Two held over Canada school death

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6697755.stm
Monday, 28 May 2007, 10:36 GMT 11:36 UK

Jordan Manners, 15 was shot on May 26 after being shot at the CW Jefferys Collegiate Institute. Canadian police have finally arrested the two suspects of the shooting. One teenager turned himself in and both of the teenagers are reported to face murder charges. Jordan Manners died in a hospital on Wednesday. The two suspects were friends of the victim. Toronto's police chief, Bill Blair, said the incident in the neighborhood was "shocking". "Students have a right to a safe school environment. It is shocking that such a crime could take place in our schools," he said. This shooting was Toronto’s 26^th murder this year and the 13^th to involve a gun.

Russia: Missile can pierce shields

POSTED: 12:06 p.m. EDT, May 29, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/29/russia.missile.ap/index.html

Russia has developed new missiles that are capable of penetrating any defense system. The missile will raise tension with the West. "As of today Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems," Sergei Ivanov said, “So in terms of defense and security Russian can look calmly to the country's future." President Vladimir Putin and Ivanoc have repeatedly said their country would continue to improve their weapon systems and respond to U.S. to deploy a missile defense system in Europe. According to the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, the new missile is capable of carrying multiple warheads, a test warhead was launched from northwestern Russian and it landed on target about 3,400 miles away on the Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. Ivanov also said that Russia has successfully tested a tactical cruise missile.

South Korea aims for space in 2017

POSTED: 1:39 p.m. EDT, May 29, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/05/29/skorea.space.ap/index.html

Officials in South Korea announced on Monday that they will push for exploration of the planets in 2017. Seoul, South Korea seeks to join the exclusive space club. They will spend 3.8 trillion won which is 4 billion U.S. in the next 10 years, to have the technology in building satellites and rockets, said Jeong Jae-yang. The space exploration is "an investment for the future," said Jeong. South Korea also plans to join the international space exploration programs. They want to join the international space station and help master core technologies in building satellites and rockets. South Korea has launched nine satellites since 1992. Most of the satellites launched were used for observation of the space and ocean.

Police: Mom hangs kids, self -- baby survives

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/29/children.killed.ap/index.html

POSTED: 7:21 p.m. EDT, May 29, 2007

A young mother identified as Gilberta Estrada, 25 hanged three of her small daughters and herself in a closet. She used pieces of clothing and sashes. The fourth child an 8 month old infant was rescued by the police. "It's horrendous. That's all I can say," Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said. The infant, Evelyn Frayre is in good condition at the hospital. After Estrada failed to show up for work, her sister broke into the residence of Estrada in the Oak Hills mobile home park. The sister rescued the infant after realizing she was still alive. Larry Fowler said that this incident appears to be a murder suicide, because the trailer doors were locked from the inside, and relatives around the neighbourhood said the woman had been depressed. Gilberta Estrada and her girls were last seen alive Monday evening.

NZ cows produce own skimmed milk

Tuesday, 29 May 2007, 12:33 GMT 13:33 UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6700129.stm

Experts in New Zealand have discovered that some cows have the gene to produce skimmed milk. The first cow with the ability of producing skimmed milk was found in 2001, and experts have been able to breed calves that also produced skimmed milk. The original cow was called Marge and it produces milk that was low in saturated fats and high in healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. This skimmed milk could be also used make more spread able butter. Marge was discovered during a testing of milk compositions of New Zealand’s cows. And the “skimmed milk” gene also emerged in some of her calves. High levels of saturated fats can increased the risk of heart diseases. Ed Komorowski, told BBC News, "By having cows producing skimmed milk, if you are a dairy company that only really wants skimmed milk, then you might want to get it straight from the cow, without having to separate the [cream out of the milk] and sell on the surplus.” Typical whole milk contains 3.5% saturated fat, semi skimmed contains 1.7% and skimmed milk contains 0.1% fat content. This could mean that one day we would be able to breed a herd of cows that produce skimmed milk.

Residents not sure two bullets enough to stop giant lizard

POSTED: 1:59 p.m. EDT, May 28, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/28/fla.lizard.ap/index.html

A four foot long, 80 pound monitor lizard was found lurking around in an Orlando suburb for months. The lizard didn’t injure anyone, but it had to be killed because it could be a potential danger for small children and animals. An officer shot the reptile twice, but he wasn’t close enough to catch it. The reptile crawled back into the pond. "If they did shoot it, I'm sure it's going to be angry if it comes out now," said Ilene Gothelf, “I want to know that it is safe for the kids to come out." The lizard was probably a pet that escaped or was dumped by its owner.

Chinese woman cured of WWII ache

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6697717.stm

Jin Guangying, a 77 year old woman was shot in the head in September 1943, while delivering lunch to her father. She was 13 year old girl when she was shot in Xinyi County, Jiangsu during the gunfight between the Chinese and Japanese. She was one of the survivors. She recovered after three months but went on to experience repeated headaches. Recently her family borrowed money to have a thorough examination, and an x-ray showed a 3 cm long bullet in her head. "When she suffered from the headaches, she would sometimes babble words we could hardly understand, foaming at the mouth, and sometimes she pounded her head with her first," said, Mrs Jin's daughter. The family is planning to seek compensation and an apology from the Japanese Government. "It's a miracle. The operation was not that difficult, but it's unbelievable that Mrs Jin was able to survive for such a long time with a bullet in her head," said Zhou Hong.

It’s a miracle how this woman lived 64 years of her life with a bullet in her head. And what’s surprising is why did it take so long for them to actually get an examination on her head? I am just glad she got the bullet removed because it must have been hard to have repeated headaches for 64 years.

Whales back to within 50 miles of ocean

POSTED: 1101 GMT (1901 HKT), May 28, 2007

The two whales are now moving towards the ocean again, they are now 50 miles within the ocean. But the rescuers are concerned about the whales getting closer to the San Francisco Bay, because they will encounter large ships there. The mother humpback whale and her calf made it down the Sacramento River and Honker Bay on Sunday. They are also at risk of taking a wrong turn and the risk of getting stuck in shallow mudflats. Rescuers will position their boats to prevent the whales from taking a wrong turn. Their long exposure to fresh water has made their wounds worsen. Veterinarians used sponges attached to a pole to take skin cells from their wounds, the bumps on their skin resembles blisters. "We really need to try to get them back into a more appropriate environment so they can start healing," said Trevor Spradlin. The bumps could be an infection from bacteria, virus or fungus. Researchers have injected the whales with antibiotics, and this will slow down the damage.

This is good news because after trying a lot of different methods, the rescuers finally got the whales to move to the right direction. Now they are 50 miles within the ocean and hopefully in the next few days they will make it to the ocean. The biggest concern has to be the wounds they have. We have to get them back in the ocean as soon as possible, so that their wounds can heal. I am sure that the antibiotics injected into their skin will keep their wound heal.

Rescuers to turn fire hoses on whales

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/05/25/delta.whales.ap/index.html?eref=edition_us

POSTED: 7:03 a.m. EDT, May 25, 2007

Scientists have tried different methods such as sounds of other whales and clanging pipes to get the whales back to the ocean. But none of them seems to work. So now scientist plans to spray water near the whales from above and underwater, so that they can herd the whales back to the ocean."No one has done this before," said Frances Gulland, "At this point, we don't know if it will be a deterrent or an attractant." The physical condition of the whales had not changed much, but their wounds seemed to have worshen. Rescuers are now planning to inject the whales with antibiotics, so that it can help the wound heal fast. They are still developing the drug and they will likely use a syringe attached to a pole to insert it. The U.S. Coast Guard would keep a 500 yard buffer zone to keep the boats away from the whales.

Man with 700 snakes arrested at airport

POSTED: 11:21 a.m. EDT, May 24, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/24/egypt.snakes.ap/index.html

The Officers at Cairo's Airport asked a passenger, to open his carry-on bag. The passenger identified as Yahia Rahim Tulba, told the officers that the bag contained lived snakes. Yahia Rahim Tulba tried to smuggle in 700 snakes on the plane to Saudi Arabia, so that he could sell it. Among the various snakes in the bag, there were two poisonous cobras. Police confiscated the snakes and turned Yahia Rahim Tulba over to the prosecutors office. According to the officers, the snakes are wanted by Saudis who displayed them in glass jars, have them as pets and sell them to researchers.

Orca sounds used to frighten whales back to sea

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2007/US/05/24/delta.whales.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:02 a.m. EDT, May 24, 2007

The two Humpback Whales apparently took a wrong turn during their migration back to the feeding grounds of Northern Pacific. They traveled 90 miles into the inlands of Sacramento. They turned around until they reached the Sacramento River Bridge, and began swimming in circles. Scientists hope that the sound of Orcas will threaten the whales back into the ocean. They also acknowledge that the whales were spotted slapping their tails on the water, which shows that they are in distress. Their deep cuts appeared worsening, and the cuts were probably from propellers. A 3-4 foot cut on the whales appeared to have pierce through the blubber layer. The freshwater environment have made the normal, smooth skin of the whale rough and pitted. But what concerns the scientist the most is the whales slapping their tails on the water. Because this is abnormal and scientists now need to drive the whales back into the ocean without causing the whales to have more stress.

I think scientists should try to get the whales back into the ocean because the whales have spent more than a week in fresh water and they are not physically able to live in fresh water. Their cuts have appeared worsening and they appear to have a lot of stress. So hopefully the two whales will be able to return back to the ocean in the next couple of days and make it to their migration to the feeding grounds.

Wayward whales take another wrong turn

http://robots.cnn.com/2007/US/05/22/delta.whales.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:21 p.m. EDT, May 21, 2007

The Humpbacks nicknamed Delta and Dawn had traveled around 20 miles south of the port of Sacramento, and swimming toward the state capital. They turned around again this afternoon after scientist positioned dozen of boats in front of them. "They're at this point lost. We don't think they have any clue," said Rod McInnis of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Their current route will lead them to muddy deltas that could trap these whales. To get back to the Ocean, the two of them must make it to the San Francisco Bay, and swim under the Golden Gate Bridge to make it back to the Ocean. The whales were swimming toward the Pacific at 3:30 pm Sunday. They swam as far as the Rio Vista Bridge before turning around. Scientists believed that the vibrations from the traffic startled the two whales. The goal is to "make as much noise to be as obnoxious to the whales as possible" to get them to move back toward the ocean, said Ed Sweeney, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Zoo hatches endangered Asian turtle

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/05/01/turtle.birth.ap/index.html

POSTED: 3:12 a.m. EDT, May 2, 2007

An Arakan forest turtle in Zoo Atlanta was hatched. This is the fourth of the Arakan forest turtle to be born there. Zoo Atlanta is the only facility in the world to successfully breed these turtles. They were believed to be extinct for close to a century, but were later rediscovered in an Asian foodmarket in the mid 1990s. The Arakan forest turtle is endangered due to the fact that many people use it for cooking and medical uses. The turtle, native of Arakan hills has a horrible survival rate, and the turtle only mates once a year. The turtle eggs take 100 days to hatch. Zoo Atlanta has a pair of mating turtles since 2001, they manage to buy the two turtles from a Chinese Food Market. There are only 12 of the turtles living in captivity in the U.S; Zoo Atlanta, the St. Louis Zoo, the Miami Metro Zoo and River Banks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.

I think we should try to have more facilities in the world to help breed Arakan forest turtle. Because there is only one facility in the world that can successfully breed them. Arakan forest turtles are extremely rare and its sad to see that people are not recognizing this, and are continuing to kill them for food and medical use.