First reports are optimistic for two conjoined girls who were separated by a medical team in Melbourne, Australia during 27 hours of surgery. Krishna and Trishna, orphans from Bangladesh who were joined at the head, are doing well, although lead doctor Leo Donnan says they have a long road ahead of them, with risks related to recovering from the surgery but also a 50 percent chance of brain damage and 25 percent chance one of them will die. The girls are 2 years 11 months old. They were living at an orphanage in Bangladesh, where the risk of surgery was considered too great by the organization Children First Foundation, which is helping the girls.

Links to other sites: The Age, Melbourne (video), Times, UK, Royal Children’s Hospital page on the twins’ “incredible journey”

Sea levels could rise 7-82cm, and endanger low-lying regions like the Netherlands and delta regions such as Bangladesh and small ocean islands,  according to a study published in Nature Geoscience in its July 2009 issue. The findings are broadly in line with Geneva-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings. The study’s author, Mark Siddall of the University of Bristol warns that the figures are averages and that regional variations could be higher. Related: Le Monde (Fre)

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century was visible along a 155-mile wide stretch of Asia Wednesday 22 July: from India’s holy Hindu city of Varanasi through Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and along China’s Yangtze River to the Pacific. Coastal areas had cloud cover, but much of the rest of the area had clear skies and the eclipse was easily visible. For scientists in India and China the eclipse provided a rare opportunity to do solar experiments, although Chinese scientists said the cloud cover reduced some of the options. Reuters, Times of India, Xinhua

The mutiny over pay and conditions by border security guards in Bangladesh, which has gripped the country for the past two days appears to have ended with the arrest of some 200 guards. Dozens were injured and 20 people are reported to have died, according to the BBC.