News Headlines - 09 January 2021

▽Indonesian plane crashes after take-off with 62 aboard | Reuters

A Sriwijaya Air plane crashed into the sea on Saturday minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on a domestic flight with 62 people on board, and their fate was not known.
The Boeing 737-500, en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared from radar screens after taking off just after 2.30 p.m. (0730 GMT) - 30 minutes after the scheduled time because of heavy rain.

▽Honda cuts car production on massive chip shortage - Nikkei Asia

Honda Motor will reduce vehicle production due to a supply crunch in semiconductors, Nikkei has learned, a sign that a pandemic-spurred global shortage is threatening the auto industry.
The Japanese automaker will first shrink production by about 4,000 units this month. The change will mainly affect the Fit subcompact manufactured at a plant in Suzuka, a city in Japan's Mie Prefecture.
There are warnings that the cuts could be worse later in the year.

▽North Korea: Kim Jong Un admits policy failures as party congress opens | DW

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened the country's first ruling party meeting in five years with a rare admission of failure in policies, reported Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The KCNA quoted Kim saying the previous goals set in the 2016 meeting "were not met in almost all areas to a great extent." He also said the country "must not repeat the painful lessons.''
While the North Korean leader noted "shining successes" by the party, he also stated that "goals for improving the national economy have been seriously delayed."

▽Queen and Prince Philip receive coronavirus vaccinations - LBC

A royal source confirmed the 94-year-old monarch and her consort, 99, had been given their first jabs of the Covid-19 vaccine on Saturday.
It is an unusual move by Buckingham Palace, which rarely comments on the private health matters of the Queen and Duke.
However, it is understood the monarch believed the announcement should be made public to prevent inaccuracies and quell further speculation.

▽Storm Filomena blankets Spain with snow and wreaks havoc | DW

Five regions in Spain were put on red alert on Saturday, as winter storm Filomena caused chaos across the country.
The country's capital Madrid was particularly affected, prompting the closure of Barajas airport and leaving hundreds of motorists stranded on roads.
Spain's AEMET weather agency described the weather emergency as "exceptional and most likely historic." Filomena has so far caused the heaviest snowfalls in Madrid since 1971.