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The World Cup has always been about more than soccer.

Every four years, the global sporting extravaganza becomes a stage on which governments project power, politicians clamor for photo opportunities and old rivalries discover new life. North America’s first World Cup since 1994 was no different — only bigger.

The 48-team tournament brought a Viking invasion of Miami, diplomatic skirmishes over the Falkland Islands, Trump-era political intrigue, Gulf money and one FIFA president seemingly determined to be everything everywhere all at once. It did also produce some outstanding and tense soccer.

Here’s POLITICO’s full A-to-Z review of the tournament.

A is for Absent

Italy again failed to qualify, setting off a massive political outcry in Rome , which involved senior allies of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni trying to gain control of the soccer federation. They ultimately failed, but the episode underscored just how far Italian soccer has fallen since winning the tournament in 2006. Other politically notable absentees: Russia and China.

B is for Bygones

23 years after the U.S. invasion that left hundreds of thousands of people dead, Iraq qualified for the North American World Cup. The team struggled, but Iraqi fans that POLITICO spoke to in Massachusetts were happy to be there for the party. Those vibes were sky high at the Boston Stadium fanzone before the match against Norway, where the DJ yelled, “Let me hear you in the house from Eye-raq!”

C is for Cape Verde

The island minnows were the biggest surprise of the tournament, drawing with Spain and then pushing Argentina to extra time in a thrilling knockout match. Heroic goalkeeper Vozinha’s mom was able to come and watch after the U.S. State Department waived her eye-watering visa fees following Cape Verde’s opening match.

D is for Displeased

Early exits for Uruguay and Turkey both triggered a national outcry, but political recriminations went furthest in South Korea, where President Lee Jae Myung called on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to probe the country’s failure to advance to the round of 32, one of the Asian powerhouse’s most disappointing World Cup campaigns in decades.

E is for Exploitation

Ticket prices and hotel costs left many fans whom our reporters met feeling fleeced. FIFA and the U.S. were a perfect commercial match with merchandise, stadium food and even car parking retailing for eye-watering prices. The governing body maintained throughout the tournament that it got ticket prices right, and said full stadiums were evidence of that.

F is for the Falklands

The 1982 war in the South Atlantic loomed over the semifinal game between England and Argentina, one of the great historic World Cup grudge matches. After their late victory, some Argentine players unfurled a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — which translates to “The Falkland Islands are Argentine” — staking their claim to the British Overseas Territory. The incident has breathed new life into the issue , in both Buenos Aires and London, that will endure well beyond today’s final whistle.

G is for German inefficiency

Four-time champions Germany were dumped out in the first knockout round by Paraguay, an abject result that cost coach Julian Nagelsmann his job. The other top German manager in the tournament — Thomas Tuchel, in charge of England — then cost his side a place in the final, going all-out defense and making a series of bizarre substitutions against Argentina. For some German politicians, that ineptness provided a tap-in metaphor : “This national team plays the way this federal government governs: big on ambition, short on resolve,” in the words of Member of the European Parliament Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.

H is for Half-time show

Sunday featured the first ever half-time show at a World Cup final. Music superstars Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira and K-Pop band BTS took the stage, pausing the game for 27 minutes — longer than the customary 15-minute interval — and reigniting the debate over whether soccer should borrow more from American sports. Polling conducted for POLITICO showed that European spectators were much more skeptical of the concept than American fans.

I is for the Invisible Man

Donald Trump turned up at one match : the final. While several Cabinet secretaries appeared in stadiums rooting for the U.S. squad, the president stayed away. Trump wasn’t even a particularly big presence on social media, though did turn up for a bombastic appearance at a FIFA final-weekend cocktail party at Trump Tower. In between, there was one, single dramatic incident: Trump’s intervention to help get a suspension of America’s star player overturned.

J is for ‘Johnny’ Infantino

The president of FIFA was everywhere, racking up thousands of miles on a private jet and attending scores of matches. His cozy relationship with Trump triggered grumbling from European lawmakers — and the International Olympic Committee received a complaint alleging he had repeatedly breached rules on political neutrality. Despite the criticism, Infantino appears to have locked down another term in charge of FIFA when its members vote for president next spring.

K is for Kansas

Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, went all in on the World Cup , partying with bouncing Dutch fans before a group stage match, then scrapping with a Financial Times journalist on X. Across the river in Lawrence, Kansas, residents took the Algerian team — which set up its training base camp in the city — to heart, as one of the more surprising tournament bonds developed. “I almost shed a tear,” said the Algerian coach Vladimir Petković about the relationship.

L is for Lionel Messi

When the Argentinian superstar visited the White House earlier this year with Major League Soccer champions Inter Miami, Trump surveyed attendees about who they thought was soccer’s greatest-ever player: Pelé or Messi. The answer remains inconclusive after Messi signed off his World Cup career with defeat in Sunday’s final. Messi started the tournament with three goals against Algeria, and inspired Argentina through subsequent rounds — including dramatic comeback wins against Egypt and England.

M is for Monarchy

Spanish King Felipe attended Sunday’s World Cup final, along with his whole family. Felipe had also used an earlier trip, for Spain’s encounter with Uruguay in Guadalajara, to attempt a thaw of frosty relations with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. And he wasn’t the only royal to attend matches in North America . Monarchs from Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands figured more prominently in the VVIP sections than those countries’ elected politicians.

N is for North Africa

Morocco and Egypt proved that North African soccer is steadily improving, with their runs into the knockout phases. Egypt likely would have beaten Argentina, without an intervention from the Video Assistant Referee; while Morocco ran into a French buzzsaw in the quarterfinals. Rabat has particularly large soccer ambitions, and will co-host the 2030 tournament — and is currently antagonizing Spain by pushing to host the final.

O is for Oil

The Gulf nations were one of the biggest disappointments in the tournament, with both Qatar and Saudi Arabia ejected in the group stage. So far, there is limited evidence that Saudi investment on domestic soccer has lifted the country’s national team, while Qatar appears to have regressed since hosting in 2022. Aramco, the Saudi state-owned energy giant, was the only Gulf winner: ubiquitous on advertising boards inside World Cup stadiums, as part of its megabucks partnership with FIFA.

P is for Powerade

Hydration breaks (sponsored by Powerade!) in each half of games infuriated fans, as FIFA turned soccer into a four-quarter sport. Deafening boos rang out around stadiums as matches, even those taking place in air-conditioned arenas, were halted for the players to have a drink. FIFA, for whom Powerade-maker Coca-Cola is a long-standing corporate partner, insisted it wasn’t profiting from the breaks.

Q is for Qualification

This was the first World Cup with 48 teams, and by the end Infantino was mulling an increase to 64 teams for 2030. A jump from 48 to 64 would not massively increase the tournament’s footprint while engineering a more natural group stage-to-knockout bracket. The move could help put more small countries — and not-quite-countries like Curaçao, the Dutch holding that made its World Cup début this year — on the map.

R is for Racism

A senator in Asunción launched a diatribe at French striker Kylian Mbappé after France’s bad-tempered victory over Paraguay in the Last 16, calling him a “brute” and questioning his intelligence and nationality. Her remarks were widely condemned, and the United Nations said “language that dehumanizes people because of their race or ethnic origin has no place in sport or public discourse.” Days later, former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy triggered outrage after describing France as a “very high-level squad. Of course, without Frenchmen,” alluding to the African and Caribbean origins of some of the players.

S is for Spain

The European champions are now the world champions. Built on a miserly defense, Spain suffocated opponents with their relentless control of the ball and passing throughout the tournament. It will now host the 2030 World Cup, and has won five international men’s tournaments in the last 18 years. A sporting superpower, even if Trump has suggested expelling the country from NATO.

T is for Tartan Army

Scotland might have embarrassed itself with a series of inept performances on the field, but its fans — the Tartan Army — lit up the tournament off the pitch . In Boston, they drank bars dry, put traffic cones on the heads of countless statues and took over the historic Fenway Park, before charming Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida during their friendly invasion of Miami.

U is for the United Arab Emirates

The other Gulf petromonarchy wasn’t even at the World Cup, but that didn’t stop it playing an outsized role in proceedings. Mohammad Al Kamali, a former member of the UAE’s parliament serving as chairman of FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, unilaterally made the controversial decision to defer American striker Folarin Balogun’s red-card ban, multiple news organizations reported. The ruling, which appeared to bypass the 18-member committee, raised questions about FIFA’s judicial independence.

V is for Vikings

Norway blazed a trail to the quarterfinals, backed by thousands of red-jersey-wearing supporters who mimicked Viking raiders with their now-iconic rowing celebration. Norway’s sport minister even joined in at Miami’s South Beach.

W is for War

Iran came within millimeters of progression to the second round, until a narrow refereeing decision went against them . Friction between the team, FIFA and the Trump administration overshadowed their campaign, with the players and staff under tight controls entering the U.S., as tensions climbed between Washington and Tehran — and culminated with new rounds of bombing while the tournament was still going on.

X is for X

Elon Musk’s social media platform was the tournament’s unofficial VAR room. Every controversial decision generated millions of posts, clips, conspiracy theories and immediate fury. Also memes. You will likely see Messi’s sarcastic nod in the semifinals for years, maybe decades, to come.

Y is for Yellow

Incoming Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella, a pro-Trump hard-liner, strode the campaign trail decked in Colombia’s brilliant yellow national jersey. He edged out a leftist challenger in mid-June, just in time for Colombian soccer fans to reflect on the shirt’s double meaning as a political symbol as their team became the only one to play matches across all three host countries.

Z is for Zinedine Zidane

France fell at the semifinal stage, despite a vast array of attacking talent that blitzed the early rounds of the competition. Coach Didier Deschamps now heads for the exit after 14 years in charge, and one World Cup triumph. That sets the stage for legendary French star Zinedine Zidane — whose role leading the team to glory as a player in 1998 made him a lightning rod for the country’s then-ascendant far right — to take the reins as manager.

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The Audi A2 e-tron has been spied with less disguise than ever before.

Model resembles a modernized, Sportback version of the classic A2.

Hatchback debuts this fall and will borrow heavily from VW ID.3 Neo.

Audi is gearing up to introduce the A2 e-tron later this year as their most affordable EV. While we’ve seen numerous prototypes in the past, spy shooters recently caught a lightly covered pre-production model.

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More: Audi Confirms The A2 Is Back, Prays It’ll Sell This Time

Looking surprisingly faithful to the MPV that was produced from late 1999 through 2005, the A2 e-tron is an electric hatchback that has a lot in common with the Volkswagen ID.3 Neo . However, it has a unique design that borrows a few cues from crossovers.

Baldauf

While the front end is heavily disguised, we can get a glimpse of a rounded front bumper and a rectangular lower intake. Previous spy photos have also revealed the car will have split lighting units and a fully enclosed grille that echoes the rest of the e-tron lineup.

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The profile recalls the classic A2, but with a Sportback vibe. This results in a dynamic greenhouse and a gently sloping roof that terminates at a pronounced spoiler. Designers also gave the model gloss black cladding and aerodynamically optimized wheels. They’re joined by pronounced wheel arches as well as winglet-style door pulls that mirror those found on the BMW X5 and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Baldauf

There isn’t much to see out back, but we can get a glimpse of the gloss black lower bumper and a peek of the taillights. They’re accompanied by a stylized liftgate with angular accents.

Spy photographers didn’t get close enough for interior pictures, but previous images have shown a familiar cabin that resembles the Q3 . This means we can expect an 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster as well as a 12.8-inch infotainment system. They’re joined by a flat-bottom steering wheel with a fixed bar that houses the shifter as well as some vehicle controls.

SHProshots

Audi has been coy on performance specifications, but they’ll presumably echo the ID.3 Neo. It features 50, 58, and 79 kWh battery packs that allow for a WLTP range of up to 391 miles (630 km). The Volkswagen also offers motors with 168 hp (125 kW / 170 PS), 188 hp (140 kW / 190 PS), and 228 hp (170 kW / 231 PS).

The A2 e-tron , which is also based on the MEB+ platform, will likely stick to the higher-end powertrains. It’s also worth noting the model may eschew quattro all-wheel drive.

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Yakima (pronounced "YAK-uh-maw") Canyon, where the Yakima River traverses a water gap through Manastash Ridge, is an obvious thoroughfare and was used by Native Americans for thousands of years, and then by Euro-American trappers and settlers into the 19th century. It was also an obvious route for a railroad, and the Northern Pacific Railway was built through it in the early 1880s, along the west bank of the river. (The railroad is still in active use and is now part of the BNSF system.)

Railroading was an extremely labor-intensive business well into the 20th century, and camps were built along the right-of-way to house the trackwalkers, signal men, section gangs, and other workers. In 1885 one such camp was built here at Umtanum Creek, where the eponymous creek joins the Yakima. The camp even boasted a school and a post office by the early 20th century.

When in 1925 the automobile highway was built through the canyon on the east shore of the river, cable suspension bridges were built across the river from the railroad camps to provide highway access. Evidently the original bridges were wide enough to be passable to Ford Model As. In the 1960s, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management took over the day-to-day management of the bridge, but only in 1987 was the bridge deck narrowed to make it accessible to pedestrians only.

With the continuing rise of automotive travel, it proved no longer necessary to station crews on the railroad right-of-way, and by the 1970s the last of the camps had been removed.

The cable suspension bridges were also removed, with the sole exception of the Umtanum Creek bridge. It was still used by recreational users to access the west side of the river, but because of age-related deterioration concerns were being raised about its safety. Meanwhile, efforts were underway to have the bridge declared a national historic site. Finally, Umtanum Creek Bridge was restored in early 2021, with attention paid to preserving the structure's historic values.

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X-Bow Systems, a company that made its name making solid rocket motors and small space-launch vehicles, has unveiled a new low-cost drone interceptor, named Buckler. The interceptor promises high-speed and a unit cost of less than $100,000, a price point that has only been approached by drone-like systems , not modern supersonic missiles.

The Buckler — named after a small shield of the Medieval and Renaissance eras — is designed to defeat Group 3 drones. As we have explained before , under the U.S. military categorization system, Group 3 is a very broad middle tier of drones that covers designs that weigh anywhere from 56 to 1,320 pounds and can fly at up to 18,000 feet, at speeds of 250 knots or less.

Iran’s now-infamous Shahed-136 long-range one-way attack drone, variants and derivatives of which are now in service in Russia and with several Iranian-backed proxies, falls into the Group 3 category.

A view inside a Russian factory producing versions of the Shahed-136 kamikaze drone. Russian state media

While optimized for bringing down drones, the Buckler can also engage other aerial threats, including subsonic cruise missiles, under certain conditions. This is especially relevant as newer Shahed-derived designs, and many other long-range one-way attack munitions, increasingly blur the line between drones and low-end cruise missiles through the adoption of jet propulsion and higher-altitude flight profiles. Then there is the emerging group of low-cost cruise missiles being adopted in the United States and potential adversaries , as well as existing, more advanced types. Low-flying aircraft and helicopters would also likely be on the menu for this missile, even as a secondary capability.

The high speed of the missile also means that a single Buckler battery can engage targets more rapidly and respond faster over a given range. It also makes it possible for follow-up shots to be taken if an effector misses within a given timeframe.

The Buckler is one of the growing number of responses to the increasing threat of drone-and-missile barrages, which are exposing the limits of legacy air defense models. In conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine , most notably, costly surface-to-air missile effectors are routinely expended, in significant quantities, against far cheaper incoming threats.

For years now, TWZ has been calling attention to the U.S. military’s concerning short-range air defense (SHORAD) gap, especially as drone threats have continued to expand and evolve .

“This is our answer to the call from the U.S. and its allies: affordable capability at scale,” X-Bow Systems’ CEO Jason Hundley told Axios .

“You can’t win a war of attrition trading million-dollar interceptors against thousand-dollar threats,” Hundley added.

The company is relying upon its own solid-rocket motor and propellant, allied with an airframe that’s also made in-house, which it says will bring down costs.

Now witness the power of this fully operational Solid Rocket Motor! The XB-34 is our largest SRM to date—but not for long. Stay tuned for an upcoming test that will set a new record for X-Bow. #MayThe4th —and thrust—be with you. Volume up. #StarWarsDay #SolidRocketMotor #SRM … pic.twitter.com/SuU0Fi3fOQ

— X-Bow Systems (@XBowSystems) May 4, 2026

X-Bow Systems recently notched a successful flight test for the Buckler, the company says, demonstrating its propulsion system and flight characteristics after completing motor static-fire and igniter testing.

According to Axios , the Pentagon has also requested a briefing on the interceptor.

X-Bow is entering one of the fastest-growing segments of the defense industry. The company is already well established as a producer of solid rocket motors and, last year, secured a $105 million investment from Lockheed Martin to expand production and provide propulsion systems and related services.

The startup will now be hoping that the Buckler’s eye-catching price point of less than $100,000 per copy will set it apart among drone interceptors.

By way of comparison, the combat-proven Raytheon Coyote , in its Block 2 configuration, also primarily intended for the counter-drone mission, has a unit price of around $100,000 , based on past reports. AeroVironment’s Freedom Eagle-1 (FE-1), which the U.S. Army picked last year to provide an additional layer of defense against longer-range one-way attack drones and other similarly sized uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), has a target unit cost of between $150,000 and $200,000. These are also notably slower and less responsive systems than the Buckler.

Toward the higher end of the scale, the cost of a Stinger short-range surface-to-air missile has historically been put at between $100,000 and $120,000, but reports in recent years have said that current-generation versions, including ones optimized for use against drones , can run up to $400,000 .

In terms of more exquisite SHORAD solutions, the U.S. Army’s Enduring Shield is presently configured to fire AIM-9X Sidewinders , each of which has a price tag around $500,000.

As for the kinds of threats that these effectors are intended to destroy, Shahed-type drones are typically understood to have a unit cost range measured in tens of thousands of dollars .

The Buckler is also intended to bring benefits in terms of speed and scalability of production. This should ensure that production facilities are able to ramp up quickly and, in response to demand, be able to increase the output accordingly. Applying the vertical integration approach, the company says it can address the “industrial-base bottleneck defense leaders cite as the top constraint on scaling interceptors.”

As demand for advanced missile propulsion accelerates, traditional production can’t keep up. Discover how X-Bow is delivering scalable, rapid solutions for urgent national security needs. #TechThisOut with @waltmac pic.twitter.com/nzSbikCz7X

— X-Bow Systems (@XBowSystems) May 7, 2026

Whether Buckler can deliver on its promised combination of performance, affordability, and production scale remains to be seen. But with militaries around the world urgently seeking cheaper ways to counter drones and cruise missiles that are appearing in greater numbers, X-Bow is entering the market at a particularly opportune moment.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

The post X-Bow Unveils Sub-$100K Buckler Supersonic Drone Interceptor appeared first on TWZ .

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Halloween might seem like a long way away, but it's never too early to start getting ready, and if you're anything like me, then you can't wait for the weather to start getting cooler, with crisp leaves underfoot and misty mornings. It seems the designers at IKEA agree, because they've already launched a whole set of Kustfyr Halloween decor so you can start preparing for spooky season now.

The new seasonal lights are particularly cute, and I defy anyone not to be charmed by the adorably spooky LED ghost table lamp with its arms raised mid-scare. Pair it with a set of ghostly battery-powered LED string lights for a full themed room.

It wouldn't be Halloween without pumpkins, and you can avoid the mess and hassle of carving a real gourd by picking up one of IKEA's fun pumpkin lamps. The globe-shaped LED pumpkin table lamp is a cute classic, while the matching battery-powered pendant lamp is safe to use outdoors, so you can hang it on your porch when it's time for trick-or-treating.

Want more creepy ways to decorate your home? Check out the full Kustfyr collection , which includes everything from plushies to plates.

Adorably spooky Halloween lights

IKEA

Kustfyr Battery LED Table Lamp - Ghost

IKEA

Kustfyr LED Table Lamp - Pumpkin

IKEA

Kustfyr Battery Pendant Lamp - Pumpkin

IKEA

Kustfyr Lantern for Pillar Candle - Black

IKEA

Kustfyr Battery LED Table Decoration - Pumpkin

IKEA

Kustfyr LED Lighting Chain With 32 Lights - Ghost

IKEA

Kustfyr LED String Light With 12 Lights - Ghost

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A common culprit behind severe gum disease may also stiffen and narrow the heart's aortic valve, preliminary research suggests. This may help explain links between gum problems and poor heart health.

Scientists have long linked severe gum disease to inflammation throughout the body and a higher risk of heart problems , including coronary artery disease , which can raise the risk of heart attack. Studies have also found that treating gum disease can improve blood-vessel health.

Now, researchers suggest that Porphyromonas gingivalis , one of the main bacteria involved in severe gum disease, may also contribute to calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), a condition in which calcium builds up in the heart's aortic valve. The findings were presented in July at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Boston and have not been peer-reviewed yet.

Dr. Elena Aikawa , a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the study, said the findings "fit well with our current understanding of calcific aortic valve disease as an active, inflammation-driven disease rather than simply wear and tear of the valve."

Periodontal disease is likely just one contributor among many, rather than the sole cause of CAVD, she added. But the study does identify a biologically plausible pathway linking oral health to heart health that could open new opportunities for prevention and treatment.

How mouth bacteria harm the heart

CAVD affects millions of people worldwide , and there are no approved drugs that slow or stop its progression. As the disease worsens, people may develop fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain, and in severe cases, they often require valve-replacement surgery .

Meanwhile, prior to the new research, it was known that bacteria and inflammatory signals from the mouth can sometimes enter the bloodstream and affect distant tissues, said Richard Lamont , chair of oral immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, who was not involved in the study. Over time, these effects can accrue and gradually reshape how the immune system behaves, he said.

In CAVD, calcium builds up in the aortic valve, which connects the left side of the heart to the large artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the body. (Image credit: Noctiluxx via Getty Images) P. gingivalis is known to be particularly destructive to gum tissue, causing lots of inflammation, and it's been tied to cardiovascular disease in the past. To see if the bacterium might be directly impacting heart health, researchers at Fuwai Hospital in Beijing looked for P. gingivalis in aortic valve tissue removed during valve-replacement surgery. They compared this diseased tissue to valves that weren't calcified.

The calcified valves contained much higher levels of P. gingivalis DNA and proteins made by the bacterium. " P. gingivalis was about 30 times more abundant in calcified valves than in non-calcified valves," study first author Dr. Chenyang Li , a doctoral candidate at Fuwai Hospital, told Live Science in an email.

To test whether the bacteria might directly contribute to valve damage, Li and colleagues injected live P. gingivalis into the bloodstreams of healthy lab mice. The bacteria reached the animals' aortic valves, triggering inflammation, calcium buildup and narrowing of the valve.

"We were surprised to see valve calcification even in mice without high cholesterol," Li said. "This suggests P. gingivalis may directly contribute to valve disease, beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors."

A comparison group of mice was given antibiotics before the injection and had less bacteria in their aortic valves and slower disease progression. Meanwhile, mice injected with dead P. gingivalis bacteria did not show any changes in their aortic valves.

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The researchers traced the changes in the mice's hearts to interleukin-1 beta, a signalling molecule that normally helps the body fight infections. Exposure to P. gingivalis ramped up the production of this molecule, and in turn, the immune signal switched on genes that pushed healthy valve cells to behave more like bone-building cells, which is a hallmark of CAVD . This switch causes the cells to lay down calcium in the surrounding valve tissue.

When the scientists blocked interleukin-1 beta in some mice, the animals developed much less valve calcification even when the bacteria reached the valve. Lamont said that the mouse experiments strengthen the case that there's a biological mechanism directly linking gum and heart diseases. However, he cautioned that mice have very different oral microbiomes than humans, making it difficult to know whether the exact same process occurs in people.

That said, the team also saw the same pattern in human valve cells grown in the lab. Exposure to P. gingivalis increased inflammation and calcium buildup among the cells, while blocking interleukin-1 beta blunted those effects.

Both Aikawa and Lamont said more research is needed to confirm the relationship in humans. The findings give researchers a new pathway to explore for future treatments, raising questions of whether targeting inflammatory signals like interleukin-1 beta could help slow the progression of this widespread heart disease.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.

What do you know about the body's hardest-working muscle? Find out with our heart quiz!

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In the southern Madrid neighborhood of Carabanchel, a monumental mural has been unveiled, now holding the title of the largest in Spain.

The Palacio de Vistalegre Arena, originally conceived as a bullring, was inaugurated in 2000 to replace an earlier structure from the early 20th century that was demolished in 1995. With a capacity of 14,000 people, it has hosted concerts, political rallies, and other large-scale events. In an effort to transform this vibrant neighborhood into a hub for urban art, the municipal government has designated the Vistalegre Arena as the centerpiece of a future "Art Route", a cultural tour dedicated to muralism and street art. This initiative includes direct artistic interventions on facades, walls, and public spaces, featuring works by renowned national and international artists. Among them is Madrid-based artist Sfhir, the pseudonym of Hugo Lomas, who created the striking "Musa de Vistalegre" (Vistalegre Muse). Measuring 18 meters high and 66 meters wide (59 x 197 ft), this mural transforms the gray façade of Vistalegre Palace into a vast canvas becaming the largest in Spain . This colossal painting is part of a series of "muses" who play musical instruments using architectural elements as part of the work. One of these muses, "The Cellist" in Fene, Galicia , was named as the "Best Mural in the World" by Street Art Cities in 2023 and has even been featured on a postage stamp.

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La Casa del Mendrugo occupies an old colonial mansion in Puebla. Its name, Mendrugo, refers to the crumbs or charity that the Jesuits received from the parishioners in order to support their ministry. In 2010, an excavation in the building's courtyard uncovered a burial site from more than 2,000 years ago. The skeletal remains of at least three people were found, including a woman who was approximately 60 years old and buried with an offering from around 3,500 years ago. That skeleton, which archaeologists dubbed "Chuchita," lived in the area long before the city of Puebla was founded in the 16th century. The discovery gave rise to a small museum on the first floor of the building where these remains are on display, along with an unusual collection.

When the space was opened, a local resident, Mr. Jorge Roberto Ortiz-Dietz, shortly before his death, offered a collection that he had been keeping as a gift to be exhibited. Until then, few knew his story, which, when it came to light, was impressive.

Hidden in the mountains of Oaxaca there was a town called Alteca, which maintained ancient customs until well into the 20th century. Its government was made up of a small group of men known as amos who dispensed justice and presided over the rituals of the community.

The amos were chosen as children by the oldest amos on their deathbeds. Children had their skulls deformed to distinguish them from ordinary people. When the amos died, their skulls were taken and scenes of life were carved with obsidian. The skulls were guarded by the community for ritual use. Ortiz-Dietz was revealed to have been the last amo around 1985 and kept the skulls of his predecessors with him before moving to Puebla, where he became a notary. Before he died in 2012, Ortiz-Dietz gave the collection to the museum where all the carved skulls and bones are displayed along with profuse explanations of their meaning.

Another display that you can enjoy is a collection of beautiful ancestral Talavera pottery. This pottery and its manufacturing process have now been included on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Even centuries after the development of this pottery process, local artisans are still producing this traditional craft, and it has become a defining characteristic of Puebla. The museum building also includes a restaurant, a gift shop, and a coffee shop. In the restaurant, you can sample traditional Poblano food such as mole poblano, pipián, and chalupas.

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Less than a week after Ubisoft promised that a new Ghost Recon game is coming but probably not anytime soon , the company says it will mark the series' 25 th anniversary in August with some proper news on what's coming next.

"It’s been a while Ghosts!" the announcement excitedly states. "We know some of you saw some updates, we’ll have more to say on the 6th of August when we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Ghost Recon. Intel coming soon."

My initial impression was that this is basically a scaled-down version of last week's big Bethesda blowout : A blast of the hype machine intended, at least in part, to help you forget about all the bad stuff going on, specifically the sweeping layoffs at Xbox that are putting thousands of people out of work.

Obviously an update on the Ghost Recon franchise, whose most recent game is now seven years old and was decidedly not great (although it has gotten better in the years since), doesn't have the hype heft of Fallout 5. But Ubisoft's condition is dire , and sometimes the best gun is the one you can reach.

My second and more lasting impression, however, is one of annoyance, and I'll tell you why. After a few seconds of pondering this Ghost Recon update, I thought to myself, perhaps there will also be news on Splinter Cell! After all, Tom Clancy is Tom Clancy, right? Hard men doing unpleasant things for freedom and stuff. The Ghosts, the Rainbows, the Echelons—it's all Clancyverse underneath, right? And if anyone in that gang is overdue for some attention, it's Team Splinter Cell.

Ah, but they are not all the same, at least not in the way that matters at the moment. I popped around to the Splinter Cell X account and found a Ubisoft 40 th anniversary retweet from earlier in July, a half-dozen 2025 posts (mostly about the Splinter Cell animated series on Netflix), one retweet from 2023, and a relative flurry activity from 2022. I thought for a second that would correspond to the announcement of the Splinter Cell remake, but no: That was actually announced in 2021, believe it or not. (Hint: Believe it .)

The 2022 activity marked the 20 th anniversary of the first Splinter Cell game; it was also the year that remake director David Grivel left Ubisoft for "a new adventure." He's had enough time since then to work on Battlefield 6, then return to Ubisoft and resume directorship on the Splinter Cell remake.

In that same stretch we've also seen Netflix make its Splinter Cell cartoon without Michael Ironside , the Splinter Cell movie starring Tom Hardy get cancelled , and Ubisoft making everyone mad by posting the wrong picture of Sam Fisher , which I genuinely think was intentional because at this point it's clear that Ubisoft just gets off on screwing with us.

Of course, this isn't a problem unique to Splinter Cell. Consider the Sands of Time remake, which was cancelled after six years of futility, or Skull and Bones, which came out six years late , or Beyond Good and Evil 2, which will soon celebrate 20 years of non-existence . Timeliness just isn't Ubisoft's strong suit, which is how we got here—"here" being the recent announcement of a "quieter year" in Ubisoft releases before things start happening in 2027-28—in the first place.

One possible spot of good news, relatively anyway: The 25 th anniversary of the first Splinter Cell game lands on November 18, 2027, about a year and a half from now. Maybe Ubisoft just really digs big anniversaries and has decided that at this point it might as well hold out for a good one before it drops any more Splinter Cell news. So there's something to look forward to. In the meantime, we'll let you know what's cooking in the world of Ghost Recon when it happens.

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