MIAMI – Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Southeast coast from north Florida to South Carolina as a cluster of thunderstorms was gathering strength early Saturday and expected to become Tropical Storm Beryl over theWASHINGTON – Engineering experts investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill exposed holes in BP’s internal inquiry as the company was questioned Sunday for the first time in public about its findings.
The National Academy of Engineering panel noted among other things that the study avoided organizational flaws that could have contributed to the April blast, which killed 11 workers and unleashed 206 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.
BP’s lead investigator acknowledged that the company’s inquiry had limitations. Mark Bly, head of safety and operations for BP, said a lack of physical evidence and interviews with employees from other companies limited BP’s study.
Today and Tuesday, investigators will turn their attention to the government’s response to the spill.
Nation
Hyundai recalls 139,500 Sonatas
Hyundai Motor Co. said it is voluntarily recalling 139,500 Sonata sedans in the U.S. because of a manufacturing defect that could cause drivers to lose steering control.
The recall affects 2011 models built between Dec. 11, 2009, and Sept. 10, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted on its website Sunday.
The U.S. government opened an investigation into possible steering problems in the vehicle in August.
Malfunctioning plane lands at JFK
With a flight attendant yelling “heads down, stay down,” passengers cowered and prayed on a tense descent into John F. Kennedy International Airport as malfunctioning landing gear sent sparks flying and left one of the plane’s wings dragging along the tarmac.
No one was hurt Saturday night when Delta Connection Flight 4951, operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, made its emergency landing on its way to White Plains, N.Y., from Atlanta, said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Steve Coleman.
World
Building slowdown ends in West Bank
Jewish settlers released balloons and broke ground on a kindergarten in celebration Sunday as a 10-month construction slowdown in the West Bank expired.
After the slowdown ran out at midnight, there was no Palestinian statement about the future of peace talks with Israelis. The Palestinians asked for an Oct. 4 meeting of an Arab League body to discuss the situation, possibly giving diplomats an extra week to work out a compromise.
Meanwhile, a boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Germany, the U.S. and Britain set sail Sunday for Gaza, hoping to breach Israel’s naval blockade there. Richard Kuper, an organizer with the British group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, said one goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians.
Worm infects PCs at Iran nuclear plant
A computer worm capable of seizing control of industrial plants has affected the personal computers of staff working at Iran’s first nuclear power station weeks before the facility is to go online, the official news agency said Sunday.
The malicious code, called Stuxnet, has infected as many as 45,000 computer systems around the world.
Ancient Greek texts poised to go online
The British Library said today that it was making more than a quarter of its 1,000 volume collection of ancient, handwritten Greek texts available online free of charge, something curators there hope will be a boon to historians, biblical scholars and students of classical Greece alike.
Although the manuscripts – highlights of which include a famous collection of Aesopic fables discovered on Mount Athos in 1844 – have long been available to scholars who made the trip to the British Library’s reading rooms, curator Scot McKendrick said their posting to the Web was opening antiquity to the entire world.
