FIFA confirms change of name to Afghan Women United, dropping ‘refugee’ from the team name ahead of the tournament.
Published On 23 Oct 202523 Oct 2025
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A FIFA-organised tournament involving the Afghanistan women’s refugee team has been moved from the United Arab Emirates to Morocco, the world football governing body said, with the four-team friendly competition set to begin on Sunday.
The “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series” tournament, originally scheduled to run from October 23-29 in Dubai, also features the national women’s teams of the UAE, Chad and Libya.
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The Afghanistan women’s refugee team’s creation stems from the Taliban’s ban on women’s sports following their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, prompting players to flee the country, fearing persecution.
“FIFA would like to thank the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FMRF) and looks forward to working together to host a successful tournament,” FIFA said in a statement.
The governing body also confirmed that the Afghanistan women’s refugee team has chosen a new official name, “Afghan Women United,” following consultation with FIFA.
Prior to the Taliban’s takeover, Afghanistan had 25 women players under contract, most of whom now live in Australia. Afghanistan’s men’s team continues as normal.
A Russian drone has killed two Ukrainian journalists and wounded another in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, according to their outlet and the regional governor of the Donetsk region.
Freedom Media, a state-funded news organisation, said on Thursday that Olena Gramova, 43, and Yevgen Karmazin, 33, had been killed by a Russian Lancet drone while in their car at a petrol station in the industrial city. Another reporter, Alexander Kolychev, was hospitalised after the attack.
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The Donetsk regional governor earlier announced details of the strike and posted images showing the charred remains of the journalists’ car, according to the AFP news agency.
Freedom Media said that Gramova, a native of Yenakiieve in the Donetsk region, had originally trained as a “finance specialist”, but turned to journalism in 2014, the year when Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, and started arming a separatist movement in Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas.
Karmazin was born in Kramatorsk, also in Donetsk. The outlet said he “joined Ukraine’s international broadcasting channels as a cameraman in 2021”.
“From day one, they were there, covering evacuations, war crimes, soldier stories,” said the Kyiv Post in a post on X.
A Russian Lancet drone tore through Kramatorsk, killing Ukrainian journalist Olena Hubanova and cameraman Yevhen Karmazin as they documented the war from the front lines.
From day one, they were there — covering evacuations, war crimes, soldier stories.
Kramatorsk, which had a pre-war population of about 150,000 people, is one of the few remaining civilian hubs in the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control.
Russian forces are approximately 16 kilometres (10 miles) from the city, where officials earlier this month announced the mandatory evacuation of children from some parts of the town and outlying villages.
Record numbers of journalists killed in conflict
The proliferation of cheap but deadly drones used both by Russian and Ukrainian forces has made reporting from the front-line regions of Ukraine increasingly dangerous.
Earlier in October, French photojournalist Antoni Lallican was killed by a drone near the eastern city of Druzhkivka, located in the Donetsk region.
Lallican had been killed by a “targeted strike” from a first-person-view drone, which allows operators to see their target before striking, according to Ukrainian forces cited by the European Federation of Journalists.
Precise tolls of journalists killed since the war started in 2022 vary. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists says that 17 journalists – Ukrainian and international – have been killed so far. The deaths of Gramova and Karmazin would bring that total to 19.
UNESCO said earlier this month that at least 23 media workers have been killed on both sides of the front line, including three Russian state media journalists in March. In mid-October, Russian war correspondent Ivan Zuyev was killed by a Ukrainian drone strike in the southern Zaporizhia region, according to state news agency RIA.
Recent years have seen record numbers of journalists killed in conflicts, the toll disproportionately accelerated by deaths in Gaza, where Israeli forces have deliberately targeted media workers like Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif and Mohammad Salama, Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri, and Mariam Abu Daqqa, a freelance journalist working for AP.
Again, reports on deaths since the start of the two-year Gaza war differ. The United Nations said that 242 journalists had been killed by August this year. A tally by Shireen.ps, a monitoring website named after murdered Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, said Israeli forces had killed more than 270 journalists and media workers over the same period.
Either way, more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in the United States Civil War, both World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan combined, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project.
“I’m in a huge, massive town I don’t really know,” he says, “and I’m looking for the movie district. And inevitably all the theaters are closed down. They’re all closed down. That’s what the dream is.”
I’m visiting Carpenter at his longtime production house in Hollywood on one of L.A.’s unjustly sunny October afternoons. A vintage “Halloween” pinball machine and a life-size Nosferatu hover near his easy chair. I tell him I don’t think Freud would have too much trouble interpreting that particular dream.
“No, I know,” he says, laughing. “I don’t have too much trouble with that either.”
Nonetheless, it truly haunts him — “and it has haunted me over the years for many dreams in a row,” he continues. “I’m either with family or a group, and I go off to do something and I get completely lost. [Freud] wouldn’t have too much trouble figuring that out either. I mean, none of this is very mysterious.”
Carpenter is a gruff but approachable 77 these days, his career as a film director receding in the rearview. The last feature he made was 2010’s “The Ward.” His unofficial retirement was partly chosen, partly imposed by a capricious industry. The great movie poster artist Drew Struzan died two days before I visited — Carpenter says he never met Struzan but loved his work, especially his striking painting for the director’s icy 1982 creature movie “The Thing” — and I note how that whole enterprise of selling a movie with a piece of handmade art is a lost one.
“The whole movie business that I knew, that I grew up with, is gone,” he replies. “All gone.”
John Carpenter with John Mulaney, appearing as a part of “Everybody’s in L.A.” at the Sunset Gower Studios in May 2024.
(Adam Rose / Netflix)
It hasn’t, thankfully, made him want to escape from L.A. He still lives here with his wife, Sandy King, who runs the graphic novel imprint Storm King Comics, which Carpenter contributes to. He gamely appeared on John Mulaney’s “Everybody’s in L.A.” series on Netflix and, earlier this year, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. gave him a Career Achievement Award — a belated lovefest for a veteran who was sidelined after “The Thing” flopped, cast out into indie darkness and was never personally nominated for an Oscar.
The thing that does keep Carpenter busy these days (other than watching Warriors basketball and playing videogames) is the thing that might have an even bigger cultural footprint than his movies: his music. With his adult son Cody and godson, Daniel Davies, Carpenter is once again performing live concerts of his film scores and instrumental albums in a run at downtown’s Belasco this weekend and next.
The synthy, hypnotic scores that became his signature in films like “Halloween” and “Escape from New York” not only outnumber his output as a director — he’s scored movies for several other filmmakers and recently made a handshake deal in public to score Bong Joon Ho’s next feature — but their influence and popularity are much more evident in 2025 than the style of his image-making.
From “Stranger Things” to “F1,” Carpenter’s minimalist palette of retro electronica combined with the groove-based, trancelike ethos of his music (which now includes four “Lost Themes” records) is the coin of the realm so many modern artists are chasing.
Very few composers today are trying to sound like John Williams; many of them want to sound like John Carpenter. The Kentucky-raised skeptic with the long white hair doesn’t believe me when I express this.
“Well, see, I must be stupid,” he says, “because I don’t get it.”
“The true evil in the world comes from people,” says Carpenter. “I know that nature’s pretty rough, but not like men.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Carpenter is quick to put himself down. He always says that he scored his own films because he was the only composer he could afford, and that he only used synths because they were cheap and he couldn’t properly write music for an orchestra. When I tell him that Daniel Wyman, the instrumentalist who helped program and execute the “Halloween” score in 1978, praised Carpenter’s innate knowledge of the “circle of fifths” and secondary dominants — bedrocks of Western musical theory that allowed Carpenter’s scores to keep the tension cooking — he huffs.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Carpenter says, halfway between self-deprecation and something more rascally. “It all comes, probably, from the years I spent in our front room with my father and listening to classical music. I’m sure I’m just digging this s— out.”
Whether by osmosis or genetics or possibly black magic, Carpenter clearly absorbed his powers from his father, Dr. Howard Carpenter, a classically trained violinist and composer. Classical music filled the childhood home in Bowling Green and for young John it was all about “Bach, Bach and Bach. He’s my favorite. I just can’t get enough of Johann there.”
It makes sense. Bach’s music has a circular spell quality and the pipe organ, resounding with reverb in gargantuan cathedrals, was the original synthesizer.
“He’s the Rock of Ages of music,” says Carpenter, who particularly loves the fugue nicknamed “St. Anne” and the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. “Everybody would go back to Mozart or Beethoven. They are astonishing — Beethoven is especially astonishing — but they’re not my style. I don’t feel it like I do with Bach. I immediately got him.”
Carpenter was also a film score freak since Day 1. He cites the early electronic music in 1956’s “Forbidden Planet” and claims Bernard Herrmann and Dimitri Tiomkin as his two all-time favorites. Just listen, he says, to the way Tiomkin’s music transitions from the westerny fanfare under the Winchester Pictures logo to the swirling, menacing orchestral storm that accompanies “The Thing From Another World” title card in that 1951 sci-fi picture that Carpenter remixed as “The Thing.”
“The music is so weird, I cannot follow it,” he says. “But I love it.”
Yet Carpenter feels more personally indebted to rock ‘n’ roll: the Beatles, the Stones, the Doors. He wanted to be a rock star ever since he grew his hair long and bought a guitar in high school. He sang and performed R&B and psychedelic rock for sororities on the Western Kentucky campus as well as on a tour of the U.S. Army bases in Germany. He formed the rock trio Coupe de Villes with his buddies at USC and they made an album and played wrap parties.
He also kept soaking up contemporary influences, listening to Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” while location scouting for “Halloween.” Peter Fonda later introduced Carpenter to Zevon and he wanted the director to adapt the song into a film that never happened (starring Fonda as the werewolf, but “this time he gets the girl,” Carpenter recalls). In the ’80s he blasted Metallica with his two boys and he still loves Devo.
It’s incredibly rare for a film director to score their own films, rarer still for one to spend decades on stage as a performing musician. The requisite personalities would seem diametrical.
“My dad was a performing musician, so it was just part of the family,” Carpenter says. However, until 2016, when Carpenter first toured with his music, he was consumed with stage fright. “I had an incident when I was in a play in high school,” he says. “I went up and I forgot my lines. Shame descended upon me and I had a tough time. I was scared all the time.”
The director credits his touring drummer, Scott Seiver, for helping him beat it.
“Your adrenaline carries you to another planet when that thing starts,” he sighs with pleasure. “You hear a wall of screaming people. It’s a big time.”
He pushes back against the idea that directors “hide behind the camera.”
“The pressure, that’s the biggest thing,” Carpenter says. “You put yourself under pressure from the studio, you’re carrying all this money, crew, you want to be on time.”
He remembers seeing some haggard making-of footage of himself in post-production on “Ghost of Mars” in 2001 and thinking: Oh my God, this guy is in trouble. “I had to stop,” he says. “I can’t do this to myself anymore. I can’t take this kind of stress — it’ll kill you, as it has so many other directors. The music came along and it’s from God. It’s a blessing.”
John Carpenter is grateful but he doesn’t believe in God. He believes that, when we die, “we just disperse — our energy disperses, and we return to what we were. We’re all stardust up there and the darkness created us, in a sense. So that’s what we have to make peace with. I point up to the infinite, the space between stars. But things stop when you die. Your heart stops, brain — everything stops. You get cold. Your energy dissipates and it just… ends. The End.”
This is not exactly a peaceful thought for him.
“I mean, I don’t want to die,” he adds. “I’m not looking forward to that. But what can you do? I can’t control it. But that’s what I believe and I’m alone in it. I can’t put that on anybody else. Everybody has their own beliefs, their own gods, their own afterlife.”
He describes himself as a “long-term optimist but a short-term pessimist.”
“I have hope,” he says, “put it that way.” Yet he looks around and sees a lot of evil.
“The true evil in the world comes from people,” says Carpenter, who has long used cinematic allegories to skewer capitalist pigs and bloodthirsty governments. “I know that nature’s pretty rough, but not like men. You see pictures of lions taking down their prey and you see the face of the prey and you say: ‘Oh, man.’ Humans do things like that and enjoy it. Or they do things like that for power or pleasure. Humans are evil but they’re capable of massive good — and they’re capable of the greatest art form we have: music.”
The greatest?
“You don’t have to talk about it. You just sit and listen to it. It’s not my favorite,” he clarifies, alluding to his first love, cinema — “but it’s the one that transcends centuries.”
Music has always been kinder to him than the movie business. That business recently reared its ugly head when A24 tossed his completed score for “Death of a Unicorn.” (At least he owns the rights and will be putting it out sometime soon.) In addition to the high he gets from playing live, he is currently working on a heavy metal concept album complete with dialogue. It’s called “Cathedral” and he’ll be playing some of it at the Belasco.
It’s essentially a movie in music form, based on a dream Carpenter had. Though not one he finds scary. What scares Carpenter, it seems, is not being in control.
That happened to him in the movie world, it’s happening more and more as what he calls the “frailties of age” mount and it happens in that nightmare about getting lost in a big city and not finding any theaters.
“But I can’t do anything about it,” he says. “What can I do? See, the only thing I can do is what I can control: music. And watching basketball.”
Tesla posted sharply lower profit for the July to September quarter despite a signifcant jump in revenue. The firm’s performance was hit by tough competition in the EV market, U.S. duties on imports of parts and materials to make its cars, higher capital expenditure costs and a sales slump in Europe. File photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA
Oct. 23 (UPI) — Tesla reported profits were down 37% in the third quarter despite a jump in revenue to $28.1 billion on frontloading of sales driven by buyers racing to beat the deadline for a federal tax credit before it expired Sept. 30.
The tax credit, worth up to $7,500 on EV purchases, helped the firm buck a run of declining quarterly sales along with a new six-seat version of its popular Model Y midsize SUV that performed well in the Chinese market.
While sales of competitors, including Ford and Hyundai, still outpaced Tesla’s it also lured in buyers with interest-free finance and insurance contributions.
That helped overall income rise by just under $3 billion, compared with the same period last year, and $1.73 billion more than predicted by analysts, with the largest contribution still coming from vehicle sales.
Revenue from Tesla’s energy generation and storage division surged 44% to $3.42 billion.
However, net profit slumped from $2.17 billion in the third quarter of 2024, to just $1.37 billion this year, with the results sending the stock price lower.
Tesla’s shares were down more than 3% at $424.60 in out-of-hours trade on the NASDAQ before Thursday’s market open — but remained well above the 30-day low of $413.49 they hit Oct. 10. The stock is up 9% year-to-date.
The firm’s performance was dragged down by an ongoing slump in its European market, partly due to a public backlash against Musk and tough competition from rivals from the continent and beyond, such as Volkswagen and China’s BYD.
Tariffs on car parts and raw materials imposed by President Donald Trump and higher research and development costs were also factors as the company embarks on CEO Elon Musk‘s efforts for an increased focus on AI and robotics.
Chief Accounting Officer Vaibhav Taneja told investors on a conference call Wednesday that the hit to Tesla from import duties in the July to September period was in excess of $400 million.
Tesla said it aimed to meet its target to begin “volume production” of Cybercab, heavy-duty electric semi trucks and its new Megapack 3 battery energy storage system in 2026, with Musk saying he expected Cybercab to begin rolling off the production line in the second quarter.
“First generation production lines” for Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robot were currently under construction. Musk said the firm expected to unveil Optimus V3 in the first quarter.
Tesla posted its latest results as shareholders were preparing for a November vote to approve a new remuneration package for Musk of as much as $1 trillion, all in shares.
The deal would be conditioned on his delivering an ambitious turnaround program involving boosting market capitalization from around $1.38 trillion to an unprecedented $8.5 trillion by pivoting Tesla to concentrate on autonomous driving, AI and robotics.
Apple, Microsoft and NVIDIA, the current behemoths of the U.S. tech sector, have market caps in the $2.6 to $3.2 trillion range.
Littler closed the gap on Humphries when he won the World Grand Prix earlier this month, saying afterwards: “Obviously, until I get that world number one spot, I will never call myself the best in the world.
“I don’t want to think about it too much, but I could be world number one before that World Championship.
“I’ve just got to keep chucking away and put as much pressure as I can on Luke.”
Littler begins his European Championship campaign against five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, 58, on Friday.
Humphries, 30, faces Pole Krzysztof Ratajski in the first round and could potentially meet Littler in the quarter-finals.
A day after his Grand Prix victory, Littler was beaten in the World Youth Championship semi-finals by Beau Greaves, before he then won the Players Championship 32 event.
He has also announced a new management deal with Target Darts after splitting with Martin Foulds of ZXF Sports Management, who had managed him for five years.
Littler will hope to improve his recent record in Germany, where he has skipped some tournaments after facing a hostile reception from spectators. He was booed alongside Humphries when the pair lost to Germany at the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt in June.
After the European Championship, there are two big tournaments before the World Championship starts on 11 December – the Grand Slam of Darts (8-16 November) and Players Championship Finals (21-23 November).
New data has shed light on the alarming rise of “anti-LGBTQIA+ targeted hate and rhetoric.”
On 20 October, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) released a new report offering a five-year overview of the online and offline anti-LGBTQIA+ landscape.
“This Dispatch provides an overview of anti-LGBTQ+ mobilisation and how it is exacerbated by tech platforms,” researchers Guy Fiennes and Paula-Charlotte Matlach wrote.
“It incorporates activity which meets ISD’s definition of targeted anti-LGBTQ+ hate (‘activity which seeks to dehumanise, demonise, harass, threaten or incite violence against an individual or community based on their LGBTQ+ identity’), as well as activity which discriminates against LGBTQ+ people (and those perceived to be LGBTQ+), and which erases LGBTQ+ voices or rolls back LGBTQIA+ rights.”
Divided into two parts, the first half of the study presents statistics from various organisations highlighting the offline hate LGBTQIA+ people have faced across the US, UK and wider Europe.
In the US, more than 20 per cent of hate crimes recorded were motivated by anti-LGBTQIA+ bias for the third consecutive year, according to FBI crime data released in August 2025.
NGO GLAAD reported 918 anti-LGBTQIA+ incidents across the US in 2024, including seven fatalities and 140 bomb threats. Among those incidents, 48 per cent of victims were trans, non-binary or gender-nonconforming individuals.
The ISD report also included data from the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, which found that LGBTQIA+ people are five times more likely to be victims of violent crime in the US compared to non-LGBTQIA+ people, and nine times more likely to experience violent hate crimes.
While the latest UK crime statistics reported an 11 per cent decrease in annual anti-trans hate crimes and a two per cent decrease in hate crimes related to sexual orientation, there was a sharp increase in both categories between 2021 and 2022.
“ISD calculated that in the five years between 2020 and 2025, anti-trans hate crimes in the UK rose by 50 per cent, and sexual orientation crimes rose by 18.1 per cent overall. The vast majority of anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crimes are likely unreported,” the report revealed.
Across wider Europe, a 2023 EU Agency for Fundamental Rights survey found that violence and harassment against LGBTQIA+ people had increased from 11 per cent to 14 per cent, while anti-LGBTQIA+ bullying in schools jumped from 46 per cent to 67 per cent.
When examining government and legislative actions, all three countries showed an increase in anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment led by government officials and lawmakers. The Trump administration, the UK’s Reform Party and Hungary were listed among the biggest offenders.
In the second half of the report, the ISD explored the online harm endured by the LGBTQIA+ community over the past five years.
Following a recent analysis of US-based violent extremist accounts and groups targeting the community, researchers found that “online hate spiked in response to real-world events and political developments.”
The data also revealed that the trans community is increasingly targeted by violent extremist accounts across various platforms, imageboards and forums.
“Anti-trans hate speech rose from 35 per cent of all anti-LGBTQIA+ speech in October to November to 46 per cent in December to January. There is a notable overlap between groups that direct violence and hate speech against LGBTQIA+ people and groups identified as threats to US national security and the government,” researchers explained.
Elsewhere, the study highlighted GLAAD’s 2025 Social Media Safety Index report, which found a lack of moderation of anti-LGBTQIA+ hate on social media platforms, alongside over-moderation of LGBTQIA+-inclusive accounts and content.
The report also examined the negative impact of AI content moderation systems, revealing that they have been “found to censor queer users who use ‘slurs’ to self-label (e.g. queer, gay, or femboy).”
“AI-driven censorship of LGBTQIA+ content that it labels as ‘sexualised’ or ‘offensive’ reflects offline biases that unfairly label queerness as inherently sexual and inappropriate,” researchers added.
Maharaj, Harmer star with the ball as hosts are bowled out for 138, setting South Africa 68 to win the second Test.
Published On 23 Oct 202523 Oct 2025
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South Africa have romped to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan on the fourth day of the second cricket Test in Rawalpindi, claiming victory before lunch to level the two-match series.
The home side were dismissed cheaply in the opening hour, collapsing from 94-4 overnight to be all out for 138 on Thursday.
South Africa then took 12.3 overs to reach the 68-run target with captain Aiden Markram scoring 42 before being trapped leg before wicket by Noman Ali, four runs from victory.
Tristan Stubbs was caught in the slips in the same over without scoring, leaving Ryan Rickelton (25 not out) and Tony de Zorzi, who did not face a ball, to complete the job.
It was the 11th win in 12 Tests for South Africa, with the only blemish their 93-run loss to Pakistan in last week’s first match of the series in Lahore.
“There were moments where guys had to put their hands up and stand up for the team and they really did that and excelled in that. It took a lot of confidence and a lot of belief from wins, but when your character’s tested and you managed to come out on the right side, I think that means quite a bit more,” said Markram.
Simon Harmer took 6-50 as Pakistan collapsed with fellow spinner Keshav Maharaj adding two more wickets to the seven he took in the first innings.
Keshav Maharaj (right) and Simon Harmer took 17 of Pakistan’s 20 wickets in the second Test [Aamir Qureshi/AFP]
Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 44 runs to continue their trend of lower-order slumps despite starting the day with high hopes.
They needed a major contribution from star batsman Babar Azam, whose appearance at the stumps throughout the series saw a sudden spike in spectators and a noticeable increase in excited noise from the stands.
Babar, however, has not scored a century in his last 15 Tests since 161 against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022.
He was on 49 overnight, sharing a 34-run partnership with Mohammad Rizwan that held out promise of getting Pakistan back into the contest with six wickets in hand and a 23-run lead.
But after going to his 50 with a single off the second ball of the morning, the 31-year-old Babar was trapped leg before wicket by Harmer in the first over.
After that, the home innings came tumbling down like a pack of cards as the 36-year-old Harmer, who has had a long career in county cricket in England but only 12 test appearances, bagged his first five-wicket haul in test cricket.
He had Rizwan caught at short leg for 18 and then Noman Ali nicked behind without scoring to mark a 1,000th first-class wicket.
“We have a lot to work on,” said home captain Shan Masood, “when it comes to lower order batting, when it comes to finishing the innings off, when it comes to the third innings of batting, also when it comes to the first innings where we could have posted something north of 400 but we didn’t.”
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Germany is offering for Canada to join its Type 212CD submarine program, alongside Norway, as part of a broader defense cooperation that would more closely align Berlin and Ottawa. Canada badly needs a replacement for its aging and troublesome Victoria class diesel-electric submarines, and, in turn, Germany is looking to procure potentially significant numbers of special-mission aircraft from Canada’s Bombardier, among other defense systems.
The German Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, and his Norwegian counterpart, Tore Sandvik, were in Ottawa this week, where they presented the Type 212CD to the Minister of National Defense of Canada, David McGuinty, for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP).
A rendering of the forthcoming Type 212CD submarine. TKMS TKMS
Canada’s requirement is for up to 12 new submarines to replace the four Victoria class boats. The new submarines should offer significant new capabilities, including operating for extended periods under ice, an important factor to bear in mind given the growing military importance of the Arctic region.
HMCS Victoria, the first of the four Victoria class submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy. U.S. Navy
The German-Norwegian offer is for the Type 212CD (Common Design), which is a further improved version of the Type 212A, which you can read about in more detail here. The Type 212CD features an improved air-independent propulsion (AIP) system including new-generation batteries (most likely of the Lithium-Ion type), improved diesel generators, increased speed and range, improved self-defense capabilities, and improved signatures and target echo strength thanks to a specially designed hull shape.
A German Navy Type 212A submarine, from which the new Type 212CD is derived. TKMS ThyssenKrupp
Germany has ordered six Type 212CD hulls, with the first of these set to enter service in 2031 and ultimately plans to field as many as nine. Meanwhile, Norway has ordered four, with at least another two planned. Oslo expects to commission the first of these boats in 2029.
The manufacturer of the Type 212CD, TKMS, says it will be able to build around three to four boats per year from 2027.
The Canadian government wants to see the delivery of the first new submarine no later than 2035.
The Victoria class submarines currently in use with the Royal Canadian Navy were purchased secondhand from the United Kingdom in 1998, having previously served with the Royal Navy as the Upholder class, and have been anything but trouble-free since their transfer. The first three Victoria class submarines entered service with the Royal Canadian Navy between 2000 and 2003. The fourth submarine caught fire while in transit to Canada in 2004, which meant it wasn’t accepted into Royal Canadian Navy service until 2015.
HMCS Corner Brook, one of the four Victoria class boats, pulls into Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, for a 2009 port visit. U.S. Navy
In an effort to boost the Type 212CD’s chances in Canada, Germany is offering Ottawa the opportunity to manufacture components, or even undertake construction of complete submarines, in local shipyards.
While in Canada, Pistorius outlined the possibility of a long-term submarine cooperation between the three countries, which could extend for 40 to 50 years. This would see them jointly build and maintain the submarines, as well as providing logistics and working on projects to develop the boats further. Pistorius also raised the possibility of crew exchanges and even joint operations in the Indo-Pacific region. Having Canada join the initiative would also bring down the unit cost of each submarine as the overall production increases significantly.
Boris Pistorius (right), the German Federal Minister of Defense, and Tore Sandvik, Minister of Defense of Norway, arrive for a press conference on the submarine project in Ottawa yesterday. Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images picture alliance
In turn, the German minister of defense raised the possibility of Berlin buying Canadian defense systems, as part of planned offsets on a submarine deal.
Items mentioned include a new combat management system (CMS) for the German Navy. This would likely be the CMS 330 from Lockheed Martin Canada, which was originally developed for the Royal Canadian Navy.
More intriguingly, Pistorius said that the German Armed Forces are likely to buy at least 18 Bombardier Global bizjets in the coming years. These would be for special missions tasks and likely also VIP transport, although the large number of jets remains somewhat puzzling. The German minister of defense also suggested that more bizjets could be acquired from Bombardier if Germany chooses to buy the GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft from Saab. This is installed on a Global 6000/6500 platform. Saab has also actively pitched the GlobalEye to Canada.
A pair of Saab GlobalEye AEW&C aircraft. Saab Saab
Other military areas in which the German government might ‘buy Canadian’ include space systems, as part of a growing investment on behalf of the German Ministry of Defense.
On a non-military level, Pistorius also said that Germany is seeking to enhance its cooperation with Canada on raw materials, hydro energy, and liquefied natural gas. This is all the more important now that Canada-U.S. relations are at an unprecedented low.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States and Canada have “natural conflict” on trade. This is all part of the fallout from events this summer, when Trump increased tariffs on many Canadian goods to 35 percent, with Canada then retaliating with its own tariffs on U.S. exports.
President Trump and I know that there are areas where our nations can compete — and areas where we will be stronger together.
Meanwhile, as part of the submarine proposal, Norway’s Sandvik also pitched offsets to Canada, including buying its AI solutions. The Norwegian minister of defense also offered to help Canada establish a submarine maintenance center, the same as that now under construction in Bergen, Norway.
In August of this year, the Canadian submarine competition was whittled down to the Type 212CD and the South Korean KSS-III, from the Hanwha Group. Seoul is also offering offsets to Canada, as well as promising fast delivery of the submarines.
The KSS-III submarine ROKS Dosan Ahn Changho during trials. Defense Acquisition Program Administration
“The Koreans build excellent submarines, but we build better ones,” Pistorius said, noting that the Type 212CD project is on schedule and within budget.
South Korea is an increasingly major player on the global arms market, and its defense industry is winning ever more high-profile orders, notably to NATO nations.
On the other hand, with Germany and Norway comes the opportunity for cooperation on a military level as well as on an industrial level.
Already, it’s expected that Germany and Norway will work closely together as they introduced their Type 212CD submarines. This is especially relevant now that Germany is looking to expand its area of naval operations from its traditional stronghold in the Baltic Sea and out into the Atlantic.
This will include protecting the North Atlantic against potential Russian aggression and tracking Russian submarine activity there, which has been a growing area of concern for some time now. This marks a significant turnaround since the early post-Cold War years, when Russian submarine activity dipped and the overall strategic importance of the North Atlantic region seemed to have decreased.
The Russian Yasen-M class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Kazan at its base in the Northern Fleet in May 2021. Ministry of Defense of Russia
Reflecting the changing reality, in 2024, Canada signed a trilateral letter of intent with Germany and Norway to establish a strategic partnership in support of NATO’s deterrence and defense in the North Atlantic region, specifically.
However, when the letter of intent was announced, Ottawa underscored the fact that it does not include any discussion of submarines. “The emphasis of this agreement is on defense industry, supply chains, training, and operations. It complements other initiatives that Canada is exploring with Germany and European allies,” the Canadian government said.
Concept art of the submerged SSN-AUKUS. U.K. Ministry of Defense
Meanwhile, other NATO nations are now more closely aligning their anti-submarine warfare activities in the North Atlantic region. For example, the United Kingdom and Norway have discussed plans to cooperate on P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft operations, and, more recently, the United Kingdom and Germany have signed a related agreement related to their P-8s. Canada has also selected the P-8, providing yet another opportunity for close maritime cooperation with Germany and Norway.
A rendering of a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft in Canadian service. Boeing
A submarine partnership between Canada, Germany, and Norway would further enhance NATO’s ability to effectively patrol the North Atlantic, including the strategically vital Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom Gap, better known as the GIUK Gap. This is a critical bottleneck that is closely monitored. If Russian submarines can sneak through undetected, they have a much higher chance of disappearing into the Atlantic without being traced. During a full-blown conflict, this would likely include wreaking havoc on NATO shipping and naval flotillas and executing pinpoint attacks on key land targets.
A GIUK Gap map from the Cold War, but still very much relevant today. CIA.gov
As well as hostile submarines, NATO also faces a growing threat from other kinds of underwater activities, specifically attacks on critical undersea infrastructure. The vulnerability of undersea cables and offshore wind farms, for example, to potential Russian attack is very much on NATO’s mind, after a series of incidents, especially in the Baltic.
At the same time, NATO is increasingly looking toward the Arctic as an area of future competition with both Russia and China. This is especially relevant for Canada and Norway and the option to operate common submarines, and share something of the logistics burden, as well as optimize operations in this challenging environment, which could do much to help strengthen NATO’s presence in the High North. At the very least, operating the same submarines would provide more opportunities to align training and exercises. At the same time, Germany is now looking to expand its naval presence in the waters around the Arctic Circle, including expanding its footprint in Iceland.
Whether Canada chooses the Type 212CD or the rival KSS-III, the competition is about more than just providing an economic boost to the winning company. Canada’s future submarine fleet also looks set to play an important role in detecting a resurgent Russian submarine force, protecting undersea infrastructure, and patrolling an increasingly strategic Arctic region, among others.
On Thursday morning, fans of Strictly were shocked after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced they had quit their presenting roles ends – but who could be set to fill their shoes?
North Korea successfully tested a “new cutting-edge weapons system” involving hypersonic missiles, state-run media reported Thursday. The launch, which took place on Wednesday, was detected by the South’s military. Photo by Jeon Heon-kyun/EPA
SEOUL, Oct. 23 (UPI) —North Korea successfully tested a “new cutting-edge weapons system” involving hypersonic missiles, state-run media reported Thursday, amid heightened regional tensions ahead of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.
Two hypersonic projectiles were launched in a northeast direction from the Pyongyang area and hit targets on a plateau of Kwesang Peak in Orang County, North Kamgyong Province, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
“The new weapon system was tested as part of the defense capability development program to enhance the sustainability and effectiveness of strategic deterrence against potential enemies,” KCNA said.
The test, held Wednesday, was overseen by a delegation of officials led by Pak Jong Chon, secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was not present at the test.
“The new cutting-edge weapon system is a clear proof of steadily upgrading self-defensive technical capabilities of the DPRK,” Pak said, according to KCNA.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Seoul’s military on Wednesday said that it detected the launch of several short-range ballistic missiles, which flew for roughly 217 miles before falling on land.
U.S. Forces Korea denounced the North’s launches and its “relentless pursuit of long-range missile capabilities,” acts that are prohibited by U.N. Security Council resolutions.
“The United States condemns these unlawful and destabilizing actions, and we call on the DPRK to refrain from further acts in violation of the UNSCR,” USFK said in a statement.
The launch was North Korea’s fifth of the year, and the first since South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took office in June. Lee has made efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas, with conciliatory gestures such as removing propaganda loudspeakers from border areas.
The missile test comes ahead of South Korea’s hosting of the APEC summit in Gyeongju on Oct. 30-Nov. 1. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to visit Gyeongju before the official summit for bilateral meetings with leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korea’s Lee.
Analysts had speculated that the North may conduct a provocation ahead of the event as Pyongyang continues its push to be recognized as a nuclear-armed state.
The regime unveiled its latest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-20, at a massive military parade earlier this month. The ICBM, which North Korean state media called the regime’s “most powerful nuclear strategic weapon,” is a solid-fuel missile believed capable of reaching the continental United States.
Hypersonic weapons, meanwhile, travel at least five times the speed of sound and are maneuverable mid-flight, making them a challenge for missile detection and interception systems.
China and the United States are set to resume high-level trade talks in Malaysia from Friday as both sides work to contain a sudden surge in tensions ahead of a crucial leaders’ summit in South Korea. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during his visit to attend an ASEAN summit from October 24 to 27.
The renewed strain in ties comes after Beijing expanded curbs on rare earth exports critical materials used in electronics and defense in retaliation for Washington’s decision to blacklist more Chinese companies from purchasing U.S. technology. The move has reignited fears of another trade war just as the two powers had shown tentative signs of improvement in recent months.
Why It Matters
These talks carry significant global implications. The world’s two largest economies are deeply interlinked, and renewed hostilities threaten to disrupt global supply chains, technological cooperation, and regional stability. Both Washington and Beijing are under pressure to prevent economic confrontation from spilling into diplomatic isolation ahead of the scheduled Trump-Xi summit.
The flare-up also underscores the fragility of U.S.-China relations. Despite earlier progress including a successful TikTok-related deal at a Madrid summit and a constructive Trump-Xi call in September the latest export and sanctions measures have quickly derailed the momentum toward reconciliation.
The main negotiators, He Lifeng, Scott Bessent, and Jamieson Greer, are expected to focus on two issues: China’s rare earth export restrictions and U.S. curbs on technology access. These topics strike at the heart of both countries’ strategic priorities industrial self-sufficiency for China and tech security for the U.S.
Southeast Asian nations, particularly Malaysia as the host, are watching closely. They stand to benefit economically if tensions ease but risk becoming collateral in any escalation, as both superpowers compete for influence in the region. Meanwhile, global markets are bracing for volatility, with tech and manufacturing sectors especially vulnerable to disruptions.
What’s Next
The Malaysia talks are being seen as a last attempt to restore calm before the Trump-Xi summit next week in South Korea. Both sides are expected to seek at least a symbolic agreement to keep communication channels open, though a comprehensive deal is unlikely given the current mistrust.
If the talks fail, trade and diplomatic friction could deepen, potentially leading to expanded sanctions or retaliatory measures that reverberate across Asia. For now, the focus is on whether Washington and Beijing can manage their rivalry without derailing global economic stability.
A HOST a A-listers were spotted leaving Kim Kardashian’s surprise 45th birthday party in London last night.
Model Kate Moss, Wedding Crashers actress Isla Fisher and singer FKA Twigs looked all partied out as they left the chic soiree.
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Kate Moss looked all partied out as she left Kim Kardashian’s 45thi birthday bashCredit: GoffKim was seen rocking a barely-there frock as she braved rainy London last nightCredit: SplashThe US star also slipped into a second cream sheer corset for the eveningCredit: SplashModel Kate was seen leaving the swanky eventCredit: Splash
The party was held at Kim’s close friend and photographer Mert Alas’ swanky London home.
Kim put on a showstopping look in not one but TWO sexy mini dresses.
She was seen rocking a cut-out frock with her chest barely covered by a some loose material, while her black underwear was on show.
The KUWTK star was surrounded by her entourage and a member of her team who shielded her with an umbrella as she braved rainy London on Wednesday.
All’s Fair, which premieres on Hulu on November 4, follows a team of successful female divorce attorneys who start their own practice in Los Angeles, California.
Kim leads the cast in her second scripted series ever, following her acting debut in American Horror Story: Delicate in 2023.
FKA Twigs went all out in a faux fur jacket and satin trousersCredit: SplashMomager Kris Jenner also rocked the all-black and satin themeCredit: SplashKate was seen leaving the home of Kim’s best pal and photographer Mert AlasCredit: SplashSarah Paulson looked chic in a blazer and satin trousersCredit: SplashKate opted for a mini dress and satin coatCredit: SplashIsla Fisher was spotted wearing blue denim jeans and an orange t-shirtCredit: Splash
Satellite imagery shows Israel holds about 40 active military positions beyond the yellow line.
Satellite imagery analysis by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad shows that the Israeli army holds about 40 active military positions in the part of the Gaza Strip outside the yellow line, the invisible boundary established under the first phase of the ceasefire to which its troops had to move, according to the deal.
The images also show that Israel is upgrading several of these facilities, which help it maintain its occupation of 58 percent of Gaza even after the pullback by troops to the yellow line.
While the majority of sites are concentrated in southern Gaza, every governorate hosts at least one military position. Some sites are built on bases established during the war, while others are newly constructed. The total number of sites in each governorate is:
North Gaza: 9
Gaza City: 6
Deir el-Balah: 1
Khan Younis: 11
Rafah: 13
One of the most prominent military points in Gaza City is located on top of al-Muntar Hill in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City. A comparison of images between September 21 and October 14 shows the base being paved and asphalted.
Where is the invisible yellow line?
Since the ceasefire took effect about two weeks ago, nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Strip, with some attacks occurring near the yellow line.
On October 18, Israeli forces killed 11 members of the Abu Shaaban family in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence. Seven children and three women were among those killed when the Israeli military fired on the vehicle as the family attempted to return home to inspect it.
The Israeli military said soldiers had fired at a “suspicious vehicle” that had crossed the so-called yellow line. With no physical markers for the line, however, many Palestinians cannot determine the location of this invisible boundary. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has since said the army will install visual signs to indicate the line’s location.
In the first ceasefire phase, Israel retains control of more than half of the Gaza Strip, with areas beyond the yellow line still under its military presence. This has blocked residents of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon, the neighbourhoods of Shujayea, Tuffah, Zeitoun, most of Khan Younis, and all of Rafah City from returning home.
What are the next phases of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan?
According to the 20-point plan announced by United States President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 29 – developed without any Palestinian input – Israel is to withdraw its forces in three phases, as shown on an accompanying crude map, with each phase marked in a different colour:
Initial withdrawal (yellow line): In the first phase, Israeli forces pulled back to the line designated in yellow on the map. Hamas has released all living Israeli captives that were in Gaza, and most of the dead bodies of captives who passed away in the enclave.
Second withdrawal (red line): During the second phase, an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) will be mobilised to oversee security and support Palestinian policing, while Israeli forces are to retreat further to the line marked in red, reducing their direct presence in Gaza.
Third withdrawal (security buffer zone): In the final phase, Israeli forces are to pull back to a designated “security buffer zone”, leaving a limited portion of Gaza under Israeli military control, while an international administrative body supervises governance and a transitional period.
Even after the third withdrawal phase, Palestinians will be confined to an area which is smaller than before the war, continuing a pattern of Israel’s control over Gaza and its people.
Many questions remain about how the plan will be implemented, the exact boundaries of Palestinian territory, the timing and scope of Israeli withdrawals, the role of the ISF, and the long-term implications for Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The plan is also silent on whether Israel gets to continue its aerial and sea blockade of Gaza, which has been in place for the past 18 years.
In Kwara, a Muslim-majority state in north-central Nigeria where religious traditions govern daily life, some young women are defying cultural expectations through football.
They have discovered the camaraderie, competitive spirit, and emotional journey of the sport, while facing disapproval from those who question its appropriateness for modestly dressed women.
When 17-year-old Maryam Muhammed heads to practise at the Model Queens Football Academy in Ilorin, she endures the intense heat — made more challenging by her hijab and leggings — and community criticism.
“They tell me I will not achieve anything. But I believe I will achieve something big,” she says, despite regularly encountering taunts on her way to training.
Though sometimes uncomfortable, maintaining modest dress while playing is non-negotiable for her.
“Sometimes it feels like I want to open the hijab, but I must not expose my hair,” she explained. “I have to put it on as a good Muslim.”
FIFA initially banned hijabs in 2007 on safety grounds, resulting in Iran’s women’s team being excluded from a 2012 Olympic qualifier. The restriction was eased in 2012 and fully lifted in 2014. Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina made history as the first hijab-wearing player at a senior women’s World Cup in 2023.
Kehinde Muhammed, Maryam’s mother, has weathered criticism for supporting her daughter’s passion. “So many people discouraged me,” she admitted. “But I respect my children’s decisions. I support her and keep praying for her.”
She creates custom hijabs matching team jerseys, emphasising: “I counsel her that this is the normal way you are supposed to be dressed as a Muslim.”
Model Queens coach Muyhideen Abdulwahab works to change community perceptions. “We go out to meet parents, to tell them there are laws in place for modest dressing,” he said. “Despite that, some still say no.”
Nineteen-year-old team member Bashirat Omotosho balances her love for football with family responsibilities. She often misses training to help her mother sell puff puff, a fried dough snack, at their roadside stall to support the family.
“Training is often in the morning, but I have to be here,” she explained while serving customers, watching her teammates sometimes jog past during practice. “I cannot leave my mum — this is how I earn money.”
Titilayo Omotosho, Bashirat’s mother, initially opposed her daughter’s athletic ambitions.
“Why would a lady choose football?” she questioned.
Children watch a football match at a ground in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria [Sodiq Adelakun/Reuters]
Omotosho’s stance softened after her husband’s approval and seeing successful Muslim players like Nigeria star Asisat Oshoala. “Seeing other Muslim girls succeed, like Asisat, encouraged us to let her play,” she said, referencing the record six-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year. Oshoala, who plays without a hijab, comes from Lagos in southwest Nigeria, where Islamic practices are less conservative.
According to local football administrator Ambali Abdulrazak, despite growing interest, female participation remains limited in Ilorin.
The Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) ranks among Africa’s strongest, dominated by southern clubs from Lagos and Port Harcourt, where infrastructure and social support are more established. Northern and central regions face cultural and religious barriers, though grassroots initiatives are expanding.
Nationwide, women’s football is gaining popularity, driven by the national team’s success, increased sponsorships, and development programmes. Since 2020, NWFL viewership has increased by 40 percent, with match attendance rising 35 percent in 2024, according to Nigerian media company iTelemedia, which monitors audience trends across local leagues.
During a recent training session, Muhammed and her teammates practised on a sandy school pitch as the sun set, their voices mingling with the muezzin’s call to prayer from a nearby mosque.
On August 29, Muhammed captained the Model Queens in a youth tournament final, which they lost. She high-fived teammates and celebrated as they received runners-up medals, but later cried alone in her room over the defeat.
Her family’s support and faith sustain her determination. “I really love this sport. I have a passion for it,” she said. “Since my parents support me, there is nothing stopping me. Football is my dream.”
If you watched 54 Ultra’s music video for “Upside Down” and came away thinking it was a relic from 1980s music programs like “Solid Gold” or “Night Tracks” — you’d be forgiven for making the assumption.
Aside from the 25-year-old’s vintage wardrobe, hairstyle, and ‘stache that harks to that decade, the song itself — a silky, boppy ballad that channels the energy of groups like the Chi-Lites or solo acts like Johnnie Taylor — sounds and feels ripped from the era in a manner that’s hard to faithfully re-create these days.
That old-school vibe isn’t exactly how 54 Ultra started off when he began putting out solo music three years ago, but it’s what he’s settled into nowadays. The artist, whose real name is JohnAnthony Rodríguez (and yes, his name is supposed to be written together), hails from New Jersey and is of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent.
The name he settled on, 54 Ultra, came by way of uniting Frank Ocean’s 2011 album “Nostalgia, Ultra” and the historic nightclub Studio 54. It was sometime between 2019 and 2020 that he interned at a few different recording studios, songwriting in his spare time with the intention of writing and producing music for others.
“I remember I was trying to find a way to make a living out of music and introduce myself to other artists,” he says over the phone, recalling all the demos he had recorded and presented to artists he’d cross paths with.
“People would be like ‘Who’s singing this? Who demo’ed this?’ And I’d say ‘It was me.’ And then they’d say, ‘You keep it.’ After that [happened] a couple of times I realized that I might as well put it out by myself.”
His first solo singles, like the high-energy “What Do I Know (Call Me Baby)” and “Sierra,” were firmly rooted in the indie rock family tree. It wasn’t until more recently, first with “Where Are You” and later “Heaven Knows,” that Rodríguez began to explore a more retro and soulful approach.
The latter track made an appearance in a 2024 “rhythm and soul” playlist curated by Mistah Cee, an Australian DJ and music selector, who included the song between Bobby Caldwell’s “My Flame” and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Devotion.” The segues between tracks are seamless, in no small part due to Rodríguez’s immaculate production and fealty to the tempo of the times. His was the only contemporary track on the playlist, but it fooled many who eventually caught on to the rest of his work.
“On YouTube, I remember that was a nice boost, because people would comment, ‘Who came from Mistah Cee?’ Or, ‘Who thought this was an oldie?’ or whatnot,” he says.
To date, it’s not only Mistah Cee’s most viewed playlist by a wide margin (5.6 million and counting) but also 54 Ultra’s most-streamed song on Spotify with 27 million. “That was a very organic wave of things happening, and I’m very grateful for that also because I didn’t expect [it] at all,” says Rodríguez.
Latin soul, of the kind that recalls the doo-wop and boogaloo era of the 1950s and ‘60s, has seen a resurgence in the past few years. Artists like Chicano Batman, Thee Sinseers, Los Yesterdays and the Altons, as well as solo acts like Jason Joshua and Adrian Quesada, have made inroads with listeners and on the radio. Rodríguez is enthusiastic about this opportunity to show different facets of Latin culture and music through this genre.
“I just feel like I’m grateful to be a part of that family, or that idea that people relate all the music together and being a part of that scene is pretty nice,” he says.
Despite his Gen Z status, he notably lacks the “smartphone face” that’s rampant among pop artists and celebrities — and is partial to dressing in an anachronistic way, which he pulls off with gusto. It might be easy to assume his regular getup is a result of wanting to match the music, but Rodriguez insists he was already dressing that way much before he ever considered dabbling in soul. There is a kind of freedom he associates with the wardrobe of that time.
“[The clothes] were never a costume or a gimmick,” he says. “Whether I did music or not, I enjoyed how it fits because that [period] just has the best clothes. I think that was peak menswear. No one cared about any type of gender assignment with clothing; everybody wore what they wanted, and all the measurements were the same … it seemed like everybody had fun back then. They weren’t worried so much about what people thought.”
“[The clothes] were never a costume or a gimmick,” says 54 Ultra of his vintage style.
(Max Tardio)
He shouts out Blood Orange, a.k.a. artist-composer Dev Hynes, as a major inspiration for him. “That’s my favorite guy,” he says. But at the same time, he offers an eclectic list of artists whose music lights fires for his own output; Brazilian musicians like Jorge Ben Jor, Lô Borges and Evinha have made his rotation, along with some moody ‘80s bands like the Smiths, the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
“And Prefab Sprout,” he adds excitedly. “That’s my jam. That stuff’s crazy.”
His reputation has grown this past year, putting him in rooms he never expected to be invited to. Earlier this year he found himself producing the song “All I Can Say” for Kali Uchis, off her 2025 album, “Sincerely,” and recently opened for her during a concert stop in San José.
Earlier this month, he kicked off a world tour promoting his latest EP, “First Works,” that will take him from D.C. and Brooklyn to London and Paris. The schedule includes multiple stops in California, including two in Los Angeles: Oct. 26 at the Roxy Theatre and Oct. 28 at the Echoplex.
For Rodríguez, a tour like this is the culmination of everything he’s worked toward in his admittedly still nascent but steadily growing career. He confirms that he’s been chipping away at a debut LP, which will brandish a more “fast and punchy” rock sound that recall his days playing basement shows.
“Anytime anybody asked me what I wanted to do, I would say: ‘I want to perform anywhere I can and for anybody, wherever that may be.’ I’ve always wanted things to resonate, and I’ve always wanted it to make sense.”
Oct. 22 (UPI) — American cattle ranchers are calling on the Trump administration to abandon plans to buy Argentine beef, as the rift between the two sides deepens.
President Donald Trump has been arguing to buy beef from the South American country as an effort to lower beef prices at U.S. grocery stores, while U.S. cattle ranchers are criticizing his plan as misguided and harmful, stating it will have little effect on grocery bills.
“The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and its members cannot stand behind the President while he undercuts the future of family farmers and ranchers by importing Argentinian beef in an attempt to influence prices,” NCBA CEO Colin Woodall said in a statement.
“It is imperative that President Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins let the cattle markets work.”
The cost of beef in the United States has hit records this year, steadily rising since December. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, the cost has increased 13.9% higher in August compared to a year earlier and is predicted to increase 11.6% percent this year.
The rift between Trump and cattle ranchers opened earlier this week when Trump told reporters on Air Force One that they are considering importing beef from Argentina to get those prices down.
Argentina, led by vocal Trump ally President Javier Milei, earlier this month entered a $20 billion financial bailout agreement with the United States.
The bailout has attracted criticism from American farmers, already hurting under the weight of Trump’s tariffs. In particular, soybean growers were upset with the bailout as the United States and Argentina directly compete in the crop for the Chinese market.
The comment about buying beef from Buenos Aires prompted swift criticism from American ranchers, already frustrated that Argentina sold more than $801 million worth of beef into the U.S. market, compared to the roughly $7 million worth of American beef sold in its market.
Trump on Wednesday said U.S. cattle ranchers “don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well” is because of his tariffs.
“If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible!” Trump said on his Truth Social media platform.
“It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!”
Amid the controversy, the USDA on Wednesday announced a series of actions, including those to promote and protect American beef through the voluntary Country of Origin Labeling program.
However, ranchers are saying it’s not good enough.
Farm Action, a nonpartisan agricultural sector watchdog, is urging the Trump administration to make country of origin labeling mandatory and to launch investigations into the so-called Big Four meatpackers, saying they control the price of beef, not U.S. ranchers.
“Ranchers need support to rebuild their herds — that’s how we truly increase beef supply and lower prices long-term,” the watchdog said in a statement Wednesday.
“After years of drought, high input costs and selling into a rigged market, we deserve policies that strengthen rural America, not ones that reward foreign competitors and corporate monopolies.”
Wyoming’s Meriwether Farms called on Trump to immediately use his executive powers to institute mandatory country of origin labeling.
“This is not good enough,” it said of the USDA’s initiatives announced Wednesday.
The storm could grow into a hurricane by Friday and a major one by the late weekend.
Published On 23 Oct 202523 Oct 2025
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Tropical Storm Melissa is threatening the Caribbean Sea islands with dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding, as officials urge residents of flood-prone areas to seek higher ground and shelter.
Jamaica’s eastern region could see up to 12 inches (300mm) of rain. “Now that is significant rainfall, and that is the main thing that we should be mindful of at this time,” Evan Thompson, director of Jamaica’s Meteorological Service, said.
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Similar rainfall amounts were expected for southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic through Saturday, with even more rain possible locally, depending on Melissa’s path later in the week.
Heavy rain was also forecast for western Jamaica, southern Hispaniola, Aruba and Puerto Rico.
Melissa had maximum sustained winds of 50mph (85km/h) and was moving west at 2mph (4km/h) late on Wednesday night, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The slow-moving storm was centred about 335 miles (535km) south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and some 295 miles (475km) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.
The NHC said the storm could strengthen gradually in the coming days and grow into a hurricane by Friday and a major hurricane by the late weekend.
Heavy rains in the Dominican Republic have already disrupted traffic and led to the cancellation of sports events.
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the first named storm to form in the Caribbean this year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season – which runs from June 1 to November 30 – with 13 to 18 named storms.
Of those, five to nine were forecast to become hurricanes, including two to five major hurricanes, which pack winds of 111mph or greater.
Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has opened up about his long-running feud with a BBC co-star, explaining how their rivalry came to be from the very beginning
Strictly is back (Image: PA)
Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood has spilled the beans on his long-standing feud with Brendan Cole, describing them as “archenemies”. The pair, who were both part of the BBC show, had a history of clashing.
In an interview with Radio Times, Craig said: “In my screen test I had to judge footage of two contestants rehearsing. I said, ‘She can hardly walk down the stairs, and the professional has the bowest legs I’ve ever seen’.
“That couple was Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole, and they went on to win it. By the end of that series, it was nail-bitingly exciting.”
He added: “It won the hearts and minds of a nation. As for Brendan, we really were archenemies. He was very mouthy and he’d say, ‘Oh, what would you know?’ So I secretly studied ballroom with Len’s wife Sue, because knowledge is power.”
Brendan was a regular feature on Strictly from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when he was told his contract wouldn’t be renewed, according to the Express, reports Wales Online.
Reflecting on Brendan’s departure, Craig said: “I think it was a good time for Brendan to go. He’s got a fantastic platform and can now build his career. You can’t dance forever.”
However, Brendan seemed hesitant to hang up his dancing shoes completely. Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, he confessed: “It’s quite, actually, hard to talk about. The BBC haven’t renewed my contract. We get contracted year upon year.
“They’ve made an editorial decision to not have me back on the show. I’m a little bit in shock.
“I’m quite emotional, a bit raw about it. It’s done via a process of a phone call and stuff.
“I have had 15 incredible series on the show. I’m very proud of the whole show. It’s a great team.”
Craig has since confessed that he reached out to Brendan following their falling out, though for a rather particular motive.
He admits his reasons behind the peace offering weren’t entirely unselfish.
Speaking on Kate Thornton’s podcast White Wine Question Time, Craig said: “I invited him around two years ago to my house. I hadn’t spoken to him for years. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to see Brendan,’ just to see if he’s working..”
Kate erupted with laughter: “What a b***h!”.
Craig added: “Oh god this is going out to people, isn’t it? Anyway, he had an electric car. He was showing off. We hated each other.”
Oct. 23 (UPI) — The University of Virginia has entered into an agreement with the Justice Department to resolve federal investigations, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on left-leaning ideology at institutions of higher learning.
Both the University of Virginia and the Justice Department confirmed on Wednesday that an agreement had been reached. Federal prosecutors said their probes of the school’s admissions policies and civil rights concerns will be paused.
Under the terms of the deal, the University of Virginia agrees to implement Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination, which the Trump administration released in late July, tying federal funding with its interpretation of civil rights laws that restrict diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs.
The school also agrees to provide federal prosecutors with relevant information and data on a quarterly basis through 2028, though it will pay no monetary penalty.
“Importantly, it preserves the academic freedom of our faculty, students and staff,” University of Virginia interim President Paul Mahoney said in a letter Wednesday addressed to the school’s community.
“We will be treated no less favorably than any other university in terms of federal research grants and funding. The agreement does not involve external monitoring. Instead, the University will update the Department of Justice quarterly on its efforts to ensure compliance with federal law.”
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has used his executive powers to target dozens of universities, in particular so-called elite institutions, with executive orders, lawsuits, reallocations of resources and threats over a range of allegations, from anti-Semitism to the adoption of DEI policies.
Critics have accused Trump of coercing the schools under threat to adopt his far-right policies.
The University of Virginia is one of the seven schools since Oct. 1 that rejected signing Trump’s 10-part Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. The Trump administration invited nine schools to sign the compact and receive priority access to federal funds in exchange for adopting government-mandated reforms, including a pledge to prohibit transgender women from using women’s changing rooms.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., accused the University of Virginia of relenting to “Trump’s bullying.”
“It’s not just wrong — it’s counterproductive, feeds the beast and just encourages more mafia-like blackmail from this lawless administration,” he said on X.
Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Va., said it was a “surrender” by the University of Virginia.
“And represents a huge expansion of federal power that Republicans have would have never tolerated in the past — we have the right to run our universities,” he said on X.
