■ECUADOR
Rare tortoise may be father
Lonesome George, the long-living Galapagos Islands giant tortoise thought to be the last of his kind, might soon be a father. The Galapagos National Park announced on Monday that a female tortoise that has accompanied George since 1993 laid three intact eggs that are being cared for in an artificial incubator. The eggs have appeared “after 36 years of multiple efforts ... when we thought it was impossible for the tortoise known as Lonesome George to reproduce,” the park said in a statement. The female belongs to the closest existing phenotype to that of George. Found in 1972 on Pinta island, George is estimated to be in his 70s — middle age for a giant tortoise. It will take another 120 days to learn if the eggs are viable.
■UNITED STATES
Hurricane warning issued
Forecasters issued a hurricane warning yesterday as Tropical Storm Dolly churned over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to grow into a hurricane within 24 hours near the Mexico-Texas border. The warning means hurricane conditions are expected in the area in the next 24 hours. At 0600 GMT, the center of the storm was about 515km southeast of Brownsville, Texas, as it moved westward near 28kph, the warning said. It was packing maximum sustained winds near 85kph with higher gusts.
■UNITED STATES
‘Human smuggler’ arrested
A Mexican citizen accused of driving more than 20 illegal immigrants in a vehicle that plunged into a canal, killing six of them, has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling, federal authorities said on Monday. The crash happened on Friday night shortly after the driver fled police in Westmorland, about 200km east of San Diego, spokeswoman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Lauren Mack said. The California Highway Patrol said the GMC Suburban overturned into the canal and was submerged after the driver failed to maneuver a curve. An eight-year-old boy and his parents were among the dead; the boy’s 12-year-old sister survived.
■UNITED STATES
Tobacco fights cancer
A personalized vaccine made using tobacco plants — normally associated with causing cancer rather than helping cure it — could aid people with lymphoma in fighting the disease, US researchers said on Monday. The treatment, which would vaccinate cancer patients against their own tumor cells, is made using a new approach that turns genetically engineered tobacco plants into personalized vaccine factories.
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