Ziad Rahbani, Lebanese composer and son of iconic singer Fayrouz, dies at 69
The death was confirmed by a person close to Rahbani who spoke on condition of anonymity. The cause of death was not immediately clear.
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CNN
9 minutes ago
- CNN
US used up about a quarter of its high-end missile interceptors during Israel-Iran war, exposing gap in supplies
The Middle East National security Asia North KoreaFacebookTweetLink Follow The United States blew through about a quarter of its supply of high-end THAAD missile interceptors during Israel's 12-day war with Iran in June, according to two sources familiar with the operation, thwarting attacks at a rate that vastly outpaces production. US forces countered Tehran's barrage of ballistic missiles by firing more than 100 THAADs (short for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) – and possibly as many as 150 – a significant portion of America's stockpile of the advanced air defense system, the sources said. The US has seven THAAD systems, and used two of them in Israel in the conflict. Using so many THAAD interceptors in such a short period exposed a gap in the US missile defense network and depleted a costly asset at a moment when American public support for Israeli defense has reached historic lows. Former US defense officials and missile experts told CNN that the rapid drawdown has also raised concerns about America's global security posture and ability to regenerate supplies at speed. Last year, the US produced only 11 new THAAD interceptors and is expected to receive just 12 more this fiscal year, according to the 2026 budget estimates from the Department of Defense. In response to questions regarding the US's THAAD stockpile and the expenditure of interceptors during the 12-day conflict, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said the US military 'is the strongest it has even been and has everything it needs to conduct any mission anywhere, anytime, all around the world. If you need further proof, look no further than Operation Midnight Hammer and the total obliteration of Iran's nuclear capabilities.' CNN reported that an early intelligence assessment determined the US' strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last month did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program and likely only set it back by months. The US administration dismissed the assessment, and the CIA later said it had evidence Iran's nuclear program was 'severely damaged.' A defense official declined to provide information on the THAAD inventory due to operational security concerns, but said the Defense Department 'remains postured to respond to any threat.' The number of THAADs spent in the 12-day war was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Despite the heavy use of THAADs during the 12-day war to help fend off Tehran's assault last month, dozens of Iranian missiles still struck Israel. THAAD is a mobile system that can engage and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere during their final phase of flight. Each battery is operated by 95 American soldiers, armed with six launchers, and 48 interceptors. The interceptors are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and cost roughly $12.7 million, according to the 2025 Missile Defense Agency budget. The US plans to acquire 37 THAAD interceptors next year, according to the 2026 Department of defense budget estimates, financed partially by the latest addition to President Donald Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful bill.' A defense official said the 2026 budget 'prioritizes funding in the defense industrial base, a core strategic asset that provides and sustains our military's technology, equipment, and supplies.' 'The budget includes an additional $1.3 billion for industrial based supply chain improvements, and an additional $2.5 billion for missiles and munitions production expansion,' the official said. 'The Department's role is to ensure that the President is armed with the best possible military options for any scenario – and all options remain on the table.' But experts and former defense officials warn that supplies need to be ramped up significantly to deal with the shortfall. 'It is important to recognize the level of commitment and the level of expenditure here in defense of Israel is significant,' said a missile defense expert who has been tracking the US government's expenditure. 'The reports about THAAD expenditure are concerning. This is not the sort of thing that the US can afford to continue to do on and on,' he added. 'It was a major commitment to our Israeli ally, but missile defense interceptor capacity is definitely a concern, and THAAD is a very scarce resource.' A senior retired US army officer who asked not to be named said around 25% of THAAD's total inventory was used by US forces in Israel participating in the war effort. 'The (Department of Defense) is looking at wartime stockage levels of critical munitions and attempting to significantly increase annual production capacity, an effort that is long overdue,' the source said. US interceptor stockpile concerns preceded the 12-day war, according to four former senior US defense officials who say that the problem is most acute in inventories of high-end interceptors that are a key part of deterrence against China. 'What I can say without giving any numbers is I was surprised at how low some of the levels of readiness were,' said one former defense official who left his post in the last year. 'Stockpiles are dropping. We need more. We need them faster than they are being built,' said the same ex-official. 'This is a concern. It was a concern during the Biden administration. I'm sure it's a concern now during the Trump administration,' one former senior Biden defense official said. 'Air defense is relevant in all of the major theaters right now. And there's not enough systems. There's not enough interceptors. There's not enough production and there are not enough people working on it,' said Mara Karlin, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities under Biden. 'You have the challenge of something being both incredibly relevant and also there's a dearth of them,' she added. There are nine active THAAD batteries globally, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The US military has seven of those and plans to have an eighth active by 2025, according to the Congressional Research Service. Data available in 2019 showed that five of the US' THAADs were stationed at bases in Texas, one in Guam and one in South Korea; by last year, the Pentagon had moved two of those batteries to the Middle East to protect Israel. Two others were delivered to the United Arab Emirates and have been used to intercept Houthi militant ballistic missiles. While most of Iran's missiles were downed by Israeli and US air defenses, experts, open-source data and video from the ground reviewed by CNN showed that dozens did manage to get through. Tehran's success rate rose as the war raged on, amounting to some of the worst damage Israel has seen in decades. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Iran fired over 500 long-range ballistic missiles, and it was able to intercept around 86% of those – with 36 Iranian missiles striking built-up areas. Major cities like Tel Aviv suffered extensive damage, whole apartment buildings were destroyed, sensitive military sites targeted, parts of the power grid were taken out and 29 people were killed. Israel's tax authority estimated in late June that the war would cost the country at least $1.8 billion in damage, but with claims still yet to be filed that number was expected to rise. Analysis conducted by DC-based think tank Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) estimated that THAADs – alongside Israel's Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors – downed 201 of Iran's 574 missiles, with 57 hitting populated areas. The report estimated that the US' THAAD system accounted for almost half of all interceptions, indicating that Israel's Arrow interceptor stockpiles were insufficient. Israel's Iron Dome system was designed to deflect shorter-range rockets than those being fired by Iran. 'After burning through a large portion of their available interceptors, the United States and Israel both face an urgent need to replenish stockpiles and sharply increase production rates,' Ari Cicurel, author of the report, wrote, estimating that it would take three to eight years to replenish at current production rates. According to data compiled by JINSA, interception rates lagged as the war wore on. Only 8% of Iranian missiles penetrated defenses in the first week of the war. That doubled to 16% in the second half of the conflict and eventually culminated at 25% on the final day of the war before the ceasefire. Analysts say there are several possible reasons for the trend, including an Iranian shift of focus from military targets to populated urban areas, where interception is less robust. Iran also fired more sophisticated missiles as the war progressed. '(Iran) increasingly employed more advanced systems,' said Mora Deitch, head of the data analytics center at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). 'These included newer missiles with multiple warheads or decoys, which may individually cause less damage but can overwhelm and saturate air defense systems.' Deitch also suggests that Israel may have deliberately relaxed its interception rate. 'Israel's air defense policy may have evolved over time to accommodate a protracted engagement with Iran,' said Deitch. 'What appears as a decline in interception effectiveness might instead reflect a deliberate shift in strategy rather than a technological shortfall.' Still missile defense analysts say they saw clear signs of air defense depletion. 'The presence of the THAAD battery in the first place suggests that the Israelis don't have a super deep interceptor magazine,' said Sam Lair, research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). Lair published analysis of interceptors seen in a series of social media video taken by a Jordanian photographer, Zaid Abbadi, from his rooftop in an Amman suburb as the missiles flew overhead. Lair counted 39 THAAD among 82 advanced interceptors in the sample, which consisted of sporadically recorded night-time recording. CNN was able to verify the THAAD tally from the videos. Over half a dozen experts say the number represents a very conservative baseline. Drawing on calculations about publicly available data on batteries, interceptor reloads, and the number of Iranian ballistic missiles fired, experts believe that the US military fired at least 80 THAAD interceptors. 'The 12-day war in June of this year essentially saw the first significant expenditure of THAAD interceptors,' said Timur Kadyshev, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. 'Israel was relatively successful in defending (with the US assistance) against unsophisticated Iranian missiles – at the cost of depleting available arsenals of interceptors.' The problem for the US is especially acute in the Indo-Pacific where China has tried to keep the US navy at arm's length, experts say. 'From a narrowly military standpoint, the Chinese are absolutely the winners in that these last almost two years in the Middle East have seen the US expend pretty substantial amounts of capabilities that the American defense industrial base will find pretty hard to replace,' said Sidharth Kaushal, senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute. Ex-defense officials said dwindling defensive capabilities in the Indo-Pacific was a growing concern for the former administration of President Joe Biden as they used the US stockpile to battle Yemen's Houthi rebels. 'God forbid there should be a conflict in the Pacific, for example, then it really will put a huge strain our missile capacity and the ability for our military to have the munitions necessary to keep up,' said one former senior Biden administration defense official with direct knowledge of the US campaign against the Houthis. 'You have to make choices,' said Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. 'The Biden administration also should have thought about these trade-offs, but they were able to shrug them off because it was early in these wars… stockpiles were still deep enough that they could turn a blind eye to it.' 'But the Trump administration now is getting to a point where they're not going to be able to ignore the trade-offs.' CNN's Haley Britzky contributed to this report.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
The old dude on the rad ride
Due to such things as motion sickness, dizziness, fear of heights, lack of energy, fear of fainting, weak stomach, bad knees, bad back, just ate lunch and various other age-induced ailments/excuses, extreme roller coaster riding trends toward people who say 'like' and 'bro' and 'dude' a lot. Then there's Haroutioun Arslanian. Just this summer, he's ridden the Cannibal roller coaster — Lagoon Amusement Park's marquee thrill ride with its 140-foot drop, speeds up to 70 mph, three inverted loops and 4.2 G-forces comparable to a NASCAR driver in a banked turn — well over 100 times. He's 89. Haroutioun (it's pronounced Hah-roo-chewn) is the guy who gets off Cannibal and races the 14-year olds back to the start to go again. One day he did that 14 times, his personal record. Ask him why he does it — like I did recently at his son-in-law Dave Nash's auto dealership in North Salt Lake — and first he gives you a look that says 'isn't it obvious?' before answering: 'Because it's fun.' Then he adds, 'It makes you feel young.' Haroutioun didn't grow up riding roller coasters. An Armenian by ethnicity, he was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. He remembers the Nazis during World War II dropping bombs on a French colony not far from the Catholic school he attended and the apartment building where his family lived on the sixth floor. He was a soccer player, a cyclist, a ballroom dancer and played the harmonica — and a trained machinist. In 1967 he, his wife, Manoushag, and their two sons emigrated to America, following Manoushag's parents who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Utah. Haroutioun's life, not unlike a roller coaster, has been one of perpetual motion. He worked as a machinist until he was 61 and Manoushag, who everyone called Violet, was diagnosed with MLS. He retired and cared for her until her death, then remarried and served an 18-month Latter-Day Saint senior mission in the Philippines. Since his second wife passed he has continued to work two days a week at his son-in-law's car dealership and one day a week as a worker at the Jordan River Latter-day Saint temple (something he's done for 25 years). He also goes to the gym every day, except Sunday, without fail (he still curls 30-pound dumbbells), and watches Hallmark movies on television in the evenings (he calls them 'Cinderella movies.') No one has ever called this man lackadaisical. It was Haroutioun's daughter Liza, who was born in America, who turned her dad into a Cannibal legend, albeit inadvertently. Her initial objective was to get him to buy a season pass to Lagoon because everyone in the family was buying one this year, including several grandkids who had just moved back. At first he declined. 'I've been to Lagoon, it's not that big of a deal,' he told her. This assessment was based on family trips years ago. 'We used to go a lot, but my dad was always married,' explains Lisa. 'First there was my mom, and she didn't like to ride any of those rides. And then my mom passed away and he married again, and she didn't like to ride any of those rides either. So if he came to Lagoon with us, he would just hang out with them and do like the train or whatever.' No one, least of all Haroutioun, realized the latent roller coaster champion hidden within. It was the senior rate that swung the deal. 'We were looking at the season pass prices and realized there's a senior discount,' says Liza, 'It's like $57 for a season pass.' 'Seriously, $57?' said Haroutioun, 'I'm in.' When her dad mentioned he'd like to try the roller coasters, Liza responded, 'I don't know, Dad. I don't know if you're going to like it.' She was right. He didn't like it. He loved it. As the summer months have passed, the old dude on the rad ride has become something of a local sensation. More often than not, teenagers will give him fist bumps as he makes his loops. Occasionally, he'll get asked what keeps him so energetic, healthy and young. What's his secret? 'First, be happy,' he says. 'Don't worry about money. Money comes and goes. Just be happy and stay healthy and eat the right thing and don't you ever smoke or drink. If somebody says one drink, one cigarette is OK, no, it's not OK. One cigarette, one nail for your coffin.' His son-in-law Dave — it was Dave who sent the Deseret News an email about Haroutioun titled 'My amazing father in law' — might add one more quality to the formula. 'He doesn't stand still. He's definitely not afraid to try new things,' he wrote. 'The roller coaster is just one of those new things.' Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Gwyneth Paltrow Biographer Estimates She Was Paid Millions for Astronomer Spokesperson Deal
Gwyneth Paltrow was likely paid in the 'millions' for her role as the 'temporary spokesperson' for tech company Astronomer, according to her biographer. Amy Odell, who recently authored the book Gwyneth about the film star, claimed via Instagram on Saturday, July 26, that she has 'exclusive information' regarding Paltrow's 'past endorsement deals,' most specifically how much she has earned for each partnership. The Sliding Doors star 'appeared at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia for a total of $1.6 million,' Odell said in the video. 'She attended a launch party for Skims in late 2023 to promote their Swarovski collaboration for $250,000.' Odell continued, 'Gwyneth had a bigger deal with Swarovski where she would earn $1.25 million in exchange for wearing Swarovski a certain number of times. She also received millions for endorsing other brands, like Copper Fit.' Gwyneth Paltrow Is Staying Unbothered Ahead of New Biography About Her Life, Source Says Us Weekly has reached out to Paltrow for comment. Astronomer and Paltrow shared videos via social media announcing her momentary appointment on Friday, July 25. 'Hi, I'm Gwyneth Paltrow. I've been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300+ employees at Astronomer,' Paltrow, 52, explained. 'Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.' Though Paltrow does not directly address the cheating scandal that rocked the tech company after former CEO Andy Byron and former chief people officer Kristen Cabot were caught snuggled up together live on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert — despite being married to other people — she and the brand had a little fun with it. 'Yes, Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow, unifying the experience of running data ML and AI pipelines at scale. We've been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in date workflow automation,' Paltrow said in response to a so-called 'question' from followers of the company. Astronomer CEO Andy Byron's Net Worth After Viral Kiss Cam Video at Coldplay Concert The words, 'How is your social team holding…' were then written out on the screen before the camera switched back to the actress. 'Yes! There is still room available at our Beyond Analytics Event in September. We will now be returning to what we do best: Delivering game-changing results for our customers,' Paltrow said, before she concluded, 'Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.' Astronomer's new CEO, Pete DeJoy, recently addressed the unprecedented attention the company has received since the now-viral scandal, which has been commented on by late night hosts, celebrities and even politicians. "The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name,' DeJoy wrote via LinkedIn on Monday, July 21. 'At Astronomer we have never shied away from challenges; a near-decade of building this business has tested us time and time again, and each time we've emerged stronger. From starting a software company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to keeping the lights on through the collapse of the bank that held all our cash, to scaling from 30 to 300 people during a global pandemic that demanded we do it all without ever being in the same room. And yet, we're still here.' Solve the daily Crossword
