Новости за 12.07.2017

Conservation is becoming more militarised, and it is cause for serious concern. Rising rates of elephant and rhino poaching in Africa, and fears of a link between poachers and terrorists, have led to foreign national armies, private military companies and even UN peacekeeping forces all moving into wildlife protection.

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Silverstone is playing hard to get. The venerable racing circuit signalled its withdrawal from the Formula One season from 2020, citing escalating costs. It is a fascinating moment for the sport. So much of F1’s appeal is wrapped up in the sentimentality of history, but its push for a modern, glittering future risks leaving that behind.

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Exercise can benefit people who have, or are recovering from, a serious illness, including cancer. The problem is, people who are very ill often have muscle weakness and other side effects that prevent them from being physically active. It’s a catch-22 situation.

For the first time, this year’s UEFA Women’s Euro tournament will be televised live in the UK on Channel 4.

Cersei Lannister and her brother Jaime in Game of Thrones. Sky Atlantic

“Enemies to the east, enemies to the west, enemies to the south, enemies to the north. Whatever stands in our way, we will defeat it.” So says Cersei Lannister to her brother Jamie, as she considers the various threats to her reign.

Mme Soazig de la Moissonniere/Elysee.

Newly elected French president, Emmanuel Macron, conceives of his role as that of a master purveyor of narratives and signs. His recently unveiled official portrait is just the latest in a series of symbolic stagings, which started the very night he was elected.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a polarising figure to say the least, but few would deny that he’s an extremely talented and determined politician. That much is clear from just how long he has lasted in Israeli politics – an environment in which it’s notoriously difficult to survive, never mind thrive. Along with David Ben-Gurion, he is the only Israeli prime minister to have served four terms, surpassing Ben-Gurion by being elected three times in a row. He now looks set to become the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history. Читать дальше...

We need to get noticed. Fred Ho

When the Trump administration was still deciding whether America should remain in the Paris climate agreement, the president’s closest officials lined up on different sides of the debate. Those in favour of the agreement included Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, a career property developer, and the secretary of state and former chief executive of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson.

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Facebook recently announced that it now has over 2 billion monthly users. This makes its “population” larger than that of China, the US, Mexico and Japan combined. Its popularity, and with it the influence it has in society, is beyond dispute. But for many the experience of actually using the site fluctuates somewhere between the addictive and the annoying. Our new research shows that the reason for this is very simple. It’s all to do with other people, and how we feel about them.

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With its rolling hills, fresh water lakes and family attractions, it’s not hard to see why the Lake District is the UK’s most popular national park. Every year more than 18m people take a trip there to enjoy the stunning scenery.

The World Para Athletics Championships in London will feature ten eligible impairment types: eight physical, intellectual and visual. Public understanding of the issue has grown through media reporting and LEXI – the revolutionary system used by Channel 4 which explains the different classifications. But very little is known about the actual process and the implications for athletes. In visually impaired (VI) sport, the organisation of different “classes” for international competition is complex and vary wildly across the disciplines. Читать дальше...

Does my BMI look big in this? Shutterstock

Wedding vows traditionally account for the possibility of bumps in the road ahead. For richer for poorer is an admirable sentiment. But they rarely mention a couple’s changing fortunes when it comes to body mass index (BMI). It is not unusual for newlyweds to notice their waistlines expanding. And my research has shown that marriage does indeed make men fatter.

A Crusader Castle decoration stone at the Arabic Fortress Citadel in Kerak, Jordan, built in 1142. Bill Perry/Shutterstock

Islamic State (IS) continues to use its online propaganda magazine to appropriate the Crusades of the central middle ages. By blurring time periods and disparate historical phenomena, IS presents its readers with a narrative of continuous Western “crusader” aggression as a rallying cry for support and a justification for its actions. This “crusader” narrative has little basis in historical fact ... Читать дальше...

One of the largest icebergs ever recorded has just broken away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica. Over the past few years I’ve led a team that has been studying this ice shelf and monitoring change. We spent many weeks camped on the ice investigating melt ponds and their impact – and struggling to avoid sunburn thanks to the thin ozone layer. Our main approach, however, is to use satellites to keep an eye on things.

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Fraud investigators have warned that people are being targeted by scammers who persuade them to invest their pensions in self-storage units. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation in May, saying that a thousand people had invested around £120m into the schemes.

No flush. Author provided, Author provided

Across the world, almost three billion people do not have the luxury of a flushing toilet. Instead they rely on static sanitation systems, like pit latrines to deal with their waste. As these are not often connected to a sewer, they require manual emptying and disposal.