The researchers said they have created the first three-dimensional image of a protein receptor in white blood cells which, when malfunctioning, can cause leukaemia.

“It’s called a receptor because it interacts with a hormone... in this case a hormone called GM-CSF,” said Professor Michael Parker.

Parker, from St Vincent’s Institute in Melbourne, said in certain types of diseases such as leukaemia, something goes wrong with the receptor.

“And when that happens, it can cause uncontrolled growth and that’s what cancer is about,” he told AFP.

He said because the new research shows precisely what the receptor looks like and also how it works, scientists can begin to design new drugs to target the deadly abnormal blood cells.

“It has become imperative to move for impeachment against General Musharraf,” said Asif Ali Zardari, the head of the Pakistan Peoples Party, sitting beside Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, at a noisy news conference.

Suggestions that Obama’s slim physique is a liability in a nation of mostly overweight voters marked a dangerous new turn for the Democratic contender’s suddenly vulnerable presidential campaign.

The rapturous reception bestowed on Obama by awestruck Europeans on his recent world tour has given way to a barrage of Republican mockery and sly innuendo that has wiped out his lead in the opinion polls and turned his stately march towards the Democratic convention at the end of this month into a mud-slinging scramble.

At first sight the business resembles a thriving pottery. In a dusty courtyard women mould clay and water into hundreds of little platters and lay them out to harden under the Caribbean sun.

The craftsmanship is rough and the finished products are uneven. But customers do not object. This is Cité Soleil, Haiti’s most notorious slum, and these platters are not to hold food. They are food.

Brittle and gritty - and as revolting as they sound - these are “mud cakes”. For years they have been consumed by impoverished pregnant women seeking calcium, a risky and medically unproven supplement, but now the cakes have become a staple for entire families.

It is not for the taste and nutrition - smidgins of salt and margarine do not disguise what is essentially dirt, and the Guardian can testify that the aftertaste lingers - but because they are the cheapest and increasingly only way to fill bellies.

But yesterday the Prime Minister and other world leaders sat down to an 18-course gastronomic extravaganza at a G8 summit in Japan, which is focusing on the food crisis.

The dinner, and a six-course lunch, at the summit of leading industrialized nations on the island of Hokkaido, included delicacies such as caviar, milkfed lamb, sea urchin and tuna, with champagne and wines flown in from Europe and the U.S.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something … transgendered? If you are an Indian in need of some luck on your wedding day you could do no better than seek the blessing of one of the country’s estimated 200,000 male to female transsexuals or “hijras”.

Hijras have a recorded history of more than 4,000 years. Ancient myths bestow them with special powers to bring luck and fertility. Yet despite this supposedly sanctioned place in Indian culture, hijras face severe harassment and discrimination from every direction. Deepa is a 72 year old hijra living in Mumbai: “Nobody says, “I’d love to be a hijra!” Not if they know what happens to us. But what else can we do? A hijra has a man’s body, but the soul is a woman.”

No movie promos, campaign videos, debate clips, professional music videos, or TV comedy skits allowed because I’d rather give the amateurs the credit...

10) “It’s Not a Tumor” Music Video: This is funny and so original.

# China so far has done their level best to portray itself in the positive light; however, the brutal crackdown shows its darker side.

# West wry China’s economic prosperity, but know that calls for boycott are unlikely to succeed and the last thing West can do is to push China into isolation and nothing else.

# Though the events have dented China’s hopes of a smooth Olympics in Beijing, but still it’s highly unlikely that it’ll be a reminisce of 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympics by the US and several other countries.

Yes

# Gold crossing the $1000 mark for the first time in history places it as the best currency one can still possess.

# Risings prices of agricultural commodities and oil coupled with a falling dollar brings out the risks of paper currency.

No

# As a real currency, Gold has not been able to keep pace with inflation, even though it is being traded at highest prices ever.

# An impending American recession has caused a credit crunch, pushing up Gold prices and as the financial system stabilizes, its prices will recede; eroding the real worth in currency terms.