Briefly

UKRAINE

Interior minister among those killed in crash

A helicopter crash in a Kyiv suburb on Wednesday killed 18 people, including Ukraine's interior minister and two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, his deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych were among those killed, said Ihor Klymenko, chief of Ukraine's National Police. Nine of those killed were aboard the emergency services helicopter that crashed in Brovary, an eastern suburb of the Ukrainian capital. There was no immediate word on whether the crash was an accident. A total of 22 people were injured, including 10 children.

AUSTRALIA

Qantas plane lands safely after mayday call

A Qantas flight traveling from New Zealand to Sydney landed safely on a single engine after it issued a mayday call over the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. Qantas Flight 144 with 145 passengers aboard landed at Sydney Airport from Auckland, New Zealand, after a 3.5-hour flight between the neighboring nations' most populous cities. The Boeing 737-838"experienced an issue" with one of its two engines about an hour from Sydney, a Qantas statement said. The mayday, which is issued when a flight is in grave and imminent danger and needs immediate assistance, was downgraded to a PAN-PAN, possible assistance needed, before the flight landed. Qantas said the pilot shut down the engine, but did not specify the problem.

FRANCE

World's oldest known person dies at 118

A French nun who was believed to be the world's oldest person has died a few weeks before her 119th birthday, the spokesperson for her nursing home in southern France said on Wednesday. Lucile Randon, known as Sister Andre, was born in the town of Ales in southern France on Feb 11, 1904. She was also one of the world's oldest COVID-19 survivors. Spokesman David Tavella said she died at 2 am on Tuesday at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the town of Toulon. The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, listed her as the oldest known person in the world after the death of Japan's 119-year-old Kane Tanaka last year.

Agencies via Xinhua