Author: James Martin

No doubt, the products of science have brought great benefits to humankind. But in their pursuit of new achievements, its practitioners haven’t always comported themselves in ways that inspire universal trust. To better understand what I mean, consider the history of smallpox, which in the 18th Century was a pandemic much more deadly than Covid-19.Story continues below advertisementA British doctor named Edward Jenner had a theory as to why the disease didn’t seem to affect one sector of society: milkmaids. Perhaps, he thought, an itchy affliction the milkmaids contracted from cattle – cowpox – also conferred protection. So on a…

“When you sleep, you forget about the dramatic moments in your life. You forget about complications and obsessions, so every morning you can start a new life with new hope.”The words were written by the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran but they could just as well have belonged to the Dynamo Kyiv manager, Mircea Lucescu. When the first Russian bombs landed near Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in the early hours of 24 February Lucescu was sleeping.“I woke up in the middle of the night and thought: ‘What’s with the weather? Thunderstorms in February? I heard a huge noise and the…

Good morning. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, will face the Commons Treasury committee this afternoon where he will take questions on last week’s spring statement, which has been widely criticised by people from all sides of the politial spectrum. He will probably also be asked about energy policy, and a report in the Financial Times this morning saying that the government’s energy security strategy is being further delayed because Sunak is reluctant to sign off on a new spending splurge. In its story the FT reports: Boris Johnson’s promised energy security strategy has been delayed again, as chancellor Rishi Sunak continues…

1. Does Covid Zero mean zero cases? Yes, ideally. Beijing’s perception of Covid hasn’t changed much since the virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan: It’s a public health threat that must be eliminated at all costs, whether it’s spreading via people or animals or lurking on frozen food or mail from abroad. To achieve this, China requires at least two weeks in quarantine for anyone arriving from other countries. Domestically, even the slightest flareup is met with a barrage of targeted testing, contact tracing and quarantines to nip it in the bud, with citywide lockdowns as a…

Leicester City’s 1-0 victory against Southampton at Filbert Street on Saturday 9 September 2000 was a thoroughly unremarkable game. The home side dominated for long periods before the original Harry Maguire prototype, Gerry Taggart, headed them into a deserved lead from a Steve Guppy corner after 66 minutes. Leicester held out for the win, surviving a late penalty appeal from Southampton when James Beattie went down under a challenge from Tim Flowers.While the match may not have lived long in the memory of anyone who saw or played in it, it was a very special occasion for at least one…

(CNN) — Superyachts have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks as more and more vessels linked to Russian oligarchs are temporarily frozen.Some of the largest and most expensive superyachts in the world, including Sailing Yacht A, which is valued at over $500 million, and $120 million yacht Amore Vero, are languishing at ports and shipyards after the United States, the UK and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia as part of a foreign pressure campaign over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury…

War crimes have been committed in the Ukraine, no doubt in my mind. The evidence is clear on that. It’s right to collect that evidence because it’s also important, you know, my family had experience with Saddam Hussein. It’s important that despots and dictators understand that there will be a reckoning. And that reckoning will come through the international criminal court in The Hague, as we’ve seen in Bosnia, and of course, in other parts of the world. It’s really important. This is not something that should be taken lightly, that someone can go into a country illegally, and start…

Will Smith was the talking point of Sunday night’s 94th Academy Awards when he slapped presenter Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife.And the Internet was soon awash with memes and reaction to one of the most shocking moments in Oscar history.Twitter responded by admitting they had had no interest in the annual Hollywood awards ceremony up until now but the slap had taken over their timeline in spectacular style. Get ready for the memes: Will Smith was the talking point of Sunday night’s 94th Academy Awards when he slapped presenter Chris Rock for making a joke about his…

Only one(1) global publishing platform remains: Telegram, a messaging app that has morphed into more of a broadcasting service, where an array of “channels” with millions of subscribers blast truth, as well as lies, about the Ukraine conflict. The app continues to run without any apparent interference from Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the likely reason will be infuriating for anyone who backs strict controls on misleading content: Telegram does absolutely nothing about fake news.     Telegram bans spam, scams, violence and porn in its terms of service, and does so pretty lightly; it has hundreds of content moderators compared with Facebook’s more…

A hunter must hunt, and so too must they race, according to the creator of the recently released PS1 “” of FromSoftware’s . This week, Bloodborne PSX developer Lilith Walther announced she’s working on Bloodborne Kart, a project she plans to release “when it’s ready.” As you can probably guess from its title, Bloodborne Kart looks to reimagine the sprawling city of Yharnam as the setting for an arcade racer. The teaser Walther shared didn’t include much in the way of gameplay, but we do get to see Bloodborne’s protagonist and their slick new motorcycle depicted in the iconic pixelated style…