@clemtan
Assistant Foreign Editor, The Straits Times All things political economy. Now in Singapore, via Beijing, Hong Kong, DC and NYC. Former Reuters, Bloomberg reporter. Always trying to write a book. https://www.linkedin.com/in/clemtan
"The result of the #Nepal election can be read as being less about choosing new, alternative political actors and more about a wholesale embrace of the RSP and Balen Shah. This could be attributed to the recent “presidentialisation” of Nepali politics," writes Pranaya Rana
https://ow.ly/UyXQ50YqzNL
WaPo is covering the Iran attacks w/ a much-reduced roster after last month’s layoffs. Its shrinking world coverage at a time of immense global change points to a deepening American insularity and weak interest in international developments in the age of Trump.
www.straitstimes.com/world/united...
The WHO director-general reflects on the fight against Covid, rebuts vaccine skeptics and shares what worries him the most today.
User Chris: What was the core difference why you think the DoW accepted OpenAI but not Anthropic Sam Altman: I can't speak for them, but to speculate with the best understanding of the situation. *First, I saw reporting that they were extremely close on a deal, and for much of the time both sides really wanted to reach one. I have seen what happens in tense negotiations when things get stressed and deteriorate super fast, and I could believe that was a large part of what happened here. *We believe in a layered approach to safety--building a safety stack, deploying FDEs and having our safety and alignment researcher involved, deploying via cloud, working directly with the DoW. Anthropic seemed more focused on specific prohibitions in the contract, rather than citing applicable laws, which we felt comfortable with. We feel that it it's very important to build safe system, and although documents are also important, I'd clearly rather rely on technical safeguards if I only had to pick one. *We and the DoW got comfortable with the contractual language, but I can understand other people would have a different opinion here. *I think Anthropic may have wanted more operational control than we did
I saw some folks asking what the difference was between what OpenAI signed with the DoD and what Anthropic said they wanted, and Sam more or less admits here the key point: OpenAI's deal requires them to trust the NSA. Anthropic's contract had real safeguards.
Putin is cold, man. His allies in Iran are getting slaughtered and he ... moves in to make up for their share on the global oil market.
Given that Mark Carney just stood up & gave a world-famous speech lamenting how 🇺🇸 is destroying the liberal international order, it is actually incredibly shocking that he doesn't even mention the UN Charter, 🇮🇷's territorial sovereignty, the JCPOA, the UNSC, or any other aspects of that order.
“Collection of Handwritten Letters from Children in Detention Center” sounds like an exhibit in the Holocaust Museum.
Is Bangladesh shifting towards a more radical form of Islam as it prepares for national elections in February?
www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-a...
Labour activists are sounding the alarm on greedy middlemen charging young Vietnamese grossly inflated fees to facilitate their moves to Germany as vocational trainees. Many are left deep in debt and risk falling into the shadow economy out of desperation.
www.straitstimes.com/world/europe...
When insecurity runs deep, everything looks like a security threat. This sort of paranoia will only deepen public resentment and distaste towards the Hong Kong government and its Beijing Overlord.
When Tan Shzr Ee came to the UK in the 1990s, she faced racism for the 1st time, 'so quirkily delivered I didn’t clock it as racism.' On Sept. 14, 'a giggling chorus of youths' overtook her on the A30, their SUV window wound down, to shout: Ching-chong hee-haw! www.straitstimes.com/world/europe...
MONACO IL SUPPLI • MADElI® CHARLOTTE FOOD AND DRINK 'They're not chasing criminals.' Manolo's Bakery owner closes store to protect customers Updated 5 hours ago POLITICS & GOVERNMENT Church members flee as federal agents arrive at east Charlotte place of worship Updated 5 hours ago
LOCAL Super G executive in Pineville describes agents dragging out teen store employee Updated 5 hours ago LOCAL 'Just walked up to them.' Border Patrol questions people at a Charlotte Walmart Updated 6 hours ago LOCAL Federal Border Patrol sweep across Charlotte sparks fear, closed shops and protests
5 headlines tonight on Charlotte Observer’s homepage:
“Manolo's Bakery closes to protect customers”
“Church members flee as federal agents arrive”
“Super G executive describes agents dragging out teen employee”
“Border Patrol questions people at Walmart”
“Border Patrol sweep sparks fear”
According to @Reuters, #Germany's trade deficit with #China has reached USD100b. German exports to China are experiencing negative double-digit growth. For a country with a structural trade surplus, this is something I would really focus on if I were a #German policy maker
ST regional reporter Philip Wen travelled the length of the Chinese-built high speed rail in Laos for this story on China's growing footprint in this landlocked Asean nation. Locals are ambivalent as potholed roads sit alongside the gleaming infrastructure.
www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/g...
Delighted to share a new @carnegieendowment.org report on China’s Foreign Police Training: A Global Footprint. Over 50 entities in China have provided training to at least 138 countries, forming a major pillar of Beijing’s drive to reshape global security:
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
A few years ago, Hongkonger youths took to the streets to demand democratic reforms. This was a picture of Chinese University in 2019 (Citizen news, HKFP)
Ever wondered what drove a whole generation of youths to risk their lives to protest?
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...
What was well known Indian opposition politician and author Dr Shashi Tharoor doing on Russian state TV’s India programming? Why are Russian outlets focusing on India expansion?
www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-a...
Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."
RIP Jane Goodall, by all accounts a wonderful woman who loved this Far Side cartoon
There is a certain kind of Army officer who, after the excitement of company command, finds his career stalled, and who perhaps leaves the service as a major in the National Guard filled with bitterness and resentment. He may then dream of one day being in a position to make all the superior officers who failed to appreciate his leadership qualities, his insight, his sheer fitness stand to attention and hear him lay down the law about what it is to be an officer, and threaten to fire those who do not meet his standards. In this respect, and this respect only, on that stage Pete Hegseth was living the dream. In all other respects, however, he was ridiculous...
I did not expect this kind of fire from Eliot Cohen, but he has Hegseth absolutely pegged www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Apple Daily photo of the Umbrella Movement protesters on the night of 30 September 2014, taken during a rainstorm, published on 1 October 2014, with the cheeky headline “Stand up! Those who are unwilling to become slaves!”
Reuters photo of the Umbrella Movement protesters with thousands packing the road, taken on Admiralty’s Harcourt Road, on 1 October 2014.
1 October 2014, eleven years ago today, Occupy Central and the Umbrella Movement protesters in photos.
It had rained the previous night.
1- Apple Daily, with the cheeky headline “Stand up! Those who are unwilling to become slaves!”
2- Reuters
"Colonel Kim was recognized for delaying the entry of Special Forces troops into the National Assembly by 42 minutes through three instances of withholding or refusing emergency flight approvals."
That detail made me emotional. One person doing what they could, the importance of those 42 minutes!!
The successful public backlash against silencing Jimmy Kimmel contains some big lessons on what works in the face of autocracy, as expert Hardy Merriman explains in this fascinating episode with my co-hosts @janemayer.bsky.social @sbg1.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Scoop: Trump lost the legal battle over halting the offshore Revolution Wind project after Orsted, its developer, brought reams of evidence to court alleging the government was lying about military security concerns.
It’s a sign truth can empower companies Trump targets.
Via @heatmap.news
Journalists covering the US are about to realise what those of us covering China have always known: for laws and campaigns in authoritarian society, the ambiguity is the point. That’s why authorities here target “spiritual pollution,” “historical nihilism,” “picking quarrels,” and “soft resistance.”
by karl rove
am i being pranked here
WGA Statement on ABC's Decision to Pull ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other - to disturb, even - is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice. As a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent. If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn't have bothered to write it into the Constitution. What we have signed on to - painful as it may be at times - is the freeing agreement to disagree. Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world. The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.
The following is a statement from the WGA on ABC’s decision to pull ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’