LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Whatever I pick doesn’t matter. I hope
it will improve the situation of Tunisia’s youth.”
Fatima Toumi, 52,
an illiterate housewife, after voting Sunday Article, 2ASatellite crashes;
location uncertain
BERLIN - A defunct German research satellite crashed to Earth somewhere in Southeast Asia on Sunday, a U.S.
scientist said - but no one is still quite sure where.
Most parts of the minivansized ROSAT research satellite were expected to burn up as they hit the atmosphere at speeds up to 280 mph, but up to 30 fragments weighing a total of 1.87 tons could have crashed, the German Aerospace Center said.
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the satellite appears to have gone down over Southeast Asia.
Two Chinese cities, Chongqing and Chengdu, had been in the satellite’s projected path.
Calculations based on U.S.
military data indicate that satellite debris must have crashed somewhere east of Sri Lanka over the Indian Ocean, or over the Andaman Sea off the coast of Burma, or further inland in Burma or as far inland as China, he said.
The satellite entered the atmosphere between 8:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Central time Saturday and would have taken 15 minutes or less to hit the ground.
Argentine leader sails to re-election
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was reelected in a landslide Sunday, winning with the widest victory margin in the country’s history as voters were mobilized by popular programs that spread the wealth of a booming economy.
Fernandez had 53 percent of the votes after 75 percent of polling stations had been tallied nationwide, while her nearest challenger got just 17 percent. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo predicted the president’s vote share would rise as polls reported from her party’s stronghold of densely populated Buenos Aires province.
Thousands of the populist leader’s supporters crowded into the capital’s historic Plaza de Mayo in a jubilant, flag-waving celebration.
Fernandez appeared to have won a larger share of votes than any president since Argentina’s democracy was restored in 1983, when Raul Alfonsin was elected with 52 percent. Her margin over Gov. Hermes Binner and five other candidates was wider even than the 1973 victory margin of her strongman hero, Juan Domingo Peron.
Bangkok governor issues flood alert
BANGKOK - The governor of Bangkok issued a dramatic late-night warning Sunday to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge.
In live televised remarks, Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said water has moved faster than anticipated and was expected to flood the Don Muang area just north of the city proper - where Bangkok’s old airport is located and is now being used as headquarters for the antiflood effort as well as a shelter for evacuees.
He said it would threaten five other districts, as well, as it barrels toward the city’s more developed areas.
Sukhumbhand’s warning stood in stark contrast to general reassurances given earlier in the day by the Flood Relief Operations Center of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government. It announced that the situation was under control and could be expected to improve.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 10/24/2011