September 11, 2001 - September 11, 2010 - The Attack

Today we remember the tragic event happened 9 years ago. The 9-11 attack has always been the nightmare of American people. A lot of innocent people died from a no sense attack from the Taliban 9 years ago (September 11, 2001 ). Hopefully this kind of tragic even won't happen to America again.

Mexico's Navarrete is Miss Universe

Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete (22) was crowned Miss Universe 2010 on Tuesday, beating off competition from 82 contestants including Miss India.

Ms. Navarrete, dressed in a red gown with a flowing train, impressed judges by highlighting the importance of teaching children about family values.

Runners-up

She was followed by Miss Jamaica Yendi Philipps while Miss Australia Jenista Campbell was the second runner-up at the 59th annual pageant held here on Monday.

Miss India Ushoshi Sengupta (21) from Kolkata did not make it to the top 15; neither did Miss USA Rima Fakih, who had grabbed international headlines for being the first Muslim American to represent the U.S. in the competition.

Asked by Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek how she felt about unsupervised Internet use, Ms. Navarrete said the Internet was important but parents needed to be careful and watch over their kids.

Ms. Navarrete replaces Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela who won the title in 2009.

As part of her winning, she will get a luxury New York apartment with living expenses, a one-year scholarship to the New York Film Academy, jewellery, clothes, shoes and an undisclosed sum of money.

“I want to give my parents a big hug. There was a lot of effort and a lot of sacrifice,” she said at a press conference after winning the title.

Second Mexican

Ms. Navarrete has been a model since she was 15 years old and is only the second Mexican beauty after Lupita Jones (1991) to win the title of Miss Universe.

Her win earned her a congratulatory message on Twitter from Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Manila bus hostage-taking ends with 8 dead

This is a very sad news and a big shame to the Filipino community. I woke up this morning and turned the tv on and this was what I have witnessed. A hostage taking took place in the city of Manila today. It was a tragic event especially for the tourist who were headed back home. It is suppose to be their flight going back to Hongkong today but were held by a former policemen. It is not only a big shame to our country but also to the police department. According to the news, 15 Hongkong nationals were held and confirmed that 8 died. This is a very sad day in our country and hopefully justice will be served to the victims.

Egg Recall

I was watching the Filipino Channel particularly "Balitang (news) America" on egg recall. I was shocked with the news. 228 million eggs were recall because it was infected with "salmonella. The eggs which may be infected with salmonella are all produced in Galt, Iowa by Wright County Egg, but they are sold in retail stores as a myriad of different brands.

Here are the brand names that were infected:

Albertson
Boomsma's
Dutch Farms
Farm Fresh
Hillandale
Kemps
Lucerne
Lund
Mountain Dairy
Ralph's
Shoreland
Sunshine
Trafficanda

Eggs are packed in varying sizes of cartons (6-egg cartons, dozen egg cartons, 18-egg cartons) with Julian dates ranging from 136 to 225 and plant numbers 1026, 1413 and 1946. Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number begins with the letter P and then the number. The Julian date follows the plant number, for example: P-1946 223.

So guys, do check the eggs that you recently purchased. Let us be more cautious of what we buy and eat and good thing they've warned the public about this concern.

Rome Police Hold Anniversary

This video is so amazing! Their celebration is just so unique and I guess only in Rome. Way to go!

Battle to halt BP oil spill is nearing its end

The multi - billion company BP is now rejoicing. As I have read on the news they are now celebrating the momentum that their problem is coming to an end. The oils lick has finally stop and hopefully it will continue.

Today the President has declared the US's largest and most politically embarrassing oil spill near an end as BP said it had reached a "significant milestone" in its efforts to permanently seal the Deepwater Horizon well.

"The long battle is finally close to coming to an end, and we are very pleased with that," said the president, who was strongly criticized for what was initially seen as a slow and weak response as millions of barrels of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP said it had completed a process known as static kill, in which heavy mud was pumped in to plug the stricken well, producing a "textbook" result.

BP still faces an as yet undetermined number of compensation claims, which Browner said the government was determined to see it meet. "We are going to continue to ensure that BP is held accountable for the damage that they did, for the economic losses and ultimately for the natural resource damages and all of the restoration that will take place in the Gulf communities and in the Gulf at large." The company also has to settle with the families of 11 workers killed in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that set off the spill.

Yellow Lobster Caught

I was reading the news today and it was all about the yellow lobster found in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. Experts said that this is very rare. My opinion, I do believe that this kind of species are very rare because I personally do not have any experience seeing a yellow lobster. They said this is one in 30 million. Wow! this is really something. Here's the video, I just thought of sharing it.

The 15th President of the Philippines

The 15th President of the Philippines, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. Son of the late former President Corazon Aquino.

Amid Super Bowl hoopla, fight over 'Who Dat'

Who owns "Who Dat?"

Some T-shirt makers are asking that question after they were hit with cease-and-desist letters from the NFL demanding that they stop selling shirts with the traditional cheer of New Orleans Saints fans. The National Football League says the shirts infringe on a legal trademark it owns. Separately, two brothers and longtime Saints fans claim they own the phrase, which was around before the long-downtrodden team's inception in 1966. The chant _ "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints" _ is often shortened to "Who Dat" on shirts and signs and has been a mainstay at the Superdome since the 1980s. Saints fans, still jubilant after the Saints' win over the Minnesota Vikings for their first Super Bowl appearance, have voiced their dismay on radio talk shows, blogs and Web site posts. Many say it's something that simply can't be owned. "How can they put a trademark on something that's been around for 150 years?" said Robert Lauricella, a 50-year-old oil field sales representative. "Just because the Saints have made the Super Bowl, why does everybody have to make a buck?"

Shirts bearing the Saints cheer are big business as the team prepares for the big game against the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami. Lauren Thom, owner of the Fleurty Girl T-shirt shop in New Orleans, said Thursday that she recently received a letter from the NFL demanding that she quit selling "Who Dat" shirts. "I don't mind paying royalties," Thom said. "I just don't know who owns 'Who Dat' or whether it's in the public domain." The NFL doesn't cut much slack when it believes it owns a trademark. This case is no exception. In an e-mail, league spokesman Brian McCarthy said the NFL has sent a handful of letters in the past year asking vendors to stop selling "Who Dat" merchandise. The unlicensed shirts led fans to believe the Saints endorsed the product, he said. "This helps protect the local businesses that are selling legitimate Saints merchandise and also the local printers that are making the licensed Saints apparel," he said. Meanwhile, WhoDat Inc., controlled by longtime Saints fans and brothers Sal and Steve Monistere, also claims rights to the phrase. In 1983, Steve Monistere produced the song "Who Dat Say They Gonna Beat Dem Saints" with Aaron Neville and several Saints players.

In a statement Thursday, WhoDat Inc. said that before that recording, there were no branded items with the motto. The brothers said the company has the only federal trademark for "Who Dat." Steve Monistere said he and his brother were at the Saints' first game in 1967 and have been fans through all the ups and downs _ mostly downs, of course. Storyville shop co-owner Gabriel Harvey pulled his "Who Dat" shirts after getting letters from the NFL and WhoDat Inc. "It seems unclear who, if anyone, owns it," Harvey said. "A lot of people believe it belongs to the city and the people." Two members of Louisiana's congressional delegation _ Republican Sen. David Vitter and Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon _ took public umbrage at the NFL.
Vitter wrote NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, urging the league to concede that "Who Dat" is in the public domain. Otherwise, Vitter said he will print and sell T-shirts with "WHO DAT say we can't print Who Dat!" on them. "Please either drop your present ridiculous position or sue me," Vitter wrote. Melancon provided a link _ headed "No One Owns WHO DAT" _ on his Twitter page to a petition encouraging the NFL to back off. The "Who Dat" chant's origins are somewhat murky. Some historians say it came about in the days of late 19th-century minstrel shows and later showed up in vaudeville routines. In 1937's "A Day at the Races," the Marx Brothers perform a number _ in blackface _ called "Who Dat Man." "Who Dat" also is used in a 1938 MGM cartoon _ now seldom seen because of its racially offensive nature _ called "Swing Wedding," which featured frog caricatures of black entertainers such as Ethel Waters, the Mills Brothers, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway. It's been yelled at high school and college games, and fans of the Cincinnati Bengals are known to chant "Who Dey?" Glenn Lunney, a Tulane University Law School professor specializing in intellectual property, said a trademark is different from a copyright or patent and doesn't necessarily have to be original. For example, computer and iPod manufacturer Apple trademarked the familiar, centuries-old fruit, he said. "You can take a word and by applying it to goods or services get people to think about your goods or services," and get commercial rights, he said. The NFL would likely argue it has a valid trademark because "Who Dat" is so strongly associated with the Saints, he said. In a similar case, bookstores around the University of Wisconsin sold "Bucky Badger" T-shirts royalty-free for years _ until the university trademarked the mascot itself in the late 1980s and won its case in court, Lunney said. As for Thom, she said several New Orleans attorneys have offered free legal help. And how about the WhoDat Inc. guys? They "were nice" about the situation, Thom said _ "they said we should market the shirts together and make more money together."

Old Yankee Stadium in shadow of new park, sits out first Yankee WS since ?23

As the No. 4 elevated train pulls into the 161st Street station in the Bronx, it passes by the original Yankee Stadium. Hardly a rider notices. The home to exactly 100 World Series games and nine clinchers for the Yankees stands ignored, just across the street from its glitzy, new US$1.5 billion replacement. "I did the first few times I came. I thought about then," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in an interview with The Associated Press before Game 1 of the Series. "Once I'm here, I don't anymore. Destined to be taken down piece by piece, the 86-year-old Yankee Stadium is a shell of itself, wrapped in scaffolding, construction netting and a blue plywood wall at street level. Take a sliver of a peek into the park from the 4 train, peer through a hole in the fence on River Avenue or look inside from the plaza across 161st Street and you'll see the place has been stripped of its memories. The nearly 56,000 blue seats are gone, leaving tiers of exposed concrete. The padding that covered the right-field wall where little Jeffrey Maier reached over and coaxed a flyball into a home run for Derek Jeter in the 1996 American League championship series is gone, too. The mound where Mariano Rivera saved 15 playoff games. Flattened. The perfectly manicured lawn has been cut up. All that's left is a mound of dirt piled high near the visiting dugout, weeds growing wildly. The batter's eye black area in centre field where Reggie Jackson sent one of his three home runs bouncing in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, is faded and greying. And the soaring yellow foul poles have been toppled. "It is sad when you think about everything that's gone on over there, but this is everything we had hoped for," Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte said. "When we built this new stadium we hoped to be able to bring a World Series here."

Microsoft bets on Windows success

Speaking at the official launch of Windows 7 in London, Microsoft executives said they had listened to consumers and delivered a more streamlined, feature-packed system. It follows widespread criticism of predecessor Vista. Windows 7 faces stiff competition from rival operating systems and new ways of storing applications. In the UK, the software giant will tie up with Sky to offer its on-demand Sky Player service. It will allow consumers to watch a range of live and on-demand TV programmes via the Windows Media Center, which is included in most editions of Windows 7. Microsoft's UK managing director Ashley Highfield said Windows 7 marked a "new dawn in Microsoft's relationship with the consumer". "Windows 7 is much more than a collection of new features. We have listened to what consumers want and they want something that makes their lives easier," said Mr Highfield. The operating system has already been in beta testing among eight million official users, and a farther seven million unofficial testers have also used it. The software giant used one billion data sessions to find out how people navigate with Windows; information such as how many times people visit the start menu - around 12 times per session - and how many windows they have open at any one time - between two and seven is the average. So far Windows 7 seems to have had a good reception. According to electrical retailer DSGi, which includes UK high street brands PC World and Currys, there have been more people buying pre-ordered copies of Windows 7 in the last three weeks than for the whole first year of Vista sales. "It hasn't taken Microsoft to hype it up, the blogosphere is saying it is a good product," said Jeremy Fennel, a director at DSGi. Some 60% of consumers surveyed by DSGi said they were holding off buying a new PC or laptop until Windows 7 was launched. Often-used applications can be dragged into the taskbar and users can view a thumbnail shot of all the windows they have open. Microsoft has acknowledged that the Windows pop-ups that interrupt users are "rude". With Windows 7 users can customise how and when they view such pop-ups. There is also a feature that allows users to "snap" two windows together to make reading and comparing easier and a facility that allows all open windows to be minimised at the shake of a mouse. The software giant has decreased the amount of time the system takes to boot up and has improved battery life and reduced memory - an acknowledgment that many people will want to use Windows on laptops rather than desktops. For Internet Explorer 8, which is installed in the new operating system, there are improved security features including Smart Screen Filtering, which intercepts suspicious downloads and warns users that they are unsafe. There are also offered improved services in add-ons such as Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. Windows still runs on 90% of the world's computers but it is a internet-dominated landscape that Windows 7 enters. It has led commentators to suggest that Windows is becoming an irrelevance. More and more applications are being written for so-called cloud computing - which supports popular apps such as web-based email and social networks in data centres rather than on individual computers. It is an area Microsoft is keen to exploit and last year it unveiled its own cloud computing service called Azure, dubbed "Windows for the cloud". Windows also faces stiff competition from free operating systems, such as the Linux-based Ubunto system which launches its newest version next week and arch-rival Google's Chrome OS. Many though remain loyal to the Microsoft universe and for those wishing to upgrade from Vista, the software giant has promised a "seamless" experience. It acknowledged that upgrades from older operating systems might be "more difficult." "XP has been on the market for ten years so we recommend that people wait until they are ready to purchase a new PC or do a clean install," said Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's vice president of user experience. Some experts cautioned against rushing out and buying it. John Bogue, from Which? Computing, said: "Software bugs are par the course for newly released programs, and operating systems are no exception. Unless you like downloading patches and updates, we recommend waiting a year." The home edition of Windows 7 is available in the UK for £79.99 until 1 January. After that it will cost £99.99.

Yahoo 3Q profit soars despite 12 pct revenue drop

Yahoo Inc. may finally be pulling out of a three-year slump that cast aside two CEOs and spurred a cost-costing spree that laid off about 2,000 workers. The purge is the main reason Yahoo's third-quarter profit more than tripled from last year to soar past analysts' relatively low expectations for the troubled Internet company. But the results released Tuesday also showed Yahoo's revenue fell by at least 12 percent for the third consecutive quarter. The revenue rut means Yahoo still has a long way to go on its comeback trail. Analysts, though, believe Yahoo should be able to boost its ad sales - the main source of its revenue - as long as the U.S. economy continues to heal and marketers funnel more of their budgets to the Web. Carol Bartz, Yahoo's third chief executive since June 2007, indicated she believes the worst is over in a prepared statement. "We had a solid third quarter that signals our major businesses have stabilized," she said. The Sunnyvale-based earned $186 million, or 13 cents a share, in the July-September quarter, compared with $54 million, or 4 cents a share, at the same time last year. The average analyst estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was 7 cents per share. Revenue for the period fell 12 percent $1.58 billion, barely an improvement from the first six months of the year when revenue dropped by 13 percent. The earnings improvement was primarily driven by a series of layoffs that has whittled Yahoo's payroll from 15,200 employees in September 2008 year to 13,200 at the end of last month. Yahoo shares gained 38 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $17.55 in extended trading. In regular trading earlier, shares fell 5 cents to close at $17.17.

Boy feared floating away in homemade balloon found

This was the headline tonight. About a child trap on a flying balloon.

A 6-year-old boy was found hiding in a cardboard box in his family's garage Thursday after being feared aboard a homemade helium balloon that hurtled 50 miles through the sky on live television.

The discovery marked a bizarre end to a saga that started when the giant silvery balloon floated away from the family's yard Thursday morning, sparking a frantic rescue operation that involved military helicopters and briefly halted some departures from Denver International Airport.

Then, more than two hours after the balloon gently touched down in a field with no sign of the boy, Sheriff Jim Alderden turned to reporters during a news conference, gave a thumbs up and said 6-year-old Falcon Heene was at his house.

"Apparently he's been there the whole time," he said.

The confusion over whether the boy was in the balloon arose as the family tinkered with the craft Thursday and Falcon's father scolded him for getting inside a compartment. He said Falcon's brother saw him inside the compartment and that's why they mistakenly thought he was aboard the balloon when it launched.

But the boy had fled to the garage, climbing a pole into the rafters and hiding in a cardboard box, at some point after the scolding and was never in the balloon during its two-hour, 50-mile journey through two counties. "I yelled at him. I'm really sorry I yelled at him," Richard Heene said, choking up and hugging Falcon to him during a news conference.

Read More....

Typhoon Ondoy Hits Manila Area

This are just 2 of the pictures I got from the Philippine News about the typhoon "Ondoy" that hits the area of Manila Saturday September 26, 2009. I feel so devastated of what my fellow countrymen is facing right now. A lot of them have lost their home and lives. As I was watching the news, the update was, their were 106 people died already from the typhoon and a lot of people are still missing. Until now volunteers, Military men and some organization are continuously helping our fellow Filipinos on the said tragedy. They are giving away goods for the victim of typhoon "Ondoy". Retrival operation is still on going and as the day goes by, a lot of dead bodies are being recovered. I pity for those family who lost their loved ones for this typhoon that hits their area. I hope they can survive this another tragedy that came in their lives and surpass everything. My prayers are with them. According to the news, the typhoon "Ondoy" is now approaching Vietnam area but another low pressure area is sighted on the Phillipine area of responsibility again and expected to be another typhoon that will hit the Philippines by Thursdays. Oh God please help them.

Obama goes back to school

On September 8, in what the Department of Education is touting as a "historic" speech, President Obama will be talking directly to students across the U.S., live on the White House website. But some parents and conservatives are blasting the president, calling the speech an excuse to brainwash American children. Last month, in an interview with 11-year-old student reporter Damon Weaver, the president announced his big back-to-school plan:

"I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education; about the importance of staying in school; how we want to improve our education system and why it’s so important for the country. So I hope everybody tunes in." Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to the nation's principals, inviting schools to watch the speech and included suggested classroom activities. But Jim Greer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, came out swinging against the planned speech. An excerpt from his statement:

"The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President's agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates."

NBC spoke with Katie Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Florida Republican Party, who said the party's "beef" is with the accompanying lesson plans. The guide for pre-K through grade 6 suggests questions students think about during the speech, such as "What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do?" The plan for grades 7-12 includes a "guided discussion," with suggested topics: "What resonated with you from President Obama's speech? What is President Obama inspiring you to do?" The Cato Institute, a public-policy research foundation, issued a press release entitled "Hey Obama, Leave Those Kids Alone," criticizing the "troubling buzzwords" in the lesson plans:

"It's one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that's a reasonable use of the bully pulpit. It's another thing entirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change."

Across the blogosphere, comments covered the spectrum, from critical to supportive, and from one student, a little anger: "I sent my children to school to be educated NOT indoctrinated." — justamom "The fact that people want to keep their kids from hearing the President of the United States encourage them to do well in school shows a true level of ignorance." — Firefey "As an [sic] 9th grade student, I'd like to say that 1. I'm not sure why everyone is so scared that we'll all be brainwashed by the President ... 2. My school is one that is not allowing us to watch the speech, and quite frankly, I'm pissed." — Willbw Both Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan both gave speeches aimed specifically at students that were nationally televised. In 1989, Bush delivered a televised anti-drug speech, and Reagan's 1986 commencement speech and Q&A session was "beamed over public television into 171 school districts," according to the L.A. Times. It's worth noting that schools are, encouraged, not required, to air the speech. The Houston Chronicle reports that one Dallas school district is leaving the decision to individual teachers. Susan Dacus, spokeswoman for the Wylie school district, says parents who don't want their children to see it can opt out. In an ironic twist, one Missouri school won't be airing the speech because of a lack of funding. Michelle Baumstark, spokeswoman for Columbia public schools, told the Columbia Daily Tribune, "We don’t have the funding or the equipment to support that type of broadcasting.”

Jon Voight asks Republicans to 'bring an end to this false prophet, Obama'

Barack Obama "portrayed himself as a moderate but turned out to be wildly radical", so said Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie's father, at a Republican fundraiser in Washington last night. The actor was the host of a dinner at the Washington Convention Centre that raked in nearly $15m for conservative candidates. Voight ripped into the president: "Everything Obama has recommended has turned out to be disastrous." Voight then aimed his venom at other Democrats including Senate leader Harry Reid, White House aide David Axelrod and House speaker Nancy Pelosi for contributing to what he claimed was the "downfall of the country". The presence of former Republican vice-presidential candidate and current governor of Alaska Sarah Palin added to the drama of the evening. In March Palin was slated to be the keynote speaker at the dinner. She was then replaced by former House speaker Newt Gingrich. After much public squabbling, Palin agreed to attend the dinner but did not speak at the event.

Severe weather alerts across Oregon

SALEM, Ore. – A series of powerful and dangerous thunderstorms began roaring through western Oregon Thursday afternoon, prompting multiple warnings from the National Weather Service. A rare Tornado warning was issued briefly for parts of Marion County. In a rare move, the Rose Festival announced the closure of the Waterfront Village for the remainder of the evening. East of Salem, Highway 22 was delayed at Mill City due to multiple trees down along the highway. In Stayton, the Fire Department reported isolated trees and power lines down. In Albany, a KGW viewer captured a photo of lightning strikes over the city. ODOT reported trees down on Hwy 213 near Silverton. The right lane of I-5 NB was blocked by a downed tree at MP 268 was between Woodburn and Salem. KGW Chief Meteorologist Matt Zaffino said the storms were coming off the Cascades foothills and developing very rapidly. The storm was also causing power outages across western Oregon. At 5 p.m., PGE estimated that about 18,000 customers were without power Zaffino said the storms were developing at nearly 30,000 feet -- making an intense combination of wind, hail, rain and lightning. An intense line of radar activity could be seen from the Oregon Coast, through Albany and across the Cascade Range. The threat of thunderstorms was expected to last through about 9 p.m. A 14-year-old La Pine boy was in fair condition in a Portland hospital Thursday after he was struck by lightning on Wednesday outside a high school gymnasium in LaPine in Central Oregon. More than 5,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the state on Wednesday.

Four youths held after incident at Princeton

Students at Princeton University were asked to remain indoors briefly Wednesday after a report of an armed man on campus, but police determined that there was no gunman, according to the university's Web site. However, four juveniles with a toy gun were taken into custody, New Jersey State Police said on the Web site Twitter. The state police said they had been given the information by Princeton University police. The university Web site said the investigation continues "with Princeton Borough and Township police, who have reopened the campus." "Shortly before 11 a.m., a male with what appeared to be a handgun was reported near the vicinity of Dod Hall dormitory," the notification said. The all-clear was issued at 11:25 a.m., the university said

Air France Crash Update: Data May Be Lost

A very devastating news. According to authorities a crucial Air France crash data may be be lost at sea, but Brazil hopes to find the jet under the ocean sea. Brazil's president believes it will be technically possible to find the wreckage of the Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic earlier this week, and salvage the black box. France has said the flight recorders from the plane, which went missing en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 passengers and crew on board early on Monday, are unlikely to be found due to the extreme depth. However, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was quoted by the Globo daily as saying: "I think that a country that can produce oil at a depth of 6,000 meters will be able to find an airplane at a depth of 2,000 meters." He said Brazil would continue "doing everything possible and impossible" to find the black box and the passengers' bodies. Brazil's Air Force said on Tuesday it had found fragments of the wreckage floating in the area where that the plane last made contact. The French Bureau for the Investigation of Air Accidents said the black boxes would probably not be found due to insufficient information the mountainous terrain of the ocean floor, and that the wreckage could have sunk to a depth of 3,000 meters. "I am not very optimistic that we will be able to find the flight recorders," Paul Louis Arslanian told reporters. France has sent a research ship with two mini-submarines to the area. The debris was discovered around 650 kilometers (390 miles) north of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha archipelago. Before losing contact, Air France Flight 447 had sent an automatic signal to airline maintenance computers from the area, indicating several technical failures. Lightning has been suggested as a possible cause of what, if confirmed, would be the worst civilian plane crash since 2001. However, French authorities are not ruling out terrorism. The Brazilian Navy has dispatched five vessels to assist in the search effort. The operation also involves five planes, two Air Force helicopters and four commercial vessels.

Mike Tyson's Daughter Dead Following Household Accident

The 4-year-old daughter of boxer Mike Tyson died at a hospital Tuesday, a day her neck apparently got caught in a treadmill cord at her Phoenix home, police said.

Exodus Tyson was pronounced dead just before noon, police Sgt. Andy Hill said. She had been on life support and police have said their investigation showed her injury on Monday was a "tragic accident. "There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Exodus," the family said in a statement. "We ask you now to please respect our need at this very difficult time for privacy to grieve and try to help each other heal. "Exodus had been on life support in a Phoenix hospital. Following her hospitalization, Phoenix Police Sergeant Andy Hill said, "Somehow the little girl got something caught across her throat, she became unresponsive, the boy went and got the mother, and the mother came out and found the child." A neighbor had added, "It's just very sad. The mom is very sweet, very doting... they're just lovely, they ride their little bikes down the street."