Two new elements officially added to periodic table

NEW YORK: They exist for only seconds at most in real life, but they’ve gained immortality in chemistry: Two new elements have been added to the periodic table.

The elements were recognized by an international committee of chemists and physicists. They’re called elements 114 and 116 for now _ permanent names and symbols will be chosen later.

You’re not likely to run into any of this stuff. Scientists make them in labs by smashing atoms of other elements together to create the new ones.

‘‘Our experiments last for many weeks, and typically, we make an atom every week or so,’’ said chemist Ken Moody of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, who’s part of the discovery team.

In contrast to more familiar elements like carbon, gold and tin, the new ones are short-lived. Atoms of 114 disintegrate within a few seconds, while 116 disappears in just a fraction of a second, Moody said.

Both elements were discovered by a collaboration of scientists from Livermore and Russia. They made them by smashing calcium ions into atoms of plutonium or another element, curium. The official recognition, announced last week, cites experiments done in 2004 and 2006.

In the periodic table, the number of an element refers to the number of protons in the nucleus of an individual atom. Leading the list is hydrogen (H) with one. Sodium (Na) has 11, Iron (Fe) has 26, and silver (Ag) has 47.

Pakistan could have hosted Messi: PFF

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has lost an opportunity to host Messi’s Argentine football squad, which would be visiting India and Bangladesh, mainly because of poor law and order situation in the country, it was learnt on Wednesday.

The star-studded Argentine squad would visit Kolkata, India, on Aug 30 to play charity matches besides running a four-day football clinic for children.

The Argentine team would later proceed to Dhaka, Bangladesh, and test their mettle against Nigeria in a friendly encounter on Sept 6.

“The game’s governing body, FIFA, was very much willing to send such teams for the promotion of the sport in this country but the fragile law and order left us guessing,” secretary of the Pakistan Football Federation Ahmed Yar Lodhi told Dawn.

The sport in India and Bangladesh, he said, would definitely get a boost after the successful visit of the Argentine squad.

Lindsay Lohan wins restraining order against man

LOS ANGELES :Actress Lindsay Lohan on Wednesday won a two-year restraining order against a man she says sent her delusional phone text messages and left chocolates at her door.

The order by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Biderman came after Lohan had obtained a temporary restraining order against David Cocordan.

Lohan did not attend the court hearing on Wednesday because she was serving a home detention sentence for jewelry theft.

She is expected to be released around the end of June.

The 24 year-old star of the films “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday” said in court papers last month that Cocordan believed he was in a romantic relationship with her.

Lohan also accused him of contacting her with more than 100 unwanted phone calls and sexually explicit text messages since 2009.

Lohan, who was once considered one of Hollywood’s most promising actors, has barely been out of the news for four years due to repeated trips to jail and drug rehabilitation.

 

Next-generation Internet addresses tested

WASHINGTON: A worldwide test was under way on Wednesday of the next generation of Internet addresses designed to replace the dwindling pool of 4.3 billion unique identifiers in the original system.

Hundreds of companies, organizations and institutions around the world are taking part in “World IPv6 Day,” including Internet giants such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!

Internet Protocol version 6 is the new system of unique identifying numbers for websites, computers and other Internet-connected gadgets and is replacing the original addressing system, IPv4, which is nearing exhaustion.

IPv6 provides more than four billion times more addresses than IPv4 – more addresses, for example, than there are grains of sand on Earth.

The number of available IPv4 addresses will run out later this year and the transition to IPv6 is needed to keep pace with the explosive growth in Internet use.

US networking company Cisco forecast in a report released this month that the number of devices connected to the Internet will top more than 15 billion by the year 2015, more than double the world’s population.

Web users, for the most part, will be oblivious to the switch to IPv6 since an IP address such as 74.125.71.103, for example, will still appear in the address bar as google.com.

Google, which is enabling IPv6 on Google Search, Gmail, YouTube and other services, said “the vast majority (99.95 per cent) of people will be able to access services without interruption” during the IPv6 test, which began at 0000 GMT Wednesday and is to last for 24 hours.

Scotland eyes break from UK after nationalist victory

EDINBURGH: British politicians are drawing battle lines for a fight over the future of Scotland, where a nationalist victory in elections last month has dramatically increased the chances of independence.

With the resounding victory of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who won the first overall majority in Edinburgh’s devolved parliament since it opened in 1999, a referendum on independence many thought was unlikely will now go ahead.

Lawmakers at the Scottish parliament, a futuristic complex which sits incongruously on the edge of Edinburgh between the city’s historic tourist district and rolling hills, admit even they were surprised by the results.

“It was a bit of history,” Dennis Robertson, an SNP lawmaker who won a seat for the first time in the May 5 election, told AFP over coffee at the parliament.

“We never imagined that the majority was going to be as it turned out.”

Before the poll, the SNP headed a minority administration and did not have enough lawmakers to push through the necessary legislation to hold a referendum, meaning the idea of an independent Scotland still seemed fanciful.

But the nationalists’ haul of 69 seats in the 129-member legislature has paved the way for the referendum, setting up the biggest challenge to the 300-year-old union between Scotland and the United Kingdom for generations.

Australia set for major crackdown on spot betting

SYDNEY: Australia’s seven major sports want to be able to veto types of spot betting and have joined calls for 10-year jail sentences for gambling-related corruption.

Spot betting, where gamblers place wagers on sometimes relatively incidental elements of games such as no-balls in cricket or corner kicks in football, is considered the area of sports gambling most suspectible to corruption.

The problem was highlighted by the scandal involving three Pakistani cricketers on last year’s tour of England.

Sports gambling in Australia, worth A$2.8 billion ($3 billion) in 2008, is a major growth industry although there have been relatively few cases of corruption to date.

“Even the perception that something could be wrong is enough to undermine a sport’s public credibility,” Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said in a news release on Wednesday.

The veto proposal was contained in an Anti-Corruption Working Paper endorsed on Wednesday by the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports (COMPPS), which represents rugby (union and league), cricket, Australian Rules, soccer, tennis and netball.

The paper, brought together by former International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Malcolm Speed, had three main proposals.

Bangladesh teenagers drive outsourcing growth

DHAKA: Like many teenagers, Abdullah Al Zahid spends most of his time holed up in his bedroom in his family’s modest Dhaka apartment glued to his computer.

But Zahid, 16, is not checking Facebook or chatting to friends – he’s working as a freelance web developer, part of a new wave of young, tech-savvy Bangladeshis who are transforming their country’s nascent outsourcing sector.

“There is so much demand for outsourcing, I am struggling to cope. I have to turn down many, many job offers,” said Zahid, who earns around $1,000 a month from several outsourcing contracts and is his family’s main breadwinner.

“Many of my friends are interested in this work. I hope to set up my own office one day and hire other people like me to do more outsourcing,” said Zahid, who is still at school and wants to go on to university.

The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) estimates there are some 15,000 freelancers like Zahid in Bangladesh doing outsourced work for technology companies from across the globe.

The country also has some 500 registered IT outsourcing companies which collectively employ an additional 20,000 workers.

Economic survey uncovers pathetic picture of education

ISLAMABAD: More than half of all rural children in class five in Pakistan are at least three levels behind their grade in reading English and Urdu texts in schools, according to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2010-11.

“Overall percentage of rural children in class 5 reading a class 2 text in Urdu/Sindhi was 52 per cent while for the English text it was 42 per cent. This meant that more than half of all rural children in class 5 in Pakistan were at least three grade levels behind,” said one of the survey`s main findings on education.

It said 43 per cent of the government primary schools did not have safe drinking water and 55 per cent were without proper washroom facilities – problems that have tagged along for decades and not adequately addressed. The survey asserted that education was central to the “development strategy of an economy” playing a vital role in human capital formation.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) were quick to respond to the findings. “How long will we keeping hearing about problems that have existed for decades and not properly addressed,” said a senior FDE official.

Huge crowds mourn Bangladeshi pop idol

DHAKA: Tens of thousands of mourners gathered on Monday at a university in Dhaka to pay their last respects to Azam Khan, the country’s most famous pop star who died over the weekend.

Khan, 62, who also fought in the country’s liberation war against Pakistan in 1971, died on Sunday morning after a year-long battle with cancer, triggering an outpouring of grief in Bangladesh’s vibrant music world.

Khan shot to fame in the 1970s after he revolutionised the South Asian country’s staid music scene with pop and rock numbers that dominated charts through the 1980s.

Mourners flocked to a Dhaka hospital after news of his death broke and huge crowds congregated again on Monday at the Dhaka University campus to bid farewell to Khan, whose body was on display before being taken to a mosque.

Arab Spring hits NY Jewish theater

NEW YORK: The seemingly absurd struggles of the Middle East and the revolutions of the Arab Spring mingle on stage as the background to a new play by New York Jews about a love affair between a young Muslim woman and an Israeli secret agent.

“SAIDA: A Tunisian Love Story,” is the unlikely sounding title for what members at the Jewish Theater of New York see as a unique take on the turmoil in the region.

The theater, founded by playwright Tuvia Tenenbom, specializes in delicate religious, political and sexual questions, so it is suited to dealing with the combustible mix of love and Arab-Israeli politics.

“The play is an allegory for what is happening in Middle East. The woman, Saida, is obviously the Holy Land and after sixty years it’s a fight about stupidities,”

Tenenbom said, following a performance in the small Kraine Theater in Manhattan’s East Village.

The director, who comes from Tel Aviv and has had 16 plays performed in the Jewish Theater, said Arab-Israeli disputes are partly driven by influence from the United States and Europe, and partly because of obsessive local rivalries.

Laughing sarcastically, he summarizes the attitude as “’I want to have that just because you want to have that’” and, “’I will not kill you to get it because I want you to be alive to see how much you suffer when I have it.”

The play tells the story of how two secret agents – one a young Jew and the other an elderly, disenchanted Palestinian – tussle for the heart of Saida, whose father prefers a Muslim suitor for religious and, he thinks, economic reasons.

Investors demand more from reclusive Turkmenistan

AVAZA, Turkmenistan: Foreigners in Turkmenistan find no cash machines to withdraw money and cannot roam with their mobile phones while much basic economic data, such as the unemployment rate, remains a state secret.

Yet still the isolated but energy-rich ex-Soviet state is courting foreign investment and finds no shortage of interest in its vast natural resources.

There has been a lot of progress but Turkmenistan does not “have a full appreciation for the magnitude of the opportunity and the challenge that goes with it,” said Douglas Uchikura, the head of Chevron’s operations in Turkmenistan.

“There’s now a window of opportunity to accelerate a focus from recognising the potential to realising that potential,” he told a gas industry conference in the Turkmen resort Avaza on the Caspian Sea.

“The desired production growth will require a huge amount of capital investments,” he said, warning that for Turkmenistan to become a key supplier, it has to be able to compete in an already competitive gas market.

As a sign of Western interest in Turkmenistan, US giant General Electric opened an office in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat this month.

Michael-Dieter Ulbrich of Austrian oil firm OMV said: “The window of opportunity for TurkmenGas has never been more open than now but we need commitments.”

Some basic services are lacking. Internet access is notoriously expensive, nearly $7,000 per month for the fastest broadband connection.

Minimum capital requirement: 50pc banks in trouble: SBP

KARACHI: Many banks are failing to meet the Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) set by the State Bank as number of failing banks has reached nearly half of the total banks.

The State Bank in its recently issued performance review of the banking system revealed that 19 banks were facing failure to meet the MCR, reflecting the poor status of small and medium banks.

For the last couple of years, at least 10 banks kept struggling to meet the MCR, but failed and were solely dependent on State Bank`s favour as it has been extending deadline to meet the MCR.

“Data for paid-up capital of the banks (free of losses) reveals that 15 banks were falling short of MCR of Rs6 billion during the last quarter 2010,” said the SBP report.

“With MCR of Rs7 billion from Dec 31, 2010, 19 banks fell short of the enhanced MCR,” the report added.

Small and medium size bankers say the prevailing banking scenario is bleak for them as few banks have absolute monopoly and not leaving enough space for them to survive.

Due to global financial crisis local banks did not find investors or buyers from abroad which further weakened their financial health.

Were ancient human migrations two-way streets?

WASHINGTON: The worldwide spread of ancient humans has long been depicted as flowing out of Africa, but tantalizing new evidence suggests it may have been a two-way street.

A long-studied archaeological site in a mountainous region between Europe and Asia was occupied by early humans as long as 1.85 million years ago, much earlier than the previous estimate of 1.7 million years ago, researchers report in Tuesdays edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Early human Homo erectus is known to have occupied the site at Dmanisi later.

Discovering stone tools and materials from a much earlier date raises the possibility that Homo erectus evolved in Eurasia and might have migrated back to Africa, the researchers said _ though much study is needed to confirm that idea.

“The accumulating evidence from Eurasia is demonstrating increasingly old and primitive populations,” said Reid Ferring of the University of North Texas. Dmanisi is located in the Republic of Georgia.

“The recently discovered data show that Dmanisi was occupied at the same time as, if not before, the first appearance of Homo erectus in east Africa,” the team led by Ferring and David Lordkipanidze of the Georgia National Museum reported. They uncovered more than 100 stone artifacts in deep layers at the site. Previously, fossil bones from a later period had been found at the site.

The new discovery shows that the Caucasus region was inhabited by a sustained population, not just transitory colonists. “We do not know as yet what the first occupants looked like, but the implication is that they were similar to, or possibly even more primitive than those represented by Dmanisis fossils,” Ferring explained.

Youth’s murder: half-hearted efforts to bring killers to justice

KARACHI: More than 24 hours after a video footage showed Rangers personnel shooting to death from point-blank range an unarmed young man in Karachi, efforts made on Thursday to bring the perpetrators to justice appeared to be poorly coordinated, with the federal interior minister announcing the setting up of a joint investigation team, the chief of the paramilitary force declaring that an in-house inquiry board would be established and the police investigators still waiting for senior’s permission to initiate a process for determining the facts of the case.

The accused personnel, Rangers DG Major General Ejaz Chaudary said, had already been arrested by the paramilitary force after the video footage went on air and they would face an inquiry board headed by a brigadier.

“We have arrested all the six suspects, who were in the mobile deputed outside the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Park,” he told a group of media personnel. “In this particular incident, there was sheer negligence on the part of the Rangers officials. I would also tell you to get our inquiry completed. Once it’s over, every fact would be shared with you and people.”

He said the Rangers had the responsibility of maintaining peace in the city and they play their role in the line of their duty and opened fire only in self-defence.

“There is a negligence in this particular case and let me assure you that anyone found involved in our inquiry would face action in line with the defined laws,” he added.

Pakistan-born US businessman cleared of Mumbai role

CHICAGO: A US jury found a Pakistan-born Chicago man guilty Thursday of plotting an aborted attack on a Danish newspaper and aiding Pakistani extremists, but cleared him of any role in the 2008 Mumbai siege.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 50, faces up to 30 years in jail for helping the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) plan an attack on a Danish newspaper that sparked outrage by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

But the jury found there was insufficient evidence that Rana was involved in the Mumbai attacks that saw 166 people killed, even though a key figure described how he used Rana’s immigration service as a cover while conducting surveillance in India’s financial capital.

Prosecutors hailed the verdict, which Rana’s lawyers vowed to appeal.

“The message should be clear to all those who help terrorists – we will bring to justice all those who seek to facilitate violence,” said US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

David Coleman Headley, Rana’s old friend from military school in Pakistan, has been cooperating with prosecutors since his 2009 arrest at a Chicago airport and was the star witness during the closely-watched trial.

Women brave social barriers to join Afghan police force

KABUL: Married off at 12 years old to an abusive husband more than four times her age, Maryam wanted to join Afghanistan’s police force to help others avoid an all-too-familiar plight in a country where women’s voices often go unheard.

A mother of three, Maryam is one of the women who make up less than one per cent of Afghanistan’s National Police. They wear knee-length olive green skirts over thick trousers with navy hijabs.

The 22-year-old’s eyes light up when she talks about her job, one widely viewed in deeply conservative Muslim Afghan society as off-limits for women.

This sentiment is shared by her father, who has stopped speaking to her and moved out of the family home because she works in an office with men who are not relatives.

“I am serving my country, which needs kind, honourable and honest women who are able to solve specifically women’s problems. We need policewomen as well as men,” Maryam, who only gave her first name, told Reuters.

“With this job, you get to feel like a human being in this society. I love it,” she added, enthusiastically gesturing her manicured hands in a small room in the heavily barricaded Interior Ministry in Kabul, which has been repeatedly bombed in recent years by Taliban insurgents.

Tripoli rocked by blasts ahead of ‘post-Qadhafi’ talks

BENGHAZI, Libya: Loud explosions rocked Tripoli late Wednesday near the residence of Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi as global powers gathered for talks on mapping out a democratic future for the nation.
The first blast shook central Tripoli around 2000 GMT, followed 15 minutes later by a stronger explosion near a hotel housing foreign journalists.
Regime spokesman spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said Nato pounded the Libyan capital with more than 60 bombs on Wednesday, killing 31 people and causing dozens of injuries.
The explosions came after up to 3,000 Qadhafi troops attacked Libya’s third-largest city Misrata in a three-pronged movement from the south, west and east, rebel spokesman Hassan al-Galai told AFP by telephone from the city.
Misrata is the most significant enclave in western Libya captured by the rebels since the start of the uprising in mid-February as they battle to oust Qadhafi, who has ruled the north African nation for some four decades.
International powers were gathering for talks in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday to discuss the crisis in Libya, with the nation’s veteran leader having vowed never to surrender despite the Nato-led military campaign.

BMW to invest £500m in UK factories

BMW has announced a plan to invest £500m in UK car production over the next three years.

The money will help fund the production of the next generation Mini in the UK, safeguarding more than 5,000 jobs.
BMW's investment plan is the second major boost to the UK's motor manufacturing industry this week.
Its announcement came the day after Nissan said it would invest £192m and safeguard 6,000 jobs by building its next generation Qashqai here.
BMW's main facilities are its vehicle assembly plant in Oxford, the pressings plant in Swindon and the company's engine plant at Hams Hall near Birmingham.
The motor industry produces the country's most valuable manufactured exports, with £27bn worth of vehicles and parts going overseas in 2010.

BMW, which has already invested £1bn in the UK since 2000, exports BMW engines as well as Rolls-Royce and Mini cars to the tune of £2.4bn a year and thus accounts for about 1% of all goods exported by UK companies.

The UK automotive sector employs 300,000 people in manufacturing.
Later on Thursday the prime minister will host a meeting with the board of directors of the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association (ACEA) to discuss the growing confidence in the UK automotive industry.

Facebook sorry over face tagging launch

Facebook has apologised for the way it rolled-out a new system that recognises users' faces.

The social network said that it should have done more to notify members about the global launch.
Its Tag Suggestions feature scans photos and automatically picks out existing friends.
Although users have the option to switch it off, some complained that they were not explicitly asked if they wanted it activated.
Facebook said that the system was intended to speed up the process of assigning a name to a picture, known as tagging.
It was introduced in the US in December 2010 but has only now been launched globally.
Graham Cluley, senior consultant with security firm Sophos, said that users' annoyance was less about the product's purpose than the manner in which it was made live.
"Once again Facebook seems to be sharing personal information by default," said Mr Cluley.
"Many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about a site like Facebook learning what they look like and using that information without their permission."

Web giants promote new IPv6 internet address system

The biggest ever test of the internet's new address system is taking place.

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Bing and Facebook are among the companies switching-on IPv6 versions of their websites for the one day trial. The technology is gradually being introduced because the world is running out of older IPv4 addresses as more devices come online.
Companies and home users may need new networking equipment. However the transition is likely to take years.
World IPv6 day, on June 8, is partly a technical exercise by internet companies to see how the technology works, and partly an awareness-raising initiative.
For the small percentage of users already set up to access IPv6, they will be able to connect through the usual URLs - such as Google.com or Yahoo.com.
Behind the scenes, their browsers will be pointed to the new, much longer IP address.

Nintendo unveils new Wii console

Gaming giant Nintendo has been showing off its next-generation Wii game console, at the E3 games show in Los Angeles. The much-anticipated console, dubbed Wii U, comes with a controller that features a touchscreen and camera. The original Wii console was hugely popular but Nintendo has faced pressure from rivals with similar devices.

Nintendo hopes the new console will create a new genre of gaming.
Wii U will feature a set-top box similar to the first generation console.
But the 6.2-inch touchscreen controller comes with a front-facing camera as well as the more traditional buttons of a Wii remote and a motion detector.

It will broadcast high-definition video and can be used to make video calls and browse the web.

Privacy
In demos, the Japanese gaming giant showed off some of the things the controller will allow - including offering users a private screen to view gameplay information that is not shared on the big screen.
It will also allow users of games such as Wii Fit to weigh themselves and get a read-out via the controller rather than the TV.

Oil prices rise in after Opec holds oil production

The price of oil jumped after the Opec oil cartel failed to agree on increasing production, in an unusual show of tension between members. Analysts had expected the Vienna meeting to raise output, to alleviate fears of limited supply and send prices lower. Meanwhile, the latest statistics from BP showed that oil consumption rose by its fastest rate since 2004 last year.

On Thursday Brent crude rose 30 cents to $117.90 a barrel in Asian trade.
US light sweet crude was up 71 cents to $101.10 per barrel.
Opec row
"We are unable to reach consensus to... raise our production," said Abdullah Al-Badri, Secretary General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The organisation has 12 member nations.
The cartel's secretariat, based in Vienna, had predicted that rising consumption this year would drive demand above its supply.

Golden glow for London 2012 torch

The London 2012 Olympic torch will be a three-sided golden cone with the flame burning through its perforated shell. The prototype, created by east London designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, has been unveiled at St Pancras station. Made from an aluminium alloy, it is light enough to be carried by young people who are expected to make up half of the 8,000 torchbearers.

The 70-day relay will take in most of the UK ahead of next year's Games.
It will start at Land's End on 19 May and travel 8,000 miles before arriving at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July for the lighting of the cauldron at the opening ceremony.

London 2012 organisers say the torch will come within an hour's travelling time of 95% of the UK population and thousands of people are expected to celebrate along the route, with shows and concerts planned on 66 of the 70 days.

Afghanistan faces 2014 'cash crisis' when troops leave

Afghanistan faces a financial crisis when foreign troops leave in 2014, Democrats on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee have warned.

The two-year study by the committee's Democratic majority is to be released on Wednesday.
It calls for better use of the roughly $320m (£195m) in foreign aid the US spends every month in Afghanistan, with a focus on sustainability.
It concludes that misspent foreign aid can result in corruption.
It can also alter markets and undercut the ability of the Afghan government to control its resources.
"Afghanistan could suffer a severe economic depression when foreign troops leave in 2014 unless the proper planning begins now," the report says.
War-weary lawmakers
The State Department and the US Agency for International Development are spending about $320m (£195m) a month on foreign aid in Afghanistan, arguing that the money is an essential part of the campaign to win "hearts and minds".
Among the successes has been a sevenfold increase in the number of children attending school and gains in health care.

India's most highly prized artist MF Husain dies aged 95

One of India's most famous artists, MF Husain, has died in hospital in London at the age of 95, a source close to his family has said.

He had been unwell for several months.
Maqbool Fida Husain was India's most highly prized - and perhaps most controversial - painter and his work sold for millions of dollars.
His paintings of nude Hindu goddesses angered hardline Hindus who accused him of obscenity. He left India in 2006 and took up Qatari nationality in 2010.

Diving bell spiders use bubble webs "like gills"

Diving bell spiders only need to come up for air once a day, according to researchers.
The spiders are named for their sub aqua webs which they fill with air in order to breathe underwater.
Scientists studying the European arachnids measured oxygen levels inside and around an air bubble web.
They found that the bubble acts like a gill, extracting dissolved oxygen from the water and dispersing carbon dioxide.
The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Argyroneta aquatica live in ponds, pools and slow-moving streams across Europe and northern Asia.
They are the only spiders that live their entire lives underwater: mating, laying eggs and catching prey from their webs.
The silk webs are constructed amongst vegetation beneath the surface of the water.

To fill the "diving-bell" webs with air so they can breathe, the spiders use fine hairs on their abdomen to transport bubbles from above the water surface.

Scientists previously debated whether the spiders had to return to the surface regularly to replenish their air supply.

Drug makes hearts repair themselves

A drug that makes hearts repair themselves has been used in research on mice.

The damage caused by a heart attack had previously been considered permanent.
But a study in the journal Nature showed the drug, thymosin beta 4, if used in advance of a heart attack, was able to "prime" the heart for repair.
The British Heart Foundation described repair as the "holy grail of heart research", but said any treatment in humans was years away.
Due to advances in health care the number of people dying from coronary heart disease is falling.
But those living with heart failure are on the rise - more than 750,000 people have the condition in the UK alone.
Wake up
The researchers at University College London looked at a group of cells which are able to transform into different types of heart tissue in an embryo.

Brazil court rejects Italy bid for Battisti extradition

Former Italian militant Cesare Battisti has been released from prison in Brazil, after the Supreme rejected Italy's extradition bid.

Italy had appealed against a decision by Brazilian ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to deny extradition.
But the Supreme Court ruled that his decision did comply with a bilateral treaty.
Battisti, 56, had been convicted of four murders, charges he has always denied.
The nine Supreme Court judges voted 6-3 to refuse Italy's attempt to appeal, and ordered that Battisti should be freed.
"At stake here is national sovereignty. It is as simple as that," said Judge Luiz Fux, one of the nine.
Battisti was released from the Papuda maximum-security prison within hours of the ruling being delivered.
Expressing "great regret" at the decision, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said it "denies justice to the Italian people and in particular to Battisti's victims".

Vietnam and China hackers escalate Spratly Islands row

Computer hackers from Vietnam and China have launched campaigns against each other, targeting hundreds of websites including government sites, amid rising anger over a territorial dispute.

Chinese hackers posted Chinese flags on Vietnamese sites, and Vietnamese put images of armed men on Chinese sites. Both sides claim ownership of islands in the South China Sea.
On the weekend, hundreds of Vietnamese protested against Chinese naval operations in disputed waters.
Apprehension Relations between Vietnam and China have long been awkward, but public protests are extremely rare. The demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City followed a confrontation between a Vietnamese ship and Chinese patrol boats last month.

Hedge funds 'grabbing land' in Africa

Hedge funds are behind "land grabs" in Africa to boost their profits in the food and biofuel sectors, a US think-tank says. In a report, the Oakland Institute said hedge funds and other foreign firms had acquired large swathes of African land, often without proper contracts.

It said the acquisitions had displaced millions of small farmers.

Foreign firms farm the land to consolidate their hold over global food markets, the report said.

They also use land to "make room" for export commodities such as biofuels and cut flowers.

"This is creating insecurity in the global food system that could be a much bigger threat than terrorism," the report said.

The Oakland Institute said it released its findings after studying land deals in Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Mali and Mozambique.

'Risky manoeuvre'

Western-Arab talks to focus on Libya after Gaddafi

Western and Arab nations are to meet in the United Arab Emirates to discuss how events in Libya might develop if Col Gaddafi were no longer in power.

The so-called Contact Group is also expected to firm up its pledge to set up a fund to help the Libyan rebels.
The meeting comes as Nato intensified its air strikes on government targets in Tripoli.
Meanwhile, 14 rebels were reportedly killed in the city of Misrata as they tried to push back government troops. Health officials and a rebel spokesman said more than 20 others were wounded when government forces responded with heavy artillery fire.
In a separate development, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) said there was evidence that Col Gaddafi had ordered the rape of hundreds of women as a weapon of war against rebel forces.
And in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council is due to debate a report on alleged human rights violations allegedly committed by both government troops and the rebels.
'End game'

 

Orange Prize for Fiction awarded to Tea Obreht

The 25-year-old, who is the youngest author to scoop the honour, was praised by the judges as a "truly exciting new talent" for her "exceptional book".

Set in the Balkans, The Tiger's Wife tells the story of a young doctor who traces the life of her grandfather.

The £30,000 annual prize recognises the work of fiction written in the English language by women.

Born in the former Yugoslavia in 1985 and raised in Belgrade, Obreht emigrated to the United States in 1997. She was featured in The New Yorker's Top 20 Writers under 40 Fiction Issue and her debut novel was published in March this year.

"Obreht's powers of observation and her understanding of the world are remarkable," said broadcaster Bettany Hughes, chair of the judges.

"By skilfully spinning a series of magical tales, she has managed to bring the tragedy of chronic Balkan conflict thumping into our front rooms with a bittersweet vivacity.

"Obreht celebrates storytelling and she helps us to remember that it is the stories that we tell about ourselves, and about others, that can make us who we are and the world what it is," she added.

The other nominees were Kathleen Winter for Annabel, Grace Williams Says It Loud by Emma Henderson, Emma Donoghue's Room, Aminatta Forna's The Memory of Love and Great House by Nicole Krauss.

US author Barbara Kingsolver won the prize last year for her sixth novel, The Lacuna.

Previous winners of the prize, which has been running since 1996, include Helen Dunmore, Zadie Smith and Rose Tremain.

Archbishop of Canterbury criticises coalition policies

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that the government is committing Britain to "radical, long-term policies for which no-one voted". Writing in the New Statesman magazine, Dr Rowan Williams raises concerns about the coalition's health, education and welfare reforms. He said there was "indignation" due to a lack of "proper public argument".

A Downing Street spokesman said: "This government was elected to tackle Britain's deep rooted problems."

"It's clear policies on health, welfare and the economy are necessary to ensure we are on the right track," he added.

Dr Williams says the Big Society idea is viewed with "widespread suspicion". The article was written for the latest edition of the New Statesman, which Dr Williams has guest edited. The magazine will go on sale on Thursday and 'Plain fear' Talking specifically about the government's key health and education policies, Dr Williams said they were being introduced at a "remarkable speed".

"At the very least, there is an understandable anxiety about what democracy means in such a context," he said.

Who shot bin Laden? Former SEALs fill in the blanks

He is the unknown shooter. The nameless, faceless triggerman who put a bullet in the head of the world’s most notorious terrorist.

Yet there are clues, and the beginnings of a portrait can be pieced together from scraps gleaned from U.S. officials. A trio of former Navy SEALs — Eric Greitens, Richard Marcinko and Stew Smith — helped us fill in the blanks, drawing from their experiences to develop a kind of composite sketch of an elusive historic figure in real time.

He’s likely between the ages of 26 and 33, says Marcinko, founder of the elite “SEALs Team 6” — now known as DEVGRU — that many believe led the assault on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He’ll be old enough to have had time to hurdle the extra training tests required to join the elite counter-terrorism unit, yet young enough to withstand the body-punishing rigors of the job. The shooter’s a man, it’s safe to say, because there are no women in the SEALs. And there’s a good chance he’s white, though the SEALs have stepped up efforts to increase the number of minorities in their ranks, Marcinko and Smith say. A “positive thinker” who “gets in trouble when he’s not challenged,” Marcinko suspects, a man who “flunked vacation and flunked relaxing.”

Hit to India's rising democracy? Popular guru's anticorruption fast turns violent

India has made democratic advances in the past decade; it has a vibrant press, civil society, and an educated population. But it appears unsympathetic to peaceful protest.

The Indian government cracked down this weekend on peaceful supporters of one of the country's most popular yoga gurus after he announced he would lead a mass fast to protest against corruption rampant in the Indian government. The crackdown highlights what appears to be a disconnect in India's democratic advancements.

On Saturday night, police used tear gas and batons to break up a crowd of 60,000 supporters of Baba Ramdev in central Delhi, leaving at least 30 people injured. Authorities in the capital have also invoked for a week a British Raj-era law prohibiting public meetings of five or more people for the purpose of protest.

India has been rocked by a series of high-profile corruption scandals over the past year, some implicating the ruling Congress party and its allies. A growing anticorruption movement is starting to galvanize wide support, which has many looking to Mr. Ramdev to lead a Gandhi-type counter effort. But some have questioned his motives.

RELATED Worst countries on corruption

"I would hardly describe Ramdev as a Gandhian," says Nikhil Dey, an Indian social activist. He adds that Ramdev has laid out no plan on how to combat corruption other than grandiose pronouncements on the return of "black money" stashed in foreign bank accounts to India. Ramdev might be using Mahatma Gandhi's form of nonviolent protest to take a stand against corruption, but he is unlikely to inhabit the same position in the collective Indian psyche, he says.

The police raid Ramdev claims that during Sunday night's reportedly peaceful events, Delhi police dragged and beat his supporters, including hundreds of women and children, and that his stage had been set on fire.

The government says that because Ramdev had sought permission for a gathering of just 5,000 people for a yoga camp, police stepped in to disperse the crowds that they say posed a security risk.

During the raid, Ramdev fled his tent and attempted to evade police but was detained early on Sunday morning. He's now based at his sprawling ashram in Haridwar, northeast of New Delhi.

Popularity and suspicion

Degrees for the Next Decade

Find out which four degrees hold the most potential in the next decade.

By Chris Kyle


A lot can change in ten years. One career can explode in popularity while another can go cold.
Your degree, however, lasts forever, which is all the more reason to earn the right one.
[Click here to find the right college for you]
Yahoo! Education pored over employment projections through 2020 to determine what graduates with different degrees and educational backgrounds can expect from the job market over the next decade.
Keep reading for the degrees that rank highest in terms of employment opportunities through 2020.

#1 - Health Care Degrees

Love it or hate it, health care reform is creating many new, exciting positions in what is already the fastest growing sector of our economy. Factor in the aging population and demand for health care graduates has never been higher.
Top Degree Picks:
Medical Assistant
Nursing
Medical Technician
[Search for Health Care programs right now]

Six Quick-Start Careers

See how you could get into a hot career with just 1-2 years of education.

By Jennifer Berry
Are you feeling stuck in a job you hate? Floundering in a job search that isn't going anywhere?
Don't despair: a quick education program could provide the jolt you need to find the right career.
There is no time like the present to explore your options for going back to school. With many schools offering rolling admissions and even online instruction, it's never been easier to get started.
[Search for career preparation programs now]
With the right education, you could be prepared for a new career in just one to two years. That's a small investment in time that could reap big rewards over the length of your career.
Check out these six solid careers - and learn how you can prepare for them.

Career #1 - Human Resources Assistant

For a stable, rewarding career that you can prepare for quickly, consider a career in human resources. As a human resources assistant, you'll be responsible for maintaining important information about your organization's employees - like their earnings, health and life insurance plans, and tax withholdings.
Quick education: You can earn your associate's degree in human resources in two years. If you already have a bachelor's degree in another field, you can earn a certificate in human resources in just one year.
Good compensation: The average annual income for human resources assistants is $37,840. The top ten percent average at $53,160 a year.*

Taiwan computer makers plot against Apple

It’s the Disney of computer shows. The possibility of something once thought impossible coming true hangs above the maze of gaudy booths and dazzling displays of electronic gadgetry slated for to go on sale in the second half of the year.

There are tablet PCs with detachable keyboards – easier for typing than the usual touch screen – laptops with built-in speakers as powerful as an external setup and half-phone, half-computer handheld devices with 3D displays.

Tech firms from across the world come with showgirls to vie for the attention of corporate buyers, among the 36,000 people expected at the show. A fantasy fulfilled could be a lucrative deal to install microchips in a PC maker’s latest gadgets or finding a bulk buyer of portable computers designed for business use.

RELATED As Asia builds economic ties, Taiwan sidelined by China

The show, Computex Taipei, also serves another purpose: To demonstrate the growing depth and sophistication of Taiwan's high-tech industry. Taiwanese companies hope to show how far they've moved from the days when "Taiwanese electronics" meant contract manufacturing for overseas brands.

But for many Taiwanese vendors, this years Computex, which ended on June 4, was a disappointment. Their Silicon Valley rival Apple Computer had stolen the show.

Rather than enjoying the glitz and glam, Micro-Star International Vice President Henry Lu sat stoically, his necktie loose, in a private conference room pondering one question: What are we going to do about the iPad?

Just outside, his sales people were showing off the Taiwanese firm’s tiny tablet computers, barely one percent of the company’s overall notebook PC business. But Apple’s hot selling touch-screen tablets, the iPads, were getting most of the attention.

Is An MBA Right For You?

Thinking about going back to school to earn your Master of Business Administration (MBA)?
Looking at new employment numbers, there may be no time like the present.
A recent analysis of job placement data for 2009 and 2010 by U.S. News revealed that 75.7 percent of 2010 MBA graduates were hired within three months of graduation, up from 70.8 percent in 2009.
It's Time to Earn Your MBA. Find the Right Business School Now.
Think an MBA might benefit you? Join us as we explore seven MBA specializations that could help you climb the corporate ladder. In addition to required core courses, most business schools allow you to concentrate on one of these key disciplines:

• Business Administration
• Health Care Administration
• Management
• Human Resources (HR)
• Marketing/Communications
• Technology
• Accounting

Keep reading to see if one of these MBA specializations is right for you.

More universities than expected to charge top fees

The government could face a "substantial funding gap" for higher education after ministers underestimated the number of universities which will charge top fees, a report published on Tuesday said.

A government spending watchdog said more universities than expected were planning to charge the maximum £9,000 tuition fees from 2012.

As a result the government, which fund student loans to cover the fees, will face a shortfall of "several hundred million pounds", the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said.

It warned the funding gap could lead to further cuts in higher education and more taxpayers' money being spent on encouraging students from poorer backgrounds to apply.

Committee chairman Margaret Hodge, a Labour MP, said: "At present, more universities intend to charge higher fees than the Department for Business, Education and Skills had expected.

"If the universities' plans to widen participation are approved by the Office for Fair Access, this will leave a substantial funding gap which will either require further cuts in higher education or further resources from the Treasury."

Iranian women’s soccer team forfeits 2012 qualifier over head scarves

The Iranian women's soccer team was in tears after being forced to forfeit a 2012 London Olympics qualifying match this past weekend because it showed up to play in hijabs. FIFA banned the Islamic head scarf in 2007, saying that it could cause choking injuries -- the same reason it gave for recently banning snoods (neck warmers). FIFA also has strict rules against any religious statements in team uniforms.
Since Iran refused to comply with these rules and didn't use the specially designed caps that its 2010 Youth Olympics team wore, Friday's match was abandoned by officials and a 3-0 win was awarded to Jordan as a result. The Football Federation of Iran said it will complain to FIFA about the ruling, but FIFA says assurances were made beforehand so that this situation would've been avoided.

Emma Watson: 'I Wanted To Pretend I Wasn't As Famous As I Was'

"But they'll ask me, 'How are the Narnia films going?'" Jordan Strauss/WireImage The recent widespread reports that "Harry Potter" star Emma Watson left Brown University due to bullying were a bit hard to take. The 21-year-old seems pretty well-adjusted and easy-going and it seemed sad to think that mean-spirited taunts would derail her entire life.

So we feel relieved to find out that this was, in fact, not what led to Emma's departure.

"It made me so sad when all this stuff came out that I left Brown because I was being bullied. It made no sense at all. Brown has been the opposite. I've never even been asked for an autograph on campus. I threw a party for nearly 100 students and not a single person put a photo on Facebook," she told the Sunday Times Style Magazine.

The 5 Biggest Exercise Myths

Did you answer 3 and 10? Of course you did. It’s the Pavlovian response. After all, anyone who’s ever picked up a dumbbell knows that doing 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise is the quickest way to build muscle.
Except it’s not. In fact, it’s the quickest way to get nowhere with your workout routine, says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., a long-time Men’s Health fitness advisor.
Truth is, today’s most sacred exercise guidelines originated in the ’40s and ’50s, a time when castration was a cutting-edge treatment for prostate cancer, and endurance exercise was thought to be harmful to women. Worse, so-called fitness experts across the country are still spewing these same old conventional wisdoms, despite plenty of research indicating that they (the experts and the wisdoms) aren’t wise at all.
Chances are, these are the rules you exercise by right now. And that means your workout is long past due for a 21st-century overhaul. We asked Mejia to do just that. Here are the five muscles myths he most commonly hears. Hopefully, we're about to bust them for good.
BONUS TIP: Get back in shape—and stay lean for life! Check out our list of the 100 Best Fitness Tips Ever!

Texas movie theater makes an example (and a PSA) of a texting audience member

Ever been annoyed by a loud-talking patron at a film? Had that nail-biting darkened hallway scene ruined by someone turning on their phone to send a text? Well, one Texas theater has your back.

Alamo Drafthouse, a local chain of dine-and-screen movie theaters in Austin, Texas, has long waged a war against impolite moviegoers. And the latest customer to object to their firm rules against talking and texting during an evening out has become the unwitting star of a PSA released by the company on Monday.
According to Tim League, the Drafthouse's founder, the woman in question was warned twice about texting during a screening, and then, in accordance with company policy, was escorted out without a refund. "I don't think people realize that it is distracting," League told The Lookout. "It seems like nothing, but if you spend as much time as I do at the movies, you realize the entire theater sees it and it pulls you out of the movie experience. It's every bit as intrusvie as talking."
However, the determined texter was not about to let the matter rest. She called up the Alamo Drafthouse and left a profanity-laced (and perhaps slightly inebriated) message decrying the theater's policies. "Yeah, I was wondering if you guys actually enjoy treating your customers like a pieces of sh*t," she opened, "Because that's how I felt when I went to the Alamo Drafthouse!"
"So excuse me for using my phone, in USA magnited States of America" she raged, "where yer-you are free to text in a the-a-ter!"

Juarez top cop offers results by December

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – The new police chief in Mexico's deadliest city says bringing crime down and cleaning up the police force should be much easier than it was in Tijuana, where he spent three years as the top cop.
Julian Leyzaola, 51, took the Juarez job in March, and he predicted during an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that residents will begin seeing results in six months.
He said that what he learned in calming Tijuana will help him do the same faster in this city across the border from El Paso, Texas. With more than 3,100 homicides last year, Juarez is one of the deadliest cities in the Western Hemisphere.
Leyzaola, a retired army lieutenant colonel, has started a purge of the police ranks. So far, 160 officers have either quit, been fired or arrested, and he predicted that a total of 400 officers will be dismissed this year.
His pacification strategy for the city includes taking over one neighborhood at a time with overwhelming police force to drive out criminals.
"We will harass them. They will see us everywhere, even in their soup," Leyzaola said. "When there is a murder, it won't be one unit that responds, there will be 30."

Syrian mutiny, loss of town shows cracks in regime

BEIRUT – A deadly mutiny of Syrian soldiers and loss of control over a tense northern town appeared to show extraordinary cracks in an autocratic regime that has long prided itself on its iron control.
Details about the events in Jisr al-Shughour remained murky on Tuesday. The government said 120 forces were dead, without explaining the enormous loss of life, and acknowledged losing "intermittent" control of the area.
But the reports Tuesday from residents and activists — and the television appearance of a soldier who says he switched sides after his hometown was bombarded — were the clearest sign yet that the weekly protests of thousands of Syrians are eroding President Bashar Assad's grip.
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe of France, Syria's former colonial ruler with whom Assad maintained good relations, said the president had lost his legitimacy to rule. British foreign secretary William Hague said Assad must "reform or step aside."
France, Britain, Germany and Portugal have circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would condemn Syria for its killing and torture of peaceful protesters and demand an immediate end to the violence. But veto-wielding Russia has voiced opposition.

10 Most Expensive Private Colleges

When many think of the most expensive schools in the nation, top ranked institutions such as Harvard University and Williams College likely first come to mind. While tuition and required fees cost about $40,000 annually at each school, neither is amongst the top 10 most expensive private universities.

Connecticut College, ranked 41st in U.S. News's rankings of national liberal arts colleges--schools that award the majority of their degrees in the liberal arts and emphasize undergraduate education--reported the highest tuition and required fee costs in the nation among private colleges for the 2010-11 school year. In all, tuition and required fees at Connecticut cost $43,990, and the total cost of attending the school is even more, as that figure does not take into account books, housing, and living expenses.

[See the 10 private colleges with the lowest tuition and fees.]

Of the top 10 most expensive private schools, seven were liberal arts colleges, while two--Columbia University and Carnegie Mellon University--are national universities (schools that offer degrees of every level and emphasize research). Bard College at Simon's Rock in Barrington, Mass., which costs $41,990 annually, is ninth on the list and falls under the regional college category because it focuses on undergraduate education but grants fewer than 50 percent of its degrees in the liberal arts.

The average combined total for tuition and required fees in the 2010-11 school year was $42,604 among the 10 most expensive private schools, compared to an average of $26,079 among the 817 private schools that reported the data to U.S. News.

As China rises, Asia eyes better channels for security talks

Despite a proliferation of global summits, the annual Shangri-La Dialog that ended Sunday in Singapore has become an essential stop for military chiefs in Asia and beyond. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on his final Asian tour, addressed the forum, as did his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie, who defended China’s military buildup.

But the forum’s success is partly a reflection of the creaky foundations for security cooperation in Asia. Organized by the Institute for International Strategic Studies in London, the Shangri-La Dialog has become an unofficial gathering of Asia’s top brass and intelligence officials and those of outside powers like the US, Britain, and Russia. Mr. Gates and Mr. Liang held a bilateral meeting, one of several conducted on the sidelines.

Security analysts point out, however, that Asia still lacks an effective forum for multilateral diplomacy on regional security issues, such as the disputed South China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear proliferation. A lack of a such a forum could make it more difficult to head off conflicts in a region with rapidly expanding militaries and unsettled political conflicts.

Think you know Asia? Take our geography quiz.

Yemen's Saleh's injuries more serious: U.S. official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh was injured much more seriously than first reported in a weekend rocket attack on his palace, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, raising further questions about his continued rule.

Saleh, who is receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, was initially said to have received a shrapnel wound, and his vice president was quoted on Monday as saying the president would return to Yemen within days.

But the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saleh was in more serious condition than that, with burns over roughly 40 percent of his body.

Saleh's injuries raise fresh questions about the future of Yemen, where battles between pro- and anti-Saleh forces have raised the specter of a civil war in a nation that is home to one of al Qaeda's most potent affiliates.

The latest development also could help with a push by the United States and Saudi Arabia to ease the 69-year-old ruler from power in an effort to stabilize Yemen after months of anti-government protests. He has been in power for nearly 33 years.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Monday for Yemen's government to begin a political transition during Saleh's absence.

In the capital Sanaa, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Yemeni vice president's residence on Tuesday, demanding the acting leader for Saleh form a transitional council to create a new government.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball in London; Writing by Warren Strobel; Editing by Will Dunham)

Titanic II sinks in harbour on maiden voyage

Boats gather for a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the launch of the Titanic, …

Most people would think twice before buying a boat named Titanic II. And sure enough, when Briton Mark Wilkinson took the 16-foot (4.8-metre) cabin cruiser out for its maiden voyage, it promptly sank.

"If it wasn't for the harbourmaster I would have gone down with the Titanic," Wilkinson, who had to be fished out of the sea at West Bay harbour in Dorset, told local media.

"It's all a bit embarrassing and I got pretty fed up with people asking me if I had hit an iceberg."

Wilkinson, in his 40s, had only recently bought the boat and brought it by road from his home in Birmingham for its first outing.

After a successful fishing trip, things started to go wrong when he entered the harbour and the boat began taking on water. Wilkinson was forced to abandon ship and pictures showed him clinging to a rail before he was rescued.

One eyewitness said: "It wasn't a very big boat -- I think an ice cube could have sunk it!"

Mutinous Syrian soldiers behind deaths in north

BEIRUT (AP) — Mutinous Syrian soldiers joined forces with protesters after days of crackdowns in a tense northern region, apparently killing dozens of officers and security guards, residents and activists said Tuesday.

The details of what happened in Jisr al-Shughour remain murky, but if confirmed the mutiny would be an extraordinary crack in the regime, which sees its 40-year grip on the country eroded weekly by thousands of protesters calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

The government said 120 troops and police died after "armed groups" attacked in Jisr al-Shughour, but has not explained how the heavily armed military could suffer such an enormous loss of life. Communications to the area are spotty, foreign journalists have been expelled, and many people reached by phone are too afraid to talk.

Malaysia 'obedient wives' club: Good sex is a duty

RAWANG, Malaysia (AP) — As a new bride, 22-year-old Ummu Atirah believes she knows the secret to a blissful marriage: obey her husband and ensure he is sexually satisfied.

Ummu and some 800 other Muslim women in Malaysia are members of the "Obedient Wives Club" that is generating controversy in one of the most modern and progressive Muslim-majority nations, where many Muslim Malaysian women hold high posts in the government and corporate world.

The new club, launched Saturday, says it can cure social ills such as prostitution and divorce by teaching women to be submissive and keep their men happy in the bedroom.

"Islam compels us to be obedient to our husband. Whatever he says, I must follow. It is a sin if I don't obey and make him happy," said Ummu, who wore a yellow headscarf.

The club, founded by a fringe Islamic group known as Global Ikhwan, has been dismissed by politicians and activists as a throwback to Medieval times and an insult to modern women of Malaysia. But the group's activities, which previously included the setting up of a Polygamy Club, show that pockets of conservative Islamic ideas still thrive in Malaysia.

Saving monarch butterflies stirs the 'poetical soul' of Homero Aridjis

Drug wars make headlines. Butterflies do not. Yet even as the drug-related violence in Mexico continues seemingly unabated, each year millions of monarch butterflies perform a mysterious and incredible feat overhead.

Every fall they propel themselves from the United States and Canada to a patch of high forest in central Mexico – and then back in the spring. It's not clear how they find their way, or how long they have been at it.

But what is clear is that they are under threat.

RELATED: Are you saving the planet or just showing off? Take our quiz.

Homero Aridjis, arguably Mexico's most prominent and articulate defender of the monarch butterflies, says standing up for them has been the "environmental cause of my life."

Mr. Aridjis literally grew up with the beautiful orange-and-black insects, climbing the hills in his native Michoacán State as a boy to see them "explode from the tree branches when the sun hit them," he says.

He also has been a pioneer defender of the environment in general, raising public awareness and speaking out with the authority of an award-winning poet and novelist on everything from sea turtles to gray whales to air pollution in Mexico City.