Top News Stories –

Another tragedy in the skies? –
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 from Indonesia to Singapore has gone missing with 162 people on board. It was later found to have crashed into the sea in bad weather.

And at sea –
An Italian ferry catches fire on route to Italy with 478 people on board and is being evacuated amid choppy seas and high winds. At least ten people lost their lives.

Bad idea debate –
Three rival hacking groups call a ceasefire after admitting their Christmas attack on Xbox and Playstation gamers ‘took it too far’. Lizard Squad, rival hackers from the Anonymous group, Finest Squad group, and internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom discussed the attack in a YouTube video.

Video of the Day –

Playgrounds Titles 2014 from bif on Vimeo.

List of the day –

Commercial plane crashes in 2014

• February 16 – Nepal Airlines Flight 183, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6, crashes near Khidim about 74 kilometres southwest of Pokhara, Nepal, killing all 18 people on board.
• March 8 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, disappears from radar over the Gulf of Thailand. Has still not been found.
• July 17 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, is shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board in the deadliest civilian airliner shootdown incident.
• July 23 – TransAsia Airways Flight 222, an ATR-72 en route from Kaohsiung to Penghu, Taiwan, crashes during go-around, killing 48 of the 58 people on board.
• July 24 – Air Algérie Flight 5017, a chartered Swiftair McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating for Air Algérie en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers, crashes in the northern Mali desert after disappearing from radar approximately 50 minutes after takeoff, killing all 110 passengers and 6 crew members on board.
• August 10 – Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915, a HESA IrAn-140 (an Antonov An-140 built under license) crashes shortly after takeoff from Mehrabad International Airport, Iran, killing 39 of the 48 people on board.
• December 28 – Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501, an Airbus A320 en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore, crashes into waters off Borneo, killing all 155 passengers and 7 crew on board.

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram
  • The militant organisation Boko Haram attacks a village in Northern Cameroon, leaving an estimated 30 dead.(News24)
• War in Afghanistan
  • The International Security Assistance Force formally ends its combat mission. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501
  • Traveling through thunderstorms over the Java Sea, Flight 8501 loses contact with air traffic control after the plane departed from the Indonesian city of Surabaya en route to Singapore with 162 people on board. (BBC)
• The Italian-owned MS Norman Atlantic catches fire on a ferry run from Greece to Italy 44 nautical miles northwest ofCorfu, with 222 vehicles, 411 passengers and 5 crew on board. Greek and Italian officials report at least one person is dead. (The Independent),(BBC)
• Two merchant ships collide in rough seas off the Italian Adriatic coast, leaving at least one person dead and two missing.(Reuters via News24)
• Floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka kill at least twenty-four people and leave eight missing. (The Japan Times)
• An apartment building fire near San Antonio, Texas, USA, kills five people. (AP)

Politics and elections

• The Croatian presidential election goes to a run-off between incumbent Ivo Josipović and challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. (Bloomberg)

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