Mid Day International News |
- Plane crashes in Cuba, 68 dead
- Qantas grounds planes after flight scare
- Mine to marathon!
- My dog is bigger than yours: Putin to Bush
- Youtube inspired killer
- Free love in Sri Lanka!
- 10-year-old mother splits from dad (13)
| Plane crashes in Cuba, 68 dead Posted: All 68 people on board are feared dead after a Cuban passenger plane crashed late Thursday, authorities said. The plane was carrying several foreign passengers, said the report. According to the Cuban civil aeronautics institute (IACC), an aircraft of Cuba's Aerocaribbean SA airlines, en route from Santiago de Cuba to Havana, crashed in the central region of Guasimal in the province of Sancti Spiritus. The IACC said the aircraft had reported an "emergency situation" at 5.42 p.m. (2242 GMT) and then lost contact with air traffic control. Sixty-one passengers and seven crew had been on board, when the "regrettable accident" occurred, a statement read on Cuban television said. There had been 40 Cubans and 28 foreigners on board, it added, but did not give the nationalities of the non-Cubans. The passengers' names would be released at a later point, the statement said.
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| Qantas grounds planes after flight scare Posted: In an attempt to avert greatest airplane tragedy, Australian airliner cancels fleet of Airbus A380s following engine explosion Qantas, Australia's national airline, grounded its Airbus A380 fleet indefinitely after one of its planes suffered a mid-air engine failure yesterday. The airline said flights of the twin-deck planes " the world's largest airliners " will remain suspended until an investigation into the incident is complete. "As long as it takes," said airline CEO Alan Joyce, when a reporter asked how long the suspension would last. "We are being very cautious until we know exactly what caused this." One of the four engines on a Qantas airliner shut down six minutes after take off from Singapore's Changi Airport, Joyce said. The plane with 440 passengers and 26 crew members was headed to Sydney, but it returned to Changi. While in the air above the western Indonesian island of Batam, part of the engine's covering, or cowling, tore off. "I am not sure what actually happened with the debris and why parts of the engine left the aircraft and fell to the ground," Joyce said. "We're still looking at what exactly was the cause of that." Apologies "I do apologise," the pilot said. "I'm sure you are aware we are not proceeding to Sydney at this stage. We're making a left turn now to track back toward Singapore and as we progress with this we'll keep you informed, but at this stage everything is secure, the aircraft is flying safely and we'll get back to you very shortly with further information. Thank you for your patience." Local television stations in Indonesia showed debris parts with red-white markings. Pictures of the Airbus A380 after it landed showed the cowling torn off in the back half. Trifuadi, a security officer at an engineering firm in Batam, said he heard a loud explosion and saw smoke coming out of the engine of a plane flying overhead. Shortly afterward, debris fell from the plane to the ground, said Trifuadi who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name. The flight " QF32 landed in Singapore safely, without injury to passenger or crew. Passenger Meg Graham said she heard a loud bang within minutes of the plane taking off. "And then another bang," she said. Ulf Waschbusch, who said he was on his way to Australia for the first time, said the crew kept passengers apprised of what was happening. "We all stayed pretty calm," he said. "It was an almost eerie calm." The airline said it will work with the plane's manufacturer as well as Rolls-Royce, the maker of the engine, to determine what went wrong. A spokesman for the Rolls-Royce said that "safety is always our highest priority. We are currently analysing the available information and working with our customers to support their operations." Qantas now has six A380s in its fleet of 191 planes. Airbus will at some point deliver another 14, the airline said. Singapore Airlines announced yesterday that it has temporarily halted flights of its 11 Airbus A380s to do precautionary checks in light of the Qantas incident. Lufthansa, which operates three Airbus A380s, also added that it is planning to carry out additional precautionary checks on the engines of the planes. The airline is waiting for more detail from Rolls-Royce about the specific checks that need to be carried out.
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| Posted: Trapped Chile miner all set to break four-hour record at New York marathon Edison Pe �a wasn't sure he would ever see the light of day when he was trapped in the mine for more than a month. However, now he is training for the run in the New York City marathon just weeks after he was rescued from a Chilean mine. "I ran because I had fury in my chest," said Pe �a, who survived 69 days trapped in a Chilean gold and copper mine. "I ran with a windup battery torch on my head, but it kept cutting out, and I would be in darkness. That was the worst time." Pe �a hopes to resurrect that fury this Sunday, when he pounds the pavement across the five boroughs, with nothing to constrict him but the air and the street. While trapped, his worried family sent him a pair of Nike running shoes through the narrow tube connecting the miners to the surface a half-mile away. They also sent him a camera. Pe �a said he exercised to ward off the hopelessness of being trapped in the mine. "In the early days, the mountain was telling us, 'You will die, and die slowly, and there's nothing you can do," he said. Pe �a's nightmare finally ended October 13, when he and the other miners were rescued. Pe �a's New York visit will kick off with a VIP press conference at Tavern on the Green, followed by a taping with David Letterman.
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| My dog is bigger than yours: Putin to Bush Posted: According to the memoirs of former US President George Bush, Putin was introduced to Bush's dog, a Scottish terrier, on an official visit to Camp David when the two men were presidents of Russia and the US respectively. When Bush next visited Russia, he was given a tour of Putin's holiday retreat. "A big black labrador came charging across the lawn. With a twinkle in his eye, Vladimir said, 'Bigger, stronger, faster than Barney,'" Bush writes. Over the weekend, photographs were released in Russia of Putin as a modern-day Marlboro man, riding a horse across a rugged landscape. Putin is known for his love of adventure and his continued displays of vitality have given him cult status in Russia. In April he attached a satellite-tracking collar on a tranquillised polar bear. He has been photographed fishing bare-chested in Russia's Altai region, and filmed diving into an icy river and swimming the butterfly stroke. He also has shot a Siberian tiger with a tranquilliser gun and released leopards into a wildlife sanctuary. With speculation growing that he may run for president again in 2012, such reaffirmations of Putin's macho image keep him firmly in the public eye and remind people that he remains a serious contender for the country's highest political office. Bush says the low point in his relationship with Putin came in August 2008 when Russia invaded neighbouring Georgia. Bush complained to Putin directly at the Olympic opening ceremony and noted to him that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is "hot-blooded". "I'm hot-blooded too," Putin retorted, according to Bush. "No, Vladimir, you're cold-blooded," Bush said he replied. Bush's memoir, Decision Points, is releasing next Tuesday.
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| Posted: Student jailed for attempting to murder British MP claimed she was radicalised after being directed to a stream of videos Roshanara Choudhry, a 21-year-old student who has been jailed for life for trying to assassinate British MP Stephen Timms in May this year, told police she had wanted to die as a martyr after watching more than 100 hours of video sermons from the American-born extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki on the internet. In interviews with officers, she disclosed how YouTube had pointed her to incendiary clips of al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, with whom she soon became obsessed. Choudhry said she had been viewing "interesting" life stories of YouTube users describing how they became Muslim when al-Awlaki's sermons appeared as related content on the site. As the impressionable 21-year-old watched she became "surprised at how little I knew about my religion" and "motivated to learn more". After watching hundreds of hours of extremist propaganda online in just six months, she decided to kill in revenge for Britain's involvement in the Iraq war. She told officers that she had decided to put her plan into action just "a few days" after watching a video in which Sheikh Abdullah Azzam spoke of the obligation for Muslims to defend a Muslim land if it is attacked. The interview highlighted the internet's role in transforming Choudhry to an attempted murderer. Choudhry said she did not regularly visit a mosque and had no-one to answer questions about her faith or about the material she viewed online, meaning the films were the only interpretation of the Quran she had access to. She said, "I don't ask anyone, I just listen to his lectures. There's no one to ask." In 2003, when the Iraq war started, Choudhry said she had been against [the war] in general like everyone else but not [with] strong feelings. Three years on, she told police she "wanted to be a martyr because it was the best way to die." The video sharing website has begun removing some of al-Awlaki's videos after the media highlighted concerns.
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| Posted: Government to open park for young couples who do not want to be victimised by police Earlier this year after hundreds of couples in two towns were arrested for associating with each other in public, bureaucrats and officials have decided to open a park for romantic young couples. Over-zealous police The aim of this scheme is simple " to let young people show their feelings for each other. That is according to the chairman of the National Youth Services Council, Lalith Piyum Perera. He said that for several years there had been plans for what he called a youth park or even a "lovers' park". But the plans gained momentum after police arrested hundreds of young couples for being out together, or possibly cuddling or kissing, in the towns of Kurunegala and Matara. Perera said that among those picked on by the over-zealous police were young engaged couples, even married ones. He said that the youth affairs minister had felt partially responsible for this as the authorities had not provided areas where lovers could comfortably associate. The new park, opening next year, will be on the banks of a river near Parliament. Children will not be admitted " but other than that, there will be no strict age limits, although it will be targeted at young people. Musicians and other artistes will also perform there. There are plans for more such parks in future although some people will perhaps worry that they will become a target for voyeurs. However, Perera added, "Young lovers who come to these parks will be required to conduct themselves in a decent manner."
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| 10-year-old mother splits from dad (13) Posted: 10-year-old Romanian girl who shot to fame as one of the world's youngest mothers has split from the father; is to raise tot by herself
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