PM shares grief with France, Brazil over jetliner tragedy

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Thursday expressed grief and concern over the "terrible boat tragedy" in Kerala's Thekkady wildlife sanctuary that claimed 37 lives. "I am deeply distressed to learn of the terrible boat tragedy at the Thekkady wildlife sanctuary that claimed so many innocent lives," Gandhi said in a message issued here.

September 7th, 2009 PARIS - Brazil is planning to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, officials said Monday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is currently in Brazil to negotiate the aircraft deal.

September 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - French Ambassador Jrme Bonnafont Thursday offered condolences to the family of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy, who was killed in a chopper crash, and lauded him for his contribution to enriching the relationship between India and France.

August 27th, 2009 Brazilians want investigation of Air France crashSAO PAULO — Relatives of Brazilian passengers who perished on an Air France jetliner that crashed over the Atlantic Ocean are demanding a criminal investigation. Government news service Agencia Brasil says the association representing the victims' relatives filed a petition with the federal attorney general's office requesting "an investigation against the possible culprits of the accident." Air France Flight 447 crashed June 1 en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro, killing all 228 people on board.

August 1st, 2009 Brazil busts international prostitution ringSAO PAULO — Brazilian police say they have busted a ring that allegedly sent some 200 women in the last year to the United States, Europe and elsewhere to work as prostitutes. Leandro Daiello Coimbra of the federal police in Sao Paulo tells state-run Agencia Brasil that nine Brazilians and one American were arrested in Brazil on Friday.

July 4th, 2009 Correction: France-Crash Investigation storyLE BOURGET, France — In a July 2 story about the probe into the crash of Air France flight 447, The Associated Press erroneously quoted Charles-Henri Tardivat, a lawyer for the victims' families, as saying the phase of grief had passed. Tardivat said families "started concentrating on their families, their grief, and how to be able to put a close on at least that part of their life" once they realized how little was available from the investigation.

June 7th, 2009 SAN PAULO - The bodies of two men from the Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil have been found by search teams. "We confirm the recovery from the water of debris and bodies from the Air France plane," Sky News quoted Brazilian air force spokesman Colonel Jorge Amaral, as saying.

June 4th, 2009 Lawmaker seeks Brazil sanctions over custody caseTRENTON, N.J. — A U.S. congressman is pushing to suspend certain trade preferences with Brazil until a boy at the center of a custody dispute there is returned to his father in New Jersey.

June 4th, 2009 PARIS - An Air France pilot has declared it "highly likely" that flight AF447 may have been blown up by a terrorist bomb. The long-haul captain, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed the theory the doomed jet suffered catastrophic electrical failure.

June 2nd, 2009 Debris possibly from Air France plane foundBRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil's Air Force says it has found airplane seats and other debris floating in the Atlantic Ocean along the path that a missing Air France jet was flying. Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral says the seats were spotted by search planes early Tuesday morning but that authorities cannot immediately confirm they were from the plane.

June 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday condoled the loss of lives in the Air France jetliner tragedy and in separate letters to President Nikolas Sarkozy of France and President Lula da Silva of Brazil expressed grief over the tragedy. I am deeply distressed to hear about the tragedy that has struck Air France's Flight AF 447 which was on its way from Brazil to France.

June 1st, 2009 Brazil: Air France jet missing over AtlanticSAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil's Air Force says an Air France jet bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean and a search is under way near the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha. An Air Force spokesman says the search and rescue mission was mounted Monday morning after the jet failed to make regular radio contact.

June 1st, 2009 PARIS - Air France has lost contact with a jetliner carrying 228 people. The flight bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris went missing over the Atlantic Ocean.

June 1st, 2009 Timeline of disappearance of Air France jetTimeline of events surrounding the disappearance of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, according to Air France, Brazilian Air Force. All times in Brazilian local time: — 7:03 p.m.

June 1st, 2009 Air France jet missing over Atlantic OceanSAO PAULO, Brazil — An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, an Air France official said Monday. Brazil immediately began a search mission off its northeastern coast.