Category: World

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP): A Sriwijaya Air passenger jet carrying 62 people lost contact with air traffic controllers after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on Saturday on a domestic flight, officials said. Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said the Boeing 737-500 took off from Jakarta at about 1:56 p.m. and lost contact with the control… Continue reading Indonesia jet carrying 62 goes missing on domestic flight

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP): Raphael Warnock’s roots showed little promise of a future that led to the U.S. Senate. He grew up in Savannah in the Kayton Homes public housing project, the second youngest of 12 children. His mother as a teenager had worked as a sharecropper picking cotton and tobacco. His father was a preacher… Continue reading ‘Only in America’: Warnock’s rise from poverty to US senator

NEW YORK (Reuters): Seven U.S. states and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday sued the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, seeking to void a rule they said could encourage predatory lending by depriving them of their ability to enforce state laws against exploitative interest rates. The complaint filed in Manhattan federal court seeks to… Continue reading Several U.S. states sue regulator over ‘true lender’ rule

LONDON (AP): WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser is due to deliver her decision at London’s Old Bailey courthouse at 10 a.m. Monday. If she grants… Continue reading UK judge to rule on US extradition for WikiLeaks’ Assange

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP): Iran said Saturday it plans to enrich uranium up to 20 percent at its underground Fordo nuclear facility “as soon as possible,” pushing its program a technical step away from weapons-grade levels as it increases pressure on the West over the tattered atomic deal. The move comes amid heightened tensions… Continue reading Iran plans 20 pc uranium enrichment ‘as soon as possible’

CANBERRA, Australia (AP): This New Year’s Eve is being celebrated like no other, with pandemic restrictions limiting crowds and many people bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget. Australia was among the first nations to ring in 2021 because of its proximity to the International Date Line. It was a grim end to… Continue reading 2020 finally ending, but New Year’s revelries muted by virus

SANAA, Yemen (AP): A large explosion struck the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Wednesday, shortly after a plane carrying the newly formed Cabinet landed there, security officials said. At least 22 people were killed and 50 were wounded in the blast. The source of the explosion was not immediately clear and… Continue reading Yemeni officials: Blast at Aden airport kills 22, wounds 50

MOJIANG, China (AP): Deep in the lush mountain valleys of southern China lies the entrance to a mine shaft that once harbored bats with the closest known relative of the COVID-19 virus. The area is of intense scientific interest because it may hold clues to the origins of the coronavirus that has killed more than… Continue reading China clamps down in hidden hunt for coronavirus origins

DETROIT (AP): When Andre Avery drives his commercial truck through Detroit, he keeps his pistol close. Avery, 57, grew up in the Motor City and is aware that homicides and shootings are surging, even though before the pandemic they were dropping in Detroit and elsewhere. His gun is legal, and he carries it with him… Continue reading As COVID-19 ravages US, shootings, killings are also up