Hmmm, I don't think I would use the fabric in the compost pile because of the dyes.
One must be careful of the threads should they become entangled in teh birds' legs or around the beak in some freak occurance. That said, I have used threads for the birds.
As far as the newspaper, I planted our two raised beds last summer after building them, planted, covered with newspaper in several layers, topped that with straw pulled away from base of plants, and pulled maybe three weeds all season. This year we have built three more beds and I will use the same method.