The Guardian (September 11)
“Humanity cannot outsource its survival.” AI must be controlled, but that’s no easy feat. “Keeping people in charge means little if supercomputers determine the evidence, choices and time on which their decisions depend.” Yet we must. “The dangers of AI-enabled pandemics or attacks on nuclear systems are real. Countries need not agree on democracy or trade policy to accept this.”
Tags: AI, Attacks, Choices, Controlled, Dangers, Decisions, Democracy, Evidence, Humanity, Nuclear systems, Outsource, Pandemics, Real, Supercomputers, Survival, Time, Trade policy
The Times (September 4)
“Russia was caught in the act in its attack on Leipzig airport and Europe’s reaction simply confirmed its increasing solidarity.” It is true that “Russia would be hard put to mount a major attack against Nato now” with “its strength drained by the war.” Still, “the threat from Russia is real. With decisive victory on the battlefield eluding him, and with the war’s effects now being felt across his vast domain, Mr Putin may, like many a gambler before him, decide to double down. If that happens, Nato must be ready.”
Tags: Attack, Battlefield, Caught, Decisive, Europe, Leipzig airport, Major attack, Nato, Putin, Reaction, Real, Russia, Solidarity, Strength, Threat, Victory, War
The Guardian (August 9)
The IPCC’s sixth assessment report “makes for stark reading. It reaffirms that anthropogenic climate change is real, present and lasting: it is now unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land to an unprecedented degree, with effects almost certain to worsen through the coming decades.” With this report, the IPCC “dispels any notion that the effects of the climate crisis are abstract or distant.”
Tags: Anthropogenic, Assessment, Atmosphere, Climate change, Human influence, IPCC, Land, Lasting, Ocean, Present, Reaffirms, Real, Report, Stark, Unequivocal
Newsweek (June 27)
“Sea level rise is real, and it’s getting worse,” accelerating some 50 percent between 1993 and 2014. “The biggest factor driving sea level rise is thermal expansion,” but it’s likely that “melting glaciers account for 15 to 35 percent.”
Tags: Accelerating, Factor, Glaciers, Melting, Real, Sea level rise, Thermal expansion
Wall Street Journal (July 28)
“Since the 15th century the world has had six unofficial reserve currencies, starting with the Portuguese real. On average they have maintained their leading position for 94 years. The dollar succeeded the British pound 96 years ago, and it has no serious rival in sight.” Today, nearly 90% of global trades involve dollars and, worldwide, nearly two thirds of foreign currency reserves are held in dollars.
Tags: Dollar, Global trades, Portugal, Pound, Real, Reserve currencies, UK
Bloomberg (June 20)
“Brexit stresses are seeping into virtually every corner of the global foreign-exchange market. Of 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, all but three have seen a jump in the cost to hedge against big declines.” The Japanese yen Brazilian real and Swiss frank are the three exceptions.
Tags: Brazil, Brexit, Cost, Currencies, Declines, Forex, Hedge, Japan, Markets, Real, Switzerland, Yen
