4. 6 U.S. lawmakers travel to North Korea
Six U.S. lawmakers hope to ease tensions with North Korea in the first visit by American officials since a crisis began last fall over the country’s secret nuclear program.
They will tell North Korean officials that economic aid and trade lie ahead if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear program and improves relations with the United States, said the delegation leader, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.). The group departed for North Korea on Wednesday.
5. EVEREST A ‘BOOZE PLACE’: On the eve of the 50th anniversary of his historic ascent of Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary scolded the legions of climbers partying at base camp, saying he doesn’t consider “knocking back cans of beer” as mountaineering.
There were about 1,000 people at base camp with “a booze place for drinks and all the other comforts,” Hillary said at a news conference Wednesday.
6. MAD COW TESTS: Seven hundred more cattle will be killed for testing by Canadian investigators trying to eliminate suspicions that mad cow disease exists beyond a lone infected cow, officials said Wednesday.
Tests on 192 animals from the most recent herd of the infected cow came back negative, and further tests involve cattle from farms in Alberta and Saskatchewan linked to the infected cow or calves she produced, said Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
7. ZOO STILL HURTING: The interim administrator of the Baghdad Zoo appealed Wednesday to zoo and animal welfare groups to help raise $1 million for the once-splendid facility, which was badly damaged and had many of its animals stolen during the U.S.-led war against Iraq.
Lawrence Anthony, interim head of the Baghdad Zoo, said the animals were no longer in danger of starving to death or being eaten by desperate Iraqis, but the facility’s long-term survival was in jeopardy.