Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (L), Vivek Ramaswamy and Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla. (R), visited Donald Trump’s criminal trial in 2024. On Wednesday, Johnson brushed off questions about a restraining order against Mills granted on Tuesday. File Pool Photo by Justin Lane/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 15 (UPI) —Mike Johnson, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, called Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., a “faithful colleague” on Wednesday, one day after he was issued a restraining order.
“I have not heard or looked into any of the details of that. I’ve been a little busy,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol. “We have a House Ethics Committee. If it warrants that, I’m sure they’ll look into that.”
The petitioner was Lindsey Langston, a Republican state committeeperson and Miss United States 2024. She alleged that Mills threatened her on Instagram after blocking him and telling him she didn’t want further contact. “The messages progressively got more threatening over time,” she wrote.
She said he threatened to release nude videos of her.
In his order, the judge said the evidence supported Langston’s allegations that Mills had caused her “substantial emotional distress.” The judge said Mills offered “no credible rebuttal” to her testimony. He found that Langston has a “reasonable cause to believe she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of another act of dating violence” without the restraining order being put in place, Politico reported.
When pressed about the allegations, Johnson brushed them off.
“You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He’s been a faithful colleague here. I know his work on the Hill. I don’t know all the details of all the individual allegations, and what he’s doing — things outside life,” Johnson said. “Let’s just talk about the things that are really serious.”
The restraining order directs Mills, 45, to stay at least 500 feet away from Langston and to not contact her until Jan. 1. The order also blocks Mills from mentioning Langston on social media, according to NBC News.
Spain argues NATO funding should address real threats, not arbitrary targets, amidst Trump’s tariff retaliation plans.
Published On 15 Oct 202515 Oct 2025
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The European Commission and Spain’s government have dismissed US President Donald Trump’s latest threat to impose higher tariffs on Madrid over its refusal to meet his proposed NATO target for defence spending.
Trump said on Tuesday that he was “very unhappy” with Spain for being the only NATO member to reject the new spending objective of 5 percent of economic output, adding that he was considering punishing the Mediterranean country.
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“I was thinking of giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did, and I think I may do that,” Trump added. He had previously suggested making Spain “pay twice as much” in trade talks.
Trade policy falls under the remit of Brussels, and the European Commission would “respond appropriately, as we always do, to any measures taken against one or more of our member states”, commission spokesperson Olof Gill said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
The trade deal between the European Union and the United States signed in July was the right platform to address any issues, Gill added.
“The defence spending debate is not about increasing spending for the sake of increasing it, but about responding to real threats,” Spain’s Economy and Trade Ministry said in a statement.
“We’re doing our part to develop the necessary capabilities and contribute to the collective defence of our allies.”
Spain has more than doubled nominal defence spending from 0.98 percent of gross domestic product in 2017 to 2 percent this year, equivalent to about 32.7bn euros ($38bn).
Defence Minister Margarita Robles said allies weren’t discussing the 5 percent target for 2035 in Wednesday’s meeting because they were prioritising the present situation in Ukraine, but wouldn’t completely rule out a shift in Spain’s position.
Targeted tariffs by the US against individual EU member states are rare, but there are precedents, said Ignacio Garcia Bercero, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based economic think tank Bruegel.
In 1999, the US hit the EU with 100 percent punitive tariffs on products such as chocolate, pork, onions and truffles in retaliation for an EU import ban on hormone-treated beef. But those tariffs excluded Britain, which at the time was still a member of the trade bloc.
The US could impose anti-dumping penalties on European products that are mostly produced in Spain, said Juan Carlos Martinez Lazaro, professor at Madrid’s IE business school.
In 2018, Washington imposed a combination of duties of more than 30 percent on Spanish black table olives at the request of Californian olive growers. Spain’s share of the US market plummeted from 49 percent in 2017 to 19 percent in 2024.
Another option would be moving the naval and air bases the US has in southern Spain to Morocco – an idea floated by former Trump official Robert Greenway – which would damage the local economies through the loss of thousands of indirect jobs.
But when he’s not in the public eye, he lives a quiet family life with his husband Dustin Lance Black and their two children.
The star, 31, has been married since 2017 and became a dad for the first time the following year, and has been open about what family life means to him.
“I used to define myself by diving,” the Mirror quoted Tom as saying in 2021. “If I dived well it reflected on me as a person. Now I’m first and foremost a father and husband.” So who is Tom’s husband?
Is Tom Daley married?
Tom first came out to his fans in a YouTube video in December 2013, in which he shared that his “whole world changed” when he fell in love with a man.
He started dating Dustin, who is a screenwriter, director and producer known for movies such as Milk and J Edgar.
Tom told The Guardian earlier this year that the pair met at a dinner in 2013 and that they “talked and talked until we both realised how similar our lives were”.
“He had just lost his brother; I’d lost my dad,” he said of Dustin, who is almost 20 years older than him. “He had just won his Oscar; I had just won an Olympic medal. It was the first time I could complain about success to somebody who knew I wasn’t really complaining about success.”
The couple revealed their engagement in October 2015 with a traditional wedding announcement in The Times.
They tied the knot in 2017 in Dartmoor National Park, with Tom telling fans on Instagram at the time: “On 6th May 2017, I married the love of my life, @dlanceblack.”
Does Tom Daley have any children?
In 2018, the couple welcomed their son via a surrogate and named him Robert ‘Robbie’ Ray, a tribute to Tom’s dad Robert, who died in 2011.
Second son Phoenix was born in 2023, also via a surrogate.
The following year, Tom announced he was retiring from diving, revealing his decision after the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Tearing up in a moving interview with the BBC, he said: “It’s hard to talk about, it’s emotional… I want to be with my family.”
‘Not only has our past been destroyed but so has our future.’ A Palestinian journalist broke down into tears as he returned to northern Gaza to find his family home as a pile of rubble. Many Palestinians returning to the area are finding nothing left but destruction following Israel’s war.
A car exploded outside a shopping mall in Ecuador’s largest city Guayaquil, killing at least one person and injuring several more. Authorities say the blast was a deliberate act by criminal groups as police hunt for those responsible.
ACTOR Rudy Youngblood has been arrested in Texas after allegedly “choking” a family member.
Belton police took the 43-year-old into custody early Tuesday morning after responding to an incident involving a family or household member.
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Rudy Youngblood, 43 has been arrested for being violent with a family memberCredit: Bell County JailYoungblood starred in the Oscar-nominated film ApocalyptoCredit: Handout
According to authorities, Youngblood allegedly assaulted the victim by impeding their breathing or circulation.
He was booked into Bell County Jail, where he remains held on a $20,000 bond.
Cops say more trouble could be on the way for Apocalypto star Rudy Youngblood – after a shocking discovery during his arrest.
According to police, the actor and former Belton student had an active warrant out of Travis County when he was taken into custody – and officers allegedly found a white crystalline substance on him at the scene.
The 43-year-old is currently locked up in Bell County Jail, and authorities warn that lab results could lead to even more charges piling up against him.
TMZ has contacted the Belton Police Department for further details, but no additional information has been released so far.
Youngblood shot to fame in 2006 playing Jaguar Paw in Apocalypto, and has since appeared in The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine (2023) and Dandelion Season (2021).
He is set to star in the upcoming period drama La Matadora, currently in pre-production, and has several other projects in the pipeline.
The actor was only recently released from jail in Athens, Greece, after spending a week behind bars following a confrontation with police officers late last year.
The 42-year-old Apocalypto star spent New Year’s Eve in custody after allegedly being intoxicated and threatening officers with a knife during a routine police check in the early hours of December 27.
Youngblood claimed the officers were not wearing identifying insignia and failed to explain his rights during the altercation outside an Athens-area precinct.
The Texas-born actor – who has a previous arrest for being drunk and disorderly in 2017 – was charged with resisting arrest, making threats, and carrying a weapon after police found a pocketknife on him.
He received a 10-month suspended prison sentence but was initially held due to an expired visa, which triggered a deportation order.
He later successfully appealed the deportation and was granted permission to leave Greece voluntarily. Upon his release, Youngblood appeared to be in good spirits and was photographed smiling.
He is set to star in the upcoming period drama La Matadora, currently in pre-productionCredit: Getty
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Republican Conference Chairman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., attend a press conference on the government shutdown on Tuesday. The shutdown is on its 15th day. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 15 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Wednesday afternoon on a measure that would fund the government, and President Donald Trump said he plans to release a list Friday of “Democratic” programs he’s eliminated.
Today’s vote will be the 10th Senate vote to open the government, which has now been shut down for 15 days. Democrats and Republicans are still at odds on bills to reopen.
The ninth vote on Tuesday to fund the government until Nov. 21 failed 49-45 with six senators absent. To pass, it needs 60 votes.
Trump’s list of cut programs is scheduled to be released Friday.
“We are closing up Democrat programs that we disagree with, and they’re never going to open up again,” Trump said. “We’re able to do things that we’ve never been able to do before. The Democrats are getting killed.”
Though Trump has made funding available for service members to get their next paychecks, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said it’s a temporary measure.
“If the Democrats continue to vote to keep the government closed as they have done now so many times, then we know that U.S. troops are going to risk missing a full paycheck at the end of this month,” Johnson said at his daily press conference.
Democrats are holding out for healthcare subsidies from the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans recently cut from the appropriations bill, and approval for Medicaid funding. Millions of Americans are expected to see their health insurance premiums skyrocket when the subsidies expire at the end of the year.
The longest shutdown lasted 35 days in December 2018 and January 2019. Johnson said that “we’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history unless Democrats drop their partisan demands.”
A house was filmed floating away off Alaska’s coast after Typhoon Halong made landfall over the weekend, killing one person and leaving two missing. More than 1,300 people have been displaced by the storm, with residents saying they witnessed around 20 homes floating out to sea.
US President Donald Trump says Hamas may need to be disarmed ‘violently’ as part of the Gaza peace plan. Hamas has so far not agreed publicly to give up its weapons. Soraya Lennie looks at the key questions over how the process is supposed to work.
Claire Leveque, 24, died from stab wounds to her neck and chest
A man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in a hot tub in Shetland.
Aren Pearson, 41, stabbed 24-year-old Claire Leveque to death at his mother’s home in Sandness on 11 February last year.
Pearson denied murder and claimed in court that Ms Leveque had stabbed herself – but a jury found him guilty after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Judge Lord Arthurson said it was a crime of “exceptional depravity” and “feral butchery” and described Pearson’s evidence in court as “malicious” and “fabricated”.
He will have to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Police said Pearson had a “controlling and violent” relationship with Ms Leveque, and had attempted to degrade and abuse her before the murder.
“The level of violence Aren Pearson inflicted is truly horrifying,” said Det Insp Richard Baird.
Claire Leveque
Aren Pearson said Claire Leveque stabbed herself
Ms Leveque was stabbed more than 25 times on her neck and chest during the attack.
The couple, who are both from Canada, had moved to Scotland in 2023.
The trial was told that Pearson’s late mother Hazel Pearson, who died in May, had dialled 999 on the evening of the murder.
She told police that her son had walked into the kitchen and returned with a knife.
He stabbed himself in the neck and told her that he had hurt his girlfriend.
Ms Pearson then found Ms Leveque in the hot tub, which was in a shed at her home.
“The water was red with blood,” she told police.
“Claire was covered with blood. She had severe injuries to her face.”
Pearson drove his Porsche into the water
Ms Pearson also told detectives that her son had looked like “a zombie” after the attack.
During the 999 call, Pearson took the phone and confessed to the killing. He said he had stabbed his girlfriend about 40 times.
He also confessed to police officers at the crime scene and to a doctor while he was being treated in hospital.
However, giving evidence during the trial he claimed Ms Leveque had struck him, grabbed a knife and then jumped into the hot tub, where she stabbed herself four or five times.
Pearson claimed she had lost her temper after hearing him speak to her father Clint in Canada about how much alcohol she was drinking.
Police Scotland
Pearson was detained after the fatal attack
After being detained by police, Pearson was taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick.
The jury heard that he said he had stabbed himself in the neck, consumed brake fluid and driven his Porsche car into the water.
A&E consultant Dr Caroline Heggie treated him for two days following his arrest.
Prosecutor Margaret Barron asked Dr Heggie if Pearson had said something that stuck with her.
She replied: “He said: ‘I’ve been trying to get rid of her for a while’.”
Lord Arthurson said the evidence in the case had been “substantial and compelling”.
‘Quite unimaginable violence’
He told Pearson: “Your much younger girlfriend – your victim in this case – was isolated and vulnerable in Sandness.
“You had from almost the outset of her arrival there subjected her to a cruel campaign of violence and coercive control.”
The judge said Ms Leveque had died “a squalid death of quite unimaginable multifaceted violence”.
“This was a sustained episode of feral butchery,” he added.
“You have sought to blame Ms Leveque for your own assaults against her, and you have, in a grave insult to her memory and to her bereaved family, put forward a defence that Ms Leveque inflicted these catastrophic injuries upon herself – a defence that the jury have unanimously rejected.”
My daughter texted me ‘I love you’ every night
Ms Leveque’s father Clint said his daughter had been “happy, positive and so friendly to everybody”.
Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Mr Leveque said his daughter was “a typical daddy’s girl”.
“My daughter texted me every night: ‘I love you dad’. Every night of her life,” he said.
“There’s nothing negative that anybody could possibly say about her.”
Mr Leveque said his daughter, who grew up in Westloch, Alberta, had a love of adventure.
Speaking after the verdict, Ms Leveque’s cousin Hope Ingram described her as “a bubbly, fun girl who brought life to every room that she walked into”.
“I miss her terribly,” she said
“It’s so nice that we can now move forward and just remember Claire instead of thinking of this awful incident.”
‘Hard to comprehend’
She thanked everyone who had helped get justice for her cousin.
Ms Ingram said she hoped that as a result, other victims of domestic violence would be able to “move forward and come forward”.
Hope Saunders, who still lives in Canada, was a close friend of Ms Leveque.
“It’s sickening that someone so bright and so young and so beautiful could have her life taken away from her in the flash of a moment like that,” she said.
“It is hard to comprehend and it gives you that sick feeling in your stomach, and her being so far away in the Shetland Islands breaks my heart even more.
“I don’t want to even think about how scared she might have been in that moment.”
Andrea Manson, the convenor of Shetland Islands Council, said she hoped that the guilty verdict brought some closure to Ms Leveque’s family.
“In a normally safe and caring community the tragic loss of a beautiful young lass is a tragedy that’s being felt by everyone in Shetland,” she said.
A presenter has revealed he is the recognisable voice behind the Channel 4 programme introductions we see most days – and shared what a day in the life looks like
You may recognise this presenter’s voice from Channel 4(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
When sitting down to watch television on a night, we get used to seeing repeated adverts, familiar channel logos, and presenters. One voiceover artists has shared what really happens before you hear programme introductions on Channel 4.
Sam Darlastone works as a presenter on Kiss radio and has his own podcast called Embarrassing For No Reason. He also works as a voiceover artist, whose voice you may recognise in between programmes on Channel 4. Now he opened up about how it works. On Instagram, he shared a video of him introducing what was on. Sam said: “If you’ve heard this sort of thing on TV, this is how it comes together. So you may have heard that or something similar on TV before that is called a trending menu.”
Explaining, the presenter added: “So trending menus actually start way before they reach the voice overs here at Channel 4, the team will pick three shows to focus on, some will be old some will be new, well most will be new.”
He noted there will be a mix of genres included in the announcement. He shared: “When I finally get there [to the Channel 4 studios] my job is to spend the afternoon scripting, which sometimes surprises people because in certain voiceover rolls you wouldn’t write your own script, but for these we do.”
Sam added he will be giving a brief with a time slot, typically around 20 seconds, and three programmes to talk about.
He noted: “Then we head down to the recording booth – or some people call it the dungeon.”
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He claimed he records with the video of the show in front of him. He also previously admitted that sometimes he makes mistakes and doesn’t always get it perfect on the first try.
“Great to put a face to the voice,” commented one. “I love this geeky stuff,” said another. One called Sam “the coolest guy for the coolest channel”.
“Love a good insight into some art being made,” wrote a third. Another added: “Love listening to your voice.”
Another wrote: “You’re the Channel 4 voiceover! I’ve heard your voice loads while watching Friday Night Dinner and Channel 4 Player.”
One other said: “I will never hear your channel 4 voice overs the same again.”
“I’ve often thought about this – and no can see the face to the voice,” one other added.
The picture for the FIFA World Cup 2026 became a lot clearer on Tuesday when a number of top teams across the continents booked their place at football’s global showpiece.
The number of confirmed teams has now risen to 28 following the latest round of qualifiers, with another 20 still to be filled by various confederational playoffs, intercontinental playoffs, and – in Europe’s case – the main qualifying stage, which still needs to be completed.
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England, South Africa and Qatar were among the headline names to book their place at the tournament on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the tournament that the nations around the world are all vying to reach.
When and where is the FIFA World Cup 2026?
The tournament is being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The first match will be played in Mexico City on June 11, while the final will be staged in New Jersey, US, on July 19.
Due to the expansion of the tournament – from 32 teams to 48 – the 39-day event is the longest in its history.
When will we know all the teams for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
FIFA’s intercontinental playoffs will be the last chance saloon for teams around the world to reach next summer’s event. The finale of that route will be on March 31, 2026, less than three months before the World Cup kicks off. The European qualification process runs until March, but most of the remaining confederations will have finished their continental qualification processes long before then.
What are the FIFA intercontinental playoffs?
Once the respective confederations finish their qualification process, FIFA offers two final spots to be contested by the best-placed team from each of the six continental routes that have not already qualified.
When is the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
Although we will not know the full list of teams for the event until the end of March 2026, the draw will take place on December 5, 2025.
Where will the draw be held for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
The draw will take place in the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. US President Donald Trump confirmed the location while speaking in the Oval Office at the White House, flanked by Vice President JD Vance and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. He did not rule out overseeing the draw itself.
What will the format be for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
With the expansion to 48 teams, the World Cup will now feature 12 four-team groups. That in turn will lead to a round of 32, an extra knockout round to previous editions.
Indeed, the tournament has doubled in size since it was staged in the US in 1994, when only 24 teams competed.
Can Trump move games at the FIFA World Cup 2026?
Trump has been quite clear and consistent on the staging of games within the US, saying he will move the games from any cities that he deems to be unsafe.
On September 26, when Trump was asked about games being moved, he warned: “Well, that’s an interesting question … but we’re going to make sure they’re safe. [Seattle and San Francisco are] run by radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing.”
How will the FIFA World Cup 2026 game staging be split between the hosts?
The US will stage games in 11 cities: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey/New York (joint host region), Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle.
Canada will host 13 games in total, split between Toronto and Vancouver. Mexico will also get 13 games, which will be played in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
Where will the FIFA World Cup 2026 final be staged?
Argentina won the last edition of the FIFA World Cup, beating France in the final of Qatar 2022.
With the game level at 3-3 after extra time, Argentina won the penalty shootout 4-2.
Will the weather affect games at the FIFA World Cup 2026?
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was staged in the US, and the heat and resulting thunderstorms proved to be a huge problem for the tournament.
Three stadiums – in Arlington, Atlanta and Houston – have retractable roofs that are expected to be closed due to the summer heat, while Inglewood and Vancouver have fixed roofs.
Which teams have already qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
After the latest round of qualifying matches, here is a breakdown of the confirmed contenders from each of the six regions:
Hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA
Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
Which teams can still qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026?
Africa: Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Nigeria will play off for the final intercontinental spot from the continent. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced November 13 for the first matches, followed by a deciding match three days later.
Asia: UAE and Iraq will vie for one intercontinental playoffs spot when they compete over two legs in the final stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers on November 13 and 18.
Europe: 53 of the 54 European teams vying for 16 qualification spots can still confirm their berths, alongside England, as their first-round matches will run until November 18. European qualification will run until March, just before the intercontinental playoffs begin.
North, Central America and the Caribbean: Three spots remain up for grabs, given the World Cup hosts take up three spots already. Bermuda, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago have all advanced to the third round, with the winners to be decided by November 18. The three second-placed teams from each group will then fight for the intercontinental playoffs spot.
Oceania: New Caledonia have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs.
South America: Bolivia have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs, having missed out on one of the six automatic qualifying positions.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The next stage in the evolution of the Gray Eagle Short Takeoff and Landing (GE STOL) drone sees General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) team up with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace for co-development and co-production of the uncrewed aircraft system, with work set to begin immediately. A demonstrator for the medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone has already operated from a South Korean amphibious assault ship, but the new partnership will see production of the Gray Eagle STOL for all customers taking place in South Korea.
GA-ASI’s Mojave demonstrator during takeoff and landing trials on a dirt strip near El Mirage, California, in August 2023. GA-ASI
As for the Gray Eagle STOL, this is the latest iteration of GA-ASI’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS. At the center of the Gray Eagle STOL is its ability to operate from remote or austere locations with rough strips and limited logistical support. GA-ASI says the aircraft will be able to operate from semi-improved surfaces, including dirt roads, open fields, beaches, and parking lots. The same capabilities render it suitable for flying from aircraft carriers and big-deck assault ships, too.
In the past, GA-ASI has described the Gray Eagle STOL as its “most rugged UAS design,” although it’s worth noting that the basic MQ-1C Gray Eagle for the U.S. Army already put something of a premium on efficiency and usability. The original MQ-1C Gray Eagle was tailored for warfare in the Middle East, uses a heavy-fuel piston engine instead of a turboprop, and can be operated by a cadre of enlisted soldiers.
MQ-1C Gray Eagle. U.S. Army
Under the new joint initiative, GA-ASI and Hanwha plan to build a production-representative Gray Eagle STOL aircraft, which should take to the air in 2027. The companies will, in the meantime, establish a production line that will be able to provide the Gray Eagle STOL to customers in the United States and South Korea, as well as globally, and which should result in cost savings for the drone. The first deliveries to customers should take place in 2028.
“GA-ASI and Hanwha are committed to investing in this project and building development and production capabilities in South Korea,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “We’ll be leveraging the expertise of both companies to quickly bring the Gray Eagle STOL to global customers.”
“This landmark agreement marks the beginning of a new phase in U.S.-Korea defense cooperation, extending beyond traditional alliance structures to deliver next-generation, runway-independent UAS solutions that maximize commanders’ options in the face of evolving mission demands,” GA-ASI said in a statement.
The next steps will see GA-ASI and Hanwha Aerospace working closely together to complete the design phase for the drone and then establish a production facility in South Korea. The final assembly and manufacturing of the GE STOL will be the responsibility of Hanwha in South Korea, with GA-ASI handling the final integration. Meanwhile, GA-ASI will continue to produce other Gray Eagle models at its plant in San Diego, California.
An early rendering of the Gray Eagle Short Takeoff and Landing (GE STOL) drone. GA-ASI
GA-ASI says the new partnership “offers the fastest path with lowest risk to operational capability.”
“Co-producing GE STOL in South Korea and the U.S. will create jobs and help Hanwha secure talent in related fields as well as foster our domestic (Korean) UAS industry ecosystem,” said Jae-il Son, president and CEO of Hanwha Aerospace. “Hanwha is poised to become a comprehensive UAS company capable of executing everything from design to production and maintenance based on our capabilities, which span from fighter jet engines to radar and avionics equipment.”
For Hanwha, the Gray Eagle STOL also presents a way of gaining a foothold in the South Korean military. The country’s armed forces already operate a diverse drone fleet, including Israeli-supplied aircraft. However, on the domestic front, this segment is currently dominated by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Korean Air, both of which already build drones for the South Korean military.
However, GA-ASI has already been working closely with the South Korean Ministry of Defense as it continues to develop the Gray Eagle STOL drone.
Last year, the Mojave demonstrator was used in a demonstration when it took off from the Republic of Korea Navy’s amphibious landing ship ROKS Dokdo, as it was underway off the coast of Pohang, South Korea.
The Mojave drone at the rear of the flight deck of the Dokdo amphibious assault ship in the Sea of Japan. Republic of Korea Armed Forces
The Mojave has also been used for takeoff and landing trials aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in 2023.
Other milestones for the demonstrator drone have included live-fire testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, using the Dillon Aero DAP-6 Minigun, and operations from a dirt strip to prove its STOL credentials, something we have reported on before. The stated performance of the Mojave includes a takeoff run of 400 feet for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, or 1,000 feet when armed with 12 Hellfire missiles.
Clearly, having Hanwha Aerospace onboard the Gray Eagle STOL program, including local production, should make the drone even more attractive to South Korea.
As well as operating from the two Dokdo class amphibious assault ships — the drone doesn’t necessarily need a catapult for launch or arresting gear for recovery — the Gray Eagle STOL could be a valuable addition to the South Korean military’s land-based units.
The Republic of Korea Navy’s amphibious landing ship ROKS Dokdo takes part in maneuvers in waters near Busan, South Korea, in June 2013. Republic of Korea Armed Forces
For the Republic of Korea Army, the Gray Eagle STOL’s runway independence would be a huge advantage during any kind of conflict with North Korea. In the past, GA-ASI has outlined the fact that the drone’s commanders “can choose virtually any bases of operation and take advantage of unconventional locations not normally affiliated with unmanned aircraft or aviation operations as an added level of survivability and surprise.”
In such a scenario, it would likely be in heavy demand for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA), as well as strike. Meanwhile, its manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capability could see it operate closely with the Republic of Korea Army helicopter fleet, including the AH-64E Apache.
A Republic of Korea Army AH-64E Apache during a live-fire military exercise in Pocheon in September 2022. Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP ANTHONY WALLACE
The Gray Eagle STOL is also intended, from the ground up, to be rapidly deployed to remote locations by C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft, a type also operated by South Korea. GA-ASI says the drone can be ready to fly from austere locales in as little as 1.5 hours once rolled out the back of a C-130. This makes it ideal for different sorts of distributed and expeditionary operations.
As well as the aforementioned Mojave weapons, the Gray Eagle STOL is planned to be armed with launched effects, a capability that it inherits from the improved Gray Eagle 25M. The latter was developed to provide the U.S. Army with the option to procure a more advanced version of the MQ-1C, which would incorporate various enhancements to better meet the demands of a future conflict, likely to be expeditionary peer conflicts rather than a counterinsurgency fight.
Concept artwork from GA-ASI showing a Gray Eagle 25M launching the company’s Eaglet air-launched drones. GA-ASI
GA-ASI has previously underlined the potential use of this drone to tackle enemy air defense systems in a large and very contested battlefield — just like the one that South Korea could face if it goes to war with its neighbor. In this scenario, the drone would lob its launched effects toward the air defenses before acting as a “quarterback,” relaying data gathered by the smaller drones to other friendly elements, be they aircraft, long-range fires, or other platforms.
Gray Eagle 25M. GA-ASI
At the same time, the growing questions around the survivability of drones like this need to be acknowledged. The Gray Eagle STOL and its relatives are potentially vulnerable even when faced by lower-end adversaries, a fact that has been underscored by the scale of losses suffered by U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones when faced by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. The use of LEs at standoff distances and the addition of self protection and electronic warfare pods, as well as combined force tactics, will help them in the fight in the years to come.
The Gray Eagle STOL would also port other advanced technologies over from the Gray Eagle 25M, including the EagleEye synthetic aperture radar, which can detect and track ground targets out to 50 miles and maritime targets out to 124 miles. GA-ASI is also working to introduce an increased-range active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna, which is intended to allow it to operate beyond the weapons effects zone of many threat systems.
As we have highlighted in the past, the Gray Eagle STOL would also seem to offer a broad portfolio of capabilities that could be of particular relevance to the U.S. military as it prepares for a future high-end conflict, especially one fought in the Pacific against China.
In the past, GA-ASI has specifically said that the “Gray Eagle STOL might go with American forces into an expeditionary base deep downrange, co-locating with them as necessary to support missions, including delivery of supplies with the range to reach from island chain to island chain for units separate from the main body. Operating from a semi-prepared landing zone, a dirt road, or any paved surface, it expands commanders’ options.”
Other roles planned for the Gray Eagle STOL include logistics, and GA-ASI has explored the idea of underwing pods capable of carrying up to 1,000 pounds of cargo. This could be of particular interest for the U.S. military, as it looks increasingly at diverse distributed logistics chains as an essential requirement for supporting future operations in contested environments, especially in the context of a potential future high-end conflict, including in the Pacific.
With these kinds of peer and near-peer conflicts in mind, the Gray Eagle STOL is also intended to be more resilient to hostile electronic warfare jamming, especially to GPS networks. It will have vision-based navigation that can be used to overcome GPS jamming and have SATCOM anti-jam technologies.
Ultimately, the Gray Eagle STOL should emerge as a drone that’s able to fly a wide range of missions, from a variety of land bases and ships. It’s clear that, with their new partnership, GA-ASI and Hanwha Aerospace foresee interest from operators outside of the U.S. and South Korean militaries, too.
KIM Kardashian has sensationally admitted that she doesn’t know the price of a carton of milk.
Fans have now blasted the 44-year-old fashion mogul and billionaire as ‘out of touch’ for not knowing how much simple groceries cost.
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Kim Kardashian has made a candid confession – but fans think she’s ‘out of touch’Credit: You Tube/Call Her DaddyShe confessed how she does not know how much a carton of milk isCredit: YouTube/FergieShe previously starred in Fergie’s music video while getting showered in milkCredit: YouTube/Fergie
Appearing on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, Kim opened up about how much money she spends on beauty products before dropping her bombshell confession.
Alex asked Kim how much she spends on her glam routine.
She responded, “If I’m filming my show, then they pay for it.
“So, I try to get it all paid for so that I don’t personally have to pay for it.”
The billionaire, who is said to be worth over $1.7billion, then confessed she doesn’t have a concept on what things tend to cost.
Making the candid confession on the podcast, she said, “I mean, I don’t have a concept of what like certain simple things cost.”
She added, “I’d like I’d like to know a little bit more about what a milk carton cost.”
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‘SO OUT OF TOUCH’
On Reddit, one person reacted, “I cant believe she doesnt know the price of a carton of milk! so out of touch.”
Meanwhile, on X, someone else said, “Awww poor rich girl.”
“A million on beauty but clueless about basic groceries? Sounds like priorities are wildly skewed,” penned another.
Kim later confessed to Alex that she wasn’t sure how much her glam costs each year, but said it could be one million dollars before saying how “this hair isn’t cheap”.
Kim’s “out of touch” comment about the price of a carton of milk comes after the reality star has posed while drinking milk on several occasions.
She famously appeared in Fergie’s music video for the hit M.I.L.F. $.
In the video, Kim could be seen drinking milk while donning a sexy ensemble.
She has also posed while drinking milk for various photoshoots in the past, too.
Oct. 15 (UPI) — Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that one of the four bodies returned from Gaza in this week’s cease-fire deal did not belong to any of the hostages taken by Hamas.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it has completed the identification process and informed that the families of Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levy that their remains have been returned to Israel.
“The government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Baruch, Nimrodi and Levy families, and the families of the fallen hostages,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
The IDF said the fourth body has yet to be identified.
“Following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages,” the IDF said, according to NBC News. Hamas has returned the bodies of seven hostages out of the 28 bodies believed to be held in Gaza.
Israel’s far-right security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, called for a halt on humanitarian aid into Gaza, accusing Hamas of not putting enough effort into recovering the remaining dead hostages, The Guardian reported. Hamas negotiators said nine of the bodies weren’t able to be recovered amid rubbling from bombing.
“Enough with the disgrace,” Ben Gvir said.
“Moments after opening the crossings to hundreds of trucks, Hamas very quickly returned to its known methods — to lie, to cheat, and to abuse families and the bodies. This Nazi terror understands only force, and the only way to deal with it is to erase it from the face of the earth.”
The Israel Defense Forces said Nimrodi, a member of the IDF, was taken alive at the age of 18 from the Coordination and Liaison Headquarters base in the Gaza Division, and is believed to have been killed at the beginning of the war.
Baruch, 35, a husband and father of two, was killed on Oct. 7, 2023. The IDF said he was fleeing the Nova music festival and his body was taken back into Gaza. The military had confirmed on March 26, 2024, that he had died.
Levy, 53, was also killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and his body was taken back into Gaza, the IDF said, adding that officials confirmed on Dec. 8, 2023, that he was dead. He leaves behind a son and a sister.
“The IDF shares in the families’ grief, continues to invest all efforts in returning the bodies of the fallen hostages and is preparing to continue implementing the agreement,” the military said.
Israel said Tuesday night that it had received the remains of four deceased hostages that Hamas had kidnapped during its surprise attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the two-year-long war. A total 251 hostages were taken that day.
The bodies were returned as part of the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that began to be implemented Monday when Hamas released 20 living hostages to Israel and Israel released nearly 2,000 detainees into Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
No living hostages remain in Gaza following Monday’s exchange, though it is believed that the bodies of 20 deceased hostages remain in Gaza.
Israel had said Tuesday that the bodies of the four deceased hostages were transferred to the IDF via the Red Cross inside the Palestinian enclave and were transported into Israel where they were received in a military ceremony.
After two years in an Israeli jail, Yousef Salem set out on a journey to his house in Gaza. The former detainee, who says he was tortured during his time in captivity, was confronted by the devastation of Israel’s onslaught when he finally arrived home. This is his story.
If you are not prepared for it, fame can be downright deadly. Alanis Morissette knows that better than anyone. Thirty years ago, she released her third studio album, “Jagged Little Pill,” which won five Grammys, including album of the year and best rock album, and went on to sell 33 million copies.
So, Morissette has a complicated relationship with fame. Now, she will be examining that and many other dimensions of her incredible three-decade career in a new Vegas residency at Caesars Palace that begins Wednesday and runs until Nov. 2.
As Morissette explained in a wide-ranging talk with The Times, the Vegas show will be much more than a concert. The show will take on a narrative feel that will showcase her humor, improv, wellness and all the other traits that have defined her over the years.
I love that you paired with Carly Simon on the song “Coming Around Again” because I see such a kinship based on you two over generations. There is so much in common between “You’re So Vain” and “You Oughta Know.” Not the least of which is I am sure you are both beyond over being asked, “Who is the song really about?”
Right, because what people don’t understand, and I can’t speak for Carly, but there’s a difference between revenge and revenge fantasy. I’m all about the revenge fantasy and punching pillows and gyrating and sweating and losing your s— in art. And Lord knows I’m unmeasured in other areas day-to-day, too, so it’s not like I’m some paragon of containment, but yeah, just the revenge thing, there’s a lot of schoolyard stuff going on. That’s all I’ll say for the moment.
Obviously, this is 30 years of “Jagged Little Pill.” I remember seeing Bruce Springsteen in ’88, when he did “Born to Run” acoustic. Every night when he introduced it, he would say,“I was thinking about how much that song was me, and how much I don’t want it to be me.” And I thought that was so interesting because, of course, there are songs you want to be you. So, what songs did you want to be you?
Yeah, there are so many songs that I would write about potential. So, I’d be in a relationship, and I would be writing about what I wanted to the point where whomever I may have been dating at the time, if I shared the song with them, sometimes they would say, “Who’s this about? This can’t possibly be about me.” I’m like, “Well, you know what? You’re onto something there. This is about what I wish we could be.” I think about also a song, because I’m working on the Vegas show, so we’re integrating so much. And I think the song “Not the Doctor” is probably one of the ones that I realized the naivety of having written, like, your issues just get away from me. Having been married now for 15 years, I realized that your partner’s challenges, you take each other on — all of it. So, there’s a little bit of knowledge now that makes “Not the Doctor” funny to sing.
And then “Incomplete” is a song that is a manifestation, as you just described, that I would be good. It’s like a prayer manifestation. There’s a song, “Knees of My Bees,” that I wrote about what I wished. In praise of the vulnerable man, it was what I wished. So yes, there’s some composites being made where I take seven people whom I had a similar pattern repeat, and I just lop them all into one song as one person and unify the communication; there’s no holds barred.
Has there been talk about extending the show? It does sound like you are putting a crazy amount of work into a show that right now lasts little more than a week.
For a long time — and a lot of journalists have said, “Yeah, right,” when I say this — but my energy doesn’t go into outcome. Whether the show is seen three times or 300,000 times, that’s not up to me in this moment. I’m creating stories and sharing parts of myself that I have hidden for the ’90s imperative of staying in your lane or it’s career suicide. So, I’m still unlearning that, which is the reductiveness of the ’90s, where you have to stay one thing. Then, well, what is one supposed to do if they have multiple talents or multiple intelligences dying to be expressed? We’re going to contain that so that we can keep the ’90s credo going. So, over the years, it’s just been, can I bring these other aspects of self into the whole expression of me through academia, through movement, through channeling, through live shows, through interviews right now? There are so many ways to express, and the ’90s really did say, “You do it one or two ways; you step out of that and your career is over.” Thank God that messaging is softened.
How have you seen culture and values change over your career?
It used to be “I want to be a millionaire,” and now everyone wants to be a billionaire. It used to be “I want to look 21 forever,” now it’s “I want to look 14 forever.” And then it used to be “I want to have fame as a means to an end for activism.” Now it’s just “I want fame as an end,” so it’s an interesting value system snapshot right now. And so many of us are flying in the face of it, so I’m not really worried about that. But the value system has gotten smaller almost, as though fame in and of itself is going to correct our attachment wounds. It doesn’t work, and I’m constantly raising my hand going, I thought fame would result in this profound sense of community that I’d be amongst my people and we’d be petting each other’s heads by the fire. That was not the case.
I think for anyone who comes out the other side of fame, there has to be a tremendous sense of gratitude that you survive it.
That’s a big piece of this Vegas show without me nailing it on the head or belaboring the point. It’s like, “How are some of us still here?”
How do you express that in the show? And it is interesting given your passion for wellness and mental health, it is in Vegas. Which has never been known for either.
Yeah, Vegas has been known for addiction and gambling, acting out, sexual acting out. What is Vegas known for? “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” It’s been known for that, but I believe that there’s a whole seismic shift going on. I have never underestimated people who come to my shows. Even in workshops, people are like, “Alanis, it’s too much.” And my thought is, “No, it’s not.” People can close their eyes, they can walk out, they can shut the radio off, they can take a break in the cafeteria. Part of why I love that it’s Vegas is that there’s this ceilinglessness in terms of no holds barred again, like I want to wear a boa. You want to do a backflip. Apparently, we’re doing a backflip. What has happened over the years is that again, it was this one-lane push, stay in your lane. And while this was all happening, there were all these other archetypal imperatives getting at me, like what about dancing? What about comedy? What about article writing? What about keynote speaking? What about workshop leading? What about channeling? There are all these other forms of expression that I live for. So, in some ways, I was cultivating them maybe privately. That’s just who I am. And I integrated it into every lyric.
Sinéad [O’Connor] said this perfectly, I don’t know word for word what she said, but the essence was you love the art, but you hate the artist. She said something about, “I appreciate that my audience wants everyone to hear more angry emotions from me through my songs, but then I have to be angry. And no one takes that into consideration.” I was like, “Yeah, because we’re used in the best way possible.” Artists are used as a screen upon which people identify themselves or people find who they are by hating and loving and trolling and attacking and it’s all projection, everything’s f— projection. So yeah, I just think people who are in the public eye have an experience inside of a social construct that is so violently unusual. And there’s no empathy afforded to them for that, other than maybe from people like you and me.
“There are all these other forms of expression that I live for,” says Alanis Morissette. “So, in some ways, I was cultivating them maybe privately. That’s just who I am. And I integrated it into every lyric.”
(Shervin Lainez)
How did you learn to deal with it? Unfortunately for Sinéad, she never was able to handle the fact that people were so hateful toward her, even though it had nothing to do with her.
I know, and basically that is the lack of handbook that is egregious, because so many people who were in the public eye are now physically gone. So much of it is their temperament, and I used to do talks at the neurobiology conferences at UCLA, and I would bring up the idea of temperament needing to be taken into consideration, whether it’s around suicidality or anything. Most artists are highly sensitive empaths. That is a version of neurodivergence over excitability, high-achieving, profound subtle awareness and attunement. All of these qualities that make the sweetest artists. And yet that temperament in a world that is doing what you just described Sinéad receiving, which is projecting hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. There’s no handbook on how to go, “Hey, we’re going to do shadow work here. We’re going to talk about rejection. We’re going to talk about if anyone’s saying anything that brings something up for you, bring it into therapy. Look at that part. Look at what they’re saying.” Also, always from me, look at the opposite. If you’re being invited to look at the part of you that is an a—. Always also look at the part of you that is deeply, deeply kind. For me, that’s the wholeness journey.
Being older, what have you learned about how to deal with all this?
I really do believe, Steve, that I could write a f— handbook now. I feel like if you and I got together, I could write the handbook, and we just hand it out to all the new celebs.
Do you now feel a responsibility to be able to pass your wisdom on to the new generation like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo?
I feel great passion about it. I happen to be someone who is hilariously conscientious and intensely empathic. I’m always blown away by them, and then I see people like Olivia and I just think, “Oh, everything’s going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay if Olivia exists; we’re good.” [laughs]
What happened to your book?
What’s interesting is I did two years worth of narrative storytelling that we recorded. Initially it was for a memoir, or some version of what was being asked for was a memoir. That’s kind of a hard “no” for me because we’re using all the pieces that feel relevant to this particular story. The reason I didn’t want to do the memoir is ’cause there’s no way to articulate a life. There’s way to articulate snapshots. There’s a way to articulate chapters, maybe. But there’s no way to articulate, like, this is my sentimental life story. It’s not possible. So that’s why songs are so great. It’s like four minutes of a moment. Let’s just keep writing these moments and capturing these moments and that’s what Vegas is for me: a moment.
One of the things I’ve talked about with artists that they love so much about Vegas residency is you get to mix it up night to night. But it sounds like you’re going to have a show, so are you going to be incorporating different stuff or is it going to be more of a narrative story?
Both. For me as an actor, I’ve always enjoyed improv. I love it when there’s a general sense of structure for something, but then go off within it. This is the way I’ve always been, both sides of the brain. I want some structure and predictability and some version of a set list, which we already have. But then within some of the interstitial stuff and the scenes and the comedy and the physicality and the movement, yeah, it’s a movable feast. We’ll see what happens. I am completely out of my wheelhouse publicly, not privately, because I was in improv teams since I was 14. And I think comedy is one of the best forms of activism art, I really do, maybe even above music. So, we’re integrating all these forms of art. And I’m not thinking about any outcome. It’s really amazing to write a record, write a song, write an email, frankly, with no agenda. The agenda is just “let’s express ourselves.” And that’s plenty.
Do you feel like you’re having more fun now at this point in your career than any other point?
I have the most fun with collaborating. So, I can’t say this is any more fun, but I can say that there’s more people. So, in the past, it’s been me alone writing or me and my bestie writing or me and Glen [Ballard] writing. So, in some ways it was insulated, isolated and with the musical and with Vegas, let’s multiply those collaborators by at least five. What I’ve said a few times, and I still stand by it, is that for me, the happiest place is in this communal “can’t swing a dirty sock without hitting a master” kind of environment, and it is truly six plus six is a thousand for us.
Do you feel like, as you’re getting older, people are embracing you more?
Yeah, I make more sense. There was a period of time where I didn’t make any sense and perhaps there wasn’t that much resonance. And then 25, 30 years later, I feel like I’m starting to make sense to the world in a way that I didn’t expect to happen. I just always thought, “Oh, I’ll be on that smallest part of the bell-shaped curve forever and I’ll probably be kind of lonely there. And that’s just what it is in this lifetime.” But here I am 30 years later and I’m starting to get a sense that what I’ve been talking about this whole time is resonant for people. And I can’t tell you how healing that is for me.
Oct. 15 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump issued guarantees that Hamas will lay down its arms in line with his 20-point peace plan, but warned that if the terror group failed to comply, it would be disarmed, quickly and possibly by force.
Speaking to reporters in the White House at a bilateral lunch with visiting Argentinian President Javier Milei on Tuesday, Trump said that in indirect conversations with Hamas, the group had assured him they would disarm and that their weapons would be taken from them if they failed to do so — but he declined to say how.
“I don’t have to explain that to you. But if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I’m not playing games. It will happen quickly and perhaps violently. But they will disarm, do you understand me?
Asked how long he would give Hamas to disarm, Trump refused to provide a deadline but said they would be given a “reasonable period of time.”
The plan, as published by the administration, states that all military, terror, and offensive infrastructure in Gaza, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and that independent monitors would oversee a demilitarisation process, including “placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning.”
Until now, Hamas has always insisted that it would only disarm upon the establishment of a Palestinian State.
Trump’s comments came as Hamas was using a vacuum created by the withdrawal of Israeli forces from around half of the land area of Gaza in line with the first phase of the deal to reassert its authority, using its weapons to settle scores with rivals on the ground.
The group posted a video online on Tuesday showing Hamas fighters executing “collaborators and outlaws.” The eight men were kneeling down, hooded and shackled, as they were shot dead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahutold CBS News that he hoped the follow-up phases of his country’s deal with Hamas would go to plan and remain peaceful, but appeared to mirror Trump’s position, saying the president had been unequivocal that Hamas must disarm and demilitarize, or “all hell breaks loose.”
Netanyahu said he strongly hoped it would be the former, not the latter, and that Israel was “certainly ready to do this peacefully.”
“We agreed to give peace a chance. First, Hamas has to give up its arms. And second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There’s no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That’s demilitarization,” added Netanyahu.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in court to testify in his corruption trial, days after U.S. President Trump called for him to be pardoned. Protesters outside the court demanded the trial continue as a test of Israel’s democracy. Netanyahu denies all charges.
