Korea's Psy to unveil new dance video

GANGNAM Style star Psy was set for a sell-out concert in Seoul on Saturday to unveil the all-important dance and video aimed at moulding his new single "Gentleman" into another global hit.

Ignoring soaring military tension between South and North Korea, some 50,000 fans will pack the city's World Cup stadium for the event which will also be streamed live on YouTube.

The 35-year-old singer's long-awaited follow-up to Gangnam Style hit online stores Friday in a midnight rolling release across 119 nations.

In a move that surprised some industry experts and frustrated a lot of fans, it was released without the music video which had been the main focus of anticipation and speculation.

It was the video of Gangnam Style, and in particular Psy's signature horse-riding dance, that pushed him to global stardom last year after it was posted on YouTube and turned into a viral sensation.

A satire on the luxury lifestyle of Seoul's upscale Gangnam district, it has become the most-watched YouTube video of all time, registering more than 1.5 billion views since it debuted last July.

The Gentleman music video was expected to be posted on YouTube around the same time as Psy unveils the song's dance moves at Saturday's concert.

Gangnam Style was always going to be a hard act to follow, and Gentleman was received with mixed reactions.

In South Korea and other Asian markets like Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia it went straight into the Top Five of their respective iTunes charts, but could only manage 90th spot in the crucial US equivalent.

In Britain, it rose quickly to number 25, but elements of the British music press were scathing in their assessment.

"Like a seven-year-old on a Casio," was the judgment of the Times newspaper, while the underwhelmed Guardian critic called it "a fairly standard issue, pop-dance single".

The Independent newspaper said it would reserve judgment until seeing the video.

"Until we know what Gentleman looks like, the verdict remains on hold," it said.

Already an established artist in South Korea with six albums under his belt, Psy has been building and polishing his own style of quirky, explosive music and flamboyant stage persona since his debut in 2001.

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Kerry presses China over N Korea tensions

US Secretary of State John Kerry says North Korea's rhetoric is "unacceptable by any standards." Source: AAP

US Secretary of State John Kerry has met top officials of North Korea's key ally China to press them to rein in a defiant Pyongyang.

Kerry met first with China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday after flying in from talks in South Korea with President Park Geun-Hye, where he offered public US support for her plans to initiate some trust-building with the North.

The Korean peninsula has been engulfed by escalating military tensions and dire threats of nuclear war ever since North Korea conducted a rocket test last December and a nuclear test in February.

"Obviously there are enormously challenging issues in front of us, and I look forward to having that conversation with you today," Kerry told Wang.

Wang agreed the visit came at a "critical moment".

China has backed North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War and could wield tremendous leverage over the isolated communist regime thanks to the vital aid it provides, including almost all of its neighbour's energy imports.

But analysts say it is wary of pushing too hard for fear of destabilising North Korea, which could send a wave of hungry refugees flooding into China and ultimately lead to a reunified Korea allied with the United States.

China and the US have a sometimes strained relationship, with Beijing uneasy over Washington's 'rebalancing' towards Asia, and Kerry's first visit to the region since becoming America's top diplomat has been completely overshadowed by the Korean crisis.

Washington is seeking to persuade Beijing to help rein in the bellicose threats from North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, and bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table over its suspect nuclear program.

"I think it's clear to everybody in the world that no country in the world has as close a relationship or as significant an impact on the DPRK (North Korea) than China," Kerry said in Seoul after meeting South Korean leaders.

China is estimated to provide as much as 90 per cent of its neighbour's energy imports, 80 per cent of its consumer goods and 45 per cent of its food, according to the US-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Despite intelligence reports that the North has prepared what would be a highly-provocative, medium-range missile launch, Park has in recent days made some conciliatory gestures to the regime in Pyongyang.

Kerry was to meet China's new President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang later on Saturday.

Without naming any countries, Xi said recently that "no one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains".

After China, Kerry heads to Japan which is also deeply involved in the North Korea issue and which deployed Patriot missiles around Tokyo this week as anticipation of a missile launch by the North's mounted.

Kerry said he hoped China, Japan and the United States would be able to find the "unity" required to offer a "very different set of alternatives for how we can proceed and ultimately how we can defuse this situation".

Meanwhile, Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the US would be allowed to station forces at military bases in the Philippines if it went to war with North Korea.

"Our mutual defence treaty calls for joint action if either the Philippines or the United States is attacked," del Rosario said.

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US chides North Korea, downplays threat

South Korea has cast doubt on a leaked US report that North Korea is nuclear armed. Source: AAP

THE United States has berated North Korea's belligerence and pressed China to rein in its ally, as US officials downplayed a spy agency report that Pyongyang has a nuclear-armed missile.

The alarming assessment of the North's potential to unleash havoc came just prior to US Secretary of State John Kerry's arrival in Seoul on Friday, as regional tensions mounted over an expected missile launch by Pyongyang.

A senior official travelling with Kerry again pressed China to encourage its wayward ally North Korea to stop its destabilising nuclear activities and threats to the region.

The North's December rocket launch and February nuclear test, and its fury over subsequent UN sanctions, are at the core of a crisis that has seen Pyongyang threaten nuclear strikes against the United States and South Korea.

Kerry was to be briefed first-hand on the tensions from top US military commanders on the ground, ahead of meetings with new South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

President Barack Obama said "nobody wants to see a conflict" but emphasised that the United States was ready to take "all necessary steps to protect its people" and defend its allies in the region.

"We both agree that now is the time for North Korea to end the kind of belligerent approach that they've been taking," Obama said after White House talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"It's important for North Korea, like every other country in the world, to observe basic rules and norms."

The top US official travelling with Kerry, who will also visit Beijing and Tokyo during his trip to Asia, said China had a key role to play in the crisis.

"China has a huge stake in stability, and the continued North Korean pursuit of a nuclear-armed missile capability is the enemy of stability," the official said.

In Washington, Congressman Doug Lamborn, reading from an unclassified portion of a Defense Intelligence Agency report, said Pyongyang could be capable of launching a nuclear warhead, albeit an unpredictable one.

"DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles," said the report, according to the Republican lawmaker.

"However, the reliability will be low."

But the Pentagon and the director of national intelligence quickly threw cold water on the assessment.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said it would be "inaccurate" to suggest North Korea had demonstrated the capabilities referenced by Lamborn - a remark echoed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

The leaked intelligence marked the first time the US government has suggested North Korea may have succeeded in miniaturising a nuclear device - a potentially game-changing scenario for the strategic balance in East Asia.

South Korea was sceptical, with Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok saying it was "still doubtful" that the North had produced a warhead small enough to fit on a missile.

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Woman in boot never did wrong: neighbour

THE death of a woman found in the boot of a car in bushland south of Sydney was "absolutely horrific", police say.

The body of the 41-year-old, named in media reports as Linda Stevens, was discovered by police in the boot of her Kia sedan in bushland at Corrimal, near Wollongong, on Thursday evening.

Police had originally been responding to reports of a car driving erratically in the area about 2.45pm that day.

Officers found the car in bushland on Thursday afternoon but couldn't locate its female owner.

After looking for the owner at a home on Bligh Street in Wollongong the officers returned to the vehicle and made the gruesome discovery.

Detective Inspector Tim Beattie did not provide details about the woman's injuries but said the death was horrific.

"It's horrific, absolutely horrific for all involved," Mr Beattie told reporters outside Wollongong police station on Friday.

He said police were treating the death as a homicide, and crime scenes had been set up at bushland near Foothills Road and at a residence at Bligh Street.

He said the dead woman was known to police but he would not comment on whether the death was thought to be drug related or if the woman was dead when she was placed in the boot.

A neighbour who had known Ms Stevens for more than three years told Fairfax Media she was a "lovely" woman.

"She's a lovely person, never done anything wrong, she was always quiet, just dropped off her little boy to school and picked him up," Melissa Cruickshank said.

There was no reason for officers initially to look in the car boot because they were responding to a "low-level" driving complaint, Det Insp Beattie said.

He said the woman left behind a family member who lived in a Bligh Street unit block.

He appealed for anyone who may have seen a white Kia Rio sedan driving erratically in the northern suburbs of Wollongong on Thursday to contact police.

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Vic agencies told to buy Aussie made cars

VICTORIAN government agencies have been told to buy Australian-made cars to help the industry, Premier Denis Napthine says.

Dr Napthine said 98 per cent of the government's passenger vehicles are made locally but this policy will extend that to all government agencies.

Dr Napthine said he has written to agencies stating that if their vehicle requirements can be met by Australian manufactures, then locally made vehicles should be purchased.

"I've said to all government agencies they must abide by those rules," he told Fairfax radio.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said Dr Napthine's announcement was a pale imitation of Labor's policy announced last year.

Labor's policy mandates the purchase of locally made cars for all government departments, agencies and local government authorities where they meet vehicle requirements.

"It was pilloried at the time by the Liberal and National parties as not necessary, as unworkable. It's now apparently government's policy," Mr Andrews told reporters.

Mr Andrews said he wanted to see more detail about the government policy to ensure it was not simply a reminder to government departments of obligations they have had for many years.

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BHP chair calls for economic summit

BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser says Australia needs a new plan to boost productivity. Source: AAP

BHP Billiton's chairman is calling for a summit to head off a fall in Australia's international competitiveness and bring about the biggest economic reforms since the 1980s.

Jac Nasser made the call during a speech to a business lunch on Thursday, warning that the record commodity prices of the mining boom of the past decade might never return.

During that period Australia has slumped to 14th place in labour productivity around the globe.

BHP and the resources industry should bear some of the blame, but so too should governments and unions, Mr Nasser said.

The keys to building economic growth and confidence to invest were a fairer tax and industrial relations system.

That raises the prospect of a return to the controversial Work Choices reforms of the Howard government, which restricted employees' ability to collectively bargain.

"The best way to do it is really what happened back in the 1980s where everyone sat down," Mr Nasser told reporters.

"Decide what level of productivity is needed on a national basis, beyond the resources industry, and what type of compatible framework would help.

"That needs to involve part of all the organisations so we've got some alignment between everyone, so it isn't always confrontational on this, confrontational on that.

"Whether its fair work, fair choices, Work Choices or choice work, I don't think it really matters."

The adversarial approach to industrial relations had seen the cost and time associated with managing disputes grow, he said.

"The way governments and unions look at this industry also has to change," he said.

A drawn out industrial dispute at BHP's coking coal mines last year led the then resources minister Martin Ferguson to warn unions to temper wage expectations as the mining industry's costs soared.

Mr Nasser also defended how much tax the industry paid.

BHP paid $9 billion to federal and state governments - out of $20 billion from the industry - last year, representing a 45 per cent tax rate and the same amount spent federally on higher education.

His comments follow criticism of mining tax laws that have generated little revenue and speculation that the government wants to crack down in the budget on loopholes that are allowing miners to use tax breaks.

If Australia got things right, the continued growth in Asia meant that over the next decade Australians would benefit from investment and jobs as big as the past 10 years, Mr Nasser said.

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Aussie consumers easily spooked: ANRA

CONSUMER confidence has dipped again, creating another headache for retailers after the central bank warned economic growth wasn't likely to pick up before next year.

Confidence dropped by a surprising 5.1 per cent in April after two months of solid increases, prompting survey producer Westpac to highlight the fragile mood among cash-strapped households.

The bank's chief economist Bill Evans said it appeared to be a reaction to global economic concerns, including the crisis in Cyprus where bank account holders are being taxed to pay down country debt.

"Concerns about a potential rise in interest rates may have also weighed on the index," Mr Evans said in a statement.

The Reserve Bank of Australia's official cash interest rate has been lowered to three per cent, from a high of 4.75 per cent in November 2011 when the current easing cycle began.

Signs have emerged recently that the rate cuts were finally working on the economy, buoying retail sales and approvals for new building construction.

This led financial markets to mark down the chances of more cuts this year and look to the possibility of a rise in interest rates.

But RBA assistant governor in charge of economics, Christopher Kent, on Wednesday said domestic growth still had a way to go before returning to "normal" - or trend - growth of about 3.25 per cent.

"Pulling all of this together suggests that growth for the economy as a whole will be a little below trend this year and then pick up gradually through next year," he told the Bloomberg Australia economic summit in Sydney.

This means economic conditions could remain soft for some time, prompting consumers to hang onto their money and leading to another gloomy year for the retail sector.

Australian National Retailers Association chief Margy Osmond said consumers were wary of "monsters under the bed".

"Aussie consumers don't need much to scare them back to saving and put spending on hold," she said in a statement.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment fell to 104.9 points in April, from a two-year high of 110.5 points in March.

While Dr Kent believes lower interest rates can still underpin a pick-up in housing construction and non-mining businesses, despite the dampening effects of the strong Australian dollar.

But he thinks the impact will be modest.

"Our expectation is that there will be a gradual recovery in non-mining business investment and further moderate growth of dwelling investment," he said.

Meanwhile, Treasurer Wayne Swan on Wednesday again warned the decline in government tax revenues, which has already destroyed Labor's 2012/13 budget surplus plan, was likely to continue.

"We've seen the global economy take a sledgehammer to our budget revenues," he told the Bloomberg summit.

"We're seeing further hits to revenues and it's clear this will be felt right across the forwards (forward budget estimates).

The government hands down its budget in May and already there are expectations the 2012/13 deficit could be as large as $20 billion.

Opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb said Mr Swan should stop complaining about revenue.

"This government has a spending problem, not a 'woe is me' revenue problem," he said in a statement.

"Revenue continues to grow steadily, it just doesn't keep up with Labor's inflated revenue forecasts."

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South Korea, US raise alert on North Korea

Foreigners in South Korea have reacted with indifference to a threat from the North to leave. Source: AAP

SOUTH Korean and US forces have raised their alert status to "vital threat" ahead of an expected North Korean missile test.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, fuelling speculation of a launch between Wednesday and April 15 birthday celebrations for late founder Kim Il-Sung.

It could also coincide with high-profile visits by US Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in Seoul on Friday.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place "anytime" and warned Pyongyang it risked triggering a fresh round of UN sanctions.

South Korean intelligence says the North has prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.

On Tuesday the North reiterated a warning that the peninsula was headed for "thermonuclear" war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 to reflect indications of a "vital threat", Yonhap news agency said, citing a senior military official.

Watchcon 4 is in effect during normal peacetime, while Watchcon 3 reflects indications of an important threat. Watchcon 1 is used in wartime.

In a separate report, Yonhap quoted a government source as saying Pyongyang might be preparing "multiple" launches, after other launch vehicles were reportedly detected carrying shorter-range SCUD and Rodong missiles.

Although the North's warnings to embassies in Pyongyang and foreigners in the South were both largely shrugged off, there is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Rome that he had spoken to the Chinese leadership to try to calm tensions, and would discuss the issue with US President Barack Obama.

"The current level of tension is very dangerous, a small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgment may create an uncontrollable situation," Ban said.

North Korea has wielded the "thermonuclear war" threat several times in recent months despite expert opinion that it is nowhere near developing such an advanced nuclear device.

The crisis on the Korean peninsula has been intensifying almost daily since the North's nuclear test in February, which drew toughened UN sanctions.

Incensed by ongoing South Korean-US military exercises, Pyongyang has accused Washington and Seoul of preparing an invasion and threatened dire military actions ranging from artillery barrages to nuclear strikes.

South Korea last went to Watchcon 2 around the time of the North's nuclear test, and its long-range rocket launch last December.

The Watchcon system solely relates to surveillance levels and is separate from the Defcon system of military preparedness.

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of anywhere up to 4000 kilometres.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

Japan, whose armed forces have been authorised to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, has deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.

The North's official Rodong Sinmun daily on Wednesday accused Tokyo of "military adventurism" and warned it against siding with the United States.

"The Korean People's Army is fully capable of blowing up US military bases not only in Japan but in other areas of the Asia-Pacific region," it said.

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Vic public service faces sudden overhaul

VICTORIA'S public service faces a major shake-up, with several departments to merge from July.

The departments of environment and primary industries will merge, while there will be a new "Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure".

Department of Transport secretary Jim Betts will not have his contract renewed when it expires in coming weeks.

Premier Denis Napthine said no jobs would go under the changes.

"These changes are important changes for Victorians; they're about creating a new emphasis on jobs (and) investment opportunities for Victoria," he said.

The new structure will be: the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation; Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure; and Department of Environment and Primary Industries.

Aboriginal and veterans affairs will now come under the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Planning and Community Development will be abolished.

Dr Napthine said merging the departments of environment and primary industries would deliver enormous benefits.

"This old-style debate between brown and green is a thing of the past," he said.

"I would have thought any sensible environmentalist would see this as a positive move."

Current Department of Premier and Cabinet deputy secretary Dean Yates will become secretary of the Department of Planning and Local Infrastructure, while public servant Adam Fennessy will be Department of Environment and Primary Industries secretary.

The new secretaries will start their roles on Monday.

Opposition frontbencher Jacinta Allan said she did not believe Dr Napthine's assurance that no jobs would go as a result of the restructure.

"Victorians know they just can't trust a Liberal premier when it comes to protecting public service jobs," she said.

Ms Allan said the restructure was a demotion for Planning Minister Matthew Guy, who would be supervised by Transport Minister Terry Mulder.

"(It's) purely to keep tabs on the movements of a key leadership rival for the premier," she said.

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2GB remains Sydney radio king

SYDNEY'S music stations have suffered a major reversal in 2013 with WSFM taking the lead over the seemingly unassailable 2DayFM.

Southern Cross Austereo's (SCA) Sydney station lost listeners across all timeslots and suffered big drops in its key 18-24 age demographic.

WSFM stayed steady in the second survey of the year, according to figures supplied on Tuesday by Nielsen, with 8.5 per cent of the radio audience.

Talk station 2GB remains at the top of the ratings ladder and has regained some of the listeners it lost in the first survey of the year.

Alan Jones was responsible for some of the gains with his breakfast show and held on to his title as the king of Sydney's early morning radio with 15.7 per cent of listeners.

2DayFM's controversial Kyle & Jackie O breakfast show remains the most popular on music stations with 10.2 per cent of the audience.

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Raudonikis' grandson dies after RL game

A junior rugby league player critically injured in a game on the NSW mid-north coast has died. Source: AAP

TEENAGER Jake Kedzlie lost his young life playing a game he lived for and would not want rugby league blamed for his tragic death, according to a close family friend.

The 15-year-old grandson of former Western Suburbs and Australian legend Tom Raudonikis had already attracted the attention of NRL clubs.

He collapsed into unconsciousness seconds after his head collided with the knee of an opponent playing a junior rugby league match for the Sawtell Panthers at Rex Hardaker Oval, Toormina, near Coffs Harbour on Saturday.

His devastated family made the harrowing decision to switch off his life support on Monday morning after a weekend vigil by his bedside at Coffs Harbour hospital.

Kedzlie's mother, Corryn, who is Raudonikis's daughter, said the family wanted the teenager's organs to be donated.

Close family friend Chris Taylor described Kedzlie as a remarkable and well-liked young man who looked set to follow in his famous grandfather's footsteps.

His family turned down a junior contract from the Wests Tigers club because they felt he was too young to make that move.

Taylor said Kedzlie's stepfather, Adrian, did not want the sport of rugby league held responsible for what was a tragic accident.

"Jake lived rugby league more than you would know. It was his life, it was everything," he told the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.

"One of the things that Adrian said to me is: 'We don't think that rugby league is responsible. That's not what Jake would want'."

Kedzlie's friends flooded Facebook over the weekend and again on Monday with emotional tributes to the popular 15 year-old Toormina High student.

His junior club said their hearts went out to Jake's family following his tragic accident.

"Jake was a good kid, who always had a smile on his face, who loved being part of a team and who loved his footy and he will be incredibly missed," said Sawtell JRLFC President Karena Duggan.

"Jake was a talented player who got on with everyone.

"All of us are now coming to grips with what has just been a tragic accident, it was just one of those freak things that happen in life, there is no one who could be blamed."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and teammates at this tremendously difficult time."

The Sawtell community is already looking into ways of organising fund raising events to help Kedzlie's family.

Raudonikis, who drove from his Gold Coast home to be with his distraught daughter when the decision was made to switch off Jake's life support, said he was "doing it tough".

"We hold no grudges against the great game of rugby league and we want to emphasise that," Raudonikis told News Limited on Monday.

"My daughter's absolutely shattered and if anyone has a reason to blame the game, it's her. But it was just a freak accident and a reminder of how fickle life can be.

"Parents out there should not be put off by this - rugby league is still a great game for the kids.

"If they want to wear headgear, they can but I'm not sure it would have prevented this tragedy and I don't think it should be made compulsory.

"If anyone should have brain injuries from playing football over the years, it's me."

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Missing diabetic man found in WA bush

A DIABETIC man missing since Saturday night after walking away from a campsite near Augusta in Western Australia's southwest has been found safe and well.

Police said 35-year-old Luke Kocsis was camping with friends at Scott National Park when he decided to walk the 40km back to Margaret River after a disagreement.

He was reported missing on Sunday afternoon.

Police and State Emergency Service volunteers searched for him for six hours on Sunday evening but failed to find him.

The search resumed at 6am (WST) on Monday, and at about 2.30pm, Mr Kocsis was found on Woodarburrup Road.

A police spokesman said Mr Kocsis appeared in good health but he was being checked by a St John's Ambulance crew.

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WA man charged after woman shot dead

A MAN has been charged with murder after a woman was shot dead in northern Western Australia.

Major crime detectives flew to Port Hedland when the woman suffered gunshot wounds and later died at the Hedland Health Campus.

Several calls were made to police around 6.30pm (WST) on Saturday, regarding a disturbance in Bayman Street.

Members of the public reported a man was armed with a firearm. They said shots had been fired and a woman had been injured.

Local officers found the 43-year-old woman with a gunshot wound. She was given emergency medical treatment but was later pronounced dead.

Police could not immediately find the suspect who was known to the victim.

A 62-year-old man later handed himself into police at the South Hedland Police Station.

The man from Port Hedland was later charged with one count of murder. He will appear in court on Monday.

Officers also found and seized a firearm.

Police have requested that witnesses call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, .

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Obama's gun dilemma 'too little, too late'

A YOUNG child in Alabama finds a gun and kills himself with a shot to the chest.

A father accidentally kills his 10-year-old son as he cleans his gun in North Carolina - the child was watching TV and the bullet hit him in the back of the head.

A 22-year-old from Florida kills her ex-boyfriend when he runs into her at a post office.

These incidents in recent weeks are just some of the 3300 deaths from gunshot in the US that happened since the Newtown massacre on December 14, according to the online magazine Slate. Most of the shootings only made the local news, if that.

The New York Times is putting such reports into a blog to highlight the country's gun problem. The daily account horrifies many readers, if comments are anything to go by.

Yet barely four months after the Newtown school killings claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult educators, US President Barack Obama is fighting a losing battle in his push for tougher gun legislation.

Next week, the US president will launch a last minute push to convince congress to ban assault weapons and large magazine clips of the type used to slaughter the Connecticut children.

On Monday, he will be in Connecticut to visit with families affected by the Newtown shooting. On Tuesday, he will stand at the White House alongside law enforcement officials who want to clamp down. On Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama will hammer home the theme in Chicago. And on Thursday, Vice-President Joe Biden will appear on a morning talk show for a roundtable discussion.

Yet the call to ban military-type assault weapons and large clips appears to be dead in the water, despite the power of the White House, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and groups like Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Congress is poised to consider a much-watered-down version of a law that only addresses background checks for gun purchases. And Obama has become the target of mockery among conservatives and gun-right advocates.

Obama, who has been criticised for remaining silent since January on the issue, in late March kicked into action again, lashing out at "powerful voices" who are "drowning out the majority" who want stricter controls.

"Shame on us if we've forgotten," an angry Obama said. "Tears aren't enough, expressions of sympathy aren't enough."

There has been some progress on the state level.

Connecticut legislators passed what experts say is one of the strictest gun laws in the country, banning future sale of 100 types of assault weapons and gun clips with more than 10 bullets.

Other states are moving along the same path, including New York, Colorado and Maryland, which will now require fingerprinting of gun buyers.

But at the same time, states like Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee and Kentucky have rushed to loosen state laws since the Newtown massacre. The powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) even wrote some of the laws, according to media reports, capitalising on fears of an anti-gun backlash after the killings.

Similarly, the NRA has managed to reverse the tide for gun control at the federal level, using its large lobbying organisation and political campaign fund and deploying its internet-connected membership to put pressure on federal legislators.

What remains in the proposed bill is mostly of little substance.

"The gun lobby appears to have prevailed," wrote Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank.

Obama's main problem is that even legislators from his Democratic Party are sceptical about tough gun laws. Gun-owning voters in their home states feel strong enough on the issue that a "yes" vote for gun control could prove costly in the 2014 congressional election.

According to a poll by the TV network CBS, the percentage of people favouring tougher gun laws has fallen from 57 per cent right after the shooting to only 47 per cent.

Even Obama is starting to acknowledge the country's tradition of gun ownership, saying recently he could understand why people might want to have some weapons for self-defence. Observers saw this as a sign he would sign a weak gun bill: the main thing is to have some relevant legislation.

Obama's standing has suffered, with gun control advocates feeling disappointed that he waited until late March to go into action amid reports that he has contributed little to writing the legislation.

"Too little, too late," The Washington Post wrote.

Even if the Democratic majority in the Senate could push through an ambitious gun control bill, there are few chances that such a bill could pass the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.

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