Air France Flight 447 disappeared off the coast of Brazil Sunday evening and is presumed to have crashed somewhere in the Atlantic. During a press conference, President Nicolas Sarkozy said, “we are facing a very dramatic event, an accident, a tragic accident. The chances of finding survivors at this point are very little.” Search and rescue crews have been trying to locate the plane, which was carrying 228 passengers and apparently lost electrical power after being struck by lightning.

To explain the mechanics and electronics of the Airbus A330-200 is Graham Warwick, Senior Technology Editor for Aviation Week.

If you expected light-hearted fare in the summer TV season, you're in for a shock. New shows like Showtime's "Nurse Jackie" are whetting TV viewers appetite for dark comedies. The Takeaway talks to Angel Cohn from the website, Television Without Pity about what to expect on TV this summer season.

And for a sneak peek at the new shows, check out the site's Summer Preview 2009: New TV Shows.

Watch a trailer for "Nurse Jackie" in the video below, and view the first episode in its entirety here.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson apologized yesterday to all the GM workers who have sacrificed for the company. Some 550 people in Wilmington, Delaware, are among those hit by the plan to close the local GM plant. A look at the human cost of an economic decision.

Andrew Eder is a business reporter for Delaware Online and he’s here to give us some insight into how this is effecting the city.

For more on GM, read Law Professor John Pottow's post, How Obama Can Succeed at GM.

With millions of jobs lost in this economy, people are reflecting on how important their jobs are -- and not just for the obvious financial reasons. Philosopher Alain de Botton has been thinking about what constitues a meaningful life. For his latest book, "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work," he followed working people around the world, going behind the scenes with fishermen, career counselors, and cookie manufacturers, to offer perspective on the working person's life.

GM executives are about to take a wild ride as the company restructures itself under bankruptcy protection. To describe how that process will work -- and if it will work -- is Mark LaNeve, GM North America’s Vice President for Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. He joins us from GM headquarters in Detroit. The Takeaway is also joined by Micheline Maynard, Auto Reporter for the New York Times to give her take on the future of GM.

For more on GM, read Law Professor John Pottow's post, How Obama Can Succeed at GM.

President Obama announced his nominee for top American commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, a few weeks ago. Confirmation hearings began today. Some critics are urging senators to look closely at what the general did or didn’t know about a facility called Camp Nama, which was operated by a task force under his command in Iraq, and what role he might have played in the Pat Tillman "friendly fire" coverup. Taking a critical look at this is Spencer Ackerman, who writes for the Washington Independent.

In the video below, Defense Secretary Robert Gates talks about McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan.

Biologists have discovered that mosquitoes on the Galapagos have evolved to pierce the skin of reptiles, including iguanas and endangered tortoises. The mosquitoes daily reptilian snack brings a threat of transferring vector-borne disease to the animals. Leaving scientists to ask the question: how can we keep the Galapagos as pristine as when Darwin first found them? Evolutionary biologist Simon J. Goodman joins The Takeaway with more.

Goodman is co-author of the research article, "Natural colonization and adaptation of a mosquito species in Galapagos and its implications for disease threats to endemic wildlife," which was published in this week's issue of the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Here's a view of Galapagos Wildlife:

South Korean newspapers have reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il appointed his youngest son Kim Jong Un as successor. The reports say that the North Korean leader instructed the country's diplomats to pledge allegiance to his son, who is reported to be in his 20's. To find out what this means for the future of U.S. relations with Korea The Takeaway talks to BBC’s Chris Hogg who is following this closely from Seoul, South Korea.

Just two weeks after President Obama called for "fair-minded words" to be used in the debate over abortion rights, Dr. George Tiller was gunned down at his church. The accused killer is Scott Roeder, a 51-year-old Kansas resident with a long history of anti-government and anti-abortion actions who was involved with the leaders of the anti-choice movement. It's been ten years since a doctor was killed for performing the procedure, and Dr. Tiller's death is sending shock waves through the tight-knit community. How will doctors act now — and what affect will the killing have on women seeking abortions? To hear reactions from the frontlines, The Takeaway talks to "Jeffrey," a clinic manager in Kansas City, Kansas and to Dr. Bill Harrison, an OB/Gyn in Fayatteville, Arkansas.

The poem Dr. Bill Harrison reads is called "Where are you?," and is by Dr. B. J. Issacson. Read it here:

Where are you?
For over 16 years we have provided
you with choices
Painful choices
I remember—
I sometimes cried with you.
Choices, nevertheless, when you were desperate.

Remember how we protected you privacy
and treated you with dignity and respect
when you
were famous
had been brought to us in shackles
with an armed guard, or
were terrified
that you would run into
one of your students?
I remember each of you.

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The skies are changing. Cloud enthusiasts in the United Kingdom believe they have found a new genus of cloud to put on the typical cloud list we all learn as children (you know: cirrus, nimbus, cumulus, stratus, and more). The enthusiasts are petitioning for the creation of a new cloud category. This kind of cloud appears to be thick and stormy; experts at the Royal Meteorological Society want to officially name it "Asperatus," after the Latin word meaning rough. Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society and author of The Cloudspotter's Guide joins The Takeaway to talk about cloud enthusiasts.

To view the different types of clouds, check out a photo gallery on the BBC's A New Kind of Cloud