China docks spacecraft manually

24 June 2012 Last updated at 07:00 ET

(L-R) Liu Wang, Jing Haipeng and China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, smiling after completing the exercise

China has successfully completed its first ever manual docking of a spacecraft with another space module.

Astronauts on the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft docked with the Tiangong-1 lab module without relying on an automated system.

State television broadcast images of Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang, smiling after completing the exercise.

The docking is seen as a key step in the building of a space station, which China hopes to finish by 2020.

A manual docking procedure would be used in the event of a failure with the automated system.

It is regarded as a difficult manoeuvre, bringing gently together two orbiting vessels travelling at thousands of miles an hour.

Liu Wang took charge of the operation, while Liu Yang conducted aerospace experiments.

"The success of the manual docking mission represents a major breakthrough. It was a precise and perfect docking," said Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space programme.

Manual docking was mastered by the USSR and US in the 1960s.

The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft was launched on 16 June.

It carried out a successful automatic docking when it reached the Tiangong-1 module on 18 June.

Every move of the mission has been watched with patriotic pride by China's state media, the BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai reports.

Even the astronauts' first space meal - rice, pickled pork, barbecue sauce and tea - was reported, our correspondent says.

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Noa well starts supplying Israel with natural gas

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Miami Heat Parade on Monday: Area 31 Throws Watch Party

The city of Miami is throwing the Miami Heat a parade on Monday morning, which gives this lousy weather a few more days to play itself out.? Either way, it's going to be a lonely day at Miami-area workplaces, as thousands of fans suddenly call in sick at the start of the work week. Heck - even we feel a cold coming on...

The parade will start at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 25 at the corner of SW 8th Street and 2nd Avenue, head east on 8th Street and then north on Brickell Avenue. The parade will cross the bridge into downtown, head north on Biscayne Boulevard and end at American Airlines Arena. The whole shebang is expected to take about 90 minutes.

You could pack a picnic and camp out on the streets, or you could rise above the crowd and party at Area 31 at the Epic Hotel where, starting at 9 a.m., you can watch the parade from the restaurant's terrace while drinking special Heat-themed bloody Marys and snacking on tasty tidbits.

The bar opens at 9 a.m., with an all-day happy hour on the terrace and in the lounge with $5 cocktails, beer and wine. The featured cocktail is the Miami Heat bloody, made with Hangar One chipotle vodka, house made bloody Mary mix, garnished with a chili-salt rim and smoked shrimp ($5).

Snacks are available starting at 10 a.m. and a "can't beat the Heat" lunch special ($19) begins at 11:30 a.m., offering a choice of appetizers like shrimp ceviche, tuna tartar, or pork sliders followed by an entr?e (choices include smoked chicken salad, black bean goat cheese tacos, or flatbreads).

Discounted valet parking is available at the Epic Hotel. It's up to you to navigate the traffic.

Follow Short Order on Facebook and Twitter @Short_Order.

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Kansas revokes doctor's license in abortion case

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) ? Kansas regulators on Friday revoked the medical license of a doctor accused of performing inadequate mental health exams on young patients she then referred to the late Dr. George Tiller for late-term abortions.

The State Board of Healing Arts ratified an administrative judge's earlier decision to strip Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus of her license. Neuhaus provided second opinions that Tiller needed under Kansas law to perform some late-term abortions at his Wichita clinic. Tiller, one of a few U.S. physicians known to perform abortions in the final weeks of pregnancy, was shot to death in May 2009 by a man professing strong anti-abortion views.

The administrative judge concluded in February that Neuhaus performed inadequate mental health exams in 2003 on 11 patients, aged 10 to 18. The judge said Neuhaus' records didn't contain the information necessary to show that she did thorough exams, and the patients' care was "seriously jeopardized."

"Her actions clearly show a disregard for her patients' safety and care, which causes her to be a threat to any future patients she might have," said Reese Hays, the attorney on the board's litigation team who presented the case against Neuhaus.

Neuhaus has argued that her exams met accepted standards of care, and some abortion rights supporters questioned whether she could receive a fair hearing from the board, with Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, a strong abortion opponent, in office for almost 18 months. Neuhaus said she'll ask the state's courts to overturn the board's decision.

"It's all about abortion rights, absolutely," she said after the board's decision. "If this wasn't in the Bible Belt, I think this wouldn't even be happening."

Abortion opponents have been a force in the Republican Party in GOP-leaning Kansas for two decades and have solid legislative majorities. Since Brownback took office in January 2011, the state has imposed tighter restrictions on abortion, written special health and safety rules for abortion providers and limited private health insurance coverage for elective abortions.

Neuhaus, who is from Nortonville, a small town about 30 miles north of Lawrence, has an inactive medical license that allows her to provide limited charity care, but she had asked the board to reinstate her to a full, active license. The revocation will formally take effect when the board puts its decision in writing and delivers a copy to Neuhaus, possibly next week.

The board discussed her case in closed sessions for about 30 minutes before reconvening to formally revoke her license as Neuhaus and her attorneys watched. Sitting behind her was Troy Newman, president of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, which pursued a complaint against her.

The case centered on how Neuhaus concluded that each of the 11 patients had serious mental health issues and that an abortion was advisable. The law required Tiller to obtain an independent second opinion that a patient faced significant and permanent harm if the pregnancy continued. Neuhaus provided such assessments for Tiller from 1999 to 2006.

Neuhaus' reports for him, compiled with a "PsychManager Lite" computer program, were five pages or less and don't cite details from patients' statements or data gleaned from her exams.

The administrative judge said that in some cases, the young patients were described as suicidal, but Neuhaus didn't recommend further treatment. The judge said Neuhaus simply "answered yes/no questions" using the computer program and assigned whatever diagnosis "the computer gave."

Neuhaus strongly disputes the judge's characterization of how she used the program and testified during a hearing that she sometimes refused to allow abortions to go forward.

She also testified that she didn't put more details in her records to protect patients' privacy. After the hearing, she said she was "unapologetic" for that, noting the Kansas attorney general's office began investigating abortion providers, including Tiller, starting early in 2003, and in 2006, Fox television's Bill O'Reilly strongly criticized Tiller and discussed a few of his patients' cases on his program.

The case stemmed from a 2006 complaint by Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy adviser for Operation Rescue. The anti-abortion group Kansans for Life also had scrutinized Neuhaus for years and raised questions about her activities. Newman said after the hearing that the board's decision "was justified, and this is only on 11 records, not on the countless others she did the exact same thing for."

Neuhaus had performed abortions in Wichita and Lawrence but stopped in 2002. When she provided second opinions for Tiller, Kansas law restricted abortions at or after the 22nd week of pregnancy if the fetus was viable. In those cases, pregnancies could be terminated only if the patient faced death or "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function," including mental health. Legislators tightened the law last year so that it no longer includes the mental health exception.

Tiller once faced misdemeanor criminal charges that alleged, in relying on Neuhaus for referrals, that he wasn't getting the independent second medical opinion required by state law. He was acquitted two months before his murder, but at the time of his death, a separate complaint was pending before the Board of Healing Arts.

___

Online:

Kansas State Board of Healing Arts: http://www.ksbha.org/

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apjdhanna

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Guide to Choosing a Web and Business Improvement Firm

The part of a Web and Business Development company is to help corporations create a niche out there, and act as an important service that helps these phones use technology efficiently. It is very important that business people examine various aspects before considering any kind of Web and Enterprise service provider.

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Turkey says Syria down its air force jet

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? Turkey says its air force jet that disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea was shot down by Syria, in an action likely to worsen already strained relations between the neighboring countries.

A statement following a two-hour security meeting led by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the warplane that went missing near Syria earlier Friday was downed by Syrian forces and that the two Turkish pilots remain missing. It said Turkey "will determinedly take necessary steps" in response, without saying what they would be.

Turkey has joined nations such as the U.S. in saying that Syrian President Bashar Assad should step down because of the uprising in his country. Turkey also has set up refugee camps on its border for more than 32,000 Syrians who have fled the fighting.

Associated Press

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Ancient Sumer History

Ancient Sumer was the civilization that was located in what is called Iraq today. This area was a fertile crescent location that may have been settled around 4000 B.C., though the exact date is unknown. It is also unknown where the Sumerians came from. It is likely they chose this area due to its rich ecozystem and initially peaceful Akkadian neighbours.

Was Sumer the First Civilization?

It has often been said that civilization began in the settlement of Sumer, which is the land found between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. This is now known to be false, as an earlier settlement was discovered after years of anthropological research. Around 7200 B.C. In the south central area of Turkey began a settlement of people called Cata Hoyuk (or Catal Huyuk). These Neolithic people developed their homes in the land known as Anatolia, where they constructed simple buildings out of rectangular-shaped mud bricks.

The people who first lived here in Sumer were hunter-gatherers, as most early tribes and civilizations were in ancient cultures. What set them apart from other early people were their beginnings in agriculture. They raised farm animals and also grew grains that would be stored for some time.

Sumerians May Have Invented Writing

Due to the archaeological discoveries of tablets and writing in the land of the Sumerian people, it is thought that they were the first civilization to have written records. They are the first known examples of writing that we have today. Pictures or hieroglyphs wereused initially, which evolved into symbols that corresponded to syllables. Everything was written on moist clay with reeds to make the inscriptions.

Evidence of this can be found on clay tablets, monuments, statues, and building bricks. Stories, prayers, laws, songs, letters, and other types of texts were recorded in the Sumerian language, giving us a glimpse into the rich culture of these ancient people.

Sumer Buildings and Achievements

City-states were built after Sumer was settled for some time, and its culture was advanced with frequent wars with the Akkadians. This resulted in the development of metallurgy that gave them products they could trade with other settlements.

Buildings like ziggurat temples were made, which were a notable achievement of the Sumer people. These were stepped structures that were similar to pyramids and gave priests a high place to keep safe from flood waters that came through the fertile crescent on a periodic basis. Usually these temples had other structures in the same complex, including living quarters, storage facilities, courtyards, and bathrooms. Some of these ziggurats and ruins can still be found today.

To find out more about the history of the ancient world, visit World Ancient History

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