China will launch a joint mission with Russia to Mars, a "milestone" in space co-operation between the two countries. The agreement was signed during a three-day visit to Russia by China's president Hu Jintao. The move follows pledges by Moscow to work more closely with the Chinese on missions to Mars and the Moon. A small satellite developed by China will piggyback on the Russian launch of a spacecraft called "Phobos Grunt", probably in October 2009. In a statement, the China National Space Administration said the agreement "indicates the two sides have taken a key step forward to working together on a large space programme." After entering orbit around the Red Planet, the Chinese micro-satellite will detach from the Russian spacecraft, and probe the Martian space environment, according to the statement... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 09:27:00 03-29-07 |
Ankara restores Armenian church |
Turkey has renovated a 1,100-year-old church in the east of the country, in what is seen as a gesture to improve ties with neighbouring Armenia. The ceremony on Akdamar island on Lake Van was attended by senior Armenian officials, despite the two countries' lack of diplomatic ties. The mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 left profound scars and bitterness. About 70,000 Armenians live in Turkey today. The church will now be a museum. Patriarch Mesrob II, spiritual leader of Turkey's tiny Armenian Orthodox community, told several hundred people at the ceremony that the government should open up the restored church for worship at least once a year. He said the move would help reconciliation between Turks and Armenians. "If our government approves, it will contribute to peace between two communities who have not been able to come together for years," he said.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6505927.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:23:00 03-29-07 |
Increased Somalia Fighting Kills 10 Government Starts Intense Campaign To Push Islamic Militants Out Of Mogadishu |
Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies pounded insurgent positions across the capital Thursday with helicopters and tanks, sending residents running for their lives during a fierce surge in fighting that killed at least 10 people. A witness reported seeing a dead soldier's body dragged through the streets. The military operation was the beginning of a three-day push to restore order in Mogadishu as Ethiopian troops withdraw. The capital has been under near daily attack from Islamic insurgents, said Mohamed Mohamud Husein, spokesman for the Somali president. "The operation will take at most three days, and it's aimed at rooting the terrorists out of the city," he said. Qoje Omar Gesey, a resident of the capital, said he spotted two helicopters Thursday morning. ... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/29/world/main2622584.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2622584
full News |
Editor - 09:20:00 03-29-07 |
Multiple Car Bombs Kill 25 Iraqis Day Of Bombings Across Country Leaves At Least 33 Dead, New U.S. Envoy Sworn In |
Three car bombs struck a predominantly Shiite town north of Baghdad, killing 25 people and wounding dozens, police said Thursday. The blasts occurred in Khalis, 50 miles north of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala province, where fighting has been raging among Sunni insurgents, Shiite militiamen and U.S. and Iraqi troops. Earlier in the day, bomb attacks around Baghdad killed at least eight, as sectarian revenge attacks continued in the northwestern city of Tal Afar, where Shiite police and militants rampaged through Sunni areas the day before, executing as many as 70 men. A bomb planted under a parked car tore through an outdoor market in a mixed Baghdad neighborhood, killing at least three people and wounding 26, police and hospital officials said. ... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/29/iraq/main2622266.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2622266
full News |
Editor - 09:18:00 03-29-07 |
Gates: Congress should find way to shut Guantanamo |
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday Congress should look for ways to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, but said any solution must ensure some detainees would remain incarcerated for life. "Is there a way statutorily to address the concerns about some of these people who really need to be incarcerated forever but that doesn't get them involved in a judicial system where there is the potential of them being released, frankly?" Gates said at a congressional hearing. "I just don't know the answer," he said. Gates called for Congress and the White House to discuss the issue. The United States has faced international criticism over its continued detention of about 385 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba. Human rights groups and other critics have demanded the United States close Guantanamo and that detainees be charged with crimes or released... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070329/pl_nm/guantanamo_gates_dc
full News |
Editor - 09:16:00 03-29-07 |
Woman Visiting Husband in South Korea Makes 911 Call to Illinois |
A 911 dispatcher received a strange phone call recently when a woman visiting her husband in South Korea made an emergency call through her laptop, saying he was trying to choke her.FOX affiliate KTVI reported that emergency dispatcher Patti Michaels received the call from Seoul all the way back in Belleview, Ill., last Friday."911, what is your emergency?" Michaels asked the woman making the call."I need the military police," the woman replied. "I'm in Seoul, Korea." I wasn't expecting that at all," Michaels told KTVI.Michaels stayed on the phone with the woman for 48 minutes. The woman said she felt threatened by her husband, who is stationed at a military base in South Korea, and that he had tried to choke her. Michaels even heard screams over the phone line.... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262391,00.html
full News |
Editor - 09:14:00 03-29-07 |
|
post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|