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  • Ethiopian Airlines makes ancient flight to Eritrea

    Passengers are welcomed by cabin crew inside an Ethiopian Airlines flight who departed from the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Eritrea Symbol copyright AFP

    Roses and champagne had been given to passengers at the first commercial flight between Ethiopia and Eritrea in two decades.

    Ethiopian Airways stated its “bird of peace” flew to Eritrea, after the top of the “state of warfare”.

    “I’M in cloud nine,” flight captain Yosef Hailu told the BBC.

    Loved Ones and pals are anticipated to be reunited for the first time considering the fact that a 1998-2000 border war among the 2 countries close air and street travel.

    Ethiopia’s High Minister Abiy Ahmed has spearheaded a peace process with Eritrea in view that he took place of work in April.

    Image copyright AFP Symbol caption Demand for the flight was huge

    Former Ethiopian Top Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was once a few of the passengers at the ancient flight.

    He advised the BBC’s Emmanuel Igunza that he was emotional about making the commute.

    “it is a golden moment for the 2 international locations and the 2 other folks,” he said.

    Captain Yosef mentioned he was once looking forward to assembly pals in Eritrea.

    “i am going again to where the place I grew up. I’m in reality glad,” he informed the BBC.

    Ethiopia Airways tweeted an image of the pilots in the cockpit prior to take-off.

    Symbol Copyright @flyethiopian @flyethiopian

    A UN-subsidized boundary commission dominated in 2002 that Ethiopia will have to cede town of Badme to Eritrea.

    It refused, and the two nations remained in a state of “no war, no peace”.

    Mr Abiy has promised handy over territory, however it is doubtful whilst this may occur.

  • Google appeals against massive EUROPEAN anti-accept as true with fantastic

    Google logoImage copyright AFP

    Tech large Google has lodged an attraction against the 2.4bn euro wonderful (£2bn / $2.8bn) it used to be ordered to pay through the ecu Fee in June.

    The regulator had dominated that positioning its own shopping comparison provider on the most sensible of Google search effects was once an abuse of power.

    The superb was once the biggest penalty ever issued by the regulator, which also said the company may face extra fines if it persevered its practices.

    Google said it had no further comment.

    At the time that the advantageous used to be imposed, Margrethe Vestager, the eu Union’s Pageant Commissioner stated that Google’s process used to be “illegal below EUROPEAN antitrust laws”.

    A spokesman then stated that Google “respectfully disagreed” with the ruling.

    Google used to be also given 90 days to finish the “anti aggressive” practices or face an additional fine amounting to 5% of the common daily global incomes of its determine company Alphabet.

    The deadline for making the changes is 28 September.

  • Pakistan election: Bhutto outlines ‘peaceful, progressive’ vision

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at election rally Image caption Bilawal Bhutto Zardari says there is lowering area for freedom in Pakistan

    The son of assassinated former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto has told the BBC he’s campaigning to put into effect her imaginative and prescient of a “non violent, revolutionary, wealthy, democratic Pakistan”.

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan People’s Celebration (PPP), is standing for parliament for the first time within the 25 July general election.

    Ms Bhutto was killed through a suicide bomber at a rally in 2007.

    Ranges of enhance for the party have dropped in up to date years, analysts say.

    Mr Bhutto Zardari used to be appointed as joint leader of the PPP in a while after his mom’s dying, alongside his father Asif Ali Zardari.

    Symbol copyright AFP Image caption The PPP can depend on its center fortify however can it reach out to different voters?

    Many analysts believe the PPP will be instrumental in forming a ruling coalition after the election – if it effects, as a few are expecting, in a hung parliament where no party has an outright majority. Mr Bhutto Zardari would not be drawn on whether or not he can be prone to favour the PTI or PML-N, pronouncing only he had “ideological variations” with both parties.

    the present election campaign has been ruled through debate over the conviction of Nawaz Sharif in an anti-corruption court docket last week. His supporters claim the army used the allegations as an excuse to take away him from energy. the army deny interfering in politics.

    Mr Bhutto Zardari told the BBC he didn’t imagine the case in opposition to Mr Sharif represented “a comfortable coup” as a few commentators have urged. However, he did categorical concerns about the environment ahead of the vote, together with “the reducing house for human rights in Pakistan, the freedom of the clicking, the liberty to marketing campaign”.

    He brought: “The Most Efficient way to conquer those demanding situations is to take them up in parliament, that’s why I Am operating for parliament.”

    Mr Bhutto Zardari spent a lot of his adolescence outdoor Pakistan, first along his mom in self-imposed exile, after which even as he finished a degree at Oxford College.

    Responding to criticisms from opponents, he informed the BBC: “If all you will have to criticise me on is my age or my accent you then in reality cannot defeat me at the issues.”

    (more…)

  • Hong Kong Nationwide Party: Move to ban professional-independence team ‘concerns’ UK

    Andy Chan, leader of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, addresses supporters in Hong Kong, 5 August 2016 Image copyright Getty Images Symbol caption Andy Chan, chief of the Hong Kong Nationwide Birthday Party, has 21 days to make a case in opposition to the ban

    the uk has mentioned it’s “concerned” after police in Hong Kong asked a ban on a small political birthday celebration that campaigns for the territory’s independence.

    Officials in Hong Kong say a request to outlaw the Hong Kong National Party is being thought to be on security grounds.

    the united kingdom, which handed sovereignty over Hong Kong to China in 1997, says it doesn’t reinforce its independence, however that its freedoms must be respected.

    Residents of Hong Kong concern Beijing wants to water down its different status.

    Under the so-called “one united states, two techniques” components, Hong Kong enjoys a prime level of autonomy and likely rights and freedoms now not available in mainland China.

    it is the first time that the territory has regarded as banning a political birthday celebration since it was once back to China.

    “We be aware with worry… plans to ban the ongoing operation of the Hong Kong National Celebration,” the uk Overseas Place Of Business mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.

    It said that individuals’ rights to face for election, unfastened speech and freedom of affiliation “are enshrined in the Basic Legislation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Invoice of Rights”.

    “Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and its rights and freedoms, are significant to its approach of lifestyles, and it is important they’re fully respected,” the statement delivered.

    ‘Umbrella’ activist Wong walks free Beijing’s struggle to win Hong Kong’s young hearts Hong Kong territory timeline

    Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security, John Lee, earlier stated that a police request to ban the Hong Kong Nationwide Party used to be being thought to be on grounds that the gang may pose a danger to national safety.

    “In Hong Kong we’ve freedom of association, but that proper isn’t with out limit,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

    Mr Lee, who did not intricate on the main points of the proposed ban, said that the birthday celebration’s chief, Andy Chan, had been given 21 days to make a case against the police request.

    He added that if it is banned, individuals who attend conferences or contribute budget to the group will face fines and as much as two years in prison.

    In The Meantime, top-profile democracy activist Joshua Wong accused the federal government of following “Beijing’s hardline path” and looking to get a divorce any crew advocating a top level of autonomy for the city.

    In February, Hong Kong’s top court docket threw out jail terms against Mr Wong and other leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy “Umbrella” protests over charges of unlawful assembly.

  • Air China vaping: Pilots fired over e-cigarette emergency

    Air China aircraft Image copyright Reuters Image caption Air China is the country’s primary service

    China has revoked the licences of two Air China pilots after a vaping incident in the cockpit forced an emergency descent closing week.

    A passenger flight from Hong Kong to Dalian needed to drop more than 6,500m (21,000ft) due to a unexpected loss of cabin drive.

    Investigators stated it was once due to one in all the pilots smoking an e-cigarette.

    The civil aviation body fined the airline and minimize the provider’s flights with Boeing 737 models through 10%.

    It additionally ordered Air China to undertake a 3-month protection review.

    Symbol copyright Weibo Symbol caption Other Folks posted images on-line of the dropped oxygen mask on the flight

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    If a airplane loses cabin pressure, the pilot has to carry the airplane to a decrease altitude to maintain team and passengers safe.

    Once the group saw that the air conditioning had been turned off, they reactivated it and brought the flight back to its standard altitude.

    The aircraft went directly to whole its flight as scheduled, and none of the 153 passengers or team were injured.

    A 3rd pilot on board, who was once no longer concerned within the incident, had his licence revoked for 6 months and was banned by way of Air China for two years, the South China Morning submit reports.

    Chinese flight rules limit all flight team from smoking, and banned passengers from the usage of e-cigarettes on board in 2006.

  • Thai cave rescue: How the boys had been stored

    The Thai cave complex the place 12 boys and their football show become trapped is a snaking device of caverns and crevices which posed a range of problems for rescuers.

    Graphic showing cave network and rescue route Presentational white space

    A Few stretches of the Tham Luang cave are greater than 10m (33ft) top, whilst others are a decent squeeze via water-stuffed passages.

    The death of an skilled former Thai military diver, who was once a part of a crew seeking to provide the lads’ cave with oxygen tanks, emphasized the dangers of the project.

    The group of boys and their tutor have been exploring the caves while a sudden hurricane caused the passageways to flood, trapping them inside of. they had spent 9 days within the cave with little meals or light after they had been came upon on Monday 2 July.

    Symbol copyright AFP/Royal Thai Army

    Rescuers to begin with wanted to keep the crowd equipped underground until the end of the wet season – which would have taken months.

    British rescuer John Volanthen, one among those who first found out the boys, said divers have been able to observe rescue ways with Thai boys from a local swimming club in a pool.

    “We strapped a cylinder to the front of the child they usually had a whole-face mask… and essentially we had a handle at the back of the child,” he mentioned

    The divers have been then able to manoeuvre the men face down along the passageways.

    “should you desire a picture, it was probably extra like a shopping bag that typically you may draw close for your chest if the passage was slim and deep. If the passage was low and huge you can dangle them out to the side and necessarily manoeuvre them round any obstacles that had been in the manner,” he stated.

    the boys have been clipped to the divers for safety in case they lost sight of them in the murky water.

    The diving choice used to be considered extremely bad via a few, but dive professionals said the concern was once to get the lads out sooner than the rains brought extra flooding and debris into the cave device.

    About FORTY% of the men’ journey through the water involved diving and in different parts the water was once up to the rescuers’ chests, Thai Navy SEAL commander Rear Admiral Apakorn Yuukongkaew informed reporters.

    After the flooded phase, when they reached the divers’ running base the cave, the lads were bundled into stretchers and carried or winched along ropes, in step with footage released through the Thai Navy Seals.

    Symbol copyright AFP/Royal Thai Army

    Every journey again to the entrance took a couple of hours.

    The rescue project began on 8 July, with divers entering the cave at 10:00 native time (03:00 GMT). The Primary boy emerged at 17:40 and by means of 19:FORTY SEVEN, 3 more had followed.

    The challenge used to be paused overnight for air tanks to get replaced alongside the path however resumed once more on Monday and Tuesday till the rest boys and their instruct were introduced out and transferred to sanatorium.

    Waiting and pumping

    there was a round-the-clock pumping operation to check out to clear the caves.

    But as rapid as the water used to be being pumped out, more used to be flowing in, fed by sinkholes and streams in the hills above, and the risks from the approaching monsoon rains was once prime.

    Mr Narongsak stated the mission have been “a race against the water”.

    Image copyright Getty Pictures

    Drilling down

    The authorities did try to drill holes in the cave partitions to help drain some of the flood water – even if the thick rock hampered efforts.

    there have been additionally ideas that drilling might be in a different way to get to the boys and raise them out.

    But to even start the method, new roads might were had to be constructed up above the caves to house the heavy drilling apparatus needed to break during the rock.

    Symbol copyright EPA Image caption Government have tried to drill holes to let loose flood waters

    an in depth survey of the realm might also have needed to be performed – another way there would be little likelihood of digging a hollow in the proper position to reach the lads and their train. Drilling may also destabilise rocks above the children or block passages and build up flooding.

    What had been the hazards down there?

    the boys, elderly among 11 and 17, and their 25-12 months-antique show have been huddled on a small rock ledge. the surroundings was wet, so they’d to keep warm and dry or possibility hypothermia.

    there were considerations about the stage of oxygen in the air within the house where the boys were trapped. Officers stated at one point that the level of oxygen within the air had fallen to fifteen%. THE USUAL level is 21%.

    Rescuers transferred about 100 oxygen tanks to the cave to assist toughen the air provide.

    Thai diver PO Saman had been helping switch the tanks whilst he were given into problems at the long ago and did not have sufficient air himself. He died after losing awareness in one in all the passageways and his colleagues couldn’t revive him.

    Image caption A camp of rescuers, volunteers, family and the press built up outside the cave front Nine days of hope – images from the quest Thailand rejoices as boys discovered The Brits who found the crowd alive

    How did they take care of the psychological pressure?

    the men can have had torches or lights on cell phones, however that they had probably been sitting in the dark for hours.

    So rescue groups took lighting into the chamber and kept the group company.

    Divers also introduced letters from the boy’s folks to assist them take care of the stress.

    Symbol copyright Fb/ekatol Symbol caption A Facebook photo presentations the educate with some of the young footballers

    “They Are mentally strong that’s if truth be told pretty excellent,” Ben Reymenants, a Belgian diver helping with the rescue operation, told AFP news agency.

    “Fortuitously the coach had the sanity of mind to keep them all together, huddled together to conserve their energy, that really stored them.”

    (more…)

  • Thai cave boys to return to ‘normal life’ after assembly media

    A screen grab shows boys rescued from the Thai cave wearing mask and resting in a hospital in Chiang Rai Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Boys are due to leave the clinic and go back to their commonplace lives

    Twelve boys and their soccer educate who have been rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand are because of go away medical institution and go back home.

    They were in a Chiang Rai hospital when you consider that last week, when they were pulled from the Tham Luang cave advanced in a dramatic 3-day operation

    The workforce will make their first public look at a news convention and solution questions about their ordeal.

    After that they’re going to go back to their homes and households, officials say.

    “the explanation to carry this night time press convention is so media can ask them questions and after that they can go back to are living their normal lives without media bothering them,” Thailand’s leader executive spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd advised information company AFP.

    Image copyright Getty Photographs Image caption The Men survived on water dripping from the cave

    Nine days handed sooner than the boys had been discovered through British rescue divers.

    However elation quickly turned to concern because it become clear just how difficult it could be to rescue boys who could not swim and had been weakened via their time underground with little meals or light.

    The dangers of the adventure was underscored by means of the loss of life of a former Thai Military Seal diver, Saman Gunan, who died at the same time as taking oxygen tanks into the cave complicated.

    How did they get out?

    A workforce of knowledgeable divers guided the lads and their instruct via darkness and submerged passageways in opposition to the mouth of the cave system.

    Each boy was once observed by means of two divers, who also carried his air supply. The Lads wore complete-face mask, which can be easier for beginner divers than traditional respirators.

    Assets within the rescue operation, together with divers who took part, instructed the BBC that the boys had been heavily sedated sooner than the rescue to forestall them panicking in the darkish, tight, underwater passageways.

    Getting to and from the trapped staff used to be an hard round travel, even for knowledgeable divers. the method involved a mixture of strolling, wading, hiking and diving along guide ropes.

    The Lads had been rescued in ranges – with four boys popping out on Sunday, some other four on Monday and the overall 4 plus their teach on Tuesday.

    Image copyright AFP/Royal Thai Navy

    All 13 were transferred to a health facility in Chiang Rai where they’ve received clinical and psychological help. they are all said to be improving well.

    However, they’ll be watched for signs of mental distress, which can simplest change into evident within the months to come back.

    The Lads had been prompt in opposition to giving media interviews, which mavens say could cause a submit-nerve-racking reaction.

    Who are the lads and their teach?

    Captain Duganpet Promtep, THIRTEEN, is described as a motivator and highly revered by his teammates. He had apparently been scouted by means of several Thai professional clubs.

    Myanmar-born Adul Sam-on, 14, speaks a number of languages, and was the one group member to be able to communicate with British divers when they have been first discovered.

    It was 17-yr-antique Peerapat Sompiangjai‘s birthday while the gang changed into trapped within the cave. The snacks the men brought with them to rejoice are likely to have helped them continue to exist their ordeal.

    Assistant train Ekapol Chantawong, 25, used to be stated to be the weakest of the group when they were discovered, as he had reportedly refused to devour any of the meals and gave it instead to the lads.

    Read extra about the boys

    (more…)

  • Elon Musk apologises to Thai cave diver for Twitter assault

    Elon Musk Image copyright Reuters Symbol caption Elon Musk mentioned he had “spoken in anger”

    Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has apologised to a British cave diver he referred to as a “pedo guy” in a row over the cave rescue in Thailand.

    He mentioned he had “spoken in anger” after Vern Unsworth ridiculed a mini-submarine he had commissioned for the rescue attempt as a “PR stunt”.

    Mr Unsworth informed newshounds on Monday he used to be taking into account legal action.

    “His movements in opposition to me don’t justify my actions against him, and for that I apologise,” Mr Musk mentioned.

    Thailand’s cave boys to leave medical institution the whole tale of Thailand ’s ordinary cave rescue

    Twelve boys and their football train had been rescued from deep within a cave in advance this month after being trapped for more than weeks.

    Mr Unsworth’s knowledge of the cave complicated is said to have performed a key function within the rescue effort.

    He travelled into the caves in the first days after the men went lacking and helped usher in best global cave rescue professionals for the undertaking.

    Mr Musk, head of the SpaceX and Tesla companies, visited the command centre in Thailand in the course of the rescue, announcing he had left the rescuers a mini-submarine.

    What did Musk say?

    In a respond to some other consumer on Twitter, referring a piece of writing about his involvement within the rescue venture, he wrote that he was once apologising to both Mr Unsworth and the corporations he led.

    “The fault is mine and mine alone,” he declared.

    At the same time, he accused Mr Unsworth of telling “untruths” about his mini-submarine, which was once not used within the rescue.

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