Sunday 13 November 2011

Dunya TV

Dunya TV


National Assembly session starts today

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>The National Assembly session will commence in the Parliament House today which will last till November 25. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The meeting of the House Business Advisory Committee will chalk out agenda prior to commencement of the NA session on Monday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>According to the sources, the National Assembly session is likely to see stormy proceedings as Pakistan Muslim League will raise the issue of people grievances in the National Assembly.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Hajj flight carrying VIPs suffers 8-hour delay

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-7441 carrying more than 400 Hujaj, including Federal Ministers and other parliamentarians, reached Karachi from Madina. The flight which was scheduled to reach at 8:00pm on Sunday landed at the Karachi Airport on 4:00am on Monday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Faisal Kareem Kundi, Qamar Zaman Qaira, MQM leader, Farhat Abbas, Asif Hasnain, Environment and Women Development Samina Khalid Ghurki, Zamurd Khan, Mashooq Bareejo, Asfandzada Iftikhar, Mian Abdul Sattar, Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Amir Khan Magsi, Anjum Aqeel, Raza Hayat Hiraj, Shama Mithani and other parliamentarians were among passengers of the flight which reached Karachi after a delay of eight hours.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Speaking at the Karachi Airport, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah blamed Saudi government for 80 per cent delay in PIA Hajj flights. He further said that Religious Affairs ministry made excellent arrangements for pilgrims during Hajj.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Rival Libyan militias clash near military base

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Rival militias clashed on the outskirts of the Libyan capital for a fourth day Sunday in the deadliest and most sustained violence since the capture and killing of Moammar Gaddafi last month.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Fighters attacked each other with rockets, mortars and machine guns, witnesses said. The fighting, which has killed at least 13 people since late last week, raised new concerns about the ability of Libya&nbsp;s transitional government to disarm thousands of gunmen and restore order after an eight-month civil war.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Libya&nbsp;s interim leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, said his National Transitional Council brought together elders from the feuding areas the coastal city of Zawiya and the nearby tribal lands of Warshefana over the weekend and that the dispute has been resolved. &quot;I want to assure the Libyan people that everything is under control,&quot; he said Sunday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>However, as he spoke, fighting continued.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Heavy gunfire and explosions of rocket-propelled grenades were heard over hours Sunday in the area between the Warshefana lands, about 18 miles (30 kilometres) west of Tripoli, and Zawiya, another 10 miles (15 kilometres) to the west. White smoke rose into the air.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>At one point, the two sides were battling for control of a major military camp of the ousted regime, said a fighter from Tripoli. The camp, once a base of elite forces commanded by one of Gaddafi&nbsp;s sons, Khamis, is located on a highway midway between Tripoli and Zawiya.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In all, at least 13 people were killed in the fighting, including four from Zawiya and nine from Warshefana, according to gunmen and a hospital doctor in Warshefana. More than 100 people from Warshefana were wounded since Saturday, said Dr. Mohammed Sawan, adding that casualties stemmed from gunshots as well as shrapnel from rockets and mortar shells.<br />&nbsp;</p>


10 militants die in Yemen as UN pushes peace plan

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Yemeni government forces and allied tribesmen killed ten militants in attacks around the country Sunday, security officials said, as a visiting United Nations envoy met with embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh to push for a solution to the country&nbsp;s political crisis.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Security has collapsed across the Arab world&nbsp;s poorest nation during the nine-month popular uprising seeking to oust Saleh, who has been in power for 30 years.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Pro-Saleh forces regularly engage in deadly clashes with armed tribesmen and military defectors who support the protesters in Yemen&nbsp;s largest cities, and al-Qaida-linked militants have overrun entire towns in the country&nbsp;s restive south.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Meanwhile, international diplomacy has failed to stop the crisis. Saleh has refused numerous times to follow through with a U.S.-backed proposal crafted by Yemen&nbsp;s powerful Gulf Arab neighbors under which he would transfer power to his vice president in exchange for immunity from prosecution.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Two of Sunday&nbsp;s clashes took place near Zinjibar, the largest town overrun by Al-Qaida-linked militants in Yemen&nbsp;s southern Abyan province, now partially recaptured by the army. In one clash, tribesmen allied with government forces exchanged fire with militants at a checkpoint, killing three including two Somali citizens, an official said. In the other, the army shelled a militant position, killing five including two Saudi citizens.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In the Arhab region north of the capital Sanaa, Yemeni forces shelled positions held by armed anti-government tribesmen, killing two, another security official said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In Sanaa, U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar met Saleh to push for a transfer of power.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The U.N. said Benomar&nbsp;s weeklong visit to Yemen was intended to encourage the Gulf-backed proposal, which the Security Council has endorsed.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Singer crashes Obama summit with 'Occupy' song

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>A popular Hawaiian recording artist turned a top-security dinner of Pacific Rim leaders hosted by President Barack Obama into a subtle protest with a song in support of the &quot;Occupy&quot; movement.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Makana, who goes by one name, was enlisted to play a luau, or Hawaiian feast, Saturday night for leaders assembled in Obama&nbsp;s birthplace Honolulu for an annual summit that is formulating plans for a Pacific free-trade pact.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>But in the midst of the dinner on the resort strip Waikiki Beach, he pulled open his jacket to reveal a T-shirt that read &quot;Occupy with Aloha,&quot; using the Hawaiian word whose various meanings include love and peace. He then sang a marathon version of his new song &quot;We Are The Many.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;I was pretty nervous. In fact I was terrified. I kept thinking &nbsp;what are the consequences going to be?&nbsp;&quot; Makana, 33, said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;It was incredibly comical. I was terrified but also enjoying it,&quot; he said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Makana, who was born Matthew Swalinkavich, said the song prompted awkward stares from a few of those present but the Obamas appeared too absorbed with their guests to notice what was happening.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The performance occurred at a dinner for summmit participants from 21 economies around the Asia-Pacific, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, amid a security lockdown in Waikiki.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>As Makana sang, about 400 protesters including anti-globalization and native Hawaiian rights activists staged a protest march toward the dinner site but turned back after encountering the smothering security.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Makana released the song on the Internet the day before and decided to play it at the urging of fans, he said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Inspired by the anti-capitalist movement that began with the &quot;Occupy Wall Street&quot; demonstrations in New York, it denounces Washington politicians, corporate greed and what he sees as an unfair American economic system.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The song features the refrain, &quot;We&nbsp;ll occupy the streets, we&nbsp;ll occupy the courts, we&nbsp;ll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He sang it &quot;over and over&quot; for 40 minutes, varying his tempo and delivery to avoid triggering an overt reaction.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Whenever I felt the heat might come down, I would ease off. It was a very careful procedure,&quot; he said.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Arab League ministers to meet on Syria Wednesday

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Arab League foreign ministers will meet in the Moroccan capital Rabat on Wednesday to discuss the Syrian crisis, Algerian foreign ministry spokesman Amar Belani said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;We have decided on a meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab League on November 16 at Rabat, on Syria...&quot; on the sidelines of a forum between Turkey and the Arab nations, Belani said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Belani said that at a meeting in Cairo on November 2, the Arab League&nbsp;s foreign ministers had decided to give Syria 15 days to implement a peace plan Damascus had agreed with the League.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Saturday&nbsp;s vote to suspend Syria from the Arab League was not consistent with that earlier decision, he added.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Earlier Sunday, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci had suggested that the Arab League&nbsp;s suspension of Syria from its ranks was only temporary.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;The suspension of Syria is temporary and we will be able to lift it as quickly as possible,&quot; he said at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amer.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Medelci also said that Algeria would not be withdrawing its ambassador from Damascus, which the Arab League had suggested its members consider doing.<br />&nbsp;</p>


US treasury: Sanctions on Syria effective

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Economic sanctions on Syria coupled with steps by countries in the region will hasten the ouster of Bashar Assad&nbsp;s regime, a US treasury official said Sunday, consulting with Jordan about enforcing the measures.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Daniel Glaser, the Treasury Department&nbsp;s assistant secretary, briefed Jordanian government officials and banking executives on the US and EU sanctions against Assad&nbsp;s government. The sanctions were imposed as pressure on Assad to stop his brutal crackdown on dissent.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A US Embassy statement said Glaser discussed possible Syrian attempts to bypass the sanctions by using the Jordanian financial sector.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The statement provided no details on how the U.S. thinks Jordan could assist. Glaser declined to discuss any plans in public.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Jordan has been highly critical of Assad&nbsp;s bloody crackdown on the 8-month-old uprising demanding his ouster.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Sanctions are already having a big impact on the Syrian economy,&quot; he told The Associated Press in an interview.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Syria is under tremendous economic pressure today from the international sanctions that currently exist,&quot; he said. &quot;And that pressure is only going to increase as countries within this region and countries internationally start to place sanctions of their own and start to regard the Syrian regime as a pariah regime.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;The regime is on its way out,&quot; he said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He praised the Arab League for considering economic sanctions of its own. On Saturday the 22-nation body moved to suspend Syria, after the Assad regime failed to implement an accord with the Arab League that called for an end to the violence.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Glaser is on the second leg of a regional tour that has taken him to Lebanon.<br />&nbsp;</p>


5 killed as Syria presses crackdown: rights group

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Syrian security forces on Sunday pressed a crackdown on dissent, killing five people in the central cities of Homs and Hama, rights activists said, adding two soldiers were killed in an ambush.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Security forces opened fire killing four people in Hama,&quot; the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in an email received in Nicosia.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In the central city of Homs, snipers killed one person on Cairo Street early in the morning, said the Observatory, which reported a similar incident in the same place the previous day.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Meanwhile, engineering students were injured by a &quot;round of mortar&quot; fire which hit their faculty building in Baath University, also in Homs, the same source added.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>And two citizens, one in Homs and the other in Hama, died from gunshot wounds suffered the previous day.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Gunmen believed to be defectors ambushed and killed two soldiers patrolling town of Qusayr, near Homs, the Observatory said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The deaths come one day after the Arab League decided to suspend Syria from the pan-Arab body as punishment for its brutal crackdown on dissent which has left more than 3,500 Syrians dead, according to UN figures.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Blair warns of 'catastrophic' if euro collapses

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Former British prime minister Tony Blair warned on Sunday that the collapse of the euro would be &quot;catastrophic&quot; and urged Europe to move fast to support the currency.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Blair said European leaders faced &quot;very difficult and painful&quot; choices and a &quot;long-term framework of credibility&quot; was needed to see off the crisis.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Speaking following the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday, Blair said there had &quot;never been a tougher time to be a leader than right now&quot;.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>But he said the &quot;whole weight&quot; of European institutions -- including the European Central Bank -- must get behind the euro if it was to survive.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He told BBC TV that economies had to align and that &quot;the myth that the Italian and German economies were the same -- that 10-year myth has now evaporated&quot;.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Measures required to bring stability to the euro would be painful, he warned, but added: &quot;If the single currency broke up, it would be catastrophic.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Blair, who was premier for a decade until 2007, was also asked if his former finance minister Gordon Brown had been right to push hard for Britain to stay out of the euro when Labour was in power.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;He was right, although I would also say by the way, I was never in favour of doing it unless the economics were right,&quot; Blair replied.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>British Prime Minister David Cameron will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday for talks on the euro&nbsp;s difficulties and the economy.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Cameron said on Friday there was still &quot;a big question mark&quot; over the future of the eurozone and stressed it was not in Britain&nbsp;s interests for the single currency to break up but the government is &quot;preparing for every eventuality&quot;.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Federer wins Paris Masters for first time

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Roger Federer won the Paris Masters for the first time on Sunday by defeating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) in a one sided final.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It was the Swiss star&nbsp;s third tournament win of the year after Doha early in the year and his Basel hometown event last week. It was also his 18th Masters title win, second only to Rafael Nadal who has won 19 times.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Tsonga, the winner here in 2008 and a hugely popular figure with the noisy Bercy Stadium crowd, was aggressive from the start and he immediately had two break points.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The 30-year-old Federer, though, saved them both and then totally took command of the match running off five games in a row with two breaks of serve.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Frenchman finally got off the mark by holding serve at the third attempt, but Federer was easy on serve and he promptly pocketed the first set.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Tsonga looked shell-shocked and frustrated, but he held serve twice to take a 2-1 lead at the start of the second set and finally profited from some errors from the Swiss star to put some pressure on his opponent&nbsp;s serve.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A whipped crosscourt forehand which wrong-footed Federer at the net gave Tsonga break point but he went for broke on his service return with a forehand drive down the line and missed by inches.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Federer duly held serve again to level at 2-2 but he was in trouble again in the eighth game only for what looked initially like a Tsonga winner on the baseline to be called out much to the anger of the crowd.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Both players held serve from there taking the final into a tie-break which Federer dominated from the start by powering into a 4-0 lead.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The win makes Federer just the second player after Andre Agassi to win both the French Open at Roland Garros, which he took in 2009, and the Paris Bercy title.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It sets him up for the ATP Tour finals which take place in London from November 22. Federer won this tournament last year.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Lewis Hamilton produced a near-flawless performance when he took full advantage of the early retirement of double world champion Sebastian Vettel to win a sizzling &nbsp;day-night&nbsp; Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Driving his McLaren with measured assurance and great speed, the 26-year-old Englishman dominated from the second corner of the opening lap to the finish as he claimed his third win of a troubled season and 17th of his career.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He started second, but took the lead within a few hundred metres when 24-year-old German Vettel&nbsp;s Red Bull suffered a puncture to his right-rear tyre and forced him to swerve off the Yas Marina circuit.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Hamilton streaked by and took a lead he relinquished only twice briefly during the pit-stops as he delivered one of the most accomplished performances of his 89 races in Formula One.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso came home second for Ferrari, wiping away some of the memories of a nightmare race in 2010 when his title challenge was wrecked by strategic mistakes.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Briton Jenson Button in the second McLaren fought through to finish third ahead of Vettel&nbsp;s Red Bull team-mate Australian Mark Webber and fifth-placed Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>German Nico Rosberg led compatriot and Mercedes team-mate seven-time champion Michael Schumacher home in sixth and seventh places with another German, Adrian Sutil, finishing eighth ahead of his Force India team-mate rookie Briton Paul Di Resta.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber finished 10th just beating his team-mate Mexican Serigo Perez into the final points-scoring position. <br />&nbsp;</p>


China's Zhou wins gold at weightlifting worlds

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Zhou Lulu of China set an aggregate world record to win the gold medal in the women&nbsp;s super heavyweight category at the world weightlifting championships on Sunday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Zhou lifted 146 kilograms in the snatch session and 182 in the clean and jerk for a 328 total to beat the previous mark of 327 set by Tatiana Kashirina of Russia at the European championships in April.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Kashirina managed 147 kg to break her own world record in the snatch but could not match Zhou in the clean and jerk. The European champion had to settle for silver with a combined 322.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Olha Korobka of Ukraine finished a distant third with a 284 total.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Latvala wins Wales Rally as Loeb celebrates title

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland took advantage of the retirement of newly crowned champion Sebastien Loeb to cruise to victory in the Wales Rally GB on Sunday, the Ford driver&nbsp;s first win of 2011.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Loeb was looking to celebrate the clinching of his eighth straight title by winning the season-ending race for the fourth successive year, but the Frenchman&nbsp;s hopes perished when he was forced to withdraw early on the final day following a head-on collision with another car.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Latvala, who started Sunday 6.1 seconds ahead of Loeb, just needed to keep his head to secure Ford&nbsp;s third win of the season and he came home three minutes, 42 seconds ahead of teammate Mads Ostberg of Norway.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;It&nbsp;s a great feeling because it&nbsp;s been very stressful and frustrating since my last win (in Finland last season),&quot; Latvala said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;It&nbsp;s a great way to finish the 2011 season. We now need to push for the world title with Ford next year.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Loeb, of Citroen, was already assured of winning the title following nearest challenger Mikko Hirvonen&nbsp;s retirement with engine damage on Friday.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He fell further behind Latvala following Sunday&nbsp;s first test, the mixed-surface 14.93-kilometer Halfway Blast. As he departed to complete the stage, Loeb was involved in a collision with a car driven by a member of the public, damaging his radiator and ending his race. There were no injuries.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Study: New drug cuts deaths after heart attack

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>People recovering from a heart attack or severe chest pain are much less likely to suffer another heart-related problem or to die from one if they take a new blood-thinning drug along with standard anti-clotting medicines, a large study finds.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>But this benefit had a cost: a greater risk of serious bleeding, usually in the digestive tract.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Still, some doctors said the drug, Xarelto, could become a new standard of care for people hospitalized for these conditions. A low dose of the drug substantially cut the risk of dying of any cause during the study.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Mortality trumps everything,&quot; so a drug that improves survival is a win, said Dr. Paul Armstrong of the University of Alberta in Edmonton.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>He had no role in the study, discussed Sunday at an American Heart Association conference in Florida and published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was sponsored by the drug&nbsp;s makers Johnson &amp; Johnson and Bayer Healthcare and some researchers work or consult for the companies.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Xarelto is approved now at higher doses for preventing strokes in people with a common heart rhythm problem and for preventing blood clots after joint surgeries. It works in a different way than aspirin and older blood thinners do.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Dr. C. Michael Gibson of Harvard Medical School led a study testing it in 15,500 patients around the world who were leaving the hospital after a heart attack or severe chest pain from clogged arteries.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>All were prescribed aspirin and an older blood thinner. One-third also received a low dose of Xarelto, and one-third got a higher dose. After about a year on average, nearly 11 percent of those on just the usual medicines had suffered a heart attack, heart-related death or a stroke versus less than 9 percent of those on either dose of Xarelto.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The lower dose proved better and safer. Fewer than 3 percent of those getting Xarelto died of any cause during the study, compared with 4.5 percent of those getting just the usual medicines. That translates to a 32 percent lower risk with Xarelto.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;Our study group has been going for 27 years and we&nbsp;ve not seen that&quot; magnitude of benefit from a drug like this, said Dr. Eugene Braunwald of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women&nbsp;s Hospital, the study&nbsp;s chairman.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>To prevent a single heart-related death, heart attack or stroke, only 56 people would need to be treated for two years with a low dose of the drug, Gibson said.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>However, serious bleeding was nearly four times more common with Xarelto, including bleeding in the head, a potentially disabling side effect. Fatal bleeding was no greater with Xarelto, though.<br />&nbsp;</p>


Russian craft set to blast off on delayed mission

Posted:

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>A Russian cosmonaut says the three-man US-Russian crew are thinking positively as they prepare to blast off on a delayed mission to the International Space Station.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The mission had been delayed for two months after the failed launch of an unmanned Progress cargo ship in August. The failure was blamed on a manufacturing flaw and cast doubt on the future of manned flights because the upper stage of the Soyuz booster rocket that carries the cargo ships into orbit is similar to that used to launch astronauts.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The way was cleared after another Progress lifted off successfully on Oct. 30.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;We have no black thoughts and full confidence in our technology,&quot; cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov told journalists at the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where he, fellow Russian Anatoly Ivanishin and NASA astronaut Dan Burbank were preparing for the launch.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Their Soyuz craft is to lift off early Monday and dock at the International Space Station two days later.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>They are to arrive just in time to keep the orbiting station manned. The three crew members there are returning to Earth on Nov. 21 and if the new crew had not launched in time the station would have had to have been abandoned temporarily for the first time in nearly 11 years.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Russian Soyuz spacecraft serve as the only link to the space station now that NASA retired the space shuttle in July.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The 39-year-old Shkaplerov and 42-year-old Ivanishin are making their first flights into space. Burbank, 50, will take over command of the space station and is a veteran of 12-day shuttle missions in 2000 and 2006. The three men are to remain aboard the space station until March.<br />&nbsp;</p>


No comments:

Post a Comment