Kazakhstan puts satellite into space
Kazakhstan sent its first satellite into space today, a step toward fulfilling the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic’s ambitions to join the elite club of space-exploring nations.
The Central Asian nation of 15 million is home to the world’s largest space center, the Baikonur cosmodrome.
It has been leasing the Soviet-built facility to Russia, but now Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants his nation to build its own space industry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Nazarbayev at Baikonur to watch the early morning launch of KazSat 1 – a geostationary satellite designed to provide TV broadcast and communications for Kazakhstan, three other Central Asia nations – Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan – and part of Russia.
Washington
Aid to go directly to Palestinian poor
International sponsors of a stalled Mideast peace plan agreed Saturday to channel aid to cash-starved Palestinians for health care, utilities and social services, while continuing a boycott of the militant-led Palestinian government.
The United States went along with a compromise plan to send mostly European money through the World Bank for services and to pay stipends directly to poor people in the Palestinian territories.
Establishment of the fund is an acknowledgment that an international aid freeze imposed after the surprise election victory of Hamas militants in January has had unintended and harsh consequences for ordinary Palestinians.
The United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia issued a brief statement endorsing a plan drawn up last week by the EU. The four called the fund temporary and limited, and said they will reassess the need for it in three months.
The fund is meant to give a quick cash infusion to the neediest Palestinians while ensuring it stays out of the hands of the Hamas government.
Tokyo
North Korea asked to not test missile
The United States and Japan urged North Korea not to proceed with reported plans to test-fire a long-range missile that could reach the U.S. mainland, saying Saturday that a launch would be dangerous and provocative.
North Korean officials later denied such preparations, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing a South Korean official it did not identify.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso met Saturday night amid mounting speculation the North could soon test a Taepodong-2 missile capable of reaching the United States with a light payload.
South Korean media reports said the North had loaded booster rockets onto a launch pad in preparation for the test.
After the meeting, Schieffer reiterated Washington’s stance that the test would be a dangerous act that would hurt North Korean interests. The North has been under a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile tests since 1999.