Latest news with #BraveNewWorld
The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
‘Assassin's Creed' live-action series greenlit by Netflix
After years in development, Netflix's long-awaited live-action adaptation of Assassin's Creed is officially a go. The streaming platform confirmed that the series, based on Ubisoft's blockbuster video game franchise, has received a formal series order. Roberto Patino (Westworld, DMZ) and David Wiener (Halo, Brave New World) will serve as co-creators, showrunners, and executive producers on the series, which marks the first live-action entry under the ongoing partnership between Netflix and Ubisoft. 'Every day we work on this show, we come away excited and humbled by the possibilities that Assassin's Creed opens to us,' the duo said in a joint statement, describing the series as one that explores 'power, violence, faith, destiny — and above all, human connection.' The official logline for the show describes it as centering on a hidden war between two factions — one seeking to control humanity's future, and another determined to protect free will. The story will unfold across various historical eras, keeping with the game's time-jumping legacy. Assassin's Creed made its gaming debut in 2007 and has since sold over 230 million copies worldwide, becoming one of Ubisoft's most valuable franchises. The latest installment, Assassin's Creed: Shadows, launched in 2025. A film version starring Michael Fassbender was released in 2016. Netflix and Ubisoft have previously collaborated on animated projects, including Rabbids Invasion and the upcoming Splinter Cell: Deathwatch. The Assassin's Creed series marks their biggest live-action venture to date.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Is love is dead? 41% of people surveyed have used AI to break up with someone.
Has man really been replaced by machines? It looks like the Brave New World is here and it is very much not the future we were promised, and feels rather the opposite of romantic. According to a recent study conducted by Wingmate, an AI-powered relationship assistant, 41% of those surveyed have at some point used AI to break up with someone and more than half of those in the study - 57%! - would trust AI more than a friend or loved one for dating advice. While some of the stats are promising for the future of romance – over a third of people surveyed have found that using AI in their search has led to more dating matches, it does add some question of truth and authenticity in those matches as many of those same users are using AI for everything from writing bios to responding to text messages, but more than 20% are hiding that they are doing so. Dating apps have existed for a long time and have been a vital part of finding matches where we may have not otherwise, so is incorporating AI into the equation a natural part of the progression? Will it help us find and sustain love? Or is it removing the person from the equation more and more, and making even intimacy increasingly automated and impersonal? Whatever the case — and I'm honestly not sure of the answer — the dating world is feeling like murkier and murkier territory for those of us still trying to navigate single waters.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Is love is dead? 41% of people surveyed have used AI to break up with someone.
Has man really been replaced by machines? It looks like the Brave New World is here and it is very much not the future we were promised, and feels rather the opposite of romantic. According to a recent study conducted by Wingmate, an AI-powered relationship assistant, 41% of those surveyed have at some point used AI to break up with someone and more than half of those in the study - 57%! - would trust AI more than a friend or loved one for dating advice. While some of the stats are promising for the future of romance – over a third of people surveyed have found that using AI in their search has led to more dating matches, it does add some question of truth and authenticity in those matches as many of those same users are using AI for everything from writing bios to responding to text messages, but more than 20% are hiding that they are doing so. Dating apps have existed for a long time and have been a vital part of finding matches where we may have not otherwise, so is incorporating AI into the equation a natural part of the progression? Will it help us find and sustain love? Or is it removing the person from the equation more and more, and making even intimacy increasingly automated and impersonal? Whatever the case — and I'm honestly not sure of the answer — the dating world is feeling like murkier and murkier territory for those of us still trying to navigate single waters.
NDTV
30-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Who Wants Peace, Anyway? On War And The People Who Fuel It
"O brave new world, / That has such people in't!" One of Shakespeare's most debated heroines, Miranda, exclaimed in The Tempest. "Such people" then and now are the kind of people who launch just wars. Aldous Huxley, who borrowed the title of his most famous work, Brave New World, from Shakespeare, explained in his first novel how these are instigated. "The surest way to work up a crusade in favour of some good cause is to promise people they will have a chance of maltreating someone. To be able to destroy with good conscience, to be able to behave badly and call your bad behaviour 'righteous indignation' - this is the height of psychological luxury, the most delicious of moral treats." There's No Safe Distance Anymore The first half of 2025 has seen an unchallenged rise of such crusades. With the dogs of war reaching its soil and skies, India no longer has the privilege of pontificating about peace from a relatively safe distance. Unlike the two world wars of the previous century, which primarily involved Europe and the US, the third one appears to be earmarked for the Global South. And it's already in motion. Twice in the past two months did the world come close to a nuclear conflict. More than 60 armed conflicts are currently raging across the globe. Scan the map, and it becomes painfully clear: countries in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Asia are heavily - and disproportionately - represented. This isn't just a cartographic coincidence. It's a product of a global security architecture that never truly served these regions in the first place. Violence Is The Top Global Risk Now It's no longer controversial to say that the world is entering a new era of instability. But what remains under-discussed - perhaps deliberately so - is that the Global South bears the brunt of this unravelling order. The 2025 Global Risks Report from the World Economic Forum tells us what those on the ground already know: "perceptions have darkened when it comes to conflict", with state-based armed violence now ranked as the most pressing global risk. Not long ago, such a threat wasn't even in the top two-year outlook. Now it defines the present. Violence, according to the report, is expected to remain "very high relative to the recent historical norm", with an annual rise of up to 20%. The figures speak for themselves. However, statistics alone cannot convey the profound social, economic, and psychological costs of a world in perpetual crisis. For more than three months, India's focus has been fixed on how to contain Pakistan's unconventional covert operations and its full-blown conventional aggression. A significant bump in Pakistan's defence budget will compel India to follow suit. With an annual spend of $75 billion, India is already one of the world's leading military spenders. The Global Firepower Index ranks it in fourth place after the US, China, and Russia. Seeing War For What It Is For decades, conventional security doctrines have hinged on procurement: weapons systems, alliances, and defence budgets. But for much of the Global South, these are symptoms of the problem, not its cure. It may not be 'sexy' in an era dominated by drone strikes, cyberwarfare and diplomatic brinkmanship, but peace remains the only proven path to prosperity. In recent years, the war economy has been unmasked for what it truly is: not a generator of strength, but a destroyer of long-term viability. Bombed-out infrastructure, displaced populations, and disrupted trade routes do not foster investment. They repel it. No Shortage Of Hypocrisy The disruption caused by war to supply chains, energy security, market dynamics, and the psyche of the consumer is all but clear to us, thanks to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and Iran's threat to choke the Strait of Hormuz. Talking of Iran, with one of the largest oil reserves in the world, it is an economy on a ventilator. Even the United Nations, often criticised for its bureaucratic caution, has been clear. Marking the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in 2022, the organisation warned that "armed conflict and post-conflict situations have a substantial impact on economic life and present a hostile environment to business and investments." Its 'Business for Peace' initiative might more accurately be rephrased as 'Peace for Business'. This isn't just a semantic trick. But it is bound to fail. The war industry cannibalises all others, and there's no shortage of hypocrisy in today's global security discourse. Powerful states lament instability while fuelling it through arms sales and proxy wars. There is a paradox, too. The time to turn away from reactive militarisation and toward proactive peacebuilding is right after a war. But that's also the time peace becomes an orphan because a crusade in favour of some good cause is to be launched soon, and we must be prepared.
Montreal Gazette
07-06-2025
- Montreal Gazette
McGill Ghetto murder trial: ‘I was dealing with all sorts of evil'
By François Pelletier, the man on trial for the murder of 24-year-old Romane Bonnier, ran out of time Friday before he could tell the jury hearing his case about the day of the brutal slaying in the McGill Ghetto more than three years ago. Friday was Pelletier's third day on the witness stand in a first-degree murder trial at the Montreal courthouse, where the 39-year-old is acting as his own lawyer. His testimony has been confusing, full of unfinished thoughts and asides on pop culture references he appears to be fixated on. When he brought up Brave New World, the book by Aldous Huxley, yet again late Friday afternoon, Superior Court Justice François Dadour abruptly called it a day. The judge noted he had asked the jury to stay an extra 45 minutes with the hope Pelletier would reach the end of his testimony in principle before the weekend. Instead, Pelletier is expected to testify on Monday about Oct. 19, 2021, the day he stabbed Bonnier 26 times in front of several stunned witnesses. He will then be cross-examined by either prosecutor Louis Bouthillier or prosecutor Marianna Ferraro. The Crown's theory of the case is earlier in 2021, Pelletier met Bonnier after she placed an ad seeking a roommate to share the apartment she was already living in, and they had a brief relationship after he moved in. It did not end well and, on Oct. 19, 2021, he killed the woman who dreamed of being an actor on Broadway. The jury has heard evidence Bonnier put a quick end to the relationship and, on Sept. 1, 2021, Pelletier moved out of the apartment as had already been planned. On Friday, Pelletier said September was difficult for him as he rented a room to start, but he couldn't take the noise there and ended up moving in with a friend on Oct. 1. 'In late September, I'm still trying to figure (the breakup) out,' he said, adding he was having nightmares in which he killed Bonnier. 'I was dealing with all sorts of evil. 'Towards the end, I was trying to tell (Bonnier) that I was not well.' Pelletier said Bonnier ignored many text messages he sent to her and she asked him to 'stop harassing her' after he met her mother and asked her to tell Bonnier to read his messages. 'She finally did agree to give me a last 30 minutes in her presence. I was like, that sounds like a fair deal, right,' Pelletier told the jury. 'We actually did meet, on Oct. 11, (2021) on McGill (University's) campus. At that point, I was in a rather rough shape, but I showed up. I had been requesting this meeting and I was getting it. At that point, I was deeply immersed into this different interpretation of things. I had been cooking in it for weeks now.' Pelletier said he and Bonnier sat on a bench for the conversation and it was clear 'Romane had moved on.' 'She was not just like a girl to me, she was like my twin flame,' he said. 'I was thinking about her all the time.' Before he described the meeting at the university campus, he told the jury about a scene from the movie Dude, Where's My Car?, a goofball comedy starring actor Ashton Kutcher. Pelletier said he compared his inability to communicate with Bonnier, through text messages, to a scene in the movie where 'these two idiots' are unable to understand each other. 'So there we were. I didn't get any of my answers, no explanation,' Pelletier said. 'I was not expecting Romane to tell me what I wanted to hear or anything specific. I just wanted her to tell me ... I don't know exactly what I wanted her to tell me. 'I chose not to ask her at all (about their relationship). We talked about a bunch of stuff. Essentially, it was just back and forth and then I went away from there.' Pelletier said before they parted ways that day he gave Bonnier a hug. 'It was like hugging a corpse, really,' he said. 'I was in bad shape already and that (hug) was bad.' Pelletier added the last words Bonnier told him before she walked away was: 'Have fun.'
