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Hilarische persiflages B&B Vol liefde: "Even lekker mijn inner Fred aan het channelen"

B&B Vol liefde is niet alleen op Videoland een hit, ook op de socials kunnen we volop genieten van aanstekelijke persiflages. De leukste op een rij:


Staatsolieconcern VAE: drie schepen aangevallen deze week

DUBAI (ANP/RTR) - Drie schepen van Adnoc, het staatsoliebedrijf van de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten, zijn deze week aangevallen in de Straat van Hormuz. Sinds het begin van de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten zijn volgens het bedrijf vijftien tankers van Adnoc aangevallen met raketten en drones, waarbij een dode is gevallen en twintig bemanningsleden gewond raakten.

Adnoc blijft volgens een verklaring dan ook veel hinder ondervinden bij zijn activiteiten door die "niet uitgelokte" aanvallen die vermoedelijk door Iran zijn uitgevoerd. Het staatsolieconcern blijft in contact staan met autoriteiten over maatregelen om zijn werknemers en bezittingen te beschermen.

Het bedrijf, voluit Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, zegt ook dat vrijheid van navigatie en veilige doorgang van commerciële scheepvaart door internationale wateren gerespecteerd en beschermd moeten worden.


Waterschap Rijnland pakt twee dijken met scheuren aan

LEIDEN (ANP) - Twee dijken in Zuid-Holland moeten versterkt worden, omdat door de droogte problematische scheuren zijn ontstaan. Het gaat om een kade langs De Does bij Hoogmade en om een dijk bij Reeuwijk.

"Deze waterkeringen staan niet op doorbreken, anders waren we met zandzakken aan de slag gegaan", zegt een woordvoerster van het Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland. "Maar er moet wel actie worden ondernomen."

De kade bij Hoogmade zou over een paar jaar sowieso al aangepakt worden. "Maar we hebben besloten dat project naar voren te halen, omdat een grote scheur is ontstaan. De scheur in de dijk bij Reeuwijk is minder groot, maar als die verder scheurt, ontstaan problemen. Daarom vullen we deze met klei."

Tijdens een recente inspectie van 265 kilometer aan 'droogtegevoelige' waterkeringen kwam Rijnland bijna 150 scheuren tegen. In de meeste gevallen was er geen reden om in te grijpen. "Zolang de binnenkant van de dijk nat genoeg is en er geen lekkages of juist droge plekken te zien zijn, houden we de situatie gewoon goed in de gaten."


Nederland stuurt militairen naar oefening in Groenland

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Nederland doet volgende maand mee aan een militaire oefening in Groenland. De oefening maakt deel uit van de NAVO-missie om het Noordpoolgebied beter te verdedigen. Die is opgetuigd om de ruzie tussen de VS en Europa over het strategische gebied bij te leggen.

NAVO-missie Arctic Sentry (Noordpoolschildwacht) moet het hoge noorden beschermen tegen de begerige blikken van Rusland en China. Maar volgens NAVO-diplomaten is zij ook bedoeld om de VS ervan te weerhouden Groenland van NAVO-bondgenoot Denemarken af te pakken, zoals president Donald Trump blijft opperen.

Toen Nederland en andere medestanders van Denemarken op het hoogtepunt van de ruzie met de VS militaire verkenners naar Groenland stuurden, kondigde een boze Trump prompt sancties aan. Die gingen van tafel toen de VS en Denemarken afspraken over de bescherming van Groenland te gaan onderhandelen.

Wie precies namens Nederland deelnemen aan de Arctic Shield-oefening laat Defensie nog in het midden.


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Burgeroorlog in Jemen dreigt opnieuw uit te barsten na Houthi-aanvallen

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Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Kemi Badenoch’s weird week: defence of ex-neo-Nazi raises questions over Tory direction

Some in party are delighted by leader’s tack rightwards but opponents have savoured latest Conservative controversy

There was a moment in the middle of this week when a news alert raised eyebrows among the politically committed. It read: “Kemi Badenoch: Former neo-Nazi candidate would just be sorting out bins.” It was a collection of words that might prompt palpitations in the most sanguine of communications professionals, followed by panicked advice that retreat was necessary. But as a deeply weird week for the Conservative party came to a close on Friday, its leader appeared adamant she would hold the line.

With Badenoch accused of aping Reform UK on policy and purging centrists from her party in recent weeks, her decision to stand by a man who was jailed after creating sexualised images of a Jewish MP and calling her a “rodent” has prompted concerns about the leader of the opposition’s political antennae and the Tories’ wider strategy.

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Prince to Madonna, Blur to Beth Orton: William Orbit’s 12 greatest recordings

The late producer’s gift for bringing in elements from dance music’s cutting edge drew all manner of music royalty – and he often made them sound better than ever before

William Orbit, pop producer for Madonna, All Saints and more, dies aged 69

William Orbit’s first band were a curious business. Torch Song had one foot in the pop mainstream – their biggest success came about when one of their tracks was featured on the soundtrack of the Tom Hanks-starring sex comedy Bachelor Party – and one in the left field: they recorded at London’s anarchist hub Centro Iberico, famed for staging gigs by Crass and Throbbing Gristle; they covered the Velvet Underground’s Venus in Furs. Mothdoom Ecstasy is very much of its time – stuttering samples, booming drums – but in its hazy synth textures and ethereal female vocals, you can definitely hear intimations of Orbit’s future approach.

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404 Media

404 Media is an independent media company founded by technology journalists Jason Koebler, Emanuel Maiberg, Samantha Cole, and Joseph Cox.

Behind the Blog: Rare Books and Baseball Brain

Behind the Blog: Rare Books and Baseball Brain

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss Flock blogging, "rare" books, and Jesus Christ.

EMANUEL: I was out last Friday so I want to talk about the story I published two weeks ago about AI companies buying printed books so they can scan them for training data

The story has gone mega viral on X, but mostly in the form of a post from an engagement farming account that both misrepresented my article and didn’t properly link back to our website. This is frustrating because it means a lot of other people siphoned traffic from our site and also because it caused a fair bit of confusion about what is happening. 


Colossal

The best of art, craft, and visual culture since 2010.

A Menagerie of Animal Sculptures by 50+ Artists Populate ‘The Ark’

A Menagerie of Animal Sculptures by 50+ Artists Populate ‘The Ark’

The term “ark” invariably conjures images of the monumental boat onto which pairs of animals were stewarded prior to a cataclysmic, biblical flood. It’s a reference that feels apt amid the climate crisis and our planet’s rising sea levels, although in this case, the melting ice caps and creeping tides are down to us. The large-scale exhibition titled The Ark at Powerhouse Arts asks, will we care for the future of our planet the way we care for the animals we love?

The presentation draws directly on the myth if The Deluge from Genesis, “an event of epic scale that becomes a metaphor for the present moment, where environmental and social upheaval converge,” says a statement. “Throughout the exhibition—experienced in the round, in close proximity, and at monumental scale—the animals function as both protagonists and interlocutors.”

an exhibition view of the large group exhibition 'The Ark' featuring animal sculptures by more than 50 artists
Installation view of ‘The Ark’ at Powerhouse Arts, Summer 2026. Photo by Xavier Petromelis

Colossal readers may recognize the work of Kiki Smith, Nichola Theakston, Anthony Theakston, Wangechi Mutu, Jeffrey Gibson, and more. In all, more than 50 artists are represented through 90 sculptures and installations. The pieces run the gamut of materials, from wood and stone carvings to cast bronze and resin. A group of pigeons by Maurizio Cattelan perch on structural beams and both Nichola and Anthony Theakstons’ bronzes speak to the sacredness of animals, while John O’Reilly’s rendition of an emaciated female dog crouching over her pup plucks a heart-rending chord. Throughout the exhibition, emotional evocations span joy, amazement, humor, trepidation, and grief.

Curated by artist Eric Fischl, the show was first staged at The Church in Sag Harbor, a historical whaling town. Now in Brooklyn, the The Ark lands in the former warehouse space of Powerhouse Arts, a nonprofit dedicated to fabrication and production, on the Gowanus Canal. The building is known as the “Batcave” and sits adjacent to what’s designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Superfund site, a heavily polluted area in need of concerted cleanup efforts.

The physical location and its surroundings present a post-industrial background to a show about nature, the environment, and material exploration. Visitors are invited to walk through a room filled with animals from floor to ceiling, invoking elements of surprise and wonder. Powerhouse Arts adds, “Rather than framing environmental themes through notions of crisis and urgency alone, the exhibition centers on relationships and intimate encounters.”

The Ark continues through August 30 in Brooklyn. Find more on the organization’s Instagram.

a resin sculpture of an emaciated female dog with her tail between her legs and her small, dark puppy lying on the ground below her
John O’Reilly, “Intertwined” (2012), white: resin graphite; black: resin porcelain and bone powder, 24 x 21 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches (white dog), 5 x 21 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches (black dog). Photo by Gary Mamay, courtesy of Eric Fischl and April Gornik
an installation view of a bronze sculpture of a horse that looks to be made of driftwood
Deborah Butterfield. Installation view of ‘The Ark’ at Powerhouse Arts, Summer 2026. Photo by Xavier Petromelis
a carving in black slate of a bird and a beetle
William Kent, “Bittem and Beetle” (1968), black Italian slate, 10 5/8 x 17 1/2 x 1/4 inches. Photo by Cloe Poisson, courtesy of the William Kent Art Foundation
a beaded bird sculpture by Jeffrey Gibson in 'The Ark' exhibition
Jeffrey Gibson. Installation view of ‘The Ark’ at Powerhouse Arts, Summer 2026. Photo by Xavier Petromelis
an expressive bronze sculpture of a fox's head
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, “Urban Trickster” (2021), cast bronze, 28 x 20 1/2 x 24 inches. Image courtesy of the estate of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Garth Greenan
a feathered, serpentine sculpture by Kate MccGwire in 'The Ark' exhibition
Kate MccGwire. Installation view of ‘The Ark’ at Powerhouse Arts, Summer 2026. Photo by Xavier Petromelis
a bronze sculpture of a cow with a white body and brown head
Nichola Theakston, “Sacred Cow” (2025), bronze, edition of 12, 16.5 x 26 x 8 inches. Courtesy of the artist
a bronze sculpture of a minimalistic owl
Anthony Theakston, “Spirit Owl” (2025), bronze, 16 1/2 x 10 x 2 1/2 inches. Courtesy of the artist

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 A Menagerie of Animal Sculptures by 50+ Artists Populate ‘The Ark’ appeared first on Colossal.

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The Seven Layers of Spanish Literacy

The Seven Layers of Spanish Literacy from Real Fast Spanish. Each level illustrated by a non-native celebrity speaker: Level 1 - A Few Set Phrases, Level 2 - Some Back and Forth, Level 3 - A Basic Conversation, Level 4 - Complex Conversation, Level 5 - Conversational Freedom, Level 6 - Mastery, Level 7 - Native Passing