Latest News
Ronaldo scores as Portugal come back to win, Croatia denied by late VAR
Substitute Goncalo Ramos’s headed goal edged Portugal into the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after a gripping 2-1 win against Croatia.
Ramos connected with a superb pass from Rafael Leao in the fourth minute of stoppage time on Thursday to snuff out a Croatia team that had created the lion’s share of the chances in sapping evening heat in Toronto.
In a dramatic ending, Croatia thought they had equalised in the dying seconds, but Josko Gvardiol’s goal was chalked off for offside.
The Croatians were left stunned by the decision, while Portugal’s players celebrated.
Cristiano Ronaldo played his role in the victory, stroking home a penalty that cancelled out Ivan Perisic’s opener.
It was Ronaldo’s first-ever goal in the knockout phase of the World Cup, and his remarkable international career will have another chapter when Portugal face Spain in Dallas on Monday.
Perisic had stunned the Portuguese by slotting the ball under the advancing Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa in the 53rd minute.
Within minutes, Ronaldo had the ball in the net after controlling a long pass, but his effort was disallowed for offside.
But Portugal got level when Renato Veiga was grabbed by Croatia’s Nikola Vlasic in the penalty area, and after a VAR check, the referee pointed to the spot.
Ronaldo stepped up to convert the penalty with ease, hitting the ball straight down the middle of the goal and pumping his fists with joy afterwards.
In a pulsating game, Manchester City forward Mateo Kovacic’s low shot was pushed onto a post by goalkeeper Costa’s fingertips.
Still, Croatia pushed, and Petar Sucic had the ball in the net, but the assistant referee’s flag was up for a clear offside.
Ronaldo was withdrawn in the 81st minute to allow Ruben Neves to come on.
Croatia continued to create more chances than their opponents, and Mario Pasalic came so close to winning the game with a header at the far post, but it bounced just wide.
But when Ramos connected, the net bulged, and Portugal were through.
(Aljazeera)
Sri Lanka will face India in the semi-finals of Asian Games men’s tournament after their quarter-final clash against Nepal was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Nisshin, Japan. The game was called off prior to the toss, with rain having begun hours prior to the scheduled 9am local start and not looking like abating.
Sri Lanka’s progression was assured by virtue of their higher seeding in terms of the ICC T20I rankings – Sri Lanka, alongside India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the four seeded teams in the tournament. On Monday, India had qualified over Afghanistan after another washout, again by virtue of their higher. Similarly, Pakistan’s qualification was assured following a rain abandonment in their quarter-final against Hong Kong.
In the 2022 Asian Games, Sri Lanka had been eliminated at the quarter fial stages by Afghanistan. Another washout in the semis against, India though, will see the latter qualify for the final.
A few hours later, the fourth quarter-final between Bangladesh and Malaysia was also washed out. Bangladesh will now face Pakistan in the first semi-final on October 1, followed by India vs Sri Lanka later on the same day
(Cricinfo)
The Bangladesh vs Malaysia abandonment on Tuesday completed a quartet of rained off matches in the Asian Games men’s tournament. The match was called off two hours before the toss, with the teams told not to even turn up at the venue.
Bangladesh, by virtue of higher seeding, go through to the semi-finals where they will now face Pakistan on October 1. Earlier in the morning, the Sri Lanka vs Nepal fixture was also called off due to rain, with Sri Lanka advancing into the semi-finals where they will meet India.
There is, however, some good news, as the weather forecast in Nisshin is better for the semi-final and the medal match day, on October 1 and 3, respectively.
In the last edition (2023), Bangladesh had lost to India in the semi-final but won the third-place playoff against Pakistan to take home the bronze medal. They had won the bronze in 2014 as well and Bangladesh’s best finish was winning the gold medal in 2010, when they beat Afghanistan in the final.
(Cricinfo)
OpenAI will not release its new AI model – GPT-6.1 Astra – due to safety concerns, the ChatGPT-maker confirmed on Tuesday.
The AI system – which performs tasks like browsing the web and using apps by itself – “didn’t quite meet the bar” of the company’s standards, Saachi Jain, head of safety systems at OpenAI, said.
On Tuesday, OpenAI also issued an update on incidents, that occurred in June but were not made public until last week, in which its models accessed Australian government websites and systems without authorisation.
Those incidents and similar breaches by models developed by major AI firms have in recent weeks intensified the debate around the risks posed by the technology.
Top AI leaders including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic boss Dario Amodei have urged the industry to slow the pace of development due to concerns about risks associated with the technology.
OpenAI’s decision, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is a rare instance of a major AI developer pulling a new release over safety concerns.
The model fell short in terms of “staying within scope and authorisation, and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it’s done,” Jain said.
“We want to make sure our model development is safe no matter whether that’s in the company, or when we ship it to users. But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment,” she added.
The flagship GPT-6 Astra agentic model was released in September and specialises in complex reasoning and executing tasks autonomously. OpenAI said it was the result of “years of research and big bets”.
OpenAI is set to hold its annual DevDay developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, where it is expected to make several announcements. It is unclear if a new version of Astra will be among them.
The company’s security controls have come under intense scrutiny after several high-profile incidents involving its technology.
Last week, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that a rogue OpenAI agent had hacked into gove4nment websites and systems in June in what experts said was the first known case of its kind in the world.
Albanese criticised OpenAI for notifying the Australian government through a generic email address rather than making direct contact with officials.
OpenAI said in a statement on Tuesday that it was sorry for the incident and that it “should have handled our response better”.
Services Australia, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the Victorian Department of Health and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare were all affected, OpenAI clarified.
The firm said it launched investigations into the incidents as soon as it became aware of them in mid-August and notified the affected organisations between 10 and 24 September.
“Our aim was to give affected agencies a detailed account once our investigation was complete,” OpenAI said, adding that it should have shared early findings more promptly and kept Australian authorities updated.
OpenAI added that it will develop “practical approaches” to how developers and governments identify and disclose future AI incidents.
(BBC)
Sri Lanka to face India in semi-finals after washout
Bangladesh to take on Pakistan in semis after another washout
OpenAI scraps rollout of new model over safety concerns
Iran’s Araghchi meets Qatari mediators as US calls for nuclear talks
Showers above 50 mm expected in Uva, Eastern and Central provinces and in Polonnaruwa and Mullaittivu districts after 2.00 p.m.
PAFFREL raises concerns over Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News6 days agoMastermind Naufer Moulavi among 15 found guilty
-
Midweek Review6 days agoThileepan’s fast unto death: An authentic narrative that many missed
-
Latest News5 days agoShowers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara Districts
-
Editorial6 days agoBig Bad Bills
-
Editorial5 days ago
Crimes punished and unpunished
-
Features4 days agoBeyond traditional jobs: Why Sri Lanka needs to facilitate the gig economy
-
News6 days agoNo referendum needed for passage of 22 A: SC
-
Latest News6 days agoMs. P. M. Jayadeera (Engineer) appointed Director General of Irrigation