Новости за 20.01.2016

HEMEIMEEM AIR BASE, Syria - Russian warplanes were taking off one after another with roaring thunder on Wednesday from their base on Syria's coast, which was bustling with activity as Moscow pressed its air blitz days before scheduled peace talks.

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam's Communist Party will hold its 12th congress Jan. 21-28 to elect a new set of leaders for the next five years. Here's a look at how the process works.

BEIJING - A massive explosion Wednesday at a fireworks plant in southern China killed three people and injured 53, while shattering windows of homes in the area, officials and state media reports said.

NEW YORK - Hundreds of Latin American and Caribbean cities are being invited to vie for millions of dollars from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

AMMAN, Jordan - FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali of Jordan says the Iraqi soccer federation has pledged to vote for him.

LOGANSPORT, Indiana - Shelf after shelf in Merle DeFord's Logansport home hold almost 90 wooden models he's made entirely by hand.

INDIANAPOLIS - The House Roads Committee is set to take up a proposal that would raise gasoline and cigarette taxes to pay for improvements to Indiana's crumbling infrastructure.

A resurrected proposal to lift Indiana's eight decades-old ban on Sunday carryout alcohol sales goes before a legislative committee on Wednesday.

INDIANAPOLIS - Vintage arcade games - you know, the ones you remember from your misspent youth such as Asteroids and Pac-Man - are once again objects of fascination and wonder.

BEIJING - Average concentrations of air particulates in 189 Chinese cities fell by 10 percent in 2015, according to a new Greenpeace report, a sign that pollution overall was decreasing even as catastrophic levels of smog this winter in northern China effectively shut down schools and roads.

The leader of an armed group who took over a national wildlife refuge in southeastern Oregon weeks ago joined hundreds of area residents at a tense community meeting - listening quietly as many loudly chanted at him to "go."

SRINAGAR, India - Violent clashes between police and protesters erupted Wednesday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, leaving a man dead and two others wounded, officials said.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Rory McIlroy expects his short game and putting to be better this year after undergoing laser eye surgery during his two-month break from competitive golf.

HONOLULU - Twenty-six former students are alleging in a lawsuit filed that they were repeatedly sexually abused by a now-deceased psychiatrist at a private school for Native Hawaiians.

PORTLAND, Oregon - As military helicopters ferry search and rescue teams over the Pacific Northwest, below them are scenes of devastation from a giant earthquake that could strike the region at any time.

KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii - A massive search for 12 Marines who were aboard two helicopters that crashed off Hawaii has been suspended, after the five-day effort failed to locate any sign of them.

CAYUGA, Indiana - A western Indiana power plant where bald eagles congregate each winter to hunt for fish in the Wabash River is inviting the public to drop by to see the elegant birds in action.

SAN DIEGO - The Navy is launching a carrier strike group to be powered partly by biofuel, calling it a milestone toward easing the military's reliance on foreign oil.

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - For the first time in 11 years since oil started seeping at the site of a platform toppled during a hurricane, the company that owned the platform is publicly discussing its efforts to end the leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

PHOENIX - Opening arguments are scheduled Wednesday at a trial over allegations that two isolated towns on the Arizona-Utah line serve as the enforcement arm of a polygamous religious sect and discriminate against nonbelievers.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Golfers on the European Tour have a new item of clothing to pack in their suitcases.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Department of Revenue has announced it has begun processing individual income tax returns.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Forget the majors, forget an Olympic gold medal: Jordan Spieth's big goal in 2016 is winning the Ryder Cup with the United States.

VERSAILLES, France - Jerome Kerviel, convicted of the trading fraud that nearly brought down the French bank Societe Generale, is back in civil court to fight the 4.9 billion euros ($5.34 billion) in damages he was ordered to pay for his ex-employer's losses.

WASHINGTON - Michael Bay's new film, "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," tells the story of the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, attacks in Libya through the heroics of the private security contractors assigned to protect Americans.