Foreign Affairs Minister Peter David has been stripped of his responsibility for tourism

ST. GEORGE?S, Grenada, CMC ? Foreign

Investigators pore over wreckage of Air France flight 447 which crashed killing 228 people on June 1. (Pic Source CNN.com)

LONDON, England (CNN) — 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.

IAirbus 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.

The company is driven by the desire to understand what caused the crash of Air France Flight 447 on June 1, he said. All 228 people aboard were killed.

“Our priority is increasing aviation safety,” Schaffrath said. “The aviation community can learn from an accident.”

Airbus is already helping in the second search alongside Air France and the French accident investigations agency, the BEA.

French investigators began the second phase of their search for remnants of the flight Thursday, weeks after the locator beacons of the plane’s flight recorders would have stopped working.

A ship arrived in the area of the Atlantic considered the most likely location of the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, according to the BEA.

Using two submersible units and lateral scanning sonar, search teams will look for debris sites on the sea floor that could lead to finding the recorders, the BEA said.

The locator beacons of flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders are designed to emit acoustic beacons, or “pings,” for 30 days after a crash.

Flight 447 went down in stormy weather during a flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France, on the first day of June. The search for the pings ended July 10.

Investigators hope the recorders will help them determine the cause of the crash.
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Flight debris recovered so far is being stored in France, authorities have said.

Only 51 bodies were recovered from the crash of Flight 447, the worst accident in Air France’s 75-year history.

Nigerian Islamic sect leader Mohammed Yusuf was alive when he was captured, the commander of the operation against the militant group has told the BBC.

The comments by Col Ben Ahanotu appear to contradict police statements that Mr Yusuf, 39, was killed in a shootout as he was being detained.

Human rights campaigners have alleged Mr Yusuf was executed by the police.

Mr Yusuf’s Boko Haram group has been blamed for days of violent clashes with security forces in which hundreds died.

His bullet-riddled body was shown to journalists on Thursday just hours after police said they had captured him in the northern city of Maiduguri.

Col Ahanotu, the commander of the operation against the Boko Haram group, said he had personally captured Mr Yusuf and handed him over to the chief of police.

He said Mr Yusuf had been unarmed when caught, hiding in an empty building a short distance from his enclave, and that he gave himself up willingly.

“All I know is that in the attack, I was able to pick him up from his hide out and hand him over to police,” he told the BBC.

“I asked him why he did what he has done and his response was that he would explain to me later.”

Col Ahanotu said Mr Yusuf had a wound on his arm which had already been treated.

“But he was OK. As I got him alive, I handed him over to the authorities,” he said.

Investigation call

Regional police assistant inspector-general, Moses Anegbode, had earlier told Nigerian television Mr Yusuf had been “killed by security forces in a shoot-out while trying to escape”.

A BBC reporter in the city was among journalists shown two films – one apparently showing Mr Yusuf making a confession, the other showing what appeared to be his body, riddled with bullets.

One policeman told AFP news agency Mr Yusuf had “pleaded for mercy and forgiveness before he was shot.”

Rights groups have condemned the alleged manner of Mr Yusuf’s death.

Human Rights Watch said there should be an immediate investigation into the case, which it has described as an “extrajudicial killing”.

Amnesty International called for a full investigation into Mr Yusuf’s detention and killing and said that anyone responsible for or tolerating illegal killings should be brought to justice.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili earlier told the BBC that the government “does not condone extrajudicial killings” and that she was concerned about the death

However, Mohammed Yusuf’s demise was “positive” for Nigeria, she added.

Boko Haram – also known locally as Taliban – wants to overthrow the Nigerian government and impose a strict version of Islamic law.

Troops had stormed Boko Haram’s stronghold in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday night, killing many of the militants and forcing others to flee.

The BBC’s Bilkisu Babangida says the city is now returning to normal, with shops and banks re-opening.

She says many residents are happy that Mr Yusuf is dead.

‘Excessive force’

The violence began on Sunday night in Bauchi state, before spreading to other towns and cities in the north-east of the West African nation.
Crowds of militants tried to storm government buildings and the city’s police headquarters, but dozens of them were shot dead by security forces.

Several days of gun battles between militants and Nigerian security forces ensued, culminating in the assault on the militant’s stronghold.

It is thought more than 300 people have died in the violence – some estimates say 600, although there has been no official confirmation.

The Red Cross said about 3,500 people had fled the fighting and were being housed in their camp.

Witnesses and human rights groups have accused the military of excessive violence in quelling the militants, but the army says it used a minimal amount of force.

Police say Mr Yusuf was a preacher from Yobe state, who had four wives and 12 children.

They described him as a inspirational character.

His sect, Boko Haram, is against Western education. It believes Nigeria’s government is being corrupted by Western ideas and wants to see Islamic law imposed across Nigeria.

Sharia law is in place across northern Nigeria, but there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence.

The country’s 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit on Friday presented a US$166.4 million budget, expressing confidence that the track record of his Dominica Labour Party (DLP) over the last four years will ensure a fresh mandate at the next general elections.

Skerrit, who is also Finance Minister, said the 2009-10 budget presentation, which represents an increase of more than US$20 million over the fiscal package unveiled a year earlier, would be the last before he rings the election bell, seeking a new five-year term.

?There is work to be done that is even greater than the impressive work done over the last four years to significantly improve the quality of life of all Dominicans,? Skerrit said, adding that the New Year will be a period of renewal for his government, ?renewal of the mandate that the electorate so wisely gave to the Dominica Labour Party the last time around.

?This confidence is based on the government?s effective and successful handling of the economy, while at the same time paying attention to the needs of the less fortunate persons among us.

?This confidence is based on the experience that the government?s team possesses, in the competent management of the economy and the compassionate manner in which we have dealt with our people,? The Prime Minister added.

The draft estimates of expenditure for the next financial year comprises total recurrent expenditure of US$103.5 million and capital expenditure of US$62.7 million, an increase of US$9.4 million on last year?s figure.

Skerrit also told Parliament that the socio-economic plans implemented by his government are better than those being proposed by the opposition.

?Our confidence is based on the obvious superiority of the government?s economic and social strategies, as demonstrated during the current term in office over any other plans, programme or proposals that are yet to emerge from any other contender for public office,? he said.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A convicted robber has been given an October date to have his appeal to a 13-year jail term removed heard before the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Dennis Rodney Beckles, through his lawyer, Arthur Holder, has asked the CCJ to grant special leave so he could appeal the Court of Appeal?s decision to dismiss his appeal and that he should serve his sentence.

Two months after the Court of Appeal ruling, Beckles is contending that he has ?arguable appeal? due to ?errors of law on the part of the learned trial judge and the Court of Appeal?.

Beckles was convicted in 2004 for robbing an arcade manager and messenger of the equivalent of more than US$36,000 in June 2002.

Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock QC will appear for the Crown when the matter is heard in October.

The exposed facility aboard Kibo will have space for 12 scientific experiments (Pic Source BBC World News)

The space shuttle Endeavour has safely landed at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, ending a 16-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The seven-strong crew touched down at 1548 BST (1048 EDT) in near perfect weather conditions.

During the mission, the combined shuttle and ISS crews set a new record of 13 people on the orbiting outpost.

Nasa plans seven more shuttle missions to complete construction of the space station by the end of 2010.

Nasa’s new administrator Charles Bolden was on the tarmac of runway 15 to greet the crew as they performed the traditional post-flight “walkround inspection” of the shuttle.

Endeavour blasted off on 15 July with its crew of seven astronauts after weather concerns scuppered five launch attempts.

The ISS, now about the size of a four-bedroom house, has been under construction for more than a decade.

Space ‘porch’

Endeavour’s crew delivered and installed fresh batteries, large spare parts and a “porch” for Japan’s $1bn Kibo science laboratory. This addition to the onboard lab is designed to hold outdoor experiments.

The crew also deployed two pairs of small satellites from canisters in the shuttle’s payload bay.

Five spacewalks were undertaken during the course of the mission.

Crew members also shared some unexpected inconveniences, most notably a flooded toilet aboard the space station.

During testing on Thursday, one of the shuttle’s thrusters failed to fire but Nasa said it would not be needed during re-entry.

Endeavour has brought home Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who has spent 138 days in space and has been a member of three separate space station crews.

Mr Wakata returned to Earth in experimental underwear that he has been wearing for a month. The hi-tech garments were designed in Japan to be odour-free.

US astronaut Tim Kopra, who was carried into space aboard Endeavour, has remained on the station.

Nasa plans seven more shuttle missions to complete construction of the ISS before the scheduled retirement of the shuttle fleet in September 2010.

Discovery will be next to fly to the ISS; its launch is scheduled for 25 August.

Earlier this week, a senior Russian space official was quoted by a news agency as saying that delays to the schedule of US shuttle launches to the space station were resulting in extra work for Russian rocket crews without financial compensation.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iran’s controversial president defended his government’s relationship with the country’s supreme leader on Friday, disputing charges of a political rift.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking to a gathering in Mashad in northern Iran, rejected claims by people who have attempted to cast the relationship between his government and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “as tainted,” according to Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.

“They are ignorant of the fact that our relationship with the respected leader is far above the framework of politics and administration and is based on love and faith, and resembles the relationship between father and son,” Ahmadinejad said.

“The efforts of ill wishers to insinuate such doubts is fruitless, and they will surely take such wishes to their graves. This road is blocked to the devils.”

Differences between high-ranking Iranian officials over the controversial June presidential elections have stoked talk of a rift in the government and the Shiite religious hierarchy that rules the country.

In addition, Ahmadinejad has been criticized lately by conservatives and opposition politicians for appointing a controversial politician, Esfandyar Rahim Mashaie, to the post of first vice president.

Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Ahmadinejad to nullify Mashaie’s appointment, and Mashaie announced he would resign from the position.

Ahmadinejad then appointed Mashaie presidential adviser and head of his bureau.

Mashaie made enemies among Iran’s fundamentalists when he reportedly said last year that the Iranian people are friends with all people, including Israelis.

He was also criticized for attending a ceremony in Turkey where women danced on stage. In Iran, women are forbidden to dance in public and Iranian officials are expected to leave when such entertainment is provided for them while they are visiting abroad.

Mashaie’s daughter is married to Ahmadinejad’s son. He is among the president’s closest confidants and Ahmadinejad has defended Mashaie despite the criticism.

The latest criticism of Ahmadinejad came during Friday prayers.

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of Iran’s Guardian Council, criticized the move to make Mashaie a vice president and Ahmadinejad’s firing of Cabinet members.

Ahmadinejad is scheduled to be officially approved on Monday by the supreme leader and inaugurated Wednesday before the nation’s parliament.

Many Iranians believe Ahmadinejad’s victory in the June elections was rigged, and the result prompted angry protests.

People took to the streets Thursday to mourn the death during street demonstrations last month of Neda Agha-Soltan, who has emerged as a symbol of the post-election ferment.

Agha-Soltan, 26, was shot during protests on June 20. Her last moments were captured on a shaky video, probably shot with a cell phone, that was seen around the world.

More than 3,000 people came to a Tehran cemetery to mourn on the 40th day after her death — a custom in Shiite Islam.

Clashes broke out there and at other locations between police and demonstrators or mourners. One clash occurred at the Grand Mosalla — a mosque under construction in Tehran.

Press TV said that at least 50 Iranians were arrested when thousands of people gathered in Tehran, but most were released a short time later, a senior police official said.
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Mir Hossein Moussavi, the main opposition leader during the election, attempted to go to the gravesite but was turned away by security forces. On Friday, a Moussavi video surfaced on a Facebook site.

In it, he defended the opposition movement and stressed the message that Iranians must return to the principles and ideals of the Islamic revolution in 1979. And he also made similar points in remarks published by the Iranian Labour News Agency on July 27.

LONDON, England (CNN) — Airbus has urged airlines to replace most of the European-made speed sensors on their A330 and A340 planes for more “consistent” ones made in the U.S.
The recommendation follows a series of incidents in which speed sensors — known as pitot tubes — made by French defense and electronic systems group Thales have been observed to give inconsistent readings mid-flight.

Thales-made speed sensors came under scrutiny during the investigation into the mysterious crash of Air France flight 447 on June 1, killing all 228 passengers and crew.

The cause of the crash still hasn’t been determined, but French air accident investigators said the pilots received “inconsistent” speed indications before the aircraft’s perilous descent.

On Thursday, Airbus emailed an Accident Information Telex to all operators of the A330 and A340 recommending that at least two of the three pitot tubes on each aircraft were replaced by those manufactured by U.S. firm Goodrich.

The recommendation applies to around 200 aircraft owned by a number of airlines, including Air France. The majority of A330s and A340s are already fitted with the Goodrich parts. Calls made to Thales for comment on Friday were not returned.

Airbus says the timing of the alert is not based on new information received from French air crash investigators probing flight 447, but a “precautionary” response to a lack of confirmation about the cause of the accident two months on.

The aerospace group had already been examining “a handful” of cases of air speed inconsistency before the Air France crash in June.

“We found that there were some instances towards the end of 2008 that were happening and we asked some airlines to help us feed back some information in order that we could study why there seemed to be a rise in these sorts of incidents,” Airbus spokesman Justin Dubon told CNN.

After the crash, airlines were urged to report any anomalies, and more cases of inconsistencies came to light.

“From that reporting back to us, looking at the pattern, that was when it was discovered that operators using the Goodrich probes had fewer problems,” Dubon said.

While the Airbus recommendation carries no regulatory weight, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said it plans to make the move mandatory. A proposal to that effect will be issued within the next 14 days. An EASA spokesman says the U.S. safety body, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is likely to follow.

“We’re in constant consultation with the FAA on this — and they have confirmed their support for our action. This is what usually happens. We rarely have any difference in airworthiness directives,” said EASA spokesman Daniel Hoeltgen.

Pitot tubes are positioned on the exterior of aircraft. As air passes through the tube, they measure and convert the air pressure into air speed. The information is relayed to pilots in the cockpit. If three dials are all showing different speeds, the pitot tubes are determined to be inconsistent.

The procedure to change the tubes is simple. Airbus says the work could be completed in an overnight stop so no aircraft would have to be taken out of service.

Aviation expert Keiran Daly told CNN the exact nature of the problem with Thales-made tubes had not yet been determined, but it related to the tube’s ability to release water.

“There’s a tiny hole in the bottom on of it which lets water drain out of it. What happened was that, in some instances at least, when the hole was drilled the machinery left a burr around the edge of it which was preventing the water from easily draining out.”

“Now that is known to have been discovered in some cases. What has not been established is a direct link between that phenomenon and the instances that have occurred but obviously there is considerable interest in that and suspicion around that,” he said.

He added: “So far, at least, there hasn’t been the same type of phenomena recorded on aircraft with Goodrich tubes.”
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The investigation into the Air France crash entered a new phase three weeks ago. Investigators switched their efforts from detecting the missing ‘black boxes’ through acoustic broadcasts, known as “pings.”

France’s oceanographic ship “Pourquoi Pas?,” which carries specialized exploration and intervention vehicles, is conducting new searches using diving equipment and towed sonar.

Dozens of Haitians have been waiting at the airport in the northern city of Cap Haitien to learn whether family members were among survivors of this week’s boating accident off the Turks and Caicos Islands.

At least 15 people were killed and dozens remain unaccounted for, after a sailboat packed with migrants struck a coral reef and broke apart.

Officials have not yet compiled a full list of survivors or the nearly 70 who are missing, partly because of the large size of the group and a shortage of Haitian Creole translators.

The sailboat, which passengers said was called ‘Se Lavi’, or ‘That’s life’, left Haiti last Saturday and was in sight of the TCI capital, Providenciales, when it slammed into the reef.

Guyana’s ruling party has described as a diversionary tactic, Thursday’s attempt by the opposition to have an emergency debate on a motion calling for an investigation into allegations of government links to a death squad.

Opposition leader Robert Corbin and his colleagues made a noisy exit from parliament after the speaker ruled against the debate.

The general secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party, Donald Ramoutar, said Mr Corbin attempted to divert attention from a leadership tussle now taking place within his party.

But Mr Corbin said his request for the emergency debate was based on sworn affidavits and other court documents.