At the beginning of 2023, the attention of the United States remains intensely focused on the war in Ukraine and great power competition in the Asia-Pacific Region. In its fall 2022 National Security Strategy, the Biden administration pulled back from large-scale U.S. military deployments to stabilize countries struggling with militancy. However, more than 20 years…
Climate activists guilty of smashing Barclays HQ windows escape jail
Women were found guilty of causing £100,000 damage to building in Canary Wharf, LondonSeven climate change activists who were found guilty of causing more than £100,000 of damage by smashing windows at the headquarters of Barclays Bank have escaped jai…
Israel to ‘expedite’ gun licenses after deadly shooting near Jerusalem synagogue – Fox News
Israel to ‘expedite’ gun licenses after deadly shooting near Jerusalem synagogue Fox NewsIsraeli police say 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot Israeli father and son NBC NewsRussia’s Lavrov urges Israel and Palestinians not to worse…
Covid in China: Officials say current wave is ‘coming to an end’ – BBC
Covid in China: Officials say current wave is ‘coming to an end’ BBCChina covid-19 wave: Authorities claim severe cases, deaths falling fast • FRANCE 24 English FRANCE 24 EnglishChina COVID deaths halve as officials signal wave ne…
Alan Cumming Returns British Honor Over ‘Toxicity of Empire’
The Scottish actor Alan Cumming said that he returned his Order of the British Empire, or O.B.E., in protest of the role of the monarchy and empire. He’s not the first celebrity to do so.
Carol Vorderman and Rod Stewart’s attacks on Tories are a boost for Starmer
TV presenter hit out at government’s record on transparency, but do celebrity endorsements massively affect votes?Has Sir Rod Stewart, of all unexpected people, provoked a flood of celebrity support for Labour? Perhaps not quite yet. But after Carol Vo…
Google Created an AI That Can Generate Music From Text Descriptions, But Won’t Release It
An impressive new AI system from Google can generate music in any genre given a text description. But the company, fearing the risks, has no immediate plans to release it. From a report: Called MusicLM, Google’s certainly isn’t the first generative AI …
Majida Obaid, killed by Israeli forces in Jenin, was ‘very loved’
The 61-year-old grandmother among nine who were shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The Houthis after the Yemeni cease-fire
In the almost decade-old civil war in Yemen, the adherence to a cease-fire that began in April 2022 by the Shiite Zaydi Houthi rebels suggests they are now prepared to live with a political outcome to the war that leaves them in control of most, but not all, Yemenis. The Houthis seem prepared to settle for less than complete control…
Syria’s dissolving line between state and nonstate actors
In Syria’s civil war, now entering its 12th year, the state/nonstate divide has become increasingly blurred. Nowhere is this more evident than in the practices adopted by ruling elites in regime- and opposition-held areas to ensure access to resources. Over time, both state actors and nonstate armed groups have produced parallel, interconnected, and interdependent political…