US peace envoy back in Belfast for talks

AMERICAN envoy Richard Haass has returned to Belfast for a second attempt at quelling simmering disputes in Northern Ireland.

Haass, a former U.S. diplomat, was called in by the province's power sharing government to help resolve lingering disputes over flags, parades, and how to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland's conflict.

All three issues have repeatedly tested the province's two-decade peace process, a series of agreements aimed at reconciling Northern Ireland's pro-British Protestants and pro-Irish Catholics after decades of bloodshed.

Haass failed to bring the parties to an agreement before Christmas, but saw enough potential to return for a second try.

In a Twitter message on Saturday, he said a "real opportunity for progress exists".

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Zimbabwe ambassador goes into hiding

Zimbabwe's ambassador to Australia has gone into hiding after applying for a protection visa.

Jacqueline Zwambila was due to return home on Tuesday but instead appealed to the Australian government claiming her life would be in danger if she returned home.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says he will judge her request for asylum on its merits.

Ms Zwambila is aligned to Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

She said she knew it meant the end of her term when Robert Mugabe won elections earlier this year.

89-year-old Mr Mugabe has called on his opponents to accept defeat or commit suicide, telling the New York Times that "even dogs will not sniff at their flesh if they choose to die that way".

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Astronauts begin urgent space repairs

ASTRONAUTS have stepped out on the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks at the International Space Station.

The two Americans on the crew floated outside on Saturday morning.

They will disconnect an ammonia pump that contains a bad valve.

The breakdown has crippled the space station's critical cooling system.

The pump replacement is a huge undertaking, attempted only once before, in 2010.

NASA has ordered up three spacewalks to complete the job, with the next to begin on Monday.

Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins will go back out again Christmas Day, if any work remains.

The six-man crew had to turn off all non-essential equipment inside the orbiting lab following the malfunction on December 11, when scientific research came to a near-halt.

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Swedish Christmas goat engulfed in flames

VANDALS in Sweden have burned down for the 27th time a giant straw goat meant to symbolise Christmas spirit.

The 13-metre high and 3.6-tonne heavy straw goat was engulfed in flames early on Saturday after unidentified assailants attacked it in the Swedish town of Gavle, 150km north of Stockholm.

The straw goat is a centuries-old Scandinavian yule symbol that preceded Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts.

Since 1966, when the tradition of erecting the giant straw goat in the town square was introduced, Vandals have burnt it down 27 times.

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Motorcyclist dies after toy run event

A 58-YEAR-OLD man is dead and a teenage girl is in hospital after a motorcycle crash on the Brooker Highway in Hobart.

Police say the motorcycle, which had earlier been involved in a toy run event, was travelling north when it crashed about 200m south of the Claremont Link Road off ramp.

The driver, from Old Beach, died at the scene, while his passenger, a 17-year-old girl, was taken to Royal Hobart Hospital in a stable condition.

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Australia close to FTA with China: Bishop

AFTER eight years of negotiations, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she is hopeful of clinching a free trade agreement with China within months.

Ms Bishop was in Beijing this week for high-level talks with Chinese officials including Vice-President Li Yuanchao.

She told a press conference China, Australia's biggest trading partner, had expressed enthusiasm for a free trade agreement (FTA) days after a similar deal was inked between South Korea and Australia.

"There are many opportunities for our economic relationship to be broader and deeper and more diversified and the potential for a Free Trade Agreement was discussed," Ms Bishop told reporters in Beijing on Saturday.

"Indeed, the Vice-President indicated that he thought we had the opportunity to conclude a Free Trade Agreement in the very near future."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously pledged to secure three FTAs in his first 12 months as prime minister.

The third hoped-for agreement would be with Japan.

Ms Bishop said Australia was still hopeful of reaching a deal with China within a year.

"We didn't put a time-frame on it, that's Australia's aspiration. But most certainly the Vice-President was very positive about the conclusion of an agreement within a short period of time," she said.

"We have been negotiating a free trade agreement with China for eight years now and the high quality, comprehensive agreement that we were able to conclude with South Korea gives us hope that we will be able to do something similar with China."

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Motorcyclist dies after toy run event

A 58-YEAR-OLD man is dead and a teenage girl is in hospital after a motorcycle crash on the Brooker Highway in Hobart.

Police say the motorcycle, which had earlier been involved in a toy run event, was travelling north when it crashed about 200m south of the Claremont Link Road off ramp.

The driver, from Old Beach, died at the scene, while his passenger, a 17-year-old girl, was taken to Royal Hobart Hospital in a stable condition.

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Australia close to FTA with China: Bishop

AFTER eight years of negotiations, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she is hopeful of clinching a free trade agreement with China within months.

Ms Bishop was in Beijing this week for high-level talks with Chinese officials including Vice-President Li Yuanchao.

She told a press conference China, Australia's biggest trading partner, had expressed enthusiasm for a free trade agreement (FTA) days after a similar deal was inked between South Korea and Australia.

"There are many opportunities for our economic relationship to be broader and deeper and more diversified and the potential for a Free Trade Agreement was discussed," Ms Bishop told reporters in Beijing on Saturday.

"Indeed, the Vice-President indicated that he thought we had the opportunity to conclude a Free Trade Agreement in the very near future."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously pledged to secure three FTAs in his first 12 months as prime minister.

The third hoped-for agreement would be with Japan.

Ms Bishop said Australia was still hopeful of reaching a deal with China within a year.

"We didn't put a time-frame on it, that's Australia's aspiration. But most certainly the Vice-President was very positive about the conclusion of an agreement within a short period of time," she said.

"We have been negotiating a free trade agreement with China for eight years now and the high quality, comprehensive agreement that we were able to conclude with South Korea gives us hope that we will be able to do something similar with China."

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Tibetan campaigner arrives in Dharmsala

A 42-YEAR-OLD Tibetan has arrived at the headquarters of the government-in-exile in India after cycling through Europe and Asia in a campaign protesting China's heavy-handed rule in the Himalayan region.

Scores of people lined the streets of northern Indian town of Dharmsala on Saturday waving Tibetan flags and ceremonial silk scarves as they greeted Rinpo Yak.

He reached India cycling through Nepal.

Beginning in March, he moved through 14 European countries before flying to Japan for the Asian leg. His journey has covered over 8000 kilometres.

He lives in the US and he has spread his message across 40 states since 2000.

He's due to meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama soon.

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French tax protests rumble on

THOUSANDS of trucks blocked highways and roads across France in ongoing protests over an environmental tax that continue to smoulder, despite the government putting the levy on ice.

The Interior Ministry said around 2200 trucks were taking part in the protest over the proposed tax on trucks of over 3.5 tonnes - slightly more than the last protest by transporters two weeks ago. A transport union put the figure at 4500 trucks.

Tens of thousands of small business owners and workers have demonstrated over the tax in the past month, calling it the last straw after a string of punishing tax increases, particularly on business.

Further protests were planned later on Saturday in Brittany, where the revolt was started in October by a group of farmers and food producers known as the Bonnets Rouges (Red Caps).

To defuse tensions the government has suspended the implementation of the tax, which had been due to come into effect in 2014.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said on Friday it would not take effect until at least 2015.

The OTRE transport union and Brittany's Bonnet Rouges are demanding that the tax be scrapped altogether.

The protests are seen as the expression of deep frustration with the Socialist government's economic policy.

Faced with a bloated budget deficit, the government's response has mainly been to raise taxes, avoiding the deep spending cuts seen elsewhere in Europe.

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