Flagship

Two more hostages released from Gaza

Hamas set two Israeli hostages free, but negotiations stalled over the release of a larger group. The two women were freed at Gaza’s Egyptian border, days after two U.S. citizens were released. Their husbands, alongside some 200 others taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, remain in captivity. Hopes that further hostages could be released were dashed after negotiators refused Hamas’ demand that Israel allow fuel into Gaza: Officials say they want all hostages released before the blockade is lifted, and believe Hamas would use the fuel for military purposes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Israel’s strikes on Gaza intensified overnight — Hamas said 5,000 Palestinians have been killed, although that number is unverified — but the army still has not launched its much-anticipated ground assault. U.S. officials said they are recommending Israel not rush into an urban conflict.

China’s foreign minister to visit US

Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, will visit Washington this week ahead of a potential meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month. The long-anticipated visit comes amid intense Middle East tensions which U.S. officials hope Beijing can help contain, Reuters reported. Russia’s war in Ukraine will also be discussed as Washington seeks to “push the Chinese to take a more constructive approach on both,” a U.S. official said. Despite the rapprochement, U.S. authorities remain alarmed by the threat Beijing poses to Washington’s interests. “There is no country that presents a broader, more comprehensive threat to our ideas, our innovation, our economic security, and ultimately our national security,” the head of the FBI told CBS.

IEA: Rise of clean tech ‘unstoppable’

The global shift to clean energy is “unstoppable,” the International Energy Agency said, although the phaseout of fossil fuels needs to happen faster. The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook report noted that the “phenomenal” rise of green technologies is reshaping the economy, forecasting that electric vehicle numbers would rise 10-fold and that solar would generate more electricity worldwide than the entire U.S. power system. It said fossil-fuel demand would peak this decade, although remains too high to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target. A new study in Nature, though, warned that whatever happens, West Antarctica’s ice sheets will melt significantly over the coming century, leading to sea-level rises that could put hundreds of millions of people at risk.

Chevron’s $53B deal for oil rival

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, agreed to acquire rival firm Hess in a deal valued at $53 billion. The sale comes on the back of ExxonMobil’s $60 billion purchase of shale driller Pioneer earlier this month, underscoring oil majors’ confidence in the future of fossil fuels. Despite large green energy subsidies from the U.S. government, oil majors have scaled down wind and solar investment as soaring oil and gas prices drive larger returns on fossil fuel projects. Higher borrowing costs have also made some large-scale renewable energy projects less profitable. “The real threat to a more prosperous future,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board argued, “is a world with too little oil and gas, not too much.”

Solar mini-grid boost for Nigeria

A clean-energy company will launch 500 solar mini-grids in Nigeria in the next five years. Sub-Saharan Africa is the least electrified region in the world: 570 million people lack access to electricity, 75% of the world’s total. Husk Power Systems raised $103 million in equity to build small-scale solar facilities and connections, bringing reliable cheap electricity to tens of thousands, TechCrunch reported: It already built 200, mostly in India. The World Bank says mini-grids and other distributed systems are the cheapest and most effective path to universal electrification in Africa. This new project represents a start, although more than 100,000 mini-grids will be needed to get electricity to everyone in Africa.

Venezuelan opposition chooses candidate

María Corina Machado, a center-right former lawmaker, won the Venezuelan opposition’s primary to become its presidential candidate ahead of elections next year. Machado, who analysts believe poses a serious electoral threat to President Nicolás Maduro, is barred from running under charges many see as spurious. Banning her candidacy could threaten the recent relaxation of U.S. sanctions on Caracas’ beleaguered economy, a deal reached in exchange for Venezuela’s commitment to free and fair elections. Since Maduro came to power in 2013, the county’s GDP has fallen by close to 70%, forcing more than a quarter of the population to flee.

Rich countries see record migration

Migration to the world’s richest countries hit an all-time high in 2022. The OECD, a group of 38 of the world’s wealthiest countries, said that 6.1 million new permanent migrants moved to its member states last year, a 26% increase on 2021 and 14% up from 2019, before the pandemic reduced numbers. The increase is driven by push factors — humanitarian crises — as well as pull factors, such as a growing demand for labor as rich countries age. Increased migration has reshaped political landscapes: One politician in Germany announced a new left-wing anti-immigration party, designed to draw people who would otherwise vote for the hard-right Alternative for Germany “out of fury and desperation, but not because they’re rightwing.”

Older adults less likely to be lonely

Contrary to popular belief, loneliness is most common among younger adults, new research suggests. Gallup’s Global State of Social Connections report found that 24% of adults worldwide say they feel very or fairly lonely — but while calls to address the problem usually focus on older people, 57% of over-65s say they do not feel lonely at all, compared to 43% of those aged 19 to 29. Men and women are equally likely to feel lonely worldwide, but it’s unevenly distributed: In some countries men are lonelier, and in some countries women are.

Brain-inspired chip boosts AI speed

A chip inspired by the human brain is 20 times as fast as any existing one at running artificial-intelligence programs. IBM’s NorthPole unites processor and memory within one chip, in the same way that human neurons both compute and store data, IEEE Spectrum reported. That combination is part of why brains are vastly more energy-efficient than computers. NorthPole, similarly, is 25 times more efficient than standard chips when used to run neural networks, which are also inspired by the architecture of the human brain. IBM says the new chip will have important uses in autonomous vehicles, image recognition, and robotics.

AI robocalls under scrutiny

U.S. regulators will investigate the risk of artificial-intelligence-powered robocall scams. AI tools could improve customer service by improving automated responses and supporting call-center workers. But it could also trick people, providing scam calls tailored to individuals. The Federal Communications Commission will discuss how AI tech fits into its responsibilities. They may have to move quickly: The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, attracted attention last week after citizens received AI-boosted robocalls in Adams’ voice, speaking a number of languages — including Spanish, Yiddish, and Mandarin — which he does not, in fact, speak.

• Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to appear in the Islamabad High Court as his protective bail expires. He was convicted on corruption charges in 2018.
• South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visits Qatar’s ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha.
• Pete Holmes: I Am Not For Everyone, a new stand-up set from the comedian, drops on Netflix.

The distance in miles that a software patch for NASA’s Voyager probes will have to travel. The two probes have been traveling through space for 46 years, and are the furthest man-made objects from Earth — both have left the solar system proper and are in interstellar space. They still send information home, using 1970s computer and communications technology. But Voyager 1 started sending garbled messages last year, and both spacecraft’s fuel lines are starting to clog after decades of use: NASA’s engineers have sent both a system update that should keep them working for at least another five years. Even at the speed of light, the patch will take 20 hours to reach the far-distant spacecraft.

The Parthenon Marbles were originally painted in bright colors and patterns, according to a new study. Traces of blue, purple, and white were found on the 2,500-year-old sculptures that once decorated the Parthenon temple in Greece. Researchers used non-invasive digital imaging techniques to make the discovery, Artnet reported, after it had long been suspected the marbles were once coloured. Fragments of the sculptures have been held at the British Museum since the 19th century and form the subject of a bitter ongoing dispute between Athens and London.

• The newest batch of well-monied think tanks trying to influence policy in D.C. has made preventing an AI apocalypse one of its top priorities.
• A crackdown on greenwashing is coming. Top officials in both the U.K. and Australia separately told Semafor that they were readying new legal frameworks and punishments for companies found guilty.
• A fake fight over Gaza refugees shows how the Republican Party has changed since 2016.