Three charged with sneaking Nvidia AI chips from US into China


By AFP
March 19, 2026


Super Micro Computer says a member of its board is among those charged with conspiring to divert servers with Nvidia AI chips to China - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL

Employees of a US computer company raked in billions of dollars diverting Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to China in violation of export controls, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, 71, of Silicon Valley conspired with 53-year-old Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang and 44-year-old Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun of Taiwan to smuggle computer servers containing high-performance Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to China, prosecutors contend.

“The defendants participated in a systematic scheme to divert massive quantities of US artificial intelligence technology to customers in China,” US attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.

“They did so through a tangled web of lies, obfuscation, and concealment.”

The company that employed the three defendants, Super Micro Computer, said the employees violated its policies and controls with the scheme.

Yih-Shyan Liaw was a senior vice president of business development and on the company’s board of directors, Ruei-Tsang Chang was a sales manager in Taiwan, and Ting-Wei Sun was a contractor, according to Super Micro.

“The company has been cooperating fully with the government’s investigation and will continue to do so,” it said.

The trio conspired with others starting about two years ago for the sale of at least $2.5 billion worth of computer servers routed to China despite US export controls barring their sale in that country without proper licenses, according to the indictment.

The scheme involved a “pass-through” company based in Southeast Asia used to obscure where the servers packed with Nvidia GPUs were actually going, prosecutors maintain.

Falsified documents were used to hide the trail to China, and non-working “dummy” replica servers were kept in stock to fool auditors, according to the indictment.

Ting-Wei Sun was described in the filing as a “fixer” who worked with others to conceal the scheme.

Sao Paulo AI policing nabs criminals, and a few innocents


By AFP
March 16, 2026


Latin America's largest city has long battled high rates of crime, and the Smart Sampa AI tech was introduced in 2024 to scan the streets and compare images to those in judicial databases - Copyright AFP Jean Baptiste Lacroix

Facundo Fernández Barrio

In the heart of Sao Paulo, a “prisonometer” keeps a live tally of people jailed due to Latin America’s largest AI facial-recognition system, but its successes have been marred by mistaken arrests.

The digital counter stands outside the Smart Sampa monitoring center, where dozens of police officers watch images streaming in from 40,000 cameras in the Brazilian megalopolis.

Latin America’s largest city has long battled high rates of crime, and the AI technology was introduced in 2024 to scan the streets and compare images to those in judicial databases.

Smart Sampa’s dragnet has swept up 3,000 fugitives, while nearly 4,000 people have been caught in the act of committing a crime.

“With the fugitives the system captured, we could fill seven prisons. Today I can no longer imagine Sao Paulo without Smart Sampa,” municipal security secretary Orlando Morando told AFP about the program, which costs about two million dollars per month to run.

To show how it works, he uploads a photo of himself to the system. Within seconds, images of him in various locations around the city of 12 million people pop up on the screen.

“It reminds me of the book 1984 (by George Orwell), with all that control of people: I love it, I approve 100 percent,” said Sonia Ferreira Silva, a 68-year-old retiree, standing next to a Smart Sampa truck serving as a mobile surveillance post on the iconic Avenida Paulista.



– Mistaken arrests –



But the system is far from foolproof.

Official transparency reports analyzed by AFP show that more than 8 percent of people identified as fugitives and arrested in Smart Sampa’s first year had to be released due to errors.

At least 59 detainees were freed because the system mistook them for other people.

In December, an 80-year-old retiree spent hours under arrest because Smart Sampa confused him with a rapist.

And a month earlier, a group of psychiatric patients were attending therapy at a mental health center when armed police burst in and handcuffed one of them.

After hours at the police station, the detainee was released, and authorities said his arrest warrant was no longer valid.

The system relies not only on street cameras but also on cameras in public buildings — including health centers — and private buildings that agree to participate.

At least 141 people were arrested due to outdated warrants, but the Sao Paulo government argues that those mistakes are the judiciary’s responsibility, not theirs.

“No one remained imprisoned by mistake: the people were released,” said Morando.



– ‘Civil control’ –



Among the fugitives captured by Smart Sampa, almost half had their crimes classified as “other.”

Nearly all of them are people who owe child support, a civil offense “that has little to do with public security,” according to the report “Smart Sampa: Transparency for whom? Transparency of what?”

“Smart Sampa is presented as a solution to crime but is used for civil control,” warns Amarilis Costa, director of the lawyers’ network Liberdade and a co-author of the report.

The government denounces attempts to “discredit” Smart Sampa, boasting the city had seen a nearly 15 percent drop in robberies in 2025.

In 2024, nearly one in five cellphone robberies in Brazil, including violent muggings, occurred in Sao Paulo.



– ‘No prejudice’ –



The racial identity of more than half of those found guilty and jailed after being caught by Smart Sampa is not included in official data.

Costa said this creates an information gap that makes it impossibe to know whether Smart Sampa suffers from “algorithmic racism” in a country with one of the world’s largest black populations.

Studies in several countries have suggested that AI facial recognition systems tend to make more mistakes with black people.

The government argues that the lack of racial data is the responsibility of the justice system.

“Smart Sampa has no prejudice — we do not arrest people based on color,” said Morando, the security secretary.

Most Smart Sampa arrests have occurred in outlying neighborhoods, with many of those detained migrants from poorer regions of Brazil’s interior.

Wild possum shelters with plush toys in Australian airport shop


By AFP
March 19, 2026


A video grab from Melissa Oddie shows a wild possum on a shelf among toys at Hobart Airport in Tasmania - Copyright AFP James Brooks

A wild possum joined stuffed furry friends in an Australian airport gift shop this week, surprising travellers in an adorable case of hide and squeak.

Staff at Hobart Airport in Australia’s Tasmania state said the disoriented marsupial was spotted among the stuffed toys on Wednesday.

Video showed the critter nervously perched on a shelf, seamlessly blending in with the toy kangaroos and bears.

“We always knew our plushie toy collection was lifelike, but it seems we finally got the ultimate seal of approval,” store manager Liam Bloomfield said.

“We were very happy to see a special local visitor stop by our terminal gift shop to browse the toy aisle and see if it could find some new friends.”

“We’re just glad we could provide a cozy resting spot in our store,” he added.

Airport employees were quickly on-hand to return the animal to its rightful place in the great outdoors.

“Only in Australia and only at Hobart Airport could a local possum pop in for a quick browse among the souvenirs,” an airport spokesperson said.

Japan ski paradise faces strains of global acclaim


By AFP
March 19, 2026


The scenic ski resorts in Kutchan, Hokkaido have become a flashpoint for immigration after an influx of foreign workers - Copyright AFP Yuichi YAMAZAKI

Mathias CENA

Beneath the powder snow at internationally popular Japanese ski resort Niseko, anxiety is mounting among residents over soaring prices and a massive influx of overseas workers.

At a time when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is talking tough on immigration, upscale Niseko has never been more popular with seasonal workers, investors and skiers from across the globe.

The snow “is the best in the world”, said Gideon Masters, a 29-year-old Australian tourist.

“It’s just soft, powder fluff. You can pick it up with your bare hands, it doesn’t even feel cold… It’s just a shame that it’s become so populated,” he told AFP at the foot of the slopes, snowboard in hand.

Built in the 1960s on the northern island of Hokkaido, the resort began attracting foreigners, mainly Australians, in the 1990s and became a popular destination after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 for those wanting to avoid the United States.

They gradually opened more shops and acquired property, and were later joined by Asian investors from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, among others, pushing land prices ever higher.

In Hirafu, one of the four resorts that make up Niseko, land prices jumped 70 percent between 2020 and 2025.

“If ski resorts in Japan had stayed the way they used to be, they would never have gained such worldwide renown,” said Hiroshi Hasegawa, director of a local real estate agency.

“It’s thanks to the taste and sensibilities of Australians and New Zealanders that this town has grown.”

They are no longer alone, with “funds based in tax havens and all kinds of investors (who) have started pouring money in. Hollywood stars and artists come here, and owners of multinationals are buying second homes,” he added.

“All of this is driving prices up even further,” a trend that will likely continue, according to the agent.



– Unaffordable for locals –



For residents, inflated property prices and living costs are leaving a bitter taste.

“Land is being sold at prices that are no longer affordable for locals,” explained 42-year-old Masatoshi Saito, who runs a painting company.

“In the supermarket, you find luxury products, sea urchins or Dom Perignon champagne, and vegetables have become extremely expensive,” pushing some people to do their shopping in a neighbouring town.

To attract staff, hotels and restaurants are raising wages, but local businesses are struggling to keep up.

“In construction, paying that much is very difficult because market prices are fixed. Raising wages is a huge risk for bosses,” Saito said.

Meanwhile, “care workers sometimes prefer jobs in hotels,” which pay better, creating a risk of labour shortages in social services”, warned Hasegawa.

Driven by tourist demand, the region sees thousands of seasonal workers arrive each year, most of them foreigners.

In Kutchan, a large town in the area, the non-Japanese population doubles in winter to 3,000 people from 70 countries, making up nearly 20 percent of residents.

“Young people in their twenties come here from all over the world (…), which creates a very lively atmosphere,” but also causes problems with neighbours, admitted Kutchan Mayor Kazushi Monji.

Saito and other residents, meanwhile, have complained about littering.

A plan to build housing for 1,200 foreign workers that was approved last autumn sparked outcry among locals.

“Cultures are different, not to mention the language barrier,” the mayor said, urging “mutual support and consideration”.



– ‘Harmonious coexistence’ –



Reflecting growing anti-immigration sentiment, the far-right “Japanese First” Sanseito party made gains in February’s general election.

Prime Minister Takaichi, meanwhile, has promised tougher rules for foreigners in the name of “harmonious coexistence” between communities.

Her government is proposing stricter checks on foreigners entering the country, lengths of stay and illegal work.

It also wants to revise rules on land purchases by foreigners for “national security” reasons.

While acknowledging the need to adapt legislation to current realities, Monji rejects “the somewhat extreme view” that foreigners could “take over”.

The interest Niseko is generating “boosts the economy and greatly contributes to the town’s development”, Kutchan’s mayor said.

And with births falling again in 2025 for the tenth year in a row in Japan, the country desperately needs foreign workers.

Hokkaido is experiencing extreme polarisation, hosting both the localities that saw the sharpest land-price increases in the country last year due to tourism and foreign investment, and those where prices fell the most, due to population decline.

“If we want to share the beauty of this region with the whole world, we must move beyond nationality divides,” Monji said.

GRIFT

Trump gets approval for gold coin in his likeness

“Only those nations ruled by kings or dictators display the image of their sitting ruler on the coins of the realm,” 

By AFP
March 19, 2026


A phone displaying the commemorative gold coin featuring Trump to mark America's 250th anniversary - Copyright AFP Chris DELMAS

An advisory commission hand-picked by President Donald Trump has approved the design of a commemorative gold coin featuring his image, officials said Thursday, in a move slammed by Democratic opponents.

The US Commission of Fine Arts declined to comment when asked by AFP after several media outlets showed the proposed design in reporting on the approval.

The coin is supposed to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

One side of it shows a glaring Trump standing with his fists bunched on a desk, and the other features an eagle perched with wings spread on what appears to be a bell.

The coin does not have a monetary value and its sale price has not been disclosed, but similar commemorative coins sold by the US Mint can cost over $1,000.

“We are thrilled to prepare coins that represent the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, and there is no profile more emblematic for the front of such coins than that of our serving president,” US Treasurer Brandon Beach said in a statement.

Beach noted that the design would differ from Trump images being planned for two other coins, a $1 piece that would be in circulation, and a one-ounce gold one.

Trump fired all six members of the US Commission of Fine Arts last October and replaced them with hand-picked people as he embarks on a series of renovation and building projects since returning to power in January.

Most controversial are a ballroom he is building at the White House, and the renovation of the famed Kennedy Center for the arts in Washington, which he has renamed after himself.

Another advisory panel, the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, had refused in February to put Trump’s coin on the agenda for debate.

Since the signature of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, “no nation on earth has issued coins with the image of a democratically elected leader during the time of their service,” one of the committee members, Donald Scarinci, said at the time.

“Only those nations ruled by kings or dictators display the image of their sitting ruler on the coins of the realm,” he said.

India to tackle global obesity with cheap fat-loss jabs


By AFP
March 20, 2026


India's weight-loss drug sales are projected to soar to over half a billion by 2030 - Copyright AFP Indranil MUKHERJEE

Anuj SRIVAS

A deluge of weight‑loss drugs is set to transform the global fight against obesity as India prepares to unleash low‑cost generic versions of injections like Ozempic after a key patent expired Friday.

The move will dramatically widen access to treatments that have long been considered a luxury, especially in middle-income countries, where soaring demand has collided with steep prices.

At clinics across Mumbai, doctors say they are already preparing for an influx in new patients.

More than 50 people walk into endocrinologist Nadeem Rais’s office every week seeking weight-loss injections.

“We have around 70 to 80 patients on active treatment right now,” he told AFP.

“When generics come out and prices drop, that could go up to 200 easily.”

His colleague Sunera Ghai agrees saying that demand is “very high” but many “probably aren’t taking it just because it is truly a luxury item at this point”.

The breakthrough comes as patents on semaglutide — the active ingredient in drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy — expired Friday in India, the world’s largest supplier of generic medicines.

By the end of 2026, core patents on semaglutide will have expired in 10 countries that represent 48 percent of the global obesity burden, according to a study published earlier this month by researchers.

These include Brazil, China, South Africa, Turkey and Canada, the study said.

– Launching soon –



For India’s drug giants, this marks the start of an aggressive new race.

At least four major firms have already prepared generic semaglutide injections, regulatory filings and compliance documents viewed by AFP show.

Some, including Zydus Lifesciences, have announced “Day 1” launches, suggesting generic versions may become available as soon as this weekend in India.

Research firm Pharmarack estimates the Indian market will soon be flooded with options.

“What we understand is, there will be more than 50 brands that will be launched in the market and there are more than 40 players who will be launching these drugs,” Pharmarack’s vice president Sheetal Sapale said.

The timing aligns with India’s shifting health landscape.

While the country still accounts for a third of the world’s undernutrition according to the World Health Organization (WHO), rising incomes and urban lifestyles have pushed obesity rates sharply upward.

Government data released March last year shows 24 percent of women and 23 percent of men are overweight or obese in India.

“Once a person starts earning money, he becomes more sedentary here,” says bariatric surgeon Sanjay Borude.

“While in first-world countries, the more the money, they become more active and devote time for their health, this is reversed in India.”

These flipped economics have worked well for big pharma players like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk who have been cashing in on the market.

India’s weight‑loss drug sales have grown tenfold in five years to $153 million as of 2026, and are projected to soar to over half a billion by 2030.

But using such drugs can cause side effects including nausea and gastrointestinal issues.



– Breaking price barrier –



Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro became the country’s top‑selling drug by value last year, surpassing even common antibiotics.

Still, high prices — often 15,000 to 22,000 rupees ($161–$236) a month — limit access, says Swati Pradhan, who runs a weight-loss clinic in Mumbai.

She expects patient numbers to rise once generics push treatment costs closer to 5,000 rupees ($60) a month.

The global impact may prove even more profound.

India supplies more than half of Africa’s generic medicines, and cheaper semaglutide could become a lifeline for countries where obesity is rising rapidly but treatment remains unaffordable.

“Lower‑cost semaglutide could significantly expand access to effective treatment particularly in middle-income countries where price has been a major barrier,” Simon Barquera, president of the World Obesity Federation, told AFP.

“Generic products are an important step in breaking the access barrier, now that the scientific one has been overcome.”

Indian firms will be a key driving force, with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories aiming to launch its version of semaglutide in Canada by May 2026.

For patients like 46‑year‑old Sukant Mangal, who lost nearly 30 pounds in eight months, wider access could not come soon enough.

Many he knows simply abandoned treatment mid‑way when they realised they would have to spend 20,000 rupees ($214) a month for seven to eight months.

“Had it been cheaper, (it) would’ve been much easier to have it.”

German auto exports to China plunged a third in 2025: study

The study also showed that the German auto industry as a whole shed nearly 50,000 jobs last year, with the total number of workers reaching its lowest level in 14 years.

By AF
March 20, 2026


Volkswagen cars at a port in Germany. Last year, Germany's auto exports to China plunged, a study showed - Copyright AFP/File -

German auto industry exports to China plunged by a third last year as the country’s manufacturers face fierce local competition, a study showed Friday, underscoring the sector’s deepening crisis.

As well as problems in key market China, German carmakers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes are battling weak demand in Europe and a troubled transition to electric vehicles.

According to the study by consultancy EY, exports to China dropped by 33 percent in 2025 to a value of 13.6 billion euros ($15.7 billion) compared to the previous year.

This meant China fell from second spot down to sixth in the ranking of the German auto industry’s biggest export markets, it showed.

The United States remained the top market, with exports worth 28.5 billion euros — but the figure was down 18 percent from 2024 amid President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz.

The fall in exports to both China and the United States “is causing massive overcapacity across the entire German automotive industry,” said EY auto industry expert Constantin M. Gall.

“The automotive sector is under more pressure than ever before.”

German auto sector exports were down around four percent overall last year, the study showed.

Long a reliable market for German cars, China has become much more challenging due to the emergence of homegrown rivals, particularly for sales of EVs, such as BYD.

Demand has also been weaker in China due to a prolonged slowdown in the world’s number two economy.

China’s new generation of carmakers are also increasingly making inroads into Europe.

In 2025, the value of cars and auto parts imported from China into the European Union exceeded the value of auto sector exports from the EU to China, according to the EU study.

This is despite the EU’s decision to slap hefty tariffs on imports of Chinese-made EVs in a bid to protect its domestic manufacturers.

The study also showed that the German auto industry as a whole shed nearly 50,000 jobs last year, with the total number of workers reaching its lowest level in 14 years.

Bankruptcies filings in the sector also hit a 14-year high.

 Stagflation risk in US ‘quite high’: Nobel-winning economist Stiglitz

By AFP
March 16, 2026


Joseph Stiglitz told AFP the United States was at high risk of falling into stagflation - Copyright AFP Fabrice COFFRINI

The war in the Middle East has put the United States at high risk of falling into stagflation, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told AFP on Monday.

Even before the war erupted on February 28 with a barrage of US and Israeli strikes on Iran, Stiglitz said the US economy was already “close to stagflation” — a troublesome blend of high inflation and anaemic growth.

There were a number of “readings for slow growth before the war”, he said in an interview at the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva, “and this just… pushes us over the brink”.

The Middle East war has virtually halted activity in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil supplies and a substantial amount of gas normally run, sending oil prices soaring.

Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent after Iran choked off the waterway and attacked energy and shipping industry targets in the Gulf in response to the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

This has sparked fears of a shock to a global trading system, which is already under stress from US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive as well as the fragmentation of supply chains since the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

– ‘Unbalanced’ –

Stiglitz, who jointly won the Nobel Economics Prize in 2001 for his analysis of markets with asymmetric information, said the United States was the country most at risk of falling into stagflation, as it did during the oil shocks in the 1970s.

“The risk of stagflation seems to be quite high for the US,” said the professor at Columbia University in New York.

The situation elsewhere was not as clear-cut, said Stiglitz, who served as chief economist at the World Bank in the late 1990s after being the chairman of US president Bill Clinton’s council of economic advisers.

While Europe would certainly face inflationary pressures on energy too, it was also seeing a growth “stimulus” as it dramatically ramps up defence spending, after Washington “made it very clear that you cannot depend on the US for your defence”, he said.

Trump’s policies had meanwhile significantly weakened the US economy even before the war, he maintained.

Stiglitz pointed to troubling indicators, like the lack of labour force growth in 2025 and last month’s hike in unemployment.

And while there had been growth, it had been “unbalanced”, he said, with around a third coming from the creation of artificial intelligence data centres.

The stock market, meanwhile, “is doing well because it’s dominated by AI and tech firms”, he said.

“If you look at the rest of the stock market, it’s just languishing.”

– Trump ‘destroyed confidence’ –

At the same time, Stiglitz said he expected to see Trump’s tariff policy boost inflation.

Typically, when applying tariffs, a country could expect to see the value of its currency rise, since it is buying fewer goods abroad, which should lower inflation, the economist said.

But in this case, he pointed out that “the dollar has gotten weaker”.

That, he said, is because “Trump has destroyed confidence in America and the dollar”.

“The weaker dollar means that, rather than less inflation from the tariffs, there’s more inflation… Everything we import is more expensive in dollar terms.”

Added to that now is inflation from the war, as well as greater uncertainty among households and businesses.

They “don’t know what the tariffs are going to be, (or) how long this war is going to last. They don’t know what energy prices are going to be”, Stiglitz said.

Businesses, he insisted, “can’t invest in these circumstances”.

Records shattered as US heatwave moves eastward


By AFP
March 21, 2026


Covering up in Redondo Beach, California on March 20, 2026 

- Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon

A record-breaking heatwave afflicting the western half of the United States moved eastward Saturday toward the center of the country, bringing unseasonably warm temperatures to places that were at freezing or below just a week prior.

Dozens of cities from California to Colorado recorded their highest temperatures ever for the month of March, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.

On Saturday, areas that saw new records for the highest temperatures in March included 92 Fahrenheit (33.3C) recorded in Kansas City, Missouri, and North Platte, Nebraska.

In addition to monthly all-time highs, the heatwave reached several other temperature milestones.

For instance, in Chanute, Kansas, temperatures went from a record low of 13F (-10.5C) on March 16 to a record high of 91F (32.8C) just four days later.

And in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the hottest cities in the United States, the daily low was a balmy 70F (21.1C) on Saturday, the earliest in the year such a level had been reached, the weather agency said.

Cities recording all-time daily highs Saturday included Denver (86F), Grand Island, Nebraska (98F) and Midland, Texas (98F).

On Friday the heatwave had brought temperatures up to 44.4C (112F) in several areas along the southern California-Arizona border, a national US record for March.

The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning for the same desert areas on Saturday, as well as a red flag warning — indicating high wildfire risk — for much of the central Plains states of Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Scientists say there is overwhelming evidence that current heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, a process driven chiefly by the burning of fossil fuels.

With winter in the northern hemisphere officially ending on Friday — the first day of astronomical spring — the soaring temperatures were wreaking havoc on wildlife in the West.

Many plants and trees are already blooming, and vegetation is growing at a fantastic clip, fueled by heavy rains in December and January.

US earns its lowest-ever score on freedom index


By AFP
March 19, 2026


Fact-checking and disinformation research has become more contentious than ever in the United States. - Copyright AFP Mandel NGAN

A pro-democracy research group said Wednesday that freedom in the United States has declined to its lowest level since it started assessments, as President Donald Trump aggressively wields executive authority.

Washington-based Freedom House said that freedom eroded around the world in 2025 for the 20th straight year, in what it called a “grim milestone.”

The United States remained rated free but fell to 81 points out of 100. It was the lowest score since the survey, which first covered 1972, began its 100-point system in 2002.

The score put the United States at the same level as South Africa and below a number of US European allies as well as South Korea and Panama.

Freedom House said the US decline was due to “both legislative dysfunction and executive dominance, growing pressure on people’s ability to engage in free expression, and efforts by the new administration to undermine anticorruption safeguards.”

Trump has aggressively asserted his power as president, ordering the closure of entire government agencies and deploying armed, masked anti-immigration agents around the country, with the White House promising them impunity.

The United States declined by three points, a drop only experienced by one other “free” country, Bulgaria, where 2024 elections were marred by allegations of fraud.

Overall, only 21 percent of people live in countries rated as “free,” with much of the slip in Africa due to military coups, violence against protesters and the weakening of constitutional protections, Freedom House said.

Over the past two decades worldwide, “many more have fallen into the ‘not free’ category than have democratized or moved up to that free category,” said Cathryn Grothe, a senior research analyst at Freedom House who co-authored the report.

“The world is getting less and less free and that middle area is shrinking, and then the free countries are staying relatively stable” despite the US score decline, she said.

On a positive note, three countries were upgraded to “free” from “partly free” — Bolivia and Malawi, which both held competitive elections, and Fiji, which strengthened the rule of law.

The only country to receive a perfect 100 score was Finland, while only South Sudan was rated 0.

The biggest decline in score was in Guinea-Bissau, where the military last year seized power and suspended an election process days after voting.

Other countries with steep falls in scores included Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Madagascar, while Syria and Sri Lanka both saw gains.

Freedom House, founded in 1941 with bipartisan US support, is independently administered but historically has received US government funding, which was sharply reduced by Trump as he slashes efforts at democracy promotion.

SPACE/COSMOS

Op-Ed: Australia’s first Moon Rover is called “Roover”. A strong dose of realism added.


By Paul Wallis
EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL
March 16, 2026


Beijing, which has poured huge resources into its space programme to catch up with the United States and Russia, is aiming to put humans on the Moon by 2030 - Copyright AFP KARIM JAAFAR

If there’s one thing Australia does far worse than just about any other country, it’s publicizing its science. Australia’s first Moon rover is no exception. I hadn’t heard of it myself.

It’s called Roover because it’s Australian, and it is quite a hop to the Moon. It’s small, painstakingly built to scale, and it has the advantage of current technology. It’s not an El Cheapo exercise. This mission is all about functionality.

The Australian Space Agency has put together some useful information regarding the rover. This is a major step forward and outwards for the long-suffering Australian space sector. Finally, some budget is getting into the mix.

Leaving out the sheer strategic ignorance, ineptitude, and idiocy of putting our space tech on the back burner for so long, this is a must for Australia with many tangible rewards. There are some huge positives already appearing in the new generation approach.

The Australian nanosatellite SpiRIT made its point over a grueling 25 months in orbit recently. The satellite successfully completed an X-ray research mission in the process.

The new space research and exploration environment is totally different from the 20th century. Cost efficiencies and science are very much on the same page. The Australian programs are reflecting this move to pure mission realities.

There’s a preliminary point to be made here.

A gigantic old-style space infrastructure can also build in heritage inefficiencies and instant redundancies on all levels. The never-sufficiently-reviled, absurdly dangerous orbital junkyard is a good example of big mistakes.

OK, the old tech didn’t have much choice about what it could send up, but the mismanagement is unforgivable. If nanosatellites can do these jobs, they can replace the museum up there with better functionality and much better tech. The next generation will be much easier to manage and far less dangerous.

The science is fascinating, but underpinning the science is sheer unambiguous realism. Space is about to become big business in more ways than just sending up missions. With the new missions come new tech, new materials, new AI science, and a virtual encyclopaedia of opportunities for human advancement.

This is where Australia is definitely getting it right in more ways than one. The new Moon rover is built to deliver real value on a realistic, sustainable scale. The nanosatellites could be the most useful peripherals ever mounted in space, both around Earth and the rest of the solar system.

This new tech is rewriting the script. No more logistical hernias. New research doesn’t have to carry the can for sheer bulk and mass. Experimentation becomes more affordable and easier to do. Commitments of money, time, and resources become less onerous.

It’s getting hyper-competitive up there. The Chinese space program alone is breaking barriers on a routine basis. The European Space Agency is delivering a spread of science and tech that continues to expand both the range and scope of missions. If America finally overcomes its moronic opposition to its own greatest achievements, things could get interesting.

The intellectual property values of these technologies cannot be overstated. Just as the original space programs before them, the new space science will inevitably return to Earth in any and every consumer form, from frying pans to robots able to explore a teenager’s room.

Once a jolly swag-rover camped by a valley on Mars? Yeah, it’ll happen.

Well done, all. This could be fun.

_________________________________________________________

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members

Nvidia making AI module for outer space

By AFP
March 16, 2026


Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says artificial intelligence powered by the company's graphics processing units is quickly infusing nearly everything from Disney character robots to data centers that may one day be orbiting the planet - Copyright AFP JOSH EDELSON

Nvidia chief Jensen Huang on Monday said the leading artificial intelligence chip maker is heading for space with a goal of powering orbiting data centers.

An Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU) was launched into space late last year by startup Starcloud in what was touted as an off-planet debut for the technology, but now Nvidia is creating a module intended as a building block for data centers there.

“We’re working with our partners on a new computer called Vera Rubin Space One,” Huang said as he kicked off the GPU-maker’s annual developers conference in Silicon Valley.

“It’s going to go out to space and start data centers.”

Partners in the project include Starcloud, which is planning a November satellite launch that will mark the “cosmic debut” of the new Nvidia module.

A Starcloud-1 satellite, about the size of a small refrigerator, is expected to be packed with 100 times more computing power than any previous space-based operation.

“In 10 years, nearly all new data centers will be being built in outer space,” predicted Starcloud co-founder and chief Philip Johnston.

The startup explained that it plans to power Google AI with the Nvidia GPUs to show that large language models can run in outer space.

Nvidia described the Vera Rubin module as being optimized for AI, enabling real-time sensing, decision making, and autonomous functioning.

“Space computing, the final frontier, has arrived,” Huang said.

“With our partners, we’re extending Nvidia beyond our planet — boldly taking intelligence where it’s never gone before.”

Tech firms are floating the idea of building data centers in space and tapping into the sun’s energy to meet out-of-this-world power demands in a fierce artificial intelligence race.

More than a dozen startups, aerospace leaders, and major tech firms are involved in the development, testing, or planning of space-based data centers.

The big draw of space for data centers is power supply, with the option of synchronizing satellites to the sun’s orbit to ensure constant light beaming onto solar panels.

Building in space also avoids the challenges of acquiring land and meeting local regulations or community resistance to projects.

Critical technical aspects of such operations need to be resolved, however, particularly damage to the orbiting data centers from high levels of radiation and extreme temperatures, and the danger of them being hit by space junk.

Op-Ed: The Assembly Index – The future of finding life on other planets and Earth


By Paul Wallis
March 19, 2026


The effects of climate change have made life on Bonaire 'unbearable', according to some of the island's 27,000 residents - Copyright AFP/File David GRAY

A big problem for identifying life on other worlds is the Earth-centric spectrum of information available. It doesn’t follow that all life has to begin the same way. It definitely doesn’t follow that the chemistry of life on quite different planets can even behave the same way.

This is where the Assembly Index comes in. The components of any kind of life are subject to environmental factors, heat, cold, chemical availability, and above all, time. Unusually, the idea is based on the complexity of assembling chemical building blocks, which is called “selection”, a series of construction steps.

Think about it. Since Earth formed, the planet has pretty much recycled most of its materials. The environment has changed from what was effectively an alien planet to this. The availability of oxygen was a key catalyst in the development of modern life. Anaerobic life still exists and ironically often generates oxygen as a waste product, like cyanobacteria. From a huge single continent to a LEGO set of the current continents and the remains of continents. Change has assembled the conditions for life and life itself.

Now consider Venus. There is much chemical similarity, the same chemistry, but the two planets couldn’t be more different. The oppressive heat and atmospheric pressure of Venus can’t deliver the same outcomes. What can be assembled from its environment? How? When?

The Assembly Index is defined and measured by what Cornell calls “the amount of selection required for a given ensemble of objects”. OK, it’s not a simple definition, but it’s a criteria for critical biological mechanisms. It also includes, by default, the necessity to map the elements of life. “Assembly” may well be the single greatest understatement in the history of biology.

Consider how many species have existed on Earth. Each required a unique map of practical biochemistry to deliver living things. Many with the same ancestry diversified almost beyond recognition. From thermophilic bacteria to whales, there’s an assembly line to be mapped.

That’s just on this planet, and we’re still working on it. Now add the number of species past and present we haven’t discovered yet. Apply this process to other worlds. How do you even recognize the assembly process elsewhere? The Assembly Index is a very good idea, a sort of audit trail for life.

Asimov wrote a novella called Mother Earth, which is a pretty apt analogy. As well as being a writer, he was also a biologist. This story makes the point that life on different worlds is unique by definition. The biology of one world doesn’t transfer to another, even with terraforming and any amount of technology. He makes the very necessary point that the people on different worlds adapt to those worlds. Humanity becomes a complex diaspora.

Now apply this perspective to all life in the universe. There’s no How To manual. There are and can be no fixed One Size Fits All criteria. Life writes itself. It’s learning how to read what’s written that we call science.

You can expect the Assembly Index idea to pop up in xenobiology and every possible theory of life. It’s more than likely that medicine will have to use it or something like it to solve the almost-unreadable problems of health and longevity.

The largest database in future science may just have found a name for itself.

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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.