Miscellaneous News

Hytenxic said:

The terrorists have some serious gear if they did bring down that plane.

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Reuters said:

Wreckage believed to be of the cargo ship El Faro, which was lost off the Bahamas along with its 33 crew during Hurricane Joaquin, was discovered on Saturday, U.S. officials said.

El Faro disappeared on Oct. 1 en route from Jacksonville, Florida, to Puerto Rico in the worst cargo shipping disaster involving a U.S.-flagged vessel since 1983, after the captain reported a "hull breach" and said a hatch had blown open.

A search team aboard the U.S. Naval Ship Apache using sonar equipment discovered the wreckage on Saturday in the area of El Faro's last known position at a depth of 15,000 feet (4,572 meters), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a statement.

NTSB said officials planned to use a remotely operated submersible as early as Sunday to confirm the find. But it said the wreckage was consistent with a 790-foot (241-meter) cargo ship, and appeared to be intact in an upright position.

video camera mounted on the submersible will be used to document the wreckage and debris field and locate the ship's voyage data recorder, similar to the black box on airplanes, the statement said.

The discovery followed an earlier, failed attempt by the Apache to detect pings from El Faro's voyage data recorder by using equipment called a towed pinger locator.

Most of El Faro's crew were American.

NTSB officials said on Oct. 20 that the captain, aside from saying in a recorded satellite phone call that the El Faro was taking on water in one of the holds, had reported it had lost its main propulsion unit and engineers could not restart it.

The cargo ship's owner, New Jersey-based Tote Inc, has stated that loss of propulsion likely spelled the ship's doom.

It was not yet clear if the hull breach was directly related to the loss of propulsion.

Tote Services filed for protection in federal court in Florida on Friday, citing U.S. maritime law and saying the ship was "seaworthy and properly manned" and that the company bears no responsibility for its loss.

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Jeff Head said:

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View attachment 20889​

This was a large container vessel. Over 700 feet long. Apparently the US Navy has located her and I am sure we will soon get photos of her there, deep in the Atlantic.

God rest the souls of the lost, and comfort their family and friends.

Just lets you know that sea duty is always perilous duty.

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TAIPEI - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore on Saturday (Nov 7), the first meeting between the top leaders of the two sides since 1949.

Mr Ma's spokesman Charles Chen confirmed the meeting on Tuesday (Nov 3) night. He told Taiwanese media that the intention of the visit is to "secure cross-strait peace" but that no agreement would be signed and no joint statement would be made.

Mr Chen said President Ma will leave for Singapore on Saturday where he will meet President Xi. “The purpose of President Ma’s visit is to secure cross-strait peace and maintain the status quo of the Taiwan Straits,” Mr Chen said in a statement. “No agreement will be signed, nor any joint statement be released,” he added.

The meeting will coincide with President Xi's visit to Singapore on Nov 6-7.

It will be the first meeting between the top leaders of the two sides since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

Mr Ma's Kuomintang fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to the Chinese Communist Party. Exchanges between the two sides began in the late 1980s.

According to the report, both sides have been in talks for quite sometime to arrange for the historic meeting.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council will hold a press conference on Wednesday (Nov 4) to brief the media on the visit, said the report. President Ma will hold an international press conference on Thursday (Nov 5).

The upcoming meeting will be the second time Singapore is playing a part in a breakthrough event in ties between the two political rivals.

In 1993, the two sides held landmark public talks for the first time, in Singapore, at which four agreements were signed to promote trade and people-to-people exchanges.

When contacted, Mr Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, would only say that China has always adopted an "open and positive" attitude when it comes to meetings between leaders of the two sides, reported Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Reacting to news of the impending meeting, Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was quick to slam it, saying that "the people of Taiwan will not accept such a meeting".

DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming told Apple Daily that Mr Ma, who has just half a year of his term left, is a lame-duck president with no power to discuss any issue with Mr Xi.

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siegecrossbow said:

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Seems like a pretty historical moment despite DPP efforts at downplaying it.

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siegecrossbow said:

Zero reaction to this historical moment? I am a bit surprised.

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B.I.B. said:

Actually I was a little disappointed that President Ma was not invited to attend the VJ day celebrations and then have a little chat afterwards.

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