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Tetris Ease Post-Traumatic Stress

Playing Tetris, rated one of the greatest video games of all time, immediately after traumatic events appears to reduce flashbacks that plague sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a British study.

The preliminary findings could lead to new treatments to prevent flashbacks that are a hallmark of the condition, also known as PTSD, Oxford University researchers said.

"This is only a first step in showing that this might be a viable approach to preventing post traumatic stress disorder," said Emily Holmes, a psychologist who led the study.

"This was a pure science experiment about how the mind works from which we can try to understand the bigger picture," Holmes said in a statement.

PTSD can often stem from wartime trauma such as being wounded or seeing others hurt or killed.

Symptoms range from irritability and outbursts of anger to sleep difficulties, trouble concentrating, extreme vigilance and an exaggerated startle response. People also can persistently relive the traumatic event.

The Oxford team showed a film to 40 healthy volunteers that included traumatic images of injury from several sources, including advertisements on the dangers of drunk driving.

After waiting 30 minutes, half the people played Tetris for 10 minutes while the others did nothing. Those who played the game had far fewer flashbacks to the film over the next week.

The game involves manipulating shapes composed of square blocks that fall down the screen to create a horizontal line of blocks without gaps. When a line is created it disappears.

The researchers believe that recognizing the shapes and moving the colored building blocks around in the computer game competes with the visions of trauma retained in the sensory part of the brain.

This process may somehow interfere with the way sensory memories are formed in the period following trauma and reduce the number of flashbacks experienced later on, they said this week in the Public Library of Science Journal PLoS ONE.

"We know there is a period of up to six hours in which it is possible to affect certain types of memories that are laid down in the human mind," Catherine Deeprose, who worked on the study, added in a statement.

"We have shown that in healthy volunteers, playing Tetris in this time window can reduce flashback-type memories without wiping out the ability to make sense of the event."

Chatter Caught by Police

A desperate housewife called police in Germany after a friend chatted to her for 30 hours - non-stop.

Ingrid Schuettler, 48, told police she'd invited her friend round for a cup of tea and a chat.
But once they started talking, her pal "would not shut up" and kept it up all through the night and the next day.

A spokesman for police in Speyer said: "After an incredible 30 hours of listening non-stop to her friend and several unsuccessful attempts to get her to leave, the woman saw no other solution than to call us."

Officers persuaded Schuettler's friend to leave.

Footballer's Facebook Foul Up

A footballer accidentally let slip his hopes for a transfer to a rival club - on his Facebook page.
Crystal Palace winger Ashley-Paul Robinson, 19, posted two messages on the website saying he was having a trial with Fulham.

But rather than restrict the news to his 198 pals, he mistakenly revealed it to 2.7 million people, reports The Sun.

Robinson, who has been at Palace five years, wrote on the website: "Ashley-Paul is goin fulham. Fingers crossed."

A Crystal Palace source said: "It's pretty embarrassing for the club. Perhaps he should be a bit more private about what he puts on the internet."

Sex Drunker Arrested on Dubai Beach

Dubai beach

A British lady was arrested in Dubai and faces up to six years in jail for having drunken sex on the beach and calling a police officer a "f***ing Muslim", press reports said Wednesday. Michelle Palmer, 30, was having sex with a British tourist, identified only as Vince, on Dubai's trendy Jumeirah beach when a police officer spotted the pair, British tabloid The Sun revealed. The police officer initially let the pair off with a warning, but returned minutes later to find they had ignored him. When he tried to stop them, Palmer allegedly hit him with her shoe, while shouting you "f***ing Muslim ****", the paper said.

Palmer, who works for ITP Publishing, was charged with having sex outside of marriage, indecent behavior in public, being drunk in public and assaulting an officer. She faces three months to six years in jail and will most likely be deported.Palmer and Vince, who faces the same fate, quickly got married while out on bail in a desperate attempt to get a reduced sentence, the UAE's Gulf News said.

Palmer was said to be mortified and full of remorse and was begging the authorities to show mercy as she feared they may try to make an example out of her, according to The Sun.

“We are in so much trouble and my family and everybody are affected. Until someone is in this situation they could never know what it’s like. It’s bad – it’s so, so bad," the paper quoted Palmer as saying. The UAE is a Muslim country. Although it is hailed as a harmonious mix of people from across the globe, some Emiratis -- who make up 19% of the population -- say their culture and traditions are not respected by foreigners.

In an effort to raise awareness about local customs and values, the government has published "Awareness Booklets" and placed them in all UAE airports, Gulf News said.

Muslim Couple Marriage Held Via Mobile

An Indian Muslim couple has exchanged wedding vows by telephone after the groom, who lives abroad, said he did not have money to return home to get married, a cleric said.Muslim clerics on Friday married Irin Biswas, 18, to Safikul Islam, who is employed as a labor supervisor in Kuwait.

The entire village in Murshidabad, West Bengal, watched as the clerics put a mobile phone on speaker mode, enabling them to hear the wedding vows."They said qubul (I do) thrice and the marriage was complete," Maulana Alamgir, a cleric who solemnized the marriage said by telephone. He said modern ceremony was not against Islamic laws.

The bride, in endless interviews to the local media, said she had seen Safikul only once, when he was home for holidays"I have never spoken to him but now I speak to him daily," Irin told reporters.

Safikul is due to meet his wife for the first time in October this year when he eventually comes home for holidays, family members said.

Rat Woman

Outside a shrine in the dusty Pakistani city of Gujrat, a "rat woman" with a tiny head sits on a filthy mattress and takes money from worshippers.

Nadia, 25, is one of hundreds of young microcephalics -- people born with small skulls and protruding noses and ears because of a genetic mutation -- who can be found on the streets of Gujrat, in central Punjab province.Officials say many of them have been sold off by their families to begging mafias, who exploit a tradition that the "rat children" are sacred offerings to Shah Daula, the shrine's 17th century Sufi saint."

These are God's children. We are proud to look after her," said Ijaz Hussain, the shrine's government-employed custodian.According to local legend, infertile women who pray at Shah Daula's shrine will be granted children, but at a terrible price.

The first child will be born microcephalic and must be given to the shrine, or else any further children will have the same deformity.Hussain said Nadia was just a young child when she was dumped at the shrine 20 years ago."Since that day we have taken care of her, she is like family to us. People come here for prayers and seek fulfillment of their desires but they are respectful towards her," added Hussain, 56.

Pakistan's government says it has tried to crack down on exploitation of the "chuhas" (Urdu for rats) and says it plans to set up a shelter in Gujrat to rehabilitate them.The shrine stopped officially accepting microcephalics in the 1960s when the government took over the site.But not only does it still keep Nadia at its gate, the town's beggar masters also keep the superstition alive."Get lost! I don't want to talk to you," shouted a bearded beggar master in Gujrat's main bus station, grabbing a microcephalic woman by the hand and leading her through the crowds when asked to comment on his actions.

Bus passengers gave the woman money, as many believe it is bad luck not to.The high incidence of microcephalics in Gujrat, an industrial city of around one million people, has long been a bone of contention.

The popular belief among many Pakistanis -- that cruel beggar gangs clamp the children's heads in infancy -- is strongly denied by government and advocacy groups, who say there is no evidence to support this.Recent medical studies say the most likely cause is that the normally rare recessive genes behind many microcephaly cases crop up with greater frequency because of the common custom of marrying cousins in Pakistan.

But finding the cause is easier than stamping out the exploitation of "rat children" in the name of religion, says Pir Nasiruddaula, a descendant of the saint who has written several books on the shrine."The myth of the chuhas has been exploited by beggar mafias and religious groups," said Nasiruddaula, a former science professor in his 70s."They roam the villages and if the real chuha is born they give them some money and they take them," he said."But what kind of saint would really curse issueless women with the 'blessing' of deformed children?"

Rakhshan Sohail, of the Punjab provincial government's Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, said his department planned to establish a center in Gujrat to stamp out exploitation of microcephalics.Sohail said his department had busted more than 30 gangs across the province involved in exploiting street children.

Wild Bull Attacks Lebanon

A bull which had infiltrated Lebanese territory from Israel has attacked Spanish peacekeepers and headbutted their vehicles before being shot dead, An Nahar daily reported Wednesday.

It said the UNIFIL troops were erecting an electric barbed wire to prevent Israeli cows from entering Lebanese territory at the Baathaeel pond when Israeli soldiers unleashed the wild bull on the peacekeepers.

A Spanish soldier shot the bull dead after it ran towards the U.N. troops and began headbutting their vehicles, the newspaper said.

The peacekeepers then buried the bull and continued their work to erect the wire, which according to An Nahar, it has stopped the infiltration of Israeli cows to the pond area.

Bride Dies in Wedding Gown

A Lebanese bride from the eastern city of Baalbek passed away last Sunday as her groom was heading to her parents' house to give her a flower bouquet.

An Nahar daily said Tuesday that Zainab al-Masri, 24, was taking photos with her family members in the town of Hourtaala on her wedding day when she fell on the floor and immediately passed away.

The newspaper said the groom, Hassan al-Laqees, and his family went into a state of shock after learning the news.The medical examiner, according to An Nahar, said al-Masri died of heart failure which prevented oxygen from reaching her brain.

Selling Virgin

AMERICAN shock jock HOWARD STERN will create his biggest outrage yet – by auctioning off a girl’s virginity on his radio show.

The 22-year-old brunette, who is using the pseudonym of NATALIE DYLAN “for safety reasons,” says the money will pay for her college tuition.

She was introduced to Howard by the owner of a brothel in Nevada, one of two US States where prostitution is legal.

The winner of the auction will get to consummate the relationship at the brothel, where the student's sister already works.

Natalie says: “I don't have a moral dilemma with it.

“We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn't I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity?”

In case anyone doubts her virginity, she is willing to submit to a polygraph test and a gynaecological exam.

The auction will be launched on Stern’s Sirius radio in San Diego today and conducted on the brothel’s website.

Natalie says her mother - a “conservative” fourth-grade teacher - doesn't approve of the auction “but supports me” and she is prepared for the adverse publicity that the stunt will attract.

“I understand some people may condemn me,” she admits. “But I think this is empowering. I'm using what I have to better myself.”

The girl, who already has a bachelor's degree in women's studies at Sacramento State, wants to study for a master’s in marriage and family therapy.

The Monkey Man

Acchan the Monkey-man

Railway bosses in northern India have come up with an effective way to protect their passengers from mischievous monkeys - a monkey-man. Dressed as a monkey, Acchan Miyan - also known as Gudde - capers about at the Charbag railyway station in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, to scare away the troublesome creatures.

The 42-year-old says he has been driven to the unusual profession by poverty, but is convinced that his efforts are helping passengers. He said: "There were many monkeys here. But all of them have run away. I can't see even a single monkey here. There were thousands of monkeys here.

"People warned me that I will be eaten away by the simians. But I scared them all away. If I stay here for one week at the station I will scare away all the monkeys." Acchan, who previously earned a living by dressing up as an entertainer, now commands a salary of 300 to 400 rupees a day - between £3.50 and £4. Passengers said they appreciated the job he was doing. One, Santosh Kumar, said: "There used to be many monkeys here, who would indulge in all kinds of mischief. "

At times they would tear seat covers of trains and on others they would snatch away bananas from passengers. Poor passengers will certainly be protected from monkey menace by Acchans's act."

A Muslim by religion, Acchan has even started worshiping Indian mythical monkey god Hanuman and says he has no reservations in offering prayers to a Hindu deity.

VIRGIN BIRTH in a Shark

A blacktip shark in the wild patrols the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean .Scientists have confirmed the second case of a "virgin birth" in a shark.

A blacktip shark in the wild patrols the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.

In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female blacktip shark in a Virginia aquarium contained no genetic material from a male.

The first documented case of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, among sharks involved a pup born to a hammerhead at an Omaha, Nebraska, zoo.

"This first case was no fluke," Demian Chapman, a shark scientist and lead author of the second study, said in a statement. "It is quite possible that this is something female sharks of many species can do on occasion."

The scientists cautioned that the rare asexual births should not be viewed as a possible solution to declining global shark populations. The aquarium sharks that reproduced without mates each carried only one pup, while some species can produce litters of a dozen or more.

"It is very unlikely that a small number of female survivors could build their numbers up very quickly by undergoing virgin birth," Chapman said.

The medical mystery began 16 months ago after the death of Tidbit, a blacktip shark that had lived for eight years at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach. No male blacktip sharks were present during her eight years.

In May 2007, the 5-foot, 94-pound shark died after it was given a sedative before undergoing a yearly checkup. The 10-inch shark pup was found during a necropsy, surprising aquarium officials. They initially thought the embryonic pup was either the product of a virgin birth or a cross between the blacktip and a male of another shark species -- which has never been documented, Chapman said.

Tidbit's pup was nearly full term, and likely would have been quickly eaten by "really big sand tiger sharks" that were in the tank, Chapman said in a telephone interview from Florida.

That is what happened to the tiny hammerhead pup in the Omaha case.

"By the time they could realize what they were looking at, something munched the baby," he said of aquarium workers. The remains of the pup were used for the DNA testing.

Virgin birth has been proven in some bony fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds, and has been suspected among sharks in the wild.

The scientists who studied the Virginia and Nebraska sharks said the newly formed pups acquired one set of chromosomes when the mother's chromosomes split during egg development, then united anew.

Absent the chromosomes present in the male sperm, the offspring of an asexual conception have reduced genetic diversity and, the scientists said, may be at a disadvantage for surviving in the wild. A pup, for instance, can be more susceptible to congenital disorders and diseases.

The scientists said their findings offer "intriguing questions" about how frequently automictic parthenogenesis occurs in the wild.

"It is possible that parthenogenesis could become more common in these sharks if population densities become so low that females have trouble finding mates," said Mahmood Shivji, one of

the scientists and director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

The DNA fingerprinting techniques used by the scientists are identical to those used in human paternity testing.

Chapman, who is with the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook, was assisted in the study by Beth Firchau of the Virginia Aquarium.Chapman and Shivji were on the team that made the first discovery of virgin birth involving the Nebraska shark

China Breaks Up Male Prostitute Ring

Four Chinese men have been jailed for up to 5- years for running a male prostitution service that sold sex to other men, state media said Wednesday.

Zheng Shuyi registered the website nannanboy.com -- the word "nan" being Chinese for "man" -- and advertised it as a spa, but he used it to recruit male prostitutes, the official Xinhua news agency said on its website (http://www.xinhuanet.com/).

He then hired two rooms and sold sex for up to 400 yuan ($60) a session, the report said.
The prostitutes, based in the eastern province of Zhejiang, "went when they were called and offered their services," it added.

Zheng's defense had tried to argue that the law against prostitution only applied to women selling sex. The court disagreed and said the law did not define the sex, Xinhua said.

While homosexuality is not illegal in China, prostitution is. One of the men, who had syphilis, was also found guilty of spreading a sexual disease.

Prostitution was stamped out in the years following the Communist revolution in 1949, but has returned with a vengeance following sweeping economic and social reforms over the last three decades.

Elvis Presley Became Top Earning Death Celebrity

Elvis Presley may have left the building several decades ago, but his earning power is far from diminished with Forbes.com ranking him the top-earning dead celebrity for the second year in a row.

Presley pulled in $52 million in the past year, helped by increased visitors to his Graceland estate to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death and new ventures like the Elvis Sirius Satellite Radio show, according to the web site.

"While things might be topsy-turvy in the financial markets above ground, it's still a bull market in the boneyard," Forbes.com said.
Presley earned more between October 2007 and October 2008 than some of the music industry's biggest living pop stars like Justin Timberlake ($44 million) and Madonna ($40 million), Forbes.com said.

Coming in at No. 2 with $33 million in earnings was cartoonist Charles Schulz, who died in 2000 and is best known for his "Peanuts" comic strip, while Australian actor Heath Ledger nabbed third spot.

Ledger, 28, died from an accidental prescription drug overdose in January and his last film role was as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

"With the 'The Dark Knight' grossing $991 million in box office revenue worldwide, we estimate his earnings at $20 million," the web site said.

Forbes.com said it spoke to experts and sources inside the dead celebrities' estates and researched gross earnings, before taxes, management fees and other costs, from the period of October 2007 to October 2008 to come up with the rankings.

German-born physicist Albert Einstein comes in at No. 4 with $18 million in earnings, mainly from Baby Einstein, the majority Disney owned videos and toys for children, while TV producer Aaron Spelling -- whose shows include "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Charlie's Angels" -- was ranked No. 5 with $15 million in earnings.
The full list can be found at http://www.forbes.com/.

Special SAMOSAS cost $200

A Dutch couple on a visit to the eastern Indian state of Bihar paid 10,000 rupees ($204) for four samosas, a spicy deep-fried snack that usually doesn't cost more than a few rupees, a newspaper reported on Monday.

After the tourists ate the snacks, a stall owner at the Sonepur cattle fair last week told them his "special" samosas cost more because they were made of herbs and had aphrodisiac qualities, the Hindustan Times said.

After an argument, the couple paid the shopkeeper. But they later complained to a policeman.
Police forced the shopkeeper to return the change -- 9,990 rupees.

Fattest Pet Compete in Slimming Contest

Eight of Britain's fattest pets are to embark on a 100-day diet and fitness regime in a bid to crowned this year's pet fit club champion.

The seven dogs and one cat, who are all more than 30 percent overweight and weigh a combined total of 191 kg (30 stones), were picked by veterinary charity PDSA who are running the slimming contest.

The animals, who need to lose a total of 74 kg to reach their ideal weight, will be put on specially tailored diet and exercise programs.

The pet who achieves the biggest percentage weight loss and best follows their new regime will be crowned champion, winning their owner a pet-friendly holiday.

PDSA statistics show around 30 percent of Britain's dogs are overweight or obese, amounting to around 1.95 million fat dogs.

"Alongside their daily portions of pet food, owners often show their affection by giving unhealthy human treats such as cheese, buttered toast and biscuits. They don't realize they are actually killing their pets with kindness," said Sean Wensley, a veterinary surgeon at PDSA.

Ugliest Dogs Competition

Gus the dog has three legs, one eye and no hair, except for a white tuft on the top of his head. He's a real winner.

The pedigree Chinese crested won the World's Ugliest Dog contest on Saturday at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Northern California.

His owner, Jeanenne Teed, brought Gus all the way from St. Petersburg, Fla., to compete for the dubious distinction

After the excitement of the moment, Teed characterized her dog's reaction: "Well, I think right now he's ready for a nap."

The Chinese crested breed is a popular choice in this annual contest. Last year's champ, Elwood, was a Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix.

Gus' owner won $500 and will be flown to New York to appear on "CBS This Morning." The event will be aired on the Animal Planet network in October.