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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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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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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Chavez in Venezuela after cancer surgery

PRESIDENT Hugo Chavez has shocked and delighted Venezuelans by returning home after spending more than two months in Cuba for cancer surgery and treatment.

Chavez announced his return on Twitter, and his arrival at Caracas airport was not broadcast on TV, which is unusual in this oil-rich country he so thoroughly dominates politically and personally. Chavez was immediately hospitalised to continue treatment.

"We have arrived again to the Venezuelan motherland," Chavez wrote. "Thank you, God. Thank you, my beloved people. We will continue my treatment here."

From the airport, he was taken to Carlos Avarela Military Hospital in Caracas, said his son-in-law and Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza.

Vice-President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's hand-picked political heir, swiftly went on national television to declare that Venezuelans were "absolutely happy" to have the president back.

Venezuelans had neither seen nor heard from Chavez since he left for Cuba in December, although on Friday photos of a bedridden but smiling Chavez were shown on Venezuelan TV.

The last time Venezuelans saw Chavez was when he left for Cuba December 10 for his fourth round of cancer surgery since being diagnosed in mid-2011.

Pro-Chavez people started gathering in Bolivar Plaza to celebrate the return of their larger than life comandante, a garrulous populist who is the most visible face of the Latin American left and a thorn in the side of Washington for his alignment of oil-rich Venezuela with nations such as Iran, Syria and Cuba.

"He's back, he's back, he's back," supporters chanted, footage broadcast on state-run VTV showed.

Fidel Castro hailed his long-time friend's return home. He said a "long and anxious" wait is over for the Venezuelan people, thanks to Chavez's "stunning physical stamina and the total dedication of the doctors" who treated him in Havana.

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