Somali rebels seized $A824,800 in aid: UK

AL-SHABAB rebels in Somalia have seized STG480,000 ($A824,800) of UK-funded humanitarian aid supplies, the British government says.

The supplies were seized between November 2011 and February 2012, when the militants raided warehouses and offices of organisations partnered with the UK's Department for International Development, which spent STG102.9 million in Somalia that year.

While the incidents occurred between 2011 and 2012, the write-off was listed in the agency's annual report for 2012 and 2013 - once an investigation into the theft was completed.

The report said the agency's partners did not have any prior warning of the attacks and did not have time to move the supplies.

The Department for International Development is working with partner organisations to ensure such risks are identified, the report added.

The agency stressed on Sunday that working in some of the most dangerous countries in the world carries "inherent risk".

It also said in a statement that it "does all it can to mitigate against this but, on occasion, losses will occur" and that when theft is suspected it will investigate and act quickly.

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Snowden's father gets visa to visit Russia

US National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden's father says he has secured a visa to visit his son in Russia.

Lon Snowden and family lawyer Bruce Fein aren't saying when they'll visit Russia.

They also say they haven't spoken directly with Edward Snowden since he fled the US for Russia, which has given him asylum.

Lon Snowden says he wants his son to return to the US at some point.

But he says he thinks it's unlikely his son could have a fair trial, given public statements from government officials calling the younger Snowden a traitor.

Edward Snowden has been charged in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, with violations of the Espionage Act.

Lon Snowden and Fein spoke on Sunday with ABC's TV program This Week.

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Mandela 'making slow but steady' progress

NELSON Mandela is making "slow but steady" progress back to health, although he remains critically ill, the office of the South African president says.

The 95-year-old former president and anti-apartheid icon has been in hospital for more than two months with a recurring lung infection.

"Former President Nelson Mandela continues to receive treatment in hospital in Pretoria and doctors have indicated to President Jacob Zuma that the former president is making a slow but steady improvement," a statement from the presidency said.

"The medical team also reiterated that although his health was improving steadily, Madiba still remained in a critical condition," it added, referring to Mandela by his clan name.

Zuma asked South Africans to pray for Mandela's recovery and good health, the statement said.

The South African president is technically the only person authorised to give public updates about Mandela's health, and had not issued a statement since July 31.

Mandela's youngest daughter Zindzi Mandela said on Friday that the anti-apartheid hero was "not going anywhere anytime soon" and was now able to sit up unaccompanied.

He was "more alert, more responsive," she said.

And his former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told Sky News on Thursday that he was "now breathing normally".

Doctors had managed to contain his lung infection but kept "draining fluid from the lungs," she said.

Both stressed that he was not about to die.

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