Calamba City, Laguna. Libo-libong residente ng Catanauan, Quezon ang makikinabang sa sandaling matapos ang proyekto ng DPWH Region-4A sa gagawing konstruksiyon ng 5 kilometrong coastal road at seawall na lalong magpapaganda ng tanawin sa world-class beaches ng nasabing bayan.
Ipinahayag ng tanggapan ni DPWH Quezon 3rd Engineering district Engineer Jorge Pasia ang balita at yon sa kanya, ang proyekto ay naglalayon na lalong palakasin ang ekonomiya sa dulong silangan ng Quezon na dinaraanan ng mga commercial at industrial products mula sa Bicol region.
Sinabi naman ni DPWH Region 4A Director Jovel Mendoza na ang nasabing proyekto ay dumaan sa tamang proseso. Nagkaroon umano ito ng serye ng konsultasyon sa mga residente sa lugar, local government units, at environmental sectors.
Idinagdag pa ni Engineer Mendoza na nagkaroon ng mga feasibility studies ang kanilang tanggapan upang masiguro ang kapakanan ng mga naninirahan sa lugar. Hindi rin umano maaapektuhan ang mga mangrove areas sa lugar na isa sa pinakamalawak na mangrove plantation sa bansa.
Ang naturang coastal road at seawall project ng pamahalaan ay magpapalaki ng kita ng turismo sa Catanauan, na isa sa pinagkakakitaan ng mga mamamayan sa naturang lugar, ayon pa kay Mendoza.
STOCKHOLM. A roller coaster train derailed in Stockholm on Sunday, sending some passengers plunging to the ground in an amusement park accident that left one dead and nine injured, police and park officials said.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene at the Gröna Lund park as the front of the train appeared to jump off the tracks before coming to a stop, with one car tilted toward the ground.
“The front of the train partly derailed and stopped on the track at a height of between 6 and 8 meters (between 20 and 25 feet),” park chief executive Jan Eriksson said. “A total of 14 people were on board, of which one person has died and several are injured.”
The regional government said nine people were taken to a hospital, one of them in serious condition. Three of the injured were children, all of them with minor injuries, it said.
Witness Ziba Assadi told Swedish broadcaster TV4 that she was standing just below the Jetline roller coaster when she saw the wheel assembly of one of the cars crashing to the ground.
“Then the car stops and people fly out, fall out of the car,” she said.
Witnesses said two or three people fell out of the car, one of whom managed to cling to the track. Photos from the scene showed a man sitting on a beam below the stopped train.
“So he sits there straddling (the beam) and waits,” Assadi said. “There was complete panic.”
The amusement park was evacuated after the accident and will remain closed for seven days to allow investigators to find out what went wrong, park officials said.
“This should not be allowed to happen,” Gröna Lund spokeswoman Annika Troselius said. “Safety is the most important thing for us. And we would never open an attraction if we were not confident that it was safe, so this is something we need to investigate thoroughly.”
Police launched a criminal investigation on possible charges of involuntary manslaughter, causing bodily harm and causing danger to others.
The 800-meter (2,600-foot) long Jetline roller coaster opened in 1988 and was renovated in 2000, according to Gröna Lund. It has a maximum height of 30 meters (98 feet) and a top speed of 90 kph (56 mph).
Police cordon off the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm, Sunday, June 25, 2023. According to reports an accident occurred on a rollercoaster leaving one person dead. The amusement park was being evacuated and the police have set up cordons. (Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency via AP)
Former President Barack Obama called out what he perceived as a double standard in media coverage of the tragedy of the OceanGate Titan submersible versus the migrant boat that sank off the coast of Greece last week.
In an interview with CNN host Christiane Amanpour in Athens, Greece Thursday night, the 44th president railed against “inequality” in our “democracy” and claimed the fact that news of the missing OceanGate sub dominated the news cycle, while the sinking of a migrant boat in the Mediterranean Sea did not, is an example of this “inequality.”
Obama noted that “democracy is not going to be healthy” due to this type of “obscene inequality.”
Obama’s pre-taped interview aired after reports that the OceanGate Titan sub carrying five people to visit the Titanic wreckage in the North Atlantic Ocean most likely imploded on its way to the famous ship’s resting place.
That news followed a week of media coverage devoted to every update on the search and rescue mission to find the sub after it lost communication with the surface on Sunday.
The other tragedy Obama mentioned was the capsizing of a migrant boat off the coast of Greece last week that most likely resulted in hundreds of deaths. The boat carrying around 750 migrants was mid-route from Libya to Italy when the ship sank, with only around one hundred passengers being rescued.
The other hundreds of passengers were reported missing and are most likely dead. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson claimed in a press conference that the sinking “seems like this is the worst ever tragedy we’ve seen in the Mediterranean.”
Obama condemned the disparate amount of media coverage between the two events to Amanpour.
He began, saying, “Our democracy is not going to be healthy with the levels of inequality that we’ve seen generated from globalization, automation, the decline in unions. Obscene inequality. You think about news of the day. Generally, we’re not talking about news of the day, but right now we have 24 hour coverage – and I understand it – of this submarine, this submersible that tragically right now is lost at the bottom of the sea.”
He continued, saying, “At the same time, right here, just off the coast of Greece, we had 700 people dead. 700 migrants who were apparently being smuggled into here and it’s made news but it’s not dominating in the same way and in some ways it’s indicative of the degree to which peoples’ life chances have grown so disparate.”
The former president also remarked on this double standard in coverage between the two stories at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation event Athens that same day.
While being interviewed in front of a crowd, Obama claimed, “You think about what’s happening this week. There is a potential tragedy unfolding with the submarine that is getting, you know, minute-to-minute, coverage, all around the world. And you know it’s understandable, because we all want and pray that those folks are rescued.”
He added, “But the fact that that’s got so much more attention than 700 people who sank. That’s an untenable situation.”
Bubuksan ng national governmentang pagkakataon na makipag-partner sa mga pinakamayayamang Pilipino sa bansa kapag naging operational na ang Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF).
“Ayon po sa amin, umaasa kami. Ang ating mga malalaking kumpanya, pwede rin tayong magkaroon ng mga joint ventures, co-investments sa mga proyektong pang-imprastruktura,” ani National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon sa isang news forum noong Sabado.
Gayunpaman, iginiit ni De Leon na ang paparating na Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) ay susuriinng maigi ang bawat investment.
Kaugnay nito, sinabi ni Pangulo Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. noong Huwebes na susuriin ng Malacañang ang mga pagbabago sa MIF bill ngunit ipinangako niyang pipirmahan agad ang nasabing hakbang kapag natanggap niya ito.
Sinabi ni De Leon na ang board of directors ng MIC ang magbuo ng mga pamamaraan sa pamumuhunan at risk management kung saan maaaring makita ng publiko ang posibleng kita ng mga proyekto.
Tiniyak ni De Leon na ang lahat ng mga proyekto ay dadaan sa procurement process at ang exemption lamang ay sa teknikal na aspeto o paghingi ng teknikal na payo. Gayunpaman, sinabi niya na wala pang impormasyon kung anong bahagi ng inilaang sovereign wealth fund ang gagamitin para sa mga proyekto ng imprastruktura.
Mayroon nang hindi bababa sa 194 flagship infrastructure projects ang administrasyon ni Marcos na nagkakahalaga ng PHP9 trilyon. Upang maalis ang mga pangamba, binigyang-diin niya na ipinagbabawal sa mga social security institutions tulad ng GSIS, SSS, Pag-IBIG, at PhilHealth na mamuhunan sa MIF at korporasyon.
Bukod dito, hindi gagamitin ang pondo para sa mga proyekto sa social development tulad ng serbisyo, pangangalaga sa kalusugan, at edukasyon sa MIF.
Sinabi din niya na pitong miyembro mula sa Senado at Kongreso ang itatalaga sa Joint Oversight Committee upang bantayan ang kahalagahan at pinansyal na performance ng MIC at MIF.
Twitter chief executive Elon Musk and Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg are gearing up for a cage fight that has been seen as a way of settling their long-held differences.
The American billionaire entrepreneurs verbally agreed on social media to physical combat after Musk tweeted that he would be “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg. The Meta co-founder responded with a screenshot of Musk’s tweet captioned; “send me location.”
When Musk saw it, he responded with two words: “Vegas Octagon.”
The exchange and the possibility of a fight between the tech duo have thrown the internet into excitement. Musk tweeted that “I have this great move that I call ‘The Walrus,’ where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing.”
Trained in martial arts, Zuckerberg 39 recently won gold and silver medals at his very first Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament in Redwood City, California. On the other hand, Andrew Tate has offered to train Musk after the Twitter owner tweeted on Thursday: “Let’s go full MMA.”
“I will train you @elonmusk,” the former professional kickboxer tweeted on Thursday. You will not lose.
Tate added, “Meta banned me everywhere for telling the truth about vaccines,” Tate wrote. “But now we can restore honor with a strike at the enemy clans leader.”
Thus his offer to train Musk is borne from a grudge against the social media company, which banned him on Facebook and Instagram for violating policies around dangerous organizations and individuals and for infringing its guidelines on hate speech. Tate is regarded as a misogynist over his comments about women. He was also banned on Twitter but Musk reinstated his account following his takeover.
Musk’s latest spat with Zuckerberg is believed to have emanated from the news that the Meta’s CEO plans to create a social media platform like Twitter. Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox told employees during an internal all-hands meeting last week that the company thinks creators want a version of Twitter that is “sanely run.”
Musk has been criticized for his idea of running Twitter, which has resulted in a mass exodus of advertisers who believe he has allowed lax content moderation on the platform since he took over late last year. Musk fired most of Twitter’s content moderators, including the company’s sales and brand safety teams.
There is a belief that Musk’s method of running Twitter is spooking users from the platform. “I’ve always thought that Twitter should have a billion people using it,” Zuckerberg said during a recent podcast interview with Lex Fridman.
However, the fight, which is unlikely going to happen, will be streamed live on Twitter and Instagram. Musk’s mother Maye, said she has cancelled the fight. (Tekedia)
DASMARIÑAS CITY, Cavite. Isang malagim na insidente ng karahasan ang naganap sa isang warehouse sa Brgy. Salawag dito kamakalawa, kung saan parehong nasa kritikal na kondisyon ang isang negosyante at ang lalaking may utang sa kanya matapos mauwi sa isang marahas na pagtatalo ang singilan.
Ayon sa mga ulat, naganap ang insidente sa Bella Beatrix Cosmetic Products Warehouse na pag-aari ni Ryan Tsubasa Rivas, isang 31-anyos na negosyante at residente ng Brgy. Burol 3, Dasmariñas City, Cavite. Kasama sa insidente ang suspek na si Ronald Ochoco Almendra, na naninirahan sa Brgy. San Roque, Tarlac City.
Batay sa imbestigasyon, nagpunta umano si Almendra sa warehouse upang bayaran ang utang matapos siyang singilin ng negosyante. Ngunit biglang uminit ang kanilang pagtatalo, na nauwi sa pamamaril at tangkang pagpapatiwakal.
Ayon sa salaysay ng saksi na si Wilfred Cueto, 25-anyos, marketing manager ng nabanggit na warehouse, si Rivas ay inispreyan sa mukha ng pepper spray ng suspek bago ito pinagsasaksak ng Swiss knife. Sinubukan pa ni Almendra na ispreyan din si Cueto, ngunit nakatakbo ito at humingi ng tulong.
Matapos ang kaguluhan, natagpuan ng mga awtoridad si Almendra na nakahandusay sa loob ng warehouse. Nakita din sa CCTV footage na nagtangka rin ang suspek na saksakin ang sarili matapos niyang pagsasaksakin si Rivas.
Sa kasalukuyan, pareho silang nasa kritikal na kondisyon sa isang ospital at ginagamot ang mga sugat at pinsalang tinamo nila.
Narekober ng mga awtoridad ang isang bote ng Smartguard pepper spray at isang Swiss knife na may habang 8.5 inches. Ang mga ito ay magiging mahalagang mga patunay sa kasong isasampa laban sa suspek.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing the greatest threat to his authority in two decades after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner paramilitary group and Putin’s former ally, launched an apparent insurrection.
Wagner has claimed control of several military facilities and threatened that their troops would march for Moscow, if Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov do not meet with Prigozhin.
Prigozhin has been highly critical of Russia’s military leadership and their handling of the war in Ukraine, but he had always stopped short of criticizing Putin directly. That seems to have changed on Saturday.
Staring down a shock escalation of tensions that have simmered for months, the somber-looking Russian president addressed the nation, calling Wagner’s actions “a stab in the back of our country and our people.”
“All those who deliberately chose the path of treachery, who prepared an armed mutiny, who chose the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will face inevitable punishment, and will answer both to the law and to our people,” Putin said.
The president described events in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don – where Wagner claim to have taken control of a key military facility – as an insurrection.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Putin was at the Kremlin on Saturday and that he has discussed the ongoing situation with the leaders of Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin has also spoken to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who, according to the statement “expressed full support” for the president. Turkey has not commented on the phone call.
Responding to Putin’s speech, Prigozhin said on Telegram that the president was “deeply mistaken.”
“We are patriots of our Motherland, we fought and are fighting,” he said in audio messages. “And no one is going to turn themselves in at the request of the president, the FSB (Russia’s domestic intelligence service) or anyone else.”
Prigozhin announced earlier on Saturday that his forces took control of several Russian military facilities and warned his forces would head for Russia’s capital if defense minister Shoigu and General Gerasimov did not meet him.
The Wagner chief claimed his forces seized the Russian Southern Military Headquarters in the city of Rostov-on-Don “without firing a single shot,” suggesting that “the country supports us.”
“We went with a march of justice. We were attacked from the beginning by artillery and then by helicopters, and we passed without a single shot. We did not touch a single conscript. We didn’t kill a single person along the way,” Prigozhin said.
The Rostov base plays a key role in Russia’s war on Ukraine, due to its proximity to the countries’ shared border. Wagner group also claimed to have seized Russian facilities in a second city, Voronezh, some 600 kilometers (372 miles) to the north of Rostov-on-Don.
Alexander Gusev, the governor of the Voronezh region, said the Russian military was engaging in “combat measures” in the area. And the governor of the Lipetsk region, which lies just north of Voronezh, said that Wagner was moving equipment across its territory.
Stunning escalation
Saturday’s dramatic events come off the back of Prigozhin’s very public and months-long feud with Russia’s military leadership. He has previously accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of not giving his forces ammunition and was critical of their handling of the conflict, but has always defended the reasoning for the war.
The escalation came after Prigozhin accused Russian forces of striking a Wagner military camp and killing “a huge amount” of his fighters – a claim Russia’s Ministry of Defense has denied and called an “informational provocation.”
The private military chief seemingly built influence with Putin over the course of the conflict, with his Wagner forces taking a leading role in the labored but ultimately successful assault on Bakhmut earlier this year. The capture of that city was a rare Russian gain in Ukraine in recent months, boosting Prigozhin’s profile further.
But it appears that Prigozhin had now turned not merely against the military leadership’s handling of the invasion of Ukraine, but also against the longtime Russian leader and his strategy.
On Friday, he said Moscow invaded Ukraine under false pretenses devised by the Russian Ministry of Defense, and that Russia is actually losing ground on the battlefield.
“When we were told that we were at war with Ukraine, we went and fought. But it turned out that ammunition, weapons, all the money that was allocated is also being stolen, and the bureaucrats are sitting [idly], saving it for themselves, just for the occasion that happened today, when someone [is] marching to Moscow,” Prigozhin said in Saturday Telegram messages.
“There are 25,000 of us and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country. There are 25,000 of us waiting as a tactical reserve and a strategic reserve. It’s the whole army and the whole country, everyone who wants to, join us. We must end this debacle,” he said.
Putin rallies supporters
Meanwhile, many top Russian officials quickly rallied to Putin’s side. Russian intelligence official, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseev, posted a video about Prigozhin’s actions that day, describing it as a coup attempt.
“Only the president has the right to appoint the top leadership of the armed forces, and you are trying to encroach on his authority. This is a coup d’etat. There is no need to do this now, because there is no greater damage to the image of Russia and to its armed forces,” he added.
Sergei Naryshkin, who heads Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, described the events as an “attempted armed rebellion.”
In a statement shared by the chairman of the Russian Historical Society on Telegram, Naryshkin stated that the rebellion was an unforgivable crime “that cannot be justified by any prior achievements.”
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, another key player in the war, spoke of a “vile betrayal” by Prigozhin on Telegram. “The rebellion must be crushed, and if this requires harsh measures, then we are ready!” he said.
The FSB also responded on Friday, urging Wagner fighters to detain their leader and opening a criminal case against the militia boss accusing him of “calling for an armed rebellion.” Authorities in the capital Moscow, meanwhile, tightened security measures.
Russian security forces in body armor and equipped with automatic weapons have taken up a position near a highway linking Moscow with southern Russia, according to photos published by the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti Saturday.
Security forces also cordoned off Wagner’s headquarters in St. Petersburg on Saturday, as the state mobilized.
The Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee also announced the introduction of a counter-terrorist operation regime in Moscow, the Moscow region and Voronezh region.
In Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Saturday on Telegram that “anti-terrorist” measures to strengthen security were being carried out in the capital as a result of “incoming information.”
‘Most significant challenge’
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stalled earlier this year, top US officials said they saw indications of tensions between the Kremlin and the Prigozhin. Officials said the US determined as early as January there was an internal power struggle underway and have been gathering and closely monitoring intelligence on the volatile dynamic ever since.
But US and Western officials are being careful not to weigh in on the events because of how Putin could weaponize any perceived outside involvement in the escalating crisis, sources familiar with the administration’s thinking told CNN.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update that Prigozhin’s insurrection “represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times.”
The briefing said some Russian forces had “likely remained passive, acquiescing to Wagner.”
And it predicted that individual decisions to support or betray Putin could tip the balance of the showdown. “Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out,” the report said.
Ukraine has reacted with calls for more support of its attempts to defend itself in the war. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter said it is “time to abandon false neutrality and fear of escalation; give Ukraine all the needed weapons; forget about friendship or business with Russia. Time to put an end to the evil everyone despised but was too afraid to tear down.”
A man takes down the poster with writing reading “Join us at Wagner”, which is associated with the owner of the Wagner private military contractor, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is seen above a highway on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023. Russia’s security services have responded to mercenary chief Prigozhin’s declaration of an armed rebellion by calling for his arrest. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin took the threat, security was heightened in Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and other regions. (AP Photo)
Inaprubahan ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ang P5.768 na trilyong piso na National Expenditure Program (NEP) para sa taong 2024.
Ayon sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM), ang NEP para sa 2024 ay 9.5% na mas mataas kumpara sa P5.268 trilyon na budget ngayong taon. Ito rin ay katumbas ng 21.8% ng gross domestic product (GDP) ng bansa.
Sinabi ni DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman na ang NEP para sa 2024 ay binuo kasama ang Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 at ang 8-point socioeconomic agenda.
“It shall continue to reflect our commitment to pursue economic and social transformation to address the scarring effects of the pandemic, as well as the impact of inflation, by prioritizing shovel-ready investments in infrastructure projects, investments in human capital development, and sustainable agriculture and food security, among others,” ayon kay Pangandaman sa isang pahayag.
Sinabi rin niya na ang NEP ay bunga ng iba’t ibang mga salik, kabilang ang budget utilization rate ng mga ahensya at ang pagkakasunod-sunod ng kanilang mga programa, aktibidad, at proyekto.
We also referred to the agencies’ respective absorptive capacity, as we considered that a low budget utilization rate may reflect the agency’s limited capacity to utilize additional funds,”dagdag pa ng Kalihim.
Inihayag pa niya na isusumite ang NEP sa Kongreso ilang linggo matapos ang State of the Nation Address (SONA) ng Pangulo sa Hulyo 24.
Ayon sa DBM, ang NEP ay magiging spending plan ng pamahalaan taun-taon at ito ay pag-uusapan sa dalawang Kapulungan ng Kongreso.
Kapag naaprubahan na, ang programa ay pipirmahan upang maging ganap na batas at kilalanin bilang General Appropriations Act.
LE BOURGET, France. Just a dot on the horizon at first, the bug-like and surprisingly quiet electrically-powered craft buzzes over Paris and its traffic snarls, treating its doubtless awestruck passenger to privileged vistas of the Eiffel Tower and the city’s signature zinc-grey rooftops before landing him or her with a gentle downward hover. And thus, if all goes to plan, could a new page in aviation history be written.
After years of dreamy and not always credible talk of skies filled with flying, nonpolluting electric taxis, the aviation industry is preparing to deliver a future that it says is now just around the corner.
Capitalizing on its moment in the global spotlight, the Paris region is planning for a small fleet of electric flying taxis to operate on multiple routes when it hosts the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer. Unless aviation regulators in China beat Paris to the punch by greenlighting a pilotless taxi for two passengers under development there, the French capital’s prospective operator — Volocopter of Germany — could be the first to fly taxis commercially if European regulators give their OK.
Volocopter CEO Dirk Hoke, a former top executive at aerospace giant Airbus, has a VVIP in mind as his hoped-for first Parisian passenger — none other than French President Emmanuel Macron.
“That would be super amazing,” Hoke said, speaking this week at the Paris Air Show, where he and other developers of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft — or eVTOLs for short — competed with industry heavyweights for attention.
“He believes in the innovation of urban air mobility,” Hoke said of Macron. “That would be a strong sign for Europe to see the president flying.”
But with Macron aboard or not, those pioneering first flights would still be just small steps for the nascent industry that has giant leaps to make before flying taxis are muscling out competitors on the ground.
The limited power of battery technology restricts the range and number of paying passengers they can carry, so eVTOL hops are likely to be short and not cheap at the outset.
And while the vision of simply beating city traffic by zooming over it is enticing, it also is dependent on advances in airspace management. Manufacturers of eVTOLs aim in the coming decade to unfurl fleets in cities and on more niche routes for luxury passengers, including the French Riviera. But they need technological leaps so flying taxis don’t crash into each other and all the other things already congesting the skies or expected to take to them in very large numbers — including millions of drones.
Starting first on existing helicopter routes, “we’ll continue to scale up using AI, using machine-learning to make sure that our airspace can handle it,” said Billy Nolen of Archer Aviation Inc. It aims to start flying between downtown Manhattan and Newark’s Liberty Airport in 2025. That’s normally a 1-hour train or old-fashioned taxi ride that Archer says its sleek, electric 4-passenger prototype could cover in under 10 minutes.
Nolen was formerly acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. regulator that during his time at the agency was already working with NASA on technology to safely separate flying taxis. Just as Paris is using its Olympic Games to test flying taxis, Nolen said the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics offer another target for the industry to aim for and show that it can fly passengers in growing numbers safely, cleanly and affordably.
“We’ll have hundreds, if not thousands, of eVTOLs by the time you get to 2028,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press at the Paris show.
The “very small” hoped-for experiment with Volocopter for the Paris Games is “great stuff. We take our hats off to them,” he added. “But by the time we get to 2028 and beyond … you will see full-scale deployment across major cities throughout the world.”
Yet even on the cusp of what the industry portrays as a revolutionary new era kicking off in the city that spawned the French Revolution of 1789, some aviation analysts aren’t buying into visions of eVTOLs becoming readily affordable, ubiquitous and convenient alternatives to ride-hailing in the not-too-distant future.
And even among eVTOL developers who bullishly talked up their industry’s prospects at the Paris show, some predicted that rivals will run dry of funding before they bring prototypes to market.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimate the industry could be worth $1 trillion by 2040 and $9 trillion by 2050 with advances in battery and propulsion technology. Almost all of that will come after 2035, analysts say, because of the difficulty of getting new aircraft certified by U.S. and European regulators.
“The idea of mass urban transit remains a charming fantasy of the 1950s,” said Richard Aboulafia of AeroDynamic Advisory, an aerospace consultancy.
“The real problem is still that mere mortals like you and I don’t get routine or exclusive access to $4 million vehicles. You and I can take air taxis right now. It’s called a helicopter.”
Still, electric taxis taking to Paris’ skies as Olympians are going faster, higher and stronger could have the power to surprise — pleasantly so, Volocopter hopes.
One of the five planned Olympic routes would land in the heart of the city on a floating platform on the spruced-up River Seine. Developers point out that ride-hailing apps and E-scooters also used to strike many customers as outlandish. And as with those technologies, some are betting that early adopters of flying taxis will prompt others to try them, too.
“It will be a total new experience for the people,” said Hoke, Volocopter’s CEO. “But twenty years later someone looks back at what changed based on that and then they call it a revolution. And I think we are at the edge of the next revolution.”
The Volocopter 2X, or VoloCity air taxi, an electric vertical takeoff and landing multicopter, performs a demonstration flight at the Paris Air Show, Wednesday, June 21, 2023 in Le Bourget, north of Paris. Aviation industry CEOs and top government officials from around the world descended on the Paris Air Show for a week of deal-making and demonstrations of the world’s latest air and space technology. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
VATICAN CITY.Pope Francis praised artists on Friday as true visionaries who can see, dream and invent as he welcomed 200 artists, filmmakers and writers into the Sistine Chapel to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Museums’ contemporary art collection.
Francis acknowledged that some in the crowd — there was Andres Serrano, of “Piss Christ” fame — sometimes use confrontation to make people think. But he said their aim was to find harmony and beauty.
“You want to reveal reality also in its contradictions and in those things that it is more comfortable and convenient to keep hidden,” Francis said. “Like the biblical prophets, you confront things that at times are uncomfortable; you criticize today’s false myths and new idols, its empty talk, the ploys of consumerism, the schemes of power.”
Pope Paul VI first invited artists into the Sistine Chapel in 1964 in hopes of renewing the friendship between the Catholic Church and artists that, in past centuries, had resulted in such masterpieces as Michelangelo’s frescoed chapel itself.
That audience helped give birth, in 1973 with a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein, to the inauguration of the Vatican Museums’ Modern and Contemporary Art collection. The collection, the youngest in the museum, is marking its 50th anniversary this year with an exhibit of some of its most recent acquisitions, including by artists invited to Friday’s audience.
In recent years, the Vatican has sought to relaunch the Holy See’s engagement with contemporary culture, participating in the Venice art and architecture biennales and, in the future, literary festivals.
In the audience Friday were such figures as author Jhumpa Lahiri, director Abel Ferrara, whose recent film “Padre Pio” pays homage to the Italian saint, contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer and Italian actor Silvio Orlando, whose portrayal of a fictional Vatican secretary of state in “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope,” made him seem perfectly at home in the Apostolic Palace.
Serrano, for his part, said he was surprised to have even been invited and thrilled when he went up to greet Francis at the end of the audience. He said he introduced himself in Spanish, asked Francis for a blessing, and the Argentine pope playfully slapped his wrist and gave him a thumbs up.
Serrano’s 1987 photograph “Piss Christ” has caused controversy ever since it was first exhibited, given the image depicts a crucifix submerged in urine.
Speaking to reporters after the audience, Serrano said he understood his invitation was evidence “that the church understands that I am a Christian artist and I am not a blasphemous artist. I am just an artist.”
“If ‘Piss Christ’ disturbs you, maybe you should think about what it symbolizes. And what it symbolizes is a very horrific and painful and tragic and inhuman way for a human being to die. And that’s how they crucified Christ,” he said.
Bishop Paul Tighe, the No. 2 in the Vatican’s culture and education ministry, said the inclusion of even provocative artists was evidence of the Vatican’s desire to enter into dialogue with contemporary culture.
“We’re ready for a conversation,” Tighe said. “We want to hear and talk with, meet with, dialog with artists, because we think artists have perspectives and ways of seeing the world that we need to take account of.”
Asked in particular about Serrano, Tighe added: “I think we all just have to work on the presumption of good faith of the artist who is trying to say something, challenge something, and may sometimes have to resort to strong measures to waken us up.”
United States’ artist Andres Serrano arrives to meet reporters after being received by Pope Francis on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Contemporary Art section of the Vatican Museum, at the Vatican, Friday, June 23, 2023. Some 200 artists were received by the Pope at the Vatican on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the modern religious art collection opened on June 23, 1973 by Pope Paul VI that includes works from artists such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bacon, Botero, Rodin, De Chirico, Severini, Guttuso, Matisse and others. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Ukrainian singer Tina Carol talks to reporters after being received by Pope Francis on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Contemporary Art section of the Vatican Museum, at the Vatican, Friday, June 23, 2023. Some 200 artists were received by the Pope at the Vatican on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the modern religious art collection opened on June 23, 1973 by Pope Paul VI that includes works from artists such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bacon, Botero, Rodin, De Chirico, Severini, Guttuso, Matisse and others. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
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