De regering Trump heeft de academische vrijheid zodanig ingeperkt dat astrofysicus Kelly Holley-Bockelmann zich niet thuisvoelde in eigen land. Ze is een van de 29 Amerikaanse academici die zich met hulp van het Tulp Fonds in Nederland vestigen.

Opvallend aan de nieuwe HBO-serie van Larry David, bekend van ‘Seinfeld’ en ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, is de medewerking van oud-president Barack Obama, die de reeks ook produceert.

Macron is de eerste westerse regeringsleider die Syrië bezoekt sinds de val van Bachar al-Assad in 2024. De explosies zouden hebben plaatsgevonden in de buurt van zijn hotel, maar de Franse president zelf was op dat moment al elders in de stad.

Het kabinet kondigde maandag aan 420 miljoen euro extra te steken in de bouw van seniorenwoningen. Onder meer in woongemeenschappen voor ouderen die, als het even kan, elkaar de helpende hand bieden. Onderzoekers namen vier van zulke plekken onder de loep. Ouderen blijken te schipperen tussen verbondenheid en vrijheid en tussen zelfredzaamheid en onderlinge zorg.

:: It is a calling instruction. It symbolizes our process of extracting coffee from the vague category of "agricultural products" and transforming it through precise experimental methods into a controlled and perceptible "sensory coordinate". It represents the necessary path from the original (Origin) to the resolution (Resolution).

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game has grown into a virtual social space and part of daily life for thousands of players

In a small stone chapel, on the edgelands of a medieval wilderness, two women are getting married. The attenders are draped in rainbow capes, glowing armour and top hats. A scantily clad, muscular man with angel wings officiates the ceremony. Over the heads of the two brides hover the words “I do” in bright yellow text. This is RuneScape, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (or MMO) set in the Tolkienesque realm of Gielinor. Turning 25 this year, it has, over its lifetime, become a crucial virtual social space and part of daily life for thousands of players.

Lancashire-born Amelia, one of the pixelated newlyweds, met her wife on a dating app but first bonded through their love of the game. “Our first and second date was pretty much exclusively talking about RuneScape,” she recalls. Four years later they were married, shortly followed by their in-game ceremony. Morgan – a 26-year-old from the Midlands – is one of Amelia’s closest friends. They met through the game and run UWU Girls together, a RuneScape clan that Morgan founded in a bid to cater to players across the gender spectrum. “We do IRL meetups, and for a lot of these women, it’s been their first meetings with strangers online – and that’s the same for me.”

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Door is ajar for Rassie Erasmus’ side to surpass All Blacks when leading sides converge on Australia next year

The best sports teams constantly look to reinvent themselves. Their core principles remain in place but, crucially, they never, ever stand still. To do so is to risk slipping backwards relative to their competitors and arrive at the worst of all possible outcomes: a poorer, less successful version of themselves.

The ultimate example in rugby, until now, has probably been the All Blacks. For decades it was not only about winning the next game, but underlining their position, to quote one of their motivational whiteboard slogans from 2013, as “the most dominant team in the history of the world”. When you are chasing that kind of rarefied target you don’t allow the grass grow beneath your jandals.

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Ja straks in november mogen de goede mensen uit Maine een senaatskandidaat kiezen, en het gaat normaliter tussen Susan Collins (Republikein) en Graham Platner (Democraat). Laatstgenoemde kwam eerder in opspraak nadat onfrisse (maar relatief onschuldige) Reddit-posts van zijn hand werden opgeduikeld, en omdat hij een tatoeage had die sterk leek op een Totenkopf, een symbool dat ook werd gebruikt en sindsdien vooral gelieerd wordt aan de SS. Platner heeft zelf een militair verleden en pochte eerder met zijn kennis van militaire geschiedenis, maar zou deze tattoo in Kroatië hebben laten zonder de betekenis ervan echt te begrijpen. Nadat het uitkwam duurde het jaren voordat hij er iets overheen liet zetten. Dat weerhield de Democraten er niet van hem naar voren te schuiven als senaatskandidaat, en daar krijgen ze spoedig: spijt van. Komt niet helemaal uit het niets, eerder berichtte de New York Times al over 'verontrustend' gedrag ten opzichte van vrouwen waarmee hij datete. Dat verontrustende krijgt nu dankzij Politico een gezicht, en is eigenlijk helemaal niet verontrustend, maar eerder verwerpelijk en verdorven. Hij brak in bij het slachtoffer, en verkrachtte haar, terwijl ze hem herhaaldelijk vroeg dit niet te doen. Later deelde ze hierover details met een vriend, haar therapeut, en de volgende man waarmee ze datete. We schrijven 2021; Platner was destijds geen belangrijk politicus, en zijn ambities in die richting waren nog onuitgesproken. Op dit moment proberen zijn eigen vrijwilligers hem zo ver te krijgen zich terug te trekken; iets dat hij vooralsnog weigert te doen. In een statement zegt dat de beschuldigingen 'verontrustend, serieus en onjuist' zijn. Afijn, Amerikaanse politici zijn relatief vaak knettergek, deel 1341235987.

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Met stalen gezicht (I)

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Met stalen gezicht (II)

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Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on back of slide, July 1973

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on slide, April 1975, handwritten on slide, "Airport, Frankfurt"

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Vanillasludge posted a photo:

Akiya
Suwa, Nagano Japan

Vanillasludge posted a photo:

Akiya
Suwa, Nagano Japan

Vanillasludge posted a photo:

Matsumoto Japan

Four years after its first attempt, Northern Ireland's Education Authority (EANI) is trying once again to replace Capita, with a procurement for an IT services deal worth up to £851 million. An earlier effort to replace the UK tech services company foundered when EANI ended its £485 million contract with Fujitsu by "mutual agreement" after "extensive negotiations" in November 2024. The deal's collapse led to an extension of the authority's contract with Capita, which bagged an additional £107 million to continue to provide IT services to schools in Northern Ireland until March 2027. The deal was first signed in 2012 and has been extended a number of times without competition. The total value of the Capita contracts is likely to be around £650 million. In an official notice published earlier this month, EANI said it was looking for a supplier to provide Education Technology Managed Services (ETMS) covering more than 1,100 schools, 350,000 pupils, 22,000 teachers, and 40,000 non-teaching staff. The ETMS contract is set to "replace and transform the technical infrastructure and services for schools known as the Education Network for Northern Ireland" – the service Capita currently provides. The value of the ETMS deal is around £246 million for core services paid over the initial term of the contract. A further £605 million may be awarded for contract extensions, a schools catalog, and potential optional services. The maximum potential value is £851 million including tax. EANI has previously attempted to replace its Capita contract. It began a procurement in March 2022 for IT services and a new schools management system designed to support teaching and learning through technology. Fujitsu eventually won that competition in December 2023, securing a contract worth up to £485 million for ten years, with a possible two-year extension. Capita, TCS, and Fujitsu were initially in the running. By the time final tenders were submitted, both Capita and TCS had withdrawn their bids. The Fujitsu contract was canceled after just 11 months following "extensive negotiations" on a "mutually agreed" and "no-fault basis," according to the authority. The new competition does not include the development of a schools management system, although its wider IT services scope overlaps with the Fujitsu contract. The Register has asked EANI how much it has spent on the replacement IT services procurement since the process began in 2022. ®