MOSCOW - PAYING mothers for babies has been an effective measure in easing Russia's demographic crisis, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

LONDON - A 15-YEAR-old schoolgirl in northeast England earned about 14,000 pounds (S$31,000) over two months by working as a prostitute, it emerged on Thursday.

SYDNEY - A TEENAGER died three days after being punched at an after-school 'fight club' organised by the students of a south-western Sydney school.

Stephen Luu, a Year 9 student, died in Liverpool Hospital in Sydney in September last year.