Chilean plane missing with 38 aboard
SANTIAGO, Chile -- Searchers using planes, ships and satellites were combing Antarctic seas on Tuesday, hunting for a Chilean air force transport plane carrying 38 people that vanished en route to a base on the frozen continent.
Seven hours after contact was cut off, the air force declared the plane a loss, though there was no sign of what happened to it. The air force said two ships, more than a dozen planes and three satellites were being used in the search.
Officials said the plane had taken off in favorable conditions on Monday, though it was flying in an area notorious for rapidly changing conditions, with freezing temperatures and strong winds.
The C-130 Hercules carried 17 crew members and 21 passengers, including three civilians. They were en route to check on a floating fuel supply line and other equipment at the Chilean base.
President Sebastian Pinera said via Twitter that he was with his defense and interior ministers at the air force headquarters monitoring developments.
Venezuela moves U.S. execs out of prison
MIAMI -- Six American oil executives held in an overcrowded Venezuelan prison for two years on corruption charges were granted house arrest Monday.
The partial release of the six employees of Houston-based Citgo was confirmed to by two people familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Tomeu Vadell, Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Gustavo Cardenas and Jose Pereira were hauled away by masked security agents while at a meeting in Caracas just before Thanksgiving in 2017. They had been lured to Venezuela in order to attend a meeting at the headquarters of Citgo's parent, state-run oil giant PDVSA.
The two people said lawyers for the six men had made the request to be granted house arrest because of health concerns. There was no immediate comment from President Nicolas Maduro's government.
The men are awaiting trial on corruption charges stemming from a never executed plan to refinance some $4 billion in Citgo bonds by offering a 50% stake in the company as collateral.
Prosecutors accuse the men of maneuvering to benefit from the proposed deal.
But many believe the men, five of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens and the other a legal resident, are being held as political bargaining chips. They cite as evidence of irregularities the decisions by Venezuelan Judge Rosvelin Gil to postpone 15 straight times a preliminary hearing.
Israel floats 3rd election, new parliament
JERUSALEM -- Israeli legislators submitted a bill Tuesday that would dissolve parliament and trigger unprecedented third national elections in less than a year.
Israel has been mired in political deadlock for months.
With the two largest parties, Likud and Blue and White, unable to form a power-sharing agreement ahead of today's deadline, lawmakers from the rival sides together tabled the bill.
It is expected to go to a vote in parliament today, setting the date for the next election on March 2.
"Under the exceptional circumstances that have emerged, and after two adjacent election campaigns in which no government was formed, the dissolution of the 22nd Knesset is being proposed," the bill reads.
Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main rival Benny Gantz have been able to form a coalition government after two inconclusive elections.
45 men abducted at funeral, Afghans say
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban abducted as many as 45 elderly family members of a late Afghan government employee who were attending his funeral, officials said Tuesday.
The Taliban singled out the old men from a funeral procession carrying the deceased employee's coffin to a graveyard, according to interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi. The young men in the group were not taken, he said.
The Taliban have consistently warned people not to attend the funerals of anyone working with the Kabul government, according to Payghambarpul Khuram, the head of intelligence in Jawzjan province, where the kidnappings took place.
Khuram disputed the number of people who were kidnapped, saying only six family members were taken and that other local elders were negotiating with the Taliban for their release.
The Taliban did not immediately comment on the abduction.
The insurgent group controls or holds sway over nearly half of Afghanistan.
A Section on 12/11/2019