The United Kingdom's defence ministry has launched an investigation into a social media video apparently showing British soldiers using a picture of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn for target practice.
The ministry said the incident, allegedly filmed at a shooting range in the Afghan capital, Kabul, was "totally unacceptable", according to a report by Sky News.
"We are aware of a video circulating on social media, this behaviour is totally unacceptable and falls well below the high standards the Army expects," an army spokesperson said.
"A full investigation has been launched," he added.
Al Jazeera was not able to verify the authenticity of the footage.
The video has prompted outrage, and many social media users criticised the footage, coming in the wake of the 2016 murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by far-right killer Thomas Mair and a foiled 2017 plot to murder Rosie Cooper, another Labour MP.
Video has emerged of soldiers on a shooting range in Kabul firing at a target of Jeremy Corbyn. MOD confirms it as legit: pic.twitter.com/qOr84Aiivj
Corbyn has not been a popular figure for some army circles due to his views on the UK's involvement in the war in Iraq and army practices in Northern Ireland during the Troubles - a violent period when more than 3,500 people were killed in sectarian violence.
Pilots of the 737 Max jet that crashed in Ethiopia in March initially followed Boeing's standard emergency procedures to try to get control of the plane, but ultimately failed, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Crew members turned off the flight-control system that automatically pushed down the plane's nose after take off, but could not get the plane to climb, the Journal reported, citing people briefed on the investigation's preliminary findings. They ended up turning the control system back on before the plane crashed, killing all 157 people on board.
It's the latest report in the midst of mounting pressure on Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration over their assertions that had pilots simply followed established safety procedures, the crash may have been avoided. The new details of the crash are based on data from the aircraft's black-box recorders.
The pilots turned the electrical power back on, which re-engaged the stall-prevention feature, known as MCAS, and then used electrical switches to try to raise the nose, the people told the Journal.
It's not clear why Ethiopian Flight 302 pilots turned the automated system back on rather than continuing to follow Boeing's standard emergency steps. Government officials and investigators said it's likely that manual controls to raise the nose of the plane didn't work, and pilots tried to re-engage the system to combat the nose-down angle of the jet and failed, the Journal reported.
The same control system was also used in the 737 Max crash in Indonesia in October that resulted in deaths of all 189 people on board.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation launched an investigation yesterday into whistleblower complaints accusing the FAA of improperly training its safety inspectors to review the Boeing jets. The FAA may have been notified about these deficiencies as early as August 2018, the panel said. The Justice Department has also launched a criminal probe.
Ethiopian investigators are expected to release a preliminary report about the crash in the upcoming days. Investigators looking to the Lion Air Flight 610 crash think that similar system malfunctions were involved, including erroneous data from a single sensor that caused the MCAS system to misfire.
Boeing is still preparing software updates for the 737 Max plane's flight-control system. The plane maker initially planned to submit the fixes to the FAA last week, but said it needs more time. The revised software will have two sensors, rather than one, and will give pilots more control over the system, according to Boeing.
Theresa May has finally made a decision. And it's not one her hard-Brexit allies will like.
The Prime Minister has recognized what many have been saying for weeks -- that there's no majority for her deal in Parliament.
In offering talks with the opposition Labour Party -- and, crucially, offering to accept the result of any vote in Parliament for an alternative Brexit plan -- May has also recognized that she will never be able to persuade her supposed allies in the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, nor a hard core of Brexiteers in her own Conservative Party.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May giving a statement inside 10 Downing Street in London.
May has picked a side, and in agreeing to a cross-party approach, it's the side of a "soft" Brexit -- one that envisages a closer relationship with the EU than she previously could countenance.
"This is a difficult time for everyone. Passions are running high on all sides of the argument. But we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for," May said.
That's a sign that she's about to rub out at least some of her infamous "red lines" which shaped the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the EU -- out of the Customs Union, which stops the UK signing independent trade deals, and out of the Single Market, which requires the UK to accept unlimited immigration from the EU.
Theresa May's statement on Tuesday evening represented a significant shift in her Brexit approach, moving away from the prospect of a no-deal split and bringing opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn into the equation.
Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, and leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The plan will dismay the hardline Brexiteers in her own party, who for so long have opposed her Withdrawal Agreement -- and may now, as a result, lose the hard Brexit they crave.
All eyes now shift to Corbyn, the Labour leader whose next move could shape the future of Brexit. The Prime Minister said she would attempt to forge an agreement with Corbyn that would then be put to the House of Commons.
Corbyn said his guiding principle would be to "avoid the dangers of crashing out" of the EU without a deal. Labour would "hold in reserve" the option of calling a no-confidence motion in May's government, which could trigger a general election if it were successful. He said he would make the move if the government "proves it is incapable of commanding a majority in the House of Commons."
But, what will Corbyn demand in his talks with May?
A customs union: Labour party policy favors a customs union with the EU and "close alignment" to the single market. A motion to add a customs union to May's Brexit deal came the closest to achieving a majority in the Commons during the first two rounds of indicative votes this week. If Labour compromised its demand for single market alignment, her deal could get over the line.
Common Market 2.0: This so-called "Norway Plus" model was also backed by Labour in Monday's indicative votes, and comes closest to Labour's own alternative Brexit plan. But it calls for the UK to stay in the Single Market, which would likely be unpalatable to May.
A second referendum: Corbyn took a long time to come around to the prospect of a second vote, but ultimately supported a plan from one of his backbenchers for a confirmatory vote on any deal May gets through Parliament. Could May accept a combination of a customs union plus a confirmatory referendum? It would be a huge move for her.
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By Associated Press
LONDON — Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday that she will seek to further delay Britain's exit from the European Union and seek to make an accord with the political opposition in a bid to break the Brexit impasse.
May made the announcement after the E.U.'s chief negotiator warned that a chaotic and costly Brexit was likely in just 10 days unless Britain snapped out of the political crisis that has paralyzed the government and Parliament.
After a seven-hour Cabinet meeting, May announced a significant softening of her Brexit terms.
"I have always been clear that we could make a success of no-deal in the long term but leaving with a deal is the best solution," she said in a televised statement from 10 Downing St.
"So we will need a further extension of (the E.U.'s) Article 50 — one that is as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal."
Feb. 7, 201909:58
May said "this debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer" and offered to sit down with opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find a compromise solution.
Hours before May's statement, E.U. negotiator Michel Barnier offered E.U. legislators his downbeat assessment as British Cabinet ministers tried to thrash out a new proposal that the U.K. Parliament could consider following the defeat of the government's plan and a range of lawmaker-written alternatives.
"As things stand now, the no-deal option looks likely. I have to tell you the truth," Barnier said in Brussels. "We can still hope to avoid it" if the intensive work in London produces a breakthrough before an April 10 EU summit.
Britain could depart from the E.U. without a road map two days after the summit. The leaders of the EU's 27 remaining countries gave the U.K. until April 12 to leave the bloc or to come up with a new plan, after lawmakers thrice rejected an agreement struck between the bloc and May.
The House of Commons on Monday threw out four alternatives to May's Brexit deal — the second day of inconclusive votes on options.
May's statement seemed to indicate that she was veering away from the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.
Exiting without a deal in place would jeopardize trade and travel, with new checks on borders and new regulations on dealings between the E.U. and Britain.
Amid all the uncertainty, analysts have said the economic impact in Britain could be massive.
Ford's European boss said that if the U.K. can't work out a deal on leaving the EU that guarantees "frictionless trade," the vehicle maker "will have to consider seriously the long-term future of our investments in the country."
Ford of Europe Chairman Steven Armstrong told The Associated Press that "a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the automotive industry in the U.K."
Barnier warned that challenges remain for the E.U. too, though said the bloc is prepared for a chaotic exit.
"Being prepared for no deal does not mean that there will be no disruption," he said.
Barnier urged Britain's Parliament and government to take a more realistic approach as soon as possible.
"We still have a little bit of patience," he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also made urgent appeals before May's statement for Britain to propose an alternative Brexit plan to avoid a no-deal departure.
"We cannot spend the coming months on solving terms for the divorce," Macron said before he and Varadkar met in Paris.
Varadkar stressed "there's still time" for May to come to the April 10 summit with "credible" proposals.
The EU negotiated a long post-Brexit transition period with May. But it was linked to the overall agreement that hasn't won approval in Parliament, so "there is no transition if there is no deal," Barnier said.
Barnier reiterated that the EU was unwilling to renegotiate the 585-page withdrawal agreement but said he would agree to open up the political declaration attached to the legal text.
In Britain, political chaos continued to reign as the Cabinet held a marathon session to try to find a way out of the crisis. A group of pro-Brexit ministers pressed May to go forward with a no-deal departure. Other Cabinet members and a majority of lawmakers think that would be a disaster.
"We are now in a really dangerous situation with a serious and growing risk of no deal," Labour Party legislator Yvette Cooper said.
Cooper has introduced legislation, which Parliament is set to consider, this week, that would require May to seek to extend the Brexit process beyond April 12 in order to prevent a no-deal departure.
Mrs May said she wanted the extension to be "as short as possible" - before 22 May so the UK does not have to take part in European elections.
The UK has until 12 April to propose a plan - which must be accepted by the EU - or it will leave without a deal.
The UK was supposed to leave the EU on 29 March, but Mrs May agreed a short extension after realising Parliament would not agree a deal by the deadline.
Mrs May met her cabinet for more than seven hours on Tuesday, and afterwards gave a statement from Downing Street.
She said she wanted to agree a new plan with Mr Corbyn and put it to a vote in the Commons before 10 April - when the EU will hold an emergency summit on Brexit.
If she and Mr Corbyn do not agree a single way forward, she proposed putting a number of options to MPs "to determine which course to pursue".
The PM said she understood some people were "so fed up with delay and endless arguments" they would prefer to leave without a deal, and she believed the UK "could make a success of no-deal in the long term".
But she added that leaving with a deal was "the best solution".
"This is a difficult time for everyone," said Mrs May. "Passions are running high on all sides of the argument, but we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for.
"This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands and it requires national unity to deliver the national interest."
How has Brexit unfolded?
November 2018: UK agrees withdrawal agreement and framework of future relations with EU
December 2018: Theresa May postpones first meaningful vote on deal to seek further assurances from EU
15 January: House of Commons rejects overall Brexit deal by 230 votes
13 March: MPs vote down Brexit deal for second time by 149 votes
22 March: EU agrees to delay Brexit beyond 29 March - but only to 12 April if UK can't agree deal within a week
29 March: MPs reject withdrawal agreement on its own by 58 votes
2 April: PM says she will seek further "short extension" from the EU
Hilary Benn, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons Brexit committee, said the PM's decision to apply for a further extension from the EU was "good news".
"I welcome the fact that the PM has finally acknowledged she cannot take the UK out of the EU next Friday with no deal," he told the BBC.
But he said Mrs May needed to show she was genuinely open to new ideas.
"She really needs to give Parliament an indication she is willing to move. If this is the first indication she will shift, that is important but if it is the same old story then it isn't."
But Brexit-supporting Labour MP Kate Hoey said "whatever compromise" Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn came up with, many MPs would simply not vote for the withdrawal agreement.
"I still feel there is an opportunity for what people actually voted for," she told the BBC's Beyond 100 Days programme.
"They voted to leave. It is really quite simple. It is just so many MPs don't want us to leave and have stopped us trying to do so."
After Mrs May's statement, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, called for patience.
