TODAY

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

The caption to this week’s top shot reads:

View of food, sanitation, and survival supplies issued by the U.S. defense department for stocking a 50 person public bomb fallout shelter during the Cold War, 1962. (Photo by Pictorial Parade/Getty Images)

Also, a reminder:

Prime Directives!

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

The Bunker is open!

Contact the editor: Tyler@twz.com

Hamas and allied Palestinian factions have reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter” as the ceasefire in the territory takes effect.

In a joint statement on Friday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined Hamas in lauding the steadfastness of Palestinians, which they said foiled Israel’s plans for mass forced displacement in Gaza.

“We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions are an internal Palestinian matter to be determined by the national component of our people directly,” the statement said.

The groups added that they are working on an “urgent comprehensive national meeting” to discuss next steps after the ceasefire.

“This will unify the Palestinian position, formulate a comprehensive national strategy, and rebuild our national institutions on the foundations of partnership, credibility, and transparency,” they said.

It is not clear whether Fatah, the faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority, has agreed to be part of the meeting.

United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan includes the creation of a new international body, dubbed the “Board of Peace”, that would be tasked with overseeing an interim authority of technocrats to govern Gaza.

According to the scheme, Trump himself would chair the board, which would also include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The first stage of the ceasefire, to which both Hamas and Israel agreed, is linked to Trump’s plan, but it remains unclear how Gaza will be governed going forward.

Captive releases; aid trucks for Gaza

Al Jazeera obtained a copy of the stipulations of the agreement, which calls on Hamas to hand over the Israeli captives within 72 hours without any public celebrations or media ceremony.

The deal also would ensure that at least 600 aid trucks reach Gaza daily, as well as the rehabilitation of water stations and the establishment of camps to shelter people in the enclave.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began their journey to their homes in the north of the territory on Friday as the Israeli military started to withdraw from coastal areas.

The Palestinian Civil Defence said it retrieved 63 bodies from the streets of Gaza City after the truce came into effect on Friday. Thousands of Palestinians remain missing amid difficulty in pulling victims from under the rubble and reaching areas under Israeli military control.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud described near total destruction in Gaza City after weeks of intense Israeli bombardment.

“On the way to Gaza City, as we approached the main entrance on the coastal road, it was already unrecognisable by the vast destruction and devastation of many of the buildings,” Mahmoud said.

“During our displacement journey, when we left the city, we counted 15 buildings either partially standing or still fully intact, inhabited by some of the displaced families. On our way back, we did not see them.”

Later on Friday, the Gaza Government Media Office stressed the need for a comprehensive reconstruction plan for the territory.

The first phase of the agreement calls for the entry of equipment to remove the rubble – a first step towards reconstruction.

The deal also says that United Nations agencies and other aid groups would distribute the humanitarian assistance, effectively sidelining the controversial Israel and US-backed GHF.

Hundreds of Palestinians were killed over the past months as they tried to reach GHF sites deep inside Israeli lines of control. Rights groups have described the mechanism as a death trap.

But GHF announced on Friday that it will continue to operate despite the ceasefire.

“GHF’s team on the ground continues to provide humanitarian aid and food to all those who need it,” GHF executive director John Acree said in a statement.

“We will not rest so long as there are Gazans in need. It’s our mission, and it continues on.”

GHF whistleblowers have documented horrific abuses committed in and around the private foundation’s sites.

Indonesia has denied visas to Israel athletes ahead of the upcoming world championships in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Gymnastics’ governing body has given a muted reaction to Indonesia’s announcement that it would block Israeli athletes from competing at the upcoming world championships in Jakarta.

“The FIG takes note of the Indonesian government’s decision not to issue visas to the Israeli delegation registered for the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics, which will be held in Jakarta from 19-25 October, and recognizes the challenges that the host country has faced in organizing this event,” it said in a short statement on Friday

The statement did not threaten to take the event away from Indonesia, as stipulated in FIG statutes for cases where the host refuses to issue visas.

“The FIG hopes that an environment will be created as soon as possible where athletes around the world can enjoy sports safely and with peace of mind,” it said.

Indonesia’s decision to deny visas to the Israeli athletes came after their planned participation had prompted intense opposition in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which has long been a staunch supporter of Palestinians.

Israel is among 86 countries registered to compete at the worlds, with a team highlighted by 2020 Olympic gold medallist and defending world champion Artem Dolgopyat in the men’s floor exercise.

Now its participation is in doubt, even though the Israeli Gymnastics Federation said in July that it had been assured by Indonesian officials that it would be welcome at the worlds. That would have gone against Indonesia’s longstanding policy of refusing to host Israeli sports delegations for major events.

On Thursday, Indonesia’s senior minister of law, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, made it clear the Israeli team will not be allowed into the country, despite Israel and Hamas having agreed to a ceasefire.

“We respect every decision taken by the government with various considerations,” Indonesian Olympic Committee president Raja Sapta Oktohari told a news conference in Jakarta on Friday.

Indonesian Gymnastics Federation chairwoman, Ita Yuliati, said that she has briefed FIG president Morinari Watanabe about the decision and claimed “the FIG has expressed support”.

The gymnastics spat is the latest example of how the global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza has spread into the arenas of sports and culture.

Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights for football’s Under-20 World Cup in 2023, only two months before the start of the tournament, amid political turmoil regarding Israel’s participation.

Instead of disciplining Indonesia, FIFA awarded the country hosting rights to a different youth World Cup later that year, which Israel had not qualified for.

Indonesian football was seen to benefit from its leader Erick Thohir’s close ties with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who, like Thohir, is a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Joint statement comes more than a month after the E3 countries triggered a mechanism reinstating UN sanctions against Iran.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany have said they wish to restart stalled nuclear talks with Iran and the United States, more than a month after the three European countries triggered a mechanism reinstating the United Nations sanctions on Iran for the first time in a decade.

The E3 countries’ joint statement on Friday came nearly two weeks after UN sanctions were reimposed on Iran, under a “snapback” process that the three nations had initiated on August 28 and that became effective one month later.

In response, Iran recalled its envoys to the three European countries for consultations.

Iran has said that, following those revived sanctions, it would not immediately resume nuclear talks.

The sanctions set up a global ban on cooperation with Iran on nuclear, military, banking and shipping industries.

The sanctions are aimed at imposing new economic pain to pressure Iran, but it remains to be seen if all countries will enforce them. On September 27, the day before the sanctions came into effect, Iran’s national currency, the rial, fell to new all-time lows.

In their joint statement, the UK, France and Germany said: “We are determined to reinitiate negotiations with Iran and the United States towards a comprehensive, durable and verifiable agreement that ensures Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.”

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Monday that “we have no plans for negotiations at this stage”.

He added that Iran was examining the “consequences and implications” of the restart of sanctions.

“Of course, diplomacy – in the sense of maintaining contacts and consultations – will continue,” Baghaei said. “Whenever we feel that diplomacy can be effective, we will certainly make decisions based on the country’s interests and priorities.”

Nuclear fears

Western countries, spearheaded by the US and joined by Israel, accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons – a charge Tehran has long denied.

During a 12-day June conflict, the US bombed nuclear sites in Iran, joining an Israeli air campaign that targeted Iran’s top generals and nuclear scientists, as well as civilians in residential areas. Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles and drones against Israel and sites linked to the US. According to Amnesty International, Israeli attacks on Iran killed at least 1,100 people.

The E3 said in Friday’s statement that “it was right that the snapback mechanism had been triggered”.

“Iran’s nuclear programme poses a serious threat to global peace and security,” the bloc of nations added.

In 2015, the US, along with the E3, Russia and China, concluded an agreement with Iran providing for the regulation of Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

US President Donald Trump decided during his first term in 2018 to withdraw the US from the deal and to reinstate US sanctions.

In retaliation, Iran pulled back from some of its commitments, particularly on uranium enrichment.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only country without a nuclear weapons programme to enrich uranium to 60 percent. That is close to the threshold of 90 percent required for a bomb, and well above the far lower level needed for civilian nuclear use.

Days after a photo went viral showing damage that the aircraft carrier USS Truman incurred during a February collision with a freighter was apparently painted over, the Navy released an explanation.

“The exterior cosmetic damage to USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) sustained from the collision will get repaired during the ship’s upcoming Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding as planned,” a Navy official said. “Immediately following the collision, while in Souda Bay, Greece, new bulkheads were installed inside each of the damaged spaces to establish weathertight integrity.”

The carrier is expected to begin RCOH in the next twelve months. We have reached out the Navy for a firmer date.

Truman was damaged during a collision with the cargo ship M/V Besiktas-M off the coast of Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea.

A photo taken at the time showed multiple large tears through a sponson on the starboard side of the stern end of the ship near one of the aircraft elevators. It was unknown at the time whether there was damage elsewhere. You can see the damage in the following photo taken at the time.

About a week after the collision, Truman was back at sea conducting routine operations after being in port in Greece for repairs. The Navy announced at the time that Truman waas conducting routine operations in the Mediterranean after leaving Greece’s Souda Bay following a so-called Emergent Repair Availability (ERAV). The carrier first arrived in Souda Bay for the ERAV, which was immediately preceded by a more comprehensive damage assessment, on Feb. 16.

The photo showing the painted-over damage was taken on Monday, during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the vessel in Norfolk, Virginia, to celebrate the Navy’s 250th birthday. Though the event was attended by thousands, the damage was partially hidden from view by a huge Navy banner.

It was not until the photo appeared on social media that questions were raised about the existing damage and why it hadn’t been repaired. We reached out to the Navy on Monday and finally received the aforementioned response.

“The U.S. Navy’s ability to rapidly repair its warships anywhere in the world is a testament to our lethality and the warfighting advantage of relationships with Allies and partners,” the Navy official added on Friday. “RCOH is a multi-year project, performed only once during a carrier’s 50-year life and includes refueling of the ship’s two nuclear reactors, as well as significant repair, upgrade and modernization work.”

We will continue to monitor the progress of repairs to the Truman and provide updates when available.

Contact the author: [email protected]

The US president’s announcement comes after China pledged to impose restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals.

United States President Donald Trump has suggested he may scrap a planned meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this month over questions of technology and trade.

Trump and Xi had been expected to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit at the end of this month, in an attempt to lower economic tensions.

But in a social media post on Friday, Trump criticised China over the new controls it announced on the export of rare earth metals. The US president also threatened China with the possibility of steep tariffs.

“I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World,” Trump said. “I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so.”

The relationship between Trump and his Chinese counterpart has been rocky, and both have imposed new measures aimed at countering each other in areas where they are competing for influence, such as technological development.

Rare earth metals are vital for such development, and China leads the world in refining the metals for use in devices like computers, smart phones and military weaponry.

On Thursday, China unveiled a suite of new restrictions on the exports of those products. Out of the 17 elements considered rare earth metals, China will now require export licences for 12 of them.

Technologies involved in the processing of the metals will also face new licensing requirements. Among the measures is also a special approval process for foreign companies shipping metallic elements abroad.

China described the new rules as necessary to protect its national security interests. But in his lengthy post to Truth Social, Trump slammed the country for seeking to corner the rare-earths industry.

“They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China,” Trump wrote.

The Republican president warned he would counter with protectionist moves and seek to restrict China from accessing industries the US holds sway over.

“There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World ‘captive,’ but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the “Magnets” and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position,” Trump said.

“But the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s. I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW!”

The Trump administration had previously imposed massive tariffs on China, one of the US’s largest trading partners.

But those tariffs were eventually eased after the two countries came to an agreement for a 90-day pause that is set to expire around November 9.

The US has previously taken aggressive steps aimed at hobbling China’s tech sector, which it views as a key competitor to its own.

“Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one,” Trump said. “I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right!”

Matthew Horwood/Plaid Cymru

Matthew Horwood/Plaid Cymru

Getty Images

‘Plaything’

‘New leadership’

Donald Trump heading to Israel and Egypt on Sunday after Nobel Committee’s decision not to hand him Peace Prize after Gaza deal.

United States President Donald Trump is heading to the Middle East on Sunday as he looks to assert his perceived role as a peacemaker in the region after the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The visit would come days after the Nobel Peace Prize committee overlooked Trump’s public campaigning for the award and handed it to right-wing Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

The White House has bemoaned the snub, accusing the Norwegian Nobel Committee of putting “place politics over peace”.

But in the Middle East, Trump is likely to be showered with praise from his hosts and credited with securing an end to the war in Gaza and the release of Israeli captives in the territory.

The White House said on Friday that Trump will depart for the Middle East on Sunday night, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher. The US president will first arrive in Israel, where he will make an address on Monday, before continuing on to Egypt, Fisher reported from Washington DC.

Israel and Hamas have already lauded Trump’s role in the negotiations.

But analysts stress that for the deal to turn into long-term peace in Gaza, rather than another brief truce, the US president must pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against restarting the bombardment after the Israeli captives are released.

“I think that Donald Trump wants to oversee this very closely, and I think he wants to continue to send the message to Netanyahu that this is it. At least, that’s what I’m hoping,” said Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

“I assume he’s going to go and say very nice things about Benjamin Netanyahu; that’s what he always does publicly. But let’s hope, let’s hope, that he’s going to apply pressure.”

While Trump is taking much of the credit for the deal, experts say other factors pushed the truce over the line, more than two years into the brutal Israeli assault that United Nations investigators have concluded is a genocide.

Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington DC, said after destroying more than 80 percent of the buildings in Gaza while failing to free the captives, Israel was getting “diminishing returns” from its campaign in the territory.

“Israel is facing growing isolation and costs for continuing down this road. And I think there are also Israeli domestic political factors that influenced the timing of this as well,” Munayyer told Al Jazeera.

Similar proposals to the Trump plan have been on the table for the past two years, but Netanyahu has insisted on continuing the war.

However, the latest ceasefire comes at a time when countries across the world, including some of Israel’s Western allies, are condemning its blockade on Gaza and belligerence across the region, including its attack on Qatar last month.

Despite the international outrage, Israel has continued to receive military and diplomatic support from the US.

Not only did the Trump administration fail to denounce Israel’s policy of imposed starvation in Gaza, it also backed the GHF aid scheme to militarise humanitarian assistance, which killed hundreds of aid seekers.

As Trump celebrates his version of peace in the Middle East, rights advocates say there can be no true stability in the region without ending the occupation and ensuring accountability for the genocide in Gaza.

Nancy Okail, head of the Center for International Policy (CIP) think tank, warned that normalising the horrific abuses in Gaza could lead to the collapse of international institutions.

“If there’s no accountability for what happened in Gaza, it’s a licence for others to do similar things, and that weakens and puts everyone in jeopardy,” she told Al Jazeera.

On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump announced that the United States, working with Egypt, Turkiye and Qatar, had finally reached a ceasefire deal for Gaza. For a moment, it seemed as if Gaza’s long nightmare was coming to an end.

But the ceasefire didn’t bring peace; it only shifted the suffering into a quieter, more insidious form, where the real damage from the rubble began to settle into Gaza’s weary soul. Years of relentless shelling had built up fear and heartbreak that no outsider could erase.

During those two brutal years of bombing and near-total destruction, everyone in Gaza was focused on one thing: Staying alive. We were fighting for every minute, trying not to break down, starve, or get killed. Life became an endless loop of terror and waiting for the next strike. No one had the luxury to dream about tomorrow or even to mourn the people we’d lost. If there was any kind of shelter, and that was a big if, the goal was simply to move from one shattered refuge to another, holding on by a thread. That constant awareness that death could come at any moment turned every day into an act of survival.

Then, when the explosions finally eased, a quieter kind of pain crept in: All the grief we had buried to get through the chaos. Almost everyone had someone torn away, and those pushed-aside memories came rushing back with a force that took the breath out of us. As soon as the rockets fell quiet, another fight began inside people’s chests, one full of mourning, flashbacks and relentless mental anguish. On the surface, it looked like the war was over, but it wasn’t. It was far messier than that. Even when the shelling eased, the emotional wounds kept bleeding.

When the noise finally faded, people began to ask the questions they had forced themselves to ignore. They already knew the answers – who was gone, who would not be coming back – but saying the words out loud made it real. The silence that followed was heavier than any explosion they had survived. That silence made the truth impossible to avoid. It revealed the permanence of loss and the scale of what had vanished. There were holes everywhere, in homes, in streets, in hearts, and there was no way to fill them.

People in Gaza breathed a fragile sigh of relief when the news of a ceasefire arrived, but they knew the days ahead could hurt even more than the fighting itself. After 733 days of feeling erased from the map, the tears locked behind their eyes finally began to fall, carrying with them every ounce of buried pain. Each tear was proof of what they had endured. It was a reminder that a ceasefire does not end suffering; it only opens the door to a different kind of torment.
As the guns fell quiet, people in Gaza were left to confront the full scale of the devastation. You could see it in their faces – the shock, the fury, the grief – the weight of years under fire.

Roads that once hummed with life had fallen silent. Homes that had sheltered families were reduced to dust, and children wandered through the ruins, trying to recognise the streets they had grown up on. The whole place felt like a void that seemed to swallow everything, as bottled-up grief burst open and left everyone floundering in powerlessness. During the onslaught, the occupiers had made sure Palestinians could not even stop to mourn. But with the ceasefire came the unbearable realisation of how much had truly been lost, how ordinary life had been erased. Coming face to face with the absence of loved ones left scars that would not fade, and the tears finally came. Those tears ran down exhausted faces and broken hearts, carrying the full weight of everything remembered.

It was not only the mind that suffered. The physical and social world of Palestinians lay in ruins. When the bombing eased, people crawled out of their makeshift tents to find their homes and towns reduced to rubble. Places that had once meant comfort were gone, and streets that had once been full of life were now heaps of debris.

Families dug desperately through the rubble for traces of their old lives, for roads and signs that had vanished, for relatives still trapped beneath the debris. Amid the wreckage, the questions came: How do we rebuild from this? Where can we find any spark of hope? When an entire world has been destroyed, where does one even begin? Israel’s strategy was clear, and its results unmistakable. This was not chaos; it was a deliberate effort to turn Gaza into a wasteland. By striking hospitals, schools and water systems – the foundations of survival – the aim was to shatter what makes life itself possible. Those strikes sowed a despair that seeps into everything, fraying the bonds of community, eroding trust and forcing families to wonder whether they can endure a system built to erase them.

The destruction went deeper than bricks and bodies. The constant shadow of death, the bombs that could fall anywhere, and the psychological toll made fear feel ordinary, hope seem foolish, and society begin to unravel. Children stopped learning, money disappeared, health collapsed, and the fragile glue holding communities together came undone. Palestinians were not only struggling to survive each day; they were also fighting the slow decay of their future, a damage etched into minds and spirits that will last for generations.

When the fighting subsided, new forms of pain emerged. Surrounded by ruins and with no clear path forward, people in Gaza faced an impossible choice: Leave their homeland and risk never returning, or stay in a place without roads, schools, doctors or roofs. Either choice ensured the same outcome – the continuation of suffering by making Gaza unlivable. Endless negotiations and bureaucratic deadlocks only deepened the despair, allowing the wounds to fester even as the world spoke of “peace”.

The ceasefire may have stopped the shooting, but it ignited new battles: Restoring power and water, reopening schools, rebuilding healthcare, and trying to reclaim a sense of dignity. Yet the larger question remains: Will the world settle for symbolic aid and empty speeches, or finally commit to helping Palestinians rebuild their lives? Wars carve deep wounds, and healing them takes more than talk. It demands sustained, tangible support.

After two years under siege, Gaza is crying out for more than quiet guns. It needs courage, vision and real action to restore dignity and a sense of future. The ceasefire is not a finish line. It marks the start of a harder struggle against heartbreak, memory and pain that refuses to fade. If the world does not act decisively, Palestinian life itself could collapse. Rebuilding communities, routines and a measure of normalcy will be slow and difficult, but it has to happen if Gaza is to keep going. Outwardly, the war may have paused, but here it has only changed shape. What comes next will demand everything we have left: Endurance, stubborn hope, the will to stay standing.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un vowed to turn the country into a ‘socialist paradise’ during a huge ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

“Any misperceptions, missed deadlines or misinterpretations can scupper this whole [ceasefire].”

Lecturer in International Security, Robert Geist Pinfold says things will “get complicated” now that the Gaza ceasefire has been agreed between Hamas and Israel.

However, Shore said R360, which organisers say has attracted investment from a variety of funds and individuals, is fundamentally different to PWR, which supports the rest of the game.

“Our league houses just over 500 players, and they go from 18-year-olds up to players in their 30s with 100 caps for their country,” Shore said.

“Our job is not just the athlete with 100 caps, though.

“Our clubs have invested millions in schools, in colleges, in university partnerships, in building out their pathway projects and work with the Rugby Football Union, who are doing the same.

“If R360 are a private, limited company they don’t have to do that. Their purpose is to do something that’s innovative and exciting at the top of the game.

“The one thing that you do read consistently is that they plan to break even in year two. So the goal is to make money for the people who invest in it.”

The unions said in their joint statement that R360 was “designed to generate profits and return them to a very small elite, potentially hollowing out the investment that national unions and existing leagues make in community rugby, player development and participation pathways”.

Yann Roubert, the head of the French club game, said, external on Wednesday that “you don’t build a sport by bypassing those who build it”.

R360 said it will put “players first” and offer the highest standards of support, and that the investment and attention it will attract can help the sport as a whole.

Northrop Grumman has been doing detailed design work that lays a path to air-launching its Lumberjack loitering one-way attack drone from Kratos’ stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft. Multiple crewed and uncrewed aircraft are being eyed as potential platforms for employing Lumberjack, which is already being tested in surface-launched modes and will have the ability to drop its own smaller precision munitions.

In a statement to TWZ today, Northrop Grumman confirmed that “Valkyrie is one of the multiple platforms we’re doing detailed design work for to ensure compatibility with Lumberjack” and that “Valkyrie is a good representation of a possible use case.” The XQ-58 is prominently featured in the Lumberjack product card available on Northrop Grumman’s website at the time of writing. It also depicts a Lumberjack launching a Hatchet miniature precision-guided glide bomb, which the company also produces, and that we will come back to later on.

Our own Howard Altman also recently had a chance to talk with Michael Bastin, Northrop Grumman’s director of programs for Lumberjack, to get a broader update on its ongoing development. The new one-way attacker was first unveiled in April at this year’s Modern Day Marine conference.

Since then, Lumber has “participated in both of the T-REX events this year. So, those are the technology, readiness, and experimentation events hosted by OUSD(R&E) [the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, also now referred to as the Office of the Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering],” Bastin said. “Those are really valuable for us. We got a chance to get operators to look and engage with the system, [and] actually do an end-to-end simulated mission in a relevant type of environment with a lot of capabilities that people were looking for.”

At the T-REX events, Northrop Grumman also demonstrated Lumberjack’s “ability to launch from two different styles of [ground-based] launchers, the electric rail launcher and the pneumatic launcher,” both provided by other companies, he added. “We are launcher agnostic. So we don’t really develop the launchers ourselves. We just show up to the ride.”

Bastin declined to elaborate further on the mission scenarios and the capabilities demonstrated at the T-REX events. He also acknowledged that the same kinds of launchers could be employed in shipboard scenarios, but said that Northrop Grumman’s current focus in terms of the surface-launched mode is on ground-based applications.

When it comes to current plans for air-launched applications, “Lumberjack is the size, the length anyway, of the Small Diameter Bomb. So, we’re looking to be compatible with a wide variety of aircraft, [fixed-]wing and rotorcraft, manned and unmanned,” Bastin said. “Effectively, we’re looking at anything that could carry a Small Diameter Bomb.”

“We’re designing that [Lumberjack] for multiple BRUs. So, a couple different BRU installations are compatible against that sort of Small Diameter Bomb length,” he continued, using the U.S. military-standard abbreviation for Bomb Rack Unit. “We are working with two different customer communities right now, working through large plans and experimentation for next year. So that’s part of our flight test plan that we’re developing for next year.”

The GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) is a 250-pound-class precision-guided glide bomb that is just under six feet (1.8 meters) long. Northrop Grumman’s website says Lumberjack has a very similar form factor, but has a maximum gross weight of around 290 pounds.

Lumberjack’s weight is payload-dependent, which Northrop Grumman’s website says could include a “combination of kinetic and non-kinetic sub-munitions, or ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] sensors.” Without any payload or fuel for its small jet engine, the core system, with its composite material structure, only tips the scales at around 79 pounds, according to the product card.

How heavy a Lumberjack might be would also impact its range in both air and surface-launched modes. So far, Northrop Grumman has only said that the system is expected to be able to fly “several hundred” nautical miles. The company has also said that it will be able to cruise at around Mach 0.3 (some 230 knots) at an altitude of 20,000 feet.

“We have done testing with both kinetic and non-kinetic [payloads],” Bastin said. “Hatchet is certainly a candidate. It’s not the only type of kind of sub-munition that we’d be interested in being able to deploy. So, as I said, if customers come with whatever kinetic effect they want, as long as it fits on the center bay, we’re capable of integrating it.”

Hatchet is a roughly six-pound precision glide bomb that Northrop Grumman currently offers with one of three guidance options: a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS), INS-only, and dual-mode GPS/INS and semi-active laser guidance. Versions that use GPS-assisted INS and INS-only can only be employed against static target coordinates. Laser guidance allows for the engagement of moving targets as long as they can be lazed either by the launching platform or another offboard source.

Each Hatchet has a three-pound high-explosive warhead, which Northrop Grumman claims is of an advanced type that is 50 to 80 percent as lethal as a 500-pound-class bomb, depending on the target type. Point-detonating, delayed, and air-bursting fuze options are available.

From the start, Hatchet has been presented as particularly well-suited as an armament option for drones because of its size. Multiple uncrewed aircraft have already been demonstrated as launch platforms for these munitions.

When it comes to munition options for Lumberjack, “there’s a variety [of other options] out there. I mean, everything from things like Hatchets to integrating existing artillery shells or custom kinetic effects,” Bastin noted. “So different customers have different interests in terms of what their target is and what their payload would want to be in terms of the kinetic effectiveness against their target.”

Lumberjack is being developed with modularity and adaptability, potentially even under field conditions, in mind. Another company, Palantir, is providing an artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) infused software backend to help with the rapid integration of now payloads and other capabilities, as well as help with “maintenance and reducing operator burden.”

In any configuration, Lumberjack already offers the ability to reach target areas at standoff distances. Its ability to launch unpowered gliding payloads like Hatchet, or even potentially small powered ones, only extended its operational reach. This would all be further magnified by pairing it with an aerial launch platform like the XQ-58. The Valkyrie has its own internal payload bay, said to be able to carry at least two SDB-sized stores, and can also carry payloads under its wings. Lumberjack’s range would also help keep the launching platform further away from threats. A full operational scenario might see a Valkyrie or similar launch platform use its own survivability to get close to an especially high-threat part of the battlespace before launching a Lumberjack, which then delivers munitions into the highest risk area. This could even involve taking out hostile air defense assets that threaten the launching aircraft.

Lumberjack can also make use of its range for other purposes, including launching kinetic or non-kinetic attacks on geographically separated targets during a single sortie, as well as just loitering in a particular area. Equipped with a stand-in jamming capability and/or sensor packages, the drones could be used to form temporary force protection picket lines, and do so rapidly.

There is also a cost factor, with Lumberjack’s design being focused on a low unit cost and producibility, with a heavy emphasis on commercial and modified commercial components. Another firm, ESAero, which specializes in rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing, is also working with Northrop Grumman on this design.

“For every pallet that I would ship a fixed number of Small Diameter Bombs on, we can ship the same number of lumberjacks on, but each lumberjack performs multiple effects, multiple missions, and can go on multiple vehicles,” Bastin explained. “So it helps drive down that cost, as I said, within a Lumberjack, because we designed it with open architecture and a very modular center bay.”

Northrop Grumman previously told TWZ that it is targeting between a “cost per effect” of $75,000 to $100,000 for Lumberjack, somewhat nebulous figures that factor in things beyond basic unit price. It is also worth noting here that while Lumberjack is intended to be a one-way system when used operationally, work is being done to improve its recoverability when used in training. Being able to reuse the drones for training, as well as test and evaluation activities, would also offer cost advantages.

It’s interesting to note here that the XQ-58 is at the low end of the cost range for loyal wingman-type drones, also now commonly referred to as Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Kratos is separately continuing to expand and evolve its Valkyrie family as its customer base grows. The U.S. Marine Corps notably confirmed earlier this year that it is now actively pursuing an operational capability with these drones after years of experimental work with the design.

Lumberjack otherwise reflects a flurry of development, especially in the United States, of longer-range one-way attack munitions, as well as other systems that increasingly blur the lines between traditional drones and cruise missiles, as well as decoys.

If Northrop Grumman keeps to its current test schedule, we may get actual looks at Lumberjacks launched from XQ-58s and/or other aircraft in the coming year.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Israeli tanks and heavy combat vehicles were filmed in Gaza on Friday, reportedly withdrawing from parts of the enclave as phase one of the ceasefire plan is set to take effect.

Kim Jong Un claims no mistakes made in 80-year history of ruling party at event attended by Chinese and Russian leaders.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared the country’s global standing is growing stronger and promised to transform the country into an “affluent socialist paradise” during an event marking the 80th anniversary of the governing Workers’ Party of Korea, according to state media.

At a speech at May Day stadium in Pyongyang on Thursday, Kim said the party had not made “a single mistake or error” in its 80-year history, leading the country on a path of ascent riding on the wisdom and strength of the people, KCNA state news agency said on Friday.

“Today, we stand before the world as a mighty people with no obstacles we cannot overcome and no great achievement we cannot accomplish,” he said, KCNA reported.

North Korea has long been one of the most isolated and insular nations in the world, suffering economic difficulties while building up its nuclear weapons capabilities.

Friday’s events follow Kim’s visit to Beijing last month for China’s 80th anniversary of its World War II victory, standing with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a massive military parade in his first public appearance on the multilateral diplomatic stage.

United States President Donald Trump suggested that Russian, Chinese and North Korean leaders were conspiring against the United States as they gathered in Beijing, saying “no one even had this in their thoughts”.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote to China’s leader Xi Jinping at the time: “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, as you conspire against The United States of America.”

KCNA did not name the guests attending Thursday’s events. Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Vietnamese leader To Lam and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev had arrived in Pyongyang to attend anniversary celebrations, state media had reported.

Mass games and art performances were held at the stadium, with Kim accompanied by guests whom the large crowd gathered greeted with cheers “that shook the capital’s night sky”, KCNA said.

Al Jazeera’s Jack Barton, reporting from Seoul, said according to a South Korean government adviser, North Korea was “no longer the most isolated state in the world”.

“The message here is also … that he has consolidated his power at home and now increasingly on the international stage,” Barton added.

Kim talks tough on US and promises to build a ‘socialist paradise’

Kim said that North Korea has been pushing for the simultaneous development of nuclear weapons and the economy to cope with “growing nuclear war threats by the US imperialists”, according to state media.

“Our party and government are still coping with our adversaries’ ferocious political and military moves of pressure by pursuing harder-line policies, holding fast to firm principles and employing brave, unflinching countermeasures,” Kim said.

“This is powerfully propelling the growth of the progressive camp against war and hegemony.”

Last month, Kim Jong Un had suggested that he is open to talks with the US if Washington stops insisting that his country give up its nuclear weapons.

“If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States,” Kim said in late September.

Kim on Friday also expressed confidence in overcoming difficulties and drastically improving the economy in the near future. “I will surely turn this country into a more affluent and beautiful land and into the best socialist paradise in the world,” Kim said.

The North Korean leader also held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, praising the two countries’ “friendly and cooperative relations”.

Kim praised Li’s visit as “showing the invariable support and special friendly feeling towards the WPK and the government and people of the DPRK” as well as Beijing’s efforts to maintain “traditional DPRK-China friendly and cooperative relations and further develop them”, KCNA reported.

Israel’s government has approved “phase one” of the agreement, which will see captives exchanged and Israel withdraw from parts of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Trump and US officials for their role in ceasefire negotiations to end the war on Gaza.

He continued: “What you have now is [rival teams’] players training [together] before they go back to pre-season together – Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford for instance.

“It’s a different generation. The big thing is the media coverage of it is much better. The players get on better with the media. From the outside that gives a better feeling.”

Gerrard, speaking as a guest on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, said several former Manchester United and Liverpool players get on better now as pundits than they ever did as England team-mates.

“I didn’t feel part of a team. I didn’t feel connected with my team-mates, with England,” he said.

In response, Rooney said: “It [was] difficult to have that relationship with Liverpool and Man Utd players. It’s easier now.

“I speak to Steven all the time 1760074340. You can have better relationships now because you can have a beer together and relax more.

“I was fine with everyone, I got on with everyone. I was aware Becks [David Beckham] and Gary Neville and Scholesy [Paul Scholes], you could see they weren’t going to be close to the Liverpool players.

“But one thing for sure is everyone worked hard for each other. I don’t think that was an issue. We just didn’t manage to get over the line. I didn’t see that at all.”

Rooney, like Gerrard, played in six major tournaments for England but only reached quarter-finals.

But he said the players always “100%” “believed we could win for sure”.

Watch the Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube,, external and iPlayer. Listen on BBC Sounds.