Southwest Airlines has removed all of its 737 Max 8 jets from flight schedules through the busy summer travel period amid ongoing concerns surrounding the safety of the aircraft.
All of Southwest’s 737 Max 8 airplanes have been removed from flight schedules through Aug. 5, the company announced. It was unclear how many flights would be affected or canceled as a result of the decision.
The company’s president, Tom Nealon, released a statement that said a “limited number of customers” were being affected by the continued grounding of the Max 8 jets, which occurred after the model was involved in two fatal crashes in six months.

Ecuador blew through nearly a million dollars a year hosting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its embassy in London, officials revealed Saturday.
The country shelled out a total of $6.5 million on behalf of Assange, who went into hiding there in August 2012 but was dragged out and arrested on Thursday. Most of that $6.5 million was spent on security, according to the Daily Mail. The rest was used for medical expenses, food and washing his clothing.
The 47-year-old asylum seeker was reportedly abusive toward the embassy staff, ate with his fingers, infrequently bathed or did laundry — and even smeared feces on the walls.
 
Read more at NY POST.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed President Donald Trump, who shared a grim video featuring Rep. Ilhan Omar’s controversial 9/11 remarks alongside footage of the Twin Towers being attacked.
“Members of Congress have a duty to respond to the President’s explicit attack today,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Friday. “@IlhanMN’s life is in danger. For our colleagues to be silent is to be complicit in the outright, dangerous targeting of a member of Congress. We must speak out.”
She also shared an image of the words of “First they came … ,” the famous poem by German theologian Martin Niemöller that was inspired by the tragedies of the Holocaust.
The poem reads:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro attempted to curb criticism over his comments that the Holocaust could be forgiven Saturday, saying that his words were being misinterpreted.
Bolsonaro on Thursday told a group of evangelical pastors in Rio de Janiero that “We can forgive, but we cannot forget. That quote is mine. Those that forget their past are sentenced not to have a future.”
In a clarification posted by Israel’s ambassador to Brazil Yossi Shelley late Saturday, Bolsonaro blamed “those who want to push me away from my Jewish friends,” for taking his speech out of context.

President Trump tweeted on Saturday night that his administration has the legal right to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities and demanded it happen.
“Just out: The USA has the absolute legal right to have apprehended illegal immigrants transferred to Sanctuary Cities,” he wrote. “We hereby demand that they be taken care of at the highest level, especially by the State of California, which is well known or its poor management & high taxes!”
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley on Saturday told Fox News shortly before the announcement that the administration was working with DHS and ICE to try to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities.

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center and Israel’s president both rebuffed Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for comments on the Holocaust on Saturday.
“We can forgive, but we cannot forget. That quote is mine. Those that forget their past are sentenced not to have a future,” Bolsonaro had said on Friday, talking about the Holocaust, according to AP.
The Yad Vashem memorial issued an official statement on Saturday, voicing their disagreement. “It is not in anyone’s position to determine who and if Holocaust crimes can be forgiven,” the statement said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday swore in a new government headed by a loyalist from his dominant Fatah party, a move rejected by his Islamist rival Hamas as a blow to unity efforts.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, an economist and longtime Abbas adviser, will serve as prime minister of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA). Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Finance Minister Shukri Bishara will continue in their positions.
Shtayyeh was named Palestinian prime minister on March 10, replacing the independent university president Rami Al-Hamdallah. He will run the ministries of interior and religious affairs until new appointees are named for the two posts.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said Saturday that the White House was working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to try to send undocumented immigrants to sanctuary cities.
“They have said they wanted all of these illegal aliens into their communities,” Gidley said on Fox News’ “Justice with Judge Jeanine.”
“We’re working with DHS, we’re working with ICE, to try and make sure that happens because after all, it’s what they want. They should not say ‘This is retribution politically,’ they should say, ‘This is an olive branch,'” he continued.
Gidley also said President Trump is “looking at any and all options” to send undocumented immigrants to these communities.

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Stratolaunch, the massive aircraft dreamed up by the late Paul Allen, flew for the first time Saturday, becoming the largest plane by wingspan ever to take to the skies.
Larger than Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose – which flew only once, in 1947 – Stratolaunch lifted off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in the California desert and stayed aloft for a couple of hours, according to photos and videos posted on social media.
The plane is a behemoth, with a twin fuselage, 28 wheels, six 747 jet engines and a wingspan longer than a football field, end zones included.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that the crimes of the Holocaust should be forgiven but should not be forgotten, according to an Associated Press report.
“We can forgive, but we cannot forget. That quote is mine. Those who forget their past are sentenced not to have a future,” Bolsonaro said on Thursday while meeting with evangelical pastors in Rio de Janeiro.
The right-wing Brazilian leader added that actions are needed to ensure that the Holocaust is not repeated.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}