Tag: France

Is American Culture Simply Bad Now?

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Has America lost its monopoly on cool? The Opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman joins the American expats and authors W. David Marx and Euny Hong to discuss how the world views U.S. culture and whether its cultural exports still have the lasting impact they used to. This episode is part of “The New World Disorder,” a series exploring the disintegration of the postwar international system and how countries are adjusting as America steps aside. Below is a transcript of an episode of “The Opinions.” We recommend listening to it in…

France gave the Statue of Liberty. China sends pandas. What do diplomatic gifts mean – and how do you choose one?

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It was one of the most potent political gifts of modern times: the Statue of Liberty, a colossal neoclassical sculpture made in France and offered to the American people in the late 19th century.The size and symbolism of Liberty Enlightening the World (the statue’s original name) was intended as a mark of friendship to commemorate the centenary of the 1776 US declaration of independence. Delivered a decade late, it was also a reminder – perhaps a pointed one – of France’s critical role in helping the US break free from…

Europe frets about Trump. But soon he could be the least of our problems | Mujtaba Rahman

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I addressed a group of more than 100 European ambassadors recently on the big challenges facing the continent this year and next. My main point to these senior diplomats was that, perhaps counterintuitively, Europe’s biggest external challenges over the next 12 months will come from Russia and China, rather than the US. Europe’s relationship with Trump’s America remains difficult. The US president has weakened confidence in Nato, raised new transatlantic trade tensions and introduced uncertainty into everything from US support for Ukraine to his territorial designs on Greenland. Yet paradoxically,…

AI models chatting in ‘surreal’ dialect mixing poetic language and tech bro jargon

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AI models have begun communicating in a strange new version of English that reads like a cross between James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake and tech bro jargon, new research has found. Autonomous AI agents are rapidly creating novel dialects allowing them to converse in an often barely comprehensible language, which risks making it harder for humans to monitor their behaviour. Researchers at Emergence, a frontier AI lab in New York, found that within days of being asked to cooperate in experimental “societies”, the models from several of the world’s largest AI…

Europe must build own AI or risk getting cut off by US or China, says ECB’s Lagarde

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Europe must develop its own AI technology and build more datacentres in order to nullify the threat of being cut off by the US or China, according to the president of the European Central Bank. Christine Lagarde said the continent needed AI models – the technology that powers AI tools such as chatbots – that were “good enough” to carry out most tasks and run from domestic datacentres. If Europe invests in its own AI tech, said Lagarde, “the threat of being cut off loses its force”. AI is being…

The Russia-tied French billionaires opening UK’s first historical theme park – explainer

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French company Puy du Fou is planning a £600m history-themed park in Oxfordshire. A Guardian investigation has found the company continued working with associates of Konstantin Malofeyev, a pro-Kremlin oligarch under sanctions, on plans for a theme park in Russian-occupied Crimea for longer than it had previously disclosed, and later explored projects in Iran and China. Business reporter Rob Davies explains his findings, including documents that raise questions about whether Puy du Fou’s activities tested the limits of EU sanctions imposed after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. He also examines…

Which countries have citizens killed or missing after Nepal-Tibet flash flood?

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Hundreds of foreigners were in area to work, take guided treks or make pilgrimages when disaster struck Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Flash floods at the Nepal-Tibet border have killed at least 543 people and more than 1,500 are missing. Hundreds were foreigners in the area to work, take guided treks or make pilgrimages. Thousands have been rescued, with some of the injured taken to hospitals in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. The number of missing may vary because of progress in the ongoing rescue efforts and differences in how data…

The Quest for ‘Technological Sovereignty’ in Europe (and Why It’s So Hard)

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The French government said this year that it would replace Zoom and other American videoconference software with a French-developed alternative. Germany is building a homegrown platform for artificial intelligence. Companies in both countries are teaming up to build A.I. chips to rival those of the United States and China. These are modest steps in Europe’s high-stakes race to catch up to America and China in the global sprint for digital independence. Without it, Europe’s political and business leaders worry, they will be vulnerable to sudden losses of access to critical…

Weather tracker: Unusually warm rivers affect French nuclear power plants

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Above average temperatures combined with below average rainfall across much of western and central Europe during June and the first half of July have placed increasing pressure on rivers, ecosystems and energy infrastructure. Persistent high pressure brought prolonged sunshine, suppressed rainfall and enhanced evaporation, causing river levels to fall and water temperatures to increase. These unusually warm rivers are affecting electricity generation in France, as several nuclear power stations rely on river water for cooling. Under French environmental regulations, operators must limit the amount of heat discharged back into rivers,…

For allies and adversaries alike, America at 250 is a solid global citizen gone rogue

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China: Confident rival hopes to eclipse US Amy Hawkins in Beijing On the shores of Beijing’s central lakes, elderly Beijingers relax under the shade of willow trees. Some swim, some play mahjong, and one old man plays darts: US and Chinese-flagged arrows competing for the bullseye. The adversarial view of US-China relations is typical among people like these who lived through the cold war. Wen Feng, a 60-year-old retiree, described the US as a “troublemaker” – a viewpoint fanned by years of state propaganda casting Uncle Same as a villainous,…