German fighter jets collide; 2 dead\nGARDING, Germany -- Two German fighter jets collided and crashed Wednesday morning in the country's north, police said. The two-person crew of one plane died and the other crew parachuted to safety.\nGerman air traffic control said the two Tornados had just finished maneuvering through a curve at 15,000 feet when they collided.\n"At the end of the curve, the signal just disappeared from the screen," air traffic control spokesman Axel Raab said.\nThe planes crashed in a field near the city of Garding, Germany, on the North Sea coast, scattering wreckage over a wide area.
Russia blocks U.N. Cyprus resolution\nUNITED NATIONS -- Russia used its veto Wednesday to block a resolution outlining new U.N. security arrangements in Cyprus that would take effect if Greek and Turkish Cypriots vote in favor of reunification this week.\nThe other 14 members of the council voted in favor of the resolution, which failed because of the Russian veto.\nRussian Ambassador Gennady Gatilov said his country saw the resolution, on the table four days before Cypriots vote, as an attempt to influence the outcome of the referenda.\nOpinion polls indicate the U.N. reunification plan will be rejected by 65 percent of Greek Cypriots but approved by more than 60 percent of Turkish Cypriots.
Israeli whistle-blower leaves prison\nASHKELON, Israel -- Mordechai Vanunu walked out of prison Wednesday, 18 years after exposing Israel's nuclear secrets, and immediately defied Israeli restrictions by speaking with international media to demand the Jewish state open its reactor to international inspection.\nThe 50-year-old Vanunu flashed victory signs and briefly climbed on the gate of Shikma Prison to wave to dozens of cheering anti-nuclear activists. In his first hours of freedom, the Christian convert sought refuge in a Jerusalem church where he was embraced by clergy and received communion.\nVanunu was a low-level technician at Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona, Israel, before he gave descriptions and photos of the plant to The Sunday Times of London in 1986. Using his information, experts said Israel had the world's sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Mice created with 2 genetic moms\nJust ahead of Mother's Day, scientists have found a way to cut dads out of the picture, at least among rodents: They have produced mice with two genetic moms -- and no father. It is the first time the feat has been accomplished in mammals.\nScientists said the technique cannot be used on people, for reasons both technical and ethical. In fact, one of the mouse mothers was a mutant newborn, whose DNA had been altered to make it act like a male's contribution to an embryo.\nBut the new work sheds light on why people, mice and other mammals normally need a male's DNA for reproduction, and some experts say it also has implications for the idea of using stem cells to treat disease.
