All articles tagged with #global south
At the World AI Conference in Shanghai, Xi Jinping urged open-source AI and international cooperation, unveiling a 29-nation World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization and pledging 5,000 AI-training opportunities for developing countries, signaling China’s bid to shape global AI governance and reduce U.S. influence while pursuing leadership in the Global South.
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Xi Jinping announced WAICO, a 29-nation coalition aimed at shaping international AI policy through open cooperation to ensure the technology benefits humanity, signaling Beijing’s bid to lead global AI governance amid US–China tech rivalry.
China's affordable, open-source AI models are narrowing the gap with the U.S. frontier tech, pressuring Washington to rally allies while grappling with an erratic export-controls regime and a broader push for digital sovereignty; the Pax Silica effort seeks a U.S.-led AI and chip bloc as 35 countries join the AI Opportunity declaration, but partners remain cautious about interoperability and reliance on Chinese infrastructure.
The Iran war has driven a sustained rise in global oil prices and a roughly one-billion-barrel shortfall in Gulf supplies, a shock that reverberates through inflation, bond markets, and everyday costs, especially for the Global South. While Europe can cushion some pain with subsidies, poorer countries face spikes in food and fuel prices, higher fertilizer costs, and fears of hunger as the World Food Programme warns tens of millions could be at risk. In the United States, higher energy exports boost revenue but raise gasoline bills for households, while financial strains push up central-bank rates and bond yields even as stock markets stay buoyant. Overall, the economic fallout from the Iran war is intensifying faster than shipping normalcy returns, with wide humanitarian and financial consequences.
China is extending zero-tariff treatment to all African countries with diplomatic ties, effective May 1, 2026, to boost Africa–China trade, diversify exports, and foster value-added manufacturing amid rising protectionism. Early shipments, such as South African apples, have entered China, while Kenya and South Africa align procedures to maximize benefits and unlock spillovers across agriculture, mining, and manufacturing.
Colombia and the Netherlands hosted the First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, drawing about 60 countries to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels outside the UN COP framework; organizers say this coalition represents a 'new power' in climate action, while the US federal government under Trump is not invited. US states like California and Quebec are pursuing aggressive domestic policies, highlighting financing and debt barriers that complicate a rapid transition.
The analysis argues that a U.S.-led Iran war that degrades Tehran’s military and proxies could weaken the geostrategic network—the CRINK bloc and broader partnerships—that has helped Russia sustain its Ukraine campaign. As Washington pursues coercive diplomacy and regional realignments (e.g., in Venezuela), Moscow risks losing diplomatic flexibility and key partners, potentially shifting regional alignments toward the United States and its allies and altering the Ukraine war’s dynamics.
A peer‑reviewed Nature study shows most prior sea‑level projections used coastal baselines that were too low, likely underestimating risk. By anchoring sea levels to measured coastlines, the study finds a 1‑meter rise could flood about 37% more land, affecting 77–132 million people, with the Global South most at risk, and calls for updated, standardized coastal‑hazard assessment methods.
The global south condemns the US-Israeli attack on Iran as illegal and an imperial overreach, arguing negotiations with Tehran were not allowed to run their course before the bombing. Leaders from Pakistan, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, Oman, Cuba, Malaysia, and Indonesia denounced the strike and called for dialogue, while analysts warn of eroding international law and a shift in global power away from the United States, emphasizing that opposing the Iranian regime does not equal support for it.
At the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India positions itself as a responsible, third-way partner for developing nations amid U.S.–China AI competition, arguing AI should be governed for public welfare and offering its large IT workforce and market as a testbed. Modi frames AI as a powerful technology that must be directed for good, while India pursues strategic autonomy, builds ties with middle powers, and signs the Pax Silica Declaration to protect supply chains, signaling a broader effort to shape AI governance and diplomacy for the Global South.
Thousands of leaders and tech chiefs gather at Modi’s Delhi AI Impact Summit as India positions itself as a regional AI hub for the Global South; attendees include Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, with discussions on deploying AI in agriculture, water and health, governance and safety, and debates over AI colonialism versus techno-Gandhism. The US appears reluctant to push a binding regulatory framework, while Google reveals a $15 billion investment in an Adani-backed AI data centre in Visakhapatnam.
India is hosting the five-day India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the first AI gathering of the Global South, drawing about 20 heads of state and major tech executives to discuss AI’s growth, governance, safety and ethics. The event aims to position India as a bridge between advanced economies and the Global South, highlight scalable AI deployment via digital public infrastructure, and explore non-binding pledges rather than binding agreements. Experts emphasize reskilling to mitigate potential job disruption as AI expands across sectors, with notable attendees expected from politics and tech including Macron, Lula, Altman, and other leaders and executives.
The article investigates the widespread practice of burning plastic waste as household fuel in low-income urban communities across the Global South, highlighting its prevalence, drivers such as inadequate waste management and energy poverty, and associated health and environmental risks, while emphasizing the need for improved waste systems and clean energy access to mitigate this issue.
Across Morocco, Madagascar, Peru, Nepal, and other countries, Generation Z is leading widespread protests driven by economic inequality, political corruption, and social injustice, utilizing digital platforms for organization and mobilization, signaling a global shift in youth activism and discontent with traditional political systems.
The article discusses how Trump's tariffs are causing a realignment of global alliances, especially among the global south, with countries like Brazil, India, and China seeking to bypass US economic dominance and form new partnerships, potentially leading to a shift in global power dynamics and the weakening of US influence.