Sacramento, Calif. – Disappearing just as quietly as they arrived, a pair of wounded humpback whales that spent more than two weeks wandering up the Sacramento River appear to have slipped back into the sea, officials said Wednesday.
The mother and calf were last spotted late Tuesday off Tiburon, just 5 miles northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge.
State and federal wildlife officials are hopeful they made their escape to the Pacific Ocean.
“They arrived here quietly, and if they’ve made their way outside the Golden Gate, they’ve gone out quietly,” said Bernadette Fees, a California Fish and Game spokeswoman.
Additional nation/world news briefs:
LOS ANGELES
Attorney sues Anna Nicole’s daughter’s dad
Larry Birkhead’s former attorney filed a lawsuit against him Tuesday, claiming he didn’t pay his legal bills during a paternity dispute involving his and Anna Nicole Smith’s baby.
Debra Opri wants to force binding arbitration under the terms of a contract in which she agreed to represent Birkhead in September, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court.
After-hours phone messages left for Opri’s and Birkhead’s attorneys were not returned.
Birkhead sued Smith in October seeking a paternity test of her daughter, Dannielynn Hope, to determine who was the baby’s father. Howard Stern, Smith’s longtime companion, had also claimed to be the father and was listed on the birth certificate.
Smith died in Florida on Feb. 8 of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. Paternity tests released last month showed Birkhead was the baby’s father.
JERUSALEM
Peres announces bid for Israeli presidency
Elder statesman Shimon Peres on Wednesday declared his candidacy for the ceremonial post of Israeli president, telling supporters, “This may be my last chance to serve the country.”
His latest campaign caps a 60-year political career that has brought international accolades and a Nobel Peace Prize, but also repeated election losses, including to the current president, who stands accused of sex crimes.
Peres’ backers said a victory this time for the energetic 83-year-old could help restore the dignity and prestige of the presidency, which have been badly tarnished by police investigations into President Moshe Katsav. The president is elected in a secret ballot every seven years by the 120 members of Israel’s parliament.
BRUSSELS, Belgium
Europeans increasingly getting fat, official says
More than half of adults in European Union nations are obese or overweight and the young are increasingly making Europe a fat continent, the EU’s top public health official said Wednesday.
Diets based on fatty and sweet ingredients, and a lack of physical activity account for six of the seven top factors leading to poor health, said EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.
“Everybody has to be blamed – including the authorities, including the industry, including the consumers,” Kyprianou said.
His biggest worry is the growing girth of children. “If we don’t act, today’s overweight children will be tomorrow’s heart attack victims,” he said.
In the 27-nation bloc, the EU says that more than 21 million children are overweight.
