NAPLAN stress causes vomiting, insomnia

STRESS-RELATED vomiting and insomnia are affecting children in the lead-up to the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), a new study shows.

In the landmark University of Melbourne study, for which 8353 teachers and principals were surveyed, concerns about the "unintended side effects" of NAPLAN were raised.

These concerns included teaching to the test and a negative effect on student health and teacher morale, Fairfax reported.

About half the teachers surveyed said NAPLAN practive tests were held once a week in the five months leading up to the test.

About 90 per cent said some students felt stressed before the test, leading to crying, vomiting, insomnia and absenteeism.

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Violation of Gaza truce a sin: cleric

A LEADING Islamic cleric in the Gaza Strip has ruled it a sin to violate the recent ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that governs the Palestinian territory - according a religious legitimacy to the truce and giving the Gaza government strong backing to enforce it.

The fatwa, or religious edict, was issued late Saturday by Suleiman al-Daya, a cleric respected by both ultra-conservative Salafis and Hamas. Salafi groups oppose political accommodations with Israel.

"Honouring the truce, which was sponsored by our Egyptian brethren, is the duty of each and every one of us. Violating it shall constitute a sin," the fatwa read.

The truce, which was struck on Wednesday to bring an end to an eight-day Israeli offensive against Gaza militants who fired rockets into Israel, remains fragile, however, and details beyond the initial ceasefire have not yet been worked out.

The spokesman for Gaza's Hamas government, Taher al-Nunu, told reporters on Sunday that Hamas is committed to the truce.

"The government reaffirmed its blessing to the agreement sponsored by Cairo and emphasised that it will work to the internal Palestinian consensus and the supreme national interest," he said, following a government meeting.

Hamas demands that Israel and Egypt lift all restrictions on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Palestinian territory. The restrictions have been imposed since the Islamists seized the territory in 2007.

Israel has eased its full-fledged blockade in recent years, and some goods enter Gaza through smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt. But Israel has continued to impose strict restrictions on exports and the import of construction materials, which has severely hampered the development of Gaza's battered economy.

Israel is expected to link a significant easing of the blockade to Hamas's willingness to stop smuggling weapons into Gaza and producing them there. A top Hamas official said on Saturday that the group wouldn't stop arming itself, suggesting that talks on a new border deal would not go smoothly.

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Driver dies as US band's bus overturns

SWISS police say a bus carrying the Marcus Miller Band, an American jazz group, has overturned - killing the driver and injuring several musicians.

Police in the central canton (state) of Uri said the German-registered private bus tipped over on Sunday as it drove into a bend and came to a rest on its side.

A police statement said the bus was carrying 13 people: two drivers and 11 members of the band, who were on their way from Monte Carlo to the Dutch town of Hengelo.

One of the drivers suffered fatal injuries. Several people were injured and taken to hospitals; police say none of them have life-threatening injuries.

The cause wasn't immediately clear. It appears no other vehicles were involved.

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China in first aircraft carrier landing

CHINA has conducted the first landing of a fighter jet on its new aircraft carrier in a move that extends Beijing's ability to project its growing military might in territorial disputes.

The Chinese-made J-15 made the successful landing on the Liaoning, a former Soviet carrier, during recent exercises, the defence ministry said in a report on Sunday on the flight tests.

The Liaoning went into service in September in a symbolic milestone for China's growing military muscle that comes at a time when Beijing is increasingly embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with its neighbours.

"The successful landing ... has always been seen as a symbol of the operating combat capability for an aircraft carrier," Zhang Junshe, a vice-director at the military's Naval Affairs Research Institute, told state television.

"This is a landmark event for China's aircraft carrier ... and (moves it) one step closer to combat readiness."

Video carried by China Central Television showed a tail hook on the rear of the J-15 catching hold of a cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier as the jet landed and slowed to a halt.

China had not previously announced that its navy possessed such highly technical cable landing technology.

The J-15 had also successfully taken off from the aircraft, the ministry said.

The J-15 is a Chinese designed multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet based on Russia's Sukoi 33, equipped with Russian engines and capable of carrying precision-guided bombs, press reports said.

Since the carrier entered service, the crew have completed more than 100 training and test programs, the ministry said.

China bought the stripped-down 300-metre carrier from Ukraine nearly 10 years ago and refurbished it at the northeastern port of Dalian.

Construction of the vessel, formerly known as the Varyag, was commissioned by the former Soviet Union more than 20 years ago, but work halted with the sudden collapse of the Soviet bloc.

The Liaoning - named for the northeastern province that includes Dalian - is not expected to be fully operational for another three years at least.

Over the past year, China has become increasingly assertive over its long-time maritime territorial claims as its economic and military power have expanded, causing rising anxiety among its neighbours.

Tensions in the East China Sea have risen dramatically in recent months over islands known as the Diaoyus to Beijing and claimed by Tokyo as the Senkakus.

China is locked in a similar row with Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

At a key Communist Party congress earlier this month, outgoing President Hu Jintao urged the nation to push forward fast-paced military modernisation and set the goal of becoming a "maritime power".

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Newman says rest of LNP MPs are loyal

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman has refused to say whether he's checking his MPs loyalties after one defected to Katter's Australian Party (KAP).

Veteran MP Ray Hopper, the member for the rural seat of Condamine, resigned from the Liberal National Party (LNP) on Saturday night to join the KAP.

Mr Newman says Monday afternoon's party room meeting will give all MPs a chance to discuss the matter.

"It'll give people an opportunity to express, no doubt their dismay about the way the member of Condamine has let down his people," he told reporters on Sunday.

But when asked if he'll be seeking loyalty pledges from MPs, he said: "My people are totally committed to getting the economy of Queensland going."

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said it's likely a lot of phone calls were being made.

"I think it's going to be a very interesting party room meeting," she said.

Mr Hopper said he left the LNP because it's not governing for regional communities and "is at war with itself".

Cabinet will also meet on Monday morning.

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Merkel defends snip with angry Jews

ANGELA Merkel sought to ease the concerns of Germany's Jews over a disputed ruling against circumcision.

Ms Merkel became the first chancellor to address the Jewish community's annual council meeting in a bid to ease concerns about the ruling.

"The respecting of religious ritual is a fundamental good," she told the annual gathering of the Central Council of Jews in Germany in the western city of Frankfurt.

"I am delighted ... that there is a lively Jewish community in Germany," added the chancellor.

In a ruling published in June, a court in the western city of Cologne judged the rite to be tantamount to grievous bodily harm, prompting international outrage and calls for more legal clarity.

The Cologne ruling united Jewish and Muslim groups in opposition and German diplomats admitted privately that it had proved "disastrous" for Germany's international image, particularly in light of its Nazi past.

Merkel was reported to have cautioned that Germany risked becoming a "laughing stock" if circumcision were banned in the country.

Last month, Merkel's cabinet passed a draft law to permit circumcision and clarify the legal situation.

She said she believed it to be a "balanced text".

"I hope it can be agreed in the Bundestag before Christmas," she added, referring to the German lower house of parliament.

The new bill stipulated certain provisos for a boy to be circumcised.

Among these conditions, the draft law said the practice must be carried out "professionally" and "with the most effective pain relief".

An exception must also be made in individual cases if there are health risks, for example if the infant is suspected of being a haemophiliac.

The head of the central committee for Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, thanked Merkel for her assistance in what he described as "difficult times."

"It is important that German politicians acted and came up with legislation that we can live with," Graumann said.

"This visit has done us good in a time that is difficult for us," he added.

Merkel also used the visit to reiterate Berlin's support of Israel following eight days of violence in and around Gaza, which left 166 Palestinians and six Israelis dead.

"Every country has the right to defend itself. This is not only the right but also the duty of every government," added Merkel.

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Europe mulls Greece 'haircut' in 2015

EUROZONE finance ministers are considering a possible "haircut" for Greece in 2015, a German newspaper reports, in a bid to reduce the recession-wracked country's debt mountain.

Other eurozone countries and institutions like the European Central Bank could be ready to discuss writing down a part of their Greek debt holdings to put Greece's debt on a more sustainable footing, said the Welt am Sonntag.

The issue was discussed at a secret meeting of ministers and officials in Paris on Monday, the paper said, without citing sources.

Such a haircut might be used as an added incentive for Greece to carry out the reforms required in its second aid package, which runs out in 2014, according to the Welt am Sonntag.

Germany has been firmly opposed to taking a loss on its holdings of Greek debt, unwilling to ask German taxpayers to foot the bill for keeping Athens in the eurozone.

The ECB has also ruled out such a move, saying it is tantamount to financing Greece directly, strictly forbidden by its founding treaties.

But the Spiegel newsweekly reported that the ECB, as well as the International Monetary Fund, now considered a haircut unavoidable.

Nevertheless, Joerg Asmussen, a member of the ECB's executive board, dismissed the plan.

"To close the financing gap, we need a package of measures that would include, among other things, a clear reduction of the interest rate on aid and a debt buy-back program for Greece," Asmussen told the Bild newspaper.

"A haircut does not belong to this (package)," the German central banker said in comments to appear in Monday's edition of the newspaper.

By writing off half of their Greek debt holdings, eurozone governments and institutions could drive down Greece's debt to 70 per cent of output in 2020, compared to 144 per cent, wrote Spiegel.

Eurozone ministers meet on Monday for their third effort to agree on unlocking a 31.2 billion euro ($A39 billion) slice of aid for Greece as it teeters on the verge of bankruptcy.

Both Welt am Sonntag and Spiegel wrote that the haircut issue would not be decided at Monday's talks.

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Roadside bombs kill five in Pakistan

ROADSIDE bombs have killed five people and wounded 10 in two blasts in Pakistan's lawless tribal zone near the Afghan border, officials say.

One of the improvised explosive devices was planted along the route of an army convoy in the Mir Ali area 35 kilometres east of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan district, they said.

"The explosion killed at least two soldiers and injured seven others," a security official in Miranshah said.

Another local security official confirmed the attack and said two of some 10 to 15 vehicles in the convoy were severely damaged.

In the Shin Qamar area of the Khyber tribal region, at least three labourers were killed and three wounded on Sunday in an explosion caused by a roadside bomb, said senior local official Nasir Khan.

He said the bomb went off as the labourers, who were carrying construction materials on mules, passed by.

Local intelligence officials also confirmed the incident.

Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt is made up of seven districts. In North Waziristan, Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds used to plot attacks across the border in Afghanistan.

The al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network in North Waziristan, blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan, is one of the thorniest issues in relations between Islamabad and Washington.

Washington has long demanded that Pakistan take action against the Haqqanis, which the then-top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, last year described as a "veritable arm" of the Pakistani intelligence service.

Pakistan says it will act according to its own needs and priorities and not on the wishes of a foreign government.

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Majority of Britons would vote to leave EU

A MAJORITY of Britons would vote to leave the European Union if given the chance, according to a survey.

The Optimum Research poll in The Observer newspaper found that 34 per cent would definitely vote to quit the 27-member bloc and 22 per cent would probably do so, giving a total of 56 per cent that would opt to leave the EU.

Eleven per cent would definitely vote to remain in the union, while a further 19 per cent said they would probably cote to stay in - a total of 30 per cent.

Some 14 per cent said they did not know.

Some 28 per cent of those polled said Britain's membership of the EU was generally a good thing, while 45 per cent said it was generally a bad thing.

EU leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday to try to thrash out the bloc's budget for the 2014-2020 period, at which Britain will argue for a real terms freeze.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is pushing for a freeze in the trillion-euro budget, having threatened to veto any rise in spending.

Voters from Cameron's Conservative Party were the most in favour of leaving the EU (68 per cent), followed by the opposition Labour Party (44 per cent) and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats (39 per cent).

The Conservatives and the Lib Dems form Britain's coalition government.

The poll also found that 39 per cent would vote for Labour in a general election. The Conservatives were on 32 per cent, the anti-EU UK Independence Party on 10 per cent, the Lib Dems on eight per cent and other parties on 11 per cent.

Optimum Research surveyed 1957 adults online from Tuesday to Thursday.

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Chinese street kids found dead in dumpster

THE bodies of five street children have been found in a dumpster in southwest China after they climbed inside it to escape the night-time cold, state media report.

The five boys aged about 10 died of carbon monoxide poisoning after apparently burning charcoal inside the trash container to keep warm, Xinhua news agency said.

A trash collector discovered the bodies on Friday morning in the dumpster in the city of Bijie in Guizhou province, according to the Beijing News.

Autopsies showed carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of death, Xinhua quoted sources in a local branch of the ruling communist party as saying.

It said leftover burnt charcoal was found inside the dumpster, indicating that the boys might have been burning charcoal for heat before they died.

Calls to Bijie police and city officials on Sunday went unanswered.

The Friday night low temperature in the mountainous city was 6C.

Photos uploaded onto the internet showed that the dumpster is about 1.5 metres by 1.3 meters and has an airtight lid, Xinhua reported.

The tragedy has sparked an outcry on the net, it said. A post on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like microblogging service, had more than 2.5 million hits as of Sunday evening.

While some users accused the local government of negligence, others said the parents of the children were also to blame, according to the news agency.

"It reminded me of The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. Isn't it that such things only happen in fairy tales?" wrote one user called Saludika.

"What a cold world this must be for the five children!" said another, Lu_Yao.

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