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  • ‘I wish I’d enjoyed my fame a bit more’: Jim Sturgess on regrets, romance and the art of the mix tape | Television & radio

    ‘I wish I’d enjoyed my fame a bit more’: Jim Sturgess on regrets, romance and the art of the mix tape | Television & radio

    Like all good love stories, this one starts with a chance meeting and ends with a reunion. It was 2008, pre-Hardy and Hiddleston, post-Bale and Grant; Jim Sturgess was a rising star and the latest handsome young Brit to break Hollywood. Having landed the lead role in casino thriller 21, Sturgess needed a love interest: cue a slew of chemistry tests with a roll call of beautiful young women, a process Sturgess remembers now as “the most exposed blind date you could ever possibly put yourself through, with five producers watching you from afar”.

    Kate Bosworth got the role, but one actor lingered in Sturgess’s mind: an effervescent Australian called Teresa Palmer. “When you do those chemistry tests, they put you through it, so we spent the whole day together,” Sturgess says. “I was really hoping she was going to get the part, because we got on really well. She’s Australian, I’m English, and we were both in Hollywood going, ‘Where the hell are we?’”

    Palmer didn’t get the part, but Sturgess never forgot her. And, almost 20 years later, Sturgess and Palmer have been reunited – for Mix Tape, a wistful romantic drama about two people who reunite after 20 years apart.

    Told in four one-hour episodes (you’ll wish it was much, much longer), Mix Tape follows two teenagers, Dan and Alison, as they woo each other with letters and mix tapes in 1980s Sheffield (which means we get some amazing needle drops: the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Cure, Joy Division). Guileless young Dan (Rory Walton-Smith) is completely smitten, but Alison (Florence Hunt) is guarded, desperately trying to hide her difficult family life at home. When she suddenly disappears – for reasons revealed much later – Dan is completely heartbroken.

    ‘I never forgot her’ … Sturgess with Teresa Palmer in Mix Tape. Photograph: BBC/Subotica

    Sturgess, now 47, plays adult Dan: a music journalist who never left his home town and, despite being married, never really moved on from his first love. When he discovers Alison (Palmer) is now a bestselling author living in Sydney, he sends her a friend request online. Letters and cassettes are swapped for Facebook messages and Spotify playlists, but the feelings remain the same.

    Palmer tells me Sturgess is “the kindest, warmest, coolest, most effortless actor I’ve ever worked with. And that dude really has great taste in music,” she adds. “He is that character – he is the real deal.” Before filming even began, Sturgess and Palmer were sending each other playlists, with Sturgess putting her on to UK rappers like Kano, Dizzee Rascal, Ocean Wisdom, Little Simz. “It was just like the show,” he says. “Twenty-odd years later, we were reconnecting.”

    In his 20s, Sturgess made his name as the romantic lead in the Beatles musical film Across the Universe and opposite Anne Hathaway in One Day, but he has spent the past few years in roles that require guns and running – think Hard Sun and Geostorm. But Sturgess is made for this work, with his crinkly eyed smile and soft eyes. Last year was all about “rodent boyfriends” – well, you can take your Mike Faist, because Sturgess is the OG rodent boyfriend, with a face particularly suited for yearning.

    “I’ve been working on my yearning,” he laughs. “I’m actually very attracted to romance stories, more so as I get older. They’re just so human – it’s literally two people navigating their feelings and their emotions, which is really beautiful and interesting.”

    Mix tapes were a “big, big part” of how Sturgess wooed girls. “It works!” he laughs. “A mix tape was a really big deal back then! That was why I was so attracted to young Daniel – I was that guy!” As a teenager, he was obsessed with US hip-hop and guitar bands from Northern England; he vividly recalls listening to the Stone Roses on his Walkman while delivering newspapers. “That’s what’s so beautiful about Mix Tape – it is about that period when you first fall in love, when you first hear music,” he says. “Your receptors are just so wide open and everything is so important to you. And that’s why, when people ask you what your favourite band is, you’ll probably say what your favourite band was when you were 16.”

    Estates of desire … Sturgess with Cara Delevingne in the spectacular box office flop London Fields. Photograph: Steffan Hill/Head Gear Films/Allstar

    Sturgess had a hand in choosing the music used in Mix Tape and even taught Walton-Smith and Hunt how to make mix tapes on cassette: “It blew their minds. They were like, ‘This is an art form. And this is a lot of work!’” he laughs. “I was explaining to them how you couldn’t just get the music off the internet – you had to own it, all your mix tapes came from what was in your collection. They couldn’t believe it.”

    Director Lucy Gaffy let Sturgess in on the audition process for young Dan; they picked Walton-Smith, a complete newcomer who will be in everything soon. “There was a real gentleness to Rory that some of the other actors didn’t bring,” says Sturgess. “He’s got that natural Northern swagger and charm to him. And it was his first job! He was so wide open and desperate to learn. Beautifully inquisitive. He was brilliant. I’m really proud of what he’s done.”

    When Sturgess was his age, he was too afraid to ask for help: “I was dropped in at the deep end.” He never formally trained as an actor, but he got the bug as a six-year-old when he was cast in a production of Wind in the Willows. “I was not very good at school. I struggled to concentrate … I was slightly tarnished with the naughty brush. But I just took to [acting]. I still remember the sense of community, of making something together – which I still crave now.”

    Sturgess with Anne Hathaway in One Day. Photograph: Focus Features/Sportsphoto/Allstar

    When he was cast opposite Evan Rachel Wood in Across the Universe, Sturgess was propelled to international stardom. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was just a kid from England, playing in bands – and suddenly this movie thing happened. Everything changed quite quickly. I didn’t really understand how to navigate myself through all that. I didn’t have anybody guiding me. I’d be invited to these big parties, but I would always not go. It was a bit scary, it feels a bit mad.”

    Over the years, he’s been in the very good (Cloud Atlas), the worthy of reappraisal (Across the Universe – “I feel like if it came out now, it might have done all right,” Sturgess muses), and the very bad (London Fields, a spectacular box office flop overshadowed by the subsequent tawdry trial between his co-stars, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard). He’s passed on some big opportunities (playing Spider-Man on Broadway) and said yes to much smaller parts that made him happy. If anything, he’s learned to focus on the experience of making something, rather than the reception: “It’s such a rollercoaster ride … If your end goal is just to have it be well received and get all the admiration that might come with that, you’re going to fall over a lot. You’re going to trip yourself up. If it is well received, that’s the icing on the cake. I don’t really read reviews. I just don’t. I’m not trying to hide from them or anything. I’m just never that interested. If I read a bad one, I’ll probably agree, you know? Fair enough!”

    ‘My face was plastered all over Vegas’ … Sturgess with Kate Bosworth in the 2008 casino thriller 21. Photograph: Columbia/Sportsphoto/Allstar

    At the premiere for that casino film 21, which was held in Las Vegas, he remembers his face was plastered across billboards on the Strip, on the blackjack tables at the hotel and even on his room key. What is his relationship with fame now? “It is easier,” he says. “I was definitely more famous when I was younger and, sometimes, I wish I’d enjoyed it a bit more. But I shied away from fame a lot. I had it at an arm’s length. And, looking back, I think I would have got more out of it if I opened myself up to it and embraced it, if I wasn’t quite so wary of it all.” Now, he is recognised “just enough that I’m quite flattered when it happens”.

    These days, Sturgess is performing music under the moniker King Curious and his next film will be 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, alongside Liam Neeson and – you guessed it– Teresa Palmer, who plays his girlfriend again. Is this what they’re doing now, a la Fred and Ginger, Kate and Leo, Hanks and Ryan? Sturgess laughs. “If you could just find somebody you got on with and kept making relationship movies … well, I’d be down!”

    Mix Tape is on BBC Two and iPlayer

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  • Pakistan airline accidentally flies out passenger to Saudi without passport

    Pakistan airline accidentally flies out passenger to Saudi without passport

    In an astonishing mishap, a man was flown to Jeddah instead of Karachi after boarding a flight from Lahore, as per local media outlets.

    The passenger, Malik Shahzain Ahmed, was travelling with private airline Air Sial on July 8, when the incident took place. According to him, he did not have a passport or visa for international travel, which caused further distress at the destination, where he was detained and deported.

    Shahzain claimed that despite showing his ticket to the air hostess, he was allowed to board the flight and not informed of the error. When he realised he was on the wrong plane, it was already too late.

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    The passenger has now filed a complaint against the airline, which refused to cover expenses of the return flight to Lahore. He also claimed that the airline said it would take two to three days for them to bring him to Karachi when he questioned the crew mid-flight.

    According to him, the crew panicked when he questioned them and blamed him for the error.

    Shahzain, in his legal notice, has urged the airline to cover additional flight expenses and respond to the issue.

    The Pakistan Airport Authority is currently investigating the matter and the Lahore Airport Management said it is holding the airline responsible and that the incident took place due to the carrier’s ‘negligence and carelessness’. The organisation’s manager said a request for action has been submitted against the airline.

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  • Immunotherapy, Novel Agents May Reshape the Early Breast Cancer Landscape

    Immunotherapy, Novel Agents May Reshape the Early Breast Cancer Landscape

    Heather McArthur, MD, focused on current and future strategies for treating early-stage breast cancer.

    Heather McArthur, MD, shed light on advancements in early breast cancer treatment, with a particular focus on immunotherapy and its evolving role. The discussion delved into current FDA approvals, promising clinical trials, and the considerations for patient selection and managing immune-related adverse effects.

    In a conversation with CancerNetwork® during the 2025 International Congress on the Future of Breast Cancer East hosted by Physicians Education Resource LLC®, McArthur highlighted the current FDA approval of pembrolizumab for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer.1,2 She also discussed the challenging yet promising future of combining immunotherapy with other standard treatments. A key challenge lies in the inability to co-administer CDK4/6 inhibitors with immunotherapy due to the risk of lung and liver toxicity.

    The conversation also explored the evolving role of CDK4/6 inhibitors in the adjuvant setting for hormone receptor (HR)–positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer, emphasizing patient selection and duration of therapy. Looking ahead, McArthur expressed excitement about combination strategies involving antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) with immunotherapy for triple-negative disease in both neoadjuvant and high-risk residual disease settings. She also highlighted the potential for de-escalation strategies, where patients achieving a complete response with neoadjuvant therapy might forego additional treatment.

    McArthur is the clinical director of Breast Cancer and Komen Distinguished Chair in Clinical Breast Cancer Research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

    What are the top line topics you discussed during your presentation today?

    Today, we talked about innovation in immune therapy for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer. We talked about the current FDA approval for pembrolizumab for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer. We talked about promising clinical trials in estrogen receptor (ER)–positive high-risk early-stage breast cancer, and I presented data from our investigator-initiated trial in HER2–positive disease.

    For HR-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer, what are your thoughts on the evolving role of CDK4/6 inhibitors in the adjuvant setting, particularly concerning patient selection and duration of therapy?

    Adjuvant CDK4/6 inhibitors have become a cornerstone of treatment for high-risk HR-positive disease, particularly those patients who have received prior chemotherapy. It will be challenging if the ongoing anticipated immunotherapy results from phase 3 KEYNOTE-756 [NCT03725059] trial, which demonstrated the 8.5% improvement in [pathological complete response with] neoadjuvant therapy with the addition of pembrolizumab, if that translates into an event-free survival [EFS] benefit and becomes another standard of care.3 The reason why that is complicated is that we cannot co-administer CDK4/6 inhibitors together with immune therapy because of the risk for lung and liver toxicity. That is a potential clinical challenge that we’ll be facing in the not-too-distant future.

    How do you foresee immunotherapy’s role expanding into early breast cancer, particularly for high-risk triple-negative or HER2-positive subtypes? What are the key considerations for patient selection and managing immune-related adverse events?

    We outlined a number of ongoing studies, particularly studies that are combining immune therapy with a promising new category of ADCs. We talked about studies that are ongoing, looking at patients who have high-risk residual disease after neoadjuvant therapy, being [randomly assigned] to the current standard of care, which is adjuvant immune therapy alone, vs immune therapy with one of these promising novel ADCs. There are studies that are moving even earlier in the course of disease, looking at ADCs with immune therapy going head-to-head against the FDA-approved phase 3 KEYNOTE-522 trial [NCT03036488] regimen, or part of the KEYNOTE-522 regimen.4

    Looking 5 to 10 years out, what do you believe will be the most transformative advancements in early breast cancer treatment, and what research avenues do you think are most critical to get there?

    That’s a difficult question to answer because the landscape has evolved so rapidly over the last few years, and so it would be anticipated that in 10 years, it will be dramatically transformed and hard to understand with the pace of drug development and novel technologies, exactly what will succeed in the next era.

    Most eminently, I’m excited about combination strategies with ADCs together with immune therapy for the treatment of triple-negative disease, both in the neoadjuvant setting and in the high-risk residual disease setting. I’m also excited about so-called de-escalation strategies. If patients who achieve a complete response with neoadjuvant therapy, can they forego any additional therapy? Do they need to complete a year of therapy? I’m excited about those strategies as well.

    In the HER2-positive space, we’re also seeing a lot of excitement around ADC strategies. Those successes from the metastatic setting have also moved into the curative intent setting. There will be a big ADC story there. I would also advocate for further exploration of immune therapy for HER2-positive disease. In the HR-positive space, there are a lot of exciting drugs that are in development, [including] a lot of exciting oral selective estrogen receptor degrader [SERD] combination strategies and oral medications. There’s a lot going on in that space, and it will be nice to have more oral options for our patients who are high-risk so that maybe they can forego chemotherapy as well.

    What do you hope others will take away from this conversation?

    I hope that people take away that there’s a huge amount of hope right now for both providers and patients, that we have had unprecedented drug approvals in recent years in all spaces. The whole field has transformed as a result; it’s a direct reflection of successful clinical trials. Enrollment in clinical trials is the way that we further advance the field. I would encourage people to continue to enroll their patients in clinical trials.

    References

    1. FDA approves pembrolizumab for high-risk early-stage triple-negative breast cancer. News release. FDA. July 26, 2021. Accessed July 14, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/4xm5y295
    2. McArthur H. Immunotherapy for high-risk early-stage breast cancer: who benefits? Presented at the 2025 International Congress on the Future of Breast Cancer East; July 11-12, 2025, New York, NY.
    3. Cardoso F, O’Shaughnessy J, Liu Z, et al. Pembrolizumab and chemotherapy in high-risk, early-stage, ER+/HER2– breast cancer: a randomized phase 3 trial. Nat Med. 2025;31(2):442-448. doi:10.1038/s41591-024-03415-7
    4. Schmid P, Cortes J, Dent R, et al. Overall survival with pembrolizumab in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2024;391(21):1981-1991. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2409932

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  • To ‘Infinity’ And Beyond – Look At Newborn Black Hole

    To ‘Infinity’ And Beyond – Look At Newborn Black Hole

    Yale astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and a team of researchers have discovered an object in space they call the “Infinity” galaxy – two recently-collided galaxies that, together, look like the symbol for infinity.

    And at the center of “Infinity,” embedded in a cloud of gas, they say, is a supermassive black hole.

    The findings are described in a new study to be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

    The discovery, the researchers say, is intriguing for several reasons. It suggests a novel way for black holes to form, it provides a possible explanation for the existence of incredibly massive black holes in the early universe – and it may be the first direct evidence of a supermassive black hole just after it formed.

    “This is as close to a smoking gun as we’re likely ever going to get,” said van Dokkum, the Sol Goldman Family Professor of Astronomy and professor of physics in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the new study.

    Everything about this galaxy, he said, is unusual.

    “Not only does it look very strange, but it also has this supermassive black hole that’s accreting a lot of material,” he said. “The biggest surprise of all was that the black hole was not located inside either of the two nuclei of the merging galaxies, but in the middle. We asked ourselves: how can we make sense of this?”

    Van Dokkum and astronomer Gabriel Brammer of the University of Copenhagen made the discovery while studying images from the COSMOS-Web survey, which is part of the data archives of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

    Van Dokkum also led follow-up observations of the Webb data. In addition, the researchers used W.M. Keck Observatory data for the study, and archival data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Large Array and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

    Finding a black hole that is not located in the nucleus of a massive galaxy is, in itself, unusual, the researchers said. To then discover that the black hole had only just formed was unprecedented.

    “In other words, we think we’re witnessing the birth of a supermassive black hole – something that has never been seen before,” van Dokkum said.

    The finding also has implications for the ongoing debate about the formation of black holes in the early universe.

    One theory – the “light seeds” theory – is that small black holes formed when stars’ cores collapsed and exploded. Eventually, those “light seed” black holes merged into supermassive black holes. This theory, however, would require an extraordinarily long time to reach fruition. And the Webb telescope already has identified supermassive black holes that appeared in the universe too early to be explained by the “light seeds” theory.

    That leaves the “heavy seeds” theory, which has been championed by Yale astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan and others. This theory suggests that much larger black holes can form from the collapse of large clouds of gas. The sticking point for the “heavy seeds” theory has been that collapsing gas clouds usually form stars.

    The Infinity galaxy, however, may show how extreme conditions – including those in the early universe suggested by the “heavy seeds” theory – could lead to the creation of a black hole, van Dokkum said.

    “In this case, two disk galaxies collided, forming the ring structures of stars that we see,” he said. “During the collision, the gas within these two galaxies shocks and compresses. This compression might just be enough to have formed a dense knot, that then collapsed into a black hole.

    “While such collisions are rare events, similarly extreme gas densities are thought to have been quite common at early cosmic epochs, when galaxies began forming,” he added.

    Van Dokkum and his colleagues stressed that additional research is needed to confirm the findings and what they portend for black hole formation.

    Co-authors of the study are Natarajan, Josephine F.W. Baggen, Michael Keim, and Imad Pasha, all from Yale, and Brammer, from the University of Copenhagen.

    /University Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

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  • Synthetic Biology Could Support Future Outposts on the Moon and Mars

    Synthetic Biology Could Support Future Outposts on the Moon and Mars

    As humanity sets its sights on long duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, keeping astronauts healthy will be as critical as building rockets or habitats. In the harsh environment of space, the human body faces challenges that Earth never prepared us for including isolation, microgravity, and radiation that disrupt the immune system, increasing the risk of infection, chronic inflammation, and disease. Interestingly, new research on HIV is revealing lessons that could help future explorers live sustainably, regenerate resources in closed-loop systems, and even produce custom medicine far from Earth.

    Long duration space missions to the Moon and Mars will require some special planning for astronaut health and resource production. (Credit : NASA)

    At the heart of this research is the inflammasome, a tiny but powerful protein inside our immune cells. Acting like a security alarm, the inflammasome senses trouble, such as viral particles, stress, or cell damage, and triggers inflammation by releasing molecules like interleukin-1β and interleukin-18. This rapid response is vital for fighting infections, but it comes with a risk: if the inflammasome remains switched on too long, it drives constant inflammation that weakens the body instead of protecting it.

    In HIV infection, scientists have discovered that inflammasomes play a double role. Early on, they help contain the virus by boosting immune defences. But over time, especially if left unchecked, they contribute to harmful chronic inflammation that damages healthy cells, accelerates aging, and causes other diseases, even in patients who take effective antiviral treatments. This insight is important for space travel, where the same risk of unchecked inflammation could quietly undermine an astronaut’s health during long missions.

    Learning how to balance inflammasome activity could help crews stay healthier in space, with far-reaching benefits. If inflammation can be regulated properly, astronauts may recover faster from injuries and resist infection more effectively, reducing their dependence on supplies from Earth. This supports the vision of closed-loop habitats where food, water, and medical resources are regenerated on board. Keeping inflammation under control also matters for protecting tissues from cosmic radiation, which damages DNA and stresses cells, pushing inflammasomes into overdrive. If we can dampen this reaction safely, we can help the body repair itself more efficiently.

    JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa pedals on the upgraded CEVIS system to maintain health and fitness during space missions. (Credit : NASA) JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa pedals on the upgraded CEVIS system to maintain health and fitness during space missions. (Credit : NASA)

    Perhaps most promising is the idea that lessons from HIV research could enable astronauts to produce custom medicine as needed. By understanding how to switch inflammasome pathways on or off at the right time, future missions might use onboard bioreactors or 3D bioprinters to make personalised treatments, rather than carrying an entire pharmacy into space. This very concept has been explored in a paper just published by a team of researchers led by Silvano Onofri.

    In the decades ahead, managing the body’s internal fire may prove just as vital as any life-support system. By unlocking what HIV teaches us about inflammation, we may give future explorers the tools they need to live, adapt, and thrive far beyond Earth.

    Source : Synthetic biology for space exploration

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  • Marsh welcomes UK government’s captive insurance reforms and calls for regime to be globally competitive and offer services to organisations of all sizes

    London | 15 July 2025

    Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor and a business of Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC), today welcomed the UK government’s announcement that it will facilitate the creation of a UK regime for captive insurance companies, enhancing the UK’s stature as a leading insurance marketplace. Marsh urges that the regime, when implemented, ensures that the UK becomes a dynamic, innovative, and globally competitive hub for a wide range of captive insurance services offering enhanced risk management capabilities and choices for organisations of all sizes. Captive insurance is a long-established risk management tool, offering organisations greater choice in how they build their risk management strategy. It can help address traditional and emerging risk management pain points, enabling a greater control of risk and reduced costs.

    Notably, the announcement supports the utilisation of captives for a broad range of risks, enabling captives to tailor their risk transfer strategies more effectively and for captive business owners to offer enhanced services to clients. The announcement also opens the potential for the formation of more flexible, cost-effective vehicles, such as protected cell companies (PCCs), that would benefit smaller and mid-size companies.

    Chris Lay, CEO of Marsh McLennan, UK, and a long-time proponent of a UK-based captives regime, said: “We welcome the government’s decision, which will make the UK a full-service insurance centre through the addition of a captive insurance regime. Having previously run Marsh’s global captive business, I know that this has the potential to enable organisations of all sizes in the UK and around the world to have access to greater choice in how they manage risk and build the offering of our already world-leading insurance sector. We need to ensure that the new captive framework will not only allow the UK insurance market to further demonstrate its reputation for innovation but also that captives can be formed as seamlessly as they are in other jurisdictions.”

    Today’s announcement, along with the other reforms announced, will help position the competitiveness of the UK in the global insurance market.

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  • 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Focus on AF Corse’s Ferrari 499P tyre strategy

    2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Focus on AF Corse’s Ferrari 499P tyre strategy

    To clinch overall victory in the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, AF Corse adopted a rigorous tyre strategy for the #83 Ferrari 499P that the team executed superbly. Using only yellow-walled Michelin Pilot Sport Endurance Medium tyres throughout, and maximising the number of triple stints while adapting the stints to how the race was panning out, the Italian outfit successfully constructed its performance over the long haul. This smart choice was undoubtedly one of the keys to the success of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson.

    Mediums from flag to flag

    Unlike its rivals, AF Corse gambled on regularity by opting for Medium tyres from the start and sticking with them throughout the 24 hours. These versatile compounds were perfectly suited to the moderate weather conditions encountered during the race.

    This approach simplified the team’s in-race decision making, offered a stable performance window for all three drivers and helped them to better anticipate wear management and the car’s behaviour over the duration of the race.

    Nine triple stints

    The other remarkable aspect of AF Corse’s strategy was the ability to produce triple stints – almost 500 km covered with a single set of tyres. The yellow Ferrari 499P completed nine in total. All four tyres were replaced at each pit stop, guaranteeing consistent driveability and balance for the car. This game plan reduced the time spent in the pits and optimised each stint in terms of performance.

    The Italian Hypercar covered an average of 12 laps on each stint, matching the fuel consumption pattern. During the night, however, Yifei Ye managed a safety car-assisted 15-lap stint when the Nielsen Racing LMP2 entry (#24 Oreca 07-Gibson) crashed out.

    Two double stints under pressure and a decisive final pit stop

    As Porsche Penske Motorsport stepped up the pressure with the #6 Porsche in the final hours of the race, AF Corse altered its usual sequence by switching to two double stints between 12:25 and 15:20. This change in strategy can be explained by the warmer track temperatures and the objective of keeping the car in an optimum performance window through the final stages.

    With just one hour to go, the #83 Ferrari held a mere 36.5-second lead over the #6 Porsche. At that point, the team wheeled out a new set of tyres for the final stint. This decisive move allowed Robert Kubica to withstand the fightback from Porsche and retain first place through to the chequered flag.

    This tactic, coupled with the rapidity and reliability of the 499P Hypercar and the durability of the Michelin tyres, proved to be a prime contributor to the quest for victory.

    Further reading: Michelin designs a greener, more durable Hypercar tyre for 2026

     

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  • Russia may face Trump tariffs in 50 days, what does US import from Russia? | Donald Trump News

    Russia may face Trump tariffs in 50 days, what does US import from Russia? | Donald Trump News

    United States President Donald Trump has threatened to impose steep trading restrictions on Russia unless a peace deal with Ukraine is reached within 50 days, as he announced an agreement with NATO allies to send more weapons to Kyiv.

    The announcements on Monday marked a shift in US foreign policy as Trump’s endorsement of Ukraine comes just weeks after Washington announced it would pause weapons sales to Kyiv.

    But Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin and hopes that tariffs and sanctions, as well as new deals for Patriot air defence missiles, will help bring an end to Russia’s more than three-year invasion of Ukraine.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that he had spoken to Trump and “thanked him for his readiness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace”.

    On Tuesday, Russia’s top security official, Dmitry Medvedev, said the Kremlin did not care about the “theatrical ultimatum” issued by Trump, adding that Putin will comment on the US proposals if he deems it necessary to do so.

    What did Trump say?

    Sitting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House, Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Putin and that billions of dollars of US weapons would go to Ukraine.

    Donald Trump, third from right, meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, in the White House in Washington, DC, on July 14, 2025 [Nathan Howard/Reuters]

     

    In recent days, Russia has launched hundreds of drones to attack Ukrainian cities, angering Trump, who had accused Putin on July 8 of throwing a lot of “b*******” at the US. Trump has said that his shift was motivated by frustration with the Russian president.

    “My conversations with him [Putin] are always very pleasant… and then the missiles go off at night,” he followed up on Monday.

    “We’re going to make top-of-the-line weapons, and they’ll be sent to NATO,” Trump said, adding that NATO would pay for them.

    For his part, Rutte said that Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway want to be part of the weapons deal.

    Trump also said that “we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs [on Russia] if we don’t have a deal in 50 days”.

    Putin has yet to accept a proposal from Trump for an unconditional ceasefire, which was quickly endorsed by Kyiv.

    Trump also said US tariffs on Russian exports would be priced “at about 100 percent” and then threatened “secondary tariffs [otherwise known as secondary sanctions]”.

    Secondary sanctions, which would be far more punishing than US tariffs, would be levied on any country that trades with Moscow, targeting its commodities business in particular.

    A Ukrainian firefighter works at a damaged residential building after a Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv on July 10, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian strikes on Ukraine's capital Kyiv killed at least two people [Genya Savilov/AFP]
    A Ukrainian firefighter at a damaged residential building after a Russian missile and drone attack in Kyiv on July 10, 2025 [Genya Savilov/AFP]

    What is Trump’s tariff threat to Russia?

    Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries – including the US, the United Kingdom, and European Union nations – have imposed 21,692 sanctions on Russia, most against individuals.

    Key sanctions on Moscow include import bans on Russian oil, a price cap on Russian fuel, and the freezing of Russian central bank assets held in European financial institutions.

    But the threat to impose so-called secondary sanctions, if carried out, would mark a notable shift.

    So far, Group of Seven (G7) member states have held back from taking steps that would restrict Russia from selling its fossil fuels elsewhere, to key buyers like China and India.

    Lawmakers from both US political parties are pushing for a bill – the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 – that would target other countries that buy Russian oil and gas.

    The bill would give Trump the authority to impose 500 percent tariffs on any country that helps Russia. US senators are reportedly waiting on Trump’s OK to move the bill forward.

    Trump could also impose secondary tariffs through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which lets the president restrict trade in the event of a national emergency.

    Elsewhere, EU countries are close to reaching an agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday.

    “We hope to reach a political agreement on the 18th sanctions package,” Kallas said before a meeting with foreign affairs ministers from the 27 EU countries in Brussels.

    How dependent is Russia’s economy on fossil fuels?

    Fossil fuel sales still generate substantial revenue for the Kremlin. Seaborne oil revenues, for instance, dropped modestly in 2024 but stayed at near pre-war levels.

    This is due to Russia’s “shadow fleet” – ships with opaque ownership structures and no Western ties in terms of finance or insurance, allowing them to bypass Western sanctions.

    So, while G7 sanctions have reduced Moscow’s margins and increased export costs, they haven’t cut volumes to importing nations.

    From 2022 to 2025, China has purchased almost half of Russia’s total crude oil exports (roughly 5 million barrels per day), with India following closely behind at nearly 40 percent.

    Both countries also import a large amount of Russian coal. Other importing nations include Brazil, Turkiye and Egypt.

    The EU, meanwhile, continues to consume large amounts of Russian natural gas, though Brussels has stated it wants to terminate all its contracts by 2027.

    As for the US itself, higher tariffs on Russian goods would have little impact – exports to the US totalled just $3bn in 2024, or 0.7 percent of Russia’s total exports.

    While fossil fuels now contribute less to Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) than pre-invasion, Moscow’s dependence on energy products remains high.

    Estimates vary, but fossil fuels still make up 55 percent of Russian export revenues and 16 percent of its GDP (roughly $280bn)

    That compares with 60 percent and 18 percent, respectively, before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 – a small drop.

    How much could Trump’s sanctions threat hurt Moscow?

    A sharp decline in Russian energy flows from secondary sanctions would almost certainly lead to higher global prices, particularly for natural gas.

    “The impact would probably be greater on natural gas prices than oil,” said Kieran Tompkins, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, in a note.

    He pointed out that “the oil market appears to have sufficient spare capacity to more or less offset a loss of Russian exports”, owing to untapped OPEC supplies.

    However, he pointed out that “knocking out half of Russia’s crude and petroleum exports [on the back of Trump’s threat] could reduce export revenues by $75bn or so.”

    In turn, Tompkins said that could induce a “fiscal crisis” in Russia, leading to “debt issuance ramping up, bond yields spiking and pressure for widespread fiscal tightening.”

    Looking ahead, Trump’s 50-day proposal will give Moscow some time to come up with counterproposals and delay the implementation of sanctions.

    But Trump will be hoping that the threat of sanctions will influence Putin to put an end to hostilities.

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  • Astronomers Discover Rare Distant Object in Sync with Neptune | Center for Astrophysics

    Cambridge, MA — A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian has discovered a rare object far beyond Neptune, from a class known as trans-Neptunian objects, that is moving in rhythm with the giant planet. This object, called 2020 VN40, is the first confirmed body that orbits the sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes.

    This discovery helps scientists understand how objects in the outer solar system behave and how they got there. It supports the idea that many distant objects are temporarily “caught” in Neptune’s gravity as they drift through space. 

    “This is a big step in understanding the outer solar system,” said Rosemary Pike, lead researcher from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. “It shows that even very distant regions influenced by Neptune can contain objects, and it gives us new clues about how the solar system evolved.”

    The finding was published this month in The Planetary Science Journal, a publication of the Planetary Science Institute. 

    The discovery was made by the Large inclination Distant Objects (LiDO) survey, which searched for unusual objects in the outer solar system. This survey used the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope for the main survey operations, and Gemini Observatory and Magellan Baade for additional observations. 

    The survey was designed to search for bodies with orbits that extend far above and below the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun, part of the outer solar system that hasn’t been well-studied. 

    “It has been fascinating to learn how many small bodies in the solar system exist on these very large, very tilted orbits,” said Dr. Samantha Lawler (University of Regina), a core member of the LiDO team. The object’s average distance is about 140 times farther from the sun than Earth and follows a very tilted path around the solar system. 

    What makes 2020 VN40 even more interesting is how it moves compared to Neptune.  Most objects with a simple ratio of the duration of their orbit compared to the duration of Neptune’s orbit always come closest to the sun when Neptune is far away. In contrast, 2020 VN40 comes closest to the sun when Neptune is very close by, if you look at their positions from above the solar system. The tilt of 2020 VN40’s orbit means that the objects are not actually close, because 2020 VN40 is actually far below the solar system- they only appear close when flattened onto a map.  All other known resonant trans-Neptunian objects orbit such that they avoid this alignment at their closest approach to the sun, even in the flattened view. 

    “This new motion is like finding a hidden rhythm in a song we thought we knew,” said Ruth Murray-Clay (University of California Santa Cruz), co-author of the study. “It could change how we think about the way distant objects move.”

    These findings suggest that highly tilted orbits can lead to new and unexpected types of motion.  The LiDO survey has already found over 140 distant objects, and more discoveries are expected from future surveys. With telescopes like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists hope to find many more objects like 2020 VN40.

    “This is just the beginning,” said Kathryn Volk of the Planetary Science Institute. “We’re opening a new window into the solar system’s past.”

    Resources

    The Gemini North telescope is one half of the International Gemini Observatory, which is funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab.

    DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/addd22

    https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/addd22

    About the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

    The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian is a collaboration between Harvard and the Smithsonian designed to ask—and ultimately answer—humanity’s greatest unresolved questions about the nature of the universe. The Center for Astrophysics is headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with research facilities across the U.S. and around the world.

    Media Contact:

    Christine Buckley

    Director of Communications

    Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

    christine.buckley@cfa.harvard.edu

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  • Form’s Smart Swim 2 goggles add heart rate tracking

    Form’s Smart Swim 2 goggles add heart rate tracking

    Nearly six years after introducing its original smart swim googles, Form has announced an upgraded version called the Smart Swim 2. The goggles carry forward the same features as the original, including a built-in 72 x 40-pixel display showing a swimmer’s various performance metrics. However, they’re now smaller and lighter, and while battery life is a little shorter, it’s because of new features like a digital compass and heart rate tracking.

    The Smart Swim 2 goggles are available starting today through Form’s online store for $279. The company also offers a Pro version for $329 with upgraded lenses made from Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 that are more scratch resistant.

    The display and small pod that hang off the side of the googles containing the rechargeable battery, optical heart rate sensor, and other electronics are now 15 percent smaller, according to Engadget, and can be worn on either side. Being able to see your heart rate in real time during a swim (in addition to metrics like distance, stroke count, and calories burned) is another new feature that will appeal to athletes and competitive swimmers.

    For those who prefer swimming in open bodies of water, the Smart Swim 2’s digital compass, which shows your current bearing on the goggle’s display, can help keep you swimming in a straight line or towards a specific destination without constantly having to break your stroke to check your progress. However, that SwimStraight feature is locked behind Form’s optional $9.99 per month Premium subscription, which also unlocks additional features that will appeal to athletes, such as guided workouts and training plans.

    As a result of the new features, battery life maxes out at up to 14 hours for the Smart Swim 2, while the original version offered up to 16 hours. But given the smaller design, which potentially makes the new version more comfortable to wear, that feels like a minor trade-off.

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