President Trump once reportedly considered nominating his personal pilot to manage the Federal Aviation Administration.
That was a year ago, and there's still no Senate-confirmed head of the FAA. But now, amid a worldwide crisis surrounding Boeing's 737 MAX 8 planes, Trump has decided on a candidate.
Trump announced Tuesday that he's nominating former Delta Airlines official Steve Dickson to the post, with The Wall Street Journal reporting the announcement earlier in the day. Dickson has been under consideration for the job since last November, the Journal also reported at the time. No other FAA head has come directly to the job from a senior position at an airline in 30 years. The White House reportedly planned to announce Dickson's appointment earlier this month, but put it on hold as two Boeing planes crashed in similar circumstances in October and two weeks ago, industry officials tell the Journal.
There hasn't been a permanent FAA head since Michael Huerta's five-year term ended in January 2018. Former President Barack Obama had nominated Huerta to the post. Since then, Daniel Elwell, who'd served in the FAA under former President George W. Bush, has led the agency in an acting capacity but was never brought to the Senate for a formal confirmation. Kathryn Krawczyk
Caroll Spinney, the actor and puppeteer who made Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch come alive on Sesame Street, died Sunday. He was 85.
The Sesame Workshop said Spinney, who died at his home in Connecticut, lived with dystonia for many years. Spinney began working on Sesame Street in its earliest days in 1969, before retiring in 2018.
As Big Bird, Spinney traveled around the world, conducted symphony orchestras, danced with the Rockettes, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.
In a statement, Sesame Workshop said Spinney's "enormous talent and outsized heart were perfectly suited to playing the larger-than-life yellow bird who brought joy to generations of children and countless fans of all ages around the world, and his loveably cantankerous grouch gave us all permission to be cranky once in a while." Catherine Garcia
North Korea is at it again. But this time no one is exactly sure about what they're up to.
North Korean state media reported Sunday that Pyongyang conducted a "successful test of a great significance" Saturday at its Sohae satellite launch site, a rocket testing ground, but did not reveal what was tested. U.S. officials have said North Korea promised to close the testing ground, but it appears that won't be the case any longer as Pyongyang's year-end deadline to reach a denuclearization agreement with Washington nears after talks stalled earlier this year.
It likely wasn't a missile launch, since Japan and South Korea can usually detect those. Instead, missile experts said it's possible North Korea tested a solid fuel rocket engine, which could allow the country to field intercontinental ballistic missiles that are easier to hide and faster to deploy. "If it is indeed a static engine test for a new solid or liquid fuel missile, it is yet another loud signal that the door for diplomacy is quickly slamming, if it isn't already," said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "This could be a very credible signal of what might await the world after the New Year."
North Korea has promised to adopt a "new path" if the U.S. does not offer sanctions relief, which analysts believe could include launching a satellite that would allow Pyongyang to continue testing missiles more covertly. Read more at BBC and Reuters. Tim O'Donnell