If the current rapid extermination of animals, plants and other species really is the "sixth mass extinction", then it is the amphibian branch of the tree of life that is undergoing the most drastic pruning.

In research described as "terrifying" by an independent expert, scientists predict the future for frogs, toads, newts and salamanders is even more bleak than conservationists had realised.

Around half of amphibian species are in decline, while a third are already threatened with extinction. But scientists now predict that areas with the highest diversity of amphibian species will be under the most intense threat in the future.

soldier on ground: "might not be enough protection against Turnbull..."

picture by Gus Leonisky. c 2006

The Federal Government has labelled the Coalition's position on whether to increase the superannuation guarantee, which is part of the mining tax package, as confusing and chaotic.

Labor wants to increase compulsory superannuation contributions from 9 to 12 per cent.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says a coalition government would keep the super increases in place - even though it does not support the mining tax.

Opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb says the Coalition will only go ahead with an increase to the superannuation guarantee if it can find other savings.

In 2001, Ultimate Fighting was sold for $2 million to the Fertitta brothers, Frank III and Lorenzo, megarich owners of a string of Las Vegas casinos and close friends of a phenomenal huckster named Dana White. What ensued was one of the greatest feats of financial alchemy in the history of sports, the transformation of cage fighting into a $1 billion-plus business.

But lucrative as it is, Ultimate Fighting remains confined to a narrow demographic niche, those three initials not yet familiar in most American households. On Saturday night, however, the U.F.C. will seek to make its way into the mainstream, appearing for the first time on network television. The event: a heavyweight championship fight broadcast on Fox.

This item would be innocuous, if one did not pay attention...

Alaskans know all about severe weather, but what could hit tonight and through Wednesday has the National Weather Service in full alert mode.

With blizzard warnings issued for an amazingly wide swath of Alaska’s western coast, officials are warning of major coastal flooding, heavy snowfall and winds up to 75 mph.

As forecasters wait to see if the storm continues to morph into one of the most severe Bering Sea storms on record, officials certainly haven’t downplayed the danger of the situation.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar" in remarks to US President Barack Obama overheard by journalists.

"I can't stand him any more, he's a liar," Mr Sarkozy said in French.

"You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day," Mr Obama replied.

The exchange at the G20 summit was quoted by a French website, Arret sur Images, and confirmed by other media.

Ah!... the simple choice!!! The dreaded choice, the idiotic sophistic choice...