Today's other stories in brief
Humans have Neanderthals DNA
WASHINGTON – Neanderthals and modern humans interbred, probably when early modern humans first began to migrate out of Africa, according to a genetic study released yesterday.
People of European, Asian and Australasian origin all have Neanderthal DNA, but not Africans, the researchers report in today’s issue of the journal Science.
The study may help resolve the long-running debate over whether Neanderthals and modern humans did more than simply live side by side in Europe.
“Those of us who live outside Africa carry a little Neanderthal DNA in us,” said Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany, who led the study.
“The main finding is that there was gene flow from Neanderthals into all the ancestors of modern Non-Africans,” Dr David Reich of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who worked on the study, said.
– (Reuters)
Bomb accused link to militant groups
WASHINGTON – The investigation into the failed Times Square bomb attack has revealed possible links between the accused Pakistani-American man and militant groups in Pakistan’s Punjab province and Pashtun tribal areas. US prosecutors said Faisal Shahzad (30), the son of a retired Pakistani vice-air marshal, has admitted to receiving bomb-making training in a Taliban and al- Qaeda stronghold in Pakistan.
Yesterday Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik said he thought it unlikely that Shahzad had acted alone. “According to the available information, he says it was his individual act. I would not tend to believe that,” Mr Malik said.
“We need to know whether he was framed, whether he was used by somebody . . . is he part of a gang of terrorists, we need to know the answer to all those questions. ” He said Pakistan was ready to give the US “every help, full support” to bring the culprits to justice. – (Reuters)