CAPE CANAVERAL: Shuttle Atlantis is racing after the Hubble Space Telescope a day after taking off on a daring repair mission.On Tuesday, the seven astronauts will spend the entire day inspecting virtually every inch of the shuttle for any launch damage. They surveyed the thermal shielding on their crew cabin Monday evening. This final trip to Hubble is especially dangerous because of all the space junk in the telescope's 350-mile-high (560-kilometer-high) orbit. Atlantis seems to have come through its launch fairly well, at least. But the analysis is continuing. Another shuttle, Endeavour, is at the launch pad and could takeoff in three to six days if the astronauts had to be rescued. Atlantis will catch up to Hubble on Wednesday.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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