Author: Himalaya Post

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov 03  —  Divers reported seeing the fuselage and engines of the crashed Lion Air jet on the seafloor and a ping locator has detected a signal that may be from the cockpit voice recorder, Indonesia’s search and rescue chief said Saturday. Speaking on the sixth day of the search, Muhammad Syaugi said that two engines and more landing gear had been found. The plane crashed in waters 30 meters (98 feet) deep but strong currents have hampered the search. “I haven’t seen it myself but I got information from some divers that they have seen the fuselage,” he said at a news conference at a Jakarta port where body bags, debris and passenger belongings are first taken. The brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after takeoff from Jakarta early Monday, kiling all 189 people on board. Local media reported Saturday that the search effort had claimed the life of a diver on Friday evening. The flight data recorder was recovered on Thursday and Syuagi said a “low ping signal” was detected by a sonar locator that could be the black box voice recorder. Divers and a remotely operated vehicle have been searching the suspected location since Saturday morning. Flight tracking websites show the plane had erratic speed and altitude during its 13 minute flight Monday and a previous...

PARIS, Nov 3, 2018  – US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and reimpose a raft of sanctions puts European businesses on the spot. While the European Union insists it will stick by the nuclear accord to allow trade to continue with Iran, European companies are wary of being caught out by the US sanctions regime and many have already cut back their presence. Here is an overview of how firms could be affected: – Auto – The sanctions introduced in August spooked the major automakers who were already cautious about their future in Iran and mindful of their much bigger business interests in the United States. Germany’s Daimler, which was teaming up with two Iranian firms to assemble Mercedes-Benz trucks, said it had decided against going ahead. Volkswagen had said last year it planned to resume business after a 17-year break but was very guarded in response to the latest US decision. VW “conforms with all the applicable national and international laws and regulations concerning exports,” a spokesman said. French automakers Renault and PSA, who make nearly half the cars sold in Iran, were cautious. PSA, behind the Peugeot, Citroen and Opel brands, said in June it was preparing to suspend activities in Iran. Renault says it intends to keep its activities in Iran but stands ready...

BEIJING, Nov. 3 – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan met with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Beijing Saturday, as he seeks aid and investment from the world’s second largest economy in hopes of staving off a financial crisis. Before travelling to China — one of Pakistan’s firmest allies — Khan said he was striving to obtain financial aid from two unnamed countries after Pakistan secured $6 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia. His government has also entered talks with the International Monetary Fund over a potential bailout as it grapples with a balance of payment crisis and current account deficit. China is already a major investor in Pakistan, where the two countries are building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar project at the heart of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious, globe-spanning trade infrastructure programme. The corridor aims to increase energy and transport links between the western Chinese region of Xinjiang and the Arabian Sea via Pakistan. However, given Pakistan’s deteriorating finances, there have been concerns in recent months that portions of the agreement may have to be scaled down. In his meeting with Li, Khan invited the Chinese premier to visit Pakistan and see for himself the difference the mega-project has made in the country. “CPEC in 2013 was just an idea. Now it is on the ground. And it has caught...