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Paying attention to a common, highly treatable, but often overlooked symptom could help doctors more easily identify people at increased risk for heart attacks and strokes, two new large studies suggest. This symptom—frequent daytime drowsiness brought on by sleep problems—is so ubiquitous that many people don’t recognize it as a potential health threat that warrants discussion with their medical provider, says Amy Doneen, ARNP, medical director of the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center in Spokane, WA. The new research may help solve a medical mystery: Why heart attacks and strokes frequently occur in people without conventional risk factors. Only about half of strokes can be explained by such well-established risks as smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes, according to a new study published in PLOS Medicine .

Oscar Pistorius recounts the shooting Continue reading the main story Pistorius trial Pistorius testifies Harding: Tough start Week four round-up Question of character South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has described the moment he fired the shots which killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home. He told his trial in Pretoria he had heard noises from the toilet and thought an intruder was coming out. "Before I knew it, I had fired four shots at the door," he said. The trial of the athlete, who could face life imprisonment if convicted of murder, was adjourned until Wednesday after he broke down crying.

Darwin made a brief appearance at Teesside Crown Court Continue reading the main story Convicted canoe death fraudster John Darwin has repaid just £121 of a £679,000 proceeds of crime order, a court has heard. Darwin, 63, of Seaton Carew, Teesside,  faked his own death in 2002 so his then-wife Anne could claim £500,000. He served three years of a six-year jail term for insurance fraud. Teesside Crown Court heard he may now have to use a recently matured pension to repay the cash he cheated out of insurance companies. The father of two appeared in court after police began fresh proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Triathlete Raija Ogden was treated for a head injury Australia's air safety body is looking into reports that a triathlete has been injured by a falling drone. Raija Ogden reportedlysustained minor head injuries after the drone's operator lost control of the device.

An Australian vessel searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has detected signals consistent with those from aircraft black boxes. Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield acquired the signal twice, once for more than two hours, Australia said. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is leading the search, called it the "most promising lead" so far. But he said more information was needed: "We haven't found the aircraft yet and we need further confirmation." The plane, carrying 239 people, was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March when it disappeared. Malaysian officials say they believe it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. 'Two distinct returns' ACM Houston said that the signals were detected using the towed pinger locator deployed on the Ocean Shield. The signals were heard by the towed pinger locator deployed by the Ocean Shield Two vessels reported hearing signals during the search over the weekend Two separate detections occurre...

Aid at a glance Australia: $9.3m package, including medical staff, shelter materials, water containers and hygiene kits. Japan: $10m, including tents and blankets. 25-person medical team already sent. South Korea: $5m plus a 40-strong medical team Indonesia: Logistical aid including aircraft, food, generators and medicine. UAE: $10m in humanitarian aid US:$20m in humanitarian aid, 90 marines, aircraft carrier plus logistics support UK: $16m (£10m) package including emergency shelter, water and household items. Asia Development Bank: A $500m emergency reconstruction loan and $23m in grants Donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee(DEC) Typhoon Haiyan: Aid in numbers Planes are arriving at the airport, but bringing little in and only taking people out, and there is little sign of a co-ordinated relief operation, he says. But Philippine Interior Minister Mar Roxas told the BBC that relief efforts were on track. "Our first priorities were, number one, to establish l...

Australia is often hit by bushfires during summer months from December to February. Causes can be lightning, arson, power-line arcing, dropped cigarettes or controlled burns that go wrong. On 7 February 2009 a prolonged heat-wave and dry spell led to the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria. The fires became Australia's worst natural disaster, killing 173 people and burning thousands of houses. On 16 February 1983 almost 200 fires caused devastation across parts of Victoria and South Australia. Seventy-five people died in what became known as the Ash Wednesday fires. In January 2013, parts of NSW and Tasmania were hit by fires as temperatures soared to record levels, with average national temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius. One person died in Tasmania and several hundred buildings were destroyed. The fires have been burning in the Blue Mountains since Thursday, with a state of emergency declared at the weekend. "There's not been fires quite like this before - so ...

More than 3,000 firefighters in Australia are battling devastating bushfires raging across New South Wales as weather conditions worsen. "This will be as bad as it gets," Rural Fire Service chief Shane Fitzsimmons said, adding there was "real potential for more loss of homes and life". High temperatures, low humidity and strong winds of up to 100km/h (60mph) are forecast for Wednesday. In total, 59 fires are burning across the state, 19 of which are uncontained. Hundreds more firefighters have been deployed to the Blue Mountains, to the west of Sydney, to work alongside the 1,000 already there, making it one of the largest firefighting contingents ever assembled in the state's history. Residents have been urged to leave affected areas. Hundreds of nursing home residents were evacuated late on Tuesday and all schools in the area are closed. "We are all in this together and we are going to get through this day. If you haven't prepared yourself, for ...

Bushfires in Australia's New South Wales could merge to form a massive blaze, the fire commissioner has said, as teams battle fires across the state. LaNUBlog.com latestarticlesbyiykemandela.blogspot.com Three fires near Lithgow, a city by the Blue Mountains, are thought to be at risk of merging into one fire front. New South Wales has been badly hit by bushfires after the hottest September on record. It has declared a state of emergency. Officials say conditions are likely to worsen this week. NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that the fire at State Mine in Lithgow was at risk of merging with the fire at Mount Victoria. "Modelling indicates that there's every likelihood under the forecast weather conditions that these two fires, particularly up in the back end of the mountains will merge at some point... there is every likelihood that these two fires will join up," he said. Teams are faced with almost 60 fires in NSW, at least 14 of th...

  At least 31 asylum seekers drowned when their vessel sank off Java's coast last week Australian new PM Tony Abbott is to begin a visit to Indonesia, amid tensions between the two nations over his tough asylum policies. Jakarta says Mr Abbott's policy of sending boats with illegal migrants back to Indonesia risks violating the country's sovereignty. Mr Abbott, who was elected earlier this month, defends his plans. Last week, at least 31 asylum seekers drowned when their vessel sank off the coast of Java. 'Stand or fall' Mr Abbott is expected to hold talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the two-day visit to the country - his first overseas trip since becoming prime minister. Ahead of the tour, Mr Abbott has sought to play down the tensions, saying he would like to focus on other key issues, including trade. He is bringing dozens of Australian business leaders to Jakarta. He also stress...

A court in the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk has remanded 22 activists from a Greenpeace ship in custody for two months for allegedly trying to seize an oil platform. Another eight people from the Arctic Sunrise were detained for three days pending a new hearing. The activists - who hail from a total of 18 countries - are being held pending a "piracy" inquiry, but Greenpeace says the activists were staging a legal, peaceful protest. Among those detained was Iain Rogers from Devon. He said the activists had been made to comply with the Russian authorities against their will and that the justice system was "corrupt".

A court in the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk has remanded 20 activists from a Greenpeace ship in custody for two months for allegedly trying to seize an oil platform. The crew of the Arctic Sunrise ship, who hail from 18 nations, are accused of "piracy" against an oil platform. Russian coastguards intercepted the ship on 19 September after two activists tried to haul themselves onto an offshore drilling platform operated by the Russian company Gazprom. Greenpeace says the activists were staging a legal, peaceful protest. Warning shots were fired as they were apprehended. Watch footage of the incident.

The environmental organisation Greenpeace is to appeal against the detention of 30 of its activists in Russia over a protest in the Arctic. It demanded their immediate release, after a court in Murmansk remanded 22 of them in custody for two months pending an investigation. Eight other activists face a new hearing on Sunday. The crew of the Arctic Sunrise ship, who hail from 18 nations, are accused of "piracy" against an oil platform. However, President Vladimir Putin has said the Greenpeace activists are clearly not pirates, though they may have broken international law. Led by Captain Peter Henry Willcox, who previously commanded Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship when it was blown up by French agents in a New Zealand port in 1985, the activists were protesting against the Arctic oil and gas industry. Greenpeace says drilling for oil in the Arctic puts a delicate environment at risk. Russian coastguards intercepted the ship on 19 September after two activists trie...

Many regattas ago, when Jimmy Spithill had not yet won the grandest prize in yachting, one of his mentors, the Australian Syd Fischer, gave him words to sail by. “Syd used to say to me when something was going good, ‘Be careful,’ ” Spithill said, “ ‘because you can be a rooster one day and a feather duster the next.’ ” A sailor had to be careful indeed in the 34th America’s Cup, which generated historically fast speeds and risks in carbon-fiber foiling catamarans that bore a greater resemblance to flying machines than boats. But while it once looked all but certain that Spithill, the Oracle Team USA skipper and helmsman, and his crew mates were going to end up as feather dusters in San Francisco, they were ultimately able to turn Fischer’s catchphrase on its head, pulling off the greatest comeback in America’s Cup history and one of the most dramatic in any sport. Video | The Sailors and Their Flying Machines This year’s America’s Cup vessels are more flying machines than yac...

The classic Oscar-winning film The Third Man is to be made into a musical in Vienna. A major Austrian production company, Vereinigte Buehnen Wien (VBW), says it has secured the rights to make the first musical version of the cult film, set in Vienna just after World War II. The novelist Graham Greene wrote the screenplay for the 1949 film, which features haunting zither music. American movie star Orson Welles played the sinister racketeer Harry Lime. The German-language musical is expected to be premiered in 2016. The black-and-white film, directed by Carol Reed, shows a stark post-war Vienna, bomb-damaged and occupied by Allied forces. Harry Lime meets his end in a Vienna sewer after scenes filled with suspense and intrigue. The musical will be developed, produced and premiered in Vienna. VBW's spokesperson, Katja Goebel, says there was huge competition to secure the rights, which are owned by Studio Canal and the Graham Greene Estate. She says the creative team has not y...

Falling resource prices have seen thousands of workers laid off in Australia, and towns like Mackay, at the heart of the coal mining region on the east coast of Queensland, have suffered more than most. When Scott Gralow bought Mackay Motorcycles in 2007 the shop had just had its best year. They had sold 150 Harley-Davidsons, not bad for a town of just over 100,000 people. Then, two years later, he sold 210 of them. "It went from boom to 'boom boom'," he tells me. Those numbers made him one of the biggest regional Harley dealers in Australia. "It was full on," says Scott, more bank manager than bikie with his neat, thinning hair, clean shaven face and rectangular glasses. He starts to talk about Fat Boy, Street Bob and Fatty Low. Australians have a certain fondness for politically incorrect nicknames, so it takes me a minute to realise he is not talking about his mechanics. "They have got the look that everyone likes," he says, walking along...