BERLIJN (ANP/AFP/DPA) - De Duitse bondskanselier Friedrich Merz maakt zich naar eigen zeggen zorgen dat de Verenigde Staten en Israël geen gezamenlijk plan hebben om een duidelijk einde te maken aan de oorlog in Iran. De situatie wordt volgens hem zelfs steeds onduidelijker.
"De Verenigde Staten en Israël voeren al ruim een week oorlog tegen Iran. We delen veel van de doelen, maar iedere dag rijzen meer vragen", aldus Merz. "We zijn vooral bezorgd dat er kennelijk geen gedeeld plan is over hoe deze oorlog tot een spoedig en overtuigend einde gebracht kan worden."
Merz heeft in de afgelopen tijd vaker gewaarschuwd voor de gevolgen van de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten. Hij wees op de consequenties voor de burgers van Iran en voor de veiligheid in de hele regio. Ook heeft hij gewaarschuwd voor stijgende energieprijzen en het risico dat een grote vluchtelingenstroom richting Europa op gang kan komen.
FRANKFURT (ANP/RTR) - De Duitse luchtvaartmaatschappij Lufthansa speelt in op de schaarste die door de Iran-oorlog is ontstaan door extra langeafstandsvluchten in te zetten naar Azië en Afrika. Reizigers zoeken momenteel naar alternatieven voor luchtvaartmaatschappijen uit het Midden-Oosten zoals Emirates en Qatar Airways, die worden gehinderd door luchtruimsluitingen in hun thuisregio.
Lufthansa voegt op korte termijn extra vluchten toe vanuit Duitsland naar Singapore, Kaapstad en Riyadh, zo liet het bedrijf dinsdag weten. Dochtermaatschappij Austrian Airlines heeft daarnaast al 10 speciale retourvluchten geregeld van Wenen naar Bangkok.
De stap volgt op British Airways, dat deze week extra vluchten toevoegde van Londen naar Singapore en Bangkok. Air France-KLM heeft ondertussen grotere vliegtuigen ingezet op vluchten vanuit verschillende steden in Azië, waaronder Tokyo, Shanghai en Mumbai, als reactie op de toegenomen vraag en de vluchtannuleringen door luchtvaartmaatschappijen uit het Midden-Oosten.
SEATTLE (ANP) - Topvrouw Jay Graber van socialmediaplatform Bluesky doet een stap terug. Ze blijft wel bij het in opkomst zijnde Amerikaanse bedrijf, en gaat aan de slag als innovatiedirecteur.
"Nu Bluesky volwassen wordt, heeft het bedrijf een ervaren bestuurder nodig die zich richt op schaalvergroting en uitvoering, terwijl ik terugkeer naar waar ik het beste in ben: nieuwe dingen bouwen", laat Graber weten in een blog.
Bluesky is in 2019 opgezet door Jack Dorsey, de oprichter van Twitter. Sinds 2021 is het een onafhankelijk bedrijf. Het platform, dat wordt gezien als een alternatief voor X, is de laatste jaren gegroeid naar meer dan 40 miljoen gebruikers.
De leiding bij Bluesky wordt op interimbasis overgenomen door Toni Schneider, oud-topman van Automattic. Dat is het bedrijf achter websitemakersoftware WordPress. Schneider fungeerde al meer dan een jaar als adviseur van Bluesky en Graber in het bijzonder.
Workers can be exposed to a range of potentially harmful chemicals in some nail products like triphenyl phosphate — used as a plasticiser — and volatile organic compounds such as toluene, methyl methacrylate and acetone.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals that evaporate and become vapours, which can be breathed in.
Shamshad Karatela, an environmental epidemiologist at Monash University, said a range of smaller studies, mostly from the United States, documented nail salon worker health symptoms like irritation of the nose, throat, lungs and skin, as well as respiratory issues and headaches.
But more robust research was needed to properly assess exposure levels and understand all the health risks, Dr Karatela said.
A 2019 US study, which surveyed six Colorado nail salons, found levels of benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylene in the air at levels similar to those in oil refineries and auto garages.
The study also detected other VOCs above safe levels, and 70 per cent of the 20 workers surveyed experienced at least one health issue related to their job. Many reported multiple symptoms.
"This study contributes to growing evidence suggesting nail salons are hazardous working environments, where chronic exposure to VOCs can lead to negative health effects and increases in lifetime cancer risk," it concluded.
However, one of the first large studies of nail salon workers in California in 2010 did not find an increase in cancer cases among workers but said further studies were needed.
“I think of playgrounds as a primer of shapes and functions; simple, mysterious and evocative; thus educational,” Isamu Noguchi said in a pamphlet about his Playscapes. Perhaps best known for his stone sculptures and Akari lamps, the Japanese artist and designer always had an eye on the spaces that define childhood, particularly public playgrounds and their influence on the young mind.
In 1933, Noguchi proposed redeveloping an entire New York City block into “Play Mountain,” an enormous topographical project that would be unstructured and open-ended. Rather than have swings and swift metal slides, for example, Noguchi wanted earthen steps, a bandshell, and a large hill for sledding and gathering. The idea was that it could be just as fun in the winter as in the summer and stimulate kids’ imaginations more than the prescriptive equipment typical in urban parks. Then-Parks Commissioner Robert Moses rejected the plan, though, and despite efforts to have the project and others of Noguchi’s designs built in New York, none were ever realized in the city.
A series of short animations recreates this lesser-known history. Using hand-painted celluloid under a Rostrum camera, Eastend Western imagines what these never-built playgrounds would have looked like—and how children may have interacted with the unconventional structures. There are concrete mounds with cavernous openings, labyrinthine sand gardens, and asymmetrical equipment that could teach users that “the rate of swing is determined by the length of the pendulum,” the film says.
The animations were produced in conjunction with the exhibition Noguchi’s New York, which is on view through September 13 at The Noguchi Museum. There’s also a new monograph that dives into the artist’s playgrounds and is a companion to a major retrospective at the High Museum of Art, available for pre-order on Bookshop. Find the full film series on YouTube.
“I think of playgrounds as a primer of shapes and functions; simple, mysterious and evocative; thus educational,” Isamu Noguchi said in a pamphlet about his Playscapes. Perhaps best known for his stone sculptures and Akari lamps, the Japanese artist and designer always had an eye on the spaces that define childhood, particularly public playgrounds and their influence on the young mind.
In 1933, Noguchi proposed redeveloping an entire New York City block into “Play Mountain,” an enormous topographical project that would be unstructured and open-ended. Rather than have swings and swift metal slides, for example, Noguchi wanted earthen steps, a bandshell, and a large hill for sledding and gathering. The idea was that it could be just as fun in the winter as in the summer and stimulate kids’ imaginations more than the prescriptive equipment typical in urban parks. Then-Parks Commissioner Robert Moses rejected the plan, though, and despite efforts to have the project and others of Noguchi’s designs built in New York, none were ever realized in the city.
A series of short animations recreates this lesser-known history. Using hand-painted celluloid under a Rostrum camera, Eastend Western imagines what these never-built playgrounds would have looked like—and how children may have interacted with the unconventional structures. There are concrete mounds with cavernous openings, labyrinthine sand gardens, and asymmetrical equipment that could teach users that “the rate of swing is determined by the length of the pendulum,” the film says.
The animations were produced in conjunction with the exhibition Noguchi’s New York, which is on view through September 13 at The Noguchi Museum. There’s also a new monograph that dives into the artist’s playgrounds and is a companion to a major retrospective at the High Museum of Art, available for pre-order on Bookshop. Find the full film series on YouTube.
