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Ambitious plans to turn a former RAF radar station in Shetland into a holiday resort and whisky distillery are to be outlined at a conference. More than 100 jobs were lost when the Ministry of Defence closed the Saxa Vord early warning station on the island of Unst in March. The remote community hope the plans will secure its economic future and stop its young people from leaving. Its population has dropped from more than 1,000 to 500 in the past decade. Whisky distillery The plans aim to ...

It was 38 years ago this weekend that the 747, the "jumbo jet", first rolled out of a factory in Everett, Washington State. It was famous for one thing - being big - and phrases like "the size of a jumbo" soon became commonplace. And it was big for a reason: Boeing, like everyone else, foresaw a surge in air travel in the 70s, and to meet a huge demand it helps to have a huge plane. For many people, the jumbo ruled the skies, but time is now up for the early 747s. The life span of most ...

Victoria Crater is about five times wider than Endurance Crater, which Opportunity spent six months exploring in 2004, and about 40 times wider than Eagle Crater, where the rover first landed. The US space agency's (Nasa) second rover, Spirit, is on the other side of the Red Planet. It has been holed up at one northward-tilted position through the southern Mars winter in order to collect the maximum energy supply for its solar panels. Spirit is conducting studies that benefit from staying in ...

Police investigating the disappearance of a Polish student in Glasgow have found a body concealed within the church where she was last seen. Forensic officers are at the scene but it has not so far been possible to identify the body. Angelika Kluk, a 23-year-old student, had been living at St Patrick's Church in the Anderston area of the city. She was reported missing on Monday after she failed to turn up for her job as a cleaner.

Home Secretary John Reid has insisted violent criminals will not be let off with on-the-spot fines. A leaked consultation paper suggested extending the system of fixed penalty notices to ease the pressure on courts. Offences included assault, threatening behaviour, theft up to the value of £100 and assaulting a police officer. But the Home Office said the idea had not been put to ministers, and that Mr Reid would never allow a reduction in punishments for violent criminals. A spokesman  ...

By Alastair Macdonald and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a brother-in-law of the new judge trying Saddam Hussein and badly wounded the man's wife and son, in what the Iraqi government said on Friday was a direct attack on the court by Saddam's followers. The government spokesman said judge Mohammed al-Ureybi's 10 -year-old nephew and his sister were in a critical condition after the family was sprayed with bullets on Thursday evening. It was at least the fourth killing closel ...

Fortnightly church attendance could be required in order for children to get into popular faith schools, the Church of England's education head has said. This could be one way to clarify the "test of faith" families needed to meet, Canon John Hall suggested. His remarks, reported by the Times Education Supplement, come as 4,500 schools await Church guidance on how to assess parents' religious commitment. The Church said he had been merely "speculating" how rules could change. 'Transparency  ...

MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - A 15-year-old student critically wounded his school's principal in western Wisconsin on Friday after telling another student "you better run," in the second U.S. school shooting this week, authorities said. The student shot the principal when confronted, then was subdued by a teacher and other students until police took him into custody. No others were hurt. "All the students are safe," school district employee Kathy Stoltz said. Principal John Klang, 49, who ov ...

By Leah Schnurr TORONTO (Reuters) - Conrad Black and his holding company Hollinger Inc. reached a confidential agreement on Friday over the press baron's access to his assets, which were frozen in an August court ruling. Lawyers for the two sides agreed to a new order, which would override an August court ruling that put Black and his wife on a monthly allowance of C$50,000 (24,000 pounds) An Ontario court approved the terms of the agreement, but did not disclose how much money Black would no ...

US President George W Bush has held talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, bolstering ties with the oil-producing central Asian country. Economic relations are thought to have topped the Washington visit agenda. "In economics, in energy partnership, in war on terror, we truly become close partners," the Kazakh leader said. US concerns over Kazakhstan's human rights record did not come up when the two leaders appeared before reporters after their Oval Office meeting. In Kazakhstan ...