World News joined 1

[JohnCenaFan28]

I remember him on Oprah, that was a very strange episode. Thanks for the update on his condition.

[Punisher]

Well this is awkward... I dont know what to say about this

[JohnCenaFan28]

Scientists say they have found more evidence that men as well as women have biological clocks and that they start to tick in their mid-30s.



A French study of over 12,200 couples having fertility treatment suggests the chance of a successful pregnancy falls when the man is aged over 35.

It adds that the chance is significantly lower if he is over 40.

Previous studies have shown that both natural and assisted conception is more difficult if the man is over 40.

The researchers told a European reproductive health conference that it was likely the problems were caused by DNA damage in sperm.

Miscarriage risk

The researchers studied couples who had sought treatment for infertility at the Eylau Centre for Assisted Reproduction in Paris between January 2002 and December 2006.

All were given intrauterine inseminations (IUI), also known as artificial insemination, where sperm is inserted into the womb when the woman is ovulating.

It is given to couples where the woman has no fertility problems and is less invasive than IVF.

The men's sperm were examined for quantity, their ability to move and swim and their size and shape.

Rates of pregnancy, miscarriage and births were recorded.

In addition, the researchers analysed detailed data on the pregnancies, which allowed them to pinpoint factors associated with the man and the woman.

As expected, maternal age had an effect in women over 35, who had a significantly higher chance of miscarriage and lower rate of pregnancy.

But the team also found that, where the father was in his late 30s, miscarriages were more common than if the man was younger.

And if a man was over 40, the chances of a successful pregnancy were even lower.

For those couples, a third of pregnancies ended in miscarriage and only 10% of treatments resulted in pregnancies.

'Growing evidence'

Dr Stephanie Belloc, who presented the work to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) conference in Barcelona, said: "This research has important implications for couples wanting to start a family."

She said such couples should be offered IVF (where an egg is fertilised in a lab dish), and where the outer membrane of the egg seems to block sperm with DNA damage, and ICSI (where a sperm is injected directly into an egg), where the best sperm can be selected for use.

"These methods, although not in themselves a guarantee of success, may help couples where the man is older to achieve a pregnancy more quickly, and also reduce the risk of miscarriage," she added.

Dr Alan Pacey, a fertility expert at Sheffield University and secretary of the British Fertility Society, said: "There is growing evidence from a number of studies to show that men are not totally immune from reproductive ageing.

"Previous studies of couples trying to conceive naturally or undergoing IVF have shown that men over the age of about 40 are less fertile than younger men. Moreover, if they do achieve a pregnancy their partners are more likely to miscarry.

"This study reinforces the message that men aren't excused from reproductive ageing."

BBC News

[Black Widow]

Family, friends and army comrades have said a final farewell to the first British woman to die on active service in Afghanistan.

Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, of the Intelligence Corps, was one of four soldiers killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle last month.

She had been taking part in an operation east of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province when their vehicle was blown apart.

Hours earlier, she was told she had been earmarked for promotion to sergeant, as had her husband, Cpl Carl Bryant.

Cpl Bryant's funeral - with full military honours - was held at Holy Trinity Church in Wetheral, near Carlisle, Cumbria, where she got married two years ago.

A party of six pallbearers, close comrades and friends, carried her coffin - draped in the Union flag, with her beret, belt, campaign medals and a single red rose on top.

During the service, a tribute was paid to the other fatalities of the roadside bomb.

It read: "In memory also of those soldiers who died alongside Sarah, Cpl Sean Robert Reeve, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin and Trooper Paul Stout."

Lieutenant Colonel Jim Suggit, Cpl Bryant's commanding officer, told mourners: "We are here because we all in different ways loved Sarah. Love is a totality - it's an is or an isn't, there's no half measures.

"Sarah gave us all love, the special and individual love of a daughter, wife, a friend and a comrade in arms. This is a special place, it's filled with Sarah's love."

All the mourners, around 300 in all, later joined a procession, walking the short journey from the church to the graveside for a private burial.

A bugler played the Last Post and a party of seven soldiers from the Intelligence Corps fired three volleys over her coffin, before it was finally laid to rest.


sky news

[Black Widow]

A bank clerk who tried to steal nearly £72m from HSBC has been jailed for nine years.


sky news

[Black Widow]

The G8 summit has agreed to set a global target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050, according to the Japanese Prime Minister.

Yasuo Fukuda said the G8 nations "came to a mutual recognition" that cutting emissions by at least half "should be a global target".

The eight leaders pledged to work with nearly 200 states in United Nations climate change talks to adopt the goal.

Gordon Brown said: "There has been major progress on the climate change agenda, beyond what people thought possible a few months ago.

"Countries which previously objected to setting overall targets have accepted these targets subject to there being an international agreement."

Mr Brown also announced his delight that the aid promises made at Gleneagles would be retained and announced a multibillion-pound investment in malaria nets, fighting infectious diseases and education in developing countries.

However, there was immediate criticism from climate change campaigners who said the pledge did not go far enough.

Environmental group WWF criticised the lack of a commitment to midterm targets and said the 2050 goal was insufficient because many scientists say bigger cuts are needed to address climate change.

In a statement the organisation said: "The G8 are responsible for 62% of the carbon dioxide accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere, which makes them the main culprit of climate change and the biggest part of the problem.

"WWF finds it pathetic that they still duck their historic responsibility."

Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: "The G8 leaders have failed the world again.

"We needed tough targets for the richest countries to slash emissions in the next 100 months, but instead we got ambiguous long-term targets for the world in general."

South African environment minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the announcement set out a "vision" but no firm targets to achieve big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

He said: "To be meaningful and credible a long-term goal must have a base year.

"It must be underpinned by ambitious mid-term targets and actions and it should be based on an equitable burden-sharing paradigm.

"It is regrettable that the lowest common denominator in the G8 determined the level of ambition in the G8 declaration on climate change."

Climate change had promised to be one of the most contentious subjects being discussed by the world's richest countries.

Last year's G8 summit agreed to "seriously consider" cutting carbon emissions by 50% by 2050.

But negotiators had struggled to improve on that pledge.

The leaders of the most powerful industrialised nations are meeting in Japan to discuss the main issues facing the world economy.

China and India - who are not in G8 - say it is up to the heavily-polluting developed world to take the lead in the fight against global warming.

But US President George Bush says rapidly developing nations must play their part and has been unwilling to set goals without the two countries.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned of the "I will do nothing unless you do it first" approach, which he called a "vicious circle".

G8 environment ministers said in May there was a "strong political will" to meet the 2050 target but that a consensus had not been reached on midterm targets for 2020.

The G8 consists of the US, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Britain and Japan.


sky news

[Black Widow]

A retired teacher has won the final round of a legal battle for the right to claim compensation from a serial rapist who won millions on the National Lottery.

The 78-year-old woman, whose identity is protected by law, was told by a High Court judge that she could go ahead with her damages claim against Iorworth Hoare for the psychological injuries she says she suffered after he attacked her in Roundhay Park, Leeds, in 1988.

Hoare, 59, was convicted of attempted rape and jailed for life - he had six previous convictions for rape, attempted rape and indecent assault - and spent 16 years in prison.

He bought a winning Lotto Extra ticket while on day release from prison in August 2004, scooping a £7m jackpot.

Five months ago, the woman, Mrs A, won a vital ruling from the Law Lords that, in cases of serious assault, courts had a discretion to extend the usual time limit within which compensation claims must be brought.

Her claim was sent back to the High Court for a decision on whether, in the particular circumstances of her case, she should be allowed to sue 20 years after the event.

Mr Justice Coulson said there were some factor's in Hoare's favour - the length of the delay in suing, the difficulties he might face regarding production of defence evidence in the light of that delay and the fact that Mrs A had already received £5,000 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

But the factors in Mrs A's favour carried far greater weight.

It was a serious assault which led to Hoare being given a life jail sentence, which rendered him incapable of earning a living and therefore not worth suing at the time.

His lack of funds prior to his lottery win, meaning he was not worth pursuing for damages, was the main reason for the delay in bringing the action.

The judge ordered an urgent trial of Mrs A's damages action if no settlement is reached.

Mrs A says she still suffers from nightmares and that the brutality of the assault destroyed her self-esteem and wrecked her relationships.

Hoare, released from prison in 2005, is reported to live in a £700,000 house near Newcastle.


sky news

[Black Widow]

The Afghan government has said that "foreign intelligence" was behind a bomb blast outside the Indian embassy in Kabul in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

The explosion killed 41 people and wounded about 150 in one of the worst atrocities in the country since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.

A security report to the cabinet hours after the blast said the attack could not have been carried out without the "full support of foreign intelligence," according to a summary of the meeting released to the media.

It did not name a foreign intelligence service but Afghanistan regularly accuses circles in Pakistan, a long-time rival of India, of supporting the Taliban and other insurgents.

Pakistan denies the accusation.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's spokesman said Afghan officials had "sufficient evidence" to blame a foreign intelligence agency.

Humayun Hamidzada did not name Pakistan but told reporters it was "pretty obvious" who was behind Monday's blast.

He said: "The project was designed outside Afghanistan. It was exported to Afghanistan."


sky news

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the news.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the read.