News Desk

EXCLUSIVE Emmerdale’s Joe Tate actor Ned Porteous told the Mirror that the huge wedding week will impact the whole village, and could signal a new era for the ITV soap

Emmerdale’s Joe Tate actor Ned Porteous has teased the big wedding week could be a “new era” for the ITV soap.

With stunts and tragedy teased, the wedding of Joe and his bride Dawn Taylor [Olivia Bromley] is set to end in disaster. With Dawn planning to flee with her ex Billy Fletcher [Jay Kontzle], Ned told the Mirror that Billy may need to watch.

He said: “I’ve always assumed that with a character like Joe, there’s one thing that he holds closest to his heart. The one thing that you can’t buy, and that’s love and family.

“It’s the things that he holds really dear. As a man who is outwardly volatile and dangerous, and unable to regulate his emotions, if you were to take the final thing tethering him to a life of moral good, what could that man then be capable of?”

Ned warned that as the wedding arrives, Joe may have something up his sleeve. He told us: “Well, we don’t know whether Joe already knows about Dawn and Billy.

“He could be formatting some serious revenge, or he could be completely oblivious, but we do know that Joe is capable of anything. So we’ll see.” It’s safe to say the consequences of the big week will be far-reaching.

Ned said: “It’s going to affect everyone in the village.” Ned also told us what fans can expect from the week of episodes, suggesting a new era for the soap was on the way.

He commented: “It’s a higher quality version of Emmerdale. Emmerdale is already fantastic as a show, it’s the best job I’ve ever had, but the amount of work that has been put into these episodes, and on this block and on this unit.

“The episodes that we’ve all been part of, there is a feeling to it, not just in thematic vibe, but also the quality of the cameras that we’ve been using. It is going to look and sound and feel very different, and hopefully, this could be the start of a whole new era for Emmerdale.”

Ned also addressed Joe’s deadly feud with his uncle Caleb Miligan, which is a huge part of the big week. Asked if things would get dangerous, Ned said: “Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, he’s taken his kidney, we’ll see what else he manages to take!”

Asked who may come out on top, Ned coyly revealed: “I wouldn’t mess with either of them, to be honest. But, we’ll see. Ned loves the rivalry between the Tates though.

He said: “I have only ever enjoyed playing scenes with Will Ash where we’re at each other’s throats. The character that he plays, and this power dynamic between us, has been so much fun as an actor to play. So, I’m welcoming as much of that as possible, I’m really enjoying it.”

Emmerdale’s big wedding week begins on Monday 24 August on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok, Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel has withdrawn from a high-profile libertarian summit in Argentina where he was scheduled to appear alongside President Javier Milei, days after protesters dressed as Gandalf demonstrated outside his $12 million Buenos Aires mansion.

Thiel had been scheduled as one of the central speakers at the “Vientos de Cambio,” or “Winds of Change,” summit on Sept. 1 and 2 in Buenos Aires, organized by the Libertad y Progreso Foundation. He was expected to hold a public conversation with Chilean commentator Axel Kaiser, while Milei was scheduled to close the gathering, according to Argentine news outlet elDiarioAR.

The foundation said Thiel canceled because of scheduling and logistical issues and did not connect his decision to the protest.

“Due to scheduling and logistical reasons completely unrelated to the organization of the event, Peter Thiel will ultimately be unable to travel to Buenos Aires,” Libertad y Progreso said in a statement cited by elDiarioAR. The organization said Thiel and his team had tried to reconcile the appearance with previous commitments but that travel difficulties made his participation impossible.

The summit is intended to showcase Argentina’s economic transformation under Milei and will bring together government officials, investors, academics and think tanks from Latin America, the United States and Europe. Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Deregulation Minister Federico Sturzenegger are among the government officials scheduled to participate, according to La Nación.

Thiel’s withdrawal came after an unusual demonstration Monday outside his home in Barrio Parque, one of Buenos Aires’ most exclusive neighborhoods.

A group of protesters wearing gray robes, pointed hats and white beards dressed as Gandalf, the wizard from J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings, gathered outside the property carrying a banner reading, “You shall not pass,” La Nación reported.

The choice of character was a pointed reference to Thiel’s well-documented fascination with Tolkien. Thiel co-founded data analytics company Palantir Technologies, whose name comes from the “palantíri,” seeing stones in Tolkien’s fictional universe that allow their users to communicate across long distances and view faraway events.

The demonstrators protested Thiel’s growing presence and investments in Argentina, including a recently disclosed $76 million stake in oil producer Vista Energy, according to elDiarioAR.

Thiel Macro LLC reported holding 1,189,792 American depositary shares of Vista at the end of the second quarter, worth approximately $76 million and representing about 1% of the company, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing cited by La Nación. The Vista investment was the fund’s second-largest reported equity position behind Amazon and represented about 18% of its reported stock portfolio.

Vista is one of the major operators in Vaca Muerta, Argentina’s massive shale oil and gas formation, making the investment Thiel’s most significant publicly disclosed financial bet in the country.

His financial expansion has come alongside increasingly visible ties to Milei and senior members of his government.

Thiel met with Milei at the Casa Rosada presidential palace in April, part of a series of meetings between the two over the past two years. El País reported that the April meeting was their fourth since 2024, following encounters at the Casa Rosada in January 2024, at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles that May and another meeting in Buenos Aires.

During his latest stay in Argentina, Thiel also met with presidential adviser Santiago Caputo, while Economy Minister Luis Caputo received him at the Economy Ministry in May, La Nación reported.

Thiel temporarily settled in Buenos Aires with his husband and children in early April and purchased a six-bedroom mansion in Barrio Parque for about $12 million, according to La Nación.

His outreach has extended beyond Milei’s political circle. On June 3, Thiel held a more than three-hour meeting at his home with opposition lawmaker and social leader Juan Grabois, one of Milei’s most outspoken political opponents. Grabois later said the meeting was intended to help him understand the political and technological project of Silicon Valley’s emerging elite.

Canada official condemns Israel’s ‘invasion’ of Lebanon, calls for sovereignty as aid pledged to the crisis-hit nation.

Canada’s secretary of state for international development, Randeep Sarai, visited Lebanon to announce new humanitarian aid, condemning what he called Israel’s “unlawful invasion” of Lebanon.

During his visit, Sarai stated that Beirut should govern its own space. He also announced new programmes Canada is launching to support Lebanese families affected by the conflict, raising its total assistance to Lebanon this year to more than $50m.

“Our commitment is long-term, and we’re there for Lebanon,” said Sarai, who visited shelters housing people displaced by the war and Syrian refugees during his visit.

Amid the escalation between Israel and Lebanon in March, Canada warned on March 25 that Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity “must not be violated” and strongly condemned plans by Israeli forces to occupy southern Lebanon.

As part of the US-mediated framework agreement signed in late June, “pilot zones” were designed to return small areas in southern Lebanon from Israeli forces to the Lebanese army.

In late July, the Lebanese Armed Forces accused Israel of obstructing its efforts to take over control of security in southern Lebanon.

The war has killed more than 4,000 people and has caused widespread destruction across Lebanon. The United Nations says that about 360,000 people are displaced as a result of the latest conflict.

Home to a large Lebanese diaspora, Canada has given Lebanon about $575m in assistance in the past 10 years, Sarai said.

Sarai also met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who promised to reinstate state authority across Lebanon and to implement reforms to fight corruption.

Israeli officials said they will not pull out of Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed.

ISLA Fisher has revealed she ended up in hospital with a broken toe after falling over in her £820 Louboutin heels.  

The actress, 50, took to Instagram to share snaps as her night out took a turn for the worse, documenting her experience with medics. 

Confessions of a Shopaholic star Isla still managed to look every inch the star despite her surroundings and flashed her pins in a sparkly minidress. 

Ever the professional, she was still wearing one of her pricey heels while a doctor checked her toe over. 

Alongside her upload, Isla wrote: “They said ‘break a leg’. I broke a toe.” 

Fans rushed to comment on the post, with one writing: “Broke a toe, she’s ready.”

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Another said: “Sounds like that toe needs a spa weekend.”

And a third added: “You still look amazing.”

Earlier this year The Sun revealed Isla was dating South African ex-player Larry Cohen, 38, following her divorce from Sacha Baron-Cohen.

Meanwhile Ali G comic Sacha, 53, who finalised a £120million divorce from Isla last June after 13 years of marriage, was seen swapping numbers with US influencer Kelsey Calemine, 27, in Los Angeles, last year.

Isla has three children with Sacha — Olive, 18, Elula, 15, and Montgomery, ten — and previously spoke candidly about their split and having to forge a new identity as a single woman.

She told New Beauty magazine: “I’m not going to lie, it’s been a really challenging time. 

“I definitely feel like there’s something about the divorce club that anyone in it understands in a way other people don’t.”

A day after a suspected Israeli attack on the Abu al-Duhur airbase near Idlib, northwest Syria, US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack has suggested creating a “deconfliction mechanism” between Turkiye, Syria and Israel. Barrack called the original attack – which he, along with the Syrian government, blamed on Israel – an “unnecessary escalation”.

But despite the intervention from the US official, analysts believe the proposal may not be able to stop Israel, which has conducted regular attacks on Syria for years, and continues to occupy Syrian territory.

“It is difficult to have a deconfliction mechanism [when] only one party [is] causing conflict in the first place,” Samy Akil, a senior adviser with The Syria Report, told Al Jazeera.

Analysts and diplomatic sources say that Israel is the party holding back progress on talks and the easing of tensions with Syria, which is under a new government since the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. At the end of a more than decade-long war, Syria is now seeking better relations with the West.

“Israeli-Syrian talks are stagnating because the ball is in Israel’s court and they don’t see a need to prioritise talks with Damascus currently,” Akil said.

Turkiye and Israel trade verbal shots

Under the former al-Assad regime, Israel often attacked Iranian-aligned targets or interests in Syria – including the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April 2024 – but avoided directly attacking Syrian state targets.

That changed when al-Assad fled in the early hours of December 8, 2024. Israel attacked Syria’s military infrastructure around the country, aiming to cripple the new government’s military forces. It also threatened the post-Assad military with deploying forces south of Damascus.

And since the fall of al-Assad, Israel has also shifted focus from Iranian influence in Syria to Turkish influence in the country. The Turks backed a number of anti-Assad rebel groups, many Syrians in exile spent considerable time in Turkiye, and Ankara has sought to build strong ties with Damascus and Syria’s new President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Analysts told Al Jazeera that Tuesday’s attack was in fact a message from Tel Aviv directed at the halls of power in Ankara.

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement that seemed to confirm that suspicion, while it stopped short of claiming responsibility for the actual attack.

“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” the statement said.

“Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings.”

Turkiye has slammed the Israeli account of events.

“The untenable allegations put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office are intended to legitimise Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Republic of Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications said.

It also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of pursuing “expansionist and destabilising policies in the region ahead of the elections in Israel”.

Israeli provocations in Syria

Enter US Ambassador Barrack and the idea of a deconfliction mechanism. This would act as a channel of communication between the concerned actors – Syria, Turkiye and Israel. It would be facilitated by the US, and would aim to prevent military escalations.

The strategy appears to be similar to what the US is trying to build in Lebanon between Beirut and Tel Aviv. That deal is aimed at stopping Israeli attacks on Lebanon, disarming Hezbollah, and convincing Israel to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon. However, experts say these processes have yet to show results, largely because of Israel’s military superiority and the Netanyahu government’s willingness to undermine negotiations through unilateral military actions.

For its part, the Syrian government has shown a strong willingness to find a solution with Israel, even if it has emphasised that it is not willing to agree to full normalisation.

That is despite the Israeli landgrab of Syrian territory in the Golan Heights and Jabal al-Sheikh in December 2024, and the continued deployment of checkpoints that harass and at times kidnap Syrian citizens.

Early on Wednesday morning, Israeli troops reportedly conducted a raid on Quneitra in southwestern Syria and abducted two people.

Analysts say that for any deconfliction mechanism to work, all parties must be committed to working towards the goal.

“In other words, at what point does a deconfliction mechanism provide added value when any sort of Syrian military buildup 300 kilometres [186 miles] away from Israeli borders is perceived as a threat?” Akil said, adding that Syria’s small Soviet-era air force would not “seriously pose a threat to Israel”.

Netanyahu’s re-election escalation

Galip Dalay, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera that for any mechanism to work, the US would need to apply pressure on Netanyahu’s government.

Dalay said Netanyahu, who is running for re-election in October, is likely looking for an escalation with either Lebanon or Syria – or in Palestine – after US President Donald Trump pressured Israel to back down in the war on Iran.

But earlier in August, Netanyahu explicitly rejected the Gaza disarmament plan announced by Trump, forcing it to be altered – and did not receive any public pushback from the US.

“If the US puts proper pressure on Israel, they would listen,” Dalay said. “We saw this with Iran. It was the US who made the decision, and even though Netanyahu didn’t like it, they had to go along with the decision.”

Dalay added: “The question is not only about if there is a need for a deconfliction mechanism in Syria; it is to what extent the US is willing to make it credible and functional, and if the US is willing to put pressure on Israel.”

Israeli air strikes on Gaza kill 10 Palestinians, targeting police headquarters and a refugee camp in separate attacks.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 10 Palestinians in two separate attacks targeting a Gaza City police post and Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned what it called “a new war crime”.

On Wednesday, medical sources at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said they received nine Palestinian bodies following an attack on the municipal police headquarters in the centre of Gaza City. Another 15 people were wounded.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the bombardment occurred at a busy time near a park crowded with civilians, including children.

Victims of the Gaza City strike included a newly-appointed Gaza City police chief, the director of a women’s police force, and several officers.

Earlier in the day, a strike on Nuseirat refugee camp killed one Palestinian, medics said, increasing Wednesday’s death toll to at least 10.

The Israeli army claimed its air force struck two Hamas commanders in Nuseirat, and that it later struck a Hamas commander in the Tuffah area of Gaza City, without providing evidence of their affiliation.

In a statement, Hamas rejected Israel’s justification that the strike targeted “resistance leaders”, calling the claim “baseless and false allegations used to justify its aggression and cover up its deliberate targeting of civilian police and unarmed civilians”.

Hamas accused the Israeli government of “deliberately undermining these efforts and dangerously pushing towards reigniting the war of extermination against our people in the Gaza Strip”.

On Tuesday, Israeli strikes killed seven people – including a child – and wounded 14 others at a crowded cafe on Gaza City’s harbour. The city’s port has been turned into a displacement camp, according to Wafa news agency.

The Israeli military again claimed, without providing evidence, that it had targeted Hamas commanders in the enclave.

Diplomatic deadlock

Wednesday’s attacks occurred two days after US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East envoy Jared Kushner visited the region to push for a Trump-backed deal to end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Kushner’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to break a diplomatic deadlock after Netanyahu rejected an agreement for Israel to withdraw from the Strip in exchange for Hamas disarming.

Following the meeting, Kushner reiterated “Israel’s right to defend itself”. He threatened that Hamas must disarm or the US would support Israel to “finish the job in the appropriate way”.

VOGUE Williams has joked that husband Spencer Matthews is no longer interested in sex as she enters the final weeks of her pregnancy.

Speaking to Joanne McNally on their My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast, the 40-year-old admitted she had not taken kindly to the apparent turn of events.

“I’m trying to look good today because I don’t think Spenny fancies me anymore,” Vogue confessed.

Her podcast co-host Joanne McNally jokingly replied: “Of course he doesn’t! You’ve been married for ages now, come on!”

Laughing off the comment, Vogue continued: “No, because I think our fun times are over, if you get me. I’m too pregnant now.

“I don’t want to. I was just being a nice wife and a good participant.

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“But then when he was like, ‘Yeah, well, you’re really pregnant,’ I was like, ‘Excuse me? Sorry, are you not into it anymore?’

“And he’s like, ‘Vogue, you’re giving birth any minute now.’”

Later in the podcast, Vogue described having to get up for yet another trip to the loo during the night.

“What part of me do you not find attractive?” she joked.

Pregnancy can cause women to need the toilet more frequently as the growing baby puts pressure on the bladder.

Their producer Joe then offered his take, saying: “I can’t speak for the whole male population, but I suspect on his part there comes a point where you’re sort of thinking more about the presence of a baby than the woman herself.”

Vogue hit back: “Well, do you know what, Joe? People are mad for pregnancy porn. Loads of people fancy pregnant people.”

Spencer and Vogue are expecting their fourth child, a baby boy, this autumn.

They are already parents to sons Theodore, seven, and Otto, three, as well as daughter Gigi, five.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — A helicopter pilot and six passengers are dead after a crash at Mount Ololokwe in central Kenya, officials reported.

The passengers were tourists, but the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department said the nationalities of the pilot and passengers are not yet confirmed.

The accident happened in Samburu county at 9:13 a.m. local time. The helicopter was a Eurocopter EC130 B4, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said.

The scenic flight was from a wildlife conservancy in Loisaba to Ewaso Ng’iro, a river that flows along several national reserves.

The Kenya Red Cross said the site of the crash isn’t yet accessible but drones have assessed the scene, the BBC reported.

“Search and recovery efforts are ongoing, hampered by difficult terrain access and an active fire at the crash site,” the Kenya Red Cross said on X. “An additional team has been dispatched from Isiolo to reinforce the operation.”

Kenya has a history of multiple helicopter crashes.

In March 2024, Kenya’s Chief of Defense Gen. Francis Omondi Ogolla and nine others were killed in a helicopter crash in the country. Two people survived.

In 2019, four Americans and a pilot were killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya.

In 2012, three people were killed and six were injured in a crash on takeoff at the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya.

New imagery provides what appears to be the first visual confirmation that Singapore has begun installing the Blue Spear surface-to-surface missile, also known as the 5G SSM, on its Formidable class frigates. The appearance of Blue Spear aboard RSS Steadfast offers a first glimpse of a key element of Singapore’s broader naval modernization effort. The installation also gives the Israel-Singapore missile joint venture a high-profile reference point as it seeks to market Blue Spear to other operators looking to replace their aging Harpoon fleets.

In photos shared with TWZ by Koji Inoue (@kojiinet on X), a container for the missile is clearly visible aboard Steadfast, the third ship of Singapore’s six Formidable class frigates, offering what is believed to be the first publicly available photographic evidence of the weapon actually fitted to one of the ships.

The appearance of Blue Spear on Steadfast comes as the frigate prepares to open its doors to the public during guided tours at the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal on August 21-22.

Singapore had previously disclosed that Blue Spear would replace the class’s legacy Harpoon anti-ship missile as part of a mid-life upgrade (MLU). However, until now, confirmation of the weapon’s installation has largely come through official statements and industry reporting.

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) first introduced the RGM-84 Harpoon for its Sea Wolf class missile gun boats (MGB), when they were upgraded in the late 1980s. The Victory class multi-purpose corvettes continued using the Harpoon when they were introduced in the 1990s, and the same missile was then installed on the Formidable class when it came online from 2005 onwards.

Each of the Formidable class could carry as many as 24 Harpoons, if required, with capacity for six quad packs on the missile deck. The likelihood is that the same 24-mille capacity will be retained for Blue Spear, although as configured for its Japan visit, Steadfast has the mimimum fit, with one quad launcher.

Singapore first revealed plans to equip the frigates with Blue Spear in 2023, when a senior Republic of Singapore Navy officer outlined the intended missile upgrade during an interview with Janes ahead of the IMDEX exhibition. Then-Commander of the RSN’s First Flotilla, Colonel Ng Kok Yeng Daniel, outlined the plans during the exhibition preview.

The MLU is considerably broader than the missile replacement. Singapore’s Ministry of Defense has said the programme will also introduce upgrades to the frigates’ combat management, communications, and engineering systems.

Blue Spear is produced by Proteus Advanced Systems, a joint venture between Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Singapore’s ST Engineering. The weapon traces its development lineage to the Israeli Gabriel family of anti-ship missiles, but is intended to provide a modern, multi-role precision-strike capability.

The missile was publicly displayed for the first time at the Singapore Airshow 2022, soon after a contract had been signed with the Estonian Defense Forces to meet its coastal anti-ship missile requirement. In this form, the missile is fired from a truck-based launcher.

Blue Spear was also proposed to the U.K. Royal Navy as a Harpoon successor, under the name Sea Serpent. However, the Interim Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon (I-SSGW) requirement was ultimately won by the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM), a weapon also used by the U.S. Navy, among others.

According to specifications released by Proteus, Blue Spear is a subsonic missile with a range of around 180 miles. It is designed for beyond-line-of-sight engagements and can be employed against both maritime and land targets.

The turbojet-powered weapon incorporates a radio-frequency seeker and guidance system designed to operate in complex electromagnetic environments, including scenarios in which an adversary is employing electronic countermeasures. The missile uses ‘advanced algorithms’ for target discrimination and can be launched in fire-and-forget or fire-and-update modes. Proteus has said in the past that is has considered installing an imaging infrared seeker, if required.

Blue Spear is designed to engage moving targets and can dynamically modify its flight path during an engagement. Its low-level, sea-skimming approach is intended to make detection and interception more difficult for defending forces.

For the Republic of Singapore Navy, the transition from Harpoon to Blue Spear brings a substantially longer-range strike capability to a class of ships that remains a central component of the country’s surface fleet. The Harpoon has a range of around 130 miles and, in the RGM-84C form used by the RSN, lacked a land-attack capability. In the anti-ship role, the missile provides a critical capability for Singapore, considering the dense littoral region and the strategic strait that it sits on.

As well as the pacing maritime threat posed by China, there other potential adversaries in the region are also investing in new ship-launched surface-to-surface missiles, as Roy Choo, a defense journalist and TWZ contributor explained:

“The introduction of the Blue Spear will help the Singapore Navy keep pace with the growing lethality and range of new and upgraded anti-ship missiles being introduced across the region. Indonesia has the Russian-made Yakhont on the Ahmad Yani class frigates and will get the Turkish-made ATMACA missile soon, among the many types it operates. Malaysia was supposed to introduce the Naval Strike Missile on its littoral combat vessels but is now searching for a replacement.”

Meanwhile, Singapore is building a new class of drone motherships, or Multi-Role Combat Vessels (MRCV), the largest and most complex ships the RSN has ever operated. Blue Spear is provided an an option for these hulls, with at least four mounting points, exploiting their modular design.

The MRCVs will form the cornerstone of the navy’s fleet modernization effort, alongside two additional Type 218SG submarines in addition to the previous four, and the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which will also provide a significant capability boost.

The Blue Spear program also underscores a decades-old, largely low-profile defense-industrial relationship between Israel and Singapore, one that has produced cooperation across some of the city-state’s most sensitive and advanced military capabilities.

Among the very advanced arms acquired by Singapore from Israel is the Gulfstream G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) aircraft, four of which were bought from IAI. Singapore’s Block 52 F-16s are equipped with Israeli-supplied equipment, including avionics, electronic warfare kit, and air-to-air missiles. There have long been rumors that Singapore acquired Merkava main battle tanks from Israel, but these vehicles have never been publicly seen.

Now, after sales to Estonia and Singapore, Proteus is pitching Blue Spear as a Harpoon replacement for other nations, with the company eyeing potential customers across Southeast Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Estimates for the number of Harpoon missiles built range from 6,400 to around 8,000, depending on source. The missile has been ordered by 30 countries, so there is potentially a very significant market for a new weapon in this class.

For the time being, the arrival of Blue Spear aboard Steadfast underscores the scale of Singapore’s ongoing naval modernization, extending the reach and flexibility of one of the RSN’s core surface combatants. As the service introduces new frigate weapons alongside MRCVs, submarines, and maritime patrol aircraft, the missile also offers a glimpse of the increasingly long-range and networked force Singapore is building.

With thanks to Roy Choo.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

The Grand Tour is back for a new series, the first since former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May stepped down

The Grand Tour is back in a matter of days – and there’s the perfect mix of drama and fast cars for fans of the hit Prime Video show.

The show – previously fronted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – has had a complete refresh, with trainspotter and secret petrolhead Francis Bourgeois replacing the iconic trio alongside James Engelsman and Thomas Holland, who are behind the popular YouTube show Throttle House.

The Grand Tour will see guest appearances from Clarkson, Hammond and May as Bourgeois, Engelsman and Holland travel across the globe in search of the most unique vehicles on our roads.

In the first series, the team will tackle some big motoring questions, such as what’s the most unbreakable car in history and can you travel across Colorado undetected in a trio of Japanese microcars.

F1 World Champion Jenson Button also makes a special appearance in the trailer, whilst it also shows the trio head to Malaysia to see all about the country’s rich car culture as well as how little someone can spend on a sports car without it immediately blowing up.

In the new series, they travel through Angola in track-cars, which are quite unsuited for the job. They even test out the greatest American cars including the the Ford Mustang GTD, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and $2.75m, 2000-horsepower Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evolution against a bunch of fighter jets.

Francis Bourgeois said of joining the show: “Since completing the filming of the series, I haven’t stopped replaying every moment in my head. It has made me laugh, made my heart race and my stomach turn…remembering the tent I shared with Thomas and James filled with sulphuric farts whilst Angolan jackals snooped around outside. It feels as though it was a dream but knowing we will get to share our adventures soon makes me so incredibly excited!”

James Engelsman added: “We took on the West African Desert. We contended with fighter pilots. We even decided to challenge an entire nation’s legal system by protesting from the mountain tops. In doing so, the three of us learned our true strength: How to accept defeat gracefully.”

Thomas Holland shared: “I figured someone would be there to hold our hand the whole time. Nope. We were on our own in some absolutely wild environments in very, VERY questionable cars. What did we learn from this experience? Only that we have very poor decision-making skills. When you watch in September, expect a good laugh. And maybe a few butt clenches…”

The Grand Tour will launch all six episodes exclusively on Prime Video on Friday 4th September.

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Aug. 19 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Dr. Heidi Overton, a White House policy aide, to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

The decision was reported by the Washington Post, The New York Times and Politico, all citing anonymous sources. Overton is an aide at the White House’s Domestic Policy Council and will be tapped to be the next FDA commissioner, sources say.

Overton will replace Marty Makary, who left the position in May, and the Senate will have to confirm her to the position.

The FDA commissioner is one of the most powerful jobs in U.S. health care. The FDA oversees drugs, vaccines, tobacco products, the bulk of the food supply and more. The position has remained open longer than expected as some have turned it down over fears of administration interference, the Post reported.

The position has been run by acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas, a friend of Donald Trump Jr., and a former partner at the law firm Jones Day.

Overton is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine and was a general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where she also earned a doctorate in clinical investigation. She worked at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. She has also written articles calling abortion “corrosive” to women. She called abortion pills “far more dangerous to women” and has called for more controls on the pills.

In September, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Overton and Calley Means worked on a Make America Healthy Again strategy report calling for more review of chemicals in food and an increase in oversight over pharmaceutical advertisements, The Times reported.

Makary left the position in May because he disagreed with the administration’s policy of allowing tobacco and e-cigarette companies to sell flavored vapes. The White House had been pressuring Makary to allow the vapes, but he disagreed, citing their appeal to teens and young adults.

The FDA approved mango and blueberry vapes just after Trump had lunch with tobacco executives, The Times reported.

While she is a doctor and has been present for many FDA announcements at the White House, she hasn’t run a large agency before. The FDA has thousands of employees and shapes food safety and pharmaceutical policies.

A girl is taken to hospital in critical condition in what PM Burnham calls a ‘terrible family tragedy’.

Three members of a Palestinian British family have drowned after entering the sea off England’s Sussex coast, the Palestinian embassy in London says.

The embassy announced their deaths on Wednesday, a day after the family went for a swim near Shoreham Fort in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.

The father, Hossam al-Khawas, was a Palestinian refugee from the Rashidieh Camp in southern Lebanon near Tyre, the Press Association news agency reported.

Police, paramedics, coastguard crews and a lifeboat were deployed at the scene where four people were pulled from the water.

Al-Khawas, a woman and a teenage girl were pronounced dead. A younger girl was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

“The Embassy is closely monitoring the incident and is making the necessary contacts with the relevant British authorities to ascertain its circumstances and to check on the condition of the injured girl,” the Palestinian mission in the United Kingdom said in a statement.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday warned of the dangers of open water swimming after the incident, which he described as “a terrible family tragedy”, the BBC reported.

He said he sends his “best wishes and love” to the family and friends of those who died as well as the girl who remains in critical condition.

Drownings have surged across Europe as people seek relief from the heatwave on the continent with incidents reported in France, Germany and the UK. Experts warned that open-water swimming can carry hidden risks, including cold water shock, strong currents and sudden changes in depth.

WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTENT: New Netflix documentary Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, investigates the story of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, who was found dead in his truck in 2024

John Barnett worked for Boeing for 32 years before turning whistleblower and dying in mysterious circumstances.

New Netflix documentary, Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, explores the story of Barnett, who publicly condemned Boeing’s safety processes before he was found dead in his truck. He was in the process of testifying against the company.

From 2010, Barnett was employed as a quality manager at the North Charleston plant, which built the longhaul 787 Dreamliner, before retiring in 2017 on health grounds.

After Boeing merged with a former rival McDonnell Douglas, several former Boeing employees alleged the company started focussing more on increasing profits rather than safety and quality.

Barnett told the Today Show before his death: “From day one, it’s just all been about schedule, and hurry up, and just get it done. Push a plane out. We’re behind schedule. We don’t have time to worry about issues that y’all bring up.”

He alleged there were severe production and safety flaws such as defective oxygen systems and metal shavings near critical wiring on the 787 Dreamliner program.

Just before he left Boeing in 2017, Barnett filed a complaint against the company, accusing bosses of retaliating against him for raising safety concerns. He was outspoken on the issue with journalists – and in 2022 appeared in acclaimed director Rory Kennedy’s investigative film Downfall: The Case Against Boeing.

But then, on March 9, 2024, Barnett was found dead in his truck with a gunshot wound to his head.

Deeply affected by Barnett’s death and ongoing concerns about Boeing’s safety culture, Kennedy reunited with her team to produce the documentary sequel, Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, which is being released on August 19, 2026.

Speaking to the Guardian about Barnett’s death, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kennedy said: “I was horrified and heartbroken. I spoke to his mom pretty immediately after we had heard that news. She said to me, ‘We need to make sure John’s story gets out there,’ and that was a big part of why we decided to revisit this.

“I’ve never done a documentary follow-up in this kind of way, but we all felt that Boeing is such a big company, and we all fly these airplanes all over the world. I don’t want one of these planes falling out of the sky, and I feel like I have a lot of inside knowledge and also connections to understanding what’s going on inside of Boeing, and I just felt like we’ve got to stay at this.”

Details of the circumstances surrounding Barnett’s death came to light when his mother sued Boeing in a wrongful death suit in March 2025. The complaint alleged that Barnett was subjected to a campaign of harassment, abuse and humiliation after he raised concerns about safety issues. It further claimed that the conduct of the company was “the clear, foreseeable cause” of his death. In September that year, Boeing settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay at least $50,000 to Barnett’s mother, who, in return, agreed to drop her claims that the company contributed to her son’s death by suicide.

The complaint contained a copy of Barnett’s suicide note, and the annexes presented the full police report concluding that he died by his own hand.

In conversations with Fortune in March 2025, the family’s longstanding counsel Rob Turkewitz added further details on his client’s last hours.

He said that on the evening of March 8, 2024, Barnett left the law offices of Boeing’s outside counsel in Charleston after testifying for two days in his OSHA case against the company. OSHA rules make it unlawful to retaliate against a whistleblower.

Barnett was giving his account of how Boeing allegedly violated its own policies and procedures, and FAA rules, during his seven years as a quality inspector at the North Charleston plant.

He’d delayed a trip back to his home in Louisiana to finish his deposition the next day, which was a Saturday. Videos cited in the police report show Barnett leaving the hotel around 8:30pm, and getting in his orange Dodge truck.

When Barnett failed to show up the next morning for his final round of testimony, Turkewitz called the Holiday Inn to conduct a welfare check. It was then that a hotel employee saw Barnett slumped in the front seat of his vehicle.

Charleston police arrived to discover Barnett barefoot and clutching a Smith and Wesson pistol in his right hand. His right temple showed a bullet entry wound, and an exit wound appeared in the back of his head.

On the seat next to Barnett’s body lay a message written on a single page of a red-covered notebook, with sentences written in all directions.

It contained phrases including: “America come together or die!!! Pray that the motherfk…ers who destroyed my life pay!!! I pray that Boeing pays!!! Bury me face down so that Boeing and their lying ass leaders can kiss my ass.”

Elsewhere: “I can’t do this any longer!!! F-k Boeing!!! Family and friends, I love you’ll [sic].”

“To my family and friends, I found my purpose! I am at peace! I love you more John/Mitch Barnett aka Swampy Fununcle Mitch.”

The complaint also included a heartbreaking email that Barnett sent Turkewitz in 2021, which read: “I can understand the direct costs that we can establish, ie lost pay, bonuses, etc. What I’m struggling with is how do you restore a person’s overall outlook on life? I used to be a very happy-go-lucky guy who loved his job and the products he built. I had a very positive outlook on life. Boeing absolutely destroyed my outlook on life. What is a person’s ‘outlook on life’ worth? How to put a price on that?'”

Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing is scheduled to debut on Netflix on August 19, 2026 .

For mental health support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch

Aug. 19 (UPI) — David Morens, a former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases employee, pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme to hide federal records during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morens made his guilty plea on Tuesday in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and defraud the United States. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a scheme to evade Freedom of Information Act requests and the Federal Records Act by hiding federal records.

Morens is one of three people alleged to be part of the scheme. He faces up to five years in prison.

The person referred to as “co-conspirator 1” by the Justice Department was a CEO of a New York-based nonprofit that received the “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” grant in 2014. That grant is a key part of the indictment as its termination precipitated the alleged scheme.

Co-conspirator 1 created a subaward with the grant and awarded it to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan China, which has been the subject of theories that the COVID-19 virus leaked from the lab, sparking the pandemic.

The Justice Department said that Morens and two co-conspirators carried out the scheme after one of the co-conspirators’ National Institute of Health grant was terminated. The three people involved planned the scheme to restore the terminated grant.

In his guilty plea, Morens admitted that he hid emails that related to the pandemic in a personal account to avoid them being publicly released, circumventing public records laws. He had previously explained that he did this to stop the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 and to protect Dr. Anthony Fauci from receiving threats.

Fauci has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the case.

Morens served as a senior adviser at NIAID’s Office of the Director between 2006 and 2022. The Justice Department indicted him in April on five counts related to the plan to hide federal records from the public.

Police added that officers have trawled hours of public and private CCTV footage as part of the investigation, while door-to-door enquiries are also continuing.

The last sighting of either man had been on Friday morning.

Police also said the Chancellor Street property where the bodies were found was the home of one of the victims, and that the two men knew each other.

Det Supt Kelly said: “I am appealing directly to anyone with any information, no matter how small or insignificant they feel it may be, to come forward and speak to us.

“Please do not assume that the police already know the information you have.

“We are keen to hear from anyone who knew Paul and Gary or who was in the Partick area near to Chancellor Street from Friday morning from 09:00, who saw Paul or Gary, or saw or heard anything suspicious.”

Supt Craig Brady said: “I would like to extend my sympathies to the family and friends of Paul and Gary as they try to come to terms with their loss.

“We understand the significant impact this will have on the local community and I would like to thank everyone for their help so far.”

Post-mortem examinations took place on Monday and Tuesday and confirmed the causes of death as being murder.

A major incident public portal has been launched, external as part of the investigation.

SEOUL, Aug. 19 (UPI) — South Korea and the United States will significantly scale down their ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday, cutting it short by almost a week following an order by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“South Korea and the United States have agreed to make partial adjustments to the exercise period and scale at the suggestion of the U.S. side,” the JCS said in a statement.

“First, it was decided to adjust the duration of this UFS exercise to run from the 17th to the 21st,” the statement said. “Second, it was decided to conduct the combined field maneuver training on a reduced scale.”

The allies are discussing specific details of the field training reduction, the JCS added.

Ulchi Freedom Shield began Monday and was originally scheduled to run through Aug. 27.

The move comes after Trump called for the drills to be “substantially reduced” in a Truth Social post Sunday, saying they are expensive and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Wednesday morning that Seoul was not given advance notice of Trump’s directive.

“Neither our government nor officials within the U.S. government had any prior knowledge of what President Trump revealed on Truth Social,” Cho said at a parliamentary hearing. “Consequently, we were not notified beforehand.”

In his Sunday post, Trump said Pyongyang “has been unthreatening and respectful” while he has been in the White House.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump touted his personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying Kim had “always treated me with great respect.”

“I understand him. He understands me,” Trump said, adding that Kim had responded to his requests for talks but providing no further details.

The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported Tuesday that Trump is pushing aides to arrange a meeting with Kim as soon as this fall, although no official planning is underway. Trump has privately discussed holding talks during his next trip to Asia, which could come in November when world leaders gather for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China.

North Korea, meanwhile, has not publicly responded to Trump’s overture. In a commentary published earlier Wednesday, before Seoul announced the reduction, the state-run Korean Central News Agency criticized Ulchi Freedom Shield as “frantic exercises” pushing the Korean Peninsula to the “threshold of a war.”

The commentary threatened that Pyongyang would continue exercising its “right to self-defence” to counter what it called military threats from the allies.

North Korea frequently condemns U.S.-South Korean military drills as rehearsals for an invasion.

Trump similarly called for suspending or scaling back the exercises in his first term, when he pursued direct diplomacy with Kim that included summits in Singapore and Hanoi and a brief meeting at the DMZ.

After the 2018 Singapore summit, Trump surprised observers by announcing that the United States would halt what he called “provocative” joint military exercises with South Korea. That year’s Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise was canceled, while several subsequent drills were reduced in scale.

Japan has issued an unusually direct criticism of its U.S. ally after Washington imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye.

Japan’s foreign ministry described the sanctions as “very unfortunate” and reaffirmed Tokyo’s support for the ICC and its role in prosecuting serious international crimes. The statement marks a rare public disagreement between Tokyo and Washington over an issue of international law.

The dispute comes as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies its campaign against the Hague based court. Washington has increasingly challenged the ICC over its investigations and arrest warrants involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as its earlier investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.

For Japan, however, the issue is particularly sensitive. Tokyo depends heavily on the United States for its national defence, yet it has consistently supported the ICC and the broader international legal framework surrounding it.

Why Did the U.S. Sanction ICC Officials?

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions targeted individuals involved in ICC efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute officials from governments that have not consented to the court’s jurisdiction.

Among those sanctioned was Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge who serves as ICC president. Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese senior trial lawyer, was also targeted. Seye was part of the prosecution team that sought an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and has been nominated for election as an ICC judge.

Washington argues that the ICC has exceeded its authority by pursuing officials from countries that have not accepted its jurisdiction.

The United States is not a member of the ICC and has repeatedly objected to the court’s actions involving American personnel and Israeli officials.

The latest sanctions therefore represent another escalation in Washington’s confrontation with the institution.

Why Is Japan Supporting the ICC?

Japan joined the ICC in 2007 and has consistently supported its role in prosecuting war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Tokyo’s foreign ministry said Japan remains committed to strengthening the rule of law internationally while maintaining communication with countries involved in the dispute.

Japan’s position reflects its broader commitment to international institutions and rules based governance.

For Tokyo, the ICC is not simply a legal institution. It is part of a wider international order in which disputes and allegations of serious crimes are addressed through established legal mechanisms.

That creates an obvious tension with Washington’s increasingly confrontational approach.

Why Is This Significant for U.S. Japan Relations?

Japan rarely criticises the United States publicly, particularly on issues involving national security.

The two countries maintain a close military alliance, with U.S. forces playing a central role in Japan’s defence and regional deterrence.

Japan’s decision to openly describe the sanctions as “very unfortunate” therefore carries diplomatic significance.

It does not indicate that Tokyo is abandoning Washington or challenging the broader alliance. Instead, it demonstrates that the two countries can maintain close security cooperation while disagreeing sharply over international law.

That distinction is becoming increasingly important as U.S. foreign policy under Trump diverges from the positions of several traditional allies.

The ICC Dispute Is Also Creating Friction in Europe

Japan is not the only U.S. ally to object to the latest sanctions.

The Netherlands, which hosts the ICC, has also criticised Washington’s action. Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said the Netherlands opposed the sanctions and invited Akane to discuss continued support for the court.

The development places Washington increasingly at odds with European partners as well as Japan.

The disagreement therefore extends beyond the U.S. relationship with a single international institution. It raises broader questions about how far America’s allies are willing to follow Washington when its policies conflict with international institutions they continue to support.

What Do the Sanctions Actually Do?

The sanctions have significant practical consequences.

They freeze any U.S. assets held by the targeted individuals and largely cut them off from the American financial system. Because most internationally active banks maintain close connections with the U.S. financial system, the effects can extend beyond American jurisdiction.

The U.S. Treasury Department has also authorized a temporary wind down of transactions involving Akane and Seye through September 17.

The measures therefore do more than express political disagreement. They can directly affect the ability of sanctioned individuals to conduct international financial activities.

Washington’s Wider Campaign Against the ICC

The sanctions against Akane and Seye are part of a broader U.S. campaign against the court.

Washington previously imposed sanctions on several ICC prosecutors and judges after the court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant and pursued an earlier investigation involving U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Rubio has also indicated that the administration intends to intensify efforts against the ICC through diplomatic pressure on other countries.

According to Reuters, Washington has sought to encourage countries to leave the institution, with at least five countries already responding to the call.

The strategy therefore goes beyond individual sanctions. It represents an attempt to challenge the ICC’s legitimacy and reduce its international reach.

Why Does Japan’s Position Matter?

Japan’s response is significant because Tokyo has generally been closely aligned with Washington on major strategic questions.

Japan faces a challenging regional security environment involving China, North Korea and wider tensions in the Indo Pacific. Maintaining a strong U.S. alliance remains central to Japanese security policy.

Yet Tokyo has also invested heavily in supporting international institutions and the rule of law.

The ICC dispute highlights the possibility that these two pillars of Japanese foreign policy can sometimes pull in different directions.

Japan may need American military power for its security while simultaneously disagreeing with Washington on how international law should operate.

That is not necessarily a crisis in the alliance, but it illustrates its increasingly complicated political foundations.

Could the Dispute Deepen Divisions Among U.S. Allies?

The ICC controversy could contribute to a wider pattern of disagreement between Washington and its traditional partners.

The United States is increasingly willing to use economic and diplomatic pressure against international institutions it considers hostile to American interests. Several European governments, by contrast, continue to view those institutions as essential components of the rules based international order.

Japan’s criticism adds an important Asian voice to that disagreement.

If more U.S. allies openly defend the ICC, Washington could face growing diplomatic isolation on the issue even while maintaining strong bilateral security relationships.

That could make the dispute increasingly difficult to contain as a narrow disagreement between the United States and an international court.

How Far Can Japan Disagree With Washington?

Japan’s criticism of the ICC sanctions should not be interpreted as a fundamental rupture in the U.S. Japan alliance.

Tokyo remains heavily dependent on Washington for defence and security, and there is little indication that the ICC dispute will fundamentally alter that relationship.

Its importance lies elsewhere.

Japan is signalling that alliance solidarity does not necessarily require complete alignment on international law.

For Tokyo, supporting the ICC is consistent with a broader foreign policy objective: maintaining an international system governed by rules and institutions rather than purely by the power of individual states.

Washington’s position is increasingly different. The Trump administration views the ICC as a potential threat to American sovereignty and to officials from the United States and allied governments who could face prosecution by the court.

This creates an unusual strategic contradiction.

The United States and Japan remain closely aligned against major security challenges in the Indo Pacific, yet they are increasingly capable of finding themselves on opposite sides of debates over the international legal order.

The consequences could extend beyond the ICC itself.

If Washington continues using sanctions and diplomatic pressure against international institutions while its allies continue defending them, the United States may find that its strategic partnerships remain strong militarily but become more divided politically.

For Japan, the challenge will be maintaining its essential alliance with Washington without abandoning its support for the international legal institutions it considers important.

The ICC dispute therefore reveals a broader tension within the U.S. alliance system: strategic partners may remain united on security while increasingly disagreeing over the rules and institutions that are supposed to govern international politics.

With information from Reuters.

MATCHBOX 20 frontman Rob Thomas accidentally smashed his bandmate in the head with a metal microphone stand in a nasty gig incident.

Footage of the moment shows a pumped up Rob swinging the stand around, totally in the zone, without realising his guitarist Paul Doucette is stood dangerously close behind him.

As he swings it a final time before releasing it, it clips his pal in the back of the head, forcing him to leave the stage.

Rob, 54, then tells the Illinois crowd: “Every night I’m over here and I’m throwing this god damn thing around… oh I went, it nailed him, yeah we nailed him hard.

“My best friend in the world and I think I almost killed him and I feel really bad about this.”

Paul, 53, returned to the stage with a smile on his face and a glass of wine in his hand.

He said: “How many times have I told you not to throw that f**king thing? I knew it was only a matter of time.”

The veteran rock band have been together since the mid-90s but have only put out two albums since 2002, the latest being Where the Light Goes in 2023.

They are best known for emotional ballads like Push, 3AM and Bent — their first number one hit.

Frontman Rob is perhaps best-known for his 1999 single, Smooth, with Carlos Santana which became the second best-selling record of all time.

His debut solo album topped the Billboard chart in 2005, led by the hit single Lonely No More.

The singer, who is a dad-of-one, has been married to his wife Marisol since 1999, bucking the lothario stereotype attached to rock frontmen.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for elections in Ukraine, arguing that the war with Russia was not an excuse and that the suspension of democracy was incompatible with the goal of the war, which was freedom.

Fedorov said in a YouTube video Tuesday that as Ukraine grappled with the fundamental question of how a state should function if war lasts for years he was convinced that the answer was not to effectively give Russia a veto over when Ukrainians could exercise their democratic rights again.

“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia. We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state. Therefore, we must find a legal, safe, and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amidst a prolonged war,” said Fedorov, who was dismissed as defense minister in July.

Fedorov, whose removal sparked protests across Ukraine, added that democracy was not a “peacetime luxury” but was part of “what we are fighting for today, saying that people could not “endlessly live in a state where they do not understand why certain decisions are made.”

Fedorov acknowleged the complexities of holding wartime elections, in particular guaranteeing the voting rights of military personnel, millions of Ukrainians living abroad. and of people living in regions on the frontline.

“We need to ensure the security of the electoral process, the independence of institutions, and trust in the outcome, he said, but stressed that complexity did not mean it could not be done.

“Ukraine has repeatedly done what the world considered impossible. We can find a solution here as well,” said Fedorov.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing martial law in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, immediately after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country, suspending certain fundamental rights and processes, including elections.

Zelensky’s five-year term expired more than two years in May 2024, but elections cannot be held while martial law remains in effect, according to the constitution.

In December, Zelensky held up the prospect of holding elections within the next three months in response to allegations by U.S. President Donald Trump that his administration was using the war as an excuse to stay in power.

Zelensky said he was ready for elections and would seek to hold them on condition that the United States and other allies provided guarantees to keep voters safe at a time when Ukraine’s cities were under attack day and night.

“I’m asking now, and stating this openly, for the United States to help me. Together with our European partners, we can ensure the security needed to hold elections. If that happens, Ukraine will be ready to conduct elections in the next 60 to 90 days,” said Zelensky.

The offer came after Trump called for elections, complaining that Ukraine liked to talk about democracy “but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”

Iceland will hold a referendum on August 29 on whether to reopen negotiations over joining the European Union, in a closely contested vote that could reshape the country’s economic and strategic direction.

The referendum, however, is not a vote on EU membership itself. Icelanders will only decide whether their government should begin accession negotiations with Brussels.

If voters approve the proposal, negotiations could last two or more years before Iceland holds a second referendum, potentially in 2028, on whether to actually join the bloc.

With opinion polls showing a near-dead heat between supporters and opponents, the vote has become an important test of Iceland’s relationship with Europe at a time of economic uncertainty and growing geopolitical competition in the Arctic.

Is Iceland Voting to Join the EU?

No.

The August 29 referendum only asks whether Iceland should begin negotiations with the European Union.

A “yes” vote would open a potentially lengthy accession process. Iceland would then negotiate the terms of membership with Brussels before citizens have another opportunity to accept or reject the final agreement.

That means the upcoming referendum is essentially a decision about whether to explore EU membership, rather than a final decision to join.

Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir’s government has nevertheless presented the vote as a potentially decisive moment.

What Happens If Iceland Votes No?

The government has described the referendum as a “now or never” opportunity.

Frostadottir has warned that rejecting negotiations would effectively put the EU question aside.

This makes the vote particularly important because Iceland has already attempted the accession process once.

Reykjavik applied to join the EU in 2009, but negotiations were abandoned in 2013 after a Eurosceptic government came to power.

A second rejection could therefore close the issue again for the foreseeable future.

Why Does Iceland Want to Reconsider EU Membership?

Economic concerns are among the strongest arguments for reopening negotiations.

Iceland has faced high living costs and economic volatility, while the country’s relatively small economy remains vulnerable to external shocks.

Supporters argue that closer integration with the EU could provide greater economic stability and strengthen Iceland’s position when dealing with larger trading partners.

EU membership could also eventually allow Iceland to adopt the euro, replacing the Icelandic krona.

Supporters say the euro could reduce currency volatility, help address inflation and potentially lower interest rates.

The country’s strategic environment has also changed since Iceland abandoned its previous accession negotiations.

The war in Ukraine and growing competition in the Arctic have encouraged Iceland to reconsider how closely it should align with European institutions.

What Would Iceland Gain From Joining the EU?

EU membership would provide Iceland with access to the bloc’s customs union and its wider internal market.

The customs union eliminates internal tariffs between member states while applying common external tariffs to goods entering the bloc.

Iceland would also gain a formal role in EU decision-making.

Its representatives would participate in institutions including the European Parliament, European Commission and European Council.

For supporters, this is important because Iceland would move from being closely connected to the EU economically to having a direct role in shaping policies that affect it.

The argument is particularly relevant for a small country dealing with much larger economic powers.

Why Do Icelanders Oppose EU Membership?

Opponents argue that membership would transfer too much political authority from Reykjavik to Brussels.

They also question whether joining the EU would substantially improve Iceland’s security.

The most sensitive issue, however, is fisheries.

Why Are Fisheries Central to the Debate?

Fishing is one of the pillars of Iceland’s economy and a major part of the country’s national identity.

Opponents fear that joining the EU would subject Iceland to the bloc’s Common Fisheries Policy and potentially weaken its control over fishing resources.

They worry that common European resource-management rules could eventually increase access for foreign vessels to Icelandic waters.

For a country surrounded by some of the world’s most important fishing grounds, that is not simply an economic concern. It is also a question of national sovereignty.

The fisheries debate therefore gives the opposition one of its strongest arguments against membership.

Why Does Iceland Want to Keep the Krona?

Iceland’s currency is another major dividing line.

Supporters of the euro argue that replacing the krona could reduce exchange-rate volatility and improve economic stability.

Opponents see the krona differently.

They argue that an independent currency provides Iceland with an important economic adjustment mechanism.

During a downturn, the krona can weaken against major currencies, potentially helping Iceland’s economy adjust. During periods of stronger growth, it can appreciate.

Giving up that flexibility in favour of the euro, opponents argue, could leave Iceland with fewer tools to respond to economic shocks.

Who Supports EU Membership?

The country’s centre-left government coalition has backed putting the issue to a referendum.

Vidreisn, Iceland’s most explicitly pro-EU political party, pushed for the vote.

Prime Minister Frostadottir’s Social Democrats also support EU membership, although they have taken a more cautious approach to campaigning.

The coalition’s third party, the People’s Party, opposes membership.

The political divide therefore does not fit neatly along government versus opposition lines.

Who Opposes EU Membership?

The opposition Independence Party, led by Gudrun Hafsteinsdottir, is campaigning against reopening accession talks.

Its argument centres on sovereignty, fisheries and economic independence.

Opponents believe Iceland can maintain its existing relationship with Europe without accepting the political obligations of EU membership.

The close polling suggests neither side has yet secured a decisive advantage.

Why Is the Arctic Important to the Vote?

The referendum is taking place against a backdrop of growing geopolitical competition in the Arctic.

Iceland occupies a strategically important position between North America and Europe.

It sits along the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap, commonly known as the GIUK gap, a critical North Atlantic maritime corridor.

The area has long been important for monitoring Russian naval movements between the Arctic and the North Atlantic.

Iceland is also a NATO member despite having no standing army of its own.

That makes its strategic location particularly important to the security architecture of the North Atlantic.

What Would Iceland Mean for the EU?

For the European Union, Iceland’s potential membership would have significance beyond economics.

It would expand the EU’s presence in the Arctic at a time when the region is becoming increasingly important to major powers.

Russia, the United States and other countries are paying greater attention to Arctic shipping routes, natural resources and military positioning.

Iceland could therefore give the EU a stronger institutional and geopolitical foothold in the North Atlantic and Arctic region.

Its accession could also be relatively straightforward compared with some other countries seeking EU membership.

Unlike Ukraine and several Western Balkan states, Iceland already has close economic and institutional links with Europe and would require fewer major reforms to align with EU rules.

Could Iceland Join the EU Quickly?

Potentially, but the process would still take years.

A “yes” vote would only begin negotiations.

Iceland would then have to negotiate the terms of membership before citizens could vote again on the final agreement.

The second referendum could potentially take place in 2028.

This means that even if Icelanders vote in favour of talks on August 29, actual EU membership would remain uncertain.

The referendum is therefore the beginning of a political process rather than its conclusion.

Analysis: Why Does Iceland’s EU Vote Matter?

Iceland’s referendum is ultimately about more than whether a small North Atlantic country should join a political and economic bloc.

It reflects a wider debate over sovereignty, economic resilience and strategic alignment in an increasingly contested Arctic.

For supporters, EU membership offers economic stability, greater influence over European decisions and closer integration with a bloc that could provide Iceland with additional leverage against larger powers.

For opponents, the same process represents a potential loss of national control over fisheries, monetary policy and important economic decisions.

The strategic dimension is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Iceland’s location makes it disproportionately important to North Atlantic security despite its small population and lack of a conventional military. As competition involving Russia, the United States and European countries intensifies in the Arctic, Iceland’s relationship with the EU could acquire greater geopolitical significance.

The vote also highlights a fundamental dilemma facing smaller states: whether greater integration with a larger political bloc provides more security and economic strength than the sovereignty it requires them to surrender.

The August referendum will not answer that question definitively.

It will determine whether Icelanders are willing to begin the conversation.

If voters choose “yes,” Iceland could move toward its most significant geopolitical realignment in more than a decade. If they choose “no,” the country may once again put EU membership aside and preserve its distinctive position outside the bloc while remaining closely connected to Europe.

With information from Reuters.

“Other than the needle drops, this is probably my favorite part about making ‘Beef,’” says creator Lee Sung Jin of the show’s episodic title cards, which in Season 2 marry historical paintings with abridged quotations from authors and poets. For the finale, which sees its two feuding couples (Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton) swept up in a seemingly inescapable fight for survival, the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s “The Four Seasons” matched with the title “It Will Stay This Way And You Will Obey,” a reference to a passage in Marion Woodman’s “Coming Home to Myself: Reflections for Nurturing a Woman’s Body & Soul.” “It’s almost prisonlike because these very prominent faces of literally nature have created this wall that the title is stuck in. We wanted to express the cycles and how the four seasons come for you no matter what,” Lee says, alluding to the season’s central idea that people often repeat the same destructive habits. “The final shot is homage to the Buddhist concept of samsara. It was important for us to allow the audience to take a moment after all the craziness of the season to think about their own lives, think about society at large … and depending on where you are, come to your own conclusion.”