Quicktakes

Chandra shuttle

CAPE CANAVERAL: The space shuttle Columbia roared off into space and into history early on Friday for the first time with a woman space commander, Eileen Collins. Themission is to launch the four-story Chandra X-Ray observatory named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the Indian-born astrophysicist.

Japan hijack

TOKYO: A Man who wanted to soar through the air8217; on Friday hijacked a Japanese airliner with 517 people on board, stabbed the pilot to death and briefly seized control of the plane before he was overpowered, authorities said.

Deceased8217; in court

NEW DELHI: In a bizarre case, three accused in a three-year-old murder case have been set free by a Delhi court after the quot;deceasedquot; girl personally appeared before it stunning everybody. ASJ Naipal Singh recently acquitted accused Asif, his brother Arif and Rashid after the quot;victimquot; Maya made a surprise appearance stating that she had voluntarily left her home and married Asif.