World Briefing: January 30, 2025
An American Airlines plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River in Washington. Police have had pulled 28 bodies from the water as of Thursday morning, according to officials, as search-and-rescue efforts turned to recovery. Reagan National Airport has been shuttered as emergency services work at the crash site but is expected to reopen late Thursday morning. American Airlines said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita. The flight — a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines — was set to land in Washington at 8:57 p.m., according to aircraft tracker FlightAware. The plane and an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that was on a training flight collided at 8:47 p.m., according to publicly available flight-tracking data. (WP)
The Reuters news agency reported that Russia's state-run TASS news agency, citing a source, said Russian figure skaters and coaches Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on the plane. They won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994, Reuters noted, and got married the following year.
Several members of the U.S. Figure Skating community were aboard the American Airlines jet, the organization said in a statement early Thursday. Athletes, coaches and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita- Washington Post
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was asked if he could reassure Americans that the United States still has the safest airspace. “Can I guarantee the American flying public that the United States has the most safe and secure airspace in the world? And the answer to that is, absolutely yes, we do,” he said. “We have early indicators of what happened here. And I will tell you, with complete confidence that we have the safest airspace in the world.” - AP
The crash was reminiscent of another air disaster on the Potomac River more than 40 years ago. On Jan. 13, 1982, a passenger jet bound for Tampa, Fla., struck a bridge over the river after taking off from Washington National Airport in a snowstorm, leaving 78 people dead. The plane, Air Florida Flight 90, hit several cars before splitting into pieces that fell into the river. The airport had been closed because of the snowstorm; the plane had taken off just minutes after it reopened for departures. The Boeing 737 reached an altitude of 350 feet before hitting the 14th Street Bridge - NYT
An Airbus plane belonging to South Korean carrier Air Busan caught fire on Tuesday at Gimhae International Airport in the country’s south while preparing for departure to Hong Kong, fire authorities said. Local media suggested the blaze on Air Busan Flight 391, which started at around 10.15pm, may have been caused by a portable battery stored in an overhead bin. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, according to the country’s transport ministry - SCMP
Egypt will not participate in the displacement of Palestinians, an "act of injustice" that would threaten Egyptian security, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said on Wednesday in his first public response to U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Cairo to take in residents of the Gaza Strip. Speaking at a press conference with visiting Kenyan President William Ruto, Sisi said Egypt would work with Trump to reach peace between Israel and Palestinians based on a two-state solution. “Regarding what is being said about the displacement of Palestinians, it can never be tolerated or allowed because of its impact on Egyptian national security," Sisi said. “The deportation or displacement of the Palestinian people is an injustice in which we cannot participate." Trump said on Saturday that Egypt and Jordan should take in Palestinians from Gaza, which he called a "demolition site" following 15 months of Israeli bombardment that made most of its 2.3 million people homeless.
Hamas is set to release three more Israeli hostages as well as five Thai captives on Thursday, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came into effect earlier this month - France 24
US President Donald Trump unveiled a surprise plan Wednesday to detain thousands of undocumented migrants in Guantanamo Bay -- distracting from spiraling confusion after the White House withdrew a shock order to freeze federal funds. Trump said he had ordered construction of a detention camp to hold up to 30,000 of what he called "criminal illegal aliens" at the notorious military facility on the eastern tip of Cuba, used for holding terrorism suspects since the 9/11 attacks. The plan intensifies the crackdown on illegal immigration that Trump has pledged in his second term, along with a parallel push to transform the US government itself in his right-wing image. That broader goal hit a road bump when the White House sparked confusion by withdrawing a memo ordering a halt on trillions of dollars in federal funds -- only to insist minutes later that Trump's plan remained in "full force." Speaking as he signed a bill at the White House ordering the pre-trial detention of migrants charged with theft or violence, Trump said the Guantanamo plan would "bring us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime." - France 24
EU officials are debating the restart of Russian pipeline gas as part of a possible Ukraine peace deal. Advocates say reopening pipelines could help settlement with Moscow and bring down energy prices, the FT reports. But the idea has drawn backlash from Kyiv’s allies. In response on the rumored plan, Ukraine expert Timothy Ash said: “If the reports are accurate, and at face value this is an absolute gift for Putin, and Trump. Putin gets the prospect of a return to the annual €50 billion European gas ticket he was earning before the full scale invasion and sanctions, he is given back the leverage again over Europe as well.”
Syria’s ruler Ahmad Al Shara has demanded that Russia hand over former president Bashar Al Assad and an estimated $2 billion dollars in liquid assets held by the Assad family in Russian banks, during a meeting in Damascus, two sources told The National. The meeting with a Russian delegation led by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov also focused on other issues thorny but reached no agreement beyond maintaining contact, the sources said. “Handing over [Bashar Al] Assad and all senior officers who escaped to Russia was the top of the list," said a member of the new political staff at Syria's former presidential palace, where the meeting took place. It was the first high-level, face-to-face contact since the fall of the Assad regime and Mr Al Assad fled to Moscow on December 8. Mr Bogdanov did not reply but “reserved the right to respond” to the two demands - The National
