Russia suspected of jamming GPS on plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen | Ursula von der Leyen

Published

3 days ago

September 1, 2025

Russia is believed to have jammed the satellite signal of a plane carrying the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, over Bulgaria, reportedly forcing it to circle an airport for an hour.

Von der Leyen was travelling to Plovdiv on Sunday when her charter plane lost satellite navigation aids, delaying its arrival in the central Bulgarian city.

The commission deputy spokesperson Arianna Podestà confirmed the incident. “We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this was due to blatant interference by Russia. Of course, we are aware and used to … the threats and intimidations that are a regular component of Russia’s hostile behaviour,” she said.

Interference with satellite navigation has become increasingly common in airspace near Russia and it is unclear whether von der Leyen was deliberately targeted. Asked about this point, Podestà said: “The question is best asked to the Russians.”

Major airports use a variety of tools to navigate and land if GPS is not working, including radio navigation, which is reliable.

The incident was first reported by the Financial Times, which said von der Leyen’s plane circled Plovdiv airport for an hour.

The incident happened during a four-day trip by von der Leyen to seven EU member states on the bloc’s eastern border. In Vilnius on Monday, von der Leyen did not mention the incident but spoke of “constant military and hybrid threats” facing Lithuania.

Referring to two drones that crossed Lithuania’s border with Belarus last month, she said: “As Lithuania is being tested, Europe as a whole is being tested.”

The commission spokesperson said the incident “only reinforce[s] even further our unshakeable commitment to ramp up defence capabilities and our support for Ukraine”.

In March 2024, Russia was believed to have been responsible for jamming the signal of a plane carrying Grant Shapps, the then UK defence secretary, who was returning to the UK from Poland. The RAF plane was affected by GPS interference for about 30 minutes while it flew near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. It was reported at the time that it was unclear whether Shapps was the target.

GPS jamming and “spoofing” – an electronic warfare tactic that causes incorrect navigation information to be displayed – has increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and escalated even more sharply in the last year.

In June, 13 EU member states raised the alarm about jamming and spoofing threats disrupting air and sea travel. Poland recorded 2,732 cases of electronic interference in January 2025, up from 1,908 in October 2023, while Lithuania recorded 1,185 cases in the same month, up from 556 in March 2024, according to an internal EU document drafted in May.

The document describes interference to global satellite navigation systems as “not random incidents but a systemic, deliberate action by Russia and Belarus”. It says: “Causing significant damage has been simple and cheap” and is likely to continue without “proportional countermeasures”.

The commission said on Monday it had imposed sanctions on several companies involved in GPS signal disruption “in the very obvious blatant case of these originating from Russia”. It said it was developing an aviation-specific plan and broader strategies to prevent jamming.

Separately, Ukrainian police have accused Russia of involvement in the weekend killing of a former parliamentary speaker and pro-western politician.

Andriy Parubiy, a key figure in Ukraine’s anti-Russia movement, was shot dead in the western city of Lviv on Saturday by a man dressed as a delivery driver.

The national police chief, Ivan Vyhivskyi, said on Facebook: “We know that this crime was not accidental. There is Russian involvement. Everyone will be held accountable before the law.”

He said the killer disguised himself as a courier and opened fire on Parubiy in broad daylight, firing his weapon eight times. The shooter made sure that the victim was dead, Vyhivskyi said.

“He spent a long time preparing, watching, planning, and finally pulling the trigger. It took us only 36 hours to track him down and arrest him,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the “horrific murder” had affected “security in a country at war”.

Hopes for a ceasefire are low after last month’s summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump provided no tangible results. A deadline set by the US president at the summit for the Russian leader to take action to end the war or face new sanctions is due to expire this week. Trump has a history of delaying threatened action. On Friday Emmanuel Macron said Putin was trying to “play” Trump.

Von der Leyen said Ukraine’s allies were working on security guarantees. She described the first line of defence as “a strong, well-equipped and experienced” Ukrainian army, and the second as “a multinational group from the coalition of the willing, with the backstop of the Americans”.

About 30 countries – known as the coalition of the willing – have pledged support for Ukraine but it remains unclear how many European countries would send troops or how those forces could be deployed. The US expects European countries to do the heavy lifting but could provide logistical support.

Zelenskyy is expected to meet European leaders in Paris on Thursday as part of an attempt to force an end to Russia’s three-and-a-half-year-old invasion.

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Dana Carvey reveals shocking truth about Heidi Gardner’s ‘SNL’ exit

Published

2 hours ago

September 4, 2025

More 'SNL' shakeups u2014- Season 51 cast firings continue

Dana Carvey is spilling the tea about the brutal “Saturday Night Live” cast shakeup.

The comedian, 70, shared intel about Heidi Gardner’s exit from the NBC show on Wednesday’s episode of his “Fly on the Wall” podcast with David Spade.

“From what I know as of this recording, that it was not her idea to leave,” Carvey claimed.

“I could be wrong about that,” he added, “but that’s what I read.”

Spade, who was on “SNL” for six seasons in the 1990s, said he finds it “a little shocking” that the show would fire Gardner.

“Because she really is one of the core ones you know from that show and she always does a great job,” Spade, 61, said.

“You never know, and it is a hard thing, but I was really, really surprised,” Carvey replied. “I think she’s got a likability. She can play real, straight news woman, she can play big, brawn, funny, physical.”

“So I was surprised by that,” he added of Gardner’s departure.

As Carvey also pointed out that Gardner did eight full seasons on the show, Spade added, “Eight is a lot. Eight is enough for the show.”

The Post confirmed Aug. 28 that Gardner is not returning to “SNL” for Season 51.

Gardner was the longest-tenured woman on the show as of last season. She joined the sketch comedy juggernaut during Season 43 as a featured player before being promoted to the main cast in 2019.

She has yet to publicly address her exit.

The Post has reached out to Gardner’s rep for comment.

Alongside Gardner, Devon Walker, Emil Wakim and Michael Longfellow are also leaving the show, while five newcomers have been added to the Season 51 cast.

“Let’s give our props to Michael Longfellow, a really cool, interesting character,” Carvey said on the podcast, as he shouted out the trio exiting the show.

“Emil was an adorable person and funny out there,” Carvey continued about Wakim, 27. “They can’t have 100 cast members. I don’t know how these people feel, but I give them my props. I was there with all of them.”

Carvey also recalled talking to Walker — who called the show “toxic” as he announced his departure — about the difficulties of “SNL.”

“Devon had told me that when you don’t get on the show a lot,” Carvey said, “then when you get out there and you have a moment, you’re not relaxed because it’s like, if you don’t score here, you go back in line.”

“So, it can be emotionally violent depending where you are in the show or it could be a magic ride,” Carvey added.

“SNL” Season 51 premieres Oct. 4 on NBC.

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Billionaire family offices bet on drones, nuclear energy in August

Published

3 hours ago

September 4, 2025

Hayley Cuccinello

Key Points

Billionaire family offices inked high-profile investments in an otherwise slow month for deal-making, according to Fintrx.
Four billionaires’ private investment firms joined an $863 million fundraise for a nuclear fusion startup.
Peter Thiel, a longtime investor in defense tech, backed a German drone maker as other high-net-worth investors flock to the sector.

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Philips Hue launch turns bulbs into motion sensors, doorbell, more

Published

3 hours ago

September 4, 2025

Ben Lovejoy

We’ve known for some time that there was major news on the way from Philips Hue, and the company has now announced all of the details.

One of the headline features is a new Bridge Pro which turns your existing smart bulbs into motion sensors. Bulbs also get more affordable, light strips get brighter, and there’s support for Matter-over-Thread. Finally, the smart doorbell leaked earlier in the year is now official …

Plans to turn existing Philips Hue light bulbs into motion sensors were leaked at the beginning of this year. We also discovered there was a smart doorbell on the way through an update to the Hue app.

Turning existing Hue bulbs into motion sensors

Although you won’t need to update any of your bulbs to get this new functionality, you will need to swap out your existing Hue Bridge for the new Bridge Pro.

This is a $90 purchase, but there are some other new features to help ease the pain. The Verge reports that It can support three times as many devices and store over 500 lighting scenes to provide faster response times.

[It adds] features like lighting scenes, dynamic effects, schedules, and out-of-home control. Sporting a new black look, it has a faster processor, more memory, and increased capacity. Designed to appeal to Hue super-users, it can connect 150 lights and 50 accessories (a soft limit) […]

Additionally, the Pro can store over 500 custom lighting scenes and provide faster response times […] The Pro finally brings Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) to a Hue bridge, so it doesn’t have to sit next to your router.

If your head aches at the thought of reconfiguring all your Hue devices to swap bridges, the company says that a migration tool will transfer all of the settings for you. If you have multiple bridges, then you’ll want to hold fire for a while as there will be support for migrating these to a single Bridge Pro by the end of the year.

Hue Secure smart doorbell

The new Hue Secure Doorbell is intended to compete with Ring and Nest by offering a higher resolution 2K fisheye camera. Engadget reports that it also includes 24-hour video history without a subscription.

It of course pairs with Hue lights so that you can set it to automatically turn on outdoor lights as somebody approaches the front door, as well as the option to trigger interior lights to supplement the chime with visual alerts.

It will go on sale in the US, Europe and the UK next month for $170. However, Apple Home support won’t be available at launch, the company instead promising that this will arrive at an unspecified later date.

Cheaper Hue lights

A new range of Hue Essential lights are being launched with prices starting at just $20 each when purchased as a pack of four. Hue Blog has the details.

With the new Hue Essential series, Philips Hue will in future offer simple light bulbs with E27 and GU10 sockets at an affordable price. The Essential series is based on the same software and connectivity as the main Philips Hue product range, but with a smaller white spectrum, slightly less brightness, and less deep dimming.

But the prices are impressive. The colored bulbs cost $24.99 each, and multi-packs are even cheaper. Four bulbs in a pack cost only $59.99. The new Hue Essential bulbs are available now.

The Hue Essential portfolio will be expanded in December 2025 with two new light strips, each 5 or 10 meters long: the Hue Essential Lightstrip (starting at $59.99) and the Hue Essential Flex Lightstrip (starting at $99.99). The latter appears to be an adaptation of the previous Hue Ambiance Gradient Lightstrip.

Five new light strips

There will also be five new light strips, with the first of these available from next month. These have closer LED spacing to provide brighter and more uniform lighting. The company also promises that they are more flexible, making it easier to turn corners and flow curves.

Hue OmniGlow Lightstrip (3/5/10 meters) from $139.99 – launching in November 2025 (EU&US)
Hue Flux Gradient Lightstrip (3/4/5/6/10 meters) from $69.99 – launching in October 2025 (EU) and March 2026 (US)
Hue Flux Ultra Bright Gradient Lightstrip (3/5/10 meters) starting at $99.99 – launching in October 2025 (EU)
Hue Flux Gradient Outdoor Lightstrip (5/6/10 meters) starting at $149.99 – launching in October 2025 (EU) and March 2026 (US)
Hue Neon Gradient Outdoor Lightstrip (3/5/10 meters) starting at $139.99 – launching in October 2025 (EU) and March 2026 (US)

Finally, there will be new outdoor Festavia Globe string lights.

Hue Festavia Globe with outdoor power supply in 7, 14, and 21 meters starting at $159.99
Hue Festavia Globe without power supply in 7, 14, and 21 meters starting at $129.99
2-pack replacement bulbs for $19.99
The 7-meter short versions will be available in September, and the longer string lights in December 2025

Check out the video below for a look at all the new products.