World
Conflicting claims emerge on Russian GPS jamming targeting VDL's plane
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Reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plane was targeted by suspected Russian GPS jamming as she travelled from Warsaw to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv on 31 August have sparked major speculation.
Scrutiny has intensified after official sources flip-flopped between statements, appearing to row back on early claims that the disruption had been caused by suspected Russian interference.
The timeline
The Financial Times broke the story on 1 September, reporting that von der Leyen’s plane — a charter aircraft operated by Luxembourg airline LuxAviation — circled Plovdiv airport for an hour, using paper maps to land, after being targeted by “suspected Russian GPS interference.”
The same day, the European Commission stated it had received information from the Bulgarian authorities which suggested that the alleged jamming was “due to blatant interference from Russia.”
Later that day, prominent flight tracking site FlightRadar24 issued a statement in which it cast doubt over the notion there was any GPS jamming in the area around Plovdiv at the time of the plane’s landing.
The data provided by FlightRadar24 also revealed that the flight had taken nine minutes longer than scheduled, contracting the original claim made by the Financial Times that the aircraft had been circling Plovdiv airport for an hour.
Later, the Financial Times’ claims that “paper maps” had been used to conduct the landing were contested after Bulgarian authorities released a statement specifying that a ground-based radio navigation system known as ILS was used.
As the story unravelled, a recording in which the plane’s pilot reported “issues with the GPS” to Bulgarian air traffic controllers emerged, seemingly confirming some kind of interruption to the aircraft’s navigation systems.
But days later, on 4 September, in an interview with Bulgarian channel bTV, Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Grozdan Karadjov denied that the government had submitted any information on the matter to the European Commission, contradicting the Commission’s assertion that Bulgarian authorities suspected the disruption was the result of the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Bulgarian aviation authorities did hand the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) a report of the conversation between the pilot of the plane and the control tower, but while this exchange referred to “minor issues” with the GPS, it did not mention Russian interference.
“EASA still needs to remove the computers on board the aircraft and see what these computers registered,” Karadjov added.
Later that day, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, said there was “no evidence” of “prolonged interference or jamming” of the GPS signal around Plovdiv airport in an address to Parliament.
Zhelyazkov later appeared to back-peddle on his earlier claims, stating that although no jamming had been detected by “ground instruments”, this didn’t exclude the possibility of “onboard devices” having experienced jamming.
Zhelyazkov subsequently ordered aviation authorities to launch an investigation into what happened, despite Bulgarian authorities initially stating there wouldn’t be one.
Conflicting perspectives from analysts
Euronews consulted several analysts, some of which stand by the possibility of a “spoofing” or “jamming incident,” while others firmly asserted that there is no evidence of GPS jamming in the area around Plovdiv on the day in question.
Ian Petchenik, director of communications for Flightradar24, told Euronews that the “aircraft’s transponder reported good GPS signal quality from take-off to landing,” based on their analysis of Navigation Integrity Category (NIC) values, which is an indicator of the quality of navigational data received by the aircraft.
However, Petchenik added that interference “could have been internal to the aircraft, or from another source.”
But Mahmoud Elsanhoury from Finland’s Vaasa University told Euronews that spoofers have developed increasingly sophisticated techniques which allow them to make it appear like a good signal level is being transmitted to an aircraft, when in reality it is not.
“If the signal level is good and the pilot is going around in circles, this is a a very big indicator that it was a spoofing incident”, Elsanhoury explained.
Although there is a plethora of doubts surrounding this incident, Moscow has intensified GPS jamming targeting planes and ships since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, primarily in the area surrounding the Baltic Sea.
“We are very well aware that unfortunately this incident is not specific to the president, meaning that it occurs on a very regular basis to many aircrafts flying in particular next to our eastern border,” a European Commission spokesperson said on Thursday, adding that “coordinated action from the European Union is needed” to tackle the threat.
World
Naomi Watts to Star as Ballerina Margot Fonteyn in Romantic Drama ‘Margot & Rudi,’ With WestEnd Films Selling in Cannes
Naomi Watts is set to star in romantic drama “Margot & Rudi,” which tells the true story of ballet legends Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. The film, to be directed by “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” filmmaker Anthony Fabian, has been boarded by world sales agency WestEnd Films.
The story unfolds when Fonteyn, the greatest ballerina in the West, is 42 and sensing her career is over. Nureyev is 23, a rebellious Soviet defector — magnetic, explosive, unstoppable. Together, they ignite the stage and become icons of the Swinging Sixties. Fonteyn is reborn by Nureyev’s wild energy, but their bond is complicated by her marriage and his affair with another dancer. To preserve what they have, they will risk everything for one defining ballet—because the only place they can truly be together… is on stage.
Watts, who studied dance before becoming an actress, will star as Fonteyn. She broke through with her performance in “Mulholland Drive” and earned Academy Award nominations for her leading roles in “21 Grams” and “The Impossible.”
She next stars in “The Housewife,” as well as Cody Fern’s untitled debut feature film, with Sarah Paulson, Dianne Wiest and Odessa A’Zion.
On television, she received Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for her performance in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” and recently starred in “Love Story.”
Alexandr Trush, principal dancer with the Hamburg Ballet, will portray Nureyev. A Russian-speaking Ukrainian ballet star, he has headlined major productions including “Giselle” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
The film also stars Academy Award nominee Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” “Saltburn,” “Nuremberg”), Academy Award nominee Demián Bichir (“A Better Life,” “Land,” “The Hateful Eight”) and BAFTA nominee Harriet Walter (“Succession,” “The Crown,” “Sense and Sensibility”), with additional cast to be announced.
The screenplay is written by BAFTA nominee Olivia Hetreed (“Girl With a Pearl Earring,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”).
The creative team includes Academy Award nominee hair and makeup designer Karen Hartley Thomas (“Golda,” The Son,” “The Courier”), choreographer Arthur Pita (“Ex Machina,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Sunshine on Leith”), and BAFTA-winning costume designer Fotini Dimou (“The Children Act,” “King Lear”), with additional crew to be announced.
The film, which is set to shoot in October, is produced by Mike Goodridge for Good Chaos (“Triangle of Sadness,” “Ballad of a Small Player,” “Quo Vadis, Aida?”), Anthony Fabian for Elysian Films (“Skin,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”), Olivia Hetreed for Sympathetic Ink and Chris Coen (“Funny Games,” “The Childhood of a Leader,” “Shadow Dancer”). Executive producers are Thom Mount, Jeffrey Berg and Andy Paterson.
Fabian said: “Growing up in Mexico City, watching Margot and Rudi’s performances in the cinema sparked my passion for stories that blend music, theater and dance. The film explores the private joy and pain behind their public personas, capturing their unique chemistry. Ballet sequences from the duo’s most iconic roles and performances together drive the story, using movement and cinematic fantasy to reveal the truth behind a couple as famous in their day as The Beatles. Their love, defying barriers of culture, age, class and sexuality, is romantic, unconventional and thrilling — a love story like no other.”
Fabian’s previous film “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” was released worldwide by Focus Features/Universal International Pictures in 2022. It grossed over $30 million at the box office and received BAFTA, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.
Watts said: “Dance was my first love, and I’ve long dreamed of making a dance film. I feel deeply honored and excited to be playing Margot Fonteyn, one of the greatest dancers of all time. Her relationship with Rudolf Nureyev was extraordinary — both artistically and emotionally — and I’m thrilled to be exploring it with such sensitivity and imagination under the direction of Anthony Fabian.”
Maya Amsellem, managing director of WestEnd Films, said: “’Margot & Rudi’ is a sweeping and beautiful story about two iconic artists who redefine each other at a pivotal moment in their lives. Naomi Watts is set to deliver one of the most transformative performances of her career, combining emotional intensity with the physicality of dance. With Anthony Fabian’s visionary direction and the film’s bold, cinematic use of ballet, this will be a powerful big-screen experience we’re excited to bring to the international market.”
WestEnd will introduce the film to buyers at Cannes Film Festival.
Watts is repped by CAA, Untitled and HJTH. Fabian is repped by Jon Cassir at CAA and Olivia Gray at Independent Talent. He is managed by Ensemble Entertainment.
Ships reportedly attacked in Strait of Hormuz as blockade turns 28 vessels around
Daniel Turner, Power The Future founder and executive director, analyzes the US blockade against Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s strategy to outlast the US economically. He details the impact on oil and gas prices, arguing that markets need confidence to stabilize. Turner critiques current climate policies, stating they’ve made lives expensive and hurt the US economically and militarily.
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Iran reportedly opened fire upon three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre noted that a container ship was fired upon by an IRGC gunboat near Oman Wednesday, causing “heavy damage to the bridge.”
“No fires or environmental impact reported. All Crew reported safe,” the notice said.
Another UKMTO warning said “an outbound cargo ship” west of Iran reported “having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water.” The notice said the crew was safe and accounted for.
“There is no reported damage to the vessel,” it added.
IRAN FIRES ON 2 SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ AFTER TRUMP EXTENDS CEASEFIRE
Maps4Media processed and enhanced Sentinal-2 satellite imagery shows a broad view of the Strait of Hormuz between southern Iran and Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, including surrounding islands, coastal terrain, and turquoise shallow-water zones at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. (Photo enhanced and published by maps4media via Getty Images)
Iranian media said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was bringing two ships to Iran after seizing them in the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Associated Press.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) Command claimed in an X post that the two vessels, the MSC-FRANCESCA and EPAMINODES, “had endangered maritime security by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems.”
It said the vessels “were seized by the IRGC Navy and escorted to Iran’s coast,” according to a translation.
“Disruption of order and safety in the Strait of Hormuz is our red line,” the command wrote.
It also claimed the MSC-FRANCESCA is “linked to the Zionist regime.”
IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD SIDELINES PRESIDENT AS MILITARY GRIP EXPANDS
Motorists ride past the Imam Sadiq (AS) mosque with a giant Iranian flag installed on its front at the Palestine Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)
Iranian media also reported that the IRGC attacked a third ship, identified as the Euphoria, according to the AP.
The development comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that the United States was extending a ceasefire.
“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal,” the president wrote on Truth Social..
ISRAEL UNVEILS GAME-CHANGING ARTILLERY AGAINST IRAN-BACKED HEZBOLLAH AMID FRAGILE CEASEFIRE
President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media outside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 13, 2026. (Salwan Georges/Bloomberg)
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“I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,” he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Published on
A court in Moldova sentenced oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc to 19 years in prison on Wednesday in a case linked to the disappearance of $1 billion (€850 million) from the country’s banking system.
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A former businessman, lawmaker and kingpin in the Democratic Party of Moldova, Plahotniuc fled Moldova in 2019, as he faced a series of corruption charges.
That included complicity in the scheme that led to money disappearing from Moldovan banks in 2014, which at the time was equivalent to around one-eighth of the country’s GDP.
He was extradited from Greece last year, after being arrested at Athens airport under an Interpol international alert.
A Chișinău judge announced the ruling on Wednesday.
The court also ordered the seizure of some $60 million (€51 million) from Plahotniuc’s accounts, said prosecutor Alexandru Cernei after the sentencing.
Plahotniuc, 60, was not present in court on Wednesday.
He had previously dismissed the charges, calling his trial “political” and “flawed from the outset.”
His lawyer Lucian Rogac said he would appeal the decision, deeming it “clearly illegal.”
“The entire process was conducted in a tremendous rush, with numerous violations of the defendant’s rights,” Rogac said.
After Plahotniuc’s return to the country, Moldovan prosecutors had demanded 25 years in jail, the maximum provided by law, in a case linked to the disappearance of money from three banks in 2014.
They accused Plahotniuc of forming and leading a criminal organisation, fraud and money laundering on a particularly large scale.
The influential businessman and politician was added to a US State Department sanctions list in 2022 for alleged corruption.
The charges included controlling the country’s law enforcement to target political and business rivals and meddling in Moldova’s elections.
He was added to a UK sanctions list in 2022 and barred from entering the country. His assets were frozen in Britain and its overseas territories.
Plahotniuc was accused of involvement in pro-Russian political campaigns and efforts to derail Moldova’s pro-EU course.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
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