Nobel laureate Tim Hunt resigns over remarks about 'girls' in labs | ||
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London (AFP) - British Nobel Prize-winning scientist Tim Hunt has resigned from his post at University College London over controversial comments he made about female scientists. Hunt has apologised for causing offence after his suggestion Tuesday that female scientists could not take criticism without crying and that relationships between men and women in the laboratory disrupted work. The 72-year-old said his comments, made at a lunch for women attending the World Conference of Science Journalists in South Korea, were intended to be light-hearted but also "honest". University College London said in a statement that Hunt had resigned from his position as honorary professor with the UCL Faculty of Life Sciences following the remarks. "UCL was the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms to men, and the university believes that this outcome is compatible with our commitment to gender equality," it said. Hunt, who shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of protein molecules that control the division of cells, holds other posts. "Let me tell you about my trouble with girls," he was reported as saying in South Korea. "Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry." The 72-year-old also called himself a "chauvinist pig". Speaking to BBC radio on Wednesday, he admitted making the comments but added: "I'm really sorry that I said what I said. It was a very stupid thing to do. "What was intended as a sort of light-hearted, ironic comment was apparently interpreted deadly seriously. "It's terribly important that you can criticise people's ideas without criticising them and if they burst into tears it means that you tend to hold back from getting at the absolute truth. "Anything that gets in the way of that diminishes, in my experience, the science." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Nestle challenges noodles ban in Indian court | ||
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Mumbai (AFP) - Nestle said Thursday it is challenging a ban imposed by India on its hugely popular Maggi instant noodles brand after tests showed they contained excessive levels of lead. Nestle said it had approached the high court in the western city of Mumbai seeking a judicial review of a June 5 order from the government's food safety regulator banning the product. "Nestle India Limited has today approached the Hon'ble Bombay High Court raising issues of interpretation of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2011," said a statement posted on the company's website. It said it was also challenging a separate order from the state government of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital. Nestle, which says the noodles are safe to eat, had already announced it was pulling the product from sale when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) imposed a national ban following similar moves by some state governments. On Thursday the company said it would keep the product off store shelves despite the court action. The FSSAI said last week it was banning the company from producing and selling the noodles after tests by some states had found lead levels above statutory limits. It concluded the noodles were "unsafe and hazardous for human consumption". The safety scare is a huge blow to the company, which has been selling its Maggi brand for over three decades in India, and has 80 percent of the country's instant noodle market. Shares in Nestle India, a subsidiary of the Swiss-based giant, fell more than 9.0 percent on the Bombay Stock Exchange last week as the controversy escalated. The company's global chief executive Paul Bulcke flew to India last week to try to reassure consumers over the safety scare, telling a press conference on Friday that the noodles were "safe for consumption". But the move failed to convince India's government, which on Monday said it would seek damages from Nestle for false advertising. Maggi noodles -- marketed as a quick and healthy snack -- grew increasingly popular as more and more Indians moved away from their homes to study or seek work. It emerged as one of India's five most trusted brands in a consumer survey conducted last year. Several celebrities have endorsed Maggi over the years, including Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Nestle, which markets a huge range of food items from Nescafe instant coffee to KitKat bars, said last week that Maggi noodles would return to the market "as soon as the current situation is clarified". The court will hear submissions from both sides on June 18, according to a listing on its website. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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These leaked images suggest Nest is about to launch a new wireless camera (GOOG) | ||
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Leaked images obtained by Droid Report suggest that home technology company Nest is about to launch a new wireless camera. This would be Nest's first new product since it was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion (£2.07 billion) in 2014. Nest is holding press conferences in San Francisco and London on June 17 where the company is expected to officially unveil its new product, although details so far have been sparse.
Droid Report notes that the so-called Nest Cam looks similar to the Dropcam — Nest's previous camera — but it is slimmer and sleeker. Meanwhile, job ads posted by the company signal that Nest is interested in home audio, and it could be preparing to launch a product called Nest Audio. We don't know exactly what that could be, but it's likely to be similar to Amazon's smart speaker, the Amazon Echo. Nest is best known for its Nest Protect line of home security alarms, as well as the Nest Thermostat, which lets users control the heating in their home with an internet-connected device. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 5 clever iPhone tricks only power users know about  | ||
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Australian talks tackle jihadists' use of social media | ||
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Sydney (AFP) - The Islamic State group has "global ambitions" and more must be done to tackle its use of social media for recruitment, representatives of governments and technology giants heard in Australia Thursday. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the regional extremism conference it was vital to find ways to stymie the ideology of extremists who are drawing thousands of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria. "You can't negotiate with an entity like this, you can only fight it," he said of Islamic State, to an audience including high-level officials from 30 nations, as well as Facebook, Twitter and Google. "This is not terrorism for a local grievance, this is terrorism with global ambitions," Abbott said. "The only really effective defence against terrorism is persuading people that it's pointless. "We need idealistic young people to appreciate that joining this death cult (IS) is an utterly misguided and wrong-headed way to express their desire to sacrifice. How this is best done is, of course, the work of this conference." The two-day meeting comes as US President Barack Obama approved the deployment of 450 more military trainers to Iraq, joining an already 3,100-strong mission in the nation, in a cautious bid to reverse gains by IS. The new contingent will focus on efforts to wrest back control of provincial capital Ramadi after IS, which already controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria, seized the predominantly Sunni city near Baghdad in May. The Sydney gathering follows a similar meeting in Washington in February where Obama said nations had to tackle the root causes driving recruitment to such groups. But the three days of talks did not lead to any concrete plans of measures to be taken. Topics being discussed in Australia include working with social media, industry and civil society groups, combatting terrorist propaganda and the involvement of women and families in any measures.
- Role of social media -
"Terrorists have exploited social media to develop a brand and to flood their target audience with propaganda that casts local conflicts to global audiences, drawing in foreign fighters from every corner of the globe," Australian Attorney-General George Brandis said in opening remarks. "So over the next two days we will seek to deepen our shared understanding of the drivers that are pushing and pulling our citizens towards extremist ideologies." He earlier told Channel Nine television that Google, Facebook and Twitter's attendance showed their commitment in addressing online recruitment. "You are quite right when you say that online recruitment is one of the most rapidly emerging and most dangerous aspects of terrorist recruitment. No doubt at all it is aimed at the young," he said. "This has been to a large extent an ungoverned space in the past. Increasingly less so, by the way. "I want to stress that Google, Facebook, and Twitter have been very cooperative with governments trying to protect their populations from the use of online and social media as a recruitment tool." Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said families and friends of those who become radicalised had to be empowered to help counter the extremists' propaganda tactics. "Daesh (IS) adopts many of the same tactics as online sexual predators, grooming their young targets to not reveal their discussions or their changing beliefs to parents or friends," she said. "Someone from the same background, faith or socioeconomic situation listening to them is best placed to understand their motivations and to explain where they're being misled or manipulated." Australia, which raised its threat level to high last September and carried out a series of counter-terrorism raids, has introduced a set of national security measures including criminalising travel to terror hotspots. It has also boosted funding to police and security agencies and plans to table laws that will strip dual nationals linked to terrorism of their citizenship. More than 100 Australians are believed to have joined jihadists in the Middle East and at least 30 have been killed. Many others have been recruited from across the Asia-Pacific. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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French PM to repay part of Champions League trip | ||
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Saint-Denis de la Reunion (AFP) - France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Thursday he regretted a controversial trip to the Champions League final last weekend and announced he would pay back part of the cost amid howls of protest. Valls has come under intense pressure after it emerged he used a government jet to transport himself and his two sons to Berlin on Saturday for the final between Barcelona and Juventus. "Since this was an official trip, I used the means available to a prime minister," said Valls as he started a trip to the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion. "But I am of course sensitive to the reaction of the French people and I have to behave in a completely rigorous way. If the chance came up again, I wouldn't do it again," admitted Valls. "And to remove any doubt, I have decided to pay the costs for my two children, amounting to 2,500 euros ($2,800)," added the prime minister. A Barcelona native and fan of the team which won the match 3-1, Valls has insisted that he was there at the official invitation of Michel Platini, the head of the UEFA body that runs European football. But his image has been severely tarnished by the episode, with more than three out of four French people saying they were "shocked" by the trip, which cost up to 15,000 euros according to government sources. Paris has insisted Valls was there to discuss the forthcoming Euro 2016 championship to be held in France but the trip has gone down badly in a country struggling through an economic crisis with more than 10 percent unemployment. He later added fuel to the fire by talking about his "passion" for football and insisting he was entitled to moments of relaxation given his hectic workload. A jubilant opposition has seized on the trip to denounce Valls as a prime minister out of touch with the daily reality of the French people. And the press has been universally severe, with both Le Monde and Liberation dailies choosing the same footballing headline for their editorial -- "foul". Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius came to the prime minister's defence Thursday, saying the decision to pay back his children's trip was "wise", adding he hoped it would "close down the polemic." "The prime minister's trip was completely justifiable ... it's behind us," said Fabius on French television. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Reality starlet to wed prince in Swedish fairytale | ||
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Stockholm (AFP) - A former reality starlet, glamour model and yoga teacher will become a real-life princess in Sweden on Saturday when she marries Prince Carl Philip in a lavish Stockholm wedding. Sofia Hellqvist, a slender and elegant brunette, is a 30-year-old commoner known for her infectious gap-toothed smile and easygoing ways. Her fiance, 36-year-old Carl Philip, is the second child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and holds the title of Duke of Varmland. He is third in line to the throne, behind his elder sister Crown Princess Victoria and her three-year-old daughter Princess Estelle. A glamourous and openly affectionate couple equally known for their sporty lifestyle, Carl Philip and Sofia are keen to project an image of themselves as modern and open royals, and are often seen running errands in town or picking up pizza to go in Stockholm's chic neighbourhoods. Royal weddings in the past were "a way of building power alliances. Today they're a way of uniting the monarchy with the people and strengthening the sense of community," historian Louise Berglund told news agency TT. The Swedish media revealed the prince's budding relationship with the former glamour model in 2010, titillated by her racy past. Hellqvist took part in 2005 in the Swedish reality show "Paradise Hotel", where young scantily-clad men and women stay at a luxury resort and compete to be the last contestant voted off the show amid intrigue, scheming and drama. The year before that, at age 20, she had posed topless with a boa constrictor for the men's magazine Slitz, winning its Miss Slitz title. The Swedish media was quick to publish the photos when the couple's engagement was announced in June 2014. While the pictures may have raised a few eyebrows, Hellqvist's colourful past hasn't led to any major controversy, nor have pictures revealing her pierced navel. Her several tattoos, visible both in papparazzi snaps of her vacationing and boating with the prince and even in gala dresses alongside him, may however be a thornier issue within the royal court, with royal watchers hinting that the palace may have asked her to have them removed ahead of the wedding. - 'I don't regret anything' - "It's a shame there's still so much written about that," she told Swedish Television in a documentary about the royal family in January, referring to the racy photos. "It was 10 years ago, I've gotten on with my life since then," she said. "I don't regret anything. All these experiences have made me the person I am. I wouldn't have made those choices today," she said, with a supportive smile from Carl Philip by her side. Raised in a middle-class family in the small central Swedish town of Alvdalen as the second of three daughters, Sofia left Sweden for New York in 2005 where she studied accounting and worked as a yoga teacher and waitress for a while before returning to Sweden. "I can say I have lived my life to the fullest," she said in the documentary. In 2010, she and a friend founded the "Project Playground" charity to help disadvantaged children in South Africa, after having worked as a volunteer in several African countries. She left her position with the organisation in March to focus on her new duties as princess, the title she will be given upon her marriage. Contrary to her brother-in-law Chris O'Neill -- an Anglo-American businessman married to Carl Philip's sister Princess Madeleine and who often snubs royal events -- Sofia is popular among Swedes who admire her candor and commitment. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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CREDIT SUISSE: 'There is a 60% to 70% chance that we end up in an equity bubble' | ||
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"We think there is a 60% to 70% chance that we end up in an equity bubble in the medium term, albeit with the inevitable road bumps along the way." That's according to stock market analysts at investment bank Credit Suisse, in a note sent out Thursday. They're not calling anything historically unusual, in their opinion, adding that "bull markets in most assets end in bubbles." The authors want to be clear — they don't think stocks are in a bubble right now. Though some people have fretted about the length of the current bull market (which Credit Suisse defines as any unbroken period without a slump of 20% or more), but there are comparable historical periods that lasted much longer:
However, the authors note that it has been a long time since a smaller 10% correction in US stocks — that hasn't happened since back in 2011. Though there are some examples of longer periods without a dip of that size, there are fewer:
Here's are three of the main forces mentioned which could drive a bubble:
They've also provided their list of things to look out for in a frothy market — for the time being, they don't see a bubble in most of them, but they're the ones to watch:
Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Two models in Russia just posed with a 1,400-pound bear  | ||
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