After an Azerbaijan Airlines jet crashed in Kazakhstan, speculation mounted about why the plane went down and whether possible Russian air defense action may have played a role.

An Azerbaijani airliner carrying 67 people crashed in southwestern Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing at least 38 who were on board, according to Kazakh authorities. In a sprawling rescue operation, 29 survivors including two children were pulled from the wreckage near the city of Aktau,

Taiwan's Presidential Office conducted its first ever tabletop exercise simulating a military escalation with China, several officials briefed on the matter said, at a time when the island is facing renewed Chinese military threats.