Riyadh student chosen for space-training program

RIYADH: In another recognition of the Riyadh-based International Indian School’s quality education, a 17-year-old student has been chosen by the US Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) in Alabama to participate in a major space training program.
Ashaab Alam, a 12th grade student, is among a small number selected from all over the world to spend a week at the USSRC.
The USSRC is a major American space facility. Visitors to the USSRC learn about its role in the making of the moon rocket, the space race and Apollo missions. They also learn about the Space Shuttle program, the International Space Station and NASA’s Constellation Project. The USSRC is also committed to educating people about various space and rocket programs.
Alam, who left for the US on Tuesday, said he was very happy to join the program entitled Advanced Space Academy Mission Specialist Training Program. He said: “I want to become a space scientist or an engineer.”
Alam, who is from India’s eastern state of Assam, said, “It will be a great experience to have training at the space center in Huntsville, Alabama.”
“The training program will include students from a multitude of ethnic, religious, social, economic and educational backgrounds from countries around the world,” said Shauquat Alam, father of Ashaab Alam. The training will also include visits to such facilities as the Spacedome Theater, Rocket Park and Education Training Center. Alam will work with USSRC scientists and other students as part of the training program. USSRC’s Chief Executive Larry R. Capps said the program would help prepare participants for future leadership positions by offering in-depth training. He said that the USSRC was an entity of the state of Alabama that organizes training programs in an effort to inspire young people to undergo astronaut training and simulated space shuttle missions.

arabnews

Yahoo 'escape clauses' for deal

Yahoo will be able to quit its internet search deal with Microsoft if it fails to meet certain market share and revenue targets.

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Yahoo can abandon the deal if Microsoft does not produce advertising revenue per search within a certain - undisclosed - percentage of Google's.
It can also walk away if the share of search queries falls below a certain percentage of the market.
Fresh details of the deal emerged in a regulatory filing late on Tuesday.
Microsoft will pay Yahoo $50m a year for the first three years of the deal to cover unforeseen transition costs.
Yahoo can keep 88% of the net revenues from advertisements placed on its pages for five years and between 83% and 93% of the revenue for the remaining five years.
Microsoft will hire about 400 workers from Yahoo.
Yahoo has been struggling to make profits in recent years. Last year, it rebuffed several takeover bids from Microsoft in an attempt to go it alone.
The deal, announced last month, is designed to help the two companies take on Google, its chief rival, which has a market share of about 65%.
Under the deal, Microsoft's Bing search engine will power the Yahoo website and Yahoo will in turn become the advertising sales team for Microsoft's online offering.

Yahoo Microsoft

Wife of Baitullah Mehsud killed in US drone strike: officials

Pak officials said Wednesday that a U.S. missile strike in northwestern Pakistan had killed a wife of top Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Mehsud's associates would not confirm the report, although they did say a woman was killed in the missile strike in South Waziristan, part of the lawless tribal region along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan and where Taliban and al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding. Two intelligence officials and one army official, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the strike had destroyed the home of Mehsud's father-in-law, Akramud Din, and that two people had been killed, including one of Mehsud's two wives. One of the intelligence officials said agents were trying to get details about the second person who died. The U.S. Embassy had no comment. Washington generally does not acknowledge being responsible for such strikes. One of Mehsud's associates, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Mehsud was not in the house at the time. Mehsud is the head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban militant group, and he has been suspected in the past of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Islamabad in December 2007. He has denied being responsible. He is also accused of organizing dozens of other suicide attacks in Pakistan. If confirmed, the death of Mehsud's wife indicates authorities are closing in on the notorious Pakistani Taliban leader. ''I think they seem to have good intelligence; there is no doubt about it,'' said political analyst and retired Pakistani army Lt. Gen. Talat Masood. ''They are closing in, and they are keeping the pressure on these people.'' Pakistan's air force and the military have carried out several attacks targeting Mehsud, and the army has said it is preparing for a major offensive against Mehsud and his network in the tribal region. But the offensive has not come, despite it being announced weeks ago. Masood said it was likely the military wanted to concentrate on clearing up militants still active in and around the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan despite a three-month offensive there against the Taliban. ''At the moment, I don't think it has any desire or intention of launching a full-fledged attack in South Waziristan. I feel they are wanting to contain them instead of having a full-fledged attack,'' Masood said. Wednesday morning's attack is the latest in a series of suspected U.S. missile strikes in recent weeks targeting Mehsud. Pakistani and U.S. officials say the missiles have killed several al-Qaida operatives in the North and South Waziristan tribal regions where Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 troops to flush out militants and their local supporters. Pakistan has publicly opposed such attacks, saying they were counterproductive and were angering local residents. Islamabad has asked Washington to provide it with access to the latest technology to it so that Pakistan's own military could carry out such attacks. Separately, the military said Wednesday it had killed eight militants and arrested another 14 in operations in Swat and nearby areas during the previous 24 hours.

NATION

Clinton, 2 journalists on way to US from NKorea

Former US President Bill Clinton has left North Korea with two US reporters whose release he has helped to secure.

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His spokesman said they were flying to Los Angeles where the journalists would be reunited with their families.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issued a special pardon to the journalists after meeting Mr Clinton on Tuesday.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee had been found guilty of entering illegally in March. Mr Clinton offered no apology for the reporters' conduct, a US official said. The senior US administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the two reporters were in "very good health" and that the North Korean government had agreed in advance that Mr Clinton's mission would not touch on the question of its nuclear programme. Pyongyang dropped out of six-party talks after the UN censured a long-range missile test in April. The parties include Russia, China, Japan, the US and both Koreas.
An underground nuclear test and further missile tests followed, provoking new UN Security Council sanctions.
Mr Clinton's unannounced visit to Pyongyang was described as a private mission.
He was the highest-profile American to visit the reclusive Communist state since ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000.
Families 'overjoyed'
After leaving Pyongyang, the plane with Mr Clinton and the two reporters landed at a US military base in northern Japan for refuelling, Japan's NHK broadcaster said. The chartered jet later departed for Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, the official North Korean News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement that "Kim Jong-il issued an order... granting a special pardon to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labour".

The women's pardon and release was a sign of North Korea's "humanitarian and peace-loving policy", it said.
The families of the journalists said they were "overjoyed" by the news.
In a statement posted on a website, they thanked Mr Clinton and also former Vice-President Al Gore for their efforts to get the women released.
President Barack Obama has telephoned the journalists' families to express relief at their return from North Korea.
Clinton's role
Briefing a small group of reporters in Washington, the US administration official later revealed some details how Mr Clinton's mission had been planned.
He said Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, had told their families during telephone calls from prison that Pyongyang suggested to them that if Mr Clinton came as a private envoy to the country they would be freed.
The official said that Washington later concluded that Pyongyang's offer was valid enough to involve Mr Clinton in trying to secure the reporters' release.
He added that Mr Clinton later met State Department and White House officials to discuss the plan before flying to Pyongyang.
Washington had made no announcement of Mr Clinton's trip prior to his arrival on Tuesday.
Mr Clinton had landed in Pyongyang in an unmarked plane and was greeted at the airport by North Korean officials.
KCNA said that Mr Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, although the White House denied its report that Mr Clinton had conveyed a message from US President Barack Obama. In all, Mr Clinton and his team met Kim Jong-il and his staff for more than three hours, the US administration official said. He did not give any further details of the talks.
The two reporters had been found guilty of entering North Korea illegally across the Chinese border in March and were sentenced to 12 years' hard labour.
They were arrested by North Korean guards while filming a video about refugees for California-based internet broadcaster Current TV.
The White House had pressed for their release, and Mr Clinton's wife, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asked last month that they be granted amnesty.
Analysts say that Kim Jong-il is eager to improve relations with Washington as he prepares to name a successor. President Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke a year ago and also has chronic diabetes and heart disease. Analysts say his third son is being lined up to succeed him.

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