1 month ago
LONDON — A British Airways passenger jet flying from London to Chicago descended 28,000 feet in just seven minutes after declaring an emergency due to an unspecified “technical issue,” the airline said Monday.
The Boeing 777 took off at 12:15 p.m. local time (7:15 a.m. ET) but started descending just 30 minutes later while flying over Ireland, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
The plane turned around and spent around four hours zigzagging over the Bristol Channel, a waterway to the west of England, before landing back at London Heathrow Airport at 5 p.m. local time (noon ET).
“The aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue,” British Airways said in an emailed statement. “Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”
Heathrow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
#british #airways #minutes
The Boeing 777 took off at 12:15 p.m. local time (7:15 a.m. ET) but started descending just 30 minutes later while flying over Ireland, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
The plane turned around and spent around four hours zigzagging over the Bristol Channel, a waterway to the west of England, before landing back at London Heathrow Airport at 5 p.m. local time (noon ET).
“The aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue,” British Airways said in an emailed statement. “Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”
Heathrow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
#british #airways #minutes
2 months ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that he's going to block a proposed sale of $2.8 billion in heavy weaponry to Israel over concerns that the powerful bombs may not be used in line with U.S. and international law.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said he would withhold approval for the sale because of "grave, unresolved concerns" about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
"The Trump administration has not provided sufficient ****** urances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians," Meeks said in a statement. "I therefore will not clear this sale at this time."
Meeks' objections, however, will not likely affect the sale, which was informally notified to lawmakers on Tuesday. Once it is formally notified to Congress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio can bypass the normal congressional review process by making an emergency determination that the transaction is an urgent national security interest.
Rubio has done so in the past, including bypassing a normal congressional review process to approve a nearly $3 billion sale to Israel last year. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion in January.
#used
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said he would withhold approval for the sale because of "grave, unresolved concerns" about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
"The Trump administration has not provided sufficient ****** urances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians," Meeks said in a statement. "I therefore will not clear this sale at this time."
Meeks' objections, however, will not likely affect the sale, which was informally notified to lawmakers on Tuesday. Once it is formally notified to Congress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio can bypass the normal congressional review process by making an emergency determination that the transaction is an urgent national security interest.
Rubio has done so in the past, including bypassing a normal congressional review process to approve a nearly $3 billion sale to Israel last year. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion in January.
#used
2 months ago
By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall
DUBAI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Six months after the airstrikes that began the war and propelled a badly wounded Mojtaba Khamenei into the role of Iran's supreme leader, he remains entirely unseen and unheard by Iranians — a vacuum at the heart of his country's leadership.
Questions over his condition and role are growing increasingly fraught, with Iran facing critical decisions over a war that has set the Middle East aflame while trashing the country's already fragile economy.
Iranian officials and other senior sources in the country say Khamenei remains in control, ruling from the shadows for security reasons as he recovers from disfiguring wounds while delegating broad daily authority to a coterie of top figures.
But with no photograph, video or audio message released since his appointment a week into the war, Iranians are ever more sceptical about his position in an Islamic Republic in which the leader's voice is meant to be absolute.
#khamenei #hafezi #angus
DUBAI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Six months after the airstrikes that began the war and propelled a badly wounded Mojtaba Khamenei into the role of Iran's supreme leader, he remains entirely unseen and unheard by Iranians — a vacuum at the heart of his country's leadership.
Questions over his condition and role are growing increasingly fraught, with Iran facing critical decisions over a war that has set the Middle East aflame while trashing the country's already fragile economy.
Iranian officials and other senior sources in the country say Khamenei remains in control, ruling from the shadows for security reasons as he recovers from disfiguring wounds while delegating broad daily authority to a coterie of top figures.
But with no photograph, video or audio message released since his appointment a week into the war, Iranians are ever more sceptical about his position in an Islamic Republic in which the leader's voice is meant to be absolute.
#khamenei #hafezi #angus
3 months ago
The Senate advanced its solution to avert a government shutdown on Saturday, capping off several months of hand-wringing that, if given the chance, Senate Democrats would use a shutdown to score political points in November.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus relented, and stayed true to the bargain they struck with Republicans to keep the government funded well past Election Night and into early December.
The about-face, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital, appeared to be a political calculation on Schumer and Democrats' part.
Schumer Claims Victory As Senate Moves To Avert Shutdown; Gop Says He Got Played
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
#leader #shutdown #chuck #avert
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus relented, and stayed true to the bargain they struck with Republicans to keep the government funded well past Election Night and into early December.
The about-face, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital, appeared to be a political calculation on Schumer and Democrats' part.
Schumer Claims Victory As Senate Moves To Avert Shutdown; Gop Says He Got Played
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
#leader #shutdown #chuck #avert
3 months ago
By Andrew Osborn
MOSCOW, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A homemade bomb carried by a woman killed at least three people and injured 21 near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, authorities said, amid unconfirmed speculation on social media that the attack may have been linked to the war in Ukraine.
The explosion occurred just before 8 p.m. close to an Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow's seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinskaya Square, the police said.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) said an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device had tried to get into the restaurant but had been stopped by a security guard.
NAK said the woman, the guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant had been killed instantly in the blast that followed.
#osborn
MOSCOW, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A homemade bomb carried by a woman killed at least three people and injured 21 near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, authorities said, amid unconfirmed speculation on social media that the attack may have been linked to the war in Ukraine.
The explosion occurred just before 8 p.m. close to an Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow's seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinskaya Square, the police said.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAK) said an unidentified woman carrying an improvised explosive device had tried to get into the restaurant but had been stopped by a security guard.
NAK said the woman, the guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant had been killed instantly in the blast that followed.
#osborn
5 months ago
MOSCOW, June 18 (Reuters) - Russia's anti-monopoly watchdog on Thursday asked a major petrol retailer in Moscow for an explanation after it hiked prices for 95-octane petrol by 19% in the last week.
FAS, the watchdog, sent the demand to Neftmagistral, a company which runs around 100 petrol stations in the Moscow region and in the capital itself.
The price hike followed Ukrainian drone attacks on a Moscow oil refinery, which supplies the Moscow region with fuel. Neftmagistral declined to comment on the regulator's request.
The price for 95-octane petrol at Neftmagistral stood at around 95 roubles ($1.30) per litre on Thursday, up from around 80 per litre on June 15.
The Moscow region has so far escaped fuel supply disruptions which have affected some other regions after Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries in recent months.
FAS, the watchdog, sent the demand to Neftmagistral, a company which runs around 100 petrol stations in the Moscow region and in the capital itself.
The price hike followed Ukrainian drone attacks on a Moscow oil refinery, which supplies the Moscow region with fuel. Neftmagistral declined to comment on the regulator's request.
The price for 95-octane petrol at Neftmagistral stood at around 95 roubles ($1.30) per litre on Thursday, up from around 80 per litre on June 15.
The Moscow region has so far escaped fuel supply disruptions which have affected some other regions after Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries in recent months.
