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 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday faulted Ethiopia's final report into the March 2019 Boeing 737 MAX fatal crash and said investigators did not adequately address the performance of the flight crew.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said in an interview that Ethiopia's Aircraft Investigation Bureau (EAIB) had made errors in its report.

"We feel what they did not do is really delve into the flight crew performance issues and whether they were adequately prepared," Homendy said. "We felt like it was not as comprehensive and robust as it could have been."

The MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which cost Boeing more than $20 billion, led to a 20-month grounding for the best-selling plane that was lifted by regulators after Boeing made software and pilot training changes. Boeing declined to comment Tuesday.

The NTSB was not given a chance to review or comment on Ethiopia's final report before it was made public last month, a violation of rules overseen by the United Nations’ Montreal-based aviation agency, ICAO, Homendy said.

"It's unprecedented -- under ICAO we get a right to review the report and to provide comment," Homendy said.

The NTSB comments released in December were in response to an earlier draft the board reviewed.

The NTSB said earlier Ethiopian inspectors investigating the cause of the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines' crash that killed 157 people did not pay enough attention to crew training and emergency procedures in their report.

The EAIB blamed the accident on "uncommanded" inputs from Boeing's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, known as MCAS.

The bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The inputs, which were caused by faulty data from an angle of attack (AOA) sensor, sent the plane's nose down repeatedly, leading to loss of control as the pilots tried to deal with several warnings in the cabin, the report released last month said.

The NTSB said the Ethiopian report's finding that aircraft electrical problems caused erroneous AOA output was "unsupported by evidence." The NTSB said it found the erroneous sensor output was likely caused by a bird strike soon after take-off from Addis Ababa.

The NTSB added that the Ethiopia report's finding that MCAS documentation for flight crews was "misleading since Boeing had provided the information to all 737 MAX operators four months before the Ethiopian Airlines crash." (Reuters)

Former vice president Chen Chien-jen will be Taiwan's new premier, the presidential office said on Wednesday, as part of a cabinet reshuffle following heavy losses for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) at local elections last year.

Premier Su Tseng-chang submitted his resignation last week along with that of his cabinet ahead of the widely expected government reorganisation.

Su's move followed the DPP's trouncing at local polls in November, and comes as Taiwan gears up for presidential and parliamentary elections in early 2024.

President Tsai Ing-wen is expected to hold a news conference on Friday morning to formally make the announcement, her office said in a short statement, but without giving details of which other positions would get new ministers.

Chen, 71, is a devout Catholic who served as vice president during Tsai's first term in office, from 2016-2020, and Taiwanese media had named him as the person most likely to be the new premier.

He will have to oversee several tricky issues, including navigating the export-oriented island's slowing economy and plans to extend military conscription to one year in the face of a rising military threat from China, though the DPP has a large majority in parliament meaning its proposals do get passed.

Chen only joined the DPP last year but took on a high profile position campaigning for the party ahead of November's local elections.

He also attended former Pope Benedict's funeral at the Vatican this month as Tsai's envoy, the Vatican being one of only 14 countries which still have diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

An epidemiologist by training, he was Taiwan's health minister during the 2003 SARS outbreak, credited with bringing the disease under control, and played an important role in shaping Taiwan's response to COVID-19. (Reuters)

Labour leader Chris Hipkins was sworn in as New Zealand's prime minister in a formal ceremony on Wednesday, following the resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week.

The Labour party elected former COVID-19 Response and Police minister Hipkins, 44, to lead the party and the country on Sunday. Ardern, 42, resigned last week, saying she had "no more in the tank" to lead the country.

Hundreds gathered in the grounds of Parliament as Ardern left for the final time, hugging each of her members of parliament in turn, with many looking visibly emotional.

She then travelled to Government House, where she tendered her resignation to King Charles' representative in New Zealand, Governor General Cindy Kiro.

Hipkins and his deputy Carmel Sepuloni - the first person of Pacific Islander descent to hold the role - were then sworn in, in a ceremony lasting a few minutes.

Hours later, Hipkins met with journalists after his first cabinet meeting as Prime Minister. Bombarded with questions about the cost of living hours after fresh price data came in above analyst forecasts, Hipkins said he would make the issue central to his policy agenda.

However, he pushed back against announcing new policies immediately, saying he would make haste but not create policy “on the fly”.

“New Zealanders will absolutely see in the coming weeks and months that cost of living is right at the heart of our work programme,” he said.

“It is the number one priority that we are facing as a government and they will see tangible evidence of that. Obviously I’m not going to make it up on the fly, as I’ve already indicated."

Hipkins said he would honour commitments already made for the current term of parliament.

Known as "Chippy", Hipkins is well-known to New Zealanders for his competence in tackling COVID-19, though he acknowledged some mistakes in handling the pandemic and faces a tough battle to retain power in an October general election.

A 1News-Kantar poll released in December had Labour's support falling to 33% from 40% at the start of 2022, meaning the party would not be able to form a majority even with traditional coalition partner the Green Party at 9%. The opposition National Party has benefited from Labour's decline. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will make a decision on the next Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor while watching future economic trends, he said on Wednesday.

Kishida will appoint the next BOJ chief based on the candidate's aptitude at the end of incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda's term, he said.

The prime minister said on Sunday he would nominate a new BOJ governor next month as Kuroda's second five-year term ends on April 8. (Reuters)