Sea Lion Attacks Australian Girl

A teenage girl has been attacked by a sea lion while surfing behind a speedboat off Australia's west coast.

"It actually lined her up. It jumped out of the water at her and hit her head-on ... it opened its mouth and grabbed her head.Ella Murphy, 13, suffered cuts to her throat, a broken jaw and lost three teeth when the mammal leapt out of the sea and mauled her.She is in a stable condition in a Perth hospital after having surgery.A marine scientist said attacks by sea lions were rare and it may have been trying to play with the girl. Sea lions can grow up to 300kg (660 pounds).

Dog Rescues Woman From Kangaroo

An Australian woman has been saved by a pet dog which leapt to her aid after she was attacked by a large kangaroo, her son has said.

The marsupial assaulted Rosemary Neal, 65, at her farm near Mudgee in New South Wales, 265km (160 miles) north-west of Sydney, her son, Darren, said. "The kangaroo just jumped up and launched straight at her," he said. "My dog heard her screaming and bolted down and chased him off. If it wasn't for the dog, she'd probably be dead." Mrs Neal was taken to hospital with concussion and cuts to her face, hands and back, her son said.He added that the area had been overrun by kangaroos in recent years.Kangaroos are widespread across Australia. Most species are not considered aggressive toward humans.

Is world's wettest place getting drier?

The town of Cherrapunjee, in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya, is reputed to be the wettest place in the world.

But there are signs that its weather patterns may be being hit by global climate change. "Not without reason has Cherrapunjee achieved fame as being the place with the heaviest rainfall on earth," wrote German missionary Christopher Becker more than 100 years ago. "One must experience it to have an idea of the immense quantity of rain which comes down from the skies, at times day and night without a stop. It is enough to go a few steps from the house to be drenched from head to foot. An umbrella serves no purpose."

But according to Cherrapunjee's most renowned weather-watcher, Denis Rayen, the climate of the town is changing fast.

First rule of wedding TV: it’s all about the bride

Nuptial-themed programs provide something borrowed, something bitchy

It's remarkable how many people still labor under the illusion that weddings are simple, happy occasions. Doesn't anyone watch television? Doesn't anyone watch “Bridezillas”?
“Bridezillas” aired as a FOX special in early 2004, and has lived on as a WE show ever since. At first, it focused primarily on apparently normal women who became wildly overinvested in wedding planning. But in subsequent seasons, it's become a lunatic fringe free-for-all. Not content to snipe at wedding planners and photographers,the Bridezillas now shriek at family members, friends, members of the clergy, and whoever else stands between them and the weddings of their sweaty, fevered dreams.

Ten brides race to the altar in a contest to promote the fifth season of WE's "Bridezillas" on June 3 in New York's Times Square. "Bridezillas" is just one of many wedding-themed shows that shed a scary light on the nuptial process.

Al-Qaida senior leader grants rare TV interview

In a rare move, one of al-Qaida's highest-ranking leaders has conducted an on-camera interview with a journalist and, in the process, called for the destruction of Pakistan's government. It was the first time since 2002 that any top al-Qaida official has taken the security risk of sitting down for an interview with a bonafide journalist.
Abu Mustafa al-Yazid, an Egyptian whom U.S. intelligence officials have identified as the al-Qaeda's third highest-ranking official, sat for an interview with Najeeb Ahmad, a reporter for Geo TV. Geo TV is a private Pakistani television channel. In the interview, Yazid, also known as Sheikh Saeed, called for the destruction of Pakistan's government which he said had "betrayed" the jihadis. Yazid swore that al-Qaida would recapture Afghanistan. And he reiterated al-Qaida's position that "all Americans, not just the American government" are the enemies of Islam.

The price of oil rises, closes above $131

Traders worry new Iran sanctions may escalate Middle East tensions

Oil prices rose Monday on a threat of new sanctions against Iran and as Tropical Storm Dolly headed into the Gulf of Mexico, prompting a hurricane watch for parts of Texas and Mexico.Light, sweet crude for August delivery added $2.16 to settle at $131.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was oil's first gain in a week.For drivers in the U.S., pump prices eased by a few pennies. A gallon of regular gasoline now sells for an average just shy of $4.07, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Diesel prices also pulled back, to an average of $4.818 a gallon.

Retail prices may decline even more in the coming days as gas station operators catch up to last week's four-day oil sell-off, which left crude more than $18 below the trading record of $147.27 it hit on July 11.

Tropical storm forms off Southeast coast

Cristobal hits Carolinas with rain, surf but not likely to become hurricane.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Tropical Storm Cristobal formed off the Southeast coast Saturday — the first to threaten the United States this hurricane season. Gale-force winds and heavy rains were expected to lash the Carolinas as the storm grazed the shoreline on a northeasterly path.
At 5 p.m. ET, the center of the storm was about 125 miles east of Charleston, S.C., and about 225 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
With maximum sustained winds at 45 mph, it was moving toward the northeast at about 7 mph and was expected to hug the Carolinas’ coast during the next two days.

Africa's women last and least in food crisis

Cultural expectations ensure women are hardest hit amid growing scarcity.

A pre-teen girl at the Goughin Market munches a piece of corn that she gets in return for helping man the family vegetable stand.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso - After she woke in the dark to sweep city streets, after she walked an hour to buy less than $2 worth of food, after she cooked for two hours in the searing noon heat, Fanta Lingani served her family's only meal of the day.
First she set out a bowl of corn mush, seasoned with tree leaves, dried fish and wood ashes, for the 11 smallest children, who tore into it with bare hands.
Then she set out a bowl for her husband. Then two bowls for a dozen older children. Then finally, after everyone else had finished, a bowl for herself. She always eats last.

The Six Worst Foods For A Bikini Body

To avoid bloat and water retention at the beach, avoid these foods.

Eat This, Not That!Wouldn’t it be great if you could eat something before hitting the beach that would make you look and feel slimmer - instantly? Well, there’s no miracle food yet, but there are foods that can make you look and feel fatter in almost no time. And those are the foods you want to avoid right before you don your swimsuit. In fact, in a UCLA survey of 50,000 people, 64 percent of women and 50 percent of men said they were self-conscious about their weight. (There’s nothing more embarrassing than doing a cnnonball off the diving board and then having to refill the pool because you emptied it.

Why it matters Islamic Republic of Iran

Iran has been a subject of much debate since the United States entered Iraq in 2003. Now that the country isn’t showing any signs of stopping its uranium enrichment, it’s an even bigger concern.

You should care because...Iran has approximately one-tenth of the world’s known oil reserves and more than one-tenth of the world’s natural gas reserves. It may also be creating nuclear weapons. The U.S. and Iran haven’t had diplomatic relations since the Iranian revolution in the 1970s. But the next president will surely need to address the threat Iran poses to the Middle East and to rising U.S. gas prices.