LIMA - THE well-preseved, 10-million-year fossil craneum of a large, toothed seabird was found in Peru's southern Ica region, a spokesman for Peru's Museum of Natural History said on Friday.

'The skull of the giant bird with teeth, measuring 40 centimetres (16 inches)' was found a few months ago by paleontologist Mario Urbina in a rock strata, said Rodolfo Salas, adding that it is 10 million years old.

ALMODOVAR (Portugal) - WHEN archaeologists on a dig in southern Portugal last year flipped over a heavy chunk of slate and saw writing not used for more than 2,500 years, they were elated.

The enigmatic pattern of inscribed symbols curled symmetrically around the upper part of the rough-edged, yellowish stone tablet and coiled into the middle in a decorative style typical of an extinct Iberian language called Southwest Script.

HAVANA - CUBA is developing genetically modified corn that can be used with strong herbicides and are resistant to the boundless appetite of the fall armyworm, a major threat to tropical nations' corn crops, official media reported on Saturday.

Scientists at Havana's Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Center have planted three hectares of the crop in Yaguajay, in central Sancti Spiritus privince, hoping to develop seeds to boost output for human and animal consumption once they get a green light in terms of health, the newspaper Juventud Rebelde said.