Malaysia releases data on missing jet

May 28, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

Close to three months after the Malaysian jetliner disappeared, the government Tuesday released reams of raw satellite data it used to determine that the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean, a step long demanded by the families of some of the passengers on board.

But though the 45 pages of information may help satisfy a desire for more transparency in a much criticized investigation, experts say it’s unlikely to solve the mystery of Flight 370 — or give much comfort to relatives stuck between grieving and the faintest hope, no matter how unlikely, their loved ones might still be alive.

“It’s a whole lot of stuff that is not very important to know,” said Michael Exner, a satellite engineer who has been independently researching the calculations. “There are probably two or three pages of important stuff; the rest is just noise. It doesn’t add any value to our understanding.”

Bush has partial knee replacement

DALLAS

Former President George W. Bush has successfully had a partial knee replacement in Chicago.

Bush spokesman Freddy Ford says Bush had the procedure Saturday and returned home to Dallas on Monday. Ford said in an email Tuesday that Bush was “doing great” and was able to “get up, walk around, and go up and down stairs just a couple hours after the procedure.”

Ford said he wouldn’t release further details.

Bush is known as a fitness buff. Since leaving the White House, the 67-year-old has hosted an annual 100-kilometer mountain bike ride in which he rides along with those injured in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He participated in the ride earlier this month at his Crawford ranch.

He had a heart procedure to ease a blocked artery in August.

Egypt extends presidential vote

CAIRO

“Where are the people?” one talk-show host on a military station shouted as Egypt on Tuesday extended its presidential election to a third day in an apparent drive to raise voter turnout and avoid an embarrassingly meager show of support for former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Throughout the day, officials and supporters of el-Sissi, the expected winner, exhorted voters to go to the polls.

Scenes of empty polling stations drove el-Sissi supporters on the country’s TV stations into a lather, and they scolded Egyptians for not turning out.

91-year-old ousted in GOP primary

ROCKWALL, Texas

U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, at 91 the oldest-ever member of the U.S. House, was ousted Tuesday in the Texas Republican runoff by a candidate barely half his age.

Backed by powerful national groups with strong tea-party ties, 48-year-old former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe was able to paint Hall as too cozy with the GOP establishment after 34 years in office. He forced the incumbent into his first runoff in 17 terms in the House, then won Tuesday.

Hall first ran for political office in 1950 and won his seat when Jimmy Carter was president. He was a Democrat until switching parties in 2004.

Associated Press