1. The Daily Reflector, Saturday, January 7, 2012 A
NatioN WoRLD
DAMASCUS, SyriA MiAMi iSTANBUL WELLiNGTON, NEW ZEALAND
Explosion in capital kills 25 NASA questions checklist sale 11 dead in hot air balloon crash
A bomb exploded Friday at a busy Da- NASA is questioning whether Apollo All 11 people on board were killed
mascus intersection, killing 25 people 13 commander James Lovell has the right when a hot air balloon crashed near the
and wounding dozens in the second ma- to sell a checklist from the flight that in- rural town of Carterton, some 94 miles
jor attack in the Syrian capital in as many cludes his handwritten calculations cru- north of the capital, Wellington.
weeks, officials said, vowing to respond cial in guiding the damaged spacecraft Wairarapa District Health Board
to further security threats with an “iron back to Earth. spokeswoman Jill Stringer said the 11
fist.” The document was sold by Heritage people died when the balloon came down
The government blamed “terrorists,” Auctions in November for more than near show grounds north of the township
saying a suicide bomber had blown him- $388,000. The checklist gained great fame in rural Wairarapa county.
self up in the crowded Midan district. But in the 1995 film “Apollo 13” when actor Police confirmed there were “multiple
the country’s opposition demanded an in- Tom Hanks, playing Lovell, used it to deaths” when the balloon crashed.
dependent investigation, accusing forces make the calculations. Eyewitnesses told local media of seeing up
loyal to the Syrian regime of being behind The sale was suspended after NASA to 32 feet of flames rising from the balloon’s
the bombing to tarnish a 10-month-old contacted Lovell and Heritage to ask basket before it plummeted to the ground.
uprising against President Bashar Assad. whether Lovell had title to the checklist. Police said they have no details yet of
“Is there anything worse than these NASA said only the space agency can au- what caused the early morning crash in
the associated press
crimes?” said Majida Jomaa, a 30-year- thorize the sale of such an item. Lovell has clear, bright conditions with minimal
old housewife who ran to the streets after not returned a phone call seeking comment. SWiMMErS COMBATED to catch wind. The region is well known for its hot
hearing the explosion about 11 a.m. “Is The Apollo 13 moon mission was abort- a wooden cross during an epiphany air ballooning.
this freedom?” ed when an oxygen tank exploded in 1970. ceremony to bless the waters on Friday. From Associated Press reports
December hiring surge adds 200,000 jobs nation-wide
By PAUL WiSEMAN power to this economy than the virtuous cycle may be
AND CHriSTOPHEr S. most believe,” said Sung under way, which would “There is more
rUGABEr Won Sohn, an econom- suggest the job market will
the associated press ics professor at California get stronger yet.
horsepower to
State University, Chan- When more Americans this economy
WASHINGTON — Four nel Islands. “The stars are are hired, they have more
painful years after the Great aligned right for a mean- money to spend. When than most believe.”
Recession struck and wiped ingful economic recovery.” more money courses Sung Won Sohn
out 8.7 million jobs, the It was the sixth month through the economy, busi- economics professor
United States finally may be in a row that the economy nesses can justify hiring
in an elusive pattern known added at least 100,000 jobs, more people. That means
as the virtuous cycle — an the longest streak since more jobs, more spending “The labor market is
escalating loop of robust job 2006. The economy added and more demand for busi- healing,” said Diane Swonk,
growth, healthier spending jobs every month last year, nesses. Which leads to still chief economist at Mesirow
and higher demand. the first time that has hap- more hiring, spending and Financial. She cautioned
The nation added pened since 2005. demand. that “we still have a long way
200,000 jobs in December And the unemployment That would be the re- to go — years — to recoup
in a burst of hiring that rate, which peaked at 10.1 verse of the vicious cycle the losses we have endured.” the associated press
drove the unemployment percent in October 2009 that took hold during the Indeed, the economy A BUrST of hiring in december pushed the unemployment
rate down two ticks to 8.5 and stood at 9.1 percent at Great Recession. People lost added 1.6 million jobs for rate to its lowest level in nearly three years, giving the
percent, its lowest in almost the start of last year, has fall- jobs and spent less money, all of 2011. That is better economy a boost at the end of 2011.
three years, and led econo- en four months straight. so businesses rang up less than the 940,000 it added
mists to conclude that the If economics textbooks sales and were forced to lay during 2010. In 2009, the But it will take 6 million recession began. Econo-
improvement in the job and the best hopes of off more people. That led most bruising year of the more jobs to get the United mists forecast the nation
market might just last. millions of unemployed to even less spending and Great Recession, the nation States back to what it had in will add almost 2 million
“There is more horse- Americans are confirmed, more layoffs. lost more than 5 million. December 2007, when the this year.
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