Новости за 29.06.2017

The Murdoch Family Trust’s long-held ambition to take full ownership of Sky, the UK’s largest broadcaster (by revenue), appears to have been dealt a blow. The culture secretary, Karen Bradley, has told parliament she is “minded” to refer the £11.7 billion takeover bid by 21st Century Fox for the 61% of Sky that it doesn’t already own to the competition authorities on the grounds that the deal will diminish media plurality in the UK.

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Cypriots’ hopes of a peaceful future for their island once again rest on UN-brokered talks in Switzerland. But even as the first words are uttered, those hopes already look under threat.

As Hong Kong marks the 20th anniversary of its handover from British to Chinese sovereignty, it is preparing for a display of very mixed emotions.

The following interview with Lord Tebbit took place at the House of Lords on June 28, 2017. He was interviewed by Tim Bale, professor of politics, Queen Mary University of London. Norman Tebbit was Conservative MP for Epping (1970-1974) and Chingford (1974-1992) and served as a junior minister in both the Department of Trade and the Department of Industry. In the Cabinet, he was the secretary of state for employment, trade and industry, and chairman of the Conservative party from 1985 to 1987. Читать дальше...

Warning: may contain faecal bacteria. Ksw Photographer/Shutterstock

Ice from three high street coffee chains in the UK have been found to contain faecal bacteria following an investigation by BBC One’s Watchdog programme. Analysis that I carried out on behalf of the consumer series, found that ice used in drinks at Caffè Nero, Starbucks and Costa Coffee contained high levels of faecal coliform bacteria, with seven out of ten samples from Costa and three out of ten samples from the other two chains testing positive. Читать дальше...

The infamous 1994 Wonderbra advert featuring Czech model Eva Herzigova. TBWA/Wonderbra

Over the decades, people have been taken on a sexual liberation tour that has challenged sexual norms. During the 1970s and 1980s, pop bands such as Queen tantalised audiences by singing “I am like a sex machine ready to reload/ Like an atom bomb about to oh oh oh oh oh explode,” and manufacturers of everything from cars to cigarettes featured pretty women in their advertising, hoping to boost sales. More recently... Читать дальше...

One day in 1963, Andy Warhol walked into a New York photobooth and took what have become the world’s most famous selfies. One of these trailblazing self-portraits has just been sold at a Sotheby’s auction for just over £6m.

Conspiracy theories are all the rage these days. Barely a day goes by without someone accusing someone else of engaging in fake news, post-truths, witch hunts and organised political skulduggery.

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Jon Snow is being pilloried for being a biased broadcaster, after a Tweet from a reveller at the Glastonbury festival claimed he had heard the Channel 4 News presenter swearing against “the Tories” and expressing views in favour of Jeremy Corbyn. This on the day that the opposition leader addressed more than 100,000 people from the festival’s main Pyramid stage.

First there were the terrorist attacks at the Manchester Arena and at London Bridge, in which 30 people were killed and hundreds injured. And then, most recently, scores died in the Grenfell Tower disaster after a blaze ripped through the building they called home.

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There are well over a million people with learning disabilities in England. Like anyone, people with learning disabilities or autistic people can experience times of crisis and heightened distress, particularly when they and their families have not had the support they need.

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Sleep disturbance in young adults who are at risk of suicide are a warning sign of worsening suicidal thoughts, according to new research from Stanford University. These findings held true regardless of the study participants’ current levels of depression.

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Of all the species that have ever lived, more than 99% are now extinct. Most of them quietly disappeared during periods of “background extinction”, whereby a handful of species become extinct every 100,000 years or so.

In a controversial move, Germany is considering plans to open two reception centres in Morocco for repatriated childen. According to a leaked document of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees cited by a German newspaper, the centres would have space to receive 200 Moroccan minors and would be run in collaboration with Moroccan non-governmental organisations.

In these “post-truth” days of fake news and “alternative facts”, you could be forgiven for thinking facts and figures don’t stand much chance against the power of politicised misinformation. It can all get very depressing – so I’m pleased to be able to report a small but very important step forward in the fight for truth.

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Shoppers are used to supermarket prices which stay pretty much the same. Rises or falls tend only to take place at irregular intervals and most goods stay at the same price for days, possibly for weeks or months. All that, however, might be about to change.