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Saturday, November 28, 2009 BEIJING: Ten passengers died on Saturday when a bus caught caught fire in China's northeastern province of Heilongjiang, a local news agency reported. The agency cited emergency officials in Zhaoyuan county as saying the driver of the bus had detected something wrong and stopped the vehicle before the blaze broke out. Seven people managed to escape the bus, which had been in operation for only one month. It was the latest in a series of bus disasters in China. On November 13, 13 people were killed when a tour bus veered off a bridge and plunged into the sea in the eastern province of Shandong. In June an unemployed 62-year-old man set fire to a bus in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, killing 27 passengers and injuring 74, state media reported.

Saturday, November 28, 2009 TOKYO: Japan on Saturday launched a next-generation spy satellite as part of efforts to beef up its surveillance system against the threat of North Korea's missiles, officials said.An H-2A rocket carrying the nation's No. 3 Information Gathering Satellite was launched Saturday morning from Tanegashima Space Centre on Tanegashima island, southwestern Japan, the officials said."We successfully separated the satellite from the rocket and put it into orbit," said Toshimitsu Ozeki, an official of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which built the rocket.The government-run satellite will replace the first model, with an advanced optical device to distinguish objects on the ground with a resolution of some 60 centimetres (24 inches), the officials and local media said.The new satellite will undergo a performance trial for about three months before starting fully-fledged operations, Kyodo News reported.The launch is the nation's latest effort to buil...

Saturday, November 28, 2009 TAIPEI: The lowest birth rate in the world and a rapidly ageing society could lead to a spate of social problems in Taiwan, a report cited the Taiwanese health minister as saying on Saturday.In a population of 23 million, just 1.07 children are born per woman in Taiwan, even lower than Japan's 1.57, the United Daily News quoted Yaung Chih-liang as saying."This is a tragic society," Yaung said. "There is no war or other major disasters in Taiwan but the birth rate is plummeting so fast. It's unseen in other countries."Taiwan is likely to face more social problems, such as lack of care for the elderly and younger people committing suicides because of economic pressure, he warned."Many people choose to have a pet over having children," Yaung said, adding that a growing number of baby shops have been going out of business in recent years while pet stores are mushrooming.Education officials have warned that more than one in t...

Saturday, November 28, 2009 TORONTO: You hear not just with your ears but also with your skin and hair follicles, according to a paper by University of British Columbia researchers published in Thursday's Nature journal.Hold your hand in front of your mouth and say "ba." Now say "pa."You'll notice a puff of air when you say "pa." People listening will hear "pa" not just with their ears, but also with their skin by feeling the puff of air, according to the paper by Bryan Gick, an associate professor at UBC, and Donald Derrick, a graduate student.The pair conducted an experiment in which they applied tiny puffs of air to study participants' necks and skin when the subjects were listening to the syllables "ba," "pa," "da" and "ta."People's skin and even hair follicles recognize a puff of air when a person says "pa" or "ta," their paper notes.The puffs were applied to the ne...

Saturday, November 28, 2009 WASHINGTON: U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama received the official White House Christmas tree on Friday.Mrs. Obama emerged from the White House to inspect the tree with daughters Sasha and Malia, after it was delivered on a horse-drawn carriage.The first lady could be overheard commenting that the more than 5.5- meter tree was the biggest Christmas tree the family has ever had.The tree comes from a West Virginia Christmas tree-farming couple, Eric and Gloria Sundback, who won a contest run by the National Christmas Tree Association to earn the honor.After presenting the tree to Mrs. Obama and having tea with her inside the White House, they described the experience as "wonderful" and "a thrill."The National Christmas Tree Association says this is the 4th time the Sundbacks have won and presented a tree to a U.S. first lady. The group says its members have presented the official tree for display in the White House Blue Room since 1966.

Saturday, November 28, 2009 DUNEDIN: Despite a brilliant effort by debutant Umer Akmal Pakistan surrendered to New Zealand in the last session of the first Test match here on Saturday.Pakistan chasing 251 to win were all out for 218 and lost the match by a narrow margin of 32 runs to give New Zealand a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.Umer Akmal, who scored a hundred on Test debut in the first innings, again played a heroic innings of 75 in an effort to lead his team to victory but fast bowler Shane Bond shattered his dream of becoming only the third batsman to score a century in each innings on his first Test appearance.Pakistan lost three early wickets for only 24 runs when Umer came at the crease. He stood between New Zealand and victory for almost two sessions and walked back with a broken heart as his team was 56 runs away from winning the match.He was well supported by his captain Mohammad Yousuf (41), allrounder Shoaib Malik (32) and his elder brother wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal ...