Foreign News
Alaska Airlines grounds 737 Max 9 planes after section blows out mid-air
A passenger plane lost a section of its fuselage in mid-air forcing it to make an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon.
The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 turned back minutes into its flight to California after an outer section, including a window, fell off on Friday. There were 177 passengers and crew on board and it landed safely in Portland. The airline said it would temporarily ground all 65 of its 737 Max 9 aircraft to conduct inspections.
Boeing said it was aware of the incident and was “working to gather more information”.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority told the BBC it was “monitoring the situation very closely”.
Evan Smith, one of the 171 passengers on board, said: “There was a really loud bang towards the left rear of the plane and a woosh noise – and all the air masks dropped. “They said there was a kid in that row who had his shirt sucked off him and out of the plane and his mother was holding onto him to make sure he didn’t go with it.”
Diego Murillo said the gap was “as wide as a refrigerator”.
Fellow passenger Elizabeth Lee added: “Part of the plane was missing and the wind was just extremely loud. but everyone was in their seats and had their belt on.”
Jessica Montoia described the flight as a “trip from hell” adding a phone was taken out of a man’s hand by the wind.
Announcing the grounding of the 65 planes, Alaska Airlines’ CEO Ben Minicucci said: “Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced. I am so grateful for the response of our pilots and flight attendants.”
The flight to Ontario, California, had reached 16,000ft (4,876m) when it began its emergency descent, according to flight tracking data. Images sent to news outlets show the night sky visible through the gap in the fuselage, with insulation material and other debris also seen.
Other pictures show the seat closest to the affected section, a window seat that passengers said was unoccupied, leaning forward without its cushion. In an audio clip, the pilot can be heard talking to air traffic control requesting a diversion. “We are an emergency,” she said. “We are depressurised, we do need to return back.”
According to photographs, the affected area was in the back third of the plane, behind the wing and engines. The section of fuselage involved appears to be an area that can be used as an additional emergency exit door by some operators, but not by Alaska.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 “returned safely… after the crew reported a pressurisation issue”.
Boeing said a “technical team stands ready to support the investigation”. Flydubai told the BBC that its three Boeing 737 Max 9 had a “different configuration with mid-aft cabin exits” compared to the Alaska Airline planes and have completed recent safety checks. “We will follow any guidance issued by Boeing once more information is available,” a spokeswoman added.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident.
The Boeing 737 Max has been described as “the most scrutinised transport aircraft in history” after a series of safety issues. The Max was grounded in March 2019 for a year-and-a-half after two of the type crashed in similar circumstances to each other killing those on board.
Aviation expert John Strickland said the Alaska Airlines incident was very different to those crashes, adding that since the 737 Max came back into service it had “an enormous safety record”. “While we know little evidence of why this section of the fuselage has come out – this has nothing to do with the aircraft being grounded for 18 months,” he told BBC News. “But, it is natural Alaska Airlines is taking a cautious approach grounding its fleet”
More recently, Boeing said it would increase the pace of 737 Max deliveries after resolving a supply error that required it to conduct lengthy inspections of new planes and its inventory, Reuters news agency reported.
About 1,300 737 Max aircraft have been delivered to customers, Boeing data shows. Last month, the FAA urged airlines to inspect Max models for a possible loose bolt in rudder control systems.
(BBC)
Usha Vance, the wife of Vice-President JD Vance, has announced she is pregnant with her fourth child.
In a post on X, the second lady said she is looking forward to welcoming a boy in late July.
“Usha and the baby are doing well,” a statement posted on Tuesday to the second lady’s social media account read.
Vance and his wife, Usha, 40, have three young children: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.
Usha Vance (née Chilukuri) was born and raised in the working-class suburbs of San Diego, California, to a mechanical engineer father and a molecular biologist mother who had moved to the US from Andhra Pradesh, India.
She met JD Vance as a student at Yale Law School in 2010, when they joined a discussion group on “social decline in white America”.
Before becoming second lady, Usha Vance had a legal career, including a job as a corporate litigator at firm Munger, Tolles & Olson in San Francisco. She also worked for conservative judges, Chief Justice John Roberts on the Supreme Court and appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh, before he was appointed by Trump to the Supreme Court.
Usha Vance is the first to have a baby as second lady, though other first ladies have had children while their husbands were in office.
First lady Frances Cleveland, wife of President Grover Cleveland, gave birth to daughter Esther in the White House in 1893, followed by a second child, Marion, who was born outside the White House.
JD Vance has been one of the most vocal members of the Trump administration in calling for higher birth rates in the US.
“Let me say very simply: I want more babies in the United States of America,” he said in 2025.
(BBC)
Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani, known as Valentino, has died at the age of 93.
One of the giants of 20th Century fashion, Valentino’s creations were worn by celebrities and well-known figures including Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy Reagan, Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow.
He co-founded the Valentino fashion house in 1960 and ranked alongside Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld at the top of the profession.
In a statement posted on Instagram, the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation said: “He passed away peacefully in his Roman home, surrounded by the love of his family.”
The foundation said Valentino will be lying in state at Rome’s Piazza Mignanelli between 21 and 22 January.
Valentino’s funeral service will be held the following day at the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, the foundation said.
Born in Lombardy in May 1932, Valentino was known for his collections that displayed luxury, wealth and opulence.
He moved to Paris to study at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne when he was just 17, and went on to work with designers Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche.
His adoption of his signature colour “Valentino red”, inspired by a trip to Spain, helped elevate the brand to global fame with the debut of the iconic fiesta dress.
It became so meaningful for the house that for Valentino’s last collection in 2008 all the models wore red dresses for the finale.
Valentino designed the wedding dress of Princess Madeleine of Sweden when she married British-American financier Christopher O’Neill in June 2013.
In December 2023, he was honoured with the outstanding achievement award at the British Fashion Awards which were held at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
(BBC)
At least six people have been killed and about 20 injured when a fire tore through a shopping mall in Karachi, Pakistani officials say, as firefighters try to bring the blaze under control.
The fire broke out on Saturday at the Gul Plaza shopping mall, a densely packed commercial complex, and continued to burn for hours. By early Sunday, authorities said crews had managed to control about 30 percent of the fire.
South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told the Dawn newspaper that the death toll had risen from an initial three to five. The Edhi Foundation, a medical complex, later confirmed a sixth death in a statement.
Rescue officials said the mall contains roughly 1,200 shops, raising fears that people could still be trapped inside. The Edhi Foundation said part of the building collapsed due to the intensity of the fire, complicating rescue efforts.
Garden subdivision police officer Mohsin Raza said initial findings suggested the fire started due to a short circuit in one of the shops before rapidly spreading throughout the complex.
He said the exact cause must be determined through a detailed investigation and warned that the structure needs to be secured to prevent further damage.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences over the loss of life.
In a statement carried by PTV, Sharif ordered authorities to take “all possible measures” to protect lives and property, provide assistance to affected traders and ensure medical care for the injured.
Zardari urged the government of Sindh province, whose capital is Karachi, to offer “immediate and every possible assistance” and said: “No stone should be left unturned in providing the best medical facilities to the injured.”
[Aljazeera]
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