Italy president updated on coalition talks

ITALIAN prime minister-designate Enrico Letta is expected to update President Giorgio Napolitano on efforts to strike a coalition deal and give Italy a much-awaited government.

The presidency said on Saturday the leftist 46-year-old was due to meet Napolitano at 1300 GMT (2300 AEST) but it was not known whether he had succeeded in breaking the two-month-old deadlock.

Centrist politician Lorenzo Cesa predicted "a positive outcome by the end of the day" but other MPs said while they expected a breakthrough before markets reopen on Monday, they did not see it happening before Sunday.

Once differences between his centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party (PDL) have been ironed out, Letta will formally accept the nomination of prime minister from Napolitano.

He will then be sworn in along with his new cabinet, before the government is put to a confidence vote in both houses of parliament.

Most observers were upbeat about Letta's chances as he met with Berlusconi and the former head of the centre-left, Pier Luigi Bersani, in a bid to close the deal on Saturday.

Italian media feverishly ran through possible cabinet candidates in constantly updated "Toto minister" pools, based on the popular system for betting on the results of Italian football matches.

But some commentators warned that the sparring risked thwarting coalition plans and worsening Italy's political and economic situation.

The parties are acting as if "the government being created is an alliance formed with a pistol to its head," said Luciano Fontana in Italy's best-selling Corriere della Sera daily.

Conditions imposed by both sides "are complicating the deal's closure, to the point it risks failure," he warned.

Letta has said he wants to move quickly to tackle the social fallout of a painful recession and Napolitano has been urging him to include younger ministers and women in his cabinet to help renew the country's tired political scene.

But cross-party unity has demands attached.

Negotiations have been trickiest with the scandal-tainted billionaire tycoon Berlusconi, who has insisted on the abolition and repayment of a controversial housing tax introduced in 2012.

Such a move would set the budget back some eight billion euros ($A10.15 billion) in a country suffering from its longest recession in 20 years.

Furthermore, Letta's own PD, which narrowly won inconclusive general elections in February, is deeply divided over going into government with Berlusconi's.

There have been calls from both sides to prevent rival figures from Italy's political scene from grasping ministerial posts - with Berlusconi, Monti and former premiers Giuliano Amato and Massimo D'Alema the names most fiercely contested.

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H7N9 bird flu spreads in central China

CHINA'S deadly H7N9 bird flu outbreak has spread to the central province of Hunan, local health authorities say, the third announcement in three days of a case in a new location.

A 64-year-old woman in Shaoyang City, who developed a fever four days after coming into contact with poultry, was confirmed to have the virus, the Xinhua state news agency reported on Saturday.

It follows the first confirmed cases in the eastern province of Jiangxi on Thursday and the southeastern province of Fujian on Friday.

More than 110 people in mainland China have been confirmed with H7N9, with 23 deaths, since the government announced on March 31 that the virus had been found in humans.

Most cases have been confined to eastern China, while the island of Taiwan has also reported one case.

A Chinese expert earlier this week warned of the possibility of more cases in a wider geographical area.

"Until the source of H7N9 avian influenza is ... brought under effective control, sporadic cases might continue to appear," said Liang Wannian of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Poultry has been confirmed as the source of the H7N9 flu among humans but experts fear the prospect of such a virus mutating into a form easily transmissible between humans, which could then have the potential to trigger a pandemic.

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100 Guantana prisoners on hunger strike

A HUNGER strike among prisoners at Guantanamo Bay keeps growing.

Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House said on Saturday 100 of 166 prisoners at the US base in Cuba have now joined the strike.

He says 19 are receiving liquid nutrients through a nasal tube to prevent dangerous weight loss. Five of those are at a hospital under observation but do not have any life-threatening conditions.

Lawyers for the detainees say the military is undercounting the number of hunger strikers.

Prisoners began the hunger strike in February to protest conditions and indefinite confinement.

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Vic Labor claims victory in Lyndhurst

Martin Pakula is confident he can win the by-election in the Victorian state seat of Lyndhurst. Source: AAP

LABOR'S Martin Pakula has claimed victory in the Victoria's Lyndhurst by-election with around 40 per cent of the primary vote, after more than three-quarters of the total vote was counted.

Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews has however acknowledged his party has an image problem after Labor's primary vote took a dive.

The primary vote was significantly down on the 55 per cent result achieved at the 2010 state poll and there was no coalition candidate.

Mr Andrews said it was no secret the Labor brand was facing challenges.

The latest Newspoll published in The Australian this week put the federal coalition at a 10-point lead of 55 to 45 per cent over Labor after preferences.

When asked if federal Labor's woes had impacted on the result, Mr Andrews said: "There are challenges from a brand point of view and I think everybody knows that," he told AAP.

"I'm not someone who throughout my time as leader of the Labor Party in Victoria that has ever sought to blame others for the challenges that we face.

"But I think it would be naive not to note, as we all do - not just Labor people but Victorians more broadly - that, you know, things are challenging, things are difficult for Labor just now."

Mr Pakula will pick up his previous portfolios of shadow attorney-general, racing, gaming and scrutiny of government.

"By-elections are very difficult, they're very challenging," he said.

"History will tell you that in by-elections people take the opportunity to vote differently, they vote all over the card."

The result gives Labor 43 seats on the floor of parliament to the coalition's 44, including the speaker.

It means the government needs the support of independent MP Geoff Shaw to pass legislation opposed by Labor.

The former Liberal MP is under police investigation for misconduct in public office and has a verbal agreement with Premier Denis Napthine that he will support the government on matters of supply and confidence.

"What this victory for Labor now means is that the Napthine government is now officially a minority, one that is beholden to Geoff Shaw," Mr Andrews said.

"On every bill, on every measure in every way, Denis Napthine is tied to Geoff Shaw."

Dr Napthine said there had been a 15 per cent swing against Labor, even without a coalition candidate.

"This is a slap in the face for Daniel Andrews in Labor heartland," he said.

"This is a repudiation of Daniel Andrew's approach and the fact that he is working hand-in-hand with militant union leadership."

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Campaigners protest British drone strikes

ANTI-WAR campaigners opposed to Britain's use of armed drones in Afghanistan have marched on a military base hosting the aircraft's human operators for the first time.

Royal Air Force pilots had been operating Reaper aircraft to support British troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan remotely from a base in Nevada in the United States.

But this week the operations were relocated to Britain for the first time, to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire in eastern England, the Ministry of Defence said.

About 200 demonstrators marched to the base in Saturday, according to the BBC, to show their opposition to what campaigners said marked a "critical expansion in Britain's drones program".

"Drones are indiscriminate weapons of war that have been responsible for thousands of civilian deaths," said a statement from the Stop the War Coalition.

"Rather than expanding the UK's arsenal, drones should be banned, just as landmines and cluster munitions were banned."

Prime Minister David Cameron announced in December 2010 new funding to increase the Reaper program, although there are no plans to base or fly the drones in Britain, officials say.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said people were entitled to demonstrate but insisted the military did "everything possible" to avoid civilian casualties.

"We would stress that UK Reaper aircraft are piloted by highly-trained professional military pilots who adhere strictly to the same laws of armed conflict and are bound by the same clearly-defined rules of engagement which apply to those operating traditionally-manned RAF aircraft," he said.

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Syria spillover risk, say analysts

SYRIA'S neighbours face a growing risk of the conflict spilling across their region with Bashar al-Assad turning to ever more desperate acts to halt rebels, analysts say.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki voiced such concerns on Saturday when he said a new wave of sectarian strife in his country stemmed from violence elsewhere, although he did not name Syria.

However, others believe while Iraq, Israel and Turkey will all be affected, Lebanon and Jordan will be most vulnerable if the conflict spreads.

"There is a significant risk of an increased spillover," says Anthony Skinner of British risk consultancy Maplecroft.

"It is a very vulnerable region and there is a risk of escalation. The whole region may increasingly become involved in the conflict."

Jordan hosts more than 500,000 Syrian refugees, while Lebanon is home to 400,000 but the two countries face other tough challenges.

Amman has found itself dragged closer to the conflict with the deployment of more US troops on its territory amid a warning by Assad the kingdom could be engulfed by the war, and accusations of allowing fighters into Syria.

"Jordan had been pushed because of the escalation next door and because of its concerns regarding militant Islam and Salafists. Jordan is concerned about the potential chaos that may follow for years or decades in the likely event that Assad will eventually be toppled," Skinner said.

Lebanon has witnessed frequent shelling from Syria of both Sunni Muslim and Shi'ite areas of its north and east.

It has adopted a policy of neutrality despite being torn between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies that support Assad, and the Sunni-led March 14 movement that backs the revolt.

Opposition activists in Syria have accused Hezbollah of sending elite fighters to battle alongside Assad's troops in Qusayr, an area near the border.

"Lebanon could be plunging into a state of war - this is a very real risk," Skinner said.

For Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut, "the main impact on Jordan and Lebanon is the refugees, which puts them under severe pressure.

"Even those who support the Syrian opposition, are becoming fed up with the refugee influx. If the situation develops, more Syrians, maybe millions, will flee to Jordan and Lebanon," exacerbating the chances of conflict in the host countries, he told AFP.

Syria's conflict is increasingly becoming a proxy war, with the rebels backed by US allies Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, and Assad by Hezbollah, Iran and Russia.

Assad's forces are too stretched to retaliate against those who back the rebels, but occasional cross-border shelling is conceivable, said Skinner.

"Though, these attacks would not be deemed large enough to provoke a strong counter-punch, it's conceivable that Assad would use proxies that are not so clearly linked to his line of command," Skinner said.

Turkey and Israel are worried about the fallout.

"The threat of the Syrian conflict has pushed Turkey to engage in what appears to be a serious peace process with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)," he said.

Israel fears Syria's chemical weapons arsenal could fall into the wrong hands.

"The United States and Israel have limited options to deal with the chemical weapons. They do not want things to develop, which might give the Syrian regime the chance to use the weapons," Sayigh said.

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Navajo the chosen one for new 'Star Wars'

THE classic Star Wars film that launched a science fiction empire is being dubbed in the Navajo language.

A handful of Navajo speakers have translated the script for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and people are now being sought to fill some two dozen roles.

Casting calls are scheduled on Monday in Burbank, California and next Friday and Saturday at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona.

Potential actors don't have to sound exactly like Princess Leia or Luke Skywalker but should deliver the lines with character.

Museum director Manuelito Wheeler says he sees the translation as entertaining and a way to preserve the Navajo language.

Wheeler says it's rewarding considering the US once tried to eradicate the language.

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