Filmmaker Michael Winner dies at 77

THE British filmmaker behind Death Wish, restaurant critic and bon vivant Michael Winner, has died at the age of 77.

Winner's wife Geraldine says he died on Monday at his London home after an illness.

Winner's 30 movies included three Death Wish films starring the late Charles Bronson.

He had a second career as restaurant critic for the Sunday Times newspaper, where his highest praise was to declare a meal "historic".

His wife, a former dancer who married Winner two years ago, said he was "a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life."

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Japan PM confirms 7 deaths in Algeria

JAPAN'S prime minister says seven Japanese people are now known to have been killed in the Algerian hostage crisis, the first confirmation from Tokyo that any of its nationals died.

"I was informed by vice-foreign minister (Minoru) Kiuchi that as a result of identifications of bodies at a hospital in In Amenas, seven were confirmed to be Japanese employees of JGC," Shinzo Abe told his ministers on Monday.

The Japanese firm had earlier said it did not know the fate of 17 of its employees, 10 of whom were Japanese.

The prime minister said so far it had not been possible to confirm what had happened to the other Japanese nationals who remain unaccounted for.

"There are still three more Japanese people whose safety has not been confirmed. I want all of you to do everything possible to continue gathering information and confirm their fate," he told his ministers.

"Japanese people who work at the world's frontiers, the innocent people were victimised. It is extremely painful," Abe said.

A witness at the desert gas plant told AFP he was aware of nine Japanese deaths over the extended siege, which began on Wednesday and ended in a bloodbath on Saturday when the Algerian military moved in.

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Berlusconi verdict after Italy elections

THE verdict in former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial for underage sex will not come before the February elections, a court in northern Italy says.

The decision marks a partial victory for the media magnate, who will be a candidate in the polls, after his defence team asked for a total suspension until after the February 24-25 polls.

Hearings will continue, including testimony on January 28 from the mother of the Moroccan-born exotic dancer at the centre of the case.

Judges said a diary clash caused the cancellation of hearings initially set for February 18 and 25, and the last hearing was likely to take place on March 11.

The court turned down the request by the media magnate's lawyers for a total suspension of the trial until after the elections last week.

While the billionaire has launched his sixth election bid in two decades, he is still mulling whether to run for the post of prime minister or settle for another post within his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party.

Berlusconi's supporters said the ruling amounted to judicial interference in the campaign, while his critics said the 76-year-old billionaire was only running for office to stay out of jail.

Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with Karima El-Mahroug in 2010 at his mansion near Milan when she was just 17 and he was the prime minister.

She will not be testifying, though her written testimony, where she described wild "Bunga Bunga" parties hosted by Berlusconi, will still be considered in the case.

Berlusconi faces up to three years in prison on the sex charge as the age of consent in Italy is only 14, but sex with an under-18 prostitute is a crime.

He is also accused of abusing his official powers by pressuring police to release El-Mahroug when she was arrested for petty theft - a charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of 12 years.

His defence says Berlusconi thought El-Mahroug was a niece of then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident.

The flamboyant tycoon is unlikely to ever see the inside of a prison cell even if convicted since sentencing guidelines in Italy are very lenient for over-70-year-olds.

Berlusconi denies having sex with El-Mahroug, saying he only gave her money so she could set up a beauty parlour and avoid prostituting herself.

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37 foreigners killed in Algeria attack

ALGIERS says 37 foreigners of eight different nationalities, as well as an Algerian, were killed by hostage-takers in a well-planned attack on a remote gas plant.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal says five other foreigners are still missing and several of the hostages had been executed "with a bullet to the head" as the four-day crisis ended in a bloodbath on Saturday.

Most of the 32 militants who took hundreds of people hostage at the In Amenas gas complex in the Sahara on Wednesday had entered the country from neighbouring Mali, Sellal told a news conference in Algiers.

The prime minister gave the final grim figures after Algeria had warned other nations to prepare for a higher body count, amid fears as many as 50 captives may have died in the world's deadliest hostage crisis in almost a decade.

"Thirty-seven foreigners of eight different nationalities," were killed during the siege, Sellal told reporters, adding an Algerian was also killed, giving an overall toll of 38.

He said the group's leader was Mohamed el-Amine Bencheneb, an Algerian militant known to the country's security services, and was killed during the army's assault.

A total of 29 hostage-takers were killed and three captured. As well as the three Algerians among them, the kidnappers comprised six foreign nationalities, namely Canadian, Egyptian, Tunisian, Malian, Nigerian and Mauritanian.

Governments have been scrambling to track down missing citizens as more details emerged after the final showdown on Saturday between special forces and extremists who had taken the hostages, demanding an end to French military intervention in Mali.

Survivors' photos seen by AFP showed bodies riddled with bullets, some with their heads half blown away by the impact of the gunfire.

"They were brutally executed," said an Algerian who identified himself as Brahim, after escaping the ordeal, referring to Japanese victims gunned down by the hostage-takers.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said seven Japanese people were known to have been killed in the hostage crisis, the first confirmation from Tokyo that any of its nationals had died.

Witnesses had said nine Japanese people connected to plant builder JGC were killed in the 72-hour ordeal.

One Japanese survivor was quoted in the Daily Yomiuri newspaper as telling colleagues how the gunmen had dragged him from his barricaded room, handcuffed him and executed two hostages standing nearby.

The Philippine government said six Filipino hostages were among the dead, killed "mostly by gunshot wounds and the effects of the explosions".

As more harrowing accounts emerged of the siege, a Filipino survivor described how the militants used foreign hostages as human shields to stop Algerian troops aboard helicopters from strafing them with gunfire.

Joseph Balmaceda told reporters in Manila he was the only survivor out of nine hostages in a van that blew up on Thursday, apparently from C-4 explosives the militants had rigged to the vehicle.

"I was the only one who survived because I was sandwiched between two spare tyres. That is why I am still here and can talk to you," said the visibly distressed father of four.

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European banks optimistic on outlook

EUROPEAN banks are optimistic about their business outlook for the next six months, even though the economy is set to deteriorate further in a number of countries, a study has found.

Consultants Ernst & Young found in a survey that 37 per cent of European banks were expecting an improvement in their operational activities in the period, while 24 per cent were forecasting a deterioration.

About 39 per cent expected stagnation, the study found.

Optimism varied from country to country, with up to 59 per cent of British banks counting on an improvement, 51 per cent of Italian banks, 45 per cent of Scandinavian banks and 37 per cent of Spanish banks.

"Italian and Spanish credit institutions believe their countries are over the worst of the debt crisis and their business is set to improve," said one of the study's co-authors, Dirk Mueller-Tronnier.

Emergency measures by the European Central Bank, such as the unprecedented amount of liquidity it had made available to banks and its bond-purchase programs, had helped reassure banks in crisis countries, said the other co-author, Claus-Peter Wagner.

In France, the sector was divided, with 30 per cent of banks forecasting an improvement and 30 per cent a deterioration.

In Germany, where the economy contracted by around 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, banks are more pessimistic, with only 25 per cent predicting an improvement and 39 per cent a deterioration.

Overall, 41 per cent of banks said they were projecting a further drop in economic growth over the next six months, while only 19 per cent were hopeful for an improvement.

Thus, 45 per cent of banks said they planned to downsize their workforce and cut jobs, particularly in their back-office operations.

For its survey, Ernst & Young questioned a total 269 European banks in November and December.

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Man shot at Brisbane caravan park

A MAN has been wounded in a shooting at a caravan park in Brisbane's north.

Police were called to Gympie Road, Aspley about 9.15pm (AEST) on Monday.

A 35-year-old man was taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital with suspected gunshot wounds, they said in a statement.

Paramedics at the scene had treated the man who had serious chest and arm wounds, the ABC reported, with police later saying he was refusing to co-operate with their investigation.

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Incoming euro chief cites new market trust

THE incoming head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, Holland's Jeroen Dijsselbloem, says markets now "trust" that the eurozone has put the debt crisis behind it.

The 46-year-old, set to succeed Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker despite only taking on his country's finance brief in November, spoke on arrival at the European Union's Brussels headquarters on Monday ahead of a scheduled vote to confirm his succession.

Heavily touted by Germany as a representative of the currency area's best-run, Triple A-rated economies, Dijsselbloem said he would present, at the request of a sceptical France, his vision of the Eurogroup's agenda this year.

Following discussion among the ministers of the 17 countries which share the euro, "we will hopefully come to a consensus on that and start tomorrow," he told reporters.

With tensions eased markedly on markets compared to six months ago when worries were rife about a Greek exit from the euro or Spain and Italy being forced into bailouts, the Dutchman said his job was all about "further restoring trust in the euro and the eurozone - that's the main task in hand.

"There seems to be a new basis of trust," he said, freeing politicians to focus on policies that can help foster "growth and jobs" with Europe currently labouring under a high unemployment rate of almost 12 per cent across the eurozone.

But Dijsselbloem refused to talk about the actual agenda, such as a bailout for Cyprus first requested in the summer but now seen as increasingly in jeopardy.

"I won't go into Cyprus," he said. "That will be discussed today and next month."

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