Nobody immune from probe: Cyprus president

THE Cypriot president has pledged that not even his own family will be immune from a commission of inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing in the run-up to a crippling eurozone bailout.

President Nicos Anastasiades was responding to allegations that family members of leading politicians had taken advantage of privileged information to protect their assets from a hit on bank deposits imposed by European Union-led creditors last month.

Anastasiades said the panel, which is to start its work on Tuesday, would have explicit terms of reference to exclude nobody from their investigations, even his own extended family.

"I want to emphasise that during tomorrow's swearing in ceremony for the three distinguished judges, they be given a mandate to investigate everything that is possibly related to me, including those relatives linked to me by marriage," he said.

Allegations have swirled of big movements of cash out of both banks in the run-up to the bailout agreement as those in the know scrambled to protect their money.

The panel, which has three months to report its findings, will also probe a list published by Greek media of Cypriot politicians who allegedly had loans forgiven during the meltdown, Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said last week.

BoC, Laiki and third largest lender Hellenic Bank reportedly forgave millions of euros in loans over the past five years to lawmakers, companies and local authorities, newspapers in Greece have alleged.

Cypriot banks have been operating with stringent capital controls since they reopened on Thursday, after a near two-week lockdown prompted by fears of a run on deposits.

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Pioneering rock writer Paul Williams dies

PAUL Williams, a pioneering rock music journalist whose Crawdaddy! magazine is considered the first US publication to write seriously about rock 'n roll, has died in California aged 64.

The Union-Tribune of San Diego says Williams died in an Encinitas care facility on Wednesday.

His wife, Cindy Lee Berryhill, tells the Los Angeles Times that Williams died of complications of dementia triggered by head injuries from a 1995 bicycle accident.

Williams was a teenager when he began publishing Crawdaddy! in 1966. It appeared 18 months before Rolling Stone.

Williams also wrote more than 30 books and helped introduce readers to the work of science fiction writer Philip K Dick. He was Dick's literary executor.

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Six dead in new blast at China mine

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

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

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

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

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

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US stocks lower after last week's records

US stocks have opened mostly lower after the record-setting sprint by leading indices before the Easter long weekend.

Five minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed on Thursday at a new all-time high, dropped 5.34 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 14,573.20.

The broad-based S&P 500, which also notched a record performance on Thursday, slipped 0.88, or 0.06 per cent, to 1,568.31.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index put on a scant 0.04 (zero per cent) at 3,267.56.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said trading would likely take its cue from data releases on manufacturing and construction.

"The second quarter, which begins today, is set to begin on a relatively flat note," O'Hare said.

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US manufacturing growth slows in March

US manufacturing activity slowed in March but remained in expansion territory for the fourth month in a row, the ISM report shows.

The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index fell to 51.3 in March from 54.2 in February, reflecting slower growth in most of the sectors surveyed, with a notable exception in employment.

The March reading on the index, based on a nationwide survey of manufacturing purchasing executives, was weaker than expected. On average, most analysts expected the PMI to dip to 54.0.

Nevertheless, manufacturing seemed to be on a solid growth trajectory after the PMI hovered around the 50 break-even line between growth and contraction in the second half of 2012.

The February reading was the highest since June 2011.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries surveyed in March, 14 reported growth, compared with 15 in February.

Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, highlighted that the report was mixed, with new orders and production taking "a sizeable drop" to three- and six-month lows.

Employment hit a nine-month high, "some good news" ahead of the government's March jobs report on Friday, Lee said.

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Iraq executes four including al-Qaeda boss

IRAQ has executed al-Qaeda's former Baghdad chief and three other men convicted of terror-related offences, despite calls for a moratorium in its use of the death penalty.

The executions brought to 22 the number of times Iraq has carried out the death penalty so far this year, compared with 129 in 2012, which was among the highest such figures in the world.

"These terrorists were executed by hanging," the justice ministry said in a statement on Monday. "They committed criminal attacks against the Iraqi people, notably in Baghdad and in (the western province of) Anbar."

Among the group executed was Munaf Abdul Rahim al-Rawi, once described as the "governor of Baghdad" for al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, who was arrested in March 2010.

He has been blamed for plotting two massive attacks in the Iraqi capital in August and October of 2009 that left 250 dead in total.

Security forces have said Rawi's arrest yielded crucial intelligence that helped lead to the killings in April 2010 of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the political leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Abu Ayub al-Masri, the insurgent group's self-styled "minister of war".

Iraq has executed at least 22 people so far this year, according to an AFP tally. It executed 18 people convicted of terror-related offences on March 14 and 17.

Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate said nationwide attacks on March 19 that killed 56 people were "revenge for those whom you (the government) executed".

Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari insisted last week that Baghdad would continue to implement the death penalty in the face of widespread calls for it to issue a moratorium.

Iraq's executions have sparked concern from the United Nations, as well as Britain, the European Union and rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

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Sifting starts for September 11 remains

THE New York City medical examiner says it has started sifting construction debris from the World Trade Center site in an effort to find any human remains from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The work began on Monday and is expected to continue for about 10 weeks.

Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said in a memo on Friday that DNA testing will continue until every possible identification can be made.

City officials say about 60 truckloads of construction debris has been collected around the site over the past two-and-a-half years.

Some 2750 people died at the World Trade Center in the 2001 attacks. So far, 1634 people have been identified.

A skyscraper will replace the twin towers.

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