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How the far right weaponised the Ceuta crisis

How the far right weaponised the Ceuta crisis

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More than 72 migrants died trying to reach Ceuta, but within hours the tragedy had become a political flashpoint.

Al Jazeera’s Ava Warriner examines the biggest claims about the crossings, what we know, and why analysts say the fallout could extend far beyond Spain.

Published On 4 Aug 2026

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Landmark Deal Would Officially Add Laser Weapons to US Army Arsenal<div><p>They stuffed a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2010/09/missile-beats-flying-lightsaber-in-crucial-test/" class="text link">real-life ray gun into a 747</a> to shoot down ballistic missiles and stuck a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2005/11/bomb/" class="text link">laser on top of a Humvee</a> to zap roadside bombs. For more than 50 years, the United States military and its researchers have tried to develop laser weapons. None of them panned out.</p><p class="paywall">But now, the US Army is about to make a working laser weapon an official part of its arsenal. The Pentagon is poised to sign a contract to acquire and rapidly deploy what’s called an <a data-offer-url="https://www.laserwars.net/p/army-enduring-high-energy-laser-weapon-rfi" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.laserwars.net/p/army-enduring-high-energy-laser-weapon-rfi"}" href="https://www.laserwars.net/p/army-enduring-high-energy-laser-weapon-rfi" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Enduring High Energy Laser</a> in and around bases across the world to defend them from drone attacks, according to sources familiar with the matter. The official announcement could come as early as this week. When the deal is signed, it will mark the first time that the US military will have committed to equipping its forces with laser weapons in significant numbers.</p><p class="paywall">“For years, lasers were going to be the future, and they never really came to their own. Now, they’re actually coming to their own,” Mark J. Lewis, the former Air Force chief scientist, tells WIRED.</p><p class="paywall">The Iran and Ukraine wars have shown that drones are now so cheap, so plentiful, and so deadly that they’re impossible to stop with any single countermeasure. Some of the traditional ones have been particularly clunky. During the early days of the Iran conflict, the US even resorted to firing <a data-offer-url="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/us/politics/pentagon-weapons-drones-iran-war-hegseth.html" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/us/politics/pentagon-weapons-drones-iran-war-hegseth.html"}" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/us/politics/pentagon-weapons-drones-iran-war-hegseth.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">$4 million Patriot missiles at $35,000 Iranian drones</a>—a waste of money, and a move that depleted the American interceptor stockpile.</p><p class="paywall">Modern lasers, on the other hand, never run out of ammunition. “Basically, you can keep firing them as long as you’ve got power,” Lewis says. “There are some other issues with lasers, including how rapidly you can refire and recharge. But if you solve those problems, then suddenly you’ve got a pretty nifty way to help counteract things like a drone swarm attack.”</p><p class="paywall">That’s one reason why the US military, at this moment, has either deployed or is actively testing <a data-offer-url="https://www.laserwars.net/p/us-military-laser-weapons-programs-list" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.laserwars.net/p/us-military-laser-weapons-programs-list"}" href="https://www.laserwars.net/p/us-military-laser-weapons-programs-list" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">a half-dozen laser weapons systems</a>, according to the <a data-offer-url="https://www.laserwars.net/" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.laserwars.net/"}" href="https://www.laserwars.net/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Laser Wars</a> newsletter. The Navy has installed laser “<a data-offer-url="https://www.laserwars.net/p/us-military-laser-weapons-programs-list?open=false#%C2%A7optical-dazzling-interdictor-navy-odin" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.laserwars.net/p/us-military-laser-weapons-programs-list?open=false#%C2%A7optical-dazzling-interdictor-navy-odin"}" href="https://www.laserwars.net/p/us-military-laser-weapons-programs-list?open=false#%C2%A7optical-dazzling-interdictor-navy-odin" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">dazzlers</a>” on two of its ships to blind drones’ electro-optical sensors. The Air Force’s command for Europe and Africa has sent Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapons System “<a data-offer-url="https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4552085/usafe-afafrica-strengthens-defense-through-layered-integrated-counter-uas-appro/" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4552085/usafe-afafrica-strengthens-defense-through-layered-integrated-counter-uas-appro/"}" href="https://www.usafe.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4552085/usafe-afafrica-strengthens-defense-through-layered-integrated-counter-uas-appro/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">to locations across the theater</a>.” In late June, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to the Army’s test range in <a data-offer-url="https://www.laserwars.net/p/hegseth-military-laser-weapon-demonstration" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.laserwars.net/p/hegseth-military-laser-weapon-demonstration"}" href="https://www.laserwars.net/p/hegseth-military-laser-weapon-demonstration" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">White Sands, New Mexico</a>, for a demonstration of all sorts of directed-energy weapon projects.</p><p class="paywall">The deployments haven’t all gone great. Four vehicles equipped with Raytheon air-defense lasers were <a data-offer-url="https://www.laserwars.net/i/157728964/directed-energy-maneuver-short-range-air-defense-de-mshorad" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.laserwars.net/i/157728964/directed-energy-maneuver-short-range-air-defense-de-mshorad"}" href="https://www.laserwars.net/i/157728964/directed-energy-maneuver-short-range-air-defense-de-mshorad" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">yanked from the Middle East</a> after poor reviews from soldiers. One laser, built by the defense contractor AeroVironment and positioned along the southern US border, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-el-paso-no-fly-debacle-is-just-the-beginning-of-the-drone-defense-mess/" class="text link">accidentally zapped a party balloon</a> in February, causing the Federal Aviation Administration to briefly <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-el-paso-no-fly-debacle-is-just-the-beginning-of-the-drone-defense-mess/" class="text link">close the airspace around El Paso, Texas</a>. Once it was reopened, the laser <a href="https://apnews.com/article/military-laser-border-drone-texas-airport-55aaab7093f7d6dd174f909f3875001c" class="text link">shot down a Border Patrol drone</a> by mistake.</p><p class="paywall">Despite such mishaps, the Army appears ready to go beyond the one-offs and the experiments. In fact, in some ways, the accidental kill helped make the case for the laser, proving it could actually take out such a drone.</p><p class="paywall">The Pentagon and its suppliers had been scrambling to field something, anything to defend against mass-produced, low-cost attack drones. They’ve rolled out radio frequency jammers, microwave weapons, an array of missiles, drones designed to kill other drones, even copies of the Iranian robots. None of them in isolation have been enough. On March 1, an Iranian drone <a data-offer-url="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/12/survivors-iranian-attack-that-killed-6-us-troops-say-generals-ignored-warnings/" class="external-link text link" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/12/survivors-iranian-attack-that-killed-6-us-troops-say-generals-ignored-warnings/"}" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/07/12/survivors-iranian-attack-that-killed-6-us-troops-say-generals-ignored-warnings/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">killed six US service members and injured 30 others</a>.</p></div>#Landmark #Deal #Officially #Add #Laser #Weapons #Army #Arsenallasers,drones,weapons and ammo,iran,military,military tech,army

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