Latest news with #Kiribati
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Saudi Arabia, Kiribati sign air transport services agreement
Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Kiribati have signed an air transport services agreement, aiming to enhance cooperation and foster bilateral collaboration. The agreement contributes to advancing the civil aviation sector's strategy to build international partnerships and strengthen global relations, thereby enabling national carriers to expand their operational networks, reported SPA. Additionally, the agreement aims to establish regulatory frameworks for air transport between the two nations, based on mutual benefit and respect, as well as applicable laws, regulations, and directives. The Minister of Transport and Logistic Services and Chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Saleh Al-Jasser, signed the agreement. On behalf of Kiribati, the agreement was signed by Minister for Information, Communications and Transport Alexander Teabo, in the presence of GACA President Abdulaziz Al-Duailej. The signing took place on the sidelines of High-Level Aviation Week, organized by the Ministry of Transport in Singapore from July 13 to 18. Copyright 2024 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Saudi king, crown prince congratulate Montenegro and Kiribati on their special days
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's king and crown prince on Sunday congratulated President Jakov Milatović of Montenegro on his country's National Day celebration. In a cable, King Salman wished Milatović "continued good health and happiness, and the government and people of Montenegro steady progress and prosperity," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the Kingdom's prime minister, sent a similar message in a separate cable, according to SPA. Earlier on Saturday, the king and crown prince greeted Kiribati President Taneti Maamau on his country's Independence Day, wishing him and his constituents steady progress and prosperity. Montenegro, located in southeast Europe, became part of Yugoslavia in 1918 during the realignment of nations after World War I. After Yugoslavia broke up in 1992, Montenegro formed a federation with Serbia, but opted later to become an independent republic in 2006. Kiribati, an island republic in the central Pacific, gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1979. Both Montenegro and Kiribati are members of the United Nations.
RNZ News
09-07-2025
- RNZ News
Pacific Waves for 10 July 2025
Journalist recalls last voyage on the fateful Rainbow Warrior; American Samoa declares dengue fever outbreak; Ratu Tevita predicted to stand in Fiji elections - professor; Kiribati youth embrace language through performances. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Fresh clues in mystery of Amelia Earhart point to plane crash near small island: 'Very strong evidence'
It is a mystery that has captivated the world for 88 years, and now scientists believe they have finally found Amelia Earhart's doomed plane. Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished while attempting to fly around the world on July 2, 1937, sparking decades of failed searches and countless theories. A team from Purdue University claims they have located the Lockheed Model 10-E Electra plane off the coast of a small, remote and inhospitable island lagoon of Nikumaroro in Kiribati, nearly 1,000 miles from Fiji. Their theory is based on satellite imagery showing an unusual object on the ocean floor just feet from the shoreline, combined with artifacts, historical records, human remains and eyewitness testimony. Researchers said the size and composition of the object are an almost exact match for Earhart's plane, and they are planning an expedition to the island this November to investigate further. Nikumaroro also sits near Earhart's intended flight path, and almost exactly where four of her distress calls were traced, providing even more compelling evidence Richard Pettigrew, executive director Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI), which is joining the hunt, said: 'What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case. 'With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof.' Earhart took to the sky on June 1, 1937, hoping to become the first female aviator to fly around the world. She and Noonan departed from Oakland, California, flew to Miami, continued down to South America, crossed the Atlantic to Africa and then headed east through India and South Asia. A few weeks later, they left Lae in Papua New Guinea with plans to stop on Howland Island on July 2 to refuel. But somewhere over the Pacific, they lost radio contact and were never seen or heard from again. Their disappearance sparked one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time, leading to countless theories, from crashing at sea to becoming castaways on a remote island, or even being captured by the Japanese. Now, researchers believe they may finally have a lead, an underwater anomaly known as the Taraia Object, and they are building a compelling case. Among the strongest pieces of evidence are radio bearings from Earhart's distress transmissions, recorded by the US Navy, Coast Guard, and Pan American World Airways, which all converge near Nikumaroro. A 2017 forensic analysis of human bones discovered on the island in 1940 found that the dimensions matched Earhart's bone lengths more closely than 99 percent of the population, strongly suggesting they may have belonged to her. Researchers have also cited period-specific artifacts found on the island, including a woman's shoe, a compact case, a jar of freckle cream, and a medicine vial, all dating to the 1930s. Another clue is the Bevington Object, a photographic anomaly captured just three months after Earhart's disappearance that appears to show part of the Electra's landing gear on the Nikumaroro reef. The most recent clue fueling the theory is a 2020 satellite image of the object, showing it has remained in the same spot in the island's lagoon since at least 1938. ALI joined the hunt that same year after a private citizen, Michael Ashmore, noticed the object while studying 2015 Apple Maps imagery of the island. That discovery prompted the team to gather 26 additional satellite images from 2009 to 2021, along with three more from Google Earth covering 2022 through 2024. 'This object in the satellite images is exactly the right size to represent the fuselage and tail of the Electra,' ALI said in a statement. 'It also appears to be very reflective and is likely to be metallic.' The new mission, named the Taraia Object Expedition, will be carried out in three phases over several years. The first phase involves an on-site examination of Nikumaroro, the second will include a full-scale archaeological excavation and the final phase aims to recover the suspected aircraft remains. 'We believe that the result of this Phase-1 field examination will probably be the confirmation that the Taraia Object is indeed the Lockheed Electra aircraft,' the team shared. 'This work, then, is likely to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century.' This expedition follows several past efforts to crack the case, including a high-profile mission in 2019 by famed ocean explorer Robert Ballard, supported by National Geographic. Ballard conducted a systematic search of the deep waters around Nikumaroro but found no trace of the aircraft. However, current researchers said that outcomes do not rule out their theory. 'The plane ending up in the deep water is not actually a likely scenario, given what we know about the prevailing winds and currents along the northwestern edge of the island,' they explained. In 2017, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) also investigated the island, deploying search dogs that detected the scent of human remains. But once again, no physical evidence was recovered. Earhart's connection to Purdue University adds another dimension to the search. Before the flight, she was hired by the university to advise women on career opportunities. 'About nine decades ago, Amelia Earhart was recruited to Purdue,' said current Purdue president Mung Chiang. 'The university president later worked with her to prepare an aircraft for her historic flight around the world.' Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas on July 24, 1897. Her father was a railroad lawyer, but later suffered from alcoholism and the family often struggled for money. They moved often, but Earhart completed high school and then started at the Ogontz School in Pennsylvania. She left junior college early to become a nurse's aide in Toronto after visiting her sister in Canada and deciding to care for soldiers wounded in World War I. After the war, she started a premed program at Columbia but quit when her parents insisted she move back home to live with them in California. That was where she took her first flight in 1920, as a passenger with veteran flyer Frank Hawks. She was immediately entranced, saying: 'As soon as I left the ground, I knew I had to fly.' She started lessons - paying for them through her work as a telephone company clerk, and then bought her first plane in 1921, a Kinner Airster. Earhart set her first record just two years after she flew for the first time and before she even had her official pilot's license. In 1922, she became the first woman to fly at 14,000 feet. Then, in 1928, promoters started looking for a woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and chose Earhart. As a passenger on Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon's plane, she flew from Newfoundland to Wales and became a celebrity overnight. She wrote a book about the adventure and went on a lecture tour across the US. Then in 1932, flying her red Lockheed Vega 5B, she became the first woman - and second person ever - to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. The flight took 15 hours and she battled tiredness, cold and mechanical issues that nearly ended her flight in disaster as she plummeted 3,000ft on her descent and was forced to carry out an emergency landing in Northern Ireland. It did not put her off, and later that year she became the first woman to fly solo nonstop across America in 19 hours and 5 minutes.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Amelia Earhart disappeared 88 years ago, on July 2, 1937. Purdue thinks it knows where.
(This story has been updated with new information.) WEST LAFAYETTE, IN — On the 88th anniversary of Amelia Earhart's disappearance, the Purdue Research Foundation and the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) announced a joint effort to locate the flight pioneer's long lost aircraft. The official search, named the "Taraia Object Expedition," will begin on Nov. 5, PRF said in a news release Wednesday morning ahead of a press conference, when a field team organized by ALI visits the island Nikumaroro, part of the Phoenix Islands in the island nation of Kiribati, by sea. The expedition, the release said, will determine whether a visual anomaly known as the "Taraia Object," seen in satellite and other imagery in the island's lagoon, is what remains of Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E airplane. Standing directly in front of the hangar Earhart once flew out of at the Purdue University Airport, Richard Pettigrew, ALI's executive director, said the expedition could be the "greatest opportunity ever" to finally close the nearly century-old mystery. "With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof," Pettigrew said. "I look forward to collaborating with Purdue Research Foundation in writing the final chapter in Amelia Earhart's remarkable life story.' Earhart became a visiting professor at Purdue in 1935, and she's one of Purdue's most famous former staff members. A New York Times headline from 1936 proclaimed, "MISS EARHART TO GET 'FLYING LABORATORY'; Purdue Announces $50,000 Fund to Provide a Special Plane for Her Researches." On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. 'About nine decades ago, Amelia Earhart was recruited to Purdue, and the university president later worked with her to prepare an aircraft for her historic flight around the world,' Purdue President Mung Chiang said in the release. 'Today, as a team of experts try again to locate the plane, the Boilermaker spirit of exploration lives on.' Steven Schultz, senior vice president and general counsel of Purdue University, said that in recognition of the foundation's contribution, Earhart and her husband, George Putnam, intended to give the plane to Purdue upon her return, where it would be used to further scientific research in aeronautics. 'Both Earhart and her husband and manager, George Putnam, expressed their intention to return the Electra to Purdue after her historic flight,' Schultz said. 'Based on the evidence, we agree with ALI that this expedition offers the best chance not only to solve perhaps the greatest mystery of the 20th century, but also to fulfill Amelia's wishes and bring the Electra home.' The price tag of the November expedition is estimated at $900K, Schultz said. Of the total, $400K has been raised so far through efforts by ALI, Schultz said, with the remaining $500K being provided by PRF through a line of credit. No Purdue faculty are scheduled to be included on the expedition, Schultz said, but Purdue alumnus Marc Hagle, who became the first married couple alongside his wife, Sharon, in 2022 to embark on a commercial space flight with Blue Origin, has been designated as a special emissary to the exploration. The Electra, which disappeared on July 2, 1937, has never been recovered, but a vast amount of circumstantial evidence has been amassed, the release said, largely by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGER) over nearly 40 years, supporting the Nikumaroro hypothesis. This idea posits that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, did not crash at sea but instead landed and were marooned on an uninhabited island and subsequently perished there. The hypothesis, as updated by ALI with new evidence for the Taraia Object, is based on documentary records, photographs and satellite images, physical evidence, and personal testimony, the release said, including these highlights: Radio bearings recorded from radio transmissions at the time by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and Pan American World Airways, which converge on Nikumaroro A 2017 analysis of human bones discovered on the island in 1940, which determined Earhart's bone lengths were more similar to the discovered bones than 99% of individuals, strongly supporting the conclusion they belong to Earhart Artifacts including a woman's shoe, a compact case, a freckle cream jar and a medicine vial — all dating to the 1930s The Bevington Object, a photographic anomaly captured just three months after the plane's disappearance, which appears to represent one of the Electra landing gear on the Nikumaroro reef The Taraia Object, located in 2020, which has been in the same place in the lagoon since 1938 Schultz said in his more than 12 years as general counsel for the university, Purdue and PRF have been contacted "several" times with claims that the plane had been located, but none had been as strong of a case as ALI's. Some of the evidence that strengthens ALI's case, Schultz said, is evidence of directional bearings from Earhart's radio signals captured at the time. Schultz said Earhart's voice was heard on U.S. mainland over radio signals in the days following her disappearance, which could have been possible only had her plane survived. Pettigrew said it is often misunderstood that Earhart's plane "crash landed," but he said that couldn't have been true. "We're talking about a successful landing on the reef with an intact aircraft," Pettigrew said. "I think it's likely that Amelia was planning to be rescued, refueled, take off again and make it to Hawaii and continue on to California to complete her journey. That was her hope. And for a period of maybe five days, that hope remained alive." But in the days that followed Earhart's landing on the remote island, Pettigrew said, the tide would have risen, causing the airplane, which had been completely depleted of fuel, to be lifted off its landing place. "In this concept, the plane would have been rolled and crashed up against the reef as a consequence of the surf and would have broken up," Pettigrew said. "The outer wings would have come off first, then the engine, the landing gear … And remember, it was full of empty gas tanks, so it would be very buoyant." In early 2024, Deep Sea Vision, a marine robotics company in South Carolina, made headlines when it reported that scans of a blurry sonar image could be the missing Electra plane deep in the Pacific Ocean. Schultz said that claim has since been debunked, and that while Deep Sea Vision's thought-to-be location was deep under water, ALI's location is in very shallow water. Ric Gillespie, an author and expedition leader of 12 searches in the South Pacific for Earhart's plane, said in an interview Wednesday morning for the TODAY Show that he is skeptical of the satellite photos of the proposed site. Gillespie said in the interview his team had previously searched the proposed site, but found nothing, noting it could be a "coconut tree complete with root ball." But Schultz said the university and ALI have strong reasons to believe it's not a tree stuck in the water. With the evidence produced, Schultz said, if Purdue and ALI don't pursue the possibility of finding the long lost Electra plane, then who will? "Purdue is known for calculated risks, and this is a calculated risk," Schultz said. "We feel like we owe it to the legacy to take it." ALI plans to post project updates, beginning soon, on its subscription video platform, Heritage Broadcasting Service, the release said. If the initial expedition proves successful in confirming the identity of the aircraft, PRF and ALI plan to return for larger excavation efforts in 2026 to uncover and help return what remains of Earhart's plane. Schultz said at this time, no money has been set aside for if the plane is found and returned to the university. If the plane is found through this expedition, Schultz said, Purdue has the strongest equitable claim to the remains of the Electra. "That's based on the clear intent, the donated intent, of Amelia and her husband to bring the plane back to Purdue, and the fact that we facilitated it," Schultz said. "Obviously there are a lot of stakeholders now involved in this, not the least of which is Rick and Ali, but also the people of the Republic of Kiribati, and their views on this matter is very important." Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@ This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue Research Foundation says it plans to locate Amelia Earhart's plane
