Got the car serviced & they checked out the sticking door handle. Service Manager said they found the inards dry & in need of lubrication. Certainly feels much smoother now (didn't feel bad in the first place though). Makes me want to have them check the other 3 doors at the next service (7500km, at which time I'll have the oil changed, then I'll do the 15000 & then stick to 15000km intervals).
At one stage I thought I had a problem with the stereo as well because sound was only coming out of the LHS set of speakers. When I switched it from iPod to radio, however, sound returned to normal. Turned out the iPod cable was not quite plugged in properly!