Panda gifts and orphan elephants: the history of animal diplomacy

Roland White
Thu, 2 November 2023

Queen Camilla feeds milk to a baby elephant during a visit to Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi National Park

Seeing the Queen surrounded by horses and dogs is nothing new. However, a charming photograph capturing her feeding an orphaned elephant in Nairobi’s National Park during the royal state visit to Kenya, a former British colony, has been splashed across the world’s front pages.

But, for centuries, animals have been used to smooth over potentially problematic meetings between countries. Tellingly, it’s a measure of the current sulky relationship between China and the United States that Beijing’s most successful diplomats will shortly be leaving Washington and heading home – weeks earlier than expected.

The giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have been model ambassadors since they arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 2000. They’ve thrilled visitors, they’ve produced four cubs, and – unlike many diplomats – they haven’t said a word out of place.

They were originally expected to return to China in December, but last week it was announced that they and their remaining cub will be off in mid-November.

Pandas from zoos in San Diego and Memphis have already gone home, and Atlanta’s bears are expected to follow next year.

What a comedown from the day just over 50 years ago when Ling-Ling and Tsing-Tsing arrived at the National Zoo, a gift from the Chinese to mark the ground-breaking visit to Beijing by US President Richard Nixon in 1972.

That gift was a diplomatic masterstroke. During the cuddly couple’s first year in Washington DC, they were seen by more than a million visitors. They proved such a hit that former Conservative prime minister Sir Edward Heath asked if Britain could have a pair as well.

Ching-Ching and Chia-Chia duly arrived at London Zoo in 1974 amid fanfare not seen since Guy the Gorilla arrived from Paris in 1947.

Guy the gorilla came to London Zoo from the zoo in Paris, in exchange for a tiger - Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Animals have been used to smooth over potentially problematic meetings between countries, including Tian Tian

“It certainly doesn’t hurt that pandas are cute,” says Canadian historian Lee Tunstall. “It’s a PR exercise that equates cute and cuddly with the origin country of the animal.”

But alas, it seems that so-called panda diplomacy has run its course. Pandas from Calgary Zoo went home to China in 2020 after a bamboo shortage in Canada.

Three-year-old Fan Xing left Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands in September and Edinburgh Zoo’s Yang Guang and Tian Tian (not to be confused with the Washington bear) are to be sent home before Christmas.

Animal diplomacy is as old as diplomacy itself. Envoys could fawn and flatter and bow and scrape, but nothing impressed foreign potentates like an exotic animal.

It’s said – possibly not accurately – that Cleopatra presented Julius Caesar with a giraffe in 46BC. The fate of the animal is not clear, but one account suggests that Caesar fed it to lions in front of a packed house at the Colosseum. Which seems a touch ungrateful.

A giraffe sent from Egypt to France in 1826 enjoyed a much happier fate. Zarafa travelled to Marseilles in a specially-adapted ship – with a hole cut in the deck – and from there, she headed in grand style to Paris, with special shoes, a jacket to keep away the chill, and cows to provide her with 25 litres of milk a day.

Zarafa the Nubian giraffe was gifted to Charles X of France in 1827 - Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A 30,000-strong crowd greeted her in the French capital, where she was presented to King Charles X and became a fashion sensation. Giraffe print was suddenly all the rage, and women demanded tall “giraffe” hair styles. For the next 18 years, she lived in the city’s botanical gardens.

In animal diplomacy, receiving – and then displaying said beast – is just as important as giving. As Julius Caesar was no doubt aware, exotic animals offer great benefits to despots who wish to awe and impress the unruly masses. Henry III, who ruled England for 56 years in the 13th century, certainly knew the value of putting on a show.

In 1252, Londoners were treated to a rare sight indeed – that of a white bear swimming in the Thames by the Tower of London. The polar bear, muzzled and chained to stop it escaping, was a gift to Henry from the King of Norway.

Henry kept a menagerie of rare beasts at the Tower, including three lions presented by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1235 and an elephant from the King of France. From then on, an ever-evolving royal menagerie was kept in a specially built Lion Tower until the early 1830s, when it was moved to the newly-created London Zoo.

“This is the exotic as an expression of respect and power,” says Professor Jeremy Black, an Exeter University historian and author of A History of Diplomacy. “As a symbolic expression of goodwill, [gifting animals] works well.”

Two pandas, Ling-Ling and Tsing-Tsing arrived at the National Zoo in Washington to mark the ground-breaking visit to Beijing by US President Richard Nixon in 1972 - Getty Images

Animals still play a part in diplomacy, but most gifts are far more prosaic. When Keir Starmer visited President Macron earlier this year, the Labour leader presented the French president with an Arsenal top. In return, he received a pair of cufflinks. At least it wasn’t socks. And let’s be honest, less colourful gifts are a safe option, because animal diplomacy can sometimes backfire.

There was uproar on Chinese social media sites earlier this year at claims that Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were being mistreated. Under the hashtag “Save Mei Xiang” the Americans were accused of subjecting the panda to painful artificial insemination. The zoo vehemently denied the allegation, which was also dismissed by fact checkers from the news agency AFP.

In 2007, Vladimir Putin took his black Labrador Konni to a meeting with Angela Merkel. If the Russian president wanted to show off his cuddly side, it didn’t work. The German chancellor is scared of dogs. President Putin claims he didn’t know this, but the incident was a diplomatic disaster.

“I understand why he has to do this,” Chancellor Merkel said later. “He’s afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing – no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.”

Not even cuddly pandas are universally welcomed. Plans by China to give two bears to Taiwan were fiercely denounced in 2005 by the island’s pro-independence government. “The pandas are a trick, just like the Trojan horse,” said one Taipei MP.

But perhaps the most unfortunate example of animal diplomacy featured Winston Churchill. In 1943, when you’d think he had more important things on his mind, he asked the Australian government for six platypuses.

The naturalist Gerald Durrell thought the idea was “magnificently idiotic” and the Australians seemed to agree. They eventually sent just one, a male called Winston (of course he was called Winston).

Angela Merkel was less than pleased to be introduced to Putin's labrador - Sergei Chirikov/EPA/Shutterstock

Unfortunately, Winston 2.0’s ship was spotted towards the end of its journey by a German submarine. The ship’s captain dropped depth charges, and the platypus was killed by the shock of the distant explosions.

Following this difficult incident, the British ability to accept healthy animals happily improved. In fact, the late Queen received so many animal gifts that she could have opened her own zoo. The website of the Royal Collection Trust lists 36 separate donations.

King Faisal of Iraq gave an Arab stallion in 1953 to mark the coronation, and since then she’s received pigs, hippopotami, swans, kangaroos, toucans, sloths, an armadillo, an elephant from Cameroon called Jumbo, and a couple of giant tortoises.

Naturally, horses were the most popular gift. Foreign monarchs and governments always knew that a new horse would be gratefully received. However, there were exceptions: when the Soviet Union presented a stallion in 1956, they also threw in a three-month old bear for Princess Anne.

But perhaps the oddest gift came from traders in Hudson Bay Company. When Charles II granted a royal charter for the hunting and sale of beavers in 1670, the company was obliged in return to present two black beaver skins and two elk heads to any monarch from the home country who happened to be passing and this British-Canadian tradition continued.

The Queen visited Canada in 1970, and was duly presented with two beavers in a tank. As she leaned over to inspect them, the beavers became – how can we put this politely? – somewhat frisky.

“Whatever are they doing?” she asked.

“Ma’am, it’s no use asking me,” said Viscount Amory, then chairman of the company. “I’m a bachelor.”

Now that’s what you call diplomacy.

Chimps use hilltops to conduct recon missions before raiding enemy territory

Sarah Knapton
Thu, 2 November 2023 

Researchers spent three years following two neighbouring chimpanzee groups in the West African forests of Côte d'Ivoire - University of Cambridge

It might be considered the original example of “gorilla” warfare.

Chimpanzees have been spotted using hilltops to conduct reconnaissance missions before invading enemy territory.

The tactic was thought to be uniquely human, demonstrating a sophisticated level of intelligence and understanding about the importance of vantage points.


But researchers at the University of Cambridge say it is now clear that one of the oldest military strategies exists in our closest relatives.

“Tactical warfare is considered a driver of human evolution,” said Dr Sylvain Lemoine, a biological anthropologist from Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology.

“This chimpanzee behaviour requires complex cognitive abilities that help to defend or expand their territories, and would be favoured by natural selection.

“Exploiting the landscape for territorial control is deeply rooted in our evolutionary history. In this use of war-like strategy by chimpanzees we are perhaps seeing traces of the small-scale proto-warfare that probably existed in prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations.”

Dr Lemoine says chimpanzee behaviour requires complex cognitive abilities that help to defend or expand their territories - University of Cambridge

Researchers spent three years following two neighbouring chimpanzee groups in the West African forests of Côte d’Ivoire, and found they were often involved in skirmishes on the no-man’s-land between the borders of their territories.

The groups consisted of around 30 to 40 chimpanzees, who were found to protect their turf with regular border patrols around the periphery.

But their behaviour changed when they were considering entering the contested frontier zone.

In advance of a dangerous incursion, the chimpanzees would climb hills and grow quiet in their eating and foraging so they could pick up the sound of neighbouring groups.

When it was clear that the enemy chimps were far away, the group was more likely to descend the hill and enter the disputed zone.

Experts said it suggests that chimpanzees on high ground use sounds to gauge the distance of rivals, and decide whether to make an incursion, or avoid a costly fight.

The animals make excitable vocalisations to communicate with group members or assert their territory - iStockphoto

“These aren’t so much lookout points as listen-out points,” added Dr Lemoine.

“Chimpanzees drum on tree trunks and make excitable vocalisations called pant-hoots to communicate with group members or assert their territory. These sounds can be heard over a kilometre away, even in dense forest.”

She added: “It may be that chimpanzees climb hilltops near the edge of their territory when they have yet to hear signs of rival groups. Resting quietly on an elevated rock formation is an ideal condition for the auditory detection of distant adversaries.”

Chimpanzees often try to expand their territory by sending raiding parties into enemy zones to gradually establish a presence when the other group is elsewhere.

More territory means more access to food and even better mating chances, but fights and even kidnappings are always a risk during a land grab, so a hilltop recce can help avoid a lethal confrontation.

Ahead of a dangerous incursion, the chimps would climb hills and grow quiet in their eating and foraging so they could pick up the sound of neighbouring groups - University of Cambridge

The team found that chimpanzees stopped on peripheral hills 58 per cent of the time when heading towards the disputed border region, but only 25 per cent of the time when moving back towards their territory.

Following a hilltop mission, the likelihood of advancing into enemy territory increased from 40 per cent when rivals were 500 metres away, to 50 per cent when rivals were at 1,000m, to 60 per cent when rivals were at 3,000m.

The type of hills near the border used for reconnaissance are known as “inselbergs”, isolated rocky outcrops that break up the forest canopy.

Other mammal species such as meerkats use high ground to keep watch for predators or call to mates but Cambridge researchers say the new study is the first to show an animal other than humans employing strategic use of elevation to assess potential conflict.

The research was published in the journal Plos Biology.

ChatGPT boss says lack of AI skills risks locking older workers out of the job market

James Titcomb
Thu, 2 November 2023 

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said artificial intelligence could lead to an age of abundance for humans - CHRIS J RATCLIFFE

The founder of ChatGPT has said that older workers could be squeezed out of the job market because they will lack the artificial intelligence skills of their junior colleagues.

Sam Altman told students at the University of Cambridge that younger workers are starting to outperform more experienced staff because they are more comfortable using AI tools in their job.

He said several chief executives at large technology companies had observed the trend, predicting that it would mean more young people leading companies and making inventions.

Mr Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, delivered the Cambridge Union’s Hawking Fellowship Lecture on Wednesday night, in between appearances at the UK’s AI Safety Summit.

Several guests present at the lecture confirmed that he had made the comments, reported in student journal The Tab.

Some 58pc of 16 to 24-year-olds say they have used ChatGPT, according to research from Ofcom this summer, compared to 5pc of those aged over 55 and 17pc of 45 to 54-year-olds.

According to US researcher Pew, younger workers are much more likely to find chatbots helpful at work.

Mr Altman also told students that Rishi Sunak’s summit had generated more agreement than he had expected on the need to develop AI safely. He said that a global regulatory body for AI would be needed in the future.

He said it would be unfeasible to stop AI being developed, but that the advantages of the technology mean we should not want to.

Mr Altman has previously lamented a lack of innovation among young people.

He recently told a podcast: “I was a start-up investor for a long time and it often was the case that the very best startup founders were in their early or mid 20s or late 20s. Now, they skew much older.”

Mr Altman’s speech was disrupted by protesters who hung signs above him saying the technology “threatens democracy and humanity”.

ChatGPT, launched by OpenAI less than a year ago, has driven many of the warnings about rapid improvements in technology. He has said the technology could lead to “lights out for all of us” but could also lead to an age of abundance for humans.

OpenAI, which has received heavy financial backing from Microsoft, aims to create artificial general intelligence, the point at which AI matches human capabilities.

He told his audience in Cambridge that today’s in-vogue technology, known as large language models, was unlikely to be sufficient to reach the goal.

Proposed cuts to English National Opera would be ‘disastrous’, says union

Naomi Clarke, PA Entertainment Reporter
Thu, 2 November 2023 



A number of musical trade unions have said they are “deeply concerned” about proposed cuts to the chorus and orchestra of the English National Opera.

In a joint statement, Equity’s Singers Committee and Opera Deputies Committee said the proposals would be “disastrous” for chorus members and would cause a “ripple” affect across the UK opera workforce.

Last month, the ENO said it was “surprised” to learn that its music director, Martyn Brabbins, who has been in the position since 2016, had “decided to end his tenure…so abruptly”.

Brabbins’s departure followed the announcement of a proposal to axe 19 orchestral positions and employ its remaining musicians on part-time contracts, a move the Musicians’ Union has previously said it will reject.



The statement from the trade unions released on Thursday said: “Equity’s Singers Committee and Opera Deputies Committee are deeply concerned to hear about English National Opera’s plans to slash its chorus’ contracts and salaries by 40% and further reduce the size of its chorus.

“The immediate impact of management’s proposed cuts would be disastrous for our colleagues in the ENO Chorus.

“The repercussions will also ripple across the entire UK Opera workforce and cause profound anxiety amongst the freelance singers we represent, as we see a further contraction of jobs for singers at ENO.”

Last November it was announced that ENO had been pulled from the Arts Council England’s grant portfolio and was being offered £17 million over three years, which was conditional on relocating outside London.

Arts Council England (ACE) said in July that it had adjusted funding plans to allow ENO until 2029 for a move out of London.

It was also confirmed that ENO will receive £24 million from ACE between 2024 and 2026 to deliver a “substantial opera season every year” in London, as well as establish a new main base outside the capital.

A statement from ENO last month said that the reduction in funding from ACE has caused them to “re-evaluate our employment levels”.

It said: “Whilst the ENO remains grateful for the Arts Council’s revised support and financial investment, and remains committed to creating opera for more people nationally, as for other artistic organisations, this represents a reduction in income against a backdrop of inflation, rising fixed costs and a requirement to develop work across more locations.

“Sadly, this means that whilst we are no longer facing mass permanent redundancies, we are having to re-evaluate our employment levels across every part of the organisation.

“As we start this difficult process with staff, we believe we have presented viable options that aim to ensure a sustainable future for the ENO whilst supporting our artistic and musical heart as much as possible.

“We will do everything possible to support our employees throughout this very challenging and stressful time and continue our conversations with them and their representative unions in good faith.

The Government had instructed ACE to redistribute funding across the country and, following a backlash, ACE announced in January it would be spending almost £11.5 million in 2023 to sustain a programme of work in London, while helping ENO to start planning for a new base outside London by 2026.

ACE then extended the deadline for a main base outside London by three years, from March 2026 to March 2029.

It is expected that the location will be announced in December this year.

Equity’s Singers Committee and Opera Deputies Committee have urged the ENO to find a “sustainable solution” to their financial issues which “protects the employment” of ENO staff.

It also called on ACE to “develop a proper strategy” and “provide funding for the public provision of opera for all, including its dedicated workforce”.

The union bodies added: “These cuts have not occurred in isolation. Arts organisations are looking to rebuild after the pandemic with insufficient public funding.

“When Arts Council England removed ENO from the National Portfolio in November 2022, it did so seemingly without any strategy or rationale behind how funding decisions were made.

“Meanwhile, cuts were also made to other companies which have reduced the amount of work available for singers, both in terms of the amount of opera produced and the number of singers engaged, putting the workforce under strain.

“Towns and cities such as Milton Keynes and Liverpool will be deprived of large-scale touring opera, running directly counter to the aims of bringing opera to new and regionally diverse audiences.

“Regular work, underpinned by good terms and conditions, is vital in ensuring that those from all backgrounds can access, and remain in, a career in opera.”

BBC journalists to vote on offer aimed at resolving jobs dispute

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Thu, 2 November 2023 



BBC journalists are to vote on an offer aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over jobs.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said if there is a yes vote, the industrial dispute and industrial action will end.

NUJ members across BBC Local (covering radio, TV and online) have been involved in a protracted dispute over job cuts and changes to programming.


The journalists have taken four days of strike action, along with a long-running work to rule, following two strike ballots.

The ballot on the new offer ends on November 13.

Paul Siegert, NUJ broadcasting official, said: “Members will now have their say on this offer, which addresses some of the most pressing industrial concerns – including avoiding compulsory redundancies and improving redeployment, pay protection, workload and movement on news bulletins.

“Whatever the outcome of this industrial dispute, the NUJ will continue to fight and argue that there should be 39 local radio stations, properly funded, all producing genuinely local output with their own bespoke live news bulletins.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We have always been committed to engaging with the trade unions and following talks with the NUJ at Acas, have reached a conditional agreement we hope will bring the current dispute to an end.

“We are modernising local services to ensure we remain relevant to all licence fee payers however they choose to get their local information.”

UK
Keir Starmer poll rating drops amid criticism over Gaza stance

The Labour leader is facing possibly his toughest challenge yet over the Israel-Hamas war.

Andy Wells
·Freelance Writer
Updated Wed, 1 November 2023 

Sir Keir Starmer‘s poll rating has dropped at a time where he faces criticism over his stance on Gaza. (Getty) (Peter Nicholls via Getty Images)

Sir Keir Starmer has seen his personal ratings drop in a new poll at a time where he faces criticism over his stance on Gaza.

The Labour leader has so far resisted pressure from some people within his party to join UN-backed calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Instead, Starmer this week urged both sides in the conflict to agree to a humanitarian pause to allow aid in and people out of the war zone.


But his position is at odds with several high-ranking Labour politicians – including Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and London mayor Sadiq Khan.

The row also resulted in Labour suspending MP Andy McDonald on Monday, over comments he made at a pro-Palestine rally, that the party described as “deeply offensive”.

Now, a new poll shows that Starmer’s personal ratings have taken a dip – and his net approval is now negative.

According to DeltaPoll, Starmer’s net approval has dropped by 12% – from +7 to -5.

However, he still remains more popular than prime minister Rishi Sunak, whose net approval has dropped by 8% to -30.

Recommended reading

Protesters surround Keir Starmer's car after Gaza speech (The National)


Permanent ceasefire could currently risk more violence – Sir Keir Starmer (Evening Standard)


Oxford City Council cabinet position filled after exodus of Labour councillors (Oxford Mail)


London mayor's call for ceasefire in Gaza puts pressure on Labour leader (Reuters)

While both Starmer and Labour remain a commanding lead over Sunak and the Conservatives, the latest poll may raise eyebrows in Labour HQ as the leader faces possibly the biggest test of his leadership so far.

Some members of Labour’s frontbench are in open revolt about his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict, with shadow ministers demanding a rethink.

Frontbencher Alex Cunningham called for an “immediate ceasefire” less than an hour before Starmer delivered a speech at Chatham House on Tuesday.

Scottish Labour leader Sarwar claimed he had made “hurtful” comments about the conflict and there was “repair work to do” to mend bridges with Muslim communities.

Starmer insisted he took collective responsibility – the principle that members of his frontbench team adopt a unified position – seriously, but he gave no indication he was about to sack those who had spoken out.

Police officers move a man trying to block Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's car as he leaves Chatham House in central London. (PA) (Stefan Rousseau, PA Images)

“It is for me to address collective responsibility, I recognise that,” he said.

“It matters and I take that duty extremely seriously, but I put it in the context of understanding what is driving people in the call for a ceasefire, which is in my judgement not the call that we should be making as things stand.”

Despite the open tensions within the party, Starmer insisted there was “unity” in Labour over the “key issues” of seeking a two-state solution, the need to alleviate suffering in Gaza but also Israel’s right to self defence.

However, he was met by a small group of pro-Palestine protesters outside the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank, who mobbed the Labour leader’s car as he left, forcing police to clear a path for the vehicle.

Protesters waited for Sir Keir Starmer’s exit as they held up a ’Starmer Shame’ line of placards. (Alamy) (Imageplotter)
‘Only credible approach’

Starmer said his response to the crisis was shaped by responding to both the massacre of Jews in Israel by Hamas and the “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza.

Hamas would be “emboldened” by a ceasefire and start preparing for future violence immediately, the Labour leader said.

He insisted that a humanitarian pause is the “only credible approach”, which could see “the urgent alleviation of Palestinian suffering”.

The Hamas attacks were “the biggest slaughter of Jews – and that is why they were killed, do not doubt that – since the Holocaust”.

And, in an apparent message to his critics in the UK, Starmer said: “This is terrorism on a scale and brutality that few countries have ever experienced, certainly not this one, and that is an immutable fact that must drive our response to these ev

Emotional Jabeur to donate prize money to Palestinians

AFP
Wed, 1 November 2023

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia (Katelyn Mulcahy)

An emotional Ons Jabeur said she would donate part of her WTA Finals prize money to Palestinians after avenging her Wimbledon final defeat to Marketa Vondrousova on Wednesday.

After earning her first win of the week at the season-ending championships in Cancun, Tunisia's Jabeur choked back tears as she spoke on court.

"I am very happy with the win, but I haven't been happy lately," said the only Arabic woman to reach a Grand Slam final.

"The situation in the world doesn't make me happy," Jabeur added as she broke down in tears, before composing herself enough to talk about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

"It's very tough seeing children, babies dying every day," she said.

"It's heartbreaking, so I've decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians.

"I cannot be happy with just this win, with what is happening. I'm sorry guys, it's supposed to be about tennis, but it's very frustrating looking at videos every day.

"I'm sorry -- it's not a political message, it's just humanity. I want peace in this world and that's it."

Later, in her post-match press conference, the 29-year-old Jabeur said it had been a challenge to focus on tennis.

"I try to stay off social media as much as I can, but it's very tough," Jabeur said.

"You go through videos, photos, they're horrible, horrible photos every day. It doesn't help me sleep or recover very well and the worst thing is I feel hopeless.

"Maybe donating some money would help a little bit with what they have been going through. But I know money doesn't mean anything right now to them. So I wish freedom for everybody and really peace for everyone."

Jabeur must beat world number two Iga Swiatek in the final match of round-robin play on Friday to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals in Mexico.

bur-dh/pst

Ons Jabeur donates WTA prize money to Palestinians: ‘Children and babies are dying every day’

Simon Briggs
Thu, 2 November 2023 

In this article:
Ons Jabeur
Tunisian female tennis player


Ons Jabeur on her way to victory over Marketa Vondrousova at the WTA Finals

The two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur spoke emotionally about the situation in the Middle East on Wednesday, saying that she would donate part of her prize money from the WTA Finals to help Palestinians.

Tunisia’s Jabeur is the first Arab tennis player of either gender to reach the highest echelons of the sport.

On Wednesday in Cancun, she scored what we might in other circumstances call a cathartic victory over Marketa Vondrousova – the Czech who had beaten her in this year’s Wimbledon final – to maintain hopes of reaching the semi-finals. But Jabeur said that the satisfaction of the result paled beside the plight of those suffering in the Middle East.


“I am very happy with the win but I haven’t been very happy lately,” Jabeur said in her post-match interview, which found her close to tears. “The situation in the world doesn’t make me happy

“So I feel like ... I am sorry.” She paused for a moment to regain her composure. “It’s very tough seeing children and babies dying every day. It’s heartbreaking. I have decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians. I can’t be happy with this win.

“It is not a political message, it is humanity,” she concluded. “I want peace in this world. That’s it.”

Jabeur has already made nearly £328,000 through participation and winning one of her round-robin matches in Cancun, and could stand to claim an additional £162,500 with a victory in her final group tie. Should she reach the semi-finals, an extra £44,320 could then be boosted by £620,460 by winning in the last four, with £1.15 million on the line for the eventual champion.

Now ranked at No 7 in the world, Jabeur will face No 2 Iga Swiatek in her final group-stage match on Friday. Swiatek squashed Coco Gauff – who served four straight double-faults at one point – in straight sets on Wednesday night to go top of the table.

Jabeur was emotional as she spoke about events in Palestine after defeating Vondrousova at the WTA Finals - Getty Images/Robert Prange

WTA responds to player rebellion

Meanwhile, WTA chief executive Steve Simon has written to the players in an attempt to head off widespread criticism about playing conditions, both specifically in Cancun – where the court has produced plenty of uneven bounces – and more generally on the rest of the tour.

His letter stated: “First and foremost, it is clear that you are not happy with the decision to be here in Cancun. I understand that and you have been heard … This is not where we expected to be and the decision for this location was based upon a number of complicated factors.”

Simon then moves on to address tour minutiae, such as the finer details of the ranking system, before promising a review into late-night finishes. This last point is not solely a WTA issue, because the whole sport is struggling to accommodate the growing length of matches. The second day of this week’s ATP event in Paris finished at around 2.15am on Wednesday.

Simon’s letter reflects the pressure being applied by Novak Djokovic’s rival player organisation, the PTPA. Last month, a group of 21 leading women – including Jabeur, who sits on the PTPA board – wrote to the WTA asking for urgent consideration of several issues.

“The tour is becoming increasingly demanding on us,” the letter said, “creating physical and mental stresses that make the tour not sustainable in the long run. We believe that continuing on this path is detrimental to the whole tennis ecosystem.”

WTA facing rebellion from women involved in Novak Djokovic-led player union

Molly McElwee
Tue, 31 October 2023 

Aryna Sabalenka slammed the WTA over the poor planning around the Finals

 - Getty Images/Robert Prange

The WTA is facing a rebellion from some of the top female players in the world, who are all involved in Novak Djokovic’s emerging union.

More than 20 top players, including world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, signed a three-page letter to the WTA earlier this month, with a list of requests that included following the men’s tour by providing minimum pay guarantees for top 250 players.

The letter was signed by at least four major champions, including the last two Wimbledon winners Marketa Vondrousova and Elena Rybakina. The players are said to have been buoyed by their involvement in Djokovic’s Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), which he co-founded in 2020, and there is an entire section in the letter dedicated to asking the WTA to recognise the union more formally.

But after unsatisfactory talks with WTA chief executive Steve Simon, the players have been speaking out at the shambolic WTA Finals in Cancun. On Sunday, Sabalenka released a statement saying she felt “disrespected” by the WTA, due to poor planning around the Finals – which is meant to be the most important event of the WTA season.

She complained that the pop-up arena in Cancun had not been finished until two days before the tournament started, and also said the surface was not up to standard. Vondrousova echoed those concerns, posting a video on Monday illustrating dead bounce sections on the court. “So so sad for all of us,” she wrote in the caption.

In a statement on Monday, the WTA defended itself, saying they had “worked diligently on an expedited timeline amid weather challenges to ensure the stadium and court meet our strict performance standards”.

But more videos have since emerged showing unpredictable bounces that would embarrass any serious training centre. British player Liam Broady reposted footage from one match on X, formerly Twitter, saying it was “the worst bounce I have ever seen on a hard court”.

The WTA was formed in 1973 to protect and amplify the interests of female players, but some of the top talent do not feel like the organisation is serving them anymore. The PTPA has taken this low point of faith in the WTA as an opportunity to gain more influence in its continued attempts to wrangle player power in a sport that is governed by no less than seven separate institutions.

As first reported by the Athletic, players are trying to push for $500,000 (£411,820) salary guarantees for top 100 players, as well as $200,000 (£164,728) and $100,000 (£82,364) for players ranked 101-175 and 175-250 respectively. They are also requesting better maternity conditions – including pay during leave – scheduling and injury cover.

The request comes after the ATP announced a similar pay structure in August, ‘Baseline’, which is due to be introduced next season. The men’s tour will make up the difference for top 250 players if they do not earn a certain amount for the season. At the time of the announcement, the PTPA’s chief executive Ahmad Nassar took credit for helping to negotiate the deal on behalf of the players.

While the PTPA still does not represent the majority of players, top names like Ons Jabeur appearing in promotional videos for the union have given it added clout. In the letter to the WTA, the players requested that a PTPA representative be included on the WTA Player Board as well as be present in player council meetings with the WTA “to improve transparency and communication”. It also requested that four PTPA members be granted credentials to all tournaments sanctioned by the WTA.

The chaotic WTA Finals have served as the perfect tipping point for these behind-the-scenes tensions to spill over. Cancun was only announced as the venue choice in early September, just weeks before the tournament began on Sunday.

The delays were apparently down to talks over whether to take the tournament to Saudi Arabia or not. The expectation is that the competition, which is the most important title outside of the majors, will eventually move to Saudi Arabia from next year.

The WTA Finals have been played in front of low crowds

 - Getty Images/Harold Alcocer

The lack of lead-up time to Cancun means it has drawn relatively sparse crowds so far. After her win over Vondrousova on Monday night, world No 2 Iga Swiatek pleaded with fans to show up for the event.

Previously the year-end event had been held in Shenzhen, China, as the WTA struck a 10-year deal from 2019. However the pandemic and the WTA’s boycott of China due to Peng Shuai’s disappearance in 2021 left organisers scrambling for other options.

Ostrava, in the Czech Republic, had been another lead contender to host this year, but Polish player Magda Linette said this week the WTA Player Council had advised in favour of Cancun, due to potential visa issues for Russian and Belarusian players to enter the Czech Republic.

“The disadvantage in Ostrava was that we did not have a hundred percent guarantee that all the girls would be able to play,” she told Polish outlet, Interia Sports this week.

My daughter started screaming and I couldn't breathe. The moment a single rocket destroyed my neighbourhood in Gaza

'Yahoo News - Insights’ is a new series in which we hear directly from people with an inside track of the big issues. Here, Palestinian aid worker Mahmoud Shalabi talks about his experience of Gaza's internet blackout and his neighbourhood being destroyed.


Yahoo News Staff
Thu, 2 November 2023 

Mahmoud Shalabi, Senior Programme Manager in Gaza for Medical Aid for Palestinians. Mahmoud and his family live in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

Mahmoud Shalabi is senior programme manager in Gaza for the UK charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. He lives with his wife and three children in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza. Despite the risk of Israeli bombing raids, he has stayed at home to distribute aid to people in desperate need.

In a voice note taken on Sunday, sent to Yahoo News via WhatsApp, Shalabi shares a harrowing account of the moment “one simple rocket” killed 10 people and destroyed his neighbourhood in the middle of a blackout. This is an edited version of his voicenote. You can watch a video taken by Shalabi lower down in this article

I have no idea what the type of bombs that were used were but they were really devastating and vicious. We were just hoping that this bombardment would never reach us.

That night we barely slept. The next day, around 5pm, I was sitting with my kids on the sofa and suddenly there was a huge explosion – I've never heard this sound before.

My child, my daughter, she started screaming and panically, hysterically crying. I hugged her and I made sure that she's okay.

I told her there is nothing wrong with us, we are all okay, hamdulillah [praise be to God], there's nothing happening to us and I made sure that all my children, the three of them, were sitting together and that their mum was next to them and then I went outside.

Mahmoud Shalabi is determined to stay in his hometown to help those in need (Medical Aid for Palestinians) (Medical Aid for Palestinians)

I opened the door and I honestly could not see in front of me and could not breathe.

It was grey. It was cement. It was gunpowder. It was everything. Tiny particles scattered all over around me and I couldn't actually go out. I shut the door closed. I took one of the masks - the remnants of COVID-19 - soaked it in water put it on my nose and mouth and went outside.

My neighbourhood was destroyed - one simple rocket, just one rocket that hit a neighbour’s home without warning and totally destroyed that neighbour’s home and around seven adjacent homes around it. At least 10 of my neighbours were killed, including children - and many others were injured - let alone the panic that happened in the children and the women. The fear I saw in the eyes of people.

Watch Shalabi's harrowing description of a rocket strike in Gaza

My neighbourhood is full of the colour grey - I hate the colour grey now. Everything is covered in rubble; everything is covered in particles of cement and gunpowder and it's very dangerous to walk right now in my neighbourhood. The aerial bombardments continued all around us, we didn't manage to sleep.

The attacks were coupled with the blackout of the internet and the telecommunication in Gaza City, all of Gaza Strip actually, so we didn't have signals.

We didn't have the 2G network which we were using to send simple WhatsApp messages that were reaching our loved ones. Minutes later, we weren’t able to call, we weren't able to have proper internet connection when there wasn’t electricity. It meant a total blackout and total darkness for the people in Gaza, so we weren't actually aware what was happening around us.

Vehicles and buildings were caked with grey dust following the airstrike 

(Mahmoud Shalabi/Medical Aid for Palestinians)

This was all coupled with rumours that the Israelis were about to have a very vast ground invasion, so you can imagine the level of anxiety that the people were living in.

I was awake at 4am, I couldn't sleep and suddenly the phone started buzzing. The network returned, immediately I started receiving phone calls from my sisters who are internally displaced in Gaza now in the south asking about how we were, because we couldn't reach each other. We started immediately calling our loved ones making sure that they know we are safe and that we are still standing in the north of Gaza.

Mahmoud Shalabi says he 'hates the colour grey now' following the airstrike 

(Mahmoud Shalabi/Medical Aid for Palestinians) 

What was really scary in the cut of the networks was the fact that when an airstrike happened you couldn't reach the civil defence and the ambulance services and tell them that there was an airstrike happening.

The best people could do at that stage is, if there was a car available - a neighbour’s car, a taxi, whatever - to take some of the injured people or the killed to the nearest hospital. They would immediately start informing the civil defence and the ambulance services at the location.

I'm still safe, my family is all safe, but I'm not sure what's going to happen next.

A ceasefire would be really welcome at this stage, as the basic commodities in the north of Gaza are very scarce right now. Every time you go to the local shop near you there is nothing and it becomes even emptier and emptier as the days pass.

Mahmoud Shalabi told how several families lost their homes as a result of one single rocket (Mahmoud Shalabi/Medical Aid for Palestinians) 

The water pipe that used to provide water for my neighbourhood has been hit two days ago, so I haven't had water since Thursday. The list goes on.

As a humanitarian, I am unable to do my work because of the lack of communication, but also due to the fact that suppliers in the north of Gaza have no items available, and - if there are items available - they need cash in advance to be able to secure items and to deliver them.

And with the closure of the banks and the fact that the majority of them actually are not functioning in the north of Gaza, this is impossible.

So, I can't as a humanitarian even do my work. I can't help the people who are still standing in the north of Gaza in the schools who are internally displaced at their relatives houses etc.

I'm asking for safe corridors, I'm asking for a ceasefire and for this bloodshed to stop.

Edited by James Hockaday

UK Tories stoke culture wars at 'anti-woke' conference

Peter HUTCHISON
Thu, 2 November 2023 

Similar debates about 'culture war' issues have been had in the United States (Oli SCARFF)

Right-wing thinkers from around the world gathered in London this week, giving an indication of how far Britain's ruling Conservative party could make the so-called culture wars an issue for the general election and beyond.

Speakers at the inaugural Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference railed against "woke capitalism", lamented Western decline and hit out at economic regulation and multiculturalism.

"The culture war matters," Conservative MP Danny Kruger, from the right wing of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's party, told AFP after interviewing former Australian leader John Howard on stage.

"A lot of Conservatives think that it's a distraction, that it's just the concern of rival fanatics on either side.

"Actually, it's about the core character of our country and about the future for our children."

Prominent Tory lawmakers mixed with high-profile US Republicans and online Conservative influencers and television personalities during the three-day event in Greenwich, which ended Wednesday.

Organisers billed the gathering as a "major" get-together of international political, business, and cultural leaders who want alternatives to "big government and top-down solutions".

UK government ministers Michael Gove and Kemi Badenoch spoke, as did former US House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy, controversial Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and US TV doctor Mehmet Oz.

Current House speaker and Donald Trump ally Mike Johnson and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination Vivek Ramaswamy both addressed the conference virtually.

Ramaswamy slammed "woke capitalism", dubbing it a "cancer" on society, while McCarthy hit out at "the impact of cancel culture" and called for an end to "victimhood".

- Drift right -

Right-wing broadcaster GB News -- which employs several Tory MPs as presenters and recently announced the signing of former prime minister Boris Johnson -- had a stand at the conference.

British financier Paul Marshall, the channel's major investor, sits on ARC's advisory board.

He suggested that "crony capitalism" could reduce free market capitalism to "a form of corporatism not so different to socialism itself".

Marshall joined Ramaswamy and others in criticising Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards related to ethical investment.

The gathering comes after the National Conservatism Conference held in May, a similar meeting which was also seen as evidence of the Tories' drift to the right.

The Conservatives lag well behind the main opposition Labour party in most opinion polls ahead of a general election that Sunak must call by the end of next year.

The Tory leader has indicated he will push culture war issues as he tries to see off Keir Starmer's centre-left party to win a fifth-consecutive term for the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010.

Sunak has rolled back green energy policies, pledged to stop small boats carrying migrants from France and referenced gender identity as he tries to put clear water between the two parties.

- Immigration -

He told his party's conference last month: "We shouldn't get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can't."

"I think the Prime Minister's instincts are very good on these questions," said Kruger, 49.

"So, I'm encouraged by what I see him say. I think on policy though we do need to do more, certainly on migration (and) also on the curriculum in our schools and our family policy.

"The question is whether he's able to push the necessary changes through what is a very resistant political machine," he added, hinting at opposition from those on the centre of the party.

During her address, fellow Conservative MP Miriam Cates bemoaned the "erosion of family life," adding: "Unless fertility rate decline is reversed we are heading for a future of certain economic stagnation or destabilising mass immigration or both."

A defeat for the Conservatives at the next election is likely to lead to a bitter fight for the direction of the party.

Business Secretary Badenoch, tipped by many as a possible future leader, told the conference that companies and individuals should not be "distracted by all sorts of silly things, like pronouns and what critical race theory is saying and measuring people's skin colour".

ARC CEO Philippa Stroud, a Conservative Party member who sits in Britain's upper House of Lords, said the conference "has been about telling a better story about who we are here in the West".

"It has lessons for everyone, everywhere, regardless of their political colours," she told AFP.

pdh/phz/gw

 Purple Catholicism

The real threat of AI isn’t what you think

AI has the capacity to undermine our understanding of the human person.

Photo by Andy Kelly/Unsplash/Creative Commons

By 

Charles C. Camosy

(RNS) — It seems as if every time we turn around there’s a new worry about artificial intelligence. AI is going to take over the nuclear launch codes and kill us all. Or was it just going to shut down the electrical grid? Maybe just the internet? 

Wait, wasn’t it going to enslave us and use us as sources of energy? Or just replace all the creatives who provide us all of our music and movies? Isn’t that what the Hollywood strike was all about?

Some of these worries are legitimate. Some are fairy tales that have already been explored in dozens of popular movies over the last couple generations. (Paging HAL!)

While we’re obsessed with its dystopic downsides, we fail to account for the good things that AI may do for us in the coming years, from cancer screenings to road design. AI is going to change countless lives for the better.

But there is a foundational threat posed by AI that we all seem to be ignoring, one very much related to theology and an enchanted view of what academics sometimes call moral anthropology. AI has the capacity to undermine our understanding of the human person.

Let me explain by way of example.

RELATED: Artificial intelligence program poised to shake up Catholic education, doctrine

This past week, OpenAI announced that its algorithmic language model and imaging platform “can now see, hear, and speak.” For instance, show AI an image of a bike and ask it how to lower the seat: Open AI’s platform can analyze the image, determine what kind of bike is in the image, search its databases, and spit back the likely answer — in text or voice audio.

OpenAI announcement of new features. Screen grab

AI is not, of course, really thinking. “It” is a series of algorithms and neural networks with access to a very large database made by human beings. As one professor at the University of Michigan who studies machine learning put it, “Stop using anthropomorphic language to describe models.”

There’s that Greek word “anthropos” — human — again. The professor is worried that when we use language that assumes the form or structures of the human, we are implicitly corrupting the way we think about AI. We are fooling ourselves into thinking that a language model or image platform could be, well, like us.

But the worry goes deeper than that, in the opposite direction. While some may be inclined to move closer to the view that AI is like us, the broader culture is actually primed to move closer to the view that we are like AI. Indeed, many students in my classes in recent years have said something like, “Well, aren’t we just essentially organic machines? What is substantially different about the way we analyze a photo, engage a database, and spit back an answer to a question?

The underlying problem here is our culture’s advanced state of what the philosopher Charles Taylor called “disenchantment,” especially when it comes to our understanding of ourselves. In the secular age of the post-Christian West, our cultural subjectivity no longer has a way to make sense of supernatural concepts, such as being made in the image and likeness of God, of the soul, grace, a will that is transcendent and free, or (in some extreme cases) even consciousness.

We do have a way of making sense of machines, computers, algorithms, neural nets — basically all forms of matter in motion. The last few centuries and especially the last few decades have been preparing us to imagine ourselves as very similar to AI. Our ability to see, hear, speak and other actions of beings, which are no longer considered supernatural, are therefore comparable to the actions of other kinds of neural nets.

If we explained AI to a medieval person, there is zero chance that they would confuse it with creatures like us. Their cultural idea of how humans are formed simply wouldn’t allow them to make that mistake.

RELATED: Meet the Christian creators designing chatbots ‘with a biblical worldview’

I, too, fundamentally dissent from our 21st-century reductionist view of the human person. Instead I choose to go with the wisdom of Jedi Master Yoda, who taught Luke Skywalker in “The Empire Strikes Back” that we are not mere “crude matter,” but are, rather, “luminous beings.” We are ensouled creatures whose form reflects the image and likeness of God.

Let us similarly respond to AI with prudence and care, neither rejecting the life-changingly good things that will come with it nor uncritically accepting every dangerous or destructive application. But, above all, let us resist the idea that AI is like us or (even worse) that we are like AI. Neither could be further from the truth.

September 29, 2023