News Desk

Amy Whitehouse was one of the greatest singers of her generation and now the BBC is celebrating 20 years since the release of her Back To Black album

Amy Winehouse was one of the biggest stars of the noughties.

The singer known for her black beehive, heavy make-up and most of all her incredible voice was a huge talent and after launching her debut album, Frank, she quickly shot to fame.

But it was her follow up Back To Black which really cemented her as one of the greatest singers and songwriters around and she went on to amass awards, including Brits and Grammys, as well as critical acclaim.

Despite her global success, Amy struggled with her personal demons and made headlines for her short, ill-fated marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil. Her substance and alcohol abuse as well as weight loss were well documented over the years.

But despite her personal troubles, her musical legacy remains undimmed and on Saturday, October 24, BBC Two is dedicating hours of programming to mark the 20th anniversary of Back to Black and celebrate her legacy.

How did Amy die and how old was she?

Amy was found dead at her flat in Camden, London on July 23, 2011 when she was just 27 years old. A second inquest into her death confirmed that she died of alcohol poisoning after binge drinking following a period of abstinence, reported The Guardian.

It was held after an investigation found the original coroner, Suzanne Greenaway – who was hired by her husband, Dr Andrew Reid, the coroner for inner north London – did not have the correct qualifications for the role.

The new inquest repeated the findings that Amy had 416mg of alcohol per decilitre in her blood, enough to make her comatose and depress her respiratory system.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, the St Pancras coroner, Dr Shirley Radcliffe, said: “She voluntarily consumed alcohol, a deliberate act that took an unexpected turn in that it caused her death.”

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What are the BBC shows?

The first programme, Any Winehouse at the BBC, features a collection of memorable archive performances and rare interviews. Through these it shines a light on Amy’s incredible talent, showcasing hits like Rehab’, Love Is a Losing Game and Stronger Than Me.

This is followed by Amy Winehouse: Back To Black at 20, which sees Jo Whiley welcome a star-studded line-up of singers alongside the Amy Winehouse Band to perform each song from the album in a concert held at the Roundhouse in Camden.

Amy Winehouse In Her Own Words is a profile of the star threaded together from interviews she gave to the BBC while the coverage is rounded off with Amy Winehouse at Glastonbury 2007 featuring highlights of her performance on the legendary Pyramid Stage.

The Amy Winehouse programmes start on BBC Two on Saturday, October 24 at 8.35pm

The race between Brazil’s president and the right-wing senator has tightened in recent days.

⁠Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula ⁠da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro remain about even on the eve of Sunday’s election run-off, shows a CNT/MDA poll.

The right-wing ‌senator, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, would receive 46.3 percent of the vote compared ⁠with 45 percent for the leftist ⁠Lula, according to the poll released on Saturday. Last week, ⁠the poll showed Bolsonaro leading ⁠Lula 46.8 percent to ⁠45.9 percent.

MDA surveyed 2,032 people from October 21 to ‌October 23, with a margin of error of 2.2 ‌percentage ‌points.

The poll comes the day after the final debate before the presidential run-off.

The candidates questioned each other on Friday about Brazil’s economy, infrastructure and regional development.

Bolsonaro accused the incumbent of allowing organised crime to expand, driving families into debt and not addressing the higher cost of living.

“He doesn’t know what hunger is,” Brazil’s first working-class president said of Bolsonaro. “He doesn’t know Brazil.”

Sunday’s vote comes after Bolsonaro finished first in the initial round of voting on October 4 with 47 percent to Lula’s 45 percent.

A Datafolha institute survey published on Thursday suggested the pair are now tied with 50 percent support each, compared with Bolsonaro’s four-point lead in polls published two weeks ago.

Palestinians in Hebron are ‘living in fear’ with the city closed, while Israeli forces arrest dozens across West Bank.

Israel has imposed a lockdown and displaced thousands of Palestinians from their homes in Hebron, as the military conducts raids in the occupied West Bank following the deaths of two Israeli soldiers.

This comes as the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday called for international pressure on Israel to protect Hebron’s residents, who said soldiers announced evacuation orders over loudspeakers late at night, leaving them with no time to prepare and few places to move to.

Hebron’s mayor Yousef al-Ja’bari told Al Jazeera that 2,200 people had been forced from their homes as hundreds of Israeli raids took place since Friday’s attack by two Palestinian gunmen on an Israeli army reserve base. The two Palestinians were killed, as well as the two Israeli soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then ordered a “full lockdown” of the West Bank following the attack.

Mayor al-Ja’bari said on Saturday that Hebron residents can neither enter nor leave the city.

Israeli soldiers also fired a stun grenade at Al Jazeera journalists near the Farsh al-Hawa checkpoint in Hebron, as they documented an Israeli operation to bulldoze homes and vehicles in the area.

The Israeli military carried out raids across at least 15 areas of the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground reported.

Those targeted include Jenin and Nablus in the north; Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Birzeit, and occupied East Jerusalem in the centre; and Bethlehem in the south.

Israeli forces have arrested about 70 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said.

The PA, which governs the West Bank, called Israel’s actions “collective punishment”, citing the demolition of homes, forced displacement of entire neighbourhoods, and the “closure and siege of Palestinian cities”, and urged the international community to intervene, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Meanwhile, Hamas said in a statement that the “campaigns and escalations carried out by the occupation and its criminal settlers against our people will only fuel further outrage”.

Hundreds of thousands ‘under siege’

Around 200,000 Palestinians live in the city of Hebron itself, and a further 600,000 in Hebron governorate, making it the West Bank’s most populous governorate.

Those 800,000 Palestinians in Hebron governorate are “now under siege, with all entrances and exits closed since morning”, Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist and political analyst based in Hebron, told Al Jazeera.

“Inside the city, there is no safe place for anyone to hide … the city is really in fear,” Amro said.

Political positioning

Israeli politicians are trying to “capitalise” on the attack ahead of parliamentary elections on October 27 , Al Jazeera’s West Bank correspondent Nour Odeh said.

“Netanyahu, his Likud party, and his allies in this right-wing coalition are behind in the polls,” said Odeh, so in response they are “trying to put up a brave front, saying they’re combating Palestinians”.

Just days before Israelis are set to vote, Netanyahu avoided answering whether he planned to dismantle the PA, but said a “big surprise” awaits the organisation.

LOVE Island fans have spotted ANOTHER clue Lorenzo Alessi and Yasmin Hadlow’s romance is back on.

The pair have kept fans of the ITV2 show guessing on if they are an item after returning to the UK after the villa.

Lorenzo, 28, and Yasmin, 23, enjoyed a brief romance during their Love Island stint earlier this year, but ended up coupling up Julia Majchrzak, 26, and Tommy Stagg, 23, after Casa Amor.

But in recent weeks the pair have set tongues wagging with a number of hints that they are back together.

And now they’ve spotted another clue after Lorenzo shared a recent video on TikTok.

In the clip, the hunk is holding a phone in his hand, which has a pink cover on it.

rough ride

Love Island host ‘victim of robbery as home is broken into and jewellery stolen’

WHAT A MESS

Love Island legend in shock split from girlfriend after two years of dating

“Only ChatGPT and my bank account know what’s really going on,” he captioned the post.

The caption could hint at the fact fans are really not sure what is going on between him and his former flame.

And some rushed to the comments section to point out that the mobile looked like Yasmin’s.

One said: “All I know is that that phone case is sum1s phone case and hes showing it purposely to make the owner special.”

Not only that, he played Not Over Yet by Grace and Paul Oakenfold over the post – hinting that his romance with Yasmin is also not over.

One wrote in the comments section: “the song choice. one thing about Lorenzo the music is intentional.”

Another chimed in: “Song choice. Oh Lorenzo.”

Just last week Lorenzo was spotted in the background of Yasmin’s video after the hunk fuelled romance rumours with Yasmin, as fans spotted them exchanging flirty messages online.

Days before he continues to fuel romance rumours as he dropped a major hint the exes were back on.

In a recent TikTok video, Lorenzo shared a video of him posing next to a Bentley car.

He captioned the post: “I want a Bentley. She wants a Chanely. Life nowadays. Getting kinda spenny.”

And fans are convinced that he’s made reference to Yasmin – who was recently gifted a £7k Chanel bag from Central Cee.

Lorenzo won this year’s Love Island alongside his ex Julia – but the pair went their separate ways in September.

Yasmin and ex Tommy, who missed out on a place in the final, also split the same month.

Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the US are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi next month.

Ukraine says restrictions on its military’s Starlink satellite connections have been lifted after more than a week of disruption that hampered drone operations against Russian forces.

Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara said on Saturday that Starlink and Starshield connections were stable on equipment travelling above 400 kilometres per hour (250 miles per hour). He credited talks with Washington and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s diplomacy.

Ukraine relies heavily on Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite services for communications and drone missions. However, who ordered the restrictions remains unclear, with US President Donald Trump denying responsibility while defending Elon Musk.

The disruption further strained relations between Kyiv and Washington, already under pressure over Trump’s agreement to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and allow US imports.

Trump also called earlier this month for Ukraine to have a new president, then suggested on Monday that someone other than Zelenskyy should negotiate for Kyiv. The exchanges follow their public confrontation at the White House in February 2025.

Talks planned in Abu Dhabi

The lifting of the Starlink restrictions comes as the United States seeks to revive peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the US are expected to meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November, more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the planned negotiations on Friday, while Zelenskyy also announced agreement on technical-level meetings.

It comes as Trump credited his wife, Melania Trump, with securing a local ceasefire in Oleshky, in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, which Russian forces have occupied since 2022.

Subsequent Ukrainian and Russian statements putting the ceasefire’s start on October 27, with the humanitarian operation planned for October 29.

Deadly attacks continue

A Russian missile strike on Lozova, in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, killed a man and wounded two others on Saturday, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said, while in northern Ukraine, a Russian attack on Chernihiv on Friday killed a man and wounded at least 25 people, local authorities said.

Shelling in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded six, including three children, according to Donetsk officials. In nearby Sloviansk, attacks on Friday killed a 62-year-old woman and wounded four people, Mayor Vadym Lyakh said.

Ukraine reported strikes inside Russia on Friday and overnight into Saturday, including on Togliatti’s Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant, a major synthetic rubber producer. Mayor Ilya Sukhikh confirmed industrial damage but reported no casualties.

Ukraine also said it struck Oryol’s Proton electronics plant, which it says makes missile components. Regional Governor Andrei Klychkov reported three deaths in an attack on an unidentified facility.

Authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea reported power cuts after overnight Ukrainian attacks.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defences intercepted a SCALP cruise missile, four Neptune missiles and 1,297 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over 24 hours, TASS reported. The figures could not be independently verified.

A Michigan man and former studio engineer is facing the music for his theft of rapper Eminem’s unreleased works.

Joseph Strange, a 48-year-old Michigan resident, pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement and will be sentenced to prison in January, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. He faces up to five years in prison. Federal prosecutors accused Strange in March 2025 of stealing and selling unreleased work by Eminem (legal name Marshall Mathers III).

An attorney for Strange did not immediately respond Friday to The Times’ request for comment, but told Variety in a statement that his client is a “good” man and his “children have suffered greatly in all of this.” The attorney said the case is “far more complicated and nuanced matter” beyond the theft.

“Nevertheless, my client has taken accountability for what he has done, has tremendous remorse for what has happened to his family,” the attorney reportedly added, “and has great faith, as do I, in the judges of our district to see this case for what it is.”

A spokesperson for 15-time Grammy winner, maker of hits “The Monster” and “Lose Yourself,” did not comment.

Strange was charged in 2025 with copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods, federal prosecutors announced. Investigators said at the time that more than 25 songs had been played or distributed online without permission from Eminem or the group that owns his music, Capitol Labels Group. Investigators discovered the music on password-protected hard drives stored in a safe at Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, Mich., an FBI affidavit said. At the time, an attorney for Strange denied the “untested allegations.”

The charges against Strange arose after studio employees alerted the FBI of the theft in January 2025, alleging the unfinished releases were shared to a number of online platforms. Files from a hard drive in a safe were transferred to an external hard drive in October 2019 and January 2020, around the time when Strange was working at the studio.

A Canadian resident informed investigators that he purchased 25 unreleased Eminem songs from Strange for about $50,000 in Bitcoin and that he raised the funds through the support of a group of Eminem fans. He also claimed Strange also put some of Eminem’s handwritten lyrics up for sale.

The affidavit says a federal search of Strange’s home in January 2025 led to the discovery of numerous lyric sheets and notes handwritten by Eminem, a VHS tape of an unreleased video and hard drives with about 12,000 audio files.

“Joseph Strange abused a position of trust to unlawfully copy and sell unreleased music belonging to Eminem, profiting from works that were not yet authorized for public distribution,” said A. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice Criminal Division. “His conduct undermined both legal and artistic rights.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Security forces in Jordan are searching for three gunmen who opened fire at a church in Karak governorate on Friday, killing eight people and injuring dozens more, according to Jordan’s Ministry of Health.

King Abdullah II said those behind the attack would face the “harshest penalties”, as he offered his condolences to the victims’ families. He has ordered a review of the country’s security procedures for responding to terrorist attacks.

Authorities are calling this rare attack on a Christian place of worship an act of terror, with the perpetrators yet to be identified.

Here’s what we know about how the attack unfolded, and what was behind it.

What happened during the church shooting in Karak?

On Friday afternoon, three masked gunmen opened fire during a funeral in a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hamoud.

Survivors said they heard an explosion just after the start of the service. Two attackers who arrived in a vehicle were joined by a third carrying a semi-automatic rifle. They entered the church and opened fire for several minutes.

One survivor, Nasser al-Burqan, a lawyer, told the Reuters news agency that one of the attackers, standing about two metres (6.5 feet) away, pointed a handgun at him and opened fire.

“When everything finally quietened down, I looked out the window behind me, and I saw two [assailants] – one was masked, the other was not; he was carrying a handgun,” said al-Burqan, a lawyer.

Later, his son, who had also been present, called him to say he had been shot in the leg and was being treated in hospital.

Tarek Ammarin, who was visiting a relative injured in the attack, now in hospital, said: “A massacre, a massacre in every sense of the word.”

Bahjat al-Rushda, mayor of Shihan village in Karak, joined a list of officials condemning what he called a “wicked” attack.

“God willing, this country will remain safe,” he said.

State news channel Al-Mamlaka reported that security forces were deployed to the church and were in pursuit of the two suspects who had arrived in a vehicle.

How many people were killed or injured?

Eight people were killed in the shooting, including seven who died at the scene and one who succumbed to her injuries hours after the attack, Jordan’s Petra news agency reported on Saturday.

Of the 40 people injured, 27 are still in hospital. The Director of Prince Ali Military Hospital in Karak said one person is in critical condition, after undergoing surgery.

Who carried out the attack?

The identity of the three attackers has not been confirmed, with government statements referring to them as “unknown assailants”.

Security camera footage of the attack has been circulating online, however. Video broadcast by Al-Mamlaka shows three people shooting outside the church and running towards its entrance.

Other footage also shows the attackers opening fire on a group of men outside the building trying to flee.

Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazin Al-Farrayeh said a group of “extremists” that have “no relationship to humanity” were responsible for the attack, though no specific groups were mentioned.

Why was the church targeted?

Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said on Friday that the attack was a by-product of terrorist ideology and “blind extremism”, but did not give specifics about the attackers.

The motive remains unclear since the attackers’ identities have yet to be revealed.

Where is Karak, and what do we know about its Christian community?

Karak governorate is about 120km (75 miles) south of Amman and is home to many from Jordan’s Christian minority, which makes up about 300,000 of the country’s population of 11.5 million people.

Taylor Luck, senior Middle East correspondent at the Christian Science Monitor, told Al Jazeera that Jordan’s Christians “pride themselves on [their] interfaith solidarity and coexistence”.

He said that Christians and Muslims have lived side-by-side in Karak for generations and that if the attack had been carried out in an attempt to divide the community, it is more likely that the “community come[s] back even stronger”.

Jordan is also home to many biblical sites that draw visitors from around the world.

What has the response been to this shooting?

Several countries, including Azerbaijan, Iraq, Poland, Palestine and Qatar, have issued statements condemning the attack and expressing their solidarity with Jordan.

Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, a leading Sunni religious institution, offered his condolences to the families of the victims, calling the shooting a “heinous terrorist attack”.

“This crime contradicts the teachings of the Abrahamic religions and reveals that its perpetrators are devoid of all compassion, humanity and morality,” he wrote in a social media post.

The United States embassy in Jordan also released a statement on X offering condolences to victims and survivors of the attack.

“On behalf of the American people, we offer our most heartfelt condolences to the victims and survivors of the terror attack today at a church in Karak, Jordan,” it said.

The Jordanian Prime Minister declared three days of mourning following the attack, with flags to be flown at half-mast over government and public buildings.

Has Jordan experienced similar attacks before?

Yes, although they are rare.

In 2016, the ISIL (ISIS) group carried out a series of attacks across Karak, including a deadly siege on a Crusader-era castle in which 10 people were killed, including a Canadian tourist and seven police officers. Dozens of others were injured.

Four attackers were later killed by Jordanian security forces following a long standoff.

Move over, “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wizard of Oz” — you too, “Spirited Away” and “The Chronicles of Narnia.” There’s a new eye-popping portal fantasy in town and its name is “Wildwood.”

This is a thoroughly involving and captivating stop-motion adventure from Laika, the animation studio that made such other beautiful handmade works as “Coraline” and “Kubo and the Two Strings.” But it’s clear from the level of artistry on display here that the company, led by producer-director Travis Knight, has steadily advanced in technology, innovation and ambition. (We’re talking 233 handcrafted puppets and 132 practical sets.) That’s saying a lot given Laika’s previous top-tier output. In addition, Laika worked alongside New Zealand’s Wētā FX to create the movie’s stunning digital environments and visual effects. That magical ivy is something else.

The wondrous story was adapted by frequent Laika collaborator Chris Butler from the epic 2011 novel written by Colin Meloy (frontman for indie rock band the Decemberists, whose original music is featured here) and illustrated by Carson Ellis. The tale kicks off as intrepid young Portland, Ore., teen Prue (voiced by Peyton Elizabeth Lee) defies her worrywart parents and, in their absence, takes her baby brother, Mac, out for a bike ride around her city’s singularly quirky downtown. (Not for nothing, Knight is a Portland native and Laika is based just outside the city.)

But things quickly turn pitch dark as a murder of crows (take that collective noun how you will) swoops down and, quite terrifyingly, à la Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” abducts little Mac. This leads a desperate Prue and, soon, her nerdy but plucky classmate Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), into the forbidden “Impassable Wilderness” at the edge of town to rescue Mac. From there on it’s a roller coaster of magnificently rendered battles, chases, near-misses and escapes as Prue and Curtis — separately and together — navigate the enchanted, astonishing woods and its wildly assorted communities of rulers, warriors and underlings.

As Prue and Curtis struggle to unravel the twisty lore of the obstacle-laden forest in their search for Mac, their outsider presence inadvertently sets off a long-festering showdown for control of the forest between its warring factions. On the one hand, it’s Alexandra, the sinister, dangerously obsessed Dowager Governess (Carey Mulligan) and her marauding band of military-style coyotes (Tom Waits, Charlie Day and others) versus a wayward posse of bandits (led by Mahershala Ali’s formidable Brendan). Then there’s the Avian Principality, a bird-led kingdom also against Alexandra’s mounting power, including a stunningly majestic eagle known as the General (Angela Bassett) and the wise old Owl Rex (Richard E. Grant).

Vying for dominance as well are the haughty, self-serving bureaucrats of the area’s bustling capital of South Wood (Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson), who pull their political strings from the relative safety of the grand Pittock Mansion. Other characters Prue and the increasingly brave Curtis encounter along the way include the wry and resourceful rat Septima (Awkwafina), the courageous bandit Niamh (Amandla Stenberg), elderly mystic Iphigenia (Tantoo Cardinal) and the realm’s harried postmaster (Len Cariou). The talking animals feel right at home alongside the human figures and the voice work is excellent all around.

Needless to say, there’s a lot going on in Butler’s busy, occasionally dizzying script, though compressing the approximately 550-page source material was surely no easy task. (As it is, “Wildwood” runs more than two hours, long for an animated film, though it rarely lags.) Still, the narrative has its share of “just go with it” moments and explanations. Bits of connective tissue can sometimes feel missing amid the action and the story’s lessons, particularly for Prue, don’t always land as strongly or affectingly as they could.

It should also be said that there’s some fairly outsize violence along the way, particularly during the combat scenes, plus other potentially disturbing bits of mayhem that may be too extreme for younger children. Parents take note: The film more than rightly earns its PG-13 rating.

Nonetheless, for most audiences, especially animation-loving teens and adults, this should prove a spectacularly immersive ride, vibrantly shot by the great Caleb Deschanel (“The Right Stuff,” “The Natural”) and crafted by a reported 49 animators who brought the film to life one dazzling, painstaking frame at a time.

The U.S. Army is pursuing a family of modular and scalable laser directed energy weapons that can be fitted to any vehicle in its inventory. The service sees this as key to expanding the operational use of lasers, particularly to provide an extra layer of defense against drone threats, and outside of dedicated units. The Army is already fielding high-energy lasers operationally on a limited basis, including along the border wth Mexico, but the technology has faced continued hurdles to more widespread use in recent years.

Army officials and industry representatives discussed what is currently called the Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program during a panel discussion this week at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual convention, at which TWZ was in attendance. In September, AeroVironment received the first production contract under E-HEL to supply examples of its 30-kilowatt-class LOCUST X3 laser directed energy weapon system. The Army has already acquired earlier LOCUST variants, including vehicle-mounted and palletized types, through more experimental programs, and these are the systems now deployed along the southern border. The U.S. Navy has also at least tested a containerized version of LOCUST for shipboard use as part of its own larger laser ambitions.

LOCUST® X3 Modular Directed Energy Laser Weapon System

“We’re focused on any vehicle in the motorpool. I want to try to integrate future capability of high-energy lasers into it,” Army Brig. Gen. Guy Yelverton, the Capability Program Executive for Defensive Fires with the Portfolio Acquisition Executive Office for Fires, said during the panel on Monday. “And, so, our E-HEL is on a sled. With that, I can look at integrating it onto multiple different vehicles.”

“And then, as I think about vehicle agnosticness, if I open up my aperture to MOS [military occupation speciality] agnostic, and ensure that it’s easy to train, easy to operate, I can not just focus on air and missile defense organizations,” he continued. “I can now look at any formation type to be able to put a high-energy laser capability into it for the counter-UAS [uncrewed aerial systems] fight.”

“That gives me even more opportunities to share this capability across all Army formations, and give our senior leaders [the] maximum amount of thought process and input into where the system goes, who the soldier is that’s operating it, and I’ve given them quite a solution,” he added. “It’s a great dilemma to have of where do I put all this capability.”

In 2022, the Army reactivated the 4th Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (4-60th ADA) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, as part of plans to field new laser-armed Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (DE M-SHORAD) systems based on the 8×8 Stryker light armored vehicle. Reliability and other issues with DE M-SHORAD vehicles led the Army to shift focus, and 4-60th ADA has since assumed a more traditional air defense role. The problems with the DE M-SHORAD system are indicative of struggles that have dogged laser-directed energy weapon developments across the U.S. military, and that have led to several other programs being severely truncated or outright cancelled in recent years.

The Army does now have the aforementioned LOCUST systems, including versions mounted on 4×4 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) and Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV), as well as the palletized types. Those systems appear to be currently fielded on a more ad hoc level to units at forward locations.

LOCUST is well suited to the Army’s current vision for fielding E-HEL without being tied to specific vehicles or unit types. At the core of the system is a turret with the laser beam projector, as well as built-in electro-optical and infrared video cameras for target acquisition and tracking. Other sensors, such as small-form-factor high-frequency radars and passive radio frequency signal detection systems on host vehicles, as well as off-board radars and other capabilities positioned elsewhere, can be used to cue the turret.

With the 30-kilowatt power rating, the new X3 versions of LOCUST the Army is acquiring now are still at the lower end of the power spectrum for laser directed energy weapons. All versions of LOCUST to date are geared explicitly toward countering small drones.

It is possible that the Army could field other types of laser directed energy weapon systems through E-HEL in the future. The service, in cooperation with other branches of the U.S. military, is also pursuing designs with far higher power ratings through separate programs.

Just being able to field LOCUST X3 more broadly would still offer valuable additional layers of defense against drones across different types of Army units. More broadly speaking, the central benefit that laser directed energy weapons offer is the promise of functionally unlimited magazine depth, though this is dependent on there being sufficient power and cooling capacity. This, in turn, translates to a substantial reduction in the cost-per-intercept equation compared to traditional anti-air interceptors. All of this is especially advantageous for tackling drone threats, which do not have to be large or expensive to present real dangers.

By miniaturizing and ruggedizing lower-power systems like LOCUST, the Army could distribute these capabilities across a broad area, or deploy them in a more concentrated fashion, depending on the fight. Even a convoy with a number of the vehicles sprinkled in with them could help defend it from pop-up attacks

In this context, mobility and flexibility are also important boons. LOCUST systems mounted on light vehicles can be readily positioned and repositioned to respond to changes on the battlefield, as well as be brought to forward locations slung under helicopters. Palletized and containerized versions offer additional kinds of flexibility for providing point defense at sites on land, as well as installation on ships.

At the panel on Monday, Brig. Gen. Yelverton stressed that when it comes to laser weapons systems, in general, the technology is no longer a matter of “science fiction” but has become “science reality.” The U.S. military says laser systems positioned along the border with Mexico have downed real targets, though many questions remain about those deployments. Regardless, challenges do clearly remain.

“Lasers are real. We can do it. We can go out. We can shoot things,” Kirk Williams, Chief Engineer at the Army’s Directed Energy Project Office, another one of the panelists, said. “But what we got to do now is make these systems reliable enough so that the soldiers have the faith in them when they need them, and that’s really the main point that we’re trying to go after right now.”

“We’re getting to the point where the systems are reliable enough, but we still have to make them maintainable and repairable because this is an Army system,” he continued. “It’s going to be on a battlefield. Things are going to break. We can break things in very creative ways, right? So if it’s not reliable, or if it’s not maintainable, if it’s not repairable, that’s a problem.”

“We’re also looking to reduce size, weight, and power,” he added. “JLTV has a lot better payload capacity than ISV. So we really need to be able to get something smaller if we want to have the same effectiveness on an ISV. So that same modular architecture will allow us to go in, take some of those components, make trade-offs.”

The focus on modular and open systems architectures will also help when it comes to integrating new and improved functionality down the line. It will also feed into the larger goal of having E-HEL options not tied to a particular vehicle or other platform.

“By going after the modular architecture, that gives us the flexibility to not only go after increases in reliability, but also increases in performance,” Williams further explained. “It gives us the way to inject new technology into existing systems, and then hopefully it also gives us a way of getting better prices out of some of our vendors.”

In addition, “one of the things we learned is you can have a really cool integrated system, and then when that truck needs an oil change, well, then your laser weapon system is down for the count,” he added. “So, trying to make it so that you can just pull it off of any vehicle, put it on any other vehicle is really one of the things that we’re trying to go after.”

The Army is also very cognizant of the basic fact that a single laser can only engage one target at once. The beam from any laser weapon system also drops in power as it gets further from the source, just because of the need to propagate through the atmosphere. Weather and other environmental conditions like smoke and dust then also become a factor. This has driven demand for more power (and cooling capacity) to improve effectiveness, especially at range. Developments in adaptive optics can also help overcome these issues to a degree, but lasers currently remain very short-range weapons overall.

“That’s why it’s important to us to get enough energy on the target to kill it as quickly as possible and move on to the next threat. Speaking about the magazine, you know I have battery power on there, so depending upon which system, around 80 seconds, 120 seconds, whatever that is, you know that’s the magazine depth I have,” Brig. Gen. Yelverton said on Monday. “The quicker I get on the target, kill it, and off the target, I start rebuilding, regenerating that magazine depth.”

“It’s the targeting system. It’s the optics system that lets you focus on the target,” Williams also chimed in at this point on the panel discussion. “I mentioned trying to make the trackers better and take some of the onus off of the operator. If we can do better aim point control and keep the laser in the same spot, it gives you a better and a quicker kill.”

Earlier on, Williams had highlighted how artificial intelligence-assisted targeting capabilities could be a particularly important addition to laser directed energy weapons. Networking multiple systems together could help with sorting and assigning targets as efficiently as possible.

When it comes to the actual operational employment of laser directed energy weapons, “as these systems get smaller, as they get more powerful, the quicker we could get them into our soldiers’ hands,” Army Col. Charles Kean, Deputy Commanding Officer for Support at the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, another one of the panelists, said.

This, in turn, will open up important new opportunities to “operate with them forward, test them in the mud, the dirt, the humidity of the Pacific, test them down in the southern border where they’re different conditions, whether it’s in the Middle East and Europe, it’s applicable across the board,” Kean continued. “We have to understand it, get it in our hands as quickly as possible, so we could iterate it, iterate on it, and make it better and continue to iterate, because the adversaries continue to iterate in reverse against us.”

This last point is worth highlighting. The U.S. military’s chief global competitor, China, has been particularly active in the development and fielding of ground-based laser and other directed energy weapons, as well as designs for shipboard use. Chinese firms are selling laser weapon systems to foreign armed forces, as well. Other countries, including American allies and partners, are also very actively pursuing these capabilities.

Col. Kean also stressed that laser directed energy weapons would still only be one part of a larger layered air and missile defense ecosystem for the Army.

As it stands now, the Army hopes to have the first LOCUST X3 systems acquired through E-HEL in operational service by early 2028. A similar timeframe has been put forward for the separate Joint Laser Weapon System (JLWS) program, which the Army is also involved in. JLWS is aiming to produce a viable containerized 150-kilowatt-class laser directed energy weapon, with plans to work toward 300- and 500-kilowatt-class designs. At the panel on Monday, Scott Keeney, CEO of laser systems developer nLIGHT, which has been working together with AeroVironment on LOCUST, among other projects, said he saw further scaling up of capabilities to the one-megawatt-class as being on the horizon. This is a power rating the U.S. Navy has also talked about as a future goal.

The Army clearly sees E-HEL already as a path to truly operationalizing laser directed energy capabilities across the system, but the service itself acknowledges that there is still significant work to be done to make this goal a reality.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

A CHART-TOPPING British band has revealed their “bittersweet” decision to split.

The country music duo, whose partnership has spanned 13 years and six albums, have confirmed their current tour will be their last.

The Shires, formed of Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle and known for tracks such as Watching You Watching Me, hinted there could be a potential for a comeback and said: “Maybe one day we’ll be making music and touring again.”.

In a lengthy statement posted to Instagram, it stated Crissie would be “taking a well deserved break” for family life.

The band, who originally formed on Facebook, broke the news in a message which read: “After a busy 13 years together and six albums’ worth of stories shared on stages all across the world, we’re going to be taking time away from The Shires.

“With two young daughters at home, Crissie will be taking a well-deserved break to focus on family life and spend more time with her quickly-growing girls.

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“It’s a bittersweet decision, one that Ben completely understands and supports as a parent himself.

“We’ll both be cheering each other on for whatever our next chapters hold and who knows, maybe one day we’ll be making music and touring again.

“But for now, this will be our final tour as The Shires for the foreseeable future.

“We can’t wait to sing, dance and make some beautiful memories together on this tour, as we celebrate the amazing journey we’ve all been on together.

“Thank you for all the love you’ve given us, we’ll hold onto it forever. B&Cx”

Radio 2 DJ Bob Harris wrote: “…and we love you right back xx”

Country music singer Shania Twain then put: “Sending congratulations for everything you have achieved and all the best for what’s to come guys”.

On his personal Instagram page, Ben admitted he was struggling with the decision to split.

He told fans: “I completely respect and understand Crissie’s decision but truthfully it’s been a big adjustment for me and something I’ve been processing and working through.

“That’s why I’ve found it a bit tough to show up on here recently.

“I’m definitely turning a corner with it all though”.

The Shires’ 2026 UK tour will kick off in Glasgow on November 3.

It will wrap in Bristol on November 20.

Previously, Crissie said her pals feared the duo were “too young” for country.

She told us: “Our friends thought we were crazy and too young for country but we really believed there was a calling for country music over here.

“I was a wedding singer before, and I performed at functions and I sang everything I could possibly do, but I always loved country music.

“When we started working on this music, within eight months we had two record deals on the table. It was pretty amazing”.

Their 2015 release Brave peaked at Number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, making history as the first Top 10 album by a UK country group.

Journalists prepare to strike as politicians push through changes that critics say threaten independence.

The Czech Republic’s governing coalition has advanced changes to the funding of public media, despite criticism that it could weaken broadcaster independence.

In a rare overnight vote in the early hours of Saturday, the coalition voted to send the bill to committees for further discussion.

The changes include scrapping the 205 crown ($9.45) household broadcasting fee, and replacing it with funding from the state budget.

The populist government of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, backed by the far-right SPD party, has frequently criticised public and private media coverage of its policies and accused some outlets of bias.

Babis promised to scrap the broadcasting fee before taking office last December, and says his three-party government is now fulfilling that pledge to voters.

Public media employees staged a strike against the move in June, saying it would make broadcasters vulnerable to government pressure.

Opposition parties have compared the changes with reforms under neighbouring Hungary’s former Prime Minister, Viktor Orban.

Babis has said the new funding model would be fairer to poorer households and encourage outlets to become more efficient.

“There is no war for independent media,” Babis said on Facebook late on Friday. “There is no fight for democracy and no nationalisation of media is being prepared.”

The proposal would cut funding for Czech Television and Czech Radio by about 15 percent and keep nominal funding unchanged for several years.

Public media are among the most trusted news sources in the Czech Republic, with Czech Television the most-watched broadcaster across several age groups.

A civic group has called a public protest for Sunday, while journalists and other employees at the broadcasters announced a strike for November 3.

LAS VEGAS — The Strip is broiling on a recent afternoon, but it’s cool and dark inside Mary J. Blige’s dressing room at the Park MGM.

As a humidifier moistens the dry desert air, the 55-year-old R&B star sits on a sofa wearing a brown jumpsuit and matching gaucho hat; through the walls we can hear Blige’s band sound-checking for her My Life, My Story residency, which launched in May and will pick up again Friday night for shows through Oct. 31.

In some ways, Las Vegas is a funny fit for the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, who’s been transforming pain into music since her 1992 debut, “What’s the 411?” Yet her stay in this glittering showbiz mecca comes amid a season of flower-getting for Blige: Two years ago, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; two years before that, she played the Super Bowl halftime show and landed a nomination for album of the year at the Grammy Awards.

“It definitely feels like people are taking notice of the fact that Mary J. Blige is one of the most important performers in R&B history,” she says. “I opened up a lane that hasn’t been closed yet. Female after female after female after female continue to do what Mary J. Blige has done and still does.”

Who opened that lane with you?
Back in the ’90s, when we first came out, it was myself and SWV that were really, really strong. Then there was 702, then Jazmine Sullivan and SZA and Beyoncé, and now right down to Summer Walker, who’s singing her truth.

That’s how you define what you do.
I’m not a great singer because I can sing better than everyone — I’m a great singer because I sing from my heart. Bono gave me that jewel. When Hurricane Katrina happened, we were doing [U2’s] “One,” and Bono was like, “Don’t worry about singing on key — people aren’t moved by you singing on key. What makes you a great singer is how you make them feel.” Not all of us are like the eighth wonders of the world — Aretha Franklin or Chaka Khan or Whitney Houston. They have pitch-perfect and they have emotion.

I saw Chaka Khan the other night and was thinking about how, even now, you never know where her voice is about to go.
She’s Chaka Khan — there’s nothing else you could say, really.

Why’d you cover “Sweet Thing” on “What’s the 411?”
First of all, when I was growing up, my mother played “Sweet Thing” all the time — it was our favorite song. So when I got to Uptown Records, Andre Harrell, the CEO, he was like, “You should do ‘Sweet Thing.’” I was like, “I don’t wanna do ‘Sweet Thing’! Chaka Khan could really sing — I can’t sing like that.” But he said I could do it, so I went and did the song and they all went crazy over it. My fans who didn’t know Chaka Khan, they thought it was my song. Same with Rose Royce’s “I’m Going Down” — to this day, a lot of people don’t know that’s a remake. I was afraid of both those songs. But I wanted to sing “I’m Going Down” all my life because I heard the song when I was 5 years old from the “Car Wash” soundtrack.

Tell me about your routine in Vegas. You stay on the Strip or you have a house somewhere?
I have a house out here. I’m not staying here — this is a lot. So I go home after I finish my performance, and I get ready for my performance tomorrow: I rest, I drink water, I do whatever I need to do. Then it’s the same thing: I come here, go into glam, do my meet and greet.

Get the humidifier going.
I got a steamer that I actually pull on over my mouth. Then I do my warmups, relax, keep my mind clear of any nonsense.

How do you think about doing your thing in a town built on glitz?
Mary is not the slickest Vegas person. But you can let people see that you’ve evolved — that you wear gowns now.

Would 19-year-old Mary be surprised to see her future self in a gown?
Hundred percent. Nineteen-year-old Mary was all tomboy — all baggy everything. Right now, I barely want to wear a gown, this Mary right here. But I’ve actually grown to like some of it when it looks good.

Did you look at anyone else’s residency when you were putting yours together?
I saw two people’s shows, and I said, “That’s not it.”

Shows in Vegas tend to be on the shorter side. The casino wants people back out there gambling.
I got 90 minutes — it’s a lot of time. People are very happy, but they’re standing there like they want more. I’m like, “I did 90 minutes! I don’t know how much more y’all want from me.”

Silk Sonic’s residency here was a no-phones show, which Bruno Mars told me was his attempt to preserve the freedom to make mistakes. Does it bum you out as a performer to know that everything winds up on the internet?
I don’t care about that at all. Social media, it’s bull—. You know what’s gonna happen — you know they’re gonna say, “Oh, her jaw is swollen.” Whatever. As long as you live truthfully, what they’re recording doesn’t matter.

In a recent interview with Fat Joe and Jadakiss, you talked about keeping your romantic partner a “mystery man” to the world. I wondered how you came to the decision not to make everything available to the public.
Because for so many years it has all been available. What you know already is what you know — I’ll elaborate on that. But what you don’t know, you will never know. I think I’ve given a lot, and it’s important to have something for myself. Nowadays, people just take things and ruin it for you. So if you have something beautiful, hold onto it, keep it to yourself. You have to protect the person that you’re with as well, because they don’t deserve to get beat up for something someone else did. I protect the ones I love — I’m not having anybody speaking ill about my family or the man that I love. I’m too old for that. Early in my life, if social media was around in 1991, I’d have been on that s— all day, cursing and going nuts on people.

Mary J. Blige performs during halftime of Super Bowl LVI at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium in 2022.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

We were talking before about your accolades. Did the Rock Hall mean anything in particular to you?
It was important to me because those things don’t happen to us.

To Black women.
Yes. It happens to rock ’n’ roll stars every day, and they’re in their grave — there were people in their grave that they were honoring when I went. So when it happens to Mary J. Blige or Chaka Khan or Aretha Franklin, we have to honor that and raise it up. That’s a big deal.

Did Las Vegas feel like a place open to Black women?
I’m trying to think of what Black females I’ve seen do Vegas.

Mariah Carey was here. Toni Braxton had a show.
Yeah, but like me? But you know what I love? It’s time. And how I know it’s time is because my fans went up. When I made the announcement, they was going crazy — they still going crazy. I’m probably the first to open this door, and next it’ll be somebody else. You better believe they on their way. “Oh, Mary doing Vegas? I’m doing Vegas too.” That’s how it goes: “Mary did her hair blonde? I’m dying my hair blonde too.” That’s how my whole life has been, even actually before the music business.

Nosy question, but what’s an aspect of financial comfort that you especially enjoy?
Flying private — that’s the best one for me.

Getting to bypass the grind of travel.
That’s what I love about Vegas, because it’s not like tour. Tour, it’s a lot.

Are you soft now?
Probably a little spoiled.

Last one: Name an artist that meant a lot to you when you were young that might surprise people.
There were so many. I mean, Earth, Wind & Fire —

Everybody loves Earth, Wind & Fire.
But that “Way of the World” song — that really does something to me. We loved George Michael — George Michael was always one of our favorite artists. Duran Duran, come on. Oh, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” — Tears for Fears. And Hall & Oates! [Sings] “Private eyes, they’re watching you.” Ambrosia. The Eagles. I could keep going.

I didn’t expect you to hit me with Ambrosia.
They were so soulful — I just got goosebumps. And Queen. That’s one of my favorite movies — “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Who should play you in a movie about Mary J. Blige?
She wasn’t born yet.

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany collapsed during training on Friday but is said to be ‘stable’ in hospital.

Bayern Munich expect coach Vincent Kompany to miss an extended period as he continues his hospital treatment for a virus after collapsing on the training pitch.

Speaking at a news conference on Saturday, a day after the collapse, Bayern Director of Sport Max Eberl confirmed Kompany was still hospitalised in a “stable” condition.

Kompany’s English assistant coach Aaron Danks will replace the 40-year-old for Sunday’s Bundesliga match at Freiburg.

Eberl told reporters “examinations were continuing” to determine the nature of the former Manchester City and Belgium captain’s condition with a recovery timeframe yet to be determined.

“Vinnie will be given all the time he needs. We’re not starting to put together any timeframes.

“We need to firstly figure out what it is, and then we’ll discuss calmly what the recovery time is to be. We won’t be talking about days but weeks. We need to all be clear on that.”

Taking Saturday’s news conference in Kompany’s absence, Danks said he had spoken with the former centre back briefly on Friday but only to wish him well.

“I explained to him that we wouldn’t be having no football conversations. It was just checking in on his health and making sure he’s OK.

“All the football operations are in our hands, and we’ll work together as a team to keep the club moving forward.”

Bayern’s second team’s game was postponed on Friday after Kompany’s collapse, but Eberl said the club did not consider trying to postpone Sunday’s Bundesliga game.

“I think the greatest joy for Vinnie would be for us to play well tomorrow and, ideally, get a positive result,” Eberl said.

“That would probably be one of the best things we could do to help him recover.”

Danks confirmed Germany captain Joshua Kimmich, who has been on bereavement leave since Tuesday, would also miss Sunday’s game.

Kompany returned to the dugout for Wednesday’s home clash against Arsenal despite missing the pre-match news conference due to the virus.

Speaking after the Arsenal game, Kompany said his body reacted after he tried to push through the illness.

“I caught a pretty nasty virus last week, and of course, I didn’t listen to my body, and then at some point, my body just said, ‘Enough is enough!’”

The defending champions sit on top of the Bundesliga table before Sunday’s game, one point above Freiburg.

Their next Champions League match is on November 3 in Madrid against Atletico.

No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus, while police said a ‘suspicious person’ has been taken into custody.

German police have detained a suspect after a fire engulfed the Eagle’s Nest, Adolf Hitler’s notorious Nazi-era mountain retreat in Bavaria, prompting an overnight emergency operation involving about 200 firefighters.

No injuries were reported at the building, known locally as the Kehlsteinhaus. Police said investigators were examining whether a “suspicious person” taken into temporary custody was connected to the blaze.

The fire alarm was triggered by a smoke detector at about 9:50pm (19:50 GMT) on Friday. Emergency crews could see flames rising above the building as they approached and found it “completely ablaze”, according to police.

The retreat’s remote Alpine location, at an altitude of more than 1,800 metres (about 6,000 feet), complicated efforts to extinguish the fire, police spokesperson Lisa Maier said.

While authorities have not announced a cause, German media reported that investigators suspected arson.

The newspaper Bild said emergency responders had encountered a motorcyclist travelling towards them on their way to the scene and that he was subsequently detained. His possible involvement remained under investigation.

Maier said inquiries were continuing, with police planning a news conference later on Saturday.

Built between 1937 and 1938, the stone-and-granite retreat stands on the Kehlstein mountain above Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden in southern Germany.

Designed as a monument to Hitler’s rule and a setting for receiving foreign diplomats, it offers sweeping views across the Bavarian Alps. Hitler himself visited the resort.

The site, which remains part of the legacy of Nazi Germany, survived World War II undamaged. It has operated as a restaurant since 1952 and also houses an exhibition examining its Nazi history.

BIANCA Censori has stripped down to a tiny thong and a sheer white top while doing squats in new photos.

The model once again bared all in an extremely skimpy outfit and shared it on social media.

In a snap posted to Bianca‘s Instagram Stories on Friday, the 31-year-old was captured from behind, exposing her butt in a white thong.

She squatted on the marble floor in her closet, wearing nothing else but a white see-through tank top and no bra.

Bianca pulled the top down to partially cover her backside, showing her underwear beneath its thin fabric.

She balanced on white high heels and wore her brunette hair in a high bun as she gazed at the ground.

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Bianca Censori puts her thong on display as she crawls on all fours

A mirror in front of the Yeezy architect shows a person standing in the doorway, taking her picture from behind.

The flash from the camera is seen shining through their reflection.

Bianca also shared several other photos of herself facing the lens, showing her full body in the revealing attire.

The Australian native’s bare breasts and flat tummy were on display in the sexy top, which she tried to pull down over her hips.

The front of her thong was also seen through the shirt, the sides pulled up toward her midsection to create a deep V-shape.

Bianca didn’t explain her barely-there wardrobe, though she’s known for strutting around in ultra-sultry ensembles.

She flaunted her figure in a completely sheer thong bodysuit and heels earlier this week in an Instagram photoshoot.

The brunette beauty also shared photos of herself crawling around on all fours in a red fishnet top and a see-through silk skirt.

Photos obtained by The U.S. Sun show her donning the same risqué look during a date night with her husband, Kanye West, 49.

Bianca shielded her bare breasts with her arm while leaving the Living Room Club in Los Angeles,, where they partied with friends.

This came after she posted various photos of herself sporting skimpy lingerie and bikinis online.

One showed Bianca displaying her hourglass figure in high-waisted underwear and a skintight bra.

In another, she barely covered her nipples in a super tiny gold bikini top and skirt while debuting her blonde hair transformation.

Shortly before, Kanye’s wife spilled out of a sizzling orange one-piece leotard during another steamy photoshoot.

Bianca and Kanye tied the knot in 2022, weeks after the rapper finalized his divorce from his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.

Polls indicate Brazil’s presidential candidates are neck and neck before Sunday’s voting.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his right-wing rival Flavio Bolsonaro have focused on policy proposals in the final debate before their presidential run-off.

The candidates questioned each other on Friday, two days before the election, about Brazil’s economy, infrastructure and regional development.

Lula challenged his rival’s plan to take a “chainsaw” to public spending in a manner similar to that of Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei.

“I’ll have the same job here [as Milei in Argentina] because you’re leaving the country bankrupt,” Bolsonaro responded.

Bolsonaro, son of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, accused the incumbent of allowing organised crime to expand, driving families into debt and not addressing the higher cost of living.

“He doesn’t know what hunger is,” Brazil’s first working-class president said of Bolsonaro, who responded, “Why are things so expensive?”

Lula questioned the senator’s experience, saying, “He doesn’t know Brazil.”

His challenger doubled down on presenting himself as a capable candidate who represented change for the country.

Tense moments

Friday’s debate in Rio de Janeiro, which was broadcast on TV Globo, was notably more diplomatic than their initial face-off on Sunday but also saw its share of personal attacks and tense moments.

Bolsonaro called Lula “Nine Fingers”, a pejorative nickname used by many of his supporters that references an accident the Brazilian president suffered during his time as a metalworker. The 80-year-old leader demanded an apology, which Bolsonaro gave him.

Lula in response called Bolsonaro a vigilante, referring to allegations that his rival has ties to paramilitary groups in Rio de Janeiro. Bolsonaro said he would classify those groups as “narcoterrorists”.

The third tense exchange was between Bolsonaro and the mother of a five-year-old who was killed in a shootout that involved a policeman who had the presidential candidate as his lawyer. Bolsonaro said he doesn’t believe his client was guilty.

Bolsonaro finished first in the initial round of voting on October 4 with 47 percent of the vote to Lula’s 45 percent.

A Datafolha institute survey published on Thursday suggested the pair are now tied with 50 percent support each, compared with Bolsonaro’s four-point lead in polls published two weeks ago.

Both candidates are expected to join supporters in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in their last campaign effort before Sunday’s run-off.

THE mission to find the next James Bond has been narrowed down to four actors as producers ponder the final decision this week.

The replacement will fill the boots of Daniel Craig and fans are scrambling to work out who’s taking over.

After five appearances as 007, Daniel Craig hung up his tuxedo for the last time following his final performance as the secret agent in the 2021 blockbuster, No Time To Die.

Since then, fans have been left wondering which actor is up to scratch to take over.

Amazon MGM Studios, who own the franchise, are said to be keen on four actors for the job.

According to The Wrap, Callum Turner, Josh O’Connor and Jack Lowden have made it to the final round of screen tests, alongside a fourth, currently unnamed actor – thought to be Heartthrob star Jack Barton.

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