Search the Community

LIVE now An EgyptAir domestic flight with 81 people travelling from Alexandria to Cairo landed in Cyprus with a suspected bomb on board after being hijacked, according to the airline's spokesman and Cypriot officials. http://www.straitstimes.com/world/egyptair-plane-hijack-with-81-people-reported-on-board?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&link_time=1459236599#xtor=CS1-10

http://rt.com/news/175008-taiwan-plane-crash-transasia/ Bad bad year for aviation. Online news are reporting of deaths in the figures of 40 to 51.

This looks serious SINGAPORE: About 60 workers are believed to have been injured when a jackup rig at Jurong Shipyard tilted to one side on Monday. The injured are said to have been sent to the National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital. A caller to the MediaCorp hotline, Mr Eric Tan, said he learnt from a friend who works at the shipyard that there are at least 50 casualties. Details of the incident are not available yet. - CNA/xq

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1240786/1/.html SINGAPORE: About 60 workers are believed to have been injured when a jackup rig at Jurong Shipyard tilted to one side on Monday. The injured are said to have been sent to the National University Hospital and Alexandra Hospital. A caller to the MediaCorp hotline, Mr Eric Tan, said he learnt from a friend who works at the shipyard that there are at least 50 casualties. Details of the incident are not available yet. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/components/...e.php?id=519917

The last several years have not been kind to the great Italian design houses like Pininfarina, Bertone and Italdesign. The first two have run into financial brick walls after getting over extended and required bailouts. Thankfully, Italdesign, founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1968, may have found a white knight to keep it solvent in the form of Volkswagen AG. VW and the studio have a long history going back to the first generation Scirocco and Golf both of which were designed by Giugiaro. Italdesign has also been responsible for numerous VW Group concepts for the last thirty years. Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio currently own the studio outright, but it appears that Volkswagen may be preparing to take a majority stake in the Italian company. It's not clear if Ital Design will continue doing work for outside clients under VW ownership, or if the elder Giugiaro, 71, plans on retirement. [source: Automotive News]

It sounds as if Porsche may be dangerously close to crafting a solid business case to build the fast and frugal 918 Spyder. After stealing the show in Geneva, it was revealed that the German automaker was seriously interested in bringing the hybrid supercar concept to market, if only it were able to find enough applicants willing to plunk down their hard-earned cash. According to Bloomberg, Porsche has recorded nearly 900 potential buyers for the 918 Spyder. Wolfgang Duerheimer, development chief for Porsche, said in an interview, "I'm confident that we will soon reach the threshold of 1,000," he said in an April 24 interview. "We need 1,000 seriously interested people to make a sound business case." Don't doubt that Porsche will put such a low-volume halo car into production, either. Nearly a decade ago, the automaker employed a similar tactic with its Carrera GT, which began life as a racing car prototype but was eventually offered for public sale after sufficient interest was generated. We've said it before and we'll say it again

If you've had trouble figuring out if the Maserati Quattroporte was a closer rival to the BMW M5 or the 7 Series, the latest news from Modena ought to help. As part of the Fiat Group's comprehensive five-year plan

Toyota touts its hotly anticipated FT-86 coupe as a quick, light and attractive sports car for the masses. One of its strongest selling points is a price tag that reportedly hovering somewhere around $20,000 in base form, making the rear-drive coupe an affordable option for cash-strapped enthusiasts. However, a report from Autocar claims that higher than expected development costs could derail any dreams of a good looking, inexpensive FT-86. The British site sites unnamed Toyota sources as saying that the base price of the little coupe has shot from

Fiat has called a last-minute unscheduled press conference for 4 pm CET today, where it is understood that Fiat Group Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo will announce that he is leaving the company. At this time, no official reason has been given for Montezemolo's departure, but it's being reported that he may be mulling a move into politics, possibly to form a new Italian centrist party. Going speculation also has it that Montezemolo will be replaced by current group vice-chairman John Elkann. Montezemolo's involvement with Fiat goes back to the early-1970s when he was a manager at the Ferrari Formula One team. After leaving the team he eventually returned to take over the CEO role at Ferrari and led the company through a period of major growth and expansion. Montezemolo will apparently remain on Fiat's board of directors. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne will also hold a presentation tomorrow to discuss Fiat's strategy going forward including its U.S. plans and a possible spin-off of the car business from the rest of the group.

Will it ever stop? Yo, we don't know. And yes, we're quoting Vanilla Ice because... well, at this point in the never ending Toyota tale of woe, why not? Anyhow, there have been 83 complaints about the power steering systems in 2009 and 2010 Toyota Corollas, most of which are claiming that the car will veer to the right or left at speeds over 40 mph. Coincidently, the Corolla is one of the eight Toyota models affected by the production and sales stoppage. The alleged problems have purportedly caused 10 accidents and six injuries. Here's the gist: Complainants have compared the movement to being buffeted by strong winds, sliding on black ice, or hydroplaning. They said that after trying to straighten the car, it can overcorrect -- requiring the driver to use a tight, persistent, two-handed grip on the wheel to travel in a straight line. Of course, you should always have a tight, persistent, two-handed grip on the wheel. That's known as driving. Not that people aren't actually experiencing problems with late model Corollas, but this kinda reminds us of the Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic. If you don't know, in the 1950s Seattleites began complaining en masse about pits (or holes) appearing in their windshields. Everything from hoodlums with BB guns to sand flea eggs to a million watt radio antenna to atomic testing were thought to be maybe causing the pitting. Also, shifts in the earth's magnetic field and even gremlins (the fictional creatures, not the AMC product) were blamed. Finally, after a full investigation Seattle Police Sergeant Max Allison announced that the windshield pitting was, "5 per cent hoodlum-ism, and 95 per cent public hysteria." This happened on April 15, 1954. All reports of windshield pitting stopped on April 17. Is this related to reports about the Corolla's power steering ills? More closely than we might think, we think. UPDATE: There might be a little fire under all this smoke. Our friends at AOL Autos have also been reporting on this breaking story, and have discovered this: " notice the steeering wheel sometimes pulses only when my cell phone is...docked to the right of the steering wheel," wrote one Corolla driver in an official complaint on June 26, 2009. "It's strange I can sometimes tell if my Blackberry is going to ring or get an email. The steering wheel seems to shake or try to steer on its own. This is similar to my other 2009 Toyota Corolla that I resold to the dealer. I wonder if more shielding is needed to reduce any interference." If that's the case, we take back what we said about Seattle.

SINGAPORE: Mas Selamat Kastari, the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader who escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre in February last year, has reportedly been arrested in Malaysia. Mas Selamat gave his guards the slip while he was being taken to the toilet at the detention centre. His escape resulted in the dismissal of the detention centre's superintendent over security lapses. The superintendent's deputy was demoted, with a corresponding pay cut. The two were the most senior officers in charge of the ground management of the detention centre, and were among six Internal Security Department (ISD) officers charged over the escape. Two Gurkha officers were also charged and have been demoted after pleading guilty. The Special Duty Operative handling the detainee's family visit when the incident happened has also been sacked. Letters of warning were served to three others - the Special Duty Operative's supervisor, the Chief Warder as well as the Technical Officer responsible for the CCTV upgrading at the detention centre. - CNA http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../427691/1/.html

Malaysia reportedly takes delivery of first submarine Posted: 28 January 2009 1415 hrs KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has taken delivery of its first submarine as part of a plan to establish a fleet of the vessels, according to the French company that built it. The Royal Malaysian Navy received the Scorpene submarine in the French port of Toulon and a second is scheduled for delivery in late 2009, French contractor DCNS said in a statement late Tuesday. It said the sub had completed its final sea trials in December, including the successful firing of torpedoes and missiles. The vessel's delivery again raised opposition claims that a 540 million ringgit (149.50 million dollar) commission was paid to a close associate of deputy premier Najib Razak in brokering the deal. The deputy premier, who is slotted to take over as prime minister when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi steps down in March, has denied any improper involvement in the deal when he was defence minister. But senior opposition leader Lim Kit Siang called on Malaysia's new anti-corruption commission to investigate the allegation. time to attach bikini and yoga manual on our sub torpedo liao