[FoxNews] Boeing evaluation shows inspections and repairs more extensive than initially expected
UPS Airlines has grounded an entire fleet of its cargo jets indefinitely, warning of months-long disruption during peak holiday season.
The airline does not expect its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11s, which was the type of plane involved in a deadly crash in Louisville, Kentucky, on Nov. 4 to return to service for several months, according to the Associated Press.
The UPS cargo plane's engine fell off and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. The Honolulu-bound flight crashed at around 5:15 p.m., hitting a nearby industrial area and killing 14 people, including the three crew members and 11 people on the ground.
Black box data indicates the plane only reached about 30 feet above ground level prior to the crash, and newly released images from the National Transportation Safety Board show a fire igniting on the left engine.
UPS temporarily grounded the fleet immediately following the crash, and began working to meet Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) guidelines before returning to service.
AP reported that the process was initially expected to take weeks, but will now extend several months, according to a memo from UPS Airlines president Bill Moore.
"Regarding the MD-11 fleet, Boeing’s ongoing evaluation shows that inspections and potential repairs will be more extensive than initially expected," Moore wrote in the memo.
On Nov. 7, UPS announced it had grounded its MD-11 fleet "out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of safety."
The planes account for roughly 9% of the airline’s fleet.
"Contingency plans are in place to ensure we can continue to deliver the reliable service our customers around the world count on," UPS said in the statement earlier this month.
Immediately following the crash, the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive to owners and operators of the Boeing Company Model MD-11 and MD-11F airplanes after it determined the unsafe condition was likely to exist in other products.
FedEx said after the crash that it was also grounding its MD-11s.
#1
Black box data indicates the plane only reached about 30 feet above ground level prior to the crash
Jet engines spin like a sumbitch. During takeoff, when a plane reaches flying speed, it rotates into a climb. Gyroscopic precession puts a huge twisting force on the pylon that mounts the engine to the wing.
tl;dr: The FAA is worried that the engines are going to fall off the MD-11s
[CBSnews] The 2025 hurricane season is drawing to a close without a single one making landfall in the continental USA for the first time in a decade.
After developing in tropical Atlantic waters near the equator, multiple storms this year initially appeared to be following paths that could have taken them toward the U.S. East Coast. But as they got closer, all of the systems that formed since the start of the season on June 1 ultimately veered northward and traveled back out to sea.
------------
just one tropical storm, a relatively minor one, made landfall, fewer hurricane and tropical systems than average, one Hurricane made category 5 and hit Jamaica as a Cat 5 and Cuba as a Cat 3.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/28/2025 09:21 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1786 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This conclusively proves global warming.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/28/2025 13:38 Comments ||
Top||
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Alexander Melnik
[REGNUM] The current President of Guinea-Bissau, Oumarou Sisoko Embalo, who had already declared his victory in the elections, was arrested by the military.
On November 26, they seized the presidential palace. A military coup took place in the country.
INCONCLUSIVE ELECTIONS
The now former president of this African country is remembered for dissolving parliament in 2023, when he faced an opposition majority in the context of an unofficial transition from a parliamentary to a presidential form of government.
The political situation in the country was further complicated by growing disagreements over when Embaló's presidential mandate should expire. The opposition insisted his five-year term ended on February 27, 2025, while the Supreme Court, which he apparently manipulated, announced that it had been extended until September 4.
These maneuvers created an atmosphere of constitutional crisis that was bound to explode. And that's exactly what happened.
The rebels staged their protests just before the announcement of the presidential election results, scheduled for November 27. President Embalo declared himself the winner of the first round of voting on November 23 with 65% of the vote. His opponent, Fernando Dias da Costa, did the same.
The elections themselves, as usual, were marred by numerous scandals. Embalo's main opponent, Domingos Simões Pereira, leader of the opposition party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), was barred from running on the pretext of submitting his documents late.
He was forced to back a dark horse, Dias da Costa, who led one of the factions of the Social Renewal Party and ran as an independent candidate.
REBELLION OR "MUTINY"?
The instigators of the coup were high-ranking officers of the armed forces, led by Brigadier General Denis N'Kanya, who headed the presidential military office before the current events.
In a nationally televised address, the general said the State Intelligence Service had uncovered a "destabilization plan involving politicians, a drug lord, and foreigners."
According to him, the military command took drastic measures to restore security and order, closing the borders and suspending the election process. A military headquarters has been established to "ensure national security" and "restore order."
It's worth noting that this is typical rhetoric of military putschists—they always justify their actions by citing the need to save the nation from inevitable chaos. However, behind the facade of good deeds lies a cold calculation. Senior military officials were dissatisfied with Embalo's policies and decided to seize power.
Along with the leader of Guinea-Bissau, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Biage Na Ntana, Deputy Chief of Staff Mamadou Touré, and Interior Minister Boche Cande were arrested. Politicians weren't forgotten either. Fernando Dias da Costa and PAIGC leader Domingo Simões Pereira were arrested and taken to the Bissau Air Force Base.
Everything was executed perfectly. Army units quickly occupied key locations in the capital, including the electoral commission building; airports and seaports were closed.
Embalo's actions added further flavor to the coup : he decided to call several international media outlets and personally announce his overthrow. Specifically, during a conversation with a France24 correspondent, he stated that he couldn't say much, or they would confiscate his phone. But was that really the case?
How many deposed politicians have access to a telephone, the Internet, and communication with the world media?
In addition, for some reason, the president named the Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces, General Ort Inte Nan Than, who was his confidant, as the instigator of the coup.
Fuel is being added to the fire by statements from his main opponent, Pereira, who previously warned that the head of state, in the event of an unfavorable election outcome, could "simulate a coup d'état" and, with the support of a loyal part of the military, regain power.
Opposition forces believe that Embalo may be released after some time, while his political opponents will remain in custody.
In February 2020, it was the military that played a decisive role in his rise to power.
BENEFICIARIES OF THE COUP
Oumaru Sisoku Embalo's foreign policy did not please Western countries, which were desperately fighting to maintain influence in West Africa: the country's authorities were increasingly oriented toward Russia and China.
Embalo has visited Russia several times and met with Vladimir Putin. Our countries signed a memorandum establishing a consultation mechanism on economic, trade, and investment cooperation. It's likely that some of these agreements will now have to be revised.
In any case, if Guinea-Bissau faces economic difficulties or tries to resist Western pressure, the new leadership may again turn to Moscow, which has already expressed interest in developing ports and transport infrastructure, as well as exploring bauxite deposits.
China, for its part, is in a unique position. Although Beijing has officially expressed concern for the safety of its citizens in the country, it understands that a military regime can be an even more reliable partner. China has invested significantly in Guinea-Bissau's infrastructure and, more importantly, has deep interests in mineral extraction.
Embalo has already visited China, where he signed a memorandum establishing a strategic partnership. China Aluminum Corporation received the right to prospect and develop bauxite in the Boe region, where 113 million tons of ore reserves—the primary material for aluminum production—have been discovered.
The contract is strategically important as China seeks alternative sources of bauxite to reduce its dependence on suppliers.
A military regime seeking to legitimize its power and ensure economic stability will be interested in continuing to work with Chinese investors, which produces tangible results—new jobs, budget revenues, and infrastructure development.
Unlike Western investments, Chinese investments are not subject to political strings. Therefore, Beijing could benefit from the coup by strengthening its economic presence in the region.
At the same time, traditional Western leaders in West Africa, France and Portugal, are given the opportunity to bring Guinea-Bissau into their sphere of influence.
Portugal, the country's former capital, immediately responded to the coup, calling on all parties to avoid violence and restore constitutional order. However, the true goal of the Europeans is to ensure that the new authorities will serve Western interests and not move toward Moscow and Beijing.
The United States is also interested in pulling Guinea-Bissau into the Western camp. The African state is located in the Gulf of Guinea, a region crucial for control of sea routes and resources. Washington thus intends to limit Russian and Chinese influence in the region.
Let's not forget about regional players.
Thus, the leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, who formed the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS),
…an unfortunate acronym, like a Roman general named Biggus Dikkus…...
could find common ground with the Bissau military and attempt to integrate the state into their structure. Given the Alliance's strong ties with Russia, this option is advantageous to Moscow.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a competitor to the ACS, is once again at risk of being sidelined. For several years now, this pro-Western organization has been losing credibility and demonstrating an inability to effectively enforce sanctions.
Following coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, it imposed sanctions that were either rescinded or ignored by the new authorities in those countries. Guinea-Bissau may follow suit.
Thus, the rebellion in Bissau continues a series of military coups in West Africa, and the state itself becomes a new battleground between the world's leading powers.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[RIA] The death toll in the fire at a residential complex in Hong Kong has risen to 94, Xinhua reports, citing the fire department.
The death toll from the fire at a residential complex in Hong Kong has risen to 94, the report said.
The fire at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex began on Wednesday afternoon local time. Bamboo scaffolding erected around buildings as part of a renovation plan caught fire. The fire quickly spread, engulfing all eight buildings in the complex. It is the largest fire in Hong Kong in 17 years.
Local authorities considered the rapid spread of the fire unusual and will conduct a criminal investigation to determine the cause. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
#1
Latest from Breitbart says 128. Will probably climb as there are still scores missing.
https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2025/11/28/hong-kong-apartment-complex-fire-death-toll-rises-to-128/
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/28/2025 9:59 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I would have thought that any civilization able to construct luxury high rise apartment complexes would know enough to avoid use of bamboo scaffolding when doing outside maintenance of those buildings.
But I would be wrong.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
11/28/2025 13:28 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Seems like something is missing from this story. Dry bamboo is certainly flammable but I am skeptical that scaffolding would provide enough fuel to set a modern building ablaze. Some other material or an accelerant involved?
#5
A few years ago, several middle east high rises went up like torches, due to highly flammable insulation. I suspect something similar, that the U.S. fire code would prohibit.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/28/2025 16:54 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Bobby is correct. Exterior aesthetic cladding in foreign lands is not UL or NFPA rated. "Good Luck" is often implied
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2025 19:36 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Lived in HK for 3 years. 12/F in a high rise. Brand new building but still, fire was my greatest fear.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
11/28/2025 22:15 Comments ||
Top||
[Breitbart] The government of Denmark has set up a “night watch” in its Foreign Ministry to monitor President Donald Trump’s movements and statements while the country sleeps, the Guardian reported Thursday.
The Guardian, citing Danish newspaper Politiken, detailed that the night watch was established this spring in response to President Trump expressing the United States’ interest to acquire Greenland.
“Denmark is stepping up its diplomatic efforts to resist pressure from Donald Trump. This comes after the government and Danish diplomats have repeatedly been put on alert following threats from the U.S. President,” Politiken’s report read.
“In an office on the sixth floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is a list of direct telephone numbers for top officials in the central administration, so that they can be quickly awakened if an emergency arises in Danish diplomacy,” the outlet explained.
The watch starts at 05:00p.m. (CEST) and by 07:00 a.m. of the next day, it produces a report to the Danish government about “what was said and took place.”
The Guardian pointed out the Danish Foreign Ministry’s “night watch” is tasked to monitor President Trump’s actions and not to keep out the “wildlings and White Walkers” like the Night’s Watch featured in the HBO series Game of Thrones — itself an adaptation of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series by American author George R. R. Martin.
“It is fair to say that the situation in Greenland and the time difference between Denmark and the United States was quite an important factor introducing this arrangement during the spring,” A source close to the office told the Guardian.
Jacob Kaarsbo, a former chief analyst at the Danish defense intelligence agency, reportedly asserted that the development of the night’s watch showed, “as we have always known,” that the idea that the United States was Denmark’s largest and most important ally “was dead.”
“Alliances are built on common values and a common threat perception,” Kaarsbo said. “Trump shares neither of those with us and I would argue he doesn’t share it with most Europeans.”
President Trump has expressed throughout the years that he would like the United States to acquire Greenland from Denmark, deeming the proposal as an “absolute necessity” for national security.
It was necessary because Denmark was not doing its part.
Trump reiterated his proposal several times upon the start of his second term this year.
Breitbart News reported days after Trump took office in January that the Danish government descended into “crisis mode” after Trump held a phone conversation with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, where he reportedly reiterated his proposal on Greenland.
In January, Denmark announced a “$2 billion investment in Arctic security,” and acknowledged President Trump’s criticism of Greenland’s vulnerability to Russian aggression.
Now Denmark is stepping up, so we shouldn’t need to take step in.
It’s a race to the finish line! Who, dear Reader, will get to the finish line second? After all Israel already put theirs in play.
[IsraelTimes] Inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, the system is set to be fully operational by 2028, will protect key sites from emerging threats, including hypersonic missiles and drones
Italia’s defense and aerospace group Leonardo presented plans on Thursday for a new multi-layered air defense system, as European countries continue to step up military capabilities to bolster defenses against Russia and other threats.
The "Michelangelo Dome" is designed to protect critical infrastructure and key areas of national or international interest from threats by connecting different platforms and equipment in space, air, on land or at sea.
The system is able to detect, track, intercept and neutralize incoming air threats like rockets, missiles, and drones before they can cause harm and will work similarly to Israel’s Iron Dome, which has been operational since 2011.
"This is a model that is important for security in Italia, Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... countries in the coming years," Leonardo chief executive Roberto Cingolani said at the presentation in Rome.
Cingolani said that the state-controlled company would set up a team made up of Leonardo staff and the Italian armed forces to "design an architecture according to the needs of our defense."
After a partial implementation, Michelangelo will start to be fully operational from 2028. The plans were presented to top Italian military officials in the past few days.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has recently called for solutions to combat hybrid warfare threats, particularly for energy infrastructure and airports.
"Each country can integrate its own technologies," Crosetto said on Thursday.
"Together, we can cooperate to create a highly advanced defense system against all types of threats, from hypersonic missiles to small drones, because threats now come in many different forms," he said from Gay Paree after a meeting with French counterpart Catherine Vautrin.
Crosetto said Italia had already talked to other European countries about the project.
Italia’s announcement makes it the latest of several nations to develop Iron Dome-inspired systems.
In May, US President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... announced plans for a Golden Dome missile shield system to protect his country against foreign attacks, saying it should be operational by the end of his second term. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... recent reports suggested that the plans have experienced major delays following a US government shutdown.
Additionally, Ottoman Turkish defense companies signed $6.5 billion worth of contracts to reinforce and develop The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... ’s integrated, multi-layered Steel Dome air defense system, the Ottoman Turkish Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) said on Wednesday.
In October, Taiwan announced plans for its own multi-layered air defense system called "T-Dome" to defend itself against enemy threats, namely China.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[RIA] The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, often referred to as an "alien spaceship," continues to exhibit a rare dust antitail, according to the official Telegram channel of the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAS).
"As 3I/ATLAS moves away from the Sun, as expected, increasingly high-quality photographs of the object are beginning to arrive, revealing some previously hidden (or missing) details. The most remarkable of these, of course, is the antitail, oriented opposite to the main normal tail," the publication states.
The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS will approach Jupiter on March 16, 2026.
Scientists noted that antitails are common in ordinary comets, and there's a scientific explanation for this: a thin dust trail becomes clearly visible when Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane. However, in the case of 3I/ATLAS, this argument doesn't apply, as Earth hasn't yet crossed its orbital plane, and the antitail is visible for longer than a day or two. The IKI team suggested that this feature had been present since the interstellar object's discovery, even before its passage behind the Sun.
Thus, experts emphasized, there are plenty of natural examples of such phenomena, but in the case of 3I/ATLAS, the question of the antitail's future behavior remains open. Astronomers are also interested in whether this characteristic of the "alien ship" will change after it crosses the plane of Earth's orbit.
The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1. Scientists later determined it was a comet from another solar system. Its coma is approximately 24 kilometers in diameter. A computer model estimated its age at over 7.5 billion years—three billion years older than the Sun. It may be the oldest comet ever observed.
In August, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb reported that 3I/ATLAS was emitting its own light, similar to the glow of car headlights, but the source of the glow was unknown. He suggested that 3I/ATLAS could be an artificial object with a powerful energy source capable of generating light visible for millions of kilometers. A month later, the scientist noted that 3I/ATLAS had undergone an "anomalous evolution," beginning to change color.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
