National / International News

Computer games aren't just for fun anymore — they're also valuable research tools. Scientists are taking complex problems — like trying to figure out how proteins fold and how neural networks work — and turning them into engaging games. And they need your help.

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This final note today. A moment of levity courtesy of the Italian elections last week, in which Silvio Berlusconi came back from the political dead and the comedian Beppe Grillo became a legitimate political power.

A couple of days after, the leader of the German opposition said, "I'm horrified those two clowns won the election."

That prompted this response from the director of Germany's Circus Roncalli: "Being a clown," he said, "is an honorable, very difficult, sensitive and artistic occupation."

The generation that came of age in the 1960s is beginning to retire. Born after World War II, they grew up in an era of rising living standards, but the Great Recession destroyed any sense of financial security. Now they face challenges, including putting their kids through college and caring for their parents.

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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says the United States should overhaul its laws to make immigration easier and to give illegal immigrants a way to legal residence, not citizenship. He says granting citizenship would provide an incentive for others to come to the U.S. illegally.

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The night sky above Northumberland National Park is so spectacular that local authorities are bidding for it to become the largest Dark Sky Reserve in Europe.

Calming the immune system will be a vital part of preventing premature labour, say UK academics.

A holiday cottage on a celebrated beach on the Gower peninsula is evacuated when smoke from a large grass fire threatens its occupants.

Lib Dem MP David Ward denies he has been ordered to attend "language classes" after making controversial comments about "the Jews".

"Steven Finn has got that X factor about him - he's 6ft 7ins, bowls in excess of 90mph and can cause any batsman huge problems."

President Hugo Chavez is breathing with greater difficulty as a new and severe respiratory infection has taken hold, Venezuela's government said. The statement described the cancer-stricken president's condition as "very delicate."

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England head coach Steve McNamara names uncapped Wakefield winger Ben Cockayne in his 30-man elite training squad.

Pom-poms and knitted items are strung from trees and lampposts to reduce the fear of crime in an area of Leicester.

Australia lose eight wickets for only57 runs as India win the second Test by an innings and 135 runs in Hyderabad.

Malaysian soldiers launch an assault on armed members of a Filipino clan in an ongoing conflict that has left at least 27 dead on Borneo island.

A senior GAA figure urges all MLAs to back a plan to prevent private clinics from carrying out abortions.

The auditor general tells the health sector that striving to meet targets must not have a detrimental impact on the overall care of patients.

Papers ponder Britain's public health failures

UK retail sales grew at their fastest rate in more than three years in February, as the drier weather coaxed shoppers back out onto the High Street.

Forest elephant numbers have decreased by 62% across central Africa over the last decade, according to the largest study of its kind.

China leaves its economic growth target for the year unchanged at 7.5%, as it looks to expand at a steady pace and maintain social stability.