 11 October, 2021 In the headlines Prince Charles can "totally understand" the frustrations of Extinction Rebellion protestors, he tells the BBC in an interview from Balmoral, but says it hurts the cause to block motorways or anything else that "alienates people". For his part, the prince has converted his beloved Aston Martin to run on English white wine and cheese. Sydney has emerged from a 106-day lockdown after the state of New South Wales achieved a 70% double vaccination target. Queues formed outside barbers and pubs. One happy publican told the BBC: "We're stoked to be back." Boris Johnson is on holiday in Marbella, staying at a villa owned by Zac Goldsmith. "Well," says Politico, "that's one way to keep warm without putting the heating on."
Comment of the day  An aerobatics display by the Chinese air force on October 2. Zhang Zhou/Zhuhai Media Group/VCG/Getty Images China's arrogance could prove its downfall China doesn't want to conquer the world, says Renaud Girard in Le Figaro, but to become the undisputed ruler of Asia. It's already there economically. Now it wants political supremacy too: for there to be no US military presence between the Bay of Bengal and Hawaii. Until the 2008 Beijing Olympics it played a smart game, presenting itself as a modest, underdeveloped nation "without great political ambition" that sought nothing more than to join the world market. Touched by this, the West let China "plunder" its technology and become the "workshop of the world". Slowly, other Indo-Pacific countries became economically dependent on their powerful neighbour. But China didn't have the patience to let this strategy quietly run its course. To boost popular support, the Chinese Communist Party ramped up nationalism: it claimed sovereignty over uninhabited Japan-administered islands and built military airfields on reefs in the contested South China Sea. "Faced with this expansionism, all the countries of the Indo-Pacific took fright" – and they asked America's military to hang around. Now Australia has signed the Aukus treaty with the US and Britain. "Xi Jinping's China has forgotten that in Asia arrogance has always hurt power." Why it matters
The nasty side of the gender wars Female academics are facing "death threats, witch-hunts and lost livelihoods", says Janice Turner in The Times. Why? For taking the wrong side in the "gender wars". The latest victim is Kathleen Stock, a philosophy professor at Sussex University. Protesters have plastered walls with posters demanding that she be sacked and let off flares beside a sign reading "Stock Out". A new Instagram account, Anti Terf Sussex (Terf stands for "Trans-exclusionary radical feminist"), has menacingly warned that if she isn't sacked, "you'll see us around". Stock's crime is arguing that biological sex is "immutable" and that in some cases, such as in prisons, rape counselling and sport, it should take precedence over gender identity to protect women's rights. This is a "mainstream opinion" protected under the 2010 Equality Act. But her tormenters believe "trans people literally change sex", and that in granting her freedom of speech, the university is discriminating against the trans community. Stock is "no right-wing bigot" – she's a "a mild-mannered, dry-humoured, left-wing lesbian" who calls her students by their preferred pronouns. But that's not enough for these deranged and totalitarian "ideologues". Sussex's vice-chancellor, Adam Tickell, has rightly stuck up for Stock. But how many others "have kept their heads down"? It's time for all of us to "come out of the shadows" and "show a tiny proportion of the courage Kathleen Stock shows every day".
Life  instagram.com/adele How I admire Adele for her honesty, says Sarah Vine in The Mail on Sunday, and envy her for her bravery – leaving her husband and the father of her child simply because it didn't feel right for her any more. "I wasn't miserable miserable," she told Vogue, "but I would have been miserable had I not put myself first." Racked by guilt, women of my generation stifle and suppress their desires, says Vine. Adele has the courage to say with no shame: "What do I want?" And to just go out and get it. "As women, we lose ourselves as we get older. We become soft and blurred, not just as our hair fades and our jowls soften, but as our personalities, our desires, our ambitions, our hopes and dreams become subsumed by the needs of others. "We have so little time to ourselves we forget who we are, or were, defined only by the demands of others. Living not the life we've deliberately chosen, but the one that's left over after everyone else has had their turn. But too scared to budge, too exhausted to break free, and often too frightened to do so. And ashamed of our own feelings."
Tomorrow's world  A "Robocop" has started to patrol Salt Lake Park in Los Angeles, says the BBC, leading to a 50% fall in the number of crimes being reported and a 30% increase in arrests. The K5 Robot has a 360-degree camera and uses AI to detect "anomalies" such as fights and vandalism. It isn't armed – but it does have a button that can be used to contact a real police officer.
Inside politics Donald Trump's rally in Iowa on Saturday night "provided the clearest evidence yet" that his party wants him to run again in 2024, says Meridith McGraw in Politico. The former president was accompanied by "a who's who of influential Republicans" – clearly, whatever qualms the GOP may have had about Trump are now "faded memories".
Snapshot 
Noted Spain is offering 18- to 35-year-olds €250 a month to move out of their parents' homes, says Quartz. Nearly two-thirds of Spaniards under 29 are still living with mum and dad – they typically leave home four years later than the EU average. Three-quarters of Brits have flown the nest by the time they're 29.
Snapshot answer They're basketball star Michael Jordan's old trainers, worn during his first NBA season in 1984-85. The beaten-up Nike Air Ships are expected to sell for up to $1.5m when Sotheby's puts them under the hammer on October 24. The auctioneer entered the trainer market in 2019 to attract millennials and its sneaker sales are on track to hit $5m this year.
Quoted "To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time." That's it. You're done. Been forwarded this newsletter? Sign up to receive it every day and get free access to up to six articles a month Subscribe for a free three-month trial with full access to our app and website. Download our app from the App Store or Google Play
Unsubscribe from the newsletter |
October 11, 2021
China’s arrogance could prove its downfall
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment