Jets of the Boeing 737 Max 9 will remain grounded while examinations are still ongoing.

The aviation authority in the United States has announced that 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft would continue to be grounded until it is satisfied that the aircraft are safe to fly.

In the aftermath of a portion of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines plane falling off on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration has begun conducting inspections of the aircraft.

That "keeping the flying public safe" was the FAA's top concern, according to the agency.

The cancellation of flights for thousands of passengers occurred as a result of major airlines in the United States grounding dozens of the jets.

"We have grounded the affected airplanes, and they will remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied that they are safe," the agency said in a statement on Sunday. "We have grounded the affected airplanes."

Flights in the United States have been most impacted by disruptions.

United Airlines and Alaska Airlines are the airlines that operate the great majority of Boeing 737 Max 9s in the United States. Additionally, Turkish Airlines, Copa Airlines of Panama, and Aeromexico have grounded jets of the same kind in order to conduct inspections.

Additionally, on Sunday, Alaska announced that it had cancelled 163 flights, which is equivalent to a 21% cancellation rate. Roughly 25,000 individuals were impacted by this. Travel problems caused by the grounding of several of the airline's planes are expected to continue until at least the middle of the week, according to the company.United Airlines has grounded 79 aircraft and announced on Sunday that it had decided to cancel about 180 flights.

In the meantime, authorities are continuing their hunt for the plug door, which they believe fell to the ground in the western suburbs of Portland. They have made a request to the general public for assistance in locating the panel.

There was an incident that occurred on Friday, and according to flight monitoring data, Alaska Airlines flight 1282, which was traveling from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California, reached an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) before beginning an emergency descent.

It was reported by passengers on board that a significant portion of the outer shell of the aircraft fell to the ground immediately after the plane took off.

Imagery that was distributed to various news organizations reveals that the night sky and the lights of Portland are visible through the break in the fuselage. Additionally, insulation material and other debris can be seen.

The gap was described as "as wide as a refrigerator" by one passenger, while another passenger stated that a child's blouse was ripped off by the wind when the plane made its emergency landing for the emergency landing.

Returning to Portland, the aircraft, which was carrying 177 passengers and crew members, made a safe landing. Several passengers were injured, however Alaska reported that none of them were seriously hurt.

As a result of a number of safety concerns, the Boeing 737 Max has been said to as "the most scrutinized transport aircraft in history."

After two aircraft of the same kind crashed in circumstances that were comparable to each other, resulting in the deaths of all on board, the Max was grounded for a period of one and a half years in March of 2019.

Following the resolution of a supply problem that necessitated the company to do extensive checks of both its inventory and its newly manufactured aircraft, Boeing announced more recently that it would accelerate the rate at which it delivered the 737 Max.

According to the data provided by Boeing, around 1,300 737 Max aircraft have been delivered to customers.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a request to airlines last month, urging them to assess Max models for the possibility of a loose bolt in the rudder control systems.

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Li Shangfu: The top US envoy raises doubts about the absence of China's defense minister

A senior US ambassador has raised concerns on the whereabouts of China's Minister of Defense, Li Shangfu, which has reignited rumors of a possible anti-corruption campaign in the country.

Since around two weeks ago, General Li has been absent from public view, and there have been reports that he skipped several meetings.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel tweeted that the "unemployment rate" in the Chinese government was quite high, which he interpreted as a possible explanation for Mr. Li's absence.

The dismissal of several high-ranking military officials occurred not long before Mr. Li went missing.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources in the United States and China, that Mr. Li is being demoted or somehow removed from his position.

In addition, it comes after several months have passed since Foreign Minister Qin Gang was last seen in public. There is still a lack of clarity regarding the circumstances surrounding Mr. Qin's unexpected departure and subsequent replacement in July.

In the case of Gen Li as well, the Chinese government has not made a lot of statements. According to reports, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded, "not aware of the situation" when she was questioned about it earlier this week.

The last time Gen Li was seen in public was in Beijing on August 29 for a security forum with African nations. This event took place three weeks ago. It is not out of the ordinary for defense ministers to disappear from public view for a period of several weeks at a time.

General Li is a rocket scientist and aerospace engineer who started his career working at a launch center for satellites and rockets. He rose quickly through the ranks of both the military and the political elite in China.

It is reported that President Xi Jinping holds a special place in his heart for him, just as he does for Mr. Qin. In addition, he is the second cabinet minister and state councillor to vanish without a trace in recent months, following in Mr. Qin's footsteps.

How the demise of a diplomat leaves China with egg on its face
The meteoric rise and unexplained fall of China's mysteriously vanished minister
When two generals in China's rocket forces, which manage land-based missiles, were replaced at the beginning of August, rumors began to circulate online about a possible military corruption purge. These rumors have continued to grow since then. The president of the military court of the army was likewise ousted from his position some months after he was appointed.

Mr. Emanuel brought up the absence of General Li in tweets that he sent out late last week and on Friday. He also made reference to the disappearance of Mr. Qin and the other military officers.

In addition to this, he brought up the fact that General Li had recently "missed" a trip to Vietnam as well as a meeting in Beijing with the head of Singapore's navy, and he suggested that General Li may have been subject to house arrest because of this.

The outspoken ambassador, who is known for his colorful tweets, linked the absence to the mystery novel "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie and to Hamlet by William Shakespeare. On Friday, Mr. Emanuel posted a tweet that stated, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

According to a report by Reuters that cited Vietnamese authorities, Mr. Li had abruptly dropped out of a meeting with Vietnamese defense commanders the previous week. The Vietnamese officials were told that the Chinese general had a "health condition"

Last week, Singapore's naval chief Sean Wat traveled to China and met with leaders from that country's military. The Singaporean navy has been contacted by the BBC to investigate the claim made by Mr. Emanuel.

In addition to being attributed to "health conditions," Mr. Qin's absence, which is approaching three months, has been the subject of widespread speculation that it is connected to an anti-corruption campaign as well. Since then, he has been demoted from his previous position.

Because they are subjected to stringent medical examinations on a consistent basis, it is stated that Chinese officials almost never miss important meetings due to health concerns.

There have been questions raised about Gen Li. He was sanctioned by the United States government in 2018, when he was serving as the head of the equipment development arm of the military, because of China's procurement of Russian combat aircraft and armaments.

It was speculated that Gen Li's refusal to meet his US counterpart Lloyd Austin at a defense summit in Singapore earlier this year was in response to the sanctions, which were supposed to be a sticking point for Gen Li.

According to observers, the disappearance of Gen Li demonstrates once again the opaque nature of the Chinese political leadership, while also highlighting the precarious nature of some of Mr. Xi's judgments.

"High-level disappearances and possible corruption investigations are not a good look for Xi because he approved the selection of the current leadership," says Neil Thomas, an expert on Chinese elite politics who works with the Asia Society Policy Institute.

However, he continued by saying that in the end, "Xi's leadership and overall political stability do not appear to be under threat, as none of the cadres affected are part of his inner circle."

Analyst Bill Bishop pointed out that the Chinese military has a "long history of corruption," and that President Xi, who, according to the political structure of China, also serves as the supreme head of China's military, has attempted to combat this issue, just like his predecessors did.

In spite of this, he pointed out in his most recent analysis that "it would be remarkable" that after more than a decade of Mr. Xi being in power, "there is still such high-level corruption [in the military]," and that "Xi cannot blame his predecessors for the Rocket Force officers and Li Shangfu."

He made the observation that Mr. Xi had promoted General Li, Mr. Qin, and the heads of the rocket force, and he predicted that "more purges will likely be seen as the solution."

Ian Chong, a non-resident scholar with Carnegie China, pointed out that the disappearances are taking place during a time of increased military action near Taiwan and tensions in the South China Sea. This was another point that he brought up.

near recent days, a large number of Chinese warships, including the Shandong aircraft carrier, have been observed gathering near the Taiwan Strait. This has raised concerns that another round of military exercises is about to take place.

Dr. Chong stated that some individuals "would be concerned about issues of communication, escalation, and crisis management" at this point in time due to the fact that the military and the foreign ministry are significant outward-facing aspects of the Chinese system.

These tweets by Mr. Emanuel would be considered odd for a high-level US diplomat, particularly one who is the ambassador to a significant US ally, Japan, which has a tense relationship with China.

Brad Glosserman, a senior adviser with the Pacific Forum research institute, said that the events are "perplexing," but that he is "pretty sure he has a greenlight from the White House" to be bringing out Gen Li's absence in this manner. The events themselves are "perplexing."

"It is possible that Mr. Emanuel is trying to elicit some response from China regarding the disappearance," Dr. Chong added. "It is possible that Mr. Emanuel is trying to elicit some response from China."

Greece's wildfires have resulted in the discovery of eighteen dead in the country's forests

According to the Greek fire department, a total of eighteen remains have been discovered in a forested region of northern Greece that has been ravaged by wildfires for the previous four days.

According to the first reports, it appears as though those who passed away were migrants. A medical examiner and a team of investigators are currently en route to the scene in the Dadia woodland.

Several flames have wreaked havoc on the Evros region of north-eastern Greece, which is not too far from the border with Turkey.

An evacuation was necessary at a hospital located in the city of Alexandroupolis.

Patients in intensive care units and those who had just given birth were among those transferred overnight to a vessel at the port.

An earlier fatality, which was also suspected to have been that of a migrant, had been recorded in a village adjacent to the seaside city, and emergency officials had sent mobile text messages to the neighboring districts requesting people to evacuate the area.

It is believed that fires have been swiftly spreading in the Dadia national park since Monday. The park is a big forested area that is located to the north of Alexandroupolis.

According to the reports, the fire department discovered the 18 bodies on Tuesday outside a hut outside of the village of Avantas while inspecting the charred remnants of a house.

Given that there had been no reports of missing citizens, the spokesman for the fire department, Yiannis Artopios, stated that an investigation was being conducted to determine whether or not it was possible that the victims had entered Greece illegally.

According to unconfirmed accounts, the remains were found grouped together in two different locations, and there was concern that the total number of fatalities could rise. The fire department reported that investigations were still taking place throughout the region where the fire had spread.

The region around the Evros River has emerged as one of the most popular entry points into the European Union for refugees and migrants from Syria and other parts of Asia who are traveling from Turkey. It's common knowledge that migrants use the Dadia woodland as a passageway to get to their destination.

Yiannis Artopios emphasized that messages of urgent importance had been transmitted to all mobile phones in the region, even those connected to international networks.

Fires are raging in other parts of Greece, fueled by strong winds and temperatures that were forecasted to reach 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.

The fire department has requested that tens of thousands of residents in the Ano Liosia neighborhood in northwestern Athens evacuate certain areas of the neighborhood.

When a fire broke out close to a monastery on the slopes of Mount Parnitha a few kilometers to the north, it was alleged that hundreds of nuns were trapped within the building.

In addition, some settlements on the island of Evia and in the region of Boeotia in the center of Greece have been evacuated.

In the early hours of Tuesday, a blazing red glow could be seen on the outskirts of Alexandroupolis, while satellite photographs showed that numerous regions of Greece were enveloped in dense smoke.

During the night, residents of eight neighboring villages were given the order to evacuate their houses and make their way to the city for safety. Later on Tuesday, as the vegetation near the coast continued to burn, a steady stream of cars could be observed travelling in that direction.

During the process that was taking place to evacuate the location on the north-eastern outskirts of Alexandroupolis, flames could be seen invading the grounds of the university hospital. Officials in Greece gave the order to remove approximately 115 patients, which resulted in a fleet of ambulances and buses being dispatched.

The Adamantios Korais is a ferry that has been requisitioned to look after intensive care patients and new-born babies. Some of the patients were relocated to other hospitals in the city, while as many as 90 were taken to the ferry.

Rhodope, which is located dozens of kilometers to the north-west of the city, as well as Kavala, which is located farther west along the coast, have also been experiencing fires.

A number of warehouses in an industrial district in Aspropyrgos became engulfed in flames, and the air near the Attica Highway became thick with pungent smoke. This occurred to the west of the capital city.

According to statements made by two Albanian workers to the BBC, the blaze could have been extinguished successfully if helicopters had arrived when they did.

On Tuesday at lunchtime, a second major fire broke out on the other side of the highway near the community of Fyli. This one was on the opposite side of the road. After another half an hour, people received a message on their mobile phones from the emergency number 112 instructing them to leave the area.

A few kilometers outside of Fyli, to the north-west of Athens, the fire also extended near to the historic Kleiston monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.

According to officials from the fire department, the monastery is home to fifty nuns, and a crisis response team has been dispatched to guide them to safety.

According to the climate monitoring organization of the European Union, Copernicus, Greece is one of several European countries that are now facing an extremely high danger of wildfires.

In the meantime, the weather service Météo-France reported that the nation of France saw its warmest day ever on the Monday after the mid-August holiday.

The record is for Monday's daily average temperature of 26.63 degrees Celsius, which was measured in 30 meteorological stations around France. Temperatures on Monday reached a high of 42.4 degrees Celsius in the Drôme region of south-eastern France, but the record is for that day's overall average temperature across France.

Because of the unusually high temperatures in Switzerland, the "zero-degree isotherm," which is the height at which the temperature drops below the freezing point, has been pushed to a new record altitude. According to MeteoSwiss, the new limit of 5,298 meters (17,381 feet) has been established.

According to the Swiss met office, the point is gradually climbing higher, mostly due to the fact that global warming is being caused by humans.

According to what it states, the rate of increase in the height of the zero-degree isotherm has been speeding up since the 1970s, particularly in the spring and summer.