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The ongoing government shutdown continues to disrupt flights at times and put pressure on air traffic controllers, who are working without pay.

On Friday evening, airports in Phoenix, Houston and San Diego were reporting delays because of staffing issues, and the Federal Aviation Administration warned that staffing problems were also possible at airports in the New York area, Dallas and Philadelphia.

A day earlier, flights were delayed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, New Jersey’s Newark airport and Washington’s Reagan National Airport because of air traffic controller shortages. The number of flight delays for any reason nationwide surged to 6,158 Thursday after hovering around 4,000 a day earlier in the week, according to FlightAware.com.

Many FAA facilities are so critically short on controllers that just a few absences can cause disruptions, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that more air traffic controllers have been calling in sick since the shutdown began. Early on in the shutdown, there were a number of disruptions at airports across the country, but for the last couple of weeks there haven’t been as many problems.

Duffy said the disruptions and delays will only get worse next week after Tuesday’s payday arrives and “their paycheck is going to be a big fat zero.” He said controllers are telling him they are worried about how to pay their bills and frustrated with the shutdown.

“The stress level that our controllers are under right now, I think is unacceptable,” he said at a news conference Friday at Philadelphia International Airport.

The shutdown is having real consequences, as some students at the controller academy have decided to abandon the profession because they don’t want to work in a job they won’t be paid for, Duffy said.

That will only make it harder for the FAA to hire enough controllers to eliminate the shortage, since training takes years. He said that the government is only a week or two away from running out of money to pay students at the academy.

“We’re getting word back right now from our academy in Oklahoma City that some of our young controllers in the academy and some who have been given spots in the next class of the academy are bailing. They’re walking away,” Duffy said. “They’re asking themselves, ‘Why do I want to go into a profession where I could work hard and have the potential of not being paid for my services?’ ”

The head of the air traffic controllers union, Nick Daniels, joined Duffy. He said that some controllers have taken on second jobs delivering for DoorDash or driving for Uber to help them pay their bills.

“As this shutdown continues, and air traffic controllers are not paid for the vital work that they do day in and day out, that leads to an unnecessary distraction,” Daniels said. “They cannot be 100% focused on their jobs, which makes this system less safe. Every day that this shutdown continues, tomorrow we’ll be less safe than today.”

Airlines and airports across the country have started buying controllers meals and helping them connect with food banks and other services to get through the shutdown.

The greatest concern is for new controllers who might make less than $50,000, but even experienced controllers who make well over six figures while working six days a week may be living paycheck to paycheck without much cushion in their budgets. Daniels said it’s not fair that controllers are facing impossible choices about whether to pay for rent or child care or groceries.

Duffy has said that air traffic controllers who abuse their sick time during the shutdown could be fired.

Republicans and Democrats have been unable to reach an agreement to end the shutdown that began on Oct. 1. Democrats are demanding steps be taken to avoid soaring healthcare premiums for many Americans set to take effect under the GOP spending law adopted this summer. Republicans have said they will negotiate only after ending the shutdown.

The airlines and major unions across the industry have urged Congress to make a deal to end the shutdown.

Air Line Pilots Assn. President Capt. Jason Ambrosi said in a message to his members that he’s concerned about air traffic controllers and other federal employees.

“The safety of millions of passengers and tens of thousands of tons of cargo is in the hands of these workers. Worrying about how they’ll make their mortgage payment or pay for day care is an added stress they do not need,” Ambrosi said.

Democrats have called on Republicans to negotiate an end to the shutdown. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, put the onus on Democrats.

“Our aviation system has operated safely throughout the shutdown, but it’s putting an incredible and unnecessary strain on the system, and on our air traffic controllers, flight crews, and many other aviation professionals,” Graves said.

Funk writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Rio Yamat contributed to this report.

Moscow has called France’s detention of the ship, and arrest of the captain, an act of piracy.

France has said it is increasing pressure on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine by detaining an oil tanker suspected of operating as part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” and putting its captain on trial.

France’s detention of the tanker is part of a new European strategy to block revenue funding Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said at an EU event in Copenhagen on Thursday.

“We want to increase pressure on Russia to convince it to return to the negotiating table,” Macron said. “We have now decided to take a step further by moving towards a policy of obstruction when we have suspicious ships in our waters that are involved in this trafficking.”

The tanker, called the Boracay, was sailing last week off the coast of Denmark and was cited by European naval experts as possibly being involved in drone flights over the country. A series of drone incidents near the country’s airports and military bases over the last week forced the closure of the Copenhagen airport, causing major disruptions.

Macron said he could not rule out a connection between the vessel and the drone incursions, but so far lacked proof. Moscow has denied any involvement.

French Navy commandos raided the Boracay on Saturday off western France.

An investigation led by the French navy concluded that the ship, coming from Russia and heading to India with a “large oil shipment,” was flying no flag, Stéphane Kellenberger, prosecutor of the western port city of Brest, said.

The United Nations has detailed rules governing how ships must fly flags at sea and identify themselves under the flag of the state granting them nationality.

The ship’s captain, a Chinese national, will stand trial in France in February. He faces up to one year in prison and a 150,000 euro ($176,000) fine if convicted.

In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Europe of stoking “hysteria” and called France’s actions an act of “piracy”.

“This is piracy. I am aware of this case – the tanker was seized in neutral waters without any justification,” Putin said on Thursday at a foreign policy forum in the southern resort city of Sochi, adding that there was no military cargo on the vessel.

“It’s piracy, and how do you deal with pirates?” Putin said. “You destroy them. It doesn’t mean that tomorrow a war will erupt all across the global ocean, but certainly the risk of confrontation will seriously increase.”

Russia has been accused of operating a “shadow fleet” of tankers made up of ageing ships bought used, often by nontransparent entities with addresses in non-sanctioning countries, and sailing under flags from nonsanctioning countries. Their role is to help Russia’s oil exporters elude the $60 per barrel price cap imposed by Ukraine’s allies.

Macron said “30 to 40 percent” of Russia’s war effort is “financed through the revenues of the shadow fleet”.

“It represents more than 30 billion euros. So it’s extremely important to increase the pressure on this shadow fleet, because it will clearly reduce the capacity to finance this war effort for Russia,” he said.

SpaceX is one of the best-known companies in the world. It is privately valued at an estimated $400 billion, with a lot of that market value coming from its fast growing satellite internet service called Starlink that has a reported 6 million customers and is growing rapidly. But what if there was a company about to disrupt Starlink’s entire business model?

Enter AST SpaceMobile (ASTS 4.65%). This satellite internet upstart has innovated to eliminate the need for clunky terminals to connect devices to the internet directly from satellites. Its shares are up around 100% already this year, with its service set to become operational within the next few quarters.

Let’s dive into the numbers and see what potential AST SpaceMobile stock has for investors going forward.

No terminal, no problem

Satellite internet services like Starlink are great, but they come with one big drawback: clunky terminals. The standard dish is not ginormous, but is not something you could take out on a hike. AST SpaceMobile plans to get rid of the terminals altogether with its constellation of ultra-large satellites that can beam high speed internet directly to smartphones.

This would be a stepchange in customer value for satellite internet, and could lead to two outcomes. One is more people willing to pay for satellite internet, and two is existing customers of Starlink and equivalent services switching to AST SpaceMobile with its direct-to-device technology.

As it launches more of its satellites, AST SpaceMobile expects to turn on its service in the United States and then grow to Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan throughout 2026. It will take steady launches of these large satellites, but eventually AST SpaceMobile has a path to true global coverage with direct-to-device internet.

Image source: Getty Images.

A huge global opportunity

Direct-to-device satellite internet could be a game changer for tens of millions of customers. The market opportunity includes geographically remote workers, hikers, fire service workers, people who work on commercial boats, and cruise ship passengers. It does not need to replace existing telecommunications infrastructure (at least, not today), but can be the perfect add-on to fill in the gaps in service.

This is why AST SpaceMobile has partnered with numerous telecommunications companies around the globe like Verizon Communications, giving it access to 3 billion potential customers. AST SpaceMobile will sell this service as an additional plan through the existing wireless contract relationships, and then sharing revenue earned with these telecommunication partners.

Revenue generation potential is immense once the AST SpaceMobile constellation goes global. For every 1 million customers who sign up at an estimated $10 a month, that is $120 million in revenue potential. If just 3% of the global addressable market signs up for AST SpaceMobile’s satellite internet service at any one time, that is 90 million customers and potentially $10 billion in revenue. The company also has contracts that it will deploy with the U.S. military, which should lead to even more sales growth.

Can AST SpaceMobile keep soaring?

Having 90 million customers is a greenfield scenario for AST SpaceMobile, and is not going to happen anytime soon. It will take years to build up the constellation to full capacity, as well as for telecommunications partners to market the add-on service to their customers. But the potential is there for AST SpaceMobile to disrupt a fast growing and lucrative sector in satellite internet, if it can execute on its growth plans.

At a market capitalization of $16 billion today, AST SpaceMobile looks cheap relative to the estimates laid out above. However, investors need to remember that this is a company generating zero revenue at the current moment and burning a boatload of cash each year. A lot can go wrong with its launch partners, like the recent delay from the India Space Agency that may keep some of its satellites from launching later this year. Even if things go all according to plan, it may be a decade before AST SpaceMobile starts posting a profit and gets to revenue and earnings figures that would make the current market capitalization reasonable.

If you have faith that AST SpaceMobile can hit $10 billion in revenue and fully disrupt the satellite internet market, then the stock will likely keep doing well for investors who buy today. Just remember there are always downsides when investing in highly risky companies like AST SpaceMobile.

Watch the moment a group of Israeli activists stormed a live television broadcast to protest Israel’s war on Gaza. Members of Standing Together, wearing ‘Leave Gaza’ T-shirts, jumped onto the stage during the airing of the Big Brother show on Channel 13.

Aug. 8 (UPI) — Less than three months before general elections, Honduras’ National Electoral Council, or CNE, faces unprecedented political, judicial and technical pressures that threaten to derail the process.

The council’s ability to ensure an orderly and reliable election has been called into question after a series of setbacks: a raid on its offices by the Public Ministry, delays in contracting the Preliminary Electoral Results Transmission System, or TREP, and errors in the voter registry.

CNE President Cossette López has denounced persistent interference and threats, while council member Ana Paola Hall submitted a conditional resignation over internal disputes.

Amid the crisis, the CNE reached an agreement Thursday after a two-week delay, resolving one of the main technical disputes — use of the TREP.

After intense negotiations, the CNE unanimously agreed to immediately and fully publish all tally sheets from the vote receiving boards on election night, followed the next day by a 100% visual verification in the presence of national and international observers.

This week, the National Democratic Institute’s Electoral Study and Accompaniment Mission visited Honduras. On Friday, it released a report warning about the negative impact of judicial intervention and interference by other institutions in electoral work, as well as the use of hate speech and attacks against journalists, social leaders and politicians — particularly those targeting politically active women, including CNE members and candidates at all levels of office.

The NDI identified five key challenges to ensuring election integrity: effective autonomy of electoral bodies, prevention of undue interference, reduction of polarization and premature fraud claims, prevention of electoral violence and easing tensions that affect civic space.

Among its recommendations, the NDI urged ensuring the independent participation of civil society and creating safe spaces for dialogue. It said Hondurans deserve credible, peaceful and inclusive elections, which require political, institutional and technical conditions that guarantee certainty, transparency and respect for the will of the voters.

In a politically symbolic move, four of Honduras’ five leading presidential candidates signed a pact Tuesday, Aug. 4, titled “Honduras First: A Promise That Is Demanded, a Duty That Is Fulfilled,” promoted by the National Anti-Corruption Council.

The public pledge — focused on fighting corruption and impunity and promoting integrity in governance — calls for, among other measures, creating an international commission against corruption and impunity, reactivating the extradition treaty with the United States, establishing a national public integrity system and implementing a nationwide transparency and anti-corruption strategy with an interagency approach.

Signatories included Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party, Nasry Asfura of the National Party, Mario Rivera of the Christian Democratic Party and Nelson Ávila of PINU-SD. Rixi Moncada, the ruling party’s candidate and former finance minister under President Xiomara Castro, did not attend the signing.

There was rain, lightning and some comedic reactions for the strange June weather Tuesday that disrupted the opening day of the Southern California regional baseball and softball playoffs.

“Is it raining in June?” asked a stunned El Camino Real baseball player as a downpour fell in Woodland Hills before a Division 2 game against Point Loma. Two fans used artificial turf to shield their heads during a drizzle.

The Division 1 baseball game between Patrick Henry and host Santa Margarita was halted in the fourth inning with Patrick Henry leading 2-0 because of lightning. It will resume Wednesday. The Division 1 softball game between Poway and Ayala was postponed because of rain.

Most games eventually were played and finished.

Point Loma 6, El Camino Real 4: Trailing 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the City Section Open Division champions gave Point Loma a scare, scoring three runs and having the bases loaded with two out until Hunter Weller ended the game with a strikeout in a Division 2 opener. Point Loma is the Division I champion from the San Diego Section.

Druw Frost had three hits. A three-run seventh aided by an El Camino Real error helped the Pointers. Phoenix Brant struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. RJ De La Rosa, JJ Saffie and Gavin Farley had RBI singles in the seventh for El Camino Real.

St. John Bosco 2, St. Augustine 1: Jack Champlin picked up the save after strong pitching from Griffin Tagliaferri and Brayden Krakowski. Moise Razo gave the Braves the lead in the third with an RBI double. St. John Bosco will host Villa Park on Thursday in the Division I semifinals.

Villa Park 5, Granite Hills 4: It took nine innings for Villa Park to prevail on the road. Nate Lewis had four hits and three RBIs, including the tiebreaker in the top of the ninth.

Crespi 4, Mater Dei 3: Mikey Martinez hit a three-run home run and Jackson Eisenhauer threw two hits of shutout relief with four strikeouts. Crespi will play the winner of Santa Margarita-Patrick Henry on Thursday.

University City 5, Birmingham 2: The Patriots gave up four runs in the seventh to fall in a Division III opener. University City will play Dos Pueblos, a 10-2 winner over St. Anthony.

Venice 5, Trinity Classical 2: Canon King had a double and triple and Daniel Quiroz added two hits and two RBIs for Venice, which will play at Mt. Carmel on Thursday.

Banning 3, Lemoore 2: The Pilots won their Division IV opener. Angelo Duarte had a walk-off single in the seventh. AJ Herrera had two hits and two RBIs.

Softball

Westlake 5, Rancho Bernardo 3: The Warriors won in Division II and will host Eastlake in the semifinals. Olivia White had a home run.

Legacy 5, Elsinore 4: Isabella Medina had two doubles in the Division III win. Breann Lipold hit two home runs for Elsinore. Legacy will play at St. Bonaventure, a 6-5 win over Southwest EC.

FIVE protesters have been arrested after they allegedly targeted the filming of Gal Gadot’s new movie.

The demonstrators disrupted production at several locations across London in recent weeks, the Metropolitan Police said.

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The force said the protestors targeted sets “solely because an actress involved in the production is Israeli”.

Gadot, 40, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, previously showed support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (Pacbi) has since argued people who support their group should boycott Gadot films.

Gadot is understood to currently be filming an action thriller called The Runner in the capital.

Police were called to a set location in Westminster on Wednesday.

Officers detained five people on suspicion of harassment and offences under Section 241 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.

Two of the arrests were in relation to previous protests, while three were in response to incidents that unfolded on Wednesday.

All five remain in custody.

Supt Neil Holyoak said: “While we absolutely acknowledge the importance of peaceful protest, we have a duty to intervene where it crosses the line into serious disruption or criminality.

“We have been in discussions with the production company to understand the impact of the protests on their work and on any individuals involved.

“I hope today’s operation shows we will not tolerate the harassment of or unlawful interference with those trying to go about their legitimate professional work in London.”

The Runner, produced by David Kosse, stars Gadot as a lawyer on a mission to rescue her kidnapped son.

Gadot has been pictured back on set this week, despite the protests.

Demonstrations also followed the actress to her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony after her role in the latest Snow White movie.

A Pro-Palestine group stood outside the ceremony carrying signs reading: “Viva Viva Palestina”.

In a Variety interview earlier this week, Gadot said: “After October 7th [2023], I don’t talk politics — because who cares about the celebrity talking about politics?

“I’m an artist. I want to entertain people. I want to bring hope and be a beacon of light whenever I say anything about the world.

“But on October 7th, when people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent.

“I’m not a hater. I’m a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor who came to Israel and established his family from scratch after his entire family was erased in Auschwitz.

“And on the other side of my family, I’m eighth generation Israeli. I’m an indigenous person of Israel.

“I am all about humanity and I felt like I had to advocate for the hostages. I am praying for better days for all.

“I want everybody to have good life and prosperity, and the ability to raise their children in a safe environment.”

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