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The French aircraft carrier which is set to play a key role in defending Britain over the next decade has broken down. As President Nicolas Sarkozy prepares to use a London summit this week to announce that RAF jets will fly from the carrier Charles de Gaulle, his naval chiefs have told him that she is no longer seaworthy. ‘She is meant to be heading to Afghanistan but is instead in her home port with a faulty propulsion system,’ said a French Navy source.

SNIP...I’ll reserve final judgment until I read the entire piece. But based on these excerpts — which presumably reflect the thrust of the 10,000-word article — what is striking is the degree of self-pity we find in Obama’s advisers, which is reflected in the president’s words and attitude as well. Team Obama sounds nothing so much as overmatched and overwhelmed, unable to understand what has gone wrong, and increasingly bitter toward the nation’s capital and the pace and nature of politics.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Monday that the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea was not terrorism, and not enough by itself to put Pyongyang back on a U.S. terror blacklist. The State Department said the March sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan by a reported torpedo from a North Korean submarine was a "provocative action" and a violation of the truce that ended the Korean war. But it added that the sinking was the act of one state's military against another and not an act of terrorism. Thus, it is not grounds...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is saying that the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea was not terrorism, and not enough by itself to put the Pyongyang back on a U.S. terror blacklist. The State Department said Monday that the March sinking of the frigate Cheonan was a "provocative action" and a violation of the truce that ended the Korean war. But it added that the sinking by a reported North Korean torpedo strike was the act of one state's military against another.

UNITED NATIONS - North Korea's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday that any U.N. Security Council action over the sinking of a South Korean naval ship that was hostile to Pyongyang would have a military "follow-up." Seoul, which has accused North Korea of torpedoing the corvette Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 sailors, brought the dispute to the Security Council this month, asking the 15-nation body to take action to deter "further provocation."

This is the expanded version of ones presented at http://photo.chosun.com/chosun/rel_photo.html?wid=2010052001760&pid=2010052001339

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Investigators in Seoul say they have proof that North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship. The long-awaited investigation results released Thursday say the torpedo caused a massive underwater explosion that blew the ship apart on March 26.

The United States said Tuesday it is ready to discuss taking the sinking of a South Korean warship to the U.N. Security Council as the investigation into the wraps up. "We will be talking to South Korea about that issue, I would expect," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, asked if Washington supports Seoul's plans to call for stronger sanctions. South Korea will announce Thursday the outcome of the probe into the 1,200-ton Cheonan, which sank on the inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea in late March, killing 46 sailors. There is strong suspicion of North Korea's involvement. Seoul...

South Korea came closer on Thursday to blaming North Korea for the sinking of a navy ship in March that killed 46 sailors with reports saying it plans economic measures to punish Pyongyang for a suspected torpedo attack.South Korea has not officially accused the North of sinking its navy ship but has made little secret of its belief Pyongyang deliberately torpedoed the 1,200 corvette Cheonan near their disputed border in retaliation for a naval clash last year. "The sinking of the Cheonan showed the cold hard realities of division (on the peninsula) for the world to see," South Korea's pointman...

North Korea has completed deployment of about 50,000 special forces along the border with South Korea, amid high tensions over the sinking of a Seoul warship.

SEOUL, South Korea – An explosion from a torpedo likely sank a South Korean warship that went down near the tense border with North Korea last month, the South's defense minister said Sunday amid growing speculation Pyongyang may be behind the blast. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said the most likely cause of the disaster was a torpedo exploding near the ship, with the force of the underwater blast ripping the vessel apart. Investigators who examined salvaged wreckage separately announced Sunday that a close-range, external explosion likely sank it. "Basically, I think the bubble jet effect caused by a heavy torpedo...

Reuters cited an April 22 Yonhap News Agency report that the South Korean military believes a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sank its navy corvette, the ROKS Cheonan, on March 26. The findings were based on intelligence gathered jointly with the United States. The ship had a crew of 104 men at the time of sinking, with 58 crew members being rescued and another 46 members unaccounted for. "North Korean submarines are all armed with heavy torpedoes with 200 kg (441 lb) warheads," the military source was quoted by Yonhap. "It is the military intelligence's assessment that the...

ANXIETY is mounting in Seoul and Washington as South Korea braces for an inquiry finding that its warship, the Cheonan, was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, at the cost of 46 lives. With leaks from the Defence Ministry and military intelligence blaming the North Koreans for the March 26 explosion, South Korean, US and Australian experts are close to interim reports on the cause of the sinking. President Lee Myung-bak's administration is agonising over whether military retaliation should be part of a "proportionate" response to the suspected attack, with Mr Lee telling war veterans this week: "We will take...

'N.Korean Officer' Says North Sank the Cheonan A North Korean Army officer has testified that the North Korean military attacked the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan before it sank in the West Sea on March 26, the head of a South Korean activist group claimed Monday. Choi Sung-yong of the Family Assembly Abducted to North Korea said, "It seems that the Cheonan was sunk in a premeditated North Korean operation." Choi published a transcript of a telephone conversation with what he says is a senior North Korean Army officer. According to the transcript, the officer says, "Thirteen commandos who left...

HALIFAX — Members of the International Ice Patrol will take part in a ceremony today to remember the sinking of the luxury-liner Titanic 98 years ago. Scott Rogerson, the commander of the patrol which is based in Connecticut, says they plan to gather at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax where 121 of the ill-fated liner’s passengers are buried. More than 1,500 died when the ship hit an iceberg while making its maiden voyage. Rogerson says an ice patrol aircraft will travel to Newfoundland on Friday and, in keeping with tradition, drop wreaths to mark the sinking.

<p>It is, of course, a really silly thing to even think about, given the clout of the Chicago Machine boys currently occupying the White House.</p> <p>But, just say, the Real Great Talker continues his spiraling descent in the polls over the next 12-18 months; already the Democrat is barely tied with Any Republican in opinion polls looking toward 2012.</p>

Torpedo Attack Likeliest Cause of Shipwreck Military authorities believe that a strong external shock was the reason for the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan, on March 26, with a torpedo, mine or depth charge the most likely to generate enough impact. The most likely suspect is a torpedo. â—† Torpedo, Mine or Depth Charge? Torpedoes and mines attack from under the surface of the ocean, while depth charges are thrown into the water from airplanes or ships to hit submarines. Torpedoes travel between 60 km/h to 70 km/h powered by propellers and can hit targets that are between hundreds...

Fishing boat missing after searching for sailors from sunken ship SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- A fishing boat has vanished and is feared to have sunk after searching for sailors missing from last week's naval disaster, maritime police said Saturday. Police said they lost contact with the 99-ton boat, Kumyang 98, carrying nine people aboard, after receiving a distress signal at around 8:30 p.m. Friday in the area off the western sea border with North Korea, where the patrol ship Cheonan ship sank on March 26. The fishing boat was among 10 vessels mobilized to find the Cheonan's 46 missing...

SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- A fishing boat has vanished and is feared to have sunk after searching for sailors missing from last week's naval disaster, maritime police said Saturday. Police said they lost contact with the 99-ton boat, carrying nine people aboard, after receiving a distress signal at around 8:30 p.m. Friday in the area off the western sea border with North Korea, where the patrol ship Cheonan ship sank on March 26.