Category: Latest

What Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Argued in His Call for AI Slowdown

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Dario Amodei, the chief executive of the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, published a 3,800-word open letter on Saturday calling for a slowdown in the development of A.I. The essay prompted other A.I. leaders, including Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI; Elon Musk, SpaceX’s chief executive; and Demis Hassabis, the chair of Google DeepMind, to speak out in agreement. Here are the key arguments that Mr. Amodei made in his essay: Why A.I. Needs to Slow Down Mr. Amodei said two recent developments convinced him that simply investing in A.I.…

Book Review: ‘A Shadow Over the World,’ by William I. Hitchcock

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A SHADOW OVER THE WORLD: Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Rise of Fascism, and the Making of America’s World War II, by William I. Hitchcock In “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, the protagonist, Robert Jordan, proclaims his uncompromising worldview early in the story. Beside a campfire in a cave amid the pine-covered hills, Jordan is asked whether he is a communist. “No,” he replies. “I am an antifascist.” “For a long time?” “Since I have understood fascism.” Nearly a…

Why Emerging Powers Keep Joining BRICS, Even When They Disagree

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At a gathering of nations that are challenging the dominance of the United States, Iran’s president took the main stage on Friday, flanked by the leaders of Russia and India, to condemn “military aggression” by the United States. Iran wants to show that Western sanctions have not left it isolated, even as it digs into a war with the United States that has severely restricted the crucial Strait of Hormuz route for oil and other commodities. President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran spoke at the BRICS Business Forum, ahead of the…

Learning Chinese Sign Language

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Learning Chinese Sign Language is a bewildering experience. To begin with, Chinese Sign Language (CSL) is in itself best understood as an umbrella term rather than a well-defined language.  You have Signed Chinese, shoushi hanyu, which is one-to-one transcriptions of the written standard Chinese into signs, replete with interpuncation such as signed question marks. Then there is Natural Sign Language, ziran shouyu, the language that is actually spoken between native deaf signers in China. It has syntax and grammar markedly different from Chinese, makes extensive use of abbreviations and, like…

What the AfD’s Rise in Germany Means for China-EU Relations

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The September 6 state election in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, resulted in a decisive victory for Alternative for Germany (AfD), which secured nearly 44 percent of the vote. It marked a stunning rise for the party, which is widely considered to belong to the far-right of the political spectrum. While the AfD’s performance is fundamentally a domestic political development driven by local grievances, energy costs, and other factors, this outcome offers an important, often overlooked perspective on the economic policy dialogue between the EU and China.  The rapid ascent of Chinese firms…

Why Is China Less Active in the 2026 Ebola Epidemic?

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The Ebola epidemic spreading through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could become the largest Ebola outbreak on record if infections continue at their current pace. More than 6,700 people had been infected and more than 3,200 had died by September 2026. The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus, a form of Ebola for which there is currently no licensed vaccine or approved treatment. The crisis is unfolding at a remarkable moment for global health. The United States is retreating from the global health system it once led. Beijing…

‘Heavy casualties’ after fire on cargo ship in eastern China

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A fire has broken out on a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked at an eastern Chinese port, causing heavy casualties, according to state media. President Xi Jinping called for urgent search and rescue efforts and a swift investigation. Premier Li Qiang called for “trapped” people to be rescued and stressed the need to “prevent secondary disasters”. The vessel was undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in the city of Qingdao when the blaze occurred at 11:15 local time (03:15 GMT), state news agency Xinhua said. BBC

Hong Kong’s first leader after British handover dies

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The Asian Financial Crisis hit shortly after Tung took over, which sent home prices diving. His administration was also beset by a series of public health challenges, including a bird flu outbreak from 1997 to 2002 and the 2003 outbreak of Sars, also known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. But Tung’s biggest political challenge took place in July 2003 during his second term, when half a million Hongkongers took to the streets to protest against a proposed national security law they feared would threaten their civic rights. His administration abandoned…

Chinese Threat Requires a Broader Spying Mission, C.I.A. Deputy Director Says

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The United States is engaging in a broader range of espionage against China, including Chinese companies, to address the country’s status as both a military and an economic threat, the deputy C.I.A. director, Michael Ellis, said on Tuesday. During a rare public speaking appearance, Mr. Ellis said the nature of intelligence collection by the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies had evolved considerably since they were created during the Cold War to spy on the Soviet Union. Unlike past geopolitical rivals, China “poses a fundamentally different kind of threat to us…

The Strategic Calculus of Xi Jinping’s Egypt Visit

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As the renewed tensions in the Middle East push the region to the brink, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Cairo couldn’t have been more precisely timed. This was the second time Xi visited Cairo – compare that to his counterpart, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who visited Beijing eight times since assuming power in 2014.  Xi’s visit from September 1-2 was significant for both sides, though for different reasons. For Egypt, it symbolized a broader shift among Middle Eastern states toward diversifying their foreign policy partnerships. The most obvious…