Travel: The Top Places To Stay In Normandy, France

Honfleur
Honfleur

The Times and The Sunday Times (June 15, 2023) – The most popular way to access all this from the UK is via the ports of Dieppe (ferries from Newhaven; dfds.com), Le Havre, Caen and Cherbourg (from Portsmouth and Poole; brittany-ferries.co.uk).

Le Tribunal, Mortagne-au-Perche

Le Tribunal, Mortagne-au-Perche

Hotel in the Perche region’s main hub
Southern Normandy’s Perche region is a succession of gentle hills clad in beech and oak. Much of it is designated a natural park. There is great diversity here, in landscape and architecture, which come in a palette of colours thanks to different building materials. Its main hub is Mortagne-au-Perche, a market town of cobbled streets, antique shops, magnificent mansions and its famed black pudding.

Pays d’Auge

Domaine de la Cour au Grip, Repentigny

Rustic retreat in cider country
The Pays d’Auge, to the east of Caen, is an unhurried, painterly landscape, mixing oak and hazel woodland with cattle-filled orchards where morning mists lie low in the valleys and the autumn colours are magnificent. This is cider country, and there are still 20-odd cider makers on the 25-mile Cider Route. The former farm of Domaine de la Cour au Grip is on that route in the village of Repentigny, not far from Beuvron-en-Auge, one of the prettiest villages in France.

Le Landemer, Urville-Nacqueville

Le Landemer, Urville-Nacqueville

Restaurant with rooms west of Cherbourg
Not every ferry traveller wants to hurry home. Le Landemer, barely ten miles along the coast from the ferry port of Cherbourg, is for those who like to linger. This designer conversion of a coastal house is as much an eating as a sleeping place, with five traditional rooms in the main house, and four yacht-style rooms — more modern with big picture windows — smuggled away in an adjacent building.

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Previews: The Economist Magazine – June 17, 2023

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The Economist Magazine– June 17, 2023 issue: America’s new best friend – Why India is indispensable.

Joe Biden and Narendra Modi are drawing their countries closer

India does not love the West, but it is indispensable to America

No country except China has propped up Russia’s war economy as much as oil-thirsty India. And few big democracies have slid further in the rankings of democratic freedom. But you would not guess it from the rapturous welcome Narendra Modi will receive in Washington next week. India’s prime minister has been afforded the honour of a state visit by President Joe Biden. The Americans hope to strike defence deals.

Lula’s ambitious plans to save the Amazon clash with reality

The Brazilian president faces resistance from Congress, the state oil company and agribusiness

Ukraine’s counter-offensive is making mixed progress

Its real test will come when it hits Russia’s prepared defences

Charlemagne: Why Europe’s asylum policy desperately needs rebooting

A deadly shipwreck in Greek waters highlights its dangers

ChatGPT: Is Society Really At Risk With Generative AI?

euronews (June 15, 2023) – What does it mean to be human? An age-old philosophical question, thrown into the spotlight by the rise of #AI, which has managed to pass the sentience test created by Alan Turing.

In this first episode of Euronews Tech Talks, an Italian programmer delegates code-writing, a French artist reinvents her practice, a Cypriot student brainstorms, and a German teacher ignites minds.

Released a mere six months ago in November, ChatGPT has already become the fastest-growing consumer application. With this rapid growth, how is AI affecting life across Europe?

The education system is scrambling to catch up with #AI, but it’s not all doom and gloom for teachers. Dr. @sabinehauert and Dr. Matthew Glanville tell us about the benefits of this technology in the classroom, and how it can help diverse learners achieve their goals

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News: Ukraine’s Forces Advance Slowly, Japan’s Fukushima Water Release

The Globalist Podcast, Thursday, June 15, 2023: Western allies pursue security agreement with Kyiv – does it still fall short of Ukraine’s demands?

Plus: South Korea sea salt demand grows ahead of Japan’s Fukushima contaminated water release, and a special interview with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

The New York Times – Thursday, June 15, 2023

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Fed Leaves Rates Steady but Forecasts More Moves

Central bankers have raised rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s, but now they’re taking time to survey how the changes are working.

Judge in Trump Documents Case Has Scant Criminal Trial Experience

Judge Aileen M. Cannon, 42, has been on the bench since November 2020, when President Donald J. Trump gave her a lifetime appointment shortly after he lost re-election.

Judge Aileen M. Cannon, under scrutiny for past rulings favoring the former president, has presided over only a few criminal cases that went to trial.

They Are Trump’s Aides and Lawyers. Now They Could Be Trial Witnesses.

The former president is surrounded by people who have provided testimony and evidence to federal investigators. He’s not supposed to discuss the case with any of them.

The U.S. Is Paying Billions to Russia’s Nuclear Agency. Here’s Why.

Nuclear power companies rely on cheap enriched uranium made in Russia. That geopolitical dilemma is intensifying as climate change underscores the need for emissions-free energy.

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – June 15, 2023

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nature Magazine – June 15, 2023 issue: In this week’s issue, Abhinav Kandala and his colleagues show that it is still possible for a quantum computer to outperform a classical computer, by mitigating, rather  than correcting, the errors. 

DeepMind AI creates algorithms that sort data faster than those built by people

A replica of a game between 'Go' player Lee Se-Dol and a Google-developed super-computer, in Seoul, Korea, 2016.

The technology developed by DeepMind that plays Go and chess can also help to write code.

An artificial intelligence (AI) system based on Google DeepMind’s AlphaZero AI created algorithms that, when translated into the standard programming language C++, can sort data up to three times as fast as human-generated versions.

“We were a bit shocked,” said Daniel Mankowitz, a computer scientist at DeepMind who led the work. “We didn’t believe it at first.”

Ukraine dam collapse: what scientists are watching

Maxar satellite imagery of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power facility.
Large sections of the Kakhovka dam have collapsed, unleashing catastrophic floods. Credit: Satellite image (c) 2023 Maxar Technologies via Getty

Extensive flooding could have severe consequences for farming, health and the environment.

The 66-year-old Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River in south Ukraine collapsed on the morning of 6 June after a suspected explosion, triggering a catastrophic humanitarian and environmental crisis.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly – June 16, 2023

The Guardian Weekly (June 16, 2023) Ukraine and the Kakhovka dam burst. Plus: biting down into doughnut economics

More than a week has passed since the collapse of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine. Only as the flood waters begin to recede is the long-term scale of the disaster becoming apparent.

With suspicion (though not yet, according to western capitals, conclusive proof) falling on Moscow, Dan SabbaghArtem Mazhulin and Julian Borger report on a human and environmental catastrophe, and what it might mean for Ukraine’s counteroffensive plans against Russia.

And amid reports of disunity among Moscow’s ruling elite, Shaun Walker went along to a gathering of exiled influential Russians who are once again daring to dream of an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule.

Travel Tour: Landmarks & Landscapes Of Jordan (4K)

Carsan Choong Films (June 13, 2023) – Jordan, an Arab nation on the east bank of the Jordan River, is defined by ancient monuments, nature reserves and seaside resorts.

It’s home to the famed archaeological site of Petra, the Nabatean capital dating to around 300 B.C. Set in a narrow valley with tombs, temples and monuments carved into the surrounding pink sandstone cliffs, Petra earns its nickname, the “Rose City.”

Arts Tour: The Courtauld Institute Of Art In London

The Courtauld Institute of Art (June 14, 2023) – The Courtauld Gallery is home to one of the world’s greatest art collections, located in the magnificent historical setting of Somerset House in Central London.

Join actor and friend of The Courtauld Gallery, Bill Nighy, as he returns to the Gallery following its three year refurbishment, and discover our world-renowned collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces.

Highlights on display include the world-famous A Bar at the Folies Bergère by Édouard Manet, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear by Vincent van Gogh, the most significant collection of works by Paul Cézanne in the UK and works by Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Seurat and more.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious