Russian module docks at space station
MOSCOW -- Russia's long-delayed lab module successfully docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, eight days after it was launched from the Russian space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
The 22-ton Nauka module, also called the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, docked with the orbiting outpost in an automatic mode after a long journey and a series of maneuvers. Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, confirmed the module's contact with the International Space Station.
The launch of Nauka, which is intended to provide more room for the crew and for scientific experiments, had been delayed repeatedly because of technical problems. It was initially scheduled to go up in 2007.
In 2013, experts found contamination in its fuel system, resulting in a long and costly replacement. Other Nauka systems also underwent modernization or repairs.
Nauka became the first new module in the Russian segment of the station since 2010. On Monday, one of the older Russian modules, the Pirs spacewalking compartment, undocked from the Space Station to make room for the new module.
Russian crewmembers on the station have done two spacewalks to connect cables in preparation for Nauka's arrival. Nauka will require many maneuvers, including up to 11 spacewalks beginning in early September, to prepare it for operation.
Taliban offer aid as flood toll hits 150
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Flash flooding killed 150 people in a remote area in Afghanistan's mountainous northeastern Nuristan province controlled by the Taliban, a spokesman for the insurgents said Thursday. The provincial government appealed to the Taliban to allow rescue teams into the area to help.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said heavy rains late Wednesday caused the flash flooding.
Mujahid said the insurgents ordered their own rescue crews to the area. He also said the Taliban have ordered that 5 million Afghanis -- or about $62,000 -- be spent aiding the cleanup and the villagers affected by the flooding.
However, it is unclear how equipped the Taliban are to deal with emergencies in areas under their control, which are mostly rural areas.
"We are calling on the public to offer as much help as they can to the affected people of Merdesh village," Mujahid said in a statement, adding that charitable organizations are also being asked to assist.
Reports reaching Parun, the Nuristan provincial capital, said water had inundated Merdesh. The village is in Nuristan's Kamdesh district, not far from the border with Pakistan. The provincial governor's spokesman, Mohammad Sayed Mohmand, said the flooding destroyed at least 100 homes.
British Holocaust memorial approved
LONDON -- The British government Thursday approved plans to build a national Holocaust memorial beside Parliament, rejecting claims by campaigners that the location was unsuitable.
The government said building the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, a park in the shadow of Parliament, would send a "powerful associative message."
The memorial was announced in 2016, but the choice of the site has faced opposition. A group of campaigners argued that it would remove valuable green space in the heart of the city and would be better built elsewhere.
After public inquiries last year, the government said the benefits of the location outweighed the "modest loss of open space" in the park.
The $140 million memorial is scheduled to open in 2024 and will be free to visit. It is intended as the focal point for Britain's national remembrance of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and all other victims of Nazi persecution, and to provide a place for reflection on "subsequent genocides" in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
Guatemalans rally for anti-graft strike
GUATEMALA CITY -- Thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets in protest Thursday, blocking highways and calling for a national strike over the government's apparent unwillingness to tackle corruption.
Pressure has been building since Attorney General Consuelo Porras fired corruption special prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval a week ago. In response, the United States government this week said it had lost confidence in Guatemala's commitment to battling corruption and was temporarily suspending cooperation with Porras' office.
President Alejandro Giammattei has previously spoken of his friendship with Porras, who was appointed by his predecessor, President Jimmy Morales.
Singing the national anthem, some 10,000 people blocked one of the country's main highways early Thursday. Organizations representing indigenous Guatemalans, farmworkers, students and professionals have said they will join a national work stoppage.
Mario Menchu, president of the 14 Communities of San Cristobal Totonicapan, said protesters demanded Porras' resignation. He also complained that Giammattei had not followed through on promised structural improvements in the country.
