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…
Brutality of Russia’s Wagner Gives It Lead in Ukraine War
Wagner has spearheaded the push to jump-start Russia’s stalemated offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province.
Climate activists could face jail over City of London protest
Four protesters found guilty of public nuisance after stopping traffic at Bishopsgate in October 2021A judge has warned four climate activists they could face a jail sentence after being found guilty of causing a public nuisance during an Insulate Brit…
The risk of election violence in the United States in 2024
Despite fears that the 2022 U.S. midterm elections would see a reprise of January 6-like political violence, the elections occurred with no mobs storming state capitals or other attacks. Improved law enforcement deserves much of the credit: January 6 was a shock, and both federal and state officials were far more vigilant this time around.…
Libya’s hybrid armed groups dilemma
As we look ahead to 2023, it is easy, indeed facile, to predict the worst in Libya. Political and societal divisions persist, human rights are flagrantly violated, weapons are aplenty, negative foreign interference continues, the list goes on. Yet, the October 2020 ceasefire agreement remains intact, though not fully implemented, and the prospect of return…
Nonstate armed actors in 2023: Persistence amid geopolitical shuffles
Four factors will critically shape the landscape of nonstate armed actors and illicit economies in 2023 and beyond: the new geopolitics; persisting structural weaknesses of government responses to nonstate armed actors, amplified by the lasting effects of COVID-19; the synthetic drugs revolution sweeping global crime markets; and the reshaping of criminal actors and their power…