electronic

New pictures offer the best look to date of an Air Force HC-130J Combat King II combat search and rescue aircraft (CSAR) carrying an Angry Kitten electronic warfare pod. Originally developed to simulate enemy electronic warfare attacks during training and testing, Angry Kitten has been evolving into a system that could help protect friendly aircraft from those threats during real combat missions. Pairing HC-130Js and the pods is now being eyed as part of the answer to an increasingly vexing question of how to provide adequate CSAR coverage for future operations in and around heavily contested airspace.

Fred Taleghani of FreddyB Aviation Photography caught the HC-130J Combat King II with the Angry Kitten pod flying around Point Mugu, California, back on September 11. The aircraft in question belongs to the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing, which is based at Moffett Federal Airfield, situated some 275 miles to the northwest. HC-130Js can support CSAR missions in various ways, including by helping to deploy pararescuemen, refueling HH-60W Jolly Green IIs and other helicopters, as well as Osprey tilt-rotors, in mid-air, and acting as airborne command and control nodes.

The Angry Kitten pod is seen mounted via a Special Airborne Mission Installation and Response (SABIR) system installed in place of the HC-130J’s left rear paratrooper door. SABIR includes a pylon on an arm that can be extended below the aircraft’s fuselage while in flight, giving whatever is loaded onto it a more unobstructed field of view. The replacement paratrooper door also features an enlarged observer’s window. It can be fitted with a chute for launching sonobouys, smoke markers, and other similar tubular payloads, though it is not clear if that capability is installed on this Combat King II. The port for the chute is visible, but it may be blanked off. The U.S. military and foreign armed forces use SABIR as a relatively simple way to integrate other sensors and systems onto different C-130 variants, as you can read more about here.

The Angry Kitten-toting HC-130J is understood to have been in the Point Mugu area at the time to take part in the U.S. Navy-led Gray Flag 2025 test and evaluation exercise, which ran between September 5 and 19. It was staged out of Naval Base Ventura County and involved sorties over the expansive Point Mugu Sea Range. Gray Flags are regularly used to showcase new and improved munitions and other advanced capabilities, such as electronic warfare systems, including ones that are still in development. Units from across the U.S. military, as well as key American allies, routinely take part. Combat King IIs have participated in these exercises in the past.

As noted, Angry Kitten is not new. Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) began development of the podded system in 2013, and it first started flying under the wings of F-16 Viper fighters in 2017. Angry Kitten is an outgrowth of the AN/ALQ-167 electronic warfare pod, variants of which have been in use for decades, primarily to mimic hostile electronic warfare threats for training and testing purposes. There are also documented examples of AN/ALQ-167s being used on aircraft during actual combat missions, at least on an ad hoc basis.

Unlike the older AN/ALQ-167s, Angry Kitten is designed to be more readily modifiable and updatable to more rapidly adapt in parallel with the threat ecosystem. This is enabled in part by advanced Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology, which allows radio frequency (RF) signals to be detected and ‘captured,’ as well as manipulated and retransmitted. Electronic warfare systems that use DRFM can project signals from hostile radars (and radar seekers on missiles) back at them to create false or otherwise confusing tracks. Data collected via DRFM can also be used to help improve and refine the system’s capabilities, as well as for other intelligence exploitation purposes.

In general, electronic warfare systems need to be able to accurately detect, categorize, and respond to waveforms based on information contained in their built-in threat libraries to work most effectively. This, in turn, requires specialists to routinely reprogram systems to keep them as up to date as possible. Automating and otherwise shortening that process at every step of the way by developing what are known as cognitive electronic warfare capabilities has become a major area of interest for the entire U.S. military. The absolute ‘holy grail’ of that concept is an electronic warfare system capable of adapting its programming autonomously in real-time, even in the middle of a mission, as you can read more about here.

With all this in mind, and given prior operational use of the AN/ALQ-167, it’s not hard to see how interest has grown in using Angry Kitten to help shield friendly aircraft from threats during real-world missions.

“We had a jammer called ‘Angry Kitten.’ It was built to be an adversary air jamming tool,” now-retired Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, then commander of Air Combat Command (ACC), told TWZ and other outlets back in 2022. “And all of a sudden, the blue team said, ‘you know, hey, we kind of need that, can we have that for us?’ And so I see this iterating and testing our way into this.”

To date, in addition to F-16s and HC-130s, Angry Kitten is known to have flown on Air Force A-10 Warthog ground attack jets and MQ-9 Reaper drones, as well as Navy F/A-18s fighters. As of March, the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center (AATC) said there were plans to at least evaluate the pod on KC-135 and KC-46 aerial refueling tankers.

It’s also interesting to note the parallels here with the U.S. Marine Corps’ Intrepid Tiger II electronic warfare system, which has been fielded in different podded forms for the AV-8B Harrier jump jet and the UH-1Y Venom armed light utility helicopter. A roll-on/roll-off version for the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor is in development, and there are plans to integrate the capability in some form onto the KC-130J tanker/transport. Different variants of Intrepid Tiger also offer degrees of secondary intelligence-gathering capabilities.

AATC has also explicitly highlighted the potential benefits of combining Angry Kitten with the HC-130J in the context of the CSAR mission.

“Angry Kitten pod is showing promising results in protecting larger radar cross-section (RCS) platforms that traditionally lack robust electronic warfare capabilities,” according to a release AATC put out in March. “This success is particularly significant for combat search and rescue platforms that often operate in contested environments without electronic warfare protection.”

“We had minimal hopes for what we could do for larger body aircraft, but it’s showing that we actually have good effects,” Chris Culver, an electronic warfare engineer involved in the work, had said.

For years now, TWZ has been highlighting growing concerns about the basic feasibility of traditional fixed-wing CSAR aircraft and helicopters performing their mission amid a threat ecosystem that is steadily expanding in scale and scope. Future high-end fights, such as one against China in the Pacific, will involve air operations in areas where even stealthy platforms are expected to be increasingly at risk. In 2022, the Air Force announced it was scaling back purchases of new HH-60W CSAR helicopters in light of this reality. Top service officials have talked in the past about having to approach this still critical mission set differently going forward.

“There are a lot of other assets around that, if somebody goes down at sea, for example, we could use to pick them up,” then-Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in 2023. “We’re going to do it [the CSAR mission] with existing assets, either our own or provided by other military departments.”

Many of these same general concerns apply to the Air Force’s existing non-stealthy KC-135 and KC-46 tanker fleets. Air Force officials regularly point to add-on defensive capabilities, which might include Angry Kitten, as one near-term option for increasing the survivability of its key aerial refueling assets.

Integrating Angry Kitten on larger aircraft could have other implications as another important stepping stone for new cognitive electronic warfare capabilities.

“The C-130 testing features innovative real-time updates to electronic warfare techniques,” according to the AATC release in March. “Unlike the F-16 tests, where pre-programmed mission data files were used, the C-130 testing includes development engineers aboard the aircraft who can modify jamming techniques mid-mission based on feedback from range control.”

“They are making changes [in] real-time to the techniques and pushing updates to the pod, seeing the change in real-time,” Culver, the electronic warfare engineer, had also said. “This approach allows for rapid optimization of jamming techniques against various threat systems.”

A follow-on Advanced Test and Training Capability (ATTACK) pod, also referred to unofficially as Angry Kitten Increment 2 Block 2, is also now in the works. The “next-generation system will feature a complete hardware refresh, transitioning from analog to digital receivers for improved sensitivity and frequency agility,” according to AATC.

Altogether, the HC-130J seen carrying the Angry Kitten pod around Point Mugu earlier this month is an important sign of things to come.

Contact the author: [email protected]

A BRIT dad who allegedly tried to drown his daughter-in-law on holiday has reportedly been freed from jail.

Mark Gibbon, 62, has been released on a £19,200 bail but he must wear an electronic tag and surrender his UK passport until his trial takes place.

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Gibbon and Jasmine Wyld, 33, got into a heated drunken row when on holiday together in Florida last month.

The grandad from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, was initially accused of attempted murder after repeatedly holding Ms Wyld’s head underwater in a hotel pool, according to police.

It was later revealed the pair had been in a relationship for some time before the incident.

At a court hearing last week, the second degree attempted murder charge Gibbon was facing was downgraded to a charge of battery by strangulation.

And after almost a month behind bars, the Brit was allowed to leave his Florida jail cell after making bail.

Court records obtained by the Daily Mail show Gibbon met the terms of the £18,500) bail over the battery by strangulation charge.

He also had to pay £700 bail on a second charge of simple battery.

Last night a police spokesman confirmed: “Mr Gibbon has been in Polk County Jail since his arrest on August 3 because he was considered a flight risk. 

“He was granted bail but has to wear an ankle monitor, surrender his passport and stay within a restricted area.”

Gibbon is due back in court later this month with his trial expected to take place early next year. 

He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted on the battery by strangulation charge.

Investigators are continuing to look into the allegations first made by Ms Wyld in August.

She claimed that Gibbon, who also runs hairdressing business Sage Hairdressing, pushed her underwater after telling her she was not the main beneficiary of his will.

He reportedly admitted to pushing her but denied trying to kill her.

He claimed they had both been drinking when she slapped him as the situation escalated.

Ms Wyld initially told prosecutors she “could not breathe” and feared “she would drown”, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s office.

Her nine-year-old daughter is said to have been forced to leap into the hotel pool to try to “save” her.

Police reports added that Gibbon’s alleged attack left the mum with scratches and bruising.

Police were also making inquiries into whether the case should be treated as domestic violence.

Neighbours in Beaconsfield described Ms Wyld as the Brit granddad’s “girlfriend” – and said she was often seen at his £800,000 semi-detached home.

Family insiders also claimed Gibbon’s son Alex allegedly found Ms Wyld in his father’s bed around four years ago.

This is said to be around the time Alex and Ms Wyld called off their engagement in 2021.

One source told the Daily Mail: “Alex went up the stairs and found Jasmine in his father’s bed.

“They had a massive row. It’s torn the family apart… there’s been so much bad blood between Alex and his dad.”

The feud deepened when Alex was jailed for driving an £80,000 Porsche Cayenne into his father during a public row.

He was released seven months ago and the pair no longer speak.

A first-person view (FPV) type quadcopter drone controlled via a fiber optic cable was among the participants in a U.S. Navy-led exercise earlier this year focused on exploring new distributed electronic warfare capabilities. Fiber optic kamikaze FPVs, which Russia first began using in Ukraine last year and have now become a fixture on both sides of that conflict, are notably immune to jamming and many other forms of electronic warfare.

The Michigan National Guard released pictures yesterday of the fiber optic FPV and other uncrewed systems that took part in Exercise Silent Swarm 25. The event itself took place back in July at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) in Alpena, Michigan. The Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) has been holding Silent Swarm events annually at the Alpena CRTC in cooperation with the Michigan National Guard and other elements of the U.S. military since 2022.

“During the series of technology experiments, private companies, academic institutions, and military organizations used swarms of unmanned systems to ‘attack’ and ‘defend’ locations in Thunder Bay, off the coast of Alpena in Lake Huron,” according to a press release on the exercise the Michigan National Guard put out today. “As the two forces conducted their operations, all parties collected data on which technologies offered the greatest advantages.”

“The hypothesis for Silent Swarm is to identify those systems that can outmatch and have an impact in the most challenging environments,” Rob Gamberg, project lead for Silent Swarm at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane), also said in a statement. “We are learning from each other with every iteration, which is exactly what we hope to see.”

“Silent Swarm is a series of events focused on experimentation with early development Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) capabilities that can be employed on attritable, multi-domain Unmanned Systems (UxS),” NSWC Crane also said in call for participants in Silent Swarm 25 that it put out last year. “The Silent Swarm series provides a challenging and flexible experimentation environment to enable rapid development of emerging technology. Selected participants will be able to further develop their technologies while operating in an operationally relevant sandbox environment alongside subject matter experts (SMEs) from joint operational and technical communities.”

How many total fiber optic FPVs took part in Silent Swarm 25, and whether they were used as ‘attackers’ or ‘defenders,’ or both, is unclear. However, their inclusion in the exercise at all makes good sense. As noted, Russia first began using FPVs with this kind of control method last year, primarily in response to growing electronic warfare threats.

Fiber optic control offers additional benefits, including a more reliable, secure, and higher-speed link with lower latency (key for FPV operation) that is also immune to cyber intrusion. The hard link helps mitigate the effects of terrain that can interfere with radio control, something that is also a factor for operating drones inside buildings. Fiber optic drones also do not pump out radio frequency emissions that passive sensors can detect, making them harder to spot. The control scheme is not without its own disadvantages, including the potential for the cable to become tangled on or severed by various obstacles. The drones are also not invulnerable, including to laser and microwave directed energy weapons.

Still, Ukrainian forces followed suit in adopting fiber optic FPVs for the same general reasons. Fiber optic cables have also since emerged as a means to control small uncrewed ground vehicles.

“The idea is great, because you are operating in total radio silence, so you cannot be detected by any radar system [passive sensors]. And any electronic warfare means that later on, they are just inefficient,” the commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the Ukrainian National Guard’s Unmanned Systems Battalion, who uses the call sign Yas, told TWZ in an interview in May. “At the same time, the use of fiber optic cables, as with any FPV drone, has its own peculiarities of operation, and if the pilot is not skilled enough, that is going to lead to significant losses in such equipment and systems.”

“I would like to say that at the moment, Russian electronic warfare is undoubtedly one of the leading in the world,” he added. “So I do not want to underestimate the enemy. We need to accept, to acknowledge, the level of the enemy.”

The use of fiber optic FPV in Ukraine has become so commonplace that videos have begun to emerge showing dense, tangled webs of leftover cables littered on the ground.

There are also signs now that fiber optic FPVs may be starting to proliferate outside of Ukraine.

Wow, for the first time, fiber-optic drones have been spotted in use by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) in Mali, who are fighting against both the Malian Armed Forces and Russia’s Africa Corps/Wagner Group. The drones and training were likely provided by Ukraine, with previous… pic.twitter.com/OxemaEbWwO

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 28, 2025

All of this makes them a threat that the U.S. military could be increasingly likely to encounter in various hot spots around the world. It is also a capability that America’s armed forces could itself be interested in employing. Seeing how they perform in an exercise like Silent Swarm could, in turn, be beneficial when it comes to exploring potential countermeasures, including different means of both detecting and defeating them, as well as gaining additional insights into the benefits they could offer in friendly hands.

“We are so far behind,” U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Ryan, the service’s deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and training, said in March about the U.S. military’s response to the impact fiber optic drones are already having. Ryan’s comments came during a panel discussion at an Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference.

At the same time, “any Soldier paying attention to technological advances in warfare in Ukraine over the past three years undoubtedly notices a cat and mouse game of drone versus counter-drone scenarios being played out on the battlefield,” an unclassified paper on fiber optic drones that the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) published in July, which also highlights Ryan’s comments, notes. “As one side develops a new drone capability giving it tactical advantage for a short period of time, inevitably the other side develops a counter technology to offset that advantage.”

All of this underscores the value of including fiber optic drones in an exercise like Silent Swarm.

“To build an agile, lethal and ready warfighter, we must continuously experiment with and adapt the best technologies the market has to offer,” Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, also said in a statement about Silent Swarm 25. “Events like Silent Swarm are critical for accelerating innovation, allowing the Joint Force to test, train with, and rapidly integrate emerging capabilities to stay ahead of evolving threats and maintain our strategic edge.”

It is worth noting here that Ryan’s comment back in March reflects broader criticism of how the U.S. military had continued to lag behind in the actual fielding of new uncrewed capabilities, in general, especially to smaller units. When it comes to drones, as well as counter-drone systems, America’s armed forces have long seemed mired in endless experimentation and demonstrations. In July, the Pentagon moved to try to finally break those cycles for good with a swath of major policy changes as part of a “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” initiative, which you can read more about here.

“Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year’s casualties in Ukraine. Our adversaries collectively produce millions of cheap drones each year,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote in a memo kicking off the initiative. “While global military drone production skyrocketed over the last three years, the previous administration deployed red tape. U.S. units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires.”

“Drone technology is advancing so rapidly, our major risk is risk-avoidance,” that memo added. “The Department’s bureaucratic gloves are coming off.”

Silent Swarm separately remains an important part of broader efforts to develop and field new heavily networked electronic warfare capabilities, an area where the U.S. Navy has been making significant investments for years now. Years ago, the Navy outlined a vision for an advanced, multi-faceted, cooperative, and distributed electronic warfare ecosystem as part of an effort once referred to as Netted Emulation of Multi-Element Signature against Integrated Sensors, or NEMSIS, which TWZ was the first to report on. Drones, as well as drone-like decoys, are still seen as key elements of that overarching plan.

Overall, given their growing prominence, fiber optic drones are likely to become a feature in more U.S. military exercises going forward, both as threats and potential friendly assets.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Aug. 8 (UPI) — The federal judiciary is enhancing security on electronic case filing systems in U.S. courts, which have come under sophisticated and persistent cyberattacks in recent days, officials announced Thursday.

While it is working to block existing threats, a branch of the judiciary is also enhancing systems that will thwart future attempts to breach the filing system.

“The vast majority of documents filed with the Judiciary’s electronic case management system are not confidential and are indeed readily available to the public, which is fundamental to an open and transparent judicial system,” a release from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said. “However, some filings contain confidential or proprietary information that are sealed from public view.”

The court said the new security measures will also help protect litigants. The release said some of the documents can be targets of interest to hackers, and to better protect the records, the courts will create more “carefully controlled and monitored circumstances.”

In June, Judge Michael Scudder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit told the House Judiciary Committee that some electronic filing systems are “outdated, unstable due to cyber risk and require replacement.”

During his testimony, Scudder said the courts would update their security systems over time as opposed to unveiling a completely overhauled version.

Had the ball been called out, Pavlyuchenkova would have won the point and taken the game.

Instead, it was replayed, Kartal won the point and went on to break for a 5-4 lead.

Pavlyuchenkova had seen the ball was out – and a TV replay showed that was the case by some distance.

Addressing the crowd, Helwerth said: “We’re just going to check if the system was up and running, because there was no audio call.”

After a telephone call, he announced the electronic system “was unfortunately unable to track the last point” and ordered the point to be replayed.

The rulebook states that if the electronic line calling system fails to make a call, “the call shall be made by the chair umpire”.

It adds: “If the chair umpire is unable to determine if the ball was in or out, then the point shall be replayed. This protocol applies only to point-ending shots or in the case when a player stops play.”

The fact Pavlyuchenkova went on to win the match meant the malfunction was not as costly as it could have been, although she still questioned why the umpire did not call it out.

“That’s why he’s there,” she said. “He also saw it out, he told me after the match.

“I thought he would do that, but he didn’t. Instead they just said replay.

“I don’t know if it’s something to do [with Kartal being] local.

“I think it’s also difficult for him. He probably was scared to take such a big decision.”

Had the ball been correctly called out, Pavlyuchenkova, who had the advantage, would have won the point and taken the lead.

Instead, it was replayed, Kartal won the point and went on to break for a 5-4 lead.

A frustrated Pavlyuchenkova was heard telling the umpire at the changeover: “They stole the game from me. They stole it.”

A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question.

“The chair umpire followed the established process.”

The automated line-calling system, which was introduced at Wimbledon for the first time this year, has been under scrutiny this week, with several players questioning its accuracy and sound level.

Debbie Jevans, chair of the All England Club, said on Friday she was confident in the accuracy of the electronic line calling and in the decision to bring it in.

It is not just the accuracy of the automated ‘out’ calls that have been questioned this week, with players saying they have also been too quiet.

Raducanu said she had not been able to hear all of the calls during her match against Sabalenka on Centre Court, where the roof was closed and the partisan fans were noisy during a gripping encounter.

“Some of them were a little bit quiet or dulled out by the crowd,” she said. “But overall you kind of have an idea if the ball was in or out. And then hope that Hawk-Eye calls it the same.”

Sabalenka agreed, adding: “It was quite loud and I think people also weren’t sure if it’s in or out. So there was a little pause and then they figured [it out] by the scoreboard.”

When there were human line judges, players could challenge the calls by using electronic reviews, which were shown on a big screen. Now the screens show replays of close calls but they can not be overruled.

Raducanu said she thought the Hawk-Eye electronic line calling system “was way more accurate back in the day when there were lines judges and you could challenge”.

“It’s difficult to deal with. And also [it is] a shame that the tradition’s kind of been broken with the linesmen and women,” she said, referring to the smartly dressed officials who were a familiar sight around the court.

When it announced it would be introducing the technology this year, Wimbledon said it considered “the technology to be sufficiently robust and the time is right to take this important step in seeking maximum accuracy in our officiating”.

Earlier this week Wimbledon’s operations director Michelle Dite was asked about the player feedback about the sound level of the calls and she replied: “The team are obviously working to make sure that it’s optimum.

“We’re also just making sure that it’s not too loud and it disrupts the play on the next court. It’s always something that’s being managed, and the teams will take all the feedback and keep working on it as we go.”

Wimbledon has not commented on the most recent players’ concerns about accuracy.

SANTIAGO, Chile, June 20 (UPI) — Growing demand for technology in Latin America has made the region a major importer of electronic devices, but it still lacks clear regulations for managing the resulting waste — a problem with serious environmental, public health and economic implications.

“The absence of clear regulations, combined with low public awareness and the lack of efficient recycling infrastructure, is fueling an environmental and health crisis that threatens future generations,” said Carmen Gloria Ide, president of the Association of Companies and Professionals for the Environment and an international sustainability consultant.

Planned obsolescence and the shrinking lifespan of electronic devices are fueling a steady flow of e-waste, much of which ends up in informal landfills or is poorly managed, releasing toxic substances like lead, mercury and cadmium into the soil, water and air.

“We’re facing a major regional challenge,” Ide said. “The European Union offers a model worth replicating, built on collaboration among countries, that could help us address the issue regionally.”

Electronic waste generation in Latin America rose 49% between 2010 and 2019, increasing from 10.4 pounds per person to 14.8 pounds, according to the United Nations’ Global E-waste Monitor 2022 and the Latin America and Caribbean E-waste Platform.

While the figure continues to rise, it remains below the global average and well behind high-consumption regions such as Europe and North America, where levels exceed 39 pounds per person.

Brazil and Mexico generate about 22 to 24 pounds kilograms of e-waste per person each year. Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru report similar levels, averaging between 17.6 and 19.8 pounds, while Nicaragua produces just 5.5 kilograms per person.

Only 3% of e-waste generated in Latin America is properly collected and treated, far below the global average of 17.4%, according to regional monitoring.

The dangers of e-waste extend beyond environmental pollution. Informal metal extraction, often carried out by unprotected workers and children, exposes people to toxic substances that can cause respiratory problems, neurological damage and even cancer.

Improper disposal also results in the loss of valuable materials, such as gold, silver and copper, that could be recovered and reused in manufacturing.

“One ton of e-waste contains gold, silver, copper and other metals that, if properly extracted, hold significant value,” Ide said. “That’s why robust legal frameworks and efficient recycling systems are essential.”

At least 11 countries in the region have adopted some form of Extended Producer Responsibility laws, requiring manufacturers and importers to manage the full life cycle of their products, including disposal.

More responsible e-waste management requires specialized collection centers, dismantling facilities and recycling plants. Public education is also essential to raise awareness of the risks of improper disposal and the importance of proper handling.

Chile and Brazil have enacted some of the region’s most advanced EPR laws, setting clear targets for priority items such as tires, packaging, oil and electronic devices. Colombia,

Mexico and Argentina have sector-specific regulations for managing e-waste, but lack comprehensive national EPR legislation. Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay have made regulatory progress, though implementation remains limited.

Disparities in national laws make it difficult to build coordinated regional recycling networks. Experts say more public and private investment is needed to develop the infrastructure to manage the problem effectively.

Douglas McCarthy, the singer of the pioneering U.K. proto-industrial band Nitzer Ebb, has died. He was 58.

The band confirmed the news on its social media accounts. It did not list a cause of death.

“It is with a heavy heart that we regret to inform that Douglas McCarthy passed away this morning of June 11th, 2025,” Nitzer Ebb wrote. “We ask everyone to please be respectful of Douglas, his wife, and family in this difficult time. We appreciate your understanding and will share more information soon.”

McCarthy founded the group Nitzer Ebb in Essex, with David Gooday and Bon Harris. The band released its first single, “Isn’t It Funny How Your Body Works,” in 1985, on its own independent Power of Voice Communications label.

The band drew aesthetics from the experiments of post-punk and the nascent goth movement of the time, with admiration for sinister yet seductive acts like the Birthday Party, Bauhaus and Malaria.

McCarthy and his bandmates paired that sensibility with the new potential of electronic music, crafting a harsh and antagonistic style that moved like club music but hit like punk. The style came to be known as EBM (electronic body music), and their 1987 Geffen debut LP, “That Total Age,” played a formative role in the industrial wave to come, anticipating the rise of acts like Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein and, later, Cold Cave and Gesaffelstein.

With howled, deadpan lyrics like on “Join in the Chant,” McCarthy set a template for how punk’s urgency could lock into dance music’s meticulousness. Other cuts, like “Let Your Body Learn,” became fixtures in acid house and techno DJ sets.

The band followed it up with 1989’s “Belief,” with famed producer Flood, and released three more LP’s before dissolving in 1995. McCarthy worked with former tour mate Depeche Mode’s Alan Wilder on the side project Recoil, and collaborated with techno producer Terence Fixmer.

McCarthy revived Nitzer Ebb in 2007 and released the return-to-form LP “Industrial Complex” in 2010. McCarthy also released “Kill Your Friends,” a solo album, in 2012.

While Nitzer Ebb toured regularly into the present day, McCarthy faced health issues late in life, dropping off a 2024 European tour citing liver cirrhosis.

“After years of alcohol abuse, I was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver,” McCarthy said on Instagram last year. “For more than two years I haven’t been drinking, but recovery is a long process that can at times be extremely hard to predict.”

Electronic line calling uses cameras, computers and sensors to track a ball and is used by tennis umpires to judge whether a ball is in or out.

It has been claimed the red dust layer on the clay courts of Roland Garros compromises the accuracy and reliability of the technology because it is a ‘live’ surface which moves during the match.

But Paul Hawkins, the inventor of electronic line calling system Hawk-Eye, says the technology is accurate on the surface and it is the mark left by the ball on the clay that is not accurate.

“It’s like a cliff edge [the plastic white line], so [the ball] can hit that part of the line and then carry on travelling forwards and not actually hit the clay until four or five millimetres beyond the line, which would then be where you would begin to see a mark on the court,” Hawkins told BBC Sport.

“The mark on the court looks like it is out whereas actually it has clipped the line.”

However, Hawkins believes Roland Garros is possibly “better” without electronic line calling and says that if players looking at the mark – which has been done for more than a century – is accepted, then “it is still fair”.