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As we near the end of the group stage, writers from our newly expanded US soccer team Alexander Abnos, Pablo Maurer and Jeff Rueter will be online to answer your World Cup questions at 5PM BST (midday EDT, 9AM PDT)

Post yours below the line now

We’re approaching the end of the group stages of the biggest World Cup ever. The Guardian’s coverage of the tournament has been greatly enhanced this year by the expansion of our soccer/football team in the United States.

Correspondents Alexander Abnos, Pablo Iglesias Maurer and Jeff Rueter have been as busy as you’d expect over the first few weeks of the tournament.

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From Merlin the duck to Thierry Henry’s panic and the goalie who broke the internet, here are the tournament’s most glorious TV moments

The schedule-dominating football tournament has reached its midway mark, which means it’s time for isotonic drinks, orange segments and in-depth TV analysis.

From weepy cult heroes to watery bloopers, from panto villain to potty-mouthed pundits, here’s our highlights of the World Cup coverage so far …

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Caricom Reparations Commission’s Hilary Beckles explains how it will help address the ‘residual legacy of slavery’

• Barbados prime minister announces manifesto for slavery reparations

One of the key outcomes of the recent reparations conference in Ghana was the launch of the Caribbean’s manifesto outlining the “moral, ethical and legal case for reparations” for the enslavement of African people.

The Caribbean Community Reparations Commission (CRC), which created the document, says it is a strengthening of an existing Caribbean Community (Caricom) 10-point plan for reparations from the UK and other former colonial powers, and a response to feedback from the public, organisations and political leaders.

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Beeld. Het tragische einde van Louis, een zeventienjarige jongen die zaterdag zwaargewond werd aangetroffen op een bouwterrein in Narbonne, waarna hij enkele dagen later in een ziekenhuis overleed. Wat was er gebeurd? Gelukkig hebben we de beelden nog! Louis is op krankzinnige wijze doodgeslagen en doodgetrapt door vijf exponenten van het Nieuwe Frankrijk. Of hoe ze dat in Frankrijk noemen: """"""Jeunes""""""""". De vijf daders zijn snel gepakt, van die vijf zijn er drie minderjarig. Frankrijk is in rep en roer en Marine Le Pen is er als de kippen bij: "De lynchpartij breekt het hart en voedt een immense woede bij de Fransen tegenover deze alledaagse barbarij die niet langer kan worden geminimaliseerd, gerelativeerd of verborgen." Ahhhh Frankrijk, wat was het mooi toen de guillotine nog bestond.

Louis eerder ook al aangevallen

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De eerste landelijke hittegolf van het jaar is een feit. Donderdagmiddag om 13.10 uur peilde het KNMI in De Bilt 30,2 graden.

The vessel, which was flying a Cameroonian flag and sailing from Russia's Baltic port of Primorsk, was boarded by French forces due to doubts over the validity of its registration.

Bij een grote verkeerscontrole in Schiedam zijn woensdagavond meer dan driehonderd boetes uitgedeeld. Ook is voor 89 duizend euro aan openstaande schulden geïnd en werd een auto in beslag genomen. Twee mensen zijn aangehouden. Een scooterrijder reed onder invloed en er reed iemand rond zonder identiteitsbewijs.

The European Commission has reached the preliminary position that Azure and AWS should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The gatekeeper designation would mean requirements imposed on the cloud giants, with fines of up to 10 percent of worldwide turnover if those requirements are not met. According to the Commission, AWS and Azure, "the largest and second largest cloud computing services in the EU respectively," are a gateway between businesses and their customers in the bloc. "They both have vast and entrenched user bases and appear to benefit from lock-in effects and high switching costs, in addition to a large ecosystem." Although the cloud giants did not meet the DMA's quantitative thresholds for designation (such as user numbers), their market positions have attracted scrutiny. Should the gatekeeper designations stick, obligations regarding interoperability, access to data, and competition would apply. The view is preliminary at this stage, and Amazon and Microsoft have the opportunity to respond before anything becomes final. A Microsoft spokesperson told The Register: "We continue to engage constructively with the Commission. The cloud sector in Europe is innovative, highly competitive and an accelerator for growth across the economy." The spokesperson added: "We remain concerned that ignoring the growing power of Google Cloud and Gemini will tilt the market in a harmful way." AWS also disagreed with the Commission's preliminary position. A spokesperson told The Register: "The Commission's preliminary findings disregard the breadth of cloud services available to European customers and risk deterring European investment and innovation. AWS faces healthy competition and customers across Europe have more choice, lower prices, and greater flexibility than ever before. "The EU already has comprehensive cloud regulation through the Data Act, and adding another heavy layer of overlapping regulation under the DMA undermines European competitiveness and access to cutting-edge information technology. We will continue to engage with the Commission to reach the right outcome for customers and Europe's digital future." Other parties responded more positively. A spokesperson for the Open Cloud Coalition told The Register: "Our members welcome the Commission's preliminary finding naming Microsoft and AWS as cloud gatekeepers. We particularly note the finding that existing customer lock-in may fuel enterprise AI, a development that mirrors long-standing market concerns over Microsoft's licensing and ecosystem practices. "Moving quickly to deliver remedies is now a priority to ensure choice and growth for European cloud customers." In 2024, Microsoft described the Open Cloud Coalition as a lobbying group for Google. Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, stated: "Cloud services have become a cornerstone of Europe’s economy – and a prerequisite for AI – with over half of EU businesses now relying on them, combined with record investment in public cloud infrastructure. "Given their central role in Europe's digital future, these services must operate in fair, open and competitive markets that foster trust and secure Europe's tech sovereignty." Should the preliminary findings be confirmed and Microsoft and Amazon be designated as gatekeepers for their cloud services (they already have gatekeeper status for other services), the pair will have six months to ensure compliance with the DMA's obligations. ®