HILVERSUM (ANP) - De NPO "respecteert" het besluit van omroep AVROTROS om niet mee te doen aan de aankomende editie van het Eurovisie Songfestival. Wel vindt de NPO het "heel jammer", zei een woordvoerder maandag tegen het ANP.

"Wij zien ook dat de geopolitieke spanningen een splijtende werking hebben", aldus de NPO. "Daarom is dit geen gemakkelijke beslissing voor onze collega's geweest."

Het is niet duidelijk of de komende editie van het Eurovisie Songfestival wel wordt uitgezonden. Ook wil de NPO niet zeggen of ze overweegt een andere omroep te vragen om de Nederlandse inzending voor het songfestival te verzorgen. "We gaan ons bezinnen op de komende editie", aldus de NPO.

AVROTROS maakte maandag bekend opnieuw niet mee te doen aan het Eurovisie Songfestival. Volgens de omroep is het evenement "niet langer neutraal" en werken de "geopolitieke spanningen in het Midden-Oosten" te veel door in het festival. AVROTROS heeft daarom de verantwoordelijkheid voor de Nederlandse deelname teruggegeven aan de NPO.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - De brede steun in de Tweede Kamer voor de coronamaatregelen van het kabinet nam af naarmate de pandemie langer duurde, stelde Klaas Dijkhoff tijdens zijn verhoor door de parlementaire enquêtecommissie corona. De toenmalige VVD-fractievoorzitter zei dat er eerst een gevoel was dat iedereen het kabinet moest steunen vanwege de ernst van het virus.

"Het was een soort rally around the flag", zei Dijkhoff over de eerste steun. "Maar als er ook nadelen zichtbaar worden, dan wordt het meer politiek." Ook kwamen na verloop van tijd vragen of alle geluiden uit de samenleving wel genoeg werden gehoord, zei de voormalige politicus.

In het begin van de pandemie waren er alleen maatregelen in Noord-Brabant, de thuisprovincie van Dijkhoff. "Ik moest toen eerst vanuit huis werken en ik merkte dat er vanuit Den Haag twijfel was over de ernst van het virus."

"Snel na carnaval hadden we door wat was aangericht door het feest gewoon door te laten gaan", zei de VVD'er. Tijdens het carnaval in 2020 werden in Noord-Brabant veel mensen besmet.

Nasa-funded project uses yeasts to recycle plastics and other waste into food shaped into biscuits by 3D printers

Cookies produced from upcycled plastic may sound like something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi plot. But researchers say that they have succeeded in creating such a product as part of a Nasa-funded project aimed at feeding astronauts on future space missions.

The technology uses specially designed yeasts to transform plastics and agricultural waste into edible proteins, fats and flavourings. The resulting slurry is pased through a 3D printer to create a disc-shaped “cookie”.

The WNBA has attracted grifters who care little for basketball – and whose latest stunt exposes the hollowness of their supposed concern

I regret to inform you that yet another dildo has hit a WNBA court. The Chicago Sky v Golden State Valkyries game was sullied by sex toys being chucked on to the playing surface on Friday. Aren’t we tired of all this yet? To paraphrase the Sky’s Natasha Cloud, it takes a lot of effort to bother with such a juvenile act.

This is yet another controversy for the WNBA, a league that up until a few years ago, most media observers ignored. The WNBA is full of incredibly talented players and has a rich history, but most sports fans treated all but ignored it for the majority of its 30-year existence. But when Caitlin Clark went pro, the league surged. Ratings, attendance, and interest exploded. But not all attention is good attention.

Endorsement of Republican incumbent over challenger with same name adds twist to unusual campaign in Alaska

• Republican senator Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola advance in Alaska Senate primary

Dan Sullivan supports Dan Sullivan against Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s US Senate election, says a former Alaskan mayor who recently backed the race’s Republican incumbent over a challenger sharing their name.

That development provided another of multiple absurd elements to Dan S Sullivan’s campaign for a third term in the US Senate, which – beside Mary Peltola, a former Alaska Democratic congresswoman – has drawn opposition from Dan J Sullivan.

Carbon capture and storage could make the Rosebank site compatible with UK net zero commitments – if its owners are willing to pay the price

The British government must soon decide whether it should give consent to two oil and gasfields, Rosebank in the North Atlantic and Jackdaw in the North Sea. Amid both insecurity of energy supplies and deadly evidence of the climate crisis, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, is facing pressure from the oil and gas industry and unions on one side, and environmentalists on the other.

Labour’s manifesto commitment not to approve new drilling licences offers little help, because the fields already have licences, granted by the previous Conservative government in 2022 and 2023. But last year, Edinburgh’s court of session ruled that the environmental impact assessments on which this decision relied were unlawful. The Conservative government had, the court ruled, failed to include the emissions generated when the oil and gas from the fields is burned. The court allowed work to continue on the fields, but a new assessment had to be done and approval sought again.

Michael Jacobs is professor of political economy at the University of Sheffield and a former energy and climate change adviser to Gordon Brown when he was prime minister

Service charges used to be a matter of choice, but now consumers feel obliged to pay them for even a cup of coffee. How do we navigate this minefield and who is really profiting?

In a London pub, Greg Double was brutally confronted with the reality of Britain’s evolving tipping culture. “I was annoyed about the pint being eight quid, but then when you put service on top, it’s absolutely criminal,” he says. In the past, you might have told the bar staff to keep the change or have a “drink” on you, but since when did we routinely tip in pubs? Or coffee shops? Or, worst of all, at self-service machines? Tip creep is happening.

Tipping was awkward enough in the UK when the general rule was 10% at a restaurant, plus anxiety about whether you should tip the hairdresser, babysitter or food-delivery driver. Now, with tipping suggested ever more frequently, US-style, it has become a minefield to Britons. The amounts edge higher – in fancier London restaurants, a 15% service charge is relatively commonplace. And it’s often asked for – in coffee shops for example, when you pay – before any service is delivered.

The latest in our series of writers picking their go-to comfort films is a grimy and gory trip back to the start of a surprisingly uplifting torture porn franchise

I was petsitting recently for a white suburban family, with the typical streaming habits therein. They had two kids; their most-watched shows, according to the history that showed up on the screen, were Bluey for the kids and The Office for the adults. When they came home from their weeklong trip, they would’ve found their watch history upheaved. The Bingos and Michael Scotts all erased by Saw I, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw 3D, Saw Spiral, Saw Jigsaw and, finally, my new favourite, Saw X.

I was obsessed with the Saw franchise well before I ever saw it. At 11, as Jigsaw puppets became Halloween costumes, I went to bed each night convinced Jigsaw was going to scoop me up in a van because the word “hell”a popped into my head. By 13, I looked up every film on Wikipedia and read through each trap with terrified excitement. By 14, I drank my first can of Stella and typed Saw II into YouTube, watching it in 12 installments. It was utterly horrifying. And so, so, so much fun.

wing of kaz has added a photo to the pool:

長崎県雲仙市、雲仙温泉神社 / Unzen Onsen Shrine, Unzen City, Nagasaki Prefecture

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