Uber Jakarta Hits Speedbump as Police Detain Five Drivers

Jakarta Globe, Bayu Marhaenjati, Jun 19, 2015

Jakarta Police have detained five drivers connected to the ride-hailing app Uber.
(AFP Photo/Tengku Bahar)

Jakarta. The Jakarta Police have arrested five drivers using the California-based car-hailing app Uber to transport passengers after receiving reports from the city’s transportation agency and the Organization of Land Transport Operators, or Organda.

Shafruhan Sinungan, the chairman of the Jakarta chapter of Organda, said his organization had ordered eight cars via the mobile app with the intention of luring its drivers, but only five showed up and were handed over to the police.

Shafruhan underlined that the car service was operating illegally because its parent company, Uber Technologies, had yet to obtain an official permit to run a transportation business in Indonesia.

He also accused Uber of running an unfair business by not paying any taxes, which is why the company is able to offer lower fares compared to regular taxis.

The company’s UberX service in Jakarta charges riders a base fare of Rp 3,000 (22 US cents) per ride and an additional Rp 2,000 for every kilometer, or Rp 300 per minute of waiting time. Uber Black, which offer riders premium cars, starts at Rp 7,000 and charges an additional Rp 2,850 per kilometer or Rp 500 per minute.

In comparison, taxis charges passengers at a base fare of Rp 7,000 per ride and an additional Rp 4,000 per kilometer.

Shafruhan said that the San Fransisco-based company violated a 2009 law on transportation and also the city’s 2014 bylaw on public transportation.

“Today’s action is a follow-up from our coordination with the police on June 8,” Shafruhan said.

Benjamin Bukit, head of the city’s transportation agency, said his office and Organda plan to launch their own investigation of Uber, which includes the task of finding the company’s main office in the capital.

Uber’s Jakarta operations currently run from a rented office space at the Pacific Place mall in the Sudirman Central Business District, South Jakarta.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Suharyanto, head of the police’s detectives and general crimes unit, confirmed the arrest of the five drivers and said that officers would look into the allegations pressed by Organda.

The arrests mark the latest in a series of legal and regulatory speedbumps for Uber Technologies, which is already facing multiple lawsuits around the globe for bypassing industry regulations.

Shortly after its launch in Jakarta last year, Uber was branded illegal by Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.

Garuda Inks Deals to Buy 30 Jets From Airbus, Up to 60 From Boeing

Jakarta Globe, Tabita Diela, Jun 15, 2015

An Airbus A350 jetliner participates in a flying display during the 51st Paris
 Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris on Monday. Garuda Indonesia intends
 to buy 30 of the jets in a deal worth an estimated $9 billion. (Reuters Photo/
Pascal Rossignol)

Jakarta. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia intends to purchase up to 30 new wide-body aircraft from European plane maker Airbus and up to 60 from its US rival Boeing.

Both manufacturers released statements at the Paris Air Show on Monday that said the Indonesian state-controlled airline had signed letters of intent to purchase the new jets.

Airbus announced that Garuda planned to buy 30 of its new A350 XWB passenger jets, while Boeing said the airline intended to buy 30 787-9 Dreamliners and up to 30 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

“Following our success in revitalizing our regional operation in Asia and the Pacific, the development of our long haul network will be a priority in the coming years,” Arif Wibowo, Garuda’s chief executive, said in the statement released by Airbus.

Airbus said Garuda planned to use the new wide-body planes, able to fly from Jakarta or Bali to Europe non-stop, to expand its medium- and long-haul networks.

John Leahy, Airbus’s chief operating officer, said the new jet, which first went into commercial service in January with Qatar Airways, was performing well.

“The aircraft has set the new standard for the larger segment of the mid-size wide-body market and is already proving to exceed expectations in service with its first operator,” he said in the statement.

“We look forward to seeing the A350 XWB flying in the colors of Garuda Indonesia as it extends its reach to more destinations across the world,” Leahy said.

Airbus says it has booked orders for 244 of the planes from operators in the Asia-Pacific region, or almost a third of the 780 orders booked worldwide. The Garuda deal is estimated at $9 billion at list prices.

Boeing, meanwhile, said it would work with Garuda to finalize the order for the new American jets.

“The 787-9 and 737 MAX will be a great complement to Garuda’s current Boeing airplanes, providing them with additional capability and superior economics and their customers with an exceptional flying experience,” said Ray Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

In addition to the new order, Boeing said Garuda also reconfirmed its intent to buy 50 737 MAX 8s, originally announced in October last year.

Arif said Garuda was upead that the orders of the new planes, all of which boast superior fuel-efficiency, range capability and technology from their predecessors, would help the airline reposition itself as a leading premium carrier in the long-haul market out of Asia.

Garuda flies to 76 destinations worldwide with nearly 600 daily flights and a fleet of 169 aircraft with an average age of less than five years.

There were no details on the time frame for the deliveries of the new planes.

GlobeAsia

Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz feared for eyesight before crash

Andreas Lubitz was afraid of losing his sight, and visited more than 40 doctors in the years leading up to the March crash, French prosecutors said Thursday. The investigation into the accident will now be widened.

Deutsche Welle, 12 June 2015

The investigators said several of the doctors Lubitz visited, as well as seven he had booked appointments with in the month before the accident, felt he was unfit to fly.

But they did not share their concerns with the 28-year-old's employer, Lufthansa, due to Germany's medical secrecy requirements.

In Germany medical practitioners can be sent to prison if they disclose patient information without evidence they intend to commit a serious crime or harm themselves.

Lead investigator Brice Robin said Lubitz had sought advice for potentially career-ending vision problems, and had sent an email to one doctor just two weeks before the accident saying he had doubled his dose of antidepressants in an attempt to help him sleep.

Robin said they could not confirm whether Lubitz's sight problems were real or psychological.

Germanwings and its parent company Lufthansa say the young pilot had passed all medical tests and was considered fit to fly. It has been confirmed that Lubitz had been struggling with depression and suicidal tendencies when Flight 4U9525 crashed.

Investigators met with relatives of the 150 victims of the crash to update them on the inquiry's progress. The victims' remains are currently being returned to families, and funerals will be held in the coming weeks. The remains of all those on board were finally identified last month.

Stephane Gicquel, head of a French accident victims association, welcomed the news that the inquiry was being expanded into a criminal investigation. "We can clearly see the prosecutor's positioning: to open an inquiry that will pose the question of manslaughter and, very clearly, faults or negligence from Lufthansa in detecting the state of Lubitz's health."

Investigators believe Lubitz locked the cockpit door after the pilot left, and put the plane into a controlled descent. During Thursday's meeting relatives were shown three different reconstructions of what happened in the cockpit, with actual audio from the fatal flight. "I think that the families appreciated this frank and direct communication," Gicquel said.

Around half of those who died in the crash were German, as well as victims from countries including Australia, Spain, the United States, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

an/bk (AFP, dpa, AP, Reuters)

Indian court bans Mumbai's horse-drawn carriages

Yahoo – AFP, 9 June 2015

Mumbai's ornate horse-drawn carriages are nearing the end of the road after a

 court in the Indian city ruled them illegal, saying owners must wind up operations

within a year (AFP Photo/Punit Paranjpe)

Mumbai's ornate horse-drawn carriages are nearing the end of the road after a court in the Indian city ruled them illegal, saying owners must wind up operations within a year.

The silver-coloured Victorias -- styled on open carriages used during Queen Victoria's reign -- have been plying Mumbai's streets since British colonial times, and for years have been a tourist attraction.

But on Monday the Bombay High Court agreed with animal welfare groups, who had petitioned for a ban citing poor treatment of the horses, that the practice was cruel.

"We hold that the use of horse-driven carriages... for joy rides is completely illegal," read the court verdict.

It ordered the city government to "ensure that the use of such horse-driven carriages... shall be completely stopped on expiry of a period of one year from today".

The court also ruled that all related stables must be closed down and directed local authorities to come up with a scheme to help the estimated 700 people involved in the trade.

The jazzy carriages were once a mode of transport for former Bombay's wealthy classes, but they now carry tourists around the historic Colaba district and Marine Drive promenade in the south of the city.

A horse-drawn carriage is pictured on the city's iconic Marine Drive promenade

in Mumbai (AFP Photo/Indranil Mukherjee)

They are often seen outside the luxury Taj Mahal Palace hotel and Gateway of India monument and have also appeared in several Bollywood movies.

But concerns over unlicensed stables and poor treatment of the horses saw the Animals and Birds Charitable Trust, with the support of PETA India, lodge a case in Mumbai's top court.

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had claimed the horses were often malnourished, denied adequate rest or veterinary care and were forced to stand in their own waste in sub-standard stables.

Manilal Valliyate, from PETA India, applauded the decision, saying "Mumbai's Victoria industry is inherently cruel and dangerous".

Related Article:

Culture or Cruelty?

Emirates Officially Opens Dubai-Bali Route

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita, Jun 04, 2015

Inaugural flight of Emirates serving Dubai to Bali route arrived in Ngurah Rai
airport in Bali on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Emirates adds Bali as its 146th
 global destination opening up opportunities to help boost the Island's tourism
sector. (Photo Courtesy of Emirates)

Jakarta. Dubai-based airline Emirates officially launched a daily flight from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Indonesia’s most prominent tourism destination, Bali, with an inaugural flight on Wednesday, the airline said in a statement on Thursday.

The flight marked the commencement of Emirates’ non-stop daily flight to Bali, its second destination in Indonesia after Jakarta, the airline said.

The EK 398 flight arrived in Bali at 9:40 p.m local time carrying Emirates’ top officials, journalists and passengers from 40 different cities from around the world, including Moscow, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and New York.

Emirates will use Boeing 777-300ER airplanes for the fleet serving the Dubai-Bali route.

Barry Brown, divisional senior vice president of commercial operations East at Emirates, said Bali is a main tourism destination and an important market for Emirates as there was high interest in the island.

“We are pleased to now be able to serve this demand and contribute to the island’s economic and tourism growth.

“We also look forward to connecting passengers from Bali to Dubali and onward to more than 80 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas through one convenient stop at our world-class hub,” Brown said in the statement.

I Gde Pitana, resources development head at the Ministry of Tourism, welcomed the new route saying it would boost tourism in Bali — which recorded 3.7 million foreign visitors last year.

“The island continues to attract tourists from around the world, and a direct route to and from Dubai with Emirates will help to increase access to other parts of the world, bringing new opportunities for travellers and businesses alike,” he said.

Bali is Emirate’s 146th global destination, adding to the airline’s routes in the Asia Pacific region which currently serves 18 destinations in 11 countries in Asia.

The airline also provides Emirates SkyCargo service which offers 294 tons of cargo per week from Dubai to Bali and vice versa.

The cargo that could be carried from Bali included marine products such as tuna, household goods, leather goods and handicrafts which mainly will be delivered to European countries. Moreover, the airline said there are also household goods, pharmaceuticals and automotive parts will also be imported not only to Bali but to other cities in Indonesia like Surabaya and Balikpapan.

Emirates first included Jakarta in their international route in 1992 through Singapore and Colombo. By March 2013, the airline began operating a daily three non-stop flights a week from Jakarta to Dubai.

GlobeAsia

The Netherlands debuts new Google public transport service

DutchNews.nl, June 2, 2015

 Photo: M.M.Minderhoud via
Wikimedia Commons

The Netherlands has become the first country in the world where Google is providing up-to-date public transport information via its Google Maps service.

It has been possible to request arrival and departure times via Google Maps since 2010 but only now is the information being updated to include delays and breakdowns, website nu.nl reports. 

Google says all public transport providers in the Netherlands have agreed to join the service, which has nationwide coverage. Current public transport apps 9292ov and OpenOV have also joined the project. 

Google told nu.nl the new service has been prompted by the large number of searches for public transport information in the Netherlands.

MH370 disappearance suit settled out-of-court in Malaysia

Yahoo – AFP, 2 June 2015

A board bearing solidarity messages is seen during a gathering to mark the

 one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370,

in Kuala Lumpur on March 6, 2015 (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - The Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines have reached an out-of-court settlement with the family of a man who was on Flight MH370, a lawyer said Tuesday, in the first legal claim linked with the plane's mysterious disappearance.

Jee Jing Hang, who operated an Internet business, was one of 239 passengers onboard the aircraft enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished on March 8 last year.

On behalf of his two young sons, Jee's family brought a lawsuit against Malaysia Airlines last October for breach of contract, as it failed to bring its passengers to its destination.

The family also brought claims against the Malaysian government, the Department of Civil Aviation, the Immigration department and the air force for negligence.

"The court was informed that all the parties in the suit had come to an amicable settlement," Gary Edward Chong, a lawyer for Jee's family told AFP.

He added that terms of the settlement could not be disclosed.

Meanwhile, a Malaysian lawyer N. Surendran told AFP that the out-of-court settlement could "trigger other affected family members to pursue similar legal actions."

An Australian-led team is scouring the southern Indian Ocean seabed in hope of finding the final resting place of MH370.

No wreckage from the flight has ever been found in one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

Four months after MH370's incident, Flight MH17 was blown out of the sky, killing all 298 aboard, by a suspected ground-to-air missile over Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier, has been declared "technically bankrupt" as the airline announced Monday that it will slash 6,000 jobs as part of plans to recover from the twin deadly disasters and a long run of red ink.

Malaysia Airlines 'technically bankrupt', new CEO says

Yahoo – AFP, Jun. 1, 2015

Malaysia Airlines plane are seen on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International

Airport (KLIA) in Sepang on March 8, 2015 (AFP/File Mohd Rasfan)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Malaysia Airlines is "technically bankrupt", its new German CEO said Monday as he outlined plans to stabilise the failing flag carrier including 6,000 job cuts.

"We are technically bankrupt and that decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014," Christoph Mueller told reporters, referring to two deadly disasters that rocked the airline last year.

Malaysia Airlines took its first major steps on Monday under Mueller, sending termination letters to all of its roughly 20,000 employees, followed by new contracts offered to 14,000 of them.

The exercise -- which was expected -- trims around 6,000 jobs.

Mueller had previously initiated turnarounds at Ireland's Aer Lingus and Belgium's Sabena that earned him the nickname "The Terminator" for his job-slashing.

Under Mueller, 52, the carrier plans to "re-invent" itself beginning from September 1 with an unspecified new brand image and expected new livery as it seeks to shed the stigma of a disastrous 2014. 

In March of last year, Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew aboard and remains missing. Four months later, Flight MH17 was blown out of the sky by a suspected ground-to-air missile over Ukraine and all 298 people on board were killed.

The tragedies were the final straw for an airline that analysts say had been poorly managed for years, slipping further into the red.

A state investment fund took it over in a rescue bid late last year, tapping Mueller to take the helm.

Mueller said he planned to "stop the bleeding" in 2015, stabilise the business next year, and seek to start growing again by 2017.

Mueller, in an email to staff last month, had warned that a major overhaul was necessary as the airline was weighed down by "uncompetitive cost levels" 20 percent higher than its rivals.

Besides cutting staff, Malaysia Airlines is expected to trim unprofitable long-haul routes, but Mueller said those plans could not yet be divulged for competitive reasons.

A driverless future could be nigh - or not

A future in which electric cars drive themselves and be hailed through a smartphone app may be closer than we think. Or not. Chris Cottrell reports from the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany.

Deutsche Welle, 29 May 2015

Google self-driving car

It's fitting that the movers and shakers of transportation policy have descended on Leipzig this year for their annual summit. It was here that two of the Romans' massive, intracontinental trade routes once converged, and it is here that global leaders from the fields of trade, transit and tourism have been discussing the future of mobility.

Buzz words at the International Transport Forum (ITF) have included autonomy - as in autonomous, or driverless, cars and trucks - electromobility and the sharing economy.

More than a few people here have raised the possibility of a future in which urban centers are entirely void of gas-guzzlers piloted by humans. Self-driven, battery-powered vehicles are the goal, they say. Some are eagerly waiting for these prophecies to come to fruition; others are investing heavily to ensure that they do.

A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group forecast that Germany would have self-driving cars on the Autobahn by 2017 and in cities by 2020. By 2025, commuters here could be sharing nearly every roadway with fully autonomous cars.

"This is a visible signal that mobility is changing," German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said moments after arriving at the transportation summit in a pilotless BMW i3, a sleek, black SUV that rolled to a gentle stop outside Leipzig's trade fair grounds.

Big changes

The auto industry is in the throes of big, often eye-popping changes and Germany's engineering and design prowess has put its carmakers in a unique position to get behind a possible shift to a driverless future.

A few floors up from where Dobrindt arrived, luxury carmaker Audi was showing off how those changes have manifested themselves in a virtual semi-driverless cockpit of the future, dubbed "James 2025."

This Delphi automotive Audi Q5 is fitted with laser sensors, radar and multiple
cameras (AP Photo/Delphi)

It wasn't a full prototype, just two black fabric front seats and a dashboard, but it was turning heads all the same. Sebastian Hinzmann, an engineer in the group research division at Volkswagen, Audi's parent company, said the model was based on the A6.

Audi is of course already testing its self-driving cars on a specially allocated stretch of the Autobahn in Bavaria. Just two months ago, Dobrindt took a spin there in a souped-up Audi A7 named "Jack" that was equipped with autopilot technology.

But what set "James 2025" apart from "Jack" were the extra bells and whistles. Push two buttons on the black leather steering wheel morphs into an airplane yoke-like control and sinks into the dashboard, while a sleek instrument console with touch controls softly pings the driver to alert him or her of any imminent danger.

Audi says consumers will first be able to get their hands (so to speak) on its semi-driverless technology in 2017 in the A8 model. But it's not only German auto giants that are hedging their investments for the future.

Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford and executive chairman of the Ford Motor Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg that he was aware that car and truck sales wouldn't be enough to guarantee his company's existence for another 100 years.

Urban migration

Ford's remarks added another layer to a debate that has been going on here as well about urban migration and how to prevent crippling gridlock as more people flock to cities. There has been ample speculation in the last few days in Leipzig of the potential benefits that could befall urban centers if all vehicles in cities were one day driverless.

"If we replace all the private cars and all the buses in a city, just leaving the metro and the shared, autonomous cars, we would need only one-third of the vehicles and 10 percent of the parking space," said Jose Viegas, the ITF's secretary general.

But ITF economist Philippe Crist isn't so sure. Not because fleets of shared, electric cars that run on autopilot wouldn't reduce congestion and eliminate the need for parking, but because there's no guarantee that's where things are headed. There is precedent for cities being blindsided by trends they did not expect.

Asia, for instance, and China in particular is home to a majority of the world's 21 million electric vehicles. But rather than cars, drivers there get around on battery-powered two- and three-wheelers. That's compared to the roughly 500,000 electric cars that are registered around the world.

"The model for replacing a fuel car with an electric car - the same car, same size, different drive train technology - that's not the winning electromobility strategy in the world," Crist said. "The real winning strategy is a small, low-range, light, city vehicle."

He said this was allegorical for what may happen with the rollout of automated vehicles too.

"Many expect these vehicles to be used the same way," Crist said. "I wouldn't put my money in the bank on that."

US aviation authority to review pilots' mental health screening

The deadly crash of a Germanwings jet has regulators not just in Europe thinking about how to prevent such mishaps. Now the US regulator has said it has plans to study pilots' mental health.

Deutsche Welle, 28 May 2015

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday that it had instructed its Pilot Fitness Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to make recommendations on how to better screen the safety of pilots flying in American airspace within the next six months.

It said the study, which is to be conducted by FAA officials and representatives of the private aviation industry, was aimed at finding more effective ways of monitoring the mental and emotional health of pilots.

The statement specifically referred to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 over the Indian Ocean last year, as well as Germanwings flight 4U9525, which slammed into a mountain in southern France on March 24, killing all 150 people on board.

While there is still no evidence to suggest what caused MH370 to disappear from the radar, the preliminary results of an investigation into the Germanwings crash has suggested that the flight's co-pilot deliberately crashed the Airbus A-320 after locking the pilot out of the cockpit.

The ARC, which according to the FAA statement, is to include both American and international "aviation industry experts," is to be tasked with examining not only the methods of evaluating pilots' mental health, but also barriers to reporting any suspected issues.

The Reuters news agency quoted a statement issued by Claudia Lange, a spokesperson for German flag-carrier Lufthansa, which owns budget air carrier Germanwings as saying that the airline "highly welcomes efforts that serve to further increase international aviation safety and will fully support these efforts."

pfd/jil (AFP, Reuters)

Houston submerged as wild weather kills 20 in US, Mexico

Yahoo – AFP, 26 may 2015

Vehicles are left stranded on Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2015, 

after heavy rains put the city under massive amounts of water (AFP Photo/

Aaron M. Sprecher)

Houston (AFP) - Torrential rain left large parts of Houston submerged Tuesday and trapped fans at an NBA basketball game, in savage weather that has killed nearly 20 people in the United States and Mexico.

The southern US states of Texas and Oklahoma, and northern Mexico, have borne the brunt of several days of violent weather, including tornadoes, which have left scores dead, missing and injured on both sides of the border.

More than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell in just a few hours in the Texas city of Houston, triggering the worst flooding there in at least a decade and stranding at an arena a Houston Rockets player and spectators who had gone to see the basketball team Monday night.

Hundreds of vehicles, some fully under water, were abandoned on Houston's roads. Some people were trapped in their cars, others marooned in their homes, as flood waters rose menacingly up around them.

Two people died overnight in the flooding in the city, Mayor Annise Parker said, with the toll expected to rise. Both had drowned.

"I want to ask and urge people to continue to be safe and recognize that we may have more rain later today," she said, encouraging people to stay at home in America's fourth-largest city.

The southern US states of Texas and Oklahoma, and far northern Mexico, 

have borne the brunt of several days of wild weather, including tornadoes, which

 have destroyed homes, seen rivers swell to record levels and left cars 

submerged on highways (AFP Photo/Aaron M. Sprecher)

"We have cars littered all over the city," she told a press conference, adding that emergency crews were attempting to reach the abandoned vehicles to see if anyone had been trapped inside.

Downtown Houston, where the Toyota Center is located, was not under water, said Parker. But about 200 fans had been unable to get home from the NBA game for several hours after the deluge and a few settled down for the night in the arena.

At least one Rockets player, center Dwight Howard, was among those stranded into the night after learning of the treacherous road conditions.

"There's no need to try to push it," the Houston Chronicle reported him as saying.

"I don't think it's smart for anybody to try to be out in this weather."

President Barack Obama called the flooding in Texas "terrible" and said he had offered urgent assistance to state Governor Greg Abbott.

'I love you. And pray'

Fears were growing meanwhile for at least 12 people still missing in Hays County, also in Texas.

Vehicles are left stranded on Highway

 288 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 

2015, after heavy rains put the city

 under massive amounts of water 

(AFP Photo/Aaron M. Sprecher)

One person was already confirmed dead there and two more died in Oklahoma, which is located to the north of Texas.

Many of the dozen missing in Hays County were from one house that was torn from its foundations during a terrifying flash flood over the weekend.

View galleryVehicles left stranded on a flooded Interstate 45 in …

Vehicles left stranded on a flooded Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2015, after heavy rai …

There were two families staying at the A-frame house in the picturesque town of Wimberley for the long Memorial Day weekend, NBC News reported. Among them were three children.

Inside was Laura McComb, who was on the phone with her sister when the house, built on stilts, broke off and was swept away.

"We are in a house that is now floating down the river," she reportedly told her sister, Julie Shields. "Call Mom and Dad. I love you. And pray."

Shields told the NBC affiliate KXAN that the phone call ended when McComb thought she saw a light from a helicopter that had come to rescue them.

She has not been heard from since Saturday night.

Baby found dead

Vehicles left stranded on a flooded Interstate 

45 in Houston, Texas on May 26, 2015,

 after heavy rains put the city under massive

 ammounts of water (AFP Photo/Aaron M. 

Sprecher)

South of the border, Mexico has also felt nature's wrath.

A savage twister roared through the border city of Ciudad Acuna at dawn Monday, killing at least 14 people and flattening hundreds of homes in a deadly six-second blast.

Among the victims of the tornado’s 270-300 kilometer-per-hour (168-186 miles) winds was a baby boy who was ripped from the grasp of his desperate parents and flung into the air.

His body was found on Tuesday after a frantic search.

The child was "catapulted by the tornado," Mayor Evaristo Lenin Perez said.

"It was horrible. It started raining in the morning. Very early, the wind came and everything started to fly around and then it all fell to the ground," Ciudad Acuna resident Juanita Perez said tearfully.

The federal government said the tornado destroyed 247 homes and damaged another 450.

GrabTaxi Enters Jakarta’s Motorcycle Taxi Service Market

Jakarta Globe, Vanesha Manuturi, May 20, 2015

Malaysia's GrabTaxi adds motorcycle jockeys to its line of services in Jakarta
 on Wednesday, as part of an expansion to cater to Indonesia's rapidly growing
urbani population. (Antara Photo/ Zabur Karuru)

Jakarta. Malaysia’s GrabTaxi is adding motorcycle jockeys to its services in Jakarta on Wednesday, as part of an expansion to cater to Indonesia’s rapidly growing urban population.

The Kuala Lumpur-based startup, which connects taxi drivers with customers through a smartphone application, rolled out the trial run of its “GrabBike” service starting Wednesday. The service focuses solely on motorcycle taxis, better known as ojek, according to a statement on Wednesday.

“GrabTaxi is strongly committed to create a safe and efficient transportation system in Southeast Asia. Ojek is a very popular mode of transportation in Indonesia, so [our entry] was only a matter of time,” Cheryl Goh, vice president of marketing at GrabTaxi Holding Group, said in a statement.

Under the trial version, the pickup service is currently limited to the business districts of South Jakarta – Kuningan and Setiabudi – although delivery or courier services will be available across the capital city in the future, according to the statement.

Jakarta is the third city where GrabTaxi is rolling out its GrabBike service, after Ho Ci Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam last year.

GrabTaxi’s GrabBike service will be competing head to head with homegrown startup Go-jek, which has connected ojek drivers to customers for services ranging from transportation to courier since 2010.

GrabTaxi entered Jakarta offering online taxi booking services last June. It has since expanded to Surabaya, East Java and Padang, West Sumatra.

First established in Kuala Lumpur three years ago, GrabTaxi boasts an application that has been downloaded more than 4.4 million times while more than 83,000 customers and drivers are using its services across Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

GlobeAsisa

All bodies from Germanwings plane crash identified

The remains of 150 people who were killed in a March plane crash can be sent home to their families, French authorities have said. The victims aboard the Germanwings flight were identified using DNA analysis.

Deutsche Welle, 19 May 2015

Information on the victims has been forwarded to Germanwings parent company Lufthansa, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said in a statement on Tuesday, allowing the bodies to be repatriated and laid to rest.

"The 150 death certificates have been signed, as well as the permits for burial," Robin said.

French crime experts had previously identified all of the people killed in the crash, by matching the DNA samples found at the crash site to those provided by passengers' relatives.

The identification process, which had lasted six weeks, was cojmpleted on Friday, the prosecutors said.

The experts had previously predicted it could last between two and three months.

Co-pilot 'rehearsed' the crash

The Airbus 320, belonging to German low-cost carrier Germanwings, flew into a mountainside in French Alps on March 24, while on route to Düsseldorf from Barcelona.

Investigators believe that the plane's co-pilot, 27-year old Andreas Lubitz, intentionally crashed Flight 4U 9525, killing himself and 149 other people aboard. Almost half of the victims were German, another 51 were Spanish nationals.

Lubitz had struggled with severe depression and suicidal tendencies in the past, and was written off sick from work a number of times, including on the day of the crash.

In its interim report, French aviation safety authority BEA said that Lubitz "rehearsed" putting the plane to a descent several times on the outbound flight to Barcelona, prior to the crash.

On the way back to Germany, the young co-pilot allegedly locked the captain out of the cockpit and put the aircraft into a nosedive. The flight recorder, retreived several days after the crash, showed the pilot's frantic efforts to open the door, which is heavily re-enforced to prevent hijackings.

After the crash, several countries announced they would require that two people inside the cockpit at all times, which is already a rule in the United States.

A full report on the crash is expected to be published within a year of the incident, as is typical within the industry.

Relatives to fill out a form

Robert Tansill Oliver, father of one of the victims, said he and his wife received notification that DNA was matched with remains of their son. They also received a form they needed to fill out so they can have their son's remains sent to Spain in June.

They were also invited to Paris to identify items possibly belonging to him.

Oliver, a retired American teacher who has lived in Barcelona for decades, said he had no complaints about how long it took to identify his son's body.

"I hope they have done the job correctly," Oliver said. "Better to get it done right than quickly."

dj/msh (Reuters, AP, dpa. AFP)

Green lights for our self-driving vehicle prototypes

Google Blog, Friday, May 15, 2015   

When we started designing the world’s first fully self-driving vehicle, our goal was a vehicle that could shoulder the entire burden of driving. Vehicles that can take anyone from A to B at the push of a button could transform mobility for millions of people, whether by reducing the 94 percent of accidents caused by human error (PDF), reclaiming the billions of hours wasted in traffic, or bringing everyday destinations and new opportunities within reach of those who might otherwise be excluded by their inability to drive a car.

Now we’re announcing the next step for our project: this summer, a few of the prototype vehicles we’ve created will leave the test track and hit the familiar roads of Mountain View, Calif., with our safety drivers aboard.

Our safety drivers will test fully self-driving vehicle prototypes like this one
on the streets of Mountain View, Calif., this summer.

We’ve been running the vehicles through rigorous testing at our test facilities, and ensuring our software and sensors work as they’re supposed to on this new vehicle. The new prototypes will drive with the same software that our existing fleet of self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs uses. That fleet has logged nearly a million autonomous miles on the roads since we started the project, and recently has been self-driving about 10,000 miles a week. So the new prototypes already have lots of experience to draw on—in fact, it’s the equivalent of about 75 years of typical American adult driving experience.

Each prototype’s speed is capped at a neighborhood-friendly 25mph, and during this next phase of our project we’ll have safety drivers aboard with a removable steering wheel, accelerator pedal, and brake pedal that allow them to take over driving if needed. We’re looking forward to learning how the community perceives and interacts with the vehicles, and to uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle—e.g., where it should stop if it can’t stop at its exact destination due to construction or congestion. In the coming years, we’d like to run small pilot programs with our prototypes to learn what people would like to do with vehicles like this. If you’d like to follow updates about the project and share your thoughts, please join us on our Google+ page. See you on the road!

Posted by Chris Urmson, Director, Google Self-Driving Car Project