Briefly

BRAZIL

Passengers back on board 737 Max

Commercial flights with Boeing 737 Max jetliners resumed on Wednesday for the first time since they were grounded worldwide nearly two years ago following two deadly accidents. Brazil's Gol Airlines became the first in the world to return the planes to its active fleet, using a 737 Max 8 on a flight from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre, according to flightradar24.com. Gol, the country's largest airline with 36 million passengers annually, owns seven 737 Max aircraft. The Boeing plane was grounded globally in March 2019, shortly after a 737 Max crashed in Ethiopia. A prior crash in Indonesia involving the model occurred in October 2018. In all, 346 people died.

UNITED STATES

Senators fail to halt F-35 jets for UAE

Democrats failed on Wednesday to block the government from selling top-of-the-line fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates, with most senators dismissing fears that US President Donald Trump was setting off an arms race. In one of the largest arms deals of its four-year term, the outgoing administration has approved $23 billion in stealth-capable F-35 jets, unarmed drones and other weapons to the Gulf ally after it agreed to recognize Israel, a major cause for Trump. Trump had threatened to veto the resolutions if they passed. Israel has historically opposed the sale of the jet to any Arab nation, considering that it is crucial to hold an uncontested military advantage. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped objections as the UAE moved in September to recognize Israel.

THE NETHERLANDS

Probe into alleged UK war crimes ends

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said on Wednesday she is closing a preliminary probe into allegations of killings and torture of Iraqi prisoners by British troops from 2003 to 2008 and will not open a full-scale investigation because the United Kingdom has investigated the allegations. The global court only takes on cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious international offenses if a member state is unwilling or unable to investigate them or has carried out investigations that were not genuine with a view to shielding suspects from justice. The global court had been looking into the Iraqi allegations since 2014. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda noted that the British probes have examined thousands of allegations but have not yet led to any prosecutions.

Agencies - Xinhua