2.2 million people die

At least 2.2 million people die of work-related accidents and diseases around the world each year, the UN International Labour Organisation said in a report, adding that the estimate was 10 percent higher than in 2002.

In the wide-ranging report for release in advance of a conference on health and safety opening in the United States, the ILO said the true figures for killed and injured were certainly higher, due to poor data collection in many countries.

The number of work-related illnesses and deaths decreased slightly in industrialised nations but the number of accidents -- particularly fatal ones -- appears to be on the rise, notably in some Asian countries, the report said.

The trend, the ILO found, was due to "the rapid development and strong competitive pressures of globalisation".

"Occupational safety and health is vital to the dignity of work," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.

"Still every day on average, some 5,000 or more women and men around the world lose their lives because of work-related accidents and illness. Decent work must be safe work, and we are a long way from achieving that goal," the director-general warned.

The report also confirmed that while work-related illnesses are the main problem in industrialised economies, accidents are more common in developing nations, where workers in sectors such as mining, construction and farming are particularly at risk.

Each year, dangerous substances kill around 440,000 workers, asbestos accounting for 100,000 of these deaths. Asbestos poisoning claims 3,500 lives in Britain each year, six times more than the number of deaths by accidents on the job.

Working-related deaths among men are largely due to accidents, lung diseases, cancer or asbestos poisoning.

Women, on the other hand, are more likely to suffer from work-related diseases such as malaria and bacterial infections as well as long-term musculo-skeletal disorders.

Workers between 15 and 24 years old tend to have more non-fatal accidents than their counterparts over 55 because of their lack of experience. 　

The report was to be released at the 17th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in the US city of Orlando, Florida, which runs to Thursday.

Couch potato

Couch potato, thy name is Suresh. Suresh Joachim broke the Guinness world record for the longest time spent watching TV. He finished Friday with 69 hours and 48 minutes.

After passing the previous record of 50 hours and 7 minutes Thursday, Joachim continued until shortly after 7 a.m. Friday morning (EDT).

Joachim did his TV viewing in the lobby of WABC-TV as part of the "Guinness World Record Breaker Week" on the syndicated "Live With Regis and Kelly."

Sitting on a brown leather couch, he watched nothing but ABC shows.

"I'm going to be a little tired of watching TV after this," Joachim told The Associated Press by phone during a brief break.

Rules for the couch potato honor, as stipulated by Guinness, allow for a 5-minute break every hour and a 15-minute break every 8 hours. The viewer must otherwise be constantly looking at the screen.

The hardest part, Joachim said on "Regis and Kelly," was "I couldn't watch the people" ― the many, waving passers-by on the street outside the ABC studio.

Joachim, who lives in Toronto but hails from Sri Lanka, now holds more than 16 Guinness records, including the longest duration balancing on one foot (76 hours, 40 minutes) and bowling for 100 hours. He does it, he says, to raise awareness of suffering children.

Farmers in California

Farmers in California are reporting the appearance of an unlikely new pest: diesel rustlers. As fuel costs spiral in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, diesel thefts in the farm belt north of Los Angeles have amounted to $91,000 (?49,000) this year.

Diesel prices reached a national average of around $3.25 a gallon last week. In the same week last year the price was around $2.14 a gallon. 　

"At that price it continues to be an item that crooks are finding great opportunity in stealing. Every county is being hit," William Yoshimoto of a Californian agricultural crime unit told the state's farm bureau. "It is a crime of opportunity right now. The prices are elevated and they can get a very fast return for little risk."

Don Morelli, a dairy farmer, told the farm bureau that he realised something was amiss when all the keys to his farm vehicles were missing. They had been used to open petrol caps and fuel tanks.

"There were pieces of rubber hose lying around which they used to siphon fuel out of the tanks," Mr Morelli said. "This is the third or fourth robbery we've had and we don't feel safe and secure any more."

Most thefts take place at night in farmyards, but there have also been increases in people driving away from petrol stations without paying and in thefts of fuel from cars.

A side-effect of the thefts has been a rise in the sale of lockable petrol caps. AutoZone, the largest car accessory retailer in the US, reported sales of locking fuel tank caps were up 60% in one week last month to 10,000. The owner of a car parts shop told the Seattle Times: "Everybody knows that an SUV is going to have 25 gallons of gas in there. Jackpot."

Eating a diet

Eating a diet rich in beans, nuts and cereals could help to prevent cancer because the foods contain a natural compound that inhibits the growth of tumors.

Scientists at University College London (UCL) said on Thursday that the substance called inositol pentakisphosphate, which is also found in lentils and peas, could also help researchers develop new therapies against the disease. 　

"Our study suggests the importance of a diet enriched in foods such as beans, nuts and cereals which could help prevent cancer," said Dr Marco Falasca, of UCL's Sackler Institute, who reported the finding in the journal Cancer Research.

He and his team discovered that the compound inhibits an enzyme called phosphoinositde 3-kinase which promotes tumor growth.

Scientists have been trying to develop drugs to inhibit the cancer-promoting enzyme but have had difficulty so far.

When the researchers tested inositol pentakisphosphate in mice and cancer cells in the laboratory, it killed the animal tumors and enhanced the effect of drugs used against ovarian and lung cancer cells.

"Our work will now focus on establishing whether the phosphate inhibitor can be developed into an anti-cancer agent for human therapy," Falasca said in a statement.

The researchers believe the compound, which was non-toxic even at high concentrations, could also be used to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs.

Angelina Jolie

Ask Angelina Jolie about her children and like any proud mother, she'll brag about them.

"They give me so much joy, and I want to make a better world for them," the Oscar-winning actress said in an interview that aired Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Jolie has a 4-year-old son Maddox, who was adopted from Cambodia, and a daughter, Zahara, adopted this summer from Ethiopia.

When she brought Zahara home, "she was 6 months old and not 9 pounds," Jolie said. "Her skin, you could squeeze it, it stuck together. Like ― it was terrifying. Just to see the difference what food and the right kind of ― just a little bit of care takes.

"She's like ― she has gained 6 pounds. ... We are calling her chubby. She's, you know, she's just a totally different baby."

Jolie says Maddox loves being a big brother.

"He came to the orphanage. He saw where she was living, and he saw she needed care. Kids understand sadness and poverty and hunger."

Jolie was accompanied by Brad Pitt, her "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" co-star, when she went to Ethiopia in July to pick up Zahara. Rumors of Pitt and Jolie's off-screen relationship had been circulating for months.

She appeared on the ABC morning show the day before a new MTV documentary chronicling her trip to a village in Kenya with U.N. adviser and economist Jeffrey Sachs was scheduled to premiere.

"The Diary of Angelina Jolie & Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa" was set to air Wednesday, coinciding with the opening of the U.N. summit in New York.

"Africa is beautiful, marvelous, smart people, strong people, strong country and has a potential to be so much," Jolie said. "I'd love to see Africa flourish. ... It's magnificent and it has so much hope, so much possibility."

The 30-year-old actress, who is a U.N. goodwill ambassador, said her children motivate her to continue her humanitarian work.

"I'm fortunate to do what I get to do to be here, to talk about these issues," she said.

"I'm just grateful every day that I have the chance."

Britney Spears has given birth to a baby boy

Britney Spears has given birth to a baby boy, Us Weekly reported. The baby was born Wednesday by Caesarean section at the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center in California, the magazine said. No other details were available.
A call to Spears' publicist by The Associated Press wasn't immediately returned.
It is the first child for the 23-year-old pop star and her husband, Kevin Federline.
Federline, 27, has two children with ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson.

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