Woman breaks space flight record

Sunita Williams is a flight engineer aboard the space station

Sunita Williams, a US astronaut aboard the International Space Station, has set a new record for the longest unbroken space flight by a woman.

As of 0547 GMT on Saturday, she had passed the 188-day, four-hour mark set by Shannon Lucid in 1996.

Mrs Williams, who is of Indian and Slovenian extraction, is due to return to Earth on Thursday on the Atlantis.

She earlier set a record for the longest spacewalk by a woman, reaching 22 hours and 27 minutes.

That record had been held by astronaut Kathryn Thornton at just over 21 hours.

In her six months in space, Mrs Williams has also "run" the Boston Marathon on a treadmill.