New York: United and Alaska Airlines both reported on Monday that loose hardware had been discovered on some of their Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes during preliminary inspections after a dramatic mid-flight incident last week. Hours later, Alaska Airlines said its staff had found that "loose hardware was visible on some aircraft." Following the Alaska Airlines incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered operators to ground 171 jets with the same door plug configuration. Alaska Airlines said it was still awaiting "final documentation" from Boeing and the FAA before beginning the formal inspection process. Analysts said the Alaska Airlines problems may have stemmed from a manufacturing defect.

An MoU is a statement of intent rather than a legally binding agreement but what seems clear is that Somaliland is ready to grant Ethiopia access to the sea for commercial traffic through a port, although it is not clear which port that would be.

The African Union urged calm in the ensuing row, and the European Union urged Ethiopia to respect Somalia’s territorial integrity. Landlocked countries like Uganda and Rwanda, which have a strong national security mindset, will have been intrigued by some of the reported provisions. AdvertisementApart from Ethiopia, the other 15 landlocked African countries don’t have such a short strip through a neighbour to the coast. Addis is spoilt for choice: Either through Eritrea, whose independence in 1993 left it landlocked, or via Djibouti, or Somalia. Though weakened by the Tigray war, Ethiopia is still a military behemoth relative to Somalia.

Ethiopia and Somaliland held talks on Monday regarding the development of military cooperation, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) said. Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) Chief of Staff Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, discussed with his Somaliland counterpart, Major General Nuh Ismail Thani, in Ethiopia the issues of the military partnership between the two countries. The meeting took place shortly after Somaliland and Ethiopia signed a pact providing the latter with the access to the Red Sea.

Hargeisa, Somalia — The Minister of Defense of Somaliland, Abdiqani Mohamud Aateeye, has announced that he has resigned from the ministerial position after opposing the agreement between Somaliland and Ethiopia. He said that they met the president today, and he told him that he did not believe that it is appropriate for Ethiopian troops to come to Somaliland. The minister also doubted the rent of the sea saying that Abiy Ahmed wants to take a sea but he does not want to rent a sea and own it, as he noted. The agreement has sparked protests in Somaliland, some supporting it and some opposing it, with some people supporting it and some people expressing doubts. On the other hand, the Somali government strongly rejected the agreement between the two parties, calling it a violation of Somalia's sovereignty.

United, Alaska Airlines report loose components on 737 MAX planesWASHINGTONUnited and Alaska Airlines both reported on Monday that loose hardware had been discovered on some of their Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes during preliminary inspections after a dramatic mid-flight incident last week. Hours later, Alaska Airlines announced its staff had found that "loose hardware was visible on some aircraft." "We're working to return our Boeing 737 MAX 9s to service in the days ahead," United said in a statement. Alaska Airlines said it was still awaiting "final documentation" from Boeing and the FAA before beginning the formal inspection process. Analysts said the Alaska Airlines problems may have stemmed from a manufacturing defect.

Okaz/Saudi GazetteRIYADH — Police in the Makkah region arrested two illegal Ethiopians who are accused of killing a young Saudi man. Muhammad Al-Subaie, a young man, was shot dead by one of the Ethiopians when his compatriot attempted to offer drugs to the young man. Rajeh Al-Subaie, father of the young man, said that his son went out for a walk and reached the mountain. “My son was surprised when someone offered him drugs, and hence he caught him and contacted the security operations room over the phone. A compatriot of this Ethiopian, who was watching this incident, fired at him while making the phone call.

SEATTLE (AP) — The blowout of part of the fuselage on a Boeing 737 Max flying over Oregon is the latest in a string of safety problems — including two devastating crashes — for the aerospace giant. The most serious issues have involved the 737 Max, the latest version of its venerable 737, a workhorse of passenger aviation. Last year, Boeing reported a problem with fittings on Max jets where the fuselage meets the vertical section of the tail. Spirit also installs door plugs in the 737 Max 9, including the one that suffered the blowout Friday. Also under investigation is what prompted the emergency landing in Wichita, Kansas, of a Denver-bound United Airlines flight on Dec. 14.

SEATTLE (AP) — The blowout of part of the fuselage on a Boeing 737 Max flying over Oregon is the latest in a string of safety problems — including two devastating crashes — for the aerospace giant. The most serious issues have involved the 737 Max, the latest version of its venerable 737, a workhorse of passenger aviation. Last year, Boeing reported a problem with fittings on Max jets where the fuselage meets the vertical section of the tail. Spirit also installs door plugs in the 737 Max 9, including the one that suffered the blowout Friday. Also under investigation is what prompted the emergency landing in Wichita, Kansas, of a Denver-bound United Airlines flight on Dec. 14.

The Boeing 737 Max has been under public scrutiny for several years following multiple crashes and malfunctions. The Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane has only been in operation since October 2023, FAA records show. 7 p.m.: United temporarily suspends service on all 79 of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, the airline announces. Sunday, Jan. 76:30 a.m.: Nearly 700 flights are canceled nationwide due to the Boeing 737 Max 9 groundings, according to data from FlightAware. 4 p.m.: United announces it has found loose bolts during its inspection of its 737 Max 9 fleet.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somaliland's defense minister has resigned to protest his government signing an agreement to allow landlocked Ethiopia to access Somaliland's coastline. Ateye asserted that in an earlier meeting with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, he expressed his belief that stationing Ethiopian troops in Somaliland was fundamentally inappropriate. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland's president signed the memorandum of understanding for access to the sea last week. As part of the deal, Somaliland would lease a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) stretch of its coastline to Ethiopia. Somaliland’s defense minister accused Ethiopia's prime minister of attempting to acquire the stretch of coastline without proper negotiations.

Ethiopia said it held talks Monday on military cooperation with Somaliland, just a week after a deal with the breakaway Somali region on sea access stoked tensions in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is seeking international support over the controversial January 1 agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland -- a separatist region over which Mogadishu exercises little real authority. The central government has branded the memorandum of understanding (MoU), which gives landlocked Ethiopia access to the Red Sea via Somaliland, an act of "aggression" and a violation of its sovereignty. The January 1 pact gives Ethiopia access to commercial maritime services and a military base, with Somaliland leasing it 20 kilometres (12 miles) of coastline for 50 years. Just days before the Ethiopia deal, Djibouti had hosted talks that saw Somalia and Somaliland agree to resume dialogue after years of stalemate.

Ethiopia's agreement with breakaway region Somaliland, seeking port access in exchange for potential sovereignty recognition, could cause upheaval in the Horn of Africa. Under different circumstances, the kind of deal agreed between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland would have been relatively straightforward. Besides using the port for international trade, Ethiopia also wants to lease land from Somaliland to build a naval base. In addition to the full-scale war in 1977-78, Somalia has deployed rebel militias in what is now Ethiopia's Somali region. Ethiopia's Somali region, which used to be a point of conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia, has suffered long droughts as well as floodings in the last years.

Alaska Airlines had placed restrictions on a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft following three pressurization warnings in the days before the plane was involved in a mid-air door-covering blowout on Friday, investigators say. Homendy said pilots reported pressurization warning lights on three previous flights made by the specific Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 involved in the incident, according to BBC News. The incident prompted Alaska Airlines to ground all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 planes. The plane involved in the incident was new and delivered to Alaska Airlines in October. The flight that left Portland on Friday reached 16,000 feet before it began its emergency descent, according to flight tracking data.

The inflight blowout on an Alaska Airlines' plane on Friday night is prompting scrutiny of the aircraft involved, the Boeing 737 Max 9. The Boeing 737 Max 9 is part of the aircraft manufacturer's Max line of jets, introduced with the 737 Max 8 jets, which first took to the air in 2016, according to Airways Magazine. Currently, there are only two airlines in the U.S. that fly the Boeing 737 Max 9: Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. The Boeing 737 Max line has a troubled history, with two fatal crashes of the Max 8 model within five months of each other, in 2018 and 2019. In response to those crashes, the FAA in 2019 grounded the 737 Max 8 and Max 9 while it investigated.