Washington  - FedEx, the second-largest parcel service in the United States, reported higher than expected profits in the beginning of the new financial year.

In the first quarter, FedEx shares are expected to produce dividends of 1.23 dollars each, according to the Memphis-based transport firm when the US stockmarket closed in New York Tuesday evening. That figure was higher than the 1-dollar-per-share dividend it had projected.

Washington  - The Bush administration is getting closer to submitting the nuclear cooperation deal with India for congressional approval, the US State Department said Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began a series of meetings with House and Senate lawmakers to brief on the details of the agreement. Getting the deal through Congress is a top priority for the White House before President Bush leaves office January.

Washington  - The United States will provide 10 million dollars in aid to help Haiti recover from the devastation of four tropical storms and hurricanes this season, the White House said Wednesday.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino said the US would deliver supplies as well as provide transportation and logistical support for those in need.

About 300 people have been killed in Haiti as Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and now Ike ravaged the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Washington  - Depending on your political persuasion, Barack Obama either made an innocent remark or a sexist slur when he referred to John McCain's message of change as putting "lipstick on a pig" during a US election rally.

The campaign of Republican nominee McCain slammed the comment - a common expression in the United States - as clearly directed at his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. A web advertisement released Wednesday charged Obama with using a demeaning smear.

Washington, Sept 10: In a study with human tissue samples and animal models, Singapore scientists have found that the absence or inactivation of the RUNX3 gatekeeper gene may initiate the growth and development of colon cancer.

In earlier studies, the scientists have shown that RUNX3 plays a role in gastric, breast, lung and bladder cancers.

The inactivation of RUNX3 occurs at a very early stage of colon cancer. Thus, due to the easy detection of the inactivation of RUNX3, and the possibility to reactivate the inactivated RUNX3, the findings may prove to be a crucial step in the development of an early diagnostic test as well as a therapeutic target for colon cancer.

Washington, September 10: New studies of the Southern Ocean are revealing previously unknown features of giant spinning eddies that have a profound influence on marine life and on the world’s climate.

These massive swirling structures – the largest are known as gyres - can be thousands of kilometres across and can extend down as deep as 500 metres or more, a research team led by a UNSW mathematician, Dr Gary Froyland, has shown.

“The water in the gyres does not mix well with the rest of the ocean, so for long periods these gyres can trap pollutants, nutrients, drifting plants and animals, and become physical barriers that divert even major ocean currents,” said Dr Froyland.