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8 stories that your newspaper missed today

July 28, 2014 15:56 IST


Here are some stories that your newspaper probably missed out on today.

We start of with this report about Iran warning the United States that they would use donkeys to deliver nuclear bombs amid claims that the US is ready to allow Tehran to get hold of nuclear technology.

However, the US demands Iran's support in return for defeating the ISIS terror group.

The deployment of donkeys came out in a House of Commons foreign Affairs Committee reports.

According to the Daily Star, there were reports that if Iran managed to make nuclear weapons, it would not require missiles to deliver them.

Hamas militants had sent a donkey loaded with explosives to Israel, said reports.

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Putin to be sued for MH17 downing?


Russian President Vladimir Putin likely to be sued for allegedly supporting the pro-Russian separatists believed to be responsible for the downing of Malaysian airlines MH17 in Eastern Ukraine.

The case is being arranged by British lawyers and might be heard in the United States.

If the case is successful and the Russian President fails to pay compensation, his assets could be frozen.

A London-based firm spokesman said that there were speculations about civil suits against Malaysian airlines.

People responsible would include entities, states and individuals that had equipped the Russian separatists, said the spokesman.

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Over 25,000 9/11 rescuers diagnosed with cancer


More than 25,000 9/11 terrorist attack rescuers have been diagnosed with cancer, reveal reports.

The figures have doubled since the last year as new cases are coming to the fore.

There had been 1,140 cases until last year, reports the Daily Mirror.

According to the World Trade Centre Health program, 1,655 had been diagnosed with cancer out of 37,000 police, rescuers and volunteers at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital.

Many of these people are looking out for compensation to fight their illness.

A retired captain from the New York Fire Department, suffering from lung disease and untreatable pancreatic cancer, was awarded 1.5 million dollars from the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. 

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US army developing pocket-size drones


The United States army is reportedly developing pocket-sized drones which will enable them to monitor dangerous environments aerially.

According to The Washington Times, the pocket drones developed by the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Centre in Massachusetts, is a small aerial surveillance device that will provide real-time surveillance of threats in environment.

However, after it has been developed, the device will have to comply with the Army's digital security standards like, fly in low-light operations and successfully maneuver indoors, the report added.

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Bill Clinton's 'sex addiction' result of childhood abuse by mother?


Bill Clinton's wife Hillary Clinton reportedly told an author of that her husband was addicted to sex because his mother Virginia Kelley abused him as a child.

The former president's wife Hillary told the author of a book based on the 67-year-old politician that when a mother did what she did, it affected one forever, the Mirror reported.

She further asserted that when this happens in children, it scared one and one keep looking in all the wrong places for the parent who abused them.

Hillary's allegations come in a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lucinda Franks.

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North Korea threatens nuclear strike on White House


A top-ranking North Korean military official has threatened a nuclear strike on the White House and Pentagon after accusing Washington of raising military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The threat came from Hwang Pyong-So, director of the military's General Political Bureau, during a speech to a large military rally in Pyongyang on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War on Sunday.

Hwang, who holds the rank of vice marshal in the Korean People's Army, said a recent series of South Korea-US military drills, one of which included the deployment of a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier, had ramped up tensions.

"If the US imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival... our troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the Pentagon - the sources of all evil," Hwang said in his speech broadcast today on state television.

It is not the first time that North Korea's bellicose rhetoric has included threats of nuclear strikes on the continental United States and US bases in the Pacific. But most experts believe it is still a long way from developing a viable intercontinental ballistic missile with the required range.

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Earth's 6th mass extinction begins


A study has revealed the early stages of Earth's 6th mass extinction event, for which human activities are being held responsible.

The biologists from StanfordUniversity have cautioned that, since 1500, more than 320 terrestrial vertebrates had become extinct and the populations of the remaining species showed a 25 percent average decline in abundance.

Rodolfo Dirzo, the lead author, explained the era of "Anthropocene defaunation", where elephants and other large animals were facing an increased risk of extinction, which could be associated to human activity.

Dirzo said that where human density was high, there were high rates of defaunation, high incidence of rodents, and thus, high levels of pathogens, which increased the risks of disease transmission.

The scientists also detailed a troubling trend in invertebrate defaunation, which showed that human population had doubled in the past 35 years; in the same period, the number of invertebrate animals, such as beetles, butterflies, spiders and worms, had decreased by 45 percent.

Dirzo further added that ironically, people had long considered that defaunation is a cryptic phenomenon, but they would end up with a situation that is non-cryptic because of the increasingly obvious consequences to the planet and to human wellbeing.

'Zombie apocalypse' strikes south England


Thunderstorms, hail and flash flooding threw parts of Britain out of gear on Monday morning. Commuters in southeast England were caught in lightning strikes, torrential downpours and hailstorms.

In Brighton a lightning strike threw rail services into chaos after it caused electrical supply problems, while commuters also struggled through a storm -- with hailstones reported to be the size of 20p coins - which was described as a 'zombie apocalypse', The Daily Mail reported.

The meteorological office activated a yellow 'be aware' warning for the rainfall and thunderstorms in south England.