'Ring of fire' eclipse crosses Australia, Pacific

SYDNEY –  Skygazers across the Australian Outback were among the lucky few to witness a solar eclipse on Friday as the moon glided between the Earth and the sun, blocking everything but a dazzling ring of light.

The celestial spectacle, known as a "ring of fire" eclipse, is the second solar eclipse visible from northern Australia in six months. In November, a total solar eclipse plunged the country's northeast into darkness, delighting astronomers and tourists who flocked to the region from across the globe to witness it.

Friday's eclipse, also called an annular solar eclipse, is not considered as scientifically important or dramatic as November's, because the moon is too far from Earth — and therefore appears too small — to completely black out the sun. Unlike a total solar eclipse, which essentially turns day into night, an annular eclipse just dims the sunlight.

"A total eclipse is overall far more spectacular, far more emotional," said Andrew Jacob, an astronomer at Sydney Observatory. Still, he said, Friday's eclipse "will give you a nice ring of sunlight in the sky — it will be quite different."

At remote outposts across Australia, scientists and spectators gathered to watch as the eclipse began casting its approximately 200-kilometer-wide (120-mile-wide) shadow at dawn over Western Australia, before moving east through the Northern Territory and the top of Queensland state. The shadow will then drift across Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the tiny island nation of Kiribati and eventually end in a largely uninhabited area of the Pacific Ocean.

The eclipse lasted between three and six minutes, depending on its location, and blacked out around 95 percent of the sun at its peak. A partial eclipse was visible to people in other parts of Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

U.S. astronomer Jay Pasachoff, who traveled to Australia to view his 57th solar eclipse, planned to watch from a remote vantage point in the desert about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Outback town of Tennant Creek. The spot was expected to provide the ultimate view in Australia, he said, with the ring of fire visible for four minutes and 20 seconds.

"The most interesting thing about all these eclipses is really to tell students that we can predict these things to a second," said Pasachoff, an astronomy professor at Williams College in Massachusetts. "You can travel halfway around the world and go out into the Outback and ... the moon's going to start darkening the sun right on time."

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Hurricanes blow by Pacific in NCAA opener

Austin, TX –  Durand Scott led the way with 21 points and Shane Larkin chipped in 10 with nine assists, as the Miami Hurricanes breezed through the Pacific Tigers, 78-49, in their opening contest of the NCAA Tournament.

After surprising many by capturing the ACC regular season and tournament crowns, Miami (28-6) looked ready and raring to go in its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2008. The Hurricanes converted 12-of-22 attempts from 3- point range and held Pacific to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field.

"Everybody shot the ball pretty well," said Larkin. "We rebounded, we defended, and we just stuck to the game plan. Coach told us what we had to do before the game started and we went out there and executed it."

Trey McKinney Jones added eight points and eight boards for the Hurricanes, who will take on Illinois in an East Region third round matchup on Sunday.

Pacific (22-13) couldn't keep up and prolong the career of longtime head coach Bob Thomason, who is stepping down after finishing his 25th year at the helm.

"So sometimes you meet those moments where you just don't perform very well, and that was us tonight," said Thomason. "So if I had to take a bad game in the last four, I would take tonight over the last three, because we got here and I'm really proud of that for the kids."

Travis Fulton had a team-high 18 points and Khalil Kelly finished with 11 and nine rebounds in defeat.

Fresh off their victory over North Carolina in the ACC title game, the Hurricanes came out ready to play on both sides of the ball and seemed to have little problem opening up a 22-7 spread following the completion of a 14-0 run at the 7 1/2 minute mark.

The Tigers went without a single point for seven minutes, and to make matters worse, entered the foul penalty near the 11-minute mark, which helped the Hurricanes to 11-for-13 from the free throw line in the half.

Kelly ended the scoring drought with a dunk, however Miami's lead would only expand, as Tonye Jekiri capped an ensuing 11-4 burst with two scores from inside to open up a 20-point lead with 2:19 left in the half.

Pacific, just 7-for-24 through the initial 20 minutes, got 3-pointers from Fulton and Markus Duran just before halftime, but continued to suffer through uphill battle after the break.

Nearly all by himself, Scott grew Miami's 40-19 halftime lead to 30 points just over eight minutes in by draining four 3-pointers and scoring 16 of Hurricanes' first 19 points of the second half.

Pacific never came closer than 24 points the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Miami has won five games in a row, but have never advanced past the Sweet 16 in the history of the program ... Pacific was making it fifth tournament appearance under Thomason, who compiled a 436-231 record while at the school ... The Hurricanes made 46.2 percent of their shots from the field and were 18-for-21 from the free throw line.

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Pacific Command contractor charged with spying

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  March 18, 2013: U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni speaks at a news conference in Honolulu to announce authorities have charged a U.S. Pacific Command defense contractor with giving defense secrets to a Chinese woman he was romantically involved with.AP

HONOLULU –  A defense contractor who works in intelligence at the U.S. Pacific Command has been charged with giving national security secrets to a 27-year-old Chinese woman with whom he was romantically involved, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.

Benjamin Pierce Bishop, 59, is accused of sending the woman an email last May with information on existing war plans, nuclear weapons and U.S. relations with international partners, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.

The complaint alleges Bishop told the woman over the telephone in September about the deployment of U.S. strategic nuclear systems and about the ability of the U.S. to detect other nations' low- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

Bishop originally met the woman at a conference in Hawaii on international military defense issues, the complaint said. It doesn't specify when the conference was held, but it alleges the two began an intimate, romantic relationship in June 2011.

The complaint said the woman was living in the U.S. as a student on a J-1 visa, for people in work- and study-based exchange programs. It's not clear what institution she attended, or where she is now.

Bishop allegedly hid his relationship with the woman from the government even though his position and security clearance requires him to report contact with foreign nationals.

Authorities conducting a covert search of Bishop's home in the Honolulu suburb of Kapolei in November found 12 individual documents marked "secret" even though he's not authorized to keep classified papers at home, the complaint said.

Last month, the woman asked Bishop what western countries knew about "the operation of a particular naval asset of People's Republic of China," the complaint said, though the topic fell outside Bishop's regular work assignments. Bishop researched the issued using open source records and was observed collecting and reviewing classified information on the topic, the complaint said.

Authorities arrested Bishop at U.S. Pacific Command headquarters at Camp H.M. Smith in Hawaii on Friday.

Bishop wore a white jail jumpsuit and was shackled by his wrists and ankles when he appeared in federal court in Honolulu on Monday.

His read and signed some documents with the help of a pair of black-rimmed reading glasses. He had white and gray hair and sported a few days of beard growth.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Puglisi conditionally appointed Bishop an attorney after hearing arguments that his finances weren't sufficient to cover the high costs of defending himself against an espionage charge.

Bishop faces one count of communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it and one count of unlawfully retaining national defense documents and plans.

Bishop's court-appointed attorney, Birney Bervar, said Bishop is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

"Col. Bishop has served this country for 29 years. He would never do anything to harm the United States," Bervar told reporters after Bishop was formally presented with the charges.

Bishop is scheduled to appear in court Friday for a hearing on whether he will remain in detention during the case. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 1.

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