Barclays to axe at least 3700 jobs

British banking giant Barclays plans to axe at least 3700 jobs under a strategic overhaul. Source: AAP

SCANDAL-HIT banking giant Barclays is to axe at least 3700 jobs under a strategic overhaul.

Chief executive Antony Jenkins is shutting the bank's controversial Structured Capital Markets tax advisory division and said 1800 jobs would go in corporate and investment banking and another 1900 across its European retail and business arm as part of a plan to slash costs by STG1.7 billion ($A2.61 billion).

Nearly STG2.5 billion of cash set aside to cover mis-selling compensation claims contributed to a plunge in pre-tax profits to STG246 million in 2012 from STG5.9 billion the previous year.

The bank's bonus pot will mean each employee gets STG13,300 on average, with an average of STG54,100 for investment banking staff, although the pool is lower than the STG2.2 billion paid out last year.

Barclays said 1600 jobs have already been cut in the investment banking business since the start of the year.

Jenkins, who was appointed in August after Bob Diamond quit in the wake of the bank's STG290 million Libor rigging settlement, insisted bonuses had been reduced after last year's string of reputational blows.

He said the bank's compensation ratio - pay as a proportion of revenues - had fallen to 38 per cent from 42 per cent in 2011.

Jenkins announced he was waiving his bonus for 2012 earlier this month, but the overall staff bonus pot for 2012 is likely to stoke further controversy given the recent series of scandals to rock the group.

Barclays said profits rose 26 per cent to STG7.05 billion on an underlying basis, with mis-selling provisions stripped out and not including movements in the value of its own debt.

Bottom line profits were heavily impacted by mis-selling provisions, with STG1.6 billion put by to cover claims relating to payment protection insurance (PPI) and STG850 million for interest rate swaps sold to small businesses.

It said the average PPI claim stood at STG2750, while it added the group sold around 4000 interest rate swaps to small businesses of which around 3000 were liable to potential mis-selling claims.

Barclays said its investment banking business delivered a 37 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to STG4.1 billion in 2012.

The bank's UK retail and business banking division saw profits tumble 71 per cent to STG292 million after PPI provisions, although it said profits rose four per cent to STG1.5 billion on an underlying basis.

Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: "The chief executive's promise of a culture shift at the bank is to be welcomed but we need to see more progress to address the gap between the highest paid and the lowest paid staff at Barclays, which is huge.

"It's shocking but true that the starting salary at Barclays is just STG13,500 a year, making some workers at the bank eligible to claim tax credits.

"With pay negotiations due to start soon, Unite will be expecting the bank to reward its staff fairly for their contribution to the success of the bank."

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Bill Shorten intervenes in Pacific dispute

PACIFIC National Coal says it will return to the Fair Work Commission to solve the ongoing dispute the Rail Tram & Bus Union.

The company said federal Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten had "reached out" to help solve the dispute.

The union had been negotiating with Pacific National for more than a year.

Eight months have passed since the old enterprise bargaining agreement expired for its 840 NSW employees.

"Based on his proposal, and with the commitment of no further industrial action during the proposed discussions, Pacific National Coal has accepted the offer to return to the Fair Work Commission," the company said in a statement.

"Pacific National Coal remains committed to reaching an outcome that recognises the interests of all stakeholders and believes that the support of the commission in doing so is our best opportunity to achieve an outcome."

This comes after union members walked off the job at on Friday for 48 hours.

Pacific National, a subsidiary of transport infrastructure company Asciano, has wanted the dispute taken to Fair Work Australia, but the union has opposed this move.

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Obama rebukes North Korea over test

The US president called for "swift" international action following North Korea's nuclear test. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama says North Korea's "provocative" nuclear test does not make it more secure, calling for "swift" and "credible" international action.

Obama also vowed in a written statement on Tuesday that Washington would remain vigilant in the face of the underground detonation by the Stalinist state and steadfast in its defence commitments to its allies in Asia.

"These provocations do not make North Korea more secure," Obama said.

"Far from achieving its stated goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation, North Korea has instead increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery."

Obama complained that the test was a "highly provocative act" that -- following the North's December 12 ballistic missile launch -- undermined regional stability and violated UN Security Council resolutions.

"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community," Obama said, ahead of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for later on Tuesday.

"The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies," Obama said.

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Perth bushfire threat scaled back

AN alert for a bushfire burning in Perth's southern fringe has been downgraded, but authorities warn there is still a danger to residents as the unpredictable blaze rages on.

An emergency warning was issued at 4.15pm (WST) on Tuesday but was downgraded to a watch and act alert at 5.30pm for people in an area bounded by Hella Kipper Drive, Nettleton Road and Manjedal Road, in the southern part of Karrakup, in the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale.

The fire started between South Western Highway and Norman Road in Cardup at 3.20pm.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said fire crews on the ground and air support worked hard to slow the spread of the fire, which resulted in the alert level being downgraded.

"There is still a possible threat to lives and homes as a fire is approaching the area and conditions are changing," the department warns.

"You need to leave or get ready to actively defend."

The bushfire, which is still out of control, is moving in a northeasterly direction towards Nettleton Road.

Burning embers were likely to be blown around homes and spot fires were starting ahead of the fire, the DFES said.

The flames have so far burnt about 28 hectares.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

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Iranians march to mark revolution

HUNDREDS of thousands of people have marched in Tehran and other cities chanting "Death to America" as Iran marked the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed shah.

In the capital on Sunday, crowds waving Iranian flags and portraits of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini walked towards the landmark Azadi (Freedom) Square, in a government-sponsored rally which is now a cornerstone of the regime.

Marchers also chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" as they headed for the square, some waving posters of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was expected to speak.

Iran is holding similar rallies nationwide, especially in large provincial capitals such as Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz and Kerman.

At the Tehran rally, foreign media were being closely monitored and allowed to cover the event from officially designated areas only.

The rally marks February 11 when the army declared solidarity with the people, turning its back on shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Ten days beforehand, Khomeini returned in triumph from exile in France to lead the revolutionaries to power.

Tehran is currently under a series of international sanctions aimed at curbing its controversial nuclear program of uranium enrichment.

World powers and Iran's arch regional foe Israel suspect that Tehran is trying to develop atomic weapons under the cover of its civilian program, a charge repeatedly and vehemently denied by the Islamic republic.

The sanctions have led to a severe economic crisis, choking Iran's banking system and limiting its oil exports, the country's main foreign revenue earner.

According to a recent survey by the US polling firm Gallup, Iran's nuclear program is supported by a large majority of its population.

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Indian Kashmiris chafe under curfew

RESIDENTS of India's Kashmir valley are upset over a curfew imposed following the hanging of a local separatist which has sparked a fresh debate on capital punishment.

Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim convicted of helping plot the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament which killed 10 people, was executed on Saturday in New Delhi's Tihar jail.

Fearing a backlash over his death, Indian authorities imposed a tight curfew on Saturday in major populated areas of Kashmir.

Internet services were shut down and they also blocked local newspapers in a bid to prevent protests.

At least four people were injured on Saturday during protests, including two who received bullet wounds when government forces fired on a crowd in a village 40km from the biggest city of Srinagar.

Abdul Hafeez, a resident of Srinagar, said his two-month-old granddaughter needed milk but they were unable to go shopping because of the strict orders restricting people to their homes which have been imposed indefinitely.

"We have seen so much violence in the past. We just hope that things return to normal as quickly as possible," he told AFP.

Guru was convicted of waging war against India and conspiring with the Islamist militants who attacked the parliament - an event that brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of another conflict.

The one-time fruit merchant and medical college dropout always insisted he was innocent and claimed he was denied a proper legal defence, while some protesters in Kashmir accused the police of framing him.

India, the world' biggest democracy uses capital punishment for the "rarest of rare" crimes.

There had not been an execution since 2004 until the hanging in November last year of Mohammed Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The two executions - both approved under new President Pranab Mukherjee - worried human rights activists who had hoped India was phasing out the practice following its informal eight-year moratorium.

"India should end this distressing use of executions as a way to satisfy some public opinion," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International was also quick to condemn Guru's hanging as a "disturbing and regressive trend" towards executions in India.

Some of India's press speculated on who could be the next to face the gallows, while respect left-of-centre newspaper The Hindu slammed the execution.

"Guru was walked to the gallows... at the end of the macabre rite governments enact from time to time to propitiate that most angry of gods, a vengeful public," it said.

"There is no principle underpinning the death penalty in India today except vengeance. And vengeance is no principle at all," the daily wrote.

In Kashmir, where a bloody separatist conflict has killed an estimated 100,000 people in two decades, some feared the execution could feed local anti-India feeling and spur more violence.

Police also prevented local newspapers from publishing on Sunday and seized copies of four dailies who managed to go to press in defiance of the restrictions.

"Police seized our newspaper from the press without any prior information to our management," Haji Hayat, editor-in-chief of the English language newspaper Kashmir Reader, told AFP.

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Curry plays cricket like John Howard

AUSSIE actor Stephen Curry says when it comes to cricket, he's like former prime minister John Howard.

At the cricket-themed premiere of the Save Your Legs! in Sydney on Sunday night, Curry said he would have a bit of a game on the green carpet if he wasn't so hopeless.

"I'm no good with the bat, so I don't really want to show off my skills here," Curry, who's best known for his roles in The Castle and The Cup, said.

"(I'm) more of a cricket tragic in the way that John Howard, our former Prime Minister was a cricket tragic - loved the game, armchair expert, couldn't play to save himself.

"And I'm a redhead in this so I'm very similar to Julia Gillard."

Directed by Boyd Hicklin, in Save Your Legs! Curry plays Teddy, the president of D-grade cricket team the Abbotsford Anglers, who find themselves on a cricket tour of India.

Wearing his blue and yellow Anglers jacket, Curry said in light of the recent cheating scandals in Aussie sports he came to the Sydney premiere prepared.

"Look, tonight I am full of peptides," he said.

"I had them injected into my stomach and I was forced to sign a waiver, so I feel like it's basically going to make my green carpet performance as good as it possibly could be, and I'll probably recover very nicely in the morning."

Based on a true story, Save Your Legs! was written by and stars Brendan Cowell, who is a self confessed "cricket nut", having played since he was five and been a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) since he was 14.

Walking the green carpet with Curry and co-star Damon Gameau, he joked that he was OK missing Australia's match against the West Indies for the premiere, because "this is where the real fixture is".

"The Abbotsford Anglers, they're the team everyone's talking about, so we're here and this film's been to London, it's been to Mumbai, so now we're at our home ground at the SCG, ready to play some strokes," he said.

For Cowell and Curry, an Aussie cricket movie has been a long time coming.

Cowell joked that with the success of 1984 Australian miniseries Bodyline, "I think people have been waiting for a great cricket movie, so it's timely".

Curry thinks it's interesting Aussies haven't tried to propel cricket onto the big screen before.

"It's fascinating that in this rich history of filmmaking in this country and our great affiliation with cricket that there actually hasn't been a feature film about cricket," Curry said.

"So I think it's about time and hopefully we've done it justice."

* Save Your Legs! releases in Australian cinemas on February 28.

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Hunt for fugitive LA cop continues

THE hunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings is continuing for a fourth day in snow-covered mountains.

Meanwhile, officials will re-examine the allegations in 2007 by Christopher Dorner, 33, that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues, Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck announced on Saturday.

"I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do," the chief said in a statement.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that left three people dead.

They say Dorner had vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.

The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.

A captain, named as a target in the manifesto posted on Facebook, told the Orange County Register he has not stepped outside his house since he learned of the threat.

"From what I've seen of (Dorner's) actions, he feels he can make allegations for injustice and justify killing people and that's not reasonable," said Captain Phil Tingirides, who chaired a board that stripped Dorner of his badge.

"The end never justifies the means."

On Saturday, a smaller search party took advantage of a break in stormy weather to look for Dorner in the San Bernardino mountains, about 130 kilometres northeast of downtown Los Angeles, where his burned-out pickup truck was discovered Thursday.

A law enforcement officer told The Associated Press that authorities found weapons in the truck.

Also, newly-released surveillance video showed Dorner tossing several items into a dumpster behind an auto parts store in National City on Monday.

The store's manager told FOX5 in San Diego an employee found a magazine full of bullets, a military belt and a military helmet.

On Friday night, authorities searched a Buena Park storage unit and collected evidence as part of their investigation but did not provide further details.

Earlier on Friday, another warrant was served at a La Palma house belonging to Dorner's mother. Officers collected 10 bags of evidence, including five electronic items.

In his online manifesto, Dorner vowed to use "every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare" to the LAPD and its families.

Dorner served in the US navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and a pistol expert medal.

He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records. Dorner took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.

The flight training he received in the navy prompted the transportation security administration to issue an alert, warning the general aviation community to be on the lookout for Dorner.

February 1 was Dorner's last day with the navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper received a package that contained a note that read, in part, "I never lied."

A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William Bratton gave out as a souvenir was also in the package.

Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.

On February 3, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. The woman was the daughter of a retired police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his sacking.

Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.

Hours after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder, police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

The crime spree spanned across a wide area of Southern California, prompting several police agencies, including the FBI, to form a task force.

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Document declaring USSR dead 'missing'

FORMER Belarusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich says a historic document that pronounced the death of the USSR is missing from archives.

Shushkevich discovered the disappearance of the original document while working on his memoirs.

Officials with Belarus' government and other ex-Soviet states confirmed on Wednesday that they only have copies.

The document's disappearance reflects the chaos that surrounded the Soviet demise.

On December 8, 1991, Shushkevich hosted Russia's President Boris Yeltsin and Ukraine's President Leonid Kravchuk for secret talks at a government hunting lodge near Viskuli in the Belovezha Forest.

The trio signed a deal declaring that "the USSR has ceased to exist as a subject of international law and geopolitical reality," defeating Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to hold the country together and forcing him to resign on Christmas Day.

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Man charged after filming up girls' skirts

A MAN has been caught on CCTV filming up the skirts of women in shopping malls across Sydney.

The 52-year-old man was captured on CCTV at shopping malls on George Street in Sydney and in Liverpool, using his mobile phone to film up the skirts of women.

One of the incidents occurred in August last year, while the other two were captured in January.

Police arrested and charged the Frenchs Forest man with three counts of film person's private parts without consent.

He was released on bail with strict conditions and will face North Sydney Local Court on February 25.

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