Four percent of youths online have been asked to send a sexually explicit photo of themselves over the Internet, researchers said in a new study. Of the 65 youths in the study who reported receiving a request, only one actually complied. But that is still a troubling number: With millions of youths online, that projects to potentially thousands across the country. "One of the things we really need to start doing is talk to kids more directly and informing them of the criminal implications of this type of thing," said Kimberly Mitchell, a research professor at the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center. The study was published yesterday in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
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Freeway full of fondue
A tractor trailer hauling blocks of cheese erupted into flames early on Thursday, heating some of its precious cargo into freeway fondue. No one was hurt, but hundreds of kilograms of provolone, cheddar, American and other cheeses littered the side of the Interstate 80 freeway north of Sacramento, California. "It went pretty quick," said driver Frank Barker, who pulled over when he saw smoke coming from under his truck. Barker said he initially tried to put out the flames with his truck's fire extinguisher, but the fire was too big.
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Explosion released asbestos
Asbestos has been found in the muddy dirt and debris from a thunderous steam pipe explosion that jolted Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday evening. But no asbestos was found in the air, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others had initially feared. New York City officials said on Thursday that it is unlikely that anyone will have long-term health effects from brief exposure to the asbestos. "Developing an asbestos-related illness after being exposed for a short time -- even at high levels -- is very unlikely," city officials said on Thursday morning. Asbestos is a carcinogen.
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Pentagon rebukes Clinton
The Pentagon has rebuked the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, warning that her questions about how it would mount a withdrawal from Iraq reinforced "enemy propaganda" and unnerved Iraqis. Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman said in a reply to a letter Clinton had sent to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in May: "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.
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