World Cup over for luckless Broad.

Stuart Broad has today been ruled out of the remainder of the ICC Cricket World Cup due to a side strain injury suffered during England's six-run win over South Africa on Sunday.

Broad suffered the injury while bowling during the second innings and subsequent tests have confirmed the 24-year-old has a side strain that will require him to return to the UK for treatment.

He will depart the England squad, currently based in Chittagong ahead of Friday's Group B match against Bangladesh, in the next 48 hours for further assessment in the UK that will determine his recovery and rehabilitation timescale.

Any participation in the forthcoming IPL will be determined according to his rehabilitation timescale established in due course.

ECB chief medical officer Dr Nick Peirce said: "Stuart felt some discomfort following the South Africa match and our initial assessment indicated a strain to his left side.

“Subsequent scans have confirmed a significant side strain injury - where the muscle attaches the rib - that will rule him out of the remainder of the World Cup.

“This is a new injury, separate from the abdominal tear suffered during the Ashes, that requires a period of recuperation and rehabilitation and the duration of this recovery period will be determined following further assessment in the UK."

The England selectors will decide on a player replacement in due course before submitting an application to the ICC event technical committee.

Broad is the second England player to be ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup due to injury.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has returned to the UK to undergo hernia surgery in the next week and, while he will take no part in the forthcoming IPL, he is expected to be fully fit for England's first summer Test match against Sri Lanka on May 26 at Cardiff.

Pietersen has been replaced by Eoin Morgan, who joined the England squad today in Chittagong ahead of Friday's match.

2 space crews mark 1 week together in orbit.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The 12 astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-station complex shared a few more maintenance chores Saturday, taking out the trash and doing their part for clean air as their weeklong visit wound down.

The hatches between Discovery and the International Space Station will close Sunday afternoon, and the shuttle will undock first thing Monday.

Both crews worked to rejuvenate the space station's air system. The oxygen generator as well as the carbon dioxide removal system have been acting up.

They also made sure a Japanese cargo carrier was loaded properly with garbage.

The supply ship will be let loose at the end of this month and plunge through the atmosphere, burning up. The vessel is full of packing foam from all the equipment that was delivered by Discovery. The foam encasing the humanoid robot R2 will be stuffed in as well, once the astronauts unwrap it.

R2 is the first humanoid robot in space. It was part of the new stowage unit delivered last Saturday by shuttle Discovery.

Mission Control gave Discovery's six astronauts two extra days at the 220-mile-high lab — for a total of nine days — to help with all the unloading and repair work.

"Hope you are enjoying your extended stay in your out-of-this-world accommodations. The innkeeper says you can stay a couple more days if you behave," Mission Control joked.

It's the last voyage for Discovery, NASA's oldest and most traveled shuttle. The spaceship will be retired following Wednesday's planned touchdown and sent to the Smithsonian Institution for display.

Only two more shuttle missions remain. Endeavour is set to soar in mid-April, followed by Atlantis at the end of June.

572-Pound Spokesman of Unhealthy Eatery Dies.

PHOENIX — A 572-pound man who gained fame as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill -- a Phoenix-area restaurant that unabashedly touts its unhealthy, high-calorie menu –- died Thursday, MyFoxPhoenix.com reported.

Friends of 29-year-old Blair River say he died Tuesday, possibly from contracting pneumonia after a bout with the flu.

Standing at 6’8”, River gained attention from around the globe after signing on to be the larger-than-life spokesman for Chandler's Heart Attack Grill last fall. There, servers are dressed like nurses and the owner wears a doctor's lab coat, but the menu is the opposite of health-conscious.

Jon Basso, the restaurant's founder, teared up a bit Wednesday when he was asked about the 29-year-old's sudden death.

"We all have a very, very brief time on this earth, and the measure of a man is how he leaves the world after he's been here, and I can tell you Blair River was my friend," Basso told MyFoxPhoenix.

Many criticize the eatery that offers meals in excess of 8,000 calories. They feature huge hamburgers, milkshakes and fry their fries in pig lard. A sign in front of the building reads, "Caution. This establishment is bad for your health."

Basso says he expects the criticism, but the message beneath the outrageous menu is one of caution. Even some diners agree -- it's your choice to eat there or not to eat there.

"We are absolutely guilty for glorifying obesity, it's what we do, but if you stop and think about why we glorify obesity and come into the Heart Attack Grill diet center I think you'll get it," Basso told the website.

When MyFoxPhoenix talked to River in November about his modeling contract, he said he felt healthy and had no regrets about the way he lived his life.

River was a genuine person who told us the Heart Attack Grill gig, at $100 an hour, was all in good fun. Basso wants him to be remembered as a gentle giant and not someone who represented poor eating habits.

The founder said River was a creative genius who had been planning to take part in the shooting of a promotional spot called, "Heart Attack Grill: The Musical."

River started as a state champion high school football player and wrestler from Payson, Ariz. He leaves behind a young daughter.

A day trip to Chernobyl.

Want to visit a European city so quiet you can hear distant birdsong at noon in the main street? A place where the internet is unknown and mobile phone chimes never break the calm? Do you dream of car-free streets where wild animals can wander as the fancy takes them?

French adventurer sets out for Tahiti from Peru on board kite boat.

French national Anne Quemere set sail for Tahiti from Peru after having to abandon her first attempt a day earlier due to poor wind conditions.

Quemere is hoping to traverse more than 7,000 kilometres aboard her kite boat. The kite boat is six metres long and two metres wide and will be pulled by a giant kite.

The vessel was designed specifically for Quemere to sail the 7,500 kilometres from the Callao port in Lima.

Quemere will be able to sleep in one compartment on the vessel, which also includes a storage compartment for additional kites of various sizes.

iPad 2 expected to be thinner, faster, supports camera.

SAN FRANCISCO:  More than a year after igniting the tablet computing craze, Apple Inc prepares to unveil the second version of its blockbuster iPad on Wednesday — possibly minus lead showman Steve Jobs.

Plenty has changed over the course of the year. The iPad became a bona fide smash, essentially creating the tablet category and triggering a wave of me-too products that are just starting to hit the market.

Now, as rivals Motorola and Research in Motion race to catch up, Apple itself is going through a transformation.

There is as much speculation about whether iconic Chief Executive Jobs will take the stage at Wednesday’s event in San Francisco as there is about the new device.

Jobs traditionally launches major products with a pizzazz and style that reflect his eye for detail and design. But he took indefinite medical leave last month and Apple has not given details of the cancer survivor’s medical condition.

His absence is bound to spark a fresh round of speculation on his condition. And his presence will be scrutinized equally closely for any signals on his health.

The new model will support the same 10-inch screen but should be lighter, thinner and faster, according to a plethora of analyst and blog reports. Apple is expected to add a camera to enable video chat using the FaceTime application.

Shares of some Taiwanese component makers rose in Asian trade on Wednesday ahead of the launch.

Camera module maker Genius Electronic Optical Co Ltd and lens manufacturer Largan Precision Co Ltd were starting new supply deals with Apple, two sources said in December, but neither could confirm for which product the modules were intended.

Genius jumped as much as 5.1 per cent before ending 2.5 per cent lower, while lens manufacturer Largan edged up 0.2 per cent in a broader market down 1.2 per cent. Hon Hai Precision , whose parent Foxconn manufactures Apple products, eased 1.8 per cent.

“The launch of iPad2 should have been priced in, but another new features released, for example more powerful hardware, could push relevant stocks into another round of growth,” said Mike Fang, a fund manager at Paradigm Asset Management in Taipei.

It sold nearly 15 million iPads in 2010 after an April launch, three or even four times as many as some analysts had predicted. The tablet added more than $9 billion in revenue for the company last year.

NASA research satellite plunges into the sea.

WASHINGTON – For the second time in two years, a rocket glitch sent a NASA global warming satellite to the bottom of the sea Friday, a $424 million debacle that couldn't have come at a worse time for the space agency and its efforts to understand climate change.

Years of belt-tightening have left NASA's Earth-watching system in sorry shape, according to many scientists. And any money for new environmental satellites will have to survive budget-cutting, global warming politics and, now, doubts on Capitol Hill about the space agency's competence.

The Taurus XL rocket carrying NASA's Glory satellite lifted from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and plummeted to the southern Pacific several minutes later. The same thing happened to another climate-monitoring probe in 2009 with the same type of rocket, and engineers thought they had fixed the problem.

"It's more than embarrassing," said Syracuse University public policy professor Henry Lambright. "Something was missed in the first investigation and the work that went on afterward."

Lambright warned that the back-to-back fiascos could have political repercussions, giving Republicans and climate-change skeptics more ammunition to question whether "this is a good way to spend taxpayers' money for rockets to fail and for a purpose they find suspect."

NASA's environmental division is getting used to failure, cuts and criticism. In 2007, a National Academies of Science panel said that research and purchasing for NASA Earth sciences had decreased 30 percent in six years and that the climate-monitoring system was at "risk of collapse." Then, last month, the Obama administration canceled two major satellite proposals to save money.

Also, the Republican-controlled House has sliced $600 million from NASA in its continuing spending bill, and some GOP members do not believe the evidence of manmade global warming.

Thirteen NASA Earth-observing satellites remain up there, and nearly all of them are in their sunset years.

"Many of the key observations for climate studies are simply not being made," Harvard Earth sciences professor James Anderson said. "This is the nadir of climate studies since I've been working in this area for 40 years."

Scientists are trying to move climate change forecasts from ones that are heavily based on computer models to those that rely on more detailed, real-time satellite-based observations like those that Glory was supposed to make. The satellite's failure makes that harder.

Ruth DeFries, the Columbia University professor who co-chaired the 2007 National Academies of Science panel, said in an e-mail that this matters for everyone on Earth.

"The nation's weakening Earth-observing system is dimming the headlights needed to guide society in managing our planet in light of climate change and other myriad ways that humans are affecting the land, atmosphere and oceans," DeFries wrote.

NASA Earth Sciences chief Michael Freilich said it is not that bad.

"We must not lose sight of the fact that we in NASA are flying 13 research missions right now, which are providing the fuel for advancing a lot of our Earth science," Freilich told The Associated Press. He said airplane missions, current satellites and future ones can pick up much of the slack for what Glory was going to do.

However, Freilich, at a budget briefing a year ago, described the Earth-watching satellites as "all old," adding that 12 of the 13 "are well beyond their design lifetimes."

"We're losing the ability to monitor really key aspects of the climate problem from space," said Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona. "Just about every climate scientist in the world has got to be sad right now."

Glory failed when the rocket's clamshell-shaped protective covering that was supposed to shield it during launch never opened to let the satellite fire into orbit. A similar fiasco happened in 2009 when the Orbiting Carbon Observatory fell back to Earth after the rocket nose cone also failed to separate.

A NASA investigation board and Taurus' builder, Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., will try to figure out what wrong. It was the third failure out of nine launches for that rocket. NASA paid Orbital $54 million for launching Glory. The last failure was traced to the system that jettisons the covering, and Orbital changed its design.

"To make any connection between our investigation of the 2009 ... mishap and Friday's failure of the Glory launch at this time would be purely speculative and wholly inappropriate," said investigative panel chairman Rick Obenschain, deputy director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

'Sari squad' protects Bangladesh wildlife sanctuary.

In Southern Bangladesh, a small group of local women is taking the initiative when it comes to environmental protection.

Already wives, mothers and villagers, they have taken one more role in their community: guardians of the Chunati Wildlife Reserve.

Every day, they don green saris and patrol the forest in the company of government rangers. Walking silently through the trees, they seek out anyone who wants to disturb the wildlife and the century-old trees.

"When we come with in our green dress, the illicit tree fellers are scared of us. They hide from us," says Dilwara, a member of the patrol.

In the years since they began their walks, she tells CNN, they have seen the resurgence of the 77-square kilometer sanctuary.

Once heavily damaged by logging and farming, it is now beginning to thrive, with the patrol encountering wild birds, monkeys, foxes and even elephants.

The community patrols are just one aspect of broader plan to nurse Chunati back to health. Funded by USAID and Germany's development agency GTZ, the program supports government-community partnerships, exploiting the mutual benefits both sides can receive from conserving the country's wildlife.

It's helped rejuvenate this 25 year-old sanctuary that serves as a corridor for Asian elephants migrating between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Community leader Amin Khan used to hunt in Chunati, making his living off the wildlife. Now, convinced his hunting damaged the area's biodiversity, he works with the government to help oversee its conservation. He says positive change only became possible here when the government provided work and other opportunities for villagers within the sanctuary.

"The government did not welcome people's participation on their land before," he says. "But now they are gradually thinking without the participation of the people, no project will be successful."

To that end, the Bangladeshi government now allows for limited logging within designated areas of Chunati. Community members can plant, cut and sell trees in parts of the forest, provided they replant and they don't cut the old growth. They keep 75% of the proceeds and the rest goes towards reforestation efforts.

The co-management model that has worked for Chunati is now being implemented throughout the country. In 2008, USAID launched a $13 million dollar project designed to spread this conservation approach throughout the country over five years. There are now 26 such protected areas in Bangladesh.

As for the female patrol group, they are volunteers, but they received a small stipend of about $50 for joining the program. Many of them bought cows with the money. Now they consume the milk or sell it for some extra cash.

They also received something far less tangible; respect in their village.

"This for our honor," says Hosneara, another member of the patrol. "If there are trees in the forest this will help our community."

Some game developers unhappy with Apple, Nintendo.

San Francisco - Some of the video game industry's most visible veterans took to their pulpits this week at the Game Developers Conference to denounce practices by Apple or Nintendo.

Trip Hawkins took shots at both.

A game industry pioneer, Hawkins founded software giant Electronic Arts, failed console maker the 3DO Company and most recently a mobile-games studio called Digital Chocolate.

Speaking to a roomful of game developers here Thursday, Hawkins said Apple and followers of its mobile-platform mantra are only creating the illusion of a viable business model for third-party developers.

With more than 350,000 apps available on Apple's digital store, game creators are finding it tough to attract attention despite tens of millions of potential customers who own Apple gadgets, he said.

"They have over-encouraged supply," Hawkins said on a panel at the conference. Using statistics that Apple has made public, Hawkins calculated that each app earns, on average, about $4,000.

"Four thousand per application: Do you see a problem with that?" he asked the audience. "That doesn't even pay for a really good foosball table."

Apple said Wednesday it has doled $2 billion out to app developers, which could put the average payout closer to $5,700. Either way, Hawkins said he believes the math makes it difficult for creators of apps to turn a profit.

"If we can't figure out how to make it a healthy ecosystem, it's not going to be a great business for developers to be able to remain employed in," he said.

Gaming giant Nintendo, maker of the popular Wii system, focused much of its message at the conference on condemning the prevailing model for smartphone games.

"The objectives of smartphones and social-network platforms are not at all like ours," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in a GDC keynote. "Their goal is just to gather as much software as possible, because quantity is what makes the money flow. Quantity is how they profit. The value of video-game software does not matter to them."

Two of Nintendo's top executives echoed that sentiment in interviews this week.

Discussing inexpensive mobile games, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said: "The only thing that concerns us is that it becomes a distraction for developers, and it ends up driving development effort down a path that potentially has very little return."

In other words, Nintendo executives said, selling wares cheaply in a crowded online bazaar is a long-term recipe for failure.

"When I look at retailers, and I see the $1 and free software, I have to determine that the owner doesn't care about the high value of software at all," Iwata said in a presentation Wednesday, the same morning as Apple's iPad 2 news conference in the building next door. "I fear our business is dividing in a way that threatens the continued employment of those of us who make games."

But Hawkins, the EA founder, said he believes Nintendo is not blame-free, either. The Japanese gaming behemoth upended the industry decades ago when it instituted fees associated with developing and selling software for Nintendo's systems, he said.

After an approval process, Nintendo makes developers pay a toll for access to certified equipment for testing purposes. The company also takes a royalty fee on each unit sold -- set so high that the costs lock out small development shops, some programmers say.

The practice has thrived and has been emulated by others, including Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment.

"We used to have a free and open game business," Hawkins said. "And then Nintendo came along and introduced a thing called a licensing agreement."

Apple charges developers a subscription fee of $99 per year and takes 30% of each transaction. Apple has touted in previous news conferences that it sells more gadgets capable of playing games than any major game company.

In 2009, Hawkins sang Apple's praises after Digital Chocolate developed several hit games for the iPhone. He called it "a spectacularly pleasant surprise" in an interview with VentureBeat.

But Thursday, Hawkins was much more critical. Apple has pitched its App Store to game developers as a place where there's "no tyranny from publishers, no tyranny from Walmart," he said. But the store's overcrowding is another problem, because it makes it hard for most games to get noticed, he added.

"At least Nintendo had the courtesy to tell you upfront that you were going to be screwed."

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nintendo, along with the other big game-console makers, invests in ways to encourage small, independent developers to build games for its systems. Nintendo has digital stores, called Ware, for the Wii and DSi hardware, and they have "minimal barrier to entry," Nintendo's Fils-Aime said.

But so far the company has produced no success stories that rival the likes of "Angry Birds," the blockbuster mobile game.

Fils-Aime acknowledged that there is "lots of room for optimization" with Nintendo's digital-retailing channels. "We've got to do a better job of marketing it.

To bolster those efforts, Nintendo is readying an eShop retail store for its upcoming 3DS hand-held 3-D gaming system, he said. But it won't be ready in time for the March 27 launch.

For budding game developers, there are no easy answers.

Natalia Luckyanova, a former enterprise software developer who now makes a living developing iPhone games with her husband, described Nintendo's stance as arrogant. Her Imangi Studios creates 99-cent and $2 apps. Iwata didn't sufficiently acknowledge the difficulty Nintendo creates for small developers with its licensing model, she said.

PopCap Games CEO Dave Roberts said a "slow" and cautious approach to development has worked for his 10-year-old company. PopCap is responsible for the hit cell-phone games "Bejeweled" and "Plants vs. Zombies."

"We're really excited about mobile and social (network-based) games, but we're not on the bandwagon," Roberts said. "We're not trying to drag people to new platforms."

Hawkins, the seasoned game maker, offered this solution for developers: Focus on Web-based games, where the developer can control every mode of distribution and transaction.

"There is a place that we can all gravitate to over the years," Hawkins said. "Think more about the browser. The browser will set you free."

Sweden Historical hippo birth at the zoo.

Oliver is the first pygmy hippo to be born in Sweden. But the first days of his life became dramatic. When he was born four weeks ago from Thursday he quickly needed to get his mother's milk but she would not let him come close. Oliver would run after his mother Krakunia but she did not understand how to respond. Oliver became weaker and weaker and the zoo staff understood that they had to act. Eventually one of them managed to milk Krakunia and that saved Oliver's life. Now Oliver weighs in at 12 kilos and never moves far away from his mother.

When he was born four weeks ago from Thursday he quickly needed to get his mother s milk but she would not let him come close. Oliver would run after his mother Krakunia but she did not understand how to respond. Oliver became weaker and weaker and the zoo staff understood that they had to act. Eventually one of them managed to milk Krakunia and that saved Oliver s life.

Now Oliver weighs in at 12 kilos and never moves far away from his mother.

The Perfect Diet.

Every so often, a new diet is touted as the secret to good health, rapid weight loss and flatter abs. The truth is, the perfect diet is already out there — and it's a balanced diet.

A diet that provides the right amount and types of calories (energy) to maintain all the body’s systems is considered a balanced diet.

There are three basic rules to the perfect diet: Don’t skip breakfast because it really is the most important meal of the day; eat at least three meals a day because anything less will lower your metabolism and attempt to eat food from every food group at every meal because you will ingest an adequate amount and better quality of calories.

The perfect diet consists of the types of food you learned about in the food pyramid in fifth grade. The pyramid has six food groups, each providing one or more of the three nutrients needed for survival and that build the perfect diet.

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body. The two main forms of carbohydrates are simple (sugars) and complex (starches). Fiber also falls under the umbrella of carbohydrates. There are four calories per every gram of carbohydrates. Carbs can be found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and beans.

In a balanced diet, roughly 60 percent of your calories should come from carbs. The average man between the ages of 19 and 30 needs 1,200 calories per day. Active men can add about 300 carb calories to their daily intake. The majority of the carbohydrate sources are healthy. Fruits and vegetables contain both fructose and fiber. Dairy products have carbohydrates as well as calcium. Whole grain or multigrain breads, multigrain cereals, brown rice, pasta, beans, and legumes provide fiber, B vitamins and tend to have low glycemic levels. They are broken down into glucose at a slower rate and prevent spikes in blood sugar and the mid-afternoon slump that happens when you're coming off that sugar high.

Refined sugars have no nutrients but contain calories. In a well-balanced diet, these sugars are limited. If possible, choose brown sugar or honey instead.

A balanced breakfast: To follow the perfect diet, start your day with a bowl of oatmeal made with low-fat or 2 percent milk, sweetened with low-sugar fruit preserves and chunky peanut butter.

Fats is essential for survival. It makes up the cell walls and is needed to transport and absorb fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. A little goes a long way when it comes to fats in the perfect diet; 15 percent to 20 percent of your daily calories should come from fat. There are nine calories per gram of fat — twice the calories from one gram of carbs — which is why too much fat and not enough exercise can lead to weight gain. Fats are an important energy source during exercise but are not the first choice. The main source of fat on a balanced diet should be unsaturated fat. Saturated fats are found in meat, eggs, milk, and cheese. Butter, margarine, coconut oil, palm oil, and Crisco are all examples of saturated fat. If it's solid or very thick in its natural state, and it will leave fatty deposits in your arteries and colon.

Cholesterol is another essential fat, and it is produced in the liver. It is used for cell and hormone production. Cholesterol is found in meat and dairy products. Ingesting too much saturated fat can also raise cholesterol levels. Choose olive oil or canola oil, and eat leaner cuts of meat. Fish contains the healthy fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6. A hunk of salmon, a tuna steak, tilapia, or mahimahi are meaty fish that are good sources of unsaturated fat.

Fat tastes good — that's why we eat it — but it should be consumed in moderation. And that’s the key to a balanced diet. Be wary of low-fat products; the fat is usually replaced with sugar to maintain flavor. Always remember to check the labels, and eat the "regular" versions of foods and watch your portions.

A balanced lunch: A sandwich is a portable way to get a balanced meal. On 7- or 12-grain bread, have tuna fish, chicken or turkey breast, Gouda cheese, mesclun greens, and honey mustard.

UK rocket test for 1,000mph car.

The first full test firing of the rocket that will power a British car to over 1,000mph (1,600km/h) will take place in the coming months.

Producing 122kN (27,000lb) of thrust, the hybrid Falcon motor will be the largest rocket to be ignited in the UK for 20 years.

It will not be the only power unit in the Bloodhound vehicle when it tries to break the land speed record next year.

There will also be a jet from a fighter plane and the engine from an F1 car.

The team behind the project believes this trio of power units could secure the absolute land speed record for Britain for many years to come.

"We are creating the ultimate car; we're going where no-one has gone before," said Richard Noble, the Bloodhound project director.

Several locations are being considered for the rocket test.

They include places with historic connections to the land speed record - places such as Pendine in West Wales where several records were set in the 1920s, and at Shoeburyness in eastern England where the engines for the current record holder, the Thrust SSC vehicle, were tested. Both these locations have military evaluation centres.

Continue reading the main story

Bloodhound's 45cm-wide, 3.6m-long (18in by 12ft) rocket will be British designed and built.

It will burn a mixture of solid propellant (HTPB, or hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene) and liquid oxidiser (high-test peroxide, HTP) for 20 seconds.

To put its peak thrust of 122kN in context, it is equivalent to the combined power of about 645 family saloon cars.

Added to the 90kN of thrust coming from the EJ200 Eurofighter-Typhoon jet, Bloodhound should have sufficient energy to put itself 8km away from a standing start in just 100 seconds.

The rocket is being developed by the Falcon Project Ltd, a specialist rocketry company based in Manchester and led by 27-year-old self-trained rocketeer Daniel Jubb.

"We've done 10 firings to date of our six-inch model - that was in the Mojave Desert in California," explained Mr Jubb.

"We've also done one on the 18-inch Bloodhound model, but it was pressure-fed; it wasn't done using our new pump and that's the point about this upcoming test."

The Falcon will need almost a tonne of HTP pushed through it, which is the job of the F1 engine.


The rocket has been fired once already, in the Mojave Desert in California

Cosworth, which manufactures power units for several cars on the F1 grid, are making one of their CA2010 engines available just to drive the Falcon's oxidiser pump.

Engineers at Cosworth will have to meet several new challenges to make the CA2010 work in Bloodhound. For one thing, it is sitting back-to-front compared with its usual mounting in an F1 vehicle, and this means its oil lubricant will move about the engine in a different way.

This will need to be managed carefully if the engine is to run efficiently. The design team also has to figure out how to let the engine "breathe" when it is sitting in a car moving at 1,000mph.

"To the best of my knowledge there isn't a piston engine operating anywhere that's in a vehicle that's running at supersonic speed," said Cosworth chief executive Tim Routsis.

"It means the way you actually connect the engine to the outside world needs an awful lot of thought because if we were to feed it a supersonic airflow we would give it a fairly epic amount of boost and it would be very powerful for an extremely short period of time.


The Cosworth Formula One engine next to the Bloodhound.

The production of the Bloodhound car's body formally began last month. The vehicle should be finished and ready to begin "low speed" trials on a UK runway in the first half of next year before being shipped to Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape for high-speed runs in late 2012 or 2013.

The Bloodhound venture was conceived not just as another record bid but as a project that could inspire children to engage in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects.

Some one and a half million children in more than 4,000 British schools are now involved in the Bloodhound Education Programme.

Many more around the globe have access to online teaching resources via IT partner Intel Corporation's "Skoool" initiative.

"When Richard first talked to me about Bloodhound I got very engaged, very quickly, because I saw it as a wonderful platform through which we can introduce the young boys and girls to the sort of world that we work in," said Mr Routsis.

"We can show them that STEM subjects are not just boring things you do in a classroom, but they can actually lead to an extremely interesting set of challenges that you can address in a very fulfilling life."

Britain releases UFO sighting and policy files.

Britain Thursday released 35 previously classified files documenting sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by the military and members of the public dating back to the 1950s.

The files contain around 8,500 pages which mainly cover the period from 1997 to 2005 and include photographs, drawings and descriptions of flying saucer sightings, as well as letters the Ministry of Defense (MoD) sent eyewitnesses in response to their accounts.


Policemen, a soldier, a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and members of the public report sightings of objects including a "chewy mint shaped solid craft" and aerial objects resembling a "ring," a "jellyfish" and a "silver voile spin top."


In one account a man said he believed he had been "abducted" by aliens in October 1998 after seeing an unidentified craft hover over his London home and finding he had gained an hour of time in the process."It was a large cigar-shaped vehicle with big projectiles on each side like wings," he told the MoD.


The MoD wrote to the man informing him that the object was probably an airship, adding that the time he had gained was probably the result of the clocks being put back one hour on the night of his close encounter.


The MoD said it investigated every UFO sighting report it received to determine "whether there is any evidence that the United Kingdom s airspace might have been compromised by hostile or unauthorized air activity."

NATO starts 24/7 surveillance of Libya.

NATO has launched around-the-clock surveillance flights of Libya as it considers various options for dealing with escalating violence in the war-torn country, America's ambassador to the organization told reporters Monday.

Representatives of key Western powers also highlighted the possibility of establishing a no-fly zone in Libya -- part of growing campaign to break strongman Moammar Gadhafi's grip on power.

British, French and U.S. officials were working on a draft text that includes language on a no-fly zone, diplomatic sources at the United Nations told CNN.

The language in the text will deal with triggers rather than timelines for taking such a step, one diplomat noted. If gross violations of human rights are committed, the diplomat added, the elements of the text could be quickly turned into a resolution.

Any resolution on military intervention in Libya, however, would be subject to a vote by the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council. Such intervention could face sharp criticism from Russia and China, who rarely approve of such measures.

"The violence that's been taking place and perpetrated by the government in Libya is unacceptable," U.S. President Barack Obama said at the White House. Moammar Gadhafi's government "will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place there."

Obama stressed that NATO is considering a wide range of responses -- including military options -- for dealing with the crisis.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney later cited three potential responses under active consideration: establishing the no-fly zone, military-backed humanitarian aid, and stronger enforcement of the U.N. arms embargo.

Carney downplayed speculation about the possibility of providing arms to the Libyan rebels, telling reporters that "it would be premature to send a bunch of weapons to a post office box in eastern Libya."

"We need to not get ahead of ourselves in terms of the options we're pursuing," he warned.

A senior U.S. official familiar with the administration's deliberations on Libya denied a report in the British press that the administration had asked Saudi Arabia to arm the rebels.

U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague told members of the British parliament, however, that "we are making contingency plans for all eventualities in Libya."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in Belgium that the organization has no immediate intention to intervene in the Libyan civil war. But "as a defense alliance and a security organization, it is our job to conduct prudent planning for any eventuality," he said.

Rasmussen stressed that it is important to "remain vigilant" in light of "systemic attacks" by Gadhafi's regime against the Libyan population. "The violation of human rights and international humanitarian law is outrageous," he said.

Rasmussen also noted that the defense ministers from member states will meet Friday and Saturday to discuss how the organization can help partner countries in North Africa and the broader Middle East.

"We can see a strong wind of change blowing across the region -- and it is blowing in the direction of freedom and democracy," he asserted.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kasa lashed out the Western leaders, calling their response part of "a conspiracy to divide (and) partition the country."

"The English are yearning for the colonial era" while Obama is acting "like a child," he said. "Territorial integrity is sacrosanct and we will die for it."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, appointed a new special envoy to Libya to discuss the crisis with officials in Tripoli, the United Nations said in a statement Monday.

Abdelilah Al-Khatib, a former foreign minister of Jordan, will "undertake urgent consultations with the authorities in Tripoli and in the region on the immediate humanitarian situation as well as the wider dimensions of the crisis," according to the statement.

As diplomats debated various options, the violence in Libya continued to intensify. Forces loyal to Gadhafi took aim at the rebel-controlled town of Ras Lanuf, launching aerial strikes meant to help crush the uprising against him.

Death toll estimates from the conflict have reached as high as 2,000 people. Roughly 200,000 people have fled Libya, with nearly equal numbers going to Tunisia and Egypt, according to the United Nations.

Generations pay off debts through slavery.

Uttar Pradesh, India - An army of workers, their faces encrusted with dust, toils beside a story-high pile of unfired bricks. They are helping build a new India that appears to be leaving them behind.

From sunup to sundown they spend their time pouring wet mud into molds, lugging them to the kiln, firing them and then pulling them out. For their backbreaking work, they do not receive wages.

They are working to pay off a debt.

In India they are known as bonded laborers, bound to those who gave them or their forefathers an advance or a loan. Human rights advocates call them modern day slaves.

"I cannot leave here unless I pay my debt," said Durgawati, a mother of three.

A contractor had approached Durgawati and her husband, offering them work in a far-off village. He had said there were plenty of opportunities and offered to pay an advance to prove it. Desperate to make a living and with no work in sight where they lived, they leapt at the chance and took the 1000-rupee ($22) advance, she said.

The contractor found them work, but now, the family said they were trapped.

"I have to make a thousand bricks per day," Durgawati said. "It's the most difficult thing. We are given big pieces of soil, then we have to break it. Then we make it into a dough. Then we knead the soil."

She and her husband aren't the only ones in the family working. Their eldest daughter is nearly as fast as the adults at molding the earth into bricks. She is just five years old.

The family said they have not received wages since arriving three months ago. None of them has any idea how much they are owed. They said they have never been shown a balance sheet and couldn't read it anyway. They are illiterate and desperate to make a living.

They do get a small food allowance but say it barely feeds them. Still, the family wouldn't dare leave the worksite that doubles as their living quarters.

"They will beat me if I try to leave," Durgawati said.

Dozens of families are in the same predicament. They are all oblivious to the fact that bonded labor is illegal in India. The legislation has been in place for decades, but enforcement is lax.

"They have to work and repay the loan. They keep working," said Arun Singh, their supervisor. "We have an agreement."

He acknowledged that children are also working on the site, which would be a breach of India's child labor laws, even though he insists otherwise.

"Kids are working here for food. They need food. If they can't fill their stomachs, they need to work," Singh said.

Singh also asked CNN to pay for the interview. "Madam I charge, you pay me something," he said to no avail.

In another village, people have lived in bonded labor for generations.

"They remain in slavery forever," said Supriya Awasthi, South Asia director of Free the Slaves, a non-governmental organization dedicated to eradicating slavery around the world. "There are 27 million people around the world who are in slavery, and [the] maximum…live in India," she said.

According to estimates by policymakers, activists and scholars, the number of modern day slaves ranges from about 10 million to 30 million.

In the village of Dhomanpur a woman applied turmeric paste on the swollen foot of her husband, who said he had injured it when trying to get a cow off a truck for the landowner he works for.

"Even when I'm hurt or sick they call me to work. You won't believe how many atrocities I have to go through in a day," said Kharban Gagai, his leg hanging over his rope bed. The couple lives in a mud hut in a village owned by the landowner.

"When my father was alive he took an 8000-rupee ($175) loan from the landowner. Since that time I am having to work day and night for him," Gagai said, adding that he has never been paid.

His father's debt changed his life. No matter who in the family borrowed money, that debt became his debt, Gagai said.

Before his work injury, Gagai said he tried to escape several times but was always found and brought back.

There are no physical signs the villagers are living in bondage: no chains, fences or armed guards, but the villagers say they are all slaves just the same.

"If I don't work, they will beat me. They will abuse my daughter," said Lalti, a mother of seven. "If you don't give in, they will sell your daughter or son."

Lalti said she had to borrow money from the landowner to treat her husband's tuberculosis years ago, and now she can't come and go as she pleases.

"I am an illiterate, so how would I know how much we owe, and what's left to pay? I don't even know how much we had taken. It's been many years."

As payment for work, she and her neighbors receive leftover food or bags of grain, Lalti said. They are beholden to the man who owns the land they live on.

None of them had heard of the Indian law that made bonded labor illegal more than 30 years ago.

"People in modern day slavery have no idea they can ever access any kind of rights," said Awasthi of Free the Slaves.

Lalti hopes she is able to work long enough so her children will be freed from the loan that binds her family to the land and a hard life.

"The day I pay my debt I will be free. We'll be prosperous," Lalti said.

At least 20 killed in Faisalabad blast.

LAHORE: A massive bomb blast by militants at a gas station in Faisalabad, a city in Pakistan’s central Punjab province, Tuesday killed at least 20 people and wounded 90 others.

The explosion also damaged nearby buildings.

An office of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and a local gas station were severely damaged in the blast, AP reported.

Senior government official Naseem Sadiq said explosives were planted in a vehicle parked at the gas station, which also lies near police offices as well as the PIA building.

Regional police chief Aftab Cheema confirmed the attack in Faisalabad, the country’s textile-making capital.

“It was a car bomb blast. The explosive was planted in a car. We are investigating whether a suicide bomber was involved or not,” Cheema said.

Television pictures showed the station had been reduced to a pile of bricks and gnarled metal as rescue officials worked to remove rubble from the scene to search for survivors and ambulance vehicles ferried the injured away.

City commissioner Tahir Husain told a private television channel that rescue officials were heaving bricks and metal away to save those trapped.

“There are some people trapped under the building rubble. We have deployed our cranes and machinery to rescue them very soon,” he added.

Husain told a private television channel that no suicide attacker was involved.

“It was not a suicide attack. It was a planted bomb blast. The bomb exploded near the gas cylinders that triggered a bigger blast,” he said.

Husain said that the attack could have targeted government buildings close to the gas station site, some of which he said were damaged in the blast.

Pakistan has been wracked by violence, mostly targeting security officials.

Some 4,000 people have been killed in bomb blasts, suicide and gun attacks blamed on Taliban and al Qaeda fighters since July 2007.

White House Cost of Gas Not Only Factor in Deciding Whether to Tap Oil Reserve.

The White House said Monday that officials are still considering whether to tap into the strategic oil reserve but stressed that any decision would not be based solely on the price of gas.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said other factors, like whether there's a "major disruption in the flow of oil," will have to be considered.

"It's an option we are considering. But there are a number of factors that go into it, and it is not price-based alone," Carney said. "I wouldn't look to a price threshold."

Lawmakers, though, are no doubt eyeing the $4-a-gallon mark as they call on the administration to take action. Pressure to tap into the strategic petroleum reserve has come mostly from Democrats, while congressional Republicans instead call on Obama to permit more domestic oil drilling.

The average price of a gallon of gas has tracked steadily toward that $4 threshold over the past several weeks as turmoil engulfs the Middle East. As of Monday, the average price of a gallon of regular gas was $3.51, about 40 cents higher than a month ago.

However, the actual price of a gallon of gas -- without state and federal taxes -- is considerably lower, since those taxes add an average of more than 40 cents to every gallon.

Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com, estimated the average price of gas without those taxes is just above $3-a-gallon. Still, he said prices are on track to hit record levels. The record was set on July 17, 2008, when prices hit $3.62 a gallon, pre-tax.

"It's certainly starting out as one of the biggest price increases that we've seen," he said. "There have been larger increases, but the thing is, we're just getting started."

The current price is already above other high points of the last decade. Adjusted for inflation and without taxes, the average national gas price on Sept. 4, 2005 -- after Hurricane Katrina -- was $2.72 a gallon. On May 24, 2007, it was $2.81 a gallon.

"The prices will go up over the course of March, April, and May. Talk to me in two months and this very well could be the largest price increase of all time," Toews said.

Responding to public concern about the rise in prices, White House Chief of Staff William Daley said Sunday the administration is considering all options, including tapping into the reserve.

But Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, suggested the White House is not looking at longer-term solutions. He called for an "all-of-the-above energy strategy" that includes more domestic energy production.

"As the price of gas continues to rise, the White House is considering a short-term response and ignoring the implications of its failed energy policies," he said Monday. "The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created to offer relief should there be a temporary disruption in the supply of crude oil, like a devastating hurricane or a blockade of oil imports. It was not intended to be a tool to manipulate the market or provide political relief."

Pallekele set for World Cup debut.

The pressure on the Test teams in Group A, unlike those scrumming in Group B, is of a milder nature. The teams in Group B are securing quarter-final qualification first and looking after their positions in the process. Unless Zimbabwe scores an unlikely upset, however, all four Test teams in Group A are ensured of a place in the knockouts. They are merely jostling for places at present. Of the strongest, New Zealand are the weakest. Their opponents on Tuesday, Pakistan, are the only team to win everything so far.

New Zealand have beaten Kenya and Zimbabwe - by a ten-wicket margin no less - and another victory against Canada will see them through. It's that brittle performance against Australia, however, that is an indication of the difficulty they will face against formidable sides. On paper, like previous New Zealand teams, this one also has the facets of a fighting outfit.

They have explosive hitters, theoretically bat extremely deep, and have an abundance of bowling options, fast and slow. Their fielding, as ever, is among the best. Their problems are a combination of form, poor technique, and impatience that led to several batsmen chasing and edging wide deliveries against Australia. It's the batting that needs fixing first, for without runs on the subcontinent there is little hope, and they'll have to do it against one of the tournament's most in-form bowling attacks.

The odds on Pakistan being the only team with a 100% win record halfway into the league stage would have been rather high at the start of the World Cup. They weren't being talked up in the lead-up to the tournament - the spot-fixing scandal and the uncertainty over the one-day captaincy overshadowing their performances on the field. But they put Kenya and Canada away and in between those victories toppled tournament favourites Sri Lanka.

Their middle order has largely been solid, and the one time it failed - against Canada - their bowlers raised their game to meet the challenge. They've met and beaten New Zealand in a one-day series immediately preceeding the World cup. Play to potential and Pakistan will expect to dispatch them again tomorrow. Slip, and it could be the opening New Zealand need to rediscover their efficient game.

White House praises Muslims ahead of House hearing.

STERLING, Va. – Muslim Americans are not part of the terrorism problem facing the U.S. — they are part of the solution, a top White House official said Sunday at a Washington-area mosque.

Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough set the Obama administration's tone for discussions as tensions escalate before the first in a series of congressional hearings on Islamic radicalization. The hearings, chaired by New York Republican Peter King, will focus on the level of cooperation from the Muslim community to help law enforcement combat radicalization.

The majority of the recent terror plots and attempts against the U.S. have involved people espousing a radical and violent view of Islam. Just a few weeks ago a college student from Saudi Arabia who studied chemical engineering in Texas was arrested after he bought explosive chemicals online. It was part of a plan to hide bomb materials inside dolls and baby carriages and blow up dams, nuclear plants or the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush.

King said the Muslim community could and should do more to work with law enforcement to stop its members from radicalizing and recruiting others to commit violence.

"I don't believe there is sufficient cooperation" by American Muslims with law enforcement, King said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "Certainly my dealings with the police in New York and FBI and others say they do not believe they get the same — they do not give the level of cooperation that they need."

In New York City on Sunday, about 300 protestors gathered in Times Square to speak out against King's hearing, criticizing it as xenophobic and saying that singling out Muslims, rather than extremists, is unfair.

McDonough said that instead of condemning whole communities, the U.S. needs to protect them from intimidation.

McDonough spoke to an interfaith forum at a Northern Virginia mosque known for its longtime relationship and cooperation with the FBI. The executive director of the center, Imam Mohamed Magid, also spoke, as did speakers from a local synagogue and a Presbyterian church.

After McDonough's remarks, King told The Associated Press he agreed with what the deputy national security adviser said.

"I think it's a validation of everything I've been trying to do," King said, adding that he and McDonough spoke Friday evening. "There is a real threat, it's a serious threat."

The White House has said it welcomes congressional oversight.

The administration has tried to strike a balance on the thorny issue, working to go after homegrown Islamic extremists without appearing to be at war with the Muslim world. There has been an effort to build stronger relationships with Muslims — internationally and in the United States.

During his remarks Sunday, McDonough called the mosque a "typically American place" and said it reminded him of his Catholic parish where he grew up in Minnesota.

"Being religious is never un-American. Being religious is quintessentially American," he said.

He commended the mosque's members for taking "an unequivocal stand against terrorism."

"You've sent a message that those who perpetrate such horrific attacks do not represent you or your faith, and that they will not succeed in pitting believers of different faiths against one another," McDonough said.

The White House is close to finalizing a strategy for countering violent extremism. McDonough leads a working group of 13 federal agencies and offices — including the National Counterterrorism Center and the departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice and State — focused on finding ways to confront the problem.

On Sunday, McDonough said the strategy would involve continuing efforts to understand the process of radicalization, as well as further outreach to Islamic communities in the United States. He also promised further efforts to dispel "misperceptions about our fellow Americans who are Muslim."

"No community can be expected to meet a challenge as complex as this alone," McDonough said. "No one community can be expected to become experts in terrorist organizations, how they are evolving, how they are using new tools and technology to reach our young people."

Witness Joy as opposition beats back Gadhafi forces in Misrata.

Standing outside a courthouse Sunday that the Libyan opposition is using for a base of operations in the town of Misrata, a witness described a sense of jubilation against a backdrop of blood stains and rocket fragments.

"I'm standing in the middle of a ... battlefield," the witness told CNN by phone from Misrata after a fierce fight between rebels and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

People were holding their hands up, singing, chanting and cheering, he said. "Everyone is hugging everyone."

CNN is not identifying witnesses and sources for safety reasons.

Videos posted on YouTube and thought to be out of Misrata showed damage to buildings and several shots of people celebrating around the opposition flag -- once being raised on a pole, and another time being waved by a man atop a charred vehicle that had a dead body inside.

A doctor at Central Misrata Hospital said 42 people were killed in the fighting -- 17 from the opposition and 25 from the pro-Gadhafi forces. Among the dead was a 3-year-old child, killed from direct fire, the doctor said. At least 85 people were wounded, the doctor said.

The fighting continued on the city's outskirts Sunday evening.

The witness described the opposition's victory in central Misrata even as people some 200 kilometers (125 miles) west, at a pro-Gadhafi demonstration in Tripoli, insisted the government had taken back the coastal central Libyan city.

After reports of the opposition successfully holding onto Misrata, east of Tripoli, Libyan state TV showed a graphic stating that "strict orders have been issued to the armed forces not to enter cities taken by terrorist gangs."

On Sunday morning, pro-Gadhafi militias converged on Misrata from three different points, trying to retake control of the city, the witness said. He saw four tanks, though other witnesses told him there were a total of six. Using heavy artillery, the ground forces and tanks headed for the courthouse operations base.

Tanks fired rockets at the building, and black smoke could be seen rising from it, he said.

The opposition couldn't match the government's weaponry, but rebels took to the streets using what weapons they had, such as machine guns. And some simply picked up whatever they could find, with some resorting to sticks, he said.

Speaking to CNN during the battle, he said, "People are willing to die for the cause," describing them as "fearless" and "amazing."

Later, after the forces had been repelled from the city center, the witness said, "I can't believe it.

"The will and the determination and dedication that people are showing here on the ground, it just makes you speechless," he said.

Describing the scene, he said, "We're talking about a rocket on the ground. We're talking about blood everywhere."

CNN could not confirm witness reports for many areas in Libya, including Misrata.

Valerie Amos, the United Nations' Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said Sunday that there was "urgent" need for humanitarian aid in Misrata because "people are dying and need help immediately." The world body has gotten reports that Libyan Red Crescent ambulances dispatched from Tripoli have been trying to get into Misrata to transport out dead and injured people.

"I call on the authorities to provide access without delay to allow aid workers to help save lives," Amos said in a statement.

Gates in Afghanistan to evaluate war progress.

KABUL, Afghanistan –  U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan Monday, beginning a two-day visit with U.S. troops, allied commanders and Afghan leaders to gauge war progress as the Obama administration moves toward crucial decisions on reducing troop levels.

Gates planned to travel to eastern and southern portions of Afghanistan, the areas most fiercely contested by the Taliban insurgency.

Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters flying with the Pentagon chief from Washington that Gates wants to get a first-hand feel for changes on the ground since he last was in Afghanistan in December.

The U.S. is committed to beginning a troop withdrawal in July. But the size and scope of the pullback will depend on the degree of progress toward handing off full control to the shaky Afghan government.

Morrell said Gates expects to hear from troops and commanders that U.S. and NATO strategy is making important progress against the relentless Taliban, who are thought to be gearing up for a spring offensive.

U.S. commanders have been saying for weeks that the Taliban are suffering big losses in territory and personnel, while being denied the funding and infiltration routes they have relied on in the past to ramp up guerrilla operations each spring.

Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, top commander in the southwestern province of Helmand, told reporters last week that a Taliban counteroffensive is anticipated.

Mills said he expects the Taliban to try "to regain very, very valuable territory ... lost over the past six to eight months." He added that U.S. and allied forces are intercepting "as many of the foreign fighters as we can" who come from Pakistan to attack U.S. and Afghan troops.

Gates sees the spring as a potentially decisive period for President Barack Obama's war strategy, which includes beginning to withdraw U.S. forces in July.

This week's visit is Gates' 13th trip to Afghanistan, and probably one of his last as defense secretary. He has said he will retire this year but has not given a date.

After Afghanistan, Gates planned to fly to the Stuttgart, Germany, headquarters of U.S. Africa Command to attend a ceremony Wednesday marking the arrival of a new commander, Army Gen. Carter Ham.

Gates will attend a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

Hussey admits he needs time.

Australia batsman Mike Hussey has conceded he needs more work in the nets after his layoff from a ruptured hamstring after returning to the World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured paceman Doug Bollinger.

"I'm absolutely ecstatic I just can't wait to get over there," said the 35-year-old, who was named in the original 15-man squad but was controversially removed due to selectors' fears his injury would not recover in time.

"Initially when I was told I wasn't going to be going, I thought that was it," he told ABC radio.

"It was pretty demoralising but I was still very keen to get back and play as quickly as I could for WA (state side Western Australia)."

"I probably still need a little bit more work to get my skills right up to speed, to where they need to be, but it's just great to be out there playing and the hamstring feels great, to be honest."

Hussey, the older brother of David who is also part of Australia's World Cup squad, ruptured the hamstring in January and managed only 30 runs over two innings in Western Australia's seven-wicket victory over Queensland in their Sheffield Shield match that finished Sunday.

Hussey, nicknamed "Mr. Cricket" for his dedication and passion for the game, was nonetheless Australia's top batsman in the recent Ashes series and has scored 4,469 runs in 151 one-day internationals at an average of 51.96.

Hussey said he hoped to slot straight back into the side for Australia's next match against Kenya in Bangalore on Sunday.

"But the team's been going very well, I don't know what they want to do," said Hussey, a member of Ricky Ponting's victorious World Cup team in 2007.

"All I can do is just get over there as quickly as I can.

"I believe I'm flying out tomorrow around lunch time, so I'll join up with the team tomorrow night and then my preparation starts straight away.

"I'll be pretty much straight into the nets and preparing to play. Whether I do actually get to play straight away or not remains to be seen but I'll be preparing as though I'm going to be playing."

Pietersen to return home.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the Cricket World Cup with a hernia operation which needs immediate attention.

"Confirming the BREAKING NEWS mate: I fly home tonight. Out of the WC & IPL (Indian Premier League)...Absolutely devastated!!," he said on Twitter.

The International Cricket Council confirmed that the English cricket board had asked for a replacement but could not reveal who that was. The request was with the technical committee.

"...not a lot u can do about injuries mate!! onwards & upwards," Pietersen wrote.

"Sad to leave India... Love the people & the hospitality!! Alvida doston," he wrote, the last two words meaning "goodbye friends" in Hindi.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (had issued a statement on Saturday that Pietersen, 30, was suffering from a hernia but that it would be "managed" by medical staff for the duration of the World Cup which finishes in Mumbai on April 2.

The ECB spokesmen and team officials had their phones switched off.

The England party were flying from Chennai, where they clinched a thrilling six-run victory over South Africa in Group B on Sunday, to Bangladesh for their next match against the co-hosts in Chittagong on Friday.

Pietersen has been opening for England but has struggled so far to make a big impact in their four games, two wins, one defeat and a tie. On Sunday, he was out for two.

Yuvraj inspires India to nervy win.

Yuvraj Singh produced a stunning all-round show to become the first player to top up a five-wicket haul with a half century in the World Cup as India pulled off a nervy victory over Ireland in Bangalore.

Yuvraj's slow left-arm deliveries helped India to bowl out Ireland for a modest 207 and he followed that up with 50 not out off 75 balls to steer his team to a five-wicket victory in Group B, ensuring they stay unbeaten in the tournament.

The 29-year-old and his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (34 in 50 balls) played uncharacteristically sedate knocks and stitched together a 67-run partnership to set India well on their course to victory.

The duo came together with India precariously perched at 100-4 after Sachin Tendulkar (38) and Virat Kohli (34) fell in quick succession.

Following Dhoni's dismissal, Yusuf Pathan blazed a quickfire 30 off 24 balls with three towering sixes to finish off the match.

"I am definitely very happy with my bowling. First five-wicket haul and I am happy that I could finish off the game," man-of-the-match Yuvraj said with a wide grin.

"Ireland played well and put us under pressure. They fielded exceptionally."

Yuvraj's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni agreed: "Frankly speaking, the scoreboard said 208-odd runs but it was close to 240 because the Ireland side fielded really well and their bowlers were very well backed up by the fielders."

Ireland used as many as eight bowlers to try and dislodge the pair but they dealt with the varied bowling attack and managed to score at a modest pace despite a sterling fielding effort by the Irish.

The most impressive Irish bowlers were their young spinners.

The 20-year-old Paul Stirling finished with none for 45 and the 18-year-old off-spinner George Dockrell finished with two for 49 -- their figures spoilt by Pathan's blitz at the very end.

Earlier, known more for his explosive batting, Yuvraj showed that his left-arm off spin was just as lethal as he bowled his quota of 10 overs on the trot, taking wickets at regular intervals to ensure that the Ireland run rate never took off.

Yuvraj came on in the 26th over and bowled with excellent flight and guile to finish with a career-best five for 31, including the key wickets of William Porterfield (75) and Kevin O'Brien (9), scorer of the World Cup's fastest ever century on Wednesday.

Yuvraj took over after Zaheer Khan gave India the perfect start by bowling Stirling in the first over of the day and removing Ed Joyce in his next over. He finished with three for 30.

Ireland went into a shell and crawled to 27-2 after 10 overs as Zaheer got the ball to move around dangerously and Dhoni brought on his spinners from the fourth over of the day.

Ireland skipper Porterfield top-scored for his team with a fighting 75 in 104 balls and Niall O'Brien (46) steadied the innings with some determined batting mixed with pugnacious strokeplay in a stubborn 113-run partnership.

They took their team to a relatively comfortable position of 122-2 when a smart piece of fielding by Virat Kohli saw O'Brien run out short of a well deserved 50.

Kevin O'Brien, fresh from his amazing match-winning 113 off 63 balls against England, found his team in a similar situation against India, but he failed to repeat his heroics as he fell to a smart catch by Yuvraj off his own bowling.

From then, it was precession of wickets at regular intervals as they lost their last eight wickets for 85 runs and some more resistance by the lower order helped Ireland inch over the 200-run mark.

England pull off stunning comeback.

England roared back from having been skittled out for just 171 to beat South Africa by six runs in thrilling fashion in their crucial World Cup Group B clash in Chennai.

It had looked to be all doom and gloom for Andrew Strauss's side as they were bowled out inside 46 overs for what looked to be a paltry total.

But England staged a dramatic and improbable comeback to clinch victory in the 48th over of the reply as the Proteas lost all 10 of their wickets for the cost of just 165 runs.

It is the latest in a string of pulsating matches for England in their rollercoaster World Cup campaign, and the victory keeps Strauss's side on course for progression to the quarter-finals.

Stuart Broad took the last two wickets to finish with four for 15 and barring Hashim Amla, who compiled 44, none of the South African batsmen could make an impact against the English bowlers who came up with a lion-hearted effort.

This was after South Africa's left-arm spinner Robin Peterson ended with three for 22 as he wrecked the England top order, claiming two wickets in his first over, while his in-form spin colleague Imran Tahir took four for 38 to scythe through the lower order.

"We didn't think 170 was as competitive as it should be but it's proved to be just that so we're delighted," said England spinner Graeme Swann.

"We knew there was a lot in the pitch for us. We knew it would turn, we knew it would keep low for the seamers and we knew how difficult it was to score from when we batted, especially at the end.

"As it turned out, their innings mirrored ours. We knew that pressure would build on the later batsmen and it was very hard to score runs at the end.

"It just goes to show that if you believe you can win any game... as we proved today."

The South African batting line-up, which shone in victories against West Indies and the Netherlands, showed similar vulnerability to slump to 127 for seven from a relatively comfortable 82 for two.

With South Africa losing five quick wickets, fresh life was injected into an otherwise dull match.

Things further spiced up when Faf du Plessis ran himself out for a brisk 17 and Michael Yardy removed Peterson to pave the way eventually for a memorable victory, made possible by Broad's late double strike.

In the morning, England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided to bat first but a nightmare unfolded before his eyes at the M A Chidambaram Stadium.

His South African counterpart Graeme Smith opened with Peterson, whose magical first four-over spell - three wickets for four runs from four overs - wrecked England's top order.

Peterson removed the scoreless Strauss with his third delivery and Kevin Pietersen with his sixth and was not done yet.

Having sent down a maiden over, he returned to catch Ian Bell off his own bowling to reduce England to 15 for three inside five overs.

The 99-run fourth wicket stand between Jonathan Trott, who scored a patient 52 and Ravi Bopara, who racked up a breezy 60, somewhat arrested the slide but England never got going and lost the last five wickets for just 23 runs.

However, their partnership proved to be vital as England won their second match of the tournament.

The 'Michigan fish test' and the Middle East.

New York - When I read about the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, I think about life under the sea.

Wonder what I mean?

Study the image below for five seconds, then look away and quickly describe it to yourself.

What did you see, and what did you say? Did three large fish, the prominent individuals of the scene, hold your gaze?

Or was your eye drawn more to the environment, taking in the rocks, the bubbles, the kelp?

Just what does this visual exercise have to do with Tunisia, Egypt, or Libya?

It turns out that how you go about even this simple and straightforward task of describing what's in this image depends on your worldview, which is greatly shaped by your culture.

Essentially, people from different cultures will perceive and remember different aspects of the same picture. A perfect example of this phenomenon is how we perceive the current events in the Middle East.

We Americans observe the social shifts sweeping the Arab world--the protests, the struggles, the upheaval. By and large, we hope that we're witnessing the beginning of a new societal story there, one that seems more similar to our own, with its progress towards greater individual control and agency.

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However, our own culture shapes our expectations at a more subconscious level. In fact, the study associated with the fish image reveals that even basic perceptions are seeded with cultural narrative. So as we regard the tumult in Egypt, Tunisia, and elsewhere, let's consider just how our own perceptions accent the situation.

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The image here, known in psychology as the Michigan Fish Test, was presented to American and Japanese participants in a study conducted by Richard Nisbett and Takahiko Masuda.

In their five-second viewing, Americans paid more attention to the large fish, the "main characters" of the scene, while Japanese described the scene more holistically. For Americans, the large fish were the powerful agents, influencing everything around them. For Japanese, the environment dominated, interacting with and influencing all the characters.

After the initial test, the researchers offered participants different versions of the fish picture, with some elements changed and some not. With the altered pictures, the Japanese were more likely to notice changes in the scenery or context. The Americans, on the other hand, proved adept at recognizing the large fish wherever they appeared, while the Japanese had more trouble recognizing the fish in new contexts, outside the original environment.

So members of two different cultures--the more individualist Americans and the more collectivist Japanese--"saw" the pictures with differing emphasis on individuals, the environment, and how these elements interacted. The divergent accounts point to differing narratives of what controls what in the world, and how individual people fit into it.

How then might people in the Arab world describe the image? That research hasn't been done. However, since Middle Eastern cultures are generally less individualistic and more collectivist, we can make an educated guess that they would see the picture differently than Americans, probably with more emphasis on environment and context.

Let's return, though, to what we Americans described, and what that might tell us. In the Nisbett and Masuda's study, we distinguished the big fish as the main characters, largely independent of environment. As Americans, our narrative has been one of individuals changing the world through their own actions. This common thread runs from Benjamin Franklin's maxim "God helps those who help themselves" straight to Barack Obama's "Yes we can."

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Many other cultures take a more holistic approach to personal agency. In perhaps the most famous passage of the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, the god Khrishna tells the hero Arjuna, "You have control only over your actions, never over the fruit of your actions. You should never act for the sake of reward, nor should you succumb to inaction."

Popular expressions from other cultures echo this approach. "Shikata ga nai"--it can't be helped--goes a Japanese saying to mitigate unpleasant circumstances, while the Arabic phrase, "in sha'Allah"-- God willing --signals a similar limit to control for Muslims. The individual isn't powerless in these conceptions, but he or she is just one player in a larger drama of life, not its center.

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In the last decade, America has tried applying our individualistic narrative to the Middle East. Now, as the people in multiple countries there struggle to take greater control for themselves, we want to see our story play out in their efforts, and we worry that it won't.

Yet even as we set the scene for ourselves, we subtly set our expectations. This recent New York Times article on Libya begins with a lengthy description of main actors--the rebels and their leaders. In contrast, similar stories from non-Western, large-circulation dailies--for example, The Hindu in India, and Sabah in Turkey--begin by laying out broader contexts. The different stories set different conditions for where meaningful action will come from.

Our own culture enters the picture--whether it's one of undersea life or social uprising--at the very moment we understand it. With this in mind, let's be rigorous in trying to comprehend the events in the Middle East, but humble in trying to predict just where they may lead.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sheena Iyengar.

MQM to boycott Sindh Assembly session over Mirza’s statement.

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday announced that it will be boycotting the Sindh Assembly session over the recent statements of provincial home minister Zulfiqar Mirza.Moreover, MQM’s coordination committee announced that the party will also boycott sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate.

The decision was taken in a joint session of MQM’s coordination committee in Pakistan and London.

The session decided that given the situation the MQM could no longer support the PPP.

On Sunday, a fresh war of words between the Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza and MQM erupted after Mirza said that the People’s Amn Committee was a sister organisation of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and dubbing all its members as criminals would be tantamount to levelling the same allegation against him.

The MQM on Sunday said the statement meant the minister’s ‘open support’ for criminals and terrorists and said it was considering to part ways with the PPP-led coalition government in Sindh.