European Union backs unprecedented naval mission to end migrant crisis
European Union nations approved plans on Monday for an unprecedented naval mission starting next month to fight human traffickers responsible for a flood of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya.
The scheme backed by foreign and defence ministers in Brussels will involve European warships and surveillance aircraft gathering intelligence and then raiding boats to crack down on people smugglers.
But the EU is still waiting for a UN resolution that will allow it to destroy boats that belong to people smugglers in Libyan waters, where political turmoil has created safe harbour for traffickers.
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Iraq Shiite militias head for Ramadi after ISIS takeover
Shiite militias converged on Ramadi Monday to try to recapture it from extremists who dealt the Iraqi government a stinging blow by overrunning the city in a deadly three-day blitz.
The loss of the capital of Iraq's largest province was Baghdad's worst military setback since it started clawing back territory from ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) group late last year.
Washington, which had made Anbar - of which Ramadi is the capital - a cornerstone of its assistance to Baghdad against ISIS, admitted to a "setback".
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Why do men exist? Scientific study offers an explanation
Since in many species, sperm is males' only contribution to reproduction, biologists have long puzzled about why evolutionary selection, known for its ruthless efficiency, allows them to exist.
Now British scientists have an explanation: Males are required for a process known as "sexual selection" which helps species to ward off disease and avoid extinction.
A system where all offspring are produced without sex - as in all-female asexual populations - would be far more efficient at reproducing greater numbers of offspring, the scientists said.
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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn says Apple stock 'dramatically undervalued'
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said on Monday Apple Inc's stock was "still dramatically undervalued" and that it should be trading at US$240 (S$318.18), nearly double its current price.
Icahn also used an open letter to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook to call for it to execute a much larger share buyback, returning to a longtime theme of the activist investor's campaign for the iPhone maker to boost shareholder returns.(http://bit.ly/1QXgpia)
Apple shares rose as much as 1.8 per cent to US$130.72 by midday on Monday. The stock has gained more than a quarter since October, when Icahn first said it was undervalued.
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Golf: Australia's Lee Minjee wraps up her first LPGA win in rain-delayed US tournament
Australia's Lee Minjee wrapped up her first LPGA victory on Monday, completing three holes to finish a 65 for a two-shot win at the rain-delayed Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The 18-year-old former top-ranked amateur made a three-putt bogey at the 16th when play resumed but parred the last two holes to finish on 15-under-par 269 for the victory over Ryu So-yeon of South Korea, who shot a 67 for 271.
Asked how she felt about getting her maiden win on the tour, Lee said: "Pretty damn good!"
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