Cape Town, Oct 27 : The southern Cape town of South Africa has been singled out by an anthropologist as the most likely birthplace of modern humans - thanks, at least partly, to its abundance of fish.

According to a report in The Times, the anthropologist in question is Dr Curtis Marean, who presented his findings earlier this month at the Nobel Conference in Minnesota in the US.

Rich pickings of fleshy roots and bulbs, courtesy of the juicy Cape floral kingdom, are another crucial reason why mankind finally progressed past grunting to arithmetic and outboard motors, according to Dr Marean.

Fossil evidence of Homo sapiens has been found at several sites across Africa, including two 195000-year-old skulls in Ethiopia.

Tokyo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Monday ordered the government and the ruling parties to immediately implement measures to stabilize the stock market.

"Stock prices greatly influence the real economy," Aso said at a press conference. "In that sense, we have to consider various measures and implement them."

The government was expected to implement emergency measures such as a larger government fund to recapitalize ailing banks and help for employees to purchase stock in their companies, Aso said.

Tokyo - Seven of the world's leading industrialized countries expressed concern Monday over the yen's strength against other major currencies and pledged to cooperate in stabilizing the global financial system.

"We are concerned about the recent excessive volatility in the exchange rate of the yen and its possible adverse implications for economic and financial stability," said an emergency statement released by the Group of Seven (G7), which consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

The statement was released on Japan's request, Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said after the yen soared to a 13-year high against the dollar.

Sydney - Australian stocks slid Monday as fears of a worldwide recession grew.

The ASX 200 lost 60 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 3,809.

Losses were stemmed by rising values in the mining sector. Market leader BHP Billiton was up 1.5 per cent as bargain hunters moved on a counter considered oversold. Gold miners also did better.

The local currency was trading at a five-year low. It has lost 37 per cent in value against the US dollar in three months.

The Australian dollar was trading at 61 US cents, up from the low of 60 cents on Friday.

London, Oct 27 : A new research by British scientists has indicated that the Arctic icecap is now shrinking at record rates in the winter as well as summer, adding to evidence of disastrous melting near the North Pole.

According to a report in The Times, the research was undertaken by Dr Katharine Giles, who led the study and is based at the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at University College London (UCL).

Her team found that the widely reported summer shrinkage, which this year resulted in the opening of the Northwest Passage, is continuing in the winter months with the thickness of sea ice decreasing by a record 19 percent last winter.

London, October 27: Veteran rockers are set to come together to form a supergroup to raise the curtain for the 2012 Olympic games in London.

Legendary rock stars, such as the 61-year-old David Bowie and ‘Led Zepplin’s 64-year-old Jimmy Page, might be heard making some noise at the opening ceremony.

Though ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, 66, and Ringo Starr, 68, are suspected to be long shots, legends like Van Morrison, 63, Phil Collins, 57, Elton John, 61, and Sting, 57 may be expected to take the stage.