Michael Jackson, ‘King of Pop,’ dead at 50

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop” who once moonwalked above the music world, died Thursday as he prepared for a comeback bid to vanquish nightmare years of sexual scandal and financial calamity. He was 50.

Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center after being stricken at his rented home in Holmby Hills. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his home for nearly three-quarters of an hour, then rushed him to the hospital, where doctors continued to work on him.

“It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known,” his brother Jermaine said. Police said they were investigating, standard procedure in high-profile cases.

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album “Thriller” — which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” — is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide.

At the time of his death, Jackson was rehearsing hard for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13.

As word of his death spread, MTV switched its programming to play videos from Jackson’s heyday. Radio stations began playing marathons of his hits. Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital. In New York’s Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone.

“No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow,” Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend had sent him. “It’s like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died.”

The public first knew him as a boy in the late 1960s, when he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the singing group he formed with his four older brothers out of Gary, Ind. Among their No. 1 hits were “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “I’ll Be There.”

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his backward-gliding moonwalk, his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched singing, punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks, as was his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

“For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words,” said Quincy Jones, who produced “Thriller.” “He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”

Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. He united two of music’s biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, and Jackson’s death immediately evoked comparisons to that of Presley himself, who died at age 42 in 1977.

As years went by, Jackson became an increasingly freakish figure — a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He often wore a germ mask while traveling, kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions, and surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, a storybook playland filled with toys, rides and animals. The tabloids dubbed him “Wacko Jacko.”

“It seemed to me that his internal essence was at war with the norms of the world. It’s as if he was trying to defy gravity,” said Michael Levine, a Hollywood publicist who represented Jackson in the early 1990s. He called Jackson a “disciple of P.T. Barnum” and said the star appeared fragile at the time but was “much more cunning and shrewd about the industry than anyone knew.”

Jackson caused a furor in 2002 when he playfully dangled his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin while a throng of fans watched from below.

In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behavior with other children.

The case followed years of rumors about Jackson and young boys. In a TV documentary, he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual.

Despite the acquittal, the lurid allegations that came out in court took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary. He was 4 years old when he began singing with his brothers — Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito — in the Jackson 5. After his early success with bubblegum soul, he struck out on his own, generating innovative, explosive, unstoppable music.

The album “Thriller” alone mixed the dark, serpentine bass and drums and synthesizer approach of “Billie Jean,” the grinding Eddie Van Halen solo on “Beat It,” and the hiccups and falsettos on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”

The peak may have come in 1983, when Motown celebrated its 25th anniversary with an all-star televised concert and Jackson moonwalked off with the show, joining his brothers for a medley of old hits and then leaving them behind with a pointing, crouching, high-kicking, splay-footed, crotch-grabbing run through “Billie Jean.”

The audience stood and roared. Jackson raised his fist.

By then he had cemented his place in pop culture. He got the plum Scarecrow role in the 1978 movie musical “The Wiz,” a pop-R&B version of “The Wizard of Oz,” that starred Diana Ross as Dorothy.

During production of a 1984 Pepsi commercial, Jackson’s scalp sustains burns when an explosion sets his hair on fire.

He had strong follow-up albums with 1987’s “Bad” and 1991’s “Dangerous,” but his career began to collapse in 1993 after he was accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home. The singer denied any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the boy’s family, reported to be $20 million, and criminal charges were never filed.

Jackson’s expressed anger over the allegations on the 1995 album “HIStory,” which sold more than 2.4 million copies, but by then, the popularity of Jackson’s music was clearly waning, even as public fascination with his increasingly erratic behavior was growing.

Cardiac arrest is an abnormal heart rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the body. It can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems.

Billboard magazine editorial director Bill Werde said Jackson’s star power was unmatched. “The world just lost the biggest pop star in history, no matter how you cut it,” Werde said. “He’s literally the king of pop.”

Jackson’s 13 No. 1 one hits on the Billboard charts put him behind only Presley, the Beatles and Mariah Carey, Werde said.

“He was on the eve of potentially redeeming his career a little bit,” he said. “People might have started to think of him again in a different light.”

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Here’s Ed: McMahon a second banana for the TV ages

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
LOS ANGELES – When Johnny Carson ruled as king of late-night TV, Ed McMahon was the prince of second bananas.

McMahon’s great talent as Carson’s “Tonight Show” sidekick was reacting to his every joke, every double-take and every skit as if he’d never heard or seen anything funnier.

His implausibly hearty laugh buoyed Carson even when his comedy fell flat, which could happen to the best of talk show hosts, and encouraged the audience to believe they were always at the right party.

Viewers wanted to do what Ed was doing: sit next to Johnny and be his good buddy, at least for an hour or so.

Each night brought the familiar, booming introduction, rooted in McMahon’s days as an eager young hawker at carnivals and state fairs.

“And now h-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s Johnny!” McMahon shouted out in his rich announcer’s voice, followed by a slight but unmistakable bow toward Carson.

Sure, he was kowtowing — but to a really cool boss.

McMahon died shortly after midnight Tuesday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist, Howard Bragman. He was 86.

Bragman didn’t give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a “multitude of health problems the last few months.”

McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries prevented him from working.

Doc Severinsen, “Tonight” bandleader during the Carson era, remembered McMahon as a man “full of life and joy and celebration.”

“He will be sorely missed. He was one of the greats in show business, but most of all he was a gentleman. I miss my friend,” Severinsen said in a statement.

David Letterman paid tribute to McMahon as a “true broadcaster” and key part of Carson’s show.

“Ed McMahon’s voice at 11:30 was a signal that something great was about to happen. Ed’s introduction of Johnny was a classic broadcasting ritual — reassuring and exciting,” Letterman said, adding, “We will miss him.”

McMahon became emblematic of his breed and a comedy favorite. The boisterous Hank “Hey Now!” Kingsley on the HBO comedy “The Larry Sanders Show” was clearly patterned on McMahon, while Phil Hartman channeled him opposite Dana Carvey’s Johnny Carson on “Saturday Night Live.”

Carson knew he had picked the right sideman. He kept McMahon on board for all of his three decades on “Tonight” and the two worked together for nearly five years before that, on the game show “Who Do You Trust?”

The contrast between the men worked for comedy. Carson was drolly sophisticated, while McMahon had a good-humored everyman air. McMahon’s solid 6-foot-4 frame gave him size advantage over the slender, shorter Carson, making McMahon’s guffaws seem more a gift than a duty.

That regular-guy persona helped as McMahon vigorously marketed himself and secured his place in pop culture beyond “Tonight.”

He bounced from one TV genre to the next, appearing on game shows, variety shows, sitcoms and more. There he was, on “The Hollywood Squares,” on “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour,” on “Hee Haw,” on “Full House.”

There were even a handful of movie roles — supporting ones, of course.

McMahon probably came closest to center stage as host of “Star Search,” which debuted in the early ’80s — well before the current age of the acidic talent show judge — and his trademark bonhomie held the spotlight.

The commercials he and Dick Clark made for the American Family Publishers’ sweepstakes, with their smiling faces on contest entry forms, added to McMahon’s ubiquity. He also was a longtime co-host of Jerry Lewis’ annual muscular dystrophy telethon.

His final years brought unhappier attention.

McMahon took a fall in 2007 and suffered a broken neck. His health prevented him from working when he was beset by financial woes and his Beverly Hills house was on the brink of foreclosure.

The situation was dire, but McMahon tried to turn it around. He spoofed himself with a 2008 Super Bowl ad for a cash-for-gold business (“H-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s money!”) and online rap videos for a credit report Web site.

McMahon, the ever-stalwart second banana, kept the laughter going.

(This version CORRECTS spelling to Severinsen.)

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Obama signs tobacco regulation bill into law

By Barbara Barrett, McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama , who still struggles with his own addiction to cigarettes, on Monday signed into law the most sweeping federal anti-tobacco legislation to pass Congress in decades.

The law gives the Food and Drug Administration broad authority to regulate the marketing and manufacture of tobacco products. It bans fruit- and spice-flavored cigarettes, slaps expansive new warnings on packages and gets rid of the monikers “light” and “low-tar.”

It also allows the FDA to order manufacturers to reduce — though not eliminate — the amount of the addictive chemical nicotine that’s in cigarettes.

With children onstage and sprinkled in the audience at the Rose Garden ceremony, and with the new playground for the presidential daughters in the distance, Obama said that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act would curtail the “constant, insidious” advertising that tobacco companies targeted at children.

He pointed out that nearly 90 percent of smokers start before age 18.

“I know; I was one of those teenagers,” Obama said in his speech. “I know how hard it is to break the habit once you’ve started.”

Tobacco-related diseases cost an estimated $100 billion a year to treat and kill nearly 400,000 Americans annually.

” FDA oversight over tobacco products will fundamentally change the entire tobacco industry and will save countless lives in the decades to come,” said Stephen J. Nolan , the chairman of the American Lung Association’s board of directors.

Among those at the White House on Monday was Rep. G.K. Butterfield , a Democrat from Wilson, N.C. , where auctioneers used to rattle off leaf prices after harvest each fall. He represents one of the heaviest tobacco-farming districts in the nation.

“This has been a very difficult issue for me,” Butterfield said. “But when I take a step back and look at it objectively, there’s no question we need to reduce smoking. . . . We need to be realistic about the issue.”

Also present was Rep. Henry Waxman , D- Calif. , one of the measure’s primary proponents, but another prominent backer, Sen. Edward Kennedy , D- Mass. , who’s undergoing treatment for brain cancer, was not.

“Decade after decade, Big Tobacco has seduced millions of teenagers into lifetimes of addiction and premature death,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Enactment of this legislation will finally put a stop to that. It is truly a lifesaving act, and a welcome demonstration that this Congress is capable of enacting major health reform.”

Tobacco companies spent millions opposing the bill, though the country’s top tobacco company, Altria , the owner of Philip Morris of Virginia , supported it in what opponents labeled a cynical move to use the measure’s restrictions on advertising to maintain the market dominance of Philip Morris’ leading brand, Marlboro .

In a sign of tobacco’s waning power, however, the legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, even as a Gallup Poll released Monday found that 52 percent opposed the law, while 46 percent approved. The telephone survey was conducted June 14-17 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Sens. Richard Burr , a Republican, and Kay Hagan , a Democrat, both of North Carolina , fought the legislation fiercely.

Burr, whose hometown of Winston-Salem is the headquarters for the Reynolds American tobacco company, stretched debate on the Senate floor to nearly two weeks in an effort to slow the bill. He argued that the FDA was ill-equipped to handle new regulatory duties.

Hagan, whose hometown of Greensboro is home to the Lorillard tobacco company, was the only Democrat in the Senate who voted against the bill. She argued that it would cost manufacturing jobs and hurt tobacco farmers.

Obama and other supporters said that the law was a victory over the deceit and power of tobacco companies’ lobby on Capitol Hill .

“Since at least the middle of the last century, we’ve known about the harmful and often deadly effects of tobacco products,” the president said.

Earlier this month, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs acknowledged that the president continues his personal fight against cigarettes. However, Obama ignored a question from the press gallery Monday as he was shaking visitors’ hands after the ceremony.

“Mr. President, how difficult has your struggle been with smoking?” CNN’s Dan Lothian asked.

Obama glanced up, then turned away.

MORE FROM MCCLATCHY

House gives final congressional approval to FDA regulation of tobacco

Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry

Senate approves FDA regulation of tobacco products

Follow the latest politics news at McClatchy’s Planet Washington

Chris Brown pleads guilty to assault

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 1 hr 22 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Chris Brown pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting Rihanna and the two were ordered to stay away from each other, in a deal that keeps the singer out of prison but requires him to clean up graffiti or roadside trash.

Brown’s plea to a felony charge will subject him to substantial scrutiny by probation officials, and the judge’s order puts the kibosh on any short-term prospects for reconciliation with his pop diva girlfriend as well.

The guilty plea came before a preliminary hearing was scheduled to start. The hearing had been billed for weeks as a public face-off between the pair, with Rihanna set to testify against her one-time boyfriend.

Instead, Brown averted the potentially damaging meeting by entering a plea that will subject him to probation for the next five years as well as force him to perform six months of community service.

Mark Geragos, Brown’s lawyer, said the plea represented the singer taking responsibility for his actions — which included beating, choking and biting Rihanna during a fight early Feb. 8, according to police.

After Brown left the courtroom, Rihanna entered and was addressed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg, who explained to the Barbados-born singer that she had issued a stay-away order.

Rihanna had not been seeking such an order, but the judge imposed one anyway. The order requires that Brown and Rihanna stay at least 50 yards from each, except at industry events when the distance is reduced to 10 yards.

The judge also told Rihanna it’s not a one-way order — and that she, too, shouldn’t get any closer to Brown than the order allows.

“This is a kid who’s never been in trouble before,” Geragos said after the hearing. “He embraces this as chance to get the message out that domestic violence will not be tolerated. He wants to get his life back on track.”

Brown will be formally sentenced on Aug. 5.

Schnegg accepted Brown’s plea, but expressed some concerns because Brown is not a California resident. She said Brown likely will be allowed to do his service in his home state of Virginia, but she didn’t want him to spend his time at churches or community centers.

Instead, Schnegg ordered Brown to get his hands dirty by doing work equivalent to what he would do in California — clean up grafitti or roadside trash.

She also said he’ll have to return to California every three months and attend domestic violence counseling.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said the terms were in line with what others receive when they are charged with similar crimes and have no prior criminal history.

Brown spoke softly throughout the hearing as he waived his rights and told the judge he understood the gravity of his plea.

“I think it’s commendable you took responsibility for your conduct,” Schnegg told Brown.

She said she hoped “the terms and conditions of your probation will have some meaning.”

Rihanna spoke briefly, too, telling Schnegg she understood the terms of the stay-away order and that after Brown’s sentencing she might ask for its terms to be loosened.

Rihanna, 21, recorded one of 2007’s most popular songs with “Umbrella” and has numerous other hits. Her looks have made her a cover girl for magazines, as well as a pitchwoman for Cover Girl cosmetics.

The deal provides an end to a case that sparked intense media interest and severe backlash against Brown. Sponsors and radio stations dropped him, and the singer had to cancel several high-profile appearances, including a performance at the Grammys.

The singer once known for his squeaky-clean image now has a substantial blemish on his record. Brown, 20, rose to fame after the 2005 hit “Run It!” He was nominated for a Grammy for “No Air” with Jordin Sparks and named Billboard’s top artist in 2008.

Intense media coverage led to Rihanna being identified as Brown’s victim mere hours after the attack. Within weeks, a photo of the singer and model’s bruised and battered face was posted on celebrity gossip site TMZ.

The posting sparked an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department into whether one of its own officers leaked the photo to the Web site. Brown’s attorney unsuccessfully argued the leak hurt Brown and that he should be granted access to LAPD’s investigative files.

Brown recently proclaimed in a video posted to YouTube that he was “not a monster.”

Even after Monday’s hearing, lawyers for Brown and Rihanna refused to discuss the status of the pair’s relationship.

Brown was arrested hours after police say he hit and threatened Rihanna after leaving a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles. He was later charged with felony assault likely to produce great bodily harm and making criminal threats.

If convicted, the singer faced sentences ranging up to nearly five years in prison.

After an inital retreat from the public eye, both musicians have gradually appeared in public more frequently. Lately they have been photographed separately, including at a National Basketball Association finals game between the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers.

But neither has been able to shake the stigma of the court case and return to their usual jobs — making music.

The logistics of Brown’s sentence may make it difficult to get back to his job.

“It amounts to a very sweaty house arrest,” said Loyola University Law School Professor Stan Goldman, who was in the courtroom. “You have to have the discipline to show up several times a week. How many times will this interfere with a record date or an appearance?”

___

Associated Press Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

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Ryan Seacrest & Lindsay Lohan: Hangin’ Until the Wee Hours

Marc Malkin Marc Malkin –

Fri Jun 19, 6:20 pm ET Los Angeles (E! Online) –Who was that by our E! pal Ryan Seacrest’s side last night? It was none other than Lindsay Lohan. The two apparently had a fun evening with stops at L.A.’s Chateau Marmont and then at nightclub hot spot H.Wood, where “they were laughing and talking,” a source said. And it didn’t end there…

After clubbing, they went to LL’s house. Paparazzi agency X17 reports that Lohan was visited by the cops at about 3:30 a.m. after neighbors apparently complained about her loud music. (A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman could not confirm the visit to us, because a noise complaint “would be too minor” for the nightwatch to record.)

Never one to let the police get in the way of having a good time, Lohan and Seacrest ditched her abode at about 4 a.m. and headed to Seacrest’s place. A couple of hours later, Linds was spotted heading back home. What exactly went on behind the closed doors, we don’t know. However, a source close to Lohan tells me that the starlet recently told friends she and Seacrest have talked about working together. “Lindsay said they’ve had a couple of business meetings,” the source reports. “She wants to co-produce something with Ryan, maybe a reality show or a movie.” Seacrest ain’t commenting. Lohan? I’m sure we’ll find out something later on Twitter.

—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller (Originally published June 19, 2009, at 12:17 p.m. PT)

________ Get more Marc on Twitter @marcmalkin

··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today’s most commented stories now at http://www.eonline.com

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Jessica Alba won’t face vandalism charges

OKLAHOMA CITY – Police have decided against pursuing a criminal vandalism case against Jessica Alba over some posters that were plastered around downtown Oklahoma City.

Police Sgt. Gary Knight said none of the owners of property on which the posters were placed wanted to press charges against Alba, who has apologized.

Police never interviewed the 28-year-old co-star of the “Fantastic Four” movies, “Sin City and “Good Luck Chuck.” She is in Oklahoma City shooting a movie, “The Killer Inside Me.”

Police found the posters — aimed at raising awareness about sharks’ declining numbers — glued to a downtown bridge, utility boxes and a billboard for the United Way charity.

Knight said it is typical not to pursue vandalism charges when property owners don’t want to prosecute.

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Miami Events – June & July brought to you by Hitogram Media

Eyesonmiami.com & Ankaravip.com published by hitogram media inc. - Miami Beach , FL 33139 The Cove Rincon International Series
(6/12/2009) http://www.thecoverincon.org
Monthly arts event with an international scope takes place every second Friday of each month. Open mic poetry, visual arts, plays and music as well as guest speakers are featured. FREE. 7:30 p.m.	Address: Florida International University, Room 241 Green Library Auditorium SW 107th Avenue & SW 8th Street Miami, FL 33199 Sweetwater Area 305/554-0847

Afternoon Tea at Fairchild
(6/14/2009) http://www.fairchildgarden.org
Amazing Miami Attractions — Afternoon Tea at Fairchild is an elegant affair held on the Veranda and in the ballroom of the Jean DuPont Shehan Visitor Center. Tables are set with a lovely collection of fine china and guests are served by our charming volunteers in garden hats while live music plays. There are various tea sandwiches as well as assorted sweets. Cost for non-members is $37 and members is $27. 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Call for reservations.	Address: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden 10901 Old Cutler Rd. Coral Gables, FL 33156 Coral Gables 305/663-8059

Workday at Doc Thomas House
(6/20/2009) http://www.tropicalaudubon.org
Get your hands dirty, learn about native plants and help Tropical Audubon Society maintain its native landscape at the Doc Thomas House. Show up anytime between 8:30-noon and dig in. Call for information.	Address: Doc Thomas House 5530 Sunset Dr. Miami, FL 33143 South Miami Area 305/666-5111

Redland Summer Fruit Festival
(from 6/20/2009 to 6/21/2009) http://www.fruitandspicepark.org
This annual event showcases local agriculture, and tropical fruits. Vendor booths featuring local wines, yummy foods, and rare fruit samplings will be available. Sponsored by the Fruit and Spice Park. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.	Address: Fruit and Spice Park 24801 SW 187th Ave. Homestead, FL 33031 Homestead/Florida City Area 305/247-5727

Adventures with Clifford the Big Red Dog Traveling Exhibit
(from 6/22/2009 to 10/16/2009) http://www.miamichildrensmuseum.org
As visitors pass by the Lighthouse and arrive on Birdwell Island, they will discover the world of Clifford, Emily Elizabeth™ and their friends. Developed by the Minnesota Children’s Museum, this exhibit invites kids to explore art through textures, and multi-media materials in this engaging blockbuster exhibit. There is even a nine foot Clifford!	Address: Miami Children’s Museum 980 MacArthur Cswy. Miami, FL 33139 Downtown Miami Area 305/373-5437

4th of July Weekedn Events in Miami

Eyesonmiami.com & Ankaravip.com published by hitogram media inc. - Miami Beach , FL 33139 Miami Spa Month
(from 7/1/2009 to 7/31/2009) http://www.miamispamonth.com/
Enjoy special treatments for $99 at Miami’s premier spas. Use your American Express Card to pay for your Miami Spa Month Treatment and receive 10% off additional spa services and regularly priced spa products. Miami Spa Month is organized by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and is presented by American Express. Visit the web site for details.	Address: Various spas throughout Miami-Dade County. Miami, FL 33131

Key Biscayne 4th of July Parade – 50th Anniversary!
(7/4/2009) http://www.keybiscayne.fl.gov
Watch Crandon Boulevard come alive with a whimsical parade of floats, high school marching bands and street entertainers in the style of a traditional small-town celebration. 11 a.m. – noon.	Address: The Village Green Key Biscayne, FL 33149 Key Biscayne 305/361-5207

Old Fashioned July Fourth Picnic
(7/4/2009) http://floridastateparks.org/thebarnacle
Amazing Miami Attractions — Enjoy the Fourth at an old-fashioned picnic on the grounds of this 19th-century pioneer home site. Hosted by The Barnacle Society, this event features lawn games, kite-making, knot-tying demonstrations, and more! Bring a blanket and a picnic lunch and enjoy the day’s celebration. $5 for – 12 years and older; $2 – age 6-12; under 6 are free. Special activities: 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Park hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.	Address: The Barnacle Historic State Park 3485 Main Hwy. Miami, FL 33133 Coconut Grove 305/442-6866

An American Celebration – July 4th on Miami Beach
(7/4/2009) http://www.miamibeachfl.gov
The City of Miami Beach proudly presents its annual Fourth of July patriotic celebration of music and fireworks. Music by DJ Irie. The event is free and open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to arrive early, bring beach chairs and towels. No coolers or bottles will be permitted on the beach. 7:30 p.m.	Address: 8th Street and Ocean Drive Miami Beach, FL 33140 Miami Beach 305/673-7400

Fourth of July at Bayfront Park
(7/4/2009) http://www.bayfrontparkmiami.com
Celebrate the birth of our great nation at downtown Miami’s Bayfront Park with a spectacular fireworks display, children’s activities, food and drinks. Bring the whole family! 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.	Address: Bayfront Park 301 N. Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33132 Downtown Miami Area 305/358-7550

Actor David Carradine, Snowboarder Karine Ruby, and a Fish Tale: Week in Review

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by Claudine Zap

The “Kung Fu” master dies in Bangkok. A former Olympic snowboarder meets an untimely fate. And a timely fish tale. It was a week of good-byes on the Web. Join us for a look back at those stories and more with the Buzz Week in Review.

An actor with (karate) chops
David Carradine, son of actor John Carradine, died this week in a hotel room in Bangkok. He embodied the spirit of martial arts with his best known roles—in Quentin Tarantino’s movies “Kill Bill: Vol 1,” “Kill Bill: Vol. 2,” and the “Kung Fu” TV series. The acting legend performed in over 200 TV shows and movies in his lifetime, going back to the 1960s. Word of the actor’s demise caused searches to soar an astonishing 90,000% to the number one search for the last seven days. Read more about his career here.

A young life cut short
The 31-year-old conquered the giant slalom at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and the parallel slalom in the Salt Lake City 2002 winter games. But French snowboarder Karine Ruby was bested by Mont Blanc, in the French Alps, where she died in a climbing accident. The six-time world champion had been training to become a mountain-climbing guide. The French prime minister hailed her “talent and her joie de vivre.” News of the Olympic athlete’s death sparked searches on “karine ruby,” “karine ruby biography,” and “snowboarder karine ruby.”

Finding “nenue”
Here’s a fishy story out of Hawaii: A man picnicking on a beach in Kauai spotted a fish swimming in an odd way. So he waded into the water and caught it, by hand, and threw it into his cooler. It was only later that the fisherman noticed that the reef fish came with a bonus: The sea creature had coughed up a gold wristwatch, still ticking and making good time, according to the AP. News of the find caused searches on “nenue” to surge.

Also buzzing this week…
•Two journalists go on trial in North Korea.
•Hitler’s favorite race car is up for auction.
•Conan O’Brien takes over “The Tonight Show.”

High court asked to block Chrysler sale to Fiat

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By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Write

WASHINGTON – Three Indiana state pension and construction funds want the Supreme Court to block Chrysler’s sale to Fiat so they can pursue an appeal in hopes of getting a better deal.

The funds filed emergency papers at the high court early Sunday.

An appeals court in New York approved the sale Friday, but gave objectors until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene. Chrysler LLC wants to sell the bulk of its assets to a group led by Italy’s Fiat Group SpA as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

The emergency request went first to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who handles such matters from New York. She can act on her own or refer it to the entire court.

The Indiana State Police Pension Fund, the Indiana Teacher’s Retirement Fund and the state’s Major Moves Construction Fund claim the deal unfairly favors the interests of Chrysler’s unsecured stakeholders ahead of those of secured debtholders such as the funds.

The funds also challenged the constitutionality of the Treasury Department’s use of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to supply Chrysler’s bankruptcy protection financing. They say the government did so without congressional authority.

The government-sponsored reorganization of the U.S. auto industry, including the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings, “is a matter of incredibly high profile and importance,” the funds said in their request to the high court. “The public is watching and needs to see that, particularly when the system is under stress, the rule of law will be honored and an independent judiciary will properly scrutinize the actions of the massively powerful executive branch.”

U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez, the bankruptcy judge overseeing Chrysler’s case, approved the sale last Sunday, finding that the deal with Fiat was Chrysler’s only alternative to liquidation.

The appeals court halted the sale on Tuesday, allowing the funds to appeal Gonzalez’s decision. That court ruled against the funds on Friday, but continued to delay the sale so the funds could go to the Supreme Court.

Chrysler had hoped to close the sale by the end of this past week.

Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler has maintained that the sale must be completed quickly to save the automaker from complete collapse. If the deal doesn’t close by June 15, Fiat has the option of pulling out. Production at Chrysler’s manufacturing plants remains halted pending the closing of the sale.

Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs of the New York-based appeals court asked Thomas Lauria, the lawyer representing the Indiana funds, why he believed his clients would be better off if the deal with Fiat went away and Chrysler was forced to liquidate.

“You can’t wait for a better deal to come in from Studebaker,” Jacobs said.

Lauria responded that the sale could be restructured to provide a better return for the secured debtholders.

U.S. automaker Studebaker Corp. closed in 1963.

Brazil recovers 3 more bodies near jet crash site

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By MARCO SIBAJA and ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writers

RECIFE, Brazil – Three more bodies were found Sunday in the ocean near the spot where an Air France jet is believed to have crashed a week ago, bringing the total number of bodies plucked from the water to five, Brazil’s military said. Authorities also said pilots searching the mid-Atlantic also spotted an undetermined number of additional bodies from the air and are sending ships to recover them, said Navy Capt. Giucemar Tabosa Cardoso.

Flight 447 disappeared in turbulent weather May 31 during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people aboard — all now presumed dead. The investigation is increasingly focused on whether external instruments may have iced over, confusing speed sensors and leading computers to set the plane’s speed too fast or slow — a potentially deadly mistake.

The French agency investigating the disaster said airspeed instruments on the plane had not been replaced as the maker had recommended, but cautioned that it was too early to draw conclusions about what role that may have played in the crash.

The agency, BEA, said the plane received inconsistent airspeed readings from different instruments as it struggled in a massive thunderstorm. In Brazil, Air Force Col. Henry Munhoz said he could not immediately provide information on how many more bodies were spotted from the air. Cardoso said late Sunday morning that ships should be able to recover some of them within hours despite rainy weather and poor visibility. None of the bodies recovered Sunday had documents with them to indicate their identities, and authorities did not specify their gender.

The first two bodies, found Saturday, were men. The bodies were found about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the site where the jet sent out a burst of messages indicating it was experiencing a series of electric failures and losing cabin pressure. All the bodies have been recovered and spotted in the same general area. Authorities also announced that searchers spotted two airplane seats and other debris with Air France’s logo. They declined comment on the condition of the bodies that were recovered, saying the release of that information would be too emotionally painful for relatives.

Report: US weighs guilty pleas in some 9/11 cases

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WASHINGTON – A plan under consideration by the Obama administration would permit Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees facing the death penalty to plead guilty without a full trial, it has been reported.

This option would principally be aimed at a group of detainees accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, five people who have already indicated they prefer this resolution of the case, The New York Times said in a story posted late Friday on its Web site.

The terrorism-era U.S. military commission format has come under withering criticism from legal and human rights quarters, and American military prosecutions employing this structure and legal rules have for the most part been put on hold since January while the new administration considered other options.

President Barack Obama recently approved the continued use of these commissions. And the Times reported in its story that the possibility of permitting guilty pleas under some circumstances is among a series of options circulated within the administration by a special task force. The newspaper cited individuals who had been briefed on the proposal or had studied it.

Traveling in France with Obama, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said: “The president has been clear that he hopes to work with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to improve the military commissions act to ensure that we can ensure more due process and deliver what has been long in coming: swift and certain justice. To suggest that any of the decisions have been made is not accurate.”

The possible elements of legislation on tribunals and how to handle difficult Guantanamo cases are not developed enough yet to even have been presented to the president for discussion, said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the entire matter is still in the early stages.

The White House views the fresh talk in the media about the possibility of allowing detainees to enter guilty pleas, an idea presented previously by military prosecutors, as the work of lower-level players in the debate who want to gain currency for one approach, a strategy that usually has the opposite effect with Obama, this official said.

Obama already has said that he wants to close Guantanamo by January 2010, declaring it has caused the United States more harm than good and has served as a recruitment tool for the al-Qaida terrorist network.

One advantage of permitting guilty pleas by defendants in the Sept. 11 case would be that the government would not have to expose harsh interrogation techniques during full trials that would otherwise have to be carried out, the Times said.

It said the proposal to permit guilty pleas — which are not allowed in the legal framework the U.S. military uses in trials for its own personnel — would in effect permit the Sept. 11 defendants to achieve a self-proclaimed desire for martyrdom.

The theory behind the ban on such pleas in trials for U.S. military personnel is that prosecutors would have to prove their case in court against any individual facing such a serious charge.

The proposal is that Congress would take up a bill clarifying uncertainty that was built into the 2006 law that it passed authorizing the creation of the military commissions. That 2006 law left unclear the question of whether guilty pleas could be accepted in capital cases conducted via the military commission format.

These pleas under U.S. law are allowed in federal civilian courts and in the courts of most states with capital punishment statutes.

Probe: Airline did not replace instruments on 447

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PARIS – The agency investigating the crash of Flight 447 says Air France had not replaced instruments that measure air speed on the plane, which the manufacturer had recommended.

Agency head Paul-Louis Arslanian says some problems had been detected with the instruments on the Airbus A330, the model that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on May 31.

Arslanian says Airbus had recommended that airlines replace the instruments on the A330. The head of the crash investigation says Air France had not changed the instruments known as Pitot tubes on the plane that crashed.

Arslanian warned on Saturday against jumping to conclusions.

He says planes can be flown safely “with damaged systems.”

An Air France memo Friday said it is replacing Pitot tubes on all medium- and long-haul Airbus jets.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

PARIS (AP) — Signals sent by Air France Flight 447 before it disappeared show its autopilot was not on, the head of the French agency leading the investigation into the crash of 447 said Saturday.

Agency head Paul-Louis Arslanian said it was not clear if the autopilot had been switched off by the pilots or had stopped working because it received conflicting airspeed readings.

Plane manufacturer Airbus says the investigation found the flight received inconsistent readings from different instruments as it struggled in a massive thunderstorm.

Alain Bouillard, head of the investigation into the crash, told reporters that, “we also saw messages that show the automatic pilot wasn’t working.”

Arslanian said investigators are analyzing 24 messages sent automatically by the plane during the last minutes of the flight.

He said investigators are searching a zone of several hundred square miles (square kilometers) for the debris.

It is vital to locate a beacon called a “pinger” that should be attached to the cockpit voice and data recorders, now presumed to be deep in the Atlantic, he said.

“We have no guarantee that the pinger is attached to the recorders,” Arslanian said.

Holding up a pinger in the palm of his hand, he said: “This is what we are looking for in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

Investigators are trying to determine the location of the debris in the ocean based on the height and speed of the plane at the time the last message was received. Currents could also have scattered debris far along the ocean floor, he said.

“You see the complexity of the problem,” he said.

Laurent Kerleguer, an engineer specialized in the ocean floor working with the investigation team, said the zone seen as the most likely site of the debris was 15,112 feet (4,606 meters) at its deepest point and 2,835 feet (864 meters) at its shallowest.

Water salinity and temperature can affect the distance that the beacon’s signal can travel, Kerleguer said.

The Airbus A330 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared nearly four hours after takeoff on Sunday night, killing all 228 aboard. It was Air France‘s deadliest plane crash and the world’s worst commercial air accident since 2001.

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Air France says it’s replacing flight instruments

By MARCO SIBAJA and GREG KELLER, Associated Press Writer Marco Sibaja And Greg Keller, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jun 5, 1:46 pm ET

RECIFE, Brazil – An Air France memo to its pilots Friday about the crash of Flight 447 said the airline is replacing instruments that help measure airspeed on all its medium- and long-haul Airbus jets.

Investigators have focused on incorrect speed readings as one potential factor in the crash.

With Brazil and France disagreeing about whether pieces of the jet have even been found in the Atlantic, investigators are using the last messages sent by the plane to determine the cause and try to avoid future disasters.

Air France declined to comment on the memo obtained by The Associated Press, saying it was for pilots only.

Airbus said the matter was part of the investigation into the crash that killed 228 people flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Sunday. The Bureau of Investigation and Analysis, which is leading the French probe of the crash, said it would address all questions at a Saturday news conference.

The memo sent Friday said Air France has been replacing instruments known as Pitot tubes and will finish in “coming weeks.” It does not say when the replacement process started.

The plane’s “black boxes” may be miles below the surface and investigators are looking for clues in the messages sent from the plane’s computers just before it disappeared. One theory: the outside probes that feed speed sensors may have iced over, giving incorrect information to the plane’s computers. The autopilot may have then directed the plane to fly too fast or too slow when it met turbulence from towering thunderstorms.

Airbus sent an advisory to airlines late Thursday reminding them how to handle the A330 in similar conditions.

The memo sent by Air France Friday says that a series of actions to reduce the risks of loss of airspeed information are being reinforced by “notably, the improvement of pitot models on Airbus’ fleet of medium- and long-haul flights.”

“On this topic, a program of replacing pitots with new models is under way,” the memo reads. “It should be completed in coming weeks.”

Pitot tubes are L-shaped metal tubes — about eight inches (20 centimeters) long on their longer side — that protrude from the wing or fuselage of a plane. The pressure of the air entering the tube lets sensors measure the speed and angle of the flight, along with less vital information like outside air temperature.

They are heated to prevent icing.

A blocked or malfunctioning Pitot tube could cause an airspeed sensor to work incorrectly and cause the computer controlling the plane to accelerate or decelerate in a potentially dangerous fashion.

Airbus said the French agency investigating the crash found that the doomed flight had faced turbulent weather and inconsistency in the speed readings by different instruments.

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That meant “the measured air speed of the aircraft was unclear,” Justin Dubon said.

In such circumstances, flight crews should maintain thrust and pitch and — if necessary — level off the plane and start troubleshooting, Dubon said.

Meteorologists said the Air France jet entered an unusual storm with 100 mph (160 kph) updrafts that acted as a vacuum, sucking water up from the ocean. The moist air rushed up to the plane’s high altitude, where it quickly froze in minus-40 degree temperatures. The updrafts also would have created dangerous turbulence.

The jetliner’s computer systems ultimately failed, and the plane likely broke apart in midair.

Brazilian officials have insisted for three days that military pilots have spotted wreckage from Flight 447 scattered across the ocean’s surface. Air Force Brig. Gen. Ramon Cardoso again expressed confidence Friday that at least some of the objects — an airplane seat, a slick of kerosene and other pieces — are from the plane that vanished Sunday with 228 people on board.

“This is the material that we’ve seen that really was part of the plane,” Cardoso said.

But ships guided by planes in the search area have been hampered by extremely poor visibility, and have recovered no wreckage. “We don’t have any information yet that any of the ships are near any of the objects,” Cardoso said.

The only piece retrieved so far, a cargo pallet, turned out to be sea garbage. Like other suspicious objects, it had to be hauled up and checked out, said Brazilian Navy Adm. Edson Lawrence.

French officials stopped short of criticizing their Brazilian counterparts, but France’s Transportation Minister Dominique Bussereau said his own country’s searchers have found no signs of the Airbus A330.

“French authorities have been saying for several days that we have to be extremely prudent,” Bussereau told France’s RTL radio. “Our planes and naval ships have seen nothing.”

A French Defense Ministry official, speaking only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, also questioned the Brazilian claims, saying French teams “cannot precisely confirm the zone where the plane went down.”

Cardoso also said a large oil slick spotted by search plane pilots was not from the Airbus, but that authorities believe another slick of kerosene was probably from the downed passenger jet.

France is sending a submarine to the zone where the plane is thought to have gone down to detect signals from the two black boxes, said military spokesman Christophe Prazuck. The Emeraude, already in the Atlantic, will arrive next week, he said. The vessel, which can dive up to 980 feet (300 meters) is to be used to help try to detect the signals noises from the boxes — believed to be up to 13,100 feet (4,000 meters) underwater. It will try to capture the acoustic signals, which can last 30 days, Prazuck said.

The Pentagon has said there are no signs terrorism was involved. Brazil’s defense minister said the possibility was never considered. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner agreed that there is no evidence supporting a “terrorism theory,” but said “we cannot discard that for now.”

Brazil’s Air Force was flying relatives of victims to the search command post in the northeastern city of Recife Friday to tour the operation and ask questions. Recife has a large air force base where debris and any human remains would be brought.

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Keller reported from Paris. Alan Clendenning contributed from Sao Paulo. Emma Vandore, Laurence Joan-Grange, Jamey Keaten and Philippe Sotto in Paris, Daniel Woolls in Madrid and Slobodan Lekic in Modena, Italy also contributed to this report.

Number of roadside bombs surge in Afghanistan

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WASHINGTON – Insurgent use of roadside bombs in Afghanistan has surged 80 percent this year, remaining the No. 1 killer of foreign troops, a NATO official said Thursday.

The increase since the same period last year includes bombs that detonated or were found by troops before they could explode, said Canadian Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.

“This is very serious business for us,” Blanchette told AP Broadcast in an interview from Kabul.

Roadside bombs have been the primary killer in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Last year, improvised devices and other roadside explosives killed 172 U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. At least 31 American soldiers have been killed by roadside bombs this year, according to the Defense Department.

An American soldier was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb hit a U.S. military vehicle in eastern Afghanistan.

NATO reports that roadside bombs have caused 60 percent of the deaths in Afghanistan and severely wounded thousands of troops. The military does not release specific incident numbers, saying the data is classified.

Part of the reason for the increase, Blanchette said, is the militants’ understanding that they can’t confront the military in direct action. “They are using this as a last measure,” he said.

Blanchette said as the methods and technologies change, the military needs to focus on cutting off the supply system that allows bomb components to flow into Afghanistan, in many cases from neighboring Pakistan.

Blanchette said stopping the bombings is a challenge because of the variety of places militants can use them — buried along a roadside, under a road, or hidden in a wall along routes military convoys commonly use.

“Anyplace where there is a bit of a funnel,” Blanchette said, “you have that risk.”

U.S. and international forces train troops on how to deal with the devices, both before and after they arrive in Afghanistan.

But Blanchette said militants are constantly adjusting and finding new ways to set up and camouflage the devices.

“There’s always a risk that troops might be surprised,” he said.

By MARK S. SMITH, Associated Press Writer

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By MARK S. SMITH, Associated Press Writer

DRESDEN, Germany – President Barack Obama called Friday for a redoubling of efforts toward separate Israeli and Palestinian states, saying “the moment is now for us to act.”

With German Chancellor Angela Merkel by his side, the U.S. president said: “the United States can’t force peace upon the parties.” But he said that since the day he took office, “we’ve at least created the space, the atmosphere, in which talks can restart.”

He announced that he was sending special envoy George J. Mitchell back to the region next week to follow up on the president’s speech in Cairo a day earlier in which he called for both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to give ground in the longtime standoff toward the elusive goal of peace in the Middle East.

Obama said while the entire international community is going to have to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace, “ultimately the parties involved have to make the decision that the prosperity and security of their people are best served” by an accord. He stressed that the effort will take time, but added: “I’m confident that if we stick with it, having started early this year, we are going to make some progress on it.”

Merkel, for her part, promised to cooperate in her own right on this long-sought goal.

On other matters, Obama said he’s seen “some progress” in bringing stability to the world in the wake of the deep recession that has crisscrossed the continents in recent months, and said he and Merkel agreed that they must continue to “work very closely together” to restore their economies and those of other nations as well. He also said he didn’t seek any commitments from Germany as the United States seeks to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and determines what to do with the terrorism suspects there.

The two leaders spoke after meeting privately at a castle in this city crushed by allied bombing in World War II. He was ready to tour the Buchenwald concentration camp, where an estimated 56,000 people perished. Most were Jews — worked to death, shot or hanged by Nazi guards.

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2 US journalists on trial in North Korea

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SEOUL, South Korea – Two American journalists faced trial Thursday in North Korea on accusations of illegal entry and “hostile acts” in a case that could send them to a labor camp for 10 years. Back home, their families pleaded for leniency.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore’s California-based Current TV media venture, were arrested March 17 near the North Korean border while on a reporting trip to China.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch earlier Thursday that the trial was to have begun at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT; 2 a.m. EDT) in Pyongyang’s Central Court. There was no immediate word on the status of the proceedings.

The trial was taking place at a time of mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula following the regime’s provocative nuclear test last week.

As discussions continued at the United Nations and in Washington on how to punish the regime for its defiance, there were fears the women could become political pawns in any negotiations North Korea undertakes.

Analyst Choi Eun-suk, a professor of North Korean law at Kyungnam University, said the court could convict and sentence the women to labor, and then use them as bargaining chips in negotiations with the U.S.

“The North is likely to release and deport them to the U.S. — if negotiations with the U.S. go well,” Choi said.

North Korea and the U.S., former Korean War foes, do not have diplomatic relations, and analysts called Pyongyang’s recent belligerence a bid to grab President Barack Obama‘s attention.

Pyongyang “believes the Obama administration has not made North Korea a priority,” said David Straub of Stanford University’s Korean studies program.

Back home, the reporters’ families pleaded for clemency.

“All we can do is hope the North Korean government will show leniency,” Ling’s sister, TV journalist Lisa Ling, said in an emotional plea at a California vigil Wednesday night. “If at any point they committed a transgression, then our families are deeply, deeply sorry. We know the girls are sorry as well.”

She urged Washington and Pyongyang not to let politics dictate the reporters’ fate.

“Tensions are so heated, and the girls are essentially in the midst of this nuclear standoff,” she said on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” Ling urged the governments to “try to communicate, to try and bring our situation to a resolution on humanitarian grounds — to separate the issues.”

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State-run media have not defined the exact charges against them, but South Korean legal experts said conviction for “hostility” or espionage could mean five to 10 years in a labor camp. Choi said a ruling by the top court would be final.

The circumstances of their arrest were hazy. The Current TV team had gone to the Chinese border city of Yanji to report on the trafficking of North Korean women, Lisa Ling said.

“Too many sad stories,” her younger sister posted to Twitter days before her arrest.

They were seized somewhere near the frozen Tumen River dividing North Korea and China while a cameraman and their guide managed to evade the North Korean guards.

For weeks, there was little word about their well-being in separate quarters in one of the world’s most isolated nations. Sweden’s ambassador to North Korea has paid the women three visits each and brought back a letter from Laura Ling saying she “cried so much” at first but was biding her time with stretches and meditation.

Lisa Ling said she got a surprise phone call last Tuesday from her “extremely scared” younger sister, asking for help.

“My sister said that the only hope that she and Euna had to get released was if our government and North Korea’s communicated directly,” Lisa Ling said. “‘I know that you’ve been trying to get other countries involved,’ she said, ‘but our only hope is if our countries talk.'”

The State Department has not divulged details about any negotiations for their freedom.

“We continue to consult with the families. And there is no higher priority that we have than protection of American civilians abroad,” spokesman P.J. Crowley said Wednesday in Washington. “And we, again, hope that North Korea will forgo this legal process and return them to the United States.”

In New York, dozens turned out in a drenching rain for a vigil led by Ling’s cousin Angie Wang. Some held yellow chrysanthemums.

“Nobody should be holding people for purely political gamesmanship purposes,” said J.B. Miller, 44.

Media groups also pressed for their release.

“We urge that their fate not be linked to the ongoing security situation on the Korean Peninsula,” Bob Dietz of the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement. “Euna Lee and Laura Ling were acting as journalists, not criminals, and should be released.”

Roxana Saberi, an American journalist who spent four months in an Iranian prison before being released May 11 on a suspended sentence for spying, urged the women to “remain strong.”

“If Laura and Euna’s situation resembles anything like mine, I can imagine a little of what they might be wishing for: The presumption of innocence until proven guilty. A fair trial, with access to attorneys of their choice and the right to study what is claimed as evidence against them. More contact with their families, whom they probably worry are worrying about themselves!”

___

Associated Press writers Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, William C. Mann in Washington, Ginny Byrne in New York and John Mone in Santa Monica, Calif., contributed to this report.

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Air France Flight 447: A detailed meteorological analysis « Watts Up With That?

Air France Flight 447: A detailed meteorological analysis « Watts Up With That?.

NOTE: This writeup is from an acquaintance of mine who wrote some powerful meteorological software, Digital Atmosphere, that I use in my office. He used that software (and others) to analyze the Air France 447 crash from the meteorological perspective.  h/t to Mike Moran – Anthony

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by Tim Vasquez

Air France flight 447 (AF447), an Airbus A330 widebody jet, was reported missing in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours of June 1, 2009. The plane was enroute from Rio de Janeiro (SBGL) to Paris (LFPG). Speculation suggested that the plane may have flown into a thunderstorm. The objective of this study was to isolate the aircraft’s location against high-resolution satellite images from GOES-10 to identify any association with thunderstorm activity. Breakup of a plane at higher altitudes in a thunderstorm is not unprecedented; Northwest Flight 705 in 1963 and more recently Pulkovo Aviation Flight 612 in 2006 are clear examples.

Back in the 1990s I did flight route forecasting for the Air Force. One of my assignments in summer 1994 was forecasting was the sector between Mombasa, Kenya and Cairo, Egypt for C-5 and C-141 aircraft. The Sudan region had tropical MCS activity similar to this with little in the way of sensor data, so this incident holds some special interest for me as one of our C-5s could easily have followed a very similar fate. Using what’s available to me I decided to do a little analysis and see if I could determine anything about the fate of AF447 and maybe through some circuitous, indirect means help give authorities some clues on where to look.

1. Reports and evidence

Reports indicate AF447 reported INTOL (S01 21.7′,W32 49.9′ or -1.362,-32.832) at 0133Z and was to proceed to TASIL (N4 00.3′,W29 59.4′, or +4.005,-29.990) in 50 minutes (a true track of 28.1 deg) (source) indicating that it flew high altitude route UN873 (see below).

Enroute High Altitude Caribbean and South America H-4, 30 AUG 2007 (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)

Though the actual flight plan data was not accessible to me, this corresponds well with an actual flight plan found on the Internet for a Varig B767 from Rio de Janeiro to Frankfurt:

(FPL-VRG8744-IS -B763/H-SIRYW/S -SBGL0110 -N0485F290 PCX3 POKA UA314 NUQ/N0475F330 UA314 SVD UZ10 NTL/M080F320 UN873 FEMUR/M080F320 UN873 INTOL/M080F320 UN873 EPODE/N0476F340 UN873 ASEBA/N0475F340 UN873 SAGMA/M080F340 UN873 CVS/M080F360 UN873 LIMAL/N0463F360 UN873 GDV UN858 SUNID/N0454F380 UN858 DGO UN976 PPN/N0457F360 UN976 LATEK UN871 KUDES T163 PSA PSA2W -EDDF1129 LSZH EDDL -EET/SBRE0050 SBAO0309 ORARO0340 GOOO0355 GVSC0518 GCCC0618 GMMM0746 LPPC0836 LECM0848 LFFF0951 LSAS1042 EDUU1059 EDFF1111 RIF/PPN/N0456F390 UN857 BAN BAN2E LEMD RMK/ETOPS UNDER 120 MIN RULE ENROUTE ALTS SBNT GVAC)

I decided to project the flight forward from INTOL. An altitude of FL350 and speed of 520 mph was given. Presumably this is ground speed according to the ACARS specification. Compensating for a 10 kt headwind as given by the SBFN sounding this yields an airspeed of M.80, which correlates well with the A330’s typical early cruise profile. This yields the following aircraft coordinates:

Time Coordinates Description 0133Z -1.362,-32.832 Reported INTOL 0145Z -0.033,-32.125 Extrapolation 0200Z +1.629,-31.242 Extrapolation 0215Z +3.290,-30.57 Extrapolation 0223Z +4.150,-29.876 Estimated TASIL 0230Z +4.951,-29.469 Extrapolation

2. Meteorological analysis

Surface analysis showed the suspected crash region to be within the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), which at this time of year is usually found at about the 5-10N parallel. A region of strong trade winds covered most of the tropical North Atlantic and this kept the ITCZ in a somewhat southerly position. The linear convergence along the ITCZ and the unstable atmospheric conditions combined to produce scattered clusters of thunderstorms.

Surface analysis for 0000Z. (NCEP)

Using McIDAS I acquired satellite GOES-10 satellite data from UCAR and centered it over the region between INTOL and TASIL. I then plotted the waypoints using McIDAS’s built-in coordinate entry panel. Since the source satellite images are georeferenced NOAA/GINI datasets, the points shown here are very accurate and are NOT placed by hand but by lat/long coordinates to the nearest 0.001 deg (0.06 mile). In the image below, the stationary southerly point in blue is INTOL and the aircraft’s estimated location from the above table is marked with a cross. Graticule spacing is 5 degrees. For the orange temperature plots I used the NCL/3aw curve; the sharp gradient of the enhancement from dark to light occurs at 243K (-30 deg C), indicating a cloud top of FL310 assuming the satellite pixel is completely overcast with that layer (which is not always true).

And finally this image shows a zoomed image at 0215Z when AF447 made its last transmission:

click for a larger image

About 90% of the cloud material seen on this image is actually multiple levels of convective debris fields from dying storms and activity that occurred previously during the day, with only scattered cirrus fields at flight level. The active thunderstorm areas are defined by small-scale mottled areas of cold cloud tops. Compare with this structural diagram below of a similar tropical MCS in the same area in 1977. It illustrates that planes inflight are clear of most dangerous weather throughout a tropical system except when directly above an active updraft area.

Schematic of a typical tropical MCS observed in the Atlantic southwest of Dakar on 4 Sep 1974. (Structure and Dynamics of a Tropical Squall-Line System, R. A. Houze Jr., Mon. Wea. Rev., 105, 1540-1567)

It appears AF447 crossed through three key thunderstorm clusters: a small one around 0151Z, a new rapidly growing one at about 0159Z, and finally a large multicell convective system (MCS) around 0205-0216Z. Temperature trends suggested that the entire system was at peak intensity, developing rapidly around 2300-0100Z and finally dissipating around dawn. From a turbulence perspective, these cold spots would be the areas of highest concern as they signal the location of an active updraft producing new cloud material in the upper troposphere.

The last communication from the plane was at 0214Z (12:14 am local meridian time). This was an automated ACARS message reporting an electrical fault and pressurization problem. This would be about the time the plane was beginning to exit the cluster, but not before having flown for 75 miles of numerous updrafts. The exact aircraft location cannot be determined with certainty, however, since a 1-minute time error in position or reporting time translates to 9 miles of spatial error.

The Fernando de Noronha sounding is available here and shows typical tropical conditions with modest positive energy throughout the column from the surface up to 45,000 ft. There is what looks like anvil level material above 25,000 ft. The significant dry mid-level air is somewhat unusual and suggests the potential for enhanced evaporational cooling in the upper troposphere enhancing downdraft production, and any synoptic-scale lift (if present) enhancing instability through adiabatic cooling of the layer.

I modified this sounding (see below) using the prevailing temperature/dewpoint field across that part of the ocean and modifying for some cooling due to nighttime loss of heating. This is my best guess at the parcel profile that fed this storm. It yields a worst case instability of 1048 J/kg of CAPE, which is moderately strong but considered borderline for typical severe weather. Vertical velocity can be obtained by w=2*CAPE^0.5 yielding a maximum possible updraft speed contribution of 45.8 m/s or 102 mph, though in reality this is usually much less (on the order of half or less) due to precipitation loading and other factors.

3. Conclusions

The satellite imagery indicates that numerous cumulonimbus towers were rising to at least 51,000 ft, and were embedded in extensive stratiform anvils with tops of 35,000 to 45,000 ft. This kind of configuration is actually quite normal for equatorial storms due to the higher tropopause height, but it emphasizes that the aircraft was certainly within the bulk of an extensive cumulonimbus cloud field for a significant amount of time and that storms could indeed have been a contributing factor to the crash.

I’ve edited this section Monday night to cut down on the speculation about the accident chain, especially since I don’t know a whole lot about A330 systems. The airliners.net board and other sites cover the aircraft and CRM systems quite well. What I will try to do, however, is summarize what the aircraft probably encountered based on the data and my own experience.

* Turbulence — Turbulence is a definite candidate as a contributing factor. There is an isolated storm at (1.6,-31.5) that appears suddenly at 0200Z just as the A330 enters the main MCS cluster. From a turbulence perspective it is by far the most dangerous formation found on the loop. However it is 10-25 km to the left of UN873 and it is doubtful the crew would have been deviating at this time. Other cells like this one embedded within the main MCS may have caused severe turbulence. Young updrafts are particularly dangerous to flights because they contain significant rising motion yet precipitation fields have not yet fully developed and airborne radar signatures are weak, reducing the likelihood the crew will deviate around the cell. Another concern is the extensive upper-level dry air shown on the SBFN sounding (not counting the anvil debris at 350-300 mb), which may have contributed to enhanced evaporative cooling in and around the anvil and aggravated the turbulence experienced by the flight, especially around the margins of anvil clouds and towers. It is worth considering that cumulative periods of heavy turbulence crossing through the cluster may have caused minor internal damage that progressed in some way into an emergency.

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* Icing — With a flight level temperature of -43 deg C suggested by the proximity sounding the A330 would have been flying mostly in rime ice and possibly some clear ice and graupel. At -43 deg C, water cannot exist even in supercooled form (see here for an explanation). The equivalent potential temperature throughout the profile is absolutely insufficient to bring warmer air with supercooled water to flight level. Without the supercooled water there is very little ice buildup on the airframe. My conclusion is that unless the plane descended below FL300 icing would not be the culprit.

* Lightning — Due to the high cloud tops and freezing level at 16,000 ft, there was extensive precipitation by cold rain process and it is likely the MCS was electrified. Lightning of course being considered with good reason since the A330 is one of the most computerized and automated airliners in service. I will say based on my 25 years of meteorology the storms were almost definitely producing lightning. As far what a strike would do to the A330, I have to leave that to to the avionics experts. Some answers might be found at http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/.

* Precipitation — A dual engine flameout due to precipitation or ice ingestion is a noteworthy possibility as has been discussed on other sites (specific to the A330 type too). The precipitable water content in any tropical weather system can run very high. However a rain-induced flameout is not possible because supercooled water cannot exist at the -43C cruise altitude and insufficient equivalent potential temperature exists, even in updraft cores, to bring warmer air beyond a few degrees change to the flight level. Therefore the plane at FL350 was completely within some mixture of rime ice, graupel, or small hail. But again, as the link indicates, even ice poses risks to the engine.

* Hail — I got a few comments about hail. I am not entirely convinced that structural hail damage is a factor, partly because I can’t recall hearing much about large damaging hail at altitude in my experience with equatorial flight operations. This would require strong instability, which I’m not yet sure we have, not only to grow the stones but to loft large hailstones from the embryo “nursery” at FL200-250 up to flight level. A value of 1000 J/kg CAPE is really on the fence but not out of the question. The other problem is the mounting body of evidence (see SPC studies) suggesting well-sheared storms (this profile is poorly sheared) are the ones conducive to structures that support hail growth. Finally, another issue is airborne radars are be highly sensitive to hail because of the very high backscatter values of ice, making evasive action likely, and the “young updrafts” I pointed out earlier as a threat would not have provided the residence times necessary yet to contain hailstones; their main threat would be severe turbulence. I am not sure about the hail hypothesis, but I believe there is a high probability of graupel, small ice pellets, or small hail at FL350 in the storm complex (see Icing above).

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Overall what we know for sure is weather was a factor and the flight definitely crossed through a thunderstorm complex. There is a definite correlation of weather with the crash. However the analysis indicates that the weather is not anything particularly exceptional in terms of instability or storm structure. It’s my opinion that tropical storm complexes identical to this one have probably been crossed hundreds of times over the years by other flights without serious incident.

Still, in the main MCS alone, the A330 would have been flying through significant turbulence and thunderstorm activity for about 75 miles (125 km), lasting about 12 minutes of flight time. Of course anything so far is speculation until more evidence comes in, and for all we know the cause of the downing could have been anything from turbulence to coincidental problems like a cargo fire.

My own opinion of the crash cause, as of Monday night, based on the complete lack of a HF radio call and consideration of all of the above, suggests severe turbulence (see the BOAC 911 and BNF 250 tragedies) combining in some unlikely way with CRM/design/maintenance/procedural/other deficiencies to trigger a failure cascade. We can almost certainly count on some unexpected surprises once the CVR is recovered. Until then, all we can do is await the investigation and hope that the world’s flight operations stay safe until AFR447’s lessons are revealed.

Obama’s plan to save GM: bankruptcy, $30 billion

Obama pushes GM into bankruptcy, commits additional $30 billion to help company

David Espo, AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pushed a humbled General Motors Corp. into bankruptcy on Monday and said the federal government will act as “reluctant shareholder” when it assumes a 60 percent ownership of the smaller carmaker that emerges.

The president said he hopes GM — once a proud symbol of American capitalism — would emerge quickly from bankruptcy court, and pledged up to $30 billion in additional federal assistance to help it get on its feet.

The government’s partial stake in GM comes on top of a far smaller ownership of Chrysler LLC, as well as significant federal equity in banks, the AIG insurance giant and two mortgage industry titans — all victims of an economic crisis unrivaled since the Great Depression.

Republicans lobbed questions in Obama’s direction even before he finished speaking.

“The only thing it makes clear is that the government is firmly in the business of running companies using taxpayer dollars,” said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio.

“Does anyone really believe that politicians and bureaucrats in Washington can successfully steer a multinational corporation to economic viability? It’s time for the administration to fully explain what the exit strategy is to get the U.S. government out of the board room once and for all,” Boehner said.

But the president said the actions were part of a “viable, achievable plan that will give this iconic company a chance to rise again.”

Speaking at the White House, where he was flanked by Cabinet secretaries and top economic advisers, he added, “What I am not doing, what I have no interest in doing, is running GM.”

The president said auto executives “will call the shots and make the decisions about turning this company around.” He said the government would refrain from playing a management role in all but the most critical areas.

“Our goal is to help GM get back on its feet … and get out quickly,” he said of the federal government.

Obama spoke as GM entered bankruptcy court at the same time Chrysler was looking to emerge after a two-month reorganization. Over the weekend, a bankruptcy judge gave the No. 3 automaker approval to sell most of its assets to Italy’s Fiat, part of a plan under which the U.S. government will own somewhat less than 10 percent of the firm.

Ford Motor Co., the other large U.S. automaker, has said it can weather the current economic and industry crises on its own.

Obama said the coming restructuring will “take a painful toll on many Americans.” GM announced during the day that it would permanently close nine more plants and idle three others, steps affecting as many as 20,000 workers.

Obama cited Chrysler’s experience in bankruptcy court as a model of how GM could fare.

“Some said a quick bankruptcy was impossible … they were wrong,” he said.

He added that unnamed critics predicted car sales would “fall off a cliff,” and added, “they were wrong.” Chrysler sold more cars in May than it did in April.

The outcome, he said, is “dramatically better than the one we found when we began.”

Looking ahead, he said, GM will be prodded at every juncture by the administration’s top officials.

The announcement marked the latest step in a series of measures Obama has taken since he became president to salvage an industry that has been part of the American landscape for a century.

Earlier in the year, he rejected a restructuring plan submitted by GM’s ownership, and ordered its leaders to try again. They did, under the direction of administration officials, and the result is a blueprint in which hundreds of dealerships will be closed and familiar model names jettisoned. Officials have estimated the new GM should be profitable when Americans are buying about 10 million vehicles a year. The company that entered bankruptcy court needed U.S. auto sales to stay at an estimated 16 million units a year to make a profit.

Obama stressed that GM’s workers and its investors had both made sacrifices. The United Autoworkers Union agreed in recent days to numerous concessions, and a majority of investors agreed to accept less than the paper value of their holdings. The administration, sensitive to charges that it favored the UAW, said the terms accepted by the unions were harsher than what had been proposed by the Bush administration.

Obama’s assurances about a temporary federal ownership were seconded by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who said the president’s “decision to take a short-term stake in General Motors is driven by our nation’s shared interest in ensuring the American auto industry can survive.”

Interest in Congress was intense, though, and the Senate Commerce Committee announced it was summoning top executives from GM and Chrysler to a hearing on Wednesday into their firms’ plans to close hundreds of dealerships as part of an industry restructuring.

Chrysler has said it will close nearly 800 dealerships. GM has disclosed plans to shutter about 1,100.

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Police: Group of 400 abducted in NW Pakistan

By RASOOL DAWAR, Associated Press Writer

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan – Suspected militants armed with rockets, grenades and automatic weapons abducted some 400 students, staff and relatives driving away from a boy’s school in a troubled tribal region in northwest Pakistan on Monday, police and a witness said.

The brazen abduction came amid rising militant violence in Pakistan’s tribal belt — actions the military says are aimed at distracting it from its offensive against the Taliban in the nearby Swat Valley.

Details were still emerging Monday about the nature of the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Police official Meer Sardar said the abduction occurred about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Razmak Cadet College in North Waziristan tribal area. The people were leaving the school area after they were warned to get out in a phone call from a man they believed to be a political official, Sardar said, citing accounts from a group of 17 who managed to get away.

Around 30 buses, cars and other vehicles were carrying the students, staff and others when they were stopped along the road by a large group of alleged militants in their own vehicles.

The details were confirmed by a staff member at the school who was among those who escaped. He requested anonymity out of fear of Taliban reprisal but said the school’s principal was among those abducted. His vehicle happened to be behind a truck on the road, and it was less visible, so the driver slipped away.

The staffer said the assailants carried rockets, Kalashnikovs, hand grenades and other weapons.

It was unclear how many students were involved, though they made up the majority of the group. Cadet colleges in Pakistan are usually run by retired military officers and educate teenagers. They also typically provide room and board.

North Waziristan is a major Taliban stronghold bordering Afghanistan.

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General Motors files for bankruptcy protection

Dan Strumpf and Kimberly S. Johnson, AP Auto Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of the Obama administration’s plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.

GM’s bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The company said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets.

As it reorganizes, the fallen icon of American industrial will rely on $30 billion of additional financial assistance from the Treasury Department and $9.5 billion from Canada. That’s on top of about $20 billion in taxpayer money GM already has received in the form of low-interest loans.

GM will follow a similar course taken by smaller rival Chrysler LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in April. A judge gave Chrysler approval to sell most of its assets to Italy’s Fiat, moving the U.S. automaker closer to a quick exit from court protection, possibly this week.

The plan is for the federal government to take a 60 percent ownership stake in the new GM. The Canadian government would take 12.5 percent, with the United Auto Workers getting a 17.5 percent share and unsecured bondholders receiving 10 percent. Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out.

Albert Koch, who helped Kmart Corp. through its Chapter 11 reorganization, will serve as GM’s chief restructuring officer.

Administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in advance of Obama’s public remarks, said they expect the bankruptcy court process to last 60 to 90 days. If successful, GM will emerge as a leaner company with a smaller work force, fewer plants and a trimmed dealership network.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to address the nation about GM’s future at midday from Washington, and GM CEO Fritz Henderson is to follow him with a news conference in New York.

GM also revealed Monday that it will permanently close nine more plants and idle three others.

The Pontiac, Mich., and Wilmington, Del., assembly plants will close this year, while plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Orion, Mich., will shut down production but remain on standby. One of the idled plants will be retooled to build a small car.

Seven powertrain and parts stamping plants will be closed starting in June 2010, while an additional stamping plant will be idled but remain in a standby capacity.

GM’s filing comes 32 days after a Chapter 11 filing by Chrysler, which also was hobbled by plunging sales of cars and trucks as the worst recession since the Great Depression intensified.

The sale to Fiat means Chrysler could be out of bankruptcy within the government’s original timeframe of 30 to 60 days. Chrysler’s plan gives a 55 percent stake of the new company to a union-run trust for retirees. Fiat gets a 20 percent stake to Fiat that can ultimately grow to 35 percent. The U.S. and Canadian governments get smaller pieces.

The third of the one-time Big Three, Ford Motor Co., has also been stung hard by the sales slump, but it avoided bankruptcy by mortgaging all of its assets in 2006 to borrow roughly $25 billion, giving it a financial cushion GM and Chrysler lacked.

GM will move forward with four core brands — Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC — and cut four others. The company plans to cut 21,000 employees, about 34 percent of its work force, and reduce the number of dealers by 2,600. GM said it was finalizing a deal to sell Hummer, and plans for Saturn are expected to be announced within weeks.

“There is still plenty of pain to go around, but I’m confident this is far better than the alternative,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. “It’s a new beginning, it’s a rebirth, it’s a new General Motors.”

GM, whose headquarters tower over downtown Detroit, said it believed the filing was not an acknowledgment of failure, but a necessary way to cleanse itself in an orderly fashion of problems and costs that have dogged it for decades.

GM shares fell as low as 27 cents in Monday morning trading, their lowest price in the company’s 100-year history. The News Corp. unit that oversees the Dow Jones industrial average said GM will be kicked out of the index on June 8 and be replaced by Cisco Systems Inc. The index’s rules prohibit it from including companies that have filed for bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy filing represents a dramatic downfall for GM, which was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant, who brought several car companies under one roof and developed a strategy of “a car for every purse and purpose.” Longtime leader Alfred P. Sloan built the global automaker into a corporate icon.

GM first sought help from the Bush administration and Congress last year as it was in the midst of being staggered by $30.9 billion in losses and seeing its cash resources shrink by more than $19 billion.

Consumers, worried about the economy and the future of GM, shied away from the company’s cars and trucks this year even after President George W. Bush promised loans and Obama followed through with billions more in assistance — plus a stiff set of new requirements GM was ordered to meet.

When GM failed to do so by a March 31 deadline, Obama forced out CEO Rick Wagoner and replaced him with Henderson.

Wagoner served at the helm since 2000 and was the face of GM when he first flew on the company jet to ask Congress for aid. After a firestorm of negative publicity, Wagoner rode in a hybrid Chevrolet Malibu from Detroit to Washington for a second set of withering questions before lawmakers.

But that amounted to only a sideshow as the automaker’s financial position worsened. Its revenues plunged almost 50 percent in the quarter ended March 30 and it racked up another $6 billion in losses.

The Henderson-led GM faced a government-imposed June 1 deadline to restructure, slash costs and modify contracts with its union and dealers. But meeting most of those demands, plus a late agreement by many bondholders to swap portions of the $27 billion in debt they are owed for shares in a new GM, were not enough to prevent the court filing.

In fact, it was an all-out sprint to Monday’s filing, as GM quickly sought to nail down deals with its union, bondholders and sell off brands and along with most of its Opel operations in Europe in an effort to appear in court with a near-complete plan to quickly emerge as a leaner company with a chance to become profitable.

The German government on Sunday agreed to lend GM’s Opel unit $2.1 billion, a move necessary for Magna International Inc. to acquire the company. The Canadian auto parts supplier will take a 20 percent stake in Opel and Russian-owned Sberbank will take a 35 percent, giving the two businesses a majority. GM retains 35 percent of Opel, with the remaining 10 percent going to employees.

In the U.S., the UAW’s ratification of concessions, announced Friday, will save GM $1.3 billion per year. The new deal freezes wages, ends bonuses and eliminates some noncompetitive work rules.

It also moves billions in retiree health care costs off GM’s books. In exchange for its ownership stake, $6.5 billion of interest-bearing preferred shares, and a $2.5 billion note, the trust will take on responsibility for all health care costs for retirees starting next year. Higher health care costs alone accounted for a $1,500-per-car cost gap between GM and Japanese vehicles.

GM will offer buyouts and early retirement packages to all of its 61,000 hourly workers as it plans to shrink overall employment. The company also has about 27,000 white collar employees. In contrast, GM employed 618,000 Americans in 1979, more than any other company.

GM earlier outlined a plan to cut about 1,100, or 40 percent, of its dealers by the end of 2010. It also plans to shed about 500 dealerships that market the Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands.

But just cutting labor and overhead costs won’t be enough to save the company. It also has been working to streamline its engineering and design, as well as standardize many parts so they can go into multiple models.

The once powerful GM earns a place in history as the largest U.S. industrial company to file for bankruptcy protection, and the fourth-largest company overall to do so based on its $82.29 billion in assets.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s September 2008 bankruptcy filing is the nation’s largest with $691 billion in assets, and likely served as a catalyst for GM — and Chrysler’s — downfall, as it hastened the erosion of credit markets, making it more difficult for consumers and dealers to finance new vehicles.

AP Auto Writer Kimberly S. Johnson reported from Detroit. AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit, AP Business Writer Harry R. Weber in Atlanta, AP Business Writer Vinnee Tong in New York, and Associated Press writers Ken Thomas and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.

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Reports: NKorea prepares long-range missile launch

By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer Jae-soon Chang, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea has transported its most advanced missile, believed to be capable of reaching Alaska, to a site where it could be ready for launch in a week or two, news reports said Monday.

The reclusive communist country was also reportedly strengthening its defenses and conducting amphibious assault exercises along its western shore, near disputed waters where deadly naval clashes with South Korea have occurred in the past.

With the launch, Pyongyang could also thumb its nose at U.N. Security Council attempts to rein it in after last week’s nuclear test and a series of short-range missile launches.

South Korean media have speculated that the North wants to time the launch for around June 16, when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has a summit in Washington with President Barack Obama.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the missile had been sent by train to the newly completed missile facility of Dongchang-ni, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the Chinese border.

Yonhap, quoting government sources, said the missile could be ready to launch in a week or two. South Korean defense and intelligence officials refused to comment.

U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking at a news conference in the Philippines, said North Korea appears to be working on a long-range missile, but it’s not clear yet what they plan to do with it.

Lee, hosting a conference of Southeast Asian leaders, warned the North against any provocation.

“If North Korea turns its back on dialogue and peace and dares to carry out military threats and provocations, the Republic of Korea will never tolerate that,” Lee said in his regular radio address.

Adding to tensions this week, the trial starts Thursday in Pyongyang of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, accused of entering the country illegally and engaging in “hostile acts.”

North Korea faced strong international criticism after its last long-range missile launch, on April 5. The North said the launch was of a rocket intended to put a satellite in orbit. That modified version of the Taepodong-2 rocket flew about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers), crossing over Japan before crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

The North later threatened to conduct nuclear and long-range missile tests unless the Security Council apologized for criticizing the launch. On Friday, it warned it would take a further “self-defense” measure if the Security Council provokes it.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday the U.K. and other members of the council were drafting tough sanctions to rebuke North Korea over its “wrong, misguided, dangerous” nuclear test.

Officials say financial sanctions, a toughened arms embargo and searches of ships carrying suspected nuclear cargo could be included.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the progress of the Security Council response during a telephone conversation Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

The North’s missile and nuclear programs have been considered a top regional security concern, though the regime is not yet believed to have mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on a missile.

In another sign that a new launch is in the works, the North has designated a large area off its west coast as a “no-sail” zone through the end of next month, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified intelligence officials.

Yonhap said North Korean troops conducted amphibious assault maneuvers along with west coast.

Experts said the North’s preparations were especially significant because it has never launched a long-range missile from the northwestern base.

Kim Tae-woo, vice president of Seoul’s state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said he thinks the North chose the site because of its proximity to China, making it more risky for the U.S. to strike.

The missile being prepared for launch is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an unnamed South Korean official.

That would put Alaska within striking range.

On Monday, the North again said it is being provoked by South Korea and the United States, saying the number of spy planes operating in its airspace has risen dramatically.

“The U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppets perpetrated at least 200 cases of aerial espionage against the DPRK in May, or 30 cases more than those in the same month of last year,” it said in a report in its official Korean Central News Agency.

The DPRK is an abbreviation of North Korea’s official name.

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Associated Press writers Siyoung Lee and Young-joon Ahn on Yeonpyeong island, Lara Jakes in Manila, Philippines, Steve Gutterman in Moscow and David Stringer in London contributed to this report

Pixar goes ‘Up’ with $68.2 million debut weekend (AP)

On the Net:

LOS ANGELES – The animated action comedy “Up” took flight with a $68.2 million opening weekend, maintaining a perfect box-office track record for Pixar Animation, whose 10 films all have been commercial and critical hits.

“Up” had the third-best opening for a film from Disney-owned Pixar, just behind the $70 million debuts for “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.” Last summer’s Disney-Pixar release, “WALL-E,” debuted with $63.1 million.

Like its Pixar predecessors, which include the “Toy Story” movies,” “Finding Nemo” and “Ratatouille,” “Up” earned glowing reviews from critics.

“Usually things that are very popular with audiences don’t necessarily go over that well with critics. These things do both, and pretty much consistently every time,” said Hollywood.com box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “The Disney-Pixar collaboration is probably the closet thing to box-office perfection out there.”

“Up” took over the No. 1 spot from 20th Century Fox’s “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” which slipped to second-place with $25.5 million. The “Museum” sequel raised its 10-day total to $105.3 million.

The weekend’s other new wide release, Universal Pictures’ horror tale “Drag Me to Hell,” opened at No. 3 with $16.6 million. It was a relatively modest return for director Sam Raimi, whose three “Spider-Man” movies had blockbuster opening weekends.

Paramount Pictures’ “Star Trek” steered a strong course, coming in at No. 5 with $12.8 million and passing the computer-animated “Monsters vs. Aliens” as the year’s top-grossing movie so far.

“Star Trek” raised its domestic total to $209.5 million, becoming the first 2009 release to cross the $200 million mark.

“Up” features the voice of Ed Asner in the adventures of a lonely widower who ties helium balloons to his house and flies to a South American adventure with a 9-year-old stowaway.

“An elderly gentleman and a young boy traveling off to South America; it’s not your typical animated story and not necessarily the easiest story to convey,” said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney’s motion-picture group. “That’s why I give a lot of credit to the marketing team for taking a movie that wasn’t easy to convey to the public and opening it to the highest levels of animation that we’ve ever done for an original story.”

Factoring in higher admission prices, earlier Pixar movies such as “Toy Story 2″ and “Monsters, Inc.” sold more tickets than “Up” over their first weekends.

“Up” drew both family crowds and adults without children, and the film’s 3-D release accounted for 51 percent of the total gross, according to Disney.

Hollywood finished the month with record revenues of $1.02 billion, coming in slightly ahead of the previous high in May 2007, according to Hollywood.com.

Momentum for the year continued to slow from the record pace set in the first four months of 2009. While May revenues came in 4.7 percent above those of May 2008, Hollywood has not yet had a sky-high opening on the order of last year’s action hits “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which both topped $300 million domestically.

Overall weekend revenues were at $167 million, virtually even with the same period last year.

Total revenues for 2009 rose to $4.1 billion, up 13.7 percent. Movie attendance was about 11 percent ahead of last year’s.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “Up,” $68.2 million.

2. “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” $25.5 million.

3. “Drag Me to Hell,” $16.6 million.

4. “Terminator Salvation,” $16.1 million.

5. “Star Trek,” $12.8 million.

6. “Angels & Demons,” $11.2 million.

7. “Dance Flick,” $4.9 million.

8. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” $3.9 million.

9. “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” $1.9 million.

10. “Obsessed,” $665,000.

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Calif. octuplets mom and her 14 kids get TV show

LOS ANGELES – The Southern California woman who gave birth to the world’s longest-surviving set of octuplets has signed a deal to star in a reality television series, her lawyer said Sunday.

Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to the six boys and two girls in January and also has six other children, agreed to be filmed for a proposed television show by 3Ball Productions, attorney Jeff Czech said.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Amsterdam-based Eyeworks International, hasn’t yet sold the show to any American television network, he said.

The show will be modeled after a successful Eyeworks TV series in Denmark that documents the lives of four children from the day they were born until they become adults.

“They came up with this idea, presented to her and she liked it because she’ll get to use a camera and do some of the filming herself,” Czech told The Associated Press.

He said film crews will not follow Suleman and her children 24 hours a day, but will document certain milestones such as birthdays and special events.

“It’ll be less intrusive than a reality TV type of program,” Czech said.

A call to 3Ball wasn’t immediately returned Sunday. The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based company is the creator such reality TV shows as “The Biggest Loser,” “For Love Or Money” and “Beauty & The Geek.

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Phil Spector sentenced to 19 years to life

By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

Phil Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison Friday, ending a six-year legal journey and capping an illustrious but rocky career as one of music’s greatest talents.

The legendary “Wall of Sound” producer, 69, was found guilty on April 13 for the fatal shooting of actress Lana Clarkson, 40, at his mansion on Feb. 3, 2003.

Spector’s conviction for second-degree murder carried a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison. Judge Larry Paul Fidler, who also presided over a 2007 murder trial that ended with the jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of conviction, imposed an additional four years for the use of a firearm. Spector, who was given credit for serving 47 days, must serve at least 19 years and will not be eligible for parole until 2028, when he’ll be 88.

During the trial, which began in October and ended after nine days of deliberations, Spector was depicted by prosecutor Truc Do as a violent misogynist with a “history of playing Russian roulette with the lives of women” while drunk.

The sentence serves as an inglorious epilogue to a storied career that took him to heights of fame normally reserved for the stars he produced. In the ’60s, Spector released a slew of classics on his Philles label that brought a symphonic majesty to rock ‘n’ roll, starting with The Crystals’ There’s No Other (Like My Baby).

His use of instrumental density and echo created a sonic signature known as the “Wall of Sound,” best exemplified by such hits as the Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melodyand Ike and Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain High.

Spector’s powers waned in the ’70s, though he periodically continued to produce A-list acts. His legacy was stained by three decades of violent and eccentric behavior that including brandishing guns.

His conviction “is about as far as you can fall from the heights he once reached,” says Nick Marino, managing editor of music magazine Paste. “I don’t think anyone paid a lot of attention to the last couple decades of Spector’s career, but the first couple were seismically important. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him sliding downward for so long and now continuing the trajectory all the way to jail.”

While Spector’s career is finished, his early contributions to music will retain historical heft, Marino predicts.

“Popular culture is pretty forgiving of personal misdeeds,” he says. “Whether they’re critics and historians or fans and consumers, people seem to differentiate the artist from his art. Lots of artists throughout history have had questionable personal lives at best and criminal lives at worst and along the way made some indelible art. Be My Baby is still Be My Baby. Those girl group songs and ‘Wall of Sound’ tunes are amazing. But to say that this taints his personal life and overall character as a human being is an understatement.”

Iraq-born teen cracks maths puzzle

Thu May 28, 8:41 am ET

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – A 16-year-old Iraqi immigrant living in Sweden has cracked a maths puzzle that has stumped experts for more than 300 years, Swedish media reported on Thursday.

In just four months, Mohamed Altoumaimi has found a formula to explain and simplify the so-called Bernoulli numbers, a sequence of calculations named after the 17th century Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli, the Dagens Nyheter daily said.

Altoumaimi, who came to Sweden six years ago, said teachers at his high school in Falun, central Sweden were not convinced about his work at first.

“When I first showed it to my teachers, none of them thought the formula I had written down really worked,” Altoumaimi told the Falu Kuriren newspaper.

He then got in touch with professors at Uppsala University, one of Sweden’s top institutions, to ask them to check his work.

After going through his notebooks, the professors found his work was indeed correct and offered him a place in Uppsala.

But for now, Altoumaimi is focusing on his school studies and plans to take summer classes in advanced mathematics and physics this year.

“I wanted to be a researcher in physics or mathematics; I really like those subjects. But I have to improve in English and social sciences,” he told the Falu Kuriren.

A woman teaches maths in Ouagadougou. A 16-year-old Iraqi immigrant living in Sweden has cracked a maths puzzle that has stumped experts for more than 300 years, Swedish media reports say. (AFP/File/Romaric Hien)

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Solar Power’s New Style – TIME

Solar Power’s New Style

Thursday, Jun. 12, 2008 By BRYAN WALSH

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Roscheisen claims Nanosolar can already produce thin-film solar cells at prices competitive with fossil fuels.

Thomas Broening for TIME

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Mike Gering, CEO of the start-up Global Solar, picks his way along his factory floor, tracing the convoluted path that his thin-film solar panels follow from birth to shipping truck. The raw materials the workers carry are ultra-thin sheets of flexible plastic, which are then coated with a series of chemicals–indium, gallium, diselenide–that allows the module to turn sunlight into electricity.

 

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The atmosphere here is less high tech than high school chemistry lab, and Global Solar’s days in this cramped Tucson, Ariz., facility are history. The company is shifting production to a sparkling factory just a few miles down the road. The new facility is fast enough to churn out 40 megawatts’ worth of thin-film solar panels a year, more than 10 times Global Solar’s previous capacity.

It’s a story being repeated throughout the solar world, from the Southwest to Silicon Valley to Germany. Everywhere you look, thin-film solar companies are opening new, more efficient factories. The thin in thin film refers to the skinny layers of photoactive chemicals needed for the technology, as compared with the thicker films used in crystalline-silicon solar modules. Though thin-film photovoltaics are cheaper than the crystalline ones on most rooftop solar panels, the technology has proved maddeningly difficult to mass-produce, which had kept it from going mainstream. But today thin film is the hottest part of the fastest-growing new energy source in the world. BCC Research, which charts technology markets, expects the global solar market to grow from $13 billion to $32 billion by 2012, with thin film expanding 45% a year. Masdar, the clean-energy arm of the government of Abu Dhabi, just announced that it will invest $2 billion in thin film. “Crystalline silicon has had its day,” says Peter Harrop, chairman of the London-based research firm IDTechEx. “These new technologies will be taking over.”

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