Tokyo  - Japan's benchmark Nikkei index snapped a seven-day winning streak on renewed worries over the US economy Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 212.5 points, or 2.3 per cent, to 9,026.74, as investor concerns grew over US jobmarket data.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues was also down 15.45 points, or 1.74 per cent, to 872.8.

The yen's advance against the US dollar also led investors to sell mainly export-oriented issues as a stronger yen affects Japanese companies' earnings.

Seoul  - North Koreans are watching South Korean-made film and TV drama DVDs in growing numbers, challenging the iron-fisted media control that has effectively isolated 23 million North Koreans from the outside world.

North Korea observers in Seoul estimate that a trickle of the media influx into the otherwise isolated North Koreans has become a stream, despite harsh penalties for those who violate censorship rules.

Singapore - French bank BNP Paribas has predicted a faster Asian economic recovery next year, citing aggressive government spending and region-wide interest rate cuts, according to a news report Thursday.

The scale of the global policy response, monetary and fiscal, should ensure the recovery is more V-shaped, indicating a steep rise after a decline, than a slower, U-shaped recovery, said BNP Paribas economist Richard Iley.

Hong Kong  - A serial paedophile who admitted abusing more than 100 boys over a period of two decades was beginning a three-year jail term in Hong Kong Thursday.

Kenny Chung Chi-man, 41, last year gave money to two boys aged nine and 11 after molesting them in his home, months after being released from a previous 11-month jail term for child abuse.

He told police he "couldn't help touching young boys once he saw them" and confessed to sexual contact with more than 100 boys since he was in his early 20s.

Chung admitted luring scores of boys to his home in the city's urban Sham Shui Po area after meeting them in internet cafes and other places, Hong Kong's District Court heard.

Sydney  - The fireworks on Sydney Harbour Bridge are a staple of New Year's Eve television broadcasts around the world.

The last couple of occasions the cheery scenes of exploding cordite have been backed by frightful images of expatriate motorcycle stuntman Robbie Maddison leaping to great heights.

A year ago Australians were celebrating when Maddison set a new world record with a 98-metre leap in a Las Vegas casino car park.

London  - For many Londoners, queuing for a tardy red double- decker bus may on occasions have prompted the utterance of a swear word or raised doubts about the existence of a deity altogether.

From this week, those with lingering doubts will have their views confirmed in an atheist advertising campaign rolled out on 200 of London's iconic buses, the Underground
(tube) network and transport systems in other major cities.

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life," is the principal slogan of the campaign.

It is the brainchild of a television comedy writer and is backed by the British Humanist Association (BHA), as well as prominent atheist Professor Richard Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion.