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Venezuelan popular artist Luis Mariano Rivera was born on August 19, 1906. His music is a tribute to life and a commitment to his community’s identity and cultural sovereignty. Rivera’s works remind us that when a people sow their land and tell their stories, they become resistant to oppression and invincible against foreign domination.

A brief and affectionate profile

In the fertile and sunny lands of eastern Venezuela, specifically in the lush village of Canchunchú in Bermúdez Municipality, Sucre State, Luis Mariano Rivera was born on August 19, 1906, 120 years ago. His life was shaped by the rural realities of this area, which combined the abundance of nature with the profound inequalities of a latifundista-dominated agrarian economy.

His childhood was marked by early orphanhood and farm labor. Far from leading to resentment or resignation, this experience shaped in Rivera a loving and vital sensibility that allowed him to dismantle traditional notions of property and patriarchal-landowner hierarchy, enabling him to identify with the land, plants, and animals that surrounded him. This connection to the land enriched his imagination, and his extended family ultimately came to encompass the entire territory.

Rivera’s creative work blossomed after he turned 48. A self-taught musician, poet, and playwright, he composed his first verses using the Venezuelan four-stringed cuatro guitar as his primary instrument. His artistic output became an act of defiance that placed elements dismissed by the dominant culture at the center of Venezuelan poetry: local biodiversity, manual labor, trees, fruits, and wildlife.

Through his popular theater plays and musical compositions, Rivera portrayed a cosmogony in which nature is not merely a resource to be exploited, but a subject with rights to be loved and respected.

Although he never joined any political party nor sought public office, his approach to life and art constitutes a profound political statement. In a Caribbean and Venezuelan context where the neocolonial oil rentier model displaced agricultural production and fueled the exodus from the countryside to the city, Rivera’s insistence on staying in Canchunchú and singing about rural life was a clear act of resistance.

His politics were rooted in pacifism, fraternity, and love for the land. In the face of the metastasizing commodification of life, he prioritized the ethics of care, respect for natural cycles, and community solidarity. Various artists of national and international renown, including Alí Primera, Lilia Vera, Cecilia Todd, Soledad Bravo, Gualberto Ibarreto, and Morella Muñoz, performed his songs, transforming his local message into a banner of continental identity. Alí Primera, in particular, saw Rivera as a beacon of popular dignity, celebrating his ability to transform everyday rural life into revolutionary and loving poetry.

Luis Mariano Rivera passed away on March 15, 2002, in Carúpano, Sucre State, at the age of 95, after nearly a century devoted to cultivating the poetry of life, simplicity, and affection. His legacy is recognized as a symbol of the musical identity that flows directly from the harmonious relationship with the land and the wisdom of the people.

Sound, memory, and collective identity

In many of the ancestral cultures of Abya Yala, sound is part of the creation myth of the women and men who originally inhabited these territories. For all of humanity, sounds have played an important role in the formation of identities. Languages and music stem from this very relationship and our need to connect, to name ourselves, and to determine our own destinies.

Every landscape has its own sonority. In other words, a set of sounds that form its geohistory. This includes our ways of speaking and our music, but also the sounds of the wind, the rain, the sea, the river, birds, insects. In short, all the sounds of life expressing itself, as well as the sounds of human inventions that are now part of our daily lives.

Within this spectrum, there are human beings who manage to connect the sounds of past, present, and future memories to bequeath a sonic identity that transcends the purely artistic realm, becoming the very landscape narrated in their poetry. Luis Mariano Rivera is an example of this transcendental audacity to place oneself beyond time with a unique music.

At the age of 48, driven by the desire to express himself without relying on others to write his letters and thoughts, he taught himself to read and write. Already in his mature years, he began composing verses, parrandas, merengues, and eastern joropos through which he paid tribute to the flora, fauna, and everyday life of his village.

Rivera’s remarkable sensitivity stems from his direct observation of the countryside. His lyrics preserve idioms, sayings, and oral expressions from eastern Venezuela that would otherwise have been lost. Long before the rise of globalized environmental movements, his songs already championed the balance between humans, wildlife, and flora from a local, community-based, and decolonizing perspective. Rivera’s legacy transcends mere musical composition; he represents a defense of communal life and a living example of how it is possible to reclaim one’s own history to create sounds that cement collective identity.

For him, Canchunchú was not merely a geographical reference point, but the center of the world. By singing about his village and embracing rural daily life as a symbol of belonging with a claim to universality, he created an affective geohistory that recognized the dignity of life as equivalent to that of the cherry, the guácara [snail], and the mango. He showed to his community that their own reality is worthy of being celebrated and sung about. As such, his work did not stem from ego. It was born out of the village’s celebrations and gatherings, and like collective knowledge, it has no other purpose than enjoyment and the strengthening of collective unity.

Singing honestly about one’s own village, honoring the vernacular of one’s community without resorting to artificial language, taught us a sense of pride in our ways of feeling, understanding, and reasoning. 

Rivera’s music, paraphrasing Alí Primera, grounds us in our own land, with the profound simplicity of one who surrenders to the magnitude of the surrounding beauty. His deep connection to his native Canchunchú never served as chauvinistic isolation or picturesque folklorism. Rather, it was a gateway to the human condition prior to the violent irruption of Western capitalist modernity, with its imposition of individuality, the commodification of nature, and linear progress, at the expense of communal memory. Rivera’s work operates in the opposite direction: it reconnects with an organic body of knowledge that does not require academia to be legitimate, because it is engraved in the lived collective experience.

It is no secret to anyone that traditional community music, as well as rural poetry, serves as a means of transmitting memory. It is not mere entertainment. Rhythmic patterns, melodic turns, and poetic meter interact with the biological, agricultural, and communal cycles that humankind has cultivated for millennia.

Rivera did not theorize about nature: he embodied it. His philosophy sprang from working the land, from sweat, and from the sounds of the countryside. It is the knowledge transmitted through the body and emotion, that “communal way of life” that predates modernity and remains a reservoir from which to conceive alternatives to capitalism, fascism, imperialism, and Zionism.

True universality does not consist in erasing differences under a single mold with domineering hegemonic pretensions, but rather in reaching our very roots. When we reaffirm the dignity of our communities, we validate the “peripheries” as the center of our own worldviews without the need for external recognition.

Rivera demonstrates that the periphery is a center in and of itself by stripping away the pretensions of colonial modernity. His music taps into the common core of humanity: the wonder of being alive, communal solidarity, and respect for the sacred meaning of life. And this is not a nostalgic gaze toward the past, but rather a reservoir of meaning and hope for the present. It reminds us that beneath the veneer of modernity, the human species remains hardwired to come together, celebrate, and sustain communities.

Finally, Rivera’s production is above all an expression of love. Love toward the full life experience. But when a poet sings about love, it is usually limited to romantic love, or heartbreak in the absence of corresponding feelings. Nevertheless, Rivera did count on a “spiritual companion,” to use his own words: Maximina Marsella, known as La Negra Marsella and whom he affectionately called “la negra,” in what is a very common expression in Venezuela. She was presented as the only woman capable of understanding his silences and his late passion for words. He dedicated many love verses to her, expressing how they shared feelings and devotion for the small things in life and the land.

Writing our own history and cultural sovereignty

The act by which a dispossessed individual reclaims control over the written word is, in essence, an act of sociopolitical liberation. For Luis Mariano Rivera, the decision to learn to read and write on his own as an adult was not merely a matter of functional education or an attempt to conform to bourgeois standards. It represented taking control of his own narrative and a fundamental reaffirmation of his personal and communal sovereignty. In a system dominated by the colonialism of knowledge, where official writing has historically functioned as a mechanism of subordination and administrative control, mastering the alphabet from the campesino perspective means dismantling the monopoly on truth. Rivera lucidly understood that mastering the written code granted him the historical ability to cease being a passive subject, an object of study in folklorism, and become the chronicler and philosopher of his own time. He ceased to be narrated by others and assumed authorship of his territorial memory.

This literacy and poetic endeavor took place against a profoundly adverse historical backdrop. Throughout the twentieth century, Venezuela underwent a traumatic transformation driven by the emergence of the neocolonial oil enclave. Urban modernization advanced aggressively through its ideological and economic strategy of marginalizing the countryside, dismantling traditional community structures, and promoting rural depopulation in favor of slums in the major cities.

The extraction of hydrocarbons by transnational corporations tied to the geopolitical interests of US and European imperialism came alongside an overwhelming wave of cultural propaganda. This ideological penetration sought to impose the American consumerist lifestyle, eroding peasant identity and dismissing local agriculture as synonymous with backwardness and savagery. Venezuela, which was barely emerging from the devastating aftermath of the war of independence and successive nineteenth-century insurrections, revolutions, and civil wars stoked by local elites and foreign capital, saw its food sovereignty and historical memory shaken.

Amid this landscape of alienation, where the country was rapidly transforming into a consumerist, import-dependent enclave, Rivera’s insistence on remaining in his Canchunchú valley and singing about the communal way of life was not a nostalgic or folkloric retreat, but rather a deeply political and assertive affirmation of cultural re-existence.

He sang with such transparent and loving clarity that his powerful message took root in the national collective imagination, ethically reframing the traditions, sufferings, joys, and experiences of campesinos in eastern Venezuela. Against the aesthetics of waste and the logic of neocolonial dispossession, he countered with the ethics of care and the sacredness of everyday life. His compositions served as a mechanism for preserving historical memory: he warned against the collective amnesia regarding the communal way of life driven by the discourse of developmental modernity; he championed food sovereignty in the face of dependence on the globalizing market; he dignified rural labor in the face of urban prejudice, revealing the profound ecological philosophy inherent in popular knowledge. But, moreover, his profound poetic work demonstrates that true national sovereignty is more than just the defense of natural resources or borders. It requires the preservation of the collective soul, the dignity of the living word, and the self-determination of the people’s power.

Luis Mariano Rivera’s life journey teaches us that decolonization is not achieved solely through theoretical confrontation or bellicose rhetoric, but above all through an organic connection to the land and the community. By recognizing himself through his own voice, he prevented imperialist corporations and the oil industry’s maelstrom from erasing the humanity of his surroundings. His music endures as an indestructible testament to cultural sovereignty: living proof that a people who remember their roots, cultivate their land, and tell their own stories become resilient in the face of modern oppressions and invincible against any attempt at external domination.

Fabiola José is a Venezuelan singer. She has performed in countries across South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Her singles and albums are available on all digital platforms. She hosted and produced “Cantante y Sonante” for Radio Nacional de Venezuela. In 2018–2019, she created a series of videos for social media, published on her YouTube channel #HechoEnCasa. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Music from IUDEM, Caracas (2005); specialized under Maestro Tom Krause in Spain (2007); and an M.A. in Arts and Cultures of the South from UNEARTE, Venezuela (2020).

Fidel Barbarito is a Venezuelan musician and researcher, with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and history, respectively. He teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs at the National Experimental University of the Arts (UNEARTE). Together with Fabiola José, he promotes several musical projects aimed at disseminating traditional repertoires, integrating them with contemporary compositions inspired by these sounds. Joropo llanero. Parranda de reexistencia is one of his published essays.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.

Eight months have passed since Rob and Michele Reiner were killed and their youngest son was arrested and charged with murder, but the couple’s eldest son still feels he “will never understand why this happened.”

The children of film director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner mostly have kept mum despite extensive coverage of the brutal stabbings of Dec. 14, 2025.

In a television interview with KABC-TV’s Marc Cota-Robles, Jake Reiner, the eldest son, described the aftermath of the slayings and the arrest of his brother, Nick, as a “living nightmare.”

“Nobody really understands what it’s like to go through something like that until you’re living it,” said Jake, 34. “It’s been eight months. It feels like eight years at the same time. And it also feels like eight minutes because every moment that I wake up, I’m reminded of my reality.”

Jake said he learned the night of their deaths that the Los Angeles Police Department was looking at Nick as a prime suspect. A grand jury indicted Nick last month on murder charges with special allegations of committing multiple murders and lying in wait, making him eligible for life without parole or the death penalty if convicted.

“He’s in jail,” Jake said. “It’s like, I physically lost my parents, and then Nick was arrested. Now it’s just me and Romy, and we have to navigate this by ourselves essentially.”

Asked whether he was surprised that Nick was suspected in the crime, Jake declined to answer. He also declined to discuss his brother’s attempt to use family trust money to fund his legal defense. Instead he discussed the anger he is feeling.

“It manifests into rage, into how unfair this was, how I didn’t get a say in what happened. I didn’t get to stop it from happening. I had no choice in the matter,” Jake said. “I just have to accept the reality of it. And to me, that is just one of the most infuriating parts of all of this.”

He said he learned of his parents’ deaths while attending a celebration of life event for a high school friend at Union Station. His sister, Romy, tried to call him.

“I screened it because I thought, at the time, I’m in the middle of something, you know, I’ll call her back,” he recalled, “and then she called immediately again, and I knew at that point that something was wrong.

“Romy told me our dad was dead, and then she said, ‘I can’t find mom.’ I immediately went into shock.”

Investigators found the body of Rob Reiner in the master bedroom. Michele Reiner subsequently was found in the bedroom area as well.

Romy, 28, has not publicly commented.

Nick’s struggles with addiction and mental health were public knowledge. In 2015, he partnered with his father on the film “Being Charlie,” about a drug-addicted son, which Nick wrote and Rob directed. It was loosely based on Nick’s life.

Jake was no stranger to crime scenes — as a longtime television news reporter he said he witnessed plenty, but nothing could have prepared him for his parents’ home that night.

“As a reporter, I did it for 10 years; I came up on crime scenes all the time,” he said. “But when it’s your crime scene, a crime scene at your childhood home, it’s like the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen.”

Nick has pleaded not guilty. A pretrial hearing is slated for Sept. 15, a day after his 33rd birthday.

“I’ll never understand. I don’t care how it’s explained to me. I don’t care what facts come out, ” Jake said. “My parents had unconditional love for all three of us. I can tell you they never stopped wanting to help him. They never stopped helping him.”

Jake and Romy made their first public appearance together since the tragedy on Aug. 2 at Dodger Stadium, where they took part in the ceremonial first pitch. Dodger Stadium meant a great deal to their father.

“One of the great pleasures I have is walking into Dodger Stadium. It’s like I feel at peace,” Rob Reiner once said.

“He had season tickets for the Dodgers,” Jake said, “and we would go anywhere from three to four games a week, and it was just the greatest time with him.

“It was an emotional thing that we did. I don’t know if I really could take in the moment, because everything happened kind of fast, but I was really happy that we got to do that.”

Aug. 27 (UPI) — The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued an emergency approval for the use of the drug ivermectin against New World screwworm infestations in cattle, adding to the arsenal of weapons available against the flesh-eating insect.

The FDA approved an Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA, for Bimectin, the generic version of ivermectin, for injections in cattle when administered within 24 hours of birth, at the time of castration, or at the appearance of a wounds, the agency announced.

Bimectin injection remains unauthorized for use in lactating dairy cows or in calves that will be processed for veal.

Thursday’s move is the 14th EUA issued by the FDA against New World screwworm as the Trump administration attempts to deal with the still-growing infestation in Texas.

The Department of Agriculture has confirmed 47 domestic cases of New World screwworm, or NWS, in animals as of Thursday.

NWS is widely feared as a serious health and economic threat that could cost billions of dollars in losses to cattle, bison and horses. The pest was eradicated from the United States in 1966 and eliminated as far south as Panama by 2000, but reemerged in 2022 and has continued moving north through Central America and Mexico.

The U.S.-Mexico border was closed last year to protect U.S. animals from the threat. The ban was subsequently lifted on July 26.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller last month urged the FDA to authorize ivermectin in feed as an additional tool to combat the growing NWS threat.

Injectable ivermectin is not enough to keep pace with the outbreak and protect livestock from further infestations, he asserted.

“Texas ranchers are fighting for their livelihoods and the security of the American food supply. They don’t have time to wait,” Miller said. “We’ve already seen this parasite spread across multiple Texas counties in just a few weeks. Every day we delay is another day the New World screwworm gains ground. We need every effective weapon available, and we need it now.”

The Texas Grain and Feed Association “has committed to rapidly manufacture and distribute medicated feed upon approval, ensuring producers can begin using it without delay,” he noted.

Shelley Fabares’ cause of death has been revealed.

Fabares was known best for her television roles , including Christine Armstrong on the ’90s sitcom “Coach,” Francine Webster on the 1970s sitcom “One Day at a Time” and Mary Stone on “The Donna Reed Show,” as well as her Billboard Hot 100 song “Johnny Angel” and appearances opposite Elvis Presley in “Spinout,” “Clambake” and “Girl Happy.”

The actor died Saturday in Los Angeles surrounded by loved ones after battling pneumonia, her family told The Times on Thursday. In the 1990s, Fabares fell ill, but doctors struggled to pin down what the problem was. After years of health problems, she was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. Doctors ultimately discovered severe liver deterioration, and she spent nearly two years on a waiting list for a liver transplant. She received the lifesaving surgery in the fall of 2000.

In 2011, Fabares told PBS Houston that after suffering liver failure and facing death, her outlook on life completely changed. “It really brought home the fragility of life and how fast everything can change and how extraordinarily lucky we are to be alive, and to have this opportunity to be here, and in my case, to get really an entire second chance,” she said during the appearance. “It does make things more precious.”

She said that, after the close call and lengthy recovery, she feared death less.

“To her family and friends, Shelley was a source of love, strength, laughter, and comfort,” Fabares’ husband, “MASH” actor Mike Farrell, said in a statement.

“She was a devoted wife, cherished stepmother, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, family member, and loyal friend whose warmth, generosity, humor, and grace made an enduring difference in the lives of everyone who knew her. She had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and cared for.

“For millions, Shelley was a beloved actress whose work became part of the fabric of American television and film. … But to those closest to her, her greatest legacy was personal: the love she gave so freely, the friendships she treasured, and the family bonds she held dear.

“We will remember Shelley for her kindness, loyalty, wit, courage, and beautiful spirit. We will miss her deeply — not only as a celebrated performer, but as the loving and extraordinary person she was in our everyday lives.

“We are heartbroken by her loss, yet profoundly grateful for the years we shared with her and for the joy, compassion, and love she brought to so many. We ask that our family’s privacy be respected as we grieve. We take comfort in knowing that Shelley’s work and the memories she created with those who loved her will continue to live on.”

She is survived by her husband and her daughter, Erin.

An air strike on a fuel market near Chad’s border with Sudan killed 12 and injured seven, according to officials.

An air strike near Chad’s border with Sudan has killed at least 12 people, with Chad accusing the Sudanese army of launching it.

Addressing Thursday’s strike, a Chadian security source said it “targeted a fuel market where the RSF [Rapid Support Forces] refuel. The strike killed 12 people and wounded seven”, AFP news agency reported about the attack on the paramilitary group.

Chad’s accusation comes against the backdrop of a civil war between Sudan’s army and the RSF which has lasted over three years and displaced millions of people.

Previously, Chad said that Sudan was responsible for an air strike that hit a military convoy in its territory last week. Chad’s army said the strikes took place more than 100km (62 miles) inside its territory in the eastern Ennedi region, and that there were no Chadian casualties.

In response to threats posed by drones, Chad had raised its alert level in the area to its highest point, according to a security source. The country deployed about 100 armoured vehicles and signal-jamming trucks near eastern Tine, close to the Sudanese border, a local source told Reuters news agency.

On Thursday, Sudan said it was surprised by the allegations against its army “before any professional and independent investigation into the circumstances of the incident”.

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said its forces “are carrying out their constitutional duty to protect Sudan’s sovereignty, security and safety and to face any threats it faces, while respecting the sovereignty of its neighbours and without targeting their territory”.

The US embassy in Khartoum also accused the Sudanese army of launching the recent strikes on Chad, condemning them on Thursday.

The Sudanese army has previously accused Chad of being aligned with the RSF. Meanwhile, nearly one million displaced Sudanese people have fled to Chad, where they have been facing a water crisis.

Sarah Platt decided to take drastic measures for her children from her prison cell in the latest episode of Coronation Street in another twist for the soap legend

Sarah Platt decided to take drastic measures for the sake of her children in the latest episode of Coronation Street. The legendary soap character, who has been played by Tina O’Brien since 1999, is currently serving time in prison having been charged with the murder of Theo Silverton.

The factory supervisor has made some sort of friend in fellow inmate Kacey, who has previously tried to use Sarah’s former romance with DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) to her own benefit. On the latest episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap, Sarah was horrified to find photographs of her son Harry had been vandalised.

Kacey immediately denied that it was her and quickly turned to the news that some pool balls had been stolen from the recreation room. Just then, Kacey pulled out her phone and found that photos of Harry and another boy had popped up on social media, causing immediate panic. Sarah punched a number into her phone and instructed Harry via voice message to go to Adam Barlow’s house.

Kacey then said: “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I just need one small favour from your ex. For Harry’s sake, and Bethany’s too.”

All this time, Adam had innocently dropped Harry off at a new friend’s house, and his partner Alya seemed to think nothing of it. Clearly stressed out, Sarah phoned Adam and he explained: “I told you, her name’s Lottie. Her son joined Harry’s holiday club last week.” Sarah demanded Adam go and collect him right now, but Lottie was already dropping Harry off as Alya demanded to know what was going on.

She confirmed she had removed the pictures from social media, and claimed to only vaguely know Kacey but said she had no idea she was behind bars. Adam did not believe her and accused her of posting the photos just so that Kacey would see.

When Adam voiced his concerns to Kit in the pub, he brushed it all off but, back in prison, Sarah was seen loading the stolen pool balls into a sock, ready for action.

Reacting to the dramatic scenes, one fan wrote on X: “Sarah stole the pool balls to make a weapon for self defense. And they do need to watch Harry now more. And I bet Sarah will end up attacking Kacey in tomorrow’s episode.”

Another said: “Poor Sarah Lou [crying emoji],” and a third said: “Good thing Alya and Adam, were jumping into Lottie’s a*** for posting photos of Harry. She can lie but we all know she knows Kacey, and it was to help her mess with Sarah.

A fourth wrote: “Kacey using Harry and Bethany’s names against Sarah, she knows is working cause it does scare Sarah. Makes her fear for their safety.”

Another seemed to be more amused by the fact that Sarah had a phone in her cell that she could use at will as they said: “Sarah has a landline in her cell? Perks of being a murderer.”

Aug. 27 (UPI) — A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday signed off on a $72.5 million settlement between Bank of America and victims of Jeffrey Epstein over the banking giant’s involvement in the convicted sex offenders crimes.

Judge Jed Rakoff said the agreement was a move toward accountability for the victims, he added that the pain caused by Epstein could be undone. “No amount of money can ever fully compensate Epstein victims for the harm they’ve suffered,” he said.

Around 60 women who were trafficked or abused by Epstein or any of his associates between June 2008 and July 2019 will be covered by the settlement, attorneys for the women have said.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank was accused in a class-action lawsuit of ignoring red flags in Epstein’s transactions in the years after he was first charged with sexually abusing girls and young women.

The lawsuit, which was filed last October, accused Bank of America of “absolute loyalty” to Epstein.

According to Senate Finance Committee data, Bank of America filed suspicious activity reports about more than $170 million in suspicious transactions between billionaire Leon Black and Epstein.

Similar settlements have been reached with JPMorgan Chase for $290 million and Deutsche Bank for $75 million.

None of the banks have admitted wrongdoing.

NASA is starting to explore options to fill the gaps that will be left by the eventual retirement of its iconic T-38 Talons. Since the 1960s, NASA has been using the jets to support astronaut training and as chase planes. However, the Talons are aging, supportability is already a problem, and challenges to sustain them further are expected to grow as the U.S. Air Force replaces its T-38 fleet with new T-7A Red Hawks.

The Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, put out a contracting notice today seeking information about potential T-38 successors. NASA currently has 25 Talons in its inventory, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) online database.

“NASA JSC is conducting market research to obtain industry information regarding availability, capability, schedule, sustainment models, and cost efficacy for modern high-performance jet aircraft that could be used in evaluation and an evaluation program for supporting NASA’s astronaut SFRT [Spaceflight Readiness Training] requirements,” the notice explains. “NASA has operated the T-38N fleet in support of astronaut SFRT for several decades. With the U.S. Air Force planning to retire the T‑38 fleet in the 2030-2035 timeframe, NASA is evaluating options to transition to a more modern high-performance aircraft.”

The T-38N variant is specific to NASA and distinct from the T-38A/B/C variants the Air Force currently operates. The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School also has a handful of T-38Cs. Both the N and C variants are based on the original T-38A, which first entered Air Force service in 1961. The Air Force bailed the first Talons to NASA three years later.

The N models have received various upgrades over the years, including the integration of new modern ‘glass cockpits’ with digital displays starting in the 1990s. As of 2011, compared to contemporary C variants, “the T-38N aircraft includes differences in communications and navigation, such as the addition of weather radar, a data link weather system, the terrain avoidance and warning system, the terminal collision avoidance system, GPS with localizer performance and vertical guidance approach capability, and redesigned electrical, inlet, ejector nozzle, and flight management systems,” according to a report from the National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

NASA T-38 Jets In Flight – Cockpit View Captured by Astronaut | Video

Now, “NASA is seeking information on existing, production, or near-production high-performance jet aircraft capable of supporting SFRT,” per today’s contracting notice from the JSC. “NASA is not restricting industry responses to a specific performance class or aircraft design heritage.”

The notice does provide the following list of desired characteristics:

• “High reliability with established maintenance documentation”
• “Self-starting engine capability”
• “Performance comparable to a modern jet trainer/light fighter aircraft”
• “Capability to support dynamic maneuvering, formation flying, and cross-country navigation”
• “Dual-seat, dual-control configuration (tandem or side-by-side)”
• “Modern avionics compatible with instrument flight operations”
• “Aircraft capable of being single-pilot qualified from either seat is highly desired”

“Prior to any fleet transition, NASA seeks to conduct a limited-scope evaluation program using a small number of modern aircraft,” the notice adds. “This evaluation program is not a full fleet buy or replacement. It is intended to operate a small number of aircraft within JSC’s existing operational framework to assess compatibility, logistics, cost efficacy, and training impact.”

Furthermore, “NASA anticipates evaluating a small number of aircraft over a multi-year period,” it continues. “NASA requests information on potential procurement options such as lease, lease-to-own, barter, or other arrangements due to limited upfront procurement funding.”

NASA is looking to be solely responsible for flight operations of the jets, but is expecting contractors to handle maintenance, whether the aircraft are government-owned or not.

The contracting notice does also say that “NASA is open to operating the aircraft under reasonable flight hour limits, maneuver restrictions, or operational envelopes consistent with contractor recommendations.”

Just what kind of limits and restrictions NASA might be willing to accept is unclear. The entire reason for operating the T-38s now is to offer a high-performance platform with a good degree of maneuverability to support the SRFT requirements. These are attributes that are also valuable when flying as a chase plane and otherwise supporting flight research and test activities.

NASA certainly seems to be willing to consider a wide range of potential operations, both in terms of aircraft and operating schemes. When Boeing won the Air Force’s T-X competition to replace the T-38 with what became the T-7A, TWZ noted the possibility that other Talon operators, including NASA, could follow suit.

There are a wide variety of other jet trainers available on the open market. This includes Korea Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) T-50, a design capable of supersonic flight that has been offered on the U.S. market before through a partnership with Lockheed Martin. A version of the T-50 was one of the losing entrants in the Air Force’s T-X competition.

There are several private companies that operate relevant jet trainer types to provide flight training and ‘red air’ aggressor services, too. NASA’s current administrator, Jared Isaacman, founded one of those companies, Draken International, making him once the owner of the world’s largest private air force. He has also personally bought various demilitarized fighters and jet trainers over the years. During this year’s July 4th celebrations in Washington, D.C., he somewhat controversially flew over the nation’s capital in one of the F-5 Tiger II jets that he owns.

With expectations that funding for new jet trainers will be limited, at least initially, NASA could well seek to enter into some kind of new arrangement with the Air Force (or another branch of the U.S. military) just like it did in the 1960s. It’s also worth noting here that the T-7A program continues to suffer significant delays due to technical issues and other factors. This has led the Air Force to repeatedly push back its own T-38 replacement timeline. The service’s original goal was to reach initial operational capability with the Red Hawk in October of last year, but it is now targeting August 2027 to achieve that milestone. A full-rate production decision is now not expected to come until January 2029. So, NASA actually getting any T-7s anytime before the USAF gets all the jets in badly needs is questionable.

There are also no indications that NASA’s SFRT requirements will slow in the meantime, either. If anything, these training demands could grow as work continues toward the resumption of crewed missions to the Moon under the Artemis program. The Artemis IV mission, currently scheduled for 2028, is set to be the first time astronauts have set foot on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.

From the wording of today’s contracting notice from JSC, NASA is still some years away from making a final decision on what will come after the T-38N, but the hunt is now on.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Teen sisters Cat and Honor Black were among the youngest entrepreneurs ever on BBC Dragons’ Den at just 16 and 17.

A Dragons’ Den contestant has shared a powerful message after making history on the programme, becoming one of the youngest-ever entrepreneurs to walk away with five investors. Cat Black and her sister Honor Black were just 16 and 17 years old when they entered the Den, putting forward their brand Maiden to Steven Bartlett, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Peter Jones and guest Dragon Gary Neville.

The sisters pitched their venture business Maiden, a brand committed to empowering girls and women. Their company, which creates cricket clothing, teamwear and equipment exclusively for women and girls, had been established following their own experiences.

“We started Maiden because we were tired of being at the sidelines,” Honor explained. “We felt when playing at every level that we were forced to make kit with boys’ kit or unisex gear that wasn’t designed for us. And so we decided that we would make something that worked for us and others like us.”

Cat recalled a moment that left her wanting to quit cricket, after a “humiliating” experience during her time of the month where the other players laughed and she felt misunderstood. “The kit we had was not designed for such a situation,” she went on. “This pushed me to help create something that made girls feel confident and comfort in the sport they play.”

They had walked in asking for £15,000 for a 10% stake in their business, having launched in 2024 to roaring success from girls like them, parents and schools. “The message was clear, we weren’t alone,” Honor said.

Talking about scaling their business, Cat went on: “Women’s cricket is going, the timing is perfect and we’re at the forefront of change. We want Maiden to be the go-to brand for female cricket.” Honor added: “And as our brand does always say, it’s ok boys, we will take it from here,” reports Wales Online.

Leaving the Dragons more than impressed, Cat and Honor secured five investments, giving away a total of 25% of their business. Their product was hailed as “fantastic” by Touker Suleyman, who admitted: “I’m very impressed.” Steven meanwhile praised: “If you’re this capable at 16/17 years old, I can’t imagine what you’re going to be like at 18/19/20.”

In an exclusive interview, Cat spoke to The Mirror about the experience, and building the company with her sister. She said: “When we ended up getting all five Dragons, we were like, oh my god, no way. We’d never even thought about what would happen if we had got Dragons!”

After filming in the Den, Cat was given the opportunity to meet the other Dragons. “It was hugs all around, I met all of them, definitely a bucket list moment ticked off,” she said.

She added: “I remember hugging them so many times, I was so overwhelmed. Peter Jones really understood the situation more than the others, just because he started a business at 16, so he was like, ‘This is an amazing achievement, and I hope it all goes well for you’.”

Talking about their journey to build Maiden into what it is today, she continued: “You always look up to other business, and aspire to be bigger and aspire to be better. I didn’t know that I’d been the youngest contestant on Dragons’ Den [to receive five offers].”

Cat continued: “I don’t think I realise how far we have come until someone tells me, which is always amazing. I am honestly proud that we’ve managed to do this and inspire other women to do the same.

“It’s such a big thing because it’s not just around cricket. The whole Maiden mission is more like for women who see a problem, you can fix it, you can do something about it.

“That’s what inspires me and hopefully it inspires lots of other women, not just in the sports industry but everywhere. You can change and you can do something.”

Dragons’ Den is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Kurdish leader appointed to the role days after the dissolution of the force he commanded.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has appointed Mazloum Abdi, leader of the now-dissolved Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a presidential advisor.

Al-Sharaa issued Decree No 164, appointing Abdi as “as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic” on Thursday, the Syrian state news agency Sana reported.

The move comes three days after Abdi announced the dissolution of the SDF and the completion of its integration with the Syrian military.

Abdi is the most senior of several Kurdish figures appointed to state posts. Another commander was made assistant defence minister for the eastern region earlier this year.

The advisory role is a lesser position than one offered in January, when al-Sharaa proposed making Abdi deputy defence minister and nominating him as governor of Hasakah province, in order to restore state control over the SDF-controlled provincial capital.

Al-Sharaa and Abdi first agreed to fold the SDF into the central government in March 2025. That deal made little progress before its year-end deadline, spurring state forces to battle into the northeast in January, taking the cities of Raqqa and Deir Az Zor from the SDF.

A ceasefire that ended the fighting placed Raqqa, Deir Az Zor and Hasakah under central government control and committed the SDF to join the defence and interior ministries under a 14-point plan.

One Kurdish-led force has yet to be absorbed. The YPJ, the SDF’s women’s units, asked to join the defence ministry but were told the army’s structure has no units for women.

Alongside the military track, al-Sharaa issued a decree in January recognising Kurdish as a national language and restoring citizenship to Syria Kurds, the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.

The SDF was the largest force still outside the army, and its dissolution leaves Damascus with formal authority over almost all Syrian territory. Reunifying the country has been al-Sharaa’s central promise since former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December 2024.

The venue’s board of directors, stacked with supporters of the president, voted to add his name again despite past ruling.

A United States judge has questioned why the Kennedy Center is rushing to restore President Donald Trump’s name to the performing arts venue after it was ordered removed in a previous ruling.

US District Court Judge Christopher Cooper asked Trump administration lawyer Bradley Mayers on Thursday why the venue has said it must begin adding the president’s name back to the building by September 8.

“What’s magic about that date?” Cooper asked.

Mayers stated that the date is aligned with a vote by the centre’s board — composed of members selected by Trump, who then installed him as the head — earlier this month.

“That’s all fine and good,” Cooper responded. “What does that have to do with what Congress intended in these statutes? That’s really what’s before me.”

The legal saga around Trump’s effort to inscribe his name on the building of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, is one of several examples of the president’s desire to reshape the landscape of the national capital.

In addition to changes to the performing arts centre, Trump has demolished the East Wing of the White House and sought to replace it with an enormous ballroom.

He also has pushed forward with plans for an enormous triumphal arch to be erected in a traffic circle not far from the historic Arlington National Cemetery.

The president and his allies have faced numerous legal challenges to those efforts, with critics arguing that the projects require congressional approval.

Previously, in May, Cooper found that the addition of Trump’s name to the building was illegal and that Congress alone could rebrand the building.

He also struck down an attempt to close the building for two years. The board had described the effort as necessary to maintain the building, but critics saw the closure as retaliation against the backlash to the renaming effort.

Earlier this month, however, the Trump-aligned board renewed the push to add his name back to the facade, by adding the inscription, “Restored and Renovated By President Donald J Trump”.

The vote also called for the plaza in front of the venue to also be renamed after Trump.

On Tuesday, administration officials threatened to demolish the Kennedy Centre if the renovations do not go through. They warned the performing arts centre would become “decrepit” without the board’s interventions.

In Thursday’s hearing, however, Cooper rejected the idea that court orders were standing in the way of any repairs.

“No one is stopping the center from doing any necessary repairs,” Cooper said. “The notion that continued judicial involvement is standing in the way of accomplishing necessary repairs is not quite fair.”

The lawsuit against the board’s changes to the Kennedy Center was brought by Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center trustee who represents the state of Ohio in Congress.

Lawyers for Beatty said on Thursday that they view the board’s recent actions “as outright defiance” against the court.

The Kennedy Center was named by Congress as a living memorial to John F Kennedy, the 35th US president who helped fundraise for its establishment. He was assassinated in 1963. Under the law, no other national memorial to Kennedy is allowed in Washington, DC.

Leah Remini is joining the cast of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

The “King of Queens” star confirmed rumors that she was joining the 16th season of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” with an Instagram post on Wednesday, writing alongside the announcement, “It’s true.”

Remini’s team didn’t comment on whether the Emmy-winning actor would be a full-time cast member on the series. Tracy Tutor, a luxury real estate broker from “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,” will also join the all-star cast, which includes Kyle Richards, Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley, Bozoma Saint John, Rachel Zoe and Sutton Stracke. Kathy Hilton and actor Jennifer Tilly also will return in a recurring “friend” role.

Amanda Frances of Season 15 will not be returning. She announced the news and a forthcoming memoir via Instagram on Aug. 5, writing, “I am taking the clarity, the lessons, the plot twists, the spiritual warfare, and the occasional deeply unnecessary dinner party drama into all that God has for me next. … And to anyone watching, please know: Your next move does not require anyone’s approval.”

“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” turned 20 this year and has the distinction of most-watched of the franchise, with “Real Housewives of Atlanta” coming in second after carrying the torch for a decade.

Per Variety, “RHOBH” began filming earlier this summer with much of the cast — sans Remini and Tutor — jet-setting off to Ghana for Saint John’s wedding to Keely Watson last week. Remini will begin filming in Los Angeles this week.

Remini and her former husband, Angelo Pagán, announced back in 2024 that they were divorcing after nearly 30 years together. In a joint statement, the exes said they’d both changed, “as people do.”

“This decision came after a lot of thought and care, and as hard as divorce is, we are approaching this with a positive outlook because we know it’s what’s best for us,” they said in the joint statement.

The pair had publicly shared their relationship in TV specials that aired on VH1’s “Inside Out: Leah Remini” and on Remini’s TLC series, “It’s All Relative,” which aired for two seasons.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday named a new head of the agency that oversees his ballroom project at the White House and a proposed national arch in Washington, D.C.

Mark Paoletta, the general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, will take charge of the National Capital Planning Commission. He will replace Mark Scharf, who is set to become White House counsel on Monday.

“President Trump has transformed D.C. into a capital worthy of the greatest nation in history,” Mr. Paoletta said in a statement to the news agencies. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to further the president’s historic restoration and beautification of the National Capital Region, especially in the 250th year of our country’s independence.”

The NCPC is the federal government’s planning agency for projects in and around the capital city. According to its website, it “provides overall planning guidance for federal land and buildings in the region.”

In April, the 12-member panel approved the construction of the ballroom where the East Wing of the White House once stood.

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts last week temporarily blocked a ruling by a lower court stopping the project in a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In addition to his post at the OMB, Paoletta has been the acting chief of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau since the start of August. Brian Johnson has been nominated to fill the role at the CFPB permanently.

Paoletta had represented Ginny Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, during the House Select committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Russia used a longer-range Iskander ballistic missile for the first time in an attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) said on Thursday. Missiles fired from deeper inside Russia would present additional challenges to Ukraine’s new campaign to attack the systems before they launch.

“In one of the combined missile strikes on the capital this summer, the enemy first used the updated 9M723-2 ballistic missiles, also known by the code name ‘Iskander-1000,’” GUR stated. “The updated missile, due to the increased engine and, accordingly, the increased launcher, is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 550 km (about 341 miles).”

According to GUR, the range of the previous Iskander variant, the 9M723-1, is 390 km, or about 242 miles.

In its statement about the new Iskander, GUR included photos of what appear to be recovered components of the weapon. However, the agency did not provide any specifics about what the components were, where they were found or when.

While GUR states that the new Iskander short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) was only recently fired at Ukraine, unconfirmed reports emerged in January that this weapon may have been introduced back then. Reports also began to appear last year that Russia was poised to start mass-producing a new version of the Iskander SRBM, with a range of about 600 miles and improved accuracy. Talk of the development of this new missile emerged after the termination by the United States of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 2019. This had previously prohibited the Soviet Union (later Russia) and the United States from fielding any ground-launched conventional or nuclear-capable missile of any type that can hit targets between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 and 3,420 miles) away. Russia formally abandoned the treaty a short while after the U.S pulled out.

We have reached out to GUR for details.

A Telegram channel operated by Russian paratroopers lauded the development.

“Now, rearward facilities that were previously considered relatively safe are within range,” gloated the Paratrooper’s Diary. “The missile retains its ballistic trajectory, which means it can maneuver throughout its flight path, making interception more difficult for air defense systems.”

“According to preliminary data, the increase in the fuel compartment may have allowed for adjustments to the warhead mass, but the missile is still capable of carrying both cluster and high-explosive warheads with increased power,” the paratroopers continued. “The deployment of the ‘Iskander-1000’ indicates that the Russian defense industry is not only replenishing stockpiles but also scaling up a major modernization of missile weaponry.”

Reducing the size of the warhead and increasing fuel storage is a well proven way of extended the range of certain missiles without drastically chaining its outer mold line. Other improvements, such as new motors and guidance capabilities can also help in this regard.

Russia produces dozens of these weapons a month, noted missile expert Fabian Hoffmann.

“Recently, Ukrainian intelligence provided an updated estimate of Russian missile production capacity, stating that Russia produces around 60 9M723 ballistic missiles per month,” he pointed out in May.

“Based on recent employment trends, this figure is not entirely implausible (at least compared to when this number was first mentioned in 2024), though it should be treated as an upper-bound estimate,” Hoffmann added. “More realistically, Russia’s combined 9M723 and Kh-47M2 production capacity in mid-2026 may be between 600 and 800 units annually, with monthly production potentially fluctuating significantly depending on the availability of internationally sourced components. This would allow Russia to sustain an average employment rate of roughly 50 to 70 monthly ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine, with greater peaks possible if part of the production is stockpiled in a given month.”

To bolster its stocks of short-range ballistic missiles, Russia is receiving more KN-23 and KN-24 missiles from North Korea, which are loosely akin to the Iskander-M. Russia has also asked Pyongyang for an additional tranche of KN-30 missiles, also known as the Hwasong-11C, according to a separate GUR report issued today.

“The new KN-30 ballistic missiles, which are three times more powerful than the KN-23/24, were requested by Moscow from Pyongyang, but so far, the transfer of these missiles from North Korea to Russia has not been recorded,” GUR added.

The KN-30 is an enlarged derivative of the original Hwasong-11 and designed to carry larger warheads. North Korea has previously said it has tested subvariants of the Da/C type with 2.5-ton and 4.5-ton conventional high-explosive warheads, and that it can also be fitted with a nuclear warhead.

Ukraine has had to absorb a lot of damage because it ran out of Patriots months ago. However, President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said an unspecified number of additional interceptors would be delivered. Evidence has also emerged that a new supply of Patriots is being used against Russian missiles, including Iskanders. Still, the concern stands because of the precarious nature of Ukraine’s interceptor supply and Russia’s ability to make new and improved missiles.

As we noted earlier in this story, Ukraine has a new campaign, recently announced by Zelensky, to go after Russia’s ballistic missiles prior to launching to offset a dearth of interceptors. However, Russia’s ability to launch missiles another 100 or so miles further away from Ukraine will make them harder to find and hit.

“When our anti-ballistic missile stocks are at a minimum, there is another tactic,” Zelensky commented. “It is more difficult, and we developed it. It is hunting their nearby positions from which ballistic missiles are launched.”

Zelensky offered no details about how the campaign would be carried out. However, “Ukraine has already targeted Russian ballistic missile infrastructure in several operations this year in Crimea and Rostov, Russia, with drones, Euromaidan Press reported.

❗️Zelensky says Ukrainian forces struck an Iskander-M missile launcher on Russian territory near Ukraine’s border. He called it another success and said operational details cannot be disclosed because of the mission’s sensitivity, but confirmed the launcher was hit. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/Ao0ooa8JYt

— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) August 23, 2026

It is always preferable to shoot the archer not the arrow, but doing so reliably is very challenging as the Iranians proved again in Epic Fury. Despite a concerted campaign by the U.S. and Israel to go after Iranian missile launchers, the Islamic Republic was still able to fire off numerous volleys, creating a swath of destruction across the region.

For Ukraine, this kind of effort would have to mirror its mid-range strike campaign against Russian logistics using longer-range drones. Ukrainians told us they are hitting targets up to 250 km away in the occupied territories. However, that’s been aided in no small measure by the use of Space X Starlink systems.

Carrying out a similar campaign in Russia would be challenging, because Space X owner Elon Musk is reluctant to allow their use deep inside Russia. As we previously noted, Ukraine is asking Musk for permission to “use Starlink-equipped drones against ballistic missile launchers up to 200km inside Russia,” the Financial Times reported last week.

However, Zelensky recently said Musk ultimately refused to grant that permission.

GUR is calling for increased efforts to cut off the supply of foreign assistance Russia receives.

“To counter the aggressor’s plans, it is crucial to consolidate efforts aimed at limiting Russia’s program for the development, production, and modernization of ballistic weapons,” the directorate proffered.

The Ukrainian intelligence information about the new Iskander was part of a report on the amount of foreign components found on these missiles. The information is published on the directorate’s War & Sanctions portal, which identifies foreign assistance to Russia’s weapons programs.

“Only a quarter of the 140 components published today are manufactured by Russian enterprises,” GUR stated.

Almost half – 63 – were manufactured by American firms, GUR explained. The Iskanders also contained components from Switzerland, Belarus, Germany, Taiwan and China.

“In one of the most important components of the missile guidance system — the flight information processing unit obtained from the laser gyroscope — only 5 out of 43 components are manufactured in the Russian Federation,” GUR added. 

That foreign components would be found in Russian weapons is neither surprising nor new. TWZ has been chronicling this since the start of the war. These parts have been found in everything from helicopters to radars to cruise missiles. There was even a decoy drone found to be made completely of Chinese components.

These parts all found their way into Russian weapons despite international sanctions designed to prevent that from happening.

Russia isn’t the only country whose weapons – reliant on foreign components – have been used in attacks on Ukraine. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) produced by North Korea and used against Ukraine by Russia in 2024 relied on more than 290 foreign-sourced components, many of them originating from U.S. manufacturers. This is the alarming result of a study by Conflict Armament Research (CAR), a U.K.-based investigative organization.

China is also providing engines for Russia’s drones, including its jet-powered variants.

All this news about Russian missile supplies comes as President Vladimir Putin has threatened to escalate attacks on Ukraine over its strikes on Russian infrastructure and the faltering peace process. The Russian leader is also reportedly again mulling using tactical nuclear weapons to stop these attacks. That would be a word-changing escalation and TWZ cannot independently confirm those claims.

Though he hasn’t pulled the trigger on expanding attacks yet, Putin is clearly building the means to do so if he chooses.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

Nigella Lawson will be joining Paul Hollywood on the upcoming series of Bake Off and now insiders have claimed that their “flirty and fiery” relationship will play out on screen

The “flirty and fiery” relationship between Nigella Lawson and Paul Hollywood on The Great British Bake Off will have viewers gripped, according to insiders.

Channel 4 believe the pair, who are working together as judges for the first time on the upcoming 17th series, are “TV gold” – and unlike anything that’s been seen before.

Newly arrived Nigella, who has replaced Dame Prue Leith on the hit show, is not afraid to poke fun at Paul or engage in flirty banter – and he is said to enjoy it. At one point, when they disagree on something, she challenges him to a physical challenge. And another time, when the bakers are toiling over a particular cake, she compares it to his sun-tan.

One insider said: “Paul just loves the attention! He’s met his match with Nigella because she might be new but she’s not afraid to poke fun at him.

She then challenges him to an arm wrestle. And she also makes a joke about a walnut cake being the same colour as him.

“She can come across as seductive and flirty – not just with him, with everyone – but that’s just who she is, she can’t help herself! It’s her trademark. Some of the things she comes out with are so funny. There are some iconic moments.

“The great thing is that Nigella hasn’t changed anything about herself for the show, and the show hasn’t changed anything for her. She’s come along and done her thing and it’s worked wonderfully.

“Their chemistry gives this series a whole different feel which gives it a freshness. Viewers are in for a treat.”

Yesterday Channel 4’s director of content strategy Kiran Nataraja said she was “really excited” to have Nigella on the show. And referring to a report suggesting she’d been dismayed to see Paul arriving on the set in Berkshire using his own personal mode of “showing off” transport, Kiran added: “She and Paul are not arguing about helicopters the whole time.”

In a clip shown at the Edinburgh TV Festival Nigella, 60, is heard telling one contestant: “Don’t let the sugar shout. Let it sing.”

And she tells another: “I like the fact that there is something a bit sort of jumbly about them. A treat to look at and a treat to eat.” Another critique she provides is: “There is nothing wrong in restraint. Restraint is a very good partner to indulge.”

She and Paul are also shown sitting back and relaxing as, for the first time, they are not called upon to set the Technical Challenge – thanks to the newly introduced “audience choice week”.

Paul, 66, previously got on well with both Dame Prue and her predecessor, Dame Mary Berry. The long-running series, presented by Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond, already has a reputation for being packed with saucy innuendoes.

The Great British Bake Off is due to air on Channel 4 next month.

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Aug. 27 (UPI) — Colombian authorities captured an alleged senior Tren de Aragua leader in Bogotá who was wanted by the United States for crimes that include international arms trafficking and drug trafficking, President Abelardo de la Espriella announced Thursday.

Luis Saúl Pérez Nieto, also known as “Páez” or “Nairobi,” was arrested in Fontibón, a district in western Bogotá. De la Espriella identified him as the gang’s top leader in Peru and a trusted associate of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” the leader of the Venezuelan criminal organization.

Tren de Aragua began as a prison gang in Tocorón and expanded across South America and into the United States. It has been involved in murder, extortion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking, kidnapping and other violent acts.

“Nairobi” allegedly coordinated extortion, international arms trafficking, targeted killings and drug trafficking along strategic routes in South and Central America, according to the president’s announcement.

De la Espriella said U.S. authorities wanted Pérez Nieto in connection with those crimes. Colombian and U.S. officials have not publicly disclosed the jurisdiction handling the case, the specific charges against him or whether Washington has submitted an extradition request.

“Colombia will not be a refuge or sanctuary for any criminal,” De la Espriella said. “We will pursue them, capture them and bring them to justice, no matter where they come from.”

The operation involved Colombia’s National Police and Attorney General’s Office, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to Colombian outlets.

Police sources told Semana that Pérez Nieto was allegedly involved in trafficking ketamine, cocaine and weapons from Bogotá. Authorities had been tracking his movements in the Colombian capital before carrying out the arrest.

Peruvian media also reported the detention, but authorities in Peru had not announced whether Pérez Nieto faces charges or an extradition request there.

US trade officials downplay French language dispute, calling claims fabricated.

Canada’s top trade negotiator with the United States, Dominic LeBlanc, says he “welcomes” a shift in the US position on “discoverability”, “labelling” and “measures to promote French language and Canadian culture” not being subject to US tariffs.

LeBlanc praised the move in a post on Thursday on X and added that Canada is looking “forward to further constructive U.S. clarifications on their other positions, which would create the possibility of a mutually beneficial trade agreement”.

Al Jazeera reached out to the White House for comment, but it pointed to an interview with US Trade Representative Jamison Greer on the Canadian broadcaster CBC in which Greer said French language discoverability on streaming services “is not something where we push hard or condition or red-line”.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed those comments at a news conference on Thursday outside the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

“Do I care about how the Quebecois speak? I mean, what could matter less to America? We don’t care. So the fact is we never brought those words up. This is manufactured, and that’s why the president put out a [post on Truth Social] saying it was a complete lie, right? It was manufactured,” Lutnick told reporters.

The comments come on the heels of tit-for-tat tariffs between Washington and Ottawa.

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on roughly $20bn of US goods ranging from 15 to 50 percent that will go into effect on September 8. Those levies were in response to 50 percent tariffs announced by Washington on Canadian goods as negotiations collapsed over the weekend.

US President Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric against Canada in recent days, including signing an executive order on Thursday to rename Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the five Great Lakes, which borders Ontario, to Lake America.

On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said US officials made “threats to the French language” as well as threats to the culture of Canada and Quebec specifically.

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are to hit hundreds of consumer products, including ice skates, dishwashers and construction materials. However, on Wednesday, Ottawa scaled back some tariffs, including those on fish and other seafood products.

“Based on feedback, we have made select adjustments to protect against economic harms, including removing seafood and fish products from our list of counter-tariffs,” Canada’s Department of Finance said in a post on X.

“We are continually working with Canadian industries to assess the effectiveness of these measures, with a primary focus on industries that have been targeted by US tariffs.”

Emmerdale star Nick Miles, who played Jimmy King on the ITV soap for more than two decades, has addressed final scenes which saw the beloved character killed off in a crash

Nick Miles has addressed his exit from Emmerdale – just hours after his character was killed off in explosive scenes. The actor, 63, has played Jimmy King on the long-running soap since 2004, but departed the Yorkshire-based serial in scenes that aired on Thursday evening.

Viewers will know that, in recent times, Jimmy and wife Nicola had been looking to the future, and had even planned to renew their wedding vows. Jimmy had not disclosed to Nicola about his financial troubles though, but tragedy struck when he crashed crashed into the wedding marquee where Joe Tate and Dawn Taylor were having a heart-to-heart.

No explanation has been offered yet as to what caused the fatal crash but actor Nick, who previously starred in The Bill, has spoken out about the sudden departure.

Asked by co-star Nicola Wheeler, who plays his on-screen wife, in a video that appeared on Emmerdale’s official Instagram why his character had to go, he simply reasoned: “Everybody I know who read that script, the first thing they said was that it made me cry.”

Nicola was with him in his final moments, telling Jimmy she loved him and holding his hand, as he imagined their vow renewal. With Jimmy gone, Nicola wept before fleeing the marquee just as it exploded.

Just moments before, everything played out as Nicola raced into the marquee to find her husband, was in a bad way and suggested he might not be making it out.

In heart-wrenching scenes, Jimmy shared his love for his wife, but sadly he succumbed to his injuries and died in the car. Moments later the marquee looked as though it was about to be engulfed in flames.

Fans were certainly not impressed with the shock death, with one writing: “He deserved better.” Another said: “I’m still in bits what an episode. Bravo to the cast,” as a third added: “I can’t get over the episode. I was in tears.”

Another fan commented: “I hate that they are getting rid of [name].” A further post read: “He deserved something more epic,” as a final fan said: “You’ve done [name] dirty!”

Other fans confessed they couldn’t believe the show was getting rid of the character. Another fan said they were “fuming” given the character had been a apart of the show for so long.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. *

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Aug. 27 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” after his dispute with Canada over tariffs last week.

Trump threatened to rename the lake Tuesday on Truth Social, saying, “The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer.”

“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake America,” the president said just before signing the order.

In the Oval Office, a reporter asked what message he was trying to send with the renaming.

“No message,” he said. “As you know, Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade, very, very sadly. Even the military. You know, we defend Canada for nothing.”

Canada is a founding member of NATO.

The order says that within 30 days, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will update the Geographic Names Information System. The GNIS works with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to standardize geographic names for federal use.

Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Mount Denali to Mount McKinley on his first day in office in 2025. He can’t force other countries or private entities to use the new names, but he can force the federal government to.

Because it’s an international boundary water, Canada and the U.S. jointly manage Lake Ontario through the International Joint Commission under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.

Order declares a national emergency over an ‘unusual and extraordinary foreign threat’ to the grid.

United States President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency over what his administration describes as security risks linked to foreign-made equipment used in the US electricity grid.

Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that restricts the purchase and installation of certain foreign-produced equipment used in the bulk-power system.

The order cited an “unusual and extraordinary foreign threat” from foreign-made systems, saying they could create vulnerabilities for US national security.

The directive targets certain bulk-power system equipment as well as related software and digital capabilities that the Trump administration said could create cybersecurity or operational risks.

The Department of Energy has 120 days to publish formal rules implementing the policy. In the meantime, experts are watching utility companies, which face the enormous task of compiling an inventory list of equipment flagged by the Trump administration.

“Blocking new purchases is the easy part. Knowing what’s already running is where the real work starts,” John Bruggeman, virtual chief information security officer of the telecommunications company CBTS, told Al Jazeera. “Utilities running foreign-sourced grid equipment … have a live compliance clock starting today.”

The move is the latest effort by the White House to address potential foreign security threats against the grid. Last year, US experts reported finding undisclosed communication devices in some Chinese solar power inverters. In July, the Federal Communications Commission banned all new foreign-made power inverters designed with remote communication capabilities and operating within the electric utility grid.

Still, the order does not prohibit all foreign-made equipment used in the US electricity system. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been directed to establish conditions for the continued use and operation of affected equipment.

“The executive order establishes the authority to act,” Michael Centrella at the cybersecurity company SecurityScorecard, told Al Jazeera. “The difficult next step will be giving operators scalable, independent visibility into which assets and vendor relationships present the greatest risk without disrupting the reliability of the power system.”