President Obama meets Malala

US President Barack Obama (R) has met in Washington with Pakistani advocate Malala Yousafzai. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has met with 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, an advocate for girls' education and the target of a Taliban assassination attempt who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama met with Malala on Friday, the same day the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The Pakistani teen had been considered a front-runner for the prize and was in Washington to speak at two events.

The teen said in a statement after the meeting that she was honoured to meet with the president, who is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

"I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees. I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact," she said.

She called for greater cooperation between the governments of the United States and Pakistan.

The White House said in a statement that Malala met with the president and first lady in the Oval Office where the president signed a proclamation to mark Friday as the International Day of the Girl.

The proclamation says in part that "on every continent, there are girls who will go on to change the world in ways we can only imagine, if only we allow them the freedom to dream."

Malala was shot in the head in October 2012 while she was going home from school. She was flown to a hospital in Britain, where she now lives. Her memoir "I am Malala" was published on Tuesday.

On Friday she spoke at a World Bank event and was scheduled to speak at a book event at the Sidwell Friends School, which Obama's daughters attend.

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Labor claims first home buyers locked out

The NSW opposition says investors are receiving more help to buy property than new home buyers. Source: AAP

INVESTORS are receiving NSW government help to buy property at nearly twice the rate that new home buyers are, the state's opposition says.

NSW Labor says statistics from the Office of State Revenue show that in the last year 9802 New Home Scheme grants have been paid to property investors and existing home owners buying a new home or block of land.

But only 5375 first home buyer grants have been paid out to first-timers buying a new home or block of land over the same period, Labor says.

These property debutants are eligible for a $15,000 grant when they purchase a new home, home off the plan or land that they intend to build on.

The New Home Grant scheme is open to people who already own property to do the same, but is worth $5000.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said on Saturday that offering grants to existing homeowners to buy more property was making it harder for first home buyers to gain a foothold.

"It is one thing to help first home buyers get that important first step into the housing market, but something entirely different to be doling out taxpayer-funded cash grants to property investors buying up multiple properties across the city," he said in a statement.

"All the O'Farrell government is doing is locking more and more first home buyers out of the housing market and putting the great Australian dream of owning your own home out of reach for many."

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Bali victims remembered 11 years on

LITTLE children clambered around the Bali bombing memorial in Sydney on Saturday, knocking the flowers laid by the friends and family of those killed.

One boy asked his new playmate, "Which one is yours?"

And she, a girl no older than seven, pointed to one of the names of the dead and said "He was my uncle".

They were not yet born when the bombs exploded at Paddy's Bar and the Sari Club on October 12, 2002, but they have grown up in the shadow of the attacks.

Eighty-eight Australians were among the 202 people killed in the attacks on Bali's tourist hub Kuta, and 43 of the dead were from NSW alone.

"The Bali bombing was our September 11," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a message read out to the hundreds who gathered at Coogee to mark the 11th anniversary of the blasts.

Randwick mayor Scott Nash said 20 of the dead came from Sydney's eastern suburbs, from Bondi to Malabar, and few locals had not been touched in some way by the attacks.

"The beautiful people that we lost were sons, mothers, fathers, daughters and friends," he said.

"Tough times often bring out the very best in humanity and we can see that today, as we see it each year."

Waves crashed and tourists frolicked on the beach below as mourners gathered at the Dolphins Point headland observed a moment's silence.

Among them was Kristie McKeon, who was just 12 when her mother, big sister and several family friends were killed in the bombings.

She and her father were injured but escaped with their lives.

"It was our last night in Bali," the 23-year-old recalled.

"I remember the bomb going off, being on the floor and trapped under the roof, escaping in panic through a hole and then reaching the back wall and being hoisted over as the fire grew."

The graphic designer said she had been forced to grow up without the two most important women in her life to guide her.

They will not be here to watch her marry next year.

"Family is something I lost, but something I look forward to finding again," she said.

"My only wish is that my mum and sister were here to be a part of it.

"I will never forget.

"I will always remember."

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FTAs threaten cigarette packaging: Greens

TOBACCO companies will have the green light to sue Australia over plain packaging if the government fast-tracks free trade agreements, Greens leader Christine Milne says.

Senator Milne has warned Prime Minister Tony Abbott not to rush into the mooted Trans-Pacific Partnership with 12 regional countries.

Mr Abbott also wants to overcome years of stalemate to secure an Australia-China free trade agreement within 12 months.

But Tasmanian Senator Milne says Australia should not accept a weakened dispute resolution process she believes would lead to tobacco companies seeking to recoup lost profits.

The Greens leader said food multinationals like Monsanto could also challenge Tasmania's genetically modified crop free status.

"Tony Abbott is considering allowing cigarette companies to sue the Australian government because we have plain packaging legislation," Senator Milne told reporters in Hobart.

"It would mean that Monsanto could sue the Australian government because Tasmania is GMO-free."

Senator Milne said rushed agreements could mean greater foreign ownership of agricultural land and water.

"Everybody knows the Chinese say absolutely they won't tolerate any kind of strengthening of our foreign investment laws," she said.

"So what's it to be - Monsanto, cigarette companies, selling out the farm in Australia simply to fast-track these free-trade agreements or are we going to get what we would regard as fair trade?"

Senator Milne said environmental care costs and labour standards should be built into any FTA.

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Gun seized after Vic woman shot dead

POLICE have seized a firearm and are questioning a 34-year-old man after a young woman died of a gunshot wound at a Melbourne house.

In a bizarre twist, the bodies of two women were found in a house in the same street soon after the shooting, but their deaths are not being treated as suspicious.

Paramedics were called to a house in Meadowbank Drive in Sunshine North about 9am (AEDT) on Friday to treat a woman for upper body wounds, but were unable to enter until police declared the scene safe.

By the time they reached her in a rear bedroom of the home, the woman had died.

Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen McIntyre said the Sunshine North man, who is known to police, is believed to have known the woman but was unable to say how.

"The exact extent of their relationship is yet to be determined," Det Sen Sgt McIntyre said.

He said the man was assisting police and no charges had been laid.

However, police are in possession of a firearm.

Police have not revealed how many shots had been fired or how many wounds the woman, who is yet to be identified, sustained.

Det Sen Sgt McIntyre said he was unsure how long paramedics had to wait before they were able to enter the house.

"The scene had to be made safe prior to their entry," Det Sen Sgt McIntyre said.

"Given the fact that there was a firearm involved in this incident they obviously had to wait for police to attend."

The homicide squad is investigating.

Not long after the shooting, the bodies of an elderly woman and a middle-aged woman were found inside another house in the same street.

Police said their deaths were unrelated to the shooting.

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Aust plants get multimillion-dollar home

FORGET the humble windowsill - the nation's plants now have a multimillion-dollar place to call home.

The Australian PlantBank, opened on Friday at the Australian Botanic Garden, will conserve and research the nation's unique flora.

The $20 million Sydney facility includes the largest native plant seed bank in Australia, filing away 10,000 different seed collections.

Precious seeds are dried out and then refrigerated for safe keeping.

Plant matter is also frozen in liquid nitrogen to lengthen its storage life.

"It's sort of like the ultimate insurance policy," Royal Botanic Garden Trust acting executive director Dr Brett Summerell said.

Two dedicated seed hunters have also been tasked with retrieving some harder-to-find treasures for the vault.

The Mount Annan collection fulfils a national duty to our rare plant life, Dr Summerell said.

"A lot of (species) are so incredibly unique and different from what we have overseas," he told AAP.

"We certainly do have a responsibility to protect them and be a custodian to the species."

But the facility also offers a reminder of the dangers of neglecting conservation, with little grave markers to represent the state's extinct plant species.

While ranked fifth globally for plant life diversity, Australia is also home to 14 per cent of the world's threatened species.

NSW Environment Minister Robyn Parker hoped the facility would make botany "trendy" for locals and tourists alike.

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Cash Converters to fight $40m class action

Cash Converters is facing a class action for allegedly charging extremely high interest rates. Source: AAP

CASH Converters will fight a $40 million legal battle launched by customers claiming they were charged illegal levels of interest on personal loans.

Two class actions are being filed in the Federal Court on Thursday on behalf of about 50,000 Cash Converters customers in NSW.

But the company says the numbers seem vastly inflated, as it has just 18 stores in NSW and has only been lending money in that state for three years.

It also said it is confident its fees have been applied lawfully.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn alleges the company exploited thousands of financially struggling customers by imposing charges far above the 48 per cent interest rate cap that exists in NSW.

Julie Gray, a pensioner and grandmother from western Sydney, is leading the class action.

"I was desperate and needed cash to get by, but Cash Converters took advantage of me like they take advantage of lots of people," Ms Gray said.

"Someone has to stand up and make this company accountable."

Cash Converters allegedly charged up to 633 per cent interest on short-term personal loans, when the value of fees was included in the calculations, Maurice Blackburn said.

Cash Converters says the fees in question, which are no longer charged after changes to legislation on July 1, 2013, were properly levied and were completely lawful.

"In the opinion of the company the action is based on a flawed proposition and will be defended," it said in a statement.

Cash Converters is a franchised retail network with more than 700 stores worldwide.

Shares in the company fell by as much as nine per cent on Thursday, but had recovered some ground to be down seven cents, or 5.6 per cent, at $1.19 at 1350 AEDT.

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Collision system failed on Qantas plane

QANTAS says two jets that had a near miss over Adelaide were never on a crash course, despite coming within 3km of each other and a collision avoidance system on one of the planes not working.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) began an investigation into the September 20 incident after a "loss of separation" between Airbus A330 VH-EBO (EBO), travelling from Sydney to Perth and Airbus A330 VH-EBS (EBS), travelling from Perth to Sydney.

EBS was cruising at 39,000 feet when the EBO pilot was cleared to climb to 40,000 feet, but the controller soon cancelled the clearance and the aircraft descended back to 38,000 feet.

The EBS crew received an alert from their traffic collision avoidance system but EBO's flight crew did not receive any indication on their system about EBS, the ATSB said.

Data from the two aircraft showed the minimum vertical separation was 650 feet when they were 8km apart laterally.

The minimum lateral separation was 3km when the aircraft were 870 feet apart vertically.

A Qantas spokesman said the traffic collision avoidance system failure mid-flight was not a contributing factor in the near miss because planes could function for a short time without it, due to other safety measures built into aviation systems.

"The aircraft were on diverging one-way routes and were never going to cross paths," he said.

Qantas also said the aircraft was compliant with Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulations and it continued to provide accurate positional information to air traffic control and the other aircraft.

The faulty system has also been replaced.

ATSB's interim report noted that although all air transport aircraft were required to have a traffic collision avoidance system, it rarely failed.

In such situations, a flight crew is usually provided with a fault message, and the flight crew must advise the controller.

The ATSB investigation is continuing and will include examining radar and audio data, analysing the controller's actions, examining the traffic collision avoidance system computer and related components from EBO, and a review of the reliability and availability rates of traffic collision avoidance systems.

The ATSB expects to complete its investigation by September 2014.

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WA's top cop rejects raising drinking age

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch has backed a call by Australian of the Year Ita Buttrose for an increase in the drinking age.

Ms Buttrose said this week that a trial rise of the drinking age to 21 was worth exploring as she was alarmed by the number of children who end up in hospital because of alcohol abuse.

Mr Murdoch says the idea is "useful" and can "add an edge to the debate about the appropriate use of alcohol".

"No commentary in that regard is wasted," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

"It's valuable and almost certainly it is a conversation we need to have as a community, as a society, to get to the bottom of this problem because what we are doing currently is making a difference but it is very much incremental progression.

"We need some really robust conversation to get some transformational change."

Mr Murdoch was launching the sixth annual NSW Police operation to deal with drunks who ruin summer festivities in central Sydney.

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India, China top gold consumers

INDIA and China are the biggest consumers of gold jewellery, bars and coins by far.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on the direct economic impact of gold says the global gold supply reached 4,477 tonnes in 2012, up 48 per cent from 3,017 tonnes in 2007, with most of the growth coming from recycled gold.

Recycled gold is gold sourced from previously fabricated products that is refined back into gold bars.

Forty-three per cent of gold was used in jewellery, 35 per cent in investments (bars, coins and gold-backed exchange traded funds), 12 per cent in central bank gold purchases, and 10 per cent in technology and manufacturing.

"The 13 largest gold-consuming countries in 2012 accounted for 75 per cent of gold used for fabrication and 81 per cent of that used for (final) consumption, either in the form of jewellery or investment products such as small bars and coins," said the PwC report, which was released on Wednesday.

"By far, the two largest consuming countries are India and China."

India consumed 864 tonnes of gold used for jewellery, bars and coins in 2012, China consumed 784 tonnes, the United States 162 tonnes, Turkey 110 tonnes, and Thailand 81 tonnes.

India and China accounted for more than half of global jewellery fabrication and final consumption at retail level.

India is the top fabricator and consumer of gold jewellery, accounting for nearly one third of global fabrication and consumer demand.

India consumed 552 tonnes of gold used for jewellery in 2012, China consumed 519 tonnes, the United States 108 tonnes, Russia 70 tonnes, and Turkey 62 tonnes.

The PwC report said about two-thirds of new gold supply comes from mining and the other one-third from the recycling of gold.

Mines produced 2,861 tonnes of gold in 2012, up 15 per cent from 2,498 tonnes in 2007, spurred by the higher price of gold, which more than doubled.

The six largest gold producers - China, Australia, the United States, Russia, Peru and South Africa - extracted more than half of mined output.

Chinese mines extracted 413 tonnes of gold in 2013, or 14.5 per cent of the world total.

Australia ranked second, producing 250 tonnes, or 8.7 per cent of the world total.

The key growth areas for gold mining include China and Mexico.

Chinese gold production lifted by 47 per cent between 2007 and 2012, and Mexican production by 118 per cent.

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Vic baby battling disease is one in 120

EVERY parent wants their child to be exceptional.

But when your son is one of only 120 people in the world with a rare genetic disorder, being exceptional can be isolating and scary.

For the Melbourne family of Ace Bartlett, who is nearly two years old, the path from diagnosis to treatment was dark and arduous.

When he was born, their blue-eyed little boy slept so much, mum Bianca and dad Ian would joke that they didn't see what was so hard about raising a baby.

"We thought, gosh this is easy," Bianca Bartlett says.

But when he was about three months old, something in Ace changed.

He became irritable and wouldn't feed.

Mrs Bartlett remembers the hot, long weekend when they realised something was critically wrong.

"He was just awful, screaming, refusing to feed, just a completely different child," she says.

They rushed him to the hospital, but nothing showed up on the tests doctors ran.

After more referrals and yet more tests they still had no answer.

Mrs Bartlett was beside herself with worry.

"He just wasn't reaching those developmental milestones," she says.

It took several months to find a definitive answer.

Ace's symptoms were originally diagnosed as a cow's milk protein intolerance, and then a stroke, before it turned out to be an extremely rare, degenerative genetic disorder.

Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome had caused calcification in Ace's brain that has hampered his motor development.

So far he has defied his prognosis, but with so little information, helping Ace achieve his potential is a matter of trial and error for the Bartletts.

"Literature says he should be going backwards but he's not, he's getting better," Mrs Bartlett says.

The internet has been useful for connecting them with other families who are also dealing with AGS; there's a little boy in France, and a family in Washington who have a daughter with it recently contacted them.

Ace attends the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre (CPEC) for a range of therapies to help his development.

This currently includes being dressed in a burns suit after the CPEC accidentally discovered it helped children with muscle development.

"If things don't work we pull out of it and try something else," Mrs Bartlett says.

She scours the internet for information and forums, but she says she tries to avoid paying too much attention to what others are doing because she wants Ace to find his own way.

"Ace is Ace and he's going to make the progress that he's going to make," she says.

"I don't care what he can do, as long as it's the best he can do."

* The Bartlett's Melbourne Marathon team Race for Ace will be raising money for the CPEC on Sunday. Donations can be made at http://melbournemarathon2013.gofundraise.com.au/page/BartlettI

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New jet simulators for Adelaide

A NEW jet simulation centre positions Adelaide as a focus for pilot training in the Asia-Pacific, the South Australian government says.

Flight Training Adelaide (FTA) on Tuesday opened a new facility at Parafield Airport, in Adelaide's northern suburbs, to house two flight simulators.

Both are capable of replicating flying an Airbus A320 aircraft or a Boeing 737-800.

Trade Minister Tom Kenyon says the simulators will ensure FTA remains one of the major pilot training schools in the southern hemisphere.

"They'll provide the most up-to-date training for a new generation of commercial airline pilots," the minister said on Wednesday.

As well as the new simulators, FTA operates 46 training aircraft and graduated 200 pilots last year.

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Vic protesters vow to block East West Link

PROTESTERS have vowed to follow drill rigs from site to site in a bid to stop the completion of preliminary work for Melbourne's $8 billion East West Link tunnel and tollway.

The ongoing demonstrations, which halted drilling tests for several days during September, became heated on Monday as protesters clashed with police.

Police and construction workers arrived at the site by 5am (AEDT) on Tuesday, thwarting the 100-strong group's attempt at staging another blockade.

But Anthony Main, an activist who is leading the protests, says the group is determined to stop the testing and prevent the contracts from being signed before the state election next November.

"We're vowing to continue to stop all aspects of this drilling," Mr Main told AAP.

"We're going to be chasing these drill rigs."

He said the coalition of anti-East West Link groups included local residents who were monitoring the sites.

More than 800 people have signed petitions pledging to protest the tunnel, he said.

"There is a growing number of people who are prepared to put their bodies on the line," he said.

The group wants the state government to scrap the East West Link project and invest the money in public transport.

Mr Main says the government doesn't have a mandate to build the tollway, which would link the Eastern Freeway and CityLink.

"We see no reason why we should allow them to carry through with the project," he said.

Last week the Victorian government revealed a shortlist of building consortia which had submitted bids to build the tollway.

Treasurer Michael O'Brien at the time said the calibre of bidders would support the project moving to the construction phase next year.

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Early intervention key to saving Aust kids

NICOLE Anderson's memories of her childhood are patchy and marred by the trauma of her mother's struggle with paranoid schizophrenia.

It was only when she received treatment for postpartum depression that the now 46-year-old remembered being taken from her mother when she was four years old.

A new report by the Benevolent Society has found such childhood trauma can have lifelong consequences, for the person involved and for the entire community.

Early intervention can help turn around lives like Ms Anderson's and prevent an entrenched cycle of adversity, but the report says more needs to be done to support disadvantaged kids.

It found one in seven children have emotional or behavioural problems, yet fewer than half of those in need of mental health treatment get it.

One in six live below the poverty line and one in five are vulnerable to falling behind when they start school.

Early intervention is critical, Benevolent Society chief executive Anne Hollonds said.

"This is not just about kids, this is about all of us."

With the help of a counsellor Mrs Anderson was able to climb out of the "black hole" of depression.

She says getting treatment hasn't just helped her get on with her life - it's helped her break the cycle of illness for her own two young daughters, Sienna and Meika.

"It's made me a better mum," she told AAP.

"If I do get sad or angry, anxious, I can explain what I was never explained ... as a child."

"Mummies do get sad."

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Life sentence for Leeding's killer

THE gunman who murdered Gold Coast detective Damian Leeding will remain in jail until 2031 but that is cold comfort for his grieving family.

The police officer's mother wept in court on Tuesday as the man who shot her son in the head was handed a life sentence, with a minimum of 20 years without parole.

Supreme Court Justice James Douglas said Phillip Graeme Abell had shown no remorse for gunning down an officer in the line of duty.

He said Abell had a history of violent armed robberies and deserved to spend a long time in jail for taking the detective's life.

"Your killing of a brave young police officer acting in the course of his duty has grievously affected his young family, his colleagues and the wider community," Justice Douglas told Abell.

Abell shot the 35-year-old detective with a sawn-off shotgun after he and his accomplice Donna Lee McAvoy were disturbed as they held up the Pacific Pines Tavern in May 2011.

Snr Const Leeding died in hospital three days later.

Abell, 41, showed no emotion when his sentence was handed down but the court was charged with emotion as the Leeding family told of the unbearable pain his crime had caused.

In her victim impact statement, Snr Const Leeding's mother Julie Waters said she'd suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety since her son's death, and had isolated herself from the world.

His killers' trial had also taken a toll on her.

"To see the offenders who took my Damian's life for a paltry sum of money is overwhelming," she said through tears.

His sisters also cried when they told the court how their lives had been turned upside down.

"I lost my ... best friend that night and no one and nothing will ever replace him," Chantelle Leeding said in her statement.

Two Pacific Pines Tavern staff told the court they suffered anxiety and post-traumatic stress following the armed robbery.

Sen Const Leeding's wife and two young children were not in court for the sentencing.

Prosecutors had asked for a minimum non-parole period of 20 to 25 years for Abell.

Justice Douglas said Abell's criminal history, his lack of remorse and his killing of a police officer in the line of duty warranted a longer than normal non-parole period.

The court heard Abell had been jailed twice for two earlier armed robberies and was awaiting sentencing for an armed home invasion in 2010.

Abell had shot a high-powered firearm through a wall when robbing a bank in the 1990s, Crown Prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court.

He and a co-offender had terrified three people including a three-year-old in a 2010 home invasion in Carina, in Brisbane's south, using the same shotgun that killed Snr Const Leeding.

Justice Douglas sentenced Abell to 18 years' prison for the Pacific Pines Tavern armed robbery and three years for deprivation of liberty, to be served concurrently with the murder sentence.

He ordered the two-and-a-half years Abell has already served in custody be taken into account.

McAvoy, 39, and getaway driver Benjamin Ernest Power, 39, are to be sentenced for their roles in the crime at a later date.

Power has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Outside the court, the Leeding family thanked Justice Douglas for the sentence he imposed.

"We are grateful to the judge and the courts for the lengthy sentence but obviously it's not going to bring Damian back," his mother said.

Sisters Chantelle and Hayley said they would work to move on in their own way.

Snr Const Leeding's widow Sonya, who was said to be too upset to attend the hearing, appreciated the sentence, police Assistant Commissioner Paul Wilson said.

Mr Wilson said Sonya Leeding was with her father and two children.

The widow's father Garry O'Brien had described the sentence was "awesome", Mr Wilson said.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said Abell's sentence meant the detective's family and friends could start to rebuild their lives in earnest.

"All Damian did on this day was turn up to work and he paid the ultimate sacrifice," he told reporters.

Queensland Police Minister Jack Dempsey said justice had been served.

"My thoughts are with Mr Leeding's family," Mr Dempsey said in a statement.

"It's good to see justice delivered today."

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Tas bushfire official warns on insurance

THE official in charge of handing out Tasmania's disaster recovery money has warned that too many households are under-insured ahead of the looming bushfire season.

Pat Leary, who chairs the committee overseeing the distribution of money raised after Tasmania's worst bushfires in half a century, says under-insurance is one of the crisis' major lessons.

"It's become pretty obvious that we're possibly all under-insured when push comes to shove," Ms Leary told reporters in Hobart as the final instalment of the Tasmanian Bushfire Appeal's $8.7 million was released.

Three hundred applications for help to ease ongoing hardship are being assessed.

A complex formula has been developed to determine how much applicants should get, with factors such as insurance payouts being considered.

Ms Leary said adequate insurance and the necessity of a bushfire plan were the major lessons of January's blazes, which destroyed 400 structures but, remarkably, claimed no lives.

"We just need to come to terms with the fact these things happen," Ms Leary said.

"We have no control over them and we need to be as prepared as we can."

Most of those receiving the latest round of payments live near Dunalley, the Tasman Peninsula oyster-growing village that was worst-hit.

The money has been released in four stages, with the earliest payments for emergency relief and $500,000 reserved for unforeseen needs.

Ms Leary said criticism it had come too slowly was unfair.

"We couldn't do anything until we knew who the people were who were affected," she said.

"It was within three days of knowing who those people were we had contacted them and money was beginning to flow."

Ms Leary said the recovery in communities like Dunalley was underway slowly.

"It will take quite some time, I imagine, for things to settle down and for people to pick up their normal lives, if they ever do," she said.

Meanwhile, Tasmania's Attorney-General Brian Wightman will move to toughen laws and make arsonists pay the cost of fighting fires when the state's parliament resumes next week.

Civil libertarians have questioned the need for the change.

The Tasmanian government received an independent report into the fires last week and is currently considering its response.

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Teen leads police on east Sydney chase

A TEENAGER had three young passengers on board when he allegedly led police on a chase through Sydney's east.

Police say officers patrolling Bellevue Hill in the early hours of Monday tried to stop a Subaru Impreza for a random breath test.

It's alleged the driver ignored police directions to stop and sped off.

A few minutes later, police spotted the car at Point Piper and initiated a pursuit that ended with a 19-year-old male driver arrested at a no-through road at Watsons Bay.

Police allege that the P-plate driver had three passengers under the age of 21 on board, and that the car's registration plates were stolen.

The teen has been charged with the pursuit, goods in custody and conveying more than one passenger under 21 after 11pm.

He was granted bail and is due to appear before Waverley Local Court on November 5.

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Qld nurse in dash to survive viper bite

A BRISBANE nurse survived a week with life-threatening poison running through her veins after being bitten by a snake in Nepal.

Delmae Ryan stepped on an Asian Pit Viper in Pokhara on September 28 but found Nepal's hospitals did not stock the anti-venom and had to wait three days before being medically cleared to take the 20-hour flight home to Brisbane with a painful and swollen right leg.

Without the anti-venom, she risked bleeding to death from the snake's haemotoxic venom which destroys blood cells and tissue.

Once doctors in Brisbane identified the snake, they began a marathon effort to find the antidote, calling zoos, universities, research labs and anti-venom manufacturers across the country.

The anti-venom was eventually located at Melbourne's Monash University and administered to Mrs Ryan on Sunday, a week after she was bitten.

"I feel very, very lucky. If there's not someone passionate enough to fight for your cause I don't know where I would be," she told reporters from her hospital bed on Monday.

Mrs Ryan, 49, said she feared the worst.

"Before I flew out, I thought the flight may be bad for it," she said.

"It was very scary. I did fear for my life.

"However, I did get a bit complacent when I arrived home.

"I could see the redness on the leg was less. In my mind it was improving."

But tests showed her blood was thinning and she was at serious risk of bleeding to death.

Her blood's ability to clot was "completely off the scale", Princess Alexandra Hospital's emergency physician Dr Colin Page said.

"This is measured in seconds; 10 or 20 seconds (is normal) but her (blood's ability to clot) was greater than 200 seconds."

Ms Ryan said she was throwing herself around trying to move on one leg during the flight and the days before she was admitted into hospital.

All it would have taken is one fall and she could have bled to death, Dr Page said.

"At any one of those times she may have fallen over, hit her head, and potentially suffer a life-threatening haemorrhage in the brain," Dr Page said.

Even one light cut could have led to extensive blood loss.

She is now on the mend and is expected to be back on her feet within a fortnight.

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UK warship opens to public in Sydney

SHE is the envy of sailors around the world.

Her modern exterior and state-of-the-art technologies have turned heads ever since she entered Sydney Harbour for the International Fleet Review.

Now the public has the chance to enter the belly of the Royal Navy's HMS Daring.

The $1.6 billion defence destroyer is one of the United Kingdom's most advanced warships having been commissioned only in 2009.

About 230 personnel are halfway through a nine-month deployment and are currently anchored at Barangaroo, much to the delight of 50,000 people who have bought tickets to tour the vessel on Sunday and Monday.

The tour has proven to be extremely popular as all the tickets have sold out.

The ship's commanding officer Commander Angus Essenhigh said the Type 45 destroyer's job was to sit close to high value ships and provide blanket security.

"So defending them from planes and missiles and the like," he said.

"It's a $1.6 billion ship so its quite expensive and not something you want to crash.

"I think the other navies look to it and say well that's the next step."

Twenty-seven-year-old fighter controller Lieutenant Duncan Stradling has the heavy task of driving the 8000-tonne ship.

He and five other controllers and captains rotate on four hour shifts, 24 hours a day.

Laughing off a suggestion the task is akin to driving a bus through honey, Lt Stradling said HMS Daring was actually quite nimble.

"Warships are designed to be less stable than commercial ships which is why essentially you might get a bit more sea sick but that means they do manoeuver very quickly," he said.

Inside the ship's maze of manholes and control rooms lies a vital organ - the kitchen.

Loaded up with 960 shopping trolley's worth of food, the kitchen can satisfy the contingent of hungry sailors for 45 days.

And it's not all canned soup and baked beans.

"Last night we had steak and sweet corn and potatoes so its just as you would expect," Cmdr Essenhigh said.

"We also have pet favourites the ship company like to eat so on Friday it's fish and chips, Wednesday we have curry night, so its a pretty diverse menu.

"Although as you get further away from land things like fresh milk run out a little bit.

"But it's nice to get back on the harbour and get some fresh and crunchy vegetables."

Working away in the ship's control room on Sunday was 22-year-old communication information and systems specialist Kirsty Truesdale.

Ms Truesdale rallied off a seemingly endless list of countries she had seen through her five year stint with the Navy.

But one place stood out for her.

"I would say Sydney (was the highlight). I have to say that haven't I?"

HMS Daring will head to Adelaide and Perth after Sydney.

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Laser shone at police chopper in Melbourne

TWO Melbourne youths have been charged after a laser pointer was aimed at a police helicopter.

Police say the laser beam came from a moving car in the northern suburbs but the chopper's crew were able to direct officers on ground to locate the vehicle.

Four men, aged between late teens and 20, were arrested when the car was pulled over around 10pm (AEST) on Saturday, a police spokeswoman said.

A 20-year-old has been charged with conduct endangering life, interfering with an aircraft and using a prohibited weapon.

He was bailed on Sunday for a court appearance in November.

An 18-year-old is charged on summons with possessing a prohibited weapon.

The other two youths were released without any charges being laid.

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US forces nab militant in Libyan capital

A Libyan militant leader, wanted by the US, has reportedly been kidnapped. Source: AAP

US special forces have carried out a raid in the Libyan capital to capture a militant leader wanted for his role in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, US officials say.

Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-Libi, is believed to have returned to Libya during the 2011 civil war that led to the ouster and killing of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

His brother, Nabih, said al-Libi was parking outside his house early on Saturday after dawn prayers, when three vehicles encircled him, smashed the car's window and seized his gun before grabbing him and fleeing.

The brother said al-Libi's wife saw the kidnapping from her window and described the abductors as foreign-looking armed "commandos".

The Pentagon's chief spokesman George Little said al-Libi "is currently lawfully detained by the US military in a secure location outside of Libya".

He did not disclose further details.

A senior US military official said the raid was carried out by the US army's Delta Force, which has responsibility for counterterrorism operations in north Africa.

The US official said there were no US casualties in the operation.

The official was not authorised to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

Al-Libi is on the FBI's most-wanted list with a $US5 million ($A5.34 million) bounty on his head.

He was indicted by a federal court in the Southern District of New York, for his alleged role in the bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, on August 7, 1998, that killed more than 220 people.

Al-Libi studied electronic and nuclear engineering, graduating from Tripoli University and was an anti-Gaddafi activist.

He is believed to have spent time in Sudan, where Osama bin Laden was based in the early 1990s.

After bin Laden was forced to leave Sudan, al-Libi turned up in Britain in 1995 where he was granted political asylum under unclear circumstances and lived in Manchester.

He was arrested by Scotland Yard in 1999, but released because of lack of evidence and later fled Britain.

His name was included on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list that was introduced shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

There were a number of reports of his arrest, which were later denied by US officials.

In 2007, Human Rights Watch said it believed he was among about two dozen people who may have once been held in secret CIA prisons.

The group said it believed he was held in Sudan, but didn't elaborate, and said his whereabouts were later unknown.

Al-Libi's family returned to Libya a year before the revolt against Gaddafi, under an initiative by Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam who sought to reconcile with militants who renounce violence, a close friend said, refusing to identify himself because of security concerns.

The friend said al-Libi's son was killed during the civil war as rebels marched on the capital, ousting Gaddafi.

His son's name is scribbled as graffiti on the walls of the street where his family resides, in an affluent neighbourhood in Tripoli.

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