentence to be grossly inadequate and re-sentenced him to five-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years.

Reeves appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal then the High Court in October.

The High Court on Wednesday said the appeal court had erred by failing to dismiss the appeal by not "taking into account evidence of Reeves' deteriorating health and the imminent expiry of his non-parole period".

Reeves' appeal against his conviction - based on an error in direction from the trial judge - was dismissed.

The High Court found that the Court of Criminal Appeal had identified and applied the correct test for consent to surgery, which requires that the patient be informed in broad terms of the nature of the procedure.

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First death from new bird flu strain

A 73-year-old woman in China has died from a new strain of bird flu, health experts say. Source: AAP

A 73-YEAR-OLD woman in China has been confirmed as the first person to die from a new strain of avian influenza, health experts said.

The unidentified woman died of respiratory failure on December 6, six days after she was admitted to a hospital in the eastern province of Jiangxi suffering from severe pneumonia, the provincial health authority said.

Tests confirmed that she was infected with the H10N8 bird flu virus, which was not previously detected in humans, it said.

Medical staff monitored the woman's close contacts but found no similar symptoms, leading experts to conclude that "we should initially consider it an isolated case."

"There is low risk that the virus can cause human infection and transmission," the health authority said.

The woman had reportedly visited a live poultry market.

China has reported 142 cases, including 45 deaths, of another new bird flu strain, H7N9, since it was first detected in March.

In October, the World Health Organisation said it found no evidence of "sustained human-to-human transmission" of the H7N9 virus.

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Researchers discover 'small dog syndrome'

SMALL dogs may suffer from a canine equivalent of short man syndrome, researchers believe, making them more aggressive and prone to mount people and objects.

Regardless of breed, the smaller the dog is, the more likely it is to be unruly, aggressive, noisy and prone to "humping", according to a study by the University of Sydney.

"Our research shows that certain physical characteristics in dogs are consistently associated with certain types of behaviour," said Professor Paul McGreevy from the Faculty of Veterinary Science.

"Essentially, the shorter the dogs the less controllable their behaviour is for their owners.

"Undesirable behaviours such as owner aggression, or mounting, occur more often among small dogs."

The study, published in journal PLOS One, examined owners' reports of 8000 dogs from across 80 breeds. It found that 33 of 36 undesirable behaviours in dogs could be associated with height, body weight and skull shape.

"When average body weight decreased, excitability and hyperactivity increased," said Professor McGreevy.

Further studies will address whether these bad behaviours seen in small dogs are a result of nature or nurture.

"This suggests that, in small dogs, these behaviours are tolerated more than they would be in larger dogs where such behaviours are more unwelcome and even dangerous."

"Equally, such behaviours in small dogs may be a result of their being overindulged and over-protected," he said.

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N. Korea swears loyalty to young leader

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has presided over a mass gathering of military and party officials that was broadcast live on state television at a time of growing concern over the stability of his hardline regime.

The ceremony in central Pyongyang, marking the second death anniversary of Kim's father and former leader Kim Jong-Il, included a number of speeches that stressed unquestioning loyalty to the young supremo and included a stark warning to rival South Korea.

It followed the shock execution last week of Kim Jong-Un's uncle and one-time political mentor, Jang Song-thaek.

The purge raised questions about factional infighting at the top of the North Korean hierarchy and prompted both Seoul and Washington to warn of possible provocative acts by the nuclear-armed regime.

State television showed the massed ranks of tens of thousands of military and party officials sitting stony-faced in pin-drop silence for several minutes, before rising to greet Kim Jong-Un with thunderous applause as he arrived to take his place on the leadership podium.

"We should be warriors to safeguard the party centre with our lives ... with the conviction that we know no one but the great comrade Kim Jong-Un," North Korea's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam, said in an opening address.

He added that the country had made "great strides" in the two years since Kim took over the reins of power after his father's death.

Under Kim's leadership, North Korea has successfully placed a satellite in orbit and in February this year conducted its third - and most powerful - nuclear test.

"By holding the respected comrade Kim Jong-Un in high esteem ... our country will prosper as the country of eternal sun," Kim Yong-nam said.

Tuesday's mass meeting also heard a keynote address by top military leader Choe Ryong-hae - who some analysts believe had a hand in the ouster and execution of Jang.

"Our revolutionary forces know ... no one but comrade Kim Jong-Un," said Choe, a close Kim Jong-Un confidant who holds the military rank of vice marshal and is director of the Korean People's Army's General Political Department

The military will support "our supreme commander, under any storms and hardships", said Choe, who also fired off a warning at rival South Korea.

"If the enemies drop a single drop of fire on our motherland, our soldiers will immediately storm out to wipe out all the invaders and achieve unification," he said.

At a meeting of top defence and national security officials on Monday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye had warned that the recent leadership shake-up in the North could presage some aggressive behaviour from Pyongyang.

"We can't rule out the possibility of contingencies such as reckless provocations," Park said, urging the military to step up vigilance along the heavily fortified border.

Meanwhile in New York UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Jang's execution "very dramatic and surprising" and urged the country's neighbours not to take any "premature actions", the AP reported.

Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, expressed hope there will be no increase of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

In his first public comments on the execution, Ban also urged North Korea's leaders to work to denuclearise the peninsula.

He stressed that North Korea must focus on improving the living conditions of its people and comply with Security Council resolutions, which it has long ignored.

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Kiwi extends gains over Aussie dollar

THE New Zealand dollar has extended its rally against its trans-Tasman counterpart as the divergence between the neighbouring economies makes New Zealand interest rates more attractive.

The kiwi rose as high as 92.49 Australian cents on Monday, the highest since October 2008, trading at 92.40 cents at 5pm in Wellington from 92.26 cents on Friday in New York.

The NZ dollar traded at 82.78 cents from 82.56 cents at 8am and 82.63 cents on Friday in New York.

The kiwi has been making fresh five-year highs against its Australian counterpart as the slowing economy in Australia and burgeoning local recovery underline the different stages of the interest rate cycle each nation's central bank is in.

New Zealand's Reserve Bank is keen on hiking rates next year, while Australia's is sitting on record-low rates to keep the stimulus coming.

Investors will be looking to see any hint of an easing bias when the minutes to this month's Reserve Bank of Australia policy meeting are released on Tuesday.

"Their central bank is quite determined to get the Aussie dollar lower to get a more sustainable mix in their economy," said Dan Bell, head of corporate sales at HiFX in Auckland.

"It looks like the kiwi/Aussie could get up to the 95 cent level" over the next month before it "runs out of puff," he said.

The kiwi fell to 85.04 yen at 5pm in Wellington from 85.31 yen on Friday in New York, and was little changed at 60.16 euro cents from 60.19 cents.

The trade-weighted index was steady at 77.92 from 77.90.

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Wesfarmers sells underwriting operations

DIVERSIFIED conglomerate Wesfarmers is selling its Australasian insurance underwriting operations to Insurance Australia Group (IAG) for about $1.85 billion - its biggest ever divestment.

Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder said the sale followed approaches by a number of parties that were interested in the underwriting business.

Wesfarmers had spent a lot of money in recent years getting the Australian and New Zealand insurance underwriting business into much better shape.

"But it hasn't delivered satisfactory returns on average over the last five years to Wesfarmers," Mr Goyder told reporters.

"And over a period of time, if any of our businesses don't generate satisfactory returns, we'll look and see what we do with it."

Mr Goyder said the sale of the insurance underwriting business also reduced some of the risk in Wesfarmers' portfolio of industrial, mining, retail and financial businesses.

There was inherent volatility in the insurance business because of catastrophic events like earthquakes in New Zealand, and Cyclone Yasi.

The sale does not include the insurance division's broking operations in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and its Australian and New Zealand premium funding businesses which will remain part of Wesfarmers.

Wesfarmers expects a pre-tax profit of about $700 million to $750 million from the transaction, which will be included in the financial results for the second half of the 2014 financial year.

Mr Goyder said Wesfarmers had not yet decided what to do with the proceeds from the sale.

The sale is subject to regulatory approval, which is expected to take several months.

The acquisition comprises Wesfarmers' underwriting companies trading under the WFI and Lumley Insurance brands, and a 10-year distribution agreement with Coles.

IAG chief executive Mike Wilkins said the acquisition was a compelling strategic fit for IAG.

"Acquiring these businesses supports the group's strategic priorities of accelerating profitable growth in Australia and sustaining our market-leading position in New Zealand, and we expect attractive EPS (earnings per share) accretion," Mr Wilkins said.

IAG expects the acquisition will lift earnings per share by a modest amount in the first full year of ownership and by at least five per cent in the second year.

The acquisition will be partly funded from a $1.2 billion placement of shares to institutional investors, at $5.47 per share.

The integration of Wesfarmers' underwriting businesses is expected to generate pre-tax net benefits of about $140 million a year, with a significant proportion derived from reinsurance.

The integration process is expected to be substantially complete within two years, with pre-tax integration costs of $120 million.

Shares in Wesfarmers were 20.5 cents higher at $41.51 at 1515 AEDT. IAG shares are in a trading halt until the start of trading on Wednesday, December 18. They last traded at $5.70.

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Police officer stabbed in the neck

A 28-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with attempted murder after a north Queensland policeman was stabbed in the neck during a national crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence.

The officer was stabbed with a knife at a Townsville bar about 12.30am (AEST) on Saturday and was rushed to hospital in a serious condition.

"His injuries were significant but luckily he is fit enough now to continue his recovery at home," a police spokesman told AAP on Sunday.

The 33-year-old officer was taking part in Operation Unite, a blitz on alcohol-related crime across Australia and New Zealand.

His alleged attacker was arrested at the scene.

Another officer sustained an injury to his hand during the incident.

A 28-year-old Townsville man has been charged with attempted murder, serious assault of police while armed, entering premises with intent to commit an indictable offence, possession of a knife in a public place and creating a disturbance in licensed premises.

He was also charged with two counts of obstructing police and is due to appear in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Monday.

Premier Campbell Newman said assaults of police attracted serious penalties.

"Assaults on police are totally unacceptable on all accounts," he told reporters on Sunday.

"People who assault police need to know there are significant penalties."

The maximum penalty for assaulting a police officer was increased from seven to 14 years and the murder of a police officer attracts a non-parole period of 25 years under tough penalties introduced by the Newman government last year.

A total of 430 arrests were made in Queensland during the crackdown on alcohol-fuelled assaults, anti-social behaviour and drink-driving across Australia and New Zealand since Friday night.

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I don't expect marriage bill, says Abbott

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says he does not expect gay marriage legislation to come before parliament, despite a senior colleague saying it is "likely" coalition MPs will be allowed a conscience vote on the issue.

As attention shifts from the High Court's decision to strike down ACT gay marriage laws, Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull said if he were given a free vote "I will certainly vote in favour of a marriage equality bill".

Legislation to allow gay marriage was voted down in the last parliament, with then opposition leader Tony Abbott refusing to allow his party a conscience vote.

But Mr Turnbull, a supporter of gay marriage, believed that could change if the issue is revisited in the next three years.

"I think it is likely that we will (have a free vote), but as Tony Abbott has said, it is a decision for the party room, not for him," he told Sky News on Sunday.

Mr Turnbull said it was too early to predict whether the new parliament would back same-sex marriage legislation, but added that Australia was lagging behind other countries such as New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the United States.

"So people of the same sex can get married in Auckland and Wellington, Toronto and Ottawa and Vancouver, in New York and Los Angeles, and Baltimore, in Cape Town, but not Australia," Mr Turnbull said.

"It does start to look as if we're the ones out of step."

However, Mr Abbott gave no indication of allowing a free vote on same sex marriage, instead saying he did not expect legislation to come before the parliament.

"I'm not expecting any legislation to come before the parliament because when legislation came before the last parliament it was fairly decisively dealt with," the prime minister told reporters in Sydney.

"But if legislation comes before the parliament, it will be considered by our party room in the usual way.

"It is really up to individual members of parliament to propose private member's bills if that's what they want."

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has announced she will introduce a private member's bill to legalise gay marriage, but only if Mr Abbott allows a conscience vote.

She has also called on Mr Turnbull to co-sponsor the legislation, but the eastern Sydney MP ruled out such a move.

"I can't co-sponsor a private member's bill because I'm a member of the cabinet," Mr Turnbull said.

Gay marriage advocate Rodney Croome said Mr Turnbull's comments reflected growing support within the coalition for a conscience vote and the principle of marriage equality.

"An increasing number of Australians feel embarrassed by the fact that marriage equality has moved forward in countries that are our closest friends and allies, including New Zealand, the UK, the US and Canada," Mr Croome said in a statement.

The Greens Sarah Hanson-Young last week introduced a same-sex marriage bill into the Senate.

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