Tellabs agrees to be sold for $US891m

COMMUNICATIONS equipment maker Tellabs has agreed to be acquired for $US891 million ($A924 million) by investment firm Marlin Equity Partners.

The deal announced on Monday calls for Marlin to buy all of Tellabs shares for $US2.45 each. The stock had closed at $US2.35 on Friday, and rose 12 cents, or 5.1 per cent, to $US2.47 in premarket trading

A tender offer is expected to begin by November 1. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter. It requires at least half of Tellabs' outstanding shares to be tendered.

Tellabs chairman Vince Tobkin said the board decided to sell after looking at its options and after contacting more than 30 potential buyers. Tellabs is based in Naperville, Illinois.

Marlin Equity Partners partner Nick Kaiser said plans include making "significant investments in research and development" at Tellabs.

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Victorian fire trucks set for upgrades

MORE Victorian fire trucks are being upgraded to protect crews from unexpected burnovers.

Seventy-four CFA upgraded trucks will be ready for this fire season, with equipment such as fire protective curtains and panels, water-spraying systems and an improved intercom service.

Another 130 tankers will be refitted by June 2014, the government said on Tuesday. The vehicles will still be used this summer.

It will bring the number of upgraded CFA tankers to 1048.

"While we hope fire crews across Victoria are never trapped in their tanker during a burnover, we want to ensure volunteers on the front line are better equipped to safely take shelter in CFA trucks," Emergency Services Minister Kim Wells said.

The program only applies to trucks built before 2006 as later models already have crew protection systems installed.

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US marathon runner sets knitting record

A US graphic design professor has knitted his way into the record books while running the Kansas City Marathon.

The Kansas City Star reports that David Babcock, from the University of Central Missouri, finished the marathon in five hours and 48 minutes.

Knitting experts measured the scarf he created along the route at just more than four metres.

The Guinness scarf-knitting-while-running-a-marathon record was previously held by Susie Hewer, who runs to raise money for Alzheimer's disease research.

She knitted a two metre scarf at the London Marathon in April.

Like Hewer, the 41-year-old Babcock hopes that people will donate to the Alzheimer's Association.

Babcock began running and knitting as separate activities about three years ago. He decided to combine them to keep things interesting.

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Man's body found under Anzac Bridge

A MAN'S body has been found under the Anzac Bridge in Sydney.

A crime scene has been established on Quarry Master Drive after police were called on Monday night.

Detectives from Sydney City Local Area Command are interested in speaking with anyone who may have been driving, or walking, on the Anzac Bridge between 10pm and 10.15pm on Monday, and saw anything suspicious.

Anyone with information should contact Sydney City Police Station on 8265 6499, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

No other information was available.

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Vic coroner wants better train warnings

A VICTORIAN coroner who investigated the deaths of 11 people in the Kerang rail crash has called for more technologically advanced road signals to warn drivers of approaching trains.

A semi-trailer smashed into a V-Line train at a level-crossing near Kerang in June 2007, killing 11 people and injuring another eight.

Coroner Jane Hendtlass says rail and road authorities needed to improve signage and warning sounds to drivers approaching level crossings.

She called for research into technology capable of alerting drivers who would not otherwise notice an approaching train.

Julie McMonnies, who lost husband Geoff and 17-year-old daughter Rose in the crash, said she was left unsatisfied by the findings.

"There's nothing controversial here," she said.

"We haven't had any answers and we've had no one accept responsibility for 11 deaths and injured."

Truck driver Christian Scholl was charged with 11 counts of culpable driving over the deaths but acquitted by a Supreme Court jury in 2009.

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Youth charged in relation to NSW bushfire

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged over a bushfire that destroyed more than 5000 hectares in the NSW Hunter region last week.

The boy was charged at Raymond Terrace Police Station on Monday evening with intentionally causing fire and being reckless as to its spread.

He's the second youth to be charged in relation to the fire in the Heatherbrae area in Port Stephens.

He was given bail and will appear in court next month.

An 11-year-old boy was charged over the fire on Monday.

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Dozens reported dead in South Sudan attack

DOZENS of people have been killed in an attack on South Sudanese villages by a rebel group and local tribesmen, officials say.

The attacks on Sunday left at least 50 people dead, said military spokesman Philip Aguer, while a local official in Jonglei state said the number was more than 70.

Rebel fighters from David Yau Yau's anti-government militia appear to have teamed up with ethnic Murle fighters who have been locked for years in running battles with the rival Dinka people, often launching attacks over cattle.

Aguer said the attackers were armed with automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades.

Women and children were among the dead and injured and up to 20 children may have been kidnapped during the attacks, which saw two villages largely razed to the ground.

Thousands of cattle were taken in the raids, the latest in a long string of tit-for-tat attacks in Jonglei, an area prone to ethnic rivalries and where there is a widespread proliferation of weapons.

"The people are living in fear. They need protection," said local official Dau Akoi Jurkuch.

The UN helped to ferry the wounded to clinics, and local police units were sent to the area, in the east of South Sudan.

The government in Juba has been accused by the Murle of siding with the Dinka in Jonglei.

Yau Yau, a rebel who integrated into the army when South Sudan was becoming independent in 2011, but defected again a year later, is Murle, as are many of his fighters.

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