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White House confirms Trump will attend World Cup final

Shakira, Madonna and BTS headline first half-time show

World Cup final liveblog: all the football | Mail Tom

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says the World Cup has generated around $20bn of economic activity in the US, roughly the equivalent of the price of three tickets to today’s final. It should be noted that the figures sporting events generate are often dubious at best:

Hello. And welcome to our Everything But The Football liveblog of the World Cup final, which suddenly becomes a little more relevant now that Fifa has decided to turn the World Cup final into a Super Bowl (allegedly one of 104 Super Bowls at this year’s tournament!).

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League of Legends Classic, the new mode which remixes the MOBA by deleting most of the roster and restoring all sorts of old builds and character kits from 2013 and prior, has hit Riot's public test environment.

It's been met with mixed reception since then, in part due to its approach to old visuals—when the PBE version launched, players had modern character models, voice work, and spell effects by default, with "classic skins" unlockable with earned tokens or real money. A thread from user prime_desire with over 6,000 upvotes on the League of Legends subreddit called the mode "League 'not so' Classic," saying "honestly I would be embarrassed to release something like this. Charging for Classic Skins is genuinely wild."

That was reversed within a few days, with Riot's Brian "FeralPony" Feeney addressing feedback concerning the skins and more in a video blog July 16. "Feedback received," he said. "If you're on PBE, you probably already noticed that all classic skins are unlocked for all champions that have one." They've since been made the default option, replacing their respective champions' modern appearances.

Hey everyone. Thank you for your feedback on League Classic. We have a small update we wanted to share on:👗Classic skins💰Gameplay🔧Champion kits pic.twitter.com/CkoW1EJHZj July 17, 2026

He also addressed negative feedback regarding the mode's "greatest hits" approach, clarifying why Riot decided to mix a bunch of old patches together rather than pick a single patch from the game's history and stick to it.

In short, player surveys were all over the place and Riot wants to cast as wide a net as possible. "The answers were almost identical. League was classic the year they started playing, League was best the year after they started, and League was too old before they started." That said, changes will be made as players vote on new patches once the mode hits standard servers.

Other Riot devs have been on social media assuring players the mode is being changed to look even older by default. "It's been fun to basically undo my years of work," said senior VFX artist Sirhaian in a post on X .

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Volkswagen licensed e-bike introduces automotive-inspired safety tech.

Rear camera and radar system means riders don’t need to turn heads.

Smart glasses and helmet create fully connected safety ecosystem.

Modern cars can watch blind spots , monitor traffic, flash warning lights and even call for help after a crash. Now Volkswagen wants your bicycle to do much of the same thing.

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Working with premium e-bike specialist n+, Volkswagen has unveiled a new range of licensed electric bicycles loaded with technology usually associated with passenger vehicles. Instead of chasing bigger batteries or more power, the focus here is making riders more aware of their surroundings while helping drivers better understand what cyclists are about to do.

Related: VW Cargo E-Bike Punches Above Its Weight With 463-Pound Payload

The headline feature is called Smart View. The system combines a rear-facing camera with radar sensors that monitor approaching traffic. A display integrated into the handlebar lets riders see what’s happening behind them without needing to turn around, while radar alerts warn when vehicles are closing in from the rear.

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It’s tech borrowed directly from the automotive world, where radar and camera-based visibility systems have become increasingly common. Bringing similar functionality to an e-bike makes a lot of sense, especially in crowded urban environments where cyclists and motorists are constantly sharing limited space.

DRLs For Bicycles

Volkswagen and n+ have also given the bike its own take on automotive lighting technology. A full-length LED strip integrated into the frame serves as a running light during the day. More importantly, it changes behavior depending on what the rider is doing. When braking, the lighting glows red. When turning, it flashes amber to indicate direction. The goal is to give other road users clearer visual cues about a cyclist’s intentions before they make a move.

Use Your Head

The safety push isn’t limited to the bike itself. A connected helmet synchronizes with the lighting system and includes its own illuminated elements. It also features crash detection technology capable of notifying emergency contacts if an accident occurs.

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Joining the helmet is a set of smart glasses. Working alongside the bike’s camera and radar systems, they project navigation instructions, traffic alerts and ride information into the rider’s field of view. The technology was reportedly developed by engineers with experience creating helmet-mounted displays for military pilots.

Some purist cyclists might not want a fighter-jet-inspired digital ecosystem, in the same way that a dwindling number of passionate drivers prefer manual-transmission cars . But riding a bike on the road is a dangerous business and anything that keeps cyclists safer has to be a good thing.

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VW

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LawBreakers was, by many accounts , a great game. But the 2017 shooter was a commercial failure, and developer Boss Key shut it down just a year after release. There's been much speculation about why it stumbled, including from Boss Key co-founder and Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski himself. In a new interview with 80.lv, he offered his latest theories.

For one, a desire for Boss Key to be 'his' studio cost him an opportunity to work with Rod Fergusson, who he worked with on Gears of War.

"I could have used Rod, but I wanted it to be my show, and that was the first step of my ego creeping in right there," Bleszinski said, "believing that ... if I built it as Cliff, people will come. I thought there was this brand loyalty from the people who knew who I was, but it turns out people are loyal to the game, but they're not necessarily loyal to the person."

Bleszinski went on to say that the publishing deal Boss Key secured with Nexon had the wrong priorities. That deal included Boss Key retaining the rights to its IP, but as Bleszinski recalled it, "When the deal is so good for one side, the other side isn't as incentivized … they're not going to make it the next big thing because they're really not going to see that much of the profit."

Bleszinski offered a few other causes too, calling Boss Key's demise "death by 1,000 paper cuts." LawBreakers' art could have stood out more, an earlier launch on Xbox would have brought over more Gears of War fans, his struggle with alcoholism played a role, and he felt he was less involved than a lead should be, going home when others stayed late.

Despite all the turmoil, Bleszinski told 80.lv he still has a craving to make games again . "At the end of the day, I want to create characters and worlds," he said. "I want to make stuff that people will cosplay as and get tattooed on their bodies."

2026 games : All the upcoming games

Best PC games : Our all-time favorites

Free PC games : Freebie fest

Best FPS games : Finest gunplay

Best RPGs : Grand adventures

Best co-op games : Better together