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"Manflu" proven by scientists!

published by You on 13 May, 2009 - 19:00

Women 'fight off disease better'

Men really do have an excuse for supposedly being wimpy about coughs and colds - their immune systems are not as strong as women's, research suggests.

A Canadian study indicates that the female sex hormone oestrogen gives women's immune systems added bite at fighting off infection.

Oestrogen seems to counter an enzyme which blocks the inflammatory process.

The McGill University study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Read more @ BBC News

Is Islamic finance the answer?

published by You on 12 May, 2009 - 01:53

Experts in Islamic finance believe their way of doing business has shielded them from the global credit crisis.

But how does it differ from conventional Western finance?

A former executive director of the International Monetary Fund, Dr Abbas Mirakhor, says wider Islamic economics relies on God's guidance, handed down almost 1,400 years ago.

There is a "consciousness of a supreme creator and a system that he has provided", he says.

What we know as the conventional Western way does not have that, which is "really the major difference between the two", he adds.

In practical terms, the most significant difference is that charging interest is not allowed in Islamic finance.

US sacks top Afghanistan general

published by You on 11 May, 2009 - 20:49

The US defence secretary has asked the country's commander in Afghanistan to step down, saying the battle against the Taleban needs "new thinking".

Robert Gates confirmed Gen David McKiernan would effectively be sacked less than a year after taking command.

He will be replaced by Gen Stanley McChrystal, who is seen as having a better understanding of the conflict.

The change comes as the US boosts troops numbers in Afghanistan and prepares for a change in strategy.

Gen McKiernan has been US commander in Afghanistan for less than one year, a period marked by a surge in violence.

His successor currently serves as the director of US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was previously a director of special operations forces.

Germany to ban paintball in wake of high school shooting

published by You on 9 May, 2009 - 04:04

The German government is to ban paintball in response to the school shooting in which 16 people were killed in March.

Experts from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners have agreed to outlaw all games in which players shoot at each other with pellets.

The governing parties say paintball trivialises violence and risks lowering the threshold for committing violent acts.

Infringements to the new rules, which the cabinet hopes to pass before a general election in September, could incur fines of up to 5,000 euros (£4,400).

Read more @ Telegraph

Girl, 10, found hanged in bedroom

published by You on 8 May, 2009 - 15:05

A 10-year-old girl has been found hanged at her home in Manchester.

Megan Walker was discovered by a member of her family in her bedroom in Colby, Harpurhey at 1620 BST on Wednesday.

She was taken to hospital but died in the intensive care unit 24 hours later. A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out later.

A police spokesman said they were trying to establish the circumstances surrounding the young girl's death and inquiries were ongoing...

Read more @ BBC News

If it is suicide, how bad must things have been for a ten year old to consider it?

Shocking.

"Notify me when new comments are posted"

published by You on 2 May, 2009 - 17:08

That is an option on every comment/reply page on the site - unticked by default for logged in users, but ticked for anonymous posters.

If you do NOT want a notification by email on articles/forums/blogs/polls that you are posting in, please make sure that is unticked.

For logged in members, if you DO want that notification, you can click edit on the "my account" page and make the relevant selections.

Another note - I get an email everytime the website fails to send an email, so if you are going to enter a fake email, please please untick that box. Saves me having togo through a long and boring list of emails informing me that an email to X was undelivered which was sent due to a new reply to topic Y.

Six men jailed for election fraud

published by You on 1 May, 2009 - 21:13

Six men have been jailed for charges relating to election fraud during a council vote in Berkshire.

The charges related to an election in the Slough Central ward in May 2007 where Labour councillor Lydia Simmons lost her seat to Tory Raja Khan.

Raja Khan, along with two others, had previously admitted the offences. Three other men were convicted by a jury.

The men, all from Slough, were jailed for between four-and-a-half years and four months at Reading Crown Court.

The court heard they created hundreds of false names in the weeks running up to the local election and entered them on the voter register.

'Hot and dry' UK summer forecast

published by You on 30 April, 2009 - 16:15

The UK is "odds on for a barbecue summer", with no repeat of the washouts of the last two years, according to Met Office forecasters.

Temperatures are likely to be warmer than average across the UK, topping 30C at times.

Rainfall should be "near or below average" for the three months of summer, the forecasters say.

However, they warn that heavy downpours cannot be ruled out...

Read more @ BBC News

Trio cleared over 7/7 attacks

published by You on 28 April, 2009 - 21:07

Three men have been cleared of helping to plan the 7/7 London suicide attacks.

A retrial jury at Kingston Crown Court found them not guilty of conspiring with the 2005 bombers by organising a reconnaissance mission to London.

Waheed Ali, 25, Sadeer Saleem, 28, and Mohammed Shakil, 32, all from Leeds, admitted knowing the bombers - but denied helping them.

Ali and Shakil were found guilty of a second charge of plotting to attend a terrorism training camp in Pakistan.

The men were originally tried in 2008, but the first jury failed to reach verdicts against them.

Those now found guilty will be sentenced on Wednesday.

The three men are the only people to face any charges in relation to the 7/7 London bombings...

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