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Campaigners have mounted a High Court offer to prevent fluoride being added to their water without their permission because they are concerned over its health consequences. They say they will have "no choice" but to drink fluoridated water if South Central Strategic Health Authority (SCSHA) is allowed to include it. The potential side-effects, they quarrel, range from bone cancer to thyroid problems and dental fluorosis, brown spots on the teeth. SCSHA wants to add the chemical to supplies in Southampton and parts of the south west Hampshire, arguing it is the finest way to cut tooth decay, particularly in poorer children. Public health experts fiercely dispute that fluoridation causes any health problem other than dental fluorosis in a little number of people. About 5.5 million people in Britain, just a smaller amount than a tenth of the population, drink fluoridated tap water, including most of Birmingham. However, no region has had fluoride added to its supply in the last ...

An earthquake by way of a magnitude of 7.2 struck Wednesday morning in a remote area of southwestern Pakistan, but initial reports revealed no major damage. The earthquake occurred at 1:23 a.m. (3:23 p.m. Tuesday ET) at a depth of 84 kilometers (52 miles), the U.S. geographical Survey said. It was centered 45 kilometers (30 miles) west of Dalbandin, and 1,035 kilometers (640 miles) west-southwest of Islamabad, the USGS assumed on its website. Arif Mahmood, director of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, put the epicenter at 320 kilometers (about 200 miles) southwest of Quetta near Kharan, Baluchistan, and said it had been felt in Punjab, Sind, and Baluchistan provinces in Pakistan, also as parts of Iran and India. Residents near the epicenter in the districts of Kalat, Dalbadin and Kharan told CNN a number of mud-walled homes were damaged but no one was hurt. An official at Quetta's Civil Hospital said a women cardiac patient suffered a critical heart attack during the earthqua...

LOS ANGELES � Starbucks Corp will roll away its biggest drink size yet - the 31-ounce "Trenta" - in all its U.S. coffee shops by May 3, the company said on Sunday. The new size will be offered only for iced coffee, iced tea and iced tea lemonade drinks in the United States. The Trenta is 7 ounces superior to Starbucks' "Venti" cup for iced drinks, which currently is its largest size on offer. Drinks in the Trenta size will cost 50 cents added than similar Venti-sized iced drinks, the company said. Seattle-based Starbucks tested the new size in several U.S. markets last year, saying it was responding to customer demand for superior cold beverages. The Trenta size will debut Tuesday in 14 states, including Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Arizona, and will become visible in California on Feb. 1. The world's biggest coffee series said unsweetened drinks in the new size will have fewer than 90 calories and that sweetened versions will have less than...

Taking certain painkillers daily for some years carries a small increased risk of heart attack and stroke, research has recommended. The findings transmit to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen prescribed long-term to treat painful conditions such as arthritis. People taking them now and again are at minimum risk, say experts. A Swiss team  analyzed  data from existing large-scale studies comparing use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - naproxen, ibuprofen, diclofenac, celecoxib, etoricoxib, rofecoxib and lumiracoxib - with other drugs or placebo. One of the drugs - rofecoxib was withdrawn in 2004 when other studies found a raised risk of heart attacks Most of the patients were aged, with conditions like osteoarthritis, and were taking too much of doses of NSAIDs daily for at least a year. The researchers found the medicine greater than before the risk of death from stroke or heart attack by between two and four times, compared with placebo. P...

The isolated kingdom located between India and China has asked for advice on preserving masterworks from the 16th-19th centuries  British art experts have been given unique access to the hidden heritage of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, including spectacular 16th- to 19th- century wall paintings from its 2,000 temples and monasteries. Specialists from the Courtauld Institute have been stunned by the exquisite quality and technical sophistication of paintings that were largely unknown and unrecorded in the west. Professor David Park, from the Courtauld, said: "The wall paintings are extremely dazzling. Some of the earlier examples, particularly, are extraordinary. His colleague, Stephen Rickerby, said: "We were dumbfounded by the rich, jewel-like quality of some of the paintings in such distant settings. It was quite unpredicted." He described their technique as unrivalled in the west and spoke of being overawed by the miniaturist detail, achieved during a unique layeri...

The 17-year-old student, Robert Butler, Jr., shot the principal and assistant principal, then left the school and killed himself in his car for a few blocks away. Butler, who transferred in November to Millard South High school, left a suicide note on a social media location that said the school "drove me to this." "Everybody that used to know me I am shy but Omaha changed me and (expletive) me up. And the school I attend is even worse Ur going to hear about the evil (expletive) I did but that (expletive) school drove me to this. I won�t u guys to remember me for who I was before this ik. I greatly affected the lives of the families bust but I'm sorry. Goodbye," Butler posted on his Facebook page. Butler had been suspended from the school on Wednesday morning, when lessons resumed after the winter break, for using his vehicle to tear up the football field, local media reported. Butler's motive was under investigation, Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes told repor...

Those lucky enough not to have woken up under wide grey cloud may have witnessed a partial solar eclipse over the UK this morning, although the best views were expected to be elsewhere around the globe. The phenomenon occurred from 8.12am over London, ending at 9.31am, with somewhat varying times across the rest of the country, although muggy skies meant the sight was obscured to most. The Middle East and Europe enjoyed better views of the partial eclipse; Sweden had been expected to be the major location to witness it. "It's thanks to the position of the moon and so the shadow is very small," A solar eclipse happens when the moon appearance up between the sun and the Earth, casting a lunar shadow on the Earth's surface and obscuring the sun. During a partial solar eclipse, only piece of the sun is blotted out. Different places around the world enjoyed varying degrees of eclipse, with a few parts of Sweden experiencing up to 85% of sun coverage. Henricson said Swedes ...