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Scientists have uncovered evidence for an inbuilt "sat-nav" system in the brains of London taxi drivers.



They used magnetic scanners to explore the brain activity of taxi drivers as they navigated their way through a virtual simulation of London's streets.

Different brain regions were activated as they considered route options, spotted familiar landmarks or thought about their customers.

The research was presented at this week's BA Science Festival.

Earlier studies had shown that taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus - a region of the brain that plays an important role in navigation.

Their brains even "grow on the job" as they build up detailed information needed to find their way around London's labyrinth of streets - information famously referred to as "The Knowledge".

"We were keen to go beyond brain structure - and see what activity is going on inside the brains of taxi drivers while they are doing their job," said Dr Hugo Spiers from University College London.

The scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to obtain "minute by minute" brain images from 20 taxi drivers as they delivered customers to destinations on "virtual jobs".

The scientists adapted the Playstation2 game "Getaway" to bring the streets of London into the scanner.

After the scan - and without prior warning - the drivers watched a replay of their performance and reported what they had been thinking at each stage.

"We tried to peel out the common thoughts that taxi drivers tend to have as they drive through the city, and then tie them down to a particular time and place," said Dr Spiers.

The series of scans revealed a complex choreography of brain activity as the taxi drivers responded to different scenarios.

The hippocampus was only active when the taxi drivers initially planned their route, or if they had to completely change their destination during the course of the journey.

The scientists saw activity in a different brain region when the drivers came across an unexpected situation - for example, a blocked-off junction.

Another part of the brain helped taxi drivers to track how close they were to the endpoint of their journey; like a metal detector, its activity increased when they were closer to their goal.

Changes also occurred in brain regions that are important in social behaviour.

Taxi driving is not just about navigation: "Drivers do obsess occasionally about what their customers are thinking," said Dr Spiers.

Animals use a number of different mechanisms to navigate - the Sun's polarized light rays, the Earth's magnetic fields and the position of the stars.

This research provides new information about the specific roles of areas within the brains of expert human navigators.

BBC News

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A Chinese firm accused of selling milk powder that has made babies unwell was warned in August over the safety of its product, its partner and co-owner says.



New Zealand-based dairy giant Fonterra said it had urged China's Sanlu Group to recall the tainted powder six weeks before Sanlu took adequate action.

The Fonterra farmers' co-operative owns a 43% stake in Sanlu.

More than 400 babies in China have been taken ill after using milk contaminated with the industrial chemical, melamine.

Melamine is used to make plastics and is banned from food. Ingesting it can lead to the development of kidney stones.

At least one child has reportedly died in China as a result of using the contaminated milk, which the firm recalled from sale on Thursday.

'Severe punishment'

In a statement released on Sunday, Fonterra said it had urged Sanlu's board to recall the milk powder as soon as it learnt of the contamination - on 2 August.

"From the day that we were advised of the product contamination issue in August, Fonterra called for a full public recall of all affected product and we have continued to push for this all along," the statement said.

Chinese officials have complained that they were only alerted last Monday of the dangers posed by the milk. They said Sanlu's customers had been complaining about the milk since March.

China's Health Minister, Gao Qiang, said on Saturday that Sanlu "should shoulder major responsibility for this".

He said those responsible for the contamination "would be dealt with severely". Nineteen arrests have so far been made over the scandal, Chinese authorities say.

Some of the tainted milk had been sent to Taiwan but none had been sold to other foreign markets, Mr Gao said.

Melamine has been used by Chinese suppliers of animal feed components to make them appear to have more protein.

It was linked to the formation of kidney stones and kidney failure in pets in the United States last year, leading to thousands of deaths and illnesses.

A fake milk powder scandal in 2004 killed at least 13 babies in China's eastern province of Anhui.

Investigators found that the milk given to these babies had no nutritional value, and the resulting scandal triggered widespread investigations into food safety.

BBC News

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Russia's foreign minister has said on a visit to the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia that Moscow's actions were the only way to guarantee security.



Sergei Lavrov was in the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi less than a week after Russia established diplomatic ties with both it and the South Ossetia region.

Only Russia and Nicaragua recognise the two regions as independent states.

Mr Lavrov also attacked Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's stance on Moscow's conflict with Georgia.

Mr Scheffer is due to visit the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Monday for the first meeting of a new commission to assess the conflict and Georgia's Nato's membership prospects.

Mr Lavrov is expected in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali on Monday.

Diplomatic challenge

The Russian foreign minister said Russia's actions were the only way to ensure Abkhazia's security as well as that of South Ossetia.

Russia has wasted little time in underlining its recognition of Abkhaz independence with Mr Lavrov's high-level visit, the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse reports from Tbilisi.

Mr Lavrov threw down a challenge to the international community by saying that discussions on security in the Caucasus were impossible without the two breakaway regions, our correspondent adds.

This raises the prospect that Russia may insist on their participation in future talks including Georgia, the EU and US - all of which are fundamentally opposed to their secession from Georgia.

Speaking about Mr Scheffer, the Russian foreign minister accused him of making statements about Georgia which were "inappropriate for the leader of such a serious organisation [as Nato]".

The Nato secretary general has said the organisation stands by its aim of eventually admitting Georgia and Ukraine as members.

BBC News

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Emergency talks have been held up between Italy's government, investors and trade unions over attempts to save the airline Alitalia from collapse.



The government has been trying to broker a rescue package with investors, which would involve a sell-off of profitable parts of the airline.

A meeting originally convened for 1800 Italian time (1600GMT) has been pushed back to 2200 Italian time (2000 GMT).

If no deal is reached, Alitalia, could go into liquidation next week.

With the airline saying it is running out of money to buy aviation fuel, the government needs to persuade unions to back a deal that involves job cuts.

The only offer on the table is from Italian consortium CAI, which only wants Alitalia's profitable operations.

Unions have so far rejected this deal as it would mean major job losses.

The BBC's Frances Kennedy, in Rome, says informal discussions throughout the day were meant to iron out enough of the obstacles to get the parties back to the table for a final do or die negotiating marathon.

However the meeting at the Labour Ministry has been twice delayed.

This is a sign that the nine unions and the cartel of Italian investors wanting to buy part of Alitalia are still far apart on key issues, like job losses, salary cuts and industrial strategy, our correspondent says.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has pledged to do all he can to save Alitalia.

Securing the airline's future was one of his main election pledges before he returned to power in May.

Failed French takeover

Back in April, plans for Alitalia to be bought by Air France-KLM collapsed due to union opposition to planned job cuts.

Italy's civil aviation authority said on Saturday that Alitalia's operating licence was at risk due to the airline's admission that it was running out of funds to buy fuel.

Alitalia is currently being run by administrators after seeking bankruptcy protection on 29 August.

The Italian government owns a 49.9% stake in Alitalia, but it cannot simply pump public funds into the airline as there are strict European Union rules preventing state support for airlines.

BBC News

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The International Atomic Energy Agency says it has not resolved questions about a possible military dimension to Iran's nuclear programme.



In its latest report, the UN nuclear watchdog said it had failed to make meaningful progress in assessing Iran's past nuclear activities.

Iran was also continuing to enrich uranium in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution, it said.

The US said Iran could face further sanctions unless it changed course.

Iran says its nuclear programme is aimed solely at civilian atomic energy, but Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon.

'No credible assurances'

In its report, the IAEA said that Iran was failing to co-operate with its investigators.

In May, the UN watchdog said Tehran was withholding information about projects to develop a nuclear warhead, convert uranium and test high explosives.

It called for access to key sites, documents and officials so that investigators could assess Iran's position that its nuclear work was for peaceful purposes.

But, said the IAEA, no such access had been granted.

"Regrettably the agency has not been able to make any substantial progress on the alleged studies and other associated key remaining issues which remain of serious concern," the report said.

Without greater transparency from Iran, the IAEA would "not be able to provide credible assurances about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran", it added.

Iran says documentation on its alleged projects has been fabricated.

The IAEA also said that Iran was continuing to install new cascades of centrifuges to enrich uranium in defiance of a UN Security Council order.

Around 3,800 centrifuges were now in operation at Iran's enrichment plant in Natanz, an increase of 300 since May, the report said.

Responding to the report, the US said Iran could face more punitive measures.

"The Iranian regime's continued defiance only further isolates the Iranian people," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

Iran should suspend uranium enrichment or "face further implementation of the existing United Nations Security Council sanctions and the possibility of new sanctions", Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

The report will be discussed by the IAEA's board of governors next week.

BBC News

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Pakistani troops have fired shots into the air to stop US troops crossing into the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, local officials say.



Reports say nine US helicopters landed on the Afghan side of the border and US troops then tried to cross the border.

South Waziristan is one of the main areas from which Islamist militants launch attacks into Afghanistan.

The incident comes amid growing anger in Pakistan over increasingly aggressive US attacks along the border.

The latest confrontation began at around midnight, local people say.

They say seven US helicopter gunships and two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters landed in the Afghan province of Paktika near the Zohba mountain range.

US troops from the Chinooks then tried to cross the border. As they did so, Pakistani paramilitary soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire into the air and the US troops decided not to continue forward, local Pakistani officials say.

Reports say the firing lasted for several hours. Local people evacuated their homes and tribesmen took up defensive positions in the mountains.

The incident happened close to the town of Angoor Adda, some 30km (20 miles) from Wana, the main town of South Waziristan.

A Pakistani military spokesman in Islamabad confirmed that there was firing but denied that Pakistani troops were involved.

Diplomatic fury

It emerged last week that US President George W Bush has in recent months authorised military raids against militants inside Pakistan without prior approval from Islamabad.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says there is a growing American conviction that Pakistan is either unwilling or unable to eliminate militant sanctuaries in its border area.

There have been a number of missile attacks aimed at militants in Pakistan territory in recent weeks.

Pakistan reacted with diplomatic fury when US helicopters landed troops in South Waziristan on 3 September. It was the first ground assault by US troops in Pakistan.

Locals in the Musa Nikeh area said American soldiers attacked a target with gunfire and bombs, and said women and children were among some 20 civilians who died in the attack.

In the latest incident, the tribesmen say they grabbed their guns and took up defensive positions after placing their women and children out of harm's way.

Pakistan's army has warned that the aggressive US policy will widen the insurgency by uniting the tribesmen with the Taleban.

Last week the army chief declared that Pakistan would defend the country's territorial integrity at all cost, although the prime minister has since said this would have to be through diplomatic channels rather than military retaliation.

BBC News

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Nato's secretary general has said he hopes for Georgia's "accelerated" integration with Nato, and condemned Russia's conduct in August's conflict.



However Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, speaking in Tbilisi at the first meeting of the Nato-Georgia Commission, did not say when Georgia might join the alliance.

And he emphasised that the country still had to make democratic progress.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili welcomed the visit as a "powerful signal" of solidarity.

"Your presence sends a... signal to the world that Georgia, together with its friends and allies, does not stand alone," Mr Saakashvili told Mr de Hoop Scheffer and the ambassadors of the 26 Nato countries gathered in Tbilisi.

"Russia's use of force was disproportionate and Russia must now comply with all elements of the six-point plan," Mr de Hoop Scheffer said, referring to the EU-brokered ceasefire deal that calls for all forces to withdraw to positions occupied before the conflict.

"At the same time, despite the difficult situation, we expect Georgia to firmly stay the course of democracy and reform," the Nato chief added.

Nato divisions

Earlier he said the post-conflict situation was "difficult to swallow", since Russia appeared intent on maintaining troops in Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"If the Russians are staying in South Ossetia with so many forces, I do not consider this as a return to the status quo," he told the Financial Times.

Mr de Hoop Scheffer did not say whether Georgia would be given a Membership Action Plan - a roadmap for accession - when Nato meets for a summit in December.

Nato countries are divided, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.

While they are keen to offer Georgia fulsome support, he says, Nato rules say that ethnic disputes or external territorial disputes must be resolved before membership can be offered.

The conflict in the region began on 7 August when Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia by force after a series of lower-level clashes.

Russia launched a counter-attack and the Georgian troops were ejected from both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Also on Monday, the EU announced 500m euros (£397m, $712m) in aid to help Georgia's recovery.

European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the funds would go to assisting internally displaced people, post-conflict rehabilitation and economic recovery, and towards new infrastructure.

In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers were set to clear the way for at least 200 ceasefire monitors to deploy to buffer zones around South Ossetia and Abkhazia, ahead of an expected Russian troop withdrawal by 10 October.

It is unclear whether the monitors will actually be allowed to enter the breakaway regions, which are full of Russian troops.

Russia has recognised the two regions' independence, and President Dmitry Medvedev said he would sign agreements this week formalising diplomatic relations and establishing military links.

Moscow has already announced that it intends to base 3,800 troops in each of the two regions.

BBC News