■ US economy
Americans aren't happy
Fifty-five percent of Americans think economic conditions in the US are poor or very poor and almost three-quarters blame those conditions on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Time/CNN poll found. The poll found that that 71 percent of Americans blame the current conditions on the terrorist attacks and 65 percent blame a possible war with Iraq. About two in three people -- 64 percent -- said the country is in an economic recession, the poll showed. Seventy-three percent of those polled said that they're concerned about President George W. Bush's budget proposal that would increase the amount of money Congress controls annually by US$30 billion.
■ Agriculture
Australia faces drought
Eight million cattle were slaughtered in the last six months of last year because farmers were unable to provide feed or water amid Australia's worst drought in a century, an industry group said yesterday. "Cattle slaughter in the second half of last year, as the extent of the drought deepened, reached levels last seen in the mid-1970s," Meat and Livestock Australia said in a statement. "Severe fodder shortages throughout Australia, the high cost and low availability of grain, and major water restrictions create significant uncertainties for the industry."
■ Aircraft
Bell to design new plane
Textron Inc, the maker of Cessna airplanes, said its Bell Helicopter unit will design and develop three Eagle Eye unmanned tilt-rotor aircraft for the US Coast Guard under a three-year agreement. The tilt-rotor craft takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like an airplane, Textron said. The unmanned aircraft program ultimately calls for delivery of 69 aircraft and 50 ground control units valued at as much as US$1 billion, the company said in a statement. The agreement is part of the Coast Guard's 30-year, US$17 billion Deepwater Program to build and support a new generation of vessels and aircraft to replace the agency's aging fleet. The term "deepwater" refers to operations 80km or more off the US coastline.
■ Biotech
Cloned goat gives birth
China's first cloned goat has given birth to twins just days into the lunar new year named after the same animal, state media reported yesterday. Chinese ushered in the Year of the Goat on Feb. 1. "Yang Yang," Chinese for Sunny, gave birth to a male and a female kid on Friday. The male kid died hours later at a breeding centre in the northwestern province of Shaanxi. It was Yang Yang's second successful delivery in two years, the newspapers and the Xinhua news agency said. Yang Yang first gave birth to twins in August 2001.
■ Lottery
S Korea has winners
South Korea's biggest-ever lottery sales this week produced 13 top winners nationwide, giving each 6.4 billion won (US$5.4 million) before tax, organizer Kookmin Bank said. The lottery has been in the spotlight because ticket sales have risen more than 20-fold since the Lotto system was introduced in December to record 260 billion won. A sole winner would have received 83.5 billion won before tax. Lottery officials estimated that as many as 7 million people, or about one in six South Koreans, may have bought tickets last week.
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