Pistorius: Reeva's 'Last Text' Home Revealed

Reeva Steenkamp sent a text to her flatmate on the night she was shot dead, saying she would not be driving home because it was "too late".

Gina Myers, who shared a home with Miss Steenkamp in Johannesburg, told Sky News' Alex Crawford that the text was the last message she received from her friend.

Miss Myers said she had met Oscar Pistorius, who is accused of murdering his 29-year-old girlfriend at his luxury home in Pretoria, a few times and did not know him well but had liked him.

She said Miss Steenkamp had been happy with the gold medal winning Paralympian and would not have been with him otherwise.

She told Sky News: "It was like any other relationship. There was nothing that flashed a warning sign. She was happy. She was very happy.

"Reeva was not the kind of person to complain about stuff but she would never have been with anyone if she wasn't happy ... Her motto this year was 'to be happy and never settle'."

Miss Myers was speaking as it emerged that Pistorius held a private memorial service for Miss Steenkamp at his uncle's house in Pretoria.

The South African athlete has been staying at his uncle Arnold's house since he was released on bail last Friday after being charged with the model's murder.

Reeva Steenkamp was "happy" with her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius

His aides confirmed plans for a memorial service for Miss Steenkamp after details were leaked to the media.

The 26-year-old, who also competed in the Olympics last summer, denies murder and claims he shot Miss Steenkamp by mistake believing she was an intruder.

A statement from his representatives said: "Oscar Pistorius, will hold a private memorial service for Reeva Steenkamp at the house of his uncle, Arnold Pistorius tonight.

"Oscar specifically requested the memorial service as he continues to grieve and remains in deep mourning for the loss of his partner Reeva."

It added: "Since it is such a sensitive issue, Oscar has asked for a private service with people who share his loss, including his family members who knew and loved Reeva as one of their own."

Miss Steenkamp's funeral was held in Port Elizabeth last week, as her boyfriend appeared in court over her murder and insisted her death was an accident.

Reeva Steenkamp's funeral was held last week

He was released on bail but has to abide by strict conditions, including reporting to a police station in Pretoria twice a week.

The athlete was also ordered to surrender his two passports, post bail of one million rand (£75,000) in cash and guarantees, and refrain from drinking alcohol until his case resumes on June 4.

Pistorius was also ordered to hand in any guns he owns and keep away from his home in a gated community in Pretoria, which is now a crime scene.

Prison service officials can drop in at his uncle's house at any time of day or night to ensure the athlete is complying with the bail terms.

Pistorius, who had his lower legs amputated at the age of 11 months after he was born without either fibula, rose to global fame with his fight to be allowed to run in the Olympics against able-bodied athletes.

He reached the semi-finals of the 400 metres at last year's London Games.

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Prince Harry Learns Sign Language In Lesotho

Prince Harry has gone back into the classroom in Lesotho to learn sign language to help him communicate with children being helped by his Sentebale charity.

The Prince was touring two centres helping vulnerable children living in the former British protectorate, which is one of the most impoverished nations on the continent.

His first visit was to the Kananelo Centre for the Deaf on the outskirts of the capital of Maseru, where he learnt sign language and even took part in a kneeling dance with children there.

The charity helps Lesotho's most vulnerable

Sky News' special correspondent Alex Crawford, in the capital, said: "He interacts incredibly beautifully with young people, even those who are deaf and obviously communication is an issue.

"But he was learning and asking them through sign language experts what their favourite subjects were at school and they were all really straining to talk to him, obviously overwhelmed by him."

The Prince, who recently completed a four-and-a-half-month tour of Afghanistan, set up the charity with Lesotho's Prince Seeiso in 2006 in memory of both of their mothers.

The two princes took also took part in a cookery class, making a kind of doughnut known in the local Sesotho language as makoenya.

Sky's Alex Crawford captures a picture of a relaxed Prince Harry in Lesotho

Harry was also visiting St Bernadette's Resource Centre for the Blind in the city where he will watch children learning Braille and join students for a game of five-a-side football.

The Prince, who recently completed a four-and-a-half-month tour of Afghanistan, set up the charity with Lesotho's Prince Seeiso in 2006 in memory of both of their mothers.

The last time the 28-year-old was in Lesotho was in June 2010 when he took his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, to see Sentebale's work as part of their first joint overseas trip.

Later Harry will fly to nearby Johannesburg in South Africa for a fundraising dinner in aid of a major new Sentebale project to build a permanent centre for children and young people.

The Mamohato Centre - named after Prince Seeiso's late mother - will provide psychological care and peer mentoring for children and young people with HIV/Aids.

Lesotho has a population of 1.8 million, half of those are under 18, and of those 40% are classed as vulnerable or are orphans.

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Pope Speaks Of 'Difficult Times' In Farewell

The Pope has given an emotional last general audience before stepping down as Pontiff, during which he spoke of "difficult moments".

Benedict XVI told the 50,000-strong crowd in St Peter's Square in Rome that he had been aware of the "gravity" of his decision to step down but it was for the good of the Church.

The Pope stunned the Catholic Church when he announced on February 11 he no longer had the mental or physical strength to carry on in the role.

He will officially stand aside on Thursday evening, the first pope to do so in 600 years.

As he arrived in the square, Benedict greeted pilgrims in St Peter's Square and waved to tens of thousands of people who gathered to bid him farewell.

He was driven around in an open-sided vehicle, surrounded by bodyguards. At one point he stopped to kiss a baby handed up to him by his secretary.

The crowd fell silent as he started to speak.

The Pope began by saying he will keep the faithful in his prayers and he has "great trust" in the future of the church.

Many in the audience chanted "Benedetto"

"To love the church means also to have the courage to take difficult, painful decisions, always keeping the good of the church in mind, not oneself," Benedict said to thundering applause.

He recalled that when he was elected pope on April 19, 2005, he questioned if God truly wanted it. "It's a great burden that you've placed on my shoulders,'" he recalled telling God.

He said his Papacy had faced joy, but also had undergone "difficult moments". He said that during his time as leader of the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, he had negotiated "turbulent seas".

Drawing on a Biblical analogy, he said: "The Lord gave us days of sun and of light breeze, days in which the fishing was good. There were also moments when there were stormy waters and headwinds.

"But I always knew that God was in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, is not ours, but is his and he will not let it sink," he added.

Pope Benedict XVI said he was aware of the "gravity and novelty" of his decision to resign and would "accompany" the Church in prayer even after his resignation the following day.

"I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit," he said.

Pope Benedict told the crowd he was not "coming down from the Cross", but would remain in the service of the Church through prayer.

He asked the faithful to pray for the cardinals as they faced a weighty task choosing his successor and for whoever they chose.

After he had finished speaking, the crowd gave a rousing round of applause that lasted nearly a minute.

He went on to say a few extra words in other languages, one of which was English.

Tens of thousands of people, some toting banners saying "Thank you!" had earlier began filling St Peter's Square in preparation for his appearance.

Cardinals await the final public appearance of the Pope

Spontaneous chants of "Benedetto" erupted every so often and the mood - even hours before Benedict was to arrive - was one of excitement.

Many of the cardinals who will choose the next Pope were among those listening.

Once he completes his resignation, the Pope will leave the Vatican and fly by helicopter to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, until renovations have been completed on a monastery inside the Vatican walls.

The Pope will live out the rest of his days in the new monastery in prayer and meditation.

At precisely 8pm (Rome time) the villa gates at Castel Gandolfo will close and the Swiss Guard will withdraw - a symbol that Pope Benedict XVI's papacy is over.

Benedict will then be known as Emeritus Pope and wear a simple white cassock and brown shoes rather than his trademark red loafers.

Following his general audience, the Pope was due to meet a select group of heads of state and make final preparations for his departure.

On Thursday morning, he will bid farewell to his cardinals who will begin a series of meetings to determine his successor.

A total of 115 "cardinal electors" are scheduled to take part after one said he was too sick and British cardinal Keith O'Brien said he would not be taking part after allegations of inappropriate behaviour regarding four priests emerged at the weekend.

The date for the conclave - when eligible cardinals vote in secret in the Sistine Chapel - has yet to be announced, but must take place within 15 to 20 days of the Pope's last day.

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Swiss Shooting: Three Killed At Factory

Three people have been killed and seven others injured in a shooting at a factory in Switzerland, according to prosecutors.

A gunman struck at the wood processing plant in the town of Menznau on Wednesday morning, with police alerted at 9am.

A witness cited by local newspaper Neue Luzerner Zeitung said the gunman had opened fire in the company canteen.

Prosecutors' spokesman Simon Kopp told Swiss newspaper Blick: "There were three dead and seven injured, some of them seriously injured."

The assailant was among the dead, he added.

The shooting happened in the Swiss town of Menznau

Emergency services are at the factory, called Kronospan, and the area has been largely cordoned off.

The identity of the gunman and his motive, as well as whether he worked for the company, is not yet known.

The shooting comes weeks after a gunman killed three women and wounded two men in the Swiss village of Daillon, stirring a debate about Switzerland's gun laws.

Male citizens in Switzerland are allowed to retain guns after their mandatory military service.

There is no national gun register in the country, but some estimates indicate that at least one in every three of Switzerland's eight million inhabitants keeps a gun, many stored at home.

Citizens outside the military can apply for a permit to buy up to three weapons from the age of 18.

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Natascha Kampusch's Cellar Ordeal Shown In Film

A film based on the story of kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch has premiered in Vienna, showing her being raped by the captor who beat and starved her during an eight-and-a-half year ordeal.

Ms Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped in 2006.

The case made headlines in Austria and abroad. Priklopil committed suicide after Ms Kampusch escaped.

The upcoming film, titled 3,096 Days, is based on Ms Kampusch's autobiography of the same name.

It portrays her captivity in a windowless cellar, where she was often deprived of food for days at a time.

The emaciated Ms Kampusch - who weighed just 84lbs (38kgs) at one point in 2004 - keeps a diary written on toilet paper concealed in a box.

One entry reads: "At least 60 blows in the face. Ten to 15 nausea-inducing fist blows to the head. One strike with the fist with full weight to my right ear."

Natascha Kampusch's book on display in Vienna in 2010

The movie shows occasional moments that approach tenderness, such as when Priklopil presents her with a cake for her 18th birthday or buys her a dress as a gift.

He then immediately goes on to chide her for not knowing how to waltz with him.

Antonia Campbell-Hughes, who plays the teenaged Ms Kampusch, said she had tried to portray "the strength of someone's soul, the ability of people to survive".

The British actress said she had not met Ms Kampusch during the making of the film or since.

"It was a very isolated time, it was a bubble of time, and I wanted to keep that very focused," she told journalists as she arrived for the Vienna premiere on Monday.

Ms Kampusch attended the premiere, looking composed as she posed for pictures. She declined to give interviews.

The film, made at the Constantin Film studios in Bavaria, Germany, also stars Amy Pidgeon as the 10-year-old Kampusch and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Priklopil.

The director was German-American Sherry Hormann, who made her English-language debut with the 2009 move Desert Flower, an adaptation of the autobiography of Somali-born model and anti-female circumcision activist Waris Dirie.

The Kampusch case was followed two years later by that of Josef Fritzl, an Austrian who held his daughter captive in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.

The film goes on general release on Thursday.

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Markets Dive Amid Italian Election Stalemate

World markets have been rocked after elections in Italy seen as crucial for the eurozone ended in deadlock.

No group emerged as a clear winner after the vote, which saw a populist anti-austerity party make a stunning debut.

The Italian stock market fell 5% on opening and state borrowing costs rose as investors took fright at the political stalemate.

London's FTSE-100 was down 1.4% in early trading, Germany's DAX 2.1%, the Spanish IBEX 3.4% and the CAC in France more than 2.5%.

Comic Beppe Grillo's protest party appears the real winner

Banking stocks were particularly badly hit, although some of the damage was erased after the initial plunge in prices.

The euro also fell to an almost seven-week low against the dollar in Asia on fears about the eurozone debt crisis, down as far as $1.3042, its lowest since January 10.

The market reaction reflects concerns that the election result could spark a new crisis in Italy, which has the eurozone's third largest economy.

Pier Luigi Bersani's centre-left bloc has a majority in the lower chamber

There are fears it will jeopardise tough reforms required to heal its economic woes and prevent a new round of global financial turmoil.

The centre-left block of Pier Luigi Bersani will have a majority in the lower house thanks to a premium of seats given to the largest block in the chamber.

In the upper house, the Senate, seats are awarded on a region-by-region basis. Here, the centre-left looks set to end up with around 119, compared to 117 for the centre-right but 158 are needed for a majority to govern.

Any coalition government that may be formed must have a working majority in both houses to pass legislation, which means Italy is now in a state of limbo with a hung parliament that is unprecedented in its post-war history.

"It is clear to everyone that this is a very delicate situation for the country," Mr Luigi Bersani said.

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has already indicated his centre-right could be open to a grand coalition with the centre-left under Mr Bersani but he wants a recount for the Senate vote.

"Italy cannot be left ungoverned, we have to reflect," he said, describing the market reaction as "a bity crazy" and saying all sides had to "sacrifice something" if the impasse was to be broken.

An ally of conservative German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Italy to stick with reforms pursued by the outgoing technocratic emergency government of Mario Monti.

But the poor showing by Mr Monti's centrist bloc, which took just 10.6%, showed a weariness with austerity that was exploited by both Mr Berlusconi and comic Beppe Grillo.

Silvio Berlusconi did better in the Senate

The latter's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement won more votes than any other party, taking 25% nationally.

In just three years, the 5-Star Movement - heavily backed by a frustrated generation of young Italians increasingly shut out from permanent full-time jobs - has grown from a marginal group to one of the most talked about political forces in Europe.

Comparing single parties without coalitions, it is now the biggest party in the lower house with 25.55% to the Democratic Party's 25.41% - a shock success that analysts predicted would reverberate around an austerity-weary Europe.

"The 'non-party' has become the largest party in the country," said Massimo Giannini, commentator for the Rome newspaper La Repubblica about Grillo, who mixes fierce attacks on corruption with policies ranging from clean energy to free Internet.

"This is fantastic! We will be an extraordinary force!" Mr Grillo said on his website, warning mainstream politicians they would "only last a few more months".

"We'll have 110 people in parliament and we'll be millions outside."

Mr Monti said: "It's not that surprising if you consider how much people were let down by politics in its traditional forms."

Some Democratic Party officials suggested fresh elections may have to be held within a few months after a reform of Italy's complex electoral laws. Others said some form of agreement could be found with the anti-austerity 5-Star Movement.

Political analysts suggested a possible return to the grand coalition agreement between right and left seen over the past 18 months, or even dissolving the Senate alone to hold fresh elections for only one chamber of parliament.

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Iran Nuclear Talks: World Powers To 'Make Offer'

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

World powers are meeting Iranian nuclear negotiators in Kazakhstan for the first time in eight months.

It is understood there will be what diplomats are calling a "new offer" to the Iranians to try to make progress in the stalled nuclear stand-off.

A senior diplomat said: "We will take an offer with us. It is substantial and serious and will involve significant new elements."

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian energy and medical research.

The European Union and members of the UN Security Council including the US suspect Iran has a covert atomic weapons programme.

The EU's Baroness Ashton and Iran's Saeed Jalili before the talks

Washington and Brussels have adopted a dual-track approach to Iran - pursuing nuclear talks while pressing sanctions to try to force Tehran to make a deal.

A US proposal for a one-on-one meeting with Iran on the sidelines of the talks in the Kazak city of Almaty remains on the table.

The diplomat told Sky News: "Iran has a great deal to gain from the talks. It wants sanctions lifted. The talks present an opportunity to re-shape relations.

"The prize is a great one, but the negotiations are difficult and complex. We have a good offer. We hope the Iranians will respond positively."

Negotiators hope the Almaty talks will give them some sense of whether the Iranians have any interest in genuinely pursuing diplomacy.

The diplomat said: "We have to be patient and make sure when the Iranians reach a point when they want to do a deal we are at the table."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied Western pressure

Iran has seen elevated levels of inflation. Some suggest it is at 27%, while others think it could be double that.

The UN has passed six Security Council resolutions on Iran, and diplomats hope that the economic impact of sanctions will force the Iranians to re-think their stance against the West.

The Western thinking is that the centrifuges may keep spinning but the sanctions keep biting.

It has been more than half a year since the last round of talks with countries known as the E3 + 3 -  the US, France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia.

There has been anxiety about a possible military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities by Israel.

Iran is still expanding its nuclear programme with the installation of more advanced centrifuges which will multiply its enrichment capability.

But Iran has also reportedly converted some of its medium-enriched uranium into fuel plates for its medical reactor, making it harder to convert that material into bomb-grade fuel, and is slowing down its accumulation of what is known as 20% enriched uranium.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu discusses Iran at the UN in September 2012

A new report by the international nuclear watchdog IAEA suggests that Iran has a stockpile of 167kg of 20% enriched uranium.

The 20% enriched uranium is seen as the barometer for proliferation concern as it could relatively quickly be further enriched into weapons-grade fissile material.

At the time of the last IAEA report three months ago, Iran had a stockpile of nearly 135kg of 20% uranium.

According to the watchdog, this means that Iran's 20% stockpile has increased by 32kg in the past three months - a growth rate of under 11kg a month.   

At that rate Iran could take more than six months to reach a red line laid down by Israel of 240kg - which is in theory enough to make one nuclear warhead, if further enriched.

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Two Britons Killed In Egypt Balloon Explosion

Two Britons are among 18 foreign tourists who died when a hot air balloon crashed near the Egyptian city of Luxor, tour operator Thomas Cook has confirmed.

Two other Britons are in hospital in critical condition following the crash, Thomas Cook added.

"What happened in Luxor this morning is a terrible tragedy and the thoughts of everyone in Thomas Cook are with our guests, their family and friends," said Thomas Cook UK & Continental Europe CEO Peter Fankhauser.

"We have a very experienced team in (the) resort with the two guests in the local hospital, and we're providing our full support to the family and friends of the deceased at this difficult time."

Officials said the balloon, which was carrying 21 people and flying at 1,000ft, caught fire and exploded during a trip at sunrise.

The site at Luxor 40 minutes before the crash (Pic: @chrismichel)

It plunged into sugar cane fields as it travelled over Qurna, in Luxor's West Bank.

France's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that two French nationals also died in the crash.

Japanese citizens, as well as nine tourists from Hong Kong, are believed to be among other casualties.

Dr Hany Sabry, from Luxor International Hospital, told Sky News that one of the injured passengers suffered multiple fractures and internal bleeding.

He added that the second injured passenger remains under observation in the intensive care unit.

The balloon's pilot is also believed to have survived the crash.

An employee at the company operating the balloon, Sky Cruise, said two people in the balloon survived by jumping from the basket before it hit the ground.

Luxor Governor Ezzat Saad has imposed an immediate ban on all hot air balloon flights in the province as Prime Minister Hesham Qandeel ordered an investigation into the accident.

Witness Christopher Michel was travelling in one of several balloons in the air above Luxor early on Tuesday morning.

He told Sky News: "I was in one of about eight balloons that were flying that morning. We were approaching landing ... coming down in a remote field just outside of Luxor.

Ballooning in Luxor is very popular with tourists visiting its temples

"We heard a loud explosion behind us, and I looked back and saw lots of smoke. It wasn't immediately clear that it was a balloon. We were surrounded by the balloons that had been flying with us.

"Then we could see the reaction of the pilot on the balloon and he said that this hasn't happened in a long time."

The Foreign Office said it was aware of the reports about the possibility of British casualties. "We are making inquiries," a spokesman said.

Hot air ballooning is popular with tourists who go to Luxor to visit its ancient temples and the tombs of the Valley of the Kings.

But the activity is not without its dangers. In April 2009, 16 people were hurt - including two British women - when a balloon crashed during a tour of Luxor.

The balloon was believed to have hit a mobile phone transmission tower near the banks of the Nile.

Following the 2009 crash, early morning hot air balloon flights over the Valley of the Kings were suspended for six months while safety measures were tightened up.

During the break, all 42 pilots from the eight companies who operate flights had extra training.

A notice on the Foreign Office website warns tourists: "There were three serious hot air balloon accidents in Luxor in 2009. You should consider the operator's safety arrangements carefully."

Egypt's tourism industry has suffered a sharp downturn in visitor numbers since the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, with two years of political instability scaring off foreign tourists.

Thomas Cook UK has opened a hotline for families who have relatives in Egypt: 0800 107 5638.

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Helicopter Prison Break Foiled In Greece

A helicopter swooped down on a Greek prison courtyard as its passengers fired machine guns at guards in a dramatic escape plot.

A rope was lowered down to convicted killer Panagiotis Vlastos, but the fourth attempt to break him out of jail was foiled when he was shot and the aircraft forced to land.

It was the latest in a series of bids to escape prison involving helicopters in Greece, and the first time such plans have failed.

Authorities say the chartered aircraft - carrying two armed passengers, a pilot and a technician - first tried unsuccessfully to rip off the chicken-wire fence surrounding Trikala prison with a hook dangling from a rope.

The men on board used AK47 assault rifles to fire on the prison guards as the rope was lowered, with one guard slightly injured by shards of flying glass.

He and others returned fire, injuring Vlastos, who had managed to climb into the helicopter, and the helicopter's technician.

Vlastos fell from a height of around 10 feet into the courtyard, and the helicopter was eventually grounded in the car park.

The 43-year-old is a convicted murderer and racketeer serving a life term. He had tried and failed three times before to escape from jail.

Prison officials told TV stations Mega and NET they recovered more than 500 bullets fired from the helicopter, while the Ministry of Justice said the helicopter passengers also carried - but did not use - "improvised explosive devices".

Justice Minister Antonis Roupakiotis suggested a tip-off had led to the plot being foiled, saying: "We had information that there were some jails we needed to keep an eye on, including Trikala prison."

Authorities said Vlastos was wounded in the legs but is being treated in the prison hospital because his injuries were not deemed serious enough for a transfer elsewhere.

It was not immediately clear if the pilot and flight technician had willingly participated in the escape attempt or had been forced to fly to the prison, which is 205 miles northwest of Athens.

An unnamed Albanian prisoner is also thought to have been part of the attempted escape, although it is not known whether he knew of the scheme in advance or just happened to be in the courtyard and tried to take advantage of the situation.

Vlastos was first arrested in 1994 in the murder of two members of a rival criminal gang. He was convicted last year as the behind-bars mastermind of the kidnapping of shipping tycoon Pericles Panagopoulos.

Panagopoulos was kidnapped in January 2009 and released after eight days, when a ransom of 30m euros (£26.2m) was paid.

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South Korea's First Female President Sworn In

Park Geun-Hye has become South Korea's first female president, demanding North Korea "abandon its nuclear ambitions" immediately at her inauguration.

Taking the oath of office less than two weeks after Pyongyang carried out its third nuclear test, Ms Park -  the daughter of late military strongman Park Chung-Hee - called on the regime to rejoin the global community.

"North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself," she said.

"I will not tolerate any action that threatens the lives of our people and the security of our nation.

"I will move forward step by step on the basis of credible deterrence."

A traditional dance troupe performs at the inauguration

The mood of the two-and-a-half hour ceremony in a chilly Seoul was lightened when pop sensation Psy starred in a musical warm-up.

He performed his global hit Gangnam Style, and children and the elderly alike joined him as he did the horse-riding dance he made famous in the song's video.

Ms Park's election in December was an important moment for women in South Korea, who on average earn nearly 40% less than men.

The 61-year-old takes office a little more than 50 years after her father, a vehement anti-communist, seized power in a military coup.

Ms Park's election was an important moment for women in South Korea

Park Chung-Hee ruled with an iron fist for the next 18 years until his assassination.

He remains a divisive figure - credited with dragging the country out of poverty but reviled for his regime's human rights abuses.

Park Chung Hee was assassinated

At 22, Ms Park cut short her studies in Paris to return to Seoul and act as the country's first lady after an assassin targeting her father instead killed her mother.

Ms Park left the presidential Blue House five years later, in 1979, after her father was shot and killed by his spy chief during a drinking party.

Becoming the leader of Asia's fourth-largest economy, Ms Park faces challenges of slowing growth and soaring welfare costs.

The bulk of Ms Park's inauguration speech focused on the economy, and included commitments to job creation and expanded welfare, as well as the promise of a miracle.

South Korea's extraordinary economic revival from the rubble of the 1950-53 Korean War - known as the "Miracle on the Han" - has faltered in recent years, with key export markets hit by the global downturn.

Ms Park promised another miracle, saying her administration would build a new "creative economy" that would move beyond the country's traditional manufacturing base.

"At the very heart of a creative economy lie science and technology and the IT industry, areas that I have earmarked as key priorities," she said.

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