Month: July 2026

Hundreds of masked white nationalists marched on Washington DC waving Confederate flags and chanting anti-immigrant slogans on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

A highly divisive period drama starring Taylor Swift is currently available on Netflix as the hitmaker weds Travis Kelce in New York

It has its fair share of defenders but scored just 32 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

A 2022 period drama with an all-star cast including pop star Taylor Swift is currently available to stream on Netflix – but it’s not some of the star’s most acclaimed work.

The 1989 chart-topper has just tied the knot with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on Friday, July 3 at a lavish ceremony in Madison Square Garden in New York.

Attended by around 1,000 guests and officiated by Hollywood A-lister Adam Sandler, it’s become one of the most publicised celebrity weddings in history.

For those looking to Netflix for their Swiftie fix to mark the occasion, you can currently stream her acclaimed behind-the-scenes documentary Miss Americana, a Netflix Original released in 2020.

However, she is also known for infrequent movie roles, including the critically maligned musical Cats and lending her voice to animated film The Lorax.

Her only acting role currently streaming on Netflix in the UK may be a surprise to fans as it’s David O Russell’s critical and commercial flop Amsterdam, a mystery thriller set in the 1930s.

Based on the real-life Business Plot case from 1933, an investigation into the death of a retired US general, Swift has a supporting role as Elizabeth Meekins alongside an all-star cast that also includes Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington and Anya Taylor-Joy.

Made on a budget of $80 million (£59 million), it was a box office bomb for 20th Century Studios with an estimated loss of more than $100 million (£74.9 million).

While it was critically panned, Amsterdam does have some defenders with one fan even claiming: “An instant classic. Given time, it will be regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. The cast is outstanding.

“I can’t remember ever seeing so many talented actors in one film like this before. Everyone brought their A-Game and absolutely nailed their respective performances.”

Unfortunately, not everyone shares their opinion as a Rotten Tomatoes user branded the film “A confused mess that was painful to watch”.

“An incoherent mess. A waste of the stellar cast,” another viewer slammed, and someone else wrote: “Honestly in contention for the worst movie of the 2020s.”

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The film continues to be eviscerated on IMDb, with one user slamming Amsterdam as “Quite literally one of the most worthless movies I’ve ever seen.

“The first few scenes set up what could only be anticipated as an action packed murder mystery type movie, only to be followed by a nearly pointless flashback with categorically pointless scenes attempting to make you feel something for characters that make absolutely no sense.

“This movie had serious potential, with an amazing cast. I took three friends and I feel like I owe them several hours of wasting their life.”

Swifties have been warned to stick with Miss Americana this weekend, or perhaps stream her concert extravaganza The Eras Tour, which was filmed and released by Disney+.

Amsterdam is available to stream on Netflix.

World number 146 Grigor Dimitrov held his nerve to overcome a stubborn Matteo Berrettini to win a five-set classic and set up a fourth round tie against Great Britain’s Arthur Fery at Wimbledon.

READ MORE: Dimitrov out to rewrite Wimbledon story after beating Berrettini

Available to UK users only.

Iran has marked the second day of funeral processions for its late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Masses of supporters came to view his body despite a sweltering heatwave, with water misters installed at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla Hall and volunteers distributing cold drinks to mourners.

One of Russia’s commercially flagged vessels in the Baltic has appeared armed with heavy machine guns, and it isn’t just any cargo hauler. The weapons fit is likely intended to provide close-in protection against naval drone attacks but is also evidence of increasingly bold measures taken by Moscow to ensure that military bases in its strategically important Kaliningrad exclave continue to be supported. After all, the ship in question, the Marshal Vasilevskiy, is a highly strategic one — Russia’s only floating storage and regasification vessel — that plays a key role in supporting Kaliningrad.

This comes at the same time that Russia ramps up efforts to protect its notorious ‘shadow fleet,’ used to circumvent Western sanctions on oil exports, despite efforts to interdict it.

Evidence of the armed tanker development was brought to light in an exclusive report from Holger Roonemaa, an investigative journalist working for Delfi Estonia, an Estonia-based news website.

Roonemaa secured the release of imagery from the Estonian Border Guard showing the Marshal Vasilevskiy operating in the Baltic Sea last month, with machine gun positions on either side of the deck above the bridge.

The Marshal Vasilevskiy, a 945-foot liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker of 118,000 gross tonnage, was spotted by an Estonian Border Guard surveillance aircraft as it was sailing past Estonia’s western islands toward the Russian port of Bolshoi Bor in the Gulf of Finland.

The sandbagged gun positions were armed with 12.7mm Kord heavy machine guns, a belt-fed weapon that is used by infantry, as well as being mounted on vehicles and ships.

KORD Heavy Machine Gun

The Marshal Vasilevskiy is not a part of the shadow fleet, but it has been subject to sanctions. Moreover, this appears to be the first direct evidence of Russia installing weapons on a civilian ship in the Baltic region.

The vessel is owned by the Gazprom company and regularly supplies Kaliningrad with natural gas, with four such voyages identified since last August.

Almost certainly, the guns on the Marshal Vasilevskiy are intended to help defend against Ukrainian drone attacks.

The Kord fires at a rate of 600-650 rounds per minute and has an effective range of around 2,000 yards.

Earlier this month, Ukraine used aerial drones to attack the prestigious Russian Navy base at Kronstadt, near St. Petersburg, in what appears to have been the first strike of its kind against the Baltic Fleet.

By targeting Kronstadt, Ukraine signaled the opening up of a new front in its drone war with Russia, namely against the Baltic Fleet while it is in port.

Previously, Ukraine’s naval campaign had focused overwhelmingly on the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Many successful attacks have been recorded against Black Sea Fleet vessels and facilities, forcing the general evacuation of Russian naval assets from occupied Crimea and to bases in Russia proper. Ukrainian attacks on Russian-linked shipping have also extended, to a more limited extent, into the Mediterranean.

These attacks have also involved a growing and increasingly advanced array of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs, or ‘drone boats’) as well as uncrewed underwater vessels (UUVs).

Ukraine’s proven ability to launch long-range aerial drone attacks, as seen in the video below, as well as to bring kamikaze drones closer to Russian targets, and strike them from short range, underscores the potential vulnerability of Russian tankers working the Baltic, too.

While Ukraine, as far as is known, has not launched any USV or UUV attacks in the Baltic, it would certainly be within its capabilities to do so.

At the same time, Russia has no doubt also considered the possibility of an Operation Spiderweb-type attack in the Baltic, in which short-range drones could be launched covertly, in mass, from locations much closer to their targets.

In the same way that Operation Spiderweb used commercial trucks as covert launch platforms for one-way aerial attack drones, any suitable vessel could be used in the same way by Ukraine in the Baltic, whether to launch aerial drones, USVs, or UUVs.

In this context, the Marshal Vasilevskiy would be a particularly prized tanker. It is currently Russia’s only floating storage and regasification vessel, a ship that takes on board super-cooled LNG and then converts it into gas that is then fed into pipelines, in this case, in Kaliningrad.

As well as countering potential drone attacks, putting guns on the Marshal Vasilevskiy sends a signal to NATO forces not to interfere with it. Warning shots could be fired to send a message to boarding parties or helicopters. Russia’s willingness to use warning shots was demonstrated in the English Channel earlier this month. With the Kord gun, the vessel could bring down a helicopter with ease, forcing a boarding force to kinetically attack the ship before attempting boarding.

Typically, the crew of a vessel such as the Marshal Vasilevskiy would not be trained to operate heavy machine guns. This raises the likelihood that the ship’s crew includes members of the Russian military or, more likely, the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s principal security agency. It is not inconceivable that man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) could also be stowed below decks to defend against an aerial drone attack.

The development comes as Russia takes increasingly forceful measures to protect the vessels of its shadow fleet. These provide Russia with a critical lifeline, allowing oil to be sold and funds generated to continue the country’s war against Ukraine. Both China and India regularly accept such deliveries.

Over the past year, European authorities have intercepted shadow fleet tankers on several occasions, typically on the grounds of flying a false flag or for being suspected of damaging undersea cables.

There have been previous reports indicating that shadow-fleet oil tankers regularly include former mercenaries and soldiers among their crews.

Holger Roonemaa has helped establish that almost half of the “passengers” listed as going aboard the Marshal Vasilevskiy also have backgrounds in the Russian military, the National Guard, and/or the FSB.

At the same time, Russian Navy warships are increasingly used for escort, monitoring, and security missions for shadow fleet tankers as they transit the Baltic Sea carrying sanctioned Russian oil to markets prepared to bypass Western restrictions. You can read more about this here.

Returning to this vessel, the appearance of heavy machine guns on it is significant because it illustrates Russia’s militarization of civilian shipping supporting critical operations. There are many historical precedents of merchant vessels being armed during wartime, but it remains unusual to see a commercially flagged tanker openly carrying heavy machine guns in this region. In areas with piracy, it is not uncommon for security crews on vessels to be equipped with small arms, but this is a different kind of weapon, and the ship is operating in waters with no piracy risk attached.

In practical terms, a pair of Kord machine guns could be effective against small drones or boats at close range, but would offer little protection against larger, coordinated attacks, let alone modern anti-ship missiles.

With that in mind, it’s possible Russia might further boost the weapons fit of the Marshal Vasilevskiy to provide a more comprehensive defense. After all, this vessel is a critical asset, due to its unique capabilities in the Russian merchant fleet, and its special role supporting Kaliningrad. This makes it a strategic vulnerability that demands protection. If lost, it could have an asymmetric impact, threatening the ability to keep military assets in the exclave operational.

More broadly, this is evidence of Russia’s growing concern that logistics vessels, including civilian ones supporting critical infrastructure, could become targets in the Baltic region, too, as the war increasingly extends beyond traditional battlefields and further from Ukraine.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

LISA Faulkner and John Torode have been dealt another blow following her breast cancer diagnosis earlier this week.

The TV couple have reportedly learned that their cookery show, John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen, has been shelved after ten series.

Amid ongoing budget cuts at ITV, the show is notably absent from upcoming schedules.

According to The Mirror, the couple remain hopeful that the popular cookery programme could return to the channel at a later date.

An insider told the publication: “John remains a regular contributor to This Morning, where he has been fully supported by everyone, including hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley.

“The truth is there are no current plans for series 11 of Weekend Kitchen but no final decision has yet been made over whether it will return in the future.

CANCER SHOCK

John Torode’s wife Lisa Faulkner, 54, gives fans update after cancer diagnosis

END OF TORODE

John Torode’s ITV cooking show with wife set to be axed after BBC sacking

“And John is very much a part of the ITV family through his role as a regular chef on This Morning.”

ITV confirmed that no final decisions have been made yet regarding the future of the show.

The news comes after John suffered a major career setback last year when he left MasterChef.

An inquiry, ordered by MasterChef’s production company, upheld a claim that the chef had used an “extremely offensive racist term”, which he said he had “no recollection of”, and he subsequently departed the show.

His wife Lisa announced her shock cancer diagnosis on Thursday, revealing that she had already undergone surgery and was awaiting a course of radiotherapy.

Lisa is best known for her acting roles in shows including Holby City and EastEnders, and in recent years has carved out a successful career as a TV chef.

She won Celebrity MasterChef in 2010 before going on to front John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen alongside her husband.

SOAKING up the breathtaking Perthshire scenery in style is the perfect way to unwind.

Here, Janice Hopper goes glamping in a wagon and discovers some of the area’s best beauty spots.

The Pad

With a wood-fired bath that offers sweeping views over Loch Doine and Loch Voil, an outdoor pizza oven and a wood-burning stove, a stay in Monachyle Mhor’s restored 1950’s Pilot Panther showman’s wagon is pretty unforgettable.

Set on a 2,000-acre working family farm within the stunning Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, it has a double bed, cute bunks and bucketloads of vintage charm.

At the estate’s blush-pink farmhouse, you’ll find your private bathroom and get a free cuppa as you sink into deep-green sofas beside the fire to play board games – just be sure to tuck into delicious, home-made chocolate cake, £4 a slice, while you do.

Explore

Start your day with a bracing wild swim in Loch Voil, before warming up in Monachyle’s cocooning sauna, from £20 per hour.

ALL CHANGE

Abandoned WWII torpedo testing site to become massive holiday resort

COOL OFF

All of the best aquaparks in the UK from huge obstacle courses to glamping sites

Then stroll five minutes along the shore to discover the LookOut artwork – a mirrored cube reflecting the landscape.

Kids will love the hour-long farm tour, collecting eggs, meeting donkeys Jake and Mylo, and feeding lambs, £20 per family.

Or, ditch the clan to try apitherapy – lying in an “apipod”, listening to 60,000 bees buzzing away in the hives beneath you.

It’s surprisingly calming and costs £25 for one hour, including soothing lemon balm tea (Monachyle mhor.net/experience).

Just four miles away is the quaint village of Balquhidder, where you can check out the resting place of famed Scottish outlaw Rob Roy, buried in 1734.

Later, hop in a canoe to beaver-spot on beautiful Loch Tay with CAG Adventures. A two-hour tour costs £40 per person (Cagadventures.com).

Refuel

Combine seafood with the landscape at Falls Of Dochart Smokehouse.

As the roar of the waterfall surges in the background, tuck into a platter of hot and cold whisky-smoked salmon, cheddar, paté, plus oatcakes and blinis, from £22, while sipping gin infused with local tayberries, £7.40 (Fallsofdochart.co.uk).

Quaint cafe The Golden Larches serves up tasty cream teas, £4.75 (Thegoldenlarches.com).

Or join exuberant owner and chef of Monachyle Mhor, Tom Lewis, on a wine safari, combining walking Balquhidder Glen with nibbles and plenty of vino stops. Six-hour wine safaris cost £150 per person.

After a hiking pit stop? It’s got to be Broch Cafe’s suntrap terrace in Strathyre, where you can recharge with a generous BLT, £9.50 (Brochcafe.com).

It handily sits on the 79-mile Rob Roy Way, and the scenic stretch from Strathyre to Callander along Loch Lubnaig is a much more manageable nine miles (Robroyway.com).

Book It

Stays in The Wagon cost £170 per night for up to four guests (Monachylemhor.net).

SAN FRANCISCO — Jordin Canada is the only person in the world with a UCLA-inspired pair of Air Jordan 4028 PEs, and she was excited to use them to represent her Bruins when the Atlanta Dream came to California last week.

“That’s my alma mater,” she said with a smile. “Any chance I get to support them and rep them, I will.”

Canada, who was an All-American in four years at UCLA, was rocking the blue-and-yellow shoes in shootaround before her Dream took on the Golden State Valkyries. The Los Angeles native had a quiet first outing against the Valkyries but bounced back with a season-high 23 points in their next matchup, then had 10 assists against the Seattle Storm on Saturday.

She is averaging 11.5 points and a career-high 7.0 assists as the leader of the third-best offense in the WNBA. Her 30.5 minutes per game are a step up from last season.

That’s because she’s done so much to facilitate the Dream offense and run it through Atlanta’s bigs.

“She’s made my job easy,” Dream star Angel Reese said. “I mean, when you have a point guard that can score and also facilitate to me… Her and I had a talk a little bit before the season started about how I can be better for her than pick and roll, but also like coming down on the rebound, I can get the ball and push and flip, flip it to her, and she can start the offense… So she’s made it a lot easier, really easy, and she’s just a great player, she’s a great leader for us offensively and defensively.”

Canada’s 3.6 rebounds per game also are a career high as teams lock in defending Reese and the other versatile Atlanta players such as Naz Hillmon and Rhyne Howard.

Shooting 46.7% from the field, Canada has capitalized on her minutes by being the most efficient possible this season and being enough of a threat that teams have to guard her, while she also can send the ball to one of Atlanta’s top scorers.

“Being aggressive on the offensive end and trying to be more efficient, talking to Cam [Brown], who’s my position coach, and [head coach Karl Smesko], just seeing ways I could be more effective and more efficient in my position,” Canada said. “So just watching a lot of film, watching the areas where I need to improve, and just trying to make sure that I do that consistently, day in and day out, every game, and skin to my spots, and making the right decisions.

Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada attempts a pass against the Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday in Seattle.

(Jack Compton / Getty Images)

The Dream are fourth in the WNBA standings behind their consistent starters. With that group, Canada has become one of the most dynamic point guards in the WNBA in her ninth season.

“Her speed is pretty level,” Valkyries coach and former UCLA player Natalie Nakase said. “At UCLA, she was fast. I think now she’s like, for some reason, she looks a lot stronger, I think, from her college years, and I think she really has bought into a system under Karl of what she is doing.”

Tyler Bilodeau drafted by Nets

Former UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau was selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA draft.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Former UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau was selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the second round of the NBA draft with the No. 43 overall pick.

Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Oregon State, averaged 15.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 64 games at UCLA. The Kennewick, Wash., nativeled UCLA in scoring in his junior and senior seasons, averaging a team-best 17.6 points in 2025-26 and finishing second on the team in rebounding (5.6). Bilodeau earned third-team All-Big Ten Conference honors both seasons. He ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten in three-point shooting as a senior, knocking down 46.4% of his attempts.

“We’re all so thrilled for Tyler to get drafted by Brooklyn,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said in a statement released by the athletic department. “He is a tremendous young man and a tireless worker who really excelled in our program. He’s come a long way since his days at Kamiakin High School, and it’s simply a testament to the work ethic that Tyler and his family have embodied. He’s a versatile player who really improved his three-point stroke during his two years in Westwood. I can’t wait to see him take that next step with Brooklyn. All of us at UCLA are so proud of him.”

Zoey Molomo, Katelyn Ohashi Shine at American Classic

Zoey Molomo, competing at the United States Gymnastics Olympic trials in 2024, placed second on vault and floor and third in the all-around and bars at the 2026 American Classic.

(Abbie Parr / Associated Press)

Zoey Molomo, who is joining UCLA’s gymnastics program for the 2027 season, placed second on vault and floor and third in the all-around and on bars at the American Classic.

Molomo qualified for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships with an all-around total of 52.700.

UCLA alum Katelyn Ohashi, who returned to competitive gymnastics after a seven-year absence at age 29, tied for third on balance beam. In her first competition since the 2019 NCAA championships and her first elite competition since winning the 2013 American Cup, Ohashi scored 13.150 on balance beam to earn bronze.

In case you missed it

Former viral UCLA star Katelyn Ohashi returns to gymnastics at age 29

Swanson: She broke baseball’s glass ceiling. Now Kim Ng is taking softball to the next level

UCLA Unlocked: Inside Bob Chesney’s football recruiting revival

Have something Bruin?

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.

July 3 (Asia Today) — Anthropic, the developer of the Claude artificial intelligence model, is in early discussions with Samsung Electronics about manufacturing a custom AI chip, according to a U.S. technology news report.

The Information reported Thursday, citing multiple people familiar with the discussions, that Anthropic is considering using Samsung’s 2-nanometer manufacturing process and advanced chip-packaging facilities.

The project remains at an early stage. Anthropic has not begun detailed chip design, testing or manufacturing, the report said.

Samsung’s 2-nanometer process is among the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies available. Smaller manufacturing nodes can allow more transistors to be placed on a chip, potentially improving computing performance and energy efficiency.

Advanced packaging places processors, high-bandwidth memory and other chip components closer together. The shorter distance can increase data-transfer speeds and reduce bottlenecks when running large AI models.

Anthropic is studying the functions and performance required for the chip as well as how it could be integrated into servers, people familiar with the matter said. The company is also reportedly holding discussions with several chip-design companies.

Anthropic is considering using processors developed by Microsoft and British chip startup Fractile as it evaluates different approaches to expanding its computing infrastructure.

The company hired Clive Chan in June. Chan was the second hardware engineer to join OpenAI’s custom-chip program and worked on the project from its early stages.

Chan announced his departure from OpenAI and move to Anthropic in a June 7 post on the social media platform X. He said he was drawn by the opportunity to begin climbing a new technological mountain from the bottom.

The recruitment suggests Anthropic is building an internal team capable of designing specialized processors as competition with OpenAI expands from AI models into hardware and data-center infrastructure.

Anthropic raised $65 billion in a Series H investment round completed May 28, giving the company a post-investment valuation of $965 billion.

The funding was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital. Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron participated as strategic infrastructure partners.

Anthropic said the three semiconductor companies provide technologies that play important roles in supplying memory, storage and logic chips.

Samsung is the only one of the three companies that also operates a large contract chip-manufacturing business, raising expectations that its relationship with Anthropic could expand beyond memory supplies.

A manufacturing agreement with Anthropic would give Samsung another major AI customer as the South Korean chipmaker seeks to challenge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in the market for advanced processors.

Samsung previously signed a $16.5 billion agreement to manufacture next-generation AI chips for Tesla. Google is also reportedly considering using Samsung to manufacture part of a future tensor processing unit.

The potential Anthropic contract could strengthen Samsung’s position as demand for alternatives to Taiwan Semiconductor’s manufacturing capacity increases.

Major technology companies are developing specialized processors to reduce computing costs, improve energy efficiency and gain greater control over their AI infrastructure.

Google has developed several generations of its tensor processing units, while Amazon Web Services operates its Trainium processors for AI training.

OpenAI and Broadcom unveiled Jalapeño, OpenAI’s first custom inference processor, on June 24. Inference refers to the process through which a trained AI model generates responses to user requests.

OpenAI said the processor was developed from initial design to production in nine months. Early deployment is expected by the end of the year.

Broadcom Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan described Jalapeño as the beginning of a multigeneration processor roadmap. The companies plan to install the chips in large-scale data centers operated with partners including Microsoft.

Anthropic said its custom-chip work would not replace its existing relationships with hardware suppliers.

“Nvidia GPUs, Google TPUs and AWS Trainium chips will continue to play a central role in our computing resources,” the company said in response to a request for comment from The Information.

South Korea on Monday unveiled a wider semiconductor investment plan under which Samsung and SK hynix are expected to invest about 800 trillion won ($523 billion) over the next decade.

The plan includes four new semiconductor fabrication plants and expanded production of high-bandwidth memory and advanced packaging technologies used in AI systems.

Samsung has faced yield problems in some previous advanced manufacturing processes. Yield refers to the percentage of usable chips produced from each semiconductor wafer.

The performance and production stability of Samsung’s 2-nanometer process are therefore expected to be critical to its ability to compete with Taiwan Semiconductor for major AI-chip orders.

An industry official said Samsung has become more selective about accepting manufacturing orders, focusing resources on projects considered commercially and technologically viable.

Anthropic is entering the custom-chip competition later than several major AI and cloud-computing companies. However, rapidly rising demand for AI infrastructure is creating opportunities for specialized processors.

TrendForce projects that shipments of servers using cloud companies’ custom application-specific integrated circuits will grow 44.6% in 2026. Shipments of servers using general-purpose graphics processors are expected to grow 16.1%.

Nvidia remains the dominant supplier of AI processors, but the development of chips by OpenAI, Google, Amazon and other technology companies could gradually reduce their reliance on its hardware.

— 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=20260703010001110

Global Policy Institute president, Paolo von Schirach, says the era of unrivalled US dominance that emerged after World War II has ended.

He points to the rise of China and other emerging powers as key forces reshaping the global order.

Coronation Street has welcomed real-life family members to the Cobbles over the years

Soap operas blur the line between drama and reality when family members land roles on the same show.

Coronation Street star Isabella Flanagan plays Weatherfield’s Hope Stape, daughter of Fiz Brown (played by Jennie McAlpine), on the ITV show alongside her brother William, who portrays Joseph Brown, son of Chesney (Sam Aston).

The siblings also share a real-life connection to Emmerdale’s April Windsor star Amelia Flanagan, who is their big sister.

Cousins Brooke Vincent and Ellie Leach have both enjoyed successful stints on the show, while Rick Neelan actor Greg Wood is actually the real-life brother of Tommy Orpington star Matt Milburn.

Last month, Rosie Fleeshman became the latest member to follow in the footsteps of her famous sibling, Richard Fleeshman, enjoying a guest stint on Corrie. Their mum has also starred on the show.

Richard first graced the soap as Craig Harris in 2002, with his family, including father Tommy Harris (Thomas Craig), mother Angela Harris (Kathryn Hunt), and sister Katy (Lucy-Jo Hudson).

The family arrived in Weatherfield as part of a witness protection scheme, and they quickly stirred up some drama. Moreover, young Craig was central to several dramatic storylines during his tenure.

In 2005, he lost his entire family when his sister Katy killed their father Tommy in a rage, and their mother Angela took the fall. Unable to cope with the guilt, Katy later took her own life.

The character also embarked on a romance with Rosie Webster (Helen Flanagan), becoming her first boyfriend. Craig even plotted to flee to Berlin with Rosie.

However, in 2006, Craig departed alone and bid farewell to the cobbles. Since then, actor Richard has kept himself occupied, appearing in shows such as Call the Midwife and Death in Paradise, as well as stage productions.

Richard hails from a talented family, as his mum, Sue Jenkins, who joined the cast of Coronation Street as Gloria Todd in 1985, became a regular face at the Rovers Return pub. She worked alongside Julie Goodyear, who famously played landlady Bet Lynch.

Beyond her time on Corrie, Sue also portrayed Jackie Corkhill in Brookside from 1992 to 2001, and made a brief appearance in Emmerdale in 2008 as Bonnie Drinkwater.

In 2024, Richard appeared on Loose Women and spoke to panellists Kaye Adams, Kelle Bryan, Linda Robson, and Jane Moore about his role on sci-fi show, The Ark and paid tribute to his mum’s time on Brookside.

“She was amazing in that show”, he said. “I was allowed to watch certain episodes growing up. Some of them were a little bit past my bedtime. It was an amazing show and such a great following.”

The revelation of Sue and Richard’s roles on Corrie left fans astounded. On X, previously known as Twitter, one viewer posted about Sue’s stint on Corrie.

Another fan responded: “That’s Richard Fleeshman’s mum!” A third person commented: “Wow, all this time watching and I never knew that, I can see her son in that photo now.” Yet another added: “Her real-life son played Craig Harris, son of Psycho Tommy!”

Richard’s dad is David Fleeshman, who appeared in Boys from the Blackstuff, and he credited his parents for inspiring his successful career. He said, “I grew up with both of them being around the industry fully, so it was just everything I knew.”

Coronation Street airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX

Reporting from Sacramento — Proposition 10, a ballot measure to expand rent control in California, was decisively rejected by voters Tuesday in a victory for the state’s top landlords who spent millions to defeat it.

The campaign was one of the most expensive initiative battles in California history with more than $104 million in total fundraising. With Proposition 10’s failure, a statewide ban on most new forms of rent control remains in effect.

“The stunning margin of victory shows California voters clearly understood the negative impacts Prop. 10 would have on the availability of affordable and middle-class housing in our state,” Tom Bannon, CEO of the California Apartment Assn., said in a statement.

It’s expensive to be a tenant in California. Will Proposition 10’s rent control expansion help? »

The campaign to expand rent control was pitched to voters as housing has become less affordable in the state. About 9.5 million renters — more than half of California’s tenant population — are burdened by high rents, spending at least 30% of their income on housing costs, according to a UC Berkeley study.

To address the issue, tenant advocates decided to go after the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a state law passed 23 years ago that blocks cities and counties from imposing rent control on single-family homes and apartments built after 1995, among other prohibitions. After a bill to repeal Costa-Hawkins failed in a legislative committee in January, groups turned in signatures for a ballot measure, Proposition 10, that would have done the same thing. Had the initiative passed, local governments would have been free to add new restrictions on rents, something Los Angeles, Berkeley and other cities were considering.

But polling showed Proposition 10 never really caught on with voters. A September survey from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California revealed just 36% of likely voters backed the initiative. A month later a poll from the same organization showed support had decreased to 25%.

That drop came amid a blitz of TV advertisements from opponents who, as of Friday, had raised nearly $80 million to defeat Proposition 10. They argued that expanding rent control would increase the state’s housing shortage, exacerbate overall affordability issues and hurt the investments of single-family homeowners. Much of the funding for the No on 10 campaign came from national real estate investors with large apartment portfolios in California.

The Proposition 10 campaign was watched beyond California’s borders. Market analysts have paid close attention to the campaign, which had the potential to spur similar rent control measures across the country. The National Multifamily Housing Council, an apartment industry group, called Proposition 10 an “existential threat to the industry.”

Supporters of Proposition 10 raised $24.6 million, 94% of it coming from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit. Backers contended that the initiative offered the quickest and cheapest way to provide housing cost relief for renters, and that cities and counties should be allowed to tailor rent stabilization rules to their communities.

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said the campaign revealed the influence that corporate landlords have over the state’s housing market.

“They may be enjoying their victory at the polls tonight,” Weinstein said. “But this campaign exposed who they are and what they represent.”

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has argued that housing stability is crucial to its mission of serving low-income AIDS patients, now has lost four high-profile California and Los Angeles ballot measures it’s bankrolled since 2016. Voters have also rejected statewide efforts to limit prescription drug prices and mandate the use of condoms in adult films and a Los Angeles measure to slow growth in the city.

Despite Proposition 10’s defeat, rent control is likely to remain in the spotlight. Residents in Sacramento, the state’s sixth-largest city, have qualified a 2020 initiative that would implement rent controls on the city’s older apartment buildings. Democrat Gavin Newsom, who was elected governor on Tuesday, opposed Proposition 10, but he has said the state should have stronger protections for tenants.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation officials have said that if Proposition 10 didn’t pass they would immediately begin discussing whether to push a stronger rent control measure for the 2020 statewide ballot. After the results came in Tuesday night, Weinstein said he wanted to work with Newsom first.

“Gavin Newsom, who is the incoming governor of California, has said affirmatively that he intends to solve this problem. I take that at face value. It’s incumbent upon us to exhaust that opportunity before we go to the ballot again.”

Coverage of California politics »

liam.dillon@latimes.com

@dillonliam

UPDATES:

11:45 p.m.: This article was updated with quotes from an interview with Michael Weinstein, which replaced written statements from Proposition 10 supporters.

10:12 p.m.: This article was updated with a quote from Proposition 10 proponents.

This article was originally published at 9:45 p.m.

LONDON — During a weekend that celebrates life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Wimbledon offers an American variation in the pursuit of Grand Slam glory.

Sunday’s fourth-round clash on the No. 1 Court between Jessica Pegula, the top-ranked American and veteran standard-bearer, and Iva Jovic, the brightest young American star since Coco Gauff, is a compelling intergenerational showdown between the present and future of U.S. women’s tennis.

It’s the kind of matchup worthy of a holiday complete with fireworks.

“I know she’s going to come after me hard,” the 32-year-old Pegula said following her clinical 6-1, 6-3 third-round defeat of Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain on Friday.

“Everyone kind of wants to be the top American, I guess,” agreed Jovic, an 18-year-old from Torrance who toughed out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia on Friday to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time. “There is a little bit extra competition there.”

Pegula and Jovic are hardly unfamiliar opponents, and not just because people frequently told a young Jovic to model her game after Pegula. The two have met three times before, including twice this year, on hard courts in Dubai and on clay in Charleston, S.C. Pegula won all three matches.

American Jessica Pegula serves the ball during a win over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

(Kirsty Wigglesworth / Ap Photo/kirsty Wigglesworth)

“There is a lot of things we do well, and we do similar, but a couple of differences too,” Jovic noted of their baseline-centric, tactical styles.

Pegula is expecting nothing less than a mirror-like baseline duel from the player she affectionately dubbed “mini-me” after beating her in February.

Their career arcs have taken different paths to their first Grand Slam meeting. Pegula spent years grinding away on the Women’s Tennis Assn.’s lower tier before becoming a late-blooming major contender and top-10 mainstay. The experience gap remains enormous: Pegula owns 11 career singles titles to Jovic’s one and has amassed more than 500 tour-level wins compared with just over 100 for the teenager.

Jovic, a top-ranked junior in just her second Wimbledon, quickly has made her presence felt on tour, becoming the youngest player to win a WTA title last season at 17 before backing it up with her breakout quarterfinal run at the Australian Open in January. She is the youngest player in the top 20 and the youngest remaining in the Wimbledon singles draw.

After watching Jovic’s rise this season, Pegula praised her competitive instincts and rapid adjustment to grass.

Jovic “competes like an animal,” Pegula said.

Their relationship to grass, however, couldn’t be more different.

Pegula historically has not been a force at Wimbledon, reaching the quarterfinals only once in 2023. She acknowledges battling her own instincts on the surface.

“I feel like sometimes years in the past I’ve really fought against how to move on it, fought against all the intangibles, all the slices,” she said.

This year she’s relaxed her approach, improved her balance and added more pop to her serve, a major asset on grass.

Jovic, by contrast, has been a quick study when it comes to adapting to the tricky footing, sliding and occasional tumbles on grass. She’s taken to the lawns of London like a natural despite growing up in Los Angeles County, where grass courts are virtually nonexistent.

Jovic credits playing left wing in local soccer leagues from about ages 6 to 13 for her exceptional, low-to-the-ground footwork. That cross-training has paid dividends. She won her first professional title on grass in England last year and recently reached the semifinals at the prestigious Queen’s Club warmup event.

“It’s very closely related to the movement that we do in tennis,” Jovic said of soccer.

Jovic, who’s of Serbian and Croatian descent, also has been keeping tabs on the World Cup, though rooting for the U.S. during late starts has proved challenging in Europe.

Hall of Fame analyst Pam Shriver says the age gap adds a fascinating dimension to the grass-court chess match.

“It’s interesting when rivalries can develop generations apart from the same country, and I think they have a really good respect for each other,” Shriver said.

Torrance native Iva Jovic, left, congratulates fellow American Jessica Pegula after Pegula won their match during the Charleston Open on April 4 in Charleston, S.C.

(Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

Shriver added that Jovic can learn from Pegula’s cerebral approach, while veterans like Pegula can tap into a fresh mindset from the younger generation’s unflinching energy.

“It goes by so fast,” Pegula acknowledged of the creeping sense of urgency in pursuit of her first major title.

Jovic is aware Sunday’s match is a massive opportunity to prove her rapid ascent is no fluke and flip the script on her head-to-head deficit.

“Hopefully, this will be the one I get her,” she said.

Through the first week in London, Pegula has been in sharper form. She hasn’t dropped a set in three matches, gliding into the fourth round and looking more and more like the favorite in her quarter. She also feasts on fellow Americans. Since 2023, Pegula is an impressive 34-3 against her compatriots.

“I’m always motivated to beat the other Americans in a way that’s different,” Pegula said. “Excited again to challenge myself against someone who is much younger, who is playing with nothing to lose and no fear.”

Still, reaching next weekend’s final will require either player to navigate a brutal top half of the draw. It includes four-time major winners Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka, two-time major champion Gauff and the last Wimbledon champion left in the field, 2024 winner Barbora Krejcikova.

On a weekend devoted to celebrating the U.S., at least one American will be celebrating at Wimbledon when the fireworks fade.

July 3 (Asia Today) — South Korea will provide 14.9 trillion won ($9.7 billion) in emergency financing and expand tax and trade-insurance support for small and midsize companies struggling with higher import costs caused by the weak won.

The government announced the measures Friday during an emergency economic meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun Cheol at Government Complex Sejong.

The package is intended to improve liquidity for companies facing rising raw-material costs and financing pressures as the won remains weak against the U.S. dollar.

The government will redirect 13.8 trillion won ($9 billion) in unused capacity from a 23.7 trillion won ($15.5 billion) policy-financing program previously established in response to the Middle East crisis.

An additional 1.1 trillion won ($719 million) in new financing will also be provided. The government said the total could be increased depending on demand and the pace at which available funding is used.

The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency will establish a special emergency stabilization fund for companies affected by the exchange rate.

Small companies that import raw materials or components worth at least 20% of annual sales will be allowed to apply without meeting an existing requirement that sales or operating profit must have fallen by at least 10%.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea will increase its special crisis-response program from 7 trillion won ($4.6 billion) to 8 trillion won ($5.2 billion).

The bank will also increase its maximum interest-rate reduction from 2 percentage points to 2.2 percentage points.

A new ultralow-interest loan program will provide financing at rates close to the state-run bank’s own funding costs for companies affected by the high won-dollar exchange rate.

The Korea Technology Finance Corp. will raise the coverage ratio for its emergency business stabilization guarantees from 95% to 100%. The reduction in guarantee fees will increase from 0.3 percentage points to 0.4 percentage points.

Companies already using government policy loans may also receive repayment deferrals and loan-maturity extensions.

The government will expand import insurance and currency fluctuation insurance to help businesses manage exchange-rate risks.

Small and midsize companies without an export record will be allowed to purchase import insurance, which was previously more difficult for companies focused primarily on the domestic market to obtain.

Import insurance premiums will be discounted by 50% through April 2027.

Companies facing higher costs for essential imported raw materials may also receive up to twice the normal loan-guarantee limit from the state-run Korea Trade Insurance Corp.

The amount available under the government’s currency fluctuation insurance program will increase from 1.2 trillion won ($785 million) to 1.3 trillion won ($850 million).

Premium discounts for small companies will double from 15% to 30%.

Eligibility for the insurance will also expand from selected raw-material importers to companies importing nearly all categories of goods, excluding luxury products.

The government will establish a separate 10 billion won ($6.5 million) export-voucher program for companies affected by the exchange rate.

The maximum trade-insurance premium support available through the voucher system will temporarily double from 10 million won ($6,500) to 20 million won ($13,100).

The government also plans to allow insurance support to be paid in advance rather than reimbursed after the insurance contract ends.

Small companies borrowing from the Export-Import Bank of Korea will be offered a free option to convert loans between the won and foreign currencies or between two foreign currencies.

Tax relief will be provided alongside the financing programs.

Payment deadlines for corporate income tax, value-added tax, individual income tax and customs duties may be extended for companies experiencing exchange-rate-related financial difficulties.

The government will also provide consulting to help companies reflect currency movements in agreements that link subcontracting payments to changes in raw-material costs.

Companies that effectively operate the system may receive incentives, including exemptions from certain government-initiated investigations into subcontracting practices.

Financial institutions will receive credit under a government evaluation index for providing assistance to small companies affected by the weak won.

Regional export support centers will serve as one-stop contact points for companies seeking information on financing, insurance, tax relief and other assistance.

The government said it would continue reviewing the difficulties faced by businesses and consider additional measures if needed.

— 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=20260703010001157

The U.S. Navy has confirmed to TWZ that the MQ-25 Stingray demonstrator drone, also known as T-1, is embarked on the supercarrier USS Nimitz. Pictures of Nimitz with the uncrewed aircraft on its deck had prompted questions about whether the initial production representative MQ-25, which made its maiden flight in April, had now gone aboard a carrier for the first time. We now know that is not the case. Regardless, the images of T-1 aboard Nimitz still underscore just how big the Navy’s first advanced carrier-based drone actually is, especially when placed next to other aircraft in the air wings. Production MQ-25s will be an important and imposing presence when they enter operational service, something the service hopes will finally start next year.

“We do indeed have a Boeing-owned T-1 prototype currently onboard,” a Navy spokesperson told TWZ today when asked about the drone seen on Nimitz‘s deck.

The spokesperson directed us to contact Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for more information about the current status of the MQ-25 program. T-1 has been flying since 2019 and has taken part in a slew of testing in support of the development of the Stingray in the air and on the ground. This also includes deck handling testing aboard the Nimitz class carrier USS George H.W. Bush in December 2021, something we will come back to later on. T-1 has never taken off from or landed aboard a Navy carrier, and would have had to be transported aboard Nimitz.

“To honor the United States’ 250th anniversary, the MQ-25A T1 prototype is aboard the USS Nimitz, offering a glimpse of the Navy’s carrier air wing of the future,” Boeing has now also written in a post on X. “The special ‘Boeing Backs America’ mark highlights our support for U.S. aviation.”

The USS Nimitz has been sailing in the Atlantic Ocean as part of Fleet Exercise 250 (FLEETEX 250). This is a large, multi-national event that is running concurrently with several celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. In addition to the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Senegal, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom are also taking part, according to the Navy. As part of FLEETEX 250 activities last week, Nimitz had taken the lead in a group sail photo exercise that included 25 other naval vessels from 13 of the participating countries.

“USS Nimitz is underway taking part in Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 alongside 25 other warships, multi-national aircraft, and their crews, conducting a series of structured training events at-sea,” a Navy spokesperson had also told TWZ last week in response to queries about that ship after it was spotted leaving Mayport, Florida, on June 25. “Following FLEETEX, we are scheduled to take part in another major event celebrating our nation’s 250th birthday.”

The T-1 demonstrator was lashed to the carrier’s deck for the pictures, along with four F/A-18E Super Hornet fighters and two C-2A Greyhound carrier onboard delivery aircraft. The drone notably has new “250” markings written in blue on both sides of the fuselage.

As noted, T-1’s size stands out when parked next to the F/A-18Es, which are themselves not small aircraft. The production MQ-25 has a wingspan of 75 feet, according to Boeing. With its wings folded, the drone is still 31.3 feet across, as well as 51 feet long. For comparison, the Super Hornet’s wingspan is nearly 45 feet and it is just over 60 feet long, per the Navy.

T-1 looks large even when contrasted with the C-2As, at least with their wings folded. With its wings extended, the Greyhound is 80 feet, seven inches from tip to tip, according to the Navy. It is also 56 feet, 10 inches in length.

All of this underscores the amount of work the Navy will have to do to get production MQ-25s ready for routine operational use. As we wrote roughly a year ago, when the start of ground testing of the production representative Stingray was announced:

The Stingrays will also have to be woven into the existing cadence of flight deck operations, including just figuring out how to move them around amid the hustle and bustle of other activity. Carrier decks are very constrained environments physically, and present very different conditions to operate in compared to bases on land. This is true even for crewed aircraft operations, where individuals onboard can provide additional situational awareness. A wearable glove-like system that personnel could use for deck handling was notably used during testing of the X-47B. A different kind of portable control device has been used in testing of the T-1 MQ-25 demonstrator in the past, as well. The video released today does not appear to offer any major new insights into how the Navy plans to maneuver the Stingray around on carrier decks.

This is on top of more general flight testing, including demonstrating that the drones can safely take off from and land on Navy carriers, as well as integration with the control systems on those ships. The MQ-25 will bring new tactics, techniques, and procedures to the service’s carrier air wings, as well as open the door to further operational developments.

Right now, the MQ-25’s principal mission will be extending the reach of other aircraft in the carrier air wing. This is a critical capability for the Navy as adversary anti-access and area denial bubbles, especially ones that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has established and continues to expand, threaten to push carriers out of reach of target areas.

By extension, the Stingray will also eliminate the need to use crewed F/A-18F Super Hornets in the tanker role, freeing them up for other missions and reducing wear and tear on those airframes.

The drones will also come with a built-in secondary intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability, thanks primarily to a sensor turret under the nose. The size of the MQ-25, its extreme range potential, and other attributes of the design could well lead it to be adapted to other roles in the future, such as a long-range strike platform, as TWZ has previously explored in detail.

Showcasing the T-1 during FLEETEX 250 does highlight the Stingray program and its importance to the Navy. The effort has faced significant delays and cost growth in recent years, with the original goal being for the MQ-25 to have reached initial operational capability (IOC) in 2024. As noted, the first production representative example only flew in April, despite a major push by the Navy and Boeing to hit that milestone before the end of 2025. When that drone might make its first appearance on a carrier deck remains to be seen, but the Navy is now aiming to reach IOC sometime next year.

As an aside, carrying T-1 for display during FLEETEX 250 and associated events may be the extent to which Nimitz ever embarks any MQ-25s. The Navy has extended the carrier’s service life due to a number of factors, but only into March of next year. The USS George H.W. Bush received a first-of-its-kind drone control center in 2024. The Navy subsequently moved to install that equipment on the USS Carl Vinson, USS Theodore Roosevelt, and USS Ronald Reagan, creating an initial group of Nimitz class carriers that will be able to operate the Stingrays.

The Navy also sees the MQ-25 as a ‘pathfinder’ to future uncrewed additions to its carrier air wings. This is set to include carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, an effort that is still very much in its infancy. Navy officials have talked in the past about a goal to see the makeup of future carrier air wings be 60 percent or more uncrewed.

In the meantime, T-1’s latest appearance on the deck of the USS Nimitz has already underscored the big changes coming to Navy carrier air wings, both figuratively and literally.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Based on chilling true story all episodes are streaming for free

A ‘phenomenal’ series that blends period drama with spine-chilling horror has been hailed by devoted fans as a ‘televisual masterpiece’.

Remarkably, the show is also rooted in a genuinely unsettling true story — and even better, it can be streamed right now at no additional cost.

At the time of writing, The Terror is currently available on both ITVX and Channel 5. The former additionally hosts its second season, though that particular instalment follows an entirely different storyline.

A third season was released in the US earlier this year, subtitled Devil In Silver. However, this chapter was adapted from a novel and has yet to reach UK audiences.

In the meantime, viewers can revisit the series from the very beginning. The Terror is a historical anthology drama, with its first two seasons drawing upon real-life events, though both remain fictionalised interpretations, reports OK!

Legendary director Ridley Scott serves as executive producer across both seasons. The opening season charts the journey of Royal Navy polar expedition vessels HMS Erebus and HMS Terror as they venture into uncharted waters, resolute in their mission to locate and confirm the existence of the fabled Northwest Passage.

The ships soon become trapped in ice, leaving the crew to endure savage conditions and mounting internal tensions, all while being stalked by a terrifying and mysterious presence. It draws inspiration from the actual 1845 Franklin Expedition, where those two vessels genuinely became trapped in ice within the Arctic while seeking the Northwest Passage.

However, the programme dramatises the potential terrors they might have encountered.

Meanwhile, the second series, titled Infamy, takes place along America’s western coastline during the Second World War, delving into Japanese bakemono folklore – a malevolent phantom that torments a Japanese American community from Southern California through to internment camps and Pacific battlefields.

Audiences have heaped praise upon the series, particularly its opening instalment. One enthusiast proclaimed: “It’s such a masterpiece that I watched it twice, back to back.”

Another added: “I binge-watched season one, couldn’t stop. Amazing performances.”

A fellow admirer wrote online: “I have watched a lot of horror shows and movies…but nothing makes me feel dread and unease like this one. The pacing is perfect, the atmosphere bleak, the music beautifully haunting, the dialogue is fantastic, and the story is amazing. Best horror show of all time for me.”

Meanwhile, one viewer declared: “Quite simply, a televisual masterpiece, mixing true-life tragedy, fictional horror and majestic period thriller. A magnificent accomplishment.”

Another viewer chimed in: “This is a remarkable series, which takes on a journey of suspicion, disaster, tragedy and terror. The first episode didn’t exactly captivate me, but by episode three I was obsessed, and subsequently had to binge watch the whole series.”

The Terror is streaming on ITVX and Channel 5.

Reporting from Manila — The contrast was inescapable. At the top of a local newspaper’s front page here was a huge photo of the new Canadian prime minister, in a trim suit and wind blowing through his hair, captioned “ladies’ choice.” Next to him was a workmanlike headline over a separate story: “Obama to give PH two warships.”

President Obama, once a glamorous figure among world leaders, has been replaced as the “It Boy” of the summit circuit by Canada’s newly elected Justin Trudeau, as heads of state meet up this week in Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Though Obama came to Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit with a new financial commitment to bolster the Philippine maritime fleet, the nation’s hearts and minds seemed won over by the 43-year-old Canadian, who lighted up Twitter with the designation #APECHottie.

NEWSLETTER: Get the day’s top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

If there was any resentment on the part of a president whose hair is more salt than pepper these days, it didn’t show as he and Trudeau sat down here for their first official meeting.

Obama warned him: “If you don’t want to gray like me, you need to start dyeing it soon.”

“So young and yet so cynical,” Trudeau joked in response.

Though Trudeau’s global image as a hip, next-generation leader mirrors Obama’s of seven years ago, Trudeau’s views on some of Obama’s biggest policy priorities provide a more sobering contrast.

Trudeau has been ambivalent on the massive Pacific trade deal Obama is pushing, and he reiterated to Obama on Thursday that he planned to follow through on his campaign pledge to end Canada’s part in the air campaign against Islamic State — though his nation will ramp up efforts to train local fighters in Iraq and Syria.

“Canada continues to be a strong player, doing its part – and more than its part,” Trudeau said.

Differences in viewpoint between two North American leaders is familiar. Canadian leaders have long tried to show independence from the United States in matters of foreign policy. Trudeau’s father, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was one of the first Western leaders to embrace communist China and grew so close to Fidel Castro that the Cuban leader served as an honorary pallbearer at his funeral.

“Canada and the U.S. have not always seen eye-to-eye when there’s a Liberal government in power, something that stems from Trudeau’s own party and parentage,” said Antonia Maioni, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal who researches and writes about the Canadian political process and social policy. “It stems from the Canadian attitude that emerged under Pierre Trudeau that was about Canada finding its own way in international relations and not just being part of the U.S. orbit.”

But in the budding relationship between Obama and the younger Trudeau, there may be potential for collaboration, given the youth-oriented campaign that Trudeau ran – Obama noted the similarity to his own “hope and change” message – and their shared affinity for progressive social policies, especially on climate change.

Given that common ground, said Maioni, Trudeau may eventually drift more closely toward Obama’s point of view on national security and trade, too.

“A lot of people in Trudeau’s inner circle were inspired by and have taken advice from people around Obama,” she said. “That may open a conversation that would allow for change.”

Obama and Trudeau on Thursday began to explore an area in which they may be able make progress together – the fight against climate change.

Obama’s recent announcement to reject a Canadian company’s request to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would have carried crude oil from Alberta to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries was fortunate for Trudeau, said James Coleman, a legal scholar at the University of Calgary who studies environmental and energy regulation. Even though Trudeau was in favor of the pipeline, he is helped by the timing of the debate over it, which came during the tenure of his predecessor, the Conservative Party’s Stephen Harper.

“Given that President Obama was going to reject the pipeline, sooner was better for him,” said Coleman. “Because now it will be easier for him to pin it on Harper.”

Added Coleman: “It’s not hard to predict a little more friendliness between Obama and Trudeau than there was between Obama and Harper.”

Trudeau, whose graduate studies were in environmental science, emphasized the similarities in his and Obama’s climate doctrines. He noted that Canadians feel that their government hasn’t done enough to protect the environment, and he vowed to set and meet tough targets for carbon reduction.

Obama echoed the sentiment, arguing that transition from fossil fuels “does not happen overnight,” especially by nations that produce and consume a lot of oil and gas. Seated next to Trudeau, the father of three young children, Obama also made an argument about parenthood.

“If we want to preserve this planet for our kids and grandkids, then we’re going to have to shift increasingly away from carbon-emitting energy sources,” Obama said.

“This is going to be a messy, bumpy process worldwide,” he said, “but I am confident that we can get it done.”

michael.memoli@latimes.com

christi.parsons@latimes.com

Memoli reported from Manila and Parsons from Washington.

For more White House coverage, follow @mikememoli and @cparsons

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Eala played tennis as a youngster with her brother and grandfather, telling BBC TV she “still can’t keep up” with her older brother, even now.

She first rose to prominence in 2022, when she was on the cover of Vogue in her home country after becoming the first Filipina to win a junior Grand Slam title with her US Open triumph.

She rose to wider notice after her 2025 Miami Open breakthrough – which ironically began with another victory over Swiatek.

Aged 19 and ranked outside the top 100, Eala took out Grand Slam champions Swiatek, Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys to reach the semi-finals.

Since then, she has reached the world’s top 30, claimed two titles on the second-tier WTA 125 tournaments and finished runner-up at Eastbourne last year.

In the build-up to this year’s Wimbledon, she beat world number two Elena Rybakina and eighth-ranked Elina Svitolina in Berlin, and also teamed up with Venus Williams in doubles.

Her success has meant her popularity sky-rocketed. Queues snake around the Grand Slam grounds when she is scheduled on an outside court, while viewing parties are held for her matches back home.

That brings with it a pressure both good and bad. If Eala’s wins are celebrated as a point of national pride in the Philippines, then her losses are also felt deeply.

It was a situation that got on top of her at the Australian Open, where she was overwhelmed by the amount of people who simply queued to watch her practice.

“I try to be as authentic as I can. I believe in being genuine,” Eala said.

“Although I’m very grateful and very welcoming of all the support that I get, me, my team and my family are the ones who have been putting in the hours.

“We’re the ones who are here at the courts 12 hours in a row. We’re the ones who wake up early, who come back home late.

“I think that work ethic is really what keeps me grounded.”

The Potomac isn’t just the name of a river, it’s part of a much older story. Al Jazeera’s Emma Withrow explains, from Alabama to Yosemite, our latest online interactive explores the Native American origins of 50 names across the United States, what they mean, and how they were originally pronounced by Indigenous speakers.

In many ways, Saturday was a typical July 4 holiday in the United States.

The country marked the anniversary of its Declaration of Independence with hotdog-eating contests, parades, fireworks and baseball games.

But this Independence Day was different, not least because it marked the country’s semiquincentennial: the 250th year since the US’s founding.

It also was one of the most politically charged Independence Day celebrations in recent memory.

President Donald Trump is expected to speak this evening from the National Mall in Washington, DC, right before what has been billed as the “world’s largest fireworks display”.

More than 850,000 fireworks are expected to launch from barges in the Potomac River, lighting up the sky above the capital.

But while Independence Day festivities have long been billed as non-partisan events, Trump has pledged to make the night’s celebration “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all”.

The event comes as Trump’s Republican Party seeks to defend its control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, with a heated primary season already under way.

Trump’s involvement in the semiquincentennial has long been controversial.

On January 29, 2025 — just nine days into his second term as president — Trump issued an executive order establishing a White House task force to oversee celebrations for the 250th anniversary. Trump named himself its chair.

That task force would eventually set the groundwork for Freedom 250, a public-private partnership that organised some of the biggest events of the semiquincentennial, including the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.

But Freedom 250 was accused of funnelling resources away from America250, a congressionally approved panel that had likewise been charged with planning semiquincentennial celebrations since its founding in 2016.

The existence of the two groups has also spurred confusion. In late May, for instance, a suite of performers dropped out of the Great American State Fair, alleging they had been misled about its affiliation with Trump.

Before Saturday’s events, Democrats in the House of Representatives released a report (PDF) accusing Trump of using Freedom 250 for political purposes, including by awarding contracts to Trump allies.

It also alleges that Freedom 250 has been “operating outside the transparency and accountability requirements” Congress imposes on such celebrations — and that it may even have committed wire fraud by redirecting “unsuspecting donors” away from America250 and towards its own programmes.

“Under President Donald Trump, this anniversary has been hijacked and perverted into a hotbed of corruption and self-enrichment,” the report reads.

But speaking at a naval parade in New York City on Saturday, Vice President JD Vance brushed aside the criticisms. He called on revellers to reject the “small but loud voices” that “speak obsessively” of the US’s “imperfections”.

“What I’d ask you to do, my fellow Americans, on our 250th birthday, is to reject the two-dimensional view of your fellow citizens and reject the two-dimensional view of your country,” he said.

“Reject that America is a place for zero-sum thinking because it is not. Our history is one of people carving a great civilisation out of the wilderness. Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins but not its grace and its greatness.”

Casualty usually airs on BBC One on Saturday night, but today’s episode was pulled from the lineup because it would have clashed with the channel’s World Cup coverage

Casualty fans have been left fuming after the show was removed from the TV schedule tonight.

The medical drama usually airs on BBC One on Saturday night, but tonight’s episode was pulled from the lineup due to live BBC sporting coverage of the FIFA World Cup match between Canada and Morocco. The next episode will instead air next Saturday, July 11.

But fans have expressed their disappointment over the schedule shake-up, with some suggesting that Casualty should be moved to a different channel, such as BBC2, BBC3 or the BBC iPlayer. “Casualty hasn’t had a permanent slot for years you move it about all the time or don,t show it at all it is the only thing worth watching on a saturday night,” one frustrated viewer posted online.

“Couldnt Casualty move to BBC3 or 4?” another asked, as a third suggested, “just put it on iplayer!” One more wrote, “Why is it not on bbc tonight again, what’s wrong with the bbc all we get is sport.”

“Why couldn’t they put casualty on bbc2,” a fan added. “Why can’t we have a dedicated sports channel,” one more shared.

The drama is now approaching the conclusion of its “Lethal Legacy” box set, which has centred on the military past of Flynn Byron (Olly Rix). Stevie Nash (Elinor Lawless) has also featured prominently throughout the box set, with her affair with trainee doctor Matty Linlaker (Aron Julius) – the son of her close friend Dylan Keogh (William Beck) – taking centre stage.

In recent episodes, viewers have grown increasingly worried about recovering alcoholic Dylan after he was seen accepting a glass of champagne while delivering a speech at a function. A synopsis for next week’s episode reads: “Dylan is confronted by Matty about his drinking, but assures him it was just a one-off.

“However, as he treats a burns victim, he begins to suffer debilitating flashbacks to his drinking binge and flees from the unit. Faith avoids feeding Pearl as she prepares to return to work, leaving Iain concerned.

“Laura admits she is scared to speak at the council meeting, Rash worries about his presentation, and Jan confesses to Jacob that she has developed feelings for Siobhan.”

Casualty returns to BBC One on Saturday, July 11.

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