Six wounded in US shooting, suspect dead

A SHOOTER described as being armed with an assault rifle and having bullets strapped across his chest "like Rambo" opened fire at a FedEx station outside Atlanta, wounding at least six people before police found the suspect dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

Police rushed to the centre after someone called to report an active shooter at 5.54am local time.

After surrounding the perimeter and working to clear the building, officers found the suspect dead, Cobb County police spokesman Michael Bowman said.

There were no immediate reports anyone else had been killed.

FedEx clerk Liza Aiken said she was working inside when she heard something, dropped, looked to her left and saw the gunman.

"He had bullets strapped across his chest like Rambo, a huge assault rifle and he had a knife," Aiken said in a parking lot where employees were gathering not far from their workplace.

Before she could continue, a woman wearing a FedEx jacket told Aiken to stop talking and led her away.

Six people wounded at the FedEx station were taken to nearby Wellstar Kennestone hospital, where spokesman Tyler Pearson said one victim was rushed to surgery with potentially critical injuries. Others were less serious.

"A lot of them were able to walk off the ambulance," Pearson said.

David Titus, a FedEx truck driver, said he was just coming to work when he saw someone walk up and shoot a security guard in the abdomen outside the building.

He said he could hear more gunshots after the gunman went inside.

"It was chaos," Titus said.

"Everyone was running ducking and hiding, trying to get out of there."

FedEx said the facility about 40km north of Atlanta is a hub where packages are sorted and loaded onto vehicles for delivery.

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Goodyear posts 1Q loss of $US58m

GOODYEAR has reported a $US58 million ($A62 million) loss for the first quarter largely due to Venezuelan currency charges.

The loss was compounded by the extreme winter weather across the US that hurt tyre sales, the company said on Tuesday.

The Akron, Ohio, tyre maker's losses added up to 23 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31.

It made $US26 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

After one-time charges, including $US132 million in charges related to the situation in Venezuela, Goodyear earned 56 cents per share.

Its adjusted earnings still were below Wall Street estimates, and Goodyear shares fell five per cent, to $US25.94 in early trading on Tuesday.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected 60 cents per share for the quarter.

Revenue dropped eight per cent to $US4.47 billion from $US4.85 billion, just short of projections for revenue of $US4.81 billion according to FactSet.

"We delivered solid performance in our developed markets, led by North America, which reported a 23 per cent increase in earnings," Chairman and CEO Richard Kramer said.

"Growth in North America and Europe offset headwinds in emerging markets where we continue to navigate foreign currency and economic challenges."

Revenue in North America fell 13 per cent to $US1.9 billion for the quarter despite a 23 per cent jump in earnings, to $US156 million.

The overall number of tyres sold in North America edged lower to 14.6 million, from 14.8 million, because of the rough winter, the company said.

Kramer said the company remains confident in its full-year outlook despite labour and economic trouble in Venezuela.

The company expects two per cent to three per cent in volume growth for the year.

Shares of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co have been on a steady rise over the past year and hit a 52-week high of $US28.48 last week amid declining raw material prices.

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Collette misses out on Tony Award nod

THERE will be no Tony Award for Toni Collette.

The Australian actress, along with her high-profile cast mates Michael C. Hall, Marisa Tomei and Tracy Letts in the play The Realistic Joneses, were among the high-profile snubs when nominations for Broadway's biggest awards night were announced on Tuesday.

Despite strong reviews, Collette was bumped out of the best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play category by Tyne Daly (Mothers and Sons), LaTanya Richardson Jackson (A Raisin in the Sun), Cherry Jones (The Glass Menagerie) and Audra McDonald (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill).

The American Theatre Wing was not swayed by Hollywood star power in deciding its nominees, with Denzel Washington, Daniel Radcliffe, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Rebecca Hall, James Franco and Zachary Quinto also among the casualties.

The big winner ahead of June 8's 68th annual Tony Awards was the musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, with a leading 10 nominations.

In other categories, the Harlem nightclub revue After Midnight, Disney's Aladdin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder will compete for best musical.

The Realistic Joneses was also left out of best play, with Act I, All The Way, Casa Valentina, Mothers And Sons and Outside Mullingar scoring the nods.

No even a surprise appearance by Jackman at the nomination ceremony could lift Collette to a second Tony nomination, after the Sydney actress scored a leading actress in a musical nomination in 2000 for her performance in The Wild Party.

"I'm sorry to hijack your show," Jackman, carrying an empty coffee mug and then reminding viewers the Tony Awards were on June 8, told nomination ceremony hosts Jonathan Groff and Lucy Liu after he strolled on stage.

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Knox and Sollecito 'both stabbed Kercher'

BRITISH student Meredith Kercher was stabbed by both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, Italian judges said, as they explained what led them to issue guilty rulings in the 2007 murder case.

US student Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Sollecito were handed jail terms of 28 and a half years and 25 years, respectively, in January, after the case had been reopened following previous innocent verdicts.

In Italy it us customary for judges to file written explanations months after their rulings.

Kercher was stabbed in the neck by "two different knives" - a longer one wielded by Knox, a smaller one by Sollecito - judges from the Florence Court of Appeal wrote.

It was Knox who dealt the fatal blow, they added.

The court said on Tuesday Knox, Sollecito and Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast-born small-time drug dealer who was tried separately and handed a final guilty ruling carrying a 16-year jail term, had jointly taken part in the murder.

They suggested that Kercher was killed following an argument between her and Knox which got out of hand, and also led to Guede sexually assaulting the victim and keeping her immobilised while the others stabbed her.

Judges said "it was not at all credible" to presume that Kercher was murdered because she backed out of taking part in a group sex game, as had been suggested in a first instance ruling on the case, in 2009.

"This reconstruction does not fit with the personality of the English girl," judges wrote.

Kercher shared a flat with Knox in Perugia, a central Italian town with a university for foreign students.

She was found on November 2, 2007, half-naked and with multiple stab wounds, inside her locked bedroom.

The court said Knox and Meredith "did not like each other", and suggested that, on the night she died, the victim confronted her US flatmate about the "uncivilised conduct" of Guede, who had been let into the house by Knox.

Police found Guede's unflushed faeces in a toilet.

Knox and Sollecito have always professed their innocence.

In a long legal saga, they were: arrested days after the crime, as prime suspects; convicted in 2009; acquitted and freed two years later; put on trial again in September, after a top court found procedural faults in their acquittal; and convicted again in January.

That judgment is not final, as it can be challenged again before Italy's top appeals body, the Court of Cassation.

But Knox has since returned to the US and indicated she would battle any extradition request.

Sollecito had his travel documents confiscated to prevent him from also fleeing abroad.

However, he is still free as, in Italy, jail sentences are normally not put into effect until all appeals procedures are exhausted.

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By George - a right royal welcome

BY George - they're finally here!

Large crowds are expected to give the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince George, a right royal welcome when they arrive in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon to kick off their highly anticipated tour of Australia.

After being met at the airport by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the trio will be whisked away to the Sydney Opera House for a right royal tour and a reception, to be hosted by NSW Governor Marie Bashir and Premier Barry O'Farrell.

It's expected about 400 guests will attend the reception, including former Australian cricket fast bowler Glenn McGrath and Australian Women's Cricket Team member Ellyse Perry, along with children dressed to represent all nations competing in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

The royals are expected to meet and greet members of the public before being taken by police boat to Admiralty House where they will be hosted by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove.

On Thursday, the Duke and Duchess will visit communities in the Blue Mountains hit by bushfires with plans to drop in to the Royal Easter Show on Friday.

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Call for more money for Vic mine clean-up

COMMUNITY groups want a $90 million fund for new brown coal technology in Victoria's Latrobe Valley to be instead used to pay for the Hazelwood coalmine fire clean-up.

The Voices of the Valley spokesman Simon Ellis said $2 million in support announced by the Victorian government had already been spent, but the clean-up was not close to being finished.

The federal and Victorian governments each pledged $45 million to the Advanced Lignite Demonstration Program back in 2012, to entice companies to develop ways to use brown coal from the valley more profitably with reduced emissions.

"It would be an insult to Latrobe Valley residents if the state and federal government's first significant response to the Hazelwood fire was to find new coal mines and technologies," Mr Ellis said.

He said the priority should be to clean up Morwell homes and prevent any further fires at the Hazelwood mine.

At Wednesday's Hazelwood mine inquiry community consultation session in Traralgon, The Voices of the Valley will deliver hundreds of affidavits, survey responses, photos and videos collected from residents to help the inquiry with its investigation into how the fire unfolded.

The fire ignited when bushfires spread to a disused section of the mine on February 9 and burned for 45 days, shrouding nearby communities in smoke and forcing some residents to leave Morwell.

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Fan tells inquest of Hillsborough 'hell'

THE son of the oldest fan killed in the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster has told an inquest jury how he and his father battled desperately for their lives after witnessing "hell before our eyes".

Gerard Baron Jr recalled how he tried to reassure 67-year-old war veteran Gerard Baron Sr as they were caught in the crush that killed 96 Liverpool supporters.

In a tribute to Mr Baron Sr, who lived in Preston, his son told how they travelled together to the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

In evidence to fresh inquests into the events at Hillsborough on April 15, 1989, Mr Baron said: "What transpired that day changed my life forever.

"Neither of us envisaged witnessing hell before our eyes, nor did we expect to be fighting so desperately for our lives, as were so many others.

"The very last words I said to my father were, 'You will be okay'. How wrong I was."

Mr Baron had flown to the UK from his home in South Australia to give evidence to the inquest court in Warrington, Cheshire.

In his evidence he described Mr Baron Sr, a retired postal inspector, as a doting father to seven children, a supportive husband, a loving grandparent and a dear friend to many.

Mr Baron added that his father - whose brother played for Liverpool in the 1950 FA Cup Final - had a phenomenal football knowledge and was a "sportsman, serviceman and worthy citizen".

Nine other family members read tributes to their loved ones during the sixth day of the fresh inquests, including Sara Williams, whose late mother Anne Williams played a leading role in the campaign for the original inquest verdicts to be quashed.

The campaigner, whose 15-year-old son Kevin was among Hillsborough's victims, died from bowel cancer in April last year.

"I make this statement on behalf of all our family and friends, who all loved Kevin, but in particular for my mum Anne, who would have loved to have been standing here telling you all about Kevin and his cheeky ways," her daughter told the inquest jury of seven women and four men.

Ms Williams said Kevin, from Formby, Merseyside, was "mad about football, but crazy about Liverpool Football Club".

Her voice breaking with emotion, she told the inquest: "Kev was really close to mum - it would be absolutely no surprise to me if the word 'mum' was his last.

"My mum fought hard over the years to get the truth uncovered about what happened at Hillsborough.

"It is only now that I have children of my own that I understand the relentless determination that came so naturally to her, because of the love that she had for Kevin."

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Aussie tenor Skelton wins top opera award

AUSTRALIAN heroic tenor Stuart Skelton has been named male singer of the year at the second International Opera Awards in London.

The 45-year-old singer from Sydney gave a surprise performance at the awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

Skelton was given the top gong for his performance in Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes at the English National Opera (ENO).

The Australian beat rivals from Germany, France, Italy, the United States and Sweden.

Skelton considers the ENO his home company. His house debut was as Laca in the 2006 production of Jenufa.

"I was born in Australia, I live in the United States, but ENO is the company that has always been there," the tenor said.

"It takes risks, and when you take big risks sometimes they don't pay off, but when they do, they pay off in a way other people cant re-produce."

Skelton said opera was an art form "worth shouting and screaming for".

The female singer of the year award went to German soprano Diana Damrau.

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Australia's trade performance sinks

AUSTRALIA'S standing as a global trade competitor has tumbled with exporters dogged by regulatory barriers, the Australian Industry Group says.

The World Economic Forum's global "enabling trade" index released on Wednesday showed Australia dropping six places to 23rd in 2014 from 17th in 2012, and having been ranked 14th in 2009.

Singapore topped the table, while neighbouring New Zealand was fourth.

Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said the survey results yet again highlight Australia's poor performance in the global economy relative to its peers and competitors.

"Australian exporters continue to face many hurdles, including access to foreign markets, transport costs and regulatory barriers," Mr Willox said in a statement.

"Some of these barriers are due to the old 'tyranny of distance', but others are due to our own regulatory and procedural arrangements for outbound and inbound trade."

On market access that measures the extent and complexity of a country's tariff regime, Australia now ranks 74th, having been 44th in 2008.

On the quality, transparency and efficiency of border administration Australia stands 22nd having been 11th six years earlier, while on infrastructure it is now 20th, down from a peak of 14th in 2009.

Similarly, on its operating environment it is 19th versus 14th in 2009.

"Australian trade policies, regulations and procedures require attention in a similar manner to the many other areas of regulatory burden that are currently under scrutiny," Mr Willox said.

The results highlight the importance of free trade and multi-lateral agreements, including those with China and Japan, Australia's two largest trading partners, as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership

He said government is putting a welcome focus on expediting these agreements and strengthening Australia's trade performance.

He said Australia hosting the G20 Leaders Meeting in November will provide another opportunity to address trade barriers and encourage expanded global trade.

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Inflation slowing in developed countries

INFLATION slowed in major developed countries in February amid a steep drop in energy prices, a report shows.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday consumer price inflation in its 34 member countries slowed to 1.4 per cent in February from 1.7 per cent in January.

Low inflation has become a key concern for many developed countries. Consumers and businesses delaying purchases in the hope of cheaper deals later can hurt growth.

An outright drop in prices, called deflation, can be very hard to reverse. Japan was stuck in deflation for about two decades, during which time its economy barely grew.

The US inflation rate was 1.1 per cent in February, while the European Union's was just 0.8 per cent, well below the 2 per cent many economists deem a suitable level.

The OECD, a think-tank for the world's most developed countries, said however excluding volatile food and energy prices, core inflation for its 34 members was stable for a fourth month running at 1.6 per cent.

Inflation in G-20 countries, which includes major developing countries such as Indonesia, India and Brazil, slowed to 2.3 per cent in February from 2.6 per cent in January, the OECD said.

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