Xavier Greenwood

Writer, Reporter and Producer at Tortoise

Investigative journalist making podcasts & writing @tortoise

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Articles

Uncontacted tribes are under threat from developers, extractors… and influencers

2 weeks ago | observer.co.uk | Xavier Greenwood

A US YouTuber has been arrested, freed on bail and ordered to remain in India after he visited an uncontacted tribe on a restricted island and left them a can of Coke as a ‘peace offering’. So what? Mykhailo Polyakov can count himself lucky. Seven years earlier, an American missionary was killed when he tried to convert the islanders to Christianity. In the intervening years the Sentinelese people, the most isolated tribe in the world, have also cemented their status as the most famous.
India vows ‘loud response’ to deadly attack in Kashmir

3 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

India has promised a “very loud response” to the killing of 26 tourists by suspected militants in the disputed region of Kashmir. What those three words mean is the big unanswered question. A little known Islamist group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, but fingers have been pointed at Pakistan, which denies involvement. New Delhi has previously accused Pakistan of harbouring and supporting separatist violence in the two-thirds of Kashmir occupied by India.
David Beckham tries to score with football talk show

3 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

David Beckham will return to TV screens next month, but he won’t be in a football kit or apron. The retired midfielder is the new host of Beckham & Friends, in which he will preview the late stages of the Champions League, European football’s top competition, with a variety of celebrity guests rumoured to include Gordon Ramsay and Tom Cruise.
Academy confirms films made with AI can win Oscars

3 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

The Oscars have laid down the law on AI in Hollywood movies. Kind of. Academy rules have been updated to clarify that artificial intelligence tools “neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination”. It will be left to voters to take into account “the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award”.
92-year-old cardinal sets the mood for a fractious conclave

3 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

Pope Francis will be laid to rest on Saturday, but it will take much longer for cardinals to choose his successor and no one should expect the process to be harmonious. The first rumbles of division have come from Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, who complained that the first meeting of the General Congregations was being held at 9am on Tuesday – less than 24 hours after the death of Francis was announced.
Robots are running half marathons - but no records are under threat

3 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

Humanoid robots can whisk eggs, tie shoelaces, and this weekend showed they can run alf marathons too. But world record holder Jacob Kiplimo has little to fear. On Saturday, 21 robots competed in the Yizhuang half marathon in Beijing. One fell at the start line, a second went straight into a railing. Of the robots that did finish, the fastest was Tiangong Ultra with a time of 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Labour fights Farage with national security case for net zero

3 weeks ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

Ed Miliband has accused Reform UK of peddling “nonsense and lies” over net zero, attacking those who “want to knock us off course”. In an article for The Observer, the UK’s energy secretary suggested green power targets will help the UK loosen its dependency on foreign supplies – such as those from Russia. Help for his argument came in a new study that found just half Britain’s electricity supply last year was derived from foreign energy imports, down from 65 per cent in 2014.
Manchester United’s long slide to irrelevance

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

With its 4-1 defeat to Newcastle last weekend, Manchester United notched up an unwelcome achievement. Whatever happens in the rest of the season, the club will finish with its lowest points total since the Premier League was formed in 1992. So what? Manchester United also has debts of £1 billion; 20 years ago it had virtually none. One of the most successful and historic names in sport, business and culture is facing irrelevance on the pitch and a financial crisis off it.
UN agrees historic but inadequate deal on shipping emissions

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

Shipping has become the first industry to have internationally binding targets to reduce CO2 emissions. From 2028, owners of large ships will have to increase their use of less carbon-intensive fuels or pay fines measured by the tonne. The agreement, passed on Friday at the UN’s International Maritime Organization meeting, follows ten years of negotiations.
Chicken jockey: how two words created a hullabaloo at the cinema

1 month ago | tortoisemedia.com | Xavier Greenwood

Cinemas across the world are attempting to deal with unruly behaviour at screenings of A Minecraft Movie, a children’s movie based on the hit video game. A Cineworld in Oxfordshire has threatened to remove viewers who clap or shout during the film, while a theatre in New Jersey banned unaccompanied minors after what it called an “unfortunate situation”.