News in 5: Journalist's horror 15 months in captivity; Barnaby's admission; AFL player ban.

– With AAP

1. Journalist Amanda Lindout recalls terrifying 15 months spent captured in Somalia.

Journalist Amanda Lindhout says she still wakes up screaming 10 years after the horrific 15 months she spent captured in Somalia.

The Canadian told Andrew Denton in Tuesday night’s episode of Interview just how she managed to survive the ordeal and how damaging its lasting effects have been to her mental health.

In 2008 the then-26-year-old travelled to war-torn Somalia on an assignment, but within days she and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were kidnapped, and only freed after suffering months of torture.

While driving on a highway, Lindhout and Brennan’s car was surrounded by a dozen men with rifles.

“They surrounded us, pulled the doors open, pulled us out … And the next thing I knew I had been abducted,” she told Denton.

The captors wanted US$1.5 million each for the pair and because their families couldn’t afford it, and most governments, including Australia’s and Canada’s, do not pay ransoms, they were stuck.

Lindhout said after about two months she and her friend were separated and she began being raped and threatened with death regularly.

“It was so devastating and so scary. And also as time was passing the conditions were becoming worse. (It cost) money to feed us and so the food was becoming less, and our teenage captors … you know, they were quite resentful.”

Despite everything kidnap survivor @amandalindhout has been through, she still believes the world is full of “kindness, goodness and compassion”. #InterviewAU pic.twitter.com/JnESMIZTXV

— Interview (@InterviewAU) August 7, 2018

Five months into their captivity, Lindhout and Brennan managed to escape, but were soon caught again.

They returned to punishment in the form of isolation in completely dark rooms. It was there, being assaulted daily, that Lindhout contemplated suicide before resolving instead to survive.

“The darkness has a weight to it,” she told Denton.

“It was very … It was heavy and it was oppressive and it was terrifying every moment of the day. You start to lose track of time. I mean, it was absolutely pitch black.”

After being sold to another gang, the pair were eventually freed. But the emotional trauma has taken its toll on Lindhout, who has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and severe anxiety.

“For years … I couldn’t believe I was free, often sure I was dreaming, and that I would wake up back in captivity with chains on my ankles in a dark room,” she said during an impact-victim statement given at the trial for her kidnappers earlier this year.

“Flashbacks happen involuntarily, it’s as though I am reliving my experience and I don’t understand it’s not happening in real time. It’s incredibly scary.”

But Lindhout told Denton she had learned a lot about resilience and strength, and had willed herself to survive.

If you or anyone you know needs help with suicidal thoughts or depression, please phone Lifeline 13 11 14 or beyondblue 1300 22 4636.

2. Barnaby Joyce admits to chasing women before his marriage-ending affair with Vikki Campion.

Barnaby Joyce says he wanted to go away and die after his affair destroyed his marriage and career.

In the book, Weatherboard and Iron, the married father of four admits pursuing women for years in Canberra before beginning an affair with his current partner, Vikki Campion, and having a baby boy.

"When you stop thinking about how sad it will be when you have gone, to thinking, I have hurt so many that I want to go without anybody knowing," he says in his upcoming book, excerpts of which were published in Fairfax Media on Tuesday.

At the time he ignored advice from his wife Natalie that he needed to seek help because their relationship was in serious trouble, after his years of "wandering" in Canberra and getting close to other women.

"Winston Churchill had his black dog. Mine was a half-crazed cattle dog, biting everything that came near the yard," Mr Joyce writes in his book.

While he eventually did seek the help of a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with depression, he sought solace by praying at a "special" rock he found on Canberra's Red Hill.

Mr Joyce writes about how he gradually regained structure in his life thanks to his relationship with Ms Campion, his former media advisor, and the birth of their son Sebastian in April.

He has dedicated his book to his four daughters and Sebastian, writing that he wished "I could have given you a life outside the spotlight I turned on you".

"I wanted the best for you but was blinded in the glare of the exertion."

Mr Joyce spent more than five years writing the book and decided to include the recent "salacious" details of his private life so people would buy it.

If you or anyone you know needs help with suicidal thoughts or depression, please phone Lifeline 13 11 14 or beyondblue 1300 22 4636.

3. AFL player Andrew Gaff cops eight-week ban for one-punch hit on Andrew Brayshaw.

Andrew Gaff might have played his last game for West Coast after he was slapped with a season-ending eight-match ban by the AFL tribunal.

The star midfielder, who is set to become a restricted free agent, will miss the rest of the Eagles' premiership campaign and the start of next season after Tuesday night's hefty suspension for punching Fremantle's Andrew Brayshaw.

Contract talks have played out slowly this year, with Gaff intent on taking his time over the big decision according to manager Paul Connors.

The 26-year-old elite is highly coveted in his home state Victoria, with Connors confident up to six clubs are interested in landing him.

It remains to be seen what effect Sunday's ugly incident at Optus Stadium and the subsequent ban will have on Gaff's decision-making process.

4. German couple jailed for selling son on the dark web.

A mother and her partner have been handed lengthy prison terms by a court in southern Germany for the years-long sexual abuse of the woman's child, who was sold for sex with men on the darknet.

The 48-year-old mother was sentenced on Tuesday to 12 years and six months in jail, while her 39-year-old male partner was handed a 12-year term followed by "preventive detention," which could delay his release on the grounds that he poses a danger to the public.

The Freiburg court also ordered the two abusers to pay 42,500 euros ($A66,260) in damages to the boy and a young girl, another victim in the case.

The mother's partner, who already had a previous conviction of serious child abuse, confessed to the court in June that he was the "driving force" behind the crimes.

The 39-year-old admitted the 100-page charge sheet was accurate, except for a few minor details, saying that he had put pressure on his girlfriend to allow her son to be raped and abused by men they found online.

The mother confessed to the crimes during the trial but did not reveal her motive.

Prosecutors say it was partly due to her co-dependent relationship with her partner.

Six other offenders have been handed lengthy prison sentences as part of the case.

A Spanish national received a 10-year prison sentence on Monday after admitting that he had raped the boy on at least 15 occasions and had paid the mother and her partner more than 10,000 euros.

5. A Western Australian man has been jailed for raping a friend he met on Facebook.

Karl David William Baudoeuf used the fake name "Pete Bundy" on Facebook and his victim thought he was "Mr Wonderful" until he repeatedly bashed and raped her after luring her with music festival tickets.

He was sentenced in the West Australian District Court on Tuesday to seven years and four months in prison.

Baudoeuf, 33, had befriended the 28-year-old woman on Facebook in 2014, but only met her in December 2016 when he promised her tickets to the Southbound Festival in Busselton.

He drove her to his home where they took drugs and had consensual sex.

Karl David William Baudoeuf jailed for raping Facebook friend https://t.co/I11NcqFAzH

— Nicki Hide (@NickiHide) August 7, 2018

"The victim said that you seemed like Mr Wonderful at that time who wouldn't say a nasty word," Judge Vicki Stewart said.

But the next day, the victim witnessed Baudoeuf assault his ex-girlfriend.

The victim later confronted Baudoeuf for lying about the festival tickets and his real name, prompting him to headbutt the woman and hold her captive for three days during which he repeatedly attacked her.

She finally managed to run away to a neighbour's house while Baudoeuf slept.

The woman had suffered several injuries including a black eye, broken nose and bruising on her temple.

Baudoeuf stood trial and was found guilty of six offences including sexual penetration without consent, deprivation of liberty and assault occasioning bodily harm.

But he continued to deny the crimes happened, which Judge Stewart said showed he lacked remorse and a willingness to accept responsibility for his behaviour.

"You used sexual violence and force as a means of exerting control and power over the victim," she said.

"Your offending was persistent. The victim was vulnerable. She did not know where she was. She feared for her safety."

The court heard Baudoeuf had a history of drug use, especially methylamphetamine, and mental health problems.

Judge Stewart urged the father of five to continue with his treatment programs in prison and stop using drugs.

Baudoeuf, who appeared in court via video link from prison, repeatedly buried his face in his hands during proceedings and cried when his sentence was handed down.

He must spend at least five years and four months behind bars before he can be eligible for parole.

6. Apparently, too much sleep could be bad for your health.

Sleeping longer than the recommended seven or eight hours a night has been linked with a higher risk of premature death, according to new research.

Researchers looked at data from 74 studies involving more than three million people and found those who slept for 10 hours were 30 per cent more likely to die prematurely than those who slept for eight.

Staying in bed for more than 10 hours was also linked to a 56 per cent increased risk of death from stroke and a 49 per cent increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Poor sleep quality was associated with a 44 per cent increase in coronary heart disease, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers said their study suggests abnormal sleep could be "a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk" and said GPs ought to ask questions about sleeping patterns during appointments.

"Abnormal sleep is a marker of elevated cardiovascular risk and greater consideration should be given in exploring both duration and sleep quality during patient consultations," lead researcher Dr Chun Shing Kwok, of Keele University's Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, said.

The study, which also involved researchers from the universities of Leeds, Manchester and East Anglia, said the research was limited as duration of sleep was self-reported and that underlying mental or physical conditions may have had an impact on "extreme sleep patterns".