Stephen Hawking’s superhuman race prediction, and Brazil elects first indigenous woman to Congress.
Saudi Arabia reaches out to Turkey in Khashoggi case
Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammad bin Salman spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sunday about the mysterious disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, reports CNN.
According to local reports, both countries are considering a plan to establish a “working group” to discuss the case.
The move comes amid mounting international pressure over the disappearance of the journalist on 2 October who was last spotted at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.
US President Donald Trump Saturday warned Saudi Arabia of “severe punishment” if the country was found to be involved behind Khashoggi’s suspected death.
Britain, France and Germany also demanded investigation into the matter.
In a response to Trump’s comments, Saudi Arabia said the kingdom would retaliate severely and punish the US if it rolled out any sanctions.
Melania Trump explains her “I don’t really care” jacket
US first lady Melania Trump has said the infamous jacket — with the slogan “I really don’t care, do you?” — she wore while on her way to a children’s immigration detention centre in Texas was meant as a message to the media, reports The Independent.
Speaking during an interview with ABC News, Melania said the wardrobe choice was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticising her. She said it wasn’t aimed at the youngsters separated from their parents.
Critics condemned her action as insensitive amid ongoing tensions along the US-Mexico border following Donald Trump’s immigration policy, which separated hundreds of children from their parents.
Nine climbers dead on Nepal’s Mt. Gurja after snowstorm
A nine-person team, including famous South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, were killed after a violent snowstorm hit their camp on Nepal’s Mount Gurja, CNN reports officials as saying.
The team went on a 45-day expedition to find a new route up Mt. Gurja on 11 September, said Kim’s representative agency, reports CNN. The expedition team had been missing since Friday, when officials lost contact with the climbers.
“It also was not exactly clear how they died, but the snowstorm that struck their camp was particularly violent,” Capt. Siddartha Gurung, a helicopter pilot coordinating the rescue mission, described the scene.
“Base camp looks like a bomb went off,” added Dan Richards of Global Rescue, a US-based emergency assistance group assisting in the rescue effort.
According to Himalayan Database, till date, only 30 people have reached the top of Mt. Gurja, with the last one in 1996.
Wealthy will create ‘superhuman race’, reveal Stephen Hawking essays
The late physicist Stephen Hawking’s last writings predict that the wealthy people could create a new race of “superhumans” by editing their children’s DNA, reports The Guardian.
The collection of essays and articles written by Hawking, which has appeared in part in the Sunday Times, will be published in book titled Brief Answers to the Big Questions. The book is due for release Tuesday, reports RT.
“I am sure that during this century, people will discover how to modify both intelligence and instincts such as aggression,” wrote Hawking.
“Laws will probably be passed against genetic engineering with humans. But some people won’t be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory, resistance to disease and length of life,” wrote the physicist who died in March.
His predictions are based on existing gene-editing techniques like Crispr-Cas9.
Meet the first indigenous woman politician of Brazil
For the first time in the history of Brazil, an indigenous woman has been elected to the Congress, Al Jazeera reports.
43-year-old Joenia Wapichana, a lawyer by profession, was elected a member of the lower house Sunday. Wapichana, who belongs to the Sustainability Network party, will be one of the eight federal deputies representing the state of Roraima.
“People had the hope to believe we can create positive change, that we can have a voice there to represent our rights,” Wapichana told Al Jazeera.
A long history of discrimination and political instability in the country kept the indigenous groups in Brazil from political representation. The last and only native elected to Congress was Mario Juruna, more than 34 years ago, Al Jazeera added.
However, this year saw a record of 131 native candidates running for governor, senator and congress races.
The riskiest country for journalists today
Afghanistan seems to be the riskiest country for journalists right now as it saw more deaths of journalists than any other country, reports BBC quoting numbers from Paris-based independent NGO Reporters Without Borders.
A country where reporters run high risks of being caught in a volatile situation while on field, the pressure is on news organisations to ensure that their reporters stay safe, says the report.
The latest incident took place on 5 September when Tolo News journalist Samim Faramarz was reporting live on a suicide attack in the capital, Kabul. A few minutes later, a second attack at the scene is reported to have killed him and his cameraman. Five more journalists died in blasts related to the same incident.
While news organisations say that safety training and changes in the manner of coverage from the site are regularly updated, many reporters say that not all organisations undertake measures in the interest of the reporters.
Reporters Without Borders data says 60 journalists and media workers have been killed in Afghanistan in the past 17 years.