Man of Steel, HBO boost Time Warner

US media giant Time Warner reported a big jump in second quarter earnings Wednesday thanks to strong performances by HBO and blockbuster films like Man of Steel and The Great Gatsby.

Net profit soared 87 per cent to $US771 million ($A861.89 million) on a 10 per cent rise in revenues to $US7.4 billion. That was better than the $US7.1 billion expected by analysts.

Basic earnings per share came in at 83 cents, compared to 43 cents a year earlier.

The company upped its forecast for this year's performance, saying it expected the percentage rise in adjusted earnings per share to be "in the mid-teens" off a base last year of $US3.24.

Television network revenue rose 6.8 per cent to a record $US3.8 billion, while revenues from the film and TV entertainment division rose 12.5 per cent to $US2.9 billion.

"Our networks businesses, Turner and HBO, continued to shine, reflecting the success of our increased investments in distinctive programming that is resonating with audiences, advertisers and affiliates," chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said in a statement on Wednesday.

"At Warner Bros, we had a fantastic quarter, including one of its most successful upfront seasons ever, with orders for 31 new and returning shows from the broadcast networks. And we had a strong theatrical quarter with our blockbuster reboot of the Superman franchise, Man of Steel, and The Great Gatsby," he said.

The company said the latest Superman film, starring Henry Cavill, grossed over $US600 million at box offices worldwide.

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French paper reveals lurid DSK claims

SEX parties attended by Dominique Strauss-Kahn were described by witnesses as "carnage with a heap of mattresses on the floor", a newspaper says, citing a report by judges who charged him with pimping.

The former IMF chief and 12 other defendants were last month ordered to stand trial on charges of "aggravated pimping as part of a group" over an alleged prostitution ring in the northern French city of Lille.

French daily Le Figaro on Wednesday published extracts from a legal document in which judges probing the case laid out the reasons why they ordered the 64-year-old to face trial.

The case centres on allegations that prostitutes were supplied for sex parties in Lille, some of which are said to have taken place at the city's upmarket Carlton Hotel.

Magistrates in the affair are examining whether Strauss-Kahn knew that the women involved in the orgies were being paid - a claim he has always strenuously denied.

Based on countless statements from witnesses including prostitutes, the magistrates said in the report that the sex parties had been variously described as a form of "sexual consumption" or as "carnage with a heap of mattresses on the floor".

The judges argued that it was not just a question of "debauchery" but of "ordering services."

The case also centres on whether Strauss-Kahn helped organise the parties.

According to the newspaper, the judges argue in their report that the parties centred around Strauss-Kahn and only took place when he was around.

They also argue that he made available a flat that he rented for the orgies.

One of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers has denounced the decision to go to trial - which could take place next year - as part of a "relentless" judicial campaign against his client.

The pimping charge against Strauss-Kahn is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up 1.5 million euros ($A2.24 million).

The so-called "Carlton affair" came to light after Strauss-Kahn resigned from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund over an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid.

That case was closed in December when Strauss-Kahn agreed to pay undisclosed damages - reportedly in excess of $US1.5 million - to the hotel maid. He has always said the encounter was consensual.

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Argentina searches for missing after blast

ARGENTINE authorities are combing through the charred ruins of an apartment building destroyed by an explosion and fire that left at least 10 people dead.

Another 62 people were injured and 13 are missing after Tuesday's thunderous blast caused by a gas leak in the building in Rosario, the country's third largest city, said Santa Fe province's health minister Miguel Cappiello.

Of 26 injured people who are still hospitalised, three are in serious condition, including a boy aged three or four, he added.

The building housed 60 apartments, many inhabited by students or young people because the rent is cheap.

Rescue efforts went on through the night and continued on Wednesday.

Crews asked people to keep silent as they gingerly sifted through the remains of the building, listening for any sign of life.

A gas company worker named Carlos Garcia who was working in the building shortly before the blast has been taken into custody, his lawyer Hugo Bufarini said.

"He did not tell me what happened because he cannot talk as he is so upset and in a state of shock. But it seems he is the scapegoat," Bufarini said.

He said Garcia has 20 years of experience working with gas.

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George W Bush doing well after heart op

FORMER US president George W Bush has been discharged from a Texas hospital a day after having a heart procedure to ease a blocked artery.

Spokesman Freddy Ford says the 43rd president is "doing great" and went home on Wednesday morning. Further details weren't released.

Doctors on Tuesday inserted a stent to help prop open an artery. The blockage was discovered on Monday during Bush's annual physical.

Ford says the 67-year-old former president is expected to resume his normal schedule by Thursday.

Bush has a reputation as a fitness buff and is known to enjoy jogging, riding bicycles and doing other exercise to keep in shape.

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Yemen 'foiled Qaeda plot to seize cities'

YEMENI authorities have foiled an Al-Qaeda plot to seize control of two cities and an oil export terminal and to kidnap foreigners, a government spokesman says.

"The main aim of the plot was to seize control of two cities, Al-Mukalla and Ghayl Bawazeer" in the southeast, Rajeh Badi told AFP on Wednesday, adding that oil export facilities near Mukalla were also to be targeted.

Foreigners working at the terminal were to be kidnapped as well, he said.

He said that the Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal west of Mukalla, and a nearby export facility for oil derivatives, were to be targeted by militants disguised in army uniforms.

"They would demonstrate pretending to be guards demanding bonuses... and then storm the port," he said.

"If they were to fail in seizing control of the facilities, the plan was to take foreign experts away as hostages," he added.

The attack was planned for the 27th day of Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims, which coincided with Monday, August 5.

The plot was foiled around two days before it was due to be launched, Badi said.

Another thwarted plan was to attack a main gas pipeline in the southeast province of Shabwa, that would cut exports of liquefied gas from the Balhaf terminal southwest of Mukalla, Badi said.

The Yemeni revelation is the first indication of the nature of an al-Qaeda threat that prompted the mass closures of US diplomatic missions in the region and farther afield from Sunday.

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Fracking could affect 2015 UK polls

CONCERNS over fracking could "tip the balance" in some of the Britain's most marginal seats in the next general election, campaigners say.

A dozen MPs with some of the slimmest majorities in 2010's election could see controversial fracking for shale gas and oil in their constituencies, analysis has shown.

Prime Minister David Cameron this week indicated his backing for shale gas that can be exploited without harm to the environment, as the coalition aims to exploit a resource ministers hope will cut energy prices and boost the economy.

But signs of unease among some Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs has emerged as test drilling in Balcombe, West Sussex, was met with protests by local people and environmentalists, although current operations do not involve fracking.

Opponents of fracking fear the process of fracturing the shale rock with high pressure liquids to release gas or oil could affect water supplies and cause minor earthquakes.

Concerns have also been raised about the impacts of noise and traffic associated with development, damage to the countryside and house prices, and that exploiting shale gas in the UK could hit efforts to cut carbon emissions.

Constituencies of 12 MPs with majorities of less than 1000 in the 2010 election include areas that have been licensed for oil and gas exploration to companies that could use fracking to exploit the sites.

The seven Labour MPs, three Conservatives and two Liberal Democrats include Labour's Julie Hilling in Bolton West, who won with a majority of just 92, and former minister John Denham, who holds Southampton Itchen with a majority of 192.

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Norway tunnel fire sends 55 to hospital

A TRUCK has caught fire in Norway's second-longest tunnel, leading to the evacuation of 160 people - 55 of whom were hospitalised due to smoke inhalation and other injuries.

The truck caught fire 3.5 kilometres into the tunnel, Gudvangatunnelen, in a district east of Bergen on Monday, police spokesman Jorn Lasse Refnes said.

Gudvangatunnelen is 11.4 kilometres long and is in the western part of Norway.

Rescue services spokesman Reinardt Sorensen said the light went out in the tunnel after the fire.

Most of the injured suffered from smoke inhalation, but some people were lightly hurt after they crashed their cars in the darkness, he said.

The 160 people evacuated from the tunnel included the truck driver, who walked away uninjured, Sorensen said. He added that it wasn't yet clear what caused the fire, which was extinguished.

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UK's Falklands War naval chief dies

SANDY Woodward, who commanded the British navy task force that retook the Falkland Islands in the 1982 war with Argentina, has died aged 81, the defence ministry says.

The admiral died after a long illness, his daughter told the BBC.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "a truly courageous and decisive leader who helped ensure Falkland Islanders can still live in peace and freedom".

Britain has held the Falklands since 1833 but Buenos Aires claims the barren South Atlantic islands are occupied Argentine territory.

Argentina's then-ruling military junta invaded the windswept archipelago on April 2, 1982 but surrendered on June 14 after the British task force reclaimed it.

Troops landed on the islands and marched to the capital Stanley.

The conflict cost the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British service personnel.

The Falkland Islands government said: "We are saddened to hear of the passing of Adml Sir Sandy Woodward. A true friend of the Falklands. We remain forever grateful."

Admiral Sir George Zambellas, head of the British navy, said Woodward would always be remembered for his "powerful and clear command" of the task force.

He had been "undaunted by the challenge of fighting a capable enemy over 8,000 miles from the UK, in the most demanding and extreme of weather conditions," Zambellas said.

Woodward joined the navy aged 13. He wrote a memoir of the Falklands campaign entitled One Hundred Days.

On the 29th anniversary of the islands' recapture, he said military cuts meant Britain would struggle to defend the Falklands from another Argentine attack.

The admiral cited the lack of an aircraft carrier and weakening US support for British sovereignty.

In the face of increasing Argentine calls to negotiate the Falklands' sovereignty, the islanders - who number just 2,563 - voted 99.8 per cent in favour of remaining a British overseas territory in a referendum in March.

The London Evening Standard newspaper's defence editor Robert Fox, who landed on the Falklands with the assault troops in 1982, said Woodward could be "quite peppery" but got through by "sheer grit".

"He wasn't an intellectual - he was a very bright, very sharp, very capable commander," he told BBC television.

"The kind of risks he took and was ordered to take wouldn't be taken today.

"They were under-protected, they were under-armed in many ways."

Britain's victory "was remarkable and it was remarkably quick, because he knew how to take risks," Fox said.

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American Airlines, US Airways to merge

EUROPEAN Union competition authorities have given their approval, following US bankruptcy backing in February, for the merger of American Airlines and US Airways, which will create the world's largest airline.

"The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed merger between US Airways Group and AMR Corporation, including its main subsidiary American Airlines, Inc, all of the United States," said a statement on Monday.

The decision is conditional on the merged company making way for increased competition on the London-Philadelphia route, where a joint venture with British Airways and Iberia creates a de facto monopoly.

Having received such commitments, "the Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns."

The Commission found no other significant concerns affecting European routes.

"The Commission could clear this transaction in the first phase given the commitments offered by the parties which address the competition concern we identified on the London-Philadelphia route," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.

"The commitments include a corresponding slot at London Heathrow as well as far-reaching feeder arrangements to induce entry by a new competitor on the route.

"We are therefore satisfied that the competitive dynamics will be maintained so as to ensure choice and quality of air services for passengers on this route."

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US services sector gained in July

ACTIVITY in the US economy's crucial services sector grew solidly in July on a jump in business activity and new orders, the Institute for Supply Management reports.

The ISM said on Monday its purchasing managers index for services rose to 56 per cent in July, 3.8 points higher than the level in June and beating the 53.2 average forecast by analysts.

A reading above 50 indicates growth and one below 50 shows contraction.

The report showed especially strong improvement in business activity, with 12 of 16 sectors reporting increases. The sub-index for business activity rose 8.7 per cent points from June to 60.4 per cent.

The improvement "indicates continued growth at a faster rate in the non-manufacturing sector," said Anthony Nieves, chair of the survey committee.

"Respondents' comments are mostly positive about business conditions and the overall economy."

New orders surged, the index jumping to 57.7, up from 50.8 per cent in June.

Prices also picked up, the index rising 7.6 points to 60.1.

But non-manufacturing employment growth slowed, with the index falling to 53.2 in July from 54.7 in June.

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