Fierce ants build 'torture rack'

A fierce species of Amazonian ant has been seen building elaborate traps on which hapless prey are stretched like medieval torture victims, before being slowly hacked to pieces.

With cunning and patience, Allomerus decemarticulatus worker-ants cut hairs from the stem of the plant they inhabit, and use the tiny fibres to build a spongy snare, Nature magazine reports.

This ingenious feat of engineering has only ever been observed in one other species of related ant, French researchers say.

The ants cut hairs to clear a path under the plant stem, while leaving some hairs standing to form "pillars" on top of which the lethal platform will sit.

Using the plant hairs they have harvested, the ants weave the platform itself, which is bound together and strengthened using a special fungus.

When the ants have completed the chamber they puncture holes all along its surface, each just big enough to poke their heads through.

Then, hundreds of worker ants climb into the chamber and wait for an unfortunate victim.

Ancient sacrifice

"Workers will hide inside the platform, with their mandibles just inside the hole and they will wait there for prey to come," co-author Jerome Orivel of the University of Toulouse, France said.

Anything with legs slim enough to fit through the carefully constructed holes will meet a miserable fate if they are foolish enough to enter the trap.

"They will catch almost anything that goes on the trap," continued Dr Orivel. "And they will grab anything they can - legs, antenna, anything."

Once the prey is well secured by jaws fastening all its extremities, it is stretched over the platform like an ancient sacrifice to the gods.

Scores of worker ants then stream out from inside the trap and sting it vigorously to cause paralysis.

Once the creature is dead or fully immobilised, the ants will carry it to their nest, where they will dismember their prey before carrying it inside.

"Small insects will be immediately dismembered and transported to the nest," said Dr Orivel. "But bigger insects will stay on the trap for up to 12 hours."

There is no limit to the ants' ambition and they will attempt to catch any mammoth of the insect world - so long as it has slender legs.

"Their success depends on the type of insect," Dr Orivel told the BBC News website. "The insects' legs have to be smaller than the holes otherwise they cannot get hold of them.

"The ants must have something to catch - for example, caterpillars will have nothing to get hold of so they will not be preyed upon."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Architects take up Lego challenge

Five of Scotland's top architecture practices have accepted a challenge to design a building out of Lego.

Prospect magazine said the project was designed to show "how even the humble plastic brick can be turned into a work of architecture in the right hands".

The Lego buildings will be displayed at the Scottish Design Awards Nominations Exhibition on Wednesday.

The designs, which will also be shown at the Lighthouse in Glasgow, will be auctioned off for charity in May.

The winner of the Lego challenge will be announced at the Scottish Design Awards Gala Dinner on 29 May.

The money raised from the auction of the buildings will go to the National Autism Society Scotland.


The five practices involved were: Aedas, Gareth Hoskins Architects, gm+ad, Michael Gilmour Associates and RMJM.

Gordon Young, editor of Prospect, said: "We were amazed at the ambition and scale of some of the entrants.

"We had tower blocks, big blocks and plain odd blocks.

"It's amazing to think all the teams started out of standard Lego building bricks. Imagine what could have been achieved if they were working with real bricks."

Despite the credit crunch the real Scottish Design Awards, which cover disciplines which range from building design to graphic design, have seen record entry levels this year.

Buildings in the running for the top awards include: the Beatson Cancer Research Building in Glasgow, Quartermile in Edinburgh and Moore Street Housing in Glasgow's Gallowgate.

source:news.bbc.co.uk

Teens capture images of space with £56 camera and balloon

Teenagers armed with only a £56 camera and latex balloon have managed to take stunning pictures of space from 20-miles above Earth.


Proving that you don't need Google's billions or the BBC weather centre's resources, the four Spanish students managed to send a camera-operated weather balloon into the stratosphere.

Taking atmospheric readings and photographs 20 miles above the ground, the Meteotek team of IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia completed their incredible experiment at the end of February this year.

Building the electronic sensor components from scratch, Gerard Marull Paretas, Sergi Saballs Vila, Marta­ Gasull Morcillo and Jaume Puigmiquel Casamort managed to send their heavy duty £43 latex balloon to the edge of space and take readings of its ascent.

Created by the four students under the guidance of teacher Jordi Fanals Oriol, the budding scientists, all aged 18-19, followed the progress of their balloon using high tech sensors communicating with Google Earth.

Team leader Gerard Marull, 18, said: "We were overwhelmed at our results, especially the photographs, to send our handmade craft to the edge of space is incredible."

Completing their landmark experiment on February, the Meteotek team had to account for a wide variety of variables and rely on a lot of luck.

"The balloon we chose was inflated with helium to just over two metres and weighed just 1500 grams," said Gerard. "It was able to carry the sensor equipment and digital Nikon camera which weighed 1.5kg.

"However, when we launched at 9.10am on that morning the critical point for the experiment was to see if the balloon would make it past 10,000m, or 30,000ft, which is the altitude that commercial airliners fly at."

Due to the changing atmospheric pressures, the helium weather balloon carrying the meteorological equipment was expected to inflate to a maximum of nine and a half metres as it travelled upwards at 270 metres-per-minute.

"We took readings as the balloon rose and mapped its progress using Google Earth and the onboard radio receiver," said Gerard.

"At over 100,000ft the balloon lost its inflation and the equipment was returned to the earth.

"We travelled 10km to find the sensors and photographic card, which was still emitting its signal, even though it had been exposed to the most extreme conditions."

The pupils' incredible school science project has already caught the attention of the University of Wyoming in the US, and the Meteotek team keep those interested updated with regular blogs and updates to their Twitter feed.

source:telegraph.co.uk

'Frozen' truck driver trapped in industrial oven

An attempt by a truck driver with a chill to warm himself in an industrial oven has prompted a reaction from Sweden’s work safety agency.

An alert shrink oven operator was able to drag the truck driver out of the 180 degree Celsius heat before he sustained any serious injuries, according to Sveriges Radio (SR).

The incident took place in February at a facility in Hдssleholm in southern Sweden operated by Ballingslцv, a maker of kitchen and bathroom cabinets and fixtures.

The heating system in the facility’s loading area had ceased to function, leaving the truck driver defenseless against Sweden's chilly February temperatures.

Looking to escape the cold, the man wandered to another part of the building and asked the shrink oven operator if he could take a spin on the oven’s conveyor belt to get warm.

Although the reluctant operator denied the shivering man’s request, the truck driver managed to get himself on to the conveyor belt anyway while no one was looking.

But the weighty truck driver proved too heavy for the belt, causing its motor to shut down and leaving him stuck in the middle of the dangerously hot oven.

Following the incident, Sweden’s Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljцverket) has asked that the oven operator be given counseling to work through the shock he suffered during the rescue.

In addition, the agency plans to carry out a risk assessment of the company’s operations and the surveillance in place around the shrink ovens.

Ballingslцv has until April 15th to report on its plans for mitigating any deficiencies revealed by Arbetsmiljцverket’s inspection.

Polar bears 'will not survive without urgent action'

Polar bears will not survive without action to tackle climate change and save their rapidly disappearing Arctic habitat, conservationists have warned.

WWF, the conservation charity, said that the five countries which are home to the polar bear must commit to action on global warming to save the animal, which is reliant on the sea ice.

Recent analysis by the US Geological Survey and World Conservation Union found that two-thirds of the 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears in the world could be lost in the next 50 years as warming temperatures melt the ice.

But WWF said an agreement signed in 1973 by the five Arctic states - Canada, Russia, the US, Greenland/Denmark and Norway - commits them to saving protecting the bear and its habitat.

While the original deal focused on threats from hunting that had decimated populations, WWF's polar bear co-ordinator Geoff York said polar bears could not now be protected without addressing climate change.

"The most important action we can take to help preserve polar bears is to slow the rate of climate change, and ultimately to stop it so that their habitat does not entirely disappear," he said.

"Without the sea ice habitat, the polar bear will not survive in the long term. There are other threats, such as oil and gas drilling, shipping and toxins, but they pale in comparison to climate change and the loss of the sea ice."

Next week the five nations which are party to the 1973 Agreement for the Conservation of Polar Bears and Their Habitats will meet in Norway for the first formal meeting in more than 25 years.

Mr York said delegates must agree to push their countries to commit to urgent and effective action to cut the greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change.

"Anything less would be an abdication of the responsibilities of these nations under the polar bear agreement," he said.

WWF will be presenting a wide-ranging action plan on protecting polar bears at the meeting in Tromso, Norway.

Mosha the elephant gets prosthetic leg

Mosha the elephant has been fitted with an prosthetic leg in Lampang, Thailand, after losing a limb when she stepped on a landmine.


She was rescued when she was seven-months-old and brought to the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital where she became the first elephant in the world to be fitted with an artificial leg in 2007.

Now aged three, Mosha is growing at such a rate she has now been fitted with a second prosthetic leg.

Her home in the tropical jungle of northern Thailand, near the Cambodian border, is an orphanage for elephants.

Stumbling around on three limbs at the world's first elephant hospital, she refused to mix with other elephants and shunned food.

Doctors had feared the worst until she had a chance meeting with Dr. Therdchai Jivacate, who runs a foundation for human amputees.

Jivacate knew that Mosha would not survive as she grew heavier with age.

"When she cannot walk, she is going to die," he said.

Jivacate's foundation has made prosthetic limbs for over 16,000 humans. But it had never fitted an elephant until Mosha caught Jivacate's eye.

Fashioned out of plastic, sawdust and metal, doctors at his Prostheses Foundation successfully fitted an artificial leg for Mosha sturdy enough to carry her weight.

One of many patients treated at the unique £1m animal hospital, with fellow elephants suffering infections, broken bones and knife wounds, Mosha soon became the most famous.

Almost a year after her operation, Mosha eats 200 pounds of food a day and is growing so fast that doctors recently fitted her with a second, larger prosthesis.

After her daily exercises, Mosha takes a nap. The prosthesis is only removed when she sleeps.
Source:telegraph.co.uk

Sofa surprise: Cat found inside $27 used couch

The mysterious mewing in Vickie Mendenhall's home started about the time she bought a used couch for $27.

After days of searching for the source of the noise, she found a very hungry calico cat living in her sofa.

The Spokesman-Review reported that her boyfriend, Chris Lund, was watching TV on Tuesday night and felt something move inside the couch. He pulled it away from the wall, lifted it up and found the cat, which apparently had crawled through a small hole on the underside.

Mendenhall contacted the store where she bought the couch, but it had no information on who donated it. So she took the cat to the animal shelter where she works, so it could recover, and contacted media outlets in hopes of finding the owner.

Sure enough, Bob Killion of Spokane showed up to claim the cat on Thursday after an acquaintance alerted him to a TV story about it.

Killion had donated a couch on Feb. 19, and his 9-year-old cat, Callie, disappeared at about the same time.

source:msnbc.com

Euro chiefs ban 'Miss' and 'Mrs'

The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita.

Guidance issued in a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only.

Officials have also ordered that 'sportsmen' be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' be referred to as 'political leaders' and even that 'synthetic' or 'artificial' be used instead of 'man-made'.

The guidance lists banned terms for describing professions, including fireman, air hostess, headmaster, policeman, salesman, manageress, cinema usherette and male nurse.

However MEPs are still allowed to refer to 'midwives' as there is no accepted male version of the job description.

The booklet also admits that "no gender-neutral term has been successfully proposed" to replace 'waiter' and 'waitress', allowing parliamentarians to use these words in a restaurant or café.

It has been circulated by Harold Romer, the parliament's secretary general, to the 785 MEPs working in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Struan Stevenson, a Scottish Conservative MEP described the guidelines as "political correctness gone mad."

He said: "We have seen the EU institutions try to ban the bagpipes and dictate the shape of bananas, but now they see determined to tell us which words we are entitled to use in our own language."

Philip Bradbourn, another Conservative MEP, vowed to ignore the booklet, which he described as a "waste of taxpayers' money" and called on Mr Romer to reveal its cost.

He added: "I will have no part of it. I will continue to use my own language and expressions, which I have used all my life, and will not be instructed by this institution or anyone else in these matters."

Seven years ago, an attempt to amend noise laws came close to effectively outlawing bagpipes.

However, a number of bizarre EU rules remain in place, including a directive stating that every pair of rubber boots must be supplied with a user's manual in 12 languages.
source: The Telegraph

A thief stole £100,000 worth of lead from the roofs of buildings after identifying them with Google Earth.

Tom Berge used the popular internet tool, which shows aerial photographs of towns across the world, to pinpoint museums, churches and schools across south London with lead roof tiles.

After the 27-year-old builder found a potential target on his home computer he would scale its roof, take the valuable roof materials and abseil down the side of the building, before selling the lead to scrap metal dealers.

Among the buildings he stole from in a six-month spree were Honeywood Museum in Carshalton, Sutton High School for Girls and Croydon Parish Church.

A friend of Berge, from Sutton, south London, said: "He sat at home at scoured south London for targets with just a few clicks of the mouse.

"He homed in on all sorts of buildings - many of them listed.

"He could tell the lead roofs apart on Google Earth as they were slightly darker than normal."

Berge was arrested in February and pleaded guilty to theft at Sutton magistrates court last week.

He was sentenced to an eight-month suspended jail term, given 100 hours of community service and put on curfew.

Detective Sergeant Chris Grant, who led the investigation, said: "He was a prolific offender up until the time he was arrested.

"Since then our crime figures for theft of lead have reduced significantly."
source: The Sunday Telegraph

Tea really does taste better from your favourite cup

Tea and coffee really do taste better from a favourite cup or mug, research has found.

Dr Tom Stafford, psychologist from Sheffield University, says a person's brain is trained to believe the daily ritual of making coffee or tea should be done in a certain way in order to derive maximum enjoyment.

He said: "Drinking tea and coffee is very ritualistic and people become very addictive to the way they want their brew made.

"Caffeine is very much a drug of reward and like any addict, people develop passions on how the drug is delivered.

"Where ever there is drug use then rituals will always develop.

"The long association with the delivery of a morning cup of coffee or tea people genuinely think it tastes better out of a particular cup.

"It might be irrational or arbitrary but it's absolutely true. Your daily brew tastes better from your favourite mug.

According to research, 65 percent of Brits have a favourite cup or mug they use for their morning cuppa.

source: The Daily Telegraph

Romeo city to charge for weddings at Juliet's House

The Italian city of Verona, home to literature's most famous lovers, is trying to woo the world's couples into tying the knot on the scene of Romeo and Juliet's most romantic encounter.

Under the scheme, to be launched in the next few days, spouses-to-be would say their vows on the balcony from which William Shakespeare's heroine is thought to have summoned her Romeo.

Verona Tourism Councillor Daniele Polato said Verona wants to be a ''wedding capital'' to rival the world's other popular wedding spots.

''We'll be offering tourist packages, the whole shebang, just like Las Vegas does,'' he told local dailies.

''It's a way of using the city's artistic heritage to boost tourism''.

The privilege of getting hitched where Juliet was famously wooed by Romeo in Shakespeare's play will not come cheap, however.

The 'Wed Me In Verona' marriage license alone will cost Verona residents 600 euros, people living within the city catchment area 700, European Union citizens 800 and non-EU couples 1,000 euros.

This compares to the 50 euros required for a civil marriage certificate in Italy. Mayor Flavio Tosi, who has courted controversy in the past with moves seen as anti-immigrant, stressed that there was no anti-foreigner bias at play.

''It costs extra because the administrative costs are higher,'' he said.

HOUSE REOPENED AFTER CLEAN-UP.

Juliet's House reopened a year ago after being scrubbed free of messages and bubble gum left by visitors to the star-crossed lover's shrine.

Officials were forced into the clean-up after a failed attempt to bring the site into the modern communications age.

A strict graffiti ban was issued and visitors urged to send their vows by e-mail and SMS to a huge computer display in the house's lobby.

To officials' dismay, the youngsters who flock to the site opted to stick to their felt markers and gum.

Verona makes much of the House - and the revenue it draws - despite historians' claims there is scant evidence it is the locale immortalised by the Bard.

The more poetic messages left here are often cited in foreign newspaper and magazine articles about trips to the home town of Shakespeare's famous couple.

The residence is believed to have once housed Juliet because it was the family home of the Cappello family, who, according to legend, were the Capulets of Shakespeare's play.

In fact the address is Via Cappello, Number 23.

Experts believe the real Juliet Capulet (Cappello) would have lived in the house in the 12th century, if she really existed.

The highlight of any visit to the home is Juliet's balcony, where visitors try to re-enact the famous ''Romeo, Romeo'' scene.

Apart from leaving love messages, there is also a ritual linked to the bronze statue of Juliet which stands in the courtyard.

Visitors to the house often caress the right breast of the statue as it's believed to bring good luck.

photo: balcony after last year's clean-up

source:www.ansa.it

Buddha, Jesus Christ and Ancient Egyptian were Ukrainians

Buddha, which is widely worshipped in Asia, was of direct relevance to Ukraine, the official publication of the country’s parliament, The Voice of Ukraine newspaper wrote.

“It is quite possible that Buddha belonged to the Scythian nation of Budins that lived on the territory of Ancient Ukraine during the first or the second millennium B.C. The name of the nation is still preserved in the names of Ukraine’s contemporary settlements – Seredina-Buda, Buda, and some others,” the newspaper of Ukraine’s Supreme Rada wrote.

“Everything is clear from the ethnic point of view. Buddha was a Scythian Arian, a member of the Budin tribe. The descendants of the tribe still live in the Sumsky and the Chernigov region of Ukraine, as well as on the neighboring lands of Belarus and Russia,” the newspaper said.

The ‘sensationalist’ article was written by Valery Bebik, a Doctor of Political Sciences, a professor, deputy principal of Ukraine University, the chairman of the board of the All-Ukrainian Association of Political Sciences.

Mr. Bebik published a number of his articles in the official newspaper of the Ukrainian Parliament before. He wrote his previous articles for the paper to “prove” the remarkable role of the Ukrainian civilization, which endowed the world with spiritual enlightenment, outstanding prophets, philosophers and leaders.

In 2008-2009, the Ukrainian professor shared his amazing observations of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and the ethnic origin of Jesus Christ.

“The name of Egypt’s major temple, Het-ka-Ptah, sounds very much like Ukrainian words ‘hata’ and ‘ptaha’ (‘house’ and ‘bird’). The pictures on the Egyptian pyramids show that Egyptian queens were blonde women with blue eyes, just like many Ukrainian women. One should also pay attention to the fact that the trident, which is currently the minor national emblem of Ukraine, can often be seen there too,” the “scientist” wrote.

“We have already outlined the facts that placed in question the official, the church version of the ethnic origin and the Biblical dates of the life of Jesus Christ and the historical epoch, in which the basis of Christianity was formed. It looks like Christ actually lived 3,000 years before his canonical birth and spoke the Coptic language, which is a close language to the ancestors of contemporary Ukrainians,” The Voice of Ukraine wrote.

German mathematician who died 450 years ago gets letter demanding TV licence fees

Adam Ries, a German mathematician who died 450 years ago, has been sent a letter demanding that he pay long-overdue television licence fees.

Germany's GEZ broadcast fee collection office sent the bill to the last home address of the algebra expert, who bought the property in 1525.

"We received a letter saying 'To Mr Adam Ries' on it, with the request to pay his television and radio fees," said Annegret Muench, who now heads a club honouring the mathematician, which uses the house as its headquarters.

Miss Muench returned the letter to the GEZ with a note explaining the request had come too late, as Ries had died in 1559, centuries before the invention of television and radio. She nonetheless received a reminder a few weeks later.

This was not the first time the GEZ had sent a bill to those in the afterlife.

Last year, a school named after the poet Friedrich Schiller received a reminder asking him to declare all radios and televisions in his home and pay the corresponding fees. Two notices were delivered by GEZ, which threatened to mount legal action against the literary hero, who is best known for his poem Ode to Joy, which was put to music by Beethoven, unless he quickly settled his monthly €17 (£16) bill. The German poet and philosopher died in May, 1805.

In December last year, the collection office extended its list of potentially delinquent customers to include a cat called Winni. One month earlier, they had targeted a beagle called Sam in the Bavarian town of Amberg.

source:The Daily Telegraph.

Plane Drops Engine Parts on Queens Rooftop

A Chicago-bound American Airlines plane flying out of LaGuardia Airport dropped engine parts on the roof of a Queens business before landing at JFK Airport, according to an airline spokesperson.

American Airlines Flight 309 took off at 8:17 a.m., but was forced to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport at 8:35 a.m. after an engine failed, American Airlines spokesperson Andrea Huguely said.

Port Authority crash crews responded and discovered metal fragments in the fuselage of the plane.

Debris from the plane fell on the roof and damaged some cars at Varsity Plumbing in College Point. Workers heard an explosion around 8:20 a.m. before debris began hitting the roof. Some of the pieces were so hot they melted into the roof.

"I think it's a turbine.... I've seen it before," said American Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Jim Causa.

Federal officials collected a five gallon bucket of debris, according to Bob Bellini, owner of the business.

The plane's pilot heard a loud noise as the plane was climbing out of LaGuardia. The plane was landed safely and no injuries were reported among the 88 passengers and five crew members on board.

Police and aviation investigators photographed the debris, which was taken to LaGuardia for inspection. The bulk of the engine remained attached to the plane's wing, Peters said.

On Jan. 15, Flight 1549 ditched into the Hudson after it hit a flock of Canada geese less than 2 minutes after taking off from LaGuardia. All 155 people aboard that aircraft survived.

In Wednesday's incident, the plane took off from LaGuardia in the northeast corner of Queens, turned north over Long Island Sound and made it as far as Stamford, Conn., before turning south again and heading for Kennedy Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the cause of the engine failure.

By JIm Scott and Glenn Zimmerman
NBCNewYork.com

Chinese police offices hand out chillis to keep drivers awake

Police officers in Chongqing, China's biggest city, have started giving sleepy drivers raw chillies in order to stop them falling asleep at the wheel.

According to the Chongqing Evening News, a local newspaper, more than three pounds of chillies have been handed out in just nine days.

The inhabitants of Chongqing, and of the neighbouring provinces of Sichuan and Hunan, are famous in China for their insatiable appetite for spice.

Some dishes in Chongqing are so fiery that patrons remove their shirts in order to cool down while eating them.

Yuan Qinglai, an official with the Chongqing motorway police, said the free chillies scheme was hatched after two sleepy drivers from Hunan asked police to give them peppers after being pulled over.

"We also provide menthol balm, cold water and places for them to sleep, but some drivers have complained the balm is not effective enough for them," said Mr Yuan.

He said the chillies were cheap and readily available, besides being a traditional cure for being dull-headed. "When Chairman Mao got tired late at night while he was writing, he would take some peppers to keep his spirit up," he said.

He added that the scheme had started after Chinese New Year because of a traditional belief that people feel more sleepy in spring.

"Because of the change of weather recently, more and more drivers got tired and sleepy easily, especially in the afternoons, and accidents seemed to increase," he explained.

Chen Jun, a van driver, told the Chongqing Evening News: "It feels great to have a chillie. The police try to tell me to only eat a few, but I tell them to relax. I can eat peppers!"

However, one anonymous Chinese blogger said: "The best cure is to sleep properly. Why should they need to eat anything to stay awake?"

Roads in rural China are notoriously dangerous, and China has the second highest road accident toll in the world, behind India.

According to Xinhua, the state news agency, about 73,500 people died in crashes last year, a ten per cent drop from 2007.

source:www.telegraph.co.uk

Iraqi jailed for three years for shoe attack on Bush

Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi who threw his shoes at former George W. Bush has been jailed for three years.

The 30-year-old television reporter, had pleaded not guilty at the hearing in the Iraq Central Criminal Court to assaulting the US president during his farewell visit last year.

"He was sentenced to three years in jail," defence lawyer Yahia Attabi told reporters outside the Baghdad court.

"We expected the decision because under the Iraqi criminal code he was charged with assaulting a foreign leader on an official visit," Attabi said, adding: "We will appeal this decision."

Zaidi, whose shoe-hurling gesture is considered a grave insult in the Arab and Muslim world, had risked up to 15 years in jail on the charge of aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit.

The former US president, deeply unpopular in the Arab world for ordering the 2003 invasion of Iraq, had been at a globally-televised media conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki when Zaidi let rip with his shoes, zinging them at Mr Bush, who managed to duck just in time.

When Judge Abdulamir Hassan al-Rubaie asked Zaidi if he was innocent, the journalist responded: "Yes, my reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi."

After the verdict, his 25-strong defence team emerged to scenes of chaos outside the court, where several family members screamed: "It's an American court... sons of dogs."

Wearing a light-brown suit, brown sweatshirt and thin-framed glasses, Zaidi had been brought into the packed courtroom under a heavy police escort.

Chief defence lawyer Ehiya al-Sadi had argued that his client's motives were "honourable."

"He was only expressing his feelings. What he could see was the blood of Iraqis at his feet when he watched the US president speaking about his achievements in Iraq."

He also argued that although Iraqi law considered it an attack on a visiting head of state, "his throwing of the shoe did not cause any injury or damage.

"The president did not lose a leg or hand or finger. It was not an attempt to murder but an attempted assault.

"But it was not a real assault because he wanted to insult the president. The way he did it was buy throwing a shoe not a mortar or bomb.

"His goal was to insult Bush for the pain Iraqis have suffered.

He asked for the court to consider Zaidi innocent and take note of the fact that he had already been in jail for three months.

The trial first opened on February 19 but was adjourned to determine the nature of Mr Bush's December 14 visit. The judge told the court that government ministers had declared it official.

There was standing room only on Thursday at the courtroom on the edge of Baghdad's high security Green Zone as some 200 family members, reporters and lawyers crowded in.

One of Zaidi's brothers, Uday, had told AFP he expected Muntazer to be found guilty, describing the trial as a "farce."

The Baghdadia television reporter told the court in February that he had been outraged and was unable to control his emotions when Mr Bush started speaking at the December media conference.

"I had the feeling that the blood of innocent people was dropping on my feet during the time that he was smiling and coming to say bye-bye to Iraq with a dinner.

"So I took the first shoe and threw it but it did not hit him. Then spontaneously I took the second shoe but it did not hit him either. I was not trying to kill the commander of the occupation forces of Iraq."

As well as throwing the shoe, Zaidi also insulted Mr Bush verbally, shouting: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," before security forces wrestled him to the ground.

Zaidi said he had been beaten and tortured while in custody.

His brothers said they wanted to bring torture charges against Mr Bush, Maliki and his bodyguards at a human rights court in either Belgium or Spain.

A Syrian lawyer said she was preparing to file a complaint.

FDA approves new, cheaper female condom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Female Health Co has won U.S. approval to market its newer, less expensive female condom, which could help it win over American women as well as boost use in developing countries, the company said on Wednesday.

The company's FC2 Female Condom is made with a softer material for quieter use. Its original version failed to gain a foothold in the male condom-dominated U.S. marketplace in part because it was noisy to use as well as more expensive.

Its new condom is made using a less-costly process that company officials have said should lower its shelf price as well as allow health organizations to distribute more of the birth control device to women in Africa and other areas where AIDS is a major concern.

The approval "is an important development in efforts to deliver affordable access to woman-initiated HIV prevention in the United States and around the world," Female Health Co's strategic adviser Mary Ann Leeper said in a statement.

Female Health's initial Female Condom was approved in 1993 to prevent pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted diseases but has not been widely used in the United States, which made up just 10 percent of its 34.7 million unit sales in 2008.

The product competes with other birth control methods, most notably male condoms, which can cost as little as 50 cents each amid a variety of competing brands. The original Female Condom costs between $2.80 and $4 a piece.

It was not immediately clear how much the new version would cost or when it would be available. Female Health Co earlier said it was looking for another company to partner with and help market the FC2.

FDA's approval also allows the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to buy the FC2 Female Condom and distribute it to global programs that aim to prevent the spread of the virus that causes AIDS, the company said.

Dozens of health advocacy groups had urged U.S. approval of the new version, which the company said is already distributed in 77 other countries.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Crocodile devours shark in battle Down Under

A crocodile took on a shark in a clash of the titans Down Under, but the reptile came out on top.



The 15ft saltwater crocodile began to eat the shark only metres from a boat of fisherman.

Craig Van Lawick was aboard the commercial barramundi boat on the Wildman River, east of Darwin, in the Northern Territory when the crocodile started eating the shark.

He said: "There was not a whole lot of sound. All we could hear was the crunching sound."

Mr Van Lawick added that he was unsure about the type of shark involved, saying it was eaten too quickly for him to work out.

Crocodiles have been spotted eating sharks in Australia on a number of occasions.

Last year an 8ft crocodile was photographed dragging a shark from the Daly River in the Northern Territory to finish its prey off on land.

And the year before a croc took on a deadly bull shark, responsible for numerous fatal attacks on humans around the world.

The saltwater crocodile is the largest of all living crocodiles and reptiles. It is found in suitable habitat throughout Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and surround waters.

They are among the most aggressive predators in the world and can grow up to 23 feet in length and weight more than a tonne.

About a dozen people have been killed in crocodile attacks in Australia in the past 20 years.

Population to reach 7 billion people by 2012

Author : DPA

New York - The world population is expected to reach 7 billion by 2012, from the current 6.8 billion, with the additional population increase coming mostly in developing countries, the United Nations said Wednesday. By 2050, the world population is projected to reach over 9 billion people based on an annual average gain of 78 million people. Most governments depend on UN studies in world population to map socioeconomic policy.

On average, fertility rates are expected to decline from 2.56 children per woman in the 2005-2010 period to 2.02 children in 2045- 2050. But even if the fertility rate drops further, the population would continue to grow, with the population reaching 8 billion by 2050, even if women have an average of 0.5 children less.

"Consequently, population growth until 2050 is inevitable even if the decline of fertility accelerates," the UN said in revising its annual projection.

However, if fertility rates were higher, the population could increase to 10.5 billion by 2050, the report said.

Most of the 2.2 billion additional people by 2012 will be in developing countries, where people of working age and those aged 60 and over are expected to increase. Developing countries now make up 5.6 billion people of the total world population of 6.8 billion.

The current population in developing countries is still young, with children under 15 accounting for 29 per cent of the population and those aged 15 to 24 accounting for 19 per cent of total population. There are now 1.7 billion children and 1.1 billion young people in those countries.

"In fact, the numbers of children and young people in the less developed regions are at an all time high, posing a major challenge for their countries, which are faced with the necessity of providing education or employment to large cohorts of children and youth even as the current economic and financial crisis unfolds," the UN said.

The number of people aged 60 and over is expected to grow globally from 739 million in 2009 to 2 billion by 2050, with the majority of them - up to 79 per cent - living in developing nations by 2050.

The picture is different in rich regions, however. The number of children under 15 will remain close to 200 million and youths 15 to 24 will decrease from the current 160 million to 134 million by 2050. Most developed countries have had below replacement fertility - below 2.1 children per woman - in the past two to three decades, the UN said.

The UN said world population growth would continue in the most populous countries. Nine countries in the world will account for half of the projected world population growth during the period from 2010 to 2050: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, the United States, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, China and Bangladesh.

Man survives Niagara Falls plunge, resists rescue

Associated Press Writer

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (AP) -- A man jumped into Niagara Falls on Wednesday and survived the 180-foot plunge, then resisted rescue attempts before he eventually was pulled from the icy water to safety, police said.

The man, believed to be in his late 30s, was semiconscious when he was taken to a hospital. He lapsed into unconsciousness and was listed in critical condition.

Niagara Parks Police Chief Doug Kane said the man "voluntarily entered into the water and refused medical assistance at the bottom."

He said the man was suffering from hypothermia and a head injury. Police were unable to get any information from the man because of the effects of the near-freezing water.

A witness called police shortly after 2 p.m. and told them a man had climbed over a retaining wall and jumped into the rapids above the Horseshoe Falls, one of Niagara Falls' three waterfalls. A short time later, the man was seen near the base of the falls.

Specially trained falls rescue crews tried to assist the man, but he swam away from them toward the middle of the river, Kane said.

A private helicopter was called in and got close enough to the victim so that wind from its blades forced him close enough to shore for rescuers to reach him.

"He wasn't cooperative," pilot Ruedi Hafen, owner of Niagara Falls Helicopter, told The Associated Press. "He didn't try to be helpful. We had a sling on him and he got out of it."

Rescue crews said the man was in the water for about 45 minutes and spent much of that time resisting attempts to help him.

Firefighter Todd Brunning and another rescue worker swam about 60 yards from shore, grabbed hold of him and hauled him in, Niagara Fire Capt. David Belme said.

Brunning said the man was floating on his back and got caught in an eddy, allowing Brunning to swim up behind him and wrap his arms around his chest.

"I was surprised he was still conscious when we got to him," Brunning said. "I guess he was lucky."

Brunning said the man was responsive to verbal commands but unable to talk.

"He was on a suicide mission, I assume," Hafen said. "I've never, in my career, seen someone so tough, swimming between the ice."

The last person known to survive a plunge over the falls was a Michigan man, Kirk Jones, who climbed down a small embankment and jumped into the Niagara River on Oct. 20, 2003. Jones said he had been depressed and had been drinking.

At least 17 people - not including suicide attempts - are known to have gone over the falls.

Niagara Falls' three waterfalls are the American Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

Chopper rescue attempt in North ends in tragedy

Cousin of man killed in botched rescue mission slams army for 'sending trainees' to minefield

The cousin of an Arab Israeli killed in a failed rescue mission at a minefield Wednesday slammed authorities for what he characterized as a "shameful screw-up."

"I’m shocked…it's difficult for me to talk right now, but I'll have plenty to say about how the State treated us," northern resident Hisham Agabriya told Ynet. His cousin, Alaa, was killed earlier after falling from a helicopter that airlifted him from a minefield.

The 24-year-old Alaa Agabriya entered the minefield with his cousin and 16-year-old brother, who told police they arrived at the site to hunt for porcupines. The two were questioned on suspicion of deliberately entering a closed military zone. They told police they did not see any fences or warning signs around the minefield. However, police are looking into the possibility that the two entered the minefield deliberately with the intention of acquiring mines.

However, Hisham denied the charges, while offering harsh words in respect to the failed rescue effort.

"Instead of dispatching a professional team to rescue him, we saw what everyone else saw – my cousin falling down from an altitude of 50 meters," he said. "This is a shameful disgrace for the rescue forces, simply a screw-up; they brought young kids there, trainees, in order to rescue him."

"I saw something falling and I asked what it was. The police officers told me: Don't worry, it's his jacket,'" the victim's cousin said. "I didn't believe it, however. I saw the soldiers coming down to him again quickly. They brought him back up and flew away quickly."

A senior doctor at the trauma ward of Haifa's Rambam hospital said that Agabriya was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital. All subsequent efforts to save him failed.

'We were sure he would make it'

For over an hour, an eyewitness to the tragedy shouted in Arabic to Agabriya, who lay wounded in the minefield. "We were sure he would make it," the witness told Ynet. "He communicated nicely with us the whole time."

The eyewitness arrived on the scene a short while after Agabriya, who supposedly planned to have a picnic with friends, was injured by a mine.

"I managed to get within a few dozen meters of him," he said. "I spoke to him the whole time. People around him were telling him not to move and to apply a tourniquet. He cried for help, telling us in Arabic: 'Come and save me.'"

The man said witnesses had yelled to Agabriya that a chopper was on the way. "In other moments he cried out from pain and said he had been injured in the heel. He yelled: 'It hurts, it hurts, help me.'"

When the chopper arrived, the eyewitness said, two soldiers disembarked and administered first aid, tied him to a stretcher, and fixed a helmet on his head.

"The field conditions were very rough and the soldiers did a professional job while putting themselves at risk," the witness said. "At the end, after he was secured, they lifted him in the air and then – like in a movie – he dropped to the ground."

The witness said the soldiers had come back down but that at that stage, "it was clear he was dead". "What happened to him was just terribly bad luck. We were sure he would make it," the witness concluded.

Making ads more interesting

At Google, we believe that ads are a valuable source of information — one that can connect people to the advertisers offering products, services and ideas that interest them. By making ads more relevant, and improving the connection between advertisers and our users, we can create more value for everyone. Users get more useful ads, and these more relevant ads generate higher returns for advertisers and publishers. Advertising is the lifeblood of the digital economy: it helps support the content and services we all enjoy for free online today, including much of our news, search, email, video and social networks.

That's why Google has worked hard to create technology that makes the advertising on our own sites, and those of our partners, as relevant as possible. To date, we have shown ads based mainly on what your interests are at a specific moment. So if you search for [digital camera] on Google, you'll get ads related to digital cameras. If you are visiting the website of one of our AdSense partners, you would see ads based on the content of the page. For example, if you're reading a sports page on a newspaper website, we might show ads for running shoes. Or we can show ads for home maintenance services alongside a YouTube video instructing you on how to perform a simple repair. There are some situations, however, where a keyword or the content of a web page simply doesn't give us enough information to serve highly relevant ads.

We think we can make online advertising even more relevant and useful by using additional information about the websites people visit. Today we are launching "interest-based" advertising as a beta test on our partner sites and on YouTube. These ads will associate categories of interest — say sports, gardening, cars, pets — with your browser, based on the types of sites you visit and the pages you view. We may then use those interest categories to show you more relevant text and display ads.

We believe there is real value to seeing ads about the things that interest you. If, for example, you love adventure travel and therefore visit adventure travel sites, Google could show you more ads for activities like hiking trips to Patagonia or African safaris. While interest-based advertising can infer your interest in adventure travel from the websites you visit, you can also choose your favorite categories, or tell us which categories you don't want to see ads for. Interest-based advertising also helps advertisers tailor ads for you based on your previous interactions with them, such as visits to their websites. So if you visit an online sports store, you may later be shown ads on other websites offering you a discount on running shoes during that store's upcoming sale.

Our advertisers and publisher partners have been asking us for a long time to offer interest-based advertising. Advertisers need an efficient way to reach those who are most interested in their products and services. And publishers can generate more revenue when they connect advertisers to interested audiences.

This kind of tailored advertising does raise questions about user choice and privacy — questions the whole online ad industry has a responsibility to answer. Many companies already provide interest-based advertising and they address these issues in different ways. For our part, we're launching interest-based advertising with three important features that demonstrate our commitment to transparency and user choice.

Transparency - We already clearly label most of the ads provided by Google on the AdSense partner network and on YouTube. You can click on the labels to get more information about how we serve ads, and the information we use to show you ads. This year we will expand the range of ad formats and publishers that display labels that provide a way to learn more and make choices about Google's ad serving.
Choice - We have built a tool called Ads Preferences Manager, which lets you view, delete, or add interest categories associated with your browser so that you can receive ads that are more interesting to you.
Control - You can always opt out of the advertising cookie for the AdSense partner network here. To make sure that your opt-out decision is respected (and isn't deleted if you clear the cookies from your browser), we have designed a plug-in for your browser that maintains your opt-out choice.

To find out more about what Google is doing in this important area, please visit our Public Policy blog and Privacy Center.

Keyword advertising has been so successful because it's useful to users, advertisers and publishers — everyone's interests are aligned. We believe that interest-based ads will create the same virtuous cycle, by giving users more relevant ads, while generating higher returns for advertisers and publishers.

Monkey 'kills cruel owner with coconut thrown from tree'

The animal threw the missile from the top of a tree after becoming frustrated with his tiring labour, according to reports.

Leilit Janchoom, 48, had employed the monkey to pick coconuts which he could then sell for around 4p each.

The animal – named Brother Kwan – found the work tedious and strenuous but Mr Janchoom refused to let him rest, dishing out beatings if he refused to climb trees.

It is believed that the monkey eventually snapped, and targeted his owner from a high branch with one of the hard-skinned fruits.

Mr Janchoom, from the province of Nakorn Sri Thammarat in Thailand, died on the spot after being struck by the coconut, according to reports in a local newspaper.

The dead man's wife said that the monkey had "seemed lovable" when they bought him for £130.

News of the attacks comes after scientists disclosed this week that a chimpanzee at a Swedish zoo became so annoyed at being gawked at by tourists in a zoo that he started creating weapons to hurl at them.

Santino the chimp would calmly collect stones and fashion discs made out of concrete even when the zoo was closed, to throw at visitors when they returned.

Scientists believe his behaviour is the strongest proof yet that humans are not the only creatures which can make plans for the future.

Police hunt for gunman who killed 11 in German school shooting

WINNENDEN, Germany – A 17-year-old gunman dressed in black opened fire at his former high school in southwestern Germany on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people and injuring others before escaping, police said.

Helicopters searching for him crisscrossed the area, and police warned area residents not to pick anyone up in their cars. It would be Germany's worst shooting since another teenage gunman killed 16 people and himself in another high school in 2002.

State police chief Konrad Jelden in nearby Stuttgart said 10 students and one adult had been killed.

Nine of the slain students were found dead in the school and the gunman killed an adult outside the building as he escaped, regional police spokesman Klaus Hinderer said. It was not immediately clear how the 10th student died.

"He went into the school with a weapon and carried out a bloodbath," said regional police chief Erwin Hetger. "I've never seen anything like this in my life."

After the attack, the suspect fled the Albertville high school toward the center of Winnenden, a town of 28,000, Hinderer said. The teenager graduated from the school last year, police said.

Witnesses said students jumped from the windows of the school building after the gunman opened fire. Concerned parents quickly swarmed around the school, which was evacuated during the incident.

The man entered the school at 9:30 a.m. and opened fire, shooting at random, police said. Police said the suspect was dressed in a black.

About 1,000 children attend the school, located in a suburb some 12 miles (20 kilometers) northeast of Stuttgart.

In 2002, 19-year-old Robert Steinhaeuser shot and killed 12 teachers, a secretary, two students and a police officer before turning his gun on himself in the Gutenberg high school in Erfurt.

Steinhaeuser, who had been expelled for forging a doctor's note, was a gun club member licensed to own weapons. The attack led Germany to raise the age for owning recreational firearms from 18 to 21.

Asian markets extend global rally on Citi news

HONG KONG — Asian stock markets stormed higher Wednesday after Wall Street rallied on news Citigroup was turning a profit, but the upbeat mood was clouded by signs the region's biggest economies were still struggling amid the global slowdown. European markets gained modestly in early trade.

Asia's lurch higher, led partly by financial shares, was a welcome reprieve from the depressing declines in global equities over the last few weeks.

But the relief was likely to be temporary as the economic slump continued to ravage Asia's export-driven nations. Wednesday's figures showing another sharp drop in Chinese exports, as well as a fourth straight month of lower spending by Japanese companies, were just the latest grim reminders of how severe the downturn is.

With the outlook still miserable, the bear market would continue to grind toward a new bottom in the coming months, analysts said.

"What you've seen today is mostly a technical bounce in markets after falling steeply recently, and I don't think this rally can be sustained," said Arjuna Mahendran, the Singapore-based head of Asian investment strategy for HSBC Private Bank, which manages some $494 billion in assets. "It's still far too early to predict that the global recession is over ... The fundamentals are simply not in place."

The catalyst for the rally on Wall Street was a letter from Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit to employees saying the bank had operated at a profit for the first two months of this year, logging its best performance since the third quarter of 2007, the last time it booked a quarterly profit.

Investors, desperate for any positive signs about the ailing financial system, cheered the news about the banking giant, which has lost so much money the federal government has been forced to extend billions in aid and take a 36 percent stake.

As trading opened in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX advanced 0.9 percent and France's CAC 40 was up 0.8 percent. Stock futures pointed to solid gains on Wall Street Wednesday. Dow futures rose 93, or 1.4 percent, to 6,980 and S&P 500 futures advanced 11.4, or 1.6 percent, to 727.40.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average shot up 321.14 points, or 4.6 percent, to 7,376.12, rebounding from a 26-year closing low hit this week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng leaped 236.61 points, or 2 percent, to 11,930.66.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi rose 35.31, or 3.2 percent, to 1,127.51. Benchmarks in Australia and Taiwan were up 1.9 percent; Singapore's gained 1.3 percent.

Banking shares were especially strong, with leading Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. gaining 4.1 percent. HSBC, which like Citi, gave reassurances this week that it was performing better than expected so far this year, advanced another 2.3 percent in Hong Kong, continuing its recovery form a 24 percent plunge on Monday.

The upbeat mood, though, belied more evidence that Asian countries were still suffering from the drought in Western demand that drives their export-reliant economies.

In China, exports plunged 25.7 percent last month as overseas appetite for goods made in the world's third-largest economy continued to deteriorate. Imports also fell. A string of monthly export declines is undermining hopes among many investors that China can boost its economy, at least in the near term, with a 4 trillion ($586 billion) stimulus package.

Also in Asia, Japanese machinery orders, an indicator of how much the country's companies are spending, fell 3.2 percent in January, though was still better than expected.

In the U.S., Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned the U.S. recession wouldn't end this year unless the government bailout of banks succeeded and financial markets were restored to working order.

On Tuesday, Wall Street posted its best performance of the year, with the Dow Jones industrials surging 379 points, or about 5.8 percent, to 6,926.49. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 43.07 points, 6.4 percent, to 719.6.

Oil prices were lower in Asian trade, with light, sweet crude for April delivery down 26 cents at $45.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.36 to settle at $45.71 a barrel overnight.

The dollar weakened to 98.47 yen from 98.80 yen late Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.2714 from $1.2702.

Dent-Brocklehurst family to move out of Sudeley Castle... and into cowshed

The Dent-Brocklehurst family are planning to move out of their 15th century home, Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, and into a cow shed after running into financial difficulties.

Sudeley Castle, near Winchcombe, is owned by Lady Elizabeth Ashcombe, 65 and her two children – Henry, 42, and Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, 38. Elizabeth Hurley married her husband Arun Nayar at the castle in 2007.

The castle, which is open to the public, costs owner Lady Ashcombe £1.5 million to run each year.

When many of the rooms were closed to viewing for the family's private use, the estate suffered a downturn in business which has seen annual losses of £100,000.

To rectify the situation, the family have applied for permission to convert a barn and cow stalls into residential accommodation so they can move out of the castle.

The planning application – submitted to Tewkesbury Borough Council by Lady Ashcombe's daughter, Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst – states: "As the castle cannot now be opened to the public because most of its rooms are used by family for accommodation, the practicality of gaining an income from visitors has dropped dramatically as only the grounds are available to the public.

"To ensure the estate's survival, the family needs to move out of the castle into converted farm buildings on the estate to allow the castle's unique rooms to be open to visitors again, and therefore increase the public's interest and visitor income."

Lady Ashcombe and her two children inherited the 1,200-acre estate when Mark Dent-Brocklehurst, the stockbroker father of Henry and Mollie, died aged 40 in 1972.

Lady Ashcombe owns 50 percent of the estate, is now married to Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe. Lady Ashcombe's children each own 25 per cent of the estate.

Problems began when widowed Lady Ashcombe closed the state rooms and private quarters to tourists, a decision which resulted in visitor numbers dropping from 150,000 in 2004 to 50,000 in 2006.

Now the family hope that transforming the 18th and 19th century Hill Barn and attached sheds into residential accommodation will rejuvenate the fortunes of the castle.

The application says the listed buildings, two kilometres up a steep hill from the main castle, are not now used for agricultural purposes and are redundant.

They plan to keep them as one structure, with an unspecified number of bedrooms in the east section of the main building and in the cowshed.

The tool and card shed to the north will be a sitting room and the main building a large hall and kitchen.

Corrugated iron roofs will be replaced by slate and, in keeping with the area, the walls will be insulated with sheep's wool and water will be heated by solar panels.

A spokeswoman for Sudeley Castle said: "Owing to the increasing success of weddings and corporate hospitality which has shot up this year, we are looking at increasing the options and possibly making some space in the castle available for such events."

George Clooney's ER return 'could be aired this week'

The actor has confirmed that he will make a one last appearance on the television show that made him a household name, which is on its 15th and final series.

It had been expected that Clooney would star in the finale in April, but entertainment websites are rife with rumours that he will appear on this Thursday's show.

Clooney, 47, rose to prominence playing Dr Doug Ross on America's longest-running medical drama, but last appeared in 2000.

Since then he has become one of Hollywood's highest profile film actors, starring in Ocean's Eleven, Solaris and O Brother, Where Art Thou? He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2006 for his role in Syriana.

In January he was photographed on the ER set filming what – at the time – producers thought would be the last ever episode of the show.

But The Guardian reported television industry rumours that three extra episodes have since been added, bringing forward the broadcast of Clooney's return.

Photographs taken during filming showed Clooney wearing a wedding ring, raising hopes among fans that the episode will see him tie the knot with his on-screen love interest Carol Hathaway, played by Julianna Marguiles.

ER will appear for the last time in the US on NBC on April 2 and will be preceded by a one-hour retrospective.

Funny Pictures 1

Funny Pictures - Wednesday

Man stages own funeral

A Romanian man staged his own funeral while he was still alive to make sure everything went to plan.

Marin Voinicu, 73, from Vadastra in Olt county, invited fellow villagers, relatives and friends to his home to mark his "future passing".

The village priest even accepted an invitation to officiate a funeral sermon at the man's home.

Mr Voinicu said: "I did everything by the book. I even dug my own grave in the cemetery and laid down in it to see how it feels.

"I asked my relatives to wail at my headstone for a test run. I was fully satisfied with my funeral."

He explained he decided to organise his own funeral because he didn't want to leave the task on his family's shoulders.

And his family agreed to go along with it because they felt it would be easier to organise the event when they were not distracted by grieving.

Mr Voinicu's daughter-in-law Oncica said: "If we had done this after his death it would have been harder.

"Everybody would have cried a lot but this way nobody shed a tear. We had such a good time one could have said it was more like a wedding than a funeral."

Magician who claimed he mailed self admits to hoax

– A magician who posted videos online detailing a "trip" he made in a crate aboard a cargo plane from upstate New York to Las Vegas admitted Tuesday that it was an elaborate hoax.

"It was a publicity stunt right from the start," said Wade Whitcomb, of North Syracuse, after federal officials declared the event a hoax. "If that's what they say, that must be the truth."

"The FBI spoke to Whitcomb; he did not ship himself anywhere. We have no further interest in this," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Tuesday.

Whitcomb had claimed he folded himself into a cramped wooden crate for the 26-hour trip on a United Parcel Service truck and a UPS plane. He posted a series of videos online of the purported trip shot with tiny cameras pointed out of the crate and one inside focused on him.

Whitcomb, who goes by the stage name Wade Live, claimed he made the trip last November to publicize a buddy's Web site.

The Transportation Security Administration and the FBI investigated Whitcomb's claim, saying it would violate a number of laws. The Atlanta-based UPS Inc. also investigated.

UPS spokesman Dan McMackin said he couldn't verify the claim.

"To me, it seems like a publicity stunt, and therefore, I think it could be a hoax," he said.

Blue Ducks likely to die out in UK after male birds get together

Keepers at a bird sanctuary in West Sussex hoped that the last remaining female Blue Duck in the country - called Cherry - might mate with either of the drakes, Ben or Jerry.

But neither male duck appeared interested and are now inseparable at the Arundel Wetland Centre, leaving Cherry to her own devices.

Centre warden Paul Stevens said he was disappointed that efforts to produce new Blue Duck offspring had failed but said the two male birds made "a lovely couple".

"They stay together all the time, parading up and down their enclosure and whistling to each other as a male might do with a female he wants to mate with," he said.

"People who visit the centre think they're a fantastic couple, without really coming around to the idea that they are two males.

"They both have very big personalities and people come from all over the country to come and see them.

Cherry doesn't seem bothered by it, she's just happy to keep herself to herself."

Blue ducks originate from New Zealand but there were thought to be just three birds in the UK.

Keepers initially introduced Ben to Cherry, but neither seemed keen. They then brought Jerry down from a sanctuary in London.

Mr Stevens said: "Cherry showed some interest in him. She displayed typical mating behaviour - she approached him and called to him, she even looked like she was nesting.

"We thought it was great and it was all going to happen but nothing ever did."

Mr Stevens said the male ducks were then placed in the same enclosure: "To our surprise the two males really took to each other and it was obvious that they really liked each other.

"It would have been nice to get a last clutch of eggs from Cherry but Ben and Jerry do make a lovely couple."