Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan can be held for eight days, a court has ruled, a day after the popular opposition leader was dragged from a courtroom and arrested on corruption charges, deepening the country's political turmoil.

Khan's arrest on Tuesday set off skirmishes between his supporters and police in several cities that left at least six people dead, and his continued detention on Wednesday raised the prospect of more unrest.

Already, angry protesters stormed a radio station in the northwest on Wednesday, and supporters clashed with police in the capital of Islamabad.

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The 70-year-old politician was ousted in a no-confidence vote last year but remains the country's most popular opposition figure.

His dramatic arrest — when he was pulled out of a hearing on one set of charges to be arrested on another set — was the latest confrontation to roil Pakistan.

He is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in the country, which has also seen interventions by its powerful military over the years.

The move comes at a time when the cash-strapped nation is trying to avoid a default.

Khan has denounced the cases against him, which include corruption and terrorism charges, as a politically motivated plot by his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to keep him from returning to power in the next elections which are to be held later this year.

Khan has campaigned against Sharif and demanded early elections.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party appealed for calm, but the standoff put the country on high alert after Tuesday's clashes.

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Police deployed in force across the country, and placed shipping containers on a road leading to the sprawling police compound in Islamabad where Khan is being held.

In Peshawar, supporters raided a building housing Radio Pakistan, damaging equipment and setting fire to it, said police official Naeem Khan.

Some of the employees were trapped inside, he said, and police were trying to restore order.

Meanwhile, in eastern Punjab province, the local government asked the army to step in after authorities said 157 police officers were injured in clashes with Khan supporters.

Police arrested 945 Khan supporters in eastern Punjab province alone since Tuesday — including Asad Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, two senior leaders from Khan's party.

Amid heightened security, Khan appeared before a judge at a temporary court inside a police compound on Wednesday.

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Pakistan's GEO television broadcast footage showing him seated in a chair, holding documents. He appeared calm but tired.

In the latest case, Khan has been accused of accepting millions of dollars worth of property in exchange for providing benefits to a property tycoon.

The National Accountability Bureau, which is investigating, asked to hold him for 14 days, but the tribunal granted eight days.

Khan's legal team has challenged the arrest in an Islamabad court and is considering doing the same at the country's Supreme Court.

The National Accountability Bureau has detained and investigated former officials, including former prime ministers, politicians and retired military officers.

But some view the bureau as a tool used by those in power, especially the military, to crack down on political opponents.

When Khan was in power, his government arrested Shahbaz Sharif, then the opposition leader, through the bureau.

Sharif was facing multiple corruption cases when he managed to oust Khan. The charges were later dropped for lack of evidence.

When he was detained on Tuesday, Khan was appearing in court on multiple graft charges brought by Islamabad police.

As he showed up in court, dozens of agents from the accountability bureau backed by paramilitary troops stormed the courtroom, breaking windows after Khan's guards refused to open the door.

Mobs angered by the dramatic arrest set fire to the residence of a top army general in the eastern city of Lahore, and supporters attacked the military's headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near the capital, Islamabad.

They did not reach the main building housing the offices of army chief General Asim Munir.

Other demonstrators tried to reach the prime minister's residence in Lahore, but were driven off by baton-wielding in police. Still more attacked vehicles carrying troops and hit armed soldiers with sticks. So far, police and soldiers have not fired at protesters.

The military has not commented on the attacks on its facilities. None of the leaders from Khan's party denounced the attacks on the military, though they have appealed to their supporters to be peaceful.

By morning, police said some ,000 protesters still surrounded the fire-damaged residence in Lahore of Lieutenant General Salman Fayyaz Ghani, a top regional commander.

They chanted slogans at the military, including "Khan is our red line and you have crossed it".

Ghani and his family members were moved to a safer place when the mob on Tuesday first attacked their sprawling house.

Khan was finally indicted on Wednesday in the original graft case and pleaded not guilty.

Amid violence, Pakistan's telecommunication authority blocked social media, including Twitter. The government also suspended internet service in Islamabad and other cities.

Classes at some private schools were cancelled on Wednesday, and several social media sites remained suspended, depriving millions of people of access.

Rights group Amnesty International said it was alarmed by reports of Pakistani authorities blocking access to mobile internet networks and social media.

Amnesty urged authorities to show restraint, saying clashes between law enforcement and Khan's supporters risk human rights violations.

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The publisher of British tabloid the Daily Mirror has acknowledged and apologised for unlawfully gathering information about Prince Harry in its reporting, and said it warrants compensation, at the outset of the prince's first phone hacking trial.

The admission was made in court filings outlining Mirror Group Newspapers' defence on Wednesday.

The group continued to deny that it hacked phones to intercept voicemail messages, and said that Harry and three less-well-known celebrities brought their claims beyond a time limit.

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But it acknowledged there was "some evidence of the instruction of third parties to engage in other types of UIG (unlawful information gathering) in respect of each of the claimants," which includes the Duke of Sussex.

It said this "warrants compensation" but didn't spell out what form that might take.

"MGN unreservedly apologises for all such instances of UIG, and assures the claimants that such conduct will never be repeated," the court papers said.

The publisher said its apology was not a tactical move to reduce damages but was done "because such conduct should never have occurred".

The trial is Harry's opening salvo in his legal battle against the British press. Harry and the other celebrities are suing the former publisher of the Daily Mirror for alleged invasion of privacy.

The case is the first of the duke's three phone hacking lawsuits and threatens to do something he said his family long feared: put a royal on the witness stand to discuss embarrassing revelations.

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The activities in question stretch back more than two decades, when journalists and private eyes intercepted voicemails to snoop on members of the royal family, politicians, athletes, celebrities and even crime victims. A scandal erupted when the hacking was revealed.

Harry is expected to testify in person in June, his lawyer has said. It won't be his first time in the High Court, following his surprise appearance last month to observe most of a four-day hearing in one of his other lawsuits.

He did not show up for opening statements in the trial. Harry breezed through London for Saturday's coronation of his father, King Charles III, before leaving immediately after the ceremony to fly back to California to be with his family for his son's birthday.

The prince has waged a war of words against British newspapers in legal claims and in his best-selling memoir, Spare, vowing to make his life's mission reforming the media that he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a 1997 Paris car wreck while trying to evade paparazzi.

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Harry has also sued the publishers of the Daily Mail and The Sun over the phone hacking scandal that metastasized after a year-long inquiry into press ethics in 2011 revealed that employees of the now-defunct News of the World tabloid eavesdropped on mobile phone voicemails.

Harry has outlined his grievances against the media in court papers, saying the press hounded him since his earliest days and created a narrative that portrayed him as "the 'thicko', the 'cheat', the 'underage drinker'."

His relationships with girlfriends were wrecked by "the entire tabloid press as a third party".

"Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile," he said in a witness statement in a similar case.

His lawsuits could further roil family relations that have been strained since Harry and his wife, Meghan, left royal life in 2020 and moved to the United States after complaining about racist attitudes from the British press.

Mirror Group Newspapers and other publishers have primarily defended themselves by asserting that Harry failed to bring his cases within a six-year year time limit. The duke's lawyer has argued that an exception should be applied because publishers actively concealed the skullduggery.

In a stunning revelation last month that dredged up an embarrassing chapter in his father's life, Harry blamed his delay in bringing suit, in part, on his family.

He asserted he was barred from bringing a case against The Sun and other newspapers owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch because of a "secret agreement" — allegedly approved of by Queen Elizabeth II — that called for reaching a private settlement and getting an apology.

Harry said his brother, Prince William, had quietly settled his own hacking claims with News Group for "huge sum of money" in 2020.

He also claimed his father had directed palace staff to order him to drop his litigation because it was bad for the family.

Murdoch's company denied there was a "secret agreement" and wouldn't comment on the alleged settlement. The palace hasn't responded to requests for comment.

Harry has alleged that reporters at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People used illegal methods to gather material from his family and friends for nearly 150 articles.

The newspaper has said he is wrong about how its reporters got information, saying they used legal methods for many articles.

In 2015, publishers of The Mirror printed a front-page apology for phone hacking and tripled its fund to £12 million ($22 million) to compensate victims.

Mirror Group said more than 600 of some 830 claims had been settled. Of the remaining 104 cases, 86 were brought too late to be litigated, it said in court papers.

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About 10cm of snow has settled on State Highway 94.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has handed down the first surplus in 15 years with a federal budget targeting cost-of-living relief through reduced energy bills, more free visits to the GP and an increase to the JobSeeker rate.

Faced with the delicate task of reducing inflation and easing pressure on stretched households, Chalmers has directed much of the $14.6 billion package to those "most in need" or already on welfare and other government assistance programs.

"In all our decisions, we seek to strike a considered, methodical balance," Chalmers said.

"Between spending restraint to keep the pressure off inflation, while doing what we can to help people struggling to make ends meet."

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Key measures to ease the economic strain include:

• $500 deducted from the power bills of more than 5 million households and $650 for 1 million small businesses
• Free bulk-billed GP consultations for 11.6 million Australians, including children, pensioners and other concession card holders
• A $40 per fortnight increase for JobSeeker recipients and those on Youth Allowance, Austudy and other income support payments
• Increasing the JobSeeker rate for those aged 55-59
• An increase in the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 15 per cent or up to $31 a fortnight

Those measures come after the previously announced changes to single parent payments and a controversial plan to reduce the cost of medicines by allowing patients to access two-month scripts.

The surplus of $4.2 billion – the first since Peter Costello's 2007-08 budget – comes on the back of surging tax revenue from iron ore, coal and gas and a thriving jobs market.

The return to the black will be short-lived, however, with a predicted deficit of $13.9 billion next year rising to a peak of $36.6 billion over the four-year forward estimates.

Inflation – which has underpinned 11 interest rate rises in the past year and looms large over this budget – has peaked, according to Treasury estimates.

It is expected to fall from 7 per cent in the recent March quarter to 6 per cent in June and before a more drastic plunge to 2¾ per cent in June 2025.

Interest rates, hiked again only last week, are predicted to remain on hold at 3.85 per cent until early 2024, before gradual cuts to 3 per cent by June 2025.

The budget papers predict a slow rise in the unemployment rate "to 4¼ per cent by the June quarter of 2024 and 4½ per cent by the June quarter of 2025".

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The overall picture of the coming years painted by Chalmers is a gloomy one, albeit with glimmers of hope for Australia.

"The global economy is slowing due to persistent inflation, higher interest rates and financial sector strains," he said.

"Outside of the pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis, the next two years are expected to be the weakest for global growth in over two decades."

Australia's gross debt is forecast to pass the eye-watering $1 trillion mark in 2025-26.

Bulking billing incentives for GPs

The centrepiece of the budget and part of a $5.7 billion boost to Medicare is $3.5 billion towards helping GPs provide free consultations to 11.6 million Australians by tripling the bulk billing incentive.

Essentially, the Albanese government hopes to incentivise clinics to bulk bill for consultations for certain groups, allowing them to access free healthcare.

Those set to benefit are children under 16 years (and their parents who pay the bills), pensioners and other Commonwealth concession card holders, while the incentive will be higher in regional and rural areas.

"One of the things that makes this the best country in the world is our shared belief that every Australian should be able to access affordable, reliable healthcare," Chalmers said.

"But right now, too many people are finding it more and more difficult to see a doctor."

Health Minister Mark Butler said it was "the largest increase to the bulk billing incentive in the 40-year history of Medicare".

"It will have immediate benefits for more than 11 million, with flow on benefits for all Australians," he said.

"Incentives will cover many common GP consultations, including telehealth and videoconference – making care more affordable, for children, pensioners and other Commonwealth concession card holders."

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Energy bill relief

More than 5 million households will be eligible for $500 off their energy bills in the next financial year.

The budget papers say "support to households will be targeted at those most in need, including concession card holders, those who receive family and carers payments and recipients of electricity concessions under existing state and territory schemes".

Around 1 million small eligible businesses will receive $650.

The discounts will come off bills before they're delivered and will be implemented in partnership with the state and territory governments.

Chalmers described the measure as "real relief, right off your power bill, right when you need it".

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JobSeeker rise

Around 1.1 million Australians on income support will receive an extra $40 per fortnight, including those on JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Austudy.

Meanwhile, those over 55 will now receive the JobSeeker rate given to those over 60. Under the change, around 52,000 single JobSeeker recipients aged 59 to 59 will receive an extra $92.10 per fortnight.

"Until now, people aged 60 and over and on payments for a long time have received a higher rate, in recognition of the additional barriers they face finding work," Chalmers said.

"But the truth is, it gets more difficult earlier than that."The majority of people aged 55 and over on JobSeeker are women, many with little to no savings or superannuation, and who are at risk of homelessness."

The increase in the welfare payments comes at a cost of $4.9 billion over five years, measured from 2022-23.

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Rent assistance

The government is upping the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 15 per cent as the cost of living bites and vacancy rates hit record lows.

It will provide a maximum of an extra $31 a fortnight, the largest increase in more than 30 years.

The extra rental help only applies to those on Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

Those eligible include those in income support or family benefit payments.

The government says around 1.1 million households will reap the benefits at a cost of $2.7 billion to the budget over five years.

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A teenager lost his life in Whangarei’s Abbey Caves yesterday during a school trip.

A large contingent of supporters was in the public gallery and interjected frequently.

Council to test public support for $81.4m restoration or alternatives.

Frankston serial killer Paul Denyer's application for parole has been denied.

Denyer became eligible for parole last month, after serving 30 years for the murders of three women in Melbourne in 1993.

The father of Denyer's final victim, 17-year-old Natalie Russell, said he was "relieved" to hear the news.

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"This is the best news we have had in 30-odd years," he said.

"It's a relief too. We were getting to the point where we thought it was a 50-50 chance that he might get parole."

Denyer was sentenced to life in prison without parole but the term was later reduced to a non-parole period of 30 years on appeal.

Denyer murdered Natalie, Elizabeth Stevens and Deborah Fream in the Frankston area.

Stevens, 18, was murdered by Denyer after she got off a bus on her way home from the library on June 11.

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On July 8, Seaford mother Fream, 22, was killed when she was ambushed by Denyer in her car.

A fortnight later, Natalie, 17, was murdered as she walked home from school.

Victorian MP David Limbrick, who was 19 when his then-girlfriend Natalie was murdered, said it was the result everyone was hoping for.

"We have been dreading this for 30 years," he said.

"This has been a traumatic process for all the family and friends, and everyone in Frankston."

Former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina believes there has been little remorse from Denyer over the decades.

"He hasn't changed. That's how he is programmed," he said.

"When we interviewed him, he said he had the urge to kill when he was 15. He will always kill.

"He's cold, callous and calculated."

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It comes amid a major US diplomatic push in the Pacific to counter China.

Caleb Salisbury, a concreter who was working nearby said schoolboys ran to him for help