Turkey: A wealthy Turkish socialite and her friends are among the 11 people who died when a private plane bringing them home from a Dubai bachelorette party crashed into an Iranian mountainside. The plane was owned by the private holding company of Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, and carried eight passengers and three crew, an official for Turkey's Transport Ministry said. Those on board included Basaran's daughter Mina and seven of her friends, all flying back from a party ahead of her planned wedding next month. Local residents who had reached the site of the crash said there appeared to be no survivors and victims' bodies were burnt, ISNA news agency reported.
Rwanda: At least 16 people have been killed and 140 others injured when lightning struck a Seventh Day Adventist church in Rwanda's south, a provincial governor says. Rose Mureshyankwano said 140 churchgoers were injured and rushed to a nearby hospital, where two are in serious condition. Mureshyankwano said 17 of those injured are still in the hospital while the rest have been discharged. Lightning strikes are frequent across Rwanda, which has many hills and mountains, and the country's police record a number of human and livestock deaths.
Australia: The Queensland Government expects a hefty damages bill from flooding in the state's north, where police are patrolling affected homes to protect them from looters. Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford says damage to infrastructure, particularly the road network, will amount to many millions of dollars. "We're expecting to see some significant damage to roads, to bridges, washouts, culverts those sorts of things," he told ABC radio. Authorities are also monitoring sewage and water supply systems. Flood waters are finally dropping at Ingham, north of Townsville, where 90 per cent of properties were in some way affected by the tide of brown water that cut the town in two. Police in flood-hit parts of the north are carrying out additional patrols to guard against opportunistic criminals.
United States: President Donald Trump's plan to combat school shootings will include a call on states to increase the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons and an effort to "harden" schools so they're less vulnerable to attacks. White House spokesman Raj Shah says the president will not advocate "universal" background checks, but will reiterate his support for a bill that would promote better information-sharing. The President will also be convening a task force to further study the issue.
France: Far-right leader Marine Le Pen proposed renaming the National Front party co-founded by her father 46 years ago to National Rally, opening a new era after her resounding defeat in last year's presidential race. Le Pen's proposal culminated her closing speech at the party's two-day congress in Lille, the capital of the National Front's northern heartland. The name National Rally must be approved by party members in a mail vote and it's not clear whether they will accept the change. The party also severed the final ties to founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, 89, by eliminating his title of honourary president-for-life. He was barred from attending the congress.
