The original Wiggles woo Carols crowd

THOUSANDS of arms and legs waved and flailed at Sydney's Carols in the Domain, as the original members of The Wiggles celebrated their last carols bonanza.

More than 50,000 people packed into the Domain on Saturday, as the popular annual event ushered in the Christmas cheer with The Ten Tenor's rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful at 8.30pm (AEDT).

But the cheers really kicked off when Australia's most loved children's music group said their final goodbye to the event.

"Three of the members are hanging up their skivvies so tonight is their very last television performance before handing over to new band members," the Carols co-host Natalie Barr said.

"So this is it Australia, the end of an era," Matt White said.

The crowd jumped to their feet, shooting out arms and legs in unison with the original Red, Yellow, Red, Purple and Blue wiggles as they sang and danced to "Fruit salad", "Hot Potato" and "Jingle Bells".

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Govt approves The Block redevelopment

The government has granted planning approval for the redevelopment of The Block in Redfern. Source: AAP

THE redevelopment of The Block in the Sydney suburb of Redfern is one step closer after the state government granted planning approval.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said on Saturday that the Department of Planning and Infrastructure had approved the Pemulwuy redevelopment project in the inner-city suburb.

Mr O'Farrell said Pemulwuy would include 62 affordable houses, a 42-unit student housing complex, a gym, a child-care centre and a community gallery, as well as open space.

He said there would also be shops and a 115-space underground car park.

"The approval of this project by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure will allow for the creation of a vibrant new housing, community and cultural precinct close to transport and the University of Sydney," Mr O'Farrell said in a statement.

"This part of Sydney has been crying out for renewal for many years and it is fantastic this long-running issue has now been resolved."

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Fire warning for WA's Pilbara

WA emergency crews are warning residents in the state's Pilbara region to brace for severe fire danger, with the day set to bring a mid-40C scorcher.

The 6000-strong inland residents of the region's Shire of Ashburton face hot, dry, windy conditions on Sunday that could see a potential bush or grass fire take hold, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said on Saturday.

The area faces overnight lows in mid to high 20s before daytime maximums expected in the low to mid 40s, with the scorching days tipped to continue until Boxing Day, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

DFES urged residents to have bushfire plans and survival kits on standby, and to tune in to local radio and other media for updates.

"Do not wait for a warning before you act. If you see flames call triple zero," it said in a statement.

DFES has also issued a total fire ban on Sunday for the Shire of Exmouth, home to around 2600 residents in the coastal Gascoyne region, about 1000km north of Perth.

All open air fires are banned, and hot work such as metal welding and grinding is not allowed without an exemption, the department says.

"You could be fined up to $25,000 or jailed for 12 months or both if you ignore the total fire ban," DFES said in a statement around 6pm (WST).

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Remains of missing Victorian man found

HUMAN remains have been uncovered in a search of a Bellarine Peninsula backyard connected to the suspicious disappearance of father-of-five Douglas Kally.

Homicide Squad detectives, who earlier on Friday arrested and interviewed a 43-year-old woman over Mr Kally's disappearance four years ago, uncovered the remains several hours later.

They say they have not yet identified the remains, which were found following two days of digging up a residential backyard at Indented Head, southwest of Melbourne, which is understood to be Mr Kally's last known address.

Mr Kally, also known as Dragon Dordevic, was reported missing by his family in October 2008, having told them he was moving to NSW.

The 48-year-old's last reported sighting was by co-workers in July or August that year, and police regarded the disappearance as suspicious.

Police and State Emergency Service crews on Thursday began searching Indented Head and set up an information caravan in the town.

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Call for royal commission into Customs

IF Australian Customs officials are found to have been corrupt, the government has "no option" but to hold a commission of inquiry or a royal commission into the matter, a former police officer says.

Ross Fusca, a former Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer, worked on a taskforce in Melbourne in 2004, created to tackle corruption on the city's docks.

Despite a number of "major" drug busts, his requests a year later to have the taskforce continued was denied because of a lack of funding, ABC Television's 7.30 program reported on Friday.

Mr Fusca said it meant that agencies were no longer working together "with a common goal".

"But organised crime was and they weren't being kept in check," Mr Fusca told the ABC.

"If there is an issue with law enforcement at points of entry into this country that are allowing criminal groups to become stronger and more powerful, the Australian government has no option but to throw a commission of inquiry or a royal commission behind it and get to the bottom of it," he said.

It emerged on Thursday that two Customs officers, a quarantine officer and five members of the public have been charged following a joint investigation by law enforcement agencies into corruption and drug smuggling at Sydney airport.

Following the revelations Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare announced on Thursday the establishment of a Customs Reform Board to provide advice on how to further tackle corruption in the service.

Opposition customs and border protection spokesman Michael Keenan told the ABC on Friday that before a royal commission took place the government would need to give a "full and frank explanation of what's going on".

"I think we need to do that before we look at having a third-party inquiry," Mr Keenan said.

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N Korea confirms arrest of US citizen

NORTH Korea has confirmed it arrested a US citizen in November, saying he had admitted to unspecified charges and suggesting he would be formally prosecuted.

The man, identified as Pae Jun-Ho, entered North Korea on November 3 as a tourist, and "committed a crime" against the country, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Friday.

"He was put into custody by a relevant institution," it added.

The United States has no diplomatic ties with North Korea and KCNA said consular officials from the Swedish embassy, which acts on behalf of the US, had visited Pae on Friday.

"In the process of investigation, evidence proving that he committed a crime against the DPRK was revealed. He admitted his crime," the agency said in a short despatch.

"Legal actions are being taken against Pae in line with the criminal procedure law", it added, without elaborating.

The arrest was first reported earlier this month by a South Korean newspaper, Kookmin Ilbo, which had identified the detainee as a 44-year-old Korean-American tour operator.

The newspaper said he had been travelling with five other tourists and was detained when a computer hard disk was found among the group's belongings.

KCNA said Pae was arrested as he entered the north-eastern port city of Rason which lies inside a special economic zone near North Korea's border with Russia and China.

Several Americans have been held in North Korea in recent years.

In 2011, a US delegation led by Robert King, the US special envoy for Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues, secured the release of Eddie Jun Yong-Su, a California-based businessman, who had been detained for apparent missionary activities.

In 2010 former US president Jimmy Carter won plaudits when he negotiated the release of American national, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, sentenced to eight years of hard labour for illegally crossing into the North from China.

On another mercy mission a year earlier in 2009, former president Bill Clinton won the release of US television journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, jailed after wandering across the North Korean border with China.

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UN Rwanda court jails ex-minister

THE UN tribunal for Rwanda has handed a 35-year jail term to a former minister found guilty of genocide, in the court's final trial ruling.

Augustin Ngirabatware, planning minister at the time of the 1994 genocide, was found guilty of genocide, incitement to commit genocide and rape as a crime against humanity.

"For these crimes the court sentences you to 35 years in prison," the judge, William Hussein Sekule, told Ngirabatware on Thursday.

The tribunal still has appeals pending, but will wrap up its activities by the end of 2014.

Ngirabatware is the son-in-law of Felicien Kabuga, accused by the tribunal of having bankrolled the genocide, and the most notorious of the nine people indicted by the tribunal still at large.

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Jobs, growth are govt's priorities: Wong

FINANCE Minister Penny Wong says the government's focus is on jobs and economic growth after Treasurer Wayne Swan revealed a budget surplus is unlikely for 2012/13.

Mr Swan on Thursday said he'd rather ditch the surplus than tighten fiscal policy further and risk local jobs and growth.

"Obviously dramatically lower tax revenue now makes it unlikely that there will be a surplus in 2012/13," he told reporters in Canberra.

Senator Wong said she supported the decision.

"Today we have been very clear about that and we have made this decision to be clear about the state of revenue," she told ABC Television on Thursday.

"We have to put jobs and growth first."

In October, Treasury had forecast a $1.1 billion surplus for 2012/13, a turnaround from a $43.7 billion deficit the previous year.

Senator Wong said the government had downgraded revenue forecasts for this financial year by $20 billion since the 2010 budget projections.

The Finance Department's latest monthly statement released on Thursday showed cash receipts for 2012/13 so far totalled $111.6 billion at the end of October, down almost $4 billion on expectations.

The main factor was company tax revenue, hit by profit declines.

"With the release today of this new data, we have said to the Australian people ... we are seeing further revenue downgrades and it is not responsible to continue to make cuts to offset this revenue downgrade," she said.

The budget bottom line was being hit by a high Australian dollar and its impact on the terms of trade - the prices Australia receives for its exports compared to its imports, Senator Wong said.

"They are certainly having an effect on profitability and therefore our revenue," she said.

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Asian markets mixed, yen up

ASIAN markets mostly rose on Thursday following big gains in the previous session but investors are growing nervous that US leaders have still not agreed a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

The yen slipped a tad against the euro and dollar after Japan's central bank unveiled more huge monetary easing but it held on to earlier gains as traders had mostly expected the new measures.

Tokyo fell 1.19 per cent on profit-taking after surging to an eight-month high on Wednesday. The index lost 121.07 points to 10,039.33 - a day after breaking the 10,000 barrier for the first time since early April.

Seoul closed 0.32 per cent higher, adding 6.41 points to 1999.50, with the election of conservative Park Geun-hye seeming to have little effect, although dealers were broadly happy as she favours stability over big change.

Sydney was up 0.35 per cent, or 16.3 points, at 4,634.1 and Hong Kong staged a late rally to end 0.16 per cent higher, adding 36.41 points to 22,659.78 while Shanghai gained 0.28 per cent, or 6.11 points, to 2,168.35.

With less than two weeks to go before the fiscal cliff of huge tax hikes and deep spending cuts is due to take effect, US politicians have still not reached a compromise budget deal to cut the nation's deficit with less painful measures.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he and the Republicans had narrowed differences to "a few hundred billion dollars". But a deal remains elusive.

Republicans are loath to raise taxes, while Democrats do not want to cut spending on programs such as Medicare.

House Speaker John Boehner, the Republican negotiating with the president, has said he is willing to extend tax breaks for everyone earning less than $1 million per year. Obama has said, however, he is willing to go no higher than $400,000.

Boehner announced on Wednesday that he will move to pass his measure, which he describes as his "Plan B", through the House Thursday but Obama warned he would veto the legislation.

"At some point there's got to be... a recognition on the part of my Republican friends that, you know, take the deal," Obama told reporters, as the two sides struggled to reach agreement.

While both sides have rejected the other's offers for a deal they said that talks are ongoing.

However, US traders were not impressed. On Wall Street the Dow finished 0.74 per cent lower, the S&P 500 dropped 0.76 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.33 per cent.

The Bank of Japan said Thursday it would expand an asset-buying program by 10 trillion yen ($US119 billion) to 101 trillion yen, days after the country's conservatives won an election promising to boost spending and pressure the bank for aggressive action.

It made no mention of a two-per cent inflation target demanded by incoming prime minister Shinzo Abe but said it would look at reviewing its policy.

The last scheduled policy meeting of the year had been widely seen as a test of whether it would stand pat, shrugging off the outside pressure.

However, it said the new measures were tied to fears about the slowing global economy, which was hurting growth at home.

The yen, which has tumbled against the dollar and euro in recent weeks on the expected victory for the opposition, picked up slightly in early trade on Thursday and managed to hold on to the gains after the BoJ move.

In early European trade the greenback bought 83.93 yen, compared with 84.39 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro was at 111.02 yen, from 111.59 yen.

The single currency also fetched $1.3228, against $1.3226.

Oil prices were lower, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February dropping 37 cents to $89.61 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for February dipping 43 cents to $109.93.

Gold was at $1,668.30 at 1030 GMT (2130 AEDT) compared with $1,674.39 late on Wednesday.

In other markets:

- Singapore closed up 0.54 per cent, or 16.95 points, at 3,175.52.

Singapore Telecom rose 0.60 per cent to Sg$3.37 and DBS Group gained 0.54 per cent to Sg$14.99.

- Taipei fell 1.07 per cent, or 82.01 points, to 7,596.46.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 1.34 per cent lower at Tw$96.0 while leading smartphone maker HTC rose 0.36 per cent to Tw$275.5.

- Manila added 0.79 per cent, or 45.35 points, to 5,797.74.

- Wellington ended 1.30 per cent higher, adding 52.45 points to 4,075.45.

Chorus surged 4.4 per cent to NZ$2.84, Fletcher Building rose 2.2 per cent to NZ$8.45 and Telecom gained 0.74 per cent to NZ$2.32 but Xero shed 1.3 per cent to NZ$7.60.

- Bangkok shed 0.07 per cent or 1.00 points to close at 1,377.40.

Coal producer Banpu fell 1.42 per cent or 6.00 baht to 418.00 baht while PTT Plc was unchanged at 333.00 baht.

- Jakarta ended down 21.04 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 4,254.82.

Carmaker Astra International fell 2.60 per cent to 7,500 rupiah, cigarette maker Gudang Garam lost 2.73 per cent to 57,000 rupiah, while palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari decreased 1.62 per cent to 18,250 rupiah.

- Kuala Lumpur shares gained 4.96 points, or 0.30 per cent, to close at 1,670.60.

British American Tobacco added 1.7 per cent to 60.50 ringgit, DiGi.com rose 1.5 per cent to 5.36 and Axiata climbed 1.2 per cent to 6.68.

India's Sensex index slid 0.11 per cent or 22.08 points at 19,453.92 points, snapping two straight days of gains, on profit-taking in index heavyweights.

India's auto and tractor giant Mahindra and Mahindra fell 1.68 per cent to 951.7 rupees while IT outsourcer Wipro fell 1.32 per cent to 380.5.

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Malaysia provides refuge for 'Rohingyas'

MALAYSIA has provided refuge to 40 shipwreck survivors believed to be refugees from Myanmar's conflict-wracked Rakhine state, a Malaysian maritime official says.

The refugees arrived late on Tuesday in the southern state of Johor after they were picked up by a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency vessel from a Vietnamese cargo ship off Singapore, the official said.

The 40 refugees were rescued by the cargo ship from a boat believed to be carrying 250 people that sank December 5 in the Bay of Bengal.

Many of those on board were still missing.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the refugees were believed to be from Myanmar's Rohingya minority.

All the refugees appeared to be in good health and were undergoing medical examinations, he said.

They were given temporary refuge while they are processed, he said.

Malaysia hosts about 24,000 refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state, which has seen clashes between Muslim Rohingya and majority Buddhists.

At least 89 people were killed in the violence in October, and more than 5300 houses and religious buildings were burned or destroyed, according to UN figures.

More than 110,000 people have been forced from their homes since the violence first flared in June.

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