Author: staff
Published on 20/02/2026 – 7:00 GMT+1 Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots often refuse to answer political questions or echo official state narratives, suggesting that they may be censored, according to a new study. The study, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, compared how leading AI chatbots in China, including BaiChuan, DeepSeek, and ChatGLM, responded to more than 100 questions about state politics, benchmarking them against models developed outside of China. Researchers flagged responses as potentially censored if a chatbot declined to answer or provided inaccurate information. Questions related to the status of Taiwan, ethnic minorities or those about well-known pro-democracy…
Published on 20/02/2026 – 7:21 GMT+1 Every year Spain celebrates one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century for studies on Leonardo da Vinci. On 13 February in 1967 the National Library of Spain conserved among its collections two original manuscripts of the Renaissance artist and engineer that had remained unnoticed for more than a century. The so-called Madrid I and II codices (source in Spanish),identified as Mss. 8937 and Mss. 8936, are part of a set of scientific notebooks written by da Vinci between the end of the 15th and the start of the 16th century. They…
“What happened to Quentin, it feels like it could have happened dozens of times to our supporters in recent years,” said National Rally MEP Pierre-Romain Thionnet. “Of course, those are not the same circumstances,” Thionnet said of the Kirk comparison. “But there are similarities in the way it resonates.” Deranque was, unlike Kirk, unknown to the general public before he died Saturday after taking several blows to the head during a fight that broke out near a university where MEP Rima Hassan was attending an event. The events leading up to the fight that cost Deranque his life remain unclear.…
By Jerry Fisayo-Bambi with AP Published on 20/02/2026 – 6:41 GMT+1•Updated 7:00 US President Donald Trump said Thursday he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal, warning of bad things to happen if Tehran does not heed his call. Trump’s latest threat comes as tensions ramp up and as the second US carrier nears the Mideast. “It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” Trump said Thursday. And just as Trump ramped up his threats, Iran…
Scientists have highlighted just how high the stakes are as human-made climate change continues to rapidly warm Antarctica. A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, models the best- and worst-case scenarios for global warming on the Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of the mainland. Researchers warn that the continent’s future “depends on the choices we make today”, arguing that cutting emissions could avoid the most “important and detrimental” impacts of the climate crisis. “Though Antarctica is far away, changes here will impact the rest of the world through changes in sea level, oceanic and atmospheric connections…
Friedrich Merz muss sich in Stuttgart der Wiederwahl als CDU-Vorsitzender stellen. Nach großen Reformversprechen ist die Unzufriedenheit in Teilen der Partei spürbar. Wie stark fällt sein Ergebnis aus – und welche Rolle spielt Angela Merkel bei ihrem seltenen Parteitagsauftritt? Rixa Fürsen und Rasmus Buchsteiner analysieren das vorab. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview geht es um strengere Regeln gegen Vetternwirtschaft im Bundestag. Nach der AfD-Affäre zeigt sich Merz offen für gesetzliche Verschärfungen. Sonja Eichwede, stellvertretende SPD-Fraktionsvorsitzende, erklärt, wo sie Handlungsbedarf sieht. Außerdem: Die geplante Beschaffung von Kamikaze-Drohnen für die Bundeswehr sorgt im Haushaltsausschuss für Kritik – unter anderem wegen eines umstrittenen Investors. Das Berlin…
“We expect the Commission to present ambitious, quantified proposals as a direct input for ongoing negotiations on the next MFF, including on an EU administrative system that reflects the challenges of our times,” reads the letter, which was signed by ministers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. “In this context, the proposed increase [from the Commission] of 2,500 posts as well as the overall significant increase of heading 4 (administration) runs counter to the stated objectives of efficiency, restraint and reform, and risks undermining the credibility of the broader MFF proposal.” Heading…
Magyar’s aim, his allies say, is to get voters asking what Orbán’s nationalist rhetoric has actually delivered. “It’s not that we turned his nationalist language against him,” said Márton Hajdu, the Tisza party’s chief of staff in the European Parliament. “We turn his lies about protecting Hungarian national interests against him.” Outflanking Orbán Magyar — a former insider in Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party — has moved to outflank Orbán on some of the most sensitive nationalist terrain: ethnic Hungarians living beyond Hungary’s borders, and the country’s Roma minority. Fidesz has historically secured strong support among ethnic Hungarians by granting them…
Unusually, there was no joint communique from the ministers at the end of this week’s meeting. The chair’s summary mentioned climate change just once, saying “a large majority of ministers stressed the importance of the energy transition to combat climate change and highlighted the global transition to net zero emissions in line with COP28 outcomes.” Despite that line, climate change was not highlighted as a priority in the closing remarks and was barely mentioned during the final press conference, reflecting the power of the U.S., the group’s richest member which contributes around 14 percent of the agency’s funding. U.S. President…
According to prosecutors, the defendant offered to lead police investigators to the “agents” he claimed had hired him to steal the goods. But just as the meeting with his alleged handlers was due to take place, the man escaped. Hours later he was seen arriving at the Russian Embassy in Lisbon, where he allegedly tried to sell what was on the devices to an embassy employee. The man “was unsuccessful in achieving this goal,” prosecutors noted, and coughed up the missing devices when police detained him shortly thereafter. Under interrogation, the man claimed to belong to “a criminal organization dedicated…