Air France Jet with 228 onboard missing,

ARIS, France (CNN -- An Air France passenger aircraft carrying 228 people has disappeared off the coast of Brazil, officials say.


The incident involves an Air France Airbus A330-200.

The airline told CNN the Airbus A330-200 jet was making the 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when contact was lost.

Brazil's air force launched a search near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean, 365 km (226 miles) from Brazil's coast, a spokesman for the air force told CNN.

Two Brazilian squadrons are searching for the plane, although it disappeared after it left the country's radar space, said the officer, who declined to be named.

The flight, AF 447, took off shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday local time (6 p.m. Sunday ET) for the 11-hour flight, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members. It was scheduled to land in Paris at 11:15 a.m. local time (5:15 a.m. ET).

The last known contact with the plane was at 1:33 a.m. GMT (8:33 p.m. Sunday night ET), the Brazilian Air Force spokesman said.

Air France said it could not confirm reports of a short circuit on board the aircraft.

The airline said it "shared the emotion and the concern of the families concerned" adding that friends and relatives waiting at the airport would be taken to a special area.

A crisis center is being set up at Charles de Gaulle where the plane had been due to land at 11.15 a.m. local time.

Agence France-Presse quoted France's Environment Minister Jean Louis Borloo saying that it was extremely unlikely the plane had been hijacked.

"We are very worried," an aviation official told AFP. "The plane disappeared from the screens several hours ago. It could be a transponder problem, but this kind of fault is very rare and the plane did not land when expected."

Gates: Nuclear-armed N. Korea unacceptable

Gates: Nuclear-armed N. Korea unacceptable: "The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday at an international conference. 'We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in the region -- or on us,' said Gates, speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.

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(Via CNN.com.)

Obama: N. Korean nuclear test 'a grave threat'

Obama: N. Korean nuclear test 'a grave threat': "President Obama castigated the North Korean government Monday for conducting a second nuclear bomb test in defiance of multiple international warnings.

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(Via CNN.com - U.S..)

North Korea's 2nd nuke test stirs outrage

North Korea's 2nd nuke test stirs outrage: "North Korea delivered on its threat today, conducting a second nuclear test that angered governments around the globe. The country also apparently test-fired a short-range missile today, the White House said. Japan called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Russia's ambassador to the U.N. said a meeting is expected today.

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(Via CNN.com.)

US Spy Flies To Gain New Eyes

New miniature camera technology may be about to give the US military's insect-sized surveillance drones a new way of seeing the world that's more energy-conscious than before. Yay, technology?

New Scientist reports that a new microchip-sized digital camera, developed by the California Institute of Technology using funding from NASA and the Pentagon, has been patented and is expected to replace current camera technology on the tiny spy drones.


According to the article, the revolutionary aspect of the design is that the new size means that the main power drain on existing minicams - connecting the chips for the sensors and support circuitry - is no longer necessary, making the new remote controlled camera use much less energy, and therefore be more suited for secret surveillance missions. I'm not sure how I feel about this news, not least of all because I didn't even know that the US military even had insect-sized surveillance drones before.

LINK HERE