Posted by Harry Baldock: The FCC has approved AT&T’s $1.02 billion spectrum acquisition from UScellular on the condition that the company terminates its DEI initiatives, amid concerns over industry consolidation and its impact on rural connectivity and competition.
The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T’s $1.02 billion purchase of spectrum licenses from UScellular, conditional on AT&T’s formal commitment to end its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programmes.
According to the FCC, the acquisition, which transfers 1,250 million MHz-Pops of 3.45 GHz and 331 million MHz-Pops of 700 MHz B/C block licenses, will enhance AT&T’s network coverage, capacity and performance and thus improve the customer experience.
AT&T notified the FCC in a letter that it will terminate DEI activities as part of the conditions tied to the transaction, a move the company said was necessary to obtain regulatory approval. Industry reporting and the FCC statement place this decision squarely within the commission’s recent practice under Chair Brendan Carr of making cessation of DEI programmes a term of certain approvals.
The Rural Wireless Association opposed the deal, arguing it risks further consolidation and could harm competition and roaming options for rural consumers, potentially raising prices for wireless plans. The FCC acknowledged these concerns but concluded the net effect would be to strengthen AT&T’s network performance for customers.
The AT&T transaction follows a broader pattern in which major carriers have agreed to end DEI initiatives to secure FCC clearance: T‑Mobile ended DEI programmes while seeking approval for its purchases of much of UScellular’s retail operations and customers, and Verizon made similar concessions in its approval to acquire Frontier Communications’ assets.
UScellular’s investor release confirms the company has monetised a significant portion of spectrum excluded from earlier transactions with other bidders, and FCC filings provide the regulatory context by mapping MHz‑POP holdings across carriers, data used to assess concentration and potential competitive impacts.The move is the second largescale spectrum purchase for AT&T this year, after the operator bought low-band and mid-band spectrum from EchoStar earlier this year fr $23 billion s AT&T drops DEI to get $1bn spectrum deal approved | Total Telecom
X-energy of the USA - developer of the Xe-100 high temperature gas-cooled small modular reactor - has signed a reservation agreement with South Korean nuclear component designer and manufacturer Doosan Enerbility for key components for its reactors.
The agreement was signed in Washington DC on 11 December by Clay Sell, CEO of X-energy, and Jongdoo Kim, CEO of Doosan Enerbility’s Nuclear Business Group.
Under the agreement, X-energy pre-emptively secures Doosan Enerbility's forgings. Mid to large-sized forgings, which are required in the manufacturing of the main components of small modular reactors (SMRs), are materials that require a long production lead time. Follow-up agreements on commencing the manufacturing of the SMR forgings and modules are expected to subsequently take place between the two companies.
"As Doosan Enerbility is a leading global supplier of nuclear equipment, equipped with unparalleled capabilities and expertise in this area, it will play a vital role in helping us enter the global market with our Xe-100 reactors," Sell said. "We are proud to be entering into a partnership with Doosan on this major project."
Kim added: "This reservation agreement signed with X-energy is a significant milestone for us, signifying that we are now officially embarking on the manufacturing process. As X-energy's major partner responsible for supplying the main SMR components, we are committed to ensuring full support on the project by strictly adhering to the requirements for product quality and deadline."
The Xe-100 is a pebble bed high-temperature gas reactor capable of a thermal output of 200 MW or (80 MW electrical). It uses fuel made from robust TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) fuel particles which are able to withstand extremely high temperatures without melting. Optimised as a four-unit plant delivering 320 MWe, the reactor can provide baseload power to an electricity system or use its thermal output to support industrial applications with high pressure, high temperature steam.
The first deployment of the Xe-100 is planned for Dow’s Seadrift site on the Texas Gulf Coast, to supply both power and high-temperature heat to industrial-scale operations. X-energy and Amazon have also committed to the goal of more than 5 GW of new nuclear by 2039, starting with a joint plan with Washington state utility Energy Northwest to build up to 12 SMRs near Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station.
In August 2021, Doosan Heavy signed an engineering service contract with X-energy for studies into the manufacture of major components - including the reactor pressure vessel - for the Xe-100. Under the contract, Doosan is supporting the development of the reactor by performing a study for its optimum design in terms of manufacturability. It is also conducting mock-up tests for critical manufacturing processes.
In January 2023, Doosan Enerbility announced it was making an equity investment in X-energy, leading to further strengthening of the partnership.A strategic collaboration agreement was signed in August this year by X-energy, Amazon, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP) and Doosan Enerbility aimed at accelerating the deployment of X-energy's Xe-100 and TRISO-X fuel to meet growing power demands from data centres and artificial intelligence. KHNP, Doosan, and additional Korean industrial partners have agreed to support Amazon and X-energy's plans to deploy more than 5 GW of new nuclear energy across the USA by 2039. X-energy 'reserves' Doosan forgings
Every year, Delta Airlines hosts a special, one-of-a-kind trip to place the heads of ambitious Black students squarely in the clouds.
Climbing aboard a Boeing 757 as it took off from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, 100 local teens were the latest passengers on Delta’s “Dream Flights” program, a give-back initiative that introduces students to the concept of a career in aerospace and aviation.
Organized in partnership with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP), the concept goes right back to that famous quote Whoopi Goldberg said when she saw Lieutenant Uhuru in Star Trek: “I just saw a black woman on TV and she ain’t no maid!”
“When I met my first Black pilot, that’s when I realized I could do it too,” said Delta captain Justin Mutawassim. “Now, I get to show these students—especially Hayden—that they can follow that same path.”
17-year-old Hayden Lynch has Mutawassim as a program mentor, and years before he stepped onboard Delta flight 2025, he became smitten with aviation after receiving a drone for Christmas.
At the helm was First Officer Dana Nelson, Delta’s first Black woman pilot, hired in 2001. The theme continued with an all-black cabin crew and co-pilot Lyob Makonnen.
This year, their final destination was NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s “Space Coast.” Once there, the students wandered around with necks craned to see towards the ceiling to gaze at the collection of historic rockets, shuttles, and simulators used in NASA missions past. The trip finished with a panel discussion hosted by OBAP aviators and astronauts on how to navigate turbulence, whether in the cockpit, or in life.
This year was the 25th edition of Delta’s Dream Flight. They’ve transported and inspired more than 4,000 students throughout that time.
Washington, (IANS): As the US federal government shutdown entered its 40th day, more than 2,000 flights were cancelled and over 8,000 delayed nationwide, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
Since the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) mandated flight reduction policy took effect on Friday, the number of canceled flights surged from 202 on Thursday to 1,025 on Friday, and further to 1,566 on Saturday, Xinha news agency reported.
The number of air traffic controllers taking leave has risen since the shutdown began on October 1, forcing many others to work overtime.
The US Department of Transportation and the FAA recently announced a 10 per cent capacity reduction at 40 major airports across the country starting Friday, aiming to ease staffing pressures and reduce airspace safety risks.
"It's only going to get worse," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN on Sunday. "I look to the two weeks before Thanksgiving. You're going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle."
On the same day, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CBS that if people are not traveling during Thanksgiving, "we really could be looking at a negative quarter for the fourth quarter."
The regular budget, which should have been ready on October 1, marks the start of the US fiscal year. Instead, it is snaggled in party polarisation. A temporary measure known as a “continuing resolution” is needed to finance the government for now.
That resolution has been held up in the Senate due to a procedural element known as the filibuster, which blocks a legislative measure from coming up for a vote.
The White House recently announced it has issued a final rule that requires airlines to promptly provide passengers with automatic cash refunds when owed. The new rule makes it easy for passengers to obtain refunds when airlines cancel or significantly change their flights, and following significantly delayed checked bags, or failures to provide extra services when purchased.
“Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them—without headaches or haggling,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Our new rule sets a new standard to require airlines to promptly provide cash refunds to their passengers.”
The final rule creates certainty for consumers by defining the circumstances in which airlines must provide prompt refunds. Prior to this rule, airlines were permitted to set their own standards for what kind of flight changes warranted a refund, which differed from airline to airline, making it difficult for passengers to know or assert their refund rights.
Under the new rules, which will start going into effect within six months, passengers are entitled to a refund for:
Canceled or significantly changed flights:
Passengers will be entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept alternative transportation or travel credits offered. For the first time, the rule defines “significant change.” Significant changes to a flight include departure or arrival times that are more than 3 hours domestically and 6 hours internationally; departures or arrivals from a different airport; increases in the number of connections; instances where passengers are downgraded to a lower class of service; or changes that result in less accessible or accommodating situations to a person with a disability.
Significantly delayed baggage return:
Passengers who file a mishandled baggage report will be entitled to a refund of their checked bag fee if it is not delivered within 12 hours of their domestic flight arriving at the gate, or 15-30 hours of their international flight arriving at the gate, depending on the length of the flight.
Extra services not provided:
Passengers will be entitled to a refund for the fee they paid for an extra service — such as Wi-Fi, seat selection, or inflight entertainment — if an airline fails to provide this service.
The DOT’s (U.S. Department of Transportation) final rule also makes it simple and straightforward for passengers to receive the money they are owed. Without this rule, consumers have to navigate a patchwork of cumbersome processes to request and receive a refund — searching through airline websites to figure out how make the request, filling out extra “digital paperwork,” or at times waiting for hours on the phone. In addition, passengers would receive a travel credit or voucher by default from some airlines instead of getting their money back, so they could not use their refund to rebook on another airline when their flight was changed or cancelled without navigating a cumbersome request process.
Refunds are required to be:
Automatic: Airlines must automatically issue refunds without passengers having to explicitly request them or jump through hoops.
Prompt: Airlines and ticket agents must issue refunds within seven business days of refunds becoming due for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods.
In Cash or original form of payment: Airlines and ticket agents must provide refunds in cash or whatever original payment method the individual used to make the purchase, such as credit card or airline miles. Airlines may not substitute vouchers, travel credits, or other forms of compensation unless the passenger affirmatively chooses to accept alternative compensation.
In the full amount: Airlines and ticket agents must provide full refunds of the ticket purchase price, minus the value of any portion of transportation already used. The refunds must include all government-imposed taxes and fees and airline-imposed fees, regardless of whether the taxes or fees are refundable to airlines.
The final rule also requires airlines to provide prompt notifications to consumers affected by a cancelled or significantly changed flight of their right to a refund of the ticket and extra service fees, as well as any related policies.
Happily, during 2023, the flight cancellation rate in the U.S. was a record low at under 1.2% — the lowest rate of flight cancellations in over 10 years despite a record amount of air travel.
However, in the event that an airline causes a significant delay or cancellation, thanks to pressure from the Biden-era DOT, all 10 major U.S. airlines now guarantee free rebooking and meals—and nine guarantee hotel accommodations. These are new commitments the airlines added to their customer service plans that DOT can legally ensure they adhere to. Find the details displayed on a new web domain that links to DOT: flightrights.gov.
Getting rid of hidden fees
A second rule will require airlines and ticket agents to tell consumers upfront what fees they charge for checked bags, a carry-on bag, for changing a reservation, or cancelling a reservation. This ensures that consumers can avoid surprise fees when they purchase tickets from airlines or ticket agents, including both brick-and-mortar travel agencies or online travel agencies.
The rule will help consumers avoid unneeded or unexpected charges that can increase quickly and add significant cost to what may, at first, look like a cheap ticket.
Airlines must inform consumers that seats are guaranteed: To help consumers avoid unneeded ‘seat selection fees’, airlines and ticket agents must tell consumers that seats are guaranteed and that they are not required to pay extra. The new rule also prohibits airlines from advertising a promotional discount off a low base fare that does not include all mandatory carrier-imposed fees. LEARN all the details from DOT, here.There are different implementation periods in these final rules ranging from six months for airlines to provide automatic refunds when owed to 12 months for airlines to provide transferable travel vouchers or credits when consumers are unable to travel for reasons related to a serious communicable disease. New Rule Requires US Airlines to Give Automatic Refunds for Canceled or Delayed Flights and Late Baggage
A proposed constellation of satellites has astronomers very worried. Unlike satellites that reflect sunlight and produce light pollution as an unfortunate byproduct, the ones by US startup Reflect Orbital would produce light pollution by design.
The company promises to produce “sunlight on demand” with mirrors that beam sunlight down to Earth so solar farms can operate after sunset.
It plans to start with an 18-metre test satellite named Earendil-1 which the company has applied to launch in 2026. It would eventually be followed by about 4,000 satellites in orbit by 2030, according to the latest reports.
So how bad would the light pollution be? And perhaps more importantly, can Reflect Orbital’s satellites even work as advertised?
Bouncing sunlight
Sunlight can be bounced off a wristwatch to produce a spot of light . M. Brown
In the same way you can bounce sunlight off a watch face to produce a spot of light, Reflect Orbital’s satellites would use mirrors to beam light onto a patch of Earth.
But the scale involved is vastly different. Reflect Orbital’s satellites would orbit about 625km above the ground, and would eventually have mirrors 54 metres across.
When you bounce light off your watch onto a nearby wall, the spot of light can be very bright. But if you bounce it onto a distant wall, the spot becomes larger – and dimmer.
This is because the Sun is not a point of light, but spans half a degree in angle in the sky. This means that at large distances, a beam of sunlight reflected off a flat mirror spreads out with an angle of half a degree.
What does that mean in practice? Let’s take a satellite reflecting sunlight over a distance of roughly 800km – because a 625km-high satellite won’t always be directly overhead, but beaming the sunlight at an angle. The illuminated patch of ground would be at least 7km across.
Even a curved mirror or a lens can’t focus the sunlight into a tighter spot due to the distance and the half-degree angle of the Sun in the sky.
Would this reflected sunlight be bright or dim? Well, for a single 54 metre satellite it will be 15,000 times fainter than the midday Sun, but this is still far brighter than the full Moon.
Last year, Reflect Orbital’s founder Ben Nowack posted a short video which summarised a test with the “last thing to build before moving into space”. It was a reflector carried on a hot air balloon.
In the test, a flat, square mirror roughly 2.5 metres across directs a beam of light down to solar panels and sensors. In one instance the team measures 516 watts of light per square metre while the balloon is at a distance of 242 metres.
For comparison, the midday Sun produces roughly 1,000 watts per square metre. So 516 watts per square metre is about half of that, which is enough to be useful.
However, let’s scale the balloon test to space. As we noted earlier, if the satellites were 800km from the area of interest, the reflector would need to be 6.5km by 6.5km – 42 square kilometres. It’s not practical to build such a giant reflector, so the balloon test has some limitations.
So what is Reflect Orbital planning to do?
Reflect Orbital’s plan is “simple satellites in the right constellation shining on existing solar farms”. And their goal is only 200 watts per square metre – 20% of the midday Sun.
Can smaller satellites deliver? If a single 54 metre satellite is 15,000 times fainter than the midday Sun, you would need 3,000 of them to achieve 20% of the midday Sun. That’s a lot of satellites to illuminate one region.
Another issue: satellites at a 625km altitude move at 7.5 kilometres per second. So a satellite will be within 1,000km of a given location for no more than 3.5 minutes.
This means 3,000 satellites would give you a few minutes of illumination. To provide even an hour, you’d need thousands more.
And yet, that vast constellation would deliver only 20% of the midday Sun to no more than 80 locations at once, based on our calculations above. In practice, even fewer locations would be illuminated due to cloudy weather.
Additionally, given their altitude, the satellites could only deliver illumination to most locations near dusk and dawn, when the mirrors in low Earth orbit would be bathed in sunlight. Aware of this, Reflect Orbital plan for their constellation to encircle Earth above the day-night line in sun-synchronous orbits to keep them continuously in sunlight.
Cheaper rockets have enabled the deployment of satellite constellations. SpaceX/Flickr, CC BY-NC
Bright lights
So, are mirrored satellites a practical means to produce affordable solar power at night? Probably not. Could they produce devastating light pollution? Absolutely.
In the early evening it doesn’t take long to spot satellites and space junk – and they’re not deliberately designed to be bright. With Reflect Orbital’s plan, even if just the test satellite works as planned, it will sometimes appear far brighter than the full Moon.
A constellation of such mirrors would be devastating to astronomy and dangerous to astronomers. To anyone looking through a telescope the surface of each mirror could be almost as bright as the surface of the Sun, risking permanent eye damage.
The light pollution will hinder everyone’s ability to see the cosmos and light pollution is known to impact the daily rhythms of animals as well.
Although Reflect Orbital aims to illuminate specific locations, the satellites’ beams would also sweep across Earth when moving from one location to the next. The night sky could be lit up with flashes of light brighter than the Moon.
The company did not reply to The Conversation about these concerns within deadline. However, it told Bloomberg this week it plans to redirect sunlight in ways that are “brief, predictable and targeted”, avoiding observatories and sharing the locations of the satellites so scientists can plan their work.
The consequences would be dire
It remains to be seen whether Reflect Orbital’s project will get off the ground. The company may launch a test satellite, but it’s a long way from that to getting 250,000 enormous mirrors constantly circling Earth to keep some solar farms ticking over for a few extra hours a day.
Still, it’s a project to watch. The consequences of success for astronomers – and anyone else who likes the night sky dark – would be dire.
The number of satellites visible in the evening has skyrocketed.
Oklo Inc has announced plans to design, build, and operate a facility at Oak Ridge in Tennessee to recycle used nuclear fuel into fuel for fast reactors like the company's own Aurora powerhouse, and is teaming up with TVA to look into recycling the utility's used fuel.
The fuel recycling facility will be the first phase of a USD1.68 billion advanced fuel centre, the company said.
It is also exploring opportunities with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to recycle the utility's used fuel at the new facility and to evaluate potential power sales from future Oklo powerhouses in the region to TVA, a collaboration which Oklo says would be the first time a US utility "has explored recycling its used fuel into clean electricity using modern electrochemical processes".
"Fuel is the most important factor in bringing advanced nuclear energy to market," said Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte. "By recycling used fuel at scale, we are turning waste into gigawatts, reducing costs, and establishing a secure US supply chain that will support the deployment of clean, reliable, and affordable power. Tennessee is showing the nation that recycling can be done to support new nuclear development and growth."
Oklo said it has completed a licensing project plan for the fuel recycling facility with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and is currently in pre-application engagement with the regulator's staff.
The Aurora powerhouse is a fast neutron reactor that uses heat pipes to transport heat from the reactor core to a supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion system which can generate both electricity and usable heat using fuel made from either fresh high-assay low-enriched uranium or used nuclear fuel. Oklo is planning to build its first Aurora powerhouse on a site at Idaho National Laboratory for which it has previously said it intends to submit a combined construction and operating licence application to the NRC later this year. Oklo is one of the 11 initial companies selected by the Department of Energy for support through the Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program, which aims to see at least advanced reactor projects achieve criticality in less than one year from now.
Attendees at the announcement of the planned advanced nuclear fuel centre included state and federal representatives (Image: Oklo Inc)
More than 94,000 tonnes of used nuclear fuel is currently stored at US nuclear power plant sites, and these contain considerable reserves of recyclable fuel. The fuel recycling facility will be the first phase of a multi-facility campus aimed at supporting recycling and fuel fabrication, Oklo said.
The US government halted reprocessing of used fuel from commercial reactors in 1977, as part of its stance against nuclear proliferation, but there have been several policy shifts since the early 2000. The Executive Orders signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year included directions to the Department of Energy to bring forward national policies on the management of used fuel and high-level waste and evaluate private-sector reprocessing options, amongst other things.
Government-owned TVA is the largest public power company in the USA, with a diverse generating portfolio including nuclear, hydro, coal, gas, solar and advanced technologies. Earlier this year, it submitted an application for a permit to construct an SMR at Clinch River, near Oak Ridge, using GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300 technology. More recently, it has signed a collaborative agreement with ENTRA1 Energy to deploy up to 6 GW of NuScale SMR capacity, and has also signed a power purchase agreement with Kairos Power for up to 50 MW of electricity from Kairos Power's Hermes 2 demonstration reactor, which is to be built at Oak Ridge.
"The next generation of nuclear technologies are being built and developed right here in our own backyard," said TVA President and CEO Don Moul. "Our partnership with Oklo represents yet another step forward in shaping the future of nuclear energy and ensuring a secure energy future for the Valley and beyond."The facility in Tennessee is expected to begin producing metal fuel for Aurora powerhouses by the early 2030s, following regulatory review and approvals, the company said. Oklo announces plans for Tennessee fuel recycling plant
As of August 2025, Georgia has fully repaid its debts to seven countries, including Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and the Netherlands, Georgia Online reported on Wednesday, citing the Georgian Ministry of Finance.
By July 31, Georgia owed $516,000 to Armenia, $3.997 million to Russia, $1.139 million to Turkey, $636,000 to Kazakhstan, $585,000 to Azerbaijan, $427,000 to Iran and €12,000 to the Netherlands. These debts largely date back to Georgia’s early independence and were restructured in 2004 under a Paris Club agreement.Georgia’s total external debt stood at $9.1 billion as of August 31, 2025, with major creditors including the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and European Investment Bank. Among bilateral lenders, France (€729.3 million) and Germany (€509.7 million) are the largest. Source: https://www.panorama.am/
Los Angeles, (IANS) The queen of pop, Madonna is celebrating the birthday of her son, David Banda. The singer-songwriter recently took to her Instagram, and shared a bunch of throwback pictures of herself with her son from his childhood to teenage.
The pictures show David’s progress at different stages of life, and feature him reading a book, playing guitar and posing with a horse.
The singer-songwriter also penned a note in the caption for her son, as she wrote, “Happy Birthday @senzacacona. There is nothing that you cannot do. I knew you were meant for greatness the moment I met you. Running around with no diapers, drinking Coca-Cola out of a baby bottle. Gangster”.
David was born in 2005 in Malawi, and is the adopted son of Madonna and her former husband, filmmaker Guy Ritchie. Madonna met David at an orphanage in Malawi during a humanitarian visit in 2006. Following a legal process that drew international media attention and debates about celebrity adoptions, David was formally adopted in 2008. From a young age, David displayed a strong inclination toward music, fashion, and sports.
He is particularly known for his love of football, having trained at the Benfica Youth Academy in Portugal when Madonna relocated there to support his career. In recent years, David has also gained attention for his bold fashion choices, often echoing Madonna’s own fearless sense of style. The mother-son duo is frequently spotted at public events in coordinated or striking outfits, symbolising their close bond.Madonna has often spoken about David’s charisma and talent, remarking that he has an instinctive flair for performance. While still carving his own identity, David represents Madonna’s dedication to family and philanthropy, especially in Malawi where she has supported health and education initiatives. Their relationship highlights a blend of maternal love, artistic influence, and shared humanitarian values. Madonna pens heartwarming note on son David’s birthday: I knew you were meant for greatness | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
okyo (Japan), September 21 (IANS) The United States underlined their sprinting power by claiming three out of four relay gold medals on the last day of the World Athletics Championships here on Sunday. Botswana delivered the day's surprise in the men's 4x400m relay, clocking 2 minutes 57.76 seconds to edge the Americans by just 0.07, as South Africa settled for bronze.
"I had to run the most strategic leg because of the weather," said Botswana's Busang Collen Kebinatshipi. "I am happy to be crossing the finish line first. I am really grateful to have come home with two gold medals."
"We came here dreaming of becoming world champions. It took a lot of courage for me," teammate Letsile Tebogo added.
The U.S. women responded in style in the 4x400m relay, where Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's outstanding 47.82-second anchor secured victory in a championship record 3:16.61. Jamaica finished second in 3:19.25, with the Netherlands third in 3:20.18.
The Americans also triumphed in the women's 4x100m, winning in 41.75 seconds to narrowly beat Jamaica (41.79). Germany took bronze in 41.87, reports Xinhua.
"It's crazy to be going home with three gold medals. I added my name to the history books once again. I am right where I want to be," said Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
In the men's 4x100m, Noah Lyles brought the baton home as the United States clinched gold in a world-leading 37.29. Canada finished second in 37.55, while the Netherlands set a national record of 37.81 to secure bronze.
Olyslagers wins women's high jump gold
Australia's Nicola Olyslagers won the women's high jump title on Sunday, clearing 2.00 meters to claim her first world crown on countback. The victory adds a long-awaited world title to Olyslagers' Olympic silver from Tokyo in 2021.
Poland's Maria Zodzik also went over 2.00m, setting a personal best to secure silver in her breakthrough on the global stage.
Reigning champion and 2024 Olympic gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine and Serbia's rising talent Angelina Topic both cleared 1.97m to share the bronze medal.
American Hocker wins men's 5,000m title
American Cole Hocker stormed to victory in the men's 5,000 meters final at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday. The 24-year-old, the 1,500m gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, clocked 12 minutes 58.30 seconds to claim his first title from the world championships.
Hocked was disqualified from the 1,500m final and said he was confident ahead of the competition.
"I had a lot of bodies ahead of me, but I felt very strong, enough to pass them one by one," he said. "I felt like I raced perfectly today. The 5,000m is a whole different challenge. "
"Every time I run the 5,000m, I am pushed out of my comfort zone. The 1,500m is still my speciality, but for the next world championships, I want to run the 5k again. My goal was to win both, but I will settle for one."
Belgium's Isaac Kimeli followed close behind in 12:58.78 while France's Jimmy Gressier clinched bronze in 12:59.33 to add to his 10,000m title.
Kenya's Odira wins women's 800m with championship record
Kenya's Lilian Odira captured the women's 800 meters crown on Sunday, setting a championship record of one minute 54.62 seconds. The 26-year-old surged ahead in the final stretch to secure the title in a race where the top three athletes all dipped under one minute and 55 seconds.
"The 800m is always very tactical, I didn't have any expectations, I was just following the pace of the race," said Odira. "This is my first World Championships and I am really grateful to be leaving it as the world champion. "
New York, (IANS) World No. 1 and defending US Open champion Jannik Sinner humbled Alexander Bublik to storm into the quarterfinals, setting up a showdown with fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Sinner completed the 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 triumph in just 81 minutes against his Bublik, who committed 13 double faults—the last one on match point—among 31 unforced errors.
Sinner has now reached at least the quarterfinals at eight consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. The last time he was defeated before that stage was at the 2023 US Open, when he fell in the fourth round to Alexander Zverev.
There will be an all-Italian men’s singles quarter-final at a major for the first time when Sinner takes on 10th seed Musetti. The World No. 1 will carry a 2-0 ATP Head2Head advantage into their showdown.
“It’s great to see. Italian tennis is in great form now. We have so many players, so many different game styles,” Sinner said. “Lorenzo is maybe one of the biggest talents we have in our sport, so I’m looking forward for this one. From an Italian point of view it’s great to have for sure one Italian player in the semis.”
Sinner maintained pace in the battle for No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings with Carlos Alcaraz. He must outperform the Spaniard at the US Open to retain World No. 1.
Good neighbor David Blenkle in his 2022 Mustang Mach-E
In the course of being a wonderful, kind-hearted neighbor, a California man inadvertently demonstrated the incredible reliability and longevity of his electric vehicle.
And being that it’s a Ford Mustang Mach-E, which many derided as an abomination of the badge, it’s a head-turning, heart-tugging piece of publicity.
David Blenkle -credit Ford
David Blenkle has spent the last few years using his all-electric Mach-E to run a small private car service in Santa Cruz, California, and has driven more than 250,000 miles in the last three years.
Even more impressive, the car still has 92% of the battery capacity he had when he bought it.
Inspired by the care his grandfather received as a WWII veteran, Blenkle started off by offering complimentary rides for veterans and their families to Veteran’s Affairs (VA) appointments and national cemeteries.
He also began to offer free rides to job-seekers, both veterans and others, to help them get to any job interviews they might have lined up.
Years passed, and Blenkle has become a lifeline for hundreds of people in his community who would otherwise not have had access to reliable transportation.
Through the growth of his business, David was able to expand to continue providing reliable rides to those in need, including university students needing a ride to the airport, or locals navigating the highway over the Santa Cruz mountains.
There are many good arguments on both sides of the debate on the reliability of EVs versus conventional combustion vehicles, especially in a state as large as California. Perhaps the best on the EV side is that an electric motor has one moving part.Resulting not a little from that fact, the course of Blenkle’s charitable work has seen him pass a quarter-million miles—equivalent to a trip to the moon—without enduring any major under-the-hood work. Man Wracks Up 250,000 EV Miles Driving Neighbors in Need–and the Battery Still Has a Capacity of 92%
The 78th World Health Assembly was held at the United Nations in Geneva
GENEVA - The World Health Organization tried to stabilise its finances at its annual assembly, which ended on Tuesday, but still remains well short of reaching its already reduced target.
Hit by the withdrawal of its biggest donor, the United States, the WHO trimmed its already smaller 2026-2027 budget from $5.3-billion to $4.2-billion.
The UN health agency's programme budget for 2024-2025 was $6.8-billion.
The slimmer budget plan was approved during the World Health Assembly, which serves as the WHO's decision-making body.
But a funding gap of some $1.7-billion remains.
At this year's assembly, countries approved another 20 percent increase in membership fees, which should represent an additional $90-million in revenue per year.
They also endorsed the WHO's 2026-2027 budget of $4.2-billion.
"Your approval of the next increase in assessed contributions was a strong vote of confidence in your WHO at this critical time," the organisation's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday in closing the assembly.
At a pledging event last week, donors put in an additional $210-million for the 2025-2028 investment round, supporting the WHO's base budget.
That included $80-million from Switzerland, $57-million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, $13.5-million from Sweden and $6-million from Qatar.
"In a challenging climate for global health, these funds will help us to preserve and extend our life-saving work," said Tedros.
Upon returning to office in January, US President Donald Trump started the one-year process for leaving the WHO, and had frozen virtually all US foreign aid.
The United States was traditionally the WHO's largest donor. Washington's departure, and its refusal to pay its membership fees for 2024 and 2025, has left the WHO reeling financially.
Washington did not attend the World Health Assembly.
However, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a video message in which he branded the organisation as bloated and moribund, and urged other countries to "consider joining us" in creating new institutions instead.
CHICAGO - Gretchen Walsh clocked a stunning 54.76sec to win the 100m butterfly at the US Swimming Championships on Thursday, coming up just shy of her own world record in a comfortable victory over Olympic champion Torri Huske.
Walsh, who settled for silver behind Huske at the Paris Games last year, had lowered her own world record twice at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim last month, becoming the first woman to dip below 55 seconds with a world mark of 54.60sec in the finals there.
She was well under world-record pace when she turned in 25.19sec, and even though she couldn't lower the mark, she posted the second-fastest time in history and had plenty to hold off Huske, who finished 1.8sec back in 56.61sec.
"I just like pushing myself past boundaries that I never thought possible," Walsh, who now owns the top seven times in history, told NBC Sports.
She lined up a second individual event at the World Championships in Singapore July 11-August 3 after winning the 50m fly with the fourth-fastest time ever on Wednesday.
Katharine Berkoff also turned up the heat, posting the second-fastest 50m backstroke time in history with her win in 26.97sec. She broke the American record of Regan Smith, who was second in 27.20.
Lilly King, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and an 11-time world champion who has announced this will be her last season, won the 50m breaststroke in 29.88sec.
Bobby Finke ran down Carson Foster to win the men's 400m individual medley in 4min 07.46sec.
He sliced more than two seconds off his personal best to get the better of Paris Olympics bronze medallist Foster, who finished in 4:07.92.
Finke, two-time Olympic gold medallist and world record-holder in the 1,500m freestyle, indicated last month that he wouldn't swim the 400 medley in Singapore even if he qualified because of a scheduling conflict with the events.
"I've got to talk to my coaches about it, but we kind of have a plan in mind," he said.
Emma Weyant, silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze medallist at the Paris Games last year, won the women's 400m individual medley in 4:34.81 with Katie Grimes second in 4:37.22.
Shaine Casas led all the way in winning the men's 100m butterfly in 50.51sec.Quintin McCarty won the men's 50m backstroke in 24.34sec with Casas second in 24.44. Walsh swims second-fastest 100m butterfly in history
MEXICO CITY - The largest and most complex World Cup in history kicks off in just over a year's time, with the United States, Canada and Mexico co-hosting the football extravaganza against a backdrop of political tension triggered by Donald Trump.
Forty-eight teams and millions of fans are set to descend on North America for the first-ever World Cup shared by three nations, with the tournament getting underway on June 11 next year.
In theory, the 23rd edition of the most popular sporting spectacle on the planet has all the makings of a successful tournament.
An array of venues ranging from Mexico's iconic Estadio Azteca to the glittering $5 billion SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will play host to 104 games spread over nearly six weeks.
The United States will host the bulk of those fixtures -- 78 -- with Canada and Mexico staging 13 each.
All games from the quarter-finals onwards will be held in the United States, with the tournament culminating in the final at New Jersey's 82,500-seater MetLife Stadium on 19 July 2026.
American officials believe the return of the World Cup to the country -- 32 years after the United States hosted the 1994 finals -- could represent a watershed moment for football in the country.
"The World Cup is going to raise the attention of the sport in ways that nobody ever dreamed of," said Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer.
FIFA's President Gianni Infantino, meanwhile, has been hyping next year's finals as the equivalent of "104 Super Bowls", contrasting the World Cup's estimated six billion viewers to the 120 million or so who tune in for the climax of the NFL season.
There are historical precedents which suggest the hype might be justified. The 1994 World Cup in the United States remains the best-attended World Cup in history, with an average of 68,600 fans flocking to each game.
Yet while organisers eagerly anticipate a commercial success, with one FIFA estimate suggesting it could generate a mammoth $11-billion in revenues, questions over other aspects of the tournament remain.
The 48 teams -- up from 32 in 2022 -- will be spread into 12 groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the knockout rounds, and the eight best third-placed teams joining them to make up a last 32.That expansion is likely to reduce the sense of jeopardy in the first round, a problem seen in other major championships which have increased in size in recent years. Canada, US, Mexico brace for World Cup extravaganza
Defying expectations, the United States and China have announced an important agreement to de-escalate bilateral trade tensions after talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
The good, the bad and the ugly
The good news is their recent tariff increases will be slashed. The US has cut tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, while China has reduced levies on US imports from 125% to 10%. This greatly eases major bilateral trade tensions, and explains why financial markets rallied.
The bad news is twofold. First, the remaining tariffs are still high by modern standards. The US average trade-weighted tariff rate was 2.2% on January 1 2025, while it is now estimated to be up to 17.8%. This makes it the highest tariff wall since the 1930s.
Overall, it is very likely a new baseline has been set. Bilateral tariff-free trade belongs to a bygone era.
Second, these tariff reductions will be in place for 90 days, while negotiations continue. Talks will likely include a long list of difficult-to-resolve issues. China’s currency management policy and industrial subsidies system dominated by state-owned enterprises will be on the table. So will the many non-tariff barriers Beijing can turn on and off like a tap.
China is offering to purchase unspecified quantities of US goods – in a repeat of a US-China “Phase 1 deal” from Trump’s first presidency that was not implemented. On his first day in office in January, amid a blizzard of executive orders, Trump ordered a review of that deal’s implementation. The review found China didn’t follow through on the agriculture, finance and intellectual property protection commitments it had made.
Unless the US has now decided to capitulate to Beijing’s retaliatory actions, it is difficult to see the US being duped again.
Failure to agree on these points would reveal the ugly truth that both countries continue to impose bilateral export controls on goods deemed sensitive, such as semiconductors (from the US to China) and processed critical minerals (from China to the US).
Moreover, in its so-called “reciprocal” negotiations with other countries, the US is pressing trading partners to cut certain sensitive China-sourced goods from their exports destined for US markets. China is deeply unhappy about these US demands and has threatened to retaliate against trading partners that adopt them.
A temporary truce
Overall, the announcement is best viewed as a truce that does not shift the underlying structural reality that the US and China are locked into a long-term cycle of escalating strategic competition.
That cycle will have its ups (the latest announcement) and downs (the tariff wars that preceded it). For now, both sides have agreed to announce victory and focus on other matters.
For the US, this means ensuring there will be consumer goods on the shelves in time for Halloween and Christmas, albeit at inflated prices. For China, it means restoring some export market access to take pressure off its increasingly ailing economy.
As neither side can vanquish the other, the likely long-term result is a frozen conflict. This will be punctuated by attempts to achieve “escalation dominance”, as that will determine who emerges with better terms. Observers’ opinions on where the balance currently lies are divided.
Along the way, and to use a quote widely attributed to Winston Churchill, to “jaw-jaw is better than to war-war”. Fasten your seat belts, there is more turbulence to come.
Where does this leave the rest of us?
Significantly, the US has not (so far) changed its basic goals for all its bilateral trade deals.
Its overarching aim is to cut the goods trade deficit by reducing goods imports and eliminating non-tariff barriers it says are “unfairly” prohibiting US exports. The US also wants to remove barriers to digital trade and investments by tech giants and “derisk” certain imports that it deems sensitive for national security reasons.
The agreement between the US and UK last week clearly reflects these goals in operation. While the UK received some concessions, the remaining tariffs are higher, at 10% overall, than on April 2 and subject to US-imposed import quotas. Furthermore, the UK must open its market for certain goods while removing China-originating content from steel and pharmaceutical products destined for the US.
For Washington’s Pacific defence treaty allies, including Australia, nothing has changed. Potentially difficult negotiations with the Trump administration lie ahead, particularly if the US decides to use our security dependencies as leverage to wring concessions in trade. Japan has already disavowed linking security and trade, and their progress should be closely watched.
The US has previously paused high tariffs on manufacturing nations in South-East Asia, particularly those used by other nations as export platforms to avoid China tariffs. Vietnam, Cambodia and others will face sustained uncertainty and increasingly difficult balancing acts. The economic stakes are higher for them.
They, like the Japanese, are long-practised in the subtle arts of balancing the two giants. Still, juggling ties with both Washington and Beijing will become the act of an increasingly high-wire trapeze artist.
The United States and China remain in a standoff in their tariff war. Neither side appears willing to budge.
After US President Donald Trump imposed massive 145% tariffs on Chinese imports in early April, China retaliated with its own tariffs of 125% on US goods.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week it’s up to China to de-escalate tensions. China’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said the two sides are not talking.
The prospect of economic decoupling between the world’s two largest economies is no longer speculative. It is becoming a hard reality. While many observersdebate who might “win” the trade war, the more likely outcome is that everyone loses.
A convenient target
Trump’s protectionist agenda has spared few. Allies and adversaries alike have been targeted by sweeping US tariffs. However, China has served as the main target, absorbing the political backlash of broader frustrations over trade deficits and economic displacement in the US.
The economic costs to China are undeniable. The loss of reliable access to the US market, coupled with mounting uncertainty in the global trading system, has dealt a blow to China’s export-driven sectors.
China’s comparative advantage lies in its vast manufacturing base and tightly integrated supply chains. This is especially true in high-tech and green industries such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar energy. These sectors are deeply dependent on open markets and predictable demand.
New trade restrictions in Europe, Canada and the US on Chinese electric vehicles, in particular, have already caused demand to drop significantly.
China’s GDP growth was higher than expected in the first quarter of the year at 5.4%, but analysts expect the effect of the tariffs to soon bite. A key measure of factory activity this week showed a contraction in manufacturing.
China’s economic growth has also been weighed down by structural headwinds, including industrial overcapacity (when a country’s production of goods exceeds demand), an ageing population, rising youth unemployment and persistent regional disparities. The property sector — once a pillar of the country’s economic rise — has become a source of financial stress. Local government debt is mounting and a pension crisis is looming.
Negotiations with the US might be desirable to end the tariff war. However, unilateral concessions on Beijing’s part are neither viable nor politically palatable.
Regional coordination
Trump’s tariff wars have done more than strain bilateral relationships; they have shaken the foundations of the global trading system.
By sidelining the World Trade Organization and embracing a transactional approach to bilateral trade, the US has weakened multilateral norms and emboldened protectionist tendencies worldwide.
One unintended consequence of this instability has been the resurgence of regional arrangements. In Asia, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), backed by China and centred on the ASEAN bloc in Southeast Asia, has emerged as a credible alternative for economic cooperation.
Meanwhile, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) continues to expand, with the United Kingdom joining late last year.
Across Latin America, too, regional blocs are exploring new avenues for integration, hoping to buffer themselves against the shocks of resurgent protectionism.
But regionalism is no panacea. It cannot replicate the scale or efficiency of global trade, nor can it restore the predictability on which exporters depend.
Looming dangers
The greater danger is the world drifting into a Kindleberger Trap — a situation in which no power steps forward to provide the leadership necessary to sustain global public goods, or a stable trading system.
Economist Charles Kindleberger’s account of the Great Depression remains instructive: it was not the presence of conflict but the absence of leadership that brought about the global economy’s systemic collapse.
Without renewed global coordination, the economic fragmentation triggered by Trump’s tariff wars could give way to something far more dangerous than a recession – rising geopolitical and military tensions that no region can contain.
The political landscape is already fraught. The Chinese Communist Party, for instance, has long tethered its legitimacy to the promise of eventual unification with Taiwan. Yet the costs of using force remain prohibitively high.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s recent designation of China as a “foreign hostile force” have sharpened tensions. Beijing’s response has been calibrated – military exercises intended more as a warning than a prelude to conflict.
However, the intensifying trade war with the US may become the final straw that exhausts Beijing’s patience, leaving Taiwan as collateral damage in a US-China final showdown.
A role for collective leadership
China alone is neither able nor inclined to assume the mantle of global leadership. Its current focus is more on domestic priorities – sustaining economic growth and managing social stability – than on foreign policy.
Yet, Beijing can still play a constructive role in shaping the international environment through its cooperation with Europe, ASEAN and the Global South.
The objective is not to replace American hegemony, but to support a more multi-polar and collaborative system — one capable of sustaining global public goods in an era of uncertainty.
Paradoxically, a more coordinated effort by the rest of the world may ultimately help bring the US back into the fold. Washington may rediscover the strategic value of engagement — and return not as the sole leader, but as an indispensable partner.
In the short term, other states may seek to gain an advantage from the great power standoff. But they should remember that what begins as a clash between giants can quickly engulf bystanders.
In this volatile landscape, the path forward does not lie in exploiting disorder. Rather, nations must cautiously advance the shared interest in restoring a stable, rules-based global order.
Intelsat has partnered with AXESS Networks, a Hispasat subsidiary, to expand satellite service capabilities across the Americas
The collaboration combines the satellite infrastructure and assets of both Intelsat and Hispasat to ensure reliable coverage throughout the Americas region. The two companies aim to offer quality, multi-satellite connectivity to enterprise and telecom customers.
According to the companies, the agreement will improve the customer experience by delivering robust, scalable services for a wide range of communication needs. The partnership forms part of a broader renewal agreement with AXESS.
The partnership comes amid a surge in demand for reliable and scalable connectivity solutions, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas and increasingly digitalised urban environments.
“Our collaboration with Intelsat underscores our commitment to delivering world-class satellite solutions. We are proud to work together to enhance the customer experience and provide top-tier connectivity to our clients,” said General Manager AXESS EMEA¸ Guido Neumann in a press release.
“Our quality of service speaks for itself in this expanded partnership with AXESS. This agreement reaffirms our commitment to delivering seamless, reliable solutions just as we do today and into the future,” echoed Rhys Morgan, RVP EMEA Sales at Intelsat. Hispasat acquired AXESS Networks back in 2022 for an undisclosed sum. The deal, Hispasat said, allows its “2020-25 Strategic Plan to be accelerated, aiming to transform the company into a satellite solutions and services provider.” Intelsat and AXESS Networks extend partnership to boost satellite coverage across the Americas | Total Telecom
CHINA - China has said it has received overtures from the United States for talks on tariffs - but warned it will need concessions as proof of "sincerity" before any negotiations can take place.
The world's two largest economies are locked in a tit-for-tat tariff war that threatens hundreds of billions in trade and has roiled global markets and supply chains.
AFP looks at how the trade war between China and the United States is playing out:
- What steps have the two sides taken so far? -
The United States has raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent, with cumulative duties on some goods reaching a staggering 245 percent.
As well as the blanket levies, China is also under sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminium and car imports.
Sales of Chinese goods to the US last year totalled more than $500 billion -- 16.4 percent of the country's exports, according to Beijing's customs data.
China has vowed to fight the measures "to the end" and has unveiled reciprocal tariffs of up to 125 percent on imports of American goods, which totalled $143.5 billion last year, according to Washington.
Beijing has filed complaints with the World Trade Organization (WTO), citing "bullying" tactics by the Trump administration.
And it has gone after American companies, scrapping orders for Boeing planes, probing Google for "anti-monopoly" violations and adding US fashion group PVH Corp. - which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein - and biotech giant Illumina to a list of "unreliable entities".
Beijing has also restricted exports of rare earth elements - critical in the manufacturing of everything from semiconductors to medical technology and consumer electronics.
- What's been the impact so far? -
Beijing has long drawn Trump's ire with a trade surplus with the United States that reached $295.4 billion last year, according to the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Chinese leaders have been reluctant to disrupt the status quo.
But an intensified trade war will likely mean China cannot peg its hopes for strong economic growth this year on its exports, which reached record highs in 2024.
US duties further threaten to harm China's fragile post-Covid economic recovery as it struggles with a debt crisis in the property sector and persistently low consumption.
The tariff war is already having an impact in the United States, with uncertainty triggering a manufacturing slump last month and officials blaming it for an unexpected slump in GDP in the first three months of the year.
"The cost on the US economy and livelihood is beginning to surface," Mei Xinyu, an economist at the state-affiliated Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told AFP.
"They are starting to truly feel the cost and impact of pursuing trade hegemony with China," he said.
The head of the WTO said in April that the US-China tariff war could cut trade in goods between the two countries by 80 percent.
Analysts expect the levies to take a significant chunk out of China's GDP, which Beijing's leadership hope will grow five percent this year.
Likely to be hit hardest are China's top exports to the United States - everything from electronics and machinery to textiles and clothing, according to the Peterson Institute of International Economics.
And because of the crucial role Chinese goods play in supplying US firms, the tariffs may also hurt American manufacturers and consumers, analysts have warned.
- Are talks likely? -
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China has reached out for talks on the tariffs.
But Friday's statement by Beijing suggested it was Washington that's been reaching out.
While China's commerce ministry said it was "evaluating" the offer, it warned it would need concessions from Washington - namely the lifting of tariffs - before talks could go ahead.
"Tariffs cannot be used as a bargaining chip to pressure China. China cannot make any concessions on the tariff issue," Wang Wen, Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told AFP.
Analysts in China broadly agreed that pressure on the US economy was driving Washington's call for talks.
"The fact that the US is repeatedly saying it is talking with China proves that the US itself has taken a big hit from the trade war," Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Beijing’s Renmin University of China, said.
"China is certainly willing (to negotiate), and so is evaluating and observing the US side's sincerity -- is it all just bluff and bluster... or is it actually something real that could yield plans for serious talks?"
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By Hanson Lu
Can a new satellite constellation create sunlight on demand? 
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Good neighbor David Blenkle in his 2022 Mustang Mach-E
David Blenkle -credit Ford
The 78th World Health Assembly was held at the United Nations in Geneva
