LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The sci-fi thriller "Jumper" ruled the international box office for a second weekend, earning an estimated $22 million from 40 markets.

The movie, starring Hayden Christensen as a man who teleports himself around the globe, finished No. 1 in at least nine markets, including the U.K. Its foreign total stands at $61.2 million.

Newly crowned Oscar best-picture winner "No Country for Old Men" reached a foreign total of $37 million, thanks to a $4.8 million weekend from 35 territories. The violent drama also won Oscars Sunday for director, adapted screenplay and supporting actor.

The Daniel Day-Lewis saga "There Will Be Blood," which won Oscars for lead actor and cinematography, has earned $10.1 million after about two weeks. The teen comedy "Juno," which won for Diablo Cody's original screenplay, has rolled up a total of $35.8 million internationally.

New domestic champ "Vantage Point" -- a thriller about various views of an attempted presidential assassination -- opened in a half-dozen overseas markets for an estimated gross of $1.8 million.

"Sweeney Todd" was the weekend's No. 2 title overall, with sales of $8.8 million from 51 territories. The weekend tally included $2.6 million from Italy, and $1.4 million from Germany. The total rose to $81.5 million.

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" was No. 3 with $8.3 million; the total for the Nicolas Cage adventure rose to $213.8 million.

Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers have identified a gene linked to hair loss that could lead to new drugs to treat baldness.

The gene is responsible for a rare hereditary form of hair loss known as Hypotrichosis simplex, a condition affecting 1 in 200,000 people, in which people begin going bald in childhood, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Genetics.

"There is a very good chance of developing a therapy to treat hair loss based on this finding," the study's leader Regina Betz, a researcher at the Institute of Human Genetics, said in a telephone interview on Monday.

Currently, Merck and Co's Propecia and Pfizer Inc's Rogaine are drugs sold to stop baldness, but they help people maintain their hair rather than grow new follicles.

Using DNA samples from 11 members of a Saudi Arabian family that had inherited the rare condition, the researchers found that a mutation in the P2Y5 gene prevented proteins called growth receptors on hair follicle cells from forming properly.

This meant a substance needed to stimulate hair growth could not attach to the defective receptors and may help explain hair loss, the researchers said. The finding could lead to drugs that target these proteins to boost hair growth, they added.

"We can now search selectively for related substances that may be used in therapies for hair loss," Ivon von Kugelgen, a researcher who worked on the study at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology in Bonn, said in a statement.

"The exciting possibility here is that such medicines will be able to benefit patients suffering from very different types of hair loss."

(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Reuters

One of the best natural sedatives is tryptophan, an amino acid component of many plant and animal proteins.

Tryptophan is one of the ingredients necessary for the body to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter best known for creating feelings of calm, and for making you sleepy.

However, the trick is to combine foods that have some tryptophan with ample carbohydrate. That’s because in order for insomnia-busting tryptophan to work, it has to make its way to the brain.

Unfortunately, all amino acids compete for transport to the brain. When you add carbs, they cause the release of insulin, which takes the competing amino acids and incorporates them into muscle…but leaves tryptophan alone, so it can make its way to the brain, be converted to serotonin, and cause sleepiness.

Serotonin-producing bedtime snacks should be no more than 200 calories and should be eaten at least 30 minutes prior to bed.

Here are a few great ideas:

Bedtime Snacks for Adults

--6-8 oz container of non-fat, flavored yogurt topped with 2 tablespoons low-fat granola cereal
--Sliced apple with 1-2 teaspoons natural peanut butter
--3 cups low-fat popcorn – sprinkled with optional 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Bedtime Snacks for Teens

Many Saudi executions are beheadings by the sword in public places

Human Rights Watch has appealed to Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of a woman convicted of witchcraft.

In a letter to King Abdullah, the rights group described the trial and conviction of Fawza Falih as a miscarriage of justice.

The illiterate woman was detained by religious police in 2005 and allegedly beaten and forced to fingerprint a confession that she could not read.

Among her accusers was a man who alleged she made him impotent.

Human Rights Watch said that Ms Falih had exhausted all her chances of appealing against her death sentence and she could only now be saved if King Abdullah intervened.

'Undefined' crime

The US-based group is asking the Saudi ruler to void Ms Falih's conviction and to bring charges against the religious police who detained her and are alleged to have mistreated her.

Its letter to King Abdullah says the woman was tried for the undefined crime of witchcraft and that her conviction was on the basis of the written statements of witnesses who said that she had bewitched them.

Human Rights Watch says the trial failed to meet the safeguards in the Saudi justice system.

The confession which the defendant was forced to fingerprint was not even read out to her, the group says.

Also Ms Falih and her representatives were not allowed to attend most of the hearings.

When an appeal court decided she should not be executed, the law courts imposed the death sentence again, arguing that it would be in the public interest.

Pentagon officials are quoted as saying they want to fire a missile from a US Navy ship to destroy the satellite before it enters the atmosphere.

Last month, officials said the satellite had lost power and could contain hazardous materials.

The Pentagon is due to hold a briefing on the subject later.

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ATHENS (AFP) — Greece's earthquake protection organisation on Thursday called for calm after two powerful quakes jolted the south of the country, as no injuries or damage had been reported.

"Although the crucial 48-hour period is not yet over, this was probably the main earthquake and as there have been no reports of damage or related incidents, we feel there is no reason for alarm," the OASP organisation said.

"We are monitoring the phenomenon in close cooperation with seismologists," it said.

The government said it would keep schools closed on Friday in the immediate area where the quakes struck as a precaution, as inspectors went to work checking for damage to the buildings.

The main quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale with its epicentre just off the southern coast of the Peloponnese peninsula -- an area of frequent tremors -- sending worried residents into the street.

The experts' warnings of violent aftershocks came true exactly two hours later when a second jolt of 6.4 on the open-ended Richter Scale was reported with virtually the same epicentre.

The bigger quake was felt across the peninsula and up to the capital Athens as well as in Italy across the Adriatic Sea. But no casualties or serious damage were reported, said the Geodynamic Institute of the Athens Observatory.

"It was a big quake. Everything moved a lot. I stayed at home but a lot of people rushed out on to the streets very worried," said Takis Dimopoulos, a health worker in the south port of Kalamata, which was close to the epicentre.

Costas Athanassopoulos, deputy mayor of Kalamata, told Greek radio the shock was prolonged and initially caused panic among the population of 60,000 in the city where 20 people died in a quake 22 years ago.

Many officials in the region were relieved to have escaped major damage despite the size of the jolt. Firefighters said some walls were cracked.

"Fortunately things don't seem too serious," said Georges Zabaziotis, mayor of Kyparissi, which is also close to the epicentre.

Schools were evacuated at Tripoli in the centre of the peninsula, Net television reported, urging people to stay out in the streets in case of a new aftershock.

The first quake struck at 12:09 pm (1009 GMT) with the epicentre just off the coast of the Methoni region, said the Geodynamic Institute in Athens.

The US Geological Survey estimated it at 6.7 on its moment magnitude system.

A quake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale also hit the peninsula on January 6. No casualties or major damage was reported then.

Greece has more quakes than any other European country -- accounting for half the seismic shocks recorded on the continent -- and experts at the Athens institute said the population should be wary of more aftershocks.

"We are expecting some strong follow-ups," said institute director Georges Stavrakakis.

The epicentre of the latest quake was at a depth of about 30 kilometers (18 miles). A depth of less than 70 kilometers is considered fairly shallow, Randy Baldwin of the US National Earthquake Information Center said.

Fortunately, most Greek earthquakes are relatively mild but there is always the potential for more severe seismic activity. Greek builders are aware of this and modern Greek buildings are built to be safe during earthquakes. Similar quakes often strike nearby Turkey and result in much more extensive damage and injuries due to less-strict building codes.

Most of Greece, Crete, and the Greek islands are contained in a "box" of fault lines running in different directions. This is in addition to the earthquake potential from the still-lively volanoes, including the Nysiros Volcano, thought by some experts to be overdue for a major eruption.

Check on A Recent Earthquake in Greece

Undersea Earthquakes

The ancient Greeks attributed earthquakes to the God of the Sea, Poseidon, perhaps because so many of them were centered under the waters.

The Athens Earthquake of 1999

The Earthquake of 1953

Earthquakes in Ancient Greece

The Eruption of Thira (Santorini)

Tsunamis in Greece

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The underwater quake, which measured 6.9 magnitude, shook buildings in the capital and was felt as far away as northern Greece, Jordan and Egypt.

It struck at 1134 GMT and lasted for several seconds.

The quake's epicentre was located about 200km (125 miles) south of Athens, near the island of Kythira, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said.

A ferry boat captain sailing close to Kythira said the movement of the sea was tremendous.

This is the most seismic part of the Mediterranean basin and Greeks are used to buildings swaying, but this this quake was so powerful, it sent thousands of people running into the streets, reports the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.

In Crete, an elderly couple had a narrow escape. Seconds after they abandoned their home, a boulder crashed down from a mountain and flattened it.

On the island of Kythira, there are reports that a village church and several buildings have collapsed.

The island of Karpathos to the south has also suffered some damage.

George Karakasais, a seismologist at Aristotle University in Salonica, said this quake was the main event and not a precursor to a more powerful tremor.

1. In the weightlessness of space a frozen pea will explode if it comes in contact with Pepsi.
2. The increased electricity used by modern appliances is causing a shift in the Earth's magnetic field. By the year 2327, the North Pole will be located in mid-Kansas, while the South Pole will be just off the coast of East Africa.
3. The idea for "tribbles" in "Star Trek" came from gerbils, since some gerbils are actually born pregnant.
4. Male rhesus monkeys often hang from tree branches by their amazing prehensile penises.
5. Johnny Plessey batted .331 for the Cleveland Spiders in 1891, even though he spent the entire season batting with a rolled-up, lacquered copy of the Toledo Post-Dispatch.
6. Smearing a small amount of dog feces on an insect bite will relieve the itching and swelling.
7. The Boeing 747 is capable of flying upside-down if it weren't for the fact that the wings would shear off when trying to roll it over.
8. The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra.
9. The only golf course on the island of Tonga has 15 holes, and there's no penalty if a monkey steals your golf ball.
10. Legislation passed during WWI making it illegal to say "gesundheit" to a sneezer was never repealed.
11. Manatees possess vocal chords which give them the ability to speak like humans, but don't do so because they have no ears with which to hear the sound.
12. SCUBA divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below.
13. Catfish are the only animals that naturally have an ODD number of whiskers.
14. Replying more than 100 times to the same piece of spam e-mail will overwhelm the sender's system and interfere with their ability to send any more spam.
15. Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting.
16. The first McDonald's restaurant opened for business in 1952 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and featured the McHaggis sandwich.
17. The Air Force's F-117 fighter uses aerodynamics discovered during research into how bumblebees fly.
18. You *can* get blood from a stone, but only if contains at least 17 percent bauxite.
19. Silly Putty was "discovered" as the residue left behind after the first latex condoms were produced. It's not widely publicized for obvious reasons.
20. Approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesdays.
21. The skin needed for elbow transplants must be taken from the scrotum of a cadaver.
22. The sport of jai alai originated from a game played by Incan priests who held cats by their tails and swung at leather balls. The cats would instinctively grab at the ball with their claws, thus enabling players to catch them.
23. A cat's purr has the same romance-enhancing frequency as the voice of singer Barry White.
24. The typewriter was invented by Hungarian immigrant Qwert Yuiop, who left his "signature" on the keyboard.
25. The volume of water that the Giant Sequoia tree consumes in a 24-hour period contains enough suspended minerals to pave 17.3 feet of a 4-lane concrete freeway.
26. King Henry VIII slept with a gigantic axe.
27. Because printed materials are being replaced by CD-ROM, microfiche and the Internet, libraries that previously sank into their foundations under the weight of their books are now in danger of collapsing in extremely high winds.
28. In 1843, a Parisian street mime got stuck in his imaginary box and consequently died of starvation.
29. Touch-tone telephone keypads were originally planned to have buttons for Police and Fire Departments, but they were replaced with * and # when the project was cancelled in favor of developing the 911 system.
30. Human saliva has a boiling point three times that of regular water.
31. Calvin, of the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip, was patterned after President Calvin Coolidge, who had a pet tiger as a boy.
32. Watching an hour-long soap opera burns more calories than watching a three-hour baseball game.
33. Until 1978, Camel cigarettes contained minute particles of real camels.
34. You can actually sharpen the blades on a pencil sharpener by wrapping your pencils in aluminum foil before inserting them.
35. To human taste buds, Zima is virtually indistinguishable from zebra urine.
36. Seven out of every ten hockey-playing Canadians will lose a tooth during a game. For Canadians who don't play hockey, that figure drops to five out of ten.
37. A dog's naked behind leaves absolutely no bacteria when pressed against carpet.
38. A team of University of Virginia researchers released a study promoting the practice of picking one's nose, claiming that the health benefits of keeping nasal passages free from infectious blockages far outweigh the negative social connotations.
39. Among items left behind at Osama bin Laden's headquarters in Afghanistan were 27 issues of Mad Magazine. Al Qaeda members have admitted that bin Laden is reportedly an avid reader.
40. Urine from male cape water buffaloes is so flammable that some tribes use it for lantern fuel.
41. At the first World Cup championship in Uruguay, 1930, the soccer balls were actually monkey skulls wrapped in paper and leather.
42. Every Labrador retriever dreams about bananas.
43. If you put a bee in a film canister for two hours, it will go blind and leave behind its weight in honey.
44. Due to the angle at which the optic nerve enters the brain, staring at a blue surface during sex greatly increases the intensity of orgasms.
45. Never hold your nose and cover your mouth when sneezing, as it can blow out your eyeballs.
46. Centuries ago, purchasing real estate often required having one or more limbs amputated in order to prevent the purchaser from running away to avoid repayment of the loan. Hence an expensive purchase was said to cost "an arm and a leg."
47. When Mahatma Gandhi died, an autopsy revealed five gold Krugerrands in his small intestine.
48. Aardvarks are allergic to radishes, but only during summer months.
49. Coca-Cola was the favored drink of Pharaoh Ramses. An inscription found in his tomb, when translated, was found to be almost identical to the recipe used today.
50. If you part your hair on the right side, you were born to be carnivorous. If you part it on the left, your physical and psychological make-up is that of a vegetarian.
51. When immersed in liquid, a dead sparrow will make a sound like a crying baby.
52. In WWII the US military planned to airdrop over France propaganda in the form of Playboy magazine, with coded messages hidden in the models' turn-ons and turn-offs. The plan was scrapped because of a staple shortage due to rationing of metal.
53. Although difficult, it's possible to start a fire by rapidly rubbing together two Cool Ranch Doritos.
54. Napoleon's favorite type of wood was knotty chestnut.
55. The world's smartest pig, owned by a mathematics teacher in Madison, WI, memorized the multiplication tables up to 12.
56. Due to the natural "momentum" of the ocean, saltwater fish cannot swim backwards.
57. In ancient Greece, children of wealthy families were dipped in olive oil at birth to keep them hairless throughout their lives.
58. It is nearly three miles farther to fly from Amarillo, Texas to Louisville, Kentucky than it is to return from Louisville to Amarillo.
59. The "nine lives" attributed to cats is probably due to their having nine primary whiskers.
60. The original inspiration for Barbie dolls comes from dolls developed by German propagandists in the late 1930s to impress young girls with the ideal notions of Aryan features. The proportions for Barbie were actually based on those of Eva Braun.
61. The Venezuelan brown bat can detect and dodge individual raindrops in mid-flight, arriving safely back at his cave completely dry.