Washington, Oct 22: A new research has suggested that faced with a dire shortage of mates of their own kind, corals may be able to cross-breed with certain other coral species to breed themselves out of a one-way trip to extinction.

This finding, released by scientists at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, has raised hopes for the ability of the world’s corals to withstand the rigors of changing climates and human impacts.

According to lead author Zoe Richards, coral reefs worldwide face a variety of marine and land-based threats and hundreds of corals are now on the red list of threatened species.

New York, Oct. 22 : Massachusetts Democrat Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry has been roundly criticized for implying that Republican presidential candidate John McCain wears adult diapers.

The one-liner came during a speech at a business summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Monday, when Kerry railed on the media for its election coverage.

Tokyo, Oct 22: The recent lay offs in the aviation sector and the buzz of a slump in the IT sector, have sent shivers down the backs of the working class, but Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman and co-founder of the Bangalore-based Infosys Ltd. told ANI there is no need to worry.

"We have already said the growth will be lowered at Infosys. We have lowered the guidance of the year of 13 to 15 per cent, but part of that is cross currency. But fundamentally, I think, there is growth and there will be jobs in the industry," Nandan said.

Madrid - While world leaders have fretted over a financial crisis that seemed to bring the global economy to the verge of collapse, Emilio Botin has kept his calm.

"Crisis? Who is in crisis?" the president of the Spanish banking giant Santander, whose capacity to weather the turmoil has impressed the world, asked in July.

"Not Santander," Botin answered his own question. "The crisis is like a child's fever. It starts very strong, then goes down."

Last week, the 74-year-old veteran banker spoke about the crisis with more concern, but dismissed talk of it originating in the United States or in subprime mortgages.

Srinagar, Oct 22 : Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Kuldeep Khuda has said that extra security would be deployed for the seven-phase polls in the state beginning November 17.

"We are expected to get the required forces in time. They will be deployed as per the requirement. Different strength of forces will be required in different phases," said Kuldeep Khuda, Director General of Police.

Separatist leaders have threatened to boycott any state election and plan to hold protests during the elections.

Khuda said that strict actions would be taken against anybody who tried to disrupt the elections. "Anybody who violated law of land, action will be followed," he added.

Nosheen Idrees, the 22 year old from Jhelum Pakistan, will be representing ‘Pakistan’ in the Miss Earth pageant.

A student of communications at the University of Sheffield, Miss Idrees was crowned the third runner up for the Miss Pakistan World pageant on the 23rd of May 2008.

Nosheen expects to bring back a title, which can place Pakistan as a country that has the most beautiful women all through the world.