indispensable guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington follow the latest on tariffs and executive orders Stay on top of the latest events in US politics with the FT’s trusted and impartial coverage Insight and analysis on US politics from commentators such as Ed Luce and James Politi This subscription does not include access to ft.com or the FT App Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times Bournemouth are braced for interest in Dean Huijsen this summer; Five Premier League clubs Real Madrid and Bayern Munich keen on the defender; He is understood to have a release clause of around £50m in his contract; It is understood that the race to sign him is wide open Bournemouth are braced for interest in Dean Huijsen this summer Real Madrid and Bayern Munich keen on the defender Newcastle and Tottenham are the English clubs thought to be looking at Huijsen The 20-year-old is understood to have a release clause of around £50m in his contract It is understood that the race to sign the Spain international is wide open and it is too early to say where he will be playing next season because of the level of interest Chelsea are not favourites to sign him at the moment but are considering whether to offer to pay the release clause Real Madrid would be a priority for the player if they made an official move for him with playing in the Champions League also a major consideration if he leaves Bayern Munich are also one of the clubs interested in Huijsen Chelsea have good relations with the player's representatives but they are two points away from a Champions League place with five games to play Dean Huijsen only made one senior appearance for Juventus when Bournemouth signed him last year - now clubs are queuing round the block to try and sign him The Blues are tracking some of Europe's best centre-backs and attackers in an effort to try and complete some deals before they play at this summer's FIFA Club World Cup In what looks set to be another busy summer at Stamford Bridge Chelsea are targeting the arrivals of a forward Sky Sports News revealed earlier this month that sought-after Ipswich frontman Liam Delap is one of the names under serious consideration - with Chelsea also targeting Napoli striker Victor Osimhen RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Canada international striker Jonathan David Wingers that are being considered by the club include Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho Borussia Dortmund's Jamie Gittens and Athletic Club's Nico Williams AC Milan and Portugal international winger Rafael Leao is not a player that Chelsea are trying to sign A trio of Premier League players lead Chelsea's centre-back targets for the summer as the club aims to swiftly complete some business Chelsea are interested in Bournemouth's Huijsen Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite and Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi A goalscoring defender who counts Jose Mourinho among his many admirers It was a transfer that went under the radar in the summer of 2024 Bournemouth signed a young 19-year-old defender from Juventus One appearance for 'The Old Lady' and 13 for Roma in 2023/24 didn't exactly say he was the next best thing Bournemouth clearly saw something that others didn't and their recent recruitment suggests they can spot the special sauce It's no secret that Huijsen's £50m release clause will be activated by someone this summer but with a host of big hitters all willing to pay it and according to the media - he can literally go anywhere Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player the queue to get him goes round the block and back again But like most players when talking about their future sat down on the fresh grass at the club's new performance centre seemed in a relaxed mood and big move talk hasn't phased him one bit; "I'm very calm," he said I'm just focused on finishing the season well I'm just focusing on my football and working hard." Huijsen was also coy on the rumoured release clause as well "I'm just focused on making history at this club," he says with a smile a unique and free-to-access venue with a stunning outlook onto the Eiffel Tower the Champions Park has welcomed more than 77,000 visitors so far who have come to celebrate with Olympic medallists at the Trocadéro Gardens This new initiative has quickly become the place to be at Paris 2024 with athletes being encouraged to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience hundreds of medal winners will have the opportunity to be presented to the crowd by sporting legends creating unforgettable memories for Olympians and fans alike © Getty ImagesMany athletes who have visited the Champions Park have been blown away by the reception France’s silver medallist in the mountain biking cross-country event said: “I had a talk with [gold medallist in women’s mountain bike] Pauline Ferrand-Prévot I decided to come here with my family to just enjoy the moment I felt like a rockstar in the middle of the stage!Victor KoretzkyFrance’s silver medallist in the mountain biking cross-country eventUS rugby sevens bronze medallist Lauren Doyle was another who enjoyed her time at the Champions Park She said: “I’ve never experienced something like that To be able to take in the moment and celebrate what we just accomplished was out of this world and it was a really special moment for us.” © Getty ImagesThe Champions Park will be open to the public daily from 4 to 11.30 p.m (all times CEST) from 29 July to 10 August (although closed on 30 July and from 2 to 4 August) the park will open at noon on 9 and 10 August featuring an athletes' celebration at 3 p.m © Getty ImagesIt will also be a place where Olympians from previous Games will be celebrated. There will be a medal ceremony for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 figure skating team event on 7 August, as well as medal reallocations for athletes from the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 © Getty ImagesTo enhance the festive atmosphere Paris 2024 is hosting an artistic programme as part of the Cultural Olympiad music and various fun activities on the Trocadéro stage setting the mood for the arrival of the athletes Olympic fans also have the opportunity to follow competitions broadcast on giant screens and cheer for their favourite athletes © Getty ImagesElsewhere, Club Paris 2024 venues have welcomed more than two million visitors who have been soaking up the Olympic spirit at various locations across France © Bertrand DesprezMore than 160 Club Paris 2024 sites have already been set up, in Paris, elsewhere in Île-de-France and across the country, from small towns like Méral in Mayenne to cities such as Dijon. These clubs, supported by the host communities and Terre de Jeux 2024 are ensuring the Olympic Games are a nationwide celebration © Bertrand DesprezAt the Nations Park in La Villette over 320,000 visitors have been exploring the “houses” of 15 National Olympic Committees from countries like Brazil For all the latest information and event details, fans can use the Games Map on the official Paris 2024 app and website These fan engagement initiatives are not only bringing people together but are also creating unparalleled atmospheres for athletes and fans alike, living up to Paris 2024’s vision of creating “Games Wide Open” Paris 2024Paris 2024 medallists capturing “Victory Selfies” thanks to Samsung Paris 2024Supporting sport around the world, Olympic Solidarity at Paris 2024 LegacyAll you need to know about impact and legacy at Paris 2024: for the people, for the community and for the environment The European Central Bank decides to play it safe and cut rates by 25bp Dropping the reference to ‘restrictive’ monetary policy suggests there are more rate cuts to come The level of the ECB's deposit rate now stands at 3% this is no recommendation for the upcoming Christmas menu; the ECB’s decision to cut interest rates by 25bp also doesn’t mean that all of a sudden it has become a supporter of the degrowth theory simply embracing and accepting weak growth in the eurozone today’s decision reflects a compromise between growth and inflation worriers a gut feeling vs a model-based approach and doves against hawks the ECB has dropped the reference to still-needed restrictiveness keeping the door wide open for more rate cuts to come Stagflationary tendencies are a very uncomfortable situation for the ECB Think of the potential adverse effects of US economic policies over the coming months political instability in the two largest eurozone economies and now even a public finance crisis in France.  The problem for the ECB is that these possible risks will not be reflected in the latest round of staff projections Not only was the cut-off date of these forecasts before the latest political woes in France but the ECB normally also applies a “no policy change” assumption this assumption has received a completely new meaning This is what made today’s decision so difficult: follow your gut feeling or The ECB decided to play it safe and cut by 25bp Quickly turning to the new staff projections inflation is expected to average 2.4% in 2024 Core inflation is expected to come in at 2.9% in 2024 2.3% in 2025 and 1.9% in both 2026 and 2027 ECB staff haven't lost their optimism regarding growth expecting eurozone growth to come in at 0.7% in 2024 as the ECB has not taken into account Trump and France and is still banking on a return of the consumer these forecasts even look like a Goldilocks scenario the risk for the ECB will now be that while it is still highly guided by the past mistake of underestimating inflation and reacting too late it could now end up overestimating growth and being too late to react again Let’s hear what ECB president Christine Lagarde has to say on today’s decision and the outlook for the ECB at the press conference starting at 2.45pm CET Stay up to date with all of ING’s latest economic and financial analysis If you are acting in a professional capacity and look for investment research, visit research.ing.com Try a different filter or a new search keyword Streaming and Download help Redeem code Spunky songwriting wrapped up in luscious vocals and beautifully baroque-pop arrangements Chamber pop with lyrics that are alternately wry and confessional Oropendola creates whole worlds built on purposeful keyboard melodies Three new songs plus two covers from an ascendant Berlin singer-songwriter “Portraits” is a collection of expertly drawn narrative songs with sharply observed lyrics and rustic instrumentation An album of classic-sounding guitar pop sure to appeal to fans of Cut Worms sad indie pop tunes accompany Ian Coss's podcast of the same name in which he interviews his family about their divorces Johanna Samuels writes introspective and empathetic songs that explore authenticity with lovely Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp Moddi Explores Each Track of His Politically Charged New Album “Unsongs” Backxwash joins the show to discuss her recent release the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Southern Brazil Their style of blending elements of melodic rock and pop creates a unique sound that captivates audiences both in Brazil and abroad The band’s line-up comprises of vocalist Gui Oliver bass player Luis Rocha and drummer Felipe Souzza all of whom bring their diverse backgrounds to the group’s dynamic compositions Landfall debuted with the album ‘The Turning Point’ in 2020 which showcased their intricate storytelling and musicianship The band’s Melodic Rock/AOR sound can best be described as a cocktail of such classic melodic rock legends as Journey Landfall announce the release of their new album with a healthy running time in-excess of 59-minutes a punchy riff and steady beat gets us moving Oliver’s clear and even paced vocal joins the mix The pace builds as its driven forward by Souzza and Rocha A reflective and well produced track to start with The guitars and beats are harder and heavier as ‘SOS’ starts Souzza’s galloping beat and Gelbcke’s power riffs and solo see Landfall plant both feet firmly in the classic rock sound The switching of styles and sounds is impressive ‘When The Curtain Falls’ begins at a high tempo with some quick Gelbcke fret-work and controls the quick/slow pace with his vocal and is supported by Rocha as he slaps his strings The breaks and bridges create a sound that although incorporates tempo changes and contains elements that give more than a respectful nod in the direction of Journey and their 1983 monster hit ‘Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)’ blends effortlessly with harmonized vocals and a rip-roaring Gelbcke solo and most recent single release ‘No Tomorrow’ follows Oliver’s vocal delivery is inch perfect as he demonstrates control and range The sound is rich and full with the addition subtle keyboards betraying the fact Landfall are a four-piece ‘A Letter To You’ begins with a piano and guitar duet the band adding harmonies Gelbcke’s delicate solo keeps the sentiment strong A classic power ballad delivered faultlessly The tempo picks up its feet for ‘Coming Home’ A punchy riff adds urgency and will have an audience bouncing The mid-section solo has a dirty blues intro before tearing into a real 80’s squealer The electronic inspired ‘Intoxicated’ is next a Euro-rock vibe is also thrown into the mix it feels like the band has given each other carte-blanche to express and enjoy themselves the result being an expansive ‘rock-out’ that’s fun and executed by talented musicians the ferocity subsides as he carries his listener onwards Souzza and Rocha unleash their arsenal in rapid succession propelling the heavy sound towards the ears This alternating combination of styles is captivating Another track that must be included in a live show The albums penultimate track is ‘Higher Than The Moon’ an atmospheric instrumental eases in Oliver’s vocal The tempo quickly rockets with his soaring lyrics Souzza is double-tapping his bass drum in parts emphasizing the pace we reach the climax before Oliver guides us in to for the landing The album’s title-track ‘Wide Open Sky’ is saved until last flowing melodies and lyrics full of emotion make up this AOR masterclass a fitting close to what has been a great record Landfall’s ‘Wide Open Sky’ could be the blue-print for an AOR/Melodic Rock album but it incorporates elements of other genres that will make it last in the memory whereas others may only be acknowledged in the moment if you ask someone to name a Brazilian band if Landfall continue to produce records like ‘Wide Open Sky’ then they will be on the tip of many more tongues as the answer given Pre-Order “Wide Open Sky” HERE Line Up:Gui Oliver – VocalsMarcelo Gelbcke – Guitars Follow LANDFALL:FacebookInstagram BLOODSTOCK is thrilled to be partnering with premier alternative lifestyle and merchandise… You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Having had his tracks streamed over a billion times in the last fourteen years as well as having his cover of Isaac’s ‘Wicked Game’ open season six of Game of Thrones Mr McMorrow obviously knows a thing or two about producing commercially viable music in the streaming era One could almost ask what the necessity of an album is with such a high-profile streaming/Spotify presence for McMorrow it is more about the songs than the product but he is blessed with such a commercial instinct that the two happily co-exist the template is clear McMorrow’s vocals front and centre and insistent rhythms building to catchy climax ‘Darkest Days of Winter‘ similarly starts gently and then unfurls into a Beatlsey chorus The production is highly polished with sympathetic toms and subtle splashes of guitar and keys the album steps up a gear with ‘The Day All The Lights Went Out’ a beautifully delicate thing with swooning pedal steel that builds in a very Bon Iver way to its giddy climax The centrepiece of the album feels like two specific tracks – firstly ‘Never Gone’ which feels like McMorrow is trying to reclaim a bit of his humanity after the success of the last few years and the gentle handclaps moving things along The second track ‘No One Gets What They Wanted‘ has slashes of guitar and urgent vocals leading to a sharp This is a highly commercial album that gently unfurls with each play Here is an artist who is adept at straddling the chasm between art and commerce and coming up with something honest and this album feels just that Wide open, horses by James Vincent McMorrow Live Review: Asleep at the Wheel + Jack Browning Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. If you enjoy what you're reading and don't want to support us on a monthly basis you can help us keep this site free from looking like one of those awful REACH sites by making a one off donation towards our running costs Be daring, be yourself, be willing to take risks and stand alone. Vanessa Collier’s music is gritty, raw, and at times, either downright sad or bubbling happy. As with most songwriters worth their salt, her songs […] “All of a sudden, time stood still, and we watched our plans and expectations float away like lost balloons.” For Angela Easterling, life began in South Carolina and, except for college years in Boston, has been […] Past, present and future are inseparable in her songs. There is an openness to Maya de Vitry that is refreshing to come by. Formerly in the Stray Birds, a bluegrass band, the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-born musician is […] As always in these prescriptive articles there must be a drawing of boundaries and Clint’s first article in the series seemed to have dealt with the idea that you should define americana in a narrow sense […] Steve Earle announced his arrival in our lives with his debut album in 1986. Since then, he has racked up almost thirty studio and live albums under his own name or in collaboration with others. I […] I heard from a colleague,  who has contact with associates of Eric Taylor, that he had died on March 9th 2020 following a period of illness. I immediately checked the web for confirmation but there was […] says recent administrations failed the country The Conservative government left the UK wide open to the far-right violence erupting across parts of the country by ignoring red flags and stoking fires with a culture war agenda, a senior adviser on extremism to Tory prime ministers has said. Dame Sara Khan, who was Rishi Sunak’s independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience until May this year and acted as counter-extremism commissioner under Theresa May and Boris Johnson, said the recent administrations had failed the British people. Repeated and urgent counsel that far-right extremists were exploiting gaps in the law to foment violence on social media had been ignored while top-rank politicians in a series of administrations sought to gain advantage by waging culture wars, Khan said, in a damning intervention. “The writing was clearly on the wall for some time,” Khan said. “All my reports have shown, in a nutshell that, firstly, these extremist and cohesion threats are worsening; secondly, that our country is woefully unprepared. We’ve got a gap in our legislation which is allowing these extremists to operate with impunity. “Previous governments have astonishingly failed to address these trends, and they’ve taken instead, in my view, approaches that have actually been counterproductive and actually just defy any logical rationale. “They scrapped the counter-extremism strategy [in 2021], including all the resources and funding for local areas across the country who are struggling with extremist activity and extremist actors. And the government, at that time, did not replace it with anything. They left local authorities struggling to deal with consistent extremist challenges in their area. “Political leadership is really important and how our politicians behave is really, really critical, because I’ve seen, and I’m sure other people have seen, politicians who have actually, indirectly or directly undermined social cohesion because they’ve used inflammatory language.” who has previously criticised those who described the pro-Palestine protests as “hate marches” a formulation of words used by the former home secretary Suella Braverman said the rhetoric used by some senior politicians in recent years had given a green light to those holding racist views She said: “I went to parts of the country where they were very upfront with me and just said: ‘Look because of some of the inflammatory language used by politicians the same language would then be co-opted by who would then use that to undermine cohesion in a local area.’ “There’s a serious duty on our politicians to not engage in inflammatory language; to not use dehumanising language about asylum seekers there’s a legitimate debate about immigration but there’s a way that you can talk about these issues without using dehumanising and inflammatory language who published a review for Michael Gove in March this year on social cohesion in the UK known as the Khan review said there had been growing evidence in recent years of the far right spreading disinformation to cause unrest who wrote a report in 2021 with the current Met commissioner calling for a change in the law on extremism said it remained the case that it was legal to stir up racial hatred that is not threatening “And that’s why we’ve seen lawful fascist and neo-Nazi organisations in this country who are doing precisely that,” Khan said which is intended to stir up hatred against a racial and religious group There is the use of disinformation on social media “Hateful extremism has evolved significantly in the last decade and extremists have professionalised and coordinated they’re using social media to spread their extremist ideology and spreading disinformation “Our rules have failed to evolve with this growing extremist threat there are gaps in our legislation that is allowing them to Free newsletterGet the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning Khan said the political tumult in recent years with the country having five different prime ministers in seven years She said: “I was dealing with three different home secretaries because of the kind of political instability you had Home secretaries who had different interests and views about how to tackle this problem and so some were very forthcoming and supportive “Why it was that they didn’t respond to the reports but it’s just astonishing that they didn’t do anything about it.” a lack of institutional knowledge about how to combat disinformation and protect vulnerable people She said: “What local authorities were telling me was that the far right would find out where asylum hotels would be before the local authority did because the communication between the Home Office and them was just not working.” police clashed with rioters outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham with demonstrators chanting “Get them out” as they smashed the windows of the Holiday Inn Express Khan added: “They’ve (the Conservatives) actually failed those people in communities who are trying to protect cohesion who are trying to push back against extremist actors A Conservative spokesperson said: “Rishi Sunak as prime minister made it clear that we must stand up to extremism in all its forms The police must take a zero-tolerance approach to extremist tactics and we set out reforms to how governments deal with extremists redoubled our support for the Prevent programme and demanded that universities stopped extremist activity on campus “We must stand together to combat the forces of division and give the police the powers they need to protect our country and values.” Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations Ready to receive immigrants but under preconditions either observed and verified directly by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Speaking in Brussels on his arrival at the European Council where a discussion on migration management was due to take place the prime minister backed the creation at EU level of 'mechanisms to ensure that those who do not comply with the rules can be returned guarantees respect for human rights and respect for dignity' Metrics details An Author Correction to this article was published on 19 October 2024 This article has been updated The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in sports medicine is opening new frontiers for athlete health and performance aligning with the spirit of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games slogan “Games Wide Open,” the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in sports medicine aims to open new frontiers for athlete health and performance Athletes and patients are increasingly recognized as essential partners in developing and implementing AI systems in sports medicine and science AI systems in sports medicine have several possible applications behavior and performance monitoring systems and external devices that monitor vital signs These monitoring applications help in real-time assessment and management of an athlete’s health enabling timely interventions and optimizing performance These AI systems are part of the broader AI agenda embraced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) signaling a new era in athlete performance enhancement AI could revolutionize the experience for athletes and fans by making return-to-play decisions more precise through predictive analytics enhancing coach-athlete compatibility with AI-driven insights and providing real-time health monitoring for team doctors to prioritize urgent issues AI could personalize the viewing experience with tailored content creating a unique and engaging experience for every viewer These applications provide a lens for understanding the diverse applications of AI discussed throughout this paper This paper was developed through a collaborative co-production process ensuring a comprehensive and multi-perspective approach to the integration of AI in sports medicine Involving athletes as partners in the development and premarket evaluation of AI systems for sports medicine and performance is essential Athletes provide practical insights into their specific needs and challenges ensuring that the AI systems developed are both relevant and effective Their direct feedback helps optimize the user interface making these systems more intuitive and user-friendly athletes could contribute valuable performance and injury data enhancing the accuracy and reliability of AI algorithms These AI systems can deliver significant value for athletes by monitoring and improving training and facilitating a more efficient return to play after injuries By validating the efficacy and safety of AI systems in real-world conditions we can ensure they meet the necessary standards before widespread implementation ultimately enhancing athlete health and performance This partnership also fosters trust and acceptance within the sports community This strategy not only improves the athlete experience but also promotes inclusivity and broad partnership aligning with Paris 2024’s vision of bringing the Olympic spirit closer to everyone the resulting systems are more responsive and better equipped to meet the unique needs of athletes and patients leading to improved outcomes and greater acceptance partnership fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment bolstering the successful adoption and integration of AI systems in sports and healthcare The session started with an introduction to the importance of AI in protecting athletes’ health The essential role of AI and big data in preventing sports injuries and illnesses was outlined followed by evidence supporting AI’s role in injury and illness prevention The case for open-access regenerative AI to protect all athletes was advocated and leading efforts in AI application in sports medicine were discussed Focusing on co-production, we propose five key aspects for the sporting community (Fig. 1) to focus on as we sail into unchartered AI waters (see below for more detail).  1. Athlete, Clinician, and Patient Engagement: Involve us in every stage of AI development, from conception to evaluation. All data must be shared openly with end users.  2. Personalization: Design AI systems that create tailored models for individual athletes.  3. Adaptability: Develop “adaptive AI systems” that can evolve and adjust based on the changing needs and conditions of athletes over time.  4. Equity: Ensure AI systems are accessible and beneficial for all athletes, regardless of gender, culture, ability, or resources.  5. Innovation Ecosystems: Foster partnerships between researchers, startups, and established institutions to drive continuous advancement. A visual abstract displaying the five key considerations for the sporting community to consider when building AI solutions for the athlete population The further development of AI systems with an impact on sports medicine and science depends on active collaboration between athletes and interdisciplinary experts Only when co-produced will AI systems truly tailor for the specific and highly contextual real-world needs of the sporting community By focusing on personalized athlete models the IOC and other national and international sporting bodies could create innovative Not only would such efforts contribute to enhancing athlete health and performance but also foster an inclusive and equitable environment ultimately aligning with the Olympic AI agenda’s vision for the future of sports medicine Embracing responsible AI practices is essential to bridging existing disparities and ensuring that the benefits of AI are distributed fairly A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01284-5 Ball, P. Paris 2024: The AI tech aiming to identify future Olympians https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmj2jkppvx3o (2024) International Olympic Committee. Olympic AI Agenda https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-ai-agenda (2024) Sports medicine and artificial intelligence: a primer Shared decision-making in sports concussion: rise to the ‘OCAsion’ to take the heat out of on-field decision-making ‘Shared Decision-Making’ in athletes with known cardiac disease: interpretation and implementation in the real world Athlete perspectives on AI-driven coaching technologies: a qualitative inquiry 580 MEP069—injury risk estimation using machine learning based on athletes’ physical and mental states perception monitoring: preliminary study on 93 high-level athletes during 18 months 775 MEP064—Injury prediction with artificial intelligence: preliminary results of a prospective cohort study over an athletics season Download references University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice (TDI) Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital made multiple rounds of edits on the draft All authors have read and approved the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests is a News & Views editor at npj Digital Medicine and played no role in the internal review or decision to publish this News & Views article Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01261-y Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Public officials targeted by Trump say they’re preparing for extreme scenarios Members of Congress and other US public officials targeted for “retribution” by Donald Trump say they are taking extraordinary security precautions for themselves and their families and are now bracing for scenarios as extreme as the possibility of being rounded up and arrested, after Trump returns to the White House. Two Democratic House members who have been vocal in their criticisms of Trump and his policy agenda told the Guardian they and their colleagues are preparing for “some pretty surreal and dystopic scenarios”. They range from bogus investigations or tax audits of present and former members of the federal government to out-and-out violence inspired by Trump’s rhetoric of revenge. “[My colleagues in the House] are thinking about legal defenses against a weaponized Department of Justice,” Huffman added “They may have to be ready to be arrested and rounded up They have to have family plans protecting themselves in ways I don’t even like to talk about publicly … “I have so many colleagues living under constant violent threats toward them and their families and their staff … These are dark times I hope none of my Democratic colleagues become American corollaries to NavalnyCongressman Jared HuffmanA Trump-friendly lawyer reported to be in line for an administration job, Mike Davis, has vowed to send journalists and disloyal former Republicans “to the gulag” and those involved in the two congressional efforts to impeach Trump a Democratic congressman from New York who worked closely with Schiff as the lead lawyer on Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 said he was not concerned primarily for his own well-being “I dare them to try to weaponise the justice department to come after me That would not work out well for them,” he said his immediate concern was for members of the federal bureaucracy including intelligence and national security officials who turned against Trump during his first White House term because there were many more methods of going after them could demote or fire them if they are still in government employment or consider suspending their security clearances or strip them of health and pension benefits They could be subject to libel lawsuits – a number already have been – which would tie them up in court and lumber them with legal expenses even if the cases were ultimately dismissed Or they could be the target of Internal Revenue Service auditors or criminal prosecutors at the Department of Justice We have to prepare for all sorts of worst-case scenarios so we’re not caught flat-footedMark Zaid lawyer“The list of the different ways he [Trump] could exact retribution is almost unending if he has loyalists at the top of these various agencies,” Goldman said Olivia Troye, who worked in the Trump White House as a national security adviser to Vice-President Mike Pence, said Trump was particularly incensed by an anonymous op-ed that appeared in the New York Times in 2018 and described a “resistance” within the administration that was working to rein in Trump’s worst instincts Troye remembered Trump calling the op-ed writer a “traitor”. When the writer later revealed himself as Miles Taylor, a recently departed chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security, he felt compelled to go into hiding and drained his bank account on bodyguards and lawyers those targeted by Trump and their lawyers say is that the incoming administration shows signs of being much better prepared and more determined to carry out Trump’s agenda to the letter “This is not 2017 when these guys were disorganized,” said Mark Zaid a lawyer with a long list of national security and intelligence-world clients many of them worried they are now in the firing line “They [the Trump loyalists] have been there before they know what they want to do and they know how to do it.” Those who have seen their names on target lists are also better prepared than last time are planning to leave the country to see how the first couple of months of the new administration play out moved money around so their assets cannot be seized “We have to prepare for all sorts of worst-case scenarios so we’re not caught flat-footed,” Zaid added “I’m not going to be naive like my ancestors were 90 years ago in Germany I’ve been loyal to the country and they’re not going to come after me.” who was briefly head of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project said that on a couple of occasions he had seen a man sitting outside his house in the St Louis suburbs late at night and had to call the police to chase him away said that in 2021 someone mirrored his phone number and called his local police department in Maryland to claim armed men with explosives had taken him hostage in his house The aim appeared to be to have heavily armed police burst into his house and create chaos was because the police knew who he was and understood that the call was fake “The Trump people are emboldened right now “The American people are about to learn what exactly they’ve elected even if they thought it was hyperbole and bluster … We’re watching the oligarchy come together here Some of the threats might well be bluster – Troye said the Trump loyalists she knew would enjoy simply knowing they were inside their adversaries’ heads – but many of those on target lists are taking them in deadly earnest anyway Now that controversial Trump loyalists have been nominated to key positions – the firebrand congressman Matt Gaetz at the justice department the Fox news host Pete Hegseth at defense – they are particularly worried about the tools the administration might use to mount criminal prosecutions or even court martials might leap on a television appearance by a former national security official to allege a leak of classified information that falls foul of the Espionage Act Or they might allege election interference based on political statements during the campaign Or they might take advantage of a technicality under the uniform code of military justice that enables them to reclassify veterans as active-duty soldiers and try them for bad-mouthing their commander-in-chief “They can always find a crime where they need one,” said Wellman the former Lincoln Project head who now works on veterans’ issues concurred: “There are laws on the books that could be stretched.” In a Washington, where Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress Trump’s critics see little in the way of guardrails preventing the future president from pursuing his enemies in this way “It is incumbent on those around him and on Republican elected officials to uphold their oath to the constitution and make sure our democracy continues to exist,” Goldman Goldman added: “I have not detected much of an appetite from my Republican colleagues.” The longtime Illinois senator was first elected to Congress as a staunchly pro-Israel Democrat but turned critical of Israel in recent years Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) speaks at a press conference with other members of Senate Democratic leadership following Senate policy luncheons in Washington announced on Wednesday that he will not seek reelection to a sixth term setting up a competitive primary contest to fill his seat and his leadership role.  the second highest ranking member of his conference and the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is the fifth Senate Democrat to retire this year Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) “The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy I truly love the job of being a United States Senator I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term,” Durbin said in a statement and video posted to social media.  who was first elected to Congress in 1982 as a stalwart supporter of Israel has grown more critical of the Jewish state in recent years He joined the left-wing faction of his party that supported Sen Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) resolutions to cut off some arms sales to Israel over the last year He also drew criticism for sidestepping the fight against antisemitism avoiding holding Senate Judiciary Committee hearings that focused on the plight of Jewish students facing discrimination on campuses.  The news of Durbin’s decision to step aside sets up several contests to replace him both for his Senate seat and in his several leadership positions in the Senate Democratic Conference.  Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) are among the names being floated for Durbin’s whip role Others in leadership who could be interested include Sens Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is the top contender to succeed Durbin as the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and has previously challenged Durbin for the top spot.  While Illinois is a solidly Democratic state the battle to succeed him is likely to expose divisions within the Democratic Party between moderates and progressives and potentially showcase the fractures over Israel within the party is viewed as a leading candidate for the seat Juliana Stratton have also been named in news reports as potential candidates Copyright © 2025 · All Rights Reserved · Jewish Insider The politics and business news you need to stay up to date delivered each morning in a must-read newsletter Enter your email to gain access to our exclusive contentDon’t worry if you are already subscribed you won’t receive our newsletters twice Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page This series, Space in Focus and policy issues that will confront the next administration as well as offers recommendations for how to navigate them On January 11, 2007, the People’s Republic of China purposely destroyed its own defunct weather satellite to test a destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile demonstrating to the world its intention to develop comprehensive national space power and to challenge U.S China has invested heavily in its space capabilities to fulfill these ambitions.  As China steadily grows into the world’s second-largest space power it’s time for the United States and China to get serious about engagement on space While the next administration should approach such engagement with a healthy dose of skepticism about the prospects for progress in one dimension of a multifaceted and contentious bilateral relationship the future utilization of space depends on orderly operations and on avoiding miscalculation in what is fundamentally a shared domain The rapid growth of satellites and debris in space more close calls between approaching satellites and increasingly threatening on-orbit behaviors all heighten the risk that an unintended collision or worse could undo years of progress in bringing the benefits of space down to people on Earth.  full-spectrum suite of counter-space weapons designed to deter U.S military intervention in a crisis and blunt U.S demonstrating not only its cosmic ambitions but its ability to achieve complex technological feats at speed despite—or perhaps because of—the many facets of U.S.-China competition in space it will be imperative for the next administration to talk with China about these very issues to prevent competition from spilling over into conflict and to preserve access to space for current and future generations Such engagement is not a substitute for continued U.S investments and policies that maintain U.S prepare the United States to protect and defend its space-related interests Precisely because China poses the most significant threat to U.S the next administration should engage China to create lines of communication to manage crises and create mutually understood guardrails on space warfare The entire world—especially the United States—loses if conflict that extends into space results in an environment littered with debris or a catastrophic loss of space-based services for Earth-based users Worse would be if the United States and China stumble into avoidable and unwanted conflict because of a misunderstanding or a miscommunication about a deliberate or accidental space-related incident developing mutual understandings and two-way communications requires participation from both sides to be meaningful and the next administration should invite them and prosperous coexistence on the lunar surface.  all while continuing robust investments in national defense To preserve those benefits that the U.S and the American people have come to expect from space systems the next administration should find a way to engage China in a constructive while investing in the means to protect and defend U.S interests in space and maintain the United States’ historic leadership in this vital domain Schaffer is a senior associate (non-resident) with the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington Bingen is the director of the Aerospace Security Project and a senior fellow in the International Security Program at CSIS Commentary is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary CSIS does not take specific policy positions and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s) © 2024 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies See Media Page for more interview ©2025 Center for Strategic & International Studies The departure of President Biden will energise the campaign but neither side seems likely to alter international economic policy a great deal The 2024 US presidential election is proof that in America nothing succeeds like excess The standing down of President Biden is just the latest twist in this extraordinary race – and could be the circuit breaker the Democrats are looking for. It removes age as an issue for them and potentially refocuses the campaign, with Kamala Harris the standard bearer She is within striking distance of Trump in national polls and involves the least disruptive transition to the Democrat campaign Trump may seek to ridicule ‘laughing’ Kamala but that could backfire with voters She will need a running mate who can appeal in the swing states and has a compelling personal story This will inject new energy into the campaign a smart and articulate convert to Maga is a signal that Trump is not looking to appeal to the ever-shrinking pool of moderates or independents The Democrats’ best strategy now is to turn the election into a referendum on Trump’s negatives which they define as the chaos of his first term and threat to American institutions The departure of President Biden provides that opportunity The Maga base is energised by Trump’s ‘resurrection’ Democrats will now have to pick themselves off the floor and push the buttons of various sections of the electorate to motivate turnout this is now a race between Vance and Harris Vance’s views come into focus now that he is only a heartbeat away from the presidency Many women will vote to send a message on restriction of abortion rights Vance’s strong views on restricting abortion rights provide a perfect foil for this argument Harris is best placed to run that argument Trump has soft-pedalled on the issue in recognition of its lethality to his campaign What does this mean for Australia and the rest of the world Do not expect much change in international economic policy from either side of politics Trump upended trade policy in 2016, forcing Hillary Clinton to disown her administration’s centrepiece trade strategy for the Indo-Pacific, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which dealt a major blow to the US pivot to the region market access agreements have been off the table for both sides of politics with more interest in how to tilt the playing field in favour of US firms by imposing higher labour and environmental costs on foreign competitors Covid 19 and the technological cold war with China are also reshaping industrial supply chains with more reshoring and friend-shoring in the offing The Aukus capability pact and the Quad focus on critical and emerging tech are leading examples of this trend Both Trump and a reelected Democrat administration will double down on this with perhaps more onshoring in Trump’s case One major point of difference is climate change policy and international cooperation. Trump is likely to again withdraw from the Paris agreement and promises to drill for more oil from day one, further extending America’s energy independence and fossil fuel exports. His industry policy is lower energy costs and less regulation to attract more onshoring. Trump’s tech policy is unclear. He flip-flopped on the banning of TikTok. He is courting the Silicon Valley titans, who are turning Maga in the hope of less tax on capital and no more regulation. Trump’s main beef with big tech is that it restricts free speech (his speech) on social media. Vance is a fan of support for little tech in opposition to big tech, and this appeals to his venture capitalist backers. Trump is ahead now but we saw over the weekend how quickly things can change. As they used to say on World Championship Wrestling, anything can happen – and probably will. Arthur Sinodinos is a former Australian ambassador to the US. He is the partner and chair of The Asia Group’s Australia practice and was a former minister for industry, innovation and science Wide Open, Horses      Artist: James Vincent McMorrowGenre: RockLabel: Nettwerk Music GroupJames Vincent McMorrow has never played by the rule book Although the Dubliner’s career may have panned out somewhat differently from what he once expected – most notably around the time he was signed to a major label and made real inroads in territories such as the US and Australia – he has managed to wrest some control over his destiny in other ways an album titled Heavyweight Champion of Dublin 8 was touted for release that same year but has yet to materialise In its place is another experiment in McMorrow’s canon which took root in two phone-free gigs at the National Concert Hall in Dublin last year The work-in-progress performances of this new material inspired him to “expose the flaws and also highlight the special little moments” before recording what ultimately became this and his apparent newfound or at least newly galvanised insight into the process A sense of vulnerability is threaded through tracks such as Never Gone with its refrain of “What the f**k are any of us really doing here/ Do we really exist at all?” sounding less nihilistic when set against a backdrop of the soulful uplifting harmonies that McMorrow has always done so well Things We Tell Ourselves and Day All the Lights Went Out are similarly emotionally exposed “I was not ready for you to see me crying.” with Look Up!!!’s banjo and electronics colluding for a playful The title track takes a swerve into sun-dappled 1970s MOR aided by the lonesome quiver of lap steel guitar which features a contribution from McMorrow’s five-year-old daughter while the jittery handclaps of Things We Tell Ourselves add an agitated energy to proceedings most notably the rough-around-the-edges White Out and the softly plucked Stay Cool although the latter strays dangerously close to Damien Rice’s more mundane material As pleasant as those pared-back acoustic tracks are the best songs here are the ones where McMorrow allows his creativity to take full flight swooping and swerving into unexpected places and often finding a settled groove after a restless beginning It sounds as though the past couple of years have seen him rethink both his place in the world and his approach to music [ James Vincent McMorrow on lockdown: ‘You question how well-rounded you are’Opens in new window ] Lauren Murphy is a freelance journalist and broadcaster. She writes about music and the arts for The Irish Times Facebook pageTwitter feed© 2025 The Irish Times DAC OlympicsGames wide open: Paris 2024 has a vision and mission for the Summer OlympicsBy Windy Dees07.22.2024 Ouvrons Grand les Jeux or “Games wide open,” is the official slogan of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The slogan was selected by France as an invitation to the world to experience the “powerful emotions and passions” of sport As millions of fans attend the biggest sporting spectacle in the world expounded on the country’s slogan with three distinct requests for those involved in the Games: This was his mantra for having a Games wide open when he announced the two-year countdown to the global event on July 25 As much as the announcement sounded visionary you will notice a mission statement with three distinct objectives underlying these Olympic Games Between the non-disabled athletes and Para athletes: There is only one French team Between the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games: There is only one emblem and one slogan Between men and women: Our Olympic Games will be those of perfect parity.” While sport at the highest level is emotional for all athletes The IOC’s Factsheet for Women in the Olympic Movement outlines its 124-year journey to equality for female athletes there were two female sporting events out of 95 total events (2.1%) and 2.2% of Olympic participants were women This year’s Paris Games will have 151 female sporting events out of 329 total events (45.8%) and 50% of the Olympic participants will be women for the first time in history The IOC also is attempting to level the playing field for women in Olympic administration: At the end of last year women were chairing 14 of 33 IOC commissions (42%) and 50% of the total positions within those commissions were held by women officiating and youth competition are still being made.  a dream shared by everyone who is building these Games to reinforce the place of sport in our lives; to support the transformation of the territories creating and shaping solutions that will genuinely serve society and which place youth at the heart of their action.” The Olympic Movement has historically been one that improved people’s lives physically but diminished them societally due to the negative impact host cities experienced economically Like the journey to establish gender equity the IOC has traveled a long path to promote sustainable business practices when constructing and executing the Games “An evaluation of the sustainability of the Olympic Games,” published in the Nature Sustainability journal revealed the Games steadily declined in their sustainability ratings from 2002 (rated around 75% out of 100%) to 2016 (rated under 25% out of 100%) These ratings evaluate the Olympics in three main areas of economic Sochi and Rio were left with stained legacies due to massive cost overruns unused facilities and environmental and legal issues good after-use of its facilities and a minimized ecological footprint Paris 2024 already has touted that 95% of the events will take place in existing or temporary venues with the only permanent structures being the Aquatics Centre and Olympic Village The Olympic Organizing Committee reported that it is operating on a “lean budget” and has “a couple of percent” left in the contingency reserves to finalize the Games “Let’sopen our eyes to the current challenges It is a collective ambition to open the Games to showcase to the world the best of France its creativity and innovative spirit that makes up our country’s identity.” The Olympics have always been about massive exposure and branding — for the IOC While the IOC and host country are providing the stage the athletes and sponsors are using this two-week performance in front of the world to solidify their personal and commercial brands for years to come According to the 2024 Olympic Marketing Fact File and the marketing rights for this group make up 30% of the IOC’s total revenue TOP Programme sponsorship revenue was up 128% through 2021 Olympic broadcast time has also increased from 2,572 hours in 1988 to 10,200 hours in 2020 ensuring that brands and athletes get maximum exposure around the world A total of 3.05 billion unique viewers watched the Olympic Games in Tokyo making it the most-watched Games ever due to linear and digital coverage Paris is planning to broadcast its event in historic fashion All successful businesses have a vision and mission Estanguet crafted a beautiful vision for Paris 2024 with the mission woven throughout his words: “To deliver inspiring Games that will help take the Olympic and Paralympic Movement into a new era Bold and creative Games that dare to take a step outside the box our paradigms; to give us the opportunity to come together Windy Dees is a professor of sport administration and graduate program director/associate chair in the Department of Kinesiology & Sport Sciences at the University of Miami April 10, 2025: Following last week’s postponement of group match play ahead of the MVP Music City Open due to severe weather the Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) has confirmed that the first set of rescheduled matches will now take place at the 2025 Kansas City Wide Open (KCWO) on Thursday The DGPT will host matches for half of the total match play field with playing groups A and B in the FPO and MPO divisions competing Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest from the Disc Golf Pro Tour We create and curate the world’s grandest stages at premier venues for the world’s best disc golfers in order to transmit the story of professional disc golf as an engaging high-quality experience that inspires and grows fans of the sport on-site and online DGPT is a registered trademark of Disc Golf Pro Tour  government has an opportunity to seize strategic advantages by working with the remote sensing and data analysis industries Both grew rapidly over the last decade alongside technology improvements the intelligence community and regulators have recognized these changes and opportunities—the U.S Given the reported expansion of the remote sensing market this paper seeks to understand the national security consequences of that expansion and provide insights and recommendations for policymakers as they navigate this security environment the industry has indeed been rapidly expanding with new companies founded at rates 10 times faster around 2015 compared to a decade earlier That growth has since slowed from its peak remote sensing commercial market resulted from the confluence of four factors: technology development especially microelectronics and imaging sensor miniaturization; the rise of cheaper space launch at scale; new funding and business models including venture capital and data-focused companies complementing imagery-sales companies; and a stable regulatory environment A less noticed but equally important factor is that the space data analysis market has also grown with three-fourths of companies having been founded in 2008 or later the convergence of those factors has allowed the United States to become the global leader in commercial remote sensing along with recommendations for maintaining a competitive globally preeminent domestic remote sensing market: while more difficult to develop than more common visual-band imagery promise new applications and capabilities that current commercial imaging services cannot provide Very low Earth orbit is likewise underexploited Companies are pursuing these new technologies Each of these gaps represents a potential economic and security advantage not seized Challenges: The proliferation of satellite constellations adds to the growing number of debris pieces and increases the likelihood of collisions This growth in debris raises operating costs and degrades benefits While remote sensing satellites are not uniquely affected the environment forms a backdrop for new systems Responsible design and constellation management is critical for continued access to space Competing states who dislike the transparency provided by remote sensing satellites openly talk of targeting commercial capabilities Governments and companies must be prepared for the possibility that those threats become actions Opportunities: Much like astronomy uses radio and other sensors to better understand the cosmos the commercial remote sensing market has the opportunity to lead a similar explosion in a multi-mode understanding of the Earth The economic and security benefits of that understanding are broad; the challenge will be to make it profitable The paper makes five recommendations to close the gaps while leveraging market trends to continue building capability within the remote sensing industry These recommendations help ensure American strategic advantage in the years to come: Artificial intelligence that makes news headlines, such as ChatGPT, typically runs in well-maintained data centers with an abundant supply of compute and power. However, these resources are more limited on many systems in the real… Read More China has poured resources into improving the resilience of its space architecture. But how much progress has Beijing made? This issue brief analyzes China’s space resilience efforts and identifies areas where the United States may… Read More U.S. tech companies have played a critical role in the international effort to support and defend Ukraine against Russia. To better understand and envision how these companies can help U.S. strategic interests, CSET convened a… Read More As dual-use technologies transform the national security landscape, the U.S. Department of Defense has established a variety of offices and programs dedicated to bringing private sector innovation into the military. However, these efforts have largely… Read More cset@georgetown.edu danny.hague@georgetown.edu  Sign up for the Breaking Defense newsletter A conceptual image of high-altitude balloons (top) and high-altitude solar gliders (bottom) that will make up the High-Altitude Platform-Deep Sensing (HAP/DS) program HAP/DS will comprise the high-altitude layer of the Multi-Domain Sensing System WASHINGTON — The Army is throwing its doors wide open to possible applications and types of future high-altitude platforms — exploring balloons, drones and super-lightweight aircraft for missions from deep sensing to long range communications head of Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) “I’ve always been a fan of balloons that can provide over the horizon support in a missile defense perspective. Some of you were able to remember the JLENS program that was actually a really good capability that could provide over the horizon detection and fire control data to our systems,” Gainey told the Hudson Institute if you look at platforms and space capabilities and it’s really not so much the platform but it’s the package that you can put on the platform to allow the commanders to extend their mission command capabilities to extend their over horizon visualization and so doing it with a low cost balloon that you can proliferate is is exciting,” he added JLENS, short for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor system, was an unmanned, helium-filled airship and capable of carrying a 7,000-pound radar to 10,000 feet. The program was canceled in 2017 two years after a JLENS aerostat escaped its tethers and floated for nearly 100 miles through Maryland and Pennsylvania dangling cords that knocked out power lines for thousands of residents before drifting into some trees Army officials have indicated renewed interest in the JLENS-like systems speaking at the Farnborough Air Show on July 22 explained that the service has a program executive office for “persistent surveillance tethered” solutions [read: balloons] for multi-domain ops “[W]e learned a ton in the global war on terrorism years about the value of tethered systems [for] force protection,” he said “How do you take those lessons and apply them to something like use in the South China Sea where range is measured in the matter of 1,000s of miles we have teams of people looking at that to see what makes the most sense We think there’s value in tethered systems of some sort We’re just not sure where that will go exactly.” Evans added that at the moment the Army is just “studying the problem” in order “to figure out what’s the best use of resources and the best application the system.” as the Army’s “proponent” for high-altitude platforms The service is also exploring a wide range of platforms for a handful of key missions that require over-the-horizon operations “It may not be a balloon in the future because when I say high-altitude platforms fixed-wing type capability that can loiter for an extended time So we’re keeping an open aperture as we work with industry to find out what’s the best capability out there,” he said The Army is exploring the use of various types of high-altitude platforms for missions ranging from intelligence gathering to communications “System platforms could carry all manner of technologies to include communications; imaging; assured positioning navigation and timing; and other critical Army capabilities and airships that could surge mission support and reconstitute lost assets in the air and space domains,” the fact sheet explains Gainey noted that as part of its exploratory efforts the Army is partnering with US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) to demonstrate new high-altitude capabilities found to have potential SMDC is working closely with “USASOC to test out what’s the right capability to actually eventually field as a program of record — or maybe not as a program of record; just field it and dispose of it and find something new and keep moving forward in a new paradigm of acquisition,” he said Last March the Army issued an RFI under its High-Altitude Platform-Deep Sensing (HAP-DS) experimentation and demonstration project to survey available radar and communications intelligence sensors small enough to be carried by high-altitude craft HAP-DS is the first “phase” of the service’s High-Altitude Extended-Range Long-Endurance Intelligence Observation System (HELIOS) development program which “will provide multiple sensing capabilities” for a “survivable” sensor suite to be carried on “different sized stratospheric platforms” for use in multi-domain operations The HELIOS system suite is being designed to “allow stand-off operations to detect and track critical targets for the ground commander,” the RFI added And on July 1 the service issued a follow-up HAP-DS RFI specifically asking vendors about tiny intelligence-gathering sensors that could be carried by high-altitude balloons and giving interested companies until July 22 to respond High-altitude platforms, however, are only one part of the Army’s broader, multi-pronged effort to equip troops with long-range sensors with an eye on a future fight with China, called the Multi-Domain Sensing System (MDSS). according to the boilerplate for both HAP-DS RFIs is “a family of capabilities intended to address Army deep sensing requirements by providing airborne sensors that support Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) including Large Scale Ground Combat Operations (LSGCO) and fill sensing gaps for Indicators and Warnings Long-Range Precision Fire (LRPF) targeting and Situational Understanding “MDSS requirements focus on six capability areas: Platforms; Sensors; Integrated Intelligence and Dissemination (PED); Data Transport; and Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS) Resiliency,” the boilerplate explained Sign up and get Breaking Defense news in your inbox Tennessee Titans tight end Nick Vannett gets wide open to score an 8-yard receiving touchdown from quarterback Mason Rudolph against the Jacksonville Jaguars Watch highlights from the Week 17 matchup between the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2024 NFL season Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley gains 24 yards in the air from quarterback Mason Rudolph against the Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph finds wide receiver Calvin Ridley open for a 20-yard gain against the Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley turns a near disaster trick play into a positive run against the Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans kicker Matthew Wright scores the first points of the afternoon for his team with a 39-yard field goal to end the half against the Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine shows off his toe drag swag with an 18-yard sideline catch from quarterback Mason Rudolph against the Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans wide receiver Chigoziem Okonkwo runs the ball for a 17-yard gain against the Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears takes off for a 23-yard run against the Jacksonville Jaguars 2024Blitz: Apple TV / Everett Collection; Gladiator II: Aidan Monaghan / Paramount Pictures / Everett Collection; Nosferatu: Focus Features / Everett Collection.Save this storySaveSave this storySaveIf anyone’s expressing confidence about which 10 films will be nominated for best picture at the Oscars this year That’s the prevailing sentiment as the dust settles on a fall-festival season that has paved a chaotic path for the awards circuit to follow My colleagues and I break down the state of the race on this week’s Little Gold Men (listen above) The People’s Choice winner out of Toronto International Film Festival usually guarantees a best-picture nod—but this year’s champ and the window to set a 2024 release plan is closing The only seeming best-picture contender to emerge out of the summer while no title emerged as a cultural phenomenon on the level of Oppenheimer and Barbie (Though more on the movie that came closest shortly.) And while last year’s acquisition market stalled amid festival season studios have been gobbling up this fall’s flashy titles like the Angelina Jolie vehicle Maria (Netflix) Brady Corbet’s Venice prize-winning The Brutalist (A24) and the topical September 5 (Paramount)—further muddying a cloudy picture All this combined contributes to a feeling of profound uncertainty Most awards strategists I’ve spoken with seem comfortable placing bets on only five locks for the best-picture race at most—a low number for this point in the season many were already guessing the final 10 by this time last year.) Even those seemingly safe bets hardly take the shape of obvious awards heavyweights are most strongly positioned for big showings with the Academy screening to ecstatic reactions in Telluride before placing for the TIFF People’s Choice as runner-ups But the former is another gritty Sean Baker movie that frankly explores the world of sex workers and the latter is a Spanish-language musical exploring trans identity and cartel violence That these films both feel as assured as they do speaks to a changing Academy But there are also top contenders of a more obvious profile We’ve got a new American epic in The Brutalist which crosses three hours in runtime and spotlights a mammoth Adrien Brody performance; a gorgeous blockbuster in Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.) in a class of its own as long as it’s surrounded by smaller art house hits; and a slick thriller in Conclave (Focus) which unfurls a power struggle between a bunch of Oscar nominees including Ralph Fiennes and John Lithgow—and is spiked with a show-stopping Isabella Rossellini monologue They’ve all got the goods for a bunch of nominations virtually every studio is hoping to double up and sneak additional movies in only A24 managed multiple best-picture nominations It will try that trick again this year as Sing Sing—riding great reviews and audience scores—will come back around for a final push and the crowd-pleasing doc Will & Harper all in mind as potential category spoilers which is right up there with the best in its international focus (they backed Anatomy of a Fall last cycle) has the polemical The Seed of the Sacred Fig from Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof in mind as a movie that could resonate with the modern Academy (It’s being submitted by Germany for international-feature consideration.) Telluride launched two divisive world premieres of very different stripes in Nickel Boys and Saturday Night an audacious take on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by director RaMell Ross will be campaigned in the vein of last year’s The Zone of Interest—a formally rigorous film about a painfully timely historical chapter It’s one of the best-reviewed films out of the fall festivals and is also about the furthest thing from mainstream challenging its audience to dig deeper—which may actually meet this more daring Academy where it’s at plays great in a crowded room but has not received glowing reviews—and despite seeming like a slam dunk to place at TIFF it was not short-listed for the People’s Choice Award It’ll need to open strongly at the box office to prove it’s got the awards juice and even then may not play to these voters You’ve got an animated smash in Inside Out 2 and another potential hit in The Wild Robot Sony Classics has Venice’s top award winner Pedro Almodovar’s English-language feature debut and the hottest possibilities concern the biggest remaining mysteries but her other contender Blitz (premiering next month at the London Film Festival) has the ingredients—from an Oscar-winning filmmaker in Steve McQueen to an Academy-friendly WWII storyline—to emerge as a larger overall awards vehicle Paramount’s got September 5—an underdog Telluride hit set to face a greater test as it screens more widely—but it’s also got Gladiator II landing in November and the hype around the Ridley Scott sequel is getting deafening Searchlight’s charming Sundance pickup A Real Pain has steadily gained steam but the Academy still loves a good musical biopic—and the same studio will release James Mangold’s quick-turnaround Bob Dylan drama A Complete Unknown as my colleague Rebecca Ford posits on the podcast has been about as far from the Oscar conversation as one can get thus far and horror is always a tough sell with the Academy But Focus’s careful teases of gorgeous crafts and rich performances are getting noticed—and based on the front-runners that have been identified so far it’d be foolish to count out anything with such creative and commercial promise How Miriam Adelson Went From Big MAGA Winner to Casino Loser in Trump’s First 100 Days Trump’s Lies Are Finally Catching Up to Him The UK Has Found Another Reason to Be Mad at Meghan Markle “It’s About Him”: How Trump Is Perverting the Presidential Photo Stream The Ballad of Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson The Truth Underlying Pete Hegseth’s Job Security Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Protein How Sebastian Stan Became Hollywood’s Most Daring Shape-Shifter Every Quentin Tarantino Movie Meet Elon Musk’s 14 Children and Their Mothers (Whom We Know of) From the Archive: Sinatra and the Mob One of the oldest maxims in hacking is that once an attacker has physical access to a device or other machine is; if someone intent on hacking it gains the ability to physically manipulate it the chances of success are all but guaranteed this widely accepted principle is no longer universally true Some of the world’s most sensitive information—health records and the like—now often resides on servers that receive day-to-day maintenance from unknown administrators working in cloud centers thousands of miles from the companies responsible for safeguarding it chipmakers have begun baking protections into their silicon to provide assurances that even if a server has been physically tampered with or infected with malware sensitive data funneled through virtual machines can’t be accessed without an encryption key that’s known only to the VM administrator law enforcement agencies with a court warrant and hackers who manage to compromise the server are out of luck If a VM has been backdoored, the cryptographic attestation will fail and immediately alert the VM admin of the compromise Or at least that’s how SEV-SNP is designed to work BadRAM is an attack that a server admin can carry out in minutes to cause DDR4 or DDR5 memory modules to misreport during bootup the amount of memory capacity they have SEV-SNP will be permanently made to suppress the cryptographic hash attesting its integrity even when the VM has been badly compromised “BadRAM completely undermines trust in AMD's latest Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV-SNP) technology which is widely deployed by major cloud providers and Microsoft Azure,” members of the research team wrote in an email “BadRAM for the first time studies the security risks of bad RAM—rogue memory modules that deliberately provide false information to the processor during startup We show how BadRAM attackers can fake critical remote attestation reports and insert undetectable backdoors into _any_ SEV-protected VM.” On a website providing more information about the attack Modern computers increasingly use encryption to protect sensitive data in DRAM especially in shared cloud environments with pervasive data breaches and insider threats AMD's Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) is a cutting-edge technology that protects privacy and trust in cloud computing by encrypting a virtual machine's (VM's) memory and isolating it from advanced attackers even those compromising critical infrastructure like the virtual machine manager or firmware We found that tampering with the embedded SPD chip on commercial DRAM modules allows attackers to bypass SEV protections—including AMD’s latest SEV-SNP version For less than $10 in off-the-shelf equipment we can trick the processor into allowing access to encrypted memory We build on this BadRAM attack primitive to completely compromise the AMD SEV ecosystem faking remote attestation reports and inserting backdoors into any SEV-protected VM In response to a vulnerability report filed by the researchers AMD has already shipped patches to affected customers The researchers say there are no performance penalties other than the possibility of additional time required during boot up The BadRAM vulnerability is tracked in the industry as CVE-2024-21944 and AMD-SB-3015 by the chipmaker Modern dynamic random access memory for servers typically comes in the form of DIMMs, short for Dual In-Line Memory Modules The basic building block of these rectangular sticks are capacitors which are organized into arrays of rows and columns which are further arranged into ranks and banks The more capacitors that are stuffed into a DIMM Servers usually have multiple DIMMs that are organized into channels that can be processed in parallel For a server to store or access a particular piece of data it first must locate where the bits representing it are stored in this vast configuration of transistors Locations are tracked through addresses that map the channel the task of translating these physical addresses to DRAM address bits—a job assigned to the memory controller—isn’t a one-to-one mapping consecutive addresses are spread across different channels Before the server can map these locations, it must first know how many DIMMs are connected and the total capacity of memory they provide. This information is provided each time the server boots, when the BIOS queries the SPD—short for Serial Presence Detect—chip found on the surface of the DIMM This chip is responsible for providing the BIOS basic information about available memory BadRAM causes the SPD chip to report that its capacity is twice what it actually is It does this by adding an extra addressing bit To do this, a server admin need only briefly connect a specially programmed Raspberry Pi to the SPD chip just once with certain DIMM models that don't adequately lock down the chip the modification can likely be done through software the SPD chip will falsify the memory capacity available Next, the server admin configures the operating system to ignore the newly created "ghost memory," meaning the top half of the capacity reported by the compromised SPD chip, but continue to map to the lower half of the real memory. On Linux, this configuration can be done with the `memmap` kernel command-line parameter. The researchers' paper, titled BadRAM: Practical Memory Aliasing Attacks on Trusted Execution Environments provides many more details about the attack a script developed as part of BadRAM allows the attacker to quickly find the memory locations of ghost memory bits These aliases give the attacker access to memory regions that SEV-SNP is supposed to make inaccessible This allows the attacker to read and write to these protected memory regions Access to this normally fortified region of memory allows the attacker to copy the cryptographic hash SEV-SNP creates to attest to the integrity of the VM The access also permits the attacker to boot an SEV-compliant VM that has been backdoored this malicious VM would trigger a warning in the form of a cryptographic hash BadRAM allows the attacker to replace this attestation failure hash with the attestation success hash collected earlier The primary steps involved in BadRAM attacks are: For those looking for more technical details who along with Luca Wilke was lead co-author of the paper there are two addresses that go to the same DRAM location; one is the original address this means all memory addresses now appear to have one extra bit This extra bit is what we call the "ghost" bit it is the address bit that is used by the CPU but is not used (thus ignored) by the DIMM The addresses for which this "ghost" bit is 0 are the original addresses and the addresses for which this bit is 1 is the "ghost" memory This explains how we can access protected data like the launch digest The launch digest is stored at an address with the ghost bit set to 0 and this address is protected; any attempt to access it is blocked by the CPU if we try to access the same address with the ghost bit set to 1 the CPU treats it as a completely new address and allows access so both addresses (with ghost bit 0 or 1) point to the same physical memory location In this case 01101 is the protected address Even though to the CPU they seem like two different addresses some DIMM models don't lock down the SPD chip a failure that likely makes software-only modifications possible the researchers found that two DDR4 models made by Corsair contained this flaw AMD believes exploiting the disclosed vulnerability requires an attacker either having physical access to the system operating system kernel access on a system with unlocked memory modules AMD recommends utilizing memory modules that lock Serial Presence Detect (SPD) as well as following physical system security best practices AMD has also released firmware updates to customers to mitigate the vulnerability Members of the research team are from KU Leuven The researchers tested BadRAM against the Intel SGX a competing microprocessor sold by AMD's much bigger rival promising integrity assurances comparable to SEV-SNP now-discontinued version of the SGX did allow reading of protected regions The current Intel Scalable SGX and Intel TDX processors Since a comparable Arm processor wasn't available for testing the researchers warned that the design flaws underpinning the BadRAM vulnerability may creep into other systems and should always use the mitigations AMD has now put in place we argue that such countermeasures should be considered when designing a system against untrusted DRAM," the researchers wrote in their paper "While advanced hardware-level attacks could potentially circumvent the currently used countermeasures further research is required to judge whether they can be carried out in an impactful attacker model." Check out our tickets page to see if an event is coming near you The 43rd annual Kansas Wide Open joins the 2025 DGPT schedule, running April 18th – 20th at Bad Rock Creek Disc Golf Course A staple of the PDGA tour since its inception this event boasts wins by 90% of PDGA Pro World Champions The championship-level Bad Rock Gold course features stunning views While the front nine offers a more forgiving start the back nine ramps up the difficulty with four formidable “monster” holes 149 players from both the MPO and FPO divisions competed for a combined purse of $90,005 Click the button to check out the full event recap COMPETITION UPDATE: Due to the forecast for severe weather a competition update was implemented for the third round of the MPO division: players completed a 9-hole final round (holes 1–9) to conclude the tournament This adjustment was made in consideration of the ongoing risk of inclement weather and potential delays Disc Golf Network will stream all the action live available to both DGN Standard and DGN Pro subscribers you can catch the broadcast for free on the DGPT YouTube channel Keep an eye on DGPT’s social and digital platforms all weekend long for even more coverage and content See how Gannon Buhr took down the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar in these highlights from Liberty 📺 Watch LIVE Disc Golf -> https://www.discgolfnetwork.com/ 🥏 Catch JomezPro Coverage on YouTube -> https://www.youtube.com/@JomezPro 🎟️ Get tickets to a Tour stop near you -> https://www.dgpt.com/tickets 🛒 Shop the DGPT Pro Shop -> https://shop.dgpt.com/ 🔴 Live DGPT scores -> https://www.dgpt.com/scores 🔢 DGPT player stats -> https://www.dgpt.com/stats 🏆 DGPT World Standings -> https://www.dgpt.com/standings See how Holyn Handley took down the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar in these highlights from Liberty Enjoy the Top 5 MPO Shots from the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar Enjoy the Top 5 FPO Shots from the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar Enjoy the Top 10 MPO Shots from JomezPro’s coverage of the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar Enjoy the Top 10 FPO Shots from JomezPro’s coverage of the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar Enjoy Final Round highlights from the MPO broadcast at the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar Enjoy Final Round highlights from the FPO broadcast at the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar 280′ THROW-IN from Chris Dickerson during the Final Round on Hole 1 of the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar Enjoy JomezPro’s post produced coverage of the GRIPeq 43rd Kansas City Wide Open presented by UnderPar Bad Rock Creek Disc Golf Course in Liberty Missouri’s Stocksdale Park is an 18-hole layout catering to players of all skill levels it seamlessly integrates three layouts—Liberty Gold The course features a mix of open fields and wooded areas with well-maintained fairways and defined out-of-bounds areas adding to the challenge If you’ve been itching to fly Japan Airlines first class, JetBlue TrueBlue may just be the ticket: On Friday, we received an alert from award search tool Roame that JetBlue has has surprisingly broad access to Japan Airlines first class award availability but if you’re flush with JetBlue points and you want to experience one of the best first class experiences in the sky it is surprisingly easy to find 2 seats — even on JAL’s new A350 first class product I’m not sure that I’d recommend transferring points for this The new first class product out of Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) will cost you 185K miles one-way to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) There’s no doubt that’s awfully expensive they serve Salon champagne that goes for more than $1,000 a bottle Those chasing the experience will be most interested in availability out of New York or Dallas for the “new” A350 first class experience (pictured above) The good news is that availability is wide open for 185K miles in first class out of Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) The above screen shot shows availability for a single seat availability is nearly as good for two passengers in first The same story is also true out of New York-JFK with availability wide open all summer for 185K miles one way for a single passenger Availability is nearly as good for two passengers 185K miles is a lot of miles that could easily buy somewhere around $3,000 worth of JetBlue airfare Japan Airlines First Class is an experience that is out of reach with cash for many with seats on these nonstop routes from New York and Dallas routinely selling for more than $16,000 one-way for a single passenger Round trip is more “reasonable” at about $25,500 for a single passenger — but the point is that while these awards are very expensive in terms of the miles required the flights they buy are out of reach for most people with cash If you can find availability via American Airlines or Alaska Mileage Plan it isn’t always easy to find Japan Airlines First Class availability via partners unless you are booking immediately at schedule open or at the last minute before departure I don’t see any seats available via American Airlines AAdvantage in July or August It’s not just New York and Dallas that have expanded availability I’m also seeing first available out of other airports like San Francisco It’s also worth nothing that San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda also had some Premium Economy availability for 59K Because of the wide open availability and the historically tight availability to partners I initially wondered whether this was phantom availability that wouldn’t actually confirm we’ve had a couple of reader reports of confirmed tickets that they could see ticketed on the Japan Airlines website I don’t know whether JetBlue has just negotiated a deal for more space based on the higher mileage pricing or whether JetBlue is going to later regret offering these seats Because the US provides no protection against an airline feeling Seller’s Remorse I’d be hesitant to transfer points to JetBlue TrueBlue to book this lest JetBlue decide to cancel and leave me stuck with a boatload of JetBlue points that I don’t necessarily want some will surely be very excited to snag two seats I haven’t seen any dates with more than 2 seats available but for those traveling in twos with a lot of JetBlue miles I’m excited to see that JetBlue continues to expand partnerships your only use for JetBlue points was flights on JetBlue within North America you can use JetBlue points to fly Cape Air Between partnerships like these and JetBlue adding their own service to Europe the program continues to become more interesting for JetBlue loyalists Seems like a lot of capacity for JAL to give away for cheap At twice the price of AA awards and at least 40K of miles more than Cathay or BA One is better at waiting until 14 days prior to one’s desired date Which is what we did when we upgraded from economy to first in March 2023 Go through the entire booking process through “Confirm Your Booking” but don’t confirm your booking That should tell you the points price for the whole trip Wiped out my UR but hopefully it’s worth it – I don’t think I’d be able to experience 2F for myself and my wife otherwise I feel any important educational article in the works: Don’t Get Stung By Shadow Award Inventory the Salon champagne is only served in First when flying out of Japan JAL only releases one first class award seat per flight It is only in the days immediately prior to a flight that additional seats open up I think it’s phantom space I clicked on every date where it showed 185,000 points and no seat was found I figured something was up frequent miler and Nick are usually pretty on top of their game Yes it’s a lot of miles but two seats first class on JAL in my opinion is worth it having flown them before just touched down from a flight and can’t get to my computer yet to make an update Japan Airlines cancels the ticketed flights and deems it a mistake I don’t see how JetBlue would be able to keep any points someone transferred as JetBlue gets paid when you transfer the points But then they weren’t able to sell you the product you tried to book imagine if the airlines just paid you in travel credit (in this case you get JetBlue points…) I don’t see how that could fly If you transferred points from a card issued to JetBlue I understand the risk but the potential outcome does not seem kosher I imagine that the reasoning I’d employ is that those are two separate transactions You “bought” JetBlue miles from [insert card issuer here] and then you used the miles to buy an award seat One transaction is not related to the other I’d make the parallel that if you started with cash in your hand and you bought an Amazon gift card from your local grocery store using cash and you ordered a pair of shoes from a third party merchant on Amazon and that third party merchant didn’t fulfill the order Amazon would give you back your Amazon gift card You opted to buy that gift card and the grocery store isn’t going to give you your money back they’re going to tell you that a gift card purchase is non-refundable The grocery store doesn’t care if you bought the gift card because you wanted a new pair of shoes and Amazon cancelled your shoe order Amazon isn’t in position to force the grocery store to give a cash refund You’re just stuck with an Amazon gift card you don’t end up with nothing – you end up with the Amazon gift card (the JetBlue miles would be the thing you end up with rather than nothing in the miles example) if you can get that long-standing way of doing business reversed you’ll be a legend in the frequent flyer community But I suspect that you face an uphill battle It was alive for so long that multiple blogs reported it (even TPG) and hundreds of people transferred hundreds of thousands of UR suffers none of the negative consequences of their actions gains tons of revenue from Chase and Citi and Amex that they normally never would have gained by having tons of unwanted JetBlue miles stranded with zero recourse JetBlue will have to suck it up and honor these fares or I for one will be filing complaints with the DOT and FTC presumably because it wants to give its own members access to this inventory first It’s available to its own members and any partner from day 1 (subject to the given partner’s own booking window — for example AA is 330 days and it would be typically snapped up) If it was showing more than one first class award seat The time that additional first class award seats open is in the days leading up to departure That’s to both JAL members and partners I believe availability of JL F awards will improve for its own members when its new award chart takes effect in a little over a month Maybe they all get honored and we don’t even need to talk about this your Avianca example would be a great example You find award space and you’re waiting for points to transfer (while the Jeopardy theme song plays) “Because the US provides no protection against an airline feeling Seller’s Remorse I’d be hesitant to transfer points to JetBlue TrueBlue to book this lest JetBlue decide to cancel and leave me stuck with a boatload of JetBlue points that I don’t necessarily want.” Has there been precedent for this Booked HND to SFO via Jet Blue but would love to change the ticket to DFW or NYC wait for the miles to redeposit (almost instantaneous) And there would have to an award seat available on the new flight Read more here… Our Resources Page has a collection of our most useful complete guides and posts Here are a few complete guides to get you started… The young Danish combo return to trio format to offer a spare ostinati spacious pianism and ebbing and flowing dynamics The aptly titled Wide Open follows four previous items from this increasingly impressive Danish piano trio. Their debut Yonder (2016), was followed by Little North (2020), Finding Seagulls (2021) and Familiar Places (2022). I reviewed Little North, and Derek Ansell welcomed the “moody Invited to contribute the sleeve-note to Familiar Places I appreciated both the (integrated) breadth of the programme and the care the trio had taken to expand their tonal range telling contributions from Victor Spasov (elg) and Kasper Tranberg (t) it’s great to hear the original trio concept again set in service of music as lyrical and flowing as distilled in execution yet expansive in poetic effect And look out for Little North’s tempered blue and funky contributions to the upcoming debut album on April Records by Danish vocalist Nana Rashid (whose reflective and questing work can bring Nina Simone and Radka Toneff to mind) my answer would be a resounding “No!” Sample the intelligence and beauty of the spare ostinato bass figure and initial “fluttering” drum accents which set off the spacious and mesmeric pianism of Floating or the patience with which the astutely cast measures of the mysterious Elna and With Four Shadows evolve diversely inflected improvisations punctuate a programme which ad libitum and exquisitely cast as it chiefly is is very much rhythmically alive: witness the swelling trio dynamics of Dissolving Points or the probing solo arco power of Swell the prepared piano figures of Improv 3 or the delicious weight of Rasmussen’s pizzicato lines on Lullaby DiscographyImprov n 1; Floating; Sunyata; Improv n 2; Elna; With Four Shadows; Dissolving Points; Swell; Improv n 3; Lullaby For A Say Fly; Isolation Song (39.14)Benjamin Nørholm Jacobsen (p); Martin Brunberg Rasmussen (b); Lasse Jacobsen (d) © Unless otherwise indicated, all content copyright Jazz Journal 1948-2025 2025automationThe NHL trade deadline is Friday but a lot of business has already unfolded There are still moves to be made this week but NHL executives across the league have all echoed one thing: Just wait until the summer With salary cap projections released for the next three seasons that include sizable jumps And "hockey trades" featuring high-profile players are about to be a lot more common Agents and front office executives say everyone is settling in to the new financial reality the Canes made a move to acquire an unrestricted free agent without an extension in place But I think Carolina had a different approach this time the Canes were too far apart before it was too late the Canes said they had intel that they were a team Rantanen was interested in before making the trade So they made him a sizable contract offer over the 4 Nations break look at the situation from Rantanen's perspective He thought he was going to spend his entire career in Colorado and the trade left him completely shell shocked Rantanen barely got any time with the Canes before the 4 Nations break and he's viewing it as a two-step process: Does he want to sign in Raleigh And free agency is now just four months away Many teams are wondering whether Carolina -- never afraid to do the brash and unexpected -- would flip Rantanen considering how much it gave up to acquire him a team could have Rantanen for just over $2 million for the rest of the season If the Canes get any indication he doesn't want to re-sign with them at all my gut says the Canes keep Rantanen and bet that he'll help them get over the playoff hump and ultimately decide Carolina is where he wants to play Sidney Crosby's name is going to surface in rumors as long as thePittsburgh Penguinsare out of the playoff picture We all know Crosby cares about winning and wants a more realistic shot at the Stanley Cup I also know Crosby understands what he signed up for when he inked a two-year extension in September Marchand has been steadfast that he wants to remain in Boston The Bruins want that too -- just at the right price and term -- and have been negotiating with his camp all season The sense around the league is that Marchand will stay in Boston The Lightning don't have a first-round pick in the 2025 draft but the consensus among executives is that the 2026 class is deeper And if there's a team that's going to make an unexpected splash Many East teams have referred to 2025 as a sellers' market There are eight teams within six points of the wild-card spots Every time I talk to executives in that mix they feel the spots are up for grabs and anyone could emerge But that also means few feel confident about going all-in the Devils were buyers -- looking to shore up center and forward depth especially ones that could help their biggest issue: 5-on-5 scoring But given the circumstances I now think they could be in on rentals who remains sidelined until a deal is complete the Rangers refuse to wave the white towel which is why they've brought in roster replacements as part of their deals Even though GM Chris Drury signaled he didn't feel his opening-night roster could win it all is still attainable in a season of transition New York is likely to be very active this summer But it's never official until Lou says it is Nelson's postgame interview with Shannon Hogan on Tuesday -- in which he got emotional -- led me to believe he's processing the reality that his Islanders tenure could be coming to an end The Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators are itching to take the next step in their rebuilds The Senators have looked at depth forwards I think both would like to add and give themselves a chance here If there's an NHL opportunity for Bear Washington could make a move to facilitate that Philadelphia would make a move only if the return is right a heart-and-soul player who has told the Flyers that he'd like to stay Laughton responded to the trade rumors with a cheeky photo on social media in which he used a recent team dinner to recreate "The Last Supper." There has been much more interest in Laughton though the Flyers will make a move only if it makes sense for them (I think a first-round pick would be enticing.) the next few months are all about giving their young players the right exposure and development expect Chicago to be a big player over the summer The Blackhawks can't have another season like this one Columbus has persevered and finds itself in the playoff picture is the player Waddell is getting the most calls on Waddell isn't sure he'll be able to re-sign Provorov; he'll continue to try again this week Unless it's an offer Waddell can't refuse And there's a good possibility the Blue Jackets add They've been scouting for forward depth Dallas has room to add complementary pieces that this is a front office that drafts extremely well -- and it has already traded away its 2025 first- everyone around the league is betting on the Panthers bringing on someone else as well the question for Dallas and Florida: Will Heiskanen or Tkachuk be available for Day 1 of the playoffs Photographers — myself included — love using wide-open apertures of fast glass If we need something more in focus than that can offer we'll use around the sweet spot of the lens But what about all the apertures in between Us photographers and videographers can't help but coo and froth over bokeh and lenses with extra-wide maximum apertures Anything faster than f/1.8 has our interest piqued and our wallets primed the sharpness of lenses at their sweet spots of ordinarily around f/8 through to f/11 has us peeping at pixels and showing 100% crops to our envious contemporaries Whether this has an impact on the selection of aperture photographers gravitate towards is hard to prove they tend to go one of two ways: either it's a narrow depth of field the lens is set to either wide open or at an aperture where everything will be in focus It is often the case that these two extremes are the most desirable and this article isn't to say you ought not to use them what it is contesting is the disregard for the apertures between the two I recently wrote in an article one of my favorite nuggets of wisdom I have received as a photographer and it was many years ago now: what you blur out of an image is as important as what is in focus it didn't make much sense to me; if I'm blurring out something What you blur out can frame and accentuate your subject What's blurred out can set mood and atmosphere or it can be completely at odds with the image's motif Back at the start of the year before the world collapsed in on itself like a dying star we made our way up to the rooftop of the Warner Music building in London and I knew I wanted to capture front-man JJ Julius Son back-lit and with some strong atmosphere What was behind Son was not relevant to my image and I wanted the depth of field to be as narrow as possible my next shot was to be a step or two back to capture not only what his stylist had put him in I didn't want the skyline to be as in focus as my subject; Son's outfit was fairly busy and gray so I didn't want the background to be distracting or start to consume him f/2.8 again would result in the buildings all returning to soft which would have lost the location completely So I experimented with a few apertures between wide open and f/11 to get just the right amount of softness to the background without losing the rooftop feel we were lucky enough to have is not the only benefit of these middling apertures that are so commonly ignored Coming from a macro photography background I learned something quickly: the closer you are you can focus stack when you're shooting products or insects that have chosen to be very kind to you the principle is not exclusive to macro and happens in just about every genre Many landscape photographers take multiple images to blend the focuses in post so that their foreground interest and their background are both nice and sharp I will use portraiture to give another example of how those middle apertures can be useful you'll know you have to ensure you get tack-sharp focus on the subject's eyes That price is what's in focus of your subject No one is too bothered generally if the tip of the nose isn't perfectly sharp but if you start to lose details in the skin and features it can strip away the impact and intimacy of your portrait and you want that dreamy feel to your image other images on my moodboard weren't dreamy I still wanted a softness at and past the ears but I didn't want to sacrifice skin texture and anything off the focal plane of the eyes I only needed to go to around f/4.5 to achieve the depth I was after the whole frame would have been perfectly in focus and a bit bland coming off similar to a camera phone's image I remember being far less excited when I received the lens because of that underwhelming widest aperture but I quickly learned an important lesson: at 200mm you get great bokeh even at f/4 and slightly above too You don't need to go all the way down to f/1.2 to get strong subject separation and very blurry out-of-focus areas Not only can I pinpoint the day I became aware of this but I also have the exact image that educated me but it taught me more than almost any other image I had not long had the 70-200mm with the disappointing widest aperture and I had decided to go for a wander on a freezing cold winter morning A horse was beautifully lit in the new day's light and the trees in the background were twinkling I realized the relationship between aperture and the focal length was not at all what I believed it to be I learned by necessity that f/4 could give me more of the subject in focus and still a beautiful background Many photographers use the entire range of apertures in their work many beginners and enthusiasts suffer the same fate I did and it inhibits both your creative control and your ability to capture subjects exactly how you would like to Where do you use the middling apertures between f/2.8 and f/8 What applications have you found most useful Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses Everything can be done as a result of laziness or thoughtful consideration and effort I don't know anyone's motivations or processes Shooting wide open doesn't work in a wide variety of circumstances Shooting wide open with a decent lens makes it kind of easy to get something nice but the real challenge is to compose well in any situation Now I’m doing a lot of documentary photography and the information you need in the frame a lot of times require you to use 4 And it’s way harder to nail it without composing carefully Sometimes you want to show something important without distraction and it’s time to go wide open I think that the message and the idea of the pictures dictate the fstop That’s one of the reasons that I only use my 1.2 when I have an specific idea but for the daily basis I hardly go wider than 1.8 During the COVID lockdown I watched some old Perry Mason reruns they are surprisingly brilliantly shot which you can see when viewed on today's 60+ inch digital screens I was particularly intrigued by the excellent use of selective focus Almost always you aren't even aware it's there You just note that the critical component of what's on the screen is accentuated by being in sharp focus vs the rest which is still "readable," but just softer It reminds me a lot of some of the points raised here and shows a real understanding of how selective focus can be used to an optimal level One of the things I like about apps like Focos that let you decide on your aperture/focus level after the shot is that they allow you to try different settings as an exercise to see what works best for a particular photo and why more or less background blur is good or bad I was shooting some COVID signs at the beach this week and wanted the beach behind it soft (I didn't want to go completely soft because I wanted the beach to "read.") Generally I preferred the shots where the beach was just moderately focused (similar to Perry Mason but when a bunch of people started cluttering the scene I found that pushing the blur more helped save the image I could use that technique if I were somewhere where there was no let-up in people (i.e. where waiting 10-20 minutes couldn't resolve the issue) This is a longer-than-typical comment that essentially affirms the article's point that apertures are great things to think thoughtfully about and it's a good thing to re-challenge our own habits every so often But often i feel the background is still bussy and bad I came to a conclution that if your background is bad Bad photo is still a bad photo regardless of the aperture You still have to work out the background even at f/1.4 Wide aperture is not an excuse to being lazy to make a good composition I do not understand why people cannot accept the limitation of technology and work around the same Just take 2 shots and composite them as you want Maybe I'm living in the past and not overly familiar with modern tech but I thought wide open meant lower quality images especially on the edges I'm finding that when shooting with selective focus apertures around f/5.6 (with 58mm lens) returns best sense of 3-Dness of the object - depth of field is large enough for the object yet fore and backgroud is still separated enough did a 3/4 shot of a model with an 85mm @ f8 In the background were some mountain ranges often shoot at f/2.8 because I don't need or want the shallow depth of field but still need to gather enough light And I can tell by the tone of this article that you had a lot of fun having to "work at it" I'm certainly going to do some work on this Kathryn Beaumont Murphy ’08 had several years of work experience under her belt by the time she enrolled in Boston College Law School To one day work in a university’s general counsel office it wasn’t until she got a placement at the Harvard Office of the General Counsel that she began to see how to make that dream come true.  In the Semester-in-Practice externship she was able to fully appreciate the complexities that comprise a general counsel role even if attorneys had been a real estate partner or a civil litigator in prior positions they had to be knowledgeable about all areas of the law that impacted Harvard .While each of the attorneys in the office came from a more specialized area of the law It made me realize that there is a place in the legal profession for a generalist,” she recalls Her experiential learning endeavor—which she describes as “likely the most important experience of law school for me in terms of guiding my subsequent career path”—informed her postgrad professional choices; she wanted to acquire a range of legal skills She started off as a tax associate at a large corporate firm but focused on nonprofits; she spent time as an intellectual property lawyer; she worked in-house for a corporation doing IT and procurement law—which may sound boring she says—but are essential to universities And she joined the cybersecurity interest group of one law firm.  All of this—a career blooming from the seeds planted during her externship—led her in 2022 to her current position: Senior General Associate Counsel at Saint Joseph’s University Murphy described it as her destiny: “I’m convinced this job is the reason I went to law school.” Clinics and externships allow students to gain experience in a field that they are interested in it’s the first time they are understanding their role as agents of change The real power in Murphy’s story is that it’s not at all unique; it is one shared by so many students who navigate through their experiential learning journeys professors arm students with an understanding of the law that is nuanced and technically proficient—but students are often hungry for more for putting those tools to work and for feeling the impact of their work and it is in experiential learning programs that that hunger is satiated.  “I have seen or heard many students’ ‘aha’ moments in my years of teaching that led them to insights about their own career and professional development,” says Professor Judith McMorrow who ran the Semester-in-Practice externship program for many years students had their plans affirmed; in others students realized they weren’t quite on the right track—but the former does not make for a more valuable experience than the latter One student who was placed in-house with a major sports team realized that the reality of days filled with contract review and licensing agreements wasn’t her passion “This is a successful placement,” says McMorrow “It freed her to look outside of sports law for her career.” She lists other moments she’s witnessed over the years: a student placed in a law firm to do mostly transactional work while assisting on a litigation assignment that she should shift to business litigation; some who simply say that clinic work helps them break out of the structure of traditional classes and feel what it’s really like to be a lawyer; students who are able to engage in their passion for public service—working with children’s rights “Many students throughout the years have spoken about the power of being a ‘voice’ for a client… many students have struggled with the ethical issues they are experiencing firsthand—[like] unfair legal systems,” McMorrow says who worked with both the Boston College Innocence Program and the Boston College Defenders clinic work was instrumental not only in his career path frustrating time,” he says of his time assisting indigent clients “You have to take time off work or find child care arrive right on time or risk a default judgment and sit in an intimidating room waiting for the clerk to call your name in a sea of other names “There is no joy I have experienced as a young attorney like watching my client thank the judge for the dismissal and know that this chapter of their life is over,” he says “When it is all over and I can see the look of relief on my clients’ faces Shafi’s time in clinic helped him realize that while the lessons he’s taught in class are a critical part of legal education they are only as valuable as they are applicable and that’s where clinics and experiential learning come in and a host of other skills that we don’t get to use in a classroom,” he says I became personally invested in the outcome … It was pretty powerful to see how I could help someone in such a meaningful way so early in my career.” BC Law Clinical Professor and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar Paul R Tremblay is the director of the Law School’s Community Enterprise Clinic within BC Legal Services LAB Few better understand the significance of experiential learning the premier learning opportunities for students who intend to practice law,” he says “It is unimaginable to me to think of a law student spending three years of study without trying out the experience of actually being a lawyer.” Tremblay encourages students to consider a clinic in the second year; it helps them begin to contextualize the information they’re learning in class it can serve as an antidote to the disillusionment that sometimes comes after 1L Clinic work shifts the often grade-centric definition of success and worth that can plague many law students’ journeys Success is measured differently in clinics and this more human approach to growth and understanding of the law is what makes students truly understand what the profession looks like after graduation It stands in stark contrast to that first year of law school; classes jam packed with dense and often dry case law that can feel so far removed from the passions that drive students to choose law school in the first place.   “the law becomes ‘real’ in a different way,” Tremblay says “We have known students feeling like that who then took a clinic and they realized that the law was far more interesting and fun than it looked like it was going to be.” Ayesha Ashan ’24 says her time in the BC Civil Rights Clinic working with the Southern Poverty Law Center and as an extern at the District Court for the District of Columbia helped her see the nuances of practice as a first-generation law student It helped her better understand the dynamics at play between judicial positions and litigators “What is legal isn’t always what is moral or just,” she says “Clerks and judges can only do what the law allows them to do But I want to push the boundaries of the law and I want to shift the legal system towards greater equity This realization affirmed that I’d be more comfortable as an advocate and gave me excitement about my future as a civil rights litigator.” one throughline in many of the reflections about clinical and externship work was the realization that lawyering is not about the lawyer: It is about the impact on clients and the world Students who embrace all that clinics have to offer may go into an experiential learning placement seeking to learn about themselves but what’s often determinative about their future is what they learn about their clients—and the justice system writ large.  “Clinics and externships offer opportunities for discovery and self-reflection,” says Michelle Grossfield director of the BC Law’s Public Interest and Pro Bono Program students realize their legal advocacy can make a difference to the clients and communities they serve and that those experiences shape their commitments to public service and pro bono after graduation.” Law school classes and the intensity of study that marks a legal education can create a sort of tunnel vision; students worship at the altar of GPA’s of landing the most prestigious position for their resume And while students and graduates certainly reflected on the impact these experiences had on their personal journeys what really comes through is that clinics and externships are about the people lawyers serve That’s an invaluable perspective for students to have; a confronting reminder of the injustices of the world and their responsibility as arbiters of the law to do good with our power.  associate dean for experiential learning and associate clinical professor that should drive students to do clinic work “I tell all students that there are so many reasons to do a clinic; first and foremost is to do social justice work on behalf of clients who need your skills,” she says “Many students wrote about [that] in their admissions essays or were inspired by legal issues they’ve learned about while in law school but they may not have yet had the opportunity to put into action that desire to do good in the world using your legal skills.”  clinics and externships allow students to gain experience in a field that they are interested in so that they can hit the ground running once they graduate And it’s an impact that stays with alumni for years after graduation Jaclyn Grodin graduated in 2009 and she says she still thinks about the time she spent working under Holper in the Immigration Clinic Her story illustrates the palpable way these experiences expose law students to the injustices of marginalized communities.  Grodin represented a green card holder from Haiti who had lived in the United States since he was a child and who no longer spoke his native language When he was arrested in college with a small amount of drugs he was set to be deported after his prison sentence was completed; once deported he would have been immediately placed in jail in Haiti “The jail was one of the most dangerous and violent in the world,” Grodin says “It’s very possible he would have died.”  she and Holper visited him in jail where they would talk about his struggles—he was a good kid And based on hours and hours of conversations with him they were able to put together a declaration in support of his cancellation application which detailed not only his life story but the conditions he would be subjected to in Haiti.  “It was incredible how much effort—listening interviews of people my client was friends with and who supported him—went into the application,” she says meaning that I felt like I had a real chance to quite literally change the course of someone’s life through my legal skills It was pretty powerful to see how I could help someone in such a meaningful way so early in my career.” their application was granted and her client was allowed to stay in the country Grodin says it was the best moment of her time in clinic Picture by 2021 Getty Images"Games Wide Open. This is the shared slogan for both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, unveiled by Paris 2024 on the occasion of the 2 years to go anniversary. Above all, since the beginning of this adventure, it is the ambition that drives us and inspires each of our actions. It is an invitation to the world to come and experience new emotions together. Our Games are the commitments of new experiences and big thrills. New disciplines, outdoor competitions in the heart of Paris, a unique Opening Ceremony on the Seine, the Marathon for All so that everyone can run this iconic Olympic event like the athletes... Between the non-disabled athletes and Para athletes: there is only one French team Between the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games: there is only one emblem and one slogan Between men and women: our Olympic Games will be those of perfect parity The power to write the greatest collective story of a whole generation by giving room for everyone: all the territories and shaping solutions that will genuinely serve society And which place youth at the heart of their action Let’s open our eyes to the current challenges to showcase to the world the best of France especially its boldness its creativity and innovative spirit that makes up our country's identity To deliver inspiring Games that will help take the Olympic and Paralympic Movement into a new era