Thursday, April 23, 2026

Richest countries in 2026: New measure of wealth pushes France and Germany out of top ten

Copyright AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
By Doloresz Katanich
Published on 23/04/2026 - EURONEWS

Measures of “richest countries” can be misleading. A new prosperity index — looking at income, GDP and how wealth translates into quality of life, social cohesion and long-term development — does not place the US, Germany, or France in the top ten.

Europe dominates global wealth rankings, but what it actually means to be a “rich country” depends heavily on how prosperity is measured and who benefits from it.
“Being the richest country in the world is not just about producing a lot,” the analysis from a financial services comparison platform HelloSafe states.
“It is measured by how that wealth concretely translates into the daily life of the ordinary citizen. In 2026, the answer is Norway.”
The group argues that GDP per capita alone can distort comparisons, since it assumes national output is evenly shared across the population.
Ireland illustrates the issue. GDP per capita stands at around $150,000 in purchasing power terms, but much of this is driven by multinationals such as Apple, Google and Pfizer.
The gap between output and household income is estimated at around $70,000 per person.
Related
A new way to measure poverty shows the US falling behind Europe
Which European countries will be the richest by 2030?
Addressing these limitations, HelloSafe’s “Prosperity Index” ranks more than 50 countries using a combined score out of 100.
It draws on data from the IMF, World Bank, UNDP, Eurostat and OECD, bringing together income, inequality and wider social indicators into a single measure of prosperity.
On this basis, Europe dominates the top of the ranking, with the five richest countries all located in the region.

Small countries push through

Norway leads the table, supported by the world’s highest GNI (Gross National Income, the total income earned by a country’s people and businesses, including income earned abroad)and a highly balanced social model.
Ireland is second, with high real incomes despite an inflated GDP figure. Luxembourg is third, slipping from the top position for the first time since the index began.
These countries combine strong economic performance with some of the best social indicators globally, according to the report.
Other high performers include Iceland, which ranks fifth, supported by strong human development indicators and low levels of relative poverty.
Singapore, by contrast, scores highly on income but is held back by higher inequality.
Outside of Europe, the United States ranks 17th, reflecting economic strength alongside high inequality and relative poverty.
France sits in 20th place, just behind the Czech Republic, which benefits from one of the most equal income distributions in Europe and a low relative poverty rate.
At the lower end of the European table, countries such as Italy, Spain and Estonia score more modestly, reflecting lower income levels and, in Spain’s case, higher relative poverty.
Beyond Europe, the Seychelles ranks first in Africa, driven by the continent’s highest GDP per capita, strong human development scores and relatively contained inequality. Mauritius and Algeria follow.
In Latin America, Uruguay tops the ranking for the first time, with the region’s highest GNI, lowest poverty and most equal income distribution. Chile and Panama come next.
In Asia, Singapore leads, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The results suggest that while Europe continues to dominate measures of global prosperity, the picture changes significantly once inequality and social outcomes are taken into account. What it means to be "rich," the data suggests, is no longer defined by output alone — but by how widely that wealth is shared.

Pentagon Vs. Anthropic: The Battle Over AI In Autonomous Weapons And What It Means For Congress – Analysis

April 22, 2026
By Kelley M. Sayler
Congressional Research Service (CRS).

On February 27, 2026, President Donald J. Trump directed federal agencies to “IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of [American AI company] Anthropic’s technology.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (who is now using “Secretary of War” as a “secondary title” under Executive Order (E.O.) 14347 dated September 5, 2025) subsequently directed the Department of Defense (DOD, now using “Department of War” as a secondary designation under E.O. 14347) to designate Anthropic a supply-chain risk to national security; bar defense contractors, suppliers, and partners from working with Anthropic; and describe an up-to-six-month period of transition away from Anthropic products.

This designation follows a reportedly months-long dispute between DOD and Anthropic over DOD use of Anthropic products, including Claude, the company’s generative AI model. On March 9, Anthropic filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and a petition for reviewin the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging these directives. While the district court issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Anthropic on March 26, the court of appeals denied Anthropic’s motion for a stay on April 8, thus undoing the lower court’s injunction.

Some lawmakers have called for a resolution to the disagreement and for Congress to act to set rules for the department’s use of AI and/or autonomous weapon systems.

Background

In July 2025, DOD announced that it had awarded contracts to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI for up to $200 million each “to accelerate Department of Defense (DoD) adoption of advanced AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges.” Although DOD has not publicly outlined the full range of use cases for these companies’ AI models, Anthropic has stated that Claude “is reportedly the Department’s most widely deployed and used frontier AI model.” Anthropic has further statedits models are used “across the Department of War and other national security agencies for mission-critical applications, such as intelligence analysis, modeling and simulation, operational planning, cyber operations, and more.” Although Anthropic’s usage policy prohibits use of its models to incite violence or to develop or design weapons, reports indicate that Claude was used in the January 2026 operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

According to reporting, Anthropic inquired about DOD’s use of Claude, generating concerns within the department that Anthropic might not approve of certain use cases and, therefore, might attempt to limit DOD use of its models. As a result, the Pentagon reportedly requested that Anthropic—and other AI companies—allow use of AI models for “all lawful purposes.” While Anthropic was reportedly “willing to adapt its usage policies for the Pentagon,” the company was, given its assessment of “what today’s technology can safely and reliably do,” unwilling to allow two use cases: mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapon systems. In explaining his decision to deny the Pentagon’s request for “full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated that autonomous weapon systems “may prove critical for our national defense. But today, frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons.”

DOD is not publicly known to be using Claude—or any other frontier AI model—within autonomous weapon systems. DOD Directive (DODD) 3000.09, “Autonomy in Weapon Systems,” outlines the approval process for developing and deploying autonomous weapon systems and identifies requirements for their use.

What Are Autonomous Weapon Systems?

DODD 3000.09 defines autonomous weapon systems as “weapon system[s] that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by [a human] operator.” This concept of autonomy is also known as human out of the loop or full autonomy. The directive contrasts such systems with human-supervised, or human on the loop, autonomous weapon systems, in which operators have the ability to monitor and halt a weapon’s target engagement. Another category is semiautonomous, or human in the loop, weapon systems that “only engage individual targets or specific target groups that have been selected by [a human] operator.”

DODD 3000.09 requires all systems, including autonomous weapon systems, be designed to “allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force.” Such judgment does not require manual human “control” of the weapon system but rather broader human involvement in decisions about how, when, where, and why the weapon will be employed (i.e., a human must assess the operational environment and decide to deploy the weapon, which can then operate autonomously). This involvement includes a human determination that the weapon will be used “with appropriate care and in accordance with the law of war, applicable treaties, weapon system safety rules, and applicable rules of engagement.” The requirement for “human judgment over the use of force” does not mean that such systems are operating with a human in the loop.

Related Legislation and Issues for Congress

The department updated DODD 3000.09 in January 2023 and later that year, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA; P.L. 118-31). Section 251 requires that the Secretary notify the defense committees of any changes to DODD 3000.09 within 30 days. The Secretary is directed to provide a description of the modification and an explanation of the reasons for the modification. Section 1066 of the FY2025 NDAA (P.L. 118-159) additionally requires the Secretary to submit to the committees, annually through December 31, 2029, a “comprehensive report on the approval and deployment of lethal autonomous weapon systems by the United States” through December 31, 2029. Congress has not legislated on the department’s use of AI models or their reliability; some Members have introduced related legislation (e.g., S. 1394 and H.R. 2894, 118th Congress; S. 4113, 119th Congress).

Should Congress decide that more oversight is needed, it may codify the requirements of DODD 3000.09 or consider additional notification requirements for DOD’s use of autonomous weapon systems or AI models. Congress may also restrict funds for the development and/or use of autonomous weapon systems, or for certain use cases of AI models by DOD, should Congress deem such uses pose an unacceptable level of risk at the current stage of technological development.

About the author: Kelley M. Sayler, Specialist in Advanced Technology and Global Security

Source: This article was published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for nearly a century.

AI Godfather Geoffrey Hinton Calls For Brakes On Runaway AI Development

April 23, 2026
UN News
By Elma Okic

If AI is “a very fast car with no steering wheel” then regulation must provide one, insists Nobel laureate and Artificial Intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, the visionary scientist widely known as the “godfather” of the self-learning tech.

Speaking at the Digital World Conference (DWC): AI for Social Development – co-organized by the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) – Professor Hinton stressed that rapid advances in AI must be guided more carefully to serve societies – rather than undermine them.

“If you ever went out with a car that had no brake, boy, you are in trouble if you go down a hill,” he told delegates. “But you’re in even more trouble if there’s no steering wheel.”

His remarks came during a busy week for AI policymaking, as governments and UN panels stepped up discussions on governance, inclusion and risk management, amid the growing integration of artificial intelligence across the global economy and society.

The haves and the have-nots

The pace of AI’s growth is staggering. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s Technology and Innovation Report 2025, the global AI market is projected to grow from $189 billion in 2023 to $4.8 trillion by 2033, an economy larger than Japan’s, built in a single decade.

Yet the capacity to build and shape it remains in the hands of just a few economies and firms, UNCTAD Acting Secretary‑General Pedro Manuel Moreno warned at the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), also meeting this week.

That concentration risks deepening global inequalities. Doreen Bogdan‑Martin, Secretary‑General of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU), pointed out that generative AI adoption in the industrialized ‘Global North’ is growing nearly twice as fast as in the developing ‘Global South’.

“Left unaddressed, this is a second great divergence – widening the gap between countries shaping artificial intelligence and those merely consuming it” – Ms. Bogdan‑Martin said, adding that gaps in infrastructure, investment and capacity cannot be closed by any single country or organization alone.

This week’s flurry of international activity on AI and digital technology in Geneva and beyond, reflects the international push to ensure that all countries can benefit and regulate Artificial Intelligence as it increasingly shapes our economies, societies and daily lives.

Distinct areas of discussion are becoming clear.

While the focus of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development is on global‑level digital policymaking, discussions at the AI For Social Development Conference underscored the need for transparent, accountable and rights‑based AI governance to address risks such as bias, opaque algorithms and having large volumes of data concentrated in the hands of just a privileged few massive corporations.

Participants at the World Conference – convened by UNRISD and international NGO, the World Digital Techology Academy – examined AI’s growing role in social protection, labour markets, education and the green energy transition, while stressing the importance of protecting vulnerable groups and ensuring the benefits of technological change are shared more fairly.

Data-driven approach

Any proposals for AI governance must be data-driven and this is the fundamental work of the UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which convened its first in‑person meeting in Madrid on Wednesday.

Opening the Scientific Panel’s first in‑person meeting in Madrid, co-chair Maria Ressa explained the group’s mandate to provide an independent, scientific and authoritative assessment of how AI systems are shaping societies.

Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and campaigning Philippines journalist, warned that increasingly powerful AI tools are accelerating the undermining of democratic systems using “narrative warfare” in which falsehoods are manufactured and amplified at scale; the weakening of institutions such as the media and courts; and, ultimately, strategic corruption once accountability erodes.

Its findings will inform the discussions of another key UN AI initiative – the UN’s Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance – which meets in July, also in Geneva.A worldwide discussion

The Scientific Panel’s findings which Ms. Ressa co-chairs with renowned Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio will inform the discussions of another key UN AI initiative – the UN’s Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance – which meets in July, also in Geneva.

The Global Dialogue brings together all 193 United Nations Member States, the private sector, civil society, academia and the tech world to share best practices and build common approaches to AI governance.

“The policy conversation will be science and evidence-based, pooled perspectives, scientific perspectives from a multidisciplinary lens from across the world,” says the UN Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies, Amandeep Gill.

“This is how policy discussions should be, and the UN is very proud to facilitate this first ever such confluence of science and policy in a fast-paced emerging technology.”

AI Voices Are Easier To Understand Than Human Voices

April 22, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Synthetic voices are increasingly a part of our lives, from digital assistants like Siri and Alexa to automated telemarketers and answering machines. With the expansion of generative AI, a new type of synthetic voice has been developed: voice clones, which can recreate a facsimile of a person’s voice from only a few seconds of recorded speech.

In JASA, published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, a pair of researchers from University College London and the University of Roehampton evaluated the intelligibility of humans and voice clones. They found that voice clones are easier than humans to understand in noisy environments.

Voice clones differ from traditional synthetic voices in the amount of sampling they require. Synthetic voices like Siri require a voice actor to spend hours in a recording booth. In contrast, a voice clone can be made from as little as 10 seconds of speech, significantly expanding the number of potential voices as well as the number of potential applications.

Researchers Patti Adank and Han Wang specialize in studying human perception of unclear speech and were fascinated by the idea of machine-replicated speech. A key question they were looking to answer was just how easy voice clones are for the average person to understand. They suspected that voice clones would simply be poor representations of actual human voices and that people would struggle to understand them. What they found could not be more different.

“I thought initially that voice clones would be less intelligible because they were unfamiliar,” said Adank. “I found they were up to 20% more intelligible, which was quite shocking. A small part of our paper is talking about that experiment, and then a large part is me and my collaborator frantically trying to find out what it is that makes those voice clones more intelligible.”

The duo initially presented volunteers with human voices and voice clones, asking them to rate their intelligibility. After finding that voice clones were consistently rated easier to understand, they repeated the experiment with elderly volunteers to determine if being hard-of-hearing alters the effect; with American volunteers — the original cohort was British — to judge if the accent plays a role; and with a filter designed to mimic cochlear implants. In every case, voice clones emerged victorious.

After examining over 100 acoustic measurements, Adank believes the only way to solve the mystery is to work with collaborators who specialize in text-to-speech systems to adapt an existing open-source cloning system.

“I am now going to try and recreate [the effect] by studying how synthesizers work and how they use digital signal processing to generate those voices, just to get a bit of a handle on this,” said Adank.

Meet ACE: The AI robot can beat human table tennis pros

By Alexandra Leistner

Published on 23/04/2026 -

A new robot developed by Sony can now take on top table tennis players, highlighting how quickly artificial intelligence is advancing into complex human skills.

At the start of this week, a robot beat human runners in a half-marathon in Beijing. Now, another one can apparently outplay table tennis professionals. Is this how it begins - machines quietly overtaking us, one task at a time?

The answer is yes - and no. In a new study, a robot built by Japanese electronics giant Sony has beaten professional players. But the features that make this possible are anything but human-like. The robot, called “Ace,” has a single arm with eight joints and uses its nine camera eyes to track the ball’s logo and detect its spin.

How did it get so good?

One thing humans and robot arms have in common is the need for training. Simply programming a robot to play table tennis is not enough, Sony AI researcher Peter Dürr, co-author of the study published Wednesday in Nature, explains. “You have to learn how to play from experience.”

Ace was trained using an AI method known as reinforcement learning. According to Sony, the study shows how advances in artificial intelligence can not only help to make robots faster but also much more agile

Sony set up a full-size Olympic table tennis court at its Tokyo headquarters, where official rules were applied, Dürr said. Several athletes said they were impressed by how good Ace was.

The experiment was conducted on a standard-sized court, and official table tennis rules were applied.

The outcome shows that a machine can achieve human, expert-level play in a common competitive sport, interacting with skilled human athletes, “a longstanding milestone for AI and robotics research”, according to Sony.

The technology behind the speed and agility

The goal wasn’t just speed. Researchers could have built a machine that catches the ball and plays it back faster than a human can react to. But the idea was to build a robot that would actually play the game - and be on as level a playing field as possible, said Michael Spranger, president of Sony AI.

The speed, reach, and performance of the machine are compared to those of a skilled athlete who trains at least 20 hours a week. “The goal is to have some level of comparability, some level of fairness to the human, and win really at the level of AI and the level of decision-making and tactics and, to some extent, skill”, Spranger said.

After submitting their paper for review before it was published in Nature, Sony’s team kept improving the robot. They said Ace became faster, played longer rallies, and moved more aggressively closer to the table. In December, it faced four highly skilled players and beat all but one.

Another professional player, Kinjiro Nakamura, who competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said he saw Ace make a shot that seemed impossible for a human. But now that the robot has done it, he added, it suggests a human might be able to do it too.

Why are there protests over plan to send Frida Kahlo masterpieces to Spain?

By Abdulla Al Dosari

Published on 23/04/2026 - EURONEWS

Officials are trying to reassure Mexicans that a collection of artworks would return by 2028. Still, critics of the move to Spain remain skeptical.

A national heritage row has erupted between Mexico and Spain over 18 works by Frida Kahlo, which are set to move to Spain. This move follows Spanish bank Santander taking control of 160 out of 300 works by major Mexican artists from the Gelman Collection.

A transfer of the famous Mexican painter’s works to Spain has caused backlash in Mexico’s art world as the move would be against Mexican law, since works designated as being national artistic monuments can’t be permanently exported from Mexico.

Concerns started to grow when Daniel Vega Pérez, director of the Faro Santander museum, said in a statement to Spanish newspaper El País that there was “flexibility” in Mexican legislation that allowed for the easy renewal of exporting licenses. The director even suggested that Frida Kahlo’s artworks could see a permanent spot at the museum.

Nearly 400 Mexican artists, historians, and curators have signed an open letter in which they question the Mexican government over the lack of transparency regarding the move - specifically why Kahlo’s works were allowed for de-facto permanent export while other artists who have the same legal designation of their works are allowed for temporary leasing abroad

The letter demands that the Mexican government clarify its position on the relocation of Kahlo’s artworks and provide open consultation on the future of her works, in order to foster “responsible use of artistic heritage and avoid creating legal loopholes and public uncertainty.”

President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo defended the arrangement, stating that authorities were acting within the law. As for minister of culture Claudia Curiel de Icaza, she stated that the collection “has not been sold and is only temporarily exhibited.” She said: “The collection is Mexican; it wasn’t sold – it’s only leaving temporarily.”

Santander also issued a statement emphasising that the deal “does not imply, under any circumstances, either the acquisition of the collection or its permanent removal from Mexico” and that the works “will return to Mexico at the end of the temporary export period”.

Santander further announced that the Faro Santander opening would be delayed from June to September at the Mexican government’s request.

Critics remain skeptical, however, as the postponement does not resolve the dispute, and reports indicate the Santander agreement runs until 2030 and can be extended by mutual consent.

All 18 artworks by Kahlo are still set to be sent to Spain in September. A return to Mexico is planned in 2028.

Work is killing 840,000 people a year, and stress is mainly the cause, UN report finds

By Marta Iraola Iribarren

Published on 23/04/2026 - EURONEWS

Psychosocial risk factors –including long working hours, job insecurity, and workplace bullying and harassment– create harmful working environments that harm people’s physical and mental health, according to a new report.

More than 840,000 people die every year from health conditions linked to psychosocial risks at work – including long working hours, job insecurity, and workplace harassment– according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency.

Work-related psychosocial risks are mainly associated with cardiovascular diseases and mental health disorders, including suicide, the report noted.

“Psychosocial risks are becoming one of the most significant challenges for occupational safety and health in the modern world of work,” said Manal Azzi, team lead on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) policy and systems at the ILO.

“Improving the psychosocial working environment is essential not only for protecting workers’ mental and physical health, but also for strengthening productivity, organisational performance, and sustainable economic development,” she added.

Work shapes identity, social connection, and economic security, and its design and organisation determine whether it is coherent and adequately resourced, or whether excessive demands, role ambiguity, and perceived unfairness create harm.

The heavy toll on health

The report found that health hazards lead to nearly 45 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost each year, with the combined impact of cardiovascular disease and mental disorders estimated to result in 1.37 per cent of global GDP lost annually.

In Europe alone, the ILO reported 112,333 deaths, close to six million DALYs, and 1.43% GDP loss.

Cardiovascular diseases account for the majority of attributable deaths, yet the overall loss of healthy life years is greater for mental disorders, the authors wrote.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression and anxiety account for approximately 12 billion lost workdays annually.

The most common conditions include depression, anxiety disorders, burnout, sleep disturbances, and fatigue.

Mental health struggles can also drive physical health harms through unhealthy coping mechanisms often adopted to manage stress and fatigue.

Smoking, alcohol consumption, overeating, and physical inactivity due to problems in the workplace can lead to obesity, hypertension, and other chronic diseases.

“Evidence also suggests that health-related behaviours and psychosocial risks interact over time, with unhealthy behaviours reinforcing and amplifying the adverse health effects associated with psychosocial stress exposure,” the authors wrote.

What are the main causes of harm at work?

The report identifies long working hours, bullying, job strain, effort–reward imbalance, job insecurity and violence and harassment as the main drivers of bad health among workers.

“It is important to recall that long working hours, a critical psychosocial risk factor associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, remain widespread,” the authors noted.

The ILO estimates that globally, 35% of workers work more than 48 hours per week.

Research by the WHO found that working 55 or more hours per week is associated with an estimated 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to working 35 to 40 hours a week.

Bullying and other forms of harassment and violence are also flagged as a major concern.

The report noted that 23% of workers globally have experienced at least one form of violence or harassment in their working life, with psychological violence being the most prevalent at 18%.

What can be done

Digitisation, artificial intelligence, remote work and new employment arrangements are reshaping the psychosocial working environment, requiring organisations to identify risks and implement preventive measures.

These should address how work is designed, organised, and managed, including workload management, role clarity, staffing level, and working hours.

When prevention falls short, the ILO calls for timely, non-stigmatising support, such as access to support services, temporary work adjustments, occupational health input, and fair return-to-work processes.

D.E.I.

How Workplaces Can Foster Inclusion For People With Disabilities

April 23, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Over 1.3 billion people are affected by a disability, which the United Nations defines as “those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”, with about 80% of those individuals of working age. Additionally, the acknowledgement of neurodiversity in the workplace demands inclusion. Utilizing a huge dataset from Finland, a country with a high rate of employment for disabled people, Prof. Dr. Shiho Futagami (YOKOHAMA National University) et al. are paving the way to provide more job opportunities and inclusion for people with disabilities.

Prof. Dr. Shiho Futagami et al. published their research results ‘Work ability, inclusion, and human resource development of disabled people’ in Human Resource Development International (Q1: CiteScore Best Quartile, high impact: 4.4 (2024) 5 year IF）which is a globally prestigious international journal in the field of human resource development.

The respondents for the analysis are 6,214 people, with 52.4% males and 47.6% females. Of these respondents, 57.7% are under 40, with the remainder over 40. Nearly a third of these respondents have received only a basic education while the rest have some degree of secondary education. 65.5% of respondents report having one or more prolonged (longer than six months) illnesses, physical or psychological.

This study consists of eight hypotheses aimed to clarify the link between the work ability, inclusion and human resource development (HRD) of disabled people. For reference, “work ability” is defined as “how good a worker is at present and will be in the near future, and how they are able to do their work with respect to their work demands, and the health and mental resources”.

The hypotheses include (1) the educational background of disabled people determines their work ability, as well as (2) the physical functioning, (3) work ability of disabled people is improved by HRD, (4) the perception of inclusion by disabled people is lower compared to non-disabled people, (5) the inclusion of disabled people leads to their improved work ability, (6) the mental well-being of disable people leads to their improved work ability, (7) the work ability of disabled people is improved by upgrading their skills and finally, (8) the improved work ability of disabled people leads to their improved employability.

The research supports all hypotheses except two: the potential link between the educational background of the disabled people and work ability (hypothesis one) and the mental well-being of disabled people leading to their improved work ability (hypothesis six). The supporting hypotheses emphasize the importance of inclusion and an interdisciplinary approach to create an HRD framework to improve the work ability of disabled people.

“Our study suggests that the work ability, the inclusion perceived by disabled people themselves and human resource development (HRD) are three important elements for promoting disability inclusion,” said professor and researcher Shiho Futagami.

The resulting confluence of work ability, inclusion and an HRD framework provides a basis to reduce not only the barriers of entry into the workplace, but barriers that might have previously prevented disabled individuals from continued success in a job or career.

Prof. Dr. Shiho Futagami et al. wish to further investigate the dynamic interaction between these three elements in addition to analyzing different kinds of HRD variables that can affect work ability. Since this study focuses more on the discussion of these dynamics and HRD, actual practices using these frameworks will need to be implemented.

New Book Examines Rise Of Global Megacities

April 23, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Jakarta has grown from 150,000 residents in the first half of the 20th century to more than 31 million in 2024. This explosive growth has reshaped the Jakarta metropolitan area, presented complex challenges and highlighted the critical role of urban planning. 

For Deden Rukmana, professor and director of the Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) in the Department of Public Affairs and Planning (PAPL) at The University of Texas at Arlington, understanding and documenting this transformation is not only an academic pursuit, but also an urgent global priority.

Dr. Rukmana is the coeditor of the newly published book, Growth of a Megacity: Planning Jakarta in the Post-Suburban Era, alongside Sonia Roitman, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, Australia. Published by the University of Hawai’i Press, the book provides one of the most comprehensive English-language analyses of Jakarta’s contemporary urban evolution.

“Jakarta represents a critical case for understanding the future of urbanization,” Rukmana said. “As megacities in the Global South continue to drive population growth worldwide, planners need approaches that reflect local realities rather than relying solely on models developed elsewhere.”
Rethinking urban growth in the Global south

Rather than focusing on traditional suburban growth, the book analyzes Jakarta through the lens of post-suburbanization, a process in which development extends beyond the city’s core while remaining deeply interconnected with it. The book highlights how rapid expansion, infrastructure politics, spatial fragmentation and socio-environmental challenges shape Jakarta’s expansion.

The volume shows that although Jakarta exhibits post-suburban characteristics, its urban core continues to attract population and investment, resulting in uneven patterns of inclusion, displacement, and redevelopment across the metropolitan region.

Organized into four thematic sections—economic development, environmental challenges, housing and public space, and gentrification and displacement- the book provides a timely and accessible analysis for scholars, policymakers and practitioners engaged with Jakarta’s urban future.
From broader research to a focused volume

The book builds on Dr. Rukmana’s broader research agenda on urbanization in Indonesia. Beginning in 2019, he and Sonia coedited The Routledge Handbook of Urban Indonesia. This project broadened English-language urban scholarship by examining nineteen Indonesian cities of varying sizes and historical trajectories.

“During that process, we saw a large number of submitted abstracts in Jakarta,” Dr. Rukmana explained. “Despite its global importance, there were major knowledge gaps about how the city actually functions and evolves.”

Motivated by that gap, the editors set out to provide new data, fresh perspectives, and deeper analysis of Jakarta’s development. The resulting volume contributes to ongoing academic and policy debates about the future of megacities in the Global South.

“I hope readers gain a deeper understanding of Jakarta as a complex megacity influenced by post-suburban dynamics and marked by uneven patterns of growth, inclusion, and exclusion,” Rukmana said. “More broadly, this book encourages readers to reconsider traditional urban models and to adopt context-sensitive, integrated approaches to planning megacities in the Global South.”
A Collaborative scholarly effort

Growth of a Megacity features contributions from a group of scholars, planners, urban designers and architects. Rukmana proudly acknowledges the contributions of:

Hana Afifah Amini, Adiwan Aritenang, Ferdinand P. Boedhiarto, Julia Crowley, Ayşın Dedekorkut-Howes, Santy Paulla Dewi, Erwin Fahmi, Rendy A. Diningrat, Raphaella Dewantari Dwianto, Tommy Firman, Deffany Rosa Firstina, Priza Marendraputra, Delik Hudalah, Karina Putri, Dinar Ramadhani, Erie Sadewo, Rukuh Setiadi, Paulus Bagus Sugiyono, Tessa Talitha, and Diana Zerlina.

He also expressed appreciation for the support of colleagues and leadership within UTA’s College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA) and Department of Public Affairs and Planning (PAPL).

The Volcano That Slept For 100,000 Years Was Never Truly Quiet

April 23, 2026
By Eurasia Review

For more than 100,000 years, the Methana volcano in Greece appeared dormant. No lava, no explosions, no ash clouds. It appeared extinct – like many other volcanoes today. An international research team led by ETH Zurich has reconstructed a detailed, long-term history of the Methana volcano. Their conclusion is striking: While Methana appeared silent at the surface, enormous amounts of magma were steadily accumulating deep within its magma chambers.

Crystals as witnesses of the past

To uncover the volcano’s hidden activity, researchers focused on tiny minerals called zircon. These crystals form inside magma reservoirs in the Earth’s crust, as the magma is cooling, and act like natural time capsules, preserving information about when and under what conditions they grew.

“We can think of zircon crystals as tiny flight recorders. By dating more than 1,250 of them across 700,000 years of volcanic history, we’ve reconstructed the volcano’s inner life with a precision and statistical power that simply wasn’t possible a decade ago,” explains Olivier Bachmann, senior author and professor of Volcanology and Magmatic Petrology, ETH Zurich. “What we learned is that volcanoes can ‘breathe’ underground for millennia without ever breaking the surface.”

The results of the study show that magma was produced almost continuously beneath Methana. While there were active phases with volcanic eruptions, there was also one exceptionally long quiet period of more than 100,000 years, during which no eruptions occurred at all. Crucially, this was exactly the geological timeframe when zircon growth peaked, showing clear evidence of intense magma activity.
Why the magma never reached the surface

The researchers report that the magma supplying Methana’s upper crustal chamber was very water-rich – far more so than they expected, particularly during the periods of dormancy. The mantle beneath Methana is strongly influenced by materials carried down by a subducting tectonic plate – including ocean-floor sediments and substantial amounts of water. This process “hydrates” the mantle and makes magma production especially efficient. As the magma rises through the crust, it becomes water-saturated and creates bubbles. Water saturation triggers crystallisation which thickens the magma and reduces its mobility. Using physical and thermodynamic models, the researchers show that such magma effectively slows itself down during ascent. Paradoxically, the more magma supply at the depth can lead to fewer eruptions because the magma is too water-rich and too crystalline to reach the surface.

“We actually believe that many subduction zone volcanoes might be periodically fed by particularly wet primitive magma, something that the scientific community has not yet fully recognized. These so-called ‘superhydrous’ melts might be much more prevalent in subduction-related volcanoes worldwide”. Lead author, Răzvan-Gabriel Popa, a volcanologist at ETH Zurich clarifies, “Methana is a great example where we have seen this effect clearly, but the impact of our findings can be generalized and widespread.”
‘Extinct’ may not mean safety

The study’s most important and unsettling message is clear: A prolonged period of volcanic silence does not mean a volcano is extinct. Instead, it could signal the buildup of a large and potentially more dangerous magma system. This has major implications for volcanic risk assessment. Volcanoes that have not erupted for tens of thousands of years are often labelled extinct and receive little monitoring. Methana shows how risky that assumption can be – since a volcano can remain quiet for millennia while quietly storing energy for future reawakening.

“For volcano hazard authorities, for example, in Greece, Italy, Indonesia, Philippines, South and North America, Japan, etc. this means re-evaluating the threat level of volcanoes that have been quiet for tens of thousands of years but show periodic signs of magmatic unrest,” says Bachmann.

Modern monitoring tools, such as measurements of earthquakes, ground deformation, and gas emissions, as well as acquiring high-resolution images of the underground by geophysical methods, can help detect these hidden processes before they escalate.

Study Quantifies Lake CO₂ Emissions And Their Rising Trend In China

Researchers conducting in situ measurements of lake CO2 fluxes in Poyang Lake, China CREDIT: QI Huang

April 23, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Lakes are often described as “hotspots” in the global carbon cycle, yet quantifying their “breath”—the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) between water and the atmosphere—has long been notoriously difficult due to extreme variability across time and space and a shortage of long-term, high-resolution observational data. As a result, they have remained a “missing piece” in regional carbon accounting.

To address this gap, a research team led by Profs. HUANG Jiacong and GAO Junfeng from the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators from the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment and Jiangxi Normal University, has developed a novel high-resolution machine learning model based on a comprehensive national dataset, enabling high-precision prediction and spatial mapping of CO2 emissions from China’s lakes.

The findings were published in Science Advances.

The study estimates a substantial CO2 emission flux of 11.97 Tg C yr-1 from China’s lakes, offsetting roughly 12% of the nation’s total wetland carbon sink. While small lakes (<10 km2) exhibit higher emission intensities per unit area (0.29 g C m-2 d-1), large lakes (>50 km2) act as the dominant emission source, contributing 62% of the national total, with strong regional variability ranging from 33% to 79%.

Notably, the study quantifies how lake expansion has affected CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2021. Over this period, annual CO2 emissions from China’s lakes rose from 11.25 Tg C to 13.94 Tg C—a 24% increase. This upward trend accelerated after 2010 and is closely associated with sustained lake area expansion, which has ranged from 71 to 462 km2 per year across regions.

The researchers further investigated how extreme climatic events influence lake CO2 emissions. Both extreme heatwaves and intense rainfall events were found to trigger sharp increases in CO2 fluxes, by up to 48% in some regions. With climate change increasing the frequency and severity of such extremes, lake CO2 emissions are projected to continue rising.

“This study underscores the value of high-resolution modeling and long-term observations for carbon accounting at regional and national scales,” said Prof. HUANG, corresponding author of the study. “Our findings highlight an urgent need for sustained, high-resolution monitoring to refine lake carbon budgets and inform more effective climate mitigation policies.”

ALASKA

Arctic Oil And Gas Exploitation Overlaps Heavily With Indigenous Lands, Sensitive Ecosystems, And Key Wildlife Habitats

File photo of the trans-Alaska pipeline and Dalton Highway are seen on July 4, 2014, in the Brooks Range area near the pipeline's Pump Station 4, about 270 miles south of Prudhoe Bay.

(Photo by Bob Wick/U.S. Bureau of Land Management)

April 23, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Arctic fossil fuel development shows significant overlaps with Indigenous communities and ecologically sensitive areas, which might support calls from some scientists to keep Arctic fossil fuels in the ground, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS One by Daniele Codato of the University of Padova, Italy and colleagues.

The Arctic is a frontline for fossil fuel development and climate change impact, long portrayed as a region with abundant undiscovered oil and gas resources, while warming at a rate nearly four times higher than the global average. Reducing these impacts requires a thorough assessment of these factors and their relationship to local human and wildlife communities, and ecosystems. In this study, researchers compiled information from a variety of open access databases to create the first atlas of Arctic oil and gas.

The data reveals over 512,000 square kilometers of exploited Arctic territory, an area roughly equivalent to Spain or Thailand. Over 7% of this area overlaps with ecologically protected regions, and over 13% overlaps with the ranges of all three key Arctic species considered in the study: polar bears, yellow-billed loons, and caribou. Furthermore, approximately 73% of the exploited territory overlaps with Indigenous Peoples’ Lands. These overlaps highlight numerous areas of potential ecological disruption and social tension, particularly in heavily-exploited regions such as the North Slope of Alaska and the Yamal Peninsula of Russia.

The authors suggest that this data makes a strong case in favor of recent proposals to declare the Arctic a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Zone, and for future decisions about Arctic fossil fuel extraction to focus on the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives and the safeguarding of regional ecosystems. The authors also note that future studies should include more fine-grained scale data and analyses about regions of concern such as Alberta and Alaska, as well as data on species of specific importance to Indigenous livelihoods.

The authors add: “Our atlas reveals the sheer scale of Arctic oil and gas development: over 500,000 square kilometers are already covered by licenses—an area comparable to Spain. We identified more than 44,000 wells, nearly 40,000 kilometers of pipelines, and almost 2 million kilometers of seismic lines across the Arctic. Moreover, over 73% of Arctic oil and gas concessions overlap with Indigenous Peoples’ lands, raising critical questions about spatial justice and governance.”

“Identifying where oil and gas extraction overlaps with ecological and cultural priorities helps define not only ‘when’, but also ‘where’ fossil fuels should remain underground. If climate goals are to be met, the Arctic may be one of the regions where fossil fuels should remain in the ground. The Arctic Atlas provides new spatial evidence that strengthens the case for an Arctic fossil fuel non-proliferation zone.”

“A recurring challenge in our research is the lack of accessible and integrated data on the oil and gas industry. In the Arctic, information on oil and gas is highly fragmented, so one of our main goals was to systematize these scattered sources into a single open tool that can support future research and decision-making.”

Wildfire-Driven Deforestation Rates In California Among Highest In World

April 23, 2026
By Eurasia Review

California has one of the highest rates of wildfire-driven deforestation in the world, and the trend has accelerated over the past three decades, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, assessed the state’s wildfire-driven deforestation rates and reforestation needs between 1991 and 2023. It found that deforestation in California’s conifer-dominated forests increased exponentially over the study period, taking place primarily on USDA Forest Service and private lands. Meanwhile, reforestation efforts are not keeping pace with the losses.

Reforestation needs were minimal in the early 1990s, rose sharply in the early 2000s and surged after 2020. During that time, California lost between 6% and 11% of its conifer forests. Multiple big-fire years caused deforestation rates to rise to between 0.25% and 0.47% per year between 2001 and 2023. That is substantially higher than the global average of 0.15% per year.

“Those rates are right up there with the world’s leaders in fire-driven forest loss, like Russia, Portugal, Greece, Bolivia and even Canada,” said senior author Hugh Safford, a forest and fire ecologist with the UC Davis Environmental Science and Policy department. “In the case of California, the rate is also accelerating rapidly. A couple more big-fire years like 2020 or 2021, and we could be looking at large-scale loss of conifer forests over wide swaths of the state.”

Estimating forest loss and growth

For the study, scientists combined remotely sensed fire severity data with a tool called POSCRPT (Postfire Spatial Conifer Regeneration Prediction Tool) that was developed by UC Davis, UC Berkeley and the Forest Service. They were able to estimate how much forest was actually lost by incorporating both tree mortality and projected five-year postfire seedling densities.

Forest restoration needs were assessed under scenarios of moderate, high and acute priority. Moderate scenarios incorporated only a tree mortality measure, while the other scenarios incorporated both tree mortality and the probability that seedlings will regenerate.

The team found that on Forest Service lands only about 8% of high-priority areas and less than 3% of acute-priority areas were reforested during the entire study period. Between 2016 and 2023, only about 1% of deforested Forest Service lands were replanted. In contrast, on private industrial timberlands, more than 90% of severely burned lands were replanted.

Fire-driven reforestation needs

The state’s greatest reforestation needs are in Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forests and Northern California Douglas-fir forests, especially areas hit by the massive 2020 and 2021 wildfires: the northern Inner Coast Ranges, the northern Sierra Nevada–southern Cascades, and the southwestern Sierra Nevada.

While middle-elevation forests experienced the greatest losses, high-elevation forests showed the fastest increases in deforestation.

The paper noted that federal budgets and staffing for reforestation have been dropping for decades, even as drought, wildfire and pest outbreaks increase. This is in contrast to Canada, where similar trends have led to increases in budgets for reforestation science and management. Without sustained, substantial intervention, current restoration efforts will not be enough to prevent the long-term transformation of California’s forest ecosystems.

“California has much more fire-driven forest loss than people understand,” Safford said. “It’s high even by international standards. It’s happening more in high-elevation, climate-sensitive areas that protect our watersheds, and there’s almost nothing being done about it. If commensurate actions aren’t taken soon, we’re going to lose huge areas of conifer forest and the ecosystem services those forests provide.”

Georgian Government Gets US President’s Attention With Tbilisi Tower Deal

April 23, 2026
By Eurasianet

(Eurasianet) — The Trump Administration has largely ignored the Republic of Georgia diplomatically since returning to power in January 2025. The Trump Organization is another story.

The Trump Organization, the family real estate firm, has announced plans to build a 70-storey Trump Tower in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It would be the tallest building not just in the country, but in the entire Caucasus region.

Critics describe the Trump Tower idea as a cynical ploy by Georgian Dream officials to get the US president’s attention at a time when they face potential sanctions from the United States and European Union over the government’s rapid embrace of authoritarian practicesand pro-Russian policies. Georgia also faces the prospect of being economically bypassed by TRIPP, or the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a planned trade link involving Armenia and Azerbaijan that is envisioned as a key transport node in the Middle Corridor trade network connecting Central Asia and Europe.

The Tbilisi tower project will be a joint venture involving four Georgian firms, Archi Group, Biograpi Living, Blox Group, and Finvest Georgia, alongside the US-based Sapir Organization, a longtime Trump partner.

Archi Group’s founder, businessman Ilia Tsulaia, previously served as an MP for the Georgian Dream party, while Biograpi Living is part of the Wissol Group, owned by the Pkhakadze brothers, who have faced repeated scrutiny over their support for the government.

Georgian Dream leaders have trumpeted the project as a vote of confidence in Georgia’s economy and governance. The speaker of Georgia’s rubber-stamp parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, said that “when Trump’s company enters Georgia under its own brand, it means it has a strong understanding of the existing environment. Naturally, Trump and his company are careful to protect the reputation they have built.”

Critics see it very differently. Roman Gotsiridze, a former head of the National Bank and MP, called the project politically motivated. “This is Bidzina Ivanishvili’s attempt to bribe Trump… a sanctioned Ivanishvili is looking for ways to save himself,” he said, referring to the Georgian Dream party’s founder and funder.

“Using businessmen he [Ivanishvili] has backed, he has created a consortium in which, of course, the largest share will indirectly be Ivanishvili’s money, and with this idea they are approaching Trump,” Gotsiridze added.

An April 18 report by The Wall Street Journal described the Tbilisi project as “another example of how the Trump family firm has changed its approach to overseas business during the second Trump administration,” adding that “critics say that such overseas ventures raise potential conflicts of interest.”

Eric Trump, president’s son and executive vice president of the company, said the development would bring the firm’s “globally recognized standard of excellence” to Georgia.

This is not Trump’s first attempt to plant a flag in Georgia. In 2012, with the encouragement of then-president Mikheil Saakashvili, the Trump Organization announced plans for a development in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi. After years of relative inactivity, the organization backed out in 2017, after Trump gained the White House for the first time.

The Batumi project was subsequently taken over by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund, backed by Ivanishvili, and rebranded as the Silk Tower. It is expected to be completed by the end of the decade.

At the time, Ivanishvili, who then as now viewed Saakashvili as his arch-political enemy, derided the Batumi project. “Trump has made no investment in Georgia … they used it, both of them [Saakashvili and Trump] pulled off a clever trick,” he said in 2012. “They paid Trump money, and Saakashvili, as a master of deception, took advantage of it.”

The new tower is planned for Tbilisi’s central Saburtalo district, on land that, according to Georgian Business Media, is still officially owned by the Cartu Foundation, which belongs to Ivanishvili.

Over the past year, the Trump administration has largely continued its predecessor’s approach, freezing out Georgian Dream over its authoritarian drift. When Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on March 30, their first ever call, the ruling party rushed to frame it as a breakthrough. US Congressman Joe Wilson, Georgia’s most vociferous critic in the US Congress, told RFE/RL it was no “reset,” and that both Rubio and Trump “want only the best for the people of Georgia, which clearly means fair and free elections.”

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