FAA suspends work of independent panel reviewing air traffic control
The panel had been tasked late last year by then-FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker to study ways to reduce conflicts of interest in the FAA's oversight of air traffic control organization. The United States is unusual among modern Western countries in that the same agency that employs and manages air traffic controllers is also responsible for evaluating its own performance.
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Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
John Swinney backs Palestinian woman in Gaza pleading for spot at Edinburgh University
A Palestinian woman who fears for her life in Gaza has appealed to Keir Starmer to help her take up a place at Edinburgh University. First Minister John Swinney has backed the 32-year-old's calls for the Prime Minister to open an emergency visa route and said he is 'appalled' students are being prevented from reaching safety in Scotland. Shaymaa, who is using only her first name due to safety concerns, is one of 10 Palestinians who have fully-funded courses in Scotland, out of 78 in total across the UK. READ MORE: Edinburgh gang leader warns Dubai-based kingpin 'we'll take you out in the desert' READ MORE: Second Midlothian girl targeted in 'attempted strangling' at same school However, they're stranded in Gaza and unable to leave due to visa processing problems, fearing for their lives every day and struggling to find basic shelter and food, reports the Sunday Mail. Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine and Edinburgh university have been lobbying the UK Government for months over the issue but fear time is running out as courses are due to start in a fortnight. Shaymaa is still hoping to begin her English Literature PhD at Edinburgh University on September 1. Speaking to the Sunday Mail from Gaza, the student and former lecturer issued a direct appeal to Starmer and said: 'Education is the path to the future. It is one of the few remaining pathways to survival and dignity for Palestinians right now. 'The UK has an opportunity to offer practical, life-saving solutions to students like me. 'I urge him to implement an emergency route for students and researchers from Gaza, including biometric deferral and safe passage, so we are not excluded from opportunities we have rightfully earned.' The UK government said students have to go through biometric processing – where their fingerprints and photos are recorded – to be considered for a visa. Normally, they would select their nearest processing centre but the facility in Gaza is closed and all routes out of the region are blocked due to the Israeli bombardment, leaving them with no way to complete the checks. Swinney said: 'I am appalled at the situation Shaymaa and other students from Gaza are facing. We must see urgent action from the UK Gov-ernment to support them in taking up their university places in Scotland. 'The people of Gaza are already suffering unimaginably at the hands of the Israeli government – the idea that these students could also be denied the chance to take up the university places in Scotland they have worked so hard to attain is not acceptable to me.' The First Minister said education secretary Jenny Gilruth has contacted the UK Government calling for urgency over the issue, adding: 'I am aware other countries including France, Ireland and Italy have managed to successfully evacuate students, so the UK Government cannot simply duck its responsibilities here. Where there is a political will, a resolution can be found – and failure to act is literally putting these people's lives at risk. 'I am clear that the international community must put a stop to Israel's killing in Gaza and that we must see the immediate recognition of a sovereign, independent Palestine. But until that point, the UK Government must do everything it can to ensure ordinary Gazans are not punished further. 'Scotland looks forward to welcoming Shaymaa and the other students from Gaza seeking to take their places at our universities – the UK Government must do the right thing and do everything in its power to allow them to get here.' Earlier this month, around 80 MPs signed an open letter to Starmer urging him to take action to help the 78 students, including Shaymaa, get to the UK for their studies. A number of Scottish MPs joined the calls including Brian Leishman, Pete Wishart and Wendy Chamberlain. Shaymaa said the chance to study in Edinburgh wouldn't just further her education but would save her life. She said: 'Coming to Scotland wouldn't just allow me to continue my academic journey– which has been severely disrupted – but would also give me the chance to live and study in physical safety. "It's not just about personal safety either. It would be a chance to reclaim a sense of direction, to write and think and teach without fearing for my life every second. It would allow me to begin healing and to carry the stories of Gaza into spaces where they urgently need to be heard.' Shaymaa was offered a fully-funded PhD at Edinburgh University in English Literature and said the opportunity would help 'build stronger academic bridges between Scotland, the UK, and Palestine' as well as advance her own education. She said: 'Studying in Scotland would give me the space, tools, and mentorship to develop that work further and to contribute meaningfully to the field of literature and build a lasting academic career. 'This isn't just a degree to me. It's a way to keep going, to hold on to my intellectual life and to honour everything that has been taken from us.' Originally from Abasan al-Kabira, east of the city of Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, Shaymaa and her family were forced to flee when the bombings started and have been displaced multiple times in the last 18 months. Shaymaa is now living in a tent on a beach in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, with 11 others including her two sisters and their children. She said: 'The last we heard our house was severely damaged but we haven't been back. 'Now my face and hands are sunburnt and sweaty all the time. Daily life in Gaza is almost impossible to describe. There's little access to basic resources like clean water and food. 'Most days are spent trying to secure food, charge devices at solar points when possible, and stay safe amid ongoing bombings.' Edinburgh West MP Jardine said: 'When I was contacted by the University, I wrote to the Foreign Office to ask what they are doing to help students who have been offered places but, because they live in Gaza, are finding it impossible to complete the required UK immigration process to come here. 'Due process needs to happen but we should be doing everything in our power to make sure it's possible to get people out of a warzone.' A UK Government spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of these students and are actively considering how we can best support.' Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The US plans to build a $750M fly factory in Texas to stop a flesh-eating cattle parasite
The U.S. plans to build a $750 million factory in southern Texas to breed billions of sterile flies, ramping up its efforts to keep flesh-eating maggots in Mexico from crossing the border and damaging the American cattle industry. Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes to be producing and releasing sterile male New World screwworm flies into the wild within a year from the new factory on Moore Air Base outside Edinburg, Texas, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the border. She also said the USDA plans to deploy $100 million in technology, such as fly traps and lures, and step up border patrols by 'tick riders' mounted on horseback and train dogs to sniff out the parasite. In addition, Rollins said the U.S. border will remain closed to cattle, horse and bison imports from Mexico until the U.S. sees that the pest is being pushed back south toward Panama, where the fly had been contained through late last year through the breeding of sterile flies there. The U.S. has closed its border to those imports three times in the past eight months, the last in July, following a report of an infestation about 370 miles (595 kilometers) from the Texas border. American officials worry that if the fly reaches Texas, its flesh-eating maggots could cause billions of dollars in economic losses and cause already record retail beef prices to rise even more, fueling greater inflation. The parasite also can infest wildlife, household pets and, occasionally, humans. 'Farm security is national security,' Rollins said during a news conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. 'All Americans should be concerned. But it's certainly Texas and our border and livestock producing states that are on the front lines of this every day.' The pest was a problem for the American cattle industry for decades until the U.S. largely eradicated it in the 1970s by breeding and releasing sterile male flies to breed with wild females. It shut down fly factories on U.S. soil afterward. The Mexican cattle industry has been hit hard by infestations and the U.S. closing its border to imports. Mexico's Agriculture ministry said in a statement Friday that Mexico Agriculture and Rural Development Secretary Julio Berdegué Sacristán and Rollins signed a screwworm control action plan. It includes monitoring with fly-attracting traps and establishing that livestock can only be moved within Mexico through government-certified corrals, the statement said. And on the X social media platform, Berdegué said, 'We will continue with conversations that lead to actions that will permit the reopening of livestock exports." The new fly-breeding factory in Texas would be the first on U.S. soil in decades and represents a ramping up of the USDA's spending on breeding and releasing sterile New World screwworm flies. The sterile males are released in large enough numbers that wild females can't help but mate with them, producing sterile eggs that don't hatch. Eventually, the wild fly population shrinks away because females mate only once in their weekslong lives. In June, Rollins announced a plan to convert an existing factory for breeding fruit flies into one for breeding sterile New World Screwworm flies, as well as a plan to build a site, also on the air base near Edinburg, for gathering flies imported from Panama and releasing them from small aircraft. Those projects are expected to cost a total of $29.5 million. The Panama fly factory can breed up to 117 million flies a week, and the new Mexican fly factory is expected to produce up to 100 million more a week. Rollins said the new Texas factory would produce up to 300 million a week. She said President Donald Trump's administration wants to end the U.S. reliance on fly breeding in Mexico and Panama. 'It's a tactical move that ensures we are prepared and not just reactive, which is today what we have really been working through,' Rollins said. ___ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press writer Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City contributed reporting. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
How to Keep Up With President Trump
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. Erica L. Green entered Baltimore's foster care system when she was 7 years old. By the time she entered college, she had lived in six homes. From that experience, she learned how to navigate a diverse set of family structures and households. 'I'm extremely vigilant and extremely adaptable,' said Ms. Green, who credits those traits as essential to her job covering President Trump for The New York Times. 'I grew up that way. You go where the news takes you, and that means, especially under Trump, it could be in 10 different directions.' Ms. Green joined The Times in 2017, reporting on federal education policy. She saw the job as an opportunity to shine a light on an issue important to her — America's flawed education system — on a large scale. In 2023, she accepted a role as a White House correspondent. Soon after, she began reporting on the Biden administration and eventually Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign. She's now covering the Trump administration, with much of her coverage focusing on how the president is attempting to roll back civil rights and change racial dynamics in the United States. 'It has become incredibly clear how important it is for people to see a Black White House reporter for The New York Times,' she said. In a recent interview, Ms. Green spoke about the day-to-day demands of the job and the challenges that come with the beat. This interview has been condensed and edited. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
