World
Naples, Florida plane crash kills two on US highway; officials investigate
The Bombardier Challenger 600 series jet has crashed on the I-75 highway in US state of Florida.
A private passenger jet crash-landed on a busy highway in Florida in the United States and collided with two vehicles on the ground in a fiery accident that killed two people, authorities and witnesses said.
Moments before the jet with five people on board slammed into the highway on Friday, the pilot calmly told an airport controller that the aircraft “was not going to make the runway” since it had lost both engines.
The jet was bound for the airport in Naples when it tried to make an emergency landing on Interstate 75. But witnesses say it collided with a vehicle – the wing of the plane dragging a car before slamming into a wall. An explosion followed, with flames and black smoke rising from the scene.
Two people were killed, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, but it was not immediately known whether the victims had been passengers on the plane or were on the ground.
Federal authorities have launched an investigation into the crash near Naples, just north of where the interstate heads east towards Fort Lauderdale along what is known as Alligator Alley.
The plane had taken off from an airport at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, at about 1pm. It was scheduled to land in Naples around the time of the crash, Naples Airport Authority spokesperson Robin King said, when pilot contacted the tower requesting an emergency landing.
“Got that. Emergency. Clear to land. Runway. Two. Three,” the air traffic controller responded to the pilot, in audio obtained by The Associated Press.
“We’re clear to land, but we’re not gonna make the runway. We’ve lost both engines,” the pilot calmly replied.
‘The wing pulverised a car’
The tower lost contact, and then airport workers saw the smoke from the interstate just a few miles away, King said.
King said they sent fire trucks with special foam to the scene, and three of the five people on board were taken from the wreckage alive.
Brianna Walker saw the wing of the plane drag the car in front of hers and slam into the wall.
“It’s seconds that separated us from the car in front of us,” she said. “The wing pulverised this one car.”
Walker and her friend spotted the plane moments before it hit the highway, allowing her friend to pull over before the crash.
“The plane was over our heads by inches,” she said. “It took a hard right and skid across the highway.”
According to the FlightAware aircraft tracker, the plane was operated by Hop-a-Jet Worldwide Charter based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The aircraft had been scheduled to fly back to Fort Lauderdale on Friday afternoon.
Federal authorities said a preliminary report about the cause of the crash can be expected in 30 days.
World
'Show solidarity': Pro-Palestinian protesters camp across Australian universities
World
China increases aggressive moves against Taiwan as island prepares to inaugurate new president
KAOHSIUNG — Virtually every day, the People’s Republic of China does something unprecedented — its coast guard briefly boarding a Taiwanese tourist boat, flying military aircraft ever closer to Taiwan or increasing harassment of Taiwanese fishing boats in the South China Sea.
“This is a problem,” says Dean Karalekas, author of “Civil-Military Relations in Taiwan: Identity and Transformation.” “Because these unprecedented actions are creating a new normal. Beijing hopes that we (the West) will sit by and watch as they take over Taiwan, just as we did when they used these same salami-slicing tactics to take over the South China Sea.”
The world began noticing more of China’s hostile actions following the visit to Taiwan by former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2023, but the strategy has been in place for some time.
“China’s plan to ‘normalize’ military encroachments was planned long before Pelosi’s visit,” Taipei Times columnist and political commentator C. Donovan Smith told Fox News Digital. “The military exercises were far too complex and logistically complicated to have been planned in the short span of time between the announcement of her trip and her arrival in Taiwan.”
TAIWAN ELECTION: RULING PARTY CANDIDATE WINS TIGHTLY CONTESTED PRESIDENTIAL RACE, UPSETTING CHINA’S AMBITIONS
Surrounding Taiwan in a mock “quarantine” and performing missile “tests” in 2023 was also intended to push Taiwanese voters toward politicians and parties more friendly to China. But, as has been the case in the last three elections here, Beijing’s ploys were ineffectual. Taiwan in January elected the incumbent vice president, William Lai, to take over from two-term President Tsai Ing-wen. Both Tsai and Lai are members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The incoming Taiwan president has repeatedly pledged to make no changes to policies in place over the last eight years. Beijing, however, sees William Lai (Lai Ching-te) as a “splittist” and a supporter of Taiwan independence. Lai previously did voice support for independence but has tried to walk that back. China, however, does not forgive nor forget. Many political experts believe Beijing will ratchet up pressure as Lai enters office later this month.
A recent example of China’s attempts to establish this “new normal” is changes to airspace rules. China is close to finishing a massive new airport serving Xiamen in Fujian Province. Just 6.2 miles away, however, sits the island of Kinmen, which has remained a part of the Republic of China (ROC), better known as Taiwan, since 1949.
Kinmen Airport is strategically important for Taiwan. In 2015, the two sides worked out a deal to change a flight path that was a bit too close for Taiwan’s comfort. But in February, Beijing unilaterally backed out of the deal, announcing that, from May 16, new air routes would begin operating to “further optimize airspace” around the area.
FOR CHINA’S MILITARY PLANNERS, TAIWAN IS NOT AN EASY ISLAND TO INVADE
Few China watchers think China picked the day arbitrarily, says Karalekas.
“Beijing has a pattern of testing new leaders of enemy states. They tested Bush with the EP-3E spy plane incident. They tested (then-Japanese prime minister) Naoto Kan with the Senkaku boat collision. We can expect them to test Lai by creating some sort of mini-crisis around the time he takes office on May 20.”
“I think China is really ramping up threats,” Eric Hsu told Fox News Digital. Hsu lives in southern Taiwan’s biggest city, Kaohsiung, has worked on historical restoration projects and hosts a podcast on Taiwan history.
He says he isn’t only worried about military hardware, but also what he termed, “brainwashing videos and moves by KOLs,” (Key Opinion Leaders, a term used to describe internet influencers).
Hsu places much of the blame at the feet of local opposition parties seen by many as more friendly to Beijing. Describing the current domestic political situation, he said Taiwan faces “not just an enemy at the gate, but also enemies within.” South Taiwan is a DPP stronghold, but not everyone in the south agrees that the opposition parties are the problem.
Another resident of Kaohsiung, a self-employed businessperson and mother, Ms. Lin, thinks the DPP hasn’t been sincere in reaching out to China.
“They’ve had eight years, and now they will get at least another four,” Lin told Fox News Digital. “What Taiwan needs are brave leaders, people willing to try new solutions, and I don’t see any such people in the current DPP leadership.”
TAIWAN PRESIDENT-ELECT CHOOSES NEW FOREIGN, DEFENSE MINISTERS AS CHINA ANNEXATION THREATS INTENSIFY
The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), denies it is “China-friendly” and instead says it is “peace-friendly.” Chinese dictator Xi Jinping has met with the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou twice, first in Singapore in 2015 when Ma was in office as ROC (Taiwan) president. It was the first time since the end of WWII top leaders from China and Taiwan sat in the same room. Each side in 2015 chose to ignore official titles and address each other as “Mr. Xi” and “Mr. Ma.” On April 10,, “Mr. Xi” and former Taiwan president “Mr. Ma” met again, this time in Beijing.
Some experts see such meetings between the KMT and China favorably, arguing that any dialogue is good and – if nothing else – provides a way for China to save face as it continues its policy of mandatory “reunification,” which China now says may need to be achieved by force. Others in Taiwan and abroad see Ma’s meetings as straying far too close to an acceptance of the idea that Taiwan is a part of China.
As it stands, the ruling DPP says it’s content with the status quo, including keeping Taiwan’s official name, the Republic of China. The KMT is generally more in favor of talks with Beijing under a mutual respect “consensus” idea that boils down to agreeing that both sides are “China,” but each side is free to interpret what this “one China” means.
The problem with the KMT’s thinking, central Taiwan-based newspaper columnist and political commentator Michael Turton told Fox News Digital, is that “Xi’s goal is the complete subjugation of Taiwan, just like Hong Kong. Two of China’s ambassadors abroad have already indicated that Taiwanese opposed to Beijing rule will be shipped off to concentration camps. Given this goal, how can there ever be dialogue with mutual respect?”
World
Brussels, my love? Champage cracked open to celebrate the Big Bang
In this edition, we zoom in on dwindling press freedom in Europe and check how Europe is doing 20 years after the big bang enlargement.
This week, we are joined by Olena Abramovych, Brussels correspondent for Ukrainian TV, Ricardo Borges de Castro, analyst in European and global affairs and Polish journalist Dorota Bawolek.
Panelists reflect on the big bang enlargement of the European Union that took place 20 years ago when leaders of 10 new countries presented their flags to Pat Cox, then president of the European Parliament. Despite the bumps along the way, the panel agreed it was a success.
“Even though you can say that the story has not always be rosy, over the past 20 years it has been a great story”, Ricardo Borges de Castro said.
The panel also marked International Press Freedom Day by focusing on the dwindling press freedom in the EU.
“It is very worrying and at the same time, unfortunately, not very surprising”, said Dorota Bawolek, who suffered attacks both online and offline for her reporting, and experienced censorship.
“Democracy in Europe is not living its best days at the moment. And media and media freedom is one of the victims of it”, she said.
Watch “Brussels, my love?” in the player above.
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