Pakistan
Crash kills all aboard plane
A plane belonging to Pakistan’s national carrier crashed and burst into flames on Wednesday with 48 people on board, killing all of them, the airline chairman and police said. According to senior police officer Khurram Rasheed, the plane crashed about 45 miles northwest of Islamabad. Daniyal Gilani, spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), said the plane had lost touch with the control tower. He said the plane was carrying 42 passengers, five crew members and a ground engineer. Among the passengers was Junaid Jamshed, a famous singer-turned-Islamic-preacher. Azam Sehgal, chairman of the PIA, said the pilot told the control tower at 4:09 p.m. that an engine had developed a technical fault.
JAPAN
Marine Corps pilot is missing
The search for a Marine Corps pilot who ejected from an F/A-18 jet in southern Japan was expanded to a wider area after daybreak Thursday, the U.S. military said. The aircraft was on a regular training mission Wednesday when the incident occurred about 120 miles southeast of Iwakuni, the Marine Corps said. Joint search efforts with Japanese military ships and aircraft were carried out through the night. The identity of the pilot has not been released.
BRITAIN
Assange releases statement
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday released a statement given to prosecutors in which he asserts he did not commit any crimes when he had sex with a woman in Sweden six years ago. He says he did not have intercourse with a woman while she was asleep. That allegation is at the heart of an ongoing Swedish investigation into a possible rape. Swedish prosecutors have not charged Assange. Swedish officials say they are waiting for a written report from Ecuadorean prosecutors who interviewed Assange last month at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.
ITALY
Premier turns in resignation
Italian Premier Matteo Renzi resigned Wednesday evening, his self-inflicted penalty for staking his job on constitutional changes voters resoundingly rejected earlier in the week. He will stay in a caretaker’s role at the request of Italy’s president until a new government can be formed. Renzi had first offered his resignation on Monday, shortly after voters rejected the reforms. President Sergio Mattarella told Renzi to stay in office until Parliament completed approval of the 2017 budget.
Compiled from wire reports.