Coming soon: a horror story on American Fritzl’s victim?

London, Sept 20 (ANI): Publishers and Hollywood studios have begun a multi-million dollar bidding war for the rights to sex slave Jaycee Dugard’s horrifying life story.

Fresh details of the American Fritzl’s victim have emerged, including that in the early days of her captivity, the terrified schoolgirl was so hungry she ate bugs and worms in the rambling back garden where she was held in tents and lock-up sheds, reports The Daily Express.

She had to use a garden hose to shower outside, even in winters, say detectives guarding her and her two daughters, fathered by kidnapper Phillip Garrido.

However, the public apparently is desperate for the full story of how Jaycee, now 29, survived after being snatched on her way to a school bus stop when she was only 11.

A New York literary agent, who estimates the book and film rights to be worth up to 12million dollars, said: “You couldn’t dream up a script like this. Americans can’t wait to hear the story from the girl who lived it.”

A Hollywood studio producer said: “Everyone is in the market for this story. Poor Jaycee’s life may have been hell for 18 years but she’ll never want for anything for the rest of it.”

Garrido, a registered sex offender, has been linked to six child abductions and murders stretching back years within a 400-mile radius of the ramshackle home in Antioch, California, where Jaycee was held. (ANI)

Pitt enjoys chicken and beer while flying mile high

Melbourne, Sep 10 (ANI): While meeting Hollywood’s hottest hunk remains a dream for some, a passenger on a United Airlines flight was able to not only meet actor Brad Pitt but also film him.

Justin Ross Lee was fortunate enough to be seated alongside Pitt on a recent flight from Los Angeles to New York and he was able to capture the moment on his mobile phone.e has since posted the clip, showing Pitt tucking into his in-flight meal of chicken, enjoying a beer and catching some shut-eye, on brightcove.

“If Brad was any more down to earth, the jet never would have left the ground,” News.com.au quoted Lee as telling Star Magazine.

The New Yorker also enjoyed having a photo taken with the actor in the Los Angeles International Airport’s United Airlines first-class lounge. (ANI)

Original Walt Disney drawings found in an attic office in Blackpool

London, Sep 9 (ANI): Original Walt Disney drawings have been recovered from an attic office in Blackpool, which could be worth up to 12,000 pounds each.

The 15 mint condition black and white and colour drawings were in the middle of hundreds of files gathered in over a century of Blackpool Illuminations.

Altogether the files have been valued at 500,000 pounds for insurance purposes, but it is thought the original Disney drawings alone could fetch up to 180,000 pounds altogether should they be auctioned off.

The material is being catalogued, and will be archived for future public viewing for the first time.

The Disney drawings had been sent from Hollywood to Blackpool by Walt Disney himself.

His studio was first approached in 1953 by Blackpool Council’s Illuminations staff, when they wanted to include characters, including Mickey Mouse, in their tableaux.

One of the drawings featuring Mickey shows how they wanted to animate him for the Golden Mile, but Disney demanded the characters be totally accurate to the original cinema blockbusters, and so sent off artists’ work to the English resort.

“The attic room is actually part of one of Blackpool’s original farmhouses built long before the town became a seaside resort,” the Telegraph quoted Colette Halstead, Illuminations’ creative development coordinator, as saying.

“The Illuminations department has just grown round it over the decades and old files and equipment like the ex Army field telephones used to co-ordinate the seven mile switch on were stored there.

“We are slowly moving to new premises and we were asked to catalogue the room’s contents when we came across the Disney material,” she added. (ANI)

Popular sculpting statue in Sikkim

Gangtok, Sep 3 (ANI): An art school is preserving the oldest form of traditional and religious art of statue making, influenced by Buddhist teaching in Sikkim.

The Traditional Arts School for Thangka Painting at 5th mile, a half an hour drive from state capital Gangtok, is under the supervision of Ecclesiastical Affairs Department, Government of Sikkim. The school is exclusively for the monks (boys).

Monks from different monasteries located throughout the state come to the institute and learn the art free of cost.

The school was started as a separate branch of Enchey School, which was a monk school then in 1909 for teaching the art of statue making to monks at the time of Chogyal (King).

However during 1950s, the school came under the Ecclesiastic Affairs Department.

Ndar Lama, an instructor at the Vocational Arts School, Gangtok, revealed that the art of making the statues came from Bhutan.

However, to popularise the art among local monks, the state government felt the need to set up one institute in Sikkim, Lama said.

“The art of making this mud statue came from Bhutan. Earlier, Chogyal (King) used to call the instructors from Bhutan and they used to make the statues. In fact, most of the statue in big monasteries here was made by the Bhutanese. Even I learnt the art from one Bhutanese person. But now the government of Sikkim felt the need to open one such vocational training institute even in Sikkim,” Lama added.

Students at the school said that they hope to teach the art to the future generation so as to keep the Buddhist culture alive.

“After learning the art of statue making, I will go to the monastery and teach the art to our future generation so as to keep our Buddhist culture and art of statue making alive,” said Dawa, a student.

Besides teaching the art, the school also helps the monks in becoming self-reliant. (ANI)

Slow-moving faults may help protect some cities against destructive quakes

Washington, August 29 (ANI): A new research by scientists from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson has determined that some slow-moving faults may help protect some regions of Italy and other parts of the world against destructive earthquakes.

Until now, geologists thought when the crack between two pieces of the Earth’s crust was at a very gentle slope, there was no movement along that particular fault line.

“This study is the first to show that low-angle normal faults are definitely active,” said Sigrun Hreinsdottir, UA geosciences research associate.

According to Richard A. Bennett, a UA assistant professor of geosciences, “We can show that the Alto Tiberina fault beneath Perugia is steadily slipping as we speak – fortunately, for Perugia, without producing large earthquakes.”

Perugia is the capital city of Italy’s Umbria region.

Creeping slowly is unusual. Most faults stick, causing strain to build up, and then become unstuck with a big jerk. Big jerks are big earthquakes.

For decades, researchers have known about the Alto Tiberina and similar faults and debated whether such features in the Earth’s crust were faults at all, because they didn’t seem to produce earthquakes.

Hreinsdottir and Bennett have now shown that the gently sloping fault beneath Perugia is moving steadily at the rate of approximately one-tenth of an inch (2.4 mm) a year.

Perugia has not experienced a damaging earthquake in about 2,000 years, according to Hreinsdottir.

“Because the fault is actively slipping, it might not be collecting strain. To have an earthquake, you have to have strain,” she said.

Other towns in the region that lie near steeply sloping faults, including L’Aquila and Assisi, have experienced large earthquakes within the last 20 years.

The UA team became interested in the Alto Tiberina fault because previous research suggested the fault might be moving.

To check on the fault, the UA team measured rock movements in and around Perugia using a technique called geodesy.

The geodesy network can tell where one antenna and its rock are relative to another antenna. Taking repeated measurements over time shows whether the rocks moved relative to one another.

The UA team analyzed data from 19 GPS stations within approximately a 30-mile (50 km) radius around Perugia.

“Having such closely spaced stations and several years of data were key for detecting the fault’s tiny motions,” said Hreinsdottir.

“This study is one more piece in the puzzle to understand seismic hazards in the region and can apply to other regions of the world that have low-angle normal faults,” she added. (ANI)

Brit boy, 17, becomes youngest solo round-the-world sailor

London, Aug 27 (ANI): A 17-year-old Briton has become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world solo with assistance.

According to his team, Mike Perham raced past the finishing line between Lizard Point and Ushant, France, in his 50ft yacht Totallymoney.com at 9.47 and 30 seconds on Thursday.

Mike set sail from Portsmouth, Hampshire, on November 15, 2008 and celebrated his 17th birthday in the South Indian Ocean on March 16.

The teenager braved 50ft waves, gale, stormy winds and various other technical difficulties to successfully complete the 30,000-mile challenge.e crossed Portugal, the Canaries, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand during the voyage.

He also travelled across the Panama Canal on his trip.

The adventure freak, who is also the youngest person to cross the Atlantic Ocean at 14, crossed the equator and every longitudinal line to set up the world record.

The Telegraph quotes Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, as saying: “This is another incredible achievement, and it marks Mike as the consummate record-breaker – someone who’s continually prepared to set themselves new and more challenging goals.

“Even the most experienced of sailors would be tested by the mental and physical stamina required to achieve a record of this magnitude. The fact that Mike achieved it at such a young age is a testament to his courage and unparalleled sense of adventure.” Oz Jesse Martin who’d completed the world voyage aged 18 years 104 days held the record previously but Mike has achieved the feat at the age of 17 years and 164 days.

Mike was ecstatic after setting the record.

He said: “I’ve made it, I’ve made my dream come true and it feels amazing. A big big thanks to my dad, mum, all the sponsors and every one who has helped me along the way. I can’t believe that the Royal Navy has sent HMS Mersey and a helicopter to witness my crossing the line. I feel very honoured.”

His father, Peter, said: “Mike is a very special son, he has done incredibly well. He has shown that with determination, you can succeed even in the most adverse circumstances.

“He has shown the world that he is an extraordinary young man and an inspiration to us all.” (ANI)

Oz mile-high club member charged with assaulting a woman

Melbourne, August 26 (ANI): A member of the most notorious “mile high” club Down Under has been charged with assaulting a woman.

Lisa Robertson allegedly assaulted a woman outside a St Kilda restaurant, says a report published in the Herald Sun.

The accused previously was in the news in 2007 when Qantas sacked her from being a flight attendant, after she had sex with film star Ralph Fiennes in the toilet on a flight from Darwin to India.

And after the latest incident involving her, Robertson was arrested at her St Kilda apartment, and charged with assault.

The former call girl and undercover police officer allegedly injured an associate so badly that the latter received facial injuries, outside a Barkly St restaurant on August 16.

Police charged her with recklessly causing serious injury, and other assault related matters.

There is no information on what led to the alleged assault, reports news.com.au.

While leaving the police station, Robertson covered her face and declined to comment on the incident. (ANI)

Princes William, Harry planning second motorcycle trip abroad

London, July 13 (ANI): Princes William and Harry are reportedly drawing plans about their second motorcycle trip abroad.

The royal brothers made headlines during their 1000-mile African motorbike rally for a charity event last year.

According to reports, they enjoyed their then eight-day adventure so much that they are now eyeing another motorcycling trip.

“They thoroughly enjoyed their journey in Africa last year and were pleased to raise some money for charity. They now hope to carry out a second trip soon,” the Telegraph quoted one of their friends as saying.

William and Harry purportedly draw their inspiration from the travels of actor Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman, whose motorcycle adventures through 18 countries were shot for the BBC television series ‘Long Way Down’. (ANI)

Eminen to make Hollywood comeback with ‘ Funny People’

Washington, July 06 (ANI): Eminem is set to make his Hollywood comeback with a new film – ‘ Funny People’.

The rapper is expected to play a small part along side Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Eric Bana and Jonah Hill, Contactmusic reports.

The white rapper, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, had starred in autobiographical movie ’8 Mile’ in 2002, which received tremendous critical acclaim.

However, the singer took a break from movies prioritizing music over acting.

‘Funny People’ is written and directed by Judd Apatow. (ANI)

Jacko to make last journey to Neverland ranch

London, July 1 (ANI): Late King of Pop Michael Jackson is all set to make his final journey to his former home Neverland ranch, where his body will lie in state so that thousands of grieving fans can say their goodbyes.

His coffin will be driven through Los Angeles, and will make a 130-mile journey to Neverland-the site of the superstar’s former fantasy home.

It is believed that the ‘Thriller’ star’s body will be displayed in a glass coffin on Friday, and might be buried at the ranch at the weekend.

Reports have suggested that Jacko’s coffin will make its last trip to his beloved playground home in an amazing fairytale carriage.

However, the Jackson family is not divulging any details about the white horse-drawn coach The white horse-drawn coach is being kept under wraps until Jacko’s coffin is tenderly lifted on to it.

A Jackson family source revealed that they want Michael to “look like a prince” as fans pay their last respects, and the carriage is set to be the focal point in part of the star’s last journey.

It is expected that huge crowds of fans will come out to watch the King of Pop’s coffin taken through the streets of Los Angeles on July 2.

A 30-car motorcade will then make the drive to the remote 2,800-acre site of Neverland in Santa Barbara County.

Jacko, who died aged 50 on June 25, will lie in state for public viewing at his fantasy property on Friday.

“Details are still being finalised. The family will make an announcement soon,” British tabloid The Sun quoted a source as saying.

“The family want to give him a really special send off. They want the carriage to be a surprise for everyone. They want it to add a wow factor to the day. It is being kept hidden and is top secret.

“Thursday will be his final, grand journey from Los Angeles to Neverland. Friday will be the big public event, with fans able to pay their respects.

“Michael always said Neverland kept him young. It seems fitting. On Sunday there will be a memorial service for his family and close friends to mourn in private,” added the source. (ANI)

Jacko to make last journey to Neverland ranch

London, July 1 (ANI): Late King of Pop Michael Jackson is all set to make his final journey to his former home Neverland ranch, where his body will lie in state so that thousands of grieving fans can say their goodbyes.

His coffin will be driven through Los Angeles, and will make a 130-mile journey to Neverland-the site of the superstar’s former fantasy home.

It is believed that the ‘Thriller’ star’s body will be displayed in a glass coffin on Friday, and might be buried at the ranch at the weekend.

Reports have suggested that Jacko’s coffin will make its last trip to his beloved playground home in an amazing fairytale carriage.

However, the Jackson family is not divulging any details about the white horse-drawn coach
The white horse-drawn coach is being kept under wraps until Jacko’s coffin is tenderly lifted on to it.

A Jackson family source revealed that they want Michael to “look like a prince” as fans pay their last respects, and the carriage is set to be the focal point in part of the star’s last journey.

It is expected that huge crowds of fans will come out to watch the King of Pop’s coffin taken through the streets of Los Angeles on July 2.

A 30-car motorcade will then make the drive to the remote 2,800-acre site of Neverland in Santa Barbara County.

Jacko, who died aged 50 on June 25, will lie in state for public viewing at his fantasy property on Friday.

“Details are still being finalised. The family will make an announcement soon,” British tabloid The Sun quoted a source as saying.

“The family want to give him a really special send off. They want the carriage to be a surprise for everyone. They want it to add a wow factor to the day. It is being kept hidden and is top secret.

“Thursday will be his final, grand journey from Los Angeles to Neverland. Friday will be the big public event, with fans able to pay their respects.

“Michael always said Neverland kept him young. It seems fitting. On Sunday there will be a memorial service for his family and close friends to mourn in private,” added the source.(ANI)

KP claims gruelling fitness regime caused his Achilles injury

London, June 28 (ANI): England middle-order bat Kevin Pietersen has said that his gruelling self-imposed Caribbean fitness regime caused his Achilles injury.

With the First Test against Australia just 10 days away, Pietersen is still not 100 per cent fit.

According to News of The World, Pietersen has already had a cortisone jab injected into the nerve in his spine to treat the injury.

He admits that too much running during England’s winter tour of the West Indies fuelled his current fitness problems.P’s personal training schedule included:

.3.5mile sprints on a treadmill the night before Test matches.

.Running six miles from the ground in St Kitts to the England hotel instead of catching the team bus.

. Mile-long shuttle runs up and down hills near the team hotel.

“Road running is what I absolutely love, but I did too much. I was doing huge runs in the Caribbean – too much – which hurt my back and was linked to the problems I’ve since had,” he was quoted, as saying.(ANI)

Soon, vehicles that drive on their own

Washington, May 27 (ANI): Ever imagined reading a book or watching a movie in your car, while your vehicle guides itself through the traffic and navigates on its own? Well, thanks to a new technology called ‘autonomous vehicle navigation’, this could soon be a reality.

If this technology comes into action, it may also see fleets of self-navigating vehicles for the military operating in war zones.

Keeping this in mind, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contest was conducted, which aimed at spurring the development of such technologies.

The DARPA Urban Challenge was held at a former air force base in Victorville, Calif. in late 2007, and offered a 3.5 million dollars purse to competitors who could design the fastest and safest vehicles that could traverse a 60-mile urban course in moving traffic in less than six hours.

The contestant vehicles were unmanned and had to complete a simulated military supply mission, manoeuvring through a mock city environment, avoiding obstacles, merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, and negotiating intersections-all while conforming to California driving rules.

And out of the 89 international teams participating in the contest, only six could make it to the finish line in the allotted time.

The winning vehicle, which finished with the fastest time- an average speed of approximately 13 miles per hour- had Wende Zhang of General Motors as part of its design team.

The GM team incorporated existing technology already offered in some of their vehicles that can assist in parking or detect lane markers and trigger alarms if the drivers are coming too close to the shoulder of the road.

And for the DARPA challenge, they developed a more sophisticated package of sensors that included GPS coupled with a camera and a laser-ranging LIDAR system to guide and correct the vehicle’s route through the city.

In Baltimore, Zhang will present GM’s patented new methods for detecting lanes and correcting a vehicle’s route, which helped them win the challenge.

However, Zhang said that a commercially viable autonomous driving product might still take a decade to hit the markets.

The findings were presented at the 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/International Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/IQEC) at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore. (ANI)

Morrissey cancels more shows due to illness after b’day gig

Washington, May 26 (ANI): Just two days after marking his 50th birthday with a homecoming set in Manchester, singer Morrissey has cancelled gig dates because of ill-health.

The ex ‘Smiths’ frontman cancelled his May 25th’s show at the Salisbury City Hall and May 26th’s concert at the Troxy Ballroom in Mile End, east London.

Labelled the “greatest lyricist of his generation” this week, the singer-songwriter has been warned not to sing by doctors, said a spokeswoman.

“Morrissey is on doctor’s orders to postpone the show, to ensure a complete recuperation,” Contactmusic quoted her as saying.

She added: “Event organisers would like to apologise to fans for the disappointment and are working to reschedule this show, so advise ticket holders to hang on to their tickets.”

Apparently, these are not the first on the 50-year-old’s world tour with shows at the Royal Albert Hall and Birmingham Academy called off while an appearance on ‘Later… With Jools Holland’ was also scrapped.

However, the cancelled Birmingham and Albert Hall shows have now been rescheduled as part of a small October tour, it was announced last week. (ANI)

The truth about Lanka’s secret refugee camps revealed

Colombo, May 24 (ANI): They squat in a circle, grinding their tiny hands nervously into the mud behind the six foot high barbed wire fence that imprisons them. And their little eyes stare wide open in fear at what lies on the other side. This is the Pulmoddai refugee camp in war-torn northern Sri Lanka, where soldiers sit, each one ten yards apart, their AK47 assault rifles trained at the 6,000 terrified refugees huddled inside.

This, according to the News of The World, is the terrifying aftermath of Asia’s longest civil war.

Speaking to the tabloid in the belief that their representatives are aid workers, the official in charge of the Pulmoddai compound claimed the Tamil women and children were being “held” for their own safety.We are protecting these people. This is why there are so many soldiers here. There might be Tamil Tigers in there and we cannot just let them come and go. They have water and shelter and they are happy to be free of the war,” the official is quoted, as saying. charity worker, however, gives a very different view: “The children, their mothers, their grandmothers, they can’t get out. They are trapped behind barbed wire with guns trained on them, innocent children. This is a prison camp, a Nazi-like detention camp that evokes the worst fears of humanity.”

And if the children of this bloody war are not being held in camps, they are in a different kind of hell-in orphanages scattered across their war-torn land with no mother or father to comfort them.

To get to the terrifying fallout of the 26-year conflict between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers took a 13-hour, 400-mile drive from the west coast capital Colombo along dangerous roads and through more than a dozen heavily militarised checkpoints and cordons-once having to hide in the back of our minivan.

At every stage of our journey the Sri Lankan military that has effectively created a border cutting off the north of the island from foreigners-brandished their weapons to try to intimidate us and stop us seeing what they don’t want you to see.

For here, in the north-east of the South Asian island, is a scene light years away from the pristine tea plantations and golden sandy beaches in the south and west of the island that attract more than 100,000 British tourists a year.

To British honeymooners, Sri Lanka is a tropical paradise; to British businessmen it is source of clothing for high street stores like M and S, Next and Gap. But for the past three decades the former British colony has been gripped by a deadly war that has bitterly split the South Asian nation in two and killed 100,000 people.

It erupted in 1983 after the demands of the minority Tamils for a homeland of their own separate from the Sinhalese were refused. Last week it finally came to a violent and bloody end in the north of the country. And since January, an estimated 7,000 civilians, many of them children, have died in the crossfire at the hands of both sides.

But now the end of the conflict has brought new and terrible suffering for the Tamil people left behind. (ANI)

Natural petroleum seeps release equivalent of 8 – 80 Exxon Valdez oil spills

Washington, May 14 (ANI): A new study has shown that the amount of oil residue in seafloor sediments that result from natural petroleum seeps off Santa Barbara, California, is the equivalent of approximately 8-80 Exxon Valdez oil spills.

Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), did the study.

It shows the oil content of sediments is highest closest to the seeps and tails off with distance, creating an oil fallout shadow.

It estimates the amount of oil in the sediments down current from the seeps to be the equivalent of approximately 8-80 Exxon Valdez oil spills.

“Farwell developed and mapped out our plan for collecting sediment samples from the ocean floor,” said WHOI marine chemist Chris Reddy, referring to lead author Chris Farwell, at the time an undergraduate working with UCSB’s Dave Valentine.

“After conducting the analysis of the samples, we were able to make some spectacular findings,” he added.

There is an oil spill everyday at Coal Oil Point (COP), the natural seeps off Santa Barbara, California, where 20-25 tons of oil have leaked from the seafloor each day for the last several hundred thousand years.

Based on their previous research, Valentine and Reddy surmised that the oil was sinking “because this oil is heavy to begin with.”

“It’s a good bet that it ends up in the sediments because it’s not ending up on land. It’s not dissolving in ocean water, so it’s almost certain that it is ending up in the sediments,” said Valentine.

To conduct their sampling, the team used the research vessel Atlantis, the 274-foot ship that serves as the support vessel for the Alvin submersible.

The research team sampled 16 locations in a 90 km2 (35 square mile) grid starting 4 km west of the active seeps.

Sample stations were arranged in five longitudinal transects with three water depths (40, 60, and 80 m) for each transect, with one additional comparison sample obtained from within the seep field.

“The instrument reveals distinct biomarkers or chemical fossils – like bones for an archeologist – present in the oil. These fossils were a perfect match for the oil from the reservoir, the oil collected leaking into the ocean bottom, oil on the sea surface, and oil back in the sediment,” said Reddy.

“We could say with confidence that the oil we found in the sediments was genetically connected to the oil reservoir and not from an accidental spill or runoff from land,” he added. (ANI)

22000 refugees stream into strife-hit NWFP hospital

Mardan (NWFP, Pakistan), May 7 (ANI): Over 22,000 refugees have asked for help in the Mardan area of Pakistan’s strife-hit North West Frontier Province alone, and most of them in the past 10 days.

Thousands of people are reported to have queued up outside a hospital in Mardan, reports the New York Times.

They piled into the hospital courtyard, then into the hospital itself, moving down the hallways, sitting on the floors. It was mostly men who came but women did, too, nearly all of them lost and bewildered and wondering what fate awaited them next.

Most of these refugees are fleeing battles that are now unfolding across a 50-mile arc northwest of Islamabad, even as the army, following months of indecision, has begun waging offensives against Taliban militants.

Government officials here say that about 40,000 people have already left and that a half million might ultimately be forced to run.

Refugees besieged the Mardan Tuberculosis Hospital, built by Danish missionaries in 1907, on Wednesday when government officials declared it a place where refugees could sign up for food and other help. By the end of the day, over 2,000 people had entered the premises.

Most of the refugees wear the gazes of men who longer control their own lives

One refugee said that Muslims don’t have much problem with the Taliban enforcing Islam, but are angered when the militants cut the throats of policemen.

No one is ready to criticize the Taliban directly. There is a palpable sense of fear that pervades among the refugees.

Some of the refugees milling about the tuberculosis hospital have raised doubts about the agenda of the Pakistani Army. Some echo the view that the Pakistani Army, or at least elements of it, had not merely failed to combat the militants, but had colluded to make them stronger. (ANI)

Chelsea’s Lampard hails Barca’s Messi

London, May 3 (ANI): Chelsea’s Frank Lampard has hailed Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as the best player on the planet.

According to The Sun, the England star believes Messi will be the biggest threat to the Blues’ hopes of clinching a place in the Champions League final.

Lampard said: “Barcelona are a formidable team. They have such attacking strength with Messi, Henry and Eto’o. And in midfield they have Iniesta and Xabi driving them forward. The passing and movement of them all is top, top drawer.”

“But I rate Messi the best. He is the best player in the world without a shadow of a doubt. By a country mile in fact. He is absolutely fantastic. OK, I don’t think in the first leg he delivered what people were expecting of him. But believe me the man is a genius and he can explode with a piece of magic that can change a game. He wasn’t in top form at the Nou Camp. That could make him all the more determined to produce at the Bridge,” he added.

“So whoever plays at left-back for us will have to be at their very best to deal with him.”

Lampard says Chelsea are buoyed after securing a 0-0 result in Spain but says the semi-final is still too close to call.

He added: “I don’t think anyone is favourite to go through, the match is just so evenly balanced.” (ANI)

Tamil sympathy for LTTE will keep the movement alive: Analysts

London, May 1 (ANI): The support enjoyed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) among Sri Lanka’s Tamils will make it hard for the Lankan Army to neutralise them in the north-east, as the movement will retain the capacity and perhaps the public support to launch terror strikes and suicide attacks, analysts have said.

“They’re not terrorists,” said a former government worker living in Colombo’s Bambalapitiya neighbourhood, correcting his friend for use of the word. “They’re freedom fighters – 99.99 per cent of Tamil people support them, but they are not in a position to show it.”

Analysts say that even if the rebels in the country’s northeast are neutralised in the coming days, the movement will retain alive, The Independent reports.

“As a viable insurgency they are finished but they will still be able to operate as a terrorist organisation,” said Bahukutumbi Raman, a former security advisor to the Indian Government.

Despite international calls for a ceasefire, a bloody end appears the most likely outcome for the fewer than 1,000 rebels cornered in a two-square mile patch with up to 50,000 civilians.

A day after the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, called for a humanitarian ceasefire, the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, rejected their calls, the paper reports.

“The government is not ready to enter into any kind of ceasefire,” he said. “It is my duty to protect the people of this country. I don’t need lectures from Western representatives.”

The LTTE and its leader, Velupillai Prabakharan, said they would never surrender but called for international help to enforce a ceasefire.

It is impossible to accurately gauge the level of support for the LTTE. Fearful of the government and equally fearful of speaking out, most Tamils talk about suffering routine discrimination, The Independent reports.

They talk of their fear when passing through the ubiquitous check-points and how the troops might arbitrarily decide to detain them. (ANI)

Large Hadron Collider may one day discover nature’s fifth force

Washington, April 29 (ANI): A group of physicists at the University of Nevada, Reno has analyzed data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that could ultimately prove or disprove the possibility of a fifth force of nature.

The LHC is an enormous particle accelerator whose 17-mile tunnel straddles the borders of France and Switzerland.

In a forthcoming Physical Review Letter article, the University of Nevada, Reno physicists are reporting an analysis of an experiment on violation of mirror symmetry in atoms.

Their refined analysis sets new limits on a hypothesized particle, the extra Z-boson, carving out the lower-energy part of the discovery reach of the LHC.

Andrei Derevianko, an associate professor in the College of Science’s Department of Physics, who has conducted groundbreaking research to improve the time-telling capabilities of the world’s most accurate atomic clocks, is one of the principals behind what is believed to be the most accurate to-date low-energy determination of the strength of the electroweak coupling between atomic electrons and quarks of the nucleus.

Derevianko and his colleagues have determined the coupling strength by combining previous measurements made by Dr. Carl Wieman, a Nobel laureate in physics, with high-precision calculations in a cesium atom.

The original work by Wieman used a table-top apparatus at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The Boulder team monitored a “twinge” of weak force in atoms, which are otherwise governed by the electromagnetic force.

The Standard Model of elementary particles, developed in the early 1970s, holds that heavy particles, called Z-bosons, carry this weak force.

In contrast to the electromagnetic force, the weak force violates mirror symmetry: an atom and its mirror image behave differently.

This is known to physicists as “parity violation.”

The Boulder group’s experiment opened the door to new inquiry, according to Derevianko.

“It pointed out a discrepancy, and hinted at a possibility for new physics, in particular, extra Z-bosons,” he said.

In contrast to previous, less accurate interpretations of the Boulder experiment, Derevianko’s group has found a perfect agreement with the prediction of the Standard Model.

This agreement holds important implications for particle physics.

“Atomic parity violation places powerful constraints on new physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles,” Derevianko said. “With this new-found precision, we are doing a better job of ‘listening’ to the atoms,” he added.

By refining and improving the computations, Derevianko said there is potential for a better understanding of hypothetical particles (extra Z-bosons), which could be carriers of a so-far elusive fifth force of nature. (ANI)