Missing Plane Investigation, Search Shifts

At Not Just The News, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Not Just The News and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Not Just The News makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Not Just The News does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Not Just The News.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Not Just The News and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Not Just The News send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Not Just The News has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Not Just The News"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

Missing Plane Investigation, Search Shifts

Malaysia jet search halts overnight

20 March 2014
Last updated at 16:22

Amsa’s John Young said the objects spotted were a “reasonable size”

An international air search in the Indian Ocean for possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has ended for the day, officials have said.

As night fell, Australia, New Zealand and the US said bad weather hampered their efforts in the area 2,500km (1,550 miles) south-west of Perth.

Four planes were trying to check whether two objects seen on satellite images were debris from flight MH370.

The Kuala Lumpur-Beijing plane with 239 people on board disappeared on 8 March.

It first lost contact with air traffic controllers and then disappeared from radar.

Footage shows an Australian Air Force P-3 Orion over the new search area

Meanwhile, a British satellite firm has told the BBC there were very strong indications 10 days ago that the 777 Boeing would be found either in the southern part of the Indian Ocean or in Central Asia – and not in the South China Sea or the Malacca Straits where Malaysia had continued to search.

London-based Inmarsat said its engineers realised at an early stage that the aircraft had probably flown for several hours on a northern or southern track, and it was very unlikely that the plane could have headed north over countries with sophisticated air defence systems.

‘Extremely bad’

A statement by Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said the four planes searched the vast area without success.

“The search will continue on Friday,” it said.

Two Australian Orion aircraft searching the area on Thursday were joined later by aircraft from the US and New Zealand.

Amsa said the aircraft had covered an area of 23,000km² (14,000 square miles).

The captain of the first Australian air force AP-3C Orion plane to return from the search area described the weather conditions as “extremely bad” with rough seas and high winds.

David Wright, an ABC News reporter who was on the P-8 Poseidon, said all the sophisticated plane had spotted was “a freighter and two pods of dolphins”.

A Norwegian merchant ship, the St Petersburg, has also arrived in the area after responding to a shipping broadcast issued by Australia’s rescue co-ordination centre.

It will be joined by an Australian naval vessel, HMAS Success and Britain’s HMS Echo coastal survey ship.

‘Best lead’

Earlier on Thursday, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein described the possible sighting of debris on satellite images taken on 16 March as a “credible lead”.

The largest object appeared to be 24m (78ft) in size, the Australian authorities said.

A number of sightings of possible debris have been investigated since the plane went missing but so far none have proved to be linked.

The objects identified in the images were of a “reasonable size”, Amsa’s general manager John Young said.

“This is a lead, it is probably the best lead we have right now. But we need to get there, find them, see them, assess them, to know whether it’s really meaningful or not.”

He warned the objects spotted in the sea could turn out to be unrelated to MH370, such as containers that had fallen from ships.

“On this particular occasion the size and the fact that there are multiple [objects] located in the same area really makes it worth looking at,” Mr Young added.

Michael Daniel, a former US Federal Aviation Administration official, told Singapore’s Straits Times: “If they have a strong feeling or indication that the debris belongs to the aircraft, one of the first things authorities will do is drop sonar buoys in the water.

“If the black box is there, the buoys should be able to pick up the signals. This could take up to 48 hours but it all depends on how near or far the ships and other assets are.”

Satellite signal

Investigators had identified two corridors of territory – one to the north and one to the south – spanning the possible positions of the plane about seven hours after take-off.

This was based on its last faint signal to a satellite – an hourly “handshake” broadcast even when the main communication systems are switched off.

Malaysia says search efforts are continuing in both corridors, involving a total of 18 ships, 29 aircraft and 6 ship-borne helicopters.

Meanwhile, relatives of those on board are still waiting for concrete news.

Bimal Sharma, a merchant navy captain whose sister Chandrika was on the plane, told the BBC he had experienced “hope and then despair and then hope and then despair”.

“I have been very hopeful because it was intentionally diverted, so I don’t believed it was crashed,” he said. “It’s been a very, very difficult time, and very emotionally stressing.”

“The area where Australia is looking – I was a captain at sea – I have been through that area several times. This area has got a concentration of garbage – plastics and wood. I don’t know, I don’t want to believe it as yet.”

Have you been affected by this story? You can share your views and experiences with us using this form:

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon WordPress
BBC News – Home

Malaysia jet search halts overnight

The Supreme Court Has Just Given The Police Another Way To Search Your House Without A Warrant

The Supreme Court handed down a decision that effectively grants law enforcement and investigative agencies the power to search your home without a warrant.

Latest from Crooks and Liars

The Supreme Court Has Just Given The Police Another Way To Search Your House Without A Warrant

Mozilla's top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search

Mozilla"s top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Computerworld – The chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit that funds the development of Firefox, last week defended the decision
to pursue in-browser ads, saying that it’s important to generate revenue.

“To explicitly address the question of whether we care about generating revenue and sustaining Mozilla’s work, the answer
is yes,” Mitchell Baker, former CEO of Mozilla Corp., the subsidiary responsible for Firefox, and now the chair of the parent
foundation, wrote on a blog Thursday. “In fact, many of us feel responsible to do exactly this.”

Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation. (Image: Mozilla.)

Baker was responding to questions and concerns raised earlier in the week after Mozilla announced “Directory Tiles,” an under-development Firefox feature that would display sponsored thumbnails — advertisements — in the New Tabs page of
new users of the browser.

In her post, Baker acknowledged that Firefox users in general, and those more intimately involved with Mozilla — employees
and code contributors — were by nature suspicious of any connection to commercial or business needs, including producing
revenue.

“Pretty much anytime we talk about revenue at Mozilla people get suspicious,” she said. “Mozillians get suspicious, and our
supporters get suspicious. There’s some value in that, as it reinforces our commitment to user experience and providing value
to our users.”

But she argued the obvious point that money is necessary to fund the foundation, and thus, Firefox and the group’s other projects.
And she said that money could be raised without damaging the organization’s stance on user privacy or harming its reputation
with its users.

“When we have ideas about how content might be useful to people, we look at whether there is a revenue possibility, and if
that would annoy people or bring something potentially useful,” Baker said. “Ads in search turn out to be useful.”

The concept of Directory Tiles as presented last week was straight-forward: When new users start Firefox, they will see pre-populated
tiles, some of them advertisements, on the New Tab page. For long-time Firefox users, that page, which has room for nine thumbnails,
shows the most-frequently-visited websites. Someone new to Firefox, of course, would see nothing. To jump-start the experience,
Mozilla will fill the New Page spots.

Two or three of the nine thumbnails would be devoted to such ads, Baker said, and under normal circumstances, they would disappear
within 30 days as the new user browsed the Web enough for Firefox to replace those ads with the user’s most visited URLs.

Other Mozilla executives joined Baker in promoting the Directory Tiles idea or in providing more detail about how the ad program
would work. Darren Herman, a former advertising executive and venture capitalist hired by Mozilla last year to lead a new
content services group specifically tasked to find new sources of revenue, contributed an FAQ that outlined the parameters of Directory Tiles. There, Herman pointed out, as did Baker, that the ads would be served without
relying on any tracking of a user’s movements through the Internet. Instead, the ads would only examine the user’s physical
location to, for example, provide ads pertinent to that locale or in its language.

Netflash

Read more about Mozilla"s top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Mozilla's top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search

Mozilla"s top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Computerworld – The chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit that funds the development of Firefox, last week defended the decision
to pursue in-browser ads, saying that it’s important to generate revenue.

“To explicitly address the question of whether we care about generating revenue and sustaining Mozilla’s work, the answer
is yes,” Mitchell Baker, former CEO of Mozilla Corp., the subsidiary responsible for Firefox, and now the chair of the parent
foundation, wrote on a blog Thursday. “In fact, many of us feel responsible to do exactly this.”

Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation. (Image: Mozilla.)

Baker was responding to questions and concerns raised earlier in the week after Mozilla announced “Directory Tiles,” an under-development Firefox feature that would display sponsored thumbnails — advertisements — in the New Tabs page of
new users of the browser.

In her post, Baker acknowledged that Firefox users in general, and those more intimately involved with Mozilla — employees
and code contributors — were by nature suspicious of any connection to commercial or business needs, including producing
revenue.

“Pretty much anytime we talk about revenue at Mozilla people get suspicious,” she said. “Mozillians get suspicious, and our
supporters get suspicious. There’s some value in that, as it reinforces our commitment to user experience and providing value
to our users.”

But she argued the obvious point that money is necessary to fund the foundation, and thus, Firefox and the group’s other projects.
And she said that money could be raised without damaging the organization’s stance on user privacy or harming its reputation
with its users.

“When we have ideas about how content might be useful to people, we look at whether there is a revenue possibility, and if
that would annoy people or bring something potentially useful,” Baker said. “Ads in search turn out to be useful.”

The concept of Directory Tiles as presented last week was straight-forward: When new users start Firefox, they will see pre-populated
tiles, some of them advertisements, on the New Tab page. For long-time Firefox users, that page, which has room for nine thumbnails,
shows the most-frequently-visited websites. Someone new to Firefox, of course, would see nothing. To jump-start the experience,
Mozilla will fill the New Page spots.

Two or three of the nine thumbnails would be devoted to such ads, Baker said, and under normal circumstances, they would disappear
within 30 days as the new user browsed the Web enough for Firefox to replace those ads with the user’s most visited URLs.

Other Mozilla executives joined Baker in promoting the Directory Tiles idea or in providing more detail about how the ad program
would work. Darren Herman, a former advertising executive and venture capitalist hired by Mozilla last year to lead a new
content services group specifically tasked to find new sources of revenue, contributed an FAQ that outlined the parameters of Directory Tiles. There, Herman pointed out, as did Baker, that the ads would be served without
relying on any tracking of a user’s movements through the Internet. Instead, the ads would only examine the user’s physical
location to, for example, provide ads pertinent to that locale or in its language.

Netflash

Read more about Mozilla"s top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Mozilla's top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search

Mozilla"s top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Computerworld – The chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit that funds the development of Firefox, last week defended the decision
to pursue in-browser ads, saying that it’s important to generate revenue.

“To explicitly address the question of whether we care about generating revenue and sustaining Mozilla’s work, the answer
is yes,” Mitchell Baker, former CEO of Mozilla Corp., the subsidiary responsible for Firefox, and now the chair of the parent
foundation, wrote on a blog Thursday. “In fact, many of us feel responsible to do exactly this.”

Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation. (Image: Mozilla.)

Baker was responding to questions and concerns raised earlier in the week after Mozilla announced “Directory Tiles,” an under-development Firefox feature that would display sponsored thumbnails — advertisements — in the New Tabs page of
new users of the browser.

In her post, Baker acknowledged that Firefox users in general, and those more intimately involved with Mozilla — employees
and code contributors — were by nature suspicious of any connection to commercial or business needs, including producing
revenue.

“Pretty much anytime we talk about revenue at Mozilla people get suspicious,” she said. “Mozillians get suspicious, and our
supporters get suspicious. There’s some value in that, as it reinforces our commitment to user experience and providing value
to our users.”

But she argued the obvious point that money is necessary to fund the foundation, and thus, Firefox and the group’s other projects.
And she said that money could be raised without damaging the organization’s stance on user privacy or harming its reputation
with its users.

“When we have ideas about how content might be useful to people, we look at whether there is a revenue possibility, and if
that would annoy people or bring something potentially useful,” Baker said. “Ads in search turn out to be useful.”

The concept of Directory Tiles as presented last week was straight-forward: When new users start Firefox, they will see pre-populated
tiles, some of them advertisements, on the New Tab page. For long-time Firefox users, that page, which has room for nine thumbnails,
shows the most-frequently-visited websites. Someone new to Firefox, of course, would see nothing. To jump-start the experience,
Mozilla will fill the New Page spots.

Two or three of the nine thumbnails would be devoted to such ads, Baker said, and under normal circumstances, they would disappear
within 30 days as the new user browsed the Web enough for Firefox to replace those ads with the user’s most visited URLs.

Other Mozilla executives joined Baker in promoting the Directory Tiles idea or in providing more detail about how the ad program
would work. Darren Herman, a former advertising executive and venture capitalist hired by Mozilla last year to lead a new
content services group specifically tasked to find new sources of revenue, contributed an FAQ that outlined the parameters of Directory Tiles. There, Herman pointed out, as did Baker, that the ads would be served without
relying on any tracking of a user’s movements through the Internet. Instead, the ads would only examine the user’s physical
location to, for example, provide ads pertinent to that locale or in its language.

Netflash

Read more about Mozilla"s top exec defends in-Firefox ads, revenue search and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

3,000 euro Google search: French blogger gets fined for re-posting indexed govt files

At Not Just The News, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Not Just The News and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Not Just The News makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Not Just The News does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Not Just The News.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Not Just The News and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Not Just The News send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Not Just The News has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Not Just The News"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

3,000 euro Google search: French blogger gets fined for re-posting indexed govt files

Your Weekend PSA: Using Date Ranges in Google Search

This is a public service announcement about a feature of Google search that few people seem to know about: date ranges. This is useful in a couple of ways. First, I sometimes want only pages that are really recent, and it’s handy to be able to restrict results to the past hour or the past day. Alternatively, sometimes I’m looking for something old, which is hard to find because Google heavily prioritizes recent results. A specific date range fixes that.

In any case, it’s easy to specify a date range. After your results come up, click Search tools at the top of the page. Then click Any time and choose an option from the dropdown list. That’s it.

MoJo Blogs and Articles | Mother Jones

Your Weekend PSA: Using Date Ranges in Google Search

GAMES: Urgent Search for "Black Widow" Suicide Bomber, May Be Already in Sochi...

At Not Just The News, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Not Just The News and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Not Just The News makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Not Just The News does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Not Just The News.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Not Just The News and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Not Just The News send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Not Just The News has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Not Just The News"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

GAMES: Urgent Search for "Black Widow" Suicide Bomber, May Be Already in Sochi...

Stop and search Avon and Somerset police abuse

Featured video on injustices:

Texas ‘honor killer’ Yaser Said could be hiding in plain sight as NYC cabbie PI Bill Warner Says as FBI New York City Field Office To Assist In Search.

FOX NEWS…The Egyptian-born cab driver suspected in the 2008 “honor killing” of his two daughters in Texas because they were dating non-Muslim boys may be working at his old trade in New York, according to a private investigator who has tracked him. Yaser Said fled his Dallas-area home after allegedly shooting daughters Amina, 18, and Sarah Said, 17, on New Year’s Day in 2008 and is now on the FBI’s list of most-wanted fugitives. Although he took his Egyptian passport and $ 9,000 when he bolted, Bill Warner, a private detective who has worked for Said’s sister-in-law, believes he never made it out of the country. With family ties to New York and a large community of his countrymen to blend into, Warner says the odds are good the suspected killer is behind the wheel of a car for hire in the Big Apple.  “It’s all he knows and I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he’s there working as a taxi driver,” Bill Warner, who has worked on and off tracking Said, told FoxNews.com. “He could blend in at a metropolis like New York.”

BILL WARNER PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR ‘CHEATERS’ & CHILD CUSTODY 941-926-1926

Texas ‘honor killer’ Yaser Said could be hiding in plain sight as NYC cabbie PI Bill Warner Says as FBI New York City Field Office To Assist In Search.

Spirit the Documentary: our search for proof of the paranormal

At Alternate Viewpoint, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Alternate Viewpoint and how it is used.

Log Files

Like many other Web sites, Alternate Viewpoint makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Alternate Viewpoint does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on Alternate Viewpoint.


• Google"s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to Alternate Viewpoint and other sites on the Internet.


• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html.

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Alternate Viewpoint send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Alternate Viewpoint has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Alternate Viewpoint"s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browser"s respective websites.

Spirit the Documentary: our search for proof of the paranormal

Woman Endures Strip Search & Jail Time For Overdue Ticket

CBS DFW

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A North Texas woman was handcuffed, stripped down and booked into jail – all because of an overdue traffic ticket.

It was just a ticket. Sarah Boaz was cited in August after an officer said she ran a stop sign.

Boaz lost the ticket, but said she knows it was wrong not to have paid it right away. Despite those missteps, she also says she never expected a late fee or penalty to land her in jail.  

It happens in every city, every day, at just about every intersection. Drivers roll past stop signs, and through stoplights. But getting caught, and getting a ticket, is nothing compared to what Boaz got.

“I guess it was just frustrating to me, that a bill that I pay a month late, I end up in jail for,” she said.

Boaz’ expected trip to work Wednesday morning never happened. Because of her unpaid ticket, the Richland Hills City Marshal was waiting at her house with a warrant for her arrest. “I’m like, nobody puts out a bench warrant after 60 days. Why would you do that? You wouldn’t do that.”

Even when Boaz arrived at the jail, in handcuffs, she still didn’t think it was real. Then a female officer started giving her instructions. She remembered the officer saying, “’I’m going to need you to undress. I’m going to need you to stand against the wall. Please don’t step in front of this white box, or I’ll take that’… aggressive toward me. Obviously I am going to jail.”

CBS 11 News learned a strip search is standard procedure for anyone brought to the jail in North Richland Hills.

Richland Hills is small enough that it only has one marshal. Warrants for unpaid tickets don’t sit around for months, like they might in larger cities.

Attorney Jason Smith told CBS 11 News though, there’s nothing requiring the city to put people in jail. “The constitution doesn’t keep the government or government officials from using common sense. Unfortunately, some police officers, some governments get overly aggressive because they want that ticket revenue.”

Municipal court officials said two reminders were sent to Boaz, which she says she never got.

A footnote – on Thursday, Boaz’ husband was issued a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign.

Read more here: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/10/24/woman-endures-strip-search-jail-time-for-overdue-ticket/

Woman Endures Strip Search & Jail Time For Overdue Ticket

FBI Cordon Off Neighborhood to Search Executed Driver’s Condo for Anti-government Material

Political views figure prominently in investigation of reportedly mentally ill woman

Kurt Nimmo
Prison Planet.com
October 4, 2013

Executed mother Miriam Carey. Photo: Facebook

The FBI employed a bomb squad, a hazardous material team and helicopters when they searched Miriam Carey’s condominium in Stamford, Connecticut on Thursday.

Carey was executed by police after briefly eluding them following an encounter at a police state checkpoint outside the White House. The incident resulted in a lockdown of Congress and a “shelter in place” order on Capitol Hill.

Stamford resident Eric Bredow told News 19 WLTV an FBI bomb squad arrived at his building and a helicopter swooped overhead. Other residents were ordered to evacuate and were told they would not be allowed to return home for hours or overnight.

CNN reported the condominium complex remained cordoned off on Friday.

On Friday, the FBI and local law enforcement said they did not find firearms or “evidence that [Carey] was angry with the government,” The Courant reported.

This article was posted: Friday, October 4, 2013 at 10:36 am

---

---

Print this page.

---

---

Prison Planet.com

FBI Cordon Off Neighborhood to Search Executed Driver’s Condo for Anti-government Material

Search revolution: Google ‘Hummingbird’ update unveiled

Published time: September 27, 2013 13:01

Reuters/Stephen Lam

Google has modified the classified formula which runs its internet search engine, a move which could lead to a major reshuffle in how internet traffic is handled.

The overhaul is aimed at improving the search qualities, as the questions posed by the users are becoming increasingly complex. The update will help the engine to understand complicated concepts instead of words.

‘Hummingbird’ was presented on Thursday, in the Menlo Park, California, at the garage where the company’s CEO Larry Page and fellow co-founder Sergey Brin started the company 15 years ago.

The changes are set to affect 90 percent of searches: Google is the major player in the field, accounting for two out of three search requests in the US and sometimes even bigger percentage in Europe.

Prices for advertisements in Google which are tied to search requests could also grow. The company’s revenue is set to approach $ 60 billion this year, AP reported.

Apart from ‘Hummingbird’, several other updates have been announced, with most aiming at providing the data more concisely to allow people not to navigate to another website to find out more – which can prove difficult on small smart phone screens.

These changes mainly affect the ‘Knowledge Graph’, a box that appears on top or alongside other search results. In particular, its new version will be able to compare the attributes of two different things. ‘Google Now’, a virtual assistant that provides for the user the information about his interests and location, will start flagging new developments – for example, in the life of a celebrity – that interest the user.

This major reshuffle comes three years after another modification called ‘Caffeine’, the company’s senior vice president Amit Singhal pointed out.

“Remember what it was like to search in 1998? You’d sit down and boot up your bulky computer, dial up on your squawky modem, type in some keywords, and get 10 blue links to websites that had those words,” Singhal wrote in a separate blog post.

“The world has changed so much since then: billions of people have come online, the web has grown exponentially, and now you can ask any question on the powerful little device in your pocket.”

Google’s reshuffles have also come under fire from other websites which say the overhauls cause internet traffic across the globe to skew dramatically. As a result, many pages’ rank has fallen or risen in recommendations.

For instance, the Caffeine update caused a widespread outcry, as it attempted to weed out the websites which tried to trick the search engine into believing that their content was related to common search requests.

RT – News

Search revolution: Google ‘Hummingbird’ update unveiled

Search revolution: Google ‘Hummingbird’ update unveiled

Published time: September 27, 2013 13:01

Reuters/Stephen Lam

Google has modified the classified formula which runs its internet search engine, a move which could lead to a major reshuffle in how internet traffic is handled.

The overhaul is aimed at improving the search qualities, as the questions posed by the users are becoming increasingly complex. The update will help the engine to understand complicated concepts instead of words.

‘Hummingbird’ was presented on Thursday, in the Menlo Park, California, at the garage where the company’s CEO Larry Page and fellow co-founder Sergey Brin started the company 15 years ago.

The changes are set to affect 90 percent of searches: Google is the major player in the field, accounting for two out of three search requests in the US and sometimes even bigger percentage in Europe.

Prices for advertisements in Google which are tied to search requests could also grow. The company’s revenue is set to approach $ 60 billion this year, AP reported.

Apart from ‘Hummingbird’, several other updates have been announced, with most aiming at providing the data more concisely to allow people not to navigate to another website to find out more – which can prove difficult on small smart phone screens.

These changes mainly affect the ‘Knowledge Graph’, a box that appears on top or alongside other search results. In particular, its new version will be able to compare the attributes of two different things. ‘Google Now’, a virtual assistant that provides for the user the information about his interests and location, will start flagging new developments – for example, in the life of a celebrity – that interest the user.

This major reshuffle comes three years after another modification called ‘Caffeine’, the company’s senior vice president Amit Singhal pointed out.

“Remember what it was like to search in 1998? You’d sit down and boot up your bulky computer, dial up on your squawky modem, type in some keywords, and get 10 blue links to websites that had those words,” Singhal wrote in a separate blog post.

“The world has changed so much since then: billions of people have come online, the web has grown exponentially, and now you can ask any question on the powerful little device in your pocket.”

Google’s reshuffles have also come under fire from other websites which say the overhauls cause internet traffic across the globe to skew dramatically. As a result, many pages’ rank has fallen or risen in recommendations.

For instance, the Caffeine update caused a widespread outcry, as it attempted to weed out the websites which tried to trick the search engine into believing that their content was related to common search requests.

RT – News

Search revolution: Google ‘Hummingbird’ update unveiled

Search and Rescue?

We hear a lot about the newly discovered olinguto, pictured, because it’s cute. But the Tasmanian devil, which isn’t so cute, and isn’t so new, doesn’t get nearly as much press, despite being threatened by a facial tumor disease.

Photo courtesy Mark Gurney via Wikimedia Commons

We’ve been to the moon and been just about everywhere on Earth. So what’s left to discover? In September, Future Tense is publishing a series of articles in response to the question “Is exploration dead?” Read more about modern-day exploration of the sea, space, land, and more unexpected areas.

This August scientists at the Smithsonian unveiled the discovery of a new species—kind of. The olinguito had been hiding under our noses for decades, universally mistaken for its cousin the olingo until DNA testing proved the red-brown critter to be an independent species. Little mentioned in all the excitement was an alarming fact: Though the olinguito is not yet officially endangered, 42 percent of its habitat has already been destroyed by humans, and its numbers are likely to dwindle further.

But don’t expect to hear much publicity about the olinguito’s decline.

Every year, scientists discover thousands of new species—about 20,000 in 2011 and 18,000 in 2012—and occasionally they even rediscover a species thought to be extinct. Then the process follows a pattern. A few become iconic or get drafted into the zoo circuit. But the vast majority are quickly forgotten by all but dedicated scientists—and face endangerment or extinction. The excitement that greets new species simply doesn’t translate into enthusiasm for their preservation. Today we’re living in the golden age of animal discovering, finding more new species than at any other point in modern history. Advanced technology has allowed us to infiltrate deeper into dense terrain than ever before, uncovering 1,200 new species in the overgrown jungles of the Amazon alone. Meanwhile, DNA testing has proved that there’s more species variety than the naked eye can detect, as the olinguito’s surprising emergence proves.

At the same time that we’re discovering so many new animals, though, we’re killing them off faster than we ever have before. Climate change, environmental destruction, and pollution are bringing more and more species to the brink. Almost 5,200 animals are officially endangered, up from around 1,900 in 1998. And our obsession with hunting down already-dead animals and cloning others distracts us from the more pressing needs of still-extant threatened species.

Humans, in fact, have become oddly selective in choosing animals to save. Pandas are almost universally treasured. But Looney Tunes scamp aside, the world has showed little love for the Tasmanian devil, a rodentlike marsupial that is being rapidly killed off by a facial tumor disease. Scientists are horrified by the sudden and somewhat mysterious onset of mass death, and the word extinction is already being tossed around. To compound matters, the Australian government just approved a mine that may annihilate the last remaining population of tumor-free devils.

Even as the Tasmanian devil slides into eradication, it continues to vie for attention with the Tasmanian tiger, an extinct species that found unlikely posthumous fame. The tiger, or thylacine, was incorrectly believed to be preying on settlers’ livestock in the early 20^th century, and by the 1930s bounty hunters paid by farmers had killed most of the animals. The last thylacine died in 1936 after spending its final years scurrying back and forth across a small zoo cage.

A strange cult, however, developed around the thylacine soon after, and over the last eight decades, there have been 3,800 unconfirmed sightings of the animal. In death, unlike in life, the thylacine is good business: In 1983 Ted Turner offered a $ 100,000 reward for evidence of a live thylacine, and the Bulletin, an Australian news magazine, raised the prize to 1.25 million Australian dollars. Humans have spent the last 80 years ruing their complicity in allowing the Tasmanian tiger to go extinct. Now its slightly grotesque sister species is facing catastrophe—and there just isn’t any sympathy for the devil.

Meanwhile, on mainland Australia, another, weirder drama of species discovery is playing out, one that may indicate the darker side of species discovery: species fraud. Last June an Australian naturalist named John Young claimed to have captured the night parrot on film for the first time in history. The parrot, though not officially extinct, is so rare and elusive that scientists have questioned its continued survival. And there might still be reason for doubt: In 2006 Young alleged to have discovered an entirely new bird species, the blue-fronted fig parrot, but his findings were suspected to be manipulated.

MySlate is a new tool that lets you track your favorite parts of Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads you’re interested in, and more.

Slate Articles

Search and Rescue?

Divers search Philippine ferry for dozens missing

Volunteers search near the damaged cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete a day after it collided with a passenger ferry off the waters of Talisay city, Cebu province in central Philippines, Saturday Aug. 17, 2013. Divers combed through a sunken ferry Saturday to retrieve the bodies of more than 200 people still missing from an overnight collision with a cargo vessel near the central Philippine port of Cebu that sent passengers jumping into the ocean and leaving many others trapped. At least 28 were confirmed dead and hundreds rescued. The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas, which was approaching the port late Friday, ordered the ship abandoned when it began listing and then sank just minutes after collision with the MV Sulpicio Express, coast guard deputy chief Rear Adm. Luis Tuason said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Volunteers search near the damaged cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete a day after it collided with a passenger ferry off the waters of Talisay city, Cebu province in central Philippines, Saturday Aug. 17, 2013. Divers combed through a sunken ferry Saturday to retrieve the bodies of more than 200 people still missing from an overnight collision with a cargo vessel near the central Philippine port of Cebu that sent passengers jumping into the ocean and leaving many others trapped. At least 28 were confirmed dead and hundreds rescued. The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas, which was approaching the port late Friday, ordered the ship abandoned when it began listing and then sank just minutes after collision with the MV Sulpicio Express, coast guard deputy chief Rear Adm. Luis Tuason said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard divers retrieve a body from the waters off the coast of Talisay city, Cebu province, in central Philippines Saturday Aug. 17, 2013, a day after a passenger ferry MV Thomas of Aquinas collided with a cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete. Divers combed through a sunken ferry Saturday to retrieve the bodies of more than 200 people still missing from an overnight collision with a cargo vessel near the central Philippine port of Cebu that sent passengers jumping into the ocean and leaving many others trapped. At least 28 were confirmed dead and hundreds rescued. The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas, which was approaching the port late Friday, ordered the ship abandoned when it began listing and then sank just minutes after collision with the MV Sulpicio Express, coast guard deputy chief Rear Adm. Luis Tuason said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine Navy divers retrieve a body from the waters off the coast of Talisay city, Cebu province, in central Philippines Saturday Aug. 17, 2013, a day after a passenger ferry MV Thomas of Aquinas collided with a cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete. Divers combed through a sunken ferry Saturday to retrieve the bodies of more than 200 people still missing from an overnight collision with a cargo vessel near the central Philippine port of Cebu that sent passengers jumping into the ocean and leaving many others trapped. At least 28 were confirmed dead and hundreds rescued. The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas, which was approaching the port late Friday, ordered the ship abandoned when it began listing and then sank just minutes after collision with the MV Sulpicio Express, coast guard deputy chief Rear Adm. Luis Tuason said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

A cluster of life rafts floate near the cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete with its damaged bow a day after it collided with a passenger ferry off the waters of Talisay city, Cebu province in central Philippines, Saturday Aug. 17, 2013. Divers combed through a sunken ferry Saturday to retrieve the bodies of more than 200 people still missing from an overnight collision with a cargo vessel near the central Philippine port of Cebu that sent passengers jumping into the ocean and leaving many others trapped. At least 28 were confirmed dead and hundreds rescued. The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas, which was approaching the port late Friday, ordered the ship abandoned when it began listing and then sank just minutes after collision with the MV Sulpicio Express, coast guard deputy chief Rear Adm. Luis Tuason said. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine Coast Guard divers transfer a rubber boat as they prepare to be deployed to augment rescue operations in Cebu from their headquarters in Manila, Philippines on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013. A ferry with more than 800 people aboard sank near the central Philippine port of Cebu after colliding with a cargo vessel, killing at least 28 people. Hundreds have been rescued but more than 200 are still missing, the coast guard said Saturday. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Buy AP Photo Reprints

CEBU, Philippines (AP) — Divers combed through a sunken ferry Saturday in search of dozens of people missing after a collision with a cargo vessel near the central Philippine port of Cebu that sent passengers jumping into the ocean and leaving many others trapped. At least 31 were confirmed dead and hundreds rescued.

The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas ordered the ship abandoned when it began listing and then sank just minutes after collision late Friday with the MV Sulpicio Express Siete, coast guard deputy chief Rear Adm. Luis Tuason said.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Abaya announced official passenger figures following confusion over the actual number of people on the ferry.

He said the ferry carried 831 people — 715 passengers and 116 crew — fewer than the numbers given earlier by the coast guard and ferry owner, 2Go. He said the death toll has risen to 31 with 629 rescued.

There were foreigners on board “but they are all OK,” except for a New Zealand citizen who was in a hospital, he said.

Cebu coast guard chief Cmdr. Weniel Azcuna said 171 were listed as missing, but the figure would go down once the number of crew members who have been rescued are officially accounted.

Tuason said some of the missing could still be trapped inside the vessel that sank in waters about 33 meters (100 feet) deep off Talisay city in Cebu province, 570 kilometers (350 miles) south of Manila.

Tuason said navy divers recovered at least four bodies early Saturday. Reporters at the site, about two kilometers (1.25 miles) from shore, saw the bodies coated with fuel and oil that spilled from the ferry.

In a statement, 2Go said the ferry “was reportedly hit” by the cargo vessel “resulting in major damage that led to its sinking.” An investigation will begin after the rescue operation, the coast guard said.

Abaya said the cargo vessel smashed into right side near the rear of the ferry which was coming from Nasipit in Agusan del Sur province in the southern Philippines and making a short stop in Cebu before proceeding to Manila.

“I guess it hit the ferry at a very vulnerable point, probably at its water line or below the water line so that it did not take long for it to sink,” he said.

One of the survivors, Jenalyn Labanos, 31, said the ferry quickly tilted to its side after the impact and sank about 20 minutes later.

She said the crash threw her and two companions to the floor of a ship restaurant followed by the lights going out.

“People panicked and the crew later handed out life vests and used their flashlights to guide us out of the ship but they could not control the passengers because the ship was already tilting,” she said.

She said she suffered bruises on her hands and feet as she grabbed a rope on the side of the vessel before jumping into the water.

“I just thought to myself that I have to survive this. I left everything, my bag, my money and my passport,” she said. She was headed to Manila for a flight to Dubai where she has been hired as a maid.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing more than 4,341 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.

In 2008, the ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon in the central Philippines, killing nearly 800 people.

Survivors said many of the passengers were asleep at the time of the accident, while others struggled to find their way in the dark.

Rolando Manliguis was watching a live band when “suddenly I heard what sounded like a blast. … The singer was thrown in front of me.” He said he rushed to wake up his wife and their two children but the water was rising fast.

“When the boat was on its side, the water level was here,” he said, pointing to his neck.

He said they roped down the side of the ferry into the sea and were put on a life raft.

__

Associated Press writers Oliver Teves, Teresa Cerojano and Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Top Headlines

Divers search Philippine ferry for dozens missing

Divers Search Philippine Ferry for Dozens Missing

CEBU, Philippines — Divers combed through a sunken ferry Saturday in search of dozens of people missing after a collision with a cargo vessel near the central Philippine port of Cebu that sent passengers jumping into the ocean and leaving many others trapped. At least 31 were confirmed dead and hundreds rescued.

The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas ordered the ship abandoned when it began listing and then sank just minutes after collision late Friday with the MV Sulpicio Express Siete, coast guard deputy chief Rear Adm. Luis Tuason said.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Abaya announced official passenger figures following confusion over the actual number of people on the ferry.

He said the ferry carried 831 people — 715 passengers and 116 crew — fewer than the numbers given earlier by the coast guard and ferry owner, 2Go. He said the death toll has risen to 31 with 629 rescued.

There were foreigners on board “but they are all OK,” except for a New Zealand citizen who was in a hospital, he said.

Cebu coast guard chief Cmdr. Weniel Azcuna said 171 were listed as missing, but the figure would go down once the number of crew members who have been rescued are officially accounted.

Tuason said some of the missing could still be trapped inside the vessel that sank in waters about 33 meters (100 feet) deep off Talisay city in Cebu province, 570 kilometers (350 miles) south of Manila.

Tuason said navy divers recovered at least four bodies early Saturday. Reporters at the site, about two kilometers (1.25 miles) from shore, saw the bodies coated with fuel and oil that spilled from the ferry.

In a statement, 2Go said the ferry “was reportedly hit” by the cargo vessel “resulting in major damage that led to its sinking.” An investigation will begin after the rescue operation, the coast guard said.

Abaya said the cargo vessel smashed into right side near the rear of the ferry which was coming from Nasipit in Agusan del Sur province in the southern Philippines and making a short stop in Cebu before proceeding to Manila.

“I guess it hit the ferry at a very vulnerable point, probably at its water line or below the water line so that it did not take long for it to sink,” he said.

One of the survivors, Jenalyn Labanos, 31, said the ferry quickly tilted to its side after the impact and sank about 20 minutes later.

She said the crash threw her and two companions to the floor of a ship restaurant followed by the lights going out.

“People panicked and the crew later handed out life vests and used their flashlights to guide us out of the ship but they could not control the passengers because the ship was already tilting,” she said.

She said she suffered bruises on her hands and feet as she grabbed a rope on the side of the vessel before jumping into the water.

“I just thought to myself that I have to survive this. I left everything, my bag, my money and my passport,” she said. She was headed to Manila for a flight to Dubai where she has been hired as a maid.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing more than 4,341 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.

In 2008, the ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon in the central Philippines, killing nearly 800 people.

Survivors said many of the passengers were asleep at the time of the accident, while others struggled to find their way in the dark.

Rolando Manliguis was watching a live band when “suddenly I heard what sounded like a blast. … The singer was thrown in front of me.” He said he rushed to wake up his wife and their two children but the water was rising fast.

“When the boat was on its side, the water level was here,” he said, pointing to his neck.

He said they roped down the side of the ferry into the sea and were put on a life raft.

__

Associated Press writers Oliver Teves, Teresa Cerojano and Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila contributed to this report.

NYT > Global Home

Divers Search Philippine Ferry for Dozens Missing

Divers struggle to search submarine

14 August 2013 Last updated at 23:30 ET

Locals describe hearing a sound “like a jet engine” when the blasts happened, as Yogita Limaye reports

Indian divers and rescue workers are battling to refloat a submarine in a Mumbai dockyard, after two explosions led to a fire early on Wednesday.

About 18 sailors were board but there has been no contact with possible survivors and India’s navy chief warned the country to “prepare for the worst”.

Divers have so far opened one hatch of the partially-submerged vessel.

An inquiry into the incident is under way as efforts continue to pump out water to bring the boat to the surface.

It is not clear what caused the blasts on the diesel and electricity-powered INS Sindhurakshak. Sabotage has not been ruled out, although officials say that looks unlikely at this stage.

As India marks Independence Day, officials were not optimistic about the crew’s chances of survival.

Naval chief DK Joshi said it was possible those on board may have found air pockets but “the indicators are negative”.

“While we hope for the best, we have to prepare for the worst,” he told reporters.

Continue reading the main story

On Monday navy divers managed to open the first hatch of the damaged submarine but there has yet to be contact with any of the crew on board

The incident took place after midnight at the busy naval dockyard

As the emergency services rushed to the scene, it emerged that the explosion and fire had trapped a number of crew members, who are feared dead

Navy divers and fire-fighters remained at the scene, which was visited by India’s Defence Minister later in the day.

An inquiry has been ordered into the causes of the incident

Continue reading the main story

previous slide next slide

‘Shocking tragedy’

Two huge explosions took place on board the INS Sindhurakshak after midnight on Tuesday. Firefighters spent four hours putting out the ensuing blaze.

The force of the explosions badly damaged the vessel, which sank, and it remains partially submerged at its berth.

Amateur video shown on Indian television showed a large fireball illuminating the sky

Dramatic images on Indian television showed a large fireball illuminating the sky. Smoke from the blaze could be seen in many parts of the city. Many sailors managed to jump to safety after the blast and some were taken to hospital.

The Russian-built vessel had recently been upgraded at a cost of $ 80m (£52m) and it may have been armed with missiles and torpedoes.

Russian firm Zvyozdochka, which refitted the submarine, said the vessel had been fully operational when it was returned to India in January.

On Wednesday Indian Defence Minister AK Antony visited the site. Describing the events as a “shocking tragedy”, he offered his condolences to relatives of those who may have perished.

The INS Sindhurakshak is one of the 10 Kilo-class submarines bought from Russia between 1986 and 2000. It is equipped with Russian Club-S cruise missile systems.

Continue reading the main story

INS Sindhurakshak timeline

• 1997: INS Sindhurakshak procured by Indian navy, one of the 10 vessels in the Kilo-class submarines bought from Russia between 1986-2000


• February 2010: A fire that broke out in its battery compartment kills one sailor


• August 2010: Submarine sent for re-fit to equip it with cruise missile systems


• June 2012: Refit completed with refurbished hull and 10 years added to its 25-year service life


• October 20102: Sea trials begin for submarine


• 14 August 2013: Submarine hit by explosion and fire with sailors trapped inside

• INS Sindhurakshak: India’s submarine woes

The submarine was sent to Russia for the refit in 2010 after a sailor on board was killed by a fire that broke out in the battery compartment while the submarine was docked at the Vishakhapatnam naval base in February that year.

Correspondents say that India has steadily developed its naval capabilities in recent years, motivated by its rivalry with neighbouring China. But the country’s military has encountered numerous scandals and difficulties as it has done so.

Wednesday’s explosions came two days after India’s navy launched its first home-built aircraft carrier, hailed by defence officials as a “crowning glory”.

And on Tuesday India’s federal auditor suggested that the government might have paid too much for 12 helicopters from Anglo-Italian company Agusta Westland, saying procurement procedures designed to ensure value for money were not properly followed.

Last year, India bought a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine for its navy on a 10-year lease from Russia at the cost of nearly $ 1bn, making it part of a small group of nations to operate nuclear-powered submarines.

India and Russia are long-time allies and Russia supplies about 70% of India’s military hardware.

BBC News – Asia

Divers struggle to search submarine