Latest News
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Increased security at US Fairford Air Base in England
A witness said that security measures at an 'US airbase in southwest England have increased significantly in the last few days, with roadblocks and armed police blocking access, as well as emergency vehicles parked near. A spokesperson from the US Air Force confirmed that they are aware of the current reports but will not discuss specific measures to protect forces. The spokesperson stated that "the 501st combat support wing and our UK-based Wings will remain vigilant and take appropriate actions to ensure safety and security for?our US servicemen, civilians and contractors, as well as their families." "We continually assess a number of factors to determine which measures we implement?or change in order to protect our installations and our people, as well as their families." Britain declared?in July that its armed forces were ready to protect the country against any attack, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned not to allow US bombers fly out of Fairford. Fairford in Gloucestershire was used to launch operations against Iran during the Middle East Conflict.
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Boeing flags 737 MAX Software Bug Affecting Landing Navigation Feature, WSJ Reports
The Wall Street Journal, citing documents from the company, reported that Boeing has discovered a previously unknown software bug in its 737 MAX aircraft. This glitch could cause an automated navigation 'feature' to fail on landing. Report said that the issue was caused by a software update in the cockpit and could occur when crews change their flight plan after a missed landing. Boeing, when asked for comment, said that it had informed 'all 737 operators' last month of the software problem under which pilots could not?have access to automated flight guidance in a certain landing scenario. Our engineers are working on a software update to 'permanently address the issue. Boeing stated in an email that engineers were working on a permanent software update. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that it was aware of a possible issue with a software update to the flight computers in certain Boeing 737 MAX aircrafts, and worked closely with Boeing as well as the airlines. The FAA issued a statement saying that it would convene a Corrective Action Review Board if a safety concern was identified. Boeing has come under heavy regulatory and safety scrutiny over the past few years, following two 'fatal 737 MAX crash incidents in 2018 and 2019, which led to a 'worldwide grounding of the aircraft. Also after a cabin panel blew out mid-air on a brand new Alaska Airlines MAX 9 in 2018. Southwest Airlines and 'United Airlines' have requested that Boeing not deliver new 737 MAX aircraft with the affected software, and instead request an earlier version. The report stated that it was not immediately clear how many aircraft were operating with the flawed software. Boeing, airlines, and regulators are evaluating the issue to determine if it poses a safety concern for flight, according to the report.
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Russia claims it has struck Ukrainian defence industry vessels and facilities
On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that 'its forces' had carried out drone strikes overnight on Ukrainian defence industry installations, logistic centres and vessels used in Ukraine by its armed forces. The 'Ministry' said that the strikes targeted a 'drone assembly and storage site, in the Kyiv region; logistics hubs in Odesa and port infrastructure in Reni along the Danube River. It was also reported that Russian forces had struck a cargo vessel carrying dual-use and military goods bound for the port of Odesa. Later, on Friday, the ministry announced that its forces had hit another cargo ship?in Odesa that was delivering a?logistics centre?to the port Chornomorsk. This centre is used by Ukraine's armed forces and security forces. It also houses a data center for the?processing of intelligence data and the transmission of it. Could not independently verify statements.
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Volkswagen recalls 4 million cars, Handelsblatt reports
The Handelsblatt reported that Volkswagen, the German automaker, will recall 4 million vehicles from four different brands. This is the largest recall since the Dieselgate scandal. According to the German KBA, there will be a recall of 2.16 million VW and 700,000 Audi vehicles. The Handelsblatt reported that Volkswagen's Czech?brand Skoda, and Seat in Spain would also be affected by the action. Seat confirmed that the number. Skoda has not yet commented on the report. Volkswagen stated in an earlier press release that customers were asked to bring their vehicles to be repaired due to a?risk of corrosion associated with a screw within the steering system. If left unchecked this could affect the steering system's function in the long run. The company said that the recall is a precautionary measure, and that replacing the screw will take less than an hour. Volkswagen refused to comment on the cost estimate of the recalls.
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US airlines oppose China’s bid to increase flights
On Thursday, the head of the industry group Airlines for American?said that US carriers opposed adding more direct flights to the United States from China despite the fact that Xi Jinping, the Chinese President raised the idea. Chris Sununu, the head of the group that represents American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, among others, has said US carriers are still hampered because their Chinese counterparts have been allowed to fly over Russia on eight flights. He told reporters that he had been urging officials in the Trump administration not to cave. It's not a small thing. Sununu told an interview that it is a costly exercise for airlines to travel around Russia. Xi brought up the issue of increased flights at a Washington event on Thursday. At the moment, each country can only operate 50 round-trips per week. "Our two parties may also increase direct flight to facilitate travel in both directions and trade," Xi - said. The White House has not yet commented. Before the COVID-19 epidemic, each side was allowed to fly more than 150 round-trip flights per week. Chinese and US carriers were limited to 12 flights a week each between the two nations until August 2023. Air China was asked to increase the number of flights it offers from the US East coast to China, but Airlines for America resisted the request last week. US carriers are banned from doing so because they cannot access Russian airspace. Chinese carriers however can fly eight US flights. "It's imbalanced. Sununu stated, "It's unfair." "They have an advantage already with eight flights. "It would be a huge advantage to give them even more," he said. "Don't worsen it for us." In?March 2022, the US banned Russian flights in American airspace following Russia's invasion into neighboring Ukraine. This prompted Russia to prohibit US carriers from flying over?the country. The United States did not ban other countries from flying over Russia, but they made a deal in 2023 with China that any additional flights would not be allowed to do so. The US Transportation Department proposed in October 2025 to ban Chinese airlines from flying above?Russia along routes between the United States and Canada. They argued that the shorter flight times this practice allows puts American carriers at an unfair disadvantage. The proposal was withdrawn after it faced opposition from US agencies.
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Alaska Air expects certification of the Boeing 737 MAX 10 by end-September
Alaska?Air?expects Boeing’s?737 MAX 10 aircraft to be certified before the end of September, and plans to deliver its?first plane next spring. Chief Operating Officer?Jason Berry said on Thursday. Berry said that the airline expects to begin passenger service with the MAX 10 between mid-April and April. Before Boeing can start deliveries, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must certify that aircraft. This timeline could be impacted by any delays in the 737 MAX 10 certification process, which is already several years behind schedule. Alaska must then certify the heads-up displays for pilots after the single-aisle aircraft is certified by federal regulators. This will take "a few?months," according to him. He said that the tight schedule "is sport," adding, "We're not panicking yet."
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Maguire: The cement boom in Africa signals the next big shift in global energy usage.
Africa consumes less than 5% of the global energy supply. It is therefore vastly outweighed by other regions when it comes to assessing current trends in energy and pollution. The aggressive plans to build cement plants in the region may change this. Global Energy Monitor data shows that Africa dominates the global pipeline of cement production capacity being built. This construction share is compared to a 8% share of the currently operating cement capacity. This indicates a 'rapid growth in planned production on the continent. But cement investments are about a lot more than just construction materials. These bets are on urbanization, regional economic growth and industrialization. Concrete is used to build roads, houses, factories, ports and other infrastructure before countries use more steel, chemicals or manufactured goods. The cement pipeline is a good indicator of Africa's energy needs. These are expected to increase dramatically if the construction boom linked to the plans for cement capacity materializes. The trend of energy consumption and emissions in the rest of world is expected to be curbed by electrification, and the slowing of heavy industrial production. Leaning In GEM data indicates that Africa has a cement production capacity of 441 million metric tons per year in operation and 43.3 millions tons per annum under construction. African nations also announced plans to add 23 million tons to the current annual cement production capacity. This would increase the total capacity of the region by 15%, compared to its current level, bringing it to just under 507 million tonnes. The overall increase in capacity for cement in Africa is far greater than planned additions to cement capacity in other regions. This indicates that Africa’s development plan looks set to be?more raw materials-intensive' than other parts of the globe. Africa's heavy-duty cement plans indicate a similar steep rise in raw materials and energy requirements, since cement production is notoriously high energy-intensive and requires large quantities of coal, petroleum, coke, and natural gas to ensure ample output. These cement projects will increase the demand for electricity, as well as infrastructure to import, store, and distribute coal, gas, and other fuels. They also need to ship out concrete produced. The plans to expand Africa's cement manufacturing footprint are a response to the growing demand for industrial energy in Africa, which will initially be supplied by fossil fuels. FRONTRUNNERS EGYPT & NIGERIA Egypt, among African countries, has the largest cement production footprint of 88 million tonnes per year. Nigeria is second to India for the amount of cement currently being produced. Libya, Mali and Angola are also among the top 20 countries in the world for cement construction. This shows that growth is expected across the entire continent. Even if Africa adopts cleaner energy technology more rapidly than other industrializing regions, the scale of planned construction of cement suggests that it will still need large quantities of materials to urbanize. The fact that 16 African nations are building new cement kilns suggests that Africa is on the right track to follow some of the same blueprints as countries in Asia. CLEANER CONCRETE? The African cement plan is different from those of other regions because African developers can use the most modern and efficient components to build their?cement plants. Modern kilns have a higher efficiency than those that were installed ten or more years ago. They should therefore be able to produce more cement using fewer inputs. Locally produced renewable electricity -- such as rooftop solar installations -- may also be used to run milling and processing equipment, reducing energy costs for producers. Electric cement kilns, which are becoming more widespread, offer the potential to further reduce energy intensity in countries that want to limit their industrial carbon footprint. Cost considerations will likely remain paramount on many African markets. This may delay the adoption of expensive emissions-reduction techniques such as carbon sequestration. This means that cement production in Africa will be energy- and material-intensive, even though they use the latest kilns available and the most advanced components. Cement projects in Nigeria, Libya Mali, Mozambique, and other countries are not just industrial investments. These projects are early indicators of future growth in?energy demand. Africa's urbanization and industrialization could make it one of the world's largest sources of demand for electricity, fuels for transport and industrial energy. This would force policymakers to find a balance between rising living standards and rising emissions. These are the opinions of the columnist, an author for. You like this column? Check out Open Interest, your new essential source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, X and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets 7 days a weeks.
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Poland suspects Starlink fire as a sabotage
Krzysztof GAWKOWSKI, deputy prime minister, said that a fire broke out on Wednesday night at a Starlink satellite communication station located in central Poland. The system provides connectivity to the region, including Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine's neighbour in 2022, Poland has been on high alert for acts sabotage. Russia has repeatedly denied such an action. He said that the fire had engulfed both the power station and generator. It was clear that the act of sabotage had been deliberately planned to disable the station, effectively cutting off internet access... for various institutions including the Ukrainian Military. "While everything may be operational today, as Prime Minister Tusk recently noted, this is an element hybrid warfare." He said that although it was not confirmed that Russia was the cause of?the fire "many signs" suggest that this is in line with Russia's "new doctrine of attack".
China's fishing vessel raises concern off Argentina
A radio on an Argentine Coast Guard ship picked up a garbled Mandarin message from boats nearby.
The vessels were part of a fleet of 200 Chinese fishing boats that spend several months each year in the waters off South America, primarily to catch squid for 'the world's biggest squid markets'.
Over the past decade, the size of the flotilla increased by almost 50%. Buenos Aires increased its surveillance in that period to ensure the flotilla didn't fish within the exclusive economic zones where Argentina controls all maritime resources.
Interviews with four Argentinean and four U.S. officials revealed that Washington also had concerns about overfishing outside of the country's borders, and suspicions about intelligence gathering. Washington began highlighting global overfishing of Chinese-flagged ships in the late 2010s when the first Donald Trump Administration started to stress U.S. rivalry with Beijing. Trump, who extended a $20 billion financial lifeline to the government of Argentinean leader Javier Milei last year, has declared U.S. 'dominance' over the Western Hemisphere as a major objective of his administration.
Washington is at odds with China because it has invested heavily in Latin America over the past 20 years, including Argentina. Beijing has built port facilities in Brazil and Peru, developed Venezuela's petroleum sector and established a military-run station for space observation in Argentina.
In response to questions, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that suspicions about intelligence gathering surrounding the fishing fleet are "pure speculations without any factual foundation."
The ministry stated that "China is an responsible fishing nation. It strictly enforces the regulations of its distant water fishing activities, and engages in mutually beneficial fishing cooperation with the relevant countries according to international law."
The U.S. helped Argentina improve its patrols to protect its waters against illegal fishing. This included approving the purchase of P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft, which are U.S. origin.
Marcelo Rozas, vice-minister of defense for 2025, has said that Argentina had suspicions about some Chinese fishing vessels being equipped with antennas which are incompatible with fishing activities.
He said that they may have been looking to intercept communications or information, but did not provide any details on the antennas.
Buenos Aires, Washington, and Argentina have discussed Chinese vessels observed by Argentina moving in a way that indicates they may be mapping the continental plate for undersea resource, said Juan Battaleme.
Only Argentina is allowed to explore and exploit the resources in its shelf under international law.
Washington was worried that China's fleet is being used to establish a regional presence, and to?test Argentina’s ability to control their waters in the South Atlantic which provides access to Antarctica, and other important water passages.
People interviewed for this article did not offer any evidence to support their suspicions. The review of maritime movement from January 2025 until March 2026, using a ship tracking platform developed by New Zealand's Starboard Maritime intelligence?found no evidence that Chinese-flagged ships were engaged in mass seabed map activity around Argentina at that time. Data from the firm did not exclude such an activity on a smaller-scale.
Battaleme, without revealing any details, said that Argentine officials notified Beijing whenever incidents of possible seabed map mapping were spotted.
He said that the Chinese officials responded with "ambiguous excuses"?about why a boat's trajectory had been changed.
China's Foreign Ministry ?did not address a question on its interactions with Argentine officials in its statement.Argentina's defense ministry and coast guard did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Defense declined to comment on specifics of the private diplomatic or intelligence discussions with Buenos Aires. However, Washington viewed Argentina as a "key leader in regional safety."
A Pentagon spokesperson stated that the Pentagon was concerned about activities which "challenge sovereign nations' ability to manage their waters" and "aware of the global concerns regarding dual-use nature certain distant-water fisheries fleets".
MASSIVE FLEET
The size of China's massively subsidized far-water fishing fleet is the root cause of global overfishing concerns. It is the largest fleet in the world.
According to the London-based ODI Global, China's naval fleet is composed of over 16,000 boats. However, in 2023 the Chinese government stated that this number was only 2,500.
Oceana, a U.S. nonprofit organization, said that last year about half of visible global fishing activities can be attributed Beijing.
Chinese fleets have expanded around the world, largely because Beijing has overfished its own coasts and depleted stock levels.
Collin Koh is a security expert at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He said that such fleets in the South China Sea include militia units, whose members are fishermen by day but who can be called upon to assist Beijing with security tasks.
Gregory Poling, an expert in maritime security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that he saw no evidence of systematic militia activities by the Chinese off the coast of Latin America. He said that China had not acknowledged publicly the presence of commercial vessels in its maritime miltia.
U.S. officials who are studying the Chinese presence in Argentina "wonder... whether these boats played any role in gathering intel for the Chinese," according to Jana Nelson, the top Pentagon official in the Biden Administration for this region.
She stated that she didn't know if the conclusion was reached.
The fleet is located near strategic waters. U.S. aircraft carrier ships pass through the Strait of Magellan which connects the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Oceans, and offers an alternative to the Panama Canal.
Despite Milei’s friendship with Trump, and his previous remarks that Argentine waters are "invaded" by illegal fisherman, his government has avoided mentioning China directly when discussing the foreign vessel. Other countries operate fishing boats as well. While most are Chinese-flagged, there are also other nations that operate in this area.
Battaleme stated that unlike Washington, Argentina does not have a rivalry strategic with China. Beijing, Argentina's largest trading partner since March, buys important agricultural exports such as soybeans and cattle. Beijing has become a major player in the investment world, investing money in sectors ranging from renewable energy to infrastructure and lithium.
Battaleme said that it was in Argentina's best interest to find out if China gathers intelligence by using its fleet.
He said that in this sense, North American interests and ours coincide.
'SURPRISE FACTOR'
The majority of the squid-fishing near Argentina occurs at night when boats use beams to attract Illex Squid migrating into the high seas. Trawlers drag nets during the day to capture other fish.
Argentina raised its concerns about overfishing in discussions with Beijing and other countries, hoping to achieve an agreement that would protect the stock.
"They are fishing viciously in the region," said Marcela, a specialist on squid at Argentina's National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development.
I was aboard the Argentine Coast Guard ship Azopardo when it sailed outside the EEZ of the country, towards the bright lights from the fleet's squid boat.
On the radar screen, a red line marked where the EEZ began. Outside were hundreds of green triangles that represented foreign boats.
Bruno Cian, auxiliary coast guard officer, said: "The idea is that there should be a surprise element." To see who is infringing." Even as recently as 2016, Argentina sank an illegally fishing Chinese trawler.
The days of coast guards chasing boats on the high seas, firing warning shots to try and capture them for fishing illegally are over.
The data from the Coast Guard shows that there were only four suspected incidents of illegal fishing by foreign vessels in the EEZ during 2021-2025.
Battaleme stated that "we are certain that the Chinese now know that we can monitor them." Reporting by Leila Mille in Buenos Aires, and Farah Masters in Hong Kong. Additional reporting by Pete McKenzie. Editing by Katerina Ang.
(source: Reuters)