1. New York helicopter crash

2. Five people died when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the icy East River. The pilot, who was able to free himself, was the crash's only survivor. The copter was upside-down and submerged when first responders got to it. The victims were tightly harnessed inside the helicopter and had to be cut out. In a mayday call right before the crash, the pilot said the helicopter was having engine failure. The National Transportation Safety Board will try to determine the cause of the Sunday evening crash, but according to the pilot, one of the passenger's bags may have inadvertently hit the emergency fuel shutoff button, leading to the crash that killed five passengers. The passengers were on a Liberty Helicopters chopper that had been chartered for a private photo shoot. This is the company's third crash in 11 years. In August 2009, nine people were killed after a helicopter and a small, private plane crashed into each other over the Hudson River. Investigators said the helicopter was flying too high. Two years before that, in July 2007, a Liberty sightseeing chopper carrying eight people dropped into the Hudson river. An off-duty paramedic on board helped everyone escape.

3. In Other News
Jewish groups are criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin after he suggested Russian minorities such as Jews could be behind alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Putin was speaking with NBC News' Megyn Kelly as she asked him about Russian involvement in the election. Last month, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential election, charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States. At one point, Putin suggested that other ethnic groups may have been involved. "Maybe they're not even Russians," he said. "Maybe they're Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked.” For hundreds of years, Jews living in Russia were persecuted under various czars, and their livelihoods and residences were limited. In Soviet times, Jews were recognized as a national group, but practicing their religion was strongly discouraged (other religions were discouraged as well). Under Joseph Stalin, Jews in the Soviet Union faced suppression and many were sent to gulags. Britian's National Security Council meets today to figure out how to respond to the poisoning of an ex-Russian double agent and his adult daughter. All signs point to Russia being involved in the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. If that can be proven, the UK government reportedly may retaliate with sanctions and diplomatic expulsions. Such moves would put UK-Russia relations at the lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
Chinese President Xi Jinping can serve for the rest of his life if he wants to. Yesterday, China's parliament voted to end presidential term limits. The country's Communist Party said the change, which sparked a backlash, was necessary to align the presidency with Xi's other posts -- head of the party and the military, which have no term limits. Xi is already being hailed as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, who ruled the country for decades.
At least 49 people were killed when a plane approached the runway from the wrong direction, crashed and burst into flames while landing at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan Airport in Nepal on Monday.