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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Sergei Surovikin'seen in first photo since Wagner mutiny' in Ukraine conflict

An online snapshot seems to show a Russian general who has been missing since the Wagner mercenary force staged a mutiny in June.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash last month, was reportedly close to Sergei Surovikin.

According to rumors, Gen. Surovikin is being questioned about his suspected involvement in the rebellion.

However, a photo that purports to represent Russia's former commander in Ukraine has been shared online.

Sergei Surovikin, the general, has been relieved of his duties and has been dismissed. In good health and living in Moscow with his family. This photo was taken today," Ksenia Sobchak, a prominent figure in Russian media, captioned the image on Monday on the messaging app Telegram.

The BBC has not yet confirmed that the photograph showing a man in sunglasses and a woman with red hair who appears to be the general's wife Anna is genuine.

Separately, Russian writer Alexei Venediktov tweeted on Telegram, "General Surovikin is at home with his family. He is now on leave and available to serve in the Defense Department.

Find out who the ruthless commander Surovikin is.
Wagner's boss Prigozhin has spent a lot of his life on the edge.
On June 23 and 24, Wagner's mercenaries briefly mutinied and threatened to march on Moscow.

The tragedy that took the lives of Prigozhin and nine people on August 23 near Moscow sparked widespread panic. Many people felt the Wagner chief was "dead man walking" following the failed revolt.

During the mutiny, General Surovikin was last seen on camera pleading with the Wagner forces to stop their violence.

Days later, media reports said he had been arrested, but his whereabouts remain unknown.

The Russian general was put in charge of Ukrainian forces in October, but he was replaced three months later.

During Russian operations in Syria, he earned the nickname "General Armageddon" for his ruthlessness.

Chandrayaan-3: What has India's Moon rover Pragyaan been up to since landing?

Exactly a week ago, India set down a robotic probe on the Moon, becoming the first country to land near the lunar south pole.

Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander - carrying a rover in its belly - touched down on the lunar soil after a 20-minute, nail-biting finale watched by millions of people across the world.

Hours later, the Pragyaan rover - Pragyaan is the Sanskrit word for wisdom - exited the lander and took its first steps on the Moon.

The Indian space agency has been providing regular updates on the rover's findings, the photos its taking, distance it is covering and how it is negotiating the obstacles in its path.

Here's a look at the highlights from the first week of the rover's Moonwalk:

Say cheese

Until now, we had only seen videos and images of the rover, taken by the lander.

But on Wednesday morning, Pragyaan turned its camera on its parent - the Vikram lander - and said, "Smile, please!"

The black-and-white image shows Vikram with all its six legs firmly planted on the lunar ground.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said this "image of the mission" was taken by the navigation camera onboard the rover.

Sulphur finds

Over the past few days, the rover has been hard at work.

On Tuesday evening, Isro said that a laser detector onboard had made "the first-ever in-situ - in the original space - measurements on the elemental composition of the surface near the south pole" and found a host of chemicals, including sulphur and oxygen, on lunar soil.

The instrument "unambiguously confirms" the presence of sulphur, it said, adding that preliminary analysis also "unveiled the presence of aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon and oxygen".

"A thorough investigation regarding the presence of hydrogen is underway," it added.

India makes historic landing near Moon's south pole

Noah Petro, a project scientist at Nasa, told the BBC's Soutik Biswas that it's been known from the 1970s - from the Apollo and Luna samples - that sulphur is present in the lunar soil.

But he described Pragyaan's findings as "a tremendous accomplishment".

"I think Isro is highlighting that it's in-situ - so it's important to have measured sulphur on the lunar surface. Sulphur is a volatile element if it's not inside a mineral. So, if it's not part of a crystal, it's very cool to see it measured on the surface," he added.

Negotiating craters

As the rover roams around the mission's landing point - now named the Shiv Shakti Point - in what Isro has described as "the pursuit of lunar secrets", it has covered quite a distance. It has also had to change course to stay safe because of deep craters.

Two days after the landing, Isro said Pragyaan - which travels at a speed of 1cm per second - had "successfully traversed a distance of 8 metres (26ft)".

It added that on Sunday, the rover had encountered a crater with a diameter of four metres. But it was spotted well on time - when Pragyaan was about three metres away.

"It was commanded to retrace the path. It's now safely heading on a new path," Isro added.

Photos released by the space agency show the crater and the footprints of the rover on the lunar soil - going forward and returning.

Taking the Moon's temperature

On Sunday, Isro said that they had received the first set of data about the temperatures on the lunar topsoil and up to the depth of 10cm below the surface from a probe onboard Vikram lander.

The probe - called the ChaSTE experiment, or Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment - is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors and has thrown up some interesting results.

A graphic posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Isro showed a sharp difference in temperatures just above and below the surface.

While the temperature on the surface was nearly 60C, it plummeted sharply below the surface, dropping to -10C at 80mm (just about 3 inches) below the ground.

An Isro scientist told the news agency PTI that he was "surprised" by the temperature fluctuation. "We all believed that the temperature could be somewhere around 20C to 30C on the surface but it is surprisingly higher than what we had expected," BH Darukesha said.

The Moon, however, is known for harbouring extreme temperatures - according to Nasa, daytime temperatures near the lunar equator reach a boiling 250F (120C), while night temperatures can plunge to -208F (-130C).

The Moon's poles, it says, are even colder - one crater near the north pole recorded -410F (-250C) which makes it the coldest temperature measured anywhere in the entire solar system. Equally cold temperatures have been recorded at some of the craters which remain permanently in the shadows in the south pole