signs

DUBAI: Film AlUla has signed a memorandum of understanding with international film financier Sherborne Media at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, establishing a financial framework designed to expand production support for Saudi, regional, and international filmmakers shooting in AlUla in the northwest of Saudi Arabia.

Qualifying productions filming in AlUla will be able to access debt financing solutions secured against available production rebates, grants, incentives, and soft money. The combined support packages will cover up to 50 percent of eligible production expenditure incurred in AlUla.

The partnership aims to address one of the filmmaking industry’s key barriers: upfront liquidity for producers against their contracted rebate and incentives receivables, ensuring sufficient cash flow to facilitate production.

By providing a standardized, transparent process for financial due diligence, the initiative supports established Saudi, MENA (Middle East and North Africa), and international storytellers in bringing their projects to life using AlUla’s production facilities, purpose-built soundstages, and historic landscapes.

The partnership will also integrate workforce development opportunities to support the sustainable growth of Saudi Arabia’s film industry. Film AlUla and Sherborne will collaborate on structured training programmes, crew upskilling, and local hiring initiatives to build long-term regional production capacity.

Zaid Shaker, acting executive director of Film AlUla, said: “Financing remains one of the most critical challenges facing creators today — particularly for emerging creators in Saudi Arabia and the region. Our partnership with Sherborne Media allows us to establish an efficient, transparent mechanism that bridges the gap between creative vision and financial execution. By pairing our state-of-the-art facilities and rebate structures with institutional debt solutions, we are providing a reliable platform for local and international artists to tell authentic, compelling stories – right here in AlUla.”

Alastair Burlingham, CO-CEO of Sherborne Media, said: “Saudi Arabia’s screen sector is expanding rapidly, supported by strategic leadership and infrastructure investment. After the successful financing and production of ‘Chasing Red’ earlier in 2026, and leveraging the services offered by Caravan — our Saudi joint venture company with Stampede — we are delighted to join forces with Film AlUla during TIFF 2026 to help facilitate its growth by introducing a structured financing model.

“Curated credit facilities against soft money and incentives receivables give producers the financial certainty required to execute high-quality feature and television projects efficiently in AlUla.”

Thousands of Los Angeles homeowners faced a persistent problem long after the devastating wildfires in January 2025: While their homes were left standing, they had been infiltrated by heavy, toxic smoke and ash, and remained unsafe.

Residents were forced into lengthy battles with their insurance companies to prove contamination and get help paying for the cleanup and additional living expenses.

Backed by wildfire survivors and advocates in Altadena, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced he had signed legislation to create new, first-in-the-nation standards to test and remediate homes damaged by wildfire smoke, and to require insurance companies to pay for the associated costs.

“California will not leave survivors to navigate recovery alone,” Newsom said. “These new protections will make insurer obligations clearer and give homeowners more financial flexibility when they need it most. As fire seasons across the West become a year-round reality, California’s commitment to recovery must be just as enduring.”

The January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires were two of the deadliest and most destructive in state history. Together, they burned more than 16,000 structures and killed 31 people.

Assemblymember John Harabedian (D-Pasadena) authored Assembly Bill 1642 after hearing repeatedly from constituents concerned that the fires had left layers of ash contaminated with asbestos, lead and toxic materials in and around their homes.

The now-signed bill directs the state to create scientific standards for what constitutes a safe home and provide guidance on how to properly remediate residences.

Twenty months after Jane Lawton Potelle sat in a friend’s garage — already suffering from a cough and chest pain as her Altadena home stood contaminated with toxic smoke — she stood alongside Newsom as he signed the bill, which was championed by her advocacy group, Eaton Fire Residents United.

“Early days, we were told we were the lucky ones,” said Potelle, who founded EFRU as her neighbors shared concerning test results on Facebook — all while government agencies and insurers offered conflicting guidance and little support.

“To have this bill signed is acknowledgment that just because your home is left standing and looks fine, doesn’t mean that it’s actually safe to return,” she said.

The data EFRU collected in the months after the fire showed the vast majority of homes tested had lead levels beyond what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers acceptable. With no clear guidance, haphazard and improvised efforts by companies to clean these homes left 6 in 10 residences still unsafe.

A companion bill signed by the governor, AB 1795, was born out of a Department of Insurance task force and requires insurers to abide by the AB 1642 standards in the insurance claims process and to do so in a timely manner.

If these laws had been in place when the Eaton fire broke out, “we’d all be home by now,” Potelle said.

Potelle’s home — like many others’ — remains contaminated as disputes with her insurance company drag on. Her Christmas tree, from 2024, is still up.

“Going forward, the question of whether a family can safely return home should be answered by science, not by an insurance company’s guesswork,” Harabedian said in a statement. “Families should not have to fight for the testing they need or be left trying to figure out on their own whether their homes are safe.”

More than 13,000 insurance claims filed after the fires involved homes that were damaged by smoke, not flames, according to an estimate from the Department of Insurance.

Newsom also signed legislation from Harabedian that will allow homeowners in the future to seek up to one year of mortgage forbearance if their home becomes uninhabitable due to the effects of a wildfire or other disaster. Another bill signed into law extends existing mortgage relief for those affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires for another year.

Qiddiya City has announced the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with five major travel and tourism service providers: Al Faris International Travel and Tourism, Travel Destinations Solutions, Al Matar Commercial Services Company, AlMosafer Travel and Tourism Company, and Fursan Travel and Tourism Company.

The agreements form part of a strategic direction aimed at expanding Qiddiya City’s network of partnerships in the travel and tourism sector, strengthening its readiness to welcome visitors, and developing more integrated pathways for accessing its diverse destinations and experiences from within the Kingdom and abroad, SPA reported.

The MoUs aim to establish shared frameworks for cooperation with a select group of travel and tourism service providers, contributing to the development of more integrated and flexible solutions for the visitor journey; from planning and booking, through travel and arrival arrangements, to enjoying Qiddiya City’s experiences more smoothly and efficiently.

Through these partnerships, Qiddiya City will leverage the specialized expertise, booking infrastructure, and commercial networks of these travel companies. The joint focus will be on delivering integrated and flexible solutions across every stage of the visitor journey, from initial planning and booking to travel arrangements and arrival.

These MoUs reinforce Qiddiya City’s ongoing commitment to build quality partnerships with key players in the tourism and travel ecosystem, and form part of its future plans to develop integrated tourism solutions that enhance the readiness of its destinations to welcome visitors from within the Kingdom and abroad.

These partnerships also contribute to expanding the scope of cooperation with sector partners and providing more flexible and efficient options for the visitor journey, supporting the company’s objectives in establishing Qiddiya as a global destination that brings together entertainment, sport, and culture, offering inspiring experiences built on the concept of “Power of Play.”

This article was first published on Asharq Al-Awsat.

California, home to the world’s largest tech companies, is placing more guardrails around social media and artificial intelligence as child safety concerns escalate.

On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed more than 10 bills aimed at keeping young people safe online.

From suicides to sextortion, parents and their children are wrestling with how social media and AI chatbots could be harming people’s mental and physical health. The anxiety comes as technology becomes more powerful, playing a bigger role in classrooms, offices and homes.

California lawmakers have tried to tackle online safety concerns for years and they’ve faced intense lobbying from tech companies with deep pockets. The state’s laws have a disproportionate impact on the global tech industry because so many of the field’s titans are based here.

“We cannot hand children technology engineered by some of the most sophisticated companies in the world, and then place the burden on kids to defend themselves against it,” said California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom in a news conference Thursday in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The California governor, who has tried to strike a balance between safety concerns and supporting innovation, has rejected online safety bills in the past that he thought were too restrictive or premature.

The batch of new legislation includes Senate Bill 1119, which would require companion chatbot operators to assess risks, notify parents in certain cases if their child threatened to harm themselves, and take other safety steps.

Lawmakers named the bill Adam’s Law, after Adam Raine, a California teen who died by suicide in 2025 after conversing with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The teen’s parents sued OpenAI, alleging in the lawsuit that ChatGPT provided information about suicide methods that the teen used. OpenAI and Pinterest publicly expressed support for the bill on Thursday.

Adam Raine’s mom, Maria, said in the news conference that the new law will help save lives and hopes that other states will enact similar legislation.

“Powerful AI companionship chatbots were unleashed on our kids with vastly inadequate protections. Adam was an early adopter of AI, and so many of us parents did not understand the dangers back then,” said Maria Raine, who came to the event with a photo of her son.

At the event, Democratic and Republican politicians shared their experiences as parents who have seen firsthand how technology affects children.

Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) said parents are seeing anxiety and depression among children who grew up in front of screens.

“That anxiety is because the pace of technology is moving faster than government can put guardrails in, and that’s left families across the state struggling to figure out how to keep their kids safe,” Lowenthal said.

Lowenthal introduced Assembly Bill 1709, which Newsom also signed. It would bar certain online platforms from providing an “addictive feature” such as autoplay and feeds that display recommended content to users under 16 years old.

Tech industry groups opposed the bill, raising concerns that it could cut off access to social media’s benefits, such as people’s ability to connect with family and friends. Tech industry groups such as TechNet say that lawmakers should enforce current laws to strengthen parental controls rather than pass new ones.

NetChoice, which has sued California and other states to block the enforcement of new online safety laws, said in a statement that the group has First Amendment concerns about the new bills Newsom signed.

“The state cannot simply describe speech as addictive and then claim a right to regulate access to it,” said Zach Lilly, Director of Government Affairs at NetChoice. “Whether the governor and legislature choose to respect it, Californians have a right to express themselves, and NetChoice will continue to fight for that right.”

The new safety restrictions come as tech companies, including Meta, Google and others, face more scrutiny over how they design products. The companies have suffered several legal blows in courtrooms in California this year.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, agreed in August to pay up to $17 billion and make child-safety changes to resolve a multistate lawsuit. The lawsuit accused the tech company of designing and deploying harmful features while misleading the public about them.

As part of the settlement, Meta said it would impose time limits and mute notifications during certain hours for teens. Young people would also have the option to choose to view a non-algorithmic social media feed that isn’t personalized and disable autoplay.

Earlier this year, Meta and YouTube also lost a social media addiction lawsuit in Los Angeles.

While new legislation goes further than the settlements, some countries have passed stricter restrictions on social media. Last year, Australia started banning social media for children under 16, though enforcement has posed a challenge because teens are finding ways to get around the restriction.

Newsom, who pushed for federal regulation, said that he thinks California’s approach to social media is “better” than Australia’s because children are “all figuring out a way to game that system.”

“This is about the features themselves. This is about actually addressing the problem, the scrolling, the algorithms,” he said.

Safety concerns around technology have also heightened as companies double down on advancing artificial intelligence.

This week, a researcher for AI company Anthropic said he left the company over concerns that AI companies, including OpenAI, are “gambling with our lives” as they race ahead to improve AI that could surpass human intelligence.

The researcher, Jacob Coxon, shared a viral social media post that said: “People building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

Newsom signaled the work to protect children isn’t over.

“We need to move, but one thing we’re not doing is we’re not sitting back and we’re not letting it rip,” he said.

Caracas, September 10, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Ecosocialism and India’s Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (GZRRC) to “modernize and strengthen” Venezuela’s network of zoos, bioparks, and wildlife conservation centers.

GZRRC is the operating entity of the global conservation initiative Vantara, based in the Indian state of Gujarat.

According to the Venezuelan leader, Greens will provide “technical assistance, training, and technology to raise the standards for the management and protection of Venezuela’s biodiversity.” 

“Our professionals will be able to attend courses in India,” she added during the televised event on Saturday, September 5.

Rodríguez noted that Venezuela has 16 zoos and aquariums, 12 breeding centers, and four rescue centers. She also announced that the agreement involves “incorporating an aquarium, a wildlife conservation center, a veterinary center, and a wildlife hospital into the master plan for the recovery of La Guaira State” in the wake of the June 24 double earthquake.

The initiative with Vantara, which has a five-year time frame, also includes exchange programs for veterinarians, biologists, and other professionals involved in wildlife management and conservation.

Days earlier, Venezuela enacted the Law Approving the Framework Agreement for the Establishment of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), which will focus on protecting seven feline species considered among the planet’s most representative. Venezuela is home to six of the world’s most important feline species, accounting for 14 percent of global feline biodiversity.

The legislation stems from a proposal put forward by India in 2023, which currently has the backing of 13 member states and applications for membership from more than 25 others.

During the recent ceremony, Rodríguez thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ambassador P.K. Ashok Babu, Vantara, and the wealthy Ambani family for “all their support.”

Venezuela’s Acting President held a four-day visit to India in June to offer investment and trade opportunities to major Indian companies, including the Tata Group, Amul, and Reliance. The latter has been a major importer of Venezuelan crude in recent months.

Vantara is backed by Reliance Industries, a major conglomerate owned by the Ambani family, with a major presence in multiple economic sectors, including energy, telecommunications, financial services, and retail. Its wildlife rescue center is located within the Jamnagar refining complex in Gujarat, the largest in the world. The facility, which covers approximately 3,500 acres, is managed by businessman Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani.

Despite Vantara’s declared wildlife conservation mission and philanthropic endeavors, the company has faced controversy in recent years.

Various environmental groups and international organizations have accused it of operating as “a large-scale private zoo,” managing wildlife as commodities around the world, and taking advantage of loopholes in international regulations that seek to ensure that the trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

In 2024, India’s Supreme Court appointed a panel of retired judges to investigate the alleged illegal acquisition of animals by Vantara, particularly elephants, as well as possible violations of wildlife regulations and money laundering allegations. The court ultimately dismissed the complaint filed by the Karanartham Viramah Foundation.

However, criticism that Vantara is breeding exotic animals for trade, as well as environmental concerns over setting up a wildlife sanctuary in the vicinity of an oil refinery, have persisted.

Venezuela had dealings with the Indian group before the latest memorandum of understanding. A joint investigation by Süddeutsche Zeitung and Venezuelan outlet Armando.info claimed that at least 39,000 wild animals from all over the world had been transferred to Vantara’s facilities by the end of 2024. 

The identified transfers included over 5,000 animals from Venezuela, among them members of protected species such as the Orinoco crocodile, harpy eagle, lowland tapir, giant anteater, jaguars, and spider monkeys.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

City clung on to a nervy victory against the Sky Blues to maintain their 100% winning start to the season, but managed to get the job done courtesy of a string of saves from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Haaland continued his fine start to the season by converting his third goal in as many games from Antoine Semenyo’s deep cross, which came after Fernandez played through a slide-rule pass to the Ghanaian.

Playing in the number eight role, Argentina international Fernandez was given licence to roam and make late bursts into the box – he touched the ball six times in the opposition area, with only Haaland managing more with 11.

Fernandez could have had a dream debut but saw two shots blocked, before being replaced after 76 minutes by fellow summer signing Ayyoub Bouaddi.

The 18-year-old Morocco international was part of City’s midfield rebuild and highlights the options available to Maresca despite the departures of Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez.

Ndiaye, meanwhile, became the first Senegalese player to represent City and is bound to give opposition defenders with his trickery and pace. No player attempted more dribbles in the match than his eight.

Maresca said: “Enzo and Iliman [played their] first game with us and then Ayyoub and Ryan [McAidoo] their first game in front of our fans.

“That is why I said there are many reasons I am happy about our win. I think they were all good.

“Ili just had two sessions with us. He needs to understand how to move. Most of the time he was moving in the wrong way, wrong position, but he needs to learn and for sure he is going to learn.”

Asked to elaborate on Ndiaye’s performance, Maresca said: “When Marc Guehi has the ball and he was dropping a lot and we don’t need that.

“We need him in the last third so he can be a little bit more higher. That space was more for Josko Gvardiol.

“It is the same thing in this [other] side. But it is normal and with time they will learn the way we want them to play.”

Sept. 4 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed two executive orders aimed at strengthening the country’s ranching industry.

Trump has been facing criticism from beef producers since he waived tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons of imported beef in an effort to ease rising costs as the nation heads into the midterm elections.

Trump’s first executive order directs the Interior Department to study removing gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act list, allowing ranchers to kill them on their properties. Gray wolves are a major threat to herds in the West.

The second executive order would allow ranchers to process their beef and sell directly to consumers, instead of going through USDA inspections.

“People have been asking for this change for decades, and we’re getting it done,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “This is the largest-ever government effort to change all federal rules and regulations necessary to support our ranchers and our farmers.”

Beef prices have risen this year due to drought and high feeding costs. The United States currently maintains the smallest herd since the 1950s.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said it was “disappointed” by Trump allowing more foreign beef to flow into an industry already under severe stress.

“While America’s cattle producers share the goal of keeping groceries affordable for consumers, flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd,” the association previously said in a statement.

“Cattle markets have already turned sharply lower this morning, to the detriment of farmers and ranchers.”

Caracas, September 3, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright celebrated an oil agreement between the two countries and North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) and a flurry of additional energy deals signed on Wednesday.

“This is a historic day in the transformation of Venezuela,” Wright said in a joint press conference at Miraflores Palace. “President [Donald] Trump has a clear mission in Venezuela: to bring peace, freedom, and prosperity to everyone.”

The US official went on to praise the “enormous deal” announced last Friday that will see NABEP, a company owned by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, receive long-term concessions for 17 prime oilfields in the Caribbean nation that hold 65 billion barrels of reserves.

According to the White House, the US Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) will acquire a 35 percent stake in NABEP through penny warrants. The US State Department will be able to purchase 20 percent of NABEP’s production at cost and hold a right of first refusal for the remaining 80 percent. 

Washington will likewise control the company’s board of directors. Wright stated that the NABEP deal is “ambitious” and predicted that Venezuelan oil production would surpass 2 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the decade, nearly doubling the current output of 1.1 million bpd.

For her part, Rodríguez urged Wright to convey her gratitude to Trump, the US State Department, and the Department of Energy for helping secure “a mutually beneficial, win-win agreement.”

“I trust that the binational agreement will also prove beneficial for the people of the United States,” the acting president told reporters. “Venezuela is ready to welcome these investments that will boost the country’s development.”

Rodríguez had previously stated that Venezuela is estimating US $19 of revenue per barrel extracted in the project, significantly below the government take under the 2001 Hydrocarbon Law enacted by former President Hugo Chávez. The law was overhauled with US support in January to expand benefits for foreign corporations.

Both Rodríguez and Wright faced questions about Betancourt, who has faced embezzlement and money laundering investigations in Spain and Switzerland stemming from alleged corruption in dealings with state oil company PDVSA.

NABEP has operated in the country since 2024 and was awarded the project without a prior bidding process. It is currently Venezuela’s second-largest crude producer after Chevron. Wright said the US government had negotiated the agreement carefully and would exercise strict control over the flow of funds associated with the NABEP deal.

Rodríguez, for her part, said that Betancourt is not facing any judicial proceedings in Venezuela, with a 2022 arrest warrant for corruption having been dropped one year later. Similarly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued in an interview that the Venezuelan mogul is not the subject of any investigation in the US.

Before the afternoon press conference, Wright attended a ceremony at the presidential palace that saw the Venezuelan government sign a number of agreements with foreign corporations.

Chevron, the largest foreign corporation operating in Venezuela, saw its joint venture with PDVSA awarded two additional extra-heavy crude fields, Carabobo-1 and Carabobo-2 South, in the Orinoco Oil Belt.

The Texas-based company announced plans to invest $7 billion in its Venezuela projects over the next five years with the goal of more than doubling the current 250,000 bpd output. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth affirmed in an interview that the “strong legal protections” and “improved terms” under the reformed Hydrocarbon Law granted the company “attractive low-cost oil growth” prospects. 

Italian company Eni also signed a contract to develop the Junín-5 block, one of the largest in the Orinoco Oil Belt. The project will migrate from a joint venture with PDVSA majority to a concession-type deal, called a Productive Participation Contract, which offers increased benefits for the private operator.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi was likewise present in Miraflores Palace and thanked US and Venezuelan authorities for backing foreign investments in the South American country.

Wednesday’s ceremony also saw Primavera secure a concession to exploit the medium- and heavy-crude Budare-Elotes block in eastern Venezuela. Primavera is an energy-investment vehicle created by billionaire Fred Ehrsam, a Trump supporter and co-founder of Coinbase, to enter the Venezuelan oil industry.

Additionally, Colorado-based wildcatter Aspect Energy received rights to study potential new oilfields in eastern Venezuela.

Finally, PDVSA and state electricity company CORPOELEC signed “strategic alliance” agreements with GE Vernova, an offshoot of General Electric, to upgrade and repair electrical infrastructure supporting Venezuela’s oil industry.

Following the pro-business overhaul of its energy sector, Caracas has signed new or updated agreements with multiple Western multinational corporations, including BP, Shell, and Repsol. 

Since the January 3 military strikes and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration has wielded significant control over the Venezuelan oil and gas industry. The Caribbean nation’s export revenues are currently deposited in a US Treasury account before the White House decides the disbursement timings and amounts.

Washington has also kept wide-reaching sanctions in place while issuing licenses for select corporations and banning dealings with companies from Russia, China, and Iran. With NABEP set to take over five oilfields previously operated by joint ventures with Chinese firms, Beijing demanded that its “rights and interests” in Venezuela be respected.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

Greece signs $3.5bn deal with Israel to acquire its first multi-layered air defence network by 2029.

Greece has signed a $3.5bn defence deal with Israel to provide its first integrated “multi-layered” air defence network.

Israel said the agreement, negotiated over three years, is one of the largest in the country’s history..

Engineers will set up an aerial defence shield for the Greeks, integrating three Israeli systems, including the SPYDER system, produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the BARAK MX system, made by Israel Aerospace Industries and David’s Sling air defence technology, an Israeli defence ministry statement said on Monday.

The agreement comes as Israeli weapons’ exports are soaring, despite widespread criticism over its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and other wars in Lebanon and Iran.

Israeli weapons exports reached record highs with more than $19bn last year, a 30 percent increase from 2024, according to official data.

“Modern conflicts have already altered the parameters of military defence and deterrence,” Greece’s Defence Minister, Nikos Dendias, said in a statement after the agreement was signed.

“Technology, ballistic missiles, satellite communications, unmanned systems, cyber threats, hybrid forms of warfare and the interconnection of fields of operations have long rendered pre-existing defence doctrines completely unrealistic,” he said.

Reporting from Athens, Al Jazeera’s John Psaropoulos said the systems could counter a range of aerial threats.

“The SPYDER and David’s Sling are short-to-medium-range air defence missile systems. They fire missiles to intercept incoming aircraft, cruise missiles and large drones. The BARAK can do all these things, but it also intercepts incoming ballistics,” he said.

Separately, Greece signed a $30m deal with Israel for Rafael’s Drone Dome system, “to defend strategic sites against UAVs and drones and to reinforce existing defences”.

Europe’s changing security landscape

Greece is the second European Union member to agree to buy the David’s Sling system, after Finland.

“This is Greece interpreting the lessons from the war in Ukraine, which has changed the nature of armed conflict and realising that it needs much stronger air defences to intercept whatever might come in from the East.” Psaropoulos said.

“Now that the war in the Gulf has reawakened Iranian animosity towards US allies in Europe, there is a perceived threat from there as well as from other countries in the East,” Psaropoulos added.

Greece spends nearly 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product on defence, a higher proportion than ⁠many NATO allies due to its long-standing dispute with neighbouring Turkiye.

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday he is renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the United States as he exacerbates his trade war with Canada.

The Republican president signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the U.S. geographic naming service. Trump cannot force Canada to follow his preferred naming convention, however.

Trump has been floating the idea of the name change in recent days as the U.S. announced it was imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend after talks between the countries broke down. Trump has been needling America’s northern neighbor since he returned to the White House last year, suggesting the ally with whom the U.S. once had warm relations instead should be absorbed as the 51st state.

Canada responded to Trump’s import taxes this week by imposing retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment.

Trump, who signed the order as he was sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, had a large sign behind him propped on a stand with a map of the Great Lakes. Over Lake Ontario, in big red letters, the map read “Lake America.”

On the other side of the president was another map with the words, “MAKING THE GREAT LAKES EVEN GREATER.”

The lake is one of multiple Great Lakes that the U.S. and Canada share borders along.

The office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There is no single international body that determines names of international bodies of water, and Trump has wide latitude over how the U.S. government recognizes geographic places and landmarks.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has traded insults with Trump, this week brushed aside the prospect of Trump changing the lake’s name as “a lot of rhetoric.”

The name Lake Ontario comes from the Huron Indigenous people’s word “oniatarí:io,” that means “lake of shining waters.” The province of Ontario, founded in 1867, took its name from the lake.

Trump said that while his action was not meant to send any particular geopolitical message, “Canada’s been ripping us off for a long time” on trade and military issues.

“They wanted to be treated like a state and they’re not a state,” the president said. “We just can’t do that anymore.”

“We love the people of Canada,” Trump added. “I don’t think their representatives do an appropriate job. Maybe they’ll change. I really don’t know. It doesn’t make much difference.”

The move is reminiscent of his move last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

Trump scribbled his name with a Sharpie pen on the executive order, then held it up for the cameras, offering, “And we filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else.”

“We’ve notified all of the various people that we have to notify. So, we’ve done everything that you have to do,” he said. “And this is official, effective immediately.”

The executive order Trump signed shows that the changes, in fact, are supposed to be made within 30 days.

He also suggested his push to rename bodies of water may not be finished.

“So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean,” Trump said. “So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them.”

Price and Weissert write for the Associated Press. AP writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Ukranian center Kate Koval will not return to Louisiana State’s basketball team next season, coach Kim Mulkey said in a statement released by the Tigers on Monday.

Koval’s decision to leave the program comes less than two weeks after LSU announced the signing of Russian teenager Anna Minaeva. Koval was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city, and her father is a drone operator fighting against Russia in its four-year invasion of Ukraine. According to nola.com, Koval said last season that she worried for her father’s life “every single day.”

“Kate came to see me on Sunday and told me that after much consideration, she will be leaving the program for personal reasons,” Mulkey said in her statement. “We will respect her privacy on her decision, but we had a long talk about it, and it was a hard decision for her. I know it is hard because she loves LSU.

“Kate is a great person. She has to do what she feels is right for her, and we fully support her in that. We all wish her the best.”

No announcement has been made about a future basketball home for Kobal, a 6-foot-5 rising junior who played at Notre Dame as a freshman before averaging 8.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks for the Tigers last season.

Minaeva, also a 6-5 center, is 17 but has previously played professionally with MBA Moscow. Mulkey told nola.com that she spoke with Koval earlier in the offseason before starting the recruiting process with Minaeva.

“I want you to understand I’m not here to ask you to change how you feel about Russia,” Mulkey said she told Koval. “I’m just here out of respect for your family and out of respect for you to let you know. Because I know how personal it is for you.

“Know that what I have to do in this business, I cannot make a decision to not recruit somebody that can help our program because of a conflict between two countries.”

Aug. 25 (UPI) — An internal government watchdog said Tuesday that a Federal Emergency Management Agency crew violated the Hatch Act when it skipped houses with signs supporting President Donald Trump during Hurricane Milton recovery efforts in 2024.

The report comes from the inspector general’s office of the Department of Homeland Security. Officials determined that crew skipped 11 homes in Florida with Trump signs.

This “eroded public trust in FEMA’s ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance and ensure equal access to resources and tools,” the report said.

The Hatch Act, first passed in 1939, limits certain political activities by federal employees to make sure they’re administered in a nonpartisan way.

Trump has called for abolishing FEMA, later trying to downsize it and providing limited aid to states. The Office of the Special Counsel also found in 2025 that the same 2024 actions violated the Hatch Act.

Christopher Logan, FEMA associate administrator, said it no longer takes part in “FEMA-led door-to-door outreach efforts” and that agency staff now provides support “from fixed locations determined by state and local officials,” The Hill reported. Logan also said that after the 2024 case, FEMA gave staff mandatory Hatch Act and ethics training.

Michael Cohen, FEMA’s chief of staff at the time, told The Hill that the report reinforces that the “violations were not systematic and were isolated.” He said FEMA took appropriate action.

The Trump administration has also been accused of making disaster aid related to political leanings. Politico reported in March that it’s three times more difficult for Democrat-led states to obtain disaster aid for residents under the Trump administration.

The administration has also been accused of violating the Hatch Act, including in messaging on government websites.

There were early glimpses of just what Jaissle’s side could be – the intensity, the balls in behind, the grit, spirit and work rate.

Few embodied those qualities quite like new arrival Amar Dedic, who only completed his £30m move from Benfica on Tuesday, but what was just as striking was the performances of one or two of last summer’s signings following difficult first seasons on Tyneside.

It was Anthony Elanga who opened the scoring against Liverpool with a well-taken finish into the bottom corner while Yoane Wissa, who set up substitute Joe Willock’s second, is clearly relishing added responsibility under Jaissle.

It said it all that Wissa, a forward, won more duels (11) than any other Newcastle player on Sunday.

“The manager expects me to be a leader and lead the group,” the 29-year-old told Sky Sports.

“He wants me to be winning balls, making sure everyone is going forward, going for the kill, and sometimes just be calm.”

Jaissle saluted Wissa’s display, even if he could not help but add he also had the chance to “kill the game” to make it 3-1.

This was Newcastle‘s achilles heel last season.

No other side dropped more points (27) from winning positions in 2025-26 and predecessor Howe was the first to admit last May that “anything can happen” after he was asked if such a habit could seep into this campaign.

Yet the reaction of those Newcastle supporters who stayed behind to applaud afterwards was telling on Sunday.

“We were there for each other if something went wrong,” Jaissle said of his players.

“We acted like a unit. In such a short amount of time, this is a top starting point and the frustration was there as well, but these are the challenges we have now.

“With the pre-season, with the transition phase, it’s normal. Today someone threw stones in the way and we need to take that out to be successful again.”

Chelsea striker Joao Pedro has signed a new contract running until 2034.

The Brazil international, 24, joined from Brighton last summer in a deal worth an initial £55m, plus £5m in add-ons.

He scored 20 goals in all competitions in his first season at the club, having played a key role in their Club World Cup success.

“I am very happy to sign a new contract with Chelsea,” Joao Pedro said.

“I always dreamed of playing for a big club, and it means a lot to me to give my long-term commitment to this club. Chelsea has a long tradition of winning and it has big ambitions for the future.

“Everyone is very excited for this season. We know we can achieve a lot of things, we have a great team, we have a coach who wants to win and has won already.”

When he signed for the club, his original contract was announced as running until 2033.

However, that deal actually ran until 2032 with an option for one further year.

Chelsea typically include those club options when stating the length of a player’s contract in official announcements.

Therefore, Joao Pedro’s new deal has been announced him as being under contract until 2034, despite the deal itself running until 2032 with a further two-year option.

In reality, Chelsea have extended his contract on improved terms rather than reducing it.

The strategy is not only designed to protect their investment – Barcelona have been keen on the striker – but it also serves as a reward for performance.

Chelsea operate a strict wage structure, but are keen to incentivise strong performances by allowing players to move up wage bands.

They did so with Cole Palmer after his impressive form and also with Nicolas Jackson, who moved from an entry-level salary to a more established wage bracket after joining from Villarreal.

Last season, Joao Pedro became the first Chelsea striker since Diego Costa to score 20 goals in a campaign without taking penalties.

He also netted three times during Chelsea‘s Club World Cup-winning campaign last summer and has eight goals in seven pre-season matches.

He is likely to start Chelsea‘s Premier League opener at Fulham on Monday, with new signings Danny Welbeck and Emmanuel Emegha expected to provide cover this season.

His success has led Chelsea to hand him the number nine shirt, with Liam Delap relinquishing it.

Delap is available for transfer for about £50m and is attracting interest from Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.

Chelsea intend to hand out a number of new contracts to key players after the transfer window closes, with Levi Colwill and Estevao Willian among those likely to be considered.

Four-time F1 World Drivers’ Champion’s new deal puts to rest rumours that he would exit the team at the end of 2028 season.

Multiple Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has signed a new contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of 2030, the team announced, ending speculation over his future in the sport.

“Four more years of full send. We are delighted to announce that Max has signed a contract extension with the team until the end of 2030,” Red Bull said on X on Thursday.

The news came with preparations in full swing for Verstappen’s home race this Sunday, the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, and will delight his thousands of orange-clad fans.

Verstappen is one of the most successful Formula One drivers of all time, dominating the sport with four consecutive world championships from 2021.

But results have been harder to come by this season, with the 28-year-old failing to see a chequered flag in the first half of the year and sitting sixth in the drivers’ championship.

“This commitment is about more than continuing an already extraordinary alliance,” the team said in its statement.

“It is a powerful statement of mutual trust and ambition – and a shared decision to shape the future together.”

The uncompetitive nature of the Red Bull car this year has led many to speculate that the mercurial Dutchman could switch to another team or even leave Formula One entirely.

But Verstappen said he was keen to get the team back to winning ways.

“We have the best people and I’m excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again,” he was quoted as saying.

Dutch courage needed this weekend

The news adds even more spice to the last-ever edition of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Verstappen was unbeatable on his home track, winning the first three editions since it was reintroduced to the circuit in 2021.

But he has since been chasing McLaren in his own back yard, with Papaya drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri claiming the last two races.

Verstappen is expected to don a special helmet for the occasion, inspired by the famous blue Delft pottery.

The promoters decided not to continue racing at Zandvoort, partly due to uncertainty over Verstappen’s future given his importance for the popularity of the event.

“I have always said it: The team is like a second family for me and I feel very at home,” said Verstappen.

“I came to the team hoping to be able to win races. What we went on to achieve together has been simply lovely,” added Verstappen, using his trademark phrase.