EgyptAir flight MS804 to Cairo disappears from radar

EgyptAir flight 804 travelling from Paris to Cairo has disappeared from radar with 56 passengers and 10 crew members on board, the airline has said.

French President Francois Hollande said in a televised address that the plane had crashed early on Thursday.

The plane made "sudden swerves" mid-air and plunged before dropping off radars in the southern Mediterranean, Greece's defence minister said.

"At 3:39am the course of the aircraft was south and south-east of Kassos and Karpathos [islands] ... immediately after it entered Cairo FIR and made swerves and a descent I describe; 90 degrees left and then 360 degrees to the right," Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told a news conference.

Greek authorities mounted a search in the area south of the island of Karpathos without result so far, he said.

However, Egypt's civil aviation ministry said in a statement it was too early to confirm if the passenger plane had crashed.

According to EgyptAir, the plane took off from Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport shortly after 11pm local time.

Greece is deploying military aircraft and a frigate to an area in the southern Mediterranean its defence ministry said.

The search for the missing EgyptAir plane was taking place at sea, about 130 nautical miles southeast of the island of Karpathos, the Greek defence ministry told Reuters news agency.

"One C-130 aircraft and an early-warning EMB-145H plane are already operating in the area. Another C-130 plane is on standby at Kasteli airport on the [southern Greek] island of Crete," Greece's military command said.

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com

Trump, Clinton campaign will be nasty—and that's good news

As the presidential election looks to be featuring two of the most polarizing candidates in modern American politics, we can expect a hard sell of potential stories and ads to try and make Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton more appealing. But the real deciding factor will once again be an avalanche of negative advertising, designed to tear down the policies and besmirch the personal behavior of the other side. Already, commentators are expecting an historical use of negative campaigning. And voters should be thankful for this.

Appropriately, negative ads and campaigns get a very bad rap. They turn off voters, demonize opponents for perfectly acceptable policy disputes and coarsen the political culture — all of these are legitimate complaints. But negative campaigns are still a breath of fresh air compared to the toxic potential of positive ads.

 Positive campaigns may be loved in theory, but in reality they are not idealized "Lincoln vs Douglas" debates, with each side courteously presenting their argument. They are instead frequently issue-free, focused on the perceived personal benefits of the candidate's previous career and sunny pictures of family.

By now, with a stream of embarrassing sex scandals hitting the papers—and with a grandfatherly former Speaker of the House now serving time due to his action related to sexual assaults—we should hope that voters won't buy into the tightly controlled stories about happy political families. But those stories, and the other inspirational pieces about rising from nothing to seek high office, are all part of the same problem of positive campaigns: They are really designed to tell as little as possible about a candidate's actual policy.



Even when they do manage to deal with issues, positive policy proposals are presented in a facile manner, frequently with untruths and a complete unwillingness to face up to the likelihood of success versus failure. Donald Trump's critics have loudly proclaimed that most of his ever-changing policy proclamations are impossible to carry out.

Trump and his supporters have said the same about some of his competitors' plans, and will undoubtedly try to use the same arguments against Clinton. The only way for voters to actually judge these arguments is negative campaigns. Positive ads will not expose the elisions. Only negative ones have any hope of blasting holes and exposing the policy weaknesses of a candidate's pie-in-the-sky plans.

But that is not the biggest benefit of negative ads. They are simply more truthful and fact-based than negative ones. Vanderbilt University Professor John Geer, the author of In "Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns," has noted that negative ads may be unpleasant but they end up presenting vastly more factual information—60 percent more on average—than the shiny happy positive variety.

What negative ads do is present a strong policy contrast for voters, giving them a chance to draw a real distinction between the two candidates. Negative ads distort information—context is always left out and they take the absolute worst possible interpretation of any action by an opponent. But they are usually very issue-based and much more precise and detailed than the positive and glowing ads in favor of a candidate.


Source: http://www.cnbc.com

London Mayor Sadiq Khan backs 'more accessible' Garden Bridge plans

The newly-elected London mayor said the planned £175m footbridge linking Temple with the Southbank "must be a genuinely public and open space".

Mr Khan, who has previously questioned the project's transparency, insisted on amendments in exchange for his support.

The Department for Transport and Transport for London have each invested £30 million in the project.

Mr Khan, said: "The early days of this project clearly fell short of our expectations on transparency.

"I will let the sunshine in, which is why we are today publishing the previously undisclosed full business plan for the Garden Bridge alongside a list of its funders."

The bridge to be closed for fewer than 12 days each year for private fundraising events

•The Bridge to be closed for fewer hours when it closes for fundraising events - the current plans are for it to be closed from midnight to midnight

•A guarantee children from local schools will get to visit and be involved in planting and maintenance

•The Garden Bridge Trust to build a strong working relationship with all of London's parks


Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member, said Mr Khan's decision was "highly disappointing" and he should be seeking to recoup all Transport for London funding allocated to the project.

Caroline Russell, Green Party London Assembly Member, has also expressed her disappointment in the move.

"The Garden Bridge should be scrapped and the Mayor should focus on delivering bridges in East London where people need routes for walking and cycling across the river," she said.

Source: http://www.bbc.com

As India Considers Action For Wrong Maps, Pak Objects - And Is Told Off

With India considering a proposal that would punish publishers or creators of maps that distort Kashmir with a stiff fine and time in prison, Pakistan has complained to the United Nations -triggering a brusque response from Delhi.

"Pakistan or any other party has no locus standi in our internal legislative matter," said a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

Earlier, Nafees Zakaria, a spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Office said India was trying to propagate an "incorrect and legally untenable" map, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

A letter sent to the UN by Pakistan urged India "to stop acts that are in violation of international law".

As reported first by NDTV a few weeks ago, the Home Ministry has sought feedback on a plan that makes it essential for anyone offering maps online to get a license from the government. Services like Google Maps gather information from satellites and crowd-sourced data. These could become illegal without sanction.   

The proposal also offers a prison term of up to seven years and a fine of Rs. 100 crore for anyone who publishes an incorrect map of  India's borders, including in Kashmir. India has in the past acted against media companies who showed inaccurate maps, but if it becomes law, the bill would impose specific penalties for the first time.

Last year, the government took the Al Jazeera news channel off air for nearly a week, saying it had repeatedly shown incorrect maps of Kashmir.

In 2011, The Economist placed white stickers over a diagram of borders in 28,000 copies on sale in India.

The government's new proposal could be submitted for review to parliament when it meets next in July.

Source: NDTV.com

Sinead O'Connor missing: Pop singer found in US

Wilmette Police told the BBC she had been located, after earlier saying they were "seeking to check the well-being" of the 49-year-old.

Police were alerted after she went on a bike ride at 06:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Sunday, and did not return.

O'Connor became a global star in 1990 with the worldwide hit Nothing Compares 2 U, a song written by Prince.

Local media report that she had been staying with friends in the Chicago suburb for the past several weeks.
She has recorded 10 solo albums but has also made headlines with controversial outbursts throughout her career.

In 1992, she ripped apart a photo of Pope John Paul II during a live television broadcast and has been a strong critic of the Catholic Church over its handling of the child abuse scandal.

Source: http://www.bbc.com

Let's Make You Investigating Officer, Nitish Kumar Snaps At NDTV Reporter

Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, was unable to keep his legendary cool today as he confronted questions about why powerful politicians linked to his government appear to have central roles in recent big crimes.

When I asked the Chief Minister today about this, referring to Manorama Devi, the woman leader from his party who has gone underground because the police wants to arrest her, Mr Kumar snapped, "You tell me where Manorama Devi is. I will make you the investigating officer."

Last week, Manorama Devi's son, Rocky Yadav was arrested for shooting a Class 12 student dead in Gaya in Bihar. Mr Yadav, 24, was allegedly unable to bear that the student, Aditya Sachdeva, had overtaken him. Though it took two days to locate Mr Yadav, hiding in a factory owned by his family, his mother has been charged not with helping to orchestrate his temporary escape, but because liquor was found in her home. Bihar is a dry state.

"I am not obsessed with prohibition," the Chief Minister told reporters today, retaliating to the opposition's charges that his administration's focus on ensuring alcohol is not sold in Bihar has come at the cost of maintaining law and order. "It's not all jungle raj in Bihar," the Chief Minister said, referring to the opposition BJP's accusation that Bihar is being torn apart by lawlessness.

On Friday night, senior journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was shot dead in Siwan in Bihar.  Mr Ranjan, the bureau chief for Hindi-language daily Hindustan, was travelling on his motorcycle when a group of men shot him five times. Mr Ranjan, 46, had reported extensively on criminal Mohammed Shahabuddin, in jail since 2005 for a series of murders. Mr Shahabuddin maintains close links to Lalu Yadav, whose party co-governs Bihar with Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United or JDU. It was during Lalu's stints as Chief Minister of Bihar that the term "jungle raj" became a top descriptor for the state.

The police have arrested a man named Upendra Singh, seen as a right-hand aide of Mr Shahabuddin, Read more ndtv.com

Live: Chennai recorded lowest polling in TN

 Tamil Nadu witnessed brisk polling in 232 Assembly constituencies with over 25 per cent voters exercising their franchise by 11 a.m. Over 300 companies of paramilitary personnel are involved in election duty. The polling will continue till 6 p.m. today.

There were also reports of polling machines developing technical snags in Tirunelveli and Theni districts.

Stalin demands CBI inquiry into distribution of money

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M.K. Stalin demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged money distribution in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur constituencies where the election have been postponed. Mr. Stalin alleged that a senior minister including Chief Minister Jayalalithaa were involved in the irregularities.

 Rajinikanth ducks query on cash distribution

Superstar Rajinikanth urged people to vote, saying it is the duty of all citizens to exercise their franchise.

 Live updates:

6.22 pm: Harbour constituency posted lowest turnout -- 53 per cent.

6.21 pm: Police arrested a man who attempted to damage ballot unit with a rival in a polling station in Ramnad district but polling was not disrupted.

6.20 pm: One person was arrested with Rs. 10,000 cash for trying to distribute cash to voters, says EC.

6.19 pm: 'Exit polls can be released after 6 pm today.'

6.18 pm: One polling officer died during polls. A presiding officer was changed in Madurai contituency.

6.17 pm: Polling by and large peaceful in the State, says EC

6.14 pm: Pennagaram has recorded the highest voting in the state -- 85 per cent.

6.13 pm: Actual polling percentage expected to be known by 8 pm, says Mr. Lakhoni.

6.11 pm: TN EC chief Rajesh Lakhoni addresses the press. Chennai has recorded lowest polling.

Overall turnout in Tamil Nadu till 5 p.m. 69.19 per cent.

6.00 p.m.: Voting ends in 232 constituencies. Those who reached the queue by 6 p.m. were issued tokens to cast their votes.

5.49 p.m.: Turnout till 5 p.m.: Coimbatore district: Mettupalayam 73 pc, Sulur 74 pc, Coimbatore South 58.94 pc, Valparai 69.80 pc, Thondamuthur 57.93 pc.; Coimbatore north 57 pc; Singanallur 59.80 pc.

Madurai district voter turnout till 5 p.m. 67.68 p.c.; Tiruppur district 69.17; Tirunelveli district 67.86; Namakkal district 77.63 per cent;

Source: thehindu.com