Latest news with #AndrewCaballero-Reynolds
RNZ News
03-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
US agencies open probe after two Washington flights abort landings due to nearby Army helicopter
By David Shepardson , Reuters Emergency vehicles at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on 30 January 2025. Photo: AFP/ Andrew Caballero-Reynolds US federal investigators have launched a probe after two flights aborted landings at Reagan Washington National Airport because of the presence of a US Army Black Hawk helicopter that was headed to the Pentagon. The Federal Aviation Administration said that on Thursday (local time) air traffic control instructed Delta Air Lines Flight 1671, an Airbus A319 that had originated in Orlando, and Republic Airways Flight 5825, an Embraer 170 that had departed from Boston, to perform go-arounds at around 2.30pm due to a priority military air transport helicopter in the vicinity. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating. Following a 29 January mid-air collision of an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk that killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, the FAA imposed permanent restrictions on non-essential helicopter operations around Reagan National Airport. This US Coast Guard photo shows the Coast Guard investigating aircraft wreckage on the Potomac River on 30 January, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP The FAA told Congress it was reviewing the Army helicopter's route in the two "loss of separation" incidents on Thursday and whether the route violates an agreement with the Army. "It appears the Black Hawk operation did not proceed directly to the Pentagon Heliport. Instead, it took a scenic route around the Pentagon versus proceeding directly from the west to the heliport," the FAA said. Delta said there were five crew and 97 passengers aboard the flight. "Nothing is more important at Delta than the safety of our customers and people. We'll cooperate with the FAA as they investigate," the airline said on Friday. The Pentagon did not immediately comment. A person involved said investigators are reviewing the helicopter's route and interactions with air traffic control. A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that according to initial information, the military helicopter was doing an emergency evacuation rehearsal. "It is outrageous that only three months after an Army Black Hawk helicopter tragically collided with a passenger jet, the same Army brigade again flew a helicopter too close to passenger jets on final approach at (Reagan Washington)," Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, said. "This comes less than a week after this brigade resumed flights in the National Capital Region. It is far past time for Secretary Hegseth and the FAA to give our airspace the security and safety attention it deserves," she said, referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Republic Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The airport is located in northern Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, and 6.4km from Capitol Hill, making it popular with lawmakers, tourists and local residents. The FAA in March permanently closed one key route and prohibited the use of two smaller runways at the airport when helicopters conducting urgent missions are operating near the airport. This satellite image on 30 January, 2025, of the crash area near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the Potomac River one day after American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a US Army helicopter as the passenger jet approached the runway to land. Photo: AFP/ Maxar Technologies Since 2021, there have been 85 recorded events involving a potentially dangerous near-miss between a helicopter and a plane - defined as a lateral separation of less than 460m and a vertical separation of just over 60m, the National Transportation Safety Board said in March. A number of recent safety incidents at the airport have raised alarm, including a 28 March incident involving a Delta flight and a group of Air Force jets. Airlines for America, a group representing American Airlines and other US carriers, in March urged the FAA to permanently reduce helicopter traffic around the airport. The group called on the FAA to suspend some nearby helicopter routes with limited exceptions for essential military or medical emergencies. The Army has also come under fire for routinely turning off a key safety system known as ADS-B during training missions in the Washington area. The FAA is investigating helicopter traffic near other major airports and last week announced changes to address safety concerns in Las Vegas. - Reuters
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Abortion Attitudes After Dobbs
(Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) Since the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision returned abortion to the states, the issue has played a significant role in elections across the country with the pro-choice side winning most of them. In the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court contest, abortion was front and center in the candidates' only debate. Before Elon Musk inserted himself into the contest, several analysts suggested that Susan Crawford, who ran on safeguarding abortion, could have won the race on that issue alone. According to a new state-by-state compilation by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), 67% of Wisconsin residents said abortion should be legal in all (26%) or most (41%) cases. PRRI recently released a very useful report on abortion attitudes, looking not only at Wisconsin but also at the rest of the states and DC. Their American Values Atlas compiled data from more than 22,000 interviews conducted in 2024 enabling them to look at individual state attitudes with confidence. PRRI uses the familiar four-part question on abortion asking if it should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all. This combination shows the range of belief in the US on this highly charged issue. In 43 states and DC, half or more said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Additionally, Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Tennessee came close to the 50% mark. Support fell below 45% in West Virginia (41%), Utah (44%), and Louisiana (42%). A gulf separated these three states from Massachusetts, where 83% gave the legal in all or most cases response, as did 80% in Vermont. Looking specifically at the extreme positions on the question, responses varied as well. The lowest response for legal in all cases came in Louisiana (13%), West Virginia (14%) and Idaho (14%); the highest response was in DC (44%), followed by Rhode Island (41%), and Vermont (40%). At the other end of the spectrum, 'illegal in all cases' was usually in the single digits. But more than 10% still gave that response fourteen states, with the highs in Nebraska (17%) and Mississippi and South Dakota at 14%. Another way of assessing PRRI state-by-state data comes by combining the middle two categories 'legal in some cases' and 'illegal in some.' Looked at this way, majorities in every state put themselves in the middle categories. These middle categories reflect more ambivalence about the issue. Nationally, 26% in PRRI's 2024 polls supported legal abortion in all cases, up from 18% in 2010, the first time PRRI asked the question. Thirty-seven percent wanted abortion to be legal in most cases and 26% illegal in most cases. Eight percent, down from 15% in 2010, said it should be illegal in all. Pew's Religious Landscape survey, conducted between July 2023 and March 2024, found similar responses: 31% said legal in all, 32% legal in most, 24% illegal in most, 11% illegal in all. Pew cautions that the results from the new survey should be 'cautiously compared' to their previous surveys because of changes in their modes of interviewing. With that in mind, support for legal abortion all or most cases is up at 63% from 53% in their 2014 Landscape study. As we approach the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision, the action on abortion legality will be mostly at the state level, though government spending and drug approval issues will have a national focus. President Trump has distanced himself from the issue or blurred his positions, giving state-level action greater importance. Although regional or state attitudes have come together in the US on many issues, states still have distinctive political personalities on abortion as the PRRI data show. Many, but not all, have moved toward a more expansive view of legality in all or most cases.
The Guardian
30-01-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Hostages released and a protest over whales: photos of the day
Wreckage of the crashed jet in the Potomac River. Rescue boats search the waters after the plane, on approach to Reagan National airport, crashed into the river, outside Washington, DC. The regional jet from Kansas crashed after colliding mid-air with a military helicopter near the airport, prompting a major emergency response and grounding all flights Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Rescuers work at the site of a damaged residential building after shelling in northeastern Ukraine. At least four people were killed and nine others injured in the Russian drone attack Photograph: State Emergency Service Of Ukraine Handout/EPA A large Palestinian flag hangs on a damaged building ahead of the handover of hostages to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The move is part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel Photograph: Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters Hamas militants escort Israeli hostage Agam Berger before handing her over to a Red Cross team as part of their third hostage-prisoner exchange Photograph: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images Family members and supporters of Berger react as they watch a broadcast of her during her release. Berger, a soldier, was seized from her army base in southern Israel during the deadly 7 October attack by Hamas Photograph: Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad and Hamas fighters escort Arbel Yehoud to hand her over to a Red Cross team as part of their third hostage-prisoner exchange. Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images The CN Tower is illuminated with green lights to mark the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images (left to right) Heidi Reichinnek, Gregor Gysi and Ines Schwerdtner, co-leader of leftwing Die Linke, dance at the political party's election campaign launch rally. Germany is scheduled to hold snap federal parliamentary elections on 23 February Photograph:Supporters hold photos of pro-choice activist Justyna Wydrzyńska before a hearing at the appeals court. Wydrzyńska was found guilty in 2023 of supplying a pregnant woman with abortion pills in Poland's first such case Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images Maria Martins de Souza, a nurse from the Brazilian state Sistema Unico de Saude or Unified Health System, checks patient Josenilda Vitoriosa, 57. The nurse visits vulnerable and elderly people, and patients with reduced mobility, in the working-class district of Caju in the north of Rio de Janeiro, attending to high rates of dehydration and high blood pressure caused by high temperatures. Photograph: Aline Massuca/Reuters Environmentalists and protesters rallying against a gas project in the Gulf of California, which they say can endanger whales, gather at Mexico City's Zocalo main square Photograph: Henry Romero/Reuters Rapper Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, leaves court during his felony assault trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, California. The 36-year-old faces two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm during confrontations with Terell Ephron Photograph: Frazer Harrison/AFP/Getty Images Pilgrims bathe on the banks of the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers at the Kumbh Mela festival in Uttar Pradesh. The festival is expected to go down as the largest ever gathering of humanity, pulling in an estimated 400 million individuals over a 40-day period. The busiest day so far saw an estimated 17.5 million people attend Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian A model prepares backstage for the presentation of Spanish designer Juana Martin's Spring/Summer 2025 Haute Couture collection during Paris Fashion Week Photograph: Teresa Suárez/EPA Anthony Mackie attends the UK photocall of Marvel Studios' Captain America: Brave New World in Trafalgar Square Photograph: Timfor The Walt Disney Company Limited Performers pose for a photo before going on stage at the Longtan Park Temple Fair on the second day of Lunar New Year celebrations Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Leaked Memo Suggests a Top U.S. Agency Will No Longer Recognize Pride, MLK Day, and Holocaust Remembrance
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images Them' The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is reportedly canceling all future LGBTQ+ Pride observances, along with a host of other significant events for marginalized communities, according to a leaked internal memo obtained by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein. Klippenstein, a former reporter for The Intercept (and sometime Twitter prankster), posted the memo on social media Wednesday, claiming that an intelligence official had leaked a photo of it directly to him. According to the document, which appears to have been stamped January 28 and bears a letterhead with DIA and Department of Defense seals, the agency is putting an indefinite 'pause' on at least 11 'Special Observances' scheduled annually between January and November. That list includes the entirety of Pride Month, federally observed in June since 1999. Other canceled observances include Black History Month in February, Women's History Month in March, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, and Juneteenth on June 19. Women's Equality Day on August 26, National Hispanic Heritage Month and Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, and National American Indian Heritage Month in November are also canceled, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and any Holocaust Remembrance Days, according to the leaked memo. Them attempted to contact the DIA's Public Affairs office to confirm the leaked memo's authenticity, but did not receive a reply at time of writing. The department forms the intelligence wing of the Department of Defense, and is the 'primary manager and producer of foreign military intelligence' in the U.S. government, according to its website. 'DIA will pause all activities and events related to Special Emphasis Programs effective immediately and until further notice,' the memo reads. ('Special emphasis programs' are employment programs within the federal government that, as the name implies, place special emphasis on marginalized communities like people of color, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people.) The DIA will also be pausing 'Agency Resource Groups, Affinity Groups, and Employee Networking Groups, effective immediately' upon issuance of the memo. The leaked memo references having received 'questions across the workforce' in relation to two of President Trump's executive orders issued on January 20, which rescinded numerous Biden-era executive orders and instructed federal agencies to dismantle all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Trump's anti-DEI order quickly sent shockwaves throughout the federal government, particularly after the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reportedly directed workers to snitch on alleged efforts to mask various DEI offices and programs from the purge. That directive also contained a template memo for agency heads to send to their departments, warning of unspecified 'adverse consequences' for those who failed to report their colleagues — several examples of which were themselves leaked to Klippenstein within hours. Trump's anti-DEI order was also part of the justification for a directive from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week, which issued a memo declaring a freeze on federal funding for numerous programs until they were found to comply with Trump's agenda. That memo caused widespread confusion and outrage before it was abruptly rescinded on Wednesday afternoon — but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also asserted that only the memo itself was withdrawn, not the ordered freeze on funds, leaving the situation as yet unclear. Get the best of what's queer. Sign up for Them's weekly newsletter here. Originally Appeared on them.
