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&cat=19&pid=16901&cache=true " alt="Photo-traps capture images of secretive ‘Highland tiger’" class="alignleft" />
A new research project in the Highlands has provided a rare insight into the secret world of one of Britain’s most endangered and elusive species. Scottish wildcats are notoriously secretive, but conservationists are hoping to gain a more detailed understanding of their behaviour. They have attached specialist camera equipment, known as photo-traps, to trees in the Cairngorms National Park. The cameras have already provided images of wildcats and other animals. Motion detectors and infra-red technology allow the devices to capture images of passing animals over a period of days, weeks or even months. The project is still in its early stages but the cameras have already provided images of Scottish wildcat – popularly known as the Highland tiger – and other animals, including golden eagles. ‘Major threat’ The research is being led by Dr David Hetherington of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. He told BBC Scotland: “Wildcats are very shy, secretive animals. They are active mainly at night and it’s really difficult for people to get close enough to watch them properly. “These camera traps are an excellent way of us getting a much better insight into where wildcats live, when they’re active, and what habitat they’re using. “We can also get an idea of where they don’t live and, of course, that’s also really important information.” Experts believe the Scottish wildcat population has fallen to about 400, and work is under way to prevent the species becoming extinct. That involves encouraging cat owners in the Highlands to ensure their animals are neutered. Dr Hetherington explained: “The major threat to wildcats these days is hybridisation, or inter-breeding, with domestic cats. “Although they are quite different and have a completely different temperament, they are actually quite closely related genetically to domestic cats so they can produce fertile hybrids. “If that continues we are going to lose our pure Scottish wildcat.” Conservationists believe the work could help prevent another iconic species joining a long list of large predators which have been wiped out in Scotland over the last few centuries. Douglas Richardson, of the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig near Aviemore, said: “We are dealing with an animal that’s the last of its kind in the British Isles. “We formerly had lynx and other big, dangerous and interesting animals. But this is our last feline predator and I think we are duty bound to protect it. “There are many representatives from Scotland and the UK who are involved in conservation efforts with tigers in Asia or giant pandas in China. “If we allow the Scottish wildcat to disappear, then the Indians, the Russians, the Chinese could quite rightly turn round and say ‘Why should we bother? You didn’t.’” This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=16882&cache=true " alt="Davis penalty hands Furyk victory" class="alignleft" />
FINAL LEADERBOARD: -13 J Furyk* (US), B Davis (Eng) -10 B Van Pelt (US), Luke Donald (Eng) -9 K Blanks (US), C Villegas (Col), R Barnes (US), Selected others: -5 P Casey (Eng), R Karlsson (Swe), F Jacobsen (Swe) * Furyk won at first play-off hole Jim Furyk won the Verizon Heritage in bizarre circumstances after Londoner Brian Davis suffered a two-shot penalty at the first play-off hole. Davis birdied the last hole at Hilton Head Island for a 68 to finish level with the American on 13 under par. But at the first play-off hole, the Englishman told officials his club struck a reed, incurring a penalty. Furyk holed out for a par to clinch victory, with Luke Donald in a tie for third with Bo Van Pelt on 10 under. Seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour, Davis sunk an 18-foot putt on the 18th to set-up the play-off with Furyk. But the same hole proved his undoing as he sent his approach on the first sudden-death hole into sand amongst rocks on the beach. Davis chipped onto the green but immediately called over a rules official because he believed his club might have made contact with a loose impediment. The officials consulted a TV replay and deemed that Davis had struck the reed on his backswing which incurred a two-shot penalty. With Furyk on the green, it effectively ended the contest. Furyk, who shot a last-round 69, putted out for his 15th PGA Tour win and second since March, earning him $1.026 million. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=16913&cache=true " alt="In the attic" class="alignleft" />
The mad heroines of classic Victorian fiction have long been objects of fascination. The violent and feral Bertha Rochester in Jane Eyre, the mysterious Woman in White whose escape from an asylum begins Wilkie Collins’s gripping thriller, and the terminally delusional Emma in Madame Bovary. But were they really mad? Would we today recognise them as mentally ill or were our heroines merely misunderstood, not to mention a tad inconvenient? For Radio 4 documentary, Madwomen in the Attic, medical historians, psychiatrists and literary specialists gave their diagnoses of our troubled heroines. No restraint The picture of Mrs Rochester on all fours, baying at the moon, manic laughter ringing through the house, sadly still defines our notions of madness today. Yet even when Jane Eyre was published in 1847, Charlotte Bronte was criticised for her portrait of insanity. But Charlotte’s brother Branwell was an opium-addicted alcoholic, subject to severe depression. “While she was writing Jane Eyre downstairs,” says Anne Dinsdale, archivist at the Haworth Parsonage – where the Bronte family lived – “Branwell would have been raving in the bedroom on the second floor, where he had been confined because he was a danger. “He even set the bed on fire.” Bertha Rochester does the same in Jane Eyre. “We have a letter from Charlotte to her publisher,” says Anne, “in which she answered her critics saying that ‘the character is shocking but all too natural’.” “Bertha is the embodiment of the monstrous lunatic who requires restraint,” says historian of madness, Catherine Arnold. At the time, mental illness was regarded with shame and as evidence of familial “taint”. Even though asylums were available, secrecy was better served by keeping the sufferer confined at home, as Rochester (and the Brontes) did. There has been much speculation about the first Mrs Rochester’s madness. Notions of female insanity in the 1850s included “unrestrained behaviour,” often merely Victorian-speak for female sexuality. “Attics are where wives who cannot be contained, who are over-sexualised and unruly are stored away,” says writer and psychotherapist, Adam Phillips. And would not anyone have then gone mad, locked up in an attic with gin-sodden Grace Poole? But Dinesh Bhugra, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, recognises a clear description of schizophrenia in Jane Eyre. “You can rule out manic depression as there is no evidence of a mood disorder, just a chronic deteriorating condition.” Captive By the time Wilkie Collins wrote Woman in White in 1860, there were many private and public asylums, including the long established Bethlem Hospital (from which we get the word Bedlam), now the Imperial War Museum. The plot of Woman in White sounds far-fetched – wicked aristocrat Sir Percival Glyde, aided by sinister Count Fosco, plans elaborate asylum switch of sane woman (his rich wife Laura) for madwoman (the nothing-but-white wearing Anne Catherick) in order to get his hands on a fortune. But it was based on a real-life case, that of millionaire novelist and MP Bulwer Lytton who had his wife Rosina carted off to an asylum when she began to criticise him in public. She was released only after a public appeal. “If a man wanted to get rid of his wife, he would simply get two doctors to certify her and lock her up,” says John Sutherland, Emeritus professor of English Literature at University College London. “It’s what Dickens himself did when his wife kicked up a fuss at his affair.” But what about the “madwoman”, Anne Catherick? “They talk about her as being feeble-minded as a child and that she’d grow out of it – so perhaps a learning disability as we understand it,” says Dinesh Bhugra. “An asylum wasn’t necessary.” Meanwhile he points out that there are a number of plainly certifiable mad-men in Woman in White. The psychopath Fosco, for instance, or the obsessive compulsive Mr Fairlie. They are admired, not incarcerated. Frustration In the 19th Century women were thought to be intrinsically mad by virtue of their femaleness, which made them vulnerable, and women outnumbered men in Victorian asylums almost two to one. If Jane Eyre looks back to an almost medieval view of madness, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary looks forward to the age of Freud and analysis. Madame Bovary marries a dull, unsuccessful doctor called Charles. She dreams of luxury and romance and after the birth of her daughter, embarks on two ruinous affairs. A serial fantasist and shopaholic, she gets into a monstrous level of debt. When there is no way out of her debt, she takes poison and dies. It is a coolly analytic portrait of a woman unravelling. Flaubert knew of the work of Parisian neurologist Charcot (later to be a mentor of Freud) and of his descriptions of hysteria. “You could argue that Madame Bovary is a clinical case study,” says Sandra Gilbert, Professor of English at the University of California. But is Emma mad? “No she’s not mad, just very frustrated,” says Adam Phillips. And very, very irritating, perhaps particularly to women readers. “Men find her fascinating and today there is no doubt she’d be a reality TV star, living out her fantasies and celebrated – not censured – for her dreams.” Vivienne Parry presents on BBC Radio 4 at 1130 BST on Tuesday 20 April 2010 and afterwards on BBC iPlayer. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=16885&cache=true " alt="‘Obama effect’ boosts views of US" class="alignleft" />
Views of the US around the world have improved sharply over the past year, according to a BBC World Service poll. For the first time since the annual poll began in 2005, America’s influence in the world is now seen as more positive than negative. As in 2009, Germany is viewed most favourably while Iran and Pakistan are seen as the most negative influences. Nearly 30,000 people in 28 countries were interviewed for the poll, between November 2009 and February 2010. Fifteen of the countries have been surveyed every year since 2005, allowing long-term trends to be discerned. In these nations – or 14 of them, not including the US itself – positive views of the US fell to a low of 28% on average in 2007, from 38% in 2005, but recovered to 35% in 2009 and 40% in this year’s poll. Meanwhile, perceptions of China in the 14 other countries have been declining – falling from 49% on average in 2005, to 34% in 2009 and 2010. “People around the world today view the United States more positively than at any time since the second Iraq war,” said Doug Miller, chairman of international polling firm GlobeScan, which carried out the poll with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (Pipa) at the University of Maryland. “While still well below that of countries like Germany and the UK, the global standing of the US is clearly on the rise again.” China ‘in neutral’ Pipa director Steven Kull noted: “After a year, it appears the ‘Obama effect’ is real. “Its influence on people’s views worldwide, though, is to soften the negative aspects of the United States’ image, while positive aspects are not yet coming into strong focus.” He added: “While China’s image is stuck in neutral, America has motored past it in the global soft-power competition.” Of the full list of 28 countries surveyed this year, the US is viewed positively in 19 (20 including the US itself), while six lean negative and two are divided. Compared with 2009, positive views of the US jumped 21% in Germany, 18 in Russia, 14 in Portugal and 13 in Chile – though Russia and Germany continued to have a negative view of the US overall. Meanwhile, negative opinions of the US declined by 23% in Spain, 14 in France and 10 in the UK, with the result that all three lean towards a positive view of the country. In only two of the 28 countries, Turkey and Pakistan, do more than 50% have a negative view of the US. Germany is the most favourably viewed nation (an average of 59% positive), followed by Japan (53%), the United Kingdom (52%), Canada (51%), and France (49%). The European Union is viewed positively by 53%. In contrast, Iran is the least favourably viewed nation (15%), followed by Pakistan (16%), North Korea (17%), Israel (19%) and Russia (30%). The 15 countries included in the poll every year since 2005 are: Australia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, the UK and the US. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=16879&cache=true " alt="India cricket row minister quits" class="alignleft" />
An Indian junior minister has resigned over a row involving the country’s premier cricket league. Junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor was asked to quit by Prime Minister Manhohan Singh, press reports say. It has been alleged that a female friend of Mr Tharoor was granted a free stake in a new cricket team from his home state. Mr Tharoor – who was a prominent diplomat at the United Nations for many years – denies any wrongdoing. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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A 16-year-old boy stabbed to death outside a birthday party in Croydon, south London, on Sunday morning, has been named as Wesley Sterling. The boy was initially not thought to have been a guest at the party, which was held at Croydon Sports Arena, but police have now confirmed he was. A post-mortem found the cause of death to be a single stab wound to the chest. A 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the investigation but has been released on bail until June. Officers were called to the venue in Albert Road at 0018 BST on Sunday, following reports of a disturbance outside. ‘Gatecrashing incident’ A police spokesman said: “On arrival they found a youth in a walkway near the club with serious chest wounds.” He was pronounced dead at the scene. The spokesman said there had been another incident at the same place at about 2300 BST, when between six and eight people had tried to gatecrash the party. Det Insp Alison Hepworth said: “We know there were many guests at the party and would appeal to them to come forward with information on what happened.” Anyone with any information about the stabbing or the earlier incident has been asked to call 020 8721 4005 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=16877&cache=true " alt="‘Disrepute probe’ of ANC’s Malema" class="alignleft" />
The youth leader of South Africa’s ruling ANC, Julius Malema, will face a disciplinary hearing for bringing the party into disrepute, reports say. The reports in South African media say the charges are believed to include promoting racism and intolerance. Mr Malema recently embarrassed the ANC by ejecting a BBC reporter from a news briefing. He has also defied a party order to stop singing a song inciting hatred against white farmers. Mr Malema has also ignored ANC policy by publicly supporting Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. ‘Colourful insults’ Reports in South African media say the ANC Secretary-General, Gwede Mantashe, has already written to Mr Malema informing him about the charges. A disciplinary action against the youth leader is expected to be discussed at an ANC meeting on Monday and measures could reportedly range from a reprimand to expulsion. Last month, a judge convicted Julius Malema of hate speech for his comments about the woman who had accused President Jacob Zuma of rape. The Equality Court judge ordered him to make an unconditional apology and pay 50,000 rand ($6,700;
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=16868&cache=true " alt="Study logs oceans’ tiniest life" class="alignleft" />
An unprecedented number of tiny, ocean dwelling organisms have been catalogued by researchers involved in a global survey of the world’s oceans. One of the highlights was the discovery of a vast “microbial mat”, covering an area equivalent to the size of Greece. Microbes are estimated to constitute up to 90% of all marine biomass. The findings form part of the Census of Marine Life (CoML), a decade-long project that will present its full results in October. “In no other realm of ocean life has the magnitude of Census discovery been as extensive as in the world of microbes,” said Mitch Sogin, leader of the International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM). “Scientists are discovering and describing an astonishing new world of marine microbial diversity and abundance.” The ICoMM was one of four of the Census’s projects that focused on “hard to see” marine organisms. The team, involving researchers from the Netherlands and the US, collected samples from more that 1,200 locations, which resulted in the compilation of a dataset containing in excess of 18 million DNA sequences. CoML researchers suggested that the total number of marine microbes, based on molecular characterisation, could be in the region of one billion species. They added that the micro-organisms were vital for sustaining life on Earth, as they are responsible for about 95% of respiration in the oceans. “They play a really critical role in keeping the oceans working,” said Paul Snelgrove, leader of CoML’s Synthesis Group. “Certainly, life in the oceans – and then life on Earth – would collapse very quickly without the microbes.” In the 1950s, scientists estimated that about 100,000 microbial cells inhabited in one litre of seawater. However, with the aid of modern technological advances, researchers now suggest that the figure is closer to one billion micro-organisms. They have also calculated that the estimated total mass of marine microbes is equivalent to 240 billion African elephants. As part of the CoML, Chile-based researchers found a “microbial mat” off the south-west coast of South America that covered a vast area, equivalent to the size of Greece. The mats were found at a depth where “oxygen minimum layers” (OML) occurred. These are regions where there is very little oxygen, or none at all. However, the researchers found that the communities of microbes thrived on hydrogen sulphide, which is toxic to most lifeforms, and is the product of the breakdown of organic material in an environment where there is no oxygen. The team – led by Victor Gallardo, vice-chairman of the Census Scientific Steering Committee – said the mats resembled an ecosystem that existed between 2.5bn and 650m years ago. As well as microbes, scientists working on Census projects also assessed the diversity of zooplankton species; collected samples from abyssal plains, and hydrothermal vents and seeps. Decade of discovery Professor Snelgrove said it was thanks to recent technological advances that it was now possible for scientists to study “hard to see” organisms. “In the case of microbes, we could not tell them apart because they were so small and all looked the same,” he told BBC News. “Now we know that things that look identical do very different things in the oceans. “It is really only in the last decade that we have had the technology that allowed us to start asking who was out there and what exactly were they doing.” He explained that information collected by the various projects will be listed on a open-access database called the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (Obis). “Everyone who has participated in the Census has agreed to deposit their data into this database,” he said. Currently, Obis – which is accessible via the world wide web – has more than 27 million records covering in excess of 110,000 species. It contains a wide range of information, including details of a species; where it was recorded, and at what depth. “This has led to the building up of this global ocean biodiversity dataset,” Professor Snelgrove observed. “This is already allowing people to test predictions about where life is in the oceans, where are the biodiversity hotspots and lowspots? “I think it is going to be an extremely rich dataset to mine well into the future.” A final synthesis report will be published at the beginning of October to mark the end of the decade-long project involving in excess of 2,000 scientists from more than 80 nations. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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Parties of school children and many teachers remain stranded overseas because of volcanic ash drifting from Iceland. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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&cat=19&pid=16871&cache=true " alt="Afghanistan frees Italy aid staff" class="alignleft" />
Afghanistan has freed three Italian aid workers held on suspicion of plotting to kill a provincial governor, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini says. The three members of the medical charity Emergency were arrested on 10 April in Helmand province. The detentions came after suicide bomb vests and weapons were discovered at a hospital run by the charity in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand. The employees had strongly denied the allegations against them. The charity had said it was confident its employees were innocent. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 18, 2010 | Posted in
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