Nation, world briefs

AirAsia jet climbed fast, then vanished

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- An AirAsia plane that crashed last month with 162 people on board was climbing at an abnormally high rate, then plunged and disappeared from radar, Indonesia's transport minister said Tuesday. Ignasius Jonan told Parliament that radar data showed the Airbus A320 was climbing at 6,000 feet a minute before it disappeared Dec. 28. "It is not normal to climb like that, it's very rare for commercial planes, which normally climb just 1,000 to 2,000 feet per minute," he said. "It can only be done by a fighter jet." He said the plane plunged toward the sea and disappeared from radar. Jonan did not say what caused the plane to climb so rapidly.

Jury picking begins in theater shooting trial

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- The first time James Holmes appeared in court, he wore chains and an orange jail jumpsuit and looked dazed, with his hair dyed a comic-book shade of orange. As the first day of jury selection ended Tuesday in the Colorado theater shooting case, it was a far different Holmes at the defense table: The jail uniform was replaced with khakis, an untucked blue shirt with white stripes and a blue blazer. His hair, now a dark brown, was neatly trimmed. Later in the day, he wore a different shirt. Holmes' more conventional appearance was an indication the case was drawing closer to the time when a jury would see the defendant accused of killing 12 people and wounding 70 others at a suburban Denver theater in 2012. But first attorneys have to sort through thousands of potential jurors.

4 men in Paris court face terror charges

PARIS -- French anti-terror prosecutors were seeking to charge four men Tuesday in connection with the attacks in Paris that left 20 people dead, which would be the first suspects charged in the country's bloodiest terrorist attacks in decades. The four men remained in court late Tuesday awaiting an anti-terror judge's decision on whether to open preliminary investigations against them. The possible charges were expected just hours before the French government was to unveil new measures aimed at helping head off future attacks, giving police more power to tap phones, monitor websites and force Internet companies to block messages of hate posted online.

U.S. settles over fake Facebook page

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has reached a $134,000 settlement with a New York woman after federal drug agents used information from her cellphone to set up a fake Facebook page in her identity, a tactic that raised privacy concerns and led to a federal government review, according to court papers filed Tuesday. The government did not admit wrongdoing as part of its settlement. The Drug Enforcement Administration allegedly took photos and other information from the woman's cellphone to create a fake Facebook page in hopes of tricking her friends and associates into revealing incriminating drug secrets.

-- From wire reports