Cyprus Bank Deposits 'To Lose 60% Of Value'

Savers with more than 100,000 euros in the Bank of Cyprus could lose up to 60% of their deposits, two senior officials have warned.

The Central Bank official and the Finance Ministry technocrat said sums held at the country's largest lender will  lose 37.5% of their value after being converted into bank shares.

And the pair said the deposits could lose up to 22.5% more in value, depending on an assessment by officials who will determine the exact figure aimed at restoring the troubled bank back to health.

Both figures were speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to publicly discuss the issue.

Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades

It comes after Cyprus agreed on Monday to make depositors contribute to a financial rescue in order to secure 10 billion euros (£8.5 billion) in loans from the eurozone and the IMF.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades defended the bailout deal, saying it had contained the risk of national bankruptcy.

"We have no intention of leaving the euro," the conservative leader told a conference of civil servants on Friday in the capital, Nicosia.

"In no way will we experiment with the future of our country," he said.

Cypriots have expressed anger at the price attached to the rescue - the winding down of the island's second-largest bank, Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki, and an unprecedented raid on deposits over 100,000 euros.

Under the terms of the deal, the assets of Laiki bank will be transferred to Bank of Cyprus.

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North Korea Says 'We Are At War With South'

North Korea says it has entered a "state of war" with South Korea in the latest threat aimed at Seoul and Washington.

Amid escalating tensions, Pyongyang also threatened to shut down a factory complex that is the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

South Korea said the North's threats "are never acceptable" but noted there was no visible movement of troops at the border.

Russia urged restraint, while Britain said the threat risks further isolating North Korea, one of the world's most reclusive states.

"We have made clear to North Korea that its long term interests will only be served by constructive engagement with the international community. These threatening statements will only seek to isolate it further," a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said travel advice for British nationals is "under constant review and will update it as necessary".

The announcement by Pyongyang was broadcast by the official Korean Central News Agency.

"As of now, inter-Korea relations enter a state of war and all matters between the two Koreas will be handled according to wartime protocol," it said.

"The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over."

The statement also warned that any military provocation near the North-South land or sea border would result "in a full-scale conflict and a nuclear war".

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un

Hours later, a spokesman for the North Korean office controlling the Kaesong industrial complex threatened to close the factory park, saying the South was undermining its dignity.

He was referring to media reports saying the factory - just across the border in North Korea - had remained open because it is a source of hard currency for the North.

The two Koreas have always technically remained at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Earlier this month, the North said it was ripping up the armistice and other bilateral peace pacts signed with the South in protest against South Korea-US joint military exercises.

A Russian Foreign Ministry official, Grigory Logvinov, said: "We expect all sides to show maximum responsibility and restraint, and that no-one will cross the line after which there will be no return."

"Naturally, we cannot remain indifferent when an escalation of tensions is taking place at our eastern frontiers," the diplomat told the Interfax news agency. "We cannot but worry."

The South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok, said: "North Korea's continuing threats against South Korea such as saying it is 'entering a state of war' are never acceptable since it is harming peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."

The US has used B-2 bombers as a 'deterrence' measure in the region

He said recent military exercises with the US "were defensive in nature against North Korea's possible provocations".

The ministry also said "no particular troop movement" had been observed along the border.

Former South Korean foreign minister Han Sung Joo told Sky News that the announcement amounted to "certainly more than rhetoric, even by North Korean standards".

The US said it was taking the new threat "seriously" but said it was following a familiar pattern.

"We've seen reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea. We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies," said Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council.

Most analysts still believe this will remain a rhetorical rather than a physical battle, but the situation has now become so volatile that any slight miscalculation carries the potential for rapid escalation.

Sky's Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said: "It is more rhetoric by North Korea until they actually do something. Wars tend to begin with bangs not announcements on state news agencies, so this is Mr Kim pushing the rhetoric up another level.

"The problem is, he hasn't got any more levels to go to after this other than actual war - that is the big worry and the big unknown. Does his belligerence have a limit or not?"

South Korean soldiers at a check point during a drill near the border

Sources in Pyongyang say life continues as normal in the city.

There are signs of civil construction with thousands of workers. Many of them are conscripts, and if war was imminent, then Kim would have called them up and they would not be busy building apartment blocks and hotels.

Earlier this week, the North's leader Kim Jong-Un has ordered missile units to prepare to strike US mainland and military bases, vowing to "settle accounts" after US stealth bombers flew over the South.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel stressed that Washington would not be cowed by Pyongyang's threats and stood ready to respond to "any eventuality".

The standoff has its roots in the North's successful long-range rocket launch in December and the third nuclear test it carried out in February.

Both events drew UN sanctions that incensed Pyongyang, which then switched the focus of its anger to the annual joint South Korea-US military drills.

As tensions escalated, Washington has maintained a notably assertive stance, publicising its use of nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers.

The long-distance deployment of both sets of aircraft was intended as a clear signal of US commitment to defending the South against any act of aggression.

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Justin Bieber's Pet Monkey Seized At Airport

A monkey has been seized from pop star Justin Bieber after he flew it into Munich from the US on a private plane.

The pet, a capuchin called Mally, is thought to have been given to the singer for his 19th birthday on March 1 by music producer Jamal Rashid.

Earlier this week Rashid, also known as Mally Mall, uploaded a picture of Bieber and Mally to his Instagram feed with the caption: "OG MALLY FIRST PIC WITH HIS POPS @JUSTINBIEBER."

Bieber took Mally on a Cessna Citation X he rents for £13,000-a-time from LA to Munich's Franz Josef Strauss Airport on Thursday, The Sun reported, ahead of his gig at the city's Olympiahalle.

The Canadian star was detained "for some time" while customs officials took Mally into quarantine at the airport.

The singer faces a fine of more than £10,000 and will have to pay for the animal's care.

A customs spokesman confirmed to Sky News that Justin Beiber tried to bring his monkey into Germany without the correct papers on Thursday.

The monkey is currently being held in quarantine until the singer produces the correct paperwork.

On Monday, Bieber, who has been touring for months, had flown from Poland to Los Angeles and caused a stir at Lodz airport by stripping off his shirt as he walked through security.

The star has hit the headlines several times in recent weeks.

Bieber stripped off his shirt to walk through security at Lodz airport

Police were called during the singer's brief return to his house in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said a neighbour claimed that he had been threatened and struck by Bieber.

A police report alleging battery and threats by the singer had been filed and was being investigated, Mr Whitmore said. No charges have been filed.

Earlier in the month Bieber and his entourage were asked to leave the Hotel Le Meurice in Paris apparently because of the "nuisance caused by the presence of his fans around the buildings".

And before that Bieber, who has 36 million Twitter followers, was forced to apologise to fans in London after arriving late on stage.

Many young fans left the capital's O2 Arena without seeing their idol, sparking anger among both the devotees and their parents.

He also collapsed on-stage at another UK concert and received oxygen before staying overnight in hospital.

He later cancelled a concert in Portugal, saying he had had a "rough week" in London.

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Nelson Mandela 'Breathing Without Difficulty'

Nelson Mandela is now "breathing without difficulty" after being treated for pneumonia, South Africa's president has said.

Jacob Zuma's office issued the statement after the 94-year-old had fluid drained from his chest.

It said the treatment had "resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty".

"He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable," the statement added.

It comes after Mr Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj gave an upbeat report on Friday.

"He was in good spirits, he had a full breakfast, and the doctors report that he's making steady progress,"  he said.

"He sat up and had his breakfast in bed."

It remains unclear how long Mr Mandela will remain at the undisclosed hospital.

The former South African president's recent health troubles have triggered an outpouring of prayers, with his country coming to terms with the mortality of the revered Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Nearly 20 years after he came to power in 1994, he remains a unifying symbol in a country still riven by racial tensions and deep inequality.

It is the second time this month that he has been admitted to hospital, after spending a night for check-ups on March 9.

That followed a nearly three-week hospital stay in December, when Mandela was treated for another lung infection and underwent gallstone surgery.

He was diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis in 1988 during his 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime and has long had problems with his lungs. He has also had treatment for prostate cancer and has suffered stomach ailments.

Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told public broadcaster SABC that "Tata (father) is doing well".

"He's responding very well to treatment," said Madikizela-Mandela, who attended a Friday church service in Soweto where the congregation prayed for Mandela.

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Peng Liyuan: Tiananmen Square Photo Censored

A photo of China's new first lady Peng Liyuan singing to troops following the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square is causing a stir on the internet.

The image shows Ms Peng wearing a green military uniform, her windswept hair tied back in a ponytail as she sings to helmeted and rifle-bearing troops seated in rows.

The photo was taken after the military crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing, killing hundreds, possibly thousands, of people on June 3 and 4, 1989.

Many Chinese are still unaware that the massacre happened.

The photo has circulated mainly on Twitter, which is blocked in China - but there have been some postings on popular domestic microblogs.

The latter were swiftly scrubbed from China's internet before they could generate too much discussion online.

President Zuma shares a toast with Ms Peng in South Africa

The picture contrasts with Ms Peng's appearances this week in trendy suits and coiffed hair while touring Russia and Africa with her husband President Xi Jinping, waving to her enthusiastic hosts.

It revives a memory the leadership prefers to suppress and shows one of the challenges in presenting the first lady on the world stage as the softer side of China.

The country has no recent precedent for the role and faces a tricky balance at home.

The leadership wants Ms Peng to show the human side of Mr Xi, while not exposing too many perks of the elite.

And it must balance support for the couple with a wariness of personality cults that could skew the consensus rule among the Chinese Communist Party's leaders.

Ms Peng with President Xi, President Zuma and his wife

"I think that we have a lot of people hoping that because Xi Jinping walks around without a tie on and his wife is a singer who travels with him on trips that maybe we're dealing with a new kind of leader, but I think these images remind people that this is the same party," said Kelley Currie, a China human rights expert for the pro-democracy Project 2049 Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

"It's using some new tools and new techniques, for the same purposes: to preserve its own power."

Ms Peng, 50, a major general in the People's Liberation Army, is best known for soaring renditions of patriotic odes to the military and the party.

She has kept a low profile in recent years as her husband prepared to take over as Communist Party chief.

Her re-emergence has been accompanied by a blitz in domestic, state-run media hailing her beauty and charm, in a bid to harness the couple's popularity abroad.

President Xi and the First Lady arrive in Moscow

However, the government is stepping into little-charted and possibly treacherous waters for China.

In 1963, the glamorous Wang Guangmei, wife of President Liu Shaoqi, wore a tight-fitting qipao dress to a state banquet in Indonesia.

When the political tides turned against Mr Liu four years later, radical Red Guards forced Ms Wang to don the same dress and paraded her through the streets as a shameful example of capitalist corruption.

Revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing, played a key role in the same radical campaign in which political opponents were mercilessly persecuted; after his death, she was put on trial and imprisoned, then moved to a hospital where she hanged herself.

The image is a snapshot of the back cover of a 1989 issue of a publicly available military magazine, the PLA Pictorial, according to Sun Li, a Chinese reporter.

Mr Sun said he had taken a photo of it on his cell phone several years ago when it was inadvertently posted on his microblog.

He said he quickly deleted it and had no idea how it resurfaced on the internet years later.

Microblog users can easily save images and recirculate them even after the original posts have been deleted.

The picture spread further after it was tweeted by the US-based China Digital Times, which tracks Chinese online media.

For Ms Peng, the Tiananmen photo was no one-off: She has been in the military since age 18 and has fronted TV music videos featuring dancing lines of men with combat fatigues and heavy weaponry.

In an indication of her appeal in China despite her past, a man whose 19-year-old son was killed in the Tiananmen crackdown said he bears no grudges against her.

"If I had known about this back then, I would have been very disgusted by it. But now, looking at it objectively, it's all in the past," said Wang Fandi, whose son Wang Nan died from a bullet wound to his head.

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UN's Global Arms Trade Treaty Is Blocked

A ground-breaking UN treaty that would regulate the international arms trade has been blocked by Iran, Syria and North Korea.

The three nations refused to ratify the treaty, which required agreement by all 193 UN member states, at a meeting in New York.

For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to regulate the estimated £40bn global arms trade and try to keep illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organised crime.

After two weeks of intensive negotiations, many delegates had been optimistic that consensus - which does not require a vote - was within reach.

Both Iran and North Korea are under UN arms embargoes over their nuclear programmes, while Syria is in the third year of a conflict that has escalated to civil war.

The United Nations headquarters in New York

Amnesty International said all three countries "have abysmal human rights records - having even used arms against their own citizens".

But the British Foreign Secretary said he was determined to find a resolution.

William Hague said: "I am deeply disappointed that the negotiations on an Arms Trade Treaty closed today without consensus.

"After seven years of intensive work, the international community had never had a better chance to agree a global, legally binding treaty that would make the world a safer place.

"The UK has played a leading role and spared no effort to secure a treaty which would be both strong and globally applied, based on consensus.

"We have come very close. It is disappointing that three countries blocked the historic agreement that lay within our reach."

North Korea is under a UN arms embargo

The Arms Trade Treaty would be the first international, legally binding treaty setting controls on the transfers of weapons, Mr Hague said, and would ban sales of weapons that would be used for genocide or war crimes.

Arms brokering would also be regulated, protecting legitimate trade.

He added: "This treaty is too important for us to let it end here. The overwhelming majority of the international community want this treaty and we are determined to take it forward."

Other countries also refused to let the treaty die.

Mexico proposed that the UN conference go ahead and adopt the treaty without the support of the three dissenting countries, saying there was no definition of "consensus". Several countries supported the idea, but the Russian delegation objected.

Jo Adamson, the British ambassador to the UN Conference on Disarmament, struck a hopeful note. "This is not failure," she said. "Today is success deferred, and deferred by not very long."

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North Korea Rockets 'Ready To Hit US Bases'

North Korea's leader has told rocket units to be on standby for an attack on US bases, according to state media.

The country's KCNA news agency said Kim Jong-Un had signed off on the order to train sights on American bases in South Korea and the Pacific after a midnight meeting with top generals.

The move was followed by reports of increased activity at North Korea's mid to long-range missile sites, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Mr Kim at a meeting of army information workers on Thursday in Pyongyang

It comes after two American stealth bombers flew over South Korea in a show of force to Pyongyang, following an escalation of rhetoric from the North's young leader.

Both China and Russia have appealed for calm.

Moscow said the heightened military activity was slipping into a "vicious cycle" that could get out of control, implicitly criticising the US bomber flights.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that North Korea should also cool down, calling on "all sides not to flex their military muscle" and avoid the danger of a belligerent response.

The US uses B-2 bombers as a 'deterrence' measure in the region

China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "We call on all relevant parties to make joint efforts to turn around the tense situation. Peace and stability on the Korean peninsula as well as Northeast Asia serves the common interest."

The two nuclear-capable B-2 planes flew a 13,000-mile round trip from an air base in Missouri, dropping a dummy bomb on a target range in the South.

The planes were taking part in a joint South Korea-US military exercise that has inflamed tensions with Pyongyang, which earlier this month threatened to unleash an "all-out war" backed by nuclear weapons.

Mr Kim presides over an urgent operations meeting

"This .... demonstrates the United States' ability to conduct long range, precision strikes quickly and at will," the US military said in a statement.

"The B-2 bomber is an important element of America's enduring and robust extended deterrence capability in the Asia-Pacific region."

KCNA reported that Mr Kim had "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists in view of the prevailing situation".

The agency said: "He finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA, ordering them to be on standby for fire so that they may strike any time the US mainland, its military bases in the operational theatres in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea."

Following their leader's call to arms, thousands of North Koreans turned out for a mass rally in the main square in the capital.

Chanting "Death to the US imperialists" and "Sweep away the US aggressors," soldiers and students marched through Kim Il-Sung Square during the 90-minute rally.

The US has denied its military exercise was provocative but said it was "committed to a pathway to peace" and "prepared to deal with any eventuality" in the region.

Mr Kim had 'judged the time has come to settle accounts with the US'

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the B-2 bombers were a message intended more for allies than Pyongyang.

"The North Koreans have to understand that what they're doing is very dangerous," Mr Hagel said.

"I don't think we're doing anything extraordinary or provocative or out of the ... orbit of what nations do to protect their own interests."

The US, he added, must make it clear to South Korea, Japan and other allies in the region that "these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously, and we'll respond to that".

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Veteran Who Fought For Syrian Rebels Charged

An American army veteran has been charged in the US for fighting alongside a Syrian rebel group linked to al Qaeda.

Eric Harroun boasted on Facebook and posted videos of his military adventures with Jabhat al Nusrah, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US.

But he is now facing charges of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the US, specifically firing rocket-propelled grenades as part of an attack against the government of President Bashar al Assad.

Harroun filmed these images of a downed Syrian helicopter

The 30-year-old from Phoenix in Arizona - who served three years in the US Army before being medically discharged in 2003 - told the FBI that he crossed into Syria from Turkey in January.

He claimed credit on Facebook for downing a regime helicopter and told investigators that he shot an estimated 10 people in his various battles, though he was unsure if he had ever killed anyone.

Harroun also stated that "the only good Zionist is a dead Zionist", and that he intended to travel to the Palestinian territories because of Israeli atrocities there, according to the FBI.

In media interviews, he described himself as a "freedom fighter" and said joining up with al Nusrah is "not rocket science".

Although at other times he disputed a connection with the group.

The former soldier never saw overseas action with the US military

His father, Darryl Harroun, has said the car accident that led to his son's military discharge left him with a steel plate in his head, and exacerbated depression from which his son already suffered.

"They treat Eric like a hero over there. He was trying to save lives," he told KNXV.

"He was working with the same rebels that Obama was going to fund," he added.

Harroun faces up to life in prison if found guilty of breaking the American law which makes no exception for anyone who may be fighting a hostile regime.

He is due to appear in court in Virginia next Tuesday.

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Nelson Mandela: Zuma Asks World To Pray

The former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, has been taken back to hospital suffering from a lung infection.

President Jacob Zuma confirmed that the 94-year-old was readmitted just before midnight on Wednesday and said: "We appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts.

"We have full confidence in the medical team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure recovery."

Mr Mandela's spokesman Mac Maharaj told Sky News that the former president was "conscious".

He said: "At the moment doctors are saying it is a recurrence of an old lung infection. It is a matter of concern ... He was admitted around midnight last night.

The most recent picture of Mr Mandela taken on February 2.

"They are doing everything they can to keep him comfortable and happy."

He said that last time he had seen Mr Mandela he had been frail but in a "good frame of mind".

Mr Mandela spent 18 days in hospital in December, where he was treated for a lung infection and gallstones.

He was discharged on December 27, however, doctors warned he was "not yet fully recovered" and he continued to receive medical treatment at his Johannesburg home, including being given extra oxygen.

Mr Mandela at his home (Picture courtesy of "BEING MANDELA/COZI TV")

Mr Mandela has had recurring lung problems since contracting tuberculosis in 1988, during his 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime.

The Nobel Peace Laureate spent a night in hospital on March 9 for what was described as a scheduled medical check-up.

However, Sky News' Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said that it was now understood that the visit was required for further treatment of the lung infection and that on that occasion he is believed to have had his lungs drained.

She said that there were now significant concerns over his health and added: "The time of his hospitalisation certainly suggests they were alarmed at his deterioration."

Mr Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his time in prison

In February, Mr Mandela's granddaughters showed the first picture of him to be seen in more than seven months as they promoted a reality television series in which they star.

He was seen with his great grandson, Zen, sitting on his lap at his Johannesburg home.

Earlier this month, George Bizos, the human rights lawyer who represented Mr Mandela at his treason trial, said that he was suffering memory lapses and sometimes forgot his fellow anti-apartheid activists were dead.

In an interview he told Eyewitness News: "Unfortunately he sometimes forgets that one or two of them had passed on and has a blank face when you tell him that Walter Sisulu and some others are no longer with us."

In February 2012 Mr Mandela, who is known by his tribal name of Madiba in South Africa, spent the night in hospital after a minor exploratory procedure to investigate persistent abdominal pain.

In 2001 he had radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer.

Mr Mandela, who was released from prison in 1990, suffered damage to his tear glands because of being forced to smash limestone rocks in the quarry on Robben Island due to the alkalinity of the stone. He had cataract surgery at the age of 75, in 1994, a few months after being sworn in as president.

Mr Mandela stepped down after one term as president. He has not appeared in public since South Africa's World Cup final in 2010, six years after retiring.

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Brazil Doctor 'May Have Killed 300 Patients'

A Brazilian doctor charged with killing seven patients at a hospital could be responsible for up to 300 deaths, an investigator has said.

Virginia Helena Soares de Souza and her medical team gave muscle relaxing drugs to patients and reduced their oxygen supply, causing them to die of asphyxiation, claim prosecutors.

The doctor and her seven assistants were suspected of injecting patients with "drug cocktails" and of tampering with their respirators, a health ministry official said.

If prosecutors prove De Souza was responsible for 300 deaths, it could be one of the world's worst serial killings, rivalling the case of British GP Harold Shipman who killed at least 215 patients.

Prosecutors said De Souza's taped phone conversations revealed her motive was to free up beds for other patients at an intensive care unit, which she headed up.

"I want to clear the intensive care unit. It's making me itch," she allegedly said in one recording released to Brazilian media.

Deaths are being investigated at the Evangelical Hospital in Curitiba

"Unfortunately, our mission is to be go-betweens on the springboard to the next life," she reportedly added in the same phone call.

Prosecutors said De Souza felt "all powerful" running the unit, to the point where she "had the power to decree the moment when a victim would die".

In some cases, she was absent from the hospital and gave instructions to end the life of a patient by phone to members of her medical team, it was alleged.

The 56-year-old widow was arrested last month and charged with seven counts of aggravated first degree murder. She was released on bail a week ago pending the outcome of the investigation.

Three other doctors, three nurses and a physiotherapist who worked for her have also been charged with murder.

GP Harold Shipman killed at least 215 patients

More cases are expected to emerge as investigators look through 1,700 medical records of patients who died in the last seven years at the Evangelical Hospital in the southern city of Curitiba.

"We already have more than 20 cases established, and there are nearly 300 more that we are looking into," the chief investigator assigned by Brazil's health ministry, Dr Mario Lobato, told Globo TV.

He said the deaths he reviewed happened under similar circumstances: a muscle relaxant such as Pancuronium was administered, increasing the patients' dependence on artificial respiration; then the oxygen supply was reduced, causing death by asphyxiation.

Some of the patients were conscious moments before they died, he said.

De Souza's lawyer, Elias Mattar Assad, said investigators had misunderstood how an intensive care unit works and she would prove her innocence.

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Pistorius Can Leave South Africa To Compete

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, has been allowed to compete overseas.

The 26-year-old, has won an appeal over his bail restrictions, permitting him to leave South Africa to compete in international competition, with conditions.

His lawyers told the North Guateng High Court that while the Olympic and Paralympic athlete had no immediate plans to compete, he might in time need to run at track meets again to continue earning a living.

Judge Bert Bam agreed to ease Pistorius' bail restrictions, but said he must provide authorities with his travel plans at least a week before he leaves the country.

He must also return his passport to the court within 24 hours of returning to South Africa.

"I find no reason why the appellant should he forbidden to leave the country if invited to compete," the judge told the hearing.

Reeva Steenkamp was killed by Oscar Pistorius last month

Pistorius was released on bail on February 22, a week after he was arrested on charges of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He says he shot her after mistaking her for an intruder at his home in the Silver Woods gated community in eastern Pretoria on Valentine's Day.

The 30-year-old top South African model died at the scene.

Prosecutors claim Pistorius killed her intentionally after an argument.

The Johannesburg-born athlete, known as the Blade Runner because of the carbon fibre blades he uses on the track, made history in 2012 when he became the first amputee to compete in the Olympics.

In the Paralympics, he won two golds - in the 400m and 4x400m relay.

Both of his legs were amputated below the knee just before his first birthday because of a congenital condition.

Last year Time Magazine named him as one of the world's 100 most influential people.

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Cyprus Banks Reopen With Capital Restrictions

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent in Cyprus

Cyprus' banks have opened their doors after the longest enforced bank holiday in Europe's history.

Queues grew outside branches across the country, with no signs of panic as employees limited the number of customers allowed in at any one time.

The country's President tweeted his thanks to Cypriots for showing "maturity" as the banks reopened.

"I would like to thank the Cypriot people for their maturity and collectedness shown in their interactions with the Cypriot Banks," Nicos Anastasiades said on his official Twitter account.

Banks are giving customers information about the capital restrictions

But many residents expressed anger at the country's controversial bailout - which requires Cyprus to raise 5.8bn euros (£4.9bn).

"They have stolen our money," Mr Lucas told Sky News.

"I have been working for 60 years. I am 80 years old. I cannot work again for my living - they have cut the lot.

"Our money, our social insurance - they have cut them. How are we going to live?"

Another Cypriot, Stelios, came out of the bank empty handed.

"I tried to get my February wages and they gave me a piece of paper only," he said.

The British security firm G4S deploys 180 guards to banks across Cyprus

"I have two children in the army and they asked for money - I don't have money to give them.

"The Government didn't pay anybody. My old parents didn't get their pension."

Cash withdrawals and other transactions are subject to tough restrictions, introduced by the country's Finance Ministry in an effort to avoid a run on the banks.

The country's crippled banking system was effectively closed down on March 16 while the terms of the 10bn euro (£8.5bn) bailout were agreed and implemented.

Large depositors face losses of as much as 40% of their savings as part of the deal, leading to fears that customers would attempt to withdraw large amounts of money when the banks reopened.

Demonstrations against austerity measures continued in Cyprus on Wednesday

As a result, strict capital controls include a withdrawal limit of 300 euros (£253) a day and a ban on cashing cheques.

Travellers leaving the country can only take up to 1,000 euros (£845), or the equivalent in foreign currency, with them in cash - significantly less than expected.

Police and security staff were deployed to maintain order at branches, and G4S guards called in to work alongside police officers and other security firms across the country.

The giant global firm was the contractor that failed to meet their promises over security at the London Olympics prompting the British military to step in.

G4S's managing director in Cyprus, John Arghyrou, told Sky News: "I feel we have the resources, I feel extremely confident as a security company that we can undertake and meet the requirements of our customers."

With just 860,000 people, Cyprus has around 68bn euros (£57bn) in its banks.

This outsized financial system attracted deposits from foreigners but has struggled since investments in neighbouring Greece went sour.

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Brazilian Olympic Stadium Closed Indefinitely

A stadium in Brazil that was expected to hold some of the main events of the 2016 Olympics has been closed indefinitely because of problems with its roof.

Rio de Janeiro's Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium, which was scheduled to host athletics at the 2016 games, will have to undergo roof repairs, the city's mayor said.

The stadium, completed less than six years ago, is currently the city's main soccer venue while the Maracana is rebuilt for this year's Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup.

Although the Joao Havelange Stadium was due to host the athletics in 2016, the opening and closing ceremonies will both take place at the Maracana.

The upgrade of the Maracana is also behind schedule, however.

Rio's mayor Eduardo Paes told a news conference: "Today, they informed me that the roof has structural problems.

"I asked if this represented a risk for spectators and they told me it did, depending on the wind speed and temperature.

"On that basis, I immediately decided to close the stadium until we had more details."

Mr Paes added: "It's simply not acceptable that a stadium which was inaugurated such a short time ago now has to face this sort of situation."

The stadium was built for the 2007 Panamerican Games at a cost of 380 million reais (£125m) and opened just one month before the event.

Afterwards, it was leased to local soccer club Botafogo although it is frequently used by other teams.

The first event to be affected was Wednesday's Carioca championship match between Brazilian champions Fluminense and Macae.

It has not yet been announced what other effects the closure will have.

The England football team were due to play Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on June 2, but the FA said the stadium where that match was due to take place at has not yet been confirmed.

The Maracana is due to re-open at the end of April, four months behind schedule.

The capacity of the Joao Havelange stadium was due to be increased from 46,000 to 60,000 ahead of the Olympics.

The stadium is named after Joao Havelange, the Brazilian former president of Fifa and later member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who has been accused of taking bribes while head of world football.

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Amanda Knox Told To Stay Away From Retrial

By Greg Milam, in Seattle

An American judge who campaigned for the release of Amanda Knox has told Sky News she "may" return to Italy to face renewed proceedings - but that he would recommend she stay away.

Michael Heavey, a Superior Court judge in Knox's home state of Washington, says he is disappointed but not surprised that the Italian Supreme Court has ordered a retrial for her and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.

The couple were released by an appeals court 18 months ago after it found fault with their convictions for murdering the British exchange student Meredith Kercher at the home she and Knox shared in Perugia in 2007.

Judge Heavey, who attracted criticism for writing to the Italian authorities about the case while still serving in his role in the US, says he remains convinced the couple are innocent and that the prosecution case is flawed.

Meredith Kercher was killed in 2007

When asked if Knox might return to Italy for any part of the new proceedings, he said: "She may. The intelligentsia of Italy knows she is absolutely innocent.

"But a good proportion of the population, because of what's called confirmation bias, what they've been told so many times, they can't tell you why, but they think she's guilty and that is not a healthy climate for her to be in."

He said he would not criticise the Italian judicial system - and that the US has its own examples of such mistakes being made - but added that he believed the case was set to drag on for years.

He said: "It is terribly disappointing. You just feel like you have been kicked in the stomach. My heart goes out to Amanda and Raffaele and their families for what they're going to have to go through. The nightmare continues."

No-one in the Knox camp has commented on whether she plans to return to Italy for the retrial. If she were to be convicted and that conviction upheld, Italy could seek her extradition from the United States.

A 'Free Amanda Knox' sticker on a car outside her Seattle home

One Knox lawyer in Italy has said he does not believe she will attend the trial, which is her right under Italian law.

Since the Supreme Court announcement, Amanda Knox has been keeping a low profile in her home city of Seattle. Members of her family politely told reporters outside their home in the Arbor Heights suburb they would not be commenting on the developments.

The 25-year-old has returned to complete her studies at the University of Washington and it is reported she plans to go ahead with a television interview next month to promote a book about the case.

Five thousand miles away from Seattle, a woman claiming to be the new girlfriend of Sollecito told reporters at his apartment that the couple planned to move to Switzerland. She confirmed that he and Knox had spoken to each other about the Supreme Court decision.

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North Korea Cuts Military Hotline To South

North Korea has cut another military hotline with the South as state media said the country's leadership would meet in the coming days to discuss taking a "drastic turn".

A message to South Korean military officials said staff at the military communications liaison office would stop their activities "from this moment".

"Under the situation where a war may break out any moment, there is no need to keep north-south military communications which were laid between the militaries of both sides," it said.

"Not words but only arms will work on the US and the South Korean puppet forces."

North Korea has become increasingly bellicose in recent weeks, ending an armistice agreement with the South and ordering the military to be ready to strike US bases in Guam, Hawaii and mainland America.

However, it military threat maybe not be as fearsome as portrayed in images of North Korean military exercises released by the state news agency on Tuesday.

Experts said images of a sea-borne assault using hovercraft on an unidentified beach on the country's east coast had been doctored, with one or two vessels copied and pasted a number of times along the shore.

AFP analysis of the hovercraft image revealed "various anomalies"

Eric Baradat of AFP, which examined the image, told SKy News that analysis had "revealed various anomalies and proved that indeed in-depth changes had been made to the picture".

"Usually a very simple examination with our software dismisses KCNA pictures but they tend to be better with Photoshop recently," he added.

Sky's Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said: I was slightly curious yesterday ... because what usually happens in these cases is that they release the stills and then within an hour or two there we get the video.

"The people who are watching the state television channel will never hear that this was photoshopped, what they will hear is that they have got some sort of great military."

Pyongyang's latest threats followed the decision to impose new sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and military exercises involving US and South Korean troops.

Cho Han-Bum, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the forthcoming meeting of the politburo of the ruling Workers' Party would probably seek to keep "the momentum going" through some symbolic gesture.

"I envisage a resolution that further raises the alarm, like declaring a top alert for the entire nation beyond the military, or something like that," Mr Cho said.

South Korea's Park Geun-Hye

Several weeks ago North Korea severed the Red Cross hotline that had been used for government-to-government communications in the absence of diplomatic relations.

Severing the military hotline could affect operations at the Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial complex, established in the North in 2004 as a symbol of co-operation, as the hotline was used to organise movement of people and vehicles in and out.

The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a state body in charge of propaganda and inter-Korean affairs, has also launched an attack on the South, accusing President Park Geun-Hye of slander and provocation.

It said she would meet a "miserable ruin" if she keeps "defying the warnings" of the North.

On Tuesday, President Park warned North Korea that its only "path to survival" lay in abandoning its nuclear and missile programmes, and she urged Pyongyang to "change course".

Meanwhile, a Chinese border province, Jilin, has said it will improve its trade and transport links with North Korea, building new railways and a road link.

The Jilin government proposals come despite Beijing working with the US on a UN Security Council resolution targeting Pyongyang's efforts to raise funds for its nuclear programme.

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Falklands: British 'Terrorists' Killed In Game

An Argentine company has created a new version of a popular online game that allows players to kill British "terrorists" on the Falkland Islands.

The tech firm Dattatec.com developed the "map" for Counter-Strike, which recreates scenes from the Falklands War.

It also features real places and monuments on the islands, which it calls the Malvinas - the Spanish name used by Argentina.

A promotional video sets the scene with the words: "1982, Argentines fought against the English to claim back the sovereignty of the Malvinas."

The Argentine Cemetry is recreated in the game (Dattatec.com)

Tribute music then turns to the sound of gunfire as the settings fast-forward to 2013, and a battle begins allowing Argentines to shoot British "terrorists".

More than three decades since the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina, the islands remain a potent national symbol for the South American country.

However, earlier this month Falkland Islanders voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to keep British rule.

Dattatec.com, which is based in the Argentine city of Rosario, said it created the version of the game out of respect for Argentine soldiers who were killed in the 1982 conflict.

The British side have their base in the capital (Dattatec.com)

"In the Malvinas map, there are no English flags on show to respect the glory and honour to the fallen," it said in a press release.

But the company's spokesman Fernando Llorente told Sky News that Dattatec.com had "no intention of offending anybody"and the game was not meant to "cause violence".

"All of us at Dattatec.com work with as much respect towards our veterans as to those from Britain," he said.

Counter-Strike, a first-person shooter game released in 1999, involves two sides in combat - terrorists versus counter-terrorists.

Dattatec.com developed the feature for Counter Strike (Dattatec.com)

For the Falklands version, Dattatec.com said: "The Argentine side are known as police and their base is the Argentine Cemetery.

"The British are based in Stanley and their team are known as the terrorists."

Stanley, the capital of the islands, is referred to by the Argentine name Puerto Argentino.

The game also features the local church, post office and other places on the islands.

The game recreates many real landmarks on the islands (Dattatec.com)

"You can enter buildings, surround them and jump onto the rooves to get back to the Argentine Cemetery or surprise the enemy from height," Dattatec.com said.

The founder and CEO of Dattatec.com, Guillermo Tornatore, travelled to the Falklands last year with a former Argentine soldier.

While there, the pair buried a bottle which contained a USB stick with tributes uploaded by people for "fallen soldiers".

Mr Tornatore said he wanted to "pay tribute and remember those who were fighting a hard and unequal war".

In the March 10-11 referendum, 99.8% of islanders voted in favour of remaining a British Overseas Territory, but the poll was rejected by Argentina as a meaningless publicity stunt.

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Cyprus Crisis: Banks Shut Until Thursday

The closure of Cypriot banks has been extended until Thursday, despite the bailout deal with Brussels to avert the nation going bankrupt.

Depositors had been told that banks, with the exception of the two biggest lenders Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and Laiki, would re-open on Tuesday.

But a decision was taken by the Cypriot central bank overnight to keep all branches closed while officials completed the restructuring of the biggest banks and introduced wider capital controls to prevent a possible run on deposits.

The chairman of the BoC later resigned in protest at the bailout condition that it would have to absorb Laiki's debts.

The 10bn euro (£8.5bn) rescue was secured when politicians agreed to seize cash from bank depositors with more than 100,000 euros in their accounts.

It amounted to a hit of up to 40% on the money held by such people banking with BoC and Laiki, finance minister Michalis Sarris told BBC radio, cash that will be swapped for shares in the lenders.

Unemployment and poverty levels are expected to soar in Cyprus

The country's president had earlier assured his people the rescue package he struck with the EU and International Monetary Fund was in their best interests, despite the prospect of years of financial pain ahead.

Nicos Anastasiades agreed to close down Laiki as part of the demanded reforms of the Cypriot financial sector - brought to the brink of collapse by its investments in neighbouring Greece.

The capital controls, preventing people moving funds out of the country, could last for a number of weeks.

Cash machine withdrawals remain restricted while the branch shut-down is said to be hammering businesses, which have been without access to their funds for more than a week.

European leaders said a chaotic national bankruptcy that might have forced Cyprus from the euro and upset Europe's economy had been averted by the rescue - though investors in other European banks were alarmed by the precedent of losses for depositors in Cyprus.

The raid on uninsured Laiki depositors is expected to raise 4.2bn euros of the 5.8bn the EU and IMF had told Cyprus to raise as a contribution to the bailout, according to Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

The politician, who heads the so-called Eurogroup of finance ministers, also spoke of the need for lenders to banks to accept the potential risks of their failure in future - seen as support for using the Cypriot bailout model as a blueprint.

The comment - which has been widely criticised - had a knock-on effect by raising the cost of insuring holdings of bonds issued by other banks, notably in Italy and Spain. Global equity markets and the euro also retreated.

While Russia was angered that Russian depositors of Cypriot banks would suffer huge losses, President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to restructure a loan Moscow granted to Cyprus in 2011.

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Amanda Knox Faces Retrial Over Kercher Death

Italy's highest criminal court has overturned the acquittal of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, and ordered a retrial.

Knox and Italian Raffaele Sollecito, who were originally sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison for killing and sexually assaulting Miss Kercher in 2007, were acquitted on appeal in 2011 after four years in prison.

Reacting to the Supreme Court's decision, Knox said it was "painful" to have the acquittal overturned "when the prosecution's theory of my involvement in Meredith's murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair".

Ms Kercher, 21, was found half-naked with her throat slashed in a pool of blood in her bedroom in the house that she shared with Knox in Perugia in November 2007.

The sister of the murdered Briton, Stephanie Kercher, told Sky News her family welcomed the ruling by the Italian court.

Raffaele Sollecito also faces retrial over Ms Kercher's death

Speaking from Coulsdon in Surrey, the elder sibling said there were "still questions that are unanswered and we are all looking to find out the truth".

"Rudy Guede was convicted along with others so we need to to find out who those other people are but as a family we know there is still a long way to go.

"We welcome the decision that a retrial has been ordered and are pleased it is a step forward to finding an answer to some of those questions," she added.

Knox, 25, returned home to Seattle immediately after her release. It is likely that she will be tried in absentia in the new trial, which will take place in Florence, because the United States does not normally extradite its citizens to face legal action.

A date for the retrial has not yet been set, but it is thought it could be as early as the summer. It is understood that all the DNA evidence will be reviewed.

Rudy Guede is currently in prison over the murder

A third person, Ivory Coast-born drifter Rudy Guede, who like the other two has always denied the murder, is the only person still in jail for the crime.

After choosing to undergo a separate, fast-track trial in 2008, he was found guilty of sexual assault and murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. This was reduced to 16 years on appeal.

The Kercher family insists that 47 knife wounds on Meredith and the apparent use of two different knives in the attack meant that more than one killer was involved, leaving the second murderer still at large.

Initial handling of the long-running case has been sharply criticised by independent forensic experts.

In her statement following the Supreme Court's decision, Knox said: "I believe that any questions as to my innocence must be examined by an objective investigation and a capable prosecution.

"The prosecution responsible for the many discrepancies in their work must be made to answer for them, for Raffaele's sake, my sake, and most especially for the sake of Meredith's family. Our hearts go out to them.

Meredith Kercher's family have welcomed the latest court ruling

"No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity."

Knox had been scheduled to speak about the trial for the first time on American television in April, when her book about the case, called Waiting To Be Heard, is due to be released.

Sollecito, who turned 29 on Tuesday, is now living with his family near Bari in southern Italy.

Before the decision was known, Giulia Bongiorno, the lawyer representing Sollecito said she was convinced the court would not over-rule the acquittal.

"We are hopeful. We know Raffaele Sollecito is absolutely innocent and we expect that it ends here. Even if it doesn't end here we just need to follow the precis, but I am convinced this case will end here," she said before entering the court.

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Cyprus Facing 30% Unemployment Amid Crisis

By Tom Parmenter, Sky Correspondent, in Nicosia

Cyprus is facing a recession so deep that 30% of people may find themselves unemployed.

The EU bailout means massive restructuring of the financial system, the inevitable loss of many investors and thousands of people seeing their jobs disappear.

Professor Hari Tsoukas, a business analyst, told Sky News: "Unemployment is likely to at least double from 14% to at least 25% and possibly up to 30%. Not so long ago it was just 5%.

"It is a huge challenge now facing the Cypriot people, we have been resilient before and we will need all that again," he added.

For a week now people have been rationed to how much they can withdraw from cashpoints.

Wages have not been paid, businesses have been unable to pay suppliers and the whole economy has seized up.

Banks have been closed since March 16 but Cyprus' president Nicos Anastasiades has said they will reopen on Thursday.

A woman and child beg for money in Nicosia

However, he added that the island will introduce some limits on transactions to prevent a huge outflow of money.

Politicians have been struggling to come up with a plan that would raise enough funds to qualify for an international bailout.

In a televised address to the country, the president said: "The central bank will implement capital controls on transactions. I want to assure you that this will be a very temporary measure that will gradually be relaxed."

He did not specify what limitations would be imposed on transactions.

He said he had taken "painful decisions to save the country from bankruptcy" and pledged Cyprus "would find its feet again".

It follows a bailout deal which reports suggest could see Bank of Cyprus savers with deposits above 100,000 euros (£85,000) hit with a levy of "around 30%".

In a smart fourth floor apartment, Sky News met one Cypriot woman prepared to show us where she has been stashing her money.

Fearful of losing control of her cash by leaving it in the bank she now has a daily routine of hiding it in drawers or cupboards around her bedroom.

She didn't want to be identified but said: "You just want to know your money is safe, this is quite small scale but it is all I can do."

Her flat was burgled last year so she is taking no chances - every time before she leaves home for over an hour she collects together her growing stash of notes and takes it with her stuffed in her handbag.

She hates having to do it but while banks remain closed some people feel they have little option but to take control of their own money.

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North Korea Rocket Strike Threat Targets US

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

North Korea has ordered its military to be ready to strike US bases in Guam, Hawaii and mainland America, according to state TV.

North Korea threatens a missile attack on Guam, Hawaii and the US mainland

"The Korea People's Army top command declares that all artillery troops including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units are to be placed under class-A combat readiness," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The announcement came as images were released showing a new round of military exercises by the isolated state.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un talks to a group of female soldiers

The still photographs show what appears to be a sea-borne assault using hovercraft and an artillery drill using multiple rocket launchers - none of which would have the capacity to reach more than a dozen or so miles.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is pictured visiting troops and watching the exercise from a vantage point above the unidentified beach on the country's east coast.

North Korea has previously threatened a nuclear attack on US military bases

The photographs, released by KCNA, are accompanied by language which matches weeks of rhetoric.

According to the news agency, Mr Kim "stressed the need to destroy and wipe away any enemy who lands on their coast through strong firepower and ordered the soldiers of the heroic Korean People's Army to display their mettle in the great war against the enemies".

It's not thought to have the technology to hit the US with an atomic weapon

"Crazy like wild wolves threatened with fire, send all of them to the bottom of the sea," he is quoted as saying.

The exercise and the photographs of it are a clear response to a series of month-long exercises taking place across the border in South Korea involving American and South Korean troops and naval forces.

Defence analysts have been studying the latest photographs with interest.

Kim Jong-Un is photographed visiting troops

James Hardy, the Asia-Pacific Editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, told Sky News he had not seen hovercraft like those in the photographs before.

However, he added: "I can categorically state that multiple rocket launchers and 'long-range artillery' are not going to threaten the US mainland, Guam or Hawaii, unless they are put on a ship and sailed to within firing distance (which I doubt the North Koreans are about to do)."

Rockets and long-range artillery have been ordered to be combat ready

It has been an uneasy few months on the Korean peninsula with rhetoric and threatening language at a level not seen for several years.

The increased tension comes as Seoul marks the third anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship.

On March 26, 2010, the Cheonan was torpedoed by the North Korean military with the loss of 46 sailors.

Order was issued in a statement from the North's military "supreme command"

In December, North Korea launched a satellite into orbit in the tip of a rocket.

Their claim then was that this was all part of Pyongyang's legitimate right to pursue a space programme.

Few countries bought that claim, believing instead that it represented the latest move in North Korea's development of a ballistic missile programme.

The fresh threat marks the latest fiery rhetoric from Pyongyang

The rocket launch was followed in February by an underground nuclear test and a sharp escalation in tension.

Faced with unprecedented UN sanctions, backed by his historical ally China, Mr Kim admitted the rocket launch and nuclear test were indeed all part of his ideological desire to destroy America and its allies.

The warning follows joint military drills by the US and South Korean forces

Asked about the accuracy and range of rockets like that fired in December, Mr Hardy said he believed North Korea was still some way off possessing an operational missile of this type.

"It's a mish mash of fuel types and requires quite a bit of time to assemble on a purpose-built launch pad," he continued.

"The US, or anyone else, would have plenty of time to scope it out before it got airborne so its operational value is quite low even before you start talking about the challenges of placing a warhead on it," he added.

US military bases in the Pacific are in range of its medium-range missiles

The annulment of the armistice agreement with South Korea and repeated threats to attack the South over the past three weeks have, so far, been exposed as nothing more than bluff and bluster.

However, with unattributed cyber attacks in Seoul, repositioned missile defence systems on America's west coast and the presence of US B-52 bombers in the skies above the Korean peninsula, there's no doubt minds across the region and beyond are very focused on a fragile peace and an unpredictable regime.

The South says it has seen no signs of an imminent military action

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