OJAI (CALIFORNIA): Former Apollo astronaut Charles `Pete' Conrad, who became the third man ever to walk on the moon in 1969, was killed in a motorcycle accident near the town of Ojai, California, authorities said early on Friday. He was 69.

Conrad, of Huntington Beach, was riding his 1996 Harley Davidson when he ran off the road on a curve into a drainage culvert and was ejected into the pavement, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement.

Conrad was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The preliminary cause of death was listed as internal injuries, the highway patrol said.

Conrad was a veteran of four space flights, but is best remembered for taking part in the second lunar landing on November 19, 1969, on the Apollo 12 mission. US astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Japanese fans to meet Indian stars

TOKYO: Japan's largest travel agency, the Japan Travel Bureau, onFriday announced its plans to offer tours to fans of Indian movies to give them the chance to meet their favourite stars. The luckier ones could even appear as extras in the films.

Indian films, with their cheerful plots and lively dance scenes, have charmed many Japanese, especially after the South Indian movie superstar Rajnikanth starrer Muthu hit the screens in June last year.

The agency is inviting fans to take a five-day tour to visit a theatre in Madras to see Rajnikanth's new film Padayappa, followed by a dinner with the film's actors, an official said.

Rajnikanth is unlikely to join them but the tourists will visit his house at least as far as the gate.

The tour, to be organised with movie distribution firm Nihon Sky Way, is priced at 1,850 US dollars, including air fare, hotel charges and seven meals.

Rains flood Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS: Heavy rains poured down on Las Vegas on Thursday resulting in floods that smashed mobile homes, swallowed hundreds of cars and led toat least two deaths.

Sections of the busy interstate 15 resembled a lake, bringing traffic to a standstill. Block walls along a flood channel collapsed and most major intersections were under water. Firefighters rescued motorists whose cars were sucked into the water.

``This is as serious as it gets...Our emergency dispatch switchboard is lit up,'' said Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve Lasky. He said hundreds of cars were trapped in high waters and at least four mobile homes had been lost. He didn't know the extent of damage to others.

Ron Mcqueen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said this was the worst flooding in Vegas in 15 years. By Thursday afternoon, parts of Las Vegas Valley had received up to 7.6 centimeters of rain, Mcqueen said, adding that the annual rainfall average in Vegas only was 10.4 cms.

No Annan pics on promos, please

UNITED NATIONS: ``Got time for Kofi break? Delegate a few minutes for news at your desk,'' goes an advertisement of atelevision network. But UN officials aren't humoured.

``That's not the way to promote news on Internet site,'' they say. They also resent some subway and bus fare cards carrying UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's picture on the back to promote a product.

After the matter was raised at a press briefing on Thursday, a UN spokesman said the use of Annan's name was not authorised. Nor was any attempt to seek permission.

He, however, declined to elaborate in view of legal nature of the issue, but said the legal department was examining it.

Largest telescope ready for launch

CAPE CANAVERAL: The largest and most powerful X-ray telescope ever to be launched will leave aboard the space shuttle Columbia on July 20, the anniversary of man's first moon landing, NASA said on Thursday.

The five-day shuttle mission, led by Eileen Collins, NASA's first female commander, is scheduled to be launched at 4.36 GMT, NASA said. The mission had been surrounded by uncertainty since a US Air Force rocket left amilitary satellite in the wrong orbit back in April. The problem was traced to an upper-stage motor.

The 1.5 billion dollars Chandra X-ray Observatory has the same type of motor, and NASA wanted to be sure that all was well with it. Chandra's attached motor is supposed to place the telescope in an oval orbit, with a high point one-third of the way to the moon.

Dinosaur-age bones found

AUCKLAND: Geologists have discovered a huge cache of dinosaur-age bones including complete skeletons of fierce mosasaurs in Antarctica, the expedition leader said on Friday.

The discovery in Argentine territory on the Antarctic peninsula was made in January but only revealed this week at an international symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences at Victoria University in Wellington.

Relics of mosasaur, a huge alligator-like animal, have been found across the world but not previously in Antarctica, said expedition leader Jim Martin, of South Dakota's Museum of Geology in the US. He said the creatures probably came toAntarctica around 75 to 80 million years ago.