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Chelsea Clinton collects Oxford doctorate

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 10 Mei 2014 | 23.46

FORMER US president Bill Clinton says he "couldn't be prouder" of his daughter after attending her doctorate graduation ceremony at Oxford University.

Chelsea Clinton, who is pregnant with her first child, was accompanied at the Saturday ceremony by her father and mother, Hillary, as well as her husband Marc Mezvinsky.

The 34-year-old, who works as a journalist, was presented with her doctorate degree in international relations at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

Her father posted on Twitter: "Couldn't be prouder of @ChelseaClinton today. Congrats on your doctorate."

He also posted a photograph of the four of them together, including his daughter in her graduation robes and holding her degree.

Ms Clinton previously completed an MPhil in the same subject at Oxford in 2003 having completed a BA in history at Stanford in the US.

Her father, who gained a Rhodes scholarship, also studied at Oxford from 1968 to 1970.


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US postal service reports quarterly loss

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 09 Mei 2014 | 23.47

THE Postal Service says it lost $US1.9 billion ($A2.1 billion) over the first three months of this year and is pleading again for Congress to pass reforms to its financial system.

The agency said on Friday that the loss for the quarter ended March 31 matched the $US1.9 billion in red ink in the same period last year.

And it came despite a 2.3 per cent rise in its operating revenue and continued cost-cutting efforts.

Postal officials have been asking for comprehensive legislation that includes a different delivery schedule, greater control over its personnel and benefit costs and more flexibility in pricing and products.

Though various legislative proposals have been advanced, Congress has been unable to pass a bill with the requested changes.


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McDonald's tests seasoned french fries

MCDONALD'S says it plans to start testing seasoned french fries at select US locations.

The world's biggest hamburger chain says the test of its Shakin' Flavour Fries will take place at restaurants in northern California and St Louis from Friday.

Customers will be able to choose garlic Parmesan, spicy Buffalo or zesty ranch flavours.

McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa McComb says the idea came from the company's Shake Shake seasoned fries, which debuted in Hong Kong in 2005 before spreading to countries including Australia, China and India.

The website GrubGrade.com has published photos of the seasoned fries at a McDonald's in Stockton in California, and shows packaging directions telling people how to pour the seasoning onto french fries in a bag and shake them.


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NSW govt slammed for train announcement

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 08 Mei 2014 | 23.46

THE NSW government has been accused of showing "callous disregard" for local manufacturing jobs after it refused to commit to building the state's next generation of trains in Australia.

Premier Mike Baird on Thursday pledged $2.8 billion for around 65 "state-of-the-art" intercity trains to be rolled out by 2024.

He said the initiative would lead to a far more comfortable ride on the rail network.

The government will now look to buy the trains ready-made from either local or international manufacturers.

State Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian, who is also Minister for the Hunter, was asked whether she'd commit to having the trains built in the Hunter region, which has in the past been a rail manufacturing hub.

"What I'll be doing is making a commitment that we'll get the best outcome for our customers and the best outcome for the taxpayer," she replied.

"Of course I'd be delighted if local companies were involved in the process.

"But you know what? If it wasn't for our government, local companies wouldn't even be in the game."

Tim Ayres, from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, said the Hunter was facing "economic devastation", with 3000 rail workers on the cusp of losing their jobs.

"(This government has) got a callous disregard for the impact of offshoring these jobs in the Hunter Valley," he told reporters.

"They don't understand the devastation that that's going to wreak in regional communities."

He said local manufacturers were more than capable of delivering the trains on time and under budget.

Opposition Leader John Robertson described Ms Berejiklian's comments as a slap in the face for workers who build trains in the Hunter Valley.

"This is a government looking to make announcements to distract from the disarray they find themselves in," he said.

The new trains will carry passengers to the Central Coast, Newcastle, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.


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Mama panda shows off Canberra babies

Four-month-old twin red pandas are shown off for the first time at the National Zoo in Canberra. Source: AAP

IT'LL be a bittersweet Mother's Day for second-time mum Eilish.

The National Zoo's prized red panda lost one of her cubs the first time around - but now she's getting ready to show off her healthy new twins to Canberrans on Sunday.

Eilish's newborns are a special addition to a species whose numbers are low and declining.

Zookeepers are excited because the twins mark a successful breeding program of the threatened species.

"She had tough times with the first cub, and now for both of them to survive, we're very excited," National Zoo spokeswoman Bec Scott told AAP.

Visitors will be able to name the twins from a list compiled by keepers on the zoo's Facebook page.


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WA debt rises amid infrastructure splurge

THE West Australian government's debt projections show the state sliding deeper into the red as huge spending on infrastructure overshadows revenue raising and cost cutting measures.

The 2014/15 state budget handed down on Thursday shows the goal of restoring WA's AAA credit rating is a long way off, with debt creeping up to $27.5 billion by 2016/17, from $26.9 billion in the mid-year economic review.

A whopping $23.7 billion in planned infrastructure projects over the next four years will maintain the need for increased borrowings, Treasurer Mike Nahan told parliament as he delivered his first budget.

With just $243 million in infrastructure spending pushed back beyond 2017/18, Dr Nahan said the government would "keep a close eye" on debt levels.

Opposition leader Mark McGowan said the Liberal government should not have pushed ahead with all of its big projects.

"I went to the state election suggesting some changes that would have saved money," Mr McGowan told reporters.

"[Premier Colin] Barnett just went to the people and said 'you can have all of the capital works and we won't put up electricity prices'. Clearly, that was untrue."

The Barnett government had promised before last year's state election to keep electricity price rises "at or around inflation", but they will instead increase by 4.5 per cent.

Water bills will also rise, motorists will be slugged with a three per cent hike in vehicle registration fees and there will be a four per cent increase in public transport costs.

Dr Nahan says something has got to give, with the state receiving less GST as its royalties rise on the back of greater export volumes, and with massive infrastructure spending unavoidable as WA's population continues to surge, despite a slowdown in business investment.

But Mr McGowan was unforgiving.

"This is a budget of pain, hardship and dishonesty that will impact every West Australian man, woman and child," he said.

"It's a horror budget on the hip pocket. It's a budget that hurts people who can least afford it.

"They've had seven treasurers in the last five years. This is a government not fit to be in government."

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which downgraded the state's credit rating from AAA to AA+ in September last year, was also critical.

It said the latest budget had no measures in place to deal with structural problems and left the state vulnerable to "external shocks" such as volatile commodity prices.

Ratings agency Moody's said improved financial performance would rely to a large extent on the state's ability to lower expenditures.

In 2014/15, the state's spending forecast of 2.6 per cent compares to a much higher rate of spending in the current financial year of 9.1 per cent, but this trend largely relies on employee costs rising by only 2.9 per cent.

That won't please public sector unions, which want bigger wage increases.

Despite the mounting debt, the WA government has managed to polish its net operating balance, replacing a $124 million deficit that was flagged for the coming financial year with a $175 million surplus.

But in 2015/16, the surplus is expected to be a measly $5 million.


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Brand wins damages over cheat slur

COMEDIAN Russell Brand has accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over a newspaper claim that he had cheated on girlfriend Jemima Khan.

Brand was not at London's High Court for the settlement of his action against News Group Newspapers over a November 2013 story in The Sun on Sunday.

His solicitor, John Kelly, told Justice Tugendhat that the allegation that he had deceived the public as well as Khan by falsely proclaiming that he was being faithful to her when in fact he was having sex with model Sophie Coady during a four-month fling was entirely without foundation and "distressing, hurtful and damaging".

NGN had apologised and agreed to pay Brand his legal costs and damages, which he would put towards "what he considers to be diverse, just and decent causes".

Kelly said that Brand had spoken publicly of his love and commitment towards Khan.

After the publication of the front page "exclusive", headed Russell Cheated On His Jemima With Me, he immediately wrote to the newspaper through his solicitors, informing them that the claims were false, should be withdrawn and an apology should be published.

"The claimant's distress was increased as a result of the defendant's initial refusal to remove the article from the newspapers' website, or to withdraw the allegations and publish an apology. After the newspaper refused to apologise Mr Brand issued proceedings for libel.

"The defendant now accepts that these claims are in fact totally untrue and defamatory and that these claims should never have been published."

NGN had apologised to Brand and Khan for the distress and embarrassment caused, said Kelly.


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Vic govt must do more on abuse: victims

The Victorian government will remove time limits that stop some child abuse cases going to court. Source: AAP

VICTORIAN child abuse victims will no longer be constrained by time limits in seeking compensation from the organisations that harboured their abusers, but another hurdle remains.

Premier Denis Napthine says organisations will no longer be able to hide behind the statute of limitations for victims who want to take civil action.

Victims advocacy group Broken Rites said removing time limits was an important step for victims, as it could take 20 or 30 years for some to come to terms with their childhood abuse.

"For victims who are still looking for justice and felt justice was denied that's an important turnaround that they can now bring their claim forward without that time limit that was there previously," spokeswoman Chris MacIsaac said.

But some child sex abuse survivors given a "bubble of hope" by the sweeping reforms from a Victorian parliamentary inquiry now fear it will burst if the government doesn't enact all of the recommendations.

"If these failed to materialise then the bubble would burst and suicides and premature deaths would rise," said the advocacy group, Ballarat and District Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.

It says removing time limits is a good move, but for it to be effective the government also must enact reforms requiring non-government organisations to be incorporated and insured so they can be sued.

"The Ellis defence can still be used and leaves victims with no other option but to go back to the institution that abused them and beg for help," the group said.

Dr Napthine said the government wanted to protect children and was continuing to examine options for reform.

"We as a government are committed to ensuring organisations cannot hide behind statutory time limits in order to avoid the liability they have for harm they have caused to victims of child abuse," he said on Thursday.

Religious ministers will have to undergo working with children checks, while there will be mandatory reporting to a central body and minimum child safety standards for organisations dealing with children.

The government has already made it a crime to fail to report suspected abuse to police.

Dr Napthine said the government believed it "got the balance right" by making an exemption for anyone in a situation where they fear reporting abuse would put themselves and the child at greater risk.

But the Federation for Community Legal Centres says vulnerable women will still have to go to court to defend themselves.

"It is still an offence, potentially, for a woman in a family violence situation to fail to disclose but then there's a defence they can raise," the centre's senior policy adviser Dr Chris Atmore said.

The Catholic Church backed the government's reforms saying it would help to prevent further abuse while supporting victims.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said the inquiry was an important opportunity for victims to be heard and for the Church to face the truth.

"I believe that this inquiry, and the government's response to it, will assist the healing of those who have been abused and the prevention of abuse in the future," Archbishop Hart said on Thursday.


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German art trove left to Swiss museum

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 07 Mei 2014 | 23.47

A CONTROVERSIAL collection of art masterpieces has been willed to the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern, Switzerland, reports the institution, which said it received confirmation from the deceased owner's lawyer.

"Despite media speculation that the collection was going to be handed over to an art institution outside Germany, the news still struck us like a bolt out of the blue," read a museum statement.

It said it had never had any connection to the deceased owner, Cornelius Gurlitt, who died on Tuesday, aged 81, a week after a heart surgery.

The collection of about 1400 pieces only came to light in 2013 after investigators announced they had raided Gurlitt's home a year earlier, amid suspicions that he was holding work that had been illegally expropriated during the Nazi era.

A police task force is working under the assumption that 458 of the artworks were looted by the Nazis.

Gurlitt and his lawyers had said only 40 of the works were under suspicion.

In April, investigators agreed to return the works to Gurlitt, acknowledging that at least a part of the collection was rightfully his.

The trove includes modern classics - from artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Franz Marc, Paul Klee and Max Beckmann - valued at about 1 billion euros ($A1.5 billion).

According to a spokesman, Gurlitt had not seen the collection since its confiscation.

The museum said it was happy and pleasantly surprised by the news, but did not want to downplay the responsibility the inheritance would leave upon it, saying it "burdens us with a heavy responsibility and a host of difficult questions, questions that are pronouncedly of a legal and ethical nature".


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Ice harm spikes, especially in Vic regions

ACUTE health problems caused by crystal methamphetamine use have spiked sharply across Victoria in recent years, but especially in regional areas, research shows.

Ambulance crews attended 198 per cent more call-outs to deal with acute health effects from the drug, also known as ice, in the 2012/13 financial year compared with the previous year.

In metropolitan Melbourne, acute ambulance call-outs rose by 88 per cent over the same period.

The figures were compiled by Ambulance Victoria and drug and alcohol treatment and research group Turning Point in the Trends in Alcohol and Drug-Related Ambulance Attendances in Victoria 2012/13 report, to be launched on Thursday.

Turning Point researcher Belinda Lloyd called for government, health agencies, community groups, law enforcement bodies, business and residents to work together solve the prevalence of ice across the state.

She said the figures only represented acute cases and did not address overall ice use.

"Certainly the evidence suggests that the level of use is increasing overall, but this increase in acute health harm is a cause for concern," she said.

"We need more information and we need to be more innovative in the way that we address those issues."

Acute health effects include mental health conditions such as anxiety, paranoia and psychosis; injuries caused by falls, motor vehicle accidents or violence; and physiological symptoms such as heart palpitations and shortness of breath.

Dr Lloyd said increased availability of ice, increased purity and changes in the way the drug is ingested could be factors in the spike in acute ambulance call-outs.

"Crystal methamphetamine has been available in larger cities and particularly in the inner suburbs, but now it is a lot more common in regional and remote areas," she said.

Dr Lloyd said the ice epidemic was prominent in those regions but affects the whole state.

The report found acute ambulance call-outs for cannabis and ecstasy had risen 51 per cent and 61 per cent respectively in 2012/12.

Over the same period, cannabis and ecstasy call-outs rose 58 per cent and 62 per cent respectively in regional Victoria.


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Deficit levy makes sense: Deloitte

IMPOSING a deficit levy would show the Abbott government is serious about repairing the budget.

So says economist Chris Richardson, a long-time critic of government spending by both sides of politics, who believes a levy targeted at the top end of town makes sense.

The Deloitte Access Economics partner thinks while the bulk of getting the budget back into shape should come from cutting spending, raising taxes shouldn't be ignored.

"The government will have hated having a deficit levy, which says to us they are serious about budget repair," Mr Richardson said in his Budget Monitor on Thursday.

Taking the levy into account at an estimated $4.2 billion - and no other potential policy changes - Mr Richardson expects a marked recovery in the budget position in the coming years as other revenue streams also improve.

However, for the current financial year (2013/14) he expects a deterioration of $1.4 billion to a deficit of $48.4 billion, making it the second largest on record in dollar terms.

Flat company tax revenue and a shortfall in federal rent taxes, like the mining tax, will have offset an improvement in the tax take from individuals.

And while 2014/15 won't be a great year for company tax collections either, it will at least see an "end to the bleeding".

Deloitte estimates a "no policy change" budget position improvement of $5 billion to $6.5 billion in each of the the next three financial years to stand at $11.2 billion in 2016/17.

But the May 13 budget will take in 2017/18 for the first time and will illustrate the "Everest" the budget must climb because it will show big additional dollar costs for the likes of disability insurance, Mr Richardson says.

"Unless budget night reveals some much needed fiscal medicine, the deficit will worsen notably."


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Nintendo says no to virtual equality

NINTENDO isn't allowing gamers to play as gay in an upcoming life simulator game.

The gaming company said on Tuesday it wouldn't bow to pressure to allow players to woo characters of the same sex in English editions of Tomodachi Life.

The announcement follows a social media campaign launched by fans last month seeking virtual equality for the game's characters.

The fans had urged Nintendo to add same-sex relationship options to the English hand-held Nintendo 3DS game ahead of its June 6 release.

The game was originally released in Japan last year and features a cast of avatars based on real players living and playing on a virtual island.

Several past life games like The Sims and The Elder Scrolls have allowed players to create characters that can have same-sex relationships.


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Jobless rate tipped to rise

AUSTRALIA'S unemployment rate is expected to have risen in April, and economists warn a tough budget could see further deterioration in the jobs market.

Jobs data to be released on Thursday is expected to show the unemployment rate rose to 5.9 per cent in April, from 5.8 per cent in March, according to an AAP survey of 15 economists.

Most economists think the jobless rate will get worse before it gets better, as the economy struggles with the high Australian dollar and tries to adjust to the wind-down in mining investment.

Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe said a tough budget could have a detrimental impact on hiring.

"It's certainly something that will impact on sentiment, if nothing else, and that sometimes encourages businesses to become a bit more cautious in labour hiring and, of course, there's a risk that public sector employment takes a hit," he said.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases labour force data on Thursday.


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Aviation experts plan next MH370 searches

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 06 Mei 2014 | 23.46

AVIATION experts will meet in Canberra to plan further underwater searches for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

The expert panel, under the auspices of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), will meet on Wednesday to review data as part of the new phase in the search for the missing aircraft.

It involves experts from the ATSB, the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch, the US National Transportation Safety Board and British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat.

MH370 was carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished on March 8.


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US circus acrobats remain in hospital

EIGHT circus acrobats remain hospitalised in the US after an accident during a hair-hanging stunt sent them plummeting to the ground.

Rhode Island Hospital officials said on Tuesday that four of the women are in serious condition and four are in good condition.

The accident happened on Sunday during a performance of the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey circus in the state.

Relatives and rescuers say the women suffered injuries including a pierced liver, neck and back fractures, broken ankles and head injuries when they fell up to 12 metres.

Investigators suspect a snapped clip, which they found broken in three pieces on the ground, is to blame.

The carabiner clip was one of several pieces at the top of a chandelier-like apparatus that suspended the performers.

The circus is replacing every carabiner in the show before the next performance, on Thursday in Connecticut.


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Twitter stock slumps as lock-up expires

TWITTER'S stock is down to an all-time low after a post-IPO lock-up period preventing employees and early investors from selling expired.

Lock-up periods prevent company insiders from selling stock following an initial public offering.

CEO Dick Costolo and co-founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams have said that they have no plans to sell their stock when the lock-up expired on Tuesday, 180 days after Twitter's initial public offering.

Still, Twitter's stock fell nearly 11 per cent on Tuesday, to $34.61. Earlier, shares hit their lowest point ever at $34.55.

Twitter went public on Nov. 7. The stock later soared as high as $74.73.

San Francisco-based Twitter's latest earnings report surpassed expectations, but worries about user growth and engagement weighed on its stock.


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Police defend Gerry Adams arrest

NORTHERN Ireland's police chief has defended the decision to arrest Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams over a 1972 IRA killing, saying the evidence warranted his interrogation even though no charges have been filed.

In his first public comments since Adams' arrest and five days of police detention, Chief Constable Matt Baggott said Adams' Irish nationalist party was wrong to say that Adams was singled out for political reasons.

Sinn Fein accused what it called a "dark side" of Protestant hardliners within the force of conspiring to demonise Adams.

Baggott, an Englishman who has led the force since 2009, said on Tuesday that a judge who saw the evidence midway through Adams' interrogation believed extended questioning of the 65-year-old party leader was merited.

Adams was questioned for four days over the abduction and murder of mother-of-10 Jean McConville before being released on Sunday.


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Business leaders fine-tune G20 agenda

BUSINESS leaders have met in Paris to fine-tune their policy recommendations for this year's G20 leaders summit in Australia.

Representatives of the B20 - the business advisory forum attached to the G20 - joined other prominent members of the international business community at this week's Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Forum in France.

More than 100 senior business leaders participated in B20 taskforce discussions, along with global banking and government representatives.

The B20 wants to use Australia's G20 presidency to forge international agreements on trade, infrastructure and labour issues in an effort to boost global economic and employment growth.

And the head of B20 Australia is confident it can help to achieve practical outcomes, reporting "a good degree of consensus" between attendees in Paris.

"All governments are in the same position with the need for economic growth and jobs," B20 Australia "Sherpa" Robert Milliner said.

"There is a united understanding that is going to be driven by things like trade, investment in infrastructure and greater capital flows and investments."

Mr Milliner said the B20 would leave Paris with a near-completed set of recommendations, with these to be further refined ahead of the B20 summit in Sydney in July.

They will then be put to the G20/B20 summit in Brisbane in November.


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Indon Navy finds rejected asylum seekers

Written By Unknown on Senin, 05 Mei 2014 | 23.46

THE Indonesian navy says it has found a group of 20 stranded asylum seekers whose boat was apparently turned back by Australian authorities.

The discovery follows Prime Minister Tony Abbott postponing a meeting with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that was scheduled for Tuesday.

The federal government blames the imminent budget for the change of heart over the Bali meeting.

But it's understood the government feared the embarrassment that would have been caused by the meeting as Australian officials were engaging in a policy that angers Indonesia.

The Indonesian Navy on Monday night released a statement saying it had found a group of asylum seekers - 16 Indians, two Nepalese and two Albanians.

The group told Naval officers they had left from South Sulawesi on April 26 without the two Albanians.

They say they were met by two Australian vessels near Ashmore Reef on Thursday.

They were escorted to Indonesian territory where on Sunday, the Albanians and one Indonesian got on board, and the Australian boat parted ways with them.

Their boat ran out of fuel and stranded on Lay Island in East Nusa Tenggara where the Indonesian naval officers found them.

Most are men aged in their 20s, the officers say.

The Bali meeting could have made meaningful progress towards mending ties with Indonesia following last year's spy scandal.

Mr Abbott's office announced the postponement late on Friday, after The West Australian newspaper reported authorities were headed to waters between Java and Ashmore Reef to intercept an asylum vessel.

The government wouldn't confirm the "turnback" operation.

Its Operation Sovereign Borders policy has complicated the relationship with Indonesia further.

Indonesia's Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro on Monday again urged Australia not to act unilaterally while joint border patrols remained suspended.

"We want Australia to be wiser in dealing with the issue," he said, as quoted by Indonesia's Antara news agency.

"We feel that they must be done correctly and we appeal to the government of Tony Abbott to understand our stance."


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Number of children in Japan falls again

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 04 Mei 2014 | 23.47

THE number of children in Japan has fallen for the 33rd-consecutive year to 16.33 million as of April 1.

It's down 0.1 per cent from the same time a year earlier, the government says, as it struggles to raise the declining birth rate.

The number of those aged 14 and under was the lowest since the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications started compiling such data in 1950.

Children in Japan constituted 12.8 per cent of the population, the lowest percentage among 30 countries with populations of at least 40 million, the ministry said on Sunday.

In 1950, children made up 35.4 per cent of the country's population.

The ministry's report was released ahead of the Children's Day national holiday on Monday.


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Focus turns to Afghan landslide families

AS Afghans observe a day of mourning for the hundreds of people killed in a horrific landslide, authorities are trying to help the 700 families displaced by the torrent of mud that swept through their village.

The families left their homes due to the threat of more landslides in the village of Abi Barik in Badakhshan province, Minister for Rural Rehabilitation Wais Ahmad Barmak said on Sunday.

Aid groups and the government have rushed to the remote area in northeastern Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan and China with food, shelter and water.

A spokesman for the International Organisation of Migration, Matt Graydon, said the group is bringing solar-powered lanterns, blankets and shelter kits.

He said after a visit to the area on Sunday that some residents have gone to nearby villages to stay with family or friends while others have slept out in the open.

"Some people left with almost nothing," Graydon said.

Authorities gave $US400,000 ($A432,700) to the provincial governor on Saturday to use in the aid effort, said Barmak, who promised the government would provide more money if it's needed.

President Hamid Karzai designated Sunday as a day of mourning for the hundreds of people who died in Abi Barik when a wall of mud and earth broke off from the hill above and turned part of the village into a cemetery.

Authorities still don't have an exact figure on how many people died in the landslide.

Estimates have ranged from 250 to 2700, but authorities say it will be impossible to dig up all the bodies.

The government has identified 250 people who died and estimated that 300 houses were buried under tons of mud, Barmak said.


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French mountain climber dies in Nepal

A FRENCH mountain climber has died in Nepal due to altitude sickness.

Yannick Claude Sylvain Gagneret, 39, was climbing the 8481-metre-tall Mount Makalu in Sankhuwasabha district in northeastern Nepal when he died at its Camp One on Friday.

Police say his body was flown to Solukhumbu district after bad weather prevented flights to the capital.

An autopsy was to be conducted once the body was airlifted to Kathmandu.

On Tuesday, two Russian climbers died in the Everest region due to altitude sickness.

Meanwhile, a Slovakian tourist has been missing in the Everest region since April 21. Tamas Princzkel, 28, a Hungarian-speaking Slovakian citizen went missing in Dingboche, where he was travelling alone.

Police say they are still looking for him.


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