News in Brief --(29-01-2018)

Australia warplane catches fire

WASHINGTON, Jan 28: A Royal Australian Air Force electronic warfare plane caught fire on takeoff during an exercise in the United States Saturday but there were no serious injuries, the military said. Australia's Department of Defense confirmed "an incident involving an EA-18G Growler at Nellis Air Force Base during Exercise Red Flag." It said RAAF personnel are safe "and no serious injuries have been sustained" during the incident which occurred in Nevada and is under investigation. — AFP

Vehicle plunges into pond, seven die in India

NEW DELHI, Jan 28: At least seven people, including two police personnel, were killed Sunday morning after a vehicle they were travelling in plunged into a pond in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, police said. The car fell into a pond in Aligarh district, about 418 km northwest of Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. "This morning a car carrying seven people fell into a pond here, killing seven people," a police official said. "The dead include a police sub-inspector and constable." According to police officials, the policemen accompanying civilians were on duty to resolve some case. — Xinhua

Honduran president begins second term amid protests

TEGUCIGALPA, Jan 28: Juan Orlando Hernandez was sworn in as president of Honduras for a second term Saturday amid protests that he fraudulently won the November election. Hernandez took the oath at a special session of Congress at the National Stadium, with the bleachers packed with his supporters. At the event, in which he vowed to "comply with and enforce the Constitution and law," the 49-year-old Hernandez said he was "committed to developing a process of reconciliation among all Hondurans." Hernandez takes on his new mandate in the impoverished Central American country of nine million with diminished legitimacy due to the controversial election. — AFP