Latest news with #SVD
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 4: Release date, time, new weapons, maps, modes and maps
New Weapons Live Events New Attachments and Weapon Mods The G-Grip improves weapon stability. The Stryder .22 turns a pistol into a burst-fire weapon. The SVD Full Auto Mod makes the SVD automatic. The TR2 CQB Mod converts a marksman rifle into a compact automatic gun. New Multiplayer Modes One in the Chamber returns mid-season. Players get one bullet, one pistol and three lives. Ammo is gained by landing kills. Party Ops, a limited-time mode, features mini-games. The highest score wins. New Multiplayer Maps Shutdown takes place in an Iceland hydro plant. Fugitive is a medium prison-themed map. Blitz is a fast-paced convoy site map. Eclipse, mid-season, is a nightclub map with breakable features. Fringe, a remastered map from Black Ops 3, returns as a distillery map. FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Season 4 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 begins on May 29 at 9 AM PT. This new season includes weapons, maps, multiplayer modes, Zombies updates and new 4 introduces several new weapons. The LC10 SMG can be unlocked on Page 3 of the Battle Pass. A blueprint is also available on Page 14. It returns from Cold War and is good for mid-range FFAR 1 Assault Rifle is available on Page 6 of the Battle Pass. A blueprint version is on Page 11. It works best for players who like fast shooting at close Essex Model 07 Marksman Rifle will arrive later in the season. It is a lever-action rifle unlocked through an in-game Olympia Special Shotgun and the Pickaxe melee weapon will also appear mid-season. These are also event rewards. The shotgun suits close-range fights. The Pickaxe offers quick melee new attachments and mods enhance weapon use.A new mode called Team Elimination launches with the season. Each team has limited lives per round. Players collect dog tags to confirm or deny kills. The team with more lives wins the 4 includes three launch maps and two mid-season Ops 6 Season 4 begins on Thursday, May 29, at 9 AM weapons are unlocked through the Battle Pass or in-game events across different pages and challenge rewards.
The Irish Sun
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Fury as ‘ridiculous' speed limit change sparks mayhem on Britain's busiest motorway – & is set to last another 12 WEEKS
RESIDENTS are furious over a "ridiculous" speed limit that has sparked chaos on Britain's busiest motorway. The restriction was brought in for road renovations in April but, despite them being completed, the limit might remain for another 12 weeks. Advertisement 3 A speed limit on the M25 is causing chaos Credit: Getty 3 Kent residents are facing 12 additional weeks of a 50mph restriction Credit: Getty 3 Drivers are fuming that the speed limit between junction 5 for Clacket Lane and 7 on the M25 has been reduced to 50mph. Those subjected to the limit, many of which live in the Sevenoaks area of Kent, were told roadworks would finish on April 23. Motorist Nancy Spearpoint, 55, told She raged: "I think they are pointless, causing absolute havoc, everyone I speak to says how disruptive it is and it's making everyone's lives hell and very stressful." Advertisement Read more Motors Paul Alford, 62, agreed and thinks it's "very frustrating" for drivers and even "a little bit dangerous." He added: 'People get frustrated - if everybody goes 50mph it would flow nicely but people are going faster, slowing down for cameras, braking, and as far as I'm concerned you shouldn't need to brake when you are on the motorway." The Lane closures and speed limits were implemented to build a new emergency area in Essex and Hertfordshire, between junction 23 and 27 of the M25. Now this emergency stop area has been built, the lane closures have been removed but the restriction remained. Advertisement Most read in Motors Exclusive National Highways said this is so it can test out a new system called Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD). The new tech will be tested to the latest standards and require the speed limits to be in place for up to 12 more weeks. Glasgow drivers swerve to avoid abandoned roadworks in city centre traffic Residents are up in arms about the length of the restriction, with Sydney Meopham slamming it as "excessive." He initially thought it was implemented because the M26 and the M25 were merging - when he found out the 50mph was for testing cameras he branded it "ridiculous." Advertisement Kelly Bennett, 58, was fed-up and argued that the limit has a big knock-on effect. She said she will be "very happy" when it's all complete. The cameras are said to signal "report obstructions" on the road to drivers if there has been an incident and close lanes and change speed limits. National Highways warned that the camera tests might also include closures and diversions. Advertisement A National Highways spokesman said: "Dedicated monitoring of temporary CCTV and free recovery will remain in place. "Once the system meets our rigorous performance specification, the speed will be increased to the national speed limit. "It's important to note that from this point onwards further calibration continues as we go through a process of continual improvement." The traffic enforcement agency insisted it was "working hard" to slash the 12-week testing period. Advertisement It said it will get car owners driving at the national speed limit as soon as it can. "When we can remove the speed limit is determined by when the newly installed system is performing to our specification, rather than a strict timescale," it added. "This usually takes around 12 weeks; we are working hard to reduce this and will restore the national speed limit at the earliest opportunity." The Sun has reached out to National Highways for a comment. Advertisement
Telegraph
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Drivers kept at 50mph after smart motorway failure
Motorists driving on smart motorways were forced to obey 50mph speed limits after a 'secret' technology failure meant cars that broke down in live lanes could not be detected. A whistleblower has leaked a classified memo which urged National Highways staff to be 'vigilant' after a critical life-saving system failed in the West Midlands during the Easter holidays. The email shows that an investigation was launched and a 'major incident' declared as bosses admitted 'the extent of the problem is not known'. It adds: 'The worrying thing is that presently the IT community do not know why this happened.' This latest failing has again led road safety campaigners opposed to smart motorways – where the hard shoulder is turned into a fourth lane – to call on the Government to scrap the controversial schemes that have been linked to numerous fatalities. Coroners have warned that more deaths could occur because replacing the hard shoulder with so-called 'emergency refuge areas' and relying on technology such as 'stopped vehicle detection' (SVD) radar is not foolproof. 'Extent of the problem is not known' The Telegraph has established that on April 17, the SVD radar covering much of the West Midlands suffered 'reporting irregularities'. On April 24, staff in control centres saw an 'increase in the number of potential missed detections', a National Highways source said, adding how there were 'concerns about whether the [radar] technology was detecting stopped vehicles appropriately.' As a result, gantries across both the West and East Midlands imposed lower speed limits, often 50mph, with roadside messages advising how the computer system, equivalent to the motorway network's air traffic control, was 'experiencing an issue'. The leaked memo explained how 'vehicles clearly in [a] live lane for some time' were found by 'slow' means, such as traffic officers on patrol or CCTV monitored by staff in regional control centres. Normally, SVD radar spots stranded vehicles in the path of high speed traffic prompting staff to set Red X signs on gantries to divert traffic into other lanes as help arrives. The leaked memo states that there were '40 or so' instances where cars that came to a halt in a live lane were not detected. It adds how 'the extent of the problem is not known and it may be wider than the West Midlands, and it could be more frequent than is being noticed.' The whistleblower, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 'National Highways has no way to fix it and is not telling people about it.' The problem was solved on April 25 after it was concluded that a stretch of the busy M6 between junctions 10a and 13 – from the exit towards the M54 and northwards to Stafford South – was the area affected by the outage. 'There are faults they don't know how to fix' Claire Mercer, whose husband, Jason, died because the hard shoulder had been turned into a fourth lane and his stranded vehicle was not detected, said that when the technology on smart motorways fails they become 'dumb'. 'Every time a whistleblower shines a spotlight revealing that there have been yet more problems with the technologies running smart motorways we get the same response from National Highways saying it has 'well-rehearsed' procedures for such events,' she said. 'But the truth is, there are very different ghosts in the machine of layered technologies monitoring smart motorways. There are faults that they just don't know how to fix, but they won't admit it. 'To add insult to injury, they constantly refuse to inform the public when such a dangerous environment is even more dangerous than normal.' A National Highways spokesman said: 'Road safety is our absolute priority. That's why smart motorways use numerous technologies to control traffic and keep people safe. 'We experienced a localised issue with Stopped Vehicle Detection on the M6 in Staffordshire. This did not impact on our ability to set signs and signals, and CCTV systems remained fully operational. 'SVD is meeting its key performance targets and when intermittent faults occur, we have well-rehearsed procedures to make sure all drivers can continue to get around safely.' On this occasion, the incident did not culminate in any collisions or injuries. The Telegraph has revealed numerous occasions when technology has failed on smart motorways.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Drivers kept at 50mph after smart motorway failure
Motorists driving on smart motorways were forced to obey 50mph speed limits after a 'secret' technology failure meant cars that broke down in live lanes could not be detected. A whistleblower has leaked a classified memo which urged National Highways staff to be 'vigilant' after a critical life-saving system failed in the West Midlands during the Easter holidays. The email shows that an investigation was launched and a 'major incident' declared as bosses admitted 'the extent of the problem is not known'. It adds: 'The worrying thing is that presently the IT community do not know why this happened.' This latest failing has again led road safety campaigners opposed to smart motorways – where the hard shoulder is turned into a fourth lane – to call on the Government to scrap the controversial schemes that have been linked to numerous fatalities. Coroners have warned that more deaths could occur because replacing the hard shoulder with so-called 'emergency refuge areas' and relying on technology such as 'stopped vehicle detection' (SVD) radar is not foolproof. The Telegraph has established that on April 17, the SVD radar covering much of the West Midlands suffered 'reporting irregularities'. On April 24, staff in control centres saw an 'increase in the number of potential missed detections', a National Highways source said, adding how there were 'concerns about whether the [radar] technology was detecting stopped vehicles appropriately.' As a result, gantries across both the West and East Midlands imposed lower speed limits, often 50mph, with roadside messages advising how the computer system, equivalent to the motorway network's air traffic control, was 'experiencing an issue'. The leaked memo explained how 'vehicles clearly in [a] live lane for some time' were found by 'slow' means, such as traffic officers on patrol or CCTV monitored by staff in regional control centres. Normally, SVD radar spots stranded vehicles in the path of high speed traffic prompting staff to set Red X signs on gantries to divert traffic into other lanes as help arrives. The leaked memo states that there were '40 or so' instances where cars that came to a halt in a live lane were not detected. It adds how 'the extent of the problem is not known and it may be wider than the West Midlands, and it could be more frequent than is being noticed.' The whistleblower, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 'National Highways has no way to fix it and is not telling people about it.' The problem was solved on April 25 after it was concluded that a stretch of the busy M6 between junctions 10a and 13 – from the exit towards the M54 and northwards to Stafford South – was the area affected by the outage. Claire Mercer, whose husband, Jason, died because the hard shoulder had been turned into a fourth lane and his stranded vehicle was not detected, said that when the technology on smart motorways fails they become 'dumb'. 'Every time a whistleblower shines a spotlight revealing that there have been yet more problems with the technologies running smart motorways we get the same response from National Highways saying it has 'well-rehearsed' procedures for such events,' she said. 'But the truth is, there are very different ghosts in the machine of layered technologies monitoring smart motorways. There are faults that they just don't know how to fix, but they won't admit it. 'To add insult to injury, they constantly refuse to inform the public when such a dangerous environment is even more dangerous than normal.' A National Highways spokesman said: 'Road safety is our absolute priority. That's why smart motorways use numerous technologies to control traffic and keep people safe. 'We experienced a localised issue with Stopped Vehicle Detection on the M6 in Staffordshire. This did not impact on our ability to set signs and signals, and CCTV systems remained fully operational. 'SVD is meeting its key performance targets and when intermittent faults occur, we have well-rehearsed procedures to make sure all drivers can continue to get around safely.' On this occasion, the incident did not culminate in any collisions or injuries. The Telegraph has revealed numerous occasions when technology has failed on smart motorways. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
IOL News
27-04-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Uganda declares end of Ebola outbreak after swift, coordinated response
Uganda has declared an end to the Ebola outbreak, less than three months after the virus was confirmed. Image: X/ WHO African Region Uganda has declared the end of the Ebola outbreak, which is less than three months after the virus was confirmed in Kampala, Uganda's capital. This was Uganda's second Ebola outbreak in under three years, with confirmation occurring on January 30, 2025. During the outbreak, 14 cases, 12 confirmed and two probable (not confirmed through laboratory tests), were reported. Four deaths, two confirmed and two probable, occurred. Ten people recovered. In addition, 534 people were identified as having been in contact with the confirmed and probable cases and were closely monitored. The 42-day countdown to officially declare the end of the outbreak, as per World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, was initiated on March 15, 2025, when the last confirmed patient was discharged. Uganda's long-standing experience in managing outbreaks enabled a fast, coordinated, and effective response. The Ministry of Health activated national coordination structures, deployed rapid response teams, strengthened surveillance systems and established treatment units, with support from WHO and partners. Border health measures were reinforced to prevent cross-border transmission, particularly in Kampala and entry points. More than 130 national and international staff were mobilised by WHO to support the response in areas of case investigation, contact tracing, laboratory diagnostics, and case management. Over 1 500 samples were tested with WHO providing logistics, training and quality assurance to ensure biosafety. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The Sudan virus disease (SVD) subtype of the Ebola strain, which was recently contained in Uganda, is a severe illness that can often be fatal to humans and other primates. During past outbreaks, SVD killed 4 out of 10 infected people. Despite no licensed countermeasures against this Ebola species, candidate vaccines are in various phases of clinical trials. Within four days of the Ugandan government's declaration of the outbreak, a randomised clinical trial for vaccine safety and efficacy using the ring vaccination approach was launched. Additionally, the administration of Remdesivir treatment under the Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered and Experimental Interventions (MEURI) protocol was initiated. 'Uganda's leadership and resilience were crucial in containing this outbreak,' said WHO representative in Uganda Dr Kasonde Mwinga. 'From day one, WHO worked hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Health, deploying expertise, providing essential supplies, and ensuring every suspected case was investigated. The people of Uganda have shown extraordinary resolve.' In addition, the Ministry of Health, with the continued support of WHO and partners, will still invest in surveillance, survivor care, and preparedness to ensure Uganda remains safe, even though the outbreak is over.
