English Newsletter September 21

Al Majalla’s cover story last week highlighted the perils of artificial intelligence after leading industry figures warned that AI capabilities are advancing faster than humans can govern, restrain, and control them. Marco Mossad asks Will AI wipe out humanity?, while Abdelrahman Ayas looks at AI data centres: the costliest infrastructure race in history? For her part, Shirley Ze Yu looks at the smart Cold War emerging between the US and China over the consequential technology.

We also covered the ongoing war between the Yemeni government and Houthi forces amid the latter’s territorial gains along the strategically important Red Sea coast. Ibrahim Jalal lays out the rebel group’s military strategy, while also looking at the countermeasures in play to counter their gains. 

And Elie Kossaifi interviews Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who explains why the Palestine question is a global one. For his part, Samer Abou Hawwach reflects on the major US culture shift on the issue of Israel/Palestine after British pop singer Ed Sheeran faced massive social media backlash for kicking American rapper Macklemore off his tour for his ‘Free Palestine’ comments.

Switching gears, Lina Khatib asserts that Iran’s shadow economy can adapt. But not indefinitely. For his part, Amir Handjani explains why Only China, India, and Russia can end the Iran war, And Is China inserting itself into the Middle East security equation? Read Charbel Barakat's article to find out.

And Tarek Megerisi explains why things have never been better in Libya…and also never been worse. In Business, Mohamed Sharki looks at the staggering $353tn global debt and the problems in tackling it. In Science, Alaa Emara asks Is climate change changing the taste of cheese? And last but not least, Fadi el-Abdallah sheds light on a lesser-known talent of Riyad al-Sunbati, the composer behind some of Umm Kulthum's greatest songs.