DEN HAAG (ANP) - Het aantal mensen met een algemene bijstandsuitkering is in het tweede kwartaal van dit jaar verder gestegen. Volgens het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) ontvingen eind juni 410.000 mensen die uitkering. Dat is ruim 1 procent meer dan een jaar eerder.

Volgens het CBS neemt het aantal bijstandsontvangers sinds het derde kwartaal van 2023 toe. In de ruim twee jaar daarvoor was sprake van een daling. Het huidige aantal ligt daardoor nog onder de piek van begin 2021.

Het CBS meldt verder dat het aantal bijstandsontvangers relatief het sterkst steeg bij mensen tot 27 jaar (plus 6,2 procent). Het is het tiende kwartaal op rij waarin het aantal mensen tot 27 jaar met bijstand groter is dan een jaar eerder. Onder 27- tot 45-jarigen klom het aantal ontvangers met 1,9 procent. Dit was het zesde kwartaal op rij met een toename. Het aantal ontvangers tussen de 45 jaar en de AOW-leeftijd bleef vrijwel stabiel.

Vrouwen krijgen het vaakst een bijstandsuitkering. Het ging in de afgelopen periode om 229.000 vrouwen, tegen 181.000 mannen.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Aan het Ledeganckplein in Den Haag is een woning op de achtste etage onbewoonbaar geraakt door brand. Dat meldt de Veiligheidsregio Haaglanden.

Rond 03.45 uur kreeg de brandweer de melding. De brand zorgde voor veel rook over meerdere verdiepingen. Er werden vier verdiepingen ontruimd. Er vielen geen gewonden.

Omstreeks 05.15 uur was de brand onder controle. De brandweer maakt het pand rookvrij. Voor de mensen die hun woning moesten verlaten, is tijdelijke opvang geregeld. Stichting Salvage ondersteunt de bewoners met hulp van de gemeente en de woningbouw. Later moet duidelijk worden of ook de ontruimde woningen onbewoonbaar zijn geworden.

Supports several Chinese chips and GPUs – and of course it has AI inside

China’s KylinSoft has delivered a major update to its flagship Linux, which Beijing hailed as a great leap forward for the nation’s ambition to develop operating systems that match and exceed the capabilities of western products.…

Today, Microsoft unveiled two in-house AI models: MAI-Voice-1, a high-speed speech-generation system now live in Copilot, and MAI-1-Preview, its first end-to-end foundation model trained on 15,000 H100 GPUs. Neowin reports: MAI-Voice-1 is a speech generation model and is already available in Copilot Daily and Podcasts. To preview the full capabilities of this voice model, Microsoft has created a new Copilot Labs experience that anyone can try today. With the Copilot Audio Expressions experience, users can just paste text content and select the voice, style, and mode to generate high-fidelity, expressive audio. They can also download the generated audio if required. Microsoft also highlighted that this MAI-Voice-1 model is very fast and efficient. In fact, it can generate a full minute of audio in under a second on a single GPU.

Second, Microsoft has begun public testing of MAI-1-preview on LMArena, a popular platform for community model evaluation. This represents MAI's first foundation model trained end-to-end and offers a glimpse of future offerings inside Copilot. They are actively spinning the flywheel to deliver improved models and will have much more to share in the coming months. MAI-1-preview is an MoE (mixture-of-experts) model, pre-trained and post-trained on nearly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs. Notably, MAI-1-preview is Microsoft's first foundation model trained end-to-end in-house. Microsoft claims that this model is better at following instructions and can offer helpful responses to everyday user questions. Microsoft will be rolling out this new model to certain text use cases within Copilot over the coming weeks.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Amtrak's new 160 mph tilting Acela trains have debuted on the Northeast Corridor, offering smoother rides, upgraded interiors, faster Wi-Fi, and 27% more seating capacity. However, "they don't complete the journey any faster than the old trains," reports The Independent. From the report: Acela runs from Washington, DC's Union Station to Boston via Philadelphia, New York Penn Station, New Haven, and Providence. It's a total distance of 457 miles, with the fastest next-gen Acela journey being six hours and 43 minutes, five minutes slower than the quickest end-to-end time offered by the old Acela trains, introduced in 2000. However, this may be because, as is common practice with new trains the world over, Amtrak is scheduling longer dwell times at stations so staff and passengers can adjust to them. The next-gen sets have a top service speed that's 10mph faster -- though this can only be achieved on certain sections of the mostly 110mph route -- and an enhanced "anticipative" tilting system that allows for higher speeds through curves.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft is testing new Xbox Game Pass features with Insiders, letting Core and Standard subscribers stream cloud-enabled titles they own or access via subscription across more devices, including supported TVs and browsers. These tiers will also gain access to select PC game versions for the first time. From a Xbox blog post: We're always exploring more ways to make your Xbox experience centered around you -- your content, benefits, and playstyle. That's why we're making it easier to enjoy the games you love, wherever you are, and on any device. Starting today, Xbox Insiders are invited to try out new updates in Xbox Game Pass that make it easier to stream and play across more devices.

Xbox Insiders subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Core or Standard now have even more freedom to play wherever they are with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta). As part of this Insider experience, Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers will be able to stream cloud playable games included with their subscription or select cloud playable games they own, making it easier to jump in from any supported device. [...] We're expanding the ways players can experience PC gaming through Xbox Game Pass. As part of testing, Xbox Insiders subscribed to Game Pass Core or Standard will for the first time gain access to PC versions of select titles, giving you even more flexibility and the choice to play on a PC or Windows handheld."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tone'o Down-Under has added a video to the pool:

Between two stops in northern Perth suburbs on Monday morning about 9.30am.
Currambine - Clarkson. WA.

Evan_Williams has added a photo to the pool:

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De start van deze vrijdag is droog met zonnige perioden. Alleen op de Noordzee trekken soms een paar buien voorbij die ons vooralsnog niet kunnen bereiken. Later in de ochtend neemt de bewolking toe vanuit het zuidwesten en in de middag volgen al vrij snel een aantal buien vanuit die hoek.