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Equation

Lieutenant General
My condolences to the victims families.:(

Pilot says lightning caused deadly Russian crash landing
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Theo MERZ
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•May 6, 2019


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Videos on social media showed the plane crash-landing and then speeding along the runway with flames pouring from its fuselage
Videos on social media showed the plane crash-landing and then speeding along the runway with flames pouring from its fuselage (AFP Photo/HO)
Moscow (AFP) - The pilot of a Russian passenger plane that erupted in a ball of fire on the runway of Moscow's busiest airport, killing 41 people, said lightning led to the emergency landing.

Investigators were on Monday working to understand the causes of the blaze after the Sukhoi Superjet-100 had to return to Sheremetyevo airport shortly after take-off Sunday evening.

But pilot Denis Yevdokimov told Russian media the craft lost communication and needed to switch to emergency control mode "because of lightning" on the Aeroflot flight to the Arctic city of Murmansk.

He did not specify if the plane was struck directly.

"We managed to restore communication through the emergency frequency on our radio connection. But the link was only for a short time and kept cutting out... it was possible to say only a few words," he told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

Videos on social media showed the plane crash-landing and then speeding along the runway with flames pouring from its fuselage.

Passengers could be seen leaping onto an inflatable slide at the front and running from the blazing plane as columns of black smoke billowed into the sky.

Another video shot inside the cabin showed roaring flames outside the window and passengers crying out in panic.

Evdokimov said he believed the plane burst into flames on landing, most likely because of full fuel tanks.

At least two children were among the 41 dead and nine more people were in hospital, three of them seriously injured, authorities said.

The aircraft's black boxes have been found and handed over to investigators, a source in the Russian emergency services told news agencies.

- 'Flash of white light' -

Several of the 78 people on board said they believed lightning was the cause of the tragedy, which came at the end of several days of public holidays following Workers' Day on May 1.

"I saw a flash of white light," Dmitry Khlebushkin told the state RIA news agency.

Pyotr Egorov, also on board, told media: "We had just taken off when the plane was hit by lightning... the landing was very hard, we almost passed out from fear.

"The plane bounced on the tarmac like a grasshopper and burst into flames on the ground."

The jet -- carrying 73 passengers and five crew members -- left Sheremetyevo at 6:02pm (1502 GMT), and the crew issued a distress signal shortly afterwards, officials said.

Russia's national carrier Aeroflot was once notorious for its poor safety record but in recent years its image has improved and it has not had a fatal accident in more than a decade.

The Russian Sukhoi Superjet-100 however has been dogged with problems since its launch in 2011.

In 2012, a Superjet performing at an Indonesian air show slammed into a volcano, killing all 45 people on board. Indonesia blamed the crash on pilot error.

Technical problems with the plane have been reported in recent years and Russia has struggled to convince foreign carriers to purchase it.

The government offered subsidies to encourage Russian airlines to buy the Superjet and Aeroflot has became its main operator.

In September 2018, it announced a record order of 100 Superjet-100s.

The Murmansk region -- where many of those killed or injured are believed to be from -- went into a three-day period of mourning from Monday.

Other Aeroflot flights are expected to be affected in the coming days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to the victims' loved ones and said the investigation "should be as thorough as possible", according to the Kremlin.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered a special committee to investigate the disaster.
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Apr 5, 2019
Libya anyone?

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I leave Libya with a heavy heart and deeply concerned. I still hope it is possible to avoid a bloody confrontation in and around Tripoli. The UN is committed to facilitating a political solution and, whatever happens, the UN is committed to supporting the Libyan people.

8:25 AM - 5 Apr 2019
now
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Libya: Portuguese pilot captured after Haftar’s forces shoot down plane over Tripoli, says spokesperson

‘We downed a Mirage F1 and this is the pilot from Portugal,’ the Libyan National Army said

 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
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follow the above link for the full story

UPDATED: MAY 15, 2019 11:12 AM ET
(BAGHDAD) — The U.S. on Wednesday ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, and Germany and the Netherlands both suspended their military assistance programs in the country in the latest sign of tensions sweeping the Persian Gulf region over still-unspecified threats that the Trump administration says are linked to Iran.

Recent days have seen allegations of sabotage targeting oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a drone attack by Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, and the dispatch of U.S. warships and bombers to the region.

At the root of this appears to be President Donald Trump’s decision a year ago to pull the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, embarking on a maximalist sanctions campaign against Tehran. In response, Iran’s supreme leader issued a veiled threat Tuesday, saying it wouldn’t be difficult for the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels.

The movement of diplomatic personnel is often done in times of conflict, but what is driving the decisions from the White House remains unclear. A high-ranking British general said there was no new threat from Iran or its regional proxies, something immediately rebutted by the U.S. military’s Central Command, which said its troops were on high alert, without elaborating.

Last week, U.S. officials said they had detected signs of Iranian preparations for potential attacks on U.S. forces and interests in the Middle East, but Washington has not spelled out that threat, and an alert on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said that all nonessential, non-emergency U.S. government staff were ordered to leave Iraq right away under State Department orders.

The U.S. in recent days has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Gulf region, plus four B-52 bombers.
 

Franklin

Captain
I will post this here since both the trade war and Huawei threads are closed. China has been making herculean efforts in semiconductors now it seems there needs to be some efforts being put into software as well. I don't understand why China hasn't developed its own OS yet.

Google pulls Huawei’s Android license, forcing it to use open source version

A dramatic escalation in the US war on Chinese tech firms

Following the US crackdown on Chinese technology companies, Google has cut off Huawei’s Android license, dealing a huge blow to the besieged phonemaker. Reuters first reported the news, and The Verge subsequently confirmed Google’s suspension of business with Huawei with a source familiar with the matter. We have requested comment from Google and will update this article if the company makes a statement.

Huawei is now restricted to using the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), cutting the company off from critical Google apps and services that consumers outside of China expect on Android devices. That also means Huawei will only be able to push security updates for Android once they’re made available in AOSP, assuming the company uses its own update system. It’s not clear yet how this will affect the full range of Android integrations that Huawei depends on, but we will update this story when we receive additional clarification about the impacts of Google’s decision.

Huawei has been under increasing pressure from President Trump and the US government over fears that its equipment could be used by the Chinese government to spy on American networks. These fears have been under construction for a long time; In 2018, US intelligence agencies warned against using Huawei and ZTE devices, and US politicians have described Huawei as “effectively an arm of the Chinese government.”

Huawei maintains that it is not possible for the Chinese government to poison its equipment with backdoors, and it has remained optimistic about the future of its business. But this latest setback from Google poses a grave risk to the future of Huawei’s core mobile business. The company was already preparing its own operating systems in the event of being banned from using Android and Windows, but given US fears about foreign interference, a home-grown OS is likely to face even more scrutiny than Google’s software.

Update, 5/19/19, 5:18 PM: This story has been updated with confirmation of the Reuters story, plus some additional detail about Google’s suspension of business with Huawei.

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PiSigma

"the engineer"
I will post this here since both the trade war and Huawei threads are closed. China has been making herculean efforts in semiconductors now it seems there needs to be some efforts being put into software as well. I don't understand why China hasn't developed its own OS yet.



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If true. Then Google got permanently shut out of china. Not hard for China to just ban android outright. No more google play or advertising.
 
Last edited:
I will post this here since both the trade war and Huawei threads are closed. China has been making herculean efforts in semiconductors now it seems there needs to be some efforts being put into software as well. I don't understand why China hasn't developed its own OS yet.



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now I realized Google x Huawei might be serious: three young local guys having lunch in a pub, sitting at a table close to me, had been discussing it BEFORE
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Quickie

Colonel
Here are more details on the Google software ban. Now you know why China made the right move by banning Google long before this happened. Otherwise, Huawei would be in an even worse condition.

Android is finally showing its true colors. It is not in the true spirit of open source if it facilitates the way for monopolistic profit making in the way of pushing its own apps like Youtube and those in Google Play.





NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services except those publicly available via open source licensing, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, in a blow to the Chinese technology company that the U.S. government has sought to blacklist around the world.


Holders of current Huawei smartphones with Google apps, however, will continue to be able to use and download app updates provided by Google, a Google spokesperson said, confirming earlier reporting by Reuters.

“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications,” the Google spokesperson said.

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“For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices,” the spokesperson said, without giving further details.

The suspension could hobble Huawei’s smartphone business outside China as the tech giant will immediately lose access to updates to Google’s Android operating system. Future versions of Huawei smartphones that run on Android will also lose access to popular services, including the Google Play Store and Gmail and YouTube apps.

“Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google,” the source said.


The Trump administration on Thursday added Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to a trade blacklist, immediately enacting restrictions that will make it extremely difficult for the company to do business with U.S. counterparts.

On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department said it was considering scaling back restrictions on Huawei to “prevent the interruption of existing network operations and equipment”. It was not immediately clear on Sunday whether Huawei’s access to mobile software would be affected.

The extent to which Huawei will be hurt by the U.S. government’s blacklist is not yet known as its global supply chain assesses the impact. Chip experts have questioned Huawei’s ability to continue to operate without help from the United States.

Details of the specific services affected by the suspension were still being discussed internally at Google, according to the source. Huawei attorneys are also studying the impact of the blacklist, a Huawei spokesman said on Friday.



FILE PHOTO: Visitors walk past Huawei's booth during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo
Huawei was not immediately reachable for further comment.

Chipmakers including Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc, Xilinx Inc and Broadcom Inc have told their employees they will not supply critical software and components to Huawei until further notice, Bloomberg reported
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late on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Broadcom did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the Bloomberg report.

Representatives of the U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately comment.


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Huawei will continue to have access to the version of the Android operating system available through the open source license, known as Android Open Source Project (AOSP), that is available for free to anyone who wishes to use it. There are about 2.5 billion active Android devices worldwide, according to Google.

However, Google will stop providing Huawei with access, technical support and collaboration involving its proprietary apps and services going forward, the source said.

Huawei has said it has spent the last few years preparing a contingency plan by developing its own technology in case it is blocked from using Android. Some of this technology is already being used in products sold in China, the company has said.

In an interview with Reuters in March, Eric Xu, rotating chairman of Huawei, struck a defiant note in anticipation of retaliatory actions by U.S. companies. “No matter what happens, the Android Community does not have any legal right to block any company from accessing its open-source license,” he said.

Popular Google apps such as Gmail, YouTube and the Chrome browser that are available through Google’s Play Store will disappear from future Huawei handsets as those services are not covered by the open source license and require a commercial agreement with Google.

But users of existing Huawei devices who have access to the Google Play Store will still be able to download app updates provided by Google. Apps such as Gmail are updated through the store, unlike operating system updates which are typically handled by phone manufacturers and telecoms carriers, which the blacklist could affect, the source said.

The impact is expected to be minimal in the Chinese market. Most Google mobile apps are banned in China, where alternatives are offered by domestic competitors such as Tencent and Baidu.


In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the ministry had noticed the report and would look into it and pay attention to developments.

“At the same time, China supports Chinese companies to use legal weapons to defend their legitimate rights,” he added, but did not elaborate.

Huawei’s European business, its second-biggest market, could be hit as Huawei licenses these services from Google in Europe.

“Having those apps is critical for smartphone makers to stay competitive in regions like Europe,” said Geoff Blaber, vice president of research, CCS Insight.
 

solarz

Brigadier
Huawei will still have access to Android via the open source license. It will still be able to access updates and patches that way.

It won't have Google proprietory apps like YouTube and Gmail.

For future phones, the best thing Huawei can do is allow users limited root-level access.
 

zgx09t

Junior Member
Registered Member
Britain loses UN vote over Chagos islands
Indian Ocean archipelago was at the centre of decades-long dispute over the UK's decision to separate it from Mauritius.

22 May 2019 19:05 GMT

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Britain cut off the Chagos islands from Mauritius before granting it independence in 1968 and evicting an entire population of islanders [Reuters]
The 193 United Nations member states on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to demand the
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hand over control of the Chagos islands to Mauritius "as soon as possible".

A total of 116 countries voted in favour of a non-binding resolution presented by African countries that urged Britain to "withdraw its colonial administration" from the Chagos Islands within six months.

Only six countries, including Britain and the
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, voted against the measure while 56 others abstained, including Canada, France and Germany.

The Indian Ocean archipelago has been at the centre of a decades-long dispute over
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's decision to separate it from
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in 1965 and set up a joint military base with the
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on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

Britain evicted about 2,000 people from the archipelago in the 1960s and '70s to make way for a huge US military base on Diego Garcia, which played a key strategic role in the Cold War before being used as a staging ground for US bombing campaigns against
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and
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in the 2000s. The facility was used as a
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interrogation centre after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In February, the International Court of Justice handed Mauritius a victory when it said in a legal opinion that Britain had illegally split the islands and should give up control of the Chagos.


After Britain rejected that ruling, Mauritius turned to the UN General Assembly to press for action.

Mauritius argues the Chagos archipelago was part of its territory since at least the 18th century and was taken unlawfully by the UK in 1965, three years before the island nation gained independence.

However, Britain insists it has sovereignty over the archipelago, which it calls the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Wednesday's vote was the second time in two years that Britain had to defend its ownership of the Chagos islands at the United Nations.

In 2017, only 15 countries including Britain and the US voted to oppose a request for the ICJ ruling.


Non-binding measure

Before the vote, Britain and the US wrote to all UN missions, urging them to oppose the draft resolution, arguing the fate of the Chagos is a bilateral issue.

"This is not a matter of decolonisation for the General Assembly," wrote British Ambassador Karen Pierce. "It is a bilateral sovereignty dispute between the United Kingdom and Mauritius."

US acting Ambassador Jonathan Cohen argued the court opinion was non-binding and was in no way a legal ruling that decided on the dispute.

In 2016, Britain renewed a lease agreement with the US for the use of Diego Garcia until 2036.
 

bd popeye

The Last Jedi
VIP Professional
The 193 United Nations member states on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to demand the
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hand over control of the Chagos islands to Mauritius "as soon as possible".

Huh? What happened to the veto power over UN resolution by the US,UK, Russia Chain & France? Surely the US and UK will veto this decision? I think...maybe..dunno:confused:

I was stationed on Diego Garcia from July 1985 until July 1986.
 
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