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It’s been quite a week for Red Bull New York star Julian Hall. 

He announced a "voluntary" leave of absence earlier this week.

Kolb announced a "voluntary" leave of absence earlier this week.

The numbers are impressive. The fashion in which he mows through opposing lineups is unique in today’s game.

West Nile virus cases have soared in the Big Apple this year, surpassing the total number of cases seen in 2025.

If you asked Cheryl Reeve and others in the playoff field, they’ll tell you the postseason began after the FIBA Women’s World Cup break.

China's Stealth Fighters Take Shape As Great Powers Risk Sliding From Economic War Into Shooting War

Against a backdrop of resource nationalism, Beijing surrounding Taiwan with a record number of ships and raising blockade risks, an ongoing trade war, and President Trump challenging BRICS, the US military is disrupting China's access to cheap crude oil from countries such as Venezuela and Iran. This is merely the US response after Beijing spent the last 1.5 years depriving the West of rare earths and other critical materials.

These developments provide context for an economic war that could one day spill over into a kinetic exchange, whether in the Pacific or around Taiwan. With that said, observers are closely watching China's development of advanced military weaponry as conflict risks between the great superpowers rise.

Aviation researcher Andreas Rupprecht posted footage on LinkedIn that appears to show a prototype of China's "next-generation" fighter jet, with new images suggesting potential progress toward operational status. 

Rupprecht provided an update on China's J-36:  

Recent reports and photographs suggest that testing of China's “next-generation" fighters has entered a new phase and offer clues to their eventual use.

I avoid the term "sixth generation" because, unlike "fifth generation," it remains undefined: there is no consensus on the relevant criteria, and too little is known for confident classification. Labels such as "5.5th & "6th gen." often serve more as media conversation-stoppers and marketing tools than as useful analysis.

First, the J-36. Since its surprise maiden flight in December 2024, its unusual three-engine configuration and tailless, diamond-shaped double-delta design have prompted speculation. At least four, possibly five, prototypes are flying and likely no. 04 was first spotted in July with a light-grey radome, suggesting an installed fire-control radar. Also, a poster at the ongoing 14th China International Defense Electronics Exhibition in Beijing shows an Acquisition, Tracking, and Pointing (ATP) system developed by the AVIC Beijing Precision Engineering Institute for Aircraft Industry beneath a J-36.

Soon after the maiden flight, competing theories emerged and I cautioned against premature conclusions but argued that the J-36 may embody a Chinese interpretation of future aerial warfare: extreme range, a large weapons load, and comprehensive sensors for long-range A2/AD missions as either an interceptor or a deep-penetration fighter aircraft.

According to Yang Wei, the new fighter can penetrate heavily defended airspace that the J-20 and comparable F-22s or F-35s must avoid, placing it a generation ahead. With lower RCS, high speed, and the capacity to control more drones, it could act as a node and command center for systems including J-20s and, especially, unmanned aircraft, while attacking high-value targets from stand-off range with long-range weapons.

I therefore disagree with Western analysts such as Justin Bronk, who rated the prototype not as China's NGAD-equivalent sixth-generation fighter but as the fifth-generation regional bomber/strike project. In my opinion China has instead revealed its own concept of future air combat and a new generation of combat aircraft distinct from Western approaches.

The type could therefore represent a new class of "fighter." Online terms include "theater-level deep-penetration command combat aircraft" and "high-performance fighter," analogous to a cruiser ranking above a destroyer within the Navy. Recent evidence gives this theory new weight and warrants continued monitoring.

Last week, we covered China's next-generation combat aircraft programs, touching on the J-50 and J-36, which are considered rivals to the US Air Force's sixth-generation main fighter program, the F-47, being developed by Boeing.

The Shanghai Morning Post quoted a paper by researcher and chief flight-control designer Zhang Dong at the Shenyang Aircraft Design & Research Institute, a top Chinese military aircraft design organization. The paper said stealth fighter programs were undergoing a "leapfrog transformation from being able to fly steadily to being able to win in combat."

What's important to know is that economic warfare can escalate into kinetic warfare, meaning direct military action, particularly when one country views restrictions on, let's say, crude or rare earths as a threat to national security.

In recent weeks, Taiwan's main English-language daily newspaper, the Taipei Times, warned that China deployed a record number of ships around the island, suggesting that a potential blockade could become a major 2027 theme. This comes as the US depleted some of its most critical missiles and interceptors in the conflict in the Middle East.

Whether escalation or calm follows the Trump-Xi meeting in Washington next week remains to be seen. For now, the global situation suggests the world is on a critically dangerous path toward spillover risks as two conflicts rage across Eurasia.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 22:10

Dovie Eisner, who died last week, was a disabled man whose physical world could be severely constrained, but his life was a living rebuttal to those pushing assisted-suicide laws.

The midterm elections are right around the corner, and both parties are about as popular as a Monday-morning visit to the DMV.

The latest chapter in the Blake family saga has all the makings of a Hollywood whodunit: sibling rivalry, old wounds — and a murder mystery staged at the very restaurant where tragedy once struck the family.

The latest chapter in the Blake family saga has all the makings of a Hollywood whodunit: sibling rivalry, old wounds — and a murder mystery staged at the very restaurant where tragedy once struck the family.

Despite the dangers posed by the camp, a full clearance was blocked multiple times due to court orders and lawsuits.

Brady Harmon is suing New York agencies for $400 million, alleging they failed to protect his four children from a fatal murder-suicide.

It remains unclear whether sewage was lurking inside the pit.

With four years and $12 million left on his contract, Pierre Engvall must fight to earn a spot on the Islanders' crowded 23-man roster.

Israel Seeks 'Compensation' From Washington Over Saudi F-35 Sale

Via The Cradle,

Israel is expected to seek "compensation" from the US in the form of weapons systems that Washington has so far declined to sell to Tel Aviv, in response to US plans to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a $25 billion deal, Walla reported on 18 September.

(Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jerreht Harris)

A source familiar with the matter told the Hebrew news outlet that the Israeli military would prefer that no other country in West Asia receive the F-35 to preserve Israel's qualitative military edge (QME) in the region.

The deal marks the first time an Arab state gains access to the F-35, the US military's most advanced warplane.

"This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non-NATO ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf region," the State Department said in a statement on Thursday.

Even if the deal is signed soon, Saudi Arabia would receive its first F-35s only in five years and without all the enhancements Israel has for its fleet of the warplanes, US officials told Middle East Eye (MEE).

Using the deal as leverage, Tel Aviv intends to ask Washington to allow it to participate in the development and production of classified US weapons systems, including space-based weapons, the source speaking with Walla said.

Israel will also ask the US to participate in the development and production of some of its own weapons systems, including missile interceptors for the Arrow 4 and Arrow 5 systems.

Additionally, Israel wants access to advanced munitions that the Washington has so far declined to sell to Tel Aviv, including bunker-busting weapons designed to penetrate through mountains deep underground, autonomous strike systems, and swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Israel may also seek funding to finance a third F-15 squadron and additional F-35 squadrons, which Israeli officials say they are currently struggling to do.

At the same time, the source speaking with Walla said that the Saudi purchase of F-35s would not threaten Israel's qualitative military edge.

Israel continues to hold a clear operational advantage over other countries that have purchased the aircraft from the US due to the extensive operational experience accumulated by the Israeli Air Force and its pilots while carrying out the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the bombing of Lebanon and Iran.

One Israeli defense official sought to play down concerns, saying that Israel's advantage lies "not just in the machine, but mainly in the people."

Tel Aviv has also received Washington's approval to integrate Israeli-made weapons systems into its Adir aircraft, the Israeli version of the F-35.

MEE notes that the sale has raised concerns among some in the US defense and intelligence community who believe China could gain access to critical US technologies through espionage if Saudi Arabia is allowed to operate the warplane.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 21:45

Paulson Adebo’s Giants tumble just took another twist. 

They are two of the most commonly used words when discussing a team. 

A crew of fishermen are reeling from their newest catch — a 648-pound blue marlin.

Few know Matthew Stafford as well as one Giants assistant.