Sri Lanka claims last rebel area taken

Sri Lankan government soldiers seized the last remaining coastal stretch under the control of Tamil Tiger rebels, the Ministry of Defense said Saturday, marking a possible end to a quarter-century-long fight in the island nation. The seizure marks the total capture of coastline territory previously controlled by the rebels, the government said, after army divisions advanced from the north and south to link up.

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Scientists discover winter home of world’s second-biggest fish

The migration patterns of basking sharks have long mystified marine biologists, but new research has finally revealed where the world’s second-biggest fish hide out for half of every year. “While commonly sighted in surface waters during summer and autumn months, the disappearance of basking sharks during winter has been a great source of debate ever since an article in 1954 suggested that they hibernate on the ocean floor during this time,” said Gregory Skomal of Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, one of the authors of a report recently published in “Current Biology”. “Some 50 years later, we have helped to solve the mystery while completely re-defining the known distribution of this species.” Using new satellite-tagging and a new geo-location technique, the researchers found that basking sharks make long migrations through tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean during the winter, traveling at depths of 200 to 1,000 meters.

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Family, academy express relief after captain’s rescue

For four days, an American sea captain and four Somali pirates rode the waves of the Indian Ocean in an enclosed lifeboat, far out of sight of most of the world. But for those four days, they were on the minds of people around the globe, from the captain’s hometown in Vermont, to the White House, to port cities and anywhere that families send their loved ones off to sea.

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Hijacked Ship Back in Port, Its Captain Still a Hostage

The U.S. ship whose crew overcame a band of pirates off the coast of Somalia docked in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa on Saturday, its sailors relieved to be safe but distraught over the fate of their captain, who remains captive in a lifeboat at sea

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YouTube, Sony Pictures in talks over feature films

YouTube is in talks to acquire licensing rights to full-length content from Sony Pictures, home of such films as "The International" and "Spider-Man," sources familiar with the negotiations told CNET News. Details about what a final agreement could look like are sparse, but any partnership between the two powerhouses would likely benefit both. Representatives from both companies declined to comment

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