The European Parliament's economic committee has backed a digital euro designed to reduce Europe's dependence on US-controlled payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard. The ECB-backed currency is targeted for launch by 2029 after a full parliamentary vote and negotiations with EU member states. Euronews reports: Under the proposal, consumers would be able to hold digital euros in a dedicated wallet, subject to a holding limit that has yet to be determined. The system would support both online and offline payments and is intended to offer a high degree of privacy, with the ECB unable to directly identify users from their payment data.

The ECB would provide the underlying infrastructure, while commercial banks and payment service providers would offer digital euro services to customers. Financial institutions are expected to be compensated for their participation in the scheme, while merchants will pay fees that are expected to be lower than those associated with current card transactions.

How that compensation should be structured remains one of the most contentious issues ahead of negotiations with EU member states, according to three sources familiar with the discussions. [...] The European Parliament is expected to formalise the committee's position during a plenary vote in Strasbourg in early July. Negotiations with the EU's 27 member states would then begin, with lawmakers aiming to reach a final agreement before the end of the year.

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Meta has launched its first smart glasses without Ray-Ban branding. Starting at $299, they're cheaper than the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 while retaining EssilorLuxottica as a design and manufacturing partner. The Verge reports: As far as style and specs, the Meta Glasses aren't that different from Ray-Bans. The internal specs are the same as the recently released Ray-Ban Meta Optics Styles, with slightly longer battery life. The Adventurer models have thinner rims, while the Fury models hew a bit closer to the Meta Ray-Ban Display with a bolder, chunkier frame. You could describe the Adventurer as square, and the Fury as even more square. The Kylie glasses sport a more unique design with a distinct Y2K flavor that I'm told is meant to be worn lower on your nose. [...] While playing around with the Meta Glasses, it was hard not to notice that the camera appears smaller than in previous Ray-Ban glasses. Technically, Himel tells me, that's not new to these Meta Glasses. It was actually introduced back in March with the prescription-optimized Optics Styles.

[...] Meta is quadrupling down on AI. The new Meta Glasses will all launch with Muse Spark, the first model out of Meta's Superintelligence Labs. (It'll also be arriving on older Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses in the US and Canada via a software update.) Supposedly, that means more helpful glasses. At my hands-on, I was told that Meta AI would now be less stiff. I'd be able to talk to it more naturally and get smarter responses. The AI now supports 14 more languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Hindi, and Korean. Pedestrian turn-by-turn navigation is also coming to Meta's displayless glasses. Later this month, there'll be a new "dynamic photo" feature that automatically takes multiple frames and then recommends the best one.

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Oracle cut roughly 21,000 jobs over the past year as it reorganized around AI and ramps up spending on data centers for customers such as OpenAI and Meta. The restructuring cost the company about $1.8 billion and, while Oracle says AI deployment may drive further reductions, it also warns the cuts could create skills shortages and hurt productivity. The BBC reports: The software and cloud computing firm says it had around 141,000 full-time employees as of May 31, 2026, down from about 162,000 workers at the same time last year. The "deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce," the report says. The cuts, which amount to about 13% of Oracle's workforce, are part of a wider trend among tech firms as they spend hundreds of billions of dollars on building AI infrastructure like data centers.

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Cadillac are hopeful their latest upgrades will take them closer to scoring their first points of the 2026 season.

Ferrari’s new rear wheel rims were a significant part of the upgrade the team brought to Barcelona last week and they have been credited with improving the thermal degradation of the car’s tyres.

Lance Stroll has given some insight into how much he has grown as an F1 driver since his arrival on the grid almost 10 years ago, as well as highlighting the key lessons he has picked up along the way.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on slide October 1984

Het Openbaar Ministerie besloot de oud-burgemeester van Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht in februari met spoed aan te houden uit angst dat hij kinderen zou gaan misbruiken. Die vrees ontstond na het lezen van seksueel expliciete chats van Herman J. met een onbekende man. De officier van justitie zei dat tijdens het proces tegen de 77-jarige verdachte.

Drieduizend medewerkers van het Openbaar Ministerie maken zich grote zorgen over het functioneren van hun eigen organisatie. Een speciaal actiecomité heft zichzelf dinsdag op omdat volgens de leden OM-baas Rinus Otte gesprekken uit de weg gaat.

De Onderwijsinspectie zag niets in een quotum voor vrouwen bij de bachelor luchtvaart- en ruimtevaartechniek aan de TU Delft. Het College voor de Rechten van de Mens ziet dit anders.

Parijzenaars duiken in de Seine nabij Pont du Carrousel in 1940, terwijl een hittegolf de Franse hoofdstad teistert.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Meer geld moet naar infrastructuur, vinden partijen van links tot rechts in de Tweede Kamer. Op de vraag waar dat geld vandaan moet komen, klinken in een debat allerlei verschillende antwoorden, maar geen overeenstemming.

Habtamu de Hoop (PRO) had het onder meer over een kilometerheffing en een belasting op de waardestijging van grond. Chris Stoffer (SGP) stelde voor om budgetten voor latere jaren naar voren te schuiven en Erwin Prickaertz (PVV) wil geld weghalen bij ontwikkelingshulp.

De Kamer kan zich vinden in het principe van het kabinet dat onderhoud vooropstaat, maar een groot deel verzet zich tegen het vooruitzicht dat plannen voor nieuwe infrastructuur door dat principe sneuvelen. Meermaals klonk nostalgie naar de tijd van grote aanlegprojecten als de Flevopolder en de Nieuwe Waterweg.

Koek

"De koek moet groter", echoden veel Kamerleden de oproep die provinciebestuurders voor het debat deden aan het kabinet. De bestuurders overhandigden een letterlijke koek met die tekst aan minister Vincent Karremans (Infrastructuur en Waterstaat, VVD).

Meer bijlenen moet ook een optie zijn, vindt onder meer Agnes Mulder, commissaris van de koning in Drenthe. Karremans reageerde weinig enthousiast op dat idee, omdat latere generaties de kosten van overheidsleningen betalen. Volgens Mulder verdienen investeringen in infrastructuur zichzelf terug, en hebben latere generaties daar ook baat bij.

Besluitvorming

Het kabinet gaat later dit jaar bepalen welke projecten wel en niet doorgaan. "Elk project loopt gevaar", zei Karremans in het debat. Hij kijkt ook naar manieren om extra geld op te halen, bijvoorbeeld uit Europa of met hulp van bedrijven.

"We kunnen niet zonder nieuwe aanleg", aldus Karremans. "Maar we hebben zo'n enorm tekort op instandhouding en vernieuwing dat we dat niet langer kunnen negeren. En daarom hebben de staatssecretaris en ik aan de rem getrokken."

For each of their on-camera interviews with filmmakers, actors, critics, and other film nerds, Criterion records 30 seconds of “room tone” that is used to cut the footage into a seamless video.

When trying to explain what room tone is to someone unfamiliar with the concept, I reach for an architectural metaphor. If words are the bricks of a scene, then surely room tone is the mortar that binds them together. It gives sonic coherence to an edited piece built from different takes within the same location.

Asking a cast and crew to observe a moment of silence is an acknowledgment that room tone cannot be faked. You cannot substitute it with a recording from another production, and you cannot generate it using artificial intelligence. It is something you capture at a specific time and place that has not occurred before and will not occur again. This is our attempt at freezing such fleeting moments — and welcoming those to come.

And then at the end of each year, they cut the room tone recordings into a compilation video; here’s 2025’s video:

As well as 2024’s and 2023’s:

I find these videos equal parts charming and meditative. As movies & TV become ever-more fast-paced and our attention bent to black rectangular pocket casinos, it’s increasingly rare to witness people sitting still with only their thoughts to occupy them. We see Humans Frantically Doing everywhere these days, but these room tone videos are a good reminder that Humans Just Being is an essential part of life as well.

Tags: Criterion Collection