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Trump FAA nominee: Agency faces serious leadership and trust issues
U.S. president Donald Trump's nominee for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says that the agency has serious issues with leadership, culture and trust, according to the Senate questionnaire. Senate Commerce Committee to hold hearings on Trump's nomination for Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford as FAA head on Wednesday. After a series safety incidents the FAA has been under scrutiny, particularly after a mid-air collision on January 29, between an American Airlines regional plane and a U.S. Army chopper that killed 67. Bedford, in a questionnaire that was reviewed by. "A malaise is setting in, where managers feel helpless and rationalize that it's not their fault. Bedford, an experienced pilot with more than 30 year's experience in the industry, was nominated for this award in March. He was previously the head of two other carriers, and he oversaw an expansion of Republic Airways which operates regional flights on behalf American Airlines United Airlines Delta Air Lines. Bedford stated that there is a lack of trust within and with the FAA. He called the FAA's organization "unwieldy", and said that the agency needed to address its "reactive" culture of safety. Bedford wrote that "the lack of trust" makes many FAA managers reluctant to speak out for fear of retribution. Bedford cited "failures", such as the FAA's certification of the Boeing 737 MAX, oversight for chronically delayed implementation of air traffic control, and continued shortages in controllers. Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, wants Congress to approve billions for air traffic control reform and staffing. Bedford wrote that the FAA is unable to fulfill its mission of modernizing air traffic systems, and managing safety effectively because of a lack of vision and leadership. Bedford said that the FAA doesn't encourage innovation by encouraging risk-taking. Bedford wrote that "there appears to be no motivation for anyone at FAA" to take any risk of innovation for fear it might fail. You could say that there was a 'if it's not broken, don't repair it' attitude. But that has evolved into a quiet acceptance that "we can't make it work, but we can try our best to make it safe today." Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Chris Reese & Nia Williams
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Smoke in the cockpit forces emergency landing of Budapest-Lyon Flight in Austria
Austrian police reported that smoke in the cockpit caused a plane from Budapest carrying 143 passengers, six crew members, and destined for Lyon in eastern France to land in Graz. Graz is Austria's second largest city. No one was injured. "The cause of the smoke at this time is unclear", police in Austria's state of Styria (whose capital is Graz) said in a press release. EasyJet Flight 4400 was the only flight listed from Budapest to Lyon-Saint Exupery Airport on Monday. EasyJet website stated that the flight had been diverted to Graz, and it landed at 1325 GMT (3:25 pm). The website also stated that a "follow-on" flight to Lyon was scheduled to leave Graz at 5 p.m., but it is estimated to depart around 9:45 pm. Flightradar24 is a flight tracking website that EasyJet uses on its website. It says the Airbus 319 plane that landed at Graz was a Flightradar24. (Reporting and editing by Deepa Babyington, Francois Murphy)
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FT reports that activist hedge fund Parvus has acquired a stake in Novo Nordisk.
The Financial Times reported that the activist hedge fund Parvus Asset Management has built a stake in Novo Nordick after the company lost the first mover advantage on the lucrative market for weight loss drugs, according to people familiar with the details. Reports claim that the London-based fund has been targeting the budget airline Ryanair as well as the Italian bank UniCredit to influence the nomination of Novo Nordisk’s new CEO. In an email, Novo said that it "has nothing to add." Parvus didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. In May, Novo announced that its CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen will step down. Shares had plummeted from their record high in June of last year, as the competition, notably from U.S. competitor Eli Lilly, made inroads on Novo's share. Meanwhile, its pipeline for new drugs failed to impress investors. Last month, after cutting its forecasts for 2025, Jorgensen stated that Novo expects Wegovy sales to begin recovering in the United States once the ban on compound copies is implemented this month.
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US ocean container imports fall in May as China tariffs begin to take effect
According to Descartes, a supply chain technology company, U.S. imports from China by sea dropped 28.5% in May compared to the same month last year, marking the steepest drop since the pandemic. China is the largest U.S. importer of goods through the seaports. The busiest port in the country, Los Angeles/Long Beach, is one of the most important. These goods are essential to the operations of domestic businesses, from Walmart to Ford. The overall U.S. imports of seaborne goods in May fell 7.2% compared to the previous year to 2,18 million 20-foot units. This ended a string of near-record growth fueled by companies that frontloaded their products to avoid higher duty rates. Descartes stated in a press release that "the effects of U.S. policies shifts with China can now be clearly seen in monthly trade flow." West Coast ports were more dependent on China and suffered the most from the decline. Descartes reported that from April to May, Long Beach and Los Angeles, two of the busiest seaports on the west coast, experienced a steep drop in Chinese goods, with 31.6% and 29,9% respectively. Furniture, bedding, plastics, toys, sporting goods, machinery and other goods were among the top imports from China. Last month, the United States and China agreed on a 90 day pause in punitive tit for tat tariffs. U.S. officials and Chinese officials met Monday in London to try to resolve the high-stakes dispute between the two world's biggest economies. Port executives and shipping experts expect China's volume to increase during the tariff truce. However, it will be at a moderate level. This is because the U.S. reduced the tariff on many Chinese goods to 30% during this pause. Descartes stated that "China-origin exports could continue to soften as importers reassess their sourcing strategies in light of rising landed costs." Reporting by Lisa Baertlein, Los Angeles. Editing by Rod Nickel and Cynthia Osterman.
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US Army, FAA and NTSB brief Senators on recent near-miss incidents involving helicopter
Senior U.S. Officials will answer senators' questions Wednesday regarding an incident that occurred on May 1, when two passenger flights were forced to cancel landings at Reagan Washington National Airport due to a nearby Army helicopter. A spokesperson for Senator Jerry Moran, who chairs the panel, announced that Brigadier-General Matthew Braman, Director of Army Aviation, Chris Rocheleau, Acting Federal Aviation Administration Head, and Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, will attend a closed door roundtable discussion with the Senate Commerce Subcommittee Aviation to discuss the near miss incident. A Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane collided near Reagan on January 29. 67 people were killed. Separately, on Monday, two dozen U.S. Senators asked the inspectors general for the Pentagon and Transportation Departments to open audits as a response to the ongoing issues with coordination between the Army and the air traffic control at Reagan Airport (DCA) and the collision that occurred. Moran's Office said that senators would also receive an "updated status on military helicopter activities in and around DCA airspace." Rocheleau announced last week that the agency has barred the Army's training and priority transport flights following the incident. Rocheleau stated that "we've closed those until we feel comfortable with what we refer to as new rules of the roads." Homendy's participation was confirmed by the NTSB. The FAA or Army did not respond immediately to comments. After the deadly collision, seven Democratic Senators introduced on Thursday sweeping legislation to improve air safety. Last month, the Army informed the Associated Press that the military air traffic controllers had lost contact with the helicopter as it approached the Pentagon during the flight on May 1. Both Delta Air Lines Flights 1671 and Republic Airways Flight 5825 (an Embraer 170 which had departed Boston) were forced to do go-arounds because of the Army helicopter nearby. After the incident, the U.S. Army suspended helicopter operations in the area of the Pentagon on May 5. Separately, the FAA revealed last month that a hotline between the Pentagon and air traffic control at Reagan had been inoperative since March 2022. (Reporting and editing by William Maclean, David Shepardson)
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Trump's dream of a F-55 twin-engine fighter jet is thrown into doubt
According to two sources familiar with the issue, President Donald Trump may have to scale back his vision for a new twin-engine Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter plane due to engineering and cost realities. In Doha, Trump stated that the "F-55" will have "two engines" and "a super upgrade over the F-35." Trump did add a condition, saying "if we can get the best price." The two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue was sensitive, said that Trump had not been shown a twin-engine redesign. The sources claimed that developing such a jet required a massive overhaul costing billions of dollar and taking many years. Lockheed Martin briefed Trump about a possible upgrade for the F-35 in multiple meetings prior to the Doha event. The proposal consisted of just one "advanced engine", a redesigned fuselage and nose, as well as a new sensor system. Trump's mention of the "F-55" designation of the jet caught officials and insiders by surprise, especially the mention of its twin engines. Trump has stated that he prefers this feature for safety, in the event of an engine failure. According to two industry sources and two experts, Lockheed is exploring two new variants of fighter jets. The F-55 proposal is a response to the intensifying competition in global military aviation. China continues to develop its J-36 stealth fighters and J-50 stealth bombers at a rapid pace, while Russia is advancing its Su-57 program in spite of economic constraints. Lockheed's response to Trump's remarks in Doha was measured. "We thank President Trump, for his support for the F-35, and F-22, and we will continue to work with the Administration, to realize their vision of air dominance." According to TD Cowen, a Wall Street analyst who is tracking what could replace Lockheed Martin’s F-35 said, "it sounds as though Trump has asked DoD for a twin-engine version of the F-35 if we can get the best price." Two engines? The F-55 would need to be redesigned with two engines, which would cost a lot of money and take a long time. While it would speed up the jet, it would also delay its production for years. Lockheed CEO James Taiclet had told investors in an April call that the company was exploring a "fifth-generation-plus" fighter concept that would apply technologies developed for its unsuccessful F-47 bid to enhance the F-35 platform. The people who spoke to me said that the F-55 would be much more difficult to export with the new technologies, and they still remain highly controlled. Taiclet, an analyst in April, said that he would "basically take the chassis and make it into a Ferrari". He claimed this approach could provide 80% of the next-generation capabilities at a half price. Boeing won the contract to build the Next Generation Air Dominance, now called the F-47. This will be America's sixth-generation fighter aircraft and is intended to replace Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. PRODUCTION Lockheed is able leverage its production plans to produce new jets because it lost the NGAD competition. The people claimed that Lockheed already had production space lined up and informed the president of the readiness to move forward. One person said that Lockheed was much farther along than the president realized. The F-55's announcement is a timely one, and raises some questions as to how it fits in with existing budgets and plans for defense procurement. The Pentagon already manages multiple high-cost aircraft programs, such as the F-35, F-47, and possibly the Navy's F/A-XX next-generation carrier-based fighter plane. Lockheed Martin's F-55 concept is a crucial opportunity to remain relevant in the high-end market for fighter aircraft after suffering significant setbacks during the next-generation competitions. The F-55 and Boeing's NGAD are expected to surpass the F-22 in terms of capabilities. (Reporting and editing by Diane Craft in Washington, and Chizu Nomiyama.)
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Canada - June 9
These are some of the most important stories in selected Canadian newspapers. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these stories. THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will announce the biggest increase in defence expenditures since the Second World War. This would allow Canada to reach NATO's target of 2% military spending this fiscal year. The Canadian clothing retailer Oak and Fort was granted court protection against its creditors. It blames its financial crisis on an ill-conceived expansion of its store and U.S. Tariffs. ** The union representing DHL Express Canada workers says that the company has locked out their members amid a simmering conflict which adds uncertainty nationwide parcel delivery and could test the new federal laws regarding the use of replacement employees. (Compiled Bengaluru Newsroom)
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Explosions and fires on cargo ships off India's Kerala Coast
Officials said that on Monday multiple explosions and fires occurred on a cargo vessel bound for India's financial center Mumbai, causing forty containers to fall in the Arabian Sea. Shekhar Kuriakose is the secretary of Kerala's disaster management authority. The WAN HAI 503, a Singapore-flagged vessel, met with an incident about 144 km off the coast. According to preliminary information, there were 22 employees on the ship. 18 of them jumped in the water and are now in rescue boats. He said that efforts were underway to save them, and added that the ship was not "currently sunk". The Indian Coast Guard shared pictures and videos on X showing a plume of smoke rising from the vessel, with some containers lying in disarray and open near the point at which the smoke was escaping. A public relations officer for the defence ministry said that a vessel was currently on fire and drifting. The explosions and the contents of the containers were not disclosed by the officials. Another container ship sank last month in an accident near Kerala, releasing 100 containers of cargo into the Arabian Sea. According to the directorate general for shipping, there was no oil pollution reported as a result of this incident. Reporting by Jose Devasia. Sakshi Dayal is the writer. Mark Potter (editing)
Russia says that train service between Moscow, North Korea and Pyongyang will resume in this month.
Russia and North Korea are planning to resume direct passenger trains between Moscow and Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea in this month. This will be the first time that the service has been offered since 2020.
Russian Railways announced that it had reached an agreement with the North Korean railways ministry on a two-monthly service to resume between the capitals of the country. The journey, which took eight days, was said to be the longest direct train journey in the entire world, covering over 10,000 km (6 213 miles).
Two days later, another service will be launched between Pyongyang, North Korea, and Khabarovsk in Russia, near the northeastern Chinese border.
Korean State Railway will operate the services. In the case of the Moscow to Pyongyang route, a North Korean passenger train will be attached to the regular Moscow to Vladivostok service, then reattached to another.
In February 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic prompted the suspension of passenger rail traffic between Russia & North Korea.
Since President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive partnership treaty with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year, Moscow and Pyongyang's cooperation has increased.
North Korea confirmed to Russia in late April it had sent over 10,000 troops and weapons in support of its war in Ukraine. This assistance was crucial to Moscow's success in regaining Russia's western Kursk area from Ukraine.
Both countries operate passenger rail services between Vladivostok, in Russia's Far East, and Rason (a North Korean port).
There are also freight rail networks that connect the nations, though Russia does not reveal the volume of cargo traffic. Reporting by Gleb Stlyarov, Writing by Lucy Papachristou and Editing by Andrew Osborn
(source: Reuters)