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Geopolitics

Pentagon Leaks: How America Was Exposed, At Home And Abroad

Confronted with a significant security breach, the U.S. is learning a brutal lesson about modern warfare.

-Analysis-

PARIS — It's a total embarrassment for America. The recent leaks of highly classified documents have revealed a disturbing security flaw for the world's leading power. In Washington, an investigation is underway into the source of the documents, some of which initially surfaced on obscure gaming chat platforms.

The fact that the information contained in the documents is now public is also disconcerting — with the additional concern that some of the information may be falsified, including date on losses in the war in Ukraine. How can we distinguish true from false? Regardless, the damage is done, and it is considerable.

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The leaked Pentagon documents deal with subjects as varied as Ukraine, spying in South Korea, protests in Israel, Turkey and the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner, as well as France. The consequences are disastrous, starting with American credibility.

CNN has reported that Ukraine has been forced to change plans for its spring counteroffensive after some secret military information was revealed in the leaks. If true, this is perhaps the most important consequence of the leaks.

But it is not the only one. The French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, was forced to deny that 100 French Special Forces members were on Ukrainian territory. France, like other Western nations, denies its service members are present on Ukrainian soil. Whether information or disinformation, the leaks are sowing confusion.

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Pausing AI Research: Are Humans Intelligent Enough To Do The Right Thing?

Everyone from Elon Musk to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to top Artificial Intelligence researchers have signed a public petition calling on a six-month moratorium on AI research. The ultimate decision will be left in the hands of humans, who are smart, but also vain and greedy.

-Analysis-

PARIS — A request for a six-month moratorium on artificial intelligence research, shared Wednesday by the Future of Life foundation, garnered over 1,000 signatures within hours from leading engineers and entrepreneurs in American technology. Notable signatories include Elon Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX; Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple; and the visionary author Yuval Noah Harari.

Their request is simple: they're calling for a six-month moratorium on any new research into AI tools that goes beyond what has already been accomplished by conversational software such as GPT-4, which has attracted significant attention.

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Eyes On U.S. — How The World Is Tracking A High-Stakes Midterm Election

The international media is tuning in closely to Tuesday’s U.S. midterms, with global ramifications for everything from the war in Ukraine to action on climate change to the brewing superpower showdown with China.

PARIS — It’s becoming a bi-annual November ritual: International reporters touch down in some small American town or so-called “battleground state” that we’re told could decide the fate of the next two or four (or more) years in the United States — and the world.

Reporting for French daily Le Monde, Piotr Smolar was in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, where “culture wars” were infecting the schools ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections. Meanwhile, Smolar's French broadcast colleagues at France Info were in the ever crucial state of Florida, talking to locals at the grocery store about the economy.

“The prices are crazy. I’m a veteran, I spent 16 years in the army and this is what I get when I come home,” said a man named Jake in the city of Melbourne, Florida. “We’re counting every penny. It’s Biden’s recovery plan that put us in this situation.”

Yes, it will likely be local issues that determine the results of the midterm elections, where Republicans have a strong chance of taking back control of Congress and deal a potentially fatal blow to some of President Joe Biden’s signature policy objectives.

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Don't Trust The TikTok Business Gurus

Anne-Claire Bennevault, founder of consulting firm BNVLT and think tank SPAK.fr, weighs in on the rise of the so-called "finfluencers".

Op-Ed

Some 15 or 20 years ago, if you were looking to get into finance, you would read the Wall Street Journal, pay attention to Henry Kaufman's analyses and closely follow both Ray Dalio's speeches and Warren Buffet's masterclasses. These traditional financial gurus do continue to have very large audiences, but now they are rivaled by tech-savvy newcomers who understand the power of social media.

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