Wednesday,  January 16, 2013 • Vol. 13--No. 181 • 32 of 37 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 31)

• Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent to The Associated Press.
• A high-ranking official with the intelligence agency, called the National Directorate of Security, said that there were deaths from the attack but did not say how many. He declined to give his name because he was not an official spokesman.
• The explosion occurred about noon local time and was followed by volleys of gunfire for the next 45 minutes. As the car bomber drove into the gate, the five others attacked on foot, said Mohammad Zahir, the chief of the Kabul police investigation unit. All the assailants were killed in the fighting, he said. It was not immediately clear if some of the men on foot were also were wearing suicide vests.
• Zahir said at least 30 people were wounded, but he did not have information on deaths.
• ___

Japan's Boeing 787 jets in Japan grounded for safety checks after emergency landing, problems

• TOKYO (AP) -- Boeing Co.'s 787 planes were grounded for safety checks Wednesday by two major Japanese airlines after one was forced to make an emergency landing in the latest blow for the new jet.
• All Nippon Airways said a cockpit message showed battery problems and a burning smell were detected in the cockpit and the cabin, forcing the 787 on a domestic flight to land at Takamatsu airport in western Japan.
• The 787, known as the Dreamliner, is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced jet, and the company is counting heavily on its success. Since its launch, which came after delays of more than three years, the plane has been plagued by a series of problems including a battery fire and fuel leaks. Japan's ANA and Japan Airlines are major customers for the jet and among the first to fly it.
• Japan's transport ministry said it got notices from ANA, which operates 17 of the jets, and Japan Airlines which has seven, that all their 787s would not be flying. The grounding was done voluntarily by the airlines.
• The earliest manufactured jets of any new aircraft usually have problems and airlines run higher risks in flying them first, said Brendan Sobie, Singapore-based chief analyst at CAPA-Center for Aviation. Since about half the 787 fleet is in Japan, more problems are cropping up there.
• ___


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