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Sunday, August 9, 2009

Nine die in New York air crash over Hudson River NY.Read Witness Accounts.




Image above show rescuer pulling up corpses from Hudson River.Believed upto 9 may have dead from the mid air collisions.






Rescue looking for debris , survivors and corpses.





Fox show the footing of the occurs.The plane hit the back of the helicopter.








Map above show the location of the midair accidents.

Police and emergency crews continued their search for wreckage and bodies in the Hudson River a day after a small plane collided with a sightseeing helicopter carrying a group of Italian tourists, apparently killing nine people.


[SB124975510036816833]
Fox News Channel

A plane and helicopter crashed above the Hudson River today, sending debris into the river and onto the Hoboken, N.J., waterfront.

Based on preliminary eyewitness reports of the low-altitude crash, which occurred in good weather, officials said the single-engine propeller plane apparently smashed into the rear of the helicopter as the two aircraft were flying in the same direction, scattering debris in the river and on the New Jersey waterfront. The accident took place in a narrow corridor over the river reserved for general aviation and other aircraft operating under visual flight rules -- and no requirement to communicate with air-traffic controllers.


New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the crash as "not survivable.'' Three bodies and helicopter wreckage were recovered before search efforts were halted for the night Saturday. Three hours after the crash, which took place around noon, the National Transportation Safety Board was on scene to direct the investigation. Investigators resumed their search at daybreak Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Six people were on board the helicopter which plummeted into the river. Three people were believed to have been travelling in the plane

Mayor Bloomberg emphasized during a news conference that both aircraft were flying under so-called "see and avoid" rules that don't require monitoring by controllers despite the surrounding busy airspace and several major airports in the vicinity. "This could have happened over a cornfield as well as the Hudson River," he said.

Commercial and private jets are restricted from flying at such low altitudes. They follow takeoff and approach routes to metropolitan airports that take them well above the visual-flight corridor over the Hudson.

Hudson River corridor is a popular shortcut for northbound and southbound flights to and from New England. "It's scenic too," which helps make the fly zone a busy area. Complicating matters, while airplanes must fly along the river, helicopters, which aren't bound by the same rules, might cross it.

Helicopter pilots and others who frequently fly the Hudson sightseeing route—which keeps them under 1,000 feet--rely on special procedures, including broadcasting on and monitoring a dedicated radio frequency designed to make pilots aware of nearby traffic. Such transmissions are recommended but aren't required. It isn't clear whether the small plane's pilot was using the special frequency.

Witness Accounts

Witnesses to the crash described how debris from the two aircraft disappeared within seconds beneath the water's surface, and rescue workers soon determined that there were no survivors, officials said.

According to eye-witness reports, it appeared that the helicopter had just taken off from a mid-town helipad and turned south down the river when the plane smashed into it, shearing off a rotor. Both aircraft shed debris as they plummeted into the water.

There were unconfirmed reports that the plane may have lost part of a wing just before the smash. It had taken off from Teterboro, a private airport in New Jersey, a few minutes earlier

"It would appear that the airplane ran into the backside of the helicopter," Bloomberg(New York Mayor) said, saying the precise cause of the collision may not be known for days or weeks, pending an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The helicopter belonged to Liberty Harbour Sightseeing Tours which runs popular aerial tours of major New York landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty. The weather conditions were clear and calm at the time of the crash just before midday.

The Hoboken all-stars girls soccer team was in the middle of practice on Saturday when the goalie looked up and saw two aircraft flying into each other in the clear skies overhead.\


-Youth soccer coach Leo Pellegrini, orange shirt, is surrounded by reporters as he recounts his views the horrifying crash.-

"There was a big cracking sound and the propeller from the helicopter flew off and the plane's wing broke off," 12-year-old Marina Wardell said.

"The plane was swirling and landed a little bit aways. The helicopter went head first and plunged into the water.

"Then, like five seconds later, it sunk. It was like it was from a movie! It was shocking to see it actually happening."

For a moment, the dozen girls scattered across Sinatra Soccer Field cowered, fearing they were going to be hit by debris.

Then, when it was clear they were safe, they ran over to the fence along the river and pressed up against it, craning to see if anyone survived.

"I just saw the pieces floating around. It happened really fast. I didn't see anyone," Marina said.
On the other side of the sparkling, crowded river, Jahangir Alam was selling empanadas and sodas at a Hudson River Park refreshment stand.

"The plane and the helicopter were flying at each other and they turned away not to crash. But the plane hit the back of the helicopter," said Alam, 49, a Bangladeshi immigrant who lives in Queens.

"My first thought was, 'someone save the people.'"

At a cafe on Little W. 12th St., Alanna Duffy, 29, saw huge chunks of mangled aircraft falling across the sky.

"I just saw the propeller twisting through the air," she said. "The body was doing a nosedive. It went right in the water."

Retired machinist Gabriel Stise, 78, was eating lunch on a shady riverside bench in Hoboken when the plane went over his head.

"It didn't sound right. It was loud. It was very low," he said.

"It came down and just sank. I didn't see anyone in the water. They must have gone down with it. There's so much room up there. How could this happen?"

Nearby, Hilda Igartua, 53, sat in her wheelchair talking on the phone as her husband, Angel Vacqez, 50, fished happily.

"I saw the plane hit the helicopter," she said.

"The helicopter went spinning down, breaking into pieces. I saw debris falling everywhere. My husband got scared and pushed me back. He was screaming."

"It sounded like putting a fork in a blender, but louder, like fireworks," said Grendaly Torres, who was helping her mother sell jewelry in the park.


Past Accidents

In October 2006, a private plane that took off from Teterboro ended up flying into a high-rise apartment building along Manhattan's East River. New York Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor were killed in the crash and it seriously injured one person on the ground. In the wake of that accident, authorities restricted private planes from flying certain routes over the East River.


Seven months ago, the same river was the scene of a spectacular aircraft accident that resulted in no loss of life. In January, a US Airways flight taking off from LaGuardia Airport slammed into a flock of birds and lost power in both engines. The plane crash-landed in the Hudson River, roughly half a mile from Saturday's crash, and all 155 people on board were pulled to safety.

Two years ago, a Liberty helicopter fell 500 feet from the sky into the same river during a sightseeing trip. The pilot was credited with safely landing the chopper on the water and helping evacuate her seven passengers.


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--NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Statement On Helicopter & Small Plane [Piper PA-32] Crash Over New York City's Hudson River --


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Friday, August 7, 2009

Twitter and Facebook website got crashed. FAQ DoS Attack


-In a clear and simple way, this Cisco graphic shows the relationship of the parties in a DDOS attack. -


At 9 a.m., millions of users of Twitter.com found themselves unable to access the microblogging Web site, the modern version of the telephone party line through which more than 40 million people announce what they are doing, reading, eating and thinking at any given moment.

Undaunted, the rejected Twitterers trooped to Facebook.com, the social networking site that has more than 200 million users, which has "status updates" that mimic Twitter feeds. But before users could begin to type, "Is sad that Twitter is down," a terrible and panic-inducing discovery: Facebook was down, too.

Kathleen Loughlin, a spokeswoman for Facebook, also cited a denial-of-service attack, which she said "resulted in degraded service for some users." She added that no user data were at risk during the attack and promised that Facebook was "continuing to monitor the situation to ensure that users have the fast and reliable experience they've come to expect from Facebook."

"On this otherwise happy Thursday morning, Twitter is the target of a denial-of-service attack," Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote on the official Twitter blog. "Attacks such as this are malicious efforts orchestrated to disrupt and make unavailable services such as . . . Twitter for intended customers or users. We are defending against this attack now."

The first big DDoS attack, in February 2000 took down some of the Web's most popular sites for hours, including Yahoo, CNN, eBay, Amazon.com, Buy.com, and E*Trade. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation promptly held a news conference to discuss the disruption to the Internet and eventually tracked down the perpetrator, 15-year-old "Mafiaboy," after he bragged about it to friends online.

Mafiaboy was most likely trying to get attention, like script kiddie hackers do when they deface Web sites. Other attackers have different agendas. For instance, there are politically motivated DDoS attacks, such as those involving Russian and Georgian sites last year. Estonia sites were attacked in 2007. Meanwhile, the origin of recent DDoS attacks targeting U.S. government sites and sites in South Korea remain a mystery.

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Twitter users were unable to log in for several hours after the social networking site became the victim of a cyber attack.

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What's a denial-of-service attack?
A denial-of-service (DoS) attack is any effort designed to interfere with access to a Web site or Internet service. A common method of attack involves flooding a target server with so many communications requests that legitimate traffic can not get through. This can shut down or slow down the site temporarily.

Web sites aren't the only things that can be targeted in DoS attacks. Unplugging someone's computer is a very basic type of DoS attack.


What's a distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack?
Because Web sites are built to handle a lot of traffic, it can take millions of simultaneous communications requests to have enough affect on the performance of the server for an attack. In a DDoS attack, tens of thousands or even millions of computers are used to send traffic to the target site all at the same time and repeatedly."It's a bit like 15 fat men trying to get through a revolving door at the same time--nothing can move."

What's a botnet?
The hijacked PCs that are used in a DDoS attack comprise a botnet. The individual computers are called "bots," "zombies" or "slaves" and are controlled remotely by the "master" attacker. The attacker relays instructions to the bots via a command-and-control server, typically using IRC (Internet Relay Chat). Botnets are also used to distribute spam. Some newer botnets, like one created by a version of Conficker, relay instructions via peer-to-peer.

How many bots are needed to take down a Web site?
The number depends on how much resources, servers and bandwidth, the target site has. It can take 25,000 to 50,000 bots to cripple a typical site and as few as 10,000 or less for a small Web site, according to Kevin Stevens, a security researcher for SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit.

It's difficult to know exactly how big any particular botnet is and guesses vary widely. For example, estimates of the Conficker botnet ranged from 500,000 PCs to 10 million.

What kind of damage can a DoS attack do?
A DoS can make a Web site completely inaccessible to anyone for a period of time, like the most recent attack did with Twitter. Or it can be equivalent to a hiccup, slowing down page loads or affecting only part of the site.

Sites that aren't in the direct line of fire can also be affected. For example, if a company that is attacked is hosting images or content that is fed to other sites, those other sites may have trouble. So many sites feature Twitter updates that it's likely some of those associated sites were impacted when Twitter was down and the ancillary site's requests to get updates were ignored.

How can a DDoS be prevented or stopped?

In 2001, the White House was able to thwart a DDoS attack that was programmed into the code of the Code Red virus by moving the site away from the targeted IP address.

And in 2005, Microsoft sidestepped a DDoS that was going to be triggered by PCs infected with the Blaster virus by killing the targeted IP address.

A company can reduce its risk by buying plenty of servers and bandwidth, and hosting content on backup servers. Companies can also limit the number of connections that the Web server allows at any one time and set the firewall to block certain types of data that are used in DDoS attacks, said SecureWorks' Stevens.

What can individuals do to prevent their computers from being used in a DDoS attack?

To keep malware off a computer, people should install the latest operating system and application patches, update their antivirus and other security software, consider using auto-updates for browsers and be careful about opening up attachments and visiting Web sites.


Thursday, August 6, 2009

Taconic State Parkway Horrid accident 8 death plow in oncoming traffic - Husband denies alcoholism in NY wrong-way crash


--Daniel Schuler, right, holds hands with sisters-in-law Jay Schuler, center, and Joyce Schuler, left, while surrounded by reporters during a press conference in Garden City, N.Y., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. Schuler's wife Diane was drunk and high on marijuana when she drove the wrong way for almost two miles on a highway before smashing head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others, a prosecutor said. Schuler family attorney Dominic Barbara says 36-year-old Diane Schuler wasn't an alcoholic but was diabetic and may have suffered a stroke before the July 26 crash north of New York City.--




--Daniel Schuler cries while his sister-in-law Jay Schuler speaks at a press conference in Garden City, N.Y., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. Schuler's wife Diane was drunk and high on marijuana when she drove the wrong way for almost two miles on a highway before smashing head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others, a prosecutor said. Schuler family attorney Dominic Barbara says 36-year-old Diane Schuler wasn't an alcoholic but was diabetic and may have suffered a stroke before the July 26 crash north of New York City--



--Daniel Schuler's eyes fill with tears during a press conference in Garden City, N.Y., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. Schuler's wife Diane was drunk and high on marijuana when she drove the wrong way for almost two miles on a highway before smashing head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others, a prosecutor said. Attorney Dominic Barbara says 36-year-old Diane Schuler wasn't an alcoholic but was diabetic and may have suffered a stroke before the July 26 crash north of New York City. --

She couldn't have been drunk and stoned. Her husband had never seen her intoxicated before. And there were absolutely no marital problems that could have sent her over the edge.

In an anguished, sometimes angry news conference, Daniel Schuler refused to accept an autopsy report that showed his wife had the equivalent of 10 drinks and smoked marijuana within an hour of the wrong-way highway crash that killed her and seven other people.

"I never saw her drunk since the day I met her," Daniel Schuler told reporters at a press conference outside his attorney's office. "She was not a drinker. She was not an alcoholic."

He suggested anything from a stroke to gestational diabetes to even an abscessed tooth could have caused his wife to act irrationally in the hours before her death.

A broken 1.75-liter bottle of Absolut vodka was found in her wrecked minivan, police said.

Family of the men in the SUV had questioned how Schuler's family could have been oblivious to an alcohol abuse problem and suggested criminal charges were possible. An attorney for the victims' family didn't return calls Thursday.

A preliminary autopsy of Diane Schuler ruled out a stroke, heart attack, or aneurysm, Westchester County officials said. The medical examiner said Thursday that he stood by his report that found her blood-alcohol level was more than twice the state's legal limit, she still had undigested alcohol in her stomach, and she had high levels of the key ingredient in marijuana in her system.

Diane Schuler was once diagnosed with gestational diabetes — which usually goes away after childbirth — had an undiagnosed lump on her leg and was suffering from an abscessed tooth for nearly two months. It was not clear how any of those maladies would prompt someone to become intoxicated.



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Fatal crash on the Taconic State Parkway - Leave 8 people die.Authorities are trying to determine how a woman driving a minivan carrying two of her children and three young nieces got onto a suburban parkway heading in the wrong direction, leading to a fiery crash that killed eight people and left a 5-year-old boy severely injured.
The afternoon crash in which the 36-year-old mother, her daughter and nieces died was the second wrong-way crash on the Taconic State Parkway on Sunday. Police also are investigating how a driver in an earlier accident also ended up on the road going against traffic.
The crashes on the parkway north of New York City happened 20 miles apart.
The minivan involved in the fatal crash was traveling south in the northbound lanes when it hit an SUV and then careened into a third vehicle, said state police Investigator Joseph Becerra. The minivan rolled down an embankment and burst into flames.
The minivan's front end appeared to have been almost entirely smashed in, and its shell was scorched and bent. Its driver and four of the five children inside it were killed, Becerra said. They were part of a family from Floral Park and West Babylon, on Long Island.
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Ex-Presiden Bill Clinton Describes His Role in N. Korea Trip




Two U.S. journalists pardoned and freed by North Korea did cross illegally into that country, the sister of one of the women said.

"She did say that they touched North Korean territory very, very briefly," Lisa Ling, sister of Laura Ling, told CNN on Thursday.

"It was something that they were never planning to do originally," Lisa Ling said. "I mean, I said this before, when they left U.S. soil, they never intended to cross into North Korea. She said it was maybe 30 seconds. And then, you know, everything just sort of got chaotic."

Ling said her sister intends soon to fully tell her tale.

"Again, it's a very powerful story," Lisa Ling said. "And she does want to share it. But I just really want to let her do that."

Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee, both working for California-based Current TV, were arrested in March while reporting from the border between North Korea and China. They were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

"We've talked very briefly about it, and she definitely wants to divulge exactly what happened, and I think she's going to write an editorial very, very soon addressing it," Lisa Ling said.

The two journalists arrived home Wednesday after former President Bill Clinton journeyed to North Korea at the behest of the women's families and former Vice President Al Gore, who co-founded Current TV. The reclusive communist nation pardoned the two women and released them to Clinton.

Lisa Ling said her sister, exhausted from her ordeal, has been "incredibly emotional."

"She's been in relative isolation for months and months and, you know, she doesn't even like to be alone," Lisa Ling said. "Yesterday she was so exhausted and she wanted to take a quick nap. She kept asking me: 'Are you going to be here when I come back?"

Lisa Ling said emotions have run high, too, in Lee's home.

"I hear from Euna's husband, Michael, that Hana, their 4-year-old daughter, has not wanted her mother to leave her sight," Lisa Ling said. "She just keeps following her around from room to room because she doesn't want her mom to leave."

The women’s return to the United States on Wednesday was set in motion by former president Bill Clinton, who traveled to the reclusive country earlier this week to negotiate their release with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. During his meeting with Mr. Kim, Mr. Clinton apologized for Ms. Ling’s and Ms. Lee’s actions, prompting Mr. Kim to grant them a pardon. But until Thursday, it was unclear whether the women had actually crossed the border into North Korea or had simply been captured on the Chinese side.

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Former President Bill Clinton describes his role in bringing the freedom of two U.S. journalists held captive in North Korea.
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C.I.A. Missile Strike May Have Killed Pakistan’s Taliban Leader, Officials Say

Officials in Washington and Islamabad were scrambling to make sense of communications intercepts and other intelligence that seemed to indicate that Mr. Mehsud might have been killed in the strike. By Thursday evening, American officials said they were growing increasingly confident that the Taliban leader was dead.

The missile struck a house in the remote village of Zanghara, in South Waziristan, about 1 a.m. Wednesday. Local residents reached by telephone confirmed that one of the wives of Mr. Mehsud, the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, was among those killed. Her name or age could not be confirmed.

Five others, including four children, were reportedly wounded in the missile strike.

The compound where the attack took place belonged to Ikramuddin Mehsud, a local tribal elder whose daughter is Baitullah Mehsud’s second wife.

The strike by a drone early Wednesday morning hit a compound in the remote village of Zanghara, in South Waziristan. Village residents said that day that one of Mr. Mehsud’s wives had been killed in the attack and that several children had been wounded.

Pakistani officials publicly condemn these attacks, but they have privately given their blessing to the strikes in the country’s tribal areas, in part because the missile attacks increasingly have focused on Mr. Mehsud’s network.

Baitullah Mehsud, the self-professed leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has vowed to to send more suicide bombers to kill US troops in Afghanistan.(The Mehsuds are a large warrior Pashtun tribe renowned for never being pacified by the British forces.)

The US homeland security chief is calling on Pakistan to strike back against Taliban fighters on its border with Afghanistan.

The US and NATO say a truce between the Taliban and Pakistan in the North-West Frontier province has already led to more fighting.

Still, they cautioned that it may be weeks before they are certain, and they may never gain access to the remote location in South Waziristan to perform DNA tests.

“There is reason to believe that reports of his death may be true, but it can’t be confirmed at this time,” said an American official with access to classified intelligence reports.

Mr. Mehsud and his military network have been blamed for a wave of violence across Pakistan, including the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister.

The militant leader also seemed to take pleasure in taunting Pakistani officials and holding news conferences to demonstrate the inability of officials in Islamabad to rein in his network.

Mr. Mehsud pledged to attack Washington, but American officials did not take the threat seriously. Still, his network is believed to have close ties to Qaeda leaders in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

The C.I.A. made killing Mr. Mehsud one of its top priorities this year, partly at the urging of Pakistan’s civilian government. Pakistani officials, including President Asif Ali Zardari, had complained that the campaign of missile strikes by American drones was killing only militants responsible for killing American troops in Afghanistan.

Since then, the State Department has offered a reward of as much as $5 million for Mr. Mehsud. The C.I.A. also began trying to track his daily movements, and American intelligence officials believed on several occasions that they had almost killed him.

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Past news :- Baitullah Mehsud believed to responsible for Bhutto assassinations.



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Insider story : Pakistan Taliban.Peace talks between the Pakistani government and Taliban rebels have collapsed as the government refused to pull its troops out of its tribal border region with Afghanistan. Inside Story asks what the failure of the talks will mean for Pakistan.




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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Freed journalists home in US after NKorea pardon

The jet carrying Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV, and Clinton arrived at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport at dawn. Clinton met with communist leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday to secure the women's release.

Lee emerged from the jetliner first and was greeted by husband Michael Saldate and 4-year-old daughter Hana. She hugged the girl and picked her up before all three embraced in a crushing hug as TV networks beamed the poignant moment live.

Ling embraced her husband, Iain Clayton, as teary family members crowded around.

"The past 140 days have been the most difficult, heart-wrenching days of our lives," Ling said, her voice cracking.

Thirty hours ago, Ling said, "We feared that any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp."

Then, she said, they were taken to another location.

"When we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton," she said to applause. "We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end, and now we stand here, home and free."

Mr. Clinton came down the stairs to applause. He hugged former Vice President Al Gore at the foot of the stairs, then chatted with family members. Mr. Gore described the families of the two women as "unbelievable, passionate, involved, committed, innovative."


Mr. Clinton won their release in a diplomatic stroke fraught with promise and potential pitfalls for the Obama administration's drive to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The announcement followed a face-to-face meeting between Mr. Clinton and North Korea's often irascible dictator Kim Jong Il -- the first such high-profile U.S. mission to the so-called "hermit kingdom" since Mr. Clinton's secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, visited the country in 2000. The former president and a small entourage arrived in Pyongyang unexpectedly on Tuesday morning local time.

The mission took root in early July after one of the reporters told relatives in a phone call that North Korea would grant them amnesty in exchange for a visit from Mr. Clinton, according to a senior Obama administration official. A North Korean court convicted the pair in June of illegally entering the country when they filmed a report on the border region with China on March 17.

The trip and its diplomatic theatrics represent a sudden moment of goodwill and compromise between two countries with nearly 60 years of fractious relations that grew even more antagonistic over the past year.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he was "extraordinarily relieved" that the journalists returned home safely.

Mr. Clinton's discussions in North Korea could place the Obama administration in a difficult position as it seeks to keep humanitarian and strategic issues separate. Former U.S. officials note that no matter what parameters the White House sought to set for Mr. Clinton's mission, the discussions appeared to have moved beyond the issue of the journalists.

"We are very pleased with the outcome, and I'm hopeful that the families are going to be able to get some good time together in the next few days," Mr. Obama said.

At the same time, the White House spokesman maintained that Clinton had not carried any message from Obama to Kim. "If there wasn't a message, there certainly couldn't have been an apology," Gibbs told reporters.

The White House, noting that Clinton's trip was "a private mission" using a private aircraft "not paid for by the government," also made it clear that the negotiations over the journalists held by North Korea are distinct from the ongoing dispute that the U.S. has with Pyonyang.

Clinton, in a statement released by his office, said, "I am very happy that after this long ordeal, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now home and reunited with their loved ones.
Ms. Lee came out of the jetliner first and was greeted by husband, Michael Saldage, and 4-year-old daughter, Hanna, according to the Associated Press. She hugged the girl and picked her up before all three embraced in a crushing hug. Ms. Ling embraced her husband, Iain Clayton, as teary family members crowded around, AP reported.


"When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed," Clinton said. "I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home."

"It speaks well of our country that, when two unarmed citizens are in harm's way," so many people will work for their release, Gore said by their side. "We say a word of thanks, deep thanks, as well."

In a statement, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency said the meeting "featured candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and the U.S. in a sincere atmosphere."

"It's already clear they're discussing broader issues," said Selig Harrison, a Washington-based academic who's made numerous trips to North Korea to discuss the nuclear issue, including one this January.

"The best way to change our relationship with North Korea would be for the North Koreans to decide that it's time to live up to the responsibilities and the agreements that they themselves entered into," Gibbs added. "Our goal is a denuclearized the Korean Peninsula. And the North Koreans can and should live up to those agreements."

--After more than four months in captivity, a high-level visit from former US President Bill Clinton secured their release.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling are journalists with San Francisco-based Current TV, a media venture co-founded by former US Vice-President Al Gore.

Ms Ling, a 32-year-old California native, has experience covering the conflict in Sri Lanka, Brazilian slave labour and Iran's underground youth culture.

Ms Lee, a 36-year-old South Korean-born US citizen, is an editor with Current TV.

From the time they were captured, the two women's families urged the authorities in Pyongyang to release them, saying they were worried about the "mental state and wellbeing" of the pair.

In a joint statement, the families said Ms Ling suffered from an ulcer and that Ms Lee had a four-year-old daughter who was "displaying signs of anguish".

"We believe that the three months they have already spent under arrest with little communication with their families is long enough," the statement said.

Ms Ling's husband, Iain Clayton, appeared on US TV networks and read out a letter she had written from captivity: "While I am trying to remain hopeful, each day becomes harder and harder to bear. I am so lonely and scared."

Their hopes appeared dashed in early June when a quick trial saw them convicted and sentenced to 12 years of "reform through labour".

It seems, however, that the two were well-treated and kept in a Pyongyang guest house, with access to consular services provided by Sweden's embassy in North Korea and allowed to make several phone calls to their families in the US.

It was during these phone calls that the pair said Pyongyang had suggested that a visit by Mr Clinton could secure their freedom, US officials have said.

Analysts say they were probably being kept as bargaining chips to wrest concessions or direct talks with the United States.

But the US has said Mr Clinton did not discuss any other issues other than the women's freedom during his trip to Pyongyang.

The reporters' families, and officials in Washington, had urged that Pyongyang keep this case separate from the nuclear issue bedevilling relations between North Korea and the US.







The North Korean government, which in June sentenced the women to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, announced hours before the jet's departure from North Korea that it had pardoned the women after Mr. Clinton apologized to Mr. Kim for their actions.




Former President Al Gore, the founder of the media company that employs the journalists, hugged Ms. Lee. The two women who were stopped on March 17 by soldiers near North Korea's border with China while researching a report about women and human trafficking. They faced years of imprisonment in the gulag-like confines of a North Korean prison camp.



Ms. Lee embraced her husband, Michael Saldate, and 4-year-old daughter, Hana, as Ms. Ling hugged her husband, Ian Clayton. Administration officials said Mr. Clinton went to North Korea as a private citizen, did not carry a message from Mr. Obama for Mr. Kim and had the authority to negotiate only for the women's release.


Mr. Clinton embraced his former vice president, Mr. Gore. Given Mr. Clinton's stature and his long interest in the North Korean nuclear issue, experts said it was likely that his discussions in North Korea ranged well beyond obtaining the release of Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee.



Ms. Ling was kissed by her mother, Mary. The ordeal ended at a time when the United States' relationship with North Korea had become especially chilled, after North Korea's test of its second nuclear device in May and a series of missile launchings.



"Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea," Ms. Ling said in brief remarks to reporters, blinking back tears. "We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labor camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton."



Ms. Ling, left, and Ms. Lee stepped off the plane in jeans and sweaters, rushing down the stairs to be reunited with their families. The families issued a statement saying they were "overjoyed" by news of the pardon and thanked Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton.



A private plane carrying former President Bill Clinton and two journalists, Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, landed early Wednesday morning in Burbank, just outside Los Angeles. During Mr. Clinton's dramatic 20-hour visit to North Korea, he won the freedom of the American journalists, opened a diplomatic channel to North Korea's reclusive government and dined with the North's ailing leader, Kim Jong-il.



The negotiations catapulted Mr. Clinton back on to the global stage, on behalf of a president who defeated Mrs. Clinton in a bitter primary campaign last year, and who later asked her to be his secretary of state.





Freed US journalist Euna Lee (C) embraces her husband Michael Saldate and daughter Hannah upon her arrival with fellow journalist Laura Ling, after being released from North Korea, at the airport in Burbank, California on August 5, 2009.



Laura Ling, front right, thanked former President Bill Clinton for his assistance in the release of herself and fellow journalist Euna Lee, back right, while standing with Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore


Two American journalists jubilantly reunited with family and friends early Wednesday upon returning to the United States with former President Bill Clinton, whose diplomatic trip to North Korea secured their release nearly five months after their arrests.

Freed US journalists Euna Lee, left, and Laura Ling are greeted by Euna's husband Michael Saldate (2nd-R) and her daughter Hannah and Ling's husband Lain Clayton as they arrive from North Korea at Burbank, California Wednesday. Following talks in Pyongyang with former US president Bill Clinton, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned Ling, 32, and Lee, 36, who were arrested while reporting near North Korea's border with China. They were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labour for illegal entry and "hostile acts."

Freed US journalist Euna Lee (L) embraces her husband Michael Saldate and daughter Hannah and fellow journalist Laura Ling (R) embraces her husband Lain Clayton after being released from North Korea, at the airport in Burbank, California on August 5, 2009.

Former President Bill Clinton alongside Al Gore talk with journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee at Hangar 25 on August 5, 2009 in Burbank, California after being released by North Korean authorities yesterday. Ling and Lee, of San Francisco based Current TV, were both arrested by North Korea in March for illegally entering the country on the Chinese border. Yesterday they were pardoned by President Kim Jong-Il after a meeting with former U.S. President Bill Clinton.


Journalist Lisa Ling, left, smiles as she talks with sister and journalist Laura Ling who along with Euna Lee arrived at Hangar 25 on August 5, 2009 in Burbank, California after being released by North Korean authorities yesterday. Ling and Lee, of San Francisco based Current TV, were both arrested by North Korea in March for illegally entering the country on the Chinese border.


Freed US journalists Laura Ling speaks after arriving from North Korea with colleague Euna Lee (R rear) at the airport in Burbank, California on August 5, 2009. Following talks in Pyongyang with former US President Bill Clinton, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned the women who were sentenced to hard labor for entering the country illegally.


Journalists Laura Ling hugs husband Iain Clayton after her arrival with Euna Lee at Hangar 25 Wednesday. Ling and Lee, of San Francisco based Current TV, were both arrested by North Korea in March for illegally entering the country on the Chinese border. Yesterday they were pardoned by President Kim Jong-Il after a meeting with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Ling and Lee had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in June.


Former US President Bill Clinton (L) chats with his former Vice President Al Gore after freed US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee arrive dfrom North Korea at the airport in Burbank, California, on August 5, 2009. Following talks in Pyongyang with Clinton, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned the women were sentenced to hard labor for entering the country illegally.


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-Bill Clinton Arrives in North Korea -

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Michael Jackson family seeks delay in naming will executor

Michael Jackson’s family wants a judge to delay the appointment of two men as temporary administrators of the pop superstar’s estate, a person close to the Jacksons said.

The family is looking for the delay so they can look deeper into his affairs, to see if another will emerges, and to accommodate Jackson’s memorial service on Tuesday, said a person close to the family who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

“It has been very insensitive, particularly to this family, that you would even schedule a court hearing on the status of the mother, the day before she has to go to the cemetery for her son,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, a friend of the Jacksons, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday. “It’s almost insulting.”

Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, was granted some limited powers over the singer’s estate days after his death. But because Branca and McClain are named as executors in the 2002 will, it’s expected that they would be granted more authority to oversee Jackson’s estate, estimated in court filings as being worth more than $500 million, in Monday’s scheduled hearing.

Entering into a business relationship with Michael Jackson rarely meant a long-lasting partnership. Over time, especially in the waning years of his life, Jackson hired — then fired — a litany of associates, from managers to attorneys to publicists.

Most were dispatched after the relationship soured, and the trust had evaporated.

Perhaps the one exception in his financial life was Jackson's mother, Katherine.

Jackson relied on his 79-year-old mother for more than emotional support: Documents show he put her in the position of trustee on contracts, including his lucrative Sony-ATV catalog, and associates say he also sought her input on other financial matters as he became more wary of those in his business circle.

"Any deal Michael did, he always called his mother up," said Steve Manning, a close friend of the Jackson family. "She was the backbone of his spirit."

"What he trusted was that she would make sure that his wishes were carried out," said Mrs. Jackson's attorney, L. Londell McMillan, who is representing her interests as the singer's estate is sorted out. "He understood that she was the most loyal person in his life. Her loyalty did not stop for Michael with merely personal matters."

But Jackson's last known will, drafted in 2002, left his mother, along with his three children, out of any decision-making role in his estate, leaving her only as a beneficiary.

Attorney John Branca and Jackson's former manager and close friend, John McClain, were named (along with a third party who has since removed himself) as the only people with the authority to guide his business matters after his death.

Mrs. Jackson is trying to change that, seeking to gain some kind of control over her late son's estate. The Jackson matriarch is adamant that she — or even another family member — have a role over Michael Jackson's business legacy, which may be worth more in death than when he was alive. Some estimates have valued his estate at $500 million.

Mrs. Jackson has filed a motion to determine whether contesting the two executors would lead to disinheritance — Jackson's will had a no-contest clause.

"She is concerned about how the trust is going to be managed. She wants to make sure that she has a seat at the table and the family has a seat at the table," said Dean Hansell, an attorney who spoke for Mrs. Jackson in court Monday. "She wants that and she has been coming up against resistance."

But in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Branca said he is amenable to having Mrs. Jackson, or someone in the family, in a trustee role.

"We are going to have a meaningful conversation with her about having one of her family members become a co-trustee," Branca said. "Our number one priority is to make sure this estate is run effectively."

Branca and McClain have control of Jackson's estate until at least Oct. 3. They have already made several deals on behalf of Jackson's estate, including a reissue of his memoir "Moonwalk" and a full-length motion picture filled with footage of his last rehearsals, which requires a judge's approval. In a sign that Katherine Jackson's input is already being considered critical, the judge has scheduled a hearing Monday to see, among other things, whether she has any objections.


Branca was Jackson's attorney for many years, working with him during the height of his fame and helping negotiate his deal to buy the Beatles catalog. But they split in 2005 until Branca was brought back shortly before Jackson's death as he prepared for his comeback concerts with the promoter AEG.

McClain has been very close with the family for decades, and was instrumental in building Janet Jackson's career. He also had played key roles in Michael Jackson's career in its later years.

Manning(Katherine Jackson lawyer) spoke highly of McClain, saying he has been "like a son" to the Jackson parents.

Legally, Mrs. Jackson may not be able to have an official role. Both Branca and Hansell said the addition of Katherine as an executor of the will or a trustee of the trust might raise tax questions because she is a beneficiary.

"She is a woman of great faith, and believes if you treat people right, (good) things will come back to you."

Jackson named his mother on at least two trusts — besides the Sony-ATV music catalog, she's a part of his Mijac publishing company — and McMillan said she was active in Jackson's business affairs, even attending depositions in legal cases.

Whether Mrs. Jackson has the business capacity to deal with Jackson's estate, which is complicated and tangled, is likely to be a key question. She and Joe filed for bankruptcy 10 years ago, listing nearly $24 million in debts that included court judgments, auto loans and credit cards. Court records show the only valuable asset listed was a house in Las Vegas then valued at $290,000.

McMillan said the role of a trustee does not require a person to be a business whiz.

"A trustee is one of trust as opposed to extraordinary skill," he said. "Trustees hire experts to administer business that requires experts."

Manning said Mrs. Jackson is confident that her legal team would do an excellent job with her guidance. He also raised the possibility that one of Jackson's five brothers could have a role in the estate: "That would be the right thing to do, the right thing to happen."

Legally, Mrs. Jackson may not be able to have an official role. Both Branca and Hansell said the addition of Katherine as an executor of the will or a trustee of the trust might raise tax questions because she is a beneficiary.

This July 5, 2009 file photo shows Katherine Jackson, left, and an unidentified driver entering the Jackson family home in the Encino section of Los Angeles. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff appointed Katherine Jackson as the permanent guardian of the late singer's three children during a court hearing in Los Angeles on Monday.


In this artist's drawing Katherine Jackson, right, and her attorney L. Londell McMillan are seen at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on Monday Aug. 3, 2009 in Los Angeles.


FILE - This July 7, 2009 file photo shows Katherine Jackson, right, arriving with Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, rear center, to the memorial service for the late pop star in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff appointed Katherine Jackson as the permanent guardian of the late singer's three children during a court hearing in Los Angeles on Monday




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-Writer Lorraine Ali discusses Michael Jackson's legal woes, and his fans, with CNN.-

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--Michael Jackson after dying is transported via helicopter from UCLA hospital too the Coroners Office for an autopsy..

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Russian subs patrol off U.S. East Coast: officials



Two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States in a rare mission tracked by Washington, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. Just 200 miles off of USA soils.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the U.S. military was "mindful" of Russian military activities, but he declined to comment on any specific submarine maneuvers.

"Navies, including the United States, operate around the world. Vessels operating safely in international waters ought not to concern anybody," he said.

Another U.S. official familiar with the intelligence, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "Alarm bells are not ringing."

The submarines have not taken any provocative action, the official said.

The New York Times, which first reported the presence of the vessels, described them as Akula-class submarines.Akula is the NATO codename for the Soviet-designed Nerpa, which has been in service since the mid-1980s. They are armed with torpedoes, cruise missiles and can carry underwater missiles.

One of the Russian submarines remained in international waters on Tuesday about 200 miles off the coast of the United States and the second sub made a port call in Cuba in recent days, the Times said, citing Defense Department officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. officials declined to speculate on what weapons might be aboard the two submarines, and described the Russian exercise as rare.

"The Russian navy systematically pinpoints the location of NATO submarines, including US Navy submarines, in direct proximity to the territorial waters of the Russian Federation," Interfax news agency quoted the source as saying.

"This however has never been a reason to make a lot of noise in the press," the source said, adding: "Consequently, any hysteria in such a case is inappropriate."

The US military's response indicated the episode did not appear to pose any immediate threat to the United States.

The submarines are not among the larger class of Russian submarines that can launch nuclear missiles, The Times reported.





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-Fairly detailed presentation of the gigantic Russian "Akula" ("Typhoon") class submarine. In size this sub is comparable to a WWII battleship or aircraft carrier. The footage is from various documentaries with music added.-

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World top ten Submarine.



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Paula Abdul Says She Will Leave ‘American Idol’


American Idol” judges Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson attend auditions on Tuesday in New York City.



- Paula Abdul -


After weeks of negotiations with the producers of “American Idol,” Paula Abdul said Tuesday evening that she was leaving the top-rated singing competition.

“With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL,” Ms. Adbul wrote on Twitter.

“I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent,” she wrote, “but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon.”


Fox had no immediate comment.

Her apparent decision came one day after Fox said Kara DioGuardi would return as a judge next season. The show is preparing for the first appearance, later this month, of potential contestants for the show’s ninth season before the judging panel.

Ms. Abdul’s contract expired at the end of last season, and she had been negotiating for a substantial raise from the estimated $2 million that she earned last year.

Ms. Abdul had said that she wanted to return to the show, and Fox Broadcasting and the show’s producers had said they wanted her back. Last week on Twitter she wrote, “I hope you can understand I can only return to Idol if the deal is fair.”

This summer, Ryan Seacrest, the show’s host, signed a deal that promises him $45 million over the next three seasons. Simon Cowell, who earns an estimated $30 million a year as a judge and has the right to sign management contracts with “Idol” contestants, and another judge, Randy Jackson, are under contract through next season.





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-Show judge Paula Abdul hasn't been given a new contract for the 9th season of American Idol..

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