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  • Turkey ex-president Evren, 1980 coup leader, dies aged 97

    Evren had received treatment at the GATA military hospital since 2012 but his condition turned critical on Saturday when he was taken out of an intensive care unit and attached to a respirator.

    His lawyers and family were summoned to the hospital, Anatolia said.

    The former president was sentenced to life in prison last June along with former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya, 90, for their roles in the putsch 35 years ago.

    The two were the only surviving members of the junta at the time of the trial.

    As head of the armed forces, Evren seized power in a pre-dawn assault on September 12, 1980, and went on to rule for the next nine years. (AFP)

     

  • Military transporter crashes on test flight in Spain, four killed

    The aircraft was due to be delivered to another NATO customer, Turkey, and was on its maiden test flight when it crashed in a field one mile (1.6 km) north of Seville’s San Pablo airport. It was the first ever crash of an A400M.

    Airbus said four Spanish employees had been killed and two surviving crew were in hospital in serious condition.

    The newspaper El Pais said the crew had detected a fault and asked permission to land, but hit an electricity pylon while attempting an emergency landing.

    Tracking data from the Flightradar24 website indicated the plane had wheeled to the left before coming down.

    An Airbus spokesman declined to comment on possible causes. Airbus said it had sent a team to investigate.

    The crash delivers a fresh blow to Europe’s largest defense project, which is still struggling to overcome delays and cost overruns that led to a bailout by European governments in 2010.

    Britain and Germany said they were suspending A400M flights while they awaited more information on what caused the crash.

    A plume of black smoke rose from the site, where hardly anything was left of the plane amid black, scorched earth.

    Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, speaking to journalists near the site, asked for maximum transparency from Airbus on the reasons for the crash.

    “An incident like this is not the best for our industry … It remains to be seen if it was purely circumstantial or if a mistake was made,” he said, adding that the Spanish defense minister would meet his German and French counterparts on Sunday to discuss the incident.

    The A400M Atlas was developed for Spain and six other European NATO nations – Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Turkey – at a cost of 20 billion euros, making it Europe’s biggest single arms contract. It entered service in 2013 after a delay of more than three years. (Reuters)

  • PM condemns, seeks report on DSP Zulfikar’s killing in Karachi

    In a statement issued, the prime minister advised the provincial government to beef up security across Sindh especially in Karachi.

    He stressed on the need to take measures to enhance police performance in the province.

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    Read: DSP Zulfikar Zaidi, driver shot dead in Karachi

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    PM Sharif also sought the report of DSP Zulfikar Zaidi’s killing from concerned authorities.

    “The role of police in maintaining law and order is highly important and the government is resolved for the restoration of peace in Karachi,” read the statement.

  • Fighting between tribes of North Waziristan leaves 47 dead

    A security source told AFP that the Mada Khel and Paipali Kabul Khel tribes of North Waziristan had been engaged in intense frighting since Friday to try to capture a mountain, which both groups claim.

    “The fight in Laoaara Mandi village in Data Khel area has so far left 47 people dead and 25 others injured,” the official said.

    He added that the fight for occupation of the mountain is still ongoing.

    Locals in the area confirmed the violence and said that the tribes support separate militant groups in the region.

    Another source, who is close to the political administration in the area, gave a lower toll, saying that 36 people were killed and 15 were injured.

    North Waziristan is one of Pakistan’s seven semi autonomous tribal districts where Pakistani forces have little control and militant groups thrive. The US has in past branded these areas the most dangerous in the world, saying they are hubs for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-led militants.

    Tribes in these areas often fight bloody battles to assert their control over the region.

    Pakistan’s army started an offensive in June last year to clear the region of Taliban militants and has since claimed significant success in the operation, named Zarb-e-Azb. -AFP

  • PTI seeks water supply in Karachi under Rangers supervision

    Water, now days, seems to be a rare commodity and the citizens are forced to purchase water tankers on considerably higher rates. MD Water Board, Hashim Raza Zaidi instead of resolving the issue of water supply seemed helpless before the tanker mafia.

    The question rises where from the tanker mafia is being supplied water for selling, when citizens in nearly half of the areas of the city are longing for a single drop of it.

    On the other hand, PTI lawmaker Arif Alvi today demanded the government to give the water supply system under Pakistan Rangers supervision for three months.

    Although, the minister for Local Bodies led many operations against tanker mafia, illegal water supply lines were also cut off, yet when the matter was taken up in the Sindh Assembly it could not be pursued with required seriousness.

    Interests of the lawmakers and demands aside, but the citizens call for the provision of this basic need to them.

  • Airbus A400M military plane crashes during test flight in Spain, kills four

    The plane was on a test flight when it crashed one mile (1.6 km) north of Seville’s San Pablo airport, emergency services said. Six people were on board; four died on impact and two others were seriously injured, a government spokeswoman said.

    The plane crashed into an electricity pylon while attempting an emergency landing and caused a power cut in a nearby neighborhood, El Mundo newspaper said, citing an eyewitness.

    An Airbus (AIR.PA) spokesman and a government spokeswoman declined to comment on the cause of the crash, a fresh blow to Europe’s largest defense project which had to be bailed out by European governments in 2010 after delays and cost overruns.

    Airbus said the transport plane, which is assembled in Seville, had been ordered by Turkey, and that the company had sent a team to the crash site.

    Media images showed a plume of black smoke rising from the crash site and fire-fighters spraying the smoldering wreckage. Hardly anything was left of the plane, which left black scorched earth in its wake, a Reuters eyewitness said.

    Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy earlier told reporters while on the campaign trail for local elections that it seemed all those on board were Spanish Airbus employees. He canceled his political rallies for the day.

    The Spanish government has also sent a team to investigate the crash, a government source said. Web tracking data indicated that the aircraft had wheeled round to the left before crashing north of the airport.

    A person familiar with the matter said the aircraft had been conducting its maiden flight as part of a pre-delivery schedule.

    BUYER COMPLAINTS

    The A400M Atlas was developed for Spain and six other European NATO nations – Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Turkey – at a cost of 20 billion euros ($22 billion), in Europe’s largest joint defense project. It entered service in 2013 after a delay of more than three years.

    Problems in delivering the planes on time, and with all the required military features on board, resurfaced last year, prompting criticism from buyers including Turkey as well as a management shake-up and more financial charges.

    After a total of 4.75 billion euros of charges on its own balance sheet, Airbus hoped it was finally turning the corner, with an executive saying last week that it hoped soon to get a second export customer to add to Malaysia..

    There was no immediate word on whether the accident would result in the halting of other test flights or A400M operations in existing operators Britain, France, Germany and Turkey.

    Designed to put troops and heavy equipment into remote battlefields or carry out humanitarian missions, the aircraft was designed to fill a gap between the smaller Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) C-130 Hercules and the Boeing C-17 cargo jet, which is being discontinued. -Reuters

  • DSP Zulfikar Zaidi, driver shot dead in Karachi

    According to details, DSP Zulfikar Zaidi had arrived in Shah Faisal Colony to have dinner accompanied by his driver. He was sitting at a hotel that unknown assailants opened fire at him.

    As a consequence, the DSP and his driver were martyred.

    DSP Zulfikar Zaidi was currently performing his duties as the security in-charge of the Sindh High Court (SHC).

    Earlier today, a policeman and a doctor were shot dead in Clifton and Nazimabad areas of the city.

    This is the second incident of killing of a senior police officer in the megapolis, in a few days.

    On May 1, unknown attackers had gunned down DSP Fateh Muhammad Sangi along with three other cops in Gulshan-e-Hadeed.

     

  • Diplomats speak of Naltar helicopter crash terror

    Testimonies of diplomats on board from Malaysia, Argentina and the Netherlands released by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Saturday also unequivocally bolstered government and eyewitness statements that the disaster was an accident rather than an act of terrorism.

    Malaysia’s envoy — who was himself injured in the crash — described how the journey had gone to plan until they were due to land at their destination in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.

    “After arriving at Gilgit airport everything went well except for the last few minutes, when the helicopter went into a spiral, round and round and round, and there it hit the ground,” Hasrul Sani Mujtabar said.

    “I saw the pilot was killed, some others died instantly and I was in middle. Then a few managed to escape but the fire was very strong,” with smoke quickly filling the helicopter, he said.

    The helicopter was one of three carrying a delegation of ambassadors to inspect projects on a three-day trip to the region, where they were set to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

    The Pakistani Taliban had claimed to have struck the aircraft with a ground-to-air missile hoping to assassinate Sharif.

    “(Regarding) remarks and rumours that there was a terrorist attack or that there was sabotage, I can say 99.9 percent that they were not true, that this was a sad accident, a really unfortunate accident, by a technical fault on the plane,” Argentinian Ambassador Rodolfo Martin Saravia told the air force.

    Leif H. Larsen, the Norwegian envoy, and Domingo D. Lucenario Jr of the Philippines were killed along with the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, the helicopter’s two pilots and another crew member.

    ‘It went incredibly fast’

    Dutch Ambassador Marcel de Vink said he felt “extremely lucky” to be alive after what he had witnessed. He was described as having sustained burns to the leg and face by the foreign ministry.

    “I remember that we got into a spin and so thinking I suppose I braced a little bit for impact… afterwards I was actually opening my eyes seeing the smoke and explosions, so I was extremely lucky because it went incredibly fast,” he said.

    Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told a press conference on Friday there were 19 people on board the helicopter, of whom 12 were rescued, adding that its black box had been retrieved.

    The Indonesian ambassador suffered 75 percent burns and is in a critical condition, Chaudry said Friday.

    Arrangements are underway to repatriate the bodies of those killed, and would be accompanied by government officials, the prime minister’s office said in a statement Saturday.

    “The ministers would take the dead bodies on special flights as a gesture of respect and to show the importance Pakistan attatches (to) its relations to these countries,” the statement said.

    Patchy safety record

    Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, PAF’s Chief of Air Staff, on Saturday corroborated military and foreign ministry statements that the helicopter had lost control moments before landing due to a technical fault, in comments aired by Pakistan’s state television.

    “The MI-17 helicopter was on a routine flight, and the pilots had excellent professional skills. The base commander was himself observing (the) landing of the helicopter,” he said.

    It was Pakistan’s worst air crash since 2012, when a Boeing 737 passenger plane went down in Islamabad, killing 130 people.

    In 1988, a plane crash killed Pakistan’s then military-ruler General Zia-ul-Haq as well as the US ambassador at the time, Arnold Raphel.

    The Russian-built Mi-17, used by air forces across the world, has had a patchy safety record in recent years.

    Known for its spectacular mountain ranges, Gilgit-Baltistan is a strategically important autonomous region that borders China, Afghanistan and Indian-held Kashmir. -AFP

  • Japan’s Toyota, Mazda eye green alliance: report

    The two companies are in the final stages of talks on the planned partnership, the Nikkei business daily said, adding that the two “intend to reach an accord in principle soon”.

    Under the partnership, Toyota plans to supply fuel cell and plug-in-hybrid technology to Mazda, which has lagged in electric-vehicle technology, the newspaper said.

    In return, Mazda will consider offering its proprietary “Skyactiv” green technology to Toyota, which it hopes to use to grow its line of fuel-efficient gasoline and diesel vehicles.

    The two automakers will also consider cooperating in other areas, including Mazda’s procurement of commercial vehicles from the Toyota group and joint purchasing of auto parts, it added.

    The two firms have previously worked together in several fields and achieved some positive results.

    Toyota provided hybrid-vehicle technology to Mazda in 2010, while Mazda agreed in 2012 to supply subcompact cars from a Mexican plant to Toyota.

    The latest alliance is part of an effort to jointly address strict global environmental rules, the Nikkei said.

    In 2018 environmentally-conscious California plans to push automakers to boost sales volume for electric and fuel cell vehicles, while China and other emerging economies are also set to strengthen environmental regulations. -AFP

  • Naltar helicopter crash facts revealed

    According to details, the chopper was en route to Naltar from Gilgit that a sudden vibration was observed following which the heli started whirling. The situation prompted pilots to attempt crash landing and the aeronauts tried landing it despite losing control.

    The tail rotor of the ill-fated Mi-17 reportedly stopped functioning, which balances the torque of the main rotor.

    During the episode, the chopper suddenly lost altitude, then lifted a bit upward while shifting its direction several times, and finally collided with a building.

    The fault and the situation arising from it in the chopper terrified the people seated inside.

    The South African High Commissioner told that ‘it was a dreadful incident as a fire too broke out in the heli’.

    “Everyone was terrified and several were injured including me,” he added.

    Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Chief, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman said that the pilots made every effort to save the helicopter.

    “Pilots Major Altamash and Major Faisal, and the Chief Engineer preferred others’ lives over their own and embraced martyrdom,” he said.