bbc - ( خبر ) : Regularly using a mobile phone may increase the risk of tinnitus, which involves constant ringing or buzzing in the ear, a small study suggests. Austrian researchers recruited 100 people with the condition and 100 without, and compared mobile phone use. They found tinnitus was over 70% more likely in those averaging 10 minutes' daily phone use, reported Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal. But the British Tinnitus Association said a link was unproven. While intense noise, head trauma and certain drugs are all known to increase the risk of the ear condition, in many cases the reasons are unknown. Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna said the evidence so far linking mobiles with tinnitus was anecdotal, but that their small study suggested at the very least it warranted further investigation. Because of the widespread use of the devices, even a slightly increased risk would be of "public health importance", they wrote, particularly given that the condition can in some cases profoundly interfere with daily life. It is thought about 10% of the population have some form of tinnitus, but it is unclear whether the condition is becoming more prevalent. Ear energy As well as the 70% increased risk from using a phone for more than 10 minutes a day, they found that having used a phone for more than 160 hours cumulatively was associated with a 60% increased risk. But their study did throw up statistical anomalies, finding a lower risk among those who had made 4,000 calls or more than those who had made fewer. The team acknowledged that asking people to recall their use --- يتبع

(CNN) -- ( خبر ) : An appellate court on Monday ruled that jailed media mogul Conrad Black can be released on bail. A judge will now set the bail conditions for Black, who is serving a six-and-a-half-year prison term for fraud. It was unclear when Black might be freed on bail. Black formerly headed Hollinger International Inc., a media giant that published hundreds of newspapers including the Chicago Sun-Times, the Jerusalem Post, The Daily Telegraph of London and the National Post in Canada. He was convicted in 2007 of fraud involving the sale of assets of Hollinger. However, the U.S. Supreme Court last month threw out the the law under which Black was convicted, setting up his appeal and request for release on bail while it is heard. In 2001, Black gave up his Canadian citizenship so he could become a member of Britain's House of Lords.

(CNN) -- ( خبر ) : Growing numbers of vulnerable children across Eastern Europe and Central Asia are at risk of dying from AIDS, with widespread drug use and the sex trade contributing to an "underground HIV epidemic," UNICEF warned on Monday. The former Soviet states, from Baltic Russia to Tajikistan in Central Asia, and parts of the Balkans remain the only regions of the world where rates of HIV infection continue the rise, according to the UNICEF report, released at an international HIV/AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria. "Today, street children in the region are dying of AIDS and drug use in much the same way as they died of cold, famine and typhoid in the twentieth century," claims the report, entitled "Blame and Banishment." Newly diagnosed HIV cases increased by eight percent in Russia in 2009, by 10 percent in Georgia and by 22 percent in Belarus, according to figures released last week by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Some parts of Russia have experienced a 700 percent increase in rates of infection since 2006, UNICEF says. Widespread social stigmatization and discrimination associated also threaten to drive the epidemic underground, warned UNICEF's regional HIV/AIDS specialist Nina Ferencic. "There's an unwillingness to acknowledge that there are young people and minors involved in these behaviors," said Ferencic, a co-author of the report. "We hope to raise attention to the issues affecting children and young people who are either vulnerable, engaging in risky behaviors or already living with HIV and AIDS. These children need special support and services that reach them." U --- يتبع

(CNN) -- ( خبر ) : The deadly weather system called "Conson" was downgraded to a tropical depression after slamming the northern coast of Vietnam with heavy rains and high winds. Once a typhoon, Conson was packing sustained winds of 83 kilometers (53 miles) per hour with gusts as high as 102 kilometers (63 miles) per hour as a tropical storm before being downgraded to a depression Saturday. At least two people died when Conson, then the strength of a Category 1 hurricane, hit China's southernmost province of Hainan Friday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said. They were killed by collapsing billboards. The entire area was left reeling after Conson damaged buildings, uprooted trees, downed power lines and forced the closure of local airports. Xinhua reported. The storm also killed at least 65 people in the Philippines earlier in the week. Southern China already had been battling severe flooding that killed 146 people over the past two weeks, destroyed about 113,000 homes and forced more than 1.2 million people to relocate this month, state media said Friday. Forty people were missing. Chen Lei of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief office said the coming rain would exacerbate the flooding, according to Xinhua. Storms and floods have affected more than 35 million people in 10 Chinese provinces this month. By Thursday, the nation had recorded at least 26 billion yuan (about $3.8 billion) in economic losses, Xinhua said. Conson had weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm before its landfall late Tuesday in the Philippines, but that didn't keep the storm from inflicting damage, as it traversed the ar --- يتبع

(CNN) -- ( خبر ) : After a presentation saying the iPhone 4's reception problems have been "blown way out of proportion," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Friday that all owners will receive free cases to fix the issue. People who already paid for a case, which reduces interference, will get a refund, Jobs said. "We're not perfect; phones aren't perfect," Jobs said. "We want to make all our users happy." Customers will be able to visit an Apple store for a free case between now and September 30. Jobs said Apple has not made enough bumpers -- hard rubber bands that cover only the edges of the phone -- to offer them free. The iPhone 4 set Apple sales records after its release June 24, drawing positive reviews from tech bloggers and almost religious fervor from Apple fanatics who lined up for hours to get their hands on one. The smartphone has sold more than 3 million units, Jobs said Friday, and has been the most successful product launch in Apple history. He maintained that, despite the reception issue, the phone remains "our best product ever." "It's not like Apple has had its head in the sand on this," Jobs said. "It's only been 22 days." But just hours after its release, reports of a problem with reception began surfacing. Analysts found that holding a certain spot on the metal band around the edge of the phone leads to interference, causing weakened reception and, sometimes, dropped calls. The band houses the phone's antenna, part of a design that made the sleek iPhone 4 about 25 percent thinner than its predecessors. The complaints reached critical mass Monday, when vaunted product tester Consumer Reports g --- يتبع