Month: September 2026

Aryna Sabalenka briefly halted her US Open match against Kamilla Rakhimova because of a strong smell of cannabis before cruising into the fourth round in New York.

Top seed Sabalenka raised the issue after going 3-0 up in the first set against Uzbekistan’s Rakhimova, telling umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that “someone is smoking weed”.

The Belarusian asked the umpire to intervene “because it’s so strong”.

Asderaki-Moore spoke to an official on her radio and made a smoking gesture to someone behind her, before play continued.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka went on to secure a confident 6-3 6-4 victory on Louis Armstrong Stadium as she chases a fifth Grand Slam singles title.

Sabalenka said afterwards she was not sure where the smell of cannabis was coming from but asked fans to be more mindful.

Smoking is not permitted on site at Flushing Meadows but the smell of cannabis sometimes wafts on to court from the nearby Corona Park.

It is legal to smoke it in New York for adults aged 21 and over.

“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best,” Sabalenka said.

“I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium.

“I just hope they’re gonna be a bit more aware of that stuff.”

Sabalenka is not the first player at this year’s US Open to complain about the smell of cannabis at Flushing Meadows.

Britain’s Katie Boulter previously said it was distracting, while Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones also noticed the smell.

In past years players including Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have also complained.

Victory marked Sabalenka’s 16th straight win at Flushing Meadows as she bids to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2012-2014 to complete a hat-trick of US Open singles titles.

The 28-year-old showcased her trademark power from the start against Rakhimova, dropping just four points on serve in a confident opening set.

Although Rakhimova fought well in the second set, Sabalenka secured the crucial break to go 5-4 up before safely serving out victory.

Sabalenka served 10 aces to Rakhimova’s two and did not face a single break point.

She will face either American Taylor Townsend or Russian 15th seed Diana Shnaider – who beat her in the French Open quarter-finals in June – next.

Germany, Austria, ⁠Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands did not outline where the centres would be located.

Five European nations have agreed on concrete steps towards a deal with an unspecified non-European Union country to host migrant return facilities, senior officials said, in a sign of mounting determination to counter immigration.

Germany, Austria, ⁠Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands, known as the Group of Five, aim to sign deals this year to send migrants without legal residency to countries outside the European Union. The nations expected to host return centres have not been named.

“Around New Year, we expect to have a common understanding with a partner country outside of the European Union,” Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bodskov told reporters on Friday at a news conference in Copenhagen, without elaborating.

“It’s a new chance to have a life in a partner country,” he said, adding ‌that the five nations would be in dialogue with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on their next steps.

A spokesperson for UNHCR said the agency had not been approached with ‌details ‌of the proposal and therefore could not comment.

The Group of Five is set to reconvene in Munich, Germany, at the end of September to advance the plan.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed that the group wants “to reach an agreement with ‌third countries this year that will enable the establishment of return hubs”.

The European Parliament in June approved an overhaul of migration policy aimed at speeding up deportations and allowing member states to set up centres abroad, in what some critics of the policy say could weaken safeguards for asylum seekers.

The Council of ⁠Europe, a non-EU body that promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of ⁠law, said in July that the proposed return hubs posed “considerable human rights risks”.

Danish Refugee Council Secretary-General Charlotte Slente said a better policy would be to implement the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which focuses ⁠on stricter border screening, faster return procedures and expanded digital systems for managing asylum claims.

“Return hubs focus on a small number of returns; they ⁠will not stop people from taking even more dangerous routes, and ⁠they could violate basic human rights,” she said.

It’s the dead of night when the buzz of the engines of a series of Shahed-136 one-way attack drones breaks the silence. Carrying their lethal payloads the drones slip into the darkness with a distant supply base as their target. Tracking, identifying, and then destroying this swarm of drones is no easy task.

The unmanned aircraft system (UAS) threat environment is changing rapidly with an increasing variety of killer drones that demand differing methods of tracking and identification to engage and defeat them. Operational users are learning from rapidly-evolving- conflicts, and modern air defense methods increasingly rely on scalable, layered, and persistent sensing teams that can detect and track small, fast, low-altitude, and even swarming, aerial threats in all kinds of complex situations, on land or at sea.

Ray Bischoff served active-duty with the U.S. Army for nearly 25 years, and he’s now the senior director of business development at Leonardo DRS, specialising in evaluating tactical formations and defensive requirements at all operational levels throughout the Department of War and allied nations. He is particularly focused on emerging threats from drones..

Bischoff spoke at length with TWZ’s Jamie Hunter about the use of tactical radar systems as part of a layered counter-drone system that is sufficiently versatile to tackle the toughest drone problems now, and what may come in the near future.

JH: Can you set the scene with regards to how you see the counter-UAS mission right now from a sensing perspective.

RB: The counter-UAS environment is changing and advancing very quickly. At the top level, we need to employ a variety of sensor systems – in this particular case we’re talking about tactical radars – but there are many other types of sensors, and at the highest end of the threat level it’s about connecting these together into a networked architecture.

Layering different systems in depth is vital, both from a communications architecture perspective and physically layering them in different places to protect different routes or avenues of approach, or sensitive facilities.

Look at the Strait of Hormuz, for instance, which is a vast area, with a layered and networked system to maximize the depth of coverage. The primary reason for this is that the biggest enemy in many situations like these is time. That networked architecture and having sensors in depth really gains you time, which gives you opportunities to make a better decision, time to reposition, to better evaluate. You need time to evaluate what different things in space are doing, where they’re going or where they’re coming from.

JH: When you say layered, are you talking about different systems that can look in different ways over different distances and systems in different positions that help you with that time element? What does layered actually mean?

RB: You can layer different types of sensors. Think of baseball. If all your players are home-run hitters, you probably aren’t going to do very well. You need to have different skills across your team to succeed, and it’s the same thing here. Layering of radar sensing bands, different types of technology such as electro-optic and infra-red that “see” in long, short and midwave, acoustic sensors, electronic warfare sensors to look for signals and other types of energy. It’s also about physically layering them in space, or depth.

We often see large exquisite sensors that have a lot of range and cover a large area. But this makes them susceptible to being targeted and destroyed. Layering sensors gives you redundancy, retaining the ability to defend. So, this is layering both in physical location, and in different types of technology.

This way, if one of your sensors is taken down by any means – for example by electronic countermeasures – your other systems can theoretically continue to operate. Just think how you can see, smell, touch, taste – it’s the same concept with layering different types of technologies, which is exactly what we at Leonardo DRS do and we integrate them so we can interact and share information to maximize the benefits of this layered approach. A team ultimately makes the sensors more effective across networks and architectures.

JH: Presumably you get good indicators on developments from the current operations in Ukraine. You already mentioned the Strait of Hormuz as well. What are the big lessons that you’re getting here about different types and sizes of drones?

RB: Without going into the details of combat operations, the bottom line is you have to advance your technologies at the rate or as close to the rate of the advancement of the weapons systems that are being utilized. We’re seeing a mixture of things when it comes to the UASs; that’s larger craft that are getting faster and can carry heavier payloads, or smaller ones with longer ranges that can move through areas almost undetected. 

There’s been so much investment in UAS technology, and they are becoming cheaper and easier to manufacture. People can 3D-print these things in their houses now. So, looking at this from a sensing perspective, that layering is becoming increasingly important.

We are looking to do things to counter these developments, such as maybe elevate the sensors to “see” across the top of the trees or place a sensor down in a valley – so that adds layering in altitude or elevation to remove blind spots. Just like the military, if you’re setting-up a defensive position, you have to cover what we called “dead space” where you can’t see with eyes or sensors from ground level.

JH: Can we dig further into the role of tactical radars in counter-UAS, specifically Leonardo DRS’ 202 Expeditionary Skid, which I believe is based on your Extended Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar [exMHR].

RB: Radars “see” things that are physically present in space and time, and that’s why they are such great tools in the counter-UAS kit bag of sensors. That said, some radars are affected by weather and other factors, some work better in particular environments.

The 202 Expeditionary Skid is a new system from Leonardo DRS that uses our long-range exMHR, which is a software-defined AESA [Active Electronically Scanned Array] pulse-Doppler radar. It operates in the S-Band and that’s a very reliable band for all weather conditions including strong performance in dust storms and rain. When you get into K, Ku, and X-bands, they typically have smaller beams and therefore greater accuracy, but they suffer in poor weather and can become extremely degraded. S-band radar suffers significantly less degradation in that environment.

The 202 Expeditionary Skid, also known as U-KIT-0091, has a single radar panel that has a search area of 90 degrees by 90 degrees, so we often mount them in groups of four to provide full 360-degree coverage. Each panel has a really fast scan rate, much faster than a traditional spinning radar set. Plus, having multiple radar faces to make up a complete system is much more survivable. They can also overlap their field of regard without impairing each other.

We have sought to provide a solution that marries an appropriate level of range, accuracy, capability, and performance, that can still be very flexible in its ability to relocate or change mission sets. This is designed to be extremely versatile, meaning that it operates in different environments quickly. U-KIT-0091 has been purposefully designed to be mobile in a compact system that can either be used by itself or networked and fused together with other systems. Back to the baseball analogy, this is the kind of guy you really want on your team because you can use them wherever you need them.

The radar or set of radars sit on a small skid system that can slide into the back of a pickup truck, into the back of a tactical vehicle, onto a trailer, you can set it just about anywhere and it occupies a four-by-four-feet position. It has its own power generation, its own positional information that works in denied environments, basically it’s capable of working by itself from the get-go. The best part is that it’s truly mobile – the operator doesn’t have to stop the vehicle to make it work. You can turn it on and set-off. It’s working. If you come to a stop, it’s still working. It can be mounted on a ship, it can be taken airborne by an aircraft, so it’s got land, sea, and air applications. We’ve installed these on all types of ground platforms, water-based platforms, on top of a building or some sort of structure and it’s already in service, but I can’t specify where. It tracks drones very well, but of course it can track just about anything that can exist in that space.

JH: So you could strategically locate several of your radars to look in different directions or be positioned to look in a certain direction if you knew the expected paths that the threats would use?

RB: The system is designed exactly for things like that. Instead of putting all of your eggs in one basket, you disperse your eggs, and focus on different avenues or approach angles so that you can then have sensors strategically located where they can pick up these things and then as long as they’re networked back into weapons systems that have the overlapping fields of fire or bubbles – coverage areas – then you can protect your area. 

Any time you can decouple a sensor from a weapon system or multiple types of sensors from each other, you stand a far greater chance of survivability and optimizing accuracy. If you put all your eggs in one basket, and if you lose that basket, you lose everything. In addition, if you separate sensors, you gain accuracy because you have different angles and you can leverage simple geometry.

JH: Could you depict what an end-to-end engagement might look like using your tactical radar.

RB: The radar sensors will typically be emitting energy as they search for objects in a particular space. If something is detected and determined to be a valid target then the data is sent from the radar to some type of a command and control system, which may well be receiving information from other complementary sensors too. It then fuses that data and passes it to an effector, whether that’s a non-kinetic or a kinetic system, for engagement.

Meanwhile, the radar continues to track and it can determine whether that object was removed or if its path changed, and so on and so forth. But you know, a lot of these radars operate in a way whereby they can be turned on or off by different sensors to avoid them having to constantly transmit energy, they’re very customizable to meet the requirements and the emissions that are needed, whether that’s air defense, counter-drone, etc.

They can operate independently too, maybe covering a small area that needs to be protected, and integrated with a localized weapon system, or, as I already explained, they can be networked into a much larger set-up, they are modular, open system architecture and easily incorporated.

Most customers tend to choose their own command and control systems, which is why the plug-and-play part of our system is so important. It really doesn’t matter what they want to partner it with, what we provide enables that very easily.

JH: To be clear, your tactical radars could be deployed to defend the entire eastern seaboard of the U.S., they could be positioned to defend an air base, or they could be used to defend a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

RB: The architecture can scale geographically through a distributed, networked sensor approach. The specific coverage area depends on factors including sensor density, the threat environment, command-and-control integration, and the available effectors.

Customers can deploy multiple radars and feed them into a single command-and-control system, positioning sensors to optimize coverage for the operational need. For example, one radar set could cover a valley vulnerable to low-flying drone ingress, while another positioned on higher ground provides longer-range surveillance. The key is a modular capability that enables users to tailor coverage and layer sensors where they are most needed – without relying on one large radar system to see everything from a single location.

JH: I’m keen to know what you consider to be the most challenging drones to detect and track. Is the challenge the speed they’re traveling out at, maybe new low observable designs, or the fact they’re flying very low. What are the big issues you’re seeing?

RB: It’s really all of the above. The other really challenging problem is when something is flying very low to the ground. The lower they bring them in altitude, they are harder to track as an independent target.

The challenge with drone swarms isn’t detection – if you can see the drones, you can track them. The harder problem is managing those tracks, deciding which threats matter most, and assigning the right effector to each one.

If 100 drones are inbound, it’s not just about having 100 weapons available. It’s about coordinating a fast, cost-effective response across a large number of simultaneous threats.

Ultimately, pairing radars and electro-optical/infrared sensors together is the way to go, because each of those have their own strengths. One of those sensors is going to see the drone better than the other, plus you have the redundancy that at least a couple of them will “see” the threat and give you enough information in sufficient time to prosecute it. Fitting into that team, however it is constructed, is exactly how we position our 202 Expeditionary Skid U-KIT-0091 radar.

Contact the write: Jamie.Hunter@teamrecurrent.io

ITV bosses have wiped “uncomfortable” footage of Miriam Margolyes from the edition of This Morning that appears on its ITVX service.

Miriam Margolyes has been met with a wave of fury after using a highly offensive term to describe Andi Peters’ skin colour during an ‘uncomfortable’ appearance on This Morning.

Viewers have branded the 85-year-old ‘disgraceful’ following her interview on the ITV show and bosses have scrubbed the remarks from the ITVX footage.

In the interview to promote her book, which aired on Thursday’s episode, she began dissecting Christine Lampard’s Northern Irish accent before turning her attention to her co-host.

“What accent would be normal for you? What are you?,” she asked the 56-year-old, leaving him baffled. The presenter responded: ”This is normal. What am I? I’m me!”

“You’re a mix, aren’t you? You’ve got a Black daddy and a white mummy,” she said. He explained that both of his parents are Black, jokingly questioning whether his make-up artist had used a “lighter shade than normal”.

“I think you’re high yella. That’s what they call it in America when someone isn’t deeply black,” she continued, with Andi quipping that he “didn’t even know there were shades”.

The presenter then pointed to his earpiece and revealed that bosses were intervening, explaining that they were “getting nervous”.

“There are shades and this is what we have to incorporate,” the Harry Potter actress added. “Don’t be nervous, we welcome everybody. That’s what I want to write about in my book, it’s about inclusion.”

The Merriam-Webster US dictionary defines the term – sometimes spelt high yaller – as a dated and often offensive piece of slang used to describe a black person with a light complexion.

ITV bosses have yet to issue a statement over the segment but the offensive footage has been removed from the episode on ITVX. However, the rest of her interview still remains.

Viewers were left reeling over the segment and quickly rushed to social media with one saying the term was “super racist” and many calling for further action to be taken.

One person wrote on social media: “That Miriam Margoyles clip is just about the cringiest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like a scene out of The Office.” Another agreed: “I do not accept that it’s just her age or character. She uses words and phrases that are totally unacceptable. I hope #thismorning never brings her back on the show.”

One posted: “That Miriam Margolyes interview is the most uncomfortable thing to sit through what the hell was she thinking.”

Another said: “Just watched @thismorning interview from this morning Miriam Margolyes is disgrace what she said about Andi Peters is way out of line she should be banned from @ITV @SkyNews @BBCTheOneShow she was way out of order.” They added: “@andipeters i am standing with you [sic].”

The Mirror has approached ITV, This Morning, Andi and Miriam for a comment.

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WASHINGTON — President Clinton was forced to retreat Monday in the face of Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole’s angry accusation that the White House had told “a $23-million lie” about a project in his state.

The White House said that Clinton “regrets” any misunderstandings caused by “hyperbole” in a barbed joke the President told that brought the house down Saturday at an annual black-tie dinner hosted by White House correspondents.

Clinton had said that the Republican lawmaker from Kansas was seeking $23 million from the federal government to convert a senior citizens’ center into a boathouse, at the same time that he was assailing Clinton for wasteful “pork barrel” spending.

Dole, who led the Republican battle that scuttled Clinton’s economic stimulus package, first challenged the accuracy of the statement in a television interview show Sunday but he seemed confused about the details. Monday, he flatly denied the claim and issued a belated blast.

“The White House lied,” Dole said, carefully avoiding a direct attack on the President himself. “There’s no $23-million boathouse, no deficit spending, no new money, no connection with the President’s deadbeat ‘stimulus’ bill and no truth coming from a White House staff that is ill-serving the President with these sophomoric attacks.”

Dole said that he had sought a federal waiver to clear the way for privately funded construction of a public boathouse in Wichita.

“If the White House wants to play hardball, I’m ready to suit up,” Dole concluded, sending an ominous signal that the issue could spill over into future relations with Senate Republicans.

George Stephanopoulos, the White House communications director, issued a statement late Monday afternoon.

“The President regrets the misunderstanding that may have been caused by any hyperbole in his jokes at Saturday’s White House dinner,” he said.

“While Sen. Dole did make the case that the Wichita boathouse is a legitimate Community Development Block Grant project, the potential cost to the taxpayer is not as high as stated in the President’s joke,” the statement concluded.

While the war of words may be forgotten, the harshly worded statement by Dole signaled that the lack of harmony between the Senate GOP leader and the Clinton White House could affect the future of the President’s programs in Congress.

Dole is in a key position as commander of 43 Republicans and as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, where the defection from party ranks of a single Democratic senator could block Clinton’s proposed tax increases.

As Dole described the situation, Wichita received $500,000 from the federal government’s Community Development Block Grant program in 1980 to help the city buy a building for use as a senior citizen center.

The center, however, moved to a larger facility in 1992, and the building along the Arkansas River has been standing vacant since then.

Wichita officials, Dole continued, wanted to lease the building to a charitable foundation that intends to use private funds to transform it into a boathouse. To change the use of the building, however, the city was required to seek a waiver from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Dole and Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.), who represents the area in the House, supported the city’s request for a waiver in letters to a HUD regional official. HUD had planned to tear the building down.

The Wichita Eagle Monday quoted an official of the charity, the Arkansas River Foundation, as saying that the boathouse project would cost $850,000 and the funds would come from donations and not the federal government.

“The White House really missed the boat on this one,” Dole said.

Cathy Engelbert will retire as WNBA commissioner at the end of the year, ending a tenure of seven-plus years that saw both tremendous growth and some turmoil for the league.

“In 2019, I had the privilege of being appointed the league’s first commissioner and to lead a league with enormous potential yet untapped awareness and significant undervaluation,” Engelbert said in a statement released by the WNBA. “Over the years, it has been amazing to watch WNBA players thrive and lead the massive cultural surge around women’s sports.”

Engelbert, 61, told the Associated Press that she has been considering retirement for months and wasn’t pressured into making the decision by NBA or WNBA stakeholders. She added that she will help with finding the next commissioner and with the transition period that follows.

“We’ll run a real succession process in the remaining four months,” Engelbert told AP. “If we don’t find someone, I’ll stay on.”

During Engelbert’s tenure, the WNBA has experienced record TV ratings and robust attendance, with a lucrative media rights deal being finalized this year and plans in place for expansion to 18 teams by 2030. An influx of talented and popular young players — including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers — helped along those lines.

Engelbert also helped the league and its players’ union agree on a new collective bargaining agreement this spring, resulting in the first million-dollar salaries for WNBA players.

Still, the negotiations leading up to the CBA were strained at times. Other issues surrounding the league — including player safety, the eligibility of transgender players, and the inconsistency of on-court officials — have caused some to question Engelbert’s leadership ability.

“Cathy has presided over the WNBA through the most significant period of growth in the league’s 30-year history,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in the WNBA’s news release. “We are grateful for Cathy’s leadership and unwavering commitment to the advancement of women’s basketball.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sept. 4 (UPI) — The U.S. Embassy in Havana issued a health alert Friday over a significant increase in diarrheal illnesses across Cuba, linking the rise to the continued deterioration of the island’s water and energy infrastructure.

The embassy said unreliable electricity and water supplies are affecting general hygiene as well as food refrigeration, storage and temperature control, accelerating spoilage.

Recent cases have shown a significant increase in pathogens including E. coli, norovirus and Shigella, as well as other gastrointestinal pathogens that can cause vomiting, fever and severe dehydration.

The embassy advised travelers and U.S. citizens in Cuba to take extra hygiene precautions and exercise caution with dairy products, meat, seafood, eggs and other perishable foods if they are uncertain about how the products were stored.

It also recommended avoiding tap water and considering bringing a personal supply of basic medications, including acetaminophen, ibuprofen, antibiotics and oral rehydration solutions, “given local medication shortages.”

The latest alert follows earlier reports of gastrointestinal illnesses on the island. In July, Periódico Cubano reported an increase in people experiencing vomiting and diarrhea in several parts of Havana as residents complained of water supply problems, garbage accumulation and prolonged power outages.

The health warning came days after the embassy issued a security alert Wednesday over a notable increase in thefts and vehicle-related crimes in Havana.

Incidents included items taken from vehicles, including parts such as side mirrors and windshield wipers, and attempts to steal entire vehicles amid worsening economic conditions and rising crime, Martí Noticias reported.

Ukrainian crews operating Australian-supplied M1A1 Abrams tanks say the battlefield has become so saturated with Russian drones that their tanks cannot currently be used in combat, but they reject the idea that main battle tanks have become forever obsolete.

Since receiving these tanks last year, the crews, serving with Ukraine’s 425th Separate Assault Regiment “Skala,” have used the Abrams in two combat operations in the fight for Pokrovsk, a key Ukrainian logistics hub and part of a defensive belt of towns in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. They recounted their experiences to Hromadske, an independent media channel in Ukraine.

Чому «Скеля» їхала на Abrams у Покровськ / hromadske

Fighting around Pokrovsk

The first major deployment described by the crews took place in December of last year, when Abrams tanks were used to support assault groups entering Pokrovsk.

The crewmember with the callsign Kent described moving into the city behind a mine-clearing tank and ahead of two infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) carrying assault troops, during a mission that was deliberately aggressive.

“Since a tank is a priority target — my task was to draw their attention, while our infantry dismounted and moved in successfully.”

The Abrams was also assigned three target points to engage along the route.

“We went right in there, poured it on, and drove back out,” he recalled.

A video showing the 425th Separate Assault Regiment in action in August 2025, soon after receiving the Abrams:

Танки Abrams в 425 ОШП “Скала” [Серпень 2025]

The second operation, on March 31, involved an attempt to enter and hold an industrial area near Pokrovsk to help block Russian movement toward Hryshyne, a contested village in the district.

The operation was prepared for more than two weeks. Ukrainian forces conducted reconnaissance flights, examined difficult sections of the planned routes, and provided crews with extensive video and imagery.

“They knew every meter of the route,” another of the unit’s commanders, with the callsign Kubik, said.

Weather was considered essential. The Ukrainians waited for fog and rain, hoping to limit the effectiveness of Russian drones.

“Without the right weather we wouldn’t have been able to pull off operations like that,” Kubik said.

The operation nevertheless resulted in the destruction of four out of five armored vehicles, some of which are seen in the video embedded below.

The commander acknowledged that the Russian side may have had advance knowledge of the operation.

“I can’t rule out the possibility that the enemy knew our plan,” he said.

His Abrams was not immediately destroyed. According to the crew, it completed its task and the assault troops dismounted before the weather changed.

“Once the fog lifted, they started working on it with an FPV drone,” the commander said.

Why use tanks at all?

The losses prompted criticism from Ukrainian military commentators, particularly after footage of the destroyed vehicles was published.

However, the crews defend the decision to use armored vehicles for the missions. According to the men of the Skala interviewed, the alternative was often to send infantry over several miles on foot while carrying weapons, ammunition, water, and other supplies.

“That takes more time,” Kubik explained. “And the enemy isn’t standing still — the enemy is moving toward them.”

The argument that infantry could simply move more stealthily on foot also has limitations.

“Every day the Mavic drones are flying, the fixed-wing drones are flying,” he said. “No fog, guys are visible.”

Combined witu IFVs, the Abrams can provide the ability to rapidly move troops while simultaneously delivering heavy direct fire against enemy positions and offering substantial protection to its crew.

The crews argue that this capability remains worthwhile even when the tank itself may eventually be lost.

One commander was asked whether deploying a roughly $5-million tank makes sense if a single sortie can result in its destruction.

“Yes, of course it makes sense to deploy it,” he replied.

“First and foremost — it saves the lives of the crew inside it.”

A tank under attack by drones

The Ukrainian crews repeatedly highlighted the Abrams’ accuracy and survivability.

“What are the biggest advantages of the Abrams?”, Kent was asked.

“Accuracy.”

Its biggest disadvantage, he said, is equally obvious on a modern battlefield: “It’s very tall — and very large — so it’s hard to conceal.”

A video showing a U.S.-supplied Abrams under attack from Russian FPV drones:

Kent described surviving an engagement in which his tank was struck repeatedly while on the move.

“More than 20 drones hit me,” he said of one operation into Pokrovsk.

He attributed the Abrams’ survival to the combination of its armor and additional anti-drone protection fitted to the vehicle.

“All of it together is effective,” he said.

He pointed to fairly basic modifications including rubber strips and a foldable wire cage mounted on the turret, as additional layers of protection against drone attacks.

“A drone doesn’t hit the actual penetrating element directly — it just can’t reach it,” he explained. “It hits the rubber, and then the blast wave travels from there.”

Even with their tanks festooned with explosive reactive armor (ERA) bricks, the crews acknowledge that such protection has limits.

Kent also noted that the Abrams was still missing the ‘hedgehog’-type protective coverings that have been seen on Russian tanks.

“They also protect very well. An effective thing,” he said.

For now, the drone threat has led the regiment to keep its Abrams out of combat, as we will return to later.

The Abrams as a machine

The crews’ assessment of the Abrams included praise for its mobility, roomy interior, gun, and fire-control system.

Kubik said he had personally driven an Abrams to 50 miles per hour cross-country.

“The engine is an absolute beast,” he added.

The tank can also rapidly perform a pivot turn, which the crews consider particularly useful when maneuvering in confined spaces. Despite its prodiguous weight, it only rarely becomes bogged down after the kind of very heavy snow-melt that effects all vehicles on the battlefield.

Its disadvantages include its demanding maintenance requirements. The running gear was described as particularly sensitive, with crews inspecting, lubricating, and replacing components after every sortie.

Fuel consumption is another major burden. The crew cited roughly 400 to 700 liters (106 to 185 gallons) per 100 kilometers (62 miles) depending on terrain and operating conditions.

“On asphalt it burns about 400 liters,” one said. In boggy terrain, consumption can reach “700 liters or more.”

The Abrams thirsty gas turbine engine and extreme logistical demands have always been a criticism of the platform.

The crews said the vehicle’s ability to operate on different fuels is useful, although diesel provides the best engine-hour performance in their experience. Prior to delivery, the gas turbine engines of the tanks were reconfigured to use diesel fuel instead of the standard JP-8 aviation kerosene, according to earlier reports.

They also praised the Abrams’ protected ammunition storage and crew space compared with Soviet-designed tanks.

The version operated by the Ukrainians is an M1A1 rather than the latest Abrams configuration, with less sophisticated electronics than newer variants. It also lacks the classified armor found on its U.S. Army counterpart.

“For me — as a tanker — this configuration, what we have right now, is more than enough,” Kubik said. “The sight is absolutely excellent. The gun is also great.”

Waiting for a solution to the drone problem

The interview ultimately presents a more complicated picture than either the declaration that tanks are obsolete on the Ukrainian battlefield.

At the time of writing, at least 25 Abrams have been confirmed visually to have been destroyed, damaged, or abandoned in Ukrainian service. This is from a total of 31 provided by the United States and 49 from Australia.

“For now, we’re not using them further — there’s no way to,” Kubik said. “The enemy has developed their drone component very heavily, and for now we don’t have the means to counter that.”

While tanks remain exceptionally powerful direct-fire and protected mobility platforms, the proliferation of inexpensive uncrewed aircraft has made operating them increasingly difficult.

M1A1 AIM Abrams tanks of the 425th Assault Regiment 🇺🇦.
The reinforced upper glacis and turret roofs are clearly visible. pic.twitter.com/Sn9h8OWZ9P

— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱 🦩🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) June 21, 2026

“If someone had told me, as a tanker, back in 2022: ‘Take this — we’re giving you an Abrams, we’ll give you time to train and you’ll fight in it,’” Kubik said, “I would never have climbed out of it.”

“I’d only be saying: ‘Bring me shells. I’ll drive non-stop wherever needed, arrive and work.’”

As it stands, reconnaissance drones can find the Abrams, FPV drones can attack it, and persistent surveillance makes concealment difficult. Experience has shown that without more effective counter-drone capabilities, even a heavily protected tank can eventually be overwhelmed.

But Kubik believes that will change.

“The day will come when one of our bright minds figures out some excellent solution against drones — and we’ll start using them again.”

Asked whether the era of tanks is over, his answer was unequivocal.

“It’s not over … They’re just waiting it out for now, biding their time. Writing off tanks — in my opinion — is still too early.”

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

An Escape to the Country buyer was left torn between two dream Nottinghamshire homes but there was a huge issue

An Escape to the Country guest was left facing a difficult decision.

The buyer fell in love with two very different properties in Nottinghamshire but was left unable to put an offer in for any of them. During Friday’s (September 4) episode of the popular BBC show, presenter Denise Nurse was tasked with helping Shane with swapping his busy life in Greenwich, south-east London, for a quieter life in the Nottinghamshire countryside.

The former investment banker, who was born in Canada, was joined by his friend Chris, who was on hand to offer a second opinion during the property hunt.

Shane had a hefty budget of £1.1 million and a clear idea of what he was looking for. He wanted a spacious property with a modern interior and at least three bedrooms, as well as a garden big enough for his two dogs.

As he travels a lot, good transport connections to London were also important, while he wanted to live somewhere where he could become part of a community.

Denise arranged a number of properties for Shane to view, but it was the first two homes that really stole the show. Property number one was not what Shane initially thought he wanted. Having specifically asked for a modern home, he was surprised to discover just how much he liked the traditional property.

The 18th-century property was on the market for offers over £1 million and featured six bedrooms, four bathrooms and almost half an acre of land. Inside, the property had a huge kitchen and plenty of space, while the substantial grounds offered the kind of outdoor space Shane was looking for.

Despite initially believing a modern property was essential, Shane found himself seriously considering the traditional home. Then came property number two, which appeared to tick almost every box Shane had originally given Denise. The striking contemporary home was also on the market for offers over £1 million and offered spacious, modern living.

It featured a large open-plan kitchen and an impressive main bedroom with a split-level en-suite. The property was also energy efficient and had a high EPC rating, while outside there was a secure landscaped garden which was ideal for Shane’s two dogs.

When it came to making a decision, Shane admitted that Denise had made his choice considerably more difficult.

He said: “Country living is different for me, especially property number one. When I said I wanted something modern in a country setting, I was pretty sure that I wanted modern but property number one surprised me, how much I really liked it.

“You’ve given me a lot to think about that I wouldn’t have previously thought about, which for me has been the biggest takeaway. You’ve made it harder in a lot of ways, so thank you very much for that.” Denise quickly replied: “That was not the plan.”

Shane said his next step would be to explore the villages surrounding both properties before making a final decision. It was later revealed that Shane went back to view both property one and property two. Although the traditional first property had made a huge impression on him, property number two was the front runner.

However, there was one major problem standing in his way. Despite finding the home he appeared to favour, Shane was unable to put an offer forward because he had yet to sell his current property in London. His dream move to Nottinghamshire was therefore left hanging in the balance.

You can stream Escape to the Country on BBC iPlayer.

Sacramento — Year after year, owners of professional sports teams and developers of proposed skyscrapers have pleaded with California lawmakers to grant relief for their projects from the state’s environmental regulations. They’ve found a largely receptive audience.

“It’s a job creator,” Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) told his colleagues while successfully pressing earlier this month for approval of his bill that could speed up an expansion of Facebook’s headquarters and the construction of twin skyscrapers in Hollywood.

The passage of Santiago’s bill highlighted a continually messy debate at the state Capitol concerning which projects deserve breaks from strictly complying with the California Environmental Quality Act, the primary environmental law governing development. The law, known as CEQA, requires developers to disclose and reduce projects’ effects on the environment, often a time-consuming and costly process made longer by lawsuits that can last years.

Legislators have long talked about overhauling CEQA — Gov. Jerry Brown has called doing so “the Lord’s work” — but the rare measures that advance often only provide relief for deep-pocketed developers or have the backing of Sacramento’s most powerful interests.

Earlier this month, GOP Assemblyman Dante Acosta pushed to ease burdens under CEQA for all housing projects amid the state’s affordability crisis. But his effort was rebuffed in a legislative committee.

“A good project is a good project, whether it’s housing for middle-class Californians or a stadium for millionaire athletes and billionaire owners,” said Acosta, who represents Santa Clarita.

Since its enactment in 1970, CEQA has become a touchstone for environmentalists who credit it for preserving California’s coastline and natural beauty. Its rules are written so broadly that the law also has become a tool for neighborhood preservationists, business competitors, unions and others to oppose a wide-range of projects including some, like bike lanes, that might otherwise seem environmentally friendly.

Housing has become a particular flashpoint. In Acosta’s district, developers have proposed the 21,500-home Newhall Ranch project, which has been stymied by environmental lawsuits during the more than two decades it’s been under consideration. On Monday, some environmental groups reached an agreement to end their lawsuits against the project in exchange for $25 million for conservation efforts and other concessions from the developer.

Developers of low-income homes also struggle with litigation filed by neighborhood groups and others that use the law simply to oppose their projects, but not on environmental grounds, said Ray Pearl, executive director of the California Housing Consortium, which represents such developers.

“CEQA is used as a weapon and the environment is lost in the shuffle,” Pearl said.

This year, bills that passed the Legislature had a common theme: the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, which represents 400,000 construction workers, supported them.

Santiago’s bill updates an existing law allowing any project that costs more than $100 million to build and meets union-level wage and greenhouse gas reduction standards to aim for a final court decision in any CEQA lawsuit within nine months. The Golden State Warriors used this law for the team’s arena now under construction in San Francisco. Facebook has said it plans to use the law to speed up the expansion of its Menlo Park headquarters. So has Millennium Partners, a New York developer that wants to spend $1 billion to build 500 homes and a 200-room hotel and provide office and retail space around the Capitol Records building in Hollywood.

The housing legislation approved at the end of the legislative session also allows some developers to sidestep the environmental law in limited situations. One bill says cities must approve projects that comply with existing zoning rules without forcing developers through additional CEQA reviews. Two other bills provide cities financial incentives to complete environmental reviews of entire neighborhoods so developers won’t have to do them later for their projects. In all three cases, developers will only qualify if they reserve parts of their projects for low-income residents and abide by union-level pay and hiring rules.

Another bill, authored by Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside), would block developers from pursuing local ballot initiatives to get their projects approved, a process that allows them to avoid CEQA entirely. That method allowed the Rams to secure approval for their Inglewood football stadium in just six weeks, something unheard of in California development politics.

Cesar Diaz, the building trades’ legislative director, said labor’s involvement in CEQA policy ensures that the profits from growth are shared more widely.

“When you look at environmental standards and look at creating benefits for the economy, the people who benefit shouldn’t just be the developer,” Diaz said. “It should be those building the project.”

How much the environmental law affects housing production is disputed. A recent report from a law firm that promotes overhauling CEQA contended that litigation from 2013 to 2015 challenged more 10,000 homes in Southern California neighborhoods planned for the most growth. A counter report from environmentalists found few projects were sued when compared with the rate of development.

Still, it’s clear the environmental law matters. Backers of a proposed Inglewood arena for the Clippers put forward a last-minute bill that would have given them CEQA relief beyond what many prior professional sports stadium and arena developers have received from the Legislature. The Clippers legislation would have shortened court-decision timelines and limited a judge’s ability to halt construction during any environmental lawsuit against the project, while offering a full CEQA exemption for a transit link between a light-rail stop and the arena.

The Clippers and opponents of the bill — chiefly the owners of the rival Forum arena in Inglewood — each hired an army of lobbyists. The team argued that if the bill didn’t pass, its competitors could drown the proposed arena in CEQA litigation.

The measure stalled in a legislative committee, leaving its author, state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), deeply frustrated. In a speech on the final night of the legislative session, Bradford argued that his colleagues have decided to prioritize CEQA relief for projects proposed in wealthier communities, not lower-income neighborhoods with predominantly black and Latino residents.

“There is clearly a double standard and this situation is not just wrong, it’s racist,” Bradford said. “The well-to-do areas of this state are given much more help, and economically disadvantaged areas around the state, such as the areas that I represent, do not receive the same support.”

Brown has pledged to sign the three CEQA-related housing bills as part of a larger package of legislation aimed at addressing the state’s housing problems. He has not commented on the Santiago or Medina bills, but has supported prior versions of the Santiago effort. The governor has until Oct. 15 to approve or veto the legislation.

liam.dillon@latimes.com

Twitter: @dillonliam

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Updates on California politics

Belgium’s Wout van Aert surged clear of Valentin Paret-Peintre in a sprint to the line to win stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana.

The duo were part of a huge breakaway that at one point contained 43 riders on the 192.8km route from Almunecar to Loja.

However, they escaped with 3.7km remaining to contest the finish unchallenged, where Van Aert’s greater power told.

Britain’s Matthew Brennan, who has already won three stages, crossed in third behind his Visma-Lease a Bike team-mate and Paret-Peintre.

Overall race leader Enric Mas arrived three minutes later along with all the other main general classification favourites to retain an advantage of one minute and 45 seconds over Primoz Roglic.

“I had it a little bit in my mind [to attack when I did],” Van Aert said. “I saw the profile and I knew there was this last kicker coming into the village.

“This distance [from the finish], a lot of the time, is when people start to think about the sprint.

“If you’re able to open up a gap, then they [the remaining riders in the breakaway] don’t want to close it for each other anymore. It was close enough to the finish to be worth it.”

The peloton faces a difficult day in the mountains on Saturday as the race travels 154.5km from Jaen to La Pandera.

Meanwhile, Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij won a chaotic sprint finish on stage three of the Tour of Britain.

Kooij pipped Tim Merlier at the end of the 181.1km stage that started in Hull and concluded in Beverley, to claim his eighth stage victory at the race, leaving him just two wins short of the record held by Mark Cavendish, who has 10 on his palmares.

Britain’s Lewis Askey finished with the same time in 17th place and hold on to his place at the top of the GC with Belgian Tim Wellens 12 seconds back in second.

The United States economy has added 162,000 jobs in August, with large gains in local government education and food services.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged, according to the monthly jobs report released by the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday.

The data was well above analysts’ expectations. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 56,000 gains, the Wall Street Journal forecast 53,000, and Bloomberg had forecast 55,000, following a loss of 23,000 in July.

Local government education, or public schools, accounted for nearly 42,000 of the jobs added as the 2026–27 school year begins across much of the US. Teachers typically fall off payrolls during the summer months when school is not in session.

Food service jobs also saw large increases, with the sector adding 59,000 jobs for the month of August compared with the month prior.

There were also gains in construction, which added 22,000 jobs, and healthcare, which added 12,000.

The information sector, which accounts for industries like data processing, web hosting, publishing, broadcasting and telecommunications, fell by 23,000, with notable layoffs at companies including Scripps TV and Zillow, which fall under the umbrella of these industries.

The financial activities sector, which accounts for industries like insurance, commercial banking and real estate, dropped by 12,000.

Mixed data

The data comes in sharp contrast to the ADP national employment report, which tracks private payrolls and found 38,000 jobs added across the US economy.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report released on Tuesday revealed job openings were slightly changed, with 7.3 million in July, up from 7.2 million the previous month, while total separations fell to 5.1 million in July from 5.3 million in June.

The move in job gains comes ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting later this month, where the central bank will vote on interest rates. Amid the job gains, CME Group’s FedWatch, which tracks the likelihood of monetary policy decisions, had a 60 percent chance of a 25 basis point rate increase to 3.75–4.00 percent, up from 49 percent on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump was quick to comment on the jobs report and push for rate cuts.

“Lower the interest rates because the U.S.A. is a much stronger credit than it was a short time ago!” he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

He also ramped up threats to cut off trade with nations that the US has a deficit with if the central bank does not cut rates.

Despite a strong jobs report, US markets are trending downwards. The Nasdaq is down 0.2 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.5 percent, and the S&P 500 is down 0.3 percent amid Trump’s comments.

Meanwhile, Canada released its jobs report amid the ongoing trade dispute with the US. The Canadian economy lost 41,700 jobs, according to Statistics Canada, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 6.4 percent.

“We expect the economy will continue struggling to create jobs in the near term as mounting headwinds from new US-Canada tariffs, greater uncertainty from a flare-up in the trade war, and the ongoing Iran conflict and a shrinking population weigh on hiring,” Tony Stillo, director of Canada Economics at Oxford Economics, said in a note provided to Al Jazeera.

KRISTEN Wiig has stunned in sexy black lingerie for her raciest look yet in a new photoshoot.

The actress turned heads with her makeover for her spread in the latest issue of Perfect magazine.

Kristen, 53, looked completely transformed in her skimpy all-black outfits, which were considerably more revealing than her usual attire.

One photo captured the comedian posing in a body-hugging mini dress and a blazer.

The dress featured beading over her chest and a matching design on the cuffs of her coat.

Meanwhile, her legs were on full display, with her dress’s super-high slit showcasing her upper thighs.

Kristen finished the look with white pointed-toe heels, heavy makeup, and her tousled blonde hair at her shoulders.

The Bridesmaids star kept the edgy style in another photo, modeling a skintight dress with a see-through lace top.

She slouched in a chair, her hair covering half her face, showing off dark eye makeup and massive gold statement earrings.

Kristen’s third outfit again showed the TV star in a different light as she rocked pants and a matching blazer, with nothing underneath.

The Masters of the Universe star ditched her bra and a shirt to tease her bare breasts beneath the blazer.

She wore long, dangly earrings with the same messy hair-look and heavy makeup.

Kristen continued to stun in her photos, as another captured the Saturday Night Live alum standing by a pool in a bra and panty set.

She added see-through lace tights and high heels to her bottom half, keeping her abs and toned arms exposed on top.

The Despicable Me star concealed her eyes with a massive bucket hat, posing with her hands on her hips.

Kristen wore a similar ensemble during a baking session in the kitchen, including a tiny bra, leggings, and leather boots.

She perched one leg on a table while mixing ingredients in a bowl, oversized sunglasses covering her eyes.

A couple of other inside shots captured the Palm Royale actress in a form-fitting strapless dress with a deep V-neck, and a long-sleeved sweater dress with big fur sleeves.

It’s rare to see Kristen in such daring looks, worlds apart from her hysterical costume in her iconic Target Lady sketch on SNL.

She also wore a prim-and-proper wardrobe with bright colors and perfectly styled hairdos in her latest TV series, Palm Royale.

The Apple TV series, which follows her character Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons as she vies to become the belle of 1960s Palm Beach, was canceled earlier this year after two seasons.

BOURNEMOUTH is one of the most popular seaside towns in the UK, pulling in millions of visitors every year to its pretty beaches.

But there’s so much more to it than just its coastline, as Michael Regenhard, who manages the Bournemouth Highcliff Hotel, reveals.

Michael Regenhardt left Germany for Bournemouth 20 years ago and he’s lived there ever since – what did he make of it when he first arrived?

He told us: “I’m German, so you look at the English and think they do all these weird and wonderful things. Then when you live here – I eat my lamb with mint sauce now – my mother will never forgive me for that.”

Michael continued: “I wear brown suede shoes now too. And when I came to Bournemouth – it was the first time I went to an amusement arcade I was given a bundle of coins and I thought ‘what do I do with this?’

“But now, when I have friends come to visit, I take them on the lift down to the beach – then we go there and their eyes light up.

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“I see it with Brits too because it’s nostalgic – it takes them back to their childhood. It’s a lovely experience – then we go for fish and chips afterwards.

“You can’t get more English than that.”

Here are his top Bournemouth recommendations.

Hotels

Being the Multi Property General Manager of the beautiful Bournemouth Highcliff (and the Portsmouth Marriott) – Michael has to recommend it to visitors.

“The Highcliff is 150-years-old and was initially just four townhouses then it was converted into a hotel. Next to us we have the original coastguard cottages that Bournemouth had when the smugglers still came across the sea.

“They go back to around 1830 – and they’re part of the hotel as well. Now they’re rooms, with a little garden in front of them.”

“Winston Churchill stayed here at the beginning of World War Two – he was actually declared wartime leader at the hotel.”

Michael continued: “We have 160 bedrooms and the hotel sits on top of the cliff, so we get the best views out of most of the hotels I would say.

“We have Brasserie Blanc, it’s our restaurant partner, and we have an outdoor swimming pool.”

Restaurants

“I have one in the summer which is called El Murrino – it’s right on the beach. But it’s only open from April until September.

“It has good vibes, it has good food – it’s very simple, pizzas, burgers, salads, cocktails and beers. But it’s one of the only restaurants right on the beach.

“We have a place for Tiien Thai, which I have to say, is in my hotel. It’s not part of the hotel, but it is inside. It’s been around for almost 12 years and I think it’s the best Thai restaurant in the south.

“I’m a Panang man – it’s what I have every time I go. And they have the best crispy squid, or calamari.”

Bars

When it comes to beach bars, he said there aren’t many, but praises Aruba which overlooks the pier, saying there is “always a good vibe in there during the evening”.

He added: “We have a place called The Botanist now in the square in the old Debenhams building – it’s very beautiful and it’s on the rooftop.

“You take an old staircase up, and it is a restaurant too but they have a lovely outside bar – you overlook the square and the Lower Gardens.

“Our hotel has a bar as well, it’s part of Brasserie Blanc, they have a fantastic terrace – but that would be biased from me!”

Pubs

“One in the town centre is called The Sun which has recently been refurbished, it used to be called 60 Million Postcards.

“It has a good look to it with a big terrace.

“Then there’s a couple up in The Triangle, they’re a bit older; The Branksome is one of those.

“There’s two pubs in the main square too – like the Wetherspoons. It depends what you want.”

Date night spots

“Go back to the Urban Garden as a restaurant because you can go on a romantic walk there too through the gardens, take the staircase, it’s half in the jungle.

“Afterwards, if you’re a bit younger, I’d say go down to 1812 which is next to the BIC.

“It’s a huge building and there’s a cocktail bar inside there – it gets busy on Fridays and Saturdays.

“But it’s a nice setting, especially if you sit outside.”

Best beaches

“One really nice beach is if you go towards Sandbanks, the beach is beautiful, there aren’t any stones – but it is busy.

“During the week, it’s much quieter.

“Branksome is a lovely beach with two lovely restaurants there and it’s a nice, family-friendly spot. It’s not too busy – and you can only park in the Chines.

“I don’t think there’s a bad spot in Bournemouth though.”

Hidden gems

“One of those is Sobo Beach, which is in Southbourne. It’s very much a neighbourhood beach and is usually quiet, but busy enough that it has a good vibe.

“SOBO Beach Bar and Restaurant is great too – it’s very quirky, a bit Miami, very colourful with good music on the weekend.

“During the week it’s part of the neighbourhood where people go for coffees in the morning and so on. That’s a great beach and it’s not busy.

“If I give one tip – if you ever go to the beach, avoid the piers. Go 200 metres one way or the other, it’s just too packed.

“There are miles and miles of beach.”

Local experiences

“Past Southbourne is a little place called Tuckton, and when you speak to all the English tourists they talk about Tuckton Tea Garden – but that’s not the experience I’m talking about.

“They have a mini marina there and from there you take boat trips up to Mudeford Spit. It’s like little boats for eight or nine people, then you drive up the river a bit, go part Christchurch and come out on Christchurch Bay.

“It’s a beautiful little trip. Then when you get there you have England’s most expensive beach huts, which go for around £250,000 and over.

“They are the only beach huts where you can stay overnight and some of them have dual aspect so you can see the Isle of Wight and Christchurch Bay.

“It’s a beautiful trip. There’s a little train as well which goes to Hengistbury Head and from there you can take a bus or a cab back.

“Not many people know about that.”

Family attractions

“There’s the Oceanarium – it’s something for the whole family. It’s right on the pier, they have penguins there.

“It’s nicely done with lots of activities, quite educational – it’s a nice thing to do as a family.

“The pier has a zipwire, and a climbing centre now too. Overall, the pier has lots of little activities for families.

“As for attractions – it’s really all about the beach.”

Shopping

“I’d say Westbourne which from the hotel is a five-minute drive away.

“It’s a very nice, older kind of neighbourhood; it has an arcade with shops inside and the high street isn’t one long road, it’s more of a loop.

“They’re all very individual shops, with nice cafes, lovely restaurants – it’s all a bit quirky.

“It takes you away from the classic shopping centre – which we do have.”

Cheap food spots

“Where the pier is, there’s the Pier View Kitchen and it’s got a huge terrace, it’s half self-service and half service.

“But they have everything you need and you can pick up a bacon butty and a coffee for £5.

“It does what it says on the tin and you can look over the whole pier approach.”

Sweet treats and coffee

“There are two places that aren’t far from each other – there’s a place called Fika on Westover Road.

“It’s where the Pavilion is, and they’re really individual coffee shop, it’s a lovely place to eat, they do ice creams too – it’s very cute.

“Then there’s another coffee spot I recommend called BigWigs – it’s a family bakery that have a few places dotted through Bournemouth.

“Great pastries, cakes and great coffee – they serve Bad Hand coffee which is a local coffee roastery.

“Then you have Bad Hands itself which is up towards the Triangle, that’s where their roastery is, and they have a coffee shop now too.”

Cheap activities

“We had a group recently that hired some bikes and went all along the promenade from one end to the other. And the best time to do that? 8 o’clock in the morning – it’s stunning.

“That’s a nice way of doing some sightseeing while in Bournemouth. If you’re looking for something free to do, head to the beach.”

Cultural activities

“There’s the Russell Cotes Museum on Eastcliff in a beautiful old building which goes back over 100 years.

“It used to be family owned and the people in there loved collecting art and sculptures and it was slowly turned into a museum.

“It’s very beautiful and inside, it’s fantastic and it’s Bournemouth-centric.

“That’s from the pier, five minutes up the hill – there are also some art galleries on Westover Road if that takes your fancy.”

Best views

“So if you go over to Mudeford Spit, that is attached to Hengistbury Head – and you want to go to the oppositesidee of Sandbanks.

“It’s not a mountain, it’s a hill and it’s beautiful to walk, you can go along the beach and around it – or up and over.

“Once you’re on top of it, you see the Isle of Wight and The Needles, Swanage and Christchurch – it’s absolutely beautiful.

“When the regatta is on over on the Isle of Wight you can see all the ships too.

“The best time to do it in the early morning when it’s clearer – you can see for miles.”

Michael has some final tips as a local…

“I just say prepare for the weather! It’s one of the main things that people do wrong.

“It could be sunny and then it gets cold – which it always does in the evenings.

“As I said before there’s never the wrong weather, just the wrong clothes – and I’d say Bournemouth is just as lovely in the autumn and winter.

“It’s lovely in the summer months but it can be a bit too much – if you come out of season, October, November – it doesn’t matter, it’s still lovely. Just put your jacket on.”

Sept. 4, 2026 8:41 AM PT

MCALLEN, Texas — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer falsely told investigators he was being attacked with a broom and shovel before he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during the Minnesota immigration crackdown last winter, according to a federal indictment unsealed Friday.

Christian Castro is charged with six counts of making false statements to investigators in the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year’s massive Operation Metro Surge. The operation brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.

The allegations in the federal indictment mirror those brought by Minnesota officials, who have separately charged Castro with assault and false reporting of a crime related to the nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.

Castro turned himself into federal authorities Thursday evening following his release from jail last week because Texas’ governor refused to immediately sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities.

According to the federal indictment, Castro told an FBI agent that a man grabbed a red broom off the front porch and began hitting him with it. Castro also claimed that another man hit him with a snow shovel. Castro said he opened fire while on the ground as the men ran away.

The indictment alleges that Castro had a short “physical interaction” with Sosa-Celis and another man, before the two ran into a home with a 1-year-old child inside. Castro then fired a shot through the front door while standing as the men began to close it, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg, the indictment says.

“No person struck” Castro “with a broom as he described, and no persons wielded the broom and snow shovel as he described,” the indictment says.

No attorney is listed for Castro in the case brought by Minnesota and it was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Federal prosecutors had initially charged Sosa-Celis and the other man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, with assault but dropped the charges after video evidence showed the officer may have lied about the encounter. Castro was suspended from ICE in February while authorities pursued an investigation.

The federal investigation into Castro created turmoil inside the Justice Department, with a prosecutor on the case accusing higher ups of blocking efforts to bring more serious civil rights charges.

In an email obtained by ProPublica, the prosecutor told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and others that Castro would be charged only with making false statements over his “strongest objections,” adding the decision was “being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney.”

A person familiar with the investigation, however, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the civil rights probe is ongoing and that additional charges could still be brought.

The prosecutor, Matthew Evans, has since been fired and the Justice Department is now investigating whether he broke any laws during his handling of the case, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss ongoing investigations.

An automatic email response from Evans’ Justice Department account said he was on leave, and other attempts to reach him were not immediately successful.

Sosa-Celis’ lawyer is pressing for Castro to face stiffer charges, saying in a statement on Thursday that Castro’s statements were made to “cover up the fact that he shot my client through the door of an occupied house without a self-defense justification.”

“Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes,” said the attorney, Robin Wolpert. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said Thursday that Sosa-Celis also plans to seek damages from the federal government.

Gonzalez and Richer write for the Associated Press. Richer reported from Washington.

The discrepancy between the official F1 measurement and the possible shorter distance did not mean that the official measurement was incorrect, the court said.

While it was concluded after the race that a shorter line was possible, the court of appeal ruled that “sporting fairness absolutely precludes the retrospective replacement” of an established calibration parameter “by a different geometric or measurement approach for the purpose of re-adjudicating an individual competitor’s result”.

The controversy arose from the fact that there was a 77-centimetre discrepancy between the officially measured distance of the pit lane and the real shortest route a driver could take.

It was established at Alpine’s appeal in June that Gasly had not exceeded the pit-lane speeding limit by this new measurement, which was why the penalty was overturned.

However, McLaren appealed on the grounds of sporting fairness and their own competitive interests, as Piastri had lost two points as a consequence of the situation.

The Australian was one of several drivers who did serve a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty.

The court of appeal verdict rests on the following conclusions:

Alpine said in a statement: “While we disagree with the decision, and still fully maintain that car 10 (Gasly) did not exceed the pit-lane speed limit at any point during the race, the team acknowledges the decision of the judging panel from the recent hearing in Paris.

“While the result is not what we had hoped for, as we feel that we have been unjustly punished, the team is firmly focused on continuing to improve its performance on track and remains in a close and very competitive championship fight.”

McLaren said: “We welcome the decision of the FIA international court of appeal, a decision which provides important clarity for teams and all the sport’s stakeholders and helps protect the integrity of the sport and trust in its regulatory framework.

“Our appeal was not directed at any competitor or at the FIA. It was brought, and pursued to its conclusion, in the interests of the sport and to support the consistent and fair application of the regulations for all participants.”

The court of appeal did not address the question of whether the pit-lane speeding penalties awarded to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Russell and Piastri were correct under the established measurement, or whether their cars ever physically exceeded the 60km/h limit.

That was not relevant to the bounds of the hearing, which was to address McLaren’s and Red Bull’s protest against the decision to rescind Gasly’s penalty.

Mercedes also contend that Russell never exceeded 60km/h. He was running ahead of Hadjar and Gasly before his first penalty.

He was demoted out of the points because Mercedes failed to correctly serve the penalty at a subsequent pit stop. That offence earned a drive-through penalty which dropped him to 12th place.

Alpine say they have sent the trophy for third place over to Red Bull’s Milton Keynes base, and that they are considering their options as to whether to take the case further.

Their only remaining likely course of action, should they wish to pursue it, would be to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Sept. 4 (UPI) — The Federal Communications Commission asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from ABC claiming the commission was curbing its right to free speech.

The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiary ABC sued the FCC on Aug. 18 to block an early license renewal from the agency, claiming the Trump administration is attacking the company for content it doesn’t like.

The FCC argued in its motion that the lawsuit is premature because the agency hadn’t yet tried to remove the licenses from eight local stations that ABC owns. In April, the FCC called for an early review of the licenses, an unusual move. None of the licenses were up for renewal for several years.

The FCC claims it asked for the early review because of ABC’s response investigation into the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion hiring policies. But the review came right after President Donald Trump told ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel after a joke about First Lady Melania Trump.

The eight stations with their licenses are in jeopardy cover New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Fresno, Calif. They renew their licenses every eight years and are almost never revoked. The FCC hasn’t filed an early-renewal order in decades.

“This [lawsuit] would only hobble the Commission’s efforts to investigate and resolve serious allegations that Disney has engaged in unlawful discrimination, and from otherwise ensuring that Disney’s stations are serving the public interest,” the FCC wrote in its filing. “Plaintiffs, in return, would only free themselves from the burdens of proving their case in administrative proceedings.”

“They have shown (at most) minimal and self-inflicted effects on speech, and no harms that could justify” blocking the agency’s moves, the FCC’s document said.

ABC had filed for an emergency stay of the FCC’s activity, arguing it was using the regulatory process to suppress its right to free speech.

ABC in its filing said that President Donald Trump is sending a “message to every media company in the country — that they should “tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government.”

“In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free,” ABC wrote. “The FCC Chairman [Brendan Carr] has left little doubt that this is his goal.”

Judge Loren L. AliKhan scheduled a hearing for the week of Oct. 5.

As the war drags on in Ukraine, its civilians are again suffering.

Thirty-eight people were killed in the village of Myla on August 29, when a Russian drone attack struck an ammunition depot. Another 12 were killed in attacks across the country on September 1.

Civilian deaths have sharply increased this summer as Russia is using jet-powered drones, which fly at about half the speed of a passenger jet and are more difficult to intercept than propeller-powered drones.

Jet-powered drones numbered about 2,800 in August, said Ukraine Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, compared with about 1,500 in July, several times the number launched in June. Ukraine has an interception rate of more than 90 percent against propeller-powered drones, but only 60 percent against the jet-powered variant, Ihnat said.

Ukraine said Russian forces suffered 42,020 casualties last month, as Moscow’s territorial gains dropped to a fraction of last year’s rate of advance.

Ukrainian armed forces figures showed Russia’s monthly casualties were only slightly below July’s 42,860 and well above the 39,290 in June.

Al Jazeera cannot independently verify casualty estimates by either side, but if accurate, those summer figures – 25.8 percent higher than the casualties Ukraine inflicted in the spring – suggest the high Russian casualty rate is not a passing event.

Russian recruitment rates are thought to be well below those totals, estimated by Ukraine at about 32,500 a month this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly shared intelligence suggesting that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will conscript 300,000 or more troops next month.

Zelenskyy has said that up to 80 percent of Russian casualties were inflicted in Kostiantynivka, the southernmost of Ukraine’s “fortress belt” of cities in the eastern Donetsk region, whose capture Putin has repeatedly prioritised.

Russian forces are thought to control only a portion of the city, but have infiltrated more than 70 percent of it with scattered individual troops sent to drop supplies and await reinforcements. Ukrainian drone operators have been targeting the troops as Russia replenishes them.

This week it was revealed that Ukrainian commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, reinforced the Donetsk front around Sloviansk and Dobropillia, north and south of Kostiantynivka, respectively, but kept the Kostiantynivka front largely unchanged. That suggests Ukraine may be adopting the tactic of fighting a prolonged rearguard in the urban landscape to inflict attritional losses, as it did in the battles of Bakhmut, Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar.

The fight for Kostiantynivka has sapped troop strength elsewhere on the front line, where Ukraine liberated 130sq km (50 square miles) of its land in August, limiting Russia’s overall advance.

Russia seized just over 90sq km (35 square miles) in August, estimated the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank that assesses territorial gains using open-source geolocated sources.

While still a net gain, that is less than a fifth of the land Russia seized in August last year.

During June, July and August this year, the ISW assessed that Russia gained firm control of 160sq km (60 square miles), compared with 1,440sq km in the summer months of 2025 (560 square miles) – a 90 percent decrease.

Ukraine’s response

Ukraine has turned its focus from Russian refineries to strikes against Russian air defences, radar systems and drone launch sites.

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) destroyed 33 air defence elements in August, increasing the annual total to 263.

Ukraine also kept up some strikes on refineries, hitting 12 in August, along with two gas-processing plants and three oil transshipment terminals, according to its defence ministry.

During the past week, Ukraine struck the Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl and the Kirishi and Ust-Luga refineries near Leningrad, all 800km (500 miles) from its border.

Those strikes have caused petrol shortages, further hurting Russia’s economy.

Ukraine’s military intelligence reported that certain Russian exports had fallen by 80 percent compared with pre-war levels. Oil has been among the hardest hit, as Ukraine has struck terminals and hundreds of tankers carrying Russian oil in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

Russian oil exports from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk fell from 800,000 barrels a day in July to 350,000 barrels per day in August, said Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

“The Russian side acknowledges that its Black Sea Fleet ships are effectively blockaded in Novorossiysk due to our drone strikes and are unable to operate at sea,” said Zelenskyy.

“Since the Russian fleet is unable to provide escorts for the commercial and shadow fleet …  one of the solutions being considered is to equip civilian ships with small arms, electronic warfare (EW) equipment and military personnel,” he said. “We will prepare appropriate countermeasures.”

The strikes on the oil industry have not only reduced exports. They have reverberated across the Russian economy, creating queues at petrol stations and raising prices for motorists.

This week, Russia extended its ban on diesel exports to the end of September to keep its army and transport industry supplied and sought to import petrol.

Occupied Crimea, where petrol distribution has been restricted to government-owned vehicles, has been hard hit.

The Russian-appointed governor of the region, Sergei Aksyonov, said on September 2: “Fuel supplies to the region are currently not fully meeting the needs of the residents. Unfortunately, some residents of Crimea will, at this stage, face limited access to gasoline”.