Sharks enjoy body cleansing

Like humans, it has been revealed that sharks and rays enjoy visiting cleansing “stations” to get rid of their dead skin and external parasites, the Discovery Channel reported last Friday. (MCT)A research team at the school of ocean sciences at University of Wales carried out the study to monitor the interactions between thresher sharks and wrasse “cleaner” fish in the Philippines.The team reveale

March 23, 2011

Allies target Gadhafi’s air defenses

Buoyed by Western strikes, Libya rebels try to advanceZWITINA, Libya (AP) ― Coalition forces bombarded Libya for a third straight night, targeting the air defenses and forces of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, stopping his advances and handing some momentum back to the rebels, who were on the verge of defeat just last week.But the rebellion’s more organized military units were still not ready, and t

March 22, 2011

Developments in Japan's disasters, nuclear crisis

Containment at 3 reactors intact - U.S. regulators say although reactors at units 1, 2 and 3 have seen damage to their cores, their containment structures are holding. Still, smoke rose from two of the units Monday, and emergency workers trying to cool the reactors and reconnect power lines were forced to pull out. Officials at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been battling to bring the reactors

March 22, 2011

Middle East boils with Libya strikes, Yemen on brink

Libyan rebel react on the frontline of the outskirts of the city of Ajdabiya, south of Benghazi, eastern Libya. The international military intervention in Libya is likely to last "a while," a top French official said Monday, echoing Moammar Gadhafi's warning of a long war ahead as rebels, energized by the strikes on their opponents, said they were fighting to reclaim a city under siege from the Li

March 22, 2011

Tour operator opens door on secretive N. Korea

BEIJING (AFP) ― Millions of tourists visit Asia each year for its pristine beaches and cultural treasures, but Nick Bonner offers travelers something different: the “socialist paradise” of North Korea.Bonner launched Koryo Tours in Beijing in 1993 along with a few colleagues, taking an initial group of 12 curious tourists keen for a glimpse inside one of the world’s most isolated countries.That gr

March 22, 2011

Libya bombing successful, endgame unclear

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The U.S. on Sunday claimed initial success two days into an assault on Libya that included some of the heaviest firepower in the American arsenal ― long-range bombers designed for the Cold War ― but American officials said Sunday it was too early to define the international military campaign’s endgame.The top U.S. military officer suggested that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi m

March 21, 2011

Libya declares new ceasefire amid fresh Western attacks

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Explosions rocked Tripoli as Western forces staged fresh air strikes to halt Moamer Kadhafi's attacks on civilians, with one raid flattening a building in the strongman's heavily-fortified residence.As warplanes took off from Italian bases and anti-aircraft guns roared in the Libyan capital, Kadhafi's army announced a new ceasefire Sunday, saying it was heeding an African Union cal

March 21, 2011

First phase of allied assault: 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles

WASHINGTON (AP) ― U.S. and British ships and submarines launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses Saturday and a senior American defense official said it was believed substantial damage was inflicted.In the strikes, 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya’s air force.While a U.S. defense off

March 20, 2011

Allies attack Gadhafi forces

Libyan state TV says 48 killed, 150 wounded in allied assaultU.S., European forces launch cruise missiles, airstrikesBENGHAZI, Libya (AP) ― The U.S. and European nations pounded Moammar Gadhaf’s forces and air defenses with cruise missiles and airstrikes, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat. Libyan

March 20, 2011

Stark differences in U.S., Japan nuclear crises

MIDDLETOWN, Pennsylvania (AP) ― Japan’s nuclear crisis has transported residents of central Pennsylvania back 32 years, when the partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant raised fears that a massive amount of radiation could be released into the atmosphere or the Susquehanna River.But there are stark differences between the disasters.“It’s probably not politically correct to say it,

March 20, 2011

With aid slow to come, Japanese fend for themselves

KARAKUWA, Japan (AP) ― There may be no water, no power and no cell phone reception in this tsunami-struck town, but in the school that serves as a shelter, there are sizzling pans of fat, pink shrimp.Relief supplies have only trickled into the long strip of northeast Japan demolished by a powerful earthquake and the wave it unleashed a week ago, leaving affected communities to fend for themselves.

March 20, 2011

U.S. missiles rain down on Libya in ‘limited action’

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The United States on Saturday unleashed a barrage of Tomahawk missiles against the Libyan regime’s air defenses, but ruled out using ground troops in what President Barack Obama called a “limited military action.”After initially taking a cautious stance on armed intervention in Libya’s civil war, Obama ordered the strikes citing the threat posed to civilians by Moammar Gadhafi’s

March 20, 2011

Egypt votes for first time in 50 years

CAIRO (AP) ― Millions of Egyptians voted freely on Saturday for the first time in more than half a century, joyfully waiting for hours to cast their ballots on a package of constitutional changes eliminating much-hated restrictions on political rights and civil liberties.Young people traded mobile-phone pictures of ink-stained fingers that showed they voted. Others called relatives to boast of cas

March 20, 2011