Kazakhstan: Plane with nearly 100 people on board crashes

We begin in Kazakhstan, where the country's president has given the green light to security forces to shoot to kill those taking part in the unrest that's been sweeping the Central Asian nation this week. Dozens of people have been killed in the violence which erupted after a sharp increase in fuel prices, reflecting wider discontent with authoritarian rule. In response to a call from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Russian-led troops have already begun arriving in Kazakhstan.

The new year began in Kazakhstan with the government lifting its price cap on fuel, virtually doubling the cost for people to fill up their cars. Protests spread across the nation of 19 million inhabitants and soon transformed into violent unrest and a bloody crackdown. Over 100 people were killed and thousands were arrested. At the request of Kazakhstan's president, Russia sent paratroopers to help "stabilise" the country. We take a closer look at the former Soviet republic.

Forces sent to help quell an outbreak of violence in Kazakhstan have returned to Russia. A Moscow-led alliance of six former Soviet states were sent after a request from the Kazakh president.

Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi granted an interview to FRANCE 24. Earlier this month, peaceful protests against a hike in energy prices in Kazakhstan sparked a brutal crackdown, backed up by military support from Russian-led troops. The official death toll stands at 225, but human rights groups believe it to be much higher. Tileuberdi said the Kazakhstani authorities were ready to share "proof" with the international community that there were foreign terrorists among the "armed militants". So far, witnesses on the ground have not backed up this claim.

After the violent unrest of early January, calm has returned to Kazakhstan. Many people, however, have complained of excesses during the state of emergency — including illegal arrests and searches.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have arrived in Ghana for the first leg of the Qatar 2023 World Cup Qualifiers against the Black Stars of Ghana. The Nigeria contingent departed from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja aboard a chartered Air Peace aircraft on Thursday morning.

The Chinese airliner, flying between the cities of Kunming and Guangzhou, nosedived into a mountainside earlier this week. The crash is China's deadliest in almost 30 years.

A Passenger With No Flying Experience Landed a Cessna After the Pilot Went Down. This flight passenger really stuck the landing. After the pilot on his private plane became incapacitated, an anonymous passenger landed the aircraft himself—without any previous flying experience.

Rescue workers have recovered 14 bodies from the crash site of a small passenger plane that went down in a remote part of the country over the weekend.

The small Cessna aircraft crashed in a remote mountainous region of central Croatia. A search team discovered the wreckage using a drone.

In the aftermath of deadly violence, Kazakhstan has held a referendum that is likely to shift powers away from the president and nix the privileges enjoyed by former dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev.

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