Flagship

OpenAI unveils text-to-video AI

OpenAI unveiled an artificial-intelligence model that can turn text prompts into photorealistic video. Its sneak preview of Sora only revealed four preselected videos, but WIRED called the results “a mind-blowing exercise in world-building.” The model’s physics are imperfect, but it nonetheless could also create video-game worlds, leading one researcher to suggest future games could be “distributed as 2-3 paragraphs of text.” With Sora, OpenAI is parking its tanks on the lawn of rivals Midjourney and Runway, Semafor’s Technology Editor Reed Albergotti said: “It could end up being the leader in this increasingly competitive space.” Apple, meanwhile, announced its own generative AI features to support coding, similar to GitHub’s Copilot, part of a wider move to boost consumer-facing AI tools.

West presents united front

Western powers sought to showcase their unity at major defense talks — despite the prospect of Donald Trump’s return, Ukraine’s mounting struggles, and fears of Chinese aggression. The European Commission president said Brussels was pushing to bolster its defense industry, Kyiv agreed defense pacts with Berlin and Paris, and moderate Republicans in Washington outlined a new deal to fund military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Yet new research showed G-7 military spending was at a historic low and Ukraine appeared at risk of losing a frontline town. Meanwhile analysts said China looked set to try and exploit Western divisions during what the South China Morning Post billed a “European charm offensive.”

Israeli troops storm Gaza hospital

Gazan health authorities said at least four patients died after Israeli forces raided the main hospital in the south of the enclave. Israel said the operation targeted terror suspects hiding in the facility. The raid came amid renewed White House opposition to an offensive on the Gazan border town of Rafah where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. U.S. President Joe Biden made the remarks in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the latest sign of growing tensions between the two allies over the Israel-Hamas war. Ultimately, those tensions may cost Israel: “Netanyahu is like a scorpion,” a former adviser to an ex-Israeli president wrote in The Times of Israel, “trying to sting whoever tries to help us.”

Cholera vaccines run out

The global emergency stockpile of cholera vaccines is empty as southern Africa grapples with the worst outbreak of the disease in decades. The recent, sudden surge in the number of cases has depleted stocks and will likely lead to a shortfall of at least 50 million doses this year, the United Nations’ agency for children said. The waterborne disease has killed more than 4,000 people and infected over 220,000 over the past two years, a leap linked to more severe storms as well as poor water infrastructure and sewers. With above-normal rainfall projected for the months ahead, conditions could get worse, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned.

Nigerians forced to eat leftover rice

Nigerians are turning to “afafata,” leftover rice usually considered too low-quality to eat, as the cost of living increases. Prices in Nigeria are going up fast: A 110 lb bag of rice now costs around $53, 70% more than the middle of last year and more than a month’s wages for most Nigerians. The increase is driven by an end to government fuel subsidies and the currency’s devaluation. Rice is a staple for millions of Africans, providing around 9% of all calories consumed, so scientists are keen to find ways of boosting its nutritional value. One potential method could be to coat rice grains with lab-grown beef cells: A recent study found that doing so would cheaply increase rice’s protein content, while reducing the need for carbon- and land-intensive livestock farming.

Trump’s contrasting legal fortunes

Donald Trump’s first criminal trial will begin next month after a judge refused to delay or dismiss it. The case, the first time a former U.S. president faces criminal charges, is over alleged hush-money payments to an adult-movie actress. Trump had better legal news in Georgia, where he is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election result: Allegations that the district attorney trying the case had a romantic relationship with a key prosecutor may lead to the case collapsing. The hush-money case faces a key difficulty, noted the BBC: It is hard to find potential jurors with no strong opinion on Trump. Trump himself called the case a “disgrace,” adding: “How can you run for election and be sitting in a courthouse in Manhattan all day long?”

India opposition says funds frozen

India’s main opposition party alleged tax authorities briefly froze its bank accounts, a move it described as an “assault on India’s democracy,” months before the country’s general elections. Officials later gave the Congress party access to its funds, the party said, pending a court hearing due next week over its alleged late payment of taxes from 2019. The government did not immediately respond to the charges. The claim is the latest in a string of accusations by opponents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his government is cracking down on critical voices in politics, the media, and civil society ahead of polls his party is widely expected to win.

Caracas expels UN agency

Venezuela ordered a United Nations agency that monitors human rights to leave the country, further stripping it of oversight ahead of elections planned this year. The move follows a ruling by a Venezuelan court to bar the main opposition candidate from running for the presidency, part of what experts have described as a drastic hardening of conditions by Caracas which risk the reimposition of U.S. sanctions. Washington eased restrictions on Venezuela’s beleaguered oil industry last year in exchange for political liberalization, leading to economic growth in the South American nation for the first time in more than a decade. “We are all living a sort of conditional freedom,” a lawyer for political prisoners told The New York Times.

Jeff Koons artworks set off for the moon

The first-ever private lunar lander, which set off yesterday, is carrying 125 Jeff Koons sculptures. The inch-high miniatures, each representing a different phase of the moon, should arrive in nine days’ time and will be the first artworks on another world. The vastly lower costs of private space flight make this sort of project viable: It costs roughly $1,300 to take a pound of cargo to low earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9, compared to $10,000 on an Ariane rocket and $30,000 on the Space Shuttle. Those falling costs have also made the satellite industry far more competitive, and joyrides into space affordable, at least for the ultra-rich.

McCartney’s missing bass found

A bass guitar stolen from Paul McCartney in 1972 was returned to him after a global search. McCartney, famous as the lead singer of Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus among other projects, bought the violin-shaped Höfner 500/1 in 1963 for £30 — equivalent to $1,000 now. It went missing while The Beatles were recording their album, Let It Be. McCartney said he loved it because it was vertically symmetrical, so that as a left-handed player “it looked less daft.” A search for the lost guitar was launched last year, and a student realized the guitar he had inherited was the lost bass. A Höfner executive said the instrument, which McCartney played in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, could now be valued “like a Van Gogh or a Picasso.”

February 29 | Washington D.C.
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• The Finnish prime minister meets his Polish counterpart in Warsaw.
• A New York judge is expected to rule on a $370 million civil fraud case against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
• The GKA Kite-Surf World Cup begins in Cape Verde.

Bookstop in Nairobi recommends It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower, by Michela Wrong. It’s the true story of John Githongo, who served as President Daniel arap Moi’s anti-corruption czar before being forced to flee to London, and asks: “What is it about African society that makes corruption so hard to eradicate, so sweeping in its scope, so destructive in its impact?” Buy it at Bookstop or your local bookstore.

A much-respected podcast focusing on China’s politics, culture, and history, relaunched after the company backing it went under last year. Sinica has since 2010 covered all manner of topics, but The China Project said in November it was shutting its doors due to “politically motivated attacks” that meant it could no longer raise sufficient funds. Sinica’s long-time co-hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn said in a new episode they were reviving it as a standalone product. “To understand China, China’s history, where it’s going, where it is right now, it feels to me that you need something like the scientific method,” Goldkorn said. “You need to be able to constantly reassess your ideas, and sometimes change your mind.”

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• Democrats think they’ve found a winning border message.
• Meet the wealthy Saudi family buying up the failing Children’s Place.
• A little-known startup takes the AI weather-prediction crown.