The News in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Bomb kills at least 40 at Pakistan Marriott hotel

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A massive suicide truck bomb gutted the heavily guarded Marriott Hotel in Pakistan’s capital Saturday, killing at least 40 people and injuring hundreds. Dozens more were feared dead inside the building that was still burning hours after the attack.

The targeting of the American hotel chain appeared to be one of the largest terrorist attacks ever in Pakistan and came at a time of growing anger over a wave of cross-border strikes on militant bases by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The bombing came just hours after President Asif Ali Zardari made his first address to Parliament, less than a mile away from the hotel, and days ahead of the new leader’s meeting with President Bush Tuesday in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Zardari reappeared after midnight on state television to condemn the “cowardly attack.” He said he understood the victims’ pain because he had buried his own wife — assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto — in December.

“Make this pain your strength,” he said. “This is a menace, a cancer in Pakistan which we will eliminate. We will not be scared of these cowards,” he said.

Cockpit recorder recovered in SC jet crash

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C.— Investigators say they’ve recovered the cockpit voice recorder from a fiery South Carolina jet crash that killed four and critically injured former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and celebrity DJ AM.

National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said Saturday that the recorder has yet to be analyzed. She says authorities investigating the crash at Columbia Metropolitan Airport have yet to rule anything out for causing the crash.

Nearly 250,000 in Ohio remain without power

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Almost a quarter million homes and businesses across Ohio remained without power Saturday, one week after a huge storm blacked out large swaths of the state.

The remnants of Hurricane Ike battered Ohio last Sunday, knocking out electrical service for 2.6 million customers.