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Mint
13-06-2025
- General
- Mint
What led to Air India plane crash? Experts weigh 4 possible reasons behind tragedy
Investigators are racing against time to find the cause of the deadly Air India plane crash — one of the India's worst plane crashes recorded in a decade. India has already launched an investigation into the fatal crash of the London-bound Air India plane that plunged and hit a residential area in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, minutes after takeoff on Thursday. All but one of the 242 passengers and crew onboard the Air India plane were killed in the crash. With the investigation underway, several experts have weighed in on the possible reasons that could have led to the crash of the Air India plane. Here's what they said after analysing early evidence, videos and photos of the crash: US experts said on Thursday that the plane involved in the crash at Ahmedabad did not seem 'properly configured' and that the crash appeared 'surprising' at first glance. Analysing the videos and photos of the crash, Aviation safety consultant John M Cox said the grainy images of the flight suggested that one area of inquiry was likely to be whether the slats and flaps were in the correct position as the plane attempted to climb. 'It's hard to tell but from looking at the aircraft from behind… it doesn't look like the trailing edge flaps are in the position I would have expected them to be,' he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying. The CEO of Washington DC-based Safety Operating Systems, however, cautioned that the image quality is "not good enough to make that conclusion. It's just an area where I know that they're going to look.' As per the initial footage, the aircraft initially climbed on a normal trajectory before it suddenly began descending. Experts noted the plane appeared to maintain a nose-up attitude, a posture usually not associated with a normal descent. This, according to them, suggests a significant and sudden loss of engine thrust, the Hindustan Times reported. 'The image shows the airplane with the nose rising and it continuing to sink,' Cox said. 'That says that the airplane is not making enough lift," he said. He said, "The slats and flaps should be positioned so that the wing makes more lift at lower speeds." Former pilot Saurabh Bhatnagar told Indian news TV channel New Delhi Television LTD the incident appears to involve 'multiple bird hits'. Bird strikes refers to a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight, taking-off or landing. Bhatnagar was quoted as saying: 'It looks, prima facie, like a case of multiple bird hits wherein both the engines have lost power." He noted that the take-off was "perfect" but "the aircraft started descending, which can happen only in case the engine loses power or the aircraft stops developing lift." However, Sam Thomas, president of the Airline Pilots Association of India (ALPA) told HT that it was 'highly unlikely' a flock of birds disabled both engines. A report cited experts analysing why the aircraft's landing gear was not retracted. Capt Manoj Hathi, a former Air India official, told the Times of India, "It's possible that a dual engine flame-out was the reason the landing gear could not be retracted. Dual engine failure could occur due to bird ingestion or fuel contamination. Looking at the trajectory and body angle of the aircraft, it appears as if the aircraft has stalled because of loss of speed." Former pilot Ehsan Khalid explained that the landing gear is raised as soon as the flight takes off. "Since the landing gear was down, it is possible that a loss of engine was detected beforehand... The biggest question is why the landing gear was not up....," he said. According to the TOI, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in its statement the pilots gave a MAYDAY call seconds after take-off. This information reportedly supporting the theory that a dual engine failure occurred probably after the aircraft crossed the speed beyond which a take-off cannot be safely aborted. Other pilots said the possibility of a dual engine failure is a rare event with about seven documented accidents in the past seven decades. Former pilot Ehsan Khalid told the Times of India the aircraft appeared to have faced a loss of power, which could be attributed to engine malfunction. However, he stressed that it is highly unlikely for both engines to fail simultaneously, especially due to a bird strike within such a short timeframe. "The visuals show that the aircraft faced a loss of power... The loss of power can be due to engine malfunction, but it is very unlikely that both engines would lose power simultaneously... It is a very big engine, and it is rare that both engines lose power due to a bird hit in a one-minute duration," he was quoted as saying. Although just preliminary clues and theories are emerging, a definitive cause remains elusive until the government probe concludes. Professor John McDermid, of the University of York, said it was too early to know 'in any detail'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sudanese top illegal migrant detection chart
Sudanese nationals are now the most common illegal migrants detected in Britain within three days of evading border controls. Thousands of Sudanese have arrived via small boats over the last year, and are at times discovered at ports when boats are intercepted or lorries are found with migrants aboard. The latest Government data, however, shows them to be the top group not detected immediately on crossings, but within 72 hours of irregular entry. In the year to March, 21 per cent of those found within three days of crossing the border illegally were Sudanese. They were also among the top three nationalities arriving via small boats to the UK in the first quarter of the year. The data reflects the ongoing civil war in Sudan, which has created 14.3 million refugees, according to a new report by the UN refugee agency. Smugglers have lowered their prices for Channel crossings by boat for Sudanese nationals, as many cannot afford to pay the thousands of euros typically charged for such journeys. Bringing down prices is a response to the success that some Sudanese have had in sneaking onto boats intended for other migrants who have paid smugglers, or by jumping onto lorries and squeezing into the narrow space between the driver cabin and cargo bed. Whereas many small boat arrivals are intercepted, lorry crossings while hiding with the cargo are often not detected immediately. Munzir, a Sudanese refugee in Calais, told The Telegraph: 'When we find some people who bring the boat, we jump in. It's not easy for us to cross; sometimes the police will come and destroy your boat.' As the Sudan conflict enters a third year and a humanitarian crisis continues to unfold, refugees are likely to keep seeking ways to flee the country. 'The humanitarian conditions in Sudan continue to deteriorate, with the declared famine leading to acute malnutrition, starvation, and severe, widespread food insecurity,' according to the Soufan Center, a Washington DC-based think tank that focuses on security issues. Last year, they were the sixth-largest nationality arriving on boats, at a total of 2,695 people, representing a 63 per cent increase from the year prior. 'Sometimes you can negotiate with the smugglers,' said Munzir. 'We say, 'we don't have money', and sometimes they agree, because you see, if they don't agree and we start to fight each other, then the police will come.' In Calais, hundreds of Sudanese refugees take shelter in what many refer to as the 'hangar', a large abandoned storage facility. Charity groups deliver humanitarian aid around here each week, supplying people – many of whom are minors – with hot meals and medical care. In 2024, people from Sudan and Ukraine were the top two nationalities seeking asylum, with each group accounting for more than 870,000 applications. Flooding and heavy rains last summer further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, displacing 200,000 people. Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers, manufactured by Norinco, a Chinese state-owned corporation, have been used in Sudan, and were likely exported there by the UAE in violation of an arms embargo, finds Amnesty International. Three in five people in Sudan are in need of aid, amounting to more than 30 million people – the first time that a single country has hit such a high figure, according to an April report by a consortium of aid groups. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
New York Post
05-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani's posture reveals how Dems really felt during tense NYC mayoral debate showdown: experts
Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo dodging an onslaught of jabs and socialist state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani trying to snag a viral breakout moment were among the standouts from New York City's mayoral Democratic primary debate. Body language experts weighed in after the Democratic candidates sparred against each other Wednesday in the first debate of the 2025 primary election — as they jostled to outshine in each other in an already overcrowded race. Here's what they had to say of the top moments: Advertisement 5 The Democratic candidates for New York City mayor participating in a debate on June 4, 2025. Pool/ABACA/Shutterstock A rapidly blinking Cuomo Despite being the front-runner, Cuomo's body language clearly shifted as the NBC-Politico debate wore on as he was relentlessly attacked by his fellow candidates over more than two hours. The former governor, 67, dramatically increased his blinking when peppered with questions about his handling of COVID nursing home deaths and the sexual harassment scandal that led to his resignation, according to Washington DC-based body language expert Christopher Ulrich. Advertisement 'Initially confident and expressive, Cuomo's posture changed over time — particularly when he was under attack,' Ulrich said. 5 Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo looked uncomfortable as the attacks from other candidates continued, body language experts told The Post. 'We also saw an increase in blink rate when asked questions about COVID-19 nursing home deaths and sexual harassment.' The behavior, the expert noted, was a clear sign of 'increased psychological discomfort.' Hand in his pocket Advertisement Cuomo was also repeatedly spotted with his hand in his pocket as the going got tough, according to experts. 'While under verbal attack from the rest of the candidates, we see Cuomo keep his hand in his pocket, a self-soothing or protective gesture that often signals discomfort,' Ulrich said. At various points, Cuomo could be seen staring down at his podium as the attacks continued. 5 Cuomo kept on putting his hand in his pocket throughout the debate. NBC / YouTube Advertisement 'These unrelenting jabs, that obviously hit his sore spots, ultimately resulted in Cuomo looking down at his podium more than he looked up at the other candidates, the hosts or the camera,' brain and body language expert and psychiatrist Carole Lieberman said. 'To remove himself from the hostility directed at him, he began writing something and concentrated on it, so as not to be disturbed.' In search of a viral moment Mamdani, the 33-year-old socialist Queens Assemblyman, repeatedly used wild hand gestures in an apparent bid to steal the spotlight from Cuomo, the experts said. '[He] employed numerous attacks, including references to Cuomo's donors and the COVID report, to try to contrast and achieve one of those viral moments,' Ulrich said, adding that he often gestured toward Cuomo when delivering the attacks. 5 Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani used wild hand gestures to stand out during his clashes with Cuomo, experts say. Lieberman noted that Mamdani — who has zeroed in on young, white, ultra-left New Yorkers during his campaign — often used 'sensational, dramatic language' on stage at 30 Rockefeller Center. 'He is the wild card in the race, as his hand gestures, pointing in all directions, underscored,' she said. 'He was the most animated and determined to outshine Cuomo.' A statesmanlike performance A fired up Rev. Michael Blake came off as 'very stately' — even as the former Obama administration official consistently hammered Cuomo on stage, Lieberman said. Advertisement Ulrich added that Blake, a former Bronx Assembly member, tried to command attention with his Cuomo onslaught. 5 Rev. Michael Blake appeared 'stately' as he stood up to Cuomo. 'Mr. Blake stood out in some of the key moments by demanding Cuomo clarify several of his answers,' he said. 'Reporters often picked up on those demands and would repeat Blakes's clarifying questions. 'By interjecting assertively and keeping others quiet, Blake commanded attention. This approach mirrored techniques used by Trump in the 2016 Republican primary debates,' Ulrich said.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kennedy Center sees ticket sales fall dramatically amid Trump intervention
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has reportedly seen subscription sales fall by about $1.6m – or roughly 36% – compared with 2024 amid Donald Trump's having appointed himself to lead the institution. The center has made less than $2.7m as of the start of June through subscriptions to its theater, dance, classical and other seasons of performances. The center had generated more than $4.4m by this point a year earlier, according to data obtained by the Washington Post. The Post says that sales data was collected and shared by former Kennedy Center employees. The data was confirmed by a current staff member, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity. Related: Arts groups for people of color steel themselves after Trump's NEA cuts: 'They poked the bear' Though the subscription data is only one source of revenue for the center, it could serve as an overall indicator of public standing. Other sources of revenue include donations, individual ticket sales and government funding. The Washington DC-based center's budget for operation was $268m in 2024. About $125m of that came from earned revenue, such as ticket sales, the Post reported. The employee who leaked the data told the paper: 'We understand providing information like this can be seen in a bad light. But we feel that it is necessary to show that mismanagement by the new leadership is becoming a real problem for the health of the organization.' The employee added that 'we feel that we no longer have a choice but to force complete transparency with the public' after several staffers were ignored or outright fired for their opinions. Trump's appointing himself to be the chairperson of the Kennedy Center in February – less than a month into his second presidency – has ensnared the institution in controversy. He has since reshaped the center's governing board with his own appointees. And the center's former president, Deborah Rutter, has been replaced by the Trump ally Richard Grenell. A boycott by Les Misérables cast members was the latest in a string of stars pulling out of shows and positions at the center since Trump assumed control. Several shows have been called off, including a stop of the Hamilton tour that was canceled by the production itself, and Finn, a coming-of-age story about a young shark, which was canceled by the Kennedy Center. Trump had previously posted on social media expressing his desire to eliminate 'drag shows' and 'woke' content from the venue but did not clarify which productions he was targeting.
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First Post
04-06-2025
- Business
- First Post
With Russia's terms to Ukraine, Putin seeks surrender — not a peace deal
With the terms that Russia presented this week, Vladimir Putin made it clear that he seeks Ukraine's surrender — not a peace deal. If Putin's terms are implemented, the Ukrainian nation would cease to exist and no Ukrainian leader, and certainly not Volodymyr Zelenskyy, could accept that. read more In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on April 26, 2025. AP Photo The Russian terms presented in talks in Turkey made it clear that Vladimir Putin seeks Ukraine's capitulation and not peace. While Ukraine made some concessions in terms presented in the second round of talks in Istanbul, Russian leader Putin stuck to his maximalist demands and ruled out any possibility of arriving at middle ground to make peace. Putin has not just sought the recognition of Ukrainian territories that Russia has occupied since 2014, but has also sought Ukraine's surrender of all territories it claims but not occupies at the moment. In provisions similar to those imposed on Germany after the World War I in the Treaty of Versailles, Putin has also sought restrictions on the size, deployment, and equipment of Ukrainian military after the end of the war. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In addition to complete occupation of five provinces of Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia), Putin has also sought the creation of a buffer zone of an unspecified length on the Ukrainian side of the new border that would essentially further reduce Ukraine's territory. Besides ruling out Ukraine's membership of Nato, Putin has also sought to restrict Ukraine's military partnerships and ban hosting foreign troops on its soil. With such terms, it is clear that Putin is prolonging the negotiations so that he could continue his massive attacks as long as possible to pressure Ukraine into acceptance, says Kseniya Kirillova, a Russia analyst at Washington DC-based Jamestown Foundation. Kirillova tells Firstpost, 'Such conditions are unacceptable for Ukraine. Putin is deliberately setting impossible conditions to prolong the negotiations. He is hoping for a summer offensive to break the will of Ukrainian society. Ukraine can only hope that President Trump will lose patience with Putin sooner than that.' Zelenskyy offers concessions, Putin doubles down on maximalist terms In a sharp deviation from the initial phase of the war, Zelenskyy has not pressed for the return of territories under Russian occupation. He has only demanded that the international community should not recognise the occupation. Previously, Zelenskyy has also implied that Ukraine would be okay with Russia keeping control of whatever territory is under its control without any international recognition. However, Putin has doubled down on maximalist territorial demands. Russia occupies around 19 per cent of Ukraine's territories across five provinces — 12 per cent was occupied in 2014 when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Putin has not just demanded the recognition of all territories under its control but has also sought the surrender of additional territories it claims but does not control. With the buffer zone, Putin has sought around at least 25 per cent of Ukrainian territory in total — nearly a third more than it currently controls. Putin has also sought to change the character of Ukraine as a nation. He has sought to insert the Russian language into formal business, restore the pro-Russia Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and ban what he calls 'nationalist formations' in Ukraine. While Ukraine has sought a ceasefire monitoring by the United States and other countries, Putin has sought to make any ceasefire agreement controlled by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). That would mean that Russia would call shots as Russia and its principal ally China hold veto at the UNSC. A day after Russia formally submitted these demands, Andriy Yermak, the Chief of Staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that the Russian position remains 'unconstructive' and Putin was 'stalling and manipulating the negotiation process'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Yermak further said that Russia has 'no genuine intention of ceasing hostilities' and only strong sanctions can compel Russia to engage in serious negotiations. All eyes on Trump — and perhaps Ukrainian drones As Ukraine-Russia talks are expectedly making no substantial progress, all eyes are on US President Donald Trump — and on perhaps Ukrainian drones. The talks in Istanbul were held a day after Ukraine launched an audacious drone attack inside Russia in which it struck five Russian airbases and destroyed a third of Russian long-range bomber and surveillance fleet. The attack shortly after the destruction of two railway bridges. A day after the talks were held, Ukraine attacked the Kerch bridge that connects occupied Crimea with Russia. With such attacks, Ukraine has sought relative position of strength in ongoing talks and has shown it does hold cards, says Swasti Rao, a scholar of European affairs at the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), Sonipat. 'While the final outcome is unlikely to change with such attacks, which means that Ukraine would not get the occupied land back, such strikes allow Ukraine to have a firm place at the negotiating table and ensure that Trump and Putin do not cut a deal about the war without Ukraine and Europe's final say. Such strikes also send a message to Moscow and Washington DC that Ukraine can also deliver blows and the war is not as one sided as one would have thought,' says Rao, an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Global Initiatives at JSIA. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Even though Trump is under pressure from all sides to toughen up his stance on Putin, he has not shown any indication that he is about to do that. Instead, it is his actions that enabled Putin to double down on his maximalist positions in ongoing peace talks. Last month, even as Putin defied all ceasefire proposals that Ukraine accepted and defied Trump's direct public appeals to not attack civilians, Trump rewarded Putin by dropping his longstanding demand of an immediate ceasefire and endorsing Putin's demand of direct talks. Kirillova, the Russia analyst at Jamestown Foundation, says that Trump wants the war to end in Ukraine irrespective of the way it ends. 'The root causes of the war or its moral dimensions appear to be of secondary importance to him. He is focused on delivering results and, in doing so, he is exerting pressure on the weaker party — Ukraine. Consequently, he is offering certain concessions to Putin while pressuring Zelensky,' says Kirillova. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Whether Putin's continued defiance and Ukraine's stunning comeback in the conflict changes Trump's stance remains to be seen.
