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Curvy mothers have brainier kids 10 November 2007 From New Scientist Print Edition. CURVIER women may have smart children because hip fat contains polyunsaturated fatty acids critical for the development of the fetus's brain. Using data from the US National Center for Health Statistics, William Lassek at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and Steven Gaulin of the University of California, Santa Barbara, found a child's performance in cognition tests was linked to their mother's waist-hip ratio, a proxy for how much fat she stores on her hips. Children whose mothers had wide hips and a low waist-hip ratio scored...

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) hailed Sunday the United States Congress's passage of a resolution recognizing the commencement of Ramadan as the holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal. In a statement on its website (www.luwaran.com), the MILF described the US Congress' resolution as an "epoch-making" act that will help stop bigotry and racism against 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. “This is indeed an epoch-making for the rest of the world to follow suit and recognize this holy month observed by fasting by more than one billion Muslims all over the world," said Sheikh Mohammad Muntassir, chairman of the MILF...

Thousands of civilians have fled their homes in the southern Philippine island of Jolo after deadly clashes between troops and militants, officials say. More than 50 people were killed on Thursday, almost half of them soldiers. Reinforcements have begun to arrive in Jolo, as the military steps up its campaign against Islamist rebels. Troops backed by US military trainers have been fighting militants affiliated to various groups, hiding in the island's mountainous terrain. Thursday's fighting began when a troop convoy was ambushed near the town of Maimburg, leaving 10 soldiers dead. Fifteen more soldiers were killed and 17 were wounded...

The Philippine Marines failed to notify the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front ceasefire coordinating teams when they blundered their way in barangay Guinanta, Al-Barkah town in Basilan, in search of the kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi. This was contained in the 14-page report made by a fact-finding team composed of government and MILF probers who submitted the documents to government and MILF chief peace negotiators Rodolfo Garcia and Mohagher Iqbal this morning. The report said the Marines mistakenly thought that the MILF camps were not in barangay Guinanta but in another village, hence the lack of coordination. Von Al...

An Italian priest, Giancarlo Bossi, who was kidnapped at gunpoint in the southern Philippines last month, has been freed. The news was announced by the Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, and coincides with the 87th birthday of Father Bossi's mother. Fourteen government soldiers were killed last week as they searched for the priest. The Philippine army blamed their deaths on Islamists linked to al-Qaeda. Father Bossi, who plans to meet with his parishioners before heading back to Italy to see his family, said his captors treated him "with respect." "I never had the sensation that they wanted to kill...

Islamic militants in the southern Philippines have killed 14 marines, beheading 10 of them, a military spokesman has said. Nine other marines were wounded and at least four rebels were killed during the incident on Basilan island. The clash took place as the marines were searching for an Italian priest. The priest was seized in June by kidnappers believed to be from either Abu Sayyaf or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Both groups are seeking an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines. Ceasefire violation? The priest, named as Giancarlo Bossi, was seized by armed men near the coastal village...

The Hot TV Mom Hall of Fame exists for one reason only: to honor the medium's sexiest and most attractive fictional mothers. Not the best moms, the coolest moms, the funniest moms or the moms who baked the best brownies. Just the M's you'd most L to F. It's also by no means a comprehensive list. As long as the TV industry keeps producing impossibly attractive mother characters, (and let's pray they do), there'll always be room for more among these immortals of the game: 1950s Donna Stone, The Donna Reed Show Back in TV's equivalent of the Dead Ball...

THE three main Southeast Asian Islamic terrorist groups have had a strong, secret alliance for almost 20 years, which continues to train Jemaah Islamiah's bomb-makers, intelligence documents reveal. The documents, compiled from interviews with a senior JI defector and other sources, confirm long-held suspicions that two training camps of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the southern Philippines are the nerve centre of regional terrorism. The former JI leader's admissions defy claims by the Philippines Government and the MILF that militant training in the camps ceased four years ago, at the start of delicate negotiations about autonomy for the Muslim...