U.S. Navy fires warning flare at Iran vessel in Persian Gulf
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer fired a warning flare toward an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel coming near it in the Persian Gulf, an American official said April 26, the latest tense naval encounter between the two countries.
The incident happened April 24 as the vessel attempted to draw closer to the USS Mahan despite the destroyer trying to turn away from it, said Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
The “Mahan made several attempts to contact the Iranian vessel by bridge-to-bridge radio, issuing warning messages and twice sounding the internationally recognized danger signal of five short blasts with the ship’s whistle, as well as deploying a flare to determine the Iranian vessel’s intentions,” McConnaughey said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The Iranian vessel came within 1,000 meters (1,100 yards) of the Mahan during the incident, the lieutenant said. The vessel later turned and sailed away.
The U.S. and Iran routinely have tense encounters in the Persian Gulf and the nearby Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of all oil traded by sea passes. Iran views the American presence as a provocation and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard shadows U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf, occasionally firing missiles or rockets nearby. AP
Russia says U.S. airstrike on Syria damages peace process
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the airstrike that the United States launched at a Syrian military base earlier this month damages the prospects of a political settlement for the war-torn country.
The airstrike was in response to a chemical weapons attack on April 4 on a northern Syrian town that Washington blamed on the Syrian government.
Lavrov told a security conference April 26 the attack as a pretext for a regime change in Syria and said the U.S. response “pushes the prospect for a wide international front on terror even further away.”
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said earlier April 26 Russia had to boost security measures at its air base in Syria after the airstrike. Russia has provided an air cover for the government’s offensive on Islamic State militants. AP
Boeing beats first quarter profit forecasts but revenue falls
Boeing topped expectations for first-quarter profit, but the aerospace giant’s sales fell short of forecasts, and the shares fell in trading April 26.
Chicago-based Boeing said April 26 that it earned $1.45 billion in the first quarter. Excluding non-repeating gains, the profit came to $2.01 per share.
The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was $1.91 per share.
Revenue was $20.98 billion. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $21.44 billion.
Boeing blamed the disappointing sales number on delayed deliveries of commercial and defense aircraft. The company delivered 169 commercial planes in the quarter, down from 176 a year earlier. Boeing said it planned for fewer deliveries of its workhorse 737 plane as it prepares to launch a new version next month.
Revenue from sales of military planes plunged 28 percent, to $2.64 billion.
Boeing expects full-year earnings in the range of $9.20 to $9.40 per share, an increase of a dime per share, as the company now expects a full-year tax rate of 31 percent instead of 32 percent.
In morning trading, the shares were down $3.01, or 1.6 percent, to $180.50. AP