WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday that about one-fourth of remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay could be tried in U.S. courts, representing fewer potential trials than the Pentagon has previously estimated.

Under the Bush administration, the Defense Department estimated it could try as many as 80 Guantanamo detainees before military commissions. A fourth of the current population of 229 would be about 57 people.

The new estimate came during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing after Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Holder whether one-fourth of the detainees stand to be tried before military commissions or federal courts.

INJURIES SUGGEST FLIGHT 447 BROKE UP IN AIR

SAO PAULO — Autopsies have revealed fractures in the legs, hips and arms of Air France disaster victims, injuries that — along with the large pieces of wreckage pulled from the Atlantic — strongly suggest the plane broke up in the air, experts said yesterday.

With more than 400 bits of debris recovered so far, the top French investigator expressed optimism about discovering what brought down Flight 447, but he also called the conditions — far from land in very deep waters — "one of the worst situations ever known in an accident investigation."

"Getting ejected into that kind of wind stream is like hitting a brick wall — even if they stay in their seats, it is a crushing effect," said Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant in Washington, D.C., who is a former accident investigator.

TERRORISM THREAT CLOSES PAKISTAN AIRPORT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The international airport here was shut down yesterday after an intelligence report warned of a possible terrorist attack against civilian aircraft by a militant group based in the adjoining tribal region, officials said.

Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority reportedly cabled all national and international carriers Tuesday night to stop their flights to Peshawar International Airport effective yesterday.

The Darra Adam Khel-based militant group, part of Pakistan's homegrown Taliban, is led by Tariq Afridi, who was previously associated with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Afridi earlier threatened to attack passenger aircraft if the government didn't halt its offensive against militants in tribal areas.

2 JOURNALISTS GUNNED DOWN IN PHILIPPINES

MANILA, Philippines — Gunmen killed two journalists in separate attacks in the central Philippines last week, a media watchdog said yesterday.

Antonio Castillo, a columnist, was killed in Masbate province on Friday; radio commentator Crispin Perez Jr. was killed in Mindoro Occidental province three days earlier, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility said. Motorcycle-riding gunmen were involved in both attacks, it said.

Police said investigations were continuing and no motive has been established.

HEALTH CRISIS DECLARED IN MONTANA TOWN

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said yesterday it will pump an additional $130 million into a Montana town where asbestos contamination has been blamed for more than 200 deaths.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency for the first time has determined there is a public health emergency in a contaminated community, targeting Libby, Mont., for immediate federal attention.

The announcement will not result in an evacuation of Libby's 2,600 residents, but will require an extensive, home-by-home cleanup and better health protections for those with asbestos-related illnesses.

CONTINENTAL UNDER FIRE FOR TRAVEL MIX-UPS

HOUSTON — The parents of two young girls who were each placed on wrong flights while flying alone over the weekend are demanding that Continental Airlines make sure such mix-ups don't happen again.

Wendy Babineaux criticized the airline yesterday for "total incompetence and a lack of caring" after her 8-year-old daughter, Taylor Williams, flew out of Houston on Saturday morning and ended up in Fayetteville, Ark., instead of Charlotte, N.C.

The next day, 10-year-old Miriam Kamens wound up in Newark, N.J., while flying alone on the same Continental contractor, ExpressJet. She was heading from Boston to Cleveland.