First political prisoners freed in Sudan

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has told parliament he will release all political prisoners. Source: AAP

SUDANESE authorities have reportedly released six political prisoners, with President Omar al-Bashir vowing to free all political detainees.

The six men walked free early on Tuesday to tearful relatives waiting outside Kober prison in Khartoum North.

Most of them are believed to have been held for more than two months in connection with a conference in Uganda, which led to a charter for toppling Bashir's 24-year-old regime using both armed and peaceful means.

Farouk Abu Issa, who heads the opposition alliance of more than 20 parties, could not be immediately reached for comment.

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SA happy to reveal help to Holden

THE South Australian government will reveal the amount of cash provided to local carmakers over the past decade.

Mr Weatherill said he was happy to detail the support offered to both Holden and Mitsubishi before it closed its assembly operations in Adelaide.

The final figure is still being calculated, but the premier says the government remains proud of the support it has offered to a key part of the state's manufacturing sector.

He said assisting Mitsubishi for some years had sustained employment, while support for Holden had ensured the future of its manufacturing operations in Adelaide until at least 2022.

"I'm more than happy to reveal the sorts of government assistance that has been provided to Holden and Mitsubishi over the life of this government," Mr Weatherill said on Tuesday.

"We know from the research that we did 16,000 jobs are at risk should General Motors (Holden) close.

"So our assistance has leveraged up a very substantial economic benefit for South Australia."

In recent years SA committed $50 million to Holden to develop two new vehicles as part of a state and federal package of support worth $275 million.

But Holden chairman Mike Devereux has revealed to The Australian Financial Review that total government support for the company over the past 12 years was worth $2.2 billion.

Mr Devereux said without the assistance it would be "absolutely impossible to make cars in this country".

Industry Minister Greg Combet's office defended the federal government's assistance to the sector saying it was providing "jobs, technologies, investment and other economic benefits".

Mr Weatherill said the question of future support for Holden was an important debate, but the state government had made a judgment that sustaining the car company was "absolutely crucial to the South Australia's economic future".

The state government later revealed total assistance to Holden over the past decade was worth $88.2 million while assistance to Mitsubishi was about $37.8 million.

However, the funds provided to Mitsubishi included a $35 million, 10-year loan which was repaid in full after the company closed its assembly plant in 2008.

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Bridge family can still sue over asbestos

THE family of pioneering politician Ernie Bridge can continue legal action over the asbestos-related diseases which are claimed to have led to his death on Sunday.

Mr Bridge, the Kimberley MLA from 1980 to 2001, died in Perth on Sunday, aged 76.

He was WA's first Aboriginal MP and the first indigenous cabinet minister in any Australian government.

Weeks ago, Mr Bridge lodged a Supreme Court writ seeking damages from parties including companies run by two of the nation's richest women, Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting and Angela Bennett's Wright Prospecting.

He claimed he was exposed to asbestos while overseeing the closure of mines and withdrawal of government services from Wittenoom in the late 1980s.

As tributes continued to flow for the father of four, lawyer Simon Millman of Slater and Gordon confirmed his family would be able to continue the legal fight because the claim had been lodged while he was still alive.

"It is an important reminder that if people are experiencing asbestos-related diseases it is imperative that legal proceedings be started in their lifetime," Mr Millman said.

"Mr Bridge appropriately commenced his proceedings and that will now mean his estate, his family and loved ones are able to proceed with the claim notwithstanding he has passed away."

The family have not yet indicated whether they will continue the action.

Mr Millman said the legal process could continue, but the grieving process should be given priority.

Mr Bridge, a country music singer, was a pastoralist before entering politics, serving as minister under WA Labor leader's Brian Burke and Peter Dowding.

The Order of Australia member and Centenary Medal recipient was praised for his commitment to Aboriginal affairs, and was known for promoting the idea of piping water from the Kimberley to Perth via Kalgoorlie.

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Passenger's touring helps No 1 single

BRITISH singer-songwriter Passenger scores his eighth international number one placement by moving up one spot to the top of the ARIA Singles Chart with his hit Let Her Go.

Previously he has topped the charts in Belgium, The Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and it is currently No 1 in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, as well as at No 2 in Denmark and Finland.

He has one more week of touring here in Australia, plus his album All the Little Lights jumps up to No 2 this week, so he could be at the summit of both charts next week.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis move back down to second place after one week at the top with Can't Hold Us.

MKTO were in the country recently for a promo visit, and that has helped their track Thank You to climb to a new peak of No 3, Pink and Nate Ruess are in fourth place with Just Give Me a Reason, whilst Rihanna does what her song says and is stable at No 5 with Stay.

Staying at the top of the albums chart for a second week is Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience.

Landing the highest new album entry of the week at No 3 is Sydney metal-core band Northlane, whose second album Singularity far surpasses the No 85 peak that their November 2011 first set Discoveries achieved.

Ed Sheeran is down a place to No 4 with + -, pushing down Pink and The Truth About Love to fifth place.

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Asia manufacturing picks up in March: data

MANUFACTURING activity across Asia expanded in April with widely watched barometers suggesting the region's export-dependent economies were continuing to recover.

China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit 50.9 in March, its highest since April 2012 when the figure stood at 53.3, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

The PMI is a widely watched indicator of economic health, with a reading above 50 suggesting expansion while anything below points to contraction.

British bank HSBC, whose survey focuses more on smaller enterprises than the official data, said its final PMI stood at 51.6 in March, up from 50.4 in February, when the reading dipped to its lowest since October.

"China's recovery continues, mainly driven by the gradually improving domestic demand conditions," said Qu Hongbin, a Hong Kong-based economist with the bank, in a statement.

HSBC's PMI readings for many other Asian economies all improved in the month, with Vietnam hitting a 23-month high of 50.8.

South Korea saw its strongest figure for a year, reaching 52.0 thanks to solid increases in output and new orders as demand from China and Japan was strong, HSBC said.

In Taiwan, the PMI climbed to 51.2 in March, the fourth consecutive month of improvement and up from 50.2 in February, on the back of new orders from both home and abroad continuing to rise.

HSBC's index for Indonesia reached a four-month high of 51.3, from 50.5 in February, underpinned by a faster expansion in new orders and a slight increase in production, the bank said.

India's figure was also positive at 52.0 in March, although that was the lowest reading for 16 months and down from 54.2 in February, as repeated power cuts weighed on activity.

Speaking of the latest data CIMB head of research Song Seng Wun told Dow Jones Newswires: "It paints a story of modest recovery rather than an all-out, straight line all-guns-blazing story, which would have pleased the market more."

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South Korea leader vows retaliation

North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament is set to meet at a time of soaring military tensions. Source: AAP

SOUTH Korea's new president has promised a strong military response to any North Korean provocation after Pyongyang announced the two countries are now in a state of war.

President Park Geun-Hye's warning came as North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament was set to hold its annual session and a day after ruling party leaders vowed to enshrine Pyongyang's right to nuclear weapons in law.

In a meeting with senior military officials and Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin, Park said she took the near-daily stream of bellicose threats emanating from the North over the past month "very seriously."

"I believe that we should make a strong and immediate retaliation without any other political considerations if (the North) stages any provocation against our people," she said.

Park, a conservative who had advocated cautious engagement with the North during her campaign, has been compelled to take a more hardline posture after assuming office in February.

The Korean peninsula has been caught in a cycle of escalating tensions since North Korea's long-range rocket launch in December which its critics condemned as a ballistic missile test.

United Nations sanctions were followed by a nuclear test in February, after which came more sanctions and more apocalyptic threats from Pyongyang as South Korea and the United States conducted joint military drills.

Those threats have run the gamut from limited artillery bombardments to pre-emptive nuclear strikes, and have been met with warnings from Seoul and Washington of severe repercussions.

The US military said Monday it had deployed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to South Korea as part of the ongoing "Foal Eagle" military exercise.

The jets were reportedly flown out of the US air base in Okinawa, Japan.

North Korea has already threatened to strike the US mainland and US bases in the Pacific in response to the participation of nuclear-capable US B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers in this year's exercise.

The annual gathering of the North's Supreme People's Assembly usually scores low on important policy announcements - its role largely limited to unanimously pushing through pre-decided budgets and personnel changes.

But with North Korea having declared itself in a "state of war" with the South, Monday's session will be closely watched for any sign of the current crisis impacting on the fortunes of members of the ruling elite.

"The North has played most of its political cards, so I don't see any fresh, tangible threats to come out after the meeting," said Cho Han-Bum, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

"It will probably issue some kind of symbolic statement, like urging all North Koreans to stand ready for a possible war," Cho said.

The parliament session was preceded by a gathering on Sunday of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party, chaired by North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un.

The meeting declared that the North's possession of nuclear weapons "should be fixed by law", and that its nuclear arsenal should be beefed up "qualitatively and quantitatively".

On Saturday, North Korea announced it had entered a "state of war" with South Korea and warned that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

Both South Korea and the United States chose to downplay the announcement as just another in a long line of rhetorical provocations.

One threat that grabbed more attention related to the possible closure of a joint-Korean industrial complex which lies inside North Korea.

The Kaesong estate - established in 2004 as a symbol of cross-border cooperation - is a crucial source of hard-currency revenue for North Korea which has never allowed past crises on the peninsula to impact its operations.

On Saturday, the North's state body in charge of the complex said it would shut Kaesong down completely if South Korea continues to affront Pyongyang's "dignity".

The border crossing to Kaesong, which lies 10 kilometres on the North side, was functioning normally on Monday.

The operating stability of the complex is seen as a true bellwether of inter-Korean relations, and its closure would mark a significant escalation of tensions beyond all the military rhetoric.

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Anti-poacher African chopper crash kills 5

A SOUTH African military helicopter has crashed during an anti-rhino poaching patrol over Kruger National Park, killing five people, the army says.

"The helicopter was on a scheduled aerial patrol of the Kruger National Park as part of Operation RHINO, the anti-rhino poaching operation," Brigadier General Xolani Mabanga said in a statement.

"A preliminary investigation is currently under way to establish the sequence of events that led to the fatal crash of the helicopter."

The crash happened on Saturday. The craft was an Agusta 109 deployed to Kruger, a huge game reserve in the north of the country, by the military, which has been assisting rangers in the fight against rhino poaching.

Poaching figures have reached alarming levels.

Only 13 rhinos were killed in 2007 but 188 have already been slain since the start of 2013, 70 per cent of them in Kruger, according to environment ministry figures released on March 28.

Amid the crisis, the South African government is mulling the legalisation of rhino horn trade in a bid to curb the slaughter.

South Africa has had a moratorium on rhino horn sales since 2009.

Rhino poaching is driven by a booming demand for their horns in the Asian black market where the fingernail-like substance is falsely believed to have powerful healing properties.

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I'm OK, says assaulted NZ cricketer Ryder

Cricketer Jesse Ryder, who was critically injured in an assault, wants supporters to know he's "OK". Source: AAP

NEW Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder, who was critically injured in a brutal assault, wants supporters to know he's "OK".

Ryder, 28, was placed in an induced coma in Christchurch Hospital after the attack early on Thursday.

He was brought out of the coma on Saturday and was moved out of intensive care on Sunday.

"I just want to let everyone know that I'm OK," Ryder said on Sunday afternoon in his first public statement since the attack.

"I feel heaps better today, but still really tired. I've been reading your messages that have been sent, so thank you to everyone for thinking of me over the last few days.

He also thanked medical staff at the hospital, who had been "awesome", and his family and friends.

Ryder's manager, Aaron Klee, said the cricketer was now focused on his recovery and getting back to full health.

Ryder suffered injuries including a punctured lung and fractured skull.

Ryder said after he woke up he did not remember being assaulted, Klee told reporters on Saturday.

The big-hitting batsman was due to leave for the Indian Premier League on Friday after his services were acquired by the Delhi Daredevils at a player auction in February.

He would not be paid for the contract, but that was "the least of our worries", Klee said.

Two men, aged 20 and 37, and related to each other, were arrested and charged with assault.

They will appear in court on Thursday.

Police believe two men were responsible for the first attack, which happened about 12.30am on Thursday outside the Aikmans Bar in Merivale, where Ryder had been out for a drink with his Wellington teammates.

A second attack, involving one of the men from the first assault, took place across the road at the entrance to the McDonald's car park, police say.

Ryder had been drinking, but police say there is no indication alcohol was a contributing factor to the assault.

In March 2012, Ryder took a break from international cricket, after admitting he had a drinking problem.

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Ten lost hikers found in Vic high country

TEN missing hikers have been found safe and well in Victoria's Bogong High Plains.

The group set off from Youngs Hut around lunch time on Saturday and headed along Youngs Top Walking Track before contacting emergency services about 6pm (AEDT).

They had planned to walk to McNamara Hut when it is believed they took a wrong turn.

SES workers along with police and Parks Victoria crews found the hikers at Palings Spur just before 6pm Sunday (AEDT), about 2km south of the intended track.

The group have now returned to McNamara Hut.

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'Hurt Locker' actor Jeremy Renner a dad

ACTOR Jeremy Renner is a dad.

The Hurt Locker star and girlfriend Sonni Pacheco confirmed on Friday that they are the parents of Ava Berlin Renner.

A statement released by Renner's spokeswoman Susan Patricola says the new parents "are beyond thrilled".

Renner played a military explosives expert in the 2008 Oscar-winning film.

Renner has also starred in The Bourne Legacy and The Avengers.

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