A plane that crashed into a shopping centre near Essendon airport in Melbourne, killing four US tourists and their Australian pilot, had a “catastrophic engine failure” shortly after takeoff, police have said.

The twin-engine aircraft, which issued a mayday shortly after leaving the airport about 9am on Tuesday, was taking the tourists to King Island to play golf. “The pilot unfortunately attempted to return to Essendon but has crashed into the DFO at Essendon Fields,” a police assistant commissioner, Stephen Leane, told reporters.

Leane said none of the staff at Direct Factory Outlets – which was not yet open to the public – had been injured. “Looking at the fireball, it is incredibly lucky that no one was at the back of those stores or in the car park of the stores that no one was even hurt,” he said.(the guardian)…[+]

BARBADOS  – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the United Nations Office for Projects Services (UNOPS) have signed an agreement that provides a framework to improve cooperation between the two entities. The signing took place at the Bank’s headquarters in Barbados on February 7, 2017.

The agreement allows CDB to utilize expertise from UNOPS in the execution of specific projects, which the Bank is funding, so that the most effective outcomes for the Bank’s 19 borrowing member countries are achieved. Under the agreement, UNOPS may be called upon to provide technical advice, financial management, project management and technical infrastructure support for projects financed by CDB, where external support is needed.  There is also expected to be an exchange of knowledge and information relating to sustainable actions and social responsibility.

Vice-President Operations at CDB, Patricia McKenzie signed on behalf of the Bank.

Giuseppe Mancinelli, Deputy Regional Director, Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, signed on behalf of UNOPS…[+]

A runoff vote appears likely in Ecuador’s presidential election with Lenín Moreno appearing to fall just short of the 40% required for outright victory over his rightwing rival Guillermo Lasso.

With 87% of votes counted early on Monday morning, the national electoral council gave 39.09% to Moreno, who was a former vice-president under the outgoing Rafael Correa, and 28.28% to Lasso, a 61-year-old former banker. For an outright win a candidate needs 40% and a 10-point lead over his nearest rival.

The widely different results of two exit polls saw Moreno’s camp celebrating victory in the first round, while Lasso declared there would be a second round in which he would face the government’s candidate.Moreno’s supporters draped in lime-green colours of the Alianza Pais coalition celebrated late into the night to as live cumbia music blasted from a stage erected on a main avenue the headquarters in Quito.(theguardian)…[+]

The US vice-president, Mike Pence, has attempted to mend fences with European leaders by pledging support for the EU, following hostile comments from Donald Trump and his supporters.On his first visit to Brussels since assuming office, Pence said on Monday the new administration wanted to work in partnership with the EU. “It is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continued cooperation and partnership with the European Union,” he said.

“Whatever our differences, our two continents share the same heritage, the same values and above all the same purpose, to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and to those objectives we will remain committed.”Pence’s emollient tone was in sharp contrast to the enthusiasm for Brexit shown by his boss in the White House. Trump welcomed Brexit and has said that more countries will leave the EU, which he recently described as “basically a vehicle for Germany”.(the guardian)…[+]