Mosul airport has been recaptured by Iraqi elite forces from ISIS.
The operation took four hours. ISIS continued to fire mortars at the airport from further inside the city after losing the ground to the army.
The jihadists have also entered a nearby military base amid further clashes, a military spokesman said.
Eastern Mosul was retaken last month.
Today’s advance brings the army within less than a mile of western Mosul, where the militants are expected to launch attacks from densely populated neighborhoods.
The assault began with air strikes by the US-led coalition before armored columns advanced to the airport’s perimeter.
Image source Iraqi News
Iraqi forces also came under fire from ISIS militants holed up inside airport buildings, reports said.
Foreign troops from the US-led coalition were with the attacking troops, officials told the Associated Press, without specifying their nationality.
According to reports, the airport’s runway has been destroyed by ISIS.
The airport and the al-Ghazlani base are on Mosul’s southern outskirts on the western side of the Tigris River.
Thousands of Iraqi troops, backed by artillery and air power, are involved in the assault to retake Mosul.
Leaflets warning residents of an imminent offensive were earlier dropped over western Mosul, where military officials say narrow winding streets could make retaking the area particularly difficult.
Although slightly smaller than the east, western Mosul is more densely populated and includes districts seen as pro-ISIS.
The UN has voiced concern about the welfare of civilians trapped in the city.
North Korea has accused China, its only international ally, of giving in to American demands.
Last week, China announced a ban on coal imports during 2017, in response to North Korea’s continuing ballistic missile tests.
The Pyongyang statement did not name China, but referred to a “neighboring country” which “often claims” to be friendly.
“This country, styling itself a big power, is dancing to the tune of the US,” the state-run KCNA news agency said.
In a direct reference to the ban on imports, the Pyongyang statement said China had “taken inhumane steps such as totally blocking foreign trade”, which would help its enemies “to bring down the social system” in North Korea.
North Korea relies on the coal trade with China for cash income.
Although China backs North Korea, alone among the international community, it has been a critic of its nuclear program, and has backed UN sanctions against it.
China’s ban on coal imports came a week after North Korea tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
The following day, Chinese media reported that a coal shipment from North Korea worth $1 million had been stopped at Wenzhou port, on China’s eastern coast, before the ban was officially announced a few days later.
Image source Getty Images
North Korea claims to have advanced nuclear capabilities that have never been verified. The country said it created a nuclear weapon in just a few years without any external aid.
If North Korea successfully created a fully functional inter-continental ballistic missile, it could conceivably threaten the US – about 5,500 miles away – as well as closer neighbors.
Howver, the government remains defiant in the face of international pressure.
“It is utterly childish to think that [North Korea] would not manufacture nuclear weapons and inter-continental ballistic rockets if a few [pennies] of money is cut off,” it said in its statement.
The words “dancing to the tune of the US” may refer to President Donald Trump’s remarks, before taking office, that China should bring North Korea “under control”.
Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox and Friends on January 4: “China has… total control over North Korea.
“And China should solve that problem. And if they don’t solve the problem, we should make trade very difficult for China.”
The rebuke of its only ally is the second verbal attack on another nation by North Korea on the same day.
Earlier, the secretive country appeared to blame Malaysia for the death of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, and said the country was attempting to politicize the return of his body.
Kim Jong-nam died after being poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport in an apparent planned attack.
North Korea has reacted for the first time to Kim Jong-nam’s assassination saying that Malaysia is responsible for the death of one of its citizens and is attempting to politicize the return of his body.
It does not name Kim Jong-nam, but the KCNA report appears to be state media’s first reference to the death of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother.
Kim Jong-un died after being poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport and his body remains in a hospital mortuary.
Several North Koreans are wanted in connection with his death.
They include a senior official at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur as well as an employee of the state airline, Air Koryo.
Four other North Koreans named earlier in the case are thought to have left Malaysia already, while another North Korean is in detention.
Malaysia’s police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said on February 23 that he had asked international police agency Interpol to issue an alert for the four.
On February 22, Malaysian police confirmed that Kim Jong-nam died after two women – also in detention – wiped a toxin on his face while he was waiting for a flight to Macau.
It said the attack was “planned” and that the women had been well trained. They have not directly blamed the North Korean state, but said North Koreans were clearly behind it.
Kim Jong-nam was once seen as a possible successor to his father, Kim Jong-il, but was bypassed in favor of his younger half brother, Kim Jong-un, and spent many years living abroad.
He had been travelling on a passport under the name Kim Chol.
Malaysia says it believes the man was indeed Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong-un, though it is seeking family DNA samples for official confirmation, a request North Korea called “absurd”.
KCNA said only that “a citizen of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]” who was traveling on a diplomatic passport had died due to “a heart stroke”.
It said reports of a poisoning were false and Malaysia was part of an “anti-DPRK conspiratorial racket launched by the South Korean authorities”.
Conducting a post-mortem on the holder of a diplomatic passport without state permission was “a wanton human rights abuse and an act contrary to human ethics and morality”, it said.
“The biggest responsibility for his death rests with the government of Malaysia,” said the KCNA report, and the refusal to hand the body back to North Korean officials “proves that the Malaysian side is going to politicize the transfer of the body in utter disregard of international law and morality and thus attain a sinister purpose”.
A record seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a single star have been detected.
The astronomers say that all seven exoplanets could potentially support liquid water on the surface, depending on the other properties of those planets.
However, only three are within the conventional “habitable” zone where life is considered a possibility.
The compact system of exoplanets orbits Trappist-1, a low-mass, cool star located 40 light-years away from Earth.
The planets, detected using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and several ground-based observatories, are described in the journal Nature.
Lead author Michaël Gillon, from Belgium’s University of Liège, said: “The planets are all close to each other and very close to the star, which is very reminiscent of the moons around Jupiter.
“Still, the star is so small and cold that the seven planets are temperate, which means that they could have some liquid water – and maybe life, by extension – on the surface.”
Co-author Amaury Triaud, from the University of Cambridge, UK, said the team had introduced the “temperate” definition to broaden perceptions about habitability.
Image source NASA
Three of the Trappist-1 planets fall within the traditional habitable zone definition, where surface temperatures could support the presence of liquid water – given sufficient atmospheric pressure.
However, Dr. Amaury Triaud said that if the planet furthest from the parent star, Trappist-1h, had an atmosphere that efficiently trapped heat – a bit more like Venus’s atmosphere than Earth’s – it might be habitable.
The six inner planets have orbital periods that are organized in a “near-resonant chain”. This means that in the time that it takes for the innermost planet to make eight orbits, the second, third and fourth planets revolve five, three and two times around the star, respectively.
This appears to be an outcome of interactions early in the evolution of the planetary system.
The astronomers say it should be possible to study the planets’ atmospheric properties with telescopes.
However, the astrophysicist also warns that we must remain extremely careful about inferring biological activity from afar.
Some of the properties of cool, low mass stars could make life a more challenging prospect. For example, some are known to emit large amounts of radiation in the form of flares, which has the potential to sterilize the surfaces of nearby planets.
In addition, the habitable zone is located closer to the star so that planets receive the heating necessary for liquid water to persist. But this causes a phenomenon called tidal locking, so that planets always show the same face to their star.
This might have the effect of making one side of the planet hot, and the other cold.
Dr. Amaury Triaud said UV light might be vital for producing the chemical compounds that can later be assembled into biological systems. Similarly, if life emerges on the permanent night side of a tidally locked planet, it might be sheltered from any flares.
However, he said the Trappist-1 star was not particularly active, something it has in common with other “ultra cool dwarfs” the team has surveyed.
“It is fair to say there is much we don’t know. Where I am hopeful is that we will know if flares are important, we will know if tidal locking is relevant to habitability and maybe to the emergence of biology,” he explained.
“Many of the arguments in favor or disfavor of habitability can be flipped in that way. First and foremost we need observations.”
In addition to the Spitzer observations, astronomers gathered data using Very Large Telescope in Chile, the Liverpool Telescope in La Palma, Spain, and others.
Private air travel has long been the preferred mode of transport for celebrities, footballers and wealthy businessmen – a lifestyle that the normal flyer in standard class can only dream of. Hiring a private plane is extravagant and luxurious, but could it actually be the next big trend for travellers?
Let’s have a look at some of the reasons why you could be flying privately in the near future.
Social Status
With everything shared on social media in our digital age, people are increasingly chasing “likes” or social gratification. Even the news reports how social media channels like Instagram are changing the world. Its influence means that posts are becoming more extreme, taken in far-flung destinations, attempting to project an opulent lifestyle on their social media.
In essence, it’s a constructed reality and people may be willing to fork out the money to project an extravagant lifestyle to their followers. However, this is not an impossible prospect as flying privately may not be as costly as we may think.
Lower Costs
Although the price of hiring a private jet may still be higher than a first-class ticket, the difference between the prices isn’t so extortionate. If you fill all the seats in light seven-person jet, then the cost is split between your entire party rather than each of you paying separately for a seat on a commercial airline.
There are also websites that offer cheap deals and private jet owners occasionally post specials for the next day on their Facebook pages, which means that a round trip in a private jet may not be exclusive to only the rich and famous. You can use a private jet charter membership program and fly with as little as three hours’ notice also.
Convenience
The entire process involved in flying is much easier when you fly privately. Forget about flight schedules, you can enjoy flying at times that suit your own schedule. Never again will you have to wake up at 4am to check in for an early flight at a busy airport – flying privately means that if you’re running late, then the plane waits. You can also skip the long queues for baggage check-ins and the lines for security, saving you valuable time.
Private planes are able to land at many more airports than a commercial aircraft, so if there’s any delays predicted, then they can easily change their plans with little notice and choose to land at an alternative airport nearby. It’s the epitome of flexible travel.
With an 137% increase in private flights recorded last year, travellers seem to be moving away from the traditional commercial air travel for a more flexible and convenient way. If the gap between the cost of commercial and private flying continues to close, more people will be tempted to use these services and you too might be enjoying the luxury of private air travel in the near future.
Selling your home can be a drawn out, expensive, and stressful affair, so you want to go about it the best way you can. Your estate agent will play a big part in this, and should be chosen to save you as much time, money, and hassle as possible.
That’s why we recommend using an online estate agent rather than traditional high street names. Likely to cost less, have a larger audience of potential purchasers, and make the whole process go more quickly, they can be a great alternative to doing things the old-fashioned way.
Here are just three of the reasons that we recommend enlisting one to sell your property…
#1: Online Estate Agents Usually Cost Less
If you take the time to consider any modern industry, you’ll soon come to the conclusion that online enterprises usually have lower overheads, and are happy to pass these savings on to their customers to increase their competitiveness. This applies to estate agents as much as any other professionals, and most internet ventures will charge significantly less than their high street counterparts, which means that if you would like an easy way to cut back on your costs, a company like Hatched could be the answer.
#2: Online Estate Agents Usually Have a Larger Audience of Potential Purchasers
When it comes to buying, whether it’s a home, a new mobile phone, or a holiday, most people now start their search online. According to the latest statistics, 80 per cent of all property purchasers do their shopping through the World Wide Web, and technologically savvy Generation Y account for 68 per cent of all first-time home buyers. This gives online estate agents a huge audience to mine, and means that for as long as your property is being advertised on the internet, it is being seen by a vast number of would-be purchasers.
#3: You’ll Have Greater Control Over the Sales Process
When you sell online, you have the additional boon of being able to control the process to a greater degree. Most agencies will allow you to manage fundamental aspects of the sale, from arranging viewings to talking with prospective buyers. This means that you can conduct these yourself, showing interested parties around and developing a direct relationship with them from day one. This gives you the chance to be involved in key phases, whilst still being able to leave the tricky bits to the professionals.
If you’re looking for a superior alternative to your local estate agent, could an online enterprise be the best option for you?
We all know a classic car when we see one, but we might be more hard-pressed to explain exactly what one is if asked. A recent article from AA Cars defines them as rare exceptions to the rule of depreciation—most cars see a dramatic drop in value the moment they are driven away from the dealership and the difference in price after just a few years can be staggering, but collector’s items naturally only go up in price as time goes on.
The article goes on to name a few likely candidates, like the Audi TT, the Mazda MX-5, and the Subaru Impreza. But how can you spot the classic cars of tomorrow? What might they look like? And how can you make the best decisions for classic car investments? Here are some key elements:
Design
Simply being average is no way to be remembered, and many of the classic cars of the 60s and 70s are far from being the standard vehicles of choice for John Q. Public and Joe Everyman.
Real classics tend to be distinct and distinguished even when they are new, which is why the Audi TT and other cars with a sleek and idiosyncratic look make for such a promising investment.
Prestige Makes
To be blunt, family run-arounds and low cost compact cars aren’t the kind of thing we typically expect to see become classics. For a car to hold onto—or regain—its value there needs to be an expectation of quality manufacture, so likely candidates will all belong to prestige brands like Subaru, BMW, and Audi, or at least a manufacturer people can see putting out the occasional masterpiece among more standard offerings.
In short, classic cars tend to begin life as luxury cars, so that’s the sector to search if you’re looking for potential candidates. If you’re a risk taker, the newly launched DS line is aiming for that market in a big way, though it remains to be seen whether it can build the reputation for excellence of design that makes its competitors such good candidates for the classic market.
One Other Thing
One factor to bear in mind isn’t one that makes a car more likely to turn into a classic, but one you shouldn’t pay too much mind. Classic cars don’t instantly start appreciating in value as soon as they’re released—no one would try to make these kinds of predictions if they did—so don’t let a car’s low current price put you off an investment. Classic cars will drop in price before they start to rise, and the best time to buy is when they’re at their lowest.
President Donald Trump will rescind guidance enacted by President Barack Obama in favor of transgender students, the White House has announced.
The Obama-era rule directed public schools to allow transgender pupils to use toilets of their gender identity.
However, critics said that guidance was government overreach which threatened other students’ privacy and safety.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said President Trump firmly believes “this is a states’ rights issue”.
Sean Spicer told a news conference: “I would expect further guidance to come out on that today.”
Though the Obama-era order will be rescinded, anti-bullying safeguards are expected to remain in place, the AP reported, citing a government official.
In May 2016, President Obama’s justice and education departments instructed public schools to allow transgender students to use whichever bathroom corresponded to their gender identity.
Image source Wikipedia
Though not legally binding, President Obama’s order warned schools they could lose funding if they did not follow the new guidance.
The directive sparked a backlash across the country, prompting legal challenges from 13 states and a Texas federal judge’s preliminary injunction blocking the department’s position in August.
The Obama administration’s guidance was based on its interpretation of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in education.
Barack Obama argued that protection extended to gender identity.
However, Sean Spicer said the previous administration’s guidelines were confusing and too difficult to implement.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump said transgender students should be allowed to use whichever bathroom “they feel is appropriate”.
However, he reversed his stance after facing Republican criticism.
Conservative activists praised Donald Trump’s impending order, saying it protected student rights to privacy.
“Our daughters should never be forced to share private, intimate spaces with male classmates, even if those young men are struggling with these issues,” said Vicki Wilson, a member of Students and Parents for Privacy.
“It violates their right to privacy and harms their dignity.”
Meanwhile, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten called the move a major setback for trans rights.
The Turkish government has lifted a ban on female army officers wearing the Muslim headscarf.
The army is the last Turkish institution to see the ban removed. It has long been seen as the guardian of Turkey’s secular constitution.
Wearing headscarves in public institutions was banned in the 1980s.
However, Islamist-leaning President Recep Tayyip Erdogan argues that the ban is an illiberal vestige of the past.
The issue has been controversial in Turkey for many years.
Secularists regard the headscarf as a symbol of religious conservatism and have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of pushing an Islamist agenda, converting many public schools into religious ones as part of his pledge to raise “a pious generation”.
Over the past decade the Muslim headscarf ban has been removed for schools, universities, the civil service and in August for the police.
Verizon has reached a deal with Yahoo to buy its core internet business for $350 million less than originally agreed.
Doubts had been cast over the original deal after it emerged that Yahoo had been hit by two huge cyber attacks.
Following the price cut, the US telecoms giant said it was now buying the Yahoo business for about $4.48 billion.
Under the new deal, Verizon and Yahoo will split the cost of some lawsuits arising from the data breaches.
Verizon wants to combine Yahoo’s search, email and messenger assets, as well as its advertising technology tools, with its AOL unit.
The company bought AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion.
Verizon sees mobile video and advertising as new sources of revenue outside an overcrowded US telecoms market.
In December 2016, Yahoo admitted it had been hit by a large cyber attack in 2013 which affected more than a billion customer accounts.
Yahoo had already admitted another breach in 2014 that had affected about half a billion users.
Under the amended deal Yahoo and Verizon will each be responsible for 50% of any liabilities arising from government investigations and third party litigation related to the data breaches.
Yahoo will still be solely responsible for any liabilities arising from shareholder lawsuits and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.
Verizon executive vice president Marni Walden said: “The amended terms of the agreement provide a fair and favourable outcome for shareholders. It provides protections for both sides and delivers a clear path to close the transaction in the second quarter.”
The deal does not give Verizon any part of Yahoo’s stake in Chinese online retailer Alibaba.
The price tag for the takeover is well below the $44 billion Microsoft offered for Yahoo in 2008, or the $125 billion it was worth during the dotcom boom.
The large majority of us will be lucky enough to go through life without ever coming close to a serious car accident. However, these things can and do happen, and it can really pay off to be familiar with some of the major risk factors involved in crashes. Once you’ve been driving for a few years, it can be easy to slip into a state of apathy, and forget all about some very serious hazards…
You’ve almost certainly seen a speed freak tear past you on the highway from time to time, and may have even been one yourself occasionally. A lot of drivers, feeling way too confident in their abilities, will totally overlook the speed limit, and break it by ten, twenty, or even thirty miles per hour! Your speed will make it much harder to react to the conditions around you, and significantly increase your odds of getting involved in an accident. Make sure you’re paying attention to the speed limit, and sticking to it religiously. Just a few seconds can make all the difference when you need to avoid a collision.
Distracted Driving
This is one of the biggest dangers facing modern drivers today, especially as so many people overlook it! When you’re driving, reaching out for some food, replying to a message on your phone, or even getting too wrapped up in a conversation can increase your risk of a crash massively. Talk to any truck accident lawyer, and they’ll tell you that a massive proportion of the cases they have to deal with could have been prevented if one of the drivers hadn’t been distracted. Whenever you set off in your car, make sure you eliminate any kind of distractions that could pose a risk.
Reckless Driving
Although this is a term that’s thrown around by law enforcement all over the world, it’s a pretty broad one that can cover a lot of things. Reckless driving is any instance of a driver neglecting the kind of care they need to exercise at the wheel, and ignoring the traffic conditions around them. Speeding, changing lanes too abruptly, and tailgating are all examples of reckless driving. This kind of behaviour is usually rooted in road rage and impatience. If you bring an attitude out on the road with you, try to work on it!
Red means stop, green means go. Although this is so simple a child can grasp it, a lot of drivers try to save themselves a few milliseconds by stepping on the gas and trying to catch a green light before it turns red. You may be able to get away with this unscathed hundreds or even thousands of times. However, when your luck runs out, the consequences can be dire. Drivers who run red lights at intersections are often the cause of side-on collisions or “T-bones”, which are one of the most dangerous forms of collision that can happen between two vehicles. If you’ve got enough distance to stop safely, then do it!
Two things are certain in life: death and taxes. The famous quote by Benjamin Franklin is applicable to everyone unless you are in the business industry. Yes, as it turns out, your business can avoid taxes and it can do it legally. Obviously this revelation is a huge deal because cutting your taxes will save you a fortune not to mention a lot of time. So what are you waiting for? Your taxes won’t cut themselves in half.
A 1031 Exchange
If you like real estate you might already know about the 1031 exchange rule already. If you don’t there is no need to worry because you can learn about it now. In basic terms it is a rule that prevents people and businesses from paying capital gains tax. Even more important is the fact that you can include other business assets. One last benefit – you don’t need to do it alone. The good news is that the industry is filled with companies like Triple Net that can provide help. The result is that you can avoid tax on everything from your office space to office equipment and company cars.
Claim Expenses
The government isn’t a monster that wants to take all of your money. They do want a cut, a cut that they think they deserve, but they also provide you with exemptions. Claiming expenses is probably the easiest and most well-known tax exemption at your disposal. All you have to do is figure out what your business uses that you can claim back and keep a record. And in this case ‘record’ means a detailed record. They are happy to give you the exemption but only if you are eligible. If they find that you aren’t they will hit you with a fine or a jail sentence.
Pay Into A Retirement Plan
The state doesn’t want everyone on their books when they retire. Instead they want them to be self-sufficient so they can save a lot of money. It is for this reason pension plans are tax-free and why you should take advantage. As an individual you can take your business’ profits and shelter them in a retirement plan especially if your business is profitable. Or you can create an employee retirement opportunity. As long as it is the business’ money that is going into the plan you won’t have to fork out for taxes.
Keep Up With The Law
Tax is a complex and intricate problem that is always changing. Even though it is hard you have to try and keep up if you want to take advantage. Not to mention that using out of date tax measures is dangerous. If you aren’t up to the job there is plenty of accountants with the expertise and experience to guide you through the process.
The above is legal and will save your business money. All you have to do is implement it into your business strategy.
People are hard to please – especially if they’re working for you. When we picture a bad boss in our minds, we think of somebody who’s irrationally angry and driven towards money, somebody who shouts a lot and is mean to their staff. In reality, the bosses that we come to dislike aren’t necessarily fitting this stereotype; they can be too nice, too sly, too quiet, not empathetic enough. There are a variety of factors which can work towards making a bad impression, which is not something that you want … a happy working environment means happy employees which in turn makes better business sense for you.
Don’t Be Too Nice
You may not think it’s possible, but there is a chance that you can be too nice in a working environment. It’s unfortunate, but your employees can take advantage of this; if they are thinking that you don’t have a backbone to stand up to them, they’ll assume you are a pushover and you will watch performance decrease. It could be that they are constantly phoning in for days off, are consistently late for work or just aren’t doing what’s in their job description – but that’s fine, right? Because you’ll smile and say it’s okay. While you may think that being nice is getting people to like you, it can go in the opposite direction; respect can be lost with those who don’t enforce boundaries and limits.
Don’t Be Vague
This goes across many different boards. Don’t be vague on plans, don’t be vague on feedback, don’t be vague full stop. There are programs online to help if you can’t quite clarify information or work towards an achievement with your employees; if you can get expedited performance management and employee evaluations ahead of when you meet with them in order to clarify what steps they need to take to achieving their potential, you’re on track to giving them a clear route. If you are too wishy-washy with your words or only assume that your staff know what you’re doing, you may need to consider cutting out the small talk and getting down to the basics to ensure that everybody’s on the right page.
Don’t Be Too Demanding
Making your employees choose between their personal lives and work can work in some instances, but if you ever try and make them put work before their family you’re going to lose every time – both literally and morally. Put yourself into their shoes and ask yourself if what you’re requiring of them is fair and achievable. If it’s something that you wouldn’t do, or something that you know you would go home and feel upset about, you shouldn’t ever expect another person to do it – even if they are getting paid for it. Give your staff the respect that you would like to be treated with, and they will respect you in return; it is this respect which contributes massively towards creating a healthy, productive and immensely rewarding working relationship between you and your team.
At one point or another, you’ve probably seen an ad for a title loan. Lenders emphasize how quickly and conveniently you can obtain money, and that you won’t even need to authorize a credit check. For many cash-strapped consumers, title loans seem like the best possible solution to their money woes.
Of course, the adage “if it seems too good to be true, it is” certainly applies when it comes to the title loan industry. Read the fine print on these title loans and you’ll find that the interest rates are extremely high, with the average APR being 300 percent. That means if you get a title loan for $1,000, you’re paying $250 per month in interest. And if you can’t pay off your loan, the lender can repossess and sell your car.
How do these title loan companies stay in business, and exactly how much is that business worth? We took a look at the numbers to find out.
The Worth of the Title Loan Industry
Despite their fees, there is a huge market for title loans, and over 2 million consumers in the United States borrow title loans every year. The average amount of a title loan is $1,000, and borrowers pay an average of $1,200 in total fees for those loans. Add it all up, and title loan companies make approximately $3 billion per year in fees.
The Biggest Players in the Title Loan Game
While there are title loan companies across the nation, three stand out as the largest.
TMX Finance, which is the company behind TitleMax, is the biggest, as it has nearly 1,500 TitleMax stores spread out across 18 states. It also has brands under the names TitleBucks, EquityAuto Loan and InstaLoan, and it employees over 4,300 people. Somewhat ironically, TMX Finance went through loan issues of its own when it was unable to repay $165 million that it borrowed from Merrill Lynch in 2009. That led to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, but the company regrouped and went on to expand quite a bit.
The better you understand the title loan process before you apply, the easier it will be for you to choose the one which best fits your needs concerning loan length, amount, and interest rates. Taking out a car title loan can be a less risky ordeal, in case you borrow from reputable companies which do their best to fit their clients’ standards such as Montana Capital Car, Title Max, and TFC Title loans.
Community Loans of America has many stores around the Southern and Midwest regions of the United States. Its brands include Carolina Payday Loans, Illinois Title Loans and Fast Auto Loans. Across over 200 stores, Community Loans of America employs about 1,800 people. It also hasn’t been without its troubles, in the form of class-action lawsuits alleging predatory lending to members of the U.S. military.
Executives of Community Loans of America branched off in 1998 to create Select Management Resources. Its brands include Atlanta Title Loans, LoanMax and North American Title Loans. The company has approximately 200 stores spread out over 21 states.
The Success of Title Loan Companies
The reason title loan companies make so much money is because of their high interest rates. But why do they charge so much, and why are people willing to pay it?
Title loan companies are able to charge the interest rates they do because they issue loans to people that don’t have many, if any, other options. The vast majority of title loan borrowers have low income and low credit scores, so they’re unable to obtain loans from other lenders, such as banks or credit unions. They also may need money quickly, and a title loan is one of the fastest loan options on the market.
Title loan borrowers typically either don’t realize how much they’re going to end up paying, or they’re getting a title loan as a last resort because they have no other options.
The Future of the Title Loan Industry
Title loan companies have attracted a significant amount of criticism from consumers and lawmakers, and many states have even outlawed title loans entirely or placed heavy restrictions on them. The industry is thriving right now, but it’s very possible for that to change in the future.
A senior North Korean embassy official is wanted by Malaysian police for questioning in connection with the assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half brother, Kim Jong-nam.
Hyon Kwang-song is one of three North Koreans being sought, along with an employee of the state airline.
Malaysian police also confirmed Kim Jong-nam died after two women wiped a toxin on him at Kuala Lumpur airport.
North Korea’s embassy in Malaysia angrily denied the claims.
In a statement, the North Korean embassy said the fact that the substance was on the hands of the women proved it could not have been a poison and called for the immediate release of the “innocent females” and a North Korean man.
Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on February 22, Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar said they were looking for three North Koreans in addition to the previously announced suspects.
One of them is Hyon Kwang-song, 44, the second secretary of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
The others are Kim Uk-il, 37, who works for Air Koryo, and another North Korean Ri Ju U.
Khalid Abu Bakar said they had written to the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia asking him to allow police to interview Hyon Kwang-song and the other suspects.
If the ambassador does not co-operate, “we will compel them to come to us”, he said, without giving details.
The police chief also said security had been stepped up at the morgue where Kim Jong-nam’s body is being kept after an attempted break-in earlier in the week.
Ten people have either been named as suspects or are wanted by Malaysian police for questioning in connection to Kim Jong-nam’s assassination.
Hong Kong’s ex-Chief Executive Donald Tsang has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for misconduct.
Donald Tsang led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012 and is the most senior official in the territory ever to stand trial for corruption.
He was found guilty last week of misconduct in public office, in a case related to a luxury flat in China.
In sentencing, Judge Andrew Chan said: “Never in my judicial career have I seen a man fall from so high.”
A number of senior former officials in Hong Kong had written letters to the court in defense of Donald Tsang’s character.
Image source Wikipedia
Judge Chan said he took Donald Tsang’s reputation and long public service into account in sentencing, taking 10 months off what would have been a 30-month sentence. The maximum penalty could have been 7 years.
Donald Tsang was cleared last week of a second count of misconduct, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge of accepting an advantage. He is expected to be retried on that charge in September.
After sentencing, Donald Tsang was taken from court in handcuffs to the hospital where he has been staying since experiencing chest pain on February 20.
The case has worried a territory that prides itself on its relatively clean reputation.
The trial related to events which took place near the end of Donald Tsang’s term, between 2010 and 2012.
Prosecutors accused Donald Tsang of inappropriate and undeclared conflicts of interest, including renting a luxury flat in mainland China from the shareholder of a broadcast company whose license applications he approved. They also alleged the flat was redecorated free of charge and that he later nominated the interior designer for an honor.
The jury found the former leader guilty of misconduct over his failure to disclose the lease of the flat, but dismissed the charge related to the designer and did not reach a verdict on whether he accepted a bribe in the form of the refurbishment.
A career civil servant, Donald Tsang rose through the ranks to become Hong Kong’s second chief executive, following Tung Chee-hwa.
Donald Tsang’s deputy, former Chief Secretary Rafael Hui, was jailed for accepting bribes from a property tycoon in 2014.
A recent study published by Lancet suggests that South Korean women will be the first in the world to have an average life expectancy above 90.
The WHO and Imperial College London study analyzed life spans in 35 industrialized countries.
It predicted all would see people living longer in 2030 and the gap between men and women would start to close in most countries.
The researchers said the findings posed big challenges for pensions and care for elderly people.
The data also forecasts that Japan, once the picture of longevity, will tumble down the global rankings.
Image source Max Pixel
Japan currently has the highest life expectancy for women, but will be overtaken by both South Korea and France, the study suggests. Meanwhile, male life expectancy will go from the fourth highest to 11th out of the countries studied.
The US also performs poorly and is on course to have the lowest life expectancy of rich countries by 2030.
The study predicts an average age of 80 for men and 83 for women – roughly the same state Mexico and Croatia will have achieved.
The US will be overtaken by Chile, where women born in 2030 will expect to live for 87 years and men for 81.
The study also shows the gap in life expectancy between women and men is closing.
Much of the increases are due to improvements for the over-65s rather than reductions in deaths during childhood.
The study made the projections in a similar way to the methods used by meteorologists to forecast the weather.
It combined 21 separate mathematical models that analyzed past trends to make projections into the future.
This approach indirectly takes account of all the different factors – smoking rates, medical advances, obesity patterns – that are changing life expectancy.
The study assumes countries continue to progress as they are, so exceptional, unpredictable events equivalent to the fall of the Soviet Union, or huge breakthroughs like a vaccine for all cancer, would massively alter the forecasts.
Milo Yiannopoulos has resigned as senior editor at Breitbart News and apologized after a coming under fire over comments that appeared to approve paedophilia.
The conservative writer said in a statement his “poor choice of words” was detracting from his colleagues’ work, so he was quitting immediately.
Milo Yiannopoulos, 32, had already lost a book deal and a speaking engagement over the row.
Videos surfaced of him discussing the merits of gay relationships between adults and boys.
However, Milo Yiannopoulos, the tech editor, denied he had endorsed child abuse and said one video had been edited to give a misleading impression.
At a press conference on February 21, he explained that he had been referring to his own experiences as a victim of child abuse.
He said that two men, including a priest, had touched him inappropriately when he was in his young teens.
Image source Flickr
“I haven’t ever apologized before, and I don’t intend on ever doing it again,” he read to a room full of reporters.
“To be a victim of child abuse and at the same time be accused of being an apologist for child abuse is absurd.”
However, Milo Yiannopoulos’ mea culpa came too late to save him from being axed in the line-up at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland.
The CPAC said his response had been “insufficient”.
Publisher Simon & Schuster also cancelled Milo Yiannopoulos’ forthcoming book, Dangerous.
During his press conference the British writer claimed to have received interest from other publishers, and vowed to set aside 10% of the book’s profits to donate to charities that support victims of child abuse.
He appears to thrive on controversy and is accused by some of being a peddler of hate speech.
Milo Yiannopoulos was banned from Twitter after provoking online harassment of a black actress, Leslie Jones, from the Ghostbusters remake.
He has also been widely criticized for comments he has made about feminists, transgender people, Muslims and Black Lives Matter protesters.
The University of Berkeley in California earlier this month canceled a talk by Milo Yiannopoulos, following violent student protests.
Milo Yiannopoulos is a British writer and editor, currently living in the US.
He was born in Greece to a Greek father and British mother, he grew up in Kent in the south of England.
In July 2016, Milo Yiannopoulos was banned from Twitter for what the social media company referred to as “inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others”.
It came after the writer took aim at Leslie Jones, a black actress in an all-female Ghostbusters reboot, and she received a barrage of abuse from other Twitter users.
Milo Yiannopoulos has also been widely criticized for comments he has made about transgender people, Muslims, Black Lives Matter activism, feminists and gay people, even though he is openly gay.
Image source Flickr
He co-founded online tech magazine The Kernel in 2011 and sold it in 2014, after running up large debts and encountering legal battles with writers who sued for unpaid earnings.
In 2015, Milo Yiannopoulos was appointed as a senior editor at Breitbart News, a right-wing website that has been criticized for racist and misogynist content.
He has written columns titled “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” and “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?”
When Hillary Clinton read those headlines out disdainfully at one of her rallies last year, he considered it a win.
This week, footage of a year-old podcast was unearthed, where Milo Yiannopoulos appears to condone paedophilia.
He said relationships between “younger boys” and older men could be a “coming-of-age relationship … in which those older men help those younger boys discover who they are”.
Milo Yiannopoulos has denied the allegations on his Facebook page, blaming the way the clips were edited and his own “sloppy phrasing” for any indication he supported paedophilia.
“It is a vile and disgusting crime, perhaps the very worst,” Milo Yiannopoulos said.
Breitbart News has close ties to the Trump administration. The website’s chief executive, Steve Bannon, first headed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and was later appointed as his chief strategist in the White House.
Milo Yiannopoulos is an avid supporter of President Trump, whom he calls “daddy”.
His regular public speaking engagements often lead to protests on university campuses.
Milo Yiannopoulos went to Simon Langton Boys Grammar School in Canterbury, and dropped out of undergraduate courses at the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge.
However, he came to prominence by playing a key role in an online troll war, known as Gamergate, about misogyny in the video game world.
Milo Yiannopoulos built up a following by being a “troll king”, according to tech magazine Wired.
His YouTube channel now has more than 500,000 subscribers.
Milo Yiannopoulos is regularly associated with the alt-right, a disparate nationalistic group, which is outspoken against so-called political correctness and feminism. It includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites.
He says he does not consider himself part of the alt-right, although he has called it “energizing and exciting”.
During an appearance on TV show Real Time on February 17, he joked about not being able to fit in as he is a “gay Jew who never shuts up about his black boyfriend”.
Milo Yiannopoulos had a Jewish maternal grandmother.
On the same show, hosted by Bill Maher, he equated feminism with a disease (again) and said transgender people was a disorder comparable to sociopathy.
Milo Yiannopoulos’ autobiography, Dangerous, had been due for publication next month.
When the book deal with publisher Simon & Schuster was announced in December 2016, it caused an outcry among his critics, who accused the company of promoting and funding hate speech.
On February 20, Simon and Schuster announced it was cancelling the publication of the book, after more than 100 of the publisher’s other authors had protested against it.
Milo Yiannopoulos reportedly received a $250,000 advance for the book.
In protest at the deal, the Chicago Review of Books had already announced it would not review any Simon & Schuster books in 2017.
Milo Yiannopoulos will no longer speak at a conservative conference and his book deal has been canceled after videos surfaced in which he appeared to approve paedophilia.
The footage showed the ultra-conservative writer discussing the merits of gay relationships between adults and boys as young as 13.
On Facebook, Milo Yiannopoulos denied ever endorsing paedophilia.
The writer said one video had been edited to give a misleading impression.
However, the American Conservative Union, which runs the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) where President Donald Trump is due to speak on February 24, said the apology was not enough.
“We urge him to immediately further address these disturbing comments,” Matt Schlapp said in a statement.
Image source Flickr
Book publisher Simon & Schuster said it had canceled the publication of Milo Yiannopoulos’s book Dangerous, which was due out in June, after “careful consideration”.
In the footage, Milo Yiannopoulos – a passionate supporter of Donald Trump and an editor at right-wing website Breitbart – seems to suggest the determining factor for paedophilia is whether the younger partner has gone through puberty.
However, at another point in the video the writer says the US age of consent, which is 16 to 18 years old depending on location, is “about right”.
In his Facebook statement, Milo Yiannopoulos said: “I find those crimes to be absolutely disgusting. I find those people to be disgusting.”
Milo Yiannopoulos, who is openly gay, said he regretted using the word “boys” instead of young men while discussing gay relationships with large age gaps.
He blamed “sloppy editing” and “usual blend of British sarcasm, provocation and gallows humor” for creating the wrong impression.
He also claimed that he himself had been a victim of child abuse.
Milo Yiannopoulos is regularly associated with the alt-right, a disparate nationalistic group that is outspoken against so-called political correctness and feminism. It includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites.
He says he does not consider himself part of the alt-right, although he has called it “energizing and exciting”.
Milo Yiannopoulos revels in courting controversy, and has written columns titled “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” and “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?”
Earlier this month the University of California at Berkeley cancelled Milo Yiannopoulos’ speaking engagement there after violent protests broke out.
President Donald Trump – whom Milo Yiannopoulos refers to as “daddy” – threatened to cut the university’s federal funding in response.
The White House has issued tough guidelines to widen the net for deporting illegal immigrants from the United States, and speed up their removal.
Undocumented immigrants arrested for traffic violations or shop-lifting will be targeted along with those convicted of more serious crimes.
The memos do not alter immigration laws, but take a much tougher approach towards enforcing existing measures.
There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new blueprint leaves in place Obama-era protections for immigrants who entered the US illegally as children.
However, it expands the more restricted guidance issued under the previous administration, which focused its policy on immigrants convicted of serious crimes, threats to national security or those who had recently crossed the border.
Image source Wikimedia
The DHS plans to hire an extra 10,000 agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 5,000 more border patrol officers to enforce the new guidance.
During his eight years in office, President Barack Obama instructed immigration officials to focus deportation efforts on undocumented immigrants who were convicted of serious crimes or recent arrivals captured near the US border.
President Trump’s immigration order marks a sharp break with those policies. Instead – according to the DHS implementation memos – the Trump administration essentially will “prioritize” the deportation of almost all undocumented immigrants, everywhere.
The DHS’s list of prioritized “removable aliens” is so broad as to include just about every class of undocumented immigrant – with only a carve-out for individuals who entered the US as children.
All this will require more money and manpower – and the Trump administration is going to ask Congress for the former and go on a hiring spree to address the latter. Local and state law-enforcement officials will also be allowed to arrest unauthorized immigrants.
While President Barack Obama aggressively enforced immigration law and ramped up deportations in some areas and at some times, there were notable instances where he de-emphasized action. In the Trump era immigration authorities are now being given the power to make a sea-to-sea, border-to-border push.
The two memos released on February 21 by the agency suggest individuals apprehended in the US would need to prove that they have been in the country continuously for two years.
Otherwise, agents could expedite their removal with no court proceeding.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly wrote in one of the memos: “The surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States.”
His memo also includes instructions to enforce an existing provision of the US Immigration and Nationality Act that allows authorities to send some people caught illegally at the border back to Mexico, regardless of where they are from.
It is unclear whether the US has authority to force Mexico to accept foreigners.
The DHS guidance is a blueprint to implement executive orders that President Trump signed on January 25, days after taking office.
The new guidelines did not explain how President Trump’s border wall would be funded and where undocumented immigrants apprehended in the crackdown would be detained.
The memos instruct agents to “allocate all available resources to expand their detention capabilities and capacities”, but Congress would probably need to allocate money to build new detention centers.
Donald Trump’s immigration policies have prompted protests on both sides of the border. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in more than a dozen Mexican cities last week to protest against President Trump’s plan for a border wall.
Elor Azaria, the Israeli soldier who killed a wounded Palestinian attacker in a high-profile case that split opinion across Israel, has been jailed for 18 months.
He was found guilty of manslaughter for shooting dead 21-year-old Abdul Fatah al-Sharif in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, in March 2016.
Elor Azaria had told a colleague that Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, who had stabbed another soldier, “deserved to die”.
Military chiefs condemned his actions, but others praised them.
The case fuelled debate in Israel over when and how soldiers are entitled to use lethal force against attackers.
The shooting occurred amid a wave of attacks by Palestinians that had killed 29 Israelis over the preceding five months.
The offence carries a sentence of up to 20 years, though prosecutors had called for Elor Azaria to be jailed for between 3 and 5 years.
Image source Times of Israel
Elor Azaria was also ordered demoted from his rank of sergeant.
Judge Maya Heller said his crime was mitigated by the fact that it was his first conviction, that it had occurred in an active military scene and that there had been no clear orders as to how he was supposed to act.
She noted that Elor Azaria had not displayed any remorse for what he had done.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority criticized the sentence as lenient, calling it a “green light to the occupation army to continue its crimes”, AFP reported.
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said he would support any decision to pardon Elor Azaria.
The killing received widespread coverage after footage of the incident, filmed on a mobile phone, was shown on Israeli news programs.
The footage showed Elor Azaria cocking his gun and firing at the head of Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, who was lying apparently incapacitated on the ground after being shot and wounded following the stabbing attack.
The court which convicted Elor Azaria dismissed his claim that he had acted out of fear that Abdul Fatah al-Sharif might have been wearing an explosive vest.
Following the incident military chiefs and PM Benjamin Netanyahu came under fire from right-wing sections of society – including members cabinet – for criticizing Elor Azaria’s actions.
Benjamin Netanyahu later phoned Elor Azaria’s father to offer reassurance.
Many amazing places remain undiscovered for centuries. And you can find many of them in is the southern part of the Philippines, an archipelago full of treasures unknown to the world.
Monkayo, Compostela, Davao del Norte, South Philippines
Monkayo is a vast agricultural land full of banana and rice. Mt. Diwata known as “Diwalwal” is a barangay in Monkayo, rich in gold ore deposits. According to the Philippine Bureau of Mines, gold in this area cannot be consumed even for a hundred years. It is 75 miles away from the city of Davao. Scenic attractions here are the Kumbilan Cave called Casoon. Its features are tunnel-like full of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave is also the home of snakes and fruit bats. To get there, you can easily rent a four-wheel drive vehicles from car rentals. Or if you have friends who have four-wheel drive vehicles, you can schedule a trip together so it will be less of a hassle on your part.
Liguasan Marsh, Maguindanao, ARMM, South Philippines
The Liguasan Marsh stores an enormous natural reservoir of gas worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The American Engineers who conducted a test survey of the place estimated the value of oil to amount to $580 billion in its initial pumping.
Liguasan Marsh spans 220,000 hectares, which house a large variety of aquatic wildlife like three species of reptiles, 20 fish species, and 20 species of herons, waterfowl, ducks, and egrets. It is the only place where you can find the Comb-crested Jacana or Lotusbird (lily trotter bird), a very rare bird species.
The bird’s name is lily trotter because it walks on the water surface, leaping on water lilies or Lotus leaves. The wetlands or marsh is the last stronghold of the endangered Estuarine crocodile and is also the home of the Philippine Eagle, another endangered species.
The Philippine Trench (Philippine Deep), Surigao, Caraga, South Philippines
The Philippine Deep (Philippine Trench) has a span of 1,320 kilometers, a width of about 30 kilometers, and a depth of 10,540 meters – the deepest point called the Galathea Deep. If Mt. Everest, which is 8,846 meters high, is submerged in the Philippine Trench, it would smoothly vanish in the trench.
Three miles deep of the Philippine Trench lies the world’s largest deposits of Deuterium (2H or Heavy Hydrogen). The Hydrogen Isotopes can work as a non-polluting energy source.
The Trench with Deuterium deposits lies within 200-miles Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) of southern Philippines by the International Sea Law. Therefore, to explore deuterium renders exclusivity to the Philippines.
Sulu Sea, ARMM, South Philippines
The Sulu Sea is where the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site, is located. It includes small islands like the Turtle Islands. Billions of dollars of trade pass through this route every year.
It has been an international trade route of the world since the time of the Moors. The Moors were the first traders who came to Sulu centuries ago, and it is where the name Moro people was derived.
Some Japanese explorers made an initial survey in the Sulu Sea in the 1970s, and they discovered the area has large deposits of oil. Accordingly, the oil found in the Sulu Sea are the highest grade and supply could last for more than a hundred years.
Takeaway
The Southern Philippines has a lot of treasures and resources to offer to its peoples; the island abounds with wealth and riches. Although peace has become an issue in this part of the Philippine archipelago, there is still optimism that the current peace initiatives will succeed. No other country in Asia has this kind of enormous wealth, only the Philippines.
Author Bio Williams A. Young is an expert mechanical engineer by profession but a camping and car enthusiast by heart. Despite of his hectic schedule, he always finds time to go to the woods and light a campfire. During his leisure time, he writes in behalf of Darwin4wdhire about the latest car models and its features and also about his recent camping experiences.
Ex-Partridge Family idol David Cassidy has confirmed he is diagnosed with dementia.
The revelation comes after performances in California in which David Cassidy, 66, forgot his words and appeared physically unstable.
David Cassidy, a teen idol in the 1970s with hits like How Can I Be Sure?, has told People magazine that he will stop touring as a musician to focus on his health.
Image source Wikimedia
He said: “I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming.”
His mother also suffered from the disease.
David Cassidy told the magazine: “I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I’ve been, without any distractions… I want to love. I want to enjoy life.”
Videos on social media of David Cassidy’s performances over the weekend at Agoura, west of Los Angeles, raised concerns about his health.
David Cassidy, whose hits include I Think I Love You and Cherish, has struggled with drinking and financial troubles recently, in 2015, he filed for bankruptcy and between 2010 and 2014, he was arrested three times for drunken driving, and was ordered to rehab as part of his sentence in 2014.
Five people have been killed after a light plane crashed into a shopping center in Melbourne, Australia.
The victims are four US citizens and the Australian pilot.
According to police, the plane appeared to have had a “catastrophic engine failure” shortly after taking off from the small Essendon Airport.
Despite the destruction, no-one was killed or injured at the shopping center.
Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said it was the worst civilian aviation accident in the state in 30 years.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it would investigate how the twin-engine Beechcraft B200 King Air crashed soon after 09:00 local time on February 21.
Image source Channel 9
A spokeswoman for Spotlight, a retailer in the complex, said the plane crashed into its rear warehouse but all staff were safe.
The Direct Factory Outlets center was not open to the public at the time.
“Looking at the fireball, it is incredibly lucky that no-one was at the back of those stores or in the car park of the stores, that no-one was even hurt,” said Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane.
The US embassy has confirmed that four passengers on the plane, bound for Tasmania’s King Island, were US citizens.
Local media named the pilot as 63-year-old Max Quartermain. He had decades of flying experience and an “impeccable safety record”, according to the website of charter company Corporate and Leisure Aviation, which he owned with his wife.
Essendon Airport, mostly used by light planes, is about 8 miles north-west of central Melbourne.
The airport has been closed, but the city’s main hubs for commercial air traffic – Melbourne Airport and Avalon Airport – remain open.
The crash sent black smoke high into the air and ignited a blaze that required more than 60 firefighters to bring under control.
Police shut the adjacent Tullamarine Freeway after witnesses spotted debris from the plane including a wheel on the road. The area around the shops was evacuated, and three nearby schools were closed.
Video showed thick smoke and fire at the wreckage scene.
Australia’s PM Malcolm Turnbull said he was “deeply saddened” as he offered condolences to the families of the victims.
King Island, popular for its beaches and dairy farms, lies 150 miles south of Melbourne in Bass Strait.
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