Новости за 27.08.2020

AMONG THE many controversies that divide Muslim thinkers, the status of dogs is a minor one. But every now and then the debate is renewed. Earlier this month Egypt’s grand mufti, Shawki Allam, weighed in on the side of man’s best friend. Whereas some interpretations of Islam deem dogs impure, Mr Allam says: “It is possible to coexist with a dog and still worship God.” Citing the Maliki school of Islam, he claims that every living animal is pure.

HONEY Ross shared a completely naked picture on Instagram as it emerged her famous dad attempted to put her on “toxic” diets when she was younger. In an unearthed snap from 2019, 23-year-old Honey shows off her curves in all their glory – using heart emojis to cover her modesty and adhere to Instagram rules. […]

One of the rooms that didn't receive so much attention from me in lockdown was the bathroom, so now I'm trying to add some style to its functionality, writes Anya Cooklin-Lofting

MONTENEGRO IS ONE of those countries whose landscape—glittering mountain peaks, azure seas—is every bit as magnificent as it looks in tourist brochures. The campaign for its general election on August 30th, however, has been ugly. The government’s supporters accuse the main opposition coalition of being “clerical fascists”. The opposition call on voters not to back “unbelievers”. How things came to this pass requires a bit of explanation.

A HUGE MODERNIST university campus is emerging amid farmland on a plateau south of the French capital. The University of Paris-Saclay, officially launched this year, merges some 20 higher-education and research institutions. It has a teaching and research staff of 9,000, catering to 48,000 students—more than Harvard or Stanford. Specialised in science, it is France’s attempt to create, in President Emmanuel Macron’s words, an “MIT à la française”. Such ambition once seemed fanciful. Yet in August... Читать дальше...

IF YOU ARE enjoying a succulent piece of fresh fruit in Europe this summer, the chance is high that you have a Bulgarian to thank for it. Every year tens of thousands of workers from the eastern Balkan country fan out to pick, pluck, dig and water on farms in Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and elsewhere. When covid-19 shut borders this spring, western European farmers panicked, and governments rapidly surrendered to their demands to let the Bulgarians in.

FEW INDUSTRIES have whipsawed in the covid-19 recession as violently as medical-device makers. The pandemic led to a collapse in elective medical procedures requiring their sophisticated kit, dealing a powerful blow to sales. At the same time, the crisis created opportunities for firms making ventilators and testing kit.

DEPENDING ON WHOM you ask, California is a leader in clean energy or a cautionary tale. Power outages in August prompted stern critiques from Republicans. “In California”, Donald Trump tweeted, “Democrats have intentionally implemented rolling blackouts—forcing Americans in the dark.” In addition to provoking outrage and derision, however, the episode is also likely to inspire investment.

MANY BIG companies may be struggling with depressed sales, but these are busy times for bribery-busters. Mexico is abuzz over allegations by an ex-boss of Pemex, the state oil giant, that several senior politicians received bungs from companies including Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction firm (see article). The scandal is the latest in a string of graft cases to make headlines this year, starting with Airbus’s record $4bn settlement in January over accusations of corruption for making illegal payments in various countries. Читать дальше...

THE OFFICIAL story is that Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’s president, won a sweeping victory. On August 9th some 4.7m people, 80% of Belarusian voters, cast their ballots for him. Just 10% voted for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a former English teacher who replaced her jailed dissident husband on the ballot. But few in the benighted country believe the official account, which is why Belarus has seen nearly three weeks of protests demanding Mr Lukashenko’s resignation.

HORDES OF INVADERS gallop into China, armed with sinister, supernatural powers. As they thunder towards the capital, it falls to a simple country girl to foil the attack. Over mountains and across deserts, dodging arrows and unleashing batteries of fireworks, in 115 action-packed minutes plucky Hua Mulan sees off the dastardly foreigners and brings honour to China.

THE CHINESE LANGUAGE is rich in concise, sardonic sayings, many of which reflect universal truths. It also includes lots of phrases steeped in a world view that is distinct to China. One such is yi buguo erdai, meaning “no doctor’s child becomes a doctor”. This may be accompanied by a cynical shrug, perhaps after reading about the latest Chinese hospital boss arrested for bribe-taking or a fresh scandal involving fake medicines. The saying is also used on hearing news outlets describe another... Читать дальше...

NORTH KOREAN dictators are not given to self-deprecation. Indeed, they seldom admit to being anything less than godlike, and lock up those who suggest otherwise. Yet in mid-August Kim Jong Un told a meeting of the Workers’ Party that, owing to multiple “unexpected difficulties”, his government had recently failed to improve the lives of the people and meet its economic goals. To remedy the situation, the report in the party newspaper went on, a party congress would be convened in January to adopt a new five-year plan. Читать дальше...

MOST TRAVELLERS see the food as one of the least palatable aspects of air travel. Rubiyanto Haliman is not most travellers. A worker at an Indonesian shrimp hatchery who flew four to six times a month before the pandemic, he collects in-flight menus, magazines and tumblers, and likes to post pictures of aeroplane food to his Instagram feed—not in an ironic way. The past few months, with airlines largely grounded, have been difficult for him. He so misses the experience of flying that a couple... Читать дальше...

IN THE FACE of covid-19, world leaders have fallen into four camps. The first group denies there is a problem: think of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan, who fined his subjects for wearing face masks before ordering everyone to don them as a protection against “dust”. The second group recognises the threat and counters it with maximum coercion, regardless of civil liberties: think of Xi Jinping in China. The third group, which includes most democracies, handles the tricky trade-off between... Читать дальше...

FOR ABE SHINZO August 24th was supposed to be a celebration. It was his 2,799th straight day as Japan’s prime minister, making him the longest-serving in the country’s history, surpassing a record set by his great-uncle, Sato Eisaku. Instead, Mr Abe spent the afternoon at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo undergoing medical checks and denying reports that he was about to step down.

IN THE PAST two decades Nigeria’s film industry has blossomed into a mighty national asset. Its romances, family sagas and tales of derring-do are lapped up by many millions of viewers at home, across the rest of Africa and in the African diaspora. It employs more than a million people and generates nearly $2bn a year from cinema tickets and DVD sales, TV rights, royalties and fees. Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital and film hub, is said to produce more films than there are stars in the sky.

WHEN THE number of irregular migrants crossing into Europe spiked in 2015, policymakers scrambled to stem the flow. One of the more humane ideas they latched onto was an old one: to slow migration by targeting its “root causes”. Growth and opportunity at home, the thinking went, would dull people’s enthusiasm to up sticks. So the European Union set up a multi-billion-euro trust fund for Africa. And indeed, irregular migration to Europe, while still a big issue, has fallen considerably from its peak five years ago. Читать дальше...

TWO STORMS battered the Caribbean before heading towards the United States. Marco led, becoming a hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, followed by Laura, which strengthened to a category-four hurricane. The 12th named Atlantic storm this year, Laura arrived earlier than any other with that place in the sequence. It struck Haiti (pictured), where at least 21 people died, and the Dominican Republic, where four died.

ONE OF THE rituals of Mexican politics is for a president to begin his term by locking up a supposed miscreant from the previous administration. Four of the six presidents from 1982 to 2018 did that. They incarcerated two union leaders, a former president’s brother and the head of Pemex, the state oil company. They presented these as giant victories in the fight against corruption. But they were not. Two of the jailbirds were acquitted, one was pardoned and the sentence of the fourth was overturned. Читать дальше...

WHEN DONALD TRUMP appeared at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, the party’s establishment was still shell-shocked by his nomination. Yet its politico, donor and lobbyist members consoled themselves with the thought that, given his probable loss to Hillary Clinton, they would soon have a chance to reunify their party in furious opposition, and reclaim it. While a few senior Republicans—including the governor of Ohio, John Kasich—condemned Mr Trump, most merely gave the convention a miss. Читать дальше...

HOW MUCH of a risk is opening schools during the pandemic? Experience from a number of countries is starting to shed some light.

“JOE KENNEDY knows how a legacy is earned,” begins a new campaign ad for Joe Kennedy, a 39-year-old congressman who is running for the US Senate in Massachusetts. The ad weaves footage of Mr Kennedy helping his constituents with images of his famous family. His great-great-grandfather was a Boston mayor, his dad was a congressman, his great-uncle was president, another served as senator and his grandfather was attorney-general, a senator and a presidential candidate. A Kennedy running for the Senate in Massachusetts should be a shoo-in... Читать дальше...

THE FIRST meeting between teachers in Montpelier, Vermont, before the start of the autumn term is usually festive—hugging over breakfast and coffee. This year they had to make do with an online videoconference. After a scramble in the spring (to set up online learning, pack lunches for poor pupils who relied on them and ship computers to those without them), the district plans to let younger pupils return for in-person learning on September 8th. High school will remain partly online because the... Читать дальше...

UNTIL RECENTLY, most people asked to identify “Q” would mention an eccentric inventor of gadgets for James Bond. Now a nastier, if equally fictitious, Q is becoming better known. Digital searches surged this month among people who hoped to unpick the meaning of “QAnon”—an anti-Semitic and incoherent conspiracy theory. It has been spun for three years in cryptic messages posted by Q, posing as a senior government official.