$US2.6bn for News Corp publishing unit

The publishing unit being spun off by News Corp will begin operations with $US2.6 billion in cash. Source: AAP

THE newspaper and publishing unit being spun off by media giant News Corp will begin operations with $2.6 billion in cash, according to regulatory documents filed on Friday.

The company to be created by a split of magnate Rupert Murdoch's conglomerate will get a cash infusion when the break-up takes place, the documents showed.

No date was given for the split, but executives have said they hope it will occur before the end of the company fiscal year in June.

The publishing arm, which includes the Wall Street Journal, newspapers in Britain and Australia and education operations, is tentatively being called the New Newscorp in regulatory documents.

"New News Corporation's principal source of liquidity is internally generated funds and cash and cash equivalents on hand," the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission said.

As part of the separation, the parent company "is expected to make a cash contribution to New News Corporation such that... it expects to have approximately $2.6 billion of cash on hand."

The cash and credit for the new group could be used for acquisitions in the sector, the statement said.

The film and television operations will be part of a larger unit to be known as Fox Group, including the Fox studios and television properties.

"The new News Corporation's strong balance sheet will provide the company with full financial flexibility to pursue its strategic agenda, which is to further develop and expand the power of its market-leading brands over a myriad of platforms," Murdoch said in a statement.

"We believe the new News Corporation's strong balance sheet, along with its diversified revenue base, will be key competitive assets that will allow the company to lead in innovation and the creation of long term shareholder value."

The break-up is seen as a nod to shareholders angered by the reputational damage and costs inflicted by a phone hacking scandal in Britain and because of troubles within the group's publishing arm.

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Anti-nuclear rally held in Tokyo

Demonstrators rallied in Tokyo ahead of the second anniversary of the March 11 earthquake disaster. Source: AAP

THOUSANDS of anti-nuclear demonstrators have rallied in Tokyo ahead of the second anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster, urging Japan's new government to abandon nuclear power.

Saturday's gathering of some 15,000 people, according to organisers, at a park in central Tokyo drew disaster victims and celebrities, including Nobel laureate writer Kenzaburo Oe, before the anniversary on Monday of the disaster that killed 19,000 and sparked reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Protesters marched through the capital later in the day and issued a statement calling on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office late December following his party's election win, to dismantle all nuclear plants.

Abe, whose conservative Liberal Democratic Party has close ties with the nation's powerful business circle, has repeatedly said he would allow reactor restarts if their safety could be ensured.

"The new administration should not misunderstand that the (election) victory can mean approval of policies to maintain nuclear power," the statement said.

"We will request policies to swiftly begin procedures in decommissioning nuclear reactors and disapprove any plans to newly build nuclear plants," it said.

Japan turned off its stable 50 reactors in the wake of the disaster on March 11, 2011, but restarted two of them citing possible summertime power shortages.

Radiation from the plant, some 220 kilometres (140 miles) northeast of Tokyo, has been spread over a large area in the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

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Communication key lesson of SARS: experts

Experts have learned the importance of raising global alert after the SARS outbreak a decade ago. Source: AAP

A DECADE ago, a highly contagious and deadly new illness sent people worldwide scrambling to cancel flights and holidays as schools closed and sales of surgical masks spiked.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was the first "new" disease of the 21st century to jump from an animal host to humans, then easily from one person to another.

It caught the world unawares and exposed health system weaknesses in an era in which people are ever more exposed to strange, new viruses lurking in hitherto undisturbed places.

The outbreak was contained within months with about 800 deaths, settling fears of a plague-like global wipeout but also yielding important lessons for the future.

"The experience from the first SARS outbreak is helping us now," virologist John Oxford from the Queen Mary University of London told AFP.

The world is currently dealing with another coronavirus like the one that caused SARS which has killed eight people since it was first detected in mid-2012.

The most important lessons cited by experts include information sharing, rapidly raising the global alert, and finding and containing the outbreak source.

"We have learnt that it is important to say what we know," Isabelle Nuttall, director of the alert and response department at the World Health Organisation (WHO) told Agence France-Presse.

A lack of communication was a key criticism of the handling of the 2003 outbreak, with China accused of trying to cover it up.

Since then, the world has adopted International Health Regulations, said Nuttall, which bind all countries to report any severe, new disease with spread potential.

SARS also showed it is easy to overreact - millions of people were screened at airports with little or no success.

Flights were cancelled as panic spread, tens of thousands of people were placed in quarantine in Asia and Canada, and hundreds of schools were closed - all measures whose usefulness are now questioned.

The World Bank says these steps cost the world some $54 billion ($A52.73 billion at today's rates), much of it in lost tourism revenue.

In fact, simple hygiene - washing your hands and masking your cough - turned out to be a much more effective deterrent, according to Oxford.

"Everyone thought it was perhaps bigger than it was," he said of the way SARS was handled.

"Today, I doubt whether there would be this restriction on travel. Another thing the SARS outbreak told us, is that to clamp down on people's movement, it doesn't work and it causes a lot of trouble."

SARS infected about 8000 people around the world, claiming most of its victims in Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, Canada and Singapore.

The first case was detected in China's Guangdong province in November 2002 but information about it was not released until February 2003.

On March 12 that year, the WHO issued a global SARS alert. By July, it declared the outbreak contained.

We may not be so lucky next time, say the experts.

"Without substantially more attention and spending, the risks of a catastrophic global disease outbreak keep increasing," warned Olga Jonas, an economic adviser who coordinates the World Bank's response to pandemic threats.

"The annual cost of robust systems for pandemic prevention in developing countries is around $US3.4 billion ($A3.33 billion), compared to current spending of less than $US450 million. This is woefully inadequate," she told AFP by email.

The odds of a new outbreak multiply each year as more and more globetrotters are exposed to strange new pathogens before going home to ever-more-crowded cities and towns where disease can spread quickly.

"There are viruses out there somewhere, lying quiescent and every now and then they are going to pop up and cause trouble," said Oxford.

A 2012 World Bank report warned a severe pandemic on the scale of the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed about 50-100 million people, may occur once every 100 years and could cost the world $US3 trillion ($A2.94 trillion) today.

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Bin Laden's son-in-law to face US court

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith will face charges that he conspired to kill Americans in his in al-Qaeda. Source: AAP

OSAMA bin Laden's son-in-law was due to appear in a New York court on Friday to face charges that he conspired to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaeda's top propagandist, as a landmark prosecution on US soil takes aim at one of the terror network's senior leaders.

Officials said Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was captured in Jordan over the last week.

The Kuwait-born al-Qaeda spokesman, part of bin Laden's inner circle, lauded the attacks of September 11, 2001 and warned there would be more.

The case marks a legal victory for the Obama administration, which has long sought to charge senior al-Qaeda suspects in US federal courts instead of holding them at the military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Charging foreign terror suspects in American federal courts was a top pledge by President Barack Obama shortly after he took office in 2009 - aimed, in part, to close Guantanamo Bay.

Republicans, however, have fought the White House to keep Guantanamo open, and bringing Abu Ghaith to New York immediately sparked an outcry.

Abu Ghaith will appear on Friday in US federal court in New York, according to a Justice Department statement and indictment outlining the accusations against him.

US Attorney General Eric Holder defended holding Abu Ghaith in New York.

Holder reluctantly agreed in 2011 to try self-professed al-Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a Guantanamo Bay military court instead of a civilian court after a fierce Republican backlash.

"No amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America's enemies to justice," Holder said in a statement.

The Justice Department said Abu Ghaith was the spokesman for al-Qaeda, working alongside bin Laden and current leader Ayman al-Zawahri, since at least May 2001.

Abu Ghaith is a former mosque preacher and teacher and urged followers that month to swear allegiance to bin Laden, prosecutors said.

The day after the September 11 attacks, prosecutors say he appeared with bin Laden and al-Zawahri and called on the "nation of Islam" to battle against Jews, Christians and Americans.

A "great army is gathering against you," Abu Ghaith said on September 12, 2001, according to prosecutors.

Shortly afterward, Abu Ghaith warned in a speech that "the storms shall not stop - especially the airplanes storm" and advised Muslims, children and al-Qaeda allies to stay out of planes and high-rise buildings.

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SAfrican dragging death cops back in court

NINE South African policemen appeared in court accused of dragging a Mozambican immigrant behind their police van and then brutally beating him to death.

They are charged with killing Mido Macia, a 27-year-old Mozambican taxi driver who died in police custody on February 26, after parking his taxi on the wrong side of the road.

Bystanders filmed Macia being manhandled, handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged hundreds of metres to the Daveyton police station, east of Johannesburg.

Just over two hours later he was found dead in his cell.

Footage of the incident spread quickly online and sent shock waves throughout the country, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's much maligned police force.

The court was told on Friday that Macia suffered extensive injuries, culminating in hypoxia - a lack of oxygen supply to the body - causing his death.

According to a report by pathologist Reggie Perumal, Macia had extensive abrasions on his face, limbs and body, deep cuts on his forearms and wrists and "almost full thickness lacerations of the head."

He also had bruised ribs, back, left and right testes, lips and bite marks on his tongue as well as bleeding and water on the brain.

The nine huddled together on the accused's bench, some dressed in suits, others in casual clothes.

Aged between 25 and 57, some chewed gum, looked down while others occasionally shot a furtive smile.

The state has opposed bail.

Eight officers had been arrested in connection with the incident, which shocked South Africa and the world, and a constable who was on duty that day has since turned himself in.

"I brought him to the police station today," his advocate, Sam Leso, told AFP.

A magistrate had postponed the hearing Monday of the men arrested last week so that state witnesses could confirm the identities of the accused.

On Wednesday around 1,000 people attended a memorial for Macia at the sports stadium in Daveyton. He is due to be buried outside the Mozambican capital Maputo on Saturday.

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Hundreds march against 'police brutality'

Demonstrators are set to protest against alleged police brutality at the Mardi Gras in Sydney. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of people have marched through central Sydney demanding an end to police brutality and an independent investigation into allegations of excessive force at the recent Mardi Gras.

Politicians and gay rights activists have been calling for an independent inquiry into the actions of police at Saturday's Mardi Gras after a video emerged showing a handcuffed 18-year-old, Jamie Jackson, being thrown to the ground by an officer at the festival.

Another video shows Mr Jackson lashing out at an officer before he was restrained.

Bryn Hutchinson, 32, a gay rights campaigner, has also alleged police used excessive force against him after he crossed a road despite being told not to.

Both Mr Hutchinson and Mr Jackson have been charged with assaulting police.

An internal inquiry has commenced into the incidents, but those at the rally on Friday night were critical of police.

"Police are constantly abusing people and taking advantage of their position of power and not being held accountable for it," Rami, 24, who didn't wish to give his last name, told AAP at the rally.

"It makes no sense to have police investigate police ... it needs to be independent and transparent."

Rami says he hopes police will learn that they "can't get away with everything they do".

"If you act outside of your power and if you take advantage of your position of power the community won't be quiet," he said.

Starting in Taylor Square near a pedestrian crossing painted in rainbow colours for the world-renowned gay street party, the protesters marched down Oxford Street chanting "no justice, no peace, stop violent police" before gathering in front of the Surry Hills police station.

The vocal crowd of about 1000, flanked by 40 officers, carried placards with strong messages calling on police to stop violence and for charges to be laid against the officers accused of using excessive force.

Four protesters held up a banner reading "all cops are bastards" outside the police station, which disappointed local area commander Superintendent Tony Crandell.

"I don't think that really promoted a meaningful message," he told reporters outside the police station.

"Other than that, the behaviour of protesters was, as expected, peaceful."

Police tolerated the sign "in the interests of promoting peaceful protest", he added.

A 31-year-old man who yelled abuse at officers was charged after the rally for offensive language, offensive behaviour and failing to comply with police direction, Supt Crandell said.

He added it would be premature for police to issue an apology for the treatment of Mr Jackson and Mr Hutchinson until police "understand all of the circumstances and all of context of both of those incidents".

NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher and Premier Barry O'Farrell have both repeatedly denied the need for the inquiry to be taken out of police hands, saying oversight from the ombudsman will ensure the investigation is independent.

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Valuable artworks taken from Adelaide home

South Australian police are seeking information about the theft of six pieces of artwork. Source: AAP

ART dealers should be on the lookout after six rare and valuable artworks, worth more than $100,000, were stolen from an Adelaide home.

The art includes a canvas by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and paintings and sketches by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and his protege Egon Schiele.

Whoever stole the works got inside the residence at Brooklyn Park, in the city's west, by forcing a front door early on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Anyone with information on the theft or the location of any of the artworks is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at www.sa.crimestoppers.com.au.

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4 charged over axe brawl at WA McDonald's

A mass brawl outside a McDonald's restaurant in Perth has left a man with extensive injuries. Source: AAP

A MASS brawl outside a McDonald's restaurant in central Perth has left a man with extensive injuries after he was struck with an axe and a meat cleaver.

Four people, including a 15-year-old girl, have been charged with assault. The 46-year-old male victim received numerous cuts and abrasions to his body in the brawl on William Street around 10.20pm (WST) on Wednesday.

A 45-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl, both of Innaloo, have been charged with being armed in public, and assault.

A 40-year-old Innaloo woman and a 23-year-old Wanneroo woman have also been charged with assault.

They will appear in the Perth Magistrates Court and the Perth Children's Court on Friday.

Police are calling for witnesses, and have issued a description of a man they believe can assist them.

He is described as dark skinned, around 175cm tall with slim build and short dark hair.

He was wearing a white zipped-up jacket, with red around the upper chest and neck area and the numbers 05 on the back.

Witnesses are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Randy pandas get privacy at Tokyo zoo

Officials at Ueno Zoo are keeping visitors away in the hope a pair of pandas will mate. Source: AAP

A PAIR of pandas in the mood for mating are being given a bit of space with Japanese zookeepers hoping they would get it on if the public was kept away.

Female panda Shin Shin has begun to display the tell-tale behaviour of being ready for action, say officials at Ueno Zoo in the Japanese capital, who add they want her and her beau Ri Ri to have enough privacy to do the deed.

"We have seen Shin Shin showing signs that she is in heat, so we have suspended public viewing and are getting ready to put her and Ri Ri together," said Mikako Kaneko.

"As female pandas are able to conceive for just a few days during a year, we are now carefully watching them so that we won't let the chance slip away," she added.

Shin Shin's provocative panda behaviour has included walking more frequently than usual and making noises, the zoo said.

Shin Shin and Ri Ri had a baby last year - the first giant panda cub at the zoo in 24 years - but it died of pneumonia about a week later, with the news stopping regular television programming and bringing the zoo director to tears.

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Baillieu a man of integrity: Abbott

Former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu is a man of integrity, opposition leader Tony Abbott says. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has congratulated Denis Napthine for being elected Victorian premier and praised outgoing leader Ted Baillieu as a man of integrity and honour.

Mr Baillieu resigned as Victorian premier on Wednesday night.

Mr Abbott thanked Mr Baillieu for his service to the people of Victoria.

"Ted is a man of integrity and honour and I wish him well for the future," he said in a brief statement.

As premier, Mr Baillieu had put Victoria's finances on a sustainable footing and made significant investments in infrastructure, Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott also congratulated Mr Napthine on his election as leader.

"I look forward to working closely with him," he said.

Other politicians took to twitter to share their reactions to the news.

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt suggested the spill raised issues for Mr Abbott.

"Vic Libs ditch elected leader & then run a minority gov't. Presume Tony Abbott will call them illegitimate and demand election immediately," Mr Bandt tweeted.

Labor backbencher Laura Smyth referenced Harry Potter.

"Congrats Denis Napthine, new head boy for Slytherin House," she tweeted.

"Let's hope Ted's education 'plan' walks out the door with him."

Foreign Minister Bob Carr was watching a Sydney University production of Julius Caesar and drew parallels in the play's storyline to that of the Victorian Liberal leadership drama.

"The faction gathers in home of Brutus. "We all stand against the spirit of Caesar" - of Baillieu, of Abbott?" he tweeted.

Liberal backbencher Dan Tehan congratulated Mr Napthine on becoming premier.

"Happy Birthday Denis, you will be an outstanding Premier," he tweeted.

Labor backbencher Darren Cheeseman described Dr Napthine as the "Steven Bradbury of Victorian politics".

His Labor colleague Mike Kelly asked on Twitter: "Don't you rub Napthine on wasp stings or is it for keeping moths out of your cupboard?"

Comment was being sought from the prime minister's office.

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Tennis star Goolagong Cawley is a grandma

EVONNE Goolagong Cawley, one of the few mothers to win a Grand Slam singles title, is a grandmother.

Goolagong Cawley and her husband, Roger Cawley, were at Nambour Hospital on the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday when their son Morgan's fiancee, Sophia, gave birth to daughter Beau Maya.

The first grandchild for the seven-time Grand Slam champion weighed 3.8 kilograms.

"I used to say during my career that the biggest gift was having my children," Goolagong Cawley said. "But this is my second-best gift and better than any trophy. I'm very excited. Both are well and looking fantastic. I can't wait to babysit."

Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon in 1980, three years after the birth of the couple's other child, daughter Kelly.

Kim Clijsters won the US Open in 2009 after a two-year retirement and following the birth of her daughter Jada, a 29-year gap of mothers winning Grand Slam singles titles.

Fellow Australian Margaret Court won three Grand Slam titles in 1973 after the birth of her first child a year earlier, the only other woman in the Open era to win a major after childbirth.

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Hong Kong stocks close higher

HONG Kong shares have closed 0.96 per cent higher, taking a strong cue from Wall Street, where the Dow closed at a record high.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 217.34 points on Wednesday to 22,777.84 on turnover of HK$73.25 billion ($A9.27 billion).

The Dow finished Tuesday 0.89 per cent higher at 14,253.77, beating by nearly 90 points its former record on October 9, 2007, just before the onset of the global financial crisis.

The surge on the Dow comes despite uncertainty in the US economy and as Washington battles over how to trim its huge deficit. Shares were also helped by a pick up in the country's services sector.

Also on Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 0.96 per cent to close at 1,539.79, just two per cent short of its own record.

Shares of China developers rebounded following two days of falls after Beijing announced new measures to curb rising property prices.

China Overseas Land rallied 3.3 per cent to HK$22.05 and China Resources Land rose 1.7 per cent to HK$20.55.

Telecom equipment maker ZTE jumped 8.9 per cent to HK$14.14 and Comba Telecom surged 11.7 per cent to HK$2.87 after media reports that China will likely issue licences for firms to provide fourth-generation wireless services this year.

Standard Chartered climbed 1.9 per cent to HK$214.80 after the emerging markets-focused bank posted solid profits on Tuesday despite being hit by fines in the US for violating sanctions on Iran and other countries.

Chinese shares ended up 0.9 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 20.87 points to 2,347.18 on turnover of 125.4 billion yuan ($A19.81 billion).

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high and this may have lifted sentiment in the domestic stock market. Banking stocks also performed well," Haitong Securities analyst Zhang Qi told AFP.

The index in the past two days has recouped most of the 3.65 per cent losses it suffered on Monday after the government unveiled the new measures to cool the property market.

Banks extended gains on expectations for 2012 earnings. China Minsheng Banking jumped 3.43 per cent to 10.55 yuan, Industrial Bank gained 1.98 per cent to 20.56 yuan and China Everbright Bank added 0.89 per cent to 3.40 yuan.

Telecom operators rose on reports about 4G licences. Eastern Communications surged 7.38 per cent to 4.95 yuan and China Unicom gained 2.31 per cent to 3.55 yuan.

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Home builders need another rate cut: HIA

Improved economic data suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia may not need to cut the cash rate. Source: AAP

THE housing industry believes the central bank has missed an opportunity to provide a boost to the struggling residential building sector.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept the cash rate at three per cent at its monthly board meeting on Tuesday.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens said with inflation likely to be within its two to three per cent target band, and with growth likely to be a little below trend over the coming year, an accommodative stance of monetary policy was appropriate.

"The inflation outlook, as assessed at present, would afford scope to ease policy further, should that be necessary to support demand," Mr Stevens said in a statement.

But Housing Industry Association senior economist Shane Garrett said the RBA should have cut rates now, with Monday's unexpectedly weak building approvals data for January indicating a sustained residential construction recovery is some way off.

"What's good for the residential construction market is good for the wider economy. International factors have squeezed many sectors of the Australian economy and this calls for further action from the RBA," Mr Garrett said in a statement.

Retailers were equally unimpressed, despite new data showing spending jumped by 0.9 per cent in January, more than double the growth expected by economists.

Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond, while welcoming the apparent lift in consumer spending, said this came after another poor Christmas period.

"Without continued cuts to the cash rate, we may lose the momentum of the return to spending at the start of the year," Ms Osmond said.

However, one mortgage broker believes retail banks could go it alone and cut their lending rates independently of the RBA.

"The banks have no issues at the moment with cost of funds and we can see them cutting their rates as they aggressively compete for home finance business," 1300HomeLoan managing director John Kolenda said in a statement.

"As the competition intensifies among lenders we could see rates reduced slightly by five to 10 basis points over the coming months."

One bookie agrees, saying homeowners could be in for a treat.

Sportsbet.com.au has odds of $2.50 that the National Australia Bank will independently cut first, despite the RBA's inaction, followed by Commonwealth Bank at $3.

Westpac and the ANZ are also in the market at $4 and $5 respectively

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Cigarettes worth $200,000 seized in Vic

Police have seized illegally imported cigarettes from a truck in Victoria's northeast. Source: AAP

MORE than 1000 cartons of cigarettes worth $200,000 have been seized from a truck in Victoria's northeast.

The cigarettes, believed to be illegally imported, were discovered when police searched the truck at Benalla on Saturday morning.

Police said the haul would be worth around $200,000.

The truck's 22-year-old driver from Sydney, was charged with two counts of possessing and conveying imported tobacco, possessing a prohibited weapon and exceeding the speed limit.

He was bailed to appear at Benalla Magistrates Court on April 4.

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Premier set to add to PM's problems

UNBACKABLE: Premier Colin Barnett, a firm favourite to win the state election, will give the federal Labor leadership another headache. Source: The Sunday Times

AS if the polls, the carbon tax, the mining tax, the lack of a budget surplus and Kevin Rudd weren't enough for Julia Gillard, the prime minister looks set to be handed another problem this weekend.

It can be summed up in a name: Colin Barnett.

The incumbent Liberal West Australian premier has been one of the most vocal and strident political critics of the prime minister's style and substance since her ascension in 2010.

And with the member for Cottesloe an unbackable $1.02 favourite to lead the Liberals to a state election win this weekend, Ms Gillard can expect a newly-mandated Mr Barnett to renew his attacks with even more vigour if WA votes the way the polls and bookmakers have long predicted.

She may have been out of sight during the build-up but Ms Gillard has never been far from the mind of the Liberal party since it began officially campaigning in early February.

After it became clear Ms Gillard would keep her distance until polling day, Mr Barnett has consistently used her absence from the side of WA Labor leader Mark McGowan to link the party's federal woes to its local team.

Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal federal MP for Higgins, said the lack of election support from a sitting prime minister for a state election candidate was "unprecedented".

"The reason they don't want the prime minister in WA is because they know it will lose them votes," Ms O'Dwyer said.

Mr McGowan has staunchly deflected such commentary, saying the March 9 poll was a state election fought on state issues and the prime minister was free to travel where and when she wanted.

He also vowed to be firm but fair if given the chance to work with his Canberra colleagues.

"It is possible to be tough with Canberra and get results and that's what I'll do," Mr McGowan said.

But the fact no federal minister has been seen with Mr McGowan over the entire campaign - and only three set foot briefly in the state in that time - gave some weight to the Liberal argument of a state and federal party that were not talking, let alone able to work together.

In contrast, federal opposition leader Tony Abbott was effusive in lauding Mr Barnett - and buttering up the locals - at the Liberals' official election launch.

"How much I respect the premier of this state, how much I have learnt from him, how much I wish to model myself on him, should I get the opportunity to lead our country," Mr Abbott said.

"The Barnett government has become a model for all the governments that we run or hope to run. That's the kind of government that I wish to run in Canberra.

"Every Australian owes a debt to Western Australia and in an important sense, West Australians are the best Australians."

Mr Barnett has continued to play on WA's ingrained and parochial mistrust of much that emanates from Australia's east coast with his mantra to "stand up to Canberra", pointing to the mining tax and the state's GST share as examples of how the state was being diddled by Labor.

And so, if Mr Barnett proves victorious on Saturday night, Ms Gillard can expect no favours from WA, which had an economy valued at $239 billion in 2011/12 and accounted for 46 per cent of Australia's exports last year.

First on Mr Barnett's hit list is likely to be Ms Gillard's Gonski education reforms, set to be discussed at the Council of Australian Governments' meeting on April 19.

"We have never indicated we would sign up to Gonski, and we are not going to sit back and suddenly let the commonwealth take over the running of our schools," Mr Barnett said.

"They come out and denigrate our hospitals, denigrate our schools, and then pretend to have a solution. That is not good government."

And not a good sign Ms Gillard is going to get any peace from Mr Barnett as she approaches her date with the nation on September 14.

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Denmark seeks $1bn in taxes from Microsoft

DANISH tax authorities are demanding 5.8 billion kroner ($A995 million) in tax arrears from Microsoft, public broadcaster DR reports.

"Microsoft owes the treasury five billion kroner ... amounting to a total of 5.8 billion with interest included," DR wrote on its website on Monday.

Danish tax authority Skat is in negotiations with its US counterpart and the company to try to recover the "huge sum," the broadcaster said.

The unpaid taxes relate to Microsoft's acquisition of Danish group Navision, now called Microsoft Dynamics Nav, through its Irish subsidiary.

The Danish agency believes the US group underpaid for the company and then transferred its assets to Ireland, which has a lower tax rate.

Skat declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

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Latvia govt inks request to join euro bloc

LATVIA has formally applied to adopt the euro currency in 2014, a move that could see the Baltic state become the bloc's 18th member.

The request had been expected and comes after Latvia met the required financial criteria, including levels of state debt, budget deficit and inflation.

Polls, however, indicate nearly two-thirds of Latvia's population is against swapping the lat for the euro, which only last year some investors were betting would collapse.

A government spokesman said on Monday the formal request would be given to the European Union's Monetary Affairs Commissioner, Olli Rehn, on March 5 in Brussels.

The commission, along with the European Central Bank, will likely decide on Latvia's request in June.

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Indian hunger striker on suicide charge

AN Indian human rights activist who has been on hunger-strike for 12 years appeared in a New Delhi court on Monday charged with attempting to commit suicide.

Irom Sharmila, 40, who is force-fed through a drip in her nose, was tearful as she pleaded not guilty to the charge, saying the hunger strike was her way of attracting attention to human rights abuses in her home state of Manipur.

She began her fast in November 2000 after witnessing the killing of 10 people by the army at a bus stop near her home in north-eastern Manipur, which is subject to the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

AFSPA, which covers large parts of northeastern India and the restive state of Kashmir, gives Indian forces sweeping powers to search, enter property and shoot-on-sight and is seen by critics as cover for grave human rights abuses.

"I am not committing suicide and I want to say that I am not guilty," Sharmila told the magistrate Akash Jain in a packed court room in the capital. Attempted suicide is a criminal offence in India.

"This is my way of protest. I love life but at the same time I want the government to stop the killings in my state."

Criminal charges were pressed against Sharmila in 2006 by the Delhi government after she staged a hunger-strike protest in the capital city. Sharmila faces the same charges in Manipur and has pleaded not guilty.

"Manipur is in turmoil and I want justice. Why does the government ignore basic human rights? I will keep my fighting and there is no way I will give up," she told reporters at the end of the court proceedings.

Authorities have been force-feeding her through a plastic drip in her nose to prevent her death and have confined her to a medical college ward in Manipur.

Manipur is home to 2.5 million people and about 19 separatist groups which have demands ranging from autonomy to independence. An estimated 10,000 people have been killed during the past two decades of violence.

Sharmila was accompanied by a man named Des Coutinho, who said he was her fiance.

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Somali court frees rape victim

A SOMALI appeals court dropped charges against a woman sentenced to a year in jail after she told a reporter she was raped by security forces. The journalist will however remain in jail for six months.

"The court orders the release of the woman, while the journalist will spend six months in jail for offending state institutions," Judge Hassan Mohamed Ali said on Sunday, cutting the reporter's original sentence in half.

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200 Syria troops, rebels die in battle

ALMOST 200 troops and rebels were killed in an eight-day battle for a police academy in the north Syrian province of Aleppo, as insurgents seized control of most of the complex, a watchdog said.

"Rebels have seized most of a police academy in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province... after eight days of fighting that left 200 troops and rebels dead," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday.

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Walesa sparks outrage with antigay comment

LECH Walesa, the democracy icon and Nobel peace prize winner, has sparked controversy and outrage in Poland by saying homosexuals have no right to a prominent role in politics and that as a minority they need to "adjust to smaller things" in society.

Some commentators are suggesting that Walesa has irreparably harmed his democratic credentials and his legacy.

He was the leading figure in Poland's successful democracy struggle against communism.

Walesa said on Friday in a television interview that he believes gays have no right to sit on the front benches in parliament and if there are any at all they should sit in the back, "or even behind a wall."

He said: "they have to know that they are a minority and adjust to smaller things, and not rise to the greatest heights."

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