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461 - 470 from 772 . In "Opinion / Editorial"
Flying in the face of reality
IN less than half a century, civil air travel has moved from being relative luxury to a commodity. Once it was mostly only governments that could afford to buy new aircraft and the state companies operated them. To be an airline employee, particularly a pilot, was a high-status, high-pay job. But times and the economics of flying have changed. Last year a record 4.1 billion passengers took some sort of commercial flight.A revolution in aircraft finance whereby airlines can lease rather than buy planes outright, improvements in engine efficiency and aerodynamics, increased aircraft carrying capacity and the rapid expansion of airports around the world underpinned the steep takeoff in passenger numbers. But probably the greatest impact on the sector was the disruptive arrival of the low-cost...
May 08, 2018

Flying in the face of reality

Subcontinent too needs peace
IN the last week of last month President Kim Jong Un of North Korea met his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in in a village near the South Korean border. North and South Korea have been divided for more than 70 years and it was the third inter-Korean summit. The last one took place some 11 years ago.Will the meeting lead to genuine detente and peace in the Korean Peninsula? It is too early to say, for, everything depends on the success of another, even more important historic summit: The one between Kim and US President Donald Trump.Let us assume that all goes according to the most rosy scenario cooked up by some in the Trump administration and the Korean Peninsula basks in the sunshine of peace.Naturally, this has turned the world’s attention to another volatile region: South Asia. If...
May 07, 2018

Subcontinent too needs peace

No Nobel
The Nobel Prize for Literature will not be going to anyone this year following a harassment scandal. However, the Swedish Academy that awards the annual literature prize should actually receive a prize for keeping its dirty linen hidden from public view for what looks like years.The allegations of harassment and assault relate to Jean-Claude Arnault, whose actions allegedly involved more than 20 women.As a result of Arnault’s behavior, his wife Katarina Frostenson stepped down as a member of the academy last month in the wake of the allegations. Then, the panel’s permanent secretary and most senior official, Sara Danius, was forced from her post over the Arnault scandal.This could have been just a one-off story of impropriety that did its damage, and that would be that. But the story...
May 06, 2018

No Nobel

Starbucks shuts ADL out
In trying to extricate itself from its recent controversy, Starbucks should be praised for not only holding anti-bias training sessions but also excluding the Jewish Anti-Defamation League from developing the curriculum of those sessions, as was originally planned.The anti-bias training was prompted by the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks who asked to use the bathroom without making a purchase as they waited to meet a business associate. A video of the arrest went viral, prompting a public backlash and the trending hashtag #BoycottStarbucks.Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson quickly apologized, calling the situation “reprehensible”. On April 17, the company announced it would close more than 8,000 US locations to conduct mandatory training to prevent racial bias, using a...
May 05, 2018

Starbucks shuts ADL out

Terrorists add to Libya’s violent chaos
THIS week’s attack on the main voter registration center in the Libyan capital Tripoli was certainly the work of the local Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS). Two suicide bombers first blew themselves up, then the building was stormed by gunmen. The battle ended with the center partially gutted by fire. The number of attackers is still unknown and it is unclear how many were killed or captured.Such vagueness is par for the course in today’s sclerotic and chaotic Libya. The country’s electoral commission immediately issued an assurance that the voter registrations so far collected had not been destroyed because, they said, the records had been backed up. It would be good to believe this, but the country is awash with lies and disinformation. It is also crowded with conspiracy theories....
May 04, 2018

Terrorists add to Libya’s violent chaos

Merkel miscalculates on bigotry
It is extremely worrying when a move that is designed to combat bigotry looks very much as if it is itself bigoted. Anti-Semitism has once again reared its ugly head in Germany. In the wake of a spate of verbal and physical attacks, Jewish leaders have been advising male Jews not to wear the traditional skullcap, the yarmulke, in public.The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has been quick to respond to the concerns of Germany’s small Jewish community. It has appointed a new anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, who has said that current crime statistics do not fully capture all the hate crimes against Jews. Therefore, it has been decided to establish a specific database that will log all anti-Semitic incidents. This will include details, not simply of those convicted of these...
May 03, 2018

Merkel miscalculates on bigotry

Computer complexity
One of the most remarkable features about the computers which now dominate the lives of virtually everyone in the developed world is that at their core are just two “bits” of information, “1” and “0”. In 1965, the US academic Gordon Moore predicted that the power of computer chips which manipulate this binary code would double every two years and so it has proved. It was later added that over the same period the cost of the chips would have halved which has also turned out to be correct.It is equally remarkable that computers go wrong so infrequently. And generally, when they fail, it is a result of human error, not a technology malfunction. For the past two weeks, customers of a UK bank have experienced the consequences of just such a mistake when their records were...
May 02, 2018

Computer complexity

Iran’s noteworthy graffiti
IRANIANS opposed to the incompetent rule of the ayatollahs have come up with the ruse of “Talking banknotes” by which they scrawl anti-regime messages on currency. It is not yet clear how widespread is the action but it comes as a protest against Tehran’s clampdown on the highly popular social media platform Telegram.The messages include “I am an overthrower” the slogan from last December’s far-flung protests against economic hardship and “Our enemy is right here. They say it is America”.It is reported that some 40 million Iranians were using this social medium until the regime banned it. However, as with all such prohibitions, technology-savvy members can circumvent the block by using proxy servers. Thus, even though the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...
May 01, 2018

Iran’s noteworthy graffiti

An historic summit
Even for people who are physically and politically thousands of light years away from the problems of North and South Korea, the historic summit of the leaders of the two countries was a sight worthy of pause.Banner headlines told a story of stunning developments. Heady pronouncements were made by the North’s Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in of South Korea after talks at the border, where one step either way of the demarcation line symbolically put the pair into the nation of the other. Until now, that dividing line was enemy territory for each leader. On Friday, Kim and Moon decided to venture both ways in lockstep holding hands.It was an extraordinary reversal from where these two countries were just a few short months ago after nuclear war rhetoric from North Korea and the US put the world...
April 29, 2018

An historic summit

Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman’s snub
By boycotting a major Israeli event, Hollywood star Natalie Portman, normally a staunch supporter of Israel, has shown she is willing – and has the right – to take a very public vocal stand against the Israeli government.Portman was scheduled to travel to Jerusalem to receive the Genesis Prize, a prominent award to individuals dedicated to the Jewish community. Last week, she abruptly canceled her visit, writing that she “did not want to appear as endorsing [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu”.Portman declined to say why Netanyahu had angered her. It could be connected to the international criticism of Israel for its military response to Palestinian protests on the Gaza-Israel border during the last few weeks, in which 35 Palestinians have been killed. Or Netanyahu’s...
April 28, 2018

Natalie Portman’s snub

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