Ukraine: President Biden has given Ukraine approval to use long-range missiles supplied by the U.S. to strike inside of Russia. The missiles are known as the Army Tactical Missile Systems. Until now the Ukrainians were only allowed to use them to strike Russian invaders within Ukraine’s borders. According to the White House, the decision to allow expanded use of the missiles followed North Korea sending troops to join with Russian troops in the war that started when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
Spirit: Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection today. Spirit said that it will continue flying and will honor existing tickets and bonus miles and will continue selling tickets for future flights. Spirit said it expects to be able to emerge from bankruptcy next year after having reduced and restructured its debt load. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Spirit said it currently is carrying $3.1 billion in debt. Â
New Delhi: Severe air pollution has forced officials to shut down schools and ban most truck traffic in India’s capital, New Delhi. The level of smog was described as reaching the severe category. New Delhi has a population of 33 million. The pollution is expected to remain in place for several days and affect much of the city’s normal activity, including aircraft arrivals. In some parts of the city, the pollution is 50 times what the World Health Organization considers to be a safe level.
FCC: Last night, Donald Trump announced his selection of Republican Brendan Carr to head the Federal Communications Commission. Trump had appointed Carr to the FCC during his first term in 2017 and he continues to serve as an FCC member. Carr has been an advocate of Trump campaign contributor Elon Musk receiving hundreds of millions in grants from the FCC for his satellite communications system. During the campaign, Trump had threatened that if elected he would have the FCC pull the broadcast licenses of the major television networks because he didn’t like their news reporting, especially when they fact checked Trump and identified things he was saying that were lies.
Energy: Over the weekend, Donald Trump named Chris Wright to be secretary of the Department of Energy under his administration. Wright is CEO of the company Liberty Energy, which is heavily involved in fracking for oil and gas. Wright has been a strong proponent of burning fossil fuels for energy and has made it clear he doesn’t believe the science that shows a link between burning fossil fuels and climate change. Wright also would be involved in the Council of National Energy, a new government group that Trump is forming.
Self-driving cars: Bloomberg News reported today that Donald Trump’s transition team is working on a plan to make the creation of federal rules for self-driving cars on U.S. roads and highways a top priority of the Department of Transportation under the new Trump Administration. Rules to expedite the use of self-driving vehicles would strongly benefit Elon Musk, who played a major role in Trump’s presidential campaign and contributed tens of millions of dollars in support of Trump. Musk’s company Tesla has been working on developing self-driving cars for years, especially a robotic taxicab.
