The prime minister’s explanation has shifted between being misled and admitting error, raising questions about vetting, accountability and what he knew

In February, the prime minister apologised to victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying he had “believed (Peter) Mandelson’s lies” before making him Britain’s ambassador to the US. By March, that account had shifted. Faced with evidence that he was warned the appointment posed a “reputational risk”, but gave the peer the job anyway, Sir Keir Starmer accepted on a trip to Belfast that he “made a mistake”.

On Thursday responsibility appears to have moved again – this time on to officials. Sir Olly Robbins, the top civil servant in the Foreign Office, was forced out after the Guardian reported that Lord Mandelson had been denied security clearance for the role. No 10 said it was not told. These are not complementary explanations. They are competing ones. Either Sir Keir was misled, ignored warnings, or was failed by the system.

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Dazzling new additions like V&A East are a source of national pride, but so are much-loved regional institutions

The V&A East Museum, which opens its doors for the first time in Stratford, London, on Saturday, is the latest addition to the buzzing East Bank cultural quarter on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This £135m architect-designed V&A outpost is a short walk from the V&A East Storehouse (on Time Magazine’s list of The World’s Greatest Places to Visit 2026) and Sadler’s Wells East, both of which arrived last year. The London College of Fashion has been there since 2024 and BBC Music Studios are due to open in 2027. Art, design, dance, fashion and music – welcome to London’s 21st-century culturopolis.

This once-neglected area of London – “a place where fridges went to die” as Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of V&A East, put it – has been transformed into a creative mecca. But in many parts of the UK the story is one of falling visitor numbers, job losses and the closure of much-loved music venues and art spaces. These architectural palaces are a far cry from many of the crumbling theatres and museums outside the capital (and their well-maintained European equivalents).

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If only the PM had been the process-obsessed technocrat he was once painted as, this disaster wouldn’t have happened – and he wouldn’t be on the brink

Keir Starmer is dull and managerial, they said. He’s a process-obsessed technocrat, they said. He is, his opponents argued long before Starmer won a landslide election victory nearly two years ago, a bad choice for prime minister – indeed, unsuited to politics itself – because he is not so much a leader as a lawyer, animated less by ideology than by official documents and boring details.

If only.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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Social media corporation terminated Sama contract after allegations its staff viewed private scenes filmed by Meta’s smartglasses

More than 1,000 low-paid workers in Kenya have been abruptly sacked by an outsourcing company for the US social media corporation Meta, in what activists said was a “shocking” move exposing the precariousness of global south tech workers.

Sama, a company based in Nairobi to which Meta outsourced content moderation and AI training work, announced on Thursday that the workers were being laid off after Meta terminated a contract. That came in the after reports some of the Kenyan workers involved in data annotation were asked to view content filmed by the company’s AI smart glasses showing wearers using the toilet or having sex.

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With Imax more popular than ever, a new way to watch movies – HDR by Barco – has been quietly rolling out but what difference does it really make?

At this year’s CinemaCon, an annual gathering where film studios show off their upcoming wares to excite the exhibitors they hope to showcase them, Disney announced a new way to see a movie, sort of: InfinityVision. Despite the cutesy Marvelized name, it’s not a superhero-specific experience; it’s a certification for premium large-format (PLF) auditoriums. The idea is that any InfinityVision-certified screen will adhere to or exceed standards – vaguely described so far – in size, sound quality, and picture brightness/clarity. There are supposedly 300 such screens already certified around the globe, though there doesn’t seem to be an actual list explaining which ones they are yet.

The practical reason for this additional layer of branding is that Disney’s Avengers: Doomsday is premiering in December on the same weekend as the third Dune movie, which has a deal to occupy coveted (and limited) Imax screens for several weeks. This essentially locks Earth’s mightiest heroes out of one of the marquee names in exhibition; InfinityVision seems intended to reassure viewers that their other options, presumably the various Dolby, RPX, and other branded PLF auditoriums that already exist, are as impressive as possible. Call it screenmaxxing.

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Weer voor Rotterdam ☁️ - 17-04-2026 19:15 CEST

In één oogopslag:
• 17.4°C · Bewolkt ☁️ | Min 11.4°C / Max 20.1°C | Kans op neerslag 1%

Verwachting voor vandaag:
• Min 11.4°C, Max 20.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 1%, 🧭 1021.2 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 15.5 km/u (4.3 m/s), richting: ↗ 211°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

• 20:00: 16.5°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1020.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 8.3 km/u (2.3 m/s), richting: → 289°
• 21:00: 15.7°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1021.1 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 10.4 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: → 273°
• 22:00: 14.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1021.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 8.6 km/u (2.4 m/s), richting: → 268°
• 23:00: 14.4°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1021.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 7.2 km/u (2.0 m/s), richting: → 251°
• 00:00: 14.2°C (Helder) 🌕, 🧭 1021.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 5.0 km/u (1.4 m/s), richting: ↗ 232°
• 01:00: 13.9°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌕, 🧭 1021.2 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 7.2 km/u (2.0 m/s), richting: ↑ 195°
• 02:00: 13.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1021.1 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 7.9 km/u (2.2 m/s), richting: ↑ 201°
• 03:00: 12.9°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌕, 🧭 1020.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 7.9 km/u (2.2 m/s), richting: ↑ 192°
• 04:00: 12.6°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌕, 🧭 1020.7 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 7.6 km/u (2.1 m/s), richting: ↗ 203°
• 05:00: 12.4°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌕, 🧭 1020.7 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 8.3 km/u (2.3 m/s), richting: ↗ 207°
• 06:00: 12.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1020.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 9.0 km/u (2.5 m/s), richting: ↗ 215°
• 07:00: 12.5°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 6%, 🧭 1020.7 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 9.4 km/u (2.6 m/s), richting: ↗ 215°

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

• zaterdag 18 april: Min 10.6°C, Max 14.9°C (Matige motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.2 mm, Kans op neerslag 18%, 🧭 1021.2 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 13.3 km/u (3.7 m/s), richting: → 267°
• zondag 19 april: Min 8.0°C, Max 13.1°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.2 mm, Kans op neerslag 18%, 🧭 1022.5 hPa ↗️ +1.3 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 22.7 km/u (6.3 m/s), richting: ↘ 330°
• maandag 20 april: Min 5.3°C, Max 11.8°C (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.3 mm, Kans op neerslag 24%, 🧭 1022.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 16.2 km/u (4.5 m/s), richting: ↓ 3°
• dinsdag 21 april: Min 4.1°C, Max 12.7°C (Zonnig) ☀️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1024.7 hPa ↗️ +2.2 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 18.3 km/u (5.1 m/s), richting: ↙ 49°
• woensdag 22 april: Min 5.1°C, Max 15.1°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, 🧭 1023.9 hPa ↘️ -0.8 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 10.7 km/u (3.0 m/s), richting: ↙ 26°
• donderdag 23 april: Min 5.7°C, Max 13.1°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 5%, 🧭 1025.2 hPa ↗️ +1.3 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 15.1 km/u (4.2 m/s), richting: ↓ 356°

Details:
• 🌡️ Huidige temperatuur (om 19:15): 17.4°C (Bewolkt)
• 🤚 Gevoelstemperatuur: 14.8°C (-2.6°C)
• 💨 Windsnelheid: 14.4 km/u (4.0 m/s), richting: → 267°
• 🌬️ Windstoten: 28.8 km/h (8.0 m/s)
• 💧 Luchtvochtigheid: 58%
• 🧭 Luchtdruk: 1020.8 hPa ↗️ +0.6 hPa/3h
• 👁️ Zichtbaarheid: 26.4 km
• ☀️ UV-index: 0.3
• 🌅 Zonsopgang: 06:40 · 🌇 Zonsondergang: 20:42

Luchtkwaliteit:
• AQI: 57 🟡 (Matig)
• PM2.5: 11.3 μg/m³
• PM10: 19.0 μg/m³

Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo

#Rotterdam #Meteo #MeteoBot #MeteoNetherlands #OpenMeteo #FediMeteo

Bug hiding in plain sight for over a decade lands on KEV list

CISA is sounding the alarm on a newly-exploited Apache ActiveMQ bug, ordering federal agencies to patch within two weeks as attackers circle a flaw that's been quietly lurking for more than a decade.…

Onder beleggers groeit de onrust over private credit: partijen die geen bank zijn, maar wel krediet verstrekt hebben. Is een nieuwe systeemcrisis in de maak die het financiële stelsel bedreigt? Of is er slechts sprake van een stresstest en is angst ervoor overdreven?

U kent 'm wel, de Aziatische hoornaar. Klein beest, grote vriend, mooie oogjes. Komt uit Azië, derhalve: Aziatische hoornaar - niet omdat-ie geel is. Maar nu krijgt deze invasieve exoot een nieuw naampje. In het vervolg moeten we hem geelpoothoornaar noemen. Niet vanwege zijn afkomst of seksuele voorkeur, maar vanwege zijn huidskleur, die geel is. Voor wie totaal verward is door deze gang van zaken, het Naturalis Biodiversity Center legt glashelder uit wat er nou helegaar aan de handa is: "Ten eerste komt in dat werelddeel een veelheid aan hoornaarsoorten voor. Welke is dan 'de' Aziatische? Een veelgemaakte fout is verwisseling met de Aziatische reuzenhoornaar - Vespa mandarinia. Dit is een heel andere soort, die veel groter is dan de geelpoothoornaar en niet in Europa voorkomt. Sommige andere uit Azië afkomstige soorten inmiddels wel. Als deze Nederland bereiken, wordt onduidelijk welke soort we bedoelen als we het over dé Aziatische hoornaar hebben." Aha, nu snappen we het! Maar had die kleine gele gabber dan gewoon Cheng, Ping of Karl genoemd joh.

Feline antics are notoriously chaotic. “The cat is, above all things, a dramatist,” author and Egyptologist Margaret Benson is to have said. Sacred to ancient Egyptians, domestic cats share more than 95% of their genetic makeup with tigers, and they can leap five times their height and turn into veritable spring mechanisms when startled. Also, would the Internet be the same without cat memes? For Léo Forest, these lovable, independent, wily, and territorial creatures provide an endless source of inspiration for dynamic pencil drawings.

The Paris-based artist’s playful works tap into the physical and emotional quirks of cats, from brawling pairs to individuals in the midst of grooming, scratching, or attacking. Flailing limbs and blurred motion evoke Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla’s seminal painting, “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash” (1912) in which a Dachsund and its owner’s feet are fuzzily multiplied to imply very quick movement.

Forest is currently working toward a project with Moosey in London, where prints are available. Follow him on Instagram for updates.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Anarchic Cats Are Ensnared in Chaos in Léo Forest’s Dynamic Drawings appeared first on Colossal.