TO ESCAPE the chaos of summer and enjoy the delights of quieter hotels, lots of us like to book holidays between September and November.

Those three months have lots of names like the ‘magic period’ or ‘shoulder season‘ and taking a break then can save you some serious cash.

Whether you want a quick trip to Spain or a holiday to African resorts for winter sun, there are some great deals out there, and lastminute.com have helped us find some of the best.

They told us: “Once the peak summer period has passed, travellers can often find significantly better value on flights and holidays, while still enjoying warm weather and everything a destination has to offer, proving that it is better to leave it until the last minute.”

The cheapest spot is Costa Dorada in Spain where on average holidays cost £79pppn.

The Costa Dorada is a region along the Mediterranean coastline and includes popular spots like Tarragona and Salou.

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What’s even better is that you can definitely still spend time on the beaches too as in October there are average daytime temperatures of around 22C.

It’s also home to the enormous PortAventura World which is one of Europe’s biggest theme parks – and is home to Europe’s tallest and fastest accelerator coaster Red Force in Ferrari Land.

If it tickles your fancy, check into Hotel Best Negresco in Salou.

It’s a beach front spot with rooms that have views of the coast along with a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, sun terrace and spa.

A four-night stay for two with return flights to London Luton in October starts from £248pp – or £62pppn.

If you want to add half-board to have breakfast and dinner included it’s an extra £26pp.

The second cheapest destination for autumn is Sousse in Tunisia.

The coastal resort city is known for having bright blue waters and plenty of beach clubs.

Visitors can explore the Medina of Sousse – a historic walled quarter that is an open-air market where you can pick up ceramics, leather bags, shoes and jewellery.

With lastminute.com you can book to stay at the Hotel Royal Jinene Beach & Spa from £66pn – and it includes return flights and half board.

The hotel has an indoor pool, outdoor pool with a big slide, bar, restaurant and coffee house as well as activities like tennis and mini golf.

There’s also a spa and live music nights and a short walk away is the sandy Plage El Menchia.

A four-night stay for two people with half board and return flights to London Southend in October is £264pp – or £66pppn.

It’s back to Spain for the third cheapest destination in autumn which is the Costa Brava where on average a holiday is £87pppn – although there are cheaper deals to be found.

The coastal region in northeastern Spain has lots of beaches with cliff backdrops and coves.

The Costa Brava has 300 days of sunshine every year and is mild throughout September and October.

Hotel Tahití Playa & Suites 4Sup is right on the Mediterranean coastline and is just a few steps away from the beach.

It also has a swimming pool, restaurant with themed dinner nights, sun terrace, pool bar, activities like table tennis and yoga classes.

There’s also a spa as well as live performances and entertainment.

A four-night room only stay for two in October at Hotel Tahití Playa & Suites 4Sup including return flights to London Stansted is £153pp – or £38pppn.

The Albanian Coast is emerging as a cheap alternative to other coastlines – with white sand beaches, no wonder it’s loved by celebs like Dua Lipa.

Sarandë is known as the the ‘city’ of the Riviera.

It’s surrounded by the blue waters of the Ionian Sea with seafood restaurants and cheap beer, with pints as little as £1.30.

Here, you can book a stay in the four-star Bougainville Bay Hotel which is considered a gallery itself full of sculptures, paintings and mosaics.

The hotel is next to the sea and you can enjoy the views from its beautiful infinity pool.

It also has four bars, two restaurants and four swimming pools.

In October, temperatures in the daytime sit around 21C – although they do drop in the evening.

A four-night stay for two including breakfast in October at the Bougainville Bay Hotel including return flights to London Stansted is £229pp – or £57.25pppn.

Coming in fifth position for being one of the cheapest spots for a holiday in autumn is Hammamet.

The coastal resort town in northeastern Tunisia boasts golden beaches and there’s plenty of historical sites to explore if you fancy a wander.

Hammamet is a great spot for anyone wanting a dose of sunshine and heat as in October temperatures can be as high as 26C.

For Brits it’s ideal as it’s as little as three and a half hours away from the UK.

The Yocca Hotel Residence is slightly outside of the city with spacious rooms some of which have balconies, swimming pool, garden, terrace and restaurant.

A six-night stay for two at the Yocca Hotel Residence including return flights from London Gatwick is £308pp – or £51.34pppn.

Covenant, a previously little-known defense startup, has emerged with a new long-range strike weapon, named Anthem, which it says is intended to provide a cheaper, more readily producible alternative to existing cruise missiles. Already in testing with the U.S. Army, the missile reflects the growing focus on weapons in this class that can be manufactured quickly in very large numbers, even if they sacrifice a significant degree of individual-weapon capability compared to more ‘exquisite’ and costly alternatives.

Covenant, a U.S.-Israeli company founded in 2024, unveiled its Anthem weapon system today along with plans for production in the United States, Germany, and Israel. The company says it has already conducted more than 200 test flights of the weapon and has secured roughly $150 million in orders.

The announcement comes as the United States and its allies are increasingly focused on the availability of long-range precision weapons, particularly the ability to replenish inventories during a major conflict. Covenant’s central pitch is that existing weapons in this category are too expensive and difficult to manufacture in sufficient numbers for a prolonged war, a reality that has been recognized by a bewildering number of new and established industry players.

Anthem is being positioned accordingly as a high-volume weapon rather than a one-for-one replacement for larger, more expensive cruise missiles. In its initial form, it is ground-launched, although it is unclear exactly how this is achieved. Imagery of the weapon during Pentagon trials show it being handled on the ground using tricycle undercarriage, pointing to the use of a runway for launch.

Covenant has not publicly disclosed the weapon’s range, although unconfirmed reports put it at roughly 1,200 kilometers — over 740 miles. The company is also being somewhat deliberate about how it describes Anthem, referring to it as a “deep precision-strike munition” rather than consistently classifying it as a cruise missile.

On the other hand, Reuters reports Covenant executives saying that the missile was developed ‌with an ⁠eye toward future conflicts in the Pacific. “We were designed for the China fight,” said Covenant President Abby Denburg. That would also seem to point toward significant range.

However, more concrete details of its performance, as well as guidance type and projected level of survivability, remain undisclosed.

The company says Anthem can carry a warhead weighing more than 200 kilograms (441 pounds). That is substantially less than the roughly 1,000-pound-class warhead associated with the Tomahawk cruise missile, which can hit targets at over 1,000 miles depending on the exact configuration. Covenant argues that lower cost and much higher production rates would make it possible to employ larger numbers of their weapons against a given target set.

Anthem uses a solid rocket motor for launch and a heavy-fuel jet engine, underslung below the missile body, for cruise flight. Covenant says the system was designed from the outset around readily available components and a supply chain that would avoid dependence on individual suppliers. The company states that it has, for example, multiple solid-rocket-motor suppliers and long-term agreements covering thousands of jet engines.

Overall, the production ambitions are significant. Covenant’s new Grand Prairie, Texas, facility covers approximately 105,000 square feet and is expected to begin serial production during the first quarter of 2027, eventually reaching a stated capacity of 5,000 Anthems per year. Its facility in Saxony, Germany, is intended to reach a similar production rate, while the smaller Israeli site is planned to produce as many as 2,000 weapons annually.

“Germany possesses an exceptionally strong industrial foundation,” Denburg told Bloomberg News. “While its automotive sector is currently undergoing a structural transformation, decades of manufacturing excellence have created precisely the expertise we require.”

That would put the company’s eventual combined production target at up to 12,000 weapons per year, assuming all three facilities reach their planned capacities.

Covenant’s U.S. facility is intended primarily to support American customers, while the German operation is being established around a European supply chain, responding to growing demand for long-range strike weapons across that continent. The company says an unidentified international customer is expected to begin receiving German-built weapons before the end of this year. Meanwhile, U.S. Army deliveries are expected in 2027, under an accelerated qualification contract.

The weapon has already been subjected to U.S.-linked testing. In August, an unnamed defense-industry partner conducted a live-fire demonstration at the Africa Multidomain Training and Experimentation Center in Morocco. The U.S. military’s public material about that event did not identify the weapon or company, but subsequent reporting identified the missile as Covenant’s Anthem.

Covenant now says the system has flown more than 200 times over the past year, including testing involving U.S. government organizations. The company also says Anthem participated in the Army’s Project Convergence Capstone 6 experiments and that its August test helped demonstrate a new framework for allowing industry to use the Moroccan test infrastructure.

Beyond the ground-launched version, Covenant is working on a naval derivative. The company says it has a roughly $70-million contract with the Navy’s Rapid Capabilities Office to adapt Anthem into what it calls Maritime Anthem. The effort includes Defense Exportability Features intended to make the weapon easier to provide to U.S. allies and partners.

The emergence of Anthem also illustrates how the defense industry’s current emphasis on mass production is extending into the long-range strike arena.

The United States already fields weapons such as Tomahawk and JASSM-ER, but those systems are expensive, and production capacity is limited. Covenant is betting that a weapon available in much larger quantities can provide commanders with another layer of long-range strike capacity, even if the destructive power of a single round falls well below that of a Tomahawk. Reuters reports that Covenant expects the weapon to eventually cost in the mid-six-figure range, although the company has not provided a final unit price. Compared to other competitors in the field, Covenant appears to be the crudest design we have seen so far, underscored by its apparent launch method, in which it takes off from an airstrip under power of its booster.

Recent combat operations have increased concerns about the rate at which more traditional precision weapons can actually be manufactured. Once stockpiles begin to reduce, long-range missiles have proven among the most difficult munitions to replace. That would only become more problematic during a major conflict.

Covenant has attracted venture-capital backing to pursue that problem. The company says it has raised more than $250 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, 8VC, Aleph, and Lightspeed. Its stated focus, however, is now shifting from development to production.

The key question will be whether Covenant can turn the promised production numbers into sustained deliveries. Building thousands of long-range weapons per year requires not only an assembly plant, but also a resilient supply chain, reliable propulsion production, testing capacity, quality control, and the ability to integrate those elements at scale. It will also rely on securing more contracts from domestic and allied customers.

For now, however, Anthem represents an intriguing entrant into a crowded but increasingly important segment of the weapons market.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Crew Girl heartthrob Sam Braun is openly dating a fellow actress

Crew Girl viewers have been left curious about Sam Braun’s off-screen love life, and it’s not as tangled as his character’s.

The Canadian actor plays popular boy Josh Regis in the brand new young adult show, now available to stream on Netflix. The drama follows Teagan (played by Miku Martineau), a skilled teenage rower who is forced to move to a small town after a family scandal.

She hopes to have a fresh start at the prestigious Easton Prep, but soon discovers she will be the only female on her new school’s rowing team. A synopsis reveals: “Thrust into a world of old money and brutal competition, Teagan must find a way to lead a team that doesn’t want her and somehow bring them together.”

As well as juggling her rowing ambitions and family complications, Teagan also finds herself at the heart of a heated love triangle with Josh and Cam (Kyle Clark). We won’t spoil who she chooses in the end, but many fans have already rallied behind Team Josh.

But what is there to know about actor Sam’s real-life romances?

Who is Sam Braun’s partner?

Sam appears to be dating fellow actress Shanti Harris. The couple often posts loved-up pictures on Instagram, documenting everything from their romantic trips to work collaborations.

She has theatre experience as well as credits in short films, including Untethered, The First Dance, and Laundry. Sam and Shanti are also performing together on a new play called The Truth and Darers, which was written by Shanti.

It’s currently showing at the Vancouver Fringe and follows six teenagers who strike up a high-stakes game of Truth or Dare.

The first season of Crew Girl landed on Netflix on Thursday morning (September 10), and some fans are already hoping it’ll return for a second series. There’s no news yet on the future of the show, but the leading stars have ideas on where the story could go next.

“If we go to season 2, I think we should go on summer break or something, get lost in the woods,” Sam told Tudum. “It’d be really fun to do a summer bash and be on the lake boat and see what their life is [like] outside of rowing too.”

Meanwhile, Kyle added: “We really want to step it up if we have more time.” With leading lady Miku stating: “Who knows what can happen in season 2? A love square — is that even possible?”

Crew Girl is streaming now on Netflix

RIYADH: After more than 20 years in the legal and investment sectors, Khadija Grabinski transitioned into executive coaching, where she helps leaders navigate change through meaningful conversations.

Having lived in Saudi Arabia for the past year, she also shares her experience of the Kingdom on social media, offering an authentic perspective on its culture, people, and transformation.

Grabinski and her husband moved to the Kingdom from the US and she felt this new period of her life was an opportunity to make some changes.

 The daily routine she and her husband experienced during their time in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic inspired them to explore opportunities and make changes.

 “I spent 20 years in my field (as a litigator), so I guess it was enough … it was the right moment for me to change and to be more connected to people. This is why I chose to transition,” she said.

 Grabinski added that her new work life allows her to have meaningful conversations with people, providing them the space to talk about how they want to grow in professionally.

“I mean, for me, meaningful conversation gives more clarity. You think better. I mean, when you talk to people, even friends, and when you are in the deep conversation, it becomes like something more clear. You know where you are going. So this is why.”

 When Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030 in 2016, much of the world’s attention focused on its bold plans for economic diversification and landmark development projects.

 Yet, nearly a decade later, the social transformation unfolding across Saudi Arabia has proven every bit as significant. Anchored in Vision 2030’s vibrant society pillar, this transformation is reshaping daily life in the Kingdom.

“As a coach, what I see is the other side of the transformation. It’s like people are excited for the future, but at the same time, they feel the pressure. So, they are wondering if their job will be the same in five or 10 years.”

 Grabinski added that leaders in today’s environment leaders have to acquire more skills, reinvent themselves, or simply adapt because there is both excitement and uncertainty.

 “For a country that grew that fast, which is totally normal to be honest, there is what I call growing pains. You know, like (when a) teenager (grows) too fast, it’s the same for a company. For people and for countries. So, there were some growing pains,” she said.

She added that today’s successful leaders need to possess interpersonal communication skills, which machines and artificial intelligence cannot easily replicate.

 “Leaders will need to communicate better. Listen more. And help their teams to navigate uncertainty and lead by example. Always and where do you see emotional intelligence being basically a huge factor of that, like, how is that going to turn into a valuable skill set for a leader?

 “I mean, by learning, the need to learn, it’s like a muscle, leadership,” she said.

 Grabinski shares her experiences and opinions about living in Saudi Arabia through her accounts titled Simone Executive Coach|Common Ground on TikTok and Instagram.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Supreme Court again rejected a push to use Missouri congressional maps backed by President Donald Trump on Thursday, a loss for Republicans trying to maintain control of the House in the fast-approaching midterm elections.

The decision appears to clear the way for use of the old maps.

It comes after a pitched court battle shortly before ballots begin going out for the pivotal November elections. The maps were drawn to help Republicans gain an additional U.S. House seat.

It’s the second time the high court has refused to intervene to keep the Trump-backed maps in place.

Lieb writes for the Associated Press.

CASABLANCA, Morocco: Morocco and Spain are arguing over the right to host the 2030 World Cup final — with besieged FIFA boss Gianni Infantino hovering backstage.

FIFA has yet to officially announce which country will host the biggest match of the biggest event in soccer. And even though the 2026 edition just finished with Spain winning the title this summer, Moroccan and Spanish officials are staking their claim on the next final.

The tussle over the soccer match also comes with Spain still reeling from a massive border crossing by tens of thousands of migrants who pushed through the frontier from Morocco into the north African Spanish enclave in late July.

One big game for two proud countries

The head of Moroccan soccer boasted that his country had it locked up on Thursday.

“The city of Benslimane will host the World Cup final. Hate it or love it, and if anyone wants to talk on top of that, let them talk,” Moroccan federation president Fouzi Lakjaa told a political rally.

“The city is Benslimane, the Hassan II stadium is the stadium, and I hope that Morocco will be playing it,” he added.

This week, the head of the Spanish soccer federation, Rafael Louzán, insisted it was Spain that deserved the game, while acknowledging that it has not been guaranteed that honor.

“We all signed to accept the candidacy … it’s too bad that, regarding the final, it wasn’t made clear, totally clear, where it is to be played,” Louzán said. “Spain, as world champion both in men’s and women’s soccer, must host the final.”

European soccer officials believe that the sprawling, multi-nation 2030 event, which includes Portugal and even a handful of games in South America, should be considered a European event with the final on the continent.

In a request for comment by the Associated Press on Thursday, FIFA said its decision will be made “in due course.”

Infantino has found support in Morocco

The dispute over the final comes with Infantino under intense pressure after UEFA, the umbrella organization of European soccer federations, led a successful revolt to scuttle his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup.

By contrast, six Arab nation federations, including Morocco’s, have backed him since that fiasco.

The King Hassan II Stadium near Casablanca is being built in Benslimane, on the outskirts of Casablanca. It is planned to seat 115,000 spectators. Spain can offer the home stadiums of Real Madrid or Barcelona as potential sites for the final.

Infantino has recently made two trips to Morocco, meeting with King Mohammed VI during annual celebrations of his ascent to the throne in July and then holding a FIFA crisis meeting there in August.

World Cup final spat among other tensions

When confirmed three years ago, the joint candidacy between Spain, Portugal and Morocco looked like a perfect event to bridge Europe and Africa and strengthen bonds between the western Mediterranean neighbors.

But the dispute over the final comes with diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat already frayed over who was responsible when tens of thousands of mostly Moroccans driven by posts on social media pushed into the small Spanish enclave of Ceuta that borders Morocco. Spain’s prime minister said 140 people died in the crossing.

Spain’s government has been under political pressure at home to get tough on Morocco, which it has said acted in good faith in the border crisis. Spanish police assessments couldn’t rule out complicity by Moroccan security forces but said that it was unlikely the Moroccan government had intentionally orchestrated it.

*Some interviewees asked that their surnames be withheld because of the political nature of the interviews.

Malmo, Sweden – A very Swedish political tradition is playing out in Malmo, the country’s third-largest city. Rows of twee campaign booths, known as “election cottages”, are packed into a corner of the central square.

National polls have Sunday’s election on a knife-edge, with the centre-left opposition bloc led by the Social Democrats just a few percentage points ahead of the right-wing group – a gap that has tightened over the past month.

In the middle of the row, representatives of the Left Party and the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), bitter rivals from opposite ends of the political spectrum, campaign a metre apart.

Migration is a key election issue. Multicultural Malmo, with more than a third of the city’s 368,000 residents born outside Sweden, has become the centre of the debate.

For the right, the city represents failures of integration, a cautionary tale it says of what happens when immigration goes unchecked. Beyond Sweden, Malmo draws disproportionate interest.

In 2017, the populist English politician Nigel Farage branded it the “rape capital of Europe”, a claim a leading Swedish criminologist dismissed as nonsense, while Germany’s far-right AfD has used it in its narratives about the dangers of immigration.

Strength in diversity

In the city’s town hall, a grand building with a Dutch Renaissance-style facade, Anfal Mahdi, an opposition councillor in Malmo for the Left Party, sits amid the splendour of green velvet chairs, historical oil paintings and royal portraits.

Right-wing politicians ignore the socioeconomic challenges of living in the areas built under Sweden’s “Million Programme”, she said, referring to an ambitious scheme to build one million new homes between 1965 and 1974.

It began as a social housing initiative for working-class Swedish families. In later decades, as many of those families moved out, the apartments were allocated to migrant and refugee newcomers.

Observers say what began as a utopian welfare project gradually became the physical framework of today’s segregated suburbs.

Mahdi, whose family fled Iraq after the Gulf War, grew up in one of these areas during cuts to the welfare state that had defined modern Sweden, as public spending tightened after its early-1990s economic crisis.

But what they lacked in welfare, they made up for in diversity, she said.

“I had friends from Bosnia, Palestine, Somalia and when we grew up we did not have much, but we leant on each other,” she said.

The city’s most famous son, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, grew up in Rosengard, a Million Programme estate on Malmo’s eastern side that police still classify as a “particularly vulnerable area”. The famous footballer regularly credits the area for shaping the skill and confidence that defined his career.

“It’s often in these neighbourhoods that people can shine; there is a sense of community that doesn’t exist elsewhere,” said Adam*, a 20-year-old florist who also grew up in one of the areas Sweden officially labels “vulnerable”.

He rejects the stereotypes associated with Malmo, saying young people here are far more concerned with the cost of living, finding work and the everyday pressures of getting by.

Mahdi shared this sentiment, saying “wallet politics”, relating to healthcare and unemployment, are central issues for all sections of society.

Healthcare tops voters’ concerns nationally, while unemployment in Malmo, at around 11 percent, is among the highest of any Swedish municipality.

But not everyone sees it that way.

Lena, a 78-year-old campaigner for the Moderate Party, which leads the right-wing bloc, believes integration along with schooling are taking centre stage. At the last election cycle, it was care for the elderly, she said.

Jacob, a 19-year-old resident who was speaking to representatives of various parties, said a taboo has been broken with more young people turning right, including towards the SD, now polling as Sweden’s second-largest party.

The far-right party with neo-Nazi roots could enter government for the first time if the right-wing bloc wins: Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised cabinet posts, including the migration portfolio.

‘Divisive politics’

Sara, a woman in her twenties of Palestinian heritage, said “divisive politics” are normal now. The rhetoric around immigration and Islam in particular has left her feeling some “don’t want integration or even assimilation, they just want you to leave”.

Under the current right-wing government, many teenagers who grew up in Sweden with their families were ordered to leave on turning 18 while their parents were allowed to stay. The government paused the separation in March after a public outcry and moved to reform in June.

In February, the Swedish Migration Agency ordered an eight-month-old boy born in the country, Emanuel, to be deported alone to Iran while the rest of his family kept their permits.

The system concerns Binto Drammeh, whose father is of Gambian heritage.

“Our uncle was made to leave as he didn’t meet the income threshold,” she told Al Jazeera.

The government has repeatedly raised the salary threshold for work permits, most recently in June, when it increased from 80 to 90 percent of the Swedish median wage.

Failing to meet it could ultimately lead to a deportation order.

Criminal networks

Crime is another main election issue.

With a population of 10.6 million, Sweden has one of Europe’s highest rates of deadly gun violence, even though lethal violence fell last year to its lowest level since 2012.

Among the challenges, criminal networks are recruiting children as young as 12 to transport weapons, sell drugs and carry out contract killings. In 2024, Danish gangs were found to be hiring Swedish teenagers to carry out shootings and bombings.

How to tackle the problem divides the parties.

The right prioritises punishment and deterrence, while the left and centre-left emphasise tackling root socioeconomic causes, rehabilitation and preventive social work. The lines are not always clean, however: the Social Democrats backed lowering the age of criminal responsibility, while the Left, Green and Centre parties voted against it.

TikTok politics

Young voters appear more engaged than at the last election.

Lena of the Moderate Party said: “I haven’t met one person who said they won’t vote,” while Mahdi said the Palestine issue has had a galvanising effect.

“Right now, all the posts on my TikTok page are from party accounts; they got a lot of likes and views and many videos are trending,” said Jacob, the 19-year-old resident.

Yet some are undecided about whom to vote for, partly because of Sweden’s unusual bloc system. Built on the idea of consensus, it means a vote for one party’s policies may be diluted in coalition, or are hard to push through.

“I will be honest, I have not voted yet,” Adam said, as he looked out at the array of campaign booths next to his flower stand. “Young people are interested in politics, but many of us think that no matter who comes, nothing will really change.”

FFF aligns position with of other European federations, such as Belgium, England, Italy, Scotland, and Sweden.

The French Football Federation is withdrawing its support for Gianni Infantino’s re-election bid as FIFA chief ⁠next year, FFF President Philippe Diallo has said, saying trust in the head of world football’s governing body had been broken.

The decision was taken unanimously by the FFF’s executive committee, Diallo ⁠said on Thursday.

“The trust placed in the FIFA president has been broken,” Diallo told reporters. “The way in which we envisage the running of world football no longer corresponds with the way it is being conducted.”

Infantino, who is seeking another term as FIFA president, has faced mounting criticism since his failed proposal to sell a ‌20 percent stake in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup, to private investors was abandoned in July following widespread opposition from football’s regional confederations.

Diallo said France had initially backed Infantino’s candidacy at the end of June, when he was the only declared candidate, but that subsequent events had fundamentally changed the circumstances.

“The conditions for our support for his candidacy were no longer there,” he said.

Diallo added that the proposed stake sale, which emerged without what he described as proper ⁠consultation or information being provided to federations, had raised serious questions over ⁠FIFA’s governance and decision-making.

Several European federations, including England’s and Italy’s, have withdrawn their backing for Infantino since the collapse of his proposal.

UEFA, the Asian Football Confederation and North America’s CONCACAF have called for change at the top of FIFA and ⁠are seeking a credible alternative before the March election.

Diallo said France’s decision formed part of a broader movement within UEFA and beyond and that ⁠discussions would now focus on governance reform and finding a ⁠candidate capable of defeating Infantino.

“It is not enough simply to criticise if you want things to move forward. You also have to make proposals,” Diallo said.

He added that UEFA would need to define a platform for the next FIFA leadership cycle ‌and, when the time came, choose a candidate for the election.

“We will need to be ready by then to put forward a candidacy capable of winning the FIFA presidency,” Diallo said.

Infantino still has ‌the ‌support of South America’s CONMEBOL and Africa’s CAF.

The FIFA presidential election will take place in Rabat on March 18, 2027, with the deadline for candidacies on November 18.

KATIE Price has taken aim at Love Island stars after an awkward run-in at the National Television Awards on Tuesday evening.

She recalled the incident at the glitzy bash while speaking to her sister Sophie on the newest episode of her podcast, The Katie Price Show.

Katie, 48, fumed: “I’m nice to everyone, some look at me like their s**t don’t stink.

“Are you actually for real? You went on Love Island or Love Island before.

“Just in general, loads are so nice, you always get some who think their s**t don’t stink.

“As Nikki Grahame used to say, ‘who are you?’.

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“It just makes me laugh, up their bloody arse.”

She debuted a dramatic new look on the red carpet as she wore a white shirt tucked into sheer black shorts with a flower-print.

Katie brought her look together with black tights and a pair of heels.

The mum-of-five went for a very bold make-up look with heavy eyeshadow and overlined lips.

She slicked her hair back in a wet-look style and wore some huge gold earrings.

Ahead of hitting the red carpet, she told fans she’d been ditched by her glam squad.

The reality star explained that her glam squad decided “to pass” on getting her red carpet ready after they had a disagreement.

She said she wanted to do something “different” with her look and her glam squad were just not on the same page.

Katie expressed: “So originally I did have a glam squad by they’ve passed on doing my glam for the NTAs, because I wouldn’t wear the outfits they wanted me to.

“They wanted to do something different. But the outfit I’ve chosen myself is still different, because I don’t like to follow what everyone else follows.

“So in a way they did me a favour by saying they’re going to pass on my glam because I wouldn’t use the whole team.

“So someone I could never even dream of working, this is beyond art, iconic.”

Earlier that day, the Celebrity Big Brother winner took to Instagram to reveal she’s been left with a swollen face, black eyes and bandaged boobs after going under the knife again.

Frankfurt has tightened again.

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The European Central Bank’s governing council lifted the deposit facility rate from 2.25% to 2.5% on Thursday. It is the second hike since 11 June, when the ECB moved for the first time in three years.

The ECB sets monetary policy for the eurozone through three key interest rates, with the deposit facility rate serving as its main policy benchmark.

The main refinancing rate was lifted to 2.65% and the marginal lending facility to 2.9%.

In its statement, the central bank noted that “the conflict in the Middle East continues to generate inflation pressures, and inflation is set to remain well above target for an extended period,” while ensuring that “with today’s decision, the Governing Council remains well positioned to navigate the uncertainty caused by the conflict.”

The ECB staff projections continue to estimate that headline inflation will average 3% this year. However, it has revised up the expectations for 2027 and 2028 to 2.5% and 2.1% respectively, compared with June.

An energy problem, not a demand problem

The decision follows an August inflation reading of 3.3%, up from 2.9% in July and the highest since September 2023.

Energy costs did nearly all the work, with energy inflation jumping to 14.3% from 10.3%, as fighting around the Strait of Hormuz kept crude supply constrained. The problem persists as Brent crude crossed $100 a barrel again on Wednesday due to renewed exchanges of fire between the US and Iran.

Underneath, the picture is calmer.

Core inflation, which strips out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, actually fell to 2.4% from 2.5% in August, while services inflation, the component most sensitive to wages, dropped to 3% from 3.3%. There is still little sign that expensive energy is spreading into the rest of the economy.

That distinction has been central to the ECB’s own thinking.

In a paper published earlier this month, its economists found that adverse energy supply factors accounted for around 90% of the rise in energy inflation between January and May of this year.

“This time the energy supply shock dominates, while demand and public policy stimulus have minor roles,” the economists wrote, contrasting it with the 2021-22 surge that prompted a far more aggressive response.

A single rate for very different economies

The eurozone inflation average conceals a wide spread.

August inflation ran at 4.5% in Spain, 2.9% in Germany and 2.7% in France, three economies facing the same energy shock with markedly different outcomes.

Growth complicates matters further.

The bloc has held up better than expected, but resilience is not overheating, and even at 2.5% the deposit rate remains within the range the ECB considers neutral. Going further would mean deciding that policy must actively restrain the economy.

Christine Lagarde had signalled this move in July, when the council held rates but instructed staff to model oil and gas scenarios ahead of September.

“The burden of proof is on data,” Lagarde said then, adding that “the full inflationary impact of the energy shock has yet to play out.”

Thursday’s decision comes alongside fresh staff projections, though their cut-off date falls roughly two weeks before the meeting, meaning neither the latest leg higher in oil nor the surge in European government bond yields to 15-year highs will be reflected.

Attention now turns to Frankfurt’s peers.

The Federal Reserve will announce on 16 September and the Bank of Japan on the 18, with both expected to consider hikes of their own.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England will decide on 17 September and is expected to hold rates as it currently maintains a much higher benchmark than the rest at 3.75%.

FROM the moment the opening note of ‘Circle of Life’ played, I was transported to the African savannah.

The Lion King is one of the West End’s longest running productions – and with good reason.

The fan-favourite Disney story features everything you could imagine and more if you had brought the film to life.

And Sun Club members can get 10% off tickets with London Theatre Direct, when booking via our Sun Club Promo page.

To get your tickets, sign up to Sun Club for £1.99 a month or just £12 for one year, then head to the Sun Club Offers hub and London Theatre Direct page or click here. 

Of course, I don’t mean real-life lions prowling across the stage. And let’s be honest, none of us would want that either.

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Instead I mean vibrant sets and costumes that bring the audience to the African savannah, but with an artistic touch.

Director Julie Taymor fuses the actors directly into the beautiful animal puppets, rather than hiding them in clunky mascot-like costumes.

Each is like a piece of art bringing the safari animals that feature in The Lion King to life.

Some critics have labelled the puppets as “dated” compared to newer productions such as War Horse or My Neighbour Totoro.

I disagree – everything in the show’s design remains timeless, from the costumes to the sets.

As living artwork parades down the aisles on either side of the theatre, I felt transported to the Pride Lands.

The most mesmerising part had to be when – spoiler alert – the life-sized elephant puppet ambled across the stage, with the same methodic but gentle stomps you’d expect of the magnificent beast in the wild.

It isn’t just the animals that are impressive – across the show much flora and fauna sets scenes and creates a depth to the stage.

Even one of the smallest characters (by size, not personality) – Zazu – was brilliant, where the puppeteer and actor was able to create comedy with a single head tilt, squawk or wing flap.

A memorable moment in the film is the stampede that takes Mufasa’s life.

And it is just as poignant on stage – my heart raced as the staging created a terrifying scene of hundreds of wildebeest stamping towards the audience.

Scenes at Pride Rock are equally as impressive, with the giant rock emerging magically from the floorboards.

Singing, dancing and acting – all simply phenomenal.

And just like the film, there are multiple tear- jerker moments which will leave you wishing you didn’t wear mascara to theperformancee.

George Asprey who plays Scar is one of the West End’s longest running actors having played the role for 17 years, as is his co-star, Shaun Escoffery who plays Mufasa.

In a previous interview, George told Sun Travel: “Allow yourself to just open up to the set and the costumes.

“It is difficult to take everything in, in one sitting, and when you come again, you’ll pick up the different nuances. Maybe in the scenery, for example.”

And in terms of where to sit, the age-old question – do you need to fork out for the posh seats? Not at this show, apparently.

George said: “I’ve had friends right at the front of the stalls and I have had friends right at the bottom end of the upper circle, and I think the one thing about the Lyceum is that all of the viewing is extraordinary.

“I really don’t think there’s a vantage point in the upper circle where you won’t see everything still.

“I think it’s a decent price for a reason and I don’t think it’s not worth it – I wouldn’t avoid coming if you can only afford a certain seat, because you still get a wonderful experience.”

The Lion King is performed eight times a week, with evening performances on Tuesdays through to Saturday at 7:30pm and then the matinee performances take place on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30pm.

No performances take place on Mondays.

The show lasts two-and-a-half hours with an interval included.

Click below to sign up to Sun Club and bag your discounted tickets.

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A sweeping bipartisan bill that seeks to prevent catastrophic wildfires and restore fire-ravaged forests has revealed a schism in the nation’s environmental movement as some conservation advocates find themselves allied with a longtime foe: loggers.

The Fix Our Forests Act, which Congress is close to passing, aims to speed up forest management projects on public and tribal lands by reducing regulatory and legal hurdles.

The proposed legislation comes at a time of increasingly devastating wildfires and has garnered wide support among Republicans and the timber industry.

However, the traditional Democratic coalition of environmental groups is split over the role humanity has to play in forest management. Some argue ecosystems are best protected when humans leave them alone — a view that dominated during the timber wars of the ’80s and ’90s. Others argue that humans have a responsibility to intervene — an increasingly popular idea as climate change threatens ecosystems around the world.

Among the major environmental groups that oppose the legislation are the Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity. They worry that limiting environmental review and litigation will allow timber companies to heavily log these areas instead of gently thinning them. Meanwhile, some Southern California groups worry the bill would allow well-meaning land managers to approve misguided projects that ultimately harm local shrublands, which have a very different relationship with fire than the bill’s namesake, forests.

“It’s really handing the keys to the Trump administration to be able to push forward a lot of their timber agenda,” said Anna Medema, deputy legislative director for forests and public lands at the Sierra Club.

But the Nature Conservancy and other groups have voiced support for the bill, citing the constant and imminent threat that increasingly severe wildfires pose to communities and ecosystems.

“We do advocacy at a twofold level. We are doing defensive work to fight back against bad things, and we’re also trying to promote the good things that are happening on the ground,” said Morgan Cashwell, North America director of legislative affairs for the Nature Conservancy. Right now, that good work needs to “meet the moment in the current wildfire crisis.”

That sentiment appears to have motivated Western lawmakers in particular.

In the House of Representatives, roughly half of the Democrats from Western states voted for the bill, compared to about a quarter of Democrats from elsewhere in the country. Republicans voted overwhelmingly in favor. The legislation is now awaiting a final vote in the Senate. Congress has until Jan. 3, 2027, to pass it.

“Wildfires today are very different than wildfires from a generation ago,” said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who co-introduced the Senate version of the bill. “Oftentimes, they’re irreversibly devastating ecosystems and watersheds.”

“So,” he said, “ the status quo is clearly not working.”

Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), center, chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, delivers remarks at the Capitol in March 2023.

(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

The act was born when Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), a former forester, stole a seat on a plane next to Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego). He used the opportunity to talk Peters’ ear off about a beloved species of tree that is under threat from worsening wildfires: the giant sequoia.

The two introduced a bill to protect them, called the Save Our Sequoias Act, and quickly saw an opportunity for something bigger.

“I knew right away that this could be a gateway to talking about permit reform,” Peters said. So, “we started working on a bigger, nationwide reform of forestry practices which have been really, really clogged up.”

While California grasslands, shrublands and woodlands are adapted to different frequencies and intensities of wildfire, research has found that high-severity fires — which kill the vast majority of trees in their path — are scorching 30 times more land area than in the 1980s.

The result: California is losing, on average, more than 200,000 acres of forest every year — or roughly 2.5% of all woodlands in the state every decade. U.S. Forest Service efforts to resuscitate these ecosystems have failed to keep pace. In recent years, the agency has reforested only about 1% of woodlands that are unlikely to recover on their own.

Californian supporters of the Fix Our Forests Act argue the problem has more to do with permitting delays than finances.

Marin County firefighters train during a prescribed burn in June in San Rafael.

(Heather Diehl / Getty Images)

Rep. George Whitesides (D-Santa Clarita), who co-sponsored the Fix Our Forests Act, pointed to nonpartisan research that found it takes the Forest Service more than five years on average to complete a full environmental review and begin work on forest thinning projects that use mechanical equipment like bulldozers and wood chippers. For prescribed burns, it takes more than seven years on average.

“That’s insane,” he said, that it “takes as long as a kid growing up to be a first grader to be able to move on this.”

The Fix Our Forests Act would exempt projects from the full permitting process if they were in areas with the most extreme fire risk and would expand existing exemptions for projects under 3,000 acres to cover projects up to 10,000 acres. It also would limit the window during which environmental groups can sue over project approvals.

These projects tend to employ a combination of harvesting timber and thinning smaller trees and plants with heavy machinery (often the favored tools of Republicans and the timber industry) and using prescribed fire to clear out the forest floor (often favored by environmental groups).

The “environmental left” has “made it endlessly time-consuming and ultimately cost prohibitive to maintain our forests, all with the promise that this would improve the forest environment,” said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), a co-sponsor who authored some of the permitting exclusions. “Well, after 50 years, I think we’re entitled to ask, how’s the forest environment doing?”

In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order that blamed “our inability to fully exploit our domestic timber supply” as a contributor to disastrous wildfires. In response, the U.S. Forest Service set a goal to increase the amount of timber open to logging by 25% nationwide over five years.

Scott Dane, executive director of the American Loggers Council, argued the nightmare scenarios of expansive clear-cutting from the timber wars are not on the table for America’s public lands.

“It’s a boogeyman position that they love to take from 100 years ago,” he said. “It’s not, in reality, in modern forest management at all.”

Watchdogs in Southern California have a different concern: While research shows forest thinning is an effective tool in overgrown Sierra Nevada woodlands, the state’s coastal shrublands are not denser than they historically have been. Consequently, the type of projects the Fix Our Forests Act would expedite are far more controversial and contested in shrublands. Local advocates fear the act would undermine their ability to push back on proposals with questionable scientific backing.

Goats and sheep graze on top of Kite Hill in May 2025 in Los Angeles for wildfire prevention.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

In contrast to projects in conifer forests that aim to decrease the density of trees and vegetation across the landscape, shrubland projects are typically centered on creating a network of corridors hundreds of feet wide with no vegetation throughout the wildlands and clearing plants away from existing buildings.

While firefighters rely on these networks of fuel breaks to access the wildlands during fires and build containment lines, research has found that when firefighters cannot reach the fuel breaks — which is often the case during extreme winds — the lines only stop fires about 13% of the time. If they are not routinely maintained, they also risk supporting the growth of flammable invasive grasses.

In Los Padres National Forest, near Santa Barbara, officials proposed in 2022 creating roughly 187,000 acres of fuel breaks and structure defense zones. After organizations like Los Padres ForestWatch pushed back on the plan through the environmental review process, the national forest ultimately scaled the proposal down to about 22,000 acres this July.

“You had community input, and you had the federal government incorporating that input into a plan that is grossly improved,” said Benjamin Pitterle, director of advocacy and field operations at Los Padres ForestWatch. “It’s arguably a perfect example of how the process should work.”

Jamie Smith reaches his half-century, becoming England’s fourth batter to score a 50 in the innings against Pakistan, helping them build a strong lead in day two of the third Test at Edgbaston.

FOLLOW LIVE: England v Pakistan – Third Test, day two

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Holidaymakers will face a nightly levy on hotel and Airbnb-style stays across large parts of England in a move welcomed by many mayors but described as risking “irreparable harm” to the tourism industry.

Regions across England will be able to charge an uncapped “tourist tax” on overnight stays to potentially generate tens of millions of pounds that would then be spent in those areas.

The move will bring England into line with many European nations and the US, where holidaymakers have for years been paying overnight visitor levies.

However, tourism and hospitality bosses warned it would have a “hugely damaging” impact on an industry already under pressure from a rise in tax and employment costs.

UKHospitality, the industry’s trade body, said a 5% overnight levy across England could result in 33,000 job losses and a £2bn hit to the economy, with regions more reliant on tourism, such as the Lake District, being worst affected.

The owner of Premier Inn, Britain’s biggest hotel chain, said it would be “hugely damaging” and urged ministers to “avoid inflicting what could be irreparable harm on this large and vital sector of the economy”.

The proposal for an overnight levy was backed by Keir Starmer’s government in November and is similar to a scheme running in Scotland.

Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, outlined the details behind the levy to England’s regional mayors in a meeting at No 10 North in Manchester on Thursday.

Under the proposal, which is expected to be introduced as a bill in parliament within months, mayors will be given the power to decide what is best for their area, but ministers do not expect the levy to become overly expensive.

Allen Simpson, the chief executive of UKHospitality, said the plans would put jobs at risk in some communities, and that the new tourism tax in Edinburgh was “already having damaging effects”. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme holidays in the UK were “already more expensive” than they appeared because of higher VAT.

“What we’re talking about here is an open-ended power for mayors to set tourism taxes at any level they want,” said Simpson. “And remember that if you go to Paris, if you go to Rome, if you go to Berlin, you’re paying a small tourism tax, but it’s capped.”

He added: “It will be the case that you’ll have holiday parks which can’t open in the shoulder seasons, and of course people who go on holiday will just have that little bit less money in their pocket.”

The overnight visitor levy was outlined in the king’s speech in May, but legislation was not brought forward before Starmer stood down as prime minister. Andy Burnham is likely to pitch the policy as part of his wider devolution agenda. No 10 has previously said local leaders would be “able to set out plans for how revenues will be invested by March 2028”.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham introduced the city visitor charge in April 2023 – a £1 per room per night fee – to pay for measures aimed at attracting more tourists. Last year other mayors, including Sadiq Khan in London, wrote a letter to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, and the then chancellor, Rachel Reeves, urging the government to introduce a visitor levy.

Sources from the London mayor’s office said a plan to make the payment a percentage rather than a flat fee was welcome. No decisions had been made on the design of the scheme or how revenues would be allocated, they said, but any levy would not be more than 5% of accommodation costs. “This will really help us support London’s growth and our offer to visitors,” they said.

Edinburgh became the first city in Scotland to introduce a tourist tax, at 5% in July, after the Scottish parliament passed a law last year granting councils the power to implement their own visitor levies. In Wales, councils will have the power to charge £1.30 a person a night in tax for most accommodation from April 2027.

But UKHospitality, which represents thousands of restaurants, hotels and pubs, has said a levy of 5% would be one of the highest tourist tax rates in Europe and hit households continuing to struggle with the cost of living. It has written to Burnham urging him instead to consider plans for a “holiday bonus”, under which central government revenues would be devolved to local authorities based on the number of visitors they attract.

Tourist taxes are common in Europe and the rest of the world, and are used in cities such as New York, Barcelona and Venice to fund local services.

General Atomics has given us the first look at its new Wildfire drone design. The company is developing this armed medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) uncrewed aircraft in response to new U.S. Air Force requirements for a lower-cost successor to the MQ-9A Reaper.

A rendering of Wildfire was included in a video montage, seen below, which General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. division (GA-ASI) released earlier today. GA-ASI first announced work on this new drone last month. The Air Force, in partnership with the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), formally kicked off its new search for a Reaper successor, currently called the Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA), in July. GA-ASI also developed the MQ-9A, which is now out of production.

Wildfire’s pusher-prop design shown is clearly an extension of the existing MQ-9 family, with an overall planform that is extremely similar to that of the Reaper. Like the latest versions of the MQ-9A, the new drone has a sensor turret under the nose and a large blade antenna under the rear fuselage.

Wildfire does notably lack the Reaper’s distinctive hump on top of the forward fuselage. On the MQ-9A, this feature contains the drone’s satellite communications (SATCOM) antenna. What this might mean about how Wildfire is controlled and otherwise communicates is not immediately clear, but it points to the use of a smaller, lower-cost SATCOM terminal. That, in turn, would most likely be tied to a network like Starshield, the government-focused cousin of SpaceX’s Starlink. We could also see greater semi-autonomous control here, or at least a greater reliance on it.

The resulting shape of the forward end of the fuselage is vaguely reminiscent of GA-ASI’s Gnat series of drones from the 1990s, which evolved into the iconic Predator. The MQ-9 family, in turn, is an outgrowth of the Predator.

The rendering of Wildfire also depicts the drone armed with four Joint Strike Missile (JSM) cruise missiles, with two loaded on what appears to be a single pylon under each wing. The stealthy JSM can be employed as an anti-ship or land-attack weapon. GA-ASI has released renderings of MQ-9s in the past with similar loadouts. The Air Force is already acquiring stocks of JSMs, primarily to arm its F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. Stand-off munitions like the JSM have long been seen as an increasingly important, if not critical, addition to the non-stealth Reaper’s arsenal, helping to keep the drones further away from potential threats.

TWZ has reached out to General Atomics for more details.

“General Atomics is looking at it and asking ourselves, ‘What can we really do? No kidding, no BS, actually do,’” GA-ASI spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley did tell us back in August when asked about Wildfire. “Let’s be honest with ourselves first. How do we come out of the box, day one, with a 10,000-nautical-mile ferry range? Can we carry four LRASMs [AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles]? Can we swarm 100 aircraft under semi-autonomous control? Can we fuse all of that data into a highly effective common operating picture? Can we do that at scalable, affordable mass?”

“So that was the assignment, and our engineers sharpened their pencils and got to work,” he added. “What came out the other side was our new Wildfire UAS. That thing is a beast, and no one who actually does this for a living, and is honestly concerned about America’s warfighting edge, can look at it and not want 100 of them as fast as we can make them.”

Wildfire “addresses all of the concerns posed by the MMA solicitation. We can deliver years earlier and maintain the same high quality. You can have everything that makes Reaper special, plus more, at a price that doesn’t break the bank,” Brinkley also told Breaking Defense for a story published last week.

In terms of what the Air Force has said it is looking for with the MMA, as we have previously written:

“[The service] …wants the MMA drone to perform the same general intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike missions as the MQ-9A. To that end, stated program requirements to date include a speed of at least 200 knots true airspeed, a munition and sensor payload capacity of at least 2,800 pounds, an unrefueled combat radius of at least 2,300 nautical miles with payload, the ability to self-deploy one-way at least 8,000 nautical miles, and the ability to operate from runways no longer than 6,000 feet. The MMAs also need to be highly modular and use open architecture mission systems to make it easier to integrate new capabilities and functionality down the line.”

The Air Force also shared last week that it is targeting a roughly $10 million unit cost for the MMA drones, not including sensors and certain other systems. As mentioned, the Reaper is out of production, but the price tag on a fully-equipped Reaper today is widely reported to be between $30 million and $50 million. The Air Force has itself used the $50 million figure as a reference point in discussing its latest plans for what comes after the MQ-9.

It is unclear how Wildfire might achieve this cost goal while retaining so much obvious Reaper DNA, but even a major 30 to 50 percent reduction in the price tag compared to its predecessor would be a huge deal. In the past, General Atomics’ Brinkley has openly questioned just how cheap an MMA drone could realistically be while still offering comparable capabilities to MQ-9.

The original timeline for the MMA program envisioned the Air Force reaching initial operational capability in 2031 after receiving 20 of the drones. The service is now looking to accelerate that schedule by around two years. The Air Force expects to eventually acquire around 180 MMAs.

The Air Force has tried, without success, to develop a successor to the MQ-9 on several occasions in the past. However, a key driving factor now is huge losses of Reapers in the course of the ongoing conflict against Iran. The service’s MQ-9 fleet has already shrunk dramatically in recent years, in part due to additional losses during operations targeting Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen last year.

“Although we have plenty of MQ-9As today, we are going through them at a rate that is concerning to us,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Niemi, the service’s Chief Modernization Officer, told reporters at a roundtable at the Pentagon last week, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. “There’s not a lot of good options to immediately replace those aircraft.”

GA-ASI has long had a monopoly on MALE combat drone sales in the United States, and is clearly looking to extend that now with Wildfire. However, this market space has been expanding, and other companies are already competing for what could be a very lucrative new deal with the Air Force. Winning the MMA contract could open doors to opportunities elsewhere within the U.S. government and with foreign countries. Variants and derivatives of the MQ-9 are also in service today with the U.S. Marine Corps, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and several additional air arms globally.

More information about Wildfire, as well as its competitors, is only likely to continue emerging as the Air Force pushes ahead with new and aggressive plans to finally acquire a follow-on drone to the venerable Reaper.

Update: 2:15 PM ET –

General Atomics spokesperson C. Mark Brinkley has now shared additional details about Wildfire with TWZ.

“You’re not imagining it. These new Wildfire renders do lack the dorsal hump you see on Reaper, MQ-9B, Gray Eagle, Mojave STOL and many copycat aircraft,” Brinkley explained. “General Atomics has pushed proliferated low-earth orbit controls onto many of our existing aircraft and pioneered that integration across unmanned aerospace. That is a relatively new technology that we already have great experience integrating, and it makes sense to bring that into Wildfire.”

“Proliferated low-earth orbit” (abbreviated variously as pLEO and P-LEO) refers to distributed constellations of hundreds or potentially thousands of satellites in that orbital region. SpaceX’s constellations supporting the aforementioned Starlink/Starshield networks fall into this general category.

“Wildfire is going to leverage ongoing advancements in autonomy on Day One. We envision networking dozens of Wildfires for true combat mass,” according to Brinkley. “Again, not a hypothetical. We’ve been pioneering many advancements in autonomy, AI, and machine learning across the FQ-42A program and using our own MQ-20 Avenger as a CCA [Collaborative Combat Aircraft] surrogate connected to F-22 and F-35. That’s proven, not concept.”

The FQ-42A, also known as the Dark Merlin, is one of two designs now in development under the first phase, or Increment 1, of the Air Force’s CCA program, the other being Anduril’s FQ-44A Fury. The service announced in June that its initial CCA force would be a mixed fleet of FQ-42As and FQ-44As.

“Four JSMs tells you something about Wildfire overall. We can’t just look at overall external weight limits. You have to consider individual hardpoint capacity,” Brinkley continued. “We’ve concepted four JSMs on MQ-9B before, as a concept, but we’ve never done that on Reaper. Wildfire can absolutely do that, from a hardpoint capacity and also an overall MGTOW [maximum gross takeoff weight] perspective.”

“We’re showing two LRASMs on Wildfire, which is twice as much as the DIU solicitation asked for. If you’re going to build a flying weapons truck, give it some teeth,” he added. “These longer-range missiles also give you increased standoff compared to other weapons you associate with the MQ-9, so that also gives you some flexibility. Wildfire can carry two LRASMs for meaningful combat distances.”

The AGM-158C LRASM (Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile) is a derivative of the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) family of land-attack cruise missiles, and is also in the Air Force’s inventory today.

Brinkley also said that Wildfire’s ferry range will exceed the MMA’s target of 8,000 nautical miles.

“We can deliver way ahead of the original FY 2031 schedule [for MMA]. We can deliver more than twice as many aircraft as requested in the same amount of time, because our manufacturing is real. Our network of suppliers, subcontractors and partners is real,” he added. “The obvious question is always cost, and I struggle to discuss costs because no one ever wants to compare apples to apples. There are stated price targets out there, and we’ll hit those. We’ll do it with an aircraft you can trust. We have nearly 10 million flight hours and more than 1,600 aircraft delivered. This is what we do.”

Speaking more generally, Brinkley also highlighted General Atomics’ extensive experience in developing and producing armed MALE drones, including the MQ-9.

“It’s important to remember that Reaper made its first flight 25 years ago and was so far ahead of everything else that it still defines the entire category of medium-altitude, long-endurance strike aircraft worldwide. When you build something new to do this kind of work, it rolls out into the Reaper’s shadow,” he said. “I don’t have to defend MQ-9 because the track record speaks for itself. It’s been called the MVP of Epic Fury [the U.S. military’s nickname for the initial phase of operations against Iran this year] for good reason, and I think it has squashed all questions about the relevance of MALE ISR and strike.”

“So that brings us to questions of affordability versus attrition, cost-per-effect, and the true price of combat operations. It also brings up questions of reliability and mission availability, and Reaper excels at both of these, so you can’t replace it with junk and expect to get the same effects,” he continued. “That’s where Wildfire comes in. Our team went to the graph paper and started sketching out what they would do differently and what they would keep the same. Where are the tradeoffs, and what do you change? No one knows this category of aircraft and missions like we do. We’re not guessing and hoping.”

“I can’t get into deep specifics on Wildfire yet, because it’s too early for that and the goalposts seem to move every time I say something publicly. What I can say is that Wildfire takes all of the known quantities of Reaper, blends them with some cutting-edge technologies and manufacturing advancements, and incorporates our more than three decades of lessons learned about large, unmanned combat aircraft to drive cost-per-effect math down.”

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

London Gatwick Airport is set to be hit with further travel disruption this month as two sets of strikes are planned for a total of nine days that ‘will inevitably disrupt services’

Travellers passing through Gatwick Airport could face further travel chaos as more than 200 workers are set to strike this month, threatening flight delays.

The UK’s second-largest airport, which handles more than 40 million passengers every year, was hit with air traffic control mayhem this week, with hundreds of flights cancelled and grounded. Yet there could be significantly more disruption at London Gatwick Airport later this month, as 220 workers are set to walk out in a dispute over pay.

The strikes are set to take place by Unite union members, who provide assisted travel at Gatwick, and are employed by the specialist firm Wilson James. There have been pay negotiations between the airport workers and Wilson James since May, but with rejected deals, the “industrial action will inevitably disrupt services throughout Gatwick”, Unite regional officer Ben Davis said.

Unite members involved in the dispute are set to walk out between Thursday, 17 September and Monday, 21 September, and from Wednesday, 23 September to Saturday, 26 September. As they provide special assistance for disabled and elderly passengers, delays are expected in boarding and disembarking for passengers who depend on their services, which could result in delays across short and long-haul flights to and from Gatwick, the union warned.

Unite previously rejected a 3.4 per cent two-year pay rise, in addition to a 0.6 per cent bonus and 0.5 per cent uplift in pensions. The union said it was “not enough to address years of low pay at the firm”, where some of the lowest-paid members earn £14.71 per hour, while struggling with the high cost of living within reach of Gatwick.

The union also noted that workloads have increased at Gatwick, with this year’s busiest summer since 2019. Unite regional officer Ben Davis said: “Unite has been trying to negotiate a better pay deal for our members for months, however Wilson James has failed to put forward an offer that is acceptable to workers.

“Industrial action will inevitably disrupt services throughout Gatwick but this is a direct result of Wilson James refusal to make a fair offer to our members. Strikes can be avoided but that requires the company making a significantly improved offer.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham further commented: “Wilson James is a highly profitable company which can more than afford to put forward a pay deal that reflects the hard work our members do.

“These workers are vital in the smooth running of the airport, doing a key role in assisting passengers on and off flights. Their jobs have become even more difficult as Gatwick has become busier.”

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “We are working with our assisted travel provider, Wilson James, to avoid any impacts and we expect to operate a normal flight schedule for our airlines and passengers on these dates. Of course, we hope Wilson James and their union can reach a resolution before then.”

The impending strikes come as Gatwick Airport faced severe disruption following air traffic control issues on Tuesday, 8 September, with hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled. The control provider, NATS, said there had been a technical glitch, and bosses admitted it had taken “longer than hoped” to resolve.

As a result of the air traffic control chaos, more than 1,700 flights were impacted on Tuesday, with 30.10 per cent of those cancelled or unable to fly, according to Cirium, the aviation analytics company. Meanwhile, 417 flights were cancelled or did not fly on Wednesday, 9 September, with cancellations continuing today (Thursday, 10 September).

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

THEY’RE known for their sexy outfits and saucy scenes, but Bond Girls are just as iconic as 007 himself.

And we may not have long before a new bevvy of beauties turn heads, as the hunt for the next James Bond may now be over.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today show, 007 writer Steven Knight was asked whether he had written the film with the chosen actor in mind or based on what he already knew about the character.

He replied that it was “a bit of both”, seemingly confirming that an actor had been picked.

The next Bond will fill the shoes of Daniel Craig, who last played the secret agent in 2021’s No Time to Die.

Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden remains one of the frontrunners for the coveted role, while a host of other stars have been linked to the part since Craig’s departure.

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As fans know, the world’s slickest spy is rarely seen without a glamorous Bond Girl – or three – in tow, but no news has yet been released on who could be in the running. 

Many of the show’s most iconic moments centre around 007’s striking counterparts – and here, we look back at some of the original Bond Girls, and where they are now…

Ursula Andress – Dr. No – 1962

Ursula Andress launched the archetype of the Bond Girl as Honey Ryder in 1962’s Dr. No, alongside Sean Connery.

The image of her emerging from the ocean in a white bikini with a knife remains one of the franchise’s most defining moments. 

Ursula went on to pose nude for Playboy before starring with Elvis Presley in 1963’s Fun in Acapulco, with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in 4 for Texas, and with Laurence Olivier and Harry Hamlin – the father of her son Dimitri – in 1981’s Clash of the Titans.

After starring in films throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she gradually retired from acting to focus on her art collection and private life. 

Ursula, 90, said she felt “such pain” on hearing the news of Connery’s death in 2020 – saying they had “perfect chemistry” on screen.

The actress, who only married once – to American actor John Derek from 1957 until their divorce in 1966 – said: “He was a great man, today men like that just don’t exist, they are all too narcissistic, too taken with themselves.

”Today finding someone like Sean is very difficult. He was a great friend and a fabulous actor.”

Earlier this year, Italian authorities seized £17.3million worth of assets in Tuscany, including property, vineyards and olive groves, which had allegedly been bought with money embezzled from Ursula.

The former Bond Girl had filed a complaint in her native Switzerland alleging a “progressive and significant depletion of her assets” by individuals charged with managing her finances, Italy’s financial crimes police said in a statement.

Shirley Eaton – Goldfinger – 1964

Brit actress Shirley was hailed as the ultimate sex symbol after suffering the most famous Bond girl fate in the franchise, in 1964’s Goldfinger.

Her character, Jill Masterson, was murdered by being covered in gold paint from head to toe –  causing “skin suffocation.”

The iconic scene sparked a rumour she had died in filming, and she even appeared on a 2003 TV show to dispel the myth.

In fact the golden girl, now 89, gave up her career to bring up two children, Grant and Jason, with husband Colin Rowe.

Jane Seymour – Live and Let Die – 1973

For a character named Solitaire, Jane Seymour’s Bond Girl spends little time alone after meeting 007 and ending up in his bed in Live and Let Die.

A voodoo medium whose psychic powers depend on her virginity, she is seduced by Roger Moore’s Bond and loses her unique gift in the process.

The British star, who recently turned 75, went on to star in East of Eden, the TV series Dr Quinn Medicine Woman and The War with Grandpa, with Robert de Niro.

Outside of acting, she has built a massive lifestyle brand, written self-help books, and launched significant charitable foundations. 

Jane has been married four times, and was left “beyond bankrupt” by property deals involving second husband David Flynn.

In 2018, the mum-of-four became the oldest woman to pose for Playboy, at the age of 67. 

The spread came 45 years after appearing in the magazine the year she did Bond, and she said she now feels sexier than ever.

Britt Ekland – The Man with the Golden Gun – 1974

Swedish Britt Ekland brought charisma and comedic timing to her role as MI6 operative Mary Goodnight in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun opposite Roger Moore.

Needless to say her duties as Bond’s PA went beyond taking notes and keeping his diary – and a ‘good night’ was had by all.

Beyond 007, she was a regular fixture of 1970s pop culture, famous for her high-profile romances and busy film career.

She divorced comedian Peter Sellers, father to daughter Victoria in 1968, after a four-year marriage.

She went on to have a son with record producer Lou Adler and a high profile romance with Rod Stewart, which ended in 1977 after two years.

At 42, she married Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, who was 23 at the time. They divorced in 1992.

Following Bond, she went on to star in the comedy Royal Flash and the 1989 movie Scandal, as well as a host of TV Miniseries, including Valley of the Dolls.

In 2010, she took part in I’m A Celebrity…, falling out with fainting campmate Gillian McKeith, and also appeared in The Real Marigold Hotel.

Britt, now 83, has also spoken candidly in recent years about “destroying her looks” with lip fillers in her 50s.

Barbara Bach – The Spy Who Loved Me – 1977

Barbara Bach broke the mold of the traditional damsel in distress by playing the formidable Soviet agent Anya Amasova in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.

Despite attempting to murder Bond on their first meeting, inevitably, the pair end up as lovers, and the film ends with them floating off to sea in an escape pod after defeating evil Russian Karl Stromberg at his secret sea base.

In real life, she did float off into the sunset with another British icon – The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr – after divorcing her first husband, who was an Italian count.

As well as starring in a handful of films, Barbara co-founded charity, the Lotus Foundation, alongside her husband, who she wed in 1981.

Since stepping out of the spotlight, Barbara, who is now 80, earned a degree in psychology and devoted her life to humanitarian work. 

Grace Jones – A View to a Kill – 1985

Singer Grace Jones turned the Bond universe on its head as the fierce, muscular, fashion-forward villain May Day in 1985’s A View to a Kill. 

In the Roger Moore film, she played the memorable henchwoman to villain Zorin.

Jamaica-born Grace was already a household name when she took the role in 1985.

She went on to release her iconic album Slave To The Rhythm the year after.

Grace, now 78, dated former bodyguard Dolph Lundgren and launched his acting career by getting him a role in the Bond film.

She has had one brief marriage – to Atila Altaunbay – and has a son by graphic designer Jean Paul Goude.

Not one to settle into retirement, she has maintained a legendary career as a music star and continues to tour and perform at music festivals.

Michelle Yeoh – Tomorrow Never Dies – 1997

With her martial arts skills and speed in a motorbike chase, Michelle Yeoh’s character Wai Lin certainly kept Pierce Brosnan on his toes in Tomorrow Never Dies.

Performing her own dangerous stunts, she redefined what an action heroine could be in a modern blockbuster. 

Her Bond turn opened doors to global stardom, leading to acclaimed roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians, Avatar, and recently, Wicked. 

In 2023, she made history by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. 

Michelle, 64, lives with former rally driver Jean Todt.

Halle Berry – Die Another Day – 2002

Starring as Jinx Johnson, opposite Pierce Brosnan’s suave spy, Halle spent a good deal of her time in a bikini and upped her fan base in the process.

But she wasn’t just a pretty face in 2002’s Die Another Day. 

Jinx was a trained assassin sent to kill a North Korean agent, and bedded Bond to get the information she needed to carry out her deadly task.

Before starring in Bond, she already had a Best Actress Oscar win under her belt, for Monster’s Ball in 2001.

She went on to play Storm in the X-Men movies, and appear in Moonfall and The Mothership.

Over the two decades since, she has built an expansive career as a Hollywood A-lister, action star, film producer, and director. 

In her personal life, Halle, 60, has been married three times and is now engaged to singer Van Hunt. 

In 2012, Halle went through a bitter custody battle with former partner Gabriel Aubry over their daughter, Nala, born in 2008.

She also has a son with third husband Olivier Martinez, although they separated in 2015, after two years of marriage.

In 2000, Halle pleaded no contest to charges of leaving the scene of a car accident in Hollywood, and was sentenced to three years’ probation, fined $13,500 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

Earlier this year, the Oscar winner says she is having “the most amazing sex” with Van after her three divorces and is now with the “love of her life”.

DUBAI: Renewed fighting along Yemen’s Red Sea coast has put the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait back in focus, raising concerns over a key maritime route linking Europe and Asia.

The strait is a narrow passage between Yemen and the Horn of Africa that connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean.

For ships travelling between Asia and Europe, it forms part of the route linking the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, making it one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.

Why is it so important?

Bab Al-Mandab is the southern gateway to the Red Sea. Ships travelling through the Suez Canal between Europe and Asia generally pass through the Red Sea and then Bab Al-Mandab before entering the Gulf of Aden.

The route has ships carrying oil, fuel and other commercial goods.

Oil flows through the strait fell sharply after Houthi attacks on shipping began disrupting Red Sea traffic.

The US Energy Information Administration said oil trade through Bab Al-Mandab averaged about 4 million barrels per day in the first eight months of 2024, compared with 8.7 million barrels per day in 2023.

Why does the latest fighting matter?

Yemen’s western coastline runs alongside the strait, making control of nearby territory strategically important.

The port city of Mokha lies north of Bab Al-Mandab, while Dhubab is close to its entrance. Any expansion of Houthi control along this stretch of coast could increase the group’s ability to threaten or monitor shipping through the waterway.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Houthi forces were moving toward Mokha and Dhubab as they sought greater control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Yemeni government military sources said this could give the Houthis significant leverage over Bab Al-Mandab.

The reports have not been independently verified, and they do not mean the Houthis control the strait. But any further Houthi advance toward the coast could increase the risk to commercial shipping.

The Houthis have previously targeted commercial vessels in and around the Red Sea, forcing many ships to avoid the route.

What happens if shipping is disrupted?

Ships can avoid Bab Al-Mandab and the Red Sea by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

But that can add thousands of kilometers to some journeys, increasing sailing times, fuel consumption, insurance costs and freight rates.

The consequences can therefore extend well beyond Yemen, affecting the movement and cost of energy, manufactured goods and other products travelling between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Companies and special interest groups with some of the diciest issues expected to land on California’s next governor’s desk are among the top financial backers of Democrat Xavier Becerra, the gubernatorial front runner.

Money from Big Tech, the healthcare industry, labor unions and tribes helped propel Becerra’s bid for governor, which languished at the outset then took off just months before the June primary. All are major players in national and state politics and have a major financial stake on the policies of California’s next governor.

Meta, which has contributed nearly $1.2 million to groups backing Becerra’s campagin, has faced mounting scrutiny by lawmakers and the courts. The Menlo Park-based company, which operates social media and communication platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, just agreed to a landmark $17.1 billion settlement to resolve multi-state claims that its apps endanger children.

The state Legislature in August also passed a measure to bar social media platforms from providing an “addictive feature” to lure children, as well as bills to shield Californians from threats posed by the boom in artificial intelligence and data centers. The fate of these measures is now in the hands of Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the next governor likely will have to decide whether approve even stricter controls on Big Tech.

Meta is among eight donors that wrote seven-figure checks supporting Becerra’s gubernatrial campaign, with most of he money funneled to independent committees backing the Democrat that are not allowed to legally coordinate with the candidate. Campaigns often find back doors to do so.

Former state Sen. Steve Glazer, a Democrat who ran Jerry Brown’s successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign, said such spending is not surprising.

“Look, millions and billions of dollars are at stake, and the governor is the central point for all of that in California,” Glazer said. “It’s not a gamble anymore. You’re not picking a winner or a loser, right? So the floodgates open up for a runaway winner like Xavier Becerra.”

Becerra, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a longtime congressman, won one of the top two spots in the chaotic June primary. Republican Steve Hilton, a conservative media commentator and strategist who was endorsed by President Trump, won the other slot to advance to the Nov. 3 election. Becerra is considered a heavy favorite to win, given that Democratic voters in California outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1.

Becerra has the financial edge in the race, raising at least $30 million while also receiving significant support from the independent committees. Donors have contributed $48.8 million to Becerra’s campaign committee as well as outside efforts supporting his bid, according to a Times analysis of contributions through Sept. 3.

A Becerra spokesman said that although the campaign welcomed support from any donor, he would not weigh their contributions as he makes policy decisions if elected

“Xavier Becerra is laser-focused on making California work for working people — lowering costs, building housing, and making this state affordable again,” said Jonathan Underland, a spokesman for the Democrat. “Anyone willing to stand with us in that fight is welcome to join it, and we won’t hesitate to challenge anyone who gets in the way of that goal.”

His GOP rival raked in $18.8 million, including a $90,100 contribution from the candidate himself. Hilton’s top donors are billionaires and business executives including manufacturer Donald Friese and his wife Andrea, Silicon Valley billionaire Tim Draper, former Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Los Angeles real estate magnate Geoffrey Palmer and the founder of defense contractor Anduril Industries, Palmer Luckey.

Executives and employees at Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions Inc., a company that makes contamination monitoring systems, contributed more than $474,000 to Hilton’s campaign.

A small handful of donors gave to both candidates. Uber and its employees gave nearly $42,000 to Hilton, while the company and an affiliated political action committee spent $1,039,200 supporting Becerra. Vlad Tenev, founder of the financial trading platform Robinhood, gave $289,000 to Becerra and $15,000 to Hilton.

A committee ostensibly established to oppose Hilton, an effort that effectively propped him up among Republican voters before the June primary, raised $2.5 million through large donations from the California Nurses Assn., the Service Employees International Union, the Democratic Governors Assn. and wealthy businessman Bill Bloomfield, an unsuccessful congressional candidate and Republican-turned-Democrat.

Hilton said Becerra’s financial backers are unsurprising and illustrate the “corruption” created by one-party rule in Sacramento.

“All these businesses and organizations assume he’s going to be the next governor, so they’re trying to bribe him,” Hilton said in an interview. “You can call it donations if you want, but it’s actually legalized bribery. … Big business and special interests are shoveling cash into his mouth in the hope that they can bribe him to do their bidding.”

Becerra, who served in public office for nearly 35 years, has a long history of support from powerful industries, labor unions and others with business before the government. During his 24 years in Congress, donors spent roughly $11 million supporting Becerra, according to the Times analysis and Open Secrets, a nonprofit, nonpartisan tracker of campaign fundraising. While he served as California attorney general for four years, contributors spent nearly $9.4 million backing him.

Among the former Biden Cabinet secretary’s top financial backers in the governor’s race are labor unions, healthcare groups, tech companies and Native American tribes that own some of the state’s splashiest casinos. All will probably be affected by decisions made by the next governor.

The Laborers’ International Union of North America and local affiliates and political arms, focused on infrastructure projects and the creation of union jobs, has contributed nearly $3.2 million. A committee associated with the California Assn. of Realtors that is focused on housing, real estate policy and property rights has spent nearly $2.8 million backing Becerra.

The Pechanga Band of Indians chipped in more than $2.3 million to efforts supporting Becerra at a time that gaming issues continue to be scrutinized.

A Pechanga representative said the tribe’s leader was unavailable due to travel but pointed to a statement he made before the primary.

“Secretary Becerra has stood with Indian Country for decades and understands Tribal sovereignty. When tribal healthcare was on the line, he was there,” said Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro. “This experience comes from a lifetime of public service, not a checkbook.”

The California Medical Assn. has spent nearly $1.5 million backing Becerra at a time of deep impending federal healthcare funding cuts and efforts by the state to backfill that lost financial support.

Dr. René Bravo, president of the California Medical Assn., which represents more than 50,000 physicians, said their spending was spurred by the their belief that Becerra is the best candidate to take on impending federal healthcare funding cuts that will harm millions of Californians access to care.

“Xavier Becerra understands healthcare and the challenges facing patients and physicians. The next governor will make critical decisions on MediCal, the physician workforce, affordability and access to care,” Bravo said. “We’re investing in this race because those decisions will directly affect California patients and physicians.”

Meta declined to comment on its contributions, and the Realtors and the Laborers did not respond to requests for comment.

Becerra, asked about the Realtors’ large donations supporting his campaign, noted that most of the money was contributed to committees outside his control. But he argued that his policy priorities have long been clear, including when he was an afterthought in the gubernatorial race.

“I was pretty clear in the primary, where I wasn’t getting as much support from a lot of different folks,” Becerra said Fridayat a news conference in north Long Beach supporting Proposition 1, a proposed $11.25-billion bond measure on the November ballot to boost affordable housing construction around the state.

“What I will tell you is this: Take a look at my record. Take a look at what I’ve said, and rather than look to inflated promises, look at what I’ve done in my record,” Becerra said, standing in front of Laborers’ International Union of North America members clad in orange safety vests. “And I will tell you, I have built, not just as a public servant, but when I was wearing myself that orange vest as a construction worker, as a laborer for Local 185, in my younger years, I was out there helping build. And so what we’re going to do is we’re going to do what we need to do, regardless what the voices say. We’re doing it because the people demand it.”

Fossil fuel and renewable energy firms have also supported Becerra, notably Chevron and affiliated groups and employees, spent more than $1.1 million boosting his bid — money that his Democratic rivals in the governor’s race and other critics, including climate activist Jane Fonda, pounced upon before the primary.

Billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer deployed mobile billboards touting Becerra saying “You need Chevron, I need Chevron,” a clip from a longer comment about how every Californian doesn’t drive an electric car.

Chevron did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, Becerra was a single-digit polling afterthought in the crowded race to replace Newsom, who is termed-out. But after a dizzying primary that included a potential front-runner, then-Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin), dropping out amid allegations of rape and sexual assault, Becerra took the lead in the Democratic field and placed first in the June election.

Becerra, 68, has a long career in elected office, serving two years in the state Assembly, 24 years in Congress, four years as California’s attorney general, and four years in the Biden administration.

While he was in Congress, donations to his federal campaign committee grew dramatically, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission documents provided by Open Secrets.

In the early 1990s, Becerra was receiving donations in the low six figures, but by the end of his time in Congress, he was receiving well over $1 million during each two-year electoral cycle.

Finance, insurance and real estate firms and trade groups, such as Charles Schwab, the National Assn. of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the New York Life Insurance Co., Merrill Lynch and Pacific Life Insurance, were major supporters of Becerra, who served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which regulates taxation. Such donors contributed more than $2.6 million to his congressional bids, according to Open Secrets.

Healthcare interests came in a close second, contributing more than $2.4 million to his congressional campaigns in the years before he was nominated and confirmed as Biden’s secretary of Health and Human Services, according to Open Secrets. Among the groups that supported Becerra’s federal campaigns included organizations representing physical therapists, anesthesiologists, podiatrists, assisted living and long term care facilities, and dietitians. While in Congress, Becerra was a strong advocate and supporter of the Affordable Care Act, a landmark healthcare overhaul championed by former President Obama.

Labor donated more than $1.7 million to Becerra’s congressional bids, a trend that continued when he ran for attorney general. Unions representing laborers, electrical workers, pipe fitters and firefighters donated $1 million, according to the Times analysis. The number has spiked to $6.3 million for Becerra’s gubernatorial bid.

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, president of the powerful California Labor Federation, said Becerra’s personal and political resume are significant at a time when the next governor will need to tackle artificial intelligence and the potential resulting job losses, the state’s volatile budget and federal funding cuts to MediCal and Medicare.

“He comes from a union family,” she said. “He has a long history of being on the right side of working people in a lot of different roles — in Congress, as attorney general and as secretary of Health and Human Services.”

RIYADH: The Saudi Food and Drug Authority has granted marketing authorization for two locally developed, artificial intelligence-enabled medical software products — Dental IQ and SAARIA — designed to support dental and ophthalmic diagnosis.

The authorization was granted following a comprehensive regulatory review, including the assessment of technical documentation and clinical evidence to verify the software’s safety, performance, and effectiveness for its intended uses, the authority said. The SFDA in a statement to Arab News said the aim is to enhance diagnostic accuracy for dental and periodontal diseases. Dental IQ utilizes deep learning algorithms to analyze dental X-ray images and support the identification of potential pathological findings, including dental caries, periodontal disease, and structural changes affecting the teeth and supporting tissues.

“This supports healthcare practitioners in improving diagnostic accuracy and informing appropriate treatment planning,” said the SFDA.

SAARIA will enable early detection of diabetic retinopathy. The software utilizes AI technologies to analyze retinal images to support the screening of diabetic patients and the early detection of diabetic retinopathy in healthcare settings.

This supports the identification of patients who may require further specialized ophthalmic evaluation, thereby facilitating timely referral and interventions and helping to reduce the risk of disease-related complications. These two products, according to the SFDA, represent a significant national milestone as the first Saudi-developed AI-enabled medical software solutions in dentistry and ophthalmology to receive the authority’s marketing authorization.

Designed as clinical support tools, they assist healthcare practitioners in making informed clinical decisions. Notably, both software products have been developed by Saudi startups specializing in AI-driven digital health solutions.

The companies enrolled in the SFDA’s Innovative Medical Devices Pathway, receiving early regulatory guidance and fulfilling the relevant requirements.

This included conducting local clinical studies in the Kingdom to validate the performance of their software in local healthcare settings and committing to post-marketing clinical follow-up plans to monitor real-world performance and ensure continued safe use. The SFDA, however, cautions against relying solely on the outputs of AI-enabled medical software for clinical decision-making.

“Such outputs are intended to support clinical decision-making and do not replace the healthcare professional’s clinical judgment. Healthcare professionals are responsible for reviewing and validating the outputs and making appropriate clinical decisions based on the patient’s condition,” said the authority.

The granting of marketing authorization for the software reflects the SFDA’s strategic commitment to fostering responsible innovation in digital health, supporting the localization of advanced medical technologies, and facilitating timely market access to safe, effective, and high-quality medical devices.

This milestone also contributes to the broader objectives of the Health Sector Transformation Program in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to improve healthcare access and quality by enhancing primary care, hospital services, emergency response, and digital transformation.

The chatter among Barcelona fans this summer was all about who would be the club’s next star striker after Robert Lewandowski – the team’s top scorer for the past four seasons – left to play in the United States.

The 18-year-old Egyptian, Hamza Abdelkarim, was not an answer anyone would have given at the beginning of preseason. This time last year, he had only played a single game at senior level, and that was for Cairo giants Al Ahly.

But as Barca’s dogged pursuit of Argentinian striker Julian Alvarez from rivals Atletico Madrid ended in failure, and the club only managed to secure a 10 million euros ($11.5m) move for Gabriel Jesus on the transfer window’s deadline day on September 1, Abdelkarim emerged from obscurity to dominate headlines in Catalonia and Egypt.

Abdelkarim’s four goals in five games made him Barcelona’s top scorer during preseason. He even scored against his boyhood club, Al Ahly, in the Joan Gamper Trophy – the fixture that is used to introduce the team to the fans and inaugurate the league season – but chose not to celebrate the goal as a mark of respect.

“Hamza offers something different,” Adrian Healey, ESPN’s La Liga match commentator, told Al Jazeera.

Fans in Egypt and Barcelona have taken to calling him the Egyptian Erling Haaland on account of his physical prowess and presence in the box.

When the striker caught the eye of FC Barcelona, a low-risk, low-commitment agreement was struck in the winter transfer window with Al Ahly to bring him to Spain. A six-month loan period was cut in half due to paperwork issues, but Abdelkarim made up for lost time by scoring goals; not for the first team, or even the reserves, but the Under-19 team – netting six times in 11 games.

Abdelkarim had also impressed for Egypt at the 2025 U17 World Cup, grabbing two goals and an assist in four appearances.

Despite the lack of top-level experience, Abdelkarim had done enough to prompt Egypt national team manager Hossam Hassan to take a gamble by selecting the uncapped teenager for his World Cup 2026 squad.

The veteran Mostafa Mohammed was left at home in favour of Abdelkarim, who went on to make his debut against Brazil in a friendly and featured in four World Cup matches.

On the advice of Mohamed Salah, the striker decided not to take a vacation after the World Cup and returned to Barcelona immediately after Egypt were knocked out by Argentina in the round of 16.

“Mohamed Salah is always talking to me, and I follow everything he says. He is an example to be followed, and the success he achieved is not by accident,” he told Egypt’s OnSport after FC Barcelona lifted the Joan Gamper Trophy.

The exposure to a professional like Salah has only served to supercharge Abdelkarim’s development.

Barcelona had already seen enough and decided to make his loan move permanent in June, paying Al Ahly 1.5 million euros ($1.75m) for his services.

“I am not surprised at all in Hamza’s [emergence],” Ismail el-Hamalawy, a footballing content creator who has closely followed the young striker’s journey, told Al Jazeera, citing his World Cup performances.

“He is the striker Egypt has been missing for two decades,” el-Hamalawy told Al Jazeera.

The only other Egyptian-born player to have played in La Liga was Mido, who came through the ranks at Zamalek before leaving Egypt as a 17-year-old in 2000 and played in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy and England.

At the turn of the century, most Egyptians followed Mido’s progress through newspapers and local talk shows. Now, Egyptians can easily track Abdelkarim’s development in real time online.

The interest has been so profound that Barcelona signed a surprise sponsorship with EgyptAir through the 2028-29 season this week as both entities look to leverage the image of Egypt’s next great footballer for commercial gain.

The club is now scrambling to improve his contract so that a larger buyout clause can be installed. As it stands, the 18-year-old could be poached by a rival club for only 15 million euros ($17m), so the Catalan giants are looking to place a 150 million euros ($174m) buyout clause to ward off any potential suitors.

An unused substitute in the first two matches of the season, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has repeatedly told the media that the striker’s time will come.

“He deserves to play, and he will play,” Flick said. “I see him improving day by day. He has the right attitude and mentality.”

With such little top-level experience, it could have been considered irresponsible of the club to give the youngster too much responsibility too soon.

“He will have to [be] patient, but he will get minutes,” Healey said. “[But] I am not sure the signing of [Gabriel] Jesus changes much for him, as I see [Jesus] as just a stopgap solution. Abdelkarim might have had less minutes had Alvarez signed.”

On August 31, Abdelkarim replaced Raphina in the final five minutes of Barcelona’s 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano.

With an official debut out of the way, the striker can focus on clearing the next hurdle – scoring his first official goal for the La Liga champions.