If animals could talk

Changing habits illustrate decline of India's comics 27 November 2011Last updated at 23:33 Indian comics are under pressure from 21st century competition India's once-flourishing comic industry is in sharp decline because of increasing competition from satellite television and cartoons on the internet, as the BBC's Zubair Ahmed in Mumbai discovers. Shadow Sword Fight - CollegeHumor Video PRANK VIDEOS music videos politics supercuts remixes GIFS GIFS GIFS basketball cat videos More Like This video Remi Gaillard's Top 5 Pranks of 2010

Animals' Eyes Up Close Husky Suren Manvelyan, is a bit of a jack of all trades. He has a PhD in Theoretical Physics specializing in Quantum Chaos but has recently turned his attention to photographing the amazing detailed landscapes of eyes. The ones featured here are all from animals and includes a husky dog, snail, Siames cat, and even a crocodile as well as a few other creatures. With such close photos, one is able to see details such as the irises' color gradients, textures, patterns and even tiny blood vessels, causing these eyes to look like alien landscapes.

'Cleansed' Libyan town spills its terrible secrets 12 December 2011Last updated at 10:16 By Tarik Kafala BBC News, Libya The 30,000 people living in a town in northern Libya have been driven out of their homes, in what appears to have been an act of revenge for their role in the three-month siege of the city of Misrata. So what really happened in the town of Tawergha, are the accusations of brutality against the town's residents fair and what does it say about hopes for national unity?

Mystery kidney disease in Central America 13 December 2011Last updated at 01:01 By Kate Sheehy PRI's The World A mysterious epidemic is sweeping Central America - it's the second biggest cause of death among men in El Salvador, and in Nicaragua it's a bigger killer of men than HIV and diabetes combined. It's unexplained but the latest theory is that the victims are literally working themselves to death. In the western lowlands of Nicaragua, in a region of vast sugar cane fields, sits the tiny community of La Isla. The small houses are a patchwork of concrete and wood. Pieces of cloth serve as doors.

baby chameleons photo Random photo Submit your photo Stumble Thru BBC Nature - Defacing the world's rarest tortoises 13 December 2011Last updated at 01:17 2011 marks 25 years of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's work in Madagascar to save native species, including the Critically Endangered ploughshare tortoise. But with the explosive growth in demand for pet tortoises from Asia, the ploughshares' former safe haven of Baly Bay National Park is under increasing threat from poachers. Richard Lewis is director of Durrell's Madagascar programme. Pakistan: Karachi police free chained students 13 December 2011Last updated at 17:13 Footage of people chained inside the religious school About 50 students have been freed from a religious school in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, where some were being kept in chains, officials say. The male students, some as young as 12, were reportedly beaten, deprived of food and kept in what police say amounted to a torture chamber. Some parents paid for their children to attend the school known as the "jail madrassa" because their sons were addicted to drugs or involved in crime. An inquiry has already been ordered.

An Italian's view on British winter clothes 13 December 2011Last updated at 09:45 By Manuela Saragosa BBC News The British have a reputation for braving the cold Italians like to wrap up warm because they fear a "hit of air" that can strike them down, says a Bologna-based Briton, in a feature that provoked a large response from readers. In reply, an Italian based in the UK explains the different attitudes to winter clothes and health. Being Italian may be bad for your health.

Toronto's 'gay' penguins split as one mates with female 13 December 2011Last updated at 03:55 Buddy (centre) takes an interest in Pedro (right), snubbing a female (left) Toronto's so-called gay penguins, Buddy and Pedro, have officially split, say zoo keepers, after one of them found a female mate. They were separated last month by zoo officials who said they needed to reproduce because African penguins are an endangered species.

Fare game? 'Big man' throws fellow passenger from train A man who threw an alleged fare dodger off a train has found fame on the internet after the incident was captured on camera and uploaded to YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 450,000 times. While his actions might be viewed by some as the little man striking back in the face of antisocial behaviour, in this case his imposing frame earned him the nickname "big man". The incident took place on a ScotRail train from Edinburgh to Perth on 9 December, according to the video's introduction. The conductor tells a young man that his ticket is not valid and repeatedly tells him to leave the train, prompting a stream of abuse from the man in response. As the impasse continues, preventing the train from leaving, a fellow passenger intervenes, asking the conductor: "Do you want me to get him off for you?"

Beaver or bear? Fur flies over Canadian sense of identity 17 December 2011Last updated at 12:04 By Lorraine Mallinder Montreal, Canada The suggestion from a Canadian senator that Canada should replace its national emblem has sparked a national debate about what it means to be a Canadian in the 21st Century. Beaver or polar bear? This is the stark choice Canadians face as they rethink how they want to present themselves to the rest of the world. Mexico City closes Bordo Poniente rubbish dump 20 December 2011Last updated at 00:33 Scavengers who scrape a living at the dump are hoping for formal jobs in recycling Mexico City has closed its main rubbish dump, Bordo Poniente, which is one of the world's biggest open-air landfills. At its peak, hundreds of lorries were dumping more than 12,000 tons of waste each day. That figure had already been cut in half this year by new recycling and composting plants, officials said. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the closure would significantly help reduce the capital's greenhouse gas emissions.

Heroin found in National Archives file 20 December 2011Last updated at 00:02 The pouch contained less than a gram of heroin in 19 sachets A sealed package containing heroin was found in an 80-year-old Foreign Office file at the National Archives, its managers have said. The Class A drug was filed with a document from the British Consulate in Cairo about a 1928 court case.