■ CANADA
Oil spill threatens whales
Environmentalists are concerned that the recent diesel spill off Vancouver Island could threaten the habitat of the killer whales who frequent the area. About 50 killer whales have swum through the slick after a barge overturned on Monday and dumped a loaded diesel truck near an ecological reserve off Vancouver Island. Kate Thompson, a spokeswoman with British Columbia's Ministry of the Environment, said the barge was just outside the reserve's border when it overturned. However, Jennifer Lash, executive director of the nonprofit organization Living Oceans, said reports from the scene suggest that the barge was about 100m to 200m inside the protected area. It is not known how much fuel the truck was carrying, but a slick of between 2km and 8km long was reported.
■ UNITED KINGDOM
Biker shooting arrests made
Detectives investigating the shooting of a Hells Angel biker on the M40 motorway said yesterday they have made arrests. Gerry Tobin, 35, who lived in south London, died after being shot in the back of the head as he rode home from an annual biker event in Warwickshire on Aug. 12. Detectives believe Tobin had been deliberately targeted after being followed from the Bulldog Bash. A spokeswoman for police in Warwickshire would not comment on the arrests, but confirmed more than one person was being held.
■ UNITED STATES
Tidiest toilets named
A suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, grocery store cleaned up on Tuesday in an annual contest for the US' tidiest toilets. The restrooms at Jungle Jim's International Market appear to be portable toilets, but they actually lead to real jungle-themed restrooms with flowers, marble and tropical pictures. They were named the nation's finest in an online poll sponsored by bathroom supply firm Cintas Corp. "I'm all about putting smiles on people's faces," store owner Jim Bonaminio said. "People are so tense these days. Those bathrooms just seem to make people laugh and that's what we're all about: laughing and having fun."
■ UNITED STATES
Weapons trade a fake
A suspected missile launcher handed in to police in Florida as part of a sneakers-for-guns program turned out to be a carrying case for an anti-tank weapon, the Orlando Sentinel said on Tuesday. Last Friday stunned officers in Orlando were handed a long olive-green tube they thought was a surface-to-air missile launcher. As part of the "Kicks for Guns" program aimed to reduce gun violence, they traded it in for a pair of Reebok sneakers, the daily said. But military defense contractors later determined the object was a carrying case for an anti-tank weapon. The man who traded in the case will likely get to keep the sneakers he got for his daughter, as the anti-violence program runs on a no-questions-asked basis.
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