The world - Dec. 9, 2010

THURSDAY

NASA announced the finding of a bizarre bacterium that thrives on arsenic in a strange, salty lake in California. The bacteria, called Halomonadaceae, not only feeds off the toxic element, but incorporates aresenic directly into it’s DNA.

Chris Voigt, chief of the Washington State Potato Commission, ended a self-imposed diet of only potatoes that allowed him to shed 20 pounds in two months. Voigt also lowered his blood sugar and cut his cholesterol by one-third. He began the diet to protest a federal rule that barred families from purchasing potatoes with vouchers from the Women, Infants and Children program.

Archaeologists found fragments of shattered gun barrels and a lead shot on a battlefield in England that they believe to be the earliest evidence of firearm use. The relics are from the 1461 Battle of Towton in Yorkshire, northern England, a fight during the War of the Roses that is believed to have been the bloodiest in UK history.

Qatar was selected over the United States as the host of the 2022 World Cup soccer championships.

FRIDAY

A miniature robotic space shuttle named X-37B touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, wrapping up a 224-day classified military mission and becoming the first U.S. spaceship to land itself.

U.S. Coast Guard cutters and helicopters rushed to assist a disabled freighter adrift in the Bering Sea with 20 crew members aboard and carrying a cargo of oilseeds and fuel. Gale-force winds had produced 28-foot swales.

A rare first edition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” sold in spirited bidding at auction to an anonymous buyer for $500,500. The manuscript was engraved with notes and all four stanzas of the song by Francis Scott Key.

WEEKEND

Afghanistan’s finance minister Omar Zakhilwal offered to resign over a leaked U.S. cable that was one of thousands released by the WikiLeaks web site reported him as describing President Hamid Karzai as a “weak man.”

The lawyer searching the globe to recover money for defrauded investors of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff sued HSBC for $9 billion on Sunday, accusing the bank of enabling the largest financial fraud in history.

A wildcat strike by air traffic controllers brought airports in Spain to a standstill in the face of the country’s five-day weekend to celebrate Monday’s Constitution Day and Wednesday’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Discovery of 15-century old Buddhist remains in Afghanistan will delay mining of one of the world’s major copper ore bodies with proven reserves of 9 million tons of copper. Uncovered were a temple, stupas, frescoes and statues several meters high.

MONDAY

A U.S. company has received the first batch of medical isotope molybdenum-99, made from low-grade uranium instead of weapons-grade material, a shift that could help cut the threat of nuclear proliferation.

The Supreme Court said it would decide if the largest sex-discrimination class-action lawsuit in U.S. history against Wal-Mart can proceed, a case involving women workers who seek billions of dollars in damages for being paid less than their male counterparts.

A barge carrying hydrochloric acid on the Ohio River took on water near Louisville, Kentucky. There were no reports of lost or contaminated cargo or pollution in the water.

TUESDAY

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has angered U.S. authorities by publishing secret diplomatic cables, was taken into custody by a British court over allegations of sex crimes in Sweden. Assange, who denies the allegations, will remain behind bars until a fresh hearing on December 14.

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency filed charges against former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney and the head of oil services giant Halliburton over an alleged scheme to bribe Nigerian officials.

WEDNESDAY

Israel announced it would allow the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to export flowers through Israeli territory, in addition to strawberries. Gaza’s exports fell to $20,000 in 2007, and there was no significant export trade in 2008. Palestinians hope to export up to a 1000 tons of strawberries to Europe this year and 30 million flowers.

After ticketing a driver in London two years ago, policeman Andy Flitton again cited the man for speeding in his new jurisdiction in New Zealand. Flitton said the man told him he had moved to New Zealand two weeks before his latest booking, unaware his nemesis was also in the same country.

Compiled by staff from a variety of sources.