Twee jaar na de verwoestende explosie aan de Schammenkamp staat het leven van Ignacio (68) nog altijd op z'n kop. Zijn voeten en benen raakten zwaar verbrand. Lopen doet elke dag pijn. Een schadevergoeding heeft hij nog niet ontvangen. "Ik was altijd gezond, maar nu ben ik kapot."

In een seniorenflat aan de Wilgenlei in Rotterdam-Schiebroek is woensdag brand uitgebroken. Hierbij kwam veel rook vrij op enkele verdiepingen. Meerdere woningen moesten worden ontruimd. Er werden veel hulpdiensten opgeroepen om te helpen met de ontruiming. Inmiddels is de brand onder controle.

The lure of datacenter dollars is a strong one for America’s mega corporations - so strong that even automobile giant General Motors is getting in on the game by turning its battery research efforts toward stationary grid-scale energy storage. GM announced a partnership with energy storage firm Peak Energy on Tuesday that will see the Big Three automaker develop next-generation sodium-ion battery cells designed for grid-scale energy storage. GM will manufacture the cells and Peak will deploy them as part of its own proprietary energy storage systems, Peak said in its version of the partnership announcement. Oh, and GM will be making an investment in Peak too, though the amount wasn't disclosed. For those unfamiliar with sodium-ion batteries, there’s a good deal of chemical similarity between them and the lithium-ion batteries that have come to dominate the world’s portable rechargeable electronics, from massive electric vehicle cells to the tiny batteries in wireless earbuds and hearing aids. Rechargeability and chemical similarities are where many of the comparisons end, though. GM and Peak argue sodium-ion systems can be made simpler, and can operate across a wider temperature range than conventional lithium-ion batteries, potentially reducing the need for the costly, energy-intensive cooling systems often used in grid-scale Li-ion storage deployments. Score one for Na-ions, but while sodium might be stable and abundant, it also doesn’t have nearly the energy density of lithium. If one wants to build a sodium battery able to hold as much energy as a Li-ion one, be prepared to build a larger, heavier pack. That’s not a problem as far as GM is concerned in this case, though: Weight doesn’t matter if the batteries aren’t mobile. “When you’re talking to a utility, a hyperscaler, or other power providers in need of energy storage solutions, their priority is not maximizing range or minimizing weight,” GM VP of battery and sustainability Kurt Kelty said in the company’s announcement. “It is delivering reliable, affordable power over long periods of time in real-world conditions.” Kelty said that GM is perfectly positioned to develop next-generation Na-ion batteries due to “important architectural similarities” with Li-ion cells, meaning “the battery expertise GM has built in cell design, prototyping, and industrialization” is a perfect fit for grid-scale sodium cells. “We believe sodium-ion can become a defining chemistry for grid-scale energy storage in the years ahead,” Kelty added. Peak has already developed its own passively-cooled sodium-ion energy storage systems, which it says can reduce energy storage costs by 20 percent compared to conventional Li-ion systems. According to the company’s own analysis, the US could avoid around 2 terawatt hours of wasted energy per year if everyone were to dump lithium iron phosphate energy storage systems in favor of its passively-cooled Na-ion systems. Sodium-ion batteries aren’t without their own challenges, though. GM mentions that advanced Na-ion cells can handle more charge cycles than their lithium-ion cousins, but sodium-ion batteries have historically come with tradeoffs of their own, most notably lower energy density and a far less established manufacturing ecosystem. Researchers have been working to address that, and others claim that their sodium cell designs have already surpassed Li-ion units. Despite those claims, lithium-ion batteries still dominate the energy storage space, both on and off the grid. China is home to the vast majority of sodium-ion battery factories, and it’s not clear whether GM’s ambitions will turn into scalable competition for overseas battery tech development. We reached out to the automaker with questions about its sodium-ion plans, as well as a timeline for the project, but didn’t hear back. ®

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Package allocates $38bn to ICE, $26bn to Customs and Border Protection and $5bn more to the DHS

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Donald Trump signed a nearly $70bn immigration enforcement package into law on Wednesday after the House narrowly passed the legislation, ensuring funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol activities through the rest of Trump’s presidency.

The Secure America Act passed in a 214-212 vote that was largely along party lines, with Kevin Kiley, an independent who aligns with the Republicans, joining all Democrats in voting no. The Senate approved the measure last week, which allocates $38bn to ICE, $26bn to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and $5bn more to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through September 2029.

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• Fifa still to confirm length of show despite requests

• Delay is causing issues for advertising teams

World Cup TV rights holders are growing increasingly frustrated at Fifa’s failure to confirm the length of the half-time show at next month’s final.

Madonna, Shakira and the K-pop boyband BTS have been booked to perform at the MetLife Stadium in the first half-time spectacle at a World Cup final, curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who put in a surprise performance at last year’s Club World Cup final at the same venue when the break in play lasted 24 minutes.

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James Dolan’s company slams mayor and police commissioner as ‘party poopers’ over large restricted zone

The owner of the New York Knicks basketball team sharply criticized both the New York police department and Zohran Mamdani after city officials announced an extensive security strategy for Game 4 of the NBA finals, featuring a large restricted zone and additional access controls.

The expanded security measures follow Monday’s Game 3 watch party at Bryant Park, where disorder erupted and led to arrests, damage to property, and incidents involving assaults on police officers.

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BEIJING/TENERIFE (ANP/BELGA) - Beijing krijgt in 2028 een schaatsprimeur. De internationale schaatsunie ISU heeft bepaald dat in de Chinese hoofdstad de wereldkampioenschappen langebaanschaatsen, shorttrack, kunstrijden en synchroonschaatsen tegelijkertijd plaatsvinden. Het is voor het eerst in de geschiedenis dat de vier schaatsdisciplines gezamenlijk in één stad samenkomen voor hun mondiale titelstrijd.

"Beijing 2028 is veel meer dan een nieuw evenement, het is een gedurfde visie voor de toekomst van het schaatsen", zegt ISU-voorzitter Kim Jae-youl. "Voor het eerst komen alle schaatsdisciplines samen op één podium. Dit creëert een uniek feest dat culturen, generaties en publiek van over de hele wereld verbindt."

De ISU maakt in een later stadium de data en de wedstrijdschema's bekend.

De mondiale schaatsunie had meer goed nieuws voor de schaatsers. De ISU gaat in het seizoen 2026/27 het prijzengeld op kampioenschappen en andere internationale wedstrijden verdubbelen van 5,4 miljoen dollar naar 11,1 miljoen dollar (9,6 miljoen euro). Voor het seizoen daarna (2027/28) is een verhoging tot 12 miljoen dollar voorzien. Ook kunnen de aangesloten schaatsbonden een verdubbeling van het reisbudget tegemoetzien: van 2,4 miljoen naar 4,5 miljoen dollar.