Washington - Two astronauts from the Discovery space shuttle on Saturday began a second spacewalk to perform maintenance work on the International Space Station, reported NASA, the US space agency.

US astronauts Steve Swanson and Joseph Acaba will swap out batteries, fasten an antenna and install equipment for external storage, reported NASA.

The spacewalk is expected to last six and a half hours.

On Friday, the Discovery crew completed installation of the station's final pair of solar panels, which will expand the satellite's power supply.

Washington, Mar 21: Ex-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has criticised President Barack Obama for the Special Olympics joke he made on a US chat show.

"I was shocked to learn of the comment made by President Obama about Special Olympics," Us magazine quoted Palin, whose son Trig was born with Down syndrome last year, as saying.

"This was a degrading remark about our world''s most precious and unique people, coming from the most powerful position in the world,” she said.

Washington, Mar 21 : Justin Timberlake and lover Jessica Biel have sparked rumours suggesting that their relationship is in trouble.

The split reports were flashed after the duo failed to show up at a casino opening.

The couple, dating since 2007, has recently been dogged by rumours they plan to split, with a source telling The Chicago Sun-Times: "Things are not going as smoothly as (Biel and Timberlake) would want people to think they are."

Washington, March 21: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was honoured with the ‘Global Trailblazer’ award at the 2009 Global Leadership Awards, held at the Kennedy Center.

She was chosen for the award in recognition of "her passionate commitment to promoting women''s rights and securing justice for all people around the world."

Washington, March 21: Insects like honeybees and bumblebees prefer the shortest distance when they have to fly from one flower to another, according to an American study.

S. Alan Walters of Southern Illinois University and Jonathan R. Schultheis of North Carolina State University came to this conclusion after studying their pollinator movements down and across rows in watermelon, by tracking pollen flow.

Washington, Mar. 21: The National Journal has in a non-partisan analysis found that 30 of the 267 senior Obama administration officials have served as lobbyists in the preceding five years.

According to the Washington Times, Obama once promised that if he was elected president "lobbyists won''t find a job in my White House."

Government watchdogs questioned this promise when William Lynn was brought on to serve as the Deputy Secretary of Defense, a former lobbyist for Raytheon. The White House insisted Lynn was "uniquely qualified for the position."