London, Sept.17: The massive movements of troops through battle-scarred Iraq is damaging that country’s valuable historic past, a report in The Independent has claimed.

The near total destruction of Iraq's historic past – the very cradle of human civilisation – has emerged as one of the most shameful symbols of the U.S.-led operation, say archaeologists.

London, Sept 17: Fires like those that ravaged Greece in August would be easier to combat if more and bigger aircraft could be used, unmodified, to drop water, a US timber company has said.

Weyerhaeuser has said it is developing 1.2-metre-wide PVC bags - each of which can hold 900 kilograms of water and fire retardant.

Each bag is packaged in a box whose lid becomes a parachute when the bag is pushed from a plane's cargo ramp.

London, Sept 17: Scientists at the National Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany are developing a Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) that works in real time to quickly warn of potential tsunamis.

The new ground-based system takes real-time measurements of vertical ground motion – the type of fault movement to produce tsunamis and issues warning.

Scientists say this is very different from a GPS method, which detects seismic waves transmitted through the Earth's crust to distant receivers.

Phuket, Thailand – They were flying to the “paradise isle” in southern Thailand to have a short break, but they never knew that they would be lost forever in the paradise island.

However, Millie Furlong, a Canadian waitress and her Thai boyfriend were fortunate enough to come virtually unscathed from a plane crash that killed 88 people on the resort island of Phuket. They were chanting loads of prayers while they were being taken to hospital.

Bangkok, Thailand: A with 123 passengers crashed in Thailand. As per the reports from TITV television station from Thailand, One-To-Go Airlines flight OG269 from Bangkok to Phuket crashed and nearly 100 people may have lost their lives. The reason for the crash was landing amid heavy rain. The plane split up in two parts after the flames burnt most of the parts inside. As many as 100 people were feared dead.

A new study conducted at the University of Florida has revealed that teen girls who are on dieting are twice as likely to start smoking on a regular basis, as compared to girls who may not be on diet.

Researchers analyzed about 8,000 teenage girls to watch their dieting and smoking routines.

They discovered that dieting did not have the equal effect on boys as it performed on girls.

Mildred Maldonado-Molina who led the study stated, “Dieting was a significant predictor of initiation of regular smoking among females.”