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Equinix and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have struck a $4 billion deal to acquire Nordic data centre operator atNorth from Partners Group, marking one of the largest transactions in Europe’s digital infrastructure sector and
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OpenAI’s expanding work with the United States military has ignited a wave of criticism among sections of its user base, with some subscribers cancelling ChatGPT plans and shifting to rival platform Claude, citing concerns over
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There is a worry that AI might become godlike, well it already has, or at least Buddha like.There is a worldwide shortage of people willing to join religious orders and preach so a Japanese university
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(FILES) Real Madrid's French forward #10 Kylian Mbappe reacts after missing a goal opportunity during the UEFA Champions League knockout round play-off first leg football match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF at Estadio
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Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele successfully defended his Tokyo Marathon title Sunday, edging Kenya’s Geoffrey Toroitich in a sprint finish to cross the line in 2hr 3min 37sec. Takele finished with the same official time as Toroitich after a dramatic battle for the line, with Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso just one second further behind in third place. “I knew that the final stage would be decisive,” said the 23-year-old Takele. “Around 41km I wanted to wait and see what would happen and then I made my move right before the finish.” Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei won the women’s race in 2:14:29, a new course record. Ethiopia’s Berukan Welde was second in 2:16:36, followed by her countrywoman Hawi Feysa in 2:17:39. In warm, dry conditions in the Japanese capital, a men’s leading pack including Takele, Toroitich, Mutiso and Kenya’s Daniel Mateiko broke away around the 37km mark. Takele made a late move and managed to stay in front despite a last-gasp challenge from Toroitich. “Today’s race was a great one,” said Takele. “There was intense and positive competition, and I’m truly happy that I was able to win.” The men’s field was weakened by the withdrawal through injury of Kenya’s Timothy Kiplagat and Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha in the lead-up to the race. In the women’s competition, Kosgei was in a class of her own and finished more than two minutes clear of her nearest rival. Kosgei, the Tokyo Marathon champion and Olympic silver medallist in 2021, has said she will compete for Turkey at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. “We have a lot of athletes in Kenya,” said Kosgei. “I want some young generation to follow my step to join me in Turkey.”
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Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg in Stuttgart Sunday. (AFP) Jamie Leweling grabbed a first-half brace and Deniz Undav scored again as Stuttgart cruised to a 4-0 home victory over Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga Sunday. Nikolas Nartey scored in stoppage time as the German Cup holders drew level with third-placed Hoffenheim on 46 points. Stuttgart are five points ahead of fifth-placed RB Leipzig, who play at Hamburg in Sunday’s late game. Leweling praised coach Sebastian Hoeness, who reached 100 Bundesliga games as Stuttgart manager. “He developed me into the player I am today. He helped me a lot, gave me a lot of confidence,” said Leweling. “I think I’ve been repaying him with my performances - of course not always with two goals every game.” Wolfsburg, who haven’t been relegated since promotion to the Bundesliga in 1997, have won just one of their last 10 games and now sit second bottom, three points from safety. Stuttgart welcomed the Wolves to south-western Germany fresh from beating Celtic 4-2 over two legs to reach the Europa League last 16, where they will face Porto. Undav pounced on a poor clearance to put Stuttgart ahead with his 14th league goal after 21 minutes. Chris Fuehrich found Leweling on the half-hour mark to double Stuttgart’s lead and the Germany winger scored again just before half-time, volleying in from the right side of the box. Stuttgart added a fourth late on as Nartey scored with the final kick of the match. Goals from Fares Chaibi and Jean-Matteo Bahoya took Eintracht Frankfurt to a 2-0 home win over Freiburg, lifting the hosts past the visitors into seventh spot. Chaibi snuck a low shot into the bottom corner with 64 minutes gone. With nine minutes remaining, the Algerian passed to Bahoya who guided the ball over Freiburg’s Noah Atubolu and into the net. Frankfurt have now nabbed seven points from four matches since Spaniard Albert Riera took over as manager, with their only loss coming at league leaders Bayern Munich. Related Story
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From almost $900 for the opening game to over $8,000 for the final, match tickets are far from cheap for the World Cup which begins in North America in 100 days. AFP Sport assesses the cost of attending games at the tournament: How many tickets, how much demand?According to world football's governing body FIFA, almost 7mn tickets have been made available in total. Each person can buy a maximum of four tickets per match and a total of 40 for the whole competition.Around 2mn tickets were sold during an initial lottery in October. A second sales phase in December and January was also a lottery and attracted a record 508mn requests, according to FIFA. It has not said how many tickets have been attributed but the matches in highest demand were the Group K finale between Colombia and Portugal in Miami on June 27, co-hosts Mexico against South Korea in Guadalajara on June 18, and the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19. Prices skyrocketThere will be a total of 104 matches played at this expanded World Cup, the first ever to feature 48 teams, and ticket prices have soared for the most in-demand games. Fan group Football Supporters Europe said the North American bid had initially promised tickets would be available from as little as $21, but instead the cheapest tickets to go on sale have been for $60, for example for the Group J opener between Austria and Jordan at the Levi's Stadium in California.Most tickets cost at least $200 for matches involving leading nations, while the cheapest tickets for the final cost $2,000 and the best seats $8,680 – that is before taking into account FIFA's official resale site, where one category three seat for the game at the MetLife Stadium on July 19 was being advertised for an eye-watering $143,750, over 41 times its original face value of $3,450.FIFA president Gianni Infantino insists ticket prices are simply a consequence of the huge demand. 'In the US in particular there is this thing called dynamic pricing, meaning the prices will go up or down', depending on the match in question, he said.Having faced sustained criticism over prices, FIFA announced a cheaper category of tickets, but those seats available for $60 were reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up just 10 percent of each national federation's allotment.FIFA has also put on sale packages combining match tickets with access to VIP lounges. For France against Senegal in New Jersey on June 16, those packages cost between $2,900 and $4,500.FIFA is keeping aside an unspecified number of tickets which it will make available from April until the end of the tournament 'on a first come, first served basis'.Then there are the resale platforms, including FIFA's own official site. But this controversial fan-to-fan market allows resellers to determine prices themselves, hence the huge price advertised for a final ticket.The resale market is unregulated in the United States and Canada. In Mexico, reselling a ticket above face value is prohibited, but only when the ticket is purchased in Mexico using the local currency. A 'category three' seat – the highest section of the stands – for the tournament's opening game between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium on June 11 was recently listed at $5,324, compared to an original price of $895. Other sites such as SeatGeek and StubHub were selling tickets at slightly lower prices.Extra costs-It is not just the ticket prices that travelling supporters need to consider. The price of parking is also through the roof at many World Cup stadiums, which are often situated well away from the downtown areas of host cities. A space in a parking lot for a group game in Atlanta costs $100, while the price is $300 in Los Angeles.An alternative for visiting fans who do not have match tickets is to go to one of the Fan Festivals in and around the 16 host cities. The Fan Fest in Kansas City will be able to welcome up to 25,000 people. In New York, the US Open tennis venue at Flushing Meadows will be transformed into a fan zone holding up to 10,000 paying visitors, albeit only from June 17 to 28.
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Formula One is keeping a close eye on the situation in the Middle East and any decision on races scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia next month will be guided by safety, the sport and governing body FIA said.Australian Grand Prix chief executive Travis Auld expected there to be no impact on this weekend's season-opener at Melbourne's Albert Park from travel issues caused by conflict in the Gulf region. US and Israeli bombing of Iran at the weekend was followed by retaliatory strikes on Gulf States with the result that all activity in one of the world's main aviation hubs has ceased.Formula One teams recently completed pre-season testing in the Gulf State of Bahrain and many personnel were scheduled to pass through Qatar or the United Arab Emirates on their journey to Australia for Sunday's race."No doubts the events of the weekend have thrown out the travel plans for the teams and F1 themselves," Auld said. "F1 are experts at moving people around the world and so they've quickly rescheduled flights. I'm told, everyone's now locked in and arriving within the required timeframes, and so there'll be no impact on our race."The season-opener will be followed in March by races in China and Japan before the first of the Gulf races on the Formula One calendar in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April. Qatar and Abu Dhabi are the season-enders in November and December.Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the Emirati who heads the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA), said in a statement his thoughts were with all those affected. "We are in close contact with our member clubs, championship promoters, teams, and colleagues on the ground as we monitor developments carefully and responsibly," he added. "Safety and wellbeing will guide our decisions as we assess the forthcoming events scheduled there for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the FIA Formula One world championship."Formula One said separately it was closely monitoring the situation. Auld said that the nature of the Albert Park venue made it unlikely that Melbourne would be able to step in and stage another race if the conflict meant Bahrain or Saudi Arabia were unable to host their rounds."Obviously, we spent a lot of time constructing this circuit, and straight after the race, we pull it all back down again so the community can use it," he said. "They'll have other plans in place, as you would imagine, for a whole series of reasons."The Middle Eastern races are significant contributors to Formula One's revenues through hosting fees worth many tens of millions of dollars but Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar also have deep ties to the sport. Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund owns McLaren Racing while Abu Dhabi controls the sportscar company. Qatar has a significant investment in F1 newcomers Audi.Saudi energy giant Aramco is a global partner of the sport and title sponsor of the Aston Martin team. Formula One ran races without spectators during the COVID-19 pandemic and also has a list of circuits that might be able to step in at short notice, should that be required.In 2022 the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix went ahead despite rocket attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on an oil facility near the Jeddah street circuit. Related Story
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On a charged Ramadan night of fierce competition and edge-of-your-seat finales, the fourth and penultimate round of the 2025-2026 Qatar Drag Race Championship roared to a close at the Qatar Racing Club speed track. The round spanned three days: qualifying on the first two days and final eliminations on Friday, ending with the crowning of the top three winners in all eight categories.The event is held under the patronage of QRC Chairman His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani. In the INDEX 10.00 category, the final race featured a showdown between Abdulaziz al-Hail and Ahmed Hassan. Hassan had previously claimed the titles of the opening two rounds and was aiming for a third this season. Meanwhile, al-Hail was making his first appearance in a final race; however, that did not prevent him from capturing his maiden championship title, leaving Hassan in second place. The INDEX 9.00 category witnessed a completely new podium lineup this round, as Rameeh al-Rumaih secured his first title of the season with Bader al-Foudri finishing second. In the INDEX 8.50 (Cars) category, Hamdan al-Kaabi celebrated his second consecutive victory, earning his second title of the season. This time, he triumphed over Hamad al-Ajmi in the final. Over the eighth mile, the three car categories delivered fierce battles. In INDEX 4.80, Mohammed al-Furaih reached his third straight final and claimed his first title, defeating Rashid al-Juhani, while round two winner Saeed al-Balushi finished third. Al-Balushi returned to the podium once again - this time from the top step - after winning the INDEX 4.50 category title, marking his second triumph in this class. He secured victory over his brother Rashid, who faced him in the final race. Rashid, in turn, finished second for the second consecutive round, while Ibrahim Abbas Ibrahim, champion of the previous two rounds, claimed third place. Rashid al-Balushi made up for his earlier final defeat to his brother by winning the Super Street category final against Mohammed Ali Mohammed. This victory marked his third title in the category, following his wins in the first and second rounds. Al-Ansari claims two bike titles The INDEX 8.50 Bike class drew the round’s largest field, with 30 riders battling through eliminations. In the final, Abdullah al-Ansari - winner of the opening two rounds - defeated Shihab Bourbaa once again to claim his third title of the season. Bourbaa took second, while Mohammed Ali finished third. Al-Ansari then doubled his success in the Street Bike category, winning the final against Ghanem al-Dhaheri. Abdulwahab Bouqmaz secured third place, marking his second podium finish of the season. QRC General Manager Sheikh Jabor bin Khalid al-Thani crowned the top three winners in each category. Related Story
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Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha reacts during the World Cup Super Eight match against Sri Lanka on Saturday. (AFP) Pakistan’s shortcomings were laid bare during their lacklustre T20 World Cup campaign which ended Saturday when the team failed to reach the semi-finals. From the captain Salman Agha, who was criticised for not being a T20 player, to slow batting rates and the use of all-rounders not up to the job, Pakistan were shown to be behind the times in the rapid-fire format. Former wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal believes there is a huge gulf in standard between Pakistan and the top sides such as India, West Indies, South Africa and England. “Other teams have evolved to the demands of Twenty20 cricket, but neither our team nor our players meet those standards,” Akmal told AFP. “It is like other teams are playing on the moon and we are on earth. We only beat smaller teams but lose to top teams.” Pakistan had high hopes for the T20 World Cup after sweeping Australia 3-0 in a pre-tournament series. They boasted a quintet of spinners that should have been suited to the turning pitches in Sri Lanka where they played all their matches. But they received a rude awakening in their first match against the Netherlands when only they squeezed home by three wickets in the final over thanks to Faheem Ashraf’s 11-ball 29. Like most of his predecessors at World Cups, Agha blundered in the pressure-cooker match against India, which only went ahead after the Pakistan government U-turned on a boycott just days before the encounter. Agha won the toss and asked India to bat. The decision backfired badly as Pakistan conceded 175 and were hammered by 61 runs. Agha inexplicably held back his mystery spinner and chief weapon Usman Tariq to the 11th over, by which time opener Ishan Kishan had scored his match-shaping 77 and India were well on their way to a winning total. “How on earth did you bowl at a venue which was suited to batting first,” questioned former Pakistan player Basit Ali. “After India scored 175 our batters failed to handle the pressure of a chase.” Agha also held back Tariq’s second over in the game against England, after he took a wicket in his first, allowing captain Harry Brook to build a sparkling match-winning century. ‘Weak captaincy from Agha’ “It was weak captaincy from Agha,” said Akmal, who also took aim at the head coach Mike Hesson and the selectors. “We were also not helped by head coach Mike Hesson, who has an obsession for bit-and-pieces all-rounders who were neither complete bowlers, nor good batters.” Pakistan’s insistence in sticking with the out-of-sorts Babar Azam did nothing to help their shaky batting. The star batsman’s slow scoring at number four interrupted the side’s rhythm. He was dropped for the final match against Sri Lanka on Saturday where Pakistan finally posted a total in excess of 200, but it proved too little too late as New Zealand progressed on net run rate. “We are all fans of Azam but he disappointed us by not adapting to the demands of T20 cricket,” said one Pakistan fan, Saud Baloch, who resigned from his job in the United Arab Emirates to go to the World Cup. “The whole Pakistan fandom is not only disappointed but angry. “But we know nothing will change and we will continue to mourn such defeats in future,” he said. Related Story
