John Kerr 'dreamed of becoming PM'

FORMER governor-general Sir John Kerr reportedly once dreamed of becoming prime minister.

Kerr controversially dismissed Labor PM Gough Whitlam in 1975 during his second term in office.

But in series of interviews conducted by the National Library of Australia, transcripts of which have been obtained by News Limited's Australian, Kerr reportedly revealed he had become estranged from Labor long before the dismissal and had thought of taking parliament's top job for himself.

In one interview, published by the paper for the first time on Saturday, Kerr said Whitlam "represents something that perhaps I might have been, had I stayed in the party as he did".

He also said he discussed his future with former Liberal prime minister Robert Menzies and how he could make his "way to the top".

The interviews with Kerr, who died in 1991, reveal that he also considered a dozen offers to be a Liberal MP before becoming governor-general.

"I had, during the 60s, re-established an interest in politics and was tempted to submit myself in the Liberal interest," he said.

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Indon detains Muslims heading to Aust

INDONESIAN police have arrested 35 Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar planning to make the treacherous sea crossing to Australia to seek asylum.

Officials said on Friday the arrests came the same day Rohingya being held at a detention centre on Sumatra island beat to death eight Buddhist detainees from Myanmar (Burma) after being enraged by photos of recent communal violence in their homeland.

Rohingya, described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities, have fled Myanmar in their thousands since Buddhist-Muslim tensions exploded in their home state of Rakhine last year.

The 35 migrants, who included 12 children, were arrested at a flat in the city of Surabaya, East Java province, for not having the necessary immigration documents to be in Indonesia, said local police chief Wiji Suwartini.

"They planned to go to Australia," she told AFP, adding that they would be sent to an immigration detention centre in the city.

An increasing number of Rohingya have been arriving on Indonesian shores, where many face long stints in detention awaiting UN assessment for refugee status.

Friday's attack at the detention centre in Belawan underscored the soaring Muslim-Buddhist tensions that have cast a shadow over political reforms in Myanmar which have brought an end to decades of authoritarian military rule.

Australia is facing a steady influx of asylum-seekers arriving by boat, many of whom use Indonesia as a transit hub, paying people-smugglers for passage on leaky wooden vessels after fleeing their home countries.

Hundreds have died making the treacherous journey over the past few years.

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US trade deficit shrinks to $43bn in Feb

THE US trade deficit edged lower in February after a big jump in January, government data released on Friday shows.

The Commerce Department reported the trade gap shrank to $US43 billion ($A41.4 billion), down from the revised $US44.5 billion in January.

The decline, which came after a large 16.7 per cent deficit increase in January, surprised analysts who had projected a deficit of $US44.7 billion.

US exports grew 0.8 per cent to $US186 billion, strengthened by the exports of industrial goods (up 4.5 per cent) and cars (up 1.6 per cent).

Meanwhile, US imports held steady at $US228.9 billion.

US imports of crude oil, which represent more than 10 per cent of imported goods by the US, dropped 5.6 per cent to $US23.6 billion.

But US imports of foreign cars rose 4.6 per cent between January and February to reach $US24.8 billion.

On a 12-month basis, the US trade deficit has dropped by 3.5 per cent.

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Canada unemployment rate rises to 7.2%

A LOSS of 55,000 jobs in March pushed Canada's unemployment rate up 0.2 per centage points to 7.2 per cent, its government statistics agency says.

Fewer people were working in accommodation and food services, public administration and manufacturing, while there was little change in all other industries, said Statistics Canada on Friday.

The private sector shed 85,000 employees while the ranks of the self-employed rose by 39,000.

There was little change in the number of public sector jobs.

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US stocks plunge after disappointing jobs

US stocks have pared back sharp losses as traders digested a surprisingly weak March labour report and watched rising global tensions with North Korea.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 40.86 points (0.28 per cent) to 14,565.25.

The broad-based S&P 500 slid 6.70 (0.43 per cent) to 1,553.28, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 21.12 (0.65 per cent) at 3203.86.

The main indices had plunged in opening trade, shedding more than 1.0 per cent, reeling from jobs data that came in far below expectations.

The Labor Department reported the US added only 88,000 nonfarm jobs in March, a third of the February gain and the slowest jobs growth in nine months.

Employment growth tanked far below the average analyst estimate of 192,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also reported the unemployment rate ticked down 7.6 per cent from 7.7 per cent in February, due to people dropping out of the workforce.

The pullback in jobs gains "was simply awful," said Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at DA Davidson & Co.

"This piece of economic data adds some uncertainty regarding an economic surge needed near-term to push stock prices meaningfully higher."

Market sentiment was also under pressure from the worries regarding North Korean intentions after reports indicated Pyongyang had ordered two missiles to be relocated to North Korea's east coast, Briefing.com said.

Financials and tech stocks were under pressure. On the Dow, American Express slid 2.8 per cent, IBM fell 0.9 per cent and United Technologies was down 0.6 per cent.

Blue-chip Microsoft reversed losses and gained 0.4 per cent.

Oil majors Chevron and ExxonMobil fell 0.5 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.

Dow member Hewlett-Packard shed 1.5 per cent after announcing its non-executive chairman Raymond Lane has decided to step down in a shakeup of the board of directors at the struggling US computer giant.

On the Nasdaq, heavyweight Apple fell 1.1 per cent

Wall Street stocks had scored modest gains Thursday after the Bank of Japan's monetary stimulus plan boosted sentiment. The Dow rose 0.38 per cent, the S&P 500 added 0.40 per cent and the Nasdaq climbed 0.20 per cent.

Bond prices soared. The yield on the 10-year Treasury plummeted to 1.69 per cent from 1.76 per cent Thursday, while the 30-year yield skidded to 2.86 per cent from 2.99 per cent.

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Strong 6.2 quake rocks Russia near NKorea

A POWERFUL 6.2 magnitude earthquake has struck in eastern Russia near the border with China and North Korea.

The US Geological Survey says the epicentre of the quake was southwest of Vladivostok, around nine kilometres from the Russian border town of Zarubino, at a depth of 561 kilometres.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the tremor, which struck seconds after 12 am Saturday local time.

A 6.1-magnitude quake struck Russia's far east last month, and a 6.9 quake rocked the region in February. Neither caused significant damage.

An underground formation in the area known as the Kuril-Kamchatka arc is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

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Fidel Castro breaks 9-month hiatus

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has called for North Korea and the US to avoid hostilities. Source: AAP

CUBAN revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has called for long-time ally North Korea and the United States to avoid hostilities on the Korean peninsula.

"If war breaks out there, the peoples of both parts of the peninsula will be terribly sacrificed, without benefit to all or either of them," he said in a column published in Cuban state media.

"Now that (North Korea) has demonstrated its technical and scientific achievements, we remind her of her duties to the countries which have been her great friends, and it would be unjust to forget that such a war would particularly affect more than 70 per cent of the population of the planet."

Castro, 86, reminded the US of its duty to avoid a clash, amid mounting tensions this year between North and South Korea.

"If a conflict of that nature should break out there, the government of Barack Obama in his second mandate would be buried in a deluge of images which would present him as the most sinister character in the history of the United States," he said.

"The duty of avoiding war is also his and that of the people of the United States."

Cuba is one of the last remaining allies of the communist government in Pyongyang.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was always friendly with Cuba, as Cuba has always been and will continue to be with her," Castro wrote.

"I had the honour of meeting Kim Il-sung, a historic figure, notably courageous and revolutionary."

Kim Il-sung was the founder of North Korea and grandfather of Kim Jong Un, the new leader of the reclusive Pyongyang regime.

Tension ratcheted up this week on the peninsula, as North Korea has threatened nuclear strikes and moved missiles, with the South and the US positioning missile defences in response.

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Obama to host Mideast allies for talks

PRESIDENT Barack Obama will host leaders from key US allies Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the coming weeks, amid turmoil in Syria, the White House says.

The US administration says Jordan's King Abdullah II will meet with Obama on April 26 for talks "Jordan's political and economic reforms, the humanitarian crisis in Syria, and additional regional issues of mutual concern."

Obama will then host Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 16 for talks on "Syria, trade and economic cooperation, and countering terrorism.

"As friends and NATO allies, the United States and Turkey are partners in addressing a range of critical global and regional issues," a statement said on Friday.

Jordan is a key US ally in the region and, as one of two Arab states at peace with Israel, has been involved in past efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The meeting with Erdogan will be the first since Obama helped restore ties between Israel and Turkey during his visit to the Jewish state last month.

During that visit, Obama convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apologise to Turkey over a deadly Israeli raid on an aid ship bound for Gaza in 2010 that had soured relations between the two US allies.

Turkey and Jordan have strongly backed the two-year-old revolt against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and both countries host large numbers of Syrian refugees.

Obama will host Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan of the United Arab Emirates on April 16, and will meet with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on April 23.

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meanwhile head back to the Middle East early next week for his third trip in a month to see if there might be a way to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Expectations are growing that the US administration is ready to resume some kind of shuttle diplomacy to rekindle the moribund peace process, which has stalled since late 2010 amid bitter recriminations on both sides.

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