Site of crash is identified
The Indonesian navy on Tuesday said that it had recovered about 40 bodies from the sea off Borneo, as the search continued for possible survivors of AirAsia plane that went missing on Sunday. The airline said that The National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia confirmed that the debris found found in the Karimata Strait around 110 nautical miles south west from Pangkalan Bun was indeed from QZ8501. The plane, flying between the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, lost contact with traffic controllers on Sunday morning.
Salman Khan campaigning for Rajapaksa’s re-election
In an effort to prop up his re-election bid, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa roped in Indian Bollywood actor Salman Khan to participate in his campaign on Monday. He was invited by Rajapaksa’s son Namal. This is the first time a Bollywood actor has been roped in for a poll campaign. As a result of his actions, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko called Khan a betrayer. The MDMK is opposed to Rajapaksa as he presided over the large-scale killings of civilian in 2009 during the last leg of the war between soldiers and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
All evacuated from burning ferry in the Adriatic, although 10 are dead
After a ferry carrying 478 passengers caught fire off the coast of Greece in the Adriatic Sea, the Italian Navy and authorities from the two countries managed to rescue all but 10 of them by Tuesday morning. The fire had broken out on Sunday on the vehicle deck of the ferry. Rescue efforts since had been complicated by rough weather and choppy waters. On Monday, the Italian Navy managed to get a tugboat fixed to the vessel to stabilise it.
Gmail goes down in China
With analysts suggesting the Great Firewall is to blame, China has cut off access to Gmail. The blockade was commenced on Friday, with authorities saying Google’s services continued to be down on Monday. "I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google's presence in China and even weaken its market overseas," said a member of a local Internet watchdog. Google said there was nothing wrong on its end, and that it had to be China’s doing.
US, Israel oppose Palestine’s draft proposal to the UNSC
Accusing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of being dictatorial, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on United Nations member states to reject Palestine’s proposal to the Security Council asking for the world’s countries to vote for their support of Palestine’s statehood. The US State Department joined Netanyahu, and said the move was “not constructive, sets arbitrary deadlines and fails to account for Israel's security needs”. At the same time, Arab ambassadors on Monday endorsed the proposal. It is set to be voted on on Tuesday.
Greece goes to elections on January 25
Greek Prime Minister Antonio Samaras said on Monday that early elections would be held in the country on January 25. The decision was taken after the parliament failed to elect a new president on time. The impending charge of guard has sparked fears across Europe of Greece’s commitment to the European Union, as well as if Athens will continue to impose austere measures to curb its economic woes. With unemployment crossing 25%, the leading party is the leftist Syriza, which opposes the deep budget cuts and expects its creditors to write off some of its more crippling debts.
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The Indonesian navy on Tuesday said that it had recovered about 40 bodies from the sea off Borneo, as the search continued for possible survivors of AirAsia plane that went missing on Sunday. The airline said that The National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia confirmed that the debris found found in the Karimata Strait around 110 nautical miles south west from Pangkalan Bun was indeed from QZ8501. The plane, flying between the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, lost contact with traffic controllers on Sunday morning.
Salman Khan campaigning for Rajapaksa’s re-election
In an effort to prop up his re-election bid, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa roped in Indian Bollywood actor Salman Khan to participate in his campaign on Monday. He was invited by Rajapaksa’s son Namal. This is the first time a Bollywood actor has been roped in for a poll campaign. As a result of his actions, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko called Khan a betrayer. The MDMK is opposed to Rajapaksa as he presided over the large-scale killings of civilian in 2009 during the last leg of the war between soldiers and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
All evacuated from burning ferry in the Adriatic, although 10 are dead
After a ferry carrying 478 passengers caught fire off the coast of Greece in the Adriatic Sea, the Italian Navy and authorities from the two countries managed to rescue all but 10 of them by Tuesday morning. The fire had broken out on Sunday on the vehicle deck of the ferry. Rescue efforts since had been complicated by rough weather and choppy waters. On Monday, the Italian Navy managed to get a tugboat fixed to the vessel to stabilise it.
Gmail goes down in China
With analysts suggesting the Great Firewall is to blame, China has cut off access to Gmail. The blockade was commenced on Friday, with authorities saying Google’s services continued to be down on Monday. "I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google's presence in China and even weaken its market overseas," said a member of a local Internet watchdog. Google said there was nothing wrong on its end, and that it had to be China’s doing.
US, Israel oppose Palestine’s draft proposal to the UNSC
Accusing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of being dictatorial, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on United Nations member states to reject Palestine’s proposal to the Security Council asking for the world’s countries to vote for their support of Palestine’s statehood. The US State Department joined Netanyahu, and said the move was “not constructive, sets arbitrary deadlines and fails to account for Israel's security needs”. At the same time, Arab ambassadors on Monday endorsed the proposal. It is set to be voted on on Tuesday.
Greece goes to elections on January 25
Greek Prime Minister Antonio Samaras said on Monday that early elections would be held in the country on January 25. The decision was taken after the parliament failed to elect a new president on time. The impending charge of guard has sparked fears across Europe of Greece’s commitment to the European Union, as well as if Athens will continue to impose austere measures to curb its economic woes. With unemployment crossing 25%, the leading party is the leftist Syriza, which opposes the deep budget cuts and expects its creditors to write off some of its more crippling debts.
