Category: ESTA News

The new presidential plane ‘Air Force One’, which the United States will introduce in 2027, will maintain a color like the current one.

The US Air Force announced on the 10th that President Joe Biden had decided on a design like the VC-25A, which is currently operating, for the color of the VC-25B, the next Air Force One.

The new aircraft adopts a “darker, more modern hue” of sky blue, and unlike the previous aircraft, the metal parts of the fuselage are not polished, the Air Force explained.

According to foreign media such as the Associated Press, this is to discard the design decided by former President Donald Trump during his tenure.

Earlier, in 2018, former President Trump chose a design in which the upper part of the new private jet was white, and the lower part was dark blue, close to navy blue, with a red line running from the cockpit to the tail between the two colors.

While announcing President Biden’s decision, the Air Force explained that painting dark blue, as former President Trump decided, could cause the aircraft to heat up in certain environments, requiring additional verification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The Associated Press explained that an Air Force review found that introducing darker colors could increase the cost of private jets and delay deliveries.

The Air Force decided to introduce a new dedicated aircraft, judging that the current dedicated aircraft lacked the necessary functions to perform the mission, increased maintenance costs, and outdated parts.

The new aircraft will provide the same level of communication capabilities and security as those used by its own defense systems, medical facilities and the White House, the Air Force explained.

The Air Force plans to deliver the first dedicated aircraft in 2027 and the second in 2028 and will continue to operate the VC-25A until then.

Ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, the contours of the Republican Party’s presidential primary contest are slowly emerging.

With former President Donald Trump, who announced his intention to run early, the ‘Trump vs. anti-Trump’ structure is becoming clearer, and some people who have been weighing the run are organizing their moves.

Former President Trump recorded an approval rating of 62% in a poll for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) of the US conservative group released on the 4th, significantly outperforming potential rival Florida Governor Ron Disantis (20%).

Former President Trump also received a 59% approval rating in the same event survey last year, ahead of Governor Disantis (28%).

As the largest event in the US conservative camp, the CPAC has faded a lot compared to the past when it had an absolute impact on the presidential election, and there is a critical evaluation that the ‘pro-Trump’ tendency has become more intense, but from the perspective of former President Trump, it is still an encouraging result that can raise the initial momentum all.

Former President Trump ranked first among Republican runners in various recent surveys.

In a recent survey by conservative media Fox, former President Trump obtained an approval rating of 43%, ahead of Governor Disantis (28%) by 15 percentage points. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley came in third with 7%.

In a Quinnipiac University survey last week, former President Trump had an approval rating of 42% and Governor Disantis recorded an approval rating of 36%. Haley’s former ambassador was also third with 5%.

As former President Trump consolidates his position as a frontrunner, other runners are also in full swing against Trump.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is considering running for office, appeared on Fox News on the 5th and said, “In this presidential election, we have to elect someone who is thoughtful and who will make America the best nation.” I don’t do it, and I don’t spend all my time thinking about Twitter,” he once hit former President Trump.

Former Secretary Pompeo declined to say whether he would run, but he did not close the possibility that he would decide within a few months.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, also considered a potential candidate, appeared on NBC’s broadcast that day and said, “Former President Trump will run for the primary, but he will not be a candidate.”

Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a moderate conservative who has strongly criticized former President Trump, declared that he would not run for the primary, expressing concern over the possibility of a crowd of ‘anti-Trump’ candidates.

“I’ve said for a long time that I care more about the future of the Republican Party than about my future,” he wrote in a New York Times article. “This is why I decided not to run.”

“The Republican Party has potential and capable leaders, but it would be too risky to join me and help Trump win the presidential nomination again,” he said. Emphasized.

This structure is expected to become clearer after major runners officially declare their candidacy.

Governor Disantis, who is chasing former President Trump at the top of the approval rating, is discussing the possibility of announcing a run in May when the Florida congressional session ends.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has been at odds with former President Trump since the invasion of Congress, said in a recent media interview that a final decision was imminent.

Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations, voted to run for the presidency in the middle of last month, and said that politicians over the age of 75 should undergo a mental evaluation, simultaneously checking both President Joe Biden, 80, and former President Trump, 76, at the same time.

Although former President Trump ranks first in various opinion polls, it is pointed out that it is not easy to predict the results of the primary because his public support is not as absolute as before, and the theory of internal responsibility after the midterm elections is not easy.

In addition, in the ‘anti-Trump’ camp, the fight for the representative runner is expected to become more intense. The Hill, a political media outlet, said, “The fact that Republican voters did not converge on a clear alternative to former President Trump is a favorable structure for former President Trump.” will,” he predicted.

The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 20th that companies in the United States are increasingly likely to rely on artificial intelligence (AI) judgment when deciding who to lay off.

According to reports, in an online chat room where hundreds of employees who were laid off due to Google’s large-scale layoffs last month were crowded, it was said that “a soulless algorithm developed to avoid breaking any laws” decided who to fire.

Google has clarified that no algorithms were involved in the layoffs, but these concerns are not entirely unfounded, as corporate HR managers are increasingly using AI software to decide who to interview, hire and promote, the WP reported. In fact, in a January survey of 300 human resources managers at American companies by software evaluation site Captera, 98 percent said they would use software and algorithms to determine layoff targets this year.

Several large companies are already using algorithms extensively for things like employee recruitment and job evaluation.

These programs build vast databases of employees’ experience, qualifications, and skills to facilitate the process of finding the best fit for a specific job.

Companies also use software to evaluate employee performance, and when used in reverse, these programs can single out and fire underperformers.

There are also algorithms that analyze the characteristics of employees who make it easier to change jobs.

However, if the cause of turnover is not an individual employee, but an environmental problem such as racial discrimination in the workplace, there may be a problem in that certain groups, such as blacks, are judged to have a high turnover rate and are considered first for dismissal.

For this reason, some experts pointed out that HR managers need to clearly understand the nature of algorithms and transparently explain to company members how to use algorithms.

“Using the wrong data or blindly following algorithmic decisions can be dangerous,” said Brian Westpole, Captera’s head of human resources analytics.

Bay Area residents cited high housing costs as their most serious problem.

According to the results of a survey released on the 2nd by the California Public Policy Institute (PPIC), a non-profit organization, 80% of Bay Area residents said housing costs were their biggest problem, while 74% said homelessness was a major problem.

PPIC Research Analyst Rachel Lawler said: “Given California’s declining population over the past few years, state leaders should take a closer look at the findings.” According to census data, 116,000 people (2.5% of the total population) left the San Francisco metro area (including the East Bay and Peninsula) in 2021.

The California Real Estate Association (CAR) announced that only one in five Bay Area residents will be able to afford a Bay Area home, and the median price of a Bay Area single-family home in December was $1.08 million. In addition, 63% of respondents expressed concern about the inability of young families to purchase a home in the Bay Area due to high house prices.

However, when respondents were asked whether they supported the construction of large-scale new homes to lower housing costs, only 52% agreed, while 32% disagreed. The rest said they didn’t know. In fact, opposition from residents intensified over the development of high-density housing around low-income housing, homeless support housing, and public transportation hubs.

David Gracia, policy director at UC Berkeley’s Turner Center for Housing Innovation, said, “State and local governments have phased in new legislation and policies to build more new homes, but in the face of staunch community opposition, only a fraction of the housing needs is met. “We need bolder reforms,” he said.

Meanwhile, 70% of Californians say the number of homeless people has increased from a year ago, up from 58% of respondents in the 2019 survey. Recent data show that during the pandemic, the number of homeless people has increased by 35% in Contracotta County, 22% in Alameda County, 20% in San Mateo County and 3% in Santa Clara County.

The Associated Press reported on the 5th that a large fire broke out when a freight train carrying chemicals derailed in Ohio.

According to local transportation authorities, an accident occurred at around 9:00 pm on the same day when a freight train passing through East Palestine, Ohio, was derailed due to an axle failure.

As a result, about 50 wagons were engulfed in flames and the surrounding area was covered with black smoke.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said at a press conference, “Investigators have confirmed the exact derailment point,” and “we are investigating which wagon had the problem.”

The NTSB said only 10 of the wagons loaded with hazardous materials derailed, and five of them were loaded with vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride, a raw material for plastic molding, can explode when exposed to air. It is also a carcinogen that causes various cancers, including liver cancer.

The Norfolk Southern Railway explained that “20 out of 100 wagons contained combustible materials or substances that could cause environmental pollution.”

East Palestine authorities ordered residents living within a 1.6km radius of the fire to evacuate, saying that the accident train was loaded with flammable materials and chemicals, which could spread pollutants into the surrounding air with an explosion.

About 2,000 of the village’s 4,900 residents are subject to evacuation orders, but it is unclear how many will be affected by the accident.

“It’s very important to evacuate because a train carrying hazardous materials is burning down after an accident near the village,” said Fire Chief Keith Dravik.

East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway declared a state of emergency on the same day, ordered schools closed on the 6th, and closed company offices in the town. Whether or not to extend the school closure will be decided this afternoon.

The Waikiki crime prevention program ‘Safe and Sound’ of the Honolulu City Government Prosecutor’s Office, launched in September last year, cracked down on 456 criminal activities in four months.

According to Prosecutor’s Office Steve Armam, by crime category, there are 372 misdemeanors, 52 domestic violence and 32 felonies.

Compared to Chinatown’s autonomous crime prevention system ‘With & Seed’, which detected about 575 criminal acts in 16 months, much more crackdowns were made in less time.

City prosecutors explained that because Waikiki’s population is larger than Chinatown, so is the crime.

The ‘Safe and Sound’ program was designed to control Waikiki’s crime rate, which skyrocketed after tourism reopened.

The city government and the Kosasa Foundation each contributed $100,000 to build up finances.

Officer Ryan Yamamoto of the Honolulu Police Department suggested that although Waikiki is the smallest of the police department’s districts, it is necessary to increase police personnel to maintain public order due to the nature of tourist destinations that are always crowded with residents, workers, and visitors.

The Waikiki Residents’ Association pointed out the lack of police manpower at a meeting on January 10th, and is known to have even mentioned the deployment of the National Guard.

Rick Blangiad, spokesman for the Honolulu Mayor’s office, Scott Humber, said that while all crime on Oahu is a concern, Honolulu has some of the best security in the country, giving the police confidence.

Prosecutor Arm said that bad behavior will lead to worse behavior if there is no result and explained that ‘Safe and Sound’ and ‘With and Seed’ programs are showing positive effects little by little.

Police Department Major Randy Platt said most of the suspects arrested in the “Safe and Sound” crackdown had been fully charged.

However, he advised that a regulation would be needed to prevent ex-convicts who committed crimes in Waikiki from entering the area for a certain period of time, as there are cases where they return to Waikiki after the punishment is over.

Prosecutor Ah-Am said that 136 cases of ex-convicts have applied to restrict access to certain areas, and 25 of them have been approved by the court.

So far, the ‘Safe and Sound’ program is going through the first stage of cracking down on criminal activity.

In the second phase, it is known that more emphasis will be placed on maintaining public order, such as placing security officers, expanding security cameras, improving lighting devices, strengthening social welfare, and proposing laws.

Mayor Blangiad promised to keep the surrounding area clean and maintain Biki shared bicycles at the ‘Safe and Sound’ inauguration press conference held at Pavilion 4 in Kuhio Beach last year.

Rick Eggd, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, who co-chairs the Safe and Sound committee, said they are aiming to complete the appointment of a security officer by this summer.

A Humber spokesman for the mayor’s office reported that as of 2022, 33 security cameras were installed in Waikiki, and nine of them are currently inoperative.

A spokeswoman for Humber said the city’s Department of Transportation will address the camera problem in the coming months.

Meanwhile, violent crimes that occurred in Waikiki in the past year are as follows.

-January 6, 2023: A 25-year-old male was shot at around 10:15 p.m. near the intersection of Kalakaua Avenue and Lures Street.

-December 27, 2022: Hotel employee pistol robbery at the intersection of Paokalani Avenue and Lemon Road at around 6:15 am.

-December 9, 2022: A 48-year-old man was shot dead while confronting police with a pistol at Ohia Waikiki Studio Suites.

-December 6, 2022: A 21-year-old man was stabbed to death at a bus stop in front of the Royal Kuhio Hotel at around 2:45 am

-March 19, 2022: A 19-year-old male was shot and killed near the intersection of Kalakaua Avenue and Loor’s Street.

The Washington Post and others reported on the 21st (local time) that the US Department of Justice seized and searched the private home of US President Joe Biden located in Delaware, US. The Ministry of Justice is known to have obtained six documents marked “confidential” and some memos written by Biden.

Bob Bauer, the president’s attorney, said the Department of Justice raided his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on the 20th. The search is said to have lasted about 13 hours. It is said that President Biden and his wife were not at his home at the time of the seizure and search.

The Ministry of Justice obtained several documents, including six items consisting of several appendices with confidential markings. These documents are known to have been written between President Biden’s days as a federal senator from Delaware (1973-2009) and his vice-presidential tenure. On this day, the prosecution said, “It was determined that it was within the scope of the investigation,” and additionally reviewed a memo written by Biden during his tenure as vice president.

President Biden’s personal office and the fact that confidential documents were found in Wilmington, Delaware, etc., made a big impact in the American political world. The Republican Party has raised its voice, saying that the search and seizure of President Biden should be conducted, as it was at the time when former US President Donald Trump was suspected of leaking classified documents.

Mistakes are said to be made by subcontractor employees during maintenance work.

On the 11th, it was revealed that one data file was damaged during maintenance work by an employee of a subcontractor, causing a computer error that caused a ‘complete suspension of air operations’ across the United States.

This employee did not follow established procedures regarding remuneration.

Authorities are investigating whether this was a singular mistake on the part of the staff or whether it was intentional.

Currently, the national system is operating normally. Flights canceled on the 12th accounted for less than 1%.

After the accident occurred on the night of the 10th, the computer system of NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions), a safety notification system sent by the Aviation Administration to pilots, stopped working.

The Notam system informs various safety-related information that aircraft may encounter at airports or routes. It contains information of various types and contents, from bird movements to runway construction.

Accordingly, the Aviation Administration suspended all take-offs across the country for 90 minutes at 7:00 am on the 11th. This resulted in over 10,000 domestic flights significantly delayed or cancelled.

The Notam system was installed 30 years ago in 1993 and there are no plans to improve it for the next six years.

Some of the systems have not been serviced in the 30 years since their initial installation.

At the end of last year, Southwest Airlines caused chaos when it canceled many flights due to a computer malfunction.

The number of new home listings in Los Angeles County declined significantly in December, indicating a decline in sales contracts. Homeowners are reluctant to put up new listings as the housing market has entered a sluggish phase due to concerns about an economic downturn, and even sales have declined as demand for housing has plummeted due to continued high interest rates.

However, as LA City plans to impose additional transfer tax on high-priced real estate over $5 million, there is a possibility that the number of homes for sale may increase. is expected to be difficult to anticipate.

According to real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman on the 10th, the number of newly registered homes for sale in Los Angeles County in December last year was 1,151, a 36% drop from the previous month, 1,794 in November. In Los Angeles County, where the number of new home listings is on the decline, a significant drop of 36% is considered an anomaly.

As the number of new home sales decreased, the number of home sales contracts also decreased. Last month, 1,541 home sales were signed in Los Angeles County, down 6.2% from 1,541 in November.

The slump in home sales is not just a local phenomenon in LA County, it is a national phenomenon. According to Redfin, a real estate information provider, sales of pending homes for sale nationwide in December fell 32% from a year ago.

Home sales and new listings are declining in the Los Angeles County housing market because mortgage rates continue to rise due to high interest rates. Based on 30-year fixed mortgages, the average interest rate is currently in the mid-6% range, but it is twice as high as last year’s 3% range. High mortgage interest rates have led home buyers to wait and see, and as demand for purchases has plummeted, homeowners are also reluctant to put their homes on the market.

In addition, Douglas Elliman’s analysis is that the LA County housing market has become more frozen as December is traditionally a seasonal factor when housing transactions decrease, and the myth that the real estate market is in a downturn in an election year.

The only consolation thing is that the number of new listings in the Los Angeles County housing market is up compared to a year ago

Douglas Elliman predicts that there will likely be an increase in home sales in Los Angeles County in the future. Ahead of the implementation of the ULA initiative, which would impose an additional transfer tax on the sale of real estate over $5 million in the Los Angeles area starting April, there will be an increase in the number of homes for sale, especially high-priced homes, to dispose of before the law goes into effect to avoid an additional transfer tax bomb. It is because it is.

The problem is the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike. It is not a question of the size of the base rate hike, but additional hikes are accepted as a fait accompli. As the possibility of a rebound in mortgage rates remains the same depending on the rate of interest rate hikes, the pace of recession in the LA home and real estate market may accelerate.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients in the Bay Area exceeded 600, the highest since last August.

Recently, the ‘Triple Demic’, in which Corona 19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the flu spread at the same time, has become a reality, and a health emergency in winter has been put on hold. was counted as it is the first time that the number of inpatients has exceeded 600 since August this year.

California also showed a similar surge, with 3,532 corona19 hospitalized patients on the same basis, a 125% increase from a month ago. Los Angeles County accounted for a third of the total, with 1,040 hospitalized.

Among the Bay Area counties, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Santa Clara showed a sharp increase in the number of inpatients, according to the SF Chronicle.

The health authorities said that it is better to wear a mask indoors and urged that personal quarantine measures such as wearing a mask and vaccination should be thoroughly taken.