In a conversation with Tina Brown in London, the super-agent discussed his memoirs, why the UFC was his hardest deal and how live sports can provide "common ground" in a politically divided world.
O empresário ítalo-americano Paolo Zampolli, amigo de longa data de Donald Trump que atuava como enviado especial dos Estados Unidos para parcerias globais, deixou o governo americano após uma disputa interna exposta pelo site Politico e acusou o vice-secretário de Estado, Christopher Landau, de vazar informações à imprensa.
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O casal Victor Arce, 65 anos de idade, e Morelba Margarida Aquilar, 64 anos, vivem no Brasil há um ano com sua filha. Vindos da Venezuela, eles hoje buscam uma maneira de encontrar um emprego.
Na Venezuela, ele era marceneiro profissional, mas teve que vir para o Brasil por causa de um problema de saúde de sua esposa. E enquanto a oportunidade de emprego não aparece, eles vão vendendo artesanato.
“Esse país é muito bom e encantador, tanto de pessoas quanto de material científico e educativo. Minha esposa tem um problema de saúde e o tratamento venezuelano era muito custoso. E aqui, em dois meses, ela conseguiu atendimento e resolveram o problema”, disse.
Para buscar uma oportunidade melhor de vida no Brasil, na manhã deste sábado (17) eles participaram de uma ação que oferece cursos, apoio e vagas de emprego para refugiados e migrantes.
Refugiados e migrantes de 23 nacionalidades participam, no centro de São Paulo, da ação Conexões que Transformam - Foto: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil
Chamada de Conexões que Transformam, o evento foi promovido pelo Grupo Mulheres do Brasil, Konecta Brasil e Konecta Foundation, e ocorreu durante todo o dia na Aliança Brasil Cidadã, no centro da capital paulista.
Assim como Victor e Morelba, outros 136 migrantes e refugiados, de 23 países, se inscreveram para participar da atividade, com workshops de empregabilidade e empreendedorismo, revisões de currículos com tradução para o português, apoio a documentações e vagas de emprego.
“Estou buscando maneiras de empreender, de abrir uma microempresa”, disse Victor, que foi até o local para buscar ajuda com ideias e dicas sobre como ele poderia montar um negócio no Brasil.
“Aqui se encontra muito apoio ao imigrante, a imigrantes de todos os países do mundo. Essa é uma ideia muito boa e que poucos países têm”, acrescentou.
Em entrevista à Agência Brasil, a líder do Comitê de Inserção de Refugiados e Migrantes do Grupo Mulheres do Brasil, Maria Helena Santuche, informou que 70% dos refugiados e migrantes que participaram da ação promovida neste sábado estavam desempregados. E mais da metade deles têm o desejo de empreender no Brasil.
“A maior parte dessas pessoas quer empreender, mas elas não têm muita ideia ainda [em como fazer isso], porque justamente esse é um empreendedorismo por necessidade, não por oportunidade”, explicou.
“Um dos objetivos principais [da ação] é possibilitar que esses refugiados que estão no nosso país trabalhem ou façam as adequações necessárias da sua documentação e para que estejam com seus currículos preparados e atualizados”, ressaltou Flavio Simonato, diretor de Pessoas da Konecta Brasil.
“Estamos realizando palestras também sobre mercado de trabalho para orientar essas pessoas sobre como nosso mercado de trabalho funciona e como elas vão ter sucesso na busca de emprego e, lógico, trazendo também oportunidades de emprego. Além disso, conseguimos doações e vamos doar cestas básicas e brinquedos para as crianças”, disse.
Evento promovido pelo Grupo Mulheres do Brasil, Konecta Brasil e Konecta Foundation reúne workshops de empregabilidade e empreendedorismo para imigrantes e refugiados - Foto: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil
Segundo Eliane Franco Figueiredo, co-fundadora do Grupo Mulheres do Brasil e líder do Comitê de Inserção de Refugiados e Migrantes, os refugiados e migrantes que se inscreveram para a ação são principalmente da Venezuela, Congo e Haiti.
“A gente tem médicos aqui, por exemplo, que não podem exercer sua profissão aqui [no Brasil] porque a validação de diploma demora muito. Então, [nesse local] estamos fazendo todo esse tipo de ação para a empregabilidade e de capacitação para o trabalho”.
Refugiados
Segundo Vivian Holzhacker, associada de Soluções Duradouras do Alto Comissariado das Nações Unidas para os Refugiados (Acnur), mais de um milhão de pessoas refugiadas ou em situação de necessidade de proteção internacional vivem no Brasil atualmente.
“Elas vêm de mais de 160 nacionalidades, mas as principais são Venezuela, Cuba e Haiti. E tem um número relevante, principalmente aqui em São Paulo, de pessoas que têm vindo, por exemplo, do Afeganistão, Irã, Síria e Palestina, devido aos conflitos dos últimos anos”, disse.
“Essas pessoas muitas vezes trazem muitas experiências. Muitos têm formação e muita experiência no seu país de origem, mas chegam aqui e precisam se reinventar”, disse à Agência Brasil.
Quando chegam ao Brasil, essas pessoas têm acesso garantido a políticas públicas como educação e saúde. Mas, segundo Vivian, ainda existem muitos desafios a serem enfrentados por elas.
“O idioma é a primeira barreira para todas essas pessoas porque pouquíssimos países falam português. E, depois, existe uma urgência para trabalhar. Eles não têm uma rede de apoio, não têm moradia, então existem vários desafios. Muitas vezes as pessoas têm diploma de nível superior, mas acabam trabalhando no emprego que aparece, naquilo que elas conseguem [encontrar aqui no Brasil]”.
Uma outra dificuldade encontrada por esses refugiados é com relação à documentação.
“A pessoa que sai do seu país com urgência, fugindo de uma perseguição ou de uma guerra, nem sempre tem tempo de se organizar, de organizar todos os seus documentos ou de traduzir esses documentos. Esse também é um grande desafio”, destacou.
Por isso, reforçou Vivian, ações como essa que estão sendo realizadas em São Paulo são importantes para ajudar na empregabilidade desses refugiados.
“Aqui elas podem melhorar o seu currículo ou adequá-lo ao formato que é exigido aqui no Brasil. Elas também podem fazer entrevistas e ter acesso a empregos. E também podem fazer algumas capacitações ou aprender algumas ferramentas que possam ser importantes para elas acessarem o mercado de trabalho ou serem empreendedoras”.
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São Paulo 17/10/2026 - Cerca de 100 refugiados e migrantes, de 23 nacionalidades, participam, no Centro de São Paulo, da ação “Conexões que Transformam”. Foto: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil
Ajuda
Os migrantes ou refugiados que vivem no Brasil e que não conseguiram participar da ação de empregabilidade neste sábado em São Paulo podem buscar outras formas de se colocar no mercado de trabalho.
A Acnur, por exemplo, disponibiliza a plataforma Help para ajudar a essas pessoas a atualizarem sua documentação ou buscarem informações sobre trabalho e renda.
“Nessa plataforma elas podem fazer uma seleção por estado e município e ver quais são as organizações que podem atendê-la”, explicou Vivian.
Outra possibilidade é procurar a Aliança Brasil Cidadã, onde são oferecidos cursos de capacitação.
“Nós temos um Instagram bem robusto e os próprios migrantes refugiados trocam informações por lá”, sugeriu Sidnea Evangelista, vice-presidente da Aliança Brasil Cidadã.
“E aqui nós temos cursos abertos o ano todo como de informática, inteligência artificial e manicure. Eles podem se inscrever gratuitamente para fazer esses cursos”.
Também é possível buscar informações por meio das redes sociais do Grupo Mulheres do Brasil ou pelo e-mail refugiados@grupomulheresdobrasil.org.br ou por meio das redes sociais da Konecta Brasil.
On the heels of UCLA's milestone victory over Oregon last weekend, the Bruins are looking to keep the momentum going during their Oct. 17 matchup against the Badgers.
Ao som de gritos de “o povo unido jamais será vencido” e do tilintar das chaves de casa que os manifestantes empunham no ar, ergueram-se as primeiras tendas no Rossio, em Lisboa. Um acampamento foi montado no meio da cidade, recriando aquilo que há várias noites já acontece no Porto
Zelenskyy called Trump's decision unfortunate but avoided directly criticizing the U.S. leader despite deepening tensions between Ukraine and Washington in recent days.
Jen Podany moved her family from California to Arizona.
Courtesy of Jen Podany
Jen Podany raised her three children in a busy Los Angeles neighborhood where traffic limited their independence.
After moving to a small Arizona town, her kids can ride bikes and play with neighborhood friends.
She says their new lifestyle reminds her of the freedom children had growing up in the 1980s.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jen Podany, founder of Bluestone Sunshields. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Near the end of 2024, my family of five had once again escaped Los Angeles for the quiet we found 10 hours south in Snowflake, Arizona.
We'd been doing it for years, renting an Airbnb in Snowflake, a town of 6,000 in the middle of nowhere, switching off amid the miles of empty land.
It had started as a stopover on our way to visit my husband's family in New Mexico. We fell in love with the town, and from then on, we'd visit whenever we needed to get away from the busyness of LA.
In Snowflake, we felt like we could catch our breath. Our souls calmed each time we arrived and ached to stay each time we left.
We put an offer on a house
Back in LA, specifically Burbank, the five of us — my husband and our three children, whom we homeschooled — lived in a duplex made up of two connected apartments. We lived in one of them, which had two bedrooms and one bathroom. From the other apartment, my husband and I ran our two separate businesses.
Jen Podany put an offer on a house in a small town.
Courtesy of Jen Podany
The duplex was in a neighborhood near a busy street, and we had to be cautious about letting the kids go outside to play because of the cars. I was always holding someone's little hand when we were out, just in case. You could hear planes flying back and forth into Burbank Airport. As our kids and businesses grew, we felt increasingly confined.
Then we saw a house on the market in Snowflake, and I felt in my bones that we should put in an offer.
It was a four-bedroom house surrounded by land, chickens, cows, and a crazy turkey. We could buy it and have our own place to stay when visiting, rather than always renting an Airbnb.
We bought the house for about $500,000, and on our first visit to stay in it in January 2025, none of us wanted to go back to Burbank.
We knew then that we'd make Snowflake our home. And so we did.
We moved from Los Angeles to a town of 6,000 people
In so many ways, our life looks exactly like life in LA. Our routines have remained the same. Every morning, just like in LA, we start our day at a coffee shop. Except in Snowflake, there's only one place to go instead of 20 choices. We work, we homeschool, we eat our meals, and we go to sleep — just like we did in LA.
Jen Podany moved her family from California to Arizona.
Courtesy of Jen Podany
But by transplanting our lives to a quiet town, we all feel calmer and more peaceful.
Personally, my nervous system has regulated. In LA, I felt like the world was constantly coming at me, like I was being bombarded and reacting to everything around me. Here, I feel like I'm in the driver's seat, with a clear head.
Not only has it been good for my well-being, but it's also been good for my business. The move has given me the mental space to think bigger. It's led to greater creativity, paving the way for business growth.
My kids have an 80s childhood
My kids love Snowflake, too. I didn't have to convince them about the move.
They have the freedom to be out of the house without worrying about cars and crime. Just a bike ride away are other kids with whom they are often found playing.
I think kids grow up quickly in cities, and living here, I feel like my kids get to just be kids. It's like going back to being a kid in the '80s, and I love that for them.
The house is bigger, so we aren't living on top of each other, but they've also got endless outdoor space to explore.
Even though I lived in LA for 20 years, we never experienced friendship and community as we have in just over a year in Snowflake.
Jen Podany says life in "mountain time" is slower.
Courtesy of Jen Podany
We can't leave the house without seeing someone who wants to stop and talk. Everyone here is on "mountain time" — slowing down. No one is rushing around, head down, looking at their phones, too hurried to have a conversation.
Everyone is present and friendly.
My husband and I still occasionally have to go to LA for work, and each time we come back home to Snowflake, I take a deep breath and know we made the right decision to relocate our family.
A new MapQuest feature allows users to find license plate reader cameras in their area.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Contributor/Getty Images; Business Insider
MapQuest is pulling the curtain back on automatic license plate readers.
Users can now locate Flock Safety and other surveillance cameras on MapQuest's app.
Critics of the tech have raised privacy concerns and potential misuse.
MapQuest, the OG software to find your way from point A to point B, is taking on the surveillance state.
The free mapping service unveiled a new feature for its mobile app on Thursday that allows users to turn on a "surveillance layer" on a map to locate known automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, along their route.
MapQuest says the app can identify cameras developed by Flock Safety, Axon Enterprise, Motorola Solutions, and PlateSmart, among others.
"The Roads Have Eyes!" the company said in its BlueSky post announcing the new feature.
The Roads Have Eyes! 👁️
Turn on the Surveillance Layer in Map Options to see known license plate readers from Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions (Vigilant), Genetec, Axis Communications, Axon, Leonardo (ELSAG), Neology, Rekor, PlateSmart, Ubicquia, Verkada, and other outdoor surveillance cameras.
MapQuest's General Manager Doug Berger said drivers using the service inspired the company to add the feature.
"We build around what drivers ask for, and showing surveillance camera locations is one of our users' top three requests," Berger told Business Insider in a statement."
License plate readers capture images of vehicles and then use machine learning to turn details such as license plate numbers, car make, color, and model into searchable data. They're commonly found at intersections, parking lots, roadways, highways, and neighborhood entrances, businesses, and private properties.
Law enforcement agencies initially embraced license plate readers to help them locate vehicles and identify suspects. Retail outlets have also used Flock cameras as part of their security efforts.
A major backlash against the cameras, however, has led stores, police, and towns to dial back their use.
Critics say the cameras raise privacy concerns and that the data they collect can be misused or shared with federal immigration officials. Some people who've opposed the cameras have staged protests, launched petitions, and even forcibly removed them.
The city of Tempe in Arizona said in August it shut down its Flock Safety camera network and planned to terminate its contract. Other towns followed suit.
"These cameras have helped our police officers do their jobs, and we don't discount that," Tempe Mayor Corey Woods said in a public statement at the time. "But the risk of misuse is too great. We have to be able to provide public safety in a way that maintains the trust of our community. For Tempe, that means taking these cameras down."
Flock says its license plate readers do not use facial recognition and that customers — meaning the ones putting up the cameras — can control access to and sharing of the data collected. Amid growing backlash, the company has tightened its privacy safeguards, including reducing the time data is retained from 30 days to 7 days.
"They are built to focus on the vehicle involved in an incident and the details that can help distinguish it from other vehicles on the road," Flock told Business Insider in August.
MapQuest first launched in the late 1990s, allowing users to map out a route and print directions. The release of Google Maps eventually obliterated the service. As it tries to stay relevant, it has jumped at opportunities to leverage prevailing public discourse.
In August, MapQuest briefly topped app stores after it — unlike Google — rebuffed President Donald Trump's executive order to rename "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America."
Fundado em 1615, o mais antigo mercado coberto de Paris nasceu com Luis XIII, deveu o seu rebatismo a órfãos, foi salvo em 1994 e totalmente consumido pelas chamas.
"É um passo fundamental para o cumprimento das metas que o Brasil aderiu em relação à Convenção para Proteção da Biodiversidade. São conhecidas como metas 30x30, que é ter 30% do seu território protegido dentro de unidades de conservação", afirma o secretário estadual do Ambiente e Sustentabilidade, Rodrigo
Estabelecida na COP-15 da Biodiversidade, em Montreal, no Canadá, em 2022, a meta 30x30 prevê que 30% da superfície terrestre, mar e águas interiores do país façam parte de unidades de conservação, até 2030.
"É uma meta que o Estado já alcançou no que se refere à proteção da parte terrestre do seu território. A outra meta é de ter 30% das águas jurisdicionais de cada país, também protegidas", destaca o secretário.
A categoria de Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (RDS) permite conciliar a conservação com as atividades tradicionais.
as comunidades pesqueiras participam da gestão da área.
Além disso, estão previstas ações como monitoramento participativo dos recursos pesqueiros e dos ecossistemas, pesquisas científicas, educação ambiental, fiscalização reforçada e desenvolvimento ordenado do ecoturismo e da visitação, segundo o Ilhas do Rio.
para embasar a criação da reserva identificou, por exemplo, 102 espécies de peixes que habitam recifes de corais, das quais três são endêmicas do país. Trinta e nove espécies do ecossistema da região são de interesse de pescadores, como garoupas (Epinephelus sp.), corvinas (Micropogonias furnieri), sargos (Anisotremus surinamensis), robalos
Também foram identificadas 143 espécies de organismos que vivem no leito do mar, os chamados seres bentônicos, como polvos e lagostas de alto valor pesqueiro. Nesse ambiente, ainda foram
encontradas espécies ameaçadas de extinção, como o coral-cérebro (Mussismilia hispida), a estrela-do-mar Astropecten brasiliensis e o ouriço-lilás (Lytechinus variegatus).
"Esses estudos mostraram que a região, as ilhas, os costões rochosos, áreas rasas, elas são muito importantes para as espécies de peixe, por exemplo, espécies ameaçadas como garoupas e chernes [Hyporthodus niveatus], são
locais onde aquelas espécies estão se reproduzindo. Ao mesmo tempo, a gente tinha esse conhecimento que existiam as comunidades locais de pesca tradicional, que tinham aquilo ali como um território de pesca. Então, é muito importante você balancear e entender quem são as pessoas que dependem daquele território e proteger esses usos também", explica a gerente de pesquisas do Ilhas do Rio, Aline Aguiar.
Nessa parte do litoral também transitam espécies ameaçadas como a
cabeçuda (Caretta caretta), de pente (Eretmochelys imbricata), oliva (Lepidochelys olivacea) e de couro (Dermochelys coriacea).
Há também aves ameaçadas que frequentam o local, como o trinta-réis-de-bico-vermelho (Sterna hirundinacea) e trinta-réis-de-bando (Thalasseus acuflavidus), e invertebrados
Segundo o governo fluminense, o nome Urupirá resgata a memória histórico-cultural da região. De origem indígena, a palavra é uma designação ancestral atribuída à atual Ilha das Palmas e remete à expressão “cesto do peixe”, em referência à identidade pesqueira do território.
Founded less than a decade ago in 2017, US defense technology company Anduril has reached a roughly US$90 billion valuation in a recent employee tender offer, placing its private-market value in the same range as, or above, the public-market capitalizations of long-established defense firms such as Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.
According to a Bloomberg report, Anduril Industries Inc. opened a tender offer allowing its employees in 16 countries to sell shares at a valuation of about US$94.80 each, with the total offer capped at about US$ 1.3 billion. The subscription period is open from October 13 to November 9.
Unlisted companies often offer employees and others a chance to cash out shares they hold through tender offers to retain talent.
Notably, in recent years, AI-focused, venture-backed startups increasingly use tender offers rather than public listings to give employees access to cash.
AI startups such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Clay, ElevenLabs, and Harvey have used employee tender offers to stay private longer while still offering cash incentives to retain talent.
Anduril’s tender offer will push the AI-focused defense company’s valuation to US$90 billion, up nearly 50 percent from its May valuation of US$60 billion.
Beneath this skyrocketing valuation lies the story of how the global defense market, and the U.S.’s famous defense-industrial complex in particular, has transformed beyond recognition in just a decade.
What Anduril’s US$90 Billion Valuation Tells Us
For generations, slow-moving, mammoth defense-industrial houses lobbied for lucrative Pentagon contracts and delivered hardware-centric defense platforms over decades-long procurement cycles.
This system created the U.S.’s distinct politico-military-industrial complex, dominated by legacy prime contractors, including the Big Five: Lockheed Martin, RTX, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman.
Today, however, venture-backed startups increasingly dominate the U.S. defense market, offering software-defined autonomous weapons systems with AI integration.
In this market, a defense product’s journey from concept to initial operational clearance (IOC) and front-line deployment takes years, sometimes even months, not decades.
For instance, the Zumwalt-class destroyers program traces back to the 1990s Surface Combatant for the 21st Century (SC-21) and DD-21 programs. Construction of the lead ship began around 2009; it was launched in 2013, commissioned in October 2016, and was finally accepted around 2020. The ships have since undergone multi-year modifications to carry hypersonic missiles.
Similarly, the B-2 Spirit program spanned two decades, from the 1970s to the 1990s; the F-35 Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter) program also took nearly two decades, from early concept work in 1996 to Initial Operational Capability in 2015.
However, venture-backed firms such as Anduril, Shield AI, and Palantir focus on software platforms that can be updated iteratively, often paired with smaller or modular hardware, and use faster acquisition pathways.
For instance, Anduril was founded in 2017. It piloted its AI-powered Sentry surveillance towers on the U.S.-Mexico border around 2018, within a year of its founding, and later made them a program of record, deploying hundreds by the early 2020s.
Similarly, Shield AI was founded in 2015. The company reported deploying its AI autonomy software stack, AI Hivemind, for the first time around 2018, within three years. Hivemind has since operated on dozens of platforms, including drones, F-16s in tests, helicopters, and, more recently, maritime and space systems, in GPS-denied, contested environments.
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programs of these defense AI startups are progressing much faster than the typical two-decade development cycle for traditional fighter aircraft.
For instance, Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury, a jet-powered, uncrewed autonomous combat aircraft with mission-autonomy software such as Hivemind and Anduril’s own Lattice, is already in testing.
The contrast is stark. While traditional defense platforms were hardware-centric, with development cycles spanning decades, these new software-centric Autonomous platforms emphasize rapid prototyping and continuous software updates, compressing development timelines to years, and even months.
Another advantage of these software-centric defense platforms is that their upgrades also take months, not years, enabling continuous updates.
The war in Ukraine has shown that the modern battlefield is changing every few months.
For instance, FPV drones first appeared in the war in Ukraine around May 2022; by September 2022, Kyiv had introduced maritime drones.
Barracuda-100M. Credits: Anduril Industries.
In 2024, Russia countered Ukraine’s Starlink-linked drones with its Fiber-optic drones, which were immune to jamming. By the end of 2024, these drones carried air-to-air missiles such as the R-73 and R-60. Ukraine also armed its naval drones with surface-to-air missiles.
By 2025, Ukraine had developed multiple drone interceptors that reversed the cost-benefit advantage drones had over traditional interceptor missiles.
Russia responded with jet-powered drones that can fly at 500-600 km per hour and is developing others that can exceed 800 km per hour.
This continuously evolving battlefield means traditional procurement cycles spanning decades no longer suit modern warfare, where systems become outdated within months.
A hardware-centric approach can’t meet the demands of this evolving battlefield; therefore, the Pentagon increasingly prefers working directly with Silicon Valley-based AI defense firms.
Anduril’s US$ 90 billion valuation reflects this broader story. Anduril, however, is not the only AI defense firm cashing in on this trend.
Palantir, founded in 2003, is already worth nearly US$480 billion, more than any of the Big Five.
Palantir’s valuation is nearly seven times Northrop Grumman’s, more than five times General Dynamics’, nearly four times Lockheed Martin’s, three times Boeing’s, and nearly double RTX’s.
Similarly, Scale AI is worth US$29 billion, Shield AI around US$13 billion, and SandboxAQ and Applied Intuition around US$15 billion.
“Companies like SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril have been tapped for multi-billion-dollar contract awards from the Pentagon for communications, targeting, unpiloted vehicles, anti-drone defenses, and hypersonic weapons. The funds from these awards will flow to the companies over time, which should put them in the top ranks of Pentagon contractors by value of awards within the next several years,” a recent report from the Costs of War project said.
What sets Palantir and Anduril apart is that while most AI defense firms have only one product in their portfolios, such as autonomous aircraft, counter-drone systems, or data fusion software, these two firms are offering a range of products.
Anduril offers AI-powered software, autonomous drones, cruise missiles, drone interceptors, Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), underwater drones, undersea sensor networks, autonomous rotorcraft, surface-to-air interceptor missiles, autonomous sensor towers for land, water, and sea, radars, infrared imaging, and more.
Earlier this month, Anduril won a contract worth up to US$2.9 billion with the U.S. Navy to boost submarine production. The company is also investing US$3.7 billion to scale a new shipyard in Maryland. The new facility will build components for the Virginia-class submarines.
Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey was also selected to lead “Project Meridian: The Future of Warfare,” a new 120-day initiative tasked with identifying the technologies and capabilities needed for future military dominance.
Anduril has also been selected to build the next generation of Army goggles, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), which are “intended to give soldiers everything from night-vision capability to warnings of incoming airborne threats.”
However, Anduril’s most lucrative contract could be in border security technologies. The Big Beautiful bill commits over US$6 billion for various border security technologies. However, as Eurasian Times reported earlier, the bill’s conditions mean Anduril is the only firm that qualifies for these border surveillance tenders.
Anduril has also been called the Nvidia of the US defense market.
The sky-high valuation of Palantir and Anduril will also have a knock-on effect on other Silicon Valley-based AI-defense firms.
If these new tech defense firms maintain their growth momentum for another decade or so, then we might have to redefine the ‘Big Five’ of the US defense market.
Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
Last week, anti-immigrant protests in South Africa turned violent, with looting, destruction of property, and reports of 24 vehicles being burnt as tensions escalated in Johannesburg and Durban. The unrest followed growing anger over a government directive on asylum applications, which the Department of Home Affairs has since withdrawn.
The directive, issued on September 28, instructed Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) to process all asylum applications immediately. Massive queues of foreign nationals subsequently formed at immigration offices, which were met with demonstrations and violence from anti-immigrant groups.
Protests were reported in Soweto township, Johannesburg, and Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal province. Demonstrations in Durban continued for a second day, prompting police to strengthen their presence to contain the unrest. However, tensions remained high in the city and in the country.
Government withdraws asylum directive
On October 9, the director-general of the Department of Home Affairs announced the withdrawal of the directive concerning the intake of asylum applications.
The directive had been introduced following a July 7, 2026 Constitutional Court judgment that mandated that individuals could not be barred from accessing South Africa’s asylum system, even if they entered the country irregularly. According to the department, the September directive intended to guide Refugee Reception Offices in implementing the court’s order.
The department said the directive had been issued as an operational measure without the knowledge or involvement of the Minister of Home Affairs or other political office-bearers. It rejected claims that the measure had been politically motivated.
However, the department acknowledged that implementing the judgment had produced consequences that were not anticipated in the court order. These included overcrowding at Refugee Reception Offices within days of the directive’s introduction, risks to the safety of Home Affairs officials and emerging threats to public order.
The director-general said the department would begin a fresh process to determine a more appropriate and sustainable way of complying with the court order, while reaffirming its commitment to the rule of law and the authority of the judiciary.
Home Affairs warns of disinformation
Two days before withdrawing the directive, the Department of Home Affairs issued a statement on October 7 warning of what it described as a coordinated disinformation campaign surrounding the Constitutional Court judgment.
The department said false claims had circulated suggesting that the Minister of Home Affairs or political parties had independently decided to suspend certain asylum procedures. It insisted that the operational directive had been issued to implement a binding court judgment.
The department also rejected claims that the ruling granted citizenship to asylum seekers or automatically legalized all foreign nationals living in the country.
It warned that misinformation intended to inflame tensions and incite violence threatens public stability, urging South Africans to verify information before sharing it.
The subsequent withdrawal of the directive, however, does not reverse the Constitutional Court’s judgment. Home Affairs has said it will develop a new operational approach that complies with the ruling while addressing the challenges faced by refugee reception offices.
Anti-immigrant tensions continue to escalate
Last week’s violence is the latest in a wave of anti-immigrant and xenophobic mobilization that has built steadily since the start of the year. Protests broke out across Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria in April, and anti-immigrant groups, led by the March and March movement, set June 30 as a deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country.
On that day, police arrested hundreds during nationwide marches, and one person was shot dead in Johannesburg’s Alexandra township as residents looted spaza shops owned by foreign nationals. In the following weeks, protesters in Johannesburg went door to door, seizing foreigners from their homes, with many fleeing for safety.
La Cina ha avvertito l'Unione Europea (UE) di non dare per scontato che un atteggiamento commerciale più rigido possa costringere Pechino a fare concessioni. L'avvertimento giunge in seguito alla conferma, da parte di Bruxelles, dell'intenzione di creare un meccanismo che consenta di limitare rapidamente l'accesso dei prodotti cinesi al mercato unico, come riporta il South China Morning Post.
Questo nuovo punto di tensione emerge a solo una settimana dal raggiungimento di un accordo tra le due parti per limitare il volume di veicoli ibridi esportati dalla Cina verso l'Europa.
"L'UE non dovrebbe fantasticare di ottenere benefici attraverso la pressione o sottovalutare la determinazione e la capacità della Cina di difendere i propri interessi", ha affermato il Ministero del Commercio cinese. La dichiarazione risponde alle informazioni secondo le quali le minacce europee avrebbero costretto Pechino ad accettare le condizioni del blocco. Il Ministero ha respinto come infondata l'affermazione che tale pressione sia stata efficace.
In seguito al recente vertice del Consiglio europeo, la presidente della Commissione europea Ursula von der Leyen ha confermato che l'UE svilupperà un nuovo strumento che consentirà di limitare immediatamente l'accesso al mercato unico ogniqualvolta ciò venga ritenuto necessario. L'iniziativa – promossa congiuntamente da Francia e Germania per far fronte a potenziali pratiche coercitive e distorsioni economiche – ha ottenuto il sostegno unanime dei 27 Stati membri.
Il meccanismo potrebbe essere integrato da nuove misure di salvaguardia commerciale, tra cui dazi e quote su ampie categorie di prodotti. Tra i settori presi in considerazione figurano quello chimico, dei macchinari, delle materie plastiche e delle ferroleghe.
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