Icelandair said Tuesday it had suspended flights of its three Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft until further notice after a plane of the same model crashed in Ethiopia.
"Icelandair Group has decided to temporarily suspend operations of its three Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft until further notice," it said in a statement.
The carrier nonetheless expressed confidence in the safety of the aircraft.
"Based on the available information, Icelandair's thorough safety processes and the training of its crew, the company is confident in the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft."
It said it would "follow any further developments closely, working with local, European, and American authorities regarding next steps."
A string of airlines have suspended flights with the US aircraft maker's 737 MAX planes and numerous countries have banned them from their airspace, after Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines crash killed all 157 people on board.
It was the second deadly accident involving the aircraft in just five ...

Icelandair suspends Boeing 737 MAX 8 flights

PTI Automatic

President Donald Trump's 2020 budget provides for a five per cent increase in defence spending, notably to finance building his controversial border wall, while slashing funds for diplomacy by 23 percent.
If approved as is -- an unlikely scenario given opposition in Congress -- military spending would increase to USD 750 billion for fiscal year 2020, which begins in October 2019.
This figure includes USD 718.3 billion for the Pentagon and USD 32 billion for the Energy Department to maintain and provide fuel for America's nuclear arsenal.
By comparison, proposed funding for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) amounts to USD 42.8 billion, a decrease from the USD 55.8 billion granted by Congress the previous year.
The proposed budget allocates USD 66.7 billion for ongoing external operations such as those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Syria, a three percent decrease from the previous year, according to military officials who spoke on condition 

Defence spending up 5 percent in Trump's 2020 budget plan

Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it would close its blockbuster deal for the film and television assets of 21st Century Fox on March 20, a deal likely to reshape the media-entertainment landscape.
The USD 71 billion deal gives Disney the prized 20th Century Fox studios and other media production units.
It also vastly reduces the empire of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his family, who are planning a "new Fox" that includes the US broadcast network and the Fox News Channel.
The Disney-Fox deal comes amid a shifting media sector where the "legacy" producers controlling Hollywood are seeking to fend off competition from emerging streaming firms including Netflix and Amazon.
Disney is expected to launch a rival streaming platform later this year, and Apple is expected to launch its own service as well.
The deal gives Disney the 20th Century Fox studios along with a controlling stake in Hulu, the online platform created by media groups to challenge Netflix and Amazon Disney already owns the ...

Disney-Fox mega-deal set to close March 20

American Honda is once again recalling a million cars in the United States after it found that replacement parts to fix defective Takata airbags were also defective, the company said Tuesday.
The company said it will replace the defective airbags in 1.1 million Acura and Honda models ranging from 2001 to 2016 model years.
The issue was discovered following a crash involving a 2004 Honda Odyssey minivan in which the airbag inflator ruptured, injuring the driver's arm, the automaker said in a statement.
A subsequent investigation revealed that PSDI-5D inflators manufactured at Takata's Monclova, Mexico facility experienced manufacturing process errors, the company said.
The repeat recall affects popular models like the Acura MDX, Honda Accord and CR-V.
Millions of vehicles produced by some of the world's biggest automakers, including Honda, Toyota and General Motors, were recalled due to the risk its airbags can deploy with excessive explosive power and send shrapnel hurtling inside the 

Honda re-recalls 1 million cars in US with defective airbags

The French civil aviation authority said on Tuesday it had banned Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from France's airspace after a deadly crash of an Ethiopian plane of the same model.
"Given the circumstances of the accident in Ethiopia, the French authorities have taken the decision, as a precautionary measure, to ban all commercial flights of Boeing 737 MAXs into, out of, or over French territory," the DGAC authority said.

France bans Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from its airspace

Two Hollywood actresses including Oscar-nominated "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman are among 50 people indicted in a nationwide university admissions scam, court records unsealed in Boston on Tuesday showed.
The accused, who also include chief executives, allegedly cheated to get their children into elite schools, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, federal prosecutors said.
Huffman, 56, and Lori Loughlin, 54, who starred in "Full House," are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Hollywood stars charged in college admissions scam: Official

Nissan will stop production of Infiniti cars at its factory in Sunderland, northeast England, the Japanese carmaker said Tuesday, one month after cancelling the plant's plans for the X-Trail SUV.
Infiniti Motor Company, a division of Nissan, said in a statement that it would stop production of Q30 and QX30 crossover models in Sunderland by mid-2019 as part of a global restructuring, amid sector-wide turbulence partially attributed to Brexit.
"Plant management will discuss any impact on the plant with employees and their representatives," the statement said.
It said Infiniti cars would be electrified from 2021, while high-polluting diesel-powered models will be discontinued in response to strong consumer and regulatory demand for cleaner transport.
The group will place more emphasis on growing market share in the United States and China, whilst also pooling resources more with parent group Nissan.
"The company will place more focus on its SUV lineup in North America, bring five new ...

Nissan says to stop producing Infiniti cars in UK

Indonesia's Lion Air said Tuesday it was postponing taking delivery of four new Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets after the latest crash involving the aircraft.
The low-cost carrier -- Southeast Asia's biggest airline by fleet size and a major Boeing customer -- said the jets had been on order for delivery this year, but the company is now re-evaluating the situation.
"We will evaluate the planes which were supposed to be delivered this year and for the moment will not take them," Lion Air's Managing Director Daniel Putut Kuncoro Adi told AFP.
On Sunday an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 went down minutes into a flight to Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board.
It came after a Lion Air jet of the same model crashed in Indonesia in October, killing all 189 people on board.
The Lion Air announcement comes a day after Indonesia said it was grounding 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets from Tuesday, and that the plane would remain grounded until it was cleared by safety regulators.
Lion Air currently ...

Indonesia's Lion Air postpones accepting delivery of Boeing 737 MAX 8

As investigators probe the latest deadly crash of Boeing's bestselling airliner, US President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday with his own explanation: modern planes are too complicated for pilots.
"Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly," he tweeted, adding that instead of pilots, the planes require "computer scientists from MIT."
"I don't know about you, but I don't want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!" Trump added in a second tweet.
"I see it all the time in many products," the president continued.
"Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better."
Trump's technical analysis came two days after a new Boeing 737 MAX 8 belonging to Ethiopian Airlines went down minutes into a flight to Nairobi, killing all 157 aboard.
In October, a Lion Air jet of the same model crashed in Indonesia, killing 189.

Trump: today's airplanes 'too complex to fly'

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned Tuesday that military action in Venezuela would be unacceptable and that a solution to the crisis should not be "imposed from outside," putting the United States on notice.
Addressing the Security Council, Mogherini said the standoff between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido must be resolved though political, peaceful and democratic means.
"We believe that no military development, from inside or outside of the country, would be acceptable," Mogherini told a council meeting on cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations.
"And a solution cannot be, and should never be, imposed from the outside."
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that all options are on the table, refusing to rule out a US military intervention in Venezuela, which is in the grips of an economic meltdown that the opposition blames on the Maduro government.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late Monday announced ..

EU at UN warns against military action in Venezuela

Zinedine Zidane stood for 29 minutes fielding questions but all of them really came down to two: Why now? And, what next? In a packed auditorium in the belly of the Santiago Bernabeu on Monday night, Raul and Roberto Carlos took their seats in the front row while journalists squeezed up against the walls, an hour and a half after the official announcement.
Santiago Solari had been sacked as coach of Real Madrid and in his place Zidane would return, 284 days after he had left.
On May 31 last year, sitting next to the club's president Florentino Perez, Zidane had said the team would not keep winning with him in charge.
They failed to win without him, first under Julen Lopetegui, the sacked Spain coach, and then Solari, the interim-turned-permanent coach, who watched on as Madrid's season went up in smoke in six days.
Solari's exit was inevitable but the idea any suitable replacement would take over for 11 La Liga games, with nothing to preside over except the aftermath of a crisis, ...

Zidane risks reputation to usher in new era at Real

Germany on Tuesday banned all Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes from its airspace, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer announced, following a deadly crash in Ethiopia.
"Safety comes first. Until all doubts have been cleared up, I have ordered that German airspace be closed to all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with immediate effect," he told NTV television.

Germany bans Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes from its airspace: Minister

Hashim Amla was given compassionate leave on Tuesday to miss South Africa's last two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka, providing what could be a last-ditch opportunity for Reeza Hendricks to stake a claim for a place in the country's World Cup squad.
Proteas team manager Mohammed Moosajee said batsman Amla had asked for leave because his father was critically ill with Hendricks replacing the 35-year-old.
Amla was not selected for the first three matches of the series, all won by South Africa, although selection convener Linda Zondi said at the time he had not been dropped and the selectors wanted to examine all their options ahead of this year's World Cup.
Opening batsman Hendricks had scores of 1, 29 and 4 in the first three matches and his World Cup chances seemed to have disappeared when he was dropped for the last two games.
The 15-man squad appeared to be a likely choice for the global tournament held in England and Wales between May and July.
Sri Lanka will be without ...

Amla sits out final two ODIs for family reasons

Oman on Tuesday suspended takeoffs and landings by Boeing 737 MAX planes at its airports, said its aviation authority, making it the latest country to do so after a deadly crash in Ethiopia.
Muscat's Public Authority for Civil Aviation "is temporarily suspending operations of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft into and out of all Omani airports until further notice," it said in a statement on Twitter.
On Sunday a new Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 went down minutes into a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board.
That came after a Lion Air 737 crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189.
Oman's national carrier, Oman Air, has five Boeing MAX aircraft in its fleet, according to the airline's website.
The sultanate is the first Gulf country to suspend flights by the aircraft following Sunday's crash.
Dubai's budget carrier flydubai said on Monday that it was "monitoring the situation" and it was "confident in the airworthiness of our fleet".
Oman and Malaysia on Tuesday ..

Oman suspends Boeing 737 MAX flights to and from its airports

Russia said on Tuesday it has stationed its newest S-400 air defence missile systems in the northwestern Leningrad region which includes its second city Saint Petersburg.
"The most modern air defence systems S-400 were put on standby alert in the Leningrad region to protect military, administrative and civilian sites," the defence ministry said.
The S-400 surface-to-air missile is one of Russia's most advanced weapons.
A Saint Petersburg-based defence ministry official told AFP the systems replaced the previous S-300s but declined to say how many were placed there.
The missiles were first tested at a range in the southern region of Astrakhan before being transferred 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) to the north.
The S-400 system is also expected to be deployed this month in Russia's European exclave of Kaliningrad.
NATO member Turkey is planning to buy the S-400s from Russia despite warnings from the transatlantic military bloc it is incompatible with its own air defence systems.

Russia stations anti-missile system near Saint Petersburg

A group of Brexit-supporting MPs asked by their colleagues to examine changes to Britain's EU divorce deal recommended that parliament reject it in a vote on Tuesday.
"In the light of our own legal analysis and others we do not recommend accepting the government's motion today," Conservative MP Bill Cash said on behalf of the group.
They include one lawyer, six Conservative MPs plus Nigel Dodds, deputy leader of the Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Without the support of the DUP's 10 MPs, the Brexit deal is unlikely to pass when the House of Commons votes on it on Tuesday evening.
Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU have agreed fresh guarantees on the operation of the Irish border "backstop" plan in the deal, which risks keeping Britain indefinitely in a customs union with the bloc.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told MPs that her changes reduce the risk that Britain will be trapped in the backstop in the event that the EU refuses to exercise "good faith" in the ...

Main Eurosceptic group urges MPs to reject Brexit deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that the latest EU offer on Brexit was "clear and far-reaching", hours before the British parliament was set to vote on it.
"Today is an important day," Merkel said at a Berlin joint press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.
"I think that the 27 member states, represented by (European Commission chief) Jean-Claude Juncker and (EU chief negotiator) Michel Barnier, have again made clear and far-reaching proposals that take into account the concerns of Great Britain and to find answers for them.
"We want to get along well and we want an orderly exit by Britain, and now it's the task of the British parliament to reach decisions, and we'll be following closely what happens today, tomorrow and the day after in Britain."
Merkel added that "it's now up to the British parliament, so let's wait and see".
Michel called the latest EU offer "an outstretched hand" and voiced hope that British lawmakers would reach a "sensible"

Merkel says latest Brexit offer 'clear and far-reaching'

Low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle said on Tuesday it would suspend flights of its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft until further notice.
Norwegian, which operates 18 such planes, will keep them grounded pending advice from aviation authorities, operations chief Tomas Hesthammer told AFP in an email.
"In response to the temporary suspension of Being 737 MAX operations by multiple aviation authorities we have taken the decision to not operate flights using this aircraft type, until advised otherwise by the relevant aviation authorities," he said.
Norwegian also operates more than 110 Boeing 737-800 aircraft in its fleet which are not affected by the temporary suspension, the company said.

Norwegian Air Shuttle suspends Boeing 737 MAX flights

Britain on Tuesday joined four other countries in banning Boeing 737 MAX planes from their airspace as a growing number of airlines around the world grounded the jets following a second deadly accident in just five months.
On Sunday, a new Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 went down minutes into a flight to Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board. It came after a Lion Air jet of the same model crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189.
Investigators have recovered the black box flight recorders from the Ethiopian Airlines plane, which crashed near Addis Ababa carrying passengers and crew from 35 countries -- including some two dozen UN staff.
US regulators have ordered Boeing to make urgent improvements to the model and insisted they would take action if safety issues are detected.
But it was not enough to reassure aviation authorities in Britain and four other countries -- Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and Oman -- who temporarily banned all 737 MAX planes from their airspace.
China, .

Britain leads airspace bans on Boeing 737 MAX jets after Ethiopia crash

The remains of suspected American airmen killed in Myanmar during World War II were repatriated to the United States on Tuesday in the first-ever ceremony of its kind in the Southeast Asian nation, US officials said.
The remains of hundreds of American military personnel are still unaccounted for in Myanmar, a key conflict arena in Asia between the Allies and Japan during World War II.
The remains repatriated on Tuesday are believed to be linked to a crashed B-25G aircraft in February 1944 in the Salingyi area of the northwest Sagaing region.
The wreckage was found in an investigation two years later, but the graves could not be located.
A ceremony was held at Mandalay International Airport late Tuesday afternoon.
White-gloved servicemen saluted before loading a flag-draped coffin bearing the remains onto a C-17 military plane.
"This ceremony is a reminder of the deep, enduring, historical connections between our two countries that date back to even before Myanmar's independence," ...

Myanmar repatriates remains of suspected WWII US airmen

The European Union expanded its tax haven blacklist by 10 countries on Tuesday, adding the United Arab Emirates and Bermuda despite the objections of powerful member states such as Italy.
The list, now 15 countries long, was first drawn up in 2017 in the wake of several scandals, including Panama Papers and LuxLeaks, that pushed the EU into doing more to fight tax evasion by multinationals and the rich.

AFP

AFP

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