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JAKARTA, Indonesia An AirAsia plane with at least 155 people on board, according to the airline and Indonesian media reports, lost contact with ground control on Sunday after takeoff from Indonesia on the way to Singapore, and search and rescue operations were underway.

Flight QZ8501 lost communication with Jakarta's air traffic control at 7:24 a.m. Singapore time, about an hour before it was scheduled to land in Singapore, the Singapore Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The contact was lost about 42 minutes after takeoff from Indonesia's Surabaya airport, Hadi Mustofa, an official of the transportation ministry told Indonesia's MetroTV.

Mustofa also said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact.

AirAsia said in a statement that the plane was an Airbus A320-200 and that search and rescue operations were in progress.

The plane had six crew and 155 passengers, including 16 children and one infant, the general manager of Surabaya's Juanda airport, Trikora Raharjo, told The Associated Press.

There were six foreigners three South Koreans including an infant and one each from Singapore, British and Malaysia, said Raharjo. The rest were Indonesians, he said.

The plane lost contact when it was believed to be over the Java Sea between Kalimantan and Java islands, Mustofa said.

He said the weather in the area was cloudy.

The Singapore aviation authority said it was informed about the missing plane by Jakarta ground control about half an hour after the contact was lost.

"Search and rescue operations have been activated by the Indonesian authorities," it said, adding that the Singapore air force and the navy also were activated with two C-130 planes.

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AirAsia flight loses contact with ground control after takeoff

(Updated 7:03 p.m.; refresh page for updates) JAKARTA - An AirAsia flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday, Indonesian media said, citing a Transport Ministry official.

Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said the aircraft, flight number QZ 8501, lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6:17 a.m local time. (2317 GMT).

Indonesia's air transportation director general Djoko Murjatmodjo told Agence France-Presse the Airbus 320-200 was carrying seven crew and 155 passengers138 adults, 16 children and a baby, updating earlier figures.

According to AirAsia in an updated statement, the passengers consisted of 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean and one Briton. The crew consisted of six Indonesians and one French national.

The flight had been due in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. Singapore time (0030 GMT). The Singapore airport said on its website the status of the flight was "delayed."

'Unusual route'

The Transport Ministry earlier said that the airport had requested an "unusual route" before it lost contact with air traffic control.

In a later news conference, Joko Muryo Atmodjo, air transportation director at the Transport Ministry, said that the aircraft had been flying at 32,000 feet and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid clouds.

The aircraft was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan on Borneo island, when it went missing, he added.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said that there were "heavy thunderstorms" in the region at the time. "But keep in mind, turbulence doesn't necessarily bring down airplanes," Van Dam said in a CNN report.

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AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore missing

Want to transform your live? No, not your real life. Your online social media life. Here's how.

Want to transform your live? No, not your real life. Your online social media life. Here's how.

The website USA.gov lists the 10 most common New Year's Resolutions by do-gooding, self-improving Americans.

They're fine and familiar. But it turns out that when you apply them to your life online -- your social media activity -- they can truly make a difference. (Plus, you're more likely to stick to them.) Here are the 12 most common New Year's Resolutions applied to transform your social media life:

1. Lose weight

We all know social media is a massive time sink. It also takes up a lot of mental energy. Part of the problem is that we tend to sign up for new social networks but don't delete the accounts on our old ones. So many of us have 5, 10, 20 or more accounts. It's time to cut some unnecessary fat. Choose the top three social media accounts -- the ones that you engage on not because you feel obligated or addicted but the ones that enrich your life and where you form or maintain real relationships -- and delete the rest.

2. Volunteer to help others

Trolling, shaming, bullying and harassment on Twitter is truly out of control, but less than it used to be. Twitter greatly improved its anti-trolling tools since the last time I called them out for failing to do so.

Now, it's a little quicker to report an abusive account. And blocking actually blocks now.

So here's the resolution: When you see someone else being harassed online, lend a helping hand. Report the abusive account immediately (on the web version, go to the abuser's Twitter profile, click on the gear icon and click "block or report." "Block" will already be selected. Also click "Report," then follow the radio button options to specify the nature of the abuse.

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12 life-changing social media resolutions

While Malcolm Turnbull's review is on hold, media executives have not been idle. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Mothballs are still packed around the Abbott government's media reform package, but that hasn't stopped the pulse quickening for merger and acquisition activity in the sector.

This week Chinese billionaire Sun Xishuang bought Australia's second biggest Cinema chain, Hoyts, in a deal believed to be worth $900 million.

It came a day after Fairfax Media agreed to a $200 million merger of its radio assets with John Singleton's Macquarie Radio Network, and sold its Perth radio station, 96FM, to ARN News and Media for $78 million.

At the same time, the battle for third-ranked metropolitan TV broadcaster Ten Network Holdings continued to simmer.

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Investment bankers were salivating at the prospect of an M&A bonanza after Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said earlier this year that he would examine media regulations, which many industry players say have become outdated.

Although there has been a steady flow of small deals in the sector worth between $5 million and $20 million, a flood of big deals between established household names has failed to eventuate.

This is because Mr Turnbull shelved the reform agenda, citing a lack of consensus among the main media companies.

Mr Turnbull had planned to review laws that ban mergers between metropolitan and regional television stations and the "two-out-of-three rule", which stops companies owning TV, radio and newspaper assets in the one city.

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Australian media execs strike deals despite Tony Abbott's stalled reform

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent remarksequating birth control to an act of treasonhave stirred up yet another storm in Turkey and abroad.

The comment is the latest in a series that have made headlines in both international and Turkish media outlets, and also lit up social media platforms with exchanges reflecting the divide between Turkey's secularists and conservative Muslims.

It has also prompted questioning of the media's reporting of statements by a politician who himselffrequently accuses international and domestic media ofdistorting his words.

Turkey, a NATO member and candidate for EU membership, is seen as a secular republic with a functioning democracy, bordering both Europe and the Middle East.

In the early years of his leadership in 2000s, Erdogan was widely seen by the West as a moderate conservative, aiming to improve Turkeys democratic standards and economy. He managed to set off EU membership talks 2005, but the process has been stalled for years now.

Western perception of the Turkish leader has changed in tandem with Erdogans rhetoric.

While some say that Erdogan's choice of words coupled with their interpretation by media outlets contribute to turning every statement he makes into a headline, others argue that his remarks merely reflect his hardline ideology.

RELATED:Women blast Erdogan over 'hate crime'

In his remarks on birth control, Erdogan, whose opposition to abortion and contraception is no secret, steered cleared of religious references. Hewas referring to its economic dimensions, saying birth control threatened Turkey's bloodline.

Erdogan urged a couple at their wedding on Sunday to have at least three children to help boost Turkish population figures, in keeping with this oft-repeated worries about Turkey's declining birth rate.

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Why do Erdogan's words make headlines?