Canada condemns Sri Lanka as CHOGM choice

CANADIAN Foreign Minister John Baird has condemned the decision to allow Sri Lanka to host the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in November as "accommodating evil".

Baird spoke out after his Commonwealth counterparts in London on Friday agreed to press ahead with the meeting despite strong criticism over Colombo's human rights record.

"We're appalled that Sri Lanka seems poised to host CHOGM and to be chair-in-residence of the Commonwealth for two years," the Canadian minister told The Guardian newspaper late on Friday.

"Canada didn't get involved in the Commonwealth to accommodate evil; we came to combat it. We are deeply disappointed that Sri Lanka appears poised to take on this leadership role."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada will boycott the November 15-17 meeting unless Sri Lanka investigates suspected war crimes including the alleged indiscriminate killing of civilians by government troops in the climax of the civil war in 2009.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said Sri Lanka had not been on the formal agenda at Friday's talks but said it had been discussed, and there was no opposition to November's meeting being held in that country.

It was a "collective decision", he told a press conference afterwards, adding: "No member of government has indicated remotely that it wishes to change the venue."

Sharma said the Commonwealth was working with President Mahinda Rajapakse's regime to address international concerns.

And he said he believed Colombo subscribed to the principles of human rights, democracy and rule of law laid out in the Commonwealth charter signed by Queen Elizabeth II last month.

"All member states subscribe to the same principles and values equally," he said.

"Interacting with them on many fronts - as I have been doing at all levels - I am fully persuaded that they are sincere in subscribing and following those values."

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NT man, 74, dies after being hit by 4WD

An elderly pedestrian has died after being struck by a four-wheel-drive in Darwin, police say. Source: AAP

AN elderly pedestrian has died after being struck by a four-wheel-drive.

Police say it appears the 74-year-old man was walking along Roystonea Avenue in Palmerston about 8.30pm (AEST) on Friday when he was struck by a Toyota Prado, driven by a 28-year-old man.

The victim, from Palmerston, was taken to hospital but died a short time later.

Police said investigations into the crash are continuing and they will prepare a report for the coroner.

The NT road toll now stands at eight, compared with 10 at this time last year.

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Vic Labor claims victory in Lyndhurst

Martin Pakula is confident he can win the by-election in the Victorian state seat of Lyndhurst. Source: AAP

LABOR'S Martin Pakula has claimed victory in the Lyndhurst by-election in Victoria with around 40 per cent of the primary vote after half the total vote was counted.

Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews has however acknowledged his party has an image problem after Labor's primary vote took a dive.

The primary vote was significantly down on the 55 per cent result achieved at the 2010 state poll and there was no coalition candidate.

Mr Andrews said it was no secret the Labor brand was facing challenges.

The latest Newspoll published in The Australian this week put the federal coalition at a 10-point lead of 55 to 45 per cent over Labor after preferences.

When asked if federal Labor's woes had impacted on the result, Mr Andrews said: "There are challenges from a brand point of view and I think everybody knows that," he told AAP.

"I'm not someone who throughout my time as leader of the Labor Party in Victoria that has ever sought to blame others for the challenges that we face.

"But I think it would be naive not to note, as we all do - not just Labor people but Victorians more broadly - that, you know, things are challenging, things are difficult for Labor just now."

Mr Pakula will pick up his previous portfolios of shadow attorney-general, racing, gaming and scrutiny of government.

"By-elections are very difficult, they're very challenging," he said.

"History will tell you that in by-elections people take the opportunity to vote differently, they vote all over the card."

The result gives Labor 43 seats on the floor of parliament to the coalition's 44, including the speaker.

It means the government needs the support of independent MP Geoff Shaw to pass legislation opposed by Labor.

The former Liberal MP is under police investigation for misconduct in public office and has a verbal agreement with Premier Denis Napthine that he will support the government on matters of supply and confidence.

"What this victory for Labor now means is that the Napthine government is now officially a minority, one that is beholden to Geoff Shaw," Mr Andrews said.

"On every bill, on every measure in every way, Denis Napthine is tied to Geoff Shaw."

Dr Napthine said there had been a 15 per cent swing against Labor, even without a coalition candidate.

"This is a slap in the face for Daniel Andrews in Labor heartland," he said.

"This is a repudiation of Daniel Andrew's approach and the fact that he is working hand-in-hand with militant union leadership."

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Dreamliner flights resume from Ethiopia

The US Federal Aviation Authority has issued formal approval of Boeing's 787 battery fix. Source: AAP

AN Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner jet has taken off on a commercial flight, becoming the first carrier to resume flying the Boeing 787 aircraft that were grounded worldwide three months ago due to battery problems.

The flight took off from Addis Ababa on Saturday and headed to Nairobi, according to an AFP journalist.

"I am very happy to see the airplane is back to the air now and I am very happy also we are the first one," Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam told journalists ahead of take off.

The US Federal Aviation Authority on Thursday issued formal approval of Boeing's 787 battery fix, clearing the way for the troubled aircraft to fly again after the prolonged grounding.

The directive from the FAA to ground the 50 Dreamliners in operation worldwide came after a series of safety scares with the aircraft, including an emergency landing by Japan's All Nippon Airways in January following a battery malfunction.

Ethiopian Airlines has four Dreamliners, which Gebremariam said would all resume service in the coming weeks after being retrofitted with new batteries.

"This is the first airplane which has completed the work," he told reporters, adding that work has started on the company's other three 787s.

Each of the aircraft are set to receive a new battery, which is encased, allowing the plane to continue flying in the event of a malfunction.

"We've fixed the battery, we've now contained the battery, so for some chance that there is a failure with the battery, it's contained, it's isolated, the airplane will be able to continue flying," Boeing's VP of Marketing for commercial airplanes, Randy Tinseth, told AFP at the airport.

Despite the previous safety scares with the aircraft, he said customers have no reason to feel nervous about flying the Dreamliner.

"I can't wait to get back on the aircraft, and I wouldn't hesitate to bring my family on it," he said.

The three-month grounding of the 50-strong fleet has not translated to major financial losses for the US-based Boeing Company. On Wednesday Boeing reported a 20 per cent year-on-year jump in first-quarter profit.

The 787 will head back to Addis Ababa - some 1160 km from the Kenyan capital - later Saturday, airline officials said.

Passenger Francois Vaillancourt told AFP he was "not at all" nervous about flying on the first commercial flight since the fleet was grounded.

"Airlines are safest after they've had a problem, so they fixed it and it is probably three times as safe as it was before," he said.

Ethiopian Airlines is the first African carrier to operate the Dreamliner.

In addition to the four Dreamliners which were in operation before January, Ethiopian Airlines has six more on order from Boeing. The full fleet is expected to arrive by the end of 2014, including one that will be delivered in June.

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Rainbow Warrior leaves Australian waters

Greenpeace's ship the Rainbow Warrior is leaving Australian shores after a "successful" tour. Source: AAP

GREENPEACE ship the Rainbow Warrior is leaving Australian shores after a "successful" tour raising awareness about the coal industry's impact on coral reefs.

The activists' ship docked in Cairns on Saturday after a six-week tour of the east coast of Australia.

Up to 30 activists and Greenpeace members travelled on the vessel, which visited east coast capital cities as well as regional Queensland coastal centres where coal ports are proposed.

They were warning locals of the dangers the coal industry poses to the Great Barrier Reef, and the threat of climate change.

The tour culminated in the boarding of a coal carrier off north Queensland last week where activists "peacefully occupied" the deck for 28 hours and delivered a letter explaining their stance to the captain.

"We've been overwhelmed by the positive response we've had from Australians," Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior climate campaigner Dr Georgina Woods told AAP.

"I think a lot of people weren't aware of the scale of what the coal industry is planning to do in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area."

Greenpeace says the planned construction of coal export terminals in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area will endanger the health of the reef.

The coal export industry is also driving climate change, and coral reefs worldwide are unlikely to survive, Dr Woods added.

The Rainbow Warrior will now head to Indonesia to campaign for the protection of forests.

AAP mjf/arb

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Bangladesh factory death toll passes 300

Rescuers have pulled dozens of people alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building in Bangladesh. Source: AAP

BANGLADESHI police are battling to control huge crowds of garment workers angrily protesting the death of more than 300 colleagues in a collapsed building as rescue efforts stretched into a third day.

Police fired tear-gas and rubber bullets at the workers - who sew clothes for Western brands for as little as $US37 ($A36) a month - as they blockaded roads and attacked factories and buses in textile-making districts around Dhaka.

"The situation is very volatile. Hundreds of thousands of workers have joined the protests," M Asaduzzaman, an officer in the police control room in manufacturing hub Gazipur said.

The violence came as the death toll topped 300 at the scene of the accident in Savar town on the capital's outskirts where the eight-storey Rana Plaza building imploded on Wednesday morning, trapping thousands of workers.

The accident has prompted new accusations from activists that Western clothing companies place profit before safety by sourcing their products from Bangladesh, despite its shocking track record of deadly disasters.

British low-cost fashion line Primark and Spanish giant Mango have acknowledged having their products made in the collapsed block, while a host of brands including Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour are investigating.

Last November a blaze at a factory making products for Wal-Mart and other Western labels left 111 people dead, with survivors describing how fire exits were kept locked by site managers.

The US State Department said Thursday that the building collapse underscored "that there's a need for the government, owners, buyers and labour to find ways of improving working conditions in Bangladesh".

National fire service chief Ahmed Ali said that the rescuers were now "racing against time" to find remaining survivors, as army spokesman Shahinul Islam said the death toll had reached 304.

More than 2300 people have been rescued alive since Wednesday, Islam added.

The overnight rescue of 45 people provided some hope to the thousands of anguished relatives who remain huddled at the disaster site, but an intense stench suggested many more bodies remain trapped in the rubble.

With many of the country's 4500 factories already shut due to protests and fears of damage, manufacturers declared Saturday as a holiday and trade unions called a strike for Sunday to demand better working conditions.

Widespread anger has been fuelled by revelations that factory bosses forced workers to return to the building on Wednesday despite cracks appearing in the building the day before.

At the disaster scene, exhausted teams of soldiers, firemen and volunteers worked through the mountain of mangled concrete and steel for a third day after staying on the job for a second straight night.

Amid frustration about the slow pace of progress, at one point thousands of relatives burst onto the disaster site, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd.

In the humid conditions, bodies trapped in the rubble were beginning to decay.

At the nearby Enam Medical College Hospital, doctors were struggling to treat the 1200 people admitted since Wednesday morning, many with missing limbs or with such bad injuries that they required amputations.

"Some have gangrene," doctor Hiralal Roy told AFP.

Police meanwhile made a series of raids looking for the factory and building owners after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed to track them down and bring them to justice.

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Citigroup buys ING custody services

Citigroup announced it is acquiring the eastern Europe custody services business of ING. Source: AAP

US bank Citigroup has announced it is acquiring the eastern Europe custody services business of its Dutch rival ING.

The acquisition covers assets worth 110 billion euros ($A139.55 billion) in seven countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and the Ukraine, according to statements from both banks.

The transaction, for an amount not made public, is to be finalised in the first quarter of 2014, Citigroup said.

Citigroup already held $US13.5 trillion in assets under custody, making it one of the world's largest providers of custody services.

ING has sold a number of its operations in the past two years, as it works to pay back a 10 billion euro bailout it got in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

The bank had already separated its insurance and banking operations and sold its Latin-American businesses in 2011 as well as ING Direct USA in February of this year.

ING is also preparing an IPO for its US subsidiary, after which it hopes to raise up to $US1.5 billion.

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Katter Party could preference Palmer party

Katter's Australian Party could preference Clive Palmer's party at the federal election. Source: AAP

KATTER'S Australian Party (KAP) could preference Clive Palmer's United Australia Party (UAP) at the federal election.

The mining magnate announced on Friday he has re-formed the UAP, which was dissolved in 1945, and applied for its registration in Queensland.

KAP national director Aidan McLindon welcomed the move, saying it will help break the political duopoly of the Labor and Liberal parties.

"It's a competition of ideas. The more players on the field the better," he told AAP.

Mr McLindon said the UAP wasn't seen as a threat to the KAP because both parties shared common objectives.

He said it would work together, including swapping preferences at the federal election.

"It would only make sense. You can probably count the differences between Bob (KAP leader Bob Katter) and Clive on one hand," Mr McLindon said.

"Where the KAP can't access some of those LNP (Liberal National Party) votes, I think Clive can.

"In a compulsory preferential system, depending on the negotiations, I think the two parties can be a formidable threat to Liberal and Labor."

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Syrian officials deny chemical weapon use

TWO Syrian officials have denied the government has used chemical weapons against rebel forces, saying the regime has no need for them.

The denials follow assertions by the White House and other top Obama administration officials that US intelligence had concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its civil war.

A Syrian government official said the government did not and will not use chemical weapons even if it had them.

He spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to give official statements.

Syrian official Sharif Shehadeh called the US claims "lies" and likened them to false accusations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction ahead of the US invasion of that country.

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Iraq toll rises after mosque bombs

The Iraqi prime minister warned of a return to civil war as 179 people were killed over three days. Source: AAP

BOMBS have exploded at four Sunni mosques in the Baghdad area after prayers, killing four people and raising the death toll from a four-day wave of violence in Iraq to 195.

Iraqi security forces also began moving back into the northern town of Sulaiman Bek after gunmen who seized it withdrew on Friday.

The bombings at three Sunni mosques in Baghdad and a fourth north of the capital, which killed at least four people and wounded 50, came after more than a dozen people were killed in attacks on Sunni mosques on Tuesday.

Gunmen, meanwhile, pulled out of Sulaiman Bek under a deal worked out by tribal leaders and government officials, local official Shalal Abdul Baban and municipal council deputy chief Ahmed Aziz said.

The gunmen had swarmed into the predominantly Sunni Turkmen town on Wednesday after deadly clashes with the security forces, who pulled back as residents fled.

Baban also said that helicopter fire wounded six people on the roof of a house in the town early on Friday.

Army Staff General Ali Ghaidan Majeed told AFP on Thursday that the gunmen in Sulaiman Bek, who he said number about 175, had been given 48 hours to withdraw or face attack.

The gunmen's seizure of the town came amid a surge of violence which began on Tuesday when security forces moved in against anti-government protesters near the Sunni Arab northern town of Hawijah.

The operation sparked clashes that left 53 people dead.

Dozens more were killed in subsequent unrest, much but not all of it linked to Tuesday's clashes, bringing the death toll to 195 by Friday.

The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shi'ite-majority country more than four months ago.

The protesters have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, and railed against authorities for allegedly targeting their community.

Seven gunmen died carrying out three separate attacks on security forces south of the northern city of Kirkuk on Friday, a high-ranking army officer and a medical source said.

Gunmen also killed a soldier and wounded two police in an attack on a checkpoint in Al-Sharqat, north of the capital, late on Thursday, a police colonel and a doctor said.

And three hours of fighting in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killed three federal police and wounded six late on Thursday, police Lieutenant Colonel Yassir Hamid al-Jumaili and a doctor said.

The clashes saw gunmen take control of three checkpoints on the outskirts of the overwhelmingly Sunni Arab city after they were abandoned by federal police, Jumaili said.

He said they then turned the checkpoints over to local police, who returned them to federal police on Friday.

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Qantas to fight claim Aboriginals removed

Qantas is facing legal action for allegedly kicking a group of Aboriginal men off a plane. Source: AAP

QANTAS says it will not tolerate behaviour that could compromise passenger safety after facing legal action for allegedly kicking a group of Aboriginal men off a plane.

The eight men were on their way home to Kempsey, on the NSW mid-north coast, from an indigenous leadership program in Cairns, three years ago.

They claim they were thrown off the plane before it left Sydney, and are suing Qantas for damages, accusing the airline of false imprisonment.

The airline would not comment on specifics of the case but confirmed it would defend the claims in court.

It also denies any discrimination.

"Qantas has a zero tolerance policy towards behaviour it believes could compromise the safety of anyone on our aircraft," Qantas said in a statement.

"This policy is applied equally to all passengers."

The men were allegedly locked in a bus parked on the tarmac for an hour-and-a-half, before being escorted back to the terminal.

It's alleged the men were told they could not travel as a group and would have to catch separate flights, in pairs, the following morning.

A hearing for the case is set to take place in a Sydney court in August.

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Renault sales slide in first quarter

French automaker Renault says sales in the first quarter fell 11.6 per cent to $A10.55 billion. Source: AAP

FRENCH automaker Renault says sales in the first quarter of 2013 fell 11.6 per cent year-on-year to 8.27 billion euros ($A10.55 billion) but maintained its outlook for the year.

Vehicle sales worldwide fell by 4.7 per cent to 608,455 units, the company said, due to a poor performance in Europe where unit sales fell by 11.6 per cent, worse than the overall market which was down 10 per cent.

Renault added it believes the French and European markets will both contract by five per cent this year, despite the global market expanding a projected three per cent.

Sales in the Americas fell, down eight per cent in an overall market rising 1.6 per cent, which the company said was due to a plant renovation currently underway in Brazil.

Sales in Eurasia however skyrocketed 20.8 per cent, well above the market rise of 1.8 per cent and making Renault the biggest seller in Russia after domestic company Lada.

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NSW driver runs down man, punches police

A DRIVER deliberately drove into a group of men outside a hotel in Bathurst, running down and injuring one before resisting arrest, police say.

A 23-year-old man has been charged with a number of offences after allegedly crossing to the wrong side of the road and ploughing into the group about 1.30am (AEST) on Thursday.

One of the men suffered injuries to his head, leg, arm and ribs when he was struck by the car, said police in the NSW central west city.

They said an off-duty officer tried to stop the car but it had accelerated towards him and hit his foot.

Another motorist stopped the car in a nearby street.

Police say when the off-duty officer tried to arrest the driver, he was punched repeatedly before managing to restrain him.

The 23-year-old man was taken to Bathurst police station where he returned a breath-analysis reading of 0.108, they said.

He was charged with a number of offences including dangerous driving and is to appear in Bathurst Local Court on Monday.

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Protests as Bangladesh toll hits 200

HUNDREDS of thousands of garment workers have walked of the job in Bangladesh after the deaths of 200 people in a building collapse.

Grief turned to anger on Thursday as the workers, some carrying sticks, blockaded key highways in at least three industrial areas just outside the capital Dhaka, forcing factory owners to declare a day's holiday.

"There were hundreds of thousands of them," said Abdul Baten, police chief of Gazipur district, where hundreds of large garment factories are based.

"They occupied roads for a while and then dispersed."

Police inspector Kamrul Islam said the workers had attacked several factories whose bosses had refused to give employees the day off.

"They were protesting the deaths of the workers in Savar," he said, referring to the town outside Dhaka where Wednesday's collapse of an eight-storey building housing five garment factories took place, injuring more than 1000 people.

"Many wanted to donate blood to their fellow workers," he added.

About 1500 workers marched to the Dhaka headquarters of the main manufacturers association, demanding the owners of the collapsed factories be punished.

"The owners must be hanged," one protester cried, as others tried to lay siege to the headquarters.

Some workers smashed windows and vehicles before they were chased away by police, said Wahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka police.

Rescuers in Savar pulled dozens of bodies from the collapsed building on Thursday as the death toll in the country's worst industrial disaster reached 200, police said.

Managers had allegedly ignored workers' warnings that the building had become unstable.

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Iraq bloodshed stokes fears of civil war

THE deaths of more than 100 people in violence between Iraqi security forces and Sunni Arab protesters and their supporters have raised fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict.

The trouble began on Tuesday when security forces moved into an area near the northern town of Hawijah where Sunnis had been holding protests since January, sparking clashes in which 53 people died.

That fighting set off a wave of revenge attacks that hit five different Sunni-majority provinces, killing dozens more people, and which saw gunmen take control of the town of Sulaiman Bek.

The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that erupted in Sunni areas of the Shi'ite-majority country more than four months ago.

The Sunni protesters have called for the resignation of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and railed against the alleged targeting of their community by the authorities.

"This is the deepest and most dangerous crisis... since 1921," former national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said, referring to the year in which the state of Iraq was established.

He warned that the situation "could lead to a sectarian conflict, and then division".

Sectarian violence, including bombings and death squad murders that peaked in 2006 and 2007, claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The security situation has since improved markedly but sectarian tensions remain.

Hamed al-Juburi, a spokesman for the Hawijah protesters, vowed revenge on Thursday for the "massacre" near the town.

Protesters have pledged their loyalty to a Sunni militant group called the Naqshbandiya Army "so we can be an armed wing related to it, working on cleaning Iraq from Safavid militias," he said, using a pejorative term for Shi'ites.

On Wednesday, Abdulghafur al-Samarraie and Saleh al-Haidari, top clerics who respectively head the Sunni and Shi'ite religious endowments, held a joint news conference in which they warned against sectarian strife.

Samarraie said there were "malicious plans... with the goal of taking the country towards sectarian conflict", and that he and Haidari agreed "to move quickly to extinguish the strife and stop the conspiracy."

US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters that Washington condemns the violence in Iraq and that "there's no place for sectarian conflict in a democratic state."

An earlier statement from the US embassy said that "US officials have been in contact with senior Iraqi leaders to help defuse political and sectarian tensions".

John Drake, an Iraq specialist with risk consulting firm AKE Group, said the government's ready use of force in recent days highlighted shortcomings in the its response to protests.

"I think the government response indicates that it has a long way to go in terms of its policies for dealing with protest movements in the country," Drake said.

"The use of force so readily, including firearms, at protest camps and the bombing of settlements where militants are believed to be sheltering, is going to bring a very high risk of collateral damage," he said.

"An 'all-out' sectarian conflict is still unlikely," Drake said.

"But the fact that this is a predominantly Shi'ite government and it's predominantly Shi'ite security forces opening fire on predominantly Sunni individuals (civilians or militants) is going to have an impact on sectarian relations and could prompt a rise in sectarian violence as a result."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned on Thursday of attempts to return the country to "sectarian civil war".

Maliki called on clerics and everyone worried about Iraq's future "to take the initiative, and not be silent about those who want to take the country back to sectarian civil war", in remarks broadcast on state television.

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UK police 'have amnesia' over hacking

BRITISH police knew of claims that journalists at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World hacked into a murdered schoolgirl's mobile phone but they failed to investigate, the police watchdog said.

Britain's Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said on Wednesday that Surrey Police in southeast England had done nothing about the allegations during their probe into the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler in 2002.

But the IPCC said it was unable to find out why nothing was done, because former senior officers at the force appeared to be suffering from "collective amnesia".

Revelations that the News of the World hacked into Dowler's voicemail messages, along with those of dozens of celebrities and public figures, sparked a huge public outcry that forced Murdoch to shut down the tabloid in 2011.

"Phone hacking was a crime and this should have been acted upon - if not in 2002, then later, once the News of the World's widespread use of phone hacking became a matter of public knowledge and concern," said IPCC deputy chair Deborah Glass.

"We have not been able to uncover any evidence, in documentation or witness statements, of why and by whom that decision was made," she added.

"Former senior officers, in particular, appear to have been afflicted by a form of collective amnesia in relation to the events of 2002."

The phone-hacking scandal sparked three police investigations and a judicial inquiry into press ethics.

Testimony at the inquiry, led by judge Brian Leveson, revealed a close relationship between police and staff at Murdoch's British newspaper wing, News International.

Dozens of people have been arrested under Scotland Yard's probes into phone-hacking, computer hacking and the selling of stories by public officials.

On Wednesday a former Surrey Police officer became the 62nd person to be arrested under the probe into corrupt payments, Operation Elveden.

Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor, is among those who have been charged in connection with the scandal, as is former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

Former nightclub bouncer Levi Bellfield was convicted of murdering Milly Dowler in 2011, nine years after she disappeared on her way home from school.

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Aust minister attends Turkish services

AUSTRALIANS generally aren't aware that Turkey lost almost twice the number of soldiers as the Allied forces during the Gallipoli campaign, Veterans Affairs' Minister Warren Snowdon says.

Mr Snowdon attended two Turkish commemorative services on the Gallipoli peninsula on Wednesday ahead of the joint Australian and New Zealand dawn service he'll lead on Anzac day.

"It's an important fact that people understand there was a massive loss of life by the Ottoman Empire - the Turkish troops," the minister told AAP on Wednesday.

Some 44,000 Allied soldiers died during the campaign, including 8709 Australians and 2721 New Zealanders. Almost 87,000 Turks lost their lives.

The modern Turkish nation was built partly on the back of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's success as a commander in World War I, Mr Snowdon said.

Ataturk went on to become the first president of the secular Turkish republic in 1923.

"It's a really important thing for the Turkish people to acknowledge, commemorate and celebrate their victories," Mr Snowdon said.

"We need to understand in Australia that while there were many thousands of Australian and New Zealand lives lost, there were literally tens of thousands of Turkish souls who lost their lives during the campaign."

Mr Snowdon, who will also address the Australian Lone Pine service on Thursday, said the Turkish people were looking after all the souls now at rest on the Gallipoli peninsula.

Australia and Turkey were "great friends", he said.

"So it's very, very important that we pay our respects and thanks to the Turkish people and acknowledge the loss of so many tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers in the First World War."

Turkey's first president wrote of the special bond that now exists between the two countries and unites locals and pilgrims at Gallipoli on Anzac day.

"There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us, where they lie side by side, here in this country of ours," Ataturk wrote in 1934.

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Pakistanis cut off burglar's arms: police

A PURPORTED Pakistani burglar who crept into a village home to steal was caught red-handed and had both arms severed at the elbow by his would-be victims, police said.

The incident happened overnight after Muhammad Tufail, 34, entered a house in Chak Nangar village near the town of Dera Ghazi Khan, 405km southwest of Islamabad, local police official Muhammad Ayub said.

"The four male family members present in the house severed both Tufail's arms at the elbow," Ayub said.

Police have arrested two of the accused and the two others have fled.

"One of the culprits in police custody did confirm that they severed Tufail's arms in a fit of anger because he had snuck into their house intending to burgle."

He said police were called following a complaint from neighbours.

Tufail was taken to a local hospital and is in a stable condition, Ayub said.

Another local official, Muhammad Ahsan, confirmed the incident.

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Paltrow named world's most beautiful woman

PEOPLE magazine has named Gwyneth Paltrow as the World's Most Beautiful Woman for 2013.

The 40-year-old actress tops the magazine's annual list of the World's Most Beautiful, announced on Wednesday.

Commenting on her selection, Paltrow says: "Around the house, I'm in jeans and a T-shirt. I don't really wear makeup."

She credits her workout routine for keeping her looking young and feeling strong.

Paltrow is married to Coldplay rocker Chris Martin. They have two children, Apple, 8, and Moses, 7.

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Dozens die in Bangladesh building collapse

At least 87 people are dead after an eight-storey building imploded near Bangladesh's capital. Source: AAP

AT least 87 people have died and many are injured after a eight-storey building containing several garment factories collapsed on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members.

Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes have been working together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors.

Zahidur Rahman, director of public relations at Enam Medical College and Hospital, said by Wednesday evening 87 people had been confirmed dead.

Another 600 survivors had been rescued, Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said.

Reports indicated the death toll could rise.

Earlier, Hiralal Roy, a senior emergency ward at the hospital said at least 700 people had also been treated at the hospital.

"The toll will rise as conditions of some injured were critical " he told AFP.

The collapse happened about 8.30am and since garment factories in the area routinely work 24 hours a day, it appeared likely that the four factories housed in the building were staffed at the time.

After cracks appeared in the building on Tuesday, evacuated workers were forced back into the building, one survivor said.

"The managers forced us to rejoin and just one hour after we entered the factory the building collapsed with a huge noise," said a 24-year-old worker who gave her first name as Mousumi.

"I am injured. But I've not found my husband who was working on the fourth floor," she told AFP, estimating that 5000 people worked inside the building, which also contained apartments, a bank and shops.

Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which pancaked onto itself and stood only about two storeys tall.

Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan told reporters that the building was illegal and violated the country's building code.

The huge death toll is likely to raise further questions about safety in the garment industry.

The November fire at the Tazreen garment factory drew international attention to the conditions workers toil under in the $20 billion-a-year textile industry in Bangladesh.

The country has about 4000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers.

Tazreen lacked emergency exits and its owner said only three floors of the eight-storey building were legally built.

Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off.

The factory made clothes for Wal-Mart, Disney and other Western brands.

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NSW prisoners injured after truck rollover

Several NSW prisoners have been seriously injured after a prison truck rolled over. Source: AAP

SEVERAL NSW prisoners have been seriously injured after a prison truck rolled over in the state's south.

A Corrective Services officer and seven male inmates were travelling on board the troop carrier on Tuesday afternoon, when it veered off a dirt road and rolled over at the Manus Correctional Centre, police said.

Five prisoners were taken to Wagga Wagga Hospital with serious suspected spinal injuries and leg fractures.

The correctional officer and another one of the inmates were taken to Tumbarumba hospital for minor injuries.

Police and WorkCover NSW are investigating what caused the crash.

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NATO condemns N Korea threats

NATO has condemned North Korea's war threats, calling on it to abandon atomic weapons. Source: AAP

NATO foreign ministers condemned North Korea's war threats, calling on it to abandon atomic weapons just as Pyongyang insisted it be treated as a nuclear-armed state on equal terms with long-time foe the United States.

"North Korea's provocative actions are in direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions and seriously undermine regional stability," the ministers said in a statement as they met at NATO HQ in Brussels.

They also "jeopardise the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and threaten international peace and security," it added.

The 28 ministers called on North Korea to "abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner; and engage in credible and authentic talks on denuclearisation."

North Korea's bellicose rhetoric of the past few months, including threats of nuclear war against the United States, have stoked tensions in the region.

The threats and bluster have been seen as an effort to force Washington, the close ally of South Korea, into talks on normalising relations.

However, North Korea earlier on Tuesday renewed its demand that it be treated as a nuclear power, saying it was a pre-requisite for any dialogue with the United States.

A commentary in the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper rejected as "totally unacceptable" a US demand that North Korea commit to abandoning its nuclear weapons and missile program before any talks can begin.

Any meeting at the negotiating table must be "between nuclear weapons states," it said.

Washington has made it clear that it will never formally accept the North, which carried out its third nuclear test in February, as a nuclear power.

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Security tight ahead of France gay vote

France's parliament will finally approve a bill to legalise gay marriage after months of protests. Source: AAP

PARIS police have stepped up security for the city's gay community ahead of a final parliamentary vote on Tuesday on a bill that will make France the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage.

After months of acrimonious debate and hundreds of street protests that have occasionally spilled over into violence, a reform that has split the country was expected to be comfortably approved by the Socialist-dominated National Assembly around 1500 GMT (0100 AEST).

Deputies voted 329-229 in favour of the bill on its first reading in February and a similar outcome is expected in the ballot on the second and final reading.

Although the protests against gay marriage, some of them attended by hundreds of thousands, have generally been peaceful, the debate has taken on a nastier edge in recent weeks.

Some politicians have received personal threats, a handful of demonstrations have ended in violence amid claims of infiltration by extreme-right activists, and there was even a scuffle in parliament as the debate concluded in the wee small hours of Friday.

These tensions have been linked to a spike in hate crimes against the gay community that have included attacks on bars and two serious assaults in Paris, prompting the police to take preventive measures in case of a further backlash.

Bernard Boucault, the city's prefect of police, said the assaults, which took place on the night of April 6-7, had been almost certainly the result of homophobia.

"Everything possible is being done to identify those responsible and bring them to justice," Boucault said.

"In order to ensure there is no repeat, we are reinforcing our presence in certain areas of the city at certain times."

Gay rights activists are planning a celebratory rally to coincide with the parliamentary vote and opponents will stage protests in Paris and across the country.

That will not however be the final chapter in a debate that has exposed profound fault lines in French society.

The bill, which will also accord gay and lesbian couples the right to adopt children, will only become law when it is signed by President Francois Hollande and published in the Official Journal.

Opposition parties are hoping to delay that step by challenging the measure through France's constitutional council, but the government is confident that will be dismissed.

"We have ensured that there is no legal weakness," said Family Minister Dominique Bertinotti.

"The constitutional council is sovereign but the government is serene. We're confident."

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Clashes in north Iraq leave 40 dead

DEADLY fighting has hit Kirkuk province in north Iraq, with 27 people killed in clashes between protesters and security forces and 13 gunmen dying in subsequent revenge attacks on the army.

The clashes mark the deadliest eruption of violence linked to protests in Sunni areas that began more than four months ago.

The protesters have been demanding the resignation of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and railing against the alleged targeting of their community by the authorities.

Tuesday's violence broke out around 5am when security forces entered an open area near Hawijah, west of Kirkuk province's capital, where demonstrations have been held since January, said senior army officers.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and around 70 wounded, they said.

But accounts differed as to the spark for the bloodletting.

A brigadier general from the Iraqi army division responsible for the area said the operation was aimed at Sunni militants from a group known as the Naqshbandiya Army, and that security forces only opened fire after they were fired upon.

A second officer said that 34 Kalashnikov assault rifles and four PKM machine guns were recovered at the scene.

Two soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the operation, while the remainder of the casualties were a combination of protesters and militants, the officers said.

However, protesters insisted the army had provoked the clashes.

Security forces "invaded our sit-in today, burned the tents and opened fire indiscriminately and killed and wounded dozens of protesters," Abdulmalik al-Juburi, a leader of the Hawijah sit-in, told AFP.

"We only have four rifles to protect the sit-in, and there are no wanted people among us," Juburi said.

The dawn violence sparked revenge attacks.

Thirteen gunmen were killed in attacks on checkpoints in the Al-Rashad and Al-Riyadh areas of Kirkuk province, the army officers said.

"There have been fierce clashes which led to the killing of 13 revolutionaries against the policy of the government," Juburi said.

"When they heard the news about the killed and wounded in the sit-in, villagers in Kirkuk cut the roads and attacked checkpoints and military headquarters and took control of some of the checkpoints for a short time," he said.

Hassan Toran, leader of the provincial council of Kirkuk, where Hawijah is located, said the council condemned "the government forces breaking in to the sit-in and using extreme force, which led to killing and wounding dozens."

"We, as a provincial council, already warned and called for calm," Toran added.

"What happened today makes us ask the United Nations to intervene," he said.

A curfew has been imposed on Hawijah and neighbouring areas.

The violence came just hours after United Nations envoy Martin Kobler called for restraint on both sides in Hawijah, where tensions have been increasing.

"I encourage the Iraqi security forces to exercise the utmost self-restraint in maintaining law and order and the demonstrators to continue to preserve the peaceful character of the demonstrations," Kobler said in a statement.

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Australian population hits 23m, ABS says

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' population clock is expected to reach 23 million on Tuesday. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA is now home to 23 million people, according to an estimate by the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS), with the milestone prompting discussion about population size.

The ABS's population clock is based on a projected increase of one person every one minute and 23 seconds, taking into account birth and death rates, and the net gain from migration.

Australia hit the 23 million mark just before 10pm (AEST) on Tuesday according to the clock, with the last million added from September 2009.

With the milestone looming, earlier in the day Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she thought the figure was relatively low.

In terms of the world's most populous nations, Australia is ranked in the mid-50s.

"By the standards of the world we are a relatively low-population country, but we have the 12th strongest economy in the world - now that's an achievement," Ms Gillard told reporters in Sydney.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government wasn't interested in setting "arbitrary targets", but rather the distribution and composition of the nation's people.

"We are interested in where the population is and the type of groups within our population," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"There are many communities where there aren't sufficient jobs and equally there are many communities where there are more jobs than people to fill them."

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government was looking at "where and how" people live.

"We need to think about the shape of our cities, whether jobs are close to housing," she said.

According to the ABS, the nation's population passed five million in 1919, 10 million in 1960, 15 million in 1983 and 20 million in the December quarter of 2003.

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Rio appeals court ban on expansion

Mining giant Rio has lodged an appeal against a decision blocking it from expanding a coal mine. Source: AAP

MINING giant Rio has lodged a Supreme Court appeal against a decision blocking it from expanding a coal mine.

Rio-owned subsidiary Coal & Allied is appealing against last week's NSW Land and Environment Court decision not to allow the Mt Thorley Warkworth mine to be expanded.

While announcing the NSW appeal, the company also said it had cut the jobs of 40 employees and contractors from the mine on Monday as part of a review that it announced after last week's decision.

Last week's events overturned the 2012 NSW government approval of the project.

Coal & Allied acting managing director Darren Yeates said the court's decision was without precedent, overturning a three-and-half-year approval process including state, independent and Commonwealth support.

It set an alarming precedent and brought into question the ability to successfully secure development consents for major projects in NSW, he said.

"Mount Thorley Warkworth mine has been operating for 30 years and this rejection threatens the jobs of the 1300 employees who rely on its future," Mr Yeates said in a statement.

The company had spent more than $600 million with close to 1000 suppliers in relation to the mine last year, he said.

"The unfortunate reality is this decision has come at a time when the Australian coal industry is struggling to remain globally competitive in the face of high costs, a strong Australian dollar and low prices," Mr Yeates said.

Coal & Allied wants to expand the life of the mine by 12 years to 2033, producing 264 million tonnes of coal on current rates of 12 million tonnes a year.

Justice Brian Preston, chief judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court, cited adverse environmental and social concerns on the community as reasons for his decision.

The Bulga-Milbrodale Progress Association said the Hunter Valley community of Bulga would have been destroyed as it was subjected to noise, dust and other social impacts.

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Berlusconi sex trial suspended until May

The trial of Italy's ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex has been delayed. Source: AAP

AN Italian court has delayed the resumption of a trial against former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with a then 17-year old prostitute.

The Milan court postponed the trial until at least May 13 while it waits for a decision by Italy's supreme court on whether to consider an appeal by Berlusconi's defence team to move the trial to another city.

The media magnate's lawyers have accused several Milan judges of "creating a hostile environment" around their client, and argue he will get a fairer trial in nearby Brescia.

The supreme court's decision is expected on May 6. Should it rule the case will stay in Milan, it will resume on May 13.

If it decides the trial should be moved, however, the hearings could be delayed further.

Berlusconi is accused of having sex for money when he was prime minister in 2010 with Karima El-Mahroug, an exotic dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer.

He faces up to three years in prison on that charge and up to 12 years for allegedly putting pressure on police to have her released from custody when she was arrested for petty theft.

El-Mahroug is expected to testify in May in a separate trial against three Berlusconi allies - starlet turned politician Nicole Minetti, newsreader Emilio Fede and talent scout Lele Mora - for allegedly procuring dozens of young women for torrid parties at the billionaire's house.

In October, the three-time premier was sentenced to a year in prison and handed a five-year ban from holding public office for fraud linked to his business empire Mediaset, but the punishment has been suspended during the appeal process.

The 76-year-old media baron faces the next hearing of his appeal against that conviction on May 8.

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Cyprus cuts hit charities, schools

Charities, private schools and insurance firms with deposits in troubled Bank of Cyprus will suffer. Source: AAP

CHARITIES, private schools and insurance firms with deposits in the troubled Bank of Cyprus will suffer a 27.5 per cent haircut under the island's EU bailout, the central bank said.

They had all previously been exempt from a haircut in the bank restructuring required under the terms of the 10 billion euros ($A12.81 billion) bailout for Cyprus.

All insurance firm deposits will receive a hit while unregistered financial companies, charities and some educational institutions with deposits over 100,000 euros in the Bank of Cyprus will also get a 27.5 per cent cut.

"The review was undertaken with the aim to limit the extent of the exemptions so as to lighten the burden on affected (large) depositors in the Bank of Cyprus," the central bank said in a statement late on Sunday.

A bail-in from depositors was a key element of a deal which Nicosia struck with its EU partners and the International Monetary Fund last month to help fund a 23 billion euro rescue package.

Bank of Cyprus depositors are already facing a certain 37.5 per cent loss on deposits over 100,000 euros - to be exchanged for shares - with another 22.5 per cent locked depending on the cost of restructuring.

Large depositors could lose all of the remaining 60 per cent of their balances over 100,000 euros depending on the costs of winding up and merging second-largest lender Laiki.

Savers in that bank will have to wait years to see any of their cash over 100,000 euros.

Central bank spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou told state radio Monday that the move was to ease to pressure on large Bank of Cyprus depositors but a final estimate on how much they would lose will not be ready before the end of June.

Banks have been operating under stringent capital controls since they reopened on March 28, after a near two-week lockdown prompted by fears of a run on deposits.

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Second arrest over Indian girl's rape

INDIAN police arrested a second man over the kidnap and rape of a five-year-old girl, as officers on Monday faced further protests and a hail of accusations that they botched their handling of the case.

After a weekend of demonstrations in the capital, crowds again vented their anger over levels of sexual violence in New Delhi, which first erupted in December after the savage gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus.

Doctors, meanwhile, said the five-year-old victim of the latest attack was in a stable condition after being left for dead and was able to talk to her parents.

Police said they had arrested a second man late Sunday over the attack, which began on April 15 when the youngster was allegedly abducted from her home before being raped and mutilated.

Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar conceded "there were shortfalls" in the police reaction and that "they had not responded as they should have", but rejected protesters' calls for him to quit, saying it would serve no purpose.

"If my resigning will prevent such depraved action of the society then I am prepared to resign 1,000 times, but that is not going to address the problem," he told a packed news conference.

"The problem is one of mental depravity," he said, adding rapes were "opportunistic crimes", with 97 per cent carried out by people known to the victim, such as relatives and neighbours.

The two accused are garment worker Manoj Kumar, 22, a tenant in the girl's house who was arrested last Friday, and his friend Pradeep Kumar, taken into custody at his uncle's home in eastern Bihar state.

Commissioner Kumar denied allegations that police were slow to register the disappearance of the child. The allegations were made by the parents, who live in a working-class neighbourhood.

The parents' complaint "was lodged on the same day it was reported. And let us assume - even if it was registered within five minutes - the rape had already been committed," Kumar said.

He added that police were trying to identify two officers who allegedly offered the parents 2,000 rupees (around $A34) to keep quiet about the case and told them they should be grateful their daughter was still alive.

He also said the chief investigating officer and a senior colleague who was seen on camera slapping a protester had been suspended.

The latest developments came as protesters massed outside the hospital where the victim is being treated and at police headquarters to voice their fury at the force's conduct.

"I want justice for this little girl. If they had acted in time the tragic incident could have been averted," said student Amod Kumar, 25.

"They should have taken the missing complaint seriously and acted immediately. The parents were turned away only because they are poor and helpless," he said.

India's noisy and often dysfunctional parliament was repeatedly adjourned amid protests by opposition lawmakers demanding better security for women.

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Late 20thC was warmest in 1400 years

New climate records show Earth was warmer in the late 20th century than in the previous 1400 years. Source: AAP

EARTH was cooling until the end of the 19th century and a hundred years later the planet's surface was on average warmer than at any time in the previous 1400 years, according to climate records.

In a study spanning two millennia published in Nature Geoscience, scientists say a "long-term cooling trend" around the world swung into reverse in the late 19th century.

In the 20th century, the average global temperature was 0.4C higher than that of the previous 500 years, with only Antarctica bucking the trend.

From 1971-2000, the planet was warmer than at any other time in nearly 1400 years.

This measure is a global average, and some regions did experience warmer periods than that - but only for a time. Europe, for instance, was probably warmer in the first century AD than at the end of the 20th century.

The investigation is the first attempt to reconstruct temperatures over the past 2000 years for individual continents.

It seeks to shed light on a fiercely contested aspect in the global warming debate.

Sceptics have claimed bouts of cooling or warming before the Industrial Revolution - including two episodes in Europe called the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age - are proof that climate variations are natural, not man-made.

The new study does not wade into the debate about greenhouse gases, but points to two planetary trends.

The first is a clear, prolonged period of cooling. It may have been caused by a combination of factors, including an increase in volcanic activity, with stratospheric ashes reflecting the sunlight, or a decrease in solar activity or tiny changes in Earth's orbit, both of which would diminish sunlight falling on the planet.

The cooling - between 0.1-0.3C per thousand years, depending on the region - went into reverse towards the end of the 19th century, and was followed by an intensifying period of warming in the 20th, the paper said.

Previous research into climate change has pointed to a warming spurt in the 20th century and attributed it to the rise of heat-trapping carbon gases emitted by burning coal, oil and gas.

The warming trend shifted up a gear in the middle of the 1970s, in line with record-breaking levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), according to this past research.

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Israel ratifies EU deal as airlines strike

ISRAELI airline workers are striking, with hundreds burning tyres outside government offices in protest against the approval of an Open Skies deal with European carriers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the goal of the reform is to reduce the costs of flights to and from Israel and to increase incoming tourism.

"We will continue to advance reforms to reduce the cost of living and increase the efficiency of services to Israelis," he said in a statement on Sunday.

Netanyahu said the finance and tourism ministers would have 45 days to address questions raised during discussions which took place before the deal was approved by the cabinet.

Israel's three airlines - El Al, Arkia and Israir - are bitterly opposed to the arrangement, saying it will trigger widespread layoffs.

"Implementing the Open Skies agreement in its current format will have severe ramifications which would fatally and irreversibly harm civilian aviation in Israel," Histadrut trade union chairman Ofer Eini said in a letter to Netanyahu.

Staff of El Al and charter firms Arkia and Israir stopped work at 5am (1200 AEST) on Sunday but did not say how long the stoppage would last.

As ministers arrived for the weekly cabinet meeting, more than 500 angry demonstrators burst through security barriers and tried to block their way into Netanyahu's office, police said.

Several tyres were set alight, sparking heated scuffles with officers and riot units.

Waving Israeli flags and banners demanding "Aerial justice," they handed out flyers saying: "Israel's skies are shutting out Israeli airlines."

"International airlines that don't add Israel to their (airline) alliances because of the Arab boycott are about to take over Israeli skies," it said, warning the deal "does not allow Israeli airlines to compete equally with European airlines".

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Cashed-up investors fight for Sydney homes

Cashed-up property investors are fighting hard to secure good investment properties in Sydney. Source: AAP

CASHED-UP buyers are fighting hard to secure investment properties in Sydney.

Demand for high-yielding homes has pushed the harbour city's weekend auction clearance rate above 75 per cent for the second time this year.

But while such levels normally indicate boom conditions, market commentators are cautious about trumpeting the recent results.

Since Easter, Sydney's weekend auction clearance rate has risen from 69 per cent to 73 per cent and to 75.6 per cent on Saturday.

A total of 158 of 191 homes sold under the hammer at the weekend, Australian Property Monitors (APM) said.

APM economist Andrew Wilson said record low interest rates were contributing to the trend.

"There's a lot of investor activity in Sydney that's driving these strong clearance rates," Dr Wilson told AAP.

"We're starting towards auction clearance rates that are at the highest level that Sydney has recorded."

Rather than an autumn/winter slowdown, market watchers were witnessing signs of an early positive trend, he said.

While Australia's largest city recorded a similar level of property investor interest in 2010, the market was still fragmented with weak demand for properties valued at more than $2 million.

The real strength was coming from people vying for $1 million to $1.5 million residential properties as the market moved from a recovery phase into an expansion phase.

The median auction price for houses in Sydney was $826,500 on Saturday, while the median auction price for units was $706,000.

In Melbourne APM said the clearance rate of 65 per cent was down slightly on last week as the city undergoes a more widespread recovery.

Rental yields in Melbourne are about one per cent lower than Sydney, while the median house price is $626,000 and unit price is $422,000.

Dr Wilson said residential property investors were favouring Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

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Armed man robs Hunter Valley pub

A MAN who allegedly threatened a woman with a knife while robbing a pub in the NSW Hunter Valley will appear in court on Monday.

Police say the 22-year-old entered a pub in Melbourne Street, East Maitland at closing time in the early hours of Thursday wearing a balaclava and carrying a knife.

He then held the weapon to a female employee's back and demanded cash.

Police say the thief was given money at which point he fled.

Officers on Saturday arrested him after executing search warrants at East Maitland and Woodville.

He appeared briefly in Maitland Local Court on Sunday charged with robbery while armed with an offensive weapon, and will front the same court on Monday.

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US tycoon pledges $A292m to China uni

A US tycoon has pledged $US300 million ($A292.55 million) to an elite Beijing university to fund a scholarship program to recruit international students to study in China.

Stephen Schwarzman, founder of investment company Blackstone, has pledged the money to Tsinghua university in one of the largest donations ever given to an academic institution in China.

$100 million of the fund will come from Schwarzman, he said on Sunday, with the rest raised from private donors to set up a program enrolling 200 scholars each year.

Schwarzman said he based the fund on the Rhodes Scholarship, which brings foreign students to study at Britain's University of Oxford.

Schwarzman said he hoped the program would help ease tensions caused by China's meteoric economic rise.

"I'm concerned with China growing at double or triple the rate of the West, that there will be tensions ... one needs to do something to start addressing misunderstandings and frustration," he told AFP.

Blackstone, one of the world's largest private equity firms, has made significant investments in China in sectors as diverse as luxury real-estate and a chemical firm.

Chinese universities are administered by committees staffed by members of China's ruling Communist party, and academics have complained about restrictions when publishing on political issues.

Schwarzman, who has a net worth of $US6.5 billion according to Forbes magazine, says there is no indication China's government would interfere with the courses offered to the scholars.

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Paraguay votes to elect successor to Lugo

Voting started in Paraguay in an election that's considered crucial to it's international relations. Source: AAP

VOTING has started in Paraguay in an election which is considered crucial to restoring the country's international relations after the speedy impeachment of president Fernando Lugo 10 months ago.

Polling stations opened at 1100 GMT (2100 AEST) on Sunday and were set to close nine hours later. The first preliminary official results were expected to be known about two hours after voting ends.

Around 3.5 million people are registered to vote in the country of 6.6 million. They will choose in a single round of voting a president and vice president and members of Congress and governors among other offices.

After Lugo's exit in June 2012, Paraguay was suspended from membership of both the South American trade bloc Mercosur and the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) because the country's neighbours thought the impeachment was in fact an "institutional coup."

Paraguay is expected to be re-admitted to both groups at the latest after the new president is inaugurated on August 15.

The two top candidates in Sunday's presidential election represent the parties that controversially moved to impeach former bishop Lugo and replaced him with then-vice president Federico Franco.

Horacio Cartes, 57, the candidate of the Colorado Party, which led the country since the days of dictator Alfredo Stroessner until Lugo's election, was regarded as the sure winner until a few weeks ago, with a lead of around 10 percentage points according to opinion polls.

Efrain Alegre, 50, the candidate of interim president Franco's Liberal Party, braced his chances last week through an alliance with the nationalist Unace. Unace's candidate, former coup leader Lino Oviedo, died in a helicopter crash in early February.

More than 300 international observers deployed by the Organisation of American States (OAS), Unasur, the European Union and other institutions are to keep watch over the election.

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