EDITOR’S ANALYSIS

Houthi blockade for now is shaping who moves Saudi crude, not whether it moves, analysts say, even as oil prices soar.

As oil prices hit $100 a barrel on Thursday, experts say they are watching to see which vessels Yemen’s Houthis allow to pass through in the Red Sea as that will indicate how the crude market trends.

Brent futures rose $6.58 or 6.96 percent, to $100.65 a barrel, exceeding $100 for the first time since late May.

That was on the back of the Iran-aligned Houthis saying they were cutting off the passage Riyadh had been using to ship parts of its crude oil once Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to retaliate against United States and Israel attacks.

On Monday, the Yemeni group declared a naval blockade on shipments from Saudi Arabia and said they would target Saudi, Israeli, and United States-linked tankers in the Bab el-Mandeb, which links the Red sea to the Indian Ocean.

On Thursday, the Houthis attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers, the group said, with a Saudi news agency later confirming that one of the two vessels was set ablaze.

It is not clear if the second one was also hit, according to marine analysis firm, Windward.

“The Houthis are quite mercurial and there is no complete clarity on what the blockade means,” said Michelle Bockmann, a senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward.

“We’re watching now the ability of Chinese-owned tankers at [Saudi port] Yanbu if they are allowed to go through Bab el-Mandeb. Two have gone through but those had been loaded before the blockade was announced.”

The Houthis have previously relied on China for help, including for drone components, and “the Chinese have previously had a free pass”, said Bockmann, including between 2023 and 2025 when the Houthis attacked cargo ships aligned with Israel and the US in the Red Sea in the wake of the war on Gaza.

Windward tracking shows the cargo that moved through the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint on July 20 was Saudi in origin but Chinese in crew and destination, and it drew no interdiction. The two vessels passed through the same corridor that Western- and Saudi-linked operators were being warned to avoid.

The enforcement is calibrated to affiliation rather than cargo and the blockade is shaping who moves Saudi crude, not whether it moves, Windward said.

“No one has ever been able to predict their actions… but they know you don’t have to do a lot to get the oil markets to react,” said Bockmann referring to the rise in benchmark oil prices on Thursday.

Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, underscored that the standoff in Bab el-Mandeb is happening while crude buffers have nor been replenished after the peak of the Hormuz crisis earlier this year.

“The multiple chokepoints are new and an example of littoral states looking to use their leverage,” Ziemba said.

Diesel also impacted

For now, both the Houthi threats and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz through which nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil transited before the US-Israel war on Iran, has sent prices soaring, including at the pump in the US reaching the national average of $4.09 per gallon (3.4 liter).

“Today’s rise in oil prices could cause $0.10 to $0.20 rise over the next week or two per gallon average price in US,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

But De Haan is looking beyond the two straits and says he’s watching the availability of diesel as price per gallon averages $5.34.

“Diesel prices are being impacted more significantly,” he told Al Jazeera.

One reason behind that is that Ukrainian drone attacks have taken offline some of Russia’s oil refineries. The shortages are being felt domestically leading to Russia banning diesel exports, De Haan said.

“Oil exports are one story, but supplies of diesel gasoline, jet fuel is another story,” he said.

Another unknown in the mix is the role of China which, historically has been a major importer but slashed those imports in the past few months, helping stabilise global prices as some pressure on demand eased.

“It’s been one of the reasons that oil prices haven’t gone up dramatically – that china slashed its imports, and no one predicted that,” De Haan said. “For now, we don’t know if china is using its own strategic reserves or if it will start import again.”

Between those geopolitical plays and the upcoming hurricane season in the US, there is “another wildcard ahead for global refining capacity” and prices, De Haan said.

KATY PERRY is on tour across Europe and her No1 groupie – former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – has been a regular at her shows.

I can reveal he has spent his whole summer following her around on tour, and even brought friends to Europe to spend time on a yacht in between her concerts.

The superstar headlined the famous Isle of MTV concert in Malta on Wednesday — Europe’s largest free concert — and he was there cheering her on.

And we will soon be hearing a lot more from Katy, as I’m told she’s almost completed work on her eighth album, which has been inspired by moving on from long-term partner Orlando Bloom and finding love again with the politician.

That might be a surprise after the recent release of her singles Bandaids and Watch It Burn, which were written early last year and on which she gave Orlando both barrels. But now she’s done with writing break-up songs, telling the Unfamous podcast: “I know the next step I’m going to take.

“Watch It Burn, actually I didn’t need to do a whole EP of this feeling. But I needed to touch it and circle it.

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“And now I’m moving on and I’m going to be writing something that is going to represent what I’m feeling now.

“I have to process it. This is my therapy.

“This is my art.”

Wednesday’s concert attracted a crowd of 30,000 fans to Il-Fosos Square for the 18th year of Isle of MTV Malta, staged in partnership with Malta Tourism Authority.

Justin was seen bopping along to her biggest hits from the lighting tower, and she called out to him three times from the stage.

Before singing I’m His, He’s Mine, Katy, who was wearing a vintage costume she wore for an MTV VMAs advert in 2009, gushed: “I’m gonna dedicate this one to my boyfriend.

“I love when he comes to my shows, it always makes me so happy.

“I love you, baby.”

My insider said: “Katy is the happiest she has ever been now that she’s with Justin and she wants to reflect that in the music.

“The end of her relationship with Orlando was one of the hardest things she’s been through but she doesn’t want to dwell on it with the music.

“It’s about owning who she is and holding her head high.

“Justin feels like her soulmate and it’s been really inspiring for her.

“Most of the new album was recorded at the beginning of the year.

“The title Scorpio Bitch was discussed for the album but that’s likely to change as she doesn’t want to come off as too spiky.

“The album is almost done, she’s really proud of what she’s been working on.”

On stage, she was like an excitable, giddy teenager as she called out to him.

So I imagine it will be her most loved-up record ever.

IF you missed out on the chance to see Katy Perry on tour over the past year, you’ll soon be able to catch up on two of her live shows.

Her huge Isle of MTV Malta show will air on MTV on September 18 – showcasing her Out Of Office summer show, which she also performed at Blenheim Palace and Cardiff Castle earlier this month.

But that’s not all. Katy’s concert film The Lifetimes Tour: Live From Paris – recorded during her previous tour last year – is coming to 150 UK cinemas on September 2.

The two-hour film features footage of her singing her biggest hits as part of one of her most ambitious tours ever, plus there’s exclusive backstage footage included.

The tour reached more than one million fans during 91 shows in 23 countries, and raised almost £82,000 for the Music Venue Trust in the UK.

TOM TO KNOCK ‘EM DREAD

TOM HOLLAND is finally moving forward with his Fred Astaire biopic – but said he’s filled with “dread”.

Five years after revealing he’d be playing the actor and dancer, the Spider-Man star has started rehearsals and is determined to do all the dancing himself.

Speaking on US telly, Tom, who is currently on the promo trail for both The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, said: “What I love about my job is the challenges. We have Fred Astaire next. As soon as I finish these tours, I’m diving back into the dance studio.

“I did my first few rehearsals recently and it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread because I’ve got so much work to do to try to do Fred proud.”

He added he has “a desire to use no doubles” and shoot the dances in one shot as Fred would have done.

K-POP girl group AESPA are hitting up Pinkpantheress in the hope of a collaboration.

WINTER from the group said: “I’d love to work with PinkPantheress. I love the atmosphere she creates in her music. Bringing her style together with aespa’s could lead to something really fresh.”

JOANNE HAS VAPE ESCAPE

JOANNE McNALLY’s stint on Celebrity Traitors almost went up in smoke after she started vaping in the castle.

The comedian admitted puffing on an e-cig during filming, which meant producers had to intervene, as it can’t be shown on air.

She admitted: “I remember we were chatting, having a real deep and meaningful.

“And they cut filming. They’re like, ‘Joanne, you can’t vape in the castle’.

“I was really into this conversation, pulling on this vape. Because you feel relaxed in the castle.”

Asked if she forgot the cameras were there, she told the Bottom’s Up podcast: “Totally. And I always thought that was horses**t when I’d watch Big Brother before.

“I was like, ‘As if you could forget the cameras were there’. But you do, actually.”

I hope it doesn’t lead to her being smoked out when it airs in the autumn.

BURLESQUE The Musical’s UK tour will not open at Woking Theatre tomorrow, with the week-long run being cancelled just 48 hours before it was due to start.

The show starring Corrie’s Faye Brooks, has been plagued with a series of issues and is now scheduled to launch on August 6 at the Sunderland Empire. The London run has been postponed to 2027.

OASIS DOC GETS VENICE PREMIERE

NOEL and Liam Gallagher better dust off their tuxedos as new documentary, OASIS: Don’t Look Back In Anger will get its world premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.

The brothers, plus writer Steven Knight and directors Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, are all expected to attend the event which starts on September 2.

Cameras followed Noel and Liam on last year’s worldwide sell-out stadium run, which saw them performing to millions of fans across 41 dates.

The documentary features revealing interviews and the first tentative meeting between the once-warring siblings.

Last year at Venice, docudrama The Voice Of Hind Rajab received the longest standing ovation in the festival’s history – with people clapping for 23 minutes and 50 seconds. Surely, Oasis can beat it.

DESTINY’S CHILD are gearing up to release a new album of unheard remixes, says Beyonce’s dad.

Mathew Knowles, who managed the girl group during their original run, said the project, will feature a collaboration with Missy Elliott. He said: “We have remixes that have never been released and we’ll be putting those out soon.”

Real Madrid open to selling Aurelien Tchouameni to Manchester United, Arsenal eye John Stones and Ezri Konsa, Chelsea favourites for Kerim Alajbegovic, Yan Diomande back on radar of Premier League clubs and Daizen Maeda set for Ipswich Town move.

La Liga giants Real Madrid are open to selling 26-year-old France defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni to Manchester United. (Sun, external)

AS Roma and France midfielder Manu Kone, 25, and Brighton‘s 22-year-old Cameroon international Carlos Baleba are also being considered by Manchester United as they aim to strengthen their midfield. (Sky Sports), external

Bournemouth‘s 27-year-old United States midfielder Tyler Adams, valued at about £35m, is also an option for Michael Carrick’s side. (Mail, external)

Former Manchester City defender John Stones, 32, and 28-year-old Ezri Konsa of Aston Villa are among Arsenal targets as the Gunners turn to the England duo after an injury to France defender William Saliba, 25. (Sky Sports, external)

Chelsea are favourites to sign Bosnia-Herzegovina attacking midfielder Kerim Alajbegovic, 18, from Bayer Leverkusen, while Xabi Alonso’s side are also in talks with Crystal Palace to sell French centre-back Axel Disasi, 28. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)

Chelsea have also agreed a deal to sign 15-year-old American winger Benji Flowers from Major League Soccer side FC Dallas when he turns 18. (Athletic – subscription required, external)

Arsenal and Manchester City are among the clubs in a race to sign Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig, who previously rejected a £69m bid from Liverpool for the 19-year-old. (Bild – in German, external)

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reports from Tehran as the US launches strikes for the 13th consecutive night. Iranian leaders are warning further attacks could lead to retaliation targeting Gulf nations.

This small seaside town has had to install a park and ride due to the sheer number of visitors, and its narrow, winding streets are a difficult place to find a parking spot in the summer holidays

If you’ve ever taken the kids to a seaside town or popular attraction during the six week summer holidays, you’ll know the pain of driving around in circles looking for a spot.

A lot of tourist hotspots, such as beach towns, have old, narrow roads, and often, car parking is expensive and a long walk away from any attractions. It’s one of the most annoying things about trying to enjoy a day out in the summer.

A new study, which looked at parking across the UK’s seaside towns and tourist hotspots during the summer break claims it has found the worst place to find a parking space during this time.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the worst place to park is in Cornwall, which, as a county, welcomes around four million overnight visitors and 14 million day trippers a year. The pretty fishing town of St Ives took the top spot, with a huge number of visitors heading to its beach or art galleries finding it tough to grab a parking spot.

The study, carried out by Indigo Car Hire, looked at average parking costs, the number of parking spots per 1,000 visitors, and the number of car parks within a mile of the town centre. It also looked at the number of Google reviews that mentioned tourists facing parking problems.

These factors were then scored out of 100, with St Ives easily topping the list with 92 out of 100. A recent TripAdvisor review said: “Felt we should visit as we’re in Cornwall for a week, but having failed to find any parking anywhere we were glad to get out.”

Another claimed: “We had to re-attempt visiting St Ives due to a lack of parking. In order to park we had to come between 8am-9am, just FYI. Locals are very friendly and try to help.” While one said it was a “Very nice place with lots of restaurants and shops, but totally crowded with tourists in July. You can hardly find a parking space which are very expensive!”

But the small town is tackling its parking issues. Visit St Ives has tips on where to park when visiting, and recommends either using a park and ride car park just outside the town, or parking at nearby St Erth station and taking the St Ives Bay Line, a 15-minute train ride that gives you incredible coastal views as you arrive at the town.

St Ives wasn’t the only Cornish spot to make the list. Padstow came in fourth, while Newquay came in tenth. In second place the seaside town of Whitby in North Yorkshire scored 89 out of 100 for poor parking, with some visitors parking at the neighbouring village of Sandsend and braving the 45-minute walk into town.

A recent review said: “We saw car parks, but they were totally full no matter what time of day it was, same with the on-street parking near the front.” While another claimed there was “plenty of parking. However very expensive. £2.60 for an hour.”

Cherie Carter, managing director at Indigo Car Hire, said: “According to an RAC survey earlier this year, a third of drivers struggle with parking anxiety. The aim from this study is not to discourage drivers from visiting hotspots like St Ives or Whitby, but to help travellers enjoy their summer break with fewer unexpected frustrations when they arrive.”

Top 10 worst places for parking in the six-week holidays

1. St Ives, Cornwall – 92/100
2. Whitby, North Yorkshire – 89/100
3. Tenby, Wales – 87/100
4. Padstow, Cornwall – 85/100
5. Salcombe, Devon – 82/100
6. Southwold, Suffolk – 80/100
7. Bournemouth, Dorset – 79/100
8. Brighton, East Sussex – 77/100
9. Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire – 76/100
10. Newquay, Cornwall – 75/100

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

The White House has formally registered its opposition to a move by Congress to block work on the nuclear-powered Trump class battleship unless the U.S. Navy provides assurances that key weapon systems are “sufficiently mature.” The House Armed Services Committee has already demanded a report from the Secretary of the Navy outlining the steps the service is taking to ensure the battleship program won’t exacerbate existing construction delays on aircraft carriers and submarines.

Earlier this week, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a Statement of Administration Policy regarding the latest draft of the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for Fiscal Year 2027 that is now making its way through the House of Representatives. The document offers support for and opposition to various sections of the proposed legislation, which is also known as H.R. 8800.

“The Administration appreciates that H.R. 8800 would provide authorization of the 18 ships requested in the Budget. These ships are a direct commitment to restoring America’s maritime dominance and maritime industrial base,” OMB’s statement, which was published on July 21, declares. “In addition, the Administration appreciates the bill’s support of the Battleship program by fully authorizing the $1 billion in advance procurement necessary to accelerate the delivery to the Fleet.”

“However, the Administration opposes the bill’s excessive reporting requirements in section 131 regarding the Administration’s priority Battleship program,” it continues. “The Administration strongly opposes any reporting requirements that delay the Battleship program without supporting national security requirements.”

On July 21, USNI News also reported that OMB was pressing members of Congress to include funding to start work on the first Trump class battleship in a proposed temporary spending bill, or Continuing Resolution. A temporary funding package could be needed if legislators cannot pass a more formal budget by September 30, when the current fiscal year ends.

When it comes to Section 131 of H.R. 8800, the provision is brief, but pointed. At the time of writing, it reads, in full:

“The Secretary of the Navy may not enter into a contract or other agreement that includes a scope of work for the construction of the lead ship of the Battleship program until the date on which the Secretary certifies to the congressional defense committees that the weapon systems planned for inclusion in such lead ship are at a sufficiently mature technology readiness level.”

The section does not name any particular weapon systems or define what level of technological readiness would be deemed sufficient. To date, the Navy has described the planned Trump class battleship as a 35,000-ton-displacement warship with a diverse array of weapons. The ship is set to be able to fire nuclear and conventional missiles, including hypersonic types, from several very large Vertical Launch System (VLS) arrays. It will also have an electromagnetic railgun, a pair of traditional 5-inch naval guns, various laser directed energy weapons, and additional weapon systems for close-in defense.

TWZ previously reported on this provision, which has been in the proposed legislation since at least May. As we wrote in the past:

“In terms of technological maturity, the railgun presents particular questions. Between 2005 and 2021, the Navy had an active railgun program. Despite promising developments, plans for an at-sea test were repeatedly pushed back before the entire effort was shelved. Major technical hurdles were cited as a key factor in that decision. The railgun itself was effectively placed in storage at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico.“

“However, it emerged earlier this year that the Navy had conducted a new round of testing of the railgun at WSMR in February 2025. Whether the Navy has any plans to pick up where it left off with this prototype design, which was developed by BAE Systems, or pursue a new one remains unclear. General Atomics, which previously supported U.S. Army railgun efforts, has publicly expressed interest in being involved in arming the Trump class.”

“While the Navy has been very active in developing and fielding laser directed energy weapons, this is another area where the service has faced continued challenges in expanding their operational use. The plans for the Trump class specifically call for a 300-kilowatt-class laser, which is far more powerful than any of the designs the Navy has integrated on its warships to date. The service currently has eight Arleigh Burke class destroyers with the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN), as well as another one of those warships with the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS). HELIOS is a 60-kilowatt-class design, though there has been talk about scaling up its power rating to 150 kilowatts. ODIN’s power rating does not appear to be officially confirmed, but it is understood to be significantly lower than that of HELIOS. You can read more about all of this here.”

“The Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) hypersonic missile, another key component of the future Trump class arsenal, is also still in development. The first test launch from a warship, the stealth destroyer USS Zumwalt, is expected to come next year. IRCPS is the Navy half of a joint program with the U.S. Army, which is working to field a land-based version of the same missile. The Army refers to its complete weapon system as the Dark Eagle. The Army had suffered significant setbacks in the past with the Dark Eagle, but the service had blamed those issues on the launcher rather than the missile.”

For its part, OMB’s July 21 statement does not respond to any particular concerns that might be raised by Section 131, either.

Section 131 represents just one small portion of the questions, concerns, and criticism that members of Congress have leveled at the Trump class battleship program. The first one of these ships, currently set to be named the USS Defiant, has an estimated price tag of $17 billion. This would make the vessel more expensive than each of the next three Ford class aircraft carriers. The future USS Defiant is also not currently expected to enter service until 2036. The Navy has already outlined plans to order 14 more of these battleships between Fiscal Years 2029 and 2055, as well.

With this in mind, as noted, the House Armed Services Committee has separately asked for a report from the Secretary of the Navy, to be delivered no later than March 1, 2027, on the potential industrial impacts. A particular issue is the strain that work on the Trump class could have on America’s limited nuclear shipbuilding enterprise. Currently, there are only two U.S. shipyards qualified to build nuclear-powered vessels and only one supplier of naval reactors. Currently, the only nuclear-powered ships in the Navy are aircraft carriers and submarines. The service has not operated a nuclear-powered surface combatant in decades, and it has been even longer since one was built in the United States.

TWZ has repeatedly raised questions about the basic industrial capacity to support the battleship program since it was first rolled out to the public in December 2025. It is worth noting here that third, fourth, and fifth Ford class carriers now under construction – the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80), USS Doris Miller (CVN-81), and USS William J. Clinton (CVN-82) – have all suffered delays. Concerns are also regularly voiced about potential setbacks in the construction of new Virginia class and Columbia class submarines. Navy officials have been saying for years now that there is little, if any, margin left in the Columbia class delivery timeline, which is a critical matter of national security. It is essential for those boats to be delivered on a tight schedule to ensure there is no gap in the ability of the leg of America’s nuclear triad to meet operational requirements.

The battleship effort is of particular significance to President Donald Trump and has been presented as a signature program for his administration. At the same time, the schedule that has been laid out so far means that major decisions about how to proceed in acquiring these ships, if at all, will run into the next administration. Any delays will only push that timeline further to the right at a time when there are already major competing priorities for defense spending. Some members of Congress have openly questioned whether the battleship effort is the best use of available resources already.

The annual NDAA is still far from being finalized. The House’s version will need to be reconciled with the one being advanced in the Senate before the bill can be put to a vote, let alone sent to Trump’s desk to be signed into law (or vetoed). This is a process typically marked by lengthy negotiations, and Section 131, as well as other provisions, could change in the future or be removed entirely.

Whether or not a larger political fight around the Trump class battleship emerges remains to be seen. However, OMB has now made clear publicly that the administration is against the inclusion of the guardrails around the program that the current version of H.R. 8800 proposes to establish.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Kevin Lyman has always lived life on the move. For years it was a symptom of working to keep up with Warped Tour, a punk rock circus on wheels. Since bringing the festival back last year to celebrate its 30-year anniversary, he’s switched his mode of transport from buses to planes. What started as a two-month tour across the U.S. and parts of Canada is now a strategically placed, five-date extravaganza starting this weekend in Long Beach. With stops in Montreal, Mexico City, Orlando and Washington, the tour has gotten bigger with the partnership of EDM promoter Insomniac but Lyman insists that the soul of it remains the same.

Thriving on a mix of punk, emo, ska, hardcore, metal and action sports, Warped has become an entry point to festival culture for a new generation of fans, requiring Lyman to always move forward in his musical tastes while still trying to stay true to the essence of what made Warped more of a community than just an annual event.

Recently he chatted with The Times to discuss the process of continuing the fest’s revival and why it’s still a vital part of the summer festival ecosystem.

What were your initial thoughts after Warped Tour’s big comeback in Long Beach last year?

I was really nervous. To be honest, I knew I had one shot at getting it right. I knew there were going to be bigger stages, we were going to have video and lights, but I also knew that I had to make it feel like Warped Tour between the performances. So that little bit of controlled chaos we had between the stages — the merch tents, all the sponsorship booths, the skate ramps, the surprises we threw out each day — I think it was mission accomplished. The feedback overall has been fantastic from the fans. For some people closer to my age demo, maybe it was a little too much — their feet hurt. But Warped came back strong, we went back on sale [for 2026] fairly quickly, and to still have 50% of the people buy the tickets right away without knowing a band on the bill yet was great.

Jimmy Eat World is doing like their 25th anniversary of “Bleed American” at the fest this year. What does it mean to you to have some of those early Warped Tour bands like that on the bill again?

It felt good to have a lot of those bands. For me, one of the more emotional ones last year was Rise Against. They had such a big moment. They were such a part of Warped Tour, and you get them to come back and then watch that crowd, every phone went up in the crowd, and probably 50% of the people there had never seen them before.

“I’ve been a disruptor, and the disruption I’ve caused has attracted enough people. Now we’re a niche of people,” Lyman says. “Warped is a great niche.”

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You’ve always had your own way of doing things that created the culture of Warped Tour. Why do you feel it is still so vital in the festival ecosystem today?

I had to carve a niche out for myself in the industry. I was never going to really quite conform. I kind of came from that rebellious spirit that Goldenvoice instilled in me back in the ‘80s when I worked for them, and Gary Tovar was rebellious. So I’ve always kind of had that mentality of, “Hey, let’s go against the norm. Let’s make it something our own.” And even when I’m teaching at USC now, I say you have to learn the foundations of every business. And those foundations, to me, were working 12 years in the clubs of L.A., 320 nights a year, and then you have to make something your own. I always say when you decide to go for it — go for it. And I did, and it seemed to connect with enough people and resonated with enough people that I’d been around that said, “Wow, this is different. He needs to work on it. But instead of knocking him down, let’s support him.”… I’ve been a disruptor, and the disruption I’ve caused has attracted enough people. Now we’re a niche of people. Warped is a great niche.

How did you keep Warped on people’s minds year-round while you were planning it out this year?

That was a challenge because before we used to have the two-month tour, so we were able to build community to keep the conversation going. Community is a big driver for me. Everything we’re doing now is investing in the community, and I think it’s working. [In January] we had a downtown Long Beach event with the band Holy Wars, we had an event in Orlando. We had one event in a fraternity house backyard in Virginia, we had events in Mexico City and Montreal … canned food drives, blood drives or, you know, register to vote. We’ll drop those kind of events so we’re constantly in everyone’s mindset. And it’s not about monetizing. I think people are always asking “How do you monetize the superfan?” I’m like, “How do you reward them?” Giving people a free Sunday afternoon event in Long Beach, that’s a thank you. Those are the people that are going to spread the word when you post a video, they’re going to share it with all their friends, and then they’re going to be telling kids at their schools. A third of the people going to Warped had never been to a festival or even a concert before, so we need to engage them in a different way.

What are your ways of scouting out bands you want to take a chance on when booking the festival?

Well, I have a great booker named Amanda Phelan. She books with me, so she’s kind of that on the ground talking to the agents and things. I don’t necessarily do that much anymore. I talk to them, but my part is more like, “Oh, I want to see what bands other bands are talking about, or young people are talking about.” And then I’m also talking to lots of the independent promoters out there that you know I used to work with.

Why do you think younger generation of fest goers will keep discovering Warped Tour?

We used to be that festival where you know it was over by sunset, your mom could pick you up at the curb or you could get home by dark, and then you went off to other festivals. We were your entry point to festivals. We may be that entry point again, but a lot of it now will come down to price point. We know the economics of Warped Tour are conducive for people that want to go on two levels: ones that want to come and explore a festival, and other ones, maybe some of your peers, who don’t get to go out every night and see bands anymore because they all have real jobs and things. But they can go for one for two days and catch up on all music, which makes you feel like you’re staying young.

One of the louder cheers came for the Falklands Islands – in the news recently following Argentina’s victory over England in the football World Cup semi-finals – and another followed when the Samoa team emerged and performed a haka in front of the dignitaries in the Royal Box.

But nothing compared to the noise which greeted the arrival of the Scotland team, who entered the arena last in their white shirts and kilts and lifted many in the capacity crowd from their seats.

A large Loch Ness Monster representation then emerged, before, backed by bagpipers and drummers, a rousing rendition of Flower of Scotland followed.

The next section of the evening featured theatrical performances – a show billed as “a love letter to Glasgow and the Commonwealth”.

It began with a performance by Scottish folk and country singer Nathan Evans and a dance under a replica of Glasgow Central Station’s iconic clock.

The saying “Meet me under the clock” is famous in these parts.

Singer Callum Beattie’s rendition of Baccara’s Yes Sir, I Can Boogie – the 1970s disco tune recently adopted as Scotland’s unofficial anthem – had the Scottish athletes dancing in their seats.

Held indoors in front of about 10,000 people, this was a more intimate ceremony than the last time Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games, when a 40,000-strong crowd witnessed the opening of the Games in 2014 at Celtic Park.

There was a point, after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew as hosts in 2023, when some thought these Games would not happen. Glasgow stepped in at short notice to ensure otherwise.

There are eight fewer sports involved compared to 2014, given the short build-up, and venues from 12 years ago have been repurposed.

But Commonwealth Sport president Donald Rukare, wearing a tartan kilt in the colours of his home country Uganda, said this edition has been made possible by the “extraordinary legacy of 2014 and by a city that once again welcomes us with warm hearts and open arms”.

With existing 10 percent levies set to expire, Trump issues new tariffs on 60 countries under forced labour provision.

President Donald Trump is going ahead with new double-digit tariffs on dozens of trading partners of the United States just as the clock runs out on Friday on stopgap levies he announced after a stinging defeat at the Supreme Court.

The US will slap levies of 10 to 12.5 percent on imports from 60 countries accounting for 99 percent of US imports, charging that they have inadequately enforced bans on goods produced by forced labour.

“The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Thursday.

“Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere.”

The new tariffs will take effect just as the temporary 10 percent worldwide tariffs expire at 12:01am on Friday in Washington, DC (04:01 GMT). Trump had turned to the temporary levies after the Supreme Court struck down his biggest and boldest tariffs in February.

Now he is tapping more durable tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which permits the president to impose import taxes and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable”, “unreasonable”, or “discriminatory” trade practices.

Trump used Section 301 to impose big tariffs on China in his first term, and they survived court challenges.

More Section 301 tariffs are likely coming: Greer’s office has launched a probe into whether 16 countries — accounting for 70 percent of US imports — have overproduced goods, pushing down prices and putting US companies at a disadvantage in global markets.

The administration has yet to complete that investigation.

Trump, who argues that high tariffs will revive US manufacturing, last year overturned decades of US policy that favoured lower tariffs and freer trade.

Invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), he imposed double-digit tariffs on imports from almost every country, saying that the US’s longstanding trade deficit amounted to a national emergency.

But the Supreme Court ruled that IEEPA did not authorise tariffs. The decision forced the Trump administration to pay refunds to importers that had paid the levies.

In response, Trump announced 10 percent worldwide tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. But he can only use Section 122 levies for 150 days, and the time runs out on Friday.

A US Democratic Congressman challenges UN Ambassador Mike Waltz during a congressional hearing, playing an Al Jazeera video to question troop safety in Jordan. Some lawmakers do not trust the Trump administration to be open about the danger posed by Iranian strikes on US bases.

Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, reached profitability for the first time, boosted by FIFA World Cup, NBA playoffs and reality dating show “Love Island USA.”

The milestone comes as Comcast Corp. prepares to spin off NBCUniversal entertainment and news media businesses into a separate company. Peacock, which launched in 2020, grew its paid subscribers by 4% to 48 million in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter. The company said Peacock’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $189 million.

“In just six years, we built Peacock into a streaming business with real scale in the U.S.,” said Brian Roberts, chairman and co-CEO of Comcast on Thursday in an earnings call, adding that Peacock has added 2 million paid subscribers in each of the last two quarters.

Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said that performance “reinforces the value of NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, and Peacock together as one integrated media business with continued opportunity to drive stronger engagement, advertising, and profitability into the future.”

Comcast plans to spin off Peacock, NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, Bravo, Universal film, television studios and theme parks and British TV service Sky into its own separate company, with a goal of completing the separation in about a year.

Michael J. Wolf, CEO of Activate Consulting, said Peacock’s first profit proves that live sports and premium programming “remain the single most powerful anchors for consumer attention and subscriber growth.”

“As Comcast prepares to spin off NBCUniversal, freeing it from legacy cable, a standalone NBCU is now structurally positioned to compete at the highest level of streaming,” Wolf said in a statement.

Peacock was the last major premium subscription video-on-demand service launched by a legacy studio to reach profitability, said Brandon Katz, director of insights and content strategy at Greenlight Analytics. The streaming service is available only in the U.S. and certain U.S. territories. Its reach is much smaller than other rivals like Netflix, which has about 80 million households in the U.S. and Canada.

“It was a long and arduous process for Peacock to reach profitability, and this is obviously a very important step for their business, but one small step in a much larger journey,” Katz said.

The Peacock news was part of Comcast’s earnings results. Comcast said revenue declined 1% to $29.9 billion in the second quarter, compared to a year ago, hurt by the loss of broadband residential customers.

Net income was $3.5 billion, down 68% from a year ago, when its profit was boosted by a $9.4 billion gain from Comcast’s sale of its share in Hulu.

Content and experiences revenue increased 22.9% to $10.7 billion, thanks to increases in advertising and theatrical revenue from popular movies including “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” horror movie “Obsession” and the international distribution of “Michael.”

Comcast’s stock closed Thursday at $21.92 a share, down about 7%.

The provided text focuses on the significance of July 23rd, which is celebrated as Air Force Day in Peru to honor the bravery of Lieutenant José Quiñones Gonzales. During a 1941 conflict with Ecuador, Quiñones became a national hero by intentionally crashing his damaged fighter plane into an enemy position rather than retreating. Beyond this historical tribute, the digest lists various contemporary news items involving Peruvian politics, recent seismic activity in the Andes, and international sports updates. The source also functions as a general information hub, offering data on current currency exchange rates and weather reports. Overall, the document serves to commemorate a pivotal military sacrifice while kee … 

Hull FC interim coach Andy Last told BBC Radio Humberside:

“Really disappointed, it would have been great to get two points. Unbelievable crowd came in on the back of a season where we have really struggled. The loyalty of the supporters is second to none.

“We got off to a great start. We felt the start was important for us to get that engagement with the supporters and we thought Rovers were a bit fragile after their last two performances, so it couldn’t have gone any better.

“The tries we conceded were real soft ones and that was down to fatigue.

“Second half, Rovers just did what they do which is suffocate you of field position. I ended up with a bit of a neck ache because I was looking to my left all the time. That pressure they put you under forced us into some uncharacteristic errors.”

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters told BBC Humberside:

“I’m really proud. The first 10 minutes was a nervous start, 12 [points] down, it could have got ugly but we fought.

“I thought Tom Amone and Kyle Lawton were outstanding. They made a big difference when they came on. I say it every week but what Dean Hadley brings to our team is incredible.”

[On Elliot Minchella and Jez Litten] “When times get a little bit tough you want your leaders to stand up and that is what I thought both of those guys did tonight and put in great performances.

“I said before the game that I thought this was the perfect game for us to show we’ve still got that fight. Being 12-0 down at your rivals to be able to kick on at the back end was what we needed.”

Hull FC: Moy; Barron, Hardaker, Litten, Briscoe; Arthur, Sezer; Salabio, Cust, Hill, Batchelor, O’Neill, Bell.

Interchanges: Bourouh, Clark, Ese’ese, Wood.

Hull KR: Broadbent; Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Mourgue, May; Sue, Litten, Hadley, Whitbread, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Amone, Luckley, Lawton, Dezaria.

Referee: Chris Kendall.

The US says it has spent more than $37.5 billion on the Iran war so far, and the Secretary of Defense is requesting an additional $67 billion more. One analyst tells Al Jazeera’s ‘This is America’ that Congress may face political trouble voting against it.

The Question Islamabad Has Not Answered

On the night of 16 March 2026, Pakistani warplanes struck a walled compound in Kabul’s ninth police district. Afghan officials say more than four hundred people died. The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has independently confirmed at least two hundred and sixty nine deaths and some one hundred and twenty injuries. Islamabad’s account was simple: the site held ammunition and military infrastructure, and any civilian harm followed from secondary explosions rather than the strike itself. Four months later, Amnesty International published an investigation reaching the opposite conclusion, built not on Taliban testimony but on satellite imagery spanning three years, verified video, and independent geolocation of the wreckage. On 9 July, Amnesty asked Pakistan’s foreign ministry for the evidence behind its military target claim. As of publication, no response has arrived. That silence, more than any single photograph, is now doing the analytical work in this dispute.

A Conflict Escalating Since October

The Omid strike did not occur in isolation. Cross border hostilities between Pakistan and the Taliban administration have intensified since October 2025, and the UN mission in Afghanistan has documented more than seven hundred and fifty civilian casualties in the first three months of 2026 alone, spread across a series of Pakistani air operations against targets it describes as militant infrastructure. The Omid center, a drug rehabilitation facility expanded after 2021 to house roughly two thousand patients, was neither obscure nor newly built. Its treatment programs featured in a 2023 Al Jazeera documentary, and signage identifying the site as a medical facility was visible above its main gate. This is the backdrop against which the competing claims about the March strike have to be weighed. It is a theatre where verification has become as contested as the fighting itself, and where each side’s evidentiary standard has become a proxy for its wider legitimacy claim.

How Open Source Evidence Reshaped the Dispute

The strongest version of Pakistan’s position would rest on operational intelligence unavailable to outside observers: a genuine military use of the site that satellite imagery and testimony could not capture, perhaps weapons storage concealed within a facility that also treated patients. That is a coherent claim in the abstract, and cross border conflicts involving non state or quasi state administrations often do see dual use of civilian infrastructure. The problem for Islamabad is not that this claim is inherently implausible. It is that four months of opportunity to substantiate it, including a direct written request from an investigating body, has produced silence rather than documentation.

Set against that silence is a body of evidence that does not depend on Taliban cooperation. Amnesty’s investigators analysed satellite imagery of the compound from April 2023 through 15 March 2026, tracking the site’s physical layout and, in imagery from just three days before the strike, the presence of large numbers of people in the patient and administrative areas. A video recorded in 2025 and verified by the organisation shows the interior housing arrangements for patients. Separately, and this is the detail that most changes the analytical picture, broadcast journalists reviewing Pakistan’s own released strike footage identified at least four buildings struck with guided munitions, while a conflict researcher affiliated with the open source investigation group Bellingcat independently geolocated the strikes to the rehabilitation center’s buildings using imagery unconnected to either Amnesty or the Taliban administration.

This matters because it breaks the framing in which the dispute is simply Pakistan’s word against an adversary regime’s word. Geolocation from Pakistan’s own footage and independent satellite analysis are not Taliban sources, and they are not filtered through UNAMA’s access constraints in Afghanistan, real as those constraints are. A rigorous critique of Amnesty’s methodology would need to engage with this layer of evidence directly rather than treating the investigation as resting solely on interviews inside Afghanistan. It does not.

None of this settles the question of what Pakistani planners believed they were targeting at the moment of the strike, which is a distinct question from what the site actually was. Precision guided strikes can be aimed at accurate coordinates built on flawed intelligence, and an honest accounting of the incident would distinguish between deliberate targeting of a known medical facility and a targeting failure rooted in faulty threat assessment. Pakistan’s silence forecloses that distinction rather than resolving it in its own favour. A government confident in a genuine intelligence failure, as opposed to a deliberate strike, has strong incentive to say so, since the reputational and legal exposure of the two scenarios differs sharply. The absence of any account, four months on, is itself informative.

There is a genuine access problem in Afghanistan that deserves acknowledgment rather than dismissal. Restrictions on UN personnel operating inside the country, including limits on female staff, have long constrained what any investigating body can independently confirm through interviews on the ground. That constraint is real and worth stating plainly. But it is analytically distinct from the evidentiary chain that actually carries this case, since satellite archives, geolocation of released military footage, and broadcast forensic review do not depend on access to Afghan territory at all. Conflating the two, treating a legitimate critique of ground level access with a wholesale dismissal of imagery based verification, is where the strongest version of Pakistan’s defence collapses into a weaker one. Under international humanitarian law, the burden of demonstrating that a strike met the tests of distinction, precaution and proportionality sits with the party that carried it out, not with the investigating organisation. Silence does not discharge that burden. It simply leaves the imagery based record as the only account on file.

The Stakes Beyond One Strike

This dispute reaches well past the fate of one investigation into one strike. Pakistan is not a party to the Rome Statute, and the UN Security Council has shown no appetite for a binding inquiry into cross border strikes in Afghanistan, leaving no institution with the authority to compel either side toward resolution. Into that vacuum, open source verification, satellite archives, independent geolocation, forensic review of released military footage, has effectively become the closest available substitute for enforcement, even though it carries no legal power to compel compliance or impose consequences. How this case resolves, or fails to resolve, will help set the operating norm for a growing number of asymmetric conflicts in which a state conducts cross border strikes against a non state or quasi state administration controlling the affected population. If credible, independently corroborated evidence of civilian harm at a protected medical site produces no formal accountability, the lesson other militaries draw from this dispute will be that silence is a survivable strategy, and that the proportionality and precaution requirements of international humanitarian law can be managed through delay rather than compliance. That is the systemic risk this case actually tests, well beyond the question of what happened at one rehabilitation centre in March.

Three Paths From Here

Three trajectories are plausible over the coming months, none of them mutually exclusive in sequence.

The likeliest path, on available evidence, is continued silence accompanied by informal briefings to allied capitals disputing Amnesty’s methodology without engaging its strongest evidentiary points, particularly the independent geolocation. This preserves ambiguity domestically while avoiding a formal admission that could carry legal exposure under international humanitarian law. It is a moderately likely outcome, on the order of an even chance or somewhat better given precedent in comparable disputes involving other militaries.

A less likely but plausible path is a formal Pakistani rebuttal that engages directly with the satellite and geolocation evidence, offering an alternative account of what the imagery shows or asserting an intelligence failure rather than deliberate targeting. This would be the more legally cautious route and would represent a meaningful shift from the current posture. Call this a modest possibility, distinctly less likely than continued silence but not remote.

The least likely path in the near term is a referral to an international investigative mechanism with independent access, given both Pakistan’s incentive to avoid binding scrutiny and the Taliban administration’s own resistance to international access inside Afghanistan, which cuts against any process requiring cooperation from both sides. This remains a low probability outcome absent significant diplomatic pressure from third parties with leverage over Islamabad.

The clearest near term indicator to watch is whether Pakistan’s foreign ministry issues any substantive written response to Amnesty’s evidentiary request before the anniversary of the strike in March 2027. A specific, documented reply, even one contesting the findings, would mark a break from the pattern observed since March. Continued non response through that date would itself be a data point confirming the first scenario.

The Precedent Being Set

What is being tested in Kabul is not only one contested strike but the durability of official denial once satellite archives, geolocation researchers, and broadcast forensic review become standard evidentiary tools in conflicts fought behind restricted access. For Western policy planners, the operative signal is the widening gap between what open source verification can now establish and what official statements are willing to confirm, a gap increasingly shaping how allied governments calibrate cooperation. For investors reading South Asian risk, cross border escalation between Islamabad and Kabul remains an active, under priced variable, with legal exposure now harder for militaries to contain through silence alone. For rights and development organisations, the case is a template for how methodology itself becomes the battleground before accountability is even reached.

Silence was once a viable strategy for governments awaiting the news cycle to move on. Satellites do not move on.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on Thursday announced its inaugural film programming, which will be screened nonstop during museum hours in two dedicated 299-seat theaters. Entry to the theaters is included with each general admission ticket, and visitors can enter and exit at any time, creating a free-flowing set of ancillary exhibition spaces with a goal of furthering the museum’s mission of exploring storytelling in its many forms.

One of the theaters will play museum co-founder George Lucas’ student films, made between 1965 and 1969, among other rare offerings. A schedule of screenings will be provided to visitors as they enter so they can plan their day around what they’d like to see, and programming will be changed periodically through the year. The theaters will also be used for special events.

“The film program, like so much in the museum, is unique in its structure and content. It is an open-door program that runs continuously throughout the day, allowing people to come and go at their leisure,” Ryan Linkof, senior curator and head of the museum’s film programs, wrote in an email. The news was first revealed Thursday during a Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con. “In this way, it fits within the larger mission of the museum to allow visitors to choose their own path through the museum and discover content at their own pace. It is also a varied and diverse program that includes everything from the earliest cinema experiments to avant-garde film, documentaries and animation, providing a platform for many underrecognized and rarely seen films and filmmakers.”

Adjacent to each other on the ground floor, off the north lobby of the $1-billion museum, the theaters are named after two giants of film history: Robert J. Flaherty, whose 1922 silent film “Nanook of the North” revolutionized documentary filmmaking; and early Hollywood montagist, cinematic artist and experimental filmmaker Slavko Vorkapich, who also served as chair of the USC film department from 1948 to 1950, more than a decade before Lucas enrolled in the program.

Two 299-seat theaters will be located on the ground floor of the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which opens to the public Sept. 22.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

The Flaherty theater will be dedicated to documentaries, including those that chronicle the work and artistic process of many of the artists and storytellers featured in the museum’s opening exhibitions such as Norman Rockwell, Jim Lee, Charles M. Schulz, Maurice Sendak, Diego Rivera, J.C. Leyendecker and Weegee. The museum will also screen “Seeing Is Believing: The Story of Narrative Art,” a new documentary series it commissioned from Robin Dashwood. It will also show episodes of the 2024 television series “The Power of Film,” created by Howard Suber and directed by Laura Gabbert, and the 1988 Ron Mann-directed doc “Comic Book Confidential.”

The experience will be more avant-garde in the Vorkapich theater, which will contain programming “showcasing cinematic innovation and imagination through experimental and formally inventive short films that speak to the essence of cinema: the magic of seeing still images come to life,” wrote Linkof.

Offerings include Lucas’ student films, as well as montage sequences by Vorkapich for movies like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”; silent films by Georges Méliès, Émile Cohl, W.K.L. Dickson, Edwin S. Porter and more; early animations by Winsor McCay; experimental films created by Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy; early sound animations by Walt Disney and Fleischer Studios; experimental films by Canadian animator Norman McLaren; Looney Tunes cartoons; abstract “visual music” works by Mary Ellen Bute, Oskar Fischinger, Jordan Belson and others; excerpts from Busby Berkeley musicals; experimental films from the 1960s by Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger; experimental animation by Vince Collins; “Cowboy Bebop”; and an episode of “Star Wars: Visions.”

The Lucas Museum opens Sept. 22. Tickets went on sale Tuesday and were going briskly, with digital wait times reported of more than four hours in queues with as many as 13,000 guests. Museum representatives declined to comment on how many sold that first day, noting, “We’re grateful for the response and early enthusiasm from our Founding Member community and first wave of visitors. We look forward to welcoming them in September.”

Luke Littler’s World Matchplay title defence continued with a straightforward 16-7 quarter-final win over Josh Rock in Blackpool.

Rock initially kept pace with the world number one as the players traded breaks to reach 5-5.

But after 19-year-old Littler reeled off five legs in a row, there proved to be no way back for Rock as the defending champion, in dazzling form, cruised into the semi-finals.

After throwing 17 180s with a scoring average of 109.57, Littler said: “At the minute, everything’s going to plan.”

The teenager added: “I feel good. I can afford to miss a few doubles because the scoring’s there.

“Once again another brilliant performance, but fair play to Josh, he put up a good fight.”

Littler will play unseeded Dirk van Duijvenbode of the Netherlands in Saturday’s semi-final.

Earlier on Thursday evening, tournament outsider Van Duijvenbode survived a late surge by Gary Anderson to reach his first Matchplay semi-final.

Anderson, the 2018 World Matchplay champion, threatened to close an eight-leg deficit with a fine late display including a 154 checkout, but Van Duijvenbode held on for a 16-13 win.

Reflecting on his second-round tie-break win over Michael van Gerwen, Van Duijvenbode had said that shaking “like a little child crying for his mum” allowed his compatriot back into match after leading 8-4.

After leading 8-4 again on Thursday, Van Duijvenbode dropped two consecutive legs but then stormed into a 14-6 lead by winning the next six without reply.

However, it would be a further nine legs until Van Duijvenbode won the tie as a resurgent Anderson pushed him hard.

White House hails pledge that seeks to shield consumers from the cost of energy for data centres as ‘historic’.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it will expand a voluntary pledge seeking to shield consumers from the energy costs of the rapid expansion of data centres, mostly used by artificial intelligence companies.

The White House announced on Thursday that it would add state governors and electricity companies to the agreement, first announced with tech and AI firms in March. But the US administration stopped short of any enforceable protections.

The White House called the expansion of the pledge “historic”, saying 200 additional utilities, data centre developers and states would join it.

The pledge is a “public commitment that hyperscalers, AI companies, and the utilities and data-center developers behind them will build, bring, or buy every kilowatt their facilities need — and cover every dollar of the infrastructure that delivers it”.

It says consumers would not foot the bill for AI’s energy needs.

In remarks about the pledge at the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, Trump called on the gathered executives and governors to sell the public on data centres, stressing that the cities and towns that have them will be “rich.”

“You have to convince your community. You can’t fight it. You have to go with it,” Trump said.

“If you don’t take all that money, somebody else is going to take it. You might as well do it yourselves.”

The US president has been a strong advocate for AI, which has become an enormous source of investment and a key priority for the country’s powerful tech sector. Trump has approached the sector, which includes some of his close allies, with a light regulatory touch during his second term.

But increased electricity demand from AI data centres could spur an increase in monthly utility bills between 15 and 40 percent by the year 2030, according to an analysis by the consulting and technology services company ICF.

A May Gallup poll suggested that seven out of 10 people in the US oppose the construction of AI data centres in their area, with about 48 percent saying they were strongly opposed. Slightly more than 25 percent said they favoured such efforts, with only 7 percent saying they strongly favoured them.

Concerns over the impact of such centres on the cost of utilities, such as electricity and water, are commonly cited as reasons for opposition, along with quality of life concerns and scepticism about the benefits of AI.

Some elections across the country have seen AI data centre construction emerge as a prominent issue, but the industry has pushed forward with plans to rapidly scale up infrastructure for the technology.

A poll from Johns Hopkins University in June suggested that Americans strongly favour greater regulation of AI, and about 60 percent of respondents said they expected AI to increase inequality over the next decade.

Four in 10 respondents said that AI companies stand to increase their power the most from the expansion of the technology, while just one in 10 said that individuals would gain the most.

Trump says he is considering a ‘massive attack’, as Iran’s Araghchi says ‘mindless aggression’ won’t help a deal.

Chadwick Boseman’s brothers, Derrick Boseman and Kevin Boseman, are taking the actor’s widow to court over her handling of his multimillion-dollar estate.

The pair filed a petition with a Los Angeles court to remove control of the “Black Panther” actor’s estate from his widow, Taylor Simone Ledward. They claim Ledward has mishandled distribution of the funds and “cannot be trusted with the continued administration of the estate.”

According to court documents reviewed by The Times, the brothers filed the petition last week on behalf of their parents, Leroy and Carolyn Boseman, whom they say each inherited 25% of their son’s “sizeable” estate while Ledward inherited 50%. The petition states that the estate included residuals and royalties, rights to his image and intellectual property, investments, insurance policies, personal property and multiple bank accounts. Because the actor did not leave a will, the estate was passed to his parents and Ledward.

Ledward, the petition claims, “was also appointed as administrator” but never “fully distributed [Boseman’s] estate. … Instead, she continues to exercise complete control over his estate without input from Leroy and Carolyn.” The filing asks the court to have Ledward distribute the remaining estate assets, make a case for why she shouldn’t be “held in contempt for disobeying the court’s order,” and provide a “full accounting with receipts for her time as administrator.” It also asks that the court remove her as administrator.

The brothers asked the court to pass Ledward’s role as administrator to a private fiduciary and forensic accountant, who they claim will be essential in investigating Ledward’s alleged “mismanagement of the estate and marshaling any unaccounted-for assets.”

Reps for Ledward did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

The actor’s brothers allege that, because of their lack of access to Boseman’s estate, they are “blocked from pursuing lucrative business opportunities” that might benefit their “elderly parents.”

“For years, our parents have sought clarity regarding matters connected to the estate of our brother, Chadwick Boseman, including his intellectual property and legacy,” the brothers said in an emailed statement shared by their representative. “On behalf of our parents, we are committed to ensuring that transparency, accountability, and respect guide the resolution of these matters. Our hope is that this process brings clarity, honors the Court’s orders, and ensures the responsible stewardship of Chadwick’s legacy.

“We love our brother, and we remain committed to preserving his legacy with dignity, integrity, and respect.”

The Oscar nominee died in 2020 at 43 years old after privately battling colon cancer for four years. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2016, the same year he made his debut as comics superhero T’Challa, a.k.a. the Black Panther, in “Captain America: Civil War.” The acclaimed actor also portrayed real-life icons Jackie Robinson in “42,” James Brown in “Get on Up” and Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall.”

Boseman and Ledward, an R&B artist who uses the stage name sahn, started dating in 2015 and quietly wed in 2020 before the actor’s death. In a December 2020 interview with “CBS Sunday Morning,” Boseman’s friend and the producer of the Netflix movie “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Denzel Washington, said that while on the set of the film he watched Ledward care for the actor in the midst of his cancer battle and told him to “put a ring on that finger.”

In recent years, Ledward has advocated for colon cancer awareness and spoken at multiple events. In 2024, she spoke at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, saying, “Colorectal cancer is killing young people across the country, and most are vastly underestimating their risk. I’ve seen how this disease moves, and I know now how treatable it is when it’s detected early,” she said, per NBC Boston.

“My personal advocacy stems from this understanding, and from the disappointment I feel in the lack of awareness in my community,” she said. “We who have this knowledge have an obligation to inform our fellow man. Spreading awareness will save lives.”