Lifestyle

An American not-for-profit organisation has released statistics that show that obesity rates rose last year in all but one state. According to the Trust for America’s Health the only state not to see a rise was Oregon, which remained at the same level. In ten states more than a quarter of adults are defined as being obese: Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, and South Carolina. Mississippi is the heaviest state, while Colorado is the lightest. In total 119 million Americans - some 65%

The man known as just the 'Piano Man' has left the hospital where he was staying and has returned home to his native Germany. He has finally spoken after four months of silence. It turns out, according to British tabloid The Daily Mirror, that the man, aged 20, was from Germany but after losing his job in Paris, traveled to the UK through the Channel Tunnel. He was going to commit suicide when he was found by police on a Kent beach. He refused to talk to authorities due to his distressed state. It appears that he had formerly worked with men

Recent images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory reveal details of the nature of the star that became Supernova 1987A. In the time just before the star exploded, solar winds created a cavity in a cloud of cool gas that surrounded it. The explosion first lit up the cooler gas with a burst of ultraviolet light, then created a shock wave that started travelling through this cavity. "In 1999, Chandra imaged this shock wave, and astronomers have waited expectantly for the shock wave to hit the edge of the cavity, where it would encounter the much

The hijackers of a ship carrying food aid to Somalia have demanded that the food be distributed to people in their home area. The ongoing crisis looked to be coming to an end when the WFP said an agreement had been made on 5 August, but the hijackers have told the UN IRIN news service that they have refused to sign the agreement. Initially the hijackers asked for half a million dollars but have sinced claimed that people in their home communities have been neglected despite being badly affected by the tsunami. Food aid to Somalia has been

A Colombian passenger jet carrying 152 passengers and 8 crewmembers has crashed in Western Venezuela. Officials said the plane was travelling from Panama, headed for Martinique in the Caribbean when its pilot reported engine trouble to the Caracas airport just after 3 am (07:00 UTC). The pilot reportedly asked for permission to land at Maracaibo airport shortly before the plane went missing in the remote state of Zulia, close to the Colombian border. Locals have reported hearing explosions near the scene of the crash. The crashed plane was a

Oregon State University (OSU) animal researchers in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Dubois, Idaho-based Sheep Experiment Station released a report on an OSU-USDA study which was initiated in 1995 after breeders asked the government to determine why some rams bought as breeding studs showed no interest in females. The researchers are working under a $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in hopes of developing a test which can determine the likelihood of a ram being female-oriented before it is sol

U.S. airline passengers may need to brace for longer lines at security screening checkpoints as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced plans to reduce the number of security screeners in US airports. The cutbacks come despite an increased TSA budget for 2006 over 2005 and an overall increase in airport traffic. The Portland, Oregon and Medford, Oregon airports were among the hardest-hit by cutbacks, with Portland seeing a 30% decline in security screeners. Travellers are advised to check with the TSA or the airport to p

A Helios airliner (Boeing 737, flight HCY 522) with 115 passengers and 6 crew onboard has crashed into a mountain at 09:04 UTC (12:04 p.m. EEST) near Grammatiko, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Athens, while approaching the capital's airport. All on board perished. The plane was travelling from Larnaca, in the southeast of Cyprus (Greek:Kypros, Κύπρος) and scheduled to arrive in Prague after a stop in Athens. In-flight events Immediately after take-off, the pilots reported a problem with the air conditioning system of the aircraft and req

Some cancer specialists have stepped up calls for smokers and ex-smokers to undergo advanced screening for lung cancer . They reacted to the recent deaths of Peter Jennings and Barbara Bel Geddes and the disclosure that Dana Reeve has lung cancer by urging people to have their lungs screened with special helical CT chest scans. Because health insurance plans do not cover such screening, anxious patients who can afford it are paying about $300 for the test out of pocket. The American Cancer Society discourages using the advanced CT scan techniq

A week-long choking smog-like haze over Malaysia has prompted crisis talks with Indonesia. Lingering smoke from forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra are the primary cause. Farmers regularly burn scrub and forest to clear land during the dry season, but this is the worst haze since 1997. Air quality in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur is so poor, health officials are advising citizens to stay at home with doors closed. Some schools have been closed to keep children from being exposed to the haze. Schools that chose to r

Early Wednesday morning (5:30 am local time), the Pakistani military helicopter Lama III rescued Slovenian alpinist Tomaž Humar, who went up on a solo climb on one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas. Humar became trapped by a bad weather and avalanches in a ice-cave on 5 August at an approximate height of 5900 meters with no food left for the last few days. After Mr. Humar was back in the base-camp, the mission medic Dr. Anda Perdan said he has some very beginning of chilblains on his toes, but she expects there will be no serious consequen

The UN-appointed panel investigating the oil for food scandal has released its third report. The report says that Benon Sevan took nearly US$150,000 in cash bribes. Chef de Cabinet for Kofi Annan, Mark Malloch Brown, said that the UN would lift Sevan's immunity should an approach come from a law enforcement authority and that the UN had been in 'active collaboration' with the Southern District of New York. At the press conference responding to the report, Malloch Brown also said that there was will "a real need for serious, deep-rooted mana