(MY046) 15 dead in suspected US missile strike in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD – Suspected U.S. missiles struck a training facility allegedly operated by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and a militant hide-out Friday, killing 15 people and wounding 27 others, intelligence officials said.

The two attacks by drone aircraft took place in South Waziristan, a Mehsud stronghold close to the Afghan border, two officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

They were the latest in more than 40 such strikes by the United States against militant targets in the border area since last August. Washington does not directly acknowledge being responsible for the attacks, which kill civilians as well as militants.



world peace please..

(MY045) Bad news? Global warming now shrinking sheep

WASHINGTON – Like the wool sweater that emerges from the dryer a size too small, global warming seems to be shrinking sheep.

On average, wild Soay sheep on Scotland's island Hirta are 5 percent smaller today than they were in 1985, according to a team of researchers led by Tim Coulson of Imperial College London.

"The decrease in body size was due to a reduction in growth rates caused, in part, by the changing climate," Coulson said in an interview via e-mail.

Evolution favors the development of large sheep, which can more easily survive harsh winters, Coulson explained. So the researchers became curious about the overall decline in size of the animals on Hirta.

They discovered that as the climate has grown milder, small lambs that would not have survived previous winters were now living to grow up and reproduce.

Since size is inherited, the survival and reproduction of these smaller animals lowered the average size of the herd


if the sheep can shrink then how about homosapien @ human @ us????

(MY044) Birth weight appears associated with leukemia

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – There may be an association between high birth weight and an increased risk of overall leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) appears to be associated with the high and low extremes of birth weight.
"There is a growing body of evidence indicating that childhood leukemia is initiated in utero," the two study authors reported in the International Journal of Cancer.
Dr. Robert W. Caughey of the Harvard School of Public Health and Dr. Karin B. Michels of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, conducted an analysis of 32 studies to examine the association between birth weight, childhood leukemia, plus ALL and AML, two common leukemia subtypes. Included in the analysis were 16,501 cases of all types of leukemia, 10,974 cases of ALL, and 1832 cases of AML.
Compared with normal birth weight, high birth weight was associated with a 35 percent overall increased risk of leukemia, a 23 percent increased risk of ALL and a 40 percent increased risk of AML.
For every 1000 gram increase in birth weight, the odds ratio for overall leukemia increased by 1.18.
While low birth weight was not associated with overall leukemia or ALL, there was an association between low birth weight and a 49 percent increased risk of AML.
"Our study supports the notion that childhood leukemia is likely to be initiated in utero," Michels said in an email interview with Reuters Health. "Birth weight is a marker for events during pregnancy that may have affected the risk for leukemia in the offspring."
"It will be important to investigate which factors may operate in utero that affect leukemia risk," Michels said. For example, leukemia risk may be affected by epigenetic factors, modifications to genes other than changes in the DNA sequence itself. Epigenetic modifications may include the addition of molecules, like methyl groups, to the DNA backbone and other factors that may indirectly influence the expression of the genome.
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, June 1, 2009.

yahoo.com

(MY043) Warren Buffett donates US$1.5b

NEW YORK, July 3 — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has donated about US$1.5 billion (RM5.25 billion) of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stock, in connection with his 2006 pledge of his holdings to charitable causes.
According to a regulatory filing, Buffett on Wednesday donated 428,688 Berkshire Class B shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and 87,884 shares to four family charities.
Following the donations, Buffett still held 350,000 Class A and 1,501,532 Class B shares of Berkshire, together worth about US$36.1 billion based on Wednesday closing prices.
Buffett said he still has a 25.8 per cent stake in Berkshire, and 31.6 per cent of the company's voting power. A Class B share is worth about 1/30th of a Class A share.
Buffett, 78, has built Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire into a conglomerate with close to 80 businesses that sell such things as insurance, clothing, ice cream and paint, and which owns tens of billions of dollars of common stock.
Forbes magazine in March called Buffett the world's second-richest person, trailing only Bill Gates, who is also a Berkshire director. Gates co-founded Microsoft Corp. — Reuters

wow..what a figure..when can i become billionaire???

(MY042) Michael Owen set to join Manchester United

LONDON, July 3 — The Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson, was poised to make an astonishing move in the transfer market by bringing injury-prone striker Michael Owen to Old Trafford on a free transfer.
Reliable sources have confirmed to Telegraph Sport that Owen is on the brink of joining the Premier League champions after becoming a free agent when his contract at Newcastle expired three days ago.
Details of the prospective deal are scarce but it is anticipated that Owen, 29, would sign a highly incentivised deal due to his worrying problems with injuries over the last four years at St James’ Park where he was paid £115,000 (RM665,000) per week.
Owen, who will be ready to accept a dramatic drop in wages, has already attracted public declarations of interest from Stoke and Hull while Tottenham and Portsmouth are also understood to be keen on securing the services of a striker who has fallen from grace during his time on Tyneside.


couldnt wait to see owen play in MU team

(MY041) Bombs against Pakistan police, govt workers kill 8

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan – Two bombs targeting police and government workers killed up to eight people and wounded scores more Thursday — latest attacks to hit Pakistan as it battles Taliban insurgents near the border with Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, a prominent militant commander in the northwest reportedly agreed to halt attacks on security forces there, a move that could help the army in its efforts to eliminate the Taliban leadership in the region.

The deadliest bombing took place in Rawalpindi, which lies next to the capital and is home to the headquarters of Pakistan's military

A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle slammed into a bus carrying defense department employees, killing up to six people and injuring 25 more, senior police official Rana Shahid said. A senior intelligence official told The Associated Press that the bus was carrying employees of the Pakistani military's weapons-making department.

(MY040) Andy Lau was ordered to pay 6.69 million Taiwan dollars

TAIPEI (AFP) – Hong Kong star Andy Lau lost an appeal against a Taiwanese airline and was ordered to pay 6.69 million Taiwan dollars (201,000 US) for damaging its helicopter during a film stunt, according to a court.

Taiwan's High Court upheld an earlier ruling against the actor and singer and increased the amount of compensation from 5.1 million Taiwan dollars as it used a different method to calculate the chopper's value, a court spokesman said.

Lau was found liable for brushing against the pitch stick of the chopper, loaned by Daily Air, before jumping out during the shooting of action flick "The Island of Greed" in Taiwan in 1997, the court said.

The move unsteadied the aircraft, which was in the air at the time, causing its rotor blade to hit lighting equipment.

Daily Air filed the suit in 1998 but a Taipei district court only handed down the verdict last year. The court said the case had dragged on because the defendants were in Hong Kong.