GENEVA/LONDON — For decades, the existential threat of a warming planet was treated by many wealthy nations as a distant prospect—a crisis projected onto future generations or marginalized regions. That illusion shattered over the course of a punishing summer. From devastating floods in Western Europe to unprecedented wildfires and record-breaking…
BRUSSELS — In a move that bridges nearly eight decades of European integration history, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed the convening of a modern Congress of Europe. Citing the profound structural, economic, and geopolitical shocks currently testing the European Union’s resilience, von der Leyen’s initiative looks…
By Andrés Velasco Published: September 18, 2026 Section: Politics & World Affairs Main Facts Across multiple continents, the political landscape is undergoing a profound and unsettling transformation. From the corridors of power in Europe to the dynamic republics of Central and South America, far-right political movements have secured unprecedented electoral…
MUNICH — For decades, the Federal Republic of Germany’s political stability rested upon an implicit, highly successful social contract: high-value, precision manufacturing would provide secure, well-remunerated jobs, robust export revenues, and broad-based national prosperity. In turn, stable political institutions would translate these economic dividends into enduring social cohesion. Today, relentless…
By Yemi Osinbajo and Alexander Tsado Published: September 18, 2026 Section: Innovation & Technology Main Facts The global narrative surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) is routinely framed as a high-stakes, binary competition between the United States and China. Headlines are dominated by discussions of massive data centers, multi-billion-dollar compute clusters, and…
LONDON — Artificial intelligence agents are not conscious. They do not feel, experience, or suffer. They possess neither innate preferences nor underlying motivations. Fundamentally, they are sequence-completion engines—internally hollow architectures designed explicitly to follow instructions and accomplish goals set by humans. If human civilization is to flourish through the 21st…
By Guillermo Ortiz September 17, 2026 MEXICO CITY—For two consecutive years, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has anchored her administration’s economic legitimacy on a single, compelling metric: the dramatic reduction of extreme poverty. Following the ideological and political blueprint of her predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (widely known as…
