The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 09-06-11

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Swine Flu: Greece Confirms Seventh Case

WHO chief Dr Margaret Chan quizzed eight countries with large swine flu outbreaks on Wednesday to see if a pandemic, or global epidemic, should be declared. She later announced that an emergency meeting of the WHO's flu experts will be held today.

WHO said announcing a pandemic would not mean the situation was worsening, since no mutations have been detected in the virus to show it is getting more deadly.

One flu expert said WHO's pandemic declaration would mean little in terms of how countries are responding to the outbreak.

Source: Associated Press

News item: 23448

[02] Air France Crash: New Evidence

The investigation on the causes of the accident of Air France 447 flight revealed new evidence. A French news website had claimed that police found the names of two suspected Islamic militants on the flight's passenger list.

All 228 people on board the flight are believed to have died when the plane crashed into the ocean after flying into stormy weather.

Officials have not yet determined the cause of the accident.

A French nuclear submarine with advanced sonar equipment has started searching for the plane's flight recorders. The urgent hunt for the black boxes of Air France Flight 447 received a boost Wednesday. A French nuclear submarine scoured the search area, listening for the data and voice recorders' pings before they fade away.

The black boxes provide the best hope of unraveling why the Airbus A330-200 aircraft apparently broke up in midair and plunged into sea.

French secret services reveal that 2 passengers, the names of whom are in a suspect list are related to Islamist terrorism. These evidence are considered if crucial importance for agents who are trying to trace the relatives of the passengers.

With more punishing ocean storms hitting the area as early as Thursday and the possibility that the boxes could have come to rest amid jagged underwater mountains, finding them is a formidable task.

Officials say 28 bodies have now been recovered from the Atlantic, up from 16. A total of 228 people were on the plane when it went down on 1 June.

Earlier, a search team recovered a large tail section from the ocean.

Source: Associated Press

News item: 23441

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