Australian swimmer Chloe McCardel will jump into the Florida Straits this week hoping to become the first to cross them swimming through the shark-infested sea without a protective cage. "I think it will take approximately sixty hours to make the journey," McCardel, 28, told reporters ahead of the 170-kilometer challenge that will pit her strength against that daunting distance, plus jellyfish and powerful currents. She is scheduled to set out from Havana's Hemingway Marina Wednesday at 1400 GMT.

Five Senate Democrats are calling on US President Barack Obama to consider blocking construction of a copper mine in Alaska, arguing it could jeopardize the pristine environment of America's biggest salmon fishery. The concerns by lawmakers from the western states of California, Oregon and Washington could add to pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency to scupper the huge Pebble Mine project.

The Japanese government has decided to reject landmark rules on the trade in sharks, an official said Friday, opting for status quo despite a global push to protect the predators. Japan is filing a "reservation" about the regulation under the 178-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to restrict cross-border trade in the oceanic whitetip, the porbeagle and three types of hammerhead shark.

By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - Sharks swimming free in the oceans may soon become more valuable as tourist attractions than when caught, sliced up and served in soup, a global study showed on Friday. It urged better protection for the fish, from Australia to the Caribbean, to reduce catches of an estimated 38 million a year to meet demand for shark fin soup, mainly in China.