World

Stunned by the “coolest, scariest thing” she had ever seen, Photographer Janae Copelin caught a snapshot early this week of a rare weather marvel known as a firenado. The whirling “fire-devil” was spawned as a farmer burned off his field in Chillicothe, Missouri. A swirling rotation of smoke, gas and debris, a firenado is generated when an active fire is …

Syrian rebels blew up a luxury hotel turned army base in the historic heart of Aleppo on Thursday after tunneling under the front line that divides the main northern city. State television gave no word on any casualties from the attack that leveled the famed Carlton Citadel Hotel just across the road from the city’s UNESCO-listed Citadel. But the Syrian …

“Eczema may reduce risk of skin cancer: Condition means sufferers are more likely to shed skin containing cancerous cells,” reports the Mail Online. This headline follows a study which found that mice with a defect in their skin barrier were less likely to develop benign skin tumours. But the mice that did develop tumours were more likely to develop malignant …

Veteran journalist Gao Yu has been detained by police over charges of leaking “state secrets” to foreign contacts in Beijing, Xinhua said today. Gao, 70, leaked a secret document to an overseas website in August last year, SCMP relays. She admitted to being “deeply remorseful” for her actions and was “willing to accept legal punishment”.

In last year’s This is The End, Seth Rogen’s character Seth Rogen describes gluten as a blanket term for things that are bad for you, from calories to fat. While this isn’t entirely accurate (it’s actually a composite wheat protein), the definition seems to work well enough for plenty of people as a solid reason to go gluten-free.

News reports now say that the Georgetown Police Department in Texas has withdrawn its allegation that a man arrested for fraud also may have been involved in the Target Corp. data breach from last December that compromised 40 million credit and debit card details and the personal information on 70 million customers.

Adobe today announced Adobe Voice, a new iPad app that allows users to make simple animated video “stories” that incorporate voice, photos, icons, music, animated themes, and more. Designed for people that have little to no filmmaking experience, Adobe Voice imagines itself as a useful presentation creation tool for everyone from small business owners to students.

An Andalusia, Illinois woman’s successful weight-loss story has gone global, after Shape Magazine in New York, denied posting the fitness blogger’s picture in a two-piece bathing suit. It began when Shape magazine told Brooke Birmingham, who has lost 170 pounds, that they wanted to feature her in their “success story” column. She agreed, but just days after she sent the …

Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a judge on Wednesday to declare the federal death penalty unconstitutional, citing recent bungled executions in Ohio and Oklahoma and arguing there’s mounting evidence innocent people have been executed.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the latest international leader to condemn the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria, an act she called “abominable.” The girls were taken by Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group in the country, and the Nigerian government does not know where they are even though more than two weeks have passed.

A class of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction could also treat blood flow problems related to Duchenne muscular dystrophy–a bright spot in a disease field marked by clinical failures. In a small trial, boys with Duchenne given phosphodiesterase inhibitors–a class of drugs that includes sildenafil (Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis)–had increased blood flow to muscles and less fatigue after exercising. …