China-UK Relations
MI5 accuses China of spying on British research
Chinese intelligence has used a front company to distribute research grants to British universities, thereby spying on research into technology projects. This is according to the UK security service MI5, as reported by the BBC.
The entity in question is the Chinese research institute CGTRI, which MI5 claims is a front for Chinese intelligence and thus poses a "significant threat." Academics and institutions are being urged to terminate their collaborations with CGTRI.
The focus reportedly lay on research areas such as AI, cybersecurity, and covert communication.
The Climate Threat Global Challenges
100 scientists: Oceans warming at an alarmingly rapid rate
The oceans are warming at an alarmingly rapid rate, bringing consequences for which the world is unprepared. This is according to a report by over 100 international scientists, as reported by CNN.
"The ocean is transforming before our eyes: warming, rising sea levels, and ecosystem collapse are interconnected signs of serious and long-lasting change," the report states.
The report compiles over 40 years of data from satellites, buoys, and sensors monitoring the world's oceans. The rate of warming has doubled over the past 20 years. US troops have left Iraq: "Alarming"
The US has withdrawn its final troops from Iraq after just over two decades of intermittent military presence, international media report. The last few hundred soldiers have left the airbase in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, the Pentagon announced.
"It is alarming that the US is leaving Iraqi Kurdistan amidst the complex circumstances prevailing in the region, without providing any defense system," the Kurdish autonomous government stated.
The US invaded Iraq in 2003 and withdrew in 2011, but returned three years later to combat the terrorist organization Islamic State.
AI development
AI researcher awarded this year’s "Alternative Nobel Prize"
Four women and women-led organizations have been awarded this year’s "Alternative Nobel Prize" by Right Livelihood, *DN* reports. One of them is American AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who works to steer AI development in a direction that protects people. She was fired from Google in 2020 after warning about the risks associated with large language models.
"We are on the verge of giving a small number of billionaires so much power and money that they can turn the world into a playground for their strange fantasies," Gebru told *DN*.
Other laureates include Pakistani lawyer Jalila Haider, as well as the organizations Rural Women’s Assembly and Georgian Young Lawyers.
The laureates receive one million kronor each.
Senate blocks new rules on politicians' stock trading
The US Senate has blocked a bill aimed at restricting stock trading by members of Congress, Reuters reports. Democrats argue that the restrictions do not go far enough and also oppose stricter voter ID requirements that were incorporated into the proposal.
By a vote of 53–47, the Senate blocked a Republican attempt to open debate on the bill, which the House of Representatives had passed in July. Many Democrats want a total ban on stock trading by members of Congress—an issue that has become heated ahead of the midterm elections.
"Yet another desperate Republican attempt to pretend they are fighting corruption," Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.
Somali pirates kill five – first fatalities in over a decade
Five crew members on an oil tanker hijacked off the coast of Somalia have been killed and four others injured, the BBC reports.
The vessel, MT Hoarner 25, was hijacked in April while carrying approximately 18,500 barrels of oil to Mogadishu. Five months later, local forces in Puntland have now retaken the ship.
The deaths come as piracy around Somalia is on the rise again, with at least 13 attacks on ships this year—the sharpest escalation in over a decade, according to the BBC and Reuters. Pirate attacks dropped sharply following international interventions in 2011, but according to experts, the conflict between the US and Iran and the unrest in the Red Sea have paved the way for a comeback, as military forces have been redeployed and more vessels are passing close to Somalia.
