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U.S. bomb meant to hit targets like Iran’s underground nuclear facilities appears briefly amid tensions

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates — As tensions with Iran over its nuclear program escalated, the US military released photos this month of a powerful bomb designed to penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground facilities that could be used to enrich uranium.

On May 2, the US Air Force released rare images of the GBU-57 weapon known as the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator”. He then deleted the photos, presumably because the photos revealed important details about the weapon’s composition and power.

The release of the photos comes after the Associated Press reported that Iran has made steady progress building a nuclear facility that is likely out of range of the GBU-57, which is considered the US military’s last weapon to destroy underground bunkers.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT AMERICA’S MASSIVE PUNTER?

The US developed the Massive Ordnance Penetrator in the 2000s as concerns grew that Iran was fortifying its nuclear facilities by building them underground.

The Air Force posted images of the bombs on the Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri Facebook page. The base is home to a fleet of B-2 stealth bombers, the only aircraft that can drop the bomb.

The base’s caption states that it received two Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs so that Munitions Squadron could “test their effectiveness”.

This is not the first time the Air Force has released photos and videos of the bomb, which has coincided with Tehran’s growing dissatisfaction with its nuclear program. In 2019, the US military released a video of a B-2 bomber dropping two bombs. The Air Force did not respond to a request for comment as to why they released – and removed – the most recent set of photos.

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THE PHOTOS?

Recent photographs have shown screen printing on the bombs listing their weight as 12,300 kg (27,125 lb). It also described the bomb as containing a mix of AFX-757, a standard explosive, and PBXN-114, a relatively new explosive, said Rahul Udoshi, senior weapons analyst at Janes, an open-source intelligence firm.

The weight of the bomb, judging by the stencil, shows that most of it is carried by its thick steel frame, which allows it to gnaw through concrete and soil before detonating. However, it remains unclear what the exact effectiveness of the weapon will be.

The online news site Warzone was the first to report the release of the photos. AP contacted Whiteman Air Force Base and Air Force Global Strike Command with questions about the images. Within a day, the Facebook post disappeared.

Udoshi said the Air Force probably removed them because they released too much information about the bombs. “Immediate removal from the Internet without comment (or) justification means a potential error,” said Udoshi.

WHAT ROLE WILL THIS BOMB PLAY IN THE POTENTIAL TARGETING OF IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM?

The AP news agency reported on Monday that Planet Labs PBC satellite imagery shows Tehran was digging tunnels in the mountains near the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran. Excavations at the site suggest the site may be between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet) underground, according to experts and AP analysis.

Experts say the size of the construction project indicates that Iran is likely to be able to use the underground facility for uranium enrichment as well as building centrifuges. Arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, these tubular centrifuges rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. Additional machines would allow Iran to rapidly enrich uranium under the protection of the mountain.

This may be a problem for the GBU-57: in an earlier description of the bomb’s capabilities, the Air Force stated that it could penetrate 60 meters (200 ft) of earth and cement before detonating.

CAN THE UNITED STATES TRY TO DROP THE BOMB?

US officials discussed using two such bombs in a row to ensure the site was destroyed. But even so, the new depth of the Natanz tunnels is likely to pose a serious problem.

Further complicating any possible U.S. military strike is that the B-2s have been stalled since December, when one caught fire after a crash landing. The US can still use the aircraft “if an operational need arises,” said Colonel Brus E. Vidal, a spokesman for the Air Force’s Global Strike Command.

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Follow John Gambrell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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The Associated Press receives support for nuclear safety coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Outrider Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Meta finds record $1.3 billion for transferring user data from the EU to the US

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European privacy regulators have fined Meta a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for transferring user data from the European Union to the US.

The decision was brought back to a case brought by Australian privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who argued that the structure of transferring data from EU citizens to America does not protect Europeans from US surveillance.

Several mechanisms for the legal transfer of personal data between the US and the EU have been contested. The latest such iteration, the Privacy Shield, was rejected by the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, in 2020.

The US and the EU agreed “in principle” last year on a new framework for cross-border data transfers. However, the new pact has not yet entered into force.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, which handled Meta’s overseas operations in the EU, alleged that the company violated the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when it continued to send personal data of European citizens to the US.

The GDPR is the landmark EU data protection regulation that governs companies operating in the bloc. It entered into force in 2018.

The €1.2 billion fine for Meta is the highest amount any company has been fined for violating the GDPR. The previous largest fine was a €746 million fine against e-commerce giant Amazon for violating the GDPR in 2021.

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Somebody Somewhere star on cunt pads and Sam and Trisha fight

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HBO’s Sunday night line remains, even in this era of too much TV, watching the weekly meetups. succession another Barry may dominate the headlines of recent seasons, but viewers should not sleep on prominent someone somewhere. On paper, the three titles don’t necessarily have much in common, but there’s no doubt that the latest series is worthy of the attention that Royce and Barry Berkman are getting.

Family is a unifying thread, as is the fact that all three found humor in the darkest places. The action takes place in Manhattan, Kansas. someone somewhere is a story set in a rural town that captures universal feelings such as grief, self-discovery, and the need to connect with others. Of course, there are no global mergers or hitman-turned-actor, but the experience described by creators Hannah Bos and Paul Turin reminds you of the power to find your place and your voice.

It also provides the service that airs last in this triple bill.

“We’re like a calming show before bed,” someone somewhere Mary Katherine Garrison told the Daily Beast’s Obsessed. It’s such a small story; it’s so easy to relate to it and be where these characters are because it’s just a small step away from where a lot of us are.”

(Warning: Some spoilers for the last episode someone somewhere.)

I called the dramedy warm hugs and peace of mind, but the episode I want to talk about with Garrison ends with a deep break. Sam (Bridget Everett) feels betrayed by his sister Trisha (Harrison) and best friend Joel (Jeff Hiller) for certain things they kept from her. “That’s why you’re always alone,” Trisha screams before her sister flies out of the house.

“Oh it was Really fun,” Garrison says of filming the siblings going from drunken fun to yelling at each other. “Someone who knows you better than anyone else – who has known you all your life – calls you differently than someone who does not know you.” This is a watershed moment based on the years they perfected their defenses due to their mother’s alcoholism. “When you have alcoholic parents, you don’t leave yourself unattended for long because it’s not safe,” Garrison says.

This wound is deep; a more recent one involves Sam moving home to look after Holly’s older sister during her cancer treatment. The show’s first season begins six months after Holly’s death. The hurt that comes from this has softened over time, until Sam discovers that Holly kept her original diagnosis a secret because she wanted to try natural methods first. (Sam kicks Joel out because he didn’t tell her about the guy he was dating.)

Here Garrison talks about her decades-long friendship with Everett, about the business her character gets from a celebrity, about real life. someone somewhere losses and reactions to the series.

Art Imitation of Life

It’s Trisha’s first birthday as a single woman, her daughter is in college, and the house seems more empty than ever. What ends up arguing in a recent episode of “NMB NMP” shows how someone somewhere skillfully mixes everyday life with laughter and an emotional punch in the gut.

Trisha gifted herself a high-tech refrigerator, just one of several real-life-inspired moments in the series. Everett lived with co-stars Murray Hill and Hiller during the first season, and the refrigerator was a source of confusion and amusement for anyone who came across it. “No one could understand it. It played music, then someone’s text synced to it, and it was a mess. It was perfect for Season 2,” Garrison laughs (“Watch your words, Emma, ​​because it could be Season 3,” Garrison warns me). Sam spins the new kitchen appliance as it plays the Atlanta Rhythm Section’s seductive “So Into You”, perfectly showing how easy it is for her to tease Trisha.

Before the mood spoils, lots of laughter. Sam makes his sister a birthday cake similar to the one they had as children. Rather, she trying bake as room temperature butter is a problem. “It didn’t taste that bad, but it was hard to swallow—it was sticky. If you look closely, you will see that we eat small pieces, ”says Garrison. Despite the aesthetically unappealing cow-patty cake, Nailed it! The audition, the time and effort Sam put into it, is something Trisha appreciates.

“I love that scene because it’s the first time you see that they need each other and that there’s something out there that they like about each other. Until then, you won’t see any of this,” Garrison says. “They’re all that’s left now, so they need each other more than they probably thought.”

The sisters make tentative moves towards closer interaction, but Garrison and Everett are already there, having been roommates in New York for eight years. “It was home happiness. We had everything. I recently told someone that if I hadn’t met my husband, I would probably still be her roommate because we’ve decided everything,” Garrison says. “We would watch Retail spaceall those HGTV shows and Westminster Nursery [Club Dog] show.” Garrison knows Everett inside and out and is thrilled by her success: “I don’t know anyone who deserves it more.”

big cunt energy

There’s one more secret to reveal to Sam: the reason why her phone is pinging non-stop. Trisha’s marriage fell apart due to her best friend and boutique business partner Charity sleeping with Trisha’s husband, Rick. There was a lot of “Live, Laugh, Love” energy in their business, but now that Lying Cunt pillow has exploded thanks to Amy Sedaris. Yep, on the show. V Amy Sedaris posted a photo of this pillow stuffed with anger on Here, and Sedaris reblogged on her social media. (Everett starred in two episodes At home with Amy Sedaris and Sedaris also recently moderated the panel for the series)

Bridget Everett and Jeff Hillier.

Sandy Morris/HBO

Trisha is not one of those women who freely use this word, and neither is Garrison: “There is not much toilet humor in my story, so a lot of it is difficult for me – even still. I can’t just drop that word.” Again, personal experiences and real life friendships come into play with storylines. “Every time I hear that S word, some part of me still revolts. I mean, it’s a lot for me,” she says. “Live with [Everett]she helped me figure out a lot of things that I was never comfortable with.”

Trisha wants to expand her pillow slogans when her sister steps in. Sam enjoys this cunt play on words and performs a song about her “big and juicy cunt”. Living with Everett, “half-prepared” Harrison for such moments, she sometimes struggles. “It was improvisation. You try the opposite and see how long you last,” she jokes. (I tell her that I won’t go a day without destroying every single take.)

The cunt pad brainstorming continues this week as Trisha asks Sam to write down her suggestions and she comes up with some new beauties like big cunt energy. (Yes, I’d love to see HBO do that merch.) Sam also has a brilliant idea for what she should call the business: “Charity Deeds”—yes, after the woman who started it all.

Loss of real life and someone somewhere Influence

One central character whose absence is felt throughout all seven episodes is Sam and Trisha’s father, Ed. Veteran actor Mike Hagerty passed away two weeks before filming began. Until he is physically present, it is impossible not to feel him in composition and performance. “It’s wonderful to talk about him,” Garrison says when I ask about working with Hagerty. “When people leave, sometimes you start exaggerating how wonderful and amazing they are. But hey In fact there is what.”

Because the first season focused on grief, a creative decision was made to write that Ed was visiting his brother. In his article, Obsessed’s Coleman Spielde reflects on the profound impact of this choice, and Garrison says it was impossible to act out the scenes of reading his letters to Trisha and Sam without crying: “I thought Trisha wouldn’t cry. reads a letter from his father. I don’t think we cared, because everyone already knows. I feel like he was there somehow. I don’t know how, but he was there.”

One of Ed’s closest friends is Fred, as they bond over the farm where Fred’s upcoming wedding will take place. This wedding celebration is quite a radical act at a time when anti-transgender legislation and discrimination have become a reality, and this portrayal of trans-masculine representation in the countryside makes a strong impression.

Garrison spends most of the year in Lynchburg, Virginia (“That’s where my husband is from”), and she mentions meeting at the local Kroger after the first season aired. “This woman I’ve known for years came up to me and said, ‘Mary Katherine, we love your show,'” she says.

She then told her that she would be watching episodes with her sister and two best friends alone. someone somewhere Kind of like a TV club, drinking wine and talking about the episode for hours: “They’ve all lived here for most of their lives, if not their entire lives, and she said, ‘There’s a whole world out there that we wouldn’t know about.’ to which we would not have access. But we feel like there’s so much now that we understand that we didn’t have before.”

She understood that it meant experiencing and representing LGBTQ+ characters like Fred and Joel in this rural setting. “They see that it’s just one aspect of someone who doesn’t identify as you do,” she says. “Basically the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

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Russia warns that West sending F-16s to Ukraine “is associated with huge risk” – POLITICO

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Western attempts to potentially send advanced fighter jets to Ukraine “carry huge risks,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned on Saturday, according to a Russian state news agency. TASS.

The minister’s comments in an interview with TASS were made after USA is lagging behind a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of modern fighter aircraft, including the F-16. It could also pave the way for the deployment of advanced Western warplanes to Ukraine, a senior administration official said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the US decision in tweet on Friday, stating that it would “significantly strengthen our army in the sky.” He added that he expects to discuss the “practical implementation of this decision” at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

“We see that Western countries continue to adhere to the escalation scenario, which carries huge risks for them,” Grushko said in an interview. “In any case, we will take this into account when planning. We have all the necessary means to achieve our goals,” he added.

The US decision follows a concerted effort by Ukraine to force its allies to supply its military with modern aircraft, notably the US-made F-16s.

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