Wie deze zomer met de auto naar Duitsland gaat, kan naast eindeloze Baustellen nog een verrassing tegenkomen: een boete van 40 euro omdat de auto simpelweg te breed is voor de linkerbaan. Niet omdat de wagen buitenmaats is, maar omdat Duitsland — anders dan de meeste bestuurders denken — de buitenspiegels gewoon meetelt. Daardoor vallen doodnormale modellen als de Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio en Volkswagen Golf al buiten de boot, laat staan de zee aan SUV’s waarin Nederland de laatste jaren is gestapt.

Waarom die 2 meter ineens een probleem is

B ij wegwerkzaamheden op de autobahn worden de rijstroken versmald. Boven de linkerbaan hangt dan een bord met een maximale voertuigbreedte, meestal 2 meter. Klinkt riant — een gemiddelde personenauto is immers rond de 1,80 meter breed. Alleen: de Duitse wetgever hanteert de breedte inclusief buitenspiegels. En daar zit tussen de 15 en 20 centimeter extra in. Reken zelf even mee en het feestje op de linkerbaan is voorbij.

Yaris, Clio en Golf: te breed voor de linkerbaan

Zelfs de klassieke B-segmenters passen niet meer:

• Toyota Yaris — 2020 mm
• Renault Clio — 2006 mm
• Renault 5 (elektrisch) — 2020 mm
• Volkswagen Golf — 2073 mm
• Opel Astra — 2062 mm

Wie een Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo X of VW Polo (1946 mm) rijdt, ontspringt de dans. Voor vrijwel elke populaire SUV of middenklasser geldt: linkerbaan verboden, rechts aansluiten in de file, en wie het toch waagt, riskeert die 40 euro.

De 20 bestverkochte auto’s van Nederland: past-ie of niet?

Hieronder de breedte inclusief buitenspiegels van de twintig meest verkochte nieuwe auto’s in Nederland. Alles boven de 2000 mm is bij een 2-meterbord op de autobahn officieel te breed voor de linker versmalde rijstrook.

Van de top 20 blijven er drie over die zonder zorgen langs de rode pionnen mogen: de Aygo X, de Picanto en — nipt — de Peugeot 2008. De rest schuift verplicht rechts in.

Zo weet je zeker of je auto past

Voor je de grens over gaat, hoef je geen meetlint langs de spiegels te leggen. Het staat gewoon in het instructieboekje of in de prijslijst van je model. Vind je het niet, dan is de vuistregel simpel:

• Wagenbreedte zonder spiegels + 15 tot 20 cm = totale breedte
• Bij twijfel: reken met 20 cm en tel niet te makkelijk je auto rijk
• Elektrische spiegels inklappen helpt niet — het gaat om de gehomologeerde breedte
• Bij een 2-meterbord: alles boven 2000 mm hoort rechts

Wat de Duitse ijver over onze auto’s zegt

Grappig detail: de wet is niet veranderd, de auto’s zijn breder geworden. De gemiddelde nieuwe auto in Europa is de afgelopen twintig jaar zo’n 20 centimeter opgeblazen, vooral door SUV-mode en zij-airbags. Duitsland houdt gewoon vast aan zijn oude rijstrookbreedtes en presenteert Nederlandse vakantiegangers zo ongemerkt een boete van 40 euro voor een auto die in de showroom nog “compact” heette. Wie deze zomer richting Beieren of de Oostzee rijdt, kan dus maar beter twee dingen inpakken: een milieusticker en een gezonde dosis geduld op de rechterbaan.

Alternatieve Discover-koppen: - Duitse boete van 40 euro dreigt: deze 17 populaire auto’s zijn te breed voor de autobahn - Yaris, Clio én Golf te breed: waarom je op de Duitse autobahn straks rechts moet blijven - Autobahn-verrassing: door deze regel over buitenspiegels krijgen Nederlanders zomaar een boete

Zoektermen/tags-suggesties (voor autocomplete): autobahn, Duitsland, wegwerkzaamheden, verkeersboete, auto, SUV, vakantie, autovakantie, verkeer

In a sign of the times, Firefox's New Tab page could soon include a crossword puzzle from AI-powered news platform Particle. The blog OMG Ubuntu reports:

The mini crossword game is updated daily, with puzzles based around recent content Particle's AI has ingested and summarised that day. [After solving the crossword, links appear to related news articles...] If you just want to try the crossword, you access it in any browser via a direct link.

While it may look like Mozilla is trying to capitalise on the Wordle craze several years too late, it's part of its strategy to make the Firefox new tab page a discover destination in itself, not just a springboard for new searches. The 'Daily Grind' crossword widget (name subject to change) is just one of several widgets Firefox has (or will get). You'll also find a to-do list, timer, stock checker, world clock, picture of the day, privacy report and new-look weather widget (bigger than the existing one). During the World Cup 2026, Firefox offered real-time match scores and fixture information too...

[T]hey aren't mandatory. You can disable the ones you don't want to use, or, if you don't want any at all, turn them all off to hide the widget area itself. A button to 'show fewer widgets' frees up room to allow other distractions (sponsored stories) on the new tab page to show... [Presumably you can also still open new tabs to a blank page...]

They're rolling out to users in certain region and locales already. Plus, Mozilla routinely tests new features with a small set of users before they hit stable builds (i.e., the "Allow Firefox to run feature studies" setting). If you don't have widgets in your Firefox build, but you want them, you can manually enable them in Firefox 153 and later from the about:config page. Search for the following master switch and set it to true to enable the widget area:

browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.widgets.system.enabled
Then, enable the widgets you want to use by searching:

activity-stream.widgets.*.enabled

However, the usual caveats about "trying things not enabled by default" still apply. Mozilla hasn't set a firm rollout date, though the feature is already documented on its support site. With fortnightly Firefox releases about to start, and a big Nova redesign, chances are we'll all be puzzling over these widgets sooner rather than later.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

This show tries to grapple with the fact that three people associated with the reality juggernaut have killed themselves. But it forgets that the dating series doesn’t exist in a vacuum

In summer 2015, ITV revived its 00s reality format Celebrity Love Island, a show that was remembered mostly as a drunken, downmarket rival to Big Brother. Its new, slick, civilian Love Island was a slow-burn at first, but by 2017 it was one of British TV’s biggest hits. While it remains among ITV’s hottest properties, viewing figures are now more modest, with 600,000 people tuning in for its 2026 launch. Tastes have changed, but the fact that three people associated with the show – former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, and Caroline Flack, the presenter for five series – took their lives, may also have made viewers wary.

Timed to coincide with the finale of the latest series of Love Island on Monday, Prime Video has released this two-parter about the apparent “curse” that stalks the programme. It opens with former contestant Anton Danyluk, who appeared on the show in 2019, declaring that there is “no higher high than the summer you’re preparing for Love Island”. But a stint in the show’s Mallorcan villa proved less of a high for some. Luis Morrison – a 2015 Islander – says it feels “disgusting” and “embarrassing” to watch the show back. “Everyone was having sex and stuff,” he says. Malin Andersson, a 2016 contestant, says, looking back, the show feels “quite toxic … so superficial and artificial”. Watching footage of herself coming into the villa for a post-elimination row with her partner, Terry, Andersson alleges there was much meddling on the part of the programme-makers: “The producers are fucking with people who can feel deep things!”

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Latest edition of one of world’s most influential fashion photography publications is also shot entirely in India

Against the ancient, weathered walls of Jaigarh fort, high on the hills above Jaipur, Bhavitha Mandava stood barefoot and draped in gold.

Just a few months earlier, the Indian model had been catapulted from a life of obscurity as a student at New York University to become one of the most recognisable and celebrated new faces of fashion. This year, she became the first Indian woman to open the Chanel catwalk at their Métiers d’Art show and her divisive Chanel outfit for the Met Gala, fashion’s most exclusive event, became an international talking point.

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These unctuous rice-filled Japanese egg dishes are all over social media. But what does it cost to make them? A lot of eggs and a whole lot of pans ...

Among the endless videos of cute animals, influencer vlogs and celebrity content, something unusual has been going viral across social media recently: omelettes. A far cry from the usual solid egg slabs served in cafes, these bright yellow omelettes are a fluffy, oval-shaped treat filled with unctuous liquid curds, which are typically sliced open to unfurl across a mound of rice. Called omurice, the Japanese dish has been called “the world’s hardest omelette to make”.

London-based software engineer Jeremy Ocampo, who goes by the social media tag OmuricePapi, has spent the past six months documenting his journey to perfect the art of the omurice online. In the process he has amassed 110,000 followers on YouTube and more than 68,000 on Instagram. “I’m Filipino, so I grew up eating rice and eggs every day, but it took going to Japan for the first time in 2025 to have my mind blown by omurice,” he says. “I was hooked: the presentation of slicing it open over your rice makes it so alluring, while you can’t replicate that texture of egg in any other dish. It’s so unique that when I got home, I decided to teach myself how to do it.”

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Thousands have fled amid months of anti-immigration protests as campaigners demand undocumented people leave the country

In Thembelihle, an informal settlement south of Johannesburg where thousands of breeze-block houses and metal shacks line dirt streets flooded with filthy water, Malawians had lived for years alongside South Africans without any problems.

But in the last few weeks, a series of armed robberies has shaken the community. On 29 June, several men broke into the compound of Eibraheem Hussein, a 60-year-old Malawian who has lived in South Africa since 2000. They beat him and stole valuable items.

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Spycops inquiry has revealed how Helen Steel was secretly monitored in her search for undercover officer who deceived her into relationship

At 2pm on 14 December 2002, Helen Steel, a well-known leftwing campaigner, and her parents landed at Auckland airport for a family holiday. It had been a tiring journey, so they were irritated when they were delayed leaving the airport for an hour.

What they did not know until recently is the reason for that delay. Their arrival had triggered a secret warning on Steel that had been put in place by police three weeks earlier. It prompted customs to carry out a discreet search of her luggage.

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_kleon_ has added a photo to the pool:

@Hokkaido, Japan

釧路湿原と釧網本線のローカル列車。
この時期は、大体天気があまり良くないんですよね。
湿気の多い日が多いから湿原ができると思うので、これはこれでありかなと思っています。

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Do not copy, reproduce, download or use in any way without permission.

_kleon_ has added a photo to the pool:

@Hokkaido, Japan

別寒辺牛湿原を走る根室線。
晴れた日にも行ってきました。
水の色がとても綺麗でした。

Thank you for visiting.
Do not copy, reproduce, download or use in any way without permission.

DanÅke Carlsson has added a photo to the pool:

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:

ajpscs posted a photo:

TOKYO LOST SOULS
TOKYO DAY WALK
X
© ajpscs

DanÅke Carlsson posted a photo:

Melle Meijer in ieder geval niet, want hoe moet hij dan de beste koffietent vinden? Yaël Vinckx zweert juist bij zwerven. Wat kunnen ze van elkaar leren?