Infowars: Chinese AI memes and US media barbs
A trade war that pits the world's two largest economies against each other is now under way. Alongside the tariff battle is a heated battle of narratives and messages between the two countries.
Contributors:
Andy Mok – Senior Research Fellow, Center for China and Globalisation
Jude Russo – Managing Editor, The American Conservative
Isaac Stone Fish – CEO, Strategy Risks
Yun Sun – Director of China Program, Stimson Center
On April 15, the civil war in Sudan hit the two-year mark. The Sudanese media landscape has been devastated. According to Reporters Without Borders, since the war began, nearly 450 journalists have fled the country. Meenakshi Ravi has more.
Donald Trump's public musings about how Canada should become the United States' 51st state, has Canadians rallying around their flag. The Listening Post's Ryan Kohls discusses the Trump effect and the unprecedented impact it is having on Canadian nationalism and politics.
Featuring:
Rachel Gilmore – Host, Bubble Pop
Jonathan Kay – Editor, Quillette
David Moscrop – Author and Journalist
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
21 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
AI-powered solutions emerge at Vivatech to tackle ocean challenges
Agencies Harnessing ocean currents to boost fuel efficiency of vessels, or tracking whales using sensor data and AI -- startups at Paris trade fair Vivatech have been showing off the latest innovations aimed at protecting the environment. Recently developed AI programs capable of learning from vast datasets have boosted projects trying to understand and predict real-world phenomena, several company founders told AFP. 'We have to use AI because in the natural world there are too many variables' to deal with manually, said Emily Charry Tissier, a biologist and founder of Canadian startup Whale Seeker, which is developing technology to track sea mammals. Powered by 'neural network' systems that ape the functioning of the human brain, the learning systems behind today's AI models 'can calculate a weather forecast 1,000 times faster than a standard digital model running on a supercomputer', agreed oceanographer Alexandre Stegner. He flagged an AI model developed by his firm, Amphitrite, that he said could predict ocean currents by crunching 'several layers of satellite data corresponding to different physical variables'. It can forecast currents up to 10 days in advance, he said, offering sea captains 'a simple way to save fuel' by slightly changing course and using currents to gain a speed boost of up to four knots. That could save operators money on fuel, reduce the carbon emissions from shipping, and avoid the classic solution of telling sea captains to reduce their speed. Technologies like these were being shown off in the halls of Vivatech as the U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC) drew to a close hundreds of kilometers to the south in French Mediterranean city Nice. The conference has pushed a treaty to protect 60 percent of the world's oceans closer to becoming law, with 55 signatures -- just five shy of the number required for its enactment. New technologies could be 'a very good thing' for the oceans, said Andre Abreu, International Affairs Director at the Paris-based Tara Ocean Foundation. But he warned that innovation should not be harnessed to allow more fish to be caught. 'That would mean shooting ourselves in the foot' on goals like preserving marine biodiversity, he said. That ambiguity can be seen in technology from OceanEyes, a Japanese startup using AI analysis of satellite data to predict sea conditions. The company hopes to cut the time fishing boats spend tracking down a catch. 'A big problem in Japan is the efficiency of the fishery operations. Many fishers spend a lot of time searching for fish in the water,' said boss Yusuke Tanaka. With less fuel burnt, operators will save money and greenhouse emissions can be slashed. Anticipating concerns about overfishing, OceanEyes said it also aimed to help vessels comply with recently updated Japanese regulations that oblige fishers to 'ensure sustainable use of marine resources'. Whale Seeker's Tissier said technology could be used in a considered way to find sustainable solutions. 'I'd like the market to recognize its own limits -- not the limits of what we can do, but what we should do,' she told AFP. That attitude pushed her to refuse to work with a company that wanted to use whale detection to identify nearby fish to catch. But startups cannot grow without funding and, in the context of oceans, investments are likely to come from big firms keen to make a saving -- from fishing and ship management companies to haulage and logistics giants. This could well limit their ability to stand on principle.
Qatar Tribune
21 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Canada to boost mining amid China's rare earth curbs, says ex-finance minister
Agencies Canada's new government will invest more in mining at a time when the country's economy and manufacturing sector are facing 'challenges' related to China's curbs on rare earth exports, Bill Morneau, former Canadian finance minister, told the Post. 'One of the challenges for Canada is that we will need to increase our own mining,' Morneau, who was in office between 2015 and 2020 under then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, said in Shanghai on Friday. 'The initiative by new [Prime Minister] Mark Carney is to advance the ability to get big projects done. Certainly, mining is one of the critical ones,' Morneau explained. The former official acknowledged how Canada had taken some flak – collateral damage – amid US-China trade war escalations. Canadian firms, he said, have been affected by China's export restrictions on critical minerals that are still reverberating through the global industrial chain. 'Canada has a very significant part to play in the North American automotive sector. Any challenges around rare earths have an impact on that sector and, therefore, on Canada,' he said. 'So, there is a stake in that discussion for Canada. It's one of the important reasons that we hope these things get resolved.' Canada is sitting on a reserve of 15.2 million tonnes of rare earth oxide, according to a 2023 official estimate. Its reserves include both light and heavy rare earth elements, with key projects in Quebec and Labrador. Also on Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that Canada was fast-tracking development of its critical minerals reserve over indigenous opposition, to generate revenue in response to US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Morneau also complained about how long it took to get mining approvals. Mining projects in Canada have traditionally been a complex process involving multiple levels of government, with discussions concerning the environment, indigenous rights and workers' safety, to name a few. Sometimes the process can take several years. 'Canada has much opportunity … But we have not been as rapid in getting mining approvals as we would like,' Morneau said. 'But clearly, China has a significant advantage in rare earths from the investments made over many years. I hope that we have – as much as possible – a free flow of trade in that area.' In a new development, China has granted permits to a major rare earth miner to facilitate shipments to the US and Europe. This is widely seen as a positive outcome after Chinese and US officials had 'agreed in principle' to a trade framework – pending approval from their respective leaders – following crunch talks in London and a call between presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump on June 5. Beijing's perceived slow progress in loosening its export controls, in place since April, on critical minerals, the lifeline for hi-tech industries – including smartphones, electric vehicles and fighter jets – was a major gripe for the US. Morneau, an advocate of closer ties with China as a hedge against uncertainties from Canada's long-standing ally, said he was encouraged to see the latest talks between Beijing and Washington. 'There is a need for an understanding between the two, which will help all other countries in the Western sphere to have better trading opportunities with China,' he talks hold out hopes of a mutual understanding, he said, adding, however, that everyone has to understand there will continue to be geopolitical rivalries – those are natural and expected. 'The acute issue right now is, can we get to a more stable trading situation? There are places where the US and China will not agree. That's just the way it is. But as soon as we can get to an understanding on where we do agree, then it's easier to have a trading relationship that works.' Getting down to the specifics in trade talks is a good place to start, he said. 'Discussions about rare earths are specific discussions,' Morneau explained. 'If we can agree on the specifics and places where we are going to allow businesses to successfully interact, then that will be a precursor to improved outcomes.' On the Chinese economy, Morneau said China faces challenges similar to those faced by many countries. 'There are long-term demographic issues. There are the obvious challenges of moving to domestic demand-led growth when you have more volatility around trade,' he said. His advice to Beijing was to improve social security. 'One of the reasons people increase consumption is their confidence. Social programmes always have an important place to play,' he said. 'That's been our experience in Canada.' After both Beijing and Ottawa had repeatedly clashed with Washington on trade, Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, in a June 6 phone call, agreed on a 'reset' in the bilateral relationship after years of turbulence. Morneau expressed optimism that China and Canada could expeditiously resolve disputes and grow trade in agriculture, natural resources and tech. China is Canada's second-largest trading partner after the US, but a string of incidents in recent years deeply strained ties. China also imposes tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports such as canola and seafood.
Qatar Tribune
7 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
USDA redaction of trade analysis causes concern about report integrity
Agencies Analysts voiced concerns this week about the integrity of U.S. Department of Agriculture reports after the agency delayed a report and excluded findings that point to tariffs as a reason for a forecasted increase in the agricultural trade deficit, according to Reuters interviews with four analysts. The administration of President Donald Trump has pledged to shrink the farm trade deficit and has said tariffs will strengthen the farm economy, but farm groups have been critical of the agency's delay of a quarterly agricultural trade report and exclusion of its typical explanatory text were concerning because the moves raised questions about the objectivity of the data, two analysts said. 'The trade is uneasy about USDA statistics now,' said Charlie Sernatinger, head of grains with Marex, a brokerage and financial services company. A USDA spokesperson said the report was delayed by an internal review. 'The report was hung up in internal clearance process and was not finalized in time for its typical deadline. Given this report is not statutory as with many other reports USDA does, the department is undergoing a review of all of its non-statutory reports, including this one, to determine next steps,' the spokesperson said. The quarterly trade outlook report jointly published by the USDA's Economic Research Service and Foreign Agricultural Service was scheduled to be released on May 29. Shortly before it was set to publish, its authors were told to stop its release, according to a source familiar with the situation. The authors were then questioned by leaders at the ERS, FAS and USDA Office of the Chief Economist about the report's attribution of the growing agriculture trade deficit to tariffs and sentiments like 'Buy Canadian' that have reduced demand for U.S. goods, the source said. In the delayed report released on Monday, the USDA raised its forecast of the U.S. agriculture trade deficit for fiscal-year 2025 to $49.5 billion, from the $49 billion it previously forecast in February. The version of the report published on Monday contains correct and unaltered data, the source said, but excludes explanatory text typically contained in the report delay and redaction were first reported by Politico. Such trade reports would typically be reviewed by communications and policy staff, but the removal of the explanatory text was highly unusual, according to a second source familiar with the report publication process. Two other analysts said they were confident in the USDA data for now, but expressed concern about how Trump's disruption of the federal government could affect future reports. 'Departures of key personnel limit the ability of agencies to collect and analyze information,' said Patrick Westhoff, director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri. The USDA has lost about 27% of ERS employees and 14% of FAS employees to terminations or voluntary incentives to leave the agency.
