US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,124

As of Friday, July 25, 2008, at least 4,124 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,360 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.The AP count is three fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.

Iraqi Police Say Female Bomber Kills 8 U.S.-Allied Soldiers

BAGHDAD — Iraqi police say at least eight people have been killed in a female homicide bombing against a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards northeast of Baghdad.
A police officer who read the report says the woman blew herself up about 8:30 p.m. Thursday near the so-called awakening council checkpoint in central Baqouba.The officer says at least eight awakening council members were killed and 24 other people were wounded. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Math study finds girls are just as good as boys

WASHINGTON - Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, "Math class is tough!" girls are proving that when it comes to math they are just as tough as boys. In the largest study of its kind, girls measured up to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research was released Thursday in the journal Science. Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who led the study. And girls who grow up believinHyde and her colleagues looked at annual math tests required by the No Child Left Behind education law in 2002. Ten states provided enough statistical information to review test scores by gender, allowing researchers to compare the performances of more than 7 million children.The researchers found no difference in the scores of boys versus girls — not even in high school. Studies 20 years ago showed girls and boys did equally well on math in elementary school, but girls fell behind in high school."Girls have now achieved gender parity in performance on standardized math tests," Hyde said.g it wind up avoiding harder math classes.

Complete Baby Tyrannosaurid Unearthed in Mongolia

TOKYO — Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature museum.

The scientists uncovered a Tarbosaurus — related to the giant carnivorous Tyrannosaurus — from a chunk of sandstone they dug up in August, 2006 in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, said Takuji Yokoyama, a spokesman for the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, a co-organizer of the joint research project."We were so lucky to have found remains that turned out to be a complete set of all the important parts.The latest find would be a major step toward discovering the growth and development of dinosaurs.

French Scientists Find New Alien World

Scientists have discovered a new Jupiter-sized planet orbiting around a distant sun-like star.
This planet takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting explonet ever found.The planet, called CoRoT-Exo-4b, was discovered by the European Space Agency's CoRoT space telescope, which was designed to search for extrasolarplanets by looking for transits, or tiny dips in the light output from a star when a planet passes in front of it. By tracking the time between transits, a team of scientists led by the French space agency CNES measured how long the planet takes to revolve around its star, and found that it is the same period of time its star, which is slightly larger than our sun, takes to rotate 360 degrees.

U.S., NATO Press Pakistan to Fight Terror On Afghan

PERTH, Australia — Pakistan needs to do more to prevent Taliban militants from launching attacks into Afghanistan from its territory, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday, echoing earlier remarks made by the chief of NATO.Speaking in Australia, Rice suggested to reporters that a surge in Taliban-related violence in Afghanistan had its source in the restive semiautonomous tribal areas along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. "We understand that it's difficult, we understand that the northwest frontier area is difficult, but militants cannot be allowed to organize there and to plan there and to engage across the border," Rice said. "So yes, more needs to be done."

Iraqi Police Say Female Bomber Kills 8 U.S.-Allied Soldiers

BAGHDAD — Iraqi police say at least eight people have been killed in a female homicide bombing against a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards northeast of Baghdad.
A police officer who read the report says the woman blew herself up about 8:30 p.m. Thursday near the so-called awakening council checkpoint in central Baqouba.The officer says at least eight awakening council members were killed and 24 other people were wounded. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

1 Dead in N.H. Storms That Levels Several Homes

1 dead in N.H. storms that levels several homes; door-to-door search under wayViolent storms on Thursday in a 25-mile-long swath of central New Hampshire destroyed several homes, damaged dozens of others and left at least one person dead, authorities said as police and firefighters went door-to-door searching for more possible victims. Other people were hurt, including the husband and baby grandson of the woman killed. Gov. John Lynch said at an evening news conference that about a dozen people were injured. There was no immediate word on how serious their injuries were.The National Weather Service was trying to determine whether a tornado was responsible for the damage, which stretched from about 10 miles east of Concord to beyond the eastern end of Lake Winnipesaukee near the Maine border.Around Northwood Lake in Epsom, many homes in one area were badly damaged or destroyed by the storm, which tossed couches and refrigerators along with downed trees and other debris.

GM looks to an electric avenue

GM has high hopes for its Chevy Volt, but unless drivers have easy access to recharging points, the development of electric cars is doomed. A new deal with 30 US utilities will help.

General Motors China President Kevin Wale introduces the Chevrolet Volt Fuel Cell concept at the Shanghai Auto show.The eyes of the world are now on the Volt. It's the future of America and the world." That was the US presidential candidate John McCain talking to car industry workers a few days ago, referring to General Motors' promised new electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt. The future of the world, no less. No pressure, then."Together we can transform automotive transportation as we know it, and get our nation and the world past oil dependence and heading toward a future that is electric," said Jon Lauckner, GM's vice-president of global programme management. "We are focused on creating affordable, highly desired, vehicles that will take advantage of the grid, and on providing accessible, reliable, convenient, low-cost electricity to plug-in customers."

Child molester hasn't served single day of 43-year prison term

For nearly two years, the South Florida middle school art teacher forced the boy to have sex in a classroom supply closet. Sometimes, Aaron Mohanlal would call in sick to work, take the boy to his home for sex and drop the seventh-grader back off at school at the end of the day. To keep the abuse secret, Mohanlal bought the 13-year-old a cell phone and created nicknames for their genitalia. When police arrested him, the teacher was caught on hidden video trying to destroy letters threatening the boy if he ever told. Last summer, a Broward County jury convicted Mohanlal of 13 counts, including child abuse, molestation and lewd battery, and a judge sentenced him to 43 years. But a year later, Mohanlal has yet to spend a day in prison. "I can't understand why he isn't behind bars," said the victim, now 18. The network is not disclosing his name because it doesn't identify sexual assault victims. "I want to move on with my life. I'm trying to graduate high school and forget about this," he said. "I try not to think about it, but it's hard, because all I can think about is, what if he's out there around other kids?"