World Wide Hot News

82 dead in Vietnam floods

2008-08-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Waters still receding, death toll could go higher

HANOI, Vietnam - The death toll from northern Vietnam’s floods and landslides rose to 82 after 20 more bodies were recovered, officials said Sunday. Seven more bodies were recovered in the worst-hit province of Lao Cai, bringing the death toll there to 32, said disaster official Pham Van Toan. Four more bodies were discovered in the neighboring Yen Bai province and one more body was found in Phu Tho, officials said.Flash floods and landslides have also claimed at least eight lives in Ha Giang province, raising the overall death toll to 82, said provincial disaster official Hoang Manh Hung.Another 37 people were reported missing.“The water is receding but very slowly,” said official Luong Tuan Anh of Yen Bai province, where 29 people died. “Many villages remain unreachable by car.”“We expect the death toll to rise because rescue workers have just begun to reach affected areas, where communication was very limited.Rampaging waters have also knocked down trees, electricity pylons and washed away houses. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate to higher ground.
Vietnam is prone to floods and storms that kill hundreds of people each year.

Cloned puppies may have exposed old mystery

2008-08-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Dog owner allegedly made Mormon missionary her sex slave 31 years ago

SALT LAKE CITY - A woman who made news around the world when she had five pups cloned from her beloved pit bull Booger looked very familiar to some who saw her picture: She’s the same woman who 31 years earlier was accused of abducting a Mormon missionary in England, handcuffing him to a bed and making him her sex slave. Dog lover Bernann McKinney acknowledged in a telephone call to The Associated Press on Saturday that she is indeed Joyce McKinney, who in 1977 became a British tabloid sensation when she faced charges of unlawful imprisonment in the missionary case. She jumped bail and was never brought to justice.Through tears, she explained that she went public with her efforts to replicate Booger, who died two years ago, hoping people would be able to focus on that story rather than the “garbage” of the past.ner allegedly made Mormon missionary her sex slave 31 years ago.British tabloids first recognized the blond woman’s smiling face when she appeared in news photographs this past week with the five pit bull pups she paid South Korean scientists $53,000 to clone.McKinney, who initially denied a connection between the two women, acknowledged that she was one and the same after the AP ran a story noting the striking similarities in arrest records and court documents for the names Bernann McKinney and Joyce McKinney. They had the same birth date and Social Security numbers, the same hometown of Newland, N.C., and Joyce McKinney’s middle name is Bernann.

Car bomb kills 25 in Tal Afar

2008-08-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

Car was parked when it exploded near crowded market, official

BAGHDAD - At least 25 people were killed in a car bombing at a crowded market in the city of Tal Afar, officials in northern Iraq reported Saturday. The blast was carried out by a lone Sunni Turkoman bomber, whose identity was confirmed after forensic tests. The bomber had been released from detention four months ago under an amnesty agreement passed by parliament earlier this year.

The bomber may have avoided detection at a checkpoint by having someone ride with him, officials said. The passenger apparently got out out after the checkpoint. Suicide car bombers are known to ride alone. For that reason, Tal Afar has banned men from driving alone. The bombing took place in a region where tensions have been growing among ethnic groups because of a dispute over control of the oil-rich area around Kirkuk. The city has now been placed under an indefinite curfew.

Vampire bats suspected in Venezuela deaths

2008-08-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

At least 38 Warao Indians have died in possible rabies outbreakCARACAS, Venezuela - 38 Warao Indians have died in remote villages in Venezuela,and medical experts suspect an outbreak of rabies spread by bites from vampire bats. Laboratory investigations have yet to confirm the cause, but the symptoms point to rabies, according to two researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and other medical experts.The two UC Berkeley researchers — the husband-and-wife team of anthropologist Charles Briggs and public health specialist Dr. Clara Mantini-Briggs — said the symptoms include fever, body pains, tingling in the feet followed by progressive paralysis, and an extreme fear of water. Victims tend to have convulsions and grow rigid before death.Dr. Charles Rupprecht, chief of the rabies program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, agreed with their preliminary diagnosis."The history and clinical signs are compatible with rabies," Rupprecht told The Associated Press on Friday. "Prevention is straightforward: Prevent bites and vaccinate those at risk of bites."Venezuelan health officials are investigating the outbreak and plan to distribute mosquito nets to prevent bat bites and send a medical boat to provide treatment in remote villages on the river delta, Indigenous Peoples Minister Nicia Maldonado said Thursday, according to the state-run Bolivarian News agency.Outbreaks of rabies spread by vampire bats are a problem in various tropical areas of South America, including Brazil and Peru, Rupprecht said.according to him researchers suspect that in some cases environmental degradation — including mining, logging or dam construction projects — may also be contributing to rabies outbreaks.Humans an 'easy meal'"Vampire bats are very adaptable," Rupprecht said. And when their roosts are disrupted or their normal prey grow scarce, "Homo sapiens is a pretty easy meal."More study is needed to confirm through blood or other samples from victims that it is the rabies virus in Venezuela, and to determine what other factors may be contributing, he and other researchers say.At least 38 Warao Indians have died since June 2007, and at least 16 have died since the start of June 2008, according to a report the Berkeley researchers and indigenous leaders provided to Venezuelan health officials this week.

Not just guns: Gazans smuggle lions into zoo

2008-08-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

100 tunnels along border with Egypt feed local economyRAFAH, Gaza Strip - The monkeys and lions were drugged, tossed into cloth sacks and dragged through smuggling tunnels under the border between Egypt and the besieged Gaza Strip before ending up in a dusty Gaza zoo. Stocked almost entirely with smuggled animals, the "Heaven of Birds and Animals Zoo" is a sign of Gaza's ever-expanding tunnel industry. Dozens of passages are believed to snake under the border, serving as a mainstay of the local economy and a way to smuggle in everything from cigarettes to lingerie to automatic weapons.And smugglers say a new effort by Egypt to blow up the passages will have little effect on the flow of goods.Gaza's commercial trade was literally forced underground after the Islamic militant Hamas seized the coastal territory last summer, prompting neighboring Israel and Egypt to restrict movement through commercial crossings. While Israel has allowed more goods in since a June truce with Hamas, it is not enough to meet Gaza's needs. Tunnel smugglers fill the gaps, bringing in contraband drugs and guns and more mundane items like frilly underwear and laptop computers, as well as exotic animals like the lion and lioness that pace in a cage at the Rafah zoo.$40,000 spent buying animalsThey were purchased as cubs from Egypt for $3,000 each, drugged and dragged through a tunnel in sacks. Zoo manager Shadi Fayiz said he went through a middleman to put in his order.At the small zoo, where umbrellas shade battered couches, there is a parrot who was slipped through a tunnel in a cage. He can ask for a kiss in Arabic, startling veiled Gazan women walking by, Fayiz said.

Henna hazard: Chemical causes ornate allergies

2008-08-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Harsh dye can swell popular tattoos into itchy, blistery swirls and shapesA women has never been one for tattoos. But when her daughter Kim begged to get a henna tattoo on a family vacation to Cancun a few years ago, she thought it couldn’t hurt because its tempprary, and Kim want to show off to her friends back home. But just two days later, the tattoo of a cute little bug had swelled into an itchy, bubbling blister on Kim’s upper right arm. “I was scared to death,”says her mother, who’s 43 and lives with her family in Cary, N.C. “I thought, she’s 9 years old and she’s going to be scarred for life.” The American Academy of Dermatology recently issued a warning that a chemical found in black henna tattoos can cause a severe allergic reaction, causing the skin to redden, swell and blister — but only where the henna is applied,people with bubbly blisters in shapes like suns, stars and flowers.As henna tattoo become very populer in the last few years, sometimes peddled at summer carnivals and concerts, dermatologists report increasingly treating patients,especially teen girls and young women, with these often elaborate looking allergic reactions.“Just because they’re temporary, people think they’re safe,” says Dr. Sharon E. Jacob, a dermatologist at the University of California, San Diego. Natural henna vs. black hennaWhile true henna is made from harmless plants, black henna uses a chemical called para-phenylenediamine, or PPD, which makes the tattoo dry quickly and last longer — and in some cases, that’s much, much longer. “These skin allergies themselves are not dangerous,” says Dr. Colby Evans, a dermatologist in private practice in Austin, Texas. “But they can cause scarring or darkness to the skin that can be permanent." There are also lifelong allergies to some medicationsBut Evans and other dermatologists warn that just one bad reaction to black henna can be enough to cause permanent sensitivity to PPD, and that allergy can cross-react with chemical relatives in certain anesthetics and medications for heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. “The allergy you can develop is lifelong,” says Jacob. But she’s found that people, especially teens, are generally unimpressed by her warnings of reactions to medication, so she reserves this for the kicker: “It may mean you can never dye your hair again.” Experts say there are a few easy ways to tell the difference between reall henna and black henna.For one,henna is never black — it’s red, which darkens to a brownish color on the skin as it dries. Real henna starts to fade away within a few days, so be wary of a henna tattoo artist who boasts of tattoos that will last any longer than that.

Booger is back: Woman receives 5 cloned puppies

2008-08-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

SEOUL, South Korea - Booger is back. An American woman received five puppies Tuesday that were cloned from her beloved late pitbull, becoming the inaugural customer of a South Korean company that says it is the world's first successful commercial canine cloning service.

Seoul-based RNL Bio said the clones of Bernann McKinney's dog Booger were born last week after being cloned in cooperation with a team of Seoul National University scientists who created the world's first cloned dog in 2005. "It's a miracle!" McKinney repeatedly shouted Tuesday when she saw the cloned Boogers for which she paid $50,000.McKinney said she was especially attached to Booger because he saved her life when she was attacked by another dog three times his size. The incident resulted in her left hand being severely injured, and also damaged her leg nerves and stomach. Doctors later reconstructed her hand and she spent part of her recovery in a wheelchair. McKinney said Booger acted as more than just a canine companion as she recuperated from the attack. Her dog pulled her wheelchair when its battery ran out. He opened her house door with his teeth and helped her take off her shoes and socks, even though she never trained him to do so. "The most unusual thing about Booger was that he has a unique ability to reason," she said. "He seems to understand I couldn't use my hands."RNL Bio charges up to $150,000 for dog cloning but will receive just a third of that sum from McKinney because she is the first customer and helped with publicity, said company head Ra Jeong-chan.

Russian tanks enter South Ossetia

2008-08-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

Russian tanks have entered the capital of Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia, says Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Amid fierce fighting, Georgia has been trying to regain control of the breakaway province, which has had de facto independence since the 1990s. Georgia is reported to have said any involvement of Russian forces in the conflict will result in a state of war. Russia's president promised to defend Russian citizens in South Ossetia. Moscow's defence ministry said more than 10 of its peacekeeping troops in South Ossetia had been killed and 30 wounded in the Georgian offensive. At least 15 civilians are also reported dead. Russia said earlier it was sending reinforcements to support peacekeepers in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Reports from Georgia claim Russian jets have attacked an airport near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Nato, the US and the EU have all called for an immediate end to hostilities. Georgia's president said 150 Russian tanks and other vehicles had entered South Ossetia. He told in interview,"Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory." The Russian defence ministry told Interfax news agency that reinforcements for Russian peacekeepers had been sent to South Ossetia "to help end bloodshed". But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said: "I must protect the life and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are," Interfax quoted him as saying. "We will not allow their deaths to go unpunished. Those responsible will receive a deserved punishment." Georgian Foreign Minister Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili told the BBC the present situation was calm as Georgian troops were observing a unilateral ceasefire which started at 1100GMT. She said they wanted to ensure that any civilians who wanted to leave the conflict zone could do so safely.

Vietnamese pilgrim bus crashes in Texas, at least 12 dead

2008-08-08T06:52:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — A bus chartered by Vietnamese pilgrims crashed in Texas on Friday, killing at least 12 people and injured more than 26, local media reported.
There were 55 people in the bus, drove off a major highway overpass bridge shortly after midnight and crashed below near the town of Tyler, some 96 kilometers (60 miles) north of Dallas.Sherman police spokesman Robert Fair told in an interview that at least 12 people were killed in the crash."We are being told that a tire on the bus had blown," Fair told. "We shall continue our investigation to see if other factors were involved."The accident took place around 12:45 am Friday (0545 GMT), the Sherman Herald-Democrat reported, adding that the bus was lying on its right side.That was a wrong track.A large section of the highway was closed down as ambulances and at least 13 helicopters rushed to the scene to ferry the wounded to Dallas area hospitals, the newspaper reported.Dozens of passengers were injured, Fair told in interview, while the Dallas Morning News put the number at at least 26."We've got ambulances and helicopters from all over the county," Fair told the newspaper.The Morning News, quoting local TV, said the group from the Vietnamese Martyrs Church of Houston was on the way to an annual celebration in honor of the Virgin Mary in the city of Carthage, in Missouri.

Jewel marries rodeo star in Bahamas

2008-08-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES -A Pop singer Jewel eloped with her rodeo-star boyfriend in the Bahamas on Thursday, People magazine reported. The 34-year-old singer married Ty Murray, 38, during a private ceremony.

Jewel said that she and Murray were heading to the Caribbean islands for six days with two friends.The pair, who live on a ranch in Texas, had been together for more than a decade. Jewel, whose last name is Kilcher, achieved fame in the mid-1990s with such pop-folk tunes as "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "Foolish Games." She recently released a country album and served as a judge on the TV talent show "Nashville Star."Murray is a legend on the rodeo circuit, winning the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's All-Around world championship title a record seven times.ny, the magazine said, quoting Jewel's publicist.

The Great Wall: Across China's great divide

2008-08-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Built to keep out the Mongols, it's now facing a new kind of invader: tourists. Visit a crowd-free stretch and behold the legendary barrier in its natural state.
At Badaling, the Great Wall rides the ridgelines like a dragon, its gray brick scales glinting and its crenelated spine writhing. Built at a strategic pass in the mountains north of Beijing, it crosses stout gates, plunges into narrow defiles, climbs back up to the heights and seems to go on forever.Long after this month's Olympic Games end in Beijing, people will flock to Badaling, where seeing is believing in the Ten Thousand Li Long Wall of ancient annals and legend. ut contrary to the impression it makes at Badaling, the Great Wall may never have crossed China in one mighty, continuous span, nor is its length precisely known. (Some say it's 4,500 miles, others a mere 3,100.) Experts now think of it as a series of disjointed segments built at different times in the last two millenniums and scattered in a maze all over northern China.

Fast-food kids' meals heavy on calories: U.S. group

2008-08-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - Kids' meals at popular fast-food restaurants deliver more than a quick lunch or dinner -- 90 percent of them have far more than a meal's worth of calories and many are loaded with fat and salt too, according to a report released on Monday.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest -- the group that took the fun out of movie popcorn and Chinese takeout by revealing the fat and calorie content of such treats -- said it is difficult to find anything remotely healthful for a child to eat at several restaurant chains.
"Nearly every single possible combination of the children's meals at KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-A is too high in calories," the group said in a statement.CSPI examined the menus at 13 popular restaurants that promote children's meals."Ninety-three percent of 1,474 possible choices at the 13 chains exceed 430 calories -- an amount that is one-third of what the Institute of Medicine recommends that children aged four through eight should consume in a day," the group said.Children often get more than two meals' worth of energy in a single visit to Brinker International's Chili's restaurants."Chili's has 700 possible kids' meal combinations, but 658, or 94 percent, of those are too high in calories, including one comprised of country-fried chicken crispers, cinnamon apples and chocolate milk (1,020 calories) and another comprised of cheese pizza, home-style fries and lemonade (1,000 calories)," the group said. More than 90 percent of meals offered at hamburger chains would fill virtually all of a child's calorie needs for the day which is very harmful.

Kenya manhunt for al-Qaeda wanted

2008-08-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

There is a manhunt under way in Kenya for an al-Qaeda operative wanted for the attacks on the US embassies in Kenya aand Tanzania 10 years ago.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed allegedly evaded a police raid at the weekend in the coastal town of Malindi, where he was being hosted by friends. Earlier this year the suspect, who is from the Comoros Islands, survived a US missile attack on a hideout in Somalia.The United States has offered a reward of up to $5m (£2.5m) for his arrest. Three people arrested over the weekend - reportedly relatives of Mr Mohammed - pleaded not guilty on Monday to accusations they had harboured him. A judge ordered that they be held for four more days while prosecutors gather information. nd Tanzania 10 years ago. Meanwhile, the man who led the investigation into the Kenya bombing, Maj Marsden Madoka, has told the in an interview African Perspective programme that Kenyan intelligence passed on information to the US embassy ahead of the attack in 1998, but it was not acted on. The failure may have been due to a lack of communication between the embassy and US intelligence agencies, he said. More than 250 people were killed in the bomb attacks 10 years ago that Mr Mohammed allegedly planned.

Rising prices beat down consumer spending in June

2008-08-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - Consumer spending, after adjusting for inflation, fell in June as shoppers were hit with the biggest increase in prices in nearly three decades.

The Commerce Department reported Monday that consumer spending dipped by 0.2 percent in June, after removing the effects of higher prices, the poorest showing since a similar drop in February. The higher prices reflected a big surge in gasoline costs and helped to drive an inflation gauge tied to consumer spending up by 0.8 percent in June, the biggest increase since a 1 percent rise in February 1981.The big rise in inflation ate up a part of the billions of dollars in stimulus payments delivered during the month. Personal incomes rose by a tiny 0.1 percent in June following a giant 1.8 percent increase in May.Stocks declined in early trading as investors fretted about what rising prices would do to consumer spending. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 63.02, or 0.56 percent, to 11,263.30 in early trading.In other economic news, the Commerce Department reported that orders to U.S. factories shot up at the fastest pace in six months in June, reflecting big increases in petroleum prices and heavy demand for military equipment.

11 feared dead on K-2; 2 Dutch climbers rescued

2008-08-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A helicopter plucked two frostbitten Dutch climbers from K-2 on Monday after an avalanche and exposure left at least 11 people missing and believed dead on the world's second-highest mountain. One of the rescued men, Wilco Van Rooijen, blamed mistakes in preparation for the final ascent — not just the avalanche — for one of mountaineering's worst disasters as a stranded Italian climber struggled to descend low enough to reach rescuers."Everything was going well to Camp Four and on summit attempt everything went wrong," Van Rooijen told The Associated Press by phone from a military hospital, where he was being treated for frostbitten toes.K-2, which lies near Pakistan's northern border with China, is regarded by mountaineers as more challenging to conquer than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. K-2 is steeper, rockier and more prone to sudden, severe weather.The Ministry of Tourism released a list of 11 climbers believed dead: three South Koreans, two Nepalis, two Pakistanis and mountaineers from France, Ireland, Serbia and Norway.It was not clear how they all died. At least two fell on their way up the mountain, before the avalanche.

Five ringed bicycle

2008-08-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

A nice boy cycling on five wheels like Olympic rings.

Meet Beijing resident Meng Jie, cycling around China on a bicycle in the shape of the five Olympic rings.For more Olympics coverage, and take part in the BBC's My Games programme go to bbc.com/Olympics and look for My Games. My Games will be broadcast live on BBC World News. You can get involved by sending us your photos and videos and if you have a webcam you could even appear live on the programme.

Chinese border assault kills 16

2008-08-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

Sixteen Chinese policemen have been killed in an attack on a border post in the restive Muslim region of Xinjiang, state media say. Two attackers reportedly drove up to the post in a rubbish truck and threw two grenades, before moving in to attack the policemen with knives. The attack came four days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Both attackers were captured during the raid near the city of Kashgar, Xinhua state news agency reported. Kashgar, known as Kashi in Chinese, is some 2,500 miles (4,000km) from Beijing, near the border with Tajikistan. Xinhua said the attack happened at Fourteen policemen died at the scene and two on the way to hospital. Another 16 policemen were hurt. One of the attackers was reported to have been injured in the leg.
Xinjiang, in the north-west of the country, is home to the Muslim Uighur people. Uighur separatists have waged a low-level campaign against Chinese rule for decades. about 0800 (0000 GMT), as the policemen were jogging outside the compound. "China has focused on strengthening security and protection around Olympic venues and at the Olympics Village, so Beijing is already prepared to respond to any threat," Sun Weide was quoted as saying. Last week, a senior Chinese army officer warned that Islamic separatists were the biggest danger to the Olympics.

Celebrities leading tattoo demand

2008-08-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

The social stigma attached to a tattoo is disappearing, say the organisers of a major convention.
As celebrities like David Beckham show off their body art, the popularity of the once-maligned tattoo increases. The Tattoo Jam, organised by Skin Deep magazine at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, brings together about 150 tattooists from more than 20 different countries. Skin Deep editor Neil Dalleywater said celebrity culture played a part in the increased demand for tattoos. "You do tend to see a lot more ink on pop stars and film stars in the media," he said.
"The social stigma of tattoos is breaking down although you still come across it in places but it's becoming far more socially acceptable. Several Welsh tattooists are taking part in the three-day convention alongside others from as far afield as New Zealand and Singapore. "The number of studios in Wales is phenomenal for the size of the country," said Mr Dalleywater.

US HIV rate 'higher than thought'

2008-08-03T05:59:00.000-07:00

The number of Americans infected with the HIV virus each year is much higher than current government estimates, US health officials have said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 56,000 people had become infected with the virus that causes Aids in 2006. That is substantially more than the earlier annual estimate of 40,000. However, the CDC said the rise was due to improved detection methods, rather than an increase in infections. For the first time, new blood tests can tell how recently an HIV infection occurred, allowing researchers to pinpoint the year it happened. The increase is also thought to be due to new statistical methodsThe CDC's Richard Wolitski said the 2006 incidence estimate "reveals that the epidemic is, and has been, worse than previously estimated". The group added that the annual number of new infections was never as low as 40,000, and that it has been roughly stable since the late 1990s. The CDC described the findings as a "wake-up call that the US HIV/Aids epidemic is far from over". "The new estimates underscore the need to expand access to HIV prevention to gay and bisexual men, especially younger men, and to expand access to African-American men and women as well," Dr Wolitski added. The executive director of the National Alliance of State and Territorial Aids Directors, Julie Scofield, told the Associated Press news agency: "This is the biggest news for public health and HIV/Aids that we've had in a while." The revised estimated and the methodology behind it are due to be presented at the opening of an international Aids conference in Mexico City on Sunday. Ahead of the meeting, thousands of activists marched through the city to protest at discrimination against people with HIV.

Freedom to travel in China

2008-08-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

As international journalists jet in to Beijing for the start of the Olympic Games, Hugh Sykes takes a rather slower route on the overnight train from the west of China.

"What time is it?""Twelve o'clock." "Beijing time or Xinjiang time?" You hear that a lot in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the far west of China, near Pakistan and Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. A long way west, in other words, but officially, it is the same time zone as Beijing in the far east, near North Korea. Imagine the US having the same time zone right across the country, from Miami to Los Angeles. But in hotels and offices in Xinjiang there are sometimes two clocks, because Xinjiang does have its own unofficial time zone, two hours behind Beijing.
This makes sense, it means it gets dark at 2030 not 2230 at this time of year, and light at 0600 not 0800. But it is confusing. "What time is the flight to Urumqi?" "One o'clock." "Beijing time or Xinjiang time?" "Beijing time, of course. Planes and trains stick to Beijing time but buses run on Xinjiang time." "What time do you start school in the morning? "Eight o'clock." "Beijing time or Xinjiang time?" "That depends. If it is a Han Chinese school, it is 0800 Beijing time. If it is a Uighur school, it is 0800 Xinjiang time, which is two hours later. And if it is a mixed school, they stick to Beijing time."

Yearly euro inflation at record high of 4.1%

2008-08-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yearly inflation in the 15 euro nations rose to a record high of 4.1 percent in July, the EU statistical agency Eurostat reported Thursday.

Prices have not climbed as fast since inflation records started in 1996 for the countries that eventually formed the euro.Soaring fuel and food prices are Europe's biggest economic problem, eating into household spending -- one of the engines of economic growth -- as people steer away from major purchases and luxury goods.Accelerating prices and signs that growth is stalling create a major dilemma for the European Central Bank, which acted last month to cool inflation by hiking borrowing costs for the first time in a year.But the bank may have to hold back from more interest rate increases as the European economy stumbles and companies slash staff.Eurostat reported that the jobless rate in the 15 countries that share the euro had risen to 7.3 percent in May and June from a year ago. It revised upward an earlier estimate of 7.2 percent for May as unemployment worsened from a record low it hit in December 2007.

Obama says he opposes slavery reparations, apology

2008-08-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders.

The man with a serious chance to become the nation's first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all."I have said in the past — and I'll repeat again — that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed," the Illinois Democrat said recently.Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations — that is, payments and programs to make up for the damage done by slavery.Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters."Let's not be naive. Sen. Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life," said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. "In light of the demographics of this country, I don't think it's realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he's done."But this is not a position Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004.
There's enough flexibility in the term "reparations" that Obama can oppose them and still have plenty of common ground with supporters.

BMW's profit slides nearly 33 percent

2008-08-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

Germany automaker BMW says second-quarter net profit slid nearly 33 percent and it has abandoned its yearly profit forecast, blaming a drop in U.S. sales, rising costs for raw materials and the strong euro.
The Munich-based company is the world's biggest maker of luxury cars. It said Friday it earned euro507 million (US$791.5 million) in the April-June period, down 32.7 percent from last year.
Sales fell half a percent to euro14.6 billion (US$22.8 billion) in the quarter compared with a year earlier.The company has revised its earnings forecast. Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer says BMW now expects pre-tax return on sales for the year of at least 4 percent.The news spooked investors, who sent the company's shares plunging before they leveled off to euro26.90 (US$41.89), down 6.9 percent.

More than 10,000 detainees released in Iraq

2008-08-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said Saturday it has released more than 10,000 detainees in Iraq so far this year — more than in all of 2007 — as it continues to try phase out its running of Iraqi prisons.

The military said about 21,000 people remained in custody, and it is currently releasing about 45 detainees and detaining 30 a day.The United States wants to transfer the detainees to Iraqi control. Reaching that goal has been slowed partly by the lack of adequate Iraqi prison space and trained guards. More than 8,900 people were released from detention last year.The U.S. military says its detention system is authorized by a U.N. resolution under which the Iraqi government allows U.S. troops to arrest people at will. U.S. military attorneys say it also complies with international laws covering warfare and was created in "the spirit" of the Geneva Conventions.Commanders say they are entitled to hold any prisoner until the detainee is no longer considered a threat to U.S. forces. Local law and court rulings do not apply, they add. Rights groups have criticized U.S. detention policy as a misrepresentation of international law, which they say requires some form of legal process to detain someone.The military has increased control over prisons to correct widespread U.S. prison abuses that sparked international criticism.Allegations of abuse at U.S. prisons escalated in 2004 with the release of pictures of grinning U.S. soldiers posing with detainees at the Abu Ghraib facility west of Baghdad. Some were naked, being held on leashes or in painful and sexually humiliating positions.That prison has since been closed, and 11 U.S. soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws. Five others were disciplined in the scandal.

Britney’s new man: Bodyguard to boyfriend

2008-08-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

Snapshots from Britney Spears’ vacation in Los Cabos, Mexico, show the pop star frolicking in the pool and having a good time on the dance floor with someone other than her ever-present conservator-dad, Jamie. According to The Sun, the new main man in Britney’s life is a bodyguard-turned-boyfriend named Lee.
An insider revealed that the former Israeli soldier started working for Britney six months ago, and it wasn’t long before the couple made a love connection. “Britney and Lee hit it off immediately,” the source told the paper. “They’ve spent so much time together that one thing led to another and their relationship became physical.” Boyfriend or not, Lee’s still on the payroll. According to the insider, he only assumes his new role on his days off.

Anthrax 'suspect' is found dead

2008-08-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

A top US scientist suspected of anthrax attacks in 2001 has died from an apparent suicide just as he was about to be charged, a newspaper reported.

The Los Angeles Times says government scientist Bruce Ivins was found dead after an overdose of painkillers.The paper said that he had recently been told of the impending prosecution. Five people died when anthrax was posted to media organisations and politicians in the US shortly after the 11 September attacks in 2001. Mr Ivins, 62, had helped the FBI investigate anthrax-tainted envelopes as a icrobiologist for a government laboratory.The newspaper said Mr Ivins had worked at the government biodefense research laboratories in Fort Detrick, Maryland, for the past 18 years. Security measures in the wake of the 2001 anthrax attacks crippled the US mail service and temporarily closed a Senate building.As well as the five deaths, more than 20 other people were made ill.
In June 2008, the US justice department agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with another scientist at the Fort Detrick laboratory it had said was a "person of interest" in the anthrax attacks.Dr Steven Hatfill sued the department saying it had violated his privacy rights by speaking to reporters about the case. He has denied any involvement in the attacks.

Fear after Bissau death threats

2008-08-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

Guinea-Bissau's justice minister has said she has received death threats over the arrest of five people suspected of drugs trafficking.Carmelita Pires said she was scared but the government would not be intimidated and would continue investigations.
Her comments came two days after Guinea-Bissau's attorney general also said he had received death threats.The arrests were made after at least one plane thought to have arrived from South America was seized last month.uthorities arrested three Venezuelans as well as the head of air traffic control at the airport and his deputy.Antonio Mazzitelli, West Africa director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, said no drugs had been found on the plane - despite reports that hundreds of kilos of cocaine had been seized.Drug-sniffing dogs had indicated the plane was carrying cocaine, but authorities had to wait five days before seizing it.

Eclipse delights crowds in Siberia, China

2008-08-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

Blacked-out sun witnessed in far-flung regions ... and on the InternetThe moon's shadow swept across the planet from Canada to China on Friday, delighting skywatchers who flocked to remote regions to see a total eclipse of the sun. The stellar spectacle — which arises when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth — began in northern Canada, tracked across Greenland and the Arctic, then moved through Russia and Mongolia.The celestial display ended in China, where some saw it as a dark omen ahead of next week's start of the Olympic Games in Beijing.In Novosibirsk, one of the largest cities in the path of totality, thousands of people mixed awe with excitement as day turned into night. All gazed in wonder as an eerie silence descended on the Siberian city, and gushes of unusually strong wind tore through the crowd of skywatchers. Birds stopped chirping and the temperature suddenly dropped.It's very dramatic when the darkness suddenly comes. That's why thousands of tourists go to see.

No hope of saving beached whale

2008-08-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

A 26ft (8m) whale that beached on a mudflat off the south coast of England has suffered kidney failure and faces being put down, rescuers said.
The Northern Bottlenose whale became trapped in Langstone Harbour, off Hampshire, on Thursday and beached overnight during low tide. Rescuers freed it from mudflats using a special lifting pontoon but it has remained in shallow water.When the whale beaches again at low tide, it will be put down, experts say.Experts from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said however that even if it made it back out to sea there was no chance of it surviving, because of the renal failure, which was confirmed through blood tests.The tide has begun to go back out and at some point later, the animal would be brought in and given a lethal injection.An operation to try to save the whale began on Thursday but was called off when it became dark. The whale later became beached on a mudflat at 2330 BST.

Bush warns Iraq gains reversible

2008-08-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

President Bush has said the drop in violence in Iraq is a sign of the "durability" of progress but warned that gains made could be reversed.

Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has again appealed to the Iraqi government not to sign a new security deal with the US.The deal Mr Bush told reporters outside the Oval Office that violence in Iraq had fallen to its to lowest level since spring 2004 and that "extremists who once terrified citizens have been driven from their strongholds".He said there was a "degree of durability" to the gains made by US and Iraqi forces which was due to the recent surge in US troop numbers and the "increasing capability of Iraqi forces". But he added that the chief US officials in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker "caution that the progress is still reversible". would replace the UN mandate which runs out at the end of the year. He said Iraqi troops would continue to take the lead in more military operations across the country. Mr Bush also said that the US and Iraqi governments were "making progress" on a deal to provide a legal basis for US troops to remain in Iraq once the UN mandate expires at the end of the year.

Child prostitution up after Kenya's election bloodshed

2008-07-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

This time last year, Janet Kimani spent her days at school and her nights fighting with her little brother.

Now, she sleeps all day and sells her skinny, 14-year-old body at night for $3 an hour."There are so many of us girls on the streets these days," Janet, dressed in a black miniskirt and white blouse, told The Associated Press in Eldoret, a western Kenya town that was a flashpoint of this year's deadly postelection crisis.Prostitution and sexual exploitation are on the rise in the wake of the violence, which killed more than 1,000 people, eviscerated the economy and forced tens of thousands of children to leave school, doctors and human rights groups say.A girl lies in a brothel next to a baby born to a prostitute in Mombasa, Kenya, a center of trade in underage girls.

Sex without condoms raises alarm about AIDS
Although no firm figures are yet available, medical experts say they fear the increase in young prostitutes -- known here as "twilight girls"

Guards quizzed over Antigua honeymoon murder

2008-07-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

Antigua (AP) -- Three security guards have been questioned about the fatal attack on a honeymooning British doctor in Antigua, but officials said Wednesday they have not yet arrested any suspects.
Police Commissioner Gary Nelson told Observer Radio that the guards, who are not suspects, agreed with one another about what happened early Sunday at the Cocos Hotel, when Catherine and Benjamin Mullany were shot in the head.He gave no further details about their testimony, but said witnesses have reported that the couple screamed for help.The wife died and the husband is brain dead and on life support with a fractured skull and broken leg, Doctor Fidel Fernandez told reporters.
The Antigua and Barbuda Hotel Association is offering a US$95,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.The couple, both 31, came to Antigua for a two-week honeymoon following their July 12 marriage, police said. The wife was a doctor from the Pontardawe area of south Wales. The couple's parents arrived from England and have visited the hospital and a funeral home.Police Inspector Cornelius Charles said the motive appeared to be robbery, but authorities have not ruled out other possibilities. Investigators have not determined whether there was more than one intruder.

'Terror' school turns out to be moderate madrassa

2008-07-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

KARACHI, Pakistan -- It's an alarming message: Two American boys are held captive in a madrassa, a Pakistani religious school, once visited by Osama bin Laden and with ties to the Taliban.
The film, "Karachi Kids," describes threats to artistic freedom of expression from the teaching of conservative Islam. Early copies of the film prompted outrage after the story of the American boys appeared on Fox News, CBS and other news outlets. It also led to demands from Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, for the boys to be returned home.But the independent filmmaker may have confused the madrassa with one with a similar name tied to Islamic extremists.The madrassa the boys attended isn't linked to bin Laden or Muslim radicals; instead, it's one the U.S. State Department says is preferred by Pakistani-Americans for its moderate Islamic teachings and one recently visited by a top U.S. diplomat in Pakistan.

Iran: No deadline agreed on nuke deal

2008-07-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has already responded to an international offer of incentives for suspending its nuclear enrichment activity, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told in an interviewMottaki said Iran responded with its own proposal, which involves another set of talks.
And contrary to what others -- including the United States and the European Union -- have said, no deadline was agreed upon during talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana during talks in Geneva earlier this month, Mottaki said.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday warned Iran not to delay its response. A two-week deadline for the response to the offer made to Iran by envoys from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China ends this week, officials have said.But Mottaki told in interview no deadline was discussed at the meeting -- one was mentioned only afterward on Wednesday.

Kenneth Cole Holiday: Black and White, and Red All Over

2008-07-31T07:07:00.001-07:00

New York - Kenneth Cole had the right idea with their Holiday 2008 collection, which they presented in New York on Wednesday, July 23. Here's the prescription: Keep the regular fall wardrobe of cozy shawl knits, simple smocked jersey tops and little black dresses and when holiday party season rolls around, just add a jolt of jewel toned color in the form of a smart round toe patent leather pump or flat, or a chic envelope clutch bag.Starting with dark grays and inky blacks as their base - something that Kenneth Cole knows will never go out of style - for Holiday 2008, the collection added fuchsia, teal and cherry red sweaters, tops and dresses for a more festive look, if accessories alone won't get you in the spirit of things.For men, it's all about toned down tailoring - wearing that button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and keeping it slightly wrinkled, but adding a crisp touch like a wool vest. And no need to don the full tuxedo - a tuxedo-detailed shirt can work just as well.

Australia to give aid to Myanmar

2008-07-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

SINGAPORE - Australia announced Wednesday an extra $29 million in aid for survivors of Myanmar's May cyclone, but pressed its recalcitrant military junta to democratize quickly and respect human rights.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he informed his Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, of the aid during a meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of an annual security meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its Asian and Western dialogue partners in Singapore.Smith also called on the junta to ensure that general elections in 2010 will be free and fair and will allow the political opposition, including long detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, to participate."We want to see Myanmar return to respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and we want to see democracy return to Myanmar," Smith said he told Win. People walk past flooded houses in Schineni, northern Romania, Monday, July 28, 2008. Severe weather caused heavy flooding in Germany, Ukraine and Romania on Saturday and Sunday, forcing thousands to evacuate their flooded homes. In northern Romania, five people died in flooding and heavy rain in areas bordering Ukraine, and power outages affected around 20,000 people.

Deadly floods hit Romania, Ukraine

2008-07-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, centre, speaks to inhabitants of flooded village Serebriya, western Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2008. Ukraine's Emergency Ministry says storms and floods have killed 22 people, including six children, after four days of storms have flooded more than 20,000 houses and cut electricity in four western regions. More than 8,000 people have been evacuated, and thousands are in serious danger as the water keeps rising Sunday.A woman walks through a flooded street in the village of Siretu, about 300 km (200 miles) north of Bucharest, July 28, 2008. Floods in northeastern Romania have killed four people, and two others are missing.

Giant chunks break off Canadian ice shelf

2008-07-29T20:31:00.002-07:00

Giant sheets of ice totaling almost eight square miles broke off an ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic last week and more could follow later this year, scientists said on Tuesday.

Temperatures in large parts of the Arctic have risen far faster than the global average in recent decades, a development that experts say is linked to global warming.The ice broke away from the shelf on Ward Hunt Island, an small island just off giant Ellesmere Island in one of the northernmost parts of Canada.It was the largest fracture of its kind since the nearby Ayles ice shelf -- which measured 25 square miles -- broke away in 2005.Scientists had already identified deep cracks in the Ward Hunt shelf, which measures around 155 square miles. The shelf is one of five along Ellesmere Island in the northern Arctic."Because the break-off occurred between two large parallel cracks they're thinking more could go this summer before the freeze sets in".said the scientist

"It underscores the fact that each year we're now crossing new thresholds in environmental change in the High Arctic, and of course our concern in the longer term is that these may signal the onset of serious change at all latitudes, much further to the south, for example," he told Reuters.

World's Skin Cancer Hot Spots

2008-07-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

You probably know by now that making bad decisions when it comes to sun protection can be life threatening. While some people smartly skip the mid-day sun altogether, others work outdoors in tank tops every day or hit the beach with a bottle of baby oil, increasing their chances of developing skin cancer. But it isn't all about daily habits--a portion of the risk has to do with culture and family history. Where we live (a result of latitude and long-term migration patterns), prevailing cultural beliefs (and the associated garb), and common vacationing habits all play a role in our chances of developing ailments related to sun-exposure.

Ambassador: Al-Qaida leaving Iraq for Afghanistan

2008-07-29T10:56:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - Al-Qaida's foreign fighters who have for years bedeviled Iraq are increasingly going to Afghanistan to fight instead, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States said Wednesday.

``We have heard reports recently that many of the foreign fighters that were in Iraq have left, either back to their homeland or going to fight in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is now seeming to be more suitable for al-Qaida fighters,'' said Ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie. Al-Qaida had training camps and a headquarters in Afghanistan, under the protection of the then-ruling Taliban, until the U.S. invaded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With al-Qaida forced out of Afghanistan, the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 quickly drew outside fighters there. Sumaida'ie said al-Qaida is finding it now increasingly difficult to operate in Iraq, beginning with the rebellion of the largely Sunni tribes in Anbar Province in 2006 and 2007. Until then, al-Qaida had ruled by intimidation and violence, establishing physical control and setting up a shadow government in large swaths of Iraqi territory.``There were large tracts that were run by al-Qaida, administered by al-Qaida - they had ministers, administrators, paid salaries and so on. This no longer exists, so they do not have any territory to control (where it) is safe for them to move in and around Iraq,'' he said. ``In whole areas they ceased to operate as effective terrorist networks.'' Sumaida'ie's comments echoed those of the top U.S. military commander in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press last week that al-Qaida appears to be reassessing its chances of success in Iraq. ``They're not going to abandon Iraq. They're not going to write it off. None of that,'' Petraeus said. ``But what they certainly may do is start to provide some of those resources that would have come to Iraq to Pakistan, possibly Afghanistan.
``We do think they are considering what should be the main effort,'' he said. A U.S. counterterrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence reporting said foreign fighters are generally not leaving Iraq for Afghanistan, but new recruits to al-Qaida are being sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of Iraq. The numbers in all countries are small, however. The vast majority of al-Qaida in Iraq are native born, and extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan are overwhelmingly Pashtun fighters from the region. Sumaida'ie's remarks come as Democratic presumptive nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is conducting an overseas trip which included stops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama toured two war zones with Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. Last week they issued a written statement saying that Afghanistan and Pakistan's border area, where the Taliban is resurgent and Osama Bin Laden is believed to be hiding, should be the central front in the war against terrorism.
Monthly death tolls of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq in May and June, even though there are far fewer coalition troops in Afghanistan.

2 Faced Baby Born In India

2008-07-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

A very special girl was born last March in a small suburb of Delhi, India.
She was born with 4 eyes, 2 noses, 2 mouths, 2 ears, and 1 dimple on a shared cheek.“I had never seen something like this in my life so naturally I was a little scared when I first saw her,” her father was quoted as saying. The young girl and her mother are both healthy and the family has no intentions of seeking surgery to correct the deformities. “The doctor said everything is normal when she was born. So where’s the need to get medical help?” said the child’s father. “She’s fed through one mouth and sucks her thumb with the other. We use whichever mouth is free to feed her.”

Giant Eye, Hurricane Dolly, More

2008-07-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Visionary new Tosca set graces the world's biggest floating stage for the 63rd Bregenz Festival of opera on the Bodensee (Lake Constance), which began Wednesday and runs until August 23.
Formed by a glacier during the Ice Age, the Bodensee is shared by Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, though its borders are disputed. Austria, for example, sees the lake as undivided and jointly controlled by the three countries, whereas Switzerland contends that borders run through the middle of the lake.

HIV drugs 'add 13 years of life'

2008-07-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

Life expectancy for people with HIV has increased by an average of 13 years since the late 1990s thanks to better HIV treatment, a study says.
Researchers said it meant HIV was now effectively a chronic condition like diabetes, rather than a fatal disease, the Lancet reported. The team, involving Bristol University staff, looked at over 43,000 patients. The study found a person now diagnosed at 20 years old could expect to live for another 49 years. But the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration, which includes scientists from across Europe and Northern America, warned this was still short of the life expectancy for the wider population which stands at about 80. Antiretroviral treatment for HIV consists of drugs which work against the infection itself by slowing down the replication of the virus in the body. This method of therapy was introduced in the 1990s, but has since become more effective and better tolerated. The researchers looked at life expectancy during three time periods after the introduction of the drugs - 1996-9, 2000-2 and 2003-5 - in high income countries. Just over 2,000 patients died during the study periods. They found that while patients aged 20 diagnosed in the 1990s could expect to live another 36 years, that had increased by 13 years by 2003-5. During the middle time period, life expectancy stood at an extra 41 years.
Success
Researcher Professor Jonathan Sterne said: "These advances have transformed HIV from being a fatal disease, which was the reality for patients before the advent of combination treatment, into a long-term chronic condition."

Life from Venus blown to Earth?

2008-07-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

Life on Venus could be blown to Earth by powerful winds, scientists claim.
Previous research has considered the possibility of micro organisms existing in Venus's atmosphere despite extreme temperatures on its surface. But two scientists at the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology say microbes from Venus could actually be blown into the Earth's atmosphere by solar winds. Their findings follow analysis of data from the European Space Agency's Venus Express probe, launched in 2005. They suggest that under certain conditions, these microbes from high in Venus's atmosphere could be blown into the Earth's atmosphere.This process would only take days or weeks. But the Sun, Earth and Venus must be suitably aligned, which last happened in 2004 and will not happen again until 2012. Prof Wickramasinghe said: "Venus and Earth have often been referred to as sisters because of their geological similarities. "Our research proposes that the two sisters may be biologically interconnected as well." "The idea of life on Venus, particularly the clouds where the temperature and pressure are similar to the Earth, has been floated around for a while but is not really very likely," he said.He added that it was "most unlikely" anyway that microbes from Venus could be transferred to the Earth's atmosphere by solar winds. The Venus Express probe, launched in November 2005, is orbiting the planet to study its atmosphere. Scientists hope to learn how Venus, which is similar to Earth in size, mass and composition, evolved so differently over the last 4.6 billion years. The mission was the first to be sent to the planet in 15 years.

Great White Shark Filmed Breaching at Night -- A First

2008-07-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Although seals are a common meal forgreat white shark, under the cover of darkness, one might expect the marine mammals to catch a break. Dramatic new footage, however, proves great whites sometimes fancy a midnight snack. it was a 13-foot (4-meter) shark launching itself from the water to snare a seal at the surface—the first time such "breach feeding" has been documented at night.

47 dead, 100 missing in Congo boat accident

2008-07-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Twenty-seven people are known to have survived, said Mathieu Modeste Bella, district commissioner of North Ubangi province in the far north of the central African country.
The boat was carrying at least 182 passengers, mostly merchants but also women and children, Bella said. It sank Tuesday night after it left the Congo town of Mobayi Bongo, 700 miles northeast of Congo's capital, Kinshasa. It was navigating the Ubangi river, headed for the Central African Republic, which shares a border with Congo. Bella said 47 bodies had been recovered. "The rest of the passengers, more than 100, have disappeared," Bella said. "We do not know what happened to them." Because of bad roads, many people in the area prefer to take small boats even if they do not know how to swim. KINSHASA, Congo - At least 47 people died when a motorized boat sank on a river in Congo, and more than 100 people are missing, a district official said Friday.

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,124

2008-07-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

As of Friday, July 25, 2008, at least 4,124 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,360 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.The AP count is three fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.

Iraqi Police Say Female Bomber Kills 8 U.S.-Allied Soldiers

2008-07-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD — Iraqi police say at least eight people have been killed in a female homicide bombing against a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards northeast of Baghdad.
A police officer who read the report says the woman blew herself up about 8:30 p.m. Thursday near the so-called awakening council checkpoint in central Baqouba.The officer says at least eight awakening council members were killed and 24 other people were wounded. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Math study finds girls are just as good as boys

2008-07-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, "Math class is tough!" girls are proving that when it comes to math they are just as tough as boys. In the largest study of its kind, girls measured up to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research was released Thursday in the journal Science. Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who led the study. And girls who grow up believinHyde and her colleagues looked at annual math tests required by the No Child Left Behind education law in 2002. Ten states provided enough statistical information to review test scores by gender, allowing researchers to compare the performances of more than 7 million children.The researchers found no difference in the scores of boys versus girls — not even in high school. Studies 20 years ago showed girls and boys did equally well on math in elementary school, but girls fell behind in high school."Girls have now achieved gender parity in performance on standardized math tests," Hyde said.g it wind up avoiding harder math classes.

Complete Baby Tyrannosaurid Unearthed in Mongolia

2008-07-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

TOKYO — Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature museum.

The scientists uncovered a Tarbosaurus — related to the giant carnivorous Tyrannosaurus — from a chunk of sandstone they dug up in August, 2006 in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, said Takuji Yokoyama, a spokesman for the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, a co-organizer of the joint research project."We were so lucky to have found remains that turned out to be a complete set of all the important parts.The latest find would be a major step toward discovering the growth and development of dinosaurs.

French Scientists Find New Alien World

2008-07-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Scientists have discovered a new Jupiter-sized planet orbiting around a distant sun-like star.
This planet takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting explonet ever found.The planet, called CoRoT-Exo-4b, was discovered by the European Space Agency's CoRoT space telescope, which was designed to search for extrasolarplanets by looking for transits, or tiny dips in the light output from a star when a planet passes in front of it. By tracking the time between transits, a team of scientists led by the French space agency CNES measured how long the planet takes to revolve around its star, and found that it is the same period of time its star, which is slightly larger than our sun, takes to rotate 360 degrees.

U.S., NATO Press Pakistan to Fight Terror On Afghan

2008-07-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

PERTH, Australia — Pakistan needs to do more to prevent Taliban militants from launching attacks into Afghanistan from its territory, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday, echoing earlier remarks made by the chief of NATO.Speaking in Australia, Rice suggested to reporters that a surge in Taliban-related violence in Afghanistan had its source in the restive semiautonomous tribal areas along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. "We understand that it's difficult, we understand that the northwest frontier area is difficult, but militants cannot be allowed to organize there and to plan there and to engage across the border," Rice said. "So yes, more needs to be done."

Iraqi Police Say Female Bomber Kills 8 U.S.-Allied Soldiers

2008-07-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

1 Dead in N.H. Storms That Levels Several Homes

2008-07-25T01:52:00.000-07:00

1 dead in N.H. storms that levels several homes; door-to-door search under wayViolent storms on Thursday in a 25-mile-long swath of central New Hampshire destroyed several homes, damaged dozens of others and left at least one person dead, authorities said as police and firefighters went door-to-door searching for more possible victims. Other people were hurt, including the husband and baby grandson of the woman killed. Gov. John Lynch said at an evening news conference that about a dozen people were injured. There was no immediate word on how serious their injuries were.The National Weather Service was trying to determine whether a tornado was responsible for the damage, which stretched from about 10 miles east of Concord to beyond the eastern end of Lake Winnipesaukee near the Maine border.Around Northwood Lake in Epsom, many homes in one area were badly damaged or destroyed by the storm, which tossed couches and refrigerators along with downed trees and other debris.

GM looks to an electric avenue

2008-07-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

GM has high hopes for its Chevy Volt, but unless drivers have easy access to recharging points, the development of electric cars is doomed. A new deal with 30 US utilities will help.

General Motors China President Kevin Wale introduces the Chevrolet Volt Fuel Cell concept at the Shanghai Auto show.The eyes of the world are now on the Volt. It's the future of America and the world." That was the US presidential candidate John McCain talking to car industry workers a few days ago, referring to General Motors' promised new electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt. The future of the world, no less. No pressure, then."Together we can transform automotive transportation as we know it, and get our nation and the world past oil dependence and heading toward a future that is electric," said Jon Lauckner, GM's vice-president of global programme management. "We are focused on creating affordable, highly desired, vehicles that will take advantage of the grid, and on providing accessible, reliable, convenient, low-cost electricity to plug-in customers."

Child molester hasn't served single day of 43-year prison term

2008-07-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

For nearly two years, the South Florida middle school art teacher forced the boy to have sex in a classroom supply closet. Sometimes, Aaron Mohanlal would call in sick to work, take the boy to his home for sex and drop the seventh-grader back off at school at the end of the day. To keep the abuse secret, Mohanlal bought the 13-year-old a cell phone and created nicknames for their genitalia. When police arrested him, the teacher was caught on hidden video trying to destroy letters threatening the boy if he ever told. Last summer, a Broward County jury convicted Mohanlal of 13 counts, including child abuse, molestation and lewd battery, and a judge sentenced him to 43 years. But a year later, Mohanlal has yet to spend a day in prison. "I can't understand why he isn't behind bars," said the victim, now 18. The network is not disclosing his name because it doesn't identify sexual assault victims. "I want to move on with my life. I'm trying to graduate high school and forget about this," he said. "I try not to think about it, but it's hard, because all I can think about is, what if he's out there around other kids?"

The picture that shames Italy

2008-07-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

It's another balmy weekend on the beach in Naples. By the rocks, a couple soak up the southern Italian sun. A few metres away, their feet poking from under beach towels that cover their faces and bodies, lie two drowned Roma children.
The girls, Cristina, aged 16, and Violetta, 14, were buried last night as the fallout from the circumstances of their death reverberated throughout Italy.
It is an image that has crystallised the mounting disquiet in the country over the treatment of Roma, coming after camps have been burnt and the government has embarked on a bid to fingerprint every member of the minority. Two young Roma sisters had drowned at Torregaveta beach after taking a dip in treacherous waters. Their corpses were recovered from the sea – then left on the beach for hours while holidaymakers continued to sunbathe and picnic around them. It was the sort of tragedy that could happen on any beach. But what happened next has stunned Italy. The bodies of the two girls were laid on the sand; their sister and cousin were taken away by the police to identify and contact the parents. Some pious soul donated a couple of towels to preserve the most basic decencies. Then beach life resumed.

Drugs 'cause' higher death rate

2008-07-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

Scotland's higher death rate compared with England and Wales is partly down to greater drug use, a new investigation has suggested.

A Glasgow University study, published in the British Medical Journal, said a third of the additional deaths north of the Border resulted from drug abuse. Higher death rates have traditionally been blamed on deprivation. Scotland's death rate is 15% higher than in England and Wales and the gap has widened over the past 30 years.Glasgow University researchers, who studied more than 1,000 problem users starting treatment, said the problem in Scotland was proportionately twice as bad as that in England and Wales - but many drug-related deaths were not recorded as such. They included deaths associated with infections, assaults and suicides which could be linked to a drug-taking lifestyle, and which could account for much of the excess Scottish mortality rate.The researchers concluded that successful public health campaigns to cut the number of drug users would have a strong impact on deaths throughout the UK.

Food crisis looms in East Africa

2008-07-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

More than 14 million people in the Horn of Africa need food aid because of drought and rocketing food and fuel prices, the United Nations has warned.
The UN World Food Programme says it urgently needs $400m (£200m) to prevent starvation in the east African region. Ethiopia is worst hit, with 10 million people - some 12% of the population - in need of extra food supplies. Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti are also affected, along with northern parts of Kenya and Uganda.

Economic events outside Africa - which are driving up food and fuel prices - are exacerbating the crisis caused by a lack of water in the region.

Tight Security A Month From Earth Quake

2008-07-22T21:55:00.001-07:00

A month on from the Sichuan earthquake, Chinese officials have imposed tight security in some of the damaged areas, apparently to prevent protests.

Police in the city of Dujianyan stopped parents from holding a memorial ceremony at the rubble of a collapsed school where their children died. Journalists were told they were banned from the city, and some were detained. Parents have been demanding to know whether poorly-built schools played a part in the deaths of their children. Thousands of schoolchildren were among the 87,000 people killed or missing after the massive 12 May earthquake.Five million people also lost their homes, and officials estimate rebuilding work will take at least three years.

Engineer: We can use food waste to generate electricity

2008-07-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Nigerian civil engineer, Dr Joseph Adelegan for instance.
He firmly believes that the world's future fuel demands can be met through renewable energy. And he is using increasingly innovative methods to achieve these results. Three years ago Adelegan won plaudits for his "Cows to Kilowatts" project, which used effluents and waste products from abattoirs to produce cooking gas. The project was a winner of the prestigious 2005 Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and It is still going strong and being used to provide cooking fuel for nearly 6000 homes in Ibadan, southern Nigeria. Adelegan tells there are now plans to roll it out across most of Africa, including Zimbabwe, Kenya and Egypt.

'Allah meat' astounds Nigerians

2008-07-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

Diners have been flocking to a restaurant in northern Nigeria to see pieces of meat which the owner says are inscribed with the name of Allah.

What looks like the Arabic word for God and the name of the prophet Muhammad were discovered in pieces of beef by a diner in Birnin Kebbi. He was about to eat it, when he suddenly noticed the words in the gristle, the restaurant owner said.A search of the kitchen's meat revealed three more pieces which bore the names.
The meat was boiled and then fried before" being served, owner Kabiru Haliru told newspaper Weekly Trust.
"When the writings were discovered there were some Islamic scholars who come and eat here and they all commented that it was a sign to show that Islam is the only true religion for mankind."

Sea Lion Attacks Australian Girl

2008-07-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

A teenage girl has been attacked by a sea lion while surfing behind a speedboat off Australia's west coast.

"It actually lined her up. It jumped out of the water at her and hit her head-on ... it opened its mouth and grabbed her head.Ella Murphy, 13, suffered cuts to her throat, a broken jaw and lost three teeth when the mammal leapt out of the sea and mauled her.She is in a stable condition in a Perth hospital after having surgery.A marine scientist said attacks by sea lions were rare and it may have been trying to play with the girl. Sea lions can grow up to 300kg (660 pounds).

Dog Rescues Woman From Kangaroo

2008-07-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

An Australian woman has been saved by a pet dog which leapt to her aid after she was attacked by a large kangaroo, her son has said.

The marsupial assaulted Rosemary Neal, 65, at her farm near Mudgee in New South Wales, 265km (160 miles) north-west of Sydney, her son, Darren, said. "The kangaroo just jumped up and launched straight at her," he said. "My dog heard her screaming and bolted down and chased him off. If it wasn't for the dog, she'd probably be dead." Mrs Neal was taken to hospital with concussion and cuts to her face, hands and back, her son said.He added that the area had been overrun by kangaroos in recent years.Kangaroos are widespread across Australia. Most species are not considered aggressive toward humans.

Is world's wettest place getting drier?

2008-07-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

The town of Cherrapunjee, in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya, is reputed to be the wettest place in the world.

But there are signs that its weather patterns may be being hit by global climate change. "Not without reason has Cherrapunjee achieved fame as being the place with the heaviest rainfall on earth," wrote German missionary Christopher Becker more than 100 years ago. "One must experience it to have an idea of the immense quantity of rain which comes down from the skies, at times day and night without a stop. It is enough to go a few steps from the house to be drenched from head to foot. An umbrella serves no purpose."

But according to Cherrapunjee's most renowned weather-watcher, Denis Rayen, the climate of the town is changing fast.

First rule of wedding TV: it’s all about the bride

2008-07-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

Nuptial-themed programs provide something borrowed, something bitchy

It's remarkable how many people still labor under the illusion that weddings are simple, happy occasions. Doesn't anyone watch television? Doesn't anyone watch “Bridezillas”?
“Bridezillas” aired as a FOX special in early 2004, and has lived on as a WE show ever since. At first, it focused primarily on apparently normal women who became wildly overinvested in wedding planning. But in subsequent seasons, it's become a lunatic fringe free-for-all. Not content to snipe at wedding planners and photographers,the Bridezillas now shriek at family members, friends, members of the clergy, and whoever else stands between them and the weddings of their sweaty, fevered dreams.

Ten brides race to the altar in a contest to promote the fifth season of WE's "Bridezillas" on June 3 in New York's Times Square. "Bridezillas" is just one of many wedding-themed shows that shed a scary light on the nuptial process.

Al-Qaida senior leader grants rare TV interview

2008-07-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

In a rare move, one of al-Qaida's highest-ranking leaders has conducted an on-camera interview with a journalist and, in the process, called for the destruction of Pakistan's government. It was the first time since 2002 that any top al-Qaida official has taken the security risk of sitting down for an interview with a bonafide journalist.
Abu Mustafa al-Yazid, an Egyptian whom U.S. intelligence officials have identified as the al-Qaeda's third highest-ranking official, sat for an interview with Najeeb Ahmad, a reporter for Geo TV. Geo TV is a private Pakistani television channel. In the interview, Yazid, also known as Sheikh Saeed, called for the destruction of Pakistan's government which he said had "betrayed" the jihadis. Yazid swore that al-Qaida would recapture Afghanistan. And he reiterated al-Qaida's position that "all Americans, not just the American government" are the enemies of Islam.

The price of oil rises, closes above $131

2008-07-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Traders worry new Iran sanctions may escalate Middle East tensions

Oil prices rose Monday on a threat of new sanctions against Iran and as Tropical Storm Dolly headed into the Gulf of Mexico, prompting a hurricane watch for parts of Texas and Mexico.Light, sweet crude for August delivery added $2.16 to settle at $131.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was oil's first gain in a week.For drivers in the U.S., pump prices eased by a few pennies. A gallon of regular gasoline now sells for an average just shy of $4.07, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Diesel prices also pulled back, to an average of $4.818 a gallon.

Retail prices may decline even more in the coming days as gas station operators catch up to last week's four-day oil sell-off, which left crude more than $18 below the trading record of $147.27 it hit on July 11.

Tropical storm forms off Southeast coast

2008-07-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

Cristobal hits Carolinas with rain, surf but not likely to become hurricane.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Tropical Storm Cristobal formed off the Southeast coast Saturday — the first to threaten the United States this hurricane season. Gale-force winds and heavy rains were expected to lash the Carolinas as the storm grazed the shoreline on a northeasterly path.
At 5 p.m. ET, the center of the storm was about 125 miles east of Charleston, S.C., and about 225 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
With maximum sustained winds at 45 mph, it was moving toward the northeast at about 7 mph and was expected to hug the Carolinas’ coast during the next two days.

Africa's women last and least in food crisis

2008-07-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

Cultural expectations ensure women are hardest hit amid growing scarcity.

A pre-teen girl at the Goughin Market munches a piece of corn that she gets in return for helping man the family vegetable stand.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso - After she woke in the dark to sweep city streets, after she walked an hour to buy less than $2 worth of food, after she cooked for two hours in the searing noon heat, Fanta Lingani served her family's only meal of the day.
First she set out a bowl of corn mush, seasoned with tree leaves, dried fish and wood ashes, for the 11 smallest children, who tore into it with bare hands.
Then she set out a bowl for her husband. Then two bowls for a dozen older children. Then finally, after everyone else had finished, a bowl for herself. She always eats last.

The Six Worst Foods For A Bikini Body

2008-07-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

To avoid bloat and water retention at the beach, avoid these foods.

Eat This, Not That!Wouldn’t it be great if you could eat something before hitting the beach that would make you look and feel slimmer - instantly? Well, there’s no miracle food yet, but there are foods that can make you look and feel fatter in almost no time. And those are the foods you want to avoid right before you don your swimsuit. In fact, in a UCLA survey of 50,000 people, 64 percent of women and 50 percent of men said they were self-conscious about their weight. (There’s nothing more embarrassing than doing a cnnonball off the diving board and then having to refill the pool because you emptied it.

Why it matters Islamic Republic of Iran

2008-07-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

Iran has been a subject of much debate since the United States entered Iraq in 2003. Now that the country isn’t showing any signs of stopping its uranium enrichment, it’s an even bigger concern.

You should care because...Iran has approximately one-tenth of the world’s known oil reserves and more than one-tenth of the world’s natural gas reserves. It may also be creating nuclear weapons. The U.S. and Iran haven’t had diplomatic relations since the Iranian revolution in the 1970s. But the next president will surely need to address the threat Iran poses to the Middle East and to rising U.S. gas prices.

Breakthrough For Baby Miracle To Enter USA

2008-07-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

After weeks of attempts to get Baby Miracle Nanai to have treatment overseas, the USA has come to her rescue by granting today a visa for her to travel to Florida for treatment. Although the time for her departure has not yet been set the supporters of Baby Mircale Nanai have been elated by the decision today by the U.S. Embassy in Samoa to grant a visa for the her to go for treatment at the Miami Children's Hospital, where two top surgeons have offered their services for free.The breaking news on the visa for Baby Miracle Nanai has even made the headlines of the top US media like USA Today who have ran news items on the refusal by the New Zealand Immigration to grant a visa and how the US has made it now possible to Baby Miracle to have an opportunity to get treatment from top two surgeons in USA.

Malaria gene 'increases HIV risk'

2008-07-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

A gene which apparently evolved to protect people from malaria increases their vulnerability to HIV infection by 40%, say US and UK scientists.
People of African descent have a variation of the "DARC" gene which may interfere with their ability to fight HIV in its early stages. The Microbe study says the gene accounts for millions of extra HIV cases in sub-Saharan Africa. However, people with the gene appear to live longer with HIV than others.

"There has always been this myth that people in sub-Saharan Africa were more likely to get HIV because of differences in their sexual behaviour, or that they are more promiscuous ."

2008-07-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Mysterious Insect Baffles Experts have been baffled by the presence of an unidentified insect in parts of London.
The tiny red and black bug first appeared in the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Garden in March 2007. Since then it has become the most common insect in the garden and has also been spotted in Regent's Park and Gray's Inn.

2008-07-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

Water 'Widespread' on Early Mars Water was once widespread on Mars, data from a Nasa spacecraft shows, raising the prospect that the Red Planet could have supported life.

Researchers found evidence of vast lakes, flowing rivers and deltas on early Mars, all of which were potential habitats for microbes.They also discovered that wet conditions probably persisted for a long time on the Red Planet.

It wasn't this hot, boiling cauldron. It was a benign, water-rich environment for a long period of time.

Black And White Twins: Brothers From The Same Mother

2008-07-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Some things aren’t always black and white. Then again, sometimes they are – like the twin sons born July 11 to a German couple. The first baby, Ryan, has light skin and blue eyes. His brother, Leo, is dark skinned with brown eyes. "None of us could believe it," the maternity ward's head doctor, Birgit Weber, told one news source, "Both kids have definitely the same father."

" It was “a real surprise,” Gerth told the German newspaper Die Welt, adding that the most important thing to him isn’t color, but that everyone is healthy.

House Speaker Pelosi calls Bush ‘a total failure’

2008-07-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - President Bush has been a "total failure" in everything from the economy to the war to energy policy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. In an interview on CNN, the California Democrat was asked to respond to video of the president criticizing the Democratic-led Congress for heading into the final 26 days of the legislative session without having passed a single government spending bill.

2008-07-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

Grunting fish yield vocal clues

Grunting fish have helped scientists to date the origins of vocal sounds to about 400 million years ago.

Toadfish and midshipman fish use a variety of different sounds to attract mates and scare off rivals. Now US researchers have found that the area of a fish's brain that drives vocalization is extremely primitive.

Latest Little ThinkPad Delivers Big Performance

2008-07-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Bolstered by the new Intel Centrino 2 mobile platform, the all-new Lenovo ThinkPad X200 ultraportable notebook delivers better-than-average speed in a smaller-than-average package.

Online Fashion Boutiques: New Fashion Trend?

2008-07-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

What is good and what is bad about online fashion boutiques? Let's have a look using an example of a newly launched one...

The announcements and press releases say that "featuring the hottest and freshest fashions from top designers, http://www.shopadorabella.com/ officially “opened for business” this week, offering customers trendy, hard-to-find items, free shipping and fashion tips on “what’s hot”. The range of items is quite wide. The choice of fashionable items seems to reflect the season and pubic interest (closely correlationg with what we call fashion). The hope page is featuring Rachel Mara's new Bird Print Dress for summer. It is really stylish, and sure to inspire compliments wherever you wear it.

Cyclone Nargis Had All the Makings of a 'Perfect Storm'

2008-07-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

BANGKOK, Thailand — A cyclone with winds up to 120 mph. A low-lying, densely populated delta region, stripped of its protective trees.

When Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta and pushed a wall of water 25 miles inland, it had all the makings of a massive disaster."When we saw the (storm's) track, I said, 'Uh oh, this is not going to be good," said Mark Lander, a meteorology professor at the University of Guam. "It would create a big storm surge. It was like Katrina going into New Orleans."

Thousands At burials of Returned Israeli Soldiers.

2008-07-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Karnit Goldwasser, center, the wife of Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser, is comforted during her husbands funeral in a military cemetery in Nahariya, northern Israel, Thursday, July 17, 2008. Thousands of mourners gathered on Thursday in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya to bury Goldwasser, the first of two soldiers returned in a prisoner exchange with Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.

Former Stepfather of Dead Vermont Girl Indicted on Child Porn Charges

2008-07-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

SAN ANTONIO — The former stepfather of a 12-year-old Vermont girl found dead earlier this month was indicted Wednesday on child pornography charges.

A grand jury indicted Raymond Gagnon on charges of transporting child pornography in April 2007 and possessing a computer containing child pornography on July 1, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a release.The San Antonio man is the former stepfather of Brooke Bennett, who went missing June 25 and was found a week later buried in Randolph, Vt.

Airlines Face The Abyss

2008-07-17T07:09:00.001-07:00

A recent report predicts several major U.S. airlines will be forced to liquidate in the.

American Airlines jets line up a gates at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Wednesday, June 4, 2008 in Chicago. American Airlines will cut back flying later this year at many airports, including hubs in Dallas and Chicago, as it attempts to cope with record high fuel prices. The nation's largest carrier gave more details Wednesday about capacity reductions it announced last month. American said it will reduce departures at its Chicago O'Hare Airport hub by 28 flights and sister airline American Eagle would cut 34 flights, beginning in September.e coming months.

Israel's Lopsided Swap Criticized

2008-07-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

But military defends bringing every soldier back, no matter what the cost.

Critics of the prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas say that such deals only encourage more hostage-taking, but the military defends bringing soldiers back.

Migrant Criminal Network Exposed.

2008-07-16T16:20:00.001-07:00

A network of criminality in one of the UK's largest illegal immigrant communities is exposed by investigation.

Bus, train collide in Egypt, 31 killed

2008-07-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

37 people also injured in crash

CAIRO, Egypt - A train and bus collided in Egypt, killing 31 people and injuring 37, security officials said.
Earlier, a security official said the train plowed into three vehicles in a northern town. The incident took place Wednesday near the Mediterranean city of Marsa Matrouh, 270 miles northwest of the capital, Cairo, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Road accidents are very common in Egypt due to poor enforcement of traffic laws and bad roads. Police estimate traffic incidents kill about 6,000 people annually.

GM’s challenge: Automaker not known for cars

2008-07-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

After convincing consumers it is known for trucks, it must change business. Chevrolet plans to replace the clunky Cobalt small car, shown here, with the leek Cruze that is powered by a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that will allow it to get around 45 miles per gallon.

Terror Killer's Welcome

2008-07-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Samir Kantar, convicted of executing father and
4-year-old
daughter, gets hero's welcome from Hezbollah, which traded remains of Israeli soldiers.

The Scene of Double Shooting in Apparent Murder-SuicideBREAKING NEWS: Police say one man, one woman killed in apparent murder-suicide at St. Louis

2008-07-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Police say two people are dead after a man shot and killed a woman inside a St. Louis-area shopping mall, then turned the gun on himself. The murder-suicide happened near the Sears store on the lower level of the Jamestown Mall in Florissant, Mo. An eyewitness store owner told FOX News that there was no sign of any yelling or shouting before he heard the gunshots ring out. He saw a man shoot a woman he knows and then turn the revolver on himself. "I didn't hear any yelling — no loud talking or anything," said Marwin Adair, who said he didn't recognize the man. "I heard pow, pow! He wasn't really looking angry or crazy or anything like that. It's a big shock."
"We got several calls, obviously,"St. Louis County spokeswoman Tracy Panus told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When authorities got to the mall, they found that a man and a woman had been shot, Panus said.Names of the victims, and their relationship, have not been released.

Breakthrough 'In Malaria Fight

2008-07-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

Australian scientists have identified a potential treatment to combat malaria by pinpointing the process that helps the disease hijack red blood cells.

They have found the key to an adhesive that stops the parasite being flushed out of the body by the immune system. The removal of just one of these compounds is enough to bring the process to a halt. Researchers in Melbourne believe their discovery could be a major breakthrough in the fight against the disease. They have identified eight proteins that allow this glue-like substance onto the surface of a hijacked cell.

UK Mly Investigating 2003 Iraq Abuse Claim

2008-07-13T23:08:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 14, 2008

LONDON: British military police are investigating an abuse allegation after a newspaper reported an Iraqi youth claimed troops made him perform a sex act on another prisoner in 2003, the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.The Independent on Sunday said the youth claims he was forced to perform a sex act on another youth while the two were being held as suspected looters by British forces in May,2003 at a base in southern Iraq called Camp Bread Basket. Four British servicemen have already been jailed over photographs taken at the camp in the same month which showed troops beating prisoners who were tied up and forcing others to pose in sexually humiliating positions.

The Ministry of Defence said it had referred the latest allegation to the Royal Military Police.

"All but a handful of the more than 120,000 British troops who have served in Iraq have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behaviour, displaying integrity and selfless commitment,” it said in a statement.