Bangladesh factory collapse toll hits 912

THE death toll from the garment factory building that collapsed outside the Bangladesh capital has climbed past 900, as recovery workers continue pulling bodies from the wreckage more than two weeks after the disaster.

Officials say 912 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the fallen eight-story building as of Thursday morning.

An army official says 100 badly decomposing bodies being kept at a makeshift morgue near the building site in a Dhaka suburb will be sent to hospitals for DNA testing.

It's not clear what the final toll will be from the disaster, already the world's deadliest garment industry disaster and one of the worst industrial accidents.

More than 2,500 people were rescued alive after the April 24 accident.

An unknown number of people were inside.

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Gillard says Abbott backs referendum

Julia Gillard says she has bipartisan support to recognise local government in the constitution. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says she has bipartisan support for a referendum to recognise local government in the Australian Constitution.

The referendum will run in conjunction with the September 14 federal election.

Announcing the referendum in Brisbane, Ms Gillard said local government was important to communities and to the nation.

"This referendum will be presented in a bipartisan spirit," Ms Gillard told reporters on Thursday.

"The leader of the opposition has indicated he is prepared to support such a referendum.

"We took this as a promise to the 2010 election and now here in 2013 I will be asking the nation to vote 'yes' and to get this done."

Ms Gillard said the draft legislation and proposed wording will be released shortly.

She said the constitutional change would not alter the ability of state governments to legislate for local government, including amalgamations.

The Constitution says nothing about local government despite it providing a wide range of services.

"We are proposing a modest and commonsense change to our Constitution that simply reflects the modern reality in our local communities," Ms Gillard said.

The changes are based on the findings of an expert panel and endorsed by a parliamentary committee.

Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese said holding it at the same time as the election would cut the cost of it.

Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese urged people to vote yes in the referendum, saying constitutional recognition would validate "the reality of modern Australia".

"The reality in which local government has long ago moved beyond just being rates, roads and rubbish," he said in Brisbane.

"Local government that's engaged in child care, that's involved in a range of service provisions, and we want to recognise that."

Mr Albanese said the constitutional change would not affect the relationship between local and state governments.

"It will recognise ... that local governments are creations of state government and are still responsible to and accountable to those state governments," he said.

"A modest change, but an important one to ensure that our constitution, our most important document, reflects the reality of modern Australia."

The federal government is expected to introduce legislation on the referendum to parliament next week.

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Reserve Bank action pushes kiwi down

THE New Zealand dollar dropped to a two-week low after the Reserve Bank confirmed its first intervention in currency markets for six years.

The kiwi fell as low as 83.62 US cents, trading at 83.97 cents at 5pm from 84.55 cents at 8am and 84.94 cents on Tuesday.

The trade-weighted index dropped to 77.66 from 78.58.

Central bank governor Graeme Wheeler told a parliamentary committee that the bank had intervened in currency markets to "potentially take the tops off rallies".

He didn't provide any details, though deputy governor Grant Spencer said the action would show up on the bank's balance sheet.

"I think you'd assume it's bigger than usual," said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional FX sales NZ at ASB Institutional in Auckland.

"The kiwi's at the bottom end of the range after failing to go through."

Mr Wheeler's comments followed an earlier lament about the strength of the currency at the release of the bank's six-monthly financial stability report, where he warned about the strength of the housing market and its threat to the financial system.

The NZ central bank comments follow the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision on Tuesday to cut its target cash rate a quarter-point to 2.75 per cent to stoke economic growth, citing the country's lower than expected pace of inflation and strong exchange rate.

The kiwi fell to 82.43 Australian cents from 83.50 cents on Tuesday.

The kiwi also fell to 64.13 euro cents from 64.92 cents and to 83.126 yen from 84.15 yen.

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Cellmid to acquire Japan biotech Advangen

CELLMID'S shares have soared after the Australian biotech company announced it will acquire Japanese business Advangen.

Advangen owns the hair growth technology behind Cellmid's over the counter hair growth lotion Evolis and the two companies have worked closely together in recent years.

At 1511 AEST shares in Cellmid jumped 0.8 cents, or 32 per cent, to 3.3 cents.

Cellmid said in a statement that the deal gives it full ownership of the hair growth technology as well access to the Japanese market through Advangen's products.

"The acquisition has important strategic aspects for Cellmid," the company said.

"The company will gain immediate access to the established Japanese hair growth market."

The acquisition also means that Cellmid will no longer have to pay royalties for the use of the hair growth technology and is expected to deliver the company savings on the costs of the active ingredients.

"Our objective is to establish Cellmid as a global leader in scientifically and clinically validated hair growth technology," chief executive Maria Halasz said.

"We plan on generating substantial revenues in the next three to five years."

The acquisition is expected to take up to two weeks.

Cellmid also develops therapies and diagnostic tests for inflammatory diseases, heart attack and cancer.

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Swan welcomes RBA rate cut

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan welcomed the central bank's decision to cut the official interest rate. Source: AAP

TREASURER Wayne Swan says the central bank's decision to cut interest rates will help households and business by delivering "big" savings on borrowings.

Mr Swan says the RBA's decision to cut the cash interest rate to 2.75 per cent, from three per cent, means rates are now lower under Labor than under the former Howard coalition government.

A family with a $300,000 mortgage is now paying $5500 a year less than in 2007, when the Howard government left office.

"There will continue to be big savings flowing through to families and of course small business," Mr Swan told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

He was pleased National Australian Bank and Bank of Queensland had reacted quickly to pass the 25 basis point reduction on in full to variable mortgage holders.

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Three arrested in US triple kidnap

THREE men have been arrested in the case of three young women who were kidnapped several years ago and found alive in the Midwestern US city of Cleveland.

"The Cleveland Division of Police confirms that there are now three suspects under arrest. All three are Hispanic males, ages 50, 52 and 54," it said on its official Facebook account, adding that a residence is being searched.

The three women's nightmare ended when Amanda Berry, kidnapped 10 years ago at the age of 16, managed to escape the house with the help of a bystander and call police.

A panicked Berry told an emergency dispatcher that the man who had held her captive was named Ariel Castro, and media identified those arrested as Castro and two of his brothers.

However, the police declined to confirm the reports, saying: "At this time, suspect information regarding the missing persons investigation, including names and photos, will not be released."

The police have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday morning.

Berry was last seen on April 21, 2003 when she left work at a fast food restaurant that was just a few blocks from her home around 7.40pm, according to the FBI.

Gina DeJesus was 14 when she vanished while walking home from school on April 2, 2004.

Michele Knight, who was 21 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen at a cousin's house on August 23, 2002, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

All three were found within a few kilometres of where they had gone missing, and all appeared to be in good health, according to medics, who were evaluating them at a local hospital.

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Ban live odds in sports coverage: Xenophon

Independent senator Nick Xenophon has called for a ban on live betting odds during sport broadcasts. Source: AAP

INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon fears a crackdown on promoting live betting odds during sport broadcasts will be "lost in the wash" after the next federal election.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said on Sunday a coalition government would legislate a ban to shield children from gambling promotion unless the TV industry acted first.

Senator Xenophon says he doesn't think Mr Abbott's plan goes far enough.

He will meet Mr Abbott next week to discuss his private members bill to remove a loophole that exempts sports broadcasts from a gambling advertising ban during G-rated programs.

"Parliament is very much out of step with community sentiment," Senator Xenophon said.

He wants legislation on the issue before the election.

"There's an opportunity to deal with this sooner rather than later," he said.

"My concern is post-election, it will be lost in the wash."

Senator Xenophon says parents stop him in the street regularly, telling him the infiltration of gambling promotion in sport has gone too far.

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New ad calls for national recycling scheme

A NEW Greenpeace advertising campaign takes aim at Coca-Cola over the drink giant's opposition to cash-for-containers schemes.

The environmental group says the 45-second advertisement, which it hopes to begin screening on television on Friday night, is designed to get people to urge their premiers to support a national recycling scheme.

The ad shows young people of the type typically seen in Coke commercials drinking on a beach, before dead birds begin to fall from the sky.

The message is that plastic bottles are killing sea birds but Coca-Cola is fighting legislation that would help solve the problem, Greenpeace says.

Greenpeace campaigner Reece Turner said Coca-Cola had bullied politicians and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars silencing recycling advocates.

"Behind Coke's slogans and sunshine, the beverage giant is trashing Australia," Mr Turner said in a statement.

In March Coca-Cola successfully fought laws in the Northern Territory that would have seen a 10-cent refund given to customers who returned containers to approved depots.

The Northern Territory is expected to try to reintroduce the laws after other states and territories recently showed support for the scheme.

But Queensland does not support a national cash-for-containers scheme, a Greenpeace spokesman said.

He said it seemed Queensland's government was against anything that further regulated business.

For a national scheme, all states and territories would have to agree.

South Australia has run its own scheme for decades.

When the NT introduced its scheme, about 35 million containers were returned in its first 12 months.

Coca-Cola could not immediately be contacted for comment.

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Qld workers can't afford Tony Abbott: PM

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has told Queensland workers a renewed combination of Tony Abbott and Peter Costello would only damage working people in the state.

Ms Gillard was a surprise speaker at the state's annual Labour Day march in Brisbane on Sunday, as workers across the country marched to celebrate May Day.

She was mobbed by wellwishers during festivities at RNA Showgrounds, in the city's inner north, before taking the stage to loud applause.

The prime minister told the crowd Queensland premier Campbell Newman's public sector cutbacks had failed economically and the state could not afford federal Opposition Leader Abbott's "plans to cut to the bone".

She also attacked former federal treasurer Costello's "privatisation plans", a reference to his recent audit of the state's finances which recommended selling assets and outsourcing services.

"You can't afford that combination here in Queensland: Abbott and Costello, back to doing what they do best, hurting working people," she told the crowd.

"That's not a future for Queensland. That's not a future for our nation."

Labour Day celebrations were traditionally held on a Monday until the Newman government shifted the May public holiday to October to spread the holidays out during the year.

Led by federal treasurer Wayne Swan, the crowd of approximately 25,000 was the highest turnout for about a decade, Queensland Council of Unions president John Battams told reporters.

Teachers were among the largest contingent, chanting: "One, two, three, four, now's the time for Gonski law", a reference to Labor's school improvement plan which was recommended in a report by businessman David Gonski.

So far NSW is the only state to have signed up to the plan.

In Sydney, Unions NSW Secretary Mark Lennon said numbers swelled as workers marched through the city to voice their fears over Mr Abbott's potential changes to penalty rates.

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Bangladesh building 'unsuited for factory'

THE Bangladesh building that collapsed last month killing more than 570 people was designed to be used for a shopping mall and commercial offices such as banks, not for factories, the architect told AFP.

Masood Reza, a leading Bangladesh architect and a professor at a state-run university, said he felt "pain and anguish" when he saw footage of the garment workers trapped under the pancaked floors, crying desperately for help.

He accused building owner, Sohel Rana, now facing charges of death due to negligence and violating construction laws, of ignoring the basics of structural engineering that resulted in the country's worst industrial tragedy.

Reza said his firm designed Rana Plaza in 2004 and the original design had provision for six floors, not the extended nine storeys, and they were not meant for carrying big loads such as generators.

"When we designed the building, the owner and the developer never told us that the floors will house garment factories," Reza, 42, alleged.

"Had they told us, the structure and design would have been different and stronger," he said.

"We designed a six-storey building with a semi-basement, shopping malls in the first three floors and the rest for offices. There was no way the building was designed to be extended to nine or 10 floors," he said.

Some 3,000 garment workers sewing clothes for Western brands were on shift at the time of the disaster in the Rana Plaza compound, which housed five different textile factories.

The architect's words came as bulldozers and cranes clawed away at the mountain of rubble at the plant site to uncover more bodies as distraught onlookers clutched photographs of missing relatives.

Army spokesman Lieutenant Imran Khan told AFP the death toll on Sunday morning "stands at 572" and that more bodies had been spotted between the pancaked floors.

The head of the government committee probing the disaster told AFP their investigation also found the building was only meant "for commercial use" -- not for factories that need heavy machinery".

Main Uddin Khandaker told AFP the building housed at least four giant electrical generators on the top floors, whose vibration combined with the vibrations of sewing machines triggered the collapse.

Reza said the building's original design only had a "provision for a small ground-floor generator for the elevator", adding Bangladesh's building code did not allow generators to be kept on upper floors.

Government officials alleged the owner added the three more floors after getting approval from authorities in Savar, a town 30 kilometres northwest of Dhaka.

The building owner, his father and four garment factory owners are among 12 people who have been arrested by police on charges of death due to negligence and breaking construction laws.

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