Sydney - Anglo-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto Ltd said Wednesday it had received approval from a German regulator to sell iron ore and aluminium assets to the Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) for 19.5 billion US dollars to shore up its balance sheet.

Chinalco, which already owns 9 per cent of Rio Tinto, would see a doubling of its stake in dual-listed Rio if shareholders, governments and regulators approve the deal.

Melbourne - Toyota have decided against appealing the 25- second penalty imposed on driver Jarno Trulli after the Italian was deemed to have overtaken under safety car conditions during Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Trulli slid off the track in the safety car phase which forced Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren-Mercedes to pass him. Trulli then moved ahead of the world champion again, but the stewards deemed this move illegal under safety car conditions.

The decision moved Hamilton up to third while Trulli was demoted to 12th.

Melbourne, Apr 1 : Watching your team lose can be more than heart breaking, it can be fatal, especially for die-hard fans, warns a new study.

"The emotional stress of loss and/or the intensity of a game played in a high profile rivalry such as the Super Bowl can trigger total and cardiovascular deaths," ABC Online quoted Dr Robert Kloner, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California, as saying.

"In contrast, a win in a lower intensity game may actually have a favourable effect on mortality,” he added.

Melbourne, Apr 1: Sexual assaults in Australia have reportedly risen by more than 50 per cent since the mid-1990s, with more attacks taking place during the warmer months.

A study carried out by the Australian Institute of Criminology shows that the incidents of sexual assault increased by five per cent a year, on average, between 1995 and
2007.

Sydney, April 1 : In a new research, a scientist has suggested that long-necked sauropod dinosaurs would had to have used far too much energy to hold their neck upright and browse tall trees.

Sauropods were about as heavy as a whale and had necks nearly five times the length of a giraffe's.

The animals have generally been reconstructed with upright necks and it was assumed they grazed on tall trees.

Melbourne - Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug has spoken out against the uncertainty of the new rule changes in Formula One in the wake of Brawn GP's imperious one-two victory in Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Jenson Button took the chequered flag ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello but Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull have all protested the decision by the race commissioners at Albert Park to allow Honda's successor team, as well as Williams and Toyota, to field new diffusers.