INSIDE: Time-wasting computer game Tetris turns 25, Page 6 Wednesday, June 3, 2009
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Disagreement Air France jet crashed, continues as defense minister says session ends DEVELOPING NEWS
KELLEY SHANNON Associated Press
Associated Press
A French army air crewman aboard an Atlantic Model 2 aircraft, France has three military patrol aircrafts flying over the central which took off from a French air base in Dakar, Senegal, patrols Atlantic from its Senegal base and will send an AWACS radar the presumed site of the crash of a missing Air France flight. plane that should join the operation Wednesday.
No bodies discovered among 3 miles of wreckage in Atlantic ALAN CLENDENNING Associated Press
FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil — Brazilian military planes found a 3-mile path of wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, confirming that an Air France jet carrying 228 people crashed in the sea. Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said Tuesdayin Rio de Janeiro the discovery “confirms that the plane went down in that area,” hundreds of miles from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. “There isn’t the slightest doubt that the debris is from the Air France plane,” Jobim said. He said the strip of wreckage included metallic and nonmetallic pieces but did not describe them in detail. No bodies were spotted in the crash of the Airbus A330 in which all are believed to have died. The discovery came just hours after authorities announced they found an airplane seat, an orange buoy
T
he locations where the objects were found are toward the right of the point where the last signal of the plane was emitted. That suggests it might have tried to make a turn, maybe to return to Fernando de Noronha. — COL. JORGE AMARAL and signs of fuel in a part of the Atlantic Ocean, where depths range from less than one mile to more than three miles. Jobim said recovery of the cockpit voice and data recorders could be difficult because much of the wreckage sank. The search will be difficult to complete because the wreckage could be as deep as 1.2 miles to 1.8 miles in that area of the ocean, Jobim said. The initial announcement that wreckage had been discovered came about 36 hours after the jet went missing. A Brazilian air force spokesman said the two spots where debris was located suggested the pilots may have tried to turn the plane around to return to
Fernando de Noronha. “The locations where the objects were found are toward the right of the point where the last signal of the plane was emitted,” said the spokesman, Col. Jorge Amaral. “That suggests that it might have tried to make a turn, maybe to return to Fernando de Noronha, but that is just a hypothesis.” Amaral said some of the debris was white and small but did not give more detail. A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion surveillance plane and 21 crew members arrived in Brazil on Tuesday from El Salvador and were to begin overflying the zone in the afternoon, U.S. officials said.
The French dispatched a research ship equipped with unmanned submarines to the debris site. Investigators on both sides of the ocean are trying to determine what brought the plane down. Potential causes include violently shifting winds and hail from towering thunderheads, lightning and other factors. The crew made no distress call before the crash, but the plane’s system sent an automatic message before it disappeared, reporting lost cabin pressure and electrical failure. French police were studying passenger lists and maintenance records, and preparing to take DNA from passengers’ relatives to help identify potential bodies. On board the flight were 61 French citizens, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans, nine Chinese and nine Italians. A lesser number of citizens from 27 other countries also were on the passenger list.
Insurgent, US deaths up in Afghanistan JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
KABUL — U.S. deaths in Afghanistan have risen to 65 so far this year, up from 36 over the first five months of 2008 — though U.S. and coalition troops have also killed hundreds more militants, an Associated Press tally shows. As newly arriving Marines enter the violent Afghan south — the spiritual home of the Taliban and the country’s major drug-producing region — the military said Tuesday that U.S. deaths will likely increase even further this summer. “We’re doing everything we can to ensure the deaths occur on the militants’ side, but there is a potential there will be an increase in U.S. deaths,” said Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan. In Washington, the U.S general chosen to take over as commander of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan said he believes the war is “winnable, but I don’t think it will be easily winnable.” Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said at his confirmation hearing that avoiding civilian casualties is key to success. Civilian deaths, long a contentious issue in Afghanistan, are also higher this year because of militant attacks and U.S.
Staring at a rough Republican primary battle ahead, Gov. Rick Perry declared success Tuesday in the justcompleted Texas legislative session, trumpeting victories such as small-business tax cuts and unspent savings money. But primary voters may see defeat in the failure to pass anti-abortion measures he vocally backed. The specter of a special session to keep the Texas Department of Transportation and other major agencies operating could assist GOP rival Kay Bailey Hutchison. “We’ll find a solution to keeping government going,” Perry said Tuesday, pledging to look at all options. Hutchison’s campaign was careful to praise legislators’ work while criticizing Perry as the five-month Legislature came to a close. Texas GOP spokesman Hans Klingler said the session was “unfortunately” slowed by “the need to clean up after a governor who refused to address systemic and dangerous problems in his own state agencies.” The governor, in a post-session news conference, praised lawmakers for approving a tax cut for some 40,000 small businesses by raising the revenue exemption from $300,000
Kiichiro Sato / Associated Press
GM inks deal to sell Hummer Saturn, Saab brands also have interested buyers Associated Press
Hundreds of Afghan students of Kabul University demonstrate Sunday against airstrikes that have contributed to an increase in civilian deaths. and NATO operations. The latest U.S. death came Tuesday during an insurgent attack in the east that killed one soldier. On Monday, two roadside bombs ripped through two military vehicles in the same convoy, killing four Americans in Wardak, which is one province west of
Kabul. U.S. counter-IED experts say they expect IED attacks — roadside bombs and suicide attacks — to rise 50 percent this year, contributing to the increase in casualties.
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Hummer said Tuesday that it has tentatively agreed to sell the brand, a day after the U.S. automaker filed for bankruptcy protection.
BREE FOWLER
Musadeq Sadeq / Associated Press
to $1 million for the state’s relatively new business tax, a move he sought. He also praised the state’s balanced budget and an estimated $9.1 billion in the Rainy Day Fund for the end of the coming two-year spending cycle. His Texas Enterprise Fund and Emerging Technology Fund, two accounts Perry uses to bring jobs to the state, got restocked with money, albeit short of what he requested. Lawmakers placed $48 million in the enterprise fund and $109 million in the emerging tech fund, on top of existing balances. Perry successfully opposed a local-option gas fuel tax proposal that would have let major metro areas impose taxes to build roads. Perry said it reeked of too much taxation statewide. Perry won the battle with lawmakers to reject $555 million in federal economic stimulus money for the unemployment fund. In a highly publicized stand against Washington, Perry said the money would force an expansion of Texas’ unemployment system and require the state to pay the long-lasting tab later on. But Perry missed his goals on issues dear to GOP pri-
DETROIT — General Motors Corp. took a step toward downsizing Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese manufacturer, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands. China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. said Tuesday afternoon that it had reached an agreement to acquire the brand from GM for an undisclosed amount. The Detroit automaker had announced Tuesday morning that it had a memorandum of understanding to sell the brand, but it didn’t identify the buyer. Sichuan Tengzhong deals in road construction, plastics, resins and other industrial products, but Hummer would
be its first step into the automotive business. GM said the sale will likely save more than 3,000 U.S. jobs in manufacturing, engineering and at Hummer dealerships. Tengzhong said it will assume GM’s existing agreements with Hummer dealers. “We will be investing in the Hummer brand and its research and development capabilities, which will allow Hummer to better meet demand for new products such as more fuel-efficient vehicles in the U.S.,” Chief Executive Yang Yi said in a statement. As part of the proposed transaction, Hummer will continue to contract vehicle manufacturing and business services from GM during a transitional period. For example, GM’s Shreveport, La., assembly plant would continue to contract to assemble the H3 and H3T through at least 2010, GM said. Hummer will keep its existing management team and remain based in the United
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