Writing the summary…
‘Countries are defying gravity’: how much longer can global economy resist chaos?
Source: The Guardian
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Iran says it has a 'new operational plan' if the U.S. resumes attacks, as shipping vessels report strikes
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the country's military has prepared a response to any new attacks.
The Guardian
What are self-replicating ‘AI worms’, and why is Anthropic worried about them?
The tech company says successful AI worms need more capability on less powerful devices, but current trends make that feasible by the end of the year Warnings about what artificial intelligence might do in the future – together with alarming reports of what it has gotten up to already – are being issued so quickly that even security experts have difficulty triaging what to worry about. Yet a report this week from Anthropic’s offensive research team grabbed attention by describing a new, practical threat, one devoid of human characteristics or apocalyptic musings. The red team, as such internal testers are called, said it created a malicious AI program that spread autonomously through internet-connected “smart” televisions and could do the same inside other ordinary devices. While machines running AI usually need a fair amount of computing power, the researchers said that their program sp
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Boomers are buying into the promise of monthly income from options ETFs, but there's a tax catch
Covered call ETFs have been widely adopted by baby boomers to meet monthly income needs, but unlike most ETFs, the tax implications can be significant.
The Guardian
Microsoft pulls out of AI datacentre project in Essex over power supply concerns
Development by UK firm Nscale heralded by ministers as largest of its kind in country loses anchor tenant The development of a huge AI datacentre hailed by the UK government has received a fresh setback after Microsoft pulled out of the project over concerns about power supplies. The development by the British company Nscale, heralded by ministers as the country’s largest AI datacentre when it was announced in 2025, was planned to open at Loughton in Essex next year. Continue reading...
The Guardian
The next ayahuasca? Gabon fights to protect sacred plant from US drug companies
Iboga root, central to several Gabonese ritual traditions, is believed to have huge potential for use in treating addiction and some mental illnesses The temple is dark, its sandy floor edged with candles. People sit shoulder to shoulder beneath palm fronds hung from the rafters. Through the night, they swallow what they have come here for: a bitter root bark called iboga. Tabernanthe iboga is a slow-growing central African rainforest shrub, the root bark of which has long been used in several Gabonese ritual traditions. Continue reading...
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Trump waives broad new Russia sanctions, Zelenskyy condemns it as 'wrong'
Trump signed the Graham Bill, which targeted Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, into law in September.