World News: Outrage as hunters club seals and pups to death

Attackers clubbed 23 fur seals to death, including newborn pups, at a New Zealand breeding colony re-established two decades ago after the species was nearly wiped out by hunting.

Some of the eight bludgeoned pups were just days old, said Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson.

She appealed for assistance from the public to help track down the attackers.

"To go around and club 23 seals to death over a number of days is very deliberate and you have to question the state of mind of someone who can carry out such a cruel and abhorrent attack," Ms Wilkinson said.

The Ohau Point seal colony on northern South Island is a popular tourism spot north of the town of Kaikoura, which is a whale-watching centre.

The Department of Conservation said the attacks took place over as long as two weeks.

The colony stretches about 1.2 miles along the coast and is at the bottom of a steep, 100ft cliff with no easy access, department spokesman Rory Newsam said.

Fur seal numbers are gradually increasing in New Zealand after the species was nearly exterminated by hunters in the 1800s.

Daughter hits out at Palin slur

Bristol Palin said her mother did not force her to go on Dancing with the Stars.

The 20-year-old daughter of 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used a Facebook post to react to a blog entry by a fellow contestant, comedian Margaret Cho.

Miners' movie plans advance

Two of the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for two months said that plans for a film chronicling their ordeal are moving fast.

Miner Juan Illanes said during a visit to Costa Rica that discussions for the movie are "very advanced and we hope there are results soon".

22 dead after fighting blaze

At least 22 people have died after a grassland fire they were fighting in south-western China turned and trapped them.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the 22 were among more than 2000 people fighting the raging fire yesterday in Sichuan province. It said that three others were badly injured.

Among the dead were 15 soldiers and two government workers. The other five who died were civilians.

The cause of the blaze is unknown.

Satellite rocket falls into ocean

A ROCKET and its payload of three communications satellites has fallen into the Pacific Ocean after failing to reach orbit, the latest setback to Russia's attempts to develop a system to rival the US Global Positioning System.

The rocket and satellites landed about 900 miles north-west of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Pearl Harbour attack vets return to base

United States: About 120 survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour are expected to return to the base this week to attend a ceremony in remembrance of those who died 69 years ago.

Some 2400 troops were killed in the surprise attack.

Denmark: Actor Palle Huld, who reportedly inspired Belgian cartoonist Herge to create the comic book reporter Tintin, has died in a retirement home. He was 98.