Le Carre set to rework Joseph Conrad story

BRITISH writer John le Carre has made a pact with his family to tell him if his work begins to lose its edge.

The 81-year-old recently published his 23rd novel, A Delicate Truth, and the public continues to be fascinated by the works of a man regarded as the leading espionage writer of his time.

However, in an interview with The Times Magazine he says of his family: "They are under strict orders to speak up if they think I am not writing well any longer, because at this point I could write the telephone directory and get money for it."

He has begun work on another novel, loosely based on a story by Joseph Conrad, which he wants to translate into espionage terms.

The former MI5 and MI6 operative has kept on top of changes in the espionage world.

"It's a different world, multiethnic and amazing," he says.

"Brown faces, black faces, white faces and absolutely classless by appearance."

He says Britain's obsession with class is "absurd", and that he wishes to abolish the public schools to make the best teaching resources open to all, and to downsize the monarchy, putting it "on a bicycle".

He says with a smile: "I have a right to these feelings, because I have pretended to be a gentleman for so long."

As for relations between Islam and the West, he says: "If we spent a fraction of what we spent on war trying to meet people's misunderstandings about us, we might do a better job."

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Air India pilot suspended for snoozing

TWO Air India pilots were caught napping in business class while flight attendants in the cockpit accidentally turned off the auto-pilot.

As a result the crew were suspended.

The alleged incident happened at 33,000 feet on an April 12 flight from Bangkok to New Delhi, the Mumbai Mirror reported.

The pilots were woken out of their 40-minute nap and rushed to the cockpit to save the plane from a disaster that could have claimed the lives of 166 people onboard, the report said.

According to the report, co-pilot Ravindra Nath was the first to take a break, saying he needed to use the washroom 30 minutes into the flight.

Minutes later, Captain BK Soni called a second flight attendant into the cockpit and showed the two stewardesses how to operate the controls. He put the plane on auto-pilot and left to join his co-pilot for the nap in business class, the report said.

Air India spokesman G Prasada Rao said Captain BK Soni and the two stewardesses had been suspended. He denied the report that the pilots had allowed the two attendants to operate the aircraft.

"It is a serious matter. We are investigating the incident," he said.

The airline stressed that at "no point in time was the cockpit left unattended by the cockpit crew".

It also said: "During the incident, due to distraction the co-pilot had touched the auto pilot disconnect button momentarily. But the same was connected back.".

The incident raises fresh concerns over air safety in India.

Earlier this year, Air India suspended a senior pilot caught drunk just before he was to fly a passenger aircraft.

Also in the last few years, authorities have discovered at least half a dozen Indian pilots flying aircraft using faked documents.

In March the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the UN aviation watchdog, expressed grave concerns about India's air safety, placing it among the 13 worst-performing nations.

An investigation into the auto-pilot incident is being carried out by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

"Following a safety violation, the airline has already suspended the people in question," said the agency.

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Unsafe Bangladesh factories must close: UN

A top investigator says vibrations from generators caused the Bangladesh garment factory collapse. Source: AAP

THE UN's labour agency urged Bangladesh to close unsafe factories as rescuers pulled more bodies from the wreckage of the nation's worst industrial disaster in which at least 548 have died.

The collapse of the eight-storey garment factory complex outside Dhaka last week was the latest in a string of catastrophes to befall the country's $US20 billion ($A19.6 billion) textile industry which accounts for 80 per cent of Bangladesh's exports.

Action is needed to ensure such "avoidable accidents" that tarnish the image of Bangladesh's industrial image never recur, said Gilbert Houngbo, field operations deputy director-general at the International Labour Organisation.

"Part of the action that needs to be taken is to make sure all factories are inspected and any remedial action necessary is put in place," Houngbo told AFP.

"Some factories (that cannot be repaired) may have to close down," said the former prime minister of the West African nation Togo.

Earlier, Main Uddin Khandaker, lead government investigator into the disaster, blamed the cave-in on vibrations from four huge illegal generators on the complex's top floors.

"When these generators were started after a power cut they created vibrations, and together with the vibration of thousands of sewing machines, they triggered the collapse," Khandaker said late Friday.

The building "sandwiched into one floor like a pack of cards," he said, telling AFP the Rana Plaza building was constructed "for commercial use," not as a factory, and it could not withstand the vibrations because the owner had used substandard rods, bricks and other materials to build it.

Bulldozers and cranes clawed away for an 11th day on Saturday at the mountain of rubble at the plant site to uncover more bodies as distraught onlookers stood watching, clutching photographs of missing relatives.

The death toll "now stands at 548" and is expected to rise as rescuers have spotted more bodies trapped between the pancaked floors, army spokesman Major Sazzad Hossain told AFP.

Impoverished Bangladesh, with its population of 153 million, has just 50 plant inspectors to ensure the safety of its tens of thousands of factories including an estimated 4,500 garment plants.

After the April 24 disaster the government announced plans for an inspection blitz as it came under pressure from Western brand names to institute a "credible" safety regime in an industry with a shocking record.

The government made a similar announcement after a devastating fire swept through a garment factory in November last year, killing 111 workers, but the subsequent inspections were widely derided as insufficient.

Asked if global retailers were also to blame for poor safety, the ILO official replied, "Everybody wants to buy the highest quality at the lowest price."

International buyers should display corporate responsibility, he said.

"You shouldn't be doing business with a company somewhere in Bangladesh if you know very well it is abusing or not complying with national laws," he said.

Western buyers do have "some kind of responsibility" for plant safety, said Houngbo, who during his four-day visit met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to convey the ILO's concerns about the tragedy and also with groups representing workers and owners,

He called for a full dialogue engaging workers, owners and the government, ensuring freedom of association of workers and their right to collective bargaining to improve safety standards.

Although on paper Bangladesh's three million garment workers enjoy collective bargaining rights, only a few factories allow trade unions.

Last April, a top labour leader, Aminul Islam, was brutally killed amid reports he had been targeted by a national security agency. Noone has ever been prosecuted for his murder.

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Solar plane lands at night in US

A solar plane has taken off from California on its first attempt at a cross-country US trip. Source: AAP

THE first-ever manned aeroplane that can fly by day or night on solar power alone landed in the dark at a major south-western US airport, a live feed from the organiser's website showed.

Solar Impulse, piloted by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, touched down at the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona at 7.30am (1730 AEST) on Saturday after leaving from California more than 18 hours earlier on the first leg of a cross-country journey.

Ground crew met the plane as it landed and pushed it to a safe area where Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg, a Swiss engineer and ex-fighter pilot, climbed up to the cockpit on a ladder to greet Piccard, who raised his arms in triumph.

"I'm happy to be here, happy to have landed in Phoenix," a visibly elated Piccard told reporters.

A small crowd assembled on the tarmac and cheered his arrival.

Piccard said he was impressed by the scenery as he flew over the south-western United States, first over California then over the Arizona desert to approach Phoenix. When he landed he said he still had three-quarters of his battery power left.

The US journey is being billed as the plane's first cross-continent flight.

The plane, which has a slim body and four electric engines attached to an enormous wingspan, flew quietly at an average speed of about 50 kilometres per hour. Energy provided by 12,000 solar cells powered the plane's propellers.

The project aims to showcase what can be accomplished without fossil fuels, and has set its "ultimate goal" as an around-the-world flight in 2015.

The plane can fly at night by reaching a high elevation of 8,230 metres and then gently gliding downward, using almost no power through the night until the sun comes up to begin recharging the aircraft's solar cells.

The US itinerary allows for up to 10 days at each stop in order to showcase the plane's technology to the public. Other stops are planned for Dallas, Texas, and the US capital Washington, before wrapping up in New York in early July.

That will allow Piccard and Borschberg to share duties and rest between flights.

A dashboard showing the live speed, direction, battery status, solar generator and engine power, along with cockpit cameras of both Piccard and his view from the plane, were online at live.solarimpulse.com.

The aircraft completed its first intercontinental journey from Europe to Africa in June on a jaunt from Madrid to Rabat.

Longer trips have already been successfully completed by the plane, which made the world's first solar 26-hour day and night trip in 2010.

However, the cockpit has room for just one pilot, so even though the plane could possibly make the entire US journey in three days, Piccard decided it would be easier to rest and exchange flight control with Borschberg at the stops.

Solar Impulse was launched in 2003.

The slim plane is particularly sensitive to turbulence and has no room for passengers but Piccard has insisted that those issues are challenges to be met in the future, rather than setbacks.

"Instead of speaking of the problems, we want to demonstrate solutions," Piccard said earlier as he was flying toward Phoenix, stressing that renewable technologies already exist and are well known to science.

"Now we need to put them on a big scale everywhere in our daily life."

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Assad makes appearance in Syria capital

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Pakistan prosecutor in Bhutto case killed

Pakistan's main prosecutor on the Benazir Bhutto murder case has been shot dead in Islamabad. Source: AAP

PAKISTAN'S main state prosecutor in the 2007 murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the 2008 Mumbai attacks has been shot dead in Islamabad on his way to court, police say.

Chaudhry Zulfiqar was shot multiple times on Friday after gunmen intercepted his vehicle shortly after he left home in a busy, middle-class neighbourhood of the capital. His bodyguard was also wounded and a woman passer-by killed.

The assassination comes just days before Pakistan holds historic general elections on May 11, marking the first time that a civilian government completes a full-term in office and hands over to another at the ballot box.

"Chaudhry Zulfiqar was driving his car. He lost control and the car crushed a woman passer-by," police officer Mohammad Yousuf told AFP.

"Zulfiqar was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries," he added.

Police said the gunmen fled on a motorbike.

Zulfiqar's white Toyota Corolla was badly damaged in the attack.

Its windshield was smashed and there were multiple bullet marks on both sides of the car and at the front. Pieces of broken window lay inside and on the road. There was blood on the car seats and on the road, an AFP reporter said.

Police said it appeared the attackers targeted his car soon after Zulfiqar took a U-turn after leaving his street.

He lost control and the car skidded into a depression along the main road after hitting the woman, who died instantly, officers said.

Zulfiqar had been on his way to the anti-terrorism court hearing the Bhutto case in the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was this week placed under two-week house arrest over charges that he conspired to murder Bhutto.

Zulfiqar was also the main government prosecutor who indicted seven alleged conspirators in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people and which were blamed on Pakistan's Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pakistan indicted the seven in 2009, but has since said it needs to gather more evidence in India before proceeding further.

India accuses Lashkar-e-Taiba of training, equipping and financing the attack with support from "elements" in the Pakistani military.

Zulfiqar was given extra government security last year after he was implicated in threats received by police investigators.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the shooting.

"I cannot comment. I'm in a state of shock," Zulfiqar's deputy Azhar Chaudhry told AFP when asked to comment.

Wasim Khawaja, spokesman for Islamabad's main government-run PIMS hospital, told AFP that Zulfiqar's bodyguard was out of danger.

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Vic treasurer talks up 'careful' budget

THE Victorian treasurer has talked down the possibility of any nasty budget surprises and remains tight-lipped on whether he will deliver his promised surplus.

Michael O'Brien will hand down his first budget as treasurer on Tuesday. It will be the coalition's third since winning office.

He is expected to announce funding for major projects including the East West Link road connecting the Eastern Freeway and Western Ring Road.

"Major infrastructure is something that we do need to progress," Mr O'Brien said on Friday.

"We will certainly have more to say about major infrastructure projects on Tuesday."

The treasurer has also pledged that public servant jobs are safe, confirming no further cuts beyond the 4200 already announced over the last two years.

Asked if Victorians should brace for a tough budget, he said, "This is a difficult time for government in terms of budgeting.

"But because we've been really careful with managing Victorians' finances we will be able to have some very strong announcements.

"We won't spend money we don't have."

Shortly after becoming treasurer in March, Mr O'Brien said the budget should be run at a minimum $100 million surplus, even in lean economic times.

On Friday he said he would deliver a careful budget.

"We will be seeking to make sure this is a responsible budget," he said.

"You cut your cloth to fit, you be responsible in managing people's finances and you make sure you strengthen the economy."

Australian Industry Group Victorian director Tim Piper says the government could afford to lift spending without jeopardising the state's triple-A credit rating.

Shadow treasurer Tim Pallas said the government shouldn't again dip into taxpayers' pockets to boost its coffers, with Victorians already paying increased fees and fines.

"They have basically squeezed the taxpayer dry when it comes to finding alternative revenue sources," he said.

The government has already revealed millions in spending for health, roads and out-of-home care for the state's most vulnerable children.

Health Minister David Davis said there would be more than 860 new doctors and nurses under a $238 million training boost in Tuesday's budget.

The funding package includes $194 million for undergraduate training to provide a significant boost in clinical placements for nursing, medical and allied health students.

There is also $42 million for postgraduate training, which will inject 860 new doctors and nurses into the health system.

Victorian Council of Social Services' acting chief executive Carolyn Atkins said the government should invest in affordable housing for the disadvantaged, improved education outcomes for vulnerable children and better mental health services outside the city.

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Bangladesh disaster death toll passes 500

THE death toll from last week's collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh has passed 500 as the country's prime minister said Western retailers had to share some of the blame for the tragedy.

With bulldozers now clawing away at the mountain of rubble at the site of last Wednesday's disaster, the number of bodies being recovered from the country's deadliest industrial disaster has been increasing sharply.

Lieutenant Mir Rabbi, an officer in a special army control room set up to co-ordinate the rescue operation, told AFP on Friday the "death toll now stands at 501", a sharp rise on the figure of 441 compiled by authorities on Thursday evening.

Dozens more people are thought to have been buried alive after the eight-storey building collapsed on April 24 in Savar, which lies about 30 kilometres to the northwest of Dhaka.

About 3000 garment workers were on shift at the time of the disaster in the Rana Plaza compound which housed five different textile factories.

Spain's Mango, Britain's low-cost Primark chain and the Italian label Benetton were among the retailers who have confirmed having products made at Rana Plaza where the typical worker took home less than $40 a month.

The collapse was the latest in a series of disasters to befall the $US20 billion ($A19.60 billion) industry which accounts for 80 per cent of the country's exports.

A fire at another factory compound killed 111 workers last November and witnesses say the April 24 disaster happened after bosses insisted staff remain at their workstations even though cracks had been detected in the building.

In an interview with CNN, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina defended the industry's safety record, saying the recent deadly explosion at a fertiliser plant in the United States showed that no country was immune.

"Anywhere in the world, any accident can take place," she said.

Some Western fashion brands have said they are considering their futures in Bangladesh and Disney has already announced it is pulling out of the country.

The prime minister insisted that "Bangladesh now is a place for good conditions for the investment", but she also suggested that Western firms drawn to the country by the cheap labour costs could hike salaries.

"If they want to do business, these buyers, they also should also consider increase the prices of the garments so that the business can run properly and labour can get a good salary, so they are also partly responsible for it," she said.

"What I is feel is that all the investors when they come here they get cheap labour and that's why they come here," she added.

The sector accounts for and more than 40 per cent of the industrial workforce in Bangladesh which is one of the world's poorest countries.

Industry bosses are desperate to avoid others following the lead of Disney in pulling out of the country and have promised to come up with credible answers to concerns raised about factory safety.

At least 12 people have been arrested over the disaster, including the owner of the Rana Plaza compound.

One of the latest to be arrested was Abdur Razzaq, a civil engineer, detained on Thursday night after he allegedly gave the building all-clear on April 23 after inspecting the cracks.

The mayor of Savar has also been suspended for failing to shut the factories when the cracks appeared.

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Indonesia foils Myanmar embassy bomb plot

TWO Indonesians have been detained over a plot to bomb the Myanmar (Burma) embassy in Jakarta, officials say, as radicals rallying in the city called for "jihad in Myanmar" to avenge Muslim deaths.

The incidents highlight the growing anger in Muslim-majority Indonesia over a string of religious clashes in largely Buddhist Myanmar, that have left many minority Muslims dead and tens of thousands displaced.

At least one person was killed when mosques and homes were attacked in central Myanmar this week, the latest anti-Muslim unrest to cast a shadow over political reforms in the formerly junta-run country.

Around 1000 angry hardliners from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) marched to Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta on Friday, brandishing banners that read "we want to kill Myanmar Buddhists" and "stop genocide in Myanmar".

"Our Muslim brothers and sisters are being attacked in Myanmar - they are being raped and murdered," said Bambang, a 37-year-old street vendor, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

"I want jihad in Myanmar. Anyone mistreating Muslims should be killed."

The national head of the FPI, Habib Rizieq, shouted through a loudspeaker to whip up the crowd, mostly men wearing white Islamic skullcaps, before they marched on the embassy, which was heavily guarded by scores of police.

Earlier, officials said anti-terrorist police had detained two men suspected of planning a bomb attack on the Myanmar embassy on Friday.

The suspects were arrested late Thursday travelling by motorbike in a busy residential area in the south of the capital with five assembled pipe bombs, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said in a statement.

The men, Sefa Riano, 28, and Achmad Taufiq, 21, planned to launch the attack on Friday, said a senior source at the country's anti-terrorist police, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The head of Indonesia's anti-terrorist agency, Ansyaad Mbai, told AFP that the target was the Myanmar embassy.

"We are very certain that the attack would have been launched if we did not stop them," he said.

A woman, believed to be the wife of one of the men, had also been detained to be questioned as a witness over the planned attack, said Amar.

Anger in Indonesia about Myanmar has focused on the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority regarded with hostility by many Burmese, who have increasingly been arriving in Indonesia as they flee violence at home.

Clashes in Rakhine state last year between Rohingya and Buddhists left around 200 dead, and tens of thousands displaced. In March a flare-up in Buddhist-Muslim violence in central Myanmar left at least 43 people dead.

A man admitted in September to planning a suicide bomb attack against Buddhists in Jakarta in response to Myanmar's treatment of Muslim minorities, particularly Rohingya.

Indonesia has been a vocal supporter of Muslim minorities in Myanmar, and in January pledged $1 million in aid to Rakhine.

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Hong Kong shares end up 0.10%

HONG Kong shares have ended 0.10 per cent higher, after a widely expected European Central Bank interest rate cut and a positive US jobless claims report.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index on Friday added 21.66 points to end at 22,689.96 on turnover of HK$56.23 billion ($A7.10 billion).

On Thursday, ECB policymakers trimmed a quarter point off the key "refi" refinancing rate, to a record low of 0.50 per cent.

The widely expected ECB move is part of efforts to increase demand and encourage growth in the debt-stricken eurozone.

Markets also responded positively to a better-than-expected US Labor Department report showing new claims for unemployment benefits had fallen to a five-year low.

The claims - an indicator of the pace of layoffs - fell by 18,000 to 324,000, the lowest level since mid-January 2008.

New World Development jumped 3.3 per cent, leading blue-chip gains. It was aided by its plan to diverge three of its Hong Kong hotels for a separate listing.

Lenovo underperformed for a second straight day, falling 1.0 per cent to $HK6.83. It slumped 2.7 per cent on Thursday following news that talks to buy part of IBM's server business had broken down because of differences over the price.

Chinese shares ended up 1.44 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 31.38 points to 2,205.50 on turnover of 78.3 billion yuan ($A12.45 billion).

The rise was led by gains in brokerages, as investors hunted for bargains following losses in previous sessions, dealers said.

China Everbright Securities gained 5.12 per cent to 14.37 yuan while China Merchants Securities advanced 4.21 per cent to 12.63 yuan.

Metals shares rebounded on bargain-hunting, with aluminium producer Chalco rising 1.80 per cent to 3.96 yuan while Xiamen Tungsten added 1.66 per cent to 29.99 yuan.

Property developers extended gains after a survey showed on Thursday that home prices picked up in April in their fifth consecutive monthly rise.

Poly Real Estate rose 1.43 per cent to 12.04 yuan while Gemdale climbed 1.11 per cent to 7.27 yuan.

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UN sounds alarm on record Arctic ice melt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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I'll ditch the NDIS levy: Palmer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Major Australian exhibition in London

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

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

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

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

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

"This survey is long, long overdue."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Nationals WA president stands down

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

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

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

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

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

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

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US boy, 5, accidentally shoots sister dead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Greeks protest austerity on May Day

A STRIKE has stopped ferry services to the Greek islands and disrupted public transport in the capital Athens ahead of May Day protests against Greece's prolonged economic austerity policies.

Ferry services were expected to be halted the entire day as the Panhellenic Seamens' Union took part in the general strike called for by the country's two main unions.

Public transport in the capital later returned to normal after early work stoppages in the metro and bus services.

But police have demanded that four metro stations in the city centre remain closed, because of rallies due to be held there on Wednesday.

"May 1st, day of memory, honour and struggle" was the call of private sector union GSEE, which along with public sector union ADEDY, is organising the protest.

Communist-affiliated group Pame is also scheduled to hold its own march in the Athens city centre.

Many shops have remained open however, as the government recently decided to relocate the May 1 public holiday to May 7, because of the celebration of Orthodox Easter on May 5.

The government's decision, an attempt to help traders maximise sales during the Orthodox Holy Week, is likely to affect protest turnout.

The heavily-indebted country has adopted a strict austerity program, in return for vital rescue loans from its international creditors.

On Sunday the government voted to adopt a law that will allow the dismissal of 15,000 civil servants as part of the terms set by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

The unions had organised a protest outside the parliament at the time of the vote, but their call was only met by around 800 people.

Since 2010, the EU and IMF have committed a total of 240 billion euros ($316 billion) in rescue loans to Greece.

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Three UK soldiers killed in Afghan blast

PRIME Minister David Cameron says Britain is paying a "very high price" in Afghanistan after three soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb.

Six British soldiers have now been killed this year in Afghanistan, where British casualties have slowed over the past year.

Britain has not lost so many soldiers in one incident since six were killed by a similar blast in March last year.

They received immediate medical attention at the scene of the blast in Helmand province on Tuesday and were evacuated by air to Britain's main Camp Bastion base but could not be saved, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

The deaths take the total number of British troops killed by enemy action in Afghanistan over the 400 mark, to 401.

"We have paid a very high price for the work we're doing in Afghanistan," Cameron told ITV television.

"It is important work because it's vital that country doesn't again become a haven for terrorists - terrorists that can threaten us here in the UK.

"But today our thoughts should be with the families and friends of those that have suffered."

The three soldiers from the Royal Highland Fusiliers infantry battalion died when their vehicle was hit on a routine patrol in the district of Nahr-e Saraj.

"Their deaths come as a great loss to all those serving in Task Force Helmand," spokesman Major Richard Morgan said in a statement.

Their families have been told. Their names will be released in due course.

It is the first time since September 2012 that British troops have been killed by a roadside bomb, which have accounted for many of the British deaths in Afghanistan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Taliban militants frequently use roadside bombs against foreign troops and their Afghan allies.

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Force-feeding hunger strikers breaches law

The UN warned that force feeding hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay is a breach of international law. Source: AAP

FORCE-FEEDING hunger strikers is a breach of international law, the UN's human rights office says, as US authorities tried to stem a protest by inmates at the controversial Guantanamo Bay jail.

"If it's perceived as torture or inhuman treatment - and it's the case, it's painful - then it is prohibited by international law," Rupert Coville, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, told AFP.

Out of 166 inmates held at the prison at the remote US naval base in southeastern Cuba, 100 are on hunger strike, according to the latest tally from military officers. And of those, 21 detainees are being fed through nasal tubes.

Coville explained that the UN bases its stance on that of the World Medical Association, a 102-nation body whose members include the United States, which is a watchdog for ethics in healthcare.

In 1991 the WMA said that forcible feeding is "never ethically acceptable".

"Even if intended to benefit, feeding accompanied with threats, coercion, force or use of physical restraints is a form of inhuman and degrading treatment. Equally unacceptable is the force feeding of some detainees in order to intimidate or coerce other hunger strikers to stop fasting," it said.

That WMA ruling followed a 1975 declaration that artificial feeding methods should never be used without a prisoner's permission, and that a prisoner had the right to refuse all food if a physician considered the individual capable of "unimpaired and rational judgment" about the consequences.

Artificial feeding can be used if a prisoner agrees to it, or if the detainee is ruled unable to make a competent decision and left no unpressured advance instructions refusing it, according to the WMA.

The hunger strike, which is now into its 12th week, has upped the pressure on Washington to shut what President Barack Obama has called a legal "no man's land".

On Tuesday, Obama vowed to renew a push to close the prison, saying he did not want any inmates to die and urging Congress to help him find a long-term solution that would allow for prosecuting terror suspects while closing Guantanamo.

The inmates are protesting their indefinite detention without charges or trials at the facility, which was set up by his predecessor, George W Bush, to hold those captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

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Labor to take disability tax rise to poll

Treasurer Wayne Swan says the upcoming budget will outline the government's path back to surplus. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has put disability care at the centre of her government's re-election strategy, announcing a tax rise to pay for Labor's new scheme.

But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott may try to thwart her ambition by agreeing to support legislation for her proposed hike in the Medicare levy in this parliamentary term.

Treasurer Wayne Swan says Labor will wait for the coalition's support because the government is unsure it can gain the backing of the Australian Greens and independent MPs for the levy.

Ms Gillard reversed her opposition to a tax hike on Wednesday, saying she would seek voter approval at the September 14 election to impose a 0.5 percentage point rise in the levy to fund DisabilityCare Australia.

The levy increase to two per cent would cost the average wage earner about $1 a day and go into a special fund that would collect about $20 billion by the time the disability scheme is fully operational in 2018/19.

Ms Gillard said Australians "embraced" a Labor request 30 years ago to pay a levy to fund the Medicare universal health scheme.

"I'm asking Australians to do the same thing with DisabilityCare," she told reporters in Melbourne.

Ms Gillard's change of heart follows a $12 billion drop in government revenue, pressures on state budgets, and disability-sector demands for a long-term funding source.

The levy would raise about $3.2 billion of the $8 billion annual cost of the scheme, with the remainder coming from federal budget savings and the states and territories. But there will be no changes to the disability support pension in the May budget.

The treasurer says the levy will fund around 60 per cent of the scheme at the end of 10 years with the shortfall to be paid for by cuts and savings in the budget.

Mr Abbott initially challenged the prime minister to bring on the legislation for the levy hike before parliament rises in June, but signalled the coalition would not offer immediate support.

But he later added he would have more to say on Thursday, paving the way for talks on the legislation, possibly to head off any criticism of the coalition's stance.

"I want everyone to know that the coalition wholeheartedly supports the national disability insurance scheme," Mr Abbott told reporters in rural Victoria.

"We want it to happen and we want it to happen in this term of government."

Mr Swan says the support of the Greens and independents for the proposed levy increase is not guaranteed.

"Let's see if we have that support, I don't know that," he told ABC television.

Ms Gillard says she doesn't want the scheme to turn into a "political plaything".

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey appeared to reject the levy proposal earlier on Wednesday, saying it would hurt business and damage consumer confidence.

"This levy is going to hit every household budget," he told ABC radio.

Ms Gillard concedes that asking households to pay more tax won't be easy, but the government believes most will agree that a universal scheme is needed for Australians born disabled or who become so later in life.

The disability care scheme will be launched in parts of South Australia, NSW, Tasmania, Victoria and the ACT in July 2014, but only NSW has signed up to a full state-wide launch from 2018.

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Flash floods in Saudi Arabia kill 13

THIRTEEN people have died and four more are missing in Saudi Arabia after downpours caused flash floods in several areas of the desert kingdom.

The official SPA state news agency quoted Colonel Abdullah al-Harethi as saying people died in several areas including in the capital Riyadh, Baha in the south, Hail in the north and in the west.

Harethi urged people to avoid wadi valleys and plains that have been flooded by heavy rainfall that began on Friday.

Television footage showed 4X4 cars stuck and people clinging to a tree to escape fast-flowing flood waters.

The vast Arabian Peninsula country has not experienced such a high volume of rainfall for 25 years.

But around 10 people were killed in 2011 when flooding swept through the western city of Jeddah, where 123 people also perished in floods in 2009.

The inability of Jeddah's infrastructure to drain off flood waters and uncontrolled construction in and around the city were blamed at the time for the high number of victims.

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Medicare defended despite uncovered costs

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says if you're going to get sick, "Australia is the place to do it". Source: AAP

FEDERAL Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says if you're going to get sick, "Australia is the place to do it", despite a report showing the country ranks the fifth most expensive in the world for out-of-pocket expenses.

The Consumers Health Forum on Monday said Australians pay $1075 every year per person in out of pocket medical costs, compared to $476 for New Zealand and $459 for the UK.

Australians' expenses are $94 above the weighted average for OECD countries, the forum found.

More concerning, it said thousands were applying to the federal Department of Human Services to access their superannuation to pay for health costs.

Forum chief Carol Bennett says Australia's developing a two-tiered health system and needed to overhaul the 30-year-old Medicare system.

"People who have the means can afford to benefit from the best treatment available. People without may not benefit at all," Ms Bennett said.

"What we are seeing in some cases is a triple whammy affect. People pay taxes and pay for private health insurance and then there are still out of pocket expenses."

Ms Plibersek said while Medicare wasn't perfect, it provided a better standard of care and choice than other countries around the world.

"Medicare is a system that most Australians are proud of, and they look around the world and they know that being sick is never good, it's never fun, but if you're going to get sick anywhere, Australia is the place to do it," she said.

While New Zealand paid less for some medicines than Australia, consumers across the Tasman had less choice and in the UK consumers had no choice when it came to their doctor.

"There are restrictions in place there (in Britain) that I don't think Australians would want to see," Ms Plibersek told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Ms Plibersek said the number of medicines subsided through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme had increased, while Australia was witnessing "historic high bulk billing rates".

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20 hurt in gas blast in historic Prague

A POWERFUL gas blast has ripped through a block of flats in Prague's historic centre, injuring about 20 people, rescuers say, adding that some people may be buried in the rubble of the damaged building.

Police have sealed off the area popular with tourists and evacuated people from several nearby houses, Prague police spokesman Tomas Hulan told Czech TV on Monday.

"We have treated up to 20 people, and we are trying to find out if there are people buried in the rubble," Prague emergency service spokeswoman Jirina Ernestova told AFP.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw dozens of people with cuts, likely sustained by shattered glass from windows along the debris-covered street.

"A gas blast seems to be the most likely cause. The explosion was rather massive and damaged windows in several streets," Hulan said.

Czech media quoted witnesses as saying they could smell gas in the street.

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Gunmen keep Libyan ministry under siege

DOZENS of gunmen have kept Libya's foreign ministry under siege for a second straight day, demanding it sack officials from the previous regime of Muammar Gaddafi, an AFP correspondent says.

Around 30 vehicles, some mounted with anti-aircraft guns, and armed men have encircled the ministry since Sunday.

On Monday, placards calling for the adoption of a law aimed at political expulsions of Gaddafi-era officials hung on the gate of the ministry building.

"The ministry is closed," Aymen Mohamed Aboudeina, part of a group of protesters, told AFP, adding that "talks will be initiated in the coming hours with the concerned ministries".

He said the "siege" will be lifted when the protesters' demands are met through a vote in the General National Congress - the highest political authority in Libya - on a bill calling for the expulsion of former regime employees.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan denounced the encircling of the foreign ministry and other attacks targeting the interior ministry and the national television in Tripoli.

He appealed to the people to support the government in resisting armed groups "who want to destabilise the country and terrorise foreigners and embassies," but added that the government would "not come into confrontation with anyone".

The Congress is studying proposals for a law to exclude former Gaddafi regime officials from top government and political posts.

The proposed law could affect several senior figures in the government and has caused waves in the country's political class.

In March, demonstrators encircled the assembly itself, trapping members in the building for several hours as they called for the adoption of the law.

After the siege was lifted, gunmen targeted Congress chief Mohammed Megaryef's motorcade without causing any casualties.

Libya's government is struggling to assert its influence across the country, where former rebels who fought Kadhafi in the 2011 uprising still control large amounts of territory.

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Syd Uni professor accused of organ theft

SYDNEY University is reviewing the honours given to a former Chinese health minister after reports that he presided over the removal of organs from executed prisoners without their consent.

Huang Jiefu, currently an honorary professor at the university and the former vice-minister of health in China, was involved in removing organs of executed prisoners without permission, ABC television's 7.30 reports.

The university's vice-chancellor Dr Michael Spence said a staff member had written to him this month, proposing that the university should consider revoking his honorary professorship.

"I have asked Sydney Medical School, which was responsible for Huang's appointment, to investigate carefully these submissions, and to recommend what action the university should take," Dr Spence said in a statement issued to university staff.

"On the basis of those recommendations, I will respond to the staff member in due course.

"In short, Sydney Medical School condemns the retrieval of executed prisoners' organs for transplantation in China.

"However, it supports Huang's work to reform China's organ transplant system, which has been recognised internationally."

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Syrian premier escapes bomb attack

SYRIAN Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi has escaped an assassination bid, surviving a blast meant for his convoy in Damascus, in the latest attack on top members of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The attack came as Republicans in the United States stepped up calls for American action after claims Assad's regime used chemical weapons against its population in a bid to repress the uprising now in its third year.

Syrian state television said Halqi was unharmed in the blast on Monday in the Mazzeh district of the capital.

"The terrorist explosion in Mazzeh was an attempt to target the prime minister's convoy and Dr Wael al-Halqi was unharmed," state television reported, adding that the blast had caused casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said one of Halqi's bodyguards had been killed.

"A second bodyguard and the driver are in critical condition," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that the convoy appeared to have been targeted by a remotely-detonated car bomb.

State television said the explosion happened near a public garden and a school in the neighbourhood, a well-secured district that is home to embassies, government buildings, intelligence facilities and several political figures.

"I was walking in the street when suddenly there was a very powerful explosion and I saw a car burning and people running," a young man told AFP at the scene.

"I heard glass shattering," he added, saying he had tried to hide for fear a second explosion would follow.

An AFP photographer at the scene said several vehicles were destroyed in the blast, including a bus burned out by the explosion. The windshields of other cars nearby were also blown out.

State television al-Ikhbariya broadcast footage of Halqi attending a government meeting and giving a statement afterwards, but it was unclear whether the footage was from before or after the attack.

Halqi, who was appointed prime minister in August 2012 after his predecessor Riad Hijab defected to the opposition, is the latest in a string of regime officials to be targeted for assassination.

In July 2012, a suicide bomb attack killed Syria's defence minister and deputy defence minister and left the country's interior minister seriously wounded.

The capital has also been targeted in several major bombings, including an explosion on April 9 in the centre of the city which killed at least 15 people.

The attack against Halqi came as US Republican legislators piled pressure on the administration to take action over Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons.

But despite the criticism of President Barack Obama's failure to do more, there was little agreement on precisely how the United States should act.

"We need to get involved. And there's a growing consensus in the US Senate that the United States should get involved," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

But he acknowledged that "Syria is difficult," and any action would be risky.

And international consensus remains elusive, with Russia standing by the Syrian regime and warning Monday that a search for weapons of mass destruction should not be used an excuse to oust Assad.

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