Roundup: The looming asteroid threat; ‘millennium bomber’ resentenced; cellphones for travel

If you’re going to be in the Tom Bradley Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) today, swing by the just-opened reLAX Lounge. It’s a pay-use space ($25 per person for three hours) for the public, where you can while away time with wireless Internet access and coffee, tea, soda and snacks.

Keep reading for other news: a threat from outer space, an update on a would-be airport bomber, and — for something that’s far less anxiety-inducing — a look at cellphones for travelers.

Space | A major asteroid could hit Earth in less than 20 years, warn space experts. The Association of Space Explorers, as reported in a BBC article, “World ‘must tackle space threat’,” says the international community must join forces to address the potentially devastating problem. According to the article, history is a reminder of the danger of asteroids: one may have been responsible for the dinosaur exodus 65 million years ago, and an asteroid in 1908 in Siberia caused a fire covering over 770 square miles.

National | The “millennium bomber,” Ahmed Ressam, is not leaving prison anytime soon. Read “Would-be LAX bomber is resentenced to 22 years.” In 1999, Ressam ferried from British Columbia to the U.S. with a car full of explosives, and, investigators have said, a plan to use them at Los Angeles International Airport. Prosecutors were hoping for a life sentence for Ressam.

Gadgets | Confused about which phone model to purchase for your next trip abroad? The article “Choosing a cellphone for foreign travel,” is here on the L.A. Times Travel pages to help.

- Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: iPhone 3G; Paul Sakuma / Associated Press]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 8:54 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Business Travel, Good Morning, News, Tips & Advice, Space travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.