Outback NSW swelters, Sydney gets relief

A cool change has swept across Sydney earlier than expected, with temperatures dropping. Source: AAP

SIX people have been treated for heat exposure across NSW, as temperatures push above 45C in some parts of the state.

NSW Ambulance said five women aged between 38 and 93 and a 12-year-old girl were treated by paramedics on Saturday, with four of them taken to hospital.

Meanwhile a 85-year-old male man from Charlestown near Newcastle was also taken to hospital.

"This would be in addition to other six heat-related call-outs for reasons such as dizziness, nausea and vomiting," a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said in a statement.

It came as temperatures hit 46C at Walgett in north-western NSW, with parts of the Hunter seeing the mercury rise to 43C.

Sydneysiders along the coast were spared from the hot weather, with forecasting downgrading predictions of 35 plus degrees earlier on Saturday.

A top of 31.2C was recorded at 11am (AEDT) at Sydney's Observatory Hill, while just before 2.30pm 39.9C was recorded at Richmond.

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French forces fight Mali Islamists

French soldiers have come to the aid of the Mali government against al-Qaeda-linked militants. Source: AAP

FRENCH soldiers have launched an operation to help the government of Mali defeat al-Qaeda-linked militants who captured more ground this week.

French President Francois Hollande said his country acted on Friday because the "terrorists are a threat to France, to Europe and the world".

He said the operation would last "as long as necessary".

France said it was taking the action in Mali at the request of President Dioncounda Traore, who declared a state of emergency because of the militants' advance.

The arrival of the French troops in their former colony on Friday came a day after the Islamists moved the closest yet towards territory still under government control and fought the Malian military for the first time in months, seizing the strategic city of Konna.

For the past nine months, the Islamic militants have controlled a large swathe of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.

"French armed forces supported Malian units this afternoon to fight against terrorist elements," Hollande said in Paris.

He did not give any details of the operation, other than to say that it was aimed in part at protecting the 6000 French citizens in Mali, where seven of them already are being held captive.

Locals in central Mali said they had seen Western military personnel arriving in the area, with planes landing at a nearby airport throughout the night.

Traore went on national television on Friday night to declare the state of emergency, saying it would remain in effect for 10 days and could be renewed.

He called on mining companies and non-government organisations to turn their trucks over to Malian military, raising questions about the army's ability.

France has led a diplomatic push for international action in northern Mali, but efforts to get an African-led force together, or to train the weak Malian army, have dragged.

The French quickly mobilised after the Islamists seized the city of Konna on Thursday, pushing closer to the army's major base in central Mali.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned the capture of Konna and urged UN member states to assist Mali "in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organisations and associated groups".

Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the UN.

The Security Council authorised the intervention but imposed certain conditions. Those include the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.

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Soldier jailed over fatal motorcycle crash

A SOLDIER in the Australian army has been jailed for 15 months after causing the death of a woman in a motorcycle accident on the Perth foreshore.

Giles Nelson Graham, 24, had been drinking before he took Carli Rustand on a motorcycle ride on her 24th birthday, and the pair hurtled along Riverside Drive at speeds between 81km/h and 116km/h.

Graham, who served two tours in Afghanistan after being fast-tracked to the Duntroon Academy aged just 19, recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.107 after the crash on March 4 last year, which also left him severely injured.

He was charged with dangerous driving in circumstances which resulted in a death and driving with a blood alcohol content above 0.08. He pleaded guilty last November.

Magistrate Dianne Scaddan said despite Graham's remorse, the tragic consequences of his decision to ride with Ms Rustand were too serious to allow him to walk free.

"This was not a case of momentary inattention," she said.

Graham will be eligible for parole after serving half his sentence.

He is now facing an involuntary discharge from the army, where his superiors had previously singled him out for his leadership qualities.

Australian Defence Force officials were in court to hear the verdict.

At the sentencing hearing on Friday, defence lawyer Laurie Levy told the magistrate that Graham had taken full responsibility for the crash and the death of Ms Rustand.

"I am never going to forgive myself," Graham told a court official compiling a pre-sentence report.

"How can I be a good man when I have got so much blood on my hands?"

The Perth Magistrates Court was told Graham had been involved in 15 major firefights in Afghanistan, during which three Australian soldiers and one American serviceman died.

He was a commander of a protective mobility vehicle in the war zone in his final tour of duty, the court was told.

He was on leave at the time of the accident, which happened on the first night the pair had met.

After a meal at a Chinese restaurant, followed by several hours at a karaoke bar, the pair carried on the party at South Perth with friends, where they set off on the Harley-Davidson.

Graham suffered three neck fractures, three spinal fractures, three cranial fractures and bleeding on the brain which prompted doctors to place him in an induced coma.

After he recovered, Graham wrote to Ms Rustand's family to apologise for his part in her death.

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NBN Co exceeds Dec 2012 work target

NBN Co boss Mike Quigley says construction on the broadband network will continue to increase. Source: AAP

THE pace of construction on the government's $37.4 billion broadband network will continue to ramp up after exceeding its 2012 year-end rollout target, the federal government says.

The builder of the national broadband network (NBN) has released data that shows fibre cable work had begun or been completed on 784,592 premises by the end of 2012.

This is more than the forecast 758,000 premises, NBN Co boss Mike Quigley says.

"I am pretty pleased with that because it does set us up now pretty well for what we have to do between now and the end of June," Mr Quigley told AAP on Friday.

He said the next big milestone was to have fibre cable running past another 286,000 premises by that date.

That was still an ambitious target and they would have to roll it past more than 6000 premises a day by May/June to hit the mark, he said.

Mr Quigley said figures that show how many premises or lots the cable has passed by would be released soon.

The number of premises passed by fibre cable at September 30, 2012 was 52,014.

Acting federal communications minister Kim Carr said that exceeding the December 2012 target was "just the beginning".

"The ramp up of NBN construction activity will continue in 2013, with more workers hauling fibre, more areas switching on the NBN, and more families and businesses connecting," Senator Carr said in a statement on Friday.

Under Labor's $37.4 billion project, NBN Co is charged with rolling out the high speed broadband fibre optic cable to 93 per cent of homes, schools and businesses by June 2021.

The remaining seven per cent will be covered by fixed wireless and satellite services by 2015.

Opposition communication spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said the figures that mattered with the rollout were the number of premises the fibre cable had passed and where it was connected.

"It is noteworthy that today's announcement does not include updated figures for premises with active connections or premises passed with fibre (these being the only relevant metrics)," Mr Turnbull said on his blog on Friday.

Mr Turnbull said 6358 premises were actively connected to the fibre network at as September 30 and it had passed 52,014 premises, while NBN Co's corporate plan of August 2012 said there would be 54,000 connections to the fibre network at that time.

"By 2021 the same plan forecasts 8.5 million will be connected to the fibre," he said.

"A long way to go!"

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China trade rebounds in sign of recovery

CHINA'S trade growth rebounded strongly in December in a positive sign for the recovery of the world's second-largest economy.

Export growth more than quadrupled from the previous month to 14.1 per cent while imports - which failed to grow at all in November - rose 6 per cent in a sign of increasing domestic demand, data showed on Thursday.

The trade figures add to evidence China is gradually emerging from its worst economic downturn since the 2008 global crisis.

Factory output and other activity improved in the final quarter of 2012, but analysts say a recovery still is shaky and will be too weak to drive a global rebound without a turnaround in the United States and Europe.

The improvement comes as a new generation of Communist Party leaders who were installed at a congress in October are taking power.

Beijing is pinning hopes for recovery on government-driven investment and domestic consumer spending that is rising but not as fast as authorities want.

Private sector analysts, the World Bank and other forecasters expect growth of about 8 per cent in 2012 and about 7.5 per cent this year.

That is far stronger than the West and Japan but would be China's weakest performance since the 1990s.

The country's global trade surplus nearly doubled over the same month in 2011, rising 90 per cent to $231.1 billion, according to the General Administration of Customs.

For the full year, the global trade surplus rose 49 per cent to $231.1 billion.

In November, export growth had plunged to 2.9 per cent while imports were flat. That was in line with analysts' warnings that a trade rebound that started in August was unsustainable due to weak European and US demand.

Reliance on trade has declined as domestic consumption growth but export-driven manufacturing still employs millions of workers and any weakness raises the risk of job losses and unrest.

The commerce minister, Chen Deming, warned in November that exporters face "relatively grim" conditions in coming months and "many difficulties" in 2013.

Import growth has been depressed by government curbs aimed at cooling a boom in construction and industrial investment that have cooled demand for foreign iron ore, copper and other raw materials.

Communist leaders want to shift the basis of economic growth to domestic consumption and services, a strategy that promises smaller but more sustainable gains. That could hurt commodities suppliers such as Australia, Brazil and some African economies, where Chinese spending has fuelled an economic boom.

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AIG refuses to join lawsuit against govt

THE board of giant insurer AIG has decided not to join a private shareholder lawsuit against the US government over the $US182 billion ($A174 billion) rescue of the insurer in 2008.

The lawsuit filed by Starr International, which is controlled by former AIG chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, argued that the massive bailout of AIG did not fairly compensate shareholders. Starr sued the government for about $US25 billion in November 2011.

"The AIG Board has determined to refuse Starr's demand in its entirety, and will neither pursue these claims itself nor permit Starr to pursue them in AIG's name," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The government took control of American International Group (AIG) in September 2008 to prevent its imminent collapse from sparking a cascade of gigantic failures throughout the global financial system.

But the rescue wiped out most of the value of AIG's shares.

The US has slowly sold off its holdings in the company over the past two years, disposing of its last shares only in December. The Treasury said the government had earned a $22.7 billion net profit on the bailout.

Starr petitioned the AIG board to join in or take the lead in the suit.

But AIG concluded that a determination not to join the suit met the company's "fiduciary and legal" obligations to AIG and its shareholders.

AIG, which has made a point in recent weeks of publicly thanking US taxpayers for the rescue plan, did so again on Wednesday.

AIG said that in the coming weeks it would file with the courts a formal statement giving its "underlying" reasons for not joining the suit.

The Treasury Department, which argued with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that the Starr case has no merit, praised AIG's decision.

"AIG ran a careful process and the Board's decision not to join Starr International's lawsuit is the right result," said Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability Timothy Massad in a statement.

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Bushfire near NSW power station contained

A BUSHFIRE near one of the largest coal-fired power stations in Australia has been brought under control.

The fire was spotted some time after midday (AEDT), about one to two kilometres from the Bayswater power station near Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Valley region of NSW.

The blaze spread over five hectares and forced the closure of the New England Highway in the north-bound direction.

Crews brought the fire under control within a couple of hours and the highway has since been reopened.

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Wallan locals wait out fire at Vic pub

WALLAN residents are sitting in the pub, waiting, as a fast-moving grassfire burns in the town of 12,000 people north of Melbourne.

The CFA issued an emergency warning about 1.45pm (AEDT), advising a small blaze had broken out at Taylors Lane.

The fire was brought under control just after 3pm, a State Control Centre spokeswoman said.

The emergency warning was downgraded to a watch and act alert about 3.30pm.

The CFA alert said the grassfire was about five hectares large and travelling north.

"The fire has already impacted Rowes Lane, Old Sydney Road, and is now being controlled," the alert said.

It said smoke may be visible from the Hume Highway and Northern Highway.

Wallan is about 60km north of Melbourne.

Karen Buckley who works at the local pub, Hogans Hotel, said people had gathered there to wait.

"I can see the smoke from the window here," she told AAP.

"We have a couple of local residents actually here with their little dogs, just waiting it out.

"Everyone is just sitting back and just watching."

Ms Buckley said she could see several planes and two or three helicopters dumping water.

Her property is in an estate off Taylors Lane, where her 19-year-old daughter is looking after the family's show dogs and cats.

"She is just worried more about our animals," Ms Buckley said.

A State Control Centre spokesman said two helicopters and nine trucks were on scene.

"Residential properties could be impacted, but as far as I've heard so far they have not been," he told AAP.

Ms Buckley said the smoke had started to dissipate.

"It's not as heavy as what it was, so we're hoping that containment is progressing," she said.

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NT resort guests woken to fire threat

A BUSHFIRE in central Australia has forced a major resort to evacuate guests to a safe area for several hours.

Guests at the Kings Canyon Resort, about 300km southwest of Alice Springs, had their sleep cut short after a small bushfire threatened the area.

It is also believed that the Lilla Aboriginal community was evacuated as a precaution on Tuesday.

Bushfires NT senior fire control officer Geoff Kenna said a relatively small fire saw resort guests evacuated to a safe area from about 4.30am until 7am on Tuesday morning.

"The resort did ask the people to evacuate their rooms and assemble at an assembly point," Mr Kenna said.

"The fire had been reported by campers at Kings Canyon," he said.

Although that fire was contained, a number of other blazes in the area continued to burn on Tuesday.

Mr Kenna said Lurita Road, which leads to the Watarrka National Park where King's Canyon is located, had been cut off by fire.

That blaze was threatening the Aboriginal community of Lilla, as well as a ranger's station, he said.

Another fire up to 200 sq km in size at Napperby Station, northwest of Alice Springs, was continuing to burn on Tuesday.

Alice Springs has been experiencing several days of hot, windy conditions, and lightning strikes have been causing fires.

Every day so far in 2013 has seen a maximum temperature above 40C at Alice Springs, and on Tuesday the record for the number of consecutive days above 42C was broken.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Angeline Prasad said the high temperatures were likely to continue into next week.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast maximum temperatures of 43C or 44C in Alice Springs each day until Friday.

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WA lucky to avoid bushfires so far

WESTERN Australia has been lucky to so far avoid the disastrous bushfires burning in the rest of the country, according to state's emergency service.

As New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania all swelter and battle major blazes, Perth and the rest of WA have been relatively unscathed by fires, despite warnings of another potentially lethal fire season.

However, Allen Gale from the state's Department of Fire and Emergency Services said the state had so far been lucky.

"We have been fortunate so far this year but we are only at the start of the worst part of the bushfire season in WA," Mr Gale said.

"Preparations should already have been done, and we are asking people to make sure they have got their survival plan ready so that they know what they are going to do."

State government reports tipped another nightmare bushfire season in 2013, with a combination of a heavy fuel load, a dry winter and unhelpful weather forecast.

Those weather conditions saw a heatwave in the week leading up to New Year's Day, ending with a scorching 42.1C on New Year's Eve, 13 degrees above the December average.

The state's average temperature for the last week of 2012 averaged a maximum of 39.3C, making it the hottest week in 80 years.

The Bureau of Meteorology said 2012 was the hottest year in Perth in 116 years, with the mean daily maximum temperature of 25.7C in the city equal to the highest on record.

Almost all the months in 2012 were warmer than normal in Perth, with the exception of February and November.

Perth recorded seven heatwaves - characterised as three or more consecutive days with maximum temperatures of 35C or higher - in 2012, the second highest number recorded in any one year.

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Seven killed in Nigeria robberies

Armed robbers terrorising northwest Nigeria have killed at least seven people, officials say. Source: AAP

SUSPECTED armed robbers terrorising northwest Nigeria have raided three villages, killing at least seven people and wounding seven more, a government official says.

Zamfara state Information Commissioner Ibrahim Birnin Magaji said on Sunday the attacks focused on the villages of Akuzo, Makera and Usu in the rural region.

Magaji said the gunmen attacked the villages on Saturday morning as people left the mosque following morning prayers.

The assault appeared to be the work of a violent gang blamed for several mass casualty attacks in the region in recent months as they raid rural villages in Zamfara and neighbouring Kaduna state.

In June, gunmen killed at least 27 people in Zamfara state in attacks on villages preparing for a local market day. Another 20 were killed in an October attack.

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Brisbane store robbed twice in one night

THIEVES bashed a supermarket cleaner with a metal bar and tied him and and two others up during a frightening robbery southeast of Brisbane.

Within hours of an earlier, unrelated break-in at the same store, a second set of thieves forced the roller door of the Ormeau supermarket about 3.45am (AEST) and bashed a cleaner over the head.

The manager of the Vaughan Drive store was also assaulted and made to open the safe.

He, the cleaner and another worker were tied up and the thieves made off with cigarettes and cash.

The bound men were found by a contractor who was called in to repair damage from an earlier robbery, which happened about 1.45am (AEST).

Police say three people forced entry to the store and tried to access a locked office and drawers but left empty-handed before targeting other shops nearby.

Police believe the two robberies are unrelated.

The store's cleaner was taken to hospital with a head injury.

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Central Africa rebels capture more towns

CENTRAL African Republic rebels have captured two more towns overnight, just days before talks are due to open on the crisis in the impoverished country, an official says.

"The rebels took two towns near Bambari", a town already under the control of the Seleka rebel coalition, Territorial Administration Minister Josue Binoua said on Saturday.

"This shows their intent to wage war even during negotiations," he said.

There was no immediate reaction from the rebels about the claim.

Binoua's statement came just days before the central African regional bloc CEEAC hopes to start hosting talks between the rebels and President Francois Bozize in an effort to solve the nearly month-long crisis in the mineral-rich but impoverished and unstable country.

The rebels threw those plans into doubt on Friday when they contradicted claims by CEEAC officials that they had agreed to the talks due to begin in Gabon's capital Libreville on Tuesday, saying they had not been informed of the initiative by the Economic Community of Central African States.

On Saturday, Binoua said the talks, which have the support of the UN Security Council and the United States, would proceed as planned.

"There will be three delegations of 15 members each - the government, rebels and opposition," he said.

Bozize will head the government delegation while the opposition will be led by the lawyer Nicolas Tiangaye, he added.

The rebels, who charge that Bozize has not abided by terms of earlier peace deals, launched an offensive on December 10 in the north and easily overran an ill-equipped and poorly trained army, marching across a large part of the country before halting their push within striking distance of the capital Bangui, in the southwest.

Rebel troops were stationed at Sibut, some 160 kilometres from the capital.

Unrest in the landlocked equatorial country has alarmed the country's neighbours and the international community, with the UN Security Council twice calling on Seleka to halt its offensive and engage in peace talks.

Meanwhile, central African nations have begun sending reinforcements to Damara, the last major town between the rebels and the capital, to bolster the army against the rebels.

The violence in the country has affected more than 300,000 children, including through recruitment as child soldiers, family separation, sexual violence and forced displacement, UNICEF has said.

The Central African Republic, with a population of about five million, is notorious for unrest including coups, army mutinies and rebellions.

Bozize himself took power in a coup in 2003 and has since been twice elected into office.

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Naomi Watts honoured in Palm Springs

NAOMI Watts has been honoured at the 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festvial.

Watts was presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award for Acting at the festival's gala night in Palm Springs, California, on Saturday night.

The British-born, Australian-raised actress was chosen to receive the honour for her performance in The Impossible.

In November, Festival chairman Harold Matzner told Variety.com that Watts's performance in the film was "worthy of an Oscar nomination".

Watts plays mother of three Maria Belon in the harrowing film, also starring Ewan McGregor, which is based on the true story of a family torn apart when the 2004 Asian tsunami engulfed Thailand's coastline.

The PSIFF is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees each year for its line-up of new and celebrated international features and documentaries.

The festival is also known for its annual Black Tie Awards Gala, honouring the best achievements in film.

Past Desert Palm Achievement Award recipients include Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Natalie Portman and Kate Winslet.

Other actresses to be honoured at the gala night on Saturday night were Helen Mirren (Hitchcock) and Helen Hunt (The Sessions).

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