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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.
Iranian rescue teams battling bad weather and mountainous terrain have located the wreckage of a plane that crashed with 65 people on board. The Aseman Airlines flight left Tehran Sunday morning for the city of Yasuj in Isfahan province but went down in the Zagros mountains. The search effort was initially delayed due to dense fog, high winds and snow, all of which made it impossible for helicopters to get close to the crash site. Conditions [approved] improved enough Monday for the helicopters to operate. Latvia's central bank chief was freed on bail from police custody Monday after two days of questioning about alleged bribery, accusations that have shaken the Baltic nations. Ilmars Rimsevics says he rejects all the allegations and plans to meet the press on Tuesday to "explain in a more detailed way." Latvia's anti-corruption agency says it suspects Rimsevics of "seeking out a large-scale bribe" it has yet to disclose in the further information. But officials with Latvia's Norvik bank told the Associated Press that Rimsevics reportedly solicited bribes and retaliated against the bank when it refused to pay him. The embattled President Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Monday sat parliamentary approval for extending the emergency in the Maldives by 30 days, but the move stalled after opposition lawmakers boycotted the planned vote. Yameen declared the emergency after the Supreme Court ordered the release of a group of his political opponents who had been convicted in widely criticized trials. This is VOA news. A huge mound of garbage has collapsed in Mozambique's capital, crushing several homes and killing at least 17 people. Heavy rains are believed to have triggered the collapse in a poor district of Maputo. Authorities say more bodies could still be buried at the garbage dump and a search is under way. Local media say the trash dump rose to the height of a three-story building. Zimbabweans came out Monday to commemorate the life of the country's long-time opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, the day before his funeral. Sebastian Mohfu reports for VOA from Harare. Those are thousands of supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change singing as the body of their late party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, arrived at a square in Harare. They say the struggle (will continue). Tsvangirai died in (South Africa) on February 14 after a two-year battle with colon cancer. The opposition has been hit by disunity as various members fight to head the MDC. Zimbabwe's Air Force flew Tsvangirai's body to his rural home, about 250 kilometers southeast of Harare, ahead of the planned burial Tuesday. It is not clear what Tsvangirai's passing will mean for the party's fortunes, but many say a leadership struggle in the MDC would greatly enhance the ruling ZANU-PF's chances of winning again. Sebastian Mohfu, for VOA news, Harare. The Kremlin on Monday denied Russian government involvement in interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. A spokesman told reporters the allegations are baseless. The comments come days after the U.S. special counsel charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with conducting an illegal "information warfare" campaign to disrupt the election to the benefit of President Trump. Mount Sinabung volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted Monday, sending columns of ash and smoke more than 5,000 meters into the air and hot clouds down its slopes. There were no injuries or deaths from the morning eruption. No one lives inside the 7-kilometer danger zone around the volcano, but hundreds of houses outside of it were covered in volcanic ash. About 30,000 people from around the mount have been forced to relocate in the past few years. You can find more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting from the world headquarters of the Voice of America in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |