AP - The Marine Corps is trying to determine why a fighter jet suffered engine failures, crashing into the ocean off South Carolina and forcing the pilots to bail out.

AP - Two Marine Corps fighter pilots have been rescued from the ocean off South Carolina after their aircraft went down.

Auckland mayor John Banks, a candidate for the mayoralty of the proposed new super city, has been uncharacteristically modest about his efforts to save a cat stuck up a tree at a constituent's house.Mr Banks got a call late last...

European Commission proposals for advancing post-Copenhagen climate talks, launched today, were welcomed by Oxfam International. However the international agency said that while the EC had thrown a spotlight on emissions reduction loopholes in the Copenhagen Accord - the political agreement brokered at the UN Climate Summit in December - it had ignored major loopholes on climate finance.

At least 20 UPDF soldiers deployed to retrieve the bodies of people buried by the landslide in Bududa have fallen sick. The soldiers have reportedly contracted diarrhoea. Maj. Gen. Julius Oketta attributes the outbreak to drinking unsafe water.

Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund Investment Dar is considering along with creditors to use a $5.2bn state rescue facility. The Islamic investment firm said in a statement that the government's aid package would set the legal framework for its restructuring process, amid the dissent of some creditors and investors that have opposed its restructuring plan The rescue package, called the 'financial stability law', guarantees 50% of fresh loans banks provide to local firms as part of a plan to soften the impact of the global credit crunch.

Officials in Bududa are considering ending the search for victims from last week's landslide that left at least 89 people dead and thousands displaced. The search effort should end today or tomorrow, local authorities said yesterday, although President Museveni has reportedly given orders that it must continue.

A team of American troops has arrived in Bududa to assess the situation and co-ordinate support in the aftermath of a disastrous landslide that has killed more than 90 people and left thousand homeless.

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has directed the army not to leave Namashate parish in Bududa district until all bodies buried by a landslide one week ago have been recovered.

Madeira, located about 900km (560miles) from the Portuguese mainland, is popular with foreign tourists. On 21st February Madeira faced flood condition by heavy rain.

Rescuers are hoping for a break in the clouds on Mt Cook/Aoraki around midday to attempt a rescue of two foreign climbers stranded since yesterday.The two climbers, both in their 20s with one of them suffering from hypothermia...

Torrential rains hinder rescue of Ugandans made homeless by floods and mudslides.

Two Britons are among dozens of tourists on a Kenya safari holiday airlifted to safety after flash flooding.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, delivered 20 satellite phones and a technician to officials in Chili earlier this week.

The United Nations is also sending 45 satellite phones to Chile for officials coordinating earthquake relief efforts. The ITU is providing Iridium satellite phones which can use both satellite and GSM networks, as well as delivering accurate GPS positioning coordinates to aid relief and rescue.

Chile, which boasts a sophisticated response system because it is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, suffered from a lack of communications.

“For 48 hours, the government did not know what was happening in the most affected zone,” says Oscar Godoy, a political science professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. “This country is not Haiti, and yet we do not have a system of satellite phones to be able to connect with the centers of [disaster zones.]”

The same could be said for the West Coast of the United States.

In other news, Iridium Communications is again teaming with its service partners, Satcom Global and IonEarth, to provide satellite voice and data services for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which begins March 5 in Anchorage, Alaska.

IonEarth is equipping each of the participating sleds with a lightweight battery-powered GPS tracking device, which will transmit the sled’s location, speed, heading, altitude and air temperature every 15 minutes.

Race officials and fans can view the latest position and status of each competitor on a 3-D map on the Iditarod Website. It’s handy for race monitoring, and allows for a regular stream of data on the racers and sled dogs.

The racers themselves will not be able to view the data from the trackers in the field, preserving the tradition of self-sufficiency and independence in competing against each other and fighting the elements.

“Iridium is the only satellite system providing reliable coverage in all of Alaska,” said Stan Hooley, executive director of the Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC).

The Insider 2010 GPS Tracker lets you follow the entire field 24 hours a day until the last team reaches Nome. You’ll know how fast teams are traveling, distance between teams and checkpoints along with current temperatures on the trail. But it will cost you between $20 – $33.95 if you want all the real-time information with video clips.

Meanwhile, Harris Corporation last July deployed their 18-meter antenna reflector onboard the geosynchronous TerreStar communications satellite. On orbit tests have confirmed that the reflector is fully deployed in its intended position. Commercial operation has been expected to begin for some time.

With an antenna almost 60 feet across, and supporting 500 dynamically-configurable spot beams, TerreStar-1 will surpass the signal sensitivity and spot beam generation capability of all commercial satellites currently in orbit. The Harris antenna reflector makes it possible for the TerreStar-1 satellite to focus the 2 GHz S-band signals on the United States and Canada in order to provide these Mobile Satellite Services (MSS).

AT&T Mobility plans service that utilizes both Terrestar’s satellite and AT&T’s terrestrial cellular service. The first handset, which will use separate cellular and satellite chips, will cost about US$700 without a carrier subsidy. It will provide voice service as well as data at approximately 64K bits per second.

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AUSTRALIAN Rugby Union chief John O'Neill is expected to chair a group to implement a rescue package to help the near-broke Queensland Rugby Union.

BUDUDA, Uganda : United Nations relief teams were on Thursday to begin their rescue effort in a remote region of eastern Uganda, three days after a landslide left 80 dead and 300 missing. "Definitely ...

The Taiwan government has dumped a proposal to inject money into Taiwan Memory, the linchpin of a plan to restructure its DRAM sector.

The U.S. military's airborne medical-evacuation teams play a critical role in Afghanistan. Lynsey Addario traveled to the front lines to follow one medevac unit as it raced to saved livesLynsey Addario / VII Network for TIME

The debate over new financial rules just took a turn for the… hilarious.

A star-studded cast of past and present Saturday Night Live comedians has put together a skewering sketch pushing President Barack Obama to create an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, in perhaps one of the more bizarre turns in the continuing debate over how best to rewrite financial protection rules.

The video was directed by Ron Howard and features Will Ferrell as George W. Bush, Fred Armisen at Barack Obama, Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton, Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford, Dan Aykroyd as Jimmy Carter, Dana Carvey as George H.W. Bush, and Jim Carrey as Ronald Regan. Maya Rudolph plays Michelle Obama.

Warning, the skit isn’t exactly rated PG.

The setting for the skit is the White House’s master bedroom, and Mr. Obama and his wife are visited by presidents — alive and dead — pushing him to create a new CFPA. Banks have lobbied aggressively to kill the creation of an independent CFPA, but many unions and consumer groups have insisted that a freestanding agency is necessary to protect consumers.

OVERVIEW NIKE, Inc. is committed to supporting communities affected by natural disasters through the work of various organizations during the initial rescue and recovery stages, as well as partnering on programs that enable communities to rebuild. Nike is partnering with Mercy Corps and Architecture for Humanity in support of the rescue and relief efforts most urgently needed in the aftermath of the earthquake that has devastated Haiti, and the longer term commitment to rebuild affected communities. Nike has worked with both organizations previously in similarly difficult situations. To date, Nike has committed $500,000 to the relief and recovery efforts in Haiti, and will continue to provide support throughout the rebuilding phase.NIKE BASKETBALL Shortly after the earthquake devastated Haiti, four Nike Basketball designers flew from Nike's World Headquarters in Oregon to Palm Beach County, Florida at the invitation of teachers and administrators from Forest Park Elementary School, where 60 percent of the children are of Haitian descent. Many of the children's extended families were impacted directly or indirectly by the earthquake. The designers worked with 300 children from Forest Park to create artwork that sends a message of hope, love and empathy to the Haitian people. The unique designs will be captured on T-shirts that will be sold for $25 each through Nike retail locations, including physical Nike stores and nikestore.com, with proceeds going to one of Nike's two partners in the Haitian relief effort: Mercy Corps and Architecture for Humanity. They will first be available leading up to the NBA All-Star Game taking place the weekend of February 12 to February 14. The T-shirt design features two hands reaching out to one another and the Creole passageKinbé Pa Lagé(ken-BEH pah lah-GEH) which, translated, means "Hold on tight. Don't let go."UPDATE: You can now do your part to help Haiti by purchasing the T-shirt on nikebasketball.com.PARTNERS NIKE, Inc. is partnering with Mercy Corps and Architecture for Humanity to support the relief, recovery and rebuilding of Haiti. All money raised through Nike coordinated efforts will go towards supporting the efforts of one of these two partners. Additional information about each organization is available at nikegamechangers.com/haiti. Mercy Corps has been meeting the urgent needs of survivors for clean water, food, shelter and other emergency materials. Their long-term task will be to enable Haitians to transition from receiving aid to rebuilding their communities. People can support Mercy Corps directly at: mercycorps.org. Architecture for Humanity is calling on architects to volunteer their talent in the rebuilding of the Haitian community. They will set up community resource centers to supply architectural and building services to community groups and other support agencies on the ground. They will design and develop community and civic structures for locally-based community partners focusing on educational facilities. People can support Architecture for Humanity directly at: architectureforhumanity.org.