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8A – Daily News – Monday, May 10, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Gulf of Mexico oil spill grows to 3.5M gallons ON THE GULF OF MEXI- CO (AP) — A growing collec- tion of crippled equipment lit- tered the ocean floor Sunday near a ruptured oil well gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico, the remnants of a massive rig that exploded weeks ago and the failed efforts since to cap the leak. On the surface, nearly a mile up, a fleet of ships maneuvered to deploy the latest stopgap plans hatched by BP engineers desperate to keep the Deepwa- ter Horizon disaster from becoming the nation’s worst spill. An estimated 3.5 million gallons has risen from the depths since the April 20 explo- sion that killed 11, a pace that would surpass the total spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster by Father’s Day. A day after icelike crystals clogged a four-story box that workers had lowered atop the main leak, crews using remote- controlled submarines hauled the specially built structure more than a quarter-mile away and prepared other long-shot methods of stopping the flow. One technique would use a tube to shoot mud and concrete directly into the well’s blowout preventer, a process that could take two to three weeks. BP PLC spokesman Mark Proegler said no decisions have been made on what step the company will take next. It could be at least a day before BP can make another attempt at putting a lid on a well spewing at least 200,000 gal- lons of crude into the Gulf each day. Inferno on the Gulf: ’This is the real deal!’ VENICE, La. (AP) — Ole- ander Benton was chatting with a friend in the laundry when the lights went out. The other woman had just gotten up to find a maintenance person when the deep-sea oil rig shook with an ear-shattering ‘‘BANG,’’ followed by a long, loud ‘‘hisssss.’’ Benton’s safety training kicked in. The cook hit the floor as ceiling tiles and light fixtures came crashing down on her head and back. The concussion had blown a door off its hinges and pinned her friend to the floor. ‘‘My leg! My leg!’’ the woman screamed. Benton rose to her feet, and stepped over the debris, but she couldn’t move the door. She told her friend to lie flat and slide herself out, and the two made their way into the dark- ened hallway, where a man in a white T-shirt appeared out of the swirling dust and beckoned. ‘‘Come on, Miss O!’’ he shouted. ‘‘Go this way. This is the real deal! This is the REAL DEAL!’’ Pakistan Taliban behind Times Square bomb WASHINGTON (AP) — Saying they obtained new evi- dence, senior White House offi- cials said Sunday that the Pak- istani Taliban were behind the failed Times Square bombing. The attempt marks the first time the group has been able to launch an attack on U.S. soil. And while U.S. officials have downplayed the threat — citing the bomb’s lack of sophistica- tion — the incident in Times Square and Christmas Day air- line bomber indicate growing strength by overseas terrorist groups linked to al-Qaida even as the CIA says their operations are seriously degraded. The finding also raises new questions about the U.S. rela- tionship with Pakistan, which is widely known to have al-Qaida and other terrorist groups oper- ating within its borders. Concerning the Pakistani Taliban, Attorney General Eric Holder said: ‘‘We know that they helped facilitate it; we know that they helped direct it. And I suspect that we are going to come up with evidence which shows that they helped to finance it. They were intimately involved in this plot.’’ John Brennan, the presi- dent’s homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, made similar remarks, linking the bomber to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Blasts hit Russia’s largest coal mine MOSCOW (AP) — Rescue workers scrambled to save 83 people trapped in Russia’s largest underground coal mine after two explosions killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more, officials said. Among those still trapped early Monday were rescue workers who had entered the Siberian mine after the first blast. A high level of methane gas after Sunday’s second, more powerful blast raised fears of further explosions and prevent- ed more rescuers from going into the mine for the rest of the day. Only early Monday was the first rescue team sent down to try to bring out five miners whose location had been estab- lished, said Valery Korchagin, a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry. It was not clear, how- ever, whether the miners were still alive, he said. The second explosion destroyed the main air shaft and all of the mine’s above-ground structures, the governor of the Siberian region of Kemerovo told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a meeting with emergency officials, according to a government transcript. More than 500 emergency workers from around the coun- try struggled throughout the day to ventilate the mine and rebuild mine shafts so the search for those trapped could resume, Korchagin said by tele- phone from Kemerovo, about 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) east of Moscow. Tea party activists focus on Kentucky WASHINGTON (AP) — After toppling three-term Republican Sen. Robert F. Ben- nett in Utah, tea party activists and other conservative critics shifted their sights Sunday to a mid-May primary in Kentucky, their next big challenge to a political establishment they have vowed to upend. Bennett, 76, left the door open to a write-in campaign after losing his bid for renomi- nation, raising the possibility of an unpredictable three-way race that could yet extend his career. But within minutes of Ben- nett’s defeat, the chairman of the Republican senatorial cam- paign committee, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, announced the organization will support the winner of a June 22 primary between businessman Tim Bridgewater and attorney Mike Lee. Republicans are heavily favored to hold the seat in the fall in a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in more than three decades. In his home state, Republi- cans said Bennett’s defeat raised questions about the polit- ical future of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, also a conservative, who may face a challenge from GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz in 2012. NKorean sub likely sank SKorean warship TOKYO (AP) — Experts say North Korea’s submarine fleet is technologically back- ward, prone to sinking or run- ning aground, and all but use- less outside its own coastal waters. And yet many are asking: Could it have been responsi- ble for the explosion that sank a South Korean warship in March? And if so, how could a sub have slipped through the defenses of South Korea, which, with signifi- cant American backing, maintains a fleet far more sophisticated than its north- ern neighbor’s? Evidence collected thus far indicates a torpedo hit the Cheonan, killing 46 sailors, and suspicion is growing that it was launched from a small North Korean submarine. That scenario would make it the most serious attack on the South Korean military since the peninsula’s war ended in a truce in 1953. ‘‘While the North Korean submarine force reflects dated technology by Western standards, North Korean sub- marines during wartime would present significant challenges, particularly in coastal areas,’’ according to the Arlington, Virginia-based Global Security think tank. ‘‘North Korea has placed high priority on submarine con- struction programs, which are ongoing despite its economic hardships.’’ Without witnesses or com- munications traffic to use as evidence, proving North Korea was behind the attack is difficult. Volcanic ash forces closure of Europe airports GENEVA (AP) — Airlines canceled hundreds of flights across Europe and added hours to trans-Atlantic jour- neys Sunday as planes were diverted around a large plume of ash spewed by an Icelandic volcano and stretching from Greenland to Portugal. So far, the weekend cancel- lations have been a fraction of the flights nixed two weeks ago when jittery European air traffic authorities closed down much of the continent’s air- space for fear the volcano’s abrasive ash could harm jet engines. But the possibility loomed of continuing erup- tion, and rising costs to air- lines from ongoing disruption. The bulk of the cloud, mea- suring 2,100 miles long and 1,400 miles wide (3,400 kilo- meters by 2,200 kilometers), stretched over the North Atlantic, according to the Irish Aviation Authority. It ordered Ireland’s five westernmost air- ports to close Sunday after- noon but allowed the coun- try’s three biggest airports in Dublin, Shannon and Cork to stay open. Airlines diverted their trans-Atlantic traffic north and south of the cloud, causing congestion as planes tried to squeeze through remaining routes. Some connections were canceled entirely because of an offshoot of the main cloud that was snaking its way from Portugal through Spain, southern France and northern Italy, then up to Ger- many, the Czech Republic and Austria. Eurocontrol, the Brussels- based agency that coordinates air traffic control centers throughout the continent, warned airlines to plan on tak- ing on more fuel for the longer flight around the North Atlantic no-fly zone. IMF board votes to approve nearly $40B Greece bailout WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has put up nearly $40 billion to help bail out Greece and appease investors’ fears of a spreading European debt crisis. The IMF’s executive board met in Washington Sunday to approve a three-year, euro30 billion loan for the debt- plagued nation, part of a $140 billion package (euro110 bil- lion) negotiated with other eurozone countries. With hundreds of billions in debts and a budget deficit of 13.6 percent of gross domestic product, Greece was just weeks away from default when eurozone finance min- isters agreed to activate a res- cue. Greece has enacted tax hikes and deep cutbacks in government spending as a condition of the bailout. The austerity measures have sparked riots and social unrest in the nation. ‘‘The Greek government should be commended for committing to an historic course of action that will give this proud nation a chance of rising above its current trou- bles and securing a better future for the Greek people,’’ IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a statement Sunday. ‘‘Today’s strong action by the IMF to support Greece will contribute to the broad international effort under way to help bring stability to the euro area and secure recovery in the global economy,’’ Strauss-Kahn said. Man in burning truck drives to Oregon fire station for help MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) — Truck on fire? Forget calling 911. Craig Brown of Carlton just drove a few more blocks to the McMinnville Fire Station when smoke started to billow from under the hood of his pickup. McMinnville Fire Marshal Eric McMullen said a fire- fighter who’d been outside Friday morning washing an ambulance rushed inside to get help. Firefighters opened the hood and found flames lick- ing around the engine. They quickly grabbed a hose and put out the fire. McMullen said the crew was happy to be able to help without leaving the station. And he adds, ‘‘We were jok- ing today about our new drive-up service.’’