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Beware of the blob—this time, it's for real. As sea temperatures have risen in recent decades, enormous sheets of a mucus-like material have begun forming more often, oozing into new regions, and lasting longer, a new Mediterranean Sea study says. Up to 124 miles (200 kilometers) long, the mucilages appear naturally, usually near Mediterranean coasts in summer. The season's warm weather makes seawater more stable, which facilitates the bonding of the organic matter that makes up the blobs. Now, due to warmer temperatures, the mucilages are forming in winter too—and lasting for months. Until now, the light-brown "mucus" was seen...

The US Navy is sending at least three ships, including at least one amphibious assault ship, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a show of strength during a period of tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday the deployment should not be viewed as threatening or in response to events in any single country in the volatile region. "This is an area that is important to us, the eastern Med," he said when asked about news reports of the ship movements. "It's a group of...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah on Friday rejected the deployment of U.S. warships off Lebanon, calling it a threat to the country that will not affect the militant group. "We are facing an American threat against Lebanon," Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah said. "It is clear this threat and intimidation will not affect us."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy has moved the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole and other ships to the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon, Pentagon officials said Thursday. (snip) The destroyer and two support ships are close to Lebanon but out of visual range of the coast, Pentagon officials said. Another six vessels, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau, are close to Italy and steaming toward the other three, the officials said.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - - Another Middle East undersea Internet cable has been damaged, adding to disruption in Indian online services caused when several lines were cut earlier this week, a cable operating firm said Saturday. The Falcon cable was cut 56 kilometres (35 miles) from Dubai, between Oman and the United Arab Emirates, according to its owner FLAG Telecom, part of India's Reliance Communications. The company said on its website that a repair ship had been notified and was expected to arrive at the site in the next few days. The cause of the latest cable damage was not...

Ships are not responsible for damaging undersea internet cables in the Mediterranean, Egypt's Government says. Two cables were damaged earlier this week in the Mediterranean sea and another off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and South Asia. A fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday causing yet more disruptions, telecommunication provider Qtel said. Egypt's transport ministry said footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged....

Internet services have been disrupted in parts of the Middle East following damage to an undersea cable in the Mediterranean, according to reports. There was disruption to 70% of the nationwide network in Egypt, a government official told Reuters. There was also disruption in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, reported the Associated Press. India also suffered up to 60% disruption, a national industry body told Reuters news agency. Egypt's Telecommunications Ministry said it would probably take several days for internet services to return to normal following the disruption on Wednesday. In Dubai, one of the two...

(CNN) -- An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days. Dubai has been hit hard by an Internet outage apparently caused by a cut undersea cable. Ships have been dispatched to repair two undersea cables damaged on Wednesday off Egypt. The ships were expected to reach the site of the break on Tuesday with repairs completed by February 12, according to a press release from FLAG Telecom, which owns one of the cables. Stephan Beckert, an...

Internet outages disrupted business and personal usage across a wide swathe of the Middle East on Wednesday after two undersea cables in the Mediterranean were damaged, government officials and Internet service providers said. In Cairo, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said the cut of the international communications cables Flag and Seamewe 4 had led to a partial disruption of Internet services and other telecommunications across much of Egypt. Emergency teams were quickly trying to find alternative routes, including satellite connections, to end the disruptions, Minister Tariq Kamel said. A telecommunications expert at the Egyptian communications ministry, Rafaat Hindy,...

Story Number: NNS071117-11 USS HARRY S. TRUMAN, At Sea (NNS) -- Ships from Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group rendered assistance to five stranded people in the western Mediterranean Nov. 16. Shortly after transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, a lookout from Truman spotted a small raft with five people aboard waving paddles in the air. Truman's Combat Direction Center directed USS San Jacinto (CG 56) to investigate the scene. San Jacinto launched one rigid hull inflatable boat with rescue and assistance personnel to aide the raft. After the rescue team determined that the situation was not life threatening, commander, U.S....

Russian Fleet Worries Israel // Even though it is nowhere near it Russia’s plans to restore its permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea are causing serious concern in Israel. The Israelis think that the Syrian ports the Russians are most likely to use will turn into major centers of electronic surveillance and air defense centers and, as such, threats to Israel’s national security. Russian experts say that Moscow’s plans are unlikely to come to fruition any time soon. There is neither the money nor the technical capacity for it. Commander of the Russian Navy Fleet Adm. Vladimir Masorin announced...

Article published Aug 7, 2007 Russian navy covets Mediterranean Sea August 7, 2007 By David R. Sands - Having just staked a claim to the North Pole, Russia is now eyeing the Mediterranean. With Moscow's coffers replenished by the global oil boom, Adm. Vladimir Masorin, Russia's naval commander, has announced ambitious plans to expand the country's primary Black Sea base and establish a "permanent presence" in the eastern Mediterranean for the first time since the Cold War. "The Mediterranean is very important strategically for the Black Sea Fleet," the admiral told reporters Friday on a visit to the Russian base...

BERLIN, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Russia will send ships early next year to help in NATO patrols of the Mediterranean Sea aimed at intercepting boats suspected of links to terrorism, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wednesday. :::SNIP::: Russia and NATO agreed last year to work more closely together in the fight against terorrism and have been negotiating for months on how Russia can take part in the patrols, known as "Operation Active Endeavour".

  Official U.S. Navy file photo of USS Elrod (FFG 55). Elrod, USS Ramage (DDG 61) and USS Ross (DDG 71) deployed April 30 as a surface strike group in support of the global war on terrorism. View Larger Download HiRes   Surface Strike Group Ships Deploy From NorfolkStory Number: NNS040430-12Release Date: 4/30/2004 2:34:00 PMFrom Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public AffairsNORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- More than 1,000 Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyers USS Ramage (DDG 61) and USS Ross (DDG 71), and the guided-missile frigate USS Elrod (FFG 55) departed Naval Station Norfolk April 30, for a Mediterranean Sea...

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The USS Cole and its crew of 340 pulled out of port Saturday for the destroyer's first overseas deployment since it was bombed by terrorists three years ago in Yemen's port of Aden. A crowd of about 100 family members watched as the ship left the Naval Station Norfolk at 12:55 p.m. "The families are sad to see their sailors leave, but they know they have a job," said Lt. j.g. Kelley Anderson, a Navy spokeswoman. The guided-missile destroyer was brought back to the United States and underwent $250 million in repairs at Northrop Grumman's Ingalls...

Submarine USS Toledo Heads Home From Iraq .c The Associated Press GROTON, Conn. (AP) - The submarine USS Toledo is on its way back home to Connecticut after a two-month tour of duty in the Iraq war. Navy officials said the submarine, with a crew of 134 sailors, is scheduled to arrive at the U.S. Navy submarine base in Groton on Tuesday afternoon. It is the first submarine to return to the base since the beginning of the war with Iraq. The submarine and its crew left the base Feb. 10, and served in the Mediterranean Sea and the Red...

While coming down a passageway during the ``Hour of Power'' inspection, Command Master Chief Petty Officer Beth L. Lambert, right, acknowledges Airman Jahaira Figueroa on the Roosevelt this week.Chris Tyree / The Virginian-PilotABOARD THE ROOSEVELT -- Twenty-five years ago, the military recruiting offices in America's small towns used to line up one right next to another -- Marines, Navy, Army, Air Force. Beth L. Lambert, daughter of a Marine, made her dad's service the first stop. She wasn't exactly embraced. "There was a pretty grumpy first sergeant who told me he had already met his quotas for female recruits," Lambert...

Heavy tanks aboard ships are rerouted after Turkey refused to accept forces WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq is providing Pentagon officials with a biting reminder that the nation's most powerful tank divisions can't run to a fight - they have to sail to it, at speeds no faster than about 22 knots. At a time when Army leaders near Baghdad say they want more tanks and artillery to protect their vulnerable supply lines, the nearest heavy armored division is still at least a week away, its soldiers flying in from Texas but its equipment still sailing around the Arabian...