New horned dinosaur species discovered in Montana by amateur ADVERTISING New horned dinosaur species discovered in Montana by amateur BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A novice fossil collector’s lucky find in a remote Montana badlands more than a decade ago has
New horned dinosaur species discovered in Montana by amateur
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A novice fossil collector’s lucky find in a remote Montana badlands more than a decade ago has turned out to be a new kind of spectacularly-horned dinosaur, researchers announced Wednesday.
The bones unearthed near Winifred, Montana represent a previously-unknown species of dinosaur that lived 76 million years ago.
It’s scientific name is Spiclypeus shipporum (spi-CLIP-ee-us ship-OR-um) but it’s been nicknamed “Judith,” after the Judith River rock formation where it was found in 2005 by retired nuclear physicist Bill Shipp.
Canadian Museum of Nature paleontologist Jordan Mallon says Judith is closely-related to the well-known Triceratops. Both had horned faces and elaborate head frills, although Judith’s horns stick out sideway instead of over the eyes.
Like Triceratops, Judith was a plant-eater, approximately 15-feet long and weighing up to four tons, Mallon said.
Donald Trump unveils list of his top picks for Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, released Wednesday a list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia if he’s elected to the White House.
The list of conservative federal and state judges includes Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado and Raymond Gruender of Missouri.
Also on the list are: Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin and Don Willett of Texas. Trump had previously named Pryor and Sykes as examples of kind of justices he would choose.
The news comes as Trump is working to bring together a fractured Republican Party and earn the trust of still-skeptical establishment Republicans who question his electability in the general election, as well as conservatives in his party still wary of his commitment to their cause.
In a statement, Trump said the list “is representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value” and said that, as president, he would use it “as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court Justices.”
Lebanese man held in Iran had past US contracts
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A nonprofit organization headed by a Lebanese citizen held prisoner in Iran received grants totaling $730,000 from the U.S. government for projects in the Middle East, The Associated Press has learned.
Nizar Zakka, 49, a technology expert and advocate for Internet freedom, was arrested in Tehran in September after being invited by the Iranian government to attend a conference there. Although no charges have been announced, Iranian media has accused him of being an American spy, allegations vigorously rejected by his family and associates.
Zakka, who lives in Washington and holds resident status in the U.S., leads the Arab ICT Organization, or IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information technology in the region.
It is not clear from records obtained by the AP if any IJMA3 work involved Iran, but it is active elsewhere in the region. The organization has trained women about social media and worked on developing small business in Lebanon. According to Zakka’s Lebanese lawyer, the U.S. government is among many donors to the organization.
The U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development annually award tens of millions of dollars to various groups to promote democratic principles in the Middle East and aid civic organizations.
Nigerian girl kidnapped 2 years ago is found alive
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — One of the teenagers kidnapped by Boko Haram extremists over two years ago from a boarding school in northeastern Nigeria has been found with a baby and was reunited with her mother, a doctor said Wednesday — the first of the Chibok girls to be recovered since the mass abduction.
The 19-year-old woman, described by an uncle as traumatized by her experience, was found wandering with her baby on Tuesday on the fringes of the remote Sambisa Forest, which is located near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon.
The news gave hope to the families of the 218 girls who are still missing and may provide information as to their whereabouts. But the young woman told her mother that some of the Chibok girls have died in captivity and the others still are being held, according to her family’s doctor, Idriss Danladi, who spoke to The Associated Press after talking with the mother.
Other Chibok girls may have been rescued by soldiers hunting down Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest on Tuesday night, said Chibok community leader Pogu Bitrus. But it turned out later those girls were from elsewhere, said Awami Nkeki, secretary of the Chibok local government council.
On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram stormed and firebombed the Government Girls Secondary School at Chibok and seized 276 girls preparing for science exams. Dozens managed to escape in the first hours, but 219 remained captive.
Record crushed, diamond intact: Oppenheimer Blue draws $58M
GENEVA (AP) — The “Oppenheimer Blue” diamond sold Wednesday for more than $57.6 million including fees, crushing the previous record for the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction.
Capping a lively and even laughter-filled auction at Christie’s, the hammer came down to applause as the 14.62-carat stone, billed as the largest Vivid Blue diamond ever put up for auction, went to an unidentified buyer for a hammer price of 50.6 million Swiss francs — which excluded fees and the buyer’s premium.
The final tally blew away the previous record for a diamond sold at auction by nearly $10 million: The 12.03-carat polished “Blue Moon” diamond went for $48.5 million in Geneva in November.
Christie’s spokeswoman Alexandra Kindermann said the bidding for the “Oppenheimer Blue” lasted more than 25 minutes for the single lot. The anticipation was often marked with tense pauses, groans and laughter.
