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WEEKLY UPDATE: Dolphins protect New Zealand swimmers
WHANGAREI: A pod of dolphins were being praised on Tuesday for providing a protective barrier around a group of swimmers who were being threatened by a great white shark off the northeastern coast of New Zealand.
Rob Howes and three other lifeguards were on a training swim about 100 metres off shore at Ocean Beach near here when the dolphins raced in and herded the group together.
The group were surrounded by the dolphins for 40 minutes before they were able to make it back to shore.
Auckland University marine mammal research scientist Doctor Rochelle Constantine said the altruistic response of the dolphins was normal. They like to help the helpless. —AFP
Stunning portrait of earth and moon captured
UDAIPUR: A spectacular portrait of earth and its satellite, the moon, together has been captured for the first time during an eclipse by a space camera, the European Space Agency said.
Bernard Foing, lead scientist of the ESA’s unmanned exploratory probe SMART-1, said the picture was snapped on October 28 during a lunar eclipse when the spacecraft was 300,000 kilometres away from the earth.
“Never ever has this been done,” Foing told AFP on the sidelines of the International Conference on Exploration and Utilization of the moon in the northern Indian city of Udaipur.
A week ago SMART-1, which also successfully tested a revolutionary form of propulsion, was captured by the moon’s gravity and is looping the moon at a distance of 5,000-50,000 kilometres.
It will get closer to the lunar surface in a egg-shaped polar orbit that will vary from 300 kilometres at the South Pole to 3,000km at the North Pole.
Foing, who is now ESA Chief Scientist, said SMART-1 also detected traces of argon gas for the first time being reflected off the earth’s surface.
During the last four months since its launch September 27, 2003, the optical camera observed the earth and moon. —AFP
Shoaib Akhter to become goodwill ambassador of WWF
LAHORE: World’s fastest bowler, Pakistan Cricket star Shoaib Akhter will become goodwill ambassador of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Tuesday.
Shoaib Akhter will later join awareness and conservation campaigns of one of the largest non-governmental organizations working for the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats through sustainable resource utilization, says a WWF press release issued on Monday.
Shoaib Akther’s support to WWF demonstrates his concern for the accelerated rate of habitat degradation and ever rising levels of pollution that are damaging our environment.
Television artist Marina Khan and singer Jawad Ahmed are already working as good will ambassadors of WWF and Shoaib’s joining would further strengthen conservation efforts of the fund. — APP
Two uncapped bowlers for Australia tour
KARACHI: Pakistan will take two uncapped pace bowlers among a battery of five quicks on next month’s tour of Australia, selectors announced Monday.
Promising right-arm bowler Muhammad Asif and left-armer Muhammad Khalil will strengthen the attack after fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed was ruled out after a knee operation.
Inzamam-ul Haq will lead the side while Yousuf Youhana will be
vice captain for the three-Test tour, starting in Perth on December 16, and tri-series one-day tournament which also includes West Indies.
Squad: Inzamam-ul Haq (captain) Yousuf Youhana (vice captain) Imran Farhat, Yasir Hammed, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Muhammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Danish Kaneria, Rana Naveed-ul Hassan, Asim Kamal, Mohammad Khalil, Mohammad Asif and Shahid Afridi. —APP
Babe Ruth’s bat that felled the Red Sox goes on sale
NEW YORK: The bat Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium and help usher in 80 years of New York Yankee dominance over his former team, the Boston Red Sox, is going on the auction block.
The pre-sale estimate for the 36-inch ash wood bat Sotheby’s will auction off next week is $1 million, but organizers of the sale say it could fetch a record price for sports memorabilia.
The Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-1 in the inaugural game on April 18, 1923, at Yankee Stadium — known as “the House that Ruth Built.”
“When Babe Ruth hit the home run with this bat, it set the tone for the 1923 season,” said Dan Imler, auction coordinator from Sports-Cards Plus, which is presenting the sale with Sotheby’s.
The bat is among hundreds of baseball memorabilia lots in the Sotheby’s sale on Dec. 2 dubbed “The Babe Comes Home.”
Imler said he would not be surprised if Ruth’s bat beat the record $3 million paid for the ball Mark McGwire hit for his 70th home run in 1998. —Reuters
HK Disneyland theme park to open next year
HONG KONG: Walt Disney Hong Kong will open its doors to the public on September 12, 2005, a date handpicked by a geomancer or feng shui master, the creators of Mickey Mouse and Goofy said on Monday.
The theme park was originally expected to open in late 2005 or early 2006 and tourism officials hope the new attraction will draw tourist dollars from mainland China and the rest of Asia as Hong Kong struggles to maintain the momentum of its economic recovery.
The theme park is forecast to inject $148 million into Hong Kong’s economy. —AFP
Pistol-packing grandma
MIAMI: Margaret Anderson, 79, a grandmother, was arrested on Tuesday allegedly trying to pass Fort Lauder-dale airport X-ray security with a .22-caliber handgun.
“The scanner screen revealed a small handgun inside the woman’s luggage where the deputies found a gun case, designed and manufactured to resemble a hardbound book, containing a single-shot Colt derringer.
“The gun was unloaded but seven .22-caliber bullets were in the case next to the weapon,” the report said. —APP
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