US officials tell news agencies that Israel has started attacking sites in Iran as blasts reported in Tehran.
Several explosions have been reported in and around Iran’s capital Tehran, according to the state-run news agency Nour News.
“Loud explosions are being heard in different locations of the capital Tehran,” it said in a TV report, adding that Iran’s air defence system is on full alert and all flights at Iman Khomeini airport have been suspended.
While the Israeli military is yet to release an official public statement on the attack, it has reportedly confirmed to the Times of Israel newspaper that it has “launched an aerial campaign against Iran’s nuclear programme”.
The operation, dubbed “Nation of Lions”, has seen Israeli fighter jets bomb dozens of targets related to Iran’s nuclear programme and other military facilities, the outlet reported.
The Israeli military told the outlet that Iran has enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear bombs within days and it needed to act against this “imminent threat”.
Sirens have sounded across Israel as a preemptive warning as Israeli authorities prepare for a potential Iranian response. In a post on X, the Israeli military announced that Israel’s civil and public security guidelines had been changed to “essential activity” as of 03:00 local time (00:00 GMT).
“The guidelines include: a ban on educational activities, gatherings, and workplaces, except for essential businesses,” it said.
Israel’s Transportation Ministry has confirmed that it has also closed the country’s airspace for arrivals and departures until further notice.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late on Thursday that the United States was not involved in the strikes, as he urged Iran not to target American interests or personnel in the region.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said in a statement.
“Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” he added.
Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said on Wednesday his country would target US military bases in the region if nuclear talks break down and conflict breaks out with the United States.
“Some officials on the other side threaten conflict if negotiations don’t come to fruition. If a conflict is imposed on us … all US bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,” Nasirzadeh told reporters.
Washington and Tehran have held five rounds of talks since April as Trump seeks an agreement that would place constraints on Iran’s uranium enrichment.
Al Jazeera correspondent Alan Fisher said developments over recent days indicated that US President Donald Trump “was told that there was going to be some sort of strike”.
“[Just] 24 hours ago the United States announced that it was going to start moving non-essential personnel out of the embassy in Baghdad [in Iraq] and also recommended that others in embassies around the region could also leave if they wish,” he said.
Fisher said that President Trump did not “want Iran to get a nuclear weapon”, but he was “hoping” that nuclear talks with Tehran would be able to avert a conflict.
“The big question now of course is how the United States reacts to any response from Iran. If they side with Israel that suggests that the nuclear talks are done,” Fisher said.
“Steve Witkoff still intends to hold another meeting with the Iranians at the weekend. Of course it’ll be up to the Iranians to decide whether or not they want to go,” he added.
Video shows a Secret Service agent on Noem’s security detail grabbing the California senator by his jacket and shoving him from the room as he tried to speak up during the DHS secretary’s event. Padilla interrupted the news conference after Noem delivered a particularly pointed line, saying federal authorities were not going away but planned to stay and increase operations to “liberate” the city from its “socialist” leadership.
“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he shouted in a halting voice.
Scuffling with officers outside the room, he can be heard bellowing, “Hands off!” He is later seen on his knees and then pushed to the ground and handcuffed in a hallway, with several officers atop him.
The shocking scene of a U.S. senator being aggressively removed from a Cabinet secretary’s news conference prompted immediate outrage from his Democratic colleagues. Images and video of the scuffle ricocheted through the halls of Congress, where stunned Democrats demanded an immediate investigation and characterized the episode as another in a line of mounting threats to democracy by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said what he saw “sickened my stomach.”
“We need immediate answers to what the hell went on,” the New York senator said from the Senate floor. “It’s despicable, it’s disgusting, it’s so un-American.”
In a statement, DHS said that Padilla “chose disrespectful political theater” and that Secret Service “thought he was an attacker.” The statement claimed erroneously that Padilla did not identify himself — he did, as he was being pushed from the room.
“Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” the statement said, adding that “officers acted appropriately.”
The fracas in Los Angeles came just days after Democratic U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted on federal charges alleging she assaulted and interfered with immigration officers outside a detention center in New Jersey while Newark’s mayor was being arrested after he tried to join a congressional oversight visit at the facility. Democrats have framed the charges as intimidation efforts by the Trump administration.
It also follows days of rising tension between Trump and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the federal military intervention in California. In a speech earlier this week, the governor warned that “democracy is under assault before our eyes.”
Emerging afterward, Padilla said he was removed while demanding answers about the Trump administration’s “increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions.” He said he and his colleagues had received little to no response to their questions in recent weeks, so he attended the briefing for more information.
“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question … I can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community, and throughout California and throughout the country,” he said.
Noem told Fox LA afterward that she had a “great” conversation with Padilla after the scuffle, but called his approach “something that I don’t think was appropriate at all.”
The White House accused Padilla of grandstanding.
“Padilla didn’t want answers; he wanted attention,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “It’s telling that Democrats are more riled up about Padilla than they are about the violent riots and assaults on law enforcement in LA.”
Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico, has been a harsh Trump critic and his mass deportations agenda. In a social media post, he said of recent federal immigration raids in Los Angeles, “Trump isn’t targeting criminals in his mass deportation agenda, he is terrorizing communities, breaking apart families and putting American citizens in harm’s way.”
Padilla in 2021 became the state’s first Latino U.S. senator when he was selected by Newsom to fill Kamala Harris’ Senate seat after she was elected vice president. At the time, Padilla was the state’s chief elections officer.
Harris wrote in a social media post Thursday that Padilla “was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this administration’s actions in Southern California.” She called his forceful removal “a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”
Democratic senators quickly gathered in the chamber, denouncing the treatment of their colleague — a well-liked and respected senator — and urged Americans to understand what was happening.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Trump is making this country “look more and more like a fascist state.”
“Will any Republican senator speak up for our democracy?” Warren pleaded.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., called on Noem to resign, saying that there was no justification for Padilla’s treatment and that the Trump administration needed to be held accountable.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused Padilla of “charging” Noem and indicated that the behavior “rises to the level of a censure.”
“My view is it was wildly inappropriate,” Johnson, a Trump ally, told reporters outside the House chamber as Democrats walking past shouted over him, “That’s a lie!”
“A sitting member of Congress should not act like that,” Johnson said, loudly speaking over reporters’ questions. “It’s beneath a member of Congress. It’s beneath the U.S. senator.”
Senate Republican leader John Thune said he has spoken to Padilla and is trying to reach Noem but hasn’t yet connected with her.
“We want to get the full scope of what happened and do what we would do in any incident like this involving a senator and try to gather all the relevant information,” the South Dakota senator said.
The No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, said that he was unaware of what happened but that Padilla should have been at work in Washington.
The stark incident comes as Congress faces increasing episodes of encroachment on its authority. As a coequal branch of the U.S. government, the Trump administration is exerting its executive powers in untested ways.
As part of their work in Congress, lawmakers are responsible for providing oversight of the administration, its agencies and actions.
Several senators and representatives have been exercising their oversight roles by surveying the treatment of immigrants and others being detained as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation.
From the steps of the U.S. Capitol, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said what happened to Padilla “was un-American” and those involved must be held accountable.
“This is not going to end until there is accountability and until the Trump administration changes its behavior,” he said.
Almost all those on board an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick Airport that crashed shortly after take-off in western India have died, the airline has confirmed.
There were 242 passengers and crew on board the plane, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.
Officials earlier said some local people would also have died, given the populated area of Ahmedabad where the plane came down.
Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa were all on board the flight.
A statement from Gloucester Muslim Society said it passed on its “most sincere and deepest condolences”.
“No words can truly ease the pain of such a profound loss, but we pray that the family may find solace in the tremendous outpouring of compassion and solidarity from communities across the world.
“May their cherished memories provide comfort, and may they rest in eternal peace.”
Adam and Hasina Taju, and their son-in-law Altafhusen Patel
Adam Taju, 72, and his wife Hasina, 70, were flying back from Ahmedabad with their 51-year-old son-in-law, Altafhusen Patel. All three lived in London.
The couple’s granddaughter, Ammaarah Taju, spoke of her shock and disbelief at her parents home in Blackburn.
She said her father, Altaf Taju, had driven to London to be with his sister as they received updates about the crash from Air India and government officials.
Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek
Instagram
Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek posted an Instagram story before their flight
Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, a married British couple, ran a spiritual wellness centre in London.
They posted on Instagram earlier on Thursday saying they were about to board the flight from Ahmedabad airport.
In the video, they were seen laughing and joking with each other about their trip to India.
Syed family
Facebook
Javed Syed and Mariam Syed were on the flight with their two children
Also on the plane were Javed Syed and his wife Mariam, from west London.
They were been onboard with their two young children.
Mrs Syed worked at Harrods and Mr Syed worked at a west London hotel.
Ajay Kumar Ramesh
Ajay Kumar Ramesh was on the flight, sat alongside his brother, the British surviving passenger Vishwashkumar Ramesh.
His cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC that Vishwashkumar Ramesh had called his family to say he was “fine”, but he did not know the whereabouts of his brother.
Vijay Rupani
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of India’s Gujarat state, was killed in the crash, the country’s civil aviation minister told reporters.
Rupani served as the chief minister of the western Indian state from 2016-21.
He was a member of the governing BJP party.
Singson
Singson was a member of the cabin crew on board Air India flight 171, her family said.
Outside the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, her cousin, T. Thanglingo Haokip, told the BBC he was trying to get information about her but was unsuccessful.
He added that Singson had a mother and brother who were “wholly dependent on her” as she “was the only breadwinner” in her family.
September Management founder Jonathan Dickins participated in a rare on-stage interview at SXSW London on Friday (June 6).
Speaking with broadcaster Edith Bowman, Dickins reflected on his 20-year journey from being “a pretty average A&R guy at a major record company” to managing some of the biggest artists in the world – including superstar Adele.
The conversation spanned the work behind constructing a temporary stadium in Munich for Adele’s record-breaking residency to nurturing long-term careers of September Management artists like Jamie T, among others.
MBW had a front row seat. Here are five things we learned…
1. Long-term artist development trumps viral moments every time
Dickins is adamant that sustainable success comes from patient career building rather than chasing social media trends or viral moments. He emphasized this philosophy using various examples of artists who have developed over time.
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done [with artists] like Jamie T. The last album [The Theory of Whatever ] was his first No.1 album [in the UK]. He’s 37 years old, and, you know, he came out at the same time [as] the Klaxons and the Kooks.
“We’ve just continued to grow, and that culminated in [Jamie T] selling 35,000 tickets at Finsbury Park two years ago.”
But Dickins believes the industry is finally embracing “long-term thinking” when it comes to artist development.
“I think there’s a new way of thinking where it isn’t necessarily like, it has all got to happen on the first record. And long may that continue, because we as a business, really need to concentrate more and more [on] development of artists. Quick fixes usually just give short-term results.”
In the wider industry, he pointed to artists like Sleep Token, Mitski and Turnstile as having developed long-term and finding success. “I would put my money on Turnstile being the next really big alternative rock [band], 15 years in the making,” he said.
“Sleep Token have been putting music out since 2016.” Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia (RCA) recently hit No.1 on the US album chart.
“Long-term thinking, long-term planning, and long-term strategies are key,” added Dickins.
2. Modern management is all about teamwork and self-sufficiency
Asked about what’s changed the most in management over the past 20 years, Dickins said: “When we look back at [the history] management, you always look at individuals. It’s like, Brian Epstein or Jon Landau, always men by the way, which is bollocks. There are brilliant managers [who are]. women out there. But I don’t think it’s about the individual [managers] anymore.
“Management is a team, and in a weird way, what we’re trying to build are services that kind of mirror a small record company. We build self-sufficiency.”
He explained that September Management has developed extensive in-house capabilities:
“What I mean by self-sufficiency is that we have a place where people can record. We have a facility where people can put music out as a record label. And more importantly, we have digital [capabilities] in-house. And that’s been very valuable.”
This approach allows the company to maintain control and quality: “[The September team] have already added value to that, and they almost, in a way, supply some of the functions that you would expect to find at a social media agency or a record company.
“It’s not about individuals. It’s really about teams and having resources in-house, which means that you can be self-sufficient and not rely on other people.”
3. The Munich stadium project set new standards for bespoke artist experiences
Adele’s 10-night stadium residency in Munich in August 2024 represented a completely new model for touring, one that Dickins describes as “the single biggest grossing show by a female artist in history for one city.”
The event attracted over 730,000 fans, making it the highest-attendance concert residency outside of Las Vegas, according toLive Nation and Ticketmaster.
“No one’s done anything like it,” said Dickens. “I just don’t want to be generic. I want us to try new things. I don’t just want to be doing the same shit as everyone else, playing the same venues.”
The project involved constructing a purpose-built venue in the car park of the Messe in Munich, and even earned a Guinness World Record for the “Largest Continuous Outdoor LED Screen.”
“As soon as people entered the walkway into the stadium, it [was] a reflection on Adele,” Dickins explained. “So you had two pressures. You had the pressure of building the show, like you do with any tour. Then you had the pressure of building the surroundings.”
The venue operated more like a festival than a traditional concert, as Dickins explained: “She went on about 8:15 pm, for probably a two-hour show, but we had the license in the venue until 1 am.
“At 1 am in the morning, there were 22,000 people in there, still drinking, hanging out… We [created] an environment where people [experienced] a mini festival. It was a festival for one artist.”
The approach created two distinct experiences for Adele: “We had the Munich show, which [was] so big and huge, and then we [had] the complete antithesis of that with Las Vegas, which was … small and intimate, playing a room of, I think, 4,000 people. And then the other side of that was building this stadium and having 80,000 people in it every night.”
Credit: S_Photo / Shutterstock
4. Historical streaming deals are creating an unfair system for some artists
Dickins was asked about how the industry has changed for artists, and the conversations he’s having with artists in terms of fighting for them in the music business. He was particularly critical of how pre-streaming record deals are being treated in the current landscape.
“If you’re in a deal in the UK music business [signed in around ] 2010, just prior to streaming and you weren’t in the position to be able to renegotiate that deal, you are getting paid a fucking slave rate for historical catalog,” he said.
“Artists [who signed a deal] in 2006, 2007, I don’t think it’s uncommon to see those artists getting paid a royalty of 14% on streaming.
Asked by Bowman what can be done for artists in that situation, Dickens explained: “You’re talking about times when every deal was in perpetuity of contract. So there’s not much you can do.”
He explained how this creates a profitable situation for labels at artists’ expense: “New music becomes a loss leader. Everybody’s really holding on to these historical [contracts], because there’s a lot of money to be made in streaming.
“As an artist gets bigger, no one’s invested in the catalog. It’s just sitting there, and they’re spending no money on marketing, and those streaming numbers are just hitting the bottom line. So it’s pure profit, and when that’s being shared, I think [at] a really poor rate [with] those artists [who signed deals] at the time, I think it’s not right.
“That’s the problem for artists pre-streaming; deals before 2011, 2012. Since then, there’s much more flexibility for artists.”
Elsewhere, Dickens highlighted the importance for artists to focus on making good music:
“I believe that, when you have a successful business with an artist, the recorded part of it could end up being a little bit like special projects. But music is central to everything.
“Without the music, it doesn’t drive all these other areas. You’ve got to be focused on making great music, but at the same time, it’s definitely important to look at growing outside the areas of the traditional verticals.”
5. Relevance is about combining youth and experience, not choosing between them.
For Dickins, staying relevant in the music industry requires embracing both fresh perspectives and accumulated wisdom.
“I’ve always been neither disrespectful of experience nor disrespectful of youth, because they both offer different things.
“It’s mind-blowing to me how internet savvy the younger generation are [compared] to someone of my age. It’s important as well that you’re always [exploring] new models and new things, because the last thing you want is your artist to get old with you.”
Dickins added: “I’m always interested in people who are designing or producing shows or making music in terms of production, or beat makers. It’s really important as a company that we’re on top of things.”
But experience proves crucial when success arrives: “Experience comes in [useful] when artists become a bit more successful. People lose their minds when it blows up. They get gassed up. And then when it comes to [the] real business, which is touring, and some of the stuff around that, and the costs, if you don’t get a bunch of that right, artists can lose fortunes. And that’s where I think experience comes in.
“I think it’s really about having a blend of youth and experience. I don’t think one works without the other. I always want to try to get that blend as good as we possibly can.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Dickins explained that he’s “not worried” about the company getting any bigger than it is today.
“I’m proud that the company is 100% independent,” he said. “I’m really happy about that. There’s no private equity, there’s no big corporate funding.
“I’ve never wanted to be a management supermarket. I’ve always wanted to get better, rather than bigger.”Music Business Worldwide
An Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew members crashed in Ahmedabad, India, shortly after taking off for London Gatwick Airport on Thursday, the airline said.
Sources: Aerial image by Airbus via Google Earth; Flight data by Flightradar24
Note: All times shown are local.
Video of the incident shot from a nearby rooftop and verified by The New York Times shows the plane steadily descending. A large explosion follows.
Source: Newsflare, via Associated Press
The New York Times
Source: Newsflare, via Associated Press
The New York Times
The plane crashed into the campus of a medical college, killing at least five students, according to Minakshi Parikh, the college’s dean. It damaged multiple dormitories and a dining hall. The plane’s tail was lodged in the dining hall building, where many students had fled, some leaving their meals behind.
Sources: Aerial image by Airbus via Google Earth. Photos by Reuters.
The plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. There have been no fatal crashes recorded for the aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
A US senator was forcibly removed and handcuffed by federal agents at a press conference held by homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles on Thursday, in a dramatic escalation of tensions in California.
US Secret Service agents assigned to Noem’s security detail pushed Alex Padilla, the Democratic senator from California, from the room as Noem spoke to reporters at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles.
Video of the altercation showed federal agents wrestling Padilla to the ground outside the room and handcuffing him.
Padilla later told reporters outside the federal building that he was “almost immediately forcibly removed from the room” after he began to ask Noem a question.
“I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed. I was not arrested,” he said.
“I will say this: if this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question . . . you can only imagine what they are doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day labourers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” Padilla added. “We will hold this administration accountable.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Padilla of “disrespectful political theatre” and “incredibly aggressive behaviour”.
She said in a series of posts to X that the senator had “interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem”.
“Mr Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” McLaughlin said. “Secret Service thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
Video footage showed Padilla interrupting the press conference and saying, “My name is Senator Alex Padilla, and I have questions for the secretary,” as he was pushed out of the room.
The FBI later issued a statement saying Padilla was removed by Secret Service agents “when he became disruptive while formal remarks were being delivered”. The FBI said the agents were assisted by FBI police.
“Senator Padilla did not identify himself and was not wearing his senate security pin,” the FBI added. “Senator Padilla was subsequently positively identified and released.”
The altercation involving a member of Congress and federal agents marked a new escalation after days of tensions in Los Angeles, where the Trump administration has ordered the deployment of National Guard troops and US Marines to help in an anti-immigration crackdown.
Protests have sprung up in Los Angeles and across the country in opposition to the White House’s efforts to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday: “I just saw something that sickened my stomach, the manhandling of a United States senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on.”
Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat, added: “This is the stuff of dictatorships.”
US President Donald Trump did not immediately respond to the incident. But White House communications director Steven Cheung said the video footage “shows the public what a complete lunatic Padilla is by rushing towards Secretary Noem and disturbing the informative press conference”.
Noem, who was addressing events in the city, told reporters at the press conference that Padilla’s actions were inappropriate.
“I don’t even know the senator,” she said, adding she would “have a conversation with him and visit and find out, really, what his concerns were”.
“I think everybody in America would have to agree that that wasn’t appropriate, that if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation.”
The homeland security department later said Noem and Padilla met for 15 minutes after the incident.
Abduweli Ayup has not been back to Kashgar since 2015, and his chances of doing so anytime soon seem slim. The Chinese government has canceled his passport, he said.
Sometimes he watches videos on YouTube of his hometown. They do not make him feel better. It feels compulsive, he said, “like eating bad food.”
“You know, you want to keep eating it, but afterward your stomach feels upset,” he added. As he watched one video while speaking with a BuzzFeed News reporter, Ayup pointed to a giant sculpture of a traditional stringed instrument by the gates of the city. “See that, that’s just for tourists,” he said.
The city is now full of these sorts of photogenic additions. There are giant teapots at the main junction near the city gate. Elsewhere, murals show maps of Xinjiang or carry slogans such as “Xinjiang Impressions” where visitors stop to take holiday snaps. A new entrance has been added to the metalwork market, with a large sign featuring silhouetted figures hammering iron. The anvil statue at the corner now comes with projection-mapped fire, as well as sparks and a piped soundtrack of metal being struck. Camel rides are available too.
In the videos he has seen, Ayup has also noticed footage of people dancing while wearing traditional Uyghur dress — costumes that they might have worn more than a century ago. Figures like these can be seen on Chinese state television and at the country’s annual rubber-stamp parliamentary session. “Nobody would wear that clothing anymore unless it was for show,” Ayup said.
Tourism is now booming in Xinjiang. Last year, even as global numbers fell as a consequence of the pandemic, 190 million tourists visited the region — more than a 20% increase from the previous year. Revenue increased by 43%. As part of its “Xinjiang is a wonderful land” campaign, the Chinese government has produced English-language videos and held events to promote a vision of the region as peaceful, newly prosperous, and full of dramatic landscapes and rich culture.
Chinese state media has portrayed this as an economic growth engine for Xinjiang natives, too. One article described how a former camp detainee named Aliye Ablimit had, upon her release, received hospitality training. “After graduation, I became a tour guide for Kashgar Ancient City,” Ablimit said, according to the article. “And later, I turned my home into a Bed and Breakfast. Tourists love my house very much because of its Uygur style. All the rooms are fully booked these days. Now I have a monthly income of about 50,000 yuan,” or about $7,475.
The facade holds up less well with Kashgar’s mosques. Many of the smaller neighborhood mosques appear to be out of use, their wooden doors damaged and padlocked shut — and others have been demolished completely or converted to other uses, including cafés and public toilets.
Inside the Id Kah mosque, many of the cameras, including inside the prayer halls, have disappeared. But as might be expected given the past five years, many of the worshippers have disappeared too, down from 4,000–5,000 at Friday prayers in 2011 to just 800 or so today.
The mosque’s imam, Mamat Juma, acknowledged as much in an interview with a vlogger who often produces videos that support Chinese government narratives, posted in April 2021. Speaking through a translator, he is at pains to point out that not all Uyghurs are Muslims and to diminish the role of the religion in Uyghur culture. “I really worry that the number of believers will decrease,” he said, “but that shouldn’t be a reason to force them to pray here.” ●
MAX Field Hockey is excited to announce the official launch of a brand new Player Profile and Data System! This project is something that has been in the works for years and we are thrilled to finally make it live and share it with the field hockey community. MAX Field Hockey’s previous player profiles, college commitments and data were all static content. Our new system connects all of that and enhances the access to all of the content we host on MAX Field Hockey.
Player Profiles We are making a complete switch to these new Player Profiles. We will leave up the old player profiles for a couple of months to allow players to pull information from those to their new profiles. We also don’t want to switch immediately in the middle of a high recruiting season in case players have linked to and are relying on the old profiles in their communications with college coaches.
We already moved 1,200+ player profiles into the new system to ensure the existing data carries over. Any player who reported a college commitment, is in the player rankings, received a MAXFH High School award, participated in the Top 150 or Top 100 event, is on a Team USA Indoor or Outdoor National Team, or is a Longstreth Ambassador has already been moved over to the new system. We did not pull the detailed profile content you may have had from the High School, Club, USA Field Hockey, Other sections. You will need to shift those over if you are interested in keeping them on your profile.
To find out if you are already in the new system, please go to thePlayer Search and search for your name. If it is in there, please email admin@maxfieldhockey.com and we will send you a start-up account login. This will not be the same login you used with the old system. Please do NOT create a new account if you are already in the system. We have the awards, player rankings, commitments, etc. tagged to your specific name/account and that will not carry over to a new account.
If you are not in the new system, please go to the Create Profile page and follow the instructions to create a new player profile.
The information contained in the MAX Field Hockey Trophy Case is all verified awards by MAX Field Hockey and include all of our awards and player rankings.
Click around the new system and see how all of the content is now connected. The way this is setup is already helping us with our own content. We have High School National Invitational results history entered in for High Schools and can now look back at who teams have already played and how they did when we are scheduling this upcoming year’s event. When we go to work on Preseason High School Rankings this summer, we will be able to see who is graduating and who is returning for each school and factor that into our rankings. This will all be huge for our next round of Player Rankings for the Classes of 2028 & 2029 at the beginning of 2026.
This is only stage 1 of this project!
Next up:
-Linking the “MAX Field Hockey Trophy Case” verified honors to the features on the site -Adding college commitment share images to athlete’s player profiles -Make it mobile friendly (currently it is functioning well on a desktop/laptop) -Adding major High School postseason championships to the High School pages -Adding club logos and more info to the club pages -Adding more college info to the college pages
The possibilities are endless and we look forward to expanding the content contained in the system and it’s performance moving forward.
If you have any questions, please email us at admin@maxfieldhockey.com
XGIMI has updated its funky portable projector line to include a laser edition. The battery-powered MoGo 4 has been “engineered to resonate with tech-savvy Millennials, Gen Z and Gen A” though there’s no reason old coots like me can’t join the portable laser party.
“We saw an opportunity to reinvent what a portable projector could be – not just for watching, but for setting a mood, creating a space, even transforming a selfie,” said Apollo Zhong, CEO of XGIMI. “The MoGo 4 Series isn’t just portable – it’s expressive. While others shrink projectors, we added more: filters, speakers, and design. It lives in your bag, but also in your vibe.”
At the heart of the tubular entertainment hub is a triple-laser light source that gives red, green and blue colors their own laser, which blend together before streaming through the optics. Though this only translates to the projector putting out 550 ISO lumens, there is 110% coverage of the BT.2020 color gamut and 1,000:1 native contrast for “exceptional clarity, vibrancy and depth.”
A 360-degree tilt stand and autofocus plus auto keystone correction should make for a relatively easy setup
XGIMI
Its 1080p DLP projection engine with a 0.23-inch DMD chip can reportedly throw visuals at up to 200 diagonal inches, but 120 inches is the recommended maximum, and there’s support for HDR10 content. Autofocus and auto keystone correction should make setup relatively painless too.
The MoGo 4 Laser boasts a built-in 71.28-Wh battery that’s reckoned good for up to 2.5 hours of watching in eco mode or 6 hours of rocking in Bluetooth speaker mode. Video play can be increased to 5 hours with the optional 20,000-mAh PowerBase stand, or a 65-W powerbank can be plugged in if you want to keep things compact and portable.
Wi-Fi 5 is cooked in, while Google TV serves up streaming entertainment, plus there’s ARC-supported HDMI for cabling to a source. A 12-watt dual-speaker Dolby sound system courtesy of Harman Kardon rocks the soundtrack. And there’s an IR mini remote for quick control as well as a backlit BT remote for more control options.
Setting the mood with a Sunset filter
XGIMI
Beyond movie entertainment, the projector also ships with four magnetic filters that can be popped in front of the lens to help set the mood, with the wave of a hand switching between different modes. The main unit is attached to a transparent tilt base that can disperse a little of the projector’s laser light when docked, and there’s a buckle lanyard for between-use transport.
The MoGo 4 Laser edition measures 8.2 x 3.8 x 3.8 in (207.6 x 96.5 x 96.5 mm) and tips the scales at 2.9 lb (1.32 kg). It’s available from today for US$799, but can be bundled with a PowerBase stand and 70-inch outdoor screen for an extra hundred bucks. For the next month, XGIMI is also running a 10% off launch promotion.
If LED will do you, then a MoGo 4 model putting out 450 ISO lumens and coming with one ambient filter will set you back $499, or $549 with the PowerBase.
