De gezondheidsorganisatie van de Afrikaanse Unie roept met spoed Congo, Oeganda en Zuid-Soedan bij elkaar over de uitbraak van de ernstige infectieziekte.
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De man die donderdagavond in Rotterdam meerdere overvallen pleegde, blijkt binnen een half uur niet drie maar vier keer te hebben toegeslagen. Medewerkers van een snackbar aan de Burgemeester Baumannlaan in Rotterdam-Overschie meldden de overval op hun locatie pas later aan de politie.
Opvallend WK-nieuws in de categorie: opvallend. Scheidsrechter Rob Dieperink gaat niet naar het WK als VAR omdat hij in april gearresteerd is op verdenking van aanranding van een 17-jarige jongen in het Engeland, waar hij was voor de wedstrijd Crystal Palace-Fiorentina in de Conference League. De aanklacht werd na bemoeienis van de VAR teruggedraaid is inmiddels geseponeerd, wat voor de KNVB voldoende reden is om hem alsnog aan het werk te laten, maar voor de FIFA kennelijk niet. The Sun schreef twee weken geleden dat 'een UEFA-official' was aangehouden omdat hij een jongen in een hotel tegen diens wil heeft aangeraakt en probeerde hem mee te lokken naar zijn hotelkamer. Dieperink houdt vol dat hij onschuldig is, en wijst erop dat hij volledige medewerking heeft verleend aan het politie-onderzoek. Maar wat er nou wél precies is gebeurd, blijkt niet uit zijn verklaring.
"Het doet mij veel verdriet dat ik ten onrechte beschuldigd ben. Vanaf het begin heb ik volledige medewerking verleend aan het politieonderzoek en ook direct volle openheid gegeven aan FIFA, UEFA en de KNVB. De beschuldigingen zijn weerlegd en de zaak is na een adequaat en grondig onderzoek door de politie binnen twee weken geseponeerd. Ik ben dankbaar voor de steun die ik van de KNVB heb ontvangen en de wijze waarop zij met deze zaak zijn omgegaan. Het is jammer dat FIFA heeft besloten mij niet meer aan te stellen voor het WK, daar ben ik uiteraard teleurgesteld over."
Dieperink floot op 3 mei nog de wedstrijd PEC-Heracles. De KNVB zegt achter hem te blijven staan. "In dit specifieke geval heeft de politie in het Verenigd Koninkrijk de zaak onderzocht en geseponeerd. Rob Dieperink heeft vanaf het eerste moment volledige medewerking verleend en openheid van zaken gegeven richting de KNVB, en op basis van alle beschikbare informatie zien wij geen aanleiding hem niet aan te stellen voor wedstrijden in de Nederlandse competitie." Aanstaande zondag is Dieperink als VAR ingedeeld voor de wedstrijd NEC-Go Ahead. Wel wat rustiger qua spreekkoren in ieder geval.
While Tories are quite ruthless about removing a leader, Labour MPs can’t decide whether their regicide is a tragedy or comedy
No one can say they weren’t warned. Last week’s elections had always been marked out as a time of maximum danger for Keir Starmer if the results were as bad as feared. And so it proved. Only no one had anticipated quite the level of drama that would go with it. While the Tories have always been quite ruthless about getting rid of a leader they deem surplus to requirements, Labour MPs seem unable to decide whether their regicide is a tragedy or a comedy. Or a mixture of both.
Continue reading...Large-scale attack on Russian regions and huge oil refinery comes after 24 were killed when missile hit flats in Kyiv
Ukraine has launched a large-scale long-range drone attack targeting several regions in Russia including the huge Ryazan oil refinery, after several days of massive strikes by Moscow against Ukraine.
Kyiv’s attack on Friday followed three days of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including on the capital, Kyiv, where a cruise missile hit an apartment block on Thursday, killing 24 people including three children.
Continue reading...Pressure is intensifying on Keir Starmer after Andy Burnham was given a route back to parliament
Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has backed Andy Burnham’s efforts to return to parliament, saying there will be no attempt to stop the Greater Manchester mayor from fighting an upcoming byelection in Makerfield.
Speaking at a Fire Brigades Union conference in Coventry, she said
We could have further to fall as a party and we absolutely need to come back together as one team, because we’ve got to take the fight to [Nigel] Farage. We are at real risk of Nigel Farage walking up Downing Street in a few years time, and we can’t let that happen.
But we’ve got to do our politics differently. We’ve got to end the factionalism. We’ve got to embrace all the different traditions of the Labour party, all the different voices, and bring one team back together.
Continue reading...The open world driving sim has roared through locations from Colorado to Australia, its authentic feel resting on exhaustive research. But, as the team explain, this was the toughest challenge yet
Since the arrival of the original Forza Horizon in 2012, a game that revolutionised open world driving sims by setting players loose in a virtual Colorado, British developer Playground Games has promised authenticity with its settings. For each instalment, design teams are sent out on location to take thousands of photos, hours of video, even detailed captures of the sky, before construction of a virtual copy begins. It’s a huge undertaking. But it seems that for much of the past decade, one country remained slightly out of reach – an intimidating prospect. “Japan has been on our shortlist for several games now,” says design director, Torben Ellert. “But we just didn’t feel like we were ready to take on the challenge of building it.”
It’s not just about the sheer variety of the country’s landscape. There’s something else going on. Most video game players hold an image of what it is like to explore Japan. It may be inspired by the fictitious rural town of Inaba in Persona 4, or the busy docks of Yokosuka in Shenmue, or perhaps the neon-drenched Kabukichō district of Tokyo, which forms a regular backdrop in the Yakuza series. For decades, gamers around the world have been bombarded with images of the country that are often highly stylised and fragmented, but nonetheless potent and persuasive. As art director Don Arceta puts it, “with Japan there’s such an expectation [of] what gamers want - it’s a certain version of Japan that they picture.”
Continue reading...
Partner Content ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of integrated information and communication technology solutions, participated in GSMA M360 LATAM 2026. Ms. Chen Zhiping, Chief International Ecosystem Representative of ZTE, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Driving Future Business Model Restructuring — AI & Network Two-Way Integration" at the conference. Ms. Chen provided an in-depth analysis of the industrial value of the two-way integration of AI and networks, sharing ZTE's achievements in the Latin American market over the past two decades, its AI-Native network innovation practices, and its full-scenario intelligent solutions, helping Latin American operators complete their strategic upgrade from "connectivity providers" to "digital economy enablers". Facing the AI industry wave, ZTE released its global strategic vision in 2025: "All in AI, AI for All, Becoming a Leader in Connectivity and Intelligent Computing". Ms. Chen stated that this strategy is highly aligned with the core concepts of this GSMA Summit. In the future, ZTE will move beyond traditional network connectivity services, continuously upgrade its basic network capabilities, and comprehensively expand its AI and intelligent computing business layout. Through a two-way integration model of AI empowering the network and the network supporting AI, ZTE will reconstruct a new business model adapted to the AI era and activate new growth momentum for the Latin American digital economy. In terms of AI-enabled network upgrades, ZTE has pioneered the AI-Native network concept, deeply embedding AI capabilities into all network layers and processes to maximize network efficiency and optimize costs. In the wireless network field, ZTE's new 5G BBU integrates native intelligent computing capabilities, effectively improving the overall efficiency of hardware and software resources and increasing cell throughput by 20%. Simultaneously, by combining Super-N high-performance power amplifiers and AI intelligent optimization technology, equipment energy consumption is reduced by 38%. Currently, AAU and RRU products equipped with this technology have been deployed on a large scale in several Latin American countries, including Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru, with over 37,000 units deployed to date, saving local operators millions of dollars in electricity costs annually and achieving efficient, green, and intelligent network upgrades. Built upon AI-Native technology, the AIR Net advanced intelligent network solution enables commercial deployment of "autonomous driving" for networks, comprehensively revolutionizing operator operation and maintenance models and reducing overall TCO. This solution has already been commercially deployed in multiple locations globally. Currently, ZTE's intelligent network capabilities have obtained authoritative L4-level certification from the TM Forum, and its self-developed Co-Claw enterprise-level intelligent agent has been fully implemented internally, continuously improving network automation and intelligence levels and helping operators move towards advanced intelligent networks. In response to the complex and diverse network environment in Latin America, ZTE continues to implement scenario-based coverage solutions to bridge the regional digital divide. In indoor scenarios, ZTE has partnered with Chilean company Millicom to deploy the Qcell solution, achieving stable gigabit coverage throughout buildings. In remote rural scenarios, ZTE collaborates with Brazilian company Claro to implement the RuralPilot simplified rural network solution, addressing network coverage challenges in the vast Amazon region with its low cost and ease of maintenance. ZTE also offers a wide range of home coverage solutions, precisely matching the networking needs of different regions and scenarios in Latin America. Ms. Chen Zhiping stated that ZTE will continue to be rooted in the Latin American market, deepen the two-way integration and innovation of AI and networks, and continue to implement green, efficient, and intelligent full-stack ICT solutions to help local operators complete their strategic transformation, upgrade from traditional connectivity service providers to digital economy enablers, comprehensively meet the intelligent needs of industries and families in all scenarios, and work together to build a smart, inclusive, and sustainable new digital ecosystem in Latin America. Contributed by ZTE.
In a move that could shake up the entire league, Pittsburgh and Boston have agreed on a deadline deal: Frankie for Little Joe, straight up. Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is set to trade gorillas with Boston's Franklin Park Zoo.
Frankie, Pittsburgh's 7-year-old male western lowland gorilla, will head to Boston, and in exchange, Boston will send 33-year-old Little Joe the silverback back to Pittsburgh, according to the zoo. This news has sparked some classic fun-having on social media. An actual news story about the trade, if you're not into fun.
Frankie, Pittsburgh's 7-year-old male western lowland gorilla, will head to Boston, and in exchange, Boston will send 33-year-old Little Joe the silverback back to Pittsburgh, according to the zoo. This news has sparked some classic fun-having on social media. An actual news story about the trade, if you're not into fun.