Vic braces as heat arrives, wind blows

A COOL southerly change will bring relief to firefighters battling grassfires throughout Victoria.

Fire crews have worked to control more than 40 fires that have started across Victoria on a day of extreme weather.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) has declared a total fire ban day, with temperatures soaring to 41C in Mildura.

The Bureau of Meteorology says a cool change is rolling in across the southwestern corner of the state and will push through northeast until midnight (AEDT).

Weather bureau forecaster Peter Blake said Melbourne's temperatures could drop by eight degrees when the cool change reached the city about 5pm (AEST).

Victorian firefighters have been called out to four campfires and burn-offs.

The CFA warns that several fires are still burning, including in Tatyoon, south of Ararat, and in Canadian, south of Ballarat.

Fire crews are unable to access a large fire burning in remote land in Sunset Country, southwest of Mildura, due to its location and weather conditions.

Fire services commissioner Craig Lapsley said firefighters had done a great job, given conditions.

Mr Lapsley said extra aircraft had been deployed to help fire crews.

"Today is a day that experienced extreme fire danger in the northern parts of the state," Mr Lapsley said.

"Any fire that's running has the potential to increase in size and is a significant concern."

Mr Lapsley warned campers not to light camp fires on total fire ban days.

Victoria remains on total fire ban until midnight on Saturday.

Residents in areas that are fire-prone are urged to remain informed and alert.

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Liberian UN workers, peacekeepers face off

UN mission workers in Liberia have clashed with UN armed peacekeepers over work conditions. Source: AAP

CIVILIAN employees of the United Nations Mission in Liberia have clashed with the United Nations armed peacekeepers in a protest over what they claim are unfavourable work conditions.

An Associated Press reporter saw four UN workers manhandled by UN troops, including one who was knocked down, after the workers tried to block the main entrance to the UN base on Friday.

The workers are protesting a change in the time they are picked up for work.

They claim the UN is asking them to be outside for pickup by 5am, a time they say is unsafe in the war-recovering capital of Monrovia.

A UN officer commanding the troops declined to comment.

The UN mission was established in 2003, just after ex-warlord Charles Taylor stepped down as president and went into exile.

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Gold Coast adventurer reaches South Pole

A GOLD Coast adventurer taking a pink "boob-sled" across Antarctica has made it to the South Pole.

Dr Geoff Wilson reached the milestone on Friday, leaving him with 1100km to go in his quest to become the first Aussie - and third person - to cross the southern continent solo.

But he reckons the worst of the journey is over.

"Now I've got the shorter run to the coast, which is the traditional entry route for most polar travellers," he told ABC Radio on Friday.

"The positive is that it's down hill and it will get warmer and warmer as I get closer to the coast."

Dr Wilson has endured sub-zero temperatures and strong icy winds throughout his trek.

Earlier this month he even ventured into the elements naked, dancing around a tent to celebrate beating the Australian record for the longest trek across the icy continent.

However, his main goal is to take the "boob-sled" 3300km from one side of Antarctica to the other - and raise $1 million for breast cancer charity the McGrath Foundation.

"I've been pulling the boob-sled for 2280km to here, so it's double the current record for Australian solo polar travel already and there's still 1100km to go," he told ABC Radio.

"It will be the first Australian crossing of the Antarctic continent and there's only two other guys who have ever done it solo unassisted - they're both Norwegian legends.

"We may, as long as I keep making good decisions, give the record a shake which has been held since 1997 by a very tough Norwegian called Borge Ousland."

Dr Wilson began the trek on November 4 and expects the journey to take him up to 80 days.

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Searchers for tramper find body

A BODY has been recovered from the bottom of a 100-metre cliff in Nelson Lakes National Park in New Zealand by searchers looking for British tramper Andrew Wyatt.

The body is yet to be formally identified, police say.

The body was below the Lake Constance Bluff, which is on Mr Wyatt's intended route between Blue Lake Hut and Waiau Pass.

Four ground teams, one dog team and a communications team were flown into the park by Air Force Iroquois on Friday to resume the search for Mr Wyatt after the weather improved.

He had been missing for 12 days.

The search was suspended on Christmas Day due to bad weather.

A helicopter spent three hours visiting all the huts in the area on Monday.

Mr Wyatt arrived in New Zealand on November 21 and was last seen on December 15 at Blue Lake Hut.

He planned to walk the Te Araroa Trail that links Cape Reinga to Bluff.

Police have been in daily contact with Mr Wyatt's parents in the UK.

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No laughing matter as scary clowns strike

UK clowns are up in arms about impostors who are tarnishing their name by scaring people in public places.

The copycat craze - believed to have been started by a man known on Facebook as the Northampton Clown - involves people dressing as the circus characters to surprise passers-by in public places.

Derbyshire police received 29 reports of clown sightings after social media claims that a man in the Nottingham area was dressing up and carrying balloons and a knife.

One report read: "Caller scared as someone had tried to get in to their house - posted on Facebook that a clown had been going around village trying door handles."

Another said: "Caller reported having received numerous calls from concerned parents about a clown going up to the windows of houses brandishing a gun and knife frightening the residents."

Tony Eldridge, the secretary of Clowns International, which represents the entertainers in Britain, said the problem had escalated beyond harmless fun.

"The fear of clowns - coulrophobia - is a real thing and some people will react very badly to this.

"This has nothing to do with clowning. It's a small group of people with stupid views and it spoils the fun for everybody else."

He added that most legitimate entertainers followed a code of clown conduct which includes not wearing their costume in public.

The trend emerged when the Northampton Clown, who posts photos of himself in public places, rose to prominence and gained nearly 200,000 "likes" on Facebook.

Last month Norfolk police told the public to ignore clowns after sightings around King's Lynn.

These included a person in a "full clown outfit" with a red suit and red hair chasing members of the public.

South Yorkshire police recorded 28 incidents involving people dressed as clowns.

These included a clown standing in a park, jumping out at somebody in the street and staring through the window of a house.

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US migrant stats 'can't be produced fast'

US prosecutors say they can't meet demands to deliver documents about thousands of immigrants. Source: AAP

US prosecutors say they can't meet a judge's demands that they quickly deliver documents about thousands of immigrants who've been detained across the country for months or years as their immigration statuses are reviewed.

The office of US Attorney Preet Bharara laid out the government's position to US District Judge Richard M. Berman in a letter made public on Wednesday.

The letter came five days after the judge criticised the government, saying it had been on notice since the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)requested the documents nearly five years ago.

The ACLU eventually filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in Manhattan federal court in 2011 seeking documents from the US Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The ACLU questioned the practice of "prolonged immigration detention - for months, if not years - without adequate procedures in place to determine whether their detention is justified".

It cited a dramatic increase in the number of immigration detainees in recent decades, noting they weren't serving criminal sentences but were being detained by the thousands to ensure they're available for removal from the country if removal is ordered and appeals are exhausted.

The judge said the government's continued refusal to produce documents had stymied efforts to reform a system in which thousands of immigrant detainees, some applicants for asylum, languish in immigration jails longer than six months.

He also attacked as "painstaking and riddled with further delay" the government's process for releasing documents, saying the government hasn't produced any documents since his September 9 order to release documents, and had at times claimed it would take seven years to produce 100 files.

The government, though, said in its letter it is "not feasible" to produce documents from more than 22,000 individual files as ordered but said it can produce a reliable sample of 385 files within 15 months, with rolling releases within eight weeks of a revised order.

In 2009, The Associated Press conducted a computer analysis of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, finding there were 32,000 immigrants from 177 countries detained, including more than 18,000 with no criminal convictions.

The analysis showed that nearly 10,000 had been in custody more than a month, that 400 of those with no criminal records had been locked up more than a year, that a dozen had been held for three years or more and that one man from China had been incarcerated more than five years.

Many of the longest-term, non-criminal detainees were asylum seekers.

The analysis was referenced in the ACLU lawsuit.

According to a 2001 US Supreme Court ruling, immigrants are supposed to be deported or released within about six months.

The steady increase in the number of immigrants held behind bars grew considerably after Congress passed a pair of laws in 1996 requiring immigrants who committed crimes be locked up for deportation. The numbers continued to rise after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and amid anti-immigrant political rhetoric.

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Man badly burned preparing Christmas lunch

A NSW man was airlifted to a burns unit after being injured in an explosion while preparing lunch. Source: AAP

A NSW man is being airlifted to a specialist burns unit after being injured in an explosion while he prepared Christmas lunch.

The 62-year-old man in Shell Cove was found by police and rescue services with burns to his face, arms and legs.

Police were told the man was preparing the family's Christmas lunch when the explosion occurred.

They are investigating reports the gas bottle to the barbecue was connected incorrectly.

The man was airlifted to Concord Hospital for treatment.

Police hope to speak with the injured man once he is well enough to get a clearer idea of how the explosion happened.

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WA police concerned for missing woman

Police are concerned for a woman who disappeared from Albany, a day after arriving from Queensland. Source: AAP

POLICE are concerned for a 79-year-old woman who disappeared from Albany on Christmas Eve, a day after arriving from Queensland.

Joan Hanson went missing from Caledonia Crescent at Goode Beach at 5.30pm (WST) on Tuesday.

Police say they are concerned for the welfare of Ms Hanson, believed to be suffering dementia and unfamiliar with the area.

She is of small, slim build and has grey hair.

She was wearing glasses, light-coloured trousers, a yellow-brown shirt, a yellow zip-up sleeveless vest and white shoes when she went missing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Operations Centre on 131 444.

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Cyclone could develop Christmas Day

A TROPICAL cyclone is expected to form in northern Western Australia on Christmas morning.

A blue alert has been issued for people in or near the coastal and inland communities between the WA and Northern Territory border and the Mitchell Plateau.

That includes people in Wyndham, Kalumburu, Troughton Island and surrounding areas.

"Although there is no immediate danger, you need to start preparing for dangerous weather and keep up to date," the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) warns.

Residents have been warned to secure or remove loose material from around their homes and ensure their emergency kits are complete.

At around 12.30pm (WST) on Tuesday the tropical low was estimated to be about 285km northeast of Kalumburu and 355km north of Wyndham, moving south at 7km/h towards the north Kimberley coast.

The low may develop into a tropical cyclone in the next 18 to 24 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Gales with gusts to 100km/h may develop on the coast on Wednesday morning.

Heavy rain is also expected over the far north Kimberley region during Wednesday and Thursday.

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Sexting MP cleared by Qld parliament

SEXTING Queensland MP Peter Dowling has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Queensland Parliament.

Parliamentary Clerk Neil Laurie says his investigation into the Redlands MP found nothing to support claims that he misused travel entitlements, facilities or equipment.

However, in a letter to Premier Campbell Newman, Mr Laurie stresses that his finding is not a moral judgment on Mr Dowling's actions.

"I wish to stress that my consideration of all the matters contained in the complaint and the associated issue ... did not involve any moral consideration," the letter, released on Christmas Eve, read.

Mr Dowling gained notoriety after his mistress wrote to parliament in August to reveal their affair.

She said the pair had sex in his parliamentary office and he texted her a photo of his penis in a glass of red wine.

The mistress also alleged that Mr Dowling took advantage of parliamentary travel trips to meet her in locations including Perth and New Zealand.

During these trips he accepted free upgraded flights, which he didn't declare on his members' register of interest.

Mr Dowling stood down as chair of parliament's ethics committee after the scandal made headlines.

In September, Mr Laurie finalised his investigations into allegations that Mr Dowling had failed to register a flight upgrade.

He has written to the Crime and Misconduct Commission advising the corruption watchdog of the outcome of his latest investigation.

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