Cyprus Imposes Limits Ahead Of Bank Reopening

Cyprus is to impose strict limits on money transfers as it prepares for the planned reopening of its crippled banking system.

The measures, aimed at preventing a run on banks in the wake of the nation's controversial bailout, will include restrictions on large-scale transfers from the country's two largest and most troubled lenders, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki, it is understood.

They are expected to reopen tomorrow, almost two weeks after the Cypriot banking system was effectively shut down while the terms of the sovereign rescue were agreed and implemented.

Big depositors face losses of as much as 40% of their savings under the terms of the 10bn euro (£8.5bn) EU bailout.

Leaks of the draft capital controls include limits of 3,000 euros (£2,530) on the amount of cash individuals can take abroad.

The cashing of cheques will not be accepted though the authorities are looking to increase the daily cash withdrawal limit per account from 100 euros to 300 euros.

Payroll payments will be allowed in order to help businesses, which have taken a huge hit as people cut down on their spending amid the uncertainty about the banks.

Local media said that other measures would limit what travellers could take out of banks while credit card purchases would also be restricted.

More follows...

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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."

The faked photo emerged as a company which runs tours to North Korea reported that 3G access for tourists had been shut down, just one month after first being permitted by the state.

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.

South Korea's Park Geun-Hye

"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.

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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Obama Appoints First Woman Secret Service Boss

Barack Obama has appointed the first woman to be the head of the country's Secret Service in the wake of the recent prostitution scandal.

The "historic decision" to give the role to Julia Pierson signals the President's desire to change the culture at the male-dominated agency, which is charged with protecting Mr Obama and his family.

The Secret Service has come in for significant criticism following revelations that 13 agents were involved in a  sordid sex fiasco during preparations for Mr Obama's trip to Cartagena, Columbia, last year.

The men enjoyed a night of partying in the resort city and then brought women, some of them prostitutes, to the hotel where they were staying.

It became public after one of the men refused to pay a prostitute and an argument broke out in the hotel hallway.

The news overshadowed Mr Obama's trip and raised serious questions about the culture of the Secret Service.

Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa said Ms Pierson "has a lot of work ahead of her to create a culture that respects the important job the agency is tasked with."

An agent's row with Dania Suarez made the prostitution scandal public

Announcing her appointment, Mr Obama said: "Over her 30 years of experience with the Secret Service, Julia has consistently exemplified the spirit and dedication the men and women of the service demonstrate every day."

Ms Pierson, who started as a special agent in Miami in 1983 and previously worked as a police officer in Orlando, takes over from Mike Sullivan, who announced his retirement last month.

At the Secret Service, Ms Pierson has served as deputy assistant director of the office of protective operations, assistant director of human resources and training and chief of staff. She was already the highest-ranking woman at the agency.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also praised Mr Obama's "historic decision" to name Ms Pierson as the service's first female director.

Following the prostitution debacle, eight employees were forced out of the agency, while three were cleared of serious misconduct.

A new code of conduct was introduced that banned employees from drinking within 10 hours of starting a shift or bringing foreign nationals back to their hotel rooms.

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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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Worst Crash Scenes Revealed By Australia Cops

Police in Australia have released a video of police officers talking about the worst road crashes they have come across in their careers.

The authorities in South Australia are hoping to persuade motorists to consider the consequences of bad driving as the roads get busy around the Easter holiday break.

Three police officers - Brevet Sergeant Wayne Liebich, Sergeant Lauren Cox and Brevet Sergeant Narelle Janeway - tell of their experiences.

The three explain how what they saw affected them, the victims' families and the potential repercussions.

They also set out how motorists can avoid becoming another statistic.

Police Assistant Commissioner Linda Williams told news.com.au: "What we are urging people to do is take care on our roads, think about their trips, think about the country driving they will be undertaking.

"All this (poor) driving behaviour can actually be avoided by people just taking their time and thinking about getting to their destination safely and in one piece."

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Boy Found Starved In Apartment With Dead Mum

An emaciated four-year-old boy was found in an apartment with the body of his mother, who had been dead for five days.

Police said that the child had tried to get food from the refrigerator but could not open the door.

Officers said that he had also rubbed lotion on his mother's body in an attempt to revive her, leaving behind his hand prints.

Neighbours were alerted to the plight of the boy and his mother when a maintenance worker at the apartment block in Union, New Jersey, reported a bad smell.

The door was locked with the chain, but ajar.

Officers said that the woman's body was discovered in a bedroom and her son was taken to hospital for treatment.

The death of the woman, who is not being named, is not being treated as suspicious.

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Berlin Wall: Anger As Parts Are Torn Down

Parts of the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall have been torn down in a surpise move by developers to make way for a luxury building project.

A newly-installed gate at a section torn down by the developer

Work crews backed by about 250 police removed four sections - each 1.2m wide - of the 1.3km long East Side Gallery before dawn.

By mid-morning the gap was covered by a wooden fence and protected by scores of police. It will make way for an access route to planned high-rise apartments along the nearby Spree River.

It follows several protests including one attended by former Baywatch and Knight Rider star David Hasselhof. Critics are angered that developers are sacrificing history for profit.

Construction workers removed a first piece of the wall earlier this month as part of a plan to make a road to a new luxury apartment complex.

A stretch of the wall near a demolished section

The public outcry brought a halt to the project while local politicians and the investor said they were looking for a solution to keep the rest of the wall untouched.

But despite this, the investor Maik Uwe Hinkel decided to go ahead with the demolition.

In an emailed statement, Mr Hinkel said it was a temporary move to enable trucks to access the building site.

He said after four weeks of fruitless negotiations with city officials and owners of adjacent property he was no longer willing to wait.

A giant drill at a construction site behind the wall

Kani Alavi, the head of the East Side Gallery's artists' group, said: "I can't believe they came here in the dark in such a sneaky manner. All they see is their money, they have no understanding for the historic relevance and art of this place.

"If you take these parts of the Wall away, you take away the soul of the city. This way, you make it like every other city. It's so sad," said Ivan McClostney, 32, who moved to Berlin a year ago from Ireland.

The East Side Gallery was recently restored at a cost of more than 2m euros (£1.6m) to the city.

Only 3km of the wall remains today

The wall section stood on the eastern side of the elaborate border strip built by communist East Germany after it sealed off West Berlin in 1961. At the time it stretched 155km but today only 3km is left.

At least 136 people died trying to scale the wall during the Cold War until it fell in 1989.

The stretch of wall was transformed into an open-air gallery months after the opening and is now covered in colourful murals painted by about 120 artists, attracting scores of tourists.

The Berlin Wall as it used to be during the Cold War

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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 football 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 football 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 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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Cancer Detection: DNA Study Brings 'New Era'

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Scientists have revealed a major leap forward in cancer detection after finding dozens of common genetic changes that can increase the risk of the disease.

Tests on 250,000 patients found 83 inherited variations in the DNA code that could either raise or lower the chances of developing breast, ovarian or prostate cancer.

Together the cancers affect almost 100,000 people a year in the UK. More than 26,000 of them die.

The findings will allow doctors to identify women with a near 100% chance of developing breast cancer, and men with a one in two risk of prostate cancer.

Scientists have hailed the research as the dawn of a new era in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Professor Ros Eeles from The Institute of Cancer Research said: "These results are the single biggest leap forward in finding the genetic causes of prostate cancer yet made.

"They allow us, for the first time, to identify men who have a very high risk of developing prostate cancer during their lifetime through inheritance of genetic variants.

"If we can show from further studies that such men benefit from regular screening we could have a big impact on the number of men dying from the disease."

This is the largest study of its kind, involving around 1,000 scientists around the world. They analysed DNA for tiny changes that could change the way genes work, altering cancer risk as a result.

It was the largest study of its kind, involving experts around the world

In the near future patients could be asked to spit into a tube by their GP who could then run a £30 test on their DNA in the surgery.

They would then have an individual risk profile for some of the most common cancers.

The most immediate practical use of the research could be in women who carry the inherited breast cancer gene BRCA1. On average they face a 70% risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime.

But the new genetic variants can give women much more detail on their risk. If they also inherit several of the newly identified high risk changes to their DNA their chances of developing the disease are raised to between 90 and 100%.

But if they inherit the protective DNA changes, their risk drops to below 30%.

Scientists say it could help women with the BRCA gene decide whether to have a preventative mastectomy. Sharon Osborne had her breasts removed last year because she carried the gene.

Professor Montse Garcia-Closas, another of the researchers, said the study was a "huge step" in understanding the causes of breast cancer.

"These findings will help us to predict who is at increased risk of developing the disease and who could benefit most from prevention strategies, such as lifestyle changes and chemo-prevention, and early-detection strategies, such as regular screening," she said.

Around 57% of cancer risk is set by genetic factors, with lifestyle making up the rest.

Scientists believe there could be thousands of genetic variations that affect cancer risk. Patients with lung and colorectal cancers are to be tested as part of a study starting this summer

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust. The results are published in a series of papers in journals including Nature Genetics, PLOS Genetics, and the American Journal of Human Genetics.

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