Asia

Makassar, Indonesia: Rescuers have found the bodies of all 10 people were on board a chartered plane that crashed into a mountain in Indonesia at the weekend, a local official said Friday. The turboprop plane, chartered by the fisheries ministry, was carrying seven crew and three civil servants, when it lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday. The aircraft crashed into Mount Bulusaraung on the island of Sulawesi. Eight bodies were recovered earlier this week as rescuers combed the mountain's steep slopes, their efforts hampered by the tough terrain and poor weather conditions. The bodies of the two remaining missing people were found on Friday and would be recovered, said local rescue official Andi Sultan. The plane's black box was located on Wednesday and could shed light on what caused the plane to crash shortly before it was due to land in the city of Makassar, the local search and rescue agency said. Debris from the plane, including its fuselage, parts of the tail and windows were found on Sunday near the mountaintop. Indonesia, a vast archipelago in Southeast Asia, relies heavily on air transport to connect its thousands of islands. The country has a poor aviation safety record, with several fatal crashes in recent years. A helicopter carrying six passengers and two crew members crashed in September shortly after taking off from South Kalimantan province, killing everybody on board. Four people were killed less than two weeks after the September crash when their helicopter crashed in the remote Papua district of Ilaga.

Middle East

Istanbul: Turkiye's exports to Syria rose almost 70 percent Year over Yearin 2025. Turkiye's exporters assembly said that Syria's political change in the end of 2024 reflected positively on trade between the two sides. Exports to Syria amounted to $1.514 billion in 2024 and jumped by almost 70 percent to reach $2.568 billion in 2025.

Asia

Tokyo: The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged at its regular policy meeting Friday, while raising its outlook for economic growth and inflation. The central bank decided to maintain the short-term interest rate at 0.75 percent, in a vote of eight members in favor and one dissenting, in line with market expectations. Last month, the Bank of Japan raised its key policy rate to the highest level in 30 years, but the move failed to support the yen, which has remained under pressure since October 2025, falling by more than 4 percent amid fiscal concerns. The decision to hold rates signals the bank’s readiness to continue gradually increasing borrowing costs, which remain relatively low.