THE NEWSMAKER
Deep impact suggested to avert Armageddon
Anatoly Perminov, Russia’s space agency chief, said Wednesday that a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of Earth impact. When the 885-foot asteroid Apophis was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated its chances of smashing into Earth in its first flyby, in 2029, at 1-in-37. NASA, however, has since recalculated the year that Apophis could fly near Earth, to 2036, and the possibility of a collision, to 1-in-135,000.
WORLD
Group posts way to crack encryption of cell phones
FRANKFURT — A German security expert has raised the ire of the cell phone industry after he and a group of researchers posted online a how-to guide for cracking the encryption that keeps the calls of GSM-standard cell phone users secret.
Karsten Nohl, 28, said this week that he, working with others online and around the world, created a code book showing how to get past the GSM encryption used to keep conversations on more than 3 billion mobile phones safe from prying ears.
Nohl said the purpose was to push companies to improve security.
Even with Nohl’s exploit, expensive and sophisticated radio equipment placed close to the target is required to pull the calls off the air.
U.S.-Mexico border quake
A magnitude-5.8 earthquake rocked the U.S.-Mexico border region Wednesday, causing hospitals to evacuate in the Mexican industrial city of Mexicali as buildings swayed more than 100 miles to the west in San Diego and also in southwestern Arizona. There were no reports of injuries or major property damage.
The main quake was centered about 20 miles southeast of Mexicali, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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There was “minor damage” to several buildings in Mexicali, a city of 750,000 people and capital of Baja California state, officials said.
NATION
Teresa, Mauldin, Autry among stamp honorees
WASHINGTON — Nobel Prize winner Mother Teresa and Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin will be honored on U.S. postage stamps next year.
Joining them will be Oscar-winning actress Katharine Hepburn, singing cowboy Gene Autry, artist Winslow Homer and Adm. Arleigh Burke.
Other new stamps will honor the Negro baseball leagues, the Sunday funnies and the Hawaiian rain forest, the Postal Service announced Wednesday.
The post office releases a series of commemorative stamps every year, honoring people, places and institutions. These stamps remain on sale for a limited period and are widely collected.
Report: Limbaugh ailing
HONOLULU — A Honolulu television station is reporting that conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been taken to a hospital with chest pains.
KITV reported Wednesday that paramedics responded to a call at 2:41 p.m. from the Kahala Hotel & Resort where Limbaugh is vacationing.
The station, citing unnamed sources, said paramedics treated Limbaugh and took him to The Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition.
Queen’s spokeswoman N. Makana Shook said the hospital was unable to comment on the report.
Television station KHON quoted unidentified sources saying Limbaugh was taken from the hotel in an ambulance.
Circus wins abuse ruling
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday ruled in favor of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in a case brought by animal rights activists who accused the circus of abusing elephants.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said former Ringling employee Tom Rider and the Animal Protection Institute did not have legal standing to sue the circus, owned by Feld Entertainment Inc. Rider and the animal protection group brought the lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act.
During the six-week trial in February and March, the attorney for the animal rights activists asked the judge to stop the circus from harming the elephants during performances and punishing them for bad behavior. They alleged that the use of bull hooks and prolonged chaining violated the federal law.
Taliban claim deadly attack
Pakistan blast may be sign militants are expanding war
SLAMABAD — The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for the devastating bombing of a Shiite procession in Karachi — a sign the militants may be escalating their war against the state with a rare attack in Pakistan’s commercial hub.
Monday’s bombing, which killed 44 people in the heart of the southern port city, underscored the group’s ability to strike far from its sanctuary in the northwest, and its determination to hit back at a government that has launched a military campaign against it.
Attacking Karachi “means they’re trying to expand their frontiers of terrorism,” said retired general and military analyst Talat Masood.
Although the teeming city of about 15 million people has often been the scene of sectarian, ethnic and political violence, the Pakistani Taliban have rarely claimed any attacks there. Many analysts believe the group has spared it in the past because its militants used the city as a haven to raise money and to rest.
President Asif Ali Zardari has speculated that the motive was to spark sectarian conflict that could complicate the government’s battle against the Pakistani Taliban.
The bombing also sparked rioting that destroyed buildings and thousands of shops in central Karachi, causing millions of dollars in damage. Parts of Bolton Market, the country’s largest wholesale market, were still smoldering Wednesday, more than 48 hours after the attack.
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Religious leaders and politicians in Karachi have called for a strike to protest the attack and ensuing violent rampage. They have urged businesses and public transport companies to shut down Friday, a move that could paralyze the city.