Rudi Garcia likens decision to April Fools’ Day joke
Belgian FA says it will investigate all potential options
USMNT reaction to Fifa flip: ‘Thought it was AI at first’
As a Fifa media officer read aloud the statement confirming the governing body’s shock reversal of US striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension on Sunday, Belgium coach Rudi Garcia and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois put their poker faces to work. Garcia stared straight down the aisle of the press conference room at Seattle Stadium. Courtois’s eyes fluttered about, perhaps masking some rolls as he faced a press pack eager to make sense of an unexpected World Cup twist.
Balogun’s reinstatement came across as a joke to the Belgian boss, though he hardly seemed ready for a laugh.
Continue reading...⚽️ Kick-off time: 6pm local/8pm EDT/1am BST/10am AEST
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | World Cup draw | Email Tom
And another! Norway are heading through. There’s gonna be a lot of rowing routines on the floors of New York bars tonight.
And there’s been a goal in New Jersey, and you’ll never guess who got it:
Continue reading...Interim president says unrest will not break out despite anger at official response to the 24 June disaster
Venezuela’s interim president has defended her country’s emergency response to the twin earthquakes that have killed more than 3,000 people, vowing the country would not descend into social unrest.
Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government’s inadequate response to the 24 June disaster before international teams arrived.
Continue reading...This new panel show from Romesh Ranganathan’s production company features comics airing their worst opinions – and it feels completely unnecessary
‘You know who we don’t see enough of on British TV? Romesh Ranganathan,” said no one ever. That’s not meant as a slight to the man – who this year has hosted programmes for the BBC, Amazon and Sky, recorded another run of Parents’ Evening for ITV and is to appear on The Celebrity Traitors – but he truly is inescapable. There is an obvious reason for his cameo on this new comedy panel show, which is that it is made for TLC by his production company Ranga Bee. And what an appearance it is. If you have ever wanted to see Ranganathan go full misanthrope and refuse to give an exhausted NHS midwife £500 because the royal family needs it more, then roll up: you’re in the right place.
Unacceptable is – for reasons that aren’t totally clear – a panel show in which comedians defend their worst opinions in front of a studio audience, who are unlikely to agree with their horrible (and horribly confected) views. Ed Gamble hosts, putting in a typically professional stint, but then again Gamble is as unflappable as Ranganathan is ubiquitous, a whirlwind of sarcastic ad libs and hairspray.
Continue reading...‘God has been generous to me,’ says 41-year-old
Portugal face Spain in last 16 in Dallas on Monday
Twenty-three years, 232 games, 146 goals and six World Cups later, at 41, this really could be the end, and Cristiano Ronaldo will depart at peace. The day before potentially the final match of his extraordinary international career, the truth that everyone knew but Portugal’s captain had tried not to actually express, eventually came out. “This will be my last World Cup; God willing tomorrow is not my last game,” he said. And if it is, well, it is. If he has to go without lifting the only trophy to resist him, so be it.
“I’m not missing anything; God has been generous to me,” Ronaldo said. “I won’t be more Cristiano or less Cristiano if I win the World Cup or not.”
Continue reading...
CARACAS (ANP/RTR/AFP) - Het dodental van de recente aardbevingen in Venezuela is opgelopen tot 3342, melden de autoriteiten. Op 24 juni werd het Zuid-Amerikaanse land opgeschrikt door twee bevingen met een kracht van 7.2 en 7.5. Met name de noordelijke kustregio La Guaira werd zwaar getroffen.
Door de bevingen stortten ook talloze gebouwen in en raakten duizenden mensen dakloos. Dat heeft volgens waarnemend president Delcy Rodríguez echter geenszins geleid tot sociale onrust. "Wat we hier zien, is diepe maatschappelijke solidariteit", zei ze tijdens een militaire ceremonie ter gelegenheid van de nationale feestdag.
Veel Venezolanen hebben echter hun woede geuit over wat zij beschouwen als een ontoereikende reactie van de door de Verenigde Staten gesteunde regering op de ramp. De hulp zou vooral ontoereikend zijn geweest toen internationale reddingsteams nog niet ter plaatse waren.
Rodríguez verdedigde de aanpak en stelde dat duizenden overheidsfunctionarissen en reddingswerkers waren ingezet om slachtoffers onder het puin vandaan te halen en naar overlevenden te zoeken.
PERPIGNAN (ANP/AFP) - In het departement Pyrénées-Orientales, in het zuidoosten van Frankrijk, worden zo'n 10.000 inwoners geëvacueerd als gevolg van de natuurbranden in het gebied. Dat meldt de prefectuur op een persconferentie. Het vuur heeft al 1650 hectare verzwolgen.
Het gaat om bewoners van het stadje Ille-sur-Têt en van diverse gemeenten in het massief van de Aspres, in de buurt van Perpignan. Brandweerlieden noemen het bestrijden van de natuurbranden "zeer moeilijk". Volgens de prefect verloopt de evacuatie "geordend, naar prioriteit per geografische zone".
Op beelden van AFPTV zijn rookpluimen te zien boven het gebied. Canadair-blusvliegtuigen vliegen laag over het gebied. Auto's rijden met hun koplampen aan vanwege de slechte zichtbaarheid. Veel mensen dragen mondmaskers.
Ook op andere plaatsen in Frankrijk woeden branden, onder meer in de Gard, in de buurt van Carcassonne, waar naar verluidt 650 hectare is verbrand. De snelweg A9 is er afgesloten. In de Auvergne, bij Saint-Haon, is het treinverkeer stilgelegd vanwege natuurbranden, meldt de zender BFMTV.
CAÏRO (ANP/DPA) - Egypte heeft zondag zijn nieuwe militaire hoofdkwartier ceremonieel geopend. Het complex heet Octagon en bestaat uit acht gebouwen die een oppervlakte van bijna 90 vierkante kilometer bestrijken. Daardoor is het Pentagon in Washington niet langer het grootste militaire complex ter wereld.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi droeg voor de gelegenheid een militair uniform, voor het eerst in meer dan tien jaar. Hij beschreef het hoofdkwartier als het "bewijs van de wil van een natie die niets onmogelijk acht."
Het militaire complex is gelegen in de nieuwe administratieve hoofdstad van Egypte, simpelweg De Nieuwe Hoofdstad geheten, in de woestijn ten oosten van Caïro. De bouw kostte naar schatting 50 miljard euro, waarmee het een van de duurste projecten is sinds al-Sisi aan de macht kwam.
Economische crisis
Egypte bevindt zich in een economische crisis. De buitenlandse schuld is opgelopen tot 143 miljard euro.
Al-Sisi greep in 2013 de macht in het Noord-Afrikaanse land via een staatsgreep met steun van het leger.
Kimi Antonelli admits failing to score any points in the British Grand Prix was "tough to swallow", as the Mercedes driver was hit by late car problems when on course to challenge for victory.
After crashing out at Silverstone, Max Verstappen has opened up on the recurring issue that forced him out of the British Grand Prix.
America's Justice Department and FBI teamed joined Finland's National Bureau of Investigation to arrest a teenager they say is part of one of the world's biggest cybercrime syndicates, reports Tom's Hardware. The "Scattered Spider" syndicate has extorted over $100 million in ransom payments, according to Department of Justice figures:
19-year-old Peter Stokes is a dual U.S.-Estonian citizen who was trying to board a flight to Japan from Helsinki, when law enforcement caught up with him. [T]he main criminal complaint against Stokes stems from a May 2025 attack on a luxury jewelry dealer based in the United States. The attackers apparently called the company's IT helpdesk using Google Voice, posing as employees. They were able to convince the help desk into resetting their credentials, which allowed them to infiltrate three accounts, two of which had admin privileges. From there, the group, allegedly including Stokes, stole important data and held the jeweler at ransom, demanding an $8 million payment in crypto. The company ultimately regained access to their infrastructure and avoided paying the ransom, but the operational disruption still caused a purported $2 million in losses. This served as the spark that led to Stokes' eventual arrest in Helsinki, as the prosecutors slowly followed the paper and digital trail laid by the attackers.
Microsoft played a key role in the process by providing GDID [Global Device Identifier] data to the FBI to help them apprehend the alleged criminal... [I]t's a unique identifier assigned to every Windows install that tracks device-specific telemetry. It's the reason why sometimes changing a major component in your PC can revoke your Windows license... [T]he court documents from the case reveal that Stokes used Windows, from which investigators were able to link his physical hardware to specific internet activity and locations... Stokes' web activity, videogame history, IP addresses, tool usage (including Ngrok), Azure status, and more were logged with timestamps, and were provided to the investigators by Microsoft...
Stokes was carrying two hard drives full of incriminating evidence with him when boarding his flight to Japan... His real identity has actually been known since 2024, but since he was a minor living across Estonia and the UAE at the time, he could only be monitored until the time was right.
The official criminal complaint even includes a selfie photo that Stokes posted on Snapchat (hiding his face behind dozens of hundred dollar bills). It then notes that behind Stokes the wallpaper, carpet, and furniture match New York's Empire Hotel — and that Stokes had visited the hotel's web site in Germany before then flying to New York...
"Following the arrest, Stokes was extradited to the U.S., where he appeared in front of a federal court in Chicago for the first time on June 30, 2026, and he remains in custody," adds Tom's Hardware.
"The accused is now awaiting trial, having been charged with conspiracy, cyber intrusion, and fraud..."
19-year-old Peter Stokes is a dual U.S.-Estonian citizen who was trying to board a flight to Japan from Helsinki, when law enforcement caught up with him. [T]he main criminal complaint against Stokes stems from a May 2025 attack on a luxury jewelry dealer based in the United States. The attackers apparently called the company's IT helpdesk using Google Voice, posing as employees. They were able to convince the help desk into resetting their credentials, which allowed them to infiltrate three accounts, two of which had admin privileges. From there, the group, allegedly including Stokes, stole important data and held the jeweler at ransom, demanding an $8 million payment in crypto. The company ultimately regained access to their infrastructure and avoided paying the ransom, but the operational disruption still caused a purported $2 million in losses. This served as the spark that led to Stokes' eventual arrest in Helsinki, as the prosecutors slowly followed the paper and digital trail laid by the attackers.
Microsoft played a key role in the process by providing GDID [Global Device Identifier] data to the FBI to help them apprehend the alleged criminal... [I]t's a unique identifier assigned to every Windows install that tracks device-specific telemetry. It's the reason why sometimes changing a major component in your PC can revoke your Windows license... [T]he court documents from the case reveal that Stokes used Windows, from which investigators were able to link his physical hardware to specific internet activity and locations... Stokes' web activity, videogame history, IP addresses, tool usage (including Ngrok), Azure status, and more were logged with timestamps, and were provided to the investigators by Microsoft...
Stokes was carrying two hard drives full of incriminating evidence with him when boarding his flight to Japan... His real identity has actually been known since 2024, but since he was a minor living across Estonia and the UAE at the time, he could only be monitored until the time was right.
The official criminal complaint even includes a selfie photo that Stokes posted on Snapchat (hiding his face behind dozens of hundred dollar bills). It then notes that behind Stokes the wallpaper, carpet, and furniture match New York's Empire Hotel — and that Stokes had visited the hotel's web site in Germany before then flying to New York...
"Following the arrest, Stokes was extradited to the U.S., where he appeared in front of a federal court in Chicago for the first time on June 30, 2026, and he remains in custody," adds Tom's Hardware.
"The accused is now awaiting trial, having been charged with conspiracy, cyber intrusion, and fraud..."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
