Month: April 2026

With more than 40 years of coaching experience, Tom Harp of Granada Hills sure knows how to pull off upsets in boys volleyball.

His team created some uncertainty for the City Section playoffs by knocking off the likely No. 1 seed, Chatsworth, on Monday with a five-set victory, 24-26, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-12.

“It was an amazing match,” Harp said. “It was some of the hardest spikes I’ve seen in a long time from both teams.”

RJ Francisco of Granada Hills had 19 kills and setter Shawn Meza contributed 46 assists. Granada Hills pulled into a first-place tie with Chatsworth in the West Valley League after losing to the Chancellors earlier this season.

Baseball

Sylmar 7, Sun Valley Poly 0: The Spartans moved two games ahead of the Parrots in the Valley Mission League race. Matthew Torres threw a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts. Rickee Luevano had two hits and three RBIs. Tim Sepulveda added two hits.

El Camino Real 6, Chatsworth 2: It was a big day for JJ Saffie, who had a home run, double and two singles for the Royals. RJ De La Rosa had a triple.

Cleveland 2, Taft 0: Joshua Pearlstein threw 6⅓ scoreless innings, with Elliot Schoenwald getting the save. Sebastian Castaneda had two hits.

Banning 5, Narbonne 3: Oscar Chavez (4-1) threw a complete game and AJ Herrera went three for three to lead Banning.

Carson 2, San Pedro 1: Noah Sandoval threw a complete game for Carson.

San Fernando 1, Verdugo Hills 0: Alex Torres threw the shutout with seven strikeouts and no walks.

South Hills 4, Alta Loma 3: Gabriel Guerrero threw 1⅓ innings of scoreless relief to get the save for South Hills.

Long Beach Millikan 6, North Torrance 3: Austin Brett struck out seven in five innings.

Corona Centennial 15, King 8: Sophomore Ethan Miller hit two home runs and finished with five RBIs. The Huskies hit four home runs and rallied from a 5-3 deficit.

Corona 16, Eastvale Roosevelt 6: Sophomore Logan Pascarella had two hits and five RBIs and Trey Ebel added two hits and three RBIs to lead Corona.

Etiwanda 12, Chino Hills 11: Derick Kim hit a walk-off, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning for Etiwanda. Jacob Jimenez hit a grand slam for Chino Hills. LJ Roellig had four hits, including three doubles, for Etiwanda. Jaxson Milius had three hits and three RBIs.

Softball

El Camino Real 3, Birmingham 1: Audrina Gonzalez struck out eight in seven innings. Gonzalez had an RBI double and Madison Franklin added an RBI triple.

San Pedro 13, Narbonne 0: Jenna Ortega had three hits, including two doubles.

NewsFeed

Outrage continues to grow over the Israeli soldier who was photographed desecrating a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon, including among Trump’s former MAGA allies. From a Polish MP to a Palestinian theologian, observers say it reveals a wider pattern.

Quotable

Daniel Benaim, the former US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arabian Peninsula Affairs, says the US missed the early off-ramps to declare victory over Iran, and now finds itself behind where it began on all its objectives.

Gregg Wallace, who was sacked from Masterchef last year following an investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, has confirmed his “new chapter”

Former Masterchef host Gregg Wallace is leaving the UK for Italy after being forced to sell his “enormous” £1million home.

The TV chef, 61, was axed from the popular BBC programme last year after he was accused of “inappropriate behaviour”, including allegations of touching an assistant’s bum on the show. An investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, with 45 accusations against him subsequently upheld.

Reports emerged in October Gregg was claiming up to £10,000 in damages from the BBC and one of its subsidiaries following his axe from MasterChef. The TV presenter claimed they allegedly caused him “distress and harassment” by failing to disclose to him his personal data.

But now the presenter has confirmed his “new chapter”, telling his Instagram following he will leave the UK for Italy by the end of the month. Gregg added he will homeschool his autistic son there.

READ MORE: Grace Dent gives brutally honest response to taking over MasterChef hosting roleREAD MORE: BBC scandals in full – Scott Mills axed over historic relationship and ‘personal conduct’

Gregg’s wife, Anne-Marie Sterpini, whom he met on Twitter, is Italian. They tied the knot in 2016, four years after Gregg’s divorce to his third wife Heidi Brown.

Speaking in his social media video, Gregg said: “I’ve always loved Italy and we plan to move around and rent in different places which is quite an adventure and with the help of my autism specialist mates, I am going to homeschool Sid as well. It is a new chapter for us. It is a life that should be full of travel and adventure and I’m very very much looking forward too it.”

But the entrepreneur, who also hosted Saturday Kitchen, is also planning to buy a “much more modest”house in Yorkshire — close to where his daughter lives. He will then divide his time between Italy and Yorkshire, it is thought.

It comes after Gregg revealed earlier this month that he is selling his £1million Kent home after being left “unable to live the life he used to have”. The chef has not had a TV job since the BBC sacked him from Masterchef, a role he had held for nearly two decades.

The ex BBC star plans to sell the “enormous” home which sits on five acres of land along with its stables and pond. Gregg, who bought the home back in 2017, said he was making the move not only for a slower pace of life but also to ensure financial security for Anne-Marie, 38, and son Sid, six.

He said: “I can’t have the life I used to have but whether you chose to believe it or not, I really wanted to come out of that anyway, but obviously not in the dramatic way that I did.

“I want to ease off a little bit, I want to relax a little bit. but that also comes with wanting financial security for me and my family because I’ve got a wife that is much younger than me and a special needs little boy, Sid.”

DENVER — The Dodgers announced Monday that Edwin Díaz will undergo surgery to remove “loose bodies” in his right elbow and the closer isn’t expected to return until some point in the second half of the season.

Díaz, 32, has a 10.50 ERA in seven appearances this season for the Dodgers, who made a splash signing the high-profile free agent to a three-year $69-million deal, a record for a reliever.

The Dodgers recalled 27-year-old left-handed long reliever Jake Eder to replace Díaz on the roster.

Díaz gave up three runs and failed to get an out in the Dodgers’ 9-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies in a non-save situation Sunday, in what was his first appearance in nine days.

He entered the game and gave up a walk and three base hits, including a two-RBI single to Edouard Julien. Afterward, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed concern about Díaz’s performance: “I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”

Before the Dodgers played their final game of the four-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Monday, Roberts said that the diagnosis provides some clarity, and that Díaz only began feeling discomfort in his elbow Sunday.

Before that Roberts said the plan was to “tread lightly” with the pitcher’s workload, unsure why the velocity of his pitches was down.

“Obviously, we all saw the stuff [Sunday], and it sent up red flags,” Roberts said. “And so, after the game, he had a conversation with our training staff, and felt that he had some elbow discomfort. So we just wanted to be proactive, and felt that it was smart to get an MRI, get imaging, which we did do, and it showed loose bodies.”

Having experienced the same thing as a player, Roberts explained, “you have loose bodies and they’re asymptomatic until they’re not.”

A 10-year veteran, Díaz is a three-time All-Star. For his career, he has 257 saves in 300 opportunities with 849 strikeouts.

General manager Brandon Gomes said the Dodgers are “as confident as we can be” that Díaz will return to top form.

“Our understanding is that it’s a pretty straightforward procedure,” Gomes said. “We’re going to take our time with getting him back and being mindful of the buildup, and make sure he’s in a really good position to come out and compete at the highest level of what we expect.

“It’s the benefit of having a deeper staff and a talented team that it’s never easy to lose somebody like Edwin, but we’ll get through it and it’ll be a collective effort to keep winning baseball games.”

Roberts said he doesn’t plan to name a substitute closer in Díaz’s place, and the manager acknowledged that the news will significantly alter how he’ll use the bullpen.

“It does change it. In a big way,” Roberts said. “I do think being able to deploy guys in their right lanes or pockets has been helpful. But with that, I do think that Alex [Vesia] has been throwing the baseball really well. Tanner [Scott has] been throwing the baseball really well, and outside of last night, Blake [Treinen] was throwing the baseball really well.

“But it does kind of not allow us to work from the back end, which is certainly a luxury.”

The Dodgers have had unfortunate luck signing big-name relievers. In 2025 they signed left-hander Scott to a four-year $72-million deal. He then led the league with 10 blown saves last season and the Dodgers removed him from their postseason roster, replacing him with left-hander Justin Wrobleski, who was set to start Monday as the team played for a series split at Coors Field.

The FAA has grounded Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket because although its launch was successful, one of the engines on its second stage did not fire properly when it got to space, which resulted in the spacecraft releasing a communications satellite in too low of an orbit to be useful. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

April 20 (UPI) — The Federal Aviation Administration grounded Blue Origin‘s New Glenn rocket after it botched the release of a satellite following its successful launch two hours earlier.

The third launch of New Glenn and second landing of its reusable booster stage “Never Tell Me The Odds” on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean was a success in those terms, but the spacecraft delivered AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite to an orbit too low for it to operate properly.

Blue Origin said Monday that it is leading an investigation into one of New Glenn’s engines producing insufficient thrust to reach the mission’s target orbit.

“While we were pleased with the nominal booster recovery, we clearly didn’t deliver the mission our customer wanted, and our team expects,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in a post on X.

The FAA, NASA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Space Force also have been monitoring the situation and will require Blue Origin to complete its investigation and report on the engine anomaly, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

“A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety,” the FAA said in explaining why it grounded the rocket.

The New Glenn-3 rocket launched around 7:30 a.m. EDT on Sunday morning, nailing the flight and landing portion of its mission, and successfully released the BlueBird 7 satellite once it reached orbit.

Because one of the two BE-3U engines that power New Glenn’s upper stage didn’t produce sufficient thrust on its second engine burn, which is meant to boost the spacecraft to its target orbit above Earth, it never got there.

Although the satellite was released and powered on properly, the off-nominal orbit — which was too low for it to be useful — AST said it would be jettisoned.

BlueBird 7 is one of 45 satellites that AST SpaceMobile hopes to get in orbit by the end of 2026 as part of a satellite-based cellular network designed to operate with standard smartphones.

The satellite would have been the companies eighth to reach orbit, and it’s share price Feller by more than 6% on Monday, The BBC reported.

Limp said Blue Origin is analyzing data as it conducts the investigation and is “in steady communication with the team at AST SpaceMobile.”

“We appreciate their partnership, and we’re looking forward to many flights together,” Limp said.

First all-women cohort of winners hails from Colombia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, the UK and the US.

This year’s prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize has been awarded to six grassroots environmental activists from around the world for their efforts to fight climate change and save biodiversity.

For the first time since the prize was created in 1989 by philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman, all recipients of the award are women: Iroro Tanshi, from Nigeria; Borim Kim, from South Korea; Sarah Finch, from the United Kingdom; Theonila Roka Matbob, from Papua New Guinea; Alannah Acaq Hurley, from the United States; and Yuvelis Morales Blanco, from Colombia.

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Sometimes described as the “Green Nobel”, the Goldman Prize recipients are chosen from each of the world’s six primary regions. They each receive $200,000 in prize money.

“While we continue to fight uphill to protect the environment and implement lifesaving climate policies – in the US and globally – it is clear that true leaders can be found all around us,” said John Goldman, vice president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation.

“The 2026 Prize winners are proof positive that courage, hard work, and hope go a long way toward creating meaningful progress.”

Morales Blanco, the winner for the region of South and Central America, fought some of the world’s biggest oil companies to successfully stop the introduction of commercial fracking into Colombia.

The 24-year-old grew up in a family of fishermen along the banks of the Magdalena River in the Afro-Colombian community of Puerto Wilches. “We had nothing but the river – she was like a mother who took care of me,” she said.

She began organising protests after a major oil spill in 2018, which forced the relocation of dozens of local families and killed thousands of animals. Her activism, which made her a target for intimidation and forced her to temporarily relocate, helped halt projects and elevate fracking as an issue in Colombia’s 2022 election.

Two of the other five recipients of this year’s prize have also focused their efforts on fighting fossil fuels, which are causing both global climate change and more localised pollution around the world.

Borim, the winner for Asia who started the Youth 4 Climate Action organisation, won a ruling from South Korea’s Constitutional Court that the government’s climate policy violated the constitutional rights of future generations, the first successful youth-led climate litigation in the continent.

Finch, Europe’s winner, told The Times newspaper she will use her prize money to keep fighting fossil fuels.

Together with the Weald Action Group, she fought oil drilling in southeastern England for more than a decade, securing the “Finch ruling” from the Supreme Court in June 2024, stating that authorities must consider fossil fuels’ impacts on the global climate before granting permission to extract them.

Two other recipients have fought against the destructive environmental impact of mining projects.

Papua New Guinea’s Roka Matbob, winner for Islands and Island Nations, led a successful campaign that saw the world’s second-largest mining company, Rio Tinto, agree to address environmental and social devastation caused by its Panguna copper mine, 35 years after it was closed following an uprising.

And the award recipient for North America, Acaq Hurley, from the Yup’ik nation in the US, successfully fought alongside 15 tribal nations to stop a mega- copper and gold mining project that threatened ecosystems in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, including the largest wild salmon runs in the world.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Tanshi, Africa’s winner, rediscovered the endangered short-tailed roundleaf bat and has been working to save its refuge, the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, from human-induced wildfires.

Eddie Murphy is celebrating not just his lifetime achievement award, but also the arrival of his third granddaughter, perhaps the funniest baby alive.

Murphy’s son Eric and Martin Lawrence’s daughter Jasmin have welcomed their first child together, baby Ari Skye.

On Saturday, Murphy was honored with the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award at a gala in Hollywood and told reporters that he had recently celebrated back-to-back milestones.

“I just had my first grandson two months ago, and I had my third granddaughter two weeks ago. And I turned 65 a month ago,” he told “Entertainment Tonight” ahead of the gala. “It’s raining blessings on me.”

The ceremony celebrated his storied career across comedy and film, and featured tributes from fellow funnyman Dave Chappelle and “Shrek” co-star Mike Myers. The special will premiere May 31 on Netflix.

The “Dr. Dolittle” star also gushed about his new grandbaby to E! News, and told the outlet that being honored for his work was “a wonderful thing” but that his legacy wasn’t his work.

“My legacy to me is my children,” he said.

Asked whether he or Lawrence offered their kids any parenting advice as they prepared to welcome Ari Skye, Murphy said he’s more of a lead-by-example kind of dad.

“You don’t give advice like that,” he told the outlet. “Your kids don’t go by your advice. Your kids go by the example you set. They watch you. Stuff you be saying, they don’t even pay that no mind. They watch and see what you do.”

In March, Jasmin and Eric posted photos from their lavish baby shower on social media. The shindig included a three-tiered pink cake, pink cocktails garnished with meringue that looked like clouds and balloons galore. “The most beautiful and special celebration for our baby girl,” the couple captioned the post. “Thank you to our parents and everyone that made this day so magical! Ari Skye Murphy, you are SO loved already!!”

Excitement around Ari Skye’s arrival had been brewing in the media long before the couple even announced they were expecting. Murphy joked about a potential grandbaby when Jasmin and Eric were dating back in 2024, during an interview with Gayle King.

“They’re both beautiful,” he said. “They look amazing together. And it’s funny — everybody’s like, ‘That baby gonna be funny!’ Like our gene pool is just going to make this funny baby.”

Murphy agreed, saying: “If they ever get married and have a child, I’m expecting the child to be funny.”

The most unpredictable California governor’s race in recent history took another set of dizzying turns on Monday, with former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra surging after former Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out in the face of sexual assault and misconduct allegations, and former state Controller Betty Yee ending her bid.

The race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom is the first in a quarter of a century with no clear front-runner and a sprawling field of candidates who have been jockeying for the attention of Californians, who are just beginning to pay attention to the campaign two weeks before ballots arrive in their mailboxes.

“I certainly could not have imagined the twists and the disturbing turns that this race has taken,” Yee said as she announced she was dropping out. “But through it all, my values and my vision for California has never wavered.”

A poll released Monday by the state Democratic Party — its first since Swalwell (D-Dublin) dropped out — showed Becerra’s support jumped nine points to 13%, placing him in a tie with Tom Steyer, the billionaire hedge fund founder turned environmental warrior. Former Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County saw a slight bump to 10% from 7%, while the remaining Democrats in the contest were mired in the low single digits.

The party began the surveys out of concern that Democrats could be shut out of the governor’s race because of California’s unique primary system, where the top two vote-getters in the June 2 primary move on to the November general election regardless of political party.

“I continue to believe there are too many Democrats in the field,” California Democratic Party Chairman Rusty Hicks told reporters Monday. “My call for candidates to honestly assess the viability of their candidacy and campaigns still stands, especially if you are stalled in the single digits, seeing financial resources dry up and/or are failing to pick up additional support.”

Hicks and other party leaders and allies had unsuccessfully urged low-polling candidates to reconsider their candidacies before the filing deadline in an attempt to cull the field and avoid splintering the Democratic vote. Though most did not name candidates who they thought should think about their viability, Yee was widely believed to be among them.

Yee became emotional as she said on Monday that she decided to withdraw from the race because she wasn’t able to raise the resources necessary to compete in the state. She also said her message of competency and experience wasn’t resonating among voters who were seeking a fiery foil to President Trump, not “Boring Betty,” as she dubbed herself. Yee said she would assess the field before making an announcement on whether she would endorse one of her fellow Democrats.

Becerra was another candidate believed to be a target of party leaders’ efforts to shrink the field. But he held on and apparently benefited from Swalwell’s downfall.

“I’m not the richest candidate, I’m not the slickest candidate, but I am the guy that’s got you,” Becerra said, rallying supporters in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The audience was filled with members of labor groups backing the longtime politician, and Becerra told them he’d serve as a “union man” in the governor’s office.

Pro- and anti-Becerra forces tussled outside the town hall after two people, who declined to identify whom they were working for, passed out fliers highlighting critical media investigations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the migrant crisis when the agency was led by Becerra.

Pro-Becerra attendees grabbed the fliers and told the men to go away, prompting a security guard to intervene.

The question is whether Becerra, who also served as state attorney general, a member of Congress and a state Assembly member, can raise the funds necessary to compete in a state with some of the nation’s most expensive media markets. And he was tied in the state party poll with a billionaire who dumped an additional $12.1 million of his own money into his campaign last week.

Steyer’s total investment in his bid reached $133 million, according to the California secretary of state’s office. He also received the endorsement of Our Revolution, a progressive political organization founded by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“We’ve never endorsed a billionaire — but Tom Steyer is using his position to upset the system,” the group posted on X on Monday. “As Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told @theintercept, ‘He’s been a partner in the movement. Most billionaires have used their wealth and privilege to lock in the status quo. Tom is doing the opposite.’”

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who is also running for governor, accused Steyer of hypocrisy for the hedge fund he founded profiting from investments in private prisons being used to house ICE detainees, and Steyer calling for the abolishment of ICE.

Steyer got “rich investing off the ICE infrastructure he now wants to abolish,” Mahan posted on Instagram.

Steyer, who sold his stake in the hedge fund in 2012, has said he ordered the company to divest from the private prison company and has repeatedly expressed remorse about his former firm’s ties with the detention company.

Mahan also appeared Monday at a Hollywood production lot to announce his proposal for a special fund to lure sporting events, concerts and other productions to California as part of his plan to help the struggling film and television industry.

An independent effort supporting Mahan has also raised roughly $11 million since Swalwell left the race.

Mehta reported from Los Angeles and Nixon from Sacramento. Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.

A legendary NFL coach found linebacker Rod Martin not by scouting him at USC, but almost by accident.

The Oakland Raiders had a throwaway 12th-round pick in the 1977 draft, and then-coach John Madden grew frustrated hearing his personnel executives contemplate using it on a basketball player or track guy. Finally, Madden blurted out that he could find a random kid walking around the USC campus in sandals who could make more of an impact than that.

“Ron Wolf says, ‘All right, smart guy,’” recalled Madden’s son, Mike. “So they were a couple picks away and dad goes, ‘Let me call [USC coach] John Robinson.’”

Robinson had one question: Has Rod Martin been drafted?

“Dad goes, ‘What position does he play?’” the younger Madden said. “Robinson tells him Martin is a linebacker, and dad goes, ‘Good. Tough guy we can knock around in training camp. Have him run down on kicks.’ And Robinson says, ‘No, John. Rod Martin will make your team.’”

Martin did a lot more than make the team. He would go on to set a Super Bowl record with three interceptions in one of the most dominant defensive performances in championship history.

Martin, who would play his entire 12-year career with the Oakland then Los Angeles Raiders, is dead at age 72. The Raiders announced his death Monday but did not specify a cause of death.

“The Raiders family is deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Martin, a standout linebacker and key player on two Super Bowl championship teams,” read a team statement.

The franchise called Martin, “a beloved member of the Raiders Family and a favorite of Raiders fans everywhere.”

A two-time Super Bowl winner and a two-time Pro Bowl selection, Martin saved his best game for the biggest stage. In Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome, he intercepted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times in a 27-10 Raiders victory.

“What I remember about Rod was his ability to diagnose and react,” Jaworski said by phone Monday. “In the Super Bowl, he makes two phenomenal plays. He has three interceptions, but interceptions one and two — I’d like to say they were bad decisions on my part. They weren’t. I tried to squeeze throws in. He just made a great play. He was a great athlete.”

Three years later, Martin was still a key component to the Raiders’ defense in a Super Bowl victory over Washington. He had a sack of quarterback Joe Theismann, a fumble recovery, and a fourth-and-one stop of John Riggins late in the third quarter of a 38-9 blowout.

Born in Welch, W. Va., the son of a coal miner grew up in Los Angeles and attended Hamilton High before going on to play at Los Angeles City College and USC. The NFL saw him as a tweener, too small for linebacker at 210 pounds and too slow to play safety. Clearly, that was a faulty assessment.

Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was two years behind Martin at Hamilton, and the two remained friends throughout the decades that followed.

“We met when I was a sophomore,” Moon said. “He was a senior — middle linebacker, fullback and center on the basketball team. He was the ultimate athlete. At the time I was there, I looked up to him quite a lot.

“He wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, but he was big enough. He had the strongest hands and the strongest forearms. He could just take a tight end or whoever came to block him, grab his pads, shove him off and go make the play. He was just a real solid player.”

It was those hands that grabbed an opportunity with the Raiders and didn’t let go.

“So dad goes marching into the draft room,” Madden said, “looks at Ron and everybody else and says, ‘We’re going to take Rod Martin, linebacker, USC.’ And they did.”

April 20 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s unification minister on Monday rejected reports of a rift with the United States over intelligence sharing on North Korea, warning against speculation that could harm bilateral relations.

Chung Dong-young said he was concerned about claims suggesting a crisis in ties between Seoul and Washington following reports that the United States had limited the sharing of satellite intelligence after his recent remarks.

“I explained policy to underscore the seriousness of North Korea’s nuclear issue, and it is deeply regrettable that this is being framed as a leak of classified information,” Chung told reporters at the Seoul Government Complex.

He said his comments referencing a suspected nuclear facility in Kusong, North Pyongan Province, were based on publicly available information and had been mentioned previously during his confirmation hearing in July.

Chung questioned the timing of the controversy, noting that the same reference had been made months earlier without issue.

He added that since taking office, he has not received any classified intelligence reports related to North Korea’s nuclear facilities from domestic or foreign agencies.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry also said the remarks were based on previously published material, including reports by the Institute for Science and International Security, the RAND Corporation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Chung dismissed suggestions that internal divisions within South Korea over alliance policy were behind the issue, saying he did not believe such factors were at play.

In a separate social media post, he also criticized what he described as politically motivated speculation, calling claims of an intelligence leak “groundless.”

The comments come amid heightened scrutiny over information sharing between South Korea and the United States on North Korea’s nuclear program.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260421010006305

The TWZ Newsletter

Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.

The U.S. Navy has disclosed the test of an AeroVironment LOCUST laser counter-drone system, which has been in the news recently, aboard the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. As far as TWZ is aware, this looks to be the first time a laser weapon has been fitted to a carrier. Earlier this year, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Navy’s top officer, said his goal was for directed energy weapons to eventually be the go-to choice for the crews of American warships when facing close-in threats.

The Navy has shared three pictures of the LOCUST system onboard USS George H.W. Bush, seen at the top of this story and below. They were all taken on October 5, 2025, but released today. This coincides with the start of the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space exposition, at which TWZ is in attendance.

The captions to each of the images include the following: “During the live-fire event, [the] LOCUST LWS [laser weapon system] effectively detected, tracked, engaged, and neutralized multiple unmanned aerial vehicles marking a milestone toward fielding operational directed energy capabilities.”

TWZ has reached out to the Navy for more information.

“The successful demonstration of its palletized LOCUST Laser Weapon System (LWS) aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) in October 2025″ was conducted “in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO),” according to a press release from AeroVironment.

“During the live-fire event, the Palletized High Energy Laser (P-HEL) system tracked, engaged, and neutralized multiple target drones – marking a major milestone toward fielding operational directed energy capabilities across all domains and platforms,” the release adds. “This achievement validates that the LOCUST LWS is truly platform-agnostic, seamlessly transitioning from fixed-site and land-based mobile platforms, such as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), to the dynamic and demanding environment of a maneuvering aircraft carrier.”

The central element of LOCUST is a laser directed energy weapon in a turret, which also includes built-in electro-optical and infrared video cameras for target acquisition and tracking. Tertiary sensors, including small-form-factor high-frequency radars and passive radio frequency signal detection systems, can also be used to cue the laser. The JLTV and ISV-based configurations mentioned in AeroVironment’s release both feature small radars.

LOCUST’s power rating is generally understood to be in the 20-kilowatt range at present. When it comes to laser directed energy weapons, this is at the lower end of the power spectrum, fully in line with a system intended to defeat smaller drones. LOCUST has also been demonstrated with a 26-kilowatt power rating, but how much more it could be scaled within the existing form factor is unclear.

As of December 2025, the U.S. Army was known to have taken delivery of palletized LOCUST systems, as well as ones mounted on JLTVs and ISVs. The Army has at least deployed the palletized versions overseas operationally in the past. One of the service’s LOCUST systems was also at the center of a widely criticized and controversial shutdown of airspace around El Paso, Texas, in February of this year, as you can read more about here. The system had been on loan to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the time. Earlier this month, the Pentagon signed an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding the continued use of anti-drone laser systems along the southern border with Mexico.

The U.S. Marine Corps has also moved to acquire JLTV-based LOCUST systems in the past. In addition to appearing to be the first instance of a laser-directed energy weapon going aboard a carrier, last year’s test aboard USS George H.W. Bush also looks to be the first known instance of the Navy even evaluating LOCUST for use on ships or in any other context.

Navy interest in using LOCUST to defend ships, especially very high-value ones like aircraft carriers, is not surprising. For years now, the service has been very active in pursuing shipboard laser and microwave directed energy weapons with a particular eye toward providing additional layers of counter-drone defense.

Experience gained in recent years from operations in and around the Red Sea, as well as against Iran, has only underscored the critical importance of bolstering the ability of U.S. warships to protect themselves against uncrewed aerial threats. The Navy has also been adding counter-drone systems that use physical interceptors as their effectors to a growing number of ships to help address this reality.

In general, lasers like LOCUST offer the promise of functionally unlimited magazine depth, which could be exceptionally valuable in the counter-drone role when faced with large volumes of incoming threats. The dangers that uncrewed aerial systems pose are only set to increase as artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven capabilities, including automated targeting and fully networked swarming, continue to improve while the barrier to entry steadily drops.

Palletized and containerized systems like the P-HEL version of LOCUST can also be employed with more flexibility on a wide variety of ships, as long as sufficient deck space and available power. The test aboard USS George H.W. Bush involved simply lashing the system to the flight deck. This also means the systems can be installed and/or removed more readily depending on mission requirements. The Navy also has a demand for counter-drone capability on land to protect key facilities and assets abroad and at home, where LOCUST would also be relevant.

LOCUST Laser Weapon System

At the same time, especially when it comes to employing lasers on ships, there are also potential pitfalls. As TWZ has previously written:

“A single laser can only engage one target at once. As the beam gets further away from the source, its power also drops, just as a result of it having to propagate through the atmosphere. This can be further compounded by the weather and other environmental factors like smoke and dust. More power is then needed to produce suitable effects at appreciable distances. Adaptive optics are used to help overcome atmospheric distortion to a degree. Altogether, laser directed energy weapons generally remain relatively short-range systems.”

“In addition, laser directed energy weapons, especially sensitive optics, present inherent reliability challenges for use in real-world military operations. Shipboard use adds rough sea states and saltwater exposure to the equation. There is also the matter of needing to keep everything properly cooled, which creates additional power generation and other demands.”

Over the years, the Navy has faced continued and significant hurdles in attempting to field operational laser weapon systems more broadly across its fleets. U.S. military officials have often sought to temper expectations, while also being open about their frustrations with the lack of greater progress, in recent years.

Still, the Navy, in particular, has persisted in its pursuit of these capabilities, given the benefits mentioned earlier. Lasers are set to be a particularly important component of the full arsenal aboard the future Trump class “battleships.”

“My thesis research at [the] Naval Post Graduate School was on directed energy and nuclear weapons,” Adm. Caudle told TWZ and other outlets at a roundtable back in January. “This is my goal, if it’s in line of sight of a ship, that the first solution that we’re using is directed energy.”

In particular, “point defense needs to shift to directed energy,” the admiral added, emphasizing that “it has an infinite magazine.”

“What that does for me is it improves my loadout optimization, so that my loadout, my payload volume is optimized for offensive weapons,” Caudle added at the time. Furthermore, “as you increase power, the actual ability to actually engage and keep power on target, and the effectiveness of a laser just goes up.”

Laser directed energy weapons with higher power ratings could potentially defend ships against other threats, including certain types of incoming missiles.

Whether or not the Navy decides to acquire and field LOCUST operationally on its ships, the service’s general demand for more counter-drone capabilities across the board does not look set to decrease any time soon.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

MADONNA has been left heartbroken as she revealed that someone has “stolen” her vintage clothes after performing at Coachella.

The 67-year-old music legend teamed up with Espresso singer Sabrina for a show-stopping finale – dressed-to-impress in purple lingerie.

Two decades after her own epic headlining slot at the Californian festival, the queen of pop turned heads in a flesh-flashing frilly outfit.

Wearing a purple corset with matching lilac gloves, purple stockings and knee-high stiletto boots, the comeback queen accessorised with tinted shades and her long blonde hair down in waves.

She joined a lingerie-clad Sabrina, 26, who wowed in a white lace sparkly bodice and heels during her headline set at Coachella.

But now pop icon Madonna has been left with a sour taste in her mouth after precious pieces from her wardrobe went missing following the set.

She shared on Instagram today: “Still flying high since Friday night at Coachella!

“Thank you to Sabrina and everyone who made it possible.

“Bringing Confessions II back to where it began was such a thrill.

“This full circle moment hit different until I discovered that the vintage pieces that I wore went missing – my costume that was pulled from my personal archives – jacket, corset, dress and all other garment.”

The musician stressed how irreplaceable these items are and issued an appeal for them to be returned.

Madonna continued: “These aren’t just clothes, they are part of my history.

“Other archival items from the same era went missing as well.

“I’m hoping and praying that some kind soul will find these items and reach out to my team.

“I’m offering a reward for their safe return. Thank you will all my heart.”

Over the weekend, Madonna and Sabrina delighted the crowds with classic hits including Vogue, Like A Prayer and I Feel So Free from Madonna’s new album.

Sabrina had been mid-performance when an instrumental tease of Madonna‘s 1990 hit song Vogue weaved in.

Madonna told the cheering audience: “Wow, thank you.

“Sabrina, thank you so much for inviting me on your show.”

Holding hands, she replied: “No thanks needed, Madonna.”

“Well, I have a few things I want to get off my chest. So, 20 years ago today I performed at Coachella,” admitted the Ray of Light singer.

“I was in the dance tent and it was the first time I performed Confessions On The Dance Floor part one in America.

“It’s a full circle moment, you know? Very meaningful for me.” 

She urged: “Let’s try to be together. Let’s try to avoid disagreements.

“And to that point, the great thing about music is that it brings people together. 

“It’s the one place that people have to put their differences aside, put their s**t down and just everybody have a good time together, right?

“So I am thrilled to be a part of that healing experience…”

The Vogue singer confirmed this week that she will release her first record in seven years this July — a sequel to her 2005 smash Confessions On A Dance Floor.

The original, inspired by disco and Eighties electropop, shifted more than 10million copies.

It featured No1 singles Hung Up and Sorry, and ushered in a new era of dance music.

In 2024, Sabrina paid ­tribute to Madge by attending the MTV VMAs in a vintage strapless gown previously worn to the Oscars by her musical hero in 1991.

Sabrina said of Madonna last year: “She’s so lovely and exactly how you expect her to be — just, like, so magnetic.”

WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out of President Trump’s Cabinet, the White House said Monday, after multiple allegations of abusing her position’s power, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job.

Chavez-DeRemer is the third Trump Cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi earlier this month.

Unlike other recent Cabinet departures, Chavez-DeRemer’s exit was announced by a White House aide, not by the president on his social media account.

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said on the social media site X. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”

He said Keith Sonderling, the current deputy labor secretary, would become acting labor secretary in her place. The news outlet NOTUS was the first to report Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation.

Labor chief, family members faced multiple allegations

Chavez-DeRamer’s departure follows reports that began surfacing in January that she was under a series of investigations.

A New York Times report last Wednesday revealed that the Labor Department’s inspector general was reviewing material showing Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members.

Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and father exchanged text messages with young female staff members, according to the newspaper. Some of the staffers were instructed by the secretary and her former deputy chief of staff to “pay attention” to her family, people familiar with the investigation told the Times.

Those messages were uncovered as part of a broader investigation of Chavez-DeRamer’s leadership that began after the New York Post reported in January that a complaint filed with the Labor Department’s inspector general accused Chavez-DeRemer of a relationship with the subordinate.

She also faced allegations that she drank alcohol on the job, and that she tasked aides to plan official trips for primarily personal reasons.

Both the White House and the Labor Department initially said the reports of wrongdoing were baseless. But the official denials became less full-throated as more allegations emerged — and when Chavez-DeRemer might be out of a job became something of an open question in Washington.

At least four Labor Department officials have already been forced from their jobs as the investigation progressed, including Chavez-DeRemer’s former chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, as well as a member of her security detail, with whom she was accused of having the affair, the New York Times reported.

She enjoyed union support — rare for a Republican

Confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet in a 67-32 vote in March 2025, Chavez-DeRemer is a former House GOP lawmaker who had represented a swing district in Oregon. She enjoyed unusual support from unions as a Republican but lost reelection in November 2024.

In her single term in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer backed legislation that would make it easier to unionize on a federal level, as well as a separate bill aimed at protecting Social Security benefits for public-sector employees.

Some prominent labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, backed Chavez-DeRemer, who is a daughter of a Teamster, for Labor secretary. Trump’s decision to pick her was viewed by some political observers as a way to appeal to voters who are members of or affiliated with labor organizations.

But other powerful labor leaders were skeptical when she was tapped for the job, unconvinced that Chavez-DeRemer would pursue a union-friendly agenda as a part of the incoming GOP administration. In her Senate confirmation hearing, some senators questioned whether she would be able to uphold that reputation in an administration that fired thousands of federal employees.

She was a key figure in Trump’s deregulatory push

Aside from reports of wrongdoing in recent months, Chavez-DeRemer had been one of Trump’s more lower-profile Cabinet picks but took key steps to advance the administration’s deregulatory agenda during her tenure.

For instance, the Labor Department last year moved to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace regulations it saw as obsolete. The rollbacks included minimum wage requirements for home healthcare workers and people with disabilities, and rules governing exposure to harmful substances and safety procedures at mines. The effort drew condemnation from union leaders and workplace safety experts.

The proposed changes also included eliminating a requirement that employers provide adequate lighting for construction sites and seat belts for agriculture workers in most employer-provided transportation.

During Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure, the Trump administration canceled millions of dollars in international grants that a Labor Department division administered to combat child labor and slave labor around the world, ending their work that had helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over the last two decades.

The Labor Department has a broad mandate as it relates to the U.S. workforce, including reporting the U.S. unemployment rate, regulating workplace health and safety standards, investigating minimum wage, child labor and overtime pay disputes, and applying laws on union organizing and unlawful terminations.

Kim writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Cathy Bussewitz in New York and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

When the doors opened after Lakers practice on Monday, injured stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were nearby as their teammates took some final shots after the session.

Doncic, who is back with the team after traveling to Spain to receive treatment for his Grade 2 left hamstring strain, sat out the Lakers’ Game 1 win over the Houston Rockets. He also won’t play in Game 2 on Tuesday, but he remained his usual joyful and playoff self after practice, his infectious personality providing a good vibe during a tense time for the team.

But even without Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers still had an “elevated” two days of practice as they prepared to face the Rockets with or without All-Star Kevin Durant at Crypto.com Arena.

Doncic, who sustained his injury against Oklahoma City on April 2, hadn’t been with the Lakers during their final five games of the regular season. Having him back around the team provided the Lakers with a big boost ahead of Game 1.

“It’s amazing. I think people don’t know how much impact Luka has, not only on the court, but off the court,” Rui Hachimura said. “He’s a guy that always wants to be around. … We love him just being around, just hanging out, talking. So, yeah, we’re happy that he’s back finally and he’s doing funny things always. … We missed him for sure.”

Hachimura was asked about the funny things Doncic did during practice.

“Just messing around with the coaches and the players and just the normal things you guys see on the camera, probably,” Hachimura said. “It’s just a normal thing for him.”

The Lakers weren’t messing around during the film sessions or practices.

They were focused on the task ahead, knowing the Rockets don’t want to go down 0-2 in the series.

“Well, every day requires something different,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Yesterday required an elevated recovery day. Today required an elevated focus. It was a longer film session. A decent amount of teach [and] talk on the court beyond just the practice session. Tomorrow is going to require an elevated sense of desperation on our part because they’re going to come in with that.”

Durant didn’t play in the first game because of a right knee injury and has been called a game-time decision, Rockets coach Ime Udoka told reporters after practice.

Whatever the case is, the Lakers are expecting a tough game against the Rockets.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s the playoffs. Every team’s got to play desperate,” Jaxson Hayes said. “I mean, if you lose, you go home. So, if you’re not playing desperate, then why are you here at the end of the day? But, yeah, I mean, we played against teams like this all year. I mean, obviously, they’re a very aggressive, very fast-playing, big, long team, and so we just got to make sure we take care of the ball like we didn’t do in Game 1 and just get rebounds and just stay locked in.”

With Doncic and Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain) out, the Lakers needed other players to fill that void.

Hachimura did his part in Game 1, and it went beyond his 14 points. He was efficient from the field, going six for 10. He was good on defense, collecting three steals and two blocked shots in 42 minutes.

“It’s the playoffs. You have to make every play matter,” he said. “Every position matters. So, I was trying to make plays and not only offense, but on the defensive side. And rebound, and all that. So, that’s what I was doing.”

During Game 1, Doncic offered advice and encouragement to his teammates from the bench.

But his recent conversations with Hayes have been focused, in part, on what comes after the season.

Doncic has talked to Hayes about playing for the Slovenian national team and the big center has interest.

“Um, we got my Slovenian passport. That’s all he’s been telling me,” Hayes said. “Now he’s been saying, ‘My Slovenian brother,’ every time.”

Hayes laughed, and then was asked if he really did receive a Slovenian passport.

“Yeah,” he said, “it really came through.”

There was a moment during Game 1 when Doncic was playing around with Hachimura, hitting him on the head. But Hachimura didn’t recall it happening.

“Hmm? I don’t remember,” Hachimura said. “He always does that stuff. I probably don’t even think about it. I’m used to it, probably. I don’t remember that.”