Sir Sean Connery ordered to appear before a Spanish court next week

The Scottish actor and his second wife, the French artist Micheline Roquebrune are to be questioned about the 1999 sale of their beachside home on the Costa del Sol.

BP oil spill investigation critical of White House reaction to crisis

The revelations from the National Oil Spill Commission come as the Democratic Party struggles to retain control of the US Congress in the elections on Nov 2.

The commission said that after the rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers, the government was too optimistic about the oil company's ability to bring the ruptured well under control.

Hungarian toxic sludge reaches Danube river

The sludge reached the Danube's Mosoni Branch, about six miles from the main branch of the river this morning, according to Tibor Dobson, head of the disaster relief services.

Mario Vargas Llosa wins Nobel Prize in literature

Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa Photo: REUTERS
The Swedish Academy said it honoured the 74-year-old author, considered one of the most acclaimed writers in the Spanish-speaking work, "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt and defeat."

Hutton review: unions warn of strikes over pension reform - Telegraph

Lord Hutton, a former Labour cabinet minister who is reviewing public sector pensions for the Coalition, said the current gulf between public and private sector schemes was "fundamentally unfair".

Base jumping: the KL Tower International Base Jump 2010 event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The 2010 KL Tower International Base Jump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Walter Hilscher of Germany leaps from the tower
Picture: AP/Lai Seng Sin

UFO in China Closes Airport and Prompts Investigation - ABC News

An unidentified flying object (UFO) forced Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou, China to cease operations on July 7. A flight crew preparing for descent first detected the object around 8:40 p.m. and notified the air traffic control department. Aviation authorities responded within minutes, grounding outbound flights and diverting inbound ones to airports in Ningbo and Wuxi.

UFO Details Released In China | Knowelty

A set of official documents along with video released today give more details about the UFOs that were reported over an airport in China. Chinese officials report that during the summer there were up to 8 UFO sightings at an airport in Baotou Mongolia. The documents released today give some details on the most recent occurrence, which was on September 11th.

The Three Factors in Business

Every business (firm) or activity is an entity composed of three factors, and functions, having them in harmony.

Customer Equity, the Percentage of Equity of the Buyer in the Assets of the Supplier.

Customer Equity or Customer's Equity, CE, - Consumer Equity or Client Equity (also Buyer's Equity) -, is the percentage of equity of the buyer in the assets of the seller/supplier.

Parts of a holotes (of matter and/or energy and/or mind/mental, physical or electronic etc), Oct 07, 2010

Holotes, a sum of dissimilar parts, Oct 07, 2010

Holotes, Holotis, or Olotis, a sum of dissimilar parts[1] of matter and/or energy and/or mind (mental) creating a new existence (entity), different from its parts (components), and functioning as such.

In blow to Obama, Guantanamo detainee trial delayed | Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused to let a key witness testify in the first criminal trial of a terrorism suspect from the Guantanamo Bay military prison, a setback for the Obama administration's effort to prosecute such cases.

Laptop users warned of knees damage

In one recent case, a 12-year-old boy developed a sponge-patterned skin discolouration on his left thigh after playing computer games for a few hours every day for several months.

Test tube baby hails Nobel winner

Cambridge physiologist Professor Robert Edwards developed IVF treatment with Patrick Steptoe, a gynaecologic surgeon, who died in 1988.

Nobel Prize for British IVF pioneer

Colleagues have reacted with delight to the news that British test tube baby pioneer Professor Robert Edwards has been given the Nobel Prize for medicine. Skip related content

Cambridge physiologist Prof Edwards, now 85, and Patrick Steptoe, a gynaecologic surgeon, developed IVF technology in which egg cells are fertilised outside the body and implanted in the womb. Dr Steptoe died in 1988.

Sleeping well 'helps weight loss' - Yahoo! News UK

Sleeping well 'helps weight loss'

An adequate night's sleep not only increases fat loss for a dieter but can help control feelings of hunger, a study has shown.

Smoking 'raise oral cancer risk'

Smoking 'raise oral cancer risk'
Each year the diseases, known as upper aero-digestive tract (UADT) cancers, kill 10,000 people in the UK and more than 100,000 across Europe.

Dentists jailed over patient fraud

Dentists jailed over patient fraud
Ikhlaq Hussain, 38, of College Road, Alum Rock, Birmingham, was sentenced to 30 months and Jaspal Singh Bachada, 37, of Redlake Drive, Stourbridge, was jailed for 20 months.

Lead poisoning kills 400 children in Nigeria: MSF

A Nigerian girl walks past a dismantled makeshift structure
The children died over the last six months in several villages in Zamfara state, where lead-rich run-off from illegal gold mining has entered the soil and water supply, said Medecines Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders - MSF).

New Portuguese centre seeks frontline in cancer research

General view of the amphitheater of the Champalimaud Center of the Unknown
For some, the Center's dramatic name might evoke a touch of magical realism: but with 500 million euros' (685 million dollars) funding from the will of a Portuguese industrialist, they have the means to back their vision.

World pours 11.7 billion dollars into anti-AIDS fight

The White House displays a large AIDS awareness ribbon in 2009
UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced the commitment at UN headquarters where more than 40 donor countries, private foundations, and corporations were meeting to replenish the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for 2011 through 2013.

'Fruit and veg for healthy baby'

'Fruit and veg for healthy baby'
Experts found that women who consumed three or more daily servings of leafy vegetables in the three months prior to falling pregnant had 50% less chance of having a small baby.

Denials slow battle against Nigeria lead poisoning

Hundreds of children have died in the last six months in seven villages in Zamfara state, where lead-rich run-off from illegal gold mining has entered the soil and water supply, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders - MSF).

Noisy work 'a heart disease risk'

Noisy work 'a heart disease risk' Enlarge photo
People who are exposed to long-term workplace noise - of the type that makes it difficult to hold a conversation - are two to three times more likely to have heart problems as those working in quiet environments.

Light drinking 'will not harm baby'

Light drinking 'will not harm baby
Women can safely drink a 175ml glass of wine, a 50ml glass of spirits or just under a pint of beer each week without affecting intellectual or behavioural development, according to a new study.

Nurse plan to tackle troop suicides

Additional dedicated nurses for troops and veterans with mental health problems and a 24-hour helpline are to be introduced to tackle the "national scandal" of post-conflict suicides, Liam Fox has announced.

Why Don't ICDs Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death After Recent MI?: Abstract and Introduction

PSA Screening: Wait Until Age 60?

The authors did a meta-analysis of the published literature and all presentations since 2005

Where to Invest When the Stock Market Is Limping

By Dennis G. Murray

Introduction

Ready to jump ship on the stock market and put your money in a mattress?
Since 2000, the market's total return has been downright dismal: -1.6% a year, based on the Standard & Poor's 500, an index of the 500 largest US companies. Many investors wish they'd looked elsewhere instead of sticking blindly with stocks.
If you're among them, now is your chance to try to change things. With unemployment at around 10%, federal debt levels at record highs, and consumer confidence sputtering, chances are stocks won't yield anywhere near the double-digit returns that investors have taken for granted in former years. Sadly, many experts are predicting several more years of middling or negative returns.
Although you should still own some stocks -- for diversification and to avoid missing out on a rebound in the markets -- financial advisors recommend several nonstock categories of investments that might make sense for you, with the pluses and minuses of each.

Wheat, Sugar, and Hogs

Staples like corn, coffee, and soybeans come under the umbrella of "commodities," which are traded in the form of contracts on regulated exchanges. Without getting into too much detail, this essentially means that an investor, through a commodities broker, agrees to buy or sell a fixed amount of a commodity at a certain price in the future, betting that it'll go higher or lower over that time span. For example, a 1-cent change in the per-bushel price of 10,000 bushels of wheat can mean a $100 gain or loss in the value of what's known as a "futures contract."
Why now? Commodities can add a nice bit of diversification to a portfolio that's heavy on stocks and bonds. "Over long periods of time, certain commodities are a very good bet," says Steven Abernathy, chairman of The Abernathy Group in New York City. "China is industrializing, and it probably has 20-plus years to go. That means they'll be spending a lot on basic building commodities -- lumber, steel, cement, and the like."
A low-cost way to invest in commodities is through shares in iPath Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index Total Return.It's an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that follows the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index, which is comprised of futures contracts on 19 major commodities, including gold, aluminum, cattle, cotton, and wheat. The ETF is up 7.5% since September 2009; the ticker symbol is DJP. The Website is: http://www.ipathetn.com/DJP-overview.jsp.
Cautions: Scammers have infiltrated the commodities business, with cold-call promises of quick and dirty profits with little or no risk. As the old saying goes, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." If you have any doubts about a commodities-related solicitation, check with the National Futures Association, a self-regulatory organization, to see if the company or broker in question is registered to trade futures contracts. The Website is at: www.nfa.futures.org. Go to the Broker/Firm Information link. The site also offers a Webcast on the different types of scams that are most popular these days, plus tips on how to protect yourself. To learn more about investing in commodities, plus questions to ask anyone who is selling them, check out http://www.nasaa.org/investor_education/Investor_Alerts___Tips/