World in brief: Investigation turns to brakes
Investigators examining the charred remains of a Russian airliner that skidded off a rain-slick runway and crashed Sunday in Siberia, killing at least 124 people, are focusing on the possibility that the plane’s hydraulic brake system failed upon landing.
Preliminary data indicate that “after landing, the aircraft’s brake system failed, causing the failure of the system’s other mechanisms,” an unidentified investigator told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti. “As a result, the aircraft became uncontrollable after landing.”
The Airbus A-310 operated by S7 Airlines was carrying 204 people when it crashed Sunday morning in the city of Irkutsk, according to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry.
JAKARTA, Indonesia
Rebels balk at greater control
A proposal that would give Indonesia’s tsunami-ravaged Aceh province greater autonomy and control of most of its oil and natural gas revenues has met opposition from rebels who fought for decades to win independence.
The rebels gave up their demand for independence after the December 2004 tsunami. Indonesia agreed to withdraw more than half of its nearly 50,000 troops and give the province limited self-government and more power over its mineral wealth.
Indonesia’s parliament was slated to pass the bill Tuesday and cement the 2005 peace accord that ended the civil war.
But Munawarliza Zain, a spokesman for the former rebels, said the bill, which would give Aceh 70 percent of its natural resource revenues, “has the potential to ruin peace” because articles on the central government’s authority and the role of Indonesia’s military in Aceh are unclear and could foster distrust.
London
More troops to go to Afghanistan
Hundreds of additional British troops will be sent to southern Afghanistan after an urgent request from commanders for reinforcements in volatile Helmand province, defense officials said Sunday.
Defense Secretary Des Browne was expected to announce the deployment plan to Britain’s House of Commons today, an official said on condition of anonymity. The official gave no number of troops to be sent.
The Times newspaper reported last week that 600 additional soldiers were on standby for possible deployment to Afghanistan.
Singer slims down to regain role
An American soprano fired by London’s Royal Opera House because of her weight has been rehired after undergoing stomach surgery and losing 135 pounds, her spokeswoman and the prestigious theater said Sunday.
Deborah Voigt, one of the world’s top opera singers, lost her part in Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne on Naxos” in 2004 because the Royal Opera House decided a slimmer singer would be better.
She now has a contract to return to the role in the 2007-2008 season, a Royal Opera spokeswoman said.