WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is pressing the Army to explain why it told a unit based in Europe to stop specializing in drone warfare, an order that comes as the world's battlefields rapidly evolve and military tactics increasingly rely on uncrewed systems to fight.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade was building its own drones and practicing the kind of warfare that Ukraine has pioneered against Russia and that Iran has fought against the U.S. — warfare that has killed and wounded American troops. The brigade of 600 soldiers was set up in November to be deployed anywhere that drones were needed.
"We have deep concerns that eliminating this specialized drone unit will limit our ability to learn from allies, particularly the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and hinder our efforts to modernize drone warfare at the speed necessary to compete on the modern battlefield," the lawmakers said in a letter shared with The ****** ociated Press.
It requests a briefing from the Army to explain its decision and was sent Tuesday to departing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army's acting chief of staff. It was signed by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, independent Sen. Angus King of Maine and Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio.
"This specialized unit was a prudent response in a moment when the character of warfare is changing faster than a conventional formation's ability to adapt," the lawmakers say.

#lawmakers #brigade #explain

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has seized more than $560,000 in cryptocurrency donations intended for Hamas, the Justice Department said Tuesday in announcing a disruption of financing for the militant group.
In addition to seizing cryptocurrency meant to support Hamas' military wing, the department said that it had taken control of website domains and communication platforms used for fundraising and recruitment, and had obtained information about thousands of people who had contacted Hamas with a goal of giving money to the group.
"My message to Hamas is clear: your networks are not secure, your crypto is vulnerable, and we will not stop until your ability to wage war is defeated," Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a video statement announcing the operation.
According to FBI affidavits filed in connection with the seizures, Hamas began testing virtual currency fundraising in or around early 2019 through its Qassam Brigades, or military wing, and solicited donations on its Telegram channel and also used direct online fundraising. Hamas officials bragged that the currency would be untraceable and their websites offered instructions for how to make anonymous donations, the affidavits say.
A major investigative break arrived last year when FBI officials identified a financing network soliciting donations to the Qassam Brigades via virtual currency and a confidential source located in the United States alerted law enforcement to a Telegram post asking for contributions to an email address **** ociated with Hamas.

#telegram

The cast of "Practical Magic 2" continued their witchy style streak at the film's Los Angeles premiere held at the Directors Village on Monday night. Nicole Kidman debuted couturier Pieter Mulier's inaugural design for Atelier Versace, Sandra Bullock opted for Louis Vuitton and more designer pieces hit the event.
Mulier, who left Alaïa for Versace in January 2026, created a dress for Kidman that merged the method dressing witchy style cues of her previous looks for the film, and also teased his vision for the Italian luxury fashion house. Though "The Hours" Oscar-winner certainly led the high-fashion brigade alongside Bullock, young stars Maisie Williams and Joey King conjured their own respective style statements. WWD unpacks those looks ahead.
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Nicole Kidman Styles Manolo Blahnik Pumps WIth Pieter Mulier's Versace Debut at 'Practical Magic 2' Premiere
Nicole Kidman Debuts Pieter Mulier's First Versace Look

#style

Celtic fans banner marking poor European performances displayed by the Green Brigade. Celtic v Falkirk, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park – 29 August 2026 Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock/IMAGO
After the disastrous defeat in Linz on Tuesday evening, we returned to Celtic Park to face Falkirk on domestic duty.
While the crowd was fully behind the manager and his players, the Celtic board were quite rightly taken to task by the Green Brigade who captured the overall feeling of the entire support, as they highlighted their anger at the Celtic Park hierarchy for another costly calamity in the Champions League.
Our crushing defeat to LASK wasn't only a major embarrassment after being four goals ahead, it also meant missing out on a potential £40 million payday, and the chance to once again compete with Europe's elite.
Brian Wilson, Dermot Desmond and Michael Nicholson overseeing 2 x £40m Champions League misses…

#green #league #defeat

If it's Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel that have emerged as India's batting stars of the future in this series, Sonal Dinusha is making a similar statement for Sri Lanka. The left-hander followed his scores of 100 and 84 in Galle with an unbeaten 85 (137b, 2x6) to lead a gritty fightback on a rain-hit third day of the second Test at SSC on Tuesday.

Dinusha found an able ally in fellow youngster Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who struck 80 (133b, 9x4) in only his second Test innings, as Sri Lanka frustrated India for large parts of the day before ending on 265 for eight. The hosts still require 38 runs to avoid the follow-on after India posted 503 for nine declared, but the resistance shown by their young batting brigade has ensured they remain in the contest.

Dinusha, now the leading run-scorer of the series with 269 runs at 134.50, was closing in on a second Test century in as many matches when rain and bad light forced an early finish to the proceedings. Together with Lahiru **** ara (8 batting), he added an unbeaten 35-run stand for the ninth wicket, after earlier sharing a crucial 57-run partnership with Keshara Nuwantha (18).

The 25-year-old has now registered three consecutive 80-plus scores in the series, underlining his credentials as a long-term solution to Sri Lanka's batting woes in the middle order. With Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal unavailable, Dinusha has shouldered responsibility admirably.

India had appeared well placed to secure a sizeable lead and potentially enforce the follow-on after reducing Sri Lanka to 216/7. However, Dinusha and the lower order displayed plenty of resolve to blunt the visitors' bowling attack.

Earlier, Sri Lanka showed intent from the outset. Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis (32) stitched together an 87-run third-wicket partnership, helping the hosts add 122 runs while losing only two wickets in the opening session. Sooriyabandara brought up his maiden Test fifty off 76 **** before falling to Ravindra Jadeja while attempting a late cut.

Prasidh Krishna was India's standout bowler, returning figures of 3/57. The pacer provided the early breakthrough when debutant opener Kamil Mishara (19) gloved a sharply rising delivery to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. Prasidh later removed Kamindu with another short ball.

Manav Suthar then dismissed captain Dhananjaya de Silva for 8 with a delivery that spun away sharply, while Mohammed Siraj accounted for Niroshan **** wella, who gloved a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Jurel for a duck.

Yet, Sri Lanka refused to surrender. Aided by interruptions and determined lower-order resistance, Dinusha ensured India were left waiting for the final two wickets.

#dinusha #batting

An entertainment industry group that includes Hollywood producers Haim Saban, Lawrence Bender and Teddy Schwarzman has released a statement condemning the alleged "antisemitic tropes" underpinning Mark Ruffalo's opposition to Paramount's leadership amid its proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
The statement comes from a group calling itself The Brigade, which describes itself as "a group of nearly 1,000 members, friends, and allies of the Jewish community who are proud to be working in film, television, music, Broadway, social and digital, and other platforms in and around the entertainment industry."
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Hannah Einbinder Defends Mark Ruffalo From Paramount "Antisemitism" Claim: "All of Us Artists Could Stand to Be More Like Mark"
Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO Calls Out Mark Ruffalo's Paramount Remarks: "Obsession and Demonization"

#industry #statement #itself

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — O.J. Brigance, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens before waging an unyielding battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, has died. He was 56.
The Ravens announced Brigance's death on Monday.
"We are devastated by the awful news that we have lost O.J. Brigance," Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said in a statement. "O.J. was a beloved legend, mentor and man to everyone who was fortunate enough to know him. He was a vibrant person who became one of the first Ravens heroes with his passionate play, including the first tackle in the 2000 Super Bowl."
Brigance was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2007. Not long after that, he and his wife, Chanda, formed the Brigance Brigade Foundation, an organization whose mission is to "equip, encourage and empower" those afflicted with ALS.
Despite using a wheelchair and a communication device that translated his messages, Brigance served as senior adviser for player engagement with the Ravens, a job he started in 2004. In addition to ***** isting players in each phase of their career, Brigance proved a source of motivation within the organization.

#Ravens #bowl #first #owings

(NewsNation) — The Department of Defense on Tuesday released the name of an additional U.S. soldier killed in Iranian strikes in northern Iraq, identifying him as 30-year-old Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The Pentagon said Swinton was killed in action Sunday during a controlled detonation of a downed One-Way Unmanned Aerial System at Erbil Air Base, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.
Cost of Iran war tops $87B as Hegseth heads to Capitol Hill
Swinton was ***** igned to D Battery, 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the Pentagon said.
On Monday, the Pentagon identified two other troops who were killed in an Iranian attack on an air base in Jordan.

#pentagon #north #carolina #base

KHARKIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Through the grainy gray-and-white haze of thermal images streamed from a drone, Ukrainian pilots watch the roads that keep Russian forces supplied, hunting for targets with a fleet of midrange drones that is reshaping the battlefield.
In a basement command post in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, hundreds of kilometers from the drone over Russian-held territory, pilots wait for movement. When a vehicle appears, they will nudge the controller, sending the aircraft diving toward its target to disrupt Russian supplies deep behind the front.
"Our mission is to cut logistics," said Kat, commander of Ukraine's K-2 brigade, which fires midrange drones. "Cut off their supply lines, and the infantry on the front line have no food, no ammunition, no night vision, no batteries. Nothing. That's how we're wearing them down in every sense."
Soldiers spoke to The ***** ociated Press on condition their call signs and not real names be used, in line with military regulations.
By repeatedly striking the highways that carry fuel, ammunition and reinforcements, Ukrainian commanders say they have made logistics slower, costlier and far less predictable, helping stall Russian advances and enabling Ukrainian counterattacks and strikes into illegally annexed Crimea to isolate the peninsula from the mainland.

Ukraine has a new mid-range drone called the Morrigan that's hitting areas Russia once deemed safe.
The 412th said it used the drone to attack the R-280 highway, about 50 to 75 miles from the front.
Ukraine has been increasingly using these types of drones to push Russia's supply lines back.
Ukrainian troops released new details of the secretive mid-range drone they're using to batter Russia's R-280 logistics highway far behind the southern front lines.
The 412th Nemesis Brigade, of the Unmanned Systems Forces, published close-up and pre-launch footage on Saturday of the strike aircraft, dubbed the Morrigan.

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Two of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed militias said on Tuesday they would begin handing in their weapons to the authorities, a major step in the new government’s effort to rein in militias that have long operated on their own even though they were nominally under state command.
One of the groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said it had formed a committee to oversee the move, inventory its fighters, weapons and equipment, and coordinate with the commander-in-chief of Iraq's armed forces. It cast the decision as a response to calls by Iraq’s top Shiite religious authority and the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework, the largest bloc in Parliament that dominates Iraqi politics.
The second group, the Imam Ali Brigades, made a similar announcement saying the time has come “to build a strong state with full sovereignty.” It added that its aim was now to have weapons only with the state and help boost state institutions.
The war in the Middle East, which the United States and Israel launched on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, has exposed the fragility of Iraq’s state institutions and their limited ability to restrain Iran-backed groups.
A parallel confrontation between Washington and the militias has deepened the crisis, with factions acting as an extension of Iran’s regional campaign and escalating attacks on U.S. ****** ets in Iraq before a tenuous ceasefire deal was reached in April.

A Ukrainian crew said its Italian tank gun hit a house that was 120 football fields away

A Ukrainian gunner said he used a tank gun to hit a house with Russian soldiers nearly 7 miles away.
He's a gunner for a B1 Centauro, an Italian wheeled tank destroyer produced in the 1990s.
Ukrainian tank and armored vehicle crews often use their guns for indirect fire like artillery.
A Ukrainian vehicle crew said it used an Italian B1 Centauro to strike a house nearly seven miles away, one of the longest indirect tank gun shots reported in the war.
"The furthest shot I had was from a closed position. It was 11 kilometers. At 11,100 meters, I hit a building directly where they were sitting," the crew's gunner from the 78th Separate Air ****** ault Brigade told Army TV, a Ukrainian channel run by the defense ministry.

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