Families of US cinema dead to get compo

THE families of 12 people killed in July in a US movie cinema massacre will receive $US220,000 ($A213,976) each from a special relief fund created by private donations, the Denver Post reported.

Five victims who suffered permanent brain damage or physical paralysis in the killing spree also will receive $US220,000 each. The money will be disbursed in the next few days.

The total amount donated to the fund reached more than $US5.3 million, the newspaper reported. It was administered by Ken Feinberg, a lawyer specialising in mediation who served as special master of the US government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

Feinberg was recruited to mediate between victims of the cinema shooting and the fund's co-creators - the governor's office and a non profit community foundation, the newspaper said.

Thirty-eight of 57 claims filed were approved by Feinberg.

Smaller graduated payouts will be made people who were hospitalised. Victims who did not require overnight hospitalisation and those who filed claims for mental trauma received no payout because of limited funds, a spokesman for the governor said.

The accused gunman, James Holmes, a former neuroscience student, faces 152 charges including 24 counts of first degree murder. The July 20 shooting occurred in a cinema in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, Colorado during the premiere of the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.

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Ikea sorry for using East German prisoners

IKEA has admitted that political prisoners in communist East Germany were forced to make some of the Swedish home-furnishings giant's products in the 1980s and apologised.

Ikea released a report by independent auditors Ernst & Young into allegations by the former prisoners that they had to make furniture and accessories in prison workshops. They were threatened with solitary confinement and other punishment if they refused.

Some Ikea executives were aware at the time, 25 to 30 years ago, that East German suppliers were possibly using jailed dissidents as labour along with regular criminals, the report said.

"We deeply regret that this could happen," said Jeanette Skjelmose, sustainability manager of Ikea, which runs self-service megastores round the globe selling stylish but cheap furniture of its own design.

In the 1980s, many western companies outsourced some of their production to East Germany, attracted by cheap labour rates.

"The use of political prisoners in production has never been acceptable to the Ikea Group," Skjelmose said.

"At the time, we didn't have today's well-developed control system and obviously didn't do enough to prevent such production conditions among our former GDR suppliers."

Ikea ordered the study after ex-prisoners aired the allegations last year on German television.

The repressive East German communist government collapsed at the end of 1989 and within weeks, the political prisoners were freed.

Ikea said it would make a financial contribution to a history research project on forced labour in East Germany by a German group, UKOG, the Union of Organisations of Victims of Communist Despotism.

"There is no decision yet on the size of the funding. A dialogue is still ongoing with UKOG," Josefin Theorell of Ikea Group said in Sweden.

Ikea said the audit checked thousands of pages in archives and interviewed 90 retired or current Ikea staff and East Germans.

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Israel counts 800-plus Gaza airstrikes

ISRAEL'S military says it has struck more than 800 targets in the Gaza Strip as it expands a fierce air assault responding to rocket launches from the Palestinian territory.

The military's count early on Saturday included 180 overnight airstrikes. The campaign began on Wednesday with the assassination of the ruling Hamas militant group's military chief after days of heavy rocket fire from Gaza.

The Gaza Interior Ministry said Israeli aircraft had struck government and police compounds, smuggling tunnels and a three-storey apartment building.

Militants have struck back with about 500 rockets, including one unprecedented attack aimed at Jerusalem.

The Israeli military has also called up thousands of reservists and massed troops and armoured vehicles along the border with Gaza, signalling a ground invasion could be imminent.

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China to focus on ASEAN economic ties

CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao is to focus on economic co-operation at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings this week that will include US President Barack Obama.

Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying said on Saturday that China was more interested in deepening economic ties in the region as a stabilising force in the global economy than focusing on lingering disputes in the South China Sea.

"We need to focus on co-operation and development and send correct signals to the market," Fu said. "We should not be distracted by some problems and deviate from our direction."

Tensions have been flaring over maritime disputes in the region, including rival claims by China, the Philippines and Vietnam to South China Sea islands and waters that are believed to be rich in gas and oil and straddle busy shipping routes.

Fu told a news conference that China and other countries bordering the South China Sea had successfully managed their disputes and prevented them from escalating into major conflicts.

"Dialogues, negotiations and management have given us peace and stability, allowing us to focus on economic development and make achievements," she said.

Fu reiterated China's stand of resolving disputes on a bilateral basis instead of bringing them up at regional or international meetings.

The meetings are scheduled to start on Sunday in Phnom Penh and are organised by the 10 members of ASEAN. China is not part of the group but holds talks with it. Leaders from Japan and South Korea are also to take part.

It had not been decided whether Wen would meet Obama separately, Fu said.

While in Cambodia, Wen will make a formal visit to the country and hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen. The two sides are expected to sign documents on economic technology and education.

Wen is then scheduled to make a state visit to Thailand before ending his trip on Wednesday. He will meet with members of the Thai royal family and hold talks with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on a range of issues, including trade and investment.

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IMF gives Australia big tick: Swan

Treasurer Wayne Swan says the IMF's growth forecast for Australia is a big tick for the economy. Source: AAP

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given the Australian economy a "big tick" in a new assessment, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

However, the report also makes it clear that Australia is not immune from the fallout from future intensification of the European debt crisis, or turmoil in international financial markets.

Mr Swan said the IMF was very supportive of government budget rules that strike a balance between the benefits of reducing public debt and the need to contain any adverse impact on economic growth.

"The IMF projects a solid economic outlook for the Australian economy in the face of ongoing global headwinds," Mr Swan said in a statement on Friday.

The IMF is forecasting growth of 3.25 per cent in 2012, faster than any major advanced economy.

The report - the 2012 IMF Article IV Staff Report and Financial Sector Assessment Program - also found that Australia's financial regulatory and supervisory framework exhibited a high degree of compliance with international standards.

"The government understands that not everyone is doing it easy, but reports like these demonstrate why all Australians can be proud of what we have achieved working together in the face of acute global challenges," Mr Swan said.

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Japan's parliament dissolved

Japan's PM Yoshihiko Noda has dissolved parliament paving the way for a December election. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Yoshihiko Noda has dissolved the lower house of Japan's parliament, paving the way for a general election likely to end his Democratic Party of Japan's three-year hold on power.

Noda followed through Friday on an earlier pledge to call elections after the opposition Liberal Democratic Party agreed to back several key pieces of legislation, including a deficit financing bill and electoral reforms.

The Cabinet was expected to quickly announce elections for December 16.

The election will likely result in a weak coalition government divided over how to fix the country's myriad problems.

Although the LDP, which led Japan for most of the post-World War II era, may win the most seats in the 480-seat lower house, polls show it will fall far short of a majority.

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Hong Kong customs seize ivory

HONG Kong customs officers have seized a shipping container carrying more than a tonne of ivory worth around $US1.37 million ($A1.33 million), officials said.

"569 pieces of ivory tusks, weighing about 1,330 kilogrammes" were seized on Thursday, officials said in a statement.

Customs officers made the southern Chinese city's largest seizure in October when they intercepted almost four tonnes of ivory worth about $3.4 million, hidden in shipments from Kenya and Tanzania.

The 1,209 pieces of raw ivory tusk and a small number of ivory ornaments were discovered in two containers masked "plastic scrap" and "beans".

The international trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after populations of the African giants dropped from the millions in the mid-20th century to some 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

But the illicit trade in Asia is fuelled by demand for ivory carvings and jewellery.

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Heated debate ahead as Senate flies solo

HEATED debates on illegal logging, carbon tax, dental health and asylum seekers are expected as the Senate flies solo next week.

Thirty bills, 29 from the government, nine of which are non-controversial, and one private member's bill from the Greens are on the agenda.

On Monday the upper house will consider two bills that request appropriation of the money needed to implement the recommendations of the Houston expert panel on asylum seekers.

It comes at a cost of $1.67 billion in 2012/13 and includes $267 million to build regional asylum seeker processing centres in Nauru and Manus Island.

What is needed is $668 million to bring the Nauru and Manus Island processing centres up to scratch.

The Australian Greens, who oppose offshore processing, are likely to prolong debate and draw attention to reports of mass hunger strikes among detainees on Nauru, reminiscent of self-harm incidents during the Howard government era.

Draft laws that introduce a crackdown on illegal logging in Australia and overseas will also draw the ire of the Greens and opposition on Monday.

The bill bans the importation and sale of any wooden products that contain illegally logged timber.

The opposition believes the plan will damage international relations and wants the start date pushed back. The Greens are expected to introduce amendments to strengthen the bill further.

On Wednesday, the Senate will turn its attention to a package of bills that ditches the carbon floor price and links Australia's emissions trading scheme to the price in Europe.

The changes are expected to sail through the Senate with the Green's support, however the opposition may drag out proceedings.

Debate on the federal government's new $4 billion dental scheme could also prove noisy.

The opposition will support the bill but is upset the government is winding up the chronic disease dental scheme, which was the brainchild of Tony Abbott when he was health minister.

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School funding laws to change in 2013

LABOR'S long-awaited school funding reform legislation will have to be changed in the new year after a funding agreement is signed.

The federal government has come under fire for the legislation it plans to put to parliament in a fortnight, a draft form of which was publicly released by the coalition on Thursday.

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne criticised the draft Australian Education Bill as "all foam and no beer".

In particular he took aim at a clause that says the act "does not create rights or duties that are legally enforceable".

"The draft bill released to the sector is so devoid of substance and so full of motherhood statements the bill itself includes a section making it not legally binding," he said.

"If the prime minister wanted to slap the schools sector and state governments in the face and insult the intelligence of Australians, then this bill delivers on both counts."

A spokeswoman for Schools Minister Peter Garrett said the legislation would be legally enforceable in its final form, however.

"Details of the reforms and funding arrangements will be added to the bill as negotiations with education authorities progress," she told AAP in a statement.

"Once that takes place the legislation will be legally enforceable."

Prime Minister Julia Gillard was clear in her response to the Gonski school funding review in September, saying while Labor would honour its commitment to begin legislating for funding reform by the end of the year, this first bill would be aspirational.

She wants the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to sign up to a new funding system at its first meeting in 2013.

COAG is expected to consider initial advice on what that system would look like at its meeting on December 7.

The draft bill includes a lengthy preamble outlining the principles underpinning Ms Gillard's "education crusade".

On school funding, it says the commonwealth will give funding for schools or school systems to any state, territory or non-government education authority that signs up to Labor's national plan for school improvement.

It also mentions funding loadings to recognise disadvantaged circumstances of students or schools.

"This bill outlines a Commonwealth commitment to future funding for schooling based on student need as well as a series of reforms aimed at lifting schooling standards," Mr Garrett's spokeswoman said.

Greens Senator Penny Wright asked where had the Gonski review gone?

"This is purely a wishlist and is not legally enforceable and that is totally unacceptable," she said.

"It seems the government have backed themselves into a corner and now released this poor substitute for reform."

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Japan wants improved relations with China

JAPAN says it wants to develop "mutually beneficial" relations with China's new leaders, as the two countries remain embroiled in a dispute over islands in the East China Sea.

The sovereignty row is affecting the huge trade ties between the region's two biggest economies and shows little sign of being resolved.

Relations between the two capitals are some of the "most important... for Japan and China and for the whole world", said the foreign ministry's deputy press secretary Naoko Saiki on Thursday.

"We really hope that the mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests will be further developed and enhanced with the new leadership" of China, she said.

Saiki was speaking hours after China's all-powerful Communist Party unveiled a new seven-man leadership council steered by Xi Jinping to take command of the world's number two economy for the next decade.

Xi told party apparatchiks gathered in Beijing's Great Hall of the People he would fight official corruption and build a "better life" for the nation's 1.3 billion people.

Relations between China and Japan are often volatile, in part as a result of their bloody history.

Beijing says Tokyo has failed to atone for its brutal expansionism and occupation in the 1930s and 1940s, while Japan maintains it is time to move on from events more than six decades ago.

The pair have a huge trade relationship, worth well in excess of $US300 billion ($A291 billion) a year. China is Japan's single biggest trading partner despite a number of intractable sticking points.

The long-rumbling row over who owns the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands, which Beijing claims under the name Diaoyus, flared again in September when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda nationalised three of them.

Noda wanted to avert the purchase of the outcrops by the fiercely-nationalist then-Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara.

The prime minister had calculated that Ishihara's plan to develop the rocks was inflammatory, and he hoped to take the heat out of the row.

But Beijing reacted with fury, allowing large and sometimes violent street protests in cities across the country that left some Japanese businesses in ruins.

A Chinese consumer boycott of Japan-brand goods has left the likes of auto giant Nissan licking its wounds and forecasting a large drop in sales in the world's largest car market.

Chinese state-run ships have since been sent to waters around the islands, where they have faced off against Japan's well-equipped coastguard fleet.

The confrontations have so far been limited to radio exchanges, with both sides warning the other to leave their territorial waters.

But commentators say the situation could escalate quickly if either side makes a mistake.

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Accused Sydney killer faces third trial

A SYDNEY jury has been told they must not draw any "adverse inference" from the fact a man accused of killing his gay lover is facing a third trial.

Philip Wan Por Leung, 51, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of 72-year-old Mario Guzzetti, who died at the home they shared at Alexandria, in inner Sydney, on April 7, 2007.

Paramedics found Mr Guzzetti lying on his back at the base of a staircase, with a hysterical Leung cradling a pillow under his partner's head and rocking him from side to side.

The crown alleges the couple argued while Leung was making carrot juice, resulting in Leung striking Mr Guzzetti and applying pressure to his neck area.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Derek Price told the jury they had "heard there have been two previous trials".

"Due to matters of law, the accused is standing trial. You must not draw any inference adverse to the accused from that fact," he said.

Earlier, Leung broke down sobbing during evidence being given by Josephine DiFrancesca, a friend of him and Mr Guzzetti.

Ms DiFrancesca was questioned about a phone call she made to Leung on the morning of Mr Guzzetti's death.

"Did you hear Philip crying over the phone?" crown prosecutor Mark Hobart SC asked.

"Yes," she said, adding that she assumed something was wrong and called her husband to go to the house and check on the couple.

She said her husband found Leung holding Mr Guzzetti and told his daughter to call an ambulance.

Fiona Cunney, who lived next door, told the court she heard noises about an hour before paramedics arrived.

She said she heard "crushing sounds", like a shelf with pots and pans falling, and what she believed was Mr Guzzetti "singing opera" for about 10 seconds and then silence.

Leung later started crying "like a baby", Ms Cunney said, but she decided not to call police because she "didn't want to get involved".

Defence barrister Winston Terracini SC questioned her evidence, alleging Ms Cunney did not like Leung and had had prior arguments with him over renovation works.

Friend Raymond Carter said he was called to the police station where Leung was being held but could barely understand him.

He told the court Leung repeatedly screamed, "Mario is not dead," before saying he and Mr Guzzetti had argued while he was making carrot juice.

"Mario kept at me," Leung allegedly said.

Mr Carter, a former boyfriend of Leung's, added that he'd never witnessed any violence between the "loving and caring" couple but had heard of occasional arguments.

He said Leung was "stubborn" and "not a very diplomatic person" but never violent.

"He'd walk away, slam the door and it'd be a day or two before you'd see him," he told the court.

The trial before Justice Price continues.

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Baby had suspicious injuries: NSW inquest

THE mother of an eight-month-old baby girl who sustained "highly suspicious" and "traumatic" injuries while in the care of her nanny has wept during a Sydney inquest, telling the coroner she just wants to know what happened.

Melissa Pagett told Glebe Coroners Court on Thursday her daughter Emily was a "very happy little baby" who completed their family.

Emily was found dead on the morning of October 25, 2004, in her home 20km north of the tiny community of Enngonia in the northwestern NSW.

She was found with multiple broken ribs and a haemorrhage to her neck but an exact cause of death has not been established.

She and her two siblings had been left in the care of their nanny, Shiralee Robinson, for three days prior to her death while her parents attended a wedding in Mudgee.

Several family members cried in court on Thursday as a video of Emily's short life was played, including footage of her as a newborn, having a bath and snuggling with her dad.

"I'd just like to know what happened," Ms Pagett said through her tears.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Mark Cahill, said the inquest had heard evidence that the bruising to Emily's neck and the rib fractures were "suggestive of an assault ... imposed by a third party".

He referred to evidence given by two experts, paediatrician Dr Paul Tait and forensic pathologist Professor Roger Byard, who agreed the pattern of the injuries was "very unusual".

"Both Professor Byard and Dr Tait expressed the view that the injuries are highly suspicious," Mr Cahill said.

The injuries also appeared to be more consistent with the level of force used by an adult, he added.

"Given the nature and constellation of the injuries and given their traumatic nature, there is a suggestion, but it's no more than a suggestion, that death was associated in some way with the inflicting of these injuries," he said.

However, Mr Cahill said this was "a possibility and nothing more".

The inquest heard Ms Robinson told police she put Emily to bed with a fresh nappy around 6pm the night before she died, and found her cold and not breathing around 8am the following morning.

Emily's nappy was clean and she appeared to have been dead for some time before emergency services arrived at the scene.

"The only persons who had access to Emily were Ms Robinson and (Emily's siblings)," Mr Cahill said.

Ms Robinson had no history of violence, abuse or neglect involving the care of infants and she had been well liked by the family, the inquest heard.

Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund will deliver her findings on Friday.

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Corby's year-end parole hopes dashed

Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby's bid for early release from prison has been put on hold. Source: AAP

INDONESIA has suspended parole applications by foreign prisoners, an official says, crushing the hopes of Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby for repatriation by year's end.

Corby, who has been eligible for parole since September, was depending on a loophole in an Indonesian immigration law passed last year.

The legislation does not authorise the issuance of visas to foreigners who are on parole, meaning they would likely be deported.

"We have suspended parole requests by foreign prisoners as the new immigration law contradicts a current regulation," senior prisons official Rachmat Priyo Sutardjo told AFP on Wednesday.

Sutardjo explained that the regulation required convicts on parole - including foreigners - to "mingle with society" in Indonesia.

"But if they have no visa, they will either be placed in a detention centre or they will be deported, so they won't be able to follow the regulation," he said.

Sutardjo said the ministry would try and amend the regulation so it is in line with the law, a process which would take less than a year.

Corby, now 35, was convicted in 2005 of smuggling 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Indonesia's holiday island of Bali. She has received several remissions to her original 20-year sentence.

But without parole, she is not due for release until 2017.

Indonesia enforces stiff penalties for drug trafficking, including life imprisonment and death.

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UN 'failed to protect' Sri Lanka civilians

THE United Nations failed to protect civilians in the 2009 close of Sri Lanka's civil war, says an internal review leaked to the BBC and New York Times.

"Many senior UN staff simply did not perceive the prevention of killing of civilians as their responsibility," the two news outlets cited a draft of the report as saying late on Tuesday.

It charged UN staff with "a sustained and institutionalised reluctance" to help the people they were sent to Sri Lanka to assist while calling the UN's response "a grave failure".

The UN said as many as 40,000 civilians died in the final months of the 26-year conflict, in which both the victorious government troops and defeated ethnic Tamil separatist rebels were accused of atrocities.

UN staff in Colombo "had insufficient political expertise and experience in armed conflicts and in human rights" and were not given "sufficient policy and political support" from headquarters, the BBC cited the draft report as saying.

The UN did not make public its figures of mounting civilian casualties or that "a large majority" of the civilians killed died because of government shelling, the draft report said. The Sri Lankan government, which denied shelling civilian areas, pressured the UN to withhold the information, the BBC reported.

The draft report, compiled by an investigative panel headed by former senior UN official Charles Petrie, said the UN was a victim of bullying by the Sri Lankan government, including "control of visas to sanction staff critical of the state", the BBC said.

"Decision-making across the UN was dominated by a culture of trade-offs" as it chose not to speak out against violations of international law by both sides in the conflict to try to increase the UN's humanitarian access to the war zones, the draft report found, according to the BBC and Times.

John Holmes, former UN humanitarian chief, told the BBC that while the UN could be criticised for its record in Sri Lanka he doubted that a change of tactic would have achieved different results.

Another former senior UN official, Edward Mortimer, charged that UN staff left the war zone in September 2008 when the population needed them most.

"I fear this report will show the UN has not lived up to the standards we expect of it and has not behaved as the moral conscience of the world," he said.

The UN did not comment on the leaked report but said it would soon publish the final version and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon intended to draw lessons from it to improve the UN's response to other crises, such as Syria.

Sri Lanka on Wednesday denied allegations in the leaked report that it had intimidated UN humanitarian workers during the final stages of the island's Tamil separatist war.

"There was no intimidation," Plantations Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters in Colombo.

"No such thing. How can you intimidate them? They don't get intimidated by anyone."

Samarasinghe, who is also the country's human rights envoy to the UN Human Rights Council, said he did not want to comment directly on the report, but added that Colombo was willing to address any shortcomings it raised.

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Toyota recalls 2.77 million vehicles

Toyota has recalled 2.77 million vehicles worldwide over steering shaft and water pump defects. Source: AAP

TOYOTA Motor Corp says it's recalling 2.77 million vehicles across the world for a steering shaft defect that may result in faulty steering and a water pump problem.

Japan's top carmaker said no accidents have been reported related to these two problems announced Wednesday.

The steering issue could cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle, while the water pump problem could render it inoperable.

Some 1.51 million vehicles are being recalled for the steering defect in Japan and 1.25 million vehicles abroad, including 670,000 in the US.

Affected models include the Prius hybrid, Corolla, Wish and other models produced in Japan from 2000 to last year, and from 2000 to 2009 overseas.

Toyota is also recalling 630,000 vehicles spanning five hybrid models, including the Prius, for a defective water pump.

Last month, Toyota had a recall for faulty power-window switches.

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Software mogul in hiding after murder

Software mogul John McAfee says he fears for his life if he hands himself in to Belize police. Source: AAP

ANTI-VIRUS software pioneer John McAfee says he is moving every four hours to avoid Belizean police who want to question him about the murder of his neighbour, a fellow American.

Belizean police said they want to question McAfee, 67, about the murder of Florida native Gregory Faull, who was found dead in a pool of blood at his home by his housekeeper on Sunday.

McAfee, founder of the eponymous anti-virus company, told CNBC television that he had been "accused of something I didn't do".

He said he was staying on the move out of fear for his own safety, worried that police want to "shake him down" and extort money from him.

A police report said that Faull, 52, was shot in the back of the head. There were no signs of a break-in, and a laptop and mobile phone were missing.

"We are looking for McAfee to interrogate him," police spokesman Raphael Martinez said. He emphasised that McAfee was "not suspected of murder".

Martinez added that the three people who worked for McAfee were being interrogated.

Police raided McAfee's mansion on Ambergris Caye, an island off the northeastern coast of Belize, late on Sunday to question the millionaire about the murder.

Earlier in the year, police searched McAfee's mansion looking for weapons and drugs, and detained him for several hours. The software millionaire, however, claimed he was arrested because he refused to make a donation to a local politician's campaign.

McAfee, who made millions when he sold his anti-virus software company in the early 1990s, has been living in Belize for the past four years.

Wired Magazine said McAfee had been hiding on his property during the police raid, burying himself in the sand with a cardboard box over his head so he could breathe.

"It was extraordinarily uncomfortable," McAfee told the magazine. "But they will kill me if they find me."

Asked about the shooting of his neighbour, McAfee said he knew "nothing" other than he had been shot. He even said he was worried that Faull's killers had actually been looking for him.

"Under no circumstances am I going to willingly talk to the police in this country," McAfee added.

"You can say I'm paranoid about it but they will kill me, there is no question. They've been trying to get me for months. They want to silence me. I am not well liked by the prime minister. I am just a thorn in everybody's side."

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WA govt won't up payment to hostel victims

THE West Australian government has ruled out increasing an ex gratia compensation offer to a group of victims of sexual abuse at state-run hostels.

Former Supreme Court justice Peter Blaxell handed down his report on the abuse in September and Premier Colin Barnett apologised to the victims, saying they could apply for up to $45,000 in compensation, an amount beyond Mr Blaxell's recommendations.

The report came after a lengthy inquiry that focused first on events in the 1970s and 80s at the St Andrews Hostel in Katanning, run by notorious pedophile brothers Dennis and Neil McKenna.

The inquiry was later expanded to St Christopher's hostel in Northam, Hardie House in South Hedland and St Michael's House in Merredin.

On Tuesday, the abuse survivors marched on parliament, threatening to sue the state government unless the compensation offer was not increased.

Mr Barnett said Mr Blaxell had applauded the WA government's decision to set up an ex gratia scheme for victims.

"We recognise no amount of money is enough to compensate victims for the trauma and abuse they have suffered. However, the government has determined the fairest option available is to be consistent with the Redress scheme," he said.

The Redress scheme was set up by the WA government in 2008 to acknowledge and apologise to people who were abused and neglected while they were in state care as children, but is now closed.

Mr Barnett said the ex gratia scheme would have no bearing on any civil damages that individuals might choose to pursue.

Victim and victim advocate Todd Jefferis said the WA government's offer was "disgusting", "paltry" and a "slap in the face".

"We've all suffered various effects of the abuse and for the government to offer up to $45,000, and what they have previously offered us, is paltry," Mr Jefferis said.

The protest on Tuesday came after the federal government announced a royal commission to examine responses to child sexual abuse across all religious institutions, state-based organisations, schools and not-for-profit groups such as scouts and sporting clubs.

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Taser use by Qld police improving: report

A NEW report from Queensland's crime watchdog has found improvements in police use of Tasers but says some worrying practices persist.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) report found a decrease in the number of times police used Tasers, compared with last year.

There were declines both in instances of probe electrodes fired at the body and the use of "drive stun" mode, in which Tasers are held against the skin.

The CMC also found the number of people tasered despite being suspected of having a physical health condition has decreased slightly.

But the report said Taser use on indigenous people was of particular concern as they were more likely to suffer heart attacks and lung disease, placing them at greater risk of harm.

Indigenous people comprised 22.6 per cent of all people tasered, though they account for only 3.5 per cent of the Queensland population.

The frequency of multiple prolonged taser shocks on a single person had decreased considerably since the death of Antonio Galeano, 39, in June 2009, the CMC said.

Mr Galeano died on the floor of a home in Brandon, north Queensland, after he was tasered repeatedly when police were called to a disturbance at his girlfriend's house.

Senior Constable Craig Myles has admitted tasering Mr Galeano eight times in an attempt to subdue him, although the Taser he used registered 28 applications of 50,000 volts.

A Queensland police and CMC review recommended 27 changes to Taser policy and practices, 24 of which have been implemented.

The findings of an inquest into Mr Galeano's death will be handed down on Wednesday.

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Tokyo stocks end 0.18% lower

TOKYO stocks have closed 0.18 per cent lower as an early bargain-hunting rally fizzled and gave way to the stubbornly high yen and fears about a US budget deadlock.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday was down 15.39 points at 8,661.05, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was flat, giving up just 0.02 points, at 722.56.

The Tokyo market started the morning session in positive territory as investors scooped up bargains after the Nikkei closed on Monday at its lowest level since mid-October.

But the rally quickly ran its course, dealers said, with the strong yen weighing on exporters in thin trade.

Traders have turned to the safe-haven yen as eurozone worries have been stoked by news that the bloc's finance ministers delayed until next week a final decision on disbursing the next tranche of bailout cash for Greece.

The currency's rise came even as official data on Monday showed Japan's economy contracted in the latest quarter, nudging it towards recession and renewing pressure on the Bank of Japan to launch further stimulus, which tend to weaken the yen.

There are also simmering fears over the US fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes slated to come into effect on January 1 unless a bitterly divided congress agrees a new plan to reduce the country's yawning deficit.

Failure to reach a deal could see the package kick in, likely sending the economy into recession.

"In such a lacklustre market, the tick up in the yen is causing the normal selling mood," Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager at Chibagin Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Media reports on Tuesday said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has decided to dissolve Japan's parliament as early as Friday, with an election possibly next month, a move likely to unseat him from power.

In stock trading, major Japanese exporters ended mixed, with camera and office equipment maker Canon losing 0.48 per cent to Y2,441, while Sony was up 0.58 per cent at Y861. Carmaker Honda slipped 0.08 per cent to Y2,356.

Olympus jumped 5.86 per cent to Y1,317 after saying on Monday that it had swung back to profitability and raised it full-year net profit view as the firm moves on from an embarrassing accounting scandal.

In currency trade, the dollar eased to Y79.30 from Y79.49 in New York late on Monday, while the euro bought $US1.2680 and Y100.55, compared with $US1.2709 and Y101.02.

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Eric Clapton watch sells for $3.47 million

A PLATINUM wristwatch belonging to British guitarist Eric Clapton has sold for 3.4 million Swiss francs ($A3.47 million) in Geneva, auction house Christie's says.

The "exceptionally rare" watch made by Patek Philippe in 1987 was snapped up by an anonymous Asian buyer on Monday, Christie's spokesman Christiano De Lorenzo told AFP, adding that the price was in the middle of the estimate.

The only other time the platinum perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phases was on auction, in 1989, it sold for just $US250,999.

Clapton, 67, known for his work with rock bands Cream and the Yardbirds and for songs including Crossroads, Layla and Tears in Heaven, had purchased the luxury timepiece privately after that auction for an undisclosed price, De Lorenzo said.

The British guitarist's watch did not fetch the highest price at the Christie's "Important Watches" auction, where sales totalled 27.04 million Swiss francs.

That honour went to another Patek Philippe platinum wristwatch, made especially for American collector JB Champion in 1952, which raked in 3.78 million Swiss francs.

It thereby set "a world auction record for a watch without complications," Christie's said.

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Man charged over home invasion slashing

POLICE have laid more charges against a Brisbane man over a savage home invasion last month, in which an elderly woman's face was slashed open.

The 72-year-old woman disturbed a burglar after he climbed through a window of her Manly home on October 28, police say.

Her face was slashed in the attack and she was taken to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital with serious lacerations.

Detective Senior Sergeant Sean Dugger from Wynnum CIB says the woman's physical injuries are healing but the attack has had a devastating impact.

"As you can imagine she and her family are quite traumatised," he told reporters.

Police have charged a 33-year-old Banyo man with grievous bodily harm, wounding, and break and enter.

He is due to appear in the Wynnum Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

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Oil Search PNG gas project costs blow out

The cost of a liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea has increased to $A18.34 billion. Source: AAP

OIL Search insists it will meet its funding share of the massive Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (PNG LNG) after costs blew out by 21 per cent to $US19 billion ($A18.34 billion).

Oil Search managing director Peter Botten said he would be chasing further information from operator Exxon Mobil about the levels of foreign exchange exposure carried by the project.

It was not currently particularly transparent, he told an analysts' briefing.

The biggest share of the $US3.3 billion ($A3.18 billion) blowout was blamed on foreign exchange costs of $US1.4 billion ($A1.35 billion), including a high Australian dollar and PNG kina.

Delays from work stoppages by unhappy workers and land-access issues had added $US1.2 billion ($A1.16 billion.) Building and drilling costs, and adverse weather caused a $US700 million ($A676.43 million) hike.

The bad news was announced by project operator Exxon Mobil Corporation, which owns 33 per cent of the project compared to Oil Search's 29 per cent stake.

The project is Oil Search's most important - and the largest resources project in PNG.

Mr Botten said it was a difficult and disappointing day.

Oil Search still owed $US740 million ($A715.08 million) in equity share costs through to the end of 2014, including an additional $US300 million ($A289.90 million) in equity following Monday's statement .

"There is capacity we believe to cover this ... the indications from the operator and our initial discussion with the banks is that the capacity is there," Mr Botten told an analysts' briefing, adding that a re-financing of funds was due in 2013.

Exxon Mobil appeared to have assumed levels of productivity based on past results, when estimating project costs.

"I believe $US19 billion as presented to us - subject to further review - is a reasonably conservative number which should take us through to first sales with contingencies covering ongoing issues," Mr Botten said.

"The extent of the change is considerably beyond the upper end of what might have been expected from cash drawdowns and project progress to date."

There have been previous foreign exchange effects, bringing the total cost increases so far to $US2.1 billion ($A2.03 billion).

Santos, Japan's JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration, a unit of JX Holdings, and the Papua New Guinea government are also stakeholders in the project.

Santos expects to contribute an additional $US130 million ($A125.62 million) in equity.

Shares in Oil Search fell 25 cents to $7.11, while Santos dropped 25 cents to $11.02.

Mr Botten and Santos chief financial officer Andrew Seaton each said the PNG LNG project remained a "highly robust economic project".

The project is 70 per cent complete and remains on track for first production in 2014.

The project capacity had increased from 6.6 million tonnes a year to 6.9 million tonnes, Exxon Mobil said.

The project could double PNG's gross domestic product but is opposed by many landowners near its proposed pipeline, delaying progress and requiring security.

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Man shot by police at Melbourne stadium

POLICE say they shot a man after he threatened an officer with a handgun during a confrontation in the car park of Melbourne's Etihad Stadium.

The man, in his 30s, is being treated in the Royal Melbourne Hospital for gunshot wounds.

Commander Rick Nugent said four plain clothes officers had been in the car park investigating stolen cars when they saw the man approach one of the vehicles.

An officer approached him, identified himself and requested to speak with him before he produced a gun from his pants and threatened the officer, Cmdr Nugent said.

"He was threatening the policeman with the firearm and moving towards him and the policeman sought cover," he told reporters.

"Other police came to his aid, one of whom produced his firearm and shot this male person.

"The members were threatened by a male with a firearm and they had to resort to the use of a firearm.

"It doesn't appear he did fire at police but we're still investigating that."

Cmdr Nugent was unable to say how many times the man was shot or where he was hit.

The wounded man has been arrested along with three other men in their 20s in relation to the stolen cars.

Witness Theo Karanikos saw the man on the ground next to a car, screaming that he was in pain.

"I could just see him lying on the ground," Mr Karanikos told reporters at the scene.

"He was just yelling that he was in pain and wanted help."

Seven Network cameraman Chris Martin said he heard a lot of screaming.

"I heard a few popping noises and then a lot of screaming, get down and all that kind of thing," he told Fairfax Radio.

"And then just police came from everywhere."

The man was in a stable condition in hospital after being shot about 3.10pm (AEDT).

Cmdr Nugent said the incident would be investigated by the crime command area of Victoria Police and would be oversighted by the ethical standards department and the Office of Police Integrity.

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Tokyo stocks close down 0.93%

TOKYO'S benchmark index has fallen 0.93 per cent on fears over a US budget standoff and worries about the slowing Japanese economy, while a strong yen also weighed on shares.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Monday closed down 81.16 points at 8,676.44, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares lost 1.12 per cent, or 8.16 points, to 722.58.

All eyes are on Washington where a fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes is looming - which will likely send the world's biggest economy into recession - if legislators cannot agree on a new deal.

"The stand-off over the fiscal cliff impasse is extending its paralysis to the stock market," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Adding to the sense of dread for the global outlook, Japan on Monday released data showing its economy contracted 0.9 per cent in the July-September quarter, underscoring fears that the country's post-disaster recovery has stalled.

Investors are also looking to results from Japan's major lenders later this week at the tail-end of the latest earnings season.

"The market is in a lull before the release of major banks' earnings later this week," CLSA equity strategist Nicholas Smith told Dow Jones Newswires.

In Tokyo trade, department store group Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings was down 3.27 per cent at Y709 after cutting its full-year outlook, while convenience store operator Seven&i Holdings lost 1.56 per cent to Y2,332.

The yen's strength dragged down exporters, with Sony off 2.61 per cent at Y856 and Toyota down 1.75 per cent at Y3,085.

Suzuki Motor jumped 4.49 per cent to Y1,835 after posting a sharp rise in first-half profit.

Mazda Motor rose 0.95 per cent to Y106 after news of a tie-up with Toyota to make vehicles in Mexico for the North American market.

In currency trading, the euro bought $US1.2727 in Tokyo, up from $US1.2709 in New York late on Friday, while it fetched Y101.14 from Y100.99.

The dollar was flat at Y79.47.

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Spain bank halts evictions after suicide

The suicide of a ruined bank customer in Spain is the second in 15 days. Source: AAP

A SPANISH savings bank has halted all home-owner evictions after a ruined client threw herself out a window to her death, unleashing anti-bank street protests.

The weekend decision by Kutxabank, a lender in the northern Basque Country, was unprecedented in Spain, where banks and homeowners have been financially crushed by a 2008 property crash.

It was the second suicide linked to the eviction of a financially distressed home owner in 15 days.

Right-leaning Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy promised on Friday to offer proposals to ease the pressure on homeowners on Monday in talks with the opposition Socialists.

"The president of Kutxabank, Mario Fernandez, has instructed that the entity should immediately halt all mortgage-related eviction procedures until the new related regulations are known," the bank said on Saturday.

The suspension of evictions only affects loans on people's primary homes, it said.

The previous day, 53-year-old former Socialist politician Amaia Egana committed suicide by hurling herself out of her apartment window "as the bailiffs were to evict her from her home," Basque police said.

Her suicide came 15 days after 53-year-old Jose Luis Domingo hanged himself shortly before bailiffs came to turn him out of his home in the southern city of Granada.

After the latest suicide, hundreds of people demonstrated on Friday in Madrid and in the victim's municipality of Barakaldo.

With cries of "Guilty! Guilty!" and "Shame! Shame!" the Madrid protesters denounced banks such as state-rescued lender Bankia for continuing to evict homeowners struck by unemployment and the eurozone crisis.

A banner reading "credit scam" could be seen hanging next to Caja Madrid - part of the Bankia group - as the protesters held a minute's silence for the dead woman.

Debt-struck homeowners have been camping outside Caja Madrid with mats and sleeping bags since October 22, demanding they be spared eviction and have their debts renegotiated.

Last month, a group of top magistrates released a report denouncing the trend of forced evictions, which they said had risen by a fifth this year and totalled 350,000 between 2008 and 2011.

They complained of "extremely aggressive judicial procedures against debtors" who "find themselves defenceless in a crisis that they did not cause."

Rajoy said on Friday he hoped the talks with the opposition would include discussion of a "temporary halt to the evictions which are hitting the most vulnerable families."

He is also seeking ways to make the banks better apply their code of conduct, to renegotiate debts and allow people to remain in their homes.

"It's a difficult subject and I hope we will soon be able to give good news to all the Spanish people," Rajoy said.

The eurozone's fourth-largest economy, Spain has been mired in recession since last year, building up a record-high unemployment rate of more than 25 per cent.

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Two dead after strong Burma quake

A POWERFUL earthquake has struck Burma, reportedly leaving at least two dead and five missing, and sparking panic in the central city of Mandalay.

"According to the information we have so far, two people died and three were injured because of the earthquake, while five are still missing," an official in the capital Naypyidaw said on Sunday, asking not to be named.

He said the missing were workers flung into the Irrawaddy River when the quake shook the bridge they were building in an area north of Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.

One man died and three were injured by buildings collapsing in a small town in central Sagaing region. A woman was also killed by falling debris from a brick wall in a village north of Mandalay.

The shallow 6.8-magnitude quake hit around 116 kilometres north of Mandalay at a depth of just 10 kilometres, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. It initially put the magnitude of the quake at 7.0.

It was followed by a series of strong aftershocks.

"I ran from my bed carrying my daughter out to the street. There were many people in the road. Some were shouting and others felt dizzy," Mandalay resident San Yu Kyaw said.

"People are now scared of more earthquakes. Especially those who live or run businesses in high-rise buildings are desperate and don't know what to do," he said.

Construction standards are generally poor in Burma, one of Asia's most impoverished nations.

A large crack stretching from the second to the sixth floor of Mandalay's highest building, the 25-storey Mann Myanmar Plaza, appeared after the quake, a local resident said.

He said people were afraid to enter the structure and it remained closed.

The USGS issued a yellow alert, saying "some casualties and damage are possible" but that the impact should be relatively localised.

The quake hit at 7.42am (local time) and was followed by two shallow 5.0-magnitude aftershocks within 20 minutes, according to the USGS.

"The quake was quite strong. I was shopping in the market at the time and I saw women crying in fear when they felt it. We expect more quakes are coming. Everybody is afraid," said 23-year-old Win Win Nwe, a resident in the small town of Shwebo, north of Mandalay.

She said there were fears that several people had been injured in a nearby town.

It comes little more than a week before US President Barack Obama is due in Burma on a historic visit, as the West begins to roll back sanctions to reward a series of dramatic political reforms under President Thein Sein.

The quake was felt in neighbouring Thailand, including in the capital Bangkok, according to reports on social media websites.

It struck around 572 kilometres east of the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, one of the world's biggest cities.

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Denmark to scrap world's first fat tax

Denmark's government will scrap a fat tax it introduced a little over a year ago in a world first. Source: AAP

DENMARK'S government will scrap a fat tax it introduced a little over a year ago in a world first.

"The fat tax and the extension of the chocolate tax -- the so-called sugar tax -- has been criticised for increasing prices for consumers, increasing companies' administrative costs and putting Danish jobs at risk," the Danish tax ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"At the same time it is believed that the fat tax has, to a lesser extent, contributed to Danes travelling across the border to make purchases.

"Against this background, the government and the (far-left) Red Green Party have agreed to abolish the fat tax and cancel the planned sugar tax."

Denmark's centre-left minority government is made up of the Social Democrats, Social Liberals and Socialist People's Party, and requires support from other parties to pass legislation in parliament.

The government and the Red Greens reached the agreement as part of their negotiations on the 2013 budget bill.

The previous right-wing government introduced the fat tax in October 2011 to limit the population's intake of fatty foods.

According to the Danish National Health and Medicines Authority, 47 per cent of Danes are overweight and 13 per cent are obese.

"Now we need to try to do something else to address public health," Food Minister Mette Gjerskov said, news agency Ritzau reported.

The fat tax has been levied on all products containing saturated fats -- from butter and milk to pizzas, oils, meats and pre-cooked foods -- in a costing system that Denmark's Confederation of Industries has described as a bureaucratic nightmare for producers and outlets.

The measure added 16 kroner ($A2.62) per kilo of saturated fats in a product.

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Bid to highlight pregnancy depression

MORE needs to be done to spot and support women suffering with antenatal depression, according to British midwives.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said more attention needed to be paid to the condition, which is less known and talked about than post-partum depression.

The RCM made the comments on Sunday after a new survey found that more than one-third of women who suffer depression during pregnancy have suicidal thoughts.

And four in five mothers surveyed who suffered with depression in pregnancy went on to struggle with post-partum depression.

Half of the 260 women surveyed said that their illness affected their relationship with their baby, according to the research conducted by the RCM and Netmums.

The chief executive of the RCM, Cathy Warwick, said the survey showed that there was an urgent need to identify and help women with depression in pregnancy and after the birth of their baby.

"If we can identify women as early as possible then we could prevent them declining into much more serious mental health problems," Ms Warwick said.

"The (UK) government has made a promise to women that they will be offered better support postnatally and that more will be done to spot and support postnatal depression.

"However, we know that antenatal and postnatal services are suffering as a result of budget cuts and a shortage of midwives. This is in addition to the postcode lottery of service provision for women with postnatal depression.

"If this situation is not rectified, the NHS (National Health Service) will continue to fail women with mental health problems during pregnancy or birth and the government's pledge would be judged to be an empty promise."

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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