supply

A special operations team is pinned down in a valley deep inside contested territory. Ammo is running low, and close air support is nonexistent. Extraction forces are still hours out. The operatives have kept the enemy at bay, but their ability to do so is dwindling with every round they fire. Their stocks of 40mm grenades have long been exhausted; now their rifles will soon run dry too. The sky cracks with a sonic boom, which echoes across the valley, and fighting pauses for a split second as fighters on both sides look up. Soon after, the shooting resumes, but out of the blinding sun comes a capsule stuffed with ammunition hanging on a parachute and flying right toward the special operations team.

Help has arrived… From orbit.

The above is a scene that sounds like it’s ripped right out of a Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare video game, but one company is working to make it a reality.

California-based space startup Inversion has unveiled its design for a fully reusable, lifting-body spacecraft named Arc. The spacecraft is intended to deliver critical cargo from space to any point on Earth within an hour, landing on water, snow or soil with a precision of around 50 feet, the company says. The concept, aimed squarely at the defense sector, reflects longstanding U.S. military interest in using space-based systems to rapidly move cargo around the globe to meet commanders’ urgent needs.

The mission concept involves the Arc spacecraft being launched into low Earth orbit atop a rocket. Arc then remains in orbit until its cargo is required to be delivered. At that point, the spacecraft uses a deorbit engine to re-enter the atmosphere, moving at very high speed. Arc uses small thrusters and large trailing-edge maneuvering flaps to adjust its position and speed during its fiery reentry, through the atmosphere, until it approaches the ‘drop zone.’

Once it has reached a lower altitude, Arc slows down and lands using its actively controlled parachute system. This is also able to fine-tune the spacecraft’s path back to Earth. The parachute ensures a soft landing, meaning that Arc can then be reused. The entire mission is uncrewed, with the Arc being commanded by autonomous control systems.

Interestingly, Inversion’s plan to field a spacecraft that’s able to put a cargo at any place on Earth within an hour has parallels with an ambition laid out by U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), back in 2020. TRANSCOM provides transportation services and solutions to all branches of the armed forces, as well as various other defense and governmental organizations.

Speaking back then, U.S. Army Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, TRANSCOM’s commander, said: “Think about moving the equivalent of a C-17 payload anywhere on the globe in less than an hour. Think about that speed associated with the movement of transportation of cargo… There is a lot of potential here…”

At that point, TRANSCOM had begun a partnership with both SpaceX and Exploration Architecture Corporation (XArc) to pursue space-based rapid delivery concepts. SpaceX has since been working with the Air Force and Space Force on the ‘Rocket Cargo’ program, which seeks to quickly deliver cargo anywhere on Earth that can support a vertical landing.

It should be noted, however, that the sizes of payloads that Arc will be able to deliver are much smaller than those outlined by Lyons. The spacecraft itself will measure only around eight feet by four feet.

The C-17 has a maximum payload of around 82 tons, although normal payloads are around 60 tons or less. Arc is reportedly planned to have a cargo of just 500 pounds. Still, small cargoes often require very big logistics. As we have noted in a prior piece:

“Even the Navy has said in the past that when ships encounter problems as a result of logistics-related issues that leave them partially mission capable or non-mission capable, 90 percent of the time this can be resolved by the delivery of a component weighing 50 pounds or less.“

Nevertheless, Inversion clearly sees a niche for the very high-speed delivery of what it describes as “mission-enabling cargo.”

Inversion doesn’t provide any specific examples of the kinds of cargoes that might be delivered by Arc, beyond “equipment, food, or other mission cargo.” Conceivably, key cargo could comprise time-sensitive equipment and ammunition needed at forward operating locations. Since these spacecraft would be pre-launched, they would likely be filled with a range of generic cargoes that are generally time-sensitive. Then, they would be deorbited on demand.

Today, other small autonomous resupply systems have been used in combat, like the paragliding Snow Goose, and others are in development or limited use now. But these systems fly exclusively within the atmosphere and are much slower, more vulnerable, and require regional basing or an aerial delivery platform to launch them from relatively nearby.

Bearing in mind the considerable cost of a space launch, these cargoes would presumably only be delivered in the most critical scenarios, the kinds where only a high-cost rapid transport would suffice.

Such a capability would appear to have particular relevance in the context of future contingencies in the Indo-Pacific theater. With a growing expectation that this region will see a future high-end conflict involving the U.S. military, the ability to call upon space-based systems, like Arc, to quickly bring critical supplies to the area could be of high value — provided, once again, that the technology can be mastered.

Since Arc is reusable, that would go some way to making it more cost-efficient, when the vehicle can be recovered. Inversion also proposes putting several Arc vehicles into orbit at the same time (it’s unclear if these would be transported by the same or different rockets). The result has been described as something like a series of “constellations” with a variety of contingency cargoes that could be tailored to different customers and operational theaters.

Each Arc vehicle is reportedly able to remain in orbit for up to five years.

Another advantage compared to other space-based cargo-delivery concepts is the fact that Arc uses a parachute landing system.

Arc can, in theory, deliver cargo to any place on the planet, including remote regions, disaster zones, or hard-to-access theaters of war. Other orbital delivery concepts, such as suborbital VTOL rockets, have needed at least some kind of infrastructure to support the cargo-recovery part of the mission, but Arc should do away with that requirement, at least for small cargoes.

Last month, Inversion conducted precision drop-testing to prove the actively controlled parachute system that ensures that Arc will be able to put its cargoes where they are needed.

The company now says it wants to conduct a first mission with Arc as early as next year, which seems highly ambitious.

On the other hand, the startup does have some valuable experience from its Ray spacecraft, Inversion’s first, which was launched in January of this year as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission. This test mission helped prove technologies, including solar panels, propulsion, and separation systems, which will be incorporated into Arc.

For the time being, Inversion is focused solely on Arc’s military potential, although there would clearly be specific commercial applications as well. There is also the question of the possibility of adapting Arc as a reusable and recoverable satellite or even orbital supply vehicle. Meanwhile, the company has spoken confidently of producing hundreds of examples of the spacecraft every year.

Before that happens, and presuming military customers are forthcoming, Inversion will need to prove that its concept of space-based cargo deliveries can be cost-effective. There will also be various other regulatory issues to overcome, bearing in mind that this is an altogether new kind of transportation system.

Despite multiple dead ends and abortive programs, the idea of using some kind of space-based solution for rapid transport across the globe is one that won’t go away. Potentially, with its much smaller cargo loads, reusable spacecraft, and parachute-landing system, Inversion’s de-orbit on-demand cargo concept could be the one that finally breaks the mold.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Dutch chipmaker Nexperia has suspended wafer shipments to its Chinese assembly plant in Dongguan, a move that could intensify the semiconductor supply crunch already rattling automakers worldwide.

The suspension, revealed in a company letter dated October 29 and signed by interim CEO Stefan Tilger, followed the Chinese unit’s failure to meet contractual payment terms. It comes amid escalating tensions after the Dutch government seized control of Nexperia from its Chinese owner, Wingtech Technology, in late September, citing national security and governance concerns.

Why It Matters

The halt threatens to disrupt automotive and electronics supply chains at a critical time. Around 70% of Nexperia’s chips produced in the Netherlands are packaged in China, meaning the freeze could ripple through global manufacturing networks.

The dispute also underscores the deepening fractures in global tech supply chains, where national security concerns and trade controls increasingly shape corporate decisions. With the U.S., China, and Europe tightening technology restrictions, Nexperia’s situation reflects the mounting geopolitical tug-of-war over semiconductor control.

Nexperia (Netherlands): Seeking to maintain operations while asserting independence from Chinese influence.

Wingtech Technology (China): The former owner now sidelined after Dutch government intervention.

Dutch Government: Exercising sovereignty over critical tech assets amid Western security coordination.

Chinese Ministry of Commerce: Blocking Nexperia’s chip exports from China in retaliation.

Global Automakers: Companies like Stellantis and Nissan are monitoring potential production halts as chip prices soar.

What’s Next

Nexperia says it is developing alternative supply routes to support its global customers but has not disclosed details. The Dongguan facility remains operational, though limited by the wafer cutoff.

Analysts expect further trade retaliation from Beijing, potentially deepening the rift between European and Chinese semiconductor ecosystems. Automakers warn of possible shortages by mid-November if shipments do not resume.

Implications

This episode highlights how state intervention in technology firms is reshaping global supply chains. The Dutch government’s takeover framed as a national security move signals Europe’s growing alignment with U.S. export controls targeting Chinese tech entities.

In the short term, the halt could spike chip prices and strain automotive production, particularly in Asia and Europe. Long term, it may accelerate a strategic decoupling between Western and Chinese semiconductor manufacturing bases.

Politically, this marks a test of Europe’s resolve to protect critical tech sectors even at the cost of trade friction with Beijing.

With information from an exclusive Reuters report.

US President Donald Trump said the deal had been negotiated over the last four to five months.

United States President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have signed an agreement on rare earth and critical minerals as China tightens control over global supply.

The two leaders signed the deal on Monday at the White House.

Trump said the agreement had been negotiated over four or five months. The two leaders will also discuss trade, submarines and military equipment, Trump said.

Albanese described it as an $8.5bn pipeline “that we have ready to go”.

The full terms of the agreement were not immediately available. The two leaders said part of the agreement had to do with processing of the minerals. Albanese said both countries will contribute $1bn over the next six months for joint projects.

China has the world’s largest rare earths reserves, according to the US Geological Survey data, but Australia also has significant reserves.

The two leaders also planned to discuss the $239.4bn agreement, reached in 2023 under then-US President Joe Biden, in which Australia is to buy US nuclear-powered submarines in 2032 before building a new submarine class with Britain.

US Navy Secretary John Phelan told the meeting the US and Australia were working very closely to improve the original framework for all three parties “and clarify some of the ambiguity that was in the prior agreement”.

Trump said these were “just minor details”.

“There shouldn’t be any more clarifications, because we’re just, we’re just going now full steam ahead, building,” Trump said.

Australian officials have said they are confident it will proceed, with Defence Minister Richard Marles last week saying he knew when the review would conclude.

China’s rare earth export controls

Ahead of Monday’s meeting between the two leaders, Australian officials have emphasised Canberra is paying its way under AUKUS — a trilateral military partnership between the US, Australia and the United Kingdom, contributing $2bn this year to boost production rates at US submarine shipyards, and preparing to maintain US Virginia-class submarines at its Indian Ocean naval base from 2027.

The delay of 10 months in an official meeting since Trump took office has caused some anxiety in Australia as the Pentagon urged Canberra to lift defence spending. The two leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month.

Australia is willing to sell shares in its planned strategic reserve of critical minerals to allies including Britain, as Western governments scramble to end their reliance on China for rare earths and minor metals.

Top US officials last week condemned Beijing’s expansion of rare earth export controls as a threat to global supply chains. China is the world’s biggest producer of the materials, which are vital for products ranging from electric vehicles to aircraft engines and military radars.

Resource-rich Australia, wanting to extract and process rare earths, put preferential access to its strategic reserve on the table in US trade negotiations in April.

Under blazing skies at a tea plantation in India’s northeastern state of Assam, worker Kamini Kurmi wears an umbrella fastened over her head to keep her hands free to pluck delicate leaves from the bushes.

“When it’s really hot, my head spins and my heart begins to beat very fast,” said Kurmi, one of the many women employed for their dextrous fingers, instead of machines that harvest most conventional crops within a matter of days.

Weather extremes are shrivelling harvests on India’s tea plantations, endangering the future of an industry renowned for beverages as refreshing as the state of Assam and the adjoining hill station of Darjeeling in West Bengal state, while reshaping a global trade estimated at more than $10bn a year.

“Shifts in temperature and rainfall patterns are no longer occasional anomalies; they are the new normal,” said Rupanjali Deb Baruah, a scientist at the Tea Research Association.

As changing patterns reduce yields and stall output, rising domestic consumption in India is expected to shrink exports from the world’s second-largest tea producer.

While output stagnates in other key producers such as Kenya and Sri Lanka, declining Indian exports, which made up 12 percent of global trade last year, could boost prices.

Tea prices at Indian auctions have grown by just 4.8 percent a year for three decades, far behind the 10 percent achieved by staples such as wheat and rice.

The mildly warm, humid conditions crucial for Assam’s tea-growing districts are increasingly being disrupted by lengthy dry spells and sudden, intense rains.

Such weather not only helps pests breed, but also forces estate owners to turn to the rarely used practice of irrigating plantations, said Mritunjay Jalan, the owner of an 82-year-old tea estate in Assam’s Tinsukia district.

Rainfall there has dropped by more than 250mm (10 inches) between 1921 and 2024, while minimum temperatures have risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit), the Tea Research Association says.

The monsoon, Assam’s key source of rain, as summer and winter showers have nearly disappeared, brought rainfall this season that was 38 percent below average.

That has helped to shorten the peak output season to just a few months, narrowing the harvesting window, said senior tea planter Prabhat Bezboruah.

Patchy rains bring more frequent pest infestations, leaving tea leaves discoloured, blotched brown, and sometimes riddled with tiny holes.

These measures, in turn, add to costs, which are already rising at 8 to 9 percent a year, driven up by higher wages and prices of fertiliser, said Hemant Bangur, chairman of the leading industry body, the Indian Tea Association.

Planters say government incentives are insufficient to spur replanting, crucial in Assam, where many colonial-era tea bushes yield less and lose resilience to weather as they age beyond the usual productive span of 40 to 50 years.

India’s tea industry has flourished for nearly 200 years, but its share of global trade could fall below the 2024 figure of 12 percent, as the increasing prosperity of a growing population boosts demand at home.

Domestic consumption jumped 23 percent over the past decade to 1.2 million tonnes, far outpacing production growth of 6.3 percent, the Indian Tea Association says.

While exports of quality tea have shrunk in recent years, India’s imports have grown, nearly doubling in 2024 to a record 45,300 tonnes.

That adds expense for overseas buyers, said executives of India’s leading merchants, at a time when global competitors such as Kenya face similar problems.

The deal also gives the ChatGPT creator the option to buy upto 10 percent of AMD.

United States chipmaker AMD will supply artificial intelligence chips to OpenAI in a multi-year deal that would bring in tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue and give the ChatGPT creator the option to buy up to roughly 10 percent of the company.

Shares of the chipmaker surged more than 34 percent on Monday when the deal was announced, putting them on track for their biggest one-day gain in more than nine years and adding roughly $80bn to the company’s market value.

The deal, latest in a string of investment commitments, underscores OpenAI and the broader AI industry’s voracious appetite for computing power as companies race towards developing AI technology that meets or exceeds human intelligence.

“We view this deal as certainly transformative, not just for AMD, but for the dynamics of the industry,” AMD executive vice president Forrest Norrod told the Reuters news agency.

Deal helps ‘validate technology’

The agreement closely ties the startup at the centre of the AI boom to AMD, one of the strongest rivals of Nvidia, which recently agreed to make substantial investments in OpenAI.

Analysts said it was a significant vote of confidence in AMD’s AI chips and software but is unlikely to dent Nvidia’s dominance, as the market leader continues to sell every AI chip it can make.

AMD executives expect the deal to net tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. Because of the ripple affect of the agreement, AMD expects to receive more than $100bn in new revenue over four years from OpenAI and other customers, they said.

The chipmaker is expected to report revenue of $32.78bn this year, according to LSEG data. In contrast, analysts are expecting Nvidia to report revenue of $206.26bn for the current fiscal year.

“AMD has really trailed Nvidia for quite some time. So I think it helps validate their technology,” said Leah Bennett, chief investment strategist at Concurrent Asset Management.

Shares of Nvidia dipped more than 1 percent.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the AMD deal will help his startup build enough AI infrastructure to meet its needs.

It was not immediately clear how OpenAI would fund the enormous deal.

OpenAI, which is valued at $500bn, generated approximately $4.3bn in revenue in the first half of 2025 and burned through $2.5bn in cash, according to media reports.

In September, Nvidia announced a deal to supply OpenAI with at least 10 gigawatts worth of its systems.

In contrast with the startup’s deal with AMD where it will take a stake in the chipmaker, Nvidia will invest $100bn in the ChatGPT parent under the terms of the agreement announced in September.

Taking a stake in AMD could give OpenAI “the power to potentially influence corporate strategy. With Nvidia, OpenAI is simply the client and not a part-owner,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at A J Bell.

OpenAI has worked with AMD for years, providing inputs on the design of older generations of AI chips.

The startup and its main backer, Microsoft, announced last month that they had signed a non-binding agreement to restructure OpenAI in to a for-profit entity.

A person familiar with the matter said the deal with AMD does not change any of OpenAI’s ongoing compute plans, including that effort or its partnership with Microsoft.

The government is looking at ways to financially support the companies in Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) supply chain, the BBC understands.

JLR halted car production at the end of August after a cyber attack forced it to shut down its IT networks. Its factories remain suspended until next month at the earliest.

Fears are growing that some suppliers, in particular the smaller firms who solely rely on JLR’s business, could go bust without support.

One idea being explored is the government buying the component parts the suppliers build, to keep them in business until JLR’s production lines are up and running again.

Elon Musk’s electric car and energy company Tesla has applied for a licence to supply electricity to British homes.

If approved by the energy watchdog Ofgem, it would allow Tesla to take on the big firms that dominate the UK energy market to provide electricity to households and businesses in England, Scotland and Wales as soon as next year.

Tesla, which is best known as one of the world’s biggest makers of electric vehicles (EV), also has a solar energy and battery storage business.

Tesla did not immediately reply to a BBC request for comment.

Ofgem can take up to nine months to process applications for energy supply licences.

Tesla Electric already operates a power supplier in Texas that allows owners of its EVs to charge their cars cheaply and pays them for feeding surplus electricity back to the grid.

The application, which was signed by Andrew Payne who runs Tesla’s European energy operations, was filed late last month.

Tesla has sold more than a quarter of a million EVs and tens of thousands of home storage batteries in the UK, which could help it gain access to a sizeable customer base for an electricity supply business.

The Ofgem licence application comes as Tesla’s EV sales have fallen across Europe in recent months.

In July, UK car registrations of Teslas fell by almost 60% and by more 55% in Germany, industry data showed.

That took the firm’s sales decline in the month to 45% in 10 key European markets.

Tesla has faced tough competition from rival EV makers, especially China’s BYD.

Musk has also been criticised for his relationship with US President Donald Trump, although the two have now very publicly fallen out.

His involvement in right-wing politics in the UK, Germany and Italy, meanwhile, has drawn ire from some of Tesla’s customers.

Aug. 6 (UPI) — Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a $100 billion investment plan to shift the tech company’s supply chain to the United States after earlier this year pledging $500 billion over four years.

The final assembly of Apple’s major products, including the iPhone, iPad and MacBook, will continue to take place in China and India, Cook said in the Oval Office of the White House. In 2024, Apple generated $390 billion in revenue with 51% from iPhone sales.

This announcement comes as Apple, other countries and foreign nations are bracing for further impact from tariffs. Most reciprocal tariffs take place on Friday with some already in place and a 10% on most trading partners since April.

Ahead of a threatened 100% tariffs on foreign chips and semiconductors, Cook describes an increase in production of those items in the United States.

Trump and Cook announced the launch of the American Manufacturing Program to boost the supply chain to the United States. Apple is working with Corning, Coherent, GlobalWafers America, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Broadcom.

“I’m glad to be here with you today, and I’m very proud to say that today, we’re committing an additional $100 billion to the United States,” Cook told Trump during their White House event.

In the United States, Apple will manufacture the glass covers on all iPhones and Apple Watch devices sold worldwide. Corning, which has made glass products for more than 60 years, will dedicate its entire facility in Harrodsburg, Ky., to the Apple products under a $2.5 billion commitment.

Cook gave Trump some glass made at the plant.

“Apple will massively increase spending on its domestic supply chain for the iPhone, and will build the largest and most sophisticated smart glass production line in the world,” Trump said.

Other changes are in the works.

“Apple will also build a 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility in Houston, and invest billions of dollars to construct data centers across the country from North Carolina to Iowa to Oregon,” Trump said.

Apple earlier said the Houston server plant will open next year.

In its plan to invest $500 billion in the United States, the company will open a manufacturing academy in Detroit and source rare earth — critical for electronics such as smartphones and TVs — from U.S.-based supplier MP Materials.

Most Apple items are exempt from tariffs, though the company had an $800 million payout in the last quarter from duties and predicts another $1.5 billion in the next three months.

The United States and China are negotiating on a deal with 30% now charged. India has been informed the duty will be 50%.

“Tim Cook is known to be the supply chain genius of technology,” Ted Mortonson, technology sector strategist at financial services company Baird, told CNN. “And I think his whole supply chain team is well aware … before it happens, what the Trump administration is thinking and not thinking.”

With a threatened 100% tariff on all computer chips imported into the United States, Cook said Apple will produce more than 19 billion chips for its products this year in 24 factories in 12 states.

“I’m proud to say that Apple is leading the creation of an end-to-end silicon supply chain right here in America, from design to equipment to wafer production to fabrication to packaging,” Cook said during the event.

Trump on Wednesday said the government is “going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors … But the good news for companies like Apple is, if you’re building in the United States, or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge.”

Trump had hoped for Apple products to be built in the United States, posting on May 23 on Truth Social: “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else.”

He changed his tune on Wednesday.

“So I don’t know when it shows up, but there are a lot of factories and a lot of plants that are either under construction or soon we’ll be starting construction,” he said. “So can’t tell you exactly when, but I want to be around in about a year from now and two years from now, because we’re going to see an explosion, I think.”

Ahead of the meeting, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to CNN: “President Trump’s America First economic agenda has secured trillions of dollars in investments that support American jobs and bolster American businesses. Today’s announcement with Apple is another win for our manufacturing industry that will simultaneously help reshore the production of critical components to protect America’s economic and national security.”

Apple shares closed Wednesday with a 5.09% gain to close at $213.25 in it biggest single-day increase this year. Apple shares reached a record $247.10 on Feb. 24 and was down to $172.42 on April 8, before Trump announced a 90-day pause of reciprocal tariffs.

Apple has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion. At one time, Apple had the biggest amount in the United States, but now it is third behind two other tech companies, Nvidia leads with $4.02 trillion and Microsoft at $3.73 trillion.

June 24 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s decision to target farm workers in immigration raids has advocates sounding the alarm that the U.S. food supply is at risk.

Trump changed direction on his deportation plans, shifting from avoiding farms, restaurants and the hospitality industry to a “no safe spaces” approach. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, clarified the directions given for raids in a statement to UPI.

“The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE’s efforts,” McLaughlin said. “Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safe guard [sic] public safety, national security and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation.”

McLaughlin and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to follow-up questions.

About half of the hired agricultural workforce working on crop farms lack legal immigration status, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. More than 80% are considered “settled” workers, meaning they continually work in a single location within 75 miles of their home.

It is not only undocumented workers who are worried about being detained, Ron Estrada, CEO of the nonprofit advocacy organization Farmworker Justice, told UPI. Legally authorized workers and citizens have been swept up in the raids as well.

“That is something that is absolutely unacceptable in this day and age in our country,” Estrada said. “We’re at the point where people are not risking being detained or arrested so they’re not showing up for work.”

Antonio De Loera-Brust, spokesperson for United Farm Workers, told UPI that most immigrant workers continue going to work despite their fears.

“They cannot afford not to, given the shameful poverty and low wages farm workers endure,” he said. “The workers who feed America should not have to go to work afraid they won’t come home.”

Enforcement activities have been prevalent in California’s Coachella Valley and Ventura County, disrupting grape, lemon, strawberry and date operations, according to De Loera-Brust. The citrus harvest in Kern County, Calif., early in the year was also affected by a wave of deportations.

ICE reported detaining more than 100 people in Tallahassee, Fla., during a raid on May 29. The raid took place at a construction site where immigrants from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Honduras were arrested.

“These types of enforcement actions aim to eliminate illegal employment, holding employers accountable and protecting employment opportunities for America’s lawful workforce,” Nicholas Ingegno, assistant special agent with ICE Homeland Security Investigations, said in a statement.

Nebraska has also faced large raids, including the raid of a meat-packing plant in Omaha where more than 70 people were detained. The Nebraska Alliance for Thriving Communities said in a statement that the Trump administration’s detention and removal policy has “sent harmful ripple effects” across the state.

“From our many perspectives and thousands of conversations across the state, we know the current situation is unsustainable. We have tens of thousands of unfilled jobs of all types in our state,” the statement said. “These events — and their overwhelming impact on people and workplaces — are symptoms of a broader 40-year policy failure by Congress to update our federal immigration laws.”

Carmen Martinez, deputy policy director for Centro de los Derechos del Migrante Inc., told UPI that the raids can have a chilling effect on workers reporting abuse in the workplace, such as wage theft, discrimination and unsafe working environments.

“Folks who are reluctant to come in because they’re afraid they’re going to be the next target for deportation are also hesitant to speak about any issues they experience in the workplace,” Martinez said. “Because folks need to make a living these folks will be putting up with a lot more abuses.”

Martinez said in the agriculture industry there is a large share of workers who are undocumented while many others are working under the H-2A temporary agricultural workers program.

“We’ll all be for worse,” Martinez said of the effects of continuing raids. “If folks who are putting food on our table don’t feel safe going to work it’s going to have a huge impact. And scrupulous employers will continue to abuse their workers.”

The loss of even a portion of the migrant workforce will be difficult to replace, according to Estrada. Many of the positions filled by immigrants of all statuses are jobs that other Americans will not take. These are also jobs that cannot be automated.

“There’s been discussion of mechanization replacing these workers. It will never fully replace human hands,” Estrada said. “Especially in our specialty crops. Farmworkers are still very much needed because the crops that require handpicking like tomatoes, you don’t want to bruise the harvest. The reality is you still need these hands, these skilled labor workers to come in and do the work.”

With an unknown number of migrant workers being removed from the workforce, the nation’s food supply will be directly affected.

“Eventually we will see prices increase. We’re going to have some consumer shock,” Estrada said. “After prices continue to go up there is going to be a decrease in availability of some fresh fruits and vegetables. That is going to be the result of farms closing because of the impact of labor issues and having a lack of workforce. Then we lose that production.”

Those who remain on the job will not be able to make up for lost production, Estrada added.

“If you remove 50% of the workforce, you can imagine what the other 50% is going to go through,” he said. “They can’t double their hours. They’re already maximizing the time they’re on the fields. This is something that requires a permanent solution.”

The Netherlands is still supporting the supply chain of Israel’s version of the F-35 fighter jet, more than a year after a court banned direct Dutch exports of F-35 parts to Israel, a report claims.

Research by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) shared with Al Jazeera shows that the port of Rotterdam is frequented by ships carrying F-35 parts for maintenance and assembly. The ships belong to the Danish shipping giant Maersk.

By examining import data and shipping receipts of Maersk and Lockheed Martin – the United States weapons manufacturer that designed the F-35 – the group found that more than a dozen shipments from Israel travelled through the port of Rotterdam on their way to the US from April 2023 until early 2025.

The F-35 fighter jet has been used by Israel to bomb Gaza from the air with devastating effect. Much of the Strip, where more than 50,000 people have been killed since October 2023, is in ruins.

“Maersk now operates a recurring shipping cycle between Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility in Texas and Israel Aerospace Industries in Israel, routed through Rotterdam,” the report stated. “In this cycle, Maersk transports pairs of empty F-35 wing containers from Houston to Ashdod, Israel, where they are loaded with completed F-35 wings. The filled containers are then shipped back to the US for final assembly or repair.”

The researchers noted that Rotterdam is a “key stopover point in this process, and shipments for this cycle have occurred beyond February of 2024”.

Then, a judge at a Dutch appeals court ordered the Netherlands to stop exporting and transiting F-35 parts to Israel, saying there was a “clear risk” they were being used in “serious violations of international humanitarian law”.

The Dutch state immediately lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court, but until a decision is made, it is still bound by the lower court’s ruling.

“The findings in the report show that the port of Rotterdam plays an important role in sustaining the operational capacities of Israel’s F-35 fighter jets. This way, the port of Rotterdam is complicit to international law violations in Gaza,” Gerard Jonkman, director of a Dutch NGO, The Rights Forum, told Al Jazeera.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry told Al Jazeera that the court had subsequently confirmed that the judgement in February 2024 applied only to the export or transit of F-35 parts from the Netherlands to Israel and that the Dutch state had implemented the judgement accordingly.

A spokesperson for the port of Rotterdam told Al Jazeera that the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs was responsible for issuing permits for the transhipment of military goods. Port officials check vessel compliance with environmental and safety regulations for shipping on behalf of the government and municipality of Rotterdam, they said.

“The harbour master receives only limited information regarding vessel cargo. The information received mainly pertains to whether the vessel is carrying hazardous substances. Other aspects of vessel cargo are monitored by various other public authorities, such as customs.”

They said they were “aware” of the February 2024 court ruling.

“All activities in the port must comply with international laws and regulations and the permits issued by the government. If we see any indication that this is not the case, the Port of Rotterdam Authority alerts the competent authority.”

‘The Netherlands is still part of the supply chain’

The Rights Forum was one of three parties, together with the Dutch affiliate of Oxfam and PAX for Peace, the largest peace organisation in the Netherlands, that sued the Dutch state over its export of F-35 parts to Israel.

“In this case, there is no direct export from the Netherlands to Israel, but the Netherlands is still part of the supply chain for the Israeli F-35 programme,” Gerard Jonkman, head of the Rights Forum, said of the Palestinian Youth Movement’s findings. “This way the Netherlands facilitates the Israeli F-35 programme and might breach its obligations under international law.”

PAX for Peace project leader Frank Slijper told Al Jazeera: “This indeed shows that the Netherlands is part of the F-35 supply chain.”

A grassroots organisation, the Palestinian Youth Movement believes that targeting Maersk directly disrupts the flow of weapons in the “supply chain of death used to genocide Palestinians”.

According to the group, Maersk has shipped the wings for every Israeli F-35 since March 2022.

In November 2024, following a decision by Spain to deny docking permission to two ships carrying weapons bound for Israel, Maersk adjusted its routes. The company’s fleet now avoids Spain in favour of Rotterdam and the port of Tangier in Morocco

“Maersk has, for years, knowingly supplied the Israeli military with key weapons components used to carry out genocide in Gaza,” Aisha Nizar of the Palestinian Youth Movement told Al Jazeera. “The company has done so without hesitation, potentially violating multiple arms embargo policies across Europe.”

The F-35 is considered a top-of-the-line fighter jet. The aircraft designed by Lockheed Martin costs at least $80m in its most basic configuration.

Currently, 12 countries operate the jet. F-35 parts are made in the United States and several participating partner countries, giving the project the moniker Joint Strike Fighter.

“It is very sad to see that Maersk is not distancing itself from Israel’s crimes against humanity in Gaza and more broadly continues lending itself to the crucial replenishment of Israel’s armed forces,” Slijper said. “Shipping military supplies for the benefit of Israel’s arms industry and the [Israeli army] risks Maersk being complicit in Israel’s crimes.”

The use of the jet by Israel, the only country with its unique version of the F-35, has been scrutinised since the start of the onslaught in Gaza.

Recently, campaign groups took the United Kingdom government to court in a bid to halt the exports of British-made F-35 parts to Israel.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Lockheed Martin said: “Foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions, and we closely adhere to US government policy with regard to conducting business with international partners.”

Regarding F-35 shipments, Maersk told Al Jazeera that it upholds a strict policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to active conflict zones and that it conducted due diligence, particularly in regions affected by active conflicts, including Israel and Gaza, and adapts this due diligence to the changing context. It confirmed, however, that its US subsidiary Maersk Line Limited was one of “many companies supporting the global F-35 supply chain” with transport services.

The F-35 programme includes several coalition countries, including Israel.

“As part of the coalition-building of the F-35, Maersk Line Limited regularly transports parts between participating countries, including Israel, where F-35 wings are manufactured,” it said.

Armenia has long relied on Russian weapons in its bitter dispute with neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Russia’s top diplomat has blamed the war in Ukraine for affecting the supply of arms to Armenia, and has expressed concern that Moscow’s longstanding ally would now look to the West for military support instead.

Speaking in Yerevan on the second day of a two-day visit to Armenia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that some of Russia’s weapons contracts with the former Soviet republic had been delayed or reassigned due to the pressures created by the war in Ukraine.

Armenia has long relied on Russian weapons in its bitter dispute with neighbouring Azerbaijan, against whom it has fought a series of conflicts since the late 1980s.

“We are currently in a situation where, as has happened throughout history, we are forced to fight all of Europe,” Lavrov said, in a barbed reference to European support for Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion.

“Our Armenian friends understand that in such conditions, we cannot fulfil all our obligations on time.”

As Russia has failed to deliver on weapons contracts paid for by Armenia, Yerevan has increasingly turned to countries like France and India for military supplies.

Lavrov said that Russia would not oppose these growing ties, but said that they raised concerns about its traditional ally’s strategic intentions.

“When an ally turns to a country like France, which leads the hostile camp and whose president and ministers speak openly with hatred toward Russia, it does raise questions,” he said.

Armenia has strengthened its ties with the West amid recent ongoing tensions with Azerbaijan, fallout from the last major eruption of conflict and Russia’s role in that.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military operation to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist enclave in Azerbaijan with a mostly ethnic Armenian population that had broken away from Baku with Armenian support amid the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Armenia accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to protect the more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians who fled the region, fuelled by decades of distrust, wars, mutual hatred and violence, after Azerbaijan’s lightning takeover.

Yerevan also suspended its involvement in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Russian-led security umbrella of ex-Soviet countries, last year, saying it would not participate or fund the alliance.

A group of California legislators representing the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta area said Tuesday that they will fight Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to build a $20-billion water tunnel, contending the project is a threat to their region and would leave millions of Californians paying much higher water bills.

Newsom has said the tunnel project is vital to improving the reliability of water deliveries as climate change shrinks California’s snowpack and alters the timing of runoff. But the Democratic lawmakers criticized Newsom’s latest proposal to accelerate steps toward construction of the 45-mile tunnel by short-cutting permitting for the project and limiting avenues for legal challenges.

“Fast-tracking the Delta Conveyance Project is a direct attack on our region’s environmental integrity, economic stability and public trust,” said Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City). “We are united in our opposition to this project, not just because of what it threatens to destroy, but because of what it represents — a broken process that silences local voices.”

Wilson and other members of the Delta caucus spoke at a news conference in the Capitol. They said the project would harm the Delta’s farmlands, communities and ecosystem, and would place a large financial burden on ratepayers in Southern California.

They said the cost, most recently estimated at $20.1 billion, is likely to be much higher.

“The project would have to be paid for by ratepayers who are already overburdened with soaring utility costs and aren’t even aware of how the cost of this is going to impact them in their pocketbooks,” said state Sen. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton). “This project will set a precedent for bypassing well-established environmental laws.”

The tunnel would transport water from the Sacramento River to the state’s pumping facilities on the south side of the delta, where supplies enter the aqueducts of the State Water Project and are delivered to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland, including parts of the Central Valley.

Supporters of the plan, including water agencies in Southern California and Silicon Valley, say the state needs to build new infrastructure in the delta to protect the water supply in the face of climate change and earthquake risks.

Opponents, including agencies in the delta and environmental advocates, say the project is an expensive boondoggle that would harm the environment and communities, and that the state should pursue other alternatives.

The legislators called for different types of water solutions, including investing in projects to recycle wastewater, boost water storage, and rebuild aging levees in the delta to protect freshwater supplies and reduce earthquake risks.

Newsom, who is set to serve through 2026 and then leave office, has said the tunnel project is critical for the state’s future.

The governor said his latest proposal would simplify permitting by eliminating certain deadlines from water rights permits; narrow legal review to avoid delays from legal challenges; confirm that the state has authority to issue bonds to pay for the project, which would be repaid by water agencies; and accelerate state efforts to acquire land for construction.

The governor’s approach, part of his latest budget proposal, was praised by supporters of the project and managers of water agencies, who said it would reduce regulatory and legal uncertainty.

Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Coalition, said the ability of the State Water Project to reliably deliver water is declining, while demand continues to rise.

“Southern California stands to lose up to 10% of our water supply from the State Water Project if we don’t act,” Wilson said, calling the project the best path to offsetting those losses.

Graham Bradner, executive director of the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority, said the governor’s proposal would “save years of delay and potentially billions in costs by removing unnecessary hurdles.”

The legislators, however, said they will fight Newsom’s attempt to short-cut the established process.

“The governor is asking for a blank check, without cost caps, without meaningful oversight, without even committee hearings,” said state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon (D-West Sacramento). “What we have before us is a proposal to advance this under the dead of night with no public oversight or input.”

Cabaldon stressed that the public ultimately would pay for the project.

“The real threat here is to the pocketbooks, the monthly water bills, of residents throughout Southern California,” Cabaldon said.

McNerny said he expects the group of legislators will “do pretty well in gathering Senate opposition.”

“There is going to be significant opposition. It’s going to be vocal. It’s going to be harsh,” he said.

The project has been supported by leaders of water agencies in Southern California who are considering investing in it.

In December, the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted to spend $141.6 million for a large share of the preliminary planning work. The district, which delivers water for 19 million people, isn’t expected to decide whether to invest in building the tunnel until 2027.

The legislators spoke beside leaders of environmental, fishing and tribal groups who oppose the project. Malissa Tayaba, vice chair of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, said the project would harm the region and her tribe.

“It seems that to Gov. Newsom, our culture, our ancestors and the environment that sustains us is worth less than the ability to over-divert water from our rivers to send more water and money to commercial water interests,” Tayaba said.