The View From Down-Under
It looks like the Chinese were on to something with their report. The BBC reports that:
An Australian vessel searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has detected signals consistent with those from “black box” flight recorders.
The Ocean Shield ship picked up the signal twice, once for more than two hours, said Angus Houston, a retired air chief marshal leading the search.
The batteries on the location devices are reaching their limited lifetime, so they may not be of help much longer, but they have indicated an area to search with the other tools available. The area is consistent with other data that has been calculated regarding flight path and possible impact point, and the signals were received for an extended period, indicating that the origin was closer than the Chinese vessel.
The ABC has coverage of the Australian-Japan ‘free trade agreement’, which shows that many in Abbott’s own party are not happy with the deal that was struck.
The agreement has its own limited definition of ‘free trade’ that doesn’t include many segments of the agricultural sector. These are important supporters of the Prime Minister’s ruling coalition, and they are openly expressing displeasure with the deal.
These deals can’t please everyone, but politicians usually work to please their own supporters.
