Syria's Assad must go, Kerry insists

US Secretary of State John Kerry insists Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will have to step down as part of any political solution in Syria, as he held a third day of talks on the bloody conflict.

Speaking as he met Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Kerry said all sides were working to "effect a transition government by mutual consent of both sides, which clearly means that in our judgment President Assad will not be a component of that transitional government".

Kerry also officially unveiled $US100 million ($A99.10 million) in additional US humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees, almost half of which will go to help Jordan struggling to cope with a tide of people fleeing the 26-month war.

Some 2,000 people are flooding across the border into Jordan every day, and the country now hosts some 525,000 refugees, Judeh said at the start of the talks in Rome.

"We have 10 per cent of our population today, in the form of Syrian refugees. It is expected to rise to about 20 to 25 per cent given the current rates by the end of this year, and possibly to about 40 per cent by the middle of 2014," he said.

"No country can cope with the numbers as huge as the numbers I've just described," he warned, adding Jordan was very grateful for the help of the international community.

Plans for an international conference to try to find a solution to the crisis were also continuing, Kerry said, after he agreed in talks in Moscow that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would work in tandem on the issue.

He had spoken with most of the foreign ministers from the countries involved and there is a "very positive response and a very strong desire to move to this conference and to try to find, at least exhaust the possibilities of finding, a political way forward".

UN chief Ban Ki-moon had also been in touch, so "we are going to forge ahead very, very directly to work with all of the parties to bring that conference together", Kerry added.

It's hoped the conference, aimed at finding a path towards a transitional government in Syria, could be held by the end of May, possibly in Geneva.

US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, has meanwhile also met with the Syrian opposition in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss the way forward, Kerry said.

Since the war erupted to oust Assad, more than 1.5 million Syrians have fled the country into neighbouring nations, including Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, vastly straining their resources.

Up to four million more could be displaced within the country as they seek to flee the fierce fighting, which has already claimed some 70,000 lives.

Meanwhile, Syria will "give Hezbollah everything" in recognition of its support and will follow the militant group's model of "resistance" against Israel, a Lebanese newspaper on Thursday quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying.

His comments, published by Al-Akhbar, reportedly came during meetings with Lebanese visitors in Damascus and appeared intended to refute any suggestion that Israeli raids on Syrian targets would halt assistance to the Shi'ite group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The newspaper said visitors quoted Assad as expressing "confidence, satisfaction and great gratitude towards Hezbollah".

The organisation is a long-time ally of the Syrian regime and has sent fighters to battle alongside Assad's troops, particularly in the Qusayr district of the central province of Homs.

Also on Thursday, anti-regime activists say Syrian warplanes are pounding rebel positions in two northern provinces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the air force is targeting opposition forces in the battle for the Mannagh air base outside of northern city of Aleppo.

Rebels stormed the base near the border with Turkey on Sunday. They captured parts of it but could not hold on, because of the regime's superior air power.

In neighbouring Idlib province, there are heavy clashes outside several army bases near the government-controlled provincial capital.

Government troops and fighter planes are hitting the rebels, the Observatory said.

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Alleged US kidnapper to appear in court

Two of the three Ohio kidnapping victims have been reunited with their families. Source: AAP

THE former US school bus driver charged with holding three young women in captivity and raping them in a decade-long horror is due to appear in an Ohio court on Thursday, three days after their dramatic rescue.

One of the captives gave birth to a daughter during the years they spent confined in the modest home of Ariel Castro, 52.

They were unable to escape until Monday, when Amanda Berry - the mother of the six-year-old girl - managed to scream for help from a neighbour and kicked through front door screen, then used a neighbour's phone to call emergency services.

Berry, 27, and 23-year-old Gina DeJesus were joyously reunited with their families on Wednesday, while Michelle Knight, 32 continues to receive medical treatment.

Police interrogated their alleged captor and searched another house on the same Cleveland street.

Castro is accused of raping all three, city prosecutor Victor Perez said.

He also faces four counts of kidnapping, related to the three women and Berry's daughter Jocelyn, who was born in captivity.

Castro is due in court Thursday for arraignment.

His two brothers are also scheduled to make a court appearance, but on misdemeanour charges unrelated to the kidnappings and rapes, authorities said.

The women are believed to have only been allowed to leave the home briefly on two occasions, both times to go into the house's garage "in disguise", Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba told reporters.

"They don't believe they've been outside of the home for the last 10 years," he said.

"They were not in one room, but they did know each other and they did know each other was there."

He confirmed that FBI investigators in protective suits had searched another house on the same street, without providing further details.

Tomba said that a paternity test on Ariel Castro was being done to establish who fathered Berry's child.

The police chief refused to comment on reports that Castro had impregnated Knight at least five times and would punch her in the stomach until she miscarried.

Police Chief Michael McGrath earlier told NBC he was "absolutely" sure police did everything they could to find the women over the years.

He disputed claims by neighbours that officers had been called to the house before for suspicious circumstances.

Castro, a former school bus driver whose family hails from Puerto Rico, has been described as a friendly neighbour who raised few suspicions but who also kept to himself, rarely if ever allowing anyone inside his home.

"Ariel kept everybody at a distance," Tomba said. "He ran the show."

Castro was accused in a 2005 family court filing of beating his ex-wife Grimilda Figueroa, who passed away last year, and of "frequently" abducting their two daughters, but he was never charged.

Castro's two brothers - Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50 - were also detained on Monday because they were with Ariel when he was arrested, but will not be charged in connection with the kidnapping.

Tomba refused to discuss specifics of the evidence discovered in the home, but earlier, city police chief Michael McGrath had said the women were "bound and there were chains and ropes in the hall".

Berry arrived on Wednesday at her sister's home in an SUV escorted by police motorcycles and FBI agents.

The porch was bedecked with balloons and messages of support. Well-wishers - and a media scrum - were waiting.

The crowd broke into applause when her sister Beth Serrano came out and made a brief statement thanking residents and asking for privacy.

Later, DeJesus was escorted into her family home by relatives, sheltering under a yellow hooded top but managing to give a weak wave to supporters, who were chanting "Gina, Gina, Gina."

"She's ecstatic to be home, she's happy. Her face, her smile, the hugging says it all," her mother Nancy Ruiz told reporters.

"It's like a dream," Ruiz added. "My first reaction as I saw my daughter, the only thing I did was grab her and hug her. I didn't want to let go."

In newly-released police audio tapes, an emergency dispatcher notifies officers on Monday that she's just spoken to a woman who "says her name is Amanda Berry and that she had been kidnapped 10 years ago".

An officer on the recorded call says, "This might be for real."

After police arrive at the house, women can be heard crying in the background. Then an officer tells the dispatcher: "We found 'em. We found 'em."

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Rio shareholders want bigger dividend

Rio Tinto has copped a serve from its shareholders for what they see as miserly dividend payout. Source: AAP

RIO Tinto has copped a serve from its shareholders for what they see as miserly dividend payouts from the mining giant.

Richard Giles from the Australian Shareholders Association told Rio Tinto's annual general meeting in Sydney that his members thought the miner should be paying much higher dividends.

"We believe that you should be moving to a more traditional dividend policy whereby you pay out 60, 70 or 80 per cent of the profits you earn every year as opposed to your so-called progressive policy which over the last five years had paid out only 20 per cent of profits as dividends," he said.

"I think it's pretty clear from the media that this is what shareholders want."

But chairman Jan Du Plessis said the company had recently reassessed its dividend policy and decided to stay with the one it had had for a number of years.

"We believe that's right and its also the policy of all the major mining companies," he said.

Mr Giles also said Rio Tinto had built up billions in franking credits and could use them to pay its Australian shareholders.

"Because your Australian operations are so successful relative to the rest of the world, there's a huge built-up surplus of franking credits," he said.

"And I believe that a higher dividend policy would contain that but in addition given the size of the surplus I think the company has an obligation to do something about it for Australian shareholders."

But Mr Du Plessis said if the company used its franking credits to pay shareholders, it would not have enough money to reinvest in the company.

He also said the payout would have to be to all shareholders.

"I guess if we sold all our assets and gave it to shareholders we could do that," he said.

"Shareholders need to understood that it is what it is. It doesn't belong to shareholders."

Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh said the company was continuing to work on divesting non-core assets as it strives to save $US5 billion ($A4.94 billion) over the next two years.

He said they were currently reviewing a number of non core assets, in addition to those already targeted for divestment such as Pacific Aluminium and Diamonds.

However, he was quick to point out that the main parts of the business would not be touched.

"It is not a fire sale," he said.

Mr Walsh also said that state and federal governments needed to ensure they had business-friendly policies to maintain Australia's competitive position.

He said the recent decision of the NSW Land and Environmental Court to overturn the approval of its Mount Thorley Warkworth Mine extension was an example of where an Australian business had potentially been compromised.

At 1425 Rio Tinto shares were down 64 cents, or 1.09 per cent, to $58.26.

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East West Link is a con: Vic opposition

The Victorian treasurer says the government won't fund the entire cost of the East West Link road. Source: AAP

VICTORIANS won't be able to use the East West Link tunnel to drive to work for decades, the opposition says.

The state government has pledged almost $300 million for the $6-8 billion East West Link and says the federal government could jeopardise the project if it refuses to contribute $1.5 billion to the toll road.

In his budget reply speech, shadow treasurer Tim Pallas said the government's 2013/14 budget was based on funding of less than four per cent for a toll road.

"Let me tell you something: you don't drive to work on a procurement plan," Mr Pallas told parliament on Thursday.

"And that's all this is - that's the big con in this heartless budget."

Mr Pallas ridiculed the government's plan for the road saying at this rate Victorians won't be able to use the link until 2067.

"That's five years after the Jetsons perfected flying cars," he said.

Mr Pallas said Labor believed in a reliable health system and a strong education system.

Treasurer Michael O'Brien continued to spruik the budget on Thursday, saying the state won't fund the entire cost of the road link because it cannot afford to lose its AAA credit rating.

He said if the state lost its AAA rating, it would increase the cost of borrowing money for other projects and would mean less money is available for yearly spending.

"If it's the old argument of, you've got AAA rating so why don't you borrow your head off, well the fact is if you borrow your head off you won't keep your AAA rating," he told ABC radio.

"And we need to keep that AAA rating because otherwise the interest costs we will be paying on our borrowings will be much higher."

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Stolen Generation art returns to Perth

Artwork by members of the Stolen Generation will be returned to a WA university from New York. Source: AAP

ABORIGINAL artworks created by members of the Stolen Generation are returning home from a New York university which has possessed the historic Australian art for almost 50 years.

Colgate University will transfer to Western Australia's Curtin University 119 indigenous artworks, including drawings and paintings created by Noongar children between 1945 and 1951 at the Carrolup Native School and Settlement in the state's Great Southern region.

The artwork attracted international news coverage in 2005 when it was exhibited in Colgate's Picker Art Gallery.

A painting by Reynold Hart called Hunting was presented to Curtin at a ceremony in Perth on Wednesday to symbolise the future transfer of the full collection.

The art pieces were given to Colgate in 1966 by alumnus Herbert Mayer, a famous New York collector.

He purchased the works from Florence Rutter, a major benefactor to the Carrolup School.

The artwork features native landscape, bush scenes, animals, hunting and traditional Noongar cultural activities.

The collection has been, and will remain, part of a joint study between Curtin and Colgate.

Over the past eight years, many Colgate students have travelled to WA to visit the Mungart Boodja Art Centre and the John Curtin Gallery to learn about Noongar art and culture.

Colgate professor Ellen Percy Kraly initiated the artwork transfer more than a year ago and said the relocation of the art would allow its conservation and exhibition for future generations of Noongar people.

"The work has so much meaning in country that it deserves to be within the hearts, souls, and eyes of the people," she said.

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Gillard defends lost tax cuts

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has scored a victory in bringing Queensland into Labor's scheme to care for the disabled, but copped a new attack over scrapped tax cuts.

Ms Gillard and Liberal National Premier Campbell Newman signed a $4.2 billion deal to deliver the DisabilityCare Australia scheme to almost 100,000 Queenslanders, leaving Western Australia and the Northern Territory the only jurisdictions outside the system.

Mr Newman was effusive in his praise for Ms Gillard, who will next week introduce laws in parliament to raise the Medicare levy to help pay for the scheme.

"I want to thank the prime minister for making the decision on the levy," Mr Newman told reporters in Brisbane on Wednesday, adding it had been a "big decision".

Ms Gillard said there was now "momentum" for WA and the NT to sign up to the scheme, although WA indicated it wouldn't discuss an agreement until after the federal election, which Labor could lose.

However, the Queensland deal was overshadowed after Labor confirmed it planned to "defer" $1.4 billion in tax cuts due in 2015 in next week's budget.

The tax break was part of the household compensation package to offset price increases flowing from Labor's carbon pricing regime.

But after the recent slump in the international carbon price, the government says the impact on hip pockets two years from now will be much less than expected.

"Because it's less, there is no need for that new stream of assistance," Ms Gillard said.

However, if the carbon price rose, the government could revisit the tax cuts.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Labor couldn't be trusted after it confirmed earlier this week it would dump a $1.8 billion promise to increase a family tax benefit, which was also announced in last year's budget.

"The essential point that the Australian people are coming to understand is this - if you couldn't trust last year's budget, why should you trust this year's budget?" he told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Abbott also said the plan to link Australia's carbon price to the European market-based emissions trading scheme in 2015 made domestic economic policy hostage to Europe.

But Ms Gillard said families had already benefited significantly from Labor policies.

"We are very mindful that for many Australian families it isn't easy to make ends meet," she added.

Labor has delivered $2500 in assistance and tax cuts to families earning $130,000 a year, and recent drops in interest rates meant a saving of $5500 a year on the average mortgage.

Economist Saul Eslake said the decision to dump the 2015 tax cuts made sense, because government revenues would be lower than expected and the money would not be available to pay for the cuts.

"Although it's unpleasant, I think that's the right, proper thing to do," he told ABC Radio.

Mr Abbott defended his plans after the Parliamentary Budget Office estimated his paid parental leave scheme could cost $2 billion a year more than the $3.3 billion expected.

"We'll have much more to say between now and polling day," he said of the scheme's cost.

Mr Abbott proposes to tax big companies 1.5 per cent to pay for the plan.

Shadow assistant treasurer Mathias Cormann told ABC television the company levy would be offset "in part" by a modest company tax cut.

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Bangladesh building death toll passes 750

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

THE death toll from the collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh has passed 750 after a dozen more bodies were found in the rubble, a fortnight after the disaster.

Army spokesman Lieutenant Mir Rabbi on Wednesday told AFP the "toll now stands at 752" but a general overseeing the operation warned it was likely to rise further.

More than 3000 garment workers were on shift at the Rana Plaza complex at the time of the collapse on the morning of April 24, making clothing for Western retailers such as Britain's Primark and the Spanish label Mango.

Officials overseeing the disaster operation have said a total of 2437 people have been rescued from the ruins of the building which housed a total of five garment factories in the town of Savar, a suburb of the capital Dhaka.

Brigadier General Siddiqul Alam Sikder told AFP the cranes and bulldozers were clearing debris on the third floor and the stench of bodies trapped in the lower floors and under the beams suggest the toll would rise.

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

Fearful that Western brands may turn their backs on Bangladesh, the government has announced a high-level panel to inspect thousands of garment factories for building flaws.

The April 24 collapse was the latest in a string of deadly accidents, including a factory fire last November that killed 111 garment workers.

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Gillard to visit PNG

Julia Gillard will meet with her PNG counterpart Peter O'Neill (L) during her visit to Port Moresby. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is expected to touch down in Papua New Guinea on Thursday afternoon, marking her first official trip to the Pacific Island nation.

In a visit lasting just under 48 hours, Ms Gillard is expected to meet with her PNG counterpart Peter O'Neill, his cabinet, and the opposition leader Belden Namah.

Ms Gillard and Mr O'Neill are expected to canvass a raft of issues during the visit.

Trade and enhanced defence cooperation will be the topics for the meetings, with PNG expected to raise concerns about visa processing for Papua New Guineans travelling to Australia.

PNG is also expected to seek Australia's help in boosting relations with Asia, as well as seeking Australia's help to host APEC in 2018.

"We are requesting (Australia) to assist us in using their experience when they hosted the meeting in Sydney, Mr O'Neill recently told Radio Australia.

"They would see what sort of issues they had to deal with when they hosted the event, so yes we are communicating with the Australian prime minister on that."

There is about $7 billion in annual trade between the two nations, while Australia also spends roughly $500 million a year in official aid to PNG.

The controversial Australian-run asylum seeker detention centre on Manus Island may also be discussed, with its legality currently before PNG's courts.

Ms Gillard is among a number of recent high-profile international visitors to PNG, which this time last year was crawling out of a political crisis sparked by the surprise elevation of Mr O'Neill to the prime ministership in mid-2011.

The mid-2012 election put the lid on the political turmoil and gave Mr O'Neill a massive parliamentary majority.

Since the polls, PNG has played host to Prince Charles, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Fijian dictator Frank Bainimarama, as well as a raft of Australian ministerial visits.

On Friday, Ms Gillard is expected to tour a Port Moresby market and a local primary school, and visit part of the $19 billion Exxon Mobil-led Liquefied Natural Gas project.

She will meet with business leaders while in Port Moresby, and attend a state dinner in the nation's parliament.

On Saturday she will visit Bomana War Cemetery before departing for Australia.

The last serving Australian prime minister to visit PNG was Kevin Rudd, who included Australia's closest neighbour amongst his first overseas trips after being elected in 2007.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman is expected to visit Port Moresby next week.

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Mirren horrified after outburst filmed

HELEN Mirren feels mortified for losing her temper at a group of street performers in London after realising onlookers were filming her outburst on their camera phones.

The actress stormed out of the Gielgud Theatre during the interval of The Audience on Saturday to berate a group of 25 drummers for playing outside the venue and interrupting her play, in which she plays Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

But the 67-year-old star told British newspaper The Sun she got so carried away with her furious rant, she hadn't noticed she was being filmed.

"I walked off stage in full costume and make-up, straight out the stage door and just said, 'You're f***ing up our performance. Please stop, please stop.'

"I've never done anything like that before but I'd do it every night if there were people drumming outside the theatre," she told the paper.

"I went and did my number, and then I looked around and all these people were recording it on their phones. I thought, 'Oh my God, what have I done?'"

Dame Helen has since made amends with organisers of the group, who were promoting the As One In The Park gay pride festival, by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the organisation's name.

"I'd love them to see the play and understand why I was so upset," she says.

"I felt terrible - they are fellow performers."

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Australia among best places to be a mum

AUSTRALIA is the tenth best country in the world to be a mother, according to a new global survey by Save the Children.

Ahead of Mother's Day on Sunday, the charity listed the best and worst places to be a mother on the planet, based on an assessment of well-being using indicators including maternal health, under-five-years mortality, levels of women's education, income, and political status.

Nordic nations sweep the top spots while countries in sub-Saharan Africa take up each of the bottom ten places in the annual index.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the world's toughest place to be a mother - and Finland the best.

Australia ranks tenth, New Zealand 17th - down from fourth last year - the UK 23rd and the United States 30th, behind the likes of Belarus and Israel.

Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children, said two major global challenges faced mothers - newborn health and malnutrition.

"We can end child and maternal mortality in our generation by using tried and tested interventions to stop mothers and babies being lost from what should be simple preventable causes," Mr Forsyth said.

According to the statistics, women in the UK are at a higher risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth than women in Slovakia, Montenegro and Lithuania.

And a newborn in Somalia, the most risky country to be born, is 40 times more likely to die on its first day than a child born in Luxembourg, the safest place to come into the world.

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