I feel a bit safer now

According to The Australian the Star Wars Missile defence system is partially up and running ready to target any missiles launched from North Korea or from the middle east.

The US missile defence program, initially written off by sceptics as a waste of money and effort, can already intercept and destroy a North Korean ballistic missile aimed at the US mainland.

On a brief visit to Australia, US Missile Defence Agency director Henry Obering said the program already had nine missile interceptors between California and Alaska.

The system is mainly being configured to cope with missiles launched from North Korea or the Middle East, but it will ultimately have the ability to cope with missiles from anywhere. Australia is deeply involved in the program as one of just four nations with full missile defence co-operation agreements with the US. The others are Britain, Japan and Italy.

Apparently Kim Jong-il's son Kim Jong-chol is going to inherit the keys to the nuclear toy shop. Won't he be pissed off when he finds out he can't play with them for fear the US shooting them down.

Reports in Moscow and Tokyo suggest that the nation's leader Kim Jong-il, is preparing to anoint his second son, Kim Jong-chol, 24, as heir to the clan that has ruled North Korea since 1948.