Hong Kong boat crash off Lamma Island kills 36

One of the boats was carrying more than 120 people to a fireworks display when it half-sank following Monday night's collision near Lamma Island. Twenty-eight people were pronounced dead at the scene. About 100 others have been taken to hospital, eight of whom were later said to have died.A large-scale air and sea search for survivors is still continuing.

A Hong Kong government statement said: "Over 100 people were sent to five hospitals during the incident; nine of them have sustained serious injuries or are in critical condition."

Rescue work would continue, the statement added, because the fire department could not rule out that there were still people inside the vessel or missing.

The collision occurred during a busy period for passenger travel in Hong Kong, at the end of a long holiday weekend to mark the mid-autumn festival that this year coincides with China's National Day on 1 October. Power company Hong Kong Electric has confirmed to the BBC that it owned the boat which sank. It was taking staff and family members to watch National Day fireworks in Victoria Harbour.

The vessel and another boat - reportedly operated by Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry - collided, causing the HK Electric vessel to list, a company official was quoted as saying. The other boat reportedly had about 100 people on board. It was slightly damaged in the crash but returned safely to port, according to Radio Television Hong Kong. A number of passengers on board were treated for minor injuries.

Fish size may shrink by 24% as oceans get warmer

Global warming may shrink fish species in size by up to 24%, with the largest decreases in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, scientists have warned. Researchers from the University of British Columbia modelled the impact of rising temperatures on more than 600 species between 2001 and 2050. The scientists argued that failure to control greenhouse gas emissions will have a greater impact on marine ecosystems than previously thought.

Warmer waters could decrease ocean oxygen levels and significantly reduce fish body weight. Previous research has suggested that changing ocean temperatures would impact both the distribution and the reproductive abilities of many species of fish. This new work suggests that  fish size would also be heavily impacted.

The researchers built a model to see how fish would react to lower levels of oxygen in the water.

iPhone 5 camera complaints flood Apple

Users of the new Apple iPhone5 have bombard the US tech giant with complaints over a flaw in the phone camera that gives images a 'purple haze'.
Users are reporting that images taken on the camera are ringed with a 'purple haze' on any image containing a bright light.

The issue adds to a number of criticisms with the new phone, including light 'bleeding' from the edge of the screen, some phones rattling due to loose internal components, and the removal of Google Maps in favour of Apple's seemingly unfinished in-house Map app.

According to the Daily Mail, some users hope this is a software bug that can be fixed with an update.
 But some blame the sapphire crystal lens, in which case a fix would be unlikely without a product recall.According to the report, some users have taken images of the same location with the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 to highlight the drop in image quality.

Suzuki Motorcycle sales up nearly 32%.

Two-wheeler maker Suzuki Motorcycle India today reported 31.53 per cent increase in its sales at 38,267 units in September.

The company had sold 29,094 units in the same month last year, Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) said in a statement.

Commenting on the sales growth, SMIPL Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Atul Gupta said: "We have received a good response from the market for all our products. The growing customer satisfaction has led to positive word-of- mouth in the market."

Protein can kick-start male fertility.

The team from Cardiff University's School of Medicine first found that sperm transfers a vital protein, known as PLC-zeta (PLCz), to the egg upon fertilisation. Then it initiates a process called 'egg activation,' which switches on all the biological processes necessary for development of an embryo.

The team has found that eggs that don't fertilise because of a defective PLCz, as in some forms of male infertility, can be treated with the active protein to produce egg activation. The added PLCz kick-starts the fertilisation process and significantly improves the chance of a successful pregnancy.

"We know that some men are infertile because their sperm fail to activate eggs. Even though their sperm fuses with the egg, nothing happens," said Tony Lai, professor at Cardiff, who with professor Karl Swann, led the team at Cardiff University's Institute of Molecular and Experimental Medicine and funded by the Wellcome Trust, according to a Cardiff statement.

"These sperm may lack a proper functioning version of PLCz, which is essential to trigger the next stage in becoming pregnant," Lai added. "What's important from our research is that we have used human sperm PLCz to obtain the positive results that we had previously observed only in experiments with mice," Lai said.

"In the lab we have been able to prepare human PLCz protein that is active. If this protein is inactive or missing from sperm, it fails to trigger the process necessary for egg activation the next crucial stage of   embryo development," Lai said.

Floods, landslides displace 1 million in India; 33 dead

At least 21 people were killed in landslides and another eight were missing in the mountainous state of Sikkim, said state government spokesman A.S. Tobgay.In Assam, still recovering from deadly floods that hit the tea-growing state in July, eight people were killed and 20 were missing.

Floods displaced nearly one million in that state alone, and many were now sheltering in camps or beside roads, which tend to be built above the land they pass through, a senior official in Assam's disaster management authority said.Four people were buried and killed in mudslides in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The military and federal disaster response teams have launched operations to move people to higher ground by helicopter or in rubber boats. Nearly 100 shelters have been opened to accommodate the displaced.In July, at least 110 people were killed and more than 400,000 people were left homeless in Assam during floods which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said were among the worst in recent times.

Over the past 60 years, successive governments have built levees along most of the Brahmaputra, which is Assam's main river and is fed by Himalayan snow melt and some of the world's heaviest rainfall.But experts say the embankments are not only poorly maintained but are a discredited form of flood management.Floods have inundated three national parks in Assam including Kaziranga National Park, where two-thirds of the world's Great One-horned Rhinoceroses live. Some animals have been forced out of the park to nearby hills.

Five Indian Americans among Forbes 400 richest

Five Indian-Americans figure in the Forbes magazine's annual list of the richest people in America with Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates  retaining his top spot with $66 billion, up $7 billion from 2011.

He is followed by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Warren Buffett (No. 2) with $46 billion, also up $7 billion from last year, and Oracle Corp's Larry eEllison (No. 3) with $41 billion, up $8 billion - and the biggest dollar gainer this year. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been pushed down in the rankings to the no. 36 spot with his estimated net worth falling by about $8 billion to $9.4 billion since Facebook went public in May.

The Indian-Americans' list is topped by Bharat Desai and family with a net worth of $2 billion in the 239th place. Kenya-born Bharat Desai started as a programmer for Tata Consultancy Services, only to leave the company four years later to start Syntel with his wife. Next comes Romesh T Wadhwani (No. 250), founder and chairman, Symphony Technology Group, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. Landing in the US with only a few dollars in his pocket, he developed business software firm Aspect Development. Today his portfolio includes more than 10 different enterprise software companies.

Third on the Indian-American list is Kavitark Ram Shrirm (No. 298), managing partner, Sherpalo Ventures, with a net worth of $1.6 billion. He was one of the first people to write a check to Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1998. Next comes Indian-born Manj Bhargava (No. 311) with a net worth of $1.5 billion. His two-ounce caffeine and vitamin elixir, 5-Hour Energy, promises to keep users alert without crashing -- and claims a 90 per cent-plus market share in the energy shot sector

Last on the Indian-American list is Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla  (No. 328) with a net worth of $1.4 billion. With a firm belief that the future lies in developing cleaner energy sources, the Khosla Ventures founder was a big backer of biofuel producers Kior and Gevo, both of which went public in 2011, according to Forbes.

Daily dose of walnuts boost sperm quality.

According to a new study by UCLA  researchers, eating 75 grams of walnuts a day improves the vitality,motality and morphology of sperm in healthy men aged 21 to 35. Dr. Wendie Robbins and her colleagues at the University of California,Los Angeles decided to investigate whether increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which are critical for sperm maturation and membrane function, would increase sperm quality in men consuming a Western-style diet.

The best sources of dietary PUFAs in a Western-style diet include fish and fish oil  supplements, flax seed, and walnuts, the latter of which are rich sources of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a natural plant source of omega-3. With support by the California Walnut Commission, Dr. Robbins' team selected 117 healthy men between the ages of 21 and 35 who ate a Western-style diet and split them into two groups: one (58 men) who would avoid eating tree nuts and another (59 men) who would eat 75 grams of walnuts per day.

Previous studies had indicated that 75 grams of walnuts would be a dose at which blood lipid levels would change, but at which healthy young men would not gain weight. Before the experiment began and then again 12 weeks later, the men's semen quality was analyzed according to conventional parameters of male fertility, including sperm concentration, vitality, motility, morphology, and chromosome abnormalities.

After 12 weeks, the team found no significant changes in body-mass index, body weight, or activity level in either group. The men consuming walnuts, however, had significantly increased levels of omega-6 and omega-3 (ALA) fatty acids and experienced improvement in sperm vitality, motility, and morphology.

Those eating walnuts also had fewer chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm following the walnut dietary intervention.The control group, on the other hand, experienced no changes. Although this research indicates that eating 75 grams of walnuts per day can positively affect a young man's sperm quality, it is still unknown whether the benefits would apply to young men with fertility problems and whether they would actually translate into increased fertility.

Purple corn helps cure diabetes, kidney disease

A compound found in Purple Corn may helo in developing future treatments for Type 2 diabeted and kidney disease, scientists have said.Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most serious complications related to diabetes, often leading to end-stage kidney disease.

Purple corn grown in Peru and Chile is a relative of blue corn, and is rich in anthocyanins (also known as flavonoids), which are reported to have anti-diabetic properties.

Scientists from the Department of Food and Nutritionand Department of Biochemistry at Hallym University in Korea investigated the cellular and molecular activity of purple corn anthocyanins (PCA) to determine whether and how it affects the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN).

Their findings suggest that PCA inhibits multiple pathways involved in the development of DN, which may help in developing therapies aimed at type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to receive US Congress award

US lawmakers are setting aside party differences as they honor Myanmar democracy leader Aung n Suu Kyi with the highest award of US Congress.

The Nobel Peace laureate's struggle against military rule in Myanmar is one that Democrats and Republicans have united in championing over the years. Her landmark visit to America offers a poignant opportunity to present the Congressional Gold Medal that she was awarded in absentia in 2008 when she was still under house arrest in her country.

She will receive the medal on Wednesday and will also meet with House and Senate leaders. Secretary of state Hilary Rodham Clinton also will attend the ceremony, to be held in the Capitol Rotunda.

26 killed in Mexico pipeline fire

At least 26 people were killed when a Mexican pipline exploded and caught fire at a gas plant near the US border on Tuesday.

 

The accident has also injured many others in the worst accident in just two years for the state-run Pemex energy firm.TV images have shown tall flames and plumes of smoke billowing from the gas plant, which is located near Reynosa, a city located in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, which sits across from the Texas town of McAllen. The company stated on Twitter that:“Regrettably, the number of workers who died in this morning’s accident in Tamaulipas rose to 26.”

The death toll more than doubled on Tuesday evening from the 10 deaths that were reported earlier on. The company added that four of those dead were Pemex workers, while the other 22 people were contractors.They did not report any injuries, but a Red Cross worker let reporters know that 40 people were taken to a hospital, with more than half suffering from first- and second-degree burns.
The fire is the third incident at a Pemex facility in a little over a month.Workers immediately shut off pipeline valves while firefighters worked to spend two hours extinguishing the blaze.

Pipelines that carry gas and diesel in Mexico are often tapped by thieves looking to steal what they carry. There have been several oil spills and explosions as a result, although thieves rarely target gas pipelines.Authorities blamed oil thieves for an oil pipeline explosion in a central Mexico city that killed 28 people, including 13 kids, in December 2010. The blast scorched homes and burned people, affecting 5,000 residents in just a six mile area.
 

Yemeni protesters storm US embassy in Sanaa.

Yemeni protesters, angry over a film mocking Islam, on Thursday stormed the complex of the US embassy in Sanaa, defying efforts by riot police to hold them at bay, an AFP correspondent said.Protesters torched a number of diplomatic vehicle as security forces used water cannons and warning shots in a bid to drive them out.

Police had earlier fired warning shots to disperse few thousands of protesters as they approached the main gate of the mission."O, Allah's messenger... O, Mohammed," protesters chanted.The attack comes two days after four Americans including the ambassador were killed when a Libyan mob attacked the US consulate in Benghazi, and protesters in Cairo tore down the Stars and Stripes and replaced it with a black Islamic flag.

The low-budget movie, "Innocence of Muslims" in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.It pokes fun at the Prophet Mohammed and touches on themes of paedophilia and homosexuality, while showing him sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as "the first Muslim animal."

Hair stylist killed by 3 gay partners

Police claimed to have cracked the murder of well-known hair stylist Bimal Gurang, the brand ambassador of a French cosmetic company, saying he was killed at his Ber Sarai house in south Delhi by three youths whom he had picked up for sex. In a case that has shades of the 2004 Pushkin Chandra murder, Gurang's naked body was discovered early on September 6 after neighbours complained of a foul smell from his house.

Police on Wednesday said the three accused killed Gurang on September 5 with an intention of robbing the house. Gurang was allegedly strangled during a sexual romp. The three accused  Nand Kishore, 24, Dalip Sharma, 27, and Pradeep Kumar, 24 have been arrested.

"One of them, Nand Kishore, had sexual relations with Gurang earlier and would get paid for it," said Chhaya Sharma, DCP (South). Kishore and Kumar were in jail till 2010 for the murder of a Dwarka-based businessman. Kumar had surrendered two days back in a bike theft case to mislead the cops.

300,000 tourists flock to terror-hit Swat valley.

A staggering 300,000 tourists from across the country have visited the picturesque yet terror-ravaged Swat valley in northwest Pakistan since the beginning of Eid, a media report said on Tuesday. Officials and residents said that during this period not a single act of violence took place in the valley, known for its archaeological sites of Gandhara civilisation and scenic hamlets.

It was in 2008 that the Taliban gained control in the area and parts of Kohistan, Dir and Malakand which were main tourist spots. The areas had then presented a deserted look.The daily, however, said that some hotel owners, bakers, and petrol pump owners have begun to fleece tourists on the pretext of artificial shortage of various items. During the rush, Rs.2,000 to Rs.8,000 was being charged for a single room for one night's stay in hotels while the price of petrol zoomed to Rs.550 per litre.

Green tea may help cure skin cancer.

Green tea has long been suspected of having anti-cancer properties and the extract has been investigated before. However, this is the first time researchers have managed to make it effective at shrinking tumours.Previous attempts to capitalise on its cancer-fighting properties have failed because scientists used intravenous drips, which failed to deliver enough of the extract to the tumours themselves.

So, the Strathclyde team devised a "targeted delivery system", piggy-backing the extract on proteins that carry iron molecules, which cancer tumours Hoover up.The lab test on one type of human skin cancer showed 40 per cent of tumours disappeared after a month of treatment, while an additional 30 per cent shrank.

"These are very encouraging results which we hope could pave the way for new and effective cancer treatments," said Dr Christine Dufes, a senior lecturer at the   Strathcylde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, who led the research."When we used our method, the green tea extract reduced the size of many of the tumours every day, in some cases removing them altogether.

"This research could open doors to new treatments for what is still one of the biggest killer diseases in many countries," she added.According to her, when the extract is administered intravenously, it goes everywhere in the body, so when it gets to the tumours it's too diluted."With the targeted delivery system, it's taken straight to the tumours without any effect on normal tissue," she explained.The "ultimate objective" was a clinical trial in humans - but Dr Dufes said that was some way off.

Drink red wine to stay slim.

U.S researchers have found a compund in red wine that can help control obesity.The substance, piceatannol, delays the generation of young fat cells and prevents them from growing into mature ones. It is also believed to protect the body from  heart and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as cancer.

The compound blocks insulin's ability to activate genes that carry out further stages of fat cell formation.The agent found in wine is also thought to protect the body from heart and neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, according to researchers at Purdue University,Indiana,USA.

"In the presence of piceatannol you can see delay or complete inhibition of young fat cells," the Daily Mail quoted lead researcher Dr Kee-Hong Kim as saying. "Piceatannol alters the timing of gene expressions, gene functions and insulin action during adipogenesis - the process in which young fat cells become mature fat cells," Dr Kim explained.

The compound is similar in structure to resveratrol - a supplement sold in the UK last year to combat disease - and is also found in grapes, blueberries and passion fruit. Dr Kim, assistant professor of food science at the university, said: "We are now testing our idea using animal model obesity to see if it has the same benefical functions." "We need to work on improving the stability and solubility of piceatannol to create a biological effect," he added.

Bieber supports Gomez at Toronto film fest.

Teen sensation Justin Bieber was here to support his girlfriend Selena Gomez who is promoting two of her films at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival. Gomez is at the fest with "Hotel Transylvania" and "Spring Breakers".

According to a source, Bieber was seen with Gomez while she was giving interviews with her "Hotel Transylvania" co-star  Andy Samberg.The couple was then seen holding hands and Bieber, 18, was stroking his girlfriend's back as they went into the elevator, reports eonline.com.

That is not all, Gomez, 20, brought Bieber's little sister and brother Jazmyn and Jaxon  respectively, to the premiere of her animated film.

iPhone 5: HTC, Samsung to sue Apple

Just a day ahead of  iPhon5 launch, Apple  seems to be heading into legal trouble over the much-awaited device. Taiwanese electronic giant  HTC aims to block iPhone 5's import in the US for patent violation. The Taiwanese manufacturer claims that Apple's  new iPad  and the upcoming iPhone 5 infringe upon two of its patents that ensure reliable data transfer in large volumes, according to a story in the Bloomberg Businessweek. The company has filed a case in the  International Trade Commission in this matter.

Apple and HTC have been fighting court cases over patent violation since the past two years and a win for the latter will mean that it will earn a huge sum in settlement from the former. Apple's phones and tablets are manufactured in China and imported into US and the rest of the world. A win in this case will mean that Apple will have to negotiate terms with HTC in order to sell its two top-selling products or remove the technology that violates the said patents from the device. If Apple ends up eliminating the LTE technology from the two devices, it will be far behind competitors like Samsung, whose devices already support high-speed data transfers over 4G connections.

HTC reportedly acquired the patents from ADC Telecommunications when it launched its first LTE phone, Thunderbolt. Judge Thomas Pender, who is overseeing the case, reportedly told Apple's legal counsel "I don't care if they bought these patents to sue you or not. They are a property right." According to a story in Korea Times, Samsung  has also decided to file a patent infringement complaint against Apple over the new iPhone's 4G LTE patent infringement. As per the report, the South Korean company is targeting the European and US markets with this lawsuit. This development came soon after reports said Apple will be using 4G data transfer technology in the upcoming edition of iPhone.

Kindle HD takes on the iPad

Amazon's Kindle Fire HD goes head-to-head with the iPad The Fire wins on price, coming in $200 less than Apple's cheapest tablet But there are 225,000 apps designed for the iPad, a dominating number Both tablets offer high-definition displays.

 Having established itself as Apple's top tablet competitor by going smaller and cheaper, Amazon will now go head to head with the category-defining iPad on its own turf.

Even as Google's new Nexus 7 challenges the Kindle Fire for dominance in the small-tablet category, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Thursday introduced a new,8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD.

 

That pits the new device, which will ship in late November, against a device with which Apple has, thus far, squashed all direct competition. No tablet that has tried to match the iPad feature-for-feature has gained more than a token foothold in the market.

Shocked' Williams wins U.S. Open final thriller

Serena Williams battled back from the brink of defeat to claim her 15th grand slam title and win the U.S. Open for the fourth time with a 6-2 2-6 7-5 victory over world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka on Sunday. The American added to her 2012 Wimbledon and Olympic crowns after being pushed to the limit by the Australian Open champion, who forced the 30-year-old to drop her first set of the tournament.

It was the first time in 17 years that the women's final went the distance in New York, and it ended Azarenka's run of 12 successive victories in matches lasting three sets.
Serena deserves to win. She showed how true a champion she is," Azarenka said. "I definitely gave it all today. Stepping off this court I will have no regrets." Williams won the hard-court tournament for the first time as a 17-year-old in 1999 but has not enjoyed much success since her third win in 2008.

She lost in an ill-tempered final last year and was also fined in 2009 after being involved in another incident during her semifinal defeat.The former world No. 1 won the opening set in just 34 minutes, as she threatened to steamroll Azarenka as she has all opponents since bouncing back from her first-round defeat at the French Open.

However, unlike in their Wimbledon semifinal clash in July, her 23-year-old opponent picked herself up and dominated the second set with some power play of her own.Azarenka broke to lead 2-1 in the deciding set but was immediately pegged back by the fourth seed.

A break to love in the seventh game put her in the position of serving for the title at 5-4, but Williams rallied to win the next three games and leave Azarenka in tears after missing a golden chance to win her second grand slam title.

Williams took her record in grand slam finals to 15-4, becoming the first 30-something to win a major since Martina Navratilova at the 1987 U.S. Open, as she claimed the $1.9 million first prize.

It was the first time since 2002 that a woman has won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year, when Williams also won the French Open.

She joined her older sister Venus and Steffi Graf as the only women to win Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open in the same year.It has capped a remarkable comeback for Williams, who spent almost a year out of the game following her 2010 Wimbledon triumph.She needed surgery after cutting her foot in a freak accident at a restaurant and then suffered life-threatening complications when blood clots formed on her lungs.

42 die when bus falls into Moroccan ravine.

News reports say dozens of people have died after a bus drove off a road in central Morocco and plunged down a 500-foot (150-meter) ravine.

The official news agency MAP says 42 people were killed when the bus overturned between the desert cities of Marrakesh and Ouarzazate. Another 24 people were injured, four of them seriously, in the accident in the early hours of Tuesday.

Most of the injured were taken to  emergency rooms in Marrakech.The bus regularly makes the journey between the two cities.

iPhone 5 almost here, hints Apple's media invite.

Apple on Tuesday invited reporters to a news conference next week in San Francisco with a message that suggests that it will reveal the  iPhone 5, as expected.The email invitation shows a big "12," for September 12, casting a shadow in the shape of a "5.''

Various unconfirmed reports have pointed to September 12 as being the day Apple shows off the new phone, which is expected to go on sale a week or two later.The next  iPone is expected to have a taller screen and the ability to access the latest wireless data  networks in the US Analysts expect it to set sales records.

Other unconfirmed reports say Apple will reveal a smaller version of the  iPad, taking on competitors like Amazon.com's Kindle Fire, which have nibbled on the edges of the iPad's dominance in the tablet category.On Wednesday, Nokia and Motorola are holding events of their own in New York, apparently to reveal their latest products ahead of the iPhone launch.

Apple shares rose $5.18 to $676.42 in afternoon trading. The shares are close to their all-time high of $680.87, hit a week ago.

Replica of Knight Rider's KITT for sale.

Here’s your chance to hassle crooks like the Hoff and make a few bucks on the side.
A company that rents out a replica of Knight Rider’s Kitt for special events and photo shoots is for sale in the U.K.

The 1987 Trans Am has been customized to look just like Michael Knight’s sidekick, complete with what passed for a high-tech interior during the Reagan/Thatcher years, plush velour sports seats and Kitt’s signature red LED lighting on the hood.The vehicle was recently featured on an episode of TV’s Britain’s Got Talent, and sports David Hasselhoff’s signature on the dashboard.

The price to own this camp classic? £29,500 or best offer, which is about $47,000 in Hollywood money and about five times what you’d pay for a similar Trans Am without the pseudo-celebrity pedigree.


 

HP Wireless TV Connect

Wirelessly streams 1080p HD multimedia content such as photos, videos and Blu-Ray® movies from the notebook to a TV or any large screen .Latest generation allows users to stream 3D content from a PC directly to a 3D-enabled television .Compatible with almost any PC with an HDMI port .

1st combined liver-kidney transplant concludes successfully

Japan's first combined liver-kidney transplant from a brain-dead donor was successfully carried out at Okayama University Hospital, the surgeon in charge said on Sunday."The surgery ended without any trouble, and we can say it was successful," Professor Takahito Yagi told a press conference. The recipient, a woman in her 50s, "is in a quite stable condition."The woman is expected to be discharged from the hospital after around two months, Yagi said.

The donor, a man in his 40s, had suffered a head injury and was declared brain dead in line with the organ transplant law at a hospital in the Shikoku region.Although he had not expressed his desire to donate his organs in writing, his family approved the transplant.The recipient had been diagnosed with chronic liver failure and loss of kidney function.

Osaka University Hospital had attempted a combined liver-kidney transplant from a brain-dead donor in December 2010, but the recipient died before the kidney was transplanted.

29 killed in Turkey security post attack

Kurdish rebels armed with machine-guns and rocket launchers attacked a security complex in southeastern Turkey overnight, triggering fierce clashes that left about 29 people dead."Nine security agents were killed and eight others wounded," said Vahdettin Ozkan, governor of Sirnak province.Other local sources said about 20 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were also killed in the latest fighting between the rebels and Turkish forces.

Ozkan said the militants had attacked the security complex at Beytussebap late yesterday, killing nine members of the security forces. Police and soldiers returned fire, triggering fierce clashes.The PKK has stepped up its assaults against Turkish security forces in recent months, with Turkish officials and the local media linking the surge to the conflict raging in neighbouring Syria.Last month, 10 people were killed in a car bomb attack blamed on the separatist Kurds in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened military intervention if the Kurdish rebels set up bases in Syria.

Some government officials believe that Damascus, once backed by Ankara, is helping the PKK in retaliation for Turkey's support for rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.The PKK, considered a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.

19 people killed, 28 missing in Chinese mine blast

A gas explosion at a coal mine in southwest China has killed 19 people and left 28 trapped underground, state media say.Efforts are underway to rescue the remaining miners at the Xiaojiawan mine in Panzhihua city in Sichuan province.

The blast happened on Wednesday evening when about 150 miners were underground.By Thursday morning, more than 100 people had been rescued and taken to hospital.Chinese state television said rescue teams had retrieved the bodies of 16 miners who died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Another three people died in hospital.

The mine is owned by Zhengjin Industry and Trade Co Ltd. Its officials are assisting in a police investigation, the city government said in a statement on its official microblogging site.Accidents are frequent in China's mining industry, which is criticised for poor safety standards.

Official figures show that 1,973 people died in coal mining accidents in the country last year. While this represented a 19% drop compared to the year before, some have suggested that actual numbers could be higher as not all incidents may have been reported. China's central government has introduced measures aimed at improving standards but these directives are often ignored at local level

11 militants killed on Georgia-Russia border

At least 11  militanta and three special forces personnel have been killed near the  Georgia-Russia border, the Georgian interior ministry said.

Interior ministry units on Wednesday sealed off a gorge near the border with southwestern Russia's Dagestan region where an armed group was detected Tuesday.

According to Georgian media reports, around 20 well-armed militants trespassed into the country's territory from Dagestan, taking about 10 locals hostage, who were later released

World’s oldest person celebrates 116th birthday.

The world’s oldest living person celebrated her 116th birthday Sunday, the Guinness World Records
Besse Cooper,of Monroe, Ga., was certified as the world’s oldest person by Guinness World Records in January 2011, but she had to relinquish the title for a few months when it was discovered that Maria Gomes Valentim was 48 days older, according to the website.

Cooper was reinstated when Valentim died in June 2011 and Robert Young, senior consultant of gerontology for Guinness World Records, presented her with another plaque at her birthday party Sunday.

Cooper was born in Tennessee and moved to Georgia during World War I to find employment as a teacher. She has 12 grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Her husband, Luther, died in 1963.Cooper told Guinness World Records that the secret to her longevity was not eating junk food, and “I mind my own business.”

 

Now, permanent cure for high blood pressure.

Scientists have developed a radical therapy that could provide a permanent cure for high blood pressure by zapping the kidneys with radio waves.
The breakthrough by researchers from  Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute of Melbourne,Australia  could bring hope to thousands of patients who do not respond to drugs.

The procedure known as renal denervation may be available on UK's  Natina Health Service as early as next year after trials showed it produced dramatic improvements in the condition, the Daily Mail reported.High blood pressure is a risk factor in heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Changes in lifestyle, such as cutting back on salt and alcohol and exercising, can control blood pressure and there are a number of drug treatments available. Many who are on medication, as many as five different types, still have difficulty with it. It is this group who can be helped.

The technique uses a burst of radiofrequency energy delivered through a catheter to knock out a number of tiny nerves that run in the lining of the arteries of the kidney.High blood pressure is sometimes caused by faulty signals from the brain to these nerves. Latest findings from a trial showed reductions in blood pressure persist for at least 18 months after treatment.

Four killed in Indonesia plane crash.

Rescue teams have found the body of an Australian man and three others killed when their small chartered plane crashed in Indonesian Borneo, an official said on Monday.Peter John Elliott, who chartered the survey flight for his Perth-based mining company, Elliott Geophysics International, was among the four dead in the burnt wreckage reached late on Sunday, National Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Gagah Prakoso told.

"The plane was found around a coal-mining area. We believe it crashed into trees and caught fire. All four people died. Their bodies were badly burnt," he said.The twin-engine Piper Navajo Chieftain plane was found in a forested area of East Kutai district in East Kalimantan province two days after it went missing, Prakoso said.Local media reports said the three others flying with Elliott were Indonesians, including one pilot.

Their remains were taken to a hospital in the city of Samarinda -- where the group had taken off on Friday for a short surveying flight."Weather, like strong winds, might have caused the plane to become unsteady," Prakoso said, adding that investigations are ongoing.
The Australian Embassy in Jakarta said it was providing consular assistance to Elliott's family.

Iraqi General Abdul Hussein Mohsen among three dead in attacks

 Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi border forces brigadier general on Monday, among three people killed and six wounded in nationwide violence.Brigadier General Abdul Hussein Mohsen was gunned down by several armed men while he was in the town of Taji, just north of Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.A medic at Kadhimiyah hospital in the north of the capital confirmed the facility received Mohsen's body, adding that the general died of multiple gunshot wounds.

A bomb blast targeting an army patrol in the town of Haditha, 210 kilometres west of Baghdad, meanwhile, killed a civilian and wounded three soldiers, according to an army officer and a doctor at Haditha hospital.And in the main northern city of Mosul, a roadside bomb apparently aiming for a police patrol killed one person and wounded another, according to police 2nd Lieutenant Salam Hamed and doctor Faiz Tareq from the city's main hospital.

Also in Mosul, which lies 350 kilometres north of the capital, two young boys were wounded by another bomb blast, the officials said.The latest fatalities took to 259 the number of people killed in nationwide attacks so far in August, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials.Violence has significantly decreased in Iraq compared to the brutal years of 2006 and 2007, but attacks are still common across the country.

'One drink a day ups cancer risk'

Binge drinkers are not the only ones who need to worry about the health implications of alcohol, even light drinking increases the cancer risk significantly, a new study has claimed.

According to the study led by researchers from the University of Milan, just one alcoholic drink a day may increase the risk of cancer adding that light drinking is estimated to be responsible for 34,000 deaths a year worldwide.

Smoking ban on public places affect fast food restaurant and bar...

KATHMANDU: The tobacco control law might affect the fast food restaurant and bar owners as there is on  ban smoking on their premises or allocate a separate smoking chamber  for the strict enforcement of tobacco control laws. 

The Tobacco Control and Regulatory Act-2010, that came into effect last year on August 7, prohibiting  smoking in public places although it has not been implemented properly.

 This new law  has imposed  mandatory for the tobacco producers to cover 75 per cent of the cigarette packs or wrappers with pictorial health warning. “However, this provision is yet to be implemented since the Supreme Court has issued a stay order. As per the act, only licence holders can sell tobacco and anyone selling tobacco to individuals below 18 years of age and pregnant women are liable to heavy  fine. The act also bans advertisements and publicity campaigns of tobacco-related products through the media which may affect the owners of such companies. 

food Association Nepal.

According to the act, any individual  found violating this law  will be fined Rs 100 to 100,000 depending on the nature of violations. This kind of action with regard to health awarness and far reaching consequences could leave positive impression in the Nepalese society.

South Africans remember and mourn the killed......

South Africans sang somber hymns and prayed at a memorial service to mourn 44 people who lost their lives during days of labor protests in the nation's mining heartland. Local leaders and church officials led the service near the site of the clashes at the Marikana platinum mine.

Some bereaved mourners fainted, and had to be carried out of the ceremony by relatives and friends.

Politicians, religious leaders and thousands of workers and members of the local community attended a memorial service at a church near the mine to commemorate all those who have died in the violence.

Of the dozens killed, 34 died in a hail of gunfire last week from police officers, who said they shot at the machete-armed protesters in self defense.

Protests started two weeks ago when thousands of rock drillers went on strike to demanding higher wages and better facilities in the wake of such violence.

 Violence intensified August 16, when police fired live ammunition into a crowd of protesters, killing 34 people and sparking a national outcry. The protesters armed with machetes and sticks were threatening to the officers, authorities said.

Ten others died in the earlier days of the protests, including two police officers who were hacked to death after the protesters refused to lay dwon the sticks.

A rivalry between two unions that wield a lot of power and influence in the nation added to the tension. The unions, accused of trying to outdo each other in negotiating wages, denied instigating the clashes.

The memorial service comes as two more platinum companies in the northwest echoed Lonmin workers, signaling spreading instability and labor discontent.

About 1,000 workers gathered at nearby Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine on Wednesday to voice their discontent. They returned to work a day later.

South African President Jacob Zuma addressed the miners at the Marikana site and expressed sympathy to the he Marikana miners. He further said, the mining sector can afford to increase wages and companies which fail to raise miner housing standards may face the cancellation of their mining licences.

Nepali man bites snake to death in revenge attack.

A Nepali man who was bitten by a cobra snake bit it back and killed the reptile in a tit-for-tat attack, Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the snake, which bit him in his rice paddy on Tuesday, caught it and bit it until it died.

"I could have killed it with a stick but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry," the 55-year-old Miya, who lives in a village some 200 km southeast of the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, was quoted by the daily as saying.
The snake, called "goman" in Nepal, is also known as the Common Cobra.
Police official Niraj Shahi said the man, who was being treated at a village health post and was not in danger of dying, would not be charged with killing the snake because the reptile was not among snake species listed as endangered in Nepal.

New rat that doesn't chew or gnaw discovered in Indonesia.

A unique new species of rat that lives off earthworms and doesn't chew or gnaw has been discovered in Indonesia.The shrew-like animal with a long, pointed snout was described in this week's British journal Biology Letters. Paucidentomys vermidax is the only rodent out of more than 2,200 known species that does not have molars and instead has bicuspid upper incisors.

The rat was found in the forests of southern Sulawesi Island last year.Co-author Anang Setiawan Achmadi from the Bogor Zoological Museum says since it lacks cheek teeth, the rat sucks in earthworms and slices them with its incisors before spitting out the pieces and then slurping bites down whole.The researchers say the discovery is important because it shows how species evolve to survive in challenging environments


 

Lebanon divided over Syria's political turmoil..

Seven people have been killed and more than 50 wounded after fighting in northern Lebanon between two Muslim communities divided over Syria.

Street battles between Sunnis and Alawites in the city of Tripoli continued for a second night running after the gun battle took place triggered by the division in Syria.

Rivalry between the two groups has been fuelled by conflicting loyalties in the conflict across the border.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, is battling largely Sunni opposition fighters.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, himself a Sunni, appealed to both sides to end the "absurd battle".

"We have repeatedly warned against being drawn into this blaze that has spread around Lebanon," he said,

He urged Tripoli residents "not to allow anyone to transform you into ammunition for someone else's war".
Intense clashes

Gunmen in the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbana and Alawites in Jabal Muhsin exchanged gun and grenade fire overnight, residents were quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Two men killed were identified as residents of Jabal Muhsin, which overlooks a predominantly Sunni area where five people died, medical sources told the agency.
    Local  residents of the city complained that the authorities had failed to restore order.

So far there is no signs of the conflict letting go and the army still failing to intervene. It was tried to deploy troops yesterday but it was forced to evacuate when some of its soldiers came under attack leaving some dead.

Tripoli is one of Lebanon's most volatile sectarian faultlines, with a small Alawite community living in the midst of a Sunni majority, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports from the capital, Beirut.

Violence flared several times recently but locals say the last two days of clashes have been particularly intense, our correspondent says.

One witness said heavier weapons were being used, and over a larger area than normal.
Dangerous divisions

Government is trying  to disassociate the country from the Syrian crisis, amid concern that it might re-ignite the divisions that fuelled Lebanon's own 15-year civil war.

World's heaviest book “This is Mohammad”

The world's heaviest book, "This is Mohammed", is currently on display at a mall in Al Ain, the garden city near Abu Dhabi.The Guinness World Records has certified "This is Mohammed", which weighs 1,000 kg, as the heaviest in the globe.

The book was launched in February by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai and UAE minister of finance, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.The book will also be displayed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Daily cup of coffee adds 4.5 kg to weight annually

A daily cup of latte coffee can add around 4.5 kg (10 pounds) to your weight a year.The boom in high-street coffee shops is helping fuel the obesity epidemic in Britain, the Daily Express reported, citing fitness trainers' body the Register Of Exercise Professionals (REPS).

A small cup of latte with full-fat milk contains 153 calories while a cup of black coffee with semi-skimmed milk has only 35. Even health-conscious people who avoid junk food do not realise how much fat and sugar they are drinking, said REPS, which carried out a dietary study of 2,000 British adults. It added that half of Britons are now classed as overweight or obese, and warned that the number will rise higher.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has passed away.

Meles Zenawi died from an unspecified infection, spokesman Bereket Simon said. Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn is now in charge. No next election is likely to held before 2015.
Although Meles died out of the country and members of his family were with him, it is not disclosed where he died but he would be taken back to his country soon.
The spokesman acknowledged the prime minister had been sick for some time, but didn't immediately seek treatment.
The news came almost a week after the government said Meles was "recovering well" from treatment for an unspecified illness.
Meles, 57, came to power two decades ago and was considered a strong force in Ethopian politics although there has been controversy over his political status.
His absence was more evident last month when Ethiopia hosted an African Union summit in its capital of Addis Ababa. Zenawi, who was expected to play a key role was unable to attend the meeting.
Ethiopia has been a key Western ally often lauded for effective use of aid money, is surrounded by unstable nations such as Somalia and Sudan. Meles has been credited with working toward peace and security in the region.
Meles, a former guerrilla leader, is part of a group that toppled dictator Haile Mengustu Mariam in 1991. The politician is credited with economic progress and maintaining peace in the nation surrounded by volatile countries.
However,his government has been accused by human right groups of a series of abuses, including limiting press freedoms and cracking down on opposition political parties.

Four children have died on receiving measles vaccine

According to our local corespondent it is reported that f our children on Tuesday have died after receiving vaccine against measles at Kadamandau VDC-4 in Doti district but the details and exact cause of death is not yet justfied by Health ministry.
The deceased are Milan Damai (1) of Kadamandau VDC-8, Sujata Nepali (1), Gauri Chiral of Ward No. 7 and Manju BK of Pokhari VDC-9. The kids had died after Amrita Bogati, health assistant at Kadamandau -based sub health post, administered them vaccine against measles, said local Khem Raj Joshi.

A team of medical professionals have left for the affected destination to investigate the incident from the district headquarters. The deceased Manju is said to have been administered DPT vaccine while the other three children had been given vaccine against measles.
According to Joshi, other 12 kids have also taken ill after receiving measles vaccine. 
Dhangadhi, Nepal.

‘Ek Tha Tiger’ is Bollywood’s fastest 100 cr grosser

This was expected. Salman Khan’s ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ has created a new record of sorts by earning the much acclaimed Rs 100 crores the fastest. The film, which beat ‘Agneepath’ and had the biggest opening-Rs 32 crores on its first day of release has made to the elite 100 crore club in just 5 days.
Produced by the Yash Raj banner and directed by Kabir Khan, ETT was in news also for its pairing as it was the first film that Salman and Katrina signed post their break up in 2010. Expectations were also high from the film as three of Salman’s previous films-‘Dabangg’, ‘Ready’ and Bodyguard’, were declared blockbusters. Incidentally, ETT is Yash Raj’s first film to get into the 100 crore club, Adarsh added. And now, trade pundits and hoping that ETT breaks the record of ’3 Idiots’ which had grossed more than 200 crores at the Box Office.

Salman, who has been having Eid releases for the past few years, had ensured that ETT gets released on Eid this year. While the collections continue to increase every day, one thing is for sure, that Salman has cemented his place in the industry and can easily be called the undisputed king of Bollywood.

Eight killed, 60 injured in powerful blast Turkey

At least eight people were killed and 60 injured in a powerful blast in Turkey's Gaziantep province on Monday.

The incident occurred, near Syrian border, after a truck full of explosives halted near the Karsiyaka police station and the bombs were detonated, setting two buses and a car ablaze, quoted a statement issued by Gaziantep Governor's office as saying.
Any group was yet to claim responsibility for the blast on Monday night.

25 killed in brawl at Venezuelan prison

A riot by armed inmates has left 25 people dead in one of Venezuela's notoriously overcrowded prisons, according to the government.Relatives wept outside the Yare I complex in the central coastal state of Miranda as sketchy details emerged of fighting among armed gangs in the prison over the weekend. The prisons minister Iris Varela told reporters that 25 people, including one visitor, died in the riot. "We will make them answer for this," she said, adding another 29 inmates and 14 visitors had been injured.

Venezuela's 34 prisons are holding about 50,000 prisoners, three times their capacity, according to advocacy groups. Many of the prisoners are armed and hundreds are killed each year in riots and gang fights. With a presidential election due in less than two months, prison chaos is a politically sensitive issue. Hugo Chávez, the incumbent, blames it on decades of neglect before he took power in 1999 but critics say he socialist president has done little to fix it.

In May, as police forcibly transferred inmates out of La Planta jail in Caracas – built for 350 but housing nearly 2,500 – gunshots rang out among the prisoners. Some were sent to Yare.
A month-long siege occurred last year at El Rodeo prison, just outside the capital, leaving 22 dead before some 5,000 soldiers restored order. In Venezuela's worst incident about 130 prisoners were burned or hacked to death with machetes during gang fights at Sabaneta jail in Maracaibo in 1994.

Ontario teen youngest ever to swim Lake Ontario

An Ontario teen has become the youngest person to swim across Lake Ontario.
Shortly before 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, Annaleise Carr finished her 27 hour, 52-kilometre journey that began when she entered the water at Niagara on the lake at 6.17 pm on saturday.
The 14-year-old swimmer from Simcoe, Ont., arrived at Marilyn Bell Park on the Toronto waterfront and climbed into an ambulance after hugging her family and receiving congratulatory cheers from hundreds of supporters on the shore.
The teen was examined by her doctor before heading to the hospital for a routine exam mandated by Solo Swims of Ontario, the provincial swimming body that governs people participating in a long-distance swims.

Carr's team announced the teen will speak with the media at a news conference tomorrow.
The swim was designed to raise money for Camp Trilium, a camp for children with cancer. Carr has raised more than $70,000 to date.Earlier Sunday the team received a phone call from a family who had donated $10,000 to the cause. The information was relayed to Carr, who paused her swim to raise her arms in the air and cheered.
In 1954, Marilyn Bell of Toronto became the first person to swim across the lake. She was 16.

Libya explosions killed and hurt many people.

Two car bombs exploded in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, killing two people and injuring  several others early on Sunday, a security official said. The first bomb was detonated  in a main street near a military college used as a base for former rebel forces, killing two and wounding four people, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak to the media.
About half an hour later, a car parked in a narrow alley by the Interior Ministry exploded, wounding several people. A third car bomb was discovered, also near the ministry, but was defused an official said.
The bombings came on the eve of Libya’s first anniversary of the fall of Tripoli. The  rebel fighters behind the eight-month uprising to topple Moamer Qadhafi’s regime liberated the city.
Qadhafi was captured and killed last October but many Libyans are convinced that some of his associates remain at large around the country.
After the  blasts, officials blamed Qadhafi’s loyalists, saying they were plotting attacks and seeking to spread fear among the public and prevent the country from returning to normality.

The president is likely to become active if situation is worsen in Nepal

Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal today alleged that President Ram Baran Yadav

could impose autocratic rule if the Bhattarai-led government quits without forging political consensus. it is reported from Chandranigahpur.

"The President will be active and impose an autocracy rule in the country if the incumbent government leaves the office without consensus among the parties," Dahal warned, while speaking at a press meeting at Chandranigahapur.

Dahal furthermore added that his party would not renounce the government unless the parties hammered a package deal on political consensus to give a way out to the country from the current imbroglio.

Criticising the opposition parites heavily, Dahal argued that it was ludicrous on the part of the Nepali Congress and UML to demand care taker prime minister’s resignation. He warned that resignation by the Bhattrai-led government would leave the country in void.

The UCPN-Maoist chairman called on the parties to forge consensus to federalise the country on the basis of ethnic identity which has been a major issue in the recent political crisis in Nepal.



Madonna Sued for Defending Gay Rights at Russian Concert

Madonna delivered a fiery speech that supports gay rights amid violence threats to her concert in Russia. Some Russian activists have launched a millions-of-dollars lawsuit against her, claiming they were offended by her support for gay rights during the August 9 concert in St. Petersburg.

Madonna was crossing the law passed by Russian government in February that makes it illegal to promote homosexuality to minors. During her concert which was attended by children as young as 12, she said, "The gay community here, and all around the world, have the same rights, to be treated with dignity, with respect, with tolerance, with compassion, with love."

Alexander Pochuyev, a lawyer representing the nine activists, said the lawsuit was filed on Friday, August 17, naming Madonna, the concert organizer and the venue, SKK Peterburgsky, as defendants. They were asking for damages totaling 333 million rubles aka $10.5 million. Pochuyev also said they were using modern method to defend their rights despite the accusation that they live in Middle Ages for banning gay rights. "No one is burning anyone at the stake or carrying out an Inquisition. Modern civilization requires tolerance and respect for different values," the lawyer argued.