Tag Archives: China

Politics

The United States and Canada continue to decline in terms of Global Competitiveness

Scandinavia continues to dominate the Global Competitiveness Index, with Finland, Sweden, and Denmark placing first, second, and third out of 192 nations in 2025. The rest of Europe follows closely behind. Japan, ranked #19, is the only non-European country in the top 20. The United States has fallen from #3 in 2016, the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency, to #42 under President Donald Trump in 2025. During the same timeframe, Canada has dropped from #15 to #30.

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Communications

From Lanzhou to BC: Bots Overwhelming Cortes Currents

Editor’s note updated Feb 13 2026 – China now leads the world in terms of internet users – 1,1 billion, as compared to 806 million users in India and 302 million in the United States. This comes at a time when bots have replaced humans as the #1 source of traffic on the web. In 2025, Cortes Currents received 32,969 visits from Lanzhou, China. The first ‘visitor’ arrived on October 3 and the worst day was December 23 – when 4,105 came. The average bot visit lasts for a fraction of a second, during which they each make numerous requests of the website – sometimes overwhelming the server.

There have been numerous reports of cyberattacks, bots, and hackers this month. On November 13, the Wallstreet Journal reported what is reputedly the world’s first cyberespionage operation largely carried out using AI. The makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Claude subsequently revealed that they detected this operation in September. The attacks were carried out by Chinese hackers targeting large tech companies, financial institutions, chemical manufacturing companies, and government agencies.

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Forests, Politics

BC won’t run anti-tariff ads, Eby says after emergency summit

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

BC Premier David Eby is putting his anti-tariff ads on ice after an emergency summit with federal ministers on Monday morning.

“We’ve committed to the federal government that when the time comes to be speaking directly to Americans, we’ll do it in partnership with them,” Eby told reporters at a press conference in Vancouver immediately after the emergency softwood lumber summit.

“We will not be running the ads by ourselves.” 

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Animals

New Virus Associated With (But Not Causing) Mass Oyster Die-Offs

UBC researchers found a new virus in farmed Pacific Oysters that perished during a mass die-off in 2020. 

During the die-off, researchers collected 33 dead oysters as well as 26 wild oysters from neighbouring sites. Pacific Oyster Nidovirus 1 (PONV1) was only found in 20 of the dead or dying farmed oysters.

Dr Kevin Xu Zhong, a research associate in the UBC department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS), explained this does not mean the virus was the cause of death.

“We found this new virus. There is no indication it is causing the mortality mentioned in the database, the study, or the reporting.”

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Cost of Climate Change

International Court of Justice Issues Landmark Climate Opinion

“The Court hopes that its conclusions will allow the law to inform and guide social and political action to address the ongoing climate crisis.” – ICJ Advisory Opinion, para. 456

In a historic and unanimous ruling, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued its Advisory Opinion on the legal responsibilities of nation states to address climate change. This decision, requested by the United Nations General Assembly in 2023, clarifies for the first time what international law demands of countries and what legal consequences may follow if they fail to act.

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