Insect that fights Japanese knotweed to be released

A tiny Japanese insect that could help the fight against an aggressive superweed has been given the go-ahead for a trial release in England.

Since Japanese knotweed was introduced to the UK it has rapidly spread, and the plant currently costs over £150m a year to control and clear.

But scientists say a natural predator in the weed’s native home of Japan could also help to control it here.

The insect will initially be released in a handful of sites this spring.

This is the first time that biocontrol – the use of a “natural predator” to control a pest – has been used in the EU to fight a weed.

Wildlife Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: “These tiny insects, which naturally prey on Japanese Knotweed, will help free local authorities and industry from the huge cost of treating and killing this devastating plant.”
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6-4-magnitude quake hits southern Taiwan

(CNN) — A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rattled southern Taiwan on Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage, injuries or deaths.

The quake struck at about 8:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. Wednesday ET) in a mountainous region about 25 miles northwest of Taitung, on the southeast coast, and 40 miles east of Tainan and Kaohsiung on the southwest coast.

The region includes Taiwan’s Maolin National Scenic Area.

The quake was followed by several aftershocks, the largest reaching a 4.8 magnitude. The initial 6.4 quake rumbled to the surface from 14 miles deep.

The Taiwan Ministry of Interior and the National Fire Agency said electricity was cut off near the epicenter but had no further information.

Residents in southern Taiwan reported cracks in some buildings and major bridges. Train service was also disrupted in some areas, Taiwanese media reported.
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Bachelet urges Chile earthquake survivors to stay calm

Chile’s president has appealed for calm in the earthquake-ravaged city of Concepcion, vowing a stern response to any renewal of looting and violence.

Michelle Bachelet says 14,000 troops are now in the region, after dozens of people were arrested on Monday.

A BBC reporter in Concepcion says police are now posted on street corners in the city centre, but says that aid convoys are yet to reach the needy.

The death toll from the 8.8-magnitude quake now stands at 795, officials say.

Emergency workers also say 19 people are still unaccounted for.

‘Necessary measure’

A special air route is being set up to deliver aid from the capital, Santiago, to Concepcion, 430km (270 miles) away.

But security in the city remains a key concern after shops and homes were looted on Monday and police made large numbers of arrests.
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Chile President Michelle Bachelet steps up quake rescue

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has announced emergency measures to deal with the destruction caused by Saturday’s massive earthquake.

The 8.8 magnitude quake – one of the most powerful recorded – devastated central parts of the country, killing more than 700 people.

Troops are being deployed to help with rescue efforts and prevent looting.

A curfew is in force in some areas. Basic supplies are to be distributed as rescuers reach worst-hit areas.

“We face a catastrophe of such unthinkable magnitude that it will require a giant effort,” Ms Bachelet told reporters on Sunday in the capital, Santiago.

The curfew, which began at 2100 local time (midnight GMT), applies in the region of Maule – where more than 541 are confirmed dead – and in Concepcion, Chile’s second city.

Both areas are being placed under special rules to speed up the delivery of aid.
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Last speaker of ancient language of Bo dies in India

The last speaker of an ancient language in India’s Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85, a leading linguist has told the BBC.

Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world’s oldest languages – Bo – had come to an end.

She said that India had lost an irreplaceable part of its heritage.

Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old.

The islands are often called an “anthropologist’s dream” and are one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world.

‘Infectious’

Professor Abbi – who runs the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese (Voga) website – explained: “After the death of her parents, Boa was the last Bo speaker for 30 to 40 years.

“She was often very lonely and had to learn an Adamanese version of Hindi in order to communicate with people.
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Catcher in the Rye author Salinger dead

Reclusive author JD Salinger, who has died aged 91, was a giant of American literature whose seminal novel, The Catcher in the Rye, lent a voice to the angst and despair felt by generations of rebellious adolescents.

One of the most admired and influential US writers following the success of his 1951 novel and its laconic anti-hero, Holden Caulfield, Salinger published nothing after 1965 and had not been interviewed since 1980.

The author died on Wednesday at his home in New Hampshire, the Harold Ober Associates agency said on Thursday. The cause of death was not announced.

Mystery surrounded much of the last five decades of his life. After being overwhelmed by his new fame, Salinger withdrew from public life, retreating to his house perched on a tree-blanketed hill in the small town of Cornish, New Hampshire.

Memoirs written by his daughter and a former lover affirmed that Salinger still wrote, but there has been no sign of any new book despite the entreaties of his legions of fans.
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France MPs’ report backs Muslim face veil ban

A French parliamentary committee has recommended a partial ban on women wearing Islamic face veils.

The committee’s near 200-page report has proposed a ban in hospitals, schools, government offices and on public transport.

It also recommends that anyone showing visible signs of “radical religious practice” should be refused residence cards and citizenship.

The interior ministry says just 1,900 women in France wear the full veils.

In its report, the committee said requiring women to cover their faces was against the French republican principles of secularism and equality.

“The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable. We must condemn this excess,” the report said.

The commission called on parliament to adopt a formal resolution stating that the face veil was “contrary to the values of the republic” and proclaiming that “all of France is saying ‘no’ to the full veil”.

Presenting the report to the French National Assembly, speaker Bernard Accoyer said the face veil had too many negative connotations.

“It is the symbol of the repression of women, and… of extremist fundamentalism.
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Mr. Gay pageant shut down in China

Beijing, China (CNN) — The stage was set, the event sold-out. International media cameras lined up along on the catwalk beneath rows of gleaming spotlights, but an hour before the Mr. Gay China pageant was supposed to start, police shut it down.

The announcement triggered a media scrum at LAN, a flashy nightclub in downtown Beijing. Event organizer Ben Zhang of Gayographic disappeared amid what seemed to be an intense conversation with authorities. Contestants scattered and found refuge with friends.

“I’m a little bit sad,” said Jay, a 29-year-old contestant from Tianjin. “I encouraged myself to do this but now it’s cancelled.”

The competition was scheduled to include a fashion and talent show, as well as a question-and-answer session. Several of the eight finalists were planning to go public with their homosexuality for the first time.

“I tried to use this competition to come out,” Jay said. “But now I’ll wait another few years until I find my Mr. Right.”

26-year-old contestant Emilio Liu from Inner Mongolia also expressed disappointment. “[Homosexuality] is still not really accepted by the whole society and China is not there yet.”
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Haiti earthquake death toll ‘may be 50,000′

The Red Cross estimates 45,000-50,000 people have died in Haiti’s devastating earthquake, as rescue teams race against time to find survivors.

The US is sending up to 3,500 troops and 2,200 marines but correspondents say aid is so far only trickling in.

President Barack Obama pledged one of the biggest relief efforts in recent US history and said Haiti would “not be forgotten” in its hour of need.

Aid groups say they need food, water, medical supplies and lifting equipment.

President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, working with Brazil, Canada and other countries, will organise a conference on reconstruction in Haiti, the French presidency has announced.

The Red Cross estimates that up to three million people in Haiti have been affected by Tuesday’s earthquake.
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Anne Frank diary guardian Miep Gies dies aged 100

Miep Gies, the last surviving member of the group who helped protect Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis, has died in the Netherlands aged 100.

She and other employees of Anne Frank’s father Otto supplied food to the family as they hid in a secret annex above the business premises in Amsterdam.

Anne’s diary of their life in hiding, which ended in betrayal, is one of the most famous records of the Holocaust.

It was rescued by Mrs Gies, who kept it safe until after the war.

Miep Gies died in a nursing home after suffering a fall just before Christmas.

Speaking last year as she celebrated her 100th birthday, Mrs Gies played down her role, saying others had done far more to protect Jews in the Netherlands.

She and her fellow employees kept Anne and the seven others supplied for two years, from 1942 to 1944.
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