Divers retrieve 1 of 2 black boxes
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia – Divers retrieved one of the black boxes Monday from the AirAsia plane that plummeted more than two weeks ago into the Java Sea, a major breakthrough in the slow-moving hunt to recover bodies and wreckage.
The flight data recorder was found under part of the plane’s wing and brought to the surface early in the morning, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, head of the national search and rescue agency.
Divers began zeroing in on the site a day earlier after three Indonesian ships picked up intense pings from the area, but they were unable to see it due to strong currents and poor visibility, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operation coordinator at the national search and rescue agency.
Searchers will continue to scour the seabed to try to locate the other black box, the cockpit voice recorder. They are vital to understanding what brought Flight 8501 down on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board.
Venezuela, Saudi leaders meet, talk oil
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro met Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman, a day after talks with Iran’s supreme leader focused on the slump in global oil prices.
Oil prices have plunged more than 55 percent since June to less than $50 a barrel, placing a severe strain on Venezuela and other oil-producing countries like Iran. Saudi Arabia has strong financial reserves to weather lower oil prices, but Venezuela’s cash-strapped government is among the cartel’s most vulnerable. Analysts estimate that Venezuela needs oil at $110 per barrel to continue meeting its budgetary obligations.
Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest oil producer, has refused to cut production despite willingness to do so by Venezuela and others. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has argued that curbing production would erode the kingdom’s market share and would have no impact on oil prices.
Vatican to put on trial Italian dome protester
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican says it will put on trial an Italian entrepreneur who has scaled St. Peter’s Basilica five times to protest Italian government reforms.
Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, on Sunday said that the man will face trial starting Feb. 7 on charges including defaming and defacing a place of worship and resisting public security.
The Vatican declined to prosecute him on the previous four occasions that he climbed St. Peter’s Dome but citied his recidivism in deciding to pursue charges following the most recent protest on a perch over the basilica’s main entrance before Christmas.
The accused, who says he is losing his beach concession business in the northern city of Trieste because of government reforms, is free pending trial.
56 people dead from poisoned beer
MAPUTO, Mozambique – Contaminated traditional beer has killed 56 people in Mozambique, health authorities in the southern African country said on Sunday.
Those who drank the contaminated brew were attending a funeral in the region on Saturday, Albertini said.
Pombe, a traditional Mozambican beer, is made from millet or corn flour. Authorities believe that the drink was poisoned with crocodile bile during the course of the funeral.
Mourners who drank the beer in the morning reported no illness, while those who drank the beer in the afternoon, fell ill, authorities said. They believe the beer must have been poisoned while funeral goers were at the cemetery.
The woman who brewed the beer is also among the dead.
Associated Press
