MH370: After three years, deep sea hunt for missing plane suspended

January 17, 2017

Sydney, Jan 17: The deep sea hunt for missing flight MH370 has been suspended after nearly three years without result, the Australian, Malaysian and Chinese governments said Tuesday.

The Malaysia Airlines aircraft disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March, 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crew.

The plane "has not been located" in the 120,000 square kilometre (46,000 square mile) search area of the southern Indian Ocean, a statement from the three nations said.

"Despite every effort using the best science available, cutting edge technology, as well as modelling and advice from highly skilled professionals who are the best in their field, unfortunately, the search has not been able to locate the aircraft," the statement added.

"Accordingly, the underwater search for MH370 has been suspended."

The governments said the suspension, which was flagged by Malaysia earlier this month, was not "taken lightly nor without sadness" but that "to date no new information has been discovered to determine the specific location of the aircraft".

"We remain hopeful that new information will come to light and that at some point in the future the aircraft will be located."

Investigators have so far confirmed that three pieces of debris washed up and recovered on western Indian Ocean shorelines came from MH370.

Other pieces recovered mostly on western Indian Ocean shorelines have been identified as likely, though not definitely, from MH370.

New analysis by Australian and international experts released in December concluded MH370 was not in the search zone — a long stretch of water within the so-called seventh arc where the plane was calculated to have emitted a final satellite "handshake" — and might be further north.

They identified an area of approximately 25,000 square kilometres with the highest probability of containing wreckage, but Australia and Malaysia said the report did not constitute a strong enough lead to extend the search.

Next-of-kin association Voice370 said it was "dismayed" with the search's suspension and called on authorities to extend the hunt.

"In our view, extending the search to the new area defined by the experts is an inescapable duty owed to the flying public in the interest of aviation safety," Voice370 said in a statement.

"Commercial planes cannot just be allowed to disappear without a trace."

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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