No sign of Air France flight recorders as search ends

French investigators have ended the second phase of their search for the flight recorders from Air France Flight 447, the French air accident investigation agency BEA said Thursday. Flight 447 went down June 1 in the Atlantic Ocean in stormy weather as it flew from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle airport here, killing all 228 people on board. BEA said in a statement that the second phase of the search for the wreckage and the data and voice recorders from the plane “has just been completed.” It said that France’s oceanographic ship “Pourquoi Pas” — which carries specialized exploration and intervention vehicles, and had been leading the searching for the flight recorders — was expected in Dakar, Senegal, later Thursday.

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Compassionate release expected for Lockerbie bomber

A Scottish court is expected to release convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi on compassionate grounds, senior State Department officials tell CNN. Al Megrahi, 57, is suffering from terminal prostate cancer. He is serving a life sentence for bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people

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At least 26 hurt as airliner hits turbulence

Severe turbulence shook a Continental Airlines flight Monday, injuring 26 passengers — four seriously — and forcing the aircraft to divert to Miami, Florida, an airport fire official said. There were 168 passengers on Flight 128, which was originally headed from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Houston, Texas, according to Lt. Elkin Sierra of the Miami-Dade Fire Department

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Airbus will fund third search for crash debris

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is ready to fund a third search of the Atlantic Ocean if a second search, now under way, fails to find debris from last month’s Air France crash, the company said Friday. Airbus is discussing a payment of between 12 to 20 million euros ($17-28 million) to help pay for a third search, but it is still too early to settle on a figure, company spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said. “We are ready to give a significant share, whatever is needed,” he told CNN

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Group of 22 U.S. students quarantined in China

A group of 22 students from the greater District of Columbia and Maryland area have been quarantined in China after several tested positive for the H1N1 flu virus, school officials said Tuesday. Total eclipses occur about twice a year as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun on the same plane as Earth’s orbit.

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Total eclipse envelops Asia in darkness

Darkness fell across parts of China and India on Wednesday morning as a total solar eclipse passed across the world’s most populous countries, bringing throngs of people outside to watch the phenomenon. Total eclipses occur about twice a year as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun on the same plane as Earth’s orbit

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Iran plane crash bodies returned to families

The bodies of 152 people killed in a fiery plane crash in Iran Wednesday have been returned to their families, an Iranian state broadcaster reported Sunday. Ahmad Majidi, the head of the special working group investigating the Caspian Airlines crash, also said a Russian team had arrived in Iran to help study the crash of the Russian-made plane, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said. The plane went down in a field near the city of Qavzin Wednesday, killing all 168 people on board and leaving a huge smoldering crater

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