Azerbaijan observes day of mourning for air crash victims

Azerbaijan is observing a day of mourning for the victims of an air crash that killed 38 people. At least 29 people survived the deadly crash on Christmas day. Azerbaijan observed a nationwide moment of silence on Thursday, with national flags lowered, traffic coming to a halt at noon, and signals sounding from ships and trains across the country. Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared Thursday a day of mourning and cancelled a planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of former Soviet nations. Aliyev's office said the president "ordered the prompt initiation of urgent measures to investigate the causes of the disaster".