Thursday's news in 2 minutes.

1. Malala Yousafzai – the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by Taliban members because of her work to promote education for girls – has gone back to school for the first time since the incident in October. In a statement about her first day at school in the UK where she’s receiving treatment, she said: “I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school. I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity.”

2. Police have resorted to playing classical music in a Victorian shopping centre to try and stop large groups of youths from hanging out at a bus terminal at the centre. The police office in charge of the experiment at Knox Shopping Centre said large groups of young people could be intimidating to other shoppers.

3. The Chief Government Whip Joel Fitzgibbon has admitted that Labor members are counting votes for a possible leadership challenge, telling Fairfax  online that it was “silly to tell people … that there is nothing going on”. Both the Rudd and Gillard camps were reportedly calling MPs and Senators last night, trying to sure up support but at this stage it is understood that Kevin Rudd does not have the numbers to mount a successful challenge.

4. A public health regulator in the UK says there is strong public support to allow scientists to create babies from the DNA of three parents, using IVF. The procedure has been criticized by many as a breach of ethics but there is so far no evidence to suggest that the technique is actually unsafe.

5. Swimming Australia coach Lee Nugent has resigned in the wake of the 2012 London Olympic stillnox scandal. In a statement released yesterday Swimming Australia president Barclay Nettlefold said that “new leadership structure” would be in place before the national championships in Adelaide at the end of April.

6. An exclusive Lateline report last night revealed that animal rights activists are calling for CCTV cameras to be mandatory in abattoirs across Australia. Footage from a poultry abattoir in Sydney’s west shows turkeys being severely mistreated before they are slaughtered.

7. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will today apologise to the tens of thousands of Australians who were affected by forced adoption policies in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Ms Gillard will also announce $5 million for those affected to access specialist mental health support and be able to better trace their records.