Hourly News updated 10:00 2011/09/30

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China's first experimental space lab, the Tiangong-1, has successfully entered its designated orbit, after blasting off from Gansu last night.

The launch of Tiangong-1 is the first step in what is ultimately expected to be the creation of a Chinese space station by 2020.

Commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Chang Wanquan announced the launch of Tiangong-1 is successful.

"According to report from Beijing Aerospace¹ Control Centre, Tiangong-1 has entered its designated orbit. Let me declare, the launch of Tiangong-1 is successful."

The unmanned module², carried by the Long March rocket, will test space docking with a Chinese spacecraft later this year, paving the way for China to become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station around 2020.

Chinese President Hu Jintao watched the launch from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, while Premier³ Wen Jibao has watched the historical take-off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

China will turn its future space station into an international platform for space research and application.

 

 

Typhoon Nesat heading towards Vietnam

Typhoon Nesat is now losing power on its way to northern Vietnam, after passing over Hainan last night.

Nesat is now forecast to downgrade to a tropical depression by tomorrow when it hits Vietnam.

However, the Typhoon made landfall yesterday afternoon in Hainan, forcing some 300-thousand people to leave their homes because of landslides⁴ fears.

The heavy rains and winds forced the suspension of flights and ferry services.

Nesat also battered⁵ Hong Kong with heavy rain and winds, forcing the city to shut down the stock exchange.

Meanwhile, the death toll⁶ from Nesat in the Philippines has now risen to 39, with 45 others remaining missing.

 

 

No interim⁷ gov't until whole Libyan under NTC control: official

Libya's National Transitional Council is confirming that it's going to postpone⁸ the formation of an interim government until all of Libya is under its full control.

NTC head Mahmoud Jibril says the current executive office is going to remain in charge in the interim.

However, he has suggested there could be some changes in certain ministries⁹.

Jibril has also told reporters that he will not be "related to the transitional government."

However, he refused to expand on what exactly he means by that statement.

 

 

Interpol calling for the arrest of a second Gaddafi son

Interpol has issued a new alert, calling for the arrest of another of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's sons, Saadi Gadaffi, who is reportedly seeking refuge in Niger.

Interpol says the arrest warrant has been issued at the request of Libya's new authorities, who accuse him of violent crack downs on protesters.

Meanwhile in Sirte, anti-Gaddafi forces have reportedly taken the airport, which is about 5km from the city center.

US Senator John McCain, along with four other senators, has now met with Libya's new rulers.

McCain is hailing the success of the Libyan people, and pledges to help in the country's preparation for elections.

 

 

German parliament approves expanded EU bailout fund

German lawmakers have approved expanding the powers of the eurozone bailout fund, which is being viewed as a significant step toward trying to tackle the debt crisis.

In the 620-seat lower house, Bundestag, 523 members have voted to approve the expansion.

The measure is now expected to pass in the upper house later on Friday.

It means that Germany will be guaranteeing fresh loans to the so-called European Financial Stability Facility, or EFSF, of up to 211 billion euros.

 

 

Police nab over 800 suspects in transnational telecom fraud bust¹⁰

A major trans-national telecom fraud ring, based mainly on the mainland, has now been broken up.

The Chinese Ministry¹¹ of Public Security says that nearly 830 people have been arrested in China and 8 other Southeast Asian countries.

At the same time, the authorities say they've also shut down over 160 base operations, and have uncovered more than 18-hundred cases of fraud.

Telecommunication¹² scams in China are a relatively¹³ new, but growing, problem for the authorities.

 

 

Five recipients¹⁴ of HIV-positive organs test HIV-negative: hospital

Medical authorities in Taiwan have announced that five patients who received organs from an HIV-positive donor¹⁵ have all tested negative for the virus themselves.

At the same time, health authorities in Taiwan have also released the findings of their initial investigation¹⁶, saying that human error appears to be the root cause of the accident.

A month ago, the organs of a brain-dead patient were transplanted into 5 different people on verbal word that the patient's tests were 'non-reactive' to the HIV testing.

It was only after doctors at Taiwan University Hospital pulled the dead man's chart did they realize that he was, in fact, HIV-positive.

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