Latest News
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California drops lawsuit against Trump's revocation of high-speed rail funding
California has dropped its lawsuit against the Trump administration's decision to?cancel over $4 billion of federal grants for California's high-speed railway project. The state announced this late Friday. California High-Speed Rail Authority said that Tuesday's decision to drop the lawsuit reflects the state's "assessment" that the federal government was not a trustworthy, reliable or constructive partner for advancing high-speed railroad in California. The agency stated that it will move forward without federal funding. It added that only 18% program expenditures have been funded by federal funds. A judge rejected an attempt to dismiss the lawsuit?this month. The U.S. Transportation Department or White House did not respond immediately to comments. The latest 'headache for a project plagued by delays and cost overruns' Governor Gavin Newsom said that the termination of grants by Republican President Donald Trump was "petty political retribution" motivated by Trump's personal animus towards California and the high speed rail project. The funding cuts are just the latest obstacle in the 16 year effort to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco with a three hour train ride. This project would provide the fastest passenger rail service available in the United States. The project, originally planned to be completed by 2020 and cost $33 billion is now estimated to cost between $89billion and $128billion, with service expected to begin by 2033. California voters approved the first bond issue in 2008. Since then, more than 50 major structures have been built, including bridges overpasses undercrossings viaducts. The project has also completed almost 80 miles of guideway. In August, the Transportation Department canceled $175 million in funding for four projects in the high-speed train program. This was after the federal government canceled $4 billion in grants. California's agency announced this week that it would begin a process of attracting private investors and developers before summer 2026. The agency stated on?Friday that the loss of federal funds will not derail construction and the project. It added it was making progress. The agency stated that rather than continue to spend money and time fighting the termination, it is moving ahead without them. In June, the Federal Railroad Administration released a 315 page report that found the project plagued with missed deadlines. It also revealed budget shortfalls as well as questionable projections of ridership. Trump withdrew $929 million of federal grants during his first term. The state challenged the move, which led to a settlement under Democratic President Joe Biden in 2021, restoring the entire amount. Reporting by David Shepardson, Washington
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China tightens safety regulations and revises its aviation law
China has passed a revised bill that, for the first time, regulates unmanned aircraft. This will reshape China's drone industry and low-altitude economic sectors. On December 27, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress voted to approve the changes made under the Civil Aviation Law. The amendments include a provision for airworthiness certification of drones, which fills in a regulatory gap. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University, China's Civil Aviation Administration, China's low altitude economy (a national strategic initiative focused on commercial activities under 3,000 meters) is expected to grow from 1.5 trillion yuan to 2 trillion yuan by 2030. All entities that are involved in the production, importation, maintenance, operation, and design of drones will be required to obtain an 'airworthiness certificate' under the new rules. According to national regulations, drone manufacturers will have to assign each unit a unique code for product identification. China's "interim regulations" on unmanned aircraft will be implemented in 2024. They stipulate that civil unmanned planes must be registered using their real names. Micro, light and small civil unmanned airplanes do not need airworthiness certificates, but medium and large aircraft must submit an application to CAAC for certification. China's drone industry has grown rapidly, but oversight has been lacking. In recent years, flight delays have been reported in several cities due to illegal drone operations. These flights were penalized with fines and other penalties. These new requirements will impact manufacturers like DJI, the world's largest consumer drone manufacturer, and EHang which makes passenger drones. According to data from the transport ministry, drone logistics has become a major driver in China's low altitude economy. 2.7 million packages, containing everything ranging from hamburgers and sandwiches?to lifesaving medicine, will be delivered by 2024. JD.com, Meituan and other e-commerce leaders have long discussed investing in drone logistics as a way to improve supply chain efficiency. JD Logistics tested drone delivery networks across Jiangsu and Shaanxi. They claim that drones can cut shipping times by as much as 70% for rural customers. (Reporting and editing by Shri Navaratnam, Casey Hall)
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US Airlines cancel more than 1,000 flights as a result of Northeast Winter Storm Warnings
Flight tracking website FlightAware reports that airlines in the United States have canceled or delayed a large number of flights on Friday during peak holiday travel due to severe weather warnings. The website reported that 1,139 flights were cancelled and 3,808 flights were delayed by 12:30 pm ET. National Weather Service issued a warning this afternoon about winter storms that "will create hazardous travel conditions from the Great Lakes into the northern Mid-Atlantic region and southern New England today through Saturday morning." Airports that are in areas of high impact, such as John F. Kennedy Airport or LaGuardia Airport, have posted signs on X to warn travelers about possible delays?or cancelations. JetBlue Airways, with 225 cancellations, is the largest carrier. Delta Air Lines, with 186 cancellations, Republic Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines, and 96 flights by American Airlines are close behind. A spokesperson for American Airlines said that the airline has "issued an alert allowing travelers whose plans could be affected to rebook their flights without paying any?change fees." JetBlue, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines didn't immediately respond to comments. Reporting by Aatreyee dasgupta in Bengaluru and Abhinav parmar; editing by Shakesh Kuber
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US Airlines cancels over 1,000 flights because of Winter Storm Warnings
Flight tracking website FlightAware reports that airlines in the United States cancelled or delayed thousands of flights on Friday during peak holiday travel due to severe winter storm alerts. As of 12:01 p.m. ET, 1,097 flights had been?cancelled and 3,608 were delayed. ET, according to the website. The National 'Weather Service' issued a warning of winter storms today afternoon, which "will cause dangerous travel conditions for the Great Lakes into northern Mid-Atlantic & southern New England from today until Saturday morning." Airports such as 'John F. Kennedy Airport' and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport have also posted on X to warn travelers of possible delays or cancellations. JetBlue Airways has cancelled 225 flights. This is the most of all carriers. Delta Air Lines, which cancelled 177 flights, and Republic Airways, who canceled 153 flights, are close behind. Reporting by Aatreyee dasgupta, Bengaluru. Editing by Shashesh Kuber.
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More rain expected in drenched California before drier weekend
The National Weather Service predicted a dry weekend for Southern California, which was still ravaged by storms. The holiday deluge, which began on Christmas Eve, was caused by the latest atmospheric storm in the region, a huge airborne current of moist, dense moisture that had been sucked from the Pacific and swept over the greater Los Angeles Area. It poured 6 inches of rainfall in Los Angeles, with up to 18 in the mountains. Some roads were washed out, and evacuations and shelter-in place orders were issued. Tom Kines, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather (a commercial forecasting firm), said that an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain is expected on Friday. "Our overall 'picture' is that this mess will last just one more day, mainly in Southern California and specifically the LA area," said?Kines on Friday. "We're still having some problems today, with heavy rains, but the weekend is mostly dry." AAA estimates that more than 14.5 millions Californians will travel by car during the Christmas holidays. Forecasters say that the coming dry weather will make travel easier after a few days of slippery or flooded roads. The atmospheric river, which caused the problems, will continue to wind down across California on Friday, with heavy rain, mountain snow and gusty winds. On Christmas Day, many of the evacuation orders issued in Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County were lifted. The orders are still in place on Friday for the hard-hit community of Wrightwood. It is a rural town with a population around 5,000 located in the San Gabriel Mountains, on the border between Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Fire department aerial video footage from Christmas Eve showed rivers of mud flowing through cabin neighborhoods and mud-covered homes, cars, and vehicles. On Thursday, videos posted on the internet showed residents scrambling to cross washed out roads and picking through rubble as streams of flowing water flowed into mounds of mud. Reporting by Rich McKay, Atlanta; Editing done by Donna Bryson and Alistair Bell
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Iran claims foreign tanker smuggled fuel was seized in Gulf
State media reported that Iran had seized an oil tanker from a foreign country near the Iranian island of 'Qeshm, in the Gulf. The tanker was said to be carrying 4,000,000 litres of fuel smuggled, the report stated. The authorities did not name the vessel nor disclose its nationality. The authorities alleged that 16 foreign crew were?detained for criminal charges. State TV reported that the tanker had been seized on Wednesday. Iranian news sites published photos and video footage of the tanker they claimed to have seized. Iran announced last week that it had seized a foreign tanker carrying smuggled fuel in the Gulf of Oman. It did not identify the vessel, nor its nationality. Iran has some of the lowest fuel prices in the world due to heavy subsidies and the sharp fall of its currency. It is now trying to stop fuel smuggling to neighboring countries by land and to Gulf States by sea. (Editing by Joe Bavier).
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Ukraine claims that Russian drones have damaged foreign-flagged ships in southern ports.
Ukraine's deputy premier said that overnight Russian drone attacks damaged vessels with flags of Liberia, Palau, and Slovakia in the ports of Odesa, Ukraine. Russian officials have said that Moscow has intensified its attacks in recent weeks on the southern Odesa region, while Ukrainian officials claim Moscow is attempting to cut Ukraine from the Black Sea and sow chaos among civilians. Oleksiy Kulba, in a Telegram message, said that there were no casualties in Friday's strikes. However, the attacks damaged elevators, civilian warehouses, and caused power outages in the Odesa area. Kuleba also said that drones had damaged a locomotive at the Kovel railway station in northwestern Poland, which is a distance of?about 60 kilometers (37.28miles) away. Kuleba stated that "despite Russia's deliberate terror against Ukraine, the logistics system continues to function." Russia has not commented on this matter. (Reporting and editing by Joe Bavier, Muralikumar Anantharaman, and Yuliia dysa)
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Iran claims foreign tanker smuggled fuel was seized in Gulf
State media reported that Iran had seized an oil tanker from a foreign country near the Iranian island of Qeshm, in 'the Gulf. It said it was carrying smuggled fuel of 4 million litres. The authorities did not disclose the name of the vessel, its nationality or when it was seized. The authorities said that 16 foreign crew members had been arrested on criminal charges. Iranian news sites?published video and photos?of the tanker they claimed to have seized. Last week, Iran announced that it had intercepted another foreign tanker in the Gulf of Oman carrying 6,000,000 litres of diesel it described as smuggled. It did not identify the vessel or its nation. Iran has been trying to stop fuel smuggling to Gulf States and neighbouring countries by land and sea. This is due to the heavy'subsidies it receives and the sharp fall in its currency. (Editing by Joe Bavier).
Winter storm wreaks havoc on the Northeast of the United States, causing airline travel to be disrupted
Winter storms - a mix of ice and snow - swept through the U.S. Northeast early on Saturday. This caused disruption to airline traffic after the holiday weekend and led officials in New York and New Jersey declare weather emergencies.
The National Weather Service issued ice storm and Winter Storm Warnings in New York State and Connecticut. They forecasted some of the highest snowfall totals, up to one foot locally.
According to a Friday emergency declaration by Governor Kathy Hochul warning of dangerous?road conditions, New York City may see its largest accumulations since 2022 with peak snowfall rates?of 2 or more inch per hour.
Forecasts for many areas predicted that snow would be covered or mixed with sleet, freezing rain and a mixture of the two.
Hochul issued a statement in which he urged residents to "avoid any unnecessary travel."
Winter weather advisories and ice storm warnings were also posted in most of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey. A state of emergency was also declared. The storm was expected to bring high winds.
On Friday night, snow began to fall in the western part of New York State and New York City. It was expected that it would intensify on Saturday.
FlightAware, a flight tracking service, reported that more than 1,600 commercial flights were cancelled on Friday. Another 7,800 or so flights were delayed due to weather conditions worsening.
Flight cancellations on Friday were mainly caused by three airports in the New York City region: John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. All three airports issued alerts via social media platform X, warning travelers of possible disruptions.
FlightAware reports that another 650 flights scheduled to leave or land in the U.S. this Saturday have been canceled.
The representatives of?American Airlines United Airlines and JetBlue Airways said that these carriers waived the?change fee normally charged for re-bookings to passengers whose plans could be affected by weather related disruptions.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania have issued restrictions on commercial vehicles for certain roads, including interstate highways.
Tahesha way, acting governor of New Jersey, said in a press release that the storm would cause hazardous road conditions and affect holiday travel. We urge travelers to avoid traveling during the storm to allow crews to maintain roads.
(source: Reuters)