LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I beg my rebellious brothers, I ask them to cease hostilities, to make peace with President [Francois] Bozize and the Central African people.”

Thomas Boni Yayi, president of Benin and leader of the African Union, seeking an end to rebellion in the Central African Republic. Article, this page

Al-Qaida: Gold for U.S. lives in Yemen

SANA, Yemen - Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen has offered to pay tens of thousands of dollars to anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador in Sana or an American soldier in the country.

An audio recording produced by the group’s media arm, the al-Malahem Foundation, and posted on militant websites Saturday said it offered 6.6 pounds of gold worth $160,000 for killing the ambassador, Gerald Feierstein.

The group said it will pay $23,000 to anyone who kills an American soldier inside Yemen.

It said the offer is valid for six months.

Russia investigates fatal crash’s cause

MOSCOW - Investigators on Sunday examined flight recorders and other evidence to try to determine the cause of the airliner crash in Moscow that killed five people, an official said.

The Tu-204 belonging to Russian airline Red Wings was carrying eight people, all of them crew members, when it careened off the runway Saturday while landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. It went partly into an adjacent highway, broke into pieces and caught fire.

Four people were pronounced dead soon after the crash and the airline said on its Twitter account that a fifth, a flight attendant, died Sunday.

Those who died Saturday were the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer and another attendant, Red Wings said.

U.S. plane leaves Iran after repairs

TEHRAN, Iran - A small American commercial plane left Iran on Sunday after it was repaired after an emergency landing at an Iranian airport this month, state TV reported.

The plane was forced to land 16 days ago at the airport of the southern city of Ahvaz because of technical failure, Mahmoud Rasoulinejad, head of the state-owned Iran Airports Company, told the TV station.

Rasoulinejad said three passengers left Iran for Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, but the plane remained under repair in the airport. He said the plane took off from Iran on Sunday upon the arrival of needed spare parts and the completion of repairs.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 12/31/2012