US stocks rise on upbeat German data

US stocks have moved higher following a bullish report on German business sentiment and solid earnings results from computer company Hewlett-Packard.

About 40 minutes into Friday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51.51 points (0.37 per cent) to 13,932.13.

The broad-based S&P 500 increased 6.16 (0.41 per cent) to 1,508.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 17.08 (0.55 per cent) to 3,148.57.

Stocks rebounded from two straight days of losses after the German Ifo business climate index notched its strongest gain in two and a half years, hitting its highest level since April 2012.

Market watchers also highlighted comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who told CNBC that the Fed's loose monetary policy will remain in effect for "a long time."

Analyst Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com called Bullard's comments "an early buying catalyst."

The market was also buoyed by a Hewlett-Packard earnings report that bested analyst expectations. Shares in the struggling computer company, a Dow component, moved 6.7 per cent higher.

Insurer American International Group late Thursday posted a $4 billion loss, yet reported better-than-expected operating earnings. AIG shares were up 3.7 per cent.

Texas Instruments, a semiconductor company, picked up 3.4 per cent after announcing a 33 per cent increase in its dividend and $5 billion in share buybacks.

General Motors inched up 0.2 per cent following reports that it plans to invest $7.3 billion in its South Korean unit over the next five years.

Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. jumped 7.7 per cent after reporting record petroleum production levels for 2012.

Aruba Networks, which provides network services for mobile enterprises, surged 19.9 per cent after reporting earnings that topped estimates.

Abercrombie & Fitch sank 4.1 per cent as the retailer's tepid guidance for 2013 earnings offset an increase in the company's dividend.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell to 1.97 per cent from 1.98 per cent late Thursday, while the 30-year fell to 3.16 per cent from 3.17 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

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EU sees 2013 recession, dole queues

THE eurozone is staring at another full year of recession in 2013 with unemployment likely to surge above the 20-million mark and France in particular overshooting key fiscal targets, the EU warns.

Economic output across the 17-state currency area - home to about 340 million people and a global rival to the United States, Japan and emerging giants - will shrink by 0.3 per cent this year after a 0.6-per cent contraction last year, the European Commission said on Friday.

Millions more people face losing their jobs, with already record unemployment expected to rise markedly right into 2014.

Under pressure from Brussels, national governments face a tricky balancing act getting their finances in order without exacerbating social unrest and aggravating the recession by too many spending cuts.

Like Spain before it, France can expect some leeway on its fiscal targets so as to avoid overly-tough austerity cuts and reforms such as those imposed on bailed-out Greece, analysts said, but the margin may not be so great given possible friction with Germany, the ultra-disciplined eurozone powerhouse and guardian, set for 0.5-per cent growth.

"We must stay the course of reform and avoid any loss of momentum," EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said, arguing that the drag on growth and spike in joblessness was a natural consequence of "the ongoing rebalancing of the European economy".

The EU's winter economic forecast said there would be no return to growth for the debt-laden monetary union until 2014, when the economy should gain 1.4 per cent.

Unemployment will meantime hit 12.2 per cent for 2013 and remain little changed next year after 11.4 per cent in 2012 when the jobless totalled nearly 19 million.

Much of the attention was on France, where the public deficit is set to come in at 3.7 per cent of output this year and 3.9 per cent next year.

The eurozone's second-biggest economy, France had said it would this year get back within the EU's deficit ceiling of 3.0 per cent, even if Brussels a few months ago had forecast a deficit of 3.5 per cent.

The larger-than-expected shortfall means Socialist President Francois Hollande will be looking to Brussels to get the targets eased.

French Minister Pierre Moscovici said the "conditions were right" for seeking a delay, stressing that France did not want to "add austerity to the recession".

France will practically flatline this year with 0.1 per cent growth, and Rehn said a French request to put the targets back could be looked on favourably.

"If the expected negative economic headwinds bring significant, unfavourable consequences for public finances, the (EU's) Stability and Growth Pact allows for the deadline to be pushed back to 2014," he said.

However, he also said that it was of "primordial importance" for the eurozone as a whole that France "carries through sufficient and convincing measures and reforms," including, to its hugely costly pensions system.

Chris Williamson of London-based Markit, whose surveys of private businesses provide a vital gauge of economic trends, said governments could expect a softer approach from EU partners after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Athens and Brussels this week.

"This will clearly help to ease some of the political and social tensions that are apparent," he said.

It would, however, in turn mean "more pressure on the European Central Bank to provide a further boost of stimulus," or a rate cut to encourage High Street lending in a bid to oil the wheels of recovery.

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Volkswagen says net profit up 40%

VOLKSWAGEN, Europe's biggest carmaker, says its net profit zoomed ahead by more the 40 per cent last year on higher vehicle sales.

VW said in a statement on Friday its net profit soared by 40.9 per cent to a record 21.7 billion euros ($A28.06 billion) in 2012 as revenues rose by 20.9 per cent to 192.7 billion euros and deliveries to customers were up 12.2 per cent at 9.276 million vehicles.

Underlying or operating profit rose by 2.1 per cent to 11.51 billion euros.

The group said it would propose an increased dividend of 3.50 euros per share for 2012 compared with three euros per share a year earlier.

Looking ahead, VW said it expected to "outperform the market as a whole in a challenging environment" and deliveries to customers would increase year-on-year.

"However, we are not completely immune to the intense competition and the impact this has on business," it cautioned.

While 2013 sales revenues were expected to exceed the 2012 level, "given the ongoing uncertainty in the economic environment, our goal for operating profit is to match the prior-year level in 2013," VW said.

Despite the carmaker's strong 2012 performance, analysts had been expecting an even stronger gain in profits last year.

As a result, VW shares were the biggest losers on the Frankfurt stock exchange in afternoon trading, plummeting 4.26 per cent while the overall market was showing a gain of 0.81 per cent.

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Cuba's Raul Castro mentions retirement

CUBAN President Raul Castro has raised the possibility of leaving his post, but does not say when he might do so.

The Cuban leader made the comments during an appearance on Friday with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

Castrol told reporters he's about to turn 82 and added, "I have the right to retire, don't you think?"

Castro is due to be sworn in to a new five-year term on Sunday.

He urged people to listen closely to his speech that day, promising it would be "interesting".

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Washington Post sees losses, ads decline

THE Washington Post Co. says circulation and advertising has weakened further at its flagship daily newspaper, as the company reports a quarterly loss linked to a write-down.

The company's $US45.4 million ($A44.55 million) loss stemmed from a write-down in the value of its Kaplan education division, offsetting a slim operating profit at its newspaper division and stronger results at its television operations.

Revenues for the fourth quarter rose one per cent to $US1.05 billion, and fell three per cent for the year to $4.02 billion.

Its newspaper division remained under pressure: daily circulation at the Washington Post declined 8.6 per cent in 2012 to an average 471,800, while Sunday circulation fell 6.2 per cent to 687,200.

Newspaper publishing revenues fell six per cent year-over-year in the quarter to $162 million and were down seven per cent for the year.

Print advertising revenue at The Post slid 14 per cent in 2012 to $228.2 million, with a 12 per cent drop in the fourth quarter.

"The decline is largely due to reductions in general and retail advertising," a company statement said on Friday.

The group saw only modest gains in its online activities, which include the washingtonpost.com website and Slate, where revenues were up five per cent for the year at $110.6 million.

Display online advertising revenue increased six per cent in 2012 while online classified advertising revenue decreased one per cent for the year.

The Post, one of the last major US newspapers to offer its content free of charge online, is expected to erect a metered paywall this year, where readers will have to pay for access beyond a minimum number of articles.

The Post is also considering the sale of its headquarters in the city's downtown district.

The past quarter's results were affected by a write-down of $111 million at Kaplan Test Preparation, reflecting the lower value of the business, which faces a more difficult economic environment.

Newspaper operations showed an operating profit of $2.6 million in the quarter, but a loss of $53.7 million for the full year.

Cable television delivered a quarterly operating profit of $43 million and broadcast television $62 million in operating earnings.

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US weekly jobless claims rise

NEW claims for US unemployment benefits rose last week after two straight weeks of decline.

Initial jobless claims rose to 362,000 in the week ending February 16, from the prior week's revised reading of 342,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Last week's increase in claims was bigger than the average analyst estimate of 358,000, but did not totally erase the declines of the previous two weeks.

Weekly claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, have trended between 330,000 and 375,000 since early December as the job market slowly improves amid a sluggish economy.

The four-week moving average of new jobless claims, which helps to smooth week-over-week volatility, climbed for the second consecutive week, rising 2.3 per cent to 360,750, its highest level in more than a month.

According to the latest official data, the US unemployment rate was 7.9 per cent in January.

The Federal Reserve, in the minutes of its January monetary policy meeting released on Wednesday, was debating whether it should pull the plug on its open-ended $US85 billion ($A83 billion) asset purchases program even before the labour market has "substantially" improved.

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Pyramid of pharaoh's adviser discovered

A PYRAMID that dates back more than 3000 years and built for an adviser to King Ramses II has been discovered in Luxor, Egypt's state minister for antiquities says.

The remains of the large mudbrick pyramid - whose original height was 15 metres - were unearthed during excavations on the hill of Sheikh Abdel Qurna by a Belgian mission of the Universite libre de Bruxelles and Universite de Liege, Mohammed Ibrahim said.

"Stamp impressions on the bricks indicate that the pyramid belongs to a vizier of Upper and Lower Egypt named Khay, who held this charge for 15 years during the reign of pharaoh Ramses II (1279-1213 BC) in the 19th dynasty," the mission said in a statement.

"The monument was largely dismantled in the 7th and 8th century AD, when the tomb was transformed into a Coptic hermitage," it said.

The discovery is of major importance "since the vizier Khay was known to Egyptologists by a large number of documents but the location of his tomb remained undiscovered", the mission said.

Luxor, ancient Thebes, is a treasure trove of ancient Egyptian architecture and artefacts.

The city, a major tourist spot, has been badly affected by insecurity gripping the country since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

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18 killed in India bomb blasts

AT least 18 people have been killed and 52 wounded when bombs ripped through crowded areas of the Indian city of Hyderabad in what the prime minister has called a "dastardly act".

The bombs targeted a mainly Hindu district in a suburb of the city, a hub of India's information technology industry, which has a large Muslim population, and came with the nation on alert after the recent hanging of a Kashmiri separatist.

"We have 18 people dead," a police officer who declined to be named told AFP.

Another senior police officer at the scene of one of the explosions, Amit Garg, put the number of wounded at 52.

Police said many of the injured were in critical condition in hospital.

"This is a dastardly act and the guilty will not go unpunished," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said of the attacks, the deadliest to hit India since 13 people died in a 2011 bombing outside the High Court in the capital New Delhi.

But Singh also appealed for "calm" in the aftermath of the Hyderabad blasts.

City police said there had been three explosions, but Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said he could only confirm two.

"The two bombs were placed on two different bicycles and the distance between them was about 100 to 150 metres," Shinde told reporters in New Delhi.

He said Indian authorities had received "intelligence inputs in the (recent) days about the possibility of attacks and this information was shared with other states".

Police said the blasts went off in quick succession.

Huge crowds gathered near the site of the explosions in the Hyderabad suburb of Dilsukh Nagar as police struggled to collect evidence.

Meanwhile at the Osmania General Hospital, bloodied victims lay on stretchers as sobbing relatives pleaded for information about their loved ones.

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Three killed in Las Vegas shootout

AT least three people have died and three others are injured after a "rolling shootout" and multiple car crash on the Las Vegas strip, police say.

Two speeding cars, including a Maserati, were involved in a shootout in the neon-lit casino and hotel zone around Las Vegas Boulevard near Flamingo Road, Metro Las Vegas Police Sergeant John Sheahan told local broadcast news on Thursday.

"Before 4.30am this morning there was apparently a rolling gun battle on the strip," Sheahan told the local ABC and CBS TV news affiliates.

The Maserati driver, who was struck by gunfire, lost control of the vehicle and struck several cars, including a taxi that burst into flames.

The Maserati driver and two people in the taxi were killed.

The other vehicle fled the scene and police will investigate surveillance footage to identify it, Sheahan said.

Local television news citing police sources said officers were hunting for a black Range Rover.

The passenger in the Maserati and at least two other people were injured and take to hospital.

Three other vehicles were struck and at least two more people were at the hospital being treated for other injuries, Sheahan said.

Police do not yet know the identity nor motive of the shooters. "This is still very, very early in this investigation," Sheahan said.

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Top detective assigned to Pistorius case

SOUTH African police have named a top detective to take over the bungled Oscar Pistorius investigation after it emerged the officer assigned to the case faces attempted murder charges.

"We recognise the significance, the importance and the severity of the matter," commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Mangwashi 'Riah' Phiyega said on Thursday.

She assigned the case to top-ranking detective Lieutenant General Vineshkumar Moonoo.

"He is the most senior detective in the SAPS environment. This matter will receive attention at the national level."

The Pistorius prosecution has been severely undermined by revelations that Hilton Botha, the original case officer, has to answer seven attempted murder charges for shooting at a minibus taxi in 2011.

The revelation overshadowed Pistorius's bail hearing on Thursday, undermining the man who had been the key to the prosecution's allegation of premeditated murder.

"We were only informed yesterday that attempted murder charges against Hilton Botha have been reinstated," police spokesman Neville Malila told AFP.

It was the final straw for Botha, whose testimony was repeatedly challenged by defence lawyers on Wednesday.

Pistorius's lawyers had torn into Botha's police work during a court hearing, undermining his witnesses and forcing him to agree that the Olympian's version of events fitted the crime scene.

"It sounds consistent," Botha told the court.

Botha conceded he did not wear protective clothing when Pistorius's forensic team visited the athlete's luxury Pretoria home where the killing took place, which may have contaminated the scene.

He was further forced to admit that police had not seen a bullet that hit the toilet basin and which was only discovered four days later by the defence forensic team.

On Thursday, defence lawyer Barry Roux again pilloried Botha and what he called "disastrous shortcomings in the state's case".

As the controversy over the police investigation swirled, Botha admitted on the witness stand: "I'm sure it could have been handled better."

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Fresh unrest erupts at Greek protests

POLICE in Athens have fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters as thousands of Greeks walked off the job to join the debt-ridden country's first general strike this year and oppose austerity measures.

About 15,000 striking workers took part in a Communist-organised demonstration in Athens on Wednesday and 20,000 more joined protests organised by other unions, according to police figures.

Another 15,000 people marched in Greece's northern metropolis Thessaloniki, local authorities said.

Protesters tried to firebomb a car in Athens and threw rocks at police, who fired back tear gas, while in the city of Iraklio on the island of Crete, demonstrators overturned a squad car, police said.

"Unpaid bills, slashed wages and pensions, boarded-up shops. Greek people cannot wait for saviours. Only by taking their fortunes into their own hands can they exit the stalemate," main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, head of the radical leftist Syriza party, told reporters.

The nationwide strike - the first general work stoppage in Greece this year - forced airport authorities to scrap or reschedule dozens of flights while hospitals operated on reduced staffing.

Ships were to remain docked throughout the day, disrupting ferry services to the islands. And although most public transport was to run, buses and train services expected disruptions.

Doctors, lawyers and teachers took part in the protest action organised by private sector union GSEE and the public sector ADEDY.

"No to modern sweat-shops, hands off collective labour agreements," read the main banner carried by Communist demonstrators in Athens.

"Everybody I know is unemployed," said Alexandra Papadatou, a 28-year-old jobless economist.

"I am fighting on the streets for this government, which passes all these measures, to fall," she told AFP.

"I am considered lucky because at least I have a salary, about 600 euros ($A782)," said Panayiotis Kolovos, a 25-year-old novice lawyer.

"This amount is probably a privilege for the majority of youth near my age. We truly marginally survive," Kolovos said.

Greece's three-party government insists there is no alternative to the harsh austerity program demanded by the country's creditors in return for vital loans to stave of bankruptcy.

Successive cuts to salaries and pensions over the past three years have angered Greeks who have frequently taken to the streets to demonstrate their frustration.

The government has pledged to remedy some of the cuts when the economy limps back into growth next year - a prospect that had been originally forecast for this year.

Facing a sixth year of continuous recession, the heavily indebted country has been relying on international rescue packages to avoid bankruptcy and get its economy back on track.

Since 2010 the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have committed 240 billion euros overall in rescue loans to Greece.

Auditors representing Greece's EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund creditors are expected in Athens next week to assess the progress of its program.

Their report will determine whether Athens will receive a scheduled slice of 2.8 billion euros from its international creditors due in February.

Among its obligations to its creditors, Greece must eliminate 25,000 civil service jobs this year, a measure set to cause further union trouble.

The government has seen its parliamentary majority erode after adopting in November a new 18.5 billion euro round of spending cuts and other reforms by 2016.

The coalition now has 163 deputies in the 300-seat chamber.

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UK neighbourhood wants its Banksy back

A LONDON neighbourhood wants its Banksy back.

A stencil by the famed, secretive graffiti artist of a young boy sewing Union Jack bunting on an antique sewing machine appeared on the side of a bargain store last May.

Interpreted as an ironic comment on Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations - 60 years on the British throne - and it drew art-lovers to the gritty Turnpike Lane area.

Last week it vanished, leaving nothing but a rectangle of exposed brick - only to reappear on the website of a Miami auction house.

Listed as "Slave Labor (Bunting Boy)," it is due to be sold on Saturday with an estimated price of between $US500,000 ($A485,340) and $US700,000 ($A679,480).

The MP representing Turnpike Lane, Lynne Featherstone, says she has asked the building's owner for an explanation but has yet to receive a reply. Poundland, the store that occupies the building, said it had nothing to do with the removal.

"(It's) totally unethical that something so valued should be torn without warning from its community context," Featherstone said.

Local authorities have asked Britain's Arts Council for help in getting the artwork back.

Alan Strickland, a councilor with local Haringey Council, said the mural had become "a real symbol of local pride" in an area badly hit in England's August 2011 riots.

"The Banksy created a huge amount of excitement when it first appeared, and residents are understandably shocked and angry that it has been removed for private sale," Strickland said.

"The community feels that this artwork was given to it for free, and that it should be kept in Haringey where it belongs, not sold for a fast buck."

Fine Art Auctions Miami could not immediately be reached for comment and Banksy's publicist did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The anonymous street artist, who refuses to reveal his real name, began his career spray-painting buildings and bridges in his home city of Bristol in southwest England.

His often satirical images include two policemen kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words "Laugh now, but one day I'll be in charge."

Original Banksy works now sell for up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and the artist has become an international celebrity. He has created sequences for The Simpsons and directed an Academy Award-nominated documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop.

But his works are still sometimes obliterated by zealous local officials, street cleaners or - as in this case - taken off buildings along with a chunk of wall for private sale.

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Jury dismissed for wife of disgraced UK MP

A BRITISH jury has been dismissed after failing to reach a verdict in the trial of Vicky Pryce, the ex-wife of a former UK cabinet minister who resigned after lying for years about a speeding ticket.

Pryce had pleaded not guilty to obstructing justice for taking the fall for a speeding penalty for her then-husband, Chris Huhne, in 2003. She claims she was coerced by her husband into taking the license penalty points for his speeding offence.

Huhne - who had repeatedly denied wrongdoing - entered a last-minute guilty plea to the same charge just before his trial was due to start earlier this month. The case shattered his political career: he resigned as a UK politician the same day he pleaded guilty.

The judge in Pryce's trial at London's Southwark Crown Court discharged the jury on Wednesday after jurors said it was "highly unlikely" they could reach even a majority verdict.

Pryce, an economist who has worked as a senior adviser in both the private sector and in government, will now face a retrial.

The details of her case riveted Britain, as deeply personal and embarrassing revelations about the powerful couple's 25-year marriage emerged.

Pryce and Huhne split in 2010 after it was revealed that he was having an affair with his public relations adviser.

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Jackman and Crowe to star at Oscars

RUSSELL Crowe didn't earn many rave reviews for his singing in Les Miserables, but that hasn't stopped the Academy from inviting him to appear on stage for a musical extravaganza during Monday's (AEDT) Oscar ceremony.

Crowe, Hugh Jackman and their fellow Les Miserables cast members, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks and Helena Bonham Carter, will be involved in a celebration honouring movie musicals of the last decade.

Dreamgirls' Jennifer Hudson and Chicago's Catherine Zeta-Jones, both Oscar winners for their singing-acting roles, will also be involved.

The Academy did not say if Jackman, Crowe and the others will be singing during the extravaganza.

"We are pleased to have been able to amass so much talent to create the celebration of musicals of the last decade that we envisioned," Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, producers of the Academy Awards ceremony TV telecast, said in a statement.

"We are thrilled that so many talented actors have agreed to bring our vision to life."

Zadan and Meron have already hired some of the biggest guns in show business to perform at Hollywood's night of nights, with Barbra Streisand, Adele, Dame Shirley Bassey and Norah Jones taking to the stage.

The Oscar ceremony, held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, will be aired in more than 225 countries, with comedian Seth MacFarlane hosting.

Australia's nominees are Jackman, Naomi Watts, Jacki Weaver and hairstylist-makeup artist on The Hobbit, Rick Findlater.

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Grenada's opposition wins election

A FORMER prime minister of Grenada is returning to power on the eastern Caribbean island after his party won all 15 constituencies in parliamentary elections.

Keith Mitchell's New National Party defeated the National Democratic Congress of outgoing leader Tillman Thomas in Tuesday's vote. Thomas had served as prime minister since 2008.

Elections supervisor Judy Benoit says preliminary results show the NNP received more than 31,000 votes and the NDC more than 20,000.

Grenada has nearly 110,000 inhabitants.

The 13 seats in the island's Senate are indirectly determined by the election. The new government appoints 10 of the seats while the opposition names three.

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Blasts near presidential palace in Syria

TWO mortar shells fired by "terrorists" have exploded near Tishreen presidential palace in the Syrian capital, causing some damage but no casualties, state media says.

The mortars "landed near the southern wall of Tishreen palace, only causing material damage", state news agency SANA quoted an unnamed official as saying on Tuesday. The rebel Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to SANA, the shells slammed into an area around the Al-Mouwassat and Children's hospital in west Damascus, "leaving no casualties".

The hospitals are several hundred metres (yards) from Tishreen which is reserved for visiting dignitaries but is not an actual residence of President Bashar al-Assad.

This is the first time that the Syrian authorities have reported shells falling near a presidential palace.

The military council of the rebel Free Syrian Army meanwhile announced on Facebook that "the Free Army has fired mortars at the Tishreen presidential palace, resulting in a definite hit".

Tishreen is one of three such palaces in the capital. The others are the Peoples' palace atop Mount Qassioun in the north and Rawda palace in the centre, which holds the executive offices.

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Missing Sydney boy found

POLICE have found a boy who was reported missing in Sydney's southwest.

Tyreese Tutudua was last seen just before 9.30pm (AEDT) on Tuesday after leaving his house on Moore Street at Campsie.

A taxi driver later spotted the nine-year-old and contacted police.

The boy has since been returned to his family.

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NKorea envoy warns South of 'destruction'

SOUTH Korea faces "final destruction" if Seoul and its allies continue to push for tougher UN resolutions against North Korea's nuclear program, Pyongyang has warned.

"We have never recognised the propagandist resolutions on sanctions by the UN Security Council," North Korean envoy Jon Yong Ryong told a session of the UN Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday.

"As the saying goes, 'a newborn puppy knows no fear of a tiger.' South Korea's erratic behaviour could only herald its final destruction," he insisted.

North and South Korea traditionally trade barbs at the UN forum - which meets regularly in Geneva and focusses on a raft of global arms-control issues.

But in the wake of North Korea's latest nuclear test last week and a global outpouring of condemnation, the rhetoric was unusually high-pitched on Tuesday.

Last week's test was North Korea's most powerful to date, with Pyongyang claiming a breakthrough with a "miniaturised" device.

North Korea's secretive regime repeatedly has rejected international calls to halt its nuclear program, belittling international sanctions.

Jon also slammed the United States, blaming the superpower for the current stand-off with his country - known officially as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK.

"The DPRK nuclear test is just a measure for self-defence, to cope with intensified US nuclear blackmail against it," he said.

"It is the disposition and firm will of the army and people of the DPRK to counter a high-handed policy with the toughest policy and react to pressure and sanctions with an all-out counter action," he added.

"The DPRK does not make any empty talk. It will take the toughest measure against foreign aggressors and violation of sovereignty in the future," he insisted.

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Pistorius denies he intended shooting

SOUTH African Olympic hero Oscar Pistorius has tearfully denied the premeditated murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, telling a court he repeatedly shot at her through a locked bathroom door believing she was an intruder.

"I am absolutely mortified by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva," Pistorius said on Tuesday in an affidavit at a court hearing in the capital Pretoria, his first public comments on the Valentine's Day killing.

The 26-year-old double amputee track star broke down in tears repeatedly as his own words filled the court: "We were deeply in love and couldn't be more happy."

"I had no intention to kill my girlfriend," he said in the affidavit read out by his lawyer as Pistorius sat in the dock, struggling to hold his composure.

As the court hearing was under way, Steenkamp was being laid to rest at an emotional private ceremony at a crematorium in her hometown of Port Elizabeth.

The Blade Runner who became an inspiration to millions when he became the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympics, faces a charge of premeditated murder, which will likely result in remand without bail and, if convicted, a life sentence behind bars.

Pistorius said the couple, who had been dating since late last year, had spent the evening at his upscale Pretoria home watching television and with the 29-year-old Steenkamp doing yoga.

He awoke in the dead of night "filled with horror and fear" that someone was in the bathroom and said he felt "very vulnerable" because he did not have his prosthetic legs on.

"I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police.

"Reeva was not responding. When I reached the bed, I realised that Reeva was not in bed.

"That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet."

After breaking down the door with a cricket bat, Pistorius said "Reeva was slumped over but alive". She died a short time later in his arms.

Prosecutors argued that far from being an accident, Steenkamp's death was a premeditated act of murder.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court Pistorius had armed himself, put on his prosthetic legs, walked seven metres and fired four shots into the bathroom door, hitting a terrified Steenkamp three times and fatally wounding her.

"She could go nowhere," Nel said.

There was no decision on bail on Tuesday, with court proceedings delayed until Wednesday.

Magistrate Desmond Nair said he could not rule out that there was some planning involved in the killing, which may be considered as a premeditated murder for the purposes of bail.

But Pistorius's legal team rejected the claims as he sought to argue he was not a flight risk.

"I have no intention to relocate to any other country as I love my country," he said.

Pistorius revealed he earned 5.6 million rand ($A624,665)) a year and owned the $US570,000 ($A556,342) house in the gated estate where the killing took place and two other homes.

Lawyers submitted affidavits from friends of both Pistorius and Steenkamp, which spoke of the couple's close relationship.

"She said she could see a future with him. She said if Oscar asked her to marry him she'd probably say yes," said friend Samantha Greyvenstein.

Pistorius, who off the track has a rocky private life of rash behaviour, beautiful women, guns and fast cars, has built up a powerful team of lawyers, medical specialists and public relations experts for his defence.

In 2009 Pistorius - who once admitted to a newspaper that he slept with a pistol, machine gun, cricket bat and baseball bat for fear of burglars - spent a night in jail after allegedly assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a party.

Meanwhile in Port Elizabeth, tearful friends and family said goodbye to Steenkamp, whose cloth-draped coffin with white flowers laid on top was carried into a chapel in the southeastern coastal city where she grew up.

"There's a space missing inside all of the people that she knew that can't be filled again," her brother Adam, who gave the eulogy, told reporters after the ceremony.

"We're going to keep all the positive things that we remember and know about my sister and we will try and continue with the things that she tried to make better. We'll miss her."

A funeral program simply entitled Reeva bore the dates of her birth and death, and a black-and-white portrait of Steenkamp with the words God's Gift, A Child written on the back.

On Saturday a celebrity television show aired haunting footage of Steenkamp speaking about the need to leave a positive mark on life, words laden with poignancy after her death.

Pistorius, a Paralympian gold-medallist, became the first double amputee to run against able-bodied athletes at last year's Olympics in London on the carbon-fibre running blades that inspired his nickname.

But his career has been put on hold since the shooting, forcing him to cancel races in Australia, Brazil, Britain and the United States between March and May.

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At least three dead in US shooting spree

POLICE in a California city say at least three people are dead and others are wounded after a chaotic 25-minute shooting spree.

Tustin police Supervisor Dave Kanoti says there are several crime scenes as authorities work to determine if the shootings were connected.

He says the shootings are believed to have started on Tuesday with a fatal carjacking. As the carjacker moved into the city, police started getting reports of shots fired.

Kanoti says two victims are confirmed dead. He says the shooter then killed himself nearby.

Kanoti says it's possible there are more victims.

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Independent to sell South African titles

IRISH publishing group Independent News and Media (INM) will sell its South African operation to a local empowerment firm, Sekunjalo, in a deal said to be worth $US227.27 million ($A222 million), according to a statement.

INM said it has "agreed detailed heads of terms with Sekunjalo Independent Media Consortium for the sale of INM South Africa for a consideration of two billion rand".

Plans by INM to sell its South African business first surfaced in July last year, when the company appointed an investment company to advice on the sale.

Independent Newspapers is South Africa's largest English newspaper company, with more than 30 daily and weekly titles.

Several companies had made bids for the local operation of the debit-hit INM, which has been the most profitable unit in the group controlled by Denis O'Brien.

Ten years ago the company added Zulu newspapers to its titles, capitalising on the untapped indigenous market.

Sekunjalo Holdings chief executive Iqbal Surve told Business Day the group would consider expansion plans into Mozambique, Angola and other southern African countries once the deal was finalised.

"I also see a lot of opportunity on the African east coast, particularly Kenya," he said.

The deal is subject to approval by INM shareholders and the South African competition authorities.

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Weather extremes show climate risk: UN

LAST year's record shrinkage of Arctic sea ice and a spell of catastrophic droughts, floods and storms highlight the risk to the planet from climate change, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says.

In an annual review of the world's environment coinciding with ministerial-level talks in Nairobi, UNEP also warned of an alarming surge in elephant and rhino poaching.

In 2012, summer sea ice in the Arctic covered a record low area of 3.4 million square kilometres, which was 18 per cent below the previous recorded minimum in 2007, and 50 per cent below the average in the 1980s and 1990s, UNEP said.

Land ice in Greenland also showed signs of melting and permafrost in high latitudes was in retreat, it said.

"Changing environmental conditions in the Arctic, often considered a bellwether for global climate change, have been an issue of concern for some time, but as of yet this awareness has not translated into urgent action," UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said.

He pointed to a rush to extract the oil and gas in the Arctic's seabed as the ice retreats and cautioned that the outcome could be even greater emissions of greenhouse gases.

"What we are seeing is that the melting of ice is prompting a rush for exactly the fossil-fuel resources that fuelled the melt in the first place," said Steiner.

"The rush to exploit these vast untapped reserves has consequences that must be carefully thought through by countries everywhere, given the global impacts and issues at stake."

The UNEP 2013 Year Book also noted a string of weather disasters, of which the United States bore the brunt, including its worst drought in decades as well as Hurricane Sandy.

"Extreme weather events ... in 2012 draw attention to the need to prepare for and make efforts to prevent heavy losses" as a result of climate change, it said.

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Amazon sacks security in German scandal

US online retail giant Amazon says it has cut ties with a security firm at the centre of allegations that foreign seasonal staff hired in Germany by Amazon were harassed and intimidated.

An Amazon spokeswoman said it had ensured "the criticised security service is not used any longer, effective immediately", a day after a German government minister called for a probe.

A public television documentary broadcast last week alleged that workers brought in from crisis-hit countries such as Spain to help at Amazon warehouses faced bullying from security personnel, some of whom wore clothing associated with neo-Nazi groups.

It added that Amazon paid the workers less than advertised and that their belongings were regularly searched in the temporary housing they were provided.

"As a responsible employer of approximately 8000 salaried logistics employees, Amazon has zero tolerance for discrimination and intimidation and expects the same from every company we work with," Ulrike Stoecker, spokeswoman for Amazon's German branch, said in a statement emailed to AFP.

The US company, which has about 7700 people on staff in Germany and hires additional temporary workers at peak times, said it was looking into the allegations and would not tolerate intimidation at its sites.

Hensel European Security Services, the company targeted in the documentary, also denied any wrongdoing.

Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen told the Sunday newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, that any proof of wrongdoing could result in serious consequences for the temporary employment agency used by Amazon.

"If the investigation shows there is something to the accusations against the temporary placement agency, then its licence is at risk," she said.

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EU agrees news sanctions against N Korea

THE European Union has agreed a raft of new sanctions against North Korea in retaliation for the country's nuclear test last week, EU officials say.

The measures range from financial measures to travel bans and asset freezes against individuals.

The sanctions include the implementation of individual sanctions approved at UN level as well as EU restrictions on financial dealings and trade sanctions on items potentially linked to Pyonyang's ballistic and nuclear programs, the source says.

"It is a tough package that aims to mark our opposition to the nuclear test," conducted by Pyonyang on February 12, a senior EU diplomat said on Monday.

The UN Security Council on January 22 ordered expanded sanctions against North Korea, adding its state space agency, a bank, four trading companies and four individuals to an existing UN sanctions list.

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Chavez in Venezuela after cancer surgery

PRESIDENT Hugo Chavez has shocked and delighted Venezuelans by returning home after spending more than two months in Cuba for cancer surgery and treatment.

Chavez announced his return on Twitter, and his arrival at Caracas airport was not broadcast on TV, which is unusual in this oil-rich country he so thoroughly dominates politically and personally. Chavez was immediately hospitalised to continue treatment.

"We have arrived again to the Venezuelan motherland," Chavez wrote. "Thank you, God. Thank you, my beloved people. We will continue my treatment here."

From the airport, he was taken to Carlos Avarela Military Hospital in Caracas, said his son-in-law and Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza.

Vice-President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's hand-picked political heir, swiftly went on national television to declare that Venezuelans were "absolutely happy" to have the president back.

Venezuelans had neither seen nor heard from Chavez since he left for Cuba in December, although on Friday photos of a bedridden but smiling Chavez were shown on Venezuelan TV.

The last time Venezuelans saw Chavez was when he left for Cuba December 10 for his fourth round of cancer surgery since being diagnosed in mid-2011.

Pro-Chavez people started gathering in Bolivar Plaza to celebrate the return of their larger than life comandante, a garrulous populist who is the most visible face of the Latin American left and a thorn in the side of Washington for his alignment of oil-rich Venezuela with nations such as Iran, Syria and Cuba.

"He's back, he's back, he's back," supporters chanted, footage broadcast on state-run VTV showed.

Fidel Castro hailed his long-time friend's return home. He said a "long and anxious" wait is over for the Venezuelan people, thanks to Chavez's "stunning physical stamina and the total dedication of the doctors" who treated him in Havana.

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Anastasiades wins Cyprus presidential vote

RIGHT-WING leader Nicos Anastasiades has won the presidential election in Cyprus with 51 per cent of the vote, exit polls show.

The polls gave 66-year-old Disy party leader Anastasiades 51.1 per cent, well ahead of main challenger Stavros Malas, 45, a British-educated independent backed by the AKEL communist party, who won 27.3 per cent.

Setting off chanting and honking of car horns by Disy supporters, the exit polls, with a margin of error of 1.5 per cent, showed former foreign minister George Lillikas coming in with 18 per cent.

The election was seen as one of the most crucial since independence, with Cypriots voting for a new president to rescue the recession-hit EU member state from bankruptcy.

Anastasiades had the backing of centre-right Diko party in the race for the presidency, which unlike in previous polls on the normally affluent but divided island focused on the economy rather than elusive efforts at reunification.

Anastasiades is seen as someone the European Union can do business with, while his stance on ending the division of Cyprus is more flexible than his rivals.

The most pressing task facing the next president as he starts a five-year term will be to agree terms with a troika of lenders on a bailout to save the island's Greek-exposed banks and failing economy.

President Demetris Christofias sought a bailout in June, and talks dragged on as the outgoing leader, who did not stand for re-election, resisted measures including privatisation and reopened talks with Russia on a top-up loan.

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NSW nurses to vote on pay claim

NSW nurses and midwives are preparing to vote on a proposed pay rise and staff ratios claim.

The claim includes applying compulsory minimum ratios in all hospitals, including smaller and multipurpose services.

It would equate to six nursing hours per patient per day.

Other proposals include introducing minimum ratios for children's hospitals and emergency departments, as well as introducing mandated face-to-face patient time in community nursing.

Nurses will also vote on a 2.5 per cent annual pay rise, which will provide the majority of full-time workers with a pay rise of more than $3800 per year by July 2014.

More than 33,000 public-sector nurses and midwives with the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association are eligible to vote on Monday.

The current award, finalised in February 2011 under an agreement with the former Labor government, includes compulsory minimum nursing ratios for most wards in acute hospitals.

"The O'Farrell government must now build on those levels and ensure every public patient in NSW has access to the same level of care, NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) general secretary Brett Holmes said.

"Many people would be surprised and shocked to know that minimum staffing levels are currently not guaranteed in NSW hospitals for seriously ill infants and children," he said.

Mr Holmes said the state government had been willing to claim credit for the employment of extra nursing positions, even though the placements were created under an agreement with the former Labor government.

"It will be interesting to see how it reacts, now that it has a chance to act on its own right and extend this reform into other important areas such as children's wards and rural facilities," he said.

NSWNMA branches must vote by 4pm (AEDT) on Friday March 1.

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Kosovo marks independence five years on

KOSOVO'S president has insisted its independence is an "irrefutable reality" as the impoverished territory marked five years since it broke away from Serbia.

Relations have thawed with its long-time foe under EU-sponsored reconciliation talks that are key to Belgrade's bid to join the bloc, but tensions remain and daily life in Kosovo is still a struggle for many.

"The republic of Kosovo is an irrefutable reality and its independence is irreversible," President Atifete Jahjaga said in a televised address on Sunday.

Kosovo's star-studded flags fluttered along Pristina's main streets alongside the US Stars and Stripes as thousands of people gathered to watch a military parade by the Kosovo Security Force, trained by NATO as an emergency force.

"We are developing a clear vision of our Euro-Atlantic future," Jahjaga said of Kosovo's desire to join both the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Almost 100 countries - including the United States - have recognised Kosovo since ethnic Albanians proclaimed independence on February 17, 2008, almost a decade after the 1998-1999 conflict that ended with a NATO bombing campaign against late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic's forces.

US Secretary of State John Kerry called on the authorities to keep "building stronger democratic institutions, advancing new economic opportunities, promoting the rule of law, and reinforcing Kosovo's European integration path".

Belgrade still considers the region its southern province, but the EU-led talks that began in March 2011 have led to a thaw, and the two presidents held their first talks in Brussels on February 6.

With Serbia's EU membership dependent on improving ties with Pristina, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic hinted last month Belgrade may give up its opposition to Kosovo's long-held goal of joining the United Nations.

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Plus-sized models celebrate in London

IT'S a skinny girl's world, particularly in fashion where the thin, androgynous look always wins out. But an alternative to London Fashion Week has celebrated the larger lady and all her curves.

"Thank you all for being who you are," declared one of the organisers at the first Official British Plus-Size Fashion Weekend in Shoreditch, an area in London's east beloved of hipsters and music fans.

Elegantly-dressed women browsed racks of clothes designed for European size 40 (Australian size 14) and upwards, snacking intermittently from plates of crisps and cupcakes spread around the venue - food here was not taboo.

Wearing skirts, shorts or bikinis, the women were greeted with enthusiastic applause in the final catwalk on Sunday.

While many of the models could only be described as voluptuous, some of the clothes on offer were not what many people think of as plus-sized.

Hayley, a 24-year-old model who wears European size 42 (Australian size 16), berated the industry for the way it categorised women.

"I think even some agencies these days call girls that are UK size 10 (Australian size 12) plus size. That's just crazy.

"I think that plus size is the wrong word. I think a curvy model would be a better word to describe me and plus size is not necessarily the nicest expression."

Thirteen designers attended the fashion weekend, but the number was dwarfed by the almost 80 labels showing across town at the official London Fashion Week, where skinny girls still reign supreme.

"At the end, I hope there won't be two segregated shows. But for now, we want to give curvy women an option," said one of the organisers Rianne Ward.

She plans to run the plus-sized event again next year, hoping to emulate the success of New York's Full-Figured Fashion Week, which is in its fifth year.

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Israel's Lieberman pleads not guilty

THE trial of Israel's former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of fraud and breach of trust has opened at a Jerusalem court in a case that will decide the former nightclub bouncer's political future.

Wearing a dark blue suit and white shirt, Lieberman was silent as he entered the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court and did not speak to waiting reporters.

In a brief opening procedure on Sunday, the charges against Lieberman were read out, with the former minister pleading not guilty. The hearing was then adjourned until April 25.

Lieberman is accused of having intervened to try to secure an ambassadorial posting for an Israeli diplomat who provided him with confidential information about a police investigation into his affairs, in an incident dating back to 2008 when he was between cabinet portfolios and serving only as an MP.

The case against Lieberman is being heard by three judges, which commentators said was likely to make the prospect of a possible subsequent appeal harder for his lawyers than if a single judge was on the bench.

Despite his resignation from the foreign ministry, Lieberman remains head of the hardline secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu that ran on a joint list with the right-wing Likud of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, narrowly winning last month's election.

The list won 31 seats in the 120-member parliament, and Netanyahu is currently trying to piece together a coalition government.

Lieberman's political future, however, will depend on the outcome of the trial.

Since Lieberman's resignation, Netanyahu has himself served as interim foreign minister but he is reportedly seeking to reinstate his ally once the legal proceedings are over.

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