In the wake of the tragic crash of Yemenia Airlines Flight 626 near the Comoros Islands, it has been revealed that French safety inspectors had serious doubts about the Airbus A310 craft and had banned it from entering the country in 2007.

Though the airline had not been placed on the European Union’s safety-related blacklist of air carriers forbidden to enter the EU, the French had banned that particular Yemenia plane from entering France.

An Airbus A310 with 153 people on board crashed into the Indian Ocean early Tuesday morning as it tried to land in the Comoros Islands amid gusty winds and rough seas.

The Yemenia Airlines jet was making its final approach to Moroni airport when it went down about nine miles off the Comoran coast.

Weather reports state that wind speeds averaged about 38 miles per hour at the time of the crash.

While waiting for my daughter to finish her skateboard lesson, I strike up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me on the bench.

She’s a tall, willowy blonde with movie-star sunglasses, a chic natural style, and—perfect for Los Angeles—a husband who’s a film director.

The judge-a-book-by-its-cover side of me would normally go into hyper-drive except that we have an instant bond: her daughter, like mine, was adopted from China. And so we sit and talk.

When Amin Khan was 9 years old, his parents packed four suitcases—one for each member of the family—and left for the airport in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania with all the casualness of people going on a short vacation.

They never saw their home in Africa again.

Their reasons for leaving Africa were the same as the family’s reasons for leaving India four generations earlier: political instability, social unrest and a desire for a better life for the children.

In yet another dramatic Somali pirate attack, an MSC Cruises liner successfully warded off gun-toting bandits near the Seychelles Islands Saturday evening, with no reported injuries to passengers or crew.

Six pirates approached the MSC Melody in a small speedboat around 7:35 p.m. GMT, firing automatic weapons.

The ship was about 200 miles north of the islands’ capital city of Port Victoria, and about 500 miles east of Somalia.

There are several ongoing situations still evolving out there in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. Yes, we’re dealing with pirates.

It’s just absolutely wild to think that in the last year 60 boats have been hijacked and more than $80 million in ransom paid.

You know, we’re living in a world of great high-tech, of great military might, and we’re back with Terry and the Pirates.

After two hostage rescue operations over the past week that left four Somali pirates dead, pirate leaders have vowed revenge on all those who try to attack them in future.

On Saturday night U.S. Navy SEAL snipers closed in on the lifeboat where Capt. Richard Phillips was being held, killing three pirates in the process.

A fourth pirate had previously surrendered and was being held onboard the USS Bainbridge, the Navy ship from which the operation was launched.

The American crew of a U.S.-flagged cargo ship regained control of the vessel after it was hijacked by pirates off the coast of eastern Somalia last night, but the fate of the ship’s captain is still unknown.

The Maersk Alabama, owned by Norfolk, Virginia-based Maersk Line Ltd., a subsidiary of Danish group A.P. Moller-Maersk, was transporting humanitarian food commodities to Africa early Wednesday morning when the 20-member crew was overtaken by at least four pirates.