Hundreds of Vic firefighters kept busy

VICTORIAN firefighters have been kept busy battling two major fires in the state's east and a number of smaller blazes closer to Melbourne.

A control centre spokesman said 195 firefighters battled the 81,000-hectare Aberfeldy fire in Gippsland in Victoria's east on Saturday.

"It's burning in steep difficult terrain," the spokesman said.

Closer to Melbourne, a watch and act alert was downgraded to an advice warning for communities near an out-of-control fire at Kerrie, northwest of Melbourne.

There are 22 trucks at the scene.

"That's likely to burn into the night and probably won't be brought under control till morning," the spokesman said.

"There's a lot of smoke and activity but it's not threatening houses or property."

A fire at Arthurs Creek, northeast of Melbourne, is under control.

Conditions at a second major fire at Harrietville in alpine country in the northeast had eased, the spokesman said.

A watch and act alert has also been downgraded to an advice warning for the Hotham Heights and Dinner Plain areas, but all residents are believed to have been evacuated.

Wind gusts and spot fires were still a worry in the area as 312 firefighters, 11 aircraft and 60 vehicles worked on the fire on Saturday.

The spokesman said wind gusts were making the fire difficult to predict.

A watch and act warning is in place for Dargo at the southern side of the Harrietville fire that has so far burned around 16,000 hectares.

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Third death linked to Vic cheese company

A THIRD person has died following a listeria outbreak linked to soft cheeses produced in Victoria.

Victoria's acting chief health officer, Dr Michael Ackland, has confirmed the death of a 68-year-old New South Wales man in late January was linked to the listeria contamination of Jindi cheese products, Fairfax reported on Sunday.

An 84-year-old Victorian man and a 44-year-old Tasmanian man have also died of listeria infection. A pregnant NSW woman miscarried. More than 20 other cases have been reported.

Jindi has voluntarily recalled all batches of cheese manufactured up to January 6.

Listeria, a bacterial infection, has a long incubation period and more people could become ill.

The Victoria health department says it acted promptly to contain the outbreak, but has warned there could be more cases.

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Australia and NZ cement ties in Queenstown

THIRTY years of close economic ties between Australia and New Zealand have been cemented with a series of new agreements, but NZ's prime minister is the first to admit they're not on an even footing.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard took part in bilateral discussions with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in Queenstown on Saturday, ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Closer Economic Relations trade deal, signed in March 1983.

That deal has paved the way for several new announcements, including a crackdown on exorbitant mobile roaming rates in both countries, further streamlining trans-Tasman travel through SmartGate, simplifying investment in each other's country, and recovering student debt.

Ms Gillard and Mr Key also announced greater co-operation on people smuggling, with New Zealand allocating 150 places in its annual refugee quota of 750 to refugees processed in Australian detention centres, from 2014.

While the leaders talked up the mutual benefits of the new arrangements, Mr Key openly admits it's an "asymmetrical" relationship.

"There's an argument that we need them more than they need us, given they're our largest source of tourists, our biggest export market, our largest investor," he said.

"We do have to work hard with that relationship, because there's lots of options for Australia and they could just choose to ignore us if they wanted to."

Ms Gillard was saying nothing of the sort during her time in the picturesque South Island's town, describing the relationship as "one of family" - a point she first made when in 2011 she became the first foreign leader to address New Zealand's parliament.

"There is a bond between Australia and New Zealand that is different to any bond that we share in any other part of the world," she says.

"The very fact that it's fundamental to our soul and how we perceive ourselves - the legend of ANZAC is part of us and it's part of New Zealand forged in history, here in contemporary times, and always here for the future."

It was fitting, then, that Ms Gillard on Saturday announced a new Australian memorial at New Zealand's National War Memorial, currently under construction in Wellington, ahead of the Anzac centenary in 2015.

Ms Gillard flies back to Australia on Sunday morning.

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Assad reshuffles cabinet as jets strike

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad has reshuffled his cabinet as his warplanes raided rebel areas.

Syria is in the depths of an unprecedented economic recession because of the violence gripping the country for nearly two years, and the government reshuffle on Saturday focused on finance and social affairs portfolios.

The World Bank says the country's gross domestic product has shrunk by 20 per cent, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) puts unemployment at 37 per cent and possibly hitting 50 per cent by the end of 2013.

Assad changed seven ministers, the official SANA news agency reported.

It said he split the ministry of labour and social affairs into two, and brought in a woman, Kinda Shmat, to head the latter. Hassan Hijazi becomes labour minister.

Assad has announced several reshuffles since the uprising against his rule began, the most recent in August 2012.

Efforts towards finding a political solution to the conflict, which the UN says has killed more than 60,000 people, appeared to be deadlocked, hours after Damascus offered talks without preconditions.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said on February 1, the day after an offer of dialogue by its leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, that any talks on the country's political future must be about the departure of the Assad regime.

Meanwhile, in the latest fighting, air raids on Saturday hit northern and eastern areas outside the capital.

Warplanes also hit the town of Sabineh south of Damascus, and fierce clashes broke out between rebels and troops in the embattled town of Daraya, where the army shelled insurgent positions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The army this week launched a major offensive against rebel zones surrounding the capital, in a drive to break a stalemate.

Pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan said the army was "determined to crush terrorism around the capital and in big cities".

In the north, rebels stormed parts of Menegh airbase less than 25 kilometres from the Turkish border in Aleppo province, the Observatory said.

The Observatory said at least 15 people were killed on Saturday. It reported 136 deaths on Friday.

Lebanon's Maronite patriarch, meanwhile, is to visit Damascus on Sunday for the enthronement of Syria's Greek Orthodox leader, in a show of support for the country's minority Christian community.

Patriarch Beshara Rai will attend the enthronement of Yuhanna X Yazigi, the church said, in the first visit by a Maronite patriarch since Syrian independence in 1943, Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar reported.

It said the trip would "express solidarity between churches while Syria is in crisis, a crisis for Christians in Syria."

Syria's Christian minority makes up about five per cent of the country's population. Many Christians have remained neutral in the conflict while others have taken Assad's side for fear of the rise of Islamism.

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House arrest for Russian opposition leader

A TOP Russian opposition figure has been placed under house arrest for two months, a move that also bans him from using most forms of communication, including the internet, telephone and mail.

A Moscow court imposed the restrictions on Saturday on Sergei Udaltsov after prosecutors complained he had violated a previous agreement not to leave Moscow.

Udaltsov, one of the most prominent figures of the wave of protests that arose in late 2011, is facing charges in connection with a protest in May and for allegedly plotting to conduct mass disorder aimed at overthrowing the government.

Since Vladimir Putin returned to the Russian presidency in May, authorities have cracked down on opposition, and protests have diminished in frequency and size.

A documentary-style program aired by a Kremlin-friendly TV channel claimed that Udaltsov and his associates met a Georgian politician in 2012 to raise money for organizing riots in Moscow and several other Russian cities.

Udaltsov rejected the charges and said the footage was a sham.

Opposition and rights activists have denounced the case against Udaltsov and other activists as a throwback to the times of Soviet-era repression.

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India rape outrage spreads to South Africa

THE chime sounds every four minutes on the radio station, reminding listeners that statistically yet another child or woman in South Africa is being raped.

It's also a call to arms for citizens outraged over the gang-rape of a teenager who was mutilated - her body carved open - and left for dead on a construction site.

While India agonises with its high prevalence of rape because of a fatal attack on a young woman on a bus, South Africans are now becoming galvanised by the attack on the teenager in a small town. Civil society and governments in both countries are saying this must stop.

The injuries to the 17-year-old were so horrific that nurses in the operating theatre, where doctors tried in vain to save her life, are undergoing trauma counselling.

The chimes on Talk Radio 702 are part of a campaign urging South Africans to identify perpetrators of rape that has become endemic. One in four females is raped here, according to several studies, from months-old babies to 94-year-old grandmothers.

The Citizen newspaper published an editorial calling for citizens to take collective responsibility in the fight against sexual crimes.

"Somehow, somewhere there must be a tipping point where society is so convulsed by a collective anger over rape that we begin to turn the tide against this terrible scourge," the newspaper said. "Each of us needs to ask what we can do to stop this awful trend. And then we must act accordingly. You can help."

The Star newspaper's editor, Makhudu Sefara, ran a front-page editorial saying: "Stand up. Speak out. Help us turn this evil around once and for all."

South Africans appear to be inspired by the mass demonstrations in India that protest a culture of sexual violence and revulsion over the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman on a New Delhi bus who died of internal injuries from a metal bar. India, with a population of 1.2 billion people, had 24,206 rapes reported in 2011. South Africa, population 50 million, reported 2.5 times that number of rapes last year.

Opposition politician Lindiwe Mazibuko described "a silent war against the children and women of this country ... We live in a deeply patriarchal and injured society where the rights of women are not respected."

She said she would request a national dialogue on the crisis.

President Jacob Zuma, who was acquitted on charges of raping the daughter of a family friend in 2005, said on Thursday "that government would never rest until the perpetrators and all those who rape and abuse women and children are meted with the maximum justice that the law allows".

For Professor Rachel Jewkes, a doctor heading the Women's Research Unit of South Africa's Medical Research Council who has studied sexual violence here for 20 years, much more is needed.

"I'm jolly pleased to hear that even Jacob Zuma has belatedly come in, but we need to remember that actually women are raped and actually die from their injuries from rape almost every day in South Africa, and we need to make sure that the very, very profound sense of horror and outrage that people feel now is translated into something concrete."

Shaheda Omar, clinical director of Johannesburg's Teddy Bear Clinic for child victims of abuse, said: "We've had huge outcries in the past, then things just fall through the cracks again, but I think there's a stronger sense of solidarity now."

Omar has worked with child victims for 28 years and suffers trauma spasms and headaches as a result. She said the government needs to enact "stringent measures, actions having consequences and perpetrators being brought to book to deter others".

Organisations that have been working with rape survivors plan a mass outdoor meeting next week in Johannesburg, she said.

Some South Africans, imbued with a chauvinism that believes men have a right to sex, do not even understand what constitutes rape, according to some who called in to radio stations.

Jewkes said a study she conducted in 2009 showed 62 per cent of surveyed boys over age 11 believed that forcing someone to have sex was not an act of violence. One-third said girls enjoy being raped. Jewkes' study had 37 per cent of surveyed men saying they had raped a women or child, and 75 per cent admitting they first raped a teenager. All the men came from Gauteng, South Africa's most populated province.

The 17-year-old raped on Saturday last week in Bredasdorp, a Western Cape town known for its giant protea flowers, lived long enough to identify a former 22-year-old boyfriend as one of her attackers. Police took him into custody.

On Thursday they arrested a 21-year-old suspect and on Friday a 23-year-old. All are to appear in court on Monday. According to media reports, the teen was attacked by five men.

The maximum sentence for rape in South Africa is life in prison. But official statistics show less than 10 per cent of reported sexual crimes result in a successful prosecution, making many reluctant to report rape.

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Pakistani schoolgirl leaves hospital

PAKISTANI schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai has been discharged from a British hospital where she had been for nearly four months after being shot in the head by the Taliban.

The 15-year-old underwent skull-reconstruction and cochlear-implant surgery to restore her hearing last weekend.

Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital said on Friday that Malala had been released after "making good recovery" from her surgery and will continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary home in Birmingham.

Malala was shot in October on the way home from school.

Members of the Taliban were angered by her objection to the group's interpretation of Islam, which limits girls' access to education.

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US stocks open higher on trade data

US stocks have opened higher following an unexpected drop in the trade deficit and strong trade data out of China.

Five minutes into trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 23.42 points (0.17 per cent) at 13,967.47.

The S&P 500 index rose 3.57 (0.24 per cent) to 1,512.96, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 13.73 (0.43 per cent) to 3,178.86.

The US trade deficit shrank more than expected in December, to $US38.5 billion ($A37.64 billion) instead of the $45.4 billion estimated by analysts.

It was announced on Friday that China's trade surplus rose sharply in January, with both exports and imports beating expectations, as the country maintained its economic recovery on improving demand.

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Thousands farewell slain Tunisia critic

A SEA of mourners, some wailing in grief as others angrily denounced the government, have followed the coffin of slain opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose funeral became a mass protest against Tunisia's ruling Islamists.

From early on Friday morning, thousands of people gathered under a wet winter sky to pay their last respects to Belaid, many carrying pictures of the charismatic human rights lawyer and outspoken government critic.

Wrapped in Tunisian flags and covered in flowers, the coffin was borne from the family home to a cultural centre in the southern Tunis suburb of Djebel Jelloud and covered in flowers, as the crowd of mourners grew.

The white walls round the building were painted with an enormous black moustache, the trademark feature of a leftist politician whose impassioned anti-Islamist stance was given a public platform by media after the revolution.

The cries of women rang out in the streets along with slogans denouncing Ennahda, the Islamist party that heads the ruling coalition and which Belaid's relatives blame for his assassination early on Wednesday by a lone hooded gunman.

"The people want a new revolution," shouted mourners, who also branded Ennahda's veteran party leader, Rached Ghannouchi, an assassin, chanting: "Ghannouchi, take your dogs and leave."

"Get out! Get out!" - the famous rallying cry during the 2011 uprising that unseated former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali - was another slogan chanted by the crowd, which also took up Tunisia's new national anthem.

"Oh defenders of the nation, let us go to meet our glory, let us die if we must that the country lives, proclaims the blood that flows in our veins," they sang.

Among the demonstrators, Belaid's widow Besma held two fingers in the air in the victory sign, as his eight-year-old daughter fainted in chaotic and emotional scenes as the funeral cortege prepared to set off.

Belaid's coffin was then carried by military truck on its final three-and-a-half-kilometre journey to El-Jellaz cemetery, followed by tens of thousands of people, in what was believed to be the biggest protest since the revolution.

Stony-faced soldiers with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders lined the streets, as helicopters flew overhead.

A throng of mourners jostled for space with news photographers around the grave before the burial.

As Belaid was laid to rest at around 1500 GMT, thousands of people cried "Allahu akbar!" (God is greatest) before singing the national anthem and reciting the opening verse of the Koran.

Army chief of staff Rachid Ammar was the only official present at the cemetery, after Belaid's family asked that government representatives stay away. By contrast, members of different secular opposition parties turned out in force.

"We lost a great hero, he was a hero for all Tunisians," said Beji Caid Essebsi, the centre-right opposition leader who served as interim prime minister in the aftermath the revolution.

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European stocks rise on upbeat data

EUROPEAN stock markets have closed higher as investors took heart from upbeat Chinese and US economic data and EU leaders adopted a seven-year budget for the 27-member union.

London's FTSE 100 index of top companies rose 0.78 per cent to 6,276.98 points in afternoon deals on Friday. Frankfurt's DAX grew 0.78 per cent to 7,650.43 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 1.23 per cent to 3,645.51.

In foreign exchange trading, the euro slipped to $US1.3382 from $US1.3395 late on Thursday in New York.

Gold prices edged up to $US1,669.75 an ounce from $US1,668 Thursday on the London Bullion Market.

"Smashing China's trade numbers - considered to be the most reliable indicators of Chinese economic performance - inspired gains in the early trading session, boosting miners," Gekko Markets analyst Anita Paluch said.

As trading got under way on Wall Street, US stocks climbed higher owing to an unexpected drop in the US trade deficit and the strong Chinese trade data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.17 per cent, the S&P 500 index rose 0.24 per cent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.43 per cent.

The US trade deficit shrank more than expected in December, to $38.5 billion instead of the $45.4 billion estimated by analysts.

Meanwhile, China's trade surplus rose sharply in January, with both exports and imports beating expectations, as the country maintained its economic recovery on improving demand.

In Brussels, European Union leaders finally clinched a deal on the bloc's 2014-2020 budget, succeeding where they had failed in November.

"Deal done!" EU President Herman Van Rompuy said on Twitter after more than 24 hours of tough talks between the bloc's 27 heads of state and government.

In China, data showed the world's second biggest economy posting a trade surplus that was 7.7 per cent higher year-on-year at $US29.2 billion ($A28.55 billion) in January, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement, beating a median $US26.6 billion forecast of economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

At the same time inflation slowed to two per cent in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said, easing from a seven-month peak of 2.5 per cent in December.

Asian stock markets mostly rose after the Chinese figures were released, but Tokyo was hit by a stronger yen and data that showed Japan had suffered its lowest current account surplus in nearly 30 years.

Among the mining stocks in London, shares in Anglo American leapt by 2.58 per cent to 1,987 pence, while BHP Billiton had gained a much more modest 0.49 per cent to 2,165.50 pence.

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Pilot rescued as Tas fire threat lowered

A PILOT has been rescued after his helicopter crashed while fighting a bushfire in Tasmania, where emergency bushfire warnings have been downgraded.

Strong wind gusts earlier fanned a fire burning at Molesworth in the Derwent Valley, with the Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) issuing an emergency alert for the area, warning residents it was likely too late to leave and to activate their bushfire survival plan.

The TFS warned the fire danger rating in Molesworth, in the state's south, was still very high but had downgraded the emergency warning to a watch and act alert on Thursday night.

The Molesworth fire terrain has made parts of it inaccessible to the crews working in the area, with four helicopters being used as water-bombers.

One of the firefighting pilots, a 52-year-old Hobart man, crashed into a clearing near the bushfire before being rescued about 5pm (AEDT).

Police said the man was airlifted to the Royal Hobart Hospital for assessment and was shaken by the incident but not seriously hurt.

Two schools in the area, Collinsvale and Molesworth Primary Schools, will remain closed on Friday.

The TFS said the fire had impacted on Suhrs Road, Fehlbergs Road, Valley Road and Collins Cap Road to Springdale Road and may impact on the areas of Myrtle Forest Road and Old Springdale Road within the next six to 12 hours.

The TFS says there may be embers, smoke and ash falling on Molesworth, Glenlusk and Collinsvale.

A watch and act alert is also in place for an out-of-control blaze near Franklin in the Huon Valley, south of Hobart, with the area on a high fire danger rating.

A watch and act alert had also previously been put in place for a fire at Lefroy near George Town, in the state's north, with the area on a low to moderate fire danger rating.

A total fire ban has been declared for the northern and southern regions of Tasmania for Friday.

The fire ban covers Break O'Day, Dorset Flinders, George Town, Launceston, Meander Valley, Northern Midlands, West Tamar, Brighton, Central Highlands, Clarence City, Derwent Valley, Glamorgan, Spring Bay, Glenorchy, Hobart, Huon Valley, Kingborough, Sorell, Southern Midlands and Tasman.

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Union wants risky mothers-to-be locked up

THE Queensland police union is calling for tougher laws to send risk-taking pregnant women into safe houses in an effort to monitor their behaviour.

In a submission to the Queensland Child Protection Inquiry, the union says the rights of an unborn child should be considered ahead of the mother, The Australian reports.

Union president Ian Leavers says the state should be able to intervene in cases where children are at risk of foetal alcohol syndrome and drug addictions.

"Those children also deserve the right to a full life and health and should not be disadvantaged simply because of the actions or inaction of their birth mother," he says in the submission.

"The state must have the ability to intervene and protect the unborn child when its mother refuses, or is incapable or unwilling to do so."

Mr Leavers said tougher laws would complement the criminal code, which provides for a charge of killing an unborn child or grievous bodily harm for any person who violently kills or harms an unborn child.

The submission expresses views of frontline police who work in child protection, Mr Leavers says in the document.

The inquiry is headed by former Family Court judge Tim Carmody, who is expected to release his final report in April.

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ICC demands Libya hand over Gaddafi ex-spy

INTERNATIONAL Criminal Court judges have demanded Libya hand over Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief Abdullah Senoussi to face charges of crimes against humanity.

The latest broadside in the legal tug-of-war between The Hague-based ICC and Tripoli over where Senoussi and Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam should be tried repeated a demand for Senoussi to be handed over.

The ICC "orders the Libyan authorities to proceed to the immediate surrender of Mr Senoussi to the court", said a ruling issued on Wednesday and made public on Thursday.

The ICC has the option of calling on the United Nations Security Council to take action.

The ICC is mulling a Libyan request to put Senoussi and Gaddafi on trial there, while the ICC itself wants to try them on charges of crimes against humanity committed in the conflict that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The ICC, which was mandated by the UN Security Council to investigate the Libyan conflict, issued arrest warrants in June 2011 for both Gaddafi and Senoussi on charges of crimes against humanity.

Lawyers for the two accused have said they will not get a fair trial in Libya.

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Man charged over NSW south coast shooting

A MAN has been charged after he allegedly shot into a home on the NSW south coast.

The 26-year-old man was arrested at a house in Nowra on Thursday, after he allegedly fired several rounds into a home on McKay Street, Nowra in December last year.

No one was injured in the shooting.

Police seized a rifle, double shortened double barrel shotgun and Taser, which had all been stolen, while also locating a shotgun and ammunition.

The man has been charged with two counts of possess unauthorised firearm and one count of possess shortened firearm.

He has been refused bail and will face Nowra Local Court on Friday.

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US stocks open slightly lower

US stocks have opened slightly lower as the market takes a breather from the aggressive buying that has characterised most of 2013 so far.

Five minutes into trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 14.86 points, or 0.11 per cent, lower at 13,971.66.

The S&P 500 index dropped 0.28 point, or 0.02 per cent.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.20 point, or 0.01 per cent.

Thursday's trading followed a middling session on Wednesday when markets concluded the day little-changed.

The S&P 500 is already up six per cent this year "and there has been a litany of warnings from pundits that the market is due for a pullback", said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"The latter view, however, has often been couched with the acknowledgment that there is a lot of frustrated money on the sidelines waiting to buy on weakness," O'Hare added.

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Woman business chief gets plum cabinet job

PRESIDENT Barack Obama will seek to add another woman to his cabinet by picking business executive Sally Jewell to head the vast Interior Department, a White House official says.

Obama has been criticised for naming middle-aged white men to the top jobs in his second term team, but has pledged to promote diversity in his other picks, and has now settled on several prominent females.

If confirmed by the Senate, Jewell - who heads Recreational Equipment Inc, an outdoors retail chain - will succeed Ken Salazar at Interior, which manages US national resources, wildlife, tribal issues and national parks.

"With years of experience managing a nearly $US2 billion ($A1.93 billion) a year company, she will bring to the position integrity, keen management skills, as well as dedication to the Department's mission of managing our nation's lands," a White House official said.

"She believes deeply in the American tradition of preserving our nation's wild places, while also understanding firsthand the inextricable link between conservation and the economy.

"She also believes we must be good stewards of our nation's natural resources, underscoring the administration's ongoing priority of expanding safe and responsible energy production," the official said, noting that Jewell began her career as an engineer for Mobil Oil Corporation.

Obama had been under pressure to add more diversity to his new cabinet after picking Chuck Hagel, John Kerry and Jack Lew, to serve as the secretaries of Defence, State and Treasury.

In January, Obama nominated high powered New York prosecutor and organised crime buster Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission to implement his Wall Street reforms.

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US Post to end Saturday letter service

THE US Postal Service (USPS) has announced that it will halt letter delivery services on Saturday in an attempt to reduce costs that left it $US15.9 billion ($A15.36 billion) in the red in 2012.

USPS chief Tom Donahoe, the US postmaster general, said the national mail agency was taking the step after waiting in vain for Congress to put through reforms that would help it shore up its finances on a long-term basis.

"The Postal Service has a responsibility to take the steps necessary to return to long-term financial stability and ensure the continued affordability of the US mail," said Donahoe.

The USPS said the move is expected to result in $2 billion in cost savings.

The five-day service will begin on August 5. But the USPS will continue to deliver packages on Saturdays, and post offices will remain open on Saturday.

The USPS has been hit hard both by the turn to email and other electronic communications, reducing the volumes of mail it carries, and by competition from more agile private firms like Fedex in the high-margin parcel business.

Its losses more than tripled in the year to September 30 from $5.1 billion in fiscal 2011, with more than $11 billion sucked off to pre-fund health benefits for USPS retirees far into the future.

While package service revenue grew by 8.7 per cent last year, overall mail volume fell 5.1 per cent and operating revenues fell nearly one per cent, to $65.2 billion.

Since 2006 the service has reduced the size of its workforce by 193,000, or 28 per cent.

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Australian workers confident of pay rises

AUSTRALIAN workers are more confident than any other employees around the world about receiving a pay rise in 2013.

The latest Randstad Workmonitor report says three-quarters of Australian workers are confident of a pay rise this year, a dramatic increase on two years ago when just 46 per cent were expecting one.

This confidence is not shared by workers in many of the world's largest economies, with just 41 per cent of French, 42 per cent of Japanese and 57 per cent of German employees expecting a pay rise in the coming year.

Employees in the UK and the US are also less confident, at 61 per cent and 69 per cent respectively.

Randstad, a global recruitment and HR services specialist firm, said the expectations among Australian workers could present problems if organisations weren't performing well financially.

"A patchwork economy is still visible in Australia, with some businesses struggling while others show strong growth, so it is vital people have realistic expectations when it comes to pay rises," managing director Asia Pacific Deb Loveridge said, releasing the report on Thursday.

Businesses needed to be open with employees to prevent workers feeling disappointment and resentment if they didn't get a pay rise, she said.

Only 43 per cent of workers described the economy as "bad", compared with an average 61 per cent of employees worldwide.

The least confident were in the euro zone, where 98 per cent of Greek employees, 96 per cent of Spanish and 94 per cent of Italian labelled their national economic situation as "bad".

Over three-quarters (77 per cent) of Australian workers believed their workload increased last year, above the global average of 73 per cent.

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Giant komodo dragon mauls two

A PARK official says two people have been hospitalised after being attacked by a giant komodo dragon that wandered into the office of a wildlife park in eastern Indonesia.

An official at Komodo National Park, Heru Rudiharto, said on Wednesday the two-metre-long komodo dragon attacked a park ranger after walking into the office on Tuesday. It then attacked another park employee who came to help him. Both were badly bitten and were evacuated to a hospital on Bali Island.

Endangered Komodo dragons can grow longer than three metres. Fewer than 4000 are believed to be alive. They are found in the wild primarily on the eastern Indonesian islands of Komodo, Padar and Rinca.

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Leading UK Aussies meet royal couple

AUSTRALIA'S first indigenous Rhodes scholar didn't have time to get nervous before meeting Prince Charles and his wife Camilla in London.

One minute Rebecca Richards was chatting with Australian high commissioner Mike Rann and the next she was shaking hands with the royal couple.

Ms Richards, 25, met the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwell on Wednesday at a Clarence House reception for past and present winners of the UK Australian of the Year awards.

The South Australian scholar was named Young Australian Achiever of the Year in the UK on January 26.

Past winners include soccer star Harry Kewell, comedian Tim Minchin and fashionista Yasmin Sewell.

The Wednesday reception was Ms Richard's first meeting with royalty.

She said she had a "lovely" chat with Prince Charles about her anthropology studies at Oxford University.

"I'm really impressed they know so much about Australia and they take an active interest," she said after the meeting.

Asked the curliest of questions on such an occasion - whether she considered herself a republican - Ms Richards answered with aplomb.

"I think Australia will eventually become a republic, definitely, but I'm not sure when or how."

Ms Richards said it was a great honour to be recognised for her work examining how Aboriginal stories are told through art.

At Oxford she's investigating colonial representations of Aboriginal people.

At the same time she's continuing to organise exhibitions back home at the National Museum of Australia.

Ms Sewell, whose consultancy firm predicts fashion and beauty trends, won the young achiever gong in 2012.

She met the royals alongside Ms Richards on Wednesday after missing out last year.

Ms Sewell wasn't nervous about meeting Prince Charles and the Duchess in part because she had previously met the Queen.

"She was very real and very personable and he was brilliant too," Ms Sewell told AAP.

The 2013 winner of the Australian of the Year in the UK award, milliner Frederick Fox, couldn't attend the reception.

Mr Fox, 81, crafted more than 350 hats for the Queen over a 34-year period and received his royal warrant in 1974.

The Australian is widely-recognised as the founder of the fascinator - an inclusion in his 1999 collection.

Finalists for the 2013 UK New Zealander of the Year award, to be announced on Friday, were also present at the reception.

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Happy Waitanga Day from the US

US president Barack Obama and new secretary of state, John Kerry, have wished New Zealanders a happy Waitangi Day.

Kerry, who took up the job this week following Hillary Clinton's retirement, said the US and New Zealand share a strong and enduring relationship.

"On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I send congratulations and best wishes to the people of New Zealand as you commemorate the February 6 anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi, or Te Tiriti o Waitangi," Kerry said in a statement issued from Washington DC.

"This is an opportunity to reflect both upon New Zealand's unique culture and diverse heritage and to celebrate the promise of the future as new generations carry on your rich traditions.

"The United States and New Zealand share a strong and enduring friendship, which has continued to deepen since we first established diplomatic relations in 1942.

"Our countries share a commitment to work together to bring peace, stability, and sustainability to the Pacific region and beyond.

"As New Zealanders around the world come together to celebrate, I wish you a happy Waitangi Day, and a prosperous and successful year."

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West Australians getting to know McGowan

THE decision to officially launch the West Australian Labor election campaign 10 days before the Liberals may well prove to be a masterstroke, but will it be enough to elevate leader Mark McGowan to premier?

After a flurry of big-spending announcements, reporters haven't been able to resist the question of whether the campaign will run out of steam, something the 45-year-old has categorically rejected.

NSW-born Mr McGowan, who moved west with the Royal Australian Navy in 1991, has not unexpectedly stepped up efforts to enhance his public image and shake off his "wooden" tag, promoting his Twitter account, his own website and launching a new TV advertisement showing him all-smiles on the foreshore of his working class electorate of Rockingham, as well as playing cricket with his three children.

He is depicted as a family man - a man of the people who understands their everyday frustrations like traffic congestion and cost of living pressures - themes that no doubt resonate with many.

The PR blitz makes sense: when Mr McGowan took over the Labor leadership in January last year, he admitted that many West Australians did not know much about him personally and he would have to work hard to gain the community's trust and sell his policies before the election.

While Perth's suburbs have been well tramped, the regions may figure more as the campaign progresses.

A little known fact about Mr McGowan, who is still a member of the Navy Reserves, is that he was awarded the Governor General's Commendation for Bravery for rescuing an unconscious driver from a burning car in 1995.

He served as a legal officer at HMAS Stirling until mid-1996, and was the deputy mayor of Rockingham before being elected to state parliament later that year.

His accomplishments include liquor restrictions on communities in the north west, major resources project approvals including for Gorgan, and major curriculum changes including more exams and new courses.

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Grylls fighting for his political life

IN the past four years, Brendon Grylls has brought royalties by the billions to the regions, while almost single-handedly reviving the power and glory of the Nationals Party in Western Australia.

In the next four weeks, the Nationals WA leader will be fighting for his own political life - and it is a fight he has picked for himself.

The architect of the Royalties for Regions scheme that allowed Premier Colin Barnett to form government following the 2008 election, Mr Grylls has spearheaded the diverting of rivers of gold from WA's mines to the state's rural areas.

This has included $131 million to revitalise the Gascoyne region, $977 million to revive the Pilbara's residential centres, and most recently with the continuing expansion of the Ord River irrigation scheme in the East Kimberley, Mr Grylls was front and centre of the announcement of a $700 million agriculture deal with Chinese investors.

But after considering quitting politics altogether following his entry to parliament via a by-election for the seat of Merredin in 2001, Mr Grylls has now taken on the high-risk strategy of quitting the safe Central Wheatbelt seat to challenge for the Pilbara in a bid to keep the royalties flowing while reducing Labor influence.

But it will not be easy, with a Labor margin of 7.2 per cent, and local ALP candidate Kelly Howlett boasting 13 years living and working in the area as a barmaid, gardener and Port Headland mayor in 2009.

Mr Grylls' casting as a "fly in, fly out" candidate by Labor has a hint of irony given the help Royalties for Regions has given the mining communities that have been so dependent on the FIFO economy in the past.

But despite the doubts of both locals and Mr Barnett about the gamble to shift his seat, Mr Grylls' contention that projects are funded by cabinet, not in the front bar, is likely to hold some significant weight.

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Play fighting over as WA campaign begins

WHEN is an election campaign not an election campaign?

When Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett says so.

Despite the state's Labor opposition making more than $2 billion in rail promises, planning a new circular freeway, pledging to recruit 500 more police officers, and finding more than $100 million to save lives on WA's country roads - all in the past two weeks - Mr Barnett claims he's not yet in the fray.

After a fortnight of play fighting, the real stuff will begin on Wednesday, when the country's longest serving Liberal premier issues writs that will ring the bell on WA's first fixed-term election on March 9.

The polls say Mr Barnett is Black Caviar to opposition leader Mark McGowan's Black Beauty - with the Liberal Party at odds of $1.10 to win, compared to Labor's $4.85 with the bookmakers.

But the pure numbers say that if maverick Green turned independent MP Adele Carles loses her seat in Fremantle to Labor as expected, then they only need to gain two more lower house seats to form a government.

So while Mr Barnett might have feigned having his fingers in his ears since Australia Day, he would undoubtedly have noted every ambitious promise made by Labor, topped by the multi-billion dollar Metronet rail scheme.

It was clear from way out the main issue in the state that drives the nation's economy is how easily its residents will be able to drive in coming years.

Increasing road congestion coupled with rising fuel bills, the prospect of more CBD roadworks to come and packed train carriages have all helped put transport at the top of Perth's to-do list.

And so Labor has called on voters to climb aboard the Metronet express, which promises to ease congestion on the roads by connecting the suburbs through new rail lines and stations.

Its $3.8 billion price tag was immediately questioned by state transport minister Troy Buswell, who went as far as getting his own costing of $6.4 billion - sparking the first real row of the campaign about who did his figures, and why.

Searching for the campaign's iconic image, Labor has gone as far as having baby clothes made - bearing the colourful London Underground-style map it hopes will shift voters as well as commuters.

And with five major Metronet elements already revealed, Labor could claim the early momentum in a campaign where only one side has been in election mode.

Not that it's stopped Premier Barnett or his ministers getting around the state with a few big cheques.

A promised $70 million will upgrade Perth's beaches, with other pledges including free public transport for carers, $300,000 for the safety of rock fishermen in Albany - which has a majority of 0.2 per cent - and $36 million for LED speed signs in all school zones.

But with the Labor slogan of a campaign about priorities ringing in their ears, the Liberals have kept their priority policies well hidden.

Transport is shaping to be one, education another, and law and order a third.

The Liberal's governmental ally, the Nationals, have been quiet, perhaps because state leader Brendon Grylls faces a political prize-fight in the Pilbara after choosing to move from his safe Central Wheatbelt seat.

Mr Grylls will also not be a part of the televised debate due to take place between the two party leaders on February 19 - the only head-to-head contest Mr Barnett has agreed to take part in throughout the campaign.

Mr McGowan, however, is scheduled to appear in two more in the following fortnight, but with his opponent yet to be announced, he may be left debating himself.

Whether anyone has been listening will be revealed on March 9.

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Boom state emperor digs in for long haul

THERE'S a clear irony that Australia's longest-serving Liberal premier, Colin Barnett, seems set to stay in politics for the long haul after planning to retire in 2004.

The development-minded economist recently told reporters he'd consider another term if he won the March 9 poll, as expected, to secure another four years in the boom state's top job.

When asked if a replacement leader would "surely" need to be named thereafter, his reply was "why?".

The opposition would say he's here to stay because of a lack of talent in the party following the shift of young-gun Christian Porter into federal politics.

Mr Barnett denies that claim, but what is certain is he's not averse to digging his heels in, exemplified by the battle over the Browse gas hub, which recently saw the 62-year-old heckled in Broome - much to his chagrin - and is one of the reasons he has earned the tag "Emperor".

There's no doubt he's pit-bull fierce in advocating for the state's interest, but his push for a greater share of the GST recently saw him slapped down by federal Liberal supremo Tony Abbott, who said his job was to be a national leader, "not just a parochial one".

More enjoyable moments in Mr Barnett's premiership included November last year when he bonded with then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the AUSMIN defence meetings in Perth over their shared love of space.

Mr Barnett had joked that as a child he wanted to be American and insisted on being called Sputnik, prompting a jovial Mrs Clinton to call him "Premier Sputnik".

Another moment that left him grinning was meeting the Queen of England during the CHOGM event in 2011, but his subsequent naming of Perth's new Elizabeth Quay inlet development on the Swan River after her majesty - without consultation - cemented his Emperor tag.

It's not easy being the boss.

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Spain bank clean-up at 'advanced stage'

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Spain's reforms under its financial sector support program are close to being complete and the clean-up of its weakest banks is well advanced.

"The program remains on track: the clean-up of undercapitalised banks has reached an advanced stage, and key reforms of Spain's financial sector framework have been either adopted or designed," the IMF said on Monday.

In a monitoring mission report, the IMF said most of the measures required of Spain under the European Commission's 100 billion euro ($A132 billion) support program for its devastated banking sector have been completed.

"This clean-up is a major achievement that should strengthen confidence in the system and improve its ability to support the real economy," the Fund said.

But the IMF, which was recruited to monitor progress of the EC program, which was launched last July, warned that remaining elements of the recapitalisation program need to be completed, "and in ways that minimise taxpayer costs".

"Going forward, it will be important to maintain this momentum with strong completion of initiated reforms and continued vigilant oversight."

The Fund warned that the financial system was still exposed to important risks while the economy remains weak and the government undertakes more austerity efforts to close its deficit.

In January the Bank of Spain said the country's banks, ravaged by a collapse of the property sector, held 191.6 billion euros worth of bad or doubtful loans, nearly 11.4 per cent of all credit extended.

The IMF cited also the "important progress" that came with the set-up of SAREB, the recently formed 'bad bank' that will take on the lenders' soured assets.

SAREB has already taken in real estate assets from the weakest Spanish banks, but the IMF said it still needed a comprehensive long-term business plan as well as firm implementation of its standards for servicing the bad loans, so that its own capital remains strong.

The IMF report came as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was under fresh pressure to resign over corruption allegations levelled at his ruling Popular Party.

The scandal has infuriated Spaniards, millions of whom are still struggling to find work in an ongoing recession with the highest jobless rate, at 26 per cent, since the return of democracy in 1975.

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Cambodia mourns as king cremated

CAMBODIANS have bid goodbye with tears, chanting and fireworks to former King Norodom Sihanouk, their revered King-Father who led them through half a century of political tumult that took them into the abyss of genocidal Khmer Rouge rule and back out again.

Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians thronged the capital on Monday for the elaborate royal cremation of the maddening mercurial leader whose charm often overshadowed missteps that to most of his countrymen have faded away in a fog of nostalgia for a simpler time.

Sihanouk's elaborate funeral rites - mingling Hindu, Buddhist and animist traditions - were last seen 53 years ago with the death of his father, King Norodom Suramarit. And they may never be seen again in a rapidly modernising country where the monarchy has lost much of its power and glamour.

After sunset, Sihanouk's son King Norodom Sihamoni and widow, Queen Mother Norodom Monineath, both weeping, ignited the funeral pyre inside a temple-like, 15-storey-high crematorium. Howitzers fired salvos and fireworks lit up the sky when they exited about half-an-hour later.

After the cremation, Sihamoni handed out gifts to some 400 prisoners he had earlier pardoned as part of the mourning for his father, who he said was "in heaven, near the Lord Buddha, forever".

The cremation took place within a walled compound where 90 Buddhist monks - one for each year of Sihanouk's life as counted by Cambodians - chanted around the flower-decked, gilt coffin. Only the country's elite and foreign dignitaries were allowed inside the cremation ground, along with courtiers dressed in pantaloons and soldiers in 19th century-style uniforms with spiked helmets and swords.

Sihanouk's body had been lying in state since he died of a heart attack in Beijing on October 15 at the age of 89.

The cremation was the climax of seven days of official mourning for Sihanouk, who was placed on the throne by the French as a teenager. Instead of proving the puppet the colonials had hoped for, Sihanouk went on to win independence, then rule the country both as monarch and head of state until ousted in a 1970 coup. Internationally, he was a leading member of the non-aligned movement and heightened his small country's profile in the world.

A prideful Sihanouk sided with the Khmer Rouge against the US-backed government, but after the victory of the ultra-communists in 1975, he and his wife were held prisoners in the palace. Five of his children died during the reign of terror.

A consummate survivor, Sihanouk emerged as a leader of an insurgency fighting a Phnom Penh government installed by the Vietnamese and went on to broker a peace accord that enabled his return to the throne in 1993.

He abdicated 11 years later in favour of Sihamoni, a 59-year-old former ballet dancer who had spent most of his life in European artistic circles and has proven a low-keyed constitutional monarch overshadowed by strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Sihanouk's dark side, particularly his cooperation with the Khmer Rouge and his often brutal suppression of dissent, has been publicly ignored as loudspeakers broadcast eulogies and television stations show old clips of Sihanouk's triumphs and ebullient personality.

A larger-than-life character, Sihanouk directed films, composed music and led his own jazz band and palace soccer team. His appetite extended to fast cars, food and women, marrying at least five times, some say six, and fathering 14 children.

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S Africa hikes farm worker pay by 52%

SOUTH Africa has raised farm workers' basic salary by more than 50 per cent after violent strikes in the fruit-growing Cape region in the south, the labour minister has announced.

Mildred Oliphant announced the new minimum daily wage will "be pegged at 105 rand ($A11.35) per day" from March, rising from 69 rand per day.

"I would urge organised business and labour in the agricultural sector to use this opportunity to come together to find ways of improving labour relations in their sector," Oliphant said.

Organised agriculture warned the 52 per cent hike will force job cuts in the sector that employs approximately 700,000 people.

"What's going to happen now is that with the increase of labour costs we will actually go to a point now where we will shed surplus labour on the farms," said Carl Opperman of the Agri-Wes Cape, the regional commercial farmers union.

Workers went on strike in November over demands their basic pay be increased to 150 rands per day, described by farmers as unaffordable, which spread to several towns and killed three people.

The unrest in towns near Cape Town saw vineyards, property and vehicles torched and sparked several clashes with police firing rubber bullets.

A non-government report on the industry found the average wage on farms was around 85 rand and that if it increased to more than 105 rand, many farms would would be unable to pay operating expenses.

It also found that a wage of 150 rand would not provide the nutritional needs of workers.

The Food and Allied Workers Union described the raise as a "short term victory" for the workers, adding they will continue the fight for a bigger minimum wage.

"This raise of over 50 per cent, by the department of labour, is a meaningful step towards obtaining a living wage for farm workers," the Food and Allied Workers Union said in a statement.

"We will, however, fearlessly continue to push for higher wages in the sector, with the clarion call for a R150 per day minimum as our mandate."

The wage hike comes on the heels of hefty wage increases won in the mining sector after the industry was rocked by wildcat strikes in which more than 50 people were killed.

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Kashmir cleric says girl band 'un-Islamic'

INDIAN Kashmir's most senior Muslim cleric has called for the plug to be pulled on an all-girl rock group, calling the band "un-Islamic" and accusing them of "indecent" behaviour.

Pragaash (First Light) sprang to prominence last December when the high school trio, all of whom are Muslim, won an annual Battle of Bands competition held in Srinagar, the state capital.

But the three-piece, whose members are all aged around 16, has since been the target of a cultural backlash in the Muslim majority state, including hate mail on their Facebook page, and have held back from playing any more concerts.

While artists, numerous others and even the state's chief minister have sprung to their defence, the Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, Bashiruddin Ahmad, has now weighed into the debate by calling for them to quit.

"When girls and young women stray from the rightful path and indulge in shameless and indecent behaviour ... this kind of non-serious activity (music) can become the first step towards our destruction," he said in a statement on Sunday.

"Some girls who believe this mirage to be a real spring are set on a destructive path. They should stop in their tracks."

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, however, promised full security for the band members and urged them to continue singing.

"Jammu and Kashmir always had a musical history. The girls can continue their musical career. The state will provide security," Abdullah said in an interview with CNN-IBN news channel.

Kashmir is India's only Muslim-majority state and hardline Islamists have a reputation for trying to impose Islamic law, forcing the closure of cinemas and liquor stores with the onset of an anti-India insurgency in 1990.

Kashmiri women, who often do not wear full veils, have in the past been targeted by campaigns to enforce Islamic dress codes.

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Sri Lanka leader rules out Tamil autonomy

SRI Lanka's president has ruled out giving Tamils greater political autonomy, appearing to back away from his long-stalled promise to empower the ethnic minority as part of the country's reconciliation process following a bloody civil war.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa made his about-face despite growing international pressure to compromise with the defeated minority and to investigate allegations of war crimes.

Sri Lanka is expected to face questions from the UN Human Rights Council in March on its progress in implementing its own war commission report, which also recommends investigating alleged human rights violations and giving autonomy to Tamils.

The United States has said it will sponsor a resolution at the council for a second straight year on the implementation of the war commission report.

The pressure comes nearly four years after the government, dominated by the ethnic Sinhalese majority, defeated the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, who had been demanding an independent Tamil nation after decades of perceived discrimination. According to a United Nations' estimate, 80,000 to 100,000 people were killed during the war, which ended in 2009, but other reports suggest it could be much higher.

"When the people live together in unity there are no racial or religious differences," Rajapaksa said in his independence day speech on Monday.

"Therefore, it is not practical for this country to have different administrations based on ethnicity. The solution is to live together in this country with equal rights for all communities," he said.

Rajapaksa has long promised the United Nations and other countries that he would offer power sharing as an alternative to secession.

Rajapaksa in his speech called on the international community not to believe in propaganda and to visit Sri Lanka to see the country's human rights record.

Meanwhile, the main ethnic Tamil political party said in a statement that the UN Human Rights Council must take "stern action" against the Sri Lankan government, saying it has not been sincere in investigating abuses and sharing power.

Talks between the government and Tamil National Alliance have stalled for more than a year, and the party says the government is militarising the north and settling majority ethnic Sinhalese.

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Gillard's new ministers to be sworn in

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is wasting no time getting her new ministers straight into the job with the official swearing-in by the governor-general to be held in Canberra on Monday.

With last week's surprise resignations of Senator Chris Evans and Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, the prime minister took the opportunity to reshuffle the cabinet and bring in new blood.

Mike Kelly gets his first ministry being appointed minister for defence materiel.

Chris Bowen will replace Senator Evans as minister for tertiary education, skills, science and research with responsibility for small business.

Mark Dreyfus will replace Ms Roxon as attorney-general and minister for emergency management, relinquishing the role of cabinet secretary to Jason Clare, who retains home affairs and justice.

Brendan O'Connor will become minister for immigration and citizenship and Mark Butler takes on housing and homelessness.

Ms Gillard said the departure of Senator Evans and Ms Roxon opened the way for fresh talent, new ideas and new energy.

"It means a rejuvenated team who will keep building a smarter, fairer modern Australia," she said in a statement.

New parliamentary secretaries Yvette D'Ath (climate change and energy efficiency), Kelvin Thompson (trade) and Melissa Parke (mental health, homelessness and social housing) will also be sworn in.

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Poor light halts search for missing plane

A SEARCH will resume on Monday morning for an ultralight aircraft and its pilot missing north of Brisbane.

Police said the aircraft, piloted by a woman in her 50s, left Caboolture around 9.15am Sunday on a trip to the Glass House Mountains.

Police received a report about 12.30pm that the plane had failed to return.

An extensive air and land search was launched but had to be called off on Sunday evening due to poor light.

The search will resume at first light on Monday.

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Libyan TV crew 'assaulted' in parliament

SECURITY guards at Libya's parliament have beaten up a crew of Alassema, an independent television network, the channel says.

"A team from (Alassema TV) went to cover a meeting of the national assembly on Friday, entering as they were permitted to," the channel's press office director Fethi Ben Aissa said.

"After interviewing an MP, the team was assaulted by plain clothes guards of the General National Congress," he said, adding that "the public prosecutor has decided to open an inquiry into the incident".

A video posted on the internet, purportedly of the same incident, showed a cameraman being pushed and hit by men in civilian clothing, provoking an online uproar.

A joint statement by dozens of journalists said "this act of aggression essentially constitutes an attack against freedom of the media and is a return to the era of the stifling of the press".

It called for "the creation of a journalist union ... to ensure the defence of people's rights to obtain correct and timely information from different media outlets".

Under the regime of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted by a popular uprising in 2011, independent media outlets and any criticism of government were banned.

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UK police use stun gun on man at palace

A MAN waving large knives outside Buckingham Palace in the presence of tourists has been shocked with a Taser stun gun and arrested, police say.

The Queen and Prince Philip were at one of their weekend retreats, in Sandringham, eastern England, at the time of the incident just before noon (2300 AEDT) on Sunday.

"A man was seen outside the (palace's) centre gate in possession of two knives," said a spokesman for the capital's Metropolitan Police force.

"He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police. He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged.

"He is thought to be in his 50s. He was arrested on suspicion of affray and has been taken to a central London police station," the spokesman added.

A video on YouTube showed the man placing a large blade to his neck before waving it about. Moments later he fell to the ground after being shocked with the Taser gun and was quickly surrounded by police officers.

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Man charged over fatal shooting of ex-SEAL

A 25-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with murder over the deaths of former Navy SEAL and American Sniper author Chris Kyle and another man at a Texas gun range, the Texas Department of Public Safety says.

Sergeant Lonny Haschel said in a news release that 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh of Lancaster was arraigned on Saturday night on two counts of capital murder.

Haschel said Erath County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call about a shooting at the Rough Creek Lodge, west of Glen Rose, late Saturday afternoon.

They found the bodies of Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at the shooting range.

Police said Routh opened fire on Kyle and Littlefield about 3.30pm, then fled in a Ford pickup truck. At about 8pm, Routh arrived at his home in Lancaster, about 27km southeast of Dallas. Police arrested him after a brief pursuit and took him to the Lancaster Police Department.

The motive for the shooting was unclear.

Kyle wrote the best-selling book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History, detailing his 150-plus kills of insurgents from 1999 to 2009.

A news release from Travis Cox, director of FITCO Cares, a non-profit Kyle helped start, said Kyle served four tours of duty.

"Chris died doing what he filled his heart with passion - serving soldiers struggling with the fight to overcome PTSD," Cox said in the release. "He will be forever missed."

Kyle is survived by his wife, Taya, and their children, the non-profit's release said.

Kyle was sued by former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura over a portion of the book that claims Kyle punched Ventura in a 2006 bar fight over unpatriotic remarks. Ventura says the punch never happened and the claim by Kyle defamed him.

Kyle had asked that Ventura's claims of invasion of privacy and "unjust enrichment" be dismissed, saying there was no legal basis for them. But a federal judge said the lawsuit should proceed. Both sides were told to be ready for trial by August 1.

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