■ Britain
Scientists explain hum
Seismologists believe they have pinpointed the source of a mysterious low-frequency "hum" that emanates from the Earth, the British science journal Nature reports in Thursday's issue. University of California at Berkeley experts Junkee Rhie and Barbara Romanowicz note that the hum -- at between two and seven milliHertz, way below the threshold of human hearing -- originates mainly in the northern Pacific Ocean during the northern hemisphere winter, and in the Southern Ocean during the southern hemisphere. Storm energy in the winter is converted to deep ocean waves which then interact with the seabed, creating vibrations that cause the hum, they theorize.
■ Nigeria
Obasanjo to halt militancy
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday warned that his government will not tolerate any act of "undue militancy" in oil-rich Niger Delta or any action that would mortgage or compromise majority interest, but he recognized having talks with rebels. "Government is taking appropriate steps to stem the tide of undue militancy and we are confident that reason and the law will prevail," he said in a broadcast to mark the 44th anniversary of Nigeria's independence from Britain.
■ Lebanon
CIA official replaced
Less than a week after taking up his job, CIA Director Porter Goss has replaced the spy agency's third-ranking official, a wealthy former investment banker and martial arts expert. Government officials said Goss had told Executive Director A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, 67, who joined the CIA in February 1998 under former CIA Director George Tenet, that he was being replaced. Krongard, a gun collector who once punched the head of a great white shark, took a more than US$4 million pay cut to join the Central Intelligence Agency and had held the third-highest post there since March 2001. Krongard joined the CIA after a 29-year career in the financial sector. The former Marine had two photographs on the wall of his CIA office of the great white shark that he punched in the head. He has one of its teeth on a chain.
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