Black bears that live around urban areas weigh more, get pregnant at a younger age, and are more likely to die violent deaths

The study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), published in the Fall 2008 issue of the journal Human-Wildlife Conflicts, tracked 12 bears over a 10-year period living in urban areas around Lake Tahoe, Nevada and compared them to 10 "wildland" bears that lived in outlying wild areas. The authors found that bears in urbanized areas weighed an average of 30% more than bears in wild areas due to a diet heavily supplemented by garbage. The authors believe that because the bears weigh more they are giving birth at an earlier age – on average when they are between 4-5 years old, as compared to 7-8 years for bears in wild areas. Some urban bears even reproduced as early as 2-3 years of age around Lake Tahoe. Urban bears also tend to die much younger due mostly to collisions with vehicles, according to the study. All 12 urban bears tracked by the researcher were dead by age 10 due to vehicle collisions, while six of the wildland bears still survived. Bear cubs in urban areas also had dramatically higher mortality rates due mainly to vehicle collisions. "Urban areas are becoming the ultimate bear traps," said Wildlife Conservation Society researcher Jon Beckmann, the study's lead author.

Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour and Barack Obama

One notable black racist who, like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is also connected to Obama, is an orthodox Muslim named Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour, whose efforts to facilitate Obama’s 1988 admission to Harvard Law School have recently come to light. An attorney by profession, al-Mansour is a black nationalist and an outspoken hater of the United States, Israel, and white people generally. In recent years he has accused the U.S. of plotting a “genocide” designed “to remove 15 million black people, considered disposable, of no relevance, value or benefit to the American society.” He has told fellow blacks that “whatever you do to [white people], they deserve it, God wants you to do it and that’s when you cut out the nose, cut out the ears, take flesh out of their body, don’t worry because God wants you to do it.” Formerly named Donald Warden, al-Mansour in the 1960s was a mentor to Black Panther Party founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. When Warden became a Muslim and took his new name, he seamlessly adapted the sadistic hatred that had animated his activities with the Panthers, to the religious bigotry for which his newfound Islamic extremism called. Given the vital role that Saudi Arabia plays in orchestrating jihadi activities in North America, al-Mansour’s Saudi connections merit close scrutiny. In the 1980s al-Mansour served as an advisor helping a pair of Saudi billionaires secretly acquire a major stake in some valuable California oceanfront property, through what the Los Angeles Times described as “an elaborate network of corporate shells in California, the Caribbean and Europe.” Moreover, al-Mansour was an investment advisor to the multi-billionaire Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, the man whose $10 million donation to help rebuild downtown Manhattan after 9/11 was rejected by New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani when the Prince suggested that America’s flawed foreign policies had helped foment the rage that manifested itself in the attacks.

Black men living in England have a three times higher risk of prostate cancer than white men

They also tend to be diagnosed five years younger, a study of all cases in London and Bristol found. The results cannot be explained by access to diagnostic tests, awareness of the condition or screening, the British Journal of Cancer reported. Researchers at the University of Bristol said the United States had already reported a higher rate of prostate cancer in black men. On why black men could be being diagnosed earlier, the researchers said prostate cancer at a younger age was more likely to be due to greater biological susceptibility to the disease. Study leader Dr Chris Metcalfe said this was the first evidence from Britain on differences between black and white men in rates of prostate cancer. "One of the possibilities based on anecdote was that black men may delay presentation - so the cancer gets to a later stage. If anything the evidence showed black men were presenting sooner." He added: "There's very few known risk factors for prostate cancer but it's starting to look like being of black race is a risk factor." Dr Joanna Peak, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said prostate cancer was the most common cancer in British men. "The study indicates that there is a true biological difference between ethnic groups."

It is estimated that up to 20% of South Africa’s whites have emigrated since the end of apartheid in 1994

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Jacob Zuma’s rise, coupled with nationwide power cuts and a continuing crime wave, has led to a further massive brain drain. Polls show that 63% of South Africans have seriously considered emigration. “Among my age group the chorus is absolutely insistent,” said Geoff Landsman, 25, a civil engineer. “You must go abroad. If at all possible equip yourself with a foreign passport. I have a Dutch one. I’ll leave by Christmas. I’m not saying I’ll never come back but I want to see if I can cut it abroad.” Anna Davids, 62, an ophthalmologist, lamented: “There’s a whole generation missing. Look around. Where are the young white couples aged 25-45? At least two-thirds of them are gone.” She said that affirmative action plans discouraged young whites from staying. “Everything’s loaded against young whites, no matter how well qualified they are.” Crime is still alarmingly high. In 2007, the country saw 18,487 murders, 36,190 rapes, 14,481 home invasions, 14,201 carjackings and 118,312 aggravated robberies. Zuma has sought to calm fears, but seems oblivious to the fact that appearing at celebrations as a Zulu warrior, replete with leopard skins and assegai (a type of spear), and singing “Mshini Wam” (Bring Me My Machine-gun) at party rallies does little to inspire confidence.

In Britain, children as young as nine are being forced into marriage by their families

The disclosure comes as official figures show that nearly 60 children aged 15 or under have been rescued by the Government's Forced Marriage Unit in the past four years. The cases are feared to be the tip of the iceberg. They will fuel concerns that large numbers of children are disappearing from British schools to be forced into wedlock overseas. A charity which runs a national helpline on forced marriage and honor-based crimes, Karma Nirvana, revealed that in one incident a nine-year-old girl from a Pakistani family in the east Midlands was taken into council care after her parents told her she was to wed. Jasvinder Sanghera, director of Karma Nirvana, said that on average four children a month aged under 16 have contacted its helpline since it launched in April 2008. "The youngest child we have dealt with was nine years old," she said. "The girl told her teacher she was going to be forced to marry someone and initially she was not believed. Ultimately, with the help of the Forced Marriage Unit, she was dealt with through child protection procedures. She was assessed and, thankfully, taken into foster care." Sanghera called on ministers to make sure primary school children are taught about forced marriage and given advice on how to avoid becoming a victim. The Forced Marriage Unit has helped rescue 58 underage children since it was set up in January 2005, including 11 under-16s so far in 2008. The youngest victim this year was 13, one was 14 and nine were 15. The unit deals with 5,000 inquiries and 300 cases of forced marriage a year. A third of inquiries come from under 18s. The youngest victim repatriated by the unit, which is jointly funded by the Home Office and the Foreign Office, was an 11-year-old girl who was flown back to Britain from Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2007 after her parents had agreed to marry her to a local man. Sanghera, who herself fled home after being threatened with forced marriage at the age of 15, said: "I currently have cases involving four children aged 11 to 14 who were forced to marry or were at risk, and have now been made wards of court. You don't just get forced into a marriage at 16 or 17; this is happening to very young children. We certainly have had cases of minors being sexually abused. If you are forced into marriage as a minor you will be multiple-raped, because as a child you are legally unable to give consent. But we have no idea how many children under 16 are at risk, and this is compounded by a reluctance of schools to engage with the issue. Many schools shy away due to supposed cultural sensitivities." She went on: "There will be children sitting in our classrooms this week who have already had identified for them a husband or a wife. These marriages can be prevented by identifying the signs in school or teachers believing pupils when they raise it." The problem is particularly prevalent in Pakistani communities, where betrothing offspring to their first cousins is common practice, said Sanghera.

Young people think a steady stream of immigrants is eroding Britain's national identity and threatening jobs, a survey shows

Almost two-thirds (60%) of the young people surveyed in the poll by the British Council thought the presence of foreign immigrants was diluting their sense of national identity. A quarter said immigrants posed a threat to British workers' jobs and 12% said they thought the influx of people from abroad was a risk to security and public order. Two thousand people aged between 18 and 35 were asked about their attitude towards immigration and their sense of national identity.

The leaders of Austria's two far-right parties have hailed the results of snap general elections, which saw their support doubling since the 2006 poll

The Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future of Austria took nearly 29% of the vote, preliminary results show. The Social Democrats won the polls with 30%. But they, and the conservative People's Party, with 26%, suffered their worst results since 1945. The shape of a possible coalition will now be hard to predict, experts say. A total of 183 parliamentary seats were up for grabs in the election. The early polls were called after the grand coalition between the Social Democrats and the People's Party collapsed amid internal fights and personal feuds.

Polygyny and the X chromosome

Women have been more successful on average in passing their genes on to the next generation. "This is because a few males have fathered children with multiple females, which occurs at the expense of other less successful males", says Dr. Michael Hammer, ARL Division of Biotechnology at the University of Arizona. The group has found DNA evidence that polygyny, the practice among males of siring children with multiple female partners at the same time or successively, has led to an excess of genetic diversity on the X chromosome relative to the autosomes. Details are published September 26, 2008 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. The X chromosome is present in two copies in females and a single copy in males. The autosomes, which are inherited equally by both sexes from each parent, are expected to have more genetic diversity than the X chromosome in a population with an equal number of breeding males and females. The article examines potential demographic and evolutionary forces that have led to higher than expected genetic variation on the X chromosome. The research team measured levels of neutral polymorphism at 40 independent loci on the X chromosome and autosomes in ninety humans representing six populations, including: Biaka (Central African Republic), Mandenka (Senegal), San (Namibia), French Basque, Han Chinese and Melanesians (Papua New Guinea). The group contrasted alternative explanations for the higher observed levels of X-linked (versus autosomal) diversity. Background selection, changes in population size and sex-specific migration were all discounted as contributors to the observed patterns of genetic variability. Only the process of polygyny could by itself account for the sex ratio skew and resulting patterns of genomic variation. By this process, fewer unique male genes are being passed into the next generation. The group's research highlights how unseen, sex-biased forces have shaped genomic patterns of variability. Over the long-term, the findings may provide lessons on the dynamics of beneficial mutations on different chromosomes as they sweep through the population.

Violent crime and political turmoil are adding to South Africa’s brain drain

A decade-and-a-half after the end of apartheid, violent crime is pushing more and more whites out of South Africa. Exactly how many are leaving is impossible to say. Few admit that they are quitting for good, and the government does not collect the necessary statistics. But large white South African diasporas, both English- and Afrikaans-speaking, have sprouted in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and many cities of North America. The South African Institute of Race Relations, a think-tank, guesses that 800,000 or more whites have emigrated since 1995, out of the 4 million-plus who were there when apartheid formally ended the year before. Robert Crawford, a research fellow at King’s College in London, reckons that around 550,000 South Africans live in Britain alone. Not all of South Africa’s émigrés are white: skilled blacks from South Africa can be found in jobs and places as various as banking in New York and nursing in the Persian Gulf. But most are white and the remaining whites, though only about 9% of the population, are still South Africa’s richest and best-trained people. Talk about “white flight” does not go down well. Officials are quick to claim that there is nothing white about it. A recent survey by FutureFact, a polling organisation, found that the desire to emigrate is pretty even across races: last year, 42% of Coloured (mixed-race) South Africans, 38% of blacks and 30% of those of Indian descent were thinking of leaving, compared with 41% of whites. This is a big leap from 2000, when the numbers were 12%, 18%, 26% and 22% respectively. But it is the whites, by and large, who have the money, skills, contacts and sometimes passports they need to start a life outside—and who leave the bigger skills and tax gap behind.

Black women and breast cancer

There may be a protective factor against breast cancer in black women. Another example of race being biologically significant.

Many children will be left behind in California

Nearly all elementary schools in California will fail to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements for proficiency by 2014, the year when all students in the nation need to be proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, per the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB).

WaMu and diversity

Failed bank ranks in the top ten of Hispanic Business’ Diversity Elite.

53% of Los Angeles's adult population — 3.8 million people — are functionally illiterate.

Under Clinton, the entire federal government put massive pressure on banks to grant more mortgages to the poor and minorities. Clinton’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo, investigated Fannie Mae for racial discrimination and proposed that 50 percent of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s portfolio be made up of loans to low- to moderate-income borrowers by the year 2001.

The traditional Zulu reed dance is sexist and outdated, South Africa's Young Communist League (YCL) says

YCL spokesman Castro Ngobese said the cultural practice in honour of the Zulu King Shaka makes women "chained prisoners of backwards traditions". The YCL dedicated 2008's Heritage Day events to a young girl who was raped during reed dance celebrations in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The South African press reported that a 14-year-old Zulu maiden who had been participating in the ceremony at King Goodwill Zwelithini's palace was dragged outside and gang-raped.

A Canadian convert to Islam has been found guilty of participating in a terrorist group that planned to storm parliament and behead the prime minister

The 20-year-old was arrested in 2006 along with 17 others in a massive anti-terrorism operation in Toronto. Delivering the verdict, the judge said there was overwhelming evidence that a terrorist group existed and that the accused knew what it was about. The trials of 10 others, including the alleged ringleaders, are still pending. The man, a convert to Islam, cannot be identified under Canadian law as he was a minor at the time his arrest in 2006.

Illegal immigration and the mortgage mess

Michelle Malkin explains how the banking industry, ethnic lobbyists and the Bush administration have caused the current financial crisis.

Immigration and the New Zealand health system

The case of the tourist with highly infectious tuberculosis is just one of hundreds of cases of patients from overseas who arrive here and cause a financial strain on the New Zealand health system. District health boards are also understood to be frustrated that immigration officials grant residency to certain foreigners despite the huge cost to the health system. The Auckland District Health Board spent $16.2 million on "non-eligible patients" in 2007 - up from $12m three years ago - and has $2.1m in unpaid debt. Similarly, Counties Manukau DHB has spent $3.4m in 2007, up from $1.8m in 2006, and is owed about $1.1m while the Waitemata board is owed more than $900,000. Chief executives from these DHBs declined to comment on the burden foreign patients place on hospital finances. But an Auckland Hospital insider said that many of the patients in her waiting room are from overseas. Many of them are older with chronic health problems and are often admitted shortly after arriving in the country. "Once any immigrants are granted residency, they are entitled to everything and anything, just like any other New Zealand taxpayer. It's a real burden on the health system. We all mutter about it but we have a job to do. We have to take care of them. But it makes you wonder how the hell these sick people were allowed in?"

Residents in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, have called for government action against a school asking for fees in livestock or fuel coupons

Those who do not have coupons have been asked to deliver 700 liters of fuel. One teacher at Petra High School said it was cash-strapped parents who originally wanted to pay in kind. Though politicians in Zimbabwe signed a power-sharing deal, the country is still suffering from an acute economic crisis. The last official figure given for annual inflation was 11,000,000%. Recently the central bank struck 10 zeros from the currency, making 10bn Zimbabwe dollars equal to one new dollar. Banks only allow people to withdraw a maximum of 1,000 new Zimbabwe dollars a day. "If you are paying school fees of 100,000 dollars, that means I will be going to the bank for the next five months to withdraw 1,000 dollars until I reach the requirement amount for fees," said one parent, Babongile Simanga. Petra High School was not available for comment but two teachers confirmed that if parents failed to raise enough cash, they could pay in whatever they have, including livestock. It is not clear how many parents have handed over animals, but the practice is said to have been going on for some time. "It's not only Petra High school that is doing that," said Dumisa Tshabalala of Magwegwe township, who has two children at Embakwe High School in the neighbouring province of Matabeleland South. "Many schools these days are doing it and we should blame the government not schools." Cows are the usual method of payment because of their higher value, though poor people in rural areas have also used goats.

Iraq has been ranked by Transparency International(TI) as one of the world's most corrupt countries, just above Somalia as the "least clean" state

The index is based on perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories. The high levels of corruption amount to a humanitarian disaster said Huguette Labelle, chair of the watchdog. At the bottom of the transparency table, along with Somalia and Iraq, are Burma, Haiti, Afghanistan and Sudan. While Iraq remains in the same bottom-three position in the table as 2007, the level of perceived corruption in the country collated by the Berlin-based organisation has increased. The score is based on perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts.

Corporate India is in shock after a mob of sacked workers bludgeoned to death the CEO who had dismissed them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi

Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, the head of the Indian operations of Graziano Transmissioni, an Italian-headquartered manufacturer of car parts, died of severe head wounds after being attacked by scores of laid-off employees, police said. The incident, in Greater Noida, just outside the Indian capital, followed a long-running dispute between the factory's management and workers who had demanded better pay and permanent contracts. It is understood that Choudhary, who was married with one son, had called a meeting with more than 100 former employees - who had been dismissed following an earlier outbreak of violence at the plant - to discuss a possible reinstatement deal. A police spokesman said: "Only a few people were called inside. About 150 people were waiting outside when they heard someone from inside shout for help. They rushed in and the two sides clashed. The company staff were heavily outnumbered." Other executives said they were lucky to escape with their lives. "I just locked my room's door from inside and prayed they would not break in. See, my hands are trembling even three hours later," an Italian consultant, Forettii Gatii, told a local newspaper. More than 60 people were arrested and more than 20 were in hospital. A spokesman for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry said: "Such a heinous act is bound to sully India's image among overseas investors." The murder has stoked fears that outbreaks of mob rule risk jeopardising the subcontinent's economic rise. In the most high-profile incident so far, thousands of violent protestors recently forced Tata, the Indian conglomerate that owns Land Rover and Jaguar, to halt work on the plant being built to produce the world's cheapest car - the £1,250 Nano. The move could result in nearly £200 million in investment written off. Tata halted work claiming it could not guarantee its workers safety at the factory in the state of West Bengal. In a rare show of support for a competitor, the billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, one of India's most powerful businessmen, said that the Nano crisis showed how protestors were creating a "a fear-psychosis to slow-down certain projects of national importance." Other companies, including Vedenta, the London-listed mining company, have encountered similar problems in India. In a statement issued from Rivoli in Italy, Graziano said that some of Choudhary's attackers had no connection to the company. It added that the chief executive was killed by "serious head injuries caused by the intruders."

A couple in South Africa who were having sex on a railway track in Mpumalanga Province have been killed by a goods train

Police spokesman Abie Khoabane said the victims were yet to be identified. He told local newspapers that the couple ignored the driver's shouts as he moved the train into the disused station in Kinross town. "They continued with their business," he told the Sowetan paper. According to South Africa's Beeld newspaper, the area was deserted with no cars or houses nearby. The man died at the scene and the woman died later at hospital, the Sowetan reports. The police have appealed for those with missing relatives to come forward to help with their investigation.