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China’s First Locally Made Passenger Jet Makes Maiden Commercial Flight

Published

2 years ago

May 28, 2023

Editor

China’s first domestically produced passenger jet made its maiden commercial flight on Sunday, a milestone event in the nation’s decades-long effort to compete with Western rivals in the air.

Beijing hopes the C919 commercial jetliner will challenge foreign models like the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320, though many of its parts are sourced from abroad.

Its first homegrown jetliner with mass commercial potential would also cut the country’s reliance on foreign technology as ties with the West deteriorate.

“In the future, most passengers will be able to choose to travel by large, domestically produced aircraft,” state broadcaster CCTV said.

China Eastern Airlines flight MU9191 from Shanghai “arrived smoothly” in Beijing just after 12:30 pm, around 40 minutes ahead of schedule, according to CCTV.

Footage showed passengers filing out of the plane and into the terminal, before a few dozen staff and officials posed for photographs in a brief ceremony on the tarmac.

“(The flight) was extremely smooth, comfortable and memorable. I think I’ll remember this fondly for some time to come,” a male passenger told CCTV.

The broadcaster had aired footage of the plane rising into the skies above Shanghai Hongqiao Airport on Sunday morning, saying it had 130 passengers on board.

State media footage showed passengers gathering at the sun-drenched Shanghai airfield to admire the sleek white jet before embarking.

Passengers received red boarding passes and a sumptuous “themed meal” to commemorate the flight, CCTV reported.

Other footage showed passengers waving national flags and singing a patriotic song while a cake was being cut during the flight.

China has invested heavily in the production of the homegrown jet as it seeks to become self-sufficient in key technologies.

The aircraft is manufactured by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, but many of its parts — including its engines — are sourced from overseas.

Zhang Xiaoguang, COMAC’s director of marketing and sales, told state news agency Xinhua the flight was a “coming-of-age ceremony (for) the new aircraft”, adding the C919 “will get better if it stands the test of the market”.

– ‘Important milestone’ –

From Monday, the C919 will operate on China Eastern’s regular route between Shanghai and the southwestern city of Chengdu, CCTV reported.

The first model of the narrow-body jet was formally handed over to China Eastern last year during a ceremony at an airport in Shanghai, hailed by state media as “an important milestone” for the country’s aircraft industry.

Zhang Yujin, COMAC’s deputy general manager, told state-backed Shanghai outlet The Paper in January that the company had taken around 1,200 orders for the C919.

COMAC planned to increase annual production capacity to 150 models within five years, Zhang said at the time.

Asia and China in particular are key targets for European manufacturer Airbus and its American rival Boeing, which are looking to capitalise on the growing demand for air travel from the country’s vast middle class.

Last month, Airbus said it would double its production capacity in China, signing a deal to build a second final assembly line for the A320 in Tianjin.

The first assembly site in the northern city opened in 2008 and produces four A320s a month, with Airbus hoping to increase that to six per month before the end of the year.
PUNCH

Headline

US Revokes Visas Of Foreigners Who Mocked Kirk’s Assassination

Published

5 hours ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

The United States has revoked the visas of several foreign nationals who publicly mocked or celebrated the killing of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The State Department said the decision followed an internal review of social media posts deemed “offensive and contrary to U.S. values,” adding that the country “has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”

Kirk, 31, co-founder of the conservative youth group Turning Point USA and a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during a political rally on 10 September.

His killing drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, with many describing the act as a targeted attack on free speech.

According to U.S. authorities, at least six individuals from Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and Germany had their visas revoked after making comments online that celebrated Kirk’s murder or insulted his supporters.

Examples cited by officials included posts calling Kirk a racist who deserved it, and messages mocking grieving Americans.

“We will not tolerate foreigners who promote or celebrate acts of violence against U.S. citizens,” a State Department spokesperson said.

The move underscores Washington’s growing use of immigration powers to respond to online behaviour perceived as threatening or disrespectful towards the country.

The Department said it continues to monitor social media content for evidence of incitement or endorsement of violence.
Civil liberties advocates, however, have questioned the decision, arguing that revoking visas for social media comments could set a worrying precedent.

Officials maintained that the visa cancellations were lawful, limited in scope, and aimed at protecting national integrity.

“Freedom of speech does not extend to foreigners seeking the privilege of entry while glorifying violence,” the spokesperson added.

The United States has increased visa scrutiny in recent years, requiring applicants to disclose social media handles and online activity.

The policy, officials say, is designed to prevent extremist sympathisers or those expressing hostility towards the country from entering its borders

Headline

Israeli PM Netanyahu Back In Court For Graft Trial

Published

7 hours ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in a Tel Aviv court on Wednesday for the latest hearing in his long-running corruption trial, which opened in May 2020.

The prime minister kept a smiling face as he and his entourage of several ministers from his conservative Likud party were heckled by protesters en route to the tribunal.

It comes after US President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that the Israeli premier should be pardoned in his three separate corruption cases.

His latest appearance at the Tel Aviv court also follows the return of the hostages taken by Hamas as part of Trump’s US-brokered plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In one case, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods, including champagne, cigars and jewellery, from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

In two other instances, Netanyahu is also charged with attempting to negotiate better press coverage from two Israeli media outlets. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming to be the victim of a political plot.

During his current term, which started in late 2022, Netanyahu has proposed far-reaching judicial reforms that critics say sought to weaken the courts.

Those prompted massive protests that only abated after the onset of the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

In an address on Monday to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Trump told the chamber that Netanyahu should receive a pardon in the graft cases.

“Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?” Trump joked, before asking his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog: “Why don’t you give him a pardon?”

The Israeli premier is also subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on suspicion of ordering war crimes in his government’s assault on Hamas militants in Gaza.

Netanyahu holds the record for the most years spent at the head of Israel’s government, having served 18 years in several stints as premier since 1996.

AFP

Headline

FULL LIST: US Set To Carry Out Four Executions This Week

Published

8 hours ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

A Florida man convicted of murdering two women he hired for sex was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday, one of four executions to be carried out in the United States this week.

Samuel Smithers, 72, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the 1996 killings of Christy Cowan and Denise Roach in Tampa. They had been beaten and strangled and their bodies were found in a pond.

Smithers was executed at a Florida state prison at 6:15 pm (2215 GMT), the 14th execution in the southern state this year.

Another convicted murderer was also put to death by lethal injection in the midwestern state of Missouri on Tuesday.

The execution of Lance Shockley, 48, was carried out at 6:13 pm (2313 GMT) for the 2005 murder of a police sergeant, Carl Graham.

Graham was gunned down in an ambush at his home. The officer had been investigating a fatal car accident involving Shockley at the time.

Shockley maintained his innocence but his appeals were rejected by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe rejected his clemency request on Monday.

Two other executions are scheduled this week.

Charles Crawford, 59, is to be put to death by lethal injection in Mississippi on Wednesday for the 1994 rape and murder of Kristy Ray, a 20-year-old college student.

Richard Djerf, 55, is to be executed by lethal injection in Arizona on Friday for the brutal 1993 murders of four members of a Phoenix family.

In a letter last month apologizing for the crime, Djerf said he was ready to die and would not seek clemency.

“If I can’t find reason to spare my life, what reason would anyone else have?” he wrote.

There have been 37 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2013, when 39 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions with 14, followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Thirty-one of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”