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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