Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/596547
ByDmitryLovetsky The Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA U.S. satellite imagery de- tected heat around a Rus- sian passenger jet just be- fore it went down in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, two U.S. officials said Tuesday. But the discovery doesn't re- solve the mystery of why the plane crashed, killing all 224 aboard. A missile striking the Me- trojet Airbus A321-200 was ruled out because neither a launch nor an engine burn had been detected, one of the officials said. The infrared activity that was detected could mean many things, including a bomb blast or that an en- gine on the plane exploded due to a malfunction. Aviation analyst Paul Beaver said the heat picked up by the satellite "indi- cates that there was a cat- astrophic explosion or dis- integration of the airplane," but doesn't reveal the cause. "It doesn't tell us if it was a bomb ... or if some- body had a fight in the air- plane with a gun — there is a whole raft of things that could happen in this re- gard," he said. It also could indicate a fuel tank or engine explod- ing, although "engines are designed so that if some- thing malfunctions or breaks off, it is contained within the engine," Beaver added. Both U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't autho- rized to discuss the infor- mation publicly. Some aviation experts had earlier suggested a bomb was the most likely cause of Saturday's crash, while some others pointed at a 2001 incident in which the jet damaged its tail dur- ing landing. The Metrojet was flying from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg when it crashed in the Sinai Peninsula af- ter breaking up at high al- titude, Russian aviation of- ficials said. Islamic State militants said they had "brought down" the Russian plane because of Moscow's re- cent military intervention in Syria against the extrem- ist group. But the group did not provide any evidence to support its claim, and mili- tants in northern Sinai have not shot down any commer- cial airliners or fighter jets. Egyptian President Ab- del-Fattah el-Sissi called that claim "propaganda" aimed at damaging the country's image, and he in- sisted the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula is un- der "full control." In an interview with the BBC, el-Sissi also reiter- ated that the cause of the crash may not be known for months and said there should be no speculation about it. President Vladimir Putin said Russia will keep fight- ing terrorism in Syria and elsewhere, adding that no one will succeed in scar- ing it. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, rejected any con- nection between the crash and the Russian military action in Syria, saying there is no reason to link them. An international team of experts prepared to analyze the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders, the so-called "black boxes." The joint investigation committee, which includes Egyptian, Russian, French and German experts as well as representatives from Ire- land, where the plane was registered, was wrapping up its last field inspection at the crash site. It will start working on the recorders, said Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal. Kamal says it "will take some time" to produce the final report and that the committee "has all the tools and experts to deal with the investigation." Russian Transport Min- ister Maxim Sokolov said in televised remarks that Rus- sian experts already had conducted a preliminary inspection of the recorders and had seen information from Egypt's flight control radars, but he wouldn't give further details. As the investigation moved forward, more of the dead were brought to St. Petersburg. Alexei Smirnov of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said government planes have brought 140 bodies and other human remains so far, and families have iden- tified 19 victims. Mourners continued to come to St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport to lay flow- ers, toys and other trib- utes. On the outskirts of town, tearful relatives of the victims left a cremato- rium where the identifica- tion process took place. Alexander Agafonov, head of the Russian rescue mission in Egypt, said in a televised conference with other officials that search- ers found no more bodies Tuesday after combing an area of 28 square kilome- ters (10.8 square miles). Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puch- kov said the site "should be studied centimeter by centimeter." MYSTERY US detects heat around doomed Russian jet just before crash By Aron Heller The Associated Press JERUSALEM The Israeli military raided a Palestin- ianradiostationintheWest BankonTuesdayandconfis- cated equipment it said was beingusedtobroadcastcalls to attack Israelis. The military said it shut down the Al Hurria radio station in the city of Hebron overnight, accusing it of in- citing violence. Israel says the current spateofviolencethatstarted in mid-September has been set off by a Palestinian cam- paign of lies and incitement surrounding a sensitive Je- rusalemholysite.ThePales- tinians counter by saying it isaresultoffrustrationfrom nearly a half-century of oc- cupation. Eleven Israelis have been killedinPalestinianattacks, mostlystabbings.Sixty-nine PalestinianshavediedbyIs- raeli fire, including 43 who Israel says were involved in attacks or attempted at- tacks. The violence shows no signsofabating.OnMonday, aPalestinianstabbedandse- riously wounded a 70-year- old man in central Israel just hours after another Pal- estinian knifed several peo- ple,includingan80-year-old woman, in a stabbing spree near Tel Aviv. Hebron, the largest West Bank city, has been a partic- ularflashpoint.Severalhun- dred Jewish settlers live in fortified enclaves in the city, amid tens of thousands of Palestinians. The military says over the past month Palestin- ians have carried out 29 at- tacksinthecity,including22 stabbings,fourvehicularas- saultsandthreeshootingat- tacks. It says the Al Hurria sta- tion has been encouraging stabbing attacks and glori- fying the attackers. The station's director, Ayman Qawasmeh, said Is- raeltroopsraidedthestation after2a.m.,destroyedequip- ment and confiscated trans- mitters. "This is a clear violent aggression on the Pales- tinian media," he said. "We didn't incite, we just reported the Israeli daily crimes against our people in Hebron. They want to si- lence our voice." The violence has been fu- eledbyrumorsamongPales- tinians that Israel was plot- tingtotakeoverthesensitive Jerusalemholysitesacredto both Jews and Muslims. Israel has adamantly de- nied it is changing the del- icate status quo that gov- erns the site, but Palestin- ians point to an increase in visits by extremist Jews who call for a greater Jew- ish presence there, as well as hard-line government ministerswhosupporttheir cause. Under a longstand- ing arrangement, Jews are allowed to visit the site but cannot pray there. Israel's internal security service Shin Bet said Tues- day it slapped a restrain- ing order on an extremist Jewish activist, banning him from Jerusalem for six months because of his "in- volvement in activities that encourage provocations" at the holy site. The Shin Bet identified the man as Dov Morel, who Israelimediasaidwasactive in a group calling for Jew- ish prayer rights the Jerusa- lem site. Israel has previously banned another Jew- ish activist from the holy site and during the cur- rent round of violence, Is- raeli Prime Minister Ben- jamin Netanyahu barred lawmakers from visiting the site. But banning an Israeli from Jerusalem is a rare move that reflects Israel's attempts to lower tensions and stamp out the violence. WEST BANK Israeli military raids, shuts down West Bank Palestinian radio station IVANSEKRETAREV—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS People walk to a crematorium to identify relatives in St.Petersburg, Russia on Tuesday. N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N TY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 FAX: (530) 528-0130 545 Diamond Avenue • P.O. Box 220 • Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN For more details call Circulation Department (530) 73 7-5047 Select"Subscribe"tabin lower right corner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! FREE online subscription to TV Select Magazine Digital edition emailed to you, every Saturday! Just go online to www.ifoldsflip.com/t/5281 (You'll only need to go there one time) • Fully searchable online, zoom in, print out pages and more! • No newspaper online subscription or website access required. • Best of all ... it's ABSOLUTELY FREE! This FREE service made possible by the advertisers in TV Select Magazine Kindly patronize and thank them. Click on their ads online to access their websites! | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2015 6 B