Why are there so many flying ants ?

Swarms of flying ants have descended upon some parts of the UK over the past few days, only to disappear just as suddenly. Why?
Over the past few days, the phrase "ants in your pants" could be taken literally as the air filled with ants flying en masse, landing on laundry, dropping onto heads and basking on pavements.
Entomologists say the sudden emergence of the black garden ants - known as Lasius Niger - is the insects' annual mating ritual.
Dave Clarke, head keeper at London Zoo's bugs department, describes the annual flight as "the biggest one night stand in the UK".

Can a disabled model make it in fashion ?

Tall, slim and with flowing locks, Lara Masters modelled in her teens. But the work dried up as she developed a degenerative nerve condition. So is the fashion world ready for its first big disabled model?
The fashion industry has a very precise, exacting and unwavering view of beauty: a model must be tall, extremely slim and physically "flawless". It's a code of understanding which has ruled me out of modelling even though I am 5ft 9ins, size 6 and, if you'll excuse my immodesty, beautiful.

I have a degenerative nerve condition that has been gradually paralysing my limbs for many years, and now use an electric wheelchair. As a writer, model (I use the term very loosely as will be explained) actor and TV presenter, I'm more visible than most disabled people. But I have never been accepted in any of these jobs for my skill alone - there is always a focus on my disability.

Drilled vase gets £25,000 at sale :

A rare 250-year-old Chinese vase worth £50,000 in mint condition has sold for £25,000 after a hole was drilled in its base so it could be used as a lamp.
The porcelain, which dates from 1736 to 1796, was sold at a Dorset auctioneers to an anonymous private collector.
The seller's great-grandfather was believed to have bought the vase in the Far East in the early 20th Century.
The family, from south-west London, did not realise its value and made an 0.3in (8mm) hole to use it as a table lamp.
The vase was used as a lamp in the family's home for 40 years and the seller's great aunt carried on using it to light her West Country cottage.

It was also revealed that if its matching vase had not been lost, the undamaged pair would have had a value of £250,000.

Attack becomes defence in Helmand :

Just a few hours earlier their Helmand camp had been attacked by mortars and rockets, but now they were preparing to take the fight back to the Taleban.
The notorious "green zone" of trees and fields is just a few hundred metres from forward operating base Inkerman in the Helmand river valley, but it's where the insurgents fight from.
The mission was using darkness to push deep into their territory and then strike at first light.
They expected to meet heavy resistance, but they couldn't have predicted that their well-planned offensive would turn into a race back to camp within hours.
It's been a hot, dusty and already bloody summer for the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment.
Their base is a northern buffer to stop attacks on Sangin - an important town where a fragile bubble of security has been created to try and win people over by improving their lives.

Batman's nemesis crowns dark tale :

Batman is played with brooding intensity by Christian Bale, while The Joker is reinvented by the late Heath Ledger as a twitching, evil psychopath smothered in gruesome, smeared make-up.

British-born Nolan says reviving The Joker was an important part of keeping the franchise exciting and "challenging" to the audience.

"Batman has always thrived on reinvention and it was very exciting to look in a very fresh way at a character who is almost as iconic as Batman himself," he says.
"The Joker was always designed to cut through the movie like the shark does in Jaws, and with his evil energy he tests all the other characters," adds the film-maker.
The Joker wreaks havoc across Gotham City with no apparent aim, leading to spectacular explosions, high-rise confrontations and a spine-chilling character study from Ledger.
Nolan said the actor developed into the role "organically" as the project progressed.

Lawyers for Karadzic to Appeal Extradition to The Hague :

Lawyers for former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic face a deadline Friday to file an appeal against his extradition to The Hague tribunal to face war crimes charges.His lawyer says he will mail the documents five minutes before the post office closes.

Officials say they tracked him down by following people thought to be helping him avoid capture.

The charges include the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The charges also include his role in the siege of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, by Serb forces during which snipers, shellfire, disease and starvation killed thousands.

With the Karadzic arrest, the Balkan war-crimes tribunal's top fugitive targets now are former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, and ex-Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic. Former Bosnian Serb police commander Stojan Zupljanin was arrested last month in Serbia.

What is the International Criminal Court ?

Established in 2002, the ICC is a permanent court to try individuals who commit the world's most serious crimes: genocide (the extermination of a group of people based on race, class, or creed), war crimes (violations of the Geneva Conventions), and crimes against humanity (systematic abuses based on political, social, or cultural differences). The Court will determine its jurisdiction over the crimes of aggression (as yet undefined) at a review conference in 2009. The ICC does not supersede the authority of national courts; rather, it is a "court of last resort," governed by the principle of complementarity: It will only act when a national government lacks either the will or the capacity to prosecute a crime committed within its jurisdiction. Proceedings before the ICC may be initiated by a state party, the prosecutor, or the UN Security Council. To date, 104 countries have agreed to be bound by the provisions of the Rome Statute, which established the ICC. Cases can only date from the time of the court's inception in 2002. The United States signed on to the Rome Statute during the Clinton administration, but in 2002 the Bush administration revoked the U.S. signature.

Glasgow East: Labour voters react :

Before 1997 we hoped a Labour government would result in a huge change. Maybe we put them on the pedestal back then. But we just feel nothing has really changed here in Glasgow after all those years and all those promises.
Everyone I know feels disillusioned. For us, it is not a question of the 10p tax rate or rising fuel prices. We are concerned with local issues and we feel we are being ignored.

Since Blair the Labour Party haven't done anything for the voters who stood by them throughout the Thatcher years.

Now all we need is for Labour to be voted out of Glasgow City Council. For too long Labour believed they had a divine right to rule in Scotland.

Nepal Maoists set condition on heading new govt :

Nepal's Maoists said on Friday they were willing to lead a new government if other political parties guarantee not to bring it down for at least two years while the country's new constitution gets written.
Nepal remains in political limbo three months after an election to a special assembly, which the Maoists won but without a majority, as the parties have failed to agree on forming a coalition.
The former rebels withdrew their bid to head a new coalition this week after lawmakers rejected their candidate for national president, a ceremonial post.
They said they did not want to head a shaky coalition in a country that has seen 16 governments in the past 18 years.
"We are in a very sensitive stage of making a new constitution," senior Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.
"Therefore, we need a minimum commitment from other political parties that they will not bring down the government for at least two years."
The elected special assembly is mandated to write the new consitution in two years.
The Maoists, who ended their decade-long conflict under a 2006 peace deal, scored a surprise win in the April election on the promise of creating a new Nepal. Continued...

Rescued Italian climbers reach Pakistan capital, mourn dead colleague :

Islamabad Pakistan: Two Italian climbers rescued by helicopter from one of the world's highest mountains have reached the Pakistani capital.
One of the climbers, Walter Nones, expressed sorrow Friday for leader Karl Unterkircher who fell to his death as the three-member expedition tried to scale Nanga Parbat.
Nones paid tribute to Unterkircher as a "a great friend and a great climber."
He made the comments at Islamabad airport as he and colleague Simon Kehrer arrived from northern Pakistan following their rescue on Thursday.
Nanga Parbat is the world's ninth highest peak. It is known as "Killer Mountain" because many climbers have died trying to climb it.

Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan, three wounded :

COPENHAGEN, July 25 (Reuters) - A Danish soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Friday.

when his tank hit a mine or an improvised explosive device (IED), Danish Army Central Command said.Three other soldiers were lightly wounded.The tank was on its way to assist Afghan soldiers and their British and American advisers, who had come under fire from insurgents. Denmark has about 550 combat troops in Afghanistan. Eleven have died in combat so far and three others were killed while trying to dismantle a mine.

Afghanistan president accused of protecting drug smugglers :

Thomas Schweich, who served as the State Department's most senior anti-drugs in official in Afghanistan until last month, said that Mr Karzai's overriding concern was to hold power. This had led him to protect 20 government officials, all linked to drug trafficking.

Afghanistan is the world's largest heroin producer by far. This year's poppy crop covers an area of 200,000 hectares, according to Mr Schweich, making it the "biggest narco-crop in history".
He told the BBC that Mr Karzai was manipulating his Western allies and "playing us like a fiddle". Mr Schweich said: "The US would spend billions of dollars on infrastructure development; the US and its allies would fight the Taliban; Karzai's friends could get richer off the drug trade; he could blame the West for his problems; and in 2009 he would be elected to a new term."

China's Darfur policy in tune with law, morality :

BEIJING, July 25 -- The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently charged Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide and crimes against humanity and thus once again stirred up a controversy over issues of international law and international morality, which need to be discussed seriously.
For China, its diplomacy, including policymaking and the philosophy of its foreign affairs, is facing new challenges after having yielded tremendous achievements and made phenomenal changes both internally and externally in the past 30 years of reform and opening-up.
Generally, China's diplomatic thoughts and practices mainly originate from the following aspects: First, universally accepted norms, standards and customs of international relations that have formed the basis of the world order.
Second, the heritage of traditional Chinese thinking and culture such as magnanimity, embodied by Confucius's millenniums-old saying of "do not do to others what you would not have them do to you".

Third, reflection on the humiliating history the Chinese nation suffered because of invasions of imperialists since the two opium wars (1839-42 and 1856-60 respectively).
Fourth, summing-up of diplomatic practices since the foundation of the People's Republic of China, especially what has been experienced since the reform and opening- up started.

Obama sets out his Israel vision :

Two months ago in the Oval Office, President George W. Bush, coming to the end of a two-term presidency and presumably as expert on Israeli-Palestinian policy as he is ever going to be, was accompanied by a team of no fewer than five advisers and spokespeople during a 40-minute interview with this writer and three other Israeli journalists.

In March, on his whirlwind visit to Israel, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, one of whose primary strengths is said to be his intimate grasp of foreign affairs, chose to bring along Sen. Joe Lieberman to the interview our diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon and I conducted with him, looked to Lieberman several times for reassurance on his answers and seemed a little flummoxed by a question relating to the nuances of settlement construction.

Pakistan invites Japanese investment in major projects :

Pakistan is to offer Japan, a number of projects for investments in diverse fields with emphasis on participation in energy related projects including construction of Bhasha Dam, Thar Coal, development of Gwadar Port and establishment of industries in ambitious Japan specific Special Economic Zone, a senior Official at Pakistan Embassy in Japan said Friday.

A 10-member Japanese Study group comprising prominent bussinessmen, industrialist and members of chamber and commerce from both the countries and led by Pakistan Japan business Forum will undertake a week-long visit to Pakistan from July 20 during which they will hold meetings with their counterparts in Karachi and Islamabad.The Minister Economic at Pakistan Mission in Tokyo Iftikhar Babar giving details on Friday said that we are putting every effort to attract Japanese investors to set up industries in ambitious projects in a Special Economic Zone that will be established in an area of 2500 acres of land in Karachi.

Pakistan, India to facilitate travel across LoC :

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India discussed measures to facilitate travel and trade across Line of Control (LoC) beyond their mandated time.The Pakistan team was headed by Director General South Asia and SAARC, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry while the Joint Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs T.C.A Raghvan led the Indian side.

A joint statement declared the atmosphere of the meeting in Islamabad as cordial and constructive. It said that the two sides discussed modalities for implementation of the decisions taken by the ministerial meeting of the 21st of May on cross - LoC travel and trade.According to sources, both sides had constructive discussion on starting a truck service, while the issue of raising the frequency of cross-LoC bus service to once a week was also discussed. Sources told that Pakistan also rejected India's allegation about its involvement in the recent suicide attack on the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan capital Kabul.

Al-Qaida recruits going to Afghanistan: Iraq

WASHINGTON: Al-Qaida's foreign fighters who have for years bedeviled Iraq are increasingly going to Afghanistan to fight instead, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States said Wednesday.``We have heard reports recently that many of the foreign fighters that were in Iraq have left, either back to their homeland or going to fight in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is now seeming to be more suitable for al-Qaida fighters,'' said Ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie. Al-Qaida had training camps and a headquarters in Afghanistan, under the protection of the then-ruling Taliban.Sumaida'ie said al-Qaida is finding it now increasingly difficult to operate in Iraq.A US counterterrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence reporting said foreign fighters are generally not leaving Iraq for Afghanistan, but new recruits to al-Qaida are being sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of Iraq.

We won’t enter Pakistan to hunt down militants : NATO

KABUL: NATO was concerned by a spike in terror attacks but would not enter Pakistan to hunt down militants based there, the alliance's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Kabul.

Scheffer was visiting amid high tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the violence, including the bombing of the Indian embassy here this month that Kabul has directly blamed on its neighbour's

We won’t enter Pakistan to hunt down militants : NATO

KABUL: NATO was concerned by a spike in terror attacks but would not enter Pakistan to hunt down militants based there, the alliance's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Kabul.

Scheffer was visiting amid high tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the violence, including the bombing of the Indian embassy here this month that Kabul has directly blamed on its neighbour's

France's first lady also first in record sales :

The album has generated massive interest because it is the first by the Italian-born former model turned pop star since her whirlwind romance with President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she married in February less than three months after they met.
The new record, entitled "Comme si de rien n'etait" (As if nothing had happened) and released under the first lady's maiden name, Carla Bruni, hit the shelves on July 11 in a blaze of publicity.

France's first lady also first in record sales :

The album has generated massive interest because it is the first by the Italian-born former model turned pop star since her whirlwind romance with President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she married in February less than three months after they met.
The new record, entitled "Comme si de rien n'etait" (As if nothing had happened) and released under the first lady's maiden name, Carla Bruni, hit the shelves on July 11 in a blaze of publicity.

France's first lady also first in record sales :

The album has generated massive interest because it is the first by the Italian-born former model turned pop star since her whirlwind romance with President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she married in February less than three months after they met.
The new record, entitled "Comme si de rien n'etait" (As if nothing had happened) and released under the first lady's maiden name, Carla Bruni, hit the shelves on July 11 in a blaze of publicity.

France's first lady also first in record sales :

The album has generated massive interest because it is the first by the Italian-born former model turned pop star since her whirlwind romance with President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she married in February less than three months after they met.
The new record, entitled "Comme si de rien n'etait" (As if nothing had happened) and released under the first lady's maiden name, Carla Bruni, hit the shelves on July 11 in a blaze of publicity.

GM looks to an electric avenue :

GM has high hopes for its Chevy Volt, but unless drivers have easy access to recharging points, the development of electric cars is doomed. A new deal with 30 US utilities will help.
General Motors China President Kevin Wale introduces the Chevrolet Volt Fuel Cell concept at the Shanghai Auto show.The eyes of the world are now on the Volt. It's the future of America and the world." That was the US presidential candidate John McCain talking to car industry workers a few days ago, referring to General Motors' promised new electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt. The future of the world, no less. No pressure, then."Together we can transform automotive transportation as we know it, and get our nation and the world past oil dependence and heading toward a future that is electric," said Jon Lauckner, GM's vice-president of global programme management. "We are focused on creating affordable, highly desired, vehicles that will take advantage of the grid, and on providing accessible, reliable, convenient, low-cost electricity to plug-in customers."

The picture that shames Italy :

It's another balmy weekend on the beach in Naples.By the rocks, a couple soak up the southern Italian sun. A few metres away, their feet poking from under beach towels that cover their faces and bodies, lie two drowned Roma children.

The girls, Cristina, aged 16, and Violetta, 14, were buried last night as the fallout from the circumstances of their death reverberated throughout Italy.It is an image that has crystallised the mounting disquiet in the country over the treatment of Roma, coming after camps have been burnt and the government has embarked on a bid to fingerprint every member of the minority. Two young Roma sisters had drowned at Torregaveta beach after taking a dip in treacherous waters. Their corpses were recovered from the sea – then left on the beach for hours while holidaymakers continued to sunbathe and picnic around them. It was the sort of tragedy that could happen on any beach. But what happened next has stunned Italy. The bodies of the two girls were laid on the sand; their sister and cousin were taken away by the police to identify and contact the parents. Some pious soul donated a couple of towels to preserve the most basic decencies. Then beach life resumed.