The Irish government has kicked a Microsoft procurement potentially worth €1 billion into touch amid a political debate about the nation's overreliance on US tech providers and a move to free and open source software. In Ireland's parliament (Dáil Éireann), Frankie Feighan, Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, said the recent tender for suppliers to take part in a framework agreement to supply Microsoft software and services had been canceled after "matters of concern were raised by an interested party." "Having carefully considered those matters, the [Office of Government Procurement] determined it was prudent to cancel the competition and notify the market accordingly," he said. The Irish government's current framework, valued at a maximum of €350 million, is set to expire in September 2027. Cian O'Callaghan, deputy leader of the opposition Social Democrats, said the estimated value range of the proposed replacement had been between €750 million and €1 billion, according to an earlier response in parliament. He challenged the Irish government over whether it had assessed the risks of the new Microsoft framework "at a time when other European countries are moving away from technological dependence on American companies." O'Callaghan pressed the government on whether it had considered alternatives to Microsoft. "There are a number of alternatives out there that other European countries and states are moving towards," he said. "They are doing so for value-for-money reasons, and so they are no longer technologically dependent on the US but can rely on European-regulated services and products. There is LibreOffice, Collabora Online, Open-Xchange, Nextcloud, Thunderbird and openDesk by Germany's Zentrum für Digitale Souveränität der Öffentlichen Verwaltung, ZenDiS, which is a readily assembled government-grade suite." Feighan responded that the Irish government was reviewing the operation of the existing framework and talking to experts in the hope that it could improve the "scope, specification, and features" of the framework. However, he acknowledged that the framework covered only Microsoft licenses and services. O'Callaghan said: "What I do not understand is why alternatives to Microsoft have not been at least explored as part of this process. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein recently moved 30,000 staff from Microsoft to LibreOffice, Linux, Thunderbird, and Open-Xchange. It is saving more than €15 million a year. The French police, the Gendarmerie Nationale, switched over 100,000 desktops to Linux. They will save roughly €500 million, half a billion, over 15 years." He again pressed the minister on why the government had not considered alternatives to Microsoft, particularly given concerns about digital sovereignty and Ireland's current presidency of the Council of the European Union. Feighan responded that the government intended to publish a new Microsoft tender "as early as is feasible." Digital sovereignty has become a pressing issue in Europe since President Trump returned to power, and it was only heightened after Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor, was sanctioned by the US government and later lost access to his work-based Microsoft services. Microsoft claimed the ICC had removed his access to its services. The Dutch press later reported Microsoft had told the ICC it would have to end services to the whole organization unless the court denied Khan access. Gartner has estimated investment in sovereign cloud across the EU is set to treble over the next five to seven years as the bloc seeks an exit ramp from dominant US suppliers amid heightened geopolitical tensions. European providers account for only around 15 percent of the region's cloud infrastructure. The EU has proposed new procurement measures that would require public sector buyers to take digital sovereignty into account when launching tenders. The plans also include procurement guidance intended to encourage greater use of open source alternatives to proprietary software. Outside the public sector, others are taking an interest in digital sovereignty. Last week, European aerospace giant Airbus announced it was migrating its most critical applications for sensitive workloads from AWS to French cloud provider Scaleway as part of a drive to increase digital sovereignty. ®

CHAMBÉRY (ANP) - Het wielerpeloton in de Tour de France is vanuit Chambéry vertrokken voor de zeventiende etappe. Waarschijnlijk is er al snel veel actie, omdat veel renners in de kopgroep willen zitten. De vier gecategoriseerde beklimmingen zijn in de eerste 60 kilometer, met de zwaarste van de derde categorie. Mathieu van der Poel heeft aangekondigd voor de etappezege te willen gaan.

De rit over 175 kilometer naar Voiron is voorlopig ook de laatste kans voor avonturiers en sprinters die wat klimwerk kunnen verzetten. Vanaf donderdag staan de zwaardere beklimmingen van de Alpen op het programma, met zowel vrijdag als zaterdag de Alpe d'Huez.

Van der Poel boekte deze Tour één ritzege, zijn derde in totaal. De Belg Remco Evenepoel won de afgelopen twee etappes. Hij is de nummer 2 van het klassement, op ruime afstand van viervoudig winnaar Tadej Pogačar. De Deense groenetruidrager Mads Pedersen zal woensdag ook voor de ritzege willen gaan. De bolletjestrui wordt gedragen door Valentin Paret-Peintre.

HAARLEM (ANP) - De rechtbank in Haarlem heeft woensdag de 20-jarige Mahir B. uit Purmerend veroordeeld tot vijf jaar gevangenisstraf voor zijn betrokkenheid bij een aanslag met een vuurwerkbom in de Maasstraat in zijn woonplaats in december 2024. Daarbij raakte een 16-jarige jongen ernstig gewond.

Het slachtoffer liep zware brandwonden op. Het pand waar hij woonde is verwoest en ook huizen van buren raakten fors beschadigd. De bom bestond uit zes cobra's en zes flessen wasbenzine. De explosie veroorzaakte een felle brand, waardoor bewoners uit hun woningen moesten vluchten. De 16-jarige jongen werd door zijn broer uit hun brandende huis gered. Een conflict over de diefstal van twee accu's tussen deze broer en B. zou de aanleiding zijn geweest voor de aanslag.

In juni legde de rechtbank twee minderjarige medeverdachten deels voorwaardelijke jeugddetentie op.

Afgeluisterde gesprekken

Het Openbaar Ministerie had tien jaar cel tegen B. geëist. De rechtbank sprak hem echter vrij van twee van de drie onderdelen op de aanklacht. Het medeplegen van een poging tot moord of doodslag en de criminele uitbuiting van de twee minderjarigen achtte de rechter niet bewezen. Alleen voor het medeplegen van het teweegbrengen van een ontploffing is volgens de rechtbank genoeg bewijs, onder meer door afgeluisterde gesprekken.

Het gewonde slachtoffer lag ruim twee weken in coma. 55 procent van zijn lichaam is verbrand. Volgens de rechtbank zullen hij en zijn familie door de blijvende littekens de rest van hun leven geconfronteerd worden met de gevolgen van de explosie. B. moet een schadevergoeding van ruim 150.000 euro betalen aan de jongen.

Na afloop van de uitspraak liet de moeder van de jongen weten dat zij en haar familieleden blij zijn met de veroordeling, "maar geen enkele veroordeling doet recht aan datgene wat ons is aangedaan". Haar zoon heeft "levenslang" door zijn verwondingen, stelt zij. "Afgelopen week vierde hij zijn verjaardag. Dat was heel dubbel: we zitten midden in de ellende. Sterker nog: er werd op die dag een begin gemaakt met de definitieve sloop van ons huis en dat van de buren. Vrijwel alles wat we hadden is ons door de aanslag afgenomen. Maar we zijn ook dankbaar dat we zijn verjaardag hebben kunnen vieren."

One period, one set of enthusiasms, stretched seamlessly into the next. If the drawings were invitations to pause, to slow the breath, to stand still and wait, the exhibition offered two major punctuation points. The glass case with the angled Stanley knife summoned the cut-up experiments. The revolving Dreamachine with its attendant stool was an invitation to engage. Audience participation for an audience of one.

Nationality in football has never been so complex and the influence of players from the diaspora has never been higher at a World Cup

“Nationality says where you come from. And I actually come from four countries: France, Algeria, Nigeria and Great Britain. I consider myself very lucky to possess these four parts, which all enrich me.” This view was given by Michael Olise. He set up seven goals at the World Cup, breaking Pelé’s record for the most assists at a single edition of the tournament. And he did so for France, one of four countries he was eligible to represent, but not the one in which he was born.

The influence of players from the diaspora has never been higher at the World Cup. Four years ago, 16.5% of the players at the tournament were born in different nations from those for whom they played. That represented a 5.1% increase on 2018 and was the previous high for the tournament. No longer. Almost a quarter (23.6%) of the 1,248 players named in squads this year were selected by countries other than their birthplace. This proportion remained broadly consistent for the contribution these players made towards the minutes played, assists provided and goals scored. In a 48-team, 104-match tournament, these are big numbers.

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The billionaire says the AI-generated film will stay true to Homer’s original, after repeatedly criticising Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster over its casting choices

Elon Musk has said his AI platform Grok Imagine will make a “historically accurate” adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, after the success of Christopher Nolan’s blockbusting treatment which the SpaceX founder has regularly criticised over its casting.

In a post on X, Musk said: “Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer.” Musk also linked to a post containing a three-minute clip of footage that the user said had been generated from Grok Imagine, showing a scene between Odysseus and the nymph Calypso.

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Clear frontrunner leaves lucrative role at New York’s Dia Art Foundation to join UK arts organisation at critical juncture

Jessica Morgan has been confirmed as the new director of Tate, marking her return to the arts organisation where she worked as a curator for more than a decade, at a critical juncture in its history.

Morgan, the clear frontrunner in the race to replace Maria Balshaw, who left this spring after nine years in charge, is currently based in New York, where she has led the Dia Art Foundation since 2015.

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Op een toernooi vol wereldsterren stond één speler die nog nooit een profwedstrijd speelde. Maar ook de derde keeper van Curaçao, de immer geduldige Tyrick Bodak, wist dat hij „ready” moest zijn.

Here is all the information you need to follow the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend live on F1 TV.