Neil the seal is back bigger than ever and that's a problem. Neil, an elephant seal well known to Tasmanians, has returned to land and a new video shows him being coerced off a road for his own safety.

Je mag dus niet eens meer in Marokko trouwen met een man die in België woont en de Nederlandse nationaliteit heeft, tegelijkertijd ook nog met iemand anders getrouwd is en dan geld eisen van de Nederlandse overheid! Tenminste, als het aan Thierry Aartsen ligt, want die wil het gat in de wet waardoor Nederland nog altijd uitkeringen moet overmaken aan partners in polygame huwelijken dichten. Erg flauw natuurlijk, want als er iets leukers dan met één vrouw (of man!) getrouwd zijn, dan is het wel met twee vrouwen getrouwd zijn. En hoe moet het dan met al die polyamoureuze Linda-koppels die in het AD, de Viva en de Flair aan het uitleggen zijn dat het je leven juist verrijkt? Mogen die dan ook geen uitkering meer? Thierry Aartsen party pooper.

U schreef ons, en dat is goed te begrijpen, veelal over de hittegolf, maar ook over het verdwijnen van de Keltische taal en een nieuwe drooglegging.

Na vijf seizoenen moesten ook acteurs Lionel Boyce en Matty Matheson afscheid nemen van ‘The Bear’: „Ik heb in het echt een heel rustig leven, dus vond ik het wel lekker om twee minuten los te gaan.”

gnsk has added a photo to the pool:

Microsoft says it is trying to help the European Commission see off a legal threat to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework agreement - relied on by organizations to legally move data between the bloc and the US. In a weekend blog post, the software biz confirmed the Court of Justice of the European Union had granted its application to formally intervene in a case challenging the framework, which has supported data between the two economic super-powers since 2023. Microsoft thinks the case before the court will determine whether its enterprise customers — of which there are many — can continue under the existing pact. “Companies across the globe rely on data flows to manage their people, produce their goods and services, and distribute products to their customers. We understand that data flows trigger questions about differences in legal traditions.” In Redmond's blog post, Jon Palmer, Microsoft corporate veep and chief legal officer, and Cari Benn, chief privacy officer, say the Court found Microsoft has a direct and existing interest in the result, allowing it to intervene in the case. “As an intervener, we can now file legal briefs in support of the European Commission, participate in oral hearings, and share our perspective on the importance of upholding a framework that directly benefits the European economy,” the pair write. The case before the court is an appeal against an earlier ruling which struck down a challenge to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. In September last year, the EU General Court’s judgment confirmed the data sharing agreements' validity, ruling against the challenge from French parliamentarian Philippe Latombe. He brought the case by arguing the Data Protection Review Court (DPRC) — the US body set up to hear issues related to the Framework — lacked independence. A presidential executive order could disregard the DPRC, he argued. But the General Court disagreed. "It is apparent from the file that the appointment of judges to the DPRC and the DPRC's functioning are accompanied by several safeguards and conditions to ensure the independence of its members," the Court said at the time. Max Schrems, the lawyer and campaigner behind two successful challenges to EU data sharing rules, Safe Harbor (2015) and Privacy Shield (2020), pointed out that Latombe had chosen a targeted and narrow challenge to the current deal. Another challenge based on a broader set of arguments might prove successful, he said. “This was a rather narrow challenge. We are convinced that a broader review of US law – especially the use of Executive Orders by the Trump administration – should yield a different result. We are reviewing our options to bring such a challenge. While the Commission may have gained another year, we still lack any legal certainty for users and businesses,” Schrems said in a blog post. Latombe announced plans to appeal in October last year, although the basis for the appeal is still to be made public. According to law firm WilmerHale, the ECJ has historically been more skeptical than the General Court in assessing US surveillance practices and the adequacy of redress mechanisms. Its prior decisions in the so-called Schrems I and II rulings invalidated frameworks that had also been endorsed by the European Commission, and Latombe’s appeal puts another framework before the European Court of Justice for consideration. Clearly, Microsoft feels the appeal’s chances of success are sufficient for it to step in. ®

europeanspaceagency posted a photo:

This satellite image shows the area around Caracas, Venezuela, which was hit by a double earthquake on Wednesday, 24 June, at about 18:00 local time (about midnight central European time).

The ground deformation captured in this image is based on data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites, which carry powerful remote-sensing instruments that can detect differences in ground level with millimetre precision.

The map is an interferogram derived from the comparison of Sentinel-1 data on two dates: on the 18 June before the earthquakes and on 25 June a day after. The fringed pattern on the north of the image shows the extent of the region where ground deformation occurred. The preliminary data indicate ground displacement of the order of 30 cm in the line of sight.

The quakes of 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude came less than a minute apart and were detected by the US Geological Survey (USGS). According to the USGS, the 7.2-magnitude tremor occurred first and was followed, just 39 seconds later, by the mainshock tremor of 7.5-magnitude. Both the tremors were caused by seismic events at a relatively shallow depth, causing strong shaking of buildings and extensive damage and fatalities.

The northern coast of Venezuela lies on the San Sebastian fault system, a major geological fault that extends for about 500 km along the Venezuelan coast and the Caribbean sea. The 7.5-magnitude quake is the strongest earthquake to hit Venezuela since 1900.

This image shows the affected area, which extends from Caracas, in northern Venezuela, towards the city of Puerto Cabello, about 210 km west of the capital. The city of La Guaira, some 20 km north of Caracas, is one of the worst-hit areas.

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission is equipped with a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument. It monitors the changing shape of Earth’s land surfaces with very precise measurements that are based on a complex data processing method called SAR interferometry (InSAR). The images produced, known as interferograms, are created by the satellite emitting a radar signal, and then recording data when the signal bounces back off Earth’s surfaces. Two or more readings over the same location, taken at different times, are used to calculate surface displacement.

Credits: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by ESA; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Alexander Butyagin, head of the museum’s archaeology department, said expeditions had been shelved “until the situation improves.”

A figure carrying a small suitcase crosses the gangplank onto an ocean liner. A woman stands amid a city street, waiting for a tram. And a man in a fedora heads toward historic steps in what is perhaps a European city. Yet if you look a little closer, you’ll see the roofs resemble milk cartons. The tram rolls in amid books stood on end. And in the distance beyond the docked ships… a giant coffee mug?

Since 2013, Derrick Lin has created miniature dioramas on his desk. Hand-painted figures inhabit settings constructed from cardboard and found objects, often with a nostalgic twist. And in a nod to the the tableaux’s tiny characteristics, he playfully pops in references to the scale of the real world, hence the giant writing utensils and the ceramic mug that occasionally towers architectonically in the background.

Over time, Lin has tapped into a range of emotions and experiences from stress and loneliness in urban situations to the wonder of world exploration, the passing of time, grief, and more. Through cinematic lighting and figures that often look away from the viewer, we’re transported into their experiences and encouraged by curiosity.

“I believe the thoughts and feelings we keep to ourselves are what truly shape us,” Lin says. “By using miniature figures as a manifestation of those quiet thoughts and emotions I hesitate to express, I can magnify and spotlight those emotions.”

See more on Lin’s Instagram.

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