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There’s this idea in social media that you’re supposed to choose a lane. Either you grow “purely organic”, patiently waiting for the algorithm to reward you, or you automate everything and turn your account into some kind of growth machine that runs without you.

In reality, nobody who actually tries to grow an account long-term sticks to either extreme.

Pure organic growth is slow enough to make you question whether anything is happening at all. Pure automation without real content is just noise with extra steps.

Most accounts that survive past the first few months end up somewhere in between, even if nobody says it out loud.

Where automation actually fits in

When people hear “automation”, they still imagine spam bots or engagement farms from years ago. That’s not really what we’re talking about anymore.

Used properly, automation isn’t about replacing activity. It’s about smoothing out the worst part of it – posting something decent and watching it sit at zero for hours because the algorithm didn’t pick it up.

That initial silence is where a lot of good content dies. Not because it’s bad, but because nothing happens around it early enough.

Automation in this context is just early support. A bit of initial visibility, some signal that the post isn’t completely invisible, enough to get it into circulation instead of letting it sink immediately.

Why organic alone stops scaling

Organic-only accounts usually hit the same pattern. At the beginning, everything feels like progress. A few posts perform, you get your first audience, and there’s a sense that things are starting to move.

Then it slows down. Not dramatically, just quietly. You keep posting, improving, adjusting – but the results stay in the same range. It’s not that the content gets worse. It’s that platforms don’t scale reach in a predictable way.

That’s usually where frustration starts. Not failure, just repetition. You’re doing the same work, but the outcome doesn’t change much. And that’s a difficult place to stay in for long.

Why automation alone also fails

On the other side, accounts that rely only on automated promotion usually run into a different problem. They can create activity, they can push numbers, they can make a profile look alive. But without real content behind it, there’s nothing for people to actually connect to.

No point of view, consistency and reason to follow.

People notice that, even if they don’t consciously analyze it. An account can look active and still feel empty. Automation can amplify reach, but it can’t replace identity.

The middle layer: where growth actually happens

The more stable setups usually combine both sides. Organic content is responsible for the actual message – what the account stands for, what it’s trying to say, why it exists in the first place.

Automation supports distribution – making sure that message doesn’t get lost immediately after it’s published. They solve different problems:

• organic answers what is being communicated;
• automation answers whether anyone is actually seeing it.

Most accounts struggle because they only solve one of those properly.

The psychology of perceived activity

There’s also a simpler factor that often gets ignored: perception. People don’t evaluate accounts in isolation. They compare them instantly to everything else in their feed.

An account with visible engagement feels more established. Not because people sit and analyze metrics, but because inactivity is noticeable.

Good content with no traction creates hesitation. Not rejection – just a pause. And on social media, hesitation is usually enough for someone to move on.

Adding early visibility reduces that friction. It makes the account feel like it already exists in circulation, not like it’s still trying to get noticed.

How teams actually use this mix

In practice, most teams don’t frame this as theory. They just build a workflow.

Organic content is used for messaging, storytelling, positioning. That part doesn’t change.

Promotion, including automated support, is used when something deserves more reach than it would naturally get in the first hour or two.

Some posts are left alone, some are boosted, while others are tested and dropped. It’s less about forcing outcomes and more about not letting good content disappear by default.

Services like Top4SMM are often used in that layer – not as a replacement for marketing, but as a way to stabilize visibility when organic reach is unpredictable. If you want to compare options, you can see details.

Why consistency beats intensity

A common mistake is treating growth like a short-term push. People post more, experiment harder, try to “fix” the algorithm in a week or two – and then step back when nothing changes immediately.

What actually works is much less dramatic. Steady output. Steady distribution. No spikes needed.

When both sides are consistent, results start compounding. Slowly at first, then more noticeably over time.

Final thoughts

There isn’t really a pure way to grow on social media anymore. Organic alone struggles with reach. Automation alone struggles with meaning.

The accounts that keep growing are the ones that combine both – content that actually says something, and distribution that makes sure it doesn’t disappear on impact.

Everything else mostly comes down to hoping for timing to behave like a strategy.

An intense heatwave is set to blanket much of the central and eastern United States this week as a “heat dome” settles over the region, bringing days of oppressively high temperatures and humidity ahead of the Fourth of July weekend and FIFA World Cup matches in several US cities.

Forecasters say in some places it could feel as hot as 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit). Dozens of temperature records could be broken, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), which called the conditions “dangerous”. More than 60 million people are currently under heat alerts.

At the centre of this week’s forecast is a weather phenomenon known as a heat dome. What is it, and why does it make heatwaves even more intense and unbearable?

What is a heat dome?

A heat dome is a large area of high pressure, formed when warm air flows northward, that acts like a lid over the atmosphere, trapping hot air close to the ground.

As the air sinks, it compresses and warms even more. At the same time, the pressure system helps prevent cooler air and storms from moving in, allowing heat to build at the surface and remain trapped there. With few clouds and little wind, the sun has more direct access to the ground, creating a heat feedback loop.

Heat domes are linked to prolonged heatwaves that can last for days.

How long will it last?

The heat dome is already building and is expected to strengthen over the coming days, spreading from the central US towards the east coast, with dangerous heat lasting several days into early July.

The hottest conditions are expected Thursday and Friday, according to the NWS, and are set to continue through the Fourth of July weekend, which marks the 250th anniversary year of the US, and forecasters say some areas across the Great Plains, the southeast, and the mid-Atlantic are likely to remain unusually hot into next weekend.

What will the highest temperatures be?

Many places are expected to see daytime temperatures in the high 30s Celsius (low 100s Fahrenheit), but humidity will make it feel much hotter. In parts of the central and eastern US, the heat index – a measure of how hot it feels when humidity is factored in – could climb between 40C and 46C (100F and 115F).

“That’s heat that’s impactful to anyone,” said NWS meteorologist Bryan Putnam. “It’s not just older adults or younger children or people who are spending a ton of time outdoors, maybe straining themselves a little more than normal. This is heat that really could impact everyone, especially with people outdoors going into the holiday weekend.”

The nights won’t bring much relief either, with temperatures expected to stay in the 20s Celsius (70s Fahrenheit) overnight, creating potentially miserable sleep conditions for those without air conditioning and making it harder for people to cool down.

“Even after the sun goes down, it’s still going to be very hot,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alan Reppert. “We’re at a pattern that’s really going to be hot during the good portion of the afternoon and even into the evening hours.”

Which parts of the US will be hit the hardest?

The most dangerous conditions are expected in a broad corridor stretching from the Great Lakes to the East Coast, where several cities could experience their hottest day of the year so far. New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit and St Louis are all expected to be affected, with temperatures also soaring farther south in Dallas, Little Rock and Memphis.

Several of those cities are also hosting FIFA World Cup events. In Philadelphia, organisers have already changed Fan Festival hours to start later in the day.

Cities across the US are rolling out emergency measures as temperatures climb.

Chicago said it would open cooling centres and send city workers to check on vulnerable residents.

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office announced what it called an “unprecedented” response to the heat, including hydration vans and pop-up cooling stations equipped with misting fans and cooling towels.

Washington, DC, where temperatures are expected to exceed 38C (100F) from Thursday through Saturday, the heat will coincide with Fourth of July celebrations, including what organisers say will be the largest fireworks display ever held on the National Mall.

What are some ways to stay cool?

The NWS says people should stay hydrated, avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the day and seek air conditioning or cooling centres where possible. If you’re spending time outside, wear loose, lightweight clothing and stay near shady areas.

Experts say one of the biggest risks during a prolonged heatwave is that the body doesn’t have time to cool down overnight, which can make the effects of the heat build up from one day to the next. They also recommend drinking water before you feel thirsty and limiting alcohol, which can increase the risk of dehydration.

“If somebody realises that they’re hot, but they’re not sweating, or if they begin to feel a little bit dizzy, those are some signs that they really need to take a break, get inside, find some cooling, and drink plenty of water,”  said Geoff Cornish, assistant chief video meteorologist for the weather forecasting company AccuWeather. “And if they really begin to experience significant symptoms, they need to seek medical attention right away.”

“Imagine the scenario; one of our Havoc hypersonic missiles loaded on an F-15EX Eagle with a mission profile locked-in and ready to go. This new missile is designed for low-cost and high-effect – it’s very difficult for an adversary to track in flight,” explains Chris Spagnoletti, chief executive officer of Ursa Major, as he discusses the company’s expanding hypersonics activities. Part of a company strategy to help overcome critical Department of War munitions shortages, Ursa Major’s Havoc was unveiled in early 2026. With a unique 3D-printed propulsion system, Havoc has been envisioned as a hypersonic missile that aims to re-write the rulebook for these types of weapons.

Ursa Major’s ambitious vision comes at a time of something of a renaissance in U.S. aerospace development and defense manufacturing, with newer firms establishing major positions within a rapidly evolving marketplace. These fresh takes on cutting-edge defense technologies also come as the United States celebrates its 250th birthday and looks back on a history of unlikely up-starts changing the world with new ideas and ways of doing business. It’s in this same spirit that Ursa Major looks to stake its claim.

The firm is evolving from a propulsion provider into a prime contractor and integrator with a keen focus on hypersonics and solving a need for affordable high-speed missiles at scale for the U.S. and its allies. In recent operations, the U.S. has fired a vast number of standoff air-to-ground weapons including more than 850 Tomahawks cruise missiles in the recent war with Iran and hundreds of high-end interceptors, stressing a system that’s been constrained by prolonged replenishment timelines. 

Spagnoletti says he strongly believes that hypersonic missiles are “the most important and pressing issue within critical munitions, with solid rocket motors coming close behind.” The company’s approach to design and production in both of these areas means Spagnoletti sees Ursa Major as being “well positioned to solve” these pressing requirements for the U.S. military.

“We are innovating on manufacturability and on new munition systems,” he continues. “It’s all under the umbrella of scalable munitions. Ursa Major’s founders really focused on developing very complicated propulsion systems, but with a strong propensity on design for manufacturability – essentially developing very high performing rocket engines as low-cost and as reliably as possible.”

Ursa Major has produced hundreds of engines and motors and accumulated more than 135,000 seconds of hotfire test time in under a decade. From its very beginnings the company has innovated through advanced manufacturing techniques that have evolved to leverage AI-enabled 3D-printing, specifically metal printing. “We’re looking at the problem set, and the landscape here is about how we can help the United States catch up as quickly as possible. We don’t just want a “me too” product, because we find there’s a lot of that in this space. This is about finding real answers to the desperate need to replenish our critical munitions fast,” says Spagnoletti.

Solid rocket motors in high demand

Having started out with liquid rocket engines, Ursa Major increasingly saw a burgeoning requirement for solid rocket motors (SRMs) for munitions, which Spagnoletti says have remained tied to traditional manufacturing approaches. Ursa Major says its approach to SRM manufacturing is designed to complement and strengthen the broader defense industrial base by providing flexible manufacturing capacity, common architectures, and modernized production methods.

Ursa Major’s manufacturing approach fundamentally changes how SRMs are designed and built using additive manufacturing, modular tooling, and software-backed production cells. This enables rapid switching between SRM variants without expensive retooling, which reduces production timelines and increases flexibility. 

In addition, Ursa Major’s highly-loaded grain technology increases motor performance and range without increasing motor size. By leveraging common architectures and using a limited set of qualified propellants, it says it can reduce qualification timelines and simplify production across multiple variants. The company’s energetics (solid propellent grain) strategy aims to expand domestic propellant capacity and reduce dependence on fragile supply chains, while using reliable mix, cast, and cure processes.

“Both in the liquid rocket engine side, and in solid rocket motors, the approach from the outset is deeply embedded in our culture; how we design, how we build, how we scale,” says Nick Doucette, co-founder and vice president of strategic operations for Ursa Major. “We came at the manufacturing problems from a completely different direction. We started out building liquid rocket engines, which were – to a degree – supporting the launch industry. That approach allowed us to develop new platforms that use new types of fuels or higher performance rates and lower costs.”

“From the start it helped support a growing launch industry, but very quickly it started to find its way into the hypersonics community as our engines, products, and performance points really started to solve some interesting problems. As we leaned heavily into the hypersonics needs, we realized that the early Ursa Major approach in manufacturing and the types of tech that we’re using are really solving some of the actual problems, and that led to our solid rocket motor programs.”

When building solid rocket motors, the inert part of the manufacturing leverages additive manufacturing heavily – Ursa Major avoids fixed tooling. “For example, after we qualify a motor, say a specific diameter booster, and then the government comes back to us and says that the adversaries have adapted. Now they want slightly different thrust, or maybe get additional range. We’ve already thought about that, our manufacturing line doesn’t need to change. We can use the same manufacturing line and adapt it,” explains Spagnoletti.

“We kept the energetics formulation essentially the same – it’s tried and true and it has been munition-tested for years – but we looked at the problem from the manufacturability of the entirety of the system. From a contracting point of view, this gives the government a lot more flexibility and to be as agile as the adversary. This has been happening on the development side for the past three years, working with several primes and the U.S. Navy. They’re inherently leveraging our ability to turn things fast, and now that’s translating into contracts for us.”

“The Navy really understood our approach to manufacturing,” adds Doucette. “They challenged us to apply our approach with liquid rockets to the solid rocket motor industry. To look at the problems and peel back the onion on solid rocket motors. What we found is that the choke point actually lies the metallic components that make what we call the inert tube section, that then gets packed with the energetics. The energetics are difficult for sure, but what actually chokes the supply chain is the 36-plus months to make the metallic tube structures. To compound the problem, all these production lines of the last 30, 40, 50 years are designed around one platform. Can you imagine an automotive company that has a huge expensive factory but only ever makes one car model! I mean, it would economically go out of business.”

“We have demonstrated that, by looking at the steps to make a solid rocket motor, be it metal printing the end domes or how we do the internal features and make the actual case to how we in some cases load the highly-loaded grain to get more performance, we can do all of it on the same production line for any motor between two inches and 22 inches in diameter. The same equipment, the same people, the same factory footprint. If we want to scale, we just copy paste the factory. If the demand signal changes in a year – which if recent conflicts give us any indication they probably will – that factory can switch over to a different munition. We just stop making one size and tool up for the new size in a matter of months.”

Ursa Major’s primary 93-acre corporate headquarters is located in Berthoud, about an hour north of Denver, Colorado. Here the company has the facilities to test its liquid rocket engines on site and it also designs, develops, and manufactures here. “Our main building is really split in half,” explains Spagnoletti. “On one side we have liquid rocket engine manufacturing and development to power hypersonics, and on the other behind a steel rolling door are the solid rocket motor development and low-rate production as part of our replenishment of critical munitions.”

“At the Colorado site, we’re actually grinding, mixing, casting, curing thousands of pounds of energetics per year for our solid rocket motors, with a lot of automation built-in to not only protect the people but also to make the process more consistent. We have another site for our high volume solid rocket motor production – it needs a lot of space – and we are targeting to manufacture hundreds of thousands of pounds of energetics for use in various shapes and sizes by the middle of 2027.”

The company has expanded with more than 400 acres for SRM production in Galeton, Colorado.

Solid rocket motors of all sizes

Nick Doucette already sees the solid rocket motor work evolving. “We will eventually boost-power our Havoc system with our solid rocket motors. Remember, we got into SRMs due to seeing the critical munition needs, with an open door for manufacturing innovation and a problem we want to help solve. So we’ve built a manufacturing approach and we are now building a multitude of different size classes for different customers.”

The smallest SRM that Ursa Major is actively working on is for the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System, or APKWS, from BAE Systems. “This currently uses a very dated motor and there’s been a lot of need in the industry to essentially innovate on that motor,” explains Doucette. “So we’ve been working extensively with both BAE Systems and the U.S. Air Force on that particular platform, especially with highly loaded grain, and we see a very promising future there.”

Doucette explains that Ursa Major has already made several hundred 2.75-inch motors for testing and development. This will be an extended range version of the motor, packing a significantly larger amount of energetic material into the same size rocket casing.

In 2024, Ursa Major won a contract with the Naval Energetics Systems and Technologies (NEST) program to develop and test a new design to apply its SRM manufacturing processes to the Mk104 dual-thrust rocket motor that powers the U.S. Navy Standard Missile 2 (SM-2), used for surface-to-air defense, and the SM-6 anti-air, land, and sea missile.

Trusted solid rocket motor providers are in limited supply, and the versatility of Ursa Major’s production process opens up a raft of potential opportunities, particularly in the missile defense space. The 10-14-inch range is what Doucette calls a “sweet spot” for interceptor missiles.

Asked about air-to-air missiles, Doucette says: “of course, we’re looking at it. There’s been a lot of conversations around how Ursa Major would approach the problem, but we have a lot going on already, so we’re making sure we don’t try to swallow the whole critical munitions list at once.”

“Most of these larger hypersonic weapons are all boosted,” adds Doucette. “These have a booster in the back end, and we have additionally completed internal work to develop that 22-inch diameter SRM capability. So now we can do anything from 2-inch to 22-inch on that same production line using our common modular manufacturing approach.”

Unleashing Havoc

Ursa Major’s parallel efforts in hypersonics brings the story full circle. Alongside the solid rocket motors business, hypersonic missiles have become a critical part of the company’s efforts, as Nick Doucette picks up the story. 

“There’s two specific products that Ursa Major makes in the hypersonics realm right now. The first is an engine that’s liquid oxygen-powered with rocket fuel. We call it Hadley, and we’ve had that for the better part of a decade. Hadley powers the Stratolaunch hypersonic Talon A testbed, for example. We don’t make the vehicle, we just provide the engine and support services, and Hadley has flown 10 times now.”

“The challenge with Hadley is that it uses cryogenic liquid oxygen, which presents a whole suite of issues from a tactical perspective. A military user can’t sit and wait for the propellant to get cold, like you do with liquid oxygen. We needed to make a similar engine, slightly lower thrust, a little smaller, but essentially in the same packaging, make it storable and most importantly, make it tactical, so that you can drop it from a plane or shoot it vertically from a ship. So we switched from liquid oxygen to hydrogen peroxide.”

“The catch there was that the only way we were able to do that in the right packaging, tightness, and density, was to use 3D-printing. Fast-forward through six years of insane additive development and the Draper engine became a reality. It simply would not have been possible without massive advances in the additive world because of the complexity of what we’re doing geometrically. It’s a really challenging thing to do.”

Draper is a 4,000-pound-thrust engine that is powered by hydrogen peroxide and rocket fuel. Its use of non-cryogenic storable propellants enables long-duration storage, rapid deployment, and operational flexibility in real-world conditions. Its massive potential drove Ursa Major to search for a suitable hypersonic vehicle design to match it with.

“We strongly believed that Draper introduced a differentiating threat vector for any adversary,” Doucette continues. “China has had boost-glide hypersonics for a decade. Other hypersonic designs use a scramjet, which are costly and complex. Draper opened up hypersonic performance, where you have a wide range of trajectories and adaptability as well as other really creative mechanisms that, to be honest, the adversaries don’t have. I mean it’s wildly different, which we see as being a very valuable asset to the national security arsenal.

“The concept of using a liquid rocket engine for a hypersonic weapon is absolutely game changing. Draper can be throttled – unlike solid rocket motors that use a pre-mixed propellant and oxidizer that cannot be controlled once ignited – plus it’s designed to be more safely stored than other liquid rocket engines, providing the tactical storage capabilities that are typical of a solid rocket motor.”

Doucette says that Ursa Major looked to find a partner for the vehicle itself, but concluded that none were suitable, particularly when it came to moving fast. The decision was made to go it alone in-house with an air vehicle. The result is Havoc, which is designed like other hypersonic programs to fly in excess of mach 5, and intended to be launched in a variety of ways; as a single-stage from an aircraft or ground-launched with added booster stages. It’s also designed to run out at circa $3-million apiece. “We entered a rapid campaign in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory and we went from concept to flight-ready in about six months,” Doucette says.

Hypersonic missiles currently in testing with the USAF include the AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), which is a boost-glide hypersonic system, with rocket boost and an unpowered glide vehicle inside. The Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, or HACM, also features rocket boosters, but with an air-breathing scramjet second stage vehicle. Both are limited to operations in the Earth’s atmosphere – whereas Havoc can operate either in or above the atmosphere.

“With regard to propulsion in aerospace defense, there’s three main types; air-breathing, solid powered, and liquid powered,” Doucette explains. “In the world of hypersonics, specifically, we’re talking about fast-moving, somewhat unpredictable, missile systems that are moving at over five times the speed of sound. You have the same propulsion methods, but liquid fuel has never really been introduced.”

“The air-breathing hypersonic weapons are typically scramjets and ramjets, which the U.S. has been developing for a very long time. They’re expensive and exquisite, but very long range.

“China has something in the order of 600-700 operational boost-glide systems in its arsenal right now. This is not new to them. They’ve been practicing, watching, and rehearsing.” Doucette warns that the U.S. fielding a boost-glide or scramjet hypersonic weapon may not really change the dynamic, which is why Ursa Major’s argument for its liquid-powered weapon is so strong.

“The novelty of being liquid-powered is that it carries its own oxidizer and fuel, which means it can go anywhere – in the atmosphere, out of the atmosphere, high, low. A solid rocket can technically do the same thing, but the big difference with the liquid system is that it can turn on and off an infinite number of times. A solid is going where it’s going, but a liquid could be on one trajectory and a split second later turn it off, then instantaneously head on a different trajectory because you can maneuver it from a powered vector perspective. Draper is also fully throttleable down to 10% all the way up to 100%.”

There are currently no competing systems that have the ability to bridge the gap between running in atmosphere and out of atmosphere with such a degree of throttle control. Ursa Major is currently the only company with a hypersonic vehicle and experience in the liquid-powered hypersonic realm. It has twice ground-launched from a rail what it calls “Havoc Block 0” in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory, under its Affordable Rapid Missile Demonstrator (ARMD) program. These demonstrator flights have been designed as multi-domain tests. “The great thing about Havoc is that we can alter the wings, add our solid rocket motor boost system, and it means we can ground launch, VLS [vertical launch system] launch, or air-launch,” Doucette says.

“Havoc provides something the Department of War has not previously seen,” adds Chris Spagnoletti. “Having a mid- and long-range tactical weapon that can deep throttle, turn on and off at will, is agnostic to atmosphere, rapidly change vector, accelerate and de-celerate, skim the sea, fly outside the atmosphere – this really opens up the aperture of what a munition can do. This is very tough for conventional systems to figure out what it’s intending to do.”

Rapidly scaling production

Spagnoletti says Ursa Major’s hypersonic program can scale quickly because of the company’s additive manufacturing and AI-driven manufacturing processes. Draper’s liquid propellant also has additional advantages when it comes to production. “We can drain the fuel, bring them into a facility, and that now-inert system doesn’t need massive keep-out distances,” explains Spagnoletti. “So, say in a 100,000 square foot building, we can produce 500 full-up missile systems per year inert, then fuel them right before we ship them or at the operational location.”

“Some companies are advocating for things like multi-year contracts, and that really matters to them because they’re setting up rigid long-term production lines. We’ve flipped that on its head where if a customer decides in say five years they want this weapon to look different, we have a common modular approach that we can swap things out. Most of the aerospace systems I’ve worked on in my career have long five or 10-year windows. Design, build, qualify – they don’t want to make hardware changes because it’s going to take ages and cost a lot of money to modify and qualify those systems. They’re inherently resistant to change, not because they don’t want to help and adapt, but because the system allows a massive amount of inertia, production lines have rigid tooling and processes, they can’t adapt. What’s different about Ursa Major is, again, that we design for manufacturability and leverage advanced manufacturing.’

Ursa Major Additive Manufacturing

In addition to its Colorado facilities mentioned earlier, Ursa Major also has a plant in Youngstown, Ohio, which is a center of excellence for 3D-printing, they then ship to Berthoud for final assembly and test. A lot of parts and components are manufactured in house, including valves, tanks, pressurization systems, avionics, but it does have dependency on some external suppliers where appropriate. “We have some really strong partnerships where we can’t bring things in-house. We’re such experts in additive manufacturing that we know when not to do it.”

“Importantly, we are not reducing costs by using the cheapest parts. In my 36 years in the aerospace industry, when it comes to building a critical munition, I know the devil’s in the details – it has to work every time and there’s only so cheap you can go before you start to sacrifice reliability. Some of our competitors are trying to achieve a lower cost hypersonic system, which is great, but those are typically salvo weapons where you just launch a lot of them. The Havoc missile system is more of a strategic asset.”

Ursa Major is making significant moves in the U.S. military’s missile stockpile recapitalization effort. It has opened up versatile methods of producing solid rocket motors, and it has demonstrated the functionality of Havoc with the Air Force Research Laboratory, including the concept of operations with the liquid rocket. Spagnoletti points out that the U.S. used to use liquid rockets prior to the advent of solid rocket motors. Use of additive manufacturing and 3D-printing is always in the conversation too, it’s how this company can scale its innovations fast.

The next major milestone it’s driving towards is a follow-on demonstration phase for Havoc – a boosted, full hypersonic flight. “We’re pushing for that in 2027,” says Spagnoletti.

As America marks its 250th year, the dream of a hypersonic missile with a 3D-printed engine that can be delivered in large quantities at an affordable price could materialize into another significant landmark in the story of American defense innovation. At least that’s Ursa Major’s goal, and it appears to look more promising by the day.

The new 210-member parliament takes shape, marking a historic shift after decades of Assad family rule.

The first parliament in Syria’s post-Assad era has taken shape with the release of a list of 70 legislators picked by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The inauguration of the new parliament on Wednesday shows the country is moving ahead with drafting laws as the nation works on recovering from decades of iron-fist rule under longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024 after more than 13 years of civil war, which killed about half a million people.

The head of Syria’s electoral committee, Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, told reporters that the new 210-member legislature will hold its first meeting on Monday, when the new members will be sworn in, and the parliament’s presidential council will be elected.

Interim President al-Sharaa directly appoints one third of the 210 seats. His list of 70 legislators includes 15 women, raising the number of female members in the legislature to 22.

Syria held the first phase of its parliamentary elections in October last year while excluding the southern province of Suwayda, a predominantly Druze governorate and where no date has been set yet for a vote due to security concerns.

The October vote also excluded northeast Syria, which was under Kurdish control. A vote in that region was held in May after government forces took control of the area during deadly clashes earlier this year.

The new parliament also includes representatives of the Alawite community and two legislators from Suwayda.

“Initially, there was a very small portion of the elected members that were from some of the minority groups, such as the Kurdish community,” said Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from the capital Damascus.

“The appointees by the president remedied that by adding several more Kurdish members from the Hasakah governorate,” Hitto added.

The new parliament will have a 30-month term and work on a new elections law while preparing the ground for a popular vote in the next elections, according to al-Ahmad, as a test for the country’s transition.

President Donald Trump is flying on the U.S. Air Force’s new VC-25B Bridge aircraft for the first time. The modified, Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8i is taking Trump and others to North Dakota for the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and for other celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. The Air Force formally accepted delivery of the plane less than two weeks ago.

The White House has confirmed to TWZ that this is Trump’s first flight aboard the Bridge aircraft. The plane has been the source of controversy, including over its ability to adequately serve in the Air Force One role, something TWZ has questioned in detail in the past. The gifting of the jet from Qatar in the first place was also highly irregular, and the justification for needing it at all remains up for debate. The converted 747-8i has also been painted in a new scheme for U.S. executive aircraft preferred by Trump, which is a major departure from the Kennedy-era Air Force One livery that had been the standard for 60 years.

Decorative books, soft lighting, framed photos on new AF1, a gift from Qatar and retrofitted for presidential use by Trump. Some of the 1st images out publicly from @StevenCheung47, who is pictured with Ross Worthington, Natalie Harp, Karoline Leavitt, Meredith O’Rourke, Stephen… pic.twitter.com/jdVWNPvCmA

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 1, 2026

For the first time, the VC-25B bridge aircraft has flown over the Washington, D.C. area with the callsign “AIR FORCE ONE.” @POTUS is on his way to North Dakota today. pic.twitter.com/VVwTbsyAKi

— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) July 1, 2026

“This will be the first flight of what I think is maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built. I said to Boeing, what’s the best one? They said this is the best plane ever built. And you’re going to have the privilege of flying it, and I have the privilege also of flying it,” Trump told reporters before boarding the plane at Andrews Air Force Base. “I’m excited about the first flight.”

One of the Air Force’s two existing VC-25A Air Force One aircraft is serving as a backup for Trump’s trip today.

VC-25B-Bridge Makes Maiden Flight as AIR FORCE 1

US Air Force VC-25B-Bridge #AF83F3 is in the air from JB Andrews as AIR FORCE 1 for the first time.

USAF VC-25A #ADFDF9 is serving as SAM47 for this trip, a role that this aircraft hasn’t been in for years. pic.twitter.com/8fblf7iA6h

— TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) July 1, 2026

Bloomberg was first to report that the trip to North Dakota would be Trump’s first flight aboard the Bridge aircraft. NBC News had previously reported that the inaugural flight of the Bridge aircraft might come later in the week, taking Trump on a planned trip to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on July 3. It is still very possible, if not probable, that the plane will take Trump to South Dakota, as well.

Reuters also reported back in May that the debut of the VC-25B Bridge jet might come during a July 4th flyover. The former Qatari jet was unveiled to the public on June 19, but it has been confirmed that it will fly over Washington, D.C. as part of the celebrations this weekend.

Significant questions do still remain about the Bridge aircraft’s ability to support the full spectrum of Air Force One mission requirements, especially given that the plane was modified for this role in just 10 months. U.S. officials and defense contractor L3Harris, which did the conversion work, have insisted that operational concerns have been addressed and have downplayed any potential risks.

“One of the first things we have to do on this aircraft, in conjunction with the U.S. government, is ensure it is safe. There was a lot of content and buzz on blogs and whatnot about is the aircraft secure? Is there anything that we wouldn’t want coming in on the aircraft? Somebody could listen in, something like that,” Jason Lambert, President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at L3Harris, told TWZ in an interview last week. “I can assure you that was very effectively managed to the highest degree. Experts from the U.S. government, experts from L3Harris, experts in cyber security, electronic warfare, ensured that every square inch of that plane was clean, not only on the exterior but interior of the plane and all systems within. So I’ll say, there’s just electronic scrubbing, is how I would describe it, to ensure that it was safe and secure. Frankly, that work took place even before we were able to do any real work on the plane.”

“Survivability of the aircraft was something that was absolutely thought of, but I can’t comment on the specific systems on the aircraft yet. That’s one I’ll have to direct you back to the Air Force,” he added. Lambert also deferred to the Air Force when asked about hardening against electromagnetic pulses, command and control capabilities, and other core Air Force One requirements.

Readers can find the full interview here.

The Air Force’s two existing VC-25A Air Force One aircraft remain in service, as evidenced by the one serving today as a backup. Boeing is still working toward delivering two fully-equipped VC-25B jets around the end of the decade. The VC-25Bs are set to replace the aging and increasingly difficult to sustain VC-25As, which were converted from older 747-200 models. However, that program has suffered repeated delays and cost growth. The Air Force is also now operating an additional 747-8i, acquired from Lufthansa, as a trainer for aircrew and ground personnel. A second ex-Lufthansa 747 will serve as a source of spare parts for the expanded Air Force One fleet.

Trump’s inauguration flight today aboard the VC-25B Bridge jet makes clear that it is now firmly in the Air Force One rotation.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

“I am temporarily relocating to Kumalia.”

When Kaka Ali said those words over the phone on June 8, I nearly asked him to repeat himself. I had been speaking to him about farming and survival in northern Borno for nearly two years. Kumalia was where he was born, but it was also a place that most people had long stopped calling home.

The community is located within Monguno Local Government Area (LGA) in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency had emptied it in 2016, forcing residents to flee to Monguno town and Maiduguri, the state capital. The government never formally reopened the community. In the years that followed, its name surfaced mostly in conversations about what the insurgency had taken.

“Why would you go back there?” I asked. 

“The negotiations did not go through,” Kaka replied. 

I did not fully understand what he meant until weeks later.  

On June 21, I reached him again. I learnt that he had returned to Monguno to attend the funerals of four friends who were killed the previous day by suspected Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists while working on a farm near Kartari, a remote settlement close to Cross Kauwa town in Kukawa LGA, on the shores of Lake Chad. Twelve other farmers were also killed in the incident. 

The men had travelled to Kartari from different parts of northern Borno, drawn by the search for land to cultivate after farming had been disrupted closer to home. That same day, in Zabarmari, a farming community in Jere LGA, another 11 farmers were reportedly killed. By then, Kaka’s explanation about Kumalia finally made sense.

The warning had come months earlier at the onset of cultivation in February, when farmers across parts of northern Borno began receiving warnings from ISWAP terrorists not to farm this season. The message spread among returning farmers and community leaders through word of mouth.

“They approached farmers who had gone to Kartari and told them we must not cultivate this year,” said Musa Abubakar, a farmer from Cross Kauwa. “They also informed community leaders in villages close to them, and those leaders passed the message to us in other towns,” he said. 

According to Musa, farmers who wished to cultivate were instructed to relocate with their families to terror-controlled territories, locally known as Daula, and farm there instead. Many initially assumed it was another extortion attempt because for years, cultivating in parts of northern Borno had meant paying terror groups for access to land. In 2024, HumAngle documented how farmers in the region paid millions of naira in levies and so-called farming permits to ISWAP. This season, farmers pooled their money together, some contributing at least ₦50,000 each, hoping to negotiate their way back to their fields. However, the effort failed, and the warning held.

So they began looking elsewhere. Some moved toward the Lake Chad region. Others returned to abandoned communities. More than 100 farmers from Monguno, according to Kaka, relocated to Kumalia, where they erected makeshift shelters from sticks and dry grass to plant their crops. They plan to stay until the harvest season in November or December.

The women were not left behind either. 

“My sister is there,” Kaka, the 30-year-old father of two, said. “Many women went with their children. The older ones trekked with their parents. The younger ones are carried on their backs or transported in push carts.” 

Kaka’s older sister, Yabusam Ali, travelled with one of her children and left the others with their grandmother in Monguno. Other women made similar calculations, weighing which children could endure the walk and which would be safer left behind. Yabusam said conditions remain basic but manageable. 

“There is drinkable water there,” she told HumAngle. 

For now, that is enough. Kumalia has no schools, no health facilities, and no visible state presence. It is a settlement held together by necessity. Over the coming months, the community will once again have residents, not because it is safe, but because it has become the least dangerous option left.

Across Borno, the farming ban, enforced through violence and the threat of it, is reshaping how rural families survive. Some have abandoned cultivation entirely. Others have confined themselves to plots within sight of military positions. A growing number are returning to communities the state had given up on, betting that the promise of a harvest is worth living beyond its protection. Together, these choices are accumulating into something larger than disrupted planting seasons: a food security crisis taking shape incrementally, in the daily calculations of people who can no longer be certain what the harvest will bring, or whether there will be one at all.

The consequences extend far beyond the communities where cultivation has been disrupted. Agriculture remains one of Nigeria’s largest employers and a critical source of food for millions of households. The World Bank estimates that nearly four in every five rural households in Nigeria depend on farming, while livestock rearing is especially common across the country’s northern regions. When insecurity forces farmers off their land, harvests decline, market supplies tighten, and food prices rise.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), a food security monitoring and forecasting initiative, estimates that between 21 and 22 million people across northern Nigeria will require humanitarian assistance during the June-to-August lean season, driven by escalating conflict, lower-than-expected household food production, and constrained access to food. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) similarly projects that more than six million children across northern Nigeria will experience acute malnutrition this year, with conflict, displacement, and reduced access to food among the principal drivers.

Kaka had already made these calculations. “Are you not afraid of attack from the terrorists, or of being mistaken for one by troops?” I asked him. “We will die even if we don’t go,” he replied. “So, it is all the same.”

Flags on the farm

Just as Kaka mentioned, several farmers in northern and central Borno say the people who first heard the warnings were often those who had gone ahead of the rains to clear their fields. 

In Monguno, Koso Abubakar said farmers preparing their land were approached and warned against cultivation. They returned to town carrying the news, and from there, the message spread from household to household. In Cross Kauwa, a farming and fishing community on the shores of Lake Chad, the warning reached those working near Kartari, a remote settlement under Kukawa LGA. Community leaders received it and relayed it to surrounding towns.

In Lassa, a farming community in Askira-Uba LGA in southern Borno, it arrived with violence. Andrew Adamu, a farmer there, said suspected terrorists attacked and flogged women they found working on their fields at the beginning of the season. “They said nobody should farm there,” he said. “They [the women] said they had mounted their flags on those lands.” 

The flags, a territorial marker used by terror groups across the region to signal control, were understood immediately. Few people in Lassa are now willing to venture beyond the land immediately surrounding the town.

Musa, a farmer in Cross Kauwa, said the warning came with an additional condition in the northern Borno community. He said that farmers willing to cultivate were instructed to relocate permanently with their families to terror-controlled territories and continue to farm there while paying levies instead. The requirement to relocate permanently was new. The levies were not. But this time around, levy negotiations failed in some places. 

However, in parts of southern Monguno, some farmers were reportedly permitted to cultivate after paying ₦50,000 each. The inconsistency stirred speculation that the restrictions reflected internal disagreements among ISWAP commanders rather than a unified policy. 

“It was said that two Amirs controlling two farming villages had a dispute over farming fees,” Kaka explained. “The Amir controlling where we farm said he would not allow anyone to farm this season. The other Amir said farmers were welcome to cultivate in his territory after paying this year’s levy.”

HumAngle could not independently verify the claim.

When negotiations collapsed, the consequences began to accumulate. In Lassa, Andrew said, women were beaten while working on their farms. In Auno, Konduga LGA, a 55-year-old farmer was attacked and killed while working on his land earlier in February, according to residents. News of his death, Aja Bukar, another farmer, said, spread quickly through surrounding communities, confirming what many had hoped was merely a threat. 

Then, on June 20, 15 farmers were killed near Kartari while working on their fields. Bashir Suleiman, a farmer from Doron Baga, said the victims included four farmers from Monguno, six from Kukawa town, three from Baga, and two from Cross Kauwa. 

In Cross Kauwa, Musa said most farmers have stayed away from their fields since. The few still cultivating have been permitted by the military to plant low-growing crops, such as beans and groundnuts, within a fixed distance of the community’s defensive trench. Beyond that line, he said, most no longer believe the harvest is worth the risk.

The return to Kumalia

For the first time in nearly a decade, Kumalia has residents again. Not many, and not enough to resemble the farming community it once was before the insurgency emptied it in 2016, but enough to bring movement back to a place which has long given up — children’s voices have returned. Smoke rises from cooking fires in the morning. The fields are being planted. And temporary shelters made from sticks, ropes, and dry grass stand across parts of the settlement. 

Getting there, however, is not easy. According to Modu Baluye, a farmer who also relocated to Kumalia, reaching the settlement takes five hours of walking over terrain most vehicles cannot cross. “We travel by foot,” he said. “There is no means of transportation except push carts.” The shelters, he said, are simple: stick frames with dry grass roofing, which offers little protection from rain or wind, but they are enough to house families for the months between planting and harvest.

For years, displacement pushed families out of places like Kumalia and into towns where security forces could better protect them. Now, insecurity around farming is pushing some of those same families back, not into safety but into a different kind of exposure: too far from the state to be protected, yet close enough to armed groups to be noticed.

Communities across northeastern Nigeria have learned, often through grief, that living or farming in remote and ungoverned territories can attract a different kind of violence during military operations. Aerial surveillance, in vast terrains where terror groups move through civilian spaces, collect levies, and use local markets, must be able to distinguish between farmers and fighters. In places like Kumalia, unrecognised by the government, absent from any official resettlement record, populated by people living in makeshift shelters on cultivated open land, that distinction is not guaranteed.

In April 2026, reports showed that more than 30 civilians were killed when a Nigerian Air Force strike hit a village market in Jilli, a remote settlement between Gubio LGA in Borno State and Geidam LGA in Yobe State. Military authorities described it as an active terrorist enclave. Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum later acknowledged that the area’s market had been officially closed due to terrorist activity, yet civilians were among the dead. It was not the first such incident. In 2017, a military aircraft bombed a displaced persons camp in Rann, Kala-Balge LGA, killing more than 100 people including aid workers. And in 2024, HumAngle documented cases in which fishermen around Lake Chad were reportedly misidentified during military operations.

Farmers in Kumalia are aware of this history. It sits alongside the warnings from ISWAP, the distance from town, and the inadequacy of their shelters. It is part of what they weighed before they went.

The price of survival

Every morning before sunrise, Esther Danjuma sets up her stall on the roadside outside the Divisional Council Church (DCC) Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Shuwari, Maiduguri. She heats cooking oil, prepares her bean paste, and waits for the first customers. By the time most people in Maiduguri are awake, she is already working. 

The 26-year-old was displaced from Amuda in Gwoza LGA years ago. Until recently, she measured time by farming seasons, not calendar months. Before the warning reached Chabbal, a farming community in Magumeri LGA where she and thousands of others from the DCC displacement camp cultivate each season, she grew sorghum, sesame, and groundnuts. Last year, she harvested five bags each of sorghum and sesame and three bags of groundnuts. This year, she planted nothing.

“I never thought I would sell kosai,” she told HumAngle. She earns at least ₦3,000 daily. This helps her care for herself and her elderly grandmother at the camp, she said.

A few shelters away from Esther lives Andrawus Yakubu. While Esther replaced farming with a small business, Andrawus has replaced it with whatever work presents itself each day. On some days, he works at construction sites. On other days, he digs pits, cuts logs, or takes on manual labour wherever opportunities arise. The work is irregular and physically demanding, but Andrawus says he cannot afford to be selective. “I will do whatever legal thing that my strength can do,” the father of nine told HumAngle.

For years, Andrawus supplemented his household income through farming in Limanti, a rural community in Konduga LGA. Like many displaced residents of the DCC Shuwari camp, he relied on the farming season to feed his family and reduce their dependence on the market. Last season, he cultivated four hectares of land, harvesting five bags of millet, 12 bags of groundnuts, and eight bags of beans. This season, however, the farming restrictions have forced him to abandon farming. 

Others have chosen to leave Borno altogether. In Auno, Aja Bukar said the killing of a farmer earlier this year convinced many residents that remaining in the area was no longer worth the risk. Some households, including his, have since relocated to Damaturu in neighbouring Yobe State, hoping to find safer opportunities elsewhere.

These different responses – the roadside stall, the day labour, and relocation to another state – all lead back to the same question: what can replace a harvest, if anything?

Agriculture remains the backbone of rural livelihoods across Borno and the wider North East. In Borno, farming is not only an occupation but also a source of sustenance for families; it is how they feed themselves, pay school fees, buy medicine, and prepare for the long dry season. Yet years of conflict have steadily eroded that foundation, limiting access to farmland, disrupting markets, and deepening food insecurity.

When farmers abandon their fields, the consequences ripple far beyond the households directly affected: Harvests decline, local markets receive fewer supplies, and children and other vulnerable groups bear the greatest nutritional burden. The effects are felt not only in the villages where cultivation stops, but across communities that rely on those harvests for food and trade.

The region has been here before. In 2023, HumAngle documented how repeated attacks on farming communities forced many residents to abandon cultivated fields, leaving crops worth millions of naira to wither or be destroyed. A year later, the trend persisted, contributing to worsening food insecurity and malnutrition among vulnerable households, particularly children.

What is unfolding this season is not unique to Borno. Across the North West and North Central, terror groups have used similar tactics to control access to rural farmland, taxing farmers, threatening communities, and displacing those who resist. In Zamfara, HumAngle reported in June that farmers were displaced despite paying millions in levies. Another report the same month showed that 17 farmers were killed in Maradun while working their fields. In 2024, Reuters reported from Katsina that attacks on farmers were driving up food prices. According to SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, 1,356 farmers have been killed across Nigeria since 2020.

The scale of what is at stake is significant. UNICEF estimates that around three million children may require treatment for severe wasting in 2026, with conflict-affected northeastern states carrying a disproportionate share.  

Across Borno, people are making decisions whose consequences they cannot yet fully see.

Poland won’t transfer additional MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters to Ukraine because Kyiv won’t provide drone production technology information, the country’s defense minister and deputy prime minister said. The move represents a pivot from policies of the previous Polish government and comes amid worsening relations between Kyiv and Warsaw.

As we have previously reported, under former President Andrzej Duda, Poland donated 14 of its MiG-29s to Ukraine, becoming the first country to commit to supplying combat jets to Kyiv. However, under new Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who was elected last August, the country is now seeking something tangible in return for the Fulcrums.

“I proposed what I believe was a very partnership-based approach. MiGs in exchange for drones,” Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who serves as defense minister and deputy prime minister, told the Polish Polsat News outlet. “The Ukrainians initially agreed, but they did not honor this arrangement, so there will be no MiGs for Ukraine because Poland does not have drones or the capability to use them.”

TWZ cannot independently confirm the Polish defense minister’s claims.

The Polish defense minister lauded Ukraine’s defense technology.

“Ukraine has such significant capabilities in the field of drones that, in return for the military equipment it has received, it could have shared its know-how with Poland and provided partial access to its technologies,” he said.

Kosiniak-Kamysz added that he was not criticizing the previous administration’s policies toward Ukraine.

“I’m not going to bash them over this issue; that’s far from my intention,” he told Polsat. “They did the right thing—in fact, I’d go further: I would have done the same. They acted correctly, and Ukraine was in a much more difficult situation back then.”

The Polish move echoes U.S. President Donald Trump’s stance on Ukraine and the NATO alliance writ large. The American leader has frequently criticized the Biden administration for giving Ukraine military aid with no compensation and NATO for not doing enough to pay for its own defense.

Kosiniak-Kamysz’s pronouncement about halting the Fulcrum transfer follows Nawrocki’s confirmation last December that Poland would transfer the additional MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in exchange for counter-drone systems.

“After the unnecessary and unclear public uproar surrounding this issue—unfortunately, public opinion has been somewhat misinformed about this matter—we are seeking a symmetrical strategic partnership,” Nawrocki said during a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “This exchange of MiGs for anti-drone systems does not contradict our policy.”

It is unclear exactly what drone technology Poland was seeking or what Ukraine refused to provide. Ukraine has yet to comment on the matter. However, Kosiniak-Kamysz’s comments come as Polish-Ukrainian relations are spiraling downward.

Earlier this month, Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Warsaw’s top award, escalating a row between the allies over the memory of WWII.

“Zelensky had infuriated Warsaw this month by naming a military unit after an insurgent army that took part in massacres against Poles in WWII,” AFP reported.

For much of this conflict, Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, serving as a logistics hub and providing military assistance. As we noted earlier in this story, Poland’s initial donation of MiG-29s opened the door for the transfer of dozens of others from several NATO nations. That was followed by the eventual provision of F-16 Vipers and later French Mirage 2000 fighters.

Despite receiving more modern fighters: “Zelensky has noted that Ukraine requires MiG-29 aircraft because its pilots are already trained to operate them,” according to the Ukrainian United24 media outlet. “He added that transitioning to F-16 fighters requires lengthy retraining, temporarily reducing combat readiness, whereas MiG-29s would allow Ukraine to maintain operational air capabilities more immediately.”

LeBron leaving Lakers is a good thing

From Bill Plaschke: Of all the calculated maneuvers by LeBron James during his eight years with the Lakers, he saved his smartest for last.

He left before the door could hit him in the butt.

He knew the Lakers didn’t want him back, so he skipped out before they had a chance to say goodbye.

He leaked the news alone, before the Lakers could publicly confirm, because he wanted to sell that this was his decision, when it absolutely was not.

This was not his idea. This was not his call. This was the Lakers saying, enough is enough. This was the Lakers saying, we want our team back.

This was arguably the greatest player in basketball getting the message and getting out before they threw him out

Officially, on Tuesday, James informed the Lakers that he’s going to leave them as a free agent and finish his career elsewhere.

Unofficially, yay!

Continue reading here

LeBron James and Lakers share gratitude as he leaves team, look ahead to what’s next

Luke Kennard leaves Lakers for two-year deal with Phoenix Suns

Clippers send Kawhi Leonard to Toronto

From Joaquin Ruiz: The Kawhi Leonard era is over in Los Angeles.

A deal to send the seven-time NBA All-Star forward back to Toronto, where he won his second NBA title, has been finalized, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The trade — which will net the Clippers All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, shooting guard Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, a pick swap and two second-round picks — marks the end of another promising-but-empty chapter in the franchise’s ringless history.

Continue reading here

World Cup: Mexico advances to Round of 16

From Eduard Cauich: Mexico once again enjoyed a night of celebration with its fans, this time after defeating an old nemesis — the knockout stage of the World Cup.

El Tri won its first knockout match at a World Cup since 1986, beating Ecuador 2-0 on Tuesday night at the majestic Azteca Stadium packed with 80,824 fans.

From 1994 to 2018, Mexico failed to win a World Cup knockout game and, in 2022, failed to advance past the group stage — its worst showing at a World Cup since 1978.

“Bringing joy to the fans is the best thing that can happen to us,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said after the win. “Our duty is to give it our all on the field. Our duty is to defend our crest and represent our country with dignity.”

Thanks to an expanded 48-team World Cup format with a knockout round of 32 teams and a formidable home-field advantage, Mexico achieved a goal that had seemed impossible.

Continue reading here

For Sebastian Berhalter, a shot with the U.S. national team was well worth the wait

Tuesday’s World Cup results

Round of 32
Norway 2, Ivory Coast 1
France 3, Sweden 0
Mexico 2, Ecuador 0

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
9 a.m., England vs. DR Congo, Fox, Telemundo
1 p.m., Belgium vs. Senegal, FS1, Telemundo
5 p.m., U.S. vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Fox, Telemundo

World Cup round of 32 schedule, results

Round of 32 results
Canada 1, South Africa 0
Brazil 2, Japan 1
Paraguay 1, Germany 1 (Paraguay wins on PK’s, 4-3)
Morocco 1, Netherlands 1 (Morocco wins on PK’s, 3-2)
Norway 2, Ivory Coast 1
France 3, Sweden 0
Mexico 2, Ecuador 0

All times Pacific
Wednesday
England vs. Congo DR, 9 a.m., Fox, Telemundo
Belgium vs. Senegal, 1 p.m., FS1, Telemundo
U.S. vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 5 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Thursday
Spain vs. Austria, noon, Fox, Telemundo
Portugal vs. Croatia, 4 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Switzerland vs. Algeria, 8 p.m., FS1, Telemundo

Friday
Australia vs. Egypt, 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo
Argentina vs. Cape Verde, 3 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Colombia vs. Ghana, 6:30 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Round of 16 schedule

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Saturday
Canada vs. Morocco, 10 a.m.
Paraguay vs. France, 2 p.m.

Sunday
Brazil vs. Norway, 1 p.m.,
Mexico vs. England or DR Congo, 5 p.m.

Monday
Portugal or Croatia vs. Spain or Austria, noon
U.S. or Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Belgium or Senegal, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, July 7
Argentina or Cape Verde vs. Australia or Egypt, 9 a.m.
Switzerland or Algeria vs. Colombia or Ghana, 1 p.m.

Dave Roberts gets 1,000th win as manager

From Bill Shaikin: For Dave Roberts, it’s 1,000 down and Cooperstown to go.

Victory No. 1: 15-0 over the San Diego Padres in 2016, with vintage Clayton Kershaw on the mound and Adrián González in the cleanup spot. Amid the postgame handshakes, González showered Roberts with bubble gum.

“There was no stress,” Roberts said. “It was such a nice soft landing.”

Victory No. 1,000: 9-3 over the Athletics in Sacramento on Tuesday with home runs from Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas, and with Justin Wrobleski striking out a career-high 11 to become the Dodgers’ first 10-game winner.

Pretty soft landing too, and well worth a celebration. Roberts doffed his cap in gratitude for a spirited postgame ovation from the fans here, almost all of them Dodgers fans. Inside the clubhouse, Rojas and Freddie Freeman led a champagne and tequila toast.

Continue reading here

Walter Alston, Dave Roberts and everyone in between: The 10 managers in L.A. Dodgers history

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels lose to Mariners

Julio Rodriguez had three hits and scored twice, Bryan Woo took a shutout into the seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners put together a five-run sixth Tuesday night to beat the Angels 8-3.

Rodriguez and Colt Emerson both had three of Seattle’s 13 hits. Randy Arozarena and Cole Young scored two runs apiece.

Woo (7-6) gave up just four hits and struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. The Angels’ first two runs in their three-run seventh were charged to him after he gave way to reliever Eduard Bazardo. That ended Woo’s streak of home shutout innings at 32 1/3, which stretched over a span of five games dating to May 6 against Atlanta.

Continue reading here

‘He’s a friendly killer.’ How Angels’ José Soriano balances competitive fire, mentorship

Angels box score

MLB standings

Serena Williams loses at Wimbledon

From Chuck Schilken: Experience took on youth Tuesday morning at Wimbledon’s Centre Court as 44-year-old tennis legend Serena Williams played her first singles match in nearly four years, against 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint.

Advantage: youth, as Joint pulled out a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 win over the 23-time Grand Slam champion, and advances to play 29-seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines — a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Renata Zarazúa of Mexico — on Thursday.

“She has such an aura. She’s such a legend,” Joint said of Williams during an on-court interview after her first-ever Wimbledon win. “And this court has so many huge names that have played on it. I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy.”

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1903 — Maurice Garin wins the first stage of the first Tour de France bicycle race. Garin finishes 55 seconds ahead of Emile Pagie. The first stage, from Paris to Lyon, is 467 kilometers long, and takes 17 hours and 45 minutes, riding both day and night. Only 37 riders of 60 are able to complete the day’s race.

1920 — Suzanne Lenglen of France becomes the first player to win three Wimbledon titles in one year, taking the singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

1932 — Helen Moody wins her fifth women’s singles title in six years at Wimbledon, defeating Helen Jacobs 6-3, 6-1.

1938 — Don Budge defeats Henry Austin 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 to win the men’s singles title and sweep the singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon for the second straight year.

1947 — Basketball Assn. of America (BAA), which later became the National Basketball Assn. (NBA), holds its inaugural college player draft.

1951 — Beverly Hanson wins the Eastern Open by three strokes over Babe Zaharias in her first start on the LPGA Tour. Hanson is the only golfer to win a tournament in her first pro start.

1961 — Mickey Wright beats defending champion Betsy Rawls by six strokes to win the U.S. Women’s Open.

1977 — Britain’s Virginia Wade wins the singles title on the 100th anniversary of Wimbledon, defeating Betty Stove 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

1990 — Cathy Johnston completes a wire-to-wire performance, beating Patty Sheehan by two strokes to win the LPGA du Maurier Classic.

1995 — The NBA locks out its players at 12:01 a.m., the first work stoppage in league history.

1997 — Nevada Athletic Commission suspends Mike Tyson indefinitely and withholds $20-million purse for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear during their heavyweight title fight on June 28.

2007 — Cristie Kerr wins the U.S. Women’s Open by making only two bogeys over her final 45 holes. Kerr finishes at 5-under 279 for her 10th career victory.

2011 — The NBA locks out its players, a long-expected move putting the 2011-12 season in jeopardy.

2012 — Spain wins its third straight major soccer title, beating Italy 4-0 in the European Championship final in Kiev, Ukraine. The Spanish, who won the Euro 2008 title and World Cup title in 2010, posts the largest score in a Euro final.

2012 — Tiger Woods wins the AT&T National at Congressional in Bethesda, Md. for the 74th win of his career. That moves him past Jack Nicklaus into second place on the tour list, eight short of Sam Snead.

2018 — NBA superstar LeBron James agrees to a 4-year, $154-million deal with the Lakers, moving from Cleveland Cavaliers.

2018 — Park Sung-hyun wins the PGA Women’s Championship at Kemper Lakes Golf Course in a playoff with Nasa Hataoka and Ryu So-yeon.

2018 — David Toms wins the Men’ US Senior Open at Broadmoor Golf Course by one stroke over Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly and Tim Petrovic.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1910 — Comiskey Park — then known as White Sox Park — held its first major league game, with the St. Louis Browns beating Chicago 2-0.

1917 — Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds pitched complete-game victories in a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Toney threw a three-hitter in each game for 4-1 and 5-1 wins, setting a record for the fewest hits given up in a doubleheader by a pitcher.

1920 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators defeated the Boston Red Sox 1-0 at Fenway Park with the season’s only no-hitter.

1925 — Hack Wilson of the New York Giants hit two home runs in the third inning of a 16-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader. Wilson also doubled twice during the game.

1941 — Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees singled off Boston’s Jack Wilson in the fourth inning, tying Willie Keeler’s hitting streak of 44 games.

1951 — Bob Feller of the Indians pitched his third career no-hitter, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-1 in the first game of a doubleheader at Cleveland.

1990 — Andy Hawkins of the New York Yankees pitched the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season and the third in less than 48 hours, but lost 4-0 to the Chicago White Sox on two outfield errors in the eighth inning.

1997 — Detroit’s Bobby Higginson homered in the first inning against the New York Mets, tying a major league record by homering in four consecutive at-bats over two games. Higginson, who struck out looking in his next at-bat, became the 23rd player since 1900 to accomplish the feat and the fourth Tiger.

2009 — One run was enough for a victory for three National League teams, the first time in 33 years there were three 1-0 games in one league on the same day. The Mets, Dodgers and Reds came away with 1-0 victories. The last time there were three 1-0 games in one league was Sept. 1, 1976, in the NL.

2009 — Hanley Ramirez extended his RBI streak to 10 games in the Florida Marlins’ 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals. Ramirez hit a two-run double in the third inning to become the first shortstop in NL history with an RBI streak of double-digit games.

2013 — Andy Pettitte passes Whitey Ford for the most strikeouts in New York Yankees history when he records his 1,957th in the Yankees’ 10-4 win over the Twins. The win goes to reliever Joba Chamberlain, his first of the year, as he benefits from a three-run outburst off reliever Jared Burton in the 8th. The Yankees then add four runs in the top of the 9th as they end a five-game losing streak.

2014 — The Cleveland Indians executed an unorthodox triple play in the fourth inning against the Dodgers that required two video replay reviews to sort out. With runners on first and third, Adrián González lifted a fly ball to left fielder Michael Brantley, who threw out Dee Gordon at the plate. Catcher Yan Gomes then fired to second baseman Jason Kipnis for the tag on Yasiel Puig as he slid headfirst. Cleveland manager Terry Francona challenged the original safe call at second and got the play overturned after a replay delay that lasted 1 minute, 29 seconds. Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly then challenged the call at the plate, but that call stood after another wait of 1 minute, 34 seconds. Cleveland went on to a 10-3 win.

2015 — Carlos Carrasco came within one strike of throwing the Cleveland Indians’ first no-hitter since 1981, giving up an RBI single to Joey Butler over leaping second baseman Jason Kipnis’ glove in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

2019 — Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs is found dead in his hotel room a few hour before the team’s scheduled game with the Texas Rangers. Police confirm that no foul play is suspected.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Gallup survey says the financial toll of scams in the United States in 2025 was estimated at $68bn.

A tenth of adults in the United States directly or indirectly experienced a scam last year, adversely affecting their financial and emotional wellbeing, according to a new Gallup poll.

The report by Gallup released on Tuesday indicated that 6 percent of US adults were personally scammed in 2025, while 4 percent experienced a scam indirectly, with someone in their household affected.

Scams are a widespread problem in the country, with Gallup noting that they can leave victims more cautious, less likely to shop online, and more hesitant to engage with unfamiliar businesses.

“The data suggest the cost of scams extends beyond what can be measured in dollars, as nearly three in four victims say the experience negatively affected their mental health or wellbeing,” the report stated.

The poll suggested that people from lower-income households were more likely than wealthier people to report being scammed.

Adults with less than a bachelor’s degree were more likely to report being scammed than those with a bachelor’s degree or higher – 7 percent versus 4 percent, Gallup found.

Black (8 percent) and Hispanic (9 percent) adults were also more likely than white adults (5 percent) to say they had been scammed. However, victimisation rates did not differ by age, the report stated.

In more than half of the scams reported to Gallup, people lost $500 or less. However, the average loss per scam was $5,578, as some scams reached tens of thousands of dollars, the report said.

In total, the financial toll of scams in 2025 was estimated at $68bn, amounting to an average of $186m stolen each day.

One in five adults who were personally victimised or live in a household that was scammed in 2025 reported that it created a severe financial hardship for their household, with households earning less than $80,000 annually hit harder.

Emotional damage from scams, however, was more widespread, the survey indicated.

Among adults in households affected by scams, more than a quarter (28 percent) said the experience had a very negative impact on their mental health or wellbeing, while a further 45 percent describe the impact as moderately negative. Overall, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of people reported that the scam adversely affected their mental health or wellbeing.

The emotional toll was also pervasive among those who live with someone who was scammed, the survey suggested.

The poll also indicated that the lifetime prevalence of being scammed is much higher than the 6 percent of people who were in 2025. Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of adults report having been scammed at some point in their lives, including 10 percent who said that they had fallen victim multiple times.

“At a time when institutional trust in the US is already weak, the prevalence of scams represents not just a personal financial threat, but a broader erosion of confidence in the businesses and systems used in everyday life,” the report said.

Gallup surveyed 5,173 US adults between January and February of this year.

Uncrewed systems will be at the heart of the UK Armed Forces in the future, under a more than $6.6-billion initiative that looks to transform all three services and the way they fight. Perhaps most dramatically, the new defense plan will see the Royal Navy sacrifice its future destroyer for a “hybrid,” distributed concept, with autonomous vessels being paired with crewed ones. But there are equally far-reaching measures set to reconfigure the British Army and Royal Air Force (RAF) around uncrewed and autonomous capabilities, some of which remain very high-risk as they are still deep or even early in development.

In a speech today, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer set out his government’s long-awaited Defense Investment Plan. The aim of this is nothing less than “keeping the country safe for years to come,” the government said, and for this, the UK Armed Forces will lean heavily on autonomous systems. Most of these don’t currently exist in physical form, at least as far as we know. At the same time, the effort stresses the rapid fielding of capabilities. This illustrates just how ambitious, and risky, the plan is.

The Defense Investment Plan provides a budget of more than £5 billion ($6.6 billion) over four years just for drones and related capabilities. This is part of a much larger overall spend on defense, amounting to £298 billion ($395 billion) over the same period. This sum also includes £15 billion ($20 billion) of additional spending on top of last year’s Spending Review.

By the end of the decade, Starmer asserted, the proportion of U.K. GDP spent on defense will be higher than at any time during the last 30 years and is in line with NATO ambitions to reach a level of 3.5 percent of GDP.

The government points to the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, specifically, as evidence of the need for a “drone transformation.”

“Drones are rapidly reshaping warfare, with cheap systems destroying high-value targets and innovation cycles measured in weeks, not years,” the government said, in announcing the plan. “Ukraine uses roughly 200,000 drones a month to defend itself from Russia’s barbaric invasion, while at the height of the Iran conflict, 700 offensive drones were being launched per day,” it adds.

Royal Navy

The changes forecast for the Royal Navy have so far garnered the most attention.

As part of a previously announced plan to create a so-called “Hybrid Navy,” the service will receive four new types of uncrewed vessels that will operate in conjunction with crewed warships and aircraft.

Of these new vessels, the Type 91 will be an uncrewed missile platform, serving as a ‘floating magazine’ to increase the overall firepower of the fleet. A combination of air defense, long-range land attack, and anti-ship missile capabilities seems likely, although any armament fit will likely be readily changeable and highly modular. The lessons of the conflict in the Red Sea provided dramatic evidence of how quickly missile cells can be depleted in an intense air-warfare environment.

Also uncrewed, the Type 92 vessels are described as “sense platforms” and will have a primary anti-submarine warfare (ASW) tasking. As such, they will ensure the Royal Navy’s sensor reach is extended further into the North Atlantic, where the Type 92s will support previously ordered frigates in the hunt for Russian submarines.

The Type 93 is defined as an extra-large uncrewed underwater vessel and is intended as an adjunct to crewed hunter-killer submarines. They will carry both sensors and weapons (presumably torpedoes) to help search and destroy enemy submarines. This is an area in which the Royal Navy has been struggling particularly, with significant gaps in its fast-attack submarine force due to limited availability.

Finally, the Type 94 is another uncrewed sense platform, but is optimized for air defense missions. It will use its sensors to look for aerial threats on behalf of both the fleet and in support of homeland missions.

The Types 91 and 94 will eventually be tied together by at least six Common Combat Vessels, which will form part of a networked Maritime Air Defense system. Arriving in service in the 2030s, the crewed Common Combat Vessels will serve as the “brains” behind this architecture, and the overall system will eventually take over the air defense tasking currently handled by the Type 45 destroyers.

The Maritime Air Defense system and the Common Combat Vessels, which are widely assumed to be roughly frigate-sized vessels, supersede earlier plans for the new Type 83 destroyer. This was previously expected to replace the Type 45 in the late 2030s, although for some time now its future had appeared threatened by increasing Admiralty interest in ‘arsenal ship’ concepts like the Type 91.

The Hybrid Carrier Air Wing outlined in the Defense Investment Plan is something we have discussed before.

In its last Strategic Defense Review, the U.K. Ministry of Defense introduced it as follows:

“The Royal Navy must continue to move towards a more powerful but cheaper and simpler fleet, developing a ‘high-low’ mix of equipment and weapons that exploits autonomy and digital integration. Carrier strike is already at the cutting edge of NATO capability, but much more rapid progress is needed in its evolution into ‘hybrid’ carrier air wings, whereby crewed combat aircraft (F-35B) are complemented by autonomous collaborative platforms in the air, and expendable, single-use drones. Plans for the hybrid carrier air wings should also include long-range precision missiles capable of being fired from the carrier deck.”

While there is no further mention of the deck-launched long-range precision missiles at this point, the Defense Investment Plan does note that Project Pantheon will serve as the development effort for the Hybrid Carrier Air Wing and will include trials of unnamed jet-powered drones alongside the F-35B.

While not referred to specifically, the Royal Navy has already outlined its ambition for ‘cat and trap’ drone operations aboard U.K. carriers, which is known as Project Ark Royal.

If realized, the project will see the two Queen Elizabeth class carriers start to operate drones that can undertake a variety of missions and then increasingly heavier, complex, and higher-performance ones. Later on, full catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) capability could also add fixed-wing crewed aircraft, as we have explored in the past.

Larger fixed-wing drones are an aspiration that the Royal Navy is already working toward under Project Vixen, which you can read more about here.

As we have discussed in the past, there are many technological hurdles ahead as the Royal Navy looks to introduce carrier-capable drones. Beyond the launch and recovery systems, it will also need to develop control stations, datalinks, unique procedures, and much more to ensure the drones can be safely and effectively integrated within the carrier air group, for example. Even working out the intricacies of deck handling and flow integration involving drones combined with crewed fixed-wing jets and helicopters will be a considerable effort.

Project Pantheon certainly looks like it will move all of this ahead, although it should be noted that the size of the jet-powered drones for the program has not been stated. Already, the Royal Navy has conducted trials involving smaller, jet-powered drones, with the QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+, best known as a target drone, being launched from HMS Prince of Wales in 2021. Even the Banshee could provide a suitable platform for a rapidly introduced decoy or one-way attack munition.

The Royal Navy’s elite amphibious and special operations-capable light infantry force, the Commandos, are also earmarked for further investment including “new high-speed boats and the latest drone and autonomous technology.”

Less surprising was the government’s commitment to strengthen the U.K.’s nuclear deterrent, including allocating more than £63 billion ($83 billion) over the next four years to fund the four Dreadnought class ballistic missile submarines and the SSN-AUKUS nuclear attack submarines, as well as a new warhead for British Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

‘£64bn will be invested into renewing the UK’s nuclear deterrent’

The money will go into building new submarines, developing a new sovereign warhead, and buying 12 F-35A fighter jets, to guarantee “British and European security”, Starmer says
https://t.co/vzwgATWaj2 pic.twitter.com/9tf0Wc2mFG

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 30, 2026

British Army

Moving on to the British Army, this service will benefit from more investment into “inexpensive expendable autonomous systems and loitering munitions.” This will include around $66 million boost over the next 12 months for the Army’s Rapstone program, which will pay for additional first-person view (FPV) and interceptor drones.

The British Army gets a new uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) program, as yet unnamed, which plans to rapidly develop and produce uncrewed vehicles and associated mission systems via U.K. industry.

In the air, Project Nyx will provide the British Army with up to 24 autonomous armed drones that will operate in a crewed-uncrewed teaming arrangement with the service’s recently upgraded Apache attack helicopters. Planned to be operational by 2030, the drones will be outfitted for reconnaissance, precision strike, and electronic warfare.

Lastly, under Project Corvus, up to 24 surveillance drones will replace the British Army’s much-troubled Watchkeeper drone system, carrying out intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR).

Royal Air Force

While standout announcements for the Royal Air Force are fewer than for the other services, the flying branch does secure around $10.6 billion for the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) over the next four years. This should drive forward the effort to a next-generation stealth fighter for the Royal Air Force, alongside Japan and Italy. 

More intriguingly, the Defense Investment Plan mentions a “new, national Collaborative Combat Air program,” which would appear to supersede various earlier ‘loyal wingman’-type programs. The Collaborative Combat Air program aims to develop “new autonomous fighter jets which will fly alongside crewed jets,” and a demonstrator is expected to be in the air by at least 2030.

As part of the nuclear deterrence budget, the Royal Air Force will also receive the 12 F-35As that will be armed with U.S.-owned B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs, allowing them to join NATO’s nuclear mission. You can read more about that plan — and questions about its feasibility — here.

Finally, the Storm Shroud system will provide the Royal Air Force with a new uncrewed electronic warfare drone, which will enter service this year. The Storm Shroud has already been trialed in exercises and is equipped with the Leonardo BriteStorm stand-in jammer, which you can read more about here.

All three services will benefit from an initiative to boost munitions and weapons stockpiles, a growing concern for militaries across the board, which has been highlighted by depletions through transfers to Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East.

The United Kingdom will spend £11 billion ($14.5 billion) to increase U.K. stockpiles, including long-range strike weapons, low-cost cruise missiles, and one-way effectors. Conceivably, a lot of these efforts will be kickstarted by separate projects originally launched to provide Ukraine with U.K.-made weapons. By 2030, there is a plan to build at least six new energetics factories as part of an overall increase in national munitions production capacity. 

Less obvious are the cuts that the British Armed Forces will face in some areas.

The government says it will phase out its Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles, many of which have already been transferred to Ukraine. The plan says that “We are now pivoting to the next generation of low-cost cruise missiles,” without providing further details.

Also facing the axe are more than 30 Wildcat and the oldest (Mk 6A variant) Chinook helicopters, as well as plans to upgrade a satellite communications system.

A drone-based defense plan

By putting drones squarely at the forefront, Starmer’s long-delayed Defense Investment Plan is certainly eye-catching. It also comes with immense developmental risk, involving many concepts that remain unproven in the real world.

However, there are still plenty of stress factors, not least the demands of senior officers from all three services for additional funding.

Tensions around the Defense Investment Plan have already led to fierce discussions between the Ministry of Defense and the Treasury. These came to a head when John Healey resigned as defense secretary earlier this month.

In an effort to placate criticisms, Starmer added another £1 billion ($1.3 billion) to the defense budget after Healey walked. However, Healey had reportedly been pushing the Treasury for a total rise closer to £18 billion ($23.8 billion).

I want the Defence Investment Plan to be a success. And I thank the MOD officials who’ve worked so hard over many months on it. I welcome the extra funding and focus the Treasury has ceded over the last couple of weeks. (1/6)

— John Healey (@JohnHealey_MP) June 30, 2026

The government has also responded to criticism that it is moving too slowly to address emerging threats and changing security demands.

“The Defense Secretary [Dan Jarvis] has spent the last two weeks refocusing the Defense Investment Plan so that it prioritizes getting the latest kit into the hands of military personnel,” the MoD said.

So, there we have it. The U.K. government has injected $6.6 billion into a defense plan that aims to do no less than reconfigure the British Armed Forces as “a flexible, integrated force with attack drones flying alongside Army helicopters, RAF jets made invisible from enemy detection with new drones, and a hybrid Royal Navy made up of crewed and uncrewed vessels.”

It is a bold vision and one that will face further challenges, not just in terms of cost and technological hurdles, but also from senior officers who will still question whether traditional crewed platforms — as well as all other military requirements — are adequately funded.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

We are living in a time of deep rupture. From Gaza to Ukraine, Myanmar to Kashmir, the United States to Europe, polarisation has become the defining rhythm of our age. Dialogue is no longer just difficult – it is risky. Leaders speak in absolutes. Humiliation and fear spur violence. In this context, the role of the mediator is more fragile, more necessary, and more human than ever.

At the centre of this episode is William Ury, cofounder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation and one of the architects of modern conflict resolution. Through his life’s work, we trace the hidden anatomy of peace: How trust is built when no one believes in it, how negotiations survive egos, trauma, and political pressure, and how humanity is preserved when everything pushes towards dehumanisation.

Ultimately, The Possibilist reveals that peace is not the domain of diplomats alone. It belongs to all of us. In our homes, our workplaces, and our communities, we all carry a form of power. Political power may change laws – but moral power, the power of empathy, courage, and presence, can change hearts.

A film by Fatima Lianes

“I’m still begging for people to help me get him out.” A mother’s plea as rescuers race to reach people trapped beneath collapsed buildings after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela. Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports.

From Ryan Kartje: She’d been out for more than a year, her long, arduous recovery from a season-ending knee injury kept almost completely under wraps. But as JuJu Watkins took her place in front of a microphone for the first time since returning to practice this summer, the USC superstar barely could contain her gratitude.

Asked Monday what the best part about being back has been so far, a big smile crept across Watkins’ face.

“Honestly everything,” Watkins said. “Like I don’t even know, the smallest stuff just gets me excited.”

Watkins’ return is a momentous mile marker for a Trojans team that has serious national title aspirations this season. Her status remains uncertain, and reporters in attendance Monday were told not to inquire further about Watkins’ recovery timeline. But she did say she’s already been able to scrimmage during USC’s summer practice and that she’s “feeling back like myself.”

“It’s just been a long time coming,” Watkins said. “I’ve just been working out and grinding every day so that I could be in position, so to see all of that hard work pay off right now, it’s really fulfilling.”

Continue reading here

Monday’s World Cup results

Round of 32
Brazil 2, Japan 1
Paraguay 1, Germany 1 (Paraguay wins on PK’s, 4-3)
Morocco 1, Netherlands 1 (Morocco wins on PK’s, 3-2)

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
10 a.m., Ivory Coast vs. Norway, Fox, Telemundo
2 p.m., France vs. Sweden, Fox, Telemundo
6 p.m., Mexico vs. Ecuador, Fox, Telemundo

World Cup round of 32 schedule, results

Canada 1, South Africa 0
Brazil 2, Japan 1
Paraguay 1, Germany 1 (Paraguay wins on PK’s, 4-3)
Morocco 1, Netherlands 1 (Morocco wins on PK’s, 3-2)

All times Pacific
Tuesday
Ivory Coast vs. Norway, 10 a.m., Fox, Telemundo
France vs. Sweden, 2 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Mexico vs. Ecuador, 6 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Wednesday
England vs. Congo DR, 9 a.m., Fox, Telemundo
Belgium vs. Senegal, 1 p.m., FS1, Telemundo
U.S. vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 5 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Thursday
Spain vs. Austria, noon, Fox, Telemundo
Portugal vs. Croatia, 4 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Switzerland vs. Algeria, 8 p.m., FS1, Telemundo

Friday
Australia vs. Egypt, 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo
Argentina vs. Cape Verde, 3 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Colombia vs. Ghana, 6:30 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Round of 16 schedule

Saturday
Canada vs. Morocco, 10 a.m., Fox, Telemundo
Paraguay vs. France or Sweden, 2 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Sunday
Brazil vs. Norway or Ivory Coast, 1 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Dodgers defeat the Athletics

From Bill Shaikin: Teoscar Hernández was back from a hamstring injury, and a little bit humble. He was about to play his first game in a month for the Dodgers.

“I don’t think they really need me in the lineup,” he said, with a hint of a smile.

Hernández hit 58 home runs over his first two seasons with the Dodgers, each of which ended in a World Series championship, so of course they need him. But, in his absence, the Dodgers had more than doubled their National League West lead.

Hernández is back, but Will Smith and Kiké Hernández still are out. So are Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Edwin Díaz.

No matter: The Dodgers boosted their division lead to 11 games Monday with a 9-4 victory over the Athletics. Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy and Andy Pages homered to highlight a 17-hit attack.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels lose to Mariners

Cole Young hit two home runs to back eight strong innings from George Kirby as the Seattle Mariners came from behind to beat the Angels 6-2 on Monday night.

Dominic Canzone also went deep to help Seattle (43-43) get back to .500 and stay a half-game behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.

Zach Neto doubled to center field leading off the game against Kirby (7-7), and Denzer Guzman singled two pitches later for a 1-0 lead. Neto hit his 18th home run in the third — a two-out shot that made it 2-0.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Who is coming back to the Lakers?

From Broderick Turner: As LeBron James dominated the news cycle regarding his future on the eve of NBA free agency, another member of the Lakers’ starting lineup returned.

Deandre Ayton is picking up his contract option for $8.1 million, according to people not authorized to publicly discuss the decision.

The 7-foot Ayton averaged career lows in points (12.5), rebounds (8.2) and minutes per game (27.2) in his first season with the Lakers, but played a career-high 72 games and shot a career-best 67.1% from the field. He averaged 10 points and 9.6 rebounds in the playoffs.

Lakers guard Marcus Smart declined his option of $5.9 million and will become an unrestricted free agent, according to people not authorized to publicly discuss the decision.

Smart is expected to have several teams pursue him in free agency, with the Houston Rockets reportedly among them.

He was the Lakers’ best defender and averaged 9.3 points and 3.0 assists last season, also his first with the team.

As for James, he’s an unrestricted free agent who earned $52.6 million last season. Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said during his season-ending news conference in May that they would give James time with his family to decide his future.

Continue reading here

Former Lakers Malik Beasley and Ed Davis accused of illegal gambling, wire fraud and money laundering

This day in sports history

1909 — Jack Johnson fights Tony Ross to a no decision in 6 rounds at Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to retain his heavyweight boxing title.

1916 — Amateur Chick Evans Jr. wins the U.S. Open with a record 286 total.

1929 — Bobby Jones beats Al Espinosa by 23 strokes in a 36-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open.

1962 — Murle Lindstrom wins the U.S. Women’s Open by two strokes over Jo Anne Prentice and Ruth Jessen.

1965 — The NFL grants Atlanta a franchise. Rankin Smith Sr., an Executive Vice President of Life Insurance Company of Georgia, pays $8.5 million for the franchise. It’s the highest price paid in league history at the time.

1975 — Muhammad Ali retains world heavyweight boxing crown by beating Englishman Joe Bugner by unanimous points decision in a re-match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

1991 — Wimbledon breaks 114 years of tradition by playing on the middle Sunday of the tournament, a move forced by a huge backlog of matches caused by rain earlier in the week.

1991 — Meg Mallon sinks a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to break a tie with Pat Bradley and Ayako Okamoto and win the LPGA Championship.

1993 — NBA Draft: Michigan center Chris Webber first pick by Orlando Magic (traded to Golden State).

1994 — Diego Maradona is kicked out of the World Cup by FIFA for failing a drug test after Argentina’s June 25 victory over Nigeria in Foxboro, Mass.

1994 — Tonya Harding is stripped of her national title and banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. because of her role in an attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

1996 — UEFA European Championship Final, Wembley Stadium, London, England: Oliver Bierhoff scores his second goal in extra time as Germany beat Czech Republic, 2-1.

1999 — NBA Draft: Duke power forward Elton Brand first pick by Chicago Bulls.

2002 — Ronaldo scores both goals to lead Brazil to a 2-0 victory over Germany for the team’s record fifth World Cup title.

2012 — Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan becomes the first player in a Grand Slam tournament to win every point of a set on her way to beating French Open runner-up Sara Errani 6-0, 6-4 in the third round of Wimbledon.

2013 — Inbee Park wins the U.S. Women’s Open for her third straight major this year. Babe Zaharias is the last player to win three straight majors on the calendar, but that was in 1950 when that’s all there were.

2013 — NHL Draft: Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) center Nathan MacKinnon #1 pick by Colorado Avalanche.

2015 — The United States defeat Germany 2-0 in semifinals at Women’s World Cup. Carli Lloyd converts a penalty kick for Team USA and a 1-0 lead. Substitute Kelley O’Hara scores in the 84th minute off a Lloyd cross to seal the U.S. team’s 2-0 victory.

2018 — FIFA World Cup: Kylian Mbappé (19) becomes only 2nd teenager (Pelé 1st 1958) to score twice in a World Cup match as France eliminate Argentina 4-3 in Kazan.

2020 — FC Barcelona’ Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi scores his 700th career goal in a 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1908 — Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox pitched the third no-hitter of his career at age 41, an 8-0 win over the New York Highlanders.

1948 — Cleveland’s Bob Lemon pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers for the first American League no-hitter at night.

1962 — Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers struck out 13 New York Mets en route to the first of four career no-hitters, a 5-0 victory at Dodger Stadium.

1970 — Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati was dedicated, but Henry Aaron spoiled the show for the crowd of 51,050 with a first-inning homer off Jim McGlothlin to send Atlanta past the Reds 8-2.

1978 — Willie McCovey became the 12th player in major league history to hit 500 home runs. His shot off Atlanta’s Jamie Easterly wasn’t enough, with the Braves beating the visiting San Francisco Giants 10-5 in the second game of a doubleheader.

1986 — 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson makes his pro baseball debut with the Memphis Chicks of the double-A Southern League and goes 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.

1995 — Eddie Murray of the Cleveland Indians became the second switch-hitter and the 20th player in baseball history to reach 3,000 hits when he singled against the Minnesota Twins. Murray joined Pete Rose, the career hits leader with 4,256, as the only switch-hitters to get 3,000.

1997 — Bobby Witt of Texas hit the first home run by an American League pitcher in a regular-season game in almost 25 years, connecting off Ismael Valdes in the Rangers’ 3-2 interleague victory over the Dodgers.

1998 — Sammy Sosa hit his 20th home run in June, extending his major league record for most homers in a month with an eighth-inning shot for the Cubs against Arizona.

2005 — Chad Cordero earned his 15th save in June in the Washington Nationals’ 7-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He tied a major league record set by Lee Smith in 1993 and matched by John Wetteland in 1996.

2006 — Adam Dunn hit a grand slam with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning off closer Bob Wickman to lead Cincinnati to a 9-8 victory over Cleveland.

2008 — Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate, hitting his second grand slam in four games and adding a solo shot to lead the Chicago White Sox past Cleveland, 9-7.

2009 — Nick Markakis hit a two-run double off Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon to complete the biggest comeback in Baltimore Orioles history for an 11-10 win. Baltimore trailed 10-1 before scoring five runs in the seventh inning and five more in the eighth.

2016 — Coastal Carolina capitalized on two errors on the same play for four unearned runs in the sixth inning, and the Chanticleers won their first national championship in any sport with a 4-3 victory over Arizona in Game 3 of the College World Series finals. The Chanticleers became the first school since Minnesota in 1956 to win the title in its first CWS appearance.

2020 — Minor League Baseball officially announces the cancellation of its season as Major League Baseball will keep a “taxi squad” of eligible players that can be added to the roster if needed.

2021 — Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner ties the major league record by hitting for the cycle for the third time in his career in a 15-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

At the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 17, Kenyan President William Ruto revealed that his country was nearing a critical minerals agreement with the United States. Far more significant was Kenya’s insistence that its rare earths, lithium, graphite, copper, nickel and niobium be refined and processed domestically rather than exported as raw materials. This was not simply another minerals deal; it was a signal that African governments are trying to rewrite the extractive bargain.

That demand, long voiced but rarely enforced, is beginning to reshape African resource governance. Namibia has prohibited exports of unprocessed lithium, cobalt, manganese, graphite and rare earths. Mali is constructing a 200-tonne-a-year gold refinery while requiring more local refining. Ghana will begin buying 30 percent of large-scale gold output from July 2026 to strengthen local refining and reserves. Across the continent, governments are increasingly requiring natural resources to create industries at home before generating profits abroad. The turn is not confined to critical minerals; it reflects a wider push to keep more value from natural resources at home.

Kenya’s move comes as the global race for critical minerals intensifies and Africa assumes greater strategic importance. Lithium consumption rose by almost 30 percent in 2024 as countries accelerated investment in electric vehicles, battery storage, renewable energy systems and advanced manufacturing. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects lithium use will increase fivefold by 2040, with graphite and nickel requirements roughly doubling.

This commodity boom differs in one crucial respect: The supply of critical minerals cannot expand rapidly. New mines often take well more than a decade to move from discovery through permits and development to first production, even as global demand continues to accelerate. The IEA estimates that, under its Stated Policies Scenario, announced mining projects will leave lithium supply 40 percent short of projected demand by 2035. Countries seeking secure supplies therefore have greater incentives to invest where the minerals already exist, giving African governments more room to negotiate local value addition, technology transfer and industrial investment.

For generations, the continent’s economic role has been brutally simple: Dig, ship and buy back the finished product. The transition minerals boom offers a rare opportunity to reverse that relationship. But this will require reliable power, transport, finance and skills, not export bans alone.

Mining is only the first step. The greatest wealth is created further along the production chain, when minerals are refined, processed and assembled into products that command far higher prices than the ore that left the ground. United Nations data illustrates how rapidly export value rises along the lithium-ion supply chain. In 2022, global exports of lithium ore and brine were worth about $20bn. Battery materials generated $51bn, cell components and battery packs $106bn, and electric vehicles $135bn.

Africa’s challenge is to move further along that chain. Every additional stage completed on the continent captures more income, creates more skilled jobs and embeds more technology before a single battery reaches the market.

Refining minerals is not an end in itself. It is the first step towards building the productive capabilities that distinguish manufacturing economies from extractive ones. Around every refinery cluster, engineering companies, chemical producers, equipment manufacturers, laboratories and specialist suppliers can emerge. Taiwan’s experience offers a broader lesson: With sustained policy, skills and supplier networks, industrial capabilities built in one generation can create higher-value industries in the next.

Africa’s growing confidence reflects a profound shift in supply chain politics. In a market this concentrated, countries that combine mineral deposits with downstream ambition can negotiate stronger terms. What has changed is not simply demand, but dependency: China is the dominant refiner for 19 of the 20 strategic minerals tracked by the IEA. For copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, the top three refining countries control 86 percent of processed output. The continent should demand beneficiation, meaning the processing of raw materials into higher-value products before export, alongside technology transfer and industrial investment before those resources enter global supply chains.

History offers a cautionary lesson.

Gold, diamonds, copper and oil generated billions of dollars in exports across the continent, yet most resource-rich economies remained dependent on exporting raw commodities rather than manufacturing higher-value products.

The colonial economy was built around those outward flows. In what is now Zambia, copper from Nkana, Mufulira and Nchanga moved through Ndola and across the rail network to Beira, the Mozambican port that linked the Copperbelt to overseas smelters and factories. Across the Gold Coast, in present-day Ghana, cocoa from Kumasi travelled by rail to Sekondi and later Takoradi before entering Britain’s chocolate industry.

Today’s export restrictions, refining mandates and beneficiation policies seek to disrupt that flow. The prize is to capture the industries built around those minerals before they take root elsewhere.

The real wealth in Africa’s transition minerals boom will not be measured by what leaves its ports, but by what never has to. Every tonne of lithium refined, every battery precursor produced and every stage of manufacturing completed before export shifts more income, technology, investment and skilled employment onto the continent.

Research by Publish What You Pay suggests that expanding higher-value mineral processing across Africa could generate an additional $32bn in annual exports, add up to $24bn to the continent’s gross domestic product and create about 2.3 million jobs. More importantly, it would leave behind industries, technologies and expertise that outlast the minerals themselves.

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery provides Africa’s clearest demonstration of what beneficiation can achieve. Located in the Lekki Free Zone outside Lagos and built at a cost of about $20bn, the 650,000-barrel-a-day facility is Africa’s largest single-train refinery.

Since beginning production in early 2024, the refinery has helped transform Nigeria’s energy sector. For decades, the country imported much of its refined fuel, spending billions of dollars in foreign exchange. The refinery now supplies much of the domestic market while exporting petrol, diesel and jet fuel to Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

Between February and March 2026, Nigeria’s clean petroleum exports more than doubled from about 100,000 barrels a day to 214,000 barrels, while helping anchor a new industrial ecosystem of marine infrastructure, storage terminals, petrochemical plants and fertiliser production.

Indonesia exemplifies the same principle.

After banning exports of unprocessed nickel ore on January 1, 2020, Indonesia became a leading producer and exporter of processed nickel products. The country targeted $21.3bn in foreign investment in mining and processing projects, while the value of its nickel product exports rose from less than $1bn in 2015 to nearly $20bn in 2022. New smelters, refineries, battery-material plants and electric vehicle manufacturing have expanded rapidly, though the boom has also brought environmental and labour concerns.

Africa’s transition minerals require the same strategic intent. If Zambia refines copper, Zimbabwe processes lithium, the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces battery precursors, and South Africa manufactures battery components, engineering firms will expand, chemical industries will grow, and skilled workers will find opportunities at home instead of abroad. Railways will carry higher-value products instead of raw ore, tax revenues will become more stable, and manufacturing will increasingly replace extraction as the main driver of long-term economic growth.

No African country needs to manufacture every component of an electric vehicle or every battery cell. Copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite and manganese are spread across different economies, making regional integration an economic necessity rather than a political aspiration. Shared power systems, transport corridors, research institutions, standards and integrated markets will determine whether Africa exports minerals or manufactures products.

That makes the African Continental Free Trade Area indispensable. Properly implemented, it can turn isolated mineral deposits into regional manufacturing systems by lowering trade barriers and allowing countries to specialise. Together, African economies can develop an integrated industrial base that none could achieve alone.

Africa has lived through too many extractive booms that enriched others first. Copper built industries across Europe and North America while Zambia remained dependent on raw exports. Cocoa supplied Britain’s chocolate manufacturers while Ghana captured only a fraction of the value added.

The global energy transition gives Africa its best opportunity in generations to rewrite that history.

Africa can finally mine, beneficiate and industrialise on its own terms.

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

Former lawyer Melat Kiros, 29, has criticised the Democrats for their support of Israel during its genocidal war on Gaza.

Democratic ⁠socialist Melat Kiros has defeated 15-term United States Representative Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary in a Denver-area district in Colorado, according to US media projections, the latest victory of ‌a leftist over an establishment Democrat.

The race on Tuesday was called ⁠by multiple media outlets after 78 percent ⁠of the votes were counted and Kiros had a nearly 7,000-vote lead over DeGette.

Kiros, who moved to the US from Ethiopia as a ⁠baby, had faced controversy over her criticism of Democrats who support Israel and her alliance ⁠with socialist political commentator Hasan Piker.

She is now favoured to win November’s election in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.

Kiros, a 29-year-old former lawyer, was fired from her job after refusing to remove a post that criticised law firms for their stance on Israel and Palestine and has called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide.

Kiros is ‌the latest democratic socialist to oust an incumbent Democrat this summer.

In New York City, three candidates with ties ‌to ‌the Democratic Socialists of America and endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries.

Also on Tuesday, Colorado ‌Attorney General Phil Weiser beat ⁠US ⁠Senator Michael Bennet for the Democratic nomination for governor, ⁠US media projected.

Weiser outraised and outspent Bennet in a race ⁠that was largely about who was best positioned to defend Colorado against President Donald Trump, who froze federal funds ‌to the state and vetoed a major drinking water project in Colorado, where voters have trended Democratic in elections over the past 20 years.

The attorney general argued that he ⁠stood up to ⁠the Trump administration in court, where he fought against the funding freeze and the president’s attempt to ⁠end birthright citizenship.

Weiser is expected to be elected ⁠governor in November.

State Representative Manny Rutinel ⁠also won the ⁠Democratic nomination to challenge Republican US Representative Gabe ⁠Evans in a battleground district that Democrats consider a top ⁠pickup opportunity in the November 3 midterm elections, according to projections.

Rutinel, a progressive candidate, defeated moderate former state Representative Shannon Bird in ‌a campaign that focused heavily on immigration. The district in Denver’s northern suburbs and nearby rural area is nearly 40 percent Latino.

Evans narrowly won his ‌seat in 2024 but has a significant cash advantage over Rutinel, ‌reporting $3.4m on hand in campaign funds to Rutinel’s $910,000.

Trump’s Republican Party now holds a slim majority in the US House of Representatives and Senate. Democrats need to net three ⁠seats to win control ⁠of the House in November and four to win the Senate.

Swedish defense firm Saab announced today that it had signed a contract to provide 16 Gripen E fighters to Ukraine. Once they arrive in the country, the jets will likely provide Ukraine with its most capable combat aircraft, and the development comes after Stockholm agreed to donate up to 16 of the previous-generation Gripen C/Ds to Ukraine. Handover of the Gripen C/Ds in Ukraine is slated to take place in early 2027, while the Gripen Es are scheduled for delivery starting in 2029.

The deal was signed between Saab and the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV), the governmental procurement agency acting under the Swedish Ministry of Defense. The order is valued at around SEK 24.6 billion (approximately $2.5 billion) and will be booked in the third quarter of this year.

Saab is scheduled to deliver the new jets to the FMV between 2029 and 2030, after which they will be transferred to Ukraine.

In addition to the 16 Gripen E fighters, the contract also includes spare parts and associated items and equipment.

“I am deeply proud that Sweden and Saab can now enable the provision of Gripen E to Ukraine, bringing a world-class fighter that will transform the Ukrainian Air Force’s capability. This will significantly strengthen Ukraine’s air defense and help ensure the nation can protect its people and safeguard its future,” said Micael Johansson, President and CEO of Saab, in a statement from the company.

The same statement also outlined particular features of the Gripen series that it says make it ideal for operations with the Ukrainian Air Force:

“Gripen is designed to address advanced threats in demanding environments. Operational flexibility and resilience enable operations from short stretches, temporary runways or roads, supporting dispersed operations and high availability. The software-based architecture facilitates continuous upgrades and adaptation to evolving operational requirements. With low maintenance requirements and fast turnaround, Gripen provides an advanced and cost-effective fighter capability that is easy to operate and maintain.”

These qualities, not restricted to, but notably baked into the Gripen design philosophy, are something we have explored as long ago as 2022, in the context of potential deliveries to Ukraine. In our previous coverage, we noted:

Designed during the Cold War to meet the Soviet threat, the Gripen was engineered for efficiency, durability, and ease of operation under wartime conditions. It was specifically designed to be serviced and rearmed by small teams — often including conscript personnel — while operating from dispersed locations such as roads and improvised airstrips instead of traditional air bases. The aircraft’s entire concept centers on maintaining combat operations in demanding environments, including prolonged cold-weather conditions.

Gripen – Always combat ready

Even with its existing fighters, the Ukrainian Air Force has developed tactics and equipment to operate these jets from dispersed locations around the country. Prior to the current conflict, Ukrainian fighters were training to make use of highways as alternatives to traditional runways.

Already, the Gripen C/D represents a significant advance, but, as noted, these are previous-generation jets, and they are secondhand aircraft drawn from Swedish stocks to expedite delivery.

Compared to the Gripen C/D, the Gripen E, as you can read about here, is a very different proposition, despite its superficially similar appearance.

In contrast to the older jet, the Gripen E has a bigger fuselage that accommodates approximately 30 percent more fuel and has a more powerful General Electric F414 engine, plus a total of 10 hardpoints for weapons and other stores. The cockpit is entirely revised, and the pilot is provided with a single Wide Area Display (WAD), replacing the three separate displays in the Gripen C/D.

The Gripen E can carry up to seven MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, weapons also compatible with the Gripen C/D, although in the new aircraft these are integrated with the Leonardo ES-05 Raven active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, and the Leonardo Skyward G infrared search and track (IRST) sensor.

The ES-05 Raven is set to be the first AESA fighter radar for Ukraine. Arrays of this kind bring a significant boost to modern combat aircraft. In comparison with traditional mechanically scanned array technology, an AESA can find and track a target at a much greater range, more quickly, and with a greater degree of accuracy. This also applies to smaller threats, including those with limited radar signatures, or flying at very low levels, which older radars find much harder to detect. This makes it especially relevant to hunting drones and cruise missiles, which are small targets often encountered by Ukraine en masse.

One particular feature of the ES-05 Raven on the Gripen E is the fact that the radar is mounted on a rotating repositioner, also known as a swashplate. As you can read about here, this enables the electronically scanned antenna, which is normally fixed in a forward position on fighter aircraft, to be slewed to the left and to the right in order to increase its field of view.

As we have discussed in the past, the Meteor would provide Ukraine with a class of air-to-air weapon that it badly needs to redress the balance against Russian fighter jets.

The Meteor is among the most capable air-to-air missiles in operational service anywhere in the world. Thanks to its ramjet propulsion, which can be throttled during different phases of flight, the Meteor is generally considered to be effective against certain types of targets out to around 130 miles.

The Meteor also features an active radar seeker for the terminal phase and a two-way datalink that feeds it with in-flight updates as it flies out to its target and provides information to the pilot in the launch aircraft.

Meteor

All Gripens can also be armed with the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) that arms Ukraine’s F-16 fighters as well as several of its ground-based air defense systems.

The jet also includes a new Saab Electronic Warfare System (EWS), featuring a 360-degree spherical Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS).

Less obvious is the Gripen E’s avionics architecture, which is designed to enable the rapid insertion of new hardware and updated software applications to take on new missions. Customers are also able to design and develop their own software to introduce new technologies and systems to keep pace with ever-evolving threats.

Furthermore, Ukraine will be able to maximize the potential of its Gripens by operating them in conjunction with its two Saab 340 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft equipped with Erieye radar that have been donated by Sweden.

The Saab 340 AEW&C can serve as an airborne fighter control platform by detecting and tracking Russian targets, prioritizing threats, and directing friendly fighters to intercept them. Using its datalink system, the aircraft can also provide mid-course guidance updates to missiles after launch. This allows fighter pilots to engage targets without necessarily activating their own radar. Instead, a missile can be assigned a target before launch, fired, and then receive continuous guidance updates from the AEW&C aircraft until it reaches the target. The Erieye radar is also notably effective when tracking ground and maritime targets.

Brazil was the first export customer for the Gripen E (also taking the two-seat Gripen F version), with its decision to buy the fighter influenced to a significant degree by the opportunity to establish a domestic production line. It was followed by Thailand, which secured a small batch of Gripen E/Fs to bolster its existing Gripen C/D fleet, and Colombia, which is also buying Gripen E/Fs. Meanwhile, Sweden has ordered 60 Gripen Es, the first of which was delivered to an operational unit last year.

Otherwise, the commonality between the aircraft will ensure that the Gripen E is easier for the Ukrainians to introduce.

According to Swedish officials, the training of Ukrainian pilots and technicians on the Gripen C/D is already underway and will be expanded this fall.

These Gripen Es could be just the start of a much bigger program.

The long-term ambition remains 100-150 Gripen aircraft. However, this transfer only exists as a statement of intent for now, as we have previously reported.

A similar letter of intent covers a plan for Kyiv to buy up to 100 Dassault Rafale F4 fighters from France over the next 10 years. These Rafales are at least as advanced as the Gripen Es, and superior in some respects, but there remain glaring questions about whether they can both be procured, especially in such numbers.

The Gripen E is an even bigger deal for Ukraine than the Gripen C/D. The Ukrainian Air Force has already received Western-supplied F-16s and a smaller number of Mirage 2000s, but still relies heavily on its Soviet-era fighters. The MiG-29 Fulcrum, in particular, has been continually adapted to carry new weaponry, both Western-supplied and locally developed, but these are all aging jets and the fleet overall has been steadily reduced by attrition.

Taken together, the Gripen C/D and Gripen E will provide Ukraine with a modern, networked fighter force unlike anything it has operated before. Combined with long-range Meteor missiles and Erieye AEW&C support, the aircraft will significantly enhance Ukraine’s ability to challenge Russian airpower and defend its airspace, and it will also be able to deliver precise attacks against surface targets.

Perhaps more importantly, these Swedish-made jets will bring the Ukrainian Air Force into a new era in which it is spearheaded by advanced, Western-made combat aircraft.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Chinese stocks advanced after fresh manufacturing data pointed to sustained factory expansion and President Xi Jinping reaffirmed his commitment to promoting high-quality economic development. The upbeat market reaction reflected growing optimism over the resilience of China’s industrial sector and the continued strength of technology and innovation-driven industries.

However, investor sentiment remains tempered by concerns over uneven economic growth, with persistent weakness in consumer confidence, the labour market and the property sector continuing to weigh on the broader recovery.

Strong factory activity boosts market confidence

China’s manufacturing sector expanded for a seventh consecutive month, marking its strongest quarterly performance since late 2020. The data reinforced expectations that industrial production remains a key pillar of economic growth despite ongoing challenges in other parts of the economy.

The stronger-than-expected factory activity provided investors with reassurance that export-oriented manufacturing and industrial output continue to support China’s recovery.

Xi reiterates commitment to high-quality growth

President Xi Jinping renewed his pledge to pursue high-quality development, signalling that Beijing remains committed to an economic strategy centred on technological innovation, industrial upgrading and sustainable long-term growth.

The remarks reinforced expectations that policymakers will continue prioritising advanced manufacturing, strategic industries and innovation rather than relying solely on traditional stimulus measures to support the economy.

Technology sectors continue to outperform

Technology-related stocks led gains as investors increased exposure to sectors expected to benefit from China’s industrial and technological ambitions. Chipmaking equipment, biotechnology and software companies posted strong advances, reflecting continued confidence in industries viewed as central to China’s long-term economic transformation.

The rally highlights investors’ preference for sectors with stronger earnings potential and policy support.

Traditional sectors show signs of broader participation

Alongside technology stocks, gains also spread to agriculture and property-related shares, suggesting investor optimism is gradually broadening beyond high-growth industries.

Although these sectors continue to face structural challenges, their recovery indicates improving market sentiment and expectations that policy support could help stabilise weaker areas of the economy.

Economic recovery remains uneven

Despite encouraging manufacturing data, investors remain cautious about China’s broader economic outlook. Consumer spending continues to be constrained by weak confidence, labour market pressures and the prolonged downturn in the property sector, creating an uneven recovery across different parts of the economy.

The divergence between strong industrial performance and softer domestic demand continues to shape investment strategies and policy expectations.

Future Outlook

Chinese markets are likely to remain supported by resilient manufacturing activity, continued policy backing for innovation and expectations of further measures to sustain economic growth. However, the durability of the rally will depend on whether improvements in industrial production translate into stronger domestic consumption and broader economic recovery.

Investors will closely monitor upcoming economic data and government policy announcements for signs that Beijing can address persistent weaknesses in the property market, employment and consumer confidence while maintaining momentum in high-value manufacturing and technology sectors.

With information from Reuters.

Adverse weather does not dampen Mexico’s party as the cohosts storm into the last 16 by beating Ecuador.

Mexico turned on the style at their iconic Azteca Stadium on Tuesday, brushing Ecuador aside 2-0 to break their FIFA World Cup knockout curse dating back 40 years.

The round-of-32 match was delayed for an hour due to stormy weather, and when it started, the co-hosts flew out of the blocks, mounting wave after wave of attacks.

In a supercharged atmosphere, Julian Quinones gave Mexico a deserved lead midway through the first half with a thunderous strike, and then turned provider for Raul Jimenez.

Ecuador desperately needed to wrest back the momentum after the break but struggled to shift through the gears, with the home side largely in control.

Mexico had not won a World Cup knockout game since 1986, when it last hosted the tournament.

Tuesday’s win means Mexico are now unbeaten in 10 World Cup games at the Azteca and will fancy their chances against England or the Democratic Republic of Congo in the round of 16.

Mexico were one of only three teams in the group phase to win all three of their matches, alongside title favourites France and reigning champions Argentina, and did not concede a single goal.

Ecuador finished third in their group, scoring just two goals.

Gilberto Mora, 17, was named in the starting line-up for Mexico, becoming the second-youngest player to start a knockout match at the World Cup finals behind Brazil legend Pele in 1958.

The home team started on the front foot, refusing to allow a shell-shocked Ecuador to settle.

Jimenez wasted a glorious headed chance in the seventh minute, and Mora flashed just wide.

At the other end, John Yeboah muscled his way into the penalty area in a rare foray forward for the visitors, clipping the outside of the near post.

Mexico took the lead in the 22nd minute when Saudi-based Quinones received the ball from Roberto Alvarado and tore down the left before driving into the box and unleashing an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Hernan Galindez, raising the roof.

The first hydration break failed to change the script, and Mexico doubled their lead after half an hour when Quinones fed Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jimenez, who fired a rocket into the top corner.

Raul Rangel produced a fine save to keep out another Yeboah effort, as Ecuador got a foothold in the match, but chances kept flowing at the other end.

Ecuador coach Sebastian Beccacece made several changes after the break in an effort to find a way back into the match. But Mexico, largely content to sit back, still looked the more threatening team, with Cesar Montes twice going close.

Ecuador substitute Kevin Rodriguez poked just wide with just over a quarter of an hour remaining, but their chances ran out. Piero Hincapie was sent off in stoppage time after covering his mouth during a confrontation with an opposition player to cap a miserable night for Ecuador.

Mexico will hope the Azteca, which hosted the World Cup final in 1970 and 1986, works its magic again in the last 16 on Sunday.

From the quarterfinals onwards, all the matches at the World Cup will be taking place in the United States.

Footage shows two NASA astronauts stepping outside the International Space Station to replace a malfunctioning wrist joint on a robotic arm. The joint failed during normal operations and did not move as expected. It took 7 hours and 20 minutes.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

AI firm says it will begin restoring access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 after removal of export controls.

The United States government has lifted its restrictions on foreign access to Anthropic’s most powerful AI models, the company has announced.

Anthropic said late on Tuesday that it would begin restoring access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 from tomorrow after the US Department of Commerce notified the company that it had removed its export controls.

“We’re grateful to our users for their patience, and to everyone who worked with us on redeploying the models,” Anthropic said in a statement posted on X.

Anthropic’s announcement came shortly after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that his department had been coordinating with the company on the approval of its frontier models.

“Over the past two weeks, we have worked closely with Anthropic to analyze and approve Fable 5 to ensure alignment across the US Government and strengthen America’s leadership in AI,” Lutnick said in a post on X.

Anthropic abruptly shut off Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 last month after US President Donald Trump’s administration ordered the company to restrict all foreign nationals, including company employees, from accessing the models.

On Friday, the San Francisco-based company said that it had been granted approval to provide the models to US organisations that “operate and defend critical infrastructure”, and that it was working with the government to restore general access for the public.

More to follow…

Caracas, June 30, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has created a Presidential Commission for the Assessment of Housing and Infrastructure Habitability following the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck the country on June 24.

The commission, chaired by structural engineer Francisco Garcés, began its work on Monday, June 29, in the states of La Guaira and Miranda, as well as in Caracas, carrying out scientific and technical evaluations of buildings, bridges, overpasses, and road infrastructure.

The inspections will deliver a traffic light-style assessment system developed by the Venezuelan Seismological Research Foundation (FUNVISIS) and the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) to classify the level of structural damage through a rating system that is easily understood by the public.

“We have created a traffic light system to determine whether a building is habitable, using the colors green, yellow, and red, so that this commission on housing and infrastructure can decide whether a home is safe to continue occupying,” Rodríguez said during a televised broadcast on Monday.

Under the system, green identifies homes that are structurally stable and safe for occupancy without significant risk. Yellow indicates buildings with moderate or partial damage that require repairs before they can be safely reoccupied, while red designates structures that have suffered total loss or critical structural damage.

“We have found buildings whose structural systems—beams, columns, and frame structures—have not sustained significant damage. However, the masonry has been severely affected. This means these buildings are repairable but cannot be inhabited until damaged walls and enclosure elements are removed and rebuilt,” Garcés explained to Venezuelan media.

The commission brings together specialists from the Ministry of Habitat and Housing, the Ministry of Public Works, the Venezuelan College of Engineers, the Venezuelan Chamber of Construction, Funvisis, and the Engineering Corps of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.

It is also supported by several academic institutions and will coordinate efforts with governors’ and mayors’ offices from the hardest-hit regions.

“We have deployed several teams of engineers specialized in structural engineering,” Garcés added. “After receiving training in the use of the damage assessment forms, they are able to determine the condition of a structure and recommend the appropriate course of action.”

The acting government has also launched training programs so that professors, graduates, and senior engineering students with the required technical background can join the inspection teams. Authorities say the initiative likewise aims to address public fears among residents who remain hesitant to return to their homes.

Rodríguez additionally announced plans to build thousands of new homes by the end of the year.

According to official figures, the earthquakes have left 189 buildings completely destroyed as well as 585 structures with severe damage or partial collapse. There have been 38 hospitals and 44 shopping malls affected, and 1,645 additional structures, mainly bridges and roads, have sustained damage.

Multiple corporate media outlets have launched claims that the buildings from Venezuela’s Great Housing Mission (GMVV) were especially damaged by the earthquake. However, analysis from open-source tracking of damaged buildings has shown that only a very small percentage of affected structures belong to the housing mission. Former President Hugo Chávez launched the massive program in 2011 to provide housing at next-to-no cost for working-class families.

So far, Venezuelan authorities have reported 1,943 dead, 10,571 injured, and over 15,000 displaced families as a result of the double earthquake. The disaster has seen emergency teams arrive from 27 countries to assist in search-and-rescue operations. For its part, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has deployed multiple military assets and is managing operations at Simón Bolívar International Airport, the South American country’s main air hub.

Alongside the disaster in Venezuela’s northern central region, the Caribbean nation has been struck by further emergencies in recent days. Torrential rains caused rivers to overflow in western Portuguesa state, leaving an initial toll of 100 displaced families. Further west, firefighters have been working to bring forest fires under control since last Friday.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.