World/Nation Briefs July 9, 2011

Space shuttle blasts off on the final flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With a cry from its commander to "light this fire one more time," the last shuttle thundered into orbit Friday on a cargo run that will close out three decades of both triumph and tragedy for NASA and usher in a period of uncertainty for America's space program.

After some last-minute suspense over the weather and a piece of launch-pad equipment, Atlantis and its four astronauts blasted off practically on schedule at 11:29 a.m., pierced a shroud of clouds and settled flawlessly into orbit in front of a crowd estimated at close to 1 million, the size of the throng that watched Apollo 11 shoot the moon in 1969.

It was the 135th shuttle flight since the inaugural mission in 1981.

"Let's light this fire one more time, Mike, and witness this great nation at its best," Atlantis commander Christopher Ferguson told launch director Mike Leinbach just before liftoff.

Atlantis' crew will dock with the International Space Station on Sunday, deliver a year's worth of critical supplies to the orbiting outpost, and bring the trash home. The shuttle is scheduled to land back on Earth on July 20 after 12 days in orbit, though the flight is likely to be extended to a 13th day.

South Sudan becomes world's newest nation

JUBA, South Sudan - South Sudan became the world's newest nation early Saturday, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of millions.

In the new country's capital, Juba, streets pulsed with excitement. Residents danced, banged on jerry cans and chanted the name of the world's newest president, Salva Kiir. One man kneeled and kissed the ground as a group ran through the streets singing "We will never, never, never surrender."

"Ah, I'm free," said Daniel Deng, a 27-year-old police officer and former soldier who broke out in a wide grin.

The Republic of South Sudan earned independence at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, breaking Africa's largest country in two. It marked the culmination of a January independence vote, which was guaranteed in a 2005 peace deal that ended the most recent north-south war.

After the celebrations die down, residents of South Sudan face an uphill climb. While the new country is oil-rich, it is one of the poorest and least-developed places on Earth. Unresolved problems between the south and its former foe to the north could mean new conflict along the new international border, advocates and diplomats warn.

House passes $17 billion boost in military budget

WASHINGTON - Money for the Pentagon and the nation's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is proving largely immune from the budget-cutting that's slamming other government agencies in the rush to bring down the deficit.

On a 336-87 vote Friday, the Republican-controlled House overwhelmingly backed a $649 billion defense spending bill that boosts the Defense Department budget by $17 billion. The strong bipartisan embrace of the measure came as White House and congressional negotiators face an Aug. 2 deadline on agreeing to trillions of dollars in federal spending cuts and raising the borrowing limit so the U.S. does not default on debt payments.

While House Republican leaders agreed to slash billions from the proposed budgets for other agencies, hitting food aid for low-income women, health research, energy efficiency and much more, the military budget is the only one that would see a double-digit increase in its account beginning Oct. 1

Concerns about undermining national security, cutting military dollars at a time of war and losing defense jobs back home trumped fiscal discipline in the House. Only 12 Republicans and 75 Democrats opposed the overall bill.

Wyoming man charged withkilling 3 sons

WHEATLAND, Wyo. - A man opened fire inside a Wyoming mobile home, killing his three sons and a brother and injuring his wife, authorities said Friday. One neighbor said the wounded woman ran from the home screaming, "He killed my babies!"

Everett E. Conant III surrendered without incident and was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, battery and a weapons violation. The murder and attempted-murder charges carry sentences of death or life without parole.

Police found the bodies of the three boys and the brother, who was fatally wounded, inside the trailer home Thursday in Wheatland, about 70 miles north of Cheyenne. The woman was shot twice but was listed in good condition at a Cheyenne hospital.

Conant, whom police say was born in 1975, was ordered held without bail. His court-appointed lawyer, Eric Palen, declined to comment.

Conant's wife, Suzette Ann Conant, was shot in the ankle and shoulder, said Wheatland Police Chief Randy Chesser.

- The Associated Press