US Court Rejects Ben & Jerry's Bid to Stop Sale of Ice Cream Products in West Bank

On July 5, Ben & Jerry's filed a lawsuit against its parent company Unilever, alleging the sale of its Israeli business to local licensee Avi Zinger was a breach of the contract through which Unilever acquired the Vermont-based corporation in 2000.

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The best robot vacuum and mop hybrids

Few people are champing at the bit to go over their freshly vacuumed floors with a manual mop. It's not that the act is particularly cumbersome, but there's just something about taking the time to pull yet another handheld device out of a closet that rightfully earns a collective groan. Isn't that why the robot vacuum has become a well-loved household tool over the past decade?

Then, the inevitable happened: hybrid models, which add mopping to the menu, flooded the market. Now, for many brands smaller than iRobot, Samsung, and Shark, mopping robot vacuums are the norm.

Are mopping robots worth it?

A mopping robot's value is pretty indisputable if it'll do the wet scrubbing that you yourself aren't about to do.

Think about the last time you pulled your mop out of the dark, dark place where it's kept. That's a trick question — most of you probably don't even have that memory. The mop and bucket is a logistical headache. If you're going to pay to take the tedious motion of vacuuming off of your to-do list, you may as well let the same bot finish the job with a nice sparkle. These hybrid bots may not scrub with as much oomph as your own two hands, but they can make your floors shine a bit more than they normally would.

How do robot vacuum mops work?

At their core, robot vacuum-mop combos are really just robot vacuums with an attached water reservoir. Thus, they work just like robot vacuums but dispense water for mopping when they're not sucking up dust. When you want to finish your freshly-vacuumed floors with a shine, you fill the water tank up and attach a cloth or pad to the bottom and the bot will navigate your floors to clean up the extra dirt. Some, of course, are better than others at lifting the cloth when they approach carpet and ceasing water flow automatically.

What should you look for in a robot vacuum mop combo?

Choosing the best robot vacuum mop for you really depends on your lifestyle and the budget you’re working with. Whether you’re looking for something that will tackle big messes with ease, or something that you can set and forget, there are a few key factors to keep in mind:

Battery life — If you’re hoping to swap your mop and bucket for a hybrid robot vacuum, the device you choose should have the battery life to cover your entire surface area, with enough juice left in the tank to seal the hard floors with a wet polish. A 100-minute battery life should be sufficient for most apartments, or if most of your cleaning will be done on a room-by-room basis. Battery life of 170 to 200 minutes isn't hard to find and would be ideal for square footage over 1,500. The best robot vacuums recharge on their own and automatically resume cleaning.

Floor-type sensors — A robot vacuum's ability to adjust suction based on floor type is important even just in the dry sweeping realm. But for robot mops, this is what will keep your carpets from getting soggy. Most hybrids automatically start to mop once their water tank is attached, but only the smarter ones know to pause the water flow and lift their wet cloth above the carpet. Bots that remember your rooms or follow virtual boundaries can be programmed to avoid carpeted areas while mopping altogether.

Smart mapping — A robot vacuum's navigation tech decides whether or not it's equipped to adhere to virtual boundaries (or stuck with those ugly magnetic strips). Currently, the golden standard is LiDAR: a laser that scans different points in your home to determine where walls are. Once the robot vacuum has made its rounds and got its bearings, it draws a floor plan that you can refer to in the app to send the bot to clean specific rooms or set up zones that you'd like the bot to avoid, like a pile of toys or your pet's water bowl.

Dust bin size and automatic emptying — You’ll want to make sure the dust bin and water reservoir in your robot vacuum-mop combo are an appropriate match for your home. If you’re living in a flat, apartment, or other small space, you probably won’t need a massive vacuum reservoir. If you’re hoping to cover an entire house, you’ll probably want to look for something that you won’t have to empty out after every single cleaning session. A self-emptying vacuum would be ideal, which automatically empties its debris into a dock and leaves you off the hook for a month or two.

There are of course other things to keep in mind, like price and storage, but this is a good place to start.

What is the best robot vacuum and mop?

We’ve outlining some of the top-rated robot mop combos on the market right now — including the standout features that set them apart. If a model listed below looks awesome but out of your price range, click on it. Amazon is known to inflate original prices and keep things permanently on sale for upwards of £200 off.

These are the best robot vacuum mops in 2022.

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Top EU Diplomat Praises Iran’s ‘Reasonable’ Response in Nuke Deal Negotiations–Says Ball in US Court

While Iran and the European Union have blamed the US for the current delay, all sides seem to agree that a potential breakthrough is looking more and more likely.

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With More US Trigger Laws Activating, One-Third of Childbearing-Age Women Have Lost Abortion Access

Years ago, a host of conservative US states passed “trigger laws” that would take effect and immediately ban abortion there if the Supreme Court ever overturned Roe vs. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The high court did just that in June, sending women scrambling for health care solutions.

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Singapore to End Colonial-Era Ban on Sex Between Men But Concerns Remain High Over LGBTQ Rights

The move to abolish 377A—a colonial-era law banning sex between men—comes after an attempt in February of 2022 by Singapore’s government to take an impartial stance on the rights of gay people, by both promising to not enforce the law while also refusing to appeal it.

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‘Thankless Task’: Deputy FM Says Resumption of US-Russia Dialogue on Strategic Stability Doubtful

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia does not consider the possibility of resuming dialogue with the United States on strategic stability obvious, given Washington’s aggressive policy, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

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How 'House of the Dragon' is different from George R.R. Martin's 'Fire and Blood'

The Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon is finally here, bringing George R.R. Martin's massive fantasy tome Fire & Blood to the small screen.

Fire & Blood tells the history of House Targaryen as they ruled over Westeros, including events like Aegon's initial conquest and the civil war knowns as the Dance of the Dragons. House of the Dragon focuses on the Dance and the events leading up to it, including the rivalry between Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower. However, just like with the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon makes several changes from the source material in order to make the transition from page to screen. Don't worry, book loyalists: Change can be a good thing, and in House of the Dragon's case, a grand majority of the adaptation choice work to enhance the narrative instead of detract from it.

From structural differences to missing characters and more, here are the biggest changes House of the Dragon has made so far.

SEE ALSO: 'House of the Dragon' review: Worthy 'Game of Thrones' successor is an excellent fantasy series in its own right

A history book vs. a TV show

Caraxes, my beloved. Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Starting out, the biggest difference between Fire & Blood and House of the Dragon is each work's individual structure. Fire & Blood is written as a history book by the fictional Archmaester Gyldayn, whereas House of the Dragon is a narrative TV show that adapts only a small portion of the centuries-long history covered in Fire & Blood.

Throughout Fire & Blood, Gyldayn discusses his differing sources for his work, especially during the section dealing with the Dance of the Dragons. These sources include conflicting reports from Maesters and Septons, as well as a court jester named Mushroom. Each source gives us a slightly different take on key moments that take place behind closed doors, Rashomon-style, with Mushroom's accounts tending to be the most lascivious and extreme. While characters like Mushroom do not figure into House of the Dragon, it will be fascinating to see which course of events House of the Dragon chooses to portray, as it will have to take a definitive stance on some of Fire & Blood's more ambiguous moments.

SEE ALSO: Do you need to watch 'Game of Thrones' before 'House of the Dragon'?

An exciting element that comes with adapting a history book (albeit a fictional one) is the chance to play around within the historical framework. Fire & Blood rarely delves into scene-level detail, which means House of the Dragon gets to add new scenes or embellish events that are already in the book. So while book readers may know the general story arc of House of the Dragon, they won't be able to anticipate some of the more granular, character-focused scenes. It's a good way to keep viewers on their toes, and to keep this adaptation somewhat unpredictable.

A tournament and a birth

The first episode of House of the Dragon is built around two key events: the birth of King Viserys and Queen Aemma's son, and the tournament to celebrate it. Scenes of fighting, like the brawl between Prince Daemon and Ser Criston Cole, are juxtaposed directly with Queen Aemma's painful labor, hammering home her earlier point to her daughter Rhaenyra that childbirth is a woman's battlefield. While Aemma's labor and the tourney introducing Criston do not happen at the same time in the books, the choice to bring them together is a smart one. We get the thematic parallels mentioned previously, as well as a good, old-fashioned Game of Thrones-style tournament. The lavish celebration also signals just how important a male heir is to the realm: If Aemma has a son, peace will likely continue. If not, questions about the line of succession will fester.

Aemma's death during childbirth isn't detailed in great amounts in Fire & Blood. However, Viserys's dilemma about whether to kill Aemma in order to make sure his son is born actually happens to other characters in the book. Much earlier in the Targaryen dynasty, Queen Alyssa Velaryon, mother to King Jaehaerys, experiences a similarly painful birth. The maester tending to her tells her husband, Lord Rogar Baratheon, that there's still a chance they can keep the child, but Alyssa is sure to die; Rogar chooses to save the child. The fact that House of the Dragon is drawing from events like this throughout Fire & Blood to enrich its narrative is fascinating, and proof of the flexibility the show has given its source material's historiographical nature.

SEE ALSO: How to watch 'House of the Dragon' from anywhere in the world

Childhood friends

Best friends forever... I wish. Credit: Ollie Upton/HBO

House of the Dragon makes the excellent decision to center Rhaenyra and Alicent's friendship right from the start. The rift between them is what brings about the Dance of the Dragons, so it makes sense that House of the Dragon begins developing their relationship in the very first episode.

In Fire & Blood, Rhaenyra and Alicent aren't particularly close before Alicent marries King Viserys, but in House of the Dragon, they are fast friends. Their in-show childhood bond promises to make their fallout even more heartbreaking, which is sure to give later episodes even greater emotional weight.

A song of ice and what now?

During the first episode's final moments, King Viserys drops a truth bomb on Rhaenyra. Their ancestor, Aegon the Conqueror, conquered Westeros not just because of ambition, but because he had a dream. That dream foretold the end of mankind, brought on by a terrible winter — White Walkers, anyone?

There's nothing in Fire & Blood that suggests Aegon had this dream, but given that the book rarely delves into its characters' thoughts, there's nothing saying that Aegon didn't have this dream either. Perhaps this was Martin's intent all along. However, I'm not a fan of this particular storytelling tweak. It's way too neat a connection to Game of Thrones, and after the adverse fan reactions to Season 8, House of the Dragon needs as much of a fresh start as it can get. Plus, the reveal of Aegon's dream — which he called A Song of Ice and Fire, eliciting a massive eye roll from me — shifts focus away from the politics of House of the Dragons in favor of reminding us of a Big Bad we already know is coming. Heck, we already know that the Night King fails to conquer Westeros, so why bother tying it back to Aegon? In a series that has so far made many smart adaptation decisions, this is the only one I outright disagree with. We don't need "winter is coming," round two — House of the Dragon already has plenty of great characters and plot points to choose from.

We'll be updating this article weekly with more changes between Fire & Blood and House of the Dragon, so be sure to check back in after each episode airs!

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