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Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has admitted that his team deserved a drive-through penalty during Saturday’s GT World Challenge Europe finale in Portimão, despite the setback costing his crew a potential podium finish.

Verstappen and teammates Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham finished ninth overall in the three-hour endurance race on October 17, after the Dutch driver recovered 15 positions during the final stint.

Speaking after the race, Verstappen described the weekend as positive despite the disappointing result, acknowledging both the team’s qualifying mistakes and the collision that triggered the penalty.

Sony‘s upcoming PlayStation 6 could cost more than $1,000 as rising memory prices push the estimated cost of its components towards record levels, according to new claims from hardware insider KeplerL2.

Posting on the NeoGAF forum, the leaker claimed that the console’s RAM and SSD storage alone now cost more than $680, excluding its processor, motherboard, cooling system and other components.

The figure exceeds the current US retail price of the standard PlayStation 5, which costs $649.99. It also represents a significant increase from previous estimates of the next-generation console’s manufacturing expenses.

Samsung is reportedly developing a new Android-based operating system called Galaxy OS, featuring deeper artificial intelligence integration and a possible launch alongside the Galaxy S28 series in 2028.

According to tipster Phonefuturist, the company is working on the software alongside its existing One UI interface rather than preparing to replace it, as some earlier reports suggested.

The proposed launch would coincide with the tenth anniversary of One UI, which Samsung introduced in 2018 as a replacement for Samsung Experience.

Read more: Samsung may drop Snapdragon from Galaxy S27 Ultra for Exynos

Indonesia has dropped 2.4 tonnes of dry ice over South Sumatra in an experimental attempt to disperse thick smoke from forest and peatland fires that have disrupted flights and caused widespread air pollution across Southeast Asia.

The operation took place on October 15–16, with three flights lasting a combined seven hours and three minutes, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

The initial flights targeted areas surrounding Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport in Palembang, where poor visibility had affected aviation.

Visibility improved from approximately 1,000 metres to as much as 3,000 metres during the...

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reaffirmed his country’s support for the One China policy and pledged continued cooperation with Beijing against terrorism, separatism and extremism during talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Tashkent on October 17.

The discussions covered security cooperation, Chinese investment and construction of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, according to CGTN and the Uzbek presidential press service.

Mirziyoyev reiterated Uzbekistan’s commitment to the One China principle, under which Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory. The self-governing island operates under its own government, while China claims sovereignty over it and opposes...

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Europe, with demonstrations in France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal escalating over the weekend of October 17–18 amid growing frustration over living costs, education funding and public services.

The protests have different causes, ranging from teacher shortages and university fees to unaffordable housing and low wages. Although some demonstrations have turned violent, most began as peaceful marches organised by students, trade unions and community groups.

France has witnessed the largest mobilisation, with between 550,000 and 800,000 people joining nationwide demonstrations on Saturday. Meanwhile, violent clashes with police have been reported...

Mass protests have swept across France after thousands of students walked out of classrooms to demand better education funding, more teachers and improvements to deteriorating school buildings, sparking a nationwide movement that has increasingly turned into broader unrest.

The demonstrations began in mid-September at Saint-Exupéry high school in Créteil, southeast of Paris, where students and teachers protested unfilled teaching positions and inadequate resources. Videos circulating on social media helped the movement spread to hundreds of schools across the country.

The Statue of Marianne in Paris, France draped with a banner that says: «The police mutilate high school...

Apple‘s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, has attracted more than 3mn reservations on Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com, with demand fuelling a resale market where buyers face premiums of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,400).

According to Chinese technology publication MyDrivers, more than 2.23mn people had registered interest in the device ahead of pre-orders opening on October 16. The figure subsequently climbed to 3.095mn shortly before sales began, Chinese media reported.

The figures represent reservations or expressions of interest rather than confirmed purchases. Apple has not disclosed official sales figures for China.

Pre-orders opened at 8 p.m. local time on...

A new application called MaPC has entered public beta, allowing Mac users to install and play Windows games from Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG without manually configuring compatibility software.

Developed by Steale LLC, the free utility brings games from all three storefronts into a single library, where users can download, launch and manage them through a macOS interface.

MaPC uses Wine, a compatibility layer that allows Windows applications to run on other operating systems, alongside graphics translation technologies DXVK and MoltenVK.

The software automatically configures the necessary components and selects graphics settings for individual games.

Max Verstappen fought his way through the field during a chaotic GT World Challenge Europe race at Portimão on Saturday, 17 October, after a penalty threatened to derail his team’s chances.

The Dutch Formula 1 driver took over the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG with 46 minutes remaining, facing a difficult recovery after teammate Chris Lulham received a drive-through penalty following contact with another competitor.

La foule salue la remontée de Max Verstappen après la course ! 👏 Quelle performance ! #F1 #GTWorldEurope https://t.co/zQLn2OX4bf

— Le Sprint (@LeSprintEdition) October 17, 2026

Verstappen eventually finished ninth...

US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor visited a local market with Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration, before travelling to historic Bukhara alongside regional officials on October 17.

Gor shared photographs of both visits on X, highlighting his return to Uzbekistan ahead of high-level diplomatic and business meetings between the two countries.

“Great to be back in Uzbekistan! Enjoyed visiting the local market with my friend @SMirziyoyeva,” Gor wrote.

The photographs show the two officials walking through a poultry section, with chickens and roosters displayed in cages. Gor did not...

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor in Tashkent on October 16 to discuss preparations for Secretary of State Marco Rubio‘s upcoming visit and a major American business delegation.

Following the meeting, Gor wrote on X that more than 250 US business leaders would begin arriving in Uzbekistan on October 17, signalling growing commercial interest in the country.

“An incredible honour to call on President Mirziyoyev this evening in Tashkent, Uzbekistan ahead of Secretary Rubio’s arrival,” Gor wrote. “Incredible...

A South Korean court has ordered a retrial for Bozorov Akmal, a 37-year-old Uzbek national who spent more than 16 years in prison serving a life sentence for the murder of a taxi driver, after finding serious violations in the original police investigation.

The Changwon District Court suspended his sentence on October 15, allowing him to leave prison while the case is reconsidered. Akmal was reunited with his father, who had travelled to South Korea to meet him, according to The Korea Times.

Akmal was 19 when police arrested him in July 2009 over a taxi robbery. Investigators subsequently...

Players exploring the campaign of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 can now access hidden containers, bunkers and safes using a series of newly identified combinations, following the start of early access on October 16.

A walkthrough published by IGN covers the game’s keypad puzzles, which appear across several campaign missions and provide access to collectibles and additional equipment.

Many of the puzzles appear in Stranded, an open-world mission set in North Korea. Players must explore military installations, abandoned buildings and supply areas, examining nearby notes to identify the correct combinations.

Unlike randomly generated passwords, the codes follow fixed...

Microsoft‘s new Surface Laptop Ultra has received positive reviews for its artificial intelligence capabilities, premium design and graphics performance, although critics have raised concerns about battery life, software compatibility and its price of up to $5,899.

The laptop, powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark N1X processor, went on sale on October 16. Reviews from The Verge, Ars Technica, WIRED and PCWorld suggest it could rival Apple’s MacBook Pro for developers and content creators, but its appeal to everyday users remains limited.

The Surface Laptop Ultra combines an Arm-based processor with Nvidia’s Blackwell graphics architecture and up to 128GB of unified memory...

Microsoft says Windows 11 has become up to 20% more responsive following a series of performance and memory optimisations, with particularly noticeable improvements on computers equipped with 8GB of RAM.

The company outlined the changes in an official blog post published on October 15, detailing improvements to system responsiveness, resource management and everyday applications.

According to Microsoft’s internal testing, Windows 11 build 26300.9550 delivers response times up to 20% faster than build 26200.7628, released in January 2026.

The comparison covers frequently used features, including the Start menu, File Explorer, Search, Settings, Snipping Tool and right-click context...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has claimed that the company’s second-generation Roadster could reach speeds exceeding 612 km/h with the help of SpaceX-developed thrusters, following the electric supercar’s unveiling in Texas earlier this week.

Musk suggested the vehicle could exceed Mach 0.5, roughly half the speed of sound. The figure is considerably higher than the previously indicated top speed of more than 370 km/h for the Roadster’s Thrust and Rocket variants.

@JesseBWatters I think we can reach a peak speed of >0.5 Mach or ~400 mph

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 17, 2026

US President Donald Trump has halted a comprehensive package of economic sanctions and tariffs aimed at Russia just two days before the measures were scheduled to take effect.

Through an executive order signed on October 16, Trump waived crucial sections of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026.

Congress designed the legislation, which the president signed into law on September 18, to intensify economic pressure on Moscow over its ongoing military campaign in Ukraine.

Trump utilised a provision within the law that permits the suspension of penalties if...

Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, sold out of its initial pre-order allocation within minutes on October 16, pushing estimated delivery dates into late January 2027.

Pre-orders opened at 5 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, with the first deliveries originally scheduled for October 23. Within minutes, shipping estimates began slipping into November. By 5:30 a.m., all colour and storage configurations were showing delivery dates of January 25, with some customers receiving estimates as late as January 29.

Despite the delays, Apple continues to accept orders for the device, which starts at $1,999 for the 256GB...

Max Verstappen and his Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing teammates qualified 15th for the GT World Challenge Europe race at Portimão on Friday, 16 October, as Boutsen VDS secured pole position with its Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The Dutch Formula 1 driver recorded a 1:42.093 lap in the final qualifying session, helping the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO finish with a combined average of 1:42.624, 0.553 seconds off pole.

Morris Schuring, Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello secured the leading position for Boutsen VDS with an average time of 1:42.071. Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed finished second, 0.108 seconds behind...

Uzbekistan has prepared 128 oil and gas exploration blocks for foreign investors, with preliminary estimates suggesting they could contain 5.8tn cubic metres of natural gas and 560mn tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced the plans during a meeting with energy sector investors on October 16, outlining efforts to expand exploration, increase production efficiency and develop domestic processing facilities.

Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and Britain’s BP are already conducting exploration work across six investment blocks in the Ustyurt region.

The government plans to offer additional exploration areas to international companies, with projects selected...

Uzbekistan has signed six energy agreements worth $4.7bn, covering 3,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation and 400 MW of energy storage capacity, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced during a meeting with energy investors on October 16.

The agreements come as Uzbekistan prepares to add 22,000 MW of generating capacity by 2030, raising annual electricity production to more than 129bn kilowatt-hours (kWh). Renewable energy is expected to account for 54% of total generation by then.

Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan had attracted $35bn in energy investment over the past decade after opening the sector to private...

Samsung is considering replacing Qualcomm‘s flagship Snapdragon processor with its own Exynos 2700 in the upcoming Galaxy S27 Ultra after internal tests revealed overheating and performance problems.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 repeatedly exceeded temperature limits during testing, causing processing speeds to fall under sustained workloads, according to South Korea’s Seoul Economic Daily, citing industry sources.

Samsung reportedly informed Qualcomm of the problems in September and asked the chipmaker to resolve them by mid-October. However, the processor has yet to meet Samsung’s requirements for thermal stability.

Read more: Galaxy...

South Korean police are facing criticism after a four-year-old girl and her father were found dead on Jeju Island, despite repeated requests from the child’s mother for help during an international custody dispute.

Emergency responders found them in a parked car in Seogwipo on Monday. The father, an Australian permanent resident in his 40s, reportedly took his daughter to South Korea in October 2025 without her mother’s consent.

The mother had obtained a court order under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction requiring the girl’s return. She claims South Korean police failed to enforce the...