Flagship

Israeli strikes kill hundreds in Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah on Monday killed hundreds in Lebanon, which was still reeling from last week’s explosions of the Lebanese group’s communication devices. Monday was the deadliest day of Israeli attacks in the country since Israel’s 2006 war with Hezbollah. Diplomats are scrambling to prevent all-out war in the region, including on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive Thursday. “Muted criticism” from Israel’s allies over its Lebanon attacks has raised concerns there is not enough diplomatic pressure on Netanyahu to de-escalate, The Guardian wrote. Netanyahu famously hates the UN, one official said, “but he does like coming here to tell us that we’re all rubbish.”

UAE focuses on AI in Biden meeting

The United Arab Emirates president pushed for artificial intelligence cooperation with the US in a meeting with Joe Biden Monday. The UAE wants a new “geo-economic” relationship with the US that goes beyond oil. But Washington is wary of China’s interest in the Gulf state’s ambitious AI plans and has curbed some US tech exports to the Middle East over concerns Beijing could access them. The US has also asked Samsung and TSMC for oversight of any AI chip shipments as the companies consider building factories in the UAE, The Wall Street Journal reported. And some US lawmakers are scrutinizing the UAE’s G42 — the largest Middle Eastern AI company, which recently secured a $1.5 billion Microsoft investment — over its ties to China.

Telegram changes user data policy

Telegram will provide authorities with user data in response to legal requests, in a major policy shift to “discourage criminals” from exploiting the messaging app, CEO Pavel Durov said Monday. Many cybercriminals had already begun ditching the app, 404 Media reported, anticipating changes to its policies after France arrested Durov in August for refusing to cooperate with investigations into criminal activity on Telegram. Durov’s troubles in France and Elon Musk’s feud with the Brazilian judiciary over X reflect growing international efforts to regulate tech companies: “As US geopolitical might wanes and the power of tech platforms has grown, it’s become much harder to get other countries — including Western allies — to leave them alone,” the Disconnect tech blog wrote.

US to ban Chinese software in cars

The Biden administration plans to bar Chinese software and hardware from being used in internet-connected cars over national security concerns, essentially banning all China-made smart vehicles in the US. Washington is concerned about Chinese companies collecting data on US drivers and manipulating vehicles’ navigation systems, Reuters reported. The US’ ongoing efforts to crack down on the use of Chinese technology has “begun to drop a digital iron curtain” between the two superpowers, The New York Times wrote. Some China experts believe the US’ fear of Beijing ends up hurting American consumers, but one analyst told the Times that the proposed ban “reflects complexities of a world where a lot of connected devices can be weaponized.”

Port strike threatens supply chains

An impending strike by US port workers threatens to upend supply chains and raise prices ahead of November’s presidential election. Negotiations between ports and the International Longshoremen’s Association have stalled, and without an agreement, dockworkers will walk out on Oct. 1. The strike would have a “devastating impact” on the US economy, business groups warned, shutting down all ports between Maine and Texas, which account for the majority of cargo in and out of the US, the Financial Times reported. President Joe Biden has said he won’t stop the labor action, but his administration will likely try to intervene, one retail leader told Freightwaves, because Democratic nominee Kamala Harris “does not want that kind of an economic headache before the election.”

Musk, China race to Mars

The race to Mars is heating up. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Sunday he plans to launch five uncrewed missions to Mars in the next two years, days after China moved up the timeline of its own mission by two years, which could see it bringing samples from the red planet back to Earth as early as 2031, Space.com reported. With NASA’s Mars sample-return mission in limbo because of ballooning costs, “Beijing seems to have decided this is a race that it can win,” one expert told The Straits Times. China’s commercial space sector still lags behind that of the US, but thanks to Beijing’s massive support, SpaceX might one day face “a pack of wolves” in the form of Chinese rivals, an analyst told AFP.

Russia targets exiled citizens

Russia is quietly targeting exiled citizens across the world in a repression campaign that deserves more global attention, an investigative reporter for Meduza argued in The New York Times. Moscow began targeting high-profile opposition figures and journalists after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but low-profile Russian dissenters, from school teachers to toy shop owners, have also been surveilled or kidnapped in several countries. “The Kremlin is hunting down ordinary people across the world, and nobody seems to care,” Lilia Yapparova wrote. Host countries are often complicit, she noted, and there is a lack of protection for Russians abroad. “The greatest danger,” Yapparova warned, “is that the world forgets altogether about these people — and why they left their country in the first place.”

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Hong Kong property slump hits banks

A sharp increase in commercial property loan defaults in Hong Kong reveals how the city’s real estate slump has begun to hit global banks. HSBC said it had $3.2 billion in “credit impaired” loans to Hong Kong commercial clients in June, up sixfold from $576 million at the start of the year. Banks have been concerned about mainland China’s property market for years, but Hong Kong, a global financial hub, is seeing its own problems: Prime office rents are down 35% since 2020, and while investors think the Chinese situation is unlikely to get worse, when it comes to Hong Kong, “I don’t think we’ve seen the bottom yet,” one analyst told the Financial Times.

Russian bots dominate online poker

A Russian bot “army” makes millions of dollars a year using artificial intelligence software to play poker. The online poker world’s elite make money by preying on naive “fish,” a reference to new players. The modern game is highly mathematical, and in the 2010s, a group of Russian students began employing advanced probability theory to beat “hapless Americans” online, a Bloomberg investigation found. By 2012 they had built “probably the world’s most advanced poker-playing software” and were deploying it on poker websites. Despite efforts to ban poker bots, the Russian group has thrived. Its bots can even adjust their skill level so they don’t defeat weak players too heavily, making them stay in the game longer to boost the profits that can be won.

India’s historic chess wins

India’s domination at the Chess Olympiad marks the start of its reign as “the best chess nation in the world,” one former world champion said. The country won both the open and women’s team events — the first time any nation has done so — as well as four individual golds despite, as The Indian Express noted, its top-rated female player staying home. India’s 18-year-old star D Gukesh could cap the year by becoming the youngest ever world champion. One analyst described it as a “1983 moment,” referring to India winning its first Cricket World Cup and kickstarting the sport’s commercial revolution: “The rise of India as chess’ engine is already clear.”

September 24:

• The UN General Assembly begins its general debate in New York.
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at the Labour Party’s annual conference.
• Artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize showcase their work at the Tate Modern.

A 76-year-old Black quilter in the US is using her first gallery show to tell stories that are increasingly forbidden. At a time when 30 US states have restricted the teaching of Black history, Carolyn Mazloomi’s quilts depict figures such as Billie Holiday and James Baldwin to invoke themes of systemic racism and inspire social change. “We all as human beings have a relationship with the cloth,” Mazloomi, whose work is on show at the Claire Oliver Gallery, told Artnet. “It is the first thing we’re swathed in at birth. It’s the last thing that touches our body upon our death… Because people are familiar with cloth, it’s an easy way to tell very difficult stories.”

• JD Vance is taking a different approach to the debates than Donald Trump.
• 2024 could be the beginning of a global decline in emissions.
• UAE’s Pure Harvest seeks over $100 million for expansion.