Scientists have been able to reach into the mind of a brain-damaged man and communicate with his thoughts.

The research, carried out at in the UK and in Belgium, involved a new brain scanning method.

Awareness was detected in three other patients previously diagnosed as being in a vegetative state.

The study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that scans can detect signs of awareness in patients thought to be closed off from the world.

Patients in a vegetative state are awake, not in a coma, but have no awareness because of severe brain damage.

Read more @ BBC News

A US court has found a Pakistani female scientist guilty of attempting to murder US agents while she was detained for questioning in Afghanistan.

The prosecution said Aafia Siddiqui, a US-trained neuroscientist, picked up an army rifle and shot at the US agents.

None of the Americans was injured but Siddiqui, 37, was shot.

She was arrested by Afghan police in July 2008 on suspicion of carrying chemicals and notes referring to "mass-casualty attacks" in New York.

She has been accused of having links to the al-Qaeda leadership and rights groups say she has spent five years in secret US jails.

There are fresh claims that the Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is dead, after state TV reported that he had been buried.

But within hours of the report the Taliban again denied Mehsud had been killed and challenged reporters to provide proof of it.

Pakistan's army said it could not confirm the death and said its agents were seeking clarification.

Reports of Mehsud's death first began after a drone strike on 14 January.

US drones have mounted numerous missile strikes in recent years, and killed the Taliban's former leader, Baitullah Mehsud, last August.

North and South Waziristan - where the Mehsud tribe comes from - are major sanctuaries for militants.

...and claims the world is safer due to his actions.

Lets ignore the countless dead in Iraq, the instability and chaos introduced there, the Spanish train bombings, the British bombings and also the driving of many individuals towards extremism then.

It is extremely disheartening to see this guy get away for all the evil he has caused in the world - teflon tony really is teflon coated.

The world's SECOND pregnant man is 'blissfully happy' as he prepares to give birth to baby boy next month

A transgender couple have revealed they are expecting their first baby in a month’s time.

Scott Moore - thought to be only the second ‘pregnant man’ to go public - is due to give birth to a boy in February, with husband Thomas by his side.

The couple were both born girls and have undergone surgery to transform their sex.

Scott, 30, who is legally married to Thomas because he still has a female birth certificate, says he is eagerly looking forward to giving birth.

They have decided to call the child ‘Miles’.

‘We know some people will criticise us but we are blissfully happy and not ashamed,’ Scott said.

Football star Abel Xavier embraced Islam on a trip to the United Arab Emirates last week and said he will now quit football at the age of 38 to pursue a career in humanitarian work, press reports revealed.

Former Portuguese international, Abel, who will now go by the name of Faisal Xavier, said he regretted leaving the sport but said he was happy to enter a new phase in his life.

"While it's an emotional farewell, I hope to participate in something very special as I enter a new stage of my life," press reports quoted Xavier, who also once played for Liverpool and Everton, as saying.

Innocent until proven guilty' is not a presumption British Airlines is willing to make when it comes to sex offenders. The airline does not allow minors to be seated next to unfamiliar adult males, and now one man is accusing the airline of branding all men as sexual predators.

"I was made to feel like a criminal in front of other passengers. It was totally humiliating," said 33-year-old business man Mirko Fischer to the UK's Daily Mail on January 16th. Fischer says he was insulted when forced to separate from his 6-month-pregnant wife after being sandwiched between her and a 12-year-old boy.

Muslim police officers have rebelled openly against the Government’s anti-terrorism strategy, warning that it is an “affront to British values” which threatens to trigger ethnic unrest.

The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) claimed that ministers were wrong to blame Islam for being the “driver” behind recent terrorist attacks.

Far-Right extremists were a more dangerous threat to national security, it said.

The officers told MPs that Muslims were being “stigmatised” by the Government’s attempts to tackle terrorism, which was adding to “hatred” against entire communities.

In the official intervention, the association said the Government’s anti-terrorism policies could not “continue unchecked”.

Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency it does not accept the terms of a deal to ease concerns about its nuclear programme, diplomats say.

For months, the Iranian government has criticised the offer to ship low-enriched uranium abroad in return for fuel, but never responded formally.

But diplomats say Tehran is now suggesting an alternative involving a simultaneous exchange on its territory.

Correspondents say the proposal is very unlikely to be acceptable to the West.

The US and its allies fear Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

I am not a fan of loonwatch or their methods of debate, but I liked this title. Disclaimer: It is about the US of A.

CNN recently published an article entitled Study: Threat of Muslim-American terrorism in U.S. exaggerated; according to a study released by Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “the terrorist threat posed by radicalized Muslim-Americans has been exaggerated.”