The Read International for 12/30/08 (Besides Onging Israeli-Palestine Gaza Conflict): Ukraine Pays Off Gas Debt To Russia

(Photo from NASA) The sad report of the Columbia Space shuttle Crew

Other news coming out from the world on the penultimate day of the year:

Ukraine has finally played off its gas debt to Russia.

The BBC unearths the chilling NASA report details of the the crew onboard the disintegrated space shuttle Columbia and their final minutes.

The report includes grim details of the crew's final moments as the shuttle broke up over the state of Texas.

It also concluded that the astronaut's seat restraints, suits and helmets did not work well, leading to "lethal trauma".

"This report confirms that although the valiant Columbia crew tried every possible way to maintain control of their vehicle, the accident was not ultimately survivable," said Nasa's deputy associate administrator, Wayne Hale.

And this may make you more sad and angry at the same time after reading this:

Nasa also found that the astronauts did not have the necessary training that may have increased their chances of survival.

Horrible.

If you thought it couldn't get more corrupt and nutty in Guinea, well, get this one" A banker is their new Prime Minister. Yes, you read right, a banker. And the guy was living in Egypt, for goodness nationalist sakes.

And in a victory for him and his family, Muntazer al-Zaidi will have his court day postponed to lessen the charge from a maximum of 15 years in prison to a 2 year max. Hopefully he will not continued to get tortured like he has already been. And his lawyer makes a massive point here:

At today's hearing Muntazer Al-Zaidi's lawyer, Dhiaa al-Saadi, said that throwing shoes had not put George Bush, who ducked to miss them, in any danger danger. "Have you ever heard of anyone being killed by a shoe?," he said.

"In Europe, they throw eggs and rotten tomatoes to insult. In Iraq, throwing a shoe is a symbol of disrespect."