Britain’s Katie Boulter suffered a first-round defeat to Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open.
Boulter, 29, went down 7-6 7-6 on clay to world number 87 Ruse, who will now face Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska or American Ann Li in the last 16.
Boulter lost her first two service games in the opening set but twice broke before she was edged out in a tie-break.
The British number three broke Ruse’s serve for a third time to take an early advantage in the second set but her opponent immediately responded in a see-saw encounter.
Boulter staved off match point at 6-5 down to force another tie-break, but Ruse claimed two mini breaks to move 5-2 ahead before serving out to seal her win.
World number 62 Boulter won the fourth WTA Tour title of her career at the Ostrava Open in February and reached the last eight at the Merida Open in Mexico.
However, she did not make it past the second and third rounds respectively at Indian Wells and the Miami Open prior to this loss.
A disabled woman has been left “very upset” after missing her holiday to the Canary Islands due to issues with her mobility scooter battery.
Carol Hutchins had been eagerly anticipating a sunny getaway at the TUI Magic Life Hotel in Fuerteventura with her daughter, Layla, scheduled for late October. However, the mother-and-daughter pair’s dream holiday came to an abrupt end at Manchester Airport, where staff informed them Carol’s scooter couldn’t be loaded onto the aircraft.
Carol has been left “very upset” by the cancelled holiday and the fact she’s more than £1,000 out of pocket. There is no indication that TUI failed to follow protocol. However, Carol and Layla’s experience acts as a cautionary tale for Brits travelling abroad with a mobility scooter.
A TUI spokesperson said: “We’re sorry that Ms Hutchins wasn’t able to travel on her holiday, and we recognise how upsetting that must have been for her. This was due to them not having the required documentation and battery identification information for their electric mobility aid, which meant it couldn’t be cleared to fly under safety guidance. The TUI airport team supported her on the day and explored alternative options, which she chose not to accept.”
Carol arranged her holiday to the sun-drenched Canary Islands at the TUI Doncaster branch on 23 October 2025. As the reservation was made within a fortnight of departure, the travel agent contacted the welfare team while Carol was in the shop, to ensure the mobility scooter was included in the booking. When a mobility aid is included in a holiday booking, customers are sent the Conditions of Carriage, which contain crucial instructions passengers must adhere to before their flight, reports the Mirror.
They specify: “The battery or batteries should clearly be labelled showing the type and the watt-hour (Wh) rating. Failure to show this can lead to refusal of battery or batteries. Please carry the manufacturer’s operating instructions with you, which will help you and the airport staff to block the vehicle’s electric circuits and remove the battery if necessary.”
According to TUI, the Conditions of Carriage were sent to Ms Hutchins four times via email as her booking was amended, and provided twice more alongside ticket documentation.
When Carol and Layla arrived at Manchester Airport on October 29, her battery lacked any visible identification label, meaning airport personnel could not lawfully approve it under safety regulations.
An on-site duty manager liaised with the resort team in Fuerteventura to locate an alternative mobility scooter she could utilise during her holiday.
However, according to Layla, Carol did not feel at ease travelling without her own scooter or with the prospect that she might be without one for a time once at her destination.
According to TUI, Carol and Layla declined the offer of two alternative flights and goodwill vouchers.
TUI’s website features a section that outlines what customers using mobility scooters need to know and do before they travel.
Before flying with your electric mobility aid, you’ll need to:
Check your battery type and specifications
Provide battery details to TUI in advance
Bring manufacturer documentation to the airport
TUI accepts these battery types:
Non-spillable batteries (like AGM, Gel Cell, SLA)
Lithium batteries with specific watt-hour limits:
Single battery: maximum 300Wh
Two batteries: maximum 160Wh each
However, wet cell (spillable) batteries are not permitted on TUI flights.
Important pre-flight steps:
Share your device’s battery details with TUI as early as possible
Around two dozen protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv, calling for an end to the war with Iran and Lebanon. Police ordered the protest to disperse within minutes as tensions rose and members of the public confronted demonstrators.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Last month, images hit the internet showing a very stealthy, extremely long-endurance, very high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drone commonly (and unofficially) referred to as the RQ-180, or an evolution thereof, landing at a base in Greece. Many questions remain about the uncrewed aircraft and why it might be operating from Larissa Air Base.
However, as we noted in our initial reporting, the current conflict with Iran would be a very relevant fit for what the RQ-180 was likely designed to do. Furthermore, a secretive late Cold War-era drone program known as Quartz, intended to persistently monitor mobile nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles deep within the Soviet Union, offers a window into exactly why the RQ-180 could be in high demand in the Middle East now. There is no higher-priority standing mission for Operation Epic Fury at this time than finding and destroying Iranian launchers.
In many ways, the shadowy Quartz program from decades ago was a progenitor for what became a very large flying wing uncrewed aircraft that shares the planform of the B-21 (and the original B-2 design) and is likely at least part of the RQ-180’s origin story.
Strange arrival over Greece
To recap quickly, on March 18, local Greek news website onlarissa.gr first published pictures of what it misidentified as a B-2 bomber landing at Larissa Air Base, also known as Larissa National Airport. The base, which belongs to the Hellenic Air Force, but is also known to host U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drones, is situated in the city of the same name.
This aircraft seen over Larissa, Greece is not a B-2 like the local Greek news reported or an RQ-170, but is in fact best imagery ever published of the RQ-180, an undisclosed low observable drone used by the USAF. Location suggests use in the Iran conflict https://t.co/Pa9whNlQSVpic.twitter.com/UsDxy9Tc4n
Onlarissa.gr outlet followed up its initial reporting by posting a video of the drone, seen below. Additional and increasingly more detailed imagery has subsequently emerged.
Το αμερικανικό βομβαρδιστικό Β-2 πάνω από τον ουρανό της Λάρισας
Per onlarissa.gr, the highly exotic aircraft had landed at Larissa after experiencing some kind of technical issue, citing unnamed sources. This remains unconfirmed, but it would explain why the drone touched down in broad daylight, rather than coming in under the cover of darkness. It could also have diverted there with an emergency, while operating out of another location, even one in the continental United States. It is worth noting that Larissa Air Base appears to have unique facilities built in recent years that seem to be very well suited for housing an aircraft like this.
TWZ previously reached out to U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and the Pentagon for comment, but has not received any responses as of the time of writing. In a story published on March 24, Air & Space Forces Magazine said U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also declined to comment.
Attention was also subsequently called to U.S. Air Force cargo planes having been tracked making unusual flights from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Larissa recently. One of those flights came on February 25, while another one occurred on March 9. A C-5M also flew to Larissa from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma on February 25, according to Aviation Week. Whether there is any connection between these flights and the drone spotted at the base has not been confirmed at this time. Edwards is the Air Force’s main hub for aviation test and evaluation efforts, and flight testing of the RQ-180 was reportedly at least managed from there in the 2010s. The Air Force could also have moved other assets to Larissa via Edwards.
These photos are really interesting as they explain the two C-17s which flew from Edwards Air Force Base to Larissa Air Base in Greece in early March and late February.
The current state of the RQ-180, or any designs that have evolved from it, on a programmatic level, is very murky. In addition to testing at Edwards, past reports have said that a unit at Beale Air Force Base in California began flying the drones operationally, at least on a limited level, by 2019. There has been talk of a large flying wing aircraft similar in configuration to the B-21 Raider bomber flying out of Plant 42 in Palmdale, also in California, under the cover of darkness for years.
There are very strong indications that a photograph that appeared on Instagram in October 2020 of an unmanned aircraft flying in the skies over California’s Mojave Desert near Edwards Air Force Base was the first sighting of an RQ-180. That picture also notably showed a drone with an overall white paint scheme. That aligned with a report from Aviation Week that the design had gained the nicknames “Great White Bat” and “Shikaka.” The latter of these is the name of a fictional sacred white bat that is at the center of the plot of the 1995 Jim Carrey comedy Ace Ventura 2. The drone seen recently flying over Larissa has an overall black or otherwise dark-colored paint job. TWZ has noted previously that an overall white/cream/light pastel color scheme could help the drone to hide better at high altitudes during the day, but that a dark scheme would be more relevant at night. It is very possible, if not probable, that multiple schemes have been tested for a drone expected to fly sorties lasting multiple days.
A notional rendering of the Northrop Grumman drone commonly referred to as the RQ-180. Hangar B Productions
There certainly has been no clear evidence, at Beale or anywhere else, of the establishment of the kind of infrastructure that one would associate with the RQ-180 reaching a more advanced operational state and serial production. It is possible that the drone could share facilities with the B-21 under the larger umbrella of the Long Range Strike (LRS) family of systems. The RQ-180 is very likely intended, in part, to work in concert with the Raider, and there may even be some commonality between the two aircraft. The RQ-180 and/or related designs very likely played a direct role in risk reduction efforts that helped sell the Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) concept, and possibly the win by Northrop Grumman of that contract.
B-21 Takeoff and Landing
So, where the RQ-180 stands in terms of its overall capacity and its future remains unclear, but they are clearly being used on operational sorties, at least in a limited manner.
Iranian missile threats persist
After more than five weeks of fighting, the conflict with Iran is still grinding on. Despite the United States and Israel having substantially degraded the ability of Iranian forces to launch retaliatory missile and drone strikes, they have not stopped entirely. Iran has been digging out underground missile bases struck by American and Israeli forces and getting them back into operation, sometimes within hours, The New York Times reported just last Friday, citing U.S. intelligence reports. That followed other reports stating that Iran still retains a vast arsenal of missiles and drones, as well as a significant number of launchers to fire them.
U.S. forces drop precision munitions on underground military targets deep inside Iran to further degrade the Iranian regime’s ability to project power in meaningful ways beyond its borders. pic.twitter.com/ciQRbE0KFM
In recent weeks, publicly available data from multiple sources has, at times, shown relatively small, but noticeable upticks in Iran’s launches. There are also signs that more of those threats are evading interception, though whether this has translated to more damage and/or casualties from impacts is unclear.
Iran’s missile and drone arsenal has taken a hit, but what remains is being used more efficiently. Tehran continues fire an average of 21 missiles per week — with an uptick in its hit rate and ability to impose costs.
The talking point of “launches are down 90% since day 1” is true but so is “launches are up since last week”. The latter is the more important indicator at the moment. https://t.co/Oa4sZPOgWx
When it comes to launchers, Iran has invested heavily over the years in road mobile designs for firing ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones. This includes types that can be hard to distinguish from normal civilian trucks, especially those used for launching short-range ballistic missiles.
✈️🎯60+ strike flights: The IAF completed additional waves of strikes in western Iran targeting the Iranian regime’s missile launchers, defense systems, and live-fire arrays. pic.twitter.com/I1rRLBJlUR
Iran also has extensive underground ‘missile cities’ and other hardened sites that launchers can sprint to and from, and even fire from within in some cases. Beyond the main missile storage and launch sites, Iranian authorities have clearly had plans to disperse these weapons across the country. Reports have said that more authority to employ them has been delegated to lower echelons of command to minimize the impacts of separate U.S. and Israeli strikes on command and control nodes, as well.
On top of all this, Iran still has longer-ranged ballistic missiles that it can fire from areas further to the east, where the volume of U.S. and Israeli strikes has only more recently begun to grow. What’s left of Iran’s air defenses, which presents a real threat, is therefore likely to be more intact in those regions. In general, many of Iran’s air defense systems are also road mobile and can pop-up suddenly. All of this creates challenges for finding and fixing Iran’s remaining launch capacity, let alone neutralizing it.
Three weeks of Operation Epic Fury.
The Joint Force owns the skies, but Tehran holds the Strait. Additional U.S. fighter aircraft and naval assets arrived in both theaters, and Marine expeditionary forces are en route.
The Israeli Air Force has dropped over 16,000 bombs in Iran since the start of the war, in over 800 waves of strikes, the military says.
According to the IDF, over 10,000 separate strikes have been carried out on 4,000 targets. pic.twitter.com/gkU4rW4s8T
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 1, 2026
In this context, there is a clear need to be able to readily detect launchers, which can pop out suddenly and unexpectedly from cover, across vast areas. Known missile storage sites and launch areas around them also need to be persistently surveilled. The ability to find launchers faster opens up new options for striking them. Just tracking and recording their typical movements would also help further refine interdiction and intelligence-gathering strategies going forward.
As TWZ has previously explored in great depth, the RQ-180 is best understood as a very high-flying, very long-endurance, and very stealthy intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance platform that is capable of penetrating and persisting deep into enemy airspace. Its primary means of achieving that mission would be a radar with ground moving target indicator (GMTI) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capabilities, but radar would be just the primary component of a larger sensor package, which would likely include powerful electro-optical sensors and passive radiofrequency ones.
At its most basic, GMTI allows battle managers to see the enemy’s ground movements in real-time and then quickly adapt their game plan to counter those enemy forces before they can ever attack, or even pose a threat to friendly forces. GMTI is also a critical capability for detecting changes in force posture, establishing patterns of enemy movements over time, and identifying new targets of interest. Modern GMTI products can also be looped into a ‘kill web’ for rapid targeting purposes.
Some of this is also achieved through the aforementioned SAR mode, which basically provides a satellite-like image of a target area using radar. It also has the ability to see some things optical systems cannot, and, like GMTI, it can work under nearly all atmospheric conditions, day or night. When paired with GMTI, SAR can be used to help positively identify targets, as well as gain better situational awareness about the targets being tracked.
A generic example of GMTI tracks overlaid on top of a SAR image. Public Domain
Passive electronic intelligence collection that allows for radiofrequency-emitters to be quickly detected and geolocated via onboard antennas and interferometry-based computing is another part of the equation. Long-range optical sensors can also provide higher-fidelity intelligence and spot movements of infrared signatures over large areas. You can imagine how fuzing all these capabilities together, combined with advanced networking, on a single platform could be incredibly potent. Basically, detecting a target or target group of interest, and then training advanced sensors on it to rapidly build up a high-quality understanding of what is going on and even to provide real-time targeting data to ‘shooters’ would be this aircraft’s bread and butter.
All of these are capabilities that would be ideally suited to the very high-priority task at hand of searching for Iranian launchers across the country’s vast terrain.
This all brings us back to Quartz and the very specific mission set that drove that program. Quartz is the best-known codename for a drone conceived as part of what was officially dubbed the Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance System, or AARS program.
The lead-up to Quartz
AARS/Quartz was itself born out of a succession of earlier developments. Proving that using a stealth platform to penetrate enemy air defenses and to stay over contested territory for hours on end while transmitting data collected without being detected is one of the biggest revolutions in warfare of the 20th Century. This capability was demonstrated on the tactical side at the dawn of stealth technology by Northrop’s Tacit Blue. That aircraft was developed as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) highly classified Battlefield Surveillance Aircraft-Experimental (BSAX) program, which began in the late 1970s.
The Tacit Blue demonstrator. Northrop Grumman
Tacit Blue notably served as a periphery risk reduction effort for the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) program that would result in the B-2. However, its reason for being was to show that a stealthy aircraft carrying a huge radar can penetrate enemy air defenses and loiter for prolonged periods of time, collecting GMTI radar data and other intelligence information.
The radar for BSAX was a low probability of intercept design that had come from Pave Mover, another DARPA effort. Pave Mover ultimately led to the non-stealthy and now-retired E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft, but offshoots of that radar technology did end up elsewhere, including on the B-2. Low probability of intercept/low probability of detection (LPI/LPD) radars and communications suites are now key tenets of stealth aircraft design, in general. Keeping signal emissions, which an enemy can use to spot and track threats, to a minimum is critical for low-observable (stealthy) aircraft designs. Pave Mover was also tied into DARPA’s Assault Breaker program, which focused on proving out various technologies to enable standoff targeting of enemy forces, especially large Soviet armored formations on the move, deep behind the front lines.
An E-8C JSTARS aircraft. USAF/Senior Airman Jared Lovett
The famously ugly Tacit Blue, also nicknamed the “Whale,” produced results that were revolutionary, as you can read more about here. Even the most capable existing penetrating intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft available at the time, like the SR-71 Blackbird, could only take a snapshot in time of the enemy and its posture. Satellites were far more predictable and could only provide the same ‘moment in time’ intelligence, and in a much less flexible manner. Tacit Blue could watch for hours with the enemy not even knowing it was there.
An SR-71 Blackbird. Courtesy photo via USAF
This meant the quality of intelligence Tacit Blue was capable of collecting was of far greater value. Metaphorically speaking, the SR-71 was like documenting a wedding by loudly running through a crowd and snapping a few photos. Tacit Blue was like rolling hours of videotape at the same wedding by an invisible cameraman. It was an absolute game-changer. The information was also transmitted securely using a LPI data link in near-real-time so that it could be rapidly exploited, not once the aircraft returned to base.
A drone to hunt Soviet mobile ballistic missiles
AARS/Quartz can be seen as something of a strategic parallel to the more tactically-minded BSAX effort and the Tacit Blue demonstrator. It was conceived as a cooperative effort between the U.S. Air Force, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). NRO, the very existence of which was only declassified in 1992, is and has historically been responsible primarily for intelligence-gathering via satellite. However, it was also involved in ISR drone operations in the 1960s and 1970s.
The supersonic D-21 drone, seen here atop an M-21 mothership aircraft during a test, is one of the uncrewed aircraft programs NRO was involved in during the 1960s and 1970s. USAF
In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration grew concerned about a gap in reconnaissance assets, in the air and in space, to persistently track and monitor Soviet mobile nuclear-armed intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“As spy satellite systems came on line in the 1960s, they shared the same fundamental operational scheme as the SR-71. Both conducted reconnaissance with relative impunity but were so fast that they only provided episodic coverage. The Soviet system of fixed air bases, missile silos, and command centers of the Cold War’s first 30 years favored ‘fast pass’ reconnaissance, however, so its weaknesses were not evident until the strategic equation shifted in the late 1970s,” Thomas Ehrhard wrote in a monograph, titled Air Force UAVs: The Secret History, which the Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies published in 2010. “Soviet mobile missiles (both nuclear and air-to-air) and the advance of aviation technology opened the door for a true loitering surveillance UAV called AARS.”
Ehrhard pointed to three missiles as particular drivers behind the AARS program. The first of these was the road-mobile RSD-10 Pioneer, known in the West as the SS-20 Saber, a nuclear-armed intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) with three warheads in a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) configuration. The SS-20 had an immensely destabilizing impact on the security environment in Europe. Its appearance was a central factor in the United States and the Soviet Union ultimately signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987.
A Soviet RSD-10 Pioneer/SS-20 Saber IRBM, at left, alongside a U.S. Pershing II medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM), at right, on display at the National Air and Space Museum. The INF treaty allowed for the preservation of a small number of demilitarized RSD-10/SS-20s and Pershing IIs, but the rest were destroyed. National Air and Space Museum
The other Soviet missiles that helped make the case for AARS/Quartz were two ICBMs, the rail-mobile RT-23 Molodets (SS-24 Scalpel) and the road-mobile RT-2PM/RS-12M Topol (SS-25 Sickle).
RT-23/SS-24 SCALPEL MOD 1 ICBM
RT-2PM/SS-25 SICKLE ICBM
In his 2010 monograph, Ehrhard describes the Reagan-era view of the resulting problem set as follows:
“The technological problem of holding these mobile missiles at risk, one that NATO had never solved with the SS-20, now became vastly more complex [with the inclusion of the SS-24 and SS-25]. U.S. forces had to constantly monitor their movement and electronic emissions, something neither fast-pass satellites, U-2s, nor the SR-71 could accomplish. The mission also entailed breaking the over two decade-long declaratory policy of not overflying the Soviet Union, a prospect the Reagan Administration apparently felt was worth the gain. To complicate matters further, they needed a platform that could track those missiles in a nuclear detonation environment while flying from remote bases in the continental US. Operating and receiving imagery from such a craft beyond line-of-sight using space relays would prove daunting. The political and design challenges loomed large, but in the end the Air Force/NRO/CIA consortium opted for a leap-ahead system.”
With all this in mind, AARS/Quartz was seen as a national imperative. The very long-endurance drone, penetrating deep into Soviet airspace, would be able to locate many of these threats, allowing them to be targeted during the opening throes of a potential apocalypse – something we will come back to later on.
By the mid-1980s, contracts were doled out to Lockheed and Boeing to develop what at the time could be seen as the most ambitious ‘silver bullet’ aerospace program of its time, albeit one that had very few eyes on it as it was deeply buried in the classified realm. Ehrhard writes:
“To accomplish the loitering surveillance mission, this UAV needed autonomous (i.e., not remote controlled), highly reliable flight controls, and a design capable of intercontinental ranges from bases in the US zone of the interior with extreme high altitude capability (long wingspan with sailplane-type lift and multi-engine propulsion to reach altitudes more than 70,000 feet). Moreover, it had to carry an array of high-resolution sensors, high-capacity satellite communications capabilities, and various antennas—all in a package that was stealthy to the point of being covert. The cost of developing each technology piece alone would be staggering, but integrating them presented an even greater challenge – thus the project became a magnet for the best and most starry-eyed technologists in the black world. As one CIA engineer said in an anonymous interview, this project was ‘the cat’s pajamas,’ and ‘the single most fun project I ever worked on’ because it stretched every conceivable technology area.”
Ehrhard does not elaborate on the expected sensor package, but an LPI/LPD radar with GMTI and SAR modes, as well as other sensors, would have been needed for a stealthy platform tasked with this mission set. As noted earlier, electronic emissions, which can be detected passively, were also seen at this time as a key way to spot and track mobile missile launchers.
A highly ambitious undertaking
By all indications, AARS/Quartz was seen as a very ambitious effort from the start, but one that could yield impressive capabilities needed to address a mission requirement critical to national security. It should be noted that the U.S. military was pursuing a host of advanced stealth aviation technology programs at around the same time. Many of the efforts would go on to produce real results, if they hadn’t already by the mid-1980s, and this is just based on what is known publicly. Northrop’s stealthy Tacit Blue demonstrator flew for the first time in 1982. Lockheed’s F-117 Nighthawk reached an initial operational capability the following year. The Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) program that would lead to the B-2 was well underway by this time, too.
Another look at the Tacit Blue demonstrator, as viewed from below. Northrop Grumman
In the end, AARS/Quartz did not fare as well as many of its contemporaries, at least from what we know. The program ran through the end of the Reagan years and into the 1990s under the administration of President George H.W. Bush. It morphed and changed hands considerably from a smaller ‘bleeding-edge’ NRO-led program into one that was integrated into a new national unmanned aircraft strategy. This, in turn, caused its mission set to balloon as a maelstrom of stakeholders demanded many capabilities out of a single platform that was already beyond the available technology of the era.
Ehrhard’s 2010 monograph sums up just how bloated AARS became by the 1990s:
“[David A.] Kier[, NRO’s Deputy Director from 1997 to 2001] said the large version of AARS, which according to some reports had a wingspan of 250 feet, cost less than a B-2, but more than $1 billion a copy. Reportedly, the production plan called for only eight vehicles at a cost of $10 billion, each of the vehicles capable of an amazing 40 hours on station after flying to the area of interest.”
“Air Force officials were so leery of the UAV’s autonomous flight concept (no pilot had moment-to-moment control) that they reportedly insisted the flying prototype carry a pilot to handle in-flight anomalies and that the final design include a modular, two-place cockpit insert to make it optionally piloted. ‘By the time everyone got their wishes included,’ Kier said, ‘it [AARS] had to do everything but milk the cow and communicate with the world while doing it.’”
“With all of AARS’s leading-edge sensors and communications links, each of which posed substantial technical challenges in its own right, flight reliability quickly became the biggest design hurdle, according to Kier. The technologies were so secret, and the value of the payload and the air vehicle was so great that its loss over unfriendly territory was unthinkable. One defense official remarked, ‘If one had crashed, it would have been so classified we would have had to bomb it to ensure it was destroyed.’”
“Sailing along on the glut of black money in the late 1980s, AARS kept moving forward despite its continually expanding, problematic requirements list. As happened with [the] D-21 and Compass Arrow [drone programs] in the early 1970s, however, AARS was about to have its most vital mission curtailed.”
A D-21 reconnaissance drone, also known by the codename Tagboard. USAF
“The end of the Cold War brought the expensive program to a halt. An Air Force general familiar with the project said: ‘When AARS was invented, there was more money than they [the NRO] could spend. After the Cold War, the money went away and projects like that could not possibly survive.’ Like predators stalking a wounded animal, manned alternatives to AARS emerged. One proposal would put a sophisticated target acquisition system on the B-2 stealth bomber –the so-called RB-2 configuration. The proposal had value as a terminal tracking system, but the RB-2 lacked a method of off-board cueing to direct it to a search area.”
…
“As it turned out, none of the alternative programs made the cut, for not only was the Cold War officially over with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but the venerable Strategic Air Command was disbanded in June 1992. With that move, AARS lost its primary military constituent and the AARS alliance began to crumble.”
“…The Air Force pulled funding on AARS, and it was terminated in December 1992 by the intelligence community hierarchy just as it was to enter full scale development. AARS was, in the final analysis, a misfit. It was a major aircraft program backed by a satellite organization (the NRO), and a risky unmanned surveillance platform slated for a combat pilot-led Air Force—hardly an edifice solid enough to survive the removal of its strategic underpinnings. No one organization provided focus or advocacy for the program. As a result, the “perfect” surveillance UAV faded away even as the ultimate Cold War satellite system, Milstar, and the equally exotic B-2 stealth bomber managed to survive, backed as they were by one service, and powerful sub-groups within that service, who were culturally and operationally attuned to those configurations.”
A view of the official rollout ceremony for the B-2 bomber in 1988. USAF
Kier, who Ehrhard also identifies as the last AARS program manager, says the drone’s design ultimately evolved into something that “resembled a substantially scaled-up version of DARPA’s DarkStar.” Lockheed’s DarkStar, which eventually received the designation RQ-3, was a stealthy tailless design with an ovoid central fuselage and with very long, slender, and straight main wings. Boeing was also a major subcontractor for the RQ-3.
The RQ-3 DarkStar. USAF
DarkStar was also referred to as “Tier III-minus,” a moniker that reflected the requirements for the drone, which were truncated compared to a planned Tier III type. Tier III was a more direct follow-on to AARS, but was already envisioned as a smaller and less capable, and one would imagine less expensive, uncrewed aircraft. There were also additional lower capability tiers, one of which ultimately led to the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Ehrhard says some members of Congress and of industry did attempt to drum up support for a true successor to AARS/Quartz, unofficially referred to as Tier IV, but without success.
With regard to the RQ-3, at least two flying examples were built, the first of which crashed in 1996 after suffering a control system malfunction. DarkStar had vanished completely from the public eye by 1999, but it has since emerged that a direct line can be traced between it and the stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel via another secretive drone called the X-44A, which TWZ was first to report on back in 2019.
An RQ-170 Sentinel at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. USAF via FOIA
When it comes to AARS/Quartz, the full scale and scope of what exactly came out of the hundreds of millions, and possibly billions, spent on the program over at least a decade, remains unclear. Clearly, major leaps were made in the critical communications, command and control, structural, and sensor technologies needed to make the system a reality. There are rumors that sub-scale risk-reduction test articles were flown, but details surrounding the program remain highly secretive.
A mission requirement that rhymes
As we noted earlier, many questions remain about the RQ-180, as well as the overall status of that program. At the same time, fast forward some three decades or so from the end of AARS (and its immediate successors), and there are now echoes of the Cold War mission requirements that prompted that program, including in the current conflict with Iran.
The Iranian arsenal of conventionally-armed missiles is not anywhere near the same kind of threat as Soviet nuclear-tipped IRBMs and ICBMs. Still, they do present very real threats, especially for strikes on large critical infrastructure targets and as terror weapons when loaded with cluster munition payloads. The current conflict has demonstrated that strategy also puts immense strain on Israeli missile defenses, which could have broader ramifications, as you can read more about here. Iran’s short-range ballistic missiles offer additional flexibility against targets on land or at sea. In addition, it has been clear for years now that Iran is very willing to launch conventional ballistic missile attacks.
As already noted, the launchers for these missiles are mobile, and some are configured to look like typical civilian-style trucks at a casual glance. Some operate from hardened and underground bases. A number of those facilities were even built with ports that allow missiles to be fired from within, though it is unclear how extensively Iran has made use of that capability in the current conflict. These apertures have likely been repeatedly struck by the U.S. and Israel.
The underlying challenge of finding Iran’s ballistic missiles, and doing so with enough time to attempt to strike them before they launch, has clear similarities to the mission that drove AARS/Quartz. The Iranian case is perhaps more complex in certain respects, given the larger number of smaller missiles, many of which could be dispersed over a broad area. Still, the long-range weapons that threaten Israel are clearly the top priority and would be the easiest to spot for an asset like the RQ-180.
CENTCOM:
The Iranian regime is using mobile launchers to indiscriminately fire missiles in an attempt to inflict maximum harm across the region.
U.S. forces are hunting these threats down and without apology or hesitation, we are taking them out.pic.twitter.com/l4lxbTlAf4
🚨 WATCH: CENTCOM releases footage of strikes on fortified missile bases in southern Iran. The first footage includes hits on tunnel entrances and on mobile and stationary launchers at the missile base in Hajjiabad, Iran. pic.twitter.com/wuoi5GEhqp
— Major Sammer Pal Toorr (Infantry Combat Veteran) (@samartoor3086) March 22, 2026
Iran is responding to external threats by releasing a new video showcasing one of its underground missile tunnel systems, packed with missile engines, mobile launchers, and a range of advanced weaponry. The footage prominently features the Paveh cruise missile, the Ghadr-380… pic.twitter.com/ILsdlrPtQy
Furthermore, Iran’s air defenses have been significantly degraded after some five weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes, on top of the losses during the 12 Day War last year, but threats remain. As noted, the northeastern end of the country has seen fewer strikes compared to other areas, overall. Total air supremacy over Iran has yet to be achieved.
This is not a hypothetical assessment either, as underscored by the recent loss of a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle. In the ensuing efforts to recover the F-15E’s crew, an A-10 Warthog crashed after being hit by hostile fire and two rescue helicopters were also damaged. American forces deliberately destroyed additional aircraft – reportedly two MC-130J special operations tanker transports and four Little Bird helicopters – inside Iran to prevent the capture of sensitive material. This came after the MC-130Js had become disabled after touching down at an austere operating location during the final mission to retrieve the downed Strike Eagle’s Weapon System Officer.
A picture showing a destroyed Little Bird, on the right, and the hulk of a C-130, to the left. via X
This is exactly the environment where a very high-flying, extremely long-endurance, and very stealthy drone, like the RQ-180, would be valuable, if not critical, to perform the aforementioned mission. The drone would simply fly outside the range of Iranian defenses if need be and likely fly nearly directly over most of them without fear of being shot down. From that perch, which could be far above where normal jet aircraft fly (60,000-70,000+ feet is possible) it would be able to monitor massive swathes of Iranian territory for movement of launchers and indications of launches, especially around known launch areas and storage sites.
AARS/Quartz was never intended to exist in a vacuum. It was explicitly seen as a part of an ecosystem that also included the B-2 bomber (to strike the targets the drone found) and the Milstar communications satellite constellation (to help transmit relevant data). The B-2 and Milstar did enter service, although the former did so on a very truncated level due to post-Cold War drawdowns. The U.S. military has made further investments since then in advanced networking capabilities as part of integrated kill web architectures. The B-2 and other relevant capabilities that could directly tie in with the RQ-180 are being employed publicly in the current conflict with Iran. It is possible, if not highly plausible, that this integration has already existed for years, in part as a result of the development of the LRS family of systems.
Another rendering of a notional ‘RQ-180’ design. Hangar B Productions
There is a degree of precedent here already, with regard to Iran specifically, with the RQ-170 Sentinel. RQ-170s are understood to have conducted extensive flights over Iran in the 2000s and into the very early 2010s, particularly to provide persistent monitoring of nuclear sites. Those missions were thrust into the public eye in 2011, when an RQ-170 went down in Iran and was captured largely intact.
The fact that the Sentinel has been flying operationally for nearly two decades, at least, also just underscores the degree to which stealthy, persistent drone surveillance capabilities had already advanced decades ago. That being said, the RQ-170 is a medium-altitude platform that was developed as a more tactical-level asset for surveillance of smaller areas. It does not fulfill the continued requirements for something like the RQ-180, able to fly at much higher altitudes over far greater distances for much longer periods of time, while carrying huge sensors, and was never intended to do so.
It’s also worth noting here that any decision to employ a highly secretive and sensitive asset like the RQ-180 over Iran would still carry major risks. Stealth aircraft aren’t invisible or completely immune to threats, and accidents do happen. As noted earlier, a technical issue of some kind may well be the only reason why we got a clear look at the drone during the day at Larissa in Greece, to begin with. At the same time, there is something of a precedent for taking these kinds of risks with regard to Iran, specifically, even outside of the demands of open conflict. After the RQ-170 went down in Iran, it is very likely that Russia and China had opportunities to analyze the drone in detail. But the technologies in the RQ-170, and its very design, are understood to be far less exquisite than what would be found in the RQ-180.
But even as an RQ-180 would have an even more pressing use case against a peer competitor like China, which is drastically expanding its nuclear arsenal and has thousands of road-mobile ballistic missiles, risking such a sensitive asset over Iran is paired with the high stakes involved with this operation, especially in regard to Israel. Iran’s massive and rapidly growing number of long-range missiles were a stated reason Trump decided he had to act now. The administration has said that soon Iran would be able to oversaturate any defenses if action wasn’t taken. It is this same threat that would be a major factor in using such a prized asset for Epic Fury, to do whatever possible to limit the damage to Israel, and to America’s Arab allies as well.
When the secretive drone first emerged at Larissa, comparisons were also drawn to an Israeli design referred to as the RA-01. That uncrewed stealth aircraft has a roughly similar planform, but is a smaller overall design that likely falls between the RQ-170 and the RQ-180. It has been very active during the conflict, being seen in videos. It would be of no surprise if it were tasked with hunting Iranian missile launchers, as well.
It should be stressed that we still do not know for sure why the secretive drone is at Larissa and what operations it might have been conducting, or still is, from the Greek base. As mentioned at the start of this piece, U.S. authorities have, so far, declined to comment on the uncrewed aircraft’s presence there at all.
At the same time, its emergence does come at a time when the capabilities of the RQ-180, or an evolution thereof, would be in extremely high demand to support current operations over Iran, and specifically to address the urgent need to counter Iran’s long-range weapons, just as the progenitor of the concept was meant to do nearly four decades ago.
Coronation Street has shared new spoiler for next week episodes with two villains under the spotlight, while an iconic character faces grave danger after a revenge twist
It’s a really big week on Coronation Street next week, with danger, bombshells and discoveries(Image: ITV)
It’s a really big week on Coronation Street next week, with danger, bombshells and discoveries that could change everything.
One soap legend could be left fighting for his life after a deliberate act of arson. Details are being kept under wraps in terms of what unfolds, but recent hints suggest Roy Cropper’s life will be at risk.
There’s also a killer bombshell for one character, while a villain is finally exposed by his victim for their cruel and abusive behaviour. More than one baddie’s true colours come to light, very much paving the way for the dramatic murder episode airing later this month.
It’s certainly a week to watch as things become clearer, motives for the shock death grow and we see multiple characters taking centre stage. Kicking things off, Summer questions Theo about Billy’s last moments, but she’s shocked by Theo and Todd’s plans to move to Belfast.
Summer tells Todd her fears that Theo killed Billy, while George and Sarah try to stop Todd leaving. At the flat, Todd makes his bid for freedom, but will he get away?
Todd finally speaks out, standing up to Theo in a special episode before reporting the abuse to Lisa and Kit. Theo is desperate to flee, but will he make his escape or will he be stopped?
Sarah vows to find video evidence of the abuse Todd has endured, while Todd struggles to return to normality. Roy is in grave danger when Mal takes revenge, as the café is set on fire.
With everyone thinking Roy is out, they have no idea he’s unconscious in the smoked out flat upstairs, so will he be saved? Debbie sees Carl’s true colours when Summer tells her about Carl’s offer to give her information about Billy’s death, in exchange for his life insurance payout.
Debbie kicks Carl out, while Ronnie makes him an offer. Mal reports Kit for assault, but Kit plays it down to Lisa, claiming Mal is unhinged. Later, Lisa misplaces her police badge as she sets off for work.
Elsewhere, Jodie’s latest actions spark a rift with the family, and Ben quizzes Steve about their dad Jim. George confides in Glenda that he might have to sell the business, and Eva tries to get the Driscolls on good terms again.
Liverpoolare on red alert with Real Madrid now open to selling France midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, 23, who is a long-term target for the Reds. (L’Equipe – in French), external
Barcelona and Juventus are among the clubs who want to sign Manchester Cityand Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva, 31, on a free transfer this summer. (Sky Sports), external
If Brazil forward Vinicius Jr, 25, elects to leave Real Madrid, only Paris St-Germain or the Premier League remain as realistic options. (ESPN), external
Borussia Dortmund are interested in Strasbourg and Belgium’s Diego Moreira, 21, but Chelsea have a buy-back clause for the left-sided player. (Florian Plettenberg), external
Roma are keen on Midtjylland duo Dario Osorio, 22, and Franculino, 21, with the Chile winger and Guinea-Bissau forward valued at a combined 55m euros (£48m). (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external
After gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Askar Akayev became President.
In 2005, a popular uprising known as the “Tulip Revolution”, forced President Akayev’s resignation in April of that year. Opposition leaders formed a coalition, and a new government was formed under President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
On April 6th 2010, civil unrest broke out in the town of Talas after a demonstration against government corruption and increased living expenses.
On April 7th 2010, the unrest had spread and mass anti-government protests in Bishkek turned violent, with over 84 people being killed and many hundreds injured in clashes with security forces.
A transition government took control and Bakiev fled the country soon afterwards.
The day has been a public holiday since 2016.
To mark the events of 2010, hundreds of people attend a special ceremony at a memorial site near Bishkek, including top government officials and the relatives of victims who died during the revolution. People laid wreaths and flowers and held prayers for the deceased.
The WHO has warned of ‘catastrophic’ risks if radioactive release occurs.
Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has been targeted four times since the United States-Israel war on Iran began more than a month ago.
And the World Health Organization (WHO has warned of “catastrophic” risks if a radioactive release occurs.
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Tehran has accused the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog of inaction – an allegation that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rejects. But it does acknowledge that the situation is of deep concern.
Why are the attacks happening, and what risks do they pose?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Tariq Rauf – Former head of verification and security policy coordination at the IAEA
Abas Aslani – Senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies
Alicia Sanders-Zakre – Head of policy at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Todd Meadows, a deckhand on one of the fishing vessels featured on the Emmy-winning reality series “Deadliest Catch,” died after he fell overboard into the Bering Sea.
The official cause of death listed on the crew member’s death certificate, which was obtained by TMZ, states that Meadows died from drowning with probable hypothermia and submersion of his body in cold water. The death has been ruled an accident by the Alaska Department of Health.
Meadows, a rookie deckhand who joined the production in May 2025, had not yet been featured on the long-running reality series at the time of his death. “Deadliest Catch” was reportedly wrapping production on Season 22 when the incident occurred, and cameras were rolling.
Meadows’ mother, Angela Meadows, has since asked that the show not air footage of her son’s death. “No parent would want the world to watch their child die,” Meadows told Alaska News Source.
Rick Shelford, the captain of the Aleutian Lady, announced in a social media post that Meadows died Feb. 25. He called it “the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”
“We lost our brother,” Shelford wrote in his lengthy tribute. “Todd was the newest member of our crew, he quickly became family. His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away. His smile was contagious, and the sound of his laughter coming up the wheelhouse stairs or over the deck hailer is something we will carry with us always.
“He worked hard, loved deeply, and brought joy to those around him,” he added. “Todd will forever be part of this boat, this crew, and this brotherhood. Though we lost him far too soon, his legacy will live on through his children and in every memory we carry of him.”
A GoFundMe set up in Meadows’ name described the deckhand from Montesano, Wash., as a father to “three amazing little boys” who died “while doing what he loved — crabbing out on Alaskan waters.”
The fundraiser has since raised more than $59,000.
According to the Associated Press, Meadows was reported to have fallen overboard around 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
“He was recovered unresponsive by the crew approximately 10 minutes later,” Chief Petty Officer Travis Magee, a spokesperson with the Coast Guard’s Arctic District, told the AP.
The incident is still being investigated by the Coast Guard.
Times staff writer Tracy Brown contributed to this report.
Vitor Matos has said players like Liam Cullen are the “soul and heart” of Swansea City as he insisted the club cannot be dragged down by the weight of history.
After the game, Matos was asked about Cullen’s unfamiliar starting role on the right flank against Boro – and responded by launching a passionate defence of the versatile Wales international.
Swansea academy product Cullen has been consistently praised by managers for his attitude and contribution for club and country.
However, that has not stopped the 26-year-old from facing social media criticism on a regular basis.
The latest example of that came following Wales’ World Cup play-off semi-final defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina last month, when Cullen featured as a substitute.
Matos has drawn comparisons between Cullen and Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni, who was sent off in Italy’s play-off final loss to the Bosnians four days later.
“I really don’t know what is, how do I say, how everyone feels so much in doubt when it’s Liam or someone similar, because I just give this example,” the Swansea head coach said.
Samsung announced that it is ending its Samsung Messages texting app in July when it will stop working and become unavailable for download, and is encouraging users to switch to Google Messages for their texting purposes. File Photo by Erdem Sahin/EPA-EFE
April 6 (UPI) — Samsung said on Monday that it will discontinue its messages app and told users to upgrade to Google Messages as their default method for sending texts.
The move is being billed as an upgrade, as Google Messages includes spam and scam filters, RCS-enabled messaging, artificial intelligence features because the app is integrated with Google’s Gemini, and the ability to continue chats across multiple devices without interruption.
The Samsung Messages app will not be available to download and will stop functioning in July, Samsung said in an end-of-service announcement.
Samsung Messages was the pre-installed, default texting app on all the company’s smartphones until 2021, CNET reported.
In 2024, it stopped pre-installing it and gradually started to motivate users to switch to the Google service with the release of its Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 phones, and the Galaxy S26 — the newest version of its flagship smartphone — is not able to download the app.
“Once the Samsung Messages app is discontinued, sending messages via Samsung Messages on your phone will no longer be possible, except for emergency service numbers or emergency contacts defined on your device,” Samsung said in the announcement.
In the announcement, Samsung said that depending on the operating system on the device, some users may receive a notification in Samsung Messages about migrating to Google Messages, if the user opts for it.
For some users, the company said, Google Messages will not instantly be set as the default texting app and may not appear in the home screen doc, with Samsung providing instructions for accomplishing both.
It also noted in the announcement that watches launched before the Galaxy Watch4 do not support Google’s texting app, and that Samsung devices released before 2022 will require users on both ends of a text conversation to switch to Google Messages for full RCS conversations to be available.
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a SMS/MMS standard that has been adopted by most messaging apps, including the iMessage app on iPhones, that provides end-to-end encryption, ensuring a “more dynamic and secure conversation,” according to Google.
President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on April 6, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Grammy winner Lil Nas X is another step closer to potentially resolving his felony police battery case.
A Los Angeles judge on Monday granted the “Industry Baby” and “Old Town Road” singer’s motion for diversion, ordering the 26-year-old musician to enter a two-year mental health program, according to multiple outlets. TMZ reported that Lil Nas X — birth name Montero Hill — will be cleared of his four felony counts if he complies with treatment and commits no other crimes.
A legal representative for the rapper-singer, who was naked when he was arrested in Studio City last August, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Lil Nas X, who returned to Van Nuys Courthouse for a hearing, told media he was feeling “thankful” and echoed a previous comment that he misses his fans.
“I’m just going through the flow of life,” he said outside the courthouse, according to video published by Rolling Stone reporter Nancy Dillon.
The singer received treatment at a nearby hospital for a possible overdose but was accused of assaulting police officers. He was charged with four felony counts: three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer. Police allege the singer assaulted the officers who were trying to take him into custody. Lil Nas X had pleaded not guilty to all those counts.
Days after his Studio City episode, Lil Nas X reassured fans on social media he would be all right. “That was terrifying,” he recalled of his arrest,”that was a terrifying four days but ya girl’s gonna be all right.”
Rolling Stone reported that during Monday’s hearing Judge Alan Schneider said the singer’s behavior in August was “aberrant from his normal conduct” and related to his bipolar diagnosis. Schneider also observed that the artist “appears to be doing very well” and “when treated, he is much better off, and society is much better off,” the outlet said.
Middlesbrough, who went into the Easter weekend in the top two, still had the opportunity to end it there with victory at Swansea City in the 17:30 BST game.
Alex Bangura set them on their way with a 12th-minute goal but, after two Zan Vipotnik penalties put the Swans in front, Boro needed a Tommy Conway spot-kick to rescue a point.
Boro are floundering with two wins in their past 10 matches and while they scored more than once for the first time in five games, the feeling remains they are a frustrating and inconsistent proposition in front of goal.
Manager Kim Hellberg said after the match there would be more “twists and turns” to come in the fight for promotion – after a day of such similar rollercoaster emotions.
“You’ve got three teams on 72 points – Ipswich have some games in hand, so they’re in a better position than the other two, but we are in a better position than Millwall because of our better goal difference,” he told BBC Radio Tees.
“There will be twists and turns. No team will just go and win games. It’s difficult and you need to just try in this period to get those points and wins.
“We have to keep fighting. It’s tough we didn’t win, because we thought we were good enough in the game to win, but then you have to do it.
“The easy answer at the moment is that we’re not being clinical enough or smart enough in different ways.”
With a four-point deficit to Ipswich, and a vastly inferior goal difference, plus the games in hand the Tractor Boys hold, Hull can be considered the outsiders in this race.
But the Tigers showed against Coventry they can match anyone in the division and once again reaffirmed the fantastic job Sergej Jakirovic has done in his first season in English football under a transfer embargo.
Although when asked about what that point means in terms of the wider context of Hull’s season, Jakirovic was talking more play-offs than automatic promotion.
“Somebody said it is 73, 74, 75 [to reach the play-offs] but God knows how many. Until we are in this position we will just look at ourselves and try to take points in every game,” Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.
“Norwich are coming, Derby is there, Southampton… but, no matter, we must look at ourselves.”
US president says Washington, as the ‘winner’ of the war, has a ‘concept’ for charging a toll in strategic waterway.
Published On 6 Apr 20266 Apr 2026
President Donald Trump has suggested the United States may be looking to charge a toll in the Strait of Hormuz after the war, a move that would likely require direct US military control over the strategic waterway.
Asked on Monday whether he would accept a deal that would allow Iran to take fees from ships to traverse the strait, the US president said: “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”
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Trump reiterated that Iran has been militarily defeated, a claim that he has been making since the early days of the war, despite Iran’s sustained drone and missile attacks across the region and its continuing blockade of Hormuz.
“The only thing they have is the psychology of, ‘Oh, we’re going to drop a couple of mines in the water.’ All right, no, I mean, we have a concept where we’ll charge tolls,” Trump told reporters.
Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, lies mostly within Omani and Iranian territorial waters. About 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the strait before the war.
Trump’s latest comments came as he issued what he called a “final” ultimatum to Tehran to reopen the strait and agree to Washington’s terms or face attacks against Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.
The US president told reporters on Monday that any deal with Iran must include reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me, and part of that deal is going to be, we want free traffic of oil,” he said.
Reports have suggested that Iran is already charging a toll for some of the few ships it is allowing to pass through the strait.
“The Strait of Hormuz situation won’t return to its pre-war status,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X last month.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also called for “new arrangements” to manage the waterway after the war, ensuring safe passage for ships and protecting Iran’s interests.
“I believe that after the war, the first step should be drafting a new protocol for the Strait of Hormuz,” he told Al Jazeera in March. “Naturally, this should be done between the countries that lie on both sides of the strait.”
The White House said last week that Trump is considering asking Arab countries to pay for Washington’s expenses in its war on Iran.
In the midst of the escalation of the Gaza conflict that has been going on since 2023, the world is once again witnessing the heartbreaking reality of women crying among the ruins of their homes and the burning of property, mothers who have lost children, and families separated by military attacks. Global media were quick to point to this event as a symbol of the suffering of civil society. But behind the empathy shown, there is also a question that is rarely asked: how exactly can Palestinian women be represented, and who can shape that narrative?
For decades, women in conflict zones, such as the Middle East, have often been portrayed in the same framework, as passive victims who need to be rescued and protected. In the context of Gaza, this pattern has resurfaced. Global media coverage often only highlights women’s plight without giving enough space for their voices, perspectives, and agency in conflict. This narrative does look humanistic, but it also contains an element of simplification that makes the world unaware of the more complex reality behind it.
This is where postcolonial feminism offers a sharper critique and helps us to look further at this issue as a form of epistemic violence. This perspective emphasizes that in understanding women’s experiences, it cannot be separated from considerations about the history of colonialism and global power relations. In the context of the Gaza conflict, this means that violence is experienced by women. Not only a patriarchal problem but also supported by aspects of colonialism, militarization, and inequality politics (Enloe, 2014).
This phenomenon cannot be separated from the thoughts of Lila Abu-Lughod, who mentioned “politics of saving” in her work entitled Do Muslim Women Need Saving? Abu-Lughod (2013) criticized how the Western world portrays Muslim women as an oppressed group in need of rescue. This narrative is not only a form of simplifying women’s representation but can also be used as a legitimacy for political, cultural, and even military intervention from external actors. Such as the concept of militarization of daily life raised by Enloe (2014), who explains that militarization does not only occur on the battlefield but also enters into the reality of daily life, including in how the media frames conflicts. Where in this context the representation of Palestinian women as passive victims is used to affirm certain narratives about war, security, and the legitimacy of power.
The term “security politics” in the Gaza conflict appears in a more subtle form. Palestinian women are positioned as a universal form of suffering but are rarely seen as political subjects with diverse experiences and aspirations. The suffering they experience in conflict becomes a global consumption, while structural contexts, such as colonialism and power inequality, are often ignored.
An important question then arises: who really has the right to speak on behalf of Palestinian women? This is where Spivak’s (2009) thoughts on the concept of the subaltern become relevant. Spivak himself argues that the subaltern group is a group that is in a marginalized position so that its voice is not heard in the dominant discourse. Even when they are “represented,” their voices are often mediated or even filtered by stronger actors.
In many news narratives about Gaza, Palestinian women rarely appear as the main narrator of their own experiences. Brand awareness is often told by foreign journalists and international organizations. Or humanitarian institutions as “representatives.” As a result, the narrative that is born is not a complete reflection of the reality they face, but rather a form of representation that has been framed according to the logic and direction of global media reporting.
This issue becomes more complex when we look at how the media tends to ignore the agency dimension. Palestinian women not only live in the shadow of conflict but also have active agency in various forms of resistance, both as activists, journalists, medical personnel, and community leaders. They have the capacity to build solidarity and even contribute to political struggles as well as peace. However, aspect II rarely gets the same spotlight as the narrative of suffering.
This disregard of agency can create an imbalance of representation. Palestinian women are only seen as passive victims, which makes them look like they also have no capacity as active actors. This inequality is not only a question of representation but also a question of power regarding who has the right to define reality for a particular purpose.
In the digital era, this is certainly starting to change. Social media provides a space for Palestinian women to be able to speak directly to a global audience. Through various social media platforms, they can share experiences and aspirations that are often not featured in the mainstream media. This ultimately opens up the possibility of a more authentic and diverse counternarrative.
However, the digital space is still full of limitations. Certain narratives can easily go viral, while others sink and disappear without a trace. In other words, while social media can offer opportunities, the space is not completely free from the influence of broader power structures.
Rereading the narrative of Palestinian women in the era of the Gaza conflict is a form of recognition that representation is not neutral. It is always related to interests, ideologies, and power relations. The narrative of “rescue” may seem like a form of concern from the surface, but if you look further, it can also be a form of control over the other party’s representation. Looking at the Gaza conflict through the lens of feminism is to question basic assumptions in global reporting. Do we really see them as individuals? Do we really hear their voices, or just voices about them?
Therefore, it is important to change our perspective. Instead of seeing Palestinian women as victims who need to be saved, we need to recognize them as subjects who have the capacity to speak, form agencies, and share their experiences in the form of real reality. This is not to ignore the real suffering but to place Palestinian women’s experiences in armed conflict in a broader, fairer, and closer context to reality. As Abu-Lughod (2013) reminds us, the more important question that arises is not how to save Muslim women, but how to understand the conditions and realities that shape their life experiences.
Ultimately, the lens of feminism, particularly postcolonial feminism, invites us to not only have empathy but also to be more critical. By looking further at how the narrative is formed, who can benefit, and which voices are ignored.
Perhaps the more relevant question is not whether Palestinian women need protection and rescue, but whether the world is ready to hear and see them as subjects who have the capacity to speak and move. Because what needs to change is not them, but the way we understand them.
A five-year grassroots campaign to spur the reopening of one of the crown jewels of moviegoing in Los Angeles is on indefinite pause following an incident at the theater Friday night.
Ben Steinberg, a 26-year-old film student at Cal State Northridge, has long been a vocal and active proponent of reopening Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome, which has been closed since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. A Change.org petition started by Steinberg has more than 31,000 signatures asking the Decurion Corp., longtime owners of the venue, to reopen or lease the property to someone else who would. Across social media platforms, Steinberg has nearly 12,000 followers.
From across Sunset Boulevard on Friday night, Steinberg — along with a projectionist and a privately-hired security guard — had been projecting images of two members of the Forman family, who own Decurion, onto the front of the Dome along with the slogan “Mr. Forman REOPEN THE DOME!” After about two-and-a-half hours, LAPD officers arrived in response to a radio call received around 9 p.m.
“They came to us and they informed us that the property owner considers it harassment and that it’s an escalation and that we have to shut down,” said Steinberg in an interview with The Times on Sunday afternoon. “So we just shut down immediately. We didn’t contest anything.”
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Decurion on Monday. The LAPD confirmed details of the incident.
The Cinerama Dome originally opened in 1963 with its white tiled design and distinctive marquee. In April 2021 it was announced by Pacific Theatres that the venue would not be reopening. That brief statement regarding the closure of Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas, which operated the Dome and were also owned by Decurion, said in part, “This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward.”
Since then there have been sporadic signs of life regarding the venue, mostly to do with liquor licensing and permit requests, such as last October when a company called Dome Center LLC filed an application for a conditional-use permit.
Particularly since it became part of the larger ArcLight Hollywood multiplex in 2002, the Dome had been a vital part of the community of moviegoers in Los Angeles, home to many notable premieres and events. The front of the theater made a memorable appearance in Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning 2019 film “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.”
For now Steinberg considers his Save the Cinerama Dome campaign, which began in April 2021, paused but he hopes to resume it as soon as possible. The complaint made to the police Friday was the first reaction of any kind Steinberg has received from Decurion.
“I think it definitely tells what their intentions are,” said Steinberg. “This is the only sign that they’ve given us that they don’t want us to continue and it’s definitely a threat.”
For Steinberg, the campaign has grown beyond just wanting to see movies again in a favorite venue and into something about who truly owns the cultural capital of the city.
“I think it’s extremely important to the community of Los Angeles and it represents the city,” said Steinberg of the Cinerama Dome. “And just personally, I have so many good memories of the theater. I would hope that I’d be able to go back in again and watch movies. I think the whole city deserves the movie theater. I don’t think it would be fair for them to keep it abandoned.”
While Decurion may be operating within its rights as owner of the property, its secretive and mysterious business practices have increasingly angered film fans concerned about the future of moviegoing in the city.
“When I first posted about it, I thought people wouldn’t care,” said Steinberg. “But it seems like the whole world cares about the Cinerama Dome. And I think too it’s more than the Cinerama Dome at this point. I think it just kind of represents the overall landscape of L.A. and America and how these large corporations can own historic buildings and keep them abandoned and then sort of push away people who want [them] to reopen.”
WASHINGTON — The Education Department said Monday it has terminated agreements that previous administrations reached with five school districts and a college aimed at upholding rights and protections for transgender students.
The decision means the department will no longer play a role in enforcing those agreements, which called for schools to take steps to comply with federal civil rights law. The districts affected are Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware, Fife School District in Washington, Delaware Valley School District in Pennsylvania, and La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, Sacramento City Unified and Taft College in California.
Under the Biden and Obama administrations, the department interpreted Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education, to include protections for transgender and gay students.
The Trump administration has penalized schools that have made efforts to accommodate students based on their gender identity. It has filed lawsuits in California and Minnesota over state policies permitting transgender students to participate in interscholastic sports, and opened civil rights investigations into schools and universities over their policies on transgender students.
But the announcement Monday appeared to involve the first known cases of the administration terminating civil rights settlements that had been negotiated with schools.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said the action reflects the administration’s efforts to keep transgender students from participating in girls’ and women’s sports teams and accessing shared locker rooms.
“Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior Administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” she said in a written statement.
Her players, though, were as excited for their coach as they were for themselves after defeating South Carolina 79-51 to claim the first NCAA national title in program history.
“I’m super proud of her as well, the way she responded as a leader last year,” UCLA senior guard Gabriela Jaquez said. “We responded well. Obviously we’re here now. I think it started with Coach Cori and the way she wanted to make a change in our program and get us back here, get this result.”
Close, who has been with the Bruins since 2011, got UCLA close last season, when the Bruins reached the Final Four and were blown out by Connecticut in the semifinal.
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But they turned the tables on South Carolina on Sunday, and Close said the best feeling was knowing that her process could work.
“This has been a calling, not a job,” Close said. “I’ve been saying it all day, but I don’t even know how else to say it, it’s immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine. I’m really grateful.”
UCLA coach Cori Close points across the court and talks with guard Kiki Rice during a win over South Carolina in the NCAA national title game Sunday in Phoenix.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
At times during her career, Close was viewed as an excellent recruiter and strong motivational speaker, but her tactical decisions were easy to question every time her team faltered during big moments. During the course of UCLA’s win over South Carolina, Close demonstrated every weakness her team showed during the past four years had been corrected. The result, was a lopsided victory that announced her arrival as one of women’s college basketball’s top coaches.
WNBA star Caitlin Clark on posted on X, “Not many care about the game as much as Coach Close … couldn’t be happier for her!!”
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said Close and her Bruins deserved all the praise.
“Cori is one of those people who really works at making our game better. Not just UCLA, but our entire game,” Staley said. “She’s always speaking out, uplifting our game in so many areas that it’s hard to continue to do that while maintaining the job that you have to do every day. But she finds the time.
UCLA coach Cori Close hugs South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley before their teams faced off for a national title Sunday in Phoenix.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
“Although we didn’t win, I can swallow it because we lost to a really good human being and a good team that represent women’s basketball well.”
Close will have to face a rebuild and likely have to work the transfer portal hard in the coming weeks to replace her six seniors and graduate students. But now, it might be a little bit easier since she’s proven her players bought in and she can win.
“Coach Cori really stayed patient with me,” said senior Lauren Betts, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “She wanted to see me accomplish everything that I’d ever dreamed of. They just continued to remind me, they want me to see myself the way they all see me. I feel like now at this point I can finally truly do that. I think that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Not only win, either, but in such joyous fashion that it kept many of the players committed to the program and each other. Close’s approach ultimately carried them to a national championship.
UCLA forward Gabriela Jaquez dribbles under pressure from South Carolina forward Joyce Edwards Sunday in Phoenix.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s about their work and their habits yielding,” Close said while tearing up. “We say this, we want to recruit courageous. There were a lot of times we wondered if it could be true. I said I wanted to find uncommon, courageous women that were willing to make uncommon choices that maybe possibly could yield an uncommon result, and today it did.”
More love for the national champions
The UCLA women’s basketball team’s win sparked celebrations throughout the country.
UCLA two-sport star Megan Grant, who spent part of the fall practicing and playing on the Bruins’ basketball team, helped the softball team sweep Indiana before catching a flight to Phoenix. She greeted the basketball team at its hotel and joined the celebration, getting decked in UCLA national championship gear and receiving a piece of the title net from Close.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, a proud UCLA alum, recorded a video congratulating the team on its title win from one champion to another. “You guys made the entire Bruin nation so proud,” he said.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson, former U.S. Soccer star Abby Wambach, former President Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass and many others congratulated the Bruins on social media. The state capital was lit in UCLA colors Sunday night in honor of the Bruins’ win. Fans greeted the team when the Bruins’ bus from the airport arrived on campus Sunday night.
UCLA is inviting fans to a national title celebration at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday night. The official start time has not yet been announced.
Gymnastics advances to NCAA championships
The UCLA gymnastics team was locked in a tight battle Sunday in Corvallis, Ore., for a spot in the national championship meet.
The Bruins, however, were confident their super-power event — the floor exercise, their final rotation — would keep alive their goal of winning a national title.
Ciena Alipio scored a 9.875; Mika Webster-Longin, Sydney Barros and Ashlee Sullivan all scored a 9.900; and Tiana Sumanasekera added a 9.925.
Then it was time for senior Jordan Chiles to close out the meet for the Bruins.
Chiles delivered the same dynamic floor routine that has earned high scores all season, bursting into tears as soon as she stuck the final landing. She was rewarded with her eighth perfect 10 of the season and clinched the regional victory for the Bruins.
It was UCLA’s 25th NCAA regional title and the program’s first since 2019.
UCLA’s final team score was 197.725. Minnesota was next in line with 197.625 and will join the Bruins as the teams advancing to the national title meet.
Longtime UCLA rival Utah placed third with 197.500 and Alabama was fourth with 197.175.
Louisiana State, Stanford, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Arkansas are the other six teams that advanced to the national championships, which will be held April 16 and 18 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
No. 1 UCLA baseball sweeps No. 12 USC
The No. 1 UCLA baseball team completed a three-game sweep of No. 12 USC at Jackie Robinson Field, rolling to a 10-4 victory.
With the score tied 3-3 in the fifth inning, Will Gasparino hit a two-run homer. Mulivai Levu added a two-run homer in the sixth, and Roch Cholowsky tacked on a three-run blast in the eighth.
UCLA earned a 12-4 win over USC on Friday, then had to rally for a 9-8 win Saturday.
The Bruins (29-2, 15-0 Big Ten) are riding a 23-game win streak. The Trojans (27-6, 10-5) started the season on a 19-game win streak but have been challenged by Big Ten competition.
The UCLA football team kicked off spring workouts this past week. We’ll get our first chance to talk with players this week and promise to have more football coverage in the newsletters to come.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
April 6 (UPI) — A cruise ship in Fiji ran aground at Monuriki Island, a small, uninhabited island off the coast of Fiji where the movie Cast Away was filmed.
The ship is the 180-foot Fiji Princess, part of Blue Lagoon Cruises. It ran aground on a reef while visiting the island. All 30 passengers and 17 of its 31 crew were taken off the boat on the same day, and there were no injuries reported.
“Initial checks confirmed that the vessel has suffered serious damage to its rear left side, including the area where the steering equipment is located. Part of the vessel underneath has also been damaged,” a spokesperson for the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji said.
“The vessel also experienced engine failure and was reported to be taking in water following the grounding. Due to rough seas and strong waves, officers were unable to safely inspect the vessel underwater at the time,” the MSAF said.
The main priority is protecting the environment, a spokesperson said.
The ship was carrying about 5,300 gallons of diesel fuel. The spokesperson said authorities had taken oil spill equipment to the area “as a precaution” but that the sea was too rough to use it.
“At the time of inspection, there were no signs that the fuel tanks had been damaged,” the spokesperson said.
Salvage teams, with the help of an Australian salvage specialist, were working to remove the fuel and oil from the ship.
”Msaf’s main concern at this time is the safety of all personnel, the protection of Fiji’s marine environment, and ensuring that response efforts continue safely,” a spokesperson said. “Msaf will continue to work closely with the vessel operator and all response teams, and will provide further updates as necessary.”
Monuriki Island is where the 2000 movie “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks, was filmed. It is part of the Mamanuca Island chain, on which “Survivor” has been filmed since 2016.
