Malaysia's civil aviation chief resigns following MH370 report
Kuala Lumpur, July 31 : Malaysia's civil aviation chief resigned on Tuesday, a day after a report into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 showed lapses by Kuala Lumpur's air traffic control centre.
In a statement, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said although the investigation report "does not suggest that the accident is caused by the Department of Civil Aviation then, nevertheless, there are some very apparent findings with regards to the operations of the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre; where it was stated that the Air Traffic Controller did not comply with certain Standard Operating Procedures", reports Efe news.
"Therefore, it is with regret and after much thought and contemplation that I have decided to resign as the Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia effective fourteen days from the date of the resignation notice which I have served today," Azharuddin said.
The Boeing 777 disappeared from radar on March 8, 2014, around 40 minutes after it took off from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board, 154 of whom were Chinese.
On Monday, an international team of experts from eight countries presented the report of a four-year long investigation, but they were unable to determine who was responsible for the plane's disappearance.
The document indicates that the course of the flight was changed manually after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. The report also points to failings in Malaysia's surveillance systems and does not rule out interference by third parties.
Investigators believe the aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean and 27 fragments of the plane have been recovered from beaches in Reunion, Mozambique, Mauritius, South Africa and Pemba Island (Zanzibar).
Specialised search teams combed an area of 120,000 sq.km and experts believe the plane was likely to have crashed, but called off the operation after they found nothing.
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Austrian police detain suspect in case of rat poison found in baby food jars on supermarket shelves
Vienna (AP): Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.
HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.
The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.
It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor's office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”
The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.
Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.
HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.
The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”
Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.
