Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards tells the story of the presenter’s fall from grace

Channel 5 viewers have called a new programme about former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards a “hard watch”.

Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards – starring Martin Clunes in the main role – chronicles the events leading to the presenter’s conviction for making indecent images of children. He was found guilty in 2024, and received a six-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years.

The drama aired on Channel 5 on Tuesday (March 24), centring on Edwards’ alleged interaction with a 17-year-old. The teen, given the fictional name ‘Ryan’, is portrayed by Welsh actor Osian Morgan.

Moments after it began, viewers started posting comments on social media stating that it made for “uncomfortable” viewing, reports Wales Online.

“5 minutes in and can already tell this will be a thoroughly uncomfortable watch,” one viewer posted on X. Another individual admitted they were “already creeped out”.

“Not even halfway and I feel nauseous,” another person shared on the platform, formerly known as Twitter.

“Already creeped out when he calls him ‘baby’,” commented another viewer, whilst someone else confessed they were “speechless” watching the story unfold.

“I’m normally quite hardened to these sorts of dramas but honestly this Huw Edwards programme on 5 is a heck of an uncomfortable watch,” another viewer expressed.

“It’s a hard watch,” concurred another, as one viewer admitted they were turning off.

“I tried watching Power but it’s so grim that I’ve switched over to a repeat of Simon Schama’s History of Britain,” they shared.

“That’s it I have had to turn off this Huw Edwards programme,” said someone else.

Another viewer described the programme as feeling “dark and ominous”.

Numerous viewers also commented on Martin’s depiction of the former newsreader, saying he “nailed it”.

“Clunes is playing a blinder as Huw Edwards,” one individual remarked, whilst another added: “Martin Clunes is giving a career-defining performance. A disturbing, but compelling, portrayal of Huw Edwards.”

“Clunes is really pulling this off,” observed another, with someone else stating that the Doc Martin star’s performance was an “absolute tour de force”.

“Martin Clunes is formidable in his portrayal of Huw Edwards,” praised another impressed viewer.

Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards airs on Channel 5.

The feud between California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has escalated after Bonta asked a court to stop Bianco’s investigation into alleged election fraud.

In a 70-page petition filed with the Fourth Appellate District Monday, Bonta wrote that “the Sheriff’s misguided investigation threatens to sow distrust and jeopardize public confidence” in upcoming elections. The investigation, which he also called “sweeping and unprecedented,” is an abuse of the criminal process, he wrote.

Bianco, who is a leading Republican candidate for governor, last month seized more than 650,000 ballots cast in Riverside County in the November election for Proposition 50, which temporarily redrew the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats.

The sheriff has said that his investigators are looking into allegations by a local citizens group that “did their own audit” and found that the county’s tally was falsely inflated by more than 45,000 votes — a claim that local election officials have emphatically rejected.

Bianco has described his probe as a “fact-finding mission” to determine if votes were fraudulently counted. He has accused the attorney general, a Democrat, of improperly interfering with what he says is a lawful criminal investigation.

In Riverside County, the proposition passed by more than 82,000 votes. Statewide, it passed with about 64% of the vote and a margin of more than 3.3 million ballots.

“Well, well, well, the political corruption in California just gets bigger and bigger,” Bianco said in a social media video Monday night in response to Bonta’s petition.

“Why in the world would Rob Bonta want that count stopped unless he was afraid of what that count would uncover?” he added. “We have an extremely politically biased appeals court, so this is going to be interesting.”

Political observers have said that Bianco, an outspoken supporter of President Trump, appears to be vying for attention from Trump, who has called on the federal government to “nationalize” state-run elections, remains fixated on his 2020 election loss and has falsely claimed widespread fraud.

Kim Nalder, a political science professor and director of the Project for an Informed Electorate at Sacramento State, said that Bianco’s investigation appears to be “an electoral ploy.”

“At this stage in the election, most voters haven’t really tuned into the gubernatorial race, and there are a ton of candidates,” she said. “People who don’t know his background will know now. This is clear signaling.”

The sheriff has denied the probe has anything to do with his campaign.

A poll released last week by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times showed Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton leading the crowded field of gubernatorial candidates by slim margins, with the Democratic vote split among multiple candidates in a left-leaning state.

Bonta’s office said in a statement Monday evening that it was asking the court to pause the investigation “while we work to understand its basis.”

Bonta’s petition revealed that — in addition to warrants issued on Feb. 9 and 23 — the sheriff obtained a third warrant from the Riverside County Superior Court on March 19 to restart a paused recount of the ballots. The warrants now are under seal.

Bonta’s office called the warrants and the affidavits supporting them legally deficient because “the Sheriff has not identified any particular crime that may have been committed by anyone — a necessary predicate to obtain a criminal search warrant.”
Bonta had earlier questioned whether Bianco had concealed important information from the magistrate judge who approved the warrants.

In his petition, Bonta wrote that the sheriff’s department had planned to assign “12 employees working four days a week, five to seven hours each day” to count the votes.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research and a former senior trial attorney overseeing voting enforcement for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, agreed with Bonta’s assessment that the sheriff’s probe is a legally deficient “fishing expedition.” He questioned how Bianco got a judge to sign off on three warrants.

“You can’t use a warrant as a PR tool, as something to help your political campaign,” Becker said. “You have to meet certain standards in order to obtain a warrant, because a warrant is extraordinary. A warrant is saying we believe there is probable cause to seize evidence, and we need it now.”

Bianco said in a news conference Friday that a Riverside County Superior Court judge had ordered the appointment of a special master to oversee the count. His investigators had already begun counting, but the tally would start over under the court’s guidance, Bianco said.

“This isn’t about counting yes and no votes,” Bianco said in his social media video Monday. “This is simply counting the total ballots and comparing that total with the number of votes. … Plain and simple. Common sense.”

Two decades after owner Arte Moreno decided the Angels should play under the Los Angeles name, elected officials representing Anaheim are pursuing two paths toward getting their hometown back into the team name.

Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, whose district includes Angel Stadium, has introduced state legislation that could require any sale or new lease of the stadium property be conditioned upon the team reverting to the Anaheim Angels name.

Meanwhile, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has asked the city attorney to explore whether the Angels have violated their current lease by dropping the Anaheim name from legal documents.

Valencia’s bill — dubbed the “Home Run for Anaheim Act” — aims to mandate what the city of Anaheim could not negotiate in its ill-fated deal with Moreno in 2019: If a team owner wants to develop the parking lots around the city stadium, the team should carry the city’s name.

“The Angels have been supported by the city and its residents for 60 years,” Valencia said. “I think it’s rightfully owed to the residents that, if the team wants to play in Anaheim and be in partnership with Anaheim when it comes to future developments of that stadium and surrounding property, then the name should also resemble that.”

Angels spokeswoman Marie Garvey said the team had no comment.

The Angels’ current stadium lease extends through 2032, with the team holding options to extend the lease through 2038.

The city and team had agreed on a deal in which the Angels would remain in Anaheim through 2050, with the team buying the 150-acre stadium property for $150 million, renovating or replacing the stadium, and building a ballpark village atop the parking lots.

The state objected, however. The Surplus Land Act requires public property up for sale must first be made available for affordable housing, and the city negotiated only with the Angels. The city agreed to a $96-million settlement.

The Anaheim City Council ultimately killed the deal three years later, after an FBI investigation uncovered — and former mayor Harry Sidhu acknowledged in a plea agreement — that Sidhu provided confidential information to the team “so that the Angels could buy Angel Stadium on terms beneficial to the Angels” and that he “expected a $1,000,000 campaign contribution from the Angels.” The government has not alleged any wrongdoing by the Angels.

Valencia’s bill was developed in consultation with city leaders and publicly endorsed by Aitken and former mayors Tom Daly and Tom Tait.

Under the bill, if the city can obtain an exemption from the Surplus Land Act, the team could not buy or lease Angel Stadium unless “materials refer to that team as the Anaheim Angels.”

The bill would only apply to Anaheim, and its provisions would not take effect “if the city of Anaheim is able to come to an agreement with the Major League Baseball team known as the Los Angeles Angels about their affiliation.”

Valencia said the city could make a case for an exemption because he believed the Surplus Land Act was designed for smaller properties like school sites and municipal office buildings. He said the community should have the primary say in how such land should be used, even if that might mean less housing on the Angel Stadium site.

“We definitely need more housing because it’s so dang expensive to live, but the amount of housing (in Anaheim) that has gone up in the last 10, 15 years, I think, mitigates some of that,” Valencia said.

“I think folks in Anaheim think that Anaheim is doing their fair share of developing housing. I don’t want to muddy the concept by saying Anaheim is saying, ‘We don’t need any more housing. We have been so proactive in that space. But I think people are going to be thrilled that we want to make the Angels have Anaheim back in the name.”

In 2005, after city officials declined Moreno’s request to change the team name from Anaheim Angels to Los Angeles Angels, the owner adopted the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” name. The city sued and lost, with a jury finding that the Angels had not violated a stadium lease requirement that the team name “include the name Anaheim therein.”

When the city sued the Angels and asked for an injunction to stop the name change pending trial, Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Polos denied the request. He did, however, warn the Angels he would grant the injunction if the team dropped the “of Anaheim” and simply called themselves the Los Angeles Angels.

In 2006, after the city had lost its lawsuit, Polos ruled the team could market itself by whatever name it wished. By 2016, the team called itself the Los Angeles Angels. In state records, the legal entity is Angels Baseball LP.

“When it comes to official designations, and to how they’re registered, I want us to look into how Anaheim is being used by the team in any official filings,” Aitken said, “and what their requirements are to do so.”

When Aitken asked City Attorney Robert Fabela to investigate, Fabela said the matter would be discussed in closed session as a “potential litigation item.”

After Israel’s bombing of Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Palestinian refugee Dalal Dawali once again finds herself forcibly displaced. She and her children joined hundreds of families fleeing to Beddawi camp in north Lebanon. Al Jazeera’s Justin Salhani tells her story.

HumAngle’s Investigations Editor, Ibrahim Adeyemi, has been announced one of the 14 journalists selected from all over the world to participate in the 2025 Journalism programme at the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE), a prestigious programme that trains professionals to navigate ethical dilemmas in the course of their careers.

The fellowship offers training to young professionals working in disciplines like journalism, business, religion, law, technology, and medicine. Each year, 13 to 16 fellows are chosen from each discipline through a rigorous selection process.

In June and July, Ibrahim will be joining other fellows in a two-week study across several cities in Germany and Poland to examine the historical events surrounding the Holocaust, how professionals acted during that time, and what journalists working now can learn from that conduct.

Ibrahim has done extensive work covering conflict and human rights violations in Nigeria and has received wide recognition for his work. An enterprise journalist covering humanitarian crises, defence, and security, he heads investigations and knowledge management at HumAngle. Although he studied English Language at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Ibrahim deploys accountability journalism to interrogate humanitarian crises, illuminating the grey areas in local and international conflicts. His work has produced remarkable impact, including justice for disadvantaged communities, a voice for the less privileged, punishment for exposed officials, and a contribution to global peace and security.

While his works have tackled criminality and injustice, they have also earned him both local and international journalism accolades, including the One World Media Award, the Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism, the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, the Wole Soyinka Awards for Investigative Reporting, and the Kwame Karikari Fact-checking Award for African journalists.

Commenting on being selected for the fellowship, he said he was honoured. 

“I feel quite excited about the FASPE programme because it’s about journalism ethics,” he added. “As a humanitarian journalist, I face ethical dilemmas that require specialised training to tackle. I feel seen as a reporter and an editor covering delicate matters such as conflict, armed violence, terrorism, insurgency, and humanitarian crises. I strongly believe that this fellowship will not only equip me to tackle these ethical conundrums but also empower me to be a better journalist overall. Being accepted into the fellowship makes me even prouder of the work we do at HumAngle and of the unique techniques we deploy to tell human-centred stories.”

Ibrahim is the second HumAngle journalist to be selected for the fellowship. Last year, Managing Editor, Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu, was also selected. 

“I must thank my super boss and Editor-in-Chief, Mr Ahmad Salkida, for providing an enabling environment for us to thrive. My sincere appreciation also goes to HumAngle’s Managing Editor, Ms Hauwa Shaffi Nuhu, for recommending that I apply for this great fellowship, having seen the ethical dilemmas I often face in the course of my duties. I also thank the FASPE jury for considering me for this year’s programme. This means a lot to me, and I am most grateful to God Almighty,” Ibrahim said.

ANGELINA Jolie’s renowned songwriter uncle, Chip Taylor, who penned the 1966 song Wild Thing has died aged 86.

The tragic news was announced by friend and Grammy winning producer Billy Vera in a post to social media.

Vera wrote on Instagram: “‘RIP: Chip Taylor, my friend and songwriting mentor, last night in hospice.”

He added: “With great sadness I announce the passing of my old friend and songwriting mentor, Chip Taylor last night in hospice.

“He and I wrote some good ones: “Make Me Belong To You,” (Barbara Lewis), “Storybook Children” (BV & Judy Clay, Nancy Sinatra): “Papa Come Quick (Bonnie Raitt).”

It is understood that Chip passed away peacefully two days after his 86th birthday.

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Chip was brother to Angelina Jolie‘s dad, Jon Voight, and uncle to the actress’s sibling, James Haven.

He was known for writing several well-loved songs including the 1960s Merrilee Rush song, Angel of the Morning.

Tributes have begun flooding in for the legendary songwriter.

Musician Allan Jones took to social media to pay tribute, writing: “RIP Chip Taylor, who’s just died at 86. Among many other songs, he wrote Wild Thing, Angel of the Morning, and Anyway That You Want Me.

“He played Twickenham Exchange a few years ago, accompanied by John Platiana, for many years Van Morrison’s guitarist.

“It was memorable not only for a lot of great songs, but Taylor’s vast repertoire of extraordinary and hilarious anecdotes, which took up a generous portion of an unforgettable set.

“The man could certainly tell a story as well as he could write a song.”

Born James Wesley Voight, Chip wrote many pop and rock songs, both alone and with other songwriters.

Some of his most notable works include He Sits at Your Table with Willie Nelson and I Can’t Let Go with Evie Sands, the Hollies and Linda Ronstadt.

In addition to being a songwriter Chip had a background as a performer, putting out a number of albums in the 1970s.

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016 for his decades of contributions to the music industry.

In 2007 he launched his own independent label, Train Wreck Records.

Chip famously had a passion for gambling, particularly blackjack, which he was reportedly very good at.

He was married to Joan Carole Frey from 1964, and the couple had both children and grandchildren together. Joan sadly died in June 2025.

Commander of the Presidential Guard, head of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), and now Minister of Defense. The meteoric rise of General-in-Chief Gustavo Enrique González López in the 75 days since January 3 is only comparable to Delcy Rodríguez’s own improbable ascent to Venezuela’s presidency.

In less than three months, González López went from leading the Bolivarian Intelligence Service to commanding the Armed Forces and becoming one of the most powerful figures in the Venezuelan government. His appointment points in several directions: counterbalancing Diosdado Cabello’s power (no longer an ally) in the monopoly of force; shielding the acting president from enemies within chavismo itself; and building a loyal enforcement structure for the new ruling clan.

Amid celebrations of Venezuela’s victory in the World Baseball Classic on March 18, Rodríguez seized the moment to overhaul her cabinet. One of the most radical moves was the dismissal of Vladimir Padrino López, the longest-serving minister in the chavista cabinet. After 12 years at the helm of the Defense Ministry, he will hardly be remembered for defending the nation.

Although rumors had long suggested that Padrino López would soon step down, the selection of his successor caught observers off guard.

There were strong reasons to replace Vladimir Padrino López.

Replacing Padrino with González López raises several questions:

What role will he play in a power structure divided among four family-based factions, consisting of Diosdado Cabello, the Rodríguez siblings, the Chávez family, and the Maduro-Flores clan?

If this marks a new political moment, why recycle officials from the Chávez and Maduro governments?

What is the point of US sanctions if the acting president rewards sanctioned officials with key posts?

Does his appointment guarantee impunity for human rights abuses committed under his command?

And, since it came after official visits from the CIA director and the head of US Southern Command, does it have Donald Trump’s backing?

Neither hero nor martyr

Before examining why González López was chosen, it is clear there were several reasons to replace Padrino López.

On January 3, 2026, when US forces bombed key military infrastructure and captured Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan Armed Forces offered no resistance. The attack left 83 dead among those guarding Maduro, including 32 Cubans, while US forces only reported minor injuries. There was no troop mobilization afterward to restore order or deter further attacks.

Padrino appeared only hours later in a solitary video, declaring: “The Bolivarian National Armed Forces inform the world that the Venezuelan people have been the victims of a criminal military aggression by the United States.”

Days later, he justified his inaction bluntly: “It would have been a massacre if we had confronted the Americans.”

When Delcy became the acting minister of petroleum, she appointed González López to a tailor-made role at PDVSA overseeing strategic affairs and production control.

This was not his only failure. In 2021, the FANB lost the so-called Apure war, an operation aimed at expelling FARC dissidents from Venezuelan territory.

The Colombian guerrillas killed 17 Venezuelan soldiers and kidnapped eight more to force negotiations that allowed them to remain in the country. By January 2022, the ELN had finished the job the FANB could not, pushing FARC factions out of the border region.

Nor did the Defense Ministry respond to US attacks on more than 20 Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean. US tactical teams seized at least eight oil tankers without any naval reaction from Venezuela. Padrino also failed to deploy troops to prevent Maduro’s blatant presidential election fraud on July 28, 2024.

Beyond his rank and decorations, Padrino leaves behind another legacy: signing Resolution 008610, which authorizes the use of “firearms or potentially lethal weapons” for public order control.

Why González López?

González López was the first official appointed after Delcy Rodríguez herself. On January 6, 2026, he was named Commander of the Presidential Guard and head of Military Counterintelligence. These roles are clearly designed to protect the new head of state.

Since then, he has been inseparable from Rodríguez: her shadow, her watchdog, the strongman of the Rodríguez clan. His appointment is key to consolidating this new ruling faction. Previous chavista groups had their own enforcers. These are figures with intelligence expertise, coercive power, and influence over security forces and armed groups. González López fills that role for the Rodríguez siblings.

Their Achilles’ heel had been precisely a lack of support from armed elements within the Venezuelan State. For this reason, the Rodríguez siblings could not operate independently from other chavista factions. They had secured economic power and built extensive business ties, including in the oil sector. Rodríguez’s tenure as foreign minister also gave her a broad international network.

The rise of González López could even foreshadow a purge to both consolidate Delcy’s power and polish the image of a criminalized State.

González López has been close to her since at least 2018, when as vice president she oversaw SEBIN, then led by him.

In 2024, when Rodríguez became the acting minister of petroleum, she appointed him to a tailor-made role at PDVSA overseeing strategic affairs and production control. Such position combined security and operational authority.

González López has therefore become Delcy’s trusted operator, the man that can enforce her orders.

At the same time, chavismo has spent 26 years building a system of power rooted in complicity, which explains the constant recycling of officials. Even if the Rodríguez faction wanted to break away, it cannot fully detach from that structure without risking collapse. It still lacks independent foundations.

Blessed and lucky

After overseeing more than 2,000 arbitrary detentions in 2024 as head of SEBIN, being identified as one of Maduro’s torture chiefs, and linked to the deaths of political prisoners, González López has not been punished. He has been promoted.

His appointment disregards warnings from human rights groups and signals that the regime’s institutional chain remains intact—one of chavismo’s enduring strengths. If prosecutions ever come, they will likely follow the familiar script: a few scapegoats.

His rise could even foreshadow a purge to both consolidate Rodríguez’s power and polish the image of a criminalized State.

As the architect of the Operation for the Liberation and Protection of the People (OLP), González López has already demonstrated a zero-tolerance approach to crime. In practice, that policy led to the killing of young men in poor neighborhoods under the banner of law enforcement.

Could Rodríguez appoint a defense minister of this magnitude without a green light from Washington?

His profile aligns with hardline anti-crime and anti-migrant approaches promoted by US policy in recent years, which could appeal to sectors in Washington.

This may help explain why he appears to have received approval from Donald Trump’s team. Could Rodríguez appoint a defense minister of this magnitude without a green light from Washington? Perhaps not. While not every minister requires it, Defense almost certainly does.

Other signs point in that direction: González López appeared as host during John Ratcliffe’s visit (Trump’s CIA director) and was part of the delegation that met US Southern Command chief General Francis L. Donovan. There have also long been rumors of his role as a US intelligence informant. Which is unsurprising, given that intelligence and repression are his specialties.

For now, sanctions imposed under Barack Obama and accusations of crimes against humanity are not part of Venezuela’s new political moment, as Delcy Rodríguez has labelled it.

After two months, the new era seems to prioritize “stabilization, economic recovery, and political transition.” Not human rights, not justice.

March 24 (UPI) — NASA on Tuesday announced plans to spend $30 billion on a permanent lunar base and send astronauts to the moon every six months after the Artemis V mission.

Speaking at a so-called “Ignition” event at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Administrator Jared Isaacman discussed plans to accelerate construction of a moon base.

“There will be an evolutionary path to building humanity’s first permanent surface outpost beyond Earth,” he said.

“NASA is committed to achieving the near-impossible once again: to return to the moon before the end of President [Donald] Trump’s term, build a moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space.”

NASA’s plan was initially to focus on what it called the Gateway program — a space station that was going to orbit the moon. Then the agency would build a base on the moon.

Carlos Garcia-Galan, the program executive for NASA’s Moon Base program, said the systems and hardware already established for the Gateway program would be repurposed to build the moon base.

Isaacman said the moon base plan will comprise three phases.

The first phase would include a series of missions to send small robotic landers and vehicles astronauts can drive on the surface to the moon. It would also encompass communications and scientific instruments.

The second phase would involve the construction of a “semi-habitable infrastructure” for astronauts on the lunar surface.

The third phase would start construction of a more permanent structure.

The first two phases would involve an investment of $20 billion over the next seven years and dozens of missions to the moon. The third phase would cost another $10 billion.

“The moon base will not appear overnight,” Isaacman said.

Isaacman said NASA also plans to launch a nuclear-propelled spacecraft to Mars by 2028.

NASA’s launch window for Artemis II is set to open April. The crewed mission is expected to send the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft to orbit the moon over 10 days and return to Earth. The crew will test whether the spacecraft operates in deep space.

The long-term goal of the Artemis program is to re-establish a human presence on the moon in preparation for the ultimate aim of putting a human on Mars.

Two pilots were killed and several passengers and crew were injured when an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia airport.

BBC Verify has been using air-traffic-control audio and flight-tracking data to piece together what happened on the runway on 22 March – as Jake Horton explains.

Produced by Aisha Sembhi. Graphics by Mesut Ersoz. Verification by Daniele Palumbo.

MEL Schilling’s “heartbroken” MAFS co-star John Aiken has admitted he is “struggling to breathe”, as he broke his silence on her death.

The Australian relationship expert, 55, revealed his immense grief after Mel tragically died aged 54 following a brave battle with colon cancer.

The much-loved dating coach was known for her work on both the Married At First Sight Australia and UK versions of the show.

Today her MAFS Aus co-star John shared a picture of him with his pal from 2016 and one from the recent series, and penned an emotional message which read: “It’s with great sadness and heavy heart that today I lost my dear friend and fellow MAFS expert Mel Schilling.

“I am heartbroken, devastated and finding it hard to breathe.

“It was a privilege and an honour to sit beside her on the MAFS couch and watch her shine. She was warm, supportive and honest, and she deeply cared about all our participants. I had a front row seat to her remarkable skills and she truly believed in the experiment. At her core she loved love.”

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John also talked about their relationship off screen, and the “fun” they would have when the cameras weren’t rolling.

“And when her illness struck she never complained. She kept her challenges to herself and continued to deliver time and time again. She was an inspiration, a fighter, a leader,” the grief stricken star said.

“It’s not fair that my partner in crime is gone. She was one of the good ones. I am unravelling just thinking about it. I wanted to sit on our couch together forever. She knew my rhythms and I knew hers. But it’s simply not to be.

John admitted he was “distraught” that he had to accept she was now gone, and ended the heartfelt message with: “I love you and I miss you gorgeous.. xx”.

Mel and John were incredibly close having worked on MAFS Australia together for ten years, including the latest series which is airing right now on E4.

Mel’s MAFS UK co-star Charlene Douglas also paid an emotional tribute, where she reflected on their close bond.

Taking to Instagram, she wrote: “I’m both devastated and heartbroken to hear of the passing of my MAFS queen and friend Mel.

“I had the pleasure of spending time with Mel in her last days and will forever treasure the laughter, the memories and love we had for each other.

“Mel’s love for life, jokes and of course dancing will forever stay in my heart. What I wouldn’t give to be dancing to Beyoncé with you right now.

“Sleep in perfect peace Mel. Love you ♥️”

Mel was previously diagnosed with colon cancer in 2023, which later spread to her lungs and brain.

Her husband Gareth Brisbane announced the heartbreaking news today in an emotional Instagram post.

Alongside touching pictures of Mel, he said: “Melanie Jane Brisbane-Schilling passed away peacefully today, surrounded by love.

“In her final moments, when I thought cancer had taken away her ability to speak, she ushered me closer and whispered a message for Maddie and me that will sustain me for the rest of my life.

“It took all of her remaining strength, and that gesture summed up our wee Melsie perfectly. Even then, her only thought was for Maddie and me.”

He continued: “This is a woman who became a new mum and a TV star at 42 — and nailed both.

“This is a woman who, through two years of chemotherapy, when she could barely lift her head from the pillow, never complained and never stopped showing courage, grace, compassion and empathy, and never missed a day of filming.

“To most of you, she was Mel Schilling — matriarch of MAFS and queen of reality TV. To Maddie and me, she was our wee Melsie: an incredible mum, role model, and soulmate.”

Channel 4 hailed Mel as a friend who “radiated joy, warmth and optimism”.

Issuing a statement, it said: “Our thoughts and condolences are, first and foremost, with her family and loved ones.

“We’re privileged to be the channel that is home to Mel’s work, which was at the heart of Married At First Sight‘s phenomenal success, both in the UK and Australia.

“It reflected so much about her – her fierce advocacy for other women, her passion for healthy relationships and her mission to unite people in love.

“For many who work for Channel 4, Mel was not just a colleague but a friend, someone who radiated joy, warmth and optimism, who energized every room she walked into, with humour and positivity.

“Everyone who knew her will miss all this about her and much more. We share in the sorrow that we’re sure many viewers will now feel at this terrible loss.”

WASHINGTON  — The Trump administration urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to rule that it may block migrants from applying for asylum at ports of entry along the southern border.

The administration’s lawyers argued that the right to asylum, which arose in response to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, does not extend to those who are stopped just short of a border post in California, Arizona or Texas.

They pointed to part of the immigration law that says a non-citizen who “arrives in the United States … may apply for asylum.”

“You can’t arrive in the United States while you’re still standing in Mexico. That should be the end of this case,” Vivek Suri, a Justice Department attorney, told the court.

Immigration rights advocates called this claim “perverse” and illogical. They said such a rule would encourage migrants to cross the border illegally rather than present themselves legally at a border post.

The justices sounded divided and a bit uncertain over how to proceed. But the conservative majority is nonetheless likely to uphold the administration’s broad power over immigration enforcement.

Several of the justices noted, however, the Trump administration is not currently enforcing a “remain in Mexico” policy.

Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned why the court would make a major decision on immigration and asylum with no immediate, practical impact.

The case posed a fundamental clash between the government’s need to manage surges at the border and the moral and historic right to offer asylum to those fleeing persecution.

In 1939, more than 900 Jewish refugees who were fleeing Nazi Germany aboard the MS St. Louis were turned away by Cuba and the United States. They were forced to return to Europe and more than 250 of them died in the Holocaust.

The worldwide moral reckoning spurred many nations, including the United States, to adopt new laws which offer protection to those fleeing persecution.

In the Refugee Act of 1980, Congress said that non-citizens either “physically present in the United States” or “at a land border or port of entry” may apply for asylum.

To be eligible for asylum, a non-citizen had to demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Only a small percentage of applicants win their asylum claims, and only after years of litigation.

But faced with overwhelming surge of migrants, the Obama administration in 2016 adopted a “metering” policy that required people to wait on the Mexican side of the border.

The Trump and Biden administrations maintained such policies for a time.

Immigrant rights advocates sued, contending the metering policy was illegal. They won before a federal judge in San Diego who ruled the migrants had a right to claim asylum.

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in 2024.

“To ‘arrive’ means ‘to reach a destination,’” Judge Michelle Friedland wrote for the appeals court. “A person who presents herself to an official at the border has ‘arrived.’”

The Trump administration appealed.

Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer said the “ordinary meaning of ‘arrives in’ refers to entering a specific place, not just coming close to it. An alien who is stopped in Mexico does not arrive in the United States.”

On Tuesday, the Justice Department attorney said the court should reverse the 9th Circuit and uphold the government’s broad power to block migrants approaching the border.

“I can’t predict the next border surge,” Suri said.

“For more than 45 years, Congress has guaranteed people arriving at our borders the right to seek asylum, consistent with our international treaty obligations,” said Kelsi Corkran, Supreme Court director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, who argued the case. “Yet this administration believes that Congress gave it discretion to completely ignore those requirements, and turn back those who are seeking refuge from persecution at its whim.”

“The people turned away at our border are fleeing rape, torture, kidnapping, and death threats. You cannot tell families running for their lives to go back and wait in danger because their suffering is inconvenient,” said Nicole Elizabeth Ramos, border rights project directo at Al Otro Lado which was the plaintiff in the case. “We brought this case because the United States made a legal and moral commitment to protect people fleeing persecution.”

The agency will increase robotic missions to the moon and launch a spacecraft called Space Reactor 1 Freedom.

NASA has unveiled a major overhaul of its moon and Mars strategy, scrapping plans for a lunar-orbit space station and instead committing $20bn over the next seven years to build a base on the moon’s surface, while also advancing plans to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman outlined the changes on Tuesday during a meeting in Washington, DC, with partners, contractors and government officials involved in the Artemis programme, saying the agency will increase robotic missions to the moon and lay the groundwork for nuclear power on the lunar surface.

Isaacman, appointed by US President Donald Trump and who took charge in December, said the changes form part of a broader overhaul of NASA’s long-term Moon-to-Mars strategy.

The planned moon base is intended to support long-term human presence on the lunar surface, with robotic missions expected to help prepare the site, test technologies and begin building infrastructure before astronauts return later this decade.

The agency also disclosed plans to launch a spacecraft called Space Reactor 1 Freedom before the end of 2028, a mission designed to demonstrate nuclear electric propulsion in deep space on the way to Mars.

The spacecraft will deliver helicopters on the Red Planet, similar to the Ingenuity robotic test helicopter that flew with NASA’s Perseverance rover, a step the agency said would help move nuclear propulsion technology from laboratory testing to operational space missions.

The Ingenuity helicopter was the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet. It travelled to Mars attached to NASA’s Perseverance rover and landed in February 2021.

Pausing the Lunar Gateway station

The Lunar Gateway station, a planned space station in lunar orbit being developed with contractors including Northrop Grumman and international partners, was meant to serve as a base where astronauts could live and work before heading to the Moon’s surface.

But NASA now plans to repurpose some Gateway components for use on the surface instead.

Repurposing Lunar Gateway to create a base on the moon’s surface leaves uncertain the future roles of Japan, Canada and the ‌European Space ⁠Agency in the Artemis programme, three key NASA partners that had agreed to provide components for the orbital station.

“It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface,” Isaacman said.

The changes to NASA’s flagship Artemis programme are reshaping billions of dollars’ worth of contracts and come as the United States faces growing competition from China, which is aiming to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.

The Artemis programme, begun in 2017 during Trump’s first term as president, envisions regular lunar missions as NASA’s long-awaited follow-up to its first moon missions in the Apollo programme that ended in 1972.

The passport system is also changing soon

Families have been warned to be careful to avoid a costly mistake when heading away on holiday. The word of warning comes as key changes to the passport system are coming in soon.

Your holiday photos could cost you a lot of money and could invalidate your home insurance. Karishma Darji, from storage group Ready Steady Store, said: “Posting holiday selfies while you’re away might seem harmless, but it tells the world your home is empty. Insurers could view that as poor security.”

She said this mistake could land you a large bill if the worst happens.

Ms Darji said: ” If your property is burgled and investigators find public posts showing you were away, they may argue you didn’t take ‘reasonable care’ to protect your home.”

If your insurance is invalidated due to you posting a holiday snap while you are away from home and you are burgled, you will be responsible for covering the costs of any loss and damages yourself. Ms Darji said this could mean you end up with a four-figure bill to pay.

She explained: “The annual Crime Survey for England and Wales, published by the ONS in April 2025 shows that the average loss from burglary equates to £4,269. The average value of stolen items sits around £2,800, whereas damage from forced entry averages at £1,400.

“However, every house differs based on the value of possessions they own, so the total cost to replace items could be significantly higher.” In light of this danger, her simple word of advice is: “Save the snaps until you’re back to avoid invalidating your claim.”

Passport changes

This update comes as the cost of applying for a passport is soon to increase. Application fees are increasing by 8 per cent, with the new fees coming in from April 8.

The proposed increases, which need to be approved by Parliament, will include the following:

• The standard online application submitted from within the UK will rise from £94.50 to £102 for adults
• This will go up from £61.50 to £66.50 for children under 16
• Postal applications will increase from £107 to £115.50 for adults and £74 to £80 for children under 16
• The charge for a Premium Service (one-day) application submitted from within the UK will rise from £222 to £239.50
• The charge for a standard online application for a UK adult passport when applying from overseas will rise from £108 to £116.50
• This will also increase from £70 to £75.50 for children under 16
• Standard paper applications for overseas passports will see a rise from £120.50 to £130 for adults, and from £82.50 to £89 for children under 16.

Salah has played a key role in reviving Liverpool‘s fortunes on the pitch during the past nine years.

He helped the club to two Premier League titles, the Champions League, Fifa Club World Cup, Uefa Super Cup, FA Cup and two EFL Cups, as well as the Community Shield.

Salah’s tally of 255 goals in 435 appearances for the Reds has him third in the pantheon of all-time leading goalscorers for the club, behind Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285).

He has won the Premier League golden boot on four occasions and been named the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year three times – in 2018, 2022 and 2025.

Salah also hailed the support he has received from Liverpool fans who “showed me through the best time of my career” and also “stood by me in the toughest times”.

“It’s something I will never forget and something I will take with me always. Leaving is never easy,” he added.

“You gave me the best time of my life, I will be always one of you. The club will always be my home, to me and to my family. Thank you for everything. Because of all of you I will never walk alone.”

Liverpool said that Salah’s time at Anfield had been a “remarkable nine-year chapter” and plans to show their appreciation will come at a later date.

“With plenty still left to play for this season, Salah is firmly focused on trying to achieve the best possible finish to the campaign for Liverpool,” the club added.

“Therefore, the time to fully celebrate his legacy and achievements will follow later in the year when he bids farewell to Anfield.”

VERNON Kay stopped his BBC Radio 2 show to announce the death of his beloved colleague, station chief Ian Deeley.

The radio star paid tribute to his “larger than life” station manager Ian, 45, who passed away unexpectedly.

Ian’s cause of death remains unknown, with Vernon saying “the BBC family were devastated to hear that our brilliant studio manager, Ian Deeley.”

Vernon, 51, hailed his colleague’s passion for radio, saying Ian loved his job and had worked on most BBC radio stations.

The presenter went on to say: “Even though he was a relatively young chap, Ian had a long and illustrious career, during which he pretty much worked on every BBC radio station. 

“His time at the BBC started with news shifts followed by production work and more recently, Ian was working with our colleagues on the outside broadcast team, or ‘the Broadside Outcasts’ as he jokingly called them.

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“With the OB team, Ian worked on all manner of big radio stuff, including pop festivals, BBC Proms and numerous royal events.

“The one that stands out for us and our little team is the one where Ian personally made sure that our show from the beaches of Normandy a few years ago went seamlessly – and it did. 

“Ian was our lead engineer on our D-Day [80th] celebrations and he was so dedicated that he went on a [reconnaissance trip] over to France in his own time, just to make sure everything was up to his incredible high standard.”

Vernon added: “Ian loved working with us here at Radio 2 and I know one of his career highlights was working with our friend, Steve Wright, he was thrilled to be able to be a part of the big show and as ‘one of the top operatives’ as Steve called him.

“Steve always said, ‘Ian, keep it cranked’ and he did.”

The radio star would go on to offer condolences to Ian’s mum, partner and brother on behalf of the Radio 2 staff.

Later in the show, Vernon thanked his listeners after they sent in some words of condolence.  

Paying tribute to Ian himself Vernon said: “As an engineer, there were few better but there are also so many things we can say about Ian, the person.

“He was an exuberant, larger-than-life character who was always enthusiastic and brought a smile to everyone’s faces.”

He went on to say that he and his colleagues would miss Ian’s “quick wit.”

Hailing the work Ian and other team members do Vernon added: “As you can imagine at Radio 2, it’s not just the names in the Radio Times who do all the work. 

“We do very little, we just talk when we put up the fader, I’ll be honest with you, myself and every on-air name included.

“It’s the massive team behind Radio 2 that make this network so successful.”

WASHINGTON — Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

The lawsuit claims that the federal government reneged on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after the surge of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis, and are seeking a court order demanding that the Trump administration comply.

“We are prepared to fight for transparency and accountability that the federal government is desperate to avoid,” Hennepin County Atty. Mary Moriarty told reporters.

The lawsuit marks an escalation in the clash between Minnesota leaders and the Trump administration over the investigations into the high-profile shootings by federal officers that sparked public outcry and protests. The Trump administration has suggested that Minnesota officials don’t have jurisdiction to investigate, but state officials insist they need to conduct their own probes because they don’t trust the federal government to investigate itself.

“There has to be an investigation any time a federal agent or a state agent takes the life of a person in our community,” Moriarty said.

The administration sent thousands of officers to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for the immigration crackdown as part of President Trump’s national deportation campaign. The Department of Homeland Security considered its largest immigration enforcement operation ever a success but was staunchly criticized by Minnesota’s leaders who raised questions over officers’ conduct.

There continues to be fallout from Operation Metro Surge in the form of a Homeland Security shutdown, as Democrats in Congress hold up funding in an effort to secure restraints on Trump’s immigration agenda.

Minnesota’s lawsuit said the federal government is not permitted to “withhold investigative evidence for the purpose of shielding law enforcement officers from scrutiny where a State is investigating serious potential violations of its criminal laws, targeting its citizens, within its borders.”

Moriarty said Tuesday that the federal government “has adopted a policy of categorically withholding evidence,” calling the practice unprecedented and alarming. She said the lawsuit followed formal demands for evidence after the federal government blocked Minnesota investigators from accessing evidence related to the shootings.

In addition to the Pretti and Good cases, the lawsuit demands access to evidence in the case of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was shot and wounded in his right thigh by a federal agent in January.

Federal officials initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of beating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel. But federal prosecutors later dropped all charges against the men and authorities opened a criminal investigation into whether two immigration officers lied under oath about the shooting.

Emails seeking comment were sent to DHS and the Justice Department.

The Justice Department in January said it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s killing but has said a similar federal probe was not warranted in the killing of Good. The decision in Good’s case marked a sharp departure from past administrations, which moved quickly to investigate shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche has said that the department’s Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant an investigation.”

Moriarty has said a lack of confidence in the federal government’s review of these incidents makes the state’s independent investigations into the shootings, as well as officers’ actions during the immigration enforcement operation altogether, especially important. The county office received over 1,000 tips from the public on the shootings of Good and Pretti via an online portal they opened to collect evidence. Earlier this month, Moriarty initiated a second portal and said her office was investigating a number of incidents of potentially unlawful action by officers over the course of the immigration enforcement operation.

Fingerhut and Richer write for the Associated Press. Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa.

Some major Tiger Woods news broke Monday night.

It had nothing to do with the Masters — not directly anyway.

The 50-year-old golfing legend will be playing competitively for the first time in more than a year as his Jupiter Links team competes against Los Angeles in the second match of the best-of-three TGL finals Tuesday night in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

TGL is a high-tech, indoor golf league that uses simulators and real surfaces, founded by Woods, Rory McIlroy and Mike McCarley in 2022. While a TGL match doesn’t present the same physical challenge as a PGA Tour event, the team event could serve as Woods’ first step toward playing at Augusta National on April 9-12.

Woods last played competitively March 4, 2025, in Jupiter’s final TGL match of that season. He missed all of the PGA season last year as he recovered from a 2024 back surgery and surgery in March 2025 for a ruptured Achilles tendon. Last fall, he underwent disk replacement surgery in his lower back.

A five-time Masters winner, most recently in 2019, Woods is listed as a 2026 invitee on the tournament website but has yet to confirm his participation.

Last month at the Genesis Invitational, a reporter asked Woods if the Masters was “off the table” for him this year. Woods answered simply, “No.”

In the opening match of the TGL finals Monday night, Jupiter lost 6-5, with Kevin Kisner narrowly missing a birdie chip from 20 feet that would have won the match. Woods was on hand as a team captain and supporter, roles he has served all season.

After the match, Woods told reporters he felt bad for his players — Tom Kim, Max Homa and Kisner — but expressed optimism that Jupiter could still come back and claim the title. If Jupiter wins Match 2, a third match will take place immediately afterward to determine the TGL champion.

“We have possibly two more matches,” Woods said. “We’re not out of this.”

Woods didn’t mention the possibility of placing himself in the next day’s lineup. After the news conference, however, TGL posted a graphic on X that showed what appears to be Woods’ torso and the words “He’s back,” along with the viewing information for Tuesday’s match.

Moments later, Jupiter Links posted a graphic on X that featured a photo of Woods and the quote, “I’m back.”

Woods will be replacing Kisner in the lineup for at least Match 2. It is unclear if Woods would take part in a possible third match.

Last week, after Jupiter clinched a spot in the finals, Woods told reporters he has been trying to play all season “but it just hasn’t worked out that way.” He added that the players had done well without him and implied that he didn’t foresee any changes ahead of the finals.

“I really don’t want to screw up the lineup,” Woods added. “I just want these guys to keep playing.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

United States President Donald Trump is insistent that “productive” negotiations have taken place with Iran to end the war he launched with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu almost a month ago. The major problem with that narrative is that Iran’s top officials have repeatedly denied it.

Amid the fog of war and the propaganda being pushed by all sides, it is hard to know who to believe. But an analysis of what each side has to gain from any negotiations – and a potential end to the conflict – could bring more clarity.

Trump’s comments that there were “major points of agreement” after “very good” talks with an unnamed “top” Iranian figure came as stock markets opened in the US for the start of the trading week. The five-day deadline he gave for a positive response from Iran also happens to coincide with the end of the trading week.

Many have cynically noted that timing, especially as it comes after a two-week period in which oil prices have fluctuated in line with events in the Middle East, leading to a high of about $120 a barrel last week.

Trump’s talk of negotiations may also give time for more US troops to arrive in the Middle East, if Washington decides to conduct some form of ground invasion of Iranian territory.

Among those questioning Trump’s motives was the man believed by some to be the senior Iranian official Trump was referencing: the Iranian parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped,” Ghalibaf wrote on social media.

The impact on stock markets and oil prices is not just relevant to the US and Trump, but also to Iran. However, for Tehran, the benefit comes in the damage the war is doing to the US and global economies.

The Iranian state wants the US to feel economic pain from the war, as a means of deterrence for any future Israeli or US attack on Iran.

Therefore, as much as it is in the US interest to play up talk of negotiations in order to calm the markets, it is also in Iran’s interest to downplay any talk to do the exact opposite, and not give the Trump administration any breathing space.

US benefits?

Consequently, both sides have their own narratives on negotiations, and public comments will do little to inform us as to whether those negotiations are really taking place, or in what form they may be.

That instead leads us into what each side has to gain from negotiations, and an actual end to the war at the current stage.

Trump appears to have underestimated the consequences of the conflict that he launched with Netanyahu on February 28, and the ability of the Iranian state to withstand the attacks against it without collapsing.

“They weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East … Nobody expected that,” he said last week, adding that even “the greatest experts” didn’t believe that.

Leaving aside that experts – including US intelligence officials – had repeatedly made those warnings, reality has now made Trump aware of the consequences he had previously ignored.

While some allies and supporters may continue to push him to plough on with the conflict, Trump has previously shown himself amenable to cutting deals to extricate himself from difficult situations, and it is not far-fetched to see the benefits of doing so in this instance.

The US president has already ordered his government to issue temporary sanctions waivers on some Iranian oil, in an effort to calm oil prices. This is the first time Iran has lifted sanctions on any Iranian oil since 2019, and it will not be lost on Iran that the waivers have come as a result of their policy to expand the conflict to the wider Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas transits.

The war was already unpopular in the US – and now even more so, as consumers see the impact on petrol prices and potentially other areas of the economy, all in the run-up to congressional elections later this year, in which Trump’s Republicans are likely to do poorly.

Trump, therefore, has the options of extending this war – and suffering the economic and political cost, or ending it – and facing the criticism that he was unable to finish what he termed as a “short-term excursion”.

The Iranian perspective

But whatever Trump wants to do, the decision is not totally in his hands. Iran, attacked for the second time in less than a year, now appears to have less of an incentive to end the war without the establishment of an effective deterrent to another in the future.

Gone are the days of the telegraphed attacks on US assets and the slow climb up the escalation ladder. From the outset of the current war, it was clear that Iran had changed its tactics and was not as interested in restraint.

It is now arguably in the Iranian state’s benefit to drag out the conflict and inflict more suffering on the region, if it wants to ensure its survival.

There may also be a belief that interceptor stocks in Israel are running low, allowing Iran to strike targets more effectively. The thinking – particularly among the hardliners who now appear to be in the ascendancy in Iran – will be that now is not the time to stop, and allow those interceptor stocks to replenish.

And yet, Iran is suffering. More than 1,500 people have been killed across the country, according to the government. Infrastructure has been heavily damaged, and the power grid could be next. Relations with Gulf neighbours have nosedived, and, after repeated Iranian attacks, are unlikely to return to their previous levels after the conflict.

More moderate voices in Iran will look at that and think that things could easily get worse. They can argue that some form of deterrence has been achieved, and that the time is now ripe to talk. And if they can get some concessions – such as a promise of no future attacks, or greater authority in the Strait of Hormuz – they may decide that the time is right to make a deal.

Lockheed Martin has developed a launcher called Grizzly that fires AGM-114 Hellfire missiles from within an otherwise unassuming 10-foot shipping container. Employed alone or in groups networked together, Grizzly presents a flexible and relatively low-cost means of bolstering point defenses against aerial threats, including drones, and targets on the surface. The launchers can also hide in plain sight, intermixed with regular containers, creating targeting dilemmas and uncertainty for opponents.

Grizzly has already successfully completed two live-fire tests, according to a press release Lockheed Martin put out today. The launcher took just six months to build, and makes heavy use of existing and often commercial off-the-shelf components. This includes leveraging the proven M299 four-rail launcher, which is in widespread use globally today, most commonly as a means for launching Hellfires from various types of helicopters.

In “one test we launched missiles vertically,” Chris Murphy, senior manager of Business Development for Integrated Air and Missile Defense Advanced Programs, told TWZ and other outlets during a call yesterday. “In another test, we launched them at an angle to prove out some of the flexibility of the system.”

The container itself has a roof that hinges open for firing. Lockheed Martin says the containerized launcher can be configured to be self-powered or make use of a tertiary power source.

Broadly speaking, “you might think of a depth of magazine as being a really large magazine,” Murphy explained. “Another way to achieve depth of magazine is to have several launchers. What we’ve tried to do is take a lot of the cost out of those launchers and use containers where possible.”

“The idea is that you can leave these somewhat unattended,” he continued. “Obviously, they would be in proximity to some support, but as opposed to having a full-on launcher sitting out someplace or moving around someplace, you’ll just have some ideas to have some containers available. And they protect the system from weather, but they also then allow rapid access and also rapid reload when the time comes. “

“The idea is to provide these [Grizzly container launchers] in multiple places and to… make the enemy uncertain of what is where,” Murphy added. “By using commercial materials and commercial launchers, it’s not obvious where you have protection capability, and it allows you to spread the protection out geographically. It allows it to be remotely operated.”

In general, containerized launchers are also inherently mobile and readily deployable via truck, as well as by cargo aircraft and ships. They also offer opportunities to be employed from any vessel with sufficient deck space, which we will come back to later on.

Lockheed Martin’s press release today otherwise says that Grizzly is “command and control and sensor agnostic” and can be utilized to “support any service or mission, anywhere.”

That being said, the fact that the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Advanced Programs division led the development of Grizzly points to a clear surface-to-air application for the launcher. The millimeter-wave radar-guided AGM-114L variant of the Hellfire has a demonstrated anti-air capability against various types of drones, which is a particular pressing threat. Loaded with AGM-114Ls and linked to air search radars and other sensors, the containerized launch system could offer a way to rapidly boost air defenses, especially at forward locations.

The current conflict with Iran provides a number of real-world instances where this could be valuable. In particular, Iranian-backed militias have launched repeated drone attacks on the U.S. Embassy complex in Baghdad, Iraq. In line with the remote operation concept Lockheed Martin’s Murphy outlined, Grizzly launchers could be placed around the outer edge of the larger Green Zone in Baghdad, creating an outer layer of close-in defense.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is currently protected by Centurion counter-rocket, artillery, mortar (C-RAM) systems linked to Saab Giraffe-1X radars, as well as microwave counter-drone radars and other sensors, all of which Grizzly could also leverage. The Centurion is a ground-based version of the Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) used on warships.

Grizzly could be used to fire AGM-114Ls, along with laser-guided Hellfire variants, at targets on land or at sea. The picture Lockheed Martin included in its press release today notably shows the launcher firing a laser-guided Hellfire vertically during a test. As an aside, several countries already have or are developing ground-based launch systems for Hellfire that are designed to be employed in the coastal defense role against landing craft and amphibious vehicles. With assistance from the United Kingdom, Ukraine’s armed forces have also fielded a launch system for the Hellfire-derived Brimstone missiles concealed inside civilian-style trucks that has been used for more general surface-to-surface attacks.

The video below includes clips of a Hellfire launcher concealed inside a typical civilian truck now in development in Taiwan for coastal defense applications.

《國防線上-國防自主軍備研製》打造更堅韌有力的防衛力量

As noted, Grizzly has the potential to be employed from ships and locations on land in any role. Purpose-built launchers for the AGM-114L are already integrated onto some of the U.S. Navy’s Freedom and Independence class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) to provide extra protection against drones and swarms of small boats.

USS Detroit (LCS 7) Successful Missile Test Firing

“The idea behind Grizzly was for it to be a low-cost approach, and we believe that it’s appropriate for multiple customers,” Lockheed Martin’s Murphy said yesterday in response to a question about using the launcher in this domain. “The maritime environment may pose some challenges that you might have to rethink a couple of things, but the general concept is valid.”

Hellfire might not be the only missile Grizzly can fire, either. Murphy said that the launcher was designed to allow for the ready integration of additional functionality, including other missiles, down the line “without having to change much of anything.” One obvious candidate would be the AGM-179A Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), which is derived from the AGM-114R and can already be fired from many of the same launchers, including the M299. Conceivably, the overall concept could be expanded to a launch system in a larger container with more total missiles.

Containerized systems, in general, present particular benefits for expeditionary or distributed operations. Launchers like Grizzly could be particularly relevant for supporting operations in forward areas across the broad expanses of the Pacific during a future major conflict with China. As mentioned, having the additional benefit of being able to deploy them discreetly presents challenges for opponents.

“I think, again, it aligns to our ability to operate in multiple domains,” U.S. Army Gen. Ronald Clark, head of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), said in response to a general question about containerized launch capabilities at an event last year that the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) think tank in Washington, D.C. “Our ability to target our adversaries at scale and our ability to be able to be literally ubiquitous with boxes of rockets at different places, that look like boxes of something else, really gives our adversary pause, because it’s in real time providing deterrence.”

Lockheed Martin has also touted Grizzly simply as an example of its ability to rapidly produce a working prototype system, which could then be produced and fielded on at least a limited level without necessarily having to commit to large-scale production.

“There are many instances where you can develop a prototype, such as this Grizzly launcher, and maybe you only need a few of them, but maybe you need a couple 100. Those are still not numbers that you come up with – that you would come up with for a large-scale production line,” Lockheed Martin’s Murphy said. “We’ve got a couple other programs that we’re working through the same approach and are proving to ourselves and proving to our customers that this is a very good intermediate step between one or two prototypes versus dozens, or maybe even hundreds of early capability products, until you get to the point where you think that you’re ready for let’s go ahead and have a full-scale, full-rate production.”

Grizzly, in its current form, certainly offers potential anti-air and other capabilities that could be of interest across the U.S. military, as well as to foreign customers, especially armed forces that already have Hellfire variants in inventory.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Epic Games, the developer of the popular video game “Fortnite,” is laying off more than 1,000 employees and cutting $500 million in costs.

Chief Executive Tim Sweeney announced the cuts Tuesday morning in a message to employees. He said it has nothing to do with AI and instead pointed to what he said was a lack of “Fortnite” engagement last year.

“Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season,” said Sweeney in a statement.

The company’s flagship game was first released in 2017. Since then, it’s been a key part of internet culture — where character-specific dances became widespread trends and major musicians, like Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, have hosted concerts in the virtual realm.

But Epic has been slow to optimize the computer game for mobile play. A “Fortnite” app was first introduced in 2018, but soon removed due to a legal battle against Apple and Google over app store practices. Sweeney said the company is still in the “early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones.”

Many of Epic’s woes also come from industry-wide challenges, like “slower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics,” Sweeney wrote. And Epic isn’t the only one suffering. In recent years, gaming companies like Electronic Arts and Microsoft’s Xbox division have all cut down their workforces.

Earlier this year, the State of the Game Industry Report from the Game Developers Conference found roughly one-third of U.S. video game industry workers were laid off in the past two years.

Epic Games was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. It has dozens of offices around the world, including in Los Angeles. Beyond “Fortnite,” the company is known as a leader in 3D engine technology and interactive entertainment.

Over the years, Epic Games has steadily built itself into a major Hollywood player. Its 3D creation tool, the Unreal Engine, has been used to produce visual effects and virtual worlds for shows like Walt Disney Co. and Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian” and HBO’s “Westworld.”

In 2024, Disney inked a deal with Epic Games to create a games and entertainment universe with the company’s brands, including Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar. Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games for a minority stake in the company. Newly minted Disney Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro managed the collaboration with Epic Games in his previous role as parks chief to create a Disney world within the popular “Fortnite” game.

Looking ahead, Sweeney plans to focus the company on building “awesome Fortnite experiences” with fresh content and continue to accelerate its developer tools like the Unreal Engine.