Space station addition

Space station addition

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronauts swung open the door to their new space station addition Saturday and floated into the spacious and sparkling white room, formally christening it Harmony. Even though it looked immaculate inside, international space station commander Peggy Whitson and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli — the first to enter — wore surgical masks and goggles to protect themselves from any dirty stowaways, such as dust, lint or crumbs. The air inside the school bus-size chamber was immediately tested, and Whitson later reported there wasn’t much debris inside at all. The European Space Agency’s science laboratory, named Columbus, will hook onto Harmony as early as December.

Darfur peace talks start

SIRTE, Libya — Sudan’s government committed to a cease-fire in Darfur at the start of peace talks Saturday, but mediators and journalists outnumbered the few rebels who did not boycott the U.N.-sponsored negotiations, reducing hopes for an end to the fighting. The large government delegation said its cessation of hostilities was a sign of good will for negotiations aimed at ending more than four years of fighting in the western Sudanese region. But the pledge was not matched by the rebels, whose main leaders all refused to attend the talks. Some 20 rebels were present in the vast conference hall in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte. Ahmed Diraige, the head of an obscure faction known as the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance, spoke on behalf of the rebels and stated the groups present were also willing to consider a cease-fire. But with the absence of major rebels, hopes faded for a quick peace agreement.

‘The Last Supper’ online

MILAN, Italy — Can’t get to Milan to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper?” As of Saturday, all you need is an Internet connection. Officials put online an image of the “Last Supper” at 16 billion pixels — 1,600 times stronger than the images taken with the typical 10 million pixel digital camera. The high resolution will allow experts to examine details of the 15th-century wall painting that they otherwise could not. The high resolution allows viewers to look at details as though they were inches from the artwork, in contrast with regular photographs, which become grainy as you zoom in, said curator Alberto Artioli. Although there appeared to be problems with the Web site late Saturday, it was accessible earlier in day. The site is www.haltadefinizione.com.

Dutch insulted by remarks

WASHINGTON — Dutch lawmakers who recently visited the Guantanamo Bay military prison said they were offended by a testy exchange in Washington with a senior congressional Democrat. The lawmakers said that Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told them that “Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay.” Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, was responding to arguments that the United States should shut down the prison, located on a U.S. naval base in Cuba, the lawmakers said. Mariko Peters, a member of the Dutch Green Party, who began the exchange with Lantos, said she took notes of the remarks. A Lantos aide said the lawmaker realizes the Guantanamo facility does harm to the reputation of the United States and has praised judges who ruled in favor of extending legal rights to prisoners. Lantos has not suggested that the prison be closed. Before the Guantanamo exchange, the lawmakers had discussed a debate in the Netherlands about whether the country should maintain its 1,600 troops serving in NATO’s Afghanistan operations. “You have to help us, because if it was not for us, you would now be a province of Nazi Germany,” Lantos said, according to the Dutch lawmakers. “The comments killed the debate,” said Harry van Bommel, a member of the Socialist Party. “It was insulting and counterproductive.”

Germans mull speed limits

HAMBURG, Germany — Members of one of Germany’s governing parties on Saturday backed a proposal to introduce a speed limit on highways, a measure that would revoke a cherished freedom in this rule-bound country and was likely to be met with resistance. A majority of delegates at a conference of the center-left Social Democrat party backed a resolution stating that “a fast and unbureaucratic path to climate protection is the introduction of a general speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour,” or 80 mph. Many stretches of German autobahn have no speed limits. However, the current surge in concern over carbon dioxide emissions has put that tradition under renewed scrutiny.

Associated Press