TranAsia, crash, Taipei

  Someone in the cockpit of a TransAsia Airways flight apparently made a mayday call because of an engine problem shortly before the plane crashed Wednesday into a river in Taiwan, killing at least 32 people.

  A male voice on a recording of radio conversations between air traffic control and TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 says, "GE235. Mayday, mayday. Engine flameout." The recording was verified by LiveATC.net, which records air traffic control feeds around the world.

  It is unclear whether the man was a pilot.

  The passenger plane clipped a bridge and plunged into a river in Taipei, according to the island's official news agency, CNA.

  Rescuers scrambled to pull survivors from the submerged wreck of the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft, which went down shortly after takeoff from the Taiwanese capital.

  Fifty-eight people were aboard the flight when it veered out of control as it flew to Kinmen, off the coast of the Chinese province of Fujian.

  The toll, according to CNA: 32 people confirmed dead and 11 missing. The search and rescue effort continues.

 Many of the 15 people who survived the crash were injured. Two other people, who were in a car on the bridge that was clipped by the wing of the plane as it went down, also were hurt.

  The plane's cockpit crew were among those confirmed dead, authorities said.

  Crews have recovered the aircraft's "black boxes," CNA reported.

  The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which is designed to retain all sounds on a plane's flight deck, were found in the tail of the plane, Ang Xingzhong, the executive director of Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council, told the news agency.

  The flight data recorder stores a vast amount of information about the aircraft's performance, including air speed and cabin pressure.

Taliban. Pakistan. Peshawar school. kill/attack

  '"God is great,'" the Taliban militants shouted as they roared through the hallways of a school in Peshawar, Pakistan.

  Then, 14-year-old student Ahmed Faraz recalled, one of them took a harsher tone.

" 'A lot of the children are under the benches,' " a Pakistani Taliban said, according to Ahmed. " 'Kill them.' "

  By the time the hours-long siege at Army Public School and Degree College ended early Tuesday evening, at least 145 people -- 132 children, 10 school staff members and three soldiers -- were dead, military spokesman Gen. Asim Bajwa said. More than 100 were injured, many with gunshot wounds, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani.

  The death toll does not include the terrorists who attacked the school, bursting into an auditorium where a large number of students were taking an exam and gunning down many of them within minutes, Bajwa said.

  "They started shooting indiscriminately," Bajwa said, "and that's where maximum damage was caused."

  Pakistani Taliban spokesman Mohammed Khurrassani said the militants scaled the school's walls around 10 a.m. (midnight ET), intent on killing older students there.

  The Taliban had "300 to 400 people ... under their custody" at one point, said Khurrassani, whose group is called Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. But Bajwa said there was no hostage situation, as the attackers' focus was shooting to kill rather than taking captives.

 They were eventually met by Pakistani troops who pushed through the complex building by building, room by room. By 4 p.m., they'd confined the attackers to four buildings. A few hours later, all the militants -- seven of them, according to Bajwa -- were dead.

  Pakistani authorities spent Tuesday night inside the school in Peshawar, a city about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the country's capital, Islamabad, looking for survivors, victims and improvised explosive devices planted to worsen the carnage.

  As they searched, they discovered that the school's principal was among the terrorists' victims.

  The attack drew sharp condemnation from top Pakistani officials, who vowed that the country wouldn't stop its war against the Taliban.

  "We are undeterred. ... We will not back off," Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told CNN.

  But he said the ambush at the school is another example of how great his nation's sacrifices have been in fighting that's raged for more than a decade.

  "Even the children are dying on the frontline in the war against terror," he said.      "The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to carry. ... It's a very, very tragic day.

Canadian Parliament. Ottawa. shooting. gunman

(CNN) -- A day after a gunman killed an army reservist in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, many questions remain.

Why did he shoot? Why did he target Nathan Cirillo? Is he connected to the militant group ISIS? Here's a list of what we know -- and don't know -- in the Ottawa shooting.

THE SHOOTER:

What we know: The alleged gunman was born Michael Joseph Hall in Canada, and changed his name to Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, authorities say. He was 32 years old according to court documents.

He was a Canadian citizen who may have had dual Libyan citizenship as well, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said.

Zehaf-Bibeau had criminal records indicating infractions related to drugs, violence and other criminal activities, police said.

His father is a Quebec businessman and his mother works in Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. The parents are divorced.

What we don't know: Why he changed his name, but two sources told CNN that he converted to Islam. While ISIS militants have stepped up recruitment efforts in Canada, there's no indication so far that the attacker was part of them.

THE MOTIVE:

What we know: Authorities said Zehaf-Bibeau had been applying for a passport and hoped to travel to Syria. His passport had not been revoked, as earlier stories have said.

"I think the passport figured prominently in his motives," Paulson said. "However, we have not come to ground completely on his motivations for this attack. But clearly, it's linked to his radicalization."

Was Zehaf-Bibeau a jihadist? He had "connections" to jihadists in Canada who shared a radical Islamist ideology, including at least one who went overseas to fight in Syria, multiple U.S. sources told CNN.

But Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said there is "no evidence at this stage" he was linked to jihadists.

What we don't know: The motive. And with the gunman's death, it may never be known.

ACCOMPLICES:

What we know: Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said thegunman was acting alone. "It appears there was just one shooter, and that shooter is dead," he said.

What we don't know: Whether he had any ties to any group or groups.

"In the days to come, we will learn more about the terrorist and any accomplices he may have had, but this week's events are a grim reminder that Canada is not immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere in the world," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

THE VICTIM:

What we know: Nathan Cirillo was the strong, smiling type. The Canadian army reservist could look the part of the intimidating soldier, but loved snuggling with his dog, enjoying music or joking with friends. He was part of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a reserve unit of the Canadian army.

His uncle, Jim Cirillo, told CBC News that his father is in Costa Rica and might not yet know about his son's death.

What we don't know: Why the gunman shot Cirillo in the back -- "in cold blood," as Harper put it, while he stood guard at Canada'sNational War Memorial.

THE HERO

What we know: Kevin Vickers, sergeant-at-arms of Canada's House of Commons, is credited with bringing down the gunman. "Kevin is definitely a hero," said Matt Miller, the Vancouver Observer's parliamentary bureau chief, who was in his office just above the shooting.

What we don't know: Details on how he stopped the gunman.Several officers had weapons drawn, and most of the dozens of shots aimed at the gunman appeared to have been fired by officers.

THE SECURITY:

What we know: Shortly after the shooting at the memorial, a gunman entered the nearby building on Parliament Hill. Gunfire first erupted in the building's foyer. Then a second round of shooting happened about a minute later in a hallway or near the entrance to the Parliament's library.

Another disturbing incident occurred Thursday. As the Prime Minister and his wife laid a wreath in memory of Cirillo, a man yelled and wrapped a white scarf around his face. Police quickly subdued him.

What we don't know: Why the security agencies at the Parliamentdid not tighten security after Ottawa police received a 911 call at nearby National War Memorial. We also don't know how the gunman slipped past the metal detectors and into the building.

    More than 700 years after William Wallace died fighting for Scottish independence, and more than 300 years after Scotland and England came together in a United Kingdom, a new agreement could lead to an independent Scotland.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his Scottish counterpart, First Minister Alex Salmond, signed a deal in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Monday paving the way for Scots to vote on independence from the United Kingdom, Cameron's office announced on Twitter. The referendum, expected to be held in 2014, would allow Scots a straight yes-or-no vote on staying in the union.

The "Yes Scotland" campaign launched in May, trying to "build a groundswell of support for an independent Scotland," with the backing of several famous Scots, most notably actor Sean Connery. Salmond and his Scottish National Party (SNP), which holds power in the Scottish parliament, have pushed for the vote.

A survey released last week by TNS-BMRB showed that only 28% of Scots favor leaving the United Kingdom.

That's somewhat in line with an Ipsos MORI poll of 1,002 Scots, taken in late August, that showed sharp political differences within Scotland. That survey showed that more than 60% of SNP supporters desire full independence. However, only about a third of all the Scots polled wanted to break away from the United Kingdom.

Some detractors have expressed concern about Scotland's economic viability as an independent state. But oil from the North Sea, off the Scottish coast, has enriched the United Kingdom for decades. And the SNP, on its website, says independence "could create an environment where our existing and new private industries can grow more easily," and the party touts a country that retains the British pound, while its future European Union membership creates the benefits of "open borders, shared rights, free trade and extensive cooperation."

Cameron has vocally opposed Scottish independence. In February, he said he was "100% clear that I will fight with everything I have to keep our United Kingdom together," since an intact United Kingdom, consisting of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, "is stronger, safer, richer and fairer."

In medieval times, Scotland fought for freedom from England, which Mel Gibson dramatically depicted in his Academy Award-winning movie "Braveheart." Not long after Wallace died in the early 1300s, Robert the Bruce led Scotland to independence, and it remained an autonomous nation until the Act of Union joined Scotland and England in 1707.

The United Kingdom returned some autonomy to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and gave them the right to form their own parliaments, in the late 1990s.

Ferguson, Missouri, police Officer Darren Wilson, in his first interview since he fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown, said he's not tormented by that fateful encounter on a street in suburban St. Louis last summer.

"I don't think it's haunting," Wilson told ABC News on Tuesday. "It's always going to be something that happened. The reason I have a clean conscience is that I know I did my job right."

Repeating what he told a grand jury investigating the shooting, Wilson said Brown reached into his police vehicle and grabbed for his gun. He feared for his life, he said.

It all started when Wilson asked the teenager to move out of the middle of the street, the officer told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. Brown walked over to his car and pushed the door back as Wilson tried to get out, the officer said.

"As I looked back at him, punches started flying," Wilson said in the interview, which aired Tuesday night. "He threw the first one and hit me in the left side of my face."

Wilson doesn't know how many times he got hit.

"I just know there was a barrage of swinging and grabbing and pulling for about 10 seconds," Wilson told ABC. "I reached out my window with my right hand to grab on to his forearm."

Wilson said he wanted to move Brown away.

"I just felt the immense power that he had. And then the way I've described it is, it was like a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan. That's just how big this man was," Wilson said. "He was very large, very powerful man."

Wilson is 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds; Brown was the same height and weighed nearly 300 pounds.

Brown unleashed another punch and struck the officer in his face, Wilson said.

"How do I survive," Wilson recalled thinking. "I didn't know if I'd be able to survive another hit like that."

Wilson reached for his gun and told Brown to back off or he would shoot, the officer said.

"You're too much of a (word bleeped) to shoot me," Wilson said Brown told him, before grabbing the top of the officer's gun.

Wilson tried to squeeze off two shots but the gun jammed twice.

Brown, he said, tried to reach the trigger guard to shoot Wilson. Wilson got a shot off on his third attempt, he said.

"He gets even angrier," Wilson said. "His aggression, his face, the intensity just increases. He comes back in at me again."

(CNN) -- The remains of all 44 Malaysian passengers of Flight MH17 have been identified, a government statement says.

MH17 was en route from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 17 when it was apparently shot down by a missile as it flew over Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed, including 15 Malaysian crew members.

The last Malaysian identified was Allahyarhamah Puan Sri Siti Amirah Prawira Kusuma, who will be buried in the Netherlands at the request of her family, according to a statement from Malaysian Transport Minister Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai.

"During this difficult time, the families of the passengers and crew of MH17 remain foremost on our minds and we continue to keep them in our prayer," he said. "I wish to reiterate our commitment to the families of the passengers and crew of MH17 and the fact that justice must be served on the criminals who caused this heinous act. Towards this end, investigations at the crash site must continue despite the on-going geopolitical situation on the ground."

The United States and Ukraine have accused pro-Russian separatists operating in the region of downing the plane with a missile, a charge the rebels have denied.

A preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board in September supported that theory, saying the plane was hit by "high-energy objects," but it did not cast blame.

About two-thirds of those killed were Dutch, with Malaysians and Australians making up a large proportion of the others.

Hong Kong (CNN) -- When China's state-owned oil company dispatched an oil rig to a contested area of the South China Sea it flicked a match on a long-smoldering dispute with its communist neighbor Vietnam.

Analysts say Beijing must have known the move would elicit some reaction, but it clearly didn't predict having to evacuate thousands of Chinese nationals desperate to put some distance between them and violent Vietnamese protests.

"The whole episode seems to reek of miscalculation, perhaps by both sides, but it demonstrates how volatile how this region can be," said Alexander Neill, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Asia (IISS).

At issue is the positioning of an oil rig in waters claimed by both China and Vietnam. Vietnam claims the rig's presence is "illegal" while China says it has every right to drill, and has castigated the Vietnamese government for failing to ensure the safety of its nationals.

To understand the issue, it's vital to look at the exact position of the rig.

Where is the rig?

In early May, Beijing announced the HD-981 rig would be parked at sea for exploratory work until mid-August. Owned by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the rig is anchored in Lot 143, about 120 nautical miles east of Vietnam's Ly Son Island and 180 nautical miles from China's Hainan Island, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Location of HD-981

Analysis co-authored by CSIS experts said China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears to be basing its right to be there on the assumption that one of the Paracel Islands, which it claims as its own, is 17 miles north, allowing it to claim its own continental shelf in the region.

China calls the contested Paracel Islands the Xisha Islands, while in Vietnam they're known as the Hoang Sa Islands.

Vietnam says the rig site is clearly on its continental shelf, and moreover is in its Exclusive Economic Zone. Hanoi has demanded that China remove the offending rig, escort vessels from the region and hold talks to settle the issue.

The Chinese rig was escorted to the region by naval vessels and fighter jets, drawing Vietnamese boats to the area and raising tensions at sea. The Vietnamese have accused Chinese vessels of ramming and blasting its boats with water cannon. The Chinese say any conflict was provoked by Vietnamese harassment.