Business

PARIS (AP) — The chief executive of Boeing said the company made a “mistake” in handling a problematic cockpit warning system in its 737 Max jets before two crashes killed 346 people, and he promised transparency as the aircraft maker works to get the grounded plane back in flight.

Speaking before the industry-wide Paris Air Show, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told reporters Boeing’s communication with regulators, customers and the public “was not consistent. And that’s unacceptable.”

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed Monday amid a wait-and-see attitude about the direction of interest rates and the trade dispute between the U.S. and China.

France’s CAC 40 added nearly 0.2% in early trading to 5,376.03. Germany’s DAX fell less than 0.1% to 12,089.45. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose nearly 0.2% to 7,356.56.

U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.1% to 26,162. S&P 500 futures were also up 0.1% at 2,898.50.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysians should brace for tough times ahead as the economy is facing real problems amid an intractable external situation which is deteriorating almost on a daily basis, warns a prominent economist.

Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram, a senior advisor at Khazanah Research Institute, said many of these problems are beyond the control of the Malaysian government and the people need to prepare themselves for hard times ahead.

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Huawei’s founder said Monday that the Chinese telecom giant’s revenue will be $30 billion less than forecast over the next two years, as he compared the company to a “badly damaged plane” in the face of U.S. government actions against it.

“We never thought that the U.S.’s determination to attack Huawei would be so strong, so firm,” Ren Zhengfei, who is also the CEO, said during a panel discussion at company headquarters in Shenzhen.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will break the uranium stockpile limit set by Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in the next 10 days, the spokesman for the country’s atomic agency said Monday while also warning that Iran could enrich uranium up to 20% — just a step away from weapons-grade levels.

The announcement by Behrouz Kamalvandi, timed for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, puts more pressure on Europe to come up with new terms for Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal.

17 June 2019; MEMO: The EU’s second most senior diplomat affirmed the bloc’s support for the nuclear deal between world powers with Iran, including via the use of a new payment system for barter-based trade designed to circumvent US sanctions.

Helga Schmid, the secretary general of European Union external action service, visited Tehran last week. She helped negotiate the deal in 2015.

17 June 2019; AFP: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed Sunday that the US will guarantee free passage through the vital Strait of Hormuz, as he accused Iran of recent attacks on oil tankers and the downing of a US drone.

Pompeo confirmed in an interview with CBS that a US MQ-9 "Reaper" drone was shot down June 6 with a missile fired from Yemen "that we assess had Iranian assistance."

17 June 2019; DW: French Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said a natural emergency would be declared following a severe storm that devastated harvests in the nation's southeast at the weekend.

Nine departments were put on alert over the weekend and while the storms were brief, lasting only a few minutes, they were also very destructive, coming at the start of the fruit season.  The Auvergne-Rhone-Alps region is known as the "orchard of France."

17 June 2019; DW: Germany's grand coalition has reached an agreement regarding property tax reform, according to a joint statement from coalition leaders on Monday.

Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party and center-left coalition partner Social Democratic Party (SPD) had met for the first time since the resignation of former SPD leader Andrea Nahles.

Moresby, Jun 17 (AFP/PTI) Papua New Guinea will not renew a contract with an Australian company providing security at Pacific refugee camps, a senior minister has told AFP, in another setback for the deeply controversial policy.

Singapore-registered Paladin Holdings provides security and other services at three "transition centres" for refugees being held on Papua New Guinea's remote Manus Island after trying to get to Australia.