Houston, We Have A Spare Room In Space

NASA has successfully inflated a new experimental room at the International Space Station, two days after running into problems during the first attempt.

The operation to expand and pressurise the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, took much longer than expected, stretching over three days - but victory, when it came, was sweet.

"A significant milestone has been accomplished," Bigelow Aerospace, the inflatable chamber's creator, announced on Twitter.

Astronaut Jeffrey Williams spent seven hours on Saturday opening and closing an air valve to expand the compartment.

Enough air finally seeped inside so that the white pod could stretch to its full 13ft in length and 10.5ft in diameter - the volume equivalent to a small bedroom.

Internal air tanks provided the final pressurisation to complete the job.

Popping noises described as sounding like popcorn in a frying pan, could be heard as the pressure built up inside BEAM.

How the BEAM expanded in stages. Pic: NASA TV

NASA said it was the sound of internal straps releasing as the pod swelled in both length and girth.

Mr Williams and his five crewmates will have to wait a week before venturing inside.

NASA wants to make certain the chamber is airtight before opening the door.

NASA paid $17.8 million for the technology demo, which could lead to an even bigger inflatable room at the space station.

Bigelow Aerospace, based in Las Vegas, hopes BEAM will be a precursor to moon and Mars habitats, and orbiting tourist hotels.

Its founder Robert Bigelow, a hotel entrepreneur, is reported to be already is working on a pair of private inflatable space stations that "could fly in a few years".

Putin warns Romania, Poland over implementing

Romania and Poland are in the potential crosshairs of Russian rockets because they are hosting parts of the U.S. missile defense shield that Moscow considers a threat to its national security, President Vladimir Putin warned Friday.

Putin warned the European nations that Moscow has repeatedly said it would have to retaliate if the missile defense shield was put into place, but U.S. allies have ignored Russia’s warnings.

Earlier this month, the U.S. program was declared operational at a site in Romania, drawing an angry reaction from Russia. NATO said the system is purely defensive and a response to a growing capability of ballistic missiles globally.

Washington has said that the shield is needed to protect Europe from Iran and is not a threat. Another part of the shield is getting ready to be implemented in Poland.

"If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security," Putin said in a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

"It will be the same case with Poland," he said.

Reuters reported that Putin didn’t lay out the actions that Moscow would take, but insisted that it was not making the first move. It was only going to respond to Washington’s moves.

"We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbor us,” Putin added.

Putin cried foul over the claim that the defense system was need to protect from Iran. He said that excuse made no sense because of the landmark nuclear deal that was struck to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. 

Putin said the missiles coming out of Europe could easily hit Russia.

"We've been repeating like a mantra that we will be forced to respond... Nobody wants to hear us. Nobody wants to conduct negotiations with us."

Putin has made only a handful of visits to EU countries since sanctions were imposed on Moscow two years ago in response to the Ukraine crisis and Russia's annexation of Crimea following an internationally disputed referendum.

"The issue of Crimea is over forever, based on the will of the people who live there. Russia will never negotiate on this issue," Putin said.

Later in the conference, Putin blamed the U.S. for and the European Commission for pressuring Bulgaria from shelving a gas line pipeline that would’ve gone under the Black Sea. He said Russia was going to go through with a similar project in the Baltic Sea.

On Saturday, Putin will visit the autonomous Orthodox Christian monastic community of Mount Athos, joined by the head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

Lightning Strike Hits Children's Birthday Party

A lightning strike in Paris has left six people seriously injured, including four in a life-threatening condition.

A further five people were slightly injured.

The victims were attending in a children's party at Parc Monceau in the city's north-west on Saturday afternoon when a thunderstorm struck.

Fire official Eric Moulin praises the response of an off-duty officer

The group tried to take shelter under a tree, but were hit by lightning.

Most of the victims are children. It's believed they are aged between seven and 14-years-old.

Police were quick to set up a medical unit on site to treat victims, with others rushed to hospital.

The heavy rain over Paris halted play at the French Open

Fire service spokesman Eric Moulin said an off-duty fire officer ran to the scene after the lightning struck.

He said the fireman administered first aid, including heart massages, and helped direct rescuers to the area.

"Without his help in those initial moments the situation would have been much worse," Mr Moulin said, adding that it was a timely reminder of the need to know first aid.

Jean-Louis Laurens, who lives near Park Monceau, said it was rather rare to see such a storm hitting the French capital.  He described the weather event as "dramatic".

The torrential rain also interrupted play the French Open.

French Union Plans To Disrupt Euro 2016 Matches

A hardline French union is planning to disrupt public transport and emergency services around Euro 2016 games.

Force Ouvriere revealed its plan at the end of a week when nationwide protests against labour law reforms brought parts of the country to a standstill.

Patrice Clos, who runs the union's transport division, said: "We have decided that each match day in the towns concerned the federation would call strikes.

"It was decided that as this law touches on the economy of the workers, that we would hit the economy of the Euros ... until it is withdrawn."

The sectors affected during the football tournament, which runs for a month from 10 June, will include heavy goods traffic, public transport, ambulances and bin collectors.

Unions have also called for a day of industrial action on 10 June if President Francois Hollande does not return to the negotiating table.

The new threat came as France's civil aviation body asked airlines to fuel up abroad despite riot police clearing all but one of the country's fuel depot blockades.

Man Jailed Over Heathrow Suicide Bomb Plot

A UK citizen has been jailed for 40 years in the United States after plotting to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow Airport.

Minh Quang Pham, who was born in Vietnam, admitted three counts of terrorist activity based on his support for the group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Prosecutors said he was directed by al Qaeda to detonate a bomb in Heathrow's arrivals area.

Pham denied ever intending to carry out his plot and no attack ever occurred.

The 33-year-old was said to have worked as a graphic artist on al Qaeda's magazine, Inspire.

The plot was said to involve setting off a bomb in Heathrow arrivals

Prosecutors said he left a pregnant wife in Britain to spend several months training with the terror group in Yemen.

He was detained at Heathrow on his return in 2011, with police finding items including a live round of ammunition.

Pham pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to AQAP, one count of conspiring to receive military training from AQAP, and one count of possessing and using a machine gun in furtherance of crimes of violence.

During a hearing in New York he admitted making a "terrible mistake" that he regretted.

In a letter to the judge he renounced all acts of terrorism and extremist ideology.

But District Judge Alison Nathan said she believed the US government's contention that Pham planned to carry out "a horrific suicide bombing" at Heathrow.

She said he deserved an "exceptionally severe sentence" after becoming a trusted asset for the terrorist group.

Scotland Yard said it provided key evidence that helped put Pham, who is also known as Amin, in jail.

Remains Of British Tourist Found In Canada

The remains of a British tourist who went missing while hiking in Canada more than two years ago have been found, according to police.

Tom Billings, from Oxford, had been spending eight weeks travelling in North America and was visiting Vancouver in November 2013.

The 22-year-old seasoned traveller was last seen on 25 November in the city and was reported missing a week later after he failed to return to his accommodation.

Investigators with the Vancouver Police Department said information indicated that Mr Billings had gone to the mountains on the North Shore, where he was believed to have become lost or injured.

Mr Billings had been staying in Vancouver when he went missing

A large search operation following his disappearance failed to find any trace of him.

On 11 April this year, a hiker on Cypress Mountain spotted human remains and reported the discovery to police. North Shore Search and Rescue then returned to the area and Mr Billings' remains were recovered.

The Coroners Service confirmed it was Mr Billings through DNA identification. No foul play is suspected in his death, police said.

Mr Billings' father Martin issued an emotional appeal for help in finding his son during a news conference in Vancouver in December 2013.

He said he had last exchanged emails with his son, who had recently graduated from university, when he was in Seattle.

At the time, he said his son had been using a "window" before starting postgraduate research to explore North America by hitch-hiking, travelling by bus and "couch surfing" - staying with hosts he met on the internet.

A statement on behalf of his family thanked the public for their "support and assistance" in trying to find Tom.

It added: "The family specifically wishes to express their deepest appreciation to the members of the North Shore Search and Rescue team and the helicopter pilots of Talon Aviation, the staff and members of the British consulate in Vancouver for all their continued support, and finally to the VPD in general and the Missing Persons Unit in particular for their continued and persistent work to find their son Tom."

WW2 Plane Crashes In New York's Hudson River

Divers searching for the pilot of a World War Two vintage plane that crashed in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey have recovered a body, police have said.

The single-seated P-47 Thunderbolt went down near the George Washington Bridge where a US Airways commercial jet carrying 155 people splash-landed in 2009 in what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft was among three planes that had departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, east of New York City.

The other two aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely.

The American Airpower Museum is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the P-47 Thunderbolt this weekend.

Museum spokesman Gary Lewi said the plane was taking part in an air show at nearby Jones Beach this weekend.

"Apparently the aircraft suffered an inflight engine failure and the pilot put it into the Hudson," Mr Lewi said. "I'm told the aircraft is at the bottom of the Hudson."

North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue co-director Jeff Welz told The Jersey Journal that firefighters and the Coast Guard responded after the Friday night crash.

He said the plane sank "pretty quickly".

The P47-Thunderbolts were the heaviest single-engine fighter planes used by Allied forces in World War Two.

They first went into service in 1942, with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island.