Dario Thuburn
Scribbler for AFP news agency
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/ 8 April 2008

South Korea’s first astronaut blasts off

South Korea’s first astronaut, Yi So-yeon, blasted off into space on Tuesday, prompting her mother, apparently overwhelmed by the occasion, to scream and fall to the ground. In another historic first, one of her fellow cosmonauts, Sergei Volkov, followed in the footsteps of his father, celebrated cosmonaut Alexander Volkov.

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/ 17 December 2007

Russia warns the West over Kosovo independence

Russia warned on Monday that Kosovo could slip into ”uncontrollable crisis,” ahead of a United Nations Security Council showdown over the Serbian province’s push for independence. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the ”indulgence” of some countries in allowing Kosovo to move towards independence could have ”serious negative consequences” for stability.

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/ 20 March 2007

Tears as Siberian mine families recover dead

Grief-stricken relatives collapsed in tears on Tuesday as ambulances delivered their grim load of black plastic body bags to a morgue in Novokuznetsk, a remote Siberian mining town and scene of Russia’s deadliest mine accident. Four military-style camouflage tents were set up under a leaden sky outside the crumbling morgue.