World News Thread & Breaking News!!

[TerraN_EmpirE]

I always see photos of Kim Chung Un with a group of over excited ladies surrounding him, and look like everyone walking around him has a notebook. Do they have to write down every word of Kim? NK is the world of one person!

my money says Autographs, phone numbers or maybe ration cards.

 

[ManilaBoy45]

Philippines Joins SE Asia Search for Missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 Plane

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by Rappler.com
Posted on 03/08/2014 2:49 PM | Updated 03/08/2014 3:51 PM

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) : The Philippines has joined the Southeast Asian search and rescue operations for a Malaysian plane that went missing early Saturday morning, March 8.The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has dispatched naval vessels BRP Del Pilar (PF 15), BRP Jacinto (PS 35), and BRP Mabini (PS 36), and a surveillance plane to conduct in the West Philippine Sea and the sealanes of Palawan.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin ordered the operations "under the possibility that Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 may have veered off its path and entered Philippine territory," said Peter Paul Galvez, spokesperson of the Department of National Defense (DND).Vietnam's defense ministry has launched a search for the plane, a statement on the official Vietnamese government website said. This was after the Vietnamese government said the plane went missing near the country's airspace.Malaysian authorities have also dispatched a plane, two helicopters, and 4 vessels to search seas off its east coast, said Faridah Shuib, a spokeswoman for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.In addition, China has deployed two rescue ships to aid in the search, CNN reported, citing state-run broadcaster CCTV.

 

[bd popeye]

This just in on the missing Malaysia Airlines 777...

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By Simon Denyer,

BEIJING — Vietnamese air force planes have spotted two large oil slicks that officials believe are from a Malaysia Airlines flight that suddenly vanished from air traffic control screens and was presumed to have crashed early Saturday, the Associated Press reports.

Search and rescue vessels and planes from Southeast Asia have been scouring the waters of the South China Sea in search of the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people, including three Americans.

A Vietnamese government statement says the slicks were spotted off the southern tip of the country and were consistent with the kinds that would be left by fuel from a crashed jet, according to AP.

The airline said the flight had gone missing in the early hours of Saturday as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, without sending a distress signal.

Ships and aircraft from Malaysia and Vietnam were searching across a 4,300 square mile area, officials said, with help from Singaporean authorities.

The Philippines sent air force planes and navy patrol ships, and China dispatched two rescue ships to assist in the search, according to officials and state media. Vietnamese fishermen have also been put on alert.

Flight MH370 lost contact with Malaysia air traffic control at 2:40 a.m. Saturday (1:40 p.m. EST Friday), less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, and as it was still climbing. It vanished on the borders of the territorial waters of Malaysia and Vietnam, where the Gulf of Thailand meets the South China Sea. It had been due to land at Beijing at 6:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. EST Friday).

On board were 227 passengers and 12 crew, from 14 countries. They included 154 citizens of China or Taiwan, including one infant, and 38 Malaysians. The three Americans on board also included one infant.

In Beijing, relatives and friends of those on board were taken by minibus from the airport to a hotel in the city to wait for news.

Grief was mixed with anger at the lack of information, with Malaysia Airlines insisting it was still investigating the incident and not releasing the passenger manifest. Earlier it had cited speculation that the plane might have landed in Vietnam, although this was later denied.

 

[SteelBird]

This is a tragic accident that may claim 239 lives. I read news in the morning that Vietnam claimed the plane went missing in its airspace, now (post above by ManilaBoy) the Philippines also claims that the plane vanished in its airspace. Why do they want the accident happen in their backyard? Get famous? Further, I can't understand that if you find oil slick why not any remain of the aircraft (if it crashed)? I believe an aircraft after crashing into the sea will be broken into small parts and some of them float.

 

[plawolf]

This is a tragic accident that may claim 239 lives. I read news in the morning that Vietnam claimed the plane went missing in its airspace, now (post above by ManilaBoy) the Philippines also claims that the plane vanished in its airspace. Why do they want the accident happen in their backyard? Get famous? Further, I can't understand that if you find oil slick why not any remain of the aircraft (if it crashed)? I believe an aircraft after crashing into the sea will be broken into small parts and some of them float.

The plane may have gone down in disputed waters, in which case both governments claiming it went down in their waters is just them both pressing their claim rather than some attempt to get 'fame'.

As for not finding debris, firstly, the oil slicks could have drifted a long way from the actual crash site when it was spotted, and also few parts of a plane would float, well the easily identifiable bits anyways. Anything floating would likely be very small pieces hard to spot from the air, and/or not be easily identified as relating to the crash instead of just being some random bits of rubbish that got caught up in the oil slicks.

The oil slicks themselves may not even be from the plane.

 

[SteelBird]

The plane may have gone down in disputed waters, in which case both governments claiming it went down in their waters is just them both pressing their claim rather than some attempt to get 'fame'.

As for not finding debris, firstly, the oil slicks could have drifted a long way from the actual crash site when it was spotted, and also few parts of a plane would float, well the easily identifiable bits anyways. Anything floating would likely be very small pieces hard to spot from the air, and/or not be easily identified as relating to the crash instead of just being some random bits of rubbish that got caught up in the oil slicks.

The oil slicks themselves may not even be from the plane.

Can't believe after more than 10 hours, they find nothing!

(CNN) -- Nobody knows exactly what happened to a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared Saturday, but families of the 239 people on board are waiting and expecting the worst.
Air traffic controllers lost track of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 not long after it left Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on its way to Beijing. More than half the passengers were Chinese nationals.
"We have no idea where this aircraft is right now," Malaysia Airlines Vice President of Operations Control Fuad Sharuji said on CNN's "AC360."
There's even confusion about where the plane might have gone down.
Vietnamese and Chinese state media, both citing Vietnam's military, reported the plane crashed off the southern coast of Vietnam.
Photos: Malaysia airliner loses contact Photos: Malaysia airliner loses contact
But the reports are incorrect, said Malaysia's acting transport minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. "The CA (Civil Aviation Authority) says that is not true, and our foreign office says it is not true," he said.
Later, China's state-run CCTV reported that Vietnam's National Search and Rescue Center said the missing plane might have crashed at the overlapping waters between Malaysia and Vietnam.

 

[kwaigonegin]

South China Sea (March 8) - USS Pinckney (DDG 91), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, is en route to the southern coast of Vietnam to aid in the search efforts of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, March 8.
Pinckney was conducting training and maritime security operations in international waters of the South China Sea. The ship could be in vicinity of the missing jet within 24 hours and carries two MH-60R helicopters which can be equipped for search and rescue.
A P-3C Orion aircraft will also depart shortly from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan bringing long-range search, radar and communications capabilities to the efforts.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this tragic event.

[/QUOTE]

This story is also getting more interesting. Apparently 2 passports used to board the flihgt were stolen in Thailand. One from an Italian national and another the Austrian. Apparently both individuals are alive and well but whomever that stole their passprts used it to board the ill fated flight.

Terrorism seems even more plausible now.

 

[bluewater2012]

This story is also getting more interesting. Apparently 2 passports used to board the flihgt were stolen in Thailand. One from an Italian national and another the Austrian. Apparently both individuals are alive and well but whomever that stole their passprts used it to board the ill fated flight.

Terrorism seems even more plausible now.[/QUOTE]

My instinct tell me it was terrorism related since the timing of the missing flight coincide with the attacks in China one week ago. What else can be an greater shock to the Chinese if something happens twice consequently timed. I may even stretch it farther had the people who initiated the attacks fled the countryside along the border they might even possibly board this plane with stolen passports given to them to hijack the plane to crash it into China or elsewhere when they weren't expecting any terrorist attacks. Hope I am wrong and that they could find any survivor.

 

[Verum]

This story is also getting more interesting. Apparently 2 passports used to board the flihgt were stolen in Thailand. One from an Italian national and another the Austrian. Apparently both individuals are alive and well but whomever that stole their passprts used it to board the ill fated flight.

Terrorism seems even more plausible now.

My instinct tell me it was terrorism related since the timing of the missing flight coincide with the attacks in China one week ago. What else can be an greater shock to the Chinese if something happens twice consequently timed. I may even stretch it farther had the people who initiated the attacks fled the countryside along the border they might even possibly board this plane with stolen passports given to them to hijack the plane to crash it into China or elsewhere when they weren't expecting any terrorist attacks. Hope I am wrong and that they could find any survivor.[/QUOTE]

But in one of the reports citing the Thai military, it said they heard the captain mentioning the exterior of the fuelsage was ripping up. There was also the evidence of oil mark over 20KM long. These all indicate some sort of mechanical problem leading to a gradual breakdown. If it was a terroist, it would probably just either explode in mid air or get hijacked and dive straight into the ocean.

 

[Verum]

Can't believe after more than 10 hours, they find nothing!

They probably haven't used military satellites. Plane searches can only do so much, especially it's in a region far from land mass.
It would be much easier if it happened near Japan in the West Pacific. The Japanese and USN P-3C's would've covered the sky and carpet searched the area.