France offers free newspapers for youth

France is to spend millions of euros to provide free newspapers for young people, officials said Wednesday, in a bid to boost readership and shore up the struggling print news sector.

Those aged 18 to 24 will get a free daily paper of their choice once a week for a year and a discount subscription later, to "encourage the renewal of readership of the daily press," according to a government statement.

Newspapers worldwide are struggling with plunging revenues as readers migrate to the Internet and mobile telephones to access news. Traditional media groups are fighting to find ways of making online content profitable.

The French plan, presented to the government by Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand, would see the state pay five million euros (7.4 million dollars) over three years to help revive readership of regular print titles.

Newspaper editors involved in the initiative will produce "content adapted to the demands of young readers," the government said.

It added that the idea also aimed to grant young people "access to culture" in the same way as free entry to museums. (AFP)

First woman voted head of German Protestant church

A divorced woman once described as "a cross between Mother Teresa and Demi Moore" was Wednesday elected head of Germany's Protestant church, the first woman to hold the post.

Margot Kaessmann, 51, received 132 of the 142 votes cast at the church's general assembly in Ulm, southern Germany. She now leads 25 million faithful across the country.

"Trusting in God's help, I accept the vote," she said.

Kaessmann, who was elected for a six-year term, was the only candidate for the post.

The charismatic Kaessmann hit the headlines around the world in 2007 when she became the first bishop in Germany to file for divorce from her husband, also a leading member of the Lutheran church.

She was Germany's youngest bishop when she was consecrated in 1999 and has since survived an operation to remove breast cancer.

In 2003, the Frankfurter Allgemeine daily reported that she was known within the organisation as a "mixture of Mother Teresa and Demi Moore." (AFP)

Fewer holiday gifts but more cheer in US, poll

More than half of Americans in a survey out Wednesday say they plan to spend more during the end-of-year holidays this year compared to 2008 as concerns about the economy subside.

The projected spending boost at Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanza won't come from more or more expensive gifts, but rather from spending on items like entertainment and home decoration, which traditionally account for a smaller portion of the holiday budget, said the annual Deloitte holiday survey of retail spending and trends.

More than half -- 54 percent -- of the 10,878 consumers surveyed for Deloitte's poll said they expect the economy will improve in 2010, and nearly a quarter thought the United States was already in the early stages of recovery from the downturn.

Last year, only 28 percent of Americans were optimistic that the economy would pick up, and 41 percent said they would either maintain or increase holiday spending. This year, more than half -- 51 percent -- said their holiday outlay would rise or hold at the same level.

"We have had stabilization in the housing market; the tax burden on the consumer is less; real wages are higher. The combination of all that is what's leading to consumers' intent to spend a little more on the holidays than they did last year," Stacy Janiak, head of Deloitte's retail group, which conducted the survey, told AFP.

"But they indicated that both the number and dollar amount of gifts are declining," Janiak said.

The average number of gifts Americans plan to purchase declined to 18 from 21.5 last year, while the amount consumers plan to spend on gifts was down to 452 dollars this year compared with 532 dollars in 2008, the survey, which Deloitte has compiled since 1985, showed.

Meanwhile, expenditures on socializing, entertaining, non-gift clothing and home or holiday furnishings are expected to go up, the survey said.

"People had to pull back on gifts last year, given the economic uncertainty, and they realized what's more important: the gift or bringing people together?" said Janiak, explaining why people were expecting to spend more on socializing and entertaining.

The "replenishment" factor would see non-gift clothing and home and holiday furnishing sales rising, said Janiak.

"Those items aren't made to last forever and if those purchases weren't made last year at this time, it's another reason that consumers are tending to enter that space again," she said.

The survey also looked at what was likely to be the most popular gift this year.

For the sixth year running, the gift card came out on top.

Nearly two-thirds of consumers plan to buy gift cards as presents, laying out 35 dollars per card, or seven dollars more than the 28 dollars they spent last year.

Americans have also retained the lessons of frugality they learned from the recession.

Two-thirds of those polled said they plan to "shop differently due to concerns about the economy," and of those large majorities said they would look for sales or use money-off vouchers.

Many consumers planning to buy electronics, toys, clothing or jewelry expect to get steep discounts similar to those seen in US shops last year.

But Janiak warned they might be out of luck, because while the US consumer has retained the virtues of thrift from the recession, retailers have learned their own lesson about over-stocking.

"This year, the retailers have been managing their business based on lower consumption levels, and their expectation is that those lower consumption levels will hold through the holidays," said Janiak.

"But if consumers step up their spending, there's going to be a disconnect. And if you're holding out for the 50-percent-plus discount on a wide variety of merchandise, you will be disappointed," she predicted. (AFP)

Macedonia seeks to stop archaelogical smugglers

Macedonia has vowed to put a halt to illegal excavations at the country's wealth of archaeological sites, many of which have already been ransacked by savvy smugglers digging up the rich treasures.

"The criminals are always a step ahead, they follow our activities and know exactly when to move away," an official from the special department in charge of archaeological crime who requested anonymity told AFP.

When archaeologists arrived at Isar Marvinci in southern Macedonia, the seat of power in ancient times, they had hoped to begin excavations but instead faced an unpleasant surprise.

"They found more than 1,000 open pits, but all the findings were gone, mostly sold to our southern neighbour" Greece, said Pasko Kuzman, head of the state institute for the protection of cultural heritage.

Ancient graves were believed to be full of "golden jewelry, silver, bronze and amber pieces, all very light and easy to transport," Kuzman said.

Isar, which dates back to the Iron Age, flourished under the ancient Greeks, but the Romans levelled the metropolis to the ground.

Kuzman noted a case when 230 archaelogical findings -- hidden in bags full of beans -- were discovered by customs officials at the Croatian-Slovenian border in 2006.

"Slovenian officials established that the findings were from the territory of Macedonia and returned them to us," he said.

In the past two years, police have reported 21 cases of cultural heritage theft, with 16 of them solved, interior ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said.

Thieves are mostly interested in smaller pieces like money, silver, copper or ceramic pots, and stone figures, he said.

According to various estimations, most of Macedonia's territory hides archaeological treasures due to the Balkan state's central position in ancient times.

So far, 10,000 different sites have been registered, but at least several more thousand still need to be examined.

The ancient Roman settlement of Stobi, famous for its mosaics, has for years attracted visitors, scientists and tourists, but also thieves.

A large part of the area has yet to be excavated, so officials have introduced 24-hour security at the site.

"Stobi has been protected around the clock as our presence is the best guarantee that there will be no illegal diggers," Silvana Blazevska, the manager of the site, told AFP.

It is quite common in Marvince, in southern Macedonia close to the border with Greece, for a builder to find an ancient plate while putting in foundations for a new home, or for a farmer to dig out a piece of an ancient vase in hisfield.

"Usually farmers immediatelly call us to tell us of the findings," said Blazevska.

Police officials are reluctant to estimate whether the amount of archaeological thefts has risen in the past years, but say that such "illegal business can bring several million dollars annually."

A wide-range network is believed to be organised through regional crime gangs, while buyers are easily found in Greece, Austria and Germany, they say.

Some of the findings could be sold for up to 20,000 euros, while less valuable pieces -- like an ancient Roman spear top -- could be had for only 100 euros.

"One golden coin by itself has no high value, but if it is found together with other objects from a dated time-period, its value increases in relation to scientific, cultural and heritage significance," Kuzman said.

Zlatko Videski from the Museum of Macedonia heads the excavations at Isar, spread across about 80 hectares (xx acres ????) of land. He said the economic crisis has trimmed government funding of the site -- "neglected for so many years" -- so his team will be able to cover only about 20 acres HECTARES??? this year.

"But the site has been damaged a lot and only when we examine material collected so far will we be able to estimate its real value," Videski told AFP.

In only seven months of excavations at the site, archaeologists have found around 2,500 graves from different time periods, he added.

"There are graves from prehistoric times, Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, but for smugglers, the most interesting are those from ancient and Byzantine times," Kuzman said. (AFP)

Macedonia seeks to stop archaeological smugglers

Macedonia has vowed to put a halt to illegal excavations at the country's wealth of archaeological sites, many of which have already been ransacked by savvy smugglers digging up the rich treasures.

"The criminals are always a step ahead, they follow our activities and know exactly when to move away," an official from the special department in charge of archaeological crime who requested anonymity told AFP.

When archaeologists arrived at Isar Marvinci in southern Macedonia, the seat of power in ancient times, they had hoped to begin excavations but instead faced an unpleasant surprise.

"They found more than 1,000 open pits, but all the findings were gone, mostly sold to our southern neighbour" Greece, said Pasko Kuzman, head of the state institute for the protection of cultural heritage.

Ancient graves were believed to be full of "golden jewelry, silver, bronze and amber pieces, all very light and easy to transport," Kuzman said.

Isar, which dates back to the Iron Age, flourished under the ancient Greeks, but the Romans levelled the metropolis to the ground.

Kuzman noted a case when 230 archaelogical findings -- hidden in bags full of beans -- were discovered by customs officials at the Croatian-Slovenian border in 2006.

"Slovenian officials established that the findings were from the territory of Macedonia and returned them to us," he said.

In the past two years, police have reported 21 cases of cultural heritage theft, with 16 of them solved, interior ministry spokesman Ivo Kotevski said.

Thieves are mostly interested in smaller pieces like money, silver, copper or ceramic pots, and stone figures, he said.

According to various estimations, most of Macedonia's territory hides archaeological treasures due to the Balkan state's central position in ancient times.

So far, 10,000 different sites have been registered, but at least several more thousand still need to be examined.

The ancient Roman settlement of Stobi, famous for its mosaics, has for years attracted visitors, scientists and tourists, but also thieves.

A large part of the area has yet to be excavated, so officials have introduced 24-hour security at the site.

"Stobi has been protected around the clock as our presence is the best guarantee that there will be no illegal diggers," Silvana Blazevska, the manager of the site, told AFP.

It is quite common in Marvince, in southern Macedonia close to the border with Greece, for a builder to find an ancient plate while putting in foundations for a new home, or for a farmer to dig out a piece of an ancient vase in hisfield.

"Usually farmers immediatelly call us to tell us of the findings," said Blazevska.

Police officials are reluctant to estimate whether the amount of archaeological thefts has risen in the past years, but say that such "illegal business can bring several million dollars annually."

A wide-range network is believed to be organised through regional crime gangs, while buyers are easily found in Greece, Austria and Germany, they say.

Some of the findings could be sold for up to 20,000 euros, while less valuable pieces -- like an ancient Roman spear top -- could be had for only 100 euros.

"One golden coin by itself has no high value, but if it is found together with other objects from a dated time-period, its value increases in relation to scientific, cultural and heritage significance," Kuzman said.

Zlatko Videski from the Museum of Macedonia heads the excavations at Isar, spread across about 80 hectares (xx acres ????) of land. He said the economic crisis has trimmed government funding of the site -- "neglected for so many years" -- so his team will be able to cover only about 20 acres HECTARES??? this year.

"But the site has been damaged a lot and only when we examine material collected so far will we be able to estimate its real value," Videski told AFP.

In only seven months of excavations at the site, archaeologists have found around 2,500 graves from different time periods, he added.

"There are graves from prehistoric times, Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, but for smugglers, the most interesting are those from ancient and Byzantine times," Kuzman said. (AFP)

Lack of health care led to 17,000 US child deaths

Lack of adequate health care may have contributed to the deaths of some 17,000 US children over the past two decades, according to a study released by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

The research, to be published Friday in the Journal of Public Health, was compiled from more than 23 million hospital records from 37 states between 1988 and 2005.

The study concluded that children without health insurance are far more likely to succumb to their illnesses than those with medical coverage.

"If you are a child without insurance, if you're seriously ill and end up in the hospital, you are 60 percent more likely to die than the sick child in the next town who has insurance," said Fizan Abdullah, lead writer of the study and a pediatric surgeon at Hopkins.

With some seven million children in the United States currently uninsured, the problem needed addressing immediately, the report said.

"In a country as wealthy as ours, the need to provide health care to the millions of children who lack it is a moral, not an economic imperative," said Peter Pronovost, director of critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins.

The study was published as the United States finds itself embroiled in a fierce debate on increasing health care access for uninsured Americans.

US President Barack Obama wants Congress to approve reforms by the end of the year in order to fulfil a key campaign pledge to provide health care to some 47 million Americans, 15 percent of the population, who currently do not have any medical coverage.

Obama says his plans will cut in half runaway healthcare expenditures which, if unchecked, are forecast to gobble up one-fifth of US gross domestic product by 2013.

He has been advocating a government insurance option as a key element of his plans, which have been fiercely criticized by Republicans who charge that they amount to an exorbitantly expensive government takeover of health care. (AFP)

S.Africa's Zuma vows to step up fight against AIDS

South African President Jacob Zuma vowed on Thursday to strengthen the fight against AIDS in the world's worst affected country, in a "renewed onslaught" against the epidemic.

"We are not yet winning this battle," Zuma said in his annual address to the second house of parliament.

"We need to do more, and we need to do better, together. We need to move with urgency and purpose to confront this enormous challenge," he said.

"If we are to stop the progress of this disease through our society, we will need to pursue extraordinary measures."

He said an announcement would be made on December 1, World Aids Day, on additional measures to counteract the "chilling statistics" of deaths of young people.

Zuma cited statistics showing that six out 10 deaths in 2006 were among people younger than 50 years, while the overall number of deaths in 2008 jumped to 756,000, up from 32 percent from the year before.

"Let us resolve now that this should be the day on which we start to turn the tide in the battle against AIDS."

"If we do not respond with urgency and resolve, we may well find our vision of a thriving nation slipping from our grasp."

After becoming an international pariah for its policies of denial under former president Thabo Mbeki and his health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South Africa made a dramatic turn around, pledging to cut new infections in half by 2011.

In 2006 Tshabalala-Msimang was lambasted at an international AIDS conference in Toronto for promoting the use of vegetables above anti-retrovirals which she said were toxic -- while hundreds of thousands died without access to treatment.

While South Africa now has the world's largest anti-retroviral programme, nearly one million people are still believed to need treatment. (AFP)