On Oct. 27, 2006, Paramount unveiled Alejandro González Iñárritu's drama in theaters following its premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Perry's sister Mia and various friends, former girlfriends and colleagues talk about the actor's genius and his demons in Mary Robertson's three-parter.
'Fresh Off the Boat' star Randall Park is the biggest name in this adaptation of the web series of the same name from production company American High.
On October 22, India’s Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief, Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor, stated while addressing ITBP personnel in Alwar, Rajasthan, that the threat from China continues to persist. He said there had been face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh in the preceding days, and that these were continuing.
Kapoor stressed that conventional military methods alone would not suffice against China, given the People’s Liberation Army’s extensive modernization. He called for stronger drone and anti-drone capabilities.
The ITBP chief’s call for stronger drone and anti-drone capabilities needs to be viewed in the correct perspective. Media coverage of military threats tends to focus on an adversary’s high-value weapon systems—ballistic and cruise missiles, fighter aircraft, bombers, warships and tanks. These systems are conspicuous, expensive and relatively easy to identify, quantify and assess in terms of their capabilities and the threats they pose.
The threat from drones, however, is fundamentally different and often underappreciated. Their low cost, small signatures, ease of deployment, and the difficulty of reliably detecting, identifying, and tracking them make the threat particularly hard to assess.
Drone Evolution
Drone warfare has evolved rapidly since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Initially, small drones were widely deployed for short-range reconnaissance and attack, including as loitering munitions. Their range was often limited by their dependence on line-of-sight communications and control.
Ukraine and Russia also fielded medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drones, which provided reconnaissance and strike capabilities broadly analogous to those of close air support aircraft.
However, their effectiveness depends inversely on the strength of the adversary’s air defenses. As a result, both sides have increasingly relied on these drones for reconnaissance and target acquisition, rather than operating them freely in heavily defended airspace.
Drone warfare capabilities have improved significantly since the start of the war through advances in propulsion, navigation, communications and machine vision. The evolution from short-range reconnaissance and attack drones to low-cost, long-range precision-strike systems has created a capability that, in some missions, can compete with that of cruise missiles.
Propulsion
Initially, many drones relied on internal combustion engines, which could be noisy, while smaller electric drones offered quieter operation but generally had more limited range and endurance.
Advances in battery technology have improved electric propulsion, although energy storage remains a constraint.
The development and wider availability of relatively low-cost jet engines have enabled some drones to fly at high speeds and altitudes over long distances, potentially complicating ground-based detection and interception.
Communication
Line-of-sight communications remain important, particularly for smaller drones. Their limitations can be mitigated through relay systems and mesh networking, while satellite links can extend communications beyond the radio horizon.
Geostationary satellite links generally have higher latency than low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite links, which can provide lower-latency communications. Together with improved networking, these technologies have expanded the scope for remote piloting and long-range operations. However, communications remain vulnerable to jamming and disruption.
Navigation and Precision Attack
Drones have traditionally relied on satellite navigation (SatNav) and other navigation methods to reach their targets. SatNav is vulnerable to jamming and can become unreliable in contested environments. A significant advance has been the development of AI-enabled terrain matching and machine vision, which allow drones to navigate using terrain features and visual cues rather than relying solely on satellite signals.
Machine vision has also improved precision-strike capabilities through target identification. Meanwhile, advances in counter-drone technologies have helped shape the evolution of strike drones, driving the development of systems designed to overcome increasingly sophisticated defenses.
Drone Development Cycle
Drone development and operational fielding cycles are considerably shorter than those of manned aircraft and helicopters.
Lower development costs and shorter timelines allow drone warfare to evolve rapidly in response to battlefield conditions. Drone designs and capabilities can be tailored to the specific challenges of a battlefield and the objectives of a particular campaign.
The design and capabilities of attack drones depend on the targets they are intended to engage. Attacking bridges, troop concentrations, moving road vehicles, or logistical storage facilities presents different operational requirements and calls for different drone capabilities. These requirements must also account for the counter-UAS systems deployed by the adversary.
The same principle applies to drone interceptors: their capabilities must match the threats they are designed to counter. For instance, countering high-speed, jet-powered attack drones may require equally fast, jet-powered interceptors, although other interception methods may also be effective.
Both the targets to be attacked and the capabilities of the adversary vary from one conflict to another. Consequently, drone development is driven by the specific operational requirements of each battlefield and the continuing interaction between attack drones and the defenses designed to defeat them.
Indian and Chinese army troops greeted each other along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh on October 31, 2024, on the occasion of Diwali. Chinese troops greeted Indian soldiers and exchanged sweets on October 31 at two points along their contested border to mark a major Indian festival, army sources said, a week after leaders of the Asian rivals held their first bilateral meeting in five years. (Photo by Indian Army / AFP) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO/INDIAN ARMY” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
Drone Warfare Enabling Technologies
A formidable drone warfare capability cannot be built merely by developing drones with impressive specifications. It requires drones whose capabilities are tailored to specific targets and tactical scenarios. For example, interdicting road supply lines requires drones that can identify and engage moving supply trucks while distinguishing them from other vehicles. Such drones may be unsuitable for attacking bridges.
The key is to master the enabling technologies that allow drones to perform specific tasks.
These broadly encompass five areas:
Propulsion: Low-cost, efficient engines for the required combination of speed, range, and endurance.
Communication: Resilient, low-latency communications, including LEO satellite links, for responsive remote piloting and target engagement.
Navigation: AI-enabled machine vision and terrain matching for navigation that does not depend solely on satellite navigation (SatNav).
Precision attack: Machine vision and target recognition for accurate engagement of intended targets.
Warheads: Payloads tailored to the intended targets and desired effects.
A nation cannot become a leader in drone warfare simply by developing drones. It must master these enabling technologies and continuously improve them to meet evolving battlefield requirements.
India’s mastery of drone-warfare enabling technologies remains limited in several critical areas, particularly when compared with China’s industrial scale and technological capabilities.
The Chinese Threat
China has substantial capabilities in many of the enabling technologies discussed above. More importantly, it has a formidable drone-component manufacturing ecosystem spanning electric motors, flight controllers, sensors, machine vision, navigation and communications modules, as well as drone propulsion.
Its experience with mesh networking can support low-latency drone control and coordination. China is also developing large-scale LEO satellite constellations, although their specific contribution to military drone operations should not be assumed without further evidence.
China could potentially develop and field drones tailored to exploit specific vulnerabilities in Indian Army capabilities or tactics within relatively short periods. It could also adapt its systems to counter tactical innovations introduced by Indian forces.
Along the border, China’s industrial capacity could enable it to manufacture and field drones in large numbers, threatening Indian troop movements by day and night. Supply lines, radars, tanks and artillery could all face persistent drone attacks.
Without comparable capabilities, the Indian Army would risk losing operational ground.
Long-range precision strikes by Chinese drones could also threaten IAF airbases, radars, air-defense units and logistics bases, potentially degrading India’s ability and willingness to sustain a prolonged conflict.
If this scenario seems overstated, consider how Russia, despite possessing a formidable layered air-defense network, has struggled to prevent Ukraine’s sustained drone attacks.
Ukrainian long-range strikes have benefited from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support, including Western assistance. Satellite communications, including Starlink, have also played a role in some Ukrainian drone operations.
China possesses substantial ISR and communications capabilities of its own, although their effectiveness in a conflict along the Indian border would depend on operational conditions and the resilience of the systems involved.
Given India’s resource constraints and technological gaps, it could struggle to withstand a sustained, large-scale Chinese drone campaign unless it develops comparable capabilities in drone production, deployment, and counter-drone warfare.
Vijainder K Thakur is a retired IAF Jaguar pilot, author, software architect, entrepreneur, and military analyst.
Welcome to our weekly wrap of what’s happening on stages around town, kicking off with Lily Allen’s concert version of the theatrical work based on her album.
With a tactile dongle for on-the-fly customization and a metal chassis, the Wallhack M-001 is the most fun I've had reviewing a gaming mouse in a long time.
It may not look like it, but this is one of the fastest cars I've ever driven.
Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
It looks unassuming, but the Subaru Trailseeker is ridiculously fun to drive. And fast.
Technically, Subaru classifies this car as a midsize SUV. (Sure, Jan.)
It's the Subaru-iest of all the vehicles built in partnership with Toyota.
American parking lots are awash with a sea of sameness. There's just a bunch of basic SUVs and pickup trucks.
That makes the wagon-ish 2026 Subaru Trailseeker EV a real eye-catcher. Unlike the homogeneous crossovers rolling up to elementary school pickup lines today, it gets a stretched, long-roof profile and carries a Subaru badge. It looks like a proper successor to the Subaru wagons of yore, like the 2000s Outbacks and Legacys.
Technically, Subaru sees this differently. They classify the Trailseeker as an all-electric midsize SUV — and they do have a point with its 8.5 inches of ground clearance and easy-to-slide-into seats.
But, I mean, come on, look at this thing.
The Subaru Trailseeker wagon —err — SUV's side profile.
Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
That's a wagon in my book.
I drove the Trailseeker's top Touring trim for about 450 miles to see if it was a worthy antidote to America's great car-design flattening. My tester — complete with premium blue paint, a panoramic glass roof, and radiant leg warmers in the front seat (yes, you read that right) — stickered at $48,400.
And it was pretty wild.
This wagon — sorry, SUV — can really move
Why is this thing so fast?
Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
I've driven around 80 cars in my career as an auto journalist: EVs, muscle cars, sports cars, big trucks, premium luxury vehicles, etc.
The Trailseeker easily makes my personal list of top 10 fastest vehicles. It can launch from standing to 60 mph in about 4.4 seconds and produces 375 horsepower.
Get behind the steering wheel of this family-wagon-shaped car, and you feel that power at all times. On my highway-dominant drive from New York City to the Washington, DC, area, it quickly dashed by slower traffic and 18-wheelers.
The speed doesn't come at the expense of efficiency or refinement, either.
The Trailseeker returned about 3.7 miles per kWh, giving the battery about 270 miles of juice. While it was whipping past cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, I could still hear back-seat passengers when they spoke.
And, speaking of the back seat, the Trailseeker's long body gives rear passengers an almost comical amount of legroom. Fold those seats down, and my panoramic-roof tester has up to 71.8 cubic feet of cargo space, in case you have to move some furniture around, too.
The Trailseeker's backseat has more than enough room.
Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
Its biggest red flag was charging.
I saw speeds peak around 127 kW, which is pretty middling in today's EV age. Subaru says the car can accept up to 150 kW.
Let's compare that to the much higher-priced (but similarly shaped) Lucid Gravity, which is considered America's fastest-charging EV. That one can accept up to 420 kW, adding up to 200 miles of range in under 12 minutes.
My initial fast-charge of the Trailseeker — a top-off kind of stop while I grabbed a coffee — took 21 minutes, charging the car from 49% to 77%.
Is it Subaru-y enough?
Take away the Subaru badge, and this might look a lot like a Toyota interior...
Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
Subaru didn't build the Trailseeker alone.
It's the product of Subaru's expanding EV partnership with Toyota. The two companies now sell three closely related EV pairs: Subaru's Solterra, Uncharted, and Trailseeker correspond with Toyota's bZ, C-HR, and bZ Woodland. Next year, the companies are launching mechanically similar three-row EVs, too, with the Toyota Highlander and the Subaru Getaway.
The Trailseeker is easily the Subaru-iest of the bunch, and it's not just because of its wagon-y looks. It gets a dose of Subaru's adventure-seeking vibe, including standard Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive, X-Mode settings for snow and mud, roof rails, and a 3,500-pound towing capacity.
That outdoorsy tuning comes with a trade-off. The Trailseeker felt noticeably firm over broken pavement, especially at lower speeds.
A wagon comeback? Don't hold your breath.
Good luck finding a Trailseeker on a dealership lot right now...
Ben Shimkus/Business Insider
You want a wagon now, right? Isn't this thing so cool?
Well, I'm teasing you. Good luck finding a Trailseeker.
Right now, Subaru has only a 9.7-day supply of the model in dealer lots, per CarGurus data shared with Business Insider. That's well under the industry average of about 70 days' worth of supply.
Kevin Roberts, CarGurus's director of economic and market intelligence, says the low supply isn't a product of high demand. In September, the automaker only sold 849 units, just 1.6% of all Subaru sales in America.
As the calendar turns, Roberts says there's little momentum for the wagon body type: "This segment has accounted for less than 1% of new car sales," he said, adding that "the traditional wagon has become increasingly rare in today's new car market."
So, no, the Trailseeker probably isn't about to resurrect the American station wagon.
That's a shame. After 450 miles in one, I'm increasingly convinced that good ones could win over American drivers.
By the end of his pre-trial detention at Moscow's infamous Lefortovo Prison, American journalist Evan Gershkovich had developed a curious rapport with the FSB investigator tasked with proving he was a spy.
"Most people break after four months or so, but you're still holding strong
The New Statesman has published a letter signed by the great and good defending Sally Rooney's right to support Palestine Action. Prof James Alexander wonders why so many writers couldn't write a decent letter.
Amid riots, looting and protests by French students angry at the conditions of their high schools, THR’s Paris-based film critic picks 10 essential movies that shed light on the tensions leading to this moment.
Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis also star in the AFI Fest-premiering film, inspired by the true story of a football game played between Marines stationed in the Pacific theater of WWII.
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