News in Brief(22-03-2018)

Maldives ex-leader Gayoom faces terror charge
COLOMBO, Mar 21: Maldivian authorities have charged former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and several senior judges with "terrorism" for attempting to topple President Abdulla Yameen, the government said Wednesday. Eighty-year-old Gayoom and ten others-including the sacked chief justice Abdulla Saeed-were charged under state of emergency laws imposed in the paradise tourist island last month. Yameen declared the draconian laws in February in a bid to prevent himself from being impeached by the national parliament after he lost his majority following a Supreme Court ruling. — AFP

Trump lawyer claims porn star liable for $20 million
LOS ANGELES, Mar 18 : Donald Trump's lawyer claims porn actress Stormy Daniels is liable for at least $20 million for violating a nondisclosure agreement she says prevents her from discussing an affair with the president, according to a Friday court filing. A lawyer for Michael Cohen's Essential Consultants limited liability company-which paid Daniels $130,000 under the agreement-made the filing, which said that Daniels violated the deal "at least" 20 times. "The Settlement Agreement provides for liquidated damages of one million dollars ($1,000,000) per instance of breach," the court filing says. — AFP

Vatican communications chief quits amid Benedict letter row
VATICAN CITY, Mar 21: The Vatican's communications chief resigned Wednesday amid controversy over the release of a letter by retired pope Benedict XVI about Pope Francis. "After carefully reflecting and thinking over the reasons for your request... I respect your decision and I accept with some difficulty your resignation," the pope wrote to Monsignor Dario Vigano in a letter made public by the Vatican. — AFP

Senate blocks bid to end military role in Yemen
WASHINGTON, Mar 21: The US Senate on Tuesday rejected a bipartisan bid to end American involvement in Yemen's civil war, voting down a rare effort to overrule presidential military authorization. The vote addressing American war powers had aimed to shut down US military involvement in Yemen within a month unless Congress formally authorized continued involvement. Senators voted 55-44 to kill the bid after the Senate's Republican leadership and key figures from both parties on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came out against it. —AFP

Monkeys use tools to crack nuts, shuck oysters
PARIS, Mar 21: Wild macaque monkeys have learned to use tools to crack open nuts and even shuck oysters, researchers said Wednesday, identifying a rare skill-set long thought to be the exclusive party trick of humans and chimps. Scientists from Britain and Thailand, where the native long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) feeds on sea almonds, oil palm nuts and the occasional bivalve, observed the monkeys using stones for two distinct tasks. Larger rocks, some weighing up to two kilogrammes (4.5 pounds), were used as a hammer to smash open nuts, while sharper stones formed knife-like levers to jimmy open prey such as oysters. —AFP