News Desk

The U.S. Air Force has stood up a new squadron at Andrews Air Force Base to manage the arrival of HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters to replace aging UH-1N Twin Hueys. Originally designed for combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions, the HH-60Ws assigned to the 5th Helicopter Squadron will be in a specialized configuration to take on the tasks of ferrying VIPs around the nation’s capital and supporting continuity of government plans. Questions have been raised about using Jolly Green IIs in these roles, and how this may impact the ability of the overall fleet of these helicopters to meet CSAR demands.

The Air Force held a ceremony at Andrews yesterday to mark the formal activation of the 5th Helicopter Squadron, also sometimes abbreviated as 5 HS. The 1st Helicopter Squadron (1 HS), with its UH-1Ns, will continue to operate throughout the transition to the HH-60W, which is expected to be completed in 2030, to avoid any gaps in capacity to meet critical operational requirements. A total of 26 Jolly Green IIs are set to be based at the facility, which is situated just outside Washington, D.C., a one-for-one replacement for the Twin Hueys that are there now. The arrival of the new helicopters will also lead to a small increase in total personnel, 60 in total, at Andrews.

The Air Force originally planned to supplant all of its UH-1Ns worldwide with new MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopters, which is a more direct replacement in terms of size and capability. The service is still acquiring MH-139s to supplant UH-1Ns elsewhere, including ones assigned to Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) units that help provide security around Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos. We will come back to this later on.

“The HH-60W’s increased speed, range and carrying capacity will better deliver safe operations for U.S. senior leaders, service members, and the communities around the region,” the Air Force said in a press release regarding the 5th Helicopter Squadron’s activation.

The Jolly Green II also has in-flight refueling capability, something that is not found on the UH-1N or MH-139, and could be very valuable for missions around Washington, D.C. The HH-60Ws heading to Andrews are set to receive additional modifications, including to the main cabin seating arrangement, communications suite, and defensive capabilities, as you can read more about here.

Combat Rescue Helicopter Successfully Executes Major Test Milestone: Aerial Refueling

“In the next few years, the 5 HS will train aircrew and maintainers, establish operational and maintenance processes, and receive new aircraft as it prepares to execute the national security mission within the National Capital Region,” the release yesterday added.

National Capital Region (NCR) refers to a larger area that surrounds Washington, D.C., proper. Air Force operations in and around the NCR are primarily managed through a unit called the Air Force District of Washington (AFDW).

The HH-60Ws will be taking over an AFDW mission set from the UH-1Ns that currently includes daily airlift sorties transporting U.S. and foreign VIPs around the nation’s capital. The helicopters will also be in position to swing into action as part of continuity of government plans. In such a scenario, the Jolly Green IIs would be tasked to help rush senior officials and lawmakers to safety to ensure the continued functioning of federal authorities following an attack or a similarly serious contingency. 1st Helicopter Squadron’s role in responding to the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 was highlighted during the activation ceremony at Andrews yesterday.

The NCR presents particular challenges for crisis response missions and routine day-to-day flight operations. The airspace around Washington, D.C., is most densely defended and heavily monitored anywhere in the United States, and packed full of military and civilian air traffic every day. Where and when military helicopters can operate over the nation’s capital has been a hot topic of debate since a fatal mid-air collision involving an Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet in January 2025. The Black Hawk was conducting a continuity of government training flight at the time. This has been more recently highlighted by an incident involving a Marine One helicopter carrying President Donald Trump earlier this month. A subsequent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation has highlighted communication issues and factors tied to the construction of a new helipad at the White House.

It is also worth noting here that Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), the primary unit responsible for the Marine One presidential helicopter mission, would play a role in any continuity of government scenario in the NCR. Helicopters from the U.S. Park Police, as well as ones belonging to other law enforcement and civilian agencies, would be utilized, too.

Military and police helicopters land at the US Capitol this evening.

As mentioned, there are significant questions about the impacts of basing HH-60Ws at Andrews will have on the rest of the Air Force’s Jolly Green II fleet. This is something TWZ highlighted when the Air Force confirmed it was moving ahead with the AFDW HH-60W plan with the release of its 2027 Fiscal Year budget request earlier this year.

A particular issue is the Air Force’s decision years ago to scale back total purchases of HH-60Ws, from 113 helicopters down to 91. If the service does not order more Jolly Green IIs in the coming years, this will mean that roughly a third of the entire fleet will be assigned to the AFDW mission.

Up close with the HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter at Nellis AFB for The War Zone.

The Air Force previously confirmed the plan will involve taking HH-60Ws out of “back up inventory.” In the past, the service has defended this decision as being “more cost effective” than a move to “procure additional MH-139A aircraft” to meet AFDW requirements. Whether or not there were other specific operational considerations that factored into the decision to use Jolly Green IIs to meet these needs instead is unknown. The acquisition plan for the Grey Wolf has also been significantly truncated, with the Air Force now planning to buy just 56 of these helicopters instead of 80.

“The MH-139A Grey Wolf was competitively selected to replace the UH-1N for intercontinental ballistic missile security and National Capital Region missions, including continuity of government and transport of United States government officials and security forces,” members of the House Armed Services Committee wrote in a report accompanying a draft of the annual policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2027 Fiscal Year, back in May. “The committee remains concerned regarding the justification for transitioning these missions to an alternate rotary-wing platform and seeks additional details on cost and operational implications.”

At that time, the House Armed Services Committee explicitly directed “the Secretary of the Air Force to submit a report to the congressional defense committees not later than December 1, 2026, assessing operational, cost, infrastructure, and readiness impacts of assigning any non-MH-139A rotary-wing aircraft to continuity of government and transport of United States government officials and security forces in the National Capital Region.” The lawmakers stressed that the report had to include “a comparison of procurement cost, cost per flight hour, infrastructure and aircraft modification requirements, and training and manpower impacts” and an assessment of the cost, schedule, and operational disruption associated with required upgrades to Joint Base Andrews facilities for each aircraft type.”

Separate questions have been raised in recent years about the utility of traditional CSAR helicopters in future operations, especially in the context of a high-end fight, such as one between the United States and China in the Pacific. Air Force officials openly talked about exploring alternatives for rescuing aircrew downed deep inside contested environments, but details about those plans remained limited.

At the same time, demand for traditional CSAR capabilities has certainly not gone away entirely. This was underscored by the operation to retrieve the crew of an F-15E Strike Eagle that went down inside Iran in April. HH-60Ws were part of the larger force package sent into Iranian airspace to help recover those aviators.

In the meantime, the Air Force’s UH-1Ns, a type the service first began operating in the early 1970s. are only getting older and harder to sustain, too. Three of the UH-1Ns currently assigned to 1st Helicopter Squadron saw combat during the Vietnam War. Just last week, one of the unit’s Twin Hueys made a precautionary landing in an open field in Maryland “after experiencing unusual mechanical noise” while on a training flight. This is hardly the first time such an incident has occurred.

There is a possibility that Congress could more directly intervene in the Air Force’s move to start flying HH-60Ws around Washington, D.C. With the expectation that UH-1Ns will remain in service at Andrews for another four years, there is time for the service’s own plans to evolve further.

With the activation of 5th Helicopter Squadron, the Air Force has now taken an important step toward an all-new helicopter force in the nation’s capital.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

CARMEL Electra has gone topless under just pineapple slices as she enjoyed breakfast al fresco style.

The actress, 54, took to Instagram to share some racy snaps from her vacation in Berlin.

In the pictures, she could be seen enjoying an outdoor breakfast, complete with a fruit platter, pastries and a Coca Cola.

In one snap, she pulled her bikini down as she covered her boobs with two pineapple slices.

She showed off her toned body in a blue and yellow underwear with tassels as she posed on a rooftop for the suggestive picture.

Carmen sported a heavy make-up look, complete with eyelashes, a dark eye shadow and a nude lip.

READ MORE ON CARMEN ELECTRA

O-M-PEE!

Carmen Electra flashes her bare bum as she sits on toilet for VERY racy shoot

The bottom of her blonde locks were dyed red as she wore her hair in a straight hairstyle.

Another photo showed her sitting down in front of the fruit as she popped her bra back on and held a strawberry in her hand.

Carmen shared a clip of herself taking a bite of a banana as she seduced the camera.

Yet another snap saw the model showing off her perky bum as she put one knee on a chair and looked directly into the lens.

She captioned the feed post: “Breakfast in Berlin.”

Her fans flocked to the comments section to compliment her as one said: “Breakfast of champions.”

Another follower enthused: “What a beautiful morning.”

Somebody else commented: “A hell of a breakfast.”

Yet another penned: “Hottest breakfast I’ve ever seen!!!!”

While a fifth added: “How is this possible, god damn.”

Her posts come after she modelled for Playboy, three decades after she first graced the magazine.

The sex symbol stunned in a new photoshoot in July as she stripped down for the Summer 2026 issue.

One shot showed her positioned on all fours on a green leather couch, wearing skintight black leather lingerie and fishnet tights.]

The outfit left little to the imagination as the cut-out tights exposed her bare backside, which she directed at the camera.

Carmen completed the look with black sky-high platform heels, heavy black eye makeup, and her long, blond-highlighted locks flowing straight down.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — President Donald Trump plans to observe the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., instead of at Ground Zero in New York City, those familiar with the details told media outlets Friday.

People briefed on the details told CNN, The New York Times and The Hill that Trump plans to give remarks at the Pentagon, one of the sites of the terror attacks.

Those familiar with the plans said the president chose the Pentagon because he wants to deliver remarks on the anniversary, and politicians aren’t allowed to give remarks at the New York City site. The National September 11 Memorial and Museum has blocked politicians from speaking at the location since 2012 in an effort to be nonpartisan.

Officials said Vice President JD Vance plans to attend the New York City anniversary event.

“As a proud New Yorker, President Trump has spoken about his own experiences watching the horrific events of September 11, 2001,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.

“On the 25th anniversary of this tragic day, the president will remember those who were killed at the hands of evil terrorists, honor their loved ones, and pay tribute to the brave first responders who put their lives on the line to rescue their fellow Americans.”

Trump also marked the anniversary of the terror attacks at the Pentagon last year. He visited Ground Zero in 2024 and previously gave remarks at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa.

Canada’s economy has rebounded sharply in the second quarter after six months of virtually no growth, aided by a strong jump in exports and solid domestic demand, though a new round of tariffs from the United States brings renewed uncertainty.

The economy grew at an annualised rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter, the fastest rate since 2023, after a revised 0.3 percent increase in the first quarter, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

The upward revision to first-quarter growth means Canada was not in a technical recession, usually defined as two straight quarters of contraction.

Healthy domestic demand, led by consumer spending and business investment, signals the economy is slowly brushing off the impacts of more than 18 months of US import tariffs that upended North American supply chains and increased costs.

Renewed tariff dispute

A strong domestic consumption and expenditure pattern puts Canada on a firm footing to withstand a new 50 percent US import tariff that President Donald Trump imposed this week on $20bn of Canadian exports. Canada retaliated with its own countermeasures on US imports.

“It seems like households and businesses were beginning to find ways of navigating the trade-related uncertainty before the latest round of tariffs,” Royce Mendes, managing director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins, wrote in a note.

“While it helps that the economy was on stronger footing heading into August, the fresh wave of protectionism injects a significant amount of uncertainty into the outlook,” Mendes said.

Michael Davenport, senior Canada economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note to Al Jazeera that while the gross domestic product (GDP) growth was along expected lines, “the economy is set to slow in the coming quarters amid escalating US-Canada trade policy uncertainty, new bilateral tariffs, and a shrinking population”.

The Canadian dollar weakened slightly after the GDP data, with the loonie trading down 0.01 percent at 72.17 US cents.

On a quarterly basis, GDP grew 0.8 percent for the period ended June, from an upwardly revised 0.1 percent in the previous quarter.

Second-quarter annualised growth was higher than the Bank of Canada’s July forecast of 2.5 percent growth.

Higher exports were one of the main contributing factors for the second-quarter growth, with outbound shipments growing 3.6 percent, the biggest increase in over three years, Statistics Canada (StatsCan) said.

Stronger household spending

Final domestic demand, the sum of all consumption and capital spending and a crucial metric to assess domestic health, rebounded to 1 percent in the second quarter, from a minor contraction in the first quarter.

Domestic demand has been muted for several quarters as consumers and businesses remain cautious while Canada navigates its trade war with the US.

But household final consumption expenditure, the main indicator of consumer spending, rose 0.8 percent, its highest level in three quarters, highlighting stronger household spending. This was mainly driven by higher wages and government benefits, economists said.

Business investment, or business gross fixed capital formation, sprang to a solid 2.3 percent growth in the second quarter from a contraction of 1.3 percent, the first time in the last year and a half that business investment has expanded.

That growth was led by investment in both residential and non-residential structures, machinery and equipment, StatsCan said.

However, the general gross fixed capital formation, essentially government expenditure for creating assets, continued to decline with a second-quarter contraction of 2.9 percent, after shrinking 2.6 percent in the previous quarter.

On a month-to-month basis, GDP for June grew 0.3 percent against a forecast of 0.2 percent, and an advance indicator showed that the economy was largely flat in July, the statistics agency said.

When it comes to romantic comedies, it’s not where it’s going — that’s a foregone conclusion — but how it gets there. The way the central couple navigates the twists, turns, roadblocks and unforced errors that entangle their budding relationship is the beating heart of these films. It’s what sets each one apart and delivers its entertainment value. That’s the test: pass or fail.

Which brings us to “Finding Emily,” a sweet new entry from Working Title Films, the producer of such gold-standard rom-coms as “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Love Actually.” It may not be destined for a place alongside those favorites, but “Emily” has a wonky charisma all its own that just might satisfy fans of those British charmers.

Or not.

That’s because the film’s journey, which follows Owen, a struggling musician (Spike Fearn) searching for his vanished dream girl with a hand from a cynical psychology student (Angourie Rice), may not feel quite captivating or propulsive enough to carry its pie-in-the-sky story to its inevitable finale. As someone behind me at the end of the film’s screening said, “Well, that plane took a while to land.” I can’t fully disagree.

Fortunately, the movie, inventively directed by first-time feature helmer Alicia MacDonald, is anchored by a pair of winning performances by Fearn (“Alien: Romulus,” “Ella McCay”) and Rice (2024’s “Mean Girls” musical). Their quirky, endearing moments and oddball chemistry often patch over — or at least divert us from — the contrivances and bits of filler in Rachel Hirons’ busy script.

Owen, who works as a sound engineer at the Manchester City University student union, falls headfirst for an enchanting redhead (wearing fairy wings, no less) named Emily (Sadie Soverall), whom he meets at a party. But when he tries to text her the next day, he realizes the number she gave him is missing a digit. Was that on purpose or an accident?

No matter, Owen is obsessed with finding her, even if he doesn’t know her last name and there are 318 Emilys in the campus directory. A false lead misdirects him to one of those women, Emily Raine (Rice), a psych major writing her thesis on the “self-sabotaging madness” of romance. It’s a theory clearly waiting to be blown to smithereens.

Their meet-cute develops into an offbeat friendship when the “wrong Emily” (is she really?) offers to help lovestruck Owen track down the “right Emily” (is she really?), secretly using him as a real-life case study to nail her dissertation. If she succeeds, the Iowa transplant will be able to secure the work visa she needs to stay in her adopted England.

It’s a device that adds to the character’s urgency, if not her likability. Though in true rom-com fashion, this Emily is appealing in other required ways — and is also adorable. The plot kicks into high gear when, again to fuel her thesis, she deviously provides Owen with a contact list of every Emily in the college database and suggests he mass-email them to locate the elusive, fairy-winged Emily.

This goes all kinds of wrong, setting off a viral brouhaha and turning the hapless Owen into an unwitting pariah. The loud-and-proud gang of Emilys brands him a stalker and a “toxic incel” (as well as the jauntier “Email Guy”). The mania is compounded by Owen’s stab at damage control when he appears on a campus podcast hosted by a savvy button-pusher (Nadia Parkes, pitch-perfect), unaware the show is going out live on video. Oh, and none of this results in a response from his desired Emily.

Amusing and brightly satirical as this turn of events is, it begins to feel more like a tempest in a teapot than the sustainable story engine Hirons was aiming for.

The film hits its predictable highs and lows as the mismatched Owen and Emily get closer and romantic complications mount. The search for “Fairy Emily” yields some anticlimactic results.

Still, there’s a kind of hip, comfort food aspect to the entire enterprise that keeps it an easy, if slightly cluttered and overlong watch. (See plane-landing comment.) MacDonald makes superb use of the story’s Manchester backdrop. The city’s vibrant neighborhoods and residents, along with its dynamic music scene, practically form their own character.

The vivid, at times overly kinetic supporting cast includes Prasanna Puwanarajah as Emily’s egotistical psych professor, Timothy Innes as her oblivious crush and Cora Kirk as her supportive, strong-willed flatmate; Jack Riddiford and Isabella Laughland as Owen’s brother and his better half; and Kat Ronney as a take-no-prisoners student body president — also named Emily. Minnie Driver is sadly underused as the school’s detached dean.

So does “Finding Emily” pass the aforementioned rom-com test? Flaws aside, it’s ultimately a pleasant enough way to beat the heat, grab a few laughs, take in a fine soundtrack and find yourself in some good company. But even if your name happens to be Emily, you won’t be fully swept away.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — Less than a month after taking office, Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori’s government was to formally ask Congress on Friday for authority to legislate by decree for 120 days, seeking broader powers to advance its security and economic agenda.

The Council of Ministers, led by Fujimori, approved a bill containing 66 legislative proposals Thursday night for congressional consideration and debate.

The initiatives focus on public safety, formal employment, economic development, the removal of bureaucratic barriers, structural reform of the state, taxes and customs, among other areas.

The core of the government’s request centers on the so-called “Shield Plan,” a punitive security strategy designed to address the country’s public safety crisis and the expansion of transnational organized crime.

The bill seeks to establish the legal framework needed to institutionalize and expand joint patrols by the Armed Forces and National Police in urban areas with the highest rates of violent crime.

The proposal also includes measures to address prison overcrowding and organized crime by giving the military administrative control of prisons as well as responsibility for border security.

The legislative package also proposes changes to the Penal Code to increase penalties for common crimes and redefine police powers during preliminary investigations conducted in coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

On the economic front, Fujimori’s proposal seeks to reshape labor market conditions to attract investment and boost economic activity.

The government contends that reducing nonwage labor costs for businesses is necessary to address an informal employment rate that affects almost 70% of the economically active population.

The government also proposes greater flexibility in traditional employee benefits through individual agreements or collective bargaining between workers and employers.

In Peru’s new bicameral Congress, the government needs a simple majority in the Chamber of Deputies to secure the legislative package approval, requiring at least 66 votes from the chamber’s 130 members.

Because the governing bloc does not have enough votes on its own, Fujimori’s government must negotiate with moderate opposition lawmakers and secure at least 10 additional votes.

Saab’s first Gripen F two-seat fighter has taken to the air, marking the beginning of the flight-test campaign for a variant being developed in close cooperation with Brazil.

The aircraft departed Saab’s airfield at Linköping, Sweden, at 9:40 a.m. local time today and remained airborne for approximately 40 minutes. Saab chief test pilot Jakob Högberg and Brazilian Air Force test pilot Lt. Col. Aviator Abdon de Rezende Vasconcelos were in the cockpit for the inaugural sortie.

According to Saab, the flight was intended primarily to verify the aircraft’s core systems and initial flying characteristics. The company says the aircraft will now enter a more extensive test program, including progressive expansion of its permitted flight envelope.

That work will eventually cover the aircraft’s speed, altitude, G-loading, and angle-of-attack limits, as well as the tactical capabilities and systems associated specifically with the rear cockpit.

“This first flight represents an important step forward for both Saab and the Brazilian Air Force,” said Lars Tossman, head of Saab business area Aeronautics.  “Seeing Gripen F take to the skies is particularly significant for all the Swedish and Brazilian teams whose years of engineering work have helped turn this aircraft into a reality. It is designed to accelerate pilot training while and enhancing operational performance in advanced combat missions.”

The Gripen F is the two-seat derivative of the Gripen E, but it is not simply a conventional trainer version of the single-seat fighter. Saab has designed the rear cockpit to be independently functional, allowing the aircraft to retain an operational combat role while carrying a second crew member.

The configuration is therfefore intended to support conversion training and mission preparation while also offering potential advantages during complex combat missions through the division of cockpit workload. This could also include as a ‘drone controller,’ a growing area of interest for many air forces and something that Saab is also working toward with its uncrewed aircraft plans.

Combining the Gripen F, in particular, with a high-end drone of the kind that Saab envisages, would make a good deal of sense.

Saab has already pitched its stealthy, supersonic Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) ‘fighter drone’ as an adjunct for the single-seater, describing it as “a great asset to the Gripen E.” Saab envisages the Gripen E serving as a tactical mission commander for one or more ACPs, working in conjunction with the company’s GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.

The dual-crew benefits of the Gripen F, combined with the ACP, could give Saab an even more compelling route into the CCA market. After all, a fourth-generation fighter like the Gripen (Saab, it should be noted, rigorosly avoids using this generational terminology), can remain highly relevant when teamed with CCAs, and a high-performance, stealthy drone like the ACP could make that combination even more potent. It could, at least possibly in some cases, allow air forces to skip the sixth-generation crewed combat air platforms altogether, or at least greatly reduce the need for them.

Brazil is central to the Gripen F program. The country was the launch customer for the two-seat variant and participated directly in its development as part of the broader technology-transfer arrangement underpinning its Gripen acquisition.

The first Gripen F was formally rolled out at Saab’s Linköping facility in June. Brazil’s original 2014 agreement with Saab covers 36 aircraft, in the form of 28 single-seat Gripen E fighters and eight Gripen F two-seaters. Deliveries of Brazilian Gripens began in 2020.

The F-model has also attracted interest beyond Brazil. Saab has subsequently received Gripen F orders from Thailand and Colombia. The South American nation will get two Gripen Fs, while the breakdown of Thailand’s Gripen E/F order has not been revealed. According to Saab, the 16 new-build Gripens ordered for Ukraine will all be single-seaters.

As for the Swedish Air Force, this plans to buy 60 single-seat Gripen Es, but bearing in mind the changing security situation in Europe, and the increasing focus on uncrewed aircraft, a future Gripen F order should not be ruled out. In particular, Saab has said it expects the Swedish government to acquire new Gripen E/Fs to backfill the 12 earlier Gripen C/D variants it has donated to Kyiv, and which are expected to arrive in Ukraine early next year.

Saab also remains upbeat about the prospect of a Canadian order for the Gripen E/F.

Sweden has made a strong push to sell Gripen to Ottawa, and Saab offered to build the jet in Canada, in an effort to secure support for its previous bid, which it lost to Lockheed Martin and the F-35. Since then, Saab has also emerged as the preferred candidate to supply Canada with its future AEW&C capabilities via its GlobalEye.

Days after trade talks between Ottawa and Washington collapsed this month, further straining the Canada-United States relationship, Saab chief executive Micael Johansson told TWZ and other journalists that Gripen would be the “perfect” option if Canada moves ahead with a joint fighter purchase. The Swedish jet would add “combat mass” alongside the F-35, according to Johansson.

“I don’t think Canada will give up the F-35 completely; they will go forward with that to some extent,” Johansson said.

Johansson also pointed to the Gripen’s ability to operate from highway strips as well as conventional runways: “You get to use all kinds of airstrips that you cannot use with the F-35,” he added.

Gripen practicing landing and take off from a road base

Part of the Saab pitch to Canada is the establishment of a new domestic final assembly line for the Gripen E/F, which woud be the third such facility after Sweden and Brazil.

As for the Brazilian connection, this extends well beyond aircraft procurement. Saab says more than 350 Brazilian engineers, technicians, and pilots have participated in activities covering Gripen development, production, flight testing, and maintenance. Brazilian industry, including Embraer, has consequently become deeply involved in the program.

Meanwhile, Saab is continuing to expand what the fighter can actually do once it leaves the factory.

Recent work has included a test launch of the Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile, as well as last year’s integration of Helsing’s Centaur AI agent, which was tested in a beyond-visual-range combat scenario.

Speaking last week, Johan Segertoft, head of Saab’s Gripen business unit, points to the fighter’s digital architecture as a key enabler of the rapid integration of new capabilities. The company says the Centaur integration took just 10 weeks.

“We chose BVR because it’s one of the most complex things to prove that we could take third-party software and do it, but there’s a lot of things in an aircraft and outside an aircraft that benefit from the advancement of software,” Segertoft said.

Since the Gripen E first flew in 2017, Saab has implemented around 300 capability upgrades, according to Segertoft. He contrasts that with what he describes as a theoretical maximum of around five upgrades for competing aircraft.

That approach is summed up by Saab’s internal mantra, Segertoft says: “code in the evening, deploy in the morning, learn by lunch.”

The Gripen F test campaign will now move beyond basic systems checks toward progressively more demanding flight conditions. Saab’s Flight Test Center in Sweden will conduct the campaign before the aircraft undergoes the remaining acceptance procedures and is eventually handed over to the Brazilian Air Force.

The first flight therefore represents a milestone not only for Saab’s new two-seat fighter but also for the industrial partnership that produced it. Potentially, that model could be repeated in Canada in the future.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist known for her hypnotic, repetitive polka dot artworks, died earlier this week at the age of 97. Hers was the third in a string of deaths this week that left me feeling quite melancholy. First Dolly Parton, then Tim Curry and finally, Kusama.

The silver lining in the death of an artist, whether they be musician, actor, writer or visual artist, is that they leave a trail of comfort for fans through their work. I can (and did) sit in my breakfast nook weeping to the sound of Parton’s voice in songs including 1971’s “Coat of Many Colors.” When it comes to mourning Kusama, I am planning a trip to the Broad museum in downtown L.A., which houses two of her famous Infinity Mirror Rooms.

“Longing for Eternity” (2017) is on view on the third floor and can be accessed with a free general admission ticket. “Infinity Mirrored Room —The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” (2013), however, requires a separate free reservation. A rep for the museum said reservations are currently available through September with many time slots already completely full. The museum is also accommodating as many walk-ups as capacity allows — and these walk-ups have increased in the wake of Kusama’s death.

In an email to The Times, Broad founding President and Director Joanne Heyler wrote that Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms, “have been among the most beloved works at The Broad since we opened in 2015.”

Heyler noted that the Broad’s 2017 exhibition, “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” “was an incredible moment in the museum’s early history. It was a beautiful show, and unprecedented operationally: the only time our ticketing system broke down due to demand, minutes after release. Her work is both wildly popular and conceptually rigorous; her journey as an artist is complex, full of resilience and a refusal to be limited. Visitors have found deep connection inside the Infinity Mirror Rooms at The Broad — smiles, tears, even marriage proposals. We’re grateful to be one of the places where people can go to spend time with her work and remember her, and we’ll keep working to ensure her art is experienced as she intended: by everyone, infinitely.”

This is welcome news, and the devoted interest makes sense. In many ways, these physically small but emotionally vast rooms encapsulate the essence of Kusama’s practice throughout her life. Built in a distinctively analog way, the rooms create the illusion of endless space through the use of light, mirrors and splashes of color. Kusama incorporated hand-sewn cloth, and later, multimedia video projections, but at their core the rooms remained largely technology-free.

The irony being that a decade ago they emerged as social media sensations, and were ubiquitous in selfies across the internet as they traveled from blockbuster show to blockbuster show.

It’s a pity because all the people who stepped into those rooms with their cellphone cameras at the ready missed a profound opportunity to inhabit a floating dreamscape of true peace and quiet — the kind we rarely grasp in our digital-notification suffocated world.

I can still remember the first time I had the opportunity to experience one of Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms. It was dark and glittering with tiny pinpricks of colored light. I felt as if I were suspended in a deep, black pool of energy that extended beyond me in all directions. I could hear my blood rushing in my ears and briefly wondered if this could be what it felt like in the womb.

I got dizzy and recovered, and then — for what felt like a long time but was only a matter of seconds — I was free.

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt taking moments of solace where I can get them. This is your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

Babatunde Akinboboye
The baritone fuses classical opera with hip-hop on “Toreador,” “Funiculi, Funicula,” “O Sole Mio” and more.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org

Director Richard Linklater at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Linklater
A three-movie American Cinematheque tribute featuring Q&As with the Texas filmmaker. In a recent interview, Times film writer Mark Olsen asked Linklater what it’s like to reflect on his work: “What resonates with me in my mind is the experience of making the movie more than the movie itself — all the people you worked with and the cast and all those good feelings.”
“Boyhood,” 7:30 p.m. Friday; “Waking Life,” 4 p.m. Saturday. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; “Dazed & Confused,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Directors Village, 961 Broxton Ave. Westwood. americancinematheque.com

Pericles
Boston Court, in partnership with Play On Shakespeare, presents the West Coast premiere of Ellen McLaughlin’s modern verse translation of Shakespeare’s rarely performed adventure tale. Directed by Margaret Shigeko Starbuck.
Through Sept. 27. Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave. bostoncourtpasadena.org

Romeo & Juliet
A site-specific, immersive, queer adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy.
7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Sassafras Saloon, 1233 Vine St. eventbrite.com

SATURDAY

Place Is the Space
A four-hour immersive performance experience created by artist Edgar Arceneaux and co-creator Frank Lawson employs live jazz improvisation, theatrical storytelling and multimedia design inspired by Sun Ra’s philosophy and his film “Space Is the Place.” Presented by CAP UCLA, the event includes an audience procession to the Hammer Museum in conjunction with the current exhibition, “Space Is the Place,” for a final performance.
1 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu

Joshua Smith Untitled (Yellow Heart), 2026 Acrylic on canvas 14 ¾ x 14 ½ in.

(839 Gallery)

Joshua Smith: Hearts and Triangles
The artist’s first Los Angeles solo show includes brightly colored monochrome paintings on shaped canvases.
Opening reception, 5-8 p.m. Saturday; exhibition continues through Oct. 17. 839, 839 N. Cherokee Ave. 839gallery.com

Winter’s Bench
The world premiere of Mike Kenny’s play about a woman who returns to a park where she thinks a tree once spoke to her. Starring Anne Gee Byrd and Shih-wei Wu. Directed by Debbie Devine. All performances will feature Spanish supertitles.
Previews, 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sept. 4; 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m.; Sundays, 8 p.m.; Sept. 7 and 14; through Oct. 25. 24th Street Theatre, 1117 W. 24th St. 24thstreet.org

SUNDAY

Element Band
Led by Ara Dabandjian, the ensemble features 12 musicians and vocalists, including Soseh Aramouni Keshishyan and Natalie Avunjian, in a celebration of Armenian heritage, creativity and live music.
7:30 p.m. The Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East. theford.com

TUESDAY

Dvořák & Bruch
Conductor Anja Bihlmaier and violinist Bomsori join the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
8 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

THURSDAY

Amadeus in Concert
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by conductor Norman Huynh, conductor, and the Pacific Chorale perform live to Milos Forman’s 1984 Oscar-winning best picture starring Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham.
8 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com

The Arsonists
Max Frisch’s 1953 absurdist satire, translated by Alastair Beaton and directed by Luke Harlan.
8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 5 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sunday; through Sept. 20. Skylight Theatre, 1816 1/2 N. Vermont Ave. skylighttheatre.org

Under the Oaks
A weekly salon series featuring performance and music: “Currents: Composers in Concert” (Sept. 3); “Beer! A New Musical-in-Development” (Sept. 10); “Cabaret Theatricum Sings Marvin Gaye” (Sept. 17); and “The Voice of Dr. King” (Sept. 24.
7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sept. 24. Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. Topanga. theatricum.com

Arts everywhere

Sarah Bareilles in the documentary “Sarah Bareilles: Good Grief.”

(A Group Effort Films / Naked Edge Films)

Sara Bareilles: Good Grief
The Grammy-winning Broadway star and pop singer’s return to the recording studio for the first time in seven years is captured in this intimate documentary directed by Josh Alexander receiving a one-night-only theatrical release. The film looks at Bareilles’ experience of channeling her own pain to create art and the healing journey that accompanied it. Bareilles will perform at the Dolby Theatre, Oct. 12-14.
7 p.m. Wednesday. Laemmle and AMC theaters. sarabmusic.com

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Dolores Huerta photographed at Dolores Huerta “Help Wanted/Leave Now” exhibit at California Museum.

(Beth Baugher / California Museum)

Dolores Huerta has prioritized involving herself in projects relating to labor and women’s rights in the wake of going public with sexual abuse allegations against former labor leader Cesar Chavez. One of those projects can now be seen at the California Museum in Sacramento in an exhibition called “Help Wanted/Leave Now: ‘Operation Wetback’ and the Revolving Door of Mass Deportation,” which, according to a story by contributor Isa Farfan, “examines decades of the federal government’s deportation campaigns against Mexican immigrants even while it recruited millions of these farmworkers and rail workers to fill labor shortages during and after World War II.”

Contributor Leah Ollman reviews a new Eileen Cowin retrospective called “Between Panic and Paradise” at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Labeling Cowin a “wry disruptor,” Ollman notes that over the artist’s nearly six-decade career, she has toyed with time in a novel way: “By deviating from straightforward chronology, the installation resonates smartly with one of Cowin’s key operating principles — that we don’t experience time as a continuous line moving in one direction, but as episodic, fragmented, interrupted, layered.”

Gustavo Dudamel at the end of the first half his show at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 20.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Gustavo Dudamel is really leaving — although it feels as if the city has been mourning the eventuality for years. Times classical music critic Mark Swed was, of course, on hand to bear witness to Dudamel’s final farewell: a four-night Hollywood Bowl extravaganza. “Dudamel addressed the audience, sounding very much like he had 17 years ago at the Bowl, extolling in our being a crowd of many types together for many musics. L.A., he said, made him an Angeleno,” Swed wrote.

Swed also attended a Tuesday night show at the Hollywood Bowl after the Dudamel farewell extravaganza and found it rather empty and a bit “forlorn,” a situation, he writes in a review, that “left Anna Handler, who becomes the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s conductor-in-residence this fall, with the trickiest conducting assignment of the summer anywhere.”

Theater Director Bart DeLorenzo on the set of “Enemy of the People” at the Odyssey Theatre on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

Times theater critic Charles McNulty recently sat down for a lunchtime conversation with Bart DeLorenzo, “L.A.’s most playfully provocative theater auteur,” about his decision to direct (and adapt) Henrik Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People” at Odyssey Theatre. “If ever there was a moment to revive ‘An Enemy of the People,’ it’s now,” McNulty writes. “The demoralizing spectacle of the U.S. Senate’s inquisition of Dr. Anthony Fauci last month, led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in unapologetic witch-hunt mode, was yet another reminder that Ibsen’s drama about a public health crusader being targeted by politicians and business leaders when his medical advice goes counter to their interests hasn’t lost its punch.”

The drama never stops at the beleaguered Kennedy Center as it deals with the continued tumult resulting from President Trump’s takeover early last year. Most recently the Justice Department claimed in a recent court filing that Trump’s “efforts and prestige provide the sole hope for the Center’s financial survival, and structural renewal.” If the center isn’t shut down for the two-year renovation Trump demands, it may need to be demolished, the filing reads.

Visitors line up outside the Japanese American National Museum for a 2022 event recalling World War II incarceration camps.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

After closing in early January, 2024, the Japanese American National Museum has announced it will reopen its newly renovated Pavilion on Jan. 23, 2027. Renovations include a new main entrance and new first-floor galleries for a brand new exhibition titled “In the Future We Call Now: Realities of Racism, Forging Democracy.” The special exhibition galleries on the second floor have also been updated and will feature the inaugural exhibition, “Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo.”

The Broad has announced its next fall exhibition, “Has the myth been shattered,” opening Nov. 21. The exhibition is set to include recent acquisitions by Guadalupe Rosales, Hank Willis Thomas and Mickalene Thomas. “Gathered together, works in the exhibition create unexpected connections across six decades, prompting an examination of how media has shaped history, memory, and collective experience,” a news release notes.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

A little rare bird is making people happy, and I’ll take the moment of levity.

At a Kathmandu hospital, families peer at lists of those who are critical, dead — or have been released.

Kathmandu/Nuwakot/Trishuli, Nepal – Loknath Chaulagain is looking for his 23-year-old nephew Sudarshan at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.

A bus conductor, Sudarshan was waiting at the checkpoint in Timure, a town bordering Tibet, when the flash flood that devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet struck on Wednesday. His family says a phone call went through to his number at 9:54am local time – after the flash flood struck the border region – but Sudarshan did not pick up the call. Since then, his phone has been unreachable.

The family has been searching for him – near where the floods struck, and now in Kathmandu’s hospitals, where some survivors have been brought. But so far, they’ve had no luck.

They’re not alone. Thousands of families in Nepal are still stranded in the no-man’s land between hope and fear: hopes of an impossible miracle and worst fears of losing someone they love.

Two days after the flash flood swept away much of what lay in its path along the Bhotekoshi River in the northern Himalayan region bordering Tibet, the full scale of devastation is yet to be ascertained in Nepal. The death toll is on the rise, with nearly 500 bodies recovered. The missing toll is well over 1,000 and is expected to rise further.

The wall of water with ice and mud that surged downstream with fury on August 26 caused maximum damage to Timure, Rasuwagadhi and Syabrubesi in the higher Rasuwa region nearer to Tibetan border checkpoints.

Downstream, it washed away buildings, electric poles, bridges, markets, homes and vehicles that stood in its path in Trishuli and Nuwakot regions.

The usually buzzing Trishuli market is today covered in mud, sludge and debris. Locals, including many Indians who have made the area their home for many years, beg and plead with relief workers to take them to their destroyed homes in earthmovers to retrieve whatever may be left of their belongings.

Helicopters whirred nonstop on Wednesday and Thursday in these areas, trying to rescue those trapped under the rubble or washed away and stranded in dangerous situations. Those rescued with lighter injuries are being treated at the army camp helipad medical unit, while those with grievous injuries are being airlifted to bigger facilities in Kathmandu.

At the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, people come by and plaster posters on walls with photographs and contact details of missing friends and family. Other hospital pillars bear lists of those who have been admitted or are in critical condition – or those who have been killed: five-year-old Ishara Tamang in paediatric surgery; 30-year-old Tej Bhadur Tamang in the ICU; 25-year-old male Kusal Magar, listed as dead. Multiple pairs of concerned eyes gaze intensely at these lists, hoping to find their loved ones there.

Among them is Sohan, a young man who does not want to speak to journalists on camera. He is searching for his 42-year-old father, Gyan Bahadur Rana Magar. “Three days on, we are searching and still trying to find him,” he says. His father went with Indian tourists as a guide to Rasuwa, the border district with Tibet that is one of the worst affected.

When the lists on pillars offer no answers, people searching for their loved ones head to the mortuary where photographs of some of the recovered bodies have been glued to the gates. Many bodies were found dismembered; some were missing limbs. When someone finds a hint of familiarity, they inform security officials, who let them in after some identification check to take a look at the body.

Dressed in a red saree and blouse, and wearing a red pothe necklace  – a traditional glass-bead necklace worn by married women in Nepal – Lal Kumari is desperately looking for her husband, Arjun Shreshtha. A tourist van driver in his late 40s, he was swept away by the flood in Rasuwa district. Kumari has three children, including a married daughter and a grandchild, and her only question is: Could her husband, miraculously, still be alive?

Fans of Beyond Paradise will love the BBC detective drama created by Robert Thorogood

A BBC detective drama written by Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood is airing tonight.

The Marlow Murder Club returns tonight and will air at 9pm on BBC Two. Part one of two of the adaptation of Robert Thorogood’s novel will be shown, starring Samantha Bond, Cara Horgan, and Jo Martin.

The synopsis for the episode reads, “Retired archaeologist Judith Potts’s peaceful evening in Marlow is shattered when she witnesses the murder of her neighbour.

“With the local police, led by newly promoted DS Tanika Malik, reluctant to believe her story, Judith starts her own investigation, enlisting the help of the vicar’s wife, Becks Starling, and local dog walker Suzie Harris.”

Fans can tune in to watch the repeat as they eagerly await the fourth series of the crime drama’s return.

Series four is set to return on free-streaming service U in 2027, and will feature an adaptation of Sunday Times Best Seller Robert Thorogood’s novel Murder on the Marlow Belle, alongside brand-new original mysteries.

Returning to solve more complex and intriguing murders in Marlow are meticulous crossword-setter Judith Potts (Samantha Bond), pillar of the community and vicar’s wife Becks Starling (Cara Horgan), and no-nonsense dog walker Suzie Harris (Jo Martin).

Working tirelessly alongside DI Tanika Malik (Natalie Dew) and her police team, the crime-solving trio put their unconventional methods into practice to catch the killers across three brand-new stories.

Series four begins with the discovery of a body in the river, soon linked to the Marlow Amateur Dramatics Society and a homegrown Hollywood star.

The team must also unravel the truth behind a man’s sudden death at his mother’s wake. He appears to have died from an allergic reaction, but is there more to it than that? And when the co-owner of a vineyard is found dead, drowned in his own wine, the women work to make sense of this seemingly unmotivated murder.

Masterpiece Head of Scripted Content and Executive Producer Susanne Simpson shared about the new series: “The Marlow Murder Club has quickly become one of our most popular Mystery! series.

“The strong female characters with unique skills and a special bond that resonates with our audience. And who doesn’t like to solve a good puzzle?! The fourth season is sure to deliver on everything the fans have come to love about the show.”

The Marlow Murder Club airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Two.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a $16.7 million no-bid contract to Compliant Technologies for 6,000 shock gloves to be used to detain people by force.

The agency is ordering the product Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, or GLOVE, a glove that delivers an electrical current when contacting a person’s skin. The gloves cost $2,495 each, the contract published on a federal database on Thursday reads.

ICE said it “requires a non-lethal, de-escalation device” to “diffuse situations or high-stress environments where physical altercations are likely.”

Along with the gloves, the contract also grants ICE support and equipment services from Compliant Technologies.

“This technology is vital to meeting mission demands, ensuring officer safety, and achieving the President’s public safety and immigration enforcement priorities,” the contract reads.

Compliant Technologies is a Kentucky-based company. Its instruction manual says that users should “always give the subject(s) a reasonable opportunity to comply before force is used.”

A group largely consisting of Democratic senators is opposing the use of the gloves, penning a letter to ICE’s acting Director David Venturella on Thursday.

“Over the past year, ICE personnel have been involved in numerous well-documented incidents of excessive force and civil rights violations,” the letter reads. “These incidents have shown the American people that ICE personnel are not adequately trained or accountable for their interactions with civilians.”

The incidents of excessive force referred to in the letter include the killings of U.S. citizens, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti within weeks of each other in the Minneapolis metropolitan area earlier this year.

“The American people have made it clear that ICE must de-escalate its immigration enforcement operations,” the letter reads.

At least 17 companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank hold United Kingdom public-sector contracts worth more than 2.1 billion pounds ($2.85bn), an Al Jazeera investigation reveals.

The findings come as more than 140 UK Labour MPs are calling on the government to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, a move Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering.

Our analysis of procurement records, company filings and corporate disclosures found that businesses named by the United Nations over their involvement in illegal Israeli settlements – and companies those businesses ultimately own or control as subsidiaries – have secured contracts across the British public sector, including in areas such as road maintenance, transport, emergency services and driving licensing.

“Evidence is growing that the UK may be in breach of its international obligations … by continuing to contract with entities identified by the UN as providing assistance of this sort,” Stephen Humphreys, professor of international law at the London School of Economics, told Al Jazeera.

Data compiled by public procurement analysts Tussell, and shared with Al Jazeera, shows the 17 companies and entities hold 125 public-sector contracts with a combined award value of 2.129 billion pounds ($2.89bn).

Companies owned by Motorola Solutions, the United States technology and communications giant, account for more than 1.7 billion pounds ($2.3bn) of the total – the vast majority through its British subsidiary Airwave Solutions. Other contracts we reviewed are held by firms within four other corporate groups including Heidelberg Materials, a German multinational building materials company; the French engineering group Egis; the Spanish train manufacturer CAF and Chinese conglomerate Fosun.

A report by the United Nations Human Rights Office identifies the five corporate groups as involved in business activities related to illegal Israeli settlements.

Heidelberg Materials’ Israeli subsidiary owns a quarry on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, while Motorola is embedded in the security infrastructure of illegal settlements. Egis and CAF are involved in Jerusalem’s expanding light-rail network – a project activists say entrenches Israel’s control by integrating settlements into the city while further fragmenting Palestinian neighbourhoods.

Fosun International, whose subsidiary Breas Medical receives UK public money, also owns the controversial Israeli cosmetics manufacturer Ahava, which operates in the Mitzpe Shalem illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank. Civil rights groups, including the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign in the UK, decry Ahava as a firm that is “complicit” in the theft of Palestinian land and livelihoods.

Meanwhile, violence is escalating in the occupied West Bank.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice found Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful and said it must end “as rapidly as possible”. The court also placed obligations on other states “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

That raises questions over Britain’s continued commercial relationships with the companies identified in Al Jazeera’s investigation, observers said.

‘UK government is propping up apartheid’

Humphreys believes that Britain may also be failing to meet its legal obligations by “failing to launch its own investigation into their activities, with a view to preventing them if necessary”.

The UK has also warned businesses against bidding for construction tenders in illegal settlements.

“Businesses should not consider bidding for construction tenders,” a government statement issued this month said, warning of “legal and reputational consequences” and the risk of involvement in “serious breaches of international law”.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Al Jazeera’s findings expose a contradiction between the UK’s stated position and its economic ties.

“Quite simply, the UK government is propping up apartheid,” Corbyn told Al Jazeera. “Every day, the UK deepens its complicity in Israel’s economy of occupation and, in turn, Israel’s economy of genocide.”

The Cabinet Office told Al Jazeera that individual public authorities make decisions to exclude suppliers case-by-case for each contract. It said public procurement in the UK should not be used to boycott suppliers linked to other countries unless formal UK sanctions, embargoes or restrictions are in place.

Here’s what we found about some of the companies involved in settlement trade:

Motorola Solutions: Tech embedded in illegal settlements

The UN identifies Motorola in connection with two settlement-related activities: the “supply of security services, equipment and materials to enterprises operating in settlements” and the “provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport”.

Al Jazeera contacted the Motorola Solutions group for comment but received no response.

It is the largest beneficiary of UK public money that we investigated.

Motorola’s subsidiaries are entrusted with providing communications equipment to the emergency services in the UK. The largest contract identified by Al Jazeera is held by Airwave Solutions, a Motorola subsidiary. The Home Office awarded Airwave an extension worth 1.562 billion pounds ($2.13bn) to provide the secure communications network used by police, fire and ambulance services across England, Scotland and Wales. Motorola Solutions UK separately holds contracts worth 123.9 million pounds ($170m), including a 36.5-million-pound ($49.8m) Ministry of Defence contract for Airwave radios, accessories and airtime.

Five companies now ultimately controlled by Motorola Solutions Inc – Airwave Solutions Ltd, Motorola Solutions UK Ltd, CRFS Ltd, 3TC Software Ltd and Noggin IT Ltd – hold 91 active UK public-sector contracts worth 1.726 billion pounds ($2.3bn), according to the latest Tussell data.

Motorola Solutions Inc and its Israeli subsidiary, Motorola Solutions Israel Ltd, were included when the UN Human Rights Office first published its database of businesses involved in specified settlement-related activities in 2020. Both remain in its latest version.

Official records provide a glimpse of how the company’s technology has been embedded in settlements.

Tenders from Mateh Binyamin Regional Council and the municipal corporation of Ariel, both illegal settlements, show Motorola command-and-control technology being used in security and surveillance infrastructure.

Motorola equipment has also been bought by the Israeli Civil Administration, the military body through which Israel administers civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank.

In 2005, the UN reported that Motorola supplied surveillance systems to settlements including Hebron, Karmei Tzur and Bracha.

Motorola’s relationship with the Israeli authorities continues today. An Israeli government procurement document obtained by Al Jazeera shows Motorola Solutions Israel was awarded a 25.5-million-shekel ($8.7m) contract in May 2026 to maintain approximately 19,000 police radios and provide encryption licences until April 2028.

Heidelberg Materials: A controversial quarry on occupied land

The UN has listed Heidelberg Materials over the commercial use of natural resources in occupied Palestinian territory.

In Britain, five Heidelberg Materials companies hold 25 public-sector contracts worth 184.79 million pounds ($252m). Almost all of that – 179.03 million pounds ($244m) – is held by Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd. Its contracts include 60 million pounds ($81.9m) from Westmorland and Furness Council for road surfacing and highway works between 2024 and 2027, and a 50-million-pound ($68.3m) surfacing maintenance contract with Somerset Council.

Its Israeli subsidiary, Hanson Israel, owns the Nahal Raba quarry, south of Qalqilya in the West Bank. The quarry sits on land belonging to the Palestinian villages of az-Zawiya and Rafat, according to Who Profits.

An official Civil Administration planning notice reviewed by Al Jazeera shows a proposal was approved to expand the site.

Who Profits, a group that researches links between the private sector and the economy in the Israeli-occupied territories, said the approval was granted on May 28, 2025.

Heidelberg told Al Jazeera that in 2023, Hanson Israel “ceased all activities at the Nahal Raba quarry and the associated asphalt plant and ready-mix concrete plant”, adding that only security personnel are present on site.

Egis: Selling transport infrastructure that supports settlements

French engineering group Egis provides another type of connection via transport infrastructure linking illegal Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem with the rest of the city.

The UN lists Egis in connection with the “provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport”.

Egis’s own material shows that its involvement in Jerusalem’s expanding light-rail network continues today, with the company website advertising a job for an engineering expert based in Jerusalem on its light-rail projects.

Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan procurement documents from 2017 also identify Egis Rail as its general consultant, responsible for supervising and coordinating planning and design work on the Blue and Green lines.

Jerusalem’s light rail crosses into occupied East Jerusalem and links illegal Israeli settlements there with West Jerusalem. UN reports have described the railway as “additional infrastructure serving the illegal settlement network” and said it further isolates occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank.

Egis told Al Jazeera it “formally expressed its disagreement with this inclusion” in the UN database.

In Britain, five companies and entities controlled by Egis hold six public-sector contracts worth 133.60 million pounds ($182.4m). Almost the entire amount comes from a single contract, with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency awarding Egis Projects UK Ltd a 133.23-million-pound ($181.9m) contract for enforcement services across Britain. Egis businesses also hold UK public contracts, including Galson Sciences, Helios Technology, Egis Transport Solutions and architecture practice WestonWilliamson+Partners.

CAF: Constructing project to continue into 2027

Spanish train manufacturer CAF is also involved in Jerusalem’s light-rail network. The company has disclosed that the 1.8-billion-euro ($2.10bn) Jerusalem project was awarded in 2019 to TransJerusalem J-Net Ltd, a firm owned 50 percent by CAF and 50 percent by Israeli construction business Shapir.

CAF said the project includes construction of the Green Line and extension of the existing Red Line, “which partially run through East Jerusalem”. The construction phase is expected to continue until 2027.

The UN identifies CAF over the “supply of equipment and materials facilitating the construction and the expansion of settlements” and the “use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes”.

Al Jazeera contacted CAF for comment but received no response.

Meanwhile, CAF has an extensive relationship with Britain’s public sector, including supplying trams for one of the country’s major urban networks. The West Midlands Combined Authority awarded CAF an 83.5-million-pound ($114m) contract for a new generation of trams for the West Midlands Metro. The contract runs until December 2027, according to Tussell data.

Fosun: Owner of a cosmetics company accused of excavating Dead Sea mud in occupied territory

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International is identified by the UN under the category covering the commercial use of natural resources, particularly water and land.

Its connection to the occupied West Bank centres on Israeli cosmetics manufacturer Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories. Fosun itself announced in April 2016 that it had agreed to acquire Ahava for 290 million shekels ($76.8m).

Fosun’s subsequent statutory reporting recorded Ahava as 99.46-percent owned.

A European Commission statement in 2018 said Ahava “does have operations in the settlement Mitzpeh Shalem, located in Occupied Territories”.

According to the Quaker-founded organisation, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), repeated site visits confirmed that Ahava’s former factory in the illegal Mitzpe Shalem settlement remained operational as of 2026.

The group said Dead Sea mud was excavated in the occupied Palestinian territory and initially processed at the site before being transferred to Ein Gedi for further production.

In Britain, Breas Medical, which is ultimately owned through Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical by Fosun International, holds two public-sector contracts worth 1.29 million pounds ($1.76m). Fosun International is the controlling shareholder of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical.

Al Jazeera contacted Fosun for comment but received no response.

The ITV reality star was shown falling from a horse while riding in Meet the Owens.

Former Love Island star Gemma Owen’s horror horse riding accident has been aired in her new show Meet the Owens on Prime Video. The six-part programme follows former England footballer-turned-horse breeder Michael Owen and his family, including his feisty eldest daughter Gemma.

In a harrowing episode on the show, Gemma, 23 is shown falling from a horse and appearing to hit a railing while she is training to compete in the charity race the Magnolia Cup. Gemma, who represented Team GB in Dressage at youth and junior levels, is an experienced horse rider and the fall came as a shock to her family.

Luckily, Gemma escaped the fall without any broken bones, however she did get whiplash and sustained cuts to her face, as well as being covered in bruises. Gemma was riding her father’s horse He’s A Gentleman when she suffered the accident, after the horse appeared to bolt.

Audiences were shown images of Gemma’s huge bruises and she could be seen sporting a cut on the left side of her face, near her chin. The accident came six days before she was due to compete.

Speaking about the incident, her father Michael, 46, said Gemma was “tough as nails” and got back on a horse the day after. Meet the Owens then showed Gemma competing in the Magnolia Cup, despite being hardly able to move her neck.

Despite the accident, Gemma ended up coming fourth in the race after being initially stuck in 12th position when she was boxed in early on in the race. Michael later commented in a VT: “She came fourth but it’s just the start” as he knew Gemma would be gearing up to race another day in the future.

Reflecting on the fourth-place position, Gemma said she was “beyond gutted” and confirmed she would be doing it again, saying, “because I need to b****y win!” She also conceded that her father Michael had been right when he’d encouraged her to try horse racing.

She’s initially been skeptical about becoming a jockey, but over the course of training Gemma realised that this was what she wanted to do. Gemma was previously a contestant on season eight of Love Island back in 2022 and was a runner-up in the dating series.

Along with focusing on Gemma, Meet the Owens also delves into Michael and his wife Louise’s sweet marriage after the pair grew up together and attended the same primary school. They also touched on a tough point in their marriage during Michael’s move to Real Madrid, which had left new mother Louise isolated and without a support network.

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Michael’s only son, James, and his degenerative eye condition are also spotlighted in another episode. James was born with the genetic condition Stargardt disease, which means he is clinically blind.

Despite this, James showed his ambitions to become part of Michael’s family business, Manor House Stables and help to get potential investors on board. At one point, Michael and James even went to Bahrain together in the hopes of securing some more potential buyers and money for the stables.

Meet the Owens is streaming on Prime Video now

Aug. 28 (UPI) — Economists and financial markets will be watching closely on Friday when the Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh delivers a keynote address at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Federal Reserve chairmen often use the speech to discuss monetary policy initiatives on a broad level, including offering insight into future interest rate plans. Since being appointed chairman in May, Warsh has been scant with details on future policy decisions and Friday’s address is expected to be more of the same.

The U.S. economy continues to face inflation pressures with inflation rates well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% annual target. Under Warsh, inflation markers have moved higher yet while the Federal Open Market Committee has maintained its benchmark interest rates at 3.5% to 3.75%.

Some members in the central bank are calling for another hike in interest rates, which would be a first since July 2023.

“If I had to guess, I would say that he’s going to give a very high-level, broad look at the work of the task forces and how he thinks the Fed should operate, as opposed to a nuts-and-bolts assessment of the economy and expectations for policy,” Luke Tilley, chief economist at M&T Bank and Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, told CNBC.

Warsh has established five task forces that are reviewing how the Federal Reserve approaches its policy decisions, including its use of data, technology including artificial intelligence, and its balance sheet.

The Federal Open Market Committee did not meet in August. Its next meeting is on Sept. 15 and 16, during which it will decide whether to hold interest rates firm or make adjustments.

After Warsh’s address following last month’s FOMC meeting, yields for long-term bonds rose. This happens when bond traders are skeptical that the central bank will cool inflation.

It has been six months since February 28, when the US and Israel shocked the world by launching missile strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials in Tehran, as well as scores of children in a school in Minab, southern Iran.

US President Donald Trump then claimed the conflict would only last “four to five weeks”.

In the months since, the war has erupted on several other fronts, reaching as far as the Caspian Sea. It has triggered a global oil supply crisis as the US and Iran battle for control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which more than one-fifth of oil and natural gas cargo transited.

And it has resulted in an estimated 8,000-10,000 deaths, as well as tens of thousands of injuries.

The conflict is also realigning the global order, experts say, as new alliances form and dominant ones show signs of crumbling.

Here’s what we know:

Has the US achieved any of its war objectives?

The US’s goals were not initially clear: officials first claimed the strikes were carried out in preemptive self-defence.

According to demands presented on the eve of the war, and a jumble of sometimes contradictory statements from Trump and senior US defence officials, they include the following:

Iran’s nuclear programme

Despite Trump’s claim that the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities when it joined in at the end of Israel’s 12-day war on Iran in June 2025, the US and Israel again claimed in February that Tehran was just weeks away from developing nuclear weapons.

Repeated strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites during the war have likely caused vast damage to the facilities, but it is believed Tehran still possesses 440kg of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to make a weapon.

The Trump administration wanted Iran to hand over this stock to the US and to commit to zero enrichment of uranium going forward. Iran refused to do this, although at one point appeared open to the possibility of handing the stock over to a third country. Iran also insisted on retaining the capacity to develop a nuclear power programme, which requires much lower levels of uranium enrichment.

Later, Trump briefly floated the idea of US troops retrieving the stock by force – a potentially dangerous mission.

In the June 17 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both sides, Iran agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon – something it had always pledged anyway. The MoU unravelled as its vague wording led to disagreements about what it actually stipulated.

Clark Summers, a US military veteran and professor at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, said the US “can rightly assert that these ends have been achieved. Although for how long before Iran can rebuild is difficult to assess.”

But Iranian expert and professor at the Australian National University (ANU), Alam Saleh, disagreed, and noted that Iran’s nuclear power programme is still intact. “The US lost even before the war,” he said, adding that the effort also shows that Washington failed in last year’s 12-day war.

Regime change in Iran

On day one of the war – February 28 – the US killed Khamenei alongside several other senior officials. Trump, two days earlier, said regime change is “the best thing that could happen”.

As the US launched missiles, he also called on “Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country”.

Iran’s political leadership has, however, remained largely the same under the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei – the late ayatollah’s son.

Summers told Al Jazeera that the goal may have been “ad hoc” or improvised rather than well-planned. But “killing leaders does not mean strategic achievements, even if it’s a tactical success,” Saleh said.

Ending support for regional proxy groups

Iran’s “axis of resistance” is an umbrella comprising a number of armed groups around the region that it funds. This includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and several smaller groups in Iraq and Syria.

There are no signs that Tehran’s support for them has ended, and this demand did not appear in the MoU signed by the US.

Hezbollah went to war with Israel in Iran’s defence, and Iran has refused to negotiate an end to the war unless the Lebanon front is included. The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched a blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, partly in support of Iran.

Iran’s ballistic missiles programme

Washington swore it would “raze” Iran’s missile facilities to the ground when it launched the war on February 28. The US also pledged to destroy Iran’s navy.

Trump has since claimed that about 82 percent of Iran’s missiles are gone and the navy is degraded.

In April, he also said that 158 Iranian naval vessels had been hit, while US Central Command (CENTCOM) has continued to announce dozens of strikes on command centres of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iran, however, has continued to fire missiles, most recently launching a long-range missile in July that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.

Furthermore, the demand for an end to Iran’s ballistic missiles programme was also absent from the July MoU.

Control of Iranian oil

In June, Trump said the US would seize and control Iran’s Kharg island, the heart of Iranian oil production.

To date, the US does not control any Iranian territory.

What have the US and Iran gained and lost during the war?

Besides the US demands at the start of the war, several other pressure points have emerged during the conflict.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz

Soon after the war began, Iran in effect closed the narrow but critical Strait of Hormuz, which passes through its territorial waters as well as those of Oman. Since then, shipping traffic has slumped from more than 100 ships per day to an average of about five.

To enforce this closure, Iran began striking vessels in the strait, the only route to the open ocean for Gulf oil and gas producers, which had not gained its explicit permission to pass through.

The US responded with its own naval blockade on Iranian ports in and around the strait. This is continuing.

Despite a large number of expletive-laden demands from Trump since then – many of them on social media – that Tehran reopen the strait, Iran has not budged. It is currently negotiating plans for the future of the waterway, through which more than one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies were shipped before the war, with Oman.

As part of these negotiations, Iran announced this week that it has agreed to a shipping route, which it will partially control, with Oman.

While Trump has recently claimed that the US has “full control” of the strait and that it is open to vessels, shipping remains at an all-time low and Iran has continued to fire at any vessels trying to pass without its permission.

Iran sees the strait as its main piece of leverage in the war with the US, which Salah said, Iran views as an “existential threat”.

Economic impact

• Iran: The war’s impact on Iran’s economy has been severe. The Iranian rial has in effect collapsed. Food prices have surged amid the war, and the US blockade and renewed sanctions have hampered Iranian oil exports, with the blockade cutting oil revenue by at least $6bn. Tehran’s economy has long been battered by US sanctions, although the fragile ceasefire provided temporary relief. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week that economic pressure is a “rerun we know by heart” and that the country knows how to survive it.
• US: US consumers have also felt the pressure of the war at the petrol pump, making the conflict highly unpopular. A July poll by The Associated Press revealed that two-thirds of Americans are against the conflict. While many tend to forget there’s a war, Summers said, they do remember it acutely when petrol prices rise. In states like California, gasoline prices doubled. That anger will likely translate into a political backlash against Republicans in November’s midterms, experts say.

Relations with allies

• Iran: Iran’s targeting of US military assets as well as both military and nonmilitary infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf states and Jordan has not made it popular regionally, experts note. Iran has hit infrastructure in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Those states have called this a violation of their sovereignty. However, Iran’s economic and political ties with China have held, as Beijing has managed a delicate dance by advocating against sanctions on Iran while refraining from becoming fully entangled in the conflict. Trade relations with Russia also remain strong.
• US: The US has faced reluctance from its NATO allies to back it up in this war. Despite being asked directly by Trump, they have refused to join the war. Spain and Italy, in particular, have highly criticised the conflict, while Germany, Israel’s strongest ally in Europe, has done the same. France rejected calls to send warships to enforce the blockade. Gulf allies, Pakistan and Turkiye have all similarly refused, while in Asia, Japan, Australia and South Korea all declined to get involved. Gulf allies are also likely weighing the fact that it is the US’s war on Iran which has caused them to become targets.

Military capabilities

• Iran: US experts say that claims Washington has degraded Iran’s military capabilities are correct. Several army bases have been struck while Iran’s ballistic missile stockpiles are down by about 82 percent, according to Trump. However, Iran is still launching missiles and, while nuclear facilities have been damaged, it still has possession of its enriched uranium stockpile. Experts point out that Iran likely has a bigger appetite for an atomic weapon now than before the war began. Tehran has also continued to produce and deploy its mass-produced, cheap Shahed drones. An estimated 1,221 military personnel were killed by April, although the real toll is likely higher.
• US: The US has lost 18 soldiers and more than 750 have been wounded. That’s “quite low”, Summers said. However, US media reports suggest the Pentagon has severely depleted stockpiles of some of its most powerful and most expensive weapons – particularly its Patriot defence missiles – something Washington denies. Those missiles are only produced in the dozens annually and cost millions of dollars each. In August, the US signed a $22.9bn deal with manufacturer Raytheon to boost Tomahawk cruise missile production from 60 to more than 1,000 annually.

Is there an outright ‘victor’?

Observers say there is not.

“Both of them have not achieved anything,” Saleh of ANU said, noting that the US has failed to translate military superiority to actual gains despite being a “superpower” fighting a “middle power”.

China and Russia are likely observing Washington’s weaknesses, making new military calculations in the event of a future conflict with the US, he said. That has implications for Taiwan, especially as the US has now deployed its last aircraft carrier in the Pacific to the Middle East. The shift leaves the US without an aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific, despite Washington’s previous strategic emphasis on the region.

“Iran surviving also does not mean it’s a winner,” however, Saleh said. “This might be a defeat for the US, but it’s not a victory for Iran either.”

JAMES Bond could see it’s first ever husband and wife casting as Saoirse Ronan pitches for a villain role – and Jack Lowden is up for 007.

The actress, 32, who tied the knot with Jack in 2024, has teased that she could be in the upcoming blockbuster Bond 26.

Lady Bird star Saoirse recently told Empire magazine: “I want to go dark. I said that I wanted to be a Bond villain, and I’m dead serious.

“I think it would be really interesting, having a young, female villain.

“Especially for girls and women, to see someone who can just take all that pent-up anger and direct it somewhere.”

The pair welcomed their first baby into the world after being spotted with a pram in public back in September last year.

unlikely star

New Brit actor ‘makes James Bond shortlist’ as screentests ‘begin in days’

BOND BLOWOUT

Brit A-list Hollywood actor rules himself out of 007 role saying ‘I’m too old’

Her husband has been tipped as one of the stars to take on the role of James Bond, following on from Daniel Craig, who has played agent for the last 15 years.

Jack has been a huge fan favourite since taking on the role of MI5 agent River Cartwright in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses.

He’s also been in the likes of Pride and Prejudice, The Gold, War & Peace, The Long Song, Wolf Hall, Mrs Biggs and The Tunnel.

Meanwhile Saoirse has starred in Little Women, Lady Bird, The Lovely Bones, Hanna and Mary Queen of Scots.

There are some pretty huge names in the mix for the next Bond.

The likes of Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner, Harris Dickinson, Anthony Boyle  and Tom Hardy have been some of the names.

And New Brit actor Jack Barton has been thrown in there too.

It comes shortly after The Sun exclusively revealed that the new 007 writer shared an unexpected update on the Bond script.

The upcoming film could possibly relocate from MI6 in London to Birmingham.

Its writer Steven Knight has a long-standing love affair with the Midlands, the home of his smash hit Peaky Blinders and drama This Town.

The screen giant is considering a Brummie background for the spy’s next outing.

Steven told The Sun: “I’m loving working on the Bond film — I’m tempted to set it in Birmingham.

“I’m always tempted to do that on everything I work on!”

Knight has been drafted in by Amazon MGM Studios, which bought creative control of the Bond franchise for £790million last year.

Sharing an update at the launch of the Peaky Blinders Underworld immersive game, he went on: “Writing this film is like working for King and country. I feel like it’s my duty.

“Seriously, I’m such a big fan of the whole Bond franchise. To be able to be the person who is writing the next one is genuinely an honour and it’s a dream.

“Making Peaky Blinders has been amazing and doing Bond is beyond that.”

Aug. 28 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department removed a Kehinde Wiley painting from its embassy in the Dominican Republic and wants to sell it after Trump administration officials called it “woke.”

The department is talking with legal representatives to determine whether it can sell Young Artists After Siamesas 1960, which was commissioned with taxpayer funds in 2013 for the Art in Embassies cultural diplomacy program.

U.S. Ambassador Leah Campos posted a video Aug. 11 showing the painting being removed after it was initially covered with a tarp featuring a U.S. flag design.

“Under the Trump administration and my leadership, we are leaving behind globalist and ‘woke’ ideologies to embrace American patriotism and the beauty of our great country,” Campos wrote.

Erin Scavino, director of Art in Embassies, said in a recent interview with former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer that her team had worked to remove the painting. She described it as “very woke” and “aesthetically terrifying.”

The State Department cited comments Wiley made about another of his works and sexual misconduct allegations that the artist has denied, according to The Art Newspaper.

Dominican law would allow physical ownership of the painting to be transferred, but Wiley would retain his intellectual property rights, according to an analysis published by the Dominican news outlet Acento.

Attorney Edwin Espinal Hernández said the Dominican Republic’s copyright law distinguishes between ownership of the physical object and intellectual property rights over the work, Acento reported.

A buyer could own and display the canvas, but could not reproduce it, print it or sell copies without Wiley’s authorization unless the parties expressly agree otherwise.

Dominican law also recognizes an artist’s resale right. If the transaction takes place through a public auction, an exhibition or a professional dealer, Wiley would be entitled to receive at least 2% of the sale price from the seller.

In addition, if the transaction exceeds approximately $12,000, Dominican anti-money laundering law would prohibit a cash payment and require verifiable proof of the transaction.

Wiley created the painting in 2015 in collaboration with Dominican students from the School of Arts and the Altos de Chavón School of Design in La Romana, according to the official documentation from Art in Embassies.

According to the expanded Art in Embassies description, the 107-by-150-inch oil-on-linen painting depicts four local art students in poses inspired by Female Nude (1940) by Celeste Woss y Gil and Siamese Twins (1960) by Gilberto Hernández Ortega.

Wiley gained international recognition after painting President Barack Obama‘s official portrait, which was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in 2018.

The State Department had awarded Wiley a Medal of Arts in 2015 for his contributions to U.S. cultural diplomacy.

The season of Honey Deuce cocktails at Flushing Meadows is upon us as the 2026 US Open main draw gets under way in New York this Sunday.

This year’s fourth and final Grand Slam will feature some of the biggest names in tennis and breakout players on the up and up, although there will also be some notable injured absentees.

The mixed doubles title has already been claimed by Czech pair Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik on Wednesday night after defeating Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.

Here’s everything you need to know about the US Open main draw:

Where and when is the US Open?

All the main draw action from August 30 until September 13 is at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, just outside New York City.

The men’s and women’s quarterfinals begin on September 8 , followed by:

Women’s singles semifinals: September 10

Men’s singles semifinals: September 11

Women’s final: September 12

Men’s final: September 13

Who are the top seeds?

Women’s singles: 

1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Elina Rybakina
3. Jessica Pegula
4. Coco Gauff
5. Mirra Andreeva
6. Karolina Muchova
7. Linda Noskova
8. Iga Swiatek
9. Amanda Anisimova
10. Elina Svitolina

Men’s singles: 

1. Alexander Zverev
2. Carlos Alcaraz
3. Felix Auger-Aliassime
4. Alex de Minaur
5. Ben Shelton
6. Novak Djokovic
7. Daniil Medvedev
8. Flavio Cobolli
9. Taylor Fritz
10. Alexander Bublik

What are some major storylines?

• Top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdraws: The World number one said he was “very sad and disappointed” to withdraw from after being unable to recover from a right knee injury that has sidelined him since winning the Wimbledon title. The Italian pulled out of hard-court tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati that serve as a warm-up for the US Open.
• Carlos Alcaraz back in action: The Spaniard will look to defend his title after a four-month hiatus from tennis due to a wrist injury, but Sinner’s absence means the crowd will not see the beloved “Sincaraz” rivalry this time.
• Serena Williams, Alcaraz pair up for iconic mixed doubles duo: Two generational greats teamed up for this year’s mixed doubles, although their star power faded as they fell to Cobolli and Bencic in the quarterfinal.
• Serena and Venus Williams receive doubles wildcard: The 23-time Grand Slam champion received a women’s doubles wildcard alongside older sister Venus. They have played together at the US Open nine times, winning in 1999 and 2009. Venus also received a wildcard for the women’s singles.
• 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka handed last-minute wildcard: The former world number three was left off the initial list of wildcard entries in his farewell season, but was handed the entry on Wednesday after several days of outcry from fans over his exclusion.
• Teen sensation Moise Kouame makes US Open debut: The 17-year-old made history at this year’s French Open when he became the youngest male Grand Slam winner in 17 years. However, the Frenchman’s US Open debut ended in the qualifying round after defeat to Nishesh Basavareddy of the US.
• Novak Djokovic continues pursuit of elusive 25th slam: The world number five Djokovic has been in relentless pursuit of a record 25th Slam title since winning his 24th at the US Open in 2023. The Serbian’s ambition has repeatedly been tested by age as the 39-year-old struggled with stifling humidity at this month’s Cincinnati Open. Still, he reached the Australian Open final this year as well as the Wimbledon semifinal.

Is Roger Federer making a comeback?

No. The 45-year-old Swiss icon categorically ruled out a Williams-esque return.

His brief on-court appearance in New York this week was for primetime exhibition matches ahead of a trip to Newport, Rhode Island to be enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Who’s likely to lift the trophy?

With Sinner out of contention, Alcaraz has a clear shot at his title defence for a third US Open win.

Wimbledon champion and top seed Alexander Zverev will also be looking to carry momentum from his maiden Slam win in June, although the German was knocked out in the fourth round at last week’s Cincinnati Open.

Arthur Fils, seeded 23rd, could be a surprise contender in the final four after the Frenchman defeated American Frances Tiafoe to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last week.

Over on the women’s side, Gauff will look to defeat top-ranked Sabalenka for a repeat of her maiden US Open title in 2023, although the Belarusian will be eyeing a third consecutive win in New York.

That being said, the 28-year-old has faltered this season after a fourth round defeat in Cincinnati, the Toronto Masters, Wimbledon and a quarterfinal exit at Roland Garros.

World number two Rybakina is hot on Sabalenka’s heels for the top spot with 8,141 points to Sabalenka’s 8,575.

At 32, Jessica Pegula is the oldest top 10 player, but has been a finalist and semifinalist in the past two years and will look to continue that on home soil this year too.

Russian teenager Andreeva bagged her maiden Slam title at the French Open this summer and sits at a career-high world number five, although a fourth round appearance in New York will be her deepest at the US Open.

Alex Eala of the Philippines will be a force to watch after the 21-year-old found her breakthrough with a maiden WTA title this month at the Washington Open.

She received a wildcard for the US Open mixed doubles with Auger-Aliassime, although the duo fell in the first round to husband-and-wife duo of Gael Monfils and Svitolina.

Eala will headline the Stars of the Open exhibition event at Arthur Ashe on Thursday alongside young players Joao Fonseca, Iva Jovic and Learner Tien.

What’s the prize money this year?

A record $108m prize pot is up for grabs this time:

Singles

Winner: $5.5m
Finalist: $2.8m
Semi-finalist: $1.45m
Quarter-finalist: $780,000
Round of 16: $480,000
Round of 32: $290,000
Round of 64: $190,000
Round of 128: $140,000
Qualifying Round of 32: $66,000
Qualifying Round of 64: $48,000
Qualifying Round of 128: $32,000

Doubles ($ per pair)

Winner: $1m
Finalist: $500,000
Semi-finalist: $250,000
Quarter-finalist: $125,000
Round of 16: $75,000
Round of 32: $45,000
Round of 64: $30,000

Who are some notable absences this year?

Alongside Sinner, Brazil’s Fonseca (ATP 26th ranking) and Briton Jack Draper (ATP 141st ranking) will be absent from the men’s side.

Emma Raducanu of Britain, world number 15 Victoria Mboko of Canada and Hailey Baptiste of the US, ranked 34rd, are other big names who won’t be in action.

Hig (Jacob Elordi) may be the most perfect guy alive, not that he’s got much competition. In Ridley Scott’s simple-minded sociological study “The Dog Stars,” an influenza epidemic wiped out the majority of our squabblesome species sometime during the last decade. The LCD screens outside the Denver Nuggets basketball arena continue to flicker, although weeds and wolves have overrun the fast-food joints in a bit of postapocalyptic product placement.

A former mechanic and construction worker, Hig lives 25 miles north of the city on what appears to be a combination high school football field/rural airport. Periodically, the soft-spoken and generous man flies his Cessna into town to scavenge soda pop for a dozen or so cherubic Mennonite children on a nearby homestead. Those wholesome visits seem to cheer him up a little, what with the kids’ minder (Benedict Wong) striding around in a straw hat and overalls like something out of Norman Rockwell, and the youngsters thanking Hig with crayoned portraits of his doting German shepard, Jasper. Still, he’s bummed out about his dead wife (Sai Bennett), who, like most dead movie wives, appears in flashbacks as beatific, mute and adoring.

The script by Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”) wants us to fret that Hig may succumb to suicide but whiffs that idea by trying to get it across in a scene where Hig shuts off the Cessna’s engine mid-flight with Jasper happily riding shotgun. Even if we were willing to accept that Hig might deliberately crash his plane, we can’t buy for a second that he’d hurt his sweet pup. Nevertheless, the film’s dystopian beats are so familiar, you’ve probably guessed by now that you shouldn’t get too attached to the dog.

Hig has bunkered down with a grouchy companion, Bangley (Josh Brolin), who thrives in this harsh world. To Bangley, the four essentials of life are “power, food, water and weapons.” Their armory is formidable; their cash supply, a source of comic relief. At night, Hig and Bangley play poker with stacks of $5,000 bills that they throw around as casually as nickels. Patrolling their two-man compound, Bangley insists on killing all outsiders before they might cause any trouble. Adding insult to headshot, he calls his casualties “cockroaches.”

Soon, Hig will meet a freckled widow named Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her suspicious father, Pops (Guy Pearce). The young pair make eyes at each other. Yet these survivors are so hard-wired to be fearful of their neighbors that Hig and Cima’s rusty, tentative flirtation takes place under the gaze of her daddy’s gun, a heck of a chaperone. The most they get up to is heavy spooning.

This is an uncomplicated yarn about a man prying open his heart and nudging other hard nuts to do the same. There’s little tension or drive, just shaggy scenes about paranoia, trust and hope. The characters seem to endure only to get to their next traumatic memory reveal.

At once plain-spoken and vague, the story lacks a firm grip on facts like the distance between places and how long this mess has been going on. It snatches at our attention with no more finesse than a losing fighter fumbling for a weapon. Hig’s Cessna works fine until it’s narratively convenient that it doesn’t. Then when needed, it works again. Meanwhile, Brolin’s Bangley oscillates in personality from miserable bastard to laugh factory.

At 88, Scott remains the cinema’s uneasy philosopher, continually fretting about the technological and societal tools we’ve developed to destroy ourselves. He’s made one genuinely optimistic film, 2015’s “The Martian,” which also happens to be his biggest box office success. Other than that, he’s never seemed confident that the future will turn out all right, although he’s kept on working out his worries onscreen, forever hunting for flakes of hope in the rubble. (If you take Scott’s IMDb as gospel, he’s got seven upcoming features in various stages of preproduction, more than George Lucas has ever made.)

“The Dog Stars” is based on Peter Heller’s 2012 novel of the same name, which, in those naive, pre-COVID times, was received as a rosier take on Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” Scott’s version of“The Dog Stars” borrows its title, premise and a handful of proper names. Otherwise, it’s loud where the book was quiet and subtle where the book got sweaty. A barrage of newly concocted action sequences in the second half makes the pacing so off-balance that the film feels like a heron trying to fly with one blinged-out wing.

I’m only half-complaining — those giddy, bloody scenes are the best parts of the movie. But we in the audience could have used some of that pizzazz at the beginning, too, before we spent nearly an hour settling into the idea that we’ve seen all of this before.

The attackers to come are a bizarre grab bag of baddies. One gang wears football pads as armor and comes galloping in on horses, whooping like the Apaches in a John Ford movie. Another horde, the Reapers, runs around shirtless to show off their thick black tattoos. The Reapers look awesome through cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt’s night-vision binoculars that make their skin glow an alien shade of green. Neither group comes across like human beings. The film handles them more like zombies or rabid raccoons, and since these extras are the only characters of color, I won’t fault anyone who finds their treatment morally queasy.

Late in the film, we also meet a third group headed by Allison Janney doing a cap-tip to Nurse Ratched as the soundtrack cues the mind-numbing waltz from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Otherwise, Harry Gregson-Williams’ meddlesome score tells us everything that’s about to happen 30 seconds before it does. Besides Janney and Qualley’s plucky Cima (what in the made-up name is that?), few grown women seem to be left alive for reasons probably better left unsaid. (A goon in the book wears a necklace made of dried labia. Scott sagely omits that detail.)

Elordi nearly shoulders the running time but plays his Hig a bit too humbly. I’ve rarely seen Elordi wearing his lanky, handsome screen presence comfortably; something about the actor usually seems to be apologizing for his own existence. His recessive Hig needs more charisma so we can care about him as a character, not just an idealized hero. But you like him anyway. How can you not when Hig is giving his dog a good scratch?

Having lived through a seismic pandemic himself, it makes sense that Scott would be drawn to the original novel’s blend of patience and poetry. Yet, it’s odd how little of it he’s kept. To hold my own interest, I imagined myself as a hunter-explorer trying to figure out why Scott had bothered to adapt it at all, and turned up a line where Brolin’s Bangley looks back on his old life and admits that he couldn’t understand what he had until it was gone. A lovely moment, although I don’t believe it’s in the book either.

That’s the theme of this rote exercise. But I preferred a minor beat a few minutes later when a character puts down their gun and picks up a guitar. Bad as this world feels, there’s still pleasure in making art. Which is why Scott keeps at it, too — and while I don’t think much of this one, I’m awful glad he does.

Aug. 28 (UPI) — King Harald V of Norway died early Friday in an Oslo hospital where he was undergoing treatment for a rare blood disorder. He was 89 years old.

He passed peacefully at 6:35 a.m. local time, according to the Royal Palace, which said the royal flag was flying at half mast on the palace roof.

Family were called to his bedside after his condition worsened on Thursday at the national hospital, 10 days after he was admitted suffering from complications from haemolytic anaemia, a rare blood condition that depletes the number of red blood cells, causing fatigue and shortness of breath.

Harald leaves behind his wife Queen Sonja, also 89, the new king, Haakon, their daughter Princess Märtha Louise and six grandchildren.

King Haakon, 53, was due to hold an extraordinary council of state with the government later on Friday.

Harald’s cousin, King Charles, was among the first to pay their respects in a message in which he also wished Haakon, to whom he is godfather, “success and good fortune” as he assumes the monarchy.

In a statement on X, Charles and Queen Camilla said they were profoundly sad to hear his “dear cousin,” had died, extending their “deepest and most heartfelt condolences” to Queen Sonja and all her family, and saying Britain shared Norway’s grief at what he said was a time of “such heartbreaking loss.”

He said Britain and Norway shared a particularly close relationship dating back more than 120 years, with London one of the first capitals to recognize it following independence from Sweden in 1905 and that the allies’ bond was further strengthened by their shared “dreadful trials” during World War II.

Born in 1937, Harald’s mother brought him and his siblings to Sweden when the Nazis occupied Norway in 1940 and when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt offered them refuge, moved to Washington for the remainder of the war, returning to Norway in 1945.

After becoming crown prince at the age of 20, Harald served in the military and went up to Oxford University in 1962 where he studied studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College.

He broke with royal tradition in the face of the opposition of his father, King Olav V, by marrying the then-Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a businessman, in 1968, instead of a scion of one the European royal families.

Harald stepped up as regent in 1990 after Olav became ill and ascended the throne in 1991 after his father died on Jan. 17 of that year.

London, United Kingdom – Sulaiman and Kasim Khan have not heard their father’s voice in almost six months.

The last time they spoke to Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister of Pakistan and cricket legend, was over Eid al-Fitr in March. The call lasted 20 minutes.

“We don’t know how much time we have to speak,” Kasim, 27, told Al Jazeera in London. “Usually it’s around the 20-minute mark. He frantically asks about our lives and gives us advice. But when we ask about him, he very quickly shuts it down. He doesn’t seem to want to talk too much about how he is.

“You know, it is what it is,” Kasim recalled him saying.

Three years have passed since Khan, 73, was imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. He has faced more than 100 legal cases since his 2022 ouster in a vote of no confidence, including charges of bribery, leaking state secrets and illegally selling state gifts. He denies all of the accusations against him.

All of his convictions but one have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending.

Khan’s family and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party believe the charges are politically motivated.

Two of his sisters, Uzma and Noreen, were recently allowed to see him. They said it was the first visit they had had in months.

“They were both quite disturbed by how agitated he was. He’s been mentally tortured with this solitary confinement,” Sulaiman, 29, said.

“His heart rate spikes considerably in his cell. He’s having palpitations due to severe anxiety,” said Kasim. “He’s the most calm, mentally strong person I’ve ever known by a considerable margin. To hear he’s facing anxiety, it’s unfathomable.”

Khan’s lawyers reported in February that he had lost 85 percent of the vision in his right eye.

“He was still wearing an eye patch when he saw our aunt the other day,” Sulaiman said. “For 10 months he wasn’t allowed any visitors. Apart from that brief visit from his sisters, none of the other orders have been followed.”

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a statement sent to Al Jazeera, rejected the family’s allegations, that Khan has been denied appropriate medical care “or that the government failed to comply with the directions of the Honourable Supreme Court regarding his medical examination”.

“Health matters” should not be politicised, the statement continued, adding that the government “has never adopted a disrespectful attitude towards anyone’s health”.

On August 18, a three-judge Supreme Court bench ruled that Khan be moved to the private Shifa International Hospital within two days, that he be granted weekly family visits and twice-weekly calls with his sons, and ordered that his personal physician and sister, both doctors, be allowed to take part in his medical care. Earlier, a cardiac board review found Khan had fluctuating blood pressure and anxiety, attributed to limited contact with his family.

But he was instead taken to a government hospital, PIMS, for a brief check-up before returning to jail on August 20. Khan’s party has since filed a contempt petition.

“These government doctors are essentially told what to say,” said Sulaiman. “We want him independently checked, so we have proof. What are they hiding?”

“The establishment currently has absolute power. Any efforts by the Supreme Court seem ineffective,” said Kasim. “We’re just trying to make as much noise as possible.”

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said reports of Khan’s ill health were “not supported by prison or medical records”.

It said Khan has undergone 30 medical examinations since his imprisonment began “in addition to regular examinations by the prison doctor” and that doctors had recently concluded that he appears “oriented, stable and without any recorded acute or unmanaged deterioration”.

Support from the UN to cricketers

Support for Khan’s release has come from the United Nations, Amnesty International, politicians in Washington and London, and 21 former cricket captains.

“We’re hoping the UK could make a difference,” said Kasim. “Our father lived here a long time, and he’s always spoken very highly of England.”

Their mother, Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith, has called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband for help, saying Khan has “endured three years of solitary confinement” in what has become a “human rights emergency”.

She said that their sons, who are British citizens, have been denied visas and warned they risked arrest if they travelled to see Khan, calling the situation “a human-rights emergency.”

Khan’s sons last met him in November 2022 after an attempted assassination on his life.

“We have plans, but we can’t disclose exactly what they are, because anything we say publicly is often very quickly intercepted by those in Pakistan,” Kasim said.

“Now is the toughest time, the bleakest it’s looked. But at least there’s more attention now,” Sulaiman added. “We’re lucky to have good friends and a strong family unit who keep us sane.”

The Pakistani ministry also denied claims that Khan has been isolated or denied contact, saying, “Records show approximately 198 interview sessions involving more than 900 visitor entries. These include his sisters, family members, lawyers, doctors, political representatives and other approved visitors.”

It described his prison conditions as humane, saying the facilities allow for “sleeping, sanitation and exercise”.

“He receives separately prepared meals, including meat, chicken, fruit, milk, nuts, juices and bottled water,” it said. “At the same time, access to a prisoner cannot be used as a platform for unrestricted political communication or political activity from inside prison.”

Khan had kept his sons out of the limelight and neither sought a life in front of the cameras.

Kasim said he holds the government responsible for their father’s deteriorating health.

“Where is the humanity in not allowing someone to receive basic health checks or treatment? It’s the pettiness, the petty torture techniques, not allowing him to have books, phone calls with his children, keeping him for 23 hours in an isolated cell,” he asks.

“If they reject any claims of mistreatment, prove it. Bring him to an unbiased doctor and hospital, and show the medical reports. It puts our minds at ease, and shows the people of Pakistan that their elected leader is healthy.”

But he continues to believe in his father’s strength.

“If there’s hope that anyone can remain resilient through this period, it’s him, even though it’s so brutal in these conditions,” said the younger brother.