W O R L D

S Korea joins global space club with satellite launch
Seoul, January 30
South Korea succeeded today in its third attempt to put a satellite into orbit in a high-stakes test of national pride after arch-rival North Korea got there first with a rocket launch last month.

A South Korean rocket blasts off from its launch pad at the Naro Space Centre in Goheung, South Korea, on Wednesday. — AP/PTI

Three armed men rob California gurdwara
Washington, January 30
Armed men barged into a gurdwara in California city and took away the money from a donation box kept inside the complex, the police said. According to the local Livingston police in California, three robbers entered the gurdwara through the front door early Sunday morning.

Pak probe panel’s visit cleared by India: Malik
Islamabad, January 30
India has cleared the second visit of a Pakistani judicial commission to cross-examine four officials in connection with the probe into the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said today.

Crisis shortens Mursi’s Europe trip
Cairo/Berlin, January 30
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi flew to Germany on Wednesday to try to convince Europe of his democratic credentials, leaving behind a country in crisis after a week of violence that has killed more than 50 persons. Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on the seventh day of what has become the deadliest wave of unrest since Mursi took power in June.

Policemen take up positions during clashes in Cairo on Wednesday. — Reuters

Water flow on Mars suggests ancient life on planet
Washington, January 30
Narrow ridges found in Martian craters may actually be fossilised remnants of underground cracks through which water once flowed on the red planet, a new study claims.

US man kills bus driver, kidnaps child
Washington, January 30
A gunman boarded a school bus in the US state of Alabama, shot dead the driver and kidnapped a six-year-old, whom he is now holding in an underground bunker, local media reported today.

S Korea joins global space club with satellite launch

Seoul, January 30
South Korea succeeded today in its third attempt to put a satellite into orbit in a high-stakes test of national pride after arch-rival North Korea got there first with a rocket launch last month.

The 140-tonne Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-I) blasted off at 1230 IST from the Naro Space Centre on the south coast, reaching its target altitude nine minutes later and deploying its payload satellite.

A positive outcome after successive failures in 2009 and 2010 was critical to ensuring the future of South Korea's launch programme and realising its ambition of joining an elite global space club.

Scientists and officials at the space centre cheered, applauded and hugged each other as the satellite was released.

In the capital, hundreds gathered in front of a giant television screen in the main train station cheered as the rocket blasted off, and again when the satellite deployment was confirmed.

"After analysing various data, the Naro rocket successfully put the science satellite into designated orbit," Science Minister Lee Ju-Ho told reporters at the space centre.

"This is the success of all our people," Lee said.

Initially scheduled for October 26, Wednesday's launch had been twice postponed for technical reasons.

The delay meant that rival North Korea was able to claim a rare technological victory over the South by launching a satellite into orbit on a three-stage rocket on December 12.

South Korea was a late entrant to the high-cost world of space technology and exploration and repeated failures had raised questions over the viability of the launch programme.

“This success has put the country’s entire rocketry programme back on track,” said independent space analyst Morris Jones.

But South and North Korea remain way behind Asian powers with a proven track record of multiple launches — China, Japan and India. — AFP

Three armed men rob California gurdwara

Washington, January 30
Armed men barged into a gurdwara in California city and took away the money from a donation box kept inside the complex, the police said. According to the local Livingston police in California, three robbers entered the gurdwara through the front door early Sunday morning.

One of the men was armed with a gun while another with a knife. The third robber was unarmed.

The three men took a few thousand dollars from a donation box and left through a side door, joining two other men who were waiting outside, local newspaper Merced Sunstar quoted the police as saying yesterday.

North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) president Satnam Singh Chahal also said that the three men took money from the donation box and left through a side door.

Police chief Ruben Chavez said all the men were wearing hooded jackets or sweatshirts, concealing their identities. The police is searching for three unidentified men.

Chavez said while money has been stolen from the donation box before, it is the first robbery that he knows of at the gurdwara.

"This is more brazen because they did come in armed. Obviously it's someone who knew the temple because they knew where to go," he was quoted as saying.

"We're looking at different angles and we will do our best to get to the bottom of it. We really want to identify who they are," Chavez said.

Sikhs make up nearly 20 per cent of Livingston's population.

In August, a Wisconsin shooting rampage at a gurdwara left seven persons dead.

Mayor Pro Tem Gurpal Samra, who worships at both of the city's gurdwaras, classified Sunday's robbery as "very disturbing."

"I was in Fresno when I got the call," Samra said. "The first thing that flashed in my mind was Wisconsin, right away." — PTI

Mumbai attacks
Pak probe panel’s visit cleared by India: Malik

Islamabad, January 30
India has cleared the second visit of a Pakistani judicial commission to cross-examine four officials in connection with the probe into the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said today.

India has given a green signal for the visit of the commission, which would travel to Mumbai without any delay, Malik told a news conference here this evening.

The commission had visited India in March last year but its findings were rejected by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court that is conducting the trial of seven suspects because the panel did not have the power to cross-examine four key witnesses.

India agreed to allow the Pakistani commission to cross-examine the police officer who led the probe into the Mumbai attacks; the magistrate who recorded the confession of Ajmal Kasab; and two doctors who performed the autopsies of the attackers. — PTI

Crisis shortens Mursi’s Europe trip

Cairo/Berlin, January 30
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi flew to Germany on Wednesday to try to convince Europe of his democratic credentials, leaving behind a country in crisis after a week of violence that has killed more than 50 persons.

Two more protesters were shot dead before dawn near Cairo's central Tahrir Square on the seventh day of what has become the deadliest wave of unrest since Mursi took power in June. As a result of the crisis, Mursi has curtailed his European visit, cancelling plans to go to Paris after Berlin.

Near Tahrir Square on Wednesday, protesters threw stones at the police who fired back teargas, although the scuffles were brief. — Reuters

Water flow on Mars suggests ancient life on planet

Washington, January 30
Narrow ridges found in Martian craters may actually be fossilised remnants of underground cracks through which water once flowed on the red planet, a new study claims.

Water flowing beneath the surface of ancient Mars suggests life may once have been possible on the Red planet, according to a new analysis by researchers from Brown University.

The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, bolsters the idea that the subsurface environment on Mars once had an active hydrology and could be a good place to search for evidence of past life.

The study conducted by Lee Saper and Jack Mustard suggest the ridges, many of them hundreds of meters in length and a few meters wide, had been noted earlier, but how they had formed was not known. — PTI

US man kills bus driver, kidnaps child

Washington, January 30
A gunman boarded a school bus in the US state of Alabama, shot dead the driver and kidnapped a six-year-old, whom he is now holding in an underground bunker, local media reported today.

WSFA television said the man boarded the bus at around 3.40 pm yesterday, shot the driver and took a child to an underground shelter, where the police is communicating with him through a PVC pipe. — AFP

BRIEFLY

Donors raise $1.5 billion for displaced Syrians
KUWAIT: Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion for Syrians displaced by nearly two years of fighting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. Ban told the final session of the one-day conference that the meeting has “reached its target” of $1 billion of aid for Syria’s neighbours hosting refugees and another $500 million to fund humanitarian work for four million Syrians afflicted by the civil war. — Reuters

idea for future: Multimillionaire Chen Guangbiao (R) gives a can of fresh air to a masked man on a hazy day in Beijing on Wednesday. China’s foulest fortnight for air pollution in memory has rekindled a tongue-in-cheek campaign by the Chinese multimillionaire. — Reuters

Oz medal for Indian-origin woman
Melbourne: An 85-year-old Indian-origin woman, Krishna Arora, has been selected for the prestigious Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her community services for the aged. The other Indian-origin women who had earlier received the honour include Joyce Westrip (2000), Mala Mehta (2006) and Vettath Rajkumar (2009). — PTI

US couple held for caging daughter
Los Angeles: A US woman and her boyfriend have been arrested for leaving their eight-year-old adoptive daughter locked in a cage while they went out to see a movie, the police said. Cindy Patriarchias, 33, and Edmond Gonzales, 37, were both charged with child negligence after the girl, who has a developmental condition, was found in the homemade wooden cage in their mobile home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. — AFP

Mexico probes band massacre
Monterrey (Mexico): Mexican authorities are investigating why a band named Kombo Kolombia, which performed love songs, was kidnapped and killed by gunmen, who dumped their bodies in a well in the drug cartel-infested north. Authorities have pulled out 17 corpses since Sunday, with 14 confirmed so far as members of the band. — AFP

Three Chinese ships in disputed island waters, says Japan
Tokyo: Three Chinese Government ships were sailing in waters around islands disputed with Japan on Wednesday, a day after the Japanese Premier suggested a summit could help mend frayed ties. Japan’s coastguard said the maritime surveillance boats were sailing in waters around a chain of Tokyo-controlled islands for about an hour and a half. — AFP