LaGuardia controller staffing may have violated procedures on night of collision, document shows

2026-03-31T10:04:22.889Z / Reuters

By Doyinsola Oladipo

March 31, 2026 10:04 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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The wreckage of an Air Canada Express jet that collided with a ground vehicle on Monday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, U.S., March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

• Local air and ground roles at LaGuardia not supposed to be combined before midnight-document
• Rule put in place after 1997 ground collision, according to NTSB report
• NTSB investigating which of the controllers in the tower was handling ground role

NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) – Air traffic controller staffing at LaGuardia airport on the night an Air Canada ​jet collided with a fire truck may have violated the facility’s procedures by combining roles before midnight, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The ‌crash at the New York airport at about 11:37 p.m. ET on March 22, which killed both pilots, has revived concerns over U.S. air traffic control staffing shortages and the workload of controllers across the country.

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Staffing shortages, including at the supervisor level, are placing controllers into combined roles handling local air and ground traffic more often, according to several air traffic controllers across the country.

The National ​Transportation Safety Board said last week that as part of its crash investigation, it was seeking information on the duties being performed by each controller.

If ​the controller involved in the crash was performing both air and ground duties, that would be inconsistent with the LaGuardia tower’s ⁠standard operating procedures.

An NTSB final report on a 1997 collision at LaGuardia between a private jet and a vehicle referenced new procedures being put in place afterward to ensure “local ​and ground positions shall not be combined prior to” midnight at the New York airport.

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As of 2023, the rule remained in place, according to a LaGuardia Tower ​Standard Operating Procedures document seen by Reuters.

“Positions at LaGuardia Tower are not to be consolidated to one position prior to midnight local time or 90 minutes after the start of the shift, whichever is later,” said the 2023 document, which people familiar with the matter said remained current in 2026.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which runs U.S. air traffic control, did not respond to a ​request for comment.

CONTROLLER DUTIES NOT CLEAR

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters last week that two controllers were working in a glass-enclosed section of the airport’s control tower at ​the time of the accident.

There was a local controller managing the active runways and the immediate airspace and a controller-in-charge who was also providing pilots with departure clearance, she said.

“It is ‌not clear ⁠who was conducting the duties of the ground controller. We have conflicting information,” she said, referring to the position that manages all aircraft and vehicle movements on the taxiways, generally excluding active runways.

Multiple current and retired controllers said they believed the local controller who was managing the active runways was also handling traffic on the ground, based on audio posted by LiveATC.net.

The NTSB did not return a request for comment.

Air crash investigations typically find accidents result from multiple contributing factors, rather than a single cause.

COMBINING POSITIONS

The ​controller-in-charge, who is responsible for safety of ​operations, signed in at 10:30 p.m. ⁠while the local controller signed on at 10:45 p.m., the NTSB’s Homendy said.

According to the LaGuardia standard operating procedures document, the local and ground positions should not have been combined until midnight at the earliest.

The document also states positions will only be consolidated ​as traffic warrants. If positions are consolidated, as traffic volume increases, the positions will be de-combined, the document stated.

On the ​night of the Air ⁠Canada crash, weather-related delays resulted in 70 commercial flights taking off or landing at the airport between 10 p.m. and 11:37 p.m., compared with an average of 53 in the same time frame since 2022, according to Cirium data.

Several controllers interviewed by Reuters described the workload that night as busy and said other controllers would typically be brought in or ⁠stay on ​past their normal shift end time to manage the heavier-than-scheduled number of flights.

The local and ground positions ​should have stayed uncombined until at least midnight, said a current New York-area controller on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with media.

“And that is not even talking about the traffic, ​volume and complexity that night,” he said.

Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Jamie Freed

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

欧盟：伊朗战争或致能源市场长期波动

2026年3月31日 16:34 / 联合早报

欧盟专员警告，各国政府需为伊朗战争造成的能源市场持续冲击做准备。 （路透社）

欧盟能源事务专员约根森在致成员国部长的一封信中称，欧盟各国政府应为伊朗战争可能对能源市场造成的“长期扰动”做好准备。

路透社报道，这封信是在星期二（3月31日）召开紧急部长级会议前发出的。

约根森在信中强调，尽管当前战争对欧洲能源供应的影响仍在可控范围内，但仍促请各国政府尽早采取行动，以应对能源市场可能面临的持续冲击。

告别“青少年折扣薪资” 澳洲18至20岁员工四年内薪水将与成人持平

2026年3月31日 17:14 / 联合早报

告别“青少年折扣薪资” 澳洲18至20岁员工四年内薪水将与成人持平

澳洲政府宣布为50万年轻员工调高薪资比例，减轻生活压力。 （路透社）

随着生活费持续攀升，澳大利亚公平工作委员会宣布一项重大薪资改革：全澳逾50万名年轻员工的薪资水平将逐步提高，最终实现与成年员工“同工同酬”。

彭博社报道，公平工作委员会（Fair Work Commission）星期二（3月31日）在声明中指出，零售、快餐及制药行业的18岁至20岁员工，薪资将分阶段调高，直至与21岁及以上员工持平。

这项调整将于今年12月起实施，并预计在未来四年内完全落实。

根据澳洲现行的薪资结构，年轻员工通常领取的是打折后的“青少年工资”：18岁员工仅能领取成人工资的70%，19岁和20岁则分别为80%和90%。

按照新出炉的调整方案，薪资差距将逐步缩小。例如，一名18岁员工的薪资预计将在2029年7月实现与21岁及以上员工完全对等。

这一决定预计将对澳洲多家雇佣年轻员工比例较高的企业产生深远影响，包括餐饮巨头麦当劳，以及零售巨头沃尔沃斯集团和科尔斯集团等。

Camels used to smuggle hundreds of bottles of alcohol into Indian capital to avoid taxes, police say

March 31, 2026 / 6:46 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Indian police have arrested a man for smuggling alcohol into the capital Delhi using camels, seizing two animals and a large consignment of liquor.

The camels were used to carry the alcohol through “forest routes” from the neighboring city of Faridabad in Haryana state across state lines into the sprawling megacity of Delhi — where taxes on alcohol are far higher.

Delhi police said on social media Tuesday that 1,938 containers of illegal liquor were recovered.

“Staff… busted an illicit liquor smuggling racket using camels for transportation,” police said in a statement after the arrests on Monday. “The contraband was seized and the camels were rescued and handed over to concerned authorities.”

The animals were later brought to the Delhi Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

Authorities said the smuggler turned to forest paths and camels to avoid road checkpoints after police increased monitoring along the highways between Faridabad and Delhi.

Police say five men allegedly used the animals to transport liquor over a four-mile forest stretch at night, according to the newspaper.

The Hindustan Times reported that the same camels had been stopped last year for alcohol smuggling.

It reported that the smugglers would offload the contraband once inside city boundaries and deliver the drink to clients — using bicycle rickshaws.

India has also grappled with the issue of tainted liquor. Hundreds of people die every year in India from drinking cheap alcohol made in backstreet distilleries. Bootleggers sell vast quantities at cut rates to the poor, without paying taxes to the government. To increase its potency, the liquor is often spiked with methanol that can cause blindness, liver damage and death.

英国伦敦金属交易所库存仓库的铝锭。 （路透社）

（伦敦综合电）伊朗上周末袭击波斯湾地区铝厂，恐将本已脆弱的铝市场推入危机，可能导致这种广泛应用于飞机、食品包装和太阳能电池板等领域的金属价格被推至历史新高。

在巴林和阿联酋两大铝厂遭伊朗无人机与导弹袭击后的首个交易日，伦敦金属交易所铝期货涨幅一度高达6%。

中东地区铝产量约占全球产量的9%，但由于其他地区产量受限、库存被消耗殆尽，市场几乎没有缓冲空间，此次袭击的影响因此被进一步放大。

早在铝厂成为直接攻击目标之前，伊朗封锁霍尔木兹海峡已导致中东大型铝冶炼厂的关键原料出现短缺，估计未来数周冶炼厂将纷纷减产。

上周六，中东最大铝供应商阿联酋环球铝业公司证实其位于阿布扎比的工厂遭受“严重损坏”；巴林铝业公司则表示正在评估工厂受损程度。

关停与重启铝冶炼厂，不仅耗时且成本高昂。此次全球两大铝生产设施受损，意味着即便霍尔木兹海峡重新开放，全球铝产量所受的冲击仍可能持续更长时间。

混沌天成期货研究院院长李学智说：“交易商必须直面中东供应大幅削减的现实。”

铝是仅次于钢铁的第二大常用金属，若铝价持续飙升，将对已因能源成本上涨而陷入挣扎的制造业添加压力。对全球经济而言，更令人担忧的是部分工厂可能因专用铝材断供，而暂时停产。

这次袭击也突显美国对进口铝的依赖，数据显示美国所需铝材60%依靠进口，2025年美国本土原铝产量仅66万吨。美国去年进口的原铝和铝合金总计340万吨，其中近22%来自中东，阿联酋和巴林分别为美国的第二和第四大供应国。

伊朗袭击波斯湾铝厂 全球铝供应恐陷危机

2026年3月31日 17:23 / 联合早报

伊朗袭击波斯湾铝厂 全球铝供应恐陷危机

英国伦敦金属交易所库存仓库的铝锭。 （路透社）

（伦敦综合电）伊朗上周末袭击波斯湾地区铝厂，恐将本已脆弱的铝市场推入危机，可能导致这种广泛应用于飞机、食品包装和太阳能电池板等领域的金属价格被推至历史新高。

在巴林和阿联酋两大铝厂遭伊朗无人机与导弹袭击后的首个交易日，伦敦金属交易所铝期货涨幅一度高达6%。

中东地区铝产量约占全球产量的9%，但由于其他地区产量受限、库存被消耗殆尽，市场几乎没有缓冲空间，此次袭击的影响因此被进一步放大。

早在铝厂成为直接攻击目标之前，伊朗封锁霍尔木兹海峡已导致中东大型铝冶炼厂的关键原料出现短缺，估计未来数周冶炼厂将纷纷减产。

上周六，中东最大铝供应商阿联酋环球铝业公司证实其位于阿布扎比的工厂遭受“严重损坏”；巴林铝业公司则表示正在评估工厂受损程度。

关停与重启铝冶炼厂，不仅耗时且成本高昂。此次全球两大铝生产设施受损，意味着即便霍尔木兹海峡重新开放，全球铝产量所受的冲击仍可能持续更长时间。

混沌天成期货研究院院长李学智说：“交易商必须直面中东供应大幅削减的现实。”

铝是仅次于钢铁的第二大常用金属，若铝价持续飙升，将对已因能源成本上涨而陷入挣扎的制造业添加压力。对全球经济而言，更令人担忧的是部分工厂可能因专用铝材断供，而暂时停产。

这次袭击也突显美国对进口铝的依赖，数据显示美国所需铝材60%依靠进口，2025年美国本土原铝产量仅66万吨。美国去年进口的原铝和铝合金总计340万吨，其中近22%来自中东，阿联酋和巴林分别为美国的第二和第四大供应国。

JPMorgan Chase unveils “American Dream” initiative focused on small businesses

March 31, 2026 / 7:15 AM EDT / CBS News

JPMorgan Chase is rolling out a new effort to support small businesses and revive economic mobility, as many in the U.S. say the American dream is slipping further out of reach.

The nation’s largest bank said its “American Dream Initiative” will start with lending to small businesses and later expand into housing affordability, health care access and other areas that can build economic opportunity. The rollout comes as surveys show many Americans believe key financial milestones, like buying a home or getting a good job, are increasingly difficult to achieve.

The effort is kicking off with a focus on small businesses because they represent a powerful economic engine, accounting for nearly 44% of the nation’s GDP growth, according to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“By reigniting the American Dream through smart local investments and policies that we know work, we can work together to make the economy benefit more people — helping them buy homes, get good jobs and build better lives,” said Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, in a statement.

The plan, which is aimed at new customers and JPMorgan Chase’s 7 million small business clients, will focus on several key regions, including Alabama, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The initiative will expand that customer base to 10 million small businesses.

Investing in local businesses

A majority of Americans recently surveyed by CBS News said it’s harder to accomplish economic milestones like buying a home or raising a family than it was for past generations. Of the 2,425 adults interviewed, 62% said opportunities are increasing for wealthy people, versus 16% who said the same for the middle class.

“The American Dream is alive, but it’s slipping out of reach for too many people — and for future generations,” Dimon said in the statement.

Beyond providing financial support to small businesses, JPMorgan Chase said it will invest in revitalizing local business districts and offer entrepreneurs technical assistance through its “Coaching for Impact” program, which will train nearly 115,000 total small business owners over the next decade.

Some of these efforts are already underway, the bank said. Last week, for instance, JPMorgan Chase pledged $2.5 million to help spur economic growth in downtown San Francisco. The money will help entrepreneurs open storefronts and commercial spaces, improving public safety and establishing a hub for local manufacturers.

In Alabama, JPMorgan Chase said it plans to support the state’s growing aerospace industry, a key driver in the state’s economy, by training residents and helping small businesses score government contracts. The bank has also set its sights on tripling the number of Chase branches in the state to 35 by 2030.

JPMorgan Chase said it will hire an additional 1,000 small-business bankers to its existing network of 5,000 at branches across the country to connect small business owners to financial resources.

Tony Dokoupil sits down with Dimon for an interview airing Tuesday on “CBS Evening News” and Wednesday on “CBS Mornings.”

IMF认为，战事对供应链和基础设施的最终影响将取决于冲突持续多久。 （路透社）

（华盛顿讯）国际货币基金组织（IMF）警告，美国与以色列对伊朗的战争可能在全球引发一场不对称冲击，这使得刚刚从此前危机中复苏的经济体前景黯淡。

IMF在星期一（3月30日）发布的博客文章中说，高度依赖石油进口的非洲和亚洲国家已经发现，即使是以高昂的价格，也越来越难获得所需的供应。“所有的道路都指向更高的价格和更慢的增长。”

IMF指出，战事对供应链和基础设施的最终影响将取决于冲突是短期还是长期，而“世界可能介于两者之间——紧张局势持续，能源成本居高不下，通胀难以控制——伴随着持续的不确定性和地缘政治风险”。

IMF警告，除了能源中断，更高的食品和化肥价格正在影响从中东到拉丁美洲的一些国家，低收入经济体面临粮食不安全风险。波斯湾地区的肥料供应中断，恰逢北半球播种季节开始，这可能对全年收成构成威胁。

IMF经济师撰文说：“当食品价格上涨时，低收入国家的人民面临的风险最大，因为食品平均占他们消费的36%，而新兴市场经济体为20%，发达经济体为9%。这意味着，化肥和食品价格飙升不仅构成经济问题，也构成社会和政治问题，尤其是在财政资源有限、难以缓和冲击的国家。”

Exclusive: US counterterror officials plan antifa summit, sources say

2026-03-31 10:12:03 UTC / Reuters

By Gram Slattery, Humeyra Pamuk and Trevor Hunnicutt

March 31, 2026 10:12 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

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Members of the Great Lakes anti-fascist organization (Antifa) fly flags during a protest against the Alt-right outside a hotel in Warren, Michigan, U.S., March 4, 2018. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

[1/2]Members of the Great Lakes anti-fascist organization (Antifa) fly flags during a protest against the Alt-right outside a hotel in Warren, Michigan, U.S., March 4, 2018. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Summit targeting antifa, left-wing groups, planned for summer, sources say
• Some current and former US officials say event would be a distraction from threats posed by Iran, Hezbollah
• State Dept. officials involved in planning

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is organizing an international summit focused on countering the left-wing movement antifa and other groups, three sources familiar with the matter said, an effort that highlights the shift in the U.S. government’s counterterrorism priorities ​over the past year.

The conference, tentatively planned for June or July, will convene officials from various nations to discuss strategies for battling antifa and encourage intelligence sharing, said the sources, who requested anonymity ‌as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has portrayed antifa as a severe threat to the U.S.

Counterterrorism experts argue it does not exist as an organized entity, though people claiming affinity to antifa have been involved in armed attacks in the U.S.

Among the officials organizing the event is Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno, said two of the people.

In response to requests for comment, spokespeople for the White House and State Department both described antifa as a major security concern for the ​Trump administration.

“The anarchists, Marxists, and violent extremists of antifa have waged a terror campaign in the United States and across the Western world for decades, carrying out bombings, beatings, shootings, and riots in service of their ​extreme agenda,” said Tommy Pigott, the State Department’s principal deputy spokesman.

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A QUESTION OF PRIORITIES

The planned event has raised concerns among some current and former officials, who argue that the ⁠summit would be a distraction when the U.S. faces threats from Iran-sponsored groups driven by the war in the Middle East.

“I am just skeptical that now, with everything going on, when you see the number of plots being put together ​by Iran and Hezbollah, that there really is a compelling need to spend limited counterterrorism resources on the antifa threat right now,” said Michael Jacobson, who was the director of strategy, plans and initiatives for the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau until ​2025. Now, he is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy think tank.

A State Department official argued the administration had taken “unprecedented steps to combat terrorism worldwide,” including many actions against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Yemen-based Houthis and various drug cartels.

Many details of the planned event were unclear, including which countries were invited and would participate.

As of last week, formal invites for the conference had not yet been sent, two of the people said. The State Department official said no summit date had been set.

It was also unclear if ​the event would focus narrowly on groups or individuals that self-identify with antifa, or on left-wing groups generally. At times, senior administration officials have used antifa as public short hard for leftist extremism of all stripes.

One source expected European governments ​to receive many of the invites. In November, the Trump administration designated four left-wing entities in Germany, Italy and Greece as foreign terrorist organizations under U.S. law. Seven people allegedly linked to one of those groups, known as Antifa Ost, went on trial in ‌Germany in ⁠November for charges including attempted murder.

The source said administration officials hoped to announce a global coalition countering antifa around the time of the planned conference.

ACTS OF VIOLENCE – BUT NO HIERARCHY

Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” is not an organized political group but is a decentralized movement without a clear structure, command hierarchy or leader, according to a 2020 Congressional Research Service report.

Some experts on political extremism, along with former FBI director Christopher Wray, have argued that antifa is better viewed as an ideology than a cohesive entity, and legal and civil rights advocates have expressed concerns that Trump’s pursuit of antifa amounts to an attempt to criminalize certain political views.

Supporters of the administration’s focus on antifa point out that individuals who identify as antifa sympathizers have ​in fact committed acts of violence.

A federal jury in Fort ​Worth this month convicted nine people, who prosecutors said ⁠were antifa operatives, on terrorism-related and weapons charges for an attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Texas last year.

Trump first sought to designate the movement as a domestic terror organization in 2020, when left-wing demonstrators attacked federal buildings in Portland, Oregon during weeks of unrest following the police killing of George Floyd.

A self-identified antifa supporter shot and ​killed a member of far-right group Patriot Prayer in Portland in August 2020, and was in turn killed by federal and local law enforcement officers.

IRAN THREAT LOOMS LARGE

Most ​Western counterterrorism officials are now focused ⁠on the threat of Iran-sponsored attacks directed at U.S., European and Israeli targets.

Ahead of the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, the FBI warned law enforcement agencies that Tehran might try to retaliate for any U.S. strikes by launching surprise drone attacks in California, according to a security bulletin seen by Reuters.

European police body Europol has warned that the conflict has “immediate repercussions” for European Union security, with an increased threat of acts of terror on the continent.

Both at home and abroad, U.S. officials have in ⁠recent years focused ​more on right-wing extremism than left-wing extremism.

But Trump has made countering left-wing groups – and antifa in particular – a priority. He singled out the movement ​on the campaign trail in 2024, and he vowed to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence after the murder of conservative activist and ally Charlie Kirk in September.

Publicly available evidence in that case has not tied alleged assassin Tyler Robinson to antifa.

Shortly after the assassination, ​Trump signed an executive order labeling antifa a “domestic terrorist organization.”

Legal experts have said the domestic terrorist designation is legally and constitutionally dubious and raises free-speech concerns.

Reporting by Gram Slattery, Humeyra Pamuk and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell

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IMF：美伊战争或引发全球不对称冲击

2026年3月31日 17:43 / 联合早报

IMF认为，战事对供应链和基础设施的最终影响将取决于冲突持续多久。 （路透社）

（华盛顿讯）国际货币基金组织（IMF）警告，美国与以色列对伊朗的战争可能在全球引发一场不对称冲击，这使得刚刚从此前危机中复苏的经济体前景黯淡。

IMF在星期一（3月30日）发布的博客文章中说，高度依赖石油进口的非洲和亚洲国家已经发现，即使是以高昂的价格，也越来越难获得所需的供应。“所有的道路都指向更高的价格和更慢的增长。”

IMF指出，战事对供应链和基础设施的最终影响将取决于冲突是短期还是长期，而“世界可能介于两者之间——紧张局势持续，能源成本居高不下，通胀难以控制——伴随着持续的不确定性和地缘政治风险”。

IMF警告，除了能源中断，更高的食品和化肥价格正在影响从中东到拉丁美洲的一些国家，低收入经济体面临粮食不安全风险。波斯湾地区的肥料供应中断，恰逢北半球播种季节开始，这可能对全年收成构成威胁。

IMF经济师撰文说：“当食品价格上涨时，低收入国家的人民面临的风险最大，因为食品平均占他们消费的36%，而新兴市场经济体为20%，发达经济体为9%。这意味着，化肥和食品价格飙升不仅构成经济问题，也构成社会和政治问题，尤其是在财政资源有限、难以缓和冲击的国家。”