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The mascots are based on two bits of molten steel from a girder of the Olympic stadium that have been woven into a fictional story by renowned children's author Michael Morpurgo. Wenlock is named after Much Wenlock in Shropshire which inspired the modern Olympics, and Mandeville after the Stoke-Mandeville hospital which inspired the Paralympic Games

Children exposed to higher levels of a type of pesticide found in trace amounts on commercially grown fruit and vegetables are more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than children with less exposure, a nationwide study suggests. Researchers measured the levels of pesticide byproducts in the urine of 1,139 children from across the United States. Children with above-average levels of one common byproduct had roughly twice the odds of getting a diagnosis of ADHD, according to the study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics. Exposure to the pesticides, known as organophosphates, has been linked to behavioral and cognitive problems in children in the past, but previous studies have focused on communities of farm workers and other high-risk populations. This study is the first to examine the effects of exposure in the population at large. Organophosphates are "designed" to have toxic effects on the nervous system, says the lead author of the study, Maryse B...

Beijing, China (CNN) -- The death toll from an attack at a kindergarten in northwestern China rose to nine Wednesday after one of the wounded victims died, state media said. A man with a kitchen cleaver hacked to death a teacher and seven kindergarten students -- five boys and two girls. He then returned home and committed suicide, state media said. The teacher's mother, who was wounded in the attack, later died at a hospital -- bringing the toll to nine, the Xinhua news agency said. Officials do not yet know what prompted the 48-year-old man to attack students at a private school in Shaanxi province. It was at least the fourth such attack on school children in the last month. In addition to the fatalities, 11 children were wounded in the attack. Among them were two children who were hospitalized in serious condition, Xinhua said. Twenty children attended the school. China has seen a spate of attacks at schools in recent days. On April 30, a man armed with a hammer injured five pre...

Conservative leader David Cameron became Britain's new prime minister Tuesday, ending 13 years of Labor Party rule and opening the door to an unprecedented coalition government with the third-party Liberal Democrats. After three days of negotiations between the parties, Cameron emerged from Buckingham Palace, where Queen Elizabeth II formally invited him to form a government. The Conservatives fell just short of a majority in last week's election and sought the support of the Liberal Democrats to solidify their grip on power. Cameron left the palace for the prime minister's official Downing Street residence, which had been vacated earlier by Gordon Brown. Early in the day, Brown stepped down as prime minister and Labor leader, having failed in his own attempt to strike a deal with the Liberal Democrats. » Don't miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox. Announcing his resignation, Brown said he was making way for a new leader. "It was a privile...

Britain's airspace was closed under false pretenses, with satellite images revealing there was no doomsday volcanic ash cloud over the entire country. Skies fell quiet for six days, leaving as many as 500,000 Britons stranded overseas and costing airlines hundreds of millions of pounds. Estimates put the number of Britons still stuck abroad at 35,000. However, new evidence shows there was no all-encompassing cloud and, where dust was present, it was often so thin that it posed no risk. The satellite images demonstrate that the skies were largely clear, which will not surprise the millions who enjoyed the fine, hot weather during the flight ban. Jim McKenna, the Civil Aviation Authority's head of airworthiness, strategy and policy, admitted: 'It's obvious that at the start of this crisis there was a lack of definitive data. 'It's also true that for some of the time, the density of ash above the UK was close to undetectable.' The satellite images will be used ...

Wow, what is this?

Summertime is around the corner, and many of the city's vegetarians are gearing up for their rooftop BBQs with their soy burgers and tofu dogs, resting peacefully with the fact that no animals had to die so they could eat. But were other humans harmed in awful factory conditions that exposed them to deadly chemicals? Probably. A new study shows that a number of popular soy products contain trace amounts of hexane , which listed as a "hazardous air pollutant" by the EPA and is known to cause nervous system failure and skin disorders in humans. It's unclear how much hexane you need to eat before getting side effects, but do you feel lucky, veggie? The 37-page report [ PDF ] says that though the use of hexane is prohibited in "organic" food processing, it's widely used in the "natural" soy industry, and even by some companies that use the wording "made with organic ingredients." Mother Jones reports that since many fake meat produce...