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Monday, December 29, 2014

No trace of AirAsia plane, second day's search futile

No significant sign has been found after the second day's search for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 Monday, a senior official of Indonesia's seacrh and rescue agency said while another official dismally said the plane might well be at the bottom of the sea.

AirAsia flight QZ8501: Indonesian helicopter finds two oily spots in sea, link to lost plane being probed

SURABAYA, Indonesia: An Indonesian helicopter searching for the missing AirAsia jetliner saw two oily spots in the water on Monday, and an Australian search plane spotted objects elsewhere in the Java Sea, but it was too early to know whether either was connected to the aircraft and its 162 passengers and crew.

S. Korea offers talks with N. Korea over unification

South Korea on Monday proposed talks with North Korea to discuss what it calls a range of issues needed to prepare for the unification of the divided countries.

'Intelligence boosting' brain games may not prevent dementia after all

A new study has revealed that computerized brain games that are said to help boost intelligence and prevent dementia may not actually do so.

Iran fires rockets into Pakistan's Balochistan

QUETTA – Iranian border guards fired dozens of rockets in Balochistan's Kech district on Sunday night, officials said.

Iran holds funeral for general killed in Iraq

Iran held a funeral ceremony Monday honouring a senior commander killed in Iraq, media reported.

Italy ferry fire: Over 160 still awaiting rescue

Though 316 passengers were rescued from an Italian-flagged ferry carrying 478 people that Sunday caught fire off the Greek island of Corfu, more than 160 people are still awaiting rescue.

Sony’s ‘The Interview’ rakes in $15 million via web streaming

Sony Pictures said on Sunday that the "The Interview" had been purchased or rented online more than 2 million times, generating more than $15 million in the first four days after the controversial comedy's wide theatrical release was shelved.

Taliban claim NATO 'defeat' in 13-year Afghan war

The Taliban responded scornfully Monday to the formal end of NATO's war in Afghanistan, describing the US-led mission as a "fire of barbarism and cruelty" that had drowned the country "in a pool of blood".

Key developments in disappearance of AirAsia jet

An AirAsia jet with 162 people on board disappeared Sunday while flying from western Indonesia to Singapore on a scheduled two-hour flight. Here's a look at the key developments:

Object Spotted in Sea Not from AirAsia Plane: Indonesian Vice President

JAKARTA:  An object spotted during a sea search for an AirAsia plane was not from the aircraft, Indonesia's vice president said Monday, after reports that an Australian surveillance aircraft had found something.

China's largest inland oil field depleting

The decline in crude oil prices means output from China's inland Daqing oil field will start to drop off beginning next year, an official at PetroChina said.

Iran's supreme leader takes to Twitter and talks Ferguson

The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, took to Twitter Sunday to attack the U.S. and said #BlackLivesMatter.

AirAsia flight QZ8501: Indonesian helicopter finds two oily spots in sea, link to lost plane being probed

An Indonesian helicopter searching for the missing AirAsia jetliner saw two oily spots in the water on Monday, and an Australian search plane spotted objects elsewhere in the Java Sea, but it was too early to know whether either was connected to the aircraft and its 162 passengers and crew.

Earthquake shakes southern Philippines

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook parts of the southern Philippines on Monday but was too far offshore to cause serious damage, Philippine and US agencies said.

Japan culls 42,000 chickens after second bird flu outbreak

Japan on Monday ordered the slaughter of some 42,000 chickens as officials announced the country's second bird flu outbreak in less than a month.

Five killed in Bangladesh lorry-train collision

At least five people were killed and 25 injured Monday when a freight lorry rammed into a passenger train in Bangladesh.

Twitter back online after limited blackout

Twitter was back online Monday following a partial outage which the company said was due to a bug.

China blocks access to Gmail in 'internet sovereignty' drive

Beijing: China has blocked the last remaining way to access Google’s popular e-mail service, experts said on Monday, as authorities work to establish “Internet sovereignty” by controlling what enters the country via the web.

Russian economy shrinks for first time since 2009

Russia's economy shrank in November for the first time in five years, the government said on Monday, as sliding oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine take their toll.

AirAsia shares slump 8% in Malaysia after jet disappears

Shares in AirAsia, Southeast Asia's biggest budget airline, lost almost nine percent in Kuala Lumpur Monday after one of its jets disappeared with 162 people on board.

No impact of missing flight on India operations: AirAsia

Bengaluru: The disappearance of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia's flight from Indonesia's Surabaya to Singapore early Sunday has not affected its Indian operations, an airline spokesperson said.

Australian plane spots object in sea while hunting for AirAsia flight QZ8501debris

An Indonesian official has said that an Australian plane spotted some objects in the sea while searching for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.

Twitter working to fix bug dating tweets as one year old and log-in issues

Twitter has said that its engineers are working to fix the problems users are facing to sign into the social networking site and issues that are causing the tweets to be backdated by one year.

'Fanciful' hyperloop transportation system comes closer to reality

Elon Musk's super-fast travel option, named the Hyperloop, could soon be available, it has been reported.

South Korea, US, Japan to share information on North Korea

South Korea, US and Japan have signed a military pact on sharing sensitive information on North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, Seoul's defence ministry said Monday.

'Smart' computer network matches primate brain qualities

Washington: A team of neuroscientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that one of the latest generation of computer networks - called "deep neural networks" - matches the primate brain.

Facebook Adopts Worker-Friendly Management Techniques: Report

To effectively shape its overwhelmingly young workforce into future leaders, the social networking site Facebook has adopted a set of somewhat unconventional management techniques.

Twitter goes down for some Android users

If you are facing a problem logging into your Twitter account from an Android device, you are not alone.

Many North Korean websites still inaccessible

Some major North Korean websites remained inaccessible Monday with the country's internet outage continuing for a week now.

Russian scientists develop Ebola vaccine

A group of Russian scientists has developed a vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus and its trials are due to be completed in February, officials said Monday.(IANS/TASS)

Malaysia deploys more assets in AirAsia flight search

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Monday that six more assets had been deployed to assist the search operations for the AirAsia flight QZ8501 which vanished Sunday with 162 people onboard on its way from Indonesia to Singapore.

Indonesia to review AirAsia operations

Indonesian Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan Monday said that the ministry will review the operations of AirAsia Indonesia after flight QZ8501, carrying 162 people vanished Sunday.

Missing AirAsia plane no mystery or atrocity: Tony Abbott

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott does not believe the disappearance of AirAsia flight QZ8501 is a mystery or an atrocity.

AirAsia QZ8501 flight attendant always carried memories of MH370, MH17 tragedies

A flight attendant aboard the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 had reportedly posted a series of tweets about the ill-fated Malaysia Airline flights MH370 and MH17 earlier this year.

Missing AirAsia plane likely at bottom of sea bed, says expert

The AirAsia plane that went missing with 162 passengers on board en-route to Singapore is likely at the bottom of the sea, media reports said.