Italy to pay 40bn euros owed to business

THE Italian government has given its go-ahead for a bill to repay 40 billion euros ($A50.06 billion) owed to the private sector in a bid to stimulate growth.

"The cabinet meeting today approved an urgent decree to pay back the debts of the public sector to the private sector," Prime Minister Mario Monti told a press conference after talks on Saturday.

The bill had been eagerly awaited by Italy's business community under pressure from the longest post-war recession in the eurozone's third largest economy and a lack of available credit from banks.

Finance Minister Vittorio Grilli said the payments could begin as early as Monday and would extend over the next 12 months.

Monti said total debts were 80 billion euros at the end of 2011 and that banks estimated they had since risen to more than 100 billion euros.

"This means costs for businesses and for the whole country. It is an unacceptable situation that has taken on ever greater dimensions," Monti said.

The interim prime minister, who is in charge awaiting the formation of a new government following elections in February, said the payments would not breach the threshold of 3.0 per cent mandated by the European Union.

Monti stressed that the approval of the draft bill did not mean his government had plans to stay in charge for longer, adding that Saturday's cabinet meeting "could be the last one".

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72 dead in Mumbai building collapse

AUTHORITIES have abandoned a search for more survivors from the collapse of a seven-storey building on Mumbai's outskirts that killed 72 people.

They say there is no hope of finding anybody else alive.

The cave-in of the partly finished building late on Thursday has highlighted widespread shoddy building standards in India where there is huge demand for housing and pervasive corruption often means cost-cutting and no inspections.

"The rescue work is now over since there is no hope of finding any more survivors," Sandeep Malvi, Thane municipal corporation spokesman, told AFP on Saturday.

"The death toll is now 72. About 36 are injured and undergoing treatment. At least 126 people have been rescued," he added.

Most of the victims were poor daily wage earners working at the site and their families, who were living with them. The dead included 17 children and 22 women, a local government statement said.

The building collapse is the deadliest since 2010 when 69 people were killed in New Delhi in a similar incident.

A 65-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble late on Friday after being trapped for almost 30 hours and was in stable condition in hospital, police said.

Police have arrested the two builders responsible for construction of the structure who had fled after the disaster and filed accusations of culpable homicide against them, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

The building's floors collapsed directly on top of each other like a pack of cards - a phenomenon known as a "pancake collapse" - making rescue work even tougher, said Alok Awasthi, commandant of the National Disaster Response Force.

"We are reasonably sure there is nobody there," Awasthi said after calling off the search.

Rescue workers used sledgehammers, chainsaws, hydraulic jacks and bulldozers to break through the mass of rubble in Thane district, 35 kilometres from central Mumbai.

"We had to proceed very slowly as any mis-step would have pushed up the death toll," Awasthi said, according to PTI.

The Maharashtra state government has announced a probe into the incident and suspended a top civic administrator and a police officer for dereliction of duty.

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World powers, Iran extend nuke talks

IRAN and world powers are battling to break the deadlock in the crisis over Tehran's nuclear drive.

Talks in Kazakhstan have been extended into the evening after a day of exhausting diplomacy on Saturday.

Officials from both sides are tight-lipped over whether any progress had been made but discussions continued longer than expected.

So far they have failed to resolve the main issue of whether Iran will accept limits on its nuclear program in return for some relief on the sanctions that have hurt the Islamic republic's economy in the past two years.

The world powers - comprised of the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany and known collectively as the P5+1 - are represented by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Iran's team is led by top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili who has until now held out little hope of concessions from Tehran.

An Iranian official close to the negotiations in the Kazakh city of Almaty said Tehran submitted a "detailed proposal" on Saturday that set off the day's negotiations.

But sources added that the parties still could not agree on details as well as the vital subject of where and when to meet again.

As well as bilateral discussions, the two sides held a plenary meeting in the morning, then continued in the afternoon. Another plenary session took place in the evening, officials said.

The two sides had held an indecisive first day of meeting on Friday that ended with only an agreement to meet again and Western officials admitting the positions were still far apart.

Ashton started Saturday by meeting Jalili in the hope of establishing whether Tehran's position had shifted from its tough demands of the previous day.

Both sides acknowledge differences despite growing Western fears about the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program.

Iran insists on international recognition of its asserted "right" to enrich uranium and wants that condition to be a part of any deal.

The world powers on the other hand say the onus is on Iran to take the first step to guarantee its nuclear program is and has been exclusively peaceful.

They insist on Tehran ending enrichment to high levels and verifiably suspending operations at the Fordo mountain bunker where such activity takes place before recognising Iran's nuclear rights to less threatening activities.

The P5+1 grouping is especially worried about Iran's enrichment to levels of up to 20 per cent and wants the Islamic republic to ship out the part of its 20-per cent enriched uranium not converted into powder for reactor fuel.

Iran denies it is developing the atomic bomb and argues that it requires a nuclear program solely for peaceful medical and energy needs.

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British woman stabbed to death in Kashmir

A YOUNG British woman holidaying in Indian Kashmir has been found dead in a pool of blood on a houseboat.

Police have arrested a Dutch man on suspicion of her murder.

The 43-year-old was taken into custody as he tried to flee the scenic Kashmir valley in the foothills of the Himalayas, police superintendent Tahir Sajjad said on Saturday.

"We walked into a pool of blood in her room," Sajjad said.

"We found a sharp-edged knife close to her body. The young lady had multiple stab wounds."

The attacker broke the latch on the cabin door of the 24-year-old British tourist who'd been staying in the houseboat on the picturesque Dal Lake in the Indian Kashmir city of Srinagar for two months.

Police were investigating whether the victim had been sexually assaulted in the incident, which comes after a string of attacks on tourists travelling in India.

They said her body had been sent for a post-mortem examination.

"We can confirm the Jammu and Kashmir police have the body of a British woman. We have contacted the next-of-kin and we are providing consular assistance to the family," a British High Commission (embassy) spokeswoman told AFP in New Delhi.

"At this moment, we cannot reveal the identity of the woman," she added.

In a statement, the police said that the victim was from Manchester.

Police said they had arrested the suspect in a taxi near Qazigund, 75 kilometres south of Srinagar on the highway leading out of the Kashmir valley.

He had been staying in the same houseboat as the victim and had arrived on Thursday, they said.

He had allegedly fled in a small boat which capsized as he was trying to reach the shore, forcing him to swim. The suspect was carrying only his passport when he was arrested, police 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 $US44.7 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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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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Greek offshore accounts probed

OVER a hundred Greek offshore banking accounts will be probed by authorities after an international journalist group published information on over 122,000 tax haven accounts.

Finance ministry official Haris Theocharis confirmed on Thursday statements made to Greek daily Ta Nea, which is part of the global media investigation.

The probe was undertaken by the Washington-based international consortium of investigative journalists (ICIJ).

Titled Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze, it tracks the alleged involvement of officials, their families and associates in France, Azerbaijan, Russia, Canada, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada, Mongolia and other countries.

In Greece, only four of 107 offshore accounts held by Greeks in the British Virgin Islands and other havens are on government tax books.

Some are linked to state arms purchases while two were used to buy and refit the yacht Christina O once owned by legendary Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Ta Nea said.

"We will carefully examine the evidence published by the ICIJ and will try to make use of it in the best possible way," the finance ministry's Theocharis told the daily.

"If proof emerges on illegal or irregular activities we will proceed in the necessary fashion," he said.

The Greek account holders are apparently business executives and shipowners but also middle-class villagers from the country's poorer north, Ta Nea said.

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Children should leave Manus: Aristotle

ASYLUM seeker children and their families should be taken off Manus Island if the Australian government can't ensure adequate safeguards, a member of the government's asylum review panel says.

Australian authorities on Thursday transferred the first group of asylum seekers to the processing centre in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in two months.

But Paris Aristotle, part of former defence chief Angus Houston's refugee review panel, says safeguards to reduce risks to mental health are not in place at the detention centre.

The panel said any offshore processing arrangement needs to comply with international obligations, such as no arbitrary detention, the provision of legal assistance, review mechanisms, case management services and programs for physical and mental health.

Mr Aristotle says these safeguards aren't "just for the hell of it".

He's particularly concerned about the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers, especially children, on Manus Island.

"Something needs to be done to address that immediately," he told ABC TV's Lateline on Thursday.

"Six months in, I don't think it's appropriate that children are still held in detention anywhere.

"If they were free to move around, if there were adequate services available for them and so forth, then that may have been an acceptable option."

He has had discussions with the federal government and immigration department and doesn't believe they are ignoring the panel's recommendations. Rather, it has been difficult to get the co-operation of the PNG government.

For example, he said, on Nauru an independent board had been set up with government and non-government organisations and civil representatives from both countries to oversee the detention centre.

That was working extremely well and had contributed to improvements in conditions.

But on Manus Island, PNG wanted a similar board to consist of government officials only, contrary to the expert panel's recommendation.

"It's a feature of the complexity of doing things with other countries, where those countries have their own views about certain things," Mr Aristotle said.

But Australia did have control over whether to send people there before adequate arrangements were in place.

"If they can't rectify that situation straightaway, then my view is that children and their families should be returned and managed and processed here in Australia," he said.

He didn't expect the government would shut down Manus Island, but said they "absolutely" should if the expert panel's principles were not adhered to.

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My bushfire meal changed the game: Nixon

FORMER Victoria Police chief Christine Nixon says leaders will never again leave their post during a disaster out of fear they'll be criticised like she was on Black Saturday.

Ms Nixon, who served as chief police commissioner for almost eight years, left for dinner at a pub only minutes after being told the state's bushfires on February 7, 2009, could become a disaster and people would probably die.

A royal commission into the deaths of 173 people on that day later criticised her hands-off leadership style and called it inadequate.

She was also heavily criticised in the media for her decision to leave her post during the peak of the fires.

But Ms Nixon told the Nine Network program The Bottom Line, which airs on Saturday, that the incident had changed emergency management.

"I don't think anybody will ever leave the scene of anything ever again, with the criticism that happened," she said.

"Just in case something serious happens to them, they'll be able to say, 'Well, I was there.'"

Ms Nixon, who led bushfire recovery efforts after the disaster, said the criticism she faced was very harsh and she's still not sure if her staying at the state control centre would have made a difference.

"I let some people down. Some people believed I did," she said.

"Whether or not me being there or not would have made any difference to the fires is a whole other issue."

Ms Nixon is considered a trailblazer for women in the force and she led police through a difficult corruption scandal and Melbourne's gangland war.

But her pub dinner on Black Saturday has continued to dog her distinguished career.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in 2011 that Ms Nixon would have to reflect on that day for the rest of her life.

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Labor plans budgets for fairness: Wong

LABOR will always plan its budgets to ensure a fair and just society, Finance Minister Penny Wong says.

She says a sustainable budget is ultimately a social responsibility.

"It is a responsibility to not only provide social services today but also to work to ensure the economy and the budget will sustain them into the future," Senator Wong said in a speech to the Australian Fabian Society in Adelaide on Thursday.

"Simply expecting future generations to bear the costs is neither progressive, nor is it responsible."

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan will hand down his sixth budget on May 14. Opinion polls suggest it may be his final one.

Labor is yet to deliver a budget surplus since regaining government in November 2007, as the impact of the global financial crisis continues to ripple through government coffers.

Senator Wong says the values of sustainability and fairness will underpin Labor's decisions on the budget.

She says Labor aims to ensure the budget remains sustainable.

"Fiscal responsibility is not, and cannot be, the preserve of the conservatives," she said.

"The task of modern Labor is to marry a mandate to govern with progressive values and economic responsibility."

Government budgets would always be finite, she said.

"And in the end, it is the most vulnerable - those who need support to get ahead - that often lose out if we disregard fiscal sustainability," Senator Wong said.

"We only have to look to overseas to see the impact on social safety nets when budget positions are allowed to deteriorate."

Many governments in Europe have cut social security payments following the hit to their budgets since the global financial crisis.

Labor has felt political heat in recent weeks over possible changes to superannuation concessions for the wealthy in the upcoming budget.

Senator Wong said superannuation required a long-term perspective, with the ageing population and the greater life span of Australians placing a strain on government services.

"This government's approach to superannuation will continue to be guided by the same principles of sustainability and fairness," she said.

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Nine broke rules in program on Neil Brooks

THE broadcast watchdog has found the Nine Network's A Current Affair broke rules on accuracy, privacy and complaints handling in a 2012 program on Olympic gold medallist Neil Brooks.

Nine's program accused Neil Brooks and his wife Linda of scams in Australia, the US and France.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said on Thursday the program aired on March 5, 2012, did not have enough evidence to support a claim that police in these three countries were investigating allegations of fraud against the former swimmer and his wife.

ACMA said Nine had also breached privacy provisions, but it did not say what they were.

It also said Nine had committed a technical breach of the complaints handling process by not providing a substantive response to a complaint from Mr Brooks.

The code says licensees don't have to respond to complaints that are the subject of legal proceedings and Brooks had issued a concerns notice under the defamation act.

But ACMA says the broadcaster should have provided a response because the court action had not commenced.

It said Nine had accepted its findings and would acknowledge that on its website.

"It has conducted training on its complaints-handling obligations," ACMA said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Brooks won gold as part of the men's medley relay team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and was a former high-profile presenter on the Seven Network.

He left Australia with his wife and daughter Brooke in 2010. He first lived in France before moving to the United Kingdom.

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European stocks drop after technical rally

EUROPE'S main stock markets are falling as dealers book profits a day after a technical spike for equities, while Vodafone shares are sliding after US telecoms operator Verizon denied it was preparing a bid to buy out the British mobile phone giant.

European equities had rallied on Tuesday in thin trading, with Frankfurt and Paris closing up almost 2.0 per cent each, as dealers began returning to their desks after the Easter holiday weekend to digest developments over the Cyprus debt crisis.

In late morning trade on Wednesday, London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies was down 0.35 per cent at 6,467.90 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 dipped 0.09 per cent to 7,936.37 points and in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.14 per cent to 3,800.16.

"Yesterday's gains came in spite of a slew of poor economic data," said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG trading group.

"In a neat reversal, today we are seeing a modest pullback."

Vodafone's share price dropped 2.16 per cent to 187.85 pence after Verizon distanced itself from press speculation regarding a potential merger with the British group.

"As Verizon has said many times, it would be a willing purchaser of the 45 per cent stake that Vodafone holds in Verizon Wireless," the US company said in a statement.

"It does not, however, currently have any intention to merge with or make an offer for Vodafone, whether alone or in conjunction with others," Verizon said in a statement filed on Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Various media reports had said Verizon was mulling a joint attack with AT&T that would see the pair divide up Vodafone assets.

Market focus also remained firmly on Cyprus, with the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday agreeing to provide approximately one billion euros to the 10-billion-euro rescue plan for the cash-strapped eurozone nation.

This would be through a three-year 891-million-euro Special Drawing Rights loan, announced IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.

The European Central Bank (ECB) will meanwhile hold off from cutting rates or announcing any other policy moves at its meeting on Thursday so as to keep up pressure on governments to solve the eurozone's crisis, analysts said.

Also on Thursday, the Bank of England is expected to vote to maintain both its record-low interest rate and level of cash stimulus as investors wait to see whether Britain's economy has re-entered a period of recession.

In foreign exchange trade on Wednesday, the euro rose to $1.2830 from $1.2813 late in New York on Tuesday. Gold prices dropped to $1,569.94 an ounce from $1,583.50.

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Cyprus will implement bailout terms: govt

CASH-STRAPPED Cyprus will fully implement the terms of a 10 billion euros ($A12.36 billion) EU-IMF bailout, new Finance Minister Haris Georgiades said.

"First of all we shall implement the MoU (memorandum of understanding) fully without any derogation; we shall meet all timeframes and meet all targets," he said as he took up his new post.

Georgiades said "we do need assistance today but we shall do whatever it takes to fix our public finances and put our economy back on track for growth.

"Even though today's circumstances might be bleak, the medium and long-term prospects remain excellent."

"We have received a blow but I'm absolutely confident we shall overcome."

Under the terms of the bailout, Cyprus will drastically reduce the size of its bloated banking sector, raise taxes, downsize the public sector workforce and privatise some state-owned firms.

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WWII bomb in central Berlin defused

GERMAN sappers successfully defused a World War II bomb unearthed near Berlin's main train station in a delicate operation that snarled rail and road traffic for several hours.

The 100-kilogramme explosive was dropped by an Allied plane during the Second World War and discovered Tuesday, a police spokesman told AFP, adding that experts believed it was a Soviet-made bomb.

"The operation to defuse the device took about half an hour," the spokesman said.

"Everything went according to plan."

The bomb was found about 1.5 kilometres north of the main station and the rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, said up to 50 regional and long-distance trains had to be re-directed to other hubs for nearly four hours.

More than six decades after the war, authorities believe there are still some 3,000 bombs buried beneath Berlin alone, and unexploded devices are regularly discovered in construction work.

In June 2010, a 500-kilo Allied bomb, thought to be British, exploded and killed three German sappers, and seriously injured two others in the central city of Goettingen as they prepared to defuse it.

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Preschool children suffer puberty blues

CHILDREN with early onset puberty start suffering emotional and social issues from preschool age, several years before the first physical indications are visible, a major Australian research project shows.

The study, which followed almost 3,500 children from the age of four through to 11, found boys with an onset of puberty by eight to nine years had greater behavioural difficulties and poorer emotional and social adjustment from four to five years of age.

This pattern continued through to early adolescence.

Girls with early puberty had more emotional and social issues from early childhood, but not the behavioural problems found in boys.

Across the world, the age at which children start puberty has dropped significantly since reliable records began.

In 2012, a large US study showed the average age of puberty onset was 10 among caucasian and Hispanic boys.

A study from 2010 suggested the average age of breast-budding among caucasian girls was 9.9 years.

In 1860, the average age for caucasian girls was 16.6 years.

According to the Australian study, conducted by researchers from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, 16 per cent of girls and six per cent of boys start puberty early.

Lead researcher Dr Fiona Mensah says the study provides new evidence of pre-existing and persistent early childhood issues among children who experience early puberty.

"There is a heightened risk for behaviour and emotional problems during puberty; and children who reach puberty earlier than their peers have more of these difficulties in adolescence," she said.

"We think the association between early onset puberty and poorer adolescent mental health is due to developmental processes that start well before the onset of puberty and continue into adolescence."

The study, published on Wednesday in the Journal of Adolescent Health, used the Longitudinal Study of Australian children, in which parents completed questionnaires at four times.

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Climate change increases weather extremes

THIS sunburnt country will become a land of worse droughts and more frequent flooding rains as climate change continues.

A new report from the Climate Commission says climate change is already increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather.

And there's a high risk that heatwaves, fires, cyclones, heavy rainfall and drought will become even more intense and frequent in the coming decades.

The Critical Decade: Extreme Weather, released on Wednesday, says the global climate system is warmer and moister than 50 years ago, with the extra heat making extreme weather events more frequent and severe.

This has resulted in the extreme bushfires and floods that have engulfed Australian communities in recent years.

The past summer was Australia's hottest, capped by the longest and most extreme heatwave on record.

The southern part of the country - including key food-growing regions - is becoming more drought-prone while the northwest is getting wetter.

"Records are broken from time to time, but record-breaking weather is becoming more common as the climate shifts," chief climate commissioner Tim Flannery said.

The effects of extreme weather have a corresponding dramatic impact on communities and infrastructure, with the economic cost often running to billions of dollars.

The Climate Commission says communities, emergency services and health services need to prepare for increased severity and frequency of extreme weather.

It warns action taken in the next decade will be crucial.

"Stabilising the climate is like turning around a battleship - it cannot be done immediately given its momentum," its report states.

"When danger is ahead you must start turning the wheel now.

"Only strong preventative action now and in the coming years can stabilise the climate and halt the trend of increasing extreme weather for our children and grandchildren."

The independent commission's report draws on the latest research and observations from bodies including the CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and Australian and international universities.

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Small business 'ignoring social media'

NEARLY three quarters of small and medium businesses in Australia are failing to use social media as a marketing tool, research conducted by Telstra shows.

The report reveals only 24 per cent of the 1000 small and medium businesses surveyed have embraced social media.

A further 12 per cent also believed social media actually dampened business success.

Telstra Business group managing director Will Irving said with 62 per cent of adults worldwide now using social media, businesses ignoring this powerful tool were missing out.

"In a digital age where smartphones and tablets are used on a daily basis, we know customers expect a company to have a social media presence," he said.

"Successful Australian businesses are having a two-way conversation with customers online, allowing them to connect and engage on a personal level, either by providing real-time customer service or highlighting relevant new products."

Mr Irving has urged businesses to use a mix of online tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to engage customers and drive interest in their products.

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European stocks climb after Easter break

EUROPEAN stock markets have rallied as traders returned to their desks after the Easter holiday to digest the latest developments on the Cyprus debt crisis, dealers said.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies jumped 1.15 per cent to 6485.46 points in early on Tuesday afternoon deals in the British capital.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 1.19 per cent to 7888.95 points and in Paris the CAC 40 won 0.95 per cent to 3766.95. Madrid grew 0.65 per cent and Milan climbed 0.84 per cent.

In foreign exchange trade, the euro eased to $US1.2838 from $US1.2847 late in New York on Monday. Gold prices edged down to $US1597.75 an ounce from $US1598.25.

All major European markets were closed on Friday and Monday for the long holiday weekend.

Trade was buoyant despite the resignation of Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris who cited his tenure as chairman of Laiki Bank - whose failure was a major contributor to the island's near financial meltdown - as a reason.

Earlier on Tuesday, the government launched a judicial probe into how the island was pushed to the verge of bankruptcy before having to agree a crippling eurozone bailout.

But in more positive news, the central bank announced that it was raising the limit on business transactions from 5000 euros ($A6200) to 25,000 and was allowing people to issue cheques of up to 9000 euros.

In addition, the troika - the European Central Bank, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund - indicated readiness to give Cyprus more time to bring its budget into surplus, according to a draft loan agreement obtained by AFP.

The draft sets 2017 instead of 2016 as the target year for Cyprus to achieve a 4.0 per cent primary budget surplus.

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Afghan teenager fatally stabs US soldier

AN Afghan teenager has killed an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan by stabbing him in the neck while he played with a group of local children, officials say.

The killing comes as the monthly US death toll rose sharply in March to 14 with the start of the spring fighting season when the Taliban and other insurgents take advantage of improved weather to step up attacks.

Sergeant Michael Cable, 26, was guarding Afghan and US officials meeting in a province near the border with Pakistan when the stabbing occurred last Wednesday, two senior US officials said on Monday.

The attack occurred after the soldiers had secured the area for the meeting, but one of the US officials said the youth was not believed to have been a member of the Afghan security forces or in uniform so it was not being classified as an insider attack.

The official said the attacker was thought to be about 16 years old, but the age couldn't be verified.

The Afghan and American dignitaries were attending the swearing-in ceremony of Afghan Local Police in Shinwar district in Nangarhar province, senior district official Zalmai Khan said. Afghan Local Police, or ALP, recruits are drawn from villages and backed by the US military.

The soldier was playing with a group of children outside when the attacker came from behind and stabbed him in the neck with a large knife, Khan said, adding the young man had escaped to nearby Pakistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the young man was acting independently when he killed the soldier but had joined the Islamic militant movement since fleeing the scene.

At least 14 US soldiers died in March, compared with four in the previous two months, according to an Associated Press tally.

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Qld cops see double over drink drivers

QUEENSLAND police have pulled over the same car four times in one afternoon, resulting in drink driving charges for a man and woman who took turns in the driver's seat.

Officers first stopped the vehicle on North Stradbroke Island, southeast of Brisbane, at lunchtime on Monday, and breath tested a Redbank Plains woman behind the wheel.

The 27-year-old allegedly recorded a reading of 0.126 and was charged with drink driving.

A short time later, the woman's male passenger had taken the wheel when police pulled the vehicle over again.

The 34-year-old Redbank Plains man recorded a breath test reading of 0.110, and was also charged with drink driving.

The pair were released, but police say a short time later they saw the man back behind the wheel.

He recorded another positive breath test and was charged with drink driving for a second time as well as driving while suspended.

Not to be deterred, his partner allegedly got behind the wheel yet again.

She was again charged with drink driving, as well as driving while suspended.

Both are due to appear in the Cleveland Magistrates Court on May 14.

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Asian markets fall

ASIAN markets slipped in holiday-hit trade Monday, with investors unimpressed by a slight improvement in key economic indicators out of China and Tokyo.

The yen climbed against the dollar and euro ahead of a Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy meeting this week, while there are lingering concerns about political uncertainty in Italy as well as debt-ravaged Cyprus.

Tokyo slipped 2.12 per cent, or 262.89 points, to 12,135.02 on the back of the stronger yen and Seoul lost 0.44 per cent, or 8.90 points, to 1,995.99.

Shanghai slipped 0.10 per cent, or 2.22 points, to 2,234.40.

Sydney, Hong Kong and Wellington were closed for the Easter break.

The BoJ's closely watched Tankan survey of large Japanese manufacturers for the past three months showed a slight improvement in optimism for the world's number three economy, the first uptick in three quarters.

The survey showed sentiment at minus 8 between January and March, up from minus 12 three months earlier. The figures represent the percentage of firms saying business conditions are good minus those saying they are bad.

However, the figures were unable to prevent a sell-off in shares and a jump in the yen.

Hideki Matsumura, senior economist at Japan Research Institute, told Dow Jones Newswires: "Sentiment is getting better broadly, but the improvement isn't as strong as expected."

And Tachibana Securities market analyst Kenichi Hirano said the negative reaction "may have resulted from the perception that with the Nikkei having performed so well (gaining 19 per cent so far in 2012), general business sentiment should have been at least a little better".

The dollar slipped to 93.55 yen early in Asia, against 94.20 yen in New York trade on Friday, when trade was limited by the Easter holiday.

The euro bought $1.2812 and 119.85 yen compared with $1.2818 and 120.78 yen.

Australian bank Westpac said in a note to clients that investor focus was on Thursday's BoJ announcement, the first under the stewardship of Haruhiko Kuroda. He has promised aggressive measures to kick-start the economy and end decades of deflation.

"Some disappointment around this meeting is likely and we have a downward bias for the dollar-yen in the week ahead," Westpac said.

In China data showed manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year last month, indicating the world's number two economy was showing signs of improvement.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit 50.9 in March, the highest since April 2012 and up from 50.1 in February. However, it was below the 51.0 that had been forecast.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion while anything below points to contraction.

Separately, British bank HSBC -- with a survey that focuses more on smaller enterprises -- said its final PMI for March stood at 51.6, up from 50.4 in February. That figure was also slightly off the 51.7 in HSBC's preliminary PMI last week.

Oil prices fell, with New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in May, down 50 cents to $96.73 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for May was down 37 cents to $109.65.

Gold was at $1,597.90 an ounce at 1030 GMT compared with $1,598.45 late on Friday.

In other markets:

-- Singapore was almost unchanged, slipping 0.52 points to 3,307.58.

United Overseas Bank shed 1.37 per cent to Sg$20.10 while oil rig maker Keppel Corporation gained 1.25 per cent to Sg$11.34.

-- Taipei fell 0.24 per cent, or 19.37 points, to 7,899.24

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.50 per cent higher at Tw$101.0 while leading smartphone maker HTC shed 1.64 per cent to Tw$240.5.

-- Manila closed 0.12 per cent, or 7.88 points, down at 6,839.59.

-- Jakarta was flat, 0.07 per cent or 3.41 points to 4,937.58.

Palm oil firm Astra Agro Lestari slipped 0.81 per cent to 18,350 rupiah and mobile phone provider Indosat fell 1.54 per cent to 6,400 rupiah.

-- Kuala Lumpur lost 0.24 per cent, or 4.02 points, to close at 1,667.61.

-- Bangkok eased 0.74 per cent, or 11.51 points, to 1,549.55.

Supermarket operator Siam Makro added 6.39 points to 566.00 baht, while telecoms company Advanced Info Service fell 2.08 per cent to 235.00 baht.

-- Mumbai rose 0.15 per cent or 28.98 points at 18,864.75 points.

Indian drug maker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories rose 3.34 per cent to 1,825.3 rupees. Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 2.18 per cent to 1,394.7 rupees.

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Six dead in new blast at China mine

A NEW explosion in a Chinese coal mine has killed six people and left 11 missing, three days after a blast killed 28 workers at the same mine, state media says.

The blasts occurred at the Babao mine operated by the state group Tonghua Mining in Baishan prefecture in the northeastern province of Jilin.

An official at the Babao mine office confirmed to AFP that the two blasts occurred in the same mine. But he did not respond when asked why the mine had remained open after the first accident.

China's mines are among the world's deadliest because of lax regulation, corruption and poor operating procedures.

Authorities in the nation, the world's largest coal consumer, announced last year they would close more than 600 small coal mines that are considered more dangerous than larger pits.

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Queen attends Easter service

MEMBERS of the royal family have been led by the Queen at the traditional Easter Sunday service at Windsor Castle.

A crowd of well-wishers gathered outside St George's Chapel to see the royals as they arrived for the service on a cold morning.

The Queen, who was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, wore a long pink coat and matching hat accessorised by a flower.

Princess Eugenie wore a cream dress and hat with a black coat, while her sister, Princess Beatrice, wore a turquoise dress and coat, with a yellow hat. Their father, the Duke of York, was also at the service.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex arrived with their daughter, Lady Louise Windsor. Sophie wore a blue suit and a peacock feather hat.

The Queen was presented with posies of flowers by children as she left the chapel.

Five-year-old twins Holly and Poppy Alden were chosen as their father, Ben, sings in the chapel's choir.

"I said 'happy Easter Your Majesty' and did a curtsey," Poppy said.

Her mother, Francesca, added: "It's something special for us and for the children. It will be a memory that they'll keep."

Daniel Phillips, seven, travelled to Windsor from Cornwall with his brother and their parents.

"I gave her my flowers and she said 'thank you very much'. I was nervous because she's the Queen," he said.

William Denman, four, from Newport, said he was "excited" about giving flowers to the monarch.

The Queen and Prince Philip smiled towards the crowd of well-wishers as they left by car.

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15 dead in Nigerian Easter military raid

SOLDIERS have raided a suspected hideout for Islamist extremist group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria's largest city of Kano, sparking a clash that left 15 people dead, the military says.

The military claimed those killed included 14 Islamists and one soldier, while alleging the extremists were planning an Easter day attack in the city.

Residents reported hearing gunfire and explosions early on Sunday as soldiers battled the Islamists.

"In the raid, 14 terrorists were killed and their commander was arrested," Army Brigadier-General Ilyasu Abba told reporters.

"We lost one soldier in the encounter and one other was badly injured."

There was however no independent confirmation of those details. Casualty information from Nigeria's military has often been unreliable, with the army under pressure to show progress in the fight against Boko Haram.

The military claimed to have recovered weapons, including a car loaded with explosives, which Abba said was "primed for attack against Easter here in Kano".

The hideout, which comprised two attached flats, was destroyed by a bulldozer on the orders of Abba, as with previous hideouts.

Nigeria has in the past seen major attacks on Christian holidays blamed on Boko Haram.

A bombing in the northern city of Kaduna on Easter last year killed 41 people.

Violence linked to Boko Haram's insurgency has left some 3000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.

The group's deadliest attack yet occurred in Kano in January 2012, when co-ordinated bombings and shootings killed at least 185 people.

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Calm returns to Kenya after election riots

KENYAN police have maintained tight security as calm returned after a court ruling upholding Uhuru Kenyatta's presidential election win sparked anger among his rival's supporters, leading to riots that left two people dead.

Outgoing prime minister Raila Odinga had challenged the result of the March 4 poll hoping for a rerun, but while he begrudgingly accepted the Supreme Court's decision on Saturday, youths in his strongholds were enraged.

Riots broke out immediately after the ruling, leaving two dead in the city of Kisumu, said Joseph Ole Tito, police chief for the western Nyanza region.

The six judges of Kenya's top court dashed Odinga's last hopes of victory by unanimously ruling that the March 4 election had been fair and credible and that Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto had been "validly elected".

The ruling paves the way for Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's first president and one of Africa's richest men, to be sworn in as head of state on April 9.

Odinga, who argued that the ballot had been marred by widespread irregularities, said he accepted the court's ruling and wished his rival well.

"The court has now spoken," Odinga said, adding that while he might not agree with all its decisions his faith in the constitution "remains supreme".

The announcement of his defeat in the last elections in 2007, when he ran against outgoing president Mwai Kibaki, led to Kenya's worst violence since independence, with more than 1100 dead and several hundred thousand forced to flee their homes.

The United States, Britain, France and the European Commission all congratulated Kenyatta on his victory.

Kenyatta and Ruto both face trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague accused of crimes against humanity over their alleged role in planning the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

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Increase bowel screening: Cancer Council

THE national bowel cancer screening program (NBCSP) is working and its full implementation should be speeded up, says the chief executive of Cancer Council Australia.

A fully implemented program could save up to 500 lives a year, Professor Ian Olver says in an article in the April 1 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.

Bowel cancer kills about 80 Australians a week but it can be treated successfully if detected in its early stages.

Prof Olver's article, co-written with colleague Paul Grogan, says screening could save the lives of up to 40 per cent of victims aged older than 50.

The article says early positive results from the program should provide encouragement to the government to "actively promote it to eligible population groups to boost interim participation".

An accompanying research report by Stephen Cole of Repatriation General Hospital and Professor Graeme Young of Flinders University confirms the program is effective and aids early detection.

The program is being expanded in 2013 to include people turning 60. Those turning 70 will be included from 2015.

The Department of Health and Ageing website says that when fully implemented the program will offer people aged from 50 to 74 free screening every two years.

"The expansion of the program means that more than 12,000 suspected or confirmed cancers will be detected each year and between 300 and 500 lives saved annually.

"People eligible to participate in the program will receive an invitation through the mail to complete a simple test in the privacy of their own home and mail it to a pathology laboratory for analysis."

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