Latest News
-
South Korea extends Boeing 737-800 assessments following deadly crash
South Korea's transport ministry has actually extended by a week unique examinations of all 101 of the Boeing 737800 jets run by the country's airline companies, as jet engine maker GE signed up with a probe into the most dangerous aviation catastrophe on the country's soil. The ministry launched the assessments following Sunday's. crash of a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air that. killed 179 individuals. The assessments were expected to be completed on Friday but. were extended to Jan. 10 for extra checks, such as whether. airlines invested adequate time carrying out upkeep and protected. parts for repair work, a ministry authorities told press reporters. The Jeju Air flight from Bangkok to Muan county in. southwestern South Korea belly-landed and overshot the regional. airport's runway, exploding into flames after striking an. embankment. The ministry has stated it would take a look at engines, maintenance. records and landing equipment on all 737-800s, and an airline company's. operations might be suspended for severe offenses. The airplane's engines are produced under GE's CFM. International joint venture with Safran. While it is uncertain yet what triggered the disaster, the Jeju. Air crash adds to headaches faced by Boeing as the planemaker. battles to restore trust with clients following two deadly 737. MAX crashes, a mid-air panel blowout, and a seven-week strike. The transport ministry also held an emergency conference. with the presidents of 11 airline companies, consisting of top-ranked. Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines, to. talk about steps to boost air travel safety. South Korea's investigation group said on Friday 2 of its. members would leave for the United States next week to analyse. the flight data recorder of the crash in cooperation with the. U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The team is also studying the airplane wreckage and. talking to airport control tower officials. Investigators will evaluate data on 107 mobile phones. recovered from the crash site, including text, for. ideas on what occurred leading up to the crash, Yonhap News. stated. South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday urged. private investigators to work promptly to gather evidence from the crash. scene and evaluate a voice recorder. Unanswered questions consist of why the aircraft did not release. its landing gear and what led the pilot to obviously hurry into. a 2nd effort at landing after telling air traffic control service. the aircraft had suffered a bird strike and stating an emergency. Authorities stated on Thursday they were searching Jeju Air and the. operator of Muan International Airport and banned Jeju Air chief. executive Kim E-bae and an unidentified official from leaving. the country.
-
China urges safety evaluations after lethal year in commercial aviation
Chinese authorities have required evaluations of industry dangers to discover any hidden operational dangers from flight paths to runways, following the most dangerous year in worldwide business aviation given that 2018. In 2015, 318 people passed away in industrial flight occurrences around the globe, according to information tracked by the U.S.-headquartered Flight Safety Foundation's Air travel Security Network. The last time fatalities went beyond 300 remained in 2018. On Friday, the Civil Air Travel Administration of China (CAAC). said it had actually been alerting Chinese airline companies to prospective security. dangers and changing flight routes. The Civil Air Travel Administration of China has been ... in a. timely manner alerting airline companies of security dangers to flights, and. adjusting route plans to make sure safe operation, Shu Mingjiang,. a CAAC official, stated at a routine press instruction. On Dec. 29, a Jeju Air jet flying from Thailand. to South Korea belly-landed and overshot the runway in Muan. following a bird strike. The Boeing 737-800 plane. blew up into flames after hitting an embankment, eliminating 179. people. That was preceded by the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines. flight near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from. southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were attacking numerous. cities at the time. Azerbaijan's president stated the aircraft had. been harmed by unintentional shooting from the ground in Russia. Chinese carriers consisting of Air China and China. Southern Airlines have actually begun to prevent airspace in. that region, financial and investigative news outlet Caixin. reported. Many Western airlines and numerous in Asia have actually prevented. Russian airspace completely given that 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine. war. Additionally, China's CAAC has actually directed airports to take. preventive measures versus bird strikes and to carry out a. thorough evaluation of safety risks on runways. Airports will intensify operations to drive away birds in and. around airport centers, Shu stated. He likewise stated airports are mandated to perform investigations. into hidden risks to improve the safety of runways. The CAAC had also introduced a major air travel safety drive in. 2022 after a China Eastern Airlines airplane plunged. into the mountains of Guangxi and killed 132 people on board in. mainland China's deadliest aviation catastrophe for 28 years. Nearly three years after the mishap, it has yet to release a. final report detailing the cause. The CAAC did not react. right away to a request for talk about the status of the. report.
-
Dense smog shrouds Indian capital, threatening to interrupt flights
Thick smog engulfed the Indian capital on Friday, prompting warnings of possible flight disturbances from airport and airline authorities, as intensifying air quality cut exposure to no in some areas. Delhi, which has been fighting smog and bad air quality since the beginning of winter season, ranked third among the world's. most contaminated capitals in Friday's live rankings by Swiss group. IQAir. No diversion or cancellation has been reported yet, an. airport representative stated, although authorities warned in a post. on X that airplane doing not have devices to allow landings in low. exposure could face difficulties. On social media, India's largest airline company IndiGo and low-cost. carrier Spicejet likewise warned versus weather hold-ups. Delays averaged 8 minutes for 20 flights by 10:14 a.m.,. aviation website FlightRadar24 said. Some train services in the capital were also postponed, media. stated. New Delhi's air quality was ranked extremely poor on Friday,. with an index score of 351, the nation's leading contamination control. body stated, well beyond the levels from zero to 50 that it. thinks about great.
-
South Korea extends Boeing 737-800 assessments following fatal crash
South Korea's transportation ministry has extended special inspections of all 101 of the Boeing 737800 jets run by the nation's airlines by a week, after the worst air travel disaster on the country's soil, a. ministry official stated on Friday. The ministry launched the inspections following Sunday's. crash of a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air that. eliminated 179 individuals. The evaluations were expected to be completed. on Friday however were encompassed Jan. 10, the official told. Reuters, without elaborating on the factor. The Jeju Air flight from Bangkok to Muan county in. southwestern South Korea belly-landed and overshot the regional. airport's runway, exploding into flames after striking an. embankment. The ministry has said it would look at engines, maintenance. records and landing gear on all 737-800s, and an airline's. operations could be suspended for severe infractions. The transport ministry likewise held an emergency situation conference with. presidents of 11 airlines, including top-ranked Korean Air. Lines and Asiana Airlines, to discuss. measures to enhance air travel security, the ministry authorities said. South Korea's examination team said on Friday 2 of its. members would leave for the United States next week to evaluate. the flight information recorder of the crash in cooperation with the. U.S. National Transport Security Board (NTSB). The group is likewise studying the airplane wreckage and. interviewing airport control tower officials. Investigators will analyse data on 107 mobile phones. recuperated from the crash website, including text, for. hints on what occurred leading up to the crash, Yonhap News. said. South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok on Friday advised. investigators to work swiftly to gather evidence from the crash. scene and evaluate a voice recorder. Unanswered concerns include why the airplane did not release. its landing gear and what led the pilot to apparently hurry into. a second effort at landing after telling air traffic control service. the aircraft had actually suffered a bird strike and declaring an emergency. Authorities said on Thursday they were browsing Jeju Air and the. operator of Muan International Airport and banned Jeju Air chief. executive Kim E-bae and another unknown official from. leaving the country.
-
Problem in China's shopping paradise as Hainan duty-free spending falls 29%.
Dutyfree costs in China's. island province of Hainan, where worldwide luxury players from LVMH. to Kering have actually started a business, slumped 29.3%. last year as a weak economy saw a sharp drop in domestic. visitors. Consumers going to Hainan, known for its glitzy seafront. hotels and sandy beaches, spent 30.94 billion yuan ($ 4.24. billion) on duty-free products in 2024, regional custom-mades information revealed. on Thursday, falling 29.3% from a year earlier. The variety of consumers checking out Hainan fell 15.9% to 5.683. million, the data revealed, from 6.756 million in 2023. While the retail invest in Hainan is not substantial to. the national economy, the decreases deal a blow to foreign luxury. brands counting on a post-pandemic boom that tripled sales to. 43.76 billion yuan in 2023 from 2019, assisted by a policy move in. 2020 to raise duty-free purchase limits in Hainan's 12 duty-free. shopping centers. The 2024 depression likewise bodes ill for plans to turn the whole. island, roughly the size of Belgium, into a duty-free shopping. zone in 2025. As part of the growth, brand names would have the ability to. run their own duty-free stores instead of rely on collaborations. with local gamers such as China Duty Free Group. There are also hopes that a completely tax-free Hainan would. draw Chinese consumers away from contending foreign duty-free. hubs such as South Korea's Jeju Island and assist kick-start a. intake engine in China's south. Domestic intake has actually resumed a lower trajectory. particularly in the 2nd half of 2024 as a wave of revenge. costs after the enforced thriftiness of the COVID pandemic. faded. Overall retail sales grew just 3.0% in November from a. year previously, far less than the 4.6% expansion expected by. analysts. Late in 2015, top officials of China's judgment Communist. Celebration said China should intensely boost consumption in 2025. and seek to expand domestic demand in all instructions.
-
U.S. LNG exports skyrocket in December, raising full-year development by 4.5%.
U.S. LNG exports reached near record levels in December, increasing to 8.5 million metric tonnes ( MT) as two new plants started, and increasing fullyear shipments 4.5% over 2023, according initial data from financial company LSEG. December's output was simply except the record monthly export of 8.6 MT taped in December 2023 and was 9% higher than the 7.75 MT exported in November, according to LSEG data. For the year, LNG exports hit 88.3 MT, up from 84.5 MT in 2023, guaranteeing the U.S. maintained its crown as the world's. largest LNG exporter, according to LSEG information. Cheniere Energy's startup of its Phase 3 growth. at Corpus Christi, Texas, and Endeavor Global LNG's launch of its. Plaquemines plant in Louisiana, are anticipated in time to add 30. MTPA to U.S. yearly output. Growth in U.S. exports from brand-new capacity coming online. especially at Plaquemines given its big scale will be. essential to tempering a few of the international LNG price volatility we. expect in 2025, said Alex Munton director of global gas and LNG. research at consulting company Rapidan Energy Group. MARKET TO CHANGE IN 2025 International LNG supply growth in 2015 was very little but the. effect on prices was muted given that last winter season was mild in Europe,. assisting gas in storage stay high. Russian gas also continued to. circulation to Europe through Ukraine. Neither of those conditions are expected to continue this. year, and supply-to-demand conditions will be substantially. tighter, putting a spotlight on U.S. export development, said Munton. Europe remained the favored destination for U.S. LNG. exports in December, with 5.84 MT or 69% of the superchilled gas. offered to the continent, compared to 5.09 MT in November. U.S. exports to Europe saw a myriad of countries buying the. superchilled gas as winter season started to set in, with Turkey being. among the significant European destinations for U.S. LNG in December,. according to LSEG data. Overall exports to Asia grew somewhat in December to 2.01 MT,. or 24%, up from 1.64 MT or 21% of total exports in November. Latin America took.58 MT, the same as November 2024, LSEG information. revealed. There was likewise one cargo for.07 MT offered to Jordan,. according to LSEG data. In 2024 Europe accounted for 55% of total United States LNG exports,. 34% of total US exports went to Asia while the next 11% went. generally to Latin America with a couple of cargoes to the Middle East,. mainly to Egypt and Jordan, LSEG data revealed. Greater LNG production in late December has actually led to tape. feedgas demand and producers will have to play capture up this. year, stated Individual retirement account Joseph, an LNG market expert and senior. scientist at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy. Policy. U.S. gas manufacturers have actually long prepared for the ramp up in. LNG feedgas need, which is beginning and picking up rate in. 2025, but what is likewise true is that data center- and AI-related. demand is coming at the very same time, said Joseph.
-
Slovakia will discuss retaliation after Ukraine's gas transit 'sabotage', says Fico
Slovakia's coalition government will go over vindictive procedures to take versus Ukraine after it stopped the flow of Russian gas through its area to Slovakia, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on Thursday. Fico said in a video message posted on Facebook that his Smer party would consider cutting electrical power materials to Ukraine, reducing help to Ukrainian refugees, and requiring the renewal of gas transits or payment for losses he said Slovakia had actually suffered due to the ending of Russian gas flows. Russian gas exports by means of Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine came to a stop on New Year's Day, marking the end of decades of Moscow's dominance over Europe's energy markets, as a. transit contract in between Russia and Ukraine expired. Slovakia has alternative gas materials however Fico, who has. ended military aid to Ukraine and looked for warmer relations with. Moscow, says Slovakia will lose its own transit earnings and pay. extra transit fees to bring in non-Russian gas. He has also. said European gas and power prices would rise as an outcome of. Ukraine's actions. Fico said a Slovak delegation would talk about the scenario in. Brussels next Tuesday and after that his judgment union would. go over retaliation for what he called sabotage by Ukrainian. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. I state (my Smer-SSD party) are all set to discuss and agree. in the coalition on stopping materials of electricity and on. significant lowering of assistance for Ukrainian people in. Slovakia, Fico said. The only option for a sovereign Slovakia is renewal of. transit or requiring compensation mechanisms that will change. the loss in public financial resources of nearly 500 million euros. Zelenskiy accused Fico last week of opening a 2nd energy. front against Ukraine on the orders of Russia. Slovakia's gas transit network operator Eustream, bulk. owned by the state, had earnings of 158 million euros and. after-tax profit of 25 million euros in the six months to Jan. 31 last year, the current duration it reported on its site. State-owned Slovak gas importer SPP, which covers around. two-thirds of Slovak demand, said on Wednesday it would deal with. around 90 million euros in extra expenses, generally in transit. charges, if it were to change all Russian gas this year. Slovakia, which neighbours Ukraine in the east, exported 2.4. million megawatt hours of electricity in the very first 11 months of. 2024 to Ukraine, which has actually suffered lacks due to Russian. battle, according to data from the Slovak grid operator.
-
New Orleans attack suspect acted alone, supported Islamic State, FBI states
A U.S. Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers had vowed allegiance to Islamic State, but acted alone in the attack that eliminated at least 14 people, the FBI stated on Thursday. The suspect, who was shot dead at the scene after firing at authorities, has been recognized as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who once served in Afghanistan. He drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31, and published five videos on Facebook between 1.29 a.m. and 3.02 a.m. on the early morning of the attack in which he said he supported IS, the Islamic militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria, the FBI stated. In the very first video, Jabbar explains he had formerly planned to hurt his friends and family, but was concerned that the media protection would not focus on the war in between the believers and the disbelievers, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference. Jabbar also stated in the videos that he had actually joined IS before last summer season and offered his last will and testament, Raia stated. This was an act of terrorism, Raia said. It was premeditated and an evil act. New Orleans authorities stated the Sugar Bowl college football video game that had been scheduled for Wednesday in a New Year's Day tradition would happen on Thursday afternoon. The city will also host the National Football League's Super Bowl next month. The FBI stated there seemed no link in between the attack in New Orleans and the episode in Las Vegas on the exact same day in which a Tesla Cybertruck loaded with gas cylinders and large firework mortars exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, simply weeks before President-elect Donald Trump goes back to the White House on Jan. 20. The hurt victims in the New Orleans attack included two policeman injured by gunfire from the suspect, taking location a simple 3 hours into the new year on Bourbon Street in the historical French Quarter. At least 15 individuals were killed, consisting of the suspect, the FBI said. Among the victims were the mom of a 4-year-old who had simply moved into a new home after getting a promotion at work, a. New York monetary employee and accomplished student-athlete who. was checking out home for the vacations, and an 18-year-old striving. nurse from Mississippi. Witnesses described a horrifying scene. There were individuals everywhere, Kimberly Strickland of. Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. You just heard this. squeal and the rev of the engine and this huge loud impact and. then the people screaming and particles - simply metal - the sound of. crunching metal and bodies. Meanwhile, authorities in other U.S. cities stated they had. boosted security, including at Trump Tower and Times Square in. New York City City, including that there were no immediate dangers. In Washington, cops likewise stated they had actually increased their. presence as the capital prepares to host 3 major events this. month: Congress' Jan. 6 certification of U.S. President-elect. Donald Trump's governmental election win, the Jan. 9 state. funeral service for previous President Jimmy Carter, and Trump's Jan. 20. inauguration. ISLAMIC STATE FLAG. The FBI said an IS flag was discovered on the trailer drawback of the. leased car involved in the New Orleans attack. U.S. President Joe Biden condemned what he called a. despicable act. Public records showed Jabbar worked in property in. Houston. In a promotional video posted four years ago, Jabbar. explained himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about. 80 miles (130 km) east of Houston. Jabbar remained in the regular Army from March 2007 up until. January 2015 and after that in the Army Reserve from January 2015. until July 2020, an Army spokesperson stated. He released to. Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank. of personnel sergeant at the end of service. IS is a Muslim militant group that once imposed a reign of. terror over millions of individuals in Iraq and Syria until it. collapsed following a sustained military project by a U.S.-led. coalition. Even as it has actually been deteriorated in the field, IS has actually continued to. hire sympathizers online, experts state.
Beijing unveils plans to increase driverless vehicle use in capital
China's capital Beijing passed brand-new regulations on Tuesday to encourage self-governing driving technology in the city, with authorities preparing to ultimately permit driverless public buses and taxis.
Self-governing automobiles that pass roadway screening and security assessments will be enabled to look for roadway trials, the state-backed Beijing Daily paper reported, which stated the new guidelines take effect from April 1.
The city supports making use of autonomous automobiles for personal vehicles, metropolitan buses, cable cars and taxis, it said, adding that it wishes to encourage the building and construction of smart road infrastructure to support such transport.
In a separate notice published on Monday, the main Chinese city of Wuhan also said it had approved regulations to promote the development of smart connected automobiles.
Chinese authorities have been strongly greenlighting trials for self-driving technology with at least 19 cities carrying out robotaxi and robobus tests, Reuters reported in August.
Companies with big robotaxi fleets in usage in China consist of Apollo Go, a subsidiary of technology huge Baidu, which plans to deploy 1,000 robotaxis in Wuhan by end-2024.
Pony.ai, which drifted in the U.S. market in November, plans to expand its robotaxi fleet across the country to over 1,000 by 2026 from 250 this year.
Other firms checking out robotaxi opportunities worldwide's. biggest vehicle market include WeRide, AutoX and SAIC Motor .
U.S. EV giant Tesla also intends to bring complete. self-driving (FSD) to China in the very first quarter of 2025,. pending regulative approval, and has stated it will start. producing its own robotaxi in 2026.
(source: Reuters)