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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Farah Defends 'Have You Run Before?' Presenter

Double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah has sprung to the defence of an American television presenter who asked him if he had ever run before following a half marathon win.

After setting the course record in the New Orleans half marathon, LaTonya Norton, presenter at the local television station for more than six years, asked Farah if it was his "first time".

The 29-year-old athlete good-naturedly responded: "This isn't my first time, I have run before a half marathon but this is the first time in New Orleans."

Norton went on to describe his 61 minute record for the 13.1 mile course as "absolutely amazing", which, had he not been a double Olympic champion, it would have been.

Double gold medalist has a poor track record of being recognised in the US

The footage, which subsequently appears to have been removed from the WSDU website, went viral and sparked thousands of derogatory comments about the presenter on Twitter.

However, Farah has leapt to the presenter's defence on the social networking site, posting a tweet saying: "Just wanna say to everyone being nasty to LaTonya Norton please stop!! She made a mistake like we all do!! She didn't mean anything by it!"

He also responded to a tweet from the CNN presenter Piers Morgan saying: "Haha it was bit funny ... !! I felt sorry for her ... So I tried to help her out ... !! All good though!"

Norton compounded her mistake by asking Farah if he intended to enter any more events. When he replied that he was looking to do half of the London Marathon course in April, she said: "You're certainly off to a good start."

Farah, who won both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the London Olympics, is no stranger to not being recognised in the US. In December he was stopped by US customs agents as a "possible terrorist".

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Iran Describes Nuclear Talks As 'Positive'

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

Negotiations between Iran and international powers have ended with only an agreement to meet again.

A breakthrough was not expected during the two days of talks in the Kazakh city of Almaty, but the Iranian side did say they had been "positive".

Technical negotiations will now be held in Istanbul on March 18 and there will be another round of political talks in early April.

Six world powers, the US, France, Germany, Britain, Russia, and China went into the talks hoping to persuade Tehran to reduce its uranium enrichment and close the Fordow plant due to suspicions that Iran is attempting to build nuclear weapons.

An offer to ease economic sanctions against Iran was on the table.

Iran, which says its enrichment work is only for peaceful purposes, responded by saying it would discuss the offer.

Its chief negotiator Saeed Jalili said the six powers had tried "to get closer to our viewpoint" and was prepared to discuss reducing uranium enrichment at a later date, but appeared to rule out closing Fordow which is buried deep inside a mountain.

If Iran is serious, then the talks could be presented as a small step towards a peaceful resolution of what is feared could turn into a crisis leading to military action. 

The sanctions against Iran do now appear to be hurting the regime in Tehran.

This could be the cause of the slightly more conciliatory tone from Iran at the talks, but in the past Iran has repeatedly played for time, whilst speeding up its enrichment process en route to getting to a "break out" position when it can quickly move to building a weapon.

Possible evidence of that work has appeared in the Daily Telegraph, which published a satellite picture of the Arak heavy-water production plant in Iran.

It shows what looks like steam coming from a building. This indicates the production of heavy water which is required to produce plutonium.

If Iran is doing this, it suggests a dual path towards a nuclear weapon.

Both uranium and plutonium can be used to make a nuclear device. 

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Large Shark Kills Swimmer Off New Zealand

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A man has been killed in a rare great white shark attack off the coast of New Zealand.

Police and lifesavers recovered the man's body on Wednesday afternoon at Muriwai, a popular surfing beach near the city of Auckland, on New Zealand's North Island.

Witness Stef McCallum, 18, said about 200 people were on the beach at the time. 

She saw a police officer go out in a surf lifesaving boat and fire "about 20" shots into the water at the shark.

"Everybody was evacuated from the water. Word of mouth, 'shark', and everybody left the water," she said.

Another witness Pio Mose claimed he saw three sharks.

He told The New Zealand Herald he saw the swimmer struggle against one "huge" shark. He told the man to swim to the rocks, but it was too late.

"All of a sudden there was blood everywhere," Mr Mose said. "... I was shaking, scared, panicked."

Police in a helicopter directed inflatable boats to the scene

Another witness told television station 3 News NZ that he spotted the lone swimmer while he was fishing at the beach.

The distressed man signalled for help when he was attacked, before he was pulled underwater. At this point, the witness said, three or four other sharks appeared in the area.

Police Inspector Shawn Rutene said in a statement that the swimmer, was about 200 meters (650 feet) offshore when the shark attacked.

He said police went out in inflatable surf-lifesaving boats and shot at the shark, which they estimate was 12 to 14 feet long.

As many as 200 people were on the beach at the time of the attack

"It rolled over and disappeared," Insp Rutene said, without saying whether police are certain that they killed the creature.

The authorities in the area have closed the beach.

A St John ambulance spokeswoman told the AFP news agency the victim was 47 years old. Inspector Matt Sillars said his body has been recovered.

"We're not sure at this stage whether or not the deceased died prior to the shark arriving on the scene, or whether the shark was a contributing factor towards the death," he said.

It is understood the man was a local and his family gathered at the scene.

The beach is popular with surfers and several of those on the beach at the time gathered in the local club's hut afterwards to find out more information about what had happened.

Earlier this week, surfer Bourne Nobel Buiski had posted on Facebook that there had been a "massive" shark spotted near surfers on Monday at Piha, 14 kilometres south of Muriwai.

He said that a local man ran out of the water "white faced and terrified".

"He was saying that a great white, a massive great white had just swum right beside him," Mr Buiski said. No one believed him, he said. "As they are so rare here. There were about 60 people there, and no one came in."

Fatal shark attacks are relatively rare in New Zealand with just over a dozen deaths since record-keeping began in the 1830s.

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Apple 'To Pay £66m' Over Kids' App Downloads

Apple is set to pay out around £66m ($100m) to settle a US lawsuit which claims children were improperly charged while playing iPad and iPhone games.

It is alleged that poor safeguards meant kids were easily able to buy extra features for the free games without their parents' knowledge or permission.

Court papers claim: "Apple failed to adequately disclose that third-party Game Apps, largely available for free and rated as containing content suitable for children, contained the ability to make In-App Purchases."

The case dates back to 2010 and 2011, with Apple updating its software to put in more secure controls on in-game purchases from March 2011.

It has now agreed to give a £3.30 ($5) credit to an estimated 23 million people who were affected. However, if parents can show they were charged more than £20 ($30) then cash refunds will be offered.

The games that were downloaded were designed for children as young as four, claims the lawsuit - which was started by five parents.

One of the parents, Garen Meguerian, says his young daughter spent several hundred dollars on "game currency" while playing "highly addictive" apps like Zombie Cafe and Treasure Story.

Apple previously required a password to be entered for any download or purchase which was valid for 15 minutes without needing to be re-entered.

The system changed in 2011 to make the password mandatory for every transaction, and to warn users that free games might contain the option to buy extra features.

Some technology writers have said that parents should be more aware of the consequences of giving children access to their gadgets and passwords.

Lawyers bringing the case also want Apple to pay their legal fees of £860,000 ($1.3m). The proposed settlement needs court approval and will go before judges on March 1.

Apple has not yet commented on the case.

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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. Police confirmed the gunman was a 42-year-old employee at the factory.

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.

Kronospan Chief Executive Mauro Capozzo said the suspected shooter had been "with us for more than 10 years - a quiet man, no other incidents involving him are 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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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 150,000-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

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

Later it was revealed that the Pope had expressed his gratitude for the welcome he received during his visit to Britain in 2010 and for the prayers of British Catholics since he decided to step down.

A letter written on his behalf by Vatican official Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu thanked his UK-based followers.

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.

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 Pope today named the Archbishop of Glasgow as temporary successor to Cardinal O'Brien in one of his last acts as head of the Catholic Church.

Philip Tartaglia will govern the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh until a permanent successor is appointed, but will not be able to attend the conclave.

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.

Another of the Pope's last acts was to announce that the Turin Shroud will be put on display again for one day on March 30. It has only been shown five times in the last 100 years.

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'Racist' Beijing Restaurant Sign Prompts Fury

A restaurant in Beijing has banned the citizens of three Asian countries as well as dogs in response to a maritime dispute.

A sign outside the Beijing Snacks restaurant near the Forbidden City says no Filipinos, Vietnamese and Japanese are allowed to enter, provoking a wave of outrage.

The sign outside the popular tourist spot reads: "This shop does not receive the Japanese, the Philippines, the Vietnamese and dog(s)."

The owners of the restaurant have been accused of racism after photographs of the controversial sign went viral and started appearing on Vietnamese-language forums and in Filipino newspapers and websites.

Vietnam's state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper it had "ignited online fury".

The newspaper said many Vietnamese felt it was another example of Chinese "extreme nationalism that deserves to be condemned".

One Vietnamese who wrote a comment under the story on the paper's website said: "It's not patriotism, it's stupid extremism."

The sign provoked tens of thousands of posts on Vietnamese social networking sites and newspaper comment threads.

Beijings Snacks is near the Forbidden City

Filipinos greeted the photo with a mixture of fury and amusement.

"Blatant racism at Beijing Restaurant," journalist Veronica Pedrosa wrote in one widely-shared tweet, while Facebook user Rey Garcia used a comment thread on a news site to retort: "Who cares, they almost cook everything, even foetus and fingernails."

Vietnam and the Philippines are locked in a longstanding territorial row with China over islands in the South China Sea.

China and Japan have a separate acrimonious dispute over islands in the East China Sea.

The dispute has been aggravated recently by China's launching of its first aircraft carrier which will be responsible for operations in waters surrounding Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese media announced on Wednesday that the ship will be docked in the eastern port of Qingdao.

Philippine Foreign Department spokesman Raul Hernandez refused to enter the row over the resturant telling reporters in Manila that the restaurant sign was simply one "private view" about the maritime dispute.

The photos were originally posted on Facebook.

The sign's wording has the potential to be particularly inflammatory as it recalls China's colonial era, when British-owned establishments barred Chinese from entering.

A sign supposedly reading "No Dogs and Chinese allowed" became part of Communist propaganda after it was said to have hung outside a park in Shanghai when Western powers controlled parts of China.

It has become part of Chinese folklore and featured in the 1972 Bruce Lee film "Fists of Fury" - but many historical experts say no such sign ever existed.

The controversial Beijing sign was still in place on Wednesday, according to the restaurant owner who gave only his surname of Wang.

Mr Wang told the AFP newswire: "No officials have contacted me about it. This is my own conduct."

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China: Children Die In School Staircase Crush

Four children have been killed and 14 others injured in a crush on a staircase at a primary school in central China's Hubei province, state media has reported.

The incident occurred around 5.40am local time when more than 80 students gathered on the staircase between the first and second floor waiting to be let out of the dormitory building of the Qinji Elementary School, according to state television CCTV.

Without waiting for the teachers to unlock the iron gate at the entrance to the building, the students pushed, causing the loosely-attached gate to fall, the report said.

Two boys and two girls died in hospital, and seven out of the 14 injured are still in hospital, with three of them in a critical condition, it added.

A man leans down to talk to a little girl caught in the crush

The principal of the Qinji Elementary School - a four-storey building built in 1990 - has been taken into custody.

Du Yongjie, principal of the Xueji Central Elementary School, to which the Qinji school is affiliated, said teachers were supposed to open the gate at about 6am every morning, but the students were so excited that they woke up early on Wednesday after their first night at the boarding school.

When teachers heard the noise and rushed to the site, it was already too late, he added.

"It (the rush) lasted about five minutes. The gate was locked for the safety of pupils living there. Girls of grades five and six lived there. The gate to the dormitory is locked after the students go to bed," said Mr Du.

"So the students woke up earlier (than usual). Earlier than usual. Usually we don't have such things. They usually wake up after 6am," he added.

An investigation into the incident is under way.

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