| The World (News from aroud the World) |
| For Animal Help |
 |
|
 |
| heathy stuff |
| click for techno stuff |
 |
 |
| "Disturbing news" (Life threatening news) (you have been warned) |
| NASA's Opportunity Rover Lands on Mars NASA's Opportunity rover has landed on Mars, exactly three weeks after its identical twin set down, and began transmitting pictures to Earth. The unmanned, six-wheeled rover landed at 0505 GMT in Meridiani Planum, the US space agency said. The smooth, flat plain lies 6,600 miles and half-way round the planet from where its twin, Spirit, set down on January 3. "We're on Mars everybody," Rob Manning, manager of the entry, descent and landing portion of the Mars mission, shouted as fellow scientists at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, burst into wild applause. Minutes after the landing, former Vice President Al Gore and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger strode through mission control, shaking hands with elated scientists. Together, the twin rovers make up a single �455 million mission to determine if Mars ever had enough water to sustain life. NASA launched Spirit on June 10. Opportunity followed on July 7. Last week, Spirit developed serious problems, cutting off what had been a steady flow of pictures and other scientific data. Scientists said, however, that they believe they can fix the problem in the weeks ahead. "We resurrected one rover and saw the birth of another," said Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science. At a jubilant news conference nearly two hours after the landing, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe broke open a bottle of champagne, as he did after Spirit's landing, and toasted the mission's leaders. "As the old saying goes, it's far better to be lucky than good, but you know, the harder we work the luckier we seem to get," O'Keefe said, adding "no one dared hope" that both rover landings would be so successful. Four hours after landing, Nasa received the first photographs from Opportunity. The burst of black-and-white thumbnail images showed portions of the lander, as well as rocky outcroppings apparently just yards from the spacecraft. Mission members whooped and cheered as they splashed on a screen in mission control. |
| Schools to Test Pupils for Drugs Schools' heads are to be given new powers to order pupils to undergo random drugs tests, Tony Blair has disclosed. In an interview with the News of the World, the Prime Minister said that head teachers would be issued with new guidance on how to deal with pupils they suspect are taking drugs. And he said that it would include provisions for spot testing pupils. "If heads believe they have a problem in their school then they should be able to do random drug testing," he said. "Guidance will be given to head teachers next month, which is going to give them, specifically, the power to do random drug testing within their schools." The Department for Education and Skills disclosed earlier this year that it was looking at new guidelines for head teachers, which it had planned to publish this month. However, it had not previously been clear whether they would extend to random testing. In his interview, Mr Blair also made clear that, despite recent controversies over the Hutton Report and university tuition fees, he had no intention of stepping down and planned to lead Labour into the next General Election. "You have people kicking lumps out of you, but you can live with it, and I do," he said. "Whatever the problems and pressures this is an immensely enjoyable and fulfilling job and I intend to carry on doing it. I will be putting myself forward." |
| Six quizzed over 'IRA kidnap bid' Six men are being questioned by detectives in Belfast about the kidnapping of a dissident republican. Two of the men were held by police on Saturday as they followed up Friday's abduction of prominent republican Bobby Tohill. The remainder were detained when officers stopped a van in Belfast's Castle Street, in which Mr Tohill was being held captive. Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said members of the Provisional IRA were behind the kidnapping. He met senior officers to discuss the matter and reported: "The activity last night was Provisional IRA activity, I'm clear on that. "I'm also clear, as we have said quite recently, that the punishment beatings that go on in republican areas are also carried out by the Provisional IRA. "What we're talking about was an operation last night by uniformed officers from a local police station, who arrested people who we would say are connected to the Provisional IRA." Sinn Fein, however, reacted cautiously to allegations of an involvement on the part of their IRA allies. A spokesman said: "We have heard allegations like this made before that have proven to be false." Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern stressed the need "to end paramilitarism by everybody". |
| Record Lottery Win Nets �124m An American has won at least �124 million in the US Mega Millions lottery, becoming the biggest winner in the game's history. The lucky ticket, purchased at a petrol station in Stephens City, Virginia, matched all five lotto numbers and the Mega Ball number to win the 11-state jackpot. By Sunday the lucky winner had yet to come forward. The winning numbers were 1, 13, 20, 21, 30 and the Mega Ball 24. Incredibly, the final pay-out could be even more. Lottery officials are still attempting to work out the exact jackpot, after bigger than expected ticket sales. The jackpot was the only topic of conversation at the convenience store where the ticket was sold, the Red Apple Shell station. "Oh my gosh, you don't know how excited we are, and we didn't even win the ticket," said Dangie Robinson, a clerk at the station. She said the store is buzzing with news that the winning ticket was sold there - and excited at the prospect of receiving money from lottery officials. Store owner Harry Simpson will get �13,500 just for selling the winning numbers. There were 56 second-place winners, matching all five lotto numbers but not the Mega Ball to win �94,000 each. And 209 people matched four lotto numbers, plus the Mega Ball number, for a payout of �2,700 each. The record jackpot led to higher ticket sales, despite the bleak odds of winning - one in 135,145,920, according to the Mega Millions website. In Britain the Lotto pay-out was rather less - �4.8 million shared by two people. |
