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Reports say that the US has accepted a luxury jet from Qatar as a gift for Trump.
Media outlets in the United States reported that Qatar has given the United States a 747 jetliner and asked its Air Force to find a quick upgrade to use it as a replacement for Air Force One. The New York Times reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had accepted the $400-million Boeing jet, and asked the U.S. Air Force how it could be upgraded quickly to serve as President Donald Trump's personal plane. Legal experts have questioned whether the scope of Gift laws From foreign governments that are aiming to stop corruption and improper influences. Democrats They have also tried to stop the transfer. Qatar is a country in the Middle East. Dismiss concerns About the aircraft deal. Trump also dismissed ethical concerns by saying that it would be "stupid", not to accept this jet. Bloomberg, CBS News and CNBC, among other media, reported the deal based on a Pentagon spokesperson. No one from the Department of Defense was available to comment immediately. Qatar's government could not also be reached. (Reporting and additional writing by Susan Heavey, editing by Doina Choiacu and Deepa Babyington; reporting by Katharine Jack)
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Luxair challenges EU approval for Lufthansa/ITA merger
Luxair, the Luxembourg flag carrier, announced on Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit before the General Court of the European Union to challenge the European Commission’s approval of the merger of Lufthansa with ITA. Luxair has said it does not object to the merger but that smaller carriers such as Luxair have been marginalized in the allocations of landing slots on the Milan Linate airport. In November, the European Commission approved a set of remedies proposed to the Commission by Lufthansa in order to acquire a minority stake of ITA Airways in Italy, which would allow EasyJet, IAG, and Air France-KLM more routes. After winning EU antitrust approval on July 20, 2024, Lufthansa offered to purchase 41% of ITA, the successor to the bankrupt Alitalia airline, for 325 millions euros ($343.6) in a deal intended to increase its presence in southern Europe. (Reporting and editing by Makini Brrice; GV De Clercq)
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After a power outage, Spain and Portugal request that the EU push for power connections with France
A letter obtained by revealed that Spain and Portugal asked the European Union (EU) to intervene to encourage the construction of more interconnectors between France and Spain after a major power outage in the Iberian Peninsula occurred last month. Spain and Portugal are only connected to a limited number of power grids in Europe. They claim that France is blocking new interconnections that could prevent power disruptions such as the one that affected the Iberian Peninsula. The strengthening of an existing interconnector that connects France and Spain is expected to be finished this year. A new underwater powerline that spans the Bay of Biscay will be completed in 2028. Spain and Portugal urged Brussels in a letter sent to EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen on Wednesday, which was seen by, to take action to ensure that new interconnections projects are progressed. The letter signed by the Spanish Energy Minister Sara Aagesen, and the Portuguese Energy Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho, stated that "a firm commitment at all levels is required to ensure the rapid and effective integration into the EU's energy system of the Iberian Peninsula." The letter stated that "Spain, Portugal and France propose a meeting of ministers during this year, where we, along with France and the Commission can agree on a road map with specific milestones, and steps to take." Un spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed that it received the letter and had been in contact with the governments. A spokesperson for France’s energy minister didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry for comment about the letter. In its recent multi-year planning document, French grid operator RTE studied the feasibility of constructing two additional interconnections to Spain over the Pyrenees. RTE's report on planning said that it would expect EU financing for any such upgrades as the goal would increase interconnection to Spain "with the beneficiaries located outside France." France gets most of its electricity from nuclear power plants. Iberia, on the other hand, uses more renewable energy sources. Their fluctuating production increases the need for flexibility within the grid. Iberia is behind the EU target of connecting 15% of its electricity capacity with neighbouring countries by 2030. Iberia's share is only 3%. Spain and Portugal claim that this increases prices and hinders the ability of their grids to respond to interruptions. By allowing power to move between countries, interconnectors help stabilize energy grids. The letter stated that "accelerating completion of electrical interconnections with Iberian Peninsula should be among the highest priorities." In Europe, power outages as severe as those in Spain and Portugal in the last month are uncommon. The blackout was a major disruption, causing planes to be grounded and hospitals to stop their routine operations. The EU is investigating the cause. Both a spokesperson from the energy ministry of Portugal and Spain confirmed that their respective ministers had signed the letter.
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Boeing accelerates 737 production as safety and quality culture improves
Doug Ackerman, Vice President of Quality for Commercial Airplanes at Boeing, told reporters Tuesday that the company expects to stabilize 737 MAX output at 38 aircraft per month in the coming months. After a mid air panel blowout on a brand new 737, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration set a monthly production limit of 38 aircrafts. Boeing's best-selling plane had been fluctuating between the teens to the thirties in monthly production. But the company has struggled with a series crises and controversy that have weakened its finances, damaged employee morale, and undermined public trust. The U.S. aircraft manufacturer needs to increase production of the 737 to generate more cash after losing $12 billion in 2012. Two sources familiar with the situation said that the company was on track to manufacture about 38 single-aisle aircrafts in May. Boeing's spokesperson refused to comment on May's production rate. Boeing's chief executive Kelly Ortberg said previously that the company must prove that it can continue production at this level for several more months before asking the FAA to raise the cap. Ackerman stated that once production runs smoothly, Ackerman's company will also begin work to add a fourth line. Boeing has made steady progress in all six metrics for production quality and safety created by the company, as well as regulators. This is according to the annual Chief Aerospace Safety Officer Report released on Wednesday. The report states that the number of safety concerns reported by employees through the Speak Up system has increased by 220% between 2023 and 2024. Don Ruhmann, the Chief Aerospace Safety officer at the Tuesday media briefing, said that the program is becoming more effective as a result of the ongoing changes. Safety concerns, for example, are now assessed by managers in other sections, who are likely to be more impartial than those who supervise the work. Boeing uses machine learning as well to detect quality issues in its supply chain and fix them before they spread. Ackerman stated that while the company is still "fine-tuning" its approach, they are seeing statistical correlations in the data between supply chain issues and the data. Reporting by Dan Catchpole and Allison Lampert, both in Seattle; editing by Kirby Donovan.
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US air traffic control system failing Americans, airline CEOs say
On Wednesday, major airline CEOs called on Congress for billions of dollars to fund the modernization of the United States' outdated air traffic control system. They said it was "failing Americans." Air traffic control problems at the Federal Aviation Administration have been brewing for years. A series of high-profile accidents, near misses and the deadly crash of an aircraft in January have all contributed to this. American Airlines regional jet Public alarm prompted new calls to action In a letter sent together, airline executives pointed to recent failures at Newark Airport. They also said that the FAA’s technology was "wildly outdated." The letter cited a 2023 review by an independent group that raised safety issues. Executives called for immediate action, as the busy summer travel period begins this weekend with Memorial Day. The FAA predicted on Tuesday a record number Memorial Day holiday flights, despite temporary flight reductions at Newark because of runway construction issues, technology problems and persistent staffing shortages in air traffic control. The letter was signed and dated by senior executives from FedEx, UPS, and United Airlines as well as the heads of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways. This month, airlines and others called for at least $11 billion to be spent on air traffic reform. The U.S. House of Representatives is examining legislation that would allocate an initial $12.5 Billion for air traffic reform efforts. Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, wants to spend billions on replacing outdated radar systems and telecommunications equipment as well as air traffic towers and other air traffic facilities. The FAA is seeking funding to upgrade radios and network connections, replace 618 radars and install anti-collision technology on 200 airports. It also wants to build six new air-traffic control centers, and expand the ADS-B system of real-time information about aircraft traffic. The FAA has about 3,500 fewer air traffic controllers than the targeted levels. (Reporting and editing by Louise Heavens, Joe Bavier, and David Shepardson)
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Deutsche ReGas gets EU funding for Lubmin hydrogen project
Deutsche ReGas announced on Wednesday that it would receive public grants worth 112 million euro ($126.97m) from the European Union Hydrogen Bank to fund a renewable hydrogen development project in Lubmin, Germany on the Baltic Sea coast. The grant is part of EU funding schemes that promote electrolysis processes using carbon-free electric to jump-start local economies producing hydrogen as an alternate to fossil fuels. ReGas has said that the production of hydrogen at Lubmin can reduce carbon dioxide by 1.6 million tons. The funding for this project will be spread out over a period of 10 years. The EU subsidy is intended to close the price gap between the green hydrogen production costs and conventional electricity prices. ReGas announced that the funding was awarded at a 992-million euro auction. This was the second one for the Hydrogen bank, and 15 projects from 5 countries received money. ReGas, a private energy infrastructure developer and operator, includes floating storage and regasification unit and hydrogen electrolysers. The Lubmin plant is located near the location where ReGas imported liquefied gas from a floating terminal after the energy crisis of 2022. It aims to use offshore wind energy as well as Baltic Sea water for the electrolysis process that will produce hydrogen. The new core hydrogen transport network is set to begin between 2025-2032. ReGas is moving its LNG operations from Lubmin in order to build an LNG landing facility at the nearby German Port area of Mukran, on Ruegen Island. Ingo Wagner, managing director, said: "From the beginning, we wanted to ensure energy supply while also advancing the energy transition." ReGas attached a document from the EU that stated grant agreements for the selected hydrogen projects by the EU during the auction round should be signed in September/October.
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Pre-tariff US traffic boosts revenue from the Ferrovial Highway
Ferrovial, a motorway and airports company, reported a first-quarter surprise revenue boost from freight traffic on US toll roads and Canadian toll roads, likely related to imports anticipating sweeping U.S. Tariffs, according to its CFO. The Spanish company's surge in revenue despite the adverse winter weather is part of a larger trend of increased commercial activities at U.S. roads and ports that predated U.S. president Donald Trump's announcement on April 1, 2017 of new tariffs. Many of these remain suspended. Ferrovial reported last week that its first-quarter revenues from its North American toll roads business rose by 14%. This shows growth in a region where the company plans to focus its investments over the next few years. Ernesto Lopez, Chief Financial Officer Ernesto Lopez said late on Tuesday that "we were the first ones to be surprised (that) the results were even better than we expected." Lopez added that the public data showed traffic on toll road levels to be higher than last year. Ferrovial is a Canadian company that operates toll roads and highways in the United States. Ferrovial also plans to bid on between four and six motorway construction projects located in California, Tennessee and North Carolina. Lopez said that the increase in commercial traffic could be due to a greater volume of goods entering Texas from the Mexican border. North Carolina traffic was also boosted by more companies sending their employees back to work. According to the U.S. Commerce Department Census Bureau, the U.S. Trade Deficit in Goods widened in March to a new record high as businesses increased efforts to bring merchandise in and to pre-empt the impact of tariffs. Imports to the U.S. reached a record $342.7 billion in March, mainly due to consumer goods and automobiles. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip, David Goodman, and Corina Pons)
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Maguire: World solar power set to surpass nuclear generation for the first ever
This summer, the global electricity generated by solar farms will surpass the output of nuclear reactors. This is a significant milestone in the continued growth of solar energy within the global energy system. Solar farms generate electricity only during daylight hours, so their annual output is far behind that of wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric systems. Solar farms have started to exceed global wind production during the summer of last year in the northern hemisphere. Solar farms are now set to briefly eclipse global hydroelectric systems during peak solar production. CAPACITY SURGE Solar systems are relatively inexpensive and can be connected quickly, which is why utilities have added twice as much capacity as other sources of power to their generation networks over the last decade. According to Ember, the energy think-tank, by 2024 there will be 1,866 gigawatts of utility-scale solar power generation embedded in global electrical systems. This was the biggest capacity increase of all major power sources in that time period. Wind power has seen the second largest increase in capacity, by a factor 3.2. All other sources of generation have seen a capacity less than doubled. Solar power's capacity in terms of total was third among the major sources of power generation by 2024. It was behind coal's 2,174 gigawatts (GW) and natural gas's 2,055 gigawatts, but above the 1,283 gigawatts of hydroelectric and 1,132 GW wind power. OUTPUT AFFECT Since the beginning of this decade, peak solar electricity production has reached new heights every year due to the steadily increasing solar capacity footprint. Ember data show that utility-scale solar power generation has increased by 25% per year on average since 2020. Solar generation in the first three month of 2025 was 34% higher than in the same period of 2024. This was due to the widespread increase in generating capacities in many key regions. If the monthly solar production continues to be around 30% higher than in 2024's same month, then global solar electricity output will exceed 260 Terawatt Hours (TWh), per month, during June, July, and August this year. These output totals are likely to be far greater than the output of the nuclear reactor fleet in the world, which has a peak monthly production of 252 TWh and an average monthly output 223 TWh by 2024. As daylight hours begin to decrease in the northern Hemisphere, home to three quarters of all solar farms on the planet, solar generation is expected to fall below 250 TWh by September. Solar farms will supply more electricity than nuclear reactors in the world for the first ever during the summer of 2015. This is a new benchmark for the solar industry. UTILITY SCALE Utility operators face both challenges and opportunities as a result of the constant growth in solar energy supplies. Solar farms are intermittent and can produce more power than is needed at peak times, but then stop production completely during the night. This means that real-time balancing of systems with other sources of energy is necessary. The rapid growth of solar power in national grids also forces utilities to upgrade their grids so that they can better handle fluctuations in renewable energy and optimize the overall flow of electricity over time. A growing number of utilities are also deploying batteries to store excess solar power during times when it's not needed, then dispatching that power at peak electricity demand. The "solar plus battery" model allows utilities to limit the use of fossil-fuels in their generation mix, which in turn can save money when gas and coal prices increase and reduce emissions. When solar farms reach new output records this summer, utilities will be able reduce nuclear production at peak times, then increase it again when the solar output drops during the night. It could help utilities reduce their reliance on fossil-fuels, while maximising clean energy generation. This would also set the stage for future growth in solar power generation and usage. These are the opinions of the columnist, an author for.
Poland claims Russian ship made'suspicious' manoeuvres near cable to Sweden
In a Wednesday post on X, the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that a Russian ship belonging to the "shadow fleet", which is subject to sanctions, performed suspicious maneuvers near a cable connecting Poland and Sweden.
He added that "after the effective intervention by our military, the vessel sailed into one of the Russian port." He added that the ORP Heweliusz of the Polish Navy was on its way to the scene.
The 600 megawatt cable undersea links the Swedish coast near Karlshamn to Ustka, in northern Poland. This allows both grids rely on the cross-border supply of electricity when it is cheaper in one system.
NATO has increased security in the Baltic after a series of incidents where power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines were damaged following Russia's invasion in Ukraine in February 2022.
The cable, according to Wladislav Kosiniak Kamysz, belongs to the Polish grid operator PSE. (Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Marek Strzelecki, Barbara Erling; Editing by Alex Richardson)
(source: Reuters)