■ United States
Lasers control fly behavior
Meet the Stepford flies. US scientists have created genetically modified flies they can remotely control with laser light. At the flick of a switch the researchers use the laser to make the flies jump, beat their wings and fly on command -- echoing the way the Stepford husbands use a handheld device to control their wives in last year's remake of the classic film. The scientists hope the freakish experiments will show them how nerve activity relates to behavior, perhaps one day helping to restore feelings and movement to people who have lost nerve cells through injury or disease.
■ United Nations
US also opposes reforms
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's sweeping plan for UN reform ran into new problems when the US joined Russia and China in opposing his call for adoption of the entire package at a summit of world leaders in September. The three veto-wielding members of the Security Council -- whose support for the UN overhaul is considered crucial -- said on Thursday that there should be no "artificial deadlines" and made it clear that it would be impossible to accept all of Annan's proposals. They also stressed the importance of getting broad agreement on the divisive issue of Security Council expansion.
■ Peru
Watch out for taxis, buses
Anyone climbing aboard a bus or taxi in Peru should think twice because many drivers have psychopathic tendencies, a university study said on Wednesday. Some 40 percent of the 640 taxi and bus drivers surveyed by Lima's San Marcos University suffered from psychological problems and showed psychopathic tendencies, such as aggressive, anxious and antisocial behavior, the study said. "Drivers showed they would not feel any guilt in injuring or running over a pedestrian," the study added. Hundreds of people die each year in bus and taxi crashes in Peru because of bad roads, poorly maintained vehicles and recklessness by drivers.
■ United States
Mammoth found at work site
The remarkably well-preserved remnants of an estimated half-million-year-old mammoth -- including both tusks -- were discovered at a new housing development in Moorpark, California. An on-site paleontologist found the remains, which include 50 percent to 70 percent of the Ice Age creature, as crews cleared away hillsides to prepare for building, Mayor Pro Tem Clint Harper said. Paleontologist Mark Roeder estimated the mammoth was about 3.7m tall, Harper said. Roeder believed it was not a pygmy or imperial mammoth, but he had not yet determined its exact type, Harper said.
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