Yo-Yo Ma closed his eyes as he drew a bow slowly across his cello, playing the first notes of the Catalan lullaby “The Song of the Birds.” But this venue wasn’t like any vaulted concert hall he had toured globally.
At Maywood’s Riverfront Park, Ma was accompanied by the vroom of nearby traffic, cascade of a yucca rainstick and burbling hum of a water synth. An oblivious biker pushed past the world-renowned classical musician. The music flowed on.
Ma’s pop-up show in Southeast Los Angeles was part of his ongoing efforts to highlight people’s relationship to nature through music. He is among a new wave of artists who have been hosting shows along the L.A. River, a waterway with a complex history.
Yo-Yo Ma plays cello for a small group of artists and environmental advocates as part of the L.A. Phil Insight program, which aims to spark conversations around the arts.
(Halline Overby for InsightLA)
The river once terrorized Angelenos; its unconstrained flow was prone to flooding until most of its 51 miles were lined with concrete starting in the 1940s. While it’s been neglected, trashed and often forgotten over time, myriad governmental and nonprofit groups have been working for years to restore habitat, add park space and establish recreational elements (sometimes in conflict over the vision). And recently, creatives and activists, who dream of transforming it into a hospitable greenway, have been hosting arts events.
“Awareness around the river itself is changing,” said Maria Meija, executive director of L.A. River Arts, one of the organizations bringing attention to its history and cultural significance through public programming. She sees the serpentine stretch of the river as a natural highway that connects Angelenos from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach. “We believe that if the river is properly activated as a green and cultural landscape, then Angelenos will fundamentally also get to experience Los Angeles in a different way.”
The River Solstice Festival was a family affair, with guests lounging on picnic blankets, watching puppet and opera performances and participating in birdwatching.
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
Visions of those possibilities were realized on the summer solstice in mid-June at L.A. River Arts’ inaugural River Solstice Festival at an Elysian Valley park abutting a soft-bottomed area of the river known as the Glendale Narrows.
Children and parents applauded the performances by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater and opera singer San Cha at Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park in what’s otherwise known as Frogtown. Attendees also gathered for guided bird-watching along the bike path by the water. Four-year-old Juni Wahab was entranced by the sight of the swallows and cormorants swooping low overhead and the rushing twists of water.
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1. Bob Baker Marionette Theater performs at the River Solstice Festival, clockwise from top left. Meanwhile, attendees enjoy the park and river as skateboarders roll down the bike path. (Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
“It’s going so fast,” Wahab said, wiggling and pointing as her aunt held on tightly for safety. “There are so many waves.”
A quick stroll upstream, a group of DJs unaffiliated with the family-friendly festival hosted a day party aimed at Gen Z and millennial attendees, perched on one of the channel’s outcrops. Roughly a dozen people at the if-you-know-you-know event grooved and shuffled to EDM music while kayak enthusiasts paddled by and locals fished for carp.
Dominic Tsoi drove from Orange County to spin at the open decks hosted by the DJ collective Helipad Society. “This event really resonated with me, because it mixes two things that I really love, music and being a part of nature,” said Tsoi, adding the commute was worth it. An indoors club setting can feel stifling, but outdoors is where Tsoi feels free.
DJs have been putting on pop-up events like this one at the L.A. River and sharing videos of their sets on TikTok.
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
Just up the sloped bank, Antonio Solano and Erick Torres were sweeping outside their tent, where they live under the Glendale Freeway. Torres started noticing events at the river increase over the last three years.
“It gets people together,” said Torres, who’s been living above the river for over a decade. The music is a source of pleasure even as Torres and Solano stay vigilant to avoid city encampment sweeps. “It’s good, we enjoy it.”
Social media has driven interest in these DIY events as artists playing ambient music against a backdrop of verdant green have gone viral on TikTok.
“The attention has expanded to people who otherwise wouldn’t have given the L.A. River a second thought,” said Noah Klein, a lifelong Angeleno who has hosted popular river jams over the last two years through his Living Earth public art series.
Erika Apelgren wears a flower crown that she made at the River Solstice Festival.
(Ariana Drehsler/For The Times)
People don’t need approval to host these impromptu gatherings, said Dash Stolarz, director of public affairs at the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. The park agency oversees commercial use of the L.A. River recreation zones in Elysian Valley and the Sepulveda Basin, another section of soft-bottomed riverbed.
In her 25 years on the job, this was the first time Stolarz had heard of people using the riverfront for mini concerts. She was excited by the ingenuity of artists; as long as people aren’t charging for events, they don’t need permission.
“It’s exactly how we envisioned people enjoying the river,” Stolarz said. “We want people to use the river like a park.”
Though unlike a regular park, the L.A. River is primarily treated as a flood control channel, so park rangers carefully monitor for rain when the recreation zones open for leisure, like kayaking, during the summer.
While appreciating the L.A. River can be a good thing, social media algorithms can flatten the context around the waterway, particularly when it comes to demographic changes in nearby neighborhoods.
“The City of L.A.’s greatest skill is the erasure of its own history, and the L.A. River kind of feels like the perfect encapsulation of this,” Klein said.
Once home to mostly working-class Latino families, neighborhoods along the river in northeast L.A. have seen home prices surge for years. To preserve the history of these neighborhoods, Clockshop, an arts organization, has been collecting interviews with locals as part of a multimedia oral history project since 2023. The project includes everything from videos of an Indigenous musician performing a song about water in the Tongva language to brothers worrying about the future of their family’s 60-year-old pickle business in the face of gentrification.
Jon Christensen, director of the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies at UCLA, said river revitalization can be part of a “green gentrification cycle” as new development pushes out old communities. Like the chicken-and-egg paradox, it’s hard to tell which comes first: the amenities surrounding the L.A. River or the more affluent people seeking them.
Yo-Yo Ma, who hosts a podcast called “Our Common Nature,” chats with attendees at his intimate river concert. Human connection to the natural world is among his passions.
(Halline Overby for InsightLA)
Christensen hopes artists engaging with the river spurs conversation for more equitable green investments that benefit communities and the environment. “When people are more connected to nature, they want to support nature more,” Christensen said of his studies on how people connect to the outdoors. “It’s really kind of a virtuous cycle there.”
Cindy Donis, a water organizer with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, said artwork can also raise awareness around inequities. While there are aspirations to turn the river into a greenbelt, nightmarish pollution incidents have still haunted Southeast L.A. communities.
Ma’s performance was nearly canceled in May due to 25,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled into the L.A. River after a pipeline rupture in Boyle Heights. Weeks later, the Lineage warehouse fire sent even more debris and pollution downstream. Donis said multiple people reached out with complaints of a foul smell emanating from the river. Miles away, some at the River Solstice Festival wore masks due to poor air quality caused by the fire.
Charles Kelley with his daughter Zirah Kelley pose along the L.A. River bike path near the River Solstice Festival.
(Ariana Drehsler/For The Times)
Earlier this year, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice held an exhibition at Art Space Huntington Park called “We Are Water” to uplift local Indigenous artists. “Art really allows and embraces healing,” Donis said. “It’s another tool that allows us to process these feelings and get closer to the solutions as a community.”
The L.A. River inspired Arturo Gonzalez to found his arts education nonprofit that focuses on gang intervention among young people in East L.A. As Ma performed in the park, Gonzalez stood in the river basin, spray-painting in neon-pink blockbuster letters the name of his organization, East Side of the River, onto pillars under Slauson Avenue.
As a teenager in the early 2000s, Gonzalez was involved in gangs that would tag the gray walls of the L.A. River, but his passion for graffiti and Chicano art eventually led him out of those circles.
“The river was a safe place to paint, where you could sit and spend the day learning colors, composition,” he said of illicit tagging as a teenager, which eventually led to his public art work. “There’s a thin line between vandalism and art.”
Arturo Gonzalez spray-paints the name of his organization, East Side of the River, which focuses on gang intervention.
(Halline Overby for InsightLA)
This time, Gonzalez arrived with permission from the county and painted on a detachable fabric in case the mural needs to be removed.
“The opportunity to get into the river and paint again was like a dream,” he said. He seeks the input of local residents in his planned projects so they can participate in beautifying their neighborhoods. “We call it wall medicine for the community.”
cinquefx/iStock via Getty Images
The benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) has posted a respectable 10.1% gain year-to-date, yet a select cohort of 15 stocks within the index has delivered triple-digit returns of 100% or more, significantly influencing the benchmark’s performance.
These standout performers are concentrated
IF YOU’RE dreaming of a late summer holiday but holding off until the Three Lions finish their World Cup run, let me give you some free advice: stop playing chicken with the booking button.
Because I work in travel, my screen is constantly locked onto live booking data, and I’ve been crunching the numbers from Euro 2024 and the last World Cup, comparing tournament months against normal years, and the trend is identical.
The second England gets knocked out (or in this year’s case, hopefully lifts the trophy) the market goes completely mental.
Millions of Brits who put their summer plans on ice to watch the football suddenly rush to the package holiday sites at the exact same time.
And according to the data, this massive surge forces package prices to spike five to eight per cent above normal seasonal baselines within hours.
Whether we lose to Argentina on Wednesday or go all the way, demand is going to flood the market.
So if you still fancy a summer holiday this year but haven’t yet booked, you need to beat the post-tournament rush.
And here’s exactly where the data suggests prices are about to climb fastest.
Turkey always reacts aggressively after a major tournament, especially around the Antalya coast where all-inclusive packages dominate.
Our data shows that the moment football fever breaks, resorts like Alanya experience an immediate eight per cent price hike above the normal baseline.
You could stay at the Lemas Suites Hotel Side, which is a cracking value base right near the harbour, but my favourite thing about this hotel is its private river-boat shuttle.
The property sits slightly back from the coast on the side of the Manavgat river, and they run a free, regular boat service that drops you directly onto their private sandy beach lot, completely cutting out the sweaty August coastal walk.
The Canaries are Britain’s ultimate safety net for guaranteed summer sun, which makes them prime targets for the post-football booking surge.
The data shows that Fuerteventura’s Caleta de Fuste climbs a massive 17 per cent above normal rates post-tournament, while Matagorda in Lanzarote jumps by 13 per cent.
But, fear not, because you can check in to Club Tenerife in Los Cristianos.
And because the hotel’s built directly into a sheltered hillside, the main sun terraces are entirely shielded from the standard high-summer Atlantic winds that plague the flat beachfront hotels, giving you a proper, peaceful sunbathing setup.
Crete is another major mover in our holiday tracking, with the family-heavy resort of Kato Gouves seeing a massive 24 per cent price surge the second England exits a tournament.
You could stay at Ourania Apartments in Kato Gouves – this hotel’s an absolute peach of a pick too.
Every week, the family hosts an incredible local souvlaki night where they cook everything over open coals right in the central courtyard, serving up an elite, authentic Cretan feast for a fraction of what you’d pay at the beachfront tourist spots.
Where do I sign?
As you’d expect, Spain always runs hot after the football finishes – but the Costa Brava sees some of the steepest climbs on the board, specifically, the resort of Calella routinely records package prices sitting 25 per cent higher than normal once the tournament wraps up.
You could head to MedPlaya Esmeraldas Aparthotel in Tossa de Mar, for example.
These apartments are exceptionally modern, but the best feature here is the private underground walkway that links the complex directly to the beachfront avenue.
It means you can wander from your living room to the sand in about two minutes without ever having to cross the busy main resort traffic.
The undisputed heavyweight of post-tournament price surges is the Costa Blanca.
Cala de Finestrat routinely explodes by 32 per cent above normal rates, while Albir climbs by 18 per cent.
Even Benidorm, despite its massive hotel capacity, jumps five per cent overnight.
You could opt for five-nights to the Jardin Milenio Hotel in Elche for under £300pp and for peak August, that is an unbelievable data loophole.
The standout feature here is that the hotel is located directly inside the famous Palmeral of Elche – a massive, UNESCO-protected tropical palm grove.
It means the entire pool area is surrounded by thousands of ancient palm trees, giving you a lush, high-end Caribbean resort aesthetic for less than three hundred quid.
How much would you pay for a pair of shoes? Someone else’s shoes, I mean.
Would you pay $7,000 for a chair on which Taylor Swift sat in a basketball arena — for an NBA playoff game, not for her wedding? Someone did.
There was one Swift chair up for bid. The Dodgers gave away 52,000 trading cards as part of a promotion for the Japanese animated series “One Piece” this month, and the current asking prices for one of those cards on eBay range from $784 to $15,656. Even at the low end … strike that, there is no apparent low end to the collectibles market these days.
Now add Shohei Ohtani to the mix. A pair of his cleats hit the auction block Monday, hyped by the promoter as “one of the most significant baseball artifacts ever” and “the greatest baseball footwear ever made available” and “the most culturally significant footwear ever worn on Japanese soil.”
In this case, the adjectives are more than breathless. Ohtani is the best player in baseball, the favorite to win his fifth most valuable player award in six years, an international tourist attraction, and a global pitchman making an estimated $125 million in sponsorships and endorsements this year.
So, the footwear: These are the cleats Ohtani wore when the Dodgers opened the 2025 season in Japan, decorated with art of his world-famous dog Decoy and signed by Ohtani with Asian kanji characters rather than English letters.
The cleats were purchased last year by Take to the Universe (TTU), a Japanese company that distributes beauty and wellness products in Japan and throughout Asia. State records show the company registered a subsidiary in Los Angeles two months ago.
The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ 2025 season opener in Japan are on the auction block.
(The Realist)
“We thought, hey, we could actually use this to market our company and enter into the U.S. market,” said Ryoji Iguchi, chief executive of the subsidiary. Iguchi declined to say how much TTU paid for the cleats.
For a Japanese company to leverage Ohtani and the Dodgers to introduce itself to an American audience is nothing new — not just for tangible consumer goods, but also for animated characters.
You wouldn’t actually go into a store and ask for a TTU product, though. You eventually might go into a store and ask for a beauty product made by another company. TTU would just get it there.
So how does selling a pair of cleats create brand awareness for a brand consumers would not even know?
“This interview,” Iguchi said.
The Ohtani Economy strikes again: You don’t know us, but we’re coming to America, we want to help you sell your wares — and we’re selling Ohtani’s cleats!
The sale was arranged by Scott Keeney, founder of the Realest, a Los Angeles-based enterprise specializing in sports and entertainment memorabilia.
The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ season opener in Japan in 2025 are on the auction block.
(The Realist)
Keeney talks about the “museum-grade” and “investment-grade” quality of the cleats. You might find a trading card marketed as one of one, but someone could make another. In this case, no one can make another pair of cleats worn by Ohtani on that particular day.
“It’s no different than art, where you’re seeing paintings selling for tens, hundreds of millions of dollars,” Keeney said. “The top grails are in a category of their own.
“It’s what the ultra, the top 0.0001% want, and they appreciate faster than anything else in the category.”
So how much might the Ohtani cleats command, given the combination of sport and celebrity?
Kobe Bryant’s sneakers from the game in which he tore his Achilles tendon — and hit two free throws before he left the court — fetched $660,000. Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” shoes sold for $1.4 million. Kanye West wore “Air Yeezys” to the Grammys, and the pair sold for $1.8 million.
The ball Ohtani hit for his 50th home run in his 50-50 season: $4.4 million. And, speaking of holy grails: Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” fetched $32.5 million.
I cannot afford that, in this lifetime or any other. Perhaps you can. If you cannot, the Realest is offering this free-to-enter contest: Guess the sale price of the Ohtani cleats and, if you come closest to the actual sale price, you win 1% of the price. In the event of a tie, the first submission wins.
The cash would be nice, because this is just a pair of someone else’s worn shoes. But, since everything else Ohtani does seems to be unprecedented, this auction just might be too.
Rescue workers recover the bodies of fire victims outside the burned pub following a fire in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday. At least 27 people were killed after a fire engulfed the pub, according to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA
July 12 (UPI) — An intense fire that ripped through a Bangkok pub early Monday killed at least 27 people and injured nearly 20 others, officials said as an investigation was launched into the cause of the blaze.
Authorities received a report of the fire at the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub in Bangkok’s densely populated Chatuchak district at 12:02 a.m. local time, Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said in a statement.
“The fire was burning intensely,” according to the department, which said responders from various agencies worked to extinguish the blaze and rescue the injured and people trapped inside.
Videos of the bar’s entrance posted online show people screaming and running out of the establishment followed by flames erupting from the door.
Officials said the fire was brought under control by 12:32 a.m.
Images of the aftermath posted online by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation show the charred remains of the bar’s interior.
A preliminary inspection of the scene found that 27 people had been killed, the department said. The identities have not been released, but the department said 18 were women and nine were men.
Of the 18 people injured, eight were listed as red cases, meaning they were either in critical or life-threatening condition, seven were labeled yellow for serious but stable condition and three were considered green cases with minor injuries, the department said in an update.
“Forensic investigators are examining the scene to determine the cause of the fire,” the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul arrived at the scene at about 1:30 a.m. and was joined by Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Director-General Teerapat Katchamat and Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt.
Anutin told reporters at the scene that most fatalities were the result of smoke inhalation. He said that he was told by witnesses that the fire appeared to have started near a circuit breaker on the restaurant’s stage before the facility was plunged into darkness, the Bangkok Post reported.
Brits have died(Image: witthaya prasongsin/Getty)
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued a warning to Brits heading abroad. As our government’s foreign affairs department, the FCDO is responsible for many tasks – one of which is distribute travel advice in a bid to help trips run smoothly and to keep people safe.
And in a new post on X, formerly Twitter, FCDO has warned of a potentially life-threatening issue that can present symptoms similar to a “bad hangover”. The alert reads: “Methanol poisoning can be hard to spot. Early symptoms can feel like a bad hangover.
“Learn the warning signs and know how to reduce the risk.” Further information found within a linked government campaign explains: “Alcohol contaminated with methanol and targeted spiking incidents can lead to serious illness and death.”
Methanol is an industrial alcohol used in products like antifreeze, fuel and paint thinners. FCDO guidance continues: “In some parts of the world methanol products are sometimes illegally mixed with ‘real’ alcohol such as spirit-based drinks and cocktails.
“Medical experts believe that as little as 30ml (roughly equivalent to a shot) of methanol can be fatal for an adult, while 10ml can cause blindness.” Early symptoms include vomiting, a loss of balance, drowsiness, and poor judgement.
Twelve to 48 hours after drinking there may be vertigo, hyperventilation, abdominal pain, breathlessness, coma, convulsions, and blurred vision and/or blindness. If you or someone you are travelling with have these symptoms you should seek urgent medical attention.
FCDO advice adds: “Vision issues are a distinctive red flag, particularly blurry vision, trouble looking at bright lights, and in some cases complete blindness. ‘Snowfield vision’ (seeing snowy static like an old TV) or tunnel vision can also occur.”
Seeking urgent medical attention could save your life.
TWO sisters were left stunned after they found a picture of themselves in an Airbnb they had never stayed at before.
When Aubrey Birrell and her sister Libby entered their Airbnb in San Diego, California, USA, they spotted a large photo canvas on the wall.
In a video that has now gone viral on social media, Aubrey points at the picture of their family holiday 10 years prior, showing a group of swimmers at the beach.
Stunned, she says: “That’s my dad” before then pointing out Libby and their brother Brady.
Shocked Aubrey, who posted via her TikTok account @aubsbirrell, said they found the discovery “crazy” and “unsettling”, especially because they had never stepped foot in the Airbnb before.
Her description of the video stated: “We can’t make this up….. this is the craziest thing.”
Read more on travel inspo
The two sisters never learnt how the picture ended up there.
Social media users took to the comments to share their own similar experiences.
One said: “I flew to India, then travelled up the Himalayas to my old boarding school where is was teaching for the summer.
“On the first day I was looking at the school photos in the cafeteria and another lady was also looking at photos.
“We met in front of one and I said I’d gone to boarding school here 40 years ago and this was the first time I’d been back.
“She said she’d gone to boarding school here 40 years ago and was back on vacation.
“Turns out she was Cathy, my best friend in school!
“We lost touch after we left the school and hadn’t spoken since.”
Another added: “This literally happened at our rented beach house TODAY.
“I had seen this TikTok days ago and something made me look at the giant canvas hanging in the primary bath[room].
“I immediately see my daughter and her high school friend group in the pic – one of whom is with us on this trip!
“We live two hours away and have been coming to this beach for decades. CRAZY.”
A FAMOUS UK pier that is loved by families has had to close one of its popular attractions.
Southend Pier in Southend-on-Sea is known for being the world’s longest pier, stretching over 1.3 miles long.
And on the pier is a unique railway attraction that runs up and down the pier.
However, over the weekend the train had to be suspended due to technical difficulties.
Everything else on the pier, including the museum and gift shop, is still open, but to get to them tourists will have to walk along the pier.
The pier’s website states: “The Pier train is currently out of service and is expected to remain unavailable until at least later this week.
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”The pier remains open as normal, and visitors are still very welcome to enjoy a walk along the world’s longest pleasure pier and visit the Pier Head.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
The railway is less than a metre wide, and runs for 1.25miles of the pier.
Services take place every half hour, from 10:30am each day.
The first transport on the pier was a horse tramway, which opened in 1872.
The horse tramway was then replaced by a single electric railway in 1890, marking the first pier railway in the country.
The following year, the pier railway was running the full length of the pier.
Later in the 1930s, the railway was expanded with four trains, each made up of seven carriages.
Today, the current carriages have been running since 2021.
Nigeria’s position on ransom payments rests on a sound principle: Every ransom paid strengthens criminal organisations by financing the purchase of more weapons, and encouraging more kidnappings. Every naira handed to kidnappers today may finance tomorrow’s abduction.
Yet, another reality is far more uncomfortable. It is a reality experienced daily by families whose loved ones have disappeared into forests, insurgent camps, and criminal enclaves across Nigeria. The state asks them not to pay. The same state often cannot prevent the abduction nor guarantee the rescue of the victim.
For years, successive governments have urged Nigerians to reject ransom payments as a matter of national security. The argument is strategically sound. Kidnapping has evolved into one of Nigeria’s most profitable criminal economies, sustaining terrorist groups, insurgent groups, and organised kidnapping networks across several regions. Every successful payment reinforces that economy and makes future attacks more likely.
But public policy cannot exist only in theory. It must also survive contact with human reality.
For many women and girls held captive, every additional day increases the risk of rape, forced marriage, sexual slavery, and repeated abuse. Men and boys frequently endure forced labour, torture, starvation, beatings, and execution. Children lose months or years of their education while entire families descend into financial ruin attempting to negotiate for survival.
For parents, spouses, and siblings, this is not an abstract debate about national security. They know that every phone call may be the last and that every delay may carry irreversible consequences. It is therefore unsurprising that many families choose life over policy.
Critics often ask why families continue paying ransom despite repeated warnings, but the more humane question is whether society has offered them a credible alternative.
Military rescue operations have succeeded in some high-profile cases, and security forces continue to make sacrifices under extremely dangerous conditions. However, they remain the exception rather than the experience of most victims. Across vast areas of Nigeria, rescue is uncertain, negotiations are prolonged, intelligence is limited, and families are frequently left to navigate kidnappers alone. That gap creates an impossible moral burden.
The law tells a father not to pay, but his daughter remains in captivity and the government cannot tell him when, or whether, she will come home. What should he choose?
Many policymakers evaluate ransom through the lens of national security. Families experience it through the lens of survival. Both perspectives are legitimate, but they collide in painful ways.
The contradiction becomes even sharper where governments contemplate criminalising ransom payments. Such laws may satisfy an important strategic objective, but without dramatically improving prevention, intelligence, rapid response, and hostage rescue capability, they risk punishing victims twice. First, by failing to protect them. Second, by denying them the only option they believe remains.
No family should ever have to choose between financing organised crime and abandoning someone they love. The responsibility for breaking this cycle belongs to the state, not to traumatised families.
A credible anti-ransom policy requires far more than a legal prohibition. It demands professional policing, intelligence-driven operations, rapid hostage recovery capabilities, functioning emergency response systems, stronger border control, disruption of kidnapping finances, and sustained prosecution of those who organise and profit from this industry.
Only then can the government reasonably ask citizens to bear the enormous moral cost of refusing to pay ransom. Until that day arrives, Nigeria’s ransom debate will remain trapped between principle and reality. Ending ransom payments begins with ending the conditions that make ransom appear to be the only path home.
Nigeria’s stance against ransom payments is based on the principle that such payments empower criminal organizations by funding their operations, thus encouraging more kidnappings. Despite this, families of the kidnapped face harsh realities, as they often must decide between policy and the immediate safety of their loved ones, with the state frequently unable to guarantee their rescue.
Kidnapping has become a lucrative criminal economy in Nigeria, fueling insurgent and terrorist groups. While national security concerns drive the governmental push against ransom payments, individuals affected by kidnappings experience immense personal stakes. The law against ransoms may punish victims who lack viable alternatives unless comprehensive prevention and rescue strategies are implemented.
The tension between strategic objectives and personal survival highlights the need for a robust anti-ransom policy, encompassing improved law enforcement, intelligence, and rapid response capabilities. No family should be burdened with the choice between aiding organized crime and abandoning loved ones, making it imperative for the state to assume responsibility for breaking the cycle of dependency on ransom payments.
NEWLYWEDS Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have made their first public appearance since their nuptials.
The loved-up couple got dressed up as they attended a wedding of NFL star Travis’ former teammate.
Podcast host Travis and American singer Taylor were spotted at the bash in California just days after returning from their mini-moon in Montana.
They checked into the ultra-exclusive Yellowstone Club in the mountains, following their nuptials in a bid to spend time together away from the watchful eye of the public.
But now, the smitten newlyweds have broken their cover to attend the wedding of JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Laura Kruk.
JuJu and Travis played alongside each other for the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2022, 2024 and 2025 season.
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The happy couple showed off their wedding rings in the first snaps since their decadent New York nuptials at Madison Square Garden.
Travis’ gold wedding band could be seen gleaming on his left hand as he held a sun umbrella over his head.
The ceremony took place at The Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point on Friday last week.
Taylor and her pals looked as though they were having a good gossip in the snaps as she leaned in, desperate to hear more.
Both Taylor and Travis, 36, were seen laughing and smiling at the reception as they dug into their meals.
In one snap, Love Story singer Taylor danced in her chair as music boomed across the beautiful outdoor seating area.
She wore a stunning strapless pink floral ball gown meanwhile hunky Travis looked sharp in a grey suit.
Onlookers saw the pair holding hands as they strutted into the venue wearing sunglasses.
Travis sipped a beer while mingling with the other guests, while Taylor was spotted with a champagne in hand.
Taylor and Travis married in a decadent ceremony on July 3 in front of 1000 of their closest friends and family.
The star-studded affair was on of the most highly anticipated events of the year, with many of the details being kept firmly under wraps.
At 7:30pm on the Friday, it was revealed the couple had married as the words, “JUST&T MARRIED” flashed up on purple screens around MSG.
The ceremony came just 10 months after the couple announced their engagement in August 2025.
In an unusual move, the pair chose to have actor-comedian Adam Sandler officiate the proceedings while also ditching the traditional bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Around 25 municipalities are said to be offering the €1 homes
(Image: Ben Morris/YouTube
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A travel vlogger who visited the beautiful Mediterranean island of Sicily to investigate a €1 home scheme quickly came across a major “catch”. A wave of reports advertise small towns in Italy flogging vacant properties for as little as €1 (just 85p in today’s money).
It’s a phenomenon that comes on the back of a reported rural exodus. Young Italians have been increasingly drawn to city life, leaving stunning villages to empty out as their ageing populations dwindle.
Around 25 municipalities are said to be offering the €1 homes, betting that renovated and occupied properties will be more lucrative; second homes come with tax bills.
Ben Morris visited the commune of Sambuca di Sicilia, Sicily, dubbed “Italy’s little America” due to the influx of US property buyers, to investigate. On his self-titled YouTube channel, Ben spoke to a local estate agent about the scheme.
She explained: “So, when they launched the first project, then there has been three: €1 houses, €2 houses, and €3 houses.”
The estate agent went on to say: “The rules are more or less always the same. You have to do an offer of at least €1, €2 or €3, but you know that the higher offer will win the house.”
Returning to Ben’s narration, he stated: “So there’s the catch in Sambuca. Although houses do go on the market for €1, they usually get bid on for up to €5,000 (about £4,200).
“However, the town that we’re going to visit after this actually has houses that you can straight up buy for €1. No catch. And there’s actually places available now.”
Ben then spoke about the home of Meredith Tabbone, who bought hers for €5,000 and later bought the home next door. However, her renovations set her back a whopping $446,000 (about £333,000).
Later, he set off in search of a no-strings-attached €1 home in the town of Mussomeli. Ben met up with a woman named Natalie, who said she’d show him a range of homes, including two that cost just €1.
Once he entered one such property, it was immediately visible that the house needed a lot of work. Ben was advised to only walk on the edges of the floor as he ventured through the property for “safety” reasons.
After he inspected the seemingly dilapidated two-level property, he commented: “And that is exactly why so many of these homes are being sold for so cheap. You’re going to need to do renovations and spend money to make it livable.
“You also have the responsibility to make sure your house doesn’t fall down and like kill your neighbour or something.”
Natalie also explained that, in addition to this, the buyer would have expenses to close the sale. Ben said this was another “little catch”, adding that you’d have to pay for notary fees and certificates.
Speaking previously about the scheme, 1eurohouses.com said in a statement, as reported by the Independent: “We do not need new constructions and new overbuilding.
“The strategy to improve the housing environment and reclaim our cultural identity is to revive the small abandoned centres or to redevelop buildings in a state of abandonment, with a story that is our history.”
From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers needed to turn things around Sunday to wrap up the first half on a high note. Manager Dave Roberts said as much the night before.
“When you give teams free bases, extra outs, it’s hard to win a game, regardless of the opponent,” he said. “Emmet [Sheehan] needs to go out there and throw the baseball well tomorrow. We’ve got to find a way to win a game tomorrow to feel somewhat better about going into the break.”
Instead, the Dodgers fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3, swept for the first time this season. It was Arizona’s first sweep at Dodger Stadium since September 2017.
Perhaps the break is coming at a good time.
“I guess,” Roberts said. “Gives guys a reset. … We’ve got some good teams coming up and we’ve got to play good baseball.”
Sheehan at least did his job, holding the Diamondbacks to three runs in 5⅓ innings. It was clear from the first at-bat that his pitch count could limit how deep he pitched into the game. Sheehan won a 14-pitch battle to strike out Ketel Marte.
The right-hander then struck out the side and was efficient enough to pitch into the sixth. He exited after his pitch count reached 101.
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From Kevin Baxter: Before this summer’s World Cup, FIFA asked the 48 participating teams to provide a list of songs to be played during warmups and goal celebrations and, if appropriate, after victories. On the U.S. list was John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” which quickly became the anthem of the team’s run through the tournament.
A more appropriate choice would have been the Buzzcocks’ “Sixteen Again,” because once again that’s where the Americans’ World Cup ended.
In the round of 16. Again.
This was supposed to be the year the U.S. broke through. With a roster full of players from major European teams and 13 who were World Cup veterans, a lack of quality and experience no longer were valid excuses.
And that should force U.S. Soccer into a major, systemic evaluation of what went wrong and how it can be fixed.
How VAR, a system designed to correct errors, became this World Cup’s biggest villain
News Analysis: Mexico wins back fans but is still searching for ways to pass familiar World Cup wall
All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo
Tuesday
France vs. Spain, noon
Wednesday
England vs. Argentina, noon
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, noon
From Iliana Limón Romero and Marisa Ingemi: The Sparks’ ownership made a major shift in direction on Sunday, firing general manager Raegan Pebley amid a lackluster season that has the team just below the WNBA playoff cutoff line and far from the title-contending form Pebley promised.
Assistant general managers Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen will split interim GM duties, the team announced.
“We are grateful to Raegan for her leadership and commitment to the Los Angeles Sparks and women’s basketball,” Sparks managing partner and governor Eric Holoman said in a statement. “Her work on the Sparks roster and player experience will have a lasting positive impact on our organization. We sincerely thank her for all she has invested in the Sparks and wish her success in her next chapter.”
The Sparks (10-11) sit in ninth place in the WNBA standings, one removed from the last playoff spot. The team is coming off back-to-back wins over the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever, which followed a three-game losing streak.
Dearica Hamby’s relentless effort and loyalty helped her retain key role with Sparks
Trevor Larnach homered and drove in two runs, Ryan Jeffers added a two-run double, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Angels 4-2 on Sunday and head into the All-Star break with eight wins in their last nine games.
Larnach’s single in the third inning scored Luke Keaschall, tying the score at 1. Jeffers followed with a double that knocked in Ryan Kreidler and Larnach for a 3-1 lead.
Larnach added a 405-foot homer to right in the eighth inning, his seventh of the season, as the Twins (48-49) won their fifth straight series.
Josh Lowe and Denzer Guzman hit solo home runs for the Angels (38-59), who dropped their fourth straight series. Lowe’s eighth of the season came in the second inning, and Guzman added his fourth in the seventh inning.
Shaikin: Angels could’ve picked any pitcher in America last year. Their pick Tyler Bremner endures
Jannik Sinner is starting to make a habit of responding to adversity in Paris with titles at Wimbledon.
The top-ranked Sinner beat Alexander Zverev 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 Sunday for his second consecutive title at the All England Club after his German opponent appeared bothered by a knee injury following a slip to the grass on a key point in the third set.
Sinner’s fifth Grand Slam title came in his first tournament since a second-round meltdown at the French Open, when he wilted in a Paris heat wave.
1881 — William Renshaw sets the record for the shortest men’s championship match by time and games by beating John T. Hartley 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 37 minutes at Wimbledon.
1941 — The PGA tournament is won by Vic Ghezzi with a 1-up 38-hole victory over Byron Nelson at Cherry Hills CC Denver
1968 — Gary Player wins the British Open by two strokes over Bob Charles and Jack Nicklaus. It’s the second Open championship for Player and his fifth major title.
1972 — Robert Irsay buys the stock of the Rams for $19 million and swaps the franchise for the Baltimore Colts. The players and coaches are not affected.
1980 — Amy Alcott shoots a record score of 280 to win the U.S. Women’s Open by nine strokes over Hollis Stacy.
1994 — Tonya Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly is sentenced to two years in prison for attack on American Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.
1996 — Cigar matches Citation’s modern North American record of 16 consecutive wins, pulling away to take the $1.05 million Arlington Citation Challenge by 3½ lengths.
1997 — Alison Nicholas holds off Nancy Lopez for a one-stroke victory in the U.S. Women’s Open. Nicholas shoots a 72-hole total of 10-under 274, the most under par in the 52-year history of the event.
2003 — Beth Daniel becomes the oldest winner in LPGA Tour history, birdying the final two holes to beat Juli Inkster by a stroke in the Canadian Women’s Open. At 46 years, 8 months and 29 days, Daniel breaks the age record set by JoAnne Carner in 1985.
2011 — Abby Wambach breaks a tense tie with a thunderous header in the 79th minute, and the United States earns its first trip to the Women’s World Cup final since winning it in 1999 with a 3-1 victory over France. Japan upsets Sweden 3-1 in the other semifinal.
2014 — Mo Martin hits the best shot of her life to become a major champion in the Women’s British Open. Martin hit a 3-wood that hit the pin on the par-5 closing hole at Royal Birkdale, settling 6 feet for an eagle. Martin closes with an even-par 72 and finishes at 1-under 287 for a one-shot win over Inbee Park and Shanshan Feng.
2014 — Mario Goetze volleys in the winning goal in extra time to give Germany its fourth World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina.
2017 — Venus Williams reaches her ninth Wimbledon final and first since 2009, turning in her latest display of gutsy serving to beat Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-2. At 37, Williams becomes the oldest finalist at the All England Club since Martina Navratilova was the 1994 runner-up at that age. She also stops Konta’s bid to become the first woman from Britain in 40 years to win Wimbledon. In the opening semifinal, Garbine Muguruza overwhelms Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-1 in just over an hour.
2019 — Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Simona Halep beats Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in just 55 minutes; first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title.
Compiled by the Associated Press
1896 — Philadelphia’s Ed Delahanty hit four home runs in a losing effort, a 9-8 loss to Chicago.
1934 — Babe Ruth hit his 700th home run in a 4-2 victory over Tommy Bridges and the Detroit Tigers. Lou Gehrig left in the first with a severe case of lumbago, the most serious threat to his streak. He returned for one at bat the next day.
1943 — The first night game in All-Star history, at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park, went to the AL, 5-3, despite a single, triple and home run by NL center fielder Vince DiMaggio of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The big blow was a three-run homer by Bobby Doerr of the Boston Red Sox, which gave the AL the lead for good.
1945 — Chicago’s Pat Seerey hit three home runs, a triple and drove in eight runs to lead the White Sox in a 16-4 win over New York at Yankee Stadium.
1954 — Pitcher Dean Stone did not retire a batter but received credit for the AL’s 11-9 All-Star victory at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. Red Schoendienst tried to steal a run for the NL after Stone was summoned in the eighth inning, but the pitcher’s throw to the plate nailed the runner for the third out.
1963 — Early Wynn, at 43, registered his 300th and last victory, pitching the first five innings of Cleveland’s 7-4 triumph over the Kansas City A’s.
1965 — The NL took the lead over the AL for the first time since the All-Star series began, winning 6-5 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minn.
1971 — Reggie Jackson’s mammoth home run off the power generator on the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium highlighted a barrage of six homers — three by each team — as the AL beat the NL 6-4 in the All-Star game.
1982 — The NL registered its 11th consecutive All-Star victory over the AL with a 4-1 victory at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, the first All-Star game played outside the United States. Dave Concepcion’s two-run homer off Dennis Eckersley in the second inning was the deciding hit.
1993 — Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett homered and doubled to win the MVP award in the AL’s 9-3 victory in the All-Star game at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
1999 — Boston’s Pedro Martinez pitched himself into the All-Star game record book, becoming the first to strike out the first four hitters in an All-Star game, fanning Barry Larkin, Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa in the first inning, and Mark McGwire to start the second. Martinez struck out five in the first two innings — tying an American League record — to lead the AL to a 4-1 victory over the National League.
2010 — Brian McCann’s three-run double in the seventh inning provided the NL all the offense it needed to capture its first Midsummer Classic since 1996 with a 3-1 victory.
2013 — Tim Lincecum threw the second no-hitter in 11 days, a gem saved by a spectacular diving catch by right fielder Hunter Pence in the San Francisco Giants’ 9-0 win against the last-place San Diego Padres. Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, was the loser when Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey no-hit the Giants on July 2.
2014 — Madison Bumgarner became the first pitcher in 48 years to hit two grand slams in a season, and Buster Posey also hit a slam that boosted San Francisco to an 8-4 win over Arizona.
2021 — The American League wins the 91st All-Star game with a 5-2 win over the National League for their eighth straight win.
2022 — The Blue Jays, who had entered the season with sky-high expectations, fire manager Charlie Montoyo after the team has lost eight of its last ten games and is now barely ahead of the fifth-place Orioles. Bench coach John Schneider takes over as manager on an interim basis, and Casey Candaele is promoted from triple-A Buffalo to step into the breach left by Schneider on the coaching staff.
Compiled by the Associated Press
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Exceptionally hot weather in May and June was responsible for the heat-related deaths of at least 2,700 people in England and Wales, according to British research out Monday. File photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA-EFE
July 13 (UPI) — Exceptionally hot weather in May and June was responsible for the heat-related deaths of at least 2,700 people in England and Wales, according to British research out Monday that found that human-caused climate change was a significant factor.
Temperature records for both months fell during heat waves May 21-29 and June 18-28, with the bulk of the fatalities — 2,200 — in June when the temperature rose to as high as 99.9 degrees Fahrenheit compared with average daytime highs of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the Met Office said in a news release.
Researchers from Imperial College London, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Met Office modeled excess deaths — those over and above normal levels — during both heat waves using historical mortality records and established peer-reviewed methods.
Notably, almost 6 in 10 of fatalities during the May heat wave were attributed to additional heat contributed by human-caused climate change, compared with a little less than 4 in 10 during the heat wave in June, which was hotter and lasted longer.
The scientists said daytime maximum temperatures approximately 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they would have been without human-induced climate change had fueled temperatures that would have otherwise been far less likely to occur — making the heat waves far more hazardous to human health.
“We all love the sun, but people need to be aware that we are now seeing dangerous climate-change-fueled heat that is claiming lives, disrupting schools and hospitals and shutting down transport and infrastructure,” said Dr. Clair Barnes, Research Associate in Extreme Weather and Climate Change at Imperial College London.
“It’s time we woke up to the fact that we now live in a country with dangerously hot summers. To protect people during future extremes, we must urgently adapt to the reality of the climate we now have, and double down on global efforts to reach net zero emissions to stop this from getting worse,” she said.
Dr. Malcolm Mistry, Assistant Professor in Climate and Geo-spatial Modelling at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, expressed concern that only a few weeks into summer England and Wales had already experienced two record-breaking heat waves.
He warned that with spikes of extreme hot weather more frequent and more intense due to human activity, summer heat waves were “rapidly evolving into a major health risk for people in the United Kingdom.”
Mistry said it was critical that changes to homes, workplaces and critical infrastructure to cope with extreme heat kept ahead of rising health risks in order to protect the elderly, children, babies and other vulnerable groups.
The Met Office said 2026 has been exceptional with the two heat waves topping records that had stood since May 1944 and June 1976.
“For the time of year these events were extreme, even in our warmer climate,” said Climate Attribution Manager, Dr. Mark McCarthy.
The climate division of the U.K. Health Security Agency said that with periods of heat likely to become more intense, longer and more frequent as the world continued to warm, the study showed the “scale of risk associated with extreme heat and the growing threat climate change poses to our wellbeing.”
Continental Europe has also been in the grip of a more or less continuous heat wave since May that has placed health systems under huge pressure, triggered deadly wildfires that have burned through tens of thousands of hectares of woodland and scrubland, crippled power grids and forced schools to close.
The World Health Organization said Sunday that 1,300 excess deaths reported across Europe since June 21 were linked to the high temperatures.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Europe was warming twice as fast as the rest of the world with 150 million people suffering the negative impacts of the extreme heat.
France’s Health Ministry said Sunday that there were 1,000 extra deaths between Wednesday and Saturday alone, compared with previous months.
AN AIRPORT at a major holiday hotspot for Brits just two hours from the UK is about to get a multi-million transformation.
Alicante Airport in Spain is getting a huge £980million overhaul, which will be the airport’s biggest upgrade in history.
The airport itself will be 30 per cent bigger, with a new pier just for non-Schengen departures, which includes Brits.
This means Brits will have their own area to go through, which should help ease queues caused by the introduction of Europe’s new Entry/Exit System.
Security across the airport will be replaced with the latest technology too, which includes Automated Tray Returns Systems (ATRS).
This new technology will allow travellers to keep their laptops and liquids in their hand luggage.
Read more on travel inspo
There will also be new shops at the airport, as well as a VIP lounge for non-Schengen departures.
Several areas outside the airport will see improvements as well, including car parking and new taxi and bus drop-off zones.
If you don’t plan on driving to and from the airport, then this too will become easier with a new rail link that would have an underground station.
The train will link onto a nearby commuter line and is expected to be built between now and 2030.
The first phase will start in 2027 and is expected to be completed by 2031.
The second phase will then take place in the mid-2030s.
The upgrade was first announced last year.
The project comes as the airport handled nearly 20million passengers last year, with it expected to pass that number this year, with Brits making up one of the largest groups of tourists.
The TWZ Newsletter
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The next NATO airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform will be Saab’s GlobalEye, as announced today during the alliance’s summit in Ankara, Turkey. The decision to buy up to 10 GlobalEyes for NATO comes after Sweden, France, and Canada all selected the platform, and amid a flurry of new orders for military equipment as part of a wider alliance defense spending drive.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said today that NATO will begin formal negotiations with Saab regarding the acquisition of the GlobalEye. The system will combine Saab’s Erieye Extended Range radar, other sensors, and a command and control (C2) system on a Canadian-made Bombardier Global 6500 bizjet airframe. At this point, Saab has not signed a contract or received an order.
“We are honored and proud to support NATO in its next-generation AEW&C capability,” said Micael Johansson, president and CEO of Saab. “We are confident that GlobalEye is the right choice for the alliance, delivering proven capability, adaptability and long-term operational advantage. Today’s announcement clearly positions GlobalEye as the world-leading solution for advanced airborne early warning and control. We look forward to the next steps in the negotiations.”
NATO’s decision to choose GlobalEye is significant for the Alliance, for Sweden and for the transatlantic defence industrial base. It recognises Swedish technology and is a concrete Swedish contribution to NATO’s deterrence, defence and future air surveillance. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/uX9QR7Fuoq
— Pål Jonson (@PlJonson) July 7, 2026
The alliance badly needs a replacement for its fleet of 14 Boeing E-3A Sentry Airborne Warning And Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft that are operated by the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force (NAEW&CF), home-stationed at Geilenkirchen Air Base in Germany.
The GlobalEye’s path to success with NATO has been somewhat circuitous.
Back in 2023, NATO had announced its plan to “take steps toward acquiring” six Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft, the first part of an effort known as Initial Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (iAFSC).
NATO’s original choice of the E-7 took into account price and availability, as well as previous E-7 acquisition programs, namely in Australia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
At that time, NATO determined that the E-7 was “the only known system currently capable of fulfilling the strategic commands’ essential operational requirements and key performance parameters and available for delivery within the timeframe required.”
But last November, the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced that NATO had dropped its plan to buy E-7s, saying that the program had lost its “strategic and financial basis.” The decision was also driven by confusion about the future of the U.S. Air Force’s Wedgetail plans.
At that point, the State Secretary for Defense of the Netherlands, Gijs Tuinman, said that the goal was to have a new AEW&C aircraft operational by 2035, referencing the date that the E-3s will reach the end of their service life.
Last year, Saab said that they would be able to get the GlobalEye into operational service with NATO in 2031.
The Netherlands was one of seven partner members in the AWACS replacement program, alongside Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, and the United States. However, the United States later departed the program.
Dropping the E-7 meant the GlobalEye became the only realistic candidate, as the only other in-production jet-powered Western AEW&C aircraft. The turboprop, carrier-capable Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye is also still being built.
Also in its favor is the fact that the GlobalEye has already been ordered by France to replace its E-3F Sentry fleet, and by Sweden, and has been selected by Canada. Saab has pitched the aircraft to Denmark and Finland, with a view to them potentially jointly operating the type. The company has also confirmed that Germany and Poland have both shown “interest” in the GlobalEye.
Meanwhile, demand for AEW&C aircraft is growing across Europe as the security environment continues to deteriorate. Russia’s ongoing aggression has reinforced the need for persistent wide-area surveillance and airspace control, while a broader range of operational scenarios is also driving renewed interest in airborne early warning capabilities.
Poland is among the latest countries to invest in the capability, taking delivery of two Saab 340 twin-turboprop AEW&C aircraft fitted with Saab’s earlier Erieye radar. Similar aircraft have also been delivered to Ukraine, reflecting the growing importance of these platforms on NATO’s eastern flank.
The appearance of Russian drones inside or close to NATO airspace has only added urgency to the requirement. AEW&C aircraft offer a critical look-down capability that makes them well suited to detecting and tracking low-flying threats, including uncrewed aircraft and cruise missiles, that can be difficult for ground-based radars to spot. At the same time, they provide an airborne picture of activity across the battlespace, monitoring Russian military aircraft while also keeping watch over potentially hostile movements on the ground and at sea.
Saab notes that the GlobalEye is particularly capable at identifying low-observable and stealthy threats, as well as drones, ballistic and hypersonic missiles, even in complex environments characterized by heavy clutter and electronic jamming.
GlobalEye walk-around tour with Saab
Unclear at this stage is what will happen with NATO’s previous plans to field a crewed AEW&C aircraft as part of an integrated network of sensors, also including drones, and other aircraft types that can operate in a surveillance-gathering capacity, and space-based systems.
This reflected U.S. Air Force thinking, in which the E-7 has been viewed more as a solution to bridge the gap between the retirement of its own aging E-3s and a future space-based radar capability and other classified systems. Much of this has been driven by concerns about the survivability of traditional AEW&C platforms in more contested airspace.
For NATO nations in Europe, switching from the E-7 to the GlobalEye also reinforces the importance of investing in the continent’s own defense industry. Increasingly, officials in Europe are looking to local manufacturers to meet their defense needs, part of a wider effort to reduce their traditional reliance on the United States, which is seen as a less reliable strategic partner under the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, and in response to the deteriorating security situation facing Europe, the NATO Summit that kicked off today has seen a flurry of big-ticket acquisition programs announced. Here, however, the U.S. defense industry was well represented.
Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Norway today announced they would acquire up to five Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) drones. These will enhance NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) fleet that operates from Sigonella Air Base in Italy and currently flies five Q-4-series drones under the name RQ-4D Phoenix. As well as operating in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, NATO noted that these drones will also fly in the increasingly strategic Arctic and the High North regions.
“Our collaboration with NATO and the U.S. Navy strengthens the alliance’s ground and maritime surveillance capabilities, said Jane Bishop, vice president and GM of Northrop Grumman’s Global Surveillance segment. “Like Phoenix, Triton conducts ISR at higher altitude and with longer endurance than medium-altitude systems, and is poised to provide NATO new levels of capability and operational flexibility to monitor and protect maritime interests from the Mediterranean to the High North.”
Unclear is whether the NATO Triton variant will be significantly different from the U.S. Navy’s, which focuses on broad-area maritime surveillance and can also conduct signals intelligence (SIGINT) work.
Other maritime patrol procurement includes an initial two P-8A Poseidon aircraft for Denmark. These will also be of particular value in the Arctic and the High North, as well as in the context of Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said should be under U.S. control. Denmark joining the P-8 community also offers the potential for close cooperation in anti-submarine warfare with Canada, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom, all of which are Poseidon customers.
“With maritime patrol aircraft, Denmark’s ability to enforce sovereignty and monitor the region is significantly strengthened,” Danish Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the NATO Summit today also saw Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom launch a program to establish a Multinational Fleet operating the Airbus A400M airlifter.
The multinational air transport initiative builds on the model of the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF), which operates a ‘pooling and sharing’ arrangement with Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft on behalf of NATO.
The new A400M Multinational Fleet will address strategic airlift capability gaps among European allies, many of which lack a transport aircraft in the A400M class.
Alongside the A400M agreement, NATO announced the incorporation of Finland as a new member of the Multinational MRTT Fleet, which already included the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Denmark. Nine A330 MRTTs are now in service from a total order of 12 for the MMF.
In terms of missiles, Europe still remains heavily reliant upon the United States, but efforts are being made to at least shift more production and sustainment capabilities to the continent.
With that in mind, today saw Lockheed Martin announce two initiatives to strengthen NATO’s missile industrial base by addressing both new production capacity (ATACMS) and lifecycle sustainment (PAC-3), two weapons systems that are also fundamental to Ukraine’s warfighting potential, and in constant demand from Kyiv.
For the ATACMS, Lockheed Martin has signed a memorandum of understanding covering local production of the munitions in Europe, leveraging Rheinmetall’s manufacturing capabilities.
Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin will work with Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden to explore a dedicated PAC-3 missile maintenance facility in Europe. The proposed facility will support NATO allies operating PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) and PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative (CRI) interceptors.
Deputy Prime Minister W. @KosiniakKamysz: We have signed an agreement with the 🇺🇸🇩🇪🇳🇱🇸🇪 regarding the creation of a service centre of PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot system. This will greatly enhance potential and speed up the production and service of these missiles. pic.twitter.com/WwE7BNivE5
— Poland MOD 🇵🇱 (@Poland_MOD) July 7, 2026
While the GlobalEye deal still has to be negotiated and finalized, today’s announcement effectively cements the type as NATO’s next airborne early warning platform. It also marks another major victory for Saab in the increasingly competitive AEW&C market, while underscoring a broader shift toward European-developed defense capabilities as the alliance races to modernize in response to the rapidly evolving security environment.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Dan admits he hides some unpleasant realities from his kids(Image: Darren Gerrish, Darren Gerrish/WireImage for 5/Paramountvia Getty Images)
Historian and documentary-maker Dan Snow has highlighted the challenges faced by many parents as he revealed the difficulties of raising children in a deeply troubled world. In a new interview, he has revealed how he does his utmost to protect his children from the “grotesque” reality of threats such as climate change and nuclear war.
Dan, whose parents were both television journalists and who has countless family ties to the intertwined worlds of news and politics, has confessed that he routinely “lies” to his three children about what lies ahead.
“The biggest, most depressing lie I’ve told my children,” he tells The Times, “is that the world is well-run and the risk of nuclear war and climate change is being dealt with by experts.”
Yet in reality, the celebrated TV historian says, we are all “on a highway to catastrophic civilisational collapse,” while he does his best to reassure his son and two daughters that the adults have everything firmly in hand.
He admits: “The kids look at me and go, ‘Is everything OK? This is all fine, right?’ and I say, ‘Yes.'”
As Christopher Nolan’s epic retelling of Homer’s Odyssey hits cinemas, Dan is retracing the journey of Odysseus’s return from the siege of Troy in a two-part documentary series streaming on his History Hit platform this month before airing on Channel 5 this Thursday, July 16.
While his journalist parents were always fixated on the latest breaking news, Dan says he was far more drawn to “the substructural factors, the longer history behind those moments.”
This passion led him to produce a string of acclaimed historical documentaries, spanning everything from the Battle of El Alamein to China’s Terracotta Army. His family’s most significant historical legacy is, without doubt, his great-great-grandfather David Lloyd George, the only Welshman ever to serve as Prime Minister.
Lloyd George is renowned both for steering the nation through the First World War and for a private life that was dogged by scandal.
Dan reveals he became captivated by his celebrated relative’s story: “I found it inspiring that he was raised by his uncle, a cobbler, and got into grammar school; then university, then politics. He was the first and only Welsh-speaking prime minister, the first from a working-class background,” he says.
Yet there’s no profound emotional bond, he adds: “He was a serial philanderer and ultimately disappeared off down to Surrey with his second wife, so my side of the family are the ones who got left behind.”
Dan has, naturally, produced a documentary film in which he delves into the turbulent, ambition-fuelled life of his great-great-grandfather.
It charts how the PM built his reputation as a groundbreaking social reformer and the “man who won the war”.
He argues that Lloyd George was “the first man in history to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom without money, without connections, without royal blood in his veins or whatever else. He was the first of a new kind of politician.
“What’s weird,” Dan adds, “is that it didn’t happen after Britain’s period of imperial rule and dominance. It happened right in the middle of it.
“At the absolute moment of greatest influence and power over the world, you had a man in charge of Britain who had risen from a humble background.”
Published on
TSMC said on Monday that June revenue rose 67.9% year on year to NT$398.27 billion (€10.8bn), bringing the first-half of the year revenue to NT$2.4 trillion (€65.4bn), a 35.6% increase from the same period in 2025.
Based on the company’s monthly revenue disclosures, second-quarter revenue amounted to roughly NT$1.27 trillion, ahead of the NT$1.264 trillion (€34.4bn) consensus forecast from 20 analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Monday’s release covers June revenue and cumulative first-half sales only.
TSMC will publish its full second-quarter earnings on Thursday, including net profit, gross margin, operating margin and updated financial guidance.
At its April earnings presentation, TSMC said it expects full-year 2026 revenue to grow by more than 30% in US dollar terms and projected capital expenditure of between $52 billion (€45.5bn) and $56 billion (€49bn) as it expands manufacturing capacity to meet AI-driven demand.
New fabrication plants are under construction or in preparation in Arizona, Japan and Germany, reflecting both the scale of customer demand and government efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Shares in TSMC rose about 1% following Monday’s revenue update.
Investors will now turn their attention to Thursday’s full earnings report for updates on profitability, margins, full-year guidance and the rollout of the company’s two-nanometre manufacturing technology, which is already attracting strong customer interest.
The company sits at the centre of one of the largest investment cycles in the semiconductor industry’s history.
Many of the world’s leading AI processors, including Nvidia’s GPUs and much of the custom AI silicon designed by Amazon, Google and Microsoft, are manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan.
At the company’s April earnings presentation, CEO Che-Chia Wei described AI demand as “extremely robust”, driven by the shift from chatbots that answer questions to agentic AI systems capable of taking actions.
That transition requires significantly greater computing power, increasing demand for the advanced chips TSMC manufactures.
Advanced technologies, defined as chips produced using process technologies of seven nanometres or smaller, accounted for 74% of wafer revenue in the first quarter.
TSMC’s three-nanometre technology alone contributed 25% of wafer revenue.
Reports have indicated that Nvidia has reserved roughly 60% of TSMC’s advanced chip-packaging capacity for 2026, highlighting continued supply constraints across the AI semiconductor market.
SACRAMENTO — Recent news about literacy, education and general smarts in California and across the country has been somewhat distressing.
Along with claims that Americans are becoming illiterate, here in the Golden State there are worries that even the highest-achieving students aren’t prepared for our universities, and a study shows backsliding in civil rights protections in the vacuum created by federal changes under the Trump administration.
Despite being close to terming out of office, and also otherwise occupied with his ever-emerging presidential run, Gov. Gavin Newsom last week found time to announce a consequential, if controversial, move that has the potential to vastly improve educational outcomes for California kids: switching out an independent, voter-chosen leader for a hired gun.
In legislation signed last week, Newsom basically eviscerated the role of the elected superintendent of public instruction and instead shifted oversight of our K-12 schools to a newly created education commissioner — to be appointed by the governor.
The change, set to happen early next year, has been described as a “power grab” by some, and on its surface could be seen that way. The conservative candidate for state superintendent — Sonja Shaw, who says she is running to stop “political ideologies being shoved down everybody’s throats” — quickly claimed Newsom’s move was all about stopping her.
In reality, power grab or not, it’s the kind of reform we should all support — a long-overdue push to create accountability in a hot-mess system where there are too many people almost-sorta in charge of too many conflicting priorities.
It’s to Newsom’s credit that he’s setting up his successor to helm a system that at least has a chance at coherence, even if it raises the stakes for the next governor to deliver.
For years — decades, really — streamlining the governing structure of schools “has been proposed by Republicans and Democrats and bipartisan and nonpartisan commissions,” Linda Darling-Hammond told me. She’s a professor emeritus at Stanford University, an advisor to the governor and, by any measure, one of the preeminent education policy experts in the country.
“It’s not at all political. It is really about making the system run well,” she said. “The world is changing, the economy is changing. There’s just a need to be very efficient and effective in making policy and then implementing that policy.”
“Run well” is the key there. California operates the biggest and most diverse school system in the country. We’ve got roughly 10,000 regular schools (depending on how you count), including about 1,200 charter schools, around 1,00 school districts and 58 counties, each with their own slice of local control over those schools, according to the Department of Education.
That’s about 5.7 million students, nearly 300,000 teachers and $150 billion in costs (counting the new funding in the next budget).
To be kind, this system does not always run well. That’s in no small part because oversight and control are fragmented, overlapping and confusing. Currently, the State Board of Education sets policies, but the elected superintendent implements them through the Department of Education. Then control runs downhill to individual school districts, filtering through local school boards and even principals.
The board can’t control how the superintendent does their job, and vice versa. In fact, they don’t always agree, despite (or because of) the shotgun wedding nature of their relationship. At times, it can feel like they are working against each other. Never mind the complexities of local control.
This has been especially true in recent years as Newsom and the Legislature have pushed through big changes, such as the new prekindergarten grade, that have required massive coordination and effort. At the local level, administrators often complain there is little clarity on what is expected of them and, too often, outright conflict.
“The idea of having policy in one place and implementation in the other is really crazy,” Michael Kirst told me. He’s professor emeritus of education at Stanford and the longest-serving president of California’s State Board of Education, serving under both of Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial stints.
Newsom’s proposed system promises “much clearer, cleaner accountability,” Kirst said.
It also has the benefit of putting an actual education expert in charge of schools. Because the superintendent role is elected, it has too often been coveted by career politicians looking for a landing spot. Its incumbent, Tony Thurmond, had a background in social work before running for various offices, but that kind of experience isn’t always the case. Neither is experience running a major organization with thousands of employees.
While Newsom’s plan leaves many, if not most, of the details to be ironed out later (a frustrating strategy he’s used more than once to keep the ball rolling on policy without having the drag of actual detail), it does promise to put in someone with the kind of high-level educational policy experience that should be required when managing this vast and important endeavor.
Kirst points out that this will be a “powerful position” charged with making sure our schools are indeed run well, and at the end of the day, it gives us one person to blame if they don’t: the governor.
So if schools don’t improve and our kids don’t learn, voters will know exactly who failed.
George Skelton and Michael Wilner cover the insights, legislation, players and politics you need to know. In your inbox Monday and Thursday mornings.
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The must-read: Trump ousts members of bipartisan election commission ahead of midterms
The California edge: The Work of Helping A.I. Destroy Work
The L.A. Times Special: In bed 23 at Adelanto ICE detention center, a terrified teenager missed his mom
Stay Golden,
Anita Chabria
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YOU don’t need to empty your pockets to visit big-name theme parks and resorts this summer.
Especially not when these major UK attractions are offering free extra return tickets and 89p admission for kids.
We’ve rounded up the very best offers at popular resorts like Alton Towers, Chessington, Legoland and Butlin’s that you can book this school summer holidays.
From half-price entry offers to kids tickets for less than £1, here are the ultimate theme park bargains for summer 2026.
Legoland are running a summer promotion that lets you unlock an extra day of theme park fun for the price of a single ticket.
There is an absolute mountain of things to do at this resort to keep both little ones thrill-seekers happy all day long.
Read more on family days out
Tackle the park’s 55 rides and live shows, marvel at the Lego models in Miniland, or let the kids’ imaginations run wild in the brick-building zones.
While trying to cram the entire resort into a single day can feel like a mad rush, knowing you can return means you can relax and take in the park at your own pace.
The best part about this offer is that the free ticket you unlock doesn’t have to be used only at Legoland.
You can also redeem your free ticket for a trip to Chessington World of Adventures, Alton Towers or Thorpe Park instead.
Save a massive 48% off a trip to a Gulliver’s Theme Park this summer at any of their four theme parks: Milton Keynes, Rother Valley, Matlock Bath, or Warrington.
With this Wowcher deal families can bag a ticket for £12.50 each, nearly halving the cost of buying a ticket direct for £25.
Whether you want to conquer the dizzying Gyrosaur, board the Rocky Ridge Railway, or meet live animals at the farm park, there’s plenty to do across all locations.
Throw in completely free parking and free entry for toddlers under 90cm, and you’ve got an affordable school holiday treat for the family.
Alton Towers is slashing the cost of a visit this school summer holidays with two theme park visits for the price of one.
The sprawling theme park is packed with world-class, white-knuckle rollercoasters for adrenaline junkies, alongside family-friendly rides like the new Bluey kids coaster.
There’s also exciting events this summer, such as the Minecraft Meet the Mobs from July 18 – August 28 plus the Bluey live experience with meet and greet, running throughout the summer.
To get the offer, make sure to claim the deal before July 27 and save your ticket and barcode from your first visit. Then you can claim yourself another visit to Alton Towers, or a free trip to Legoland, Chessington or Thorpe Park.
Families heading to North Yorkshire this summer can slash up to 50% off their day out at Flamingo Land Resort thanks to a Wowcher deal.
Here you’ll find hair-raising rollercoasters like the 10-inversion Sik Coaster and the lightning-fast Velocity motorbike ride, which launches from 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds.
Smaller thrill-seekers in tow can explore the Peter Rabbit Adventure, brave the river rapids, or take a quick break from the rides to stroll the zoo.
Tickets can be used on any date until November and start at £29pp, plus there are extra discounts available if you purchase multiple tickets. For example, if you book for a group of six you will save an extra £18 on top of the deal, while groups of four can save an extra £19.
Score two visits for the price of one on your next trip to Chessington World of Adventures.
Visitors can test their nerve by hurtling backwards on the terrifying Mandrill Mayhem in the World of Jumanji, or fly through the treetops on the popular Vampire coaster.
You could even tick off the World of Paw Patrol, a colourful themed land new for 2026 with gentle rides such as Chase’s Mountain Mission.
To claim the deal, buy a ticket online before July 27 to snap up a free return ticket that is valid for visits until September 25. As part of a combined summer promotion, you could also use your tickets at Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, or Legoland Windsor instead.
Kids can bag a day visit to Butlin’s for 85p when visiting with a full-paying adult this summer, plus under 2’s go free.
This means that for one adult and one child, your entire family day out would cost a total of £19.85.
A day pass drops you straight into the action with unlimited turns on the traditional fairground rides and access to massive outdoor play areas.
You can also pack your swimsuits and tackle the flumes and wave pools at the subtropical Splash Waterworld, before catching a live daytime stage show starring the kids’ favourite characters.
Available across their Bognor Regis, Minehead, and Skegness resorts, it’s a ridiculously cheap way to enjoy a fun-filled family day out.
Make sure to get in quick, because this offer is only available until July 16. However, from then, day tickets during the school summer holidays will be discounted by 15%.
*Prices correct at the time of publication. Terms and conditions apply.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals are set to start, with France taking on Spain and defending champion Argentina facing England.
World Cup co-hosts U.S., Canada and Mexico will be watching from the sideline after being eliminated in the round of 16.
Here’s everything you need to know about the two World Cup matches being played Tuesday and Wednesday (all times Pacific).
France star Kylian Mbappe controls the ball during a World Cup quarterfinal win over Morocco on July 9.
(Lars Baron / Getty Images)
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Time: Noon
TV: Fox, Telemundo | Streaming: Fox One, Peacock
The buzz: This game would be far better suited as a final than a semifinal. Both are unbeaten — in fact, Spain is unbeaten in its last 36 games, one shy of the all-time record. For France, a win would put it in the final for a third straight World Cup while Spain is hoping to get back for the first time since 2010, when it won its only title. The teams got here in different ways. Spain has walked a razor’s edge, giving up just a single goal in the tournament and winning its last two games on late goals from substitute Mikel Merino. France has bludgeoned the opposition, scoring 16 goals while conceding just two. Kylian Mbappé has scored eight times and has 20 goals in 20 World Cup games, leaving him one back of Lionel Messi’s all-time record. It seems unjust that one of these teams will finish its World Cup in the third-place game.
England’s (from left to right) Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, and Morgan Rogers celebrate after defeating Norway in the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Time: Noon
TV: Fox, Telemundo | Streaming: Fox One, Peacock
The buzz: Both teams are unbeaten and each survived scares in the quarterfinals, with England outlasting Norway in extra time in brutal weather in Miami and Argentina beating Switzerland in extra time in Kansas City. Jude Bellingham had a brace in each of England’s last two games to match teammate Harry Kane’s six goals in the tournament. Bellingham is the first player to score at least two goals in consecutive World Cup knockout matches since Diego Maradona in 1986. Argentina, the reigning champion, is unbeaten in its last 12 World Cup games, but four of its last six knockout-stage games have gone to extra time or penalties. Argentina has gotten eight goals and two assists from Messi in this World Cup.
This photo, taken Monday, shows the trading room of Hana Bank in Seoul as South Korean stocks plunged by nine percent on tech stock losses amid Middle East tensions. Photo by Yonhap
Seoul shares plunged 9 percent Monday as investors dumped technology stocks for profit-taking amid renewed tensions in the Middle East. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 669.01 points, or 8.95 percent, to close at 6,806.93 after falling as low as 6,783.43.
Trade volume was moderate at 469.86 million shares worth 39.8 trillion won (US$26.5 billion), with decliners far outnumbering gainers 713 to 179.
Institutions and foreigners sold a net 2.22 trillion won and 1.7 trillion won worth of shares, respectively, while individuals bought a net 3.9 trillion won.
After opening 0.85 percent lower, the KOSPI extended its losses, triggering a circuit breaker that temporarily halted trading of KOSPI-listed stocks for 20 minutes. It marked the seventh activation of the measure this year.
On Friday, U.S. stocks advanced, buoyed by South Korean chipmaker SK hynix’s multibillion-dollar U.S. share offering. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.29 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.29 percent.
SK hynix’s American depositary receipts (ADRs) on the Nasdaq closed at US$168 each, well above the offering price of $149.
Despite the successful U.S. market debut, SK hynix shares tumbled as investors took profits and shifted to the company’s ADRs, analysts said.
Investor sentiment was also dampened by heightened uncertainty in the Middle East after the United States and Iran exchanged fresh strikes over the status of the Strait of Hormuz.
“The country’s newly introduced single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds linked to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix continued to fuel volatility in the stock market,” Samsung Securities said in a research note.
Tech stocks led the decline.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics plunged 10.7 percent to 254,500 won, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix plummeted 15.37 percent to 1,845,000 won.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 2.95 percent to 444,000 won, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace declined 3.21 percent to 936,000 won.
Among gainers, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution rose 0.77 percent, and leading refiner SK Innovation climbed 7.09 percent to 110,200 won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,503.4 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 2 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 4.1 basis points to 3.809 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds climbed 3.3 basis points at 4.041 percent.
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