‘Mysterious’ pygmy hippo seen in Liberia

THE African pygmy hippo, feared extinct amid the dual threats of habitat devastation and civil war, is alive in Liberia.

The pygmy hippopotamus, an endangered species whose closest living relatives after the common hippo are whales, has been caught on camera in Liberia’s only national park.

A team from the Zoological Society of London, Flora and Fauna International and Liberia’s Forestry Development Agency travelled to the west African country to set up hidden cameras in Sapo National Park.

Three days after setting up the cameras the group was surprised to capture the wild pygmy hippos on film.

China still tight-lipped about airline incident

BEIJING — It was almost halfway through China Southern Airlines flight 6901 to Beijing Friday and the alarming aroma of what some believed was gasoline began to drift through the passengers’ cabin.

What happened next, however, is unclear.

Some say a young woman passenger around “18 or 19″ years old was swiftly restrained in her seat by a female flight attendant and other staff.

Others say the female passenger quietly reached the washroom undetected, then poured the liquid into the toilet where it was to be set alight later by an accomplice.

But Chinese officials were keeping a tight lid on the details of the alleged plot to down a domestic airliner here last week.

Williams targets Harper in throne speech

St. John’s — Building upon past nationalist rhetoric, Premier Danny Williams lashed out at the Prime Minister in his throne speech Monday, saying Newfoundland and Labrador will become one of Canada’s most prosperous provinces — in spite of Ottawa.

As he opened the spring legislative session after a nine-month recess, Mr. Williams lauded his government’s success in turning around the province’s fiscal position while rekindling his feud with Stephen Harper.

“In the federal forum that once mattered most, Newfoundland and Labrador is treated with little but contempt and condescension,” Williams said in a speech read by newly installed Lieutenant-Governor John Crosbie.

Bullying a serious job hazard

It was the sleep deprivation that finally broke Stephen Hill.

He could stand up to the bullies by day. By moonlight, though, they caught him lying down.

All night he would lie there replaying how his Simon Fraser University co-workers refused to eat lunch near him. An eager employee fresh from England, his enthusiasm never jibed with his more cynical colleagues. He agonized over the way his boss only communicated by Post-it note and his colleagues gave him the cold shoulder in meetings.

The exhaustion led to anger, forgetfulness and numbness in his lips and fingers. A psychologist eventually diagnosed him with work-related post-traumatic stress disorder. After wrangling with management and his union, Mr. Hill finally left the school with severance in 2001.