Latest news with #Stoop
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Rugby Confidential: Inside the minefield facing free agents this summer, Bath bolter lined up for England call and Saracens star signs new deal
On Sunday afternoon, the man with the microphone at the Stoop took after the post-match proceedings and directed everyone's eyes towards Danny Care in the middle of the pitch. This was the Care's retirement day. There was sorrow about the departure of a club legend but he bowed out on his own terms and the mood felt more like a celebration.
France 24
18-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Care 'incredibly blessed' as Harlequins edge Exeter in his final home game
Care, 38, was introduced as a 64th-minute replacement at the Stoop when his side trailed by one point but a late penalty from England fly-half Marcus Smith sealed victory for Harlequins. Former England scrum-half Care announced Tuesday he would retire from rugby at the end of this season. Care won 101 caps for England over 16 years and called time on his international career after last year's Six Nations. He featured at two Rugby World Cups and was a member of England's Grand Slam-winning team of 2016, also lifting Six Nations titles in 2011 and 2017. Care has played nearly 400 times for London club Harlequins, winning the Premiership twice and the Challenge Cup in 2011. He is also Quins' all-time leading appearance-maker in the professional era. "I came here as a 19-year old, so I'm incredibly blessed with what I've achieved," said Care after Sunday's match. "I owe this club so much as they've stuck by me through thick and thin with the crowd singing my name loudly which is far more than I deserve." He added: "I haven't cried in years but I've cried about 20 times this week." Harlequins coach Danny Wilson said: "Danny has had a phenomenal career with close to 400 games. He is a top bloke and a true Quins legend and I don't think his feats will be repeated again." Cadan Murley, Will Porter and Smith scored Harlequins' tries, with Smith converting all three and landing what proved to be a decisive penalty. Tommy Wyatt, Rus Tuima and Stu Townsend scored Exeter's tries with Henry Slade adding two conversions and a penalty. This may have been Exeter's 13th defeat in 17 Premiership matches his season but boss Rob Baxter was encouraged by way his the southwest side competed against Quins. "Today we had the emotion and togetherness to stay in the fight with our discipline much improved," he said. © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ex-England scrum-half Care to retire from rugby
Former England scrum-half Danny Care has announced his retirement from rugby after amassing 101 Test caps and a record 394 appearances for Harlequins. The 38-year-old, who called time on his international career after last year's Six Nations, will hang up his boots at the end of the current season. Care had previously said he wanted to end his club career after the 2025-26 season, a campaign that would have been his 20th at the Stoop. "So, it's finally time. Unfortunately, after 19 years of playing for this incredible club, I'm going to be retiring from rugby at the end of the season," said Care. "I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting a lad from Leeds come down to this club and feel like home from day one." He leaves with two Premiership titles to his name, along with the European Challenge Cup success secured via victory over Stade Francais in the 2011 final. Care, a promising youth footballer, initially played for Leeds Tykes before being signed by Harlequins in 2006. A 21-year-old Care made his England debut in June 2008, and was one of Quins' star performers as they beat Leicester Tigers 30-23 in the 2012 Premiership final. Care was central to the team's title-winning campaign nine years later, when, in the wake of coach Paul Gustard's departure, they won five of their last seven regular-season games to propel themselves into the play-offs, before dramatically beating Bristol and Exeter to lift the Premiership trophy. On the international stage, he was part of England's Grand Slam-winning team of 2016, while also lifting Six Nations titles in 2011 and 2017. However, he missed the run to the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup after being left out of the team for nearly three years by then head coach Eddie Jones. Care returned to the fold in summer 2022 and appeared regularly off the bench as England lost to eventual champions South Africa in the last four of France 2023. Ackermann, Harris and Clarke among Gloucester exits The Farrell debate and fancy dress season
The National
23-04-2025
- Business
- The National
Facebook Camera failure: Trial zooms in on Meta's challenge to Instagram
Mark Zuckerberg once criticised Facebook Camera, the company's app designed to compete with Instagram, as being so underwhelming that it might actually drive more users to Instagram, a former product manager has said in court. The Federal Trade Commission has taken Mr Zuckerberg's social media company Meta to court over accusations of anti-competitive behaviour. The government used emails from more than a decade ago during the trial on Wednesday to demonstrate Meta's intensifying efforts to take on Instagram, which was growing in popularity at the time. 'We need more than eight filters … and we need to make sure the filters are of high quality,' Mr Zuckerberg's email to Dirk Stoop read, referring to the photo filters that made Instagram so popular. There was also a high level of criticism of bugs and underwhelming features compared to those of Instagram, Mr Stoop revealed. The Meta Camera app was announced in April 2012 and but struggled to gain popularity after being made available on Apple's iPhone platform. It was never released for Android. Another internal document presented by the FTC showed correspondence from Mr Stoop in which he said "sharing photos from our mobile apps wasn't fun or fast" compared to Instagram. According to an internal email shown in court, Meta sought to avoid publicly comparing the Camera app to Instagram's and also insisted on avoiding phrases such as "Facebook squashes the competition". Ultimately, Camera continued to plod along but efforts to improve it were dwarfed by Meta's purchase of Instagram in 2012 for about $1 billion. In May 2014, Meta withdrew Camera from the iPhone App store. During cross-examination, Meta's lawyers sought to prove the Camera app offered several innovations and was not merely an imitation of Instagram. Mr Stoop was asked about the multiphoto picker tool, which he said was unique at the time of the app's introduction. He also said he saw the audiences for Instagram and Cameras as being completely different. 'I saw Instagram as a place for creative photography,' he said. 'That's not necessarily how people were using Facebook or Camera.' Mr Stoop was the latest to be called to the stand in Washington District Court by the FTC. On Tuesday, Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, took the stand and described to the FTC the various ways that Meta had sought to put the kibosh on Instagram's success shortly after acquiring the company. Meta's lawyers, in turn, brought up Mr Systrom's public comments made shortly after Meta's purchase of Instagram, in which he praised the resources the social media giant provided to his company. Mr Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive of Meta, was called to the witness stand during the trial's opening days, followed by former chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg. One of the concerns surrounding Meta as a result of the trial is that the resources and energy spent to prepare for litigation might be syphoning valuable resources the company needs to innovate. Yet Meta's recent output, particularly the release of its much anticipated Edits video app, has suggested such fears have not been realised. It might be too soon to tell if Meta's productivity on the business and technology side is being adversely affected. During Microsoft's battle with US regulators from 1997 to 2001, the company appeared to be largely unaffected in terms of productivity and output but officials later blamed the lengthy trial, along with paranoia stemming from the trial, for the cautious decisions that might have stifled innovation. The current trial ultimately comes down to innovation, with the FTC alleging that instead of competing through its own ideas, Meta sought to buy out competitors, which limited consumer choice. Wednesday's evidence was given after Meta and Apple were hit with an $800 million fine from the European Commission for breaching competition rules. Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief global affairs officer, issued a statement within hours of the fine being issued for breaching the commission's Digital Markets Act. 'The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards,' he said. 'This isn't just about a fine – the commission forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multibillion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service. And by unfairly restricting personalised advertising, the European Commission is also hurting European businesses and economies.' Meta might now be required to divest from Instagram and WhatsApp, which it also purchased. Now in its second week and expected to take at least two months, the trial continues.
