Weekly US jobless aid applications drop

THE number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has fallen sharply for a fourth straight week, in a sign the US job market may be improving.

The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the lowest in two months. It is the second-lowest total this year.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the drop indicates that companies are cutting fewer jobs. But employers also need to increase hiring to rapidly push down the 7.7 per cent unemployment rate.

Applications spiked five weeks ago because of Superstorm Sandy. The storm's impact has faded. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 27,000 to 381,500.

Before the storm, applications had fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000 this year.

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Central banks extend currency swaps

THE world's five top central banks have agreed to extend temporary currency swap arrangements by a year, the European Central Bank says.

The swap facilities were one of a range of emergency measures used by central banks to prevent the financial system from failing at the height of the financial crisis.

The ECB, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank decided on "an extension of the existing temporary US dollar liquidity swap arrangements until February, 1 2014," the ECB said in a statement on Thursday.

The swap arrangements had previously been authorised until February 1 next year.

The five central banks also decided to extend bilateral swap lines in their own currencies by a year to February 1, 2014, the ECB statement said.

These swaps enable the provision of liquidity in each jurisdiction in any of their currencies, "should market conditions so warrant", it continued.

Swap lines enable central banks to deliver specific currency funding to banks, businesses and other institutions in their jurisdiction during times of market stress.

The move "will enable the eurosystem to continue to provide euros to those central banks when required and to provide to its counterparties, when necessary, Japanese yen, pounds sterling, Swiss francs and Canadian dollars (in addition to the existing liquidity-providing operations in US dollars)," the ECB explained.

The Bank of Japan would consider extending both sets of swap arrangements at its next monetary policy meeting, the ECB added.

The ECB will also continue to conduct regular US dollar liquidity-providing operations with maturities of about one week and three months "until further notice", the central bank said.

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US stocks edge up in opening trade

US stocks have edged higher as investors digest a batch of mostly positive economic data on jobs, retail sales and inflation.

In the first five minutes of Thursday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11.21 points (0.08 per cent) to 13,256.66.

The broad-market S&P 500 advanced 0.65 point (0.05 per cent) to 1,429.13, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.66 (0.09 per cent) to 3,016.48.

The "inability to rally after the Fed announcement yesterday has taken some steam out of the market, which has been in rally mode since mid-November," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

"It is understandable given the Grinch-like message from the Fed that participants shouldn't expect a meaningful pickup in economic activity soon whether we go over the fiscal cliff or not," he said.

On Wednesday, after a surge on the Fed's announcement of more bond purchases to support the sluggish economy, the Dow fell 0.02 per cent, breaking a five-day winning streak.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.04 per cent and the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 0.28 per cent.

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Syrian regime 'approaching collapse': NATO

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad's regime is approaching collapse and he should take steps to begin talks on a political transition, NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen says.

"I think the regime in Damascus is approaching the regime of collapse ... it is only a question of time," Rasmussen said on Thursday, adding Assad should "initiate a process that leads to the accommodation of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people".

"I urge the regime to stop violence, to realise what the actual situation is," he said, as Moscow signalled for the first time that its long-time ally in Damascus could be losing a bloody conflict which has so far cost more than 42,000 lives.

His comments came amid a growing perception the tide has turned, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov saying the rebels had made important gains after getting increased external support.

"As for preparing for victory by the opposition, this, of course, cannot be excluded," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying.

"You need to look the facts in the eyes - the government regime is losing more and more control over a large part of the country's territory."

Asked if the reported use of Scud missiles was a sign of Assad's desperation, Rasmussen said he could not judge the motive but "the use of such indiscriminate weapons shows utter disregard for the lives of the Syrian people.

"It is reckless and I strongly condemn it," Rasmussen added.

The Scud, fired into Israel and Saudi Arabia by Iraq's Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War, can deliver a payload of 3500 kilos over a range of 200 kilometres or more, defence analysts say.

Karim Bitar, research director at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), said the regime's use of Scuds was an indication it was bracing for a decisive battle.

"The battle for Damascus is about to begin and this battle could change the rules of the game," he said.

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Residents urged to photograph king tides

KING tides will begin their twice-a-year run up the NSW coast early on Friday morning - and residents are being asked to get out their cameras.

The tides will begin in Eden about 8.30am (AEDT), reach Sydney at 9.33am and hit Newcastle by 9.39am.

Environmental organisation Green Cross hopes to use the event to draw attention to rising sea levels.

Green Cross CEO Mara Bun is asking coastal residents to photograph their local king tides and upload them to help create a digital picture of future sea levels.

"Through gathering and sharing visual data we raise awareness around Australia and can adapt for the future," she said.

The project will become a permanent record of environmental change, with 40 local councils across NSW, Queensland and Tasmania offering funding and digital support.

In 2009, the business districts of Ballina, Woy Woy, Bateman's Bay, and Carrington were photographed during a king tide as they were inundated with between 30 and 50cm of seawater.

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Suicide bomb targets Afghan NATO airbase

A SUICIDE car bomber has attacked a NATO airbase in southern Afghanistan just hours after the US Defence Secretary left, killing two civilians, wounding 15 and injuring four foreign soldiers.

There was no indication that the attack was connected with defence chief Leon Panetta's visit, a US spokesman said on Thursday.

"I can confirm that insurgents detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) in the vicinity of Kandahar airfield.

"Currently ISAF officials are on the scene collecting facts and assessing the situation and as information becomes available we will release it as appropriate," the spokesman said.

"I have no information at this time that this incident was associated with the visit of the secretary of defence. The attack occurred after the secretary returned to Kabul."

Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to AFP, but did not link it to Panetta's visit.

Panetta was due to hold a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai later in the day.

"The suicide bomber detonated his car as an ISAF convoy was entering the Kandahar airfield," Kandahar provincial police chief General Abdul Razeq told AFP.

"As a result of this suicide attack two civilians have been killed, and 15 civilians and four ISAF soldiers have been injured."

A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed the attack, without giving details of any ISAF casualties. It is ISAF policy not to disclose the number of its personnel wounded in any attack.

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US producer prices fall in November

US producer prices have fallen for the second straight month in November, the Commerce Department reports, losing 0.8 per cent in a sign inflation pressures remain muted in the economy.

The main pull downward was a 4.6 per cent drop in energy prices; food prices rose 1.3 per cent.

Stripped of those two volatile components, the rate was an increase of just 0.1 per cent, the department said on Thursday.

Year-on-year, the producer price index for finished goods was up just 1.5 per cent, after three months at or above two per cent.

Inflation has become less of a concern for policymakers despite four years of extremely easy-money policies of the central bank.

On Wednesday the Federal Reserve underscored that point by tying its interest rates more closely to the jobless rate, saying that as long as medium-term inflation expectations remained moderate - below 2.5 per cent - it would not begin raising its benchmark interest rate until unemployment fell below 6.5 per cent.

The jobless rate was 7.7 per cent in November.

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China car sales on track for record: GM

US car giant General Motors (GM) says its full-year sales in China, the world's biggest auto market, will surpass last year's 2.55 million and set a new record.

In the first 11 months, sales of GM and its ventures in China surged 10.4 per cent from a year earlier to 2.59 million vehicles, more than the total for the whole of last year, GM said in a statement on Thursday.

For November alone, GM sold 260,018 vehicles in China, up 9.7 per cent from 2011.

China's overall auto sales growth slowed last year after the government scrapped purchasing incentives and limited car numbers to ease traffic congestion and cut pollution.

In 2011 sales rose just 2.5 per cent to 18.51 million units, compared with an increase of more than 32 per cent in 2010 but growth has recovered slightly this year.

Nonetheless foreign manufacturers have bucked the slowdown with stronger brand recognition and perceptions of better quality among domestic consumers, although Japanese brands have been hurt by a territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.

GM said last week one of its Chinese joint ventures will invest 6.6 billion yuan ($A1.06 billion) in a new plant to meet growing demand for commercial vehicles.

The venture between GM and Chinese partners SAIC Motor and Wuling Motors aims to open the 400,000-vehicle-a-year plant in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing in 2015.

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HK leader warns of housing 'talent drain'

HONG Kong's leader says the Chinese city needs to boost its housing supply and create more living space or the "best and the brightest" talents of the next generation will go elsewhere.

Property prices in Hong Kong, one of the world's most densely populated cities, has skyrocketed in recent years after an influx of mainland Chinese buyers, pushing home ownership beyond the reach of many of its seven million people.

Leung Chun-ying said the issue needed to be addressed urgently or the space-starved city, which already competes with Singapore to be Asia's economic powerhouse, will lose its competitiveness.

"If we cannot, within the phase of the next two or three decades, generally increase the space in Hong Kong, the best and the brightest of the next generation will leave us," the 58-year-old former property consultant told the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club.

"We would have lost our competitiveness in attracting and retaining overseas talents, (and) also our competitiveness in retaining our local talents.

"We need to have adequate land supply not just to meet new demand... but also to give people more elbow room in their living space and also in their work space."

Leung has vowed to boost land supply and make housing more affordable since he took office in July after he was elected by a 1200-strong committee packed with pro-Beijing elites.

And the government in October slapped new taxes on foreign buyers and raised stamp duty on resale within three years, in a bid to cool the overheated housing market.

The leader said his government will continue to deepen ties with Beijing, despite opinion polls earlier this year showing anti-Beijing sentiments had surged to a new high since the former British colony was handed back to Chinese rule in 1997.

Leung said he has rolled out a slew of measures to tackle the disenchantment among Hong Kongers toward mainlanders, including a decision to stop mainland Chinese women from giving birth in the semi-autonomous city.

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PR guru arrested on 'child sex' claim

British publicist Max Clifford poses for photographers as he arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice to give evidence at the Leveson Inquiry. He has been arrested on child sex abuse allegations. Source: AFP

MAX Clifford, one of the UK's most high profile public relations executives, has been arrested on suspicion of child sex abuse.

Clifford's lawyer, Charlotte Harris, confirmed the arrest and said Clifford would assist the police "as best he can with their inquiries."

Clifford, 69, represents some of Britain's best known entertainment figures.

Police would only say that a man in his 60s was arrested on Thursday morning in Surrey, south of London, on suspicion of sexual offenses and he is being questioned at a central London police station.

Clifford did not answer calls to his mobile phones.

Police said the arrest was part of an investigation called Operation Yewtree, a wide-ranging inquiry into alleged sexual offenses committed by Jimmy Savile and others. Savile was a BBC entertainer who has in recent months been accused of serial sexual abuse of underage girls. He died last year without having been charged with any offenses.

Police have said there may be several hundred abuse victims.

The Savile allegations have caused a major embarrassment for his employer, the BBC, which has been accused of failing to report on investigations into Savile's alleged crimes.

Four others have been arrested in the investigation of the alleged abuse. None has been charged.

British media have identified the suspects as including comedian Freddie Starr and former glam rock star Gary Glitter.

Clifford told the Associated Press in October that he was receiving calls from many celebrities and entertainers worried they would be caught up in the widening Savile investigation.

"They're phoning me and saying, 'Max, I'm worried that I'm going to be implicated.' A lot of them can't remember what they did last week, never mind 30 or 40 years ago," he said.

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