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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Five die in Beirut bombing

A POWERFUL bombing has rocked a central business district of central Beirut setting cars ablaze and killing five people, including a senior aide to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, officials said.

The National News Agency said Mohammed Chatah and his driver were both killed in the explosion, which wounded more than 70 others.

Lebanon has seen a wave of bombings over the past months as tensions rise over Syria's civil war. Hariri heads the main, Western-backed coalition in Lebanon which is engaged in bitter feuding with the militant Hezbollah group, which is allied to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The blast was heard across the city and sent thick black smoke billowing in the downtown posh commercial district behind the government house and above the seafront of the Lebanese capital.

The army cordoned off the area to prevent people from getting close to the scene, where the twisted wreckage of several cars was still smouldering. The explosion appeared to be the result of the car bomb, but security officials said they had no immediate confirmation.

Footage broadcast on Lebanese TV showed medical workers rushing the wounded to ambulances. At least two bodies could be seen lying on the pavement.

The conflict next door has raised tensions in Lebanon's Sunni and Shi'ite communities as each side lines up in support of their brethren in the conflict next door.

That has fuelled predictions that Lebanon, still recovering from its 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, is on the brink of descending into full-blown sectarian violence.

Chatah, a prominent economist and former ambassador to the US, was one of the closest aides to former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a truck bombing in Beirut in 2005, not far from Friday's explosion.

He later became finance minister when Hariri's son, Saad, took over the premiership, and stayed on as his senior adviser after he lost the post in early 2011.

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German teenager dies in Tasmania crash

A GERMAN teenager has been killed in a single-vehicle accident in a remote part of Tasmania.

The 18-year-old woman's body was found in a vehicle that rolled on a dirt road in the Leven Canyon area.

Her 20-year-old companion is being treated in hospital.

Police said the pair were tourists and were on a narrow dirt road when the driver lost control on Friday afternoon.

The death is the first in Tasmania and the 14th nationally during the festive season toll period.

The national road toll period runs from 0001 December 23, 2013 until 2359 January 3, 2014, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Ambush in Central African Republic

SIX Chadian peacekeepers have been killed and 15 wounded after being ambushed in the Central African Republic's chaotic capital, the spokesman for an African Union peacekeeping force says.

Eloi Yao told The Associated Press by telephone on Thursday that the peacekeepers were attacked at noon on Wednesday but the identity of the attackers was unclear.

The Chadian contingent, which is made up of Arabic-speaking Muslim soldiers, has been accused of taking sides in the country's communal conflict.

They are seen as being anti-Christian and of having sided with the Muslim rebels who grabbed power in a coup nine months ago.

The attack further underscores the messy nature of the conflict in the Central African Republic, where both French and AU forces have come under attack.

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Donors needed to get over blood hurdle

PEOPLE are being urged to roll up their sleeves to help Australians get over one of the last hurdles of 2013.

In the lead-up to the New Year's Day holiday, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service needs to ensure it has a constant supply of platelets, a blood product often used by cancer patients.

Donations cannot be made on January 1 and the service needs 3000 Aussies to make appointments for December 31 and January 2.

Blood service spokesman Shaun Inguanzo says platelets have a shelf life of five days, which means stock collected on Friday will have expired or run out by New Year's Day, unless there's a constant flow of donations.

"In particular, we really need donors in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria," Mr Inguanzo said.

One in three Australians would need donated blood in their lifetime, he said.

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Canoeist missing at NSW dam

A MAN remains missing after falling out of a capsizing canoe and failing to surface at a dam in the NSW Southern Tablelands.

Police said the 21-year-old was one of three young men thrown into the water when the canoe tipped over on the Pejar Dam at Crookwell at about 7pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

The other two, aged in their late teens, managed to swim to shore and signal for help.

The 21-year-old did not surface and a search of the dam was conducted by local police, the SES and a rescue helicopter.

The two younger men were treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to Goulburn Hospital with suspected hypothermia.

The search was suspended at 9.30pm with weather conditions deteriorating and no sign of the man.

Local police, the Police Rescue Squad and SES volunteers will resume the search on Friday morning.

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Weekly US jobless claims drop 42,000

THE number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 42,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 338,000, the biggest drop since November 2012.

But economists say the figures from late November and December are warped by seasonal volatility around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays.

The US Labor Department says the less-volatile four-week average rose 4250 to 348,000.

Claims had jumped 75,000 in the two weeks that ended December 14 before plunging last week.

Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs and are now consistent with a solid job market.

Hiring has been healthy the past four months. The economy added an average of 204,000 jobs every month from August through November, an improvement from earlier this year.

The unemployment rate fell in November to 7 per cent.

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American abducted in Pakistan urges help

A 72-YEAR-OLD American development worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaeda more than two years ago has appealed to President Barack Obama in a video to negotiate his release, saying he feels "totally abandoned and forgotten".

The video of Warren Weinstein released on Thursday was the first since two videos released in September 2012.

Weinstein, the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a US-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors, was abducted from his house in the eastern city of Lahore in August 2011.

In the video sent on Thursday to reporters in Pakistan including The Associated Press, Weinstein called on the US government to negotiate his release.

"Nine years ago I came to Pakistan to help my government, and I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here, and now when I need my government it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten," Weinstein said during the 13-minute video.

"And so I again appeal to you to instruct your appropriate officials to negotiate my release."

It was impossible to tell how much Weinstein's statement, made under the duress of captivity, was scripted by his captors.

The video and an accompanying letter purported to be from Weinstein was emailed anonymously to reporters in Pakistan.

The video was labelled "As-Sahab," which is al-Qaeda's media wing, but its authenticity could not be independently verified. The letter was dated October 3, 2013 and in the video Weinstein said he had been in captivity for two years.

In the video, Weinstein wore a grey track suit jacket and what appeared to be a black knit hat on his head. His face was partially covered with a beard.

Al-Qaeda has said Weinstein would be released if the US halted airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen and also demanded the release of all al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects around the world.

The White House has called for Weinstein's immediate release but has said it won't negotiate with al-Qaeda.

The videos last year showed Weinstein appealing for help from the Jewish community and Israel's prime minister.

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Two young boys taken from Qld home

TWO young boys taken from a home south of Brisbane by a man in a silver sedan may be at risk, say police, who are seeking urgent public assistance to find them.

The boys, aged three and four, were taken from a residence in Errol Street, Loganlea, at around 3.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

Police said the boys were taken by a 30-year-old man who was known to them and they "may be at risk".

The man is described as being of Papua New Guinean appearance, 180cm tall, of heavy build, tanned complexion, with collar length dark curly hair, a black bushy beard and wearing black shorts and a black T-shirt.

The children are described as having very short haircuts, one having a tanned complexion and the other being described as fair.

Both are believed to be wearing denim shorts and one boy was not wearing a shirt.

Police say the man was driving a silver 2003 Toyota Camry sedan bearing Queensland registration 564IGC.

The car was last seen at Logan Village on Camp Cable Road around 4.45pm and was travelling west.

Police urge anyone with information to ring 131 564.

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A very merry Christmas for Aussie shops

THE Christmas clock is ticking, and the tills have been ringing.

Last-minute shoppers have helped push Australian retailers towards what's tipped to be their biggest Christmas since the global financial crisis hit.

Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) CEO Margy Osmond says the overall spend in the four-week run-up to Christmas this year is expected to hit $29.6 billion.

"We think Australian retailers will probably have the best Christmas they've had for four or five years," she told AAP on Tuesday.

She said the last-minute rush had favoured the big retailers.

"A lot of the specialty stores have done much better this Christmas but there's no doubt in the last couple of weeks it's the department stores that are the big winners because it's the place you can go and tick every box all in the one spot," Ms Osmond said.

Residents in smaller states - the Northern Territory, the ACT, Tasmania - had generally gotten their Christmas shopping out of the way early, while their counterparts in NSW and Victoria were more likely to have left it till the last minute.

Kevin Finch was looking harried in Sydney's CBD on Tuesday evening, ticking off the people he was still buying for.

"My mother, my father, some family friends, and my grandma," he told AAP.

"Stupidly, I thought today would be a bit quieter."

He said he wouldn't be venturing out for the Boxing Day sales on Thursday, but keen bargain-hunters can get in earlier than that.

In a break with tradition, department store David Jones has already launched its post-Christmas sale online, while the Myer online sale will kick off at 9am (AEDT) on Wednesday.

ANRA's Margy Osmond is expecting a 5.6 per cent boost on post-Christmas sales figures from a year ago, with an expected $1.9 billion spend on Boxing Day alone.

Retailers predict stores around the country will take in more than $15 billion over the next three weeks, with the bulk of that likely to be spent on Boxing Day.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman told AAP he expects "a huge number of people" to head for malls around the country when the bricks-and-mortar sales start on Thursday.

But Mr Zimmerman didn't think the lure of early sales online would take away from the familiar frenzy seen in department stores on the day.

"There's a real atmosphere around Boxing Day sales, it's full of people, it's full of excitement and noise and generally speaking there's entertainment around," he said.

"You may well find that people will be encouraged to come out, they'll think it might not be quite so busy as it's been in the past because of the online sales, but I suspect it will be just as busy."

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Arsenio Hall crashes his Porsche

LOS Angeles police say talk show host Arsenio Hall drove off a road in the San Fernando Valley but he's uninjured.

Sgt Russell Carr tells City News Service that Hall lost control of his Porsche and drove into a dirt shoulder at around 7.15pm on Monday in West Hills.

The car had to be towed.

Carr says it's unclear why Hall lost control of the car but police have ruled out driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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NSW house fire leads to cannabis discovery

A MAN has been charged after police seized more than 40 cannabis plants from the scene of a house fire in Sydney's west.

Emergency services were called to a home in Fairfield East on December 19 following reports of a fire, police say.

The blaze was extinguished and no one was injured during the incident.

During a search of the home, police allegedly discovered a hydroponic set up and seized 43 cannabis plants.

A 31-year-old man was arrested on Monday and charged with enhanced indoor cultivation of cannabis for commercial purpose.

The man was granted conditional bail and will appear before Parramatta Local Court on February 20.

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South Pole trek soldiers hail Harry

PRINCE Harry has been praised by his brave band of wounded soldiers as they received a heroes' welcome after returning from a "crazy" South Pole adventure.

The injured British service personnel who formed the Walking With The Wounded charity expedition, which had included two Australians, arrived at Heathrow after catching a flight from Cape Town in South Africa to spend Christmas at home.

They faced such extreme weather conditions during their 322km odyssey that organisers had to call off the competitive element of the adventure.

But working as one unit, the British team and squads from Australia, Canada and the US made it to their Antarctic goal together on December 13.

In total, 12 injured servicemen and women who have overcome life-changing injuries took part, with Harry serving as Team UK's patron.

Corporal Seamus Donaghue from Brisbane and Private Heath Jamieson from Sydney took part under the banner of Aussie partner charity Soldier On.

Amputee Major Kate Philp, 35, from Worcestershire, lost her leg below the knee while serving in Afghanistan in November 2008.

The only female member of Team UK hailed Harry, who returned to Britain separately, for being "fantastic from beginning to end".

"Especially considering he hadn't had as many training opportunities because he is so busy, he was a really strong, fit individual.

"Personally speaking, there were a couple of days where I was struggling and he was there every time, at rest breaks, helping me out, buoying me up and pulling me on.

"He was exactly what you would expect from a military man - no airs or graces, he just mucked in with everyone else."

Sergeant Duncan Slater, 34, became the first double amputee to reach the South Pole during the trip.

He lost both his legs after the vehicle he was travelling in was hit by an IED in the Babaji area of Afghanistan in July 2009.

The Team UK member said: "It was pretty crazy - you couldn't have written it.

"It was a big disappointment when the race was called off but some of the guys were really struggling, some had frostbite, so I can see why they did it."

Ed Parker, co-founder of Walking With The Wounded and expedition director, said: "It was far harder than we were expecting."

Asked what the wounded soldiers gained from the experience, he said: "I think for them it proves they can do just about anything."

Aiming to trek around 15km to 20km a day, the teams endured temperatures as low as minus 45C and 80km/h winds as they pulled their 70kg sleds, known as pulks, towards the southernmost point on the globe.

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US consumer spending up 0.5% in November

AMERICANS increased their spending in November by the most in five months, and their income edged up modestly.

Consumer spending rose 0.5 per cent from October, when spending had risen 0.4 per cent, the Commerce Department said on Monday. It was the best showing since June. The gain was driven by a jump in spending on long-lasting durable goods such as autos.

Consumers' income rose 0.2 per cent, an improvement from a 0.1 per cent decline in October. Wages and salaries, the most important component of income, rose a solid 0.4 per cent. That gain reflected strength in the private sector and a modest gain in government pay.

Consumer spending is closely followed because it accounts for about 70 per cent of economic activity. The strong November showing suggests solid economic growth this quarter.

Steady hiring and modest wage gains have boosted consumer confidence and given Americans more money to spend. At the same time, higher stock and home prices have driven up household wealth and made some people more comfortable about spending.

The big rise in spending and smaller income gain meant that the personal saving rate slipped a bit to 4.2 per cent of after-tax income in November. That was down from 4.5 per cent in October.

An inflation gauge tied to consumer spending that is closely followed by the Federal Reserve showed that inflation is still running well below the Fed's target. Prices were unchanged in November and have risen just 0.9 per cent over the past 12 months. The Fed's target for annual inflation is 2 per cent.

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NAB enters undertaking with ASIC

THE National Australia Bank has entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission following an inquiry into an October 2012 share price spike on the Australian stock exchange.

The undertaking relates specifically to NAB's responsibility for potential market misconduct undertaken by the trading personnel of a contractor, which led to the spike, ASIC said on Monday.

"NAB has agreed to adopt specific monitoring and control systems for its direct market access trading and ASIC will supervise the certification of those systems for the next three years," the watchdog said in a statement.

It said the NAB would also make a voluntary contribution of $2 million to fund independent financial literacy projects in Australia.

ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said the undertaking was a timely, effective way to ensure there was genuine change to monitoring and control systems following the October 18, 2012 spike.

"It is imperative that entities have adequate monitoring and control systems in place to ensure this type of activity does not occur."

She said ASIC's investigation of the contractor and its trading personnel continued.

The third party equity index arbitrage business contracted to trade on NAB's behalf has not been named for legal reasons.

By 18 October 2012, following their decision to take an existing arbitrage position to expiry (which involved closing out a negative shares position), the Contractors Trading Personnel arranged to buy 197 of the shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX200) from one of NABs brokers, Goldman Sachs Australia, at the prices at which those shares matched in the ASX opening auction that morning.

ASIC said the NAB acknowledged concerns its contracted traders may have breached the Corporations Act in the way they placed sell orders in larger volumes than they intended to trade in an opening auction in order to later trade shares at advantageous prices for the bank.

In a statement the NAB said it had worked closely with ASIC throughout its investigation and the bank took its regulatory compliance obligations very seriously.

"NAB does not condone or accept any activity that undermines or has the potential to undermine market integrity."

The bank said the equity index arbitrage business formed only a very small part of its overall trading activity and "NAB terminated the operations of this third party business in late 2012".

"The issues that have been identified do not raise concerns as to NAB's broader trading activity or control environment," the bank said.

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Montreal mafia boss Rizzuto dies

VITO Rizzuto, the reputed head of the Montreal mafia, has died. He was 67.

Maude Hebert-Chaput of Montreal's Sacre-Coeur Hospital says Rizzuto died of natural causes early on Monday.

Authorities considered Rizzuto the head of Canada's most powerful criminal organisation when he was arrested in 2004.

He returned to Canada in October 2012 after serving a prison sentence in Colorado on racketeering charges related to three mafia killings in New York City in 1981.

While he was in prison, his once-dominant empire was decimated by setbacks and his own family was devastated by tragedy.

Scores of his associates were arrested, and many others were killed. Both his father, Nicolo, and son Nick were gunned down.

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Aussies trapped in besieged S. Sudan city

AUSTRALIANS, British, Canadian and Kenyan citizens are among 3000 foreigners trapped in a South Sudan city experiencing bouts of heavy machine gun fire, one of the most violent areas of a weeklong conflict that has likely killed more than 1000 people, a top UN official says.

Ugandans and Ethiopians are also among 17,000 people seeking protection at a UN base in Bor, a city that could see increased violence in coming days, said Toby Lanzer, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator.

The death toll from a week of violence in South Sudan has likely surpassed 1000 people, though there are no firm numbers available, he said. The number of internal refugees is probably more than 100,000, said Lanzer, who is seeking urgent financial assistance from the US, Britain and other European countries.

"I know there are many thousands of people seeking protection in churches," Lanzer said. "I know that we have our own staff that have literally walked into the bush and are communicating from there. That's where they say they are safest."

Bor is the city where rebel forces fired on three US military aircraft on Saturday, forcing the Ospreys - advanced helicopter-aeroplane hybrids - to abort their evacuation mission. On Sunday the US evacuated Americans by civilian US and UN helicopters.

The US over the past week has evacuated 380 Americans and 300 others from South Sudan, which has seen vicious, ethnically targeted violence.

Lanzer, who spent the weekend in Bor, said the city is experiencing tense, sporadic clashes and "fairly consistent gunfire and heavy machine gunfire".

The army is "now ready to move to Bor", President Salva Kiir told parliament, adding that the counter-attack to wrest back the town after it was captured on Wednesday was delayed until the US had airlifted citizens out.

The comments came despite days of shuttle diplomacy by African nations and calls from the US, Britain and the United Nations for the fighting to stop.

The US special envoy to South Sudan, Donald Booth, arrived in the troubled capital of Juba on Monday.

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Amphetamine abuse growing: report

AMPHETAMINES have surged ahead of alcohol as the main substance addicted Australians seek treatment for, a report from a rehabilitation centre has found.

Odyssey House released its latest annual report on Monday.

It found addiction to amphetamines - including ice, speed or ecstasy - was the main substance of concern for a third of people seeking treatment, outstripping alcohol, cannabis and heroin for a second year.

Chief executive Jamie Pitts says the latest figures for amphetamine addiction are up 120 per cent on 2003 figures, while the figures for heroin addiction have fallen to their lowest point.

Ten years ago, Australia was in the grip of a serious heroin problem, he says, and 45 per cent of Odyssey House clients were admitted with opiate dependence.

That percentage has more than halved over the past decade.

"While this reduction is good news, it's due mainly to heroin supply issues," Mr Pitts said in a statement.

"People have turned instead to ice and speed because it's more readily available and affordable."

Booze remains a major problem for Australians, the report finds, with 28 per cent of those entering Odyssey House residential programs in the 2012-13 financial year reporting that alcohol was their main drug of concern.

"Seventy per cent of our clients list alcohol as one of their problem drugs, and it's the substance they're most likely to start misusing first, providing that slippery slope towards illicit drugs," Mr Pitts said.

More than half of those who sought help at Odyssey House had a co-existing mental illness.

The report also found people entering Odyssey House were more likely to have started using drugs at a younger age.

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CIA helped Colombia target rebels: report

A COVERT CIA program has helped Colombia's government kill at least two dozen leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the rebel insurgency also known as FARC, The Washington Post reports.

The National Security Agency has also provided "substantial eavesdropping help" to the Colombian government, according to the Post. And the US provided Colombia with GPS equipment that can be used to transform regular munitions into "smart bombs" that can accurately home in on specific targets, even if they are located in dense jungles.

In March 2008, Colombian forces killed a top FARC commander, Raul Reyes, in one of several jungle camps the rebels operated in Ecuador, just across the border. The Post report on Saturday said Colombia used US-made smart bombs in the operation.

The report is based on interviews with more than 30 former and current US and Colombian officials, who the Post said spoke on condition of anonymity because the program is classified and ongoing.

The CIA would not comment on the Post report. Without going into detail, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told the Post that the CIA has been "of help", providing Colombian forces with "better training and knowledge".

The multibillion-dollar program was funded secretly and separately from $US9 billion in aid that the US has openly provided to Colombia, mostly in military assistance. It was authorised by President George W. Bush and has continued under President Barack Obama, the newspaper reported.

Colombia's government and FARC have been engaged in peace talks in Havana since late 2012, but there has been no ceasefire between the two sides. Earlier this month Santos blamed the rebels for an attack on a police post that killed nine people, including civilians, military and a police officer.

The FARC rebels took up arms in 1964. The US-backed military buildup has reduced FARC's ranks to about 9000 fighters and killed several top commanders, though the rebels insist they are still a potent force.

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Khodorkovsky says he won't enter politics

KREMLIN critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, unexpectedly pardoned and released from jail, says he will not enter Russian politics, or fund the country's opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

Khodorkovsky, speaking to the press in the German capital on Sunday, two days after being dramatically pardoned by Putin, said: "I will not engage in politics, that is, fight for political power."

Despite being in prison for 10 years after being convicted of tax evasion and embezzlement, the former billionaire oil tycoon maintained that his pardon and release on Friday by Putin was "not a sign of fundamental change" in Russia.

"The authorities always wanted a confession of guilt from me, but that was unacceptable for me," Khodorkovsky said, adamantly maintaining that he did not sign any written confession of guilt to obtain a pardon.

Khodorkovsky's jail term was to have ended in August 2014. Critics have called his conviction politically motivated, noting that Khodorkovsky had funded the Russian opposition before his arrest.

In the decree, Putin said he was "guided by the principles of humanity" in pardoning Khodorkovsky.

Khodorkovsky, whose mother is suffering from cancer and has had treatment in Germany, had expressed fears he would not see her alive again.

Khodorkovsky, who has been given a one-year German visa, thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for what he said was her role in helping to secure his release.

"She made it possible for me to be free today," he said. Former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher met Putin twice for discussions about Khodorkovsky, it emerged earlier.

Khodorkovsky, who also thanked the media who had covered his case over the years, said he did not know how long he would stay in Germany.

Asked if he would return to Russia, he said that if he did, there was no guarantee the Russian authorities would let him leave again.

Khodorkovsky refused to be drawn on his relationship with Putin, saying that while he had been treated harshly, "my family had never been touched".

He said he did not believe the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia in February should be damaged in any way by opponents of the Russian government.

"Millions of people will celebrate the games, and that should not be damaged. But neither should the games be used as a great party for President Putin," he said.

He said Western governments should "remember I am not the last political prisoner in Russia," adding that he would focus his energies on helping the others walk out of Russian jails.

"I will do everything so that there are none left, do everything I can."

The former chief executive and founder of the Yukos oil giant said he had no plans to return to business, but had enough means to live on.

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Man survives 15m plunge in Blue Mountains

A 29-YEAR old man has survived a 15-metre plunge down a waterfall in the Blue Mountains.

The man was hiking through the Valley of the Waters with his family about 2.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday when he allegedly climbed over a safety fence, slipped and fell down the falls, landing in a shallow pool.

Police say he was treated at the scene by emergency services before being transferred by helicopter to Westmead Hospital.

He is currently being treated for head injuries and is believed to be in a serious, but non-life threatening condition.

The accident happened on the same day abseiler Darren Bull was killed when he plummeted down a cliff at Malaita Point in the mountains.

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