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In an apparent bid to reform the religious establishment, Saudi King Abdullah on Saturday dismissed the head of the feared religious police and a hard-line cleric who issued an edict last year saying it was permissible to kill owners of satellite TV stations that show “immoral” content.

Abdullah also appointed the first female deputy Cabinet minister, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The changes were part of a surprise reshuffle in the Cabinet, the judiciary and the military.

The dismissals were seen as an attempt by the king to reform the religious establishment, which has come under persistent criticism especially because of the performance of the religious police and the judiciary.

The shake-up, the first major one since Abdullah came to power in August 2005, is significant because it dilutes the influence the hard-liners have had for decades on the religious establishment. The king, who has repeatedly spoken about the need for reform, has brought in a new group of officials and scholars who are younger and more in tune with the diversity of cultural Islam than their predecessors.

“They bring not only new blood, but also new ideas,” said Jamal Khashoggi, editor of Al-Watan newspaper. “They are more moderate and many are also close to the reform agenda of the king, having worked closely with him.”

“The people now in charge are not being ordered to implement reform,” he added. “They believe in reform.”

The Saudi Press Agency said Abdullah has ordered the re-establishment of the Grand Ulama Commission — a religious scholars body — with 21 members from all branches of Sunni Islam. This is a major shift for the kingdom because it will give more moderate Sunni schools representation in a body that has always been governed by the strict Hanbali sect. No minority Shiites, however, have been appointed to the commission.

Abdul-Aziz bin Humain will replace Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith as head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which runs the religious police, according to the agency.

Bin Humain, who is believed to be more moderate than al-Ghaith, will head a body whose members have been criticized by Saudis for their harsh behavior. The religious police patrol public places to make sure women are covered and not wearing makeup, the sexes don’t mingle, shops close five times a day for prayers and men go to the mosque and worship.

While many Saudis say they support the idea of having the commission because its mandate is based on several verses in the Quran, Islam’s holy book, they also say its members exploit their broad mandate to interfere in people’s lives.

Asked about the criticism, bin Humain sidestepped the question, telling Al-Arabiya TV: “We will seek to achieve the aspirations of the rulers.”

Abdullah also removed Sheikh Saleh al-Lihedan, chief of the kingdom’s highest tribunal, the Supreme Council of Justice. Al-Lihedan’s edict, issued in September, was denounced across the Arab world.

He was replaced by Saleh bin Humaid, who until Saturday served as the head of the Consultative Council, the closest thing the kingdom has to a parliament.

Another major change targets education. The king appointed Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, his son-in-law, as education minister. Khashoggi said Faisal has been working behind the scenes on plans to reform education. After the Sept. 11 attacks, carried out by 19 Arabs, including 15 Saudis, many in the U.S. blamed the Saudi educational system for helping create an atmosphere that justifies extremism.

Noura al-Fayez has been appointed Faisal’s deputy for girls’ education — the first time a woman has been appointed a deputy minister.

Former Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Abdul-Aziz al-Khoja, will become information minister, according to the Saudi Press Agency. Abdullah al-Rabia, a surgeon who has carried out about a dozen surgeries separating conjoined twins, has been appointed health minister.

A new study has suggested that the ancient flood that some scientists think gave rise to the Noah story in the Bible may not have been so massive in proportion as earlier believed.

Researchers generally agree that, during a warming period about 9,400 years ago, an onrush of seawater from the Mediterranean spurred a connection with the Black Sea, then a largely freshwater lake.

That flood turned the lake into a rapidly rising sea.

A previous theory said that the Black Sea rose up to 195 feet (60 meters), possibly burying villages and spawning the tale of Noah’s flood and other inundation folklore.

But, according to a report in National Geographic News, the new study, which largely focused on relatively undisturbed underwater fossils, suggests a rise of no more than 30 feet (10 meters).

Marine geologist Liviu Giosan and colleagues carbon-dated the shells of pristine mollusk fossils, which the researchers say bear no evidence of epic flooding.

Found in sediment samples taken from where the Black Sea meets the Danube River, the shells “weren’t eroded, agitated, or moved,” said Giosan, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts.

“We know the mud is exactly the same age as the shells and so can determine what the sea level was about 9,400 years ago,” he added.

The results suggest the Black Sea rose 15 to 30 feet (5 to 10 meters), rather than the 150 to 195 feet (50 to 60 meters) first suggested 13 years ago by Columbia University geologist William Ryan and colleagues.

In 1993, a Black Sea expedition found evidence of former shorelines and coastal dunes at depths of up to 390 feet (120 meters).

According to researchers, these areas had been flooded when the Mediterranean and the Sea of Marmara, which lies between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, breached a rocky barrier across the Bosporus, the Turkish strait that links the Maramara with the Black Sea.

Before such a flood, Ryan and colleagues said the flooded regions may have been rife with agricultural settlements.

His research supports the notion that the flood submerged some 62,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers), driving out farmers in droves, thereby supercharging the agricultural development of Europe, to the west.

However, Giosan’s new study, indicates a less catastrophic influx, submerging only about 1,240 square miles (2,000 square kilometers).

That’s because, according to the new study, the Black Sea’s pre-flood water levels were significantly higher than Ryan’s study suggested.

As a result, there may have been much less water cascading through the Bosporus and onto the exposed continental shelf surrounding the Black Sea.

Evaluating how various proteins interact in tumors can help predict a woman’s chances of surviving breast cancer, allowing doctors to better tailor treatment, Canadian researchers said on Sunday.

Knowing from the outset that a particular woman’s prognosis is bad could allow doctors to give her aggressive treatment right away, but often it is difficult to know which breast cancer patients will do well and which will not.

The researchers analyzed networks of proteins — chemical compounds vital in cellular processes — in breast cancer tissue from about 350 women in the United States and Europe.

They found that women who survived the disease had a different organization of the network of proteins within the cancer cells than those who died.

Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, they said tracking these protein interactions enabled them to accurately predict in 82 percent of patients whether their breast cancer would kill them or not.

“We approached cancer as a problem in how proteins communicate with each other — or how proteins interact with each other in networks,” Jeff Wrana of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

“It could help to direct the appropriate therapies for individual patients.”

The researchers observed 30,000 protein interactions involving about 8,000 proteins, then identified a core group of about 250 proteins most important in forecasting patient survival. Many of them regulate the actions of other proteins.

If a newly diagnosed patient has protein interactions that suggest a bad outcome, a doctor could give more aggressive treatment through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Mount Sinai Hospital has a patent on the process and the researchers have formed a Toronto-based company called DyNeMo Biosystems to explore commercial applications.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide, with about 465,000 dying annually.

Afghanistan’s dreams of playing at the 2011 World Cup were saved by torrential rain which swept across the Argentine capital on Friday.

Their final World Cricket League Division Three match against the Cayman Islands was abandoned when they were just 28 runs from a defeat which could have ended their hopes of reaching the World Cup qualifying tournament in South Africa in April.

“I nearly had another heart attack,” admitted Afghanistan coach Kabir Khan. “We needed it to rain and it did.”

Afghanistan got off to a terrible start losing openers Shafiqullah Shafaq and Karim Khan when the score was on 17.

Rais Ahmadzai and Mohammad Nabi fell within the space of four balls to Saheed Mohammed, leaving the Afghans, who started the day’s play on top of the six-nation table, struggling on 47-5.

Skipper Narooz Mangal (26 not out) then led a mini recovery to 68-5 off 31 overs, before rain halted proceedings.

Once the sun returned, the Cayman Islands were set an adjusted target of 63 off 20 overs under the D/L method to win.

Although Ainsley Hall fell in the opening over, three fours in one Hamid Hassan over by Keneil Irving looked to have set them on the way to a shock victory.

But rain was to be Afghanistan’s saviour, as a late downpour left the umpires with no choice but to take the players off the field forcing the abandonment of the game.

Both sides will return on Saturday to start a new match.

Uganda, who also have a chance of qualifying, had their match abandoned when they were struggling at 69-4 against hosts Argentina.

Papua New Guinea, the third team in contention for the April qualifier, ended Hong Kong’s hopes with a nine-wicket win and they will wait nervously for the outcome of Saturday’s replayed matches.

They have eight points while Afghanistan and Uganda are currently on six, leaving the possibility of run rate deciding the two qualifiers.

Hong Kong, who started play with an outside chance of finishing in the top two, never recovered from a disastrous start against PNG and were dismissed for 91.

PNG openers Vani Morea (41 not out) and Chris Amini (38) boosted their side’s run rate which had been seriously damaged following Wednesday’s eight-wicket defeat to Afghanistan.

Fiji declared a state of emergency and curfews after severe storms and flooding struck the Pacific island nation, killing eight people and forcing thousands to evacuate homes, officials said on Monday.

The floodwaters hit over the weekend along the west coast of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu and although they were receding on Monday, some areas remained inaccessible.

“I had just finished eating and heard shouts outside, next thing I know I was thrown out of our house and buried in mud and rubble,” said landslide survivor Verenaisi Rokobale, 24.

Rokobale told the Fiji Times website that she only survived the Sunday landslide in her town of Lololo because a passerby saw her hand sticking out from the mud and debris.

Weather officials warned the South Pacific nation that another low depression, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, was heading toward the Fiji island group.

“Widespread flooding, including severe flooding of major rivers and streams, is expected on Wednesday and Thursday,” Director of Meteorology Rajendra Prasad said in a weather briefing.

Interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who declared a state of emergency at the weekend, said the government was doing all it could to help people affected by the worst deluge to hit the islands in a decade.

“(My) heart goes out to those people who have suffered losses,” Bainimarama said.

Under the state of emergency, curfews were imposed in Ba, Nadi and Sigatoka towns.

“It is basically to safeguard lives and property. We want to prevent criminal elements from taking advantage of the flood hit areas,” Minister of Defense and National Security Ratu Epeli told the Fijilive website on Monday.

SWEPT AWAY

Rescue teams plucked people to safety from rooftops as floodwaters, up to 3 meters (10 ft) deep, struck some areas.

“It was really frightening. We watched as the doors of our homes were forced open by the water,” Vetaia Dokonivalu in the town of Ba told local media. “We saw our belongings being swept out of the houses.”

A total of 6,060 people have sought refuge at 114 evacuation centers, said the National Disaster Management Office, confirming the number of displaced which was earlier reported to be 9,000.

“We are providing meals to those in the centers we have on our list. For those who come after that, we give them biscuits, milk and other dry stock,” said Joeli Rokovada, commissioner of Fiji’s western district.

Health officials warned floodwater victims to be wary of diseases such as diarrhea and typhoid.

“People need to collect as much rainwater as possible and drink as much of this as possible. The other option is to boil the water,” said health official Dr Isimeli Tukana.

“Watch out for food from supermarkets especially from the towns of Ba, Nadi, Sigatoka and Rakiraki. Our health inspectors will be doing their rounds as soon as the water goes down,” Tukana said.

Hundreds of foreign tourists had been stranded in resorts, with flights disrupted in some airports and roads shut.

“A lot of the restaurants are shut. They’ve run out of food,” New Zealand tourist Nigel Lagdon told TVNZ television.

The flooding washed away bridges and roads and swamped the business districts of several towns.

The flooding covers Fiji’s main sugarcane-producing region.

The Fiji Retailers Association said the floods had caused millions of dollars of damages to the business community.

“Retailers have reported more than 90 percent damage and loss in stock in Ba and Nadi. There are quite a few who have a total write off of all the assets,” said association president Himmat Lodhia.

The Milky Way, the Earth’s home galaxy, is spinning much faster and has a mass 50 percent larger than previously believed, raising the probability of a collision with another galaxy, according to a report out Monday.

A team of international astronomers, with the aid of ten telescopes spread out between Hawaii, the Caribbean and the northeastern United States, determined that the Milky Way is rotating at a speed of 161,000 kilometers (100,000 miles) per hour faster than previously thought.

That increase in speed increases the Milky Way’s mass by 50 percent, said Mark Reid, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in research presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting this week in Long Beach, California.

“No longer will we think of the Milky Way as the little sister of the Andromeda Galaxy,” Reid said in a statement.

The larger mass however also means that it has a greater gravitational pull, which increases the likelihood of collisions with the Andromeda galaxy or smaller nearby galaxies, Reid said.

The earth’s solar system is located some 28,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way.

At that distance, the new measurements show that the galaxy is rotating at a speed of 965,600 kilometers (600,000 miles) per hour, compared to previous estimates of 804,672 kilometers (500,000 miles) per hour, the astronomers said.

The new observations from the network of radio telescopes is “producing highly-accurate direct measurements of distances and motions,” said Karl Menten of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, a member of the team.

“These measurements use the traditional surveyor’s method of triangulation and do not depend on any assumptions based on other properties, such as brightness,” Menten said.

The direct measurements “are revising our understanding of the structure and motions of our Galaxy,” Menten said.

It is difficult to determine the structure of the Milky Way because the Earth is inside it. “For other galaxies, we can simply look at them and see their structure, but we can’t do this to get an overall image of the Milky Way,” Menten said.

Inspired by the ‘all seeing eyes’ of insects, scientists have built an artificial one with an unobstructed all-round view.

It has potential uses for guiding robot vehicles and aircraft, providing low-cost panoramic security surveillance and novel lighting systems.

The ‘eye’, designed by a team from The Vision Centre (TVC), is a tool to emulate exactly what insects see as they zip around the landscape, as part of a larger project to understand how they navigate, find food, escape predators and especially, how insects like bees find their way home.

‘Panoramic vision means you have far more information with which to monitor and control your own movement in the world. Insects, in some ways, do this better than we do because they can see all round them at once,’ explained Jochen Zeil of TVC and the Australian National University (ANU).

‘Many sorts of wide-angle and panoramic devices have been designed before, but this one gives a wider field of view without obstruction, while being rugged and light-weight,’ Zeil said, according to a TVC release.

The ‘eye’ is a beautifully-machined Perspex globe with an embedded silvered cone, which allows a 360-degree all-round view, uninterrupted by the brackets used to support mirrors in similar devices. It sits on a standard video camera.

Embryonic stem cells could be a viable and effective alternative for testing drugs for dangerous side effects, according to a leading British researcher.

Christine Mummery, Professor of Developmental Biology at Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands, has predicted that what is currently a small and sparsely funded research area will boom in coming years under US President-elect Barack Obama, who is an ardent supporter of stem cell research.

Mummery said that it typically costs 1 billion dollars and takes 10 years to get a new drug to market. Before any tests or trials take place on patients, millions of chemical compounds are tested on cells in the laboratory, in a bid to detect adverse effects.

For potential drugs to treat heart disease various cell types are used for the preliminary screening - but in the second round of testing, heart cells are necessary. At the moment the only way to do this is using heart cells from animals.

However, Mummery believes that since researchers are able to make unlimited human heart cells from embryonic stem cells, they offer a viable and scientifically exciting alternative.

“Many drugs meant to treat other complaints also have side effects on the heart, sometimes with fatal consequences. There are recent examples of drugs being withdrawn from the market because they caused sudden cardiac death in some patients,” she said.

“Regulators now require that drugs be tested for potential effects on the heart before going to market. At present the pharmaceutical industry has no alternative but to do this using heart cells from animals.

“With the research that is now on-going in several parts of the world, including the UK, we believe using human heart cells from human embryonic stem cells can become a good and viable alternative. From a scientific point of view, it makes much more sense to use human stem cells to model human hearts,” she added.

Mummery presented her views at the British Pharmacological Society’s Winter Meeting in Brighton.

One motorist died as high winds, torrential rain and flash floods lashed southwest England on Saturday as nearly 100 flood warnings were imposed across the region.

A 22-year-old woman died in the county of Dorset when her car crashed off the road in heavy rain. It is thought her car may have aquaplaned.

Some roads in the counties of Devon and Somerset were submerged under 46 centimetres (18 inches) of water. Thirty people were rescued from their vehicles and homes.

A reduced train service was operating between London and the southwest, with some services between the capital and the region’s main cities suspended.

The Environment Agency authority has 247 flood warnings in place, with 99 in the southwest, 46 in the English Midlands and 30 in Wales.

However, Sunday is set to be largely rain-free and the worst weather conditions have already passed through, forecaster MeteoGroup UK said.

A new research has suggested that the last Neanderthals may have intermingled with modern humans in southeastern Iberia in Europe.

The research is based on a study of human fossils found during the past decade at the Sima de la Palomas, Murcia, Spain, by Michael Walker, professor at Universidad de Murcia, and colleagues.

It is widely accepted that Upper Paleolithic early modern humans spread westward across Europe about 42,000 years ago, variably displacing and absorbing Neanderthal populations in the process.

However, Middle Paleolithic assemblages persisted for another 8,000 years in Iberia, presumably made by Neanderthals.

It has been unclear whether these late Middle Paleolithic Iberian assemblages were made by Neanderthals, and what the nature of those humans might have been.

New research is now shedding some light on what were probably the last Neanderthals.

The human fossils from the upper levels of the Sima de las Palomas are anatomically clearly Neanderthals, and they are now securely dated to 40,000 years ago.

They therefore establish the late persistence of Neanderthals in this southwestern cul-de-sac of Europe.

This reinforces the conclusion that the Neanderthals were not merely swept away by advancing modern humans.

The behavioral differences between these human groups must have been more subtle than the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic technological contrasts might imply, according to the research.

In addition, the Palomas Neanderthals variably exhibit a series of modern human features rare or absent in earlier Neanderthals, which suggests that they might have mixed with modern humans.