World's largest building opens in China

BOASTING its own artificial sun and a floor area three times that of the Pentagon, the "world's largest building" has opened in southwest China to mixed reviews from its first visitors.

The towering 100-metre high New Century Global Centre, which is said to to be big enough to hold 20 Sydney Opera Houses, recently opened its doors at Chengdu.

The complex, which Chinese officials say is the world's largest stand-alone structure, is 500 metres long by 400 metres wide, offering 1.7 million square metres of floor space.

But the first wave of visitors were divided over the attractions of the the structure, which houses 400,000 square metres of shopping space, offices, conference rooms, a university complex, two commercial centres, two five star hotels, and an IMAX cinema.

"It lacks creativity," said one visitor on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

Another visitor poked fun at its name.

"Why is everything in Chengdu called 'global'," the poster said.

However, some Internet users were impressed with the complex, which opened on June 28.

"It will become the new landmark of Chengdu," said one poster.

The Global Centre has a marine theme, with fountains, a huge water park and a centrepiece artificial beach under an undulating roof meant to resemble a wave.

The 5000 square metre beach includes a rafting course and a "seafront" promenade, complete with parasols and seafood outlets that can accommodate 6000 people.

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Pamplona bull run hospitalises 21

Bull-runners were crushed in a pile-up in Pamplona on the seventh day of Spain's famed festival. Source: AAP

DAREDEVIL bull-runners have been crushed in a pile-up in the Spanish city of Pamplona during its famed San Fermin festival, with at least 21 people hospitalised.

Television pictures showed a pile of runners, in traditional white shirts and red neckerchiefs, blocking the entrance to a bullring, the end point of the frantic dash through the town's cobbled streets.

The pile-up blocked several of the animals from charging into the arena, with panicked runners scrambling over the heads of those in front of them and others trying to pull the fallen free.

Two of the beasts - of the six bulls and the six steers that ran - leapt over the pile, crushing runners under their hooves. The others were herded to the arena through a side passage.

Several people were also trampled under the bulls' hooves during the crowded 850-metre dash through the city's narrow streets, which took four minutes and 15 seconds.

It was the sixth day of the fiesta in this northern town, which draws festival-goers and daredevils from around the world for a week of drinking and perilous bull-runs.

Javier Sesma, a doctor from the emergency unit of the local Navarra Hospital, told reporters that 21 people were injured in the run and the pile-up overall.

These included a 19-year-old man from the Spanish town of Vitoria who was in serious condition with a chest injury, and an Irish man with a less severe injury, also to his chest.

The 19-year-old was "in an especially serious condition with a chest trauma causing breathing problems, and is requiring breathing apparatus," Sesma said. "He is in a stable but serious condition."

He added that a further two people were being treated for gore wounds.

Spanish media said it was the worst stampede in decades at the festival.

Live television pictures showed one man being carried away unconscious, his face bleeding.

Saturday's chaotic run nearly doubled the overall toll of those hospitalised in the previous six days of runs.

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Texas abortion law passes despite protests

The Texas senate approved a bill setting some of the strictest limits on abortion despite protests. Source: AAP

THE Texas senate has approved a bill setting some of the strictest limits on abortion in the United States, just weeks after a filibuster by opposition Democrats dramatically thwarted the measure.

The bill - similar to the one that state Senator Wendy Davis helped block in a 13-hour filibuster on June 25 - was approved 19-11 late on Friday, with one Democrat joining the Republican majority, local media reported.

Davis became a national hero for Democrats and supporters of abortion. Pro-choice advocates filled the spectator gallery Friday and held rallies outside the state senate, but were unable to stop the measure from being approved.

Republican Governor Rick Perry has vowed to sign the bill into law.

The bill includes a ban on abortions starting at 20 weeks after conception, unless the woman's health is imminently endangered; sets strict requirements for doctors performing abortions; and mandates that a doctor must be present when a woman takes a pill to induce an abortion.

Texas media reported that police tussled with noisy protesters who resisted eviction from the spectator gallery. Some protesters even chained themselves to the railing to avoid being dragged out.

During the June 25 session a raucous gallery crowd was key in preventing the vote from being held on time. There were too many activists for police to control - a mistake not repeated on Friday, when the capitol was swarming with state troopers.

Police also checked bags and took out items that could be thrown, including bottles suspected of containing excrement and urine, the Houston Chronicle reported.

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Syria's famed Crusader fort hit in raid

AN air raid on Syria's famed Krak des Chevaliers castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has damaged one of the fortress's towers, footage shot by activists shows.

Several videos posted online on Saturday showed at least one air strike on Friday against the castle in central Homs province, where fighting is raging between government troops and rebel forces.

The footage shows a huge blast as a tower of the Crusader castle, which is built on a hill, appears to take a direct hit, throwing up large clouds of smoke and scattering debris in the air.

A separate video filmed inside the fortress purports to show some of the damage caused by the air strike, including a gaping hole in the ceiling and a pile of rubble below.

"God is great. This is the destruction caused by MiG air strike on the Krak des Chevaliers," says the activist filming the damage.

"Look at the this, oh world. This is Bashar al-Assad bombing the Krak des Chevaliers," he adds of Syria's embattled president whom rebel forces are trying to topple.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a watchdog group, could not confirm direct hits on the castle, but said there were reports of three air strikes in the area on Friday.

The raids came after rebels apparently using the Krak des Chevaliers as a base attacked an Alawite village called Qumayri, killing several people, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Fighting in and around the fortress has been reported throughout the conflict, which began with anti-government protests in March 2011 and evolved into an armed uprising after crackdowns on demonstrations.

The Krak des Chevaliers was built between 1142 and 1271, according to UNESCO, and along with the adjoining Qalat Salah el-Din fortress, is considered one of the best preserved Crusader castles in existence.

It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2006, and is one of six sites in Syria designated as such.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, according to the Observatory.

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Faulty switch blamed for French derailment

The train derailment near Paris that left six people dead was likely caused by a faulty switch. Source: AAP

THE derailment near Paris that left six people dead and dozens injured was likely caused by a faulty part in the switch that allows trains to change tracks, the SNCF national rail company says.

"This bond", a kind of steel clip that links two rails on a switch, "broke away, it became detached and came out of its housing," Pierre Izard, SNCF's general manager for infrastructure said on Saturday.

The company added that it had ordered checks of some 5000 similar devices on the network.

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Snowden to meet rights activists in Moscow

The Deputy Secretary of State says the US is "very disappointed" how China handled the Snowden case. Source: AAP

FUGITIVE US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is set to meet with leading Russian rights activists and lawyers at the airport in Moscow where he has been stuck in transit for nearly three weeks.

Several campaigners have told AFP they will attend the 2300 AEST meeting on Friday after receiving an invitation from Snowden, in what will be the former government contractor's first publicised encounter since he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong.

According to the purported invitation from Snowden posted on social media by one activist, the fugitive wants to discuss his "next steps" forward.

He also rails against the "unlawful campaign" against him by Washington which is seeking his extradition after he leaked details of pervasive US intelligence surveillance

Those invited included representatives of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Transparency International as well as several prominent lawyers working in Moscow.

"I can confirm that Mr Snowden will hold a meeting with rights representatives on the territory of the airport," Sheremetyevo spokeswoman Anna Zakharenkova told AFP.

"We will provide access and premises," she added, declining to provide further details.

Snowden has made no public appearances since arriving at the state-controlled airport in the Russian capital on June 23. According to officials, he has spent the whole time in the airport transit zone.

Sergei Nikitin of the Moscow branch of Amnesty International told AFP he received an email inviting his group and said "we are planning to go".

Elena Panfilova of Transparency International said the "somewhat unexpected" invitation was being discussed. She said the email had come from an apparently secure email address in Snowden's name.

Tatyana Lokshina of Human Rights Watch in Moscow said on her Facebook page that she had also received an invitation from Snowden although she could not yet confirm "it was real".

She quoted the email as saying Snowden wanted to have the meeting for "a brief statement and discussion regarding the next steps forward in my situation".

Kristinn Hraffnson, spokesman for the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website which is supporting Snowden, told AFP that he could not confirm that the meeting was planned.

The email thanked Latin American states for considering an application for asylum but denounced "an unlawful campaign by officials in the US government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum".

Leftist Latin American states are seen as the most likely destination for Snowden, who has applied for asylum in 27 countries.

Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua have all expressed readiness to consider giving Snowden asylum.

Prominent Moscow lawyer Genrikh Padva confirmed to AFP that he had received an invitation for a meeting at the airport on Friday afternoon local time, but did not believe he would have time to attend.

Olga Kostina, a rights activist who is a member of Russia's public chamber advisory body, told the state ITAR-TASS news agency that she would attend "if just out of curiosity".

Interfax said Russia's human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin had been invited and he told the agency he was ready to attend the meeting.

A source had told Interfax the day earlier that the United States and Russia were now in "wait-and-see" mode over Snowden, indicating that a rapid solution to his presence may not be in sight.

President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Moscow will not extradite Snowden but also indicated the Kremlin is keen to see the back of a man who has added an additional problem to already strained relations with Washington.

The meeting comes after the United States on Thursday told China it was upset it did not hand over Snowden after he fled to Hong Kong, saying that the decision had undermined relations.

President Barack Obama, meeting senior Chinese officials who were in Washington for annual talks, "expressed his disappointment and concern" over the Snowden case, the White House said.

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No deal on school reforms: Qld premier

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says his government needs more time to consider school reforms. Source: AAP

THE Queensland government hasn't signed up to the federal government's education reforms but has left the door open.

Premier Campbell Newman says no deal has been reached yet after meeting with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, federal Education Minister Bill Shorten and state Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek on Friday afternoon.

He says the Sunday deadline has been pushed back a few weeks so Queensland and the federal government can possibly iron out outstanding issues.

Mr Newman praised Mr Rudd for having a positive meeting with him, unlike previous prime minister Julia Gillard, he said.

"We've talked about it for a considerable period of time, I cannot give you anything other than saying it was a productive discussion," Mr Newman told reporters.

"It was again a discussion that was not afforded to us by the previous prime minister.

"I thank the prime minister for that.

"It was very productive and we now know what we have to do to try to reach an agreement."

Mr Shorten said the federal government had agreed to a request from the Queensland to extend the deadline for deal by seven to 14 days.

The minister conceded there were still significant issues to resolve, but said the government would respect a set principles during the negotiations.

These include that the federal government would make sure taxpayers' money was spent in the best possible way on education and the Queensland government was allowed autonomy in running the state's schools.

"The question is can we marry those two principles in the best interests of school children in Queensland," Mr Shorten said.

"It was a very constructive dialogue."

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Six teens arrested for stealing cars in NT

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with stealing and crashing a taxi in the Northern Territory. Source: AAP

IT was a week for teenage joyrides in the Northern Territory as a 14-year-old Darwin boy was charged with stealing and crashing a taxi and five teens were arrested after stealing a car and driving it 1200km south.

The Darwin boy allegedly stole the taxi from a depot at about 1.20am (CST) on Friday, police say.

Police spotted him driving the cab along Mueller Road, but the boy took off.

At about 6am the taxi was found, crashed through the front fence of a home in Bellamack, with the left door ripped off and the front left tyre hanging by its axel.

Police arrested a 14-year-old boy shortly afterwards and charged him with half a dozen offences, including stealing, speeding, and aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

He will appear in Darwin Youth Justice Court at a later date.

Police are still looking for three accomplices.

Meanwhile, five other teens have been arrested in Alice Springs for allegedly stealing a car in Palmerston.

Four males aged 18, 16, and two aged 14, along with a 16-year-old girl are expected to be charged shortly with various offences including unlawful entry, stealing, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful damage, driving without a licence, and failing to stop for police.

Detective Superintendent Brent Warren said the group allegedly stole a Daewoo Nubira from a residence in Driver on Wednesday.

Supt Warren said they drove the vehicle to Tennant Creek where they stole around $50 worth of petrol from a service station before heading south to Alice Springs.

Police are searching for a 16-year-old boy who fled from police when the other five were arrested.

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Cuts delayed Caltex leak response: union

NOT a single local firefighter was on deck when a Caltex terminal in Sydney sprung a leak, and politicians and unions say it's lucky no one was killed.

Firefighters were still mopping up at Banksmeadow, near Port Botany, on Friday night after 130,000 litres of fuel escaped from the terminal early in the morning.

A NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman told AAP local residents had been allowed to return to their homes, but clean-up work would continue until early Saturday.

The spill has prompted scorching criticism of the NSW government's cost-cutting policy of rolling fire station closures.

Botany Mayor Ben Keneally said it was a miracle a major incident had been avoided.

"When you have millions of litres of fuel stored, anything can happen," he told reporters.

"Petrol is a volatile liquid and it can go off with a small spark."

The fuel escaped from the terminal at Banksmeadow after a valve malfunction about 1.30am (AEST).

A retaining wall managed to contain the petrol that gushed from a tank containing a total of two million litres of unleaded fuel.

The local fire station at Botany - which was only 3km away - had been closed at 6pm the night before, with its workers directed to fill vacancies at Campsie, 15km away.

Mick Nairn, from the Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU), said two trucks arrived at the scene from Matraville and Maroubra after about 10 minutes.

"Fires can always be responded to from stations further away (but) time costs lives - no doubt about it," he told reporters.

"The decision to close any fire station is very dangerous. The government and the fire brigade can't predict where the fires and spills are going to be."

Mr Nairn warned local knowledge was also lost in the process.

"Botany Fire Station regularly conduct drills at Caltex, so they have a much better idea of the layout and the procedures with the staff down there."

Two Caltex workers carrying out maintenance at the time of the spill were doused with fuel and taken to hospital.

But Mr Keneally said it was lucky no one was killed.

"We've all seen the tragic events that occurred in Canada last week when a large amount of fuel ignited," he said.

An oil train came off its tracks and exploded into a huge fireball, destroying the centre of the town of Lac-Megantic and killing up to 50 people.

A suburb like Botany, with its concentration of petrochemical and chemical plants plus the airport and port, had a high amount of risk, Mr Keneally added.

"If you add an extra five minutes to the response time, you add untrained resources to the response time, you are heightening the risk ...

"This is an area of heightened risk and therefore an area that requires 24/7 staffing."

The NSW opposition, the FBEU and Mr Keneally are calling on the government to reverse its policy of temporary closures.

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WA woman banned from owning pets

A West Australian woman has been banned from owning pets after being convicted of animal cruelty. Source: AAP

A WEST Australian woman has been banned from owning pets for the rest of her life after she was found guilty on 24 counts of animal cruelty.

RSPCA inspectors visited the Mandurah property of Rosemary Muriel Donovan in July 2011, finding several dead animals and more than 70 live animals existing in unacceptable conditions.

The animals included dogs, cats and kittens, rabbits, guinea pigs and birds.

They did not have clean or sufficient food or water and were suffering harm that could have been alleviated by taking reasonable steps.

Inspectors noted a strong stench of ammonia and faeces on the floor.

At a trial last week, the Mandurah Magistrates Court heard that the cats were suffering from ringworm and riddled with mites and fleas, the guinea pig cage was dirty - with dead guinea pigs on the floor - and some of the birds were confined to cages that were too small.

Inspectors saw several different animals, including rabbits, packed inside aviaries that also contained budgies and weiros.

In one aviary, a rabbit was walking over five dead budgies that were lying on the floor.

On Friday, Donovan was banned for owning animals for the rest of her life and fined $48,000, plus $2780.75 in costs.

While she received the minimum $2000 fine for each of the 24 counts, the RSPCA was pleased she would never own a pet again as she was incapable of caring for animals.

"We are extremely happy with the permanent prohibition order," RSPCA spokesman Tim Mayne told AAP.

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Qld jobless rate soars to 6.4pc

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman's 4.0 per cent unemployment target has slipped further away with the state recording its highest jobless rate in almost a decade.

It has risen by half a percentage point in June to 6.4 per cent, well above the national average of 5.7 per cent and the state's highest rate since October 2003.

Queensland now has the second highest unemployment rate after Tasmania.

The dismal figures are a far cry from Mr Newman's election promise to drive down unemployment to 4.0 per cent over six years.

Deputy Opposition Leader Tim Mulherin says Queensland is going backwards.

"These are shocking figures that are an indictment on the Newman government's economic management," he said.

He blamed the jobless rate on the Newman government's massive public service jobs and budget cuts.

Queensland had 13,700 fewer full-time jobs since Campbell Newman came to power, he said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday used Queensland as an example of what could happen to the country under Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's "slash and burn" austerity plan for the nation.

"We have seen how that works in Queensland under Campbell Newman where business and consumer confidence has been shaken by the sacking of thousands of people, and the shrinking of critical government services," he said.

Premier Campbell Newman instead blamed the federal government for impeding job growth by holding up mining projects.

"He (Mr Rudd) acknowledges this - that downturn in the mining industry is a key reason for the figures being what they are," he told reporters.

"He must take responsibility for that.

"The uncertainty he delivered back three years ago with the mining tax and then Julia Gillard with the carbon tax that wasn't going to happen, have really hurt the mining industry."

Mr Newman said one way to boost jobs was for new federal Environment Minister Mark Butler to "get out of the way" and approve the necessary projects in southern Queensland's Galilee coal basin.

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CSR forecasts sustained housing recovery

BUILDING products group CSR predicts a sustained recovery in the Australian housing construction sector, led by New South Wales and Western Australia.

CSR believes conditions will improve after recent economic data confirmed an upward trend in building activity this year.

This was supported by record low interest rates, strong population growth and first home owners' grants in most states.

"We are confident we are seeing the start of a sustained recovery in housing construction, particularly in the states with strong population and job growth," managing director Rob Sindel told the company's annual general meeting (AGM) in Sydney on Thursday.

New South Wales and Western Australia were improving, while South Australia, Queensland and Victoria's detached housing market had stabilised.

Meanwhile, the company has forecast a sustained housing recovery in Queensland later this year.

CSR expects housing starts to increase from 145,000 to 147,000 in the year ending 2014 after the sector reached the bottom of the cycle during 2012.

In May the group recorded a full-year statutory net loss of $146.9 million, which included $255.6 million in write-downs and the restructuring of its loss-making Viridian glass business.

The glass business posted a $39 million loss and earnings at its aluminium smelter slumped by 38 per cent to $50 million.

CSR said the restructuring of Viridian would be a key focus over the next 12 months.

"We're targeting a significant improvement in the substantial losses we made this year and we're absolutely confident we can get there," Mr Sindel said.

The company expects earnings in the property division to return to normal later this year as it hedges 40 per cent of its aluminium products.

Chairman Jeremy Sutcliffe added that a significant decline in the value of the Australian dollar would be positive for the company which still had the biggest market share for the popular Gyprock plasterboard product.

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Russia finds dead lawyer guilty of fraud

A COURT in Moscow has found the late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky guilty of tax fraud.

Moscow's Tverskoi court ruled on Thursday that Magnitsky was guilty of creating a million-dollar tax evasion scheme, news agencies reported.

Magnitsky was jailed in 2008 on charges of tax evasion.

He died in prison the next year of untreated pancreatitis after he testified against police officials, accusing them of stealing $US230 million ($A250.57 million) in tax rebates.

His death attracted international attention.

Bill Browder, Magnitsky's former boss and owner of investment firm Hermitage Capital, was also found guilty in absentia.

Browder claims that Magnitsky was killed in prison and has waged a campaign to ban Russian officials responsible for his death from entering the United States.

The US last year passed the Magnitsky Act, which calls for sanctions on Russian human rights offenders.

In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law barring Americans from adopting Russian orphans.

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Junaid Thorne deported from Saudi Arabia

AN Australian being deported from Saudi Arabia after his brother was jailed there for terrorism-related offences is expected in Perth around midnight (WST).

Lawyer Abdal Jalil Al-Khalidy says Junaid Thorne was scheduled to board a Perth-bound plane on Thursday afternoon.

The 23-year-old had hoped to be returned to the West Australian capital, where his parents reside, earlier this week but was held up by paperwork.

He had to be removed from a police blacklist so he could pass through the airport and was allowed to leave the country - despite earlier being wanted by local authorities for questioning - because his residency had expired.

He spent many months in hiding as he was twice detained for protesting his older brother Shayden Thorne's imprisonment.

"Now I think we're at the end with Junaid's situation," Mr Al-Khalidy told AAP.

Shayden Thorne was sentenced in May to four-and-a-half years in jail for extremist material found on a laptop in his possession, but maintained his innocence, saying he had borrowed the computer.

Mr Al-Khalidy is working on an appeal for Shayden Thorne, which was due by Thursday, but an extension of up to a fortnight has been granted.

The men's family were not immediately available for comment, but indigenous broadcaster NITV quoted the younger Mr Thorne as saying he had mixed feelings, "sad and happy" about his return.

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Crash pilot 'told people not to evacuate'

Pilots of the plane that crashed in the US told attendants not to begin evacuation passengers. Source: AAP

THE pilot of the Asiana Boeing 777 which crashed in San Francisco told attendants not to begin evacuating passengers in the chaotic immediate aftermath of the accident, air safety officials say.

The pilot has also reported being blinded by a flash of light upon approach as the plane came in low, but the source of the light and its role in the crash are not known, said Deborah Hersman, head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

She said cabin crew had sought guidance from the cockpit after Saturday's crash, which left two people dead and more than 180 injured.

Pilots initially told flight attendants not to initiate evacuation procedures, Hersman said.

It was only after cabin staff alerted the cockpit to flames spreading outside the plane that the order was given to begin evacuation.

"We don't know what the pilots were thinking, though I can tell you in previous accidents there have been crews that don't evacuate, they wait for other vehicles to come to be able to get the passengers out safely," Hersman said.

Hersman suggested that pilots in the cockpit may not have been in a position to spot the fire outside the plane.

She emphasised that once flames were sighted, the evacuation began swiftly - approximately 90 seconds after impact.

"Certainly, if there is an awareness that there's fire on board an aircraft, that is a very serious issue ..." Hersman said.

"The pilots are in the front of the aeroplane, they really don't have a good sense of what's going on behind them, they need to get that information from the flight attendants, but we will certainly be looking into that issue.

"Hindsight is 20-20. We all have a perspective that's different than some of the people who are involved in this.

"We need to understand what they were thinking, what information they had, what their procedures are, if they complied with those procedures and if that evacuation took place in a timely manner."

Pilot Lee Kang-Kuk also told authorities in Seoul and US investigators that he was blinded temporarily by a flash of light when the plane was at an altitude of about 150 metres as it approached the runway.

Emergency response vehicles arrived on the scene approximately two minutes after the crash and began extinguishing flames three minutes after impact.

Hersman said interviews with the plane's crew had given investigators a vivid portrait of the scene on board the stricken aircraft moments after the crash.

Two emergency slides had inflated inwards inside the cabin, pinning two attendants who needed to be cut free as the evacuation began.

It was not immediately known why the slides had deployed inside the aircraft.

Flight 214 crashed when it clipped a seawall short of the runway, skidding out of control, shredding the tail of the plane and catching fire.

It has also emerged that the otherwise experienced pilot of the plane, 46-year-old Lee, was undergoing his first major training on the Boeing 777.

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Crisis sinks European birth rate: study

FEWER babies were born in Europe because of the world economic crisis, a study shows.

The birth rate per woman in 28 European countries sank faster on average the higher the unemployment rate rose, the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in the north-eastern German city of Rostock said in a study published in the journal Demographic Research.

The economic crisis, which began in 2008, ended a Europe-wide upswing in the birth rate, co-author Michaela Kreyenfeld said.

The trend most impacted southern European countries such as Spain and Croatia, as well as Hungary, Ireland and Latvia.

People under 25, in particular, forwent having children when faced with rising unemployment and the trend was observed most sharply in young people having their first child, the institute found.

It said that one of the biggest open questions in demographic research is the influence economic conditions have on reproduction.

The study proved that in Europe today the jobless rate in a country affects its people's willingness to have children, Kreyenfeld said.

If unemployment rises one percentage point, the birth rate per woman for 20- to 24-year-olds sinks 0.1 across the continent and 0.3 in southern Europe, she said.

The institute documented a particularly strong change in direction in Spain. The birth rate there was 1.24 children per woman at the beginning of the millennium and rose every year, reaching 1.47 in 2008, but in 2009, it fell to 1.4 as the jobless rate rose from 8.3 to 11.3 per cent. In 2011, births had fallen to 1.36 per woman.

In the Czech Republic, Poland, Britain and Italy, the economic crisis only stopped the rise in the birth rate. In Russia and Lithuania, the crisis had a small or no effect on births.

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the crisis had little effect on the birth rate, but unemployment in those countries rose little or not at all and in Germany it sank.

The institute is investigating whether the crisis is having a continuing effect on the birth rate. So far, it has only analysed data for 2001 to 2010 and part of 2011.

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Gunmen kill nine in Nigeria: report

GUNMEN have killed at least nine people in attacks on three villages in Nigeria's MidEast region, the Daily Times newspaper reports.

The reason for the attacks on the villages in the district of Nzorov, in Benue state, remains unknown, according to police spokesman Daniel Ezeala. Scores of residents have fled to neighbouring villages.

It was the third such attack this month alone in the area of Guma, in which Nzorov is located.

Fulani herdsmen killed 34 people in Akuroko village in Guma on Monday, according to newspaper reports. Three days earlier, more than 20 people died during clashes between Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers in Iyordye Akaahena village, also located in Guma.

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Pamplona bull run sends three to hospital

THREE men are in hospital after bulls thundered into and knocked over daredevils through Spain's northern city of Pamplona.

No one was gored but three Spaniards, aged 24, 27 and 32, suffered bruises in falls and were taken to hospital, regional health officials said.

Dozens of other runners were treated at the scene for scrapes and other more minor injuries on Wednesday.

The six half-tonne bulls from the Victoriano del Rio ranch took just two minutes and 14 seconds to complete the 848.6-metre course from a holding pen to the city bull ring.

It was the fastest time of the four daily bull runs held so far this year at the nine-day San Fermin festival.

A huge black bull caught one runner between its horns and flung him to the ground.

Fifteen people have been killed in the bull runs since records started in 1911.

The most recent death took place four years ago when a bull gored a 27-year-old Spaniard in the neck, heart and lungs.

The nine-day fiesta, which was immortalised in Nobel prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, lasts until July 14.

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China data add to economic growth fears

CHINA'S trade surplus fell 14.0 per cent in June as imports and exports both dropped unexpectedly, suggesting a further slowdown in the Asian economic giant as Beijing warned of "grave challenges".

Wednesday's figures are the latest to set alarm bells ringing over the health of China's rebound from a prolonged downtrend as trade and manufacturing conditions have worsened this year.

Exports slipped 3.1 per cent to $US174.32 billion ($A191.06 billion), according to figures from Customs, while imports were down 0.7 per cent at $US147.19 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $US27.13 billion.

Average expectations in a survey of 20 economists by Dow Jones Newswires had been for a 3.3 per cent rise in exports and imports to go up 5.5 per cent.

"Currently China's foreign trade is facing grave challenges," Customs spokesman Zheng Yuesheng told reporters.

He said "prolonged sluggish foreign demand" was the main cause, followed by rising export prices in foreign currency terms, labour costs, and a deteriorating trade environment due to growing trade disputes.

The figures came after the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its global economic growth forecast, citing new downside risks in key emerging-market economies and a deeper recession in the eurozone.

The IMF projected the world economy to expand 3.1 per cent in 2013, down from its April estimate of 3.3 per cent.

China and other emerging economic powers now face new risks, it warned, "including the possibility of a longer growth slowdown".

Economists from ANZ bank warned China would not achieve its goal of eight per cent growth in trade this year - after failing to deliver a 10-per cent gain targeted for 2012 - if the softness persists.

"This will not only bring about downside risk to the GDP growth for this year but also place severe pressure on employment," Liu Ligang and Zhou Hao said in a research note.

China's economy grew 7.8 per cent in 2012, its worst performance in 13 years, on the back of slack demand for exports and weakness at home.

The first three months of this year saw expansion of just 7.7 per cent, disappointing analysts who had expected growth to accelerate after showing strength at the end of 2012.

The government has set a growth target for 2013 of 7.5 per cent, the same as last year's, as it looks to retool its economic model from exports to domestic consumption.

Beijing is due to announce gross domestic product figures for the second quarter next Monday.

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Dippy the tortoise weighs in at 120kg

THERE aren't many patients that take a forklift, a ute and four men to get them onto the scales.

But that's what was needed for Dippy, a 45-year-old Galapagos tortoise who tipped the scales at 120kg.

A local pet food manufacturer provided the Australian Reptile Park with an industrial-sized set of scales, but it took a massive operation get him on them, said senior curator Liz Bella.

"We got him into his big purpose-made box and down onto the ute," she said.

A forklift carried him off the ute before staff coaxed him onto the scales with his favourite food, sweet potato.

"They love anything high-carbs and high in sugar, so sweet potato is perfect," Ms Bella told AAP.

Dippy, who got his name from a birth defect that left a "dip" in his shell, was bred in captivity in the US before being moved to Adelaide Zoo and finally the Australian Reptile Park near Sydney.

It was the first time Dippy had ever been weighed and Ms Bella said it would be a benchmark for Dippy's health for many years to come.

Dippy is 17 years younger and 45kg lighter than his companion Hugo, though the two males have to be kept apart.

Galapagos tortoises, which can live up to 180 years, are listed as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list.

The two are on an international file that tries to match breeding pairs.

"Females are hard to come by and have to be imported from overseas, but the park is always on the lookout for breeding opportunities," Ms Bella said.

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