All posts tagged: Scrambles

NTSB scrambles to keep cockpit audio private in era of AI : NPR

NTSB scrambles to keep cockpit audio private in era of AI : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Chris Babcock, an engineer at the National Transportation Safety Board, in one of the audition rooms at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Joel Rose/NPR hide caption toggle caption Joel Rose/NPR WASHINGTON — What began as an inquiry into a mysterious sound in the background of an airplane cockpit voice recording escalated into an unexpected challenge for the nation’s top safety investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board temporarily pulled down public documents for thousands of investigations last week after the agency inadvertently allowed the reconstruction of audio recordings from the cockpit of UPS flight 2976, which crashed shortly after takeoff in Louisville, Ky. last year, killing 15 people, including all three pilots. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have made it easier to reconstruct audio from digital images that were published as part of the NTSB’s investigation. And that’s making it harder for the NTSB, which is forbidden by law from releasing those recordings, to stop them from being made public. As investigators at the NTSB listened back to the cockpit voice recording from the crash …

Andy Burnham’s camp scrambles to challenge a Wes Streeting leadership bid – POLITICO

Andy Burnham’s camp scrambles to challenge a Wes Streeting leadership bid – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

More than 90 Labour MPs called for Starmer to quit, including four ministers who resigned to demand his demise. Streeting is seen as a major agitator for the PM’s ousting. Starmer held private talks in Downing Street with Streeting on Wednesday morning lasting less than 20 minutes. It didn’t take long after Streeting emerged from the meeting for a report in the Times to land, in which his allies said he planned to resign as health secretary in order to run for the leadership. Three Labour MPs told POLITICO they had been informed by Streeting’s camp that he plans to resign and challenge the PM, with one saying that will happen as early as Thursday. If Burnham cannot enter parliament to challenge Streeting, then his supporters are looking to Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister who still needs to resolve a tax issue, or Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, as the soft-left standard bearer. Miliband, who led Labour to electoral defeat in 2015, is already organising and sounding out support from colleagues, according to one …

China In Talks With Iran For Safe Passage Through Hormuz, As WH Scrambles To Contain Rising Energy Prices

China In Talks With Iran For Safe Passage Through Hormuz, As WH Scrambles To Contain Rising Energy Prices

Published by Jenni Sidey

Summary: Early reports now indicating Iranian strikes at the U.S. Camp Victory base in Baghdad. As “continuous explosions” were reportedly heard. Pentagon chief Hegseth: US has just begun to fight in Iran and Iran is wrong in its calculations if it thinks we can’t continue the war. CENTCOM: operation “going well” and moving “at a fast pace”. House votes against war powers: The US House of Representatives has rejected an effort to curb President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war in Iran, a day after a similar bid collapsed in the Senate. House rejected in a 219-212 vote along party lines – was largely ceremonial and was unlikely to survive an expected veto from the president: BBC. Unconfirmed: Iraqi police say a US fighter jet crashed in southern Basra province, with the pilot ejecting before impact, according to statements reported by Al Jazeera and Iranian state media: Drop Site. US Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied the report. China in talks for safe passage through its vital Iran crude transit point Strait of Hormuz, which may immediately nullify reported ‘blockade’ (a blockade …

Iranian regime scrambles to survive after Khamenei’s death

Iranian regime scrambles to survive after Khamenei’s death

Published by Sam Flores

Pro-regime Iranians gathered after the official announcement by state television of the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran on March 1, 2026. VAHID SALEMI/AP Iranians awoke in disbelief on Sunday, March 1. Those who loathed the Islamic Republic struggled to believe that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, 86, who ruled the country for 37 years, had been killed the previous day in Israeli-American strikes. For supporters of the regime, tears were not enough to express the loss of their “leader.” Overnight, as Israeli and then American statements confirmed Khamenei’s death, Iranians opposed to the regime shouted with joy from their windows and chanted slogans such as “Down with the dictator!” or “Long live the king!” – a reference to Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The boldest took to the streets, dancing and honking their horns in celebration. At 5 am local time, state television confirmed the supreme leader’s death in a special broadcast. His supporters, dressed in black, gathered in …

EU scrambles for unity as Iran crisis exposes transatlantic rift – POLITICO

EU scrambles for unity as Iran crisis exposes transatlantic rift – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

At the national level, however, Europe’s message was less unified. In a joint statement, France, Germany and the United Kingdom stressed they “did not participate in these strikes” by the U.S. and Israel, while condemning Iranian counterattacks and urging Tehran to seek to a “negotiated solution.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emulated that balancing act, saying the U.K. had “played no role” in the strikes while condemning Iran’s “abhorrent” regime and saying Washington’s “primary aim” was to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Starmer added that British planes were already in the air as part of coordinated regional defense operations. Elsewhere in Europe, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned the U.S.-Israeli operation as a “unilateral military action” that risks creating a more hostile global order. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, meanwhile, took the opposite line, saying Prague “stands by our allies” and warning that Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its “support for terrorism” pose a threat to Europe. Nordic and Eastern European leaders took a more security-focused line. Sweden’s prime minister warned of a “serious escalation” …

Georgia Scrambles After Leak Reveals Rising Dependence On Russian Gas

Georgia Scrambles After Leak Reveals Rising Dependence On Russian Gas

Published by Jenni Sidey

Via Eurasianet.org, Georgia’s imports of Russian gas rose sharply in 2025, with newly disclosed pricing showing higher costs than in previous years. The leak has sparked political backlash, as critics warn of renewed dependence on Gazprom and heightened risks of corruption and leverage. Authorities have launched a security investigation, framing the disclosure as a cyber incident rather than addressing the substance of the pricing shift. Officials are in damage-control mode in Georgia after the supposed unauthorized publication of a late 2025 state decree showing that the government’s reliance on Russian natural gas imports is growing and Tbilisi is now paying more for Russian imports than it has in the past. Earlier in January, Russia’s state-owned Gazprom announced it supplied 40.4 percent more gas to Georgia in 2025 than in the previous year. This surge can be seen within a broader Russian strategy to increase energy exports southward to partially offset the loss of the EU market due to sanctions. Gazprom also reported increases of over 20 percent in gas deliveries to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. But the …

South Korea scrambles to pass U.S. investment bill after Trump threatens higher tariffs

South Korea scrambles to pass U.S. investment bill after Trump threatens higher tariffs

Published by Sam Flores

The United States agrees to impose 15% tariffs on imports from South Korea under a trade deal for the vast majority of South Korean products, seen in this photo illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on August 1, 2025. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party said it would pass a special act on the U.S. trade deal by end- February, according to Yonhap, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs on South Korean exports. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said he was raising tariffs on South Korean exports to 25% from the current 15%, citing a delay in the country’s parliament approving the Washington-Seoul trade deal agreed in July last year. Spokesperson of the ruling Democratic Party Kim Hyun-jung said Trump was likely referring to the Special Act on Strategic Investment Management between Korea and the United States, according to a Google translation of the statement in Korean, submitted to the country’s parliament last November. The bill aims to establish a state-run investment corporation to manage Seoul’s planned $350 billion investment pledge to …

Newsom Scrambles To Keep Billionaires In California, Vows To Kill Wealth Tax

Newsom Scrambles To Keep Billionaires In California, Vows To Kill Wealth Tax

Published by Jenni Sidey

After a swath of billionaires publicly announced they are leaving the state of California over a proposed wealth tax, Governor Gavin Newsom went into a full blown panic – vowing to stop the proposed tax and “do what I have to do to protect the state.”  In an interview with the NY Times, Newsom said that he has been working ‘relentlessly’ behind the scenes to kill the proposal. “This will be defeated — there’s no question in my mind,” he said of the measure he has long opposed over concerns that it would stifle innovation in the state – as a growing list of tech CEOs have thrown their hands in the air and rage-quit the state over mounting plans to separate them from their wealth.  The plan in question – being driven by the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West union – would require Californians with a net worth north of $1 billion to pay a one-time tax equal to 5% of their assets, and would apply retroactively to anyone who was living in the state as of Jan 1. Affected taxpayers could spread …