D Tuesday, September 15, 2009 METRO Skydivers killed as chutes tangle TWO members of a skydiving team were killed when their parachutes became entangled at 1,830m (6,000ft) during a group jump in Northern California. Bill Dause owner of the Parachute Center near Lodi says the men were part of the Red Line jumping team, who was training for the US Parachute Association national skydiving championships planned for next month. Mr Dause says the team was jumping in close formation when three of the parachutes became entangled. One diver was able to separate while the other two divers died after hitting the ground. Eating melons will reduce stress and calm you down MELONS can reduce stress, French researchers have found. An antioxidant in the fruit called superoxide dismutase has calming powers. Half of the volunteers who took part in the test were given capsules with the enzyme and the others a placebo a capsule filled with inactive starch. The study, published in BioMed Centrals Nutrition Journal, found the supplement decreased the signs and symptoms of perceived stress and fatigue in healthy volunteers. Marie-Anne Milesi, from Seppic, France, who led the research, said: Several studies have shown that there is a link between psychological stress and intracellular oxidative stress.Calming: Melon Babcock and Brown Capital has agreed to sell the company to STT. The board and the Employee Share Ownership Trust (Esot), which owns 35 per cent of the company, have agreed to co-operate with the deal. Steve Fitzpatrick, general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, said the STT buy-up was the best prospect of correcting years of underinvestment. The Eircom board has been preparing to sell its holding in the company for several months. The companys latest accounts showed it suffered an operating loss of 486million in the year to June. Eircom has also been seeking 1,200 job cuts by June 2011, although it has so far resisted compulsory lay-offs. Deal to take over Eircom to go ahead OPPOSITION TDs have demanded im- proved investment in the telecoms sector if a proposed takeover of Eircom goes ahead. Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) has moved to buy the business with the backing of Communications Minister Eamon Ryan. But Labour TD Liz McManus said tel- ecoms had been underfunded since the company was first sold ten years ago leaving the countrys networks deficient. It is vital that our telecom infrastruc- ture is developed rapidly and it is impor- tant that this new takeover, once it is fi- nalised, will deliver real improvements and deal with the digital divide that is so evident across the country, she said. If the deal goes through it will be Eircoms fifth new owner since privatisa- tion in 1999. Simon Coveney, Fine Gael communica- tions spokesman, said he hoped STT would prove to be different than previous venture capitalist investors. They (STT) are a very large global tel- ecommunications company with consid- erable resources and so there is a realistic hope that this new owner is purchasing Eircom as a long-term investment in the Irish economy, Mr Coveney said. The Australian owner of the business, Eircom Holdings formerly known as By ed Carty Polar bear Knut swims in duckweed at Berlin Zoo in Germany. Fans of the polar bear anxiously await his first meeting with three-year-old female Gianna, with whom it is hoped he will mate Picture: EPA LaiD bEar THE euro zone is emerging from recession, the European Commission said yesterday, although it kept a gloomy overall forecast for 2009 with data showing job losses across the region still rising. In its interim forecast, the EUs executive said the economy would contract by 4.0 per cent this year but would expand in the third and fourth quarter. The outlook for France and Germany was better than the May forecast, while inflation in 2009 will be 0.4 per cent, the same as predicted in May. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html