denmark

Can't you see your mama showering you with love? Well, while the cubs surely feel that tongue, their eyes won't open for about three weeks so the babies are technically blind. The four tiny ones were just born at Denmark's Aalborg Zoo and appeared to be pretty well protected by that watchful eye. Like any proud parent would do, of course. See the cute ones close up below!

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• Pentax has just announced the waterproof Optio E75, which only costs $160 and will be hitting store shelves in Europe this July. — Engadget
• Rumor has it that the new iPhone will be the same size and shape as the iPhone 3G and a new nano and touch will be coming this September. — MacRumors
• Just unveiled this morning is Google's Google Product Search for Android, which offers barcode scanning support. — MobileCrunch
• Move over Ashton! In less than one month, Oprah Winfrey has reached the one million Twitter followers mark. — Silicon Alley Insider
• Is it just me or does this seem a bit strange? Several high schools in Denmark are allowing A-level students to have Internet access during written exams. — Switched
• It's giveaway time on geeksugar! Be sure to log in for your chance to win an Xbox 360 Console and an Xbox Live Subscription. — geeksugar

President Obama has his hands full with the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, and healthcare reform. Now, Denmark is piling a task on his to-do list. The Scandinavian country's minister for climate and energy said Obama must push through laws fighting global warming ASAP. If Congress manages to pass, say, a cap-and-trade law, the US would set a powerful example for developing countries.

International leaders will meet in Copenhagen this December with the intention of creating an alternative to the Kyoto agreement, a treaty George W. Bush refused to sign. Everybody's looking to Obama to signal that he will take on global warming, unlike his predecessor.

Would you like to see comprehensive environmental legislation passed by the end of the year?

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For those of you who never understood how your college boyfriend could eat delivery pizza every night, we may have found your answer.

A study of 8,900 Danish schoolchildren at the University of Copenhagen has found that girls are better at recognizing tastes than boys, particularly when it comes to sweet and sour. Since males and females have the same number of tastebuds, the difference lies in how they process taste impressions.

According to the study, boys need, on average, 10 percent more sourness and 20 percent more sweetness than girls to recognize the taste. In addition, because boys seemed less sensitive to recognizing tastes, it only makes sense that boys tended to prefer more extreme flavors than girls.

The study attempted to quantify the tasting ability of children, and its results had a clear message: Children are better tasters than the industry presumes them to be. "One could easily develop more varied food products and snacks for children and young people," said Bodil Allesen-Holm, the scientific head of the study. Could fish sticks and chicken nuggets make way for something more gourmet in the future?

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An unprecedented conflict has erupted between Muslim workers and management at JBS Swift & Co.'s Colorado meat packing factory, regarding when employees can pray in observance to Ramadan. Over 200 workers walked out during a shift, since management would not give them an official sunset break for prayer. As a result, the company fired half of them.

The union plans to file suit, but hopes the employees will get their jobs back without a court-battle. Right now, many that still have jobs have offered financial help to those who got fired. Sounds like the Swift plant has a different approach to Ramadan than the Tyson plant in Tennessee that agreed to give union workers the end of Ramadan off instead of Labor Day.

Meanwhile in Denmark, a municipal committee in Odense decided to call for principals and parents to stop children who are fasting for Ramadan. City officials say it's not so much politics or religion that prompted the push against fasting, but concerns over student health and ability to lean while hungry.

How should employers and teachers accommodate those observing Ramadan?

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The Danes will soon confront terrorism in their front rooms. A new sitcom, The Terror Cell, follows the lives of terrorists conspiring in Denmark. The main characters include:

• Osama: a businessman who sees terrorism as a money maker
• Abdul: a convert to Islam who acts as if he can't kill enough people
• Ali: a Pakistani who won a competition for the honor of avenging the Danish cartoons degrading the Prophet Muhammad

Living in a rundown Copenhagen apartment, these terrorists escape detection because their closest neighbor, an elderly woman, believes World War II has not ended and the men are hiding from the Germans. While pretending to be integrated Muslims, the members of the cell plan an attack in Denmark. Each episodes ends with the incompetent terrorists blowing themselves up, only to be returned to earth by Allah in time for the next episode.

To see how the approach of the show's creator differs from other Danish critics of Islam, read more

Money could very well be the root of all evil — though in the latest study of corrupt countries, it's actually the lack of money that sparks trouble. The new report by Transparency International found that in two-fifths of the world's nations, corruption continues to intensify — a trend that can be traced to economic realities. In the countries found to be the most corrupt, 40 percent are classified by the World Bank as low income.

Transparency International's rankings range on a scale from 10 (on the up-and-up) to 1 (rampant corruption). How common is corruption? Of the 180 countries surveyed, 132 of them had scores below a 5. Other factors that contribute to a cloudy ethical picture are weak governments and conflict. The chairman of Transparency International says, "Countries torn apart by conflict pay a huge toll in their capacity to govern. With public institutions crippled or nonexistent, mercenary individuals help themselves to public resources, and corruption thrives."

Another troublesome mix? Weak government plus plentiful natural resources, like in Equatorial Guinea where 30 percent of the newly discovered oil profits go straight to government officials' wallets. To see which countries ranked where, read more

The world is happier — thanks to economic growth, democracy, and social tolerance, according to the World Values Study. The findings contradicted the assumption that regardless of changing variables, happiness remains constant.

The researchers credit relative quality of life improvements for the global rise in happiness; for example, low-income societies like China experienced economic growth while developed societies saw a rise in equality and tolerance. Denmark is currently the happiest country and Zimbabwe takes last place. Check out the pictures bellow of the happy Danes.

The United States ranks 16th. To find out which countries beat the US, read more

A Danish television station held a “Miss Headscarf 2008” beauty contest to show “cool Muslim women who often make up a very fashion-conscious and style-confident part of the Danish street scene.” The hope behind the pageant was to quell the controversy over calls for a ban on Islamic dress in public and foster healthy debate.

One behind the pageant says, "We would like to contact all the Muslim women who are seldom heard in the debate but are often just as preoccupied with fashion and beauty as other women." Entrants in the pageant don't have to be Muslim, they just need to submit a photo of themselves wearing a headscarf. One of the contestants in her video says, "It's about the time the media talked to us, and not about us all the time."

Not everyone thinks it's a great idea. To see why not, the BBC video of the story, and the winner, read more