China's Humanoid Robots Generate More Soccer Excitement than their Human Counterpartshttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5159404-chinas-humanoid-robots-generate-more-soccer-excitement-their-human-counterparts
China's Humanoid Robots Generate More Soccer Excitement than their Human Counterparts
Billboard illustrating humanoid robots at 2018 China International Robot Show in Shanghai. Reuters
While China's men's soccer team hasn't generated much excitement in recent years, humanoid robot teams have won over fans in Beijing based more on the AI technology involved than any athletic prowess shown.
Four teams of humanoid robots faced off in fully autonomous 3-on-3 soccer matches powered entirely by artificial intelligence on Saturday night in China's capital in what was touted as a first in China and a preview for the upcoming World Humanoid Robot Games, set to take place in Beijing.
According to the organizers, a key aspect of the match was that all the participating robots operated fully autonomously using AI-driven strategies without any human intervention or supervision.
Equipped with advanced visual sensors, the robots were able to identify the ball and navigate the field with agility
They were also designed to stand up on their own after falling. However, during the match several still had to be carried off the field on stretchers by staff, adding to the realism of the experience.
China is stepping up efforts to develop AI-powered humanoid robots, using sports competitions like marathons, boxing, and football as a real-world proving ground.
Cheng Hao, founder and CEO of Booster Robotics, the company that supplied the robot players, said sports competitions offer the ideal testing ground for humanoid robots, helping to accelerate the development of both algorithms and integrated hardware-software systems.
He also emphasized safety as a core concern in the application of humanoid robots.
“In the future, we may arrange for robots to play football with humans. That means we must ensure the robots are completely safe,” Cheng said. “For example, a robot and a human could play a match where winning doesn’t matter, but real offensive and defensive interactions take place. That would help audiences build trust and understand that robots are safe.”
Booster Robotics provided the hardware for all four university teams, while each school’s research team developed and embedded their own algorithms for perception, decision-making, player formations, and passing strategies—including variables such as speed, force, and direction, according to Cheng.
In the final match, Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics defeated the China Agricultural University’s Mountain Sea team with a score of 5–3 to win the championship.
Wu, a supporter of Tsinghua, celebrated their victory while also praising the competition.
“They (THU) did really well,” he said. “But the Mountain Sea team (of Agricultural University) was also impressive. They brought a lot of surprises.”
China's men have made only one World Cup appearance and have already been knocked out of next years' competition in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Trump is Lifting Restrictions on Hunting in National Parks, Refuges and Wilderness Areashttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5271208-trump-lifting-restrictions-hunting-national-parks-refuges-and-wilderness-areas
FILE - Cypress trees grow in a swamps in the Barataria Preserve, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Marrero, La., June 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz, File)
Trump is Lifting Restrictions on Hunting in National Parks, Refuges and Wilderness Areas
FILE - Cypress trees grow in a swamps in the Barataria Preserve, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Marrero, La., June 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz, File)
President Donald Trump's administration is quietly pushing national park, refuge and wilderness area managers to dramatically scale back hunting restrictions, raising questions about visitor safety and the impact on wildlife.
US Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order in January directing multiple agencies to remove what he termed “unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers” to hunting and fishing and justify regulations they want to keep in place.
“Expanding opportunities for the public to hunt and fish on Department-managed lands not only strengthens conservation outcomes, but also supports rural economies, public health, and access to America's outdoor spaces,” Burgum wrote. “The Department's policy is clear: public and federally managed lands should be open to hunting and fishing unless a specific, documented, and legally supported exception applies.”
Order clears the way for tree stands, training dogs and more The order applies to 55 sites in the lower 48 states under the National Park Service's jurisdiction, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. Managers at various locations have already lifted prohibitions on hunting stands that damage trees and training hunting dogs, using vehicles to retrieve animals and hunting along trails, according to an NPCA review of site regulations the organization recently performed after learning of the order. The New York Times was the first to report on the changes.
The hunting season in the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, for example, would be extended through the spring and summer. Hunters in the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas would be allowed to clean their kills in bathrooms. And hunters would be allowed to kill alligators in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana.
An effort to save hunting? Burgum’s order comes as hunting continues to decline in the face of increasing urbanization. Only about 4.2% of the US population identified as a hunter older than 16 in 2024, according to US Fish and Wildlife Service and US Census data, leaving state wildlife agencies short on revenue from license sales and excise taxes on guns and ammunition.
Hunting advocates and conservative policymakers have been exploring multiple avenues to keep hunting alive, including promoting the sport to women and young children, creating seasons for more species and expanding hunter access to public land.
Hunting is currently allowed across about 51 million National Park Service acres spanning 76 sites, although only about 8 million of those acres lie in the contiguous United States with the rest in Alaska, according to the NPS website. Fishing is allowed in 213 sites. NPS sites typically adopt state hunting and fishing regulations although they can impose restrictions that go beyond them to protect public safety and wildlife resources, like prohibiting shooting along a trail or near buildings.
‘I’d love to know the problem we're trying to solve' Dan Wenk, a former Yellowstone National Park superintendent and NPS deputy operations director, said park managers established their regulations by talking with stakeholders and, as a result, most of the restrictions have been widely accepted. He said it makes no sense for the Trump administration to upend that structure without substantial public discussion.
“Process never seems to stand in the way of many things with this administration,” Wenk said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “This was never a big issue. I'd love to know the problem we're trying to solve. Then I could understand the costs that it's going to take to solve it in terms of resources and visitor safety.”
FILE - People fish on Race Point Beach, part of Cape Cod National Seashore, May 25, 2020, in Provincetown, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said in an email that the order is a “commonsense approach to public land management" and promised that any closures or limits needed for public safety, resource protection or legal compliance will remain in place.
“For decades, sportsmen and women have been some of the strongest stewards of our public lands," she said, “and this order ensures their access is not unnecessarily restricted by outdated or overly broad limitations that are not required by law.”
Asked in a follow-up email about the extent of any public outreach efforts, if any, Peace said only that the department had given the AP its statement on the order.
Hunting groups applaud the order The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, which works to preserve access for hunting and fishing, posted a statement online in January calling the order a balance between wildlife management and outdoor traditions hunters and anglers support. Ducks Unlimited posted a statement in March saying Burgum's order recognizes duck hunters' “vital role.”
“This process will streamline federal regulations, make them more consistent with existing state rules, and provide more public-land access for outdoor recreation. Thank you, Secretary Burgum, for prioritizing America’s hunters and anglers," the statement said.
Elaine Leslie, former head of the NPS' biological resources department, said Trump is undermining a process that was put in place in good faith and the order does not reflect science-based management.
“I don't want to take my young grandchildren to a park unit only to have a hunter drag a gutted elk they shot across a visitor center parking lot. Nor enter a restroom where hunters are cleaning their game,” Leslie said in a text to the AP. "There is a time and place for hunting, trapping and fishing ... but that doesn't mean every place has to be open to every activity especially at the expense of others and degrading our public resources.”
Gaza Surfers Find Rare Moments of Joy Taking to the Waveshttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5271195-gaza-surfers-find-rare-moments-joy-taking-waves
Palestinians Tahseen Abu Assi, left, Khalil Abu Jayyab, center, and Abed Rahim Alostaz warn up before surfing on the beach in Gaza City, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Gaza Surfers Find Rare Moments of Joy Taking to the Waves
Palestinians Tahseen Abu Assi, left, Khalil Abu Jayyab, center, and Abed Rahim Alostaz warn up before surfing on the beach in Gaza City, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Despite the dire humanitarian crisis across the Gaza Strip, where a fragile ceasefire remains in place, a handful of Palestinian surfers are finding joy — and relief — riding the waves of the territory’s Mediterranean coastal waters.
Only three or four men still surf due to a shortage of surfboards and the materials needed to fix damaged ones, said Tahseen Abu Assi, a surfer in Gaza City.
Abu Assi carried his surfboard with him through every displacement he endured during the two-year war because, he said, he wouldn't be able to replace it.
“If something happened to it I won’t be able to get another one,” he said, noting that no boards have entered the Palestinian territory since 2007.
Surfboards are among sports equipment and other products that are banned by Israel.
On Tuesday, Abu Assi was among three surfers who took to the sea off the Gaza City port, including Khalil Abu Jiab, who road the high waves with his arms raised in joy.
After the war began, the Israeli military heavily restricted sea activity in Gaza, with the United Nations reporting that some fishermen were attacked onshore or at sea, including incidents involving fishermen using paddle boats.
Last year, Israel declared Gaza’s waters a “no-go zone,” banning fishing, swimming and sea access, making surfing risky.
Fishing and swimming are prohibited and dangerous in the waters off northern and southern Gaza. It's also risky to enter the waters off central Gaza, where Gaza City is located, due to Israeli patrols.
A Palestinian jumps into the waters of the Mediterranean Sea as he surfs on the beach in Gaza City, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
“There is fear of course, but we can’t leave this sport," The Associated Press quoted Abu Assi as saying. "During the war, in the middle of the war, in the middle of the bombing and the planes above us, we used to go down and practice this sport.”
Gaza’s waves rarely rise high enough for surfing, so when they do, surfers drop everything to get in the water, he added.
Intense fighting across the enclave eased after a shaky ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, but deadly Israeli strikes have continued, with both Hamas and Israel accusing each other of violating the truce.
Palestinians continue to struggle to secure food, clean water, medical care and shelter after the war caused widespread destruction, dismantled healthcare infrastructure and displaced most of the territory’s residents.
But for the territory's few surfers, there is relief, even if only fleeting, when they take to the waves.
“As soon as the sea gets high, you leave your work and leave your whole life,” Abu Assi said. "Work can be caught up on, as they say. We go practice this sport.”
Prince William’s Family Names Baby Kangaroo ‘Cwtch’ at Australia Zoohttps://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5271188-prince-william%E2%80%99s-family-names-baby-kangaroo-%E2%80%98cwtch%E2%80%99-australia-zoo
Prince William’s Family Names Baby Kangaroo ‘Cwtch’ at Australia Zoo
Robert Irwin with kangaroos with one holding joey Cwtch in its pouch (Australia Zoo)
The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children have named an eastern grey kangaroo ‘Cwtch,’ which is Welsh for cuddle, at Australia Zoo, according to BBC.
Conservationist Robert Irwin, the son of Steve Irwin, made the announcement from the zoo in Queensland in a joint Instagram post with the Wales family.
In a video message with kangaroos surrounding him, Irwin thanked the younger royals - Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis - for coming up with the name.
“[Cwtch] is the absolute perfect name for a joey kangaroo, 'cause at this age, they love a cuddle and they spend most of their time inside that pouch with their mum,” he said.
“Cwtch is now proudly part of our family here at Australia Zoo.”
Pronounced “kutch”, Irwin said he invited the Wales family to help name the baby kangaroo as part of efforts to put a global spotlight on conservation.
“Thank you for your support with our wildlife conservation efforts. It is so important that we conserve all of our animals, including the icons, the kangaroos,” he said in his video message.
“These guys play a very important role in the Australian bush, and out there in the ecosystem, they are just crucial,” Irwin said. “With all of the animals that we support and all of the wildlife conservation efforts that we have around the world, it's all about making sure we give back to the wildlife and the wild places where they live.”
Prince William has been an advocate for conservation, with his work as an ambassador for The Earthshot Prize - a global initiative he created to drive innovative solutions to the world's most pressing environmental challenges.
Irwin works with the prince through amplifying projects focused on protecting and restoring nature, which also aligns with his own global charity called Wildlife Warriors.
Eastern grey kangaroos are an Australian species that helps maintain healthy ecosystems for other animals, insects and plants.
However, the effects of habitat loss, climate change and human activity remains a threat.
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