World News Non-US

https://archive.ph/PoeD8

China has taken a major step towards creating a commercial flying taxi industry, after regulators granted the country’s first-ever approvals for two companies to operate autonomous passenger drones.

The two companies – Nasdaq-listed EHang Holdings and Hefei Hey Airlines – obtained air operator certificates from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Saturday, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. The move means that both companies are cleared to use unmanned aerial vehicles to offer commercial passenger services, including urban sightseeing tours.

The air operator certificate was the final regulatory hurdle both companies’ passenger drones needed to clear before being put into operation, given that they had already obtained the type certificate, production certificate and airworthiness certificate, according to a report by Citic Securities.

“We reckon that low-altitude tourism will be the beginning of this new business,” the report stated. “EHang’s urban sightseeing tours can accelerate the development of the industry.”

Inside abandoned Mexican drug cartel 'training camp' littered with charred bones and desperate farewell letters hinting at unimaginable horrors | Daily Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14497825/Mexican-drug-cartel-training-camp.html

How does this happen?!

The militant group Hamas is expected to release the names of three hostages it will exchange for Palestinian prisoners this weekend, after it expressed its commitment to a ceasefire with Israel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on February 14 that a Russian drone struck and “significantly” damaged the protective sarcophagus at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant but that radiation levels were normal after the incident.

German voters head to the polls this month for an election that will determine who the country’s new chancellor will be. The Feb. 23 poll is a snap election, following the collapse of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government last year.