Eye on the Globe

-Turkmenistan has launched the latest stage of a plan to channel water across thousands of kilometres of desert to create a vast inland sea. The lake will be filled with drainage water from the country's cotton fields.

President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said the "Golden Age Lake" plan showed his country was preserving nature and improving the environment.

But critics say the water will be full of fertiliser and insecticides, and will evaporate quickly.

The project is one of the biggest and most ambitious in the world, and could cost up to $20bn ($7 billion usd).

President Berdymukhamedov opened up the first tributary to bring water to a natural depression in the Karakum Desert. The desert covers more than 80% of Turkmenistan.
He told the crowd that the lake would make the desert bloom.

-BEIJING - More people now go online in China than there are people in the United States.

The country's rapid economic growth and expansion of Internet access in more areas has fueled a sharp increase in Internet users, totaling 338 million by the end of June, a government-sanctioned research group said.

The latest U.S. Census Bureau's figure says the population of the U.S. is just under 307 million. China's population is more than 1.3 billion.

China's population of Internet users has been growing at explosive rates despite government efforts to block access to material deemed subversive or pornographic.

-Brazilian police are investigating after 64 containers with more than 1,400 tonnes of hazardous UK waste were found in three of the country's ports.

The authorities say that among the material which was brought in illegally they discovered batteries, syringes, condoms and nappies. Since the initial discovery, another 25 containers with hospital waste were found, also apparently from England.

In a statement the British Embassy in Brazil promised "immediate steps". It said the UK was completely opposed to any kind of illegal trade in waste.

Public resentment over the issue increased when it was revealed that inside one of the containers was a collection of dirty toys with a note in Portuguese saying they should be washed before being given to "poor Brazilian children".

Word on the Street...

-New Jersey net Richard Jeffersen dumped his bride-to-be, former nets dancer Keshia Ni'cole, the night before the ceremony, via email *dead*

In an interview following the breakup, richard said he gave her a six figure settlement to help her 'get on with her life'; he went on to say "It's so crazy, the divorce rate out there. If you aren't 100% certain about something, you shouldn't do it."

-Johnny Depp has his eye on a gender-bending movie role - he would love to portray singer/actress Carol Channing in a biopic.

He says, “My dream role would be to play musical legend Carol Channing in a biopic of her life. I love her, I really do, she’s amazing. With all the digital technology these days, I could probably pull it off!”

-Whitney Houston was so terrified of showcasing her new album at a launch party, she hid in another room until the entire CD had played.

The singer is currently trying to work her way back to the top of the charts with "I Look To You," her first record in seven years.

A source tells Britain's London Lite newspaper, "There were music press from around the world and VIP guests present. Whitney was so nervous she was hiding behind a door while everyone listened."

But the star made sure she expressed her gratitude for the critics' support, emerging after the CD had played and thanking each of her guests for coming.

Life's Intrigues

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle; it is widely famous for its monumental statues.

Easter Island may now boast another odd claim to fame: a midlife longevity drug. In a new study, researchers report that an antibiotic called rapamycin - after the island's Polynesian name, Rapa Nui - enabled middle-aged mice to live up to 16% longer than their rapa-free counterparts.

The discovery marks the first time a drug has been shown to lengthen life span in mammals, even when administered late in life.

Scientists first stumbled on rapamycin in soil samples taken from Easter Island in 1965. A bacterium found in the soil, Streptomyces hygroscopicus, secreted the stuff to fend off its bacterial and fungal rivals.

Rapamycin has since been used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients and, most recently, as an antitumor drug. The compound works by inhibiting mTOR, a protein that regulates cell growth and survival.

Pharmacologist Randy Strong and molecular biologist Z. David Sharp, who headed the study's Texas arm, planned to feed young mice rapamycin and observe the drug's effects as they aged. But by the time the researchers formulated a feed that made the rapamycin stable and easily digestible, the mice had grown old (20 months old), or about 60 human years. Because calorie restriction and other life-lengthening measures work best when started young, Strong and his colleagues didn't expect the experiment to work in midlife. Yet the mice lived 28% to 38% longer than the controls from that point on, the researchers report in Nature, the equivalent of 6 to 9 extra years in humans. Their overall life expectancy rose 5% to 16%.

Rapamycin is known to raise cholesterol levels and, as a potent immune system suppressant, the compound could make its consumers more susceptible to infections.

Source: Science/AAAS

Word on the Street

-Unconfirmed rumour: claims that Morgan Freeman is involved in a sexual relationship with his step-granddaughter, E'Dena (his first wife's granddaughter); it is alleged that this is the reason for the breakdown of his second marriage.

Morgan's publicist has dismissed rumours that the star plans to wed his step-granddaughter.

-At the Lebron James Skill Academy, a camp for up and coming high school and college basketball players, Xavier University player Jordan Crawford dunked on Lebron James. That is usually no big deal but what is so strange is that Nike took the tapes so that nobody else could see it happen. Reporters who were at the camp were shocked when this happened and even more surprised when Lebron didn’t stop the Nike reps from doing it.

-Samuel L. Jackson is fighting back against harsh online critics; the actor is challenging his internet bullies to deliver their blows during face-to-face meetings. The star admits he can't stop reading reviews about himself and he wants to fight back, he is disturbed by bloggers hiding behind their anonymity.

Jackson says, "All these people can sit at home and can blog. They can say bad things about you online and you don't know who they are but they know who I am. It's totally unfair."