World

Cassini Unveils Saturn's Moon

Kelly Hayes - Oct 27, 2004 / 10:54 am | Story: 4837

The international Cassini spacecraft began unveiling Saturn's mysterious sidekick Titan with a stream of increasingly sharp pictures of the surface taken during a flyby within 745 miles (1,198 kilometers) of the hazy moon. Distinct dark and bright surface areas were apparent in pictures arriving at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory late Tuesday. Scientists were thrilled, but admitted they could only speculate about what they were seeing. Full story
British troops began rolling north to the Baghdad area Wednesday morning, a move that will free up American soldiers to tackle militant-controlled areas. About 800 Scottish soldiers from the First Battalion, Black Watch, are redeploying from the southern port city of Basra to an area about 100 kilometres south of the Iraqi capital, accompanied by dozens of U.S. marines. Full story
A Japanese citizen is the latest to be apparently kidnapped and threatened with beheading unless Japan pulls its troops from Iraq within 48 hours. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi quickly rejected the prospect of withdrawing approximately 600 Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops deployed in Iraq. Full story
An earthquake shook Japan on Wednesday as rescuers dug out a toddler buried alive during a weekend earthquake. Two-year-old Yuta Minagawa was pulled from his family's white van in rural Niigata prefecture. It had been buried under a landslide after Saturday's earthquake, which left 31 people dead. Full story
Russia's upper house of parliament on Wednesday ratified the Kyoto Protocol, sending it to President Vladimir Putin for the final stamp of approval. Full story
Thailand's prime minister has admitted that the army made mistakes dealing with an anti-government demonstration that left dozens of people dead. At least 78 people were suffocated while being transported on army trucks after they were arrested. The demonstrations, which took place Monday in the southern part of the country, were protesting the arrest of six Muslim men. Full story
U.S. President George Bush plans to ask Congress early next year for up to $75 billion US more to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and fund anti-terrorism operations, congressional aides said Tuesday. Full story
Yasser Arafat's doctors say the ailing 75-year-old Palestinian leader does not have cancer, countering speculation that he was seriously ill. The diagnosis, confirmed by a blood test, comes a day after a hospital official said Arafat had a large gallstone. Full story