Sheen supports sons' removal from ex-wife

Charlie Sheen (R) supports the removal of his twin sons from the care of ex-wife Brooke Mueller (L). Source: AAP

CHARLIE Sheen supports a decision by child protective services to remove his twin sons from the custody of his ex-wife and have them live temporarily with another of his exes, actress Denise Richards, his spokesman says.

Larry Solters wrote in a statement that Sheen will participate in court proceedings related to ex-wife Brooke Mueller's custody of their four-year-old sons.

Mueller and Sheen were married in 2008 and divorced in 2011.

"He knows Max and Bob are safe and in a stable, loving environment with Denise and the boys' sisters," Solters wrote.

"Charlie will fully cooperate and fully participate in all proceedings."

Celebrity website RadarOnline.com reported on Friday that the twins were removed from Mueller's custody by the Department of Children and Family Services.

Mueller has struggled with addiction for years, but it remains unclear what prompted officials to remove their sons from her care.

The agency's investigations are confidential, with Mueller and Richards' representatives declining to comment.

Sheen and Richards have two daughters from their marriage, which ended in 2006.

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Israel launches airstrike into Syria: US

US President Barack Obama won't be sending troops to Syria if the regime has used chemical weapons. Source: AAP

ISRAEL launched an airstrike into Syria, apparently targeting a suspected weapons site, say US officials.

The strike occurred overnight Thursday into Friday, the officials said.

It didn't appear that a chemical weapons site was targeted, they said, and one official said the strike appeared to have hit a warehouse.

The US officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

Israel has targeted weapons in the past that it believes are being delivered to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.

Earlier this week, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group would assist Syrian President Bashar Assad if needed in the effort to put down a 2-year-old uprising.

Israeli Embassy spokesman Aaron Sagui would not comment on Friday night specifically on the report of an Israeli strike into Syria.

In 2007, Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear reactor site along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria, an attack that embarrassed and jolted the Assad regime and led to a buildup of the Syrian air defence system.

Russia provided the hardware for the defence systems upgrade and continues to be a reliable supplier of military equipment to the Assad regime.

Word of the new strike, first reported by CNN, came hours before President Barack Obama told reporters at a news conference in Costa Rica on Friday that he didn't foresee a scenario in which the US would send troops to Syria.

More than 70,000 peoples have died and hundreds of thousands have fled the country as the Assad regime has battled rebels.

The Israeli strike also follows days of renewed concerns that Syria might be using chemical weapons against opposition forces.

Obama has characterised evidence of the use of chemical weapons as a "game-changer" that would have "enormous consequences".

"I do not foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground in Syria, would not only be good for America but also would be good for Syria."

Obama said there was evidence that chemical weapons had been used in Syria, but that "we don't know when, where or how they were used".

But if "strong evidence" is found of such weapons being used by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, "then that is a game changer for us" because "there is a possibility that it lands in the hands of organisations like Hezbollah".

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NSW fire levy could cost $300 a year

The NSW government's new fire and emergency services levy could cost ratepayers about $300 a year. Source: AAP

THE NSW government is considering a new fire and emergency services levy that could cost ratepayers about $300 a year.

A parliamentary inquiry into the land valuation system released its final report on Thursday, with the government expected to endorse its recommendations for an overhaul and a new levy.

Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher says the proposed levy would spread the load to all ratepayers, not just householders with home contents insurance.

The cost of the state's fire and emergency services is mainly funded by a tax on insurance companies which is passed on to customers through higher premiums.

Mr Gallacher says the government wants public debate on the issue.

"You have free riders, in other words people who do not pay a fire services levy because they don't pay insurance but get access to the emergency service response," he told Macquarie Radio.

But shadow treasurer Michael Daley said the levy was "a very unfair and sneaky new tax" and some people would pay much more than $300 a year.

"Because it's based on the value of your land you'll pay more simply depending on where you live in NSW," he said.

Fire Brigade Employees' Union secretary Jim Casey says the government has a clear agenda to reward big business by transferring costs away from them to working families.

He says it makes sense for insurance companies to provide the bulk of fire service funding because they benefit from quality fire services, saving them billion of dollars in claims.

Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association of NSW spokeswoman Amelia Christie said pensioners were over-represented among home owners without building insurance because they couldn't afford the premiums.

She called for a fire levy safety net for those on low, fixed incomes genuinely unable to afford to pay it.

"Those deemed unable to pay should not be placed in financial hardship by the introduction of a property-based fire levy."

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Man charged with SA woman's murder

A MAN has been charged with the murder of a woman at Aldinga Beach, south of Adelaide.

Ambulance crews were called to the Ocean Street home at 4.15am on Friday and found a 25-year-old woman had collapsed.

Paramedics were unable to revive her.

A 32-year-old man from Christie Downs was questioned by police and has now been charged with murder.

"The investigation is in its early stages but it appears to be a domestic related incident with the man and woman known to each other," said Chief Inspector Phil Newitt.

The man is due to appear in Christies Beach magistrates court on May 6.

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Power hike still a good deal: O'Farrell

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell says he is confident the independent pricing regulator is working to put downward pressure on power bills.

He was commenting after reports that power prices would have dropped this year if it wasn't for a proposed new charge designed to boost competition.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) last month recommended an end to double-digit price hikes, with three per cent rises from July.

But the gains had been diluted by a new consumer acquisition charge, meaning bills could increase by more than $80 a year, News Ltd reports.

IPART wants retailers to be allowed to charge more than it costs to supply electricity to enable more of them to come into the market.

Mr O'Farell said the new charge was designed to increase competition, which could help put pressure on power prices.

"We trust IPART. We've made enormous savings within the network business which has reduced the cost pressures upon electricity prices," he told reporters on Thursday.

The premier also said a three per cent rise was still good news for consumers.

"For the first time in most people's memories, IPART's determined that power prices will only increase in line with inflation," he said.

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Malaysia gears up for gruelling election

JUDGMENT day has come for both Prime Minister Najib Razak and Malaysia's top opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

On May 5, 13.3 million voters in the predominantly Muslim South-East Asian country will decide whether re-elect Najib's National Front, which has ruled for the past 56 years, or vote for candidates in Anwar's coalition.

"Enough of corruption, enough of racism, enough of abuse of power," said Anwar, the 65-year-old former deputy premier.

"I believe Malaysians are prepared for change."

Najib, 59, characterised the opposition's program as empty promises and warned that it could lead to economic ruin.

"What is important for us is not only change, but real change and progress," he said. "And the real change and progress can come from within."

The ruling coalition is favoured to retain power.

"The deck is stacked against the opposition for many reasons, not the least because of an electoral system based on questionable voting rolls and carefully gerrymandered, single-representative constituencies where victory requires only a plurality," the Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group said.

But election officials, analysts and partisans agree that the elections could be close.

"We are ready for the fiercest battle ever," said Adnan Mansor, secretary general of the National Front.

Ahmad Omar, deputy elections commissioner, said: "This election is going to be very tough for everybody and it is a challenge for the election body."

Ahmad said the commission would ensure the winners are immediately posted on its website to ease tensions that could result from any delays in announcing the official results.

Ong Kian Ming, chief electoral strategist of the predominantly Chinese Democratic Action Party, claimed a 50 per cent chance that the opposition could form the next government.

"We've seen a very warm, very encouraging response from the three frontline states where we need the most seats which are Johor, Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

With 56 parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak, the vote in the two eastern states could swing the result either way in a tight contest, said Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University.

The youth vote, comprising 30 per cent of the electorate, could also be a deciding factor.

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Calls for more women in senior roles

WOMEN account for less than 10 per cent of Australia's senior managers and companies must do more to address this inequality, business leaders say.

A new report, Guidelines for Gender Balance Performing and Reporting Australia, was launched on Wednesday to advise businesses on how to achieve a cultural change in gender equality.

Women on Boards executive director Claire Braun says, despite some modest improvements, there remain startling inequities in senior level management.

"While there has been some progress addressing gender imbalance at a board level in the ASX200, the same cannot be said for women in senior management roles," she said.

"In fact, less than one in 10 key management personnel in the ASX500 are women."

Launching the report, professional company director Graham Bradley said he hoped it would cause companies to pay more attention to gender imbalance.

"I do not believe that enough is being done by enough Australian businesses to advance women into leadership positions.

"Nearly 60 per cent of key middle management companies do not have any key female personnel. I think this must change," he said.

The report calls for a higher level of reporting and accountability from within Australian businesses, as well as pay equity and flexible work practices for women.

Judith Fox, from Chartered Secretaries of Australia, said the report's guidelines should help companies better understand how to address workplace inequality.

"Many companies struggle to value what they can't measure and these guidelines will help them understand this data," she said.

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Pollies come to blows in Venezuela

POLITICAL tensions over Venezuela's disputed presidential election have boiled over in the National Assembly as government and opposition MPs said they physically clashed.

Several MPs were left bloodied and bruised, with both opposition and pro-government politicians accusing each other of starting the fight.

"I'm not the only one who has been beaten. They have struck several MPs. (Assembly speaker) Diosdado Cabello has to be held to account personally," said opposition politician Julio Borges.

Borges said he was denied the right to speak in the assembly by the body, which is controlled by a majority loyal to socialist President Nicolas Maduro, because opposition MPs have not recognised Maduro's re-election.

So the ruling party majority voted to deny opposition MPs their right to speak in the forum to which they were elected, Borges said.

A combative Cabello told the opposition legislators that "as long as (national) authorities are not recognised and the republic's institutions are not recognised ... the ladies and gentlemen of the opposition can go talk to (TV network) Globovision, to (newspaper) El Nacional.

"But they won't be doing it here" in the assembly, Cabello said.

Authorities on Monday began a partial audit of the disputed election won by Maduro, the late Hugo Chavez's handpicked successor, as the opposition rejected the move as insufficient.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who says he was the real winner of the April 14 presidential vote, has accused election officials of rejecting his appeal for a full recount on the orders of the ruling Socialist Party.

The National Electoral Board has ruled that Maduro won by 1.49 per cent of the vote, amending an earlier tally that had Maduro up by 1.8 per cent.

The Board has insisted it is legally impossible to carry out a full recount, and that no audit can reverse Maduro's win.

The 40-year-old Capriles has said he will not accept anything short of a full recount.

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At least seven dead in Mexico clashes

AT least seven people have been killed in clashes between suspected criminals, security forces and citizen security groups in the western Mexican state of Michoacan.

"The last report that we have is the seven people have been killed in gun battles, but that number is certain to rise," a state government spokesman Julio Hernandez told AFP.

Officials said the confrontations took place in the towns of Buenavista and Tepalcatepec, where armed citizens' patrols have formed in a bid to deter and counter criminal gangs.

Such groups, which aim to counter what is perceived as an ineffectual government response to gang violence, have cropped up around the country, including in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Michoacan.

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Homicide squad probing Qld house fire

Police say there is evidence to indicate foul play was involved in a deadly house fire in Brisbane. Source: AAP

HOMICIDE detectives are investigating foul play in the housefire deaths of a Brisbane couple.

Retired army officer Glen Fry and his wife Flora were found dead after fire destroyed their two-storey brick home in the north Brisbane suburb of Bracken Ridge on Friday.

Their 17-year-old daughter escaped but suffered serious burns to her face, chest, arms and airway.

The couple's 21-year-old daughter and her 20-year-old boyfriend also escaped.

On Friday, police said they did not believe the fire involved foul play but on Saturday evening they released a statement saying they were treating both the fire and the two deaths as suspicious.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart says the homicide squad is involved in the investigation.

"There is some evidence that would indicate foul play," he told reporters on the Gold Coast on Monday.

"While I won't discuss the actual evidence, certainly it's taken a turn in that direction (homicide).

"It is a disturbing turn but any crime where people lose their lives is treated very, very seriously by us."

Police wouldn't confirm reports that two separate fire ignition points were found in the home, and that a post-mortem examination revealed unexplained injuries on the body of Mr Fry.

"All we can tell you is that the fire is being treated as suspicious and the investigation is ongoing," a police spokesman told AAP.

The 17-year-old girl remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Her older sister is also in hospital in a stable condition after she suffered burns to her arms and legs and cuts to her feet.

The 20-year-old man has been discharged. He was admitted with minor burns to his legs and injuries to his feet and hands.

The bodies of the couple were found in bed in the main bedroom on the home's second storey.

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