Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/41578
8A Daily News – Thursday, September 8, 2011 WORLD BRIEFING Russian ice hockey team jet crashes TUNOSHNA, Russia (AP) — A private Russian jet carrying a top ice hock- ey team slammed into a riverbank moments after takeoff Wednesday, killing at least 43 people in one of the worst plane crashes ever involving a sports team. Two other people on board were crit- ically injured. Both Russia and the world of hockey were left stunned by the deaths of so many international stars in one catastrophic event. The International Ice Hockey Federation said 27 players of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team were killed, along with 2 coaches and 7 club offi- cials. Russian NHL star Alex Ovechkin tweeted: ''I'm in shock!!!!!R.I.P ...'' The Russian Emer- gency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed into the shores of the Volga River immedi- ately after leaving the air- port near the western city of Yaroslavl, 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. The weather was sunny and clear at the time. Russian media said the plane struggled to gain altitude and then crashed into a signal tower, shat- tering into pieces. Russian television showed a flaming frag- ment of the plane in the river as divers worked feverishly to recover bod- ies. Homes destroyed by Texas fire to almost 800 BASTROP, Texas (AP) — Firefighters began Wednesday to gain control of a wind-stoked blaze that had raged unchecked across parched Central Texas for days, leaving hundreds of charred prop- erties in its wake and causing thousands of peo- ple to flee. As the crisis unfolded, Gov. Rick Perry headed to California for a GOP pres- idential debate while authorities commanded operations fighting the disaster. The more than 33,000- acre blaze has blackened about 45 square miles in and around Bastrop, about 25 miles east of Austin, leaving two people dead and consuming nearly 800 homes, the Texas Forest Service said Wednesday. But crews managed to bring the fire to about 30 percent containment Wednesday and officials anticipated more progress throughout the day, said Mike Fisher, the Bastrop County Emergency Oper- ations Agency's incident commander. ''We're making pretty good progress getting around the perimeter,'' Fisher said. ''We're hop- ing to say by the end of the shift today, that we can say we're hopeful the fire's not going to get any larger.'' Libyan officials offer conflicting reports TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A Tripoli military offi- cial said Wednesday that Moammar Gadhafi is cor- nered and the days before he is captured or killed are numbered, but another senior defense official con- tended that Libya's new rulers have no idea where the fugitive former leader is. The comments are the latest in a series of conflict- ing statements on the most pressing question still haunting the North African nation — where is Gad- hafi? The ousted leader, who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years, hasn't been seen in public for months, and has released only audio mes- sages trying to rally his supporters and lash out at his opponents. He went into hiding after opposition fighters swept into Tripoli on Aug. 21. The former rebels are still battling regime loyalists in three Gadhafi strongholds — Bani Walid, Sabha and Sirte. Hunting down Gadhafi would help seal the new rulers' hold on the country, and likely trigger the col- lapse of the remaining regime loyalists still fight- ing the former rebels. Anis Sharif, a spokesman for Tripoli's military council, told The Associated Press that Gad- Congress that the Obama administration has made no final decision on how many troops it may keep in Iraq beyond the end of this year. Wendy Sherman told her Senate confirmation hear- ing Wednesday that the issue centers on Iraqi gov- ernment interest in U.S. military trainers remaining in the country after Dec. 31, when all U.S. troops are to depart under a 2008 U.S.- Iraqi agreement. Sherman is the nominee to become the undersecretary of state for policy. Pentagon press secretary George Little said the State Department is leading the troop discussions with Iraq. He declined to discuss the internal deliberations. Other officials have said the U.S. is considering a range of options that could leave sev- eral thousand troops there beyond 2011. hafi was still in Libya and had been tracked using advanced technology and human intelligence. Rebel forces have taken up posi- tions on all sides of the fugitive leader's presumed location, with none more than 40 miles (60 kilome- ters) away, he said, without elaborating. Medic linked to bomb threat turns himself in SAN CLEMENTE (AP) — Authorities say a Navy medic who went AWOL and left a note saying he had planted bombs at a San Clemente high school has turned himself in. Camp Pendleton Mas- ter Sgt. Mark Oliva said 22-year-old Daniel Mor- gan surrendered Wednes- day afternoon at the mili- tary base. He said Morgan was being interviewed and could face a military charge of unauthorized absence after failing to report to duty Wednesday morning. Oliva had no further details. Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino told KABC- TV that Oliva surrendered at a hospital on the base. After the note was found in Morgan's bar- racks, authorities evacuat- ed 3,200 students and 180 staff members from San Clemente High School. A search at the school was under way, but so far no bombs have found. No decision on troop levels in Iraq WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior State Depart- ment nominee is telling been Pentagon ups threat level ahead of 9/11 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Wednesday that it is rais- ing the security level at military bases nationwide because of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The White House said that there have been no specific, credible threats of a terrorist attack tied to the anniversary and that the Obama administration will remain vigilant through the anniversary and beyond. President Barack Obama held a meeting Tuesday in the White House Situation Room with senior members of his homeland security team to ensure that all necessary measures and precautions are being taken in advance of the 9/11 anniversary, said spokesman Jay Carney.