By: Andrew Krammer
The United States military has confirmed the first strike by a Predator drone in Libya, BBC reported.
President Obama gave approval on Thursday for two armed American Predator drones to fly over Libya, ABC news reported. Two days after the approval, NATO says the drone destroyed a Libyan government multiple rocket launcher near Misrata.
Predator drones had been used in Libya before, but only for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
By: Andrew Krammer
An Italian train carrying Tunisian immigrants was halted at the border of France Sunday due to the on going battle over North African migrants fleeing political unrest to Europe, BBC reported.
France claimed there were hundreds of activists on the train planning a demonstration in France, the Star Tribune reported. Italy is said to have angered France by giving out temporary resident permits to thousands of Tunisian migrants, which allows them to travel freely in many European countries.
There is said to have been a demonstration planned in which some 300 protestors were going to ride a train in support of Tunisian immigrants, according to BBC's Hugh Schofield.
By: Andrew Krammer
An unidentified gunman in the Netherlands killed five people and wounded 11 then took his own life, BBC reported.
The gunman walked into a Dutch mall and opened fire with an automatic weapon, Yahoo reported. There has been no explanation for the shooting.
Four of the injured were in critical condition and five others sustained serious wounds. The man was described as a blond 25-year-old wearing a leather jacket.
By: Andrew Krammer
French daredevil Alain "Spiderman" Robert climbed the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, on Monday evening, CNN reported.
Robert, 48, was forced to use a rope and harness during the six hour climb, to comply with the requirements in the Gulf sheikdom that opened the tower last year, Yahoo reported.
The frenchman has climbed more than 70 skyscrapers, often using no safety equipment, including the Empire State Building, Chicago's Willis Tower and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
Robert sometimes gets into trouble for trespassing while scaling skyscrapers, but this time he was invited to.
By: Andrew Krammer
Twelve people were killed Saturday during anti-government protests in the Syrian city of Latakia, BBC reported.
The 12 were among at least 200 that were injured during a shooting that the Syrian government blamed on "unidentified gunmen shooting from rooftops," USA Today reported. Civilians and security personnel totaled 10 fatalities with the other two being 'unidentified gunmen.'
Many people have been killed in a week of protests against the current President Bashar al-Assad.
By: Andrew Krammer
The Japanese government ordered an evacuation of residents closest to a nuclear power plant that had cooling problems following Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake, CNN reported.
The Fukushima power plant was not leaking radiation, but had cooling problems due to the automatic shutdown of the plant caused by the earthquake, the Huffington Post reported. The shutdown of the plant's electricity and the failure of a backup generator led to the cooling system being unable to supply water to cool the reactor.
The evacuation affects at least 2,800 people, according to Japan's nuclear safety agency. The plant is in Onahama city, which is about 170 miles northeast of Tokyo.
A fire broke out at a second nuclear plant, but it was quickly put out.
By: Andrew Krammer
A British diplomatic team, consisting of six special forces soldiers and one diplomat, has been released Sunday after landing in Eastern Libya two days ago, BBC reported. The men were detained Friday morning after arriving by helicopter near Benghazi, AlJazeera reported.
Libyan security guards found they were carrying guns, ammunition, explosives, maps and passports from four different nationalities shortly after denying they had weapons, witnesses said.
"We continue to press for Gaddafi to step down and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people," Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
By: Andrew Krammer
The world's largest mud volcano, which first erupted back in May of 2006, is expected to keep erupting for another 26 years, BBC reported.
At its peak, the volcano was spewing 180,000 cubic meters of mud a day, which is 40 Olympic-sized pools, FOX reported. Thirteen people were killed and a total of 13,000 families were left homeless after the volcano "Lusi" erupted in Sidoarjo, East Java back on May 29, 2006.
There was a provisional estimate in 2008 as to how long the volcano would erupt, but there have been significant improvements in the methodology since then, Richard Davies, a geologist from Durham University's Department of Earth Sciences, said.
"Also, for two or three years there was a lot of debate about what caused it," he said.
By: Andrew Krammer
Japan has stopped its annual Antarctic whale hunt prior to the seasons' end, BBC reported.
Japan stopped the hunt after repeated "harassment" by U.S. activists behind the name the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, MSNBC reported. The hunt was temporarily halted last week, but has been permanently stopped for the year.
Last week the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society chased the Japanese fleet's mother ship, which caused the temporary halt.
In 1986, commercial whaling was banned in Japan, but they have since used a regulation that permits the hunting for scientific research.
By: Andrew Krammer
A 5 degree Fahrenheit temperature early Saturday morning left 65 zoo animals dead in northern Mexico, CNN reported.
Parrots, crocodiles and peacocks were among the victims of the icy cold front at the Chihuahua Zoo in the city of Aldama, the Huffington Post reported. The weather knocked out the power to the zoo, causing all the heaters to stop working. The night crew turned on the gas heaters, but did not know the gas lines had frozen.
The dead animals included: one Capuchin monkey, 14 parrots, 12 snakes, three crocodiles, five iguanas, 10 peacocks, and 20 hens. Those deaths represented about 10% of all of the zoo's animals.
