United Airlines CEO explains why the Boeing 747 jumbo jet will soon go away

In January, United Airlines announced that it will expedite the retirement of its fleet of Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets.

United, the last major airline in the US to operate the venerable icon, will retire its fleet by the end of 2017, one year earlier than previously planned.

This year, the Chicago-based airline will replace the 747 with new twin-engined Boeing 777-300ER airliners that, along with the 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350, will serve as the future core of United's long-haul fleet.

Recently, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz sat down for a one-on-one interview with Business Insider in which he touched upon a broad spectrum of topics including the fate of his fleet of jumbo jets.

In the interview, Munoz spoke about the practical considerations behind the retirement of the iconic plane known affectionately as the Queen of the Skies as well as the future of the airline's fleet.

Here's an excerpt from that interview:

Benjamin Zhang : Recently, United announced that it would be expediting the retirement of its Boeing 747-400s. What was the thinking behind that, and is it the end of the jumbo jet? 

Oscar Munoz : You've got other jumbo jets out there that are being built and that a couple of people are flying. For us, we had dwindled down our fleet of 747s. They were already on a path to becoming obsolete. They have been a grand aircraft for us for a long time, but we have issues with maintenance - parts in particular. If I need a part today, I can't get it. We stripped every airplane in the world of its parts to feed the need, and no one is making new parts for this particular aircraft because there are just not as many out there. 

Zhang : With the 747 on the way out, what does the future hold for United's fleet? 

Munoz : Every time I get accosted with the issue of the "Queen of the Skies," I say, "Have you met Miss Dreamliner over here?" It doesn't have that grand double-decker look, but that's where [the new Polaris business class] comes into play. The service that you get, the seats that we are working with, that was the decision. We were getting new aircraft that we were going to fly, and we are going to make long-term commitments to flying, and we wanted to start those new routes with aircraft that we are going to be flying into the next generation.

Former US Secret Service agent may have stolen bitcoins

A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say.

Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere.

“Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said.

The Secret Service and Bridges’ attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence.

Barack Obama urges Congress to pass Zika prevention bill

Washington: President Barack Obama says a vaccine for the Zika virus could be developed in "fairly short order" if Congress acts quickly to pass a bill to prevent the spread of the disease.

Obama says researchers are beginning to develop and test a vaccine for the mosquito-borne virus. He says that if the effort is well funded he's "fairly confident" an effective vaccine could be developed before the virus spreads to the continental US.

Obama made the remarks today after being briefed by top health officials at the White House.

The president is trying to pressure Congress to pass a Zika-prevention bill that has been stalled for weeks. He criticised lawmakers for "playing politics" with public health.

He says lawmakers should not take their summer recess before passing a bill.

Uttarakhand cloudburst: 22 killed as heavy rains lashed Chamoli district

Dehradun: At least 22 people were killed following cloudburst and landslides as heavy rains lashed Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand, officials said on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat have expressed their grief over the loss of life.

More than two dozen people remained untraced. NDRF teams have been rushed to the affected areas and additional teams have also been kept on alert.

"As many as 25 people have been trapped in the debris following landslides in Bastia village of Kanalichhina block in Pithoragarh district. Bodies of 13 persons have been recovered by the district administration team with the help of local people," a police official said.

"In Chamoli district, nine people have died and six others are missing," he added.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat has asked officials to camp in the affected areas and ensure that there is no dearth of ration. He also said that helicopters will be provided to ferry the injured to the hospitals. "We are saddened by the news of the deaths. A compensation of Rs two lakh has been announced for the kin of each of the deceased," Rawat said.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Singh spoke to Rawat and took stock of the situation.

"Spoke to CM U'khand Shri Harish Rawat regarding the situation post the cloud burst in the state. Centre is providing all possible assistance," Singh tweeted.

He said NDRF teams have been rushed to the areas affected by the cloudburst and additional teams of NDRF were on standby. "I am deeply pained at loss of precious lives in Uttarakhand due to flash floods. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families," he said.

Flooding has been reported in many areas of the state when the Alaknanda river rose above the danger level-mark after rainfall of up to 54 mm was received in the last 24 hours.

Officials said a cloudburst in Pithoragarh led to severe inundation in the region, causing hardship to the people. Large tracts of agricultural fields were inundated in Suva village of Dharchula area and three bridges linking the village were washed away.

The Thal-Munsyari road was cut-off and dozens of vehicles remained stranded on both sides.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway was disrupted at many places between Nandprayag and Badrinath due to landslides.  The entry of heavy vehicles was halted on the Kedarnath highway following a landslide at Gangolgaon.

All major rivers in the hilly tracts were in spate. An alert about heavy rains in the next 72 hours has been issued in Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar, Champawat, Almora, Pauri, Haridwar, Tehri and Dehradun districts. The communication network has been severely damaged at several places.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed grief over the loss of lives caused by cloudburst and heavy rain in Uttarakhand.

“I am grieved by the loss of lives caused due to cloudburst and heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand. Condolences to bereaved families," Modi said in a statement.

"My prayers are with those injured. I hope normalcy returns to the rain-affected areas at the earliest,” the Prime Minister said.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday batted for preserving rivers and protecting the Himalayas in the aftermath of the Uttarakhand cloudburst . "Concerned state government and central home ministry... they are already on the job but this is why we need to preserve our rivers and we should not encroach on river belts and also preserve Himalayas," Javadekar told the media.

"As we know climate change has increased the frequency of certain events. Narendra Modi government has for the first time after Independence allotted Rs 100 crore to carry on studies of various aspects of Himalayan ecology and we have already started working on 27 projects in which all such disaster resilience and disaster prediction and all such aspects are there," he added.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday expressed grief at the loss of life and damage caused by a cloudburst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli and Pithoragarh district. "Through the day, grim news of the damage done by flash floods which has killed and greviously hurt many is of great despair and sorrow. Many people are missing is also news of serious disappointment," she said. Expressing solidarity with those who have lost their loved ones, Gandhi added: "Government of Uttarakhand has been asked to provide swift assistance for rescue and rehabilitation. The relatives of those missing should not lose hope and we firmly stand by the people of Chamoli and Pithoragarh, they remain in our prayers".

3 killed in Dhaka diplomatic zone attack, foreigners among hostages

DHAKA: As many as nine gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital on Friday night, taking dozens of hostages and exchanging gunfire with security forces, authorities and a witness said.

Two police officials are reported dead in the attacks. Bangladeshi media are putting the number of dead at three, including an Argentine national.

At least 35 people, including about 20 foreigners, were still trapped inside the restaurant, according to kitchen staffer, Sumon Reza, who was among more than 10 people who managed to run to the rooftop and escape.

He said the attackers chanted ``Allahu Akbar'' (God is Great) as they launched the attack around 9:20 p.m. Friday, initially opening fire with blanks.

A huge contingent of security forces cordoned off the area around the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's Gulshan area. Several other wounded police officers were hospitalized after security forces exchanged fire with the attackers inside the restaurant who also hurled bombs. A local resident Lutful Amin told the AP he heard several explosions, the last of which went off around 10:45 p.m.

The head of the elite anti-crime force, Rapid Action Battalion, told reporters Friday night that they were working to save the lives of the people trapped inside the restaurant. Authorities The hostages included an unknown number of foreigners.

``Some derailed youths have entered the restaurant and launched the attack,'' Benazir Ahmed said. ``We have talked to some of the people who fled the restaurant after the attack. We want to resolve this peacefully. We are trying to talk to the attackers, we want to listen to them about what they want.''

``Some of our people have been injured. Our first priority is to save the lives of the people trapped inside,'' Ahmed said. He would not say how many people were trapped inside.

A Bangladeshi official said efforts to open negotiations with the hostage takers have been unsuccessful. 

Indian foreign ministry has, meanwhile, said that all Indian officials are safe and the Indian high commissioner is closely monitoring the situation.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters: ``We are aware of reports of what appears to a hostage situation in the Gulshan neighborhood of Dhaka.''
Kirby said that all American citizens that are under the authority of the diplomatic chief of mission in Dhaka were accounted for and were not involved in the incident, but the department is still checking on private American citizens who may have been in the area

He said it was too early to say who was involved in the assault and their motivation.

Lady Gaga and her songs banned from China

Lady Gaga, and all her songs, appear to have been banned from China after her recent meeting with the Dalai Lama.

The Communist Party’s propaganda department issued “an important instruction” banning her entire repertoire from mainland China, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily reported.

Chinese websites and media organisations were ordered to stop uploading or distributing her songs in a sign of Beijing’s irritation.

The propaganda department also issued orders for party-controlled news outlets such as state broadcaster CCTV and newspapers the People’s Daily and the Global Times to condemn the meeting.

China had warned people to be aware of what it said were nefarious motives of the Dalai Lama after he met with Gaga on a trip to the US and spoke about love and compassion.

“The purpose of his visits and activities in other countries is just to promote his proposal for Tibetan independence,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

Beijing regularly vilifies the Tibetans’ spiritual leader as a political figure who advocates splitting the Himalayan region of Tibet from the rest of China.

The Dalai Lama says he simply wants a higher degree of autonomy under Chinese rule.

The official website of the office of the Dalai Lama reported that Lady Gaga interviewed him in an exchange streamed live over Facebook.

The singer asked how to help young people with self-esteem issues or who harm themselves and he said: “Paying more attention to inner values like love and compassion are the right approach.”

Asked about the Dalai Lama’s meeting with Lady Gaga, Hong said: “We hope that people from the international community can be fully aware of his true colours and nature.”

Free parking in Dubai during Eid holidays

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the timings of its different services during the Eid al-Fitr holidays covering customer service centres, car parks, public buses, Dubai Metro & Tram, marine transit modes, driving institutes, and vehicles testing & registration centres.

All paid parking zones in Dubai will be free of charge except for the parking lots of the Fish Market and the Multi-level Parking terminal starting from Sunday July 3, and fees will be activated on Saturday July 9.

All service providers and partner centres will be closed from Tuesday July 5 to Thursday July 7 2016.

Dubai Metro

Starting on Tuesday and Thursday ( July 5 and 7) the Red Line stations will operate from 05:30 am up to 02:00 am.

On Wednesday July 6, stations on the Red and Green Lines will operate from 05:50 am up to 02:00 am.

On Friday July 8, the Red and Green Lines will operate from 10:00 am up to 02:00 am.

The Green Line stations will operate on Tuesday and Thursday (July 5 and 7) from 05:50 am up to 02:00 am.

Dubai Tram

The Tram service, will operate on Tuesday to Thursday (July 5 and 7) at 06:30 am up to 01:00 am.

On Friday July 8, the tram service will start at 09:00 am and continue up to 01:00 am.

Buses

As for public buses, on Wednesday and Thursday (July 6 and 7), public bus stations will operate as follows: Main Bus Stations such as the Gold Souk, the service will start at 5.20 am and end at 12:am (midnight), and at Al Ghubaiba Station, the service hours will be from 05:00 am up to 12:00 am (midnight).

At subsidiary stations, such as Al Qusais & Satwa, stations will open from 5 am to 12:00 am (midnight) except Route C01; which will be operating around-the-clock. Al Quoz Industrial Area station will start at 05:30 am and close at 11:30 pm, whereas Jebel Ali station will open at 06:00 am and end service at 10:15 pm. Metro feeder service stations such as Rashidiya, Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta, Abu Hail, Etisalat, and Burj Khalifa Dubai Mall, will be in service from 5.15 am to 1.10 am.

The service timing of commercial transport and inter-city bus services will be as follows: Main stations, such as Ghubaiba, will operate 24-hours a day to Sharjah (Jubail), and from 05:00 am to 12:50 am to Abu Dhabi. Subsidiary stations, such as Sabkha will start at 6.30 am and continue to 12:00 midnight.

The Union Square Station will start business at 05:00 am and continue up to 12:30 past midnight. Deira City Center will start service at 06:55 am and close at 10:00 pm. The timing of Karama Station will be from 06:10 am to 10:15 pm. Al Ahli Club Station will operate from 07:00 am up to 11:00 pm.

External stations, such as Sharjah (Al Taawon) will open at 07:00 am and close at 11:30 pm, Al Fujairah Station will open from 06:45 am to 10:30 pm, Ajman Station will open at 06:00 am and close 11:30 pm, and Hatta Station will be from 06:30 am up to 10:40 pm.

Marine transport

From the July 5 – 7, the service timings of marine transit modes will be: Water Bus at Marina Stations (Marina Mall, Marina Walk, Marina Terrace, and Marina Promenade) from 12:00 pm (at noon) up to 12:00 am (midnight). The Water Taxi will operate daily from 09:00 am to 10:00 pm. At Al Ghubaiba Station, the Water Taxi will operate from 04:00 pm up to 10:00 pm, and at Dubai Marina station it will operate 02:00 pm up to 10:00 pm.

From Jumeirah Palm Atlantis, the service timing will be from 04:00pm and continue up to 10:00 pm, and from Jumeirah Palm Station (Rixos) from 11:00 am up to 05:00 pm.

Dubai Ferry will operate at Al Ghubaiba and Marina stations during Eid holidays from 11:00 am, 01:00 pm, and then at 03:00 pm, 05:00 pm and 06:30 pm.

The working hours of traditional abra at Dubai Creek Stations (Al Ghubaiba, Al Sabkha, Baniyas, and Dubai Old Souk) will be from 10:00 am to 12:00 am (midnight). The Blue (electrical) Abra will operate at Burj Khalifa from 06:00 pm up to 11:00 pm, at Al Mamzar from 02:00 pm to 12:00 am (midnight), and at Atlantis from 01:00 pm to 09:00 pm. The air-conditioned abra at Al Jaddaf will operate from 07:00 am to 12:00 am (midnight).

How the power of the sun will bring jobs and clean energy to the UAE

A planned solar array in the Dubai desert that will deliver electricity at some of the cheapest rates in the world marks a shift in the way energy is supplied.

This week, Masdar, the Abu Dhabi energy company, was appointed to lead a consortium to deliver the first phase of DEWA’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Masdar and two Spanish firms won the bid after stating they could build a plant that could produce energy for as little as 2.99 cents a kilowatt-hour. This would be the cheapest solar energy ever produced, about 15 per cent lower than a previous record in Mexico in April.

Here, we take a look at how much energy will be generated and what it means for residents in the UAE.

How much of the plant has been built already?

Phase one was built and finished in 2013 at a cost of Dhs50 billion and is about the size of 33 football pitches. It comprises an array of photovoltaic panels shimmering in the desert sun off the Al Ain Road that produce 13 megawatts of solar energy per month. This powers 600 homes and benefits the environment to the equivalent of taking 2,000 cars off the road.

What will happen next?

The second phase for a 200 megawatt extension will be completed by April 2017 and the third phase, by Masdar, will be an 800 MW extension that aims to be finished by 2020, CEO of DEWA Mohammed Al Tayer said at the Masdar announcement on Monday. “The 200 megawatt solar park phase is going to be commissioned next year. So in Dubai we are not just speaking but we are actually implementing projects,” he said. The park will eventually produce 5,000 megawatts by 2030.

Why solar?

As fossil fuel sources decline and the UAE diversifies its economy, there is a renewed need for clean and renewable sources of energy. The boom is also expected to create thousands of jobs.

Will the solar power plant make our electricity bills cheaper?

Eventually, yes, DEWA says, although it’s not clear by how much. DEWA says that by 2020, when 7 per cent of our energy mix comes from solar, the economic impact will be small, but when renewables provide 75 per cent of energy by 2050, it will be greater.

Will solar eventually power the city?

That’s the plan. The park will have a total capacity of 10,000 megawatts by 2050. By way of comparison, DEWA’s current capacity for the city is 8,000 megawatts.

Is the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Plant the first project of its kind in Dubai?

Earlier this month DEWA launched a scheme that will allow homeowners to invest in solar panels and connect their homes. This scheme can be more directly linked to lower bills. Oryx, one of the firms connecting solar-powered homes to the grid, said owners can save between 15-50 per cent on bills. Prices start from about Dhs20,000. Outside of Dubai, Masdar also developed the 100 megawatt Shams 1 solar project in the Abu Dhabi desert at a cost of $600 million.

Who has solar panels on their roofs so far?

Not many at this stage. Villas in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation housing project have been connected to the grid and developments such as Sustainable City are already pressing ahead with their own solar initiatives.

Will solar panels on roofs meet all of our energy needs?

No, we’ll need some other sources too. But as more and more buildings and residences are added to the DEWA grid, more energy will be stored in the grid when it is not being used.

Will the solar boom bring job opportunities?

Many. The UAE is on track to create 160,000 “green collar” jobs in the renewable energy sector by 2030, boosting the nation’s GDP by 4 to 5 per cent in the process, according to Al Tayer, so a lot of us could be looking for new opportunities in the future.

North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un gets new 'top post'

SEOUL: North Korea has created a new, supreme governing commission with leader Kim Jong-Un as its chairman, underlining the 33-year-old's absolute control over every aspect of state policy in the isolated, nuclear-armed nation.

The country's legislative body, the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), unanimously voted Kim as head of the State Affairs Commission on Wednesday, the North's official KCNA news agency said.



The new agency replaces the National Defence Commission as the country's highest branch of government and supreme policymaking organisation.

Nominating Kim for the post, SPA president Kim Yong-Nam said it was the "unshakable faith and unswerving will of all service personnel and people of the country to uphold Kim Jong-Un ... at the top post of the DPRK".

DPRK is the official acronym for North Korea.



Cheong Seong-Chang, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute think-tank in Seoul, said the move effectively raised Kim Jong-Un to the post of supreme head of state.

"It's commensurate with the title of 'President of the Republic' given to (his grandfather) Kim Il-Sung in 1972," Cheong said today.

Kim Il-Sung was declared North Korea's "eternal president" following his death in 1994.



Kim Jong-Un bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather —- a similarity he has played up in a clear attempt to co-opt Kim Il-Sung's legacy.

His new position also marks a further break with the legacy of his father, Kim Jong-Il, who until his death in late 2011 had effectively ruled North Korea as chairman of the now defunct NDC.



The military-dominated NDC was responsible for all defence and security-related affairs, but under Kim Jong-Il's military-first policy it also exercised control over other key, non-defence related policymaking areas.

The new commission has three vice chairmen under Kim, each explicitly responsible for military, party and governmental affairs.

"This marks a clear departure from the era of his father," said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.



"And, by making himself the head of an umbrella commission with control over the military, party and government, Kim Jong-Un has become supreme leader in both name and reality," Yang said.

Almost the entire front page of the ruling party's official Rodong Sinmun on Thursday was taken up with a formal, colour headshot of Kim Jong-Un, wearing a sombre expression and a Mao jacket buttoned to the neck.

Alvin Toffler, author of ‘Future Shock’, dies at 87

NEW YORK: Alvin Toffler, a guru of the post-industrial age whose million-selling "Future Shock" and other books anticipated the disruptions and transformations brought about by the rise of digital technology, has died. He was 87.





He died on late Monday in his sleep at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, said Yvonne Merkel, a spokeswoman for his Reston, Virginia-based consulting firm, Toffler Associates.



One of the world's most famous "futurists", Toffler was far from alone in seeing the economy shift from manufacturing and mass production to a computerized and information-based model. But few were more effective at popularizing the concept, predicting the effects and assuring the public that the traumatic upheavals of modern times were part of a larger and more hopeful story.



"Future Shock", a term he first used in a 1965 magazine article, was how Toffler defined the growing feeling of anxiety brought on by the sense that life was changing at a bewildering and ever-accelerating pace. His book combined an understanding tone and page-turning urgency as he diagnosed contemporary trends and headlines, from war protests to the rising divorce rate, as symptoms of a historical cycle overturning every facet of life.



"We must search out totally new ways to anchor ourselves, for all the old roots — religion, nation, community, family, or profession — are now shaking under the hurricane impact of the accelerative thrust," he wrote.



Toffler offered a wide range of predictions and prescriptions, some more accurate than others. He forecast "a new frontier spirit" that could well lead to underwater communities, "artificial cities beneath the waves," and also anticipated the founding of space colonies — a concept that fascinated Toffler admirer Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker and presidential candidate. In "Future Shock", released in 1970, he also presumed that the rising general prosperity of the 1960s would continue indefinitely.



"We made the mistake of believing the economists of the time," Toffler told Wired magazine in 1993. "They were saying, as you may recall, we've got this problem of economic growth licked. All we need to do is fine-tune the system. And we bought it."



But Toffler attracted millions of followers, including many in the business community, and the book's title became part of the general culture. Curtis Mayfield and Herbie Hancock were among the musicians who wrote songs called "Future Shock" and the book influenced such science fiction novels as John Brunner's "The Shockwave Rider". More recently, Samantha Bee hosted a recurring "Future Shock" segment on Comedy Central.



Toffler is credited with another common expression, defining the feeling of being overrun with data and knowledge as "information overload."

In the decades following "Future Shock", Toffler wrote such books as "Powershift" and "The Adaptive Corporation", lectured worldwide, taught at several schools and met with everyone from Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to network executives and military officials. China cited him along with Franklin Roosevelt, Bill Gates and others as the Westerners who most influenced the country even as communist officials censored his work.



In 2002, the management consultant organization Accenture ranked him No. 8 on its list of the top 50 business intellectuals.

His most famous observation: "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

After "Future Shock," Toffler also continued to sketch out how the world was changing and how to respond. In "The Third Wave", a 1980 bestseller that AOL founder Steve Case would cite as a formative influence, he looked to a high-tech society that Case, Steve Jobs and others were just starting to put in place. He forecast the spread of email, telecommuting, teleconferences, interactive media, devices that remind you "of your own appointments" and online chat rooms.

Overall, he pronounced the downfall of the old centralized hierarchy and looked forward to a more dispersed and responsive society, populated by a hybrid of consumer and producer he called "the prosumer".



Case told Associated Press on Wednesday that Toffler was a "real pioneer in helping people, companies and even countries lean into the future."

"He will be missed," Case said.

Toffler collaborated on many of his books and other projects with his wife, Heidi, who survives him. He is also survived by a sister, Caroline Sitter. Toffler's daughter, Karen, died in 2000.



Toffler, a native of New York City, was born October 4, 1928 to Jewish Polish immigrants. A graduate of New York University, he was a Marxist and union activist in his youth, and continued to question the fundamentals of the market economy long after his politics moderated. He knew the industrial life firsthand through his years as a factory worker in Ohio.

Palestinian kills teenage girl in Israeli settlement

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian fatally stabbed a 13-year-old girl inside her home in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, before guards shot him dead, the military and hospital officials said.

A member of the response team that killed the assailant was also wounded in the incident, said an official from the Kiryat Arba settlement, near the city of Hebron.

Over the past eight months, Palestinians have killed 33 Israelis and two visiting US citizens in a wave of street attacks, mostly stabbings. Israeli forces have shot dead at least 198 Palestinians, 134 of whom Israel has said were assailants. Others were killed in clashes and protests.

An Israeli military spokesman said the girl was attacked in her bedroom. Hospital officials in Jerusalem said she died of her wounds, giving her age as 13. Israeli media reports identified the suspected attacker as a 17-year-old Palestinian from a village near Kiryat Arba.

Malachi Levinger, chairman of Kiryat Arba's government council, said on Army Radio that a Palestinian climbed a security fence and entered a family home where he attacked the girl. "Two members of a response team exchanged fire with him. One of them was wounded and the terrorist was killed," Levinger said.

Palestinian leaders say assailants have acted out of desperation over peace talks frozen since 2014 and Israeli settlement building in occupied territory that Palestinians seek for a state. Tensions over Jewish access to a contested Jerusalem holy site, revered by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as Temple Mount, have also fuelled the violence.

Israel says incitement in the Palestinian media and personal problems at home have been important factors that have spurred assailants, often teenagers, to launch attacks.

HAL Tejas supersonic fighter jets inducted into Indian Air Force

BENGALURU: HAL Tejas, also known as the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project, has been inducted into the Indian Air Force. Two of the single-engine multi-role fighter jets, pegged to be the world's smallest and lightest supersonic fighter, were handed over to the Air Force. They will be stationed in Bengaluru, as part of the first Tejas squadron called 'Flying Daggers'.



Friday marked the end of a 33-year-old wait for an indigenous fighter, but Tejas still has a lot of imported material in it, including its heart, a GE engine.

As TOI has reported earlier, the Flying Daggers squadron will have the SP-1 and SP-2 versions of Tejas. The squadron is expected to reach full strength by 2018-2020. Six more Tejas fighters are expected to be inducted into the squadron by the end of the current financial year.

Group Captain M Rangachari will be the first Commanding Officer of the Flying Daggers squadron. He will have seven officers under him initially, 42 air warriors and about 20 non-commissioned officers.

Dr Kota Harinarayana, termed the father of LCA, said decades of hard work and learning have finally paid off.

Air Marshal Jasbir Walia, Air Officer Commanding-in Chief of the Air Force's Southern Command and Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Baduria were also present on Friday, filling in for Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, who had flown in the Tejas last month and said the plane is fit for induction.

HAL is expected to deliver two more aircraft in the next few months. Sources in HALsaid that the third aircraft would be delivered by the end of the next month end. There is no confirmation on when the fourth will be delivered.
IAF had been speaking about inducting the LCA from as early as 2011. However, multiple shortcomings and changes in the requirements and other delays in the project has pushed the induction this far.

Even the first few aircraft delivered to the IAF will not exactly be completely combat ready, but Team Tejas is confident of plugging all gaps for the IAF in the future.