Vegetarians 'cut heart risk by 32%' 30 January 2013Last updated at 12:01 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News Ditching meat and fish in favour of a vegetarian diet can have a dramatic effect on the health of your heart, research suggests. A study of 44,500 people in England and Scotland showed vegetarians were 32% less likely to die or need hospital treatment as a result of heart disease. Differences in cholesterol levels, blood pressure and body weight are thought to be behind the health boost.
The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Heart disease is a major blight in Western countries. The heart's own blood supply becomes blocked up by fatty deposits in the arteries that nourish the heart muscle. Scientists at the University of Oxford analysed data from 15,100 vegetarians and 29,400 people who ate meat and fish. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote Choosing the veggie option on the menu is not a shortcut to a healthy heart” US astronaut Neil Armstrong dies, first man on Moon. 25 August 2012Last updated at 23:18 ET Armstrong makes his "one small step" US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, has died aged 82. A statement from his family says he died from complications from heart surgery he had earlier this month.
He set foot on the Moon on 20 July 1969, famously describing the event as "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind". US President Barack Obama said Armstrong was "among the greatest of American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time". Last November he received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest US civilian award. He was the commander of the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. "The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I had ever been exposed to," Armstrong once said. 'Reluctant hero' Apollo 11 was Armstrong's last space mission. Higgs boson-like particle discovery claimed at LHC.
4 July 2012Last updated at 03:35 ET By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website, Geneva The moment when Cern director Rolf Heuer confirmed the Higgs results Cern scientists reporting from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have claimed the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson. The particle has been the subject of a 45-year hunt to explain how matter attains its mass. Both of the Higgs boson-hunting experiments at the LHC (Atlas and CMS) see a level of certainty in their data worthy of a "discovery".
More work will be needed to be certain that what they see is a Higgs, however. Prof Stephen Hawking tells the BBC's Pallab Ghosh the discovery has cost him $100 The results announced at Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research), home of the LHC in Geneva, were met with loud applause and cheering. Prof Peter Higgs, after whom the particle is named, wiped a tear from his eye as the teams finished their presentations in the Cern auditorium. 'Dramatic' Q&A: The Higgs boson. 4 July 2012Last updated at 04:16 ET Six theoreticians, including the English physicist Peter Higgs, first proposed the Higgs mechanism in 1964 Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have discovered a new sub-atomic particle consistent with the long-sought Higgs boson. The particle's confirmation would stand out as one of the great scientific achievements of the 21st Century so far.
But what exactly is the Higgs boson, and why have particle physicists spent more than 40 years searching for it? The Higgs so far definitively exists only in the minds of theoretical physicists. There is a sturdy theory for how much of the Universe works - all of the particles that make up atoms and molecules and all the matter we see, most of the forces that direct them, and a small zoo of more exotic particles. This is called the Standard Model. Best explanation of Higgs boson? If a less popular scientist enters the room, only a small crowd gathers, with no-one clamouring for attention. LHCb. Who's afraid of the euro crisis? After two major bailouts and a change in government, Greece is still struggling to reduce its debt mountain. But how might the crisis in Greece spread out across Europe and what are the main fears for each economy? Greece Prime Minister Antonis Samaras Took office: June 2012 Big fear: Running out of money After a second parliamentary election in as many months, Greece's centre right New Democracy party has managed to cobble together a grand coalition with former arch opponents Pasok as well as the anti-austerity Democratic Left.
New Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' big fear is the government will either fall apart, or run out of money (or both) before Christmas, which could precipitate an exit from the euro. The coalition parties make strange bedfellows, and have agreed to push for softer terms - including slower spending cuts - from Greece's bailout lenders. Portugal Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho Took office: 21 June 2011 Big fear: Bank run But his work could be for nothing. Ireland Spain Italy. Five ways the eurozone could break up. 3 June 2012Last updated at 19:34 ET The Wolfson Prize offers £250,000 to the economist who comes up with the best plan to manage a potential break-up of the eurozone. The five ideas in the running are summarised here. The conundrum posed is this: "If member states leave the Economic and Monetary Union, what is the best way for the economic process to be managed to provide the soundest foundation for the future growth and prosperity of the current membership?
" Lord Wolfson, whose family charity puts up the prize money, has said there is a serious need for a solution to any euro break-up. Here are the short-listed entries: The most realistic scenario for euro break-up is that Greece, or one or more of the weaker peripheral countries, will leave the eurozone, introduce a new currency which then falls sharply, and default on a large part of their government debt. Banks would close during a currency switch-over Preparations for exit must be made in secret and acted on straightaway. Neil Record. Evolving tactics of Syrian rebels. 25 June 2012Last updated at 07:00 ET By Ian Pannell BBC News, northern Syria Inside Syria with the rebel fighters As violence appears to have escalated in Syria, the BBC's Ian Pannell reports on the situation in the north of the country, where he has just spent the last two weeks with some of the rebel groups in Idlib province.
The commander had "gone to ground" and we sat for endless tense hours in a breathless heat waiting for news. For two weeks, we watched the Idlib Martyrs Brigade plan operations against the military and shabiha militias, but we had witnessed only a handful of them, hearing vague rumours of something "bigger" in the offing. One fighter stopped by to see us, but he, like everyone else, refused to tell us what was happening. For all their flaws, secrecy is one area where the rebels are disciplined, but the hint we craved was there: "If you don't see the commander for ages, it means he's planning something big," he said. Popular support New weapons. South London Healthcare faces being dissolved. 26 June 2012Last updated at 09:27 ET By Branwen Jeffreys and Nick Triggle BBC News South London Healthcare runs hospitals in Orpington, Sidcup and Woolwich A political row has erupted over the legacy of PFI for the health service as one hospital trust faces insolvency.
South London Healthcare, a merger of three hospital trusts, is spending 14% of its income on repayments to a private finance initiative (PFI). The government says the financial problems are caused by a PFI scheme signed off under Labour. Labour says there are wider financial pressures in the NHS, and PFI also delivered many new hospitals. The government could appoint an administrator within weeks, but in the meantime the trust's hospitals will continue to run as normal.
The move raises the prospect that other trusts could follow in its wake. There are another 20 trusts that have declared themselves financially unsustainable in their current form. Continue reading the main story PFI in the NHS 'Deep challenges' “Start Quote. Tokyo is world's 'most expensive city' for expat staff.
11 June 2012Last updated at 19:01 ET Shoppers in the Ginza shopping district of the world's most expensive expat city, Tokyo Tokyo has become the world's most expensive city for foreign staff to live in, according to research, overtaking the Angolan capital Luanda. The yen's rise against the dollar pushed up the cost of living for staff and firms paid in other currencies. The research, carried out by the consultancy Mercer, showed that Paris, Rome and Amsterdam had all slid down the rankings as a weaker euro reduced costs for overseas firms. London ranked 25, down seven places. Eurozone costs fall Accommodation remains the biggest cost for overseas staff, accounting for 25% of spending, according to the Mercer research, which looked at the cost of living in 214 cities.
Falling incomes and rising unemployment due to recession in most eurozone countries have depressed prices. In Paris, the rent on an unfurnished, two-bedroom luxury property fell 3% to $3,041 (£1,964), according to Mercer. More Icelandic bankers arrested. Iceland’s special prosecutor into the banking crisis has confirmed that raids have taken place today and that arrests have been made. The Central Bank of Iceland is among the institutions under investigation. Special Prosecutor, Olafur Thor Hauksson told Visir.is that house searches are taking place in at least three places today as part of investigations into the central bank, MP Bank and Straumur Bank.
Stefan Johann Stefansson at the central bank confirmed that agents were in the building conducting searches; and it has also been confirmed that searches are underway at MP Bank and ALMC (formerly Straumur). An ALMC spokesman said that the premises are indeed being searched and that the bank’s staff members are doing their best to help. In other news, four people have so far been arrested today in connection with the special prosecutor’s investigation into Landsbanki.
Airtime appeal: Do we really want to talk to strangers? 12 June 2012Last updated at 05:56 ET Airtime, a site that allows users to video chat with strangers, launched last week. But do we really want to talk to people we don't know, asks Sophie Robehmed. A bus driver. A shop assistant. A fellow commuter you bump into. City dwellers talk to strangers every day. But apart from these brief interactions, genuine conversations with random people are rarer. The stereotype is that older people feel happier engaging the strangers they encounter. But the young also do it, albeit that the stereotype is that it's often only when they're chatting each other up. Small talk with strangers can be met with surprise or even suspicion. The launch of Airtime is yet another attempt to try to build on the concept of random interaction. But the supposed twist of Airtime is the "talk to someone" button. Parker is trumpeting Airtime as injecting "serendipity" into our online lives.
Chatroulette was widely mocked for the prevalence of lewdness. Any perverts? “Start Quote. Mars site may hold 'buried life' 30 July 2010Last updated at 00:09 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News Is Nili Fossae the site where life on ancient Mars was buried and preserved? Researchers have identified rocks that they say could contain the fossilised remains of life on early Mars. The team made their discovery in the ancient rocks of Nili Fossae.
Their work has revealed that this trench on Mars is a "dead ringer" for a region in Australia where some of the earliest evidence of life on Earth has been buried and preserved in mineral form. They report the findings in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The team, led by a scientist from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (Seti) in California, believes that the same "hydrothermal" processes that preserved these markers of life on Earth could have taken place on Mars at Nili Fossae. The rocks there are up to four billion years old, which means they have been around for three-quarters of the history of Mars. “Start Quote. Stephen Fry's Parthenon Marbles plea backed in debate vote. 11 June 2012Last updated at 17:30 ET By Trevor Timpson BBC News The Parthenon Gallery at Athens' new museum is designed to take all the Parthenon sculptures A call backed by actor Stephen Fry for the return to Greece of the British Museum's Parthenon Marbles has come out on top in a debate held in London.
Fry said it would be a "classy" move to restore the sculptures brought to the UK by Lord Elgin in the 19th Century. The debate, hosted by Intelligence Squared, ended with a majority for the motion of 384 to 125. Opposing the motion, Tristram Hunt MP said the British Museum played a key role in cosmopolitan culture. The Greeks were a proud people suffering terribly, Stephen Fry told the audience in London's Cadogan Hall, but "no matter how much the sovereign debt crisis means they owe us, we will never repay the debt that we owe Greece. " Stephen Fry said he wanted Britain to show "grace and decency" Oil prices hit a 17-month low on China slowdown fears. 8 June 2012Last updated at 16:56 ET Continue reading the main story Oil prices dropped to $98.06 in London - their lowest in 17-months on fears of waning economic growth in China.
US benchmark oil price was also lower, falling to 1.4% to $82 in early trade before recovering to $84.10. Brent crude bounced back in later trading to $99.47, but is still more than 25% below its March peak. The fall comes as traders bet on reduced demand from Chinese factories with eurozone woes adding extra pressure. However, the resulting lower fuel and raw material costs could lower bills for firms and households. Saudi oil policy The world's biggest exporter of crude oil, Saudi Arabia, started to scale back shipments in June. The lead member of the Opec oil cartel had been pumping more than 9.5 million barrels of oil a day for the past year in an attempt to offset hoarding by countries afraid that increased Middle East tensions might disrupt global supply.
Bear market. China trade data in surprise sign of strength. 10 June 2012Last updated at 23:00 ET "The Chinese economy is stabilising and we are expecting it to pick up in the second half of this year," Pu Yonghao, UBS Wealth management China's export growth has increased while inflation has slowed, in a sign of strength in the world's second-biggest economy. In May, exports jumped 15.3% from a year earlier, beating expectations. In April they were up by 4.9%.
However, industrial production and retail sales data continued to disappoint. Analysts said while the trade data was a positive, Chinese authorities would continue measures to stimulate growth. "The domestic economy is slowing quite substantially," said Alistair Thornton from IHS Global Insight in Beijing. "That will feed through into imports over the next few months, so this is likely to be a bit of an aberration rather than a new normal". 'Extremely concerned' Industrial output rose 9.6% in May from a year ago, which was below expectation.
Hacking group Anonymous takes on India internet 'censorship' Olympics made no boon to UK small firms.