■ United States
Clark takes NH hamlet
General Wesley Clark captured eight of the 15 votes cast for Democrats in the first balloting of the New Hampshire primary yesterday in the northern hamlet of Dixville Notch, giving his candidacy a symbolic boost before the rest of the state goes to the polls. All 26 registered voters in Dixville Notch cast ballots -- 11 for US President George W. Bush. Dixville Notch takes advantage of a state election law that allows communities to close the polls after all registered voters have cast their ballots. Every four years, Dixville Notch momentarily becomes the center of the presidential campaign because it marks the nation's first direct vote for a candidate.
■ United States
Neanderthals not human
A study comparing the skulls of Neanderthals to early and modern humans has concluded that the ancient group is unlikely to have been the ancestor of people today. The study measured 15 standard landmarks on the face and skull of Neanderthals, early modern humans, current humans as well as other primate species. It found that the differences measured between humans and Neanderthals were significantly greater than those found between subspecies of any single group, suggesting Neanderthals were not a subspecies of humans.
■ United States
Scientists grow GM sperm
For the first time, US and Japanese scientists have genetically modified sperm, grown it in a laboratory dish and used it to produce a transgenic creature. The technique could, in the long term, pay off in human fertility research and suggest new ways to overcome genetic disorders. So far, however, it only works for zebrafish, a laboratory favorite because their embryos are transparent. The US-Japanese team's landmark achievement was to enable immature sperm cells -- spermatogonia -- from male zebrafish to survive long enough in laboratory culture to take aboard foreign genes.
■ Egypt
Building collapse kills five
A 12-story building collapsed in a Cairo suburb on Monday night after a fire broke out in a ground floor appliance store, killing at least five people, including three firefighters and a police officer. About 10 people remained trapped in the rubble, and a member of the rescue team said that rescuers heard from a survivor beneath the debris yesterday morning. The survivor said two others were alive with him, the rescue worker said.
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