Sophisticated US weapons are being jammed by Russian electronic warfare units.
A relatively new US-Swedish bomb has been pulled from use, according to reports.
Russia is able to scramble the GPS signals used to guide the weapons.
A new precision-guided US weapon has been pulled from use by the Ukrainian military because Russia is taking them out using electronic warfare, according to reports.
The GLSDB is a guided bomb with a range of 94 miles, thanks to its small wings that extend from its body. In 2022, marketing materials for the bomb said its navigation system is "supported by a highly jamming resistance GPS."
"When you send something to people in the fight of their lives that just doesn't work, they'll try it three times and they'll just throw it aside," said LaPlante, according to the report, adding Ukraine no longer seemed interested in the weapon.
Business Insider contacted Boeing, Saab, and the the Ukrainian army for comment.
The weapons are GPS-guided, meaning that Russia has been able to remotely scramble their signals using its sophisticated electronic warfare capability, according to The Journal.
It's one of a number of precision-guided US weapons that Russia has been able to neutralize or reduce the effectiveness of using electronic warfare in Ukraine.
Russian electronic warfare units have blunted the effectiveness of HIMARS-fired Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and air-launched Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
BI reported in May that the US was researching ways to counter the problem should a war break out with a major military power.
Russia has reportedly been able to rapidly adapt to counter the threat of sophisticated US-supplied weapons.
In Ukraine, old-school artillery shells that aren't vulnerable to electronic warfare are playing a major role in the war of attrition on the front lines.
Ukraine's Western allies have struggled to provide enough shells, while Russia has massively increased its production of shells and is also sourcing artillery from its ally North Korea.
After Russia made advances earlier this year during a Ukraine aid block by Republicans in the US Congress, the resumption in the flow of aid has enabled Ukraine to hold off further advances and the war has again become a stalemate.
Donald Trump appeared to threaten Mark Zuckerberg with prison time.
REUTERS/Marco Bello, REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Donald Trump vowed to imprison 'election fraudsters,' including Mark Zuckerberg, if re-elected.
The feud between Trump and the Meta CEO dates back to Trump's presidency.
Trump was temporarily banned from Facebook after the Capitol Riots.
Donald Trump doesn't want Mark Zuckerberg to forget about their long-running beef.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday, the former president said "election fraudsters" would be imprisoned if he gets elected in November. The post name-checked the Meta CEO.
"They have no shame! All I can say is that if I'm elected President, we will pursue Election Fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison for long periods of time," Trump said.
"We already know who you are. DON'T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!" he added.
Trump made the threat in a post about the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, more commonly known as the SAVE Act. The proposed legislation would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
It follows a February 2023 Truth Social post in which Trump accused the Facebook founder of cheating in the election, linking to a Fox News report that said Zuckerberg's $2 million donation to a Georgia election board was being investigated.
"Why isn't he being prosecuted?" he said at the time. "The Democrats only know how to cheat. America isn't going to take it much longer!"
There is no evidence that Zuckerberg's past donations were partisan.
The likelihood of Trump getting elected is looking stronger each day. Trump is leading Biden in many national and battleground polls after the president stumbled through a disastrous debate, which was marked by verbal slip-ups and incoherent sentences.
Trump's beef with Zuckerberg
The pair's feud goes back several years to Trump's presidency.
In June 2020, Zuckerberg said he was "deeply shaken and disgusted by President Trump's divisive and incendiary rhetoric" after Facebook was criticized for allowing the then-president to make violent remarks on the platform.
In a statement at the time, Zuckerberg said the company believed that "the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great."
Ukrainians supervise as a M142 HIMARS launches a rocket on May 18, 2023, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.
Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Western-supplied weapons are having a diminished impact in Ukraine as Russia adapts its tactics.
A Ukrainian minister expressed frustration at the pace of adaptation, The Wall Street Journal reported.
But Western manufacturers have little incentive to adapt older weapons.
A Ukrainian minister has expressed concerns over the lack of adaptation in weapons being sent to Ukraine from the West.
Some weapons systems that were immensely effective when they were first deployed in Ukraine have since seen limited results or have even fallen by the wayside as Russian forces adapt their tactics to counter them.
Anna Gvozdiar, Ukraine's minister of strategic industries, told The Wall Street Journal that she was frustrated that these systems were not being adapted to catch up.
In contrast to this, she said Ukrainian forces "learn faster because we are on the front line."
A similar story has played out with US-made HIMARS missiles, whose precision has also been somewhat blunted, the Journal reported.
Ukraine has also given up using Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs, pending a review, according to the Journal.
Sent to Ukraine with some fanfare in February, by this spring their effectiveness was already on the wane, again due to Russian jamming, Reuters reported.
It could take months for manufacturers Boeing and SAAB AB to create a fix, one source told Reuters.
Despite Gvozdiar's complaint, there is little incentive for US manufacturers to try to adjust their weapons to this rapidly changing battlefield.
Many of them are older stocks that are being phased out of the US' inventories anyway, the Journal reported.
Over the course of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has developed increasingly sophisticated jamming methods at a pace that far outstrips the current capabilities of the US, former Pentagon officials have previously warned.
Russian forces have also been able to adapt to threats by moving logistics sites out of range of some munitions, albeit at a cost to their efficiency.
Experts have told Business Insider that the problem of this fading usefulness of allied weapons on the Ukrainian battlefield is compounded by the piecemeal manner of their delivery.
"Weapons systems have been consistently released to Ukraine too late to have their optimal effect, and also have often been trickle fed," Justin Bronk, an air power expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told BI.
"By the time they're available in larger numbers, the Russians have had time to adapt," he said, adding that it was a particular problem during the counteroffensive of 2023, but is still "at play" now.
Some weapon systems are still proving their worth, such as ATACMS and the UK- and France-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, the Journal reported.
But Russia can ultimately be expected to adapt to those, too.
Some Western governments are taking note. In January, the Swedish government launched an initiative to speed up its weapon manufacturers' response to developments in Ukraine, according to the Journal.
Kevin Bacon was a rising 24-year-old actor when he decided to go back to high school.
Not for real, but for a part. To prepare for what would become his breakout role as new-kid high schooler Ren McCormack in the 1984 movie musical "Footloose," Bacon went undercover as a transfer student at Payson High School in Payson, Utah.
He immediately felt out of place — not because he was actually an actor nearly a decade older than his fellow students, but simply because small-town high schoolers don't like being friendly to the new kid.
And they really just thought he was the new kid. "There was a small part of me that thought maybe I would be recognized," Bacon tells Business Insider, explaining that he'd had a few key roles under his belt in movies like "Animal House" and "Diner" by that point. "But there was nothing. I mean, nobody recognized me."
Bacon broke through with his lead role in "Footloose."
CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images
More than four decades later, it would be extremely difficult to say the same. Bacon has spent the ensuing years building a filmography so long and varied that counting how many degrees an actor is from Kevin Bacon has literally become its own parlour game.
And Bacon, 66, isn't slowing down anytime soon. This summer, he appears in two buzzy films: He's the villain opposite Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley in Netflix's long-awaited "Beverly Hills Cop" sequel, and the deliciously sleazy PI John Labat, who's hot on the trail of Mia Goth's fame-hungry former porn star in A24's "MaXXXine," the final chapter of Ti West's acclaimed horror trilogy.
It might seem like Bacon has done just about everything, but he's still hungry for more experiences.
"Listen, there's only so many movies you can do in a lifetime," he says. When filming wraps, he has a mantra: "I don't say goodbye, I just say see you down the road and hope that our paths cross again."
Thankfully, everyone is usually just a few degrees away.
For the latest interview in Business Insider's "Role Play" series, Bacon reflects on waiting tables after being in "Animal House," flubbing a meeting with the Coen brothers, and how he feels having children in the industry.
On signing photos of his dead characters and spending his 'Animal House' paycheck in a week
Bacon got bloody in "MaXXXine."
Justin Lubin/A24
Your death scene in "MaXXXine" is iconic. But decades before that, you had another iconic horror movie death in one of your earliest roles in "Friday the 13th." Which death scene do you prefer being remembered for: the arrow through the throat in the original "Friday the 13th," or being crushed by the car in "MaXXXine"?
I'm ready to go with crushed by the car, just because arrow through the throat has been around for so many years.
When people meet me on the street or in an airport or something with photographs that they want signed, the number one photograph that I sign is still me with an arrow through my throat. Which is always a little bit disturbing because I think to myself, do you have a picture of me alive? I'd be happy to sign that too!
What was worse for you, filming the arrow to the throat, or the paddling scene in "Animal House"?
I'd say the arrow through the throat was probably worse. I will say that I remember being there in my underwear being shown this paddle [on "Animal House"], and the prop guy said to me, "So, just so you see, this is made out of balsa wood. See, this is not going to hurt at all."
Well, it doesn't hurt if you get smacked once, but for some reason, John Landis just wanted to keep hitting me. I don't know if he wanted more of a reaction or whatever. So Mark [Metcalf] just kept doing it. "Thank you, sir. May I have another?"
But it really wasn't that bad.
Bacon's first film was "National Lampoon's Animal House."
Universal Pictures
Is it true that you spent your "Animal House" paycheck in a week?
Absolutely true. Yeah. I mean, my "Animal House" paycheck would've been scale, whatever was scale for Screen Actors Guild back then, and it wasn't much. I mean, it was more than I had ever seen, but I wasn't — how can I put this? — good holding onto money. I didn't really have the saving gene, so it went quick.
I read that you ended up having to go back to work at the restaurant where you were before getting cast in that movie, is that right?
I did, yeah. I was back waiting tables probably a month after I got back from doing "Animal House," and then I went back to acting school for a little bit.
That was an interesting moment because I was supposed to finish up a two-year workshop and there was something about going back that felt like I was going backwards. And I went to an acting school that was really not very supportive. It was a good school, but it wasn't very supportive of a professional career. And I knew that I wanted to make a living.
Yes, I put a lot of stuff on a pedestal with my work and taking it seriously and the process and the method and all those kinds of things, but by necessity, I wanted to make some money, and I felt like staying in school wasn't going to work for me. So I continued to wait tables and started looking for an agent because I didn't have an agent when I did "Animal House."
On the rumor that he turned down Patrick Swayze's role in 'Ghost' and what he learned from Jack Nicholson
There are some rumors that you turned down Patrick Swayze's role in "Ghost," but you're shaking your head. Is that true?
No, I wish. I don't think I would've turned it down. I mean, I have no memory of that. And by the way, the other piece of that is "Ghost" without Patrick Swayze — I don't know. It could have gone nowhere.
Are there any roles that you really wanted and then narrowly missed out on yourself?
There are. And there still are. I mean, that never ends. Being an actor is a lifetime of rejection. It's a lifetime of getting just close.
I think the only one that pops into my head is "Raising Arizona." And part of the reason is because I love the Coen brothers so much. They went on to make just so many incredible movies, and I had a meeting with them and completely fucked it up. So that's the one that resonates with me.
Bacon was part of an all-star ensemble in "A Few Good Men."
Columbia Pictures
You were part of this incredible ensemble of megastars in "A Few Good Men." What was it like being in the room for Jack Nicholson's "You can't handle the truth" line? Did you have any sense while he was doing that it would become this iconic movie history moment?
We all did. You could see it. You could see that it was a swish. But it was also, to me, a great lesson and a great use of movie stardom. If you think about that scene, you had to shoot a wide shot, then you had to get a little closer, then you had to get a little closer, then you had to get a little closer, and that's what you do when you're making movies. And he had to do the speech again and again and again and again each time.
And then the camera had to turn around. And he didn't have to, but Jack did the speech for Tom [Cruise] and to me and the jury and the whole thing. And he just kept doing it and just kept doing it and doing it again and again and again. Once he was off camera [in the scene], he was loosening up his Marines uniform — because those uniforms are just awful, I mean, they're just so uncomfortable. And his hair was kind of messed up and he was a little bit disheveled, but he just kept doing that speech for us to react to.
When you have somebody who has that kind of stardom — keep in mind at the time, he was a bigger star than Tom — it was really inspirational.
I was super impressed and also super appreciative, and it gave me a good work ethic lesson. Because he could have done it a few times, and then once he was off camera, got in the car and driven away and had somebody else read the lines.
Is there any costar you've worked with before that you're dying to work with again and haven't yet?
Oh, wow. Well, of course, I'd like to do something with Meryl [Streep] again. She's just one of my acting heroes.
There's a lot of them, man. I was thinking the other day about the group that we had on "Mystic River," which was Tim [Robbins] and Sean [Penn] and Laurence Fishburne, and we had so much fun making that, like fun off-screen, but also just fun as actors and being there with Clint [Eastwood]. I think that all of us, when we finished that movie, were hoping to bottle that group and move it to another situation, including with Eastwood at the helm.
On his scrapped kiss with Matt Dillon in 'Wild Things' and his thoughts on superhero movies
Bacon made a foray into superhero movies with his "X-Men: First Class" role.
Murray Close/Getty Images
Is it true there would've been a sex scene between your character and Matt Dillon's in "Wild Things" if Matt hadn't nixed the idea?
I don't know if it had to do with Matt nixing the idea. I heard that story, but I never heard that it was Matt, so I can't confirm that. My memory of it was that it wasn't even a sex scene. It was just that the shower door would open, and then he would climb into the shower or something like that, and it would be sort of implied.
But listen, it's a long time ago and my memory is sketchy. I thought it was a cool idea because the movie is all based on these outlandish surprises and twists. It fits right in. But yeah, it didn't happen. I was down for it. I do remember thinking it was a cool idea.
You've acted in basically every genre, from erotic thrillers like "Wild Things" to superhero movies like "X-Men: First Class." Would you ever do another superhero movie, or is that not your jam?
Yeah, I mean, I would, of course. I wouldn't go in just to say, "Oh, I get to be part of the whatever universe." That's not a thing for me.
But if it's a cool part and the movie is in that genre, of course. I don't limit it myself, like, "Oh no, I don't do romantic comedy." It's really about the roles and about the filmmakers and about the scripts and all the other stuff. I don't pick it according to genre.
Kevin Bacon's wife, Kyra Sedgwick, and their kids, Sosie and Travis Bacon, accompanied him to the premiere of "MaXXXine."
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
Your daughter, Sosie Bacon, has also followed in you and your wife Kyra Sedgwick's footsteps in becoming an actor — she was incredible in "Smile" a few years ago. Given your own long and storied career, is there anything you wish that you had done differently that you advised her on while she was embarking on hers?
When she decided to be an actor — well, we didn't think she was going to do that. I can't think of anything specifically, but it was like suddenly, my experience and Kyra's experience in this business that we've been in for so long became a value, and for both of my kids, because my son, who's a musician, is also starting to make films.
Neither one of them were kids that came to us and asked for advice. So it's cool now to be able to share some experience or some knowledge about the ins and outs of the industry.
Not just the technique of acting, because that's something that you really have to learn along with how to learn lines and hit marks and do accents and cry on cue or the other stuff. You also have to learn what happens when you don't like your agent, or[gestures to screen]how you handle a press junket.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
SpaceX has quickly become one of the world's largest space companies.
MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/Getty Images
An ex-SpaceX employee told Bloomberg that working at SpaceX was like being a "babysitter for frat boys."
She said some SpaceX employees discussed a drinking game on work email and joked about being intoxicated to oversee launches.
The culture at Elon Musk's rocket firm has come under growing scrutiny in recent months.
A new Bloomberg report has shed light on SpaceX's working culture, with a former employee describing her colleagues as "frat boys."
Paige Holland-Thielen, one of a group of former SpaceX employees suing the company over claims of wrongful dismissal, told Bloomberg that employees at Elon Musk's rocket firm used their work email to plan rounds of a drinking game called "nug and chug" in which they would try and consume as many chicken nuggets as possible.
These employees, she said, then joked about drinking heavily before returning to the office to oversee a rocket launch.
Holland-Thielen told Bloomberg that working at SpaceX made her feel like a "babysitter for frat boys," with casual sexism rife. She and her co-plaintiffs filed a civil rights lawsuit against SpaceX in June.
They alleged that Musk personally ordered their firings after they wrote an open letter to SpaceX's management expressing concern over the billionaire's behavior and what they described as a hostile work environment at the company.
A Ukrainian soldier prepares artillery shells near Liman, Ukraine, on May 25, 2024.
Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images
Russia needs a lot of ammo supplies to sustain its offensives in Ukraine, a NATO official said.
It's already turned to allies like Iran and North Korea to help replenish its stocks.
But supplies from Iran and North Korea won't be enough, the official said, per Reuters.
Russia needs "significant" ammo supplies from countries other than Iran and North Korea in order to sustain its offensives in Ukraine, a senior NATO official said, per Reuters.
The unnamed official shared NATO intelligence with reporters ahead of the military alliance's annual summit in Washington, DC.
"To sustain real offensive operations, we think that Russia would have to secure significant ammunition supplies from countries beyond what it is already getting from Iran and from North Korea," they said, per Reuters.
Russia has turned to allies like North Korea and Iran to replenish its dwindling ammunition stockpiles as its troops launch grinding offensives in Ukraine and burn through artillery shells.
While the total amount of ammo the two countries have sent to Russia is unclear, South Korea's defense minister said in February that North Korean weapons factories were "operating at full capacity" making arms and ammunition for Russia.
He also said it had sent 6,700 containers to Russia since last August.
Meanwhile, Iran sent 300,000 artillery shells to Russia in 2023, an unnamed NATO official told CNN in March.
Russia has also ramped up its own production.
According to an analysis by consulting firm Bain & Company, reported by Sky News in May, Russia's armaments industry is expected to make or refurbish 4.5 million artillery shells this year — three times more than Ukrainian allies' 1.3 million expected shells.
However, even help from Iran and North Korea won't be enough for Russia to sustain offensive operations on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to the NATO official.
In addition to munition problems, Russia also faces a lack of manpower on the battlefield after its army suffered "very high" losses in Ukraine, the NATO official said, meaning it can't mount a large-scale offensive.
"Vladimir Putin would have to order a new large-scale mobilization," the official said, per Reuters, adding that Russia is having to "order undermanned, inexperienced units to move into areas to achieve unrealistic objectives."
Some Houston residents used Whataburger's app to track power outages.
Eric Gay/AP
Some Texas residents used Whataburger's app to track power outages in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.
They used its restaurant map to see which areas appeared to have regained power.
2.26 million customers lost access to power, said CenterPoint Energy, Houston's main energy provider.
People in Texas have been using Whataburger's app to follow power outages in the wake of Hurricane Beryl because of a lack of information from Houston's main energy provider.
CenterPoint Energy said that 2.26 million customers had lost their power access during the storm.
It said that it worked quickly to restore access. But information on where exactly power access had been regained was hard to come by, with no map available because of technical issues stemming from a storm in May, The New York Times reported.
Instead, locals used Whataburger's website and app to track which of its restaurants — typically open 24 hours — were open, thus determining which areas had power.
"I really had to download the Whataburger app to keep up with the Houston power outage," another person posted.
Many users pointed out the funny side of using Whataburger as a tracker, with one person writing: "Using the Whataburger app to track power outages after a hurricane is probably the most Houston thing I can possibly imagine."
The chain itself even weighed in, saying in response to one tweet: "Well there's a use for our app we didn't think of! We hope you and everyone else are okay!"
Using Whataburger's app in such a way is not dissimilar to the so-called "Waffle House Index," which is often used to measure the severity of extreme weather and natural disasters.
Waffle House is well-known for staying open whatever the weather, so people know that if their local Waffle House is closed, then things must be bad.
Whataburger CEO Ed Nelson told USA Today that the app only gives a "general idea of power availability" and that people who want to visit one of its restaurants should call ahead to check if it's open. One person posted on X that they had watched cars lined up in a Whataburger drive-thru that was lit up and looked like it was open, but there were no staff on-site. "Each car takes turns sadly realizing this," they wrote.
Business Insider has approached Whataburger and CenterPoint Energy for comment.
More than a million customers still don't have power
As of Wednesday morning, CenterPoint Energy has released a tracking map showing where power has been restored. As of the early hours of Wednesday, more than 1.3 million customers were still without power.
Beryl was the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. It strengthened to a Category 5 storm "unusually early in the year," partly because of "exceptionally warm ocean temperatures," the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. It became the earliest Category 5 hurricane observed in the Atlantic on record, with wind speeds of up to 165 miles per hour.
It made landfall on Carriacou Island in the southern Caribbean on July 1, spread across the Caribbean, leaving devastation in its wake, and made landfall in Texas early on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane.
Texas Acting Gov. Dan Patrick said on Tuesday that the state had been informed of three storm-related fatalities: Two by fallen trees and one by drowning. The AP reported on Monday that Beryl has caused at least 11 deaths.
The US National Hurricane Center expects flash flooding on Wednesday in areas from southeast Michigan into northern New England, and some possible tornadoes.
A Romanian Air Force F-16 escorts a C-27J Spartan aircraft during an air policing exercise above eastern Romania on March 6. Ukraine has long been waiting for NATO to provide it with the American-made fighter jets.
AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru
The West has outfitted Ukraine with billions of dollars in security assistance to fight Russia.
But it needs to give Ukraine the weapons it needs to actually win the war, NATO members say.
The three Baltic states said Moscow must be left unable to pose a threat in the future.
The West should send Ukraine the kind of weapons it needs to inflict a lasting, strategic defeat on Russia, NATO countries on the front lines of the military alliance said Tuesday.
The defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — the three Baltic states that border Russia and staunch supporters of the Ukrainian war effort — urged the West to help Ukraine in a way that renders Moscow militarily unable to take this sort of action in the future, arguing this means increasing political and military support for Kyiv.
There is a key "strategic difference" between helping Ukraine fight Russia, as the West has been doing throughout the full-scale war, and helping it actually win, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said during a roundtable discussion hosted by POLITICO and German television outlet Welt on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, DC.
Pevkur said the options are to either support Ukraine for "as long as it takes" — a phrase, often used by the US to describe its intentions, that has been met with criticism — or give Kyiv everything it needs so that it can actually win.
A US-provided M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launches a rocket on Russian positions in December 2023 in Ukraine.
Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
"There is a technological superiority in the West over Russia, but we are not giving that to Ukraine at the moment," Pevkur said, explaining that NATO has refused to act with urgency when making decisions about long-range munitions, fighter jets, and other weapons.
NATO members have given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in security assistance since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Some of this weaponry is considered to be highly advanced and better than its Russian counterparts. But the West has also been reluctant to provide Kyiv with the more powerful tools available in its arsenal.
The three Baltic states have consistently been strong advocates of sending more security assistance to Ukraine, fearing that, because of their geographical proximity to Russia, they would be the first ones targeted if Moscow ever decided to attack deeper into Europe.
With this threat in mind, the Baltic nations have long pushed for increased defense spending among NATO member states. They are among the alliance's top defense spenders as a share of GDP, and they are also outspoken on NATO's ability to deter a broader attack from Russia.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur addresses the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, on July 9.
Photo by DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images
But sending a message of deterrence might not be enough on its own. Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Lithuania's minister of national defense, said if NATO wants to contain and damage Russian power, it should consider the fact that Ukraine is asking for ammunition and weapons — not Western troops.
"They are ready to fight and to push back [the] Russians — not only from Ukraine, but also from Europe," Kasčiūnas said at Tuesday's event. Backing Ukraine means "building up European security," he added.
"The goal must be [the] strategic defeat of Russia in Ukraine," said Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds. He said this means Ukraine regains all the territory it's lost since 2014 — when Russia first invaded the country — and that Moscow is unable to wage any type of future conflict against Ukraine, its neighbors, or NATO.
NATO countries have vowed to continue supporting Ukraine with critical security assistance. US President Joe Biden kicked off the consequential summit by announcing that the alliance would send more air-defense systems to Kyiv.
US President Joe Biden shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the NATO 75th anniversary celebratory event at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium on July 9 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
At the same time, Russia has regained much of its military strength, and its war-time economy is increasingly firing on all cylinders. The Baltic states say enabling Ukraine to win will require a massive political buy-in and support from the West.
"Do we want to win this war together with Ukraine, and do we want to see that Russia is not only losing, but they will be downgraded to the level that they will not even think about the new initiatives against their neighbors?" Pevkur said. Or is it to "continue helping Ukraine 'as long as it takes?'"
"My understanding is that 'as long as it takes' is not enough," Pevkur said. "We have to say clearly: 'Yes, we will help Ukraine to win this war.'"
Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is reported to be the lead in "The Devil Wears Prada" sequel.
20th Century Fox
"The Devil Wears Prada" is getting a sequel, multiple outlets have reported.
Puck reported Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt are set to return.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci are also in talks to return.
Meryl Streep may return as the iconic Miranda Priestly in a "The Devil Wears Prada" sequel, Puck reported.
The 2006 original, which is considered a classic, follows journalism graduate Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) as she struggles to survive as the junior assistant to high fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly.
On Monday, Puck reported without citing sources that the new film will see Priestly at the end of her career, with the publishing industry in decline. Emily Blunt, who played Priestly's assistant, has also signed on to the film, Puck reported.
Entertainment Weekly reported on Tuesday that Hathaway and Stanley Tucci are also in talks to make an appearance in the sequel.
Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter cited unnamed sources to report that the cast members haven't been confirmed yet, contradicting Puck's report.
Representatives for Disney, Streep, Hathaway, Tucci, and Blunt did not immediately respond to a comment request from Business Insider.
From "Mean Girls" to "Beetlejuice," Hollywood has been churning out plenty of reboots and sequels to popular movies in recent years in the hope of securing easy financial wins.
"The Devil Wears Prada" was nominated for two Oscars and was a commercial success, making $326.7 million worldwide. It quickly became a cultural landmark, with fans continuing to discuss, dissect, and admire the movie years.
Anne Hathaway played the protagonist Andy Sachs in "The Devil Wears Prada."
20th Century Fox
All four outlets reported the film is in early development, so it will likely not premiere within the next year.
Puck, THR, and Deadline reported Wendy Finerman will return to produce the second film.
The outlets also reported that Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote the screenplay for the first movie based on Laura Weisberger's book of the same name, is in talks to write the script.
Deadline reported that director David Frankel is in talks to return to direct the sequel.
The main stars from the first movie may return for the sequel.
Emily Blunt may also reprise her role as Emily Charlton in "The Devil Wears Prada" sequel.
20th Century Fox
Puck reported that Finerman had persuaded Streep and Blunt to reprise their roles as Priestley and her snaky assistant Emily Charlton.
In March, Hathaway told E! News that she didn't think there would be a sequel, but she has not ruled out returning.
But Entertainment Weekly reported, citing unnamed sources, that Hathaway is in talks to return as the aspiring journalist Andy Sachs. EW also reported that Tucci, who played the fashion magazine's art director, Nigel, is also in talks to appear in the sequel.
Miranda Priestly will reportedly be the protagonist in the sequel
"The Devil Wears Prada" was also praised for its iconic fashion outfits.
IMDb/20th Century Fox
In the sequel, Priestly reportedly ends up in a showdown against Charlton, who is now an executive of a luxury goods company that has advertising money that her former boss needs.
Stay tuned for more information about "The Devil Wears Prada" sequel.
Katy Perry has released a music video teaser for her upcoming song, "Woman's World."
For weeks, fans have been mocking the initial "Woman's World" snippets.
Now, fans are divided over whether Perry's career will be revived or if she's clinging to her glory days.
Katy Perry has released a teaser of the music video for her new single "Woman's World," and fans are divided over whether it's enough for her to finally have a successful comeback.
Perry became a huge pop star in the late noughties thanks to iconic tracks including "I Kissed A Girl," "Hot n Cold," and "Teenage Dream," but her career stalled in the late 2010s as her new songs struggled to land with audiences.
Ahead of her seventh album, which has no release date, Perry has been teasing a new style and snippets of her first single, "Woman's World," in a bid to win over audiences again.
But fans instantly mocked the first snippet, released last month, describing the lyrics as "dated" and as if they were written using AI. But Perry persevered, releasing more snippets that were better received.
On Tuesday, Perry shared a teaser for the single's music video, which will be released on Thursday. It features Perry and a group of dancers performing on a construction site with drills, hammers, and what appear to be vibrators.
Some fans were happy with the clip, dubbing the video the start of Perry's comeback.
it’s giving 2012 katy perry teenage dream era, oh we’re so back 😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/HhMiGttBbv
Others were quick to compare it to the video for her "California Gurls" single from her 2010 "Teenage Dream" album.
Perry's fun and raunchy music videos and live performances from the "Teenage Dream" era helped boost her fame in the noughties and early 2010s, and "Woman's World" seems to be a return to that.
However, some users on X have criticized the teaser, saying that Perry is trying to use nostalgia for her glory days to revive her career.
Sometimes an artist so profoundly encapsulates a Moment In Time (for Katy Perry this is the 2010s) that all attempts to revive their career after That Moment feel anachronistic and out of step with modernity. https://t.co/5nwSufqfY3
— big belly summer🤰🏾☀️🕶 (@itsjacksonbbz) July 10, 2024
Regardless, Perry seems convinced "Woman's World" will be her next big win.
In February, Perry announced on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that she was leaving her judging gig on "American Idol" after six years to focus on her music career.
Perry also teamed up again with Dr. Luke, a producer and songwriter who helped make eight of Perry's Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles. Dr. Luke has not worked on one of Perry's songs since 2013, before her career slump.
Some fans criticized Perry for working with Dr. Luke again after Kesha filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Dr. Luke denied the claims, and the pair reached an undisclosed settlement in June 2023.
Perry has yet to comment on the backlash, and a representative for Perry did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Only time will tell if "Woman's World" can skirt criticism and put Perry back to the top.