Nasa's Maven Mars mission set for launch
The Maven orbiter will study the planet's high atmosphere, to try to understand the processes that have robbed the world of most of its air. The probe will be sent up on Monday from Florida by an Atlas V rocket. Controllers at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station have set aside a two-hour launch window that extends from 11:28 to 13:28 local time (16:28-18:28 GMT). (BBC)
Syrian rebel group says its leader has died
A prominent Syrian rebel group says its leader has died of shrapnel wounds sustained during government shelling last week.The death was the latest blow to rebels amid advances in recent weeks by President Bashar Assad's forces. (AP)
Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant begins fuel rod removal
Workers at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have begun removing fuel rods from a storage pond at the Unit 4 reactor building. Overall, more than 1,500 rods must be be removed in what correspondents describe as a risky and dangerous operation expected to take a year. (BBC)
Nobel Prize winning author Doris Lessing dies aged 94
The literary world mourned on hearing that Doris Lessing, the Nobel Prize winning author of The Golden Notebook and The Grass is Singing, among more than 50 novels covering subjects from politics to science fiction, had died peacefully at her London home aged 94. (Guardian)
Seething volcano found buried under Antarctica's ice
For the first time, an active volcano has been spotted rumbling away under the ice sheet of west Antarctica. It's further evidence that the frozen continent is anything but still. Researchers say the heat from the volcano could speed up the demise of Antarctica's fragile ice sheet. (New Scientist)
