Brazil successfully launched its first rocket into space, 14 months after an accident killed 21 space agency employees and damaged the reputation of the country’s space program. The two-stage rocket, named VSB-30, or Brazilian Exploration Vehicle, was launched Saturday from the Alcantara launch site in Maranhao, Brazilian Air Force officials said. Brazil plans to sell up to 15 of the rockets, which can carry up to 870 pounds and fly up to 155 miles.
Suspected Islamic militants killed 16 people heading to a soccer match in a predawn ambush south of Algiers Saturday – the first bloodshed since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, an official statement said. The victims, mostly youths, were driving to Algiers for the match when they were ambushed near Medea. An average of 50 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Muslim holy month in 2002 and 2003.
Japanese trade negotiators in Tokyo agreed Saturday to reopen their markets to U.S. beef, 10 months after discovery of a single case of mad cow disease in Washington state prompted Japan to ban American imports. The deal was seen as the first step toward re-establishing the export market for U.S. beef – which totaled more than $3.8 billion in 2003 but essentially disappeared in December. That’s when more than 40 countries stopped importing U.S. beef because of concerns over mad cow disease.
Hamas militants killed a Palestinian whose information they said helped Israel assassinate the group’s founder and nine others, dumping the collaborator’s bullet-ridden body near a trash can on a Gaza street, where it was found Saturday. Also Saturday, a team of Tunisian doctors arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah to examine Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is recovering from the flu. The doctors met briefly with Arafat and were expected to examine him today, officials said.
From Herald news services
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