India tests nuclear capable missile

India successfully test-fired today a nuclear-capable missile that can reach Beijing and Eastern Europe, thrusting the emerging Asian power into an small club of nations with intercontinental nuclear weapons capabilities.

Footage showed the rocket with a range of more than 5,000km blasting through clouds from an island off India's east coast. The defence minister said the test was "immaculate".

"Today's launch represents another milestone in our quest for our security, preparedness and to explore the frontiers of science," India prime minister Manmohan Singh said in a congratulatory message to the scientists who developed the rocket.

The Indian-made Agni V is the crowning achievement of a programme developed primarily with a threat from neighbouring China in mind. It will not be operational for at least two years, the government says.

Only the UN security council permanent members - China, France, Russia the United States and Britain - along with Israel, are believed to have such long-range weapons.

Fast emerging as a world economic power, India is keen to play a larger role on the global stage and has long angled for a permanent seat on the security council. In recent years it has emerged as the world's top arms importer as it upgrades equipment for a large but outdated military.

The launch, which was flagged well in advance, has attracted none of the criticism from the West faced by hermit state North Korea for a failed bid to send up a similar rocket last week.

But Chinese media noted the test with disapproval.

"The West chooses to overlook India's disregard of nuclear and missile control treaties," China's widely read Global Times tabloid said in an editorial published before the launch, which was delayed by a day because of bad weather."

India should not overestimate its strength," said the paper, which is owned by the Chinese Communist Party's main mouthpiece the People's Daily.

India has not signed the non-proliferation treaty for nuclear nations, but enjoys a de facto legitimacy for its arsenal, boosted by a landmark 2008 deal with the United States.

Yesterday, Nato said it did not consider India a threat.

The US state department said India's non-proliferation record was "solid", while urging restraint.

"India says its nuclear weapons programme is for deterrence only. It is close to completing a nuclear submarine that will increase its ability to launch a counter strike if it were attacked.

India lost a brief Himalayan border war with its larger neighbour, China, in 1962 and has ever since strived to improve its defences. In recent years the government has fretted over China's enhanced military presence near the border.

It is buying more than 100 advanced fighter jets, likely Rafales built by France's Dassault, in one of the largest global arms deals.

Even so, slow procurement procedures and corruption scandals mean its army, the world's second biggest, relies on critically outdated guns and suffers ammunition shortages.

Today's launch may prompt a renewed push from within India's defence establishment for a fully fledged intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programme, with weapons capable of reaching the Americas, though some of India's allies may bridle at such an ambition.

The Agni V is the most advanced version of the indigenously built Agni, or Fire, series, part of a programme that started in the 1960s. Earlier versions could reach old rival Pakistan and Western China.

The three stage rocket is powered by easier-to-use solid rocket propellants, can carry a 1-tonne nuclear warhead and is road mobile.

Elise may be in trouble on 'American Idol'

Skylar Laine and Phillip Phillips have it, which is why they’re surely safe. Jessica Sanchez had none a week ago and still needs to work on hers. And Elise Testone got to hear about her lack of it for what seemed like an eternity.

To hear the judges tell it, the voices are not the issue. As Randy Jackson reminded everyone, the talent here is way better than those of any competing show, which is a complete shock coming from one of the guys who picked said talent. It’s all about connecting with the song and the audience so we can see the contestants are as great as the judges think they are.

Everyone sang twice, one recent hit and one soul number. That gave the judges two chances to remind us that Jessica has a really great voice and they were totally right to save her. But they did note after her second song, “Try a Little Tenderness,” that she needed to improve that connection. She may not be the low vote-getter again, but if you didn’t like her shoutiness before – and judging by the results last week, many of you didn’t – your opinion was unlikely to change Wednesday.

She could still find herself in danger, but Joshua Ledet is unlikely to join her this time. If there was ever a week that set him up for success, it was this one. He sang last, and the soul theme allowed him to close the show with “A Change Is Gonna Come” and got Jennifer Lopez begging the viewers not to send him home. Then again, ask DeAndre Brackensick how well that plea worked out for him a couple of weeks ago.  

Skylar might not have Jessica’s voice, but she can sure work a crowd. Though “Born This Way” was better than “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” she had the audience eating out of her hand, and the judges along with them. The same went for Phillip, particularly with his cover of Usher’s "U Got It Bad."

Colton Dixon, on the other hand, might have to worry for the first time this year. Neither “Bad Romance” nor “September” were truly gripping, and it particularly hurts that Skylar’s Gaga cover was better than his. And speaking of trouble, even though Hollie Cavanagh sang as well as she has all year, going first won’t help her, and her fans may not be as determined after she survived last week’s scare. The endorsement from the Liverpool Football Club was appreciated, but an NFL club would have helped her more, given that the show is located on this continent.

As for who’s likely to go ... let’s just say that the deck was stacked against Elise from the beginning, and the piling on from the judges didn’t help.

After her performance of "Let's Get It On," Steven told her she needed to "take it up a notch," while Randy opined that she's "not really sure" what's right for her voice, and that she "kind of oversang" the tune. That's tough talk coming from the "Idol" judges. And it didn't end there. 

"Elise has a vacation home in the bottom three. I don’t think she has a massive fan base in this thing,” Jimmy Iovine noted in the mentoring session. “I don't know what it is. She's a fabulous singer. If she isn't great, she doesn't get the votes."

Breivik 'did not expect to survive'

Mass killer Anders Breivik said today he thought he had only a slim chance of escaping Norway’s capital alive after setting off a bomb in the government district on July 22nd.

On the fourth day of his terror trial, the anti-Muslim extremist said he had expected to be confronted by armed police when he left Oslo for a youth camp on Utoya island, where he killed 69 people in a shooting massacre. No one stopped Breivik on his way to the island.

Breivik told the court today he had prepared for a firefight with police in Oslo by playing video games, and said: “I estimated the chances of survival as less than 5 per cent.”

Breivik has confessed to the bomb and shooting rampage, but rejects criminal guilt saying he was acting to protect Norway and Europe.