No release for Belgian pedophile killer

A BELGIAN court has turned down a request by notorious child sex killer Marc Dutroux for early release from prison to serve out the rest of his sentence at home under electronic surveillance.

The ruling against Belgium's "most hated man" cited the risk he might offend again after being jailed for life in 2004 for the kidnap and rape between June 1995 and August 1996 of six young and teenage girls, four of whom died.

"There are no grounds on which to base (a release) under surveillance by electronic bracelet," the court said on Monday, citing the "absence of any prospect that Dutroux" could be reintegrated into society.

Dutroux, 56, earlier this month asked a special court that he be released and placed under house arrest with an electronic tag to keep track of his movements.

Monday's decision was based on psychiatric, prison and judicial reports on Dutroux, an electrician, who had claimed that he could find work as either a plumber or floor-layer.

The reports said this was not a realistic possibility, adding that where he would live was uncertain while there was also a risk that he might commit fresh crimes or harass his victims or their families.

Dutroux's request for early release horrified Belgium, reviving painful memories of its worst criminal case.

In August, Michelle Martin, his ex-wife and accomplice, secured release from prison to a convent, causing an outcry.

The 52-year-old mother of three of Dutroux's children, and a former schoolteacher, was granted release on parole in May after serving barely half of a 30-year sentence.

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UK's Cameron in India trade offensive

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has arrived in India with what he calls Britain's biggest ever overseas business delegation for a three-day visit clouded by a corruption scandal.

His trip, starting in Mumbai, comes amid a raging controversy over India's procurement in 2010 of 12 helicopters from Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland in a $US748 million ($A730 million) deal.

After an investigation in Italy suggested kickbacks were paid via middlemen to secure the deal, India has taken steps to cancel the contract and started its own police inquiry.

The British prime minister is likely to face further questions about the probe - the helicopters are being manufactured in southwest England - with the Indian government keen to be seen to be acting tough on its latest problem.

The affair has taken the gloss off Cameron's second trip to India to press for deeper economic ties between the two countries and greater access for British companies in one of the world's most dynamic economies.

"India's rise is going to be one of the great phenomena of this century," he said at a factory of part-British consumer products group Hindustan Unilever.

"Britain wants to be your partner of choice."

The British leader has targeted a doubling of annual bilateral trade from STG11.5 billion ($A17.5 billion) in 2010 to STG23 billion by the time he faces re-election in 2015.

Among his 100-plus delegation are executives eyeing moves by the Indian government to open up the retail, airline, banking and insurance sectors to foreign investors, and heads of six universities.

After his business meetings in the financial capital on Monday, Cameron will fly to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.

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New James Bond novel this year

A NEW James Bond novel, written by British novelist William Boyd, will be released on September 26, publishers Jonathan Cape have announced.

The book, as yet untitled, is set in 1969 and features a 45-year-old Bond.

"1969. A veteran secret agent. A single mission. A licence to kill. James Bond returns," readers are promised.

The glamorous British spy's creator, Ian Fleming, died in 1964 after writing 14 novels in the Bond series, but other authors have since kept the saga alive and the franchise has now sold more than 100 million books.

The latest two novels were Devil May Care (2008) by Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche in 2011.

This year marks 60 years since Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, was published in 1953.

The announcement of the new book's release date comes on the same day that Skyfall - the 23rd official Bond film, starring Daniel Craig - is released on DVD in Britain.

Skyfall is the first film ever to take STG100 million ($A150 million) at the British box office. Globally, last year's Bond movie has taken more than $US1 billion.

Boyd used Fleming as a character in his book Any Human Heart and has also worked with Bond actors Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and Craig.

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Union wants national reserve of gas

AUSTRALIANS could have cheaper energy and a cleaner environment if the government reserved some of the nation's gas, a key union says.

Five hundred delegates to the Australian Workers Union's national conference on Tuesday are expected to approve a plan to lobby the federal government for a national gas reserve.

A report by some of the nation's biggest gas users released last year found that Australia's domestic gas prices were rising because major gas producers were focused on maximising LNG exports to China, Japan and Korea.

Australia is the only country where a massive expansion in production has led to serious gas shortages and big price rises for consumers.

The union is expected to approve a motion calling for the government to retain a gas supply for domestic use - which some say should equate to about 15 per cent of LNG production - to take pressure off prices and provide cleaner energy.

AWU delegates are also expected to ask the NSW government to cut red tape and other barriers to the extraction of coal seam gas.

The conference will hear from ACTU secretary Dave Oliver and Treasurer Wayne Swan on Tuesday.

Delegates will also debate a motion to improve union corporate governance by setting a "zero tolerance" policy.

The conference at Jupiters Casino finishes on Thursday.

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Independent to sell South African titles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Weather extremes show climate risk: UN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Amazon sacks security in German scandal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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EU agrees news sanctions against N Korea

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

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

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

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

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

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