Asian elephants caress each other when stressed. The short list of animals that console stressed-out friends just got longer … and heavier. Asian elephants, like great apes, dogs, certain corvids (the bird group that includes ravens), and us, have now been shown to recognize when a herd mate is upset and to offer gentle caresses and chirps of sympathy, according to a study published February 18 in the online journal […]
SOCHI, Russia – Two skiing sisters and a snowboard star fighting a broken rib gave Canada’s Olympians the strong start they desired in Sochi. Canada earned a medal of every colour Saturday on the opening day of Olympic medal competition. Montreal’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe led the way, flying to gold in the women’s moguls. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe wasn’t far behind her sister, taking silver and relegating defending champion Hannah Kearney of the […]
Groundhog Day (Canadian French:Jour de la Marmotte; Pennsylvania German: Grundsaudaag, Murmeltiertag) is a day celebrated on February 2. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early; if it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.Modern customs of the […]
Johannesburg – A who’s who of the international stage arrived at the FNB Stadium in Soweto on Tuesday morning for the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. A sombre Graca Machel was supported by a number of other women as she arrived underground at the stadium, dressed in a black coat, dress and turban. Mandela’s grandson Ndaba Mandela and other relatives arrived as well. Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu alighted from […]
In Pic :An image from the Pleiades satellite shows a small island of mud and rock created by the huge earthquake that hit southwest Pakistan. The island is about 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 meters) high and more than 500 feet (150 meters) in diameter. It sits about 650 feet from the coast. Earth performed the ultimate magic trick last week, making an island appear out of nowhere. […]
President Putin said any non-UN sanctioned intervention would be interpreted as “aggression” Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned America and its allies against taking one-sided action in Syria. He said any military strikes without UN approval would be “an aggression”. US President Barack Obama has called for punitive action in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack. Mr Putin said Russia did not rule out supporting a UN Security Council […]
Archaeologists in South America have discovered the first undisturbed tomb of the ancient and mysterious Wari civilisation, unearthing the mummified bodies of three Queens alongside golden treasures and macabre human sacrifices. The 1,200-year-old ‘temple of the dead’ was found at the El Castillo de Huarmey site, a four-hour drive north of the Pruvian capital Lima. It provides a wealth of information about the enigmatic Wari empire that ruled the Andes […]
A 102-year-old Idaho woman celebrated her birthday in quite unconventional fashion — by BASE jumping off the state’s Perrine Bridge. Dorothy Custer, who celebrated her 101st birthday by zip-lining in Idaho’s Snake River Canyon, marked her May 30 birthday by leaping off the 586-foot-high span in a tandem jump with professional BASE jumper Sean Chuman. Custer originally wanted a “calm” celebration, but her relatives suggested otherwise. “I was thinking of […]
A Stanford graduate with Bay Area ties reached one of the highest levels of U.S. law on Thursday. The U.S. Senate confirmed Sri Srinivasan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Srinivasan is the first nominee to that important Circuit Court to win confirmation. Because that court considers legal challenges to executive actions by the President — such as environmental or health regulations — it’s considered a […]
China says 904 people have been arrested for selling fake, spoiled, or adulterated meat over three months. State media portrayed the arrests on Thursday as part of a national crackdown that would now focus on dairy products, but an official told the state’s Xinhua News Agency that there were deep-seated food safety problems which had not yet been solved. Xinhua News Agency said suspects sold meat that had been injected with water to increase […]
