MEPs agree to implement deal almost 12 months after it was proposed and just days before deadline of US threat to raise tariffs
The European parliament has given its final approval to implement last July’s tariff agreement with Donald Trump.
Facing a threat of increased tariffs if the deal was not sanctioned by 4 July, MEPs agreed to approve the deal, with two main provisos.
Continue reading...It doesn’t matter if you drink less or use the restroom beforehand. Experts say it happens to all swimmers
I’m midway into my hour-long swim when it hits: I really have to pee. This always happens. It doesn’t help to curb my morning coffee or use the restroom beforehand. My bladder doesn’t care.
Why does this happen? “It’s a normal physiological response by the body to being immersed in water,” says Dr Stavros Kavouras, assistant dean, professor of nutrition and director of the Hydration Science Lab at Arizona State University. And it’s not just me: “It’s something that happens to all swimmers.”
Continue reading...A sinister new tablet threatens the honest-to-goodness toys’ existence, but Buzz, Woody and Jessie’s big tech moral battle feels compromised
The fifth episode of the Toy Story franchise is as slick and smooth as you like, as glitchless as Toy Story 6 or Toy Story 7 might be … or will be. As a piece of family-entertainment content it has the unblemished sheen of a brand new smartphone. But at heart, it has gone dead. For all the intensive, high-energy creative work that has clearly gone into this film’s every frame, the jeopardy, the novelty, the ideas and the passion are lacking; the crucial Toy Story theme of mortality feels underpowered, and the film even calamitously loses its nerve with its own big idea – those squeamish about spoilers had better look away now – the sinister way addictive tech devices are undermining the imaginative play that kids once had with honest-to-goodness toys.
Here a creepy tablet device called Lilypad (voiced by Greta Lee) enters the children’s world, but ultimately proves to be capable of sentimental self-sacrificial heroism when it comes to their mental health. Really? At least Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear, the villain from TS3, had the courage of his evil convictions.
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Hanneke Schouten (67) stopt met het iconische restaurant Bouchon du Centre. Ze verhuist naar Frankrijk. Gaat ze Amsterdam missen? "Nee. Ik ben helemaal klaar met Amsterdam. De stad is smerig. Ik vind dat de mentaliteit hier erg achteruit is gegaan: je wordt om niks verrot uitgescholden. En overal wordt Engels gesproken – hier in het centrum, maar ook in de Watergraafsmeer, waar ik woon. Daar heb ik een hekel aan. Ik heb zelf ook in andere landen gewoond. Dan leer je de taal, uit respect." Pets pets pets pets pets pets pets