Trump's attack on science is growing fiercer and more indiscriminate
SCIENTISTS IN AMERICA are used to being the best. The country is home to the world's foremost universities, hosts the lion's share of scientific Nobel laureates and has long been among the top producers of influential research papers. Generous funding helps keep the system running. Counting both taxpayer and industrial dollars, America spends more on research than any other country. The federal government doles out around $120bn a year, $50bn or so of which goes towards tens of thousands of grants and contracts for higher-education institutions, with the rest going to public research bodies.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
She was tortured, yet she still fights for freedom
Editor's note: This is the second in a five-part series on the price of freedom, by exploring the work and experience of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. Deseret News Opinion Editor Jay Evensen has known Yunus since 1997, when the world leader first visited Utah. Evensen traveled to Dhaka to speak again with Yunus, entrepreneurs, politicians in the country, and even revolutionaries seeking change, to understand the risks Yunus is enduring and why peace and opportunity in Bangladesh are so important to the United States. DHAKA, BANGLADESH — As I sit across the desk from Aparna Roy Das, the 49-year-old whose political career, like that of her father, has been marred by broken bones, torture and harassment, the question seems so obvious it practically leaps from the walls. Why do you choose to be a politician when there are such dangers? Just a few minutes later, as we discuss whether rival parties and factions might disrupt upcoming elections with more violence, the chants of protesters begin to grow outside the window behind where Das sits at her desk, a window covered in blinds, here in the capital city of Bangladesh. These chants quickly become loud enough to interrupt our discussion. I feel compelled to ask my interpreter, Tathira Baatul, a young research assistant and aspiring journalist, 'Is that a good protest?' 'I'm not sure,' she answers. Such is the rough-and-tumble world of politics in Bangladesh. At the time of this interview, the party to which Das belongs, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, was supportive of interim leader Muhammad Yunus' efforts to reform the nation before holding elections. Today, the BNP is restless, urging Yunus to hold elections quickly, ostensibly because it is expected to win popular support. But as the chants rise during our interview in February, Das has just described for us how, for 15 years, she could not use this office because police, presumably operating under Hasina's orders, had destroyed its contents. She also had been tortured. 'Both of my knees were broken by the police during the first strike in 2010,' she said, according to a transcript of our interview, translated and provided to me by Baatul after the meeting. 'And since then, I have been tortured multiple times in police custody and in court. They tortured me from my legs to my head. 'Even now, because of that torture, I am physically unwell, though in terms of mental strength, I remain resilient. I was never able to go abroad for treatment.' She wasn't the first in her family to endure such punishment for political activism. Her mother died last Dec. 29, she tells me, 'because of 17 years of oppression.' 'She spent those years alone, visiting prisons, as someone from our family was always behind bars. She fought against the administration by herself, and after enduring so much, she suffered a stroke.' On the many times her father was arrested, she used to pray he was in jail, because if not, it might mean he had been made to disappear, as too many were during those years. 'He is a freedom fighter, but the kind of brutality he faced was unimaginable,' she said. 'He had even said, holding his chest like Abu Sayed, 'If they are to kill my people, kill me first.'' Sayed was a well-known student activist who was among the first to die during the uprising last summer that resulted in a full-scale revolution in Bangladesh. That resulted in Hasina fleeing to India, after which the students convinced Yunus, Nobel laureate and 'banker to the poor,' to head an interim government. He leads it to this day, despite mounting pressures from political parties and the military. And Das now serves as assistant secretary for marginal manpower development affairs within the BNP. But the question remains. After watching both parents suffer physically and mentally for so many years; after seeing former prime minister and Bangladesh's 'Mother of Democracy,' Begum Khaleda Zia, endure torture; and after having her own bones broken by the blows of state police, is it worth it to continue? Why not pick a safer profession? First, she was born into a political family, Das said. Her father, Gayeshwar Chandra Ray, is a standing committee member of the BNP. 'I have witnessed these things from a young age, as I have seen my parents engaged in politics. Therefore, it was never a question of whether I would join or not,' she said. Later, she grows a bit more thoughtful. 'There is democracy and the right to speak, but this was not the case in our country,' Das said. 'My father endured so much torture, and after he was injured, we didn't know where the police had kept him. It was an extremely frightening day for me because three members of my family were in the hospital, and I couldn't find my father. 'Many people told me not to look for him, because they would arrest me too and torture me, but I wasn't afraid. I was always in the streets. Now, even if I see any injustice in the country, especially from those who want to take everything from Bangladesh, I will protest against them in any way, shape or form that I can. 'If the torture had not happened to my father, but to someone else, I would have done the same thing.' Pericles is quoted as saying, 'Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.' That is especially true for many in Bangladesh, a nation of 171.5 million people that fills a geographical area about the size of Iowa. Since it won independence from Pakistan in 1971, it has struggled to establish democratic traditions, suffering assassinations, coups and despotism. To much of the world, it seems remote and inconsequential. Yet hope flickers strong in politicians such as Das and others who seem strengthened through trials. It is a hope from which the world could learn. It is a hope reflected in the easy smiles I encountered in villages outside Dhaka. It is a hope bolstered by belief, and it is one that has me reflecting on the fragility of freedom. The Bangladeshi economy has grown, despite hardships. The World Bank said Bangladesh had reached 'lower-middle income status' by 2015. GDP grew by 6.4% between 2010 and 2023, and the poverty rate fell from 11.8% to 5% during roughly the same period. Still, that's an international poverty level based on only $2.15 per day. The moderate poverty rate, measured at $3.65 per day in 2017 dollars, is at 30%. Even with rising prosperity, hunger and low wages can bring politics close to everyone. When elections come again, the nation will learn much about itself and how far it has come. It will learn whether the Awami League, the political party allied with now-deposed former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, intends to be disruptive, or even violent. The party has been outlawed while investigations proceed into violence committed during student protests last summer. Das, who believes interim government leader Yunus has done much to reinstate basic freedoms, answers easily as I ask her what she hopes Bangladesh will be like in 10 or 20 years. 'I want Bangladesh to be a place where everyone can eat, vote and sleep peacefully,' she says. 'I want our daughters to be able to go outside without fear. I dream of a beautiful, just Bangladesh, one where we don't have to live at the cost of others' blood. 'This Bangladesh, which we gained through the sacrifices of millions, must rise again. I want justice for the massacre that occurred at the border between India and Bangladesh. My neighbor should be my friend, but our neighbor harms us. We seek freedom from that harm. 'Above all conspiracies, I want a beautiful Bangladesh.' This is the real answer to the question. This is why she serves. And if that day comes, no one could say people like Das haven't paid the price for it. It takes only minutes for Das and her colleagues in the room to determine that the protests we hear on the street outside are from her supporters. We are in no danger. And yet, I am left pondering how I felt for the brief moment when I didn't know. How would it feel to know they were, indeed, hostile, as Das has had to face so often in her life?
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Time of India
Google DeepMind CEO warns of AI's true threat, and it is not your job
In a world increasingly anxious about the loss of jobs to artificial intelligence , Demis Hassabis , the CEO of Google DeepMind , has issued a chilling reality check: we're worried about the wrong threat. It's not automation or unemployment that keeps him up at night—but the terrifying possibility that AI may soon fall into the wrong hands. Speaking to CNN, Hassabis warned that the most dangerous outcome of artificial intelligence isn't economic disruption—it's existential. While headlines scream about the professions most at risk, from content writers to legal clerks, Hassabis is focused on something far more apocalyptic: the weaponisation of AI by malicious actors. The Countdown to AGI—and the Countdown to Control The AI pioneer's fears are rooted in a rapidly approaching milestone: artificial general intelligence , or AGI. This is the moment when machines don't just mimic isolated human abilities but surpass our collective intellect. Hassabis believes AGI could arrive within the decade . And that's where the danger intensifies. 'A bad actor could repurpose the same technologies for a harmful end,' he stated. The concern is no longer speculative—it's immediate. Hackers already use AI to create advanced phishing scams, write dangerous code, and produce nonconsensual deepfake content. What happens when this technology becomes exponentially more powerful? The challenge, Hassabis stresses, lies in how we can 'restrict access to these powerful systems' for bad actors while still enabling good actors to innovate and improve society. It's a question with no easy answer—and with consequences too grim to ignore. You Might Also Like: Can AI cure all diseases within a decade? Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis shares bold vision for the future of medicine Warning Signs Are Already Here This isn't fear-mongering; it's a reflection of patterns already visible. AI scams are defrauding people out of life savings. Sophisticated black-market codes are being generated by machine learning models. And sexually explicit deepfakes, often targeting women, are proliferating online. The future Hassabis is warning about isn't science fiction—it's a few viral lines of code away. And he's not alone in his concern. Other major AI leaders, including those backed by tech giants like Jeff Bezos, have similarly voiced fears that AI development is outpacing human control. Once AGI becomes a reality, some experts fear, it could be too late to rein in. — WesRothMoney (@WesRothMoney) Can Governments Act Fast Enough? Even as regulatory frameworks begin to take shape, Hassabis casts doubt on whether global governance can evolve quickly enough to meet the AI moment. 'Obviously, it's looking difficult at present day with the geopolitics as it is,' he admitted. Still, he hopes that as AI becomes more sophisticated—and its risks more obvious—there will be global consensus on the need for tighter control. But that hope may come with a ticking clock. One former DeepMind insider has gone further, suggesting that if regulation and oversight don't catch up, AI could become the very force that unravels human civilization. You Might Also Like: Are advanced AI models exhibiting 'dangerous' behavior? Turing Award-winning professor Yoshua Bengio sounds the alarm As AI barrels forward with stunning speed, the world is caught between marvel and menace. While universal income and economic restructuring remain topics of debate, Hassabis is urging us to focus on the shadow looming behind the technology itself: not just what AI does , but who controls it. Because in the hands of the wrong person, the smartest machine in the world could become humanity's worst nightmare.
India Gazette
20 hours ago
- India Gazette
Bangladesh Awami League expresses concern over Starmer's scheduled meeting with Yunus
Dhaka [Bangladesh], June 9 (ANI): The Bangladesh Awami League on Monday expressed deep concern over UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's reportedly scheduled meeting with Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, the party said in a statement. 'The Awami League has today expressed deep concern over UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's reportedly scheduled meeting with Muhammad Yunus, the self-declared Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, warning that any formal meeting lends legitimacy to an unelected and unconstitutional administration,' said the Awami League statement posted on its Facebook page. A formal letter from the Awami League's UK branch has been sent to Downing Street, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the King's Foundation, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, urging British officials not to unwittingly launder Yunus's administration, just as Bangladesh's crisis deepens, it added. Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is going on a bilateral official visit to the United Kingdom from June 10 to 13, 2025. During the visit, the Chief Adviser is expected to have an audience with King Charles III of the United Kingdom. The Chief Adviser is also likely to hold a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during the visit. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led uprising in August last year. She is now living in India in self-imposed exile. After Sheikh Hasina's fall, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. Ahead of the UK visit, Muhammad Yunus announced that the national election will be held in the first half of April 2026. The announcement of the national election is a major development for Bangladesh politics after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in August 2024. The Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman had said on May 21 that the national election should be held by December this year, The Daily Star reported. Yunus said in his address that after one and a half decades, a truly representative parliament will be formed in the country. He urged the people of the country 'to obtain specific commitments' from all political parties and candidates that they will approve without any change, in the first session of the next parliament, the reforms on which consensus has been reached, the report said. He also reminded the people of the country that this election is not just about peaceful elections. It is an election to build a 'New Bangladesh'. (ANI)
