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The appeal of supersonic civilian flight after a year of no travel
CNN
There were few sights more graceful than the Concorde, swooping in to land, its hinged nose drooping like a glistening beak. The sleek white, pencil thin fuselage hasn't been seen airborne since its retirement nearly two decades ago.
But that may soon change. United Airlines just announced a new leap into supersonic civilian flight, placing orders for 15 new jets designed to fly at Mach 1.7 that could halve the flight from New York to London to just 3.5 hours. The Overture planes, from a company called Boom Supersonic in Denver haven't been built yet, let alone proven themselves safe; they'll face stringent regulatory checks before they can enter service. But United said the jet will be ready to carry passengers by 2029. Environmental campaigners say supersonic aviation is more harmful than regular flight, but the airline has promised its new bird will use 100% sustainable fuel.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250216092711.jpg)
Amid Democrats’ shock and bickering over how much to respond to President Donald Trump is a deeper question rippling through leaders across the Capitol and across the country: How much should they rely on the same institutional and procedural maneuvers they used during the first Trump term, and how much are they willing to wield their own wrecking balls?
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In less than a month in office the Trump administration has simultaneously dismantled foreign aid programs that support fragile democracies abroad and put on leave federal workers who protect US elections at home in a move that current and former officials say abandons decades of American commitments to democracy.
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Sen. Mitch McConnell was a generational force for the Republican Party — using procedural tactics and political will to stymie much of former President Barack Obama’s agenda, hand President Donald Trump key first-term political victories and deliver a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority. Now he’s the odd man out.
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The Trump administration is forcing out senior leadership at the National Archives and Records Administration in a major shakeup, according to a source familiar. President Donald Trump has been highly critical of the archives since the agency asked the Department of Justice to investigate Trump’s mishandling of classified documents after he left office.
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The morning after the mass resignation of prosecutors sparked a crisis inside the Trump Justice Department, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove led a meeting with the Justice Department’s public integrity section. His message: they had to choose one career lawyer to file a dismissal of the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to three people briefed on the meeting.