Nog geen drie maanden geleden stond het leven van Bruno Bergman uit Gorinchem volledig in het teken van zijn studie, sport en vrienden. Nu bestaat zijn agenda uit ziekenhuisbezoeken, chemokuren en controles. Toch overheerst bij de 20-jarige student geen wanhoop, maar dankbaarheid. "We gaan er positief in."

En weer is het flink raak met een babbeltruc. Een 81-jarige vrouw uit Noord-Holland wordt opgelicht voor maar liefst 30 duizend euro. Er wordt in Rotterdam, Heiloo en Alkmaar geld gepind van haar bankrekening.

Als een 76-jarige Rotterdammer hoort dat er in het buitenland is gepind met zijn creditcard, geeft hij zijn bankpas en pincode aan een nepagent. De bejaarde man uit Kralingen wordt het slachtoffer van een babbeltruc.

Tot 1 juli dit jaar hebben netbeheerders op de meeste plekken in Nederland een beetje capaciteit gereserveerd op het elektriciteitsnet voor huishoudens. Vanaf 1 juli is dat niet meer het geval, waardoor een heuse run op stroomnetcapaciteit is ontstaan.

De overstap van Daniëlle van de Donk naar de Engelse ‘vrouwenclub’ London City Lionesses liep niet zoals ze had gehoopt. Door langdurige blessureleed speelde ze nauwelijks. Nu is ze weer fit en opnieuw opgeroepen voor Oranje, dat vrijdagavond tegen Ierland speelt. ,,Ik had het gevoel terug bij af te zijn.”

Nederlandse ziekenhuizen slagen er goed in om patiënten met een beroerte snel te behandelen. Bloedverdunners worden sneller ingezet.

PARIJS (ANP) - Tennisster Mirra Andrejeva staat voor het eerst in de finale van Roland Garros. De 19-jarige Russin versloeg in een beladen halve finale de Oekraïense Marta Kostjoek in twee sets: 6-1 6-3. Twee jaar geleden stond de huidige nummer 8 van de wereld al eens in de halve finale op het Franse grandslamtoernooi, maar die verloor ze destijds.

Andrejeva begon met een dubbele break sterk aan de eerste set, die ze overtuigend won, terwijl Kostjoek (23) niet tot haar beste spel kwam.

In de tweede set liepen de rally's voor Kostjoek, die de twee eerdere ontmoetingen met Andrejeva eerder dit jaar had gewonnen, iets beter. Toch leverde de mondiale nummer 15 opnieuw haar eerste servicebeurt in. Met een lovegame brak ze haar Russische opponente terug, maar ze kon niet voorkomen dat Andrejeva na ruim een uur haar eerste matchpoint benutte. Beide tennissters gaven elkaar na afloop geen hand.

In de finale neemt Andrejeva het op tegen haar landgenote Diana Sjnajder of de Poolse qualifier Maja Chwalińska. Zij spelen later op donderdag hun halve finale.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Het kabinet zal niet aandringen op een alternatief voor de snellere stijging van de AOW-leeftijd, een maatregel die onder druk van oppositie en vakbonden is geschrapt. Dat heeft minister Hans Vijlbrief (Sociale Zaken, D66) duidelijk gemaakt in een Kamerdebat over de ruzie tussen kabinet en bonden over de sociale zekerheid.

Vijlbrief verwees het plan uit het coalitieakkoord om de AOW-leeftijd op termijn een-op-een te laten meestijgen met de levensverwachting, onlangs in een brief aan de bonden definitief naar de prullenbak. Hij schreef daarin evenwel ook dat hij in gesprek wilde met sociale partners "om te bezien welke alternatieven er mogelijk zijn".

Deze toevoeging riep bij onder anderen PRO-leider Jesse Klaver de vraag op of het kabinet toch vindt dat de AOW-uitgaven omlaag moeten. Vijlbrief zei dat dit niet het geval is. Hij wilde wel onder de aandacht brengen dat deze uitgaven de komende jaren sterk stijgen, een ontwikkeling waar hij zich zorgen om maakt. "Dat is het enige waar deze zin voor bedoeld is."

NEW YORK (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - De waarde van bitcoin daalt donderdag voor de vijfde dag op rij; de langste verliesreeks van de grootste cryptomunt sinds augustus vorig jaar. De daling volgt onder meer op het verrassende besluit van beursgenoteerde bitcoinopkoper Strategy om bitcoins te verkopen en door de aanhoudende onrust in het Midden-Oosten.

Het bedrijf van de prominente voorstander van de bitcoin Michael Saylor verkocht maandag 32 bitcoins, ter waarde van zo'n 2,5 miljoen dollar. Dat is maar een klein deel van de 843.706 bitcoins die het bedrijf bezit. Toch is de stap opvallend, want Saylor heeft altijd stellig beweerd dat bitcoins nooit verkocht hoeven te worden. "Verkoop desnoods een nier, maar houd je Bitcoin", plaatste hij in februari vorig jaar op X.

Een bitcoin is donderdag bijna 64.000 dollar waard. Dat is ongeveer de helft van de recordstand van 126.000 dollar die de cryptomunt vorig jaar oktober aantikte. Ook de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten drukt op de koers. De cryptomunt daalde verder na nieuwe aanvallen.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Esther Ouwehand had niet meer de energie die nodig is om de Partij voor de Dieren te leiden, zei ze kort nadat ze die rol had overgedragen aan Christine Teunissen. Donderdag maakte Ouwehand bekend dat ze stopt als partijleider.

"Ik begon te voelen: politiek wordt het niet rustiger, de onrust in de samenleving ook niet", aldus Ouwehand. "Dan heb je maximale energie nodig, en dat zie ik mezelf als partijleider niet meer doen." Ze blijft in de Kamer, onder meer om haar initiatiefwetten te verdedigen over het afschaffen van de bio-industrie en het beperken van lijden van dieren in de slacht. Of ze na deze termijn ook wil blijven, zegt ze nog niet te weten.

Al voor de verkiezingen zou Ouwehand met het partijbestuur hebben besproken dat het haar laatste lijsttrekkerschap zou worden. De vraag wie haar zou opvolgen, zegt ze te hebben overgelaten aan Teunissen en fractiegenoot Ines Kostić. "Toen ik de knoop doorhakte om dat stapje terug te doen, waren zij er al over uit dat Christine de rol van fractievoorzitter over zou nemen."

BEIROET (ANP/AFP) - Hezbollah verwerpt het staakt-het-vuren met Israël. Die boodschap heeft de militante groepering overgebracht aan de Libanese regering, meldt persbureau AFP op gezag van een ingewijde.

Israël en de Libanese regering kwamen in Washington woensdagavond lokale tijd tot een akkoord. Dat moest een opmaat zijn naar een verder bestand. Hezbollah, dat weliswaar een politieke tak heeft maar niet deelnam aan die onderhandelingen, zou op grond van de overeenkomst zich moeten terugtrekken uit het zuiden van Libanon. Israël houdt zich daar op en kondigde afgelopen weekend aan verder noordwaarts te trekken.

In die delen van Libanon, ten zuiden van de rivier de Litani, zouden vervolgens veiligheidszones worden ingericht, waar het Libanese leger dan toeziet op het staakt-het-vuren. Libanon kondigde vrijwel gelijktijdig met de verwerping van Hezbollah aan te zijn begonnen met het inrichten van die zones.

Voorwaarde voor het akkoord was het volledig staken van de aanvallen door Hezbollah.

Valtteri Bottas has brushed off recent speculation over his future in Formula 1, describing stories that appeared after the Canadian Grand Prix as “complete bull****”.

The glitz and glamour of Monaco make it the perfect place for films, TV and music – here are some of the best that feature the Principality.

In the last few years, we’ve heard case after case where attorneys used generative AI and were caught including fake citations, quotes, and other major errors in their filings. This generally plays out in dockets, where their opponents or judges spot them and, in the polite language of the courts, scold them for wasting everyone’s time and being a disgrace to the legal profession. Sometimes, this results in serious sanctions. But it's always entertaining to read.

In an appeal hearing last month, a court’s live stream captured this happening on camera in real time, with an attorney caught for likely using AI-fabricated citations. On May 20, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, Justices Valerie Brathwaite Nelson and Hector LaSalle reamed out that lawyer and his opposing counsel for more than 20 minutes, calling the situation “striking, concerning, disappointing, and saddening.”

The plaintiff in the case, Judith Landberg, is suing the city of New York after she tripped on some askew bricks on the sidewalk that were pushed up by tree roots. In that hearing, her lawyer, Michael Sanders, was attempting to argue the definition of a sidewalk. The full video is here, and the portion about fake citations begins a little after the 19 minute mark.

“In preparing for this oral argument and reviewing the brief of appellant, it came to the attention of the court that the brief submitted by plaintiffs cites at least three cases that appeared to be fictitious,” Nelson said. “None of these cases, nor the quoted language, appears to exist.” 

Not only did Sanders cite cases that don’t exist, Nelson said, he cited 10 other cases that appear to misrepresent the law. “How do you respond?” Nelson asked.

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Sanders instantly started digging a hole, saying that he wasn’t prepared to speak on those specific citations. Nelson promptly cut him off. “Before you go any further,” she said, “let me point out to you that Rule 3.3 A of the rules of professional conduct indicates that a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal, or fail to correct a false statement of material fact or law previously made to the tribunal by the lawyer.”

He stammered. “If there's any citations that are incorrect, my deepest apologies,” he said.

“Where did you get them from?” LaSalle asked.

“I don't know what these cases were specifically,” Sanders said.

LaSalle and Nelson grilled Sanders for several more minutes about the citations and where he got them. The judges didn’t bring up generative AI specifically, but considering the growing epidemic of lawyers including fake citations while using AI to draft arguments and appeals, it’s almost certainly what they’re alluding to. Attorneys caught using AI in other cases have blamed everything from head colds to being in a rush, to paralegals. Judges, in general, seem sick of it.

“Just so you know, because I don't want you to dig a bigger hole here, you're citing principles that don't exist,” LaSalle said. “Let me tell you something. We saw this last week. I was hopeful that, in preparation for today, that you were going to read this and say, 'Oops, we made a mistake, Judge.’ It happens sometimes, right? That's what I was hoping for. We didn't get that. Should we give you some time right now to go look these cases up?” 

Sanders replied that it would probably take longer than 15 minutes. They went back and forth, with LaSalle and Nelson taking turns trying to impress upon Sanders that this is very, very bad.

Ross Friscia, the attorney representing the owner of the property that faces the sidewalk, stood up before the judges next. He started to speak, but LaSalle wasn’t finished with the dressing-down. “He’s raising a court of appeal standard that doesn’t exist,” LaSalle said, interrupting Friscia. “He was using it as a component of his argument, and you didn't think you should bring it to our attention?”

“I didn't notice in particular that the principle of law that he was citing was incorrect,” Friscia said. 

“I'm sorry, I'm going to give you every opportunity to make your argument,” LaSalle said. “But I'm befuddled. I honestly am. I'm absolutely—and I'm not here to—lawyers make mistakes. It's not an easy profession. I don’t want to sit here beating up on lawyers, but we rely on the bar so much in what we do. So the first thing that I did, I don't want to speak for my colleagues, but after seeing what he wrote, when I went to your papers, I expected to see something referencing [...] It wasn't one case, counsel, it was several cases, and you didn't see fit to bring it to our attention either. It's just striking to me.” 

Friscia, now with the fear of the bar in him, apologized profusely. “Your honor, I apologize to the court. I will do further due diligence going forward from this point on.”

“I hope so,” LaSalle said. “You should apologize to your client, not to me.”

“Yes, I apologize for that,” Friscia said. “And I will, going forward, check every single case, even if it stands for, you know, general principles of law, like the construed liberally to effectuate remedial purpose, and things like that. I will bring them to the court’s attention.”

At this, Nelson jumped in: “The misrepresentations here are of such a degree that they could not merely reflect a difference of opinion,” she said. “As an appellate court attorney, you would have to, if you were doing the work and reading the briefs and responding to the briefs, you would have to notice that something in the wording of the main brief for the appellant was wrong, if not many things being wrong. It's concerning because we are all officers of the court, and there is a responsibility that you also have to notify the court to do the work, notify the court when these types of misrepresentations and fictitious cases and fictitious citations and misrepresenting the holding of a court of appeals case. I could go on and on, but if you read the brief and looked at the cases, you would have realized it was your responsibility also to alert the court.” 

Friscia said he tailors briefs to respond to specific issues but didn’t keep explaining himself for long; he apologized again, repeated that he’d be more thorough next time, made his point about the city being responsible for the askew bricks, and sat down.

Next up was Elizabeth Freedman, an attorney representing the City of New York. She got the same questioning from Nelson: “So, how do you explain your failure to bring to the attention of this court that a brief was filed with this court by appellant's counsel with apparent fabrications and misrepresentations?”

Freedman tried to explain. “I certainly read the briefs,” she said. “I certainly read all of the briefs here, but I certainly didn't focus on it, because it was not our issue. And I do apologize to the court for not catching that, but I tended to focus more on the issue of prior written notice.”

When Freedman finished, all of the attorneys stood up and attempted to leave quickly. “Don’t go anywhere yet,” LaSalle said. “Have a seat. I just want to say this to you all. This is a very distressing situation. I know this is an outlier. We're very fortunate, my colleagues and I, we have the privilege of working with what I think is one of the best benches in the state, the bars in the state. For me the appellate bar here in the city of New York and its surrounding suburbs, we see excellent work. For me personally, it's been a highlight of my career to have the opportunity to work with such outstanding judges, and to have the opportunity to work with such outstanding lawyers,” he said. “A part of this profession, a big component of it, is that there's an element of trust, and mistakes are made. We make mistakes as judges, we've made mistakes. I don't want to speak for my colleagues, but I dare say that we've all made mistakes as practitioners, and we work very hard when there are mistakes to try to give the benefit of doubt to those lawyers who practice before us. We know how difficult your respective jobs are. And in reviewing this, I know my colleagues and I have tried to give every benefit of the doubt to the lawyers before us.” 

He went on to say that the citing of false cases that don't exist and quotes that have no support in the law is “well below the standard we expect from the bar.” He said it’s “striking, concerning, disappointing, and saddening to think that members of the bar would forward cases to a court that don't exist, and to think that the lawyers on the other side of that didn’t read it for whatever reason, didn’t check it.” 

Sanders got up and tried to apologize again before leaving. “You’ll have an opportunity to apologize in a different way,” LaSalle said. “Why don’t you do your research and find out how that happened, though?” 

Sanders and his law firm were ordered to show cause as to why they shouldn’t be sanctioned. On Wednesday, Landberg’s case was dismissed.

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With every squad for the Geopolitics World Cup now finalised – Turkey, Jordan, Ghana and Uzbekistan were the last teams to confirm their 26-man rosters on Tuesday – we now know exactly who is making the trip to the tournament. But as a leading expert in rejection, constantly trying and failing to convince your inbox to let us out of the spam folder, Football Daily is just as interested in those who have been snubbed than those that will be subbed. The reactions to the omissions was also fascinating: sure, being selected to represent your country at the GWC is cool, but have you ever had to trawl through the Social Media Disgraces of Harry Maguire’s mum as she reacts to her son’s omission from the England squad with all the rage and injustice of Germany reacting to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles? And with that image seared into our collective brains, we humbly present our Omitted XI (4-3-3), the best non-knacked players (of qualified nations) that didn’t or won’t make it on to planes bound for the USA USA USA, Canada and Mexico.

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The face of the manosphere has achieved the seemingly impossible: he has united voices from across Russia's political spectrum.

“I want there to be no more shopping weekends. I want there to be no more fancy trips to Europe while Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield,” Sweden’s Migration Minister Johan Forssell said.

Every so often, the US Postal Service reissues old stamps. This time around, they polled the public about which past stamp they’d like to see reissued and the results were decisive: the people love Mister Rogers.

The Mister Rogers stamp, originally released in 2018, is new again in 2026!

In national Stamp Encore polling, the stamp honoring the television host beloved by generations rose to the top spot from a varied ballot of 25 previous stamp issuances. Americans were asked to celebrate 250 years of postal delivery by choosing among favorite stamps of the last few decades. By the deadline last fall, the Postal Service was flooded with nearly 600,000 total ballots.

The Mister Rogers stamps are out now — you can check out a list of the available purchases here. There’s even a set of Field Notes notebooks.

Mister Rogers is a natural fit for a postage stamp; he was a “prolific letter-writer”.

Fred Rogers had a great appreciation for communication by mail, so the popularity of his stamp in 2018 and the esteem reflected by Stamp Encore ballots seem especially fitting. A prolific letter-writer, sometimes replying to 100 letters per day, Rogers never resorted to form-letter responses. He expressed his sentiments in simple terms: “There is still a place for the written letter.”

In a book recalling mail he had received and sent, Rogers wrote, “One of the first things I do each day is to work on the letters that have arrived from the children and adults who have written to us. I care deeply about sending a personal response.” Rogers added, “It gives me a way to know my television neighbors as real people and to make a more personal connection with them. Just as our program is a ‘television visit,’ “the mail is a ‘letter visit.’ A personal note is still far more valuable than shooting off an email or text,” he said.

(thx, caroline)

Tags: Fred Rogers · stamps · TV · USPS