London

Mars crater may be blocking transmission from Beagle 2

Scientists trying to find Europe’s Beagle 2 Mars probe ruled out weather problems and a faulty onboard clock for its five-day silence, but considered a new possibility Monday — a crater that may be blocking its signal.

A new, detailed picture of the area of Mars where the Beagle 2 is believed to have landed revealed a crater a little more than a half-mile wide. It is possible — although unlikely — that the Beagle may be unable to communicate because it landed inside, chief Beagle scientist Colin Pillinger said at a news conference.

“This would be an incredibly unlucky situation,” Pillinger said.

Several attempts to contact the Beagle 2 so far have failed five days after it was to descend to Mars. NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has passed five times over the spot where scientists hope Beagle landed, without picking up a signal. The latest attempt was early Monday morning.

Burundi

Gunmen kill Vatican envoy

Gunmen on Monday killed the pope’s ambassador in Burundi, firing on his car as he was returning from a funeral, and the country’s president said the envoy was deliberately targeted.

Archbishop Michael Courtney was shot in the head, shoulder and a limb and died during surgery at Prince Louis Rwagasore Hospital in Bujumbura, the capital, a hospital official said.

President Domitien Ndayizeye said the 58-year-old Courtney was deliberately targeted. “It was not an accident; he was killed,” Ndayizeye told reporters. He and other officials, however, did not say what the motive for the killing might be.

The shooting took place in an area about 30 miles south of Bujumbura, on Lake Tanganyika that is a stronghold of rebels of the National Liberation Forces, or FLN, the only group that has not signed a peace deal with the transitional government. The FLN denied responsibility in the killing.