Black holes expected

About 8,000 gypsy moth eggs have confounded scientists by hatching normally after a two-week trip in a space shuttle. It had been hoped that weightlessness could disrupt their development and lead to the development of a new gypsy moth control programme.

Town cleaned up

The mayor of Agua Preta, Brazil, has hired 17 former prostitutes as street cleaners after closing down the town's red-light district. "We're now free to walk the streets," said Maria de Barros, 43, a former prostitute. "Even married women talk to us now."