Latest News
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US watchdog will review whistleblower warnings on voting rules
The?U.S. The?U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General?announced on Tuesday that it will conduct an independent review of allegations made by a whistleblower. This whistleblower warned that proposed?USPS mail in voting restrictions may result in thousands of legal votes being discarded. A federal judge in Boston, extended on Friday a ban that prevented President Donald Trump from implementing the new USPS rule which would have tightened mail-in voting requirements before the November congressional elections. Last week, the?administration of President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court for permission to enforce the new USPS rule regarding the?use mail-in votes. They said that the new rules would 'threaten integrity of the November congressional election.' The lawmakers cited a whistleblower warning that the "verification" system planned by USPS "risks collapsing absentee voting and disenfranchising many millions of Americans." USPS regulations would require new standards for voter data and ballot envelopes, and could refuse delivery to ballots that did not meet these requirements. Critics say this could lead to thousands of 'legitimate' votes being thrown out as the November 3, 2016 election approaches. Republicans are in a fierce battle to keep control of the?Congress during elections. Critics claim that restricting mail in ballots would disproportionately benefit Republicans, given that Democratic voters are more likely to mail in ballots. The new USPS rule requires that?states provide lists of mail-ballot recipients to the postal service, and use envelopes with unique barcodes approved by the agency for outbound and returned ballot mail. Postal service officials could refuse to mail ballots that don't meet the new standards, or those associated with voters not listed on the list.
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Wizz Air and Ryanair demand NATS overhaul following UK flight disruption
Budget airlines 'Wizz Air' and 'Ryanair, both European carriers, called for a restructure of Britain’s air traffic controller NATS on Tuesday after a?new technical issue that caused?hundreds? of flights to be disrupted at key airports across the country. "A vital national infrastructure provider shouldn't repeatedly stop the aviation system." NATS in its current state is not suitable for the purpose it was intended for," said a Wizz Air spokesperson. Rival airline Ryanair has also criticised this agency and demanded the resignation of its CEO, Martin Rolfe. We were told that lessons would be learned after the collapse of 2023. "Resilience will improve" was the message. We were told that the systems had been repaired. "Yet here we are again", said Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon. NATS said it had implemented "a fix" to the latest problem and was working closely with airlines and airports in order to restore normalcy. We continue to work closely together with our airport and airline customers on recovery. "We sincerely apologize for the disruption of people's travels today and encourage them to continue to contact their airline," said a spokesperson in a press release. The British aviation regulator said that in 2024 NATS would need to revise its contingency plan for 'outages' after the automatic processing of flight schedules malfunctioned one year prior, causing chaos at Britain's airports. The Civil Aviation Authority announced on Tuesday that it has been in touch with NATS regarding the incident, and is expecting the latter to provide a complete report. A CAA spokesperson stated that "we will then determine if?any additional steps are needed to ensure the safety and reliability of the UK air traffic control system."
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Kansas Republicans support Bombardier after Trump's threat
Trump's threat to ban Bombardier aircraft from the United States began to backfire Tuesday, after Republicans in Kansas, which employs 1,500?Bombardier? employees, pledged to protect these jobs before a crucial November election. Some Republican legislators reached out to the White House over their fears that Bombardier would lose access to a large market, which accounts for half of its sales. Meanwhile, Democratic opponents in the predominantly red state jumped into the debate. Roger Marshall, Republican U.S. Senator for Kansas, who is running for election, has said that he will fight to keep Bombardier's jobs in Kansas. He said, "I have already brought this concern to the Oval Office." Bombardier employs 3,500 people in the U.S.; more than 40% are located in Wichita. Jerry Moran, a Republican senator from Kansas who will not be re-elected this year, told reporters on Monday he had contacted the Trump administration to "ensure that the president was aware of Bombardier's significant contribution to Kansas." The threat to Bombardier could escalate an already escalating U.S.-Canada trade war that is a growing election issue in the run up to the November midterm elections. Adam Hamilton, a Democrat who is running to replace Marshall in the Senate race, said on X Monday that Bombardier provides good-paying employment for 1,500 Kansas families. "Now, the president tries to take this away." The highly integrated aerospace industry has been largely spared from Trump's wider tariff war, which has imposed?duties in other industries such as autos. Three aviation lawyers who were interviewed by said that it wasn't immediately clear as to how Trump could prevent Bombardier private planes from being delivered in the United States, since they had been approved by U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The White House is yet to comment. Trump's threats to decertify Bombardier planes in February over a certification spat with U.S. rival Gulfstream Aerospace did not materialize. Transport Canada approved the American-made aircraft. The IAM, North America's largest aerospace union, has said that it opposes Trump banning the jets. David Hernandez, an associate at Vedder-Price in Washington, said that the situation is causing a great deal of anxiety on both sides. This makes no sense. Hernandez told a client who was planning to fly Bombardier at the end October, that he asked him Tuesday if the threat posed a problem. Although the administration hasn't yet banned any planes from flying, lawyers should still take this threat seriously. Ehsan M. Monfared is an attorney at YYZlaw in Toronto. He said that there was no sign of any resistance from Americans who wanted to buy used Bombardier business aircraft from his Canadian customers. Monfared stated that the sentiment among the business aviation community is that Trump would alienate supporters and wealthy donors by banning deliveries of Bombardier aircraft. He said that a policy like this would affect too many orders from supporters of the government. "And its legal basis is in any case questionable." Bombardier shares fell 3.6% at midday after opening the day down 6.4%. Trump's threat was made in a Monday post as the trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa intensified, with Canada introducing counter-tariffs on U.S. goods worth $20 billion. On Monday night, Congressman Ron Estes of the Republican Party, who represents Kansas' 4th District, stated on the social networking site X, that he opposed tariffs on aerospace and defended Canadian planemaker Bombardier's contribution to Kansas. Bombardier is trusted by the U.S. military to perform critical missions in national security.
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French energy unions are threatening strikes in the next week due to a proposal to reduce benefits and pay
Three union members told us that French energy sector 'unions' are planning to strike on Tuesday, August 8, over a recomendation made by the French Court of Auditors in July to curb wage growth and employee perks such as cheaper power and gas. The Belgian Gas Terminal Operator Fluxys, the French Gas Terminal Operator Elengy and state-owned EDF have all filed strike notices. The unions of French energy workers and retirees pay reduced rates for electricity and gas. This is a key part of their compensation package. This court determined that EDF would lose over EUR700 millions in revenue by 2024. EDF spokesperson said that this type of preferential access is common in major companies. Employees value the energy-related benefits while encouraging responsible consumption. The spokesperson stated that it was "perfectly appropriate" for the company, whose success in the industry relies on the commitment of its employees. Gas deliveries could be disrupted if a strike occurs in Europe, as the continent works to fill up its storage before winter. Power cuts may also occur if wholesale electricity prices remain high. France is Europe's biggest LNG importer. These cargoes are transported throughout the continent. Around 70% of the country's electricity is generated by nuclear power. A union source said that further strikes could be possible following Tuesday's 24 hour action. An official from the government said that 'discussions are being held and some changes are being considered, such as moving away from a flat-rate for cheaper energy, to an allowance based upon consumption.' But the government must follow the Court of Auditors guidance. The court recommended that EDF limit annual wage increases and phase out energy benefits. EDF faces significant investment costs in upgrading its nuclear fleet, and planning new reactors. A CGT member in the gas industry said that a large turnout is expected due to opposition of the auditors' reports. Fluxys stated that it was too soon to determine the impact on operations, but terminals located outside France were not affected. Elengy confirmed all the unions in the energy sector had called for strike action, but was unable to indicate any potential impact.
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EasyJet is facing a $72 million lawsuit for stranded Airbus aircraft, reports FT
The Financial Times reported that a unit of the Russian state-owned aircraft?lessor GTLK is suing 'easyJet' for $72 million over claims it illegally abandoned six Airbus airplanes after ending their leases due to sanctions. STLC - Europe Eight, a division of GTLK Europe filed the lawsuit in London's High Court. It alleges that easyJet leased 'Airbus jets at Madrid and Cyprus without maintenance in 2022 while airport storage charges continued to accumulate. According to the claim the carrier leased 'aircraft from STLC, and informed the lessor 'April 2022 it was terminating leases due to EU sanctions that prevented them from maintaining or repairing jets. The report said that STLC maintains the sanctions do not apply since the aircraft was outside of Russia and the leasing company is based in Ireland. The poor condition of three jets that were parked at Cyprus' Larnaca International Airport led to a sale for $32,5 million less than anticipated. According to the report, three more aircraft are still parked in Madrid. EasyJet's spokesperson said that the airline will defend the claim fully and refused to comment further. GTLK has not responded to the request for comment.
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MISO launches fifth Fast-Track Study Cycle for 7.3 GW Power Projects
Midcontinent Independent System Operator said that on Tuesday it had started a fifth round of expedited study covering about 7.3 gigawatts worth of 'new power generation and storage projects,' as the electricity demand in its U.S. territory increases. The portfolio proposed by MISO includes solar and wind farms as well as battery storage facilities in the North, Central and South MISO regions. These projects will be in service by 2029. They include gas plants in Louisiana, Indiana and Kentucky, as well as battery storage developments. The U.S. electricity demand is increasing as power-hungry data centers, new manufacturing facilities and wider electrification are driving consumption higher. According to the Energy Information Administration, after reaching a second consecutive record for U.S. electricity use in 2025, it is expected that consumption will increase in 2026-2027. MISO reported that the ERAS program was launched to expedite studies of projects deemed important to grid reliability. The program has already studied 58 projects, with a total capacity of nearly 29 GW, or is'set to study' them. Five more projects, totaling 3 GW, are nearing completion. The program has a?cap of 68 projects, and will end in 2027.
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Wizz Air and Ryanair demand NATS overhaul following UK flight disruption
Budget airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair called on Tuesday for a restructure of Britain's air-traffic control provider NATS after a new technical issue disrupted hundreds of flights at major airports across the country. "A national infrastructure provider that is critical to the aviation industry should not bring it to a standstill repeatedly." NATS in its current form is not suitable for the purpose it was intended for," said a Wizz Air spokesperson in a statement. Rival airline Ryanair has also criticised this agency and demanded the resignation of its CEO Martin Rolfe. We were told that lessons would be learned from the collapse of 2023. "Resilience will improve" was the message. We were told that the systems had been repaired. "Yet here we are once again," Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon stated. NATS didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. The British aviation regulator stated that in 2024 NATS would need to review its contingency plan for outages, after automatic processing of flight schedules had failed a year before, causing chaos at Britain's airports. The UK's civil aviation body said on Tuesday that it had been in contact with NATS regarding the?incident. It expects NATS to provide a complete report about the incident. Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson: "We will consider if any additional?steps are needed?to ensure the?safereliability of the UK's Air Traffic Control System."
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Treasury website shows that the US has issued new sanctions against Iran.
The United States issued 36 new'sanctions' on Tuesday, targeting Iran’s aviation sector and other companies. This is part of an effort to increase economic pressure on Tehran at a time when the Middle East war has entered its seventh month. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that the action was taken to 'ground Iran's Mahan Air, and other Iranian airlines, as well as covert?front companies, foreign intermédiaires, and deceptive?trans-shipment routes?, which Iran relies upon?to acquire U.S. origin aircraft and sensitive technology? The Treasury issued an alert to financial institutions asking them to report networks of procurement supporting Iran's aerospace industry. It also targeted companies based in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other countries that they claimed helped Tehran purchase U.S. aircraft and sensitive technology. "This is a warning to anyone doing business with Iran's airlines that we have sanctioned today: you are at risk of being cut off from global financial system," said?U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a statement.
Azov fighters from Ukraine were expelled from Mariupol. Now, they are retaliating
The rebuilt Azov Regiment is determined to make Moscow pay for its occupation four years after it surrendered Mariupol's last corner to the?Russians.
Azov's bitter defeat of May 2022, when hundreds of its fighters died or were captured, turned it into a symbol for endurance in Ukraine. It paved the road to its return in a stronger and bigger force. It is now focusing once more on its hometown?on Azov sea.
According to the Kyiv military, drones from the First Corps Azov flew across the sky above the city's strategic port last week. The operation targeted electrical substations and repair facilities, as well as a sanctioned vessel, and plunged the entire port into darkness.
I was able confirm the location of certain parts of a video posted by the Corps.
The attack was part a larger strike campaign by Ukraine against Russian military infrastructure deep behind the front lines, in an attempt to crush Moscow's war machines and turn the war in Kyiv’s favor.
Col. Arsen Dytryk, First Corps Azov chief of staff, said there would be many more operations like this to show off the unit's technology, planning and capabilities.
He admitted that it would be a long game to drive Russia out of Mariupol. The city is 120 km behind the front lines, which are barely moving.
"If it takes twenty years, we'll spend that time planning, waiting and preparing," said Dmytryk (32), who was one of those captured by Russia, then freed later. "But we have to be prepared when the time comes. I think we will return (Mariupol).
It's only a matter of time.
The Russian defence ministry didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.
"MORE IS COMING"
The port attack, conducted by Ukraine's SBU security services and drone forces, was just a few mile from the destroyed steel mill, where Azov fighters, and other troops, surrendered following Moscow's three month siege of the city.
This was after months of strikes in Russian-occupied areas of eastern Donetsk, including Mariupol. The aim was to disrupt Russian supply routes to the front.
The Corps posted footage of its operations on April 16, including drones flying over fields and highways in Donetsk before crashing into army vehicles.
A second post from May 8 shows drone footage of central Mariupol and heavily damaged Azovstal Iron and Steel Works. This is the site where the Ukrainian garrison will make its last stand in 2022.
"Azov has already begun patrolling Mariupol, its hometown. "From the skies -- at least for now," said it.
A recent investigation found that Russia is trying to consolidate its grip in the occupied south of Ukraine by constructing new infrastructure in the city, which had a population of more than 400,000 prior to?the conflict.
Kyiv’s foreign intelligence service reported in January that Russia is expanding Mariupol’s seaport to become a key hub for its economy while pursuing showcasing construction projects within the city, at the expense of ordinary residents.
The authorities of the region in Russian-occupied Donetsk didn't immediately answer questions about this article.
CUTTING CRITERAL SUPPLIES
Azov is the main target of Ukraine's "middle-strike" campaign. Its goal is to choke off enemy cargo, especially fuel, heading from Russia via key nodes such as Mariupol and Donetsk City, according to a drone officer.
He said that the constant movement of trucks on vast open roads made them hard to defend. "There is no way to conceal a fuel tanker." It's impossible.
He said that the routes being attacked include the M14 connecting Mariupol and the Russian city Rostov in the east; the H20 running north from Mariupol towards Donetsk; and a ring-road around Donetsk.
Ukraine's military has also intensified its strikes against the logistics along the "landbridge" that connects Russia and Crimea in southern Ukraine, an area occupied by Russia. These attacks have caused fuel shortages across the peninsula.
Robert Brovdi, Ukraine's top commander of drones, spoke to the media last week and pledged to "isolate Crimea within the near future" by mounting strikes on P-280.
Azov strikes are "cumulative, rather than decisive", Franz-Stefan Gady said, a Vienna-based expert at the Center for a New American Security. They force Russia's military to disperse their vehicles by longer detours, and to resort to night driving.
He added that this "degrades" the offensive pace Russia can generate on the battlefield over time.
Russian forces are close to capturing Kostiantynivka - the southern anchor in the "fortress belt" of the Donetsk Region, which Moscow demanded Kyiv surrender. Russian drone teams also continue to hammer Ukrainian battlefield logistics.
In recent months, however, the overall speed of Russian advance has slowed down to a crawl. Ukrainian forces have gained ground in some areas of the front.
Rob Lee, senior fellow at U.S. based Foreign Policy Research Institute said Kyiv’s mid-range strikes could "test the condition" for Ukraine and possibly Azov to go on the offensive.
This is one of the biggest stories of this past year: How does Russia handle Ukraine's Middle Strike Campaign? He said.
Future Operations
Azov uses the AI-assisted Hornet, a drone developed by Perennial Autonomy in the United States. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt founded this firm.
Lee said that Corps operators had modified the device by installing Starlink Internet Terminals to extend its original range of 100 km. This innovation demonstrated the technical expertise of this unit.
He said that Azov had been responsible for many of the improvements made to the Hornet.
Dmytryk, chief of staff of the?corps, explained that by raining drones down on the roads to and from Mariupol the?corps was working towards a major objective: speeding up the end of the fighting, which he hopes will see over 700 of his fighters released from Russian prisons.
Kyiv makes a prisoner exchange that is all for everyone a key part of any deal. In Kyiv, and in other major cities there are frequent "Free Azov", or "Free Azov," rallies. This reflects the unit's heroism in Ukrainian society.
Denys Prokopenko, the corps commander, said last month on X that releasing his comrades in arms was "my priority and a question of honour".
Azov is vilified in Russia for its origins as a nationalist group. Today's Azov, however, is a far cry away from the scrappy, volunteer battalion which liberated Mariupol in 2014 from pro-Russian rebels, or from the fragmented regiment in 2022.
Formerly under the National Guard it is now viewed as a premier combat force, and one of Ukraine’s "most advanced" formations in drone warfare, according to defence analyst Olena Khryzhanivska, of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
The unit claims that it has grown to include tens thousands of soldiers.
"When we were captured, the Muscovites said that they wanted us to be destroyed, destroyed, and then again, destroyed," said Dmytryk whose callsign is "Lemko". "But their 'destruction,' somehow keeps scaling up Azov." (Editing by Daniel Flynn and Mike Collett White)
(source: Reuters)