The United States Navy has successfully destroyed a crippled spy satellite in a decaying orbit, by intercepting it with a missile. A modified SM-3 missile was launched from the USS Lake Erie at 03:26 GMT this morning, and intercepted the USA-193 satellite around three minutes later. It has been reported that the satellite has broken into around 80 pieces, some of which have already re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. The SM-3 missile was designed to shoot down other missiles, however for this launch, it was modified to act as an anti-satellite w
Pula, Croatia - Blasts destroyed two vans owned by ethnic Albanian shop owners at two different locations in Pula, a city in the Croatian region of Istria. There were no injuries in the explosions and there was no responsibility attributed.
Relatives of the shop owners attributed the explosions to the present situation regarding the declaration of independence of Kosovo. There are some 2,000 ethnic Albanians in Istria.
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United States Presidential candidate John McCain (R-AZ) has denied that he had a romantic relationship with a female telecommunications (Vickie Iseman) lobbyist and stated the suggestion that he displayed favoritism for her clients is "not true."
The denial follows a report in Thursday's New York Times that cited former advisors who believed McCain's relationship with the lobbyist had become sexual.
"I'm very disappointed in the article. It's not true," the likely Republican Party presidential nominee said as his wife, Cindy, stood beside him
In Serbia's capital Belgrade protesters have broken into the United States embassy, and have set fire to an office, which is now extinguished. The break-in followed massive protests against Kosovo's independence that was declared last Sunday. A couple of hundreds of thousands protested in front of the parliament building in Belgrade when masked attackers broke into the building and tried to throw office-furniture out the windows. Estimations of a number of protesters vary between 150.000 and 2 millions.
Around 18:00, after the relay, a couple
Several small earthquakes have been reported near Wells, Nevada after a large magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the region at 6:16 a.m. PST (UTC-8).
The 6.0 quake, centered 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Wells had a depth of 5.6 miles (9 km) and caused at least 25 buildings to collapse. Damage to other buildings and windows was also reported, and at least two water mains were ruptured. Several cars were hit by bricks as they fell off buildings. One person was hospitalized for a broken arm, but no other injuries were reported.
At least 30 aftersh
Steve Wright has today, at Ipswich Crown Court, been convicted of the murders of five women found dead around the Suffolk town in England in December 2006. Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls all worked as sex workers in the area.
The first body, that of Gemma Adams, was found on December 2. She had been reported missing on November 15. Tania Nicol, reported missing on October 30, was found December 8, approximately two miles away. On December 10, the body of Anneli Alderton was spotted by a motorist
Pakistan's two major opposition parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N), have announced they will work together to form a new government after defeating allies of President Pervez Musharraf in Monday's parliamentary elections.
The leaders of the two parties, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League, and Benazir Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari of the PPP, made the announcement today at a joint press conference. "We have agreed on a common agenda. We will work together to form a government
The President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, has woken from the induced coma he was put in following an assassination attempt. The President, who was shot by rebels on February 11, is still in a serious condition requiring more surgery, but is recovering, according to the doctors treating him at the Royal Darwin Hospital in Darwin, Australia.
Jose Luis Guterres, the East Timorese Deputy Prime Minister, has flown to Darwin, and says that one of the President's first concerns upon regaining consciousness was for his country. "One of his first
Space Shuttle Atlantis has landed on runway 15 of the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, completing the STS-122 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Landing occurred at the earliest opportunity today, with Atlantis touching down at 14:07:10 GMT (09:07:10 local time), following a de-orbit burn at 13:00 GMT, and entry interface at 13:35. Wheel-stop occurred at 14:08:08 GMT.
During STS-122, the Columbus module was installed on the space station, a nitrogen coolant tank was replaced, and a the CMG-3 control gyroscope, whic
Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia has won the presidential elections'' in his country, says a spokesperson for the voting committee. Sargsyan had 52.9 percent of the votes. His opponent Levon Ter-Petrosian had 21.5%, and the third candidate Arthur Baghdasarian 16.6%. Almost 70% of the registered voters showed up.
The opposing parties have complained about irregularities in the voting procedure, and called for demonstrations. Thousands of protesters responded to this call, and gathered in the capital Yerevan.
Since Sargsyan won with an
Emily Perry, a British actress has died at the age of 100.
Born on June 28, 1907 in Torquay, Devon, England, she was known for playing Madge Allsop, Dame Edna Everage's long-suffering, silent "bridesmaid"; she began playing the role at the age of 80.
Barry Humphries (Dame Edna) said, "It is a great loss to me, she was a close friend."
As an actress in her own right, her filmography is limited to her appearances with Dame Edna, except for a 1995 appearance, in her late eighties, on an episode of Last of the Summer Wine as "Mrs. Broadbent".
The late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands was in the 1970s not only bribed by U.S. aircraft company Lockheed, but also by Northrop. This is revealed in Volkskrant-journalist Anet Bleich's biography of former Dutch Prime Minister Joop den Uyl. Den Uyl decided to keep the Northrop bribe quiet to save the Dutch Monarchy another scandal similar to the Lockheed scandal, Bleich states.
Den Uyl covered up the Northrop bribe in 1976 to prevent a law suit against the prince, which could have led to an abdication of Queen Juliana, and a denial of Prin
