Latest news with #Pfister
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First Post
25-06-2025
- Business
- First Post
Switzerland in talks with US after F-35 fighter jet price dispute threatens $7.4 billion deal
Switzerland was informed the price for the F-35s would be dearer because of higher raw materials and energy costs, as well as higher US inflation, with the sum potentially increasing by $650 million to $1.3 billion, the government said read more A Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jet performs during an exhibition flight at the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, on June 16, 2025. Reuters File Switzerland is holding talks with the United States after Washington tried to raise the price of new fighter jets Bern is buying for its air force, the government said on Wednesday. Bern chose Lockheed Martin's F-35A Lightning II as its next-generation fighter plane in 2021, with a fixed price of around 6 billion Swiss francs ($7.4 billion) for 36 jets, a decision that attracted controversy in neutral Switzerland. But the US Joint Program Office overseeing the project said last year the price could be higher, and the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency told Switzerland in February that the fixed price was a misunderstanding. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Switzerland was informed the price for the F-35s would be dearer because of higher raw materials and energy costs, as well as higher US inflation, with the sum potentially increasing by $650 million to $1.3 billion, the government said. 'A contract is a contract,' said Urs Loher, head of Swiss defence procurement agency Armasuisse. 'With the procurement of the F-35A fighter aircraft, we're suddenly faced with a different reality, despite a clear fixed price.' As the agreement prevents a legal settlement of the dispute, a diplomatic solution must be sought, the government said. Defence Minister Martin Pfister said talks were now under way with the U.S. authorities. 'We still believe we'll find a solution with the U.S. authorities because they also have an interest in being perceived as a reliable contractual partner,' Pfister said, while as a last resort Switzerland could cancel the deal. The decision to buy the F-35A was contested in Switzerland, with opponents arguing against replacing the country's aging F/A-18 jets with an unnecessary 'Ferrari' option. Critics said Switzerland did not need cutting-edge warplanes to defend its territory, which a supersonic jet can cross in 10 minutes. The F-35A beat bids from Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Rafale produced by France's Dassault and the four-nation Eurofighter built by Italy's Leonardo, Britain's BAE Systems and Airbus representing Germany and Spain. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Still, Switzerland said it remained committed to the F-35A, and that cancelling the order would have serious consequences. 'Switzerland would no longer be able to guarantee the safety of its airspace and population from 2032, as the current F/A-18 fighter aircraft would reach the end of their service life,' Pfister said.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Switzerland in talks with US as cost of F-35A fighter jets rises
By John Revill and Marleen Kaesebier ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland is holding talks with the United States after Washington tried to raise the price of new fighter jets Bern is buying for its air force, the government said on Wednesday. Bern chose Lockheed Martin's F-35A Lightning II as its next-generation fighter plane in 2021, with a fixed price of around 6 billion Swiss francs ($7.4 billion) for 36 jets, a decision that attracted controversy in neutral Switzerland. But the U.S. Joint Program Office overseeing the project said last year the price could be higher, and the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency told Switzerland in February that the fixed price was a misunderstanding. Switzerland was informed the price for the F-35s would be dearer because of higher raw materials and energy costs, as well as higher U.S. inflation, with the sum potentially increasing by $650 million to $1.3 billion, the government said. "A contract is a contract," said Urs Loher, head of Swiss defence procurement agency Armasuisse. "With the procurement of the F-35A fighter aircraft, we're suddenly faced with a different reality, despite a clear fixed price." As the agreement prevents a legal settlement of the dispute, a diplomatic solution must be sought, the government said. Defence Minister Martin Pfister said talks were now under way with the U.S. authorities. "We still believe we'll find a solution with the U.S. authorities because they also have an interest in being perceived as a reliable contractual partner," Pfister said, while as a last resort Switzerland could cancel the deal. The decision to buy the F-35A was contested in Switzerland, with opponents arguing against replacing the country's aging F/A-18 jets with an unnecessary "Ferrari" option. Critics said Switzerland did not need cutting-edge warplanes to defend its territory, which a supersonic jet can cross in 10 minutes. The F-35A beat bids from Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Rafale produced by France's Dassault and the four-nation Eurofighter built by Italy's Leonardo, Britain's BAE Systems and Airbus representing Germany and Spain. Still, Switzerland said it remained committed to the F-35A, and that cancelling the order would have serious consequences. "Switzerland would no longer be able to guarantee the safety of its airspace and population from 2032, as the current F/A-18 fighter aircraft would reach the end of their service life," Pfister said. ($1 = 0.8067 Swiss francs)
Chicago Tribune
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Thousands take to the streets Saturday to protest Trump at Naperville's ‘No Kings' rally
From immigrant and reproductive rights to DOGE accessing personal data, Sharon Pfister keeps a list of her grievances with President Donald Trump's administration on her phone so she can regularly refer back to them. One of her latest concerns was the Saturday military parade in Washington, D.C., to recognize the U.S. Army's 250th birthday, which was being held at the same time that veterans benefits are being cut, said Pfister, a Woodridge resident. The military parade also coincides with Trump's 79th birthday. Despite growing up during the Vietnam War era, Pfister said she had never been to a protest or rally before Trump was elected. But they're more important now than ever, she said Saturday while attending the 'No Kings' rally in downtown Naperville. 'I am afraid of our democracy being disembodied little by little,' she said. A Naperville police officer monitoring the scene estimated a few thousand demonstrators participated in the gathering, which started at the Naperville Municipal Center and proceeded through the downtown streets as people carried homemade signs and chanted and drivers passing by honked their car horns. 'I feel to stay silent is to be complicit,' Mary Sunderland, a Woodridge resident, said. 'Every day is a new horror.' Among the most recent was the attack Thursday on U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, who tried to ask a question at a news conference being held by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and was removed from the room by security officers, taken to the ground and handcuffed. 'If they do that to a senator, what are they doing to a poor migrant?' Sunderland said. Immigrant rights was one of many concerns protesters voiced via signs with messages readying, 'Due process for immigrants,' 'Immigrants aren't enemies' and 'No human is illegal.' 'The way they are treating immigrants is horrendous,' said Hugh Flanders, of Aurora, a retired social studies teacher. 'How are we standing still and watching people being hunted because their skin color is wrong,' said Violet Lekic, of Romeoville. 'What is being done in Washington in America's name is not American.' Suzanne Akhras, a Syrian-American humanitarian activist, spoke of growing up in Syria when Hafez al-Assad came into power after a bloody coup. 'History has shown us repeatedly that dictatorships undermine the very principles of liberty and justice that we all enjoy,' said Akhras, who immigrated to the United States when she was 10. 'Dictatorships concentrate power only in a few of the elite that cozy up to that dictator, and it creates corruption and unfair systems for everyone. They suppress free thought and free speech and violate our basic human rights.' Akhras said the world is watching the United States. 'The right to protest is more than just an American privilege. It's a responsibility,' she said. '… Let's not squander this moment.' About 2,000 rallies took place nationwide as the 'No Kings' movement marked a nationwide day of defiance to denounce the Trump administration. 'We don't want kings. We don't want oligarchs,' Nancy Turner, co-leader of Indivisible Naperville, said. U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, addressed the Naperville crowd, saying he was trying to attend seven similar protests. 'You are not alone,' Foster said. '… Our democracy has been sucker-punched here.' Several attendees said they felt they needed to stand up for democracy. 'The change of government from democracy to fascism is my main concern,' said Shelley Gale, of Willowbrook. It took Gale two weeks to narrow down what she wanted to include on her protest sign, but ultimately decided on 'A con man is stealing your government' for the front and 'A draft dodger is firing veterans' on the back. 'I don't think Trump cares about anything but stealing our government,' she said. 'He's causing chaos and havoc. There's no due process and he's getting away with it.' Jim and Terri Simak, of Naperville, said they believe the country is going backwards. 'What is happening these days is beyond reasonable understanding,' Terri Simak said. 'It's wrong and it's dangerous. Trump feels he is above the law and that's not what we believe in.' The Rev. Sharon Rice, deacon of discipleship with the Community United Methodist Church in Naperville, said that as a person of faith she was concerned about the rise of Christian nationalism, people suffering, cuts to Medicaid and cruelty towards others. Rice said she hopes the rallies across the country send a powerful message. 'There are people who do care about their neighbors,' she said. 'They care about the cuts to social services that the vulnerable rely on. They are tired of this cruelty. There's a positive message to our young people and the country they will inherit: There is hope down the road.'
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ahead of Tesla robotaxi launch, residents in one Austin neighborhood say Model Ys—with drivers—are circling their blocks over and over
Christian Pfister, a 68-year-old retiree, walks his Great Pyrenees, Wally, each morning on the street in his quiet neighborhood—a compilation of old oak tree-lined streets for single-family homes, duplexes, and apartments in southeast Austin where he's been living the last 26 years. It was about three weeks ago, on one of these morning strolls, that he spotted a white Tesla Y with a Texas manufacturer plate drive by, with a dark-colored Tesla closely trailing behind it. He watched as the Tesla tandem conducted a left turn at a street up ahead of him, disappeared around the block for half a mile, then drove by him again—once, then twice, then again and again. 'That's all they did—around the same block over and over and over, all day long,' Pfister says in an interview. Since Pfister's spotting of the vehicles a few weeks ago, a handful of white Teslas (and some black and gray Teslas too) have frequented the streets of Pfister's small neighborhood, driving the same routes and taking the same turns repeatedly—typically with drivers in the front seat, though two residents in the neighborhood that Fortune interviewed say they have seen some driverless vehicles with someone in the passenger seat. Another resident saw Teslas without anyone in them at all on multiple occasions. Tesla is testing the vehicles in the neighborhood as it gears up for a long-anticipated launch of its self-driving taxi service in Austin by the end of this month. The EV company, which has been working on autonomous technology for more than a decade now, has said it is finally ready to go up against robotaxi competitors like Alphabet, whose subsidiary Waymo has already offered 10 million paid rides and is operating in four cities and planning to launch soon in several more. Elon Musk has assured investors that Tesla's robotaxi service, which will initially start small with 10 to 20 vehicles, will expand to several other cities before the end of the year. But it all will start in Austin—and specifically in this small neighborhood—as Tesla proves its concept and irons out any kinks. When the sightings of Tesla's robotaxis began a few weeks ago, they raised alarm among some of the people who lived in the neighborhood. A couple of residents took to the community messaging platform Nextdoor to query their neighbors as to why white Teslas—with drivers—were parking in front of their houses for long stretches of time. 'It's freaking me out,' one woman posted. Anastasia Maren, 24, who moved into the neighborhood last month, said she has seen Teslas drive by or park in front of her duplex repeatedly since she moved in, particularly when she is going on walks. 'They stare you down as if you're in their way, or you're the one who shouldn't be here,' Maren says of the drivers. She says that, while she has sometimes seen the vehicles driving around with only someone in the passenger seat—she often sees a person in the driver's seat controlling the vehicles. 'Sometimes I can see the person actually turning the wheel,' she says. A 37-year-old Austin resident, Robert Yeats, who lives in an apartment complex further north in the neighborhood than Maren and Pfister, says he sees white Teslas line up in front of his apartment, parked and with their hazard lights on, often in groups of about four. In some cases, the Teslas were parked in the middle of the road with their hazard lights on, forcing other drivers to go around them. According to one resident, the tests have occurred as late as 10pm. None of the residents Fortune spoke to said they had received any notice or information from Tesla about the testing in their neighborhood. Austin residents are used to seeing self-driving vehicles around town. Waymo's cars started mapping the city in 2023 with safety drivers on-board, and has since begun offering passenger service around the city without safety drivers in the vehicles. Pfister told Fortune he has seen Waymos parked overnight in front of empty lots in the same neighborhood. A few years ago, Cruise had released robotaxis on the streets of Austin, back before parent company General Motors stopped all rides, and later shut down the ride-hail service, after a high-profile accident in San Francisco. But the Tesla sightings add to the questions that many industry observers have about the viability of the company's technology and approach to autonomous driving. While other autonomous vehicle companies have needed to digitally map roads and neighborhoods before launch, Tesla claims that its camera-only system doesn't require high-definition mapping, radar, or lidar technology. According to the company, its approach to autonomous driving is less expensive and more adaptable than the competition: instead of mapping an area for months, Tesla cars can figure out the terrain wherever they are. But if that's the case, why are Teslas driving around the same streets of one neighborhood over and over—and why do many of the vehicles have someone driving them? 'I thought, well, maybe they're just in the driver's seat, so that if something goes wrong, they can grab the steering wheel. But they are actually driving the car,' Pfister says, noting that he has seen the drivers with their hands on the steering wheel. 'They are actually driving the car, so it's not driverless. I don't really understand.' Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Tesla has also conducted testing in at least two other locations in Texas. There was a scheduled testing with emergency vehicles in a separate isolated street in Austin, as Fortune earlier reported. Tesla also did testing at a training facility in Florence, Tex. with the Texas Department of Public Safety's crash reconstruction team. During that event, state agencies set up scenarios for Tesla's robotaxis to operate, so that the company could collect information about how to respond to various encounters with emergency personnel and equipment, such as crash scenes or flashing lights and sirens, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety. But it's along a few blocks of the neighborhood in Southeast Austin where Tesla has been conducting its regular, real-world testing in the weeks before launch. There's a Tesla Supercharger station just across a busy street—the only station for about two miles—as well as a Tesla collision center less than two miles down the road. The neighborhood itself features quiet streets, though Teslas will have to cross a busy road to get to the charging station. There aren't sidewalks on the residential streets, so residents walk their dogs or push strollers on the street itself—giving the cars an opportunity to operate with obstacles in a controlled environment. The three residents tell Fortune that the cars appear to operate at speeds no greater than 25 miles-per-hour. Tesla is nearing the end of the June deadline that Musk set for launch—with just three weeks until the end of the month. A Bloomberg report had suggested the company was aiming for a June 12 launch. But as of Tuesday, June 10, several important pre-launch checklist items appeared to be outstanding. Tesla had provided drafts, but not finalized emergency responder guides, nor had it conducted emergency responder trainings to the Austin Transportation and Works Department of the Austin Fire Department as of Tuesday, the agencies told Fortune. As Fortune earlier reported, the EV maker told city employees those items would be furnished before the company launches service. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Swiss probe intelligence leaks to Russia
Switzerland's defence ministry has launched an investigation into leaks from the country's intelligence service to Russia's military intelligence, the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS reported Wednesday. The ministry was responding to revelations by the public broadcaster SRF, based on an internal report from the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), which said an officer in charge of the cyber team allegedly transmitted highly sensitive information to the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky -- which then ended up in the hands of Russia's GRU spy agency. Two friendly intelligence services alerted FIS officials to the leaks, the public broadcaster said. They threatened to "cease cooperation with the FIS if the employee continued to work for the FIS", the broadcaster quoted the intelligence service's internal report as saying, due to the danger these leaks posed to their own operations. The case spans from 2014-2015 to at least the end of 2020, according to SRF. The Swiss officer justified the collaboration with Kaspersky by citing a need for access to cyber tools that the small FIS -- which has a few hundred employees -- could not provide due to lack of expertise and resources. The officer in question ultimately left the service in 2020. For Swiss defence minister Martin Pfister, a reliable intelligence service is of paramount importance for Switzerland's protection, "especially in the current global situation marked by insecurity", his ministry told Keystone-ATS. Pfister has launched an administrative investigation led by an external and independent body, which will go over the work of previous investigations -- including those done within the FIS. The collaboration with Kaspersky is surprising for a Western intelligence service, as many experts believe the cybersecurity giant has ties to Russian intelligence. In 2024, the United States banned Kaspersky products and services from US territory. Kaspersky has always firmly denied any links between its cybersecurity services and Russian spy agencies. vog/rjm/jhb
