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Taiwan Air Force officer killed after being ‘inhaled’ by fighter jet’s engine

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Taiwan Air Force officer killed after being ‘inhaled’ by fighter jet’s engine

A Taiwanese Air Force officer died after being sucked into the engine of a fighter jet, officials said. 

The incident reportedly happened at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base on Tuesday while the master sergeant was performing a pre-shutdown inspection of the aircraft. 

Taiwan’s Air Force said the officer was “inhaled by the engine for unknown reasons.” She later was pronounced dead after life-saving efforts were unsuccessful. 

“In response to media reports that ‘it is suspected that an instructor’s throttle application caused a female officer to be inhaled by a fighter jet,’ the Air Force Command stated that the case is currently being investigated by a task force in cooperation with prosecutors to clarify the cause,” it added. 

TAIWAN HAILS IMPORTANCE OF US RELATIONSHIP, SAYS GROUP VISITS ‘CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE AND STABILITY’ 

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A Taiwanese Air Force ground crew mounts a Sky Sword II missile onto an Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft as part of a combat readiness exercise at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on Jan. 8. (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

Officials say they are “deeply saddened” by the death. 

Taiwan’s Air Force also said that it will “fully assist the family in handling the aftermath” and that it will “conduct a comprehensive review and improve the work process to prevent similar cases from happening again.” 

CHINA WARNS US TO STOP ARMING TAIWAN AFTER BIDEN APPROVES $571 MILLION IN MILITARY AID 

Taiwan Air Force pilot climbs into Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft

A Taiwanese air force pilot climbs into the cockpit of his Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft during a scramble as part of a combat readiness exercise at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on Jan. 7, 2025.  (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

The plane involved in the incident was an Indigenous Defense Fighter, the Taipei Times reported, adding that the victim served in the military for around 17 years. 

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A source familiar with the aircraft told the Taipei Times that the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into its engine – which has a fairly small intake opening — is “miniscule.”  

The source said after the plane lands, its motor speed is on a slow rotation and should have been stopped by the time the wheel chocks were being deployed at the base. 

Taiwan fighter jet takes off

A Taiwanese Air Force Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft takes off during a scramble as part of a combat readiness exercise at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on Jan. 7.  (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

 

Security cameras installed in the hangar of the base should provide the full picture as to what happened, the source added. 

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Kennedy, fresh off grilling, heads back to US Senate for a second hearing

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Kennedy, fresh off grilling, heads back to US Senate for a second hearing
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the top U.S. health agency, heads to the Senate Health committee on Thursday after being grilled by Democrats on a different committee over his past comments on vaccines and shifting stance on abortion rights.
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An Iraqi man who carried out Quran burnings in Sweden is killed in a shooting

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An Iraqi man who carried out Quran burnings in Sweden is killed in a shooting

An Iraqi man who carried out several Quran burnings in Sweden has been killed in a shooting near Stockholm, authorities said Thursday.

Salwan Momika, 38, staged several burnings and desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Sweden in 2023. Videos of the Quran burnings got worldwide publicity and raised anger and criticism in several Muslim nations, leading to riots and unrest in many places.

THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS RALLY ACROSS IRAQ FOR A 2ND DAY TO CONDEMN THE BURNING OF A QURAN IN SWEDEN

The Stockholm District Court said a verdict scheduled Thursday in a trial in which Momika was a defendant was postponed because one of the defendants had died. A judge at the court, Göran Lundahl, confirmed that the deceased was Momika. He said he didn’t have any information on when or how Momika died.

Salwan Momika speaks in Malmö, Sweden, Sept. 30, 2023.  (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)

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Police said they were alerted to a shooting Wednesday night at an apartment building in Sodertalje, near Stockholm, and found a man with gunshot wounds who later died.

Broadcaster SVT reported that the victim was Momika.

Prosecutors said five people were arrested overnight on suspicion of murder. They said all were adults but gave no further details.

Prosecutor Rasmus Öman said the investigation is still in its early stages and that the suspects and others still have to be questioned.

Momika came to Sweden from Iraq in 2018 and was granted a three-year residence permit in 2021, according to SVT.

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Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden’s security service was involved because “there is obviously a risk that there is a connection to a foreign power,” Swedish news agency TT reported.

Momika argued that his protests targeted the religion of Islam, not Muslim people. He said he wanted to protect Sweden’s population from the messages of the Quran. Swedish police allowed his demonstrations, citing freedom of speech, while filing charges against him.

 

Last March, he was arrested in neighboring Norway after stating that he would seek asylum there, and was sent back to Sweden, TT reported.

Momika and a co-defendant were charged in August with incitement to hatred because of statements they made in connection with the Quran burnings. A verdict was supposed to be handed down on Thursday morning.

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The Take: How did China’s DeepSeek outsmart ChatGPT?

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The Take: How did China’s DeepSeek outsmart ChatGPT?

Podcast,

Chipmaker Nvidia lost nearly $600bn in market value as China’s AI model DeepSeek shook confidence in US tech dominance.

A new AI rival from China is shaking up Silicon Valley. DeepSeek matches ChatGPT’s power but was built faster and for a fraction of the cost. How did they do it, and what comes next?

In this episode:

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  • Caiwei Chen (@CaiweiC), reporter, MIT Technology Review

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Sarí el-Khalili, Sonia Bhagat and Amy Walters, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Melanie Marich, Hagir Saleh, Hanah Shokeir and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz.  

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

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