Culture

Many factors of a child's birth and the condition of the newborn are linked to the future development of autism, but no single factor has been identified as the cause, a meta-analysis of forty previously published research studies concludes. Autism refers to a cluster of neurological developmental disorders, ranging to mild and severe, that interfere the child's ability to adjust normally, including defects in normal communication and social interaction. The systematic review, published in Monday's issue of Pediatrics, presented the results

Two nuclear power plants in Nebraska, US, near the city of Omaha, remain on alert following flooding. One is shut down pending floodwater receding. The Fort Calhoun nuclear reactor - 19 miles north from Omaha - has been shut down since April 9 partly due to flooding from the Missouri River. It sits nearly two feet below the current river level. This month, the plant lost power needed to cool the spent fuel pool for a short time after a fire. The current flooding with record water releases is expected to stay at high levels until August, so t

Ryan Dunn, one of the stars of the TV series Jackass, has died in a car accident aged 34. The accident occurred near West Chester, Pennsylvania early yesterday morning, when the car Dunn was driving left the road and crashed into a tree. The vehicle burst into flames; Dunn's body was identified by his tattoos. An unidentified passenger also died in the accident. Police suspect speed to have been a factor. Dunn's death was announced by April Margera, the mother of one of his co-stars, Bam Margera. MTV released a statement saying "We are devas

Clarence Clemons, soulful saxophonist most famed for his forty years as a sideman in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, died Saturday at a Palm Beach, Florida hospital. The cause of death was complications from a stroke he had suffered a week ago at his Singer Island home. He was 69. Called the "Big Man" because of his 6-foot 5-inch frame, Clemons joined Springteen's New Jersey band in 1972. For all but two years, he was the only black in the largely white, working class group, and became a key influence in Springsteen's music as well as a t

A "homophobic" comment on Facebook by Chilean deputy Enrique Estay has generated some controversy. "[The government is] worried about the queers and not about the swarm of concerted bureaucrats who obstruct everything, so that the benefits do not reach to the poorest and middle class," said Estay on his Facebook profile on June 2. "I will not be quiet, until I see changes! [...] It is frustrating to me. A government that is thought to be right-winged, yet it governs with the left-winged ideas and people," he added in a comment. "Well done, de

Roy Skelton, a voice artist and actor from the United Kingdom, has died at the age of 79. Skelton was known for providing the voices of George and Zippy in the ITV children's television programme Rainbow. He voiced the two characters from around 1970 until 1992, when the programme's run concluded. Skelton also voiced the Daleks in the BBC television series Doctor Who between 1967 and 1988. Geoffrey Hayes, a presenter of Rainbow, described Skelton as an actor who "really brought Zippy and George to life through his voice" and was "fabulous at i

A group of Internet hackers, which refers to itself as Lulz Security or LulzSec, has claimed to have broken into servers for Sony entertainment websites and stolen in excess of one million items of personal details, including email addresses and passwords. Seventy-five thousand "music codes" and three-and-a-half million "music coupons" were also alleged broken into, according to a statement on their website. In a statement, LulzSec reported that, "[f]rom a single injection, we accessed EVERYTHING" [sic]. Claiming that Sony had not encrypted da

On Friday evening, an explosion in Chengdu, China caused partial shutdown of a facility operated by Foxconn, one of the world's biggest electronics manufacturers and a major supplier to companies like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony, Apple, Motorola and Nokia. Initial investigations now suggest the explosion was caused by poor ventilation, which lead to high concentrations of combustible dust. The blast happened at 7:18PM, around the time workers change shifts. A fire followed. Emergency services had control by 7:30PM. At least three people were k

American plus-size model and actress Mia Amber Davis has died at the age of 36 in Los Angeles, California. Davis, who appeared in the film Road Trip, died one day after undergoing routine knee surgery. Davis was more than 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall and weighed over 300 pounds (136.1 kilogrammes). She was having the surgery after a prolonged basketball injury from her college days. The model returned to the hospital after feeling dizzy and later died there. Michael Yard, Davis' husband, was in New York at the time of her death. He spoke to TMZ,

__NOTOC__ Al-Qaeda has said it will continue to launch more terrorist attacks on the U.S. and warned the death of their leader Osama bin Laden, would "not be wasted". The statement from the organization, posted on jihadist internet forums, came as the Pentagon released videos filmed inside the terrorist leader's compound which was raided last weekend. Intelligence officials said at a briefing in Washington, D.C. that the videos showed that bin Laden was still playing an active role in al-Qaeda plotting. Although the video tapes have no audio,

Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) cadets Daniel McDonald, 19, and Dylan De Blaquiere, 18, were arrested and appeared in court Friday after allegations were made that they filmed a female cadet having sex and then broadcasted it over the internet, lying about it afterwards. They were released on bail. The female complainant, 18, stated that while the sex was consensual, the transmission via the chat host Skype to another room on the grounds of the academy, was done without her knowledge. In addition, she stated that photos were taken and

Eight American troops and one contractor were shot and killed by an Afghan National Army Air Force pilot Wednesday. Five Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the attack, for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility. The incident, which began around 10 a.m. Afghan time (0530 UTC), occurred in the operations room of the Afghan Air Force in Kabul International Airport. The shooter, Ahmad Gul Sahebi, was killed by NATO forces. "Suddenly, in the middle of the meeting, shooting started," said Afghan Air Corps spokesman Colonel Bahader. "After t