Israel approves West Bank settler homes

ISRAEL has given the go-ahead to build nearly 300 homes in the Beit El settlement near Ramallah, an official says, in a move likely to spark tensions as Washington seeks to rekindle peace talks.

"The Civil Administration has given the green light for 296 housing units at Beit El, but this is only the first stage of a process before actual construction can begin," said the spokesman for a unit within the defence ministry which administers the West Bank.

Israel's chief peace negotiator Tzipi Livni said she had been informed about the move as she was holding talks in Rome with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday, but sought to play down its impact.

"There is no need for this to become a pretext for drama or anger," she told army radio on Thursday, saying she had updated the Americans about the development.

"They listened and they understood and for the moment, there is no reaction."

The Civil Administration said the new homes were a compensatory measure after the government evicted 30 settler families from Ulpana, an unauthorised outpost on the outskirts of Beit El following a High Court ruling.

The announcement came on the back of a report that said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered a freeze on tenders for new settler homes in a bid to give a chance to US-led efforts to revive moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.

Hagit Ofran of Israel's Peace Now settlement watchdog, who on Wednesday had confirmed no new tenders had been issued since the start of the year, lashed out at the move, accusing Netanyahu of playing a double game.

"This initiative proves Netanyahu is deceiving the world," she said.

"On the one hand, he lets us believe that he is putting the brakes on settlement and on the other, he gives the go-ahead for an enormous building project."

She explained that offering tenders was a procedure usually followed in the larger settlement, but was not necessary for construction in the smaller, more isolated, settlements such as Beit El which is made up of some 900 housing units.

Ofran said the move would increase the size of Beit El by a third, but said the plan needed to go through several more stages before building could start, which she said would be likely "in about a year's time".

Beit El is located on the northern outskirts of Ramallah in an area that would not be annexed to Israel under any future peace agreement, the watchdog noted.

Direct peace talks broke down shortly after they were launched in September 2010 because of an intractable dispute over Israel's settlement building, which is widely accepted as a violation of international law.

The Palestinians say they will not return to negotiations unless Israel freezes construction on land they want for a future state.

Israel is trying to "sabotage" US efforts to revive peace talks, a top Palestinian

official said on Thursday.

"We condemn this new decision which is proof that the Israeli government

wants to sabotage and ruin the US administration's efforts to revive the peace

process," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.

"This is a message to the American administration and a blow to the peace

process," he said, pointing to the "intense" shuttle diplomacy being conducted

by US Secretary of State John Kerry to try to bring both sides back to

negotiations.

"This aims to drag the region into violence instead of peace and

stability," Erakat added.

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Injured Imran won't cast Pakistan vote

Pakistani politician Imran Khan is expected to make a full recovery after fracturing his spine. Source: AAP

CRICKET star turned Pakistani politician Imran Khan won't be able to vote in landmark elections on Saturday as his doctors insist he needs to stay in hospital, officials said.

Khan, who as head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has electrified the campaign with calls for change, suffered fractured vertebrae and a broken rib on Tuesday when he fell from a lift taking him to the stage at a rally.

"It is impossible," Khwaja Nazir, a spokesman for the Shaukat Khanum hospital told AFP when asked if Khan would visit his constituency to vote on Saturday.

"His doctors are not allowing him to move out of the hospital, though he wants to move around," Nazir said.

PTI spokeswoman Shireen Mazari said: "I don't think he will be physically able to go and poll his vote, and the date for postal ballot has expired."

"His health and safety is more important than anything else. He has to be stable first because at the moment he is not even walking."

Doctors expect Khan to make a full recovery, but have not yet specified how long he will need to remain in hospital.

"In the next two days, we will be in a better position to inform you about how many more days we will need to keep him in hospital. But his recovery is much faster than expectations," Doctor Faisal Sultan told reporters.

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Sea Shepherd call for cash

Sea Shepherd is asking Australians to help raise the funds it needs to take on whalers next summer. Source: AAP

SEA Shepherd is calling on Australians to help stump up the $4 million it needs to take on Japan's whalers next summer.

The call comes at a time when court action is slowing donations in the US.

Operation Relentless will be coordinated from Australia with the US arm of the militant conservation group mired in legal battles with Japan.

Big American donors, like The Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, could be harder to find as the group mounts its tenth Antarctic campaign, director Bob Brown says.

"Japan is doing everything it can to put the US operation under, effectively, complete diversion by legal action," Dr Brown told reporters at the Operation Relentless launch in Hobart.

"An operation that in past years was funded by the US with its big philanthropic organisations has to be funded from outside the US now," he said.

"That responsibility is on us. We depend upon the largesse of a global public that supports what we're doing."

The former Australian Greens leader said the $4 million needed included hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair damage caused by collisions with the whaling fleet last summer.

Sea Shepherd and the Japanese blame each other for a series of dramatic clashes captured on video by both groups.

Japan's hunt, which it claims is for research, is subject to a challenge by the Australian government at the International Court of Justice.

A hearing will commence on June 22 but the case may not be concluded before the next whaling season.

An Australian coast guard vessel will also police a federal court injunction preventing Japan from whaling in Australian waters.

"(Japan is) breaking an injunction from the Australian federal court. Will it not break a ruling by the international court of justice?" Dr Brown said.

"Sea Shepherd is there to uphold the law whatever the Japanese do or whatever the court finds."

Sea Shepherd has saved more than 800 whales, 90 per cent of the Japanese quota, with its most successful campaign last summer, it said.

Founder Paul Watson remains at sea because of an INTERPOL alert issued by Japan for his arrest.

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Labor, coalition claim jobs high ground

The coalition and Labor will fight over jobs as Tony Abbott unveiled his workplace relations policy. Source: AAP

LABOR and the coalition are at loggerheads over their workplace policies, after the opposition unveiled its proposals to bolster business.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said changes to the Fair Work Act were needed to help create one million jobs over the next five years, lift real wages and make businesses more competitive.

But Employment Minister Bill Shorten said the creation of 961,000 jobs since Labor came to power in 2007 showed its policies were right.

He pointed to new data showing the jobless rate fell to 5.5 per cent in April as 50,100 new jobs were created.

"The economy and jobs are working with the current laws," he told reporters in Brisbane.

While Mr Abbott said an incoming coalition government wouldn't return to the controversial Work Choices laws of the Howard government, it would make "sensible fair-minded changes".

"We want to protect workers' pay and conditions. We also want to maximise their opportunities to get good jobs," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

The coalition intends to keep the Fair Work Act in place and won't touch unfair dismissal laws and penalty rates.

It also plans to set up two anti-corruption watchdogs and promote the use of the existing individual flexibility arrangements (IFAs).

Workers opting for IFAs would be locked into them for 90 days instead of 28 days, and businesses would be able to use them even if enterprise bargaining agreements existed.

Union right-of-entry laws would be tightened and the Fair Work Act changed to enshrine "talking first and striking later" when it came to industrial action.

The Productivity Commission would be asked to review workplace laws, but any further changes would be taken to the 2016 election, Mr Abbott said.

ACTU president Ged Kearney said this would mean a return to Work Choices and contracts similar to the controversial Australian Workplace Agreements under former prime minister John Howard.

"We know when people were on AWAs they lost wages, they lost conditions, they lost any bargaining power, and ultimately they lost respect at work," she said.

Mr Shorten said Mr Abbott's policy was short on detail and the focus on individual contracts was disturbing.

"Tony Abbott's extreme workplace relations policies should send a shiver up the spine of every Australian worker," Mr Shorten said.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Peter Anderson said the policy would be fairer for employers, but was "too cautious".

"It won't give the labour market or small business the immediate boost of confidence that it sorely needs," he told reporters in Canberra.

Meanwhile, one of the nation's biggest providers of jobs and services - local government - could be recognised in the Constitution if a referendum on election day, September 14, is successful.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard expects the referendum - which has been tried twice before and failed - will succeed with bipartisan support.

Independent MP Tony Windsor, who with fellow crossbencher Rob Oakeshott asked for the referendum when they sealed a deal for Labor to form a minority government, said it would shore up financial security for local councils.

But the Queensland and NSW premiers don't support it, fearing it will fundamentally change the relationship between state governments and councils.

Legislation for the referendum will be presented to federal parliament next week.

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China reports stronger April trade growth

CHINA has reported stronger April trade but analysts say its export data is inflated and its shaky recovery may be weaker than it looks.

Exports rose 14.7 per cent over a year earlier, up from March's 10 per cent growth, customs data showed on Wednesday.

Imports gained 16.8 per cent, up from the previous month's 14.1 per cent.

That suggested the world's second-largest economy might be improving after an unexpected decline in growth to 7.7 per cent in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter's 7.9 per cent.

Analysts say, however, Chinese export data are unreliable, possibly due to companies submitting inflated prices for their goods to evade capital controls and bring money into the country.

"We believe the strong trade growth is not indicative of a growth recovery," said Zhiwei Zhang of Nomura in a report.

Chinese leaders are trying to nurture self-sustaining growth driven by domestic consumption instead of trade and investment, but consumer spending is growing slowly.

That has forced Beijing to rely on state-led investment and bank lending to shore up the recovery, which analysts say could be vulnerable if exports or investment decline.

The weaker-than-expected first quarter numbers prompted the World Bank and private sector analysts to trim forecasts for full-year growth, though to still robust levels of about 8 per cent.

Louis Kuijs and Tiffany Qiu of RBS said after factoring out irregularities, they estimated China's exports rose only by about 5.7 per cent in April, about 9 percentage points lower than the reported level.

In a positive sign for the economy, Kuijs and Qiu said they saw no obvious irregularities in import data and no reason to inflate the values of goods.

"Reasonable import growth suggests domestic demand has held up better so far," they said in a report.

Surveys by HSBC Corp. and a Chinese industry group showed China's manufacturing growth weakened in April. HSBC said new export orders fell for the first time this year.

China's export data have been under scrutiny since analysts pointed out last year they failed to match up with its trading partners' lower figures for purchases of Chinese goods.

Wei Yao of Societe Generale cited the example of Taiwan, which reported a 2.7 percent decline in April imports from China while Beijing said exports to the island rose 49.2 percent - a gap of more than 50 percentage points.

"We continue to notice glaring discrepancies between China and its trade partners' data, and so again suggest caution in interpreting the report," Yao said in a commentary.

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NSW church abuse victims may miss compo

MOST child abuse victims who emerge during the course of ongoing national and state inquiries won't be able to claim compensation in NSW, despite finally mustering the courage to come forward.

Under changes to the victims compensation scheme, victims of sexual assault, domestic violence or child abuse are prevented from making a claim more than a decade after the crime.

Opposition Leader John Robertson says the new laws have been introduced to parliament just as victims begin to tell their stories to the nationwide royal commission, and the NSW inquiry into historical child abuse in the Hunter Valley.

"This will exclude the overwhelming number of victims," he told question time on Wednesday.

"(It's) a low move by the O'Farrell government to avoid paying compensation to child sexual abuse victims."

Mr Robertson said the state government had ignored advice from Legal Aid NSW that the implementation of an eligibility limit would hurt victims of historical abuse.

It said many people would manifest psychological damage after the time limit had passed, and most people who failed to initially report the crime did so because of fear, shame or embarrassment, or because they were young at the time of the offence.

The laws will also be applied retrospectively, affecting victims of historical abuse with a current claim.

Mr Robertson said 506 child sexual assault victims last year sought compensation more than 10 years after the abuse.

In question time on Wednesday, he called on the government to ensure victims of child sexual abuse would not be disadvantaged as a result of the changes to victims compensation.

But Attorney-General Greg Smith said the government had announced a range of measures to assist victims of crime, including a new victim support scheme and a victims commissioner.

"We want victims of crime to be given better support and services when they need them most," he said.

In a later statement, a spokeswoman for Mr Smith said child victims of sexual abuse could make applications for financial assistance for up to 10 years after they turned 18.

She said victims support groups had told the government that therapeutic support and counselling was the most important aspect of recovery for adult survivors of child sexual assault.

The review of the old scheme had started well before the royal commission was called, and none of the changes were specific to people giving evidence at the hearings, the spokeswoman said.

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Triangular coin to mark Canberra birthday

The nation's first triangular coin has been minted to mark the 25th birthday of Parliament House. Source: AAP

CANBERRA is often labelled the city of swings and roundabouts but the triangle will be featured as the Australian capital celebrates the 25th birthday of Parliament House.

The nation's first triangular coin has been minted to mark the quarter century milestone of the big house on the hill.

The uncirculated equilateral coin with rounded corners carries a $5 value.

Ten thousand coins will be struck, made from 99.9 per cent silver and depicting Parliament House as viewed from one of its courtyards. The Queen's profile is on the reverse.

The iconic triangular flag mast atop Parliament House is a focal point of the coin design.

A limited-edition, round 20 cent coin made of cupronickel is also part of the mint's tribute to Parliament House. It features the current building with Old Parliament House in the foreground.

"Australian Parliament House was recognised as a major international architectural achievement when it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II 25 years ago," MP Bernie Ripoll will say during the birthday launch of the coin on Thursday.

"It is fitting that the mint is demonstrating its own innovation within a minting context with Australia's first triangular coin."

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Bangladesh factory death toll passes 800

The death toll from the collapsed Bangladesh factory has passed 750 after more bodies were found. Source: AAP

THE death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster has passed 800 with rescuers pulling dozens more bodies from the rubble of a nine-storey building that collapsed outside Dhaka last month.

"The death toll now stands at 803" with 790 bodies recovered from the wreckage and 13 victims who died in hospital, said disaster relief official, Lieutenant Mir Rabbi, on Wednesday.

More than 3000 garment workers were on shift when the Rana Plaza complex collapsed as they were turning out clothing for Western retailers such as Britain's Primark and the Spanish label Mango.

Officials overseeing the disaster operation said a total of 2,437 people were rescued from the ruins of the building, which housed a total of five garment factories in the town of Savar, a suburb of the capital Dhaka.

Cranes and bulldozers kept clearing debris as relief workers drawn from the army and fire service wore masks to ward off the smell of decomposing bodies.

Brigadier General Siddiqul Alam Sikder told AFP the stench of bodies trapped in the lower floors and under beams indicated the death toll would rise.

"We're expecting to find some bodies because we still haven't reached the bottom. We've finished around 70 per cent of the job," he said.

Efforts to identify bodies were being hampered by their decomposition of bodies, officials added.

Many bodies were found in the staircases.

Panicked garment workers had raced to stairwells in a rush to get out of the building after hearing a loud noise, but the compound collapsed within five minutes, trapping them.

"We got around 150 bodies from the stairs," Sikder said.

Preliminary findings of a government probe have blamed vibrations from four giant generators on the compound's upper floors for triggering the collapse.

The building's architect, Masood Reza, told AFP he designed the structure to house a shopping mall and offices, not the hefty weight of factory machinery and large workforces.

Police have arrested 12 people including the plaza's owner and four garment factory owners for forcing people to work on the day of the tragedy even though cracks had appeared in the structure the previous day.

Fearful that Western brand names could turn their backs on Bangladesh in the face of worries over factory safety, the government announced a new high-level panel on Monday to inspect thousands of garment plants for building flaws.

The collapse was the latest in a string of deadly accidents to hit the textile industry. A factory fire last November killed 111 garment workers.

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Cheap beef on table at Qld cattle talks

Independent MP Bob Katter says selling Queensland beef cheap could help the cattle industry crisis. Source: AAP

SELLING cheap Queensland beef in supermarkets could be the key to getting the cattle industry back on its feet, graziers say.

The idea was raised by graziers with federal and state agriculture ministers at crisis talks in Queensland's northwest on Tuesday.

The industry is suffering due to a state-wide drought and plummeting cattle prices caused largely by a reduction in live cattle exports to Indonesia.

Federal independent MP Bob Katter says one of the ideas put forward at the meeting was to sell Queensland beef in supermarkets at just 10 per cent above cost price.

"Even if we can't sell cattle they still eat grass and there's no grass [due to a state-wide drought]," he told AAP.

"This idea would take a couple of hundred thousand cattle off the market over the next two years."

Mr Katter says an overwhelming number of graziers who attended Tuesday's crisis meeting called for the federal government to reduce interest rates, which he says are crippling farmers.

Even Tuesday's interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank which brought rates down to an all time low, would not be enough help, he said.

"Even after today our interest rates are 10 times higher than our competitors."

Other ideas put forward were for a rates relief package to be implemented and for more meatworks to be built.

Graziers also want the federal government to buy 100,000 cattle - at a cost of about $150 million - and gift them to Indonesia.

Mr Katter says this would repair the relationship between the two countries.

In 2011 the government temporarily banned live exports to Indonesia following claims of animal cruelty.

The number of cattle being exported to Indonesia, which was then Australia's biggest market, significantly dropped after this. The market has never recovered.

"It sounds like a lot of money but if the Indonesian market reopens they'll get that money back in taxation in two or three years," he said.

Live cattle exports were back in the spotlight this week after new footage emerged showing Australian cattle being abused in Egypt.

Australia's livestock industry has voluntarily suspended cattle exports to the country.

Mr Katter says half a million cattle ready for export could die from starvation as graziers can't afford to feed them, while a million kangaroos which would be shot for their meat would also perish.

"There is no supplementary market for them and all the meatworks are full," he said.

"So instead of having some cattle suffer, all of these cattle and kangaroos are going to suffer terribly."

He also says Egyptians will "build up a huge fund of hatred" toward Australians, which will damage the relationship between the two countries and hurt the cattle industry.

Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig says the government is providing funds to farmers to alleviate the stress of unmanageable debt.

"For Queensland, we're providing additional rural financial counsellors, including a dedicated officer for graziers in the gulf," he said.

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Two in custody after Darwin shootings

A WOMAN suspected of using a handgun to open fire on two people in different locations in Darwin's rural fringe is in custody.

Northern Territory Police say a domestic dispute is probably behind the shootings, which left a 63-year-old woman in a serious condition and a 43-year-old man with a wound to his hand.

A 38-year-old woman suspected of being the assailant is in custody, as is another man, 46, who is accused of being an accessory after the fact.

The pair, with a six-year-old child in their car, were arrested as they tried to elude police from a cordoned-off area near the second shooting.

Police say the sequence of events remains unclear.

However, at 2.30pm (CST) on Tuesday there was a shooting at Virginia Road, in Virginia, about 30km from Darwin's city centre.

Another shooting incident followed, at the side of the Stuart Highway, a few kilometres away.

"There was a weapon that was discharged at Virginia and it was discharged again in the Stuart Highway vicinity," said Crime Commander Richard Bryson.

"At various times the vehicles were moving and the vehicles were shot whilst the vehicles were in motion," he told reporters.

The 63-year-old victim took herself to the Palmerston Police Station, and she was then taken to hospital.

It is thought a single bullet went through her arm before hitting her chest cavity.

The 43-year-old man who was shot in the hand stayed at the scene by the Stuart Highway to help police with their inquiries before he too was taken to hospital.

"It would appear the incident pertains to domestic circumstances and custody arrangements in relation to a child," Cmdr Bryson said.

As well as the two gunshot victims a third person was injured while trying to offer assistance.

Cmdr Bryson said it was unclear whether the person was also shot at but they were injured by shattering glass and sustained superficial cuts to their face.

All the parties involved knew each other, he said.

It is believed about a dozen shots were fired.

"This incident could have been much more serious than it was," Cmdr Bryson said.

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Rate cuts due to fiscal policy: Swan

An unexpected interest rate cut has pleased Treasurer Wayne Swan ahead of a tough budget next week. Source: AAP

TREASURER Wayne Swan will enjoy the benefit of an interest rate cut as the federal government prepares to make the difficult choices in next week's budget.

But welfare groups have attacked the government for ditching its planned increase to family benefits, while the opposition challenged the treasurer to deliver an honest budget next week after five years of confusion.

The central bank unexpectedly cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent at its monthly board meeting on Tuesday, a record low in the cash rate setting era.

"These rates are possible because the government has (had) in place a responsible fiscal policy over the past five and half to six years," Mr Swan told reporters in Canberra.

However, this good news for borrowers came as the government scrapped a planned increase in the Family Tax Benefit Part A.

"This is a difficult decision but a responsible decision given what's happened to revenue," Finance Minister Penny Wong told Sky News.

The rise worth a total of $1.8 billion would have delivered as much as $300 a year for families with one child and $600 for those with two or more children.

Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) CEO Cassandra Goldie slammed the decision, saying the government should instead focus on other measures such as the Baby Bonus.

"We understand the current pressures on the budget but quite frankly there are other more important areas where savings can be found rather than going back on a promise that would greatly assist around a million of our nation's lowest earning families," she said.

Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne agreed.

"Why is it that you would protect the mining bosses, the big miners of Australia and not support the most vulnerable and needy in our community?" she said.

The increased benefit was meant to be paid out from revenue from the government's mining tax, but the impost is expected to raise less than half what was forecast in its first year, and is likely to miss annual targets over the forward estimates.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said this "rock solid" commitment made in last year's budget had been used as stick to "beat the opposition mercilessly" over family welfare.

"So it didn't survive from one budget to the next, even though it was supposed to be the absolute product of the mining boom, which no longer exists in the same form, thanks in part to the policies of this government," he told reporters in Melbourne.

The family payment boost was promoted by Labor as "spreading the benefits of the mining boom".

Senator Wong also confirmed the revenue drop for this financial year "looks to be in the order of $17 billion", from the forecast in last year's budget.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey told a conference in Sydney whatever Mr Swan said on budget night would be "meaningless", given previous forecasts had been wrong and promises made in past budgets had not been met.

"I know I am setting him a ridiculous benchmark but I think we expect honesty," Mr Hockey said.

"Forecasts of revenue and spending must be soundly based and ... there must be no more money shuffling, no more raiding of dividends."

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Qld deal moves full NDIS step closer

Julia Gillard is closer to getting a nation-wide deal on disability care, as WA are yet to sign on. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND is ready to sign up to federal Labor's national disability care scheme, leaving Western Australia the only state not yet on board.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Queensland Liberal National Premier Campbell Newman will announce details of the long-term funding deal in Brisbane on Wednesday.

But sources have told AAP the state won't follow its peers in having a launch site.

The deal will put pressure on WA to sign up to a funding agreement this year and give Ms Gillard more political ammunition when parliament returns next week to sort out legislation to raise the Medicare universal health levy to pay for the scheme.

Mr Newman says changes made to DisabilityCare Australia, as the former NDIS scheme will be known, mean he can sign up to it.

"Queensland is primed and ready for full rollout of the NDIS," he told the Queensland Media Club on Tuesday.

"It is in itself a pragmatic revolution that services are delivered to people who need them the most."

Ms Gillard's spokesman told AAP the prime minister "looks forward to finalising a historic agreement to deliver better disability services for Queensland".

Queensland has committed $860 million to the scheme over the four years between 2014/15 and 2018/19 and would receive another $200 million from a hike in the Medicare levy to two per cent, from 1.5 per cent.

The latest Newspoll showed 78 per cent voter support for DisabilityCare but there was no boost for the federal government, which trails the coalition 44-56 on two-party terms.

Ms Gillard's standing as preferred prime minister received a small lift, up two points to 37 per cent, but Opposition Leader Tony Abbott maintains a five-point lead.

Treasurer Wayne Swan, who's putting the final touches on next Tuesday's budget, confirmed the government faced a $17 billion shortfall in revenues since the 2012 budget.

He also axed plans to increase the rate of Family Tax Benefit Part A by as much as $300 a year for families with one child and $600 for those with two or more children.

Mr Swan described the decision as "difficult, but responsible".

The increase was meant to be covered by mining tax revenue, which is now estimated at just $800 million in the current year instead of a forecast $2 billion.

The treasurer applauded the Reserve Bank's decision to cut the cash rate to 2.75 per cent, their lowest level on record.

He reassured voters that the cut did not mean the economy was on the wane.

"We have solid growth, we have low unemployment, we have a strong investment pipeline, we have strong public finances, we have contained inflation, and we have low interest rates," he said.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said rates had been cut because the Reserve Bank felt the economy was being mismanaged.

He told a business forum in Sydney the "cupboard is bare" and there would be no room for big spending promises during the election campaign.

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We'll fight for May Day holiday, ACTU says

UNIONS will fight to have May Day returned as a public holiday across Australia, ACTU president Ged Kearney has told a rally in Darwin.

Speaking in the Northern Territory, the only jurisdiction in Australia that still provides a public holiday to commemorate May Day, Ms Kearney urged unionists to protect it.

"Union members be proud of this day. Don't lose it," Ms Kearney told a rally of about 500 people.

May Day is celebrated in many countries around the world to mark campaigns by workers for better rights.

"We are going to fight to get it back in other states," Ms Kearney said.

She said the Country Liberal Party (CLP) government in the NT had cut the public service, healthcare and education since coming to office last year.

"I will be damned if the likes of this government ... take away our important day," Ms Kearney told the crowd.

"We must rebel, we must stand up and fight," she said.

Unions NT Secretary Alan Paton also attacked the CLP government in the NT.

Mr Paton said the CLP went to the election promising public sector jobs would be safe and the cost of living would fall.

"What we have seen so far is the exact opposite," Mr Paton said.

Although the NT is the only jurisdiction to mark May Day, other states mark Labour Day at other times of the year.

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WA sex assault doctor dodges deportation

AN Indian-born doctor who spent more than 18 months in jail for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old patient while examining her has successfully fought a deportation order.

Suhail Ahmad Khan Durani has been held at an immigration detention centre since being released from Casuarina Prison in Perth's south, because federal immigration authorities cancelled his visa the day he completed his sentence.

But he fought an ensuing deportation order through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which decided on Monday that he should be allowed to keep his visa.

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Challenge to Aust plain package tobacco

Cuba has become the latest country to launch a legal attack on Australia's plain packaging rules. Source: AAP

CUBA has become the latest country to launch a legal attack on Australia's landmark plain packaging rules for tobacco at the World Trade Organisation, the global body says.

The WTO said that Cuba had requested consultations with Australia on law requiring tobacco products to be sold in identical, olive-brown boxes bearing the same typeface and health warnings with graphic images of diseased smokers.

Under the 159-nation WTO's rules, requesting consultations is the first step in an often complex trade dispute settlement process which can last for several years.

Given that the legislation covers all tobacco products, not just cigarettes, it has already been challenged at the WTO by Cuba's fellow cigar-producing nations Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

In addition, Ukraine has filed a suit at the Geneva-based body, which oversees its member nations' respect for the rules of global commerce.

All the plaintiff countries maintain that Australia's packaging law breaches international trade rules and intellectual property rights.

In the event that the WTO's disputes settlement body finds in their favour, it would have the power to authorise retaliatory trade measures against Australia if the country failed to fall into line.

The dispute with Australia marks the first-ever challenge by Cuba against a fellow member since it joined the global body in April 1995, four months after the WTO was founded in its current form.

Australia's pioneering legislation - passed in 2011 and brought into force last December - has won wide praise from health organisations which are trying to curb smoking.

The Australian government has faced a string of court challenges from tobacco firms.

Besides trade and intellectual property concerns, tobacco companies say there is no proof that plain packaging reduces smoking and have warned that the law sets a precedent that could spread to products such as alcohol.

New Zealand has announced plans to bring in its own plain packaging law this year, making it only the second country in the world to do so.

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Fed govt defends live animal export trade

The live animal export industry warns animals will suffer if Australia withdraws from the trade. Source: AAP

AGRICULTURE Minister Joe Ludwig continues to defend Australia's live animal export trade, fending off calls for the practice to be scrapped following shocking new footage showing cruelty against cattle.

Senator Ludwig said such instances of cruelty were an anomaly and Australia's export trade regulation was at its highest standard.

"There will be mistakes. Like in every industry, mistakes occur," Senator Ludwig told the ABC of the allegations of cruelty.

"What we do have in place is a system that allows us to investigate those complaints and fix them."

In excerpts shown by ABC TV on Monday, a bloodied bull is seen being attacked with a knife: repeatedly stabbed in the face and cut across the legs before collapsing in a pool of blood.

Other scenes seem to show cattle being ineptly slaughtered.

The industry has voluntarily suspended cattle exports to Egypt while the footage, taken by Animals Australia in October and April, is investigated.

However Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has called for an immediate ban on live animal exports following the release of the footage, which comes two years after Australia was rocked by revelations of similar animal cruelty linked to the trade.

"With each new revelation come more promises from the government to fix the trade, but each time these promises prove worthless and just more evidence that the government doesn't really care about animal welfare," Mr Wilkie said in a statement.

"The bottom line is that the live export business is systemically cruel and beyond remedy."

The Australian Greens also said the latest evidence of brutality showed the government couldn't protect live animal exports.

"The government should admit that they cannot stop cruel practices in overseas countries and give certainty to the industry by expanding the trade in processed meat from Australia," animal welfare spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon said.

Nationals senate leader Barnaby Joyce has called for caution when making decisions on the future of the trade, and warned that supply-chain guarantees may not be an effective way forward.

"You can't send people into destitution in Australia because of the bad practices of other people overseas with cattle that we no longer own," Senator Joyce told Sky News on Monday.

"They are not our cattle. They have been purchased by someone else.

"We've got to walk carefully on this one. When we sell people cattle we don't have an ownership right over them."

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive Alison Penfold said she visited one of the abattoirs involved late last year and at that time was satisfied its practices met international standards.

"We want to get to the bottom and understand why there has been a breakdown so that we can ensure that it doesn't happen again," she said.

About 3000 Australian cattle remain in feedlots in Egypt.

Senator Ludwig could not put a timeframe on the investigation, but insisted that "the community should have confidence in the system we've put in place".

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Tension in Somalia after top chief killed

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for calm following the killing of a top chief in Sudan. Source: AAP

TENSION and anger gripped the Abyei region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan following the killing of a top tribal chief and an Ethiopian peacekeeper, residents said, as the UN stepped up security.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for calm after the Ngok Dinka chief Kual Deng Majok and the peacekeeper died in an "attack" by a Misseriya tribesman in the region on Saturday.

"It looks like Dinka are very angry," one local resident told AFP.

He reported fire coming from the Abyei town centre, where Misseriya operate small shops.

A curfew was in effect, with the Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA), setting up extra checkpoints trying to restrict the movement of people and prevent gatherings, said the resident, asking for anonymity.

The resident, who is familiar with the incident, said five Misseriya also died in Saturday's skirmish.

"There is high tension and all sides are alert, ready for anything," Mohammed Al-Ansari, a Misseriya chief in Abyei, told AFP.

The UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said in a Twitter message that UNISFA was "expanding patrols with the aim of maintaining calm".

UN chief Ban urged both tribes as well as the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to "avoid any escalation of this unfortunate event," a statement from his spokesperson said late Saturday, condemning the killings.

The UN said two of its Blue Helmets were also seriously wounded in the incident, "an attack by a Misseriya assailant on a UNISFA convoy".

The status of Dinka-dominated Abyei has not been resolved despite steps which Sudan and South Sudan have taken since March to normalise their relations, after months of intermittent clashes along their undemarcated frontier.

Abyei's status was the most sensitive issue left unsettled when South Sudan separated in 2011.

The territory was to hold a referendum in January 2011 on whether it belonged with the north or South, but disagreement on who could vote stalled the ballot.

Majok was heading north from Abyei town with UNISFA peacekeepers, who are the only authority in the area, when a group of Misseriya stopped them and began negotiations, another Misseriya leader said.

"Then a clash happened when a UNISFA soldier shot one of the Misseriya who was readying his weapon," said the Misseriya chief who asked to remain anonymous.

During the resulting clash, "the Dinka leader's car was hit by an explosion and he and his driver were killed".

The death of Majok is the most serious incident since Sudanese troops withdrew in May last year to end a year-long occupation that forced more than 100,000 people to flee Abyei towards South Sudan.

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N Korea holds firm on jailed American

North Korea says jailed American Kenneth Bae won't be used as a 'bargaining chip'. Source: AAP

NORTH Korea said it won't invite any leading US figure to seek the release of a jailed American and he would not become a "bargaining chip" in any political negotiations.

"Some media of the US said that the DPRK (North Korea) tried to use Pae's case as a political bargaining chip. This is a ridiculous and wrong guess," a foreign ministry spokesman told the official KCNA news agency.

"The DPRK has no plan to invite anyone of the US as regards Pae's issue."

The North said it had sentenced Pae, known in the US as Kenneth Bae, to 15 years' hard labour for "hostile acts" aimed at toppling the communist regime at a trial on April 30.

The Korean-American tour operator was arrested in November as he entered the northeastern port city of Rason.

Several Americans have been held in the North in recent years, and been freed after visits by high-profile Americans such as former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

In 2010 Carter negotiated the release of US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who was sentenced to eight years' hard labour for illegally entering the country.

In 2009 Clinton managed to free US television journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, also jailed for an illegal border crossing.

The ministry spokesman said Pyongyang had showed "generosity... from the humanitarian point of view" in the past, but the latest case proved that such generosity will "be in no use in ending Americans' illegal acts".

"As long as the US hostile policy goes on, American's illegal acts should be countered with strict legal sanctions. This is a conclusion drawn by the DPRK."

The latest development comes amid high military tension on the peninsula.

Pyongyang, angered by new UN sanctions for its third nuclear test in February and by US-South Korean joint military drills, has issued blistering threats of missile and nuclear attacks targeting the South and the United States.

The United States has called for the immediate release of Bae, whose alleged offence is unclear.

Seoul-based activist Do Hee-Yoon has told AFP he suspected Bae was arrested because he had taken photographs of emaciated children in North Korea as part of efforts to appeal for more outside aid.

The North's spokesman said Sunday that Bae's belongings confirmed the crime for which he was convicted but did not elaborate.

"He entered the DPRK with a disguised identity in an intentional way under the back-stage manipulation of the forces hostile toward the DPRK," the spokesman said, adding he had made a confession.

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Pakistan troops kill 16 militants

Three people have been killed and 35 others wounded in twin bomb blasts in southern Pakistan. Source: AAP

PAKISTANI troops overran two militant hideouts and killed 16 insurgents after heavy overnight fighting at a flashpoint near the Afghan border in which two soldiers also died, the military said.

The fighting took place in the wake of a fresh military push in the Tirah valley in the tribal Khyber district, where the military have been targeting Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam militia who threaten the nearby northwestern city of Peshawar.

Khyber straddles the NATO supply line into Afghanistan, used by US-led troops to evacuate military equipment ahead of their 2014 withdrawal, and officials say it is key to protecting security in Peshawar for historic elections next week.

"In a successful operation security forces last night captured Kismat Sur and Sanghar, two strong hideouts of militants in Tirah Valley," the military said in a statement.

"Sixteen militants were killed in the operation. Two security personnel embraced martyrdom and three were wounded," it said.

Independent verification of the death toll was not possible as the area is cut off to journalists and aid workers.

"Militants were seen fleeing from the area, leaving behind a huge cache of arms and ammunition," the statement added.

Separately, a roadside bomb targeting a military convoy Sunday killed two Pakistani soldiers and wounded three more in another tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

Pakistan will elect its new government for the next five years in polls on May 11.

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Bangladesh building collapse toll tops 600

The Bangladesh building that collapsed was not designed to be used for factory. Source: AAP

THE death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster surpassed 600 after dozens of bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a nine-storey building housing garment factories, the army said.

Lieutenant Imran Khan of the army control room, which was set up to coordinate the rescue operation following the disaster last month, told AFP that recovery efforts had gathered pace and the "death toll now stands at 610".

"The toll is expected to rise further," he said.

The building, which housed five garment factories, collapsed near the capital Dhaka on April 24, trapping more than 3,000 people. Some 2,437 people have been rescued, Khan said.

Hundreds of distraught relatives gathered at the site on the twelfth day, as cranes and bulldozers cut through a mountain of concrete and mangled steel.

Mohammad Jashim, 25, whose garment worker sister Jakiya Begum was still missing, was among those holding a vigil at the site on Sunday.

Every time a body is recovered, he rushes to see whether the remains are those of his sister.

Officials said the bodies pulled out have missing limbs in some cases or have decomposed, delaying identification.

"We've identified only a handful of them by their mobile phones that were found in their pockets or identity cards given by the factories," deputy administrator of Dhaka district, Zillur Rahman Chowdhury, told AFP.

Preliminary findings of a government probe have blamed vibrations by four giant generators on the compound's upper floors for triggering the collapse.

The building's architect, Masood Reza, told AFP he designed the structure to house a shopping mall and offices, not factories.

Police have arrested twelve people including the plaza's owner and four garment factory owners for forcing people to work on April 24, even though cracks appeared in the structure the previous day.

Bangladesh is the world's second-largest garment exporter after China. The industry accounts for 80 per cent of the country's exports and more than 40 per cent of its industrial workforce.

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