From The Asian Reporter, V28, #12 (June 18, 2018), pages
7, 8, 10 & 13.

ORANGE CRUSTACEAN. A rare orange lobster is seen at an
aquarium in Boston. Workers at a Westborough, Massachusetts
supermarket found the lobster in a shipment of crustaceans from
Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia and donated it to the
aquarium. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine said
the likelihood of a lobster being orange is about 1 in 30
million. (Emily Bauernfeind/New England Aquarium via AP)
Grocery store workers find rare orange lobster
WESTBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Workers at a Massachusetts
supermarket have found a rare orange lobster.
Roche Bros. Supermarkets said in a Facebook post on May 29
that workers at their Westborough store found the lobster in a
shipment of crustaceans from Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.
It has since donated the lobster to the New England Aquarium
in Boston.
The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine said the
likelihood of a lobster being orange is about 1 in 30 million.
The New England Aquarium said the lobster is about seven to
nine years old. It said the crustacean is lucky to be alive
because its color was "flashing a neon sign" to predators.
The lobster will either stay in Boston or go to another
aquarium in Japan.

17-YEAR CICADAS. Jin Yoshimura, a scientist from Japan who
travelled to Central New York to research the 17-year cicadas
emerging now, holds a nymph on June 12, 2018 in Onondaga, New
York. (Glenn Coin/The Post-Standard via AP)
Rare New York sightings of big bug draw fans
from around the world
ONONDAGA, N.Y. (AP) — Students from Japan and a researcher
from New Zealand are among the scientists and hobbyists flocking
to central New York for rare sightings of a big bug.
The area’s cicada (sih-KAY’-duh) brood emerges once every 17
years.
The Post-Standard says the eastern U.S. is one of three
places in the world with periodical cicadas. The others are the
Pacific Ocean island of Fiji, where cicadas emerge every eight
years; and northern India, where they emerge every four years.
In New York, some of the cicada fans have congregated at a
farm and brewery in Onondaga, just south of Syracuse. Several
researchers recorded audio and video as the cicadas’ call
vibrated in the background.
A student from Shizuoka University in Japan, Hiroki Hayashi,
called the scene "wonderful and exciting."
***
Rare tick inexplicably turns up in Arkansas
By Hannah Grabenstein
The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A hardy species of tick that survived a
New Jersey winter has inexplicably arrived in Arkansas, and
entomologists are trying to figure out how.
The Longhorned tick is native to eastern Asia, but was
discovered in New Jersey last August and again this spring.
Others were later found in Virginia and West Virginia, but no
one can explain how one showed up on an Arkansas dog.
Oklahoma State University researchers confirmed the discovery
and the Arkansas Agriculture Department are warning ranchers to
monitor livestock.
Ticks can spread disease in animals and humans. Overseas,
severe infestations have stunted growth in cattle and caused
enough blood loss that some cattle died.
At press time, health departments in Arkansas and New Jersey
said they had not found any disease-bearing Longhorned ticks so
far.
***
Costs of Snowden leak still mounting five
years later
By Deb Riechmann
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Is Edward Snowden a whistleblower, traitor,
leaker, or public hero?
The National Security Agency (NSA) contractor blew the lid
off U.S. government surveillance methods five years ago, but
intelligence chiefs complain revelations from the trove of
classified documents he disclosed are still trickling out.
That includes recent reporting on a mass surveillance program
run by close U.S. ally Japan and on how the NSA targeted bitcoin
users to gather intelligence to combat narcotics and money
laundering. The Intercept, an investigative publication
with access to Snowden documents, published stories on both
subjects.
The top U.S. counterintelligence official said journalists
have released only about one percent taken by the 34-year-old
American, now living in exile in Russia, "so we don’t see this
issue ending anytime soon."
***
Bill introduced to make doping in worldwide
events a crime
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill that
would make it a crime to use or distribute performance-enhancing
drugs while competing in international sports events.
The bill in the house is named after Grigory Rodchenkov, the
Russian lab director who blew the whistle on Russian cheating at
the Sochi Olympics.
Penalties would include fines of up to $250,000 for
individuals and prison sentences of up to 10 years for those who
make, distribute, or use banned substances at international
events, such as the Olympics.
U.S. and foreign athletes would be subject to the law if
competing in an event that includes four or more U.S. athletes
and other athletes from three or more countries, even if the
event is held outside the United States.
The bill cites the U.S. contribution to the World Anti-Doping
Agency as justification for jurisdiction over events outside
American borders.
The bill also would expand the timeframe for athletes and
corporate sponsors who were cheated to file lawsuits seeking
damages.
Other countries, including Germany, Italy, and Kenya, have
similar laws. U.S. authorities have long been hamstrung by
limited legal options to prosecute doping cheats.
|