News Desk

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is due to visit Tehran on Thursday for talks on de-escalating tensions and reviving dialogue between Iran and the United States.

A spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the visit in a statement on X on Wednesday.

Majed al-Ansari said Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, will meet with “a number of Iranian officials” in Tehran to “discuss ways to de-escalate tensions” and “create the conditions conducive to dialogue”.

“The visit comes in line with the State of Qatar’s firm position that the diplomatic path is the best means of resolving differences & promoting security & stability in the region,” he added.

Iran also confirmed the visit, saying the discussions will cover “the continuation of Qatar’s mediation efforts and initiatives, as well as other regional developments”.

Qatar has served as a back-channel negotiator between Washington and Tehran and helped secure a memorandum of understanding in June that briefly paused hostilities. The agreement collapsed in July, and the conflict is now nearing its sixth month, with fighting largely paused but no diplomatic breakthrough in sight.

The US has, meanwhile, promised to increase economic pressure on Tehran by sanctioning its trade partners.

US President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he was in “no hurry” to resume talks with Iran, saying that he believed economic and military action against Tehran were both effective.

“I have no time schedule; whatever it takes,” he said.

‘Economic terrorism’

Iran has continued to denounce the economic pressure campaign.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote to the United Nations on Wednesday calling the new sanctions an “act of state and economic terrorism” and urging member states not to implement them.

“The sanctions deliberately harm civilians by restricting access to food, medicine, medical equipment, energy and other essentials, violating rights including the rights to life, health, food and an adequate standard of living”, he said.

The two sides also remain at odds over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the US-Israel war on Iran began in February.

Iran wants control over the strait, while the US wants it to remain an international waterway that is free for all. That disagreement in part led to the collapse of the memorandum signed in June.

Oil flows through the strait have since fallen to a three-month low, with just 5 million barrels per day (bpd) transiting on Monday. Before the war, the strait carried roughly 20 million bpd of crude oil.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Sheikh Mohammed will also discuss the waterway in his meetings in Tehran on Thursday, focusing on “the need for it to return to the status quo prior to February 28”.

Regional diplomacy

Sheikh Mohammed’s visit comes two days after Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met his Iranian counterpart, Araghchi, in Tehran.

Following those talks, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the two countries had agreed on a new temporary route for shipping in the strait.

But he insisted that the waterway will not reopen until the US fulfils its commitments under the June deal, including the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets.

Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, also visited Tehran earlier in the week in a bid to “end the stalemate” in the conflict, with Islamabad reporting “significant progress” in those talks.

Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, said that regional countries were pushing for dialogue because “they believe that the situation is moving towards escalation”.

“They know that if war breaks out, it would be a fully-fledged war and the fire would spill over into the entire region and beyond, leaving a detrimental impact on the global economy,” he said. “So there are hectic diplomatic moves on the part of these countries.”

Faced with having to fight as technology rapidly transforms the nature of warfare, the U.S. Marine Corps on Wednesday unveiled its vision for the future of ground combat. Dubbed Ground Combat Element (GCE) 2040, the document lays out how Marines will fight and what kinds of equipment and training they will need to succeed, down to the squad level. Though the document doesn’t mention a specific adversary, it focuses heavily on the kind of littoral, anti-access battle a future Pacific fight would entail.

“I think that you would agree that the global security landscape today demonstrates an intensity for that kind of modernization,” Lt. Gen. Jay M. Bargeron, Deputy Commandant, Plans, Policies, and Operations, said today during a media roundtable to introduce GCE 2040 that TWZ attended virtually. “It’s a landscape that’s defined by rapid technological change and the reemergence, importantly, of peer-level adversaries like China and Russia.”

A working concept of the plan was presented for the first time back in April during a panel at the Modern Day Marine Expo held in Washington, D.C. 

Ground Combat Element 2040 Teaser

In a future fight against enemies with ubiquitous sensors, advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities, waves of expendable drones, offensive and defensive electronic warfare systems and long-range precision weapons, smaller Marine units like rifle squads will have to act more independently to defend themselves and execute successful attacks.

The new plan recognizes that “widespread use of drones underscores the need for effective organic protective measures across the GCE, down to the squad level. The evolving drone threat presents the most significant risk to ground maneuver, requiring layered active and passive counter-UAS capabilities to retain the initiative. Survivability must be addressed by comprehensively encompassing improved training, updated doctrine, and technological advancements.”

You can see an example of how small drones are being used against Ukrainian forces in the following video.

The ubiquity of drones on the battlefield has devastated both Russian and Ukrainian forces, which are each using these weapons to create an ever-growing no-go zone. Bargeron acknowledged that providing protection from drones for smaller Marine units presents a major challenge.

“The ability for our lowest echelon units – squad, platoon, company – to defend themselves against one-way attack systems is really maybe one of the biggest holes in our swing, and so we’re working hard on that,” the general admitted.

Protecting these forces will require a forward, layered approach involving ground-based air defenses (GBAD) and other means, Bargeron explained. From longer ranges, systems like the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS), Light Marine Air Defense Integrated Systems (LMADIS) and Medium-Range Intercept Capability [MRIC], will defend Marines, he said.

In addition, Bargeron said the Marines will also rely on a system called “Home Alone,” which a spokesman for the service told us “is a Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System (CsUAS) that is a semi-fixed site GBAD solution that supports our layered defense structure.” The Marines declined to provide any details about how that system works, citing its classified nature.

For protection at the squad level, “the GCE 2040 integrates both active and passive measures to ensure organic protection,” a Marine official told us. “A key component of this is the Organic Counter-small UAS, or O-CsUAS, initiative. This program has fielded dismounted kits directly to the squads. These kits provide Marines with the ability to actively and passively detect drone threats and to defeat them using both kinetic and non-kinetic means.”

Those kits are “complemented by the use of frangible 5.56 ammunition for standard-issue rifles, which is more effective against aerial targets, and the continued employment of passive countermeasures like multi-spectral camouflage, dispersion, and displacement to degrade enemy targeting,” the official added.

Bargeron noted that the Marines have already purchased 400,000 of the frangible counter-drone rounds and that they are undergoing training on how to use them.

You can read more about the Marines’ emerging doctrine for devolving air defense down to the individual Marine in our story here.

Drone Round: The Next Evolution of Counter-UAS

As noted earlier in this story, GCE 2040 also calls for providing squads with longer-range offensive weapons.

“What we’re trying to do is to bring precision strike capabilities down to the lowest level,” the general noted. “That’s a great example of using advanced technology to enhance the lethality of Marines that are already doing that job. The OPF [Organic Precision Fires] increases the individual Marine’s or Marine rifle squads’ ability to strike targets, at ranges that you had previously needed fixed-wing air or aviation fire support or indirect fire.”

The goal is for squads to be able to strike targets at a range of about 20 kilometers, Bargeron stated. 

“So in the hands of the individual Marines to be able to strike targets like that…will be dramatic,” he exclaimed.

Bargeron added that the Marines are currently using the Neros Archer first-person view (FPV) drones for this purpose. They are “capable of carrying a 2 kg/4.5 lb payload over 20 kilometers,” the company asserts on its LinkedIn page.

They are also being sent to Ukraine, where the use of these systems by small units is a daily fact of life, not a vision for the future.

Bargeron offered no other details on specific offensive squad-level longer-range weapons options that will be developed and fielded over the coming years.

The plan itself is vague in terms of overall timelines, noting that there will be a “phased approach to modernization” occurring across “three overlapping time periods.”

• Near-Term (2026-2030): This period focuses on refining and accelerating ongoing Force Design modernization efforts, addressing the immediate threat of drones, and setting conditions for future investments.
• Mid-Term (2031-2035): Investments in AI and autonomous systems will mature, enhancing headquarters functions, streamlining logistics, and improving operational tempo. Drone/unmanned formations and layered counter-UAS capabilities become critical.
• Long-Range (2036-2040): The GCE is transformed by AI-enabled command and control, widespread Human-Machine Teaming, and resilient, dispersed formations. It operates with increased combat power and survivability, providing the Joint Force with a decisive advantage on key littoral terrain.

Ukraine has shown American troops up close and personal how difficult it is to defend against drones. In a recent training exercise in Germany, U.S. Army soldiers were trounced by Ukrainian drone operators, only improving their performance after the lessons learned from initial engagements. While there are still many unknowns about the goals and rules put in place for that exercise, which accomplished its mission of learning, it underlines long-standing questions about why the U.S. military has taken so long to adapt to a glaringly different battlefield. Whether the new Marine Corps plan will do so fast enough, especially as major foes, especially China, are moving aggressively in employing new weapons and tactics based on lessons learned in global conflicts, is still up for debate.

That being said, the Marines acknowledge that GCE 2040 is a work-in-progress, but the changes it is trying to address are critical to operating against threats the U.S. military has yet to face at the scale it would against China or Russia.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

TOKYO — Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who splashed her signature polka dots on paintings, sculptures and museum installations around the world, has died, her company said Thursday. She was 97.

Kusama died Aug. 14 at a hospital in Tokyo, Yayoi Kusama Studio said in a statement.

Kusama, one of Japan’s most respected contemporary artists, was widely exhibited around the world, including at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Repetitive motifs in various shapes were her trademark, resembling netting, swirls or worms, but most often dots, dancing proudly on her canvases or as sparkling balls or dots of light in her installations in all their vibrant, psychedelic glory.

Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room — The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away,” 2013.

(EPW Studio / David Zwirner, New York)

In 2017, the Los Angeles Times wrote about the first U.S. museum survey of the Tokyo artist’s Infinity Mirror Rooms at the Broad. The rooms generated “Hamilton”-scale hype.

Kusama told The Times: “I believe that people are attracted by the infinite mysterious beauty that the artwork has. I am also attracted.”

Now two of Kusama’s pieces on permanent display at the Broad draw, on any given day, a line of visitors to see the immersive art pieces for mere moments. “Infinity Mirrored Room — The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away,” on the first floor, requires reservations to stand for one minute in a small mirrored room full of bouncing LED lights that make you feel like you’re floating in the Milky Way. “Longing for Eternity,” on the third floor, also draws lines but does not require a reservation to peek inside a chamber that gives off a purple disco dance floor vibe.

Both conjure a sense of awe, of boundless imagination. Millions have entered the “Souls” room, snapping photos and video that elicit floods of Instagram likes, since its opening in 2017.

Kusama, known for her fiery red wig, lived by choice in a Tokyo psychiatric hospital for decades. She had opened her own museum in Tokyo yet remained very private, granting limited interviews.

Kusama insisted she drew the way she saw the world — covered with spots, part of the hallucinations she said she had from childhood. She was one of the first Japanese women to go to New York to pursue her art, in 1957.

Although soft-spoken and shy in her mannerisms, she was always unabashedly bold in the assertion of her dotty vision, not only in sticking to the style for decades but also in making it accessible to the masses.

In her later years, as the times caught up with her art, she enjoyed fame. She signed on with fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton as well as other licensed products including teacups, T-shirts and key chains with her illustrations and replicas of her likeness that were used in show windows and other marketing.

In 2008, Christie’s auctioned her work for $5.8 million. In 2016, she won the most prestigious award Japan gives its artists, the Order of Culture.

Upon receiving the award, she told reporters she was more determined than ever to pursue her art, stressing that the sincerity and devotion she had demonstrated in her personal life were crucial parts of her artistic legacy.

“I feel there is little left in my life, but I am now still fighting to the death for my art,” she said. “I am giving all I have so that many people will continue to be interested in my art, even after I am dead.”

Kusama was called pop, avant-garde, feminist, just to name some of the categories thrown at her, most of which Kusama brushed off as not quite representative of her art.

She was born in a middle-class family but felt misunderstood, as her parents wanted her simply to get married. They wanted to buy her kimono, not paints and brushes. She knew she had to get away. She chose America.

When she arrived in New York, the fad was “action painting,” characterized by dribbles, swooshes and smears, not dots. She suffered years of poverty and obscurity. But she kept painting dots.

She put circles of paper on people’s bodies, and once a horse, in “happening” antiwar performances in the late 1960s, which got some people arrested for obscenity but helped get media attention for her art. While in New York, she befriended artists including Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keefe and Joseph Cornell, who praised her innovative style.

Over the years, Kusama has made quirky but stunningly celebratory works such as “Macaroni Girl,” a female figure plastered with macaroni, which expresses the fear of food; “The Visionary Flowers,” giant sculptures of twisting tulips; and “Mirrored Corridor,” a room with mirrors that delivers an illusion of a field of phallic protrusions speckled with dots.

Kusama, who has also made films and published several novels, said she wasn’t sure where she got her ideas. She just picked up her brush and started drawing. The process was so mysterious sometimes she surprised herself, she told the Associated Press.

“I think, ‘Oh, I drew that? I was thinking that,’” she said.

She appeared happy to have her art be the focus of media attention and praise, reading one of her poems to a reporter or tackling her artworks with gusto for photos.

But she was also a charmingly disarming mix of vulnerability and defiance — at one moment declaring herself “an artistic revolutionary” and then, the next, mumbling: “I am so afraid, all the time, of everything.”

Times staff writer Deborah Vankin contributed to this report.

Aug. 26 (UPI) — Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to 48 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories on Wednesday, in settlements resolving lawsuits over the mental health risks its social media platforms pose to children as well as spearate privacy claims.

Court filings state that the settlements, pending judicial approval, include payments of $16.68 billion to 51 U.S. jurisdictions, more than $1 billion to Texas and another $459 million to 46 states, Puerto Rico and Northern Mariana Islands to resolve privacy claims tied to the 2018 Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

The filings also state that Meta must implement safeguards on its platform for minors, including limits on daily use, blocking access at night, more parental tools, stricter age-assurance standards, the hiding of likes on posts and banning cosmetic-procedure filters, among other measures.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that his state may receive between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion in the settlement.

“Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of difference for children and their families,” Bonta said in a statement. “Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms — and will do it within months.”

Meta said that 70% of the funds will be distributed over a 10-year period, with the remaining 30% to be released only after Alphabet-owned YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok implement a one-hour dayily limit, night mode and age-assurance measures as well as each pay a matching $5.3 billion.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta said the structure was designed to enforce an industry-wide adoption of the measures it has agreed to and ensure teens receive the same level of protection across major social media platforms.

“Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution. We therefore call on our industry peers, TikTok and YouTube, to implement this new framework, right away,” C.J. Mahoney, chief legal officer at Meta, said in a statement.

As part of the settlement, all parties, including Meta, waive all rights to appeal the final judgment.

“The focus of this case was to protect our kids: stopping notifications and alerts at night and when they are in school, encouraging them to take breaks from social media, protecting them against harmful features,” Phil Weiser, Colorado attorney general, said in a statement.

The cases brought by U.S. states are among several across the globe investigating social media companies over the harms they pose to children. Elsewhere, countries, such as Australia, have implemented age restrictions and called for the end to addictive features that encourage compulsive use, such as endless scrolling.

Meta still faces additional lawsuits in the United States still. Several school districts and individuals have filed lawsuits against Meta and other social media platforms for contributing to mental health problems among children.

Troubling new reports are emerging about CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Moscow on Tuesday. All of the reports point to delivering a warning to Putin’s regime, while exactly the nature of that warning differ.

There have been growing concerns in Europe over expanding Russian aggression and specifically the possibility it could attack a NATO country to test the alliance’s resolve. There are also reports that Putin will drastically increase offensive operations in Ukraine due to the massive damage his country is now taking from long-range drone and cruise missile strikes, as well as failed peace talks. Reports even state that he is mulling the use of tactical nuclear weapon in order to stop these attacks and change the tide of the years-long conflict, a possibility which we will discuss more later in this piece. Iran, of course, is also a major issue, but it seems, at least based on reporting, it had taken a backseat to whatever the director was trying to accomplish in Moscow.

Wednesday evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ratcliffe was in Moscow to deliver a message to Putin not to attack NATO countries. His visit “followed new U.S. intelligence assessments, reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test the resolve of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with a limited assault on an allied country in the next few years,” the newspaper noted. We have been reporting on major concerns over exactly this for weeks now.

U.S. officials “are concerned that Putin, squeezed in Ukraine and under pressure at home, could launch an assault ranging from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion, likely on a Baltic nation, the Journal added. 

“Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials during his time in the Russian capital, but he didn’t meet with Putin. Putin was briefed on the talks, Peskov said,” according to the publication.

Earlier on Wednesday, ABC News reported that an explosive drone found near an An-124-100 Ruslan (NATO reporting name Condor) cargo jet at Leipzig airport in Germany earlier this month “bore the hallmarks of devices typically employed by Russia’s Military Intelligence Directorate, the GRU.” The network cited a U.S. intelligence source.

“The U.S. official, who was briefed on the investigation into the alleged sabotage plot, said the explosives fitted to the drone as well as the structure of the lethal device were ‘typical’ of those used by Russia’s GRU,” ABC added. “This U.S. assessment was made in conjunction with German security and intelligence agencies, the source added.

Numerous Russian drone incursions and other actions have some European officials convinced that Putin is already waging so-called hybrid war against NATO, and has been doing so for some time.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump downplayed the Ratcliffe trip, which has sparked a wide range of speculation about its purpose.

The president called it “semi-routine.”

That statement is hard to square considering how rare having a CIA director rush to Moscow is. The last time this happened was just prior to the war in Ukraine breaking out into the destructive reality we see today.

As we noted earlier in this story, Putin is reportedly considering escalating attacks on Ukraine, including the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, Bloomberg reported, citing “three people close to the Kremlin.”

“For now, Russia is weighing an intensification of powerful conventional ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, including the center of the capital, and infrastructure targets in other Ukrainian cities.”

At issue, Bloomberg suggested, is that negotiation “frameworks have all effectively collapsed, leaving the two warring sides back at square one.”

This comes as Ukraine is already reeling from constant attacks, especially ballistic missile strikes it can’t defend against because of the lack of Patriot interceptors.

Moreover, the Kremlin “has also abandoned reliance on what it believed was an understanding reached between Putin and Trump at their summit in Alaska last August,” Bloomberg noted.

You can see video from that encounter below.

Zoe Ball appeared on Wednesday’s Celebrity MasterChef as a guest judge, where she set the contestants a food challenge

Celebrity MasterChef welcomed Zoe Ball on Wednesday’s episode.

During the latest instalment, the second round of heats continued, with five celebrities facing two more culinary challenges as they battled for a place in this week’s quarter-final.

First up, it was the return of the mystery box before the Who’s Coming to Dinner? round, where each week, a special guest sets a culinary brief for the celebrities. On Wednesday’s episode, Zoe, 55, entered the MasterChef kitchen as a guest judge, asking the celebrities to create the ultimate pudding. It comes as Zoe recently admitted fears for her new radio job.

Hosts, Grace Dent and Giorgio Locatelli, were delighted over Zoe’s appearance in the kitchen with Grace calling her a ‘hero’ of hers.

Talking in a VT about appearing on the show, Zoe joked: “I am so honoured to be in the MasterChef kitchen, but I am a terrible cook. I mentioned to my kids that I might be visiting the studio and the looks of horror.

“[They said] ‘What? They’ve allowed you in?’ So the only way I could ever come here was to be a guest judge. So I’m thrilled and I’m ready to be impressed.”

Talking about setting the ultimate pudding task, Zoe quipped: “A meal is not complete without a pudding. It’s a little bit of naughtiness, a bit of indulgence. I will often order pudding before I’ve even thought about the main.”

She added: “I’ve always been a pudding kind of girl. My family are pudding people. A meal is not finished until you’ve had pudding.

“Puddings make me happy. They’re creamy, they’re rich, they’re a little bit naughty and things that are naughty are good for you, in my opinion.”

Taking to Twitter, now X, viewers were all quick to say the same thing about Zoe’s appearance on the show. One person said: “Zoe’s like a breath of fresh air! Best celeb judge! #MasterChefUK #CelebrityMasterChef.”

A different account wrote: “Loving Zoe’s positivity giving encouragement. She realises these celebs are not professional chefs. #CelebrityMasterChef!” while another viewer said: “Zoe Ball seems really nice. #celebritymasterchef.”

Another fan commented: “Seeing #zoeball on #celebritymasterchef just made me think, #zoeball should have been one of the new presenters of #strictlycomedancing!” while a different viewer added: “Zoe Ball feels like a natural presenter for this show #CelebrityMasterchef!”

At the end of Wednesday’s episode, it was sadly comedian and influencer Tom Simons aka TommyInnit who left the kitchen.

Celebrity MasterChef continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

Abuja, Nigeria – Khamila Sani Ibrahim remembers growing up in Kano State in northern Nigeria, where opportunities for girls to play organised sport were limited and seeing girls on the basketball court was uncommon.

When visiting her grandparents during school holidays, she had to find ways to fit basketball around family expectations.

“It is very hard for me to train in basketball,” Ibrahim said. “I only go out to play when they are not around, or I tell them that I’m going to visit my friends, and from there I go to the court.”

Across northern Nigerian communities, sports such as basketball and football have historically been viewed as male-dominated spaces. For girls who want to play, the obstacles can include limited access to courts and equipment, a shortage of coaching and funding, and fewer chances to compete.

Finding a place on the court

Now, through Grassroots To Greatness (G2G), an initiative dedicated to female empowerment in sports, girls are finding opportunities to train, compete and develop their skills.

Jawahir Bello, a youth sports advocate, founded the initiative after seeing how few opportunities were available to girls in the region.

At tournaments, players wear custom hijabs, long sports vests and athletic tights.

“Our core value is about participating in sports without doing anything that goes against our cultural values or our identity as Muslims,” Bello told Al Jazeera. “Whether you put on a hijab or innerwear under your jersey, modesty is key. You come out modest, decent and fully covered.”

Although she anticipated resistance from some communities when launching female-only tournaments and community training sessions, Bello said she has been encouraged by community stakeholders who have welcomed the initiative.

To mobilise participants, G2G partners directly with local grassroots coaches who already run community teams on the ground.

A tournament of their own

When Ibrahim represented Kano State in a multi-state G2G tournament featuring female players from up to nine different states, she found herself in an environment unlike the male-dominated local teams she had previously played with, where girls were often underestimated.

“What G2G did for us was incredible,” Ibrahim said. “They provided jerseys, custom hijabs, basketballs, cover for our transport and even financial stipends for all the teams, regardless of who won or lost. It made us feel seen and valued.”

Fatima Diouf, another young player based in Abuja, started playing basketball at her school when she was 11. She joined the G2G programme to test her skills against tougher competition. Though her team fell short of the finals, she left with lessons she says will stay with her.

“I have learned a lot beyond just basketball. I learned teamwork, confidence, discipline and how to keep improving,” Fatima told Al Jazeera.

The struggle beyond the court

For Ibrahim, getting time on the court is still not always easy. She has had to push past self-doubt and the dismissive attitude of male peers who assumed girls could not compete at the same level. She also struggles to balance intense training with domestic chores and schoolwork.

Mansur Abdullahi, assistant coach of Nigeria’s U-20 women’s national football team, the Falconets, says grassroots coaches and organisations can help create opportunities for young athletes that larger sports structures may not reach.

“Official sports bodies have big structures, but local groups provide the actual trust and cultural understanding,” he said. “So it’s only through community-led initiatives that more professional teams will understand what’s acceptable for girls and boys and how to frame sports so it fits the existing values instead of clashing with them.”

Dreaming of the next level

For many participants, the tournaments are a chance to test themselves against new opponents and think about what could come next.

Before joining G2G, Ibrahim’s father had reservations about whether competitive sports would compromise family standards. But once he attended her games and saw the athletic wear and the structured environment of the initiative, he became one of her biggest supporters.

“I want to secure a college sports scholarship in the United States and eventually turn professional. More than that, I want other Muslim girls across northern Nigeria to see that sports build your health, strength, and confidence, and that nothing should hold you back from chasing your dreams,” Ibrahim told Al Jazeera.

Seeing the network of coaches, stakeholders and organisers at the tournament also broadened Diouf’s perspective and allowed her to imagine playing across Africa.

For G2G, the ambition goes beyond organising female-only tournaments. Bello wants the programme to show girls there is a place for them in sport and that they can compete without feeling that they have to give up who they are.

“You can keep your identity, stay covered and still achieve something in life,” Bello said.

Six people in critical condition as a severe heatwave fuels 154 wildfires across Algeria in a single day.

At least 12 people have been killed and 54 others injured as wildfires ravaged parts of northeastern Algeria, an official said, as authorities evacuated dozens of families from the hardest-hit areas.

Minister of Interior Said Sayoud, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said the deaths occurred in the provinces of Jijel, Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou.

“Five deaths were recorded in the prefecture of Jijel, four in that of Bejaia and three in that of Tizi Ouzou,” he said.

Sayoud made the remarks during a visit to a hospital in the city of Souk El Thenine in Bejaia to evaluate treatment for victims suffering burn injuries and smoke inhalation.

According to the official Algeria Press Service, Sayoud reported 54 burn cases at the hospital, including six people who were in critical condition.

Sayoud said Civil Protection teams recorded 154 fire outbreaks across the country on Wednesday, including 36 in Bejaia province, 18 of which had been brought under control.

The fires come as a severe heatwave sweeps across Algeria and neighbouring Tunisia.

Sayoud said firefighting teams have managed to contain the blazes in the provinces of Skikda, El Tarf, Bouira, Tizi Ouzou and Tebessa. Operations were still under way in Bejaia, where 18 hotspots remained active, and in Jijel, where fires were burning in 12 municipalities.

He added that dozens of families had been evacuated from areas affected by the fires.

Images broadcast by regional news website Jijel News showed residents seeking refuge in a post office amid thick smoke.

Algeria frequently endures deadly seasonal wildfires during peak summer months.

At least six people were killed last month alone.

In recent years, intense heatwaves and fierce winds have amplified fire risks across the country’s forested Mediterranean coastline, disasters exacerbated by drought and climate change.

In death as in life, Parton left us one of the few spaces where Americans can still unite under a single banner. The banner of Dolly.

Flags are flying at half-mast to honor singer Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at the age of 80.

There are few artists, let alone individuals of any stripe, whose loss compels a national day of mourning. Especially now, when it can appear there is little to agree upon and everything to debate.

But in death as in life, Parton left us one of the few spaces where Americans can still unite under a single banner: The banner of Dolly.

Her music was borderless, disarming and genuine. Simply put, it was a reflection of the woman who wrote and performed the songs. Her outsized personality, warmth, compassion and charm made her more than a country music star. Parton was an icon whose music, philanthropy and authenticity superseded genre, class, sexuality, color and politics.

She ingratiated herself to the public in bigger-than-big wigs, “trashy” outfits (her words) and with an unfailing sense of humor about herself. When I interviewed Parton in 2001 upon release of her album “Little Sparrow,” she expounded on her fashion sense.

“Just ‘cause I’m singing about a farmer doesn’t mean I have to come out in overalls,” she said. “Or just ‘cause I’m singing about a woman having a baby doesn’t mean I have to wear a maternity smock. But if I did, I’d put rhinestones on it.”

Parton’s self-effacing jokes made her immense talent less threatening in an entertainment industry that often reserved the title of “genius songwriter” for men. And women’s contributions were often minimized by putting the focus elsewhere.

In 1977, when she appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” the most powerful man on television asked what her ample bustline would have been called back home. “Healthy,” he joked? She laughed it off. He then said he would give a year’s pay to “peek under there.” She was quick with a comeback, “I paid good money for these.”

Parton was a master at meeting wisecracks about her shapely figure with her own one-liners. When Carson’s successor Jay Leno asked if her breasts were real, Parton replied, “They’re real big!”

The boob jokes were predictable during her frequent appearances on talk and variety shows. But the of-its-time sexism was neutralized when she’d pull out her acoustic guitar and perform a song as comfortably as if she were sitting on the porch of her childhood home in Appalachia. The audience was then reminded that it was her indelible songs like “Coat of Many Colors” or “Jolene,” and the home-spun beauty of Parton’s voice, that made her a star.

The fourth of 12 children born to a poor sharecropper in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tenn., Parton over six decades sold more than 100 million records to become one of the bestselling music artists of all time. She expanded her audience when in 1980 she played an overworked, underappreciated secretary alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in “9 to 5.” The title track she wrote and performed for the film is an enduring work anthem, no matter the generation.

Despite Parton’s huge pop successes, which also included “Here You Come Again” and “Islands in the Stream,” she always came back to her roots. “When I came out of the Smoky Mountains, I tried to make a living doing [mountain music], but I couldn’t,” she said back in 2001. “I had to prostitute myself in certain ways musically in order to make a living. It’s almost like I had to get rich in order to sing like I was poor again.”

But it was largely what Parton did and said outside the recording studio and film set that made her such an inspiring and beloved figure, especially in communities that had been overlooked, marginalized or demonized.

She spent her lifetime giving back to Appalachia and other regions of her home state, sponsoring literacy programs and building the Dollywood theme park to attract tourism and create jobs. She covered tuition and related college expenses should Dollywood employees enroll in higher education. It was also reported that Parton had anonymously paid for the band uniforms for a number of Tennessee high schools for years.

When Whitney Houston popularized the country singer’s song “I Will Always Love You,” Parton used her songwriting royalties to buy property in a historically Black Nashville neighborhood, and moved her own business offices into the complex rather than in the city’s corporate or music-row districts. Functioning as a local commercial building and office space, it allowed her to invest directly in the surrounding community. Parton referred to the property as “the house that Whitney built.”

Parton was also known for her long history of openly supporting the gay community. She raised money for HIV-related charities, and her production company, Sandollar Productions, co-produced the Oscar-winning documentary “Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt,” which honored people lost to AIDS. She also publicly came out in support of same-sex marriage in 2009 and voiced her support for the trans community after several anti-trans measures came into law in Tennessee in 2023.

Communities across the political and cultural spectrum, and countries overseas, are now remembering and honoring Parton with drag parades, New Orleans brass band tributes and even a King’s Guard rendition of “9 to 5” outside Buckingham Palace.

Parton’s acts weren’t political. They were empathetic. And unifying. Even in death.

Aug. 26 (UPI) — Testimony ended Wednesday in Lindsay Clancy’s triple-murder trial, with closing arguments set to begin Thursday.

Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the killings of her three children, ages 5, 3 and 8 months, at their Duxbury, Mass., home in January 2023. She pleaded not guilty.

The defense has argued that Clancy should not be held criminally responsible because of extreme mental health issues, including postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors say she deliberately killed the children. A panel of 12 jurors is expected to start deliberations after closing arguments.

An FBI psychiatrist, Dr. Gregory Saathoff, was the final witness Wednesday. He said Clancy could still appreciate right from wrong when she killed the children and noted her planning for it, CNN reported. Clancy sent her husband out for takeout before the killings and then attempted to take her own life, cutting her wrists and neck and jumping out a second-floor window. She was paralyzed by the fall.

“The fact that this was done without any witness present during a time where she had asked a potential witness to go on a longer errand — also I thought was significant,” Saathoff said.

The jury will have the choice of first- or second-degree murder or manslaughter charges. If Clancy is found guilty, she will face life in prison. If she is found not guilty by reason of insanity, she will likely be committed to a mental health facility.

The prosecution called more than 70 witnesses during the trial, while the defense called 10. Clancy’s defense included testimony from friends and family members who called her an “incredible” mother.

Clancy, who worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, sought treatment for her mental health issues and was prescribed more than a dozen psychiatric medications on and off over several months. Both sides called psychiatric experts to testify during the trial.

The air-launched version of Castelion’s Blackbeard hypersonic strike missile for the U.S. Navy has now at least been test-loaded onto an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Castelion and the Navy are pushing to have the lower-cost Blackbeard ready for a limited early entry into operational service no later than August 2028.

Attendees at the Tailhook Association’s annual convention this past weekend were shown a picture of a pair of Blackbeard test articles under the right wing of a Super Hornet. The image was shown alongside another one offering a general side profile view of the missile, seen at the top of this story, which was first released publicly last week.

Blackbeard, which the Navy is acquiring under its Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) program, was included in the same briefing at Tailhook where the new AIM-424 Malice Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) was revealed. The slide on MACE was shown very briefly in passing in a video of the recording of a new episode of The Mover and Gonky Show podcast, which was posted online on Tuesday.

TWZ has reached out to the Navy about obtaining the full image and for more information.

Where or when the picture of the Blackbeards loaded on the Super Hornet was taken is unknown. In March, Axios reported that the missile would “fly aboard an F/A-18 in the near future,” without directly naming a source. In a press release the following month regarding a $105 million contract award from the Navy, Castelion said that funding would go in part to “completing the hardware and software integration of Blackbeard onto the F/A-18E/F airframe.”

Whether or not any actual flight tests have been conducted is also unclear. Another slide in the Navy briefing at Tailhook included a bullet point reading “Project Alpha – Hypersonic missile shot in 2026,” but does not explicitly say whether or not that milestone has already been reached. The MACE slide makes clear that the program is directly intertwined with Project Alpha, if they are not just different names for the same effort.

Beyond the confirmation of this important new step in testing, the picture of the Blackbeards on the Super Hornet’s wing offers a new look at the front of the missile, showing what look to be apertures on one side of the design’s wedge-shaped nose. The apparent apertures are also seen pointed up, but many air-launched munitions do flip down after release.

How exactly Blackbeard is guided remains unknown, but a downward-angled aperture at the nose end for a seeker system would make sense for this weapon, which the Navy is pursuing primarily as a new way to target enemy ships. In particular, a wide array of existing anti-ship and land attack missiles, as well as certain anti-air types, have variously shaped apertures in their noses for imaging infrared seekers. Imaging infrared has the benefit of being immune to radio frequency electronic warfare jamming. In addition, it is a passive capability that does not send out signals that can give an opponent advance notice of an incoming attack. Blackbeard’s full guidance package very likely also includes some means of navigating to a target area first, and it could have multiple modes of operation.

The apertures could also be present in this case for testing or other purposes, though this seems far less likely.

We previously discussed the other visible aspect of the design after last week’s release of the side profile picture, writing:

“A profile photo at the company’s headquarters reveals a weapon with a ballistic missile-like booster, on top of which is mounted what could be an unpowered hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). A booster brings an HGV to the desired velocity and altitude before releasing it toward its target. The concept is in contrast to air-breathing cruise missiles capable of traveling at hypersonic speeds. Hypersonic speed is generally defined as anything above Mach 5, which larger ballistic missiles also reach in the course of their flights. More precise performance figures for Blackbeard are lacking, but Castelion has previously hinted it could hit targets out to just under 500 miles. Alternatively, the second stage may also have its own motor, allowing it to continue accelerating or sustain high-speed flight. A similar arrangement has been suggested as the propulsion system for the Russian Zircon missile.”

“Both stages of the weapon have cruciform fins, while the upper one features a prominent ‘chine’ line along the length of its body, and a slightly beaklike nose. The trolley on which the weapon is mounted provides some idea of its overall size. The blue stripes seen on each stage normally signify that a munition is an inert, non-explosive round utilized for training or tracking purposes. This would indicate a real (unarmed) missile rather than a dummy or mockup.”

As noted, Castelion and the Navy are hoping to see the air-launched Blackbeard reach an early operational capability (EOC) within the next two years. Castelion’s press release in April said EOC was being targeted for 2027, a timeline that had been previously reported. Just yesterday, the company put out a press release announcing a new nearly $90 million contract from the Navy specifically to help push the weapon closer to that milestone, as well as perform other activities. The release did not explicitly mention a new EOC schedule, but did say the contract covered work through August 2028, by which point the hope is that at least 50 missiles will have been delivered.   

Castelion previously released the video below to highlight continued work on Blackbeard, including in an air-launched form for integration on the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

Blackbeard is coming 🏴‍☠️

The U.S. Army is also separately funding development of a surface-launched version of Blackbeard. In May, the Pentagon outlined plans for the acquisition of 12,000 Blackbeard missiles over the next three years, but it is unclear whether this covers surface- or air-launched versions, or a mix of both. At that time, the Pentagon also announced a framework for purchases of 10,000 lower-cost surface-launched cruise missiles in that same timeframe.

As underscored by those planned orders, Blackbeard is being developed with an eye toward lower cost and relative ease of production, as well as exportability to U.S. allies and partners. Historically, hypersonic missiles have been viewed as expensive, low-density assets offering a more limited ‘silver bullet’ capability against high-value targets. Depending on the price point that Castelion can achieve with Blackbeard, it could help change this calculus. Expanding sales beyond America’s armed forces could help further spread cost burdens and drive down unit prices through economies of scale.

Reduced production costs and timetables are areas of great interest today to the U.S. military when it comes to munitions, in general. Global conflicts in recent years, including recent fighting with Iran, other crises in the Middle East, and the war in Ukraine, have underscored the importance of having adequate stockpiles of key munitions and being able to rapidly replenish them. They have also exposed the United States’ increasingly worrisome lack of capacity in both areas at present.

For the Navy, from an operational perspective, Blackbeard is seen as a particularly important addition to the arsenal available to the service’s carrier air wings. The missile will offer Navy Super Hornets, and potential other aircraft, a boost in the range at which they can hold targets at risk, as well as the ability to cover those longer distances faster. Castelion’s design will also give the service a new stand-off strike weapon that is far more survivable and more capable, especially against time-sensitive targets. The missile’s speed will lessen the need for persistent kill chains, as well.

Greater standoff reach is already becoming more and more valuable, if not vital, as carriers and their air wings are being pushed further and further away from target areas by expanding and evolving adversary anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) bubbles. Similar considerations are pushing the Army and other services toward greater standoff strike capabilities.

If the development schedule for Blackbeard holds, the Navy will see the arrival of its first operational air-launched hypersonic weapon in the next two years. We now know that work on this weapon has already reached another important milestone, with testing on the Super Hornet now underway.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

When Dolly Parton sang, “Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living,” it was an understatement.

The legendary country singer, who died Tuesday after a brief battle with cancer, “worked up until the day she died” on multiple projects, her longtime manager Danny Nozell said in a statement to The Times.

“She loved seeing her dreams come to life, and loved knowing her work brought people joy,” Nozell said. “Ever the planner, Dolly worked with the team that she handpicked, for the past several years to build a project roadmap that will guide us for decades to come.”

The projects vary from a line of Dolly Parton dolls, which will launch online Sept. 15, to a biopic and a docuseries with release dates to be revealed later. A scripted show and an animated series based on Parton’s “Billy the Kid” book franchise are scheduled to be released on a date to be determined.

Other projects announced were Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop — a travel center in Cornersville, Tenn. — which will celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week beginning Sept. 13; and Dolly Parton’s SongTeller Hotel in Nashville, where patrons can book stays starting Sept. 14, with a grand opening scheduled for Sept. 29.

The Parton estate will open the 20,000-square-foot Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum at the SongTeller Hotel on Sept. 29 and launch Dolly’s Cup of Ambition Coffee online on the same day. The coffee line will be available at retail stores starting spring 2027.

Dolly’s Dog Treats are on the calendar for early 2027, along with Dolly Bedding & Home Decor debuting in the third quarter of next year.

Broadway previews for “Dolly: A True Original Musical” will begin in December, with opening night scheduled for Jan. 19, 2027. The estate is also collaborating again with fashion designer Kendra Scott for a “9 to 5” jewelry collection.

Nozell guaranteed Parton’s fans that if any unreleased music, products, books, experiences and campaigns are launched through the official Dolly Parton channel, each was personally stamped on by the singer.

“As the leader of the team responsible for overseeing her legacy, we will ensure the many dreams she had yet to fulfill are brought to life,” Nozell said. “Many projects were in various stages of development, and we want to be transparent with her fans about this fact.”

The international body declared Uganda Ebola-free after 42 days without any new transmission, though cases are rising in DR Congo.

Uganda has been declared free of Ebola, with the World Health Organization (WHO) confirming that the East African country had passed the mandatory 42-day monitoring period without any new cases.

WHO made the announcement at a joint news conference on Tuesday with Uganda’s Ministry of Health.

But the declaration came roughly a month after Uganda had declared that the local outbreak was over, based on its own analysis of the virus’s spread.

“We had assessed the risk, we had assessed the whole chain of transmission and the dynamics of importation of the virus in the country, and we knew that we were free from Ebola,” Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary for Uganda’s Health Ministry, told national broadcaster NTV.

“However, WHO had to wait because that’s the process. That’s the guideline.”

Atwine called on countries that had imposed travel restrictions on Uganda during the outbreak to lift them.

“Unless they have other reasons, they should definitely lift the restrictions off the country, and Ugandans should be free to travel to any country,” she said.

Uganda reported 20 Ebola infections in total, with its last confirmed case recorded on June 21. Two people died from the virus during the outbreak.

The last patient was discharged from Mulago National Referral Isolation Centre on July 16, and the Health Ministry formally declared the outbreak over on July 28.

The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), by contrast, is accelerating.

Confirmed cases in the DRC reached 5,656 as of August 25, an increase of 72 from a report released one day prior. A total of 2,715 deaths have been recorded, according to the latest government data cited by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Ituri province, in the northeast of the country, remains the epicentre of the outbreak, with more than 4,700 people infected.

Uganda shares a border with the northeast part of the DRC, stretching more than 877km (500 miles).

Kasonde Mwinga, the WHO’s representative for Uganda, said in Wednesday’s news conference that the country was supporting treatment and laboratory capacity at two sites across the border, in Aru and Kasenyi, both part of the Ituri province.

Mwinga added that the model for cross-border collaboration could be expanded regionally.

Already, Uganda has announced it would open two additional Ebola treatment centres in the DRC, bringing the total to four.

On Monday, Ugandan and Congolese officials also met in Kampala to review a bilateral memorandum of understanding on cross-border health security.

Kenneth Akiiri, the undersecretary for Uganda’s Health Ministry, called for the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to mobilise further resources.

“When you are vulnerable and you have littler resources, you are supposed to raise an alarm for help,” Akiiri said in a joint statement.

For his part, DRC delegation head Adelard Lufungula urged strong action to combat the virus. “We want to fight Ebola like a war,” he said.

Caracas, August 26, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Antonio Ecarri has proposed dollarizing Venezuela’s economy and abolishing the bolívar, the country’s official currency, as a way to “stop devaluation” and “protect citizens’ purchasing power.”

Ecarri, a National Assembly Deputy from Alianza del Lápiz, has hired US economist Steve Hanke as an advisor for his plan to change the national currency.

“We are working on a serious dollarization proposal to put the brakes on the infernal devaluation that is destroying people’s wages. Enough of bureaucracy financing public spending by confiscating the private property and labor of Venezuelans,” Ecarri said.

Hanke, a Johns Hopkins University academic who served in the Reagan administration, has advised countries such as Ecuador and Zimbabwe on similar initiatives. In an article for business magazine Fortune, he confirmed that he has already drafted “a bill for the Venezuelan parliament.”

According to the US economist, the transition would begin with the establishment of a fixed USD-bolívar exchange rate before converting bolívar-denominated accounts to US dollars. The Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV) would retain administrative functions but lose the ability to issue money or set interest rates.

Hanke previously revealed that he has held meetings with US Treasury and White House officials to discuss an international strategy aimed at strengthening the US currency through dollarization of foreign countries, currency boards, and other instruments.

Ecarri’s proposal drew significant criticism, with Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez announcing “an investigation process to establish the offenses committed” by the opposition lawmaker. Ecarri was also removed from his position as chairman of the Venezuela-US Parliamentary Friendship Group, a post he had held for just two months.

According to a published statement, the opposition deputy allegedly violated the legislature’s internal procedures as well as the constitutional provision establishing that “the monetary unit of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the bolívar” and that the Central Bank “is the public entity that, exclusively and mandatorily, exercises monetary policy.”

Rodríguez also described the proposal during a parliamentary session as “absurd and outrageous.” Ecarri, however, defended his stance and decision to hire Hanke, whom he called “an authority in the field and a personal adviser of mine for some time.”

The opposition lawmaker argues that Venezuela is “at a key moment” to debate the adoption of a different currency. 

“The country is already de facto dollarized, but those who continue to receive their wages in bolívars that lose value every day are our teachers, nurses, workers, and pensioners,” he stressed. “The government itself has just approved a law allowing rents to be paid in foreign currency.”

Ecarri claimed that growing oil revenues would supply Venezuela with enough foreign currency to adopt the dollarization plan, which he argued “should be accompanied by a Macroeconomic Stabilization Fund to protect the value of the currency against potential external shocks in the United States.”

Since 2018, the Venezuelan government has tolerated the circulation of US dollars amid efforts to control inflation. Though the bolívar remains the official currency, businesses and retailers establish cost structures and prices using US dollars. Venezuelan authorities have also fixed monthly bonus payments, which constitute virtually the entire income for workers and pensioners, in dollars, which are then paid in bolívars using the exchange rate established daily by the BCV.

The Central Bank has continually devalued the bolívar, with the USD-bolívar exchange rate growing by more than 150 percent since the beginning of 2026. The currency depreciation is a key driver of inflation. Prices rose by 19.9 percent in July, and accumulated 12-month inflation presently stands at 576 percent.

Financial authorities have likewise been unable to control a parallel, speculation-driven exchange rate which currently stands 15-20 percent above the official one.

Despite the persistent devaluation-inflation issues, formal dollarization is opposed by most Venezuelan policy analysts, including government critics. Economist Asdrúbal Oliveros warned that dollarization would be an effective mechanism for drastically reducing inflation but “is not the best solution,” since it would be a “nearly irreversible” decision that would limit the country’s monetary policy options.

Right-wing economist José Guerra likewise considers dollarization “a straitjacket” for an oil-producing country. “Without a central bank issuing currency, an external shock will cause deflation, an inability to pay salaries and finance public spending, as happens in Ecuador. It also creates a high dependence on the US and is a one-way path,” he said.

Rodrigo Cabezas, former finance minister under President Hugo Chávez, similarly expressed his “complete opposition” to dollarization, stating that it is “unreasonable” for a country to surrender essential economic tools, losing control over foreign exchange policies and interest rates.

For his part, economist and former United Socialist Party (PSUV) legislator Tony Boza contended that Washington wants to push dollarization in Latin America to “stave off its economic downfall.” Boza went on to criticize the acting Delcy Rodríguez government and the National Assembly for subordinating economic policies and the country’s national resources to US and foreign capital interests.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

After Tim Curry finished playing the flamboyant Dr. Frank-N-Furter — first onstage, then in the 1975 film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” — the actor never returned to the role that made him famous. Not once, over decades of “Rocky Horror” revivals from the West End to Broadway, did he ever put those fishnets back on.

For Curry, who died Tuesday at 80 in Los Angeles, there were too many characters to play, and too much fun to be had, for him to spend much time looking back.

“I’ve always moved on,” Curry told me last year, sitting in the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip, where he’d played Frank to great acclaim in 1974, after originating the role in London. “That was part of the attraction of being an actor. I really didn’t want to come out of the same box every time.”

Last year, as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was being celebrated for its 50th anniversary, he agreed to meet at the Roxy, which he called “another home for me.” The stage show there had been a local sensation, and it was clear he still had pride and great affection for his role in the movie adaptation, which remains the longest continuous theatrical release in film history.

A stroke in 2012 left him partially paralyzed, interrupting a busy acting career. But he was quick to laugh and joke as he remembered playing Frank, including his nightly entrance at the Roxy, marching down a catwalk in heels and Dracula cape. The long life that “Rocky Horror” has enjoyed as a midnight movie, with shadow casts of costumed fans lip-syncing along, was a surprise to everyone.

Frank-N-Furter was a vivid invitation to fans to let their own freak flag fly. Even amid the era’s accelerating glam rock movement, “Rocky Horror” pushed the boundaries of mainstream pop culture as an outré musical about a mad scientist with a theme song called “Sweet Transvestite.”

“It was part of the sexual revolution, really,” Curry said of the film and its audience. “Experiment was in the air and it was palpable. I gave them permission to be who they discovered they wanted to be. I’m proud of that.”

He was also pleased with other roles that showed off his gifts, including a 1982 film version of “Annie,” directed by John Huston. Curry was the playfully crooked Rooster Hannigan, and had a standout scene singing and dancing in a pencil mustache and slicked back hair to “Easy Street,” alongside Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters.

Tim Curry, left, in the 1985 movie “Clue.”

(American Cinematheque)

In 1996’s “Muppet Treasure Island,” Curry was a duplicitous but layered Long John Silver, a wild-eyed pirate motivated by greed but with a hint of humanity, as he sang songs and grappled with the strange, felt-covered puppet heroes.

“I love the Muppets,” he said last year. “One of the things that used to fascinate me was that the Muppeteers, when they had the Muppet on their hand, would only speak to you as the character. If you said, ‘Hello’ or ‘What’s the weather like outside,’ they would tell you as the character.”

Never humorless, Curry played the ruthlessly villainous Cardinal Richelieu in the 1993 adaptation of “The Three Musketeers.” Conceived as a vehicle for several Brat Pack actors of the time including Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland, the film nonetheless belonged to Curry, who relished every line of villainy. The actor again stole the show with theatrical flair as the Lord of Darkness in Ridley Scott’s bleak 1985 fantasy “Legend,” playing a demonic horned figure opposite Tom Cruise.

Curry brought the same energy to more relatable comedic roles in the beloved ensemble mystery “Clue” as the highly suspect Wadsworth the Butler, and “Home Alone 2,” as a four-star hotel concierge outmatched by a 10-year-old boy hero.

“Rocky Horror” gave him a film career and even led to a music sideline, with the 1979 radio hit “I Do the Rock.”

“When I did ‘Hair’ in London, my first gig, I was not sure whether I wanted to be a singer or an actor,” Curry told me. “And doing that show kind of postponed the decision long enough and I realized that I really wanted to be an actor more than anything, and I took it very seriously. And worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I saw myself having the trajectory of a serious English actor.”

The roles turned out wilder and more varied than he might have expected but his seriousness and sense of fun never faded, pushing boundaries and himself. No one was ever bored watching Tim Curry onscreen.

Aug. 26 (UPI) — OpenAI released a final report Wednesday on a July incident in which its artificial intelligence agents hacked into another company’s systems, saying it considers the episode “a warning shot” for the company and the world.

The incident is “evidence that, without proper safeguards, highly capable AI agents are now able to work around technical controls, collaborate through unapproved channels and take dangerous actions that no human directed,” the report said.

The episode in question happened when some of the company’s AI bots hacked into the systems of Hugging Face, a company working with OpenAI. The bots did this of their own accord to get data they decided they needed to solve a problem during model testing, despite restrictions meant to keep them from the internet.

“With the benefit of hindsight, some early signals identified in this report could have triggered an earlier response,” the report said.

The company shared some new details in the report, including how the AI agents left messages for each other hidden in software infrastructure and coordinated to hack the other company, Wired reported.

Two independent research groups, METR and Redwood Research, also released an independent report on the incident Wednesday. These groups found that more than 700 AI agents were part of the breach.

Buck Shlegeris, CEO of Redwood Research, said in an interview with Wired that preventing the incident “wouldn’t have been that hard” if someone had decided to make sure of it.

“The issue is just that OpenAI is doing a lot of things at once, and it’s very hard for them to track all of the things that are going on and all the problems that could be occurring,” Shlegeris said. “The company has already said they’re changing their monitoring process in ways that probably would have caught this.”

The Washington Post noted in a story on the OpenAI report that the company acknowledged in the report that its AI agents repeatedly cheat to find shortcuts to accomplish tasks during training.

“Agents attempting to cheat on their tasks by looking up solutions online was a primary driver of the Hugging Face incident,” the OpenAI report said.

ICE agent Christian Castro faces criminal charges for shooting a Minnesota man in the leg during an immigration raid.

A United States judge has denied a request to compel the extradition of a federal immigration agent charged with shooting a man during an immigration raid in the state of Minnesota and lying about it.

Wednesday’s decision concerns the case of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Christian Castro, who has been detained in a county jail in Texas since May.

Minnesota has sought his extradition as he faces charges of assault and falsely reporting a crime in Hennepin County, which covers Minneapolis.

Under Texas law, the state cannot hold the subject of an extradition order for more than 90 days. At that point, the suspect must either be transferred or released. The deadline for Castro is set to expire on Thursday.

Minnesota argued in a lawsuit this month that Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has refused to authorise the extradition for political reasons.

But in Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr wrote that he could not intervene because Abbott has not yet acted – and has therefore not yet violated any law.

“The record reflects only that Governor Abbott has neither agreed nor refused to sign the rendition warrant as to Castro,” Rodriguez wrote.

Castro has been charged in connection with the non-fatal shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis during an immigration raid in Minnesota on January 14, part of a mass deportation effort under President Donald Trump.

Starting in December, Trump oversaw a large-scale deployment of federal agents to the Midwestern state, dubbed Operation Metro Surge.

The operation, which lasted less than three months, sparked protests and allegations of civil liberty violations from residents and watchdog groups.

Prosecutors say Castro fired a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg.

Afterwards, he and another agent accused Sosa-Celis and another man of assaulting federal authorities with a broom handle and snow shovel. Those allegations were later disproven after video of the incident emerged. Criminal charges against Sosa-Celis were subsequently dropped.

Todd Lyons, then-acting director of ICE, confirmed in February that the agents appeared to have made “untruthful statements”. Castro and the second agent were placed on administrative leave.

Castro is currently in custody in Brownsville, Texas. Minnesota officials have warned that he may flee the country if released, citing calls he made from jail to a woman in Mexico.

During those calls, Castro talked “about marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released”, according to Minnesota’s lawsuit.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a request for a temporary restraining order last week to stop Castro’s anticipated release and force Governor Abbott to sign the extradition warrant.

Ellison has framed Abbott’s decision not to take action as a way of supporting Trump’s mass deportation campaign and skirting federal extradition law.

“For nearly three months, Greg Abbott has refused to return ICE agent Christian Castro to Minnesota, where he’s charged with shooting a Minnesotan in his own home,” Ellison wrote in a social media post.

“Abbott has a legal obligation to return him. Instead, he’s chosen to ignore the law.”

Aug. 26 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury issued sanctions Wednesday against British-based direct action group Palestine Action and two other organizations it called “violent far-left terrorist networks.”

The treasury declared Palestine Action a “specially designated global terrorist,” meaning that it can freeze the group’s assets, including bank accounts and property. The sanctions also prohibit people from giving funds, goods or services to the organization.

“Far-left extremists, their fronts and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” said Scott Bessent, secretary of the treasury. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”

In response, Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, said the group’s activities in the United States and other countries “have always been about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine, which is committing a genocide in Gaza with the support of the U.S. government,” The Guardian reported.

“Trump has been at the center of the mass murder of Palestinians, enabling the Zionist regime at every turn,” Ammori said.

Palestine Action was also the first direct action group named under Britain’s Terrorism Act in July 2025. The group is fighting the ban in a legal challenge before the country’s supreme court in November.

“The fact that Trump is now taking inspiration from Britain’s repression of the movement for Palestinian freedom exposes just how dangerous this ban is and should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties,” Ammori said.

The U.S. Treasury said Palestine Action “has supported numerous acts of terrorism since July 2020, including acts that have physically injured U.K. law enforcement personnel, as well as acts intended to intimidate lawful commercial enterprises and coerce the U.K. government.

“The group’s action include multiple high-profile instances of breaking into defense infrastructure and British military installations and causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage to military equipment,” it said.

In March 2025, Trump’s golf course in Scotland was targeted by Palestine Action supporters who painted graffiti on the clubhouse and damaged the course, spraying “Gaza is not 4 sale.” Trump at the time called those responsible “terrorists.”

Other groups named global terrorist organizations by the United States include Hamas, al-Qaida and the Islamic State.

The groups sanctioned Wednesday also include Autistici Inventati, an Italy-based group “that supplies specialized digital architecture, tools and services for Antifa cells and other violent far-left extremists,” and Masar Badil, “which operates as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” the treasury said.

Liverpool will take on Tottenham as the teams who compete in Europe enter in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Leeds could potentially face Chelsea, should the London club beat Luton on Thursday.

Manchester United face Premier League opposition in Brighton, while holders Manchester City host Norwich.

Fleetwood, the only fourth-tier side left in the competition, host Sheffield United.

The nine Premier League teams that are playing in Europe – Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Sunderland – all enter the Carabao Cup in the third round.

To avoid clashes with the opening rounds of the Champions League and Europa League, matches will be played across the weeks commencing Monday, 7 and Monday, 14 September.

The final two places will be decided on Thursday when Chelsea host Luton (19:30 BST) and Fulham take on AFC Wimbledon (20:00 BST).

“It’s not a man. It’s IT!”

Stephen King’s epic novel “It” injected a devilish twist on the traditionally joyful image of circus clowns with his introduction of Pennywise, a deadly clown who feeds on children. The murderous entity has earned iconic status in pop culture thanks to its central role in “It,” “It: Chapter Two” and HBO’s “It: Welcome to Derry.”

But though Bill Skarsgård’s eerie portrayal of Pennywise in the films and TV series has won high acclaim, it’s Tim Curry’s Pennywise in the 1990 ABC miniseries “It” that is considered by some horror buffs to be the most iconic version of the creature — or at minimum, the most memorable.

Curry, who died Tuesday at 80, made a gleefully evil turn as a clown that sparked nightmares for legions of Gen X and millennial viewers that continue to haunt to this day. His Pennywise is among the career-defining roles that showcased the actor’s uncanny ability to morph into a villain, whether it was as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the Lord of Darkness in “Legend” or Rooster Hannigan in “Annie.”

Curry’s performance is even more impressive given his limited screen time — his scattered appearances as Pennywise total less than 20 minutes over a three-hour running time. But he makes all of his brief scenes count, whether he’s in a storm drain, emerging from the drain in a shower room or standing in a marsh, and his gravelly voice layers a number of chilling moments.

The two-part adaptation of “It” aired on ABC in November 1990, and drew a huge audience, attracting a reported 30 million viewers. The project starred several top stars of the time, including John Ritter, Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O’Toole, Harry Anderson and Dennis Christopher. Curry’s on-screen credit reads “special appearance.”

With a massive shock of red hair, bone-white makeup and oversized brow, Curry looked like a hellish Bozo the Clown. He would charm his victims with light banter and offers of a balloon before moving in for the kill, armed with a deep guttural voice and razor-sharp fangs.

In one of the series’ most terrifying scenes, Pennywise comes to life inside a black-and-white photo of Derry 200 years ago when it was a mining town. As the young members of the Losers Club look on in horror, the clown addresses them directly with a lethal glare.

“I am every nightmare you’ve ever had,” he tells them. “I am your worst dream come true. I’m everything you ever were afraid of.” A gloved hand comes out of the picture to grab them.

In a later confrontation, Pennywise tells the youths, “You all taste so good when you’re afraid. I am the eater of worlds, and of children.”

Aug. 26 (UPI) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 50,000 people in July, an average of more than 1,500 people a day, according to newly released government data.

This sets a new monthly record for ICE in President Donald Trump‘s second term. ICE provided the information to the Deportation Data Project based at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

“The way people are being detained is far less flashy, but we are continuing to see arrests,” Melissa Shepard, director of legal services at immigrant services group ImmDef, told The Guardian. “It’s just on a quieter scale instead of, you know, 10, 12 officers making one arrest, you have a handful of officers pulling someone over.”

Markwayne Mullin took over as secretary of U.S. Homeland Security in March, succeeding Kristi Noem, and said he would fulfill Trump’s deportation goals without constant headlines.

“What we’re seeing is an expansion in all of the different ways that ICE is detaining people,” Graeme Blair, co-director of the Deportation Data Projection, told NPR. “They’re arresting people at airports, at ICE check-ins, at immigration courthouses, and this is the result of that.”

The 49,571 people detained in July mark the highest total since October 2022. A record number of those arrested had no criminal history, making up 51% of detainees, The Guardian said.

The number of those removed from the United States also hit a record high in July — nearly 34,000 people.

More than half the arrests were in Texas, Florida, Georgia and California. The prior three states take part in the 287(g) program, in which state and local police can do parts of ICE’s job in the field under ICE supervision. California and a number of other states, including New York, Maine and Vermont, ban 287(g) agreements.

Congress recently approved a $70 billion surge in funding for the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, helping fuel these numbers. The figures also include the first arrests made after the Supreme Court allowed Trump to revoke Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants last month.