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.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has faulted Boeing for not telling regulators for more than a year that a safety indicator in the cockpit of the top-selling plane didn’t work as intended.

Boeing and the FAA have said the warning light wasn’t critical for flight safety. But the botched communication has eroded trust in Boeing as the company struggles to rebound from the passenger jet crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

“We clearly had a mistake in the implementation of the alert,” Muilenburg said.

Pilots also have expressed anger that Boeing did not inform them about the new software that’s been implicated in the fatal crashes.

Muilenburg expressed confidence that the Boeing 737 Max would be cleared to fly again later this year by U.S. and all other global regulators.

“We will take the time necessary” to ensure the Max is safe, he said.

The model has been grounded worldwide for three months, and regulators need to approve Boeing’s long-awaited fix to the software before it can return to the skies.

Muilenburg called the crashes of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines jets a “defining moment” for Boeing, but said he thinks the result will be a “better and stronger company.”

In the United States, Boeing has faced scrutiny from members of Congress and the FAA over how it reported the problem involving a cockpit warning light.

The company discovered in 2017 that a warning light designed to alert pilots when sensors measuring the angle of a plane’s nose might be wrong only worked if airlines had purchased a separate feature.

The angle-measuring sensors have been implicated in the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last October, and the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March. The sensors malfunctioned, alerting software to push the noses of the planes down. The pilots were unable to take back control of the planes.

Boeing told the FAA of what it learned in 2017 after the Indonesia crash.

Repairing trust in the Max is Boeing’s No. 1 priority, Muilenburg said — ahead of an upgraded 777 and work on its upcoming NMA long-range jet.

The Max, the newest version of Boeing’s best-selling 737, is critical to the company’s future. The Max was a direct response to rival Airbus’ fuel-efficient A320neo, one of the European plane maker’s most popular jets; Airbus has outpaced Boeing in sales in the category.

The Max crashes, a slowing global economy, and damage from tariffs and trade fights threaten to cloud the mood at the Paris Air Show. Along with its alternating-years companion, the Farnborough International Airshow near London, the Paris show is usually a celebration of cutting-edge aviation technology.

Muilenburg forecast a limited number of orders at the Paris event, the first major air show since the crashes, but said it was still important for Boeing to attend to talk to customers and others in the industry.

He also announced that Boeing was raising its long-term forecast for global plane demand, notably amid sustained growth in Asia.

Boeing expects the world’s airlines will need 44,000 planes within 20 years, up from a previous forecast of 43,000 planes.

Muilenburg projected that within 10 years, the overall aviation market — including passenger jets, cargo and warplanes — would be worth $8.7 trillion, compared to earlier forecasts of $8.1 trillion.

Both estimates are higher than the ones from Airbus, which sees slower growth ahead.

However, Airbus is heading into the Paris show with confidence. It is expected to announce several plane sales and unveil its A321 XLR long-range jet. Airbus executives said the Max crashes aren’t affecting their sales strategy, but are a reminder of the importance to the whole industry of ensuring safety.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet convened in this hamlet Sunday to inaugurate a new settlement named after President Donald Trump in a gesture of appreciation for the U.S. leader’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

The settlement isn’t exactly new. Currently known as Bruchim, it is over 30 years old and has a population of 10 people.

Israel is hoping the rebranded “Ramat Trump,” Hebrew for “Trump Heights,” will encourage a wave of residents to vastly expand it.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” said U.S. Ambassador David Friedman, who attended Sunday’s ceremony. Noting that Trump celebrated his birthday Friday, he said: “I can’t think of a more appropriate and a more beautiful birthday present.”

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981. Most of the international community considers the move illegal under international law.

But during a visit to Washington by Netanyahu in March, just weeks before Israeli elections, Trump signed an executive order recognizing the strategic mountainous plateau as Israeli territory. The decision, the latest in a series of diplomatic moves benefiting Israel, was widely applauded in Israel.

“Few things are more important to the security of the state of Israel than permanent sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Friedman said. “It is simply obvious, it is indisputable and beyond any reasonable debate.”

After the Cabinet decision, Netanyahu and Friedman unveiled a sign trimmed in gold with the name “Trump Heights” and adorned with U.S. and Israeli flags.

Addressing the ceremony, Netanyahu called Trump a “great friend” of Israel and described the Golan, which overlooks northern Israel, as an important strategic asset.

“The Golan Heights was and will always be an inseparable part of our country and homeland,” he said.

Obstacles to development

Developing Ramat Trump will not be easy. Ringed by high yellow grass and landmines, it is roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Syrian border and a half hour drive from the nearest Israeli town, Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.

According to Israeli figures, almost 50,000 people live in the Golan, including about 22,000 Jewish Israelis and nearly 25,000 Arab Druze residents.

While Israel has encouraged and promoted settlement in the Golan, its remote location, several hours from the economic center of Tel Aviv, has been an obstacle. The area is home to small agriculture and tourism sectors but otherwise has little industry. 
 
The eight-year Syrian civil war, which at times has resulted in spillover fire into the Golan, also could present an obstacle to luring new residents.

Rosa Zhernakov, a resident of Bruchim since 1991, said the community was excited by Sunday’s decision.

“We hope it will benefit the Golan Heights,” she said, standing outside her bungalow on one of Bruchim’s few streets. She said the revitalization of the settlement will mean “more security” for residents from any possible return of the Golan Heights to Syria as part of a future peace treaty.

Syria has demanded a return of the strategic territory, which overlooks northern Israel, as part of any peace deal. After the devastating civil war in Syria, the prospects of peace talks with Israel anytime soon seem extremely low.

Vladimir Belotserkovsky, 75, another veteran resident, said he welcomed any move to build up the settlement. 
 
“We certainly thank, and I personally, am satisfied by the fact that they’re founding the new settlement named for Trump,” he said.

‘No funding, no planning’

Ramat Trump joins a handful of Israeli places named after American presidents, including a village for Harry S. Truman, who first recognized the Jewish state, and George W. Bush Plaza, a square the size of a modest living room in central Jerusalem.  
 
Following Sunday’s decision to rename the community, developing the settlement still requires overcoming several additional bureaucratic obstacles. With Netanyahu running for re-election in the second national election this year, it remains unclear whether he will be able to complete the task.

Zvi Hauser, an opposition lawmaker who formerly served as Netanyahu’s Cabinet secretary, called Sunday’s ceremony a cheap PR stunt.

“There’s no funding, no planning, no location, and there’s no real binding decision,” he said.
 

The retaliatory move came days after Washington removed New Delhi from a list of countries that have preferential access to its market.

“India has put its cards on the table,” says trade expert Biswajit Dhar at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. “The U.S. has upped the ante and it is also threatening to take further action. This required India to respond.”

The trade spat has escalated ahead of a visit later this month to New Delhi by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who has pushed India to allow American companies more access to its markets and to lower barriers.

Experts fear the growing tensions could cast a shadow over a deepening India-U.S. strategic partnership that aims at countering China’s growing influence.

The American goods that attract higher tariffs beginning Sunday include almonds, apples, walnuts, chickpeas and lentils, as well as some stainless steel products. New Delhi is the largest importer of U.S. almonds and the second largest buyer of apples. The total impact of the Indian tariffs is estimated to be about $240 million.

Increase deferred several times

The hike in duties by New Delhi was announced a year ago in retaliation for Washington’s imposition of higher tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, but deferred several times as both sides held talks to bridge their differences.

But India went ahead after the U.S. earlier this month imposed another punitive measure: removing New Delhi from a trade program to aid the economies of developing countries. Washington said the preferential status was revoked because India has failed to provide adequate access to its markets for U.S. firms. It will impact Indian imports worth $5.6 billion. New Delhi was the largest beneficiary of the Generalized Systems of Preferences program.

India’s commerce ministry has called the decision unfortunate.

US markets

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly named India as one of the countries that follow trade practices unfair to the United States. Washington wants New Delhi to address a trade imbalance, the $142 billion bilateral trade is skewed in New Delhi’s favor by about $30 billion.

Dhar says among the sticking points are the demands by Washington that India lower tariffs on dairy and poultry to encourage U.S. agricultural imports. But these are areas where New Delhi faces domestic challenges. 

“India is battling with this very large population of small and marginal farmers. It is very difficult for India to drop tariffs specially as we know U.S. agricultural products are being subsidized,” according to Dhar.

The United States is also concerned about recent rules that it says adversely impact the operations of its e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Walmart in India.

Even though the moves by New Delhi and Washington signal that each is taking a tougher stand, they could also push both sides to more serious negotiations to resolve their differences.

“We remain open to dialogue and hope that our friends in India will drop their trade barriers and trust in the competitiveness of their own companies, their own businesses, their own people,” Pompeo said at policy speech at the U.S. India Business Council in Washington on Thursday. He said that countries that have provided American companies access to their markets have seen “real opportunity.”

Pompeo will in New Delhi on June 25-26 to hold talks with his Indian counterpart. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Trump are also expected to meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Japan later this month.
 

The United States and the Taliban are scheduled to hold crucial negotiations in Qatar early next week amid high expectations of a breakthrough in a nearly yearlong effort to end the war in Afghanistan. 
 
This would be the seventh round of talks in Doha, Qatar, where the insurgent group maintains an informal political office. The U.S. team is being led by Afghan-born American reconciliation envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. 
 
The dialogue, which excludes the Afghan government, has focused on the withdrawal of American forces from the country in exchange for Taliban assurances that transnational terrorists would be not be allowed to use Afghan soil for attacks against other countries. 
 
U.S. and Taliban negotiators were expected to conclude an agreement covering the two issues in their last meeting in May, but the discussions stalled over the Taliban’s refusal to cease hostilities and participate in an intra-Afghan peace dialogue until Washington announced a troop drawdown timetable. 

Gradual progress seen

A Taliban spokesman has dismissed reported assertions of a stalemate in the dialogue in the wake of U.S. insistence that the final agreement must cover a cease-fire and the insurgent group’s engagement in intra-Afghan talks, involving the Kabul government. 
 
“I don’t see the dialogue is deadlocked. It is progressing, but steadily or gradually,” Suhail Shaheen, who speaks for the insurgent negotiating team, told VOA ahead of the upcoming talks. 
 
“I hope with the announcement of a timetable for withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, the process may gain momentum, paving the way for the Afghans to sit together and chart a road map for a future Islamic system and government,” Shaheen said. 
 
Khalilzad, in a statement ahead of the upcoming meeting with the Taliban, also vowed he would “try to bring the first two parts of our peace framework to closure,” but he emphasized success would require other parties to show flexibility. 

“We hope Khalilzad will deliver what he has promised — that he would try to bring to closure the framework for peace on these two issues,” Shaheen said when asked to respond to comments by the chief American negotiator. 

Two-day session

Official sources in Kabul, meanwhile, have told VOA a two-day peace dialogue among Afghans, including government and Taliban representatives, is being arranged in Doha early next month. The sources said the meeting was scheduled for July 7 and would be an outcome of the upcoming U.S.-Taliban negotiations. 
 
The Taliban are opposed to any direct talks with Afghan government officials, dismissing them as American “puppets.” But the insurgent group, Taliban officials said, is not averse to a peace dialogue with a delegation representing all sections of the Afghan society, including government officials in their individual capacity. 

While Washington has engaged in direct talks with the Taliban, a top American military commander noted this week that strongholds of the Islamic State group in eastern Afghan provinces “are very worrisome to us.” 

Strong pressure seen

However, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said earlier this week that IS was under strong military pressure in Afghanistan. 
 
American forces and their Afghan partners routinely attack IS bases in the country while Taliban insurgents also regularly clash with loyalists of the Middle Eastern-based terrorist group. 
 
“ISIS in Afghanistan certainly has aspirations to attack the United States. … It is our clear judgment that as long as we maintain pressure on them, it will be hard for them to do that,” McKenzie, using an acronym for Islamic State, told reporters in Germany. 
 
But the Taliban swiftly rejected McKenzie’s assertions as baseless and alleged they were aimed at justifying the U.S. military presence in the country. 
 
“Their occupation is practically providing Daesh a ground in Afghanistan, and they are using its name and existence as an instrument,” alleged Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, using the local name for IS. 
 
Mujahid claimed the Taliban had cleared many Afghan areas of IS, and he accused American forces as well as their local partners of launching aerial strikes against Taliban positions in areas where the insurgents are battling IS militants. 

‘Creating hurdles’

“If American generals really fear from Daesh, then why are they avoiding its elimination and creating hurdles against mujahedeen operations? Statements of American generals are opposite of their actions,” Mujahid said. 
 

American military officials, for their part, have reportedly insisted the Taliban have not done enough to fight IS, particularly in the eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar, where the terrorist group has set up bases. 
 
“But not only are the Taliban mostly avoiding fighting the Islamic State, they are also feeding its ranks. Taliban insurgents serve as one of the Islamic State’s primary recruiting pools, and they often bring a wealth of combat experience with them, according to the officials,” the U.S. military officials told The New York Times. 
 
U.S. interlocutors in continuing direct talks with Taliban envoys in Qatar have proposed to leave behind a counterterrorism force in Afghanistan after any peace agreement to fight IS. 
 
Taliban negotiators, however, have rejected the proposal, insisting their fighters could handle and defeat the Islamic State loyalists, according the Times. 

Sudan’s security forces violently swept away a camp in Khartoum on June 3 where demonstrators had been holding a sit-in, with over 100 people killed and hundreds wounded since then, according protest organizers. Authorities have offered a lower death toll: 61, including three security forces.