The FIFA World Cup’s advanced AI tools rely on thousands of data workers manually logging match actions to fuel the sports betting industry https://restofworld.org/2026/fifa-world-cup-ai-data-workers/?utm_campaign=row-social&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_content=1782232049

🇨🇳 🇯🇵 Fans in China cheer on Japan at World Cup despite political tension China isn't the most obvious place for Japan football fandom to thrive, but groups of Chinese fans are cheering on Japan at the World Cup, inspired by their love of Japanese anime.

HUGE U-TURN: The report behind global news stories on a millionaire exodus has confirmed millionaire migration is “modest” & announced it will no longer be publishing migrations estimates that "data does not yet support”, after tax campaigners debunked its methodology. taxjustice.net/press/millio...

Harvard is no longer the top university in the Nature Index - China's Zhejiang University is. And with Tsinghua University hot on its heels, Harvard's second place is not looking secure, either. #NatureIndexResearchLeaders. www.nature.com/nature-index...

Trump and Xi Are Angling for Three Years of Stability carnegieendowment.org/emissary/202...

Google hallucinating lines from Moby Dick

China allows fresh urea exports amid Iran war-fuelled fertiliser crisis, sources say reut.rs/3Q8tRtb

Chinese researchers confirmed Tehran oil depot fires in March released toxic sulfur dioxide equivalent to a moderate volcanic eruption. via @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

“We have sold part of our oil to China through pre-sales, and the transfer of the purchased volume has already begun... The American side, according to its bilateral discussions with Beijing, is expected not to create any obstacles for the transportation of this oil by Chinese tankers"

34.8ºC at Kew Gardens breaks its May AND June records by OVER 4ºC for its May record set in 1922 and by 0.2ºC for its June record set in 1976. Unprecedented heat for the UK in late May, and likely to be bettered tomorrow. A rounded 35ºC temperature should not happen in May.

Britain needs a transformative state but progressive politicians worry about the gilt cage constraining public investment - here are three steps to get out of the bond vigilantes' hock. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre....

Ethiopia makes clear it won't pay bondholders anything until they accept a debt relief deal similar to that agreed by China and France www.mofed.gov.et/blog/ethiopi...

Global publisher Google traffic dropped by a third in 2025 according to new Chartbeat data Since May 2023, Google search referrals were down 21% globally, with Google Discover down 18% pressgazette.co.uk/media-audien...

For $7 an hour, virtual assistants in the Philippines are using AI to write LinkedIn posts and comments on behalf of Western executives, fueling a "thought leadership" content mill https://restofworld.org/2026/virtual-assistant-linkedin-engagement/?utm_campaign=row-social

The global oil market is set to remain severely undersupplied until 4Q26 – even with the pre-crisis surplus cushioning the impact of disruptions Even if markets recover through the year, rebuilding depleted stocks could keep balances tight beyond 2026 👉 iea.li/4dbg0v0

At least 15 per cent of the Amazon has already been lost, and further destruction could unleash widespread rainforest dieback with as little as 1.5°C of global warming

I wrote a post about this recently. It is a central fact about industrial capitalism that real resources are allocated on the basis of hopes and dreams, rather than as a rational response to prices in existing markets. jwmason.org/slackwire/mo...

Satellite measurements show that in the early 2010s sea level rise suddenly accelerated to a rate of 4.1 millimetres per year, possibly in response to an increase in the rate of global warming

Is the Strait of Hormuz open? You be the judge:

Base chemical prices rose more than 60% in recent weeks, the fastest pace ever recorded - Goldman Sachs research

NEW: I've been shocked by some of the numbers I've been seeing on behind-the-meter power plants for data centers, so I did a little math. less than a dozen gas plants being built to power data centers for big tech companies could emit a maximum of nearly 130 million tons of CO2e each year (!)

NEW | Record exports of solar, batteries and EVs last month 📈 China’s exports for the ‘new three’ industries reached a record high of $21.9bn in March 2026, up 70% year-on-year, in the wake of the US-Israel war with Iran and changing export rebates for solar and batteries.

China curtailing, not banning fuel exports, shipping data shows reut.rs/4vGYbuY

Guardian article on the new paper: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This is quite extraordinary- scientists set a kind of trap for AI chat bots by inventing a fake disease. AI told people it was real and… the deliberately bogus preprints started being cited in peer reviewed literature 🫣 🧪 #MedSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...

An Al Jazeera investigation finds internal security facilities in populated areas have been heavily targeted.

⚡️ NEW from @dropsitenews.com: Iran Rejects US Narrative That It Must Adhere to Trump’s ‘Disingenuous’ Negotiation Framework Tehran put forward its own terms to end the war, a senior Iranian official tells Drop Site, despite claims... By @jeremyscahill.com & @ryangrim.bsky.social t.co/dYaKfrjAWW

big computer is for big money small computer is for small money that's just how it works

I keep seeing this framing like Bremmer's. It is wrong. Instead: 1. Iran was developing an ICBM when Khamenei imposed a 2,000-km range limit. 3. The programs shifted to space launch. 4. Khamenei lifted the restriction in October 2025 after the June attacks. 5. Now he's dead, and here we are.

NEW | The world installed a record 814 GW of solar and wind capacity in 2025 ☀️⚡️ That's over 1,000 TWh of electricity generation per year... ...enough to displace nearly twice Qatar's annual LNG export volume in gas generation 🔥❌ Fossil fuels crisis? Wind and solar deliver.

The only reason Thailand isn't in a deep red on this list is because the government froze prices and is paying out the nose to subsidize. This is gonna be bad.

As the US-Israel war on Iran continues, Tehran has said the Strait of Hormuz is open to all except the US and its allies. So far, only a small number of ships from certain countries have passed through the strategic waterway. #Infograph

Today is #LongCovidAwarenessDay Long Covid changed my life beyond recognition. I got ill. I never recovered. Lost my job. Became housebound. I rely on others to do things for me. I lie on my bed most of the day. Watch the Guardian's short film about my life with #LongCovid 👇

This is a very strange moment, in how obvious it is that a major crisis is approaching, and how calmly and clearly people are observing it come. www.ft.com/content/3647...

*TRUMP: MORE IMPORTANT TO ME IRAN IS STOPPED THAN HIGH OIL PRICE *TRUMP: US MAKES A LOT OF MONEY WHEN OIL PRICES GO UP

Iran war causes biggest disruption in oil markets, IEA says @seekingalpha

The volume of international transfers of major arms in 2021–25 was 9.2% higher than in 2016–20. This was the biggest increase in global arms flows since 2011–15. Read the fact sheet ➡️ doi.org/10.55163/OSM... #ArmsTransfers #GlobalArmsTrade #ArmsData #SIPRIData #Peace

Germany overtakes China to become the world's forth largest exporter of major arms.

Airwars, a non-profit group tracking civilian harm in conflict, found that the initial days of the U.S.-Israeli campaign in Iran hit significantly more targets per day than any campaign in recent decades. The targets also map heavily onto the highest populated areas. airwars.org/record-pace-...

Why is the Korean economy SOOOOOO affected? Because it imports more of its energy than almost any other country...

“.. the politics are a lot better if the Israelis go first and alone and the Iranians retaliate against us, and give us more reason to take action,” said one of the people familiar with discussions. @politico.com #OOTT www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Hyperscaler butterfly effect: memory shortage --> lower smartphone sales in Africa www.idc.com/resource-cen...

Was the global decline of extreme poverty only due to China? The share of the world population living in extreme poverty has never declined as rapidly as in the past three decades.

everything you read about AI is someone's FORECAST. To date, there is no evidence it has raised economy-wide productivity or destroyed jobs (even among graduates). Even the impact of the capex on GDP - which is a real thing - has been wildly overstated for the past 12 months