Now they've done it: US Military now tracking pirates.

When Somali pirates skimmed across the Indian Ocean and muscled their way aboard a US food aid ship today, it had all the hallmarks of a depressingly familiar scene: a hostage cargo ship, a vulnerable crew and a well-organised team of brigands with the firepower and knowhow to seize a ship and demand a fat ransom.

But as a dramatic tussle on the high seas played out tonight, it became clear this was a startlingly different confrontation to the regular string of hijackings and hostage-takings that have plagued the waters off the Horn of Africa in recent months.

The standoff was apparently defused when the 20-man crew turned on their captors and managed to overpower them, seizing one pirate and sending three others fleeing for their dinghy.

But the episode remained unresolved tonight: members of the crew said the pirates had escaped with the captain in tow, and the crew was negotiating for his return, offering food or anything else. The crew had held a pirate prisoner for 12 hours and released him in return for the captain, but the pirates had not kept their side of the bargain.

A US warship, the USS destroyer Bainbridge, was on its way to the area this evening. "We are trying to hold them off until the US ship arrives," said Ken Quinn, second mate on the ship.

The drama began when the Maersk Alabama, a container vessel owned by the Danish shipping giant, was hijacked 280 miles southeast of Eyl off Somalia's eastern coast this morning. It was the pirates' sixth successful strike in the past fortnight. It was also the first US ship, and crew, to be seized by Somali pirates. Although hostages are seldom hurt while ransoms are negotiated, the kidnapping of Americans would pose serious concern in the White House.

Obama and the White House team had only arrived back in Washington at about 3am (EST) after a week-long tour of Europe and Iraq, but they monitored the crisis, facing the prospect of paying millions in ransom money, as other countries have done, or ordering military action.

Captain Joe Murphy, father of the ship's second-in-command, Shane, and a lecturer at the Massacusetts Maritime Academy, said today that his son and other crew members had turned the tables on the captors. His son had recently talked to a class at the academy about the dangers of piracy.

The World Food Programme said the ship's cargo included food aid due to be unloaded in Mombasa, Kenya.

Satellite Photo Of N Korea Rocket Released

Editor's Note: Click to enlarge the photo. It almost looks as if the rocket's nose-cone has separated shortly after lift-off.
Your comments are welcome.




WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A nonprofit institution that focuses on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons said that satellite images released Monday appear to show North Korea's rocket in flight.

The group says the images were captured by a satellite on Sunday.

The communist nation launched the rocket last weekend in defiance of international opposition.

The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said it obtained the images from a DigitalGlobe satellite and that they were taken Sunday in North Korea.

In one image, the missile's exhaust plume can be seen. The flame from the burning propellant appears as a solid white mark.

The terrain below the rocket in a second image is only a few kilometers away from the launch pad, the institute said.

The third image is a close-up of the flame from the rocket's burning propellant, the institute, led by former U.N. nuclear inspector David Albright, said.

North Korea has described the launch -- which flew in the face of numerous international warnings -- in celebratory terms. State-run media KCNA said North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il expressed "great satisfaction" at seeing the launch of the rocket carrying a communications satellite.

Editors note: LIe lie lie!

Not only did the country successfully send a communications satellite into orbit, KCNA said, but "it is sending to the Earth the melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans 'Song of General Kim Il Sung' and 'Song of General Kim Jong Il.' "

The United States and other nations say the move demonstrated the country's ability to shoot a long-range missile -- a rocket with a warhead attached -- and violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Plans for future re--usable space launch X-plane hatched

Plans for future re--usable space launch X-plane hatched: "

The Air Force Research Laboratory expects to issue a request for information (rfi) ‘any day now’ to industry for a wide spread of structures, systems and control technology that could be used as a the basis for a hypersonic, responsive space launch vehicle X-plane demonstrator.

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Booster concept models on display at NSS

(photos Guy Norris)

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The rfi is for the follow-on phase to the future responsive access to space technologies (FAST) program which focused on several ground experiments into baseline technology for the future demonstrator. These included an all-composite airframe with warm, cryogenic structures, load-bearing tanks attached to wing box carry-through and thrust structures and thermal protection systems with operable seals and mechanical attachments.

Other ground experiments include adaptive guidance and control subsystems with the ability to re-shape trajectories on-line and mission replanning in response to sub-system failures. Another aspect of FAST has also involved development of a laboratory for exploring concepts for operating a quick-turnaround, reusable space launch vehicle, rapid mission planning, in-flight command and control and ground operations.

Originally dubbed the operationally responsive space (ORS) integrated ground experiment, the new program is expected to be re-named along the lines of the reusable booster system integrated demonstrator to emphasize the X-plane aims of the effort. The AFRL says the rfi is aimed at ‘maturing technology in areas such as structures, guidance and control and fault tolerance.’ The plan will be to demonstrate a high level of integration, culminating in a scaled X-plane vehicle that will show capabilities to technology readiness levels of around 6 (ready for full-scale development) by around the 2017-2018 timeframe.

Concept models of the fly-back winged booster and a similar winged booster with a rocket-powered payload module carried piggy-back, were revealed at the National Space Symposium. The models bore a strong resemblance to the scaled model booster flight tested by Lockheed Martin early in 2008. These tests, conducted in New Mexico, were primarily to investigate guidance and control concepts for the two-stage to orbit vehicle which will be autonomously controlled at speeds for up to Mach 6 for the first-stage and up to Mach 9 and beyond for the second-stage.

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(Via On Space.)

Pilot of stolen plane captured

Pilot of stolen plane captured: "The pilot of a small Cessna 172 aircraft reported stolen from a Canadian flight school has been captured, authorities said. The pilot reportedly stole a small Cessna 172 aircraft from a Canadian flight school, flew hundreds of miles across the Midwest, landed on a dirt road in Missouri late Monday and took off on foot, federal officials said.

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(Via CNN.com - U.S..)

Plot to assasinate President Obama foiled.

EDITORS NOTE: Just goes to show, that no matter who is President, there are still those evil forces who want to kill him, just because he's American. Blind hatred of America still thrives even without GW Bush. Glad to see this plot was foiled because it could have sparked a war.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- U.S. officials have taken "very seriously" a plot to assassinate President Barack Obama involving a Syrian man who was arrested late last week in Turkey, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

But the officials strongly cautioned that American presidents are frequent targets of threats that are all watched very carefully, and in this case the alleged plotter did not appear to get anywhere close to Obama during his European tour.

The officials also noted that while Obama gets more threats than usual as the first African-American U.S. president, this particular threat did not force any change to his schedule.

"Life goes on," said one of the officials familiar with the matter, who suggested the threat may be getting more attention because there has been a heavy international focus on Obama's first overseas trip since taking office.

White House officials declined to comment on the matter, citing a policy of not talking about security and threats around the president. U.S. Secret Service officials spoke only briefly about the case.

"We work closely with the host country whenever there is an arrest, which we are doing in this matter," Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said.


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