Japan expects further fall in fertility rate: Report

TOKYO, Dec 17: Japan is set to significantly lower its long-term fertility rate forecast because more women are choosing to remain single or marrying later.

Japan's total fertility rate has already hit record lows, to 1.25 babies per woman in her lifetime in 2005, raising concerns of an impending labour shortage, as well as ballooning medical and pension costs for an aging population, a news report said today.

In a new population report due out later this month, the government will revise its fertility rate forecast for 2050 to about 1.2 from a previous projection of 1.39 in 2002, the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, citing unidentified health officials.

The government expects the rate to be pressured downward by a growing tendency among Japanese women to get married or give birth later in life, as well as seek divorce, said the Nihon Keizai, Japan's largest business daily.

On average, Japanese women gave birth for the first time at 29.1 years old in 2005, up from 27.5 years in 1995, according to Health Ministry statistics.

Japan's falling fertility rate has made it one of the world's most aging countries, with 20.7 per cent of the population aged 65 or older in 2006.

According to latest census data, the country's population peaked in 2004 at 127.790 million, falling by 22,000 in 2005.

Ministry officials were not available today to comment on the news report. (AGENCIES)

Samsung Electronics forges ties with SK Telecom

SEOUL, Dec 17: South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom today said it has forged a strategic alliance with high-tech giant Samsung Electronics to expand their mobile phone business abroad.

SK Telecom said it would use three million Samsung mobile phones next year for its business at home and abroad, especially in the United States and Vietnam.

"Through cooperation with Samsung Electronics, we will strengthen our foothold in the Vietnamese market, where demand for new mobile phones is growing," it said in a statement.

SK Telecom, which controls more than half of South Korea's wireless market, has expanded abroad as it seeks to meet strong domestic competition. (AGENCIES)

You’re on the cover of Time!

NEW YORK, Dec 17: Time magazine has tipped its cap in its latest issue to a person who is the driving force behind the present information age. You.

The magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ issue, to be released tomorrow, features on its cover a mirror in a computer screen.

Recognizing the power that individuals enjoy through blogs and sites like YouTube and MySpace, which allow them to air their opinion, Time magazine has chosen ‘You’ as the person of year over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, North Korea’s Kim Jong II and former US Secretary of Defense Ronald Rumsfled who hogged headlines throughout the year.

To be sure, Time says, there are individuals "we could blame for many painful an disturbing things that happened during the year. The conflict in Iraq only got bloodier and more entrenched. A vicious skirmish erupted between Israel and Lebanon.

"A war dragged on in Sudan. A ‘tin-pot’ dictator in North Korea got the Bomb and the President of Iran wants to go nuclear too. Meanwhile, nobody fixed global warming, and Sony didn’t make enough PlayStations," it said.

But looking through a different lens, it points out, "you’ll see another story," one that isn’t about conflict or great men.

It’s a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It’s about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people’s network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace.

"You. Me. Everyone. Everyone is who is transforming the information age by creating and consuming content," Richard Stengel, the magazine’s managing editor told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien. "It’s about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes." (PTI)

Qantas to look for Asian growth after takeover: Analysts

SYDNEY, Dec 17: Qantas, one of world's most profitable airlines is poised for aggressive international expansion, particularly in India, China, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, if its takeover clears regulatory hurdles and the bidders prove they are not corporate raiders.

Private equity consortium Airline Partners Australia (APA) will seal one of the largest takeovers in aviation history if its USD 8.7 billion bid proceeds after winning support from the Qantas board last week.

While board members were won over by a package that includes generous remuneration for top executives, misgivings remain in Australia about the bidders' intentions and the prospect of a national icon being controlled by an international consortium.

APA has repeatedly stressed that Qantas will remained Australian-controlled under the consortium, with offshore investors including US-based Texas Pacific Group and Canada's Onex representing less that 40 per cent of the group.

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation managing director Peter Harbison said that if the pledges were met, Qantas would be well placed to meet the challenges of an increasingly deregulated international aviation market.

"As soon as the transaction is completed, it will not be surprising to see an acquisition-oriented Qantas begin moving into new Asian markets," he said. "It is already represented in Singapore with Jetstar Asia. This model, along with direct minority acquisitions in existing airlines, either by Qantas directly, or by its new owners, will allow it to develop a serious foothold in Southeast Asian market," he added. (AGENCIES)

Indian worker killed by flash flood in Oman

DUBAI, Dec 17: An Indian worker was swept away in a flash flood triggered by heavy rains in Muscat, police said.

The body of Remedio Bento Fernandes, 61, was recovered nearly 25 kilometres away from Bausher district of Muscat, Oman, Gulf News reported.

Fernandes and other fellow workers from the Al Nasr Trading and Contracting Company were caught unawares by the flash flood in Bausher on Thursday, according to the police.

Muscat experienced heavy rains over the weekend leading to waterlogged roads and massive traffic jams. (PTI)

Interpol called in to help UK prostitute murders probe: Report..

IPSWICH, ENGLAND, Dec 17: British police have enlisted Interpol in the search for a suspected prostitute serial killer, as investigators hope that new closed-circuit footage of one victim will help them find the culprit.

The international crime fighting body was called in amid suspicions that the killer may have fled abroad, the Observer reported.

The bodies of five prostitutes - Gemma Adams, 25; Tania Nicol, 19; Anneli Alderton, 24; Paula Clennell, 24; and Annette Nicholls, 29 -- were found on the outskirts of Ipswich, east England, within a period of 10 days.

One theory is that the killer travelled through the nearby port of Felixstowe or is an itinerant who has now returned to mainland Europe, the paper said.

Police, yesterday released closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the last known movements of Alderton, who was three months pregnant.

The pictures, showing the pony-tailed blonde on a train a week before the discovery of her strangled body, were released in a bid to jog the memories of witnesses who may have information about her last days.

"We now need to piece together Anneli's movements after this image was captured. At what station did she get off the train? And where did she go after that?" Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, leading the investigation, asked at a press conference.

Jacqui Cheer, Suffolk's assistant chief constable, told BBC television yesterday that police had received 26 calls about the footage. (AGENCIES)

Man kills 2 women, 3 children in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, Dec 17: A man killed five people, including three of his children, before fatally shooting himself, and a fourth child has life-threatening wounds, police said.

The man killed one woman, apparently his cousin, then went to another home and shot his longtime girlfriend, their four children and himself yesterday, Capt Rich Lockhart said.

Police did not immediately identify the shooter or the women. Relatives identified the shooter's girlfriend as Shanika King, who was in her 30s.

The slain children were a girl, 14, and two boys, aged 11 and one, police said. An 8-year-old boy was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the face.

Witnesses identified the first victim, a woman in her mid-30s, as the shooter's cousin, Lockhart said. The woman's son told police a man came to the door and asked to see his mother. The boy said he heard a "pop," but thought it was fireworks.

After the man left, the boy found his mother had been shot, Lockhart said. About 15 minutes later, police received a call from a woman who said her daughter's boyfriend had called her to say he had shot her daughter and grandchildren.

Two of the couple's other children had spent the night at their grandmother's house, said King's aunt, Janna Walker, who lives nearby in the neighbourhood, about five miles east of downtown Kansas City. (AGENCIES)

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Afghan actor back on track with 'Kabul Express

KABUL, Dec 17: In Bollywood-crazy Afghanistan, it is no surprise that actor Hanif Hum Ghum wanted to make it big in Mumbai ever since he turned eight. So when a readymade role in 'Kabul Express' fell in his lap, it was more than a dream come true for him.

Hanif, who stars in the much-acclaimed film by debutant director Kabir Khan that was released in cinema halls across India on Friday, is thrilled to have got a chance to act with Bollywood biggies John Abraham and Arshad Warsi.

Though Hanif is an established cinema and TV star in Afghanistan, he describes his role in 'Kabul Express' - a film on war-ravaged Afghanistan - as the best so far.

The bearded actor, whose life has been like a leaf out of a Bollywood potboiler, told mediapersons here that he "started dreaming cinema when he was barely eight". He saw actor Manoj's 'Neelkamal' in 1968 and got hooked to Bollywood.

Hanif had to flee to Iran to escape the Taliban, who banned all forms of entertainment during their rule between 1996 and 2001. Following their ouster, music and movies are back with a bigger bang.

But getting a role in 'Kabul Express' was no cake walk for Hanif. He had to appear in three auditions for the film and was even called to Mumbai for a test, before Yash Raj Films said "yes".

According to Hanif, Afghans have only played bit parts in Bollywood before. Though there are hardly a dozen cinema halls in the country, Afghans are crazy about Bollywood music and films. Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai are the most popular here - so much so that shops have been named after them. (PTI)

China to keep looking for likely extinct dolphin

BEIJING, Dec 17: Chinese scientists will continue to search for a rare freshwater dolphin unique to the Yangtze River, although it is possibly extinct after a 38-day search failed to find any, Xinhua news agency said today.

Foreign experts have already concluded that the baiji, or white-flag dolphin, is extinct, becoming a victim of development, overfishing and shipping along China's longest river.

Wang Ding, head of a team of scientists that concluded their fruitless search for the baiji last week, said the efforts to search for and protect the dolphin should continue as there might be some of the mammals left in the wild.

''We will try every effort to save them as long as it is not announced to be extinct,'' said Wang, who is also vice director of the hydrobiology institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The monitoring of hot spots and small-scale searches would continue, he said.

''The 3,400 kilometre expedition only covered the main section of the Yangtze River and the scientists only searched for the dolphins eight hours a day, which means some dolphins might have been missed,'' said Wei Zhuo, an engineer from the hydrobiology institute, according to the Xinhua report.

The long-beaked, nearly blind baiji is related to other freshwater dolphin species found in the Mekong, Indus, Ganges and Amazon rivers.

In the late 1970s, scientists believed several hundred baiji were still alive, but by 1997 a survey listed just 13 sightings. The last confirmed sighting was in 2004 and the last captive baiji, Qi Qi, died in 2002.

The Chinese government had set up a reserve in a lake in central Hubei province to look after captured baiji, but failed to find any.

The six-week expedition, made up of two ships and 30 scientists from Japan, China, the United States and Switzerland, did spot about 300 of another threatened species, the Yangtze finless porpoise, far less than they had thought they would see. (AGENCIES)

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