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Horse breeders have called for a cull of fruit bats to combat series of deaths from the hendra virus, as Thoroughbred Breeders Australia have raised concerns over the disease spreading further south, coupled with the recent horse death at Macksville on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.

Also, the disease is spread by flying foxes, as several of the recent horse deaths have been connected to fig trees that attract the bats, and 6 people, exposed to the horses at Macksville are being tested for the virus.

A new map, which details different habitats in the UK, shows that about half of the land in the country is used for crops or pasture.

The new map, which details each scrape of land in the UK down to 25m, includes mountains, heathers, large fields of East Anglia, etc. The "improved grassland' and "arable and horticulture" appeared to be the biggest habitats, with 25% of the area of the country.

The International Cyber Security Protection Alliance or ICSPA was established yester at a gathering of new coalition of government, law enforcement, and international businesses in London, with a focus to fight cyber criminals on a global scale.

ICSPA is backed by several security companies including McAfee and Trend Micro, while Europol is the major law agency to join the initiative. The government of the UK has also announced its backing for the body.

Scientists at Liverpool University and Norwich’s Genome Analysis Centre have generated the DNA sequence belonging to the East African rodent, which has an inbuilt resistance to tumours and can live for 30 years.

The scientists believe that the study will help increase understanding about why cancers develop and spread in ageing bodies. Scientists have suggested earlier that rat’s cells have a tumour resistant capacity absent in other rodents or in humans.

Dr Joao Pedro Magalhaes, from the university’s institute of integrative biology, said that the long life span of the rodent is a recent discovery. Other similar sized mice have a life span of four years.

According to Ofcom’s newly released interactive broadband map, much of Whales has the worst broadband connection in the UK.

The new clickable map released by the communications regulator allows users to check the take-up and speed of broadband in their area. The map shows 12 county council areas in Wales had the worst broadband connection.

Internet service provider, Facebook yesterday launched a new video chatting in association with popular Internet calling service, Skype.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and chief executive said during a new conference at the company’s headquarters that the new feature will allow users to connect with their friends in a new way, beyond messages and posts. “It’s so easy, so minimal to use,’’ he said.