Gibson and Grigorieva are in the midst of a vicious custody battle over their daughter Photo: Reuters
Mel Gibson is a bonehead not a racist, says Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg Photo: AP
Goldberg defended the Hollywood actor, who was taped allegedly telling his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva that "if you get raped by a pack of n------ it will be all your fault".
Speaking on The View, Goldberg insisted: "I don't like what he did here but I know Mel, and I know he's not a racist.
By Fiona Govan in Madrid
Published: 4:48PM BST 14 Jul 2010
Bardem and Cruz, who started dating in 2007, appeared together in the 2008 Woody Allen romantic comedy Vicky Cristina BarcelonaPhoto: REUTERS
The Oscar-winning Spanish actors, who fell in love on the set of Woody Allen's 2008 romantic comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", tied the knot earlier this month, ending months of speculation over their nuptial plans.
By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
Shahram Amiri
Shahram Amiri had "left American soil" on and was on his way back to Iran via a third country, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
Before he left the Iranian interests section of the Pakistan embassy in Washington, where he had sought refuge, he gave an interview to Iranian television denying he had gone to America voluntarily, as Washington claims.
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TV and movie lovers rejoice: Comic-Con takes place this weekend, inviting fans around the world to meet stars from their favorite shows and hear about what it's like behind the scenes. Swarms of fang-bearing True Blood followers, honorary Glee club members -- frequently off-key or tone deaf -- and aspiring wizards from the abundant pool of Harry Potter admirers will descend on San Diego for four days. Heightened anticipation continues to build for the annual convention, which frequently stirs concerns of overcrowding, drawing over 125,000 people last year. Tickets for the gathering have been sold out for months, but Comic-Con is sponsoring a last-chance sweepstakes for tickets. Click here for the entry form; winners will be drawn Friday. [Jaunted]
A new deal for urban explorers promises authentic, cultural day trips in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco, all offered with a two-for-one special. Now travelers can bring a friend for free when they buy an Urban Adventure, including a stroll around Hollywood's most infamous bars and movie locations, a glimpse of New York's immigrant heritage through food tastings in Chinatown and Little Italy, and a walking tour through San Francisco's Mission District and Chinatown, ending with a catamaran cruise around the city's scenic bay . Offers are good through September 1.
Photo: Fans embrace their inner geek-dom at the 2009 Comic-Con, scragz via Flickr.
The moon takes a bite out of the sun Sunday over the seaside town of Valparaiso, Chile, during a partial solar eclipse. The photographer created the effect by shooting the top part of the picture through a piece of exposed x-ray film.
During a total solar eclipse, the moon passes completely between Earth and the sun, casting a circular shadow over the planet. On the ground, viewers in the full shadow's path—aka the path of totality—see the moon cover the sun's disk for several minutes. Only the sun's faint upper atmosphere, or corona, remains visible.
The full effect of Sunday's total solar eclipse was visible to just a few people along a narrow, 155-mile-wide (250-kilometer-wide) band of the Pacific Ocean. Starting north of New Zealand, the path of the moon's shadow swept over a few remote islands—including the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua)—and ended over the southernmost tip of South America.
Sky-watchers flocked by the thousands to Polynesian islands or booked passage on cruise ships to see the total solar eclipse. Viewers in Valparaiso, 75 miles (121 kilometers) northwest of Santiago, were among those in the Pacific Basin and in South America able to see a partial eclipse.
—with reporting by Andrew Fazekas
Published July 12, 2010
Easter Island Eclipse Watcher
Photograph by Eliseo Fernandez, Reuters
One of Easter Island's famous stone statues, or moai, seems to turn its back on the total solar eclipse Sunday, while a woman uses a special filter for safe eclipse viewing. (Watch video: "Solar Eclipse to Darken Easter Island.")
Looking directly at the sun—even during an eclipse—can permanently damage human eyes. Eclipse experts recommend wearing sun-safe glasses and watching the spectacle only for short periods.
Published July 12, 2010
Eclipse Halo
Photograph by Martin Bernetti, AFP/Getty Images
During Sunday's total solar eclipse, the moon covered the sun over Easter Island, so that only the faint, white ring of the sun's upper atmosphere, or corona, was visible.
Eclipse expert and National Geographic grantee Jay Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, was on Easter Island to witness his 51st solar eclipse. According to Pasachoff, eclipses offer scientists unique opportunities to study the corona, parts of which are invisible even to sun-watching satellites.
"On the days of eclipses—and only on those days—can we supply high-quality images of the inner and middle corona that fill in the gaps in spacecraft coverage," Pasachoff told National Geographic News last week. "We can learn about the sun's magnetic field and the relation of the sun and the Earth by studying eclipses."
(The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
Published July 12, 2010
Photograph by Martin Bernetti, AFP/Getty Images
The sun seems to create a frown in the sky over Easter Island as just a small crescent of light remains visible during Sunday's total solar eclipse.
Thousands of people gathered on Easter Island—a UN World Heritage site—to watch the eclipse, billed as one of the most remote that will happen this century.
"The most noteworthy aspect of this eclipse is how little land it crosses and the sparse population areas in the path," eclipse chaser and astronomer Alan Dyer, of the Telus World of Science-Calgary in Alberta, told National Geographic News last week.
The moon takes a bite out of the sun Sunday over the seaside town of Valparaiso, Chile, during a partial solar eclipse. The photographer created the effect by shooting the top part of the picture through a piece of exposed x-ray film.
During a total solar eclipse, the moon passes completely between Earth and the sun, casting a circular shadow over the planet. On the ground, viewers in the full shadow's path—aka the path of totality—see the moon cover the sun's disk for several minutes. Only the sun's faint upper atmosphere, or corona, remains visible.
The full effect of Sunday's total solar eclipse was visible to just a few people along a narrow, 155-mile-wide (250-kilometer-wide) band of the Pacific Ocean. Starting north of New Zealand, the path of the moon's shadow swept over a few remote islands—including the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua)—and ended over the southernmost tip of South America.
Sky-watchers flocked by the thousands to Polynesian islands or booked passage on cruise ships to see the total solar eclipse. Viewers in Valparaiso, 75 miles (121 kilometers) northwest of Santiago, were among those in the Pacific Basin and in South America able to see a partial eclipse.
—with reporting by Andrew Fazekas
Published July 12, 2010
Photograph by Eliseo Fernandez, Reuters
One of Easter Island's famous stone statues, or moai, seems to turn its back on the total solar eclipse Sunday, while a woman uses a special filter for safe eclipse viewing. (Watch video: "Solar Eclipse to Darken Easter Island.")
Looking directly at the sun—even during an eclipse—can permanently damage human eyes. Eclipse experts recommend wearing sun-safe glasses and watching the spectacle only for short periods.
The moon takes a bite out of the sun Sunday over the seaside town of Valparaiso, Chile, during a partial solar eclipse. The photographer created the effect by shooting the top part of the picture through a piece of exposed x-ray film.
During a total solar eclipse, the moon passes completely between Earth and the sun, casting a circular shadow over the planet. On the ground, viewers in the full shadow's path—aka the path of totality—see the moon cover the sun's disk for several minutes. Only the sun's faint upper atmosphere, or corona, remains visible.
The full effect of Sunday's total solar eclipse was visible to just a few people along a narrow, 155-mile-wide (250-kilometer-wide) band of the Pacific Ocean. Starting north of New Zealand, the path of the moon's shadow swept over a few remote islands—including the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua)—and ended over the southernmost tip of South America.
Sky-watchers flocked by the thousands to Polynesian islands or booked passage on cruise ships to see the total solar eclipse. Viewers in Valparaiso, 75 miles (121 kilometers) northwest of Santiago, were among those in the Pacific Basin and in South America able to see a partial eclipse.
—with reporting by Andrew Fazekas
Published July 12, 2010
Easter Island Eclipse Watcher
Photograph by Eliseo Fernandez, Reuters
One of Easter Island's famous stone statues, or moai, seems to turn its back on the total solar eclipse Sunday, while a woman uses a special filter for safe eclipse viewing. (Watch video: "Solar Eclipse to Darken Easter Island.")
Looking directly at the sun—even during an eclipse—can permanently damage human eyes. Eclipse experts recommend wearing sun-safe glasses and watching the spectacle only for short periods.
Published July 12, 2010
Photograph by Martin Bernetti, AFP/Getty Images
During Sunday's total solar eclipse, the moon covered the sun over Easter Island, so that only the faint, white ring of the sun's upper atmosphere, or corona, was visible.
Eclipse expert and National Geographic grantee Jay Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, was on Easter Island to witness his 51st solar eclipse. According to Pasachoff, eclipses offer scientists unique opportunities to study the corona, parts of which are invisible even to sun-watching satellites.
"On the days of eclipses—and only on those days—can we supply high-quality images of the inner and middle corona that fill in the gaps in spacecraft coverage," Pasachoff told National Geographic News last week. "We can learn about the sun's magnetic field and the relation of the sun and the Earth by studying eclipses."
(The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
The moon takes a bite out of the sun Sunday over the seaside town of Valparaiso, Chile, during a partial solar eclipse. The photographer created the effect by shooting the top part of the picture through a piece of exposed x-ray film.
During a total solar eclipse, the moon passes completely between Earth and the sun, casting a circular shadow over the planet. On the ground, viewers in the full shadow's path—aka the path of totality—see the moon cover the sun's disk for several minutes. Only the sun's faint upper atmosphere, or corona, remains visible.
The full effect of Sunday's total solar eclipse was visible to just a few people along a narrow, 155-mile-wide (250-kilometer-wide) band of the Pacific Ocean. Starting north of New Zealand, the path of the moon's shadow swept over a few remote islands—including the Chilean territory of Easter Island (Isla de Pascua)—and ended over the southernmost tip of South America.
Sky-watchers flocked by the thousands to Polynesian islands or booked passage on cruise ships to see the total solar eclipse. Viewers in Valparaiso, 75 miles (121 kilometers) northwest of Santiago, were among those in the Pacific Basin and in South America able to see a partial eclipse.
The Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia is one of the world's large untapped reserves of lithium, a key metal for batteries. Geologists say Afghanistan has similar lithium wealth, but as in Bolivia, politics likely will be the deciding factor in resource development.
Photograph by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky, Bloomberg/ Getty Images
By Henry J. Reske
for National Geographic News
Published June 16, 2010
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.
Somewhere in the trackless lands that make up much of Afghanistan (map), just to the right or left of the Old Silk Road, there are apparently huge caches of untapped wealth in the form of metal and stone prized in both the ancient world and the modern: gold, copper, and lapis lazuli, to name a few.
Standing on wooden steps that protect a 3,300-year-old stone staircase, Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass poses in 2009 in a mysterious tunnel that links the ancient tomb of Pharaoh Seti I to ... nothing.
After three years of hauling out rubble and artifacts via a railway-car system (rails visible at left), the excavators have hit a wall, the team announced last week. It seems the ancient workers who created the steep tunnel under Egypt's Valley of the Kings near Luxor (map) abruptly stopped after cutting 572 feet (174 meters) into rock.
Hawass, also a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, believes work on the tunnel began during the pharaoh's 15-year reign (1294-1279 B.C.), but after the tomb above it was already complete. Work may have stopped when Seti I died.
Archaeologist Mustafa Waziri, regional director for the Egyptian antiquities council, said: "I think they were planning to make another burial chamber down there. Suddenly they stopped. But the condition of the stairs is amazing."
(The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
Photograph courtesy Egypt Supreme Council of Antiquities
Workers and archaeologists stand at the 4,200-year-old site of two rock-hewn Egyptian tombs recently excavated near Cairo and unveiled Thursday.
Featuring boldly painted false doors, the tombs are the last resting places of Shendwa, head of the royal scribes under Pharaoh Pepi II, and his son Khonsu, also a scribe. Both were members of the literate ruling class during ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom (2686 to 2160 B.C.), during which most of Egypt's pyramids were built (ancient Egypt time line).
Occupying a thousand-square-foot (300-square-meter) site, the tombs were found in the royal burial ground at Saqqara (map)—strangely far from the tomb of Pepi II."We never expected to find a tomb that belongs to [the period of] that king" at the dig site, said Abdul Hakeem Karar, director of the Saqqara necropolis for Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
(Related King Tut pictures: "DNA Study Reveals Health Secrets.") —Andrew Bossone in Cairo
Ecuadorian police pose atop what U.S. officials called a "game changing"submarine built by drug smugglers on July 2 near the town of San Lorenzo (map), just south of the Colombian border.
Unlike previous known "cocaine subs," which could dip only just below the surface, the illegal craft appears capable of diving as deep as 65 feet (20 meters).
Seized before its maiden voyage, the 98-foot-long (30-meter-long) fiberglass sub was big enough to hold six to ten tons of cocaine and six crew members. The remote swamp camp where it was built was outfitted for up to 50 workers, though only 1 was present at the time of the raid.
With a ballast system never before seen in a cocaine sub, the handmade sub suggests smugglers are rapidly improving on the more common, semisubmersible designs, which are already difficult to detect.
"It's obviously an eye-opener," said Michael Braun, a former chief of operations with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which assisted in the seizure operation.
"There's been a lot of speculation," said Braun, now with Spectre Group International, a private security company. "But now there's direct evidence that the bad guys have the ability to build these things and put them into service."
(Related: Get cocaine-submarine pictures and facts from the National Geographic Channel.)
Asteroid 21 Lutetia is exposed, craters and all, in a picture captured Saturday by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft. Rosetta's close encounter with Lutetia revealed a battered world—a possible remnant from the birth of our solar system, astronomers say.
To snap the above image, Rosetta swooped about 1,965 miles (3,162 kilometers) above Lutetia's surface. The image is the highest-resolution photo taken of the space rock, located more than 270 million miles (440 million kilometers) away from Earth, between Mars and Jupiter. (Watch a video of Rosetta's flyby.)
The sharp edge visible above, at bottom, may be evidence that 81-mile-wide (130-kilometer-wide) Lutetia broke off from a "mother asteroid," said NASA space scientist Claudia Alexander, who led the United States' involvement in the Rosetta mission.
Legendary guitarist Carlos Santana has proposed onstage to his drummer girlfriend, Cindy Blackman.
AAP
LEGENDARY guitarist Carlos Santana is engaged after proposing onstage to his girlfriend, drummer Cindy Blackman.
The proposal came during a tour stop Friday in Tinley Park, Illinois, outside Chicago. His representatives say he popped the question four songs into the concert after a Blackman drum solo.
She said yes, and they sealed it with a kiss, which was met with cheers from the crowd.
The multiplatinum-selling Grammy winner ended a 34-year marriage to Deborah Santana in 2007.
MICHAEL Jackson's final resting place has been vandalised.
A group of fans of the late singer - who died of acute Propofol intoxication last June - managed to obtain access to the Great Mausoleum at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Memorial Park, with the cemetery now pledging to review security following the incident.
Mel Gibson is being investigated in a possible domestic violence case involving his ex-girlfriend.OSCAR-WINNING Braveheart director Mel Gibson uses racial language to disparage an Hispanic cleaning lady, in a fresh recording posted online on Tuesday.
The recording, allegedly made in a screaming phone argument with his Russian-born ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, follows the release of earlier rants in which Gibson refers to black people as "n*****s," calls Grigorieva a "whore" and a "bitch in heat," and apparently acknowledges beating her.
In one tape, Lethal Weapon star Gibson even reportedly threatens to kill Grigorieva.
Australia has taken significant steps towards a more gender equal society.AUSTRALIA has thrown some large stones at the glass ceiling since the United Nations last reviewed our gender equality agenda.
So there will be plenty to talk about next week when Australia's four-year progress is reviewed by the UN's division for the advancement of women in New York.
GREATER levels of vitamin D have been linked to a lower risk of Parkinson's disease in a study in Finland where low sunlight leads to a chronic lack of the nutrient, researchers said Monday.
Scientists from the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, first hypothesised that Parkinson's "may be caused by a continuously inadequate vitamin D status leading to a chronic loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain."
Local woman rallies her neighbours
WHEN Marianne Mattingly heard a young girl screaming profanity in the street on a Saturday night, she put it down to the usual drunken shenanigans.
NO ONE WAS HURT. Department of Public Works personnel extricate a collapsed flame tree from the window of a passing car on Beach Road, Tuesday morning, damaging two vehicles. Fortunately there were no injuries.
Senator Eddie Baza Calvo signs the Republican Party’s unity pledge at Meskla Restaurant in Hagatna on Tuesday. Looking on are Sen. Ray Tenorio, Lt. Gov. Mike Cruz and Sen. Jim Espaldon. Photo by Zita Y. Taitano
By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
Published: 4:20PM GMT 18 Nov 2009
Emergency personnel from Majuro Hospital greet the five surviving Papua New Guinea drifters Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Eight members of an extended family, most of them in their late teens, were left at the mercy of the seas and the elements after their 22-foot boat ran out of fuel on a trip to a neighbouring island. After finally being rescued near Nauru by a US fishing vessel two of them died from severe malnutrition before the captain could reach medical aid. Survivors said a 15-year-old boy had drowned after jumping overboard to rescue clothing that had blown away.
People flock to the U.S. Post Office in Chalan Kanoa yesterday to see whether their refund or federal stimulus checks are already in their mailboxes, following the Fitial administration's mailing out of some 10,000 refund checks worth $6.4 million on Monday night. (Haidee V. Eugenio)
AP - A rogue Afghan soldier fired a rocket-propelled grenade into a group of international forces early Tuesday, killing three British troops, before fleeing, a military spokesman said. Four others were wounded.
AP - From prosecutors in Los Angeles to justice officials in Washington, the Swiss decision to free Roman Polanski was described as a disappointment and to some, an injustice.
BP prepares to test new cap installed on oil leak (AP) AP - After securing a new, tight-fitting cap on top of the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP prepared Tuesday to begin tests to see if it will hold and stop fresh oil from polluting the waters for the first time in nearly three months.
FILE - In a Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 photo, actor John Stamos is honored with star on the Hollywood...
FILE - In a Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 photo, actor John Stamos is honored with star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles . Lawyers for a Michigan couple accused of trying to extort money from Stamos say the actor's private life should be fair game at trial next week. Prosecutors are asking a judge to bar questions about Stamos' sex life and whether he had an intimate relationship with one of the defendants, Allison Coss. They say it's irrelevant. Coss and Scott Sippola are accused of demanding $680,000 from Stamos or they would sell photos of him with cocaine and strippers. Federal prosecutors say the photos never existed. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
Lady Gaga's stirring up controversy yet again -- but this time all she did was play a little piano. A photo of the "Bad Romance" crooner seated at John Lennon's famous white Steinway recently hit the Web, and Beatles fans are up in arms.
John's son Sean Lennon posted the photo on Twitter with the caption: "With gaga at mom's house, she's belting on the white piano..." The instrument was a gift from The Beatles' frontman to Sean's mother, Yoko Ono, and it sits out in the open at Yoko's home.
In the pic, the singer wears typically skimpy Gaga-gear (a skintight body suit and thigh-high fishnets) while singing and tickling away at the keys. The image drew an outcry from some Beatles fans who considered Gaga unworthy of the iconic instrument.
SUMMER READERS. Desirae Herrera, left, of the Wise Women Village Project, helps distribute books to children who enrolled for the summer reading program at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library in Susupe.
The students of RCS School of Music pose for a souvenir picture after a job well done. (Contributed Photo)
The RCS School of Music held its 4th Musical Recital at the Agape Auditorium on June 19, 2010.
Presented by 44 young students who displayed their talents in singing and playing the piano and guitar, the event was dedicated to Father’s Day and was intended to showcase their achievements as they step to another level of music.
The RCS School of Music acknowledged the assistance of the Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Eucon International School, Pastor Eric Abragan, Pastor Roger Abe, and Nat Angeles who made this event successful.
Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas holds up the World Cup trophy following the World Cup final soccer match between the Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, July 11, 2010. Spain won 1-0. (AP)
VILLAGOMEZ CLAN REUNION: Members of the Villagomez clan pose for a group photo after their Joeten-Kiyu Public Library beautification project last July 7. (Contributed Photo)
Nicolas Sarkozy has appeared on French television to deny allegations he received 'envelopes of cash' from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. Photo / AP
On your bike ... Aussies have the wood on Pakistan. Colleen Petch
Fox Sports Stats suggests Australia have edge over Pakistan in Test series
By John Clark
foxsports.com.au
July 13, 2010
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi says recent Twenty20 wins over Australia have given his side confidence - but he might want to take a look at our exclusive n
WITH swishing tails and paws poised, pooches took to Tasmania's first Dancing with Dogs workshop.
All weekend, dogs and their owners learned new moves, weaving through legs, trotting back and forth and even tottering on hind paws, with the guidance of a Victorian instructor.
Many of the dogs had not taken part in the freestyle before, although they were au fait with the finer points of obedience.
Dog dancing takes obedience and bonding to a new and musical level.
Organisers hope it's the start of a regular program. Pictures: Dancing with Dogs
THE Opposition has accused the Government of breaking an election promise on cancer services in the North-West.
Opposition Leader Will Hodgman said new figures showed that more than 300 patients from the North-West travelled to Launceston and Hobart for radiation therapy in 2009-10.
"It is estimated that each cancer patient from the North-West will travel an average of 9000km in the course of their treatment, with each course of radiation requiring an average of 21 visits," Mr Hodgman said.
"These patients will be forced to continue to travel, putting additional pressure on their health and family relationships at a time it can be least afforded."
Mr Hodgman said that many cancer patients from the North-West chose not to undergo treatment because of the difficulties of travelling.
"In the election campaign, the Premier, David Bartlett, said he would fast-track the North-West cancer clinic to enable full services to be available before 2016. Now, after the election, he's broken that promise and the timeline has blown out another two years," he said.
But Health Minister Michelle O'Byrne said the State Government would abide by a commitment to deliver world-class cancer services to Tasmanians living in the North-West.
"Currently, northern Tasmania has a demonstrated need for three linear accelerators," she said.
"The centre at the LGH will have three linear accelerators in October 2010."
Ms O'Byrne said a fourth linear accelerator would be provided in the North-West when there was sufficient demand for a viable service.
In February the Australian Medical Association spoke out against plans for a linear accelerator at the North-West Regional Hospital, saying the population of 100,000 was too small to support such a machine in Burnie.
Ms O'Byrne said the State Government would apply for a linear accelerator licence for the North-West before 2018.
INTENSE diplomatic efforts by Israel, Greece, Egypt and Moldova prevent Libyan aid ship from breaching Gaza blockade.
The agent of the Amalthea cargo ship told AFP in Athens that the Moldova-flagged boat set sail from Greece, where it was anchored, and was heading for the Egyptian port of El-Arish.
Israel, which came under fire from the international community after its forces killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists in a raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on May 31, said it was sure the ship would not reach Gaza.
"Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke several times in recent days with the foreign ministers of Greece and Moldova and reached understandings with them about dealing with the Libyan ship," Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The Foreign Ministry believes that due to these talks, the ship will not reach Gaza.".
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak spoke with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and asked "if Egypt would agree to accept the boat at the port of El-Arish".
The Greek foreign ministry confirmed it was in contact with Israel over the boat but would not elaborate. It was not immediately clear if Egypt had acceded to Barak's request.
But Israeli officials said Moldovan authorities had made contact with the captain of the ship who agreed to divert the cargo to El-Arish.
Later on Saturday, the ship's agent said the vessel had set sail from Lavrio, 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of Athens.
"All the ship's documents are in order, they indicate as its destination the Egyptian port of El-Arish," Petros Arvanitis told AFP.
He also confirmed talks were held between the various parties on the boat's final destination.
A charity headed by Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, had announced plans on Friday to send a boat load of humanitarian aid from Greece to Gaza.
THE European spacecraft Rosetta performed a fly-by of a massive asteroid, taking images that could one day help Earth defend itself from destruction.
Racing through the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter at 47,800k/ph, the one billion euro ($1.45 billion) probe flew within 3200km of the huge potato-shaped rock, Lutetia.
"The fly-by has been a spectacular success with Rosetta performing faultlessly,'' ESA said in a statement.
"Just 24 hours ago, Lutetia was a distant stranger. Now, thanks to Rosetta, it has become a close friend,'' the agency added.
Holger Sierks of Germany's Max Planck Institute, who is in charge of the spacecraft's Osiris (Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System) camera said the more than 400 "phantastic images'' showed many craters and details.
"Rosetta opened up a new world which will keep scientists busy for years,'' he added.
"We have completed the fly-by phase,'' Rosetta's director of operations Andrea Accomazzo said earlier on the ESA's website from the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
The aim of the fly-by of the asteroid, measuring 134km in diameter, is to measure Lutetia's mass and then calculate its density, knowledge which could one day be a lifesaver, according to ESA scientists.
If a rogue asteroid enters on a collision course with Earth, knowing its density will help the planet's defenders to determine whether they should try to deflect the rock or, instead, blow it up.
As Rosetta is around half a million kilometres from Earth, the probe's signal and images took 25 minutes to be received.
Most measurements suggest Lutetia is a "C'' type of asteroid, meaning that it contains primitive compounds of carbon. But others indicate it could be an "M'' type, meaning that it holds metals.
New data proving this could rewrite the theory about asteroid classification.
Metallic asteroids are far smaller than Lutetia: they are deemed to be fragments of far larger rocks that, in the bump and grind of the asteroid belt, were smashed apart.
The fly-by comes halfway through the extraordinary voyage of Rosetta, launched in 2004 on a 12-year, 7.1 billion kilometre mission.
One of the biggest gambles in the history of space exploration, the unmanned explorer is designed to meet up in 2014 with Comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko 675 million kilometres from home.
The goal is to unlock the secrets of these lonely wanderers of the cosmos, whose origins date back to the dawn of the Solar System, some 4.5 billion years ago, before planets existed.
To get to its distant meeting point, Rosetta has had to play planetary billiards for five years, using four "gravitational assists'' from Earth and Mars as slingshots to build up speed.
A NEWLY-discovered iris plant has been named after South Africa's vuvuzela as a lasting memory of the World Cup.
The distinctive horn polarised soccer fans and TV viewers with some claiming it captures the unique spirit of the event, while others complained it ruined their enjoyment of the tournament.
The plant, "Moraea vuvuzela" is described on the website of the South African National Biodiversity Institute as having colourful, flared yellow flowers whose "massed, synchronous appearance" had appropriate associations with the horn's name.
Dr Tanya Abrahamse said the suggestion came from a retired staff member.
"And the rest, as they say, is history."
The iris grows naturally only in South Africa's Western Cape and is under threat from agricultural development.