AUGUST 5, 2018
Huawei in British spotlight over use of U.S. firm's software
Jack Stubbs, Joseph Menn
LONDON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies is facing increased scrutiny in Britain because it is using an aging software component sold by a firm based in the United States, one of the countries where lawmakers allege its equipment could facilitate Chinese spying, sources told Reuters.
FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Huawei sign at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
The fact that the British misgivings stem in part from Huawei’s relationship with a U.S. company shows how trade wars and heightened national security concerns are making it harder for technology firms and governments to safeguard products and communication networks.
A report last month by a British government oversight board charged with analyzing Huawei equipment said it had found technical and supply chain “shortcomings” which exposed the country’s telecoms networks to new security risks.
One of those is due to Huawei’s use of the VxWorks operating system, which is made by California-based Wind River Systems, said three people with knowledge of the matter, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing details which were not made public in the report.
The sources said the version of VxWorks being used by Huawei will stop receiving security patches and updates from Wind River in 2020, even though some of the products it is embedded in will still be in service, potentially leaving British telecoms networks vulnerable to attack.
“Third party software, including security critical components, on various component boards will come out of existing long-term support in 2020, even though the Huawei end of life date for the products containing this component is often longer,” the July report, which did not name VxWorks, said.
U.S. and Australian lawmakers have said Huawei’s products can be used to facilitate Chinese espionage operations, an allegation the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment has repeatedly denied.
All three sources said there was no indication that the VxWorks mismatch was deliberate. There is also no suggestion that the software itself represents a security risk.
Reuters was not able to establish which Huawei products were involved or what steps the Chinese company was taking to address the issue.
A spokeswoman for Wind River Systems said she was unable to comment on Huawei, but said the company often helped customers upgrade to newer software versions. “Wind River offers migration routes and paths for its customers, which should be pretty well known and understood in the industry,” she said.
A Huawei spokesman declined to comment on specific issues in the report but said the company would address any areas for improvement which were raised by British authorities.
“Cyber security remains Huawei’s top priority, and we will continue to actively improve our engineering processes and risk management systems,” he said.
LEGITIMATE CONCERN
While the United States and Australia have moved to restrict the use of its gear due to security concerns, Huawei has been deepening ties with Britain, supplying broadband equipment to its largest telecoms provider, BT Group (BT.L), and mobile networks for wireless giant Vodafone Group (VOD.L).
Consultant Edward Amoroso, a former chief security officer at AT&T, said Huawei’s experience in Britain showed the challenges of securing international supply chains.
Although no one should dismiss Huawei as a supplier solely because of its geographical location, reliance on software that is going out of support is a legitimate concern, Amoroso said.
“I don’t care if it’s from China, Indiana or the moon, it speaks badly for them,” he added.
The globalized nature of the technology industry has come under increasing scrutiny as countries seek to limit the use of equipment from nations they regard as adversaries.
In the United States, the Pentagon is working on a “do not buy” list to block vendors who use software code originating from Russia and China, and Moscow has had problems implementing a data storage law without relying on foreign technology.
By contrast, London says it effectively addresses any security issues presented by the use of Huawei products as part of Britain’s critical national infrastructure by having the equipment reviewed by staff at a special company laboratory.
This is overseen by British government and intelligence officials who report annually on its work. In addition to the issue with VxWorks, this year’s report also cited technical issues which limited security researchers’ ability to check internal product code.
Many in the cybersecurity industry say efforts to bar equipment or software on grounds of nationality are futile because of the deeply inter-dependent nature of the global technology business.
“There’s a real dilemma for policy makers, for politicians,” said Robert Hannigan, former director of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency and now executive chairman for Europe at cybersecurity services firm BlueVoyant.
“How do we find a way of taking advantage of foreign technology in a way that we don’t think compromises our security? That’s a really difficult balance to get.”
Editing by Jonathan Weber and Alexander Smith
Sunday, August 5, 2018
It started as a hobby. Now they're using DNA to help cops crack cold cases - CNN News
It started as a hobby. Now they're using DNA to help cops crack cold cases
By Eric Levenson, CNN
Updated 1919 GMT (0319 HKT) August 3, 2018
(CNN)In a dizzying span over the past few months, some of the nation's most frustratingly unsolvable cold cases have suddenly been, well, solved.
First was the arrest in April of a California man who police say is the notorious Golden State Killer.
Then came the arrest of a suspect in the 1986 killing of a 12-year-old girl in Washington state.
Soon authorities were charging a man for the 1992 sexual assault and killing of a 25-year-old schoolteacher in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and another suspect for the 1988 rape and slaying of an 8-year-old girl in Indiana.
These breakthroughs have come thanks to DNA evidence and a new field of study known as genetic genealogy -- pioneered by a group of passionate and largely unpaid hobbyists.
In the hands of law enforcement, the field is rapidly boosting detectives' ability to crack cases that have stymied them for decades. And the willingness to use that ability has sharply increased since the Golden State Killer case was solved.
"Once the world sort of opened up to the possibility of using this methodology for suspect cases -- and the world didn't explode as a result -- then the floodgates opened," said Margaret Press, who has used genetic genealogy to identify the remains of dead people.
What is genetic genealogy?
It's an emerging field that combines DNA evidence and traditional genealogy to find biological connections between people.
Over the past decade, companies like 23AndMe and Ancestry have encouraged people to spit into a tube and send it off for analysis. These companies analyze a customer's DNA and send back information on their ethnic heritage, genetic health risks and family story -- as well as a raw data file of their DNA.
The practice is increasingly popular and has become a big business. 23AndMe says it has over 5 million customers, while Ancestry says about 10 million people have used its services to have their DNA tested.
Genetic genealogists can use these raw data files to further learn about people's family trees. But 23AndMe and Ancestry are private businesses, so there are some limitations and restrictions on what they can do.
That's where a site called GEDMatch comes in.
What's so special about GEDMatch?
GEDMatch is a free, open-source website where people can upload their DNA raw data files. Curtis Rogers and John Olson started GEDMatch in 2010 and it has grown consistently since.
Rogers, an 80-year-old professional guardian with a passion for visiting graveyards and sifting through old records, told CNN he started GEDMatch to create tools for genealogists like himself. The basic idea is that the site has certain tools that are better tailored for the work of genetic genealogists than the big genetic testing companies. Plus, it's free.
Eight-year-old April Tinsley was abducted, raped, and killed on Good Friday in 1988.
Eight-year-old April Tinsley was abducted, raped, and killed on Good Friday in 1988.
GEDMatch takes in raw DNA files and compares them to the more than a million people who have already uploaded their name, email addresses and DNA data. After an analysis, GEDMatch produces a list of family relatives who have also opted in to its service, from immediate parents to fourth and fifth cousins, along with their contact information.
At this point, genetic genealogists get down to the nitty-gritty of their work -- lots and lots of research. Genealogists take those relatives' names and search through obituaries, birth certificates and other public documents to solve the puzzle that is building out an extended family tree.
This process allows genetic genealogists to help people locate long-lost family members, for example, or inform adopted children about their biological parents.
But what does that have to do with cold cases?
That same work is now being used to help detectives solve crimes.
Law enforcement already works plenty with DNA. Typically, investigators take DNA from a crime scene and compare it to a suspect's DNA. Or they enter the crime scene DNA into a national database to see if there's a match with a known criminal offender.
But if there's no match, the perpetrator's identity might remain unknown.
Now, though, investigators can take crime scene DNA and team up with genetics companies, such as Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs, to turn that evidence into a raw data file and upload it to GEDMatch. The site then spits out a list of extended family members who are related to the perpetrator, allowing investigators to begin zeroing in on those who may have had close contact with the victim.
DNA evidence led police to charge John D. Miller, 59, with April Tinsley's murder.
DNA evidence led police to charge John D. Miller, 59, with April Tinsley's murder.
The use of these open databases thus expands the number of possible suspects to include people who have not previously committed a crime.
This type of detective work isn't allowed on the big genetic testing sites. On its website, 23andMe openly states that it "chooses to use all practical legal and administrative resources to resist requests from law enforcement." Similarly, Ancestry says it only releases customers' information in response to a trial, grand jury or subpoena.
But by using GEDMatch, genetic genealogists work to build out an extended family tree to narrow down the list of possible suspects. Then investigators can do further detective work, such as surveillance, questioning, and testing of abandoned DNA samples -- such as saliva on a napkin left in a suspect's trash -- to make an arrest.
Wasn't the Golden State Killer case like that?
Exactly. For decades, investigators had searched for a man they suspected of a series of killings, rapes and assaults in the 1970s and 80s in California. But tests of crime scene DNA had not turned up any matches.
But in the past year, Paul Holes, an investigator with the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, put the Golden State Killer's DNA raw data into GEDMatch to narrow down the list of possible suspects.
Investigators pared down that list further by looking at people who were about the right age and living in the area during that period.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 72, the alleged Golden State Killer.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 72, the alleged Golden State Killer.
When one of the remaining possible suspects -- Joseph James DeAngelo, 72 -- went into a Hobby Lobby store in April, investigators swabbed the handle of his car's driver's-side door, according to arrest and search warrants. They then tested that DNA sample against an existing crime scene DNA sample. He was a match for the killer, law enforcement officials said.
"This investigation lasted over 40 years, but with this course of DNA testing and matching, it took us only four months to get to the right pool of people," Holes said.
Have other cases also been solved like this?
The use of DNA and genealogy in the Golden State Killer case garnered huge media attention and launched genetic genealogy into the mainstream.
Breakthroughs in other cold cases soon followed.
The 1986 killing of 12-year-old Michella Welch had long been a mystery for police in Tacoma, Washington. They had built a DNA profile of the suspect but had no matches in state or national databases. But after investigators began working with a genetic genealogist, they arrested Gary Hartman, 66, in June.
Michella Welch, 12, was slain in 1986. Her alleged killer was finally arrested in June.
Michella Welch, 12, was slain in 1986. Her alleged killer was finally arrested in June.
Genetic genealogy also helped identify the man who police say abducted, raped and killed 8-year-old April Tinsley in Indiana in 1988. The mysterious killer left taunting messages over the years but still could not be identified.
Then in May, just weeks after the arrest in the Golden State Killer case, police hired Parabon NanoLabs and genetic genealogist CeCe Moore to work their expertise on the case. They narrowed the suspects down to two brothers, one of whom was 59-year-old John D. Miller.
DNA found on condoms in Miller's trash matched that of the killer, and he confessed after police brought him in for questioning, a criminal affidavit states.
And in June, genetic genealogy helped solve the 1992 killing of schoolteacher Christy Mirack, 25, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman, the DNA work with Parabon NanoLabs was vital in leading investigators to Raymond Rowe, 49, now charged with her murder.
The slaying of Christy Mirack, 25, remained unsolved for 26 years.
The slaying of Christy Mirack, 25, remained unsolved for 26 years.
After comparing DNA found on a water bottle used by Rowe in May to samples taken from Mirack's body in 1992, detectives learned the probability of the perpetrator being anyone other than Rowe was approximately one in 200 octillion, Stedman said.
Before the DNA testing, Rowe wasn't a suspect, even though he had lived just four miles away from Mirack when she was killed.
Wait, so do police have access to people's DNA?
Not quite. Curtis Rogers, GEDMatch's founder, says GEDMatch provides matches to names and emails of relatives, but does not actually give out the raw DNA data.
Still, the ethics of allowing police any access to a site made up of people's private DNA remains uncomfortable, he told CNN. He has worked to educate GEDMatch users that when they input their DNA they are opting in to its potential use in police investigations, a fact now prominently displayed in the site's terms of service.
But if it helps solve old murders, he's cautiously okay with it.
Raymond Rowe, 49, was charged with Mirack's murder after police got his DNA from a water bottle.
Raymond Rowe, 49, was charged with Mirack's murder after police got his DNA from a water bottle.
"Certainly catching the Golden State Killer, who makes Jack the Ripper look like a choir boy, is worthwhile," he said. "But we do have an obligation to all of our people to give them the privacy that they want."
CeCe Moore, the genetic genealogist who appears on PBS' "Finding Your Roots," says GEDMatch has been crucial to the field.
"GEDMatch is absolutely the key, and had (the founders) decided that they didn't want law enforcement to use their database, we wouldn't have been able to do this," she told CNN.
What else can genetic genealogy be used for?
Margaret Press and Colleen Fitzpatrick, co-founders of the non-profit DNA Doe Project, use their genetic genealogy knowledge to identify the remains of unknown deceased people.
In April, they identified the "Buckskin Girl," a woman who was found strangled in Troy, Ohio in 1981 and whose identity had remained a mystery.
Press and Fitzpatrick are both PhDs -- they call themselves a "Pair-o'-docs" (get it?) -- and turned to genetic genealogy in their later years, like many of those in the field. In fact, the majority of people in genetic genealogy are hobbyists who volunteer their time, such as the "search angels" who help adopted children connect with their biological families.
Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, right: "There is so much volunteerism in this community."
Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, right: "There is so much volunteerism in this community."
There are a few professionals in the field, but even they often work pro bono on the side. This particular passion is already an emerging component of detective work and is only going to grow in the future.
"There is so much volunteerism in this community, it's just incredible to be a part of it," said Moore, who has personally helped solved several cold cases and says she was the first to call herself a professional genetic genealogist.
"It's been the most amazing thing to watch this ... field explode into an industry now, to see it from the beginning."
By Eric Levenson, CNN
Updated 1919 GMT (0319 HKT) August 3, 2018
(CNN)In a dizzying span over the past few months, some of the nation's most frustratingly unsolvable cold cases have suddenly been, well, solved.
First was the arrest in April of a California man who police say is the notorious Golden State Killer.
Then came the arrest of a suspect in the 1986 killing of a 12-year-old girl in Washington state.
Soon authorities were charging a man for the 1992 sexual assault and killing of a 25-year-old schoolteacher in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and another suspect for the 1988 rape and slaying of an 8-year-old girl in Indiana.
These breakthroughs have come thanks to DNA evidence and a new field of study known as genetic genealogy -- pioneered by a group of passionate and largely unpaid hobbyists.
In the hands of law enforcement, the field is rapidly boosting detectives' ability to crack cases that have stymied them for decades. And the willingness to use that ability has sharply increased since the Golden State Killer case was solved.
"Once the world sort of opened up to the possibility of using this methodology for suspect cases -- and the world didn't explode as a result -- then the floodgates opened," said Margaret Press, who has used genetic genealogy to identify the remains of dead people.
What is genetic genealogy?
It's an emerging field that combines DNA evidence and traditional genealogy to find biological connections between people.
Over the past decade, companies like 23AndMe and Ancestry have encouraged people to spit into a tube and send it off for analysis. These companies analyze a customer's DNA and send back information on their ethnic heritage, genetic health risks and family story -- as well as a raw data file of their DNA.
The practice is increasingly popular and has become a big business. 23AndMe says it has over 5 million customers, while Ancestry says about 10 million people have used its services to have their DNA tested.
Genetic genealogists can use these raw data files to further learn about people's family trees. But 23AndMe and Ancestry are private businesses, so there are some limitations and restrictions on what they can do.
That's where a site called GEDMatch comes in.
What's so special about GEDMatch?
GEDMatch is a free, open-source website where people can upload their DNA raw data files. Curtis Rogers and John Olson started GEDMatch in 2010 and it has grown consistently since.
Rogers, an 80-year-old professional guardian with a passion for visiting graveyards and sifting through old records, told CNN he started GEDMatch to create tools for genealogists like himself. The basic idea is that the site has certain tools that are better tailored for the work of genetic genealogists than the big genetic testing companies. Plus, it's free.
Eight-year-old April Tinsley was abducted, raped, and killed on Good Friday in 1988.
Eight-year-old April Tinsley was abducted, raped, and killed on Good Friday in 1988.
GEDMatch takes in raw DNA files and compares them to the more than a million people who have already uploaded their name, email addresses and DNA data. After an analysis, GEDMatch produces a list of family relatives who have also opted in to its service, from immediate parents to fourth and fifth cousins, along with their contact information.
At this point, genetic genealogists get down to the nitty-gritty of their work -- lots and lots of research. Genealogists take those relatives' names and search through obituaries, birth certificates and other public documents to solve the puzzle that is building out an extended family tree.
This process allows genetic genealogists to help people locate long-lost family members, for example, or inform adopted children about their biological parents.
But what does that have to do with cold cases?
That same work is now being used to help detectives solve crimes.
Law enforcement already works plenty with DNA. Typically, investigators take DNA from a crime scene and compare it to a suspect's DNA. Or they enter the crime scene DNA into a national database to see if there's a match with a known criminal offender.
But if there's no match, the perpetrator's identity might remain unknown.
Now, though, investigators can take crime scene DNA and team up with genetics companies, such as Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs, to turn that evidence into a raw data file and upload it to GEDMatch. The site then spits out a list of extended family members who are related to the perpetrator, allowing investigators to begin zeroing in on those who may have had close contact with the victim.
DNA evidence led police to charge John D. Miller, 59, with April Tinsley's murder.
DNA evidence led police to charge John D. Miller, 59, with April Tinsley's murder.
The use of these open databases thus expands the number of possible suspects to include people who have not previously committed a crime.
This type of detective work isn't allowed on the big genetic testing sites. On its website, 23andMe openly states that it "chooses to use all practical legal and administrative resources to resist requests from law enforcement." Similarly, Ancestry says it only releases customers' information in response to a trial, grand jury or subpoena.
But by using GEDMatch, genetic genealogists work to build out an extended family tree to narrow down the list of possible suspects. Then investigators can do further detective work, such as surveillance, questioning, and testing of abandoned DNA samples -- such as saliva on a napkin left in a suspect's trash -- to make an arrest.
Wasn't the Golden State Killer case like that?
Exactly. For decades, investigators had searched for a man they suspected of a series of killings, rapes and assaults in the 1970s and 80s in California. But tests of crime scene DNA had not turned up any matches.
But in the past year, Paul Holes, an investigator with the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, put the Golden State Killer's DNA raw data into GEDMatch to narrow down the list of possible suspects.
Investigators pared down that list further by looking at people who were about the right age and living in the area during that period.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 72, the alleged Golden State Killer.
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 72, the alleged Golden State Killer.
When one of the remaining possible suspects -- Joseph James DeAngelo, 72 -- went into a Hobby Lobby store in April, investigators swabbed the handle of his car's driver's-side door, according to arrest and search warrants. They then tested that DNA sample against an existing crime scene DNA sample. He was a match for the killer, law enforcement officials said.
"This investigation lasted over 40 years, but with this course of DNA testing and matching, it took us only four months to get to the right pool of people," Holes said.
Have other cases also been solved like this?
The use of DNA and genealogy in the Golden State Killer case garnered huge media attention and launched genetic genealogy into the mainstream.
Breakthroughs in other cold cases soon followed.
The 1986 killing of 12-year-old Michella Welch had long been a mystery for police in Tacoma, Washington. They had built a DNA profile of the suspect but had no matches in state or national databases. But after investigators began working with a genetic genealogist, they arrested Gary Hartman, 66, in June.
Michella Welch, 12, was slain in 1986. Her alleged killer was finally arrested in June.
Michella Welch, 12, was slain in 1986. Her alleged killer was finally arrested in June.
Genetic genealogy also helped identify the man who police say abducted, raped and killed 8-year-old April Tinsley in Indiana in 1988. The mysterious killer left taunting messages over the years but still could not be identified.
Then in May, just weeks after the arrest in the Golden State Killer case, police hired Parabon NanoLabs and genetic genealogist CeCe Moore to work their expertise on the case. They narrowed the suspects down to two brothers, one of whom was 59-year-old John D. Miller.
DNA found on condoms in Miller's trash matched that of the killer, and he confessed after police brought him in for questioning, a criminal affidavit states.
And in June, genetic genealogy helped solve the 1992 killing of schoolteacher Christy Mirack, 25, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman, the DNA work with Parabon NanoLabs was vital in leading investigators to Raymond Rowe, 49, now charged with her murder.
The slaying of Christy Mirack, 25, remained unsolved for 26 years.
The slaying of Christy Mirack, 25, remained unsolved for 26 years.
After comparing DNA found on a water bottle used by Rowe in May to samples taken from Mirack's body in 1992, detectives learned the probability of the perpetrator being anyone other than Rowe was approximately one in 200 octillion, Stedman said.
Before the DNA testing, Rowe wasn't a suspect, even though he had lived just four miles away from Mirack when she was killed.
Wait, so do police have access to people's DNA?
Not quite. Curtis Rogers, GEDMatch's founder, says GEDMatch provides matches to names and emails of relatives, but does not actually give out the raw DNA data.
Still, the ethics of allowing police any access to a site made up of people's private DNA remains uncomfortable, he told CNN. He has worked to educate GEDMatch users that when they input their DNA they are opting in to its potential use in police investigations, a fact now prominently displayed in the site's terms of service.
But if it helps solve old murders, he's cautiously okay with it.
Raymond Rowe, 49, was charged with Mirack's murder after police got his DNA from a water bottle.
Raymond Rowe, 49, was charged with Mirack's murder after police got his DNA from a water bottle.
"Certainly catching the Golden State Killer, who makes Jack the Ripper look like a choir boy, is worthwhile," he said. "But we do have an obligation to all of our people to give them the privacy that they want."
CeCe Moore, the genetic genealogist who appears on PBS' "Finding Your Roots," says GEDMatch has been crucial to the field.
"GEDMatch is absolutely the key, and had (the founders) decided that they didn't want law enforcement to use their database, we wouldn't have been able to do this," she told CNN.
What else can genetic genealogy be used for?
Margaret Press and Colleen Fitzpatrick, co-founders of the non-profit DNA Doe Project, use their genetic genealogy knowledge to identify the remains of unknown deceased people.
In April, they identified the "Buckskin Girl," a woman who was found strangled in Troy, Ohio in 1981 and whose identity had remained a mystery.
Press and Fitzpatrick are both PhDs -- they call themselves a "Pair-o'-docs" (get it?) -- and turned to genetic genealogy in their later years, like many of those in the field. In fact, the majority of people in genetic genealogy are hobbyists who volunteer their time, such as the "search angels" who help adopted children connect with their biological families.
Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, right: "There is so much volunteerism in this community."
Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, right: "There is so much volunteerism in this community."
There are a few professionals in the field, but even they often work pro bono on the side. This particular passion is already an emerging component of detective work and is only going to grow in the future.
"There is so much volunteerism in this community, it's just incredible to be a part of it," said Moore, who has personally helped solved several cold cases and says she was the first to call herself a professional genetic genealogist.
"It's been the most amazing thing to watch this ... field explode into an industry now, to see it from the beginning."
The Best and Worst Airlines and Airports of 2018 - Bloomberg
The Best and Worst Airlines and Airports of 2018
The sixth annual study by AirHelp turns up plenty of surprises.
By Nikki Ekstein
June 7, 2018, 12:45 AM GMT+10
Last summer, on a bucket list trip through Southern Africa, I took a total of six flights with South African Airways. On the first one, a 15-hour trip from New York’s JFK Airport to Johannesburg, my air vent and seat-back screens were both broken. On my next five flights, the situation was only marginally better.
Within a week of my return, a customer service agent at South African Airways received an angry note from me, citing the airline’s outdated planes and unsympathetic flight attendants. Surely, I wasn’t the only one complaining: The company seemed well-versed in responding to inquiries of this nature. Staff apologized quickly and gave me a mileage credit. It didn’t undo the terrible flights, but the swift show of humanity is rare in the aviation industry.
It’s also the reason that the deep-in-debt carrier took the fifth slot in this year’s 2018 AirHelp Score report from AirHelp, a company that advocates on behalf of air travelers for compensation in cases of delays or cancelations. Its sixth annual survey uses data from the first quarter of the year to rank the 72 international airlines for which the company had statistically significant data.
Overall rankings are based on three factors: on-time performance, quality of service (gleaned from public reviews on an array of reliable websites), and a claims-processing score (which reflects how a company handles customer complaints).
“South African Airlines has a fantastic claims-processing score,” explains Ashley Raiteri, an industry adviser for AirHelp—the airline earned 8.69 points of a possible 10—and it’s also got a good track record of keeping flights on time.
“Irregularities in flights are going to happen,” Raiteri adds. “What’s important is whether the airline has planned for that so they can make the experience less hellish for the consumer.”
With that in mind, here are the best and worst airlines of the year, according to AirHelp, along with their on-time performance records.
The 10 Best Airlines of 2018
A Qatar Airways jet gets hosed down in Chicago.Photographer: Jeff Schear/Getty Images North America
1. Qatar Airways (89 percent on-time performance)
2. Lufthansa (76 percent)
3. Etihad Airways (86 percent)
4. Singapore Airlines (85 percent)
5. South African Airways (85 percent)
6. Austrian Airlines (80 percent)
7. Aegean Airlines (90 percent)
8. Qantas (89 percent)
9. Air Malta (86 percent)
10. Virgin Atlantic (82 percent )
The Worst Airlines of 2018
Despite its name, WOW is not impressing the statisticians at AirHelp.Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images Europe
63. Jet Airways (65 percent on-time performance)
64. Aerolineas Argentinas (85 percent)
65. Iberia (84 percent)
66. Korean Air (64 percent)
67. Ryanair (86 percent)
68. Air Mauritius (69 percent)
69. EasyJet (79 percent)
70. Pakistan International Airlines (61 percent)
71. Royal Jordanian Airlines (83 percent)
72. WOW Air (75 percent)
Surprises exist on both lists. Iberia—which ranked among the best airlines on a similar report from FlightStats last year that was configured purely according to on-time performance—appears in AirHelp’s worst airlines list, a reflection of its poor “claim processing score.” KLM and Emirates, airlines with passionate fan bases, ranked 11th and 16th, respectively, just outside the top 10.
U.S. carriers didn’t fare particularly well: American Airlines Inc. performed best, at 23rd of 72, followed by United Airlines Inc. in 37th place and Delta Air Lines, Inc. in 47th place. “Delta has a great on-time performance, but in dealing with claims, more often than not they either ignore them or reject them out of hand, forcing customers into court in order to pay what they’re legally obligated to pay,” Raiteri tells Bloomberg. While the three airlines won nearly identical scores in “quality of service,” Delta was the category leader by a few tenths of a point.
The only budget carrier to crack the top ranks: Norwegian.Photographer: AFP/AFP
While budget carriers did not fare well, with Ryanair DAC, EasyJet Airline Co., and WOW Air all appearing among the bottom 10 airlines, there was one exception: Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA ranked 12th overall, reflecting a 76 percent on-time record and very good scores both for claims processing and quality of service.
The data concerning best and worst airports contain similar surprises. No American hubs were ranked in the top 30—Seattle-Tacoma took the domestic lead, in the 33rd slot—while a large number of Brazilian airports dominated the charts, something Raiteri attributes to good local weather and a “hub and spoke” route network that keeps flights moving smoothly and on time.
AirHelp’s data for airports cover 141 destinations. They factor in on-time performance, quality of service, and online consumer sentiment, but its rankings heavily favor the first two criteria.
“Different airports deal with different problems,” Raiteri explains, saying that Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta has recently battled a series of power outages, while airports in Scandinavia tend to get knocked for weather delays, despite their sleek looks and efficient service.
“In some places, the local culture can leave people feeling cold,” Raiteri adds, describing the direct style of security agents in northern Europe. Here are the best and worst airports of 2018.
The 10 Best Airports of 2018
Hamad International Airport, in Doha, ranks as this year’s top airport.Photographer: Veronica Garbutt/Lonely Planet Images
1. Hamad International Airport, Doha (DOH)
2. Athens International Airport, Athens (ATH)
3. Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Tokyo (HND)
4. Cologne Bonn Airport, Cologne, Germany (CGN)
5. Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore (SIN)
6. Nagoya Chubu Centrair Airport, Nagoya, Japan (NGO)
7. Viracopos International Airport, Campinas, Brazil (VCP)
8. Amman Queen Alia Airport, Amman, Jordan (AMM)
9. Guararapes-Gilberto Freyre International Airport, Recife, Brazil (REC)
10. Quito International Airport, Quito, Ecuador (UIO)
The Worst Airports of 2018
The worst airport of 2018: Kuwait International.Photographer: JD Dallet/arabianEye
132. Eindhoven Airport, Eindhoven, Netherlands (EIN)
133. Bordeaux Merignac, Bordeaux, France (BOD)
134. Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh (EDI)
135. Boryspil International Airport, Kiev, Ukraine (KBP)
136. Manchester Airport, Manchester, United Kingdom (MAN)
137. Stockholm Bromma Airport, Stockholm (BMA)
138. Paris Orly, Paris (ORY)
139. Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport, Lyon, France (LYS)
140. London Stansted Airport, London (STN)
141. Kuwait International Airport, Farwaniya, Kuwait (KWI)
One note of optimism: Raiteri says most airlines and airports that descended in the rankings this year did so because the marketplace is becoming more competitive, not because their individual performance is declining.
“What we mostly see is improvement, to be honest,” he tells Bloomberg. “Most airlines have been late to recognizing their responsibility, but after all the publicity that United got last year, we’re seeing airlines taking a much different approach to dealing with passengers.”
For both airlines and airports, he says, “We don’t see folks falling in rank due to poor performance—but because another entity is doing better and pushing them down.” Consider it a silver lining the next time you’re stranded at the gate.
The sixth annual study by AirHelp turns up plenty of surprises.
By Nikki Ekstein
June 7, 2018, 12:45 AM GMT+10
Last summer, on a bucket list trip through Southern Africa, I took a total of six flights with South African Airways. On the first one, a 15-hour trip from New York’s JFK Airport to Johannesburg, my air vent and seat-back screens were both broken. On my next five flights, the situation was only marginally better.
Within a week of my return, a customer service agent at South African Airways received an angry note from me, citing the airline’s outdated planes and unsympathetic flight attendants. Surely, I wasn’t the only one complaining: The company seemed well-versed in responding to inquiries of this nature. Staff apologized quickly and gave me a mileage credit. It didn’t undo the terrible flights, but the swift show of humanity is rare in the aviation industry.
It’s also the reason that the deep-in-debt carrier took the fifth slot in this year’s 2018 AirHelp Score report from AirHelp, a company that advocates on behalf of air travelers for compensation in cases of delays or cancelations. Its sixth annual survey uses data from the first quarter of the year to rank the 72 international airlines for which the company had statistically significant data.
Overall rankings are based on three factors: on-time performance, quality of service (gleaned from public reviews on an array of reliable websites), and a claims-processing score (which reflects how a company handles customer complaints).
“South African Airlines has a fantastic claims-processing score,” explains Ashley Raiteri, an industry adviser for AirHelp—the airline earned 8.69 points of a possible 10—and it’s also got a good track record of keeping flights on time.
“Irregularities in flights are going to happen,” Raiteri adds. “What’s important is whether the airline has planned for that so they can make the experience less hellish for the consumer.”
With that in mind, here are the best and worst airlines of the year, according to AirHelp, along with their on-time performance records.
The 10 Best Airlines of 2018
A Qatar Airways jet gets hosed down in Chicago.Photographer: Jeff Schear/Getty Images North America
1. Qatar Airways (89 percent on-time performance)
2. Lufthansa (76 percent)
3. Etihad Airways (86 percent)
4. Singapore Airlines (85 percent)
5. South African Airways (85 percent)
6. Austrian Airlines (80 percent)
7. Aegean Airlines (90 percent)
8. Qantas (89 percent)
9. Air Malta (86 percent)
10. Virgin Atlantic (82 percent )
The Worst Airlines of 2018
Despite its name, WOW is not impressing the statisticians at AirHelp.Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images Europe
63. Jet Airways (65 percent on-time performance)
64. Aerolineas Argentinas (85 percent)
65. Iberia (84 percent)
66. Korean Air (64 percent)
67. Ryanair (86 percent)
68. Air Mauritius (69 percent)
69. EasyJet (79 percent)
70. Pakistan International Airlines (61 percent)
71. Royal Jordanian Airlines (83 percent)
72. WOW Air (75 percent)
Surprises exist on both lists. Iberia—which ranked among the best airlines on a similar report from FlightStats last year that was configured purely according to on-time performance—appears in AirHelp’s worst airlines list, a reflection of its poor “claim processing score.” KLM and Emirates, airlines with passionate fan bases, ranked 11th and 16th, respectively, just outside the top 10.
U.S. carriers didn’t fare particularly well: American Airlines Inc. performed best, at 23rd of 72, followed by United Airlines Inc. in 37th place and Delta Air Lines, Inc. in 47th place. “Delta has a great on-time performance, but in dealing with claims, more often than not they either ignore them or reject them out of hand, forcing customers into court in order to pay what they’re legally obligated to pay,” Raiteri tells Bloomberg. While the three airlines won nearly identical scores in “quality of service,” Delta was the category leader by a few tenths of a point.
The only budget carrier to crack the top ranks: Norwegian.Photographer: AFP/AFP
While budget carriers did not fare well, with Ryanair DAC, EasyJet Airline Co., and WOW Air all appearing among the bottom 10 airlines, there was one exception: Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA ranked 12th overall, reflecting a 76 percent on-time record and very good scores both for claims processing and quality of service.
The data concerning best and worst airports contain similar surprises. No American hubs were ranked in the top 30—Seattle-Tacoma took the domestic lead, in the 33rd slot—while a large number of Brazilian airports dominated the charts, something Raiteri attributes to good local weather and a “hub and spoke” route network that keeps flights moving smoothly and on time.
AirHelp’s data for airports cover 141 destinations. They factor in on-time performance, quality of service, and online consumer sentiment, but its rankings heavily favor the first two criteria.
“Different airports deal with different problems,” Raiteri explains, saying that Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta has recently battled a series of power outages, while airports in Scandinavia tend to get knocked for weather delays, despite their sleek looks and efficient service.
“In some places, the local culture can leave people feeling cold,” Raiteri adds, describing the direct style of security agents in northern Europe. Here are the best and worst airports of 2018.
The 10 Best Airports of 2018
Hamad International Airport, in Doha, ranks as this year’s top airport.Photographer: Veronica Garbutt/Lonely Planet Images
1. Hamad International Airport, Doha (DOH)
2. Athens International Airport, Athens (ATH)
3. Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Tokyo (HND)
4. Cologne Bonn Airport, Cologne, Germany (CGN)
5. Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore (SIN)
6. Nagoya Chubu Centrair Airport, Nagoya, Japan (NGO)
7. Viracopos International Airport, Campinas, Brazil (VCP)
8. Amman Queen Alia Airport, Amman, Jordan (AMM)
9. Guararapes-Gilberto Freyre International Airport, Recife, Brazil (REC)
10. Quito International Airport, Quito, Ecuador (UIO)
The Worst Airports of 2018
The worst airport of 2018: Kuwait International.Photographer: JD Dallet/arabianEye
132. Eindhoven Airport, Eindhoven, Netherlands (EIN)
133. Bordeaux Merignac, Bordeaux, France (BOD)
134. Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh (EDI)
135. Boryspil International Airport, Kiev, Ukraine (KBP)
136. Manchester Airport, Manchester, United Kingdom (MAN)
137. Stockholm Bromma Airport, Stockholm (BMA)
138. Paris Orly, Paris (ORY)
139. Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport, Lyon, France (LYS)
140. London Stansted Airport, London (STN)
141. Kuwait International Airport, Farwaniya, Kuwait (KWI)
One note of optimism: Raiteri says most airlines and airports that descended in the rankings this year did so because the marketplace is becoming more competitive, not because their individual performance is declining.
“What we mostly see is improvement, to be honest,” he tells Bloomberg. “Most airlines have been late to recognizing their responsibility, but after all the publicity that United got last year, we’re seeing airlines taking a much different approach to dealing with passengers.”
For both airlines and airports, he says, “We don’t see folks falling in rank due to poor performance—but because another entity is doing better and pushing them down.” Consider it a silver lining the next time you’re stranded at the gate.
How Britain’s far left ‘sympathises’ with the worst of our prejudices - Guardian
How Britain’s far left ‘sympathises’ with the worst of our prejudices
Nick Cohen
Momentum’s Activist Handbook has little positive to say on the immigration front
Sun 5 Aug 2018 15.00 AEST
‘You can just about grasp why his fans believe Corbyn is Britain’s first black leader rather than an elderly white gentleman.’
‘You can just about grasp why his fans believe Corbyn is Britain’s first black leader rather than an elderly white gentleman.’ Photograph: Finbarr Webster/REX/Shutterstock
The personality cult the British left genuflects before reached its apogee last week when the anti-racist campaigner Lester Holloway declared that Jeremy Corbyn was, when you got down to it, black. You have that right. “Labour actually have the first black party leader in Corbyn.”
“Black in his politics”, Holloway added, as an avalanche of ridicule headed towards him. But the comparison was made. As if to elaborate the argument, the Guardian columnist Owen Jones said that the centre couldn’t fight the nativist forces Trump and Brexit have unleashed. Only a left that holds “powerful vested interests to account, rather than scapegoating migrants and Muslims, can hope to defeat this political poison”.
Not the poisonous scapegoating of Jews, obviously. When it comes to the target of the Nazi conspiracy theory, Corbyn and his allies are the poison. Abandon the Jews, however, and you can just about grasp why his fans believe that Corbyn is Britain’s first black leader – our very own Mandela – rather than an elderly white gentleman who does not appear to have found the intellectual capacity to change his mind on a single issue since he left Shropshire’s Adams grammar school in 1967 with no academic qualifications worth mentioning.
Momentum heads to Glasgow to hold first Scottish training event
Grasp it, that is, until you look closer. Momentum, Corbyn’s party within the Labour party, shows its commitment to fighting far-right ideas in its Activist Handbook. It isn’t an obscure work, but a plan for action that Momentum has used to train thousands of British and US activists. Let no one say that Momentum ducks the hatreds of modern Britain. It prepares its revolutionary vanguard for the moment when voters on the doorstep will confront them with the assertion “I think we should kick all the immigrants out.”
When the right complains about political correctness and the call-out culture, one suspects that the worst conservatives are not objecting to overzealous political correctness but to any challenge to racism. Challenged it must be. A left that says, with justice, that Trump, the Brexiters, Fidesz and Lega “scapegoat” foreigners to divert attention from the disasters the financial system has brought has a duty to expose insidious lies.
Our brave Momentum comrades respond to the challenge by telling Corbyn’s supporters to be obsequious before prejudice. Activists must acknowledge that “all concerns are valid”. When confronted with base bigotry, they are not to argue against the sentiment that we should “kick all the immigrants out”, but accommodate it.
The “key language” to use includes “I see your point”, “I understand” and “I can sympathise with that”. After trudging through pages of instructions that continue in this vacuous vein, radical leftists are finally given counter-arguments to put to voters, should they find the courage to raise their timorous voices. They are either irrelevant to debates about migration and ethnicity – Corbyn would stop Britain “from becoming a tax haven for the rich” – or coyly supportive of nativism – Labour would stop “low-paid migrant workers undercutting existing wages”.
You can make a case for both positions while noticing that the far left isn’t prepared to be positive. It does not tell its supporters to say that Britain needs migrants or that migrants are no better or worse than the rest of us. It is not willing to argue that the notion migrants are a burden is false. The best Momentum can manage is a promise that Labour will guarantee existing rights for EU nationals in the UK.
Bill Clinton in 1998, ‘when Toni Morrison announced he was America’s “first black president”’.
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Bill Clinton in 1998, ‘when Toni Morrison announced he was America’s “first black president”’. Photograph: Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar
You would be right to say that far-leftists are no different from Labour operators of the past. Corbyn wants votes, like all politicians, and is not too choosy about where they come from. The real charge against his acolytes, however, is not only that they do not want to argue against racial prejudice but that they cannot argue against racial prejudice. Like the Farages and Rees-Moggs it affects to oppose, Labour wants an end to freedom of movement.
I still don’t think that Corbyn’s supporters begin to understand what the consequences of their capitulation would be if they were to come to power – and imagine the wolfish smile that would spread over Vladimir Putin’s face should that glorious day ever dawn. As the few thoughtful egalitarians left in Labour try to explain, leaving the single market will leave Britain poorer and more unequal. They might reasonably add that Labour cannot defend immigrants at the same time as making an end to freedom of movement its absolute priority. For the question that would arise on the doorstep would be: “If migrants are so good, why do you want to stop them?”
You do not need to turn to the personality cults of Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Castro to guess the sequel. The last time a startled public was told that a white politician was black was in 1998 when Toni Morrison announced that Bill Clinton was America’s “first black president”. Clinton revealed his blackness because his “unpoliced sexuality” had led the right to persecute him. Morrison was referring to Clinton’s sex with an intern and allegations that he harassed women and worse, which otherwise liberal American feminists found remarkably easy to dismiss for the greater good of protecting their leader.
Even at the time, the equation of Clinton’s sexual voracity with blackness seemed grotesque – and not only on grounds of racial stereotyping. Morrison and her allies had to forget the hundreds of thousands of black suspects that the Clinton administration forced into prison with its racially loaded laws. In retrospect, we can see the Clinton legacy crippled the Democrats. When tapes emerged of Trump boasting about grabbing women by the pussy in 2016, Republicans could reply: “Yeah, well, you stood by Bill Clinton when he did worse.”
Likewise, the legacy of Corbyn will cripple the British liberal-left. How can it not when, confronted with racism, antisemitism and a disastrous foreign policy blunder, the best it could manage was “I can sympathise with that”?
• Nick Cohen is an Observer columnist
Nick Cohen
Momentum’s Activist Handbook has little positive to say on the immigration front
Sun 5 Aug 2018 15.00 AEST
‘You can just about grasp why his fans believe Corbyn is Britain’s first black leader rather than an elderly white gentleman.’
‘You can just about grasp why his fans believe Corbyn is Britain’s first black leader rather than an elderly white gentleman.’ Photograph: Finbarr Webster/REX/Shutterstock
The personality cult the British left genuflects before reached its apogee last week when the anti-racist campaigner Lester Holloway declared that Jeremy Corbyn was, when you got down to it, black. You have that right. “Labour actually have the first black party leader in Corbyn.”
“Black in his politics”, Holloway added, as an avalanche of ridicule headed towards him. But the comparison was made. As if to elaborate the argument, the Guardian columnist Owen Jones said that the centre couldn’t fight the nativist forces Trump and Brexit have unleashed. Only a left that holds “powerful vested interests to account, rather than scapegoating migrants and Muslims, can hope to defeat this political poison”.
Not the poisonous scapegoating of Jews, obviously. When it comes to the target of the Nazi conspiracy theory, Corbyn and his allies are the poison. Abandon the Jews, however, and you can just about grasp why his fans believe that Corbyn is Britain’s first black leader – our very own Mandela – rather than an elderly white gentleman who does not appear to have found the intellectual capacity to change his mind on a single issue since he left Shropshire’s Adams grammar school in 1967 with no academic qualifications worth mentioning.
Momentum heads to Glasgow to hold first Scottish training event
Grasp it, that is, until you look closer. Momentum, Corbyn’s party within the Labour party, shows its commitment to fighting far-right ideas in its Activist Handbook. It isn’t an obscure work, but a plan for action that Momentum has used to train thousands of British and US activists. Let no one say that Momentum ducks the hatreds of modern Britain. It prepares its revolutionary vanguard for the moment when voters on the doorstep will confront them with the assertion “I think we should kick all the immigrants out.”
When the right complains about political correctness and the call-out culture, one suspects that the worst conservatives are not objecting to overzealous political correctness but to any challenge to racism. Challenged it must be. A left that says, with justice, that Trump, the Brexiters, Fidesz and Lega “scapegoat” foreigners to divert attention from the disasters the financial system has brought has a duty to expose insidious lies.
Our brave Momentum comrades respond to the challenge by telling Corbyn’s supporters to be obsequious before prejudice. Activists must acknowledge that “all concerns are valid”. When confronted with base bigotry, they are not to argue against the sentiment that we should “kick all the immigrants out”, but accommodate it.
The “key language” to use includes “I see your point”, “I understand” and “I can sympathise with that”. After trudging through pages of instructions that continue in this vacuous vein, radical leftists are finally given counter-arguments to put to voters, should they find the courage to raise their timorous voices. They are either irrelevant to debates about migration and ethnicity – Corbyn would stop Britain “from becoming a tax haven for the rich” – or coyly supportive of nativism – Labour would stop “low-paid migrant workers undercutting existing wages”.
You can make a case for both positions while noticing that the far left isn’t prepared to be positive. It does not tell its supporters to say that Britain needs migrants or that migrants are no better or worse than the rest of us. It is not willing to argue that the notion migrants are a burden is false. The best Momentum can manage is a promise that Labour will guarantee existing rights for EU nationals in the UK.
Bill Clinton in 1998, ‘when Toni Morrison announced he was America’s “first black president”’.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Bill Clinton in 1998, ‘when Toni Morrison announced he was America’s “first black president”’. Photograph: Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar
You would be right to say that far-leftists are no different from Labour operators of the past. Corbyn wants votes, like all politicians, and is not too choosy about where they come from. The real charge against his acolytes, however, is not only that they do not want to argue against racial prejudice but that they cannot argue against racial prejudice. Like the Farages and Rees-Moggs it affects to oppose, Labour wants an end to freedom of movement.
I still don’t think that Corbyn’s supporters begin to understand what the consequences of their capitulation would be if they were to come to power – and imagine the wolfish smile that would spread over Vladimir Putin’s face should that glorious day ever dawn. As the few thoughtful egalitarians left in Labour try to explain, leaving the single market will leave Britain poorer and more unequal. They might reasonably add that Labour cannot defend immigrants at the same time as making an end to freedom of movement its absolute priority. For the question that would arise on the doorstep would be: “If migrants are so good, why do you want to stop them?”
You do not need to turn to the personality cults of Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Castro to guess the sequel. The last time a startled public was told that a white politician was black was in 1998 when Toni Morrison announced that Bill Clinton was America’s “first black president”. Clinton revealed his blackness because his “unpoliced sexuality” had led the right to persecute him. Morrison was referring to Clinton’s sex with an intern and allegations that he harassed women and worse, which otherwise liberal American feminists found remarkably easy to dismiss for the greater good of protecting their leader.
Even at the time, the equation of Clinton’s sexual voracity with blackness seemed grotesque – and not only on grounds of racial stereotyping. Morrison and her allies had to forget the hundreds of thousands of black suspects that the Clinton administration forced into prison with its racially loaded laws. In retrospect, we can see the Clinton legacy crippled the Democrats. When tapes emerged of Trump boasting about grabbing women by the pussy in 2016, Republicans could reply: “Yeah, well, you stood by Bill Clinton when he did worse.”
Likewise, the legacy of Corbyn will cripple the British liberal-left. How can it not when, confronted with racism, antisemitism and a disastrous foreign policy blunder, the best it could manage was “I can sympathise with that”?
• Nick Cohen is an Observer columnist
Actor Steven Seagal made special US-Russia envoy - BBC News
August 5, 2018.
Actor Steven Seagal made special US-Russia envoy
Steven Seagal has praised President Putin's policies
Russia has appointed the US actor Steven Seagal as a special envoy to improve ties with the United States.
Seagal was granted Russian citizenship in 2016 and has praised President Putin as a great world leader.
Born in the US, the martial arts star gained international fame for roles in the 1980s and '90s like Under Siege.
He is also one of the Hollywood stars accused by several women of sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo campaign, which he has denied.
Steven Seagal faces sex harassment claims
Steven Seagal denies Bond girl assault
Harassment in Hollywood: Who's been accused?
The Russian foreign ministry made the announcement on its official Facebook page, saying the unpaid position was similar to that of a United Nations' goodwill ambassador and Seagal would promote US-Russia relations "in the humanitarian sphere".
The Flight of Fury star, still popular with Russian audiences, has recently defended the Russian government over claims that it meddled in 2016 US elections.
The 66-year-old has called President Putin "one of the great living world leaders", and when Seagal was granted Russian citizenship, said he hoped it would be a symbol of how relations between Moscow and Washington were starting to improve.
Seagal was also granted Serbian citizenship in 2016, following several visits to the Balkan country.
Actor Steven Seagal made special US-Russia envoy
Steven Seagal has praised President Putin's policies
Russia has appointed the US actor Steven Seagal as a special envoy to improve ties with the United States.
Seagal was granted Russian citizenship in 2016 and has praised President Putin as a great world leader.
Born in the US, the martial arts star gained international fame for roles in the 1980s and '90s like Under Siege.
He is also one of the Hollywood stars accused by several women of sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo campaign, which he has denied.
Steven Seagal faces sex harassment claims
Steven Seagal denies Bond girl assault
Harassment in Hollywood: Who's been accused?
The Russian foreign ministry made the announcement on its official Facebook page, saying the unpaid position was similar to that of a United Nations' goodwill ambassador and Seagal would promote US-Russia relations "in the humanitarian sphere".
The Flight of Fury star, still popular with Russian audiences, has recently defended the Russian government over claims that it meddled in 2016 US elections.
The 66-year-old has called President Putin "one of the great living world leaders", and when Seagal was granted Russian citizenship, said he hoped it would be a symbol of how relations between Moscow and Washington were starting to improve.
Seagal was also granted Serbian citizenship in 2016, following several visits to the Balkan country.
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