Chisinau said it summoned its ambassador in Russia back home for consultations, calling the drone incident a “grave violation of Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” that risks the safety of its citizens.
Relaties knappen zelden van het ene op het andere moment. Ze slijten, en op enig moment noemt iemand dat verlies van liefde. Drie klassieke breekpunten blijken bij nader inzien vaker over vermoeidheid, verwachtingen en gewoontes te gaan dan over het einde van een relatie.
1. Mijn partner irriteert me alleen nog maar
Hij wil altijd maar op die bank. Zij kan nooit een knoop doorhakken. Hij komt weer met een nieuw plan. Na een paar jaar samen beginnen precies die eigenschappen te schuren die in het begin zo aantrekkelijk leken. Dat wordt gemakkelijk vertaald als: de liefde is op.
Die vertaling is meestal onjuist. Verliefdheid draait op idealisering: je ziet in de ander wat je zelf mist. Zodra die roze bril afzakt, zie je de hele mens, inclusief de verschillen. De idealisering slaat om in polarisatie, en dat is een normale fase, geen alarm.
Irritatie is zelden een bewijs dat de liefde weg is. Meestal is het een wegwijzer naar een eigen, onbenoemde behoefte.
Het loont om de irritatie om te draaien. Ergert de traagheid van je partner je? Dan verlang jij misschien naar meer afwisseling. Word je gek van haar besluiteloosheid? Dan draag je waarschijnlijk te veel verantwoordelijkheid alleen. De kunst is dat als wens te formuleren, niet als verwijt. Een verwijt vraagt om verdediging, een wens om een gesprek.
2. We ruziën constant over wie wat doet
Rommel, telefoons, de boodschappen: het huishouden is in Nederland het meest genoemde ruziethema tussen partners. Intieme onderwerpen scoren opvallend veel lager. Precies op die alledaagse ergernis lopen relaties stuk, en juist die breuk is vaak te voorkomen.
Eén vraag helpt om te toetsen of het echt mis is: zijn er nog betere dagen of periodes? Loopt het in de vakantie wél soepel, dan is er waarschijnlijk geen tekort aan liefde maar een teveel aan stress. Wie voortdurend ruziet over wie minder doet, is meestal met z'n tweeën overbelast.
Dan is stress wegnemen zinvoller dan de boedel verdelen. Taken anders verdelen. Hulp inschakelen. Een avond samen in de agenda zetten, net zo hard als een werkafspraak. Alleen het gesprek erover haalt de scherpte er al uit: samen vaststellen dat het leven objectief druk is, verlaagt het schuldgevoel aan beide kanten. Waardering werkt in dezelfde richting. Wie hoort dat zijn inspanning wordt gezien, voelt zich competenter, en dat drukt het stressniveau.
3. Al maanden niets in bed
Bij stellen die lang samen zijn zakt de aantrekkingskracht soms in. De conclusie ligt dan snel klaar: als de lust weg is, is de liefde weg. Maar afnemende zin heeft vaak weinig met liefde te maken en veel met een opvatting van seks die na twintig jaar niet meer voldoet.
Wie lust alleen uit spanning haalt, heeft steeds sterkere prikkels nodig om het interessant te houden.
De standaardadviezen wijzen allemaal dezelfde kant op: nieuwe technieken, spannende plekken, de relatie openstellen. Voor intimiteit doen die weinig, en ze zijn ronduit frustrerend als er ondanks alle inspanning geen zin komt. Ontspanning is de tegenovergestelde route: langzaam, zonder doel, zonder prestatiedruk. Veel stellen kennen dat principe al, want zo begon het ooit. Eerste hand vasthouden, eerste kus, minutenlang aankijken.
Praktisch betekent het: benoem dat je weer seks wilt, maar zonder de druk van seks. Plan er tijd voor. Zorg dat je ontspannen bent. En begin bij kussen en aanraken, niet bij het eindpunt.
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BIRMINGHAM (ANP) - Jessica Schilder bereidt zich in bed voor op de finale van het kogelstoten. "Als ik nu ga liggen, slaap ik", zei de wereldkampioene na de kwalificaties bij de EK in Birmingham.
Schilder was na haar eerste stoot van 19,00 meter al zeker van een plek in de finale op maandagavond en kon dus ook snel terug naar haar hotel. "Het was kort, maar krachtig en zo wilde ik het graag. Het in één keer goed doen en er dan vanaf zijn", zei de Volendamse. "Nu naar bed, want dat is mijn ritme: trainen, slapen, trainen, slapen."
Ze heeft haar vingerblessure goed onder controle. "Ik slik veel paracetamol en voorlopig gaat het goed, dus ik probeer er niet te veel bij stil te staan. Ik weet dat het dan wel goed komt."
Schilder kan zich voor de derde keer op rij kronen tot Europees kampioen. In 2022 greep ze in München haar eerste Europese titel en die prolongeerde ze twee jaar later in Rome. "Ik vind de druk nog steeds niet leuk, maar ik heb wel veel meer zelfvertrouwen."
MUSCAT (ANP/RTR) - Een olievlek voor de zuidoostelijke kust van Oman is verder uitgebreid. De olie, afkomstig van een lekkend schip, beslaat inmiddels een gebied van ongeveer 390 vierkante kilometer, meldt de Omaanse regering.
De olie is afkomstig van de in juni gestrande Caroline Bezengi, die onder Kameroense vlag vaart. Het is niet duidelijk waardoor het lek is ontstaan. De olievlek ligt ten noordoosten van de Hallaniyat-eilanden en beweegt richting het vasteland. Op het dichtstbijzijnde punt is de olievlek naar schatting nog zo'n 7 kilometer van de kust verwijderd.
Het schip staat op de sanctielijst van de Europese Unie en het Verenigd Koninkrijk, omdat het Russische olie zou vervoeren. Rusland gebruikt verouderde en vaak slecht onderhouden tankers voor zijn zogenoemde schaduwvloot. Daarmee probeert het land westerse sancties tegen de export van Russische olie te omzeilen.
RECEA-CRISTUR (ANP/DPA) - Een Roemeense ambulance is in het weekend aangevallen met bijlen, knuppels en stenen nadat op TikTok nepnieuws was verspreid, melden Roemeense media. Volgens de berichten, die al langer rondgaan in het land, zouden ambulances worden gebruikt om kinderen te ontvoeren.
De vermoedelijke aanvallers zouden de berichten op TikTok hebben gezien en vervolgens een ambulance die een patiënt vervoerde hebben tegengehouden met een auto in het dorp Recea-Cristur in het noorden van het land. Ze sloegen de voorruit in met een steen, waardoor de bestuurder van de ambulance werd geraakt door glasscherven. Die liep een oogblessure op, maar reed desondanks door en wist de patiënt veilig naar het ziekenhuis te brengen.
Bij het ophalen van de patiënt zou al onrust zijn ontstaan. Toen de bestuurder de weg vroeg, zouden mensen hebben geweigerd te helpen en zijn gaan filmen. Zes mannen en een vrouw werden aangehouden op verdenking van mishandeling en verstoring van de openbare orde.
Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
Socialists Are Winning Because They Listen to People (and don’t just treat them like ATMs). “The best of them are running campaigns that acknowledge that to win, Democrats are going to have to organize voters — not just fund-raise off them.”
Paris is Burning gets a South American update in a film that shows the Brazilian scene as a space of solidarity and tension
Originating among the Black, Latin and trans communities in 1960s New York, queer ballroom culture has not only entered the mainstream but also travelled well outside the United States. In recent years, a movement has flourished in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and its outskirts, an evolution intimately captured in Juru and Vitã’s documentary debut. Here fly-on-the-wall recordings of a typical ball are interwoven with slice-of-life interviews, elaborating on the communal ties that extend beyond the dancefloor.
A whirl of pulsating beats, fabulous fits and gyrating bodies, the sensory opening gives us a taste of the different categories attached to the ball. Competing on behalf of their “houses” – queer chosen families of like-minded individuals – the participants show off their voguing, dancing and posing skills, all with the hope of snatching the top trophies. For those who have seen seminal ballroom documentary Paris is Burning (1990), many of these categories – such as Runway, Face and Femme Queens – will sound familiar. In addition to its US influences, Brazilian ballroom is also flavoured with local culture: some categories draw on samba and other forms of afro-Brazilian music, a deliberate nod to the Black pioneers of the scene.
Continue reading...Manslaughter exemption would mean more releases would be needed within 18 months, Prison Service officials say
Andy Burnham has been warned that changing the terms of the prisoners’ early release scheme so PC Andrew Harper’s killers are kept behind bars would force another spate of early releases before the next general election.
Prison Service officials have told No 10 that adding an exemption so that those convicted of manslaughter, such as Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, remain in jail would mean further early releases would be needed within 18 months.
Continue reading...The Animorphs books taught my generation about digging deep in the face of an existential threat. We need that spirit now more than ever
Recently I found myself thinking about slug-like aliens that crawl through people’s ears and into their brains, with the ultimate purpose of global domination. It would explain a lot about what has gone so wrong with the world, wouldn’t it? And it was why I immediately flashed back to the children’s fantasy series Animorphs when Donald Trump’s health secretary and conspiracy theorist, Robert F Kennedy Jr, admitted to having had a worm in his brain.
While visiting my parents in Cleveland, Ohio recently, I realised that a few books from the children’s fantasy series were still sitting on the shelves in my old bedroom. No fewer than 54 Animorphs titles were published between 1996 and 2001, and a total of 35m copies have been sold. “I may have just landed a job thanks to Animorphs,” my childhood friend Clifton texted me with excitement in the mid-2010s, when we were fresh out of college. “It was an interview for a vegan food cart and the last question they asked me was what Animorph I would morph into. I said an orangutan.”
Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out now
Continue reading...Small skiff ran out of fuel off Alaska and was helped by cruise ship even though Meta CEO’s vessel was closer
The crew of a yacht owned by Mark Zuckerberg did not hear a radio call for a maritime assist from a small skiff that ran out of fuel off the coast of Alaska, and by the time it did, another nearby ship had already rendered assistance, a spokesperson for the Meta CEO said.
The Alaska Beacon news outlet reported that the skiff had issued a call for assistance through the US Coast Guard last week and a nearby small cruise ship, the Wilderness Legacy, towed it into nearby Farragut Bay in south-east Alaska and refueled it.
Continue reading...De 29-jarige Thomas laat twee keer per dag zijn telefoon uit. Sinds de jongeman samenwoont met zijn vriendin, gaat hij regelmatig een blokje om. “Even lekker frisse neus halen, en mijn telefoon wat extra aandacht geven."
Hond Bobo staat elke ochtend en avond kwispelend voor de deur om samen met zijn baasje zijn telefoon uit te laten. Thomas merkt weinig van Bobo’s aanwezigheid. “Hij loopt meestal voor m’n voeten terwijl ik even mijn crypto-investeringen bekijk. Vooral tijdens het doomscrollen heb ik echt mijn volledige aandacht nodig.”
Thomas gaat binnenkort over naar drie keer per dag zijn telefoon uitlaten. “Ik merk gewoon dat ik meer tijd voor mij en mijn telefoon moet maken. Rustig een rondje lopen is ontzettend goed voor mijn mentale gezondheid.”
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404 Media is publishing this article in partnership with Proof News, a new nonprofit media outlet investigating the social impacts of AI. Join their mailing list here and read the version of this article on their site here.
Robotics companies promise that video-camera-toting security robots can deter and detect crime. But many companies are rethinking the approach after a trail of canceled contracts and questions about whether the artificial intelligence-powered bots are meeting the needs of businesses and local governments.
Proof News found evidence of at least 21 security robot deployments since 2015. We contacted contract holders and combed news articles and determined that at least 13 of those programs have ended. Silicon Valley-based Knightscope secured the most security robot contracts, according to Proof’s analysis, and also suffered the bulk of cancellations.
For example, New York City’s then-Mayor Eric Adams installed a Knightscope robot on the overnight shift at the Times Square subway station, but the program was scrapped when the pilot expired in 2024. City leaders did not respond to Proof News’ questions about why the robot wasn’t renewed. By the end of its assignment, it was reportedly gathering dust in an empty storefront.
Outside Columbus, Ohio, the city of Dublin pulled the plug on a Knightscope robot in May, ending its two-year pilot program after less than 10 months. The city enlisted the robot, dubbed DubBot, to patrol a downtown park, but city spokeswoman Robyn Gray said it “did not fully meet our operational needs,” and failed to identify any criminal incidents or lead to any tickets or arrests.
Sheila Sparks isn’t surprised. Her family has operated Sparks Protection Services near Columbus for more than a decade and said a human touch is essential to de-escalating sticky situations.
“A robot can’t do that,” Sparks said.
Seeking a new path forward in the security industry, Knightscope CEO William Santana Li said the company is forging a new model, combining its robots and AI-powered software with another key ingredient: human security guards. Knightscope announced it purchased Event Risk LLC, a national security guard firm, earlier this year.
Knightscope has incurred net losses since inception in 2013, according to its most recent quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and is $273 million in debt. Knightscope hopes its pivot to incorporate people will give it a greater share of the physical security market — which the company believes is worth an estimated $230 billion annually.
Li declined to answer questions about the disbanded programs, but said in an email, “Technology cannot do everything — and neither can people — but the combination can be very powerful.”
ROBOTS VS WORLD
Knightscope and other American made robotics companies could get a boost from the recent U.S. Federal Communications Commission ban on foreign-made mobile robot imports. Officials cast the move as a national security imperative given the machines’ surveillance capabilities.
But American roboticists are facing more than foreign competition. Robots have long struggled to navigate environments constantly in flux. AI can’t handle the ambiguous situations that security guards and police face daily, said Missy Cummings, a robotics professor at George Mason University. While AI decision systems perform well in narrow circumstances, she said, they can perform “miserably” as soon as algorithms are outside their training dataset.
“AI and robots for security have had a long problematic history,” Cummings said in an email, speaking generally. “I do not see this changing anytime soon.”
In 2016, a Knightscope robot deployed at a shopping center in Silicon Valley rolled over a 16-month-old boy's foot. The company apologized for the “freakish accident” at the time, saying in a statement that the robot veered to avoid the child, who ran backwards and directly into the machine. The next year, one flopped into a Washington, D.C. fountain. The company responded with humor, tweeting: “BREAKING NEWS: “I heard humans can take a dip in the water in this heat, but robots cannot. I am sorry.” Li, meanwhile, told the New York Times that the incident was under investigation and a new robot would be delivered free.
When asked about whether contracts remained active, representatives from neither property responded.
Then there was a trial at the San Antonio International Airport in 2024. Spokesperson Ana Flores said its Knightscope robot struggled with badge scanning, communication, and finding its way around. A door alarm would sound, she said, but the robot wouldn’t respond efficiently. Airport leadership opted to not move forward with a one-year, $21,000 Knightscope lease following a one-month test.
Meanwhile, private security is booming. Security officers have proliferated in recent years as cities embrace private guards, who earn an average of about $40,000 a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about half that of police officers.
Robotics companies pitch their autonomous robots — some of which can be equipped with cameras, facial recognition capabilities, and license-plate readers — as another set of eyes. They have no family to go home to and are happy to work nights and weekends.
Security robots promise “an alluring form of surveillance as a service,” Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at George Washington University, said in an email to Proof. In some cases their visible video cameras can “deter crime without having to pay a human being a salary,” he said, but it’s not clear that robots prevent or solve crimes better than people.
“They exist as a physical manifestation — a symbol, if you will — that someone is doing something to address potential crime,” Ferguson said. “Robots are a form of security theater, more optics than results.”
CRUMPLED CONTRACTS
Knightscope isn’t the only one seeing interest fizzle.
Officials in Salem, Oregon, powered off their Daxbots after a three-month pilot with the Oregon-based robotics company earlier this year. They had deployed three Daxbot robots to deter trespassing in a downtown parking garage. The robots recorded license plate numbers, captured photos of vehicles violating parking lot rules, and shared data with police.
Complaints about the parkade are “drastically down” since the pilot ended, according to Salem Police Sgt. Trevor Morrison, but it’s unclear if that’s due to traffic-calming devices or “residual results from the Daxbot patrols.” The pilot ended in April, with city spokesperson Nicole Miller citing no additional funding for robot security.
Daxbots have also disappeared in Tempe, Arizona. A viral video of one blue-eyed bot being outwitted by an onlooker who it demanded “leave the premises” made its way to “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” When asked about the contract, the mixed-use campus, IDEA Tempe, did not respond. Daxbot didn’t respond to Proof’s questions about why the Salem and Tempe contracts ended.
Adam Pioth, who posted the video, told Proof that he visited the robots frequently. A few months ago, he noticed the robots no longer shouted he was trespassing. Instead, he said, they would, “stop, look at me, and then just keep going really slow.” And then, he said, they were gone.
“Goodbye my friend,” Pioth wrote on Instagram in March, “and thanks for all the fond memories.”
Daxbot is recalibrating its business, rolling into another industry: automated sidewalk assessments. Proof identified at least nine cities nationwide that have contracted with the company since last September to send robots cruising sidewalks to check for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Boston Dynamics is best known for its robotic patrol dogs, which were recently deployed to two World Cup stadiums. After Hyundai bought the controlling stake in the robotics company in 2021, it began pushing to develop mass-produced humanoid robots to work in automotive manufacturing.
Atlas, its humanoid robot, delivered the match ball to the referee during a game in July. But the strategy has also spurred rolling strikes at Hyundai Motor’s Korean assembly plants.
Critics claim police and security robots aren’t proven crime fighters, but are effective at one thing: surveillance.
In 2021, the New York Police Department ended its lease for a Boston Dynamics robotic dog and returned it, The New York Times reported, following public outcry. U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the tool — which could climb stairs and was equipped with cameras, lights, and a two-way communication system — “surveillance ground drones” being “deployed for testing on low-income communities of color.”
Boston Dynamics did not respond to requests for comment.
“What it’s really doing is building a mass surveillance system that is impossible to hide from,” said Brian Hofer, executive director of the privacy-advocacy nonprofit Secure Justice. “It is not a society I want to live in.”
Steve Rosta, retired highway patrol officer and co-owner of Direct Approach Security Services in Ohio, said robots’ cameras may act as a deterrent, and even catch videos of crimes, but he can’t see a future where the machines are more reliable than a human guard.
“I’m old school,” Rosta said. “Boots on the ground is always better.”
wing of kaz has added a photo to the pool:
長崎県島原市、大三東駅 / Omisaki Station, Shimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture
ozipital has added a photo to the pool:
When the sunlight hits the imposing rock face at Windjana Gorge in the late afternoon it takes on a magical glow...