US shares rebound, but Dell falls on deal

US shares have rebounded in opening trade after the previous day's sharp correction, but Dell sank 2.6 per cent after the company announced a plan to take itself private and de-list from the Nasdaq.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 75.55 points (0.54 per cent) to 13,955.63.

The S&P 500 index gained 9.28 (0.62 per cent) to 1504.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite picked up 10.44 points (0.33 per cent) to 3141.61.

Dell shares dropped 2.64 per cent to $13.27 after announcing a $24.4 billion deal to go private, valuing the company at $13.65 a share.

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Dell to be bought by founder and Microsoft

SLUMPING personal computer maker Dell is selling itself for $US24.4 billion ($A23.51 billion) to its founder and a group of investors that includes Microsoft. It's the largest deal of its kind since the Great Recession dried up financing for risky manoeuvres like this.

The complex agreement announced on Tuesday will end Dell Inc's nearly 25-year history as a publicly traded company. Shareholders are receiving $13.65 per share for their stock.

The deal reflects Dell's desire to engineer a turnaround attempt away from the glare and financial pressures of Wall Street.

Founder Michael Dell will remain the company's CEO and largest shareholder. He already owned a nearly 16 per cent stake in the company, which is based in Round Rock, Texas.

Microsoft Corp is taking part in the deal with a $2.0 billion loan.

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Somalia jails alleged rape victim, journo

SOMALIA has jailed for one year a woman who said she was raped by security forces and a journalist who interviewed her, saying they were guilty of insulting the state in a case that has alarmed rights groups.

"We sentence her for offending state institutions by claiming she was raped," judge Ahmed Adan told the court in the capital Mogadishu. "She will spend one year in prison after finishing the breast feeding of her baby."

Freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur, 25, who is already in detention, was to begin serving his sentence immediately.

"The court finds that he offended state institutions by making a false interview, and entering the house of a woman whose husband was not present," the judge added.

Rights groups have condemned the case as "politically motivated", and defence lawyers have said they will appeal against the decision.

Three other defendants, including the husband of the alleged victim, and a man and woman who helped introduce her to the journalist, were found not guilty and released.

The reporter, who works for several Somali radio stations as well as international media, was detained on January 10 after researching rampant sexual violence in Somalia.

He did not air or print any report after interviewing the woman.

"The decision of the court was contrary to Somali laws as well as international laws," defence lawyer Mohamed Mohamud Afrah told reporters, adding both the woman and Abdinur would appeal.

"There was sufficient evidence to free the prisoners who were unlawfully detained...I wasn't given the opportunity to legally defend the accused."

Mohamed Ibrahim, head of Somali's journalist union, said the sentencing was a "miscarriage of justice, and an attack on the freedom of the press."

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists have said in a joint statement that the case is "linked to increasing media attention given to the high levels of rape... including attacks allegedly committed by security forces".

UN Special Representative on sexual violence, Zainab Hawa Bangura, last month condemned the case, saying it "does not serve the interest of justice; it only serves to criminalise victims and undermine freedom of expression for the press."

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Happy Waitanga Day from the US

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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West Australians getting to know McGowan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Grylls fighting for his political life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Play fighting over as WA campaign begins

WHEN is an election campaign not an election campaign?

When Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett says so.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Boom state emperor digs in for long haul

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's not easy being the boss.

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