► RIVERINA, NSW: Paramedics are refusing to treat ice-affected Riverina patients without police backup as a region-wide blacklist of drug-addled households continues to grow. A harrowing 24 assaults against South West NSW’s ambulance staff in the last year has prompted front-line workers to carefully consider their course of action when providing treatment. Read more.

► TASMANIA: China's demand for Tasmanian abalone has doubled in the past year, boosting the state's $100 million-a-year abalone export industry. That, along with beach prices almost doubling in the past five years to about $60 a kilogram, has given the struggling industry a much-needed boost. It comes as the Tasmanian Pacific oyster industry forges links with Japan to grow the sector in both countries. Read more.

► CANBERRA, ACT: One toilet break. No food. Just hour after hour of focus and concentration that stretched well into Monday morning, as Ross Farhadieh performed what he believes could be the surgery of his life, mending bones, tendons, nerves, arteries, veins. "It was effectively a hand transplant," he said. "I don't expect to see another one for the remainder of my career." Read more.

► BENDIGO, VIC: Nearly one-third of all children in out-of-home care in the region are Aboriginal. Anglicare figures show that in November, Aboriginal children made up 30 per cent of children and young people in foster care across the organisation’s St Luke’s region, which covers much of central and northern Victoria. Fifty per cent of children in residential care, or group homes, are Aboriginal, and Aboriginal children make up 20 per cent of those living with family or someone close to them. Read more.

► ORANGE, NSW: Farmers are being urged to buy cheap motion-sensing cameras to help identify groups of Sydney pig-shooters who trespass on Orange area farms on long weekends. Police and farmers have identified the visiting shooting parties as the area’s most prevalent rural crime problem. Read more.

► BALLARAT, VIC: The rich punctual beauty of the finale of Saint-Saens’s Symphony (No. 3) fills the Roman Catholic cathedral of St Patrick in Ballarat as Anthony Halliday warms his fingers, waiting for his organ-playing shoes to arrive. Wait. There are organ-playing shoes? Surely not. “Oh, absolutely,” says Mr Halliday. Read more.

► Renters could have long-term leases and greater protection under a state government review of Victoria's renting laws. Possible changes to the Residential Tenancies Act include leases of more than five years, banning rental bids, restricting rent rises to once a year and banning no-pet clauses. Family violence victims may be able to challenge notices to vacate stemming from the perpetrator's behaviour, while eviction notices may need supporting evidence.

► Kimya the western lowland gorilla celebrated her 12th birthday with some cool treats at Melbourne Zoo on Saturday. She and her daughter Kanzi, who turns two in March, enjoyed ice "cakes" containing fruit and – their favourite – popcorn. Kimya was born at Taronga Zoo before arriving in Melbourne in October 2013. Her baby was the first gorilla born at Melbourne Zoo in 14 years.

► NSW recorded its worst figures in at least five years for diseases caused by food poisoning and mosquito bites, as doctors warn climate change is looming as a public health emergency. Statistics released last week show 2016 was the worst year on record for diseases including legionnaires' disease, salmonellosis, listeriosis, E. coli and dengue fever, which flourish in warmer conditions.

► UNITED STATES: It was a heart-stopping moment at the intersection of American politics and intelligence – three spy chiefs confronting a Republican President-elect who for months has been mocking them, to tell him that yes, despite all his bluster, Russia had been rooting for him to defeat his Democratic challenger.

► MALAYSIA: Malaysia has announced the A$200 million hunt for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 will end within two weeks, despite pleas that authorities push on with the search of a vast expanse of the far southern Indian Ocean.

1697 – Last execution for blasphemy in Britain; of student Thomas Aikenhead at Edinburgh.

1790 – George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York City.

1973 – Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.

1981 – A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".

PORT Macquarie mountain bike champion Jason English is on the move to Newcastle as he sets his sights on the world titles.

English will move south to be closer to his wife’s family and says he is looking forward to a new experience.

“There’s track racing, the cycle club, plenty of races in the area and also on the Central Coast,” he said.

“My wife is really keen to move to Newcastle to get closer to her family. It’s something that has been on the cards for a while now.

“I’m hoping to still coach a lot of athletes, especially the juniors, so that is what I would like to continue to do.”

While he is looking forward to the move, he said it is sad to leave a place that he loves.

“It’s sad to leave such great company in Port Macquarie, the local sponsors and the friends I’ve made along the way,” he said. Read more.