Новости за 03.04.2017

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A recent vicious attack on a 17-year-old asylum seeker in Croydon has drawn widespread condemnation and is being investigated as a hate crime. It follows a spike in hate crimes following the Brexit vote in June 2016 which brought the issue of ethnic and racial harassment into sharp focus. Yet harassment of people for their ethnicity, religion or race has long been a problem for minority communities in Britain.

So motivated. GaudiLab

We’ve probably all wondered what really goes on in our boss’s head at some point. After all, power is everywhere – from schools and businesses to courtrooms and governments. Some people simply have more influence and control over people and resources than others. Unsurprisingly, the concept of power has attracted the attention of scientists, philosophers and policy makers since the days of the ancient Greeks.

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Think back to when you first started learning a foreign language. For many readers it was probably French, German or Spanish at school.

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Leading brands are boycotting advertising services on Google’s YouTube after their ads were placed alongside content they deemed inappropriate and – even worse – were charged for the privilege. The long list includes household names such as Starbucks, Pepsi, Walmart, Tesco, the BBC and the UK government. Some have even suggested that they may have inadvertently sponsored extremist and hateful groups to the tune of more than £250,000.

The Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán is intent on making life as tough as possible for asylum seekers. In March 2017, Hungary’s parliament approved the automatic detention of all asylum seekers in camps built from shipping containers at the country’s borders. The government says it has built 324 shipping container homes at two locations along the border with Serbia. Both new arrivals and those already in the country will be detained in these “transit zones” while their asylum applications are being processed. Читать дальше...

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A large oil find has been declared 60 miles west of Shetland, off the north coast of Scotland. It’s being described as the UK’s “largest undeveloped discovery”. Taken at face value, this is exciting news for an industry still reeling after the oil price collapse of the past few years (environmentalists though are less enthusiastic).

Sir Duke wants a second referendum. Or does he? Wikimedia Commons

A second referendum on Britain exiting the European Union should be held, some people contend, once voters have a better idea of what a departure would actually involve. Meanwhile, politicians in Edinburgh are seeking a second referendum on Scottish independence sometime in the next few years, though many voters in the first were led to understand that their decision would hold for “a generation”.

When Arsene Wenger was named as the new manager of Arsenal FC in September 1996, English football was in a period of transition. The 1989 Hillsborough disaster had led to a transformation of the grounds and treatment of supporters, and the arrival of the Sky Sports TV channel heralded the formation of the Premier League in the 1992-93 season.

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Get caught using your smartphone while driving in the UK and you’ll be in serious trouble. Authorities recently doubled the penalties for using a handset behind the wheel to six points on your licence and a £200 fine. Yet the law – and the car industry itself – hasn’t caught up with the equal dangers of hands-free phone calls while driving.

After months of trying, South Africa’s President Zuma finally fired his finance minister, Pravin Gordhan. The move was met with huge disquiet within the ANC, and a predictably sharp drop in the value of the Rand. Gordhan and his deputy were replaced by two Zuma loyalists, both from the president’s home province of KwaZulu Natal, and both without any deep financial experience. Other ministers were also replaced, none by people of exceptional merit.

The prospect of Brexit has created many imponderables for the future of the EU’s relationship with the UK. At the same time, it also has significance for other international relationships. In particular, it is likely to impact trade and investment between the EU and China.

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When we speak of bestsellers, we’re often referring to books that have sold fewer copies than one might think. By the estimation of award-winning author Donal Ryan, there are times when 300 sales might be enough to make a chart topper – the bestseller mantle tends to have more promotional than monetary value. Of course there are the literary blockbusters — titles like Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code — books that ship hundreds of millions of copies. But combine the sales of JK Rowling and Dan Brown... Читать дальше...

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How closely will we live with the technology we use in the future? How will it change us? And how close is “close”? Ghost in the Shell imagines a futuristic, hi-tech but grimy and ghetto-ridden Japanese metropolis populated by people, robots, and technologically-enhanced human cyborgs.

Fruit - a natural source of fructose. leonori/Shutterstock.com

Fructose has been getting a bad rap lately. Although consuming too much can be bad for your health, those who exercise seem to be protected against some of fructose’s negative health effects. And growing evidence suggests that fructose can help athletes recover after exercise.

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There is a wonderful scene in the film Amadeus that depicts Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dictating, from his death bed, the words and music of his Requiem mass – a piece thought of as a requiem for the composer’s death which is now regarded as one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. Mozart dictates to the rival composer Salieri, who in equal measure admires and hates Mozart. A central theme of Peter Schaffer’s original play, which the film is based on, is the originality... Читать дальше...

Peshkova / Shutterstock.com

There is a wonderful scene in the film Amadeus that depicts Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dictating, from his death bed, the words and music of his Requiem mass – a piece thought of as a requiem for the composer’s death which is now regarded as one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. Mozart dictates to the rival composer Salieri, who in equal measure admires and hates Mozart. A central theme of Peter Schaffer’s original play, which the film is based on, is the originality... Читать дальше...

Martin Rees is Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, at the University of Cambridge, the Astronomer Royal, a member of Britain’s House of Lords, and a former President of the Royal Society. The following interview was conducted at Trinity College, Cambridge, by The Conversation’s Matt Warren.