Новости за 25.08.2017

When the US president, Donald Trump, was asked to clarify his position on the violence that unfolded in Charlottesville, Virginia during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York, he poured gasoline on a raging fire.

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Self-driving cars will change how we live, in all sorts of ways. But they won’t just affect us humans – the coming revolution in autonomous transport has significant implications for wildlife as well. Nature conservationists and planners need to think hard about the impact of driverless vehicles, most notably in terms of renewed urban sprawl.

Who could have predicted it would end like this? Shutterstock

The heads of more than 100 of the world’s top artificial intelligence companies are very alarmed about the development of “killer robots”. In an open letter to the UN, these business leaders – including Tesla’s Elon Musk and the founders of Google’s DeepMind AI firm – warned that autonomous weapon technology could be misused by terrorists and despots or hacked to perform in undesirable ways.

Western Europe’s last remaining home-grown terrorist organisation finally ceased operations in 2011 when Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent ceasefire. And yet the decades of violence continue to cast a long shadow over Basque society and political life. As politicians on both sides remain as antagonistic as ever, novelists and other writers are taking on the challenge of tackling the subject with far more eloquence and nuance, telling stories that could provide a much-needed form of remembrance, catharsis and understanding. Читать дальше...

Sky Atlantic/©2017 Home Box Office, Inc

For Game of Thrones fans, the current series has been a bit of a mystery. As the television writers have picked up the storyline where author George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice novels ended, there is, for the first time, no original text to refer back to.

Anyone who knows about the educational underachievement of boys compared to girls will have been surprised by the headlines about the 2017 A-level results. The Telegraph wrote that “boys are beating girls” and spoke of a “dramatic reversal”. The Belfast Telegraph also reported that “boys emerged as the winners in this summer’s results”, while the BBC’s article, with the headline “boys help to raise A-level grades” stated:

Chile had one of the most restrictive abortion policies in the entire world. After years of campaigning, Chile’s president, Michelle Bachelet, has finally pushed through a bill that will allow the termination of a pregnancy in three cases – when the woman’s life is in danger, when a foetus is unviable, or in cases of rape.

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Research into how we can keep our brains healthy as we age has gained momentum in recent years. There is now an increased focus on the changes that we can makes to our health and lifestyle, which may prevent dementia. Here are some things that research has shown reduce a person’s risk of cognitive decline with age.

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Research into how we can keep our brains healthy as we age has gained momentum in recent years. There is now an increased focus on the changes that we can makes to our health and lifestyle, which may prevent dementia.

The headlines state it clearly, and in capital letters. “Migrant crisis: Spain rescues 600 people in busiest day,” wrote the BBC. “Spain rescues HUNDREDS of migrants crossing from Morocco,” exclaimed the UK’s Express. According to these reports, there is a growing migrant crisis in Spain as the number of people crossing the Strait of Gibraltar by boat increases. The problem is, in most of them there’s a little evidence, a lot of dramatising and not much perspective. So is it right to speak of a crisis? Читать дальше...

The headlines state it clearly, and in capital letters. “Migrant crisis: Spain rescues 600 people in busiest day,” wrote the BBC. “Spain rescues HUNDREDS of migrants crossing from Morocco,” exclaimed the Express. According to these reports, there is a growing migrant crisis in Spain as the number of people crossing the Strait of Gibraltar by boat increases. The problem is, in most of them there’s a little evidence, a lot of dramatising and not much perspective. So is it right to speak of a crisis? Читать дальше...

It's a man's world. shutterstock.com

Why should we care that, in Hollywood, female actors earn less than male ones? The latest tally of star pay, compiled by Forbes magazine, has men far outstripping women’s earnings. The highest paid woman – Emma Stone – makes her appearance at number 15, earning US$42m (£33m) less than the highest paid man, Mark Wahlberg.

Giles Keyte for Channel 4

It seems quite unfounded that Channel 4 has had to defend its new four-part drama, The State. The series – written by BAFTA award-winner Peter Kosminsky – follows two British men and two British women who decide to go to Syria and join Islamic State. Encouraged to forget their past lives in the UK in favour of living segregated lives where the men are taught to fight and the woman become their chattels, the series is as compelling and gripping as it is disturbing and discomforting. Читать дальше...

A surveillance photograph of Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge, 1992. U.S. Marshal Service/Wikimedia Commons

History matters a great deal on the American right – and a highly significant anniversary is just around the corner.