News Headlines - 29 October 2018

▽Indonesian Lion Air plane crashes into sea with 188 passengers, crew | AFP.com

An Indonesian Lion Air plane carrying 188 passengers and crew crashed into the sea Monday, officials said, moments after it had asked to be allowed to return to Jakarta.
The jet vanished from radar just 13 minutes after taking off from the Indonesian capital, plunging into the ocean.

▽China's yuan sinks to 10-year low against dollar

China’s yuan sank to a 10-year low against the dollar on Monday, coming close to breaking the politically sensitive level of seven to the U.S. currency.
The yuan declined to 6.9644 per dollar at midday, passing its most recent low in 2016 before recovering slightly. It was the lowest level since May 2008.
The currency’s weakness is one of a series of elements fueling Washington’s trade complaints against Beijing. The U.S. Treasury Department declined this month to label China a currency manipulator but said it was closely watching Beijing.

▽Sweden closer to election as Lofven drops bid to form government | Reuters

The failed attempt brought the prospect of a snap election closer, though the speaker of parliament said he would try to avoid that at all costs.
The Sept. 9 vote gave the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats hold the balance of power, but neither Lofven’s center-left bloc nor the center-right group of parties has been willing to give them a say in policy due to their white supremacist roots.

▽Georgia presidential election poised for runoff | Reuters

Georgia’s presidential election looked likely to go to a second round as early official results on Sunday showed neither of the frontrunners with enough votes to secure victory.
French-born ruling party candidate Salome Zurabishvili had 43.2 percent of the vote and her opposition rival Grigol Vashadze won 34.7 percent based on results from 28 percent of the polling stations, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said on its website.

▽Powerball results: 2 winners will split $687 million jackpot - CNN

It's a split! Players in Iowa and New York will share Saturday's massive Powerball jackpot.
Two tickets matched all winning numbers on Saturday and the winners will split the estimated $687.8 million jackpot or a one-time cash option of $396.2 million -- the fourth largest in US lottery history... It's still unclear how many people won Powerball's top prize.