A Chinese passenger was detained after he opened the emergency exit door while the aircraft waited at the airport.
The man, identified by his surname Chen according to the South China Morning Post, was waiting to disembark the plane with the rest of his fellow passengers.
With a large number of people on board restless to gather their belongings and leave the cabin, the wait at the airport can seem frustrating.
It has been claimed that the wait was too long for Mr Chen who opened the latch because he felt stuffy and he wanted some air.
However, the latch he pulled was the one attached to the emergency exit causing the escape slide to deploy.
Chen was returning from the island of Hainan with airline Lucky Air. The plane had landed at Mianyang Airport when he deployed the escape route.
The report claims that he has since insisted he did not know that it was an escape route.
He explained his reason for opening the door: “Because it was so stuffy, so hot on the plane, I just pushed down on the window handle beside me.”
He added: “When the door fell out, I panicked.”
After the door fell out, the crew alerted the authorities, and Mr Chen was handed over to the Mianyang Airport Public Security Bureau.
Chen was detained for 15 days while a full investigation was carried out.
A statement released by Mianyang Airport stated that Mr Chen deliberately opened the aircraft emergency exit on 27 April.
According to the statement, Chen violated relevant laws and regulations
He has been fined for breaking article 34, the “Public Security Administration Act.”
The article prohibits theft, damage, unauthorised use of aviation facilities or forced entry into the aircraft cockpit.
Chen has been fined over £11,000 (100,000 yuan) for the damage.
However, Mianyang Airport explained this cost could potentially rise if the emergency exit is found to be damaged.
Ms Padlock was flying from Paris to the US when the incident occurred. She decided not to eat an apple she was given on board the flight.
She instead put the fruit in her bag yet when she landed in Minneapolis for her connecting flight to Denver; she was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after her bag was randomly searched.
Upon discovering the apple, Padlock was given a huge on-the-stop fine of £350 ($ 500).
]]>https://briefnews.eu/passenger-fined-11000-after-deploying-emergency-plane-door-claiming-it-was-stuffy/feed/0Delta Flash Sale: Fly to the Caribbean or Central America From 11,000 SkyMiles Round-Trip
https://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-fly-to-the-caribbean-or-central-america-from-11000-skymiles-round-trip/
https://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-fly-to-the-caribbean-or-central-america-from-11000-skymiles-round-trip/#respondTue, 09 Jan 2018 13:37:03 +0000http://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-fly-to-the-caribbean-or-central-america-from-11000-skymiles-round-trip/Fly to the Caribbean or Central America From 11,000 SkyMiles
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The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.
Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
]]>
https://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-fly-to-the-caribbean-or-central-america-from-11000-skymiles-round-trip/feed/0'None of this was worth it': Up to 11,000 civilians killed in battle to free Mosul, AP probe reveals
https://briefnews.eu/none-of-this-was-worth-it-up-to-11000-civilians-killed-in-battle-to-free-mosul-ap-probe-reveals/
https://briefnews.eu/none-of-this-was-worth-it-up-to-11000-civilians-killed-in-battle-to-free-mosul-ap-probe-reveals/#respondWed, 20 Dec 2017 14:39:09 +0000http://briefnews.eu/none-of-this-was-worth-it-up-to-11000-civilians-killed-in-battle-to-free-mosul-ap-probe-reveals/ The liberation of Mosul from Islamic State came at a high cost, according to an AP probe which found that between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians died during the process. The coalition acknowledges responsibility for 326 of the deaths.
The investigation cross-referenced independent databases from non-government organizations and analyzed the city morgue’s list of 9,606 names of people killed in the battle. The probe found that at least 3,200 civilians were killed by Iraqi or US-led coalition airstrikes, artillery fire, or mortar rounds between October 2016 and July 2017.
Read more
Most of those victims were described in Health Ministry reports as simply being “crushed.” However, the US coalition has acknowledged responsibility for just 326 of those deaths, while stating that it lacks the resources to send investigators to Mosul, according to AP.
Another one-third of the dead were killed in the final violent campaign of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). The causes of the remaining deaths could not be determined, as they were civilians who were trapped inside neighborhoods hit by airstrikes, IS explosives, and mortar rounds from all sides of the fight.
The numbers are likely a low estimation of the actual situation, as hundreds of dead civilians are thought to still be trapped underneath rubble in the city, which saw some of its 44 neighborhoods almost completely destroyed. Thousands are believed to be in mass graves in and around the city, and as many as 4,000 in the natural crevasse known as Khasfa. The AP toll does not include those figures.
Imad Ibrahim, a civil defense rescuer from west Mosul, has been tasked with excavating the dead, mostly in the Old City. “Sometimes you can see the bodies, they’re visible under the rubble, other times we dig for hours and suddenly find 15 to 30 all in one place. That’s when you know they were sheltering, hiding from the airstrikes,” Ibrahim said. “Honestly, none of this was worth it.”
Read more
AP also spoke to Radwan Majid, who lost both his children in a May airstrike. “There were three Daesh [IS militants] in front of my house, so when the airstrike hit it also killed my children…we can see their bodies under the rubble, but we can’t reach them by ourselves,” he said. “All I want is to give them a proper burial.”
Responding to AP’s questioning about civilian deaths in Mosul, coalition spokesman Col. Thomas Veale said “it is simply irresponsible to focus criticism on inadvertent casualties caused by the coalition’s war to defeat ISIS.” He went on to state that “without the coalition’s air and ground campaign against ISIS, there would have inevitably been additional years, if not decades of suffering and needless death and mutilation in Syria and Iraq.”
The coalition has not offered an official estimation of deaths resulting from the battle for Mosul, and relies on drone footage, video from cameras mounted on weapons systems, and pilot observations. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told AP that only 1,260 civilians had been killed in the fighting.
Chris Woods, head of Airwars, an independent organization that documents air and artillery strikes in Iraq and Syria, told AP “it was the biggest assault on a city in a couple of generations, all told. And thousands died. There doesn’t seem to be any disagreement about that, except from the federal government and the coalition,” he added.
The databases used by AP in its investigation are from Amnesty International, Iraq Body Count, and Airwars. It also utilized a UN report in its research.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/none-of-this-was-worth-it-up-to-11000-civilians-killed-in-battle-to-free-mosul-ap-probe-reveals/feed/0Bitcoin tops $11,000, but fades after sharp rally
https://briefnews.eu/bitcoin-tops-11000-but-fades-after-sharp-rally/
https://briefnews.eu/bitcoin-tops-11000-but-fades-after-sharp-rally/#respondThu, 30 Nov 2017 08:19:03 +0000http://briefnews.eu/bitcoin-tops-11000-but-fades-after-sharp-rally/
(Reuters) — Bitcoin zoomed past $ 11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday after gaining more than $ 1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst in spectacular fashion.
After soaring more than 1,000 percent since the start of the year, bitcoin rose as much as 15 percent on Wednesday, but by mid-afternoon in New York, the virtual currency was trading at $ 9,500, down 3.7 percent on the day on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp BTC=BTSP, one of the largest and most liquid cryptocurrency exchanges.
“As many seasoned traders know all too well, anything that rockets higher, tends to fall down faster when the time comes, and the time will come,” James Hughes, chief market analyst at FX broker AxiTrader, said.
Bitcoin topped $ 10,000 for the first time in early Asia trading, before surging above $ 11,000 less than 12 hours later to reach $ 11,395.
Bitcoin’s rapid ascent has led to countless warnings that it has reached bubble territory. But the warnings have had little effect, with dozens of new crypto-hedge funds entering the market and retail investors piling in.
(For a graphic on Bitcoin price rockets, click reut.rs/2zPekGm)
London-based Blockchain.info, one of the biggest global bitcoin wallet-providers, told Reuters on Wednesday that it had added a record number of new users on Tuesday, with more than 100,000 customers signing up, taking the total number to more than 19 million.
The evidence suggests that few of the users are buying bitcoin to use it as a means of exchange, but are speculating to increase their capital.
“What’s happening right now has nothing to do with bitcoin’s functionality as a currency – this is pure mania that’s taken hold,” said Garrick Hileman, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.
Hileman, who last week gave a lecture to the Bank of England on the risks of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, also flagged the risk of the whole market collapsing entirely.
“There’s always the possibility that some fundamental cryptographic flaw that we can’t solve craters the whole space, or that regulators unite and decide this represents systemic risk and actually could trigger the next financial crisis,” he said.
“Exit Ramps”
Created in 2008, bitcoin uses encryption and a blockchain database that enables the fast and anonymous transfer of funds outside of a conventional centralised payment system.
It has far outstripped gains seen in any traditional asset classes or currencies this year. Its rise accelerated in recent months as exchanges such as the CME Group Inc and the Chicago Board Options Exchange announced plans to offer futures contracts for the cryptocurrency.
On Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the matter said Nasdaq Inc plans to launch a futures contract based on bitcoin in 2018.
Sceptics say it is a classic speculative bubble with no relation to real financial market activity or the economy – most famously JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon, who labelled it a “fraud”.
But even Dimon and others who say bitcoin represents a bubble – now the consensus view among mainstream investors – do not deny its price rise could still have further to go.
“It’s got all the shapings of your tulip bubble chart (but) that tells you nothing about where that price line could go depending on the number of people who wish to own it,” Standard Life’s head of investment strategy, Andrew Milligan, said on Wednesday. “Who is to say it doesn’t reach $ 100,000?”
In some emerging markets, bitcoin had hit well over $ 10,000 previously.
In South Korean exchanges, too, bitcoin was already close to $ 11,000 or higher early this week. On Zimbabwe’s local exchange golix.com bitcoin touched a new high of $ 18,500 on Wednesday before retreating to $ 18,000.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/bitcoin-tops-11000-but-fades-after-sharp-rally/feed/0House price 'mini-BOOM' sees £11,000 added to value of UK houses
https://briefnews.eu/house-price-mini-boom-sees-11000-added-to-value-of-uk-houses/
https://briefnews.eu/house-price-mini-boom-sees-11000-added-to-value-of-uk-houses/#respondTue, 17 Oct 2017 17:24:43 +0000http://briefnews.eu/house-price-mini-boom-sees-11000-added-to-value-of-uk-houses/
GETTY
Despite the news, it is still important that the government not lose focus on the housing crisis
Annual price growth accelerated to five per cent in August put the cost of the average three bedroom semi at £226,000 – a monthly rise of £1,180 and up from £215,000 in the same month last year, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics and the Land Registry.
The North-West of England recorded the highest rise across England and Wales up 6.5 per cent in the year to August 2017.
The East of England, East Midlands and South-West all saw rises of 6.4 per cent.
Alex Gosling, chief executive of online estate agents HouseSimple.com, said the summer’s surprisingly strong price growth was supported by low levels of new properties coming onto the market.
Related articles
GETTY
Strong price growth was supported by fewer properties coming on to the market
Annual prices are consistently rising as more buyers chase fewer properties
Jeremy Duncombe
“Annual price growth has only ticked up slightly, but it’s noticeable that on a regional level there are pockets of the country which are experiencing mini property booms,” he noted.
“Some areas like Corby, Wellingborough, and East Northamptonshire, which are neighbours on the map, have enjoyed some of the highest property price growth of anywhere in the country over the past 12 months.
“These areas are likely playing catch-up. They may have lagged behind many towns in terms of price growth since 2008, but that now counts in their favour as families are moving to these areas because of the affordable property stock and commutable distance to London.
“In London, although price growth is stuttering, trendy Camden and Hackney have bucked the trend. Both boroughs have seen double digit price growth over the past 12 months, more than four times the London average.”
The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices increased by 2.6 per cent over the year to £484,362, marking the ninth consecutive month when price growth in the capital has remained below the UK average.
The North East, at 3.7 per cent, saw the second slowest growth.
Prices in the City of London, the heart of the capital’s financial district, fell by 5.6 per cent over the year, the biggest fall in the UK apart from Aberdeenshire.
While the low oil price has hit communities dependent on the North Sea oil industry.
The ONS figures underline the enormous differences in property prices across the UK.
GETTY
Despite prices falling in central London, Kensington and Chelsea is still pricey
In August 2017, the most expensive borough to live in in the UK was Kensington and Chelsea, where the cost of an average house was £1.2million.
In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where an average house cost £82,000.
Jeremy Duncombe, of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: “Annual prices are consistently rising as more buyers chase fewer properties.
“Escalated by a critical lack of housing stock, this trend is only set to continue if more affordable housing is not built.
“As speculation around the autumn budget begins to build up, we hope there will be a genuine answer to boost supply that gives everyone a realistic chance to own a home.”
This three-storey UK home is on sale for £1 – but it’s hiding a BIG secret
Sun, September 17, 2017
Property news: A three-storey semi-detached house in the UK is up for sale for just £1.
Auction House Scotland
1 of 13
This three-storey UK home is on sale for £1 – but it’s hiding a BIG secret
And there were cautionary words from some experts who warned that higher prices make it more difficult for first-time buyers to get onto the housing ladder.
John Goodall, of the buy-to-let specialist Landbay, said: “Although record low mortgage rates will be helping those who have already stumped up a deposit, escalating house prices will come as yet another blow to aspiring homeowners looking to get their foot on the housing ladder.
“It is essential that the government doesn’t lose focus on addressing the housing crisis and makes good on its promise to build the thousands of new, affordable homes that people desperately need.”
The ONS figures lag behind those by Halifax, which reported annual house price inflation at four per cent in the three months to September and Nationwide, which reported annual house price inflation slowing down to two per cent in September.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/house-price-mini-boom-sees-11000-added-to-value-of-uk-houses/feed/0Tesla recall – 11,000 Model X vehicles called back as seat issue is discovered
https://briefnews.eu/tesla-recall-11000-model-x-vehicles-called-back-as-seat-issue-is-discovered/
https://briefnews.eu/tesla-recall-11000-model-x-vehicles-called-back-as-seat-issue-is-discovered/#respondFri, 13 Oct 2017 06:58:53 +0000http://briefnews.eu/tesla-recall-11000-model-x-vehicles-called-back-as-seat-issue-is-discovered/
Tesla has confirmed a voluntary recall of 11,000 of its Model X vehicles.
Versions of the car manufactured between October 28, 2016 and August 16, 2017 could be affected with the issue that could see the rear seats move forward during an accident.
The Californian-based car manufacturer says that it is not aware of any accident that has been recorded that is related to the fault.
It discovered the problem with the test during internal tests of the vehicles.
A spokesperson wrote in a statement: “Tesla determined that a small number of cables in the second row fold-flat seats in some 2016 and 2017 Model X vehicles may need to be adjusted.
“Although Tesla has not received reports of any issues or accidents relating to this condition, we will be conducting a voluntary recall to inspect the affected vehicles and confirm whether any adjustment is needed.
“Although we have never seen any incidence of it in the field, internal testing has indicated that if the cable is not properly adjusted, the seat back on the left side of the second row seats could move forward during a crash.”
According to the car manufacturer the issue affects three per cent of Model X vehicles that are configured with fold-flat second row seats, that were manufactured during that period of time.
Repairs of the seats will be undertaken by Tesla’s new mobile service.
“We can address 100 per cent of these repairs via mobile service, and customers will have the choice to do that or to bring their car into a Service Centre.”
“Customer satisfaction results for our mobile service offering are consistently above 97 per cent.”
In an email to customers drivers were reassured that the Model X seat repair would take less than ten minutes to repair.
This is not the first time the car manufacturer has issued a recall with the car firm previously issuing a recall of 53,000 of its cars due to a faulty gear in the parking breaks from a third party supplier.
Model S airbags have also been replaced due to the industry-wide Takata recall, which is now 40 per cent complete.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/tesla-recall-11000-model-x-vehicles-called-back-as-seat-issue-is-discovered/feed/0Tesla recalls 11,000 Model X SUVs for seat issues
https://briefnews.eu/tesla-recalls-11000-model-x-suvs-for-seat-issues/
https://briefnews.eu/tesla-recalls-11000-model-x-suvs-for-seat-issues/#respondFri, 13 Oct 2017 06:12:11 +0000http://briefnews.eu/tesla-recalls-11000-model-x-suvs-for-seat-issues/
Tesla is no stranger to voluntary recalls. The company issued notices to 90,000 Model S sedan owners for possible seatblet defects back in 2015, another for 2,700 Model X SUVs in 2016 for a third-row seat problem, and one for 53,000 S and Model X SUV earlier this year over potential parking brake issues. It’s the price of doing business — and better that the company jumps ahead with a voluntary recall than a legally-mandated one after tragedy. Today, the automaker issued another for about 11,000 Model X’s released last year, this time for the second-row seats.
The recall only affects Model X’s with second-row fold-flat seats built between October 28th, 2016 and August 16th, 2017, and the company estimates that only 3 percent of vehicles sold experience the issue. Any of Tesla’s SUVs with single-post seats aren’t affected. During internal tests, the company found that poorly-adjusted cables connected to the driver’s side second-row seat yanked it forward during a crash. Tesla hasn’t received any reports of this happening to Model X owners, but is issuing the recall based on its research.
Thankfully, the fix is easy: Just take your Model X into a service center or use Tesla’s mobile repair service and a technician will adjust the cable correctly, which takes all of 10 minutes. Until then, the company suggests not stacking two adults in the center and behind-driver seats in the second row.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/tesla-recalls-11000-model-x-suvs-for-seat-issues/feed/0Delta Flash Sale: Awards to and From NYC Starting at 11,000 SkyMiles Round-Trip
https://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-awards-to-and-from-nyc-starting-at-11000-skymiles-round-trip/
https://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-awards-to-and-from-nyc-starting-at-11000-skymiles-round-trip/#respondWed, 11 Oct 2017 17:03:55 +0000http://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-awards-to-and-from-nyc-starting-at-11000-skymiles-round-trip/NYC Award Flights From 11,000 SkyMiles Round-Trip
Advertiser Disclosure
The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.
Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/delta-flash-sale-awards-to-and-from-nyc-starting-at-11000-skymiles-round-trip/feed/011,000+ blank Syrian passports in the hands of ISIS – media citing secret docs
https://briefnews.eu/11000-blank-syrian-passports-in-the-hands-of-isis-media-citing-secret-docs/
https://briefnews.eu/11000-blank-syrian-passports-in-the-hands-of-isis-media-citing-secret-docs/#respondSun, 10 Sep 2017 20:28:44 +0000http://briefnews.eu/11000-blank-syrian-passports-in-the-hands-of-isis-media-citing-secret-docs/ German authorities believe that Islamic State terrorists have stolen over 11,000 blank Syrian passports, confidential documents seen by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reportedly reveal.
German Investigators have made a list of the serial numbers of the blank passports, the newspaper reported, citing confidential documents of the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the interior ministry and the country’s federal police (BPOL).
Read more
“According to BKA information, there are 11,100 Syrian blank passports… in the hands of the IS [Islamic State, also known as ISIS/ISIL],” the documents from the interior ministry reportedly state.
In total, 18,002 blank Syrian passports were stolen from the Syrian government, Bild am Sonntag reported.
Developments in connection with the refugee question have shown that terrorist organizations are using the opportunity to infiltrate potential IS attackers into Europe undetected, a BKA official told the paper.
Fake or altered passports are mostly used “for illegal entry without further motives like carrying out a terrorist attack,” the official added.
According to the documents seen by Bild, at least 8,625 passports checked by German migration authorities in 2016 turned out to be counterfeits.
“We are talking about much more cases! These passport holders must now be checked and their accommodation should be searched by police,” an investigator within State Criminal Police Office (LKA), an independent law enforcement agency, told the newspaper.
The Bild report comes days after Der Spiegel magazine, citing sources within Germany’s security services, reported that several dozen Syrian extremists linked to the al-Nusra Front and IS terrorist groups who committed “numerous massacres” of civilians and captives, have sought asylum in Germany.
Some 60 members of the Syrian Liwa Owais al-Korani or Owais al-Korani Brigade militant group have reportedly arrived in Germany as refugees.
Read more
Germany has allowed in more than 1 million asylum seekers since 2015, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel introduced her so-called ‘open-door’ policy for those fleeing wars in Africa and the Middle East.
The country received some over 740,000 asylum applications in 2016, according to data from The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) published by asylumineurope.org.
The majority of applicants, some 268,000 came from Syria, followed by Afghanistan (127,000) and Iraq (97,000).
Germany has already fallen victim to a series of terrorist attacks carried out by refugees and claimed by Islamic State. In July 2016, at least 15 people were injured after a rejected asylum seeker from Syria blew himself up outside a wine bar near a music festival in the German town of Ansbach.
The same month, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee attacked passengers on a train in Wuerzburg, shouting, “Allahu Akbar” and wounding five people.
The deadliest attack so far took place during Christmas market celebrations in Berlin in December 2016. A Tunisian asylum seeker, who had pledged his allegiance to Islamic State, plowed a truck into pedestrians killing 12 people.
]]>https://briefnews.eu/11000-blank-syrian-passports-in-the-hands-of-isis-media-citing-secret-docs/feed/0Passenger faces flight BAN after deploying £11,000 emergency slide out of ‘curiosity’
https://briefnews.eu/passenger-faces-flight-ban-after-deploying-11000-emergency-slide-out-of-curiosity/
https://briefnews.eu/passenger-faces-flight-ban-after-deploying-11000-emergency-slide-out-of-curiosity/#respondTue, 13 Jun 2017 18:20:01 +0000http://briefnews.eu/passenger-faces-flight-ban-after-deploying-11000-emergency-slide-out-of-curiosity/
The woman was abroad the XiamenAir flight as it was about to take off from the runway at Beijing Capital International Airport in China.
Other passengers on the Boeing 757 claimed the woman flipped the lever to deploy the inflatable emergency slide despite being told not to.
She was sitting two rows behind the emergency exit door on the left hand side at the time.
The woman was immediately restrained by flight attendants, with the situation forcing the plane to be severely delayed.
According Chinese media site Weibo, the woman deployed the slide at 11:50am, just seconds after cabin crew warned over the PA system against touching any of the emergency equipment.
The plane had to be inspected from top to bottom after the slide was restored.
After being removed from the flight, the passenger is now at the hands of Chinese tourism authorities.
She faces a possible travel ban pending an investigation into the incident.
It’s believed the man has a pregnant fiancee who was at home at the time.
The pair – who reportedly met that evening – were on a flight from Manchester to Ibiza when the incident unfolded.
Passengers have claimed that crew did nothing to break up the romp, even after one woman asked if she could move seats.
Ryanair said it is looking into the incident but does not tolerate “unruly behaviour”.