Showing 1 - 9 of 9
Pope Francis the shepherd on the animal kingdom
Oped, Peter Singer, Published on 07/05/2025
» When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013, many liberals had high expectations. Would priests be allowed to marry? Or, more radical still, perhaps he would open a path for women to be ordained? There were even some hints that he might recognise same-sex unions.
Resisting digital feudalism in artificial intelligence
Oped, Mariana Mazzucato, Published on 13/02/2025
» This month's AI Action Summit in Paris comes at a critical juncture in the development of artificial intelligence. At issue is not whether Europe can compete with China and the United States in an AI arms race; it is whether Europeans can pioneer a different approach that puts public value at the centre of technological development and governance. The task is to move away from digital feudalism, the term I coined back in 2019 to describe the dominant digital platforms' model of rent extraction.
Fujimori's Peru and the price of neoliberal success
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 10/10/2024
» The script of Latin American politics too often reads like a "dictator novel," and on Sept 11, another chapter drew to a close with the death of Alberto Fujimori. As the president who most defined -- and divided -- modern Peru, his legacy remains a topic of heated debate. One version of Fujimori's epitaph would commend his economics and condemn his politics, but the deeper lesson his life story offers may be that it is impossible to separate the two.
Ozone layer recovery offers hope
Oped, Robert Redford & Xiye Bastida, Published on 30/04/2024
» There was a time, not so long ago, when the depletion of Earth's ozone layer seemed like an insurmountable challenge. Decades of using harmful chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), had threatened to cause irreparable damage to our planet. Without swift action, we faced the risk of climate destabilisation, ecosystem collapse, and the breakdown of our food system. Consequences that were once almost unthinkable became painfully real.
Illiberal politicians and other threats to democracy
Oped, Federico Fubini, Published on 22/02/2022
» The emergence of illiberal politicians across the West has led to prophecies about the end of democracy. In the United States, Donald Trump is manoeuvring to return to the White House in 2025, after attempting to overturn an election that he lost in 2020. In France, not one but two far-right populists are running for president. And in Italy, Matteo Salvini of the League and Giorgia Meloni of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy will be plausible contenders for the premiership when Italians go to the polls in 2023.
Final curtain call for grand old station
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 05/12/2021
» There is some debate concerning the fate of Bangkok's 105-year-old Hua Lamphong railway station which is scheduled to close at the end of the month. Hopefully a happy compromise can be reached with the station being preserved as a museum and its immediate area a public park. The State Railway of Thailand should also be given leeway to make itself some money, even if it means yet another mall.
Peru on edge after Castillo's election victory
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/08/2021
» Peru holds the current record for revolving presidents -- three came and went in a month last November; for coronavirus deaths -- almost 6,000 per million, and for the youngest-looking president -- seen from afar, under his trademark straw hat, he looks like a 13-year-old boy. But appearances are deceiving.
Far worse is coming for world with climate change
Oped, Mario Molina & Durwood Zaelke, Published on 23/10/2020
» It is hard to imagine more devastating effects of climate change than the fires that have been raging in California, Oregon, and Washington, or the procession of hurricanes that have approached -- and, at times, ravaged -- the Gulf Coast. There have also been deadly heat waves in India, Pakistan, and Europe, and devastating flooding in Southeast Asia. But there is far worse ahead, with one risk, in particular, so great that it alone threatens humanity itself: the rapid depletion of Arctic sea ice.
Everyone's business
Oped, Postbag, Published on 22/08/2020
» Re: "PM readies for rally showdown", (BP, Aug 20).