Greg Adams Photography posted a photo:

Self (feet) portrait in the shallow zone of the pool

US president accuses UK of thinking it can ‘make an easy buck’ from US tech companies, weeks after warning that UK–US trade deal can be changed

Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms.

The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies.

Continue reading...

Foreign ministry says remarks of conservative podcast host Michael Savage that were shared by US president were ‘obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste’

India on Thursday criticised as inappropriate a post by Donald Trump in which he shared comments that called the South Asian country a “hellhole”.

The inflammatory post on Truth Social comes ahead of a planned visit next month to India by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is seeking to ease recent tensions between the normally friendly powers.

Continue reading...

xthylacine has added a photo to the pool:

The trifecta. . . . The Marunouchi, the Chuo-Sobu, and the Chuo train lines all converge at Ochanomizu. Tokyo, Japan

WASHINGTON (ANP/AFP) - De Verenigde Staten nodigen de Russische president Vladimir Poetin uit voor de G20-top in Miami. President Donald Trump betwijfelt echter of Poetin komt.

Een hoge functionaris van de regering-Trump zegt tegen persbureau AFP dat alle G20-leden worden uitgenodigd voor de ministeriële bijeenkomsten en de leiderstop in december. De VS zijn dit jaar gastheer van de G20.

Trump zei niet te weten of Poetin komt. "Ik betwijfel het, om eerlijk te zijn", zei hij tegen journalisten. Volgens Trump zou de aanwezigheid van Poetin "waarschijnlijk heel nuttig" zijn.

Een uitnodiging aan Poetin zou een versoepeling betekenen van de internationale druk op de Russische leider, die door veel westerse landen wordt gemeden sinds de Russische invasie van Oekraïne.

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have approved Paramount Skydance's takeover bid, moving the massive Hollywood merger a step closer to completion. It's not a done deal quite yet, though, as it still faces regulatory scrutiny and fierce opposition from critics who warn it will further concentrate media power. The Associated Press reports: Per a preliminary vote count Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery said the overwhelming majority of its stakeholders voted in support of selling the entire business to Skydance-owned Paramount for $31 a share. Including debt, the deal is valued at nearly $111 billion based on Warner's current outstanding shares. That means Warner-owned HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like "Harry Potter" and even CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof with Paramount's CBS, "Top Gun" and the Paramount+ streaming service.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement that stockholder approval marks "another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction." Paramount added that it looks forward to closing in the coming months, and "realizing the creation of a next-generation media and entertainment company." [...] Meanwhile, Warner shareholders rejected a separate measure Thursday outlining post-merger payments for company executives.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Atlantic (gift link) "Here is the promise you and I must cling to across the thousands of words that follow: At some point within this text, I will reveal to you what—after 555 responses, 13,000 miles of travel, and months of monomaniacal research—I have determined to be the best free restaurant bread in America. I will not attempt to slither to the moral high ground, arguing that best is a meaningless measure, or insisting that all bread is dear in its own way. Even if you attempt to betray me—for instance, by merely scanning the text that follows for the phrase Here it is: the best free restaurant bread in America—I will uphold my end of the bargain."

Caity Weaver previously on Metafilter: https://www.metafilter.com/198660/I-Went-on-a-Package-Trip-for-Lonely-Millennials-It-Was-Exhausting https://www.metafilter.com/197349/Exploring-the-quietest-place-on-Earth https://www.metafilter.com/166909/Now-we-must-lift-weights-with-our-necks Bonus: Caity Weaver and Rich Juzwiak wrote a column for Gawker called The Best Restaurant in New York. Their article on The American Girl Cafe.