Category: Semafor

Asia’s rapid data center buildout is sparking local pushback, as governments’ urge to capture value in the AI investment boom runs into constituents’ environmental and health concerns. Backlash is growing from India to Australia, Nikkei reported, leading not to less demand overall but redirected investments, as companies shift to areas ...

The US-hosted G20 meeting, beset by trade and diplomatic squabbles, wrapped Tuesday after failing to ease investors’ concerns over a global bond market sell-off. As global bond yields hit multi-decade highs, the gathering of finance ministers ended without a consensus after China objected to language used in the communiqué about ...

China has approved a slew of brain-computer interface devices this year, showering domestic startups with state subsidies in a bid to compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink. China has identified BCIs, which promise to restore motor functions and cognitive capacity in patients, as one of six “industries of the future” for ...

Textual sleuths are waging a crusade against the AI-generated writing proliferating in publications and on the web with their favorite detection tool. Pangram has recently been credited with helping implode a lucrative book deal and unmasking AI use at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. After interviewing ...

The scrapping of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration has emerged as a key battleground ahead of the country’s elections. The opposition African Democratic Congress said it will anchor its campaign on a promise to reinstate the multibillion-dollar program, whose removal three years ago drove up food and ...

The IMF and Senegal agreed on a $2.2 billion loan package, with the West African country announcing a plan to restore “debt sustainability.” The developments mark key steps in tackling an economic crisis sparked by the discovery of previously unreported debt. The IMF suspended an earlier program after the government ...

West Africa’s cocoa producers are under threat from this year’s El Niño, which threatens to be the worst on record. The weather phenomenon has been known to intensify the yearly Harmattan winds, which dry out topsoil and cause pods to fall. Côte d’Ivoire — the world’s top producer — is ...

South African energy company Sasol faces mounting climate scrutiny after researchers tied emissions from its flagship Secunda plant to about 1,000 premature deaths annually. A study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Finland-based nonprofit, found emissions from the plant had an overall health cost of ...

David’s view House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries shared good news with his caucus this week: His Democrats’ bid for a midterm campaign focused on “affordability” is cutting through the noise. According to polling that Jeffries circulated this week, Democrats have fixed a mismatch that looked glaring five months ago. In ...

The News After warring with President Donald Trump for more than 20 months, Senate Democrats are considering a high-profile bipartisan deal with him that would reshape college sports. Their party is in a tricky spot on the subject. The Democratic coalition is fractured over the legislation championed by Sens. Ted ...