New discovery adds to story of ancient human migration

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

New evidence of human occupation in southeast Indonesia dating back 42,000 years offers fresh clues on the route taken by some of the first humans to arrive in our region, according to a study from The Australian National University (ANU). 

Lead author and ANU PhD candidate Hendri Kaharudin said the location of the discovery -- at Elivavan on Indonesia’s Tanimbar islands -- makes it especially significant.  

“Tanimbar is located just off the ‘Sahul shelf’, which encompasses modern-day Australia, as well as New Guinea,” he said. 

“The question of how our early ancestors arrived there from Southeast Asia is one of the most captivating in prehistoric migration, mainly because of the vast distances covered and advanced seafaring skills that would have been required. 

“There are two main routes that have been explored as possibilities since the mid-20th century – a northern path via islands like Sulawesi, and a southern track passing near Timor and the Tanimbar islands. 

“This discovery marks one of the southern route’s earliest known sites, making it a crucial piece of the puzzle.”   

According to the researchers, while there are still unanswered questions about Elivavan’s first inhabitants, the risky nature of the sea crossings suggests the colonists had developed advanced maritime technology by around 42,000 years ago. 

“They would have had to traverse bodies of water exceeding 100 kilometres in distance, regardless of their direction of travel,” Mr Kaharudin said.  

“Along with tiny fragments of pottery we also found evidence of things like bones, shells and sea urchins that point to the island’s role as a hub for early maritime activities. 

“As more work is done in lesser-explored regions like the Tanimbar islands, I expect we’ll uncover more about early human life and migration patterns.”  

Mr Kaharudin said it’s also clear the colonisation of Sahul was not a single event but “a gradual process involving successive waves of seafaring populations”.  

“Coastal communities likely navigated shorelines, exploiting marine resources and establishing resilient settlements along their journey,” he said. 

“This island-hopping strategy facilitated cultural exchange and adaptation, shaping diverse societies across the land mass.” 

The study was conducted in collaboration with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). The research team also included Professor Sue O’Connor and Dr Shimona Kealy from ANU.  

The research has been published in Quaternary Science Reviews (QSR). 

“Tanimbar is located just off the ‘Sahul shelf’, which encompasses modern-day Australia, as well as New Guinea,” he said. 

“The question of how our early ancestors arrived there from Southeast Asia is one of the most captivating in prehistoric migration, mainly because of the vast distances covered and advanced seafaring skills that would have been required. 

“There are two main routes that have been explored as possibilities since the mid-20th century – a northern path via islands like Sulawesi, and a southern track passing near Timor and the Tanimbar islands. 

“This discovery marks one of the southern route’s earliest known sites, making it a crucial piece of the puzzle.”   

According to the researchers, while there are still unanswered questions about Elivavan’s first inhabitants, the risky nature of the sea crossings suggests the colonists had developed advanced maritime technology by around 42,000 years ago. 

“They would have had to traverse bodies of water exceeding 100 kilometres in distance, regardless of their direction of travel,” Mr Kaharudin said.  

“Along with tiny fragments of pottery we also found evidence of things like bones, shells and sea urchins that point to the island’s role as a hub for early maritime activities. 

“As more work is done in lesser-explored regions like the Tanimbar islands, I expect we’ll uncover more about early human life and migration patterns.”  

Mr Kaharudin said it’s also clear the colonisation of Sahul was not a single event but “a gradual process involving successive waves of seafaring populations”.  

“Coastal communities likely navigated shorelines, exploiting marine resources and establishing resilient settlements along their journey,” he said. 

“This island-hopping strategy facilitated cultural exchange and adaptation, shaping diverse societies across the land mass.” 

The study was conducted in collaboration with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). The research team also included Professor Sue O’Connor and Dr Shimona Kealy from ANU.  

The research has been published in Quaternary Science Reviews (QSR). 

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JOURNAL

Quaternary Science Reviews

DOI

10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108834 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Islands on the edge: 42,000-year-old occupation of the Tanimbar islands and its implications for the Sunda-Sahul early human migration discourse

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

18-Jul-2024

 

Deeper down the rabbit hole

Research team studies how technology conspiracy beliefs emerge and foster a conspiracy mindset

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF GÖTTINGEN

 

IMAGE: 

IMAGE SHOWING THE AWARENESS AND BELIEF IN SELECTED TECHNOLOGY THEORIES (DATA TAKEN FROM 1,007 US PARTICIPANTS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GENERAL POPULATION)

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CREDIT: INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH. COPYRIGHT © 2024 THE AUTHOR(S): HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1287/ISRE.2022.0494, USED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION LICENSE: HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0

As technology proliferates, misinformation and conspiracy theories seem to flourish. Conspiracy beliefs specifically about technology include popular commercial technologies, such as Amazon Echo and Google Search, as well as non-profit technologies designed to support health, such as contact tracing apps. These conspiracy beliefs are well-known, as is the way that technology speeds up the spread of misinformation. However, less well-understood is what characterizes technology conspiracy theories and what makes people believe in them. This study, conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Göttingen and other universities, is the first to demonstrate the extent, causes and consequences of these beliefs. The results were published in the journal Information Systems Research.

 

In an initial survey among over 1,000 people in the US who were representative of the general population, the authors found that technology conspiracy beliefs were surprisingly widespread. From the data, for six out of ten different conspiracy theories relating to technology, at least 20% of the participants knew about the theory; and for five out of ten of these theories, at least 20% believed in them. For example, 67% of respondents have heard of and 36% agreed with the notion that Amazon Echo smart speakers eavesdrop on users even when the device is turned off, in order to manipulate the population.

 

The researchers then built on data from a field study and three experiments. In the field study, the research team analysed the formation of technology conspiracy beliefs associated with the coronavirus tracing app in Germany. An experiment on a newly introduced smart car assistant technology yielded additional insights into how not only the technology, but also the issuer of the technology, can give rise to technology conspiracy beliefs. In addition to the prevalence and emergence of these beliefs, the researchers found evidence that technology conspiracy beliefs have detrimental consequences beyond the technology itself. The data indicate that the endorsement of technology conspiracy beliefs can set a vicious cycle in motion in which individuals develop a harmful “conspiracy mindset”, increasingly interpreting their environment through the lens of conspiracy theories. This enabled the researchers to provide an initial understanding of which technologies and what kinds make them more likely to become the focus of conspiracy beliefs.

 

“Our research reveals the alarming extent of technology conspiracy beliefs in society and their devastating consequences,” says Manuel Trenz, Professor for Interorganizational Information Systems, University of Göttingen. “The mindset fostered by such beliefs is associated with a breakdown of social collaboration and constructive political debate, which would affect society’s ability to respond to future crises.”

 

Simon Trang, at Göttingen and Paderborn universities, emphasizes the policy implications of the research: “We hope that these findings will raise awareness amongst decision makers – whether politicians or tech-developers – about the potential risks and long-term consequences.” This research should serve as a springboard for researchers to address an issue which has important implications both now and in the future.

 

Original publication: Simon Trang, Tobias Kraemer, Manuel Trenz, Welf H. Weiger “Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole: How Technology Conspiracy Beliefs Emerge and Foster a Conspiracy Mindset”. Information Systems Research 2024. Doi: 10.1287/isre.2022.0494

As technology proliferates, misinformation and conspiracy theories seem to flourish. Conspiracy beliefs specifically about technology include popular commercial technologies, such as Amazon Echo and Google Search, as well as non-profit technologies designed to support health, such as contact tracing apps. These conspiracy beliefs are well-known, as is the way that technology speeds up the spread of misinformation. However, less well-understood is what characterizes technology conspiracy theories and what makes people believe in them. This study, conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Göttingen and other universities, is the first to demonstrate the extent, causes and consequences of these beliefs. The results were published in the journal Information Systems Research.

 

In an initial survey among over 1,000 people in the US who were representative of the general population, the authors found that technology conspiracy beliefs were surprisingly widespread. From the data, for six out of ten different conspiracy theories relating to technology, at least 20% of the participants knew about the theory; and for five out of ten of these theories, at least 20% believed in them. For example, 67% of respondents have heard of and 36% agreed with the notion that Amazon Echo smart speakers eavesdrop on users even when the device is turned off, in order to manipulate the population.

 

The researchers then built on data from a field study and three experiments. In the field study, the research team analysed the formation of technology conspiracy beliefs associated with the coronavirus tracing app in Germany. An experiment on a newly introduced smart car assistant technology yielded additional insights into how not only the technology, but also the issuer of the technology, can give rise to technology conspiracy beliefs. In addition to the prevalence and emergence of these beliefs, the researchers found evidence that technology conspiracy beliefs have detrimental consequences beyond the technology itself. The data indicate that the endorsement of technology conspiracy beliefs can set a vicious cycle in motion in which individuals develop a harmful “conspiracy mindset”, increasingly interpreting their environment through the lens of conspiracy theories. This enabled the researchers to provide an initial understanding of which technologies and what kinds make them more likely to become the focus of conspiracy beliefs.

 

“Our research reveals the alarming extent of technology conspiracy beliefs in society and their devastating consequences,” says Manuel Trenz, Professor for Interorganizational Information Systems, University of Göttingen. “The mindset fostered by such beliefs is associated with a breakdown of social collaboration and constructive political debate, which would affect society’s ability to respond to future crises.”

 

Simon Trang, at Göttingen and Paderborn universities, emphasizes the policy implications of the research: “We hope that these findings will raise awareness amongst decision makers – whether politicians or tech-developers – about the potential risks and long-term consequences.” This research should serve as a springboard for researchers to address an issue which has important implications both now and in the future.

 

Original publication: Simon Trang, Tobias Kraemer, Manuel Trenz, Welf H. Weiger “Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole: How Technology Conspiracy Beliefs Emerge and Foster a Conspiracy Mindset”. Information Systems Research 2024. Doi: 10.1287/isre.2022.0494

 

Contact:

e

 

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JOURNAL

Information Systems Research

DOI

10.1287/isre.2022.0494 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Information Systems Research

 

Tintin with pin-ups and beer? French artist condemned for parodying Hergé

Copyright JACQUES BRINON/AP

By David Mouriquand

Published on 19/07/20

“I am stunned by such a decision in French law, which seems to go against the European trend, and very worried about freedom of expression..." A French artist has been sued and ordered to withdraw his works showing Tintin in Edward Hopper's world.

"Billions of blue blistering barnacles!"

A French artist from the northern region of Brittany had been sued for his offbeat works merging the world of Hergé’s Tintin with that of American painter Edward Hopper.  

The artist, Xavier Marabout, was ordered by the Rennes Court of Appeal to withdraw his works showing Tintin in Hopper’s world, in scenes depicting Tintin drinking a beer or chatting with pin-ups.  

The artist was ordered to pay Tintinimaginatio - the company representing Hergé's rightful owners - “a provision of 15,000 euros in compensation for damages”, as well as 5,000 euros for “parasitism”. 

Marabout has been sued for years by Tintinimaginatio, and said he was “stunned” by the ruling.  

“I am stunned by such a decision in French law, which seems to go against the European trend, and very worried about freedom of expression, the scope of which seems to be shrinking,” said the artist upon being told to withdraw all his works. “I am therefore condemned for a humorous intention that was more intellectual than grotesque, more subtle than gossipy” he added. 

Contacted by AFP this week, Marabout said he was considering an appeal to the French Supreme Court, but declined to comment further on the sentence. 

For their part, Hergé's rightful claimants reaffirmed in a press release “their determination to ensure respect for the integrity of his work and to fight against the abusive uses that are unfortunately regularly made of it.” 

The Rennes court had previously dismissed the case for counterfeiting and infringement of the Belgian comic book author's moral rights. 

In 2021, the court's civil division had recognized the artist's “exception of parody” and the “humorous intention” of his paintings. 

However, Tintinimaginatio and Hergé's widow Fanny Vlamynck, who has held the rights since Hergé's death in 1983, appealed. 

In its decision dated 4 June, which AFP was able to consult, the Rennes Court of Appeal overturned the lower court's judgment, ruling that Marabout did not meet the criteria of “parody” that would enable him to derogate from copyright protection. Marabout was therefore guilty of “counterfeiting” with his series of paintings, and the court forbade him to use the Tintin characters from now on. 

This is not the first time an artist has fallen foul of Tintin’s estate.  

According to French outlet Le Figaro, French cartoonist Pascal Somon received a ten-month suspended prison sentence and two years' probation in May 2019 for counterfeiting works by Hergé. He was also ordered to pay €32,000 in damages to the Belgian company and to Fanny Vlamynck. 

In 2021, Christophe Tixier, aka: Peppone, who sculpted busts inspired by Tintin, was ordered, along with the gallery that exhibited his works, to pay Tintinimaginatio – then known as Moulinsart - the sum of €114,157 in damages.

EU moves to secure lithium supplies from Serbia against backdrop of protests

Copyright Darko Vojinovic/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved

By Robert Hodgson
Published on 19/07/2024

Brussels has signed a cooperation agreement with Serbia on the supply of critical raw materials, in a move that is also seen as a pivot by the Balkan nation, traditionally an ally of Russia, towards the EU.

European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič has inked a strategic partnership with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that the EU hopes will give it access to large supplies of lithium, a key strategic raw material essential for the energy transition and in developing a domestic electric vehicle industry.

Under the memorandum of understanding, signed today at a critical raw materials summit in Belgrade attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the EU and Serbia agree to facilitate “close cooperation between EU and Serbian industrial actors and stakeholders” to build up supply chains for raw materials, batteries and EVs.

They also undertake to build up R&D and workforce skills and mobilise investment through a number of EU instruments: Invest EU, the Western Balkans Investment Framework and a Single Project Pipeline in Serbia, and through the Commission’s European Raw Materials Alliance and European Battery Alliance.

“Application of high environmental, social and governance standards and practices will be facilitated through mutual consultation and exchange of information on relevant policies and initiatives along the entire value chains, including through the application of increased due diligence and traceability for the battery value chain,” the EU executive said in a statement.

The deal comes just days after the Vučić government gave the go-ahead for a disputed mining project backed by the Anglo-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto near Loznica, some 100 kilometres west of the capital Belgrade.

The Jadar Valley mining project, which Rio Tinto describes as ‘potentially one of the world’s largest greenfield lithium projects’ was halted in early 2022 after vocal protests over its feared environmental impact.

Serbia puts the Jadar lithium mining project back on the table

Why is lithium crucial to the EU's green and digital transition?

But it now looks set to go ahead after Serbia’s constitutional court ruled on 11 July that the government’s decision to revoke the licence was unconstitutional. Renewed protests in the days ahead of the ruling saw several arrests, according to local media reports.

Friday's agreement is seen as a part of a pivot towards the EU by a Serbian government that just five months ago was censured by the European Parliament in a resolution expressing concern about the conduct of general elections in December and the country’s close ties with Russia. Serbia has also been courted by China with a view to accessing its important lithium reserves.

Šefčovič said it was a testament to a “shared commitment” to drive forward the green transition. “Through strategic collaboration in these key sectors, we unlock immense potential for sustainable growth and innovation, while also enhancing Serbia’s integration with the EU’s single market and further boosting its economic, social and environmental convergence with the EU,” he said.

Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi said the agreement “reaffirms Serbia's EU path.” The Balkan country signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Brussels in 2013, but it has made halting progress towards aligning with EU norms in areas ranging from environmental protection to judicial independence since then.

The memorandum of understanding with Serbia, the 14th such EU partnership on raw materials, follows the signing of a letter of intent last September by Šefčovič with a view to closer cooperation and bolstering supply chains for electric vehicle manufacture.

Commission clinches raw materials deal with Australia

Lithium’s green potential fails to defuse Europe’s opposition to mining

Chancellor Scholz was at the summit to offer German support for investment in the lithium value chain, which would bring “billions of investments and incredible progress for the entire country”, Vučić was quoted as saying by Belgrade radio station B92.

Speaking to reporters in the UK yesterday after meeting some 40 heads of state and government at the European Political Community summit in Blenheim Place, Scholz said Europe “cannot complain that certain mining and processing of minerals are concentrated in a few countries, especially a very large country in the East” while refusing to exploit its own resources.

Referring to renewed commitments that any risk from the mining project would be minimised, the German chancellor said the lithium would be extracted “under the best conditions imaginable, namely by doing it so precisely and well that it avoids adverse effects on the environment.”

Trump assassination attempt sparks online rumors on both ends of political spectrum

By Danielle Lee Tomson, University of Washington & Melinda McClure Haughey, University of Washington & Stephen Prochaska, University of Washington

JULY 19, 2024 

THE CONVERSATION

Former president Donald Trump attends the Republican National Convention on Thursday. In the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump, social media users have posted the same images and videos but used them as evidence for different rumors or theories that aligned with their political preferences.

 File Photo by David Banks/UPI | License Photo

In the immediate hours after the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump on July 13, social media users posted the same videos, images and eyewitness accounts but used them as evidence for different rumors or theories that aligned with their political preferences.

Among the deluge of rumors, one TikTok creator narrated the instantly iconic photo of Trump raising his fist, ear bloodied as he emerged from the Secret Service scrum. "People are wondering if this photo is staged?" His answer: "Yes."

People across the political spectrum, including President Joe Biden, questioned why the Secret Service had failed to prevent the attack. But then some people took this critique further. An influencer on the social media platform X posted an aerial photo and asked how an armed assailant could make it to an unsecured rooftop, concluding, "This reeks of an inside job."

As researchers who study misinformation at the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, we have seen groups of people coming together during previous crises to make sense of what is going on by providing evidence and interpreting it through different political or cultural lenses called frames. This is part of a dynamic process scholars call collective sensemaking.

Related

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Spreading rumors is a part of this process and a natural human response to crisis events. Rumors, regardless of their accuracy, help people assign meaning and explain an uncertain or scary unfolding reality. Politics and identity help determine which frames people use to interpret and characterize evidence in a crisis. Some political operatives and activists may try to influence these frames to score points toward their goals.

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, our rapid response research team observed rumors unfolding across social media platforms. We saw three politically coded frames emerge across the spectrum:

claiming the event was staged

criticizing the Secret Service often by blaming Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives

suggesting the shooting was an inside job

'It was staged'

On the anti-Trump extreme, a rumor quickly gained traction claiming the shooting was staged for Trump's political gain, though this has slowed as more evidence emerged about the shooter. One creator questioned if the audience were crisis actors because they did not disperse quickly enough after the shooting. Others pointed to Trump's history with World Wrestling Entertainment and reality television, suggesting he had cut himself for dramatic effect like pro wrestlers. Entertainment professionals weighed in, saying Trump had used fake blood packets found in Hollywood studios.

The staged rumor resonated with a conspiratorial frame we've seen people use to process crisis events, such as accusations of a false flag event or crisis actors being used to facilitate a political victory.

Secret Service failings

On social and mainstream media, we saw questioning across the political spectrum of how the Secret Service failed to protect a presidential candidate. Many compared videos of the Secret Service's swift reaction to the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, suggesting their reaction with Trump was slower.

However, some politicized this frame further, blaming DEI for the Secret Service's failure. The claim is that efforts to increase the number of women in the Secret Service led to unqualified agents working on Trump's security detail.

Blaming DEI is a common and increasingly used trope on social media, recently seen in rumors following the Baltimore bridge collapse and the Boeing whistleblower crisis. Pro-Trump creators shared images critical of female Secret Service agents juxtaposed against celebrated images of male service members. This is a framing we expect to continue to see.

Adjacent to this critique framing, a rumor took hold among pro-Trump communities that the Secret Service had rejected Trump's additional security requests, which the GOP had been investigating -- a claim the Secret Service has denied. This narrative was further fueled by recent proposed legislation calling for the removal of Trump's Secret Service protection if he were sentenced to prison following a conviction for a felony.

'It was an inside job'

Highlighting many of the same critiques and questions of how the shooter could get to an unsecured rooftop, other influencers suggested the shooting must have been an inside job. In retweeting a popular pro-Trump influencer, Elon Musk speculated that the mistake was either "incompetence" or "deliberate." A popular post on X -- formerly Twitter -- tried to make sense of how a 20-year-old could outsmart the Secret Service and concluded by insinuating the failure was potentially intentional.

These inside job speculations are similar to the rumor that the shooting was staged -- though they emerged slightly later -- and they align with claims of false flag operations in previous crisis events.

Rumor-spreading is human nature

As the crisis recedes in time, rumors are likely to persist and people are likely to adjust their frames as new evidence emerges -- all part of the collective sensemaking process. Some frames we've identified in this event are likely to also evolve, like political critiques of the Secret Service. Some are likely to dissipate, like the rumor that the shooting was staged.

This is a natural social process that everyone participates in as we apply our political and social values to rapidly shifting information environments in order to make sense of our realities. When there are intense emotions and lots of ambiguity, most people make mistakes as they try to find out what's going on.

Getting caught up in conspiracy theorizing after a tragedy -- whether it's for political, social or even entertainment reasons -- is a common human response. What's important to remember is that in the process of collective sensemaking, people with agendas other than determining and communicating accurate information may engage in framing that suits their interests and objectives. These can include foreign adversaries, political operatives, social media influencers and scammers. Some might continue to share false rumors or spin salacious narratives for gain.

It's important not to scold each other for sharing rumors, but rather help each other understand the social dynamics and contexts of how and why rumors emerge. Recognizing how people's political identities are intentionally exploited -- and even just incidentally make people susceptible -- to spread false rumors may help them become more resilient to these forces.

Danielle Lee Tomson is a research manager at the Center for an Informed Public at University of Washington; Melinda McClure Haughey is a graduate research assistant at the Center for an Informed Public at University of Washington; and Stephen Prochaska is a graduate research assistant at the Center for an Informed Public at University of Washington. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

What is it with Donald Trump’s obsession with Hannibal Lecter?

Copyright AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite - Orion Pictures

By David Mouriquand
Published on 19/07/2024

The lambs have not yet stopped screaming for Donald Trump. Nor has the screaming in our heads as we try to understand what’s behind the Republican nominee’s fixation with Hannibal Lecter – who he keeps namechecking during his speeches. Anthony Hopkins has stated he's "shocked and appalled."

To no one’s surprise, Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination for the third time on Thursday night.

He appeared on stage after Kid Rock delivered a version of his song American Bad Ass and a shirt-ripping endorsement from wrestling has-been Hulk Hogan.

And if that doesn’t sound surreal enough, the former president rambled on for more than 90 minutes about the recent attempt on his life (suggesting he had been saved by divine intervention - "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God") and often veered off-script with wild inaccuracies.

He pledged to build the rest of the southern border wall, "most of which I have already built" (false). He said that "groceries are up 50%, gasoline is up 60 to 70%, mortgage rates have quadrupled" (false).

And despite stating that “the discord and division in our society must be healed” and that he was “running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America,” he called Biden one of the US' worst presidents.

He also labelled Nancy Pelosi as “crazy” and fell back on his usual anti-immigrant rhetoric, accusing other countries of treating the US like a “dumping ground” for criminals and “insane asylum” patients.

There was one reference which popped up during this long-winded and particularly unhinged bit of rambling about immigration that stood out to us here at Euronews Culture: the mention of one of cinema’s greatest villains, Hannibal Lecter.

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the LambsOrion Pictures

The fictional character, famous from Thomas Harris’ novels and several films and TV shows, was referenced by Trump during his speech – and not for the first time.

“You know, the press is always on me because I say this,” Trump began.

But he still couldn’t resist.

“Has anyone seen Silence of the Lambs? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner. That’s insane asylums, they’re emptying out their insane asylums.”


Attempting to get on Trump’s fava bean wavelength (heaven help us) and decipher what on God’s green earth he’s on about, the former president was threatening undocumented migrants with mass deportations and compared them with The Silence of the Lambs’ cannibalistic villain.

Trying to make sense of what Trump says and following his train of thought is akin to trying to explain the concept of gravity to a particularly absent-minded goose. It’s not easy and, ultimately, useless.

However, the Hannibal Lecter case remains an interesting one. It’s not a cultural reference you’d expect to hear from a presidential candidate, and the character seems to play on Trump’s mind quite a bit.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaking during the Republican National Convention on Thursday 18 July 2024AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Indeed, this isn’t the first time Trump has namechecked Hannibal in his speeches, usually when he demonises migrants.

While speaking at his campaign rallies in May, Trump compared migrants to the serial killer, who he again referred to as “The late, great Hannibal Lecter” and said, “He’s a wonderful man.”

Trump knows that Lecter is fictional, right?

We’re pretty sure he’s never read the books and are willing to bet that he probably fell asleep during The Silence of the Lambs, as he’s not known for his robust attention span.

But it is worth reminding that Hannibal is a) not a real person; b) hardly “wonderful” because as much as we love to see him on screen, the cannibal has little empathy for his fellow man and unlike Darth Vader, for example, doesn’t have that much of a redemption arc; c) famously not dead, as the character survives at the end of the 1991 Oscar-winning film, and maintains his oxygen habit in the books and all other TV and film adaptations - thereby not being “late”.

Also, Anthony Hopkins, the actor who played Lecter across three films (because we’re convinced that Trump isn’t the sort of person who’d know that the first iteration of the character came courtesy of Brian Cox in Michael Mann’s 1986 thriller Manhunter, before being played by the peerless Mads Mikkelsen in the NBC show Hannibal), is still very much alive at the age of 86 and continuing to add credits to his impressive filmography.

Speaking of which, Hopkins was asked in a recent interview with Deadline about the fact that Trump was speaking about the character of Hannibal as if he were a real person.

“As if he is real?” Hopkins asked during a conversation. “I didn’t know that,” he continued, reportedly while laughing.

“Hannibal, that’s a long time ago that movie. God, that was over 30 years ago. I’m shocked and appalled what you’ve told me about Trump.”

Join the club, Tony.

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the LambsOrion Pictures

So, why the apparent fixation on the cannibalistic antihero?

Daddy issues?

Possibly, but we won’t attempt a Freudian psychoanalysis for Trump, as that would be like staring into the jaws of the maddening abyss, where we’d probably bump into Stormy Daniels’ hellish avatar proclaiming: “I AM THE GATEKEEPER!”

Transference, in the sense Trump recognises a kindred spirit?

Hard to say, but Trump, who fools himself into believing that he is "a very stable genius”, possesses none of Hannibal’s devilish charms, impeccable tastes, intellect, cooking abilities (that we know of) or well-spoken abilities to communicate. Plus, Hannibal has a curious sense of morality and ethics. He has a code that he adheres to, and rudeness is the greatest sin of all. To quote The Silence of the Lambs, he tells Clarice Starling: “Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me.” Considering morality, ethics and tact aren’t terms we’d associate with Trump, we’re ruling out the kindred spirit hypothesis.

A way of demonising migrants through a confused movie reference that shows Trump genuinely doesn’t know what he’s referencing?

That seems about right.

In other speeches, Trump has used the Hannibal touchstone in order to vilify migrants, who were “from mental institutions, insane asylums…you know, insane asylums, that’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’ stuff.”

He uses Hannibal Lecter to explain how America is out of control, injecting fear into the minds of the public through a well-known scary movie villain. It’s a particularly infantile but sadly effective scaremongering tactic that equates real-life issues with fictional evil, implying that other Lecters could be coming to the US and living among the unsuspecting population.

But because the reference is wrong in every way – for many of the reasons we’ve stated - it’s more confusing than anything else. We’re just glad that Emmanuel Macron isn’t referencing Leatherface, and we’re hoping that Kier Starmer doesn’t start peppering his speeches with nods to Freddy Krueger.

Trump’s tirades have never made much sense, but when it comes down to it, his cinematic fascination reveals two things.

Firstly, he’s lost the plot, messing up his fearmongering tactics with cultural references that reveal his genuine lack of culture. This means that anyone bashing Joe Biden for his age and capacity to run again needs to look at the lunatic opposition and weep.

Secondly, while The Silence of the Lambs may be an enduring and terrifying gem of a film, it pales in comparison to this year's presidential race.

German city of Bremen bans the silent fox gesture over links with far-right Turkish group

Copyright AP Photo

By Jonny Walfisz
Published on 19/07/2024 - 

What does the hand gesture say? A bit too much, according to authorities in the German city of Bremen who fear its links with a far-right Turkish nationalist movement.

Officials have banned the “silent fox” hand gesture from use in schools due to its association with the Turkish nationalist movement.

The silent fox gesture – made by lifting the index and little finger while pinching together the middle and ring finger with your thumb – has been used throughout Europe as a teaching method to quiet classrooms.

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But the silent fox is to be phased out of use in day cares and schools in the German city of Bremen due to its visual similarity to the “wolf salute”, a political symbol of the Grey Wolves (Ülkü Ocakları) and the Nationalist Movement Party in Türkiye.

The controversial wolf salute gesture represents a combination of Turkishness and Islam by the Grey Wolves, a Turkish far-right political group that has been described as a “death squad” and “terrorist organisation” for its reported association with political violence.

Austria banned the wolf salute gesture in 2019, with France following suit. While the gesture hasn’t been outright banned in Germany, the move by Bremen authorities is a significant shift towards the approach of its neighbours.

Turkey fans show the 'wolf salute', the origin of which is attributed to a right-wing extremist movement, during a fan walk before the start of the Euro 2024 quarterfinal Christoph Soeder/(c) Copyright 2024, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten

The wolf salute hit headlines earlier this month when Turkish footballer Merih Demiral was banned for two games by UEFA after he used the gesture to celebrate scoring against Austria in the Euros.

Demiral claimed it was an expression of Turkish pride while Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faesar said: “To use the football championships as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded to what he considered the hypocrisy of the ruling by UEFA: “Does anybody ask why the German national jersey has an eagle, or the French jersey a rooster?”.

Sudeten Germans from the Free Corps receiving the Nazi salute as they pass through Haslow as they march back into Czechoslovakia on Sept. 22, 1938. Len PUTTNAM/AP

Erdoğan has been criticised for his own use of the wolf salute. In 2018, he briefly showed the gesture at a campaign rally in Mersin which political commentators viewed as an attempt to corral the far right nationalists to his voter base.

If the wolf salute were to be fully banned in Germany, it would join the Sieg Heil – the salute popularised as a show of obedience to Adolf Hitler – as an illegal gesture. It is also a criminal offence to use the Sieg Heil in Austria, Slovakia and Italy, with it constituting as hate speech in most of the rest of Europe.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for TURKEY GREY WOLVES 

Euroviews. Starmer must put nature at the heart of Labour's economic plans

Copyright AP Photo/Euronews

By Lindsay Hooper, CEO, CISL
Published on 19/07/2024 - .

Starmer now has a window of opportunity to take action to show that the country is fully in the game as a climate and biodiversity leader. Without such leadership, businesses will remain stuck between a rock and a hard place, Lindsay Hooper writes.

After the last government became increasingly distracted from delivering for the British people, Labour’s landslide felt inevitable.

PM Keir Starmer now promises "action not words", but we must see that focus turn on the environment. It’s no longer about paying lip service — Starmer must do everything in his power to preserve the natural systems on which we all depend.

So far, Labour has hit the ground running on the energy transition — lifting the de facto ban on onshore wind, rejecting new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea and, as King Charles III laid out in his speech this week, setting up a publicly owned clean power company, Great British Energy, to encourage investment in renewables.

Yet the glaring gap is that we haven’t seen anything like this scale of action on nature and the biodiversity crisis.

This is despite the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with disastrous consequences for food security and nearly one in six species threatened with extinction.

Starmer and his cabinet must move quickly. Nature is intrinsic to economic growth, jobs, and national security. Unless this is acknowledged and acted on, the new government will ultimately fail to regenerate the economy and secure our nation’s future.

This link between nature and the economy was clearly set out in the game-changing Dasgupta Review in 2019, commissioned by the Treasury, which pointed out that nature is a blind spot in economics that we ignore at our peril.


But despite the weight of evidence, the change in thinking needed to incorporate restoring and protecting nature into our economic strategy has not yet happened — even though it is more and more widely understood.

From business leaders committing to be "nature positive" to trade unions warning there are "no jobs on a dead planet", protecting our natural world is not a divisive issue.
Effective government willing to act needed

Research by the Green Finance Institute (GFI) published in April 2024 shows that damage to the environment is slowing the UK economy right now and could lead to as much as a 12% reduction in GDP by the 2030s.

A 2020 study by the World Economic Forum indicated that industries either highly or moderately dependent on nature generate over a third of the world’s economic growth.

The top four perceived risks faced by economies and societies, according to the WEF’s 2024 Global Risk Report, are all environmentally related — extreme weather, critical change to earth systems, biodiversity and ecosystem collapse and natural resource shortages. Of course, all economic activity is ultimately dependent on nature.

Effective government action is needed to stop businesses profiting from undermining the environment, and to provide incentives and confidence for businesses to transition not only to secure their own futures, but to contribute to economic and societal resilience.

Wind turbines in Shoreham Port, East Sussex, June 2024

AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

Many businesses are waking up to their critical dependencies on water, on soil, on pollinators and other key "ecosystem services," and are already experiencing operational disruptions and financial costs as a result of our collective failure to protect the natural systems on which we depend.

To build greater transparency of business risks and impacts, there is a growing host of tools, regulations and frameworks, internationally and domestically, to require organisations to report on nature as well as climate, such as TNFD.
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However, reporting alone will not halt the alarming disappearance of species in the UK or deliver on the global commitment to protect and restore 30% of land and sea by 2030.

Effective government action is needed to stop businesses profiting from undermining the environment, and to provide incentives and confidence for businesses to transition not only to secure their own futures, but to contribute to economic and societal resilience.
It's not just one thing

Action is also needed to drive sustainable growth. There is a huge amount of innovation going on, with new ventures launching daily that harness technologies to tackle the degradation of nature and secure food security while also creating jobs.

But without full government support, start-ups are likely to remain small and struggle to compete with incumbent but damaging business models.

While businesses are increasingly aware of the imperative for action, many are limited in what action they can take without being competitively undermined by others.

They are also hindered by the absence of any joined-up industrial and economic plans that enable collaboration to address the shared challenges of re-orienting supply chains, developing new "pro-nature" business models and changing land use patterns.

The development of new infrastructure to enable the energy transition, climate adaptation and house and transport a growing population also has major implications for nature.

An employee works at the site of a nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, October 2022

AP Photo/Kin Cheung

Effective government action must grapple with the reality that we need to deliver for multiple outcomes.

We can’t address nature without considering agriculture and infrastructure. Industrial farming is a key reason that nature is in such a poor state, therefore any solutions implemented to protect biodiversity must also consider farmer livelihoods and crop security.

The development of new infrastructure to enable the energy transition, climate adaptation and house and transport a growing population also has major implications for nature.

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In other words, the government needs not just to agree and commit to high-level goals on nature but also to develop joined-up industrial, economic, infrastructure, and security strategies that will deliver for climate and nature as well as for growth, productivity, jobs, health, and security.

This will require intelligent decision frameworks and processes that can make sense of complexity and ensure relevant stakeholders are engaged and not excluded.
Between a rock and a hard place

The former Conservative government did not do enough to focus attention on nature and failed to recognise the scale of the problem.

Despite legislative progress with the passing of the Environment and Agriculture Acts and the introduction of Biodiversity Net Gain, changes in leadership and a volatile political context have meant there has been insufficient focus on implementation and delivery.

At the start of the year, the Office for Environmental Protection found that the government remains largely off track to meet its own environmental ambitions.

COP16, the next global biodiversity gathering under the auspices of the United Nations, will take place in Colombia at the end of October.

Starmer now has a window of opportunity to take action to show that the country is fully in the game as a climate and biodiversity leader at COP16 and prior to the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan.

Without such leadership, businesses will remain stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Lindsay Hooper is CEO of the Cambridge University Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).

What security lessons can the EU learn from the massive IT outage?

Copyright Thibault Camus/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

By Amandine Hess
Published on 19/07/2024 - 

The European Union had previously made attempts to strengthen cybersecurity through a directive in 2022.

Worldwide havoc was wrought following a massive outage after a defect in a software update by cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike on Friday.

Hospitals, banks, broadcasters and airports were all impacted after an issue with the software prevented them from accessing Microsoft apps and services.

Nathalie Devillier, an expert at the EU European Cyber Competence Centre, spoke with Euronews on the lessons that could be drawn from it.

 necessary to question the location of your cloud and IT security providers," she said.

"Both should be in the European space so as not to rely on foreign technology solutions that, as we can see today, have impacts on our machines, on our servers, on our data every day."

Companies and individuals should also be better trained on cybersecurity, Devillier said.

In the last few years the European Union has made attempts to strengthen the bloc's cybersecurity.

In 2022 it passed a directive which must now be adopted by its member states to strengthen cybersecurity in more than 18 sectors, Devillier told Euronews.

She explained that this meant companies, both large and small, will need to become more digitally vigilant.

And the EU Agency for Cybersecurity said it was aware of the incident which had affected so many across Europe.

"ENISA is in continuous contact with EU member states to understand the impact and follow-up with actions if requested to do so," said Hans de Vries, the agency's Chief Cybersecurity and Operating Officer.

More than 300 migrants arrive in Gran Canaria by boat in less than 24 hours

Copyright Screenshot from EBU video EBU 2024_10246440

By Euronews with EBU
Published on 19/07/2024 - 

Spain's Interior Ministry says the number of migrants making the dangerous sea crossing from Africa to the Canary Islands jumped by 160% between January and July compared to the same period last year.

Four boats carrying more than 300 migrants have docked at the Spanish island of Gran Canaria in less than 24 hours.

One of the vessels, a wooden boat carrying 64 people, arrived at the island unassisted. 11 of the people on board were transported to hospital, some by helicopter as four were said to be in a critical condition. 

Another of the boats was escorted to port by the Maritime Safety and Rescue Society (Salvamento Marítimo) after being spotted around 15 kilometres southeast of Gran Canaria.

That boat was carrying 145 people, all of sub-Saharan African origin, and everyone on board was said to be in good physical condition.

Rescue vessels docked at the port of Arguineguín on Gran Canaria, July 19, 2024Screenshot from EBU video EBU 2024_10246440

Spain's Interior Ministry said that the number of migrants arriving by sea to the Canary Islands jumped by 160% between January and July compared to the same period last year.

The ministry said almost 20,000 people in total had made the perilous sea crossing in that period.

Overall arrivals by sea to Spain, including to the mainland, rose by 88% to around 25,300 people.

The route from Africa to the Canary Islands, which are located off Morocco's southern coast, is the fastest-growing migration route to Europe.

The European border control agency Frontex says irregular crossings are up 303% from January to May compared to a year ago.

And in many cases, many of the arrivals to the Canary Islands are unaccompanied minors. That's put a strain on relevant services across the archipelago where there are reportedly almost 6,000 immigrant children.