Research conducted at the University of Queensland shows that familiarity fosters empathy.
A new study done by the University of Queensland shows that familiarity helps people with empathy.
The university’s Professor Ross Cunnington has discovered that the length of time a person spends with a person of another nationality is correlated with the empathy the person feels towards that race. The study examined how a person’s brain responds after increasing contact with someone of a different race. Previous studies have shown that the human brain has a strong racial bias when seeing others in pain or distress. This study included two races, Chinese and Caucasian, and the of length contact between them was measured. Participants later were shown videos of Chinese and Caucasian actors reacting to a painful or non painful touches while their brain activity was monitored. The results were that people with more contact with the another race felt more empathy towards that race.
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Norway apologizes for witch killings in the 17th and 18th century.
Norway puts up memorial to apologize for killing 91 witches. (Image Courtesy of Heiko Junge/Scanpix Scanpix/Reuters.)
Norway has put up a memorial, called Memory Hall, in the city of Vardø, the site where the most brutal witch hunts in Europe were held, dedicated to the witches and sorcerers that were killed there. During the 17th and 18th century, it is predicted that 40 000 people were killed in Europe for sorcery or witchery. However, the most vicious witch trials were being held in Norway fishing villages and over 140 trials alone were held in Vardø. At lease 91 people were killed by burning on a stake or by torture in Vardø and the monument tells the story of all the men and women killed.
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Putin criticizes US at Moscow’s annual Victory Day parade for “attempts to create a unipolar world”
Russia marks the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII (Image courtesy of Reuters)
While speaking at Moscow’s annual Victory Day parade in Red Square, Vladmir Putin has accused the US of trying to dominate the world. The day commemorates the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, although it has been boycotted by the US, Britain, and France. With western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, Moscow has turned away from Europe and is focusing more on developing relations with China. Other countries such as Cuba and Venezuela were also in attendance. Russia also showed off its latest military technology during the Victory Day parade including the Armata tank, as well as 16 000 troops and a series of weapons from the second world war to today.
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Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan treats 6 400 staff to holiday in France
Li Jinyuan is the 24th richest person in China, who founded the Tiens company in 1995 (Image courtesy of tinmoi.vn)
Li Jinyuan, President of the Tiens group, has treated 6 400 of his 12 000 workforce to a four day holiday to Paris and the South of France. Jinyuan booked 140 Paris hotels and a total of 30 000 hotel rooms over 4 nights. The employees were given tours of local sightseeing attractions including the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. The total cost was 45 million dollars (€33m). Tiens is a huge multinational company that works in tourism, e-commerce, health management, and biotechnology. Jinyuan’s gesture marks 20 years of partnership between Tiens and the French region.
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Columbia to ban spraying of herbicide glyphosate
Ecuador and Peru have also used glyphosate to destroy coca fields (Image courtesy of colombiareports.co)
Columbia has announced that it will stop using the controversial herbicide glyphosate to destroy illegal coca plantations, which is the raw ingredient for cocaine. The World Health Organization has warned that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic”. The Columbian drug eradication program began in 1994. Authorities mainly target areas controlled by the Farc, the country’s largest rebel group. However, farmers say the spraying also destroys entire fields of legal produce such as coffee.
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