WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012
NEWS SpaceX blasts off to space ... Continued from Page 1 The astronauts on board the ISS will maneuver the station’s robotic arm to help capture the capsule and attach it to the orbiting research outpost. The hatch of the Dragon is set to open on May 26 for unloading 521 kg of cargo for the space lab and restocking it with a 660-kg load to return to Earth. On May 31, the Dragon is to detach from the station and make a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California. SpaceX, owned by 40-year-old Musk, a billionaire who also co-founded PayPal, is the first of several US competitors to try sending spacecraft to the ISS with the goal of restoring US access to space for human travelers by 2015. “We are really at the dawn of a new era of space exploration, one where there is a much bigger role for commercial space companies,” Musk said, likening the space effort to the expansion of the Internet in the mid 1990s. “The Internet was created as a government endeavor but then the introduction of commercial companies really accelerated the growth of the Internet and made it accessible to the mainstream,” he added. “I think we are actually at that stage and the success of this mission - even what we have seen thus far - I think bodes well for that new stage of space exploration.” The company successfully testlaunched its Falcon 9 rocket in June 2010,
then made history with its Dragon launch in December of that year, becoming the first commercial outfit to send a spacecraft into orbit and back. Its reusable Dragon capsule has been built to carry both cargo and up to seven crew members. “Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting,” said John Holdren, President Barack Obama’s assistant for science and technology. NASA administrator Charles Bolden congratulated SpaceX for opening “a new era in exploration”. “We’re handing off to the private sector our transportation to the International Space Station so that NASA can focus on what we do best - exploring even deeper into our solar system, with missions to an asteroid and Mars on the horizon.” Until now, only the space agencies of Russia, Japan and Europe have been able to send supply ships to the ISS. The threedecade US shuttle program, which ferried astronauts and cargo to the research outpost, ended in 2011, leaving Russia as the sole taxi to the ISS until private industry comes up with a replacement. SpaceX and a handful of other companies are being helped in their endeavors with seed money from NASA to build cargo and crew capability. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to supply the ISS with cargo in the coming years. Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract and is scheduled for its first launch attempt later this year. — AFP
Dubai expat prisoners on... Continued from Page 1 the hunger strike and was monitoring the situation. The strikers jailed for bouncing cheques want their cases reviewed, sentences reconsidered and to be released. Lebanese prisoner Tarek Saleh, reading a statement from the protesters, said 16 men had stopped taking solid food for more than 20 days and would stop taking all fluids and medication unless they won a review of their cases. Post-dated cheques are frequently used as a guarantee by busi-
nesses, banks and individuals in the UAE for everything from apartment rentals to multi-billion dollar deals. Lawyers say the cases highlight the need for financial and legal reforms in a country that has no bankruptcy law to protec t debtors. Many call for the decriminalisation of bounced cheques. “The government should not be responsible for being a debt collector,” said Habib Al-Mulla, a prominent UAE lawyer. “But the problem is that this system is rooted in society. To change this you have to find an alternative. Until today there is no other alternative.” — Reuters
Bahrain hunger striker in court... Continued from Page 1 Abdulwahab Hussein, who leads the Shiite Wafa Islamic Movement and was among those jailed for life, reiterated at the court his demand for “a republic in Bahrain”. Yesterday’s hearing was attended by Western diplomats and family members of the detainees. The next hearing was set for May 29. Bahrain has repeatedly come under pressure from rights groups as well as Western governments to release Khawaja. The United Nations on Monday urged Bahrain to release its political prisoners, including prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab who is charged with tweeting insults against the government, as well as Khawaja. At the meeting in Geneva of the UN
Human Rights Council, France requested a “humanitarian response” for the dissident and Denmark said he should be released for treatment. Another court in Manama adjourned on Monday the hearing in Rajab’s trial over another charge - taking part in “illegal” gatherings - to May 28. Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was brought to court yesterday handcuffed and accompanied by two guards, according to an AFP journalist. He has been leading anti-government protests following a brutal crackdown on Shiite-led demonstrations against the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty in March 2011. London-based rights group Amnesty International says 60 people have been killed since the uprising began in midFebruary last year. — AFP
Govt walks out over joint... Continued from Page 1 At the start of the session yesterday, Barrak informed the house of his decision to withdraw and of the decision to merge the two grillings. The finance minister however rejected the move and said he was prepared to debate the two grillings separately, adding that he was prepared to refute all the allegations. At this point, the Assembly got involved in a legal debate on whether the two grillings can be merged or not based on an article in the internal charter and almost all MPs spoke. There were two opinions, the first backed by the government and its supporters among MPs that insisted that it was illegal to merge the two grillings because they were not on identical issues as the internal charter requires. The other group, consisting of the opposition, insisted that the same article in the internal charter allows for merging the two grillings because they were against the same minister and tackled similar issues, adding that the issue should be referred to the Assembly for voting. As Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun decided to refer the issue for voting, the prime minister stood and insisted that this was an act of imposing the will of the majority and a clear violation of the law, warning that if the Assembly was to vote on the issue, the government will walk out of the session. The prime minister followed by other ministers carried out the warning and left the session, which forced the speaker to adjourn the house because under Kuwaiti law, parliamentary sessions are illegal without the presence of at least one minister. The government went immediately into an emergency meeting as did the opposition, who later issued statements insisting on their respective positions, putting the country on course for the first real showdown between the government and the opposition. The opposition
said in its statement that what happened in the Assembly yesterday was another attempt by the government and certain quarters to lead to dissolve the Assembly for fear of the results of an ambitious reform program and the outcome of investigations into a number of corruption scandals. The opposition said in the statement that it will not change its position on the merger of the two grilling, saying that in case of a dispute, the issue must be resolved through voting. It also called on the government to attend today’s session and accept the debate of the grilling against the finance minister. Several opposition lawmakers also accused the government of deliberately attempting to create a political crisis in the country, saying that the prime minister and two other ministers faced grillings they charged were unconstitutional because they came from pro-government MPs, and now when they faced the first real grilling, they created this problem. On its part, the government insisted that it will continue its policy of cooperating with the Assembly but this will not come at the expense of laws and the constitution. The statement added that it was illegal to merge the two grillings and that was the only reason the finance minister rejected the debate. A number of pro-government MPs including Hussein Al-Qallaf and Faisal Al-Duwaisan called for dissolving the Assembly as the only solution to the ongoing political crisis in the country. But Information Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah denied that the government plans to recommend dissolving the Assembly or expressing non-cooperation with MPs which could force HH the Amir to dismiss the Cabinet or dissolve the Assembly. The events in today’s session will determine the course of action in the political dispute and to what extent the crisis can develop.
TOKYO: This combo picture taken on (left to right) Oct 13, 2009, April 14, 2010, Aug 17, 2010, Dec 1, 2010 and May 16, 2012 shows the construction progression of the world’s tallest radio tower, the Tokyo Sky Tree. — AFP
Glitch mars tallest tower opening TOKYO: Strong winds forced the operators of the Tokyo Skytree, the world’s tallest tower, to shut down its lifts on its opening day yesterday, leaving some visitors stranded on a 450-metrehigh observation deck. Tens of thousands of people had flocked to the 634-m tower as the Japanese capital’s newest attraction opened to the public for the first time, hoping to catch the spectacular views from the top. The glitch occurred at around 6 pm, when the attraction’s operators decided to shut down two lifts linking an observation deck at 350 m with another at 450 m for around 30 minutes due to safety concerns.
Skytree spokeswoman Maki Yamazaki was unable to say how many of the tens of thousands of visitors were affected by the closure, adding that all were later able to return to the lower level once the lift service resumed. Rainy weather also put a damper on the proceedings, with visitors saying they were unable to enjoy the tower’s far-stretching views. “I have long been looking forward to coming here,” said Ayumi Nakazawa, who won tickets to the opening ceremony of the tower, which ranks as the world’s second-tallest structure. “I can’t see the view (because of the rain), but it was exciting,” Nakazawa told reporters after becoming the
first official visitor to the observation deck. Japan’s hard-hit tourism sector is hoping the tower will boost the number of visitors from abroad after figures plummeted in the wake of Japan’s quake-tsunami disaster last year. The disaster, which sparked the worst nuclear crisis in a generation, saw the number of visitors to Japan fall 27.8 percent from the previous year to 6.22 million, according to the Japan National Tourist Organisation. Amid safety concerns, the tower’s operator said Tokyo Skytree was equipped with state-of-art technology to counter the earth tremors that regularly shake Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active nations.