France is accelerating work on the Rafale F5 standard, bringing forward development of a major new configuration of its combat aircraft at a time when the country’s planned next-generation fighter with Germany has effectively collapsed in its original form. The contracts cover the equipment judged to have the highest technical risk, ahead of the overall development contract for the F5 standard, expected for the end of this year.

The French defense procurement agency, the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), ordered the first upstream development work for F5 from Dassault Aviation, Thales, MBDA, and Safran. The contracts cover key areas including navigation, datalinks, radar, electronic warfare, and propulsion, laying the groundwork for the next configuration of the Rafale, which is planned to enter service with the French Air and Space Force and the French Navy starting around 2033.

The most extensive modernization of the Rafale yet, the F5 standard was originally part of a longer transition toward France’s next-generation combat-air capability. But with the Franco-German New Generation Fighter (NGF) effort now effectively dead in its original configuration, the accelerated F5 program is taking on a much larger strategic role.

Rather than simply keeping the Rafale relevant until NGF arrives, France is now developing a version of the aircraft that is set to carry much of the country’s high-end combat-air capability well into the 2030s and potentially beyond.

The increasingly capable F5 could, in turn, reduce the urgency of finding a replacement for the Rafale — while potentially adding to the fighter’s export appeal. After a slow start, Dassault has recorded export sales of 299 new-build Rafales to eight nations.

The DGA’s contracts engage four of France’s principal combat-aircraft industrial players. Dassault Aviation remains responsible for the aircraft and its overall integration; Thales is involved in major sensor, electronic warfare, and communications capabilities; MBDA is responsible for much of the weapons system; and Safran is responsible for propulsion.

Previous Rafale standards have largely consisted of incremental upgrades, focusing on software and other improvements to the existing aircraft configuration. F5 is notably more extensive, addressing many of the critical systems that determine how the aircraft senses the battlespace, communicates with other platforms, conducts electronic warfare, and generates the power needed to operate increasingly demanding equipment.

The DGA has specifically identified the Thales RBE2-XG radar as one of the major technological advances associated with F5.

The RBE2-XG is expected to feature gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors. Compared with previous technology, GaN generates less heat and has the capacity to operate at higher voltages, meaning that output power can be increased, while component size can be reduced. Overall, using GaN should help to get more power out of the radar without increasing its size.

According to the DGA, “This new radar will benefit from a substantial increase in power, and consequently in detection range, as well as improvements in the identification of targets with an extremely low radar cross-section (RCS). Its computing capabilities will also be enhanced to facilitate the integration of artificial intelligence.”

The RBE2-XG will also be “designed with collaborative combat in mind, featuring sensors capable of working together without the need for pilot intervention.” It is also planned to have enhanced resilience, including against cyber threats.

France is already working on the concept of a combat drone to accompany the Rafale, with the future F5 standard providing the crewed aircraft around which those systems can operate.

The new radar will be combined with more capable electronic warfare equipment, improved communications and datalinks, expanded processing capacity, and a more capable propulsion system.

To be developed by MBDA and Thales, the forthcoming F5 version of the SPECTRA self-protection suite is intended to significantly improve detection and jamming capabilities, the DGA says, “through a fully digital approach, enabling a complete overhaul of the core electronic warfare system to counter the increasing density and broadening of the threat spectrum, as well as the growing complexity of threat waveforms, expected by 2035.”

Thales à bord du Rafale de Dassault Aviation

Thales will also be responsible for the new Inter-Vehicle Data Link (IVDL) system, described as a “stealthy and resilient datalink.” The DGA says the new datalink will expand connectivity “thanks to a new high-speed, discreet, and jamming-resistant waveform. IVDL will allow the Rafale to penetrate hostile areas where jammers are widespread, while maintaining optimal quality of communication and dialogue between aircraft.”

Safran will begin preliminary design work on the M88 T-Rex engine, which is planned to increase the turbofan’s thrust from around 16,500 pounds to nearly 19,850 pounds, an increase of roughly 20 percent.

M88 T-REX: A 9-ton thrust predator serving the Rafale

In terms of armament, the contract announcement mentions the ASN4G missile, set to be introduced to service by 2035, which will allow the Rafale F5 to continue to serve as the airborne nuclear component. The munition remains in the early stages of development, but it will be capable of hypersonic speeds — defined as speeds greater than Mach 5 — with a range in excess of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).

Other likely new missiles include a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile to succeed the current Meteor. As you can read about here, France’s Comet program, apparently led by the French side of MBDA, is already looking into this requirement, with an apparent plan to introduce the weapon around 2030.

An older video from MBDA showing some of the company’s weapons integrated on earlier versions of the Rafale:

PARIS AIR SHOW 2021: MISSILES ON THE RAFALE

For France, the original logic behind the pan-European FCAS program was that Rafale would eventually give way to the NGF as its principal crewed combat aircraft, operating from land bases and aircraft carriers.

With the collapse of the Franco-German effort, France cannot simply wait for a next-generation fighter program whose industrial and political future is uncertain. Instead, the Rafale has to remain capable against rapidly evolving threats throughout the 2030s and beyond.

With the F5 standard, however, France is looking to incorporate some of the concepts envisaged for NGF. These include distributed architectures in which crewed fighters, uncrewed aircraft, remote carriers, missiles, and offboard sensors cooperate across a battlespace.

A highly upgraded Rafale operating as the crewed controller of uncrewed combat aircraft and remote weapons could perform some of the missions that France originally expected from NGF.

For now, F5 also sidesteps the central problem in the now-defunct Franco-German effort: whether the two countries could agree on the requirements, industrial structure, and workshare behind a new-generation combat aircraft.

Despite its advances, the F5 airframe remains derived from a design dating back to the 1980s, which first entered French service in the early 2000s. In particular, it falls well short of fifth-generation designs — let alone sixth-generation ones — in terms of low observability. This is one area where collaborative drones could potentially help compensate for the Rafale’s inherent limitations.

France has therefore bought itself some time with the F5 program. But it may eventually decide that it needs a future high-end crewed fighter to provide capabilities that an upgraded fourth-generation airframe cannot fully replicate, particularly in terms of survivability against advanced integrated air-defense systems, signature reduction, internal weapons carriage, and operations deep inside heavily contested airspace.

On an industrial level, F5 is also significant because it brings together the same French industrial heavyweights that would have formed the backbone of its FCAS effort. Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran, and MBDA are now well-positioned to work together on whatever comes after F5, whether that is a crewed combat aircraft, uncrewed CCA-type platforms, or a combination of both. Based on its experience with the nEUROn program, France would be well placed to develop a UCAV that can work cooperatively as well as independently, taking over the deeper-penetrating fighter mission set, and potentially skipping a sixth-generation fighter altogether.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frNsu7g7r94

Meanwhile, success with F5 — and, in particular, with the wider combat ecosystem planned around it — could put France in an even stronger position when it comes to any future European fighter project.

For the time being, Britain, Italy, and Japan are pursuing the GCAP/Tempest pathway toward a new combat aircraft. Germany and Spain remain tied to the wider FCAS architecture, even as the original Franco-German NGF arrangement has fractured. Sweden’s position is less clear, with indications that it could collaborate with either France or Germany.

France, for its part, is now investing heavily in an increasingly sophisticated Rafale architecture while maintaining its own sovereign industrial base.

In terms of acqusition, France is expected to pursue a mixed approach, buying new-build Rafales while upgrading suitable aircraft already in service to the F5 standard. The oldest jets are unlikely to receive the full F5 treatment, however.

The irony is that the failure of the NGF effort may ultimately make Rafale F5 more important — and potentially more capable — than it was ever expected to be.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

One of the big changes will be that the three presenters will dance themselves in a big group number for the launch programme

When Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe step onto the Strictly dance floor as presenters for the first time, they will be doing it quite differently to their predecessors.

For a start, they are going to be dancing themselves, not something that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman ever got involved in. “We have to dance in the opening show, the three of us together have some choreography,” Emma reveals, looking both excited and nervous.

Of course this will be nothing new for Jojo, who has been on the show as a professional dancer since 2018 and says he will never stop. “Can you imagine?” he laughs. “For my own mental health and well-being, I need to be shaking my tush. You’ll see me, and not only me, in the launch show — there’s going to be more dancing than you’ve ever seen.”

Sitting next to him, comedian Josh quips: “Before you ask, I need to keep shaking my tush for my mental health as well, so don’t worry about that.”

All three of then have been sent good luck messages from former hosts Claudia and Tess. “They have been in touch with all of us, sending love and congratulations and just saying enjoy it – it’s so fun,” Emma says. She is looking forward to having a go herself on the dance floor because, while Josh took part in the 2024 Christmas special (dressed as a penguin), Emma also came very close to being a contestant two years before that..

“I got really close and I went in and did a dance test. And it was JoJo who I tested with!” she explains. “It just never panned out that year – now I feel like I get to host the show, which is quite unbelievable, but also I get to have a little boogie as well.”

Her near-miss with the show, in 2022, came several years after she’d publicly declared that her Busted bassist husband Matt Willis was banned from taking part (she didn’t want him “grinding against hot women”). “We considered doing it together,” she says now. “After I was like ‘No! No!’ to him, I was like, actually, I really want to do it. So how about if we did it together?” In the end, the plan was scuppered when Matt, with whom she has three kids, landed a role in the West End show 2.22. “We said if we couldn’t do it tougher, let’s not do it.”

The trio are going to share the presenting duties quite randomly between them, rather than each having a fixed role, giving them a newfound freedom. “In the chemistry tests, we did all the different roles” dad-of-two Josh, 43, explains. “It’s not a straight swap, one for one. It’s not like you’re Tess, you’re Claud. It’s going to give it more movement – it’s a gang show.”

All three says they are going to embrace the costumes on offer – but Emma has some shock news to deliver. “I’m not a massive sequin fan, if I’m honest,” she admits. “I love it on other people but it’s just not very me.” That said, she’s not going to hold back, believing the show gives you “license to really go for it”.

Josh claims he’s going to embrace it all – including the glitter. “You don’t do Strictly unless you do Strictly, that’s my view,” he declares. “I’ve done it once and they put me in a penguin hat. I’m more than amenable. Go hard or go home.” And he adds with a laugh: “I’ll be spray tanning completely.”

He says one of the best bits about being considered the show’s wild card in the presenter stakes, was the reaction from some of his comedian pals, including James Acaster. “I would say one of the great joys of getting this job was other comedians reacting to it. It’s just been so fun. It’s great to say to them, ‘Look, Acaster, you’re always welcome to come on the show?”

His tactic on dealing with the nerves of landing one of television’s top jobs is to pop himself into a bubble – and stay there. “I’ve been worrying since my first gig in 2008 and I’m still worrying now!” he reasons. “If you weren’t feeling the pressure, you’d have to wonder what is wrong with you. I’ll just focus on doing the job. And never, ever read anything that’s written anywhere about yourself – that’s papers, the internet, toilet walls – just don’t do it.”

As a stand-up, he is brave when it comes to the rigours of performing live. “I love chaos – controlled chaos,” he says. “It’s about reacting in the moment and enjoying it. It’s much more fun for a comedian, I think. You want to feel like anything can happen.”

On his new sidekicks, Josh – who is teetotal – laughs: “I think both of them have got a twinkle in their eye for wanting things to go a little bit wrong—that’s always the most fun bit, isn’t it?”

Of course Emma, 50, has got many years of presenting experience under her belt, thanks to her roles on Big Brother, The Voice UK and The Circle. She is fully aware of the enormity of this gig, with Strictly still attracting audiences bigger than 10million on occasion. “We’re very aware that this show is hugely loved,” she says. But she’s trying not to overthink it. “At the end of the day it’s fun isn’t it? It’s dancing and it’s entertainment. We want to be a small part of something that is really loved, and hopefully keep everyone at home happy, with spirits lifted.”

She finds herself in the unusual position of going up against herself on Saturday nights this autumn, as ITV screens The Voice – which was pre-recorded nearly two years ago but rested last year – and BBC1 launches Strictly.

“I don’t really see it as going head-to-head,” she insists. “It’s not something I really thought about because I didn’t know I was going to be doing this!” Pointing out that viewers can easily watch both if they want, she says: “It’s just the way it is. We consume TV differently now don’t we? You can watch what you want when you want, so it’s great.”

Johannes, 39, comes to the job with an army of Strictly fans already. He admits that becoming a presenter was not what he was expecting, but he’s loving the new opportunity and being helped by Emma and Josh. “This was never on the cards,” he laughs. “I am leaning on them with everything I have! I’ve always thought if there was a way to stick around with the show, it would be as a judge. That’s what I saw for myself. When this came along, I was just like, they’re asking me to speak to the magic of this show. What could be so difficult about it?

“Now that I’m in it, I realise it’s a different ballgame. But I’ve found my way of sticking around. Do I have FOMO? Yes I do. But I’m happy to still be a part of it.” He says the three of them have already formed a tight bond. “It’s so lovely to be in a room with two wonderful human beings,” he says. “You just don’t want to be stuck with somebody you don’t get along with, and that has been, honestly, the cherry on the cake for me.”

The South African-born star says he’s keeping his feet on the ground. “We’re not saving lives, it’s not open-heart surgery we’re performing, it’s just a bit of dancing and it’s a bit of joy.” “It’s not open heart surgery,” Josh pipes up, as we all fall about laughing. “Apart from week 10, open heart surgery week.”

– Strictly Come Dancing launches on BBC1, Saturday 19 September, 7.25pm

Europe has long been the primary target for US President Donald Trump’s tirades against traditional allies. However, Asia got a taste of this treatment last month when he cut short, at very short notice, the annual “Ulchi Freedom Shield” US military drills with South Korea.

Seoul is still angry at this development, especially given Trump’s later confirmation that he would also try to arrange a meeting with North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, in coming months. Signs of this frustration included President Lee Jae Myung’s call to speed up the development of new nuclear-powered submarines and his push to regain presidential wartime operational control of South Korean forces from the US, insisting that enhanced domestic military capabilities were needed in parallel with the alliance with Washington.

As remarkable as Trump’s decision was, it only confirmed the degree to which US partnerships with traditional allies have changed during his presidencies, as Washington demands wider concessions in return for US collaboration. These White House expectations include not only huge investments in the US, but also support in a conflict with Iran that has failed to unseat the regime in Tehran, while causing the largest global energy shock in a generation.

Certainly, some agree that Trump has legitimate concerns about South Korea. However, the manner in which he expressed his disagreement, in such a publicly humiliating way, is self-defeating. The US president said he told his South Korean counterpart that “we have 39,000 soldiers over there, guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbor, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran? That’s strange.”

As ever, Trump’s statement requires a fact check. Currently, Seoul is scheduled this year to pay Washington about $1.19 billion of the estimated $5.5 billion-$6 billion it costs to station approximately 28,500 US troops in South Korea.

Even though that $1.19 billion sum represents a significant increase, Trump claimed that during his first term, Seoul pledged to pay much more: $3 billion. He further contends that the Biden administration failed to follow up on this pledge.

Trump’s decision to end the latest US-South Korea military exercises on Aug. 21 rather than Aug. 27, as scheduled, was embarrassing enough for Seoul. To also confirm that he planned to try to arrange another meeting with Kim was rubbing salt in the wounds.

His tirade has set back recent and extensive efforts by his team to reassure Asian allies about the US commitment to the region. At a recent meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers in the Philippines, for instance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged about $2.5 billion of strategic investments in Southeast Asia. During a speech at Singapore’s Shangri-La conference in May, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth emphasized the importance of the region to Washington.

White House expectations include not only huge investments in the US, but also support in a conflict with Iran.

Andrew Hammond

Asian allies also query the utility of reengaging with Kim, after Trump’s first three meetings with him, between 2017 and 2021, failed to deliver any diplomatic breakthroughs.

White House expectations include not only huge investments in the US, but also support in a conflict with Iran.

Andrew Hammond

The prospects appear slim for any sustained de-escalation of tensions in the world’s last Cold War-era frontier in the form of the prize of a verifiable, comprehensive denuclearization of North Korea. Pyongyang’s weapons program has only grown in size and sophistication since Trump’s first term. This potentially widens the negotiating divide between the two sides.

The central challenge in making any meaningful diplomatic process with Kim is, as it was during Trump’s first term, the differing US and Korean interpretations of what exactly would constitute “denuclearization” of the peninsula.

To Trump, this appears to mean unilateral North Korean disarmament. For Kim, it appears to be more about potentially lengthy negotiations in which Pyongyang should be treated as an equal to the US, providing him with the further potential for propaganda victories. In this context, Kim will continue to be wary of commitments on specific time frames, and will want to win further concessions from Trump before agreeing to any reduction in nuclear capabilities, let alone committing to full denuclearization.

As was the case during Trump’s first term, it is far from clear what, if any, sequencing is possible to move the process forward. After the last meeting between Trump and Kim, North Korea disputed the US assertion that the reason the talks collapsed was because Kim demanded a full roll-back of sanctions. Pyongyang said it asked only for partial sanctions relief, and that an offer had been made to permanently halt nuclear and long-range rocket testing.

One reason Pyongyang’s position will not shift far or fast is that it was Kim, not Trump, who emerged as the bigger beneficiary of their previous engagements. The North Korean leader made few concrete concessions while Trump called off US-South Korea military exercises, and held out the prospect of an easing of sanctions on Pyongyang if it did “something meaningful” on denuclearization.

Taking all of this together, the damage to US alliances in Asia from last month’s decisions therefore goes far beyond South Korea and might outlast Trump’s second term. The paradox is that the White House had spent much time in recent months reassuring allies of enduring US support for the region, efforts that have now been badly set back.

• Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.

LONDON: Tottenham were booed off after their goalless start to the Premier League season stretched to a fourth match following Saturday’s dismal 0-0 draw against Everton.

Roberto De Zerbi’s expensively assembled side have made a wretched opening to the new campaign and they were easily held by Everton in north London.

Tottenham have taken two points from their first four matches, with their only goals this season coming against second tier Charlton in the League Cup.

Their search for a goal takes them to Liverpool in the League Cup third round on Tuesday before they host Aston Villa in the top-flight next weekend.

David Moyes’s Everton remain unbeaten after three draws and a win.

Despite spending more than £300 million ($406 million) on 10 signings since the end of last term, Tottenham’s crisis is mounting after a remarkably bad start.

Defeats against Brentford and Newcastle and a draw against Nottingham Forest left them languishing in the relegation zone ahead of this weekend’s action.

With the spectre of another relegation battle looming after last season’s final-day escape, De Zerbi desperately needed a morale-boosting victory.

Tottenham, who finished 17th for the last two seasons, climbed out of the bottom three after this draw, but it was hardly any reason for celebration.

They had secured their top-flight survival with a win against Everton in north London.

De Zerbi’s men rarely looked like recreating that success, with Savio shooting just wide from Sandro Tonali’s delivery.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored a stunner to salvage a draw against Manchester United last weekend, but the Everton midfielder was off-target from the edge of the area this time.

Mateus Fernandes, one of Tottenham’s expensive recruits, fired over from a good position.

Omar Marmoush made a hash of another decent chance, triggering groans of frustration from the disgruntled Tottenham fans.

Everton went close to snatching the lead just before half-time when James Garner’s free-kick was clawed away by Antonin Kinsky.

When Fernandes forced a routine save from Jordan Pickford, Tottenham supporters responded with ironic cheers to mark their team’s first shot on target.

Thierno Barry should have added to the fans’ angst after Tyrique George’s cross picked him out but the Everton striker’s header was parried by Kinsky.

De Zerbi had seen enough of Tottenham’s lethargic performance and sent on Mohammed Kudus, Mathys Tel and Lucas Bergvall.

Kinsky gifted Everton a golden opportunity when his attempt to find Tonali instead rolled to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but the midfielder took too long to shoot and the chance was gone.

Picked out by Dewsbury-Hall, former Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson blazed over with the goal at his mercy to let his old club off the hook.

Bergvall was denied by Pickford in the closing minutes but it was not long before jeers were cascading down from the stands.

NEW DELHI: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in New Delhi on Saturday to represent Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman at the 2026 BRICS Summit.

Saudi Arabia is participating in the summit as an invited country, which is being held under the theme “Building Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability.”

Prince Faisal is scheduled to take part in discussions on key international issues and ways to strengthen multilateral cooperation among BRICS members, partner countries and invited nations, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The BRICS group comprises Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

TORONTO — It’s not everyday that we take photos of Oscar winners, unless we happen to be at the Toronto International Film Festival, when it is everyday.

On Friday, during our first session of operations alone, we had the pleasure of shooting Academy Award winners Michelle Yeoh and “Boyhood” mom Patricia Arquette, not to mention two-time Cannes Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, most recently of the upcoming “Fjord.”

You should bookmark this link and check it regularly to see Jason Armond’s beautiful portraits. Courteney Cox? Jodie Comer? Sebastian Stan doing his serious face? It’s all here.

Our first wave of video interviews is live

Want a quick hit of festival buzz? How about Courteney Cox, Arquette and David Harbour getting scrappy over their favorite pizza toppings? They’re here to promote the Cox-directed “Evil Genius,” about the notorious pizza bomber incident.

Ten years after “The Love Witch” rocked audiences, writer-director Anna Biller is back with “The Face of Horror,” a medieval ghost story and a Technicolor-styled riot of design. She dropped by and mixed it up with our Mark Olsen.

Being a scream queen is a serious honor for Jane Levy and Jessica Rothe, in town with the excellent new slasher “River” but already our favorites for, respectively, “Evil Dead” and “Happy Death Day.”

What are we watching tonight?

‘Misty Green’

Rosalind Eleazar in the movie “Misty Green,” directed by Chris Rock.

(Merrick Morton / TIFF)

Misty Green is an actor — played with searing conviction by Rosalind Eleazar in a star-making performance — who may have missed her moment.

Though the industry has not made things easy for her as she suffers racist and sexist slights both big and small, Misty has not done herself any favors either, at times self-sabotaging with a careless attitude toward her undeniable talent and the work that must go with it.

The past few films Chris Rock has written and directed himself, including 2014’s “Top Five,” have felt distinctly personal, as if he is working out his own feelings about his career and the world.

“Misty Green” points toward redemption and hope on the other side of darkness: a pitiless examination of contemporary Hollywood and the difficulty of holding it all together. — Mark Olsen

‘Closing Night’

Sarah Paulson in the movie “Closing Night.”

(TIFF)

The first half of Cody Fern’s strong debut is about the sweet schadenfreude of watching estranged sisters Sandra (Sarah Paulson) and April (Naomi Watts) scream at each other.

The second half pivots to ask if it’s as cathartic to leave things unsaid. Sandra, a stern Broadway actor, has hit the end of her career. April, an anxious Michigan hairdresser, is in Manhattan to see her dopey son Theo (Toby Wallace) and his pregnant girlfriend Lucy (Odessa A’zion) — who, after the family’s controlling matriarch Diane (Dianne Wiest) shows up, should start having second thoughts about passing down their dysfunctional DNA.

Both Fern and his co-screenwriter Devon are actors themselves, so they’ve written their leads one show-stopper scene after another.

Impressively, Paulson even manages to steal the climax away from Watts’ flighty kleptomaniac as her hard luck character takes her lumps with the courage of someone facing down a firing squad, chin held high. — Amy Nicholson

‘Elsinore’

Andrew Scott in the movie “Elsinore.”

(Anthony Dickenson / Focus Features)

Already becoming a must-see out of Telluride and now Toronto, this extraordinary actor’s showcase (arriving in theaters Nov. 20) is carried by a fascinatingly complex turn by Andrew Scott, who just might finally earn some of the hardware he deserved for 2023’s “All of Us Strangers.”

Scott plays real-life Scottish actor Ian Charleson, the bright presence of “Chariots of Fire” and “Gandhi” who never quite had the movie career he deserved. But near the end of his career, in defiance of an AIDS diagnosis, he took on the stage role of Hamlet and left a burning impression.

It’s a performance that consistently elevates “Elsinore” from its recognizable trajectory. Scott deepens Charleson’s race against his own mortality with notes of humor, desperation, guilt, self-delusional avoidance and ultimately the deftness of someone who likes playing pretend. — Joshua Rothkopf

Venice, Italy: A chilling new documentary about Israel’s AI-assisted killing of civilians in Gaza by two Israeli directors won a special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

“NAZA”, by Oscar-winning Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, had been tipped by some critics for the top Golden Lion prize for best film after a record-breaking 25-minute ovation at its premiere on Thursday.

A large-scale oil spill, believed to be from a tanker struck by the US military, doubled in size between Wednesday and Thursday, endangering two protected areas off Oman and Iran, said Nina Noelle of Greenpeace Germany.

The tanker RIESCO was one of four attacked Tuesday in the Gulf of Oman. A fifth was destroyed in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s Kharg island.

The visible area of pollution measured about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) on Thursday, Noelle said. Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press showed the spill stretching almost 70 kilometers (43 miles) long.

The spill is located between the Musandam protected area on the Omani side, which includes one of the region’s most important seabird breeding islands.

On the Iranian side is the Hara-e Roud-e Gaz Protected Area in Hormozgan province that includes mangrove forests.

“The current situation in the Strait of Hormuz, together with our experience of oil spills since the beginning of the war, unfortunately suggests that an effective response is unlikely,” Noelle said.

Who: India vs Sri Lanka
What: Women’s T20 Asia Cup final
Where: Dubai International Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
When: Sunday, September 13, 6:30pm local time (14:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 3:30pm local time (13:30 GMT) before our live text commentary stream.

Record seven-time winners India face defending champions Sri Lanka in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup final on Sunday, as the 15-match competition in the United Arab Emirates readies itself for its closing act.

In a tournament which has largely yielded low-scoring contests, both Indian and Sri Lankan spin units have tasted success – Deepti Sharma spearheading the heavyweights’ charge and captain Chamari Athapaththu leading by example for the title holders.

Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana’s terrific top-order pairing has further strengthened India’s title bid at the tournament, where both teams boast a perfect record.

Having reached the final in every edition of the Women’s Asia Cup they have played, India are favourites to add another trophy to their glittering cabinet.

But Sri Lanka possess a threat of their own – they are one of only two sides who have beaten India in the title clash in past and will be eager to retain the trophy they proudly lifted two years ago.

Before Sunday’s showdown, Al Jazeera Sport takes a closer look at the game:

Who did India and Sri Lanka beat in the semifinals?

India defeated Bangladesh in the first semifinal on Thursday by 40 runs before Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by four wickets in Friday’s low-scoring thriller.

When did India and Sri Lanka last meet?

The pair last met in a T20 international in Thiruvananthapuram on December 30, 2025, as hosts India defeated Sri Lanka by 15 runs, sweeping that series 5-0.

Records swing heavily in India’s favour – they have won nine of their last 10 T20Is against Sri Lanka.

How many Women’s Asia Cup titles have India won?

India are the most successful team in the Women’s Asia Cup, having won a record seven titles.

They won the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 editions, when the tournament was played in a one-day international format, as well as the 2012, 2016 and 2022 T20 editions.

How many Women’s Asia Cup titles have Sri Lanka won?

Sri Lanka have won the Women’s Asia Cup once, winning the last edition in 2024 after beating India by eight wickets in the final.

Who are India’s key players?

India’s openers Shafali and Mandhana are the top two leading scorers in the ongoing edition, having scored 168 and 154 runs each in four matches.

Shafali has registered two half-centuries – scoring identical 64s against Thailand in the opener and Bangladesh in the semifinals – while Mandhana hit an incredible 124 against Hong Kong in the league phase.

With the ball, all-rounder Deepti has been most impactful with her spin bowling, bagging a joint-highest 11 wickets with an average of 3.63.

N Shree Charani has also played a key role with eight wickets and holds the record for the second-most economical bowler (3.27).

Who are Sri Lanka’s key players?

Captain Athapaththu, who bowls right arm off-break, has been Sri Lanka’s most impactful player, sharing the honours of the most wickets with Deepti at 11, with an average of 5.36. Left-arm orthodox bowler Sugandika Kumari has also contributed with six wickets.

With the bat, top-order left-hander Harsthitha Samarawickrama has chipped in 89 runs for the fourth-highest scorer in the competition.

Form guide

Last five matches, most recent first:

• India: W-W-W-W-L
• Sri Lanka: W-W-W-W-L

What have the players said?

India’s Deepti Sharma: “[This] team doesn’t take any team lightly … We always think as a team, ‘How we can do better in each and every game. As a collective team performance, how we can do better.’”

Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu: “If we can execute our plans in the final, I think we can beat any team.”

Probable India XI

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Kranti Gaud, N Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma

Probable Sri Lanka XI

Imesha Dulani, Chamari Athapaththu (captain), Sanjana Kavindi, Harsthitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Kaushini Nuthyangana (wicketkeeper), Sugandika Kumari, Chamudi Praboda, Mithali Ayodhya

Where can I watch India vs Sri Lanka?

• India: Sony Sports, SonyLIV
• Sri Lanka: TV1, Sirasa TV
• Pakistan: PTV Network, Tamasha
• Bangladesh: T Sports, iScreen
• United Kingdom: Sony MAX
• MENA region: StarzPlay Cricket, StarzPlay

With the US midterm elections just weeks away, Donald Trump’s administration is trying to put a positive spin on a war with Iran that shows no sign of letting up.

Climbing fuel and grocery prices, the president’s provocative social media posts and the Pentagon’s combative relationship with the media are making that story harder to sell.

Contributors: 
Laicie Heeley – Editor-in-chief, Inkstick
Mark Kimmitt – Former US Assistant Secretary of State
Negar Mortazavi – Host, The Iran Podcast
Samira Mohyeddin – Founder, On The Line Media

On our radar

Revelations from Israeli newspaper Haaretz about what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew before the October 7 attacks have ignited a firestorm in the country. Netanyahu calls the reporting fabricated and is threatening to sue.

Ryan Kohls reports.

How COVID coverage broke trust in the US

Six years on from the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 is back in the headlines – and so are questions about how newsrooms covered it.

The Listening Post’s Nicholas Muirhead on how the pandemic broke trust in the US.

Featuring: 
Amesh Adalja – Infectious Disease Physician, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
Frances E Lee – Co-author, In COVID’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us
Jeanne Lenzer – Investigative Medical Journalist

LAURA Anderson has admitted she felt like the ‘biggest faliure’ after her split from Gary Lucy as she shared an emotional post about being a single mum.

Laura and Gary split not long after they revealed they were having a child together, but later got back together before ultimately calling it quits.

Now, Laura has shared a tender beach clip of her and her daughter playing in the sand, using the moment to open up about how she’s feeling now.

She wrote: “One day you’ll go through a break-up with your child’s father and you’ll think that being a single mum is the biggest failure.

“And then one day, not suddenly, but slowly and surely, you’ll look back and feel so proud of the mother you are and what you have been able to overcome.

“You’ll be proud of how much your child is thriving and how much you’ve achieved by yourself.

EX-TRA CONFLICT

Inside most toxic split in TV as Laura Anderson and Gary Lucy go to war

KELLY’S HERO

Kelly Osbourne PICTURED with secret toyboy love who sells used pants online

“Because the one thing that determines the happiness of a child is the happiness of their mother.

“Her peace within the home and within her mind.

“And the only thing you’ll regret is not realising that sooner.”

Fans flocked to comment and one wrote: “Your an amazing mama to your baby Bonnie.”

Another added: “Absolutely agree.”

While a third stated: “Beautiful.”

Laura and Gary met while looking for love on Celebs Go Dating back in 2022.

Despite it being against the E4 show rules to date fellow celebs, the experts gave the green light after seeing their romantic spark.

During their whirlwind relationship after the cameras stopped rolling, Laura fell pregnant.

But the happy pregnancy news was tinged with sadness because by then the pair had secretly split for the first time.

The couple then split for good shortly before their daughter Bonnie was born in 2023

This sparked the start of one of the most toxic break-ups reality TV has ever seen.

Just this June, Laura took a swipe at Gary with a savage Father’s Day post.

And last month, she took another brutal swipe at Gary and confirmed she’s now single after her split from her footballer boyfriend.

WASHINGTON: The US military said Saturday that it has pushed back 100 commercial vessels in the past 60 days under its blockade of Iranian ports.

“ZERO ships have passed through the blockade without US forces allowing. American service members remain laser focused on this mission,” US Central Command said on X.

Iran blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz after the US and Israel launched attacks on Tehran in late February.

In response, the United States has sought to prevent ships from traveling to and from Iranian ports to deprive Tehran of revenue.

Labor Day is behind us, election day is less than two months away, and the question before Los Angeles voters is this:

Can anyone run this city?

Two fires at abandoned properties, one in Studio City and the other on the eastern edge of Larchmont, offer windows into City Hall dysfunction as Mayor Karen Bass defends her job against a challenge by City Councilmember Nithya Raman.

Let’s start on Babcock Avenue, just south of Moorpark Street, where, for roughly five years, neighbors of a vacant house begged City Hall for attention to what had been a dumping ground, a fire hazard and a homeless hangout.

To no avail.

When they received any response at all, they got the runaround.

Resident Jon Manzanares told me he has supported Bass and Raman in the past. But in a spring 2025 email to City Hall, he said both “should be ashamed and resign in disgrace.”

Well, they didn’t. And following an Aug. 26 fire at the Babcock property, which damaged the rear of an adjacent home, Bass and Raman went after each other for not having addressed all those pleas for help.

“Nithya Raman wants to lead the whole city,” said a Bass campaign social media post, but after six years in office “she can’t even get a single lot cleaned up in her own district.”

Raman shot back, saying she had alerted the mayor’s office about the nuisance property 10 months earlier.

“I cannot call her about the 200-plus issues that we’re dealing with that are at this level of risk,” Raman snapped.

The finger-pointing doesn’t inspire confidence, does it?

At least, said Manzanares, a retired lawyer, L.A. found out what it takes to get a response from the two mayoral candidates.

“The news crews showed up” to cover the fire, Manzanares told me, “and it finally got some attention because of the election.”

But festering eyesores are everywhere, as Bass herself indicated when she called in to KTLA-TV.

Fire damage is seen at an abandoned Studio City property following a overnight blaze on Aug. 26.

(KTLA-TV)

“You know,” she said, “this is a situation that unfortunately exists all over the city.”

A for honesty. F for failing to clean up all those messes, regardless of whether the problem is departmental failure or communications breakdowns with council members.

The fire in Studio City spread to a neighboring property and damaged a structure that Kayt Miranda uses for storage and as a home office. I spoke to Miranda on the front porch of her home, and she said she had filed multiple complaints about the nuisance property over a five-year period.

Five years.

“And we never heard back,” Miranda said, telling me she had seen people set up camp at the property, bringing in mattresses, book shelves and clothing racks. “Then we went to Raman’s office … They would send responses, but … we never saw any action.”

Manzanares showed me an email from a Raman staffer last month that said, “unfortunately, there is not a clear and expeditious path forward on this case.”

Why not? Was it going to take another five years?

Miranda said exasperated neighbors had banded together to put up more lighting and cameras to protect their properties, “but it really did feel like this is forever, because nothing was going to happen.”

When I was done in Studio City, I drove across town to meet with construction worker and pastor Juan Galicia, whose house was torched in March when fire jumped from an adjacent abandoned property.

I had first heard about Galicia in April, when I toured a nearby Hollywood neighborhood for a column about a homeowner who had hired her housekeeper to report illegal dumping, help bag up the daily mess and try to reduce the fire risk around encampments. The city wasn’t doing its job, Stefanie Keenan had told me, so she was spending her own money to protect herself and neighbors. And she still is.

Galicia didn’t get the protection he needed, despite multiple contacts with police and city offices — by him, relatives and neighbors —regarding the empty dwelling next door to his on North St. Andrews Place. Galicia said squatters were in and out of the house, with periodic fighting and drug use. Police would come, he said, but when they left, the trouble would return.

Galicia was preaching at his church in South L.A. when flames engulfed his home, where he lived with an extended family of 10.

“Eighteen years,” he said of his time in the house. “And in 10 minutes, you have nothing.”

I followed him into the house, with its charred walls, ceiling and flooring. Galicia wore a somber expression, as if still suffering from the shock, and he saw new evidence of trespassers, along with some fresh graffiti.

Galicia told me, as he told The Times’ Seamus Bozeman in July, that he intends to rebuild. But his insurance settlement won’t cover the cost of rebuilding, and he’s still paying $2,000 a month on the mortgage, plus $6,200 for temporary lodging in a rented house.

Meanwhile, as he struggles with a crushing financial problem he did not create, he’s aware that millions are being spent on homelessness without significant progress.

Aerial view of Larchmont home belonging to Pastor Juan Galicia that was destroyed by a fire that began at a vacant property next door.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“I don’t understand,” Galicia said.

A spokesperson for City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez told me his office became aware of Galicia’s issue in January, but because of paperwork and the complexity of legal records, could not track down the owner of the adjacent property before the fire.

In L.A., people trip and fall in droves and successfully sue the city for millions. I wondered if Galicia might have a liability case against the city, but two attorneys told me going after the next-door property owner could be more fruitful.

In a Sept. 5 press release, Bass said she was directing city crews to clean and secure nuisance properties citywide. OK, fine, but what took her so long?

Bass also said she had earlier signed legislation initiated by Councilmember Monica Rodriguez to speed the process of cracking down on negligent property owners and to hit them with stiffer penalties.

Those fines ought to go into a fund to assist Juan Galicia and others like him.

Between 2018 and 2024, according to the L.A. Fire Department, homelessness was a factor in about one-third of all fires in the city.

“I feel for these people, I really do. I’m not unsympathetic,” Jon Manzanares told me in Studio City. “But by the same token, we need to do something constructive and not have these encampments that start fires.”

With less than two months to go before the election, it’s on Bass and Raman to convince voters they can make a difference.

The finger-pointing is useless.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

The world champion said: “I’m shocked. I’m a little bit surprised to be here. It was probably one of the best laps I’ve done ever in my career.

“One of those laps when everything came together. I had a good idea of what I wanted to do, it was whether it came together but my brain let me do it almost perfect. It’s one of those laps when you look at the time and go: ‘Oh, that was pretty good.”

The session had started with predictions of a crash-fest, after drivers had been warning about the high-risk nature of the new Madring street circuit, with tricky entries to corners and walls coming back at the drivers on the exits.

Two red flags during final practice had led some teams to have private sweepstakes as to how many stoppages there would be in qualifying, but the session ran cleanly, with no incidents.

Pole looked to be a battle between Antonelli and the Ferraris, with Verstappen perhaps in the mix.

In the end, the Ferraris faded, as they so often have this year when it really matters, and Norris rose to the front with a breathtaking performance.

“The adrenaline was high on the last lap,” he said. “You have to relax and let it all flow.

“It’s easy to get tense around here. There’s a lot of walls that come at you pretty quickly. I have been feeling pretty good, I just wasn’t relaxed.

“I was pretty much perfect apart from the last corner, where I thought I was in the wall. Everything I wanted to achieve I achieved and it’s one of those moments when I was in that flow state.”

Hamilton, who had crashed at the final corner in practice and missed the final half of the session, did improve on his last lap, but only by 0.06secs and it was not enough to prevent him falling backwards.

He edged Leclerc by just 0.006secs as Ferrari rued yet another tantalising chance slipping through their fingers.

Hamilton said: “I felt pretty awesome in Q3 run one, and then just didn’t have any more grip or power in the last one.”

DRC detected the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo virus in mid-May; nearly 3,400 people have since died.

More than 7,000 Ebola cases have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) worst outbreak of the deadly disease, according to figures from Congolese authorities.

The DRC officially detected the latest outbreak in mid-May, but experts suspect it had been spreading under the radar for weeks before.

Of the 7,022 registered cases, 3,398 people have died, according to DRC authorities. Currently, 837 people are in isolation or receiving treatment.

The outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo virus, DRC’s 17th Ebola epidemic, began in the northeastern Ituri province.

It has since spread across conflict-plagued, remote eastern and northern regions where armed groups have roamed for decades, the presence of the state is weak and health infrastructure is largely lacking.

Earlier this week, one case of the disease was confirmed in a seventh province, South-Ubangi, which is in the northwest of the country bordering the Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville.

Most of the recorded cases remain in Ituri, where Ebola has been detected in schools in the days after the post-summer holiday return to classes, causing alarm among parents and health workers.

“We are very worried because we don’t know which child comes from which family or what the health status of the members of that family is,” Angele Magani, a mother of a schoolboy in Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital, told the AFP news agency.

“We are so scared, even though the school authorities reassure us about the health measures that have been put in place,” she added.

Bunia school official Roger Mungimbo told AFP that “there is a mandatory hand-washing system with soap, and we have also done everything possible to have a maximum of 30 pupils per classroom”.

“We regularly make the children aware that they must not touch each other, must not greet each other and must wash their hands regularly,” he added.

Ebola, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the last 50 years, is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe internal and external bleeding and organ failure.

The world’s deadliest outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016 was the Zaire Ebola virus. That epidemic killed more than 11,325 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Bundibugyo strain currently seen in DRC has no approved vaccine or treatment currently, although several potential treatments and vaccines are being tested.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have captured Mocha port and now threaten to control the main waterway of the Bab al-Mandeb strait. They have also attacked several cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding about 70 people, including women and children.

The repeated attacks against Saudi energy, civil, and defence facilities, combined with the maritime blockage by Iran and its Yemeni partner the Houthis, directly raise the question of the Mecca Pact’s operationalisation between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan.

The Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia can activate the mutual defence agreement. If that happens, what could a Pakistani and Turkish intervention look like?

The answer to this question necessitates some crucial background first.

The US – the main security partner of the Gulf states – has signalled for a while now that it expects regional countries to take primary responsibility for their own defence and deterrence, with US help remaining critical but limited.

That posture is already visible on the ground. Since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, the US has not been able to provide comprehensive defence for its regional partners. On several occasions, it has even failed to stop attacks on its own bases in the Gulf.

With US presence receding and Washington emphasising regional burden-sharing, Gulf states have had to look into a new defence architecture. In September 2025, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed their first mutual defence agreement, which expanded in August this year to include Turkiye and became the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

The three countries have since established a joint secretariat, with its headquarters in Riyadh, with Pakistan taking the chairmanship for an initial three-year term.

The pact remains in a gestation period. It does not publicly identify the thresholds or scenarios under which a member would move to direct military intervention. Its organisational and institutional structure, including rules of engagement, mechanisms of consultation, and collective defence and deterrence, are yet to be formally developed.

Now, back to the question of how the pact will be operational if a member state is attacked.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that an unprovoked aggression against Saudi Arabia, or a spillover of the Yemen conflict into the kingdom, would make the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement operational, adding that “there should be no doubt in this.”

Asif, however, did not share specific details on what shape that operationalisation would take. Last month, Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan clarified that the Mecca Pact would work the same way as NATO: If a member state is attacked, it must actively request and define the specific type of help it needs.

NATO’s Article 4 allows for a member to call alliance consultations and exchange of information. Article 5 requires mutual assistance from allies, but it leaves each state to decide the nature of that assistance.

In 2012, after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, Ankara invoked Article 4 for consultation and requested specific defence assistance. Instead of demanding direct military intervention, the Turkish government explicitly asked for Patriot missile defence batteries. NATO approved the request and deployed the systems to protect Turkish airspace.

In this context, if the Mecca Pact is to be operationalised, it would have to be Saudi Arabia that defines the type of military assistance and involvement that it needs. If, for example, Riyadh makes an actual request for Pakistani direct military intervention, beyond materiel and intelligence support, Islamabad would be obliged to comply. But the request, and the scale of the response, would still likely need to be defined and agreed in a consultation meeting.

For now, none of this has been tested as Riyadh has not invoked the pact with either Pakistan or Turkiye.

In the meantime, diplomatic efforts have intensified, with Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud talking to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Islamabad has also publicly urged Iran to rein in the Houthis from attacking Saudi Arabia and threatening the Bab al-Mandeb, and has reminded Tehran of Pakistan’s commitment to Riyadh’s defence through the pact. Ankara would likely play its own part in diplomatically restraining the Houthis and Iran.

If diplomacy fails and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia or the Bab al-Mandeb continue, Turkiye and Pakistan would likely expand the air and technological support they already provide. Islamabad already has an air squadron of about 16 JF-17 Thunder multirole aircraft, defence systems, and thousands of troops deployed in Saudi Arabia.

But a direct military operation by Pakistani forces inside Yemen remains unlikely at the moment. Given the disastrous and lasting impacts of its participation in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union on behalf of the US, Pakistan would be far more wary of joining a war against Iran and its allies, for fear of spillover into its western border provinces’ economy, domestic security, sectarian balance, and societal harmony. Pakistani leaders would find it hard to build domestic consensus for direct attacks on the Houthis or a fight with Iran.

The likely scenario is that Pakistan would increase joint diplomatic pressure on Iran to restrain the Houthis, further augment its support for Saudi defence, and push for a multinational naval coalition to secure the Bab al-Mandeb. Adopting this restraint would still keep the essence of the Mecca Pact intact, while putting more weight behind regional de-escalation.

The new security architecture that agreements like the Mecca Pact are setting up will take years to mature. Until the mechanisms and rules of collective response develop, Pakistan’s existing bilateral defence relationships with Saudi Arabia and other Arab partners will continue to focus on defence needs.

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

Premiering Sunday at midnight on Adult Swim, a most appropriate and maybe the only possible space, “The Terrors of Jordan Mendoza” is, as its creator describes it in a prologue, “a ‘Twilight Zone’ sketch show,” which is just what I would have said after watching eight of its 13 11-minute episodes, had he not said it first. Emphasizing its Asian bonafides — Mendoza is Filipino American — he adds, “It would be almost racist if you didn’t do it.”

Mendoza, who stars in, directs and, with David Machajewski, writes the show, has said that some of the ideas come from actual dreams — the “terrors” in the titles are nightmares — though if my own dream life is anything to go by, the jokes are more clever and the narratives at once weirder and more cohesive. At various times it recalls the eeriness of David Lynch or the non sequitur logic of Luis Bunuel, and it has something of the flavor of “The Vince Staples Show,” which also went to some strange places in its too-short life.

Sketches, of varying lengths, build a central idea out in every direction, and a little farther than you might expect. We meet a therapist obsessed with Wendy’s. Batman, convinced that he has adult ADHD because an online quiz told him so (“I know a lot of people claim they have ADHD,” he tells Alfred, “but in my case I think I really do … I’m creative but easily overwhelmed, organized but at the same time not”). A dying man (Steve Buscemi) is obsessed with getting his last words right; a prisoner is sentenced to “15 hugs and kisses” from the “nearest judge.” A bank robber holding hostages demands to be “a famous snake … and if you can’t get on board with that then everyone in here is going to die.” In a horror movie pastiche, Mendoza is dogged by middle-aged white men compelled to tell him that their wife is Asian, which does sound like something from personal experience.

Wherever the comedy goes, it’s played straight and with intensity, as is the terror. The show can be genuinely disturbing and genuinely funny. (Two things can be true at once.) There’s also a scene in which Mendoza, playing a character convinced he’s a Harry Potter wizard, runs into a brick wall he thinks he’ll pass through, and, there’s nothing more liable to make me laugh than that, unless it’s someone hitting their head on a low door frame or suddenly falling over for any number of non-fatal reasons.

Mendoza, who is in his mid-30s, has a string of writing and acting credits, including writing for “Dave,” Dave Burd’s comedy about a suburban Jew from Philadelphia who believes himself destined for rap greatness, and parts in Julio Torres’ “Problemista” and “Fantasmas,” which are located in the same hemisphere of alternative comedy. He has the Rolodex of a well-connected person; the guest list is impressively loaded for someone making his first show.

The great Martha Kelly (from “Baskets”) plays a masseuse who exteriorizes her client’s pain, and in another sketch, she’s a woman sitting in on a confirmation class in order to learn where Jesus might be “lodging” when he returns. (She has a plan.) Kate Berlant invites Mendoza to what turns out to be a one-woman poetry slam, held in secret to avoid the Slammers Union (“They’re like the Sopranos, only violent”). Chris Parnell, Randall Park, Wanda Sykes, Thomas Lennon, Clea DuVall, Lake Bell, Toby Huss, Mark Maron, Fred Armisen and Gregg Turkington (from the world of “On Cinema at the Cinema”) all muck in.

You should know from the above whether this might be your sort of thing. (It won’t be everyone’s, but it’s definitely up my dark, crooked alley.) But, really, it’s even better than these descriptions might lead you to guess, elevated by the first-class production, assured performances (Mendoza is himself very good) and everyone’s commitment to whatever bit is up at the time. The devilishness is in the details.

The oil “mega-deal” signed between the US and Venezuela has caused major repercussions on plenty of themes: from the legality and timeframe of the agreement to the economic and political implications and, last but not least, the controversial role of Alejandro Betancourt.

A couple of issues are also missing from recent discussions: the effects of these new deals on Venezuela’s environment and its implications for the global climate crisis.

One exception was the coverage made by the NPR’s “All Things Considered” program, where energy and climate correspondent Julia Simon interviewed Paasha Mahdavi, a political science professor at University of California, Santa Barbara, who has this to say about what the new Orinoco Belt developments by major oil company Chevron could do.

“This expansion is effectively a carbon bomb. And so if Chevron does produce this field, that’s roughly 52 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year additional. That is a huge number.”

On September 2nd, the same day those deals were signed in Miraflores Palace, the United Nations Environmental Program released the report “Limiting Overshoot,” which indicates that the 1.5° threshold to limit global warming established in 2015 by the Paris Climate Accords was already crossed and therefore the world must prepare for the fallout.

But in the last few days, several Venezuelan environmental NGOs and other civil society groups are sounding the alarm about the negative consequences that those agreements could produce here. Mongabay published this map about the areas that are impacted by oil extraction in Venezuela.

Venezuelan NGOs Clima 21 and Provea made public a joint statement in which they say that “the economic recovery cannot be made at the expense of environmental human rights. No economic interest can prevail over the constitutional and international right to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment…”

They proposed five points of commitment for all involved, which include transparency and public information, effective enforcement of environmental obligations, urgent management of oil spills, protection of vulnerable communities and a transition to a sustainable model for the country.

Local NGO Azul Ambientalistas claimed that in recent months there have been visible signs of spills and gas leaks in the Lake Maracaibo area, which increased after the reactivation of activities there earlier this year.

Alejandro Alvarez, director of NGO Clima 21 told Caracas Chronicles about what this overall commitment could entail: “It must take into a medium-to-long term strategic plan of reducing the fiscal dependence of the oil rent through investment in areas not related to the extraction and use of fossil fuels. There are already forecasts that could define alternative economic areas to generate currency without the extraction of petroleum.”

In similar terms, Transparencia Venezuela mentioned the need to adjust any oil investment and development to what’s established in Article 129 of the Constitution, including “environmental and socio-cultural impact studies” and “the obligation to preserve the balance…”

But some went further and openly denounced the US-Nabep deal as the surrender of our national sovereignty and civic rights, as Venezuelan sociologist Emilianio Teran-Mantovani wrote in an article for the Venezuelan Observatory of Political Ecology, an organization that he co-founded. 

“The new Oil Agreement is the result of this process of political decomposition that has been unfolding in Venezuela for years; and it is the crowning achievement of the capitulation and dismantling of oil nationalism, which had already begun under Maduro and is now being fully unleashed through U.S. intervention…

“Ultimately, this means that Venezuelans themselves have no place. They hardly matter. Their decisions, expressed, for example, in the July 28, 2024 elections, do not matter. Neither do their social and labor rights. And the environment is even less relevant, an area that has been rendered completely invisible in this conflict.”

“There is no National Policy, National Strategy, nor a National Plan of Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change. There’s neither a Climate National Budget nor a National System for an Inventory of Greenhouse Gases…”

Besides these statements, the issue of how this oil deal will affect our surroundings has taken a backseat to other concerns while clouded by a lack of details and overall uncertainty around it, despite the promises of a prosperous recovery made by government officials in Caracas and Washington. 

In the meantime, the problem of incidents like oil spills continues to be present to this day, with the most recent one occurring on the coast of Lake Maracaibo near Cabimas, as local NGO Azul Ambientalistas claimed that in recent months there have been visible signs of spills and gas leaks in the lake, which increased after the reactivation of activities in the area earlier this year.

Oil spills have sadly become commonplace over time, but reliable data on the matter is hard to come by, with NGOs like Clima 21 and the Venezuelan Observatory of Political Ecology filling the gap that the State is not providing. 

“This possible impact (of the pollution produced by the projects of the oil deals) would add to the systemic chronic environmental crisis of the Venezuelan oil industry, which has a very high accident rate because of the abandonment of safety protocols and protections to the communities and ecosystems in the most affected areas. Our concern is the absence of guarantees in those agreements that these problems will be attended to and solved.”

And then there’s the concern of climate change and its already visible effects around the world. At the moment, the ongoing El Super Niño climate event is exacerbating temperatures, causing historical heatwaves like the recent one in Europe and creating serious worries about food crops and other essential natural resources in many nations, including here in Venezuela. 

Evidence of how climate change has directly affected Venezuela can be found in the second academic report on climate change (DRACC), which was formally presented last December by the Venezuelan Academy of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences. In its findings is the acknowledgment that the average temperature in the country has risen 0,22 °C per decade between 1980 and 2015, while global warming is responsible for anomalies in rainfall.

But the most damning conclusion is the complete disregard coming from the Venezuelan State.

“This is an important theme in which the government has made failed or incomplete advances” Alvárez, mentioning two failed projects: wind farms in Paraguaná and solar panels for  an indigenous community in Amazonas state, which ended up abandoned.

“There is no National Policy, National Strategy, nor a National Plan of Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change. There’s neither a Climate National Budget nor a National System for an Inventory of Greenhouse Gases… …the climate institutional weakness accentuates the vulnerabilities of the national territory to the physical threats of the current climate change…”

“The climate change issue has completely disappeared from the Venezuelan political agenda. We have no information on the position of the government in the next international meetings on the matter,” Alvarez told us. He added that “in any case, we need a commitment of the State to fulfill the obligations of the Paris accords and the COP30 (the most recent UN’s climate change conference held in Brazil in November 2025) that promote an energy transition outside of fossil fuels.”

Given this assessment and the Trump administration’s doubling-down on the exploitation of fossil sources of energy, this oil deal could simply make those physical effects even worse. 

Parallel to this is the inclusion of how clean energy sources like solar or wind could not only assist in alleviating the electricity shortage but create new opportunities for our economy. Now, it seems like the only one considered is the hydroelectric power that we largely depend on.

“This is an important theme in which the government has made failed or incomplete advances” Alvárez, mentioning two failed projects: wind farms in Paraguaná and solar panels for  an indigenous community in Amazonas state, which ended up abandoned.

Overall, any discussion about the environmental consequences that this controversial oil deal could have for all Venezuelans is not at the forefront. It is not entirely erased from view, however. 

The short-term argument also brings a long-term one that our society has been dodging for many years: finding a suitable compromise between the needs of our economic apparatus that require immediate attention and that our hydrocarbon industry can provide, while keeping safe basic things like the air we breathe or the water we use and even trying to preserve the natural wonders that this beautiful country of ours offers.

Guess Aaron Donald was the smart one. He must have known what was coming for the Rams in Australia against the 49ers so he stayed home. Maybe he’ll all of a sudden have a strained groin and won’t be able to play this season.

Stanley Elrich
Arleta

There is no longer a weekly cover of Sports Illustrated magazine to jinx athletes. But we still have Bill Plaschke! It sure didn’t take long for Bill’s prediction, that the Rams would go 20-0 this season, to jinx the team. The Plaschke Curse strikes again!

Stephen Greenberg
Santa Monica

Do the Rams know they actually have to win some football games? Not just show up and expect the other team to lay down. I know Bill Plaschke put the curse on them by declaring an undefeated season but coach Sean McVay and the Rams have to do better.

Russell Hosaka
Torrance

Can someone please take Bill Plaschke’s computer away from him so he can’t make another unnecessary prediction that could come back to jinx the fans of L.A.? What purpose does it serve for a sportswriter with a dubious history of predictions to go out on a limb and make yet another useless, grand statement? Hasn’t he learned his lesson?

Danny Balber Jr.
Pasadena

Sean McVay’s experiment of not properly acclimating the team to the massive time change in Australia was a huge a risk. McVay cited last year’s London Game (Rams handily beat the Jaguars), when they crossed five time zones (Baltimore to London) without acclimating and thought it would apply to 17 time zones to Melbourne?

It was an embarrassment for the franchise and L.A. and further promoted the idea that the Rams can’t beat the 49ers. Additionally, McVay went to his usual bag of tricks, abandoning a successful running attack in favor of a tired and rusty Matt Stafford passing incessantly, being harassed and ineffective.

This was easily the dumbest head coaching call of McVay’s career. He needs to apologize to his team and the fans.

Axel Hubert
Santa Monica

Thanks, Roger Goodell! Your relentless desire to “expand” the NFL fan base reached its apex Thursday night (or Friday morning?) with the Rams and 49ers game in Australia. It’s bad enough forcing teams to fly eight or nine hours to Europe but this Australian game takes the proverbial cake.

When is “enough is enough” regarding “expanding” the game? The world loves soccer so let them have it; American football is uniquely American so, please, recognize this fact, enjoy the huge revenues from TV and let NFL teams play in the U.S. where the game belongs!

Ken Blake
Brea

The ruling says the Energy Department exceeded its authority by extending the plant’s operation.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the United States Energy Department exceeded its authority when it ordered a coal-fired power plant in the US state of Michigan to remain open beyond its planned retirement, dealing a setback to the Trump administration’s effort to keep ageing coal facilities operating.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously on Friday that there was no emergency under federal law that justified keeping the 64-year-old JH Campbell Generating Plant online. Energy Secretary Chris Wright invoked emergency powers last year, arguing that the plant was needed to maintain reliable electricity in the region.

President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency in an executive order in January last year, citing demand increases from artificial intelligence and data centre growth.

Judge Cornelia Pillard, writing for the three-judge panel, said the emergency provision of the Federal Power Act was intended as a “narrow, last-resort backstop.” She said the authority could be used only when immediate action was required, and states or utilities could not address the problem themselves.

Pillard also described the reversal of the plant’s “long and carefully planned retirement” as “disruptive”.

The plant, operated by Consumers Energy, had been scheduled to close in May 2025, but the company has continued operations under energy department orders. That has cost about $259m, according to financial filings, with opponents warning that the expense could ultimately fall on families and businesses in midwestern US states.

The company told The Associated Press it was reviewing the court ruling.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, whose office joined counterparts in Illinois and Minnesota in challenging the orders, welcomed the ruling. She said the appeals court had “thrown out DOE’s order that had zero basis in reality”.

The Energy Department defended its use of emergency powers, saying the orders helped prevent blackouts and “likely saved hundreds of lives” during periods of peak demand, particularly during severe winter storms in late January and early February.

The department said that during the winter storm peak, coal generation in affected areas increased by 25 percent compared to the previous year.

The Michigan case is one of several legal disputes that have emerged across the country. Secretary Wright issued another emergency order, just hours after the ruling, to a coal plant in Centralia, Washington, to remain in operation. Similar orders have been issued for plants in Indiana, Colorado and Florida, as well as an oil and gas plant in Pennsylvania.

Harborne has already donated millions to Reform and Farage, who is currently under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over whether he should have declared a £5m cash gift from Harborne ahead of the 2024 election.

Farage has argued that he was under no obligation to register the “purely private” gift, as it was unrelated to his parliamentary or political activities.

The party is also facing scrutiny over its finances after a broadcast by Channel 4 News last week showed two senior Reform aides apparently suggesting a way around electoral law to secure foreign party donations.

The Metropolitan Police has said it is investigating, while the party denies any wrongdoing.

The force is also looking into donations given to the party by Fiona Cottrell, mother of longstanding Farage ally George Cottrell, as well as a company controlled by its deputy leader Richard Tice.

Harborne wrote on Saturday that he had “already accumulated enough wealth for the rest of my life”, while Reform was a “start-up party” that lacked “the benefit of hundreds of years of patronage”.

“A start-up party needs more money than can be provided by membership fees alone, to build and sustain itself and be ready for government,” he said.

Harborne and Delo’s donations mark the largest sums received by a UK political party since they had to begin declaring them in 2001.

Delo, who also announced his donation in a Telegraph op-ed, said he was giving the money away because he wanted a “fair fight and a level playing field”. He said in April he was moving back to Britain from Hong Kong.

Addressing the recent scrutiny of Reform’s finances, he said: “My conclusion from Reform’s recent troubles is that they should spend less time trying to raise funds to compete on equal terms and more time preparing for government.”

Last year, he was given an unconditional pardon by US President Donald Trump over a breach of anti-money laundering laws at his crypto trading platform, BitMEX, to which he had pleaded guilty in 2022.

There are currently no restrictions on the amount of money UK-based donors can give to political parties.

However, the Labour government has introduced a £100,000 cap on donations from British citizens living overseas, and plans to introduce a similar one for those who have recently returned to the UK.

There were nine donations of £1m or more to political parties in 2025. The largest was £9m given to Reform UK by Harborne.

Labour had five donations of £1m or more – totalling nearly £10m – and the Conservatives had three of £1m each.

Labour said Reform and Farage still had “serious questions” to answer about their finances.

Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said Reform were “drowning” in “sleaze and scandal”,.

She added: “It’s time Farage and Reform came clean with the public, fully co-operated with the ongoing police investigations and prove they’re not just in it for themselves.”

Rachel Millward, deputy leader of the Green Party, told BBC News it wanted a cap on donations from individuals of £500,000.

She said the donations to Reform were “absolutely staggering amounts”, adding: “What I am very frustrated about is the influence of extreme wealth and the super rich. What I want to see is people in politics representing the needs of their communities and ordinary people.”

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart called for the government to introduce emergency legislation to cap donations.

She said: “These are eye-watering amounts of money. This is real emergency for our democracy. It presents a very clear and present threat.”

Duncan Hames, Director of Policy and Programmes at campaigning charity Transparency International UK, said: “This is a watershed moment, with two billionaires pledging £72m to one political party in less than 48 hours.

“This situation is now completely out of control, and makes an irrefutable case for government to bring forward an annual cap on political donations, and fast.”