- Jimmy Carter, possibly the most decent human being to occupy the White House in living memory, has died at the age of 100. He probably didn't want to wait around for Trump's inauguration anyway.
- An Embraer 190 operated by Azerbaijan Airlines on a flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Chechnya has crashed after diverting to Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. Russia is attributing the crash to a birdstrike; however, images of the crashed aircraft show shrapnel damage that is not consistent with this, and footage from inside the aircraft indicates that the cabin had depressurized. This has led others to suspect that the aircraft was damaged by Russian air defense systems, especially since according to some reports there was Ukrainian drone activity in Chechnya around the time of the crash. Russia is predictably warning against promoting "hypotheses" about the incident, but Azerbaijan says that it was indeed a missile and claims that the diversion to Aktau was necessary because the Russians wouldn't let them attempt a landing at Grozny.
- Skepticism about the Russians' claims about the Azerbaijan Airlines crash notwithstanding, a birdstrike is being investigated as the possible cause of a landing gear problem that led a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air, a low-cost South Korean carrier, to crash and burn at Muan, killing 179 people. Two flight attendants are the only survivors; they were apparently seated in the tail section which separated before the rest of the fuselage was consumed by fire.
- Finland has seized an oil tanker after an undersea electrical cable between Finland and Estonia was disrupted just as the ship passed over it; it is suspected that the ship's anchor caused the damage. Finland suspects that the tanker, which is officially registered in the Cook Islands, is actually part of Russia's "shadow fleet" and that the disruption of the cables was deliberate. Sweden is calling for NATO members to meet to discuss the matter.
- An Oregon pet food company, Northwest Naturals, has recalled one of its products after discovering that it was infected with avian influenza.
No comments:
Post a Comment