 Trawling destroying underwater mountains
Deep-sea trawling is destroying underwater mountains teeming with marine life and causing irreparable damage to ecosystems, scientists warned on Wednesday.
Most of the underwater volcanic mountains, or seamounts, which contain deep-sea corals and are home to thousands of marine species, are in unregulated areas. | | Hollywood gets a new role as great polluter
The city of Los Angeles is principally famous for two things: glittering movies and suffocating smog. Now researchers have found that the two are not unconnected. A study by the University of California Los Angeles shows the film and television industry to be the second largest polluter in the Los Angeles area. |  |
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South Korean actor dead ringer for Dear Leader
South Korean engraver Kim Young-sik looks in the mirror every morning and sees the reflection of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. As his bouffant-combed hairline recedes, the 56-year-old resident of Seoul is a dead ringer for the rarely seen North Korean of big hair, spectacles and platform shoes fame. | | Goya painting stolen in country road hijack
The operation was meticulously planned and had the benefit of pinpoint accurate intelligence. The van was travelling on a circuitous route through the backwater of Scranton in Pennsylvania, well away from the main interstate highway 80 that led to its destination, New York.
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Dozens snatched in mass kidnap in Iraq
Gunmen in Iraqi police uniforms rounded up dozens of men at a government building in central Baghdad on Tuesday and drove off, in what may be the biggest mass kidnapping seen in a city becoming used to such violence. A spokesperson said dozens of men -- "100 or maybe 150" -- had been rounded up. | | Minister admits to racism in Brazil's health system
Brazil's Minister of Health, Agenor Álvares, has admitted that the public health system is imbued with racism, stirring up more controversy over policies for specific treatment plans targeting Brazilians of African descent. There are clear signs of discriminatory practices, the minister said two weeks ago in Rio de Janeiro. | | |
Rich countries 'blocking cheap drugs'
Poor people are needlessly dying because drug companies and the governments of rich countries are blocking the developing world from obtaining affordable medicines, a report says on Tuesday. Five years to the day after the Doha declaration -- a groundbreaking deal to give poor countries access to cheap drugs -- was signed at the World Trade Organisation, Oxfam says things are worse. | | 'Cold turkey' prisoners get £750 000
Nearly 200 prisoners who were forced to go "cold turkey" and give up drugs without treatment while in jail accepted £750 000 compensation from the government in the High Court on Tuesday. The prisoners had argued that the short, sharp detoxification treatment in prison was a breach of their human rights. | | |
Giuliani explores possible presidential run
Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican who guided his city through the chaos of the September 11 attacks, has taken a key step towards a possible 2008 United States presidential run. Giuliani has filed papers in New York state to set up a committee to explore a possible candidacy, although an aide said Monday he has not made up his mind. | | Antibodies destroy HIV-infected cells
Antibodies that are active against HIV proteins may provide a successful strategy against infection, investigators report. In test tube experiments, an antibody that attacks the outer HIV envelope glycoprotein 41, which was labeled with a radioactive isotope so its movement could be detected, killed white blood cells infected with HIV. | | |
Blair's plea to US on Middle East
British Prime Minister Tony Blair made an open plea on Monday to United States President George Bush to recognise that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the core of any hopes for wider peace in the Middle East, including Iraq. | | US police replace codes with plain English. 10-4?
It's tough being a cop in Virginia. You may be 10-7 (off duty) when you see a 10-54 (livestock on a highway) cause a 10-50 (traffic accident). There's nothing to do other than call in a 10-32 (alarm) and a 10-13 (request a wrecker). 10-4? Message received? Probably not.
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