World News Briefs For Monday, 27 January 2020
Hello Australia!! - An NBA legend is killed in a chopper crash - Australia now has five cases of Wuhan Coronavirus - Trump's weird threat to a US lawmaker - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
Retired US Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and his 13-year old daughter Gianna were killed in a fiery helicopter crash in the coastal hills north of Los Angeles. There were no other survivors among the nine people believed to have been on board. A local college baseball coach, John Altobeli, was also killed; the identities of the others passengers are not yet known. Bicyclists reported seeing an aircraft in distress shortly before the Sikorsky 76B chopper crashed in Calabasas; the conditions at the time were said to be foggy. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will assume authority over the crash site, which may include a flight data recorder from the Sikorsky.
US and Australian health officials are confirming five cases each of the new Wuhan Coronavirus that appeared a few weeks ago and has spread around the world. More than 2,000 people around the world have been infected with the 2019-nCoV virus, and 56 deaths are reported in China. The federal health minister says inbound flights from China will not yet be suspended. Foreign Minister Marise Payne says the federal government is in contact with China trying to evacuate about 100 Australians who were inside Wuhan City and Hubei Province when Chinese officials ordered a lockdown and travel ban to prevent the virus from spreading.
Donald Trump threatened US Representative and House Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff in a bombastic tweet storm. "He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country," Trump wrote. This comes after a recording surfaced showing Trump in 2018 telling cronies to "take out" and "get rid of" the then-US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich, a known corruption fighter who was targeted by the White House out of concern she would get in the way of Trump's plan to pressure Ukraine to do his political dirty work - a plot that directly led to the impeachment effort that Schiff is managing for Democrats.
Islamist militants riding motorcyclists attacked and killed 20 members of Mali's security forces in western Africa. "They were well-armed. They entered the Sokolo camp. They took away a lot of (military) material," according to a local official. Al Qaeda militants are known to operate in the area. Mali has been struggling with increasing attacks from militants, despite the presence of 4,500 French troops in the area to bolster local forces.
Heavy rain in Brazil's Minas Gerais state caused landslides that killed around 30 people. More than 2,500 people were evacuated from their homes, many of which were buried under the goopy red mud.