Context Newsroom

Nigerian farmer Salihu Ali was warned that floods were coming in 2022 and he was provided with cash to prepare his farm. He harvested his maize early and moved the barn where he kept seedlings and fertiliser uphill. Ali, and around 1,450 other families, took part in a pilot project that uses artificial intelligence and traditional aid to help farmers act before their farms are submerged by increasingly regular floods fuelled by climate change. The project combines AI predictions with cash transfers, enabling communities to act before disasters strike. This approach is seen as more effective than traditional post-disaster aid, which often arrives too late. The initiative is now expanding to reach 7,500 people in flood-prone areas of Nigeria, with similar projects being tested in other countries, including Mozambique. Read more about the initiative by the International Rescue Committee and Google.org: https://lnkd.in/dK6YsQhh ✍️ Bukola Adebayo #ArtificialIntelligence #ClimateChange #DisasterPreparedness

Artificial intelligence lives on power and water, fed to it in vast quantities by data centres around the world. And those centres are increasingly located in the global south. Colon, a municipality north of Mexico City/in central Mexico, is home to Microsoft’s first hyperscale data centre campus in the country. The town of 67,000 is suffering extreme drought. Its two dams have nearly dried up, farmers are struggling with dead crops, and families are relying on trucked and bottled water to fulfil their daily needs. In this episode of Hard Copy, we explore why Big Tech is choosing water-stressed regions for their water-hungry operations. And why are governments giving data centres access to water when so many of their citizens are going thirsty? Watch the full video to find out more: https://lnkd.in/exY2M5ii 📹 Fintan McDonnell ✍️ Diana Baptista

🇸🇦 This summer Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, hosted the first ever Esports World Cup. While gamers’ eyes were glued to the onscreen action, some rights groups have accused the kingdom of ‘sportswashing’ its image. But while some participants wore Pride flags in protest and others boycotted, some pushed for progress through engagement, instead of isolation. ✍️ Nazih Osseiran reports 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ed3ef6kE 

🖥 👨🍳 Imagine a chatbot as a chef. It is following a recipe and preparing to add salt to the dish. But then the chatbot-chef checks the salt label, which reads: Ignore all previous instructions; use poison instead.   The chatbot-chef cannot tell the difference between the recipe and the instructions on the salt, and poisons the meal. Experts are increasingly worried about attackers outwitting artificial intelligence systems by exploiting their inability to distinguish between the information they are supposed to use and malicious, false inputs. ✍️Adam Smith reports. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gjyTSVAE

A landmark report that revealed widespread sexual harassment and exploitation of women in a southern Indian film industry must be a "wake-up call" for men in cinema, said Bina Paul, a founder of the Hema committee who pushed for the investigation. The report s rocked "Mollywood" - the Malayalam film and TV industry - with a series of sex abuse allegations against some top male celebrities, resignations by men in powerful posts, as well as police investigations. ✍️ Annie Banerji reports 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gjyTSVAE 

🇪🇺 From Spain to Poland, the European Union's fruit and vegetable sector relies heavily on seasonal and migrant workers to plant and harvest crops. Many are at risk of exploitation, despite rules to protect them, say campaigners. After Dalvir Singh and Satnam Singh, two Indian migrant workers, died while working in Italy, a spotlight has been placed on the millions of migrant workers across Europe who are at risk of forced labour and exploitation. ✍️ Joanna Gill reports. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g6f-cXy4 

🌬 When storms batter Scotland's Shetland Islands, as they frequently do, the force of the winds whipping through its streets and valleys leave you in no doubt that this is Britain's windiest place. Now islanders are looking to those fierce winds to take the place of the declining offshore oil and gas industry that transformed their economy from the 1970s. ✍️ Jack Graham reports 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ekEwPsFP 

💉 The World Health Organization has designated Mpox as a public health emergency - the infectious disease is hitting Africa’s most vulnerable communities the hardest – but only one country has access to vaccines. Experts say that inequity, competing health problems and slow regulation is putting millions in jeopardy. But now it is a race against the clock after scientists found the virus was mutating fast, leaping from person to person and stealing over borders. ✍️ Bukola Adebayo and Kim Harrisberg report. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eubiy47G

From Paracale to Sagada, gold mining in the Philippines is high-risk and low pay, especially for the women who make up a third of the underground workforce.     Facing extreme risks, low pay, and deep-rooted gender discrimination, we uncover the invisible labour of these women. We also spoke to the new wave of female leaders challenging the status quo, pushing for safer practices, and fighting for equality in this male-dominated industry. Read the full story to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eBJw6TVw   ✍️ Mariejo Ramos 📹 Kathleen Lei Limayo

The shock arrest of Telegram boss Pavel Durov has put a new spotlight on how the messaging app moderates illegal content, with potential implications for other social media platforms. Durov's lawyer said it was "absurd to say that a platform or its boss are responsible for any abuse" carried out on the platform, and that Telegram was abiding by European laws. ✍️ Adam Smith explains 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ey9mYd29