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Nothing about No 10’s version of the Mandelson debacle makes sense as the excuses factory works overtime
On days like these you reckon the prime minister would have more chance of being believed if he had said the dog ate his homework. After all, it’s quite possible that Keir Starmer has not yet realised he doesn’t have a dog. His amnesia and lack of curiosity are a piece of performance art. Almost up there with Boris Johnson. Keir would probably take that as a compliment.
As it is we are left with a dilemma. Occam’s razor. Either No 10 thinks we were born yesterday. Or everyone in No 10 was born yesterday. The excuses factory has been working overtime. But most people have already made up their minds.
Continue reading...Trump claims Tehran will also suspend nuclear programme as Lebanon truce enters first full day
Iran’s foreign minister has said that the strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, reinforcing hopes for an eventual end to the war in the Middle East and sending oil prices tumbling despite analysts’ warnings that there will be no immediate widespread resumption of passage through the vital waterway.
In a barrage of social media posts, Donald Trump claimed on Friday that Iran had agreed never to close the strategic waterway again, hailing “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Officials have spent weeks debating whether or not to release highly sensitive information about the affair
Keir Starmer was kept in the dark about sensitive information relating to Peter Mandelson’s security vetting by two other top civil servants, including the head of the civil service, the Guardian can reveal.
The prime minister said on Friday that it was “unforgivable” and “staggering” that senior officials did not tell him that Mandelson failed a security vetting process weeks before he took up his role as ambassador to Washington.
Continue reading...Not least because JD Vance’s show of support for Viktor Orbán appears to have had opposite of desired effect
So much of the news is depressing these days. The wars in Iran, Lebanon and Ukraine. The cost of living crisis. At times it feels as if the world has tipped into the surreal. Donald Trump posting photos of himself on his Truth Social account as the Risen Christ. A step too far even for Nigel Farage. And the US president picking a fight with the pope. Leo is a terrible man, apparently, for not endorsing war. Trump has yet to work out that on the whole popes are not in favour of illegal wars.
Continue reading...Opposition accuses Narendra Modi government of using quotas as cover for redrawing electoral map
The Indian government has failed to pass a bill to increase female representation in parliament after being accused of using the plan as a guise to redraw the country’s electoral map.
It was the first time in 12 years in power that a constitutional amendment proposed by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government was not passed by parliament.
Continue reading...De 26-jarige Arnoud uit Amsterdam gaat het dit weekend helemaal anders doen: hij organiseert een feestje met een ‘hundred tolerance-beleid’. Volgens hem is het met alle betutteling van nu tijd voor minder toezicht en nog minder regels: “Yolo”.
“Bij mijn feestje wordt iedereen aan de deur gefouilleerd of je wel genoeg bij je hebt. Zo niet, kom je niet binnen. Iedereen moet zich overal maar klein houden en normaal doen, maar waarom? Leef een beetje!”, roept Arnoud. “Bij mij mag je pas echt zonder gedoe naar binnen als je bijna niet meer kan lopen.”
Voor mensen die per ongeluk vergeten zijn iets mee te nemen heeft hij bij de ingang een bak staan vol met alle soorten drugs waar mensen geblinddoekt iets uit moeten pakken.
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Dave Chappelle is iemand die grapjes maakt, en in die hoedanigheid maakt hij soms ook grapjes waar mensen dan heel boos van worden omdat ze zich beledigd voelen. Dat zijn dan meestal geen mensen die een kaartje hebben gekocht en in de zaal zitten waar hij zijn grapjes maakt, maar mensen die achteraf zijn grappen ergens lezen of een filmpje zien. Mensen die in de veronderstelling verkeren dat een goede grap hun mening/opvatting/wereldbeeld moet bevestigen, terwijl een goede grap dat natuurlijk helemaal niet hoeft te doen, een goede grap is er eentje waar veel mensen om moeten lachen. Bovendien kan je uit een goede grap doorgaans helemaal niet destilleren wat de mening/opvatting/wereldbeeld is van de maker, niet zelden is dat juist het grappige eraan. Eigenlijk vinden alleen hele saaie humorloze mensen dat je niet overal grappen over moet kunnen maken, want als je overal grappen over kan maken, kan je ook overal om lachen, en juist bij hele vervelende nare trieste verdrietige dingen is het prettig als er tussen al het kniezen door wat gegrinnikt kan worden. Afijn, daarover gaat het in dit zeldzame interview met Dave Chappelle, en ook over onder andere waarom optreden in Saudie-Arabië volgens hem wel degelijk een goed idee is.
Woensdag werden aan de Lusthofstraat in Rotterdam-Kralingen twee medewerkers van een geldtransportauto overvallen. Hierbij maakte de overvaller een geldcassette buit. Hij heeft waarschijnlijk weinig aan de inhoud: “Al dat geld wordt onbruikbaar. Een waardetransport is geen populair doelwit voor overvallers.”
Van parkeerplaatsen met gaten en vooroorlogse klinkers naar een moderne, duurzame weg. De Strandboulevard in Hoek van Holland onderging een flinke metamorfose. De dorpsraad is blij, maar had liever gezien dat de weg ’s nachts wordt verlicht.
De kroonprinses voelt zich al Amsterdammer. Tijdens een tweedaags bezoek leerde ze niet alleen de stad verder kennen, maar vooral ook wat haar ambt zal inhouden.
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Cadillac have announced that Colton Herta will make his practice debut with the team at the upcoming Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Located on Virginia Key, FL, in the heart of Biscayne Bay, Rickenbacker Marina has been a family-owned and operated full-service marina since 1983. With 680 slips, it has long been a destination for boating enthusiasts. Today, the marina is evolving ? expanding into a commercial promenade and a curated gastronomic hub. This transformation called for a complete rebranding: one that honors its legacy while projecting a more contemporary, lifestyle-driven identity. The new identity is built around the idea of connection ? between land and water, tradition and modernity, community and experience. At the core of the system is a custom-drawn symbol: an abstract "R" shaped as a nautical knot. This gesture is both literal and symbolic. Nautical knots are essential elements of marina culture ? tools of anchoring, securing, and linking. Here, it becomes a visual metaphor for unity, craftsmanship, and belonging.
WARSCHAU (ANP) - Ook het concert van rapper Ye, beter bekend als Kanye West, dat half juni in Polen stond gepland, gaat niet door. Dat heeft de directie van het Śląski-stadion in de stad Chorzów vrijdag gemeld.
"Het concert van Ye (Kanye West) gaat niet door om formele en juridische redenen", meldt de directie van het stadion op Facebook. Het is het derde land in korte tijd waar een gepland concert van de omstreden rapper niet doorgaat. Het Verenigd Koninkrijk liet weten zijn visumaanvraag af te wijzen, vanwege de antisemitische uitlatingen die de rapper de afgelopen jaren deed.
Ook het concert in Frankrijk gaat niet door. Ye liet zelf op sociale media weten het concert te schrappen omdat ook in Frankrijk maatregelen dreigden, om dezelfde redenen. Ye treedt begin juni twee keer in Nederland op, in het GelreDome in Arnhem. Minister Bart van den Brink (Asiel en Migratie, CDA) liet weten vooralsnog geen reden te zien voor een inreisverbod in Nederland.
Oh my gosh, look at these tiny snow leopard cubs from the Melbourne Zoo. 🥹
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: An agreement with the Philippines to establish a high-tech industrial hub is the Trump administration's latest effort to lessen China's dominance over global supply chains. The deal to build up American manufacturing across a stretch of the island of Luzon, signed Thursday, will offer U.S. companies access to essential inputs such as critical minerals that bypass Beijing's control. The artificial-intelligence-powered manufacturing hub is planned for a 4,000-acre site given to the U.S. by Manila, said undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg. The U.S. will occupy the site rent-free and administer it as a special economic zone.
The hub will have diplomatic immunity, such as the protections afforded to an American embassy, and operate under U.S. common law -- the first arrangement of its kind anywhere in the world. The two-year lease is renewable for 99 years. [...] "You can't build anything in Ohio if the minerals and the process materials are controlled by an adversary who can cut you off tomorrow," Helberg said in an interview. [...] The planned manufacturing hub is largely conceptual at this stage, and details, including which American companies will participate and just what they will build in the Philippines, are yet to be determined.
[...] The administration will ask companies to put forward proposals to compete for a spot in building out the hub, giving priority to bids that will help move critical minerals processing and manufacturing off Chinese suppliers. Investment will have to come from private-sector companies -- not the U.S. government. Factories approved for operation in the hub will be highly automated, Helberg said, using autonomous systems to operate around the clock. The Philippines has a history of robust manufacturing, particularly in semiconductors, but that has stagnated in recent decades because of high energy and logistics costs. Companies will have to address in their proposals how they will contend with energy costs and workforce needs; they can send American workers overseas or hire locally, Helberg said.
The hub will have diplomatic immunity, such as the protections afforded to an American embassy, and operate under U.S. common law -- the first arrangement of its kind anywhere in the world. The two-year lease is renewable for 99 years. [...] "You can't build anything in Ohio if the minerals and the process materials are controlled by an adversary who can cut you off tomorrow," Helberg said in an interview. [...] The planned manufacturing hub is largely conceptual at this stage, and details, including which American companies will participate and just what they will build in the Philippines, are yet to be determined.
[...] The administration will ask companies to put forward proposals to compete for a spot in building out the hub, giving priority to bids that will help move critical minerals processing and manufacturing off Chinese suppliers. Investment will have to come from private-sector companies -- not the U.S. government. Factories approved for operation in the hub will be highly automated, Helberg said, using autonomous systems to operate around the clock. The Philippines has a history of robust manufacturing, particularly in semiconductors, but that has stagnated in recent decades because of high energy and logistics costs. Companies will have to address in their proposals how they will contend with energy costs and workforce needs; they can send American workers overseas or hire locally, Helberg said.
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