First report delivered into AF447 crash

French investigators looking into the Air France crash over the Atlantic a month ago have delivered their first report.

They said they were still far from establishing what caused the Airbus 330 travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris to plunge into the Atlantic on June 1 with 228 people on board.

There were no survivors.

Chief investigator Alain Bouillard said they were able to rule out any possibility that the plane broke up in mid-air.

“It seems the plane hit the surface of the water in the line of flight with a strong vertical acceleration,” he added.

Investigators said the search would continue for the plane’s black boxes but hopes of finding them are fading fast as they only emit signals 30 days after a crash.

51 bodies and hundreds of pieces of wreckage have been recovered.

No distress call was received from the plane, but 24 automated messages were sent in the final minutes before it came down.

There has been speculation about the plane’s airspeed sensors, the so-called “pitot” probes, which provided inconsistent readings in the final minutes before the plane came down. However, investigators said that while they might have been one of the elements they were not the cause of the accident.

Major Afghan surge aims to squeeze Taliban

The goal of Operation Strike of the Sword is all of the Lower Helmand River valley.

Two British soldiers were killed on Wednesday paving the way for this latest offensive.

Waves of helicopters landed troops before dawn. About 4,000 surged forward, backed up by thousands more in one of the biggest operations in Afghanistan since the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

In all, there are 61,000 troops from 42 countries fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

America’s 29,000 are due to be more than doubled by the end of the year. Britain has had a major major presence in Helmand Province since the invasion in 2001.

And the Afghan force comprises almost 90,000. The Taliban is estimated by one general to number between 10,000 and 18,000 in the south.

Pakistan has re-deployed some of its border forces to block the frontier with south-western Afghanistan to prevent insurgent fighters from fleeing.

The Taliban might be at the centre of a squeeze, but they have warned they will fight back.

Italian Senate approves immigration crackdown

Tough new laws against illegal immigration are set to come into force after being approved by the Italian senate.

Among the controversial measures are fines of up to 10,000 euros for anyone caught trying to enter the country illegally. It has provoked an outcry from humanitarian groups and the left.

Felice Belisario of the leftist opposition said the costs of implementing the legislation would actually undermine security and “paralyse the justice system”.

The detention period for suspected offenders has been increased from two to four months. Cracking down on illegal immigration has been a top priority for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his allies.

Federico Bricolo of the Northern League said: “Having stopped the illegals from landing on our shores we’re targeting those in our towns — the criminals, drug-traffickers and pimps. We don’t want these people among us.”

Italy has been one of the European country’s most affected by illegal immigration in recent years and it remains divided on how to tackle the problem. In some areas people have set up civilian patrols, another source of deep debate.

The nuclear debate reaches boiling point in Spain

The government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is to decide whether to allow an ageing nuclear plant to remain in service longer than its 40-year normal lifespan.

According to television reports in Spain the Garona nuclear reactor will get the green light until 2013.

Prime Minister Zapatero has emphasised the importance of alternative energy sources.

“The government has to maintain what is strictly necessary concerning nuclear energy, just the absolutely essential, but the emphasis is on renewable energy,” he said.

Workers from the Garona nuclear plant gathered in Madrid to protest the possible closure of the reactor near Burgos in northern Spain in 2013. They faced environmentalists demanding that the plants be closed immediately.

Luis Gonzalez Reyes of Spain’s Ecologists in Action said: “It’s about the greed of some private energy companies such as Endese and Iberdrola to continue making a profit.”

Spain has eight functioning nuclear plants. Some will not turn 40 until 2020. Permits for six of them are due to be renewed by 2011.

Zapatero’s socialists have pledged to gradually replace nuclear power with renewable energy.

Spain is the second biggest solar energy producer in the world and is ranked number three worldwide for the production of wind energy.

Zapatero’s goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions and the country’s heavy dependence on imported fuels. This is the first test of his electoral pledge to phase out nuclear power.

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Comoros crash miracle survivor flown home

The sole survivor of the Comoros air crash has been flown home to France and is being treated in hospital. Even though Bahia Bakari can barely swim, she clung on to floating debris for the entire day before rescuers spotted her.

It was a painful homecoming. Although the 12 year old was reunited with her father before being taken to hospital, her mother did not make it out alive from the stricken jet.

The Yemenia Airways Airbus plunged into the Indian Ocean while trying to land in bad weather.
The lack of flotsam has led local rescuers to suspect many of the 152 remaining passengers and crew remain trapped in the body of the Airbus.

There is a feeling among the search teams that efforts should now be concentrated on finding the wreck of the plane.

The President of the Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, went to the makeshift rescue centre at Mitsamiouli on the coast. Dozens of Red Crescent tents have sprung up on the shoreline. About 100 American, Yemeni, French and Comoran military have gathered to help in the rescue effort.

French Air Accident investigators are also sending a team, along with expert engineers from Airbus.

Two killed in RAF Tornado crash

Two RAF air crew have been killed after a Tornado jet crashed during a training flight in Argyll.

The plane came down on a hillside near the Rest and Be Thankful beauty spot in Glen Kinglass, near Arrochar, at about 1145 BST.

The Ministry of Defence said that the Tornado F3 was based at RAF Leuchars in Fife and that next of kin had been informed.

No civilians are thought to have been hurt in the crash.