Je land steunen met een shirt, schmink of een vlag is heel normaal, maar ook met een gebroken arm of been kan je je ploeg supporten. In het Maasstad Ziekenhuis kunnen patiënten ervoor kiezen hun gips te laten stylen in de kleuren van hun favoriete WK-land. “Als ze straks verliezen, dan moet het er weer af.”

I was asked by TIME, “What gives me hope about America?” No matter how things are going, I try to always remain hopeful. The courage and determination of kind-hearted people always gives me hope. Those people can be any age and from any background, but they stand up to injustice when they see it. I’m encouraged by lots of younger people who seem more open-minded and resistant to the narratives of prejudice. The history of the U.S. pursuing a balance of personal liberty with aspiration for equality gives me hope. We can embrace those ideas again. We are an innovative nation so nothing is impossible!

Here’s another look at the current TIME issue out now. I spoke with Fredericka Whitfield for CNN this weekend to discuss it. Check out the video below. Thanks for caring! – S

The post CNN Interviews Shepard Fairey about TIME Cover Art ‘Our America’ appeared first on Obey Giant.

Andy Burnham has set out his vision for the UK, in his first big policy speech since launching a bid to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister. The Makerfield MP confirmed he would set up ‘No 10 North’ and pledged to ‘bring about the biggest rebalancing of power the country has ever seen’. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s north of England editor, Josh Halliday

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Tehran believes it should control the shipping route but its neighbour has its own plans for reopening it

The strait of Hormuz is Iran’s chief bargaining tool in the negotiations with the US and so it was always likely to be the greatest point of contention. Every inch of the 24-mile-wide waterway is being contested in a test of wills and patience.

For Iran, the continuation of the dispute is not a problem so long as it does not lose control.

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Fans look for alternatives with no World Cup matches shown on site, while Britain’s best get off to a bad start

Before you pack your England shirt for SW19, be warned: Wimbledon is staying firmly in its own sporting lane. The All England Club confirmed that no World Cup matches would be shown anywhere on site. Centre Court, yes. Centre-forward, absolutely not. The football faithful, however, are nothing if not resourceful.“We are here to watch Senhor João Fonseca,” said Luis Suassuna, attending his first tennis tournament with his brother and cousin, all three donning bright canary yellow Brazil tops. “Hopefully he gives us some good tennis but also no need for him to drag it out too much because the Seleção kick-off against Japan at 6pm. No time for us to get back to our Airbnb so we will be watching on Henman Hill.” Elsewhere, a group of German fans admitted they had not realised how far Wimbledon was from central London and were already plotting an escape to find a pub before Paraguay at 9.30pm. “We have been Googling German fan groups in south London all day,” said Karl Weber. “No luck so far!”

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Twintig jaar geleden slaagde meer dan de helft van de mensen voor het autotheorie-examen. Dit is nu nog maar 36 procent. Rapper Ronnie Flex zakte al vier keer, columnist Marcel van Roosmalen faalt ook jammerlijk. Is het te moeilijk geworden? “Het gaat om de verkeersveiligheid.”

Er zijn mensen die denken dat het CBR de examens expres zo moeilijk maakt om geld te verdienen of te voorkomen dat te veel mensen de weg op gaan. “Dat is onzin”, zegt woordvoerder Nanda Traag tegen Editie NL. “We balen allemaal als er mensen zakken en het levert ons extra werk op. Onze dag is het leukst als iedereen slaagt. Het CBR moet kostendekkend werken, dus we verdienen er niks aan."

De examens zijn voor iedereen toegankelijk. "Je kunt het laten voorlezen, je kunt geholpen worden met faalangst, je mag je examen met een tolk doen. Bovendien is het Nederlands jaren geleden aangepast naar B1-niveau." Er zitten altijd een paar testvragen in het examen. Als na onderzoek blijkt dat ze te moeilijk zijn, dan worden ze verwijderd of aangepast. Het CBR gebruikt nooit strikvragen.

Discipline

"Het CBR heeft een enorme database met 7500 vragen", legt autotheorie-docent Paul Schrama uit. Hij probeert zijn leerlingen hier zo goed mogelijk op voor te bereiden. "Je pakt het hele plaatje. Alleen wat voor vragen iemand krijgt, dat weet je niet.” Je moet flink blokken om alle kennis paraat te hebben bij het examen. "Dat vergt discipline en dat is niet makkelijk, want zeker de jongere leerlingen hebben andere dingen aan hun hoofd. Maar je examen wil je natuurlijk wel halen."

“Je moet gewoon goed leren. Het gaat wel om verkeersveiligheid”, aldus Traag. "Je zou je buurmeisje maar platrijden. Met een auto zou je kunnen zeggen dat je een moordwapen in handen hebt, dus je moet wel verantwoord kunnen rijden."

Tips

Er is volgens het CBS ongeveer 50 procent kans dat je de eerste keer slaagt. "Bedenk ezelsbruggetjes. En ga vooral niet eerst de antwoorden lezen. Je moet eerst een paar keer de vraag lezen", adviseert Schrama. "Vaak is er één onzinantwoord, eentje dat half goed is en de andere is het beste en juiste antwoord."

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Rocket Lab has agreed to acquire Iridium Communications in an $8 billion cash-and-stock deal, potentially creating another challenger to SpaceX and Amazon for vertically integrated satellite broadband. Both Rocket Lab and Iridium's boards unanimously agreed to the deal, which was jointly announced on Monday and is expected to close by the middle of next year. Rocket Lab separately described the move in an investor slide deck [PDF] as positioning it as a "fully integrated, self-launching, tier-1 space power" alongside the forces of Amazon/Globalstar and SpaceX/EchoStar. Amazon agreed to acquire Globalstar earlier this year to help serve its nascent Leo satellite operation, while SpaceX agreed to buy spectrum licences from EchoStar in a transaction partly funded with SpaceX shares. Iridium currently operates a constellation of 80 satellites, 66 of which are active and the rest are on-orbit spares. The satellites use L-band frequencies for user communications and Ka-band frequencies for links between satellites and ground gateways. L-band offers lower data rates but is more resistant to weather interference. Iridium offers service around the world, including in the polar regions (as does Starlink), and claims to have more than 2.55 million global subscribers. The soon-to-be-absorbed satellite operator already has a wide customer base across several sectors, serving the US government and military, as well as customers in the maritime, aviation, and telecommunications sectors. One major question is how Rocket Lab would accommodate an influx of customers given the relatively small size of Iridium's constellation (Starlink has close to 10,000 satellites in orbit). Rocket Lab said it plans to expand Iridium's direct-to-device cellular offering to compete with Starlink and Amazon Leo when the latter opens to customers. "This is our entrance into recurring applications revenue from space, but it's not the finish line," Rocket Lab said in its investor deck. "Rather than simply continuing Iridium's network, we will build upon it to scale into untapped markets and pioneer new space-based services." Rocket Lab is likely to increase launch activity as it expands the Iridium constellation and seeks more customers. The proposed deal would make Rocket Lab a more direct competitor to SpaceX in vertically integrated launch and satellite communications, with Amazon playing a distant third as it has yet to realize its Leo ambition. To add to the risk for SpaceX, Rocket Lab recently achieved a record speed launch for the Space Force, putting its Pioneer space vehicle in orbit just 17 hours after receiving orders for a rapid launch tactical space mission. SpaceX, meanwhile, has pursued heavy-lift capability with Starship but has been repeatedly grounded for failing to meet launch objectives safely. Rocket Lab does not yet operate a rocket with payload capacity comparable to SpaceX's Falcon 9, and development of its planned competitor, Neutron, hasn't been without setbacks. Rocket Lab is still unlikely to displace SpaceX, whose operations have become so closely entwined with the US government that officials have reportedly deemed them difficult to disentangle. SpaceX also has roughly a year to extend its lead while the Iridium deal undergoes shareholder and regulatory review. ®