Top News

The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curacao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City’s JFK airport.

A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curacao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a US Air Force refuelling tanker on Friday, with the JetBlue pilot blaming the military plane for crossing his path.

“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. “They passed directly in our flight path… They don’t have their transponder turned on. It’s outrageous.”

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

It comes as the US military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on the Venezuelan government.

“We just had traffic pass directly in front of us, within 5 miles [8km] of us – maybe 2 or 3 miles [3 or 5km] – but it was an air-to air refueller from the United States Air Force, and he was at our altitude,” the pilot said. “We had to stop our climb.”

The pilot said the US Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan airspace.

Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, said on Sunday: “We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.”

He added, “Our crew members are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team.”

The Pentagon referred The Associated Press agency to the Air Force for comment. The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US Federal Aviation Administration last month issued a warning to US aircraft, urging them to “exercise caution” when in Venezuelan airspace, “due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela”.

According to the air traffic recording, the controller responded to the JetBlue pilot, “It has been outrageous with the unidentified aircraft within our air.”

Powerball lottery ticket cards are on a rack at a gas station in Houston, Texas, in 2022. The Powerball jackpot reached an estimated $1.1 billion for Monday’s pick after 42 consecutive drawings with no winner. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 14 (UPI) — The Powerball jackpot has risen to an estimated $1.1 billion after there was no winner in Saturday’s drawing, among the largest prizes in the game’s history. The next drawing is scheduled for Monday night.

The new prize is the sixth-largest jackpot ever, Powerball said on its website. The largest jackpot ever, $2.04 billion, was claimed on Nov. 7th, 2022.

While there was no Powerball grand prize winner Saturday, ticket holders in 7 states won at least $1 million. Those tickets were sold in California. Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Monday’s Powerball winner, should there be one, would have the choice between annual payments totaling $1.1 billion, or a one-time $503.4 million lump sum payout.

Two tickets in Missouri and Texas split the $1.787 billion Powerball prize on Sept. 6, the last time anyone claimed the grand prize. Since then, there have been 42 consecutive drawings with no winners.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball. Tickets are $2 each. Monday’s drawing is scheduled to happen just before 11 p.m. EST in the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee.

Powerball is available in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

French superstar Kylian Mbappe scores on his return from injury to help Real Madrid to a crucial 2-1 win at Alaves.

Kylian Mbappe’s and Rodrygo Goes’s goals earned Real Madrid a tense 2-1 win at Alaves in La Liga to potentially keep coach Xabi Alonso in his job.

Madrid, second, reeled league leaders Barcelona’s advantage back to four points and recorded only their third victory in the last nine games across all competitions.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

After a home defeat by Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, Spanish media reported that anything but a victory would cost Alonso his position.

Following Mbappe’s superb opener on Sunday, Carlos Vicente pulled Alaves level in the second half, but Rodrygo secured the visitors a much-needed victory at Mendizorrotza Stadium.

Alonso was able to bring his key player, Mbappe, back into the side after he could only watch the defeat by City from the bench due to knee discomfort.

The coach also handed a debut to Victor Valdepenas at left-back, with both Alvaro Carreras and Fran Garcia suspended, and Ferland Mendy being one of several players out injured.

Mbappe appeared to be feeling his knee and hobbling in the first few minutes, but despite that, he was the game’s most influential player.

The forward had a shot deflected wide and then fired narrowly over as Alaves sat deep and tried to keep the 15-time European champions at bay.

By the time Mbappe opened the scoring in the 25th minute, his discomfort seemed to have cleared up.

Released by Jude Bellingham, Mbappe drove towards goal at full tilt and whipped a shot into the top right corner for his 17th league goal of the campaign.

England international Bellingham then blasted home from close range, but his strike was ruled out for a handball, as the ball had struck his arm.

Needing to fight back, Alaves moved onto the front foot and took control of the game before the break, almost pulling level.

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a fine save with his head, even if he knew little about it, to deny Pablo Ibanez from close range.

Los Blancos were dangerous again soon after the interval, with Alaves goalkeeper Antonio Sivera saving well from Mbappe and then Vinicius Junior.

They came to rue those misses when Vicente pulled Alaves level after 68 minutes.

The forward got in behind Antonio Rudiger, controlled former Madrid midfielder Antonio Blanco’s chipped pass, and whipped a shot past Courtois.

Eduardo Coudet’s side almost took the lead when Vicente’s low cross from the right was nudged wide by Toni Martinez, who was shifted off-balance as he shot by Raul Asencio’s pressure.

Instead, Madrid pulled back in front, with Vinicius breaking in down the left and crossing for Rodrygo to finish from 6 yards out.

It was the Brazilian’s second goal in two games after going the previous 32 matches without finding the net, and Alonso celebrated vehemently, knowing his future could depend on it.

Vinicius had appeals for a penalty turned down, and Bellingham came close in stoppage time as Madrid tried in vain to put the game to bed and ease their nerves.

Third-place Villarreal’s visit to face Levante was postponed due to a weather warning in the Valencia region. Real Oviedo, 19th, sacked coach Luis Carrion after a 4-0 hammering at Sevilla.

On Saturday, champions Barcelona beat Osasuna 2-0 to win a seventh straight La Liga game and ensure they will lead the table into 2026, regardless of what happens in the final round of fixtures before the winter break.

Dec. 14 (UPI) — A Hong Kong court is scheduled to deliver its verdict Monday in the national security case against media founder and former publisher Jimmy Lai, one of the city’s most prominent pro-democracy figures and the founder of the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily.

Lai, 78, whose Chinese name is Lai Chee-ying, is charged alongside several companies linked to Apple Daily, including Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited and AD Internet Limited, according to the court’s docket.

Prosecutors allege that Lai conspired to collude with foreign forces, an offense punishable by as much as a life sentence in prison under Hong Kong’s national security law.

Court records show the case is listed for verdict at 10 a.m. local time in the Court of First Instance at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building.

The Hong Kong Judiciary issued special public seating and ticketing arrangements for the hearing, citing high demand. According to court notices, admission tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning 45 minutes before the hearing, with overflow seating and live broadcasts provided in multiple courtrooms.

The case has also drawn international attention, with governments and press freedom groups warning that the prosecution reflects a broader erosion of civil liberties and press freedom in Hong Kong since the national security law was imposed in 2020.

Lai has pleaded not guilty to two counts of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” and a separate count of conspiracy to publish seditious material in Apple Daily, The New York Times reported. He has been jailed since his arrest five years ago.