WASHINGTON: The United States' experimental Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) system has failed for the sixth time during a test launch at New Mexico. The $3.89 billion TMD system missed its target during the test on Monday. Thomas A Corcoran, president of the Lockheed Martin Space Centre, was, however, upbeat saying: ``We came very close to hitting this target within 30 metres or less. And we are very, very encouraged by that.'' But Pentagon was discouraged by the failure of the test. ``I think they (the TMD) will eventually hit something,'' said John Pike, a defence analyst at the Federation of American Scientists. ``The odds are pretty dim that they are going to be able to consistently and reliably hit every missile. And that is what is required when you are defending against a nuclear missile,'' Pike said.

Ship sinks, 37 missing

COLOMBO: A North Korean freighter sank off Sri Lanka after colliding with a South Korean vessel. Thirty seven crewmen were missing, SriLankan and Korean officials said on Thursday. Two North Korean crewmen were picked up by the South Korean vessel, but there was no sight of the others more than ten hours after the accident, which took place 560 km off Galle on Wednesday, said Colombo Radio.It was the first collision of ships from the two hostile Korean states in international waters.

Tamil in Lankan records

COLOMBO: In a move to woo Tamil voters from the opposition United National Party (UNP), Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has directed officials to use the Tamil language in official records in all divisions where the community population was one-fifth or more. The decision was announced on Wednesday at a meeting of the `on-the-spot-service' started recently by the government to redress the grievances of Tamils, who complain of regular harassment by security agencies.