Whales remain lost

Whales remain lost

RIO VISTA, Calif. — Two whales that lost their way more than a week ago spent a second day circling near a Sacramento River bridge Tuesday, about 70 miles from the open waters of the Pacific Ocean. Some crews in the more than two dozen boats blocking the humpbacks’ path up the river tried herding the mother and her calf downstream by banging metal pipes beneath the water. The challenge, officials said, was encouraging the pair to return to salt water quickly but without resorting to tactics that could upset the whales, both already apparently wounded by a boat’s propeller.

Cold War stirred up

LONDON — Britain’s move to extradite a former KGB bodyguard to face murder charges in the poisoning death of an ex-Soviet spy is stirring fresh hostilities between the Cold War rivals already at odds over energy disputes, spying allegations and diplomatic shenanigans. Andrei Lugovoi is facing murder charges in the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic whose tea was allegedly poisoned with a radioactive substance at a London hotel where he met with Lugovoi. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office urged Tuesday that international law be respected, but Russia said a law prohibiting the extradition of its nationals trumped any international agreement.

Gas prices rise 25%

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran jumped gasoline prices 25 percent Tuesday in a new blow to consumers already disgruntled over high inflation, and the government said it will begin rationing fuel in two weeks. The moves are sure to increase public dissatisfaction with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose oil-rich nation faces the same quandary as the U.S. and its rising prices at the pump: A lack of refinery capacity forces it to buy gasoline on the world market. Discontent has been growing in Iran in recent months over soaring prices. The cost of housing has doubled and prices for basic goods such as vegetables have tripled since last summer.

Plastic’s 100th birthday

LONDON — Strap on your PVC boots, hike up your nylon stockings. It’s time to celebrate the 100th birthday of the world’s first entirely synthetic material, one that revolutionized manufacturing, transportation, fashion and more. Plastic. An exhibition opening today at London’s Science Museum looks to a future that includes plastic blood and airplanes that can shift shapes in flight. Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland created his phenol-formaldehyde polymer resin — Bakelite — in 1907. Although scientists had long tinkered with different types of plastics, so-called because of their malleability, his was the first fully synthetic material made.

Mammals endangered

GENEVA — Dozens of European mammals, including the Iberian lynx, the Saiga antelope and the Mediterranean monk seal, face extinction unless immediate measures are taken to protect them, a conservation group said Tuesday. Thirty-five of the continent’s 231 mammal species fall into the threatened category, according to a report published by the World Conservation Union. The 60-page report commissioned by the European Union warns that 27 percent of mammal species show a fall in numbers, compared with 8 percent that are increasing.

‘Terrorists in suits’

JERUSALEM — Israel’s deputy defense minister threatened Tuesday to target Hamas political leaders, calling them “terrorists in suits” after a rocket attack by the Islamic militant group killed an Israeli woman. The harsh words were backed up by action. Israel airstrikes targeted two suspected arms caches and two Hamas bases. Later, an Israeli helicopter strafed a rocket launch site with machine-gun fire near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Palestinian officials said a total of 10 people were wounded.

The 31-year-old woman who died Monday night was the first Israeli killed by a Palestinian rocket since November, inviting a harsh response. Militants fired nine more rockets at Israel on Tuesday, slightly wounding two people, the army said. Israeli leaders suggested that even Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas could be targeted in reprisals, with Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh calling Hamas’ leaders “terrorists in suits” in a radio interview.

Bomb kills 6, hurts 80

ANKARA, Turkey — A bomb exploded Tuesday at busy shopping mall in Turkey’s capital, damaging shops and hurling glass over one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. At least six people were killed and 80 injured. The blast outside one of the oldest shopping malls in Ankara hurled glass and other debris over a wide area. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said four Turks and one Pakistani were killed in the blast, and that authorities were still investigating the type of bomb used.

Associated Press