New federal loans will help farmers: NFF

Struggling farmers will be offered concessional loans under a federal government package. Source: AAP

CONCESSIONAL government loans worth $420 million will help farmers who are being "smashed" by the high Australian dollar and rising production prices, the National Farmers' Federation says.

Treasurer Wayne Swan and Agricultural Minister Joe Ludwig on Saturday announced a federal Farm Finance package, which will provide $60 million in loans for each state and the Northern Territory to help farmers restructure their debts.

Under the two-year scheme, loans of up to $650,000 would be made available as soon as possible to struggling farmers, with the funding to be allocated in the May 14 federal budget.

Farmers' federation Australian vice-president Brent Finlay welcomed the much-needed assistance for farmers, saying while some might not want to access the loans and take on more debt, others would now be able to reinvest in their operations.

"It's about upgrading their production systems, making their production systems more efficient and more effective," Mr Finlay told AAP.

"But it also allows them to restructure the way they've set up their production system. Maybe even downscale somewhere just to consolidate for a while."

As part of the Farm Finance package, 16 extra financial counsellors will be hired from July to work with agricultural businesses.

A tax relief deposit scheme to help farmers manage fluctuations in their income will also be overhauled from July 2014, including raising the off-farm income threshold from $65,000 to $100,000.

The assistance package follows a rural finance roundtable held in October last year, convened by Mr Swan, which heard how farmers were being hit by the high Australian dollar.

"Most of our commodities are export commodities, so the high dollar is absolutely smashing our farmers," Mr Finlay said.

"We also have the rising cost of production on our farms, and they're getting squeezed between the two."

Mr Swan said the federal government would work with state governments to deliver the concessional loans through agencies such as the Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority.

"We recognise that parts of the rural community are suffering, suffering particularly from a high Australian dollar," he told reporters in Brisbane.

"We think it is very important to get behind Aussie farmers who've got good prospects in the future, but who are doing it tough at the moment. We make no apologies for putting together a responsible package to support them through some difficult times."

Bob Katter said the government's plan was a step in the right direction and demanded states and territories match the federal commitment.

"There will be a very harsh and condemnatory judgement passed upon them by Australian farmers if they don't match the federal funding," the member for Kennedy said in a statement.

But Mr Katter said the measures announced on Saturday would only buy time for some farmers.

Addressing the "long term fundamentals" - including the high dollar, investment in ethanol and pricing for dairy, sugar and eggs - could deliver more security for farmers, he said.

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Wave of Iraq violence kills over 200

The death toll from the latest violence in Iraq has risen to more than 200, officials say. Source: AAP

THE latest violence in Iraq has pushed the death toll from four days of attacks to more than 200, officials say.

The unrest has also wounded more than 300 people.

Confirmation of the toll follows a warning by United Nations envoy Martin Kobler that Iraq is at a "crossroads", and his calling for restraint.

"I call on the conscience of all religious and political leaders not to let anger win over peace, and to use their wisdom, because the country is at a crossroads," Kobler said in a statement on Friday.

Kobler spoke a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned that the country was in danger of returning to "sectarian civil war".

The trouble began on Tuesday when security forces moved in against anti-government protesters near the Sunni Arab northern town of Hawijah, sparking clashes that left 53 people dead.

A wave of subsequent unrest, much but not all of it apparently linked to the Hawijah clashes, killed dozens more people and by Thursday 182 people had been killed and 292 wounded.

The protest-related 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 Maliki, a Shi'ite, and railed against authorities for allegedly targeting their community.

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Chevron 1Q earnings drop to $6.2b

Energy company Chevron says its earnings declined for the first quarter of 2013 to $A6.05 billion. Source: AAP

CHEVRON Corp, the second-largest US energy company, says its earnings declined for the first quarter of 2013 due primarily to lower oil prices.

The company earned $US6.2 billion ($A6.05 billion) in the first quarter, or $US3.18 per share, versus $US6.5 billion, or $US3.27 per share, in the same quarter in 2012.

Revenues in the first quarter were $US54 billion, down from $US59 billion in the same quarter last year, the company said on Friday, "mainly due to lower prices for crude oil".

Chevron said its average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids in the first quarter was $US94, compared to $US102 a year ago.

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Indian PM soothes China border tensions

INDIA'S Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says he believes a border dispute over an alleged incursion by Chinese soldiers can be resolved, the Press Trust of India reports.

"It is a localised problem, we do believe it can be solved," Singh was quoted as saying by the news agency on Saturday after Chinese soldiers were accused of intruding across the disputed border in the Ladakh region earlier this month.

The incident has marked a renewal of tensions between the Asian neighbours whose relations are often prickly - a legacy of a 1962 border war.

Singh's statement came after India's Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma presented a report on the incursion to a parliamentary watchdog on Friday in which local media said he alleged Chinese soldiers had advanced nearly 20 kilometres into Indian-claimed territory.

The prime minister's comments, his first on the dispute, echoed statements of other government ministers playing down the alleged incursion in the western part of Indian-held Kashmir's Ladakh region and insisting it can be settled amicably.

"We have a plan, we do not want to accentuate the situation," Singh said, without elaborating.

Lower-level talks between military officials have so far failed to break the impasse.

According to officials in New Delhi, a platoon of Chinese troops set up a camp inside Indian territory on April 15.

Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid announced earlier in the week he will head for China on May 8, saying both countries had a mutual interest in not allowing the dispute to "destroy" long-term progress in ties.

A foreign ministry official has said new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is due to travel to New Delhi late next month, without giving an exact date.

India has called on the Chinese soldiers to withdraw while China has denied any wrongdoing.

In 1962, China gave India a bloody nose in the war fought in the Himalayan regions of Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

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Two Qld sex offenders now back behind bars

POLICE have now recaptured both of the two sex offenders who escaped from a jail in north Queensland.

Tyronne Speechley, 25, and Algana Tiers, 26, ran off from a Townsville prison farm on Monday night.

Tiers was captured on Tuesday morning but Speechley eluded police by running into a crocodile-infested creek and then is believed to have stolen a car.

Speechley was found in the western Queensland city of Mount Isa late on Thursday afternoon and taken into custody, police said.

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NSW Planning appoints 'engagement' boss

THE NSW planning department has appointed a steward to steer its controversial community consultation reforms.

Laws mooted in a government white paper last week would require the state government and councils to consult early with the community in developing long-term planning ground rules for their region.

Residents would be informed but not consulted about some projects, and the state's 152 councils would not have the power to knock them back.

The Department of Planning and Infrastructure on Tuesday announced Trish Oakley had been appointed the bureaucracy's new executive director of community and stakeholder engagement.

In a statement, the department said she would bring more than 30 years experience in public policy development, strategic communications and stakeholder engagement when she starts on May 1.

"The cornerstone of the reform process is to comprehensively engage communities in planning the future of their neighbourhoods, suburbs and cities," DPI director general Sam Haddad said.

"The department recognises that, up until now, residents and community groups have not been given sufficient opportunity to have their say about big picture plans for their area.

"Trish will be using her detailed knowledge about best-practice community engagement to drive cultural change and improved community engagement outcomes."

The planning white paper is now open for community consultation.

Legislation will be introduced to parliament in the second half of this year.

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Hezbollah pressured as Syrian town falls

LEBANON'S Shi'ite Hezbollah movement is under increasing pressure over accusations it is backing regime troops in Syria, as a rebel leader warned of the risk of sparking a sectarian war.

Inside Syria, soldiers seized a key town near Damascus from rebels following weeks of fierce clashes, a monitoring group said, and each side blamed the other after fighting destroyed the minaret of Aleppo's ancient Umayyad mosque.

In an open letter on Wednesday, Syria's leading opposition figure Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib called on Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah to withdraw his fighters to avoid the conflict degenerating into a sectarian war.

"Hezbollah's intervention in Syria has complicated matters deeply, and I expected you, given your political and social stature, to play a more positive role" said Khatib in a letter posted on Facebook.

The message was also filmed and posted on YouTube.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, has denied Syrian opposition accusations that it has sent its elite troops into Syria to support regime troops battling insurgents.

It says Syrian rebels have targeted Shi'ite areas of Syria inhabited by Lebanese and that Shi'ites in Syria have a right to self-defence.

But the accusations against Hezbollah have multiplied as fighting escalated this week in the Qusayr area near the Lebanon border.

"The claim of defence for Shi'ite villages is unacceptable," said Khatib, who on Sunday quit as head of Syria's main opposition National Coalition in protest at what he said was world inaction over Assad's onslaught on the rebels.

"There is a cunning plan to drag the Islamic world into sectarian conflict pitting Sunnis against Shi'ites, starting from Syria and Lebanon, only then to engulf all countries in the region, including Iran and Turkey."

But nobody could win in such a conflict, he said.

"Aren't 1000 years of strife between Sunnis and Shi'ites enough for us to bury this narrow sectarian mentality?" he asked.

President Assad belongs to Syria's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Most of the country's population - including the rebel fighters - are Sunnis.

Khatib, a moderate Sunni sheikh who has widespread support in Syria, made his appeal just two days after radical Sunni sheikh Ahmad al-Assir called for Lebanese fighters to join insurgents seeking to oust Assad.

But the main rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, rejected the call to jihad in a statement on Wednesday.

"We reject any presence of foreign fighters, regardless of where they are from," said FSA political and media coordinator Louay Muqdad.

"We have said that what we are missing in Syria is weapons, not men."

Two Lebanese Salafist sheikhs have called on their followers to join rebels fighting in Syria and to support Sunni residents of the embattled central province of Homs, following the reports of Hezbollah's intervention.

Lebanon's President Michel Sleiman meanwhile reiterated the country's official stance of neutrality in the conflict, saying no weapons or fighters should be allowed to cross into Syria, the National News Agency reported.

Syria's army recaptured the key town of Otaybeh east of Damascus on Wednesday after weeks of fierce fighting, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The regime force had used warplanes, tanks, artillery and rocket-launchers during the fight, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

"After trying dozens of times to re-enter into the town, rebels withdrew at dawn after putting up a fierce resistance."

The Observatory also said that mortar rounds killed seven civilians in the Jaramana suburb of Damascus, which is held by the regime, with another 30 wounded, six of them critically.

State news agency SANA published the same toll.

The Damascus regime and rebel forces meanwhile blamed each other for the destruction Wednesday of the minaret of Aleppo's ancient Umayyad mosque, Syrian state media and a watchdog reported.

An archaeological treasure in Aleppo's UNESCO-listed Old City, the mosque had already suffered extensive damage during months of fighting. Rebels said they had managed to salvage ancient handwritten Koranic manuscripts.

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Sunset service concludes Anzac Day

SUNSET on Anzac day signifies a time when veterans can finally "be at peace".

The conclusion of the national day of remembrance also helps put painful memories to rest, RSL NSW vice president John Haines says.

The flags at the Cenotaph in Sydney's Martin Place were lowered at the sunset service on Thursday, as the band of the Ambulance Service of NSW rendered the ceremonial retreat.

Mr Haines told the service the custom signified the end of the military day when soldiers on daytime duty handed over to those who would carry on through the night.

"In the 16th and 17th centuries, retreat was referred to as watch setting.

"With troops often deployed during the day outside the city walls, it was necessary to give them and local inhabitants some warning signal that the city gates were about to be closed.

"If fighting was being carried on, fire would cease at the sounding of the retreat as the soldiers withdrew their positions".

At least 300 serving and former defence force personnel and relatives of veterans attended the evening service, which concluded the 98th Anzac Day commemorations in Sydney.

Mr Haines said it was a sombre occasion that gave veterans closure.

"Unfortunately with a lot of them (the day) brings back good memories but also bad," he told AAP.

"The late service gives closure on a lot of things.

"It's an indication that you can now rest ... and be at peace with your memories," he told AAP.

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Federal government has Qld in its sights

The PM is determined to sign up more states and territories to her schools funding reforms. Source: AAP

THE federal government has Queensland in its sights as it seeks to sign up another conservative state to its $14.5 billion schools funding package, following its success with NSW.

As Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited Rockhampton on Wednesday to woo voters in the Liberal National Party-led state with more federal money for an ageing highway, she pointed to NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell's schools decision.

"Let's be very frank here ... a conservative premier has found what is on the table acceptable for the children in his schools," Ms Gillard told ABC radio.

The Liberal NSW government on Tuesday signed up to the schools plan, earning itself $3.7 billion in federal money, leaving the other states and territories under pressure to accept a deal ahead of a June 30 federal deadline.

Treasurer Wayne Swan stepped up the pressure by accusing Queensland Premier Campbell Newman of bowing to federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who could become Australia's new prime minister in September.

"What the premier of Queensland ought to do is put the kids of Queensland first, not bow down to the interests of Tony Abbott," Mr Swan said.

Ms Gillard is awaiting a letter from Mr Newman outlining the state's position.

A spokeswoman for Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the state hoped Ms Gillard "can meet us halfway".

Under the current offer, Queensland's total funding would be $3.8 billion, with the federal government kicking in 65 per cent.

If Queensland signs, Ms Gillard will be more than halfway to getting national agreement on her schools funding plan, given all of the Labor states are expected to agree.

That would leave Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, which continue to argue their deals aren't up to scratch.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine planned to speak to Ms Gillard on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Labor has offered $4.1 billion in federal funding to upgrade the ageing Bruce Highway in the Labor-held Queensland seat of Capricornia, which is under threat from the Liberals ahead of the September federal election.

Ms Gillard says the "huge" 10-year funding commitment is four times more than what the Howard government spent on the notoriously dangerous road over a similar period.

"Federal Labor understands that infrastructure matters," she said in a statement.

The federal money is conditional on Queensland agreeing to stump up $1 billion for the project, under current arrangements for federal infrastructure projects.

"It's over to Premier Newman," Ms Gillard told reporters in Rockhampton.

But Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson said the offer was already expected as part of the usual 80-20 federal-state funding split.

"New funding, not recycled announcements, ahead of this year's federal election will be the key to delivering for one of Queensland's most notorious national roads," Mr Emerson said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Mr Abbott again accused Labor of making spending promises it couldn't keep.

"Every day we have government ministers announcing that there is pressure on the revenue, and every day this government announces more multibillion-dollar spending initiatives," he told reporters in Melbourne.

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Musharraf denied bail over Bhutto killing

A Pakistani court refused to extend bail for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Source: AAP

A PAKISTANI court refused to extend bail for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in connection with the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a lawyer said.

It is the second of three cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule for which he has been denied bail.

He is already under a two-week house arrest at his villa on the edge of Islamabad over his decision to sack judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.

Musharraf, who attended a separate hearing relating to the Bhutto case on Tuesday, did not appear before the court on Wednesday and neither did his main lawyer.

"The court dismissed General Musharraf's bail application," prosecution lawyer Chaudhry Azhar told reporters on Wednesday after the hearing by the Lahore High Court sitting in Rawalpindi, the garrison city twinned to Islamabad.

"Now the FIA (federal investigative agency) should arrest him," he added.

Musharraf is accused of conspiracy to murder Bhutto, who died in a gun and suicide attack in December 2007.

His arrest and disqualification from contesting elections on May 11 have been a humiliating blow for the former ruler of nuclear-armed Pakistan, who returned home last month promising to "save" the country.

On Tuesday, police said they had recovered a car carrying detonators and explosives on the road leading to Musharraf's house

The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to kill Musharraf who escaped three assassination attempts during his rule, but denied anything to do with the car.

Nobody has been convicted or jailed for Bhutto's assassination on December 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, despite a long-running court case.

Musharraf's government blamed Bhutto's killing on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and who was killed in a US drone attack in August 2009.

In 2010 a UN report said Bhutto's death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf's government of failing to give her adequate protection.

Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is chairman of the outgoing Pakistan People's Party, has accused Musharraf of her murder.

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82 die in Bangladesh building collapse

AT least 82 people have died and 700 are injured after a eight-storey building containing several garment factories collapsed on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital on Wednesday, a doctor says.

Hiralal Roy, a senior emergency ward doctor at the nearby Enam hospital, said: "The death toll is now 82. At least 700 people have also been treated at the hospital."

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

But the hospital toll contradicts information from the Bangladesh health ministry which says the death toll is 70.

Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque said that by Wednesday afternoon 70 bodies had been removed from the eight-storey building.

Corpses and the injured were removed from the higher reaches of the pile of flattened floors with makeshift slides made from cloth which just hours earlier was being cut into shirts and trousers for export to Western markets.

Earlier, Mohammad Humayun, a supervisor at one of the garment factories said: "We had sent two people inside the building and we could rescue at least 20 people alive.

"They also told us that at least 100 to 150 people are injured and about 50 dead people are still trapped inside this floor."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UK cosmetic report relevant to Australia

A MAJOR UK report that attempts to tame the under-regulated, rapidly growing cosmetic intervention industry is relevant to Australia, a leading surgeon says.

The UK Keogh report, released on Wednesday, found most people who have cosmetic interventions take their safety for granted but large swathes of the non-surgical sector are "almost entirely unregulated".

Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons president Geoff Lyons said Australia is ahead of the UK in some respects, but local practitioners and politicians should get behind the thrust of the report.

"What it's about is trying to increase the safety of people undergoing cosmetic surgery, either being non-invasive or invasive, and that's what we're all about," Dr Lyons told AAP.

He said legislation was failing to keep up with the rapidly growing industry.

"There needs to be an ongoing understanding from the government this is a rapidly changing area," Dr Lyons said.

The Keogh report was commissioned in response to the Poly Implant Protheses (PIP) implant scandal, which it said had exposed "woeful lapses" in product quality, patient care and record keeping.

An estimated 300,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have received the PIP implants, which some health authorities say are twice as likely to rupture as other brands.

British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) president Graeme Perks said the PIP crisis had stirred fear over other "fillers".

"Having a bit of filler doesn't seem to be a big deal but if it goes wrong the consequences are disastrous," Dr Perks said.

In the UK, nine out of 10 cosmetic interventions are non-surgical, according to the report.

"We were surprised to discover that non-surgical interventions ... are almost entirely unregulated," it said.

It recommended all dermal fillers be made prescription only and all practitioners be properly qualified for the procedures they offer.

Dr Lyons said that in Australia, many of the injectable interventions, like Botox, are classed as S4 drugs and can only be prescribed by a doctor.

But he admitted more could be done.

"There's area for further reform but these are now S4 drugs," he said.

In comparison, laser skin treatments are less regulated, he said.

"Pressure's afoot to regulate that industry more closely," Dr Lyons said.

He said the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons would support closer monitoring of those items.

Dr Perks said, in the UK, parts of the industry were resistant to regulation.

"The problem is, if plastic surgeons speak out and say 'this is unsafe we don't think it's a good idea', the people who aren't plastic surgeons cry foul," he said.

Dr Lyons said Australia could benefit from the report's work.

"We should be looking to make sure the people doing these procedures are properly trained," he said.

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Myanmar hails EU lifting of sanctions

The EU has agreed to lift the last of the bloc's economic and individual sanctions against Myanmar. Source: AAP

MYANMAR has hailed a European Union decision lifting political and economic sanctions against the former pariah state.

Senior Myanmar diplomat Aung Lynn told reporters at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference in Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, that the international community can expect more reforms.

"This is a very good beginning," he told reporters on Tuesday, adding that Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) recognises the still enormous work ahead for the country, one of Southeast Asia's least-developed.

Myanmar would continue to work with the EU, he said.

The 27-nation bloc lifted all sanctions except those against the sale of arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression.

The economic sanctions were suspended last April for one year after Myanmar's military rulers handed over power to a civilian government.

The measures had targeted more than 800 companies and nearly 500 people, and included the suspension of some development aid.

EU officials say the sanctions' permanent abolition will encourage firms and development organisations from the bloc - the world's largest economy - to strengthen ties with Myanmar.

"We know that much remains to be done, on human rights, on democracy, fighting poverty and achieving lasting peace. We don't underestimate the challenges", said Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief.

Aung Lynn said Myanmar was looking forward to assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN for the first time next year, and would show the world how serious his country is about reform.

Myanmar declined the chairmanship in 2006 amid threats by Western governments to boycott ASEAN events due to Myanmar's then extremely poor human rights record.

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Qualified nod for Woodside dividend

MOODY'S Investors Service says Woodside Petroleum's special dividend and increase in its targeted dividend payout ratio is credit negative but can be accommodated within its existing credit rating and stable outlook.

"Woodside's financial profile has been strengthened due to the increased cash flow generation following the start up of the Pluto LNG project, combined with Moody's expectation for lower than previously projected capital expenditures over the next several years", said Moody's analyst Matthew Moore.

"As such, the announced shareholder friendly initiatives are manageable, albeit they absorb most of the near-term cushion at the rating level (of Baa1)," he said in a statement.

Woodside will pay a special dividend of 63 US cents per share next month and target a dividend payout ratio of 80 per cent of underlying net profit.

The special dividend was announced after the oil and gas company recently shelved its controversial $45 billion Browse gas plant and ruled out a near-term expansion of its flagship Pluto project.

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NSW police officer caught drink driving

A NSW police officer has been suspended after he was caught drink driving, police say.

The officer, 48, was arrested on Sunday after he returned a high range reading of 0.173 during a breath-test at Tweed Heads, police said.

Police suspended the man's drivers licence and he will appear in Tweed Heads Local Court for driving with a high-range prescribed concentration of alcohol and other driving offences.

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Iran denies link with Canada terror plot

Canadian police say they have arrested two people over an al-Qaeda-supported plot to derail a train. Source: AAP

IRAN is denying any link with two suspects charged with plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train.

Canadian authorities claim the suspects - 30-year-old Chiheb Esseghaier and 35-year-old Raed Jaser, - had "direction and guidance" from al-Qaeda members in Iran, though there was no allegation the planned attacks were state-sponsored.

Esseghaier is believed to be Tunisian and Jaser is from the United Arab Emirates.

Some al-Qaeda members were allowed to stay in Iran after fleeing Afghanistan but were under tight controls.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday that there is "no firm evidence" of any Iranian involvement, and groups such as al-Qaeda had "no compatibility with Iran in both political and ideological fields".

He called the Canadian claims part of hostile policies against Tehran.

Esseghaier and Raed Jaser were allegedly planning to carry out an attack on a Via Rail passenger train, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told a news conference.

A bail hearing was set for Tuesday.

"Today's arrests demonstrate that terrorism continues to be a real threat to Canada," Public Safety Minister Vic Toews warned.

Charges against the two include conspiring to carry out an attack and conspiring with a terrorist group to murder persons, though very few details about the plot were revealed.

Assistant RCMP Commissioner James Malizia told reporters the suspects "were receiving support from al-Qaeda elements located in Iran" but added: "There's no indication that these attacks were state-sponsored."

Asked to describe the kind of support offered, he replied: "Direction and guidance."

Malizia said the suspects were "not Canadian citizens" but declined to reveal their nationalities. One of the two men had lived in Montreal for several years, he added, without saying which one.

The suspects' plans were "not based on their ethnic origins but on an ideology," police said.

RCMP Chief Superintendent Jennifer Strachan said the duo - who had been under surveillance since last August - planned "to derail a passenger train" in the Toronto area.

"We are alleging these individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack. They watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto area," Strachan added.

A Toronto lawyer said his client, a local imam, first alerted authorities about one of the suspects, who the imam had noticed trying to spread extremist propaganda to youths within the community, according to a report in local newspaper the Globe and Mail.

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Five killed in another shooting in US

GUNFIRE erupted at an apartment complex in a city south of Seattle and five people were shot to death, including a suspect who was shot by arriving officers, police say.

Officers responding to an emergency call at 9.30pm on Sunday (1430 Monday AEST) at the apartments in Federal Way found two injured men on the ground in a parking lot.

"When we arrived, there was a lot of gunfire already being fired and multiple calls, 911 calls of gunfire," said Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock on Monday.

One of the men reached for a gun as police moved in to assist the two on the ground, she said.

At that point, other officers opened fire. The suspect died, but police said it wasn't immediately clear if it was from their gunfire.

The other man on the ground and a third man in the parking lot were found dead.

Police found a fourth man dead in one apartment and a slain woman in another unit.

Schrock said police were trying to determine if the woman was accidentally hit by gunfire.

There was no immediate word what set off the shooting.

"We're gonna continue to go door to door in hopes that we can find some additional witnesses, and hopefully we won't be finding any more victims," Schrock said.

After police flooded the scene and carried out searches of the area, authorities said they did not think another shooter was on the loose.

There were no reports of any officers being injured.

Federal Way is about 30km south of Seattle.

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Fake bus driver 'a misunderstanding'

REPORTS of a man posing as a bus driver and picking up students on the Gold Coast have turned out to be a big misunderstanding.

The alarm was raised on Monday morning by a concerned parent who told police her child feared something was amiss.

The driver didn't seem to know where he was going, and wasn't collecting fares from the students he picked up a number of stops in the Coombabah area.

It turned out that the driver was new, unfamiliar with his route, and didn't know how to work the ticketing machine properly.

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Victims should go to police: churches

A culture of ignoring children helped child sex abuse go undetected, the Anglican Church says. Source: AAP

TWO of Australia's largest churches say it's up to the people who were sexually abused as children to go to the police.

The Anglican and Uniting churches in Victoria have together paid more than $2.25 million in compensation to victims over the past 10 to 15 years but have only referred a small number of allegations to authorities, a Victorian inquiry has heard.

Melbourne's Anglican Archbishop Dr Philip Freier says a culture of disbelieving children who complained of sex abuse and an unwillingness to face up to difficult and shameful things had helped the crime go undetected.

"As you look backwards you can see broadly as a culture we've not readily listened to children when they've made complaints," Dr Freier told the parliamentary inquiry on Monday.

"There have been opportunities for people who wanted to breach the trust of children to do that, and often for children's accounts of that trust being broken, being disbelieved.

"Some were even punished for having raised a question about the conduct of an adult."

He said this was the case for many community organisations not just churches.

Clergy have been responsible for most of the 46 incidents where a child sex abuse complaint has been made to the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne since the 1950s, the inquiry heard.

The church has paid out $268,000 to 10 victims since 2003, but only reported 12 of the 46 complaints to police.

The Uniting Church, which has $2 million in compensation since 1998, said "very few" of the 63 victims in the synod of Victoria and Tasmania had their cases referred to police.

Both churches said they did this to spare the victim further trauma.

Dr Freier said in the cases of historic abuse the church encouraged people to work with a solicitor as they didn't want to risk "revictimising" the complainant.

It's policy to report current allegations.

The Uniting Church synod's legal adviser Philip Battye said it was up to complainants to go to police if they wanted.

"Numbers of care leavers don't want the police to be involved," he said of people who had left children's homes operated by the church.

The church has no records before 1998 of child sex abuse complainants seeking compensation but acknowledged abuse had probably occurred and poor record keeping was to blame for the lack of information.

Mr Battye said it was "theoretically possible" that some alleged perpetrators were still involved with the church, potentially dealing with children.

"I can't say I'm totally confident that they're not but these complaints do go back many years," Mr Battye said.

"We are talking about 30-plus years ago."

The Uniting Church defended legal claims of sexual abuse against its members by invoking the statute of limitations, he said.

"If there are legal proceedings then the church will plead the limitation defence, because it's open to the church to do so," he said.

He said most of the perpetrators were not clergy or employees of the church and were, for example, a spouse of a 'cottage parent' looking after children in the homes.

Victorian and Tasmanian synod general-secretary Reverend Mark Lawrence said the Uniting Church in Australia had apologised unreservedly for any harm that occurred to children while in its care.

"The church continues to offer personal apologies to those who seek them."

Dr Freier said he wished he could undo the harm that had been done.

"It is unfortunate that we cannot change the past, I wish I could - but I give a real and genuine commitment to enhance the processes and culture of our organisation," he said.

"The abuse of children has no place in our society."

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Asian markets mostly up

ASIAN markets mostly climbed on Monday, with Tokyo surging as the US dollar pushes back towards the 100 yen mark after the G20 cautiously endorsed the Bank of Japan's huge stimulus measures.

Chinese shares dipped, however, as insurers suffered a sell-off after an earthquake struck Sichuan province, leaving more than 200 dead or missing and destroying villages.

Tokyo jumped 1.89 per cent, or 251.89 points, to 13,568.37, while Seoul was up 1.03 per cent, or 19.56 points, at 1,926.31. Sydney rose 0.70 per cent, or 34.7 points, to 4,966.6.

Hong Kong added 0.14 per cent, or 30.80 points, to 22,044.37 but Shanghai was 0.11 per cent lower, shedding 2.47 points to 2,242.17.

The yen added to gains made in New York on Friday after the Group of 20 economic powers agreed that Japan's huge monetary easing measures unveiled this month were necessary to boost the country's stagnant economy.

In a statement following their meeting in Washington, G20 finance chiefs said the policy actions "are intended to stop deflation and support domestic demand".

Many countries, including the United States, have expressed concern that Japan could be deliberately trying to force the yen lower to boost exports and cut imports via "competitive devaluation".

But the G20, which includes the United States and Japan, called for more efforts to stimulate "strong, sustainable and balanced" growth globally, and took note of Japan's efforts towards that.

The US dollar jumped in New York to 99.52 yen on Friday, from 98.23 yen the previous day.

In afternoon Asian trade it stood at 99.74 yen. The greenback is expected soon to break the 100 yen barrier, a level it has not seen since April 2009.

The euro fetched $US1.3042 and 130.05 yen, against $US1.3057 and 129.94 yen.

"The G20 effectively gave the green light for further yen weakness by supporting the aggressive easing by the Bank of Japan," National Australia Bank said in a note.

"However, the G20 did add that it would like to see Japan also detail the structural reforms it can take to further boost growth."

On Wall Street, the Dow ended flat, the S&P 500 jumped 0.88 per cent and the Nasdaq added 1.25 per cent.

In Shanghai, insurance firms weighed on the market after Saturday's quake, which flattened thousands of houses.

Ping An and China Life were among the losers, although construction companies were up slightly on speculation of short-term construction work.

Oil prices were mixed. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, added 39 cents to $US88.40 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for June delivery fell 15 cents to $US99.50.

An ounce of gold fetched $US1,420.73 at 0800 GMT, compared with $US1,414.20 late Friday.

In other markets:

-- Taipei added 0.50 per cent, or 39.58 points, to 7,970.38.

-- Manila surged 2.35 per cent, or 163.38 points, to 7,120.48.

-- Wellington advanced 0.88 per cent, or 39.16 points, to 4,438.66.

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China criticises US on human rights record

CHINA has slammed the human rights record of the United States in response to Washington's report on rights around the world, saying that US military operations have infringed on rights abroad and that political donations at home have thwarted the country's democracy.

The report released on Sunday in China - which defines human rights primarily in terms of improving living conditions for its 1.3 billion people- also cited gun violence in the US among its examples of human rights violations, saying it was a serious threat to the lives and safety of America's citizens.

The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2012 said the US government continues to strengthen the monitoring of its people and that political donations to election campaigns have undue influence on US policy.

"American citizens do not enjoy a genuinely equal right to vote," the report said, citing a decreased turnout in the 2012 presidential election and a voting rate of 57.5 per cent.

The report from the information office of the State Council, or China's Cabinet, which mostly cited media reports, said there was serious sex, racial and religious discrimination in the US and that the country had seriously infringed on the human rights of other nations through its military operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.

The US's annual global human rights report issued Friday by the State Department said China had imposed new registration requirements to prevent groups from emerging that might challenge government authority. It said Chinese government efforts to silence and intimidate political activists and public interest lawyers continued to increase, and that authorities use extralegal measures such as enforced disappearance to prevent the public voicing of independent opinions.

It also said there was discrimination against women, minorities and people with disabilities, and people trafficking, the use of forced labour, forced sterilisation and widespread corruption.

China's authoritarian government maintains strict controls over free speech, religion and political activity - restrictions that the US considers human rights violations.

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Hotelier stuck in a lift for four days

A HOTELIER says skills learned on a military survival course allowed him to survive four days trapped in the lift of his Austrian hotel.

A friend delivering bread eventually alerted rescue services on Friday after noticing post piled up outside the hotel in Bad Gastein near Salzburg.

The 58-year-old man had forgotten his mobile phone on his desk. His repeated desperate cries for help went unheeded and attempts to escape through the lift roof failed.

The Swedish-born man is now "in good health, telling officers that a survival course with the Swedish military had set him in good stead," police said.

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AG wants Racing Queensland investigation

QUEENSLAND'S attorney-general wants a parliamentary committee to investigate how the former Labor-aligned Racing Queensland board approved projects, and if anyone should face criminal charges.

A forensic audit by accountancy firm Deloitte, commissioned by the government, found that $150 million worth of contracts were awarded to engineering firm Contour Consulting Engineers without first going to tender, News Limited reports.

About $60 million worth of work was undertaken before the Newman government froze the program, $20 million of which was approved by the Bligh government before the 2012 state election.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie says the report shows an obscure procurement process.

He'll ask cabinet on Monday to set up an investigation into the board's procurement processes, favouring an open parliamentary committee inquiry.

He'd want the inquiry to have the power to impel witnesses and believes current deputy opposition leader and former racing minister Tim Mulherin and Labor heavyweight and former RQ board member Bill Ludwig should give evidence.

Mr Bleijie wants to know who approved the payments and if it went through cabinet.

"Or did Bill Ludwig get on the phone to his Labor mates and say we need the money and got it approved?" he told AAP.

"If it shows that there is any criminality that has occurred, then we will then have the options to follow through."

Mr Bleijie insists an inquiry isn't throwing good money after bad.

Late last year, former RQ chairman Bob Bentley said everything he and his board did was "above board" and tenders were not called because Contour was a preferred contractor doing specialist work, News Limited reports.

Comment is being sought from Mr Mulherin.

Mr Mulherin says as minister he properly fulfilled all of his responsibilities.

He described the potential inquiry as a diversion, and accused Mr Bleijie of making political and prejudicial comments.

"Every time (the government) is on the ropes it hits the diversion button," he said.

"It shows a government obsessed with fruitless attacks on past governments and with no plans of its own for the state's future."

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Federal, state govts urged to cut spending

Treasurer Wayne Swan has revealed a $7.5 billion hit to the national budget. Source: AAP

FEDERAL and state governments are being urged to live within their means and make more aggressive cuts in public spending.

In a report released on Sunday, the Grattan Institute warned Australia must prepare for more difficult economic times ahead by reducing its overall budget deficit.

The think tank says Australia faces a "significant risk" of posting deficits of around four per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 10 years.

Averting them would require governments to find savings and tax increases worth $60 billion a year.

"This alarming task is not impossible, but it will require tougher choices than those made over the last decade," the report said.

"To be sustainable, current budgets need to be in surplus."

The institute acknowledged that clawing back a deficit of four per cent of GDP required that everyone experienced some "budget pain".

But it was vital to cut back on spending, with "far more negative than positive forces" on the economic horizon.

"This will be politically difficult, but the alternative is unsustainable budget deficits that will be even more painful to reverse in the future," the report said.

The institute warned company and carbon tax revenues were likely to be one per cent of GDP - or $15 billion a year - less than current forecasts.

"Current revenues are inflated by the mining boom and Australia's high terms of trade.

"If, as many predict, minerals prices fall, government revenues will fall by another one per cent of GDP."

In the federal government's financial statement for February 2013, released last week, there was an underlying cash deficit of $23.646 billion, higher than $17.993 billion forecast in the mid-year budget update released in October.

The difference of $5.713 billion was mainly due to lower tax revenue and higher welfare payments, the government says.

A spokesman for Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government was committed to making the budget sustainable over the long term.

He said it had "demonstrated this again recently with the announcement of responsible savings to help pay for better funding for schools".

He said without such measures, the budget position in 2020-21 would be $250 billion worse off.

"This includes tackling unsustainable spending on health - which this report identifies as a significant issue - through measures such as means testing the private health insurance rebate and cutting the millionaires' dental scheme," the spokesman said.

Mr Swan on Sunday revealed that the high dollar and lower terms of trade have resulted in a $7.5 billion hit to revenue in the federal budget.

He said the same factors would also impact forward estimates.

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