Assad makes appearance in Syria capital

SYRIAN leader Bashar al-Assad made a public appearance on Saturday, attending the unveiling of a statue to "martyrs" at Damascus University, state media and his official Facebook page say.

"President Bashar al-Assad joined thousands of students and the families of martyred students at the unveiling of a statue to the memory of the martyrs of Syria's universities at the University of Damascus," state television reported.

A photograph posted on the presidency's Facebook page showed Assad surrounded by bodyguards and well-wishers, arms extended in a bid to shake his hand.

The visit is the second time Assad has been seen in public this week, after a Wednesday trip to a Damascus electrical plant on Labour Day.

The embattled leader has made increasingly rare public appearances since the beginning of the uprising against his regime began in March 2011.

Before the May 1 visit, his last reported public appearance was to an educational centre in the capital on March 20.

Before that, he had not been seen publicly before since January 24, when he attended prayers at a mosque in a northern district of Damascus.

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Sudan miner search ends, 100 believed dead

THE search for about 100 workers believed to have died inside a collapsed gold mine in Sudan's Darfur region has ended after nine rescuers also became trapped, a colleague of the miners said on Saturday.

"Today the searching has stopped because it was too dangerous," the man said from the scene of the tragedy in Jebel Amir district, more than 200 kilometres northwest of North Darfur state capital El Fasher.

The unlicensed desert mine began to collapse on Monday and several days later the stench of death was seeping out of the baked earth.

Nine rescuers disappeared on Thursday when the earth collapsed around them, the miner said, adding that eight bodies had been recovered.

It was not clear whether they were rescuers or miners.

Nobody else had been found, alive or dead, said the miner, who asked to remain anonymous.

"According to what I got from my people here yesterday, they didn't find anybody (else)," he told AFP on Saturday.

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Karzai denies CIA cash buys off warlords

CIA cash delivered each month to Afghan President Hamid Karzai office was not used to buy the support of warlords who could tip the country back into civil war, he says.

The US Central Intelligence Agency has secretly handed over tens of millions of dollars to Karzai's office over the last decade, the New York Times said recently in a revelation that provoked anger in both Washington and Kabul.

But Karzai said the bundles of cash, allegedly packed in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags, were used for health care and scholarships and that full receipts are issued to the Americans.

"This money was not given to warlords," the president told a press conference in Kabul.

"The major part of this money was spent on government employees such as our guards... it has been paid to individuals not movements.

"It is used for different issues such as treating patients, scholarships for youths... we give receipts for all these expenditures to the US government."

The New York Times alleged that some of the funds were used to bribe warlords into supporting Karzai's US-backed government as the international coalition tries to stabilise the country before NATO troops withdraw next year.

Warlords who fought against both the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the Taliban regime retain huge influence and many have close links to Karzai's government which rose to power after the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

With the NATO-led mission winding down after more than 11 years of fighting, the warlords look set to renew their battle for power in Afghanistan and the weak central government faces a tough challenge to impose stability.

Karzai, who is due to step down next year, declined to confirm how much his office received each month from the CIA and he repeated his gratitude to the US spy agency.

He said he had met on Saturday with US officials and asked them not to halt the cash despite protests in Washington and criticism from Afghan opposition groups.

"This is a valuable support to us. In Afghanistan's situation there is so much needed. It proves extremely helpful," the president said.

"This financial assistance should continue, we thank them for it."

Cash gifts fuel endemic corruption and this is a prime threat to Afghanistan establishing an effective state, critics of the government and the Americans claim.

When news of the CIA payments broke, Karzai immediately confirmed the reports and claimed they were part of the international aid effort to help his country recover from decades of war.

"This is an official deal between two governments," he said.

"I say that we should take every drop of money that comes to us so that our budget can be saved."

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Pakistan court extends Musharraf's remand

Pervez Musharraf's political party says it will boycott next week's historical Pakistan elections. Source: AAP

A PAKISTANI anti-terrorism court has ordered former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to remain in custody for a further two weeks ahead of his trial for unlawfully sacking judges during his rule, officials say.

"Pervez Musharraf's remand is extended for judicial lock-up for 14 days, he should be presented before the court on May 18," Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi, ordered on Saturday.

Police had asked the judge to grant the custodial extension saying the investigation into Musharraf's activities was still under way.

Lawyers for Musharraf, who is locked in his own home, which has been declared a sub-jail while he is awaiting trial, filed a bail application in the court and the judge fixed a hearing for May 6.

The court was also asked if Musharraf's trial could be held inside his plush villa, citing security reasons, but the matter was left pending.

"It has been brought into my notice that the Chief Commissioner of Islamabad issued a notification for the jail trial, but approval from Islamabad high court is needed in this regard," the judge said.

Musharraf was placed in police custody at his home following his arrest on April 19, in an unprecedented move against a former army chief of staff ahead of key elections.

He was arrested for making a decision to sack judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007 - a move that hastened his downfall.

He also faces charges of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and over the death of a rebel leader during a 2006 military operation.

The retired general has been humiliated since returning in March from self-imposed exile to contest elections.

However, his party on Friday announced it will boycott next week's historic election after a court on Tuesday banned him from standing for the rest of his life.

The May 11 polls for the national and regional assemblies mark the first time that a civilian government completes a full-term and hands over to another at the ballot box, in a country that has been ruled by the military for half its life.

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Man dies after vehicle hits tree in Vic

A MAN has died after his vehicle hit a tree in Victoria's north west, the second road fatality in the state in one day.

Police believe the man was driving west on Polkemmet Road, near Horsham, when he lost control and died at the scene.

Emergency crews were called to the scene about 8.30pm (AEST) but police believe the incident happened on Saturday afternoon.

Victoria's road toll stands at 89 compared to 101 this time last year.

Earlier on Saturday, a motorcyclist died after colliding with a car in Victoria's northeast.

The man was travelling at Baranduda, near Wodonga, when he collided with a car turning onto the Kiewa Valley Highway on Saturday morning.

He died at the scene.

Three women who were in the car suffered minor injuries in the crash.

The man is yet to be formally identified.

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European stocks rise before US jobs data

EUROPEAN stock markets and the euro have risen ahead of key US jobs data, ending the week positively after heavy losses in recent days.

London's FTSE 100 index of top companies on Friday gained 0.23 per cent to stand at 6,476.12 points approaching midday in the British capital.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 0.33 per cent to 7,987.30 points and in Paris the CAC 40 won 0.16 per cent to 3,864.90 points.

In foreign exchange trade, the European single currency advanced to $US1.3129 from $US1.3063 late in New York on Thursday.

On the London Bullion Market, gold rose to $US1,476.85 an ounce from $US1,469.25.

"Attention turns to this afternoon's non-farm payrolls data as traders seek insight to the state of the US employment market following last month's huge miss," said Matt Basi, head of UK sales trading at CMC Markets.

Ahead of the data, traders digested an announcement by the European Union that recession in the crisis-hit eurozone would continue unabated for the rest of the year with unemployment remaining at record levels, though it added that signs of recovery could emerge in 2014.

Economic output in the 17-nation area - home to 340 million people and a global rival to the United States, Japan and emerging giants - would shrink by 0.4 per cent this year, the European Commission said. That was worse than the 0.3-per cent forecast in February and followed a 0.6-per cent contraction last year.

Record unemployment in the single currency area would endure, the Commission's spring forecasts showed, with strong divergence between richer eurozone states to the north and members to the south mired in deep recession.

The euro had tumbled against the US dollar on Thursday after the ECB cut key rates to a record low in its latest effort to help break the eurozone from recession.

The European Central Bank trimmed its key "refi" refinancing rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a new record low of 0.50 per cent.

In company activity on Friday, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland slumped 5.63 per cent to 290 pence after the state-rescued lender's operating profit came in below expectations, traders said.

RBS chairman Philip Hampton meanwhile said that the Edinburgh-based bank hoped to begin offloading the government's 81 per cent stake from the middle of next year or possibly earlier.

Among the biggest gainers were miners amid hopes of a positive US employment report, traders said. Rio Tinto won 2.98 per cent to 2,992 pence and BHP Billiton jumped 2.75 per cent to 1,831 pence.

Asian stock markets mostly closed higher on Friday, aided by the ECB interest-rate cut and a positive US jobless claims report.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 reached a new all-time high on Thursday.

A better-than-expected US Labor Department report showed new claims for unemployment benefits had fallen to a five-year low. The claims - an indicator of the pace of layoffs - fell by 18,000 to 324,000, the lowest level since mid-January 2008.

Markets were hoping for more positive news on the US jobs front when non-farm payrolls data is released later on Friday.

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US adds 165,000 jobs, unemployment falls

US employers have added 165,000 jobs in April, and hiring was much stronger in the previous two months than first thought. The gains trimmed the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.5 per cent.

The US Labor Department report showed the job market is improving despite higher taxes and government spending cuts.

In addition to the April gains, the government said employers added 138,000 jobs in March and 332,000 in February. That's 114,000 more over the two months.

The economy has created an average of 208,000 jobs a month from November through April. That's above the 138,000 added in the previous six months.

A fire overnight at the Labor Department's headquarters shut down the building for most employees. Members of the media were allowed in for the release of the report.

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Pakistan election candidate shot dead

A CANDIDATE running for parliament in next week's historic Pakistani election has been shot dead along with his three-year-old son after praying in a mosque in Karachi, police say.

It is the first time that a national assembly candidate has been killed in Pakistan's election campaign. Campaigning has been marred by Taliban threats and attacks, which have killed 62 people since April 11, according to an AFP tally.

The May 11 polls for the national and regional assemblies mark the first time that a civilian government completes a full-term and hands over to another at the ballot box, in a country that has been ruled by the military for half its life.

Saddiq Zaman Khattak was a businessman and a candidate for the Awami National Party (ANP), the leading secular party in Pakistan's ethnic Pastun northwest. A party leader said he had received threats.

"He was returning from a mosque after saying his Friday prayers with his three-year-old son when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire. Both were killed," police spokesman Imran Shaukat told AFP.

Senior ANP leader Bashir Jan confirmed the attack and the deaths.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban has directly threatened the ANP and the two other main parties in the outgoing government, branding the democratic elections un-Islamic.

Karachi, a city of 18 million people, contributes 42 per cent of Pakistan's GDP but is rife with politically and ethnically linked violence.

Friday's assassination brings to three the number of constituencies where the May 11 election will now be delayed because candidates have been killed.

A man standing for the secular Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the Sindh provincial assembly, of which Karachi is the capital, was shot dead in the southern city of Hyderabad on April 11.

An independent candidate for the Baluchistan provincial assembly was also killed in the southwestern town of Jhal Magsi on Tuesday.

Karachi has seen a string of attacks on the election campaign.

Late on Thursday, a bomb wounded at least five people near an election office for MQM, the party that dominates Karachi.

Three bombs, two of which targeted MQM and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), killed three people and wounded 49 others on Saturday.

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Fears over man-made hybrid bird flu virus

IMMUNOLOGISTS are concerned about the "dangerous" work of Chinese scientists in creating a hybrid bird flu virus able to spread in the air between guinea pigs, and now living in a lab freezer.

The team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Gansu Agricultural University have written in the journal Science that they have created the new virus by mixing genes from H5N1 "bird flu" and H1N1 "swine flu".

H5N1, transmitted to people by birds, is fatal in about 60 per cent of cases but does not transmit between humans - a characteristic so far preventing a pandemic.

Some argue hybrid studies like these shed light on how the virus could mutate in nature to cause a human epidemic, and may help us prepare.

Since 2003, H5N1 has infected 628 people, killing 374, according to the World Health Organisation.

H1N1, which erupted in Mexico, is highly transmissible and infected a fifth of the world's population in a 2009-10 pandemic, but is about as lethal as ordinary flu.

The new mutant virus was easily transmitted between guinea pigs through respiratory droplets - which the Chinese team said proved the deadly H5N1 virus may need but a simple genetic mutation to "acquire mammalian transmissibility".

Flu hybrids can arise in nature when two virus strains infect the same cell and exchange genes in a process known as reassortment, but there is no evidence that H1N1 and H5N1 have done so yet.

Some observers fear science is putting mankind at risk by pre-emptively creating such mutants.

"These are manmade viruses, they have never been made in Nature. They are now sitting in a freezer," virology professor Simon Wain-Hobson of France's Pasteur Institute told AFP.

He pointed to a laboratory leak of foot and mouth, a cattle disease, which caused an outbreak in Britain six years ago.

It was unclear how the flu hybrid, which is not deadly in guinea pigs, would affect people - but Wain-Hobson warned: "These could be pandemic viruses.

"That is, if there was ever an error or they got out or there was a leak or whatever, this could infect people and cause anywhere between 100,000 and 100 million deaths."

Wain-Hobson and others fear the risk may far outweigh the scientific value of the research.

The findings held little value for finding a vaccine or treatment that would take years to develop - probably long after an outbreak, they argue.

"The record of containment in the highest containment laboratories is not good. There have been repeated leaks," said Robert May, a former president of Britain's Royal Society of science.

"You do not do these things unless there is some call of extreme emergency," he said.

"We are encountering a real and present danger with extremely dubious benefits to the public."

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Eurozone recession to continue in 2013: EU

RECESSION in the crisis-hit eurozone will continue unabated for the rest of the year with unemployment remaining at record levels, the EU warns, though signs of recovery could emerge in 2014.

Economic output in the 17-nation area - home to 340 million people and a global rival to the United States, Japan and emerging giants - will shrink by 0.4 per cent this year, the European Commission said on Friday, worse than the 0.3 per cent forecast in February and after a 0.6 contraction last year.

Record unemployment in the single currency area will endure, the Commission's spring forecasts showed, with strong divergence between richer eurozone states to the north and members to the south mired in deep recession.

Repeating its last estimate, the Commission said eurozone joblessness this year would hit a record 12 per cent and 11 per cent across the whole 27-member EU. The rates vary hugely, with an alarming 27 per cent in Spain and a low 4.7 per cent in Austria.

"In view of the protracted recession, we must do whatever it takes to overcome the unemployment crisis in Europe," EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Ollie Rehn said in statement accompanying the Commission's latest economic forecast for the eurozone and full European Union.

"In Spain and Greece unemployment rates are at unbearably high levels," Rehn said at a news conference.

France, which has barely avoided recession despite significant headwinds, will in the end shrink by 0.1 per cent in 2013 as weakness in household demand, a key economic driver, finally takes its toll. France will then rebound to 1.1 per cent growth in 2014, the data said.

But France will widely miss its commitment to meet the EU's 3 per cent of GDP deficit ceiling and will post a 3.9 per cent deficit this year and 4.2 per cent shortfall next year.

Spain will continue a hard slog from its crisis, brought on by the 2008 implosion of a decade-long housing bubble, and should contract by 1.5 per cent in 2013 before reversing to 1.4 per cent in growth in 2014.

But Spanish public finances will remain dire well into next year with a government deficit of 6.5 per cent in 2013 expected to worsen in 2014 to 7.0 per cent as certain measures expire.

The crisis will be hugely felt in recently bailed out Cyprus where output is expected to contract by 8.7 per cent this year in the wake of a severe restructuring of the island nation's key banking sector, including a controversial "haircut" on deposits.

The Cypriot recession will prolong into 2014 and beyond, the Commission said, with the economy expected to contract by an overall 15 per cent between 2012 and 2015.

In a rare glimpse of encouragement, the Commission saw recovery in Greece by the end of the year after six consecutive years of recession. The country is forecast to eke out 0.6 per cent growth in 2014, after contracting sharply by 4.2 per cent this year.

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UN sounds alarm on record Arctic ice melt

THE Arctic's sea ice melted at a record pace in 2012, the ninth-hottest year on record, compounding concerns about climate change underscored by extreme weather such as Hurricane Sandy, the UN weather agency says.

In a report on the situation in 2012, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Thursday that during the August to September melting season, the Arctic's sea ice cover was just 3.4 million square kilometres.

That was a full 18 per cent less than the previous record low set in 2007.

WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud dubbed it a "disturbing sign of climate change."

"The year 2012 saw many other extremes as well, such as droughts and tropical cyclones. Natural climate variability has always resulted in such extremes, but the physical characteristics of extreme weather and climate events are being increasingly shaped by climate change," he said.

"For example, because global sea levels are now about 20 centimetres higher than they were in 1880, storms such as Hurricane Sandy are bringing more coastal flooding than they would have otherwise," he added.

October's Hurricane Sandy killed almost 300 people and caused major destruction in the Caribbean before developing further strength and causing tens of billions of dollars in damage and around 130 deaths in the eastern United States.

Typhoon Bopha, the deadliest tropical cyclone of the year, hit the Philippines twice in December, sparking floods and landslides which killed more than 1,000 people.

The WMO said that the 2012 global land and ocean surface temperature was estimated to be 0.45C above the 1961-1990 average of 14.0C.

That marked the ninth warmest year since records began in 1850 and the 27th consecutive year that the global land and ocean temperatures were above the 1961-1990 average, it underlined.

Jarraud noted that the rate of warming varies from year to year due to a range of factors, including the El Nino and La Nina weather phenomena - which see warming and cooling, respectively, in the Pacific Ocean - as well as volcanic eruptions.

Last year's warming came despite a cooling La Nina at the beginning of the year.

"The sustained warming of the lower atmosphere is a worrisome sign," said Jarraud.

"The continued upward trend in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and the consequent increased radiative forcing of the Earth's atmosphere confirm that the warming will continue," he added.

Above-average temperatures were observed across most of the globe's land surface areas, most notably North America, southern Europe, western Russia, parts of northern Africa and southern South America, the WMO noted.

Nonetheless, cooler than average conditions were observed across Alaska, parts of northern and eastern Australia, and central Asia, it said.

Precipitation also varied, with drier-than-average conditions across much of the central United States, northern Mexico, northeastern Brazil, central Russia, and south-central Australia.

Northern Europe, western Africa, north-central Argentina, western Alaska, and most of northern China were meanwhile wetter than average.

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I'll ditch the NDIS levy: Palmer

Clive Palmer says there is no justification for raising the Medicare Levy to help pay for the NDIS. Source: AAP

CLIVE Palmer says his United Australia Party would abolish the increase in the Medicare Levy designed to help pay for the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) if it is elected at the September election.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced on Wednesday the levy would rise 0.5 percentage points to two per cent from July 2014.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said on Thursday the coalition would consider the rise.

But Mr Palmer says there is "no justification" in raising the levy.

"Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard are incompetent and this is resulting in this increase of the Medicare levy," he said in a statement on Thursday.

He said both leaders had resorted to increasing taxes to pay for their policies.

"When the United Australia Party takes government at the next federal election, any increase in the levy will be abolished," Mr Palmer said.

The Medicare levy increase will raise about $3.3 billion a year - less than half the $8 billion or more to run the care scheme each year when it begins full operation from 2018/19.

It will add $350 a year to the tax bill of a person earning $70,000 a year.

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Major Australian exhibition in London

THE most significant collection of Australian art ever mounted in the United Kingdom is to go on display in London from September.

It was revealed on Thursday that the Prince of Wales will be the patron of the exhibition, which is simply called Australia.

The exhibition spans 200 years, taking in indigenous and non-indigenous art from 1800 to the present day. It focuses on the influence of landscape.

Co-curator Kathleen Soriano from the Royal Academy of Arts said the exhibition was several years in the making.

"There has never been an exhibition like this before," she told the press launch at the academy on Thursday.

"This survey is long, long overdue."

The exhibition brings together works from the most important public collections in Australia.

Works by artists including Albert Namatjira, Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Arthur Boyd, Brett Whiteley, Bill Henson and Tracey Moffatt will be on display.

Judy Watson has been commissioned to create a new sculpture that will remain in the academy's courtyard for the duration of the exhibition.

Deputy high commissioner Andrew Todd said the Australian government, which helped fund the exhibition, was "immensely proud" of it.

"We see this exhibition as a particularly exciting platform to promote and celebrate Australian art and culture more widely," he told reporters on Thursday.

"Artists, in holding up a mirror to Australian life and landscape, express so effectively who we are as a people and a nation."

The BBC will broadcast a three-part series on Australian art to coincide with the London exhibition.

The series will be presented by former Art Gallery of NSW director Edmund Capon.

The exhibition, organised in partnership with the National Gallery of Australia, opens on September 21 and will run until early December.

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Nationals WA president stands down

COLIN Holt has stood down as The Nationals' West Australian president because of his increasingly heavy parliamentary workload.

Mr Holt, who held the position for four years, was last month appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister for training and workforce development Terry Redman and is also leader of The Nationals WA in the Legislative Council.

David Eagles has accepted the role of acting state president until the party's state conference in August.

Meanwhile, several nominations were received for the party's new candidate for the federal seat of O'Connor, currently held by retiring MP Tony Crook, before the close of nominations on Tuesday.

While the party's policy is to not name nominees, one that is known is William "Chub" Witham, who worked as a geologist in the Goldfields and is well known in the Great Southern region.

The successful candidate will be ratified at the State Council meeting on May 25.

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US boy, 5, accidentally shoots sister dead

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy playing with a rifle given to him as a gift accidentally shot dead his younger sister, officials say, thrusting the issue of US gun violence back into the spotlight.

The boy's two-year-old sister was pronounced dead after being rushed to a hospital following the shooting on Tuesday in rural Kentucky, police said.

Cumberland County Coroner Gary White on Wednesday identified the girl as Caroline Starks and said the children's mother was cleaning the house at the time and had stepped outside onto the porch.

"She said no more than three minutes had went by and she actually heard the rifle go off. She ran back in and found the little girl," White said.

The .22 calibre rifle had been given to the boy last year and was kept in the corner of a room. The parents didn't realise a shell had been left in it.

"It's a Crickett," White told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "It's a little rifle for a kid. ...The little boy's used to shooting the little gun."

An autopsy was set to be conducted but White said he expects the shooting will be ruled accidental.

"Just one of those crazy accidents," White said.

"Down in Kentucky where we're from, you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation," White said. "You start at a young age with guns for hunting and everything."

What is more unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is "that a kid would get shot with it."

The Crickett is just one of many child-sized rifles on the market and is sold with the tag line 'My First Rifle.'

It comes in a number of child-friendly barrel designs and colours, including hot pink for little girls. A host of accessories are also available, like story books and a gun-toting beanie baby of the rifle's mascot, a cartoonish cricket.

"It's a normal way of life, and it's not just rural Kentucky, it's rural America - hunting and shooting and sport fishing. It starts at an early age," said Cumberland County Judge Executive John Phelps. "There's probably not a household in this county that doesn't have a gun."

In Cumberland County, as elsewhere in Kentucky, local newspapers feature photos of children proudly displaying their kills, including turkey and deer.

It was the second fatal shooting involving minors in America this week.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that a five-year-old girl in a remote Alaska community had been shot and killed by her eight-year-old brother on Monday. The circumstances of the shooting were not immediately clear.

The United States has been embroiled in a heated debate over gun control and gun culture in the wake of a horrific December shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 26 young children and educators.

President Barack Obama has pushed for tougher federal gun laws to require universal background checks on gun buyers and called for a ban on assault weapons like the one used in Newtown.

But last month, his background check proposal - condemned by the powerful National Rifle Association as an infringement on Americans' constitutional right "to keep and bear arms" - failed to muster the necessary 60 votes needed to clear the US Senate.

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Telstra maintains earnings guidance

Telstra has maintained its full-year earnings guidance and is aiming to lift dividends over time. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S biggest telco, Telstra, has maintained its full-year earnings guidance and is aiming to lift dividends over time.

Telstra said on Wednesday that it expects to pay fully franked dividends totalling 28 cents per share in fiscal 2013, in line with prior years.

"We have continued revenue, profit and customer growth," Telstra deputy chief financial officer Mark Hall told a Macquarie Australia equities conference in Sydney.

"Our strategic focus remains unchanged, and, most importantly, we are on track for full-year guidance."

Telstra shares had lifted two cents to $5.00 by 1410 AEST - around their highest range since July 2005, according to IRESS data.

Mr Hall said the unchanged guidance for 2013 included low single-digit growth for both total income and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and a capex (capital expenditure) to sales ratio of 15 per cent.

Mr Hall said Telstra's outlook for EBITDA growth was at the top end of its guidance range.

Telstra aimed to ensure that its dividend remains fully franked, and subject to board approval, to increase it over time.

The telco was constrained from increasing a fully franked dividend at the moment by its franking account balance.

"Our key focus operationally is to grow the business over time, which would provide the opportunity to increase our franking balance and then give us the capacity to grow dividends," Mr Hall said.

Mr Hall said Telstra was investing $1.2 billion in its wireless network this fiscal year and Telstra's 4G network would cover 66 per cent of the population by June this year.

Capacity was critical, with the average Australian now spending 12 hours per week accessing the internet on a mobile device.

Most customers were using their smartphone to watch video content.

Mr Hall said that in the third quarter of the financial year, Telstra's net customer numbers had grown across all mobile categories.

Telstra's 4G network now had 2.1 million customers, including 1.4 million handsets; 150,000 tablets; 370,000 dongles; and 225,000 wifi hotspots.

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Truce reached among climbers on Everest

A TRUCE has been reached between three foreign climbers and Nepalese Sherpa guides who were involved in a fistfight on Mount Everest, officials say.

Two of the foreigners, however, returned to Nepal's capital and were undecided if they would quit their climb.

Tilak Pandey of the Mountaineering Department said a truce was reached at base camp between the foreigners - an Italian, a Briton and a Swiss - and the Sherpas on Tuesday.

Nima Nuru of Cho-Oyu Trekking, who equipped the expedition, said Swiss climber Ueli Steck and British climber Jonathan Griffith flew to Katmandu by helicopter on Wednesday, and Italian Simone Moro also was planning to return.

Nepalese officials are investigating the fight, which both sides accuse the other of starting.

Steck and Griffith refused to talk to reporters in Katmandu.

Sumit Joshi, a mountain guide from Sydney, said by telephone from the Everest base camp that the argument started when the Sherpa guides, who were fixing ropes and digging a path on the snowy trail above Camp 2, asked the foreign climbers to wait until they were finished. He said the climbers ignored them and started climbing, knocking ice chunks onto the Sherpas below.

The foreign climbers yelled "foul words" during an argument, he said.

On their return to Camp 2 later in the evening, the three climbers were surrounded by 30-40 Sherpas and there was a scuffle and punches were thrown, Joshi said. Other climbers at the camp, located at 6,500 metres, were able to stop the fight and once the climbers returned to the base camp a truce was reached, he said.

Hundreds of climbers from 32 expeditions and their Sherpa guides and helpers are at the base camp waiting for the window of good weather in May to make their way to the 8,850-metre summit. Spring is considered the best season to climb.

Nepal will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the conquest of Everest next month.

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Eight killed in two Iraq bombings

TWO bomb attacks in Iraq have killed eight people, including four anti-Qaeda fighters who died when a suicide bomber struck as they gathered to collect their salaries.

The bomber, who was on foot, detonated explosives at a police station in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, as the militiamen, known as Sahwa, gathered near a police station, police Lieutenant Colonel Khaled Yassir al-Jumaili said.

The blast killed five people, including a senior police officer and four Sahwa fighters. It also wounded 15 other people.

In a separate attack in Baghdad, a car bomb in the capital's Al-Husseiniyah area killed three people and wounded another 10, officials said.

Wednesday's attacks came after a wave of violence killed more than 240 people over seven days at the end of April, raising fears of a return to sectarian violence that left tens of thousands dead.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from the peak of the sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007, but violence remains common, killing more than 450 people in April, according to AFP figures based on security and medical officials.

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Airline bans red lipstick on hostesses

TURKISH Airlines has banned air hostesses from wearing brightly-coloured lipsticks such as red or pink, a move which has sparked fierce debate as the government is accused of trying to Islamise the country.

Numerous women posted pictures of themselves wearing bright red lipstick on social media websites to protest at the measure, part of a new aesthetics code for stewardesses working for Turkey's main airline.

The lipstick ban is the latest in a string of conservative measures adopted by the airline, which have sparked the ire of fiercely secular Turks.

"This measure is an act of perversion. How else could you describe it?" said Gursel Tekin, vice-president of the main opposition party CHP.

Turkish Airlines defended the ban, saying in a statement Tuesday that "simple make-up, immaculate and in pastel colours, is preferred for staff working in the service sector."

In recent months the booming airline - 49 percent state-owned - has also stopped serving alcohol on internal flights.

In February, images of proposed new uniforms for flight attendants bringing in ankle-length dresses and Ottoman-style fez caps were criticised as too conservative. The skirts of Turkish Airlines stewardesses once came in far above the knee.

However the more conservative new uniforms have not been adopted.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyin Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, in power for over a decade, is often accused of creeping efforts to coerce the country to be more conservative and pious.

Turkey is a fiercely secular state, despite being a majority Muslim country. Under Erdogan's rule headscarves - banned in public institutions - have become more visible in public places and alcohol bans are more widespread.

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Bangladesh building collapse toll hits 500

Bangladesh officials say the death toll from a factory collapse in Savar has risen to at least 405. Source: AAP

BANGLADESH rescuers say that more than 500 people had likely died in a garment factory block that collapsed last week as the Pope condemned the use of "slave labour" in the local clothing industry.

As bulldozers and cranes worked to remove the rubble of the eight-storey building on the outskirts of Dhaka, senior army officers said the number of confirmed dead now stood at 405 but 149 people were still missing.

The country's worst industrial accident, which has focused attention on the use of factories in Bangladesh by Western clothing companies, drew tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets of the capital.

Workers holding red banners and flags chanted "Hang the killers, Hang the Factory Owners!" during a May Day rally that was largely peaceful unlike larger and more angry protests held since last Wednesday's disaster.

At the Vatican in a private mass for followers, Pope Francis weighed into the controversy, speaking out against labour conditions in Bangladesh, which are regularly decried by campaigners.

"A headline that really struck me on the day of the tragedy in Bangladesh was 'Living on 38 euros a month'. That is what the people who died were being paid. This is called slave labour," the Pope was quoted by Vatican Radio as saying.

In fact, wages are even lower, with the legal minimum salary routinely paid to employees only $US38 ($A37) a month for a six-day week with 10-hour shifts.

The Bangladesh government faces growing foreign pressure to take credible moves to improve conditions in the garment industry, with the collapse at the Rana Plaza factory complex only the latest in a series of deadly disasters.

A fire at a textile factory last November left 111 people dead, and there have been widespread accusations that safety standards are both too lax and rarely enforced in the $US20-billion ($A19-billion) sector.

The European Union said late on Tuesday that it would look at steps to promote better practices after a host of European retailers including Primark, Benetton and Mango admitted using factories in the collapsed building.

Nearly 60 per cent of Bangladesh's garments are shipped to European Union free of duties and tariffs, giving the 27-nation bloc huge say over the country's workplace safety issues.

Anger in Bangladesh remains palpable and the demonstrations on Wednesday again saw demands for the building owner and four arrested factory bosses to face capital punishment. They have been charged with death due to negligence.

Many of the country's 4500 garment factories have been closed since last Wednesday, a major blow for the Bangladeshi economy which depends on garments for 80 per cent of its exports.

"We want the severest punishment possible for those responsible for this tragedy," said Kamrul Anam, head of the Bangladesh Textile and Garments Workers League.

"Enough is enough," said Liakot Khan, another of those taking part in the Dhaka protest, which echoed to the sound of drums and horns.

"The government should hang the building proprietor and the factory owners. We want justice for these murders."

Police put the number of protesters at the main rally in Dhaka at more than 20,000, and there were smaller-scale protests elsewhere in the capital and in other cities.

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Eyewitness recounts brawl on Everest

A MOUNTAINEER on Everest has described the "terrifying" scene of two famous European climbers fighting with Nepalese guides in a high-altitude brawl that has sparked a police investigation.

Ueli Steck, a Swiss national who holds climbing records, and Simone Moro of Italy, who has climbed Everest four times, were approaching the 7470-metre Camp Three on Saturday when the bust-up occurred.

The American eyewitness, speaking to AFP by telephone and on condition of anonymity, said on Monday Steck and Moro were asked to wait on the mountain while a group of Nepalese rigged up some ropes.

The Europeans, accompanied by a photographer recording their attempt to climb the 8848-metre mountain by a new "undisclosed" route without supplementary oxygen, ignored the request and carried on, the eyewitness said.

"The Sherpas told the team not to climb above them while they were fixing the ropes, but they did it anyway. Then some ice fell and hit the Sherpas, which made them angry," he said.

Later in the day, a furious mob of Nepalese stormed up towards the climbers' tents and pelted them with stones until the men came outside, after which a loud argument ensued and punches were allegedly thrown.

"After a while the mob left, and the climbers packed up and walked past us down - as far as we knew they were leaving the mountain," the eyewitness added. "It was terrifying to watch - they nearly got killed."

Police near the world's highest mountain are investigating the incident, local officials told AFP.

"We were told our clients disagreed with the instructions of the Sherpa guides and went ahead over some icy terrain," said Anish Gupta of Cho-Oyu Trekking, the Kathmandu-based company that organised the Europeans' expedition.

"We understand that at some point the foreign climbers kicked some ice back and it hit one of the Sherpa guides, causing the fight to start," Gupta told AFP.

According to the climbing company, the men have since descended from the upper stretches of the mountain.

Raj Kumar, a police constable in Lukla, told AFP that Steck spent the night at a hospital near the airport in the town but was "totally normal" and did not show any sign of injuries.

On Monday morning, Steck flew in a helicopter back to Everest's base camp to rejoin Moro, who had remained on the mountain. The pair are reportedly mulling whether to try again to reach the summit.

AFP was unable to reach the European climbers for comment. Their trekking company said they did not have mobile phones.

However, Moro, in a statement on his website describing events, said it was "highly unlikely" that any ice had fallen as a result of his group. He said he had been attacked by an "out-of-control mob".

"They became instantly aggressive and not only punched and kicked the climbers, but threw many rocks as well," said the statement.

The statement added that Moro's group had caused no interference for the Sherpas who were fixing the ropes, which they do each year so that hundreds of other summit hopefuls can access the mountain.

Police near the world's highest mountain are investigating the incident and mediation meetings between the climbers and the local Sherpas took place on Monday afternoon, local officials told AFP.

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Budget spending not sustainable: Garnaut

Professor Ross Garnaut says Australians have to acknowledge the mining boom days will end. Source: AAP

ALL Australians have to accept the government cannot continue to provide services that it cannot afford in the long-term, a former senior economics adviser to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke says.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard told a conference on Monday that budget revenue in 2012/13 will be $12 billion less than forecast because of the continued strength of the Australian dollar.

As the end of the mining boom approached, Australians would have to deal with less revenue flowing into government coffers, Professor Ross Garnaut said.

"It depends on whether we can accept restraint all around in the interest of avoiding recession and avoiding high unemployment," he told ABC television.

Prof Garnaut, an adviser to Mr Hawke from 1983 to 1985, said federal governments had been spending the temporary largesse from the resources boom since it began in 2003.

"That has led to expenditure levels and cost levels in Australia that are substantially higher than is sustainable in the long term," he said.

Prof Garnaut said successive governments, coalition and Labor, had been spending too much since the prices of Australia's exports rose compared to imports - except for the year following the global financial crisis in 2008.

How Australia would endured the bumpy economic ride would depend on the central bank's setting of interest rates, on how governments set their spending and revenue plans, and on the community being ready to accept reforms to lift productivity in a high-wage economy, Prof Garnaut said.

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Spanish inflation falls as demand dries up

SPAIN has reported a fall in annual inflation in April as energy costs tumbled and demand dried up in the recession-hit economy.

Consumer prices over the year to April climbed just 1.5 per cent, after a 2.6-per cent advance the previous month, according to preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute released on Monday.

When compared with March, prices in the eurozone's fourth largest economy were up just 0.1 per cent.

Falling fuel and electricity prices dragged down the annual inflation rate, which was adjusted to smooth out the impact of seasonal blips, the institute said.

Spain's inflation rate shot higher after the government raised the sales tax in September last year so as to boost state revenues and help curb the annual public deficit.

But prices have been kept in check by the feeble demand for goods and services in the shrinking economy, which has left more than 27 per cent of the workforce searching for a job.

Rafael Pampillon, economist at IE Business School, tipped a decline in retail sales in April after a "spectacular fall" in March, when they plunged by 8.9 per cent after correcting for seasonal variations.

"These small shops and supermarkets are competing in a ferocious market. And to be able to compete and sell when demand has collapsed, when consumption falls, they have to cut prices. There is no choice," Pampillon said.

"As long as the Spanish economy remains in recession, it is unlikely that inflation will able to continue rising," the analyst said, adding however that he did not expect Spain to fall into deflation.

Spain has been battling recession since the end of 2011 and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's right-leaning government is forecasting 1.3-per cent economic contraction in 2013. The unemployment rate is expected to stay above 25 per cent until 2016.

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Bangladesh garment industry calls for meet

BANGLADESHI textile bosses have pleaded with Western clothing giants to keep doing business with them after nearly 400 people died in a factory collapse as hopes of finding more survivors faded.

The tragedy has once again focused attention on the poor safety conditions in the $US20 billion ($A19.53 billion) Bangladeshi garment industry, which is the world's second biggest after China.

Britain's Primark and Spain's Mango have acknowledged their products were made in the block. Italy's Benetton acknowledged having its clothes made in Rana Plaza recently, but claimed it was a "one-time order".

Worried that Western firms could look elsewhere, manufacturers met with representatives of leading brand names on Monday in a bid to assure them about safety standards.

Shahidullah Azim, a vice president of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association which represents more than 4500 factories, said firms such as H&M, Gap, C&A and Li and Fung would be present at the meeting in Dhaka.

"We want to assure them that we're taking action to prevent a repeat of such tragedies," said Azim.

"We'll seek their understanding and will also request them not to cancel orders and shipments," he told AFP. "We need their help - they are part of us."

A fire at another factory last November in the industrial hub of Ashulia, where clothing for the likes of Walmart was being made, killed 111 people.

The industry accounts for 80 per cent of the country's exports and more than 40 per cent of the country's industrial workforce.

A typical textile worker earns less than $40 a month, with most working around 10 hours a day, six days a week.

Managers at all of the country's garment factories gave workers the weekend off in the hope that anger over the disaster would subside.

But police and unions said there was a mass walk-out in Ashulia, which is on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, soon after the reopening on Monday morning and workers then began a protest march.

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European stocks advance on Italy news

EUROPEAN stock markets have risen, with sentiment bolstered by a new government in Italy, while investors also eyed this week's upcoming interest rate decisions, dealers say.

In late morning deals on Monday, London's FTSE 100 index of top companies added 0.01 per cent to 6,427.29 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.39 per cent to 7,845.32 points and the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.72 per cent to 3,837.67.

The euro hit a one-week high at $US1.3100. It later stood at $US1.3081, up from $US1.3029 late in New York on Friday. The US dollar dipped to Y97.80 from Y97.99.

Milan's FTSE Mib stocks index meanwhile jumped 1.43 per cent to 16,802.38 points as the market also won support after a successful bond auction.

"It's a nice start of what is definitely going to be an interesting week," said Gekko Markets analyst Anita Paluch.

"Markets are in green led by Italian optimism, where newly sworn government is set to tackle country's economic problems."

Italian borrowing rates fell sharply in a five- and 10-year debt auction on Monday, after the swearing-in of a new coalition government ended a two-month stalemate and brought fresh hope to the recession-hit country.

The government raised 3 billion euros ($A3.84 billion) in 10-year bonds at a rate of 3.94 per cent compared with 4.66 per cent on March 27.

Italy also raised three billion euros in bonds due to mature in 2018 at a rate of 2.84 per cent, compared with 3.65 per cent at the last similar auction on the same date.

"Yields on five and 10-year debt fell to two and a half year lows at the debt auction, a clear signal that investors feel much more relaxed about the situation in Italy than they have for a long time," noted Alpari analyst Craig Erlam.

Later this week, on Thursday, the European Central Bank will unveil its latest interest rate decision.

Most analysts predict that the guardian of the euro will cut its key interest rate, which is already at an all-time low level of 0.75 per cent.

The ECB may also decide to launch new measures to kick-start bank lending to businesses.

Also this week, on Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve will announce the outcome of its latest monetary policy meeting.

"The main focus this week will be on the Fed and ECB but as recent economic numbers have painted a fairly moribund picture of global economy investors will be predicting a dovish tone from policy makers," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at online stockbroker Interactive Investor.

Adding pressure on the ECB to make moves to boost the economy was data showing confidence in the 17-state eurozone fell sharply in April.

The combined reading of business and consumer confidence, released by the European Commission, fell 1.5 points from March to 88.6 points because of an especially souring mood in the services sector.

European Union-wide, the index fell even more strongly, down 1.8 points to 89.7 points, the data showed.

"April's (commission) consumer and business survey supports other evidence that the eurozone is experiencing its longest recession on record," said Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics.

In earlier Monday deals, Asian equities were mixed after US economic growth data came in below forecast owing to deep federal spending cuts.

With Tokyo and Shanghai closed and the May Day bank holiday coming up on Wednesday, trading was quiet, while there were few other catalysts to drive activity.

Hong Kong rose 0.15 per cent and Sydney closed up 0.56 per cent, while Seoul ended down 0.20 per cent.

The main focus was last Friday's release in Washington of data showing the world's biggest economy expanded 2.5 per cent in the January-March quarter.

While the figures from the Commerce Department marked a solid rebound from 0.4 per cent growth in the previous three months, they were lower than the 2.8 per cent economists had predicted.

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