South Korea launches safety inspection of all airline operations after Jeju Air crash
Authorities announce investigation as shocked citizens enter second day of official mourning
Mon 30 Dec 2024 15.52 GMT
South Korea has launched an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operations, and a separate check of all Boeing 737-800s, after 179 people died in a Jeju Air crash involving the aircraft on Sunday.
As shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning and flags flew at half-mast, the government said it would carry out the audit of all 101 of the aircraft in domestic operation, with US investigators, possibly including Boeing, joining the inspection.
Choi Sang-mok, who was appointed South Korea’s president two days before the disaster, said an exhaustive inspection was essential to overhaul the aviation safety system and “move toward a safer Republic of Korea”.
Africa seeks to address its acute surgical care crisis
Faced with a severe shortage of reconstructive surgeons, African nations are striving to meet the growing demand for critical surgical interventions.
Africa has millions of people who lack access to essential surgical care. From children born with cleft lips to burn victims left untreated, these scars tell stories of a health care system stretched to its limits.
Sub-Saharan Africa bears the weight of an acute surgical care crisis, with 93% of the population unable to access the reconstructive procedures they desperately need.
In a region where burns, congenital deformities, and trauma-related injuries are common, the shortage of skilled surgeons and medical infrastructure compounds the suffering, leaving a vast majority without hope for healing.
Iran confirms arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Tehran
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested on December 19 after travelling to Tehran to report on Iranian society. Iranian state media on Monday confirmed her detention and said Sala had "violated the law" while on the ground. Italy said efforts to free her were "complicated".
Iran confirmed on Monday that it had arrested Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for "violating the law", state media reported, a move that has been decried by Italy as "unacceptable".
"Cecilia Sala, an Italian citizen, travelled to Iran on December 13, 2024 with a journalist's visa and was arrested on December 19, 2024 for violating the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the official IRNA news agency said, citing a statement by the culture ministry without elaborating.
"Her case is currently under investigation," added the ministry, which oversees and accredits foreign journalists in Iran.
Skilled foreign workers a key, growing part of Japan workforce
By MAKOTO ODA/ Staff Writer
December 30, 2024 at 15:37 JST
The number of foreigners working in Japan with the “specified skilled worker” visa has sharply increased since its creation five years ago to address labor shortages.
Unlike conditions under the technical intern training program, the visa allows for working conditions that can benefit both workers and short-handed employers.
For example, visa holders can work longer overtime hours, including night shifts, and in a broader range of industries than those in the technical intern training program.
Another big attraction of the visa is that holders can change jobs after working for one to two years.
The end of fear in Syria
Al Jazeera’s Justin Salhani recounts his experiences in the first days after al-Assad.
Until the fall of the al-Assad regime, the word “dollar” was forbidden in public. Instead, people used anything green – my favourite substitute was “molokhiyeh”, the green leaf eaten in a stew in Arab countries.
This was a story I heard many times from Syrians when reporting from Aleppo and Damascus in the days following the regime’s overthrow. Under the former regime, the walls had ears and anyone could be listening on a street corner or the other end of the phone line.
The driver who 'jumped' his bus over the Tower Bridge gap
On 30 December 1952, a double-decker bus drove on to Tower Bridge on its usual route between Shoreditch and Dulwich.
It was late in the evening, dark and the temperature had dipped below freezing.
It was a couple of weeks after the great smog had brought London to a standstill, and although that particularly foul miasma had dispersed, smog still regularly reduced visibility.
The traffic lights were green, there was no ringing of a warning hand-bell.
Albert Gunter, the driver, travelling at a steady 12mph (19km/h), proceeded on to the bridge.
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