Putin says Arctic activists broke law

Russian agents will detain the "most active" of the protesters on the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise. Source: AAP

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin says 30 Greenpeace activists arrested by Russia were not "pirates" but had broken the law in a protest against Arctic oil exploration, as the authorities detained all the campaigners pending trial.

On Tuesday, Russia opened a criminal probe into suspected piracy by the four Russian and 26 foreign Greenpeace activists, with charges carrying the maximum punishment of 15 years in prison.

Russian authorities placed the 30 activists in detention centres in and around the far northern city of Murmansk on Wednesday after they were moved ashore from the group's Dutch-flagged vessel following their protest in the Barents Sea earlier this month.

"I do not know the details of what has happened but it's completely obvious that of course they are not pirates," Putin told an international Arctic forum in the far northern city of Salekhard.

In his first comments on the high-profile seizure of the Greenpeace vessel, he said it was "completely obvious these people violated the norms of international law."

Putin's comments indicate the charges of piracy could be dropped during the investigation. A spokesman for the Investigative Committee also said earlier Wednesday the current charges might be changed if new evidence emerges.

Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for the Russian equivalent of the FBI, said in a statement that all the 30 activists had been detained "as suspects."

Greenpeace had been trying to draw global attention to the dangers of Russian-led efforts to develop the Arctic as ice breaks up due to global warming.

The group sent a team of inflatable boats to a platform of Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom in the Barents Sea earlier this month from the Arctic Sunrise.

The icebreaker was last week seized by the Russian authorities and towed to Murmansk.

The foreign activists are nationals of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Ukraine, France, Italy, Turkey, Finland, Switzerland, Poland and Sweden.

A representative of the regional investigators in Murmansk told AFP the high-profile case was overseen by Moscow-based colleagues.

"That means it is all very serious," she said on condition of anonymity.

The environmentalists' detention drew condemnation from Greenpeace and generated concerns in the West.

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Chinese man who threw toddler gets death

A Chinese man has been sentenced to death for killing a toddler when he threw her to the ground. Source: AAP

A CHINESE court has convicted a man of intentional homicide and sentenced him to death for hurling a toddler to the ground because of an argument with her mother over a parking space.

The Beijing court system said in a statement that the 39-year-old Han Lei grabbed the two-year-old from her carriage and threw her to the ground in the capital.

The girl was severely injured and died days later in a hospital. Han fled the scene on July 23 but police caught him the following day.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Han to death and a second man who drove him away from the scene to five years for attempting to cover up a crime.

The incident horrified the Chinese public.

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France says public debt to hit 95.1%

FRANCE says its public debt will hit a record 95.1 per cent of GDP in 2014, far higher than previous estimates, as it unveiled next year's draft budget for the embattled eurozone economy.

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Shorten kicks off Labor leadership debate

Voters support Anthony Albanese (pic) over Bill Shorten as Labor leader, a new poll shows. Source: AAP

BILL Shorten has kicked off the Labor leadership debate, saying the big question is how Labor will remain relevant to the lives of Australians in the future.

He and Anthony Albanese are debating each other in Sydney as part of their nationwide campaign to sway rank and file members who will take part in an historic vote for Labor's parliamentary party leader under new Labor guidelines.

Mr Shorten said the party had to move on from the disappointing election loss and focus on its list of achievements and great history.

"It comes to a question of how will we help make Labor relevant to the lives of Australians in the future," he said.

"Not just in the next 24 hours or next week or next month. How does our Labor, as it has in the past and it should do in future, how do we make sure that our values and our ideas speak to the future lives of Australians?" he said.

In line with the pair's stated mission of keeping their campaigns civil, Mr Shorten said his rival would make a good Labor leader who would serve the party well.

Mr Shorten said Labor needed to be brave for people who needed a champion, such as victims of domestic violence.

Mr Albanese also praised his rival for the leadership before saying his objective was to lead a movement committed to a better Australia.

Mr Albanese said his vision for the party would simply be based upon what people were talking about around the kitchen table.

"They talk about simple things. How to get a better education for their kids. Is there good health care if someone in their family gets sick? Do they have adequate access to child care? Are their jobs secure with decent working conditions?" he said.

He added another priority if elected Labor leader would be sustainability.

"That is why the price on carbon is critical. Climate change didn't end when Tony Abbott became prime minister," he said.

"So that means enhancing our natural environment and it means clean energy and future jobs. It also means engagement in our cities."

A man in the audience received rousing applause after asking whether both leadership contenders were prepared to lose an election on a more humane refugee policy.

Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese both defended Labor's tough-love approach and spoke about the complexity of the issue.

"We do want an orderly migration program, but we also want to treat people with compassion and with respect and as people," Mr Albanese said.

"And that's something that during the last term the former government stopped doing."

Mr Shorten supports lifting the refugee intake and is pro-refugees, but is also concerned about lives lost at sea.

On the future of aged care, Mr Shorten flagged the need to look at financial instruments including Paul Keating's idea about a sovereign wealth fund for people to draw down on in their 80s or 90s.

"It's time for big thinking in aged care," he said.

When asked about the importance of Labor's legacy setting up the national disability insurance scheme, Mr Albanese shared a personal story about his single mum who suffered rheumatoid arthritis and was on an "invalid pension".

"My mum couldn't use a knife or fork... she was pretty crippled up," he said.

Eventually a friend helped arrange a surgeon to reconstruct her hands and feet.

"What that says to me is often in society people do get left behind," Mr Albanese said.

Labor needed to be both a constructive opposition and use its time to develop the next big ideas, such as the NBN, Mr Albanese said.

He said they needed to ensure sustainability was factored into Labor's big ideas and defended issues like carbon pricing.

Mr Shorten said the process of campaigning for leadership was strengthening for the party and if he won the vote the party would stand up for injustice and work as a team.

"The era of the messiah is over. No more messiahs," he roared to widespread applause.

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Govt to temporarily continue NBN rollout

MORE than 600,000 homes, businesses and schools across the country still have a chance of being connected to fibre-to-the-premises broadband despite the coalition's vow to abandon the former government's plan.

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Improve urban life: Bloomberg

New York's mayor is offering cities in Europe millions for plans to improve urban life. Source: AAP

NEW York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is offering European cities millions to come up with plans to improve urban life, tapping his personal fortune to extend his cities-as-civic-laboratories campaign outside America, as the end of his own tenure nears.

The billionaire businessman-turned-politician invited about 600 sizeable European cities Tuesday to compete for nine million euros ($A12.98 million) from his personal foundation.

The competition could signal how Bloomberg aims to maintain and broaden his impact on government after his 12-year tenure ends in December.

"I am a big believer in the power of cities to shape the future," Bloomberg said in a statement ahead of a news conference at London City Hall. He said the contest would spotlight "bold ideas which can take root in Europe and spread around the world."

Modelled on a Bloomberg Philanthropies contest that awarded $US9 million ($A9.60 million) to five US cities this year, the European competition seeks ideas that solve problems or make government more efficient or citizen-friendly.

It's open to cities with 100,000 or more residents in 40 countries. Winners of a five million euro grand prize and four one million euro awards will be announced next northern autumn.

In the recent US version of the Mayors Challenge, the $US5 million top prize went in March to Providence, Rhode Island. Its project aims to improve poor children's vocabulary by outfitting them with recording devices if their parents agree to it, counting the words the children hear and coaching parents.

Four other cities that won $US1 million apiece - Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Santa Monica, California - also are gearing up their projects.

As mayor, Bloomberg isn't shy about encouraging others to follow New York's lead on such new initiatives as trying to ban many eateries from selling super-size, sugary drinks. Meanwhile, he's borrowed bicycle-sharing and some other ideas from elsewhere.

The organisation also supports environmental, education, health and arts projects. It gave away a total of $US370 million last year.

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Man terrorising Qld women drivers: police

Police have released an image of a man who is terrorising women in north Queensland. Source: AAP

POLICE have released an image of a man who is terrorising women in north Queensland.

A woman driving along Flying Fishing Point Road at Innisfail, south of Cairns, was assaulted after stopping for a man on the side of the road around 10pm (AEST) on September 19.

He approached the car and after a brief conversation, grabbed her hair before fleeing, police say.

Innisfail officers say a similar incident occurred two weeks ago on the same road where a man ran in front of a car and then tried to put his arm through the driver's window.

The woman escaped by driving off.

Police are encouraging other women who have experienced such incidents to come forward.

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Bombers kill 53 at Pakistan church

A DOUBLE suicide bombing has killed more than 60 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan, officials said, believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the troubled country.

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Vic woman survives Kenyan mall massacre

No Australians are believed to have been injured in the deadly mall shooting in Kenya. Source: AAP

A MELBOURNE woman has reportedly survived the Nairobi mall terrorist attack by huddling in a phone store for six hours.

At least 59 people were killed when Somali militants stormed an upmarket shopping centre in the Kenyan capital, according to the country's government.

Eltham woman Sarah Williamson was in the mall with her father, who works for the UN, when she heard the first explosions, Fairfax Radio Network reports.

"She heard the first grenade go off and said, 'What was that, dad?'," mum Linda has told the network.

"Then he heard the guns firing and he knew exactly what it was and he said, 'We're under attack, everybody to the back of the room.'"

The 23-year-old spent six hours trapped in the store before she could run to safety.

Between 10 and 15 gunmen are believed to be holed up in the building with an unknown number of hostages, 24 hours after the carnage began.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott was briefed on the ongoing crisis earlier on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has condemned the terrorist attack and expressed her sympathy to Kenyans and President Uhuru Kenyatta who has lost family members in the incident.

"The thoughts of all Australians are with the victims and their families," she said in a statement.

People with concerns about family or friends in Kenya should try to contact them directly or if unsuccessful phone the DFAT consular emergency centre on (02) 6261 3305.

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Bail denied in NT prison drugs case

BAIL has been denied for a man who allegedly traded drugs with a Darwin prison guard and used her to pass messages to other prisoners, including a suspected Rebels bikie gang leader.

Phillip Noel Kaye, 35, is allegedly part of a six-person drug and corruption ring that operated out of Darwin Correctional Centre and included three prison guards, a police officer and a firefighter.

It's alleged he used prison guard Sarah Rudd to pass messages to other inmates, including organising drug deals, and gave her methamphetamines and MDMA.

At Darwin Magistrates Court on Friday, Magistrate Greg Cavanagh denied him bail, saying there was a real likelihood that he would reoffend if released.

"Given the multitude of offending and his previous record, bail must be refused," Mr Cavanagh said.

Kaye is facing more than a dozen charges, including possession of a trafficable quantity of drugs, unlawfully obtaining confidential information, attempting to pervert the course of justice and official corruption.

"Cheer up," he told an unidentified tearful female supporter as he was led from the courtroom.

His defence argued that bail should be granted because his girlfriend has recently given birth to a seven-week premature baby.

They also said a key witness had made allegations against him last year to police before saying she had lied due to mental illness.

Kaye will reappear in court at a later date.

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