UK island swimmer going strong

A UK endurance swimmer has made good progress in her attempt to swim around the Isle of Wight. Source: AAP

AN endurance swimmer has made good progress through the night in her attempt to become the first person in nearly 30 years to swim solo, non-stop, around the Isle of Wight.

Anna Wardley is undertaking the challenge as part of her bid to complete circumnavigations of five islands.

The 37-year-old, from Gosport in Hampshire, set off yesterday at 10.31am from Ryde Sands and is expected to complete the 56.4-mile swim in about 30 hours.

Only three people have completed the feat, with the last successful attempt in 1984.

She has passed the famous Needles landmark and is making her way round to the east side of the island this morning.

Heather Ewing, spokeswoman for the challenge, said: "She's looking good this morning, although her arms are looking a bit tired and it has got to be hurting by now. That said, she's very cheerful and demanding a bacon sandwich if any are made for the support team."

Wardley said before setting off: "It's been nearly 30 years since this challenge was last successfully completed, so I'm under no illusions how tough it will be.

"There will be a time when I'll be swimming against the tide through the night, almost on the spot for hours. I'll also see the sun set and rise, and we'll be racing against the clock to reach critical points to beat the tide.

"However just knowing people are thinking of me and willing me on will definitely help when the going gets really tough, and it's a huge boost knowing that I'm raising money for such fantastic charities."

Wardley is attempting the swim under the rules of the British Long Distance Swimming Association wearing just a standard swimming costume, goggles and a swimming cap.

It is the culmination of her two-year Five Island Swim Challenge raising funds for the Samaritans, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Sail Africa, with her target set at STG50,000 ($A85,470).

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Pakistan releases senior Taliban figure

PAKISTAN has released its most senior Afghan Taliban detainee Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior official told AFP, in a move welcomed by Kabul who hope it will encourage peace talks with the insurgents.

Baradar, a one-time military chief often described as the militants' former second-in-command, was the most high-profile detained Taliban commander in Pakistan.

"Yes Baradar has been released," Omar Hamid, a spokesman for Pakistan's interior ministry told AFP, without elaborating on the circumstances of the release.

Afghanistan's High Peace Council (HPC) welcomed the release and thanked Pakistan's government.

"We welcome his release. And we thank the government of Pakistan that showed goodwill and answered positively to the request of Afghanistan government," Mohammad Esmail Qasimyar, senior member of HPC, told AFP.

"Baradar is someone who has always been eager to join peace negotiations, and we hope he joins peace talks soon. We are optimistic about it, he is still an influential figure, and the Taliban still respect him," Qasimyar said.

Pakistan's foreign ministry on Friday said that Baradar's release would facilitate Afghanistan's reconciliation process with the Taliban as a NATO combat mission there winds down.

However, the Taliban's spokesman in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid said they could not yet confirm the move.

"We only heard through the media that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will be released. We have not received any official confirmation about his release," Mujahid told AFP in Kabul.

The Afghan government has long demanded that Islamabad free Baradar, whose arrest in January 2010 saw Pakistan accused of sabotaging initiatives to bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan.

He was arrested in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, reportedly in a secret raid by CIA and Pakistani agents, in an operation that was described as a huge blow to the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan until a US-led invasion in 2001.

At the time of his detention, Baradar was reported to have been the Taliban's second-in-command, the right-hand man of the supreme commander Mullah Omar.

He was the most senior member of the Taliban held after US-led troops invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, bringing down the Islamist regime.

His release brings to 34 the number of Taliban detainees that Pakistan has freed since last year, in what Afghan officials hope will encourage peace talks with Taliban insurgents.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had asked Pakistan to help open direct dialogue between his government and the Taliban, who consider Karzai an "American puppet" and have refused to hold discussions with his government.

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At least six dead in Kenyan mall attack

Gunmen have opened fire inside an upmarket mall in Kenya's capital of Nairobi. Source: AAP

AT least six people have been killed and dozens wounded after black-clad masked gunmen attacked an upmarket shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, according to witnesses.

An AFP television journalist saw three bodies laid out in front of Nairobi's Westgate mall, and two more bodies inside.

An eyewitness who survived the assault by gunmen said he saw the body of a child being taken out of the mall.

"The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. At least 50 people were shot. There are definitely many casualties," a mall employee, Sudjar Singh, told AFP.

"I saw a young boy carried out on a shopping cart, it looked like he was about 5 or 6. It looked like he was gone, he was not moving or making any noise."

Three bodies were laid out in front of the mall, their heads covered, according to an AFPTV reporter. Two more bodies were laid inside the mall.

Heavy gunfire could also be heard inside the mall as armed police moved in.

The area is surrounded by police and ambulances.

Shocked and terrified people ran from the area, some of them wounded, while cars with bullet holes were abandoned outside, according to another AFP reporter on the scene.

"I saw three of the attackers dressed in black and with covered faces and they were carrying heavy rifles," said a witness and survivor who identified herself as Annette.

Kenneth Kerich, who was shopping when the attack happened, described scenes of panic.

"I suddenly heard gunshots and saw everyone running around so we lied down. I saw two people who were lying down and bleeding, I think they were hit by bullets. The gunfire went on from ground floor and the upper floors," he said.

"Initially we thought it is police fighting thugs. But we could not leave until when officers walked in, shot in the air and told us to get out."

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Yoga Guru 'detained at Heathrow'

A SPIRITUAL leader who was due to lead a 1,500-strong yoga class has been stopped from entering the UK, his supporters say.

Swami Ramdevji, 47, was expected to lead the class in Glasgow on Monday night.

But his supporters said he was stopped at Heathrow Airport on Friday night and detained for eight hours.

Ramdevji, who is also known as Baba Ramdev and reportedly has an 85-million strong worldwide following, was given a 24-hour visa and instructed to return to Terminal Five at Heathrow on Saturday afternoon, when his supporters fear he will be thrown out of the country.

The organisers of his visit said they have contacted Hindu temples throughout the UK asking for supporters to protest at the airport against the move.

A trust run by Ramdevji, who has his own television channel in India, bought the island of Little Cumbrae just off the coast of Largs in south west Scotland and established it as a yoga centre two years ago.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We would not comment on individual cases."

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Pope keeps cleric who leads US crackdown

POPE Francis is keeping in place the German prelate who leads the crackdown on US nuns and who also helps craft the Catholic Church's sex-abuse response.

After six months in the job, Francis made several key appointments Saturday in the Vatican's curia, or bureaucracy.

Francis renewed Archbishop Gerhard Mueller in the powerful role of prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Mueller, originally appointed by Benedict XVI, directs the Holy See's crackdown on nuns suspected of undermining Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality.

His office also shapes policy dealing with clergy who sexually abuse minors.

The pope replaced an Italian cardinal with an Italian prelate as head of the clergy department, another crucial office as the worldwide Roman Catholic Church grapples with a priest shortage.

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Woman holds up pizza shop near Ipswich

A WOMAN has allegedly attempted to rob a pizza shop south of Brisbane armed with a knife.

The 33-year-old is accused of entering the Redbank Plains store in Ipswich on Friday afternoon and demanding cash at knifepoint.

The restaurant's employees refused and the woman left only to be arrested a short time later.

She has been charged with attempted armed robbery and will appear at Ipswich Magistrates court on Saturday.

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Cooking fire claims Qld toddler's life

A TODDLER has died in a house fire west of Brisbane after his 15-year-old aunt accidentally started the blaze during a cooking mishap while babysitting.

The single-storey house in Toowoomba was well alight when emergency services arrived on Thursday about 6pm (AEST).

Firefighters searched the burning house and found a two-year-old boy's body.

Two other boys and two girls aged between seven and 15 were taken to Toowoomba Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

It's been widely reported a 15-year-old girl was babysitting her siblings and nephew and had left cooking oil unattended on the stove, which caught alight.

She attempted to put it out with water, which only exacerbated the problem.

Detective acting Senior Sergeant Scott Stahlhut did not dispute the cause when it was put to him by reporters, but was reluctant to confirm or elaborate.

"Police are preparing a report now which will be provided to the coroner," Sen-Sgt Stahlhut told reporters on the scene.

"Full details of how this terrible event unfolded will be made known in that report, so I can't comment at this stage (about) what's transpired."

Neighbours tried to rescue the toddler, but the blaze, which had entirely engulfed the house within minutes, was too strong.

"A girl came out saying her nephew was still inside and as I went to break through the window to see if I could try to rescue him, I just thought 'nah', because the smoke was too big," neighbour Terrance Mann told reporters.

"At that moment we realised there was just nothing we could have done."

Police also wouldn't confirm the children were left at home unsupervised.

Fire investigators remain at the scene on Friday.

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NT government wants GST to remain at 10%

The Northern Territory treasurer says he's happy for the GST to stay at 10 per cent. Source: AAP

A HIKE in the GST would be detrimental to Australia's competitiveness in the long run, the Northern Territory treasurer says.

Dave Tollner, of the Country Liberals, says the NT is happy for the GST to remain at 10 per cent, and does not support Western Australian Liberal Premier Colin Barnett in his calls to increase it to 12.5 per cent.

"(It) certainly might help some short term problems but I think in the long run would harm our international competitiveness and be detrimental," Mr Tollner told the ABC on Friday.

"We're taking a position that we want to tighten our belts, we want to reduce spending, at the same time try and maintain services but to get to a position where we live within our means."

But he did call for the federal government to review a Commonwealth Grants Commission decision last year to take $100 million in funding from the NT, saying it was the equivalent to stripping $6 billion from NSW or Victoria.

The decision was based on census data that showed more people in the eastern states identifying as Aboriginal and therefore receiving more federal funding, but a spokesman for the treasurer's office said it didn't consider the unique issue of the NT's vast geography.

"The way it was formulated didn't factor in the huge issue of remoteness, and how socially disadvantaged Aboriginal people are by living in remote areas," the spokesman told AAP.

Otherwise, Mr Tollner said, he was happy with how the GST was being allocated.

Around 80 per cent of the NT's budget comes from the GST.

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Raise a glass, Newton-John clinic opens

Olivia Newton-John has opened the final stage of her Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne. Source: AAP

OLIVIA Newton-John says her completed cancer centre in Melbourne should be a place where everybody knows your name, and has a drink waiting for you too - if that's what you want.

Newton-John recently lost her sister to cancer and says the experience taught her how important "loving care and support" is for someone who is dying.

On Friday, after a decade in the making, budget shortfalls and many fundraising campaigns, the star finally opened the final stage of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in the city's north.

The opening brings online more palliative care beds, more treatment beds and additional research laboratories.

But the cancer survivor says the centre needs to also be about enabling patients to be surrounded by people who know them and care about them.

"(People who) give you all the food you want, that give you a vodka if you want one," she said.

Newton-John said the marriage of the words "cancer" and "wellness" are important too.

"When you see that you think, 'I can go from cancer to wellness,'" she said.

Her big dream is that, one day, she can erase "cancer" from the centre's logo.

"It will be a wellness centre only because we'll find a cure for cancer."

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Man stalks girl on Sydney's north shore

POLICE are looking for a man who followed a girl in his car and then stalked her into a park on Sydney's north shore.

The 14-year-old was walking in Hunters Hill on Thursday afternoon when she noticed a grey 4WD with roof racks and black and white number plates trailing her.

She ran to a nearby park, and the male driver got out and followed her on foot.

The girl managed to alert a passer by who called police.

The man left the park and drove away.

He is described as being Caucasian in appearance, about 55 years old, with blond shoulder-length dreadlocks.

He was wearing a bright-coloured Hawaiian shirt and jeans, and is about 190cm tall and thin.

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WA premier braces for more school strikes

More than 20,000 people have come together to support an unprecedented teacher's strike across WA. Source: AAP

MORE than 20,000 people have come together to support an unprecedented teacher's strike across Western Australia.

And beleaguered Premier Colin Barnett has been warned it could be just the beginning of a potentially lengthy fight with unions over school funding.

Teachers, principals, education assistants, school support staff, parents and children flocked to a mass rally to protest job losses and funding reforms that unions claim will deprive schools of millions of dollars.

More than 60 schools across the state closed for the morning, with 23 rallies across WA adding their voices to the mass protest in Perth, despite teachers being threatened with having their pay docked for attending.

A defiant government continued to insist the strike was disruptive, unnecessary and unjustified - but still agreed to meet union leaders next week to listen to grievances.

"This campaign will keep running. It will keep growing. This government has to learn that it can't build stadiums at the expense of our children's education," Carolyn Smith from United Voice said.

"Colin Barnett and (education minister) Peter Collier continue to hide from the truth, but the community is determined - we're not going away."

Opposition leader Mark McGowan told the rally it was obvious the premier had a major fight on his hands to convince the public his plans to reform school funding was correct.

"I am looking at the thousands and thousands of people here today and I am thinking 'Mr Barnett, you picked the wrong people,'" Mr McGowan said.

"These are not reforms, these are cuts."

The day after WA lost its AAA credit rating from agency Standard and Poor's, Mr Barnett said there was no connection between the state's dwindling economic power and the decision to reshape education funding.

He lambasted Mr McGowan for talking down the state's schools.

"How can the Leader of the Opposition go out and talk about children suffering. What do you think this is, Bangladesh?," Premier Barnett said in parliament.

More than 5000 people attended similar stop work meetings in regional areas, including 2000 in Bunbury, 500 in Albany, 520 in Pinjarra and 200 in Port Hedland.

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Vic crews face long factory fire fight

FIREFIGHTERS will work into the night to bring a large blaze at a Melbourne factory under control.

Fire broke out in the flooring factory at Dandenong South at about 6pm (AEST) on Thursday, sending thick smoke into nearby suburbs.

More than 100 CFA and MFB firefighters were working to bring the blaze under control and aerial appliances were attacking the flames from above, a CFA spokeswoman said.

"It is expected to be a protracted incident into the night, because once the fire is under control we have still got the blacking out and cleaning up to do," she said.

The cause of the fire is yet to be established.

Residents in the nearby suburbs of Hallam and Hampton Park are being urged to stay indoors and keep doors and windows closed.

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Man charged over murder of Sydney father

A MAN has been charged with murder over the fatal stabbing of a Sydney father.

Doonside man Cheyne Duncan, 33, died in Westmead Hospital on Wednesday afternoon after he was attacked with a machete while walking his children home from school.

A 21-year-old man was on Thursday morning arrested over the attack and later charged with his murder.

Bail was refused and he's due before Blacktown Local Court on Friday.

Teddy bears, flowers and cards have been left near the site of the murder.

"I love you dad," says a note written by one of Mr Duncan's children.

Another man injured in the attack has been released from hospital.

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Child dies in Qld house fire

A CHILD has died in a house fire in the Queensland city of Toowoomba.

Four other children managed to escape the single-storey home in the suburb of North Toowoomba.

The house was well alight when emergency services arrived on Thursday evening, the Department of Community Safety says.

Two crews wearing breathing apparatus searched the burning home, but were unable to save the child.

The four children were taken to Toowoomba Hospital where they are in stable condition after being treated for smoke inhalation.

A firefighter was also treated at the scene, but didn't require hospitalisation.

The fire is being treated as suspicious and investigations into the cause of the blaze will begin on Friday, a police spokesman told AAP.

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BBC report casts doubt on honeymoon death

A BBC report has raised doubts about evidence against a British man sought in South Africa for allegedly orchestrating his wife's murder while on their honeymoon.

Shrien Dewani is accused of hiring a hit man to kill his 28-year-old bride, Anni. She was found shot dead in an abandoned taxi in a Cape Town township in 2010. He denies the charge.

The Panorama program says it has obtained prosecution files from the case that appear to contradict a key witness's sworn statement.

A leading forensic scientist also told the program - set to air its report on Thursday - that there is "simply a cloud of suspicion ... rather than any evidence" against Dewani.

"This is not an investigation that would meet the standards in this country," Jim Fraser said. "There are many things ... that fall a long way short of effective investigation."

In July, a British court ruled that Dewani, 33, should be extradited to South Africa to face trial over his wife's death, despite his mental health problems.

Panorama cites a firearms expert and a pathologist to poke holes in the South African investigation's assertion that Anni was cowering in the back seat and to suggest that she could have been shot in a struggle.

It also says it obtained security footage and phone records that contradict the sworn statement of taxi driver Zola Tongo, who was jailed for 18 years after he admitted his part in the killing.

The victim's family has criticised the program, saying the case should not be conducted on television.

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Biden's niece arrested after scuffle

US Vice President Joe Biden's niece has been arrested after getting into a scuffle with police. Source: AAP

THE niece of Vice President Joe Biden is being accused of striking a New York City police officer.

Police said on Tuesday they took Caroline Biden into custody after responding to a report of a dispute at her Tribeca apartment.

Police said the 26-year-old scuffled with officers as they tried to break up a fight between her and her roommate. They said she lunged at an officer, struck another officer and resisted being handcuffed. They didn't say what the fight was about.

Biden was arrested on charges of obstructing governmental administration, harassment and resisting arrest. She was given notice to appear in court on October 29, and released.

The vice president's office declined to comment.

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Oppn wants to cut airport train ticket fee

The NSW Upper House will review the "station access fee" for Sydney airport. Source: AAP

THE NSW Upper House is set to examine whether the "station access fee" for Sydney's airport should be dropped, a move the opposition says would "slash" the cost of a train ticket.

Removing the $12.30 fee, which earns the government about $4 million a month, would increase patronage and alleviate congestion around the airport, opposition transport spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said.

"The roads around the airport will be at practical capacity by 2015," she said.

"I want to look into lowering the rail fare to increase patronage and deal with serious congestion on the roads around Sydney Airport."

A report from the inquiry is expected in February.

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UK mother accused of starving boy, 4

THE mummified corpse of a four-year-old boy was found in a cot in his mother's bedroom almost two years after he starved to death, a British jury has been told.

Hamzah Khan's body was still dressed in a baby-gro when police made the "dreadful discovery" at his house in Bradford, West Yorkshire, a court heard.

Details of how Hamzah's body was found in September 2011 were outlined when his mother Amanda Hutton went on trial at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday.

Hutton, 43, denies her son's manslaughter.

Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC told the jury that Hamzah died when he was four-and-a-half years old on December 15, 2009.

But the barrister said his remains were found 21 months later in clothing intended for a baby aged six to nine months.

He said these clothes fitted him because his growth had been stunted after being malnourished over a lengthy period and that state of affairs resulted in his death.

"In short, he starved to death," Greaney said.

Hamzah's body was found after police community support officer Jodie Worsley spoke to Hutton and became concerned about the smell coming from her house.

The prosecutor said Hutton was an abuser of alcohol and cannabis.

The jury was also told that Hutton ordered pizza within hours of her son's death and continued to claim child benefit for him.

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Qld man dies in hospital after car crash

A MAN seriously injured in a crash on the Bruce Highway in August has died.

The 29-year-old had been in the Princess Alexandra Hospital since rolling his car at Parklands on the Sunshine Coast on the evening of August 31, police say.

The Mooloolah Valley man died from his injuries on Wednesday.

Investigators are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

Earlier Wednesday, a five-year-old boy died two days after a horrific crash on the New England High west of Brisbane.

A 37-year-old local woman was also killed when a truck and a 4WD collided on the highway near Toowoomba on Monday morning.

The seriously injured boy died in the Mater Children's Hospital.

Two other children under the age of 11 remain in hospital with serious injuries.

The 35-year-old man who was driving the truck sustained minor back injuries.

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LSD guru Timothy Leary's files go public

A New York library has released a vast trove of papers belonging to LSD guru Timothy Leary. Source: AAP

A TROVE of Timothy Leary's files could shed new light on the LSD guru, his controversial research into psychedelic drugs and the emergence of the 1960s counterculture.

The New York Public Library acquired the vast archive for an undisclosed sum from the Leary estate in 2011. It is making the material available on Wednesday for the first time to scholars and the public.

Leary was fired as a psychology lecturer at Harvard and coined the phrase "turn on, tune in, drop out". He advocated the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs including LSD.

Much of the material is previously unpublished. Leary estate trustee Denis Berry says it will force a reworking of the current narratives on Leary and the counterculture.

Leary died in 1996.

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Man who defaced Queen's portrait in court

A FATHERS' rights campaigner has denied defacing a portrait of the Queen displayed in Westminster Abbey.

Tim Haries, 42, is alleged to have smuggled a can of spray paint into the abbey on June 13 before defacing the picture painted by Australian-born artist Ralph Heimans.

Appearing at London's Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, the Fathers4Justice campaigner pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing criminal damage of more than STG5000 ($A8584).

Haries, an electrician from South Yorkshire, was given conditional bail to return to the court for trial on January 6.

The case is expected to last one or two days.

The painting had been on display in the abbey's Chapter House for only a few weeks before it was vandalised with paint.

It was unveiled in London last year for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The oil on canvas, which measures 9ft by 11ft and depicts the Queen in the cacrarium of Westminster Abbey, also known as the Coronation Theatre, is valued at around STG160,000.

It shows her in a moment of solitary reflection, standing at the centre circle of the Cosmati pavement, on the exact spot where she was crowned.

Immediately after the damage was done, a picture was taken and the image uploaded to the internet.

Haries allegedly shouted "Fathers4Justice!" when he was arrested.

The artwork had to be removed from public display for repairs before going back on show in July.

Haries was supported by a number of Fathers4Justice campaigners of both sexes in the public gallery - many of them wearing purple - although the group said the act at Westminster Abbey was not an official protest.

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Coppola, Domingo win Japanese arts prize

FILMMAKER Francis Ford Coppola and opera singer Placido Domingo are among five winners of a lucrative arts prize that has been dubbed the "Nobel Prize of the arts".

The Godfather director and the Spanish tenor are recipients of the Japan Art Association's Praemium Imperiale Awards, which come with a Y15 million ($A163,043) purse.

The awards are open to visual and performing artists - and architects - of any nationality. This year's other recipients, announced on Tuesday in London, are British sculptor Antony Gormley; British architect David Chipperfield; and Italian painter Michelangelo Pistoletto.

The winners will receive their awards from Japan's Prince Hitachi at a ceremony in Japan in October.

Previous winners of the prize, founded in 1989, include Italian screen star Sophia Loren and British actress Judi Dench.

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China opens world's highest airport

THE world's highest civilian airport has opened at an altitude of 4411 metres on the Tibetan plateau in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, state media say.

The Daocheng Yading airport in Ganzi prefecture's Daocheng county, or Dapba in Tibetan, launched its first commercial flights on Monday, shortening the travel time from the provincial capital of Chengdu from two days by road to about an hour by plane.

Built in two years at a cost of 1.58 billion yuan ($A275.13 million), the single-runway airport is expected to boost the local economy by promoting tourism to the Yading nature reserve and other nearby sights, said Yexe Dawa, the governor of Ganzi, on Tuesday.

Daily flights will initially operate between Daocheng and Chengdu, but the government plans to open routes to major Chinese cities such as Chongqing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Yexe Dawa as saying at the opening ceremony.

The airport is 77 metres higher than the previous record holder, the 4334-metre Bangda airport in Qamdo in China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

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UN probe exposes Nth Korea rights abuses

A UN-MANDATED investigator has spotlighted "unspeakable atrocities" inflicted on political camp prisoners in North Korea, citing testimony from survivors who saw babies drowned or had to survive by eating lizards.

Retired Australian judge Michael Kirby challenged the secretive Stalinist country to come clean about its record, telling the UN Human Rights Council he aimed to draw up a list of violators within North Korea's regime.

Mr Kirby is at the helm of a landmark commission of inquiry on North Korea set up in March by the council, the UN's top human rights watchdog.

North Korea has refused to co-operate with the commission, which has spent recent months gathering evidence in South Korea and Japan from North Korean defectors and other victims.

"Testimony heard thus far points to widespread and serious violations in all areas," Mr Kirby told the council on Tuesday, to which he is due to deliver a full report next year.

He said the evidence, both sobering and heart-rending, had "given a face and voice to great human suffering".

"The commission listened to political prison camp survivors who suffered through childhoods of starvation and unspeakable atrocities, as a product of the 'guilt by association' practice, punishing other generations for a family member's perceived political views or affiliation," he said.

Among the stark testimony was that from a man imprisoned from birth, who lived on rodents, lizards and grass, and witnessed the public execution of his mother and brother; from a woman who saw a fellow inmate forced to drown her own baby in a bucket; and from a man obliged to burn the corpses of starved inmates and scatter their ashes on fields.

Mr Kirby also spotlighted torture and sexual violence, detention for watching foreign soap operas or having religious beliefs, kidnapping citizens of South Korea and Japan, massive malnutrition, and the total control by the regime's propaganda apparatus.

North Korean diplomat Kim Yong-ho hit back, telling the council the evidence was "fabricated and invented by forces hostile" to his country, singling out Washington, Tokyo and Brussels.

North Korea has claimed such testimony is slander from "human scum", but Mr Kirby shot that down.

"An ounce of evidence is worth far more than many pounds of insults and baseless attacks. So far, however, the evidence we have heard has largely pointed in one direction - and evidence to the contrary is lacking," he said.

North Korea has long been subject to international sanctions over its nuclear program.

Mr Kirby said it was also essential to ensure full accountability for human rights violations.

"We will seek to determine which state institutions and officials carry responsibility for gross human rights violations proved to have been committed," he said.

But he cautioned that his commission was "neither prosecutor nor judge" and responsibility for action lay with the international community.

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ALP members show strong support for Albo

Anthony Albanese received a standing ovation as he launched his bid for the Labor party leadership. Source: AAP

The cheer from the outgoing deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese's supporters belted through the trade union hall in Sydney as he entered.

The member for Grayndler was there on Tuesday evening to launch his bid for the leadership of the federal Australian Labor Party.

Mr Albanese is competing against outgoing minister and Right faction powerbroker Bill Shorten for the job, the winner to be decided by a vote of rank-and-file members and caucus.

If he wins, Mr ALbanese reckons he can oust the newly-elected Coalition government in one term.

From the eruption of support in the room, it seems a couple of hundred NSW rank and file members and several senior current and former ALP MPs agree.

Outgoing health minister Tanya Plibersek, former NSW premier Nathan Rees, ALP national president Jenny McAllister and retiring former cabinet minister Greg Combet were among the members at the launch.

Mr Combet, who studied economics with Mr Albanese at Sydney University in the 1980s, told the crowd "he's the right leader for the Labor party in these times."

"When you've just lost an election, you really need to look for ... someone steeped in Labor tradition, someone true to Labor values, someone who'll fight," he said.

"Where else can you look but Anthony Albanese?"

The room lit up as Mr Albanese took the podium, praising the reformed leadership selection process as "opening up... the most significant decision that a political party can make."

He backed himself as being "up for this job", referring to the many portfolios he's held and his challenging role as leader of the House of Representatives in a minority government.

"I have the capacity, I had to deliver Bob Katter and Adam Bandt on the same platter."

Mr Albanese was careful to stick to a "civil debate about ideas, not personalities," agreed to by himself and Mr Shorten.

"(Bill Shorten's) a very good candidate and would make a very good leader of the Labor party," he told the crowd.

Mr Albanese is embarking on a three-city tour over the next three days and will be taking along his three word slogan "Vision. Unity. Strength." as he seeks wider support for his tilt at the ALP's top job.

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ACTU fears Abetz's agenda

THE peak union body has raised concerns about incoming Employment Minister Eric Abetz's agenda in power.

Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott unveiled his ministerial line up on Monday, naming Eric Abetz as his Employment Minister in waiting.

Senator Abetz and the rest of the Abbott government ministry will be officially sworn in on Wednesday.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney warned the union movement would vigorously oppose any attempts to wind back work rights and conditions.

"We are concerned about some of his intentions for workplace relations previewed during the election campaign," she said in a statement.

She singled out having the Fair Work Commission oversee enterprise agreements for pay rises without trade-offs and backing employers' push to cut penalty rates as examples.

Ms Kearney said unions would work cooperatively with Senator Abetz.

She urged him to show restraint on public service job cuts.

The coalition has plans to trim the public service by at least 12,000.

"When public sector jobs are cut, we lose services and communities suffer," she said.

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Stronger pound could hit UK recovery

THE pound has defied recent expectations of a fall as it heads towards a level of $US1.60 for the first time in eight months.

A focus on prospects for a tapering of monetary stimulus in the American economy has pushed down the greenback against sterling in the money markets.

Investors believe the withdrawal of former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers from the running to become the next chair of the US Federal Reserve makes a sharp cut in the Fed's multi-billion dollar quantitative easing (QE) program less likely.

It comes on top of a recent improvement in the pound's fortunes due to scepticism over Bank of England governor Mark Carney's flagship low interest rate policy.

The strengthening in the currency may have come too late for many British summer holidaymakers but could make imported goods and materials cheaper for UK firms and consumers.

By contrast, exporters are likely to face a struggle to sell their products abroad as they become increasingly expensive - threatening prospects for recovery in the country's beleaguered manufacturing base.

The pound has been rising since plunging to below 1.49 US dollars in July, and pushed above 1.59 following the latest announcement about the future running of the Fed.

But the strength of sterling could hamper the UK's efforts to boost gross domestic product, which remains 3% below pre-recession levels.

Lee Hopley, chief economist at manufacturers' organisation EEF, said: "The higher pound is going to be an issue for some exporters.

"A lot of what British companies export is less price sensitive than it used to be, but it will still be an issue. Quite a bit of the recovery has been led by exports."

Sterling has been on a rollercoaster ride over the summer, falling sharply on the initial impact of Mr Carney's arrival at Threadneedle Street, after an indication that interest rates would remain low for some time to come.

The prospect of cheap money pushed stock markets up but sent the pound spiralling lower, with some analysts predicting it would go as low as 1.30 US dollars, given the decline in North Sea oil production and continued trade deficit.

However, sentiment hardened as doubts began to emerge about the details of the Bank's "forward guidance" policy, linking any possibility of an interest rate rise to a fall in unemployment to 7%.

While the headline guidance suggested this meant they would not rise until 2016 at the earliest, traders began to believe the Bank's forecasts on unemployment were too pessimistic, leading to the expectation that rates would come up sooner.

The likelihood of higher interest rates has led traders to expect there will be increasing demand for the pound, pushing up its price.

In addition, this weekend's announcement by Mr Summers that he was pulling out of the race to lead the Fed has depressed the dollar

Mr Summers was seen as a sceptic on the Fed's QE policy. The prospect of billions continuing to flow out of the central bank continuing to flow into the US economy unhindered drove down the value of the currency.

Some economists already believe the rise in the sterling has gone too far, however, and that it is set for a fall.

Jessica Hinds of Capital Economics said that the rise in the pound was already looking overdone last week, predicting that UK rates were likely to remain at their current low until 2017 amid a recovery not yet as strong as that of the US.

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Comet collisions 'can spawn life'

BUILDING blocks of life can spring into existence spontaneously when icy comets smash into planets, a study has shown.

A similar process can create amino acids - bits of proteins - when a rocky meteorite strikes an ice-covered world.

The discovery suggests that life could be getting a kick start just about everywhere in the universe.

How often the building blocks end up constructing proteins and living organisms is an unanswered question. But the research fills in another piece of the puzzle of life's origins on Earth.

Scientists believe that about the time life first emerged, between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago, Earth was being bombarded by comets and meteorites.

"Our work shows that the basic building blocks of life can be assembled anywhere in the Solar System and perhaps beyond," said Dr Zita Martins, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London.

"However, the catch is that these building blocks need the right conditions in order for life to flourish.

"Excitingly, our study widens the scope for where these important ingredients may be formed in the Solar System and adds another piece to the puzzle of how life on our planet took root."

Proteins, the giant molecules that form living tissue, are made from chains of amino acids whose assembly is directed by the genetic code.

Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the scientists show how when a comet - essentially a dirty snowball - impacts it creates a shock wave that generates the molecules needed for amino acids.

Heat from the impact the transforms these molecules into the protein building blocks.

The study involved firing steel projectiles at high velocity into ice mixtures similar to those found in comets.

A large compressed gas gun, housed at the University of Kent, propelled the projectiles at 7.15 kilometres per second.

High temperatures and pressures from the impacts led to the creation of several amino acids, including the important protein components glycine and alanine. Non-protein amino acids were also generated.

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Independent still in the lead in Indi

The Victorian seat of Indi may be determined on Monday with a small number of votes to be counted. Source: AAP

INDEPENDENT candidate Cathy McGowan continues her slight lead over Liberal incumbent Sophie Mirabella in the battle for the north-east Victorian seat Indi.

Ms McGowan holds a 405 vote lead over Mrs Mirabella with 94 per cent of the vote counted, the Australian Electoral Commission website says.

"We're quietly optimistic that we should be able to maintain our lead," Ms McGowan's media manager Cambell Klose told AAP.

By the close of counting on Monday about 1600 votes were still to be tallied.

Mrs Mirabella has held the seat since 2001 and went to this month's federal election with a nine per cent lead.

In the seat of McEwen, Labor incumbent Rob Mitchell is outrunning Liberal challenger Donna Petrovich by 192 votes, with 89 per cent of the vote counted.

There are more than 8500 votes still to be tallied in the central Victorian electorate.

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NSW govt changing CSG to bluff people: LTG

A ROSE by any other name ... but what about a gas well?

The NSW government is trying to hoodwink communities by changing the name of the controversial coal seam gas (CGS) industry to "natural gas from coal seams," activists say.

President of the anti-CSG group Lock The Gate (LTG), Drew Hutton, says he has a document addressed to NSW resources minister Chris Hartcher recommending various bodies "refer to natural gas from coal seams in the first reference" and "where possible remove coal seam gas or CSG references."

A spokeswoman for Mr Hartcher confirmed resources ministers from across Australia had spoken about altering references to CSG "as part of a national harmonisation program across all states."

Basically, "to make sure everyone was referring to it consistently," she told AAP on Monday.

The NSW government will now use CSG's new name.

And its old name.

But, she added, "the Land and Water Commissioner and Office of the Chief Scientist are independent agencies and free to use any terminology."

She was unable to say whether there was a problem with the name "CSG" or "coal seam gas" and denied it was a "NSW conspiracy".

Mr Hutton says it will take more than a name change to end opposition to CSG.

"It's not the word that's the problem, it's the industry and the damage it causes," he said.

"If they think that avoiding the name 'coal seam gas' is going to end the opposition from the people of NSW, they will find themselves sadly disappointed."

Mr Hutton said the coal seam gas industry differs greatly to the natural gas industry and "to attempt to conflate the two is clearly an attempt at deception."

Further comment and a copy of the document are being sought from Mr Hutton.

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