US catches China with fingers in honey jar

Washington: Call it a case of honey laundering. US officials said they had mounted a sting operation against two major firms illegally importing honey from China and selling it on the American market, avoiding USD 180 million in anti-dumping duties.

US ICE described the bust as "one of the largest criminal anti-dumping cases." The offence involved Chinese honey either being mis-declared as another commodity or trans-shipped through other countries such as India, Russia and Thailand to avoid trade duties. Five people have been arrested and charged and the two firms, Honey Holding of Texas and Groeb Farms of Michigan, agreed to pay fines of USD 1 million and USD 2 million respectively.

Pak military calls for free, fair, timely polls

Islamabad: Pakistan's powerful military today called for a "free, fair and timely" general election, even as there was growing speculation in the country that the security establishment could be behind moves to destabilise the PPP-led government to defer polls. "We fully support free, fair and timely elections in the country. We have been supporting the present political set-up during the last five years and will not get anything if elections are delayed," said Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa.

Marxist zoo keepers wanted in China

Beijing: Mastery over Marxist-leninist thought, besides knowledge in animal upkeep, is the required qualification to be a

zookeeper in China's Guangzhou Zoo. Chinese daily, Yangcheng Evening News, stumbled upon Guangzhou Zoo's exam for new recruits and found that one of the sections in the test aimed at evaluating applicants' "mastery" of Marxist-leninist thought.

US declares plans  to tackle hacking threat

Washington: The United States would use diplomatic measures and "trade policy tools" to stop hacking of US companies and stealing of its trade secrets, besides enforcing intellectual property rights (IPR), the White House has said. Such a move from the Obama Administration comes a day after a report  released by private security firm alleged that a unit of the Chinese Army is behind majority of the cyber-attacks against US companies and involved in stealing of trade secrets.

Isopod at Japan aquarium has not eaten for 4 years

Tokyo: A giant sea creature weighing over 1 kg and measuring 29 centimeters has surprised its keepers at an aquarium in western Japan by "fasting" for more than four years. The giant male isopod, called 'No 1' to distinguish it from the two other giant isopods kept at Toba Aquarium in Mie Prefecture, last ate in January 2009, when it was fed a whole Japanese horse mackerel.