Wellington  - Five earthquakes rattled New Zealand Thursday morning, according to seismologists of GNS Science who recorded them. There were no reports of damage from any of the quakes.

Three hit the North Island, including one measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, off the Bay of Plenty coast and 80 kilometres north- east of White Island, which has an active volcano.

That quake was deep, at 130 kilometres below the surface, and GNS Science said it was likely to be felt in the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawek's Bay regions.

New York  - US stocks fell Wednesday as investors grappled with investment bank Morgan Stanley's sharp fourth-quarter losses, and over concerns that the Federal Reserve had few tools left to combat the recession.

Jerusalem  - Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Israel would respond to a surge in rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip Wednesday.

"It is clear that this fire only sharpens what we have said all the time. There cannot be a situation in which it has been agreed that there is calm (a truce), but at the same time the reality on the ground is complete different," he told reporters as he cast his vote in a primary of his ruling Kadima party.

"Of course this requires us to relate to it and will relate to it," he said.

Hamburg - Spain's Deportivo La Coruna, Poland's Lech Poznan and Danish side Copenhagen secured places in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup on Wednesday.

French side St Etienne drew with Valencia, while Hamburg downed Aston Villa and Wolfsburg drew at AC Milan to finish top of their groups.

Deportivo needed a 73rd-minute goal from Mexican striker Omar Bravo to edge French side Nancy in Group H where three teams were fighting for two qualifying places behind CSKA Moscow.

Gaza - A Palestinian was killed and three other civilians were wounded on Wednesday night after an Israeli artillery shell hit Palestinian houses in northern Gaza, medics and eyewitnesses said.

The attack followed a series of homemade rocket attacks carried out by Gaza militants from northern Gaza on southern Israeli towns. Three Israelis were earlier injured, according to Israeli Radio.

Washington - The Queen of Soul will be among the star- studded musical talent to perform for the next US president as Barack Obama is sworn into office next month, the committee in charge of the ceremony announced Wednesday.

The inaugural ceremony on the steps of the US Capitol will feature soul diva Aretha Franklin and a diverse A-list of classical musicians, including world-renowned Israeli-born violinist Itzhak Perlman, Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Venezuelan-born pianist Gabriela Montero.