Scientists have discovered a new dinosaur species in Tanzania with a heart-shaped tail that provides new clues to how ecosystems evolved on the African continent during the Cretaceous period.
The dinosaur discovered in Southwestern Tanzania is yet another member of the large, long-necked titanosaur sauropods, said researchers at the Ohio University in the US.
The partial skeleton was recovered from Cretaceous-age --  145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago -- rocks exposed in a cliff surface in the western branch of the great East African Rift System, according to the study published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The dinosaur is called Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia in reference to the name of the riverbed (Mtuka) in which it was discovered and due to the unique shape of its tail bones.
The initial discovery of Mnyamawamtuka took place in 2004, when part of the skeleton was found high in a cliff wall overlooking the seasonally dry Mtuka riverbed, with annual excavations continuing through ...

New dinosaur species wore its "heart" on tail

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She came to WWE at a time when female wrestlers were mostly considered divas but Paige broke the stereotype, fighting perceptions and drawing home a larger point: that women can wrestle too.
Paige, real name Saraya-Jade Bevis, has emerged as one of the biggest female wrestlers in WWE and now her
She says she didn't realise the extent to how "male dominated" the sport was before she entered WWE.
"But the WWE never held the women back. It was actually more of the fans not taking them very seriously. They wanted to see more male characters, many years ago. That's what they wanted. It was a male dominated sport," Paige told PTI.
The 26-year-old says things were dramatically different when she was in FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling).
"There were only five women there and 70 men. There was a lot of struggle but WWE believed in us so much."
Paige is considered a key figure in bringing 'women's revolution' in the ring, aided by her NXT Women's Championship in 2013 which gave a platform to 

Always wanted to prove that women can wrestle too: Paige

When the last Soviet tanks rumbled back home across a bridge on the border with Afghanistan 30 years ago, the withdrawal was hailed as a much-anticipated end to a bloody quagmire.
Since then, Moscow's view of the war has changed radically. As Russia prepares to mark Friday's anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal, many see the 10-year Soviet war in Afghanistan as a necessary and largely successful endeavour.
Just like the ongoing Russian campaign in Syria, the Afghan war is widely perceived as a legitimate action against U.S.-backed militants.
And in a twist of history, Russia also has emerged as an influential power broker in Afghanistan, mediating between feuding factions as it jockeys with Washington for influence in a country where a U.S.-led coalition has been fighting for more than 17 years.
Ata Mohammad Noor, a former warlord who fought Soviet troops and served as governor of the northern Balkh province from 2004-2018, attended a meeting last week in Moscow that brought together .

30 years on, Russia views Afghan war with pride

Veteran actor Patrick Stewart, who worked with Bryan Singer on "X-Men" franchise, has opened up about the director's hunger for power and the need to control other people.
The 78-year-old actor said such intimidating behaviour on the sets is "horrible".
''This sense of...looking for power, when you've already got it and you don't actually need it... Looking for control over other people, who you can dominate - it's horrible," Stewart told Daily Telegraph.
Singer was fired from "Bohemian Rhapsody" in December 2017 by Fox due to his repeated failures to show up on the set, which brought the production to a halt. Dexter Fletcher later replaced him as the director but Singer still retains the credit.
Actor Rami Malek, who played Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the biopic, had recently said that his experience of working on the film with Singer was "not pleasant".
Stewart confirmed that his experience with Singer was some what similar to Malek.
''I've experienced that too with him. There 

Looking for control over other people is horrible: Patrick Stewart on Bryan Singer

Bangladesh police have stopped 43 Rohingya refugees from being smuggled to Malaysia by boat with a dozen women claiming they were abducted by traffickers, officials said Thursday.
Acting on tip-offs, police found the refugees at two separate places in the southeastern border district of Cox's Bazar, raising the number of Rohingya being rescued from the traffickers to more than 100 in less than a week.
About 740,000 of the Muslim minority fled Myanmar for Bangladesh after a military clampdown in the Buddhist-majority nation in August 2017.
They have joined another 300,000 Rohingya who have already been living in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar following previous bouts of violence.
Officials fear many may end up being exploited by an internationally organised human smuggling racket who have previously sent thousands of Rohingya to Malaysia by boats until Bangladesh launched a crackdown in 2015 following the discovery of mass graves of refugees in Thailand.
Rapid Action Battalion, an ...

Bangladesh rescues 'abducted' Malaysia-bound Rohingya

Turkish authorities on Thursday detained 52 suspected Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in northwestern province of Bursa as part of a crackdown on the militants, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Police launched raids at five addresses in the Osmangazi district to round up the suspects who were all Syrian nationals, Anadolu said.
IS are blamed in Turkey for a spate of terror attacks, including a 2015 bombing on a peace rally at a train station in the capital Ankara that claimed 100 lives.
Turkey has stepped up the fight against the jihadists and allowed a US-led international coalition to launch air raids on the group's bases in Syria from its soil.

Turkey rounds up 52 Syrian IS suspects: state media

Hundreds of people were evacuated Thursday from a hotel in downtown Singapore after explosions and a fire erupted in a room containing electrical equipment, causing blackouts in nearby buildings.
The Carlton Hotel said the incident -- rare for hyper-safe and -efficient Singapore -- was not terror-related and there were no injuries.  After the blasts and blaze, smoke could reportedly be seen wafting from the back of the building, which is just a short walk from the colonial-era Raffles Hotel.
"About a thousand persons were evacuated from the building. There were no reported injuries," said the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the agency in charge of emergency services.
The blazed happened in a switch room housing electrical equipment and was quickly extinguished by firefighters, they said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
An Australian guest, who did not want to be identified, told AFP he heard two explosions about three minutes apart while he was standing outside the ...

Singapore hotel evacuated after blasts, fire

A handkerchief, illicit letters and secret visits -- the first three decades of love between a Vietnamese man and his North Korean sweetheart were counted out in stolen moments and small tokens of devotion.
But now this love story is being lauded as an example of the two countries' amity in the lead-up to this month's much anticipated second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi.
The communist state is thrilled to be hosting the high-profile event in Hanoi, an opportunity for Vietnam to boost its diplomatic gravitas on the world stage.
But for the couple, their hopes for peace on the Korean peninsula also carry personal motivations.
"I wish... we can go back for visits more easily," 69-year-old Vietnamese Pham Van Canh told AFP.
He first met his future wife Ri Yong Hui in 1971 at a Pyongyang fertiliser factory, where she was working.  Canh was one of hundreds of Vietnamese sent to fellow communist nation
North Korea to study how their ...

Poster couple: Vietnam-N Korea sweethearts lauded in summit run-up

Austria's competition authorities said Thursday they were launching a probe into whether US online retail giant Amazon was abusing its dominant position to favour its own products against those of Austrian retailers selling on its market place.
The Austrian Federal Competition Authority (BWB) said in a statement that it was investigating complaints it had received in December 2018 about Amazon's alleged "unfair trade practices".
The suspicion was that Amazon "discriminates against other retailers and thereby tries to inordinately favour its own products on the Amazon market place", BWB said.  According to the complaints, Amazon allegedly terminated sellers' accounts abruptly and for no apparent reason.
It also allegedly forced retailers to disclose their prices and added incorrect delivery details to the sellers' accounts.
The retailers also accused Amazon of allegedly deleting them from product rankings and introducing jurisdiction clauses making it difficult for them to take legal ..

Austria probes Amazon over alleged unfair trade practices

Thailand's constitutional court on Thursday said it would hear a case to dissolve the party which proposed a princess for prime minister, an ill-fated candidacy which threatens to sink the election strategy of the powerful Shinawatra clan.
The Thai Raksa Chart party nominated Princess Ubolratana for premier last Friday, a bombshell move bringing Thai royalty to frontline politics for the first time since the 1932 establishment of a constitutional monarchy.
Hours later the princess's brother -- Thailand's powerful king Maha Vajiralongkorn -- scuttled her political ambitions, hitting out at the attempt to bring her into politics as "highly inappropriate" and against royal traditions.
In the days since, chaos has enveloped Thai Raksa Chart, which falls under the tutelage of Thaksin Shinawatra, a divisive billionaire ex-premier who sits at the heart of Thailand's bitter political schism.
On Wednesday the Election Commission (EC) handed the case for dissolution of Thai Raksa Chart to the ..

Thai court to hear case against party behind princess political bid

The Pakistan Open will return to the Asian golf calendar as part of its Development Tour after a 10-year hiatus and will be held from March 30 here, a top Asian Tour official said Thursday.
The country's National championship, which was inaugurated in 1967, will be held on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) at the Defence Raya Golf and Country Club, offering a prize fund of USD 80,000.
"We are delighted to announce the return of the Pakistan Open for the first time since 2009. We are confident the championship course will be in superb condition once again when we return next month," Asian Tour Chief Operating Officer Cho Minn Thant said.
The Asian Tour did not state why the tournament had not been held for the last 10 years but local media reports here said that security concerns were a primary factor.
Lieutenant General Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain (Retired), President of the Pakistan Golf Federation, said the PGF was delighted to have the tournament back on the calendar.
"The PGF works 

Pakistan Open golf back on Asian Tour calendar after 10 years

South African fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander plunged Sri Lanka into trouble on the second morning of the first Test at Kingsmead on Thursday.
Sri Lanka were 133 for six at lunch, still 102 runs behind South Africa's first innings total of 235. They lost five wickets in adding 84 runs during the morning.
Steyn and Philander did the early damage, taking three wickets in the first ten overs of the morning, before fellow fast bowlers Duanne Olivier and Kagiso Rabada followed up with a wicket each.
Steyn struck in the third over of an overcast day when Oshada Fernando went across his stumps and was given out leg before wicket for 19. After consultation with captain Dimuth Karunaratne he decided not to seek a review, although replays showed the ball was missing his leg stump.
Philander claimed the key wicket of Karunaratne, who was trapped leg before wicket for 30 in the next over.
Philander followed up by having Kusal Mendis caught at second slip for 12 before Olivier, with ..

South African bowlers have Sri Lanka on the run

Scientists have developed an innovative new software that may make it easier to spot potentially lethal heart conditions, and lead to improvements in prevention and treatment.
The ElectroMap software is an open-source software for processing, analysis and mapping complex cardiac data, said experts at the University of Birmingham Dubai.
The heart's pumping ability is controlled by electrical activity that triggers the heart muscle cells to contract and relax.
In certain heart diseases such as arrhythmia, the organ's electrical activity is affected.
Cardiac researchers can already record and analyse the heart's electrical behaviour using optical and electrode mapping, but widespread use of these technologies is limited by a lack of appropriate software, according to the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
"We believe that ElectroMap will accelerate innovative cardiac research and lead to wider use of mapping technologies that help to prevent the incidence of arrhythmia," .

Novel software may help detect heart diseases: Study

Hong Kong's port, which once vied with rival Singapore for global dominance, has slipped out of the world's top five busiest shipping container terminals for the first time, new data has revealed.
The bustling southern Chinese financial hub owes its very existence to its ideal location as a port, a cornerstone of the remarkable growth of a city's whose name means "Fragrant Harbour".  It has been among the world's busiest for the last four decades and dominated in the 1990s and early 2000s as China's economy opened up.
But last year Hong Kong's port came in at number seven, confirmation of a seemingly inexorable slide down the world rankings against the increased dominance of mainland Chinese ports and continued resilience of Singapore.
Neil Davidson, a specialist at Drewry Shipping Consultants, said it was the first time Hong Kong had fallen below the top five threshold since they first began compiling global port data in 1979.
"For many years, through to the 1990s, Hong Kong was ...

Hong Kong port slips from global top five for first time

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said Thursday it has restructured planned airplane purchases from both Airbus and Boeing as the government-owned carrier struggles through serious financial turbulence.
Once making headlines in 2013 for fleet purchases valued at $67 billion, Etihad has seen its strategy of rapidly buying stakes in other airlines to expand its global footprint expose it to major losses.
In its last two reported financial years alone, the airline hemorrhaged nearly $3.5 billion in losses. Full-year results for 2018 for the company are expected in the summer.  In its statement, Etihad said that it will take delivery of five Airbus A350-1000, 26
Airbus A321neos and six Boeing 777-9 aircraft "over the coming years." The airline said it also will continue to accept its orders for Boeing 787 Dreamliners, without elaborating.
It said its remaining orders will be affected by "rescheduling, restructuring or reduction." In its 2013 purchase, Etihad made orders for 87 Airbus and 56 .

Etihad restructures plane purchases amid fiscal turbulence

A UAE-based international cooling provider has entered into a 30-year concession with Andhra Pradesh government to build, own, operate and transfer India's first district cooling system in the state's new capital Amaravati.
The agreement between the National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) and Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) is for a contracted cooling capacity of 20,000 refrigeration tonnes and this will be the company's first plant outside its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market, a statement released by the firm said.
Tabreed's district cooling system is part of Andhra Pradesh government's vision for Amaravati to create jobs and homes along with a world-class infrastructure, a green city, and efficient resource management.
In addition and in line with the ambitious plans for this greenfield capital city of Andhra Pradesh to be among the most sustainable cities in the world, Tabreed's system will meet cooling requirements for the the State's Assembly, 

UAE's Tabreed to build India's first district cooling system in Amaravati

A Thai court has agreed to take up the case of whether to dissolve a political party that nominated a member of the royal family as its candidate for prime minister in next month's general election.
Thailand's Constitutional Court made the announcement in a statement Thursday, just a day after the Election Commission recommended the Thai Raksa Chart Party be dissolved over its Feb. 8 nomination of Princess Ubolratana Mahidol.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn issued a royal order just hours after his sister's nomination that deemed the political bid inappropriate and unconstitutional.  The court said the charges are being forwarded to the party, which will have seven days to respond. The next hearing will be Feb. 27.
If the party is dissolved its board members could be banned from politics.

Thai court accepts dissolution case over princess nomination

Australian police are investigating a brawl between a senator and a top aide that left blood on the walls of the Australian parliament.
Police and parliamentary authorities are looking into a Tuesday night altercation between 70-year-old Senator Brian Burston and a staffer for populist Senator Pauline Hanson.
Burston showed off a cut on his thumb following the altercation and, following an initial denial, admitted to smearing his blood on Hanson's parliamentary office door.
In a statement, Burston said he "reported the full matter to the Australian Federal Police" and was asking for a restraining order against the aide.
"This matter is now in the hands of the police," he added.
Aide James Ashby -- who had been instrumental in Hanson gaining outsized influence in Australian politics -- has been banned from parliament.
The confrontation, which was caught on camera, took place as Burston accused Hanson of years of unwanted sexual advances and Hanson accused an unnamed senator -- believed 

Police investigate Aussie parliament brawl

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday at a security conference in Warsaw that Iran is the top threat in the Middle East and confronting the country is key to reaching peace in the entire region.
Pompeo met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the opening session at the conference and said "pushing back" against Iran was central to dealing with all the region's other problems.
"You can't achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran. It's just not possible," Pompeo said alongside Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader lauded the participation of high-profile Arab dignitaries at the conference, saying it signaled a shift in regional priorities.
"In a room of some 60 foreign ministers, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of leading Arab countries stood together, and spoke with unusual force, clarity and unity against a common threat of the Iranian regime," Netanyahu said before his meeting with Pompeo.
"I think this marks a ...

Pompeo says 'confronting Iran' key to Mideast peace

An Indonesian man has been mauled to death by a crocodile in Malaysia, with his horrified nephew spotting the victim disappearing into a river during the attack, police said Thursday.
Muh Tahir Majid Syam, 40, went missing while hunting for crabs with his nephew on Tuesday by a river in Sarawak state on jungle-clad Borneo island.  While looking for him, the younger man suddenly saw his uncle's head pop up above the water's surface before sinking again, deputy local police chief Mohamad Sabri Zainol told AFP.
"(The nephew) was looking around, and then he saw his uncle's head in the water before being pulled back into the river," the police officer said.  Muh Tahir's body was found Wednesday covered in bite marks, leading police to conclude he was likely killed by a saltwater crocodile.
The victim was a migrant worker on a palm oil plantation, the official news agency Bernama reported. Many Indonesians work in the agricultural sector in relatively affluent Malaysia.
Saltwater crocodiles 

Crocodile mauls Indonesian to death in Malaysia: police

A robot arm has successfully picked up pebble-sized pieces of radioactive fuel at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant in a complex operation seen as key to clean-up efforts after the 2011 meltdown, officials said Thursday.
Operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) on Wednesday sent down a remote-controlled probe to the melted fuel at the bottom of the plant's reactor 2, one of three that melted down after a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
It caught five small pieces of the fuel debris and lifted them up some five centimetres (two inches).
"We were able to confirm that the fuel debris can be moved," said Yuka Matsubara, a spokeswoman.
"We accomplished the objective of this test," she told AFP, adding that the company plans to actually remove some fuel debris as a sample by March next year.
Robots have already peered inside the reactor to allow experts to assess the melted fuel visually, but Wednesday's test was the first attempt to work out how fragile the highly radioactive ...

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