Greenpeace to continue oil rig demos

GREENPEACE will continue to stage oil rig protests despite having 30 activists taken prisoner by the Russian authorities, one of the Britons freed from detention says.

Frank Hewetson says, that despite his ordeal, the organisation's method of scaling oil rigs in the Arctic would happen again.

But he says he can't for certain say they will return to Russia

He said he had 23 years of experience and was "pretty good" at carrying out direct forms of action.

He said it had to be done safely, with the right equipment and training.

"I think it will happen again for sure," Hewetson said.

"I'm just not going to comment about whether it will happen in Russia, I just don't have the mental head space to make that sort of decision at the moment.

"But I personally want to go back to part of the Arctic."

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Indonesia raises volcano alert level

THE alert status for one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes has been raised to the highest level after it repeatedly sent hot clouds of gas down its slope following a series of eruptions in recent days.

Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province unleashed fresh volcanic ash and gravel as high as 5000 metres and searing gas down its slope up to 2km, said a government volcanologist, Surono, who like many Indonesians uses one name.

The 2600-metre-high mountain has sporadically erupted since September after being dormant for three years.

"We are in a situation of high alert due to the danger of searing gas," Surono said, adding that authorities had urged people to stay at least 5km away from the crater.

About 12,300 evacuees from eight villages around the mountain were packed on Sunday in crowded government camps away from the fiery crater, while more than 6000 others fled earlier to temporary shelters in 16 safe locations, said National Disaster Mitigation spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said airlines had been notified to avoid routes near the mountain.

The volcano's last eruption, in August 2010, killed two people and forced 30,000 others to flee. It caught many scientists off guard because it had been quiet for four centuries.

Mount Sinabung is among around 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

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Extend domestic violence leave: ACTU

THE national union peak body wants special leave for domestic violence victims to be included as a minimum workplace award entitlement from next year.

To coincide with White Ribbon Day, Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Dave Oliver said unions will support a special resolution on the issue at an ACTU executive meeting on Tuesday.

He said 1.2 million workers already have access to domestic violence leave but it should be extended to cover more people.

"Victims of domestic violence are often vulnerable, traumatised and left with little support," he said.

"The last thing they need is to risk losing their jobs."

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Treasurers to discuss online shopping tax

MOVES to slap GST on overseas online shopping purchases worth less than $1000 will be on the agenda when Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey meets his state and territory counterparts this week.

The treasurers will meet in Canberra on Wednesday from 8.30am (AEST) for the Standing Council on Federal Financial Relations, the first since the change of government.

A spokeswoman for Mr Hockey said the meeting will focus on economic growth and ways to increase productivity.

The $1000 threshold at which the GST is collected on goods and services purchased from abroad will be on the agenda.

The treasurers will consider potential options on collecting the GST on online transactions if the threshold was to be lowered.

Australian businesses argue that while online shopping from foreign outlets may comprise a small component of the overall retail sector, it's a fast-growing trend being supported by an effectively GST-free status on less expensive items.

The previous Labor government argued that significant reforms were needed within the tax system to handle the job otherwise the cost of collecting the tax would outstrip the revenue collected.

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird said his state had been pushing for reform on the low-value threshold on GST for online overseas purchases for a long time.

"It is about time we had a genuine discussion on the issues that matter and it's clear that under the new federal government this is what we are going to see," he told AAP.

The treasurers are also expected to discuss infrastructure partnerships and the economic and fiscal outlook.

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Thousands rally in Kiev for EU deal

TENS of thousands of demonstrators have marched through central Kiev to demand the Ukrainian government reverse course and sign a landmark agreement with the European Union in defiance of Russia.

The protest was the biggest Ukraine has seen since the peaceful 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned a fraudulent presidential election result and brought a Western-leaning government to power.

The demonstration was led by Ukraine's top opposition figures, who called for the protests to continue until President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to sign the free trade and political association deal with the EU at a summit on Friday.

Carrying giant Ukrainian and EU flags, the demonstrators chanted "Ukraine is Europe" and sang the national anthem as they marched toward European Square. An estimated 50,000 people turned out for the rally.

"We want to be together with Europe," Volodymyr Mnikh, a 62-year-old retired chemist, said with tears in his eyes. "We want our children to have a future and not to be pressured by Russia."

Ukraine's leaders announced suddenly last week that they were pulling out of the EU agreement, saying the country could not afford to break trade ties with Russia.

The Russian government has worked aggressively to derail the EU deal and bring Ukraine into the Moscow-dominated Customs Union.

"The EU means Ukraine's development," said demonstrator Andriy Mazeta, a 19-year-old management student. "The Customs Union means Ukraine's destruction. We need to push Russia as far away as possible."

One key EU demand for signing the deal is the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose imprisonment the West sees as politically driven.

Yanukovych only narrowly defeated Tymoshenko in the 2010 presidential election and sees her as a political threat. He comes up for re-election in 2015.

At Sunday's rally, Tymoshenko's daughter read a letter from her jailed mother demanding that Yanukovych sign the EU deal.

"It's our roadmap to a normal life," Eugenia Tymoshenko said, shaking from cold and emotion as she read the letter. "Don't let him humiliate us all in this way."

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Thai anti-government protesters rally

ABOUT 100,000 anti-government demonstrators have rallied in Thailand's capital, demanding that the prime minister step down amid claims that her government is controlled by her older brother, ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The peaceful rally, led by former opposition lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, appeared to be the largest staged by Thaksin's opponents in several years.

Organisers are looking for the rally to continue overnight and cause maximum disruption on Monday, when demonstrators are supposed to march all over Bangkok.

The protesters say they want to topple the "Thaksin regime", which is how they refer to the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Thaksin's supporters and opponents have battled for power since a 2006 military coup ousted the former prime minister, who was toppled following street protests accusing him of corruption and disrespect for the country's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile for the past five years to avoid a prison sentence on a corruption conviction.

The battle for power has sometimes led to blood being spilled in the streets, and there is fear that the latest round of protests, which started last month, could lead to a renewal of serious political instability, after two years of relative calm under Yingluck's government.

Police estimated that around 75,000 people had arrived at the main rally site by mid-afternoon on Sunday, with the total appearing to surpass 100,000 by evening.

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Royal Commission begins in Sydney

BRUTAL bashings and the sexual abuse of children under the care of the Anglican church in NSW will be examined at the next round of public hearings in a national inquiry.

The third case study by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will open in Sydney on Monday.

It will look at the response of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton to claims of child sexual abuse at the North Coast Children's Home in Lismore.

The diocese's handling of a group compensation claim will also be examined.

The Bishop of Grafton, Keith Slater, resigned in May this year and apologised for his failings in handling complaints about the orphanage.

He is expected to be called to give evidence at the inquiry.

The Royal Commission will in December begin examining allegations and responses to abuse pertaining to the Catholic church.

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Cancer gene women unprotected: research

MANY Australian women are failing to protect themselves from breast and ovarian cancer despite knowing they carry a dangerous gene mutation, according to a new study.

About 20 per cent are likely to have their breasts removed, according to the study which tracked 325 women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations for up to 15 years.

The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, shows about 40 per cent have their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

Apart from protecting against ovarian cancer, this procedure reduced the risk of breast cancer if done before menopause, said research leader Professor Kelly-Anne Phillips from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.

Three per cent of the women in the study participated in a clinical trial of Tamoxifen, a medication which Prof Phillips and her team recently showed helped halve the risk of breast cancer.

The next phase of the research would involve face-to-face interviews with women and their doctors to understand why some women did not use cancer prevention strategies.

"All the options have advantages and disadvantages. These are complex and personal decisions," said Prof Phillips.

Data collection for the study ended in May 2012, before actor Angelina Jolie went public about her double mastectomy.

An increase in genetic testing has been reported in Australia since then and Prof Phillips told AAP it was possible this had prompted more women to take preventative action.

But prevention during the research period was low compared with other countries, she said.

One reason could be that women were not aware of the latest options.

"The evidence for the different interventions has changed significantly over the past few years," she said.

"My advice is for women who know they have the gene mutation to talk to their specialist at regular intervals.

"Women who don't know if they have the mutation but are concerned about their family history should talk to their GP.

BRCA1 mutation carriers have a 65 per cent chance of developing breast cancer and a 39 per cent chance of ovarian cancer by the age of 70, according to the study.

BRCA2 mutation carriers have a 45 per cent chance of breast cancer and 11 per cent risk of ovarian cancer.

"There are things women can do that will dramatically reduce their risk," said Prof Phillips.

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Bold action needed for Aussie kids: report

AUSTRALIA needs bold action to improve the wellbeing of its young people, says a high-powered group concerned the country is underperforming compared with its peers.

The main problems include a lack of support for babies and toddlers, education, physical health and income disparity, says a strategy report compiled by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY).

The document, titled Nest, will be launched in Canberra on Monday.

It says Australians aged 0-24 rank in the top third for about a quarter of wellbeing indicators and in the bottom third for another quarter compared with other countries in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

Australia is doing well for youth smoking, education and employment, but relatively poorly for infant mortality, income inequality, jobless families, pre-school attendance and year-4 reading and science.

The report highlights serious inequalities between indigenous and non-indigenous children and youth.

"Australian children are not doing as well as they should be. We are middle of the road at best for child wellbeing compared to other countries," said Dr Lance Emerson, CEO of the 3000-member group.

"We have management plans for the hairy-nosed wombat, but we don't have an overarching plan for kids."

He said a co-ordinated plan was needed across several areas.

"It is important that we don't try to address issues individually.

"Finishing Year 12 is a better indicator of low risk for heart disease than hypertension and a lot of other illnesses combined."

The aim was for Australia to achieve a top-five position for education performance and physical, social and emotional wellbeing by 2025, he said.

"Healthy children mean a healthy economy."

Australia needed a strong legislated approach that ensured children got off to a better start, Dr Emerson said.

"The Scandinavian countries are doing incredibly well. They invest heavily in services for parents in the early years."

ARACY Chair Elaine Henry said there had been excellent reforms in the past, but non-government agencies, governments and service providers had been working in isolation, all looking after their own patch.

"We know we can achieve these targets if we invest wisely in evidence-based and prevention-focused policies, programs and practices," she said.

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Nobel-winning author Lessing dies

DORIS Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and author of The Golden Notebook, has died aged 94.

The British author died peacefully at her London home in the early hours of this morning, a spokesman said.

Born in Iran in 1919, Ms Lessing grew up in Southern Rhodesia before emigrating to London after the Second World War with the manuscript of her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, in her suitcase.

It was published in 1950 and across the course of her life she produced 54 further works, including poetry, two operas, short stories, plays and non-fiction.

In 2007, she became the oldest recipient of the Nobel Prize, aged 88, and only the 11th woman to win the award.

Jonathan Clowes, her long time friend and agent, said today that he was greatly saddened by the news.

"She was a wonderful writer with a fascinating and original mind; it was a privilege to work for her and we shall miss her immensely," he said.

The writer is survived by her daughter Jean and granddaughters Anna and Susannah.

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