Referring to the Foreign Affairs periodical, the US is lagging behind Russia and China in terms of military artificial intelligence. 

Earlier, the US armed forces used to be at the forefront of AI technologies. However, Pentagon is ceding its superiority to its bitter rivals, Russia and China, the periodical underscores. The US Department of Defense was taking the lead in the field of AI development that took warfare technologies to a whole new level. 

At present, despite geopolitical jitters, Pentagon is unwilling to apply its expertise to the ongoing challenge in East Europe, for example. Most American projects on the AI application have ended up in failure. 

One of such failed ventures is the US Air Force project on designing X-45 and X-47 pilotless aircraft. Such drones are meant for conducting reconnaissance as well as launching missile and bomb strikes. The project dates back to 2003. However, the Air Force dropped out of the project because Pentagon viewed the drones as a threat to the F-35 fighter program. The US Navy also funded another large-scale project to develop X-47B, but it was terminated for the same reason. 

Experts at Foreign Affairs suppose that US armed forces rested on their laurels for too long, so the US might slip into the ranks of laggards. Analysts think that the lack of progress in US AI projects makes a striking contrast to the successful military research of its geopolitical rivals.       

If Pentagon does not integrate AI technologies into its combat strategies and weapons, Russia and China will take advantage of this weakness. Both countries are actively employing AI technologies in their armed forces. Their success could jeopardize the US military power.    

The British authorities have finally acknowledged their insolvency. The government has admitted that mounting energy prices are a growing factor in the squeeze on household budgets across the UK.

According to Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Britain's energy regulator Ofgem, rising gas and electricity bills are "literally a matter of life or death" for many residents of the United Kingdom.

"I talk to customers on a regular basis, and I know how tough rising energy prices are for many households and businesses. For some, not being able to afford rising energy bills is literally a matter of life and death," he said.

Britain's government is concerned about surging gas and electricity bills. A major cost of living crisis is gradually gripping the nation. Ofgem has already tightened control over energy suppliers, Brearley recalled. However, this requires "fundamental changes to the British energy market," he added. Data from the Office for National Statistics confirms that an increasing number of the country's residents are struggling to afford their utility bills.

The United States wanted to end Russia's attempts to block shipments of Ukrainian grain. Otherwise, the situation may cause a global food crisis. According to the White House spokesperson, Ukraine will resume wheat exports in the near future.

US President Joe Biden has pledged that his administration will redouble its efforts to get Ukrainian grain back to the global market. Moreover, Biden noted that US allies were currently focused on this issue as well. The US President said that Ukraine had nearly 20 million tons of grain in storage. If it is brought back to world markets, inflation in the US and other countries will fall.

"We are exploring ways to bring this grain back to the world market and thereby bring prices down," Biden said.

He stated that Russia's invasion in Ukraine accounted for a sharp rise in US prices. The US president had repeatedly blamed his counterpart Vladimir Putin for soaring prices in the country. 

As people say, the friendship between bankers is a myth. It is hardly surprising. In the banking sector, there is no place for such things as money and benefit rule everting. Largest UK bank HSBC has recently proved the veracity of this statement.

For many years, HSBC Holdings Plc. and Ping An Insurance Group Co. have enjoyed a cozy relationship, financially backing each other and staying in tune on many issues. The shock rippled through the market when the Chinese insurance giant called for the most dramatic split in banking history. It seems as if Ping An tends to bankrupt HSBC after 20 years of constant investments in the bank.  Ping An, led by Peter Ma, is urging HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to consider options, including splitting the business and listing Asian operations separately on the stock market.

"Ping An understands the way regulatory winds are blowing,” said Isaac Stone Fish, founder of Strategy Risks, which specializes in corporate relationships with China. “Companies increasingly have to choose sides between the US and China, and we might see more corporations considering breaking up as a way to choose between the two powers," Isaac Stone Fish, the CEO and founder of Strategy Risks, a company which quantifies corporate exposure to China, noted.

"Any breakup would cost billions of dollars. It would also be a body blow to the City of London and a black eye for the global bank model," analysts at Barclays Plc said. They also pointed out that the changes could reap 3% to 8% off the group’s market value.

According to Bloomberg analyst Julian Lee, Europe's intention to reduce Russia’s oil exports to zero poses significant risks to economic stability in the region.

He believes that the Western countries’ plan to stop buying Russian oil is tantamount to economic suicide. In particular, Lee drew attention to the stance of Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia, which refused to support the planned oil embargo against Russia in the next six months. The refineries were built there specifically to process the particular blend of crude pumped from Russia. Thus, the search for alternatives will be a big challenge for these countries, he explained.

Although imposing sanctions on Russia’s refined products exports raises a number of problems, Lee sees no reason to abandon the aim of ending Europe’s purchases of Russian crude. Given that oil products require crude of certain characteristics, the European Union should reduce its dependence on Russian oil supplies through a sequential reduction in those volumes, he added. 

Oddly, Russia indirectly paves the way for the EU’s transition to green energy. Moscow’s dodgy policy, including arm-twisting in gas sales and assertive rhetoric, forces Europe to shift focus away from fossil fuels toward alternative energy forces. For example, France is serious about replacing Russian gas with biogas from agricultural waste. 

The EU is forging ahead with its addiction to Russian gas. Several countries terminated their contracts with Russian energy suppliers. Other EU members are investigating options of energy sources. France intends to offset by 2030 a large share of Russian energy by biomethane produced from livestock manure. French farmers are in accord with European authorities to overcome the dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Small rural gas plants are launched across the country to provide energy for hundreds or thousands of nearby households. Indeed, biogas could be an efficient solution to reduce Europe’s energy dependence.  

France is among the first EU countries to embark on this path. According to industry statistics, biomethane accounted for nearly 1% of the country’s gas demand in 2021. Its share is expected to increase to 2% in 2022. Biofuel will represent almost 20% of the total gas consumption in 2023. This share will exceed the volume of France’s gas imports from Russia last year. 

Earlier, research direction at Vygon Consulting Maria Belova predicted that North Macedonia, the Netherlands, and Serbia will be able to reject contracts with Russian gas suppliers in the not-too-distant future.          

Bill Gates is concerned that the worst may still be ahead. The Microsoft co-founder predicts a global economic slowdown and notes that the world’s economy has already started to weaken. He is sure that rate hikes implemented by central banks worldwide will accelerate the economic downturn, triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking about those who bet on the falling market, Bill Gates says that he is afraid that “the bears on this one have a pretty strong argument that concerns me a lot.” The billionaire explains that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sent commodity prices soaring, “comes on top of the pandemic, where government debt levels were already very high and there were already some supply chain problems.” Many countries, including the US, UK, and India, have raised interest rates in an attempt to tame galloping inflation. This will eventually result in an economic slowdown, Gates said.

In the foreseeable future, popular food products such as different kinds of oil and cereals may be in short supply, Business Insider noted.

What is more, analysts at Business Insider believe that the world is now shifting to the era of food protectionism. Mounting protectionism is fueling chaos in global food markets with countries clamping down on exports of staples including grains, cooking oil, and pulses. They have to take such steps to protect their inventories against the backdrop of rising inflation.

Russia and Ukraine have already introduced restrictions on the exports of wheat and sunflower oil. Indonesia, Argentina, and Kazakhstan halted overseas sales of essential products to curb soaring domestic prices.

Governments may exacerbate protectionist measures because of growing food prices. In the Asian countries, there could be a new spike in inflation and food costs, Nomura economists stressed.

Notably, record high prices of crops occurred during the global financial crisis of 2008. At that time, Ukraine and other major suppliers reduced grain exports, whereas India and Vietnam restricted rice exports. Business Insider fears that the past may repeat itself. Such measures will only inflate prices, bringing the world closer to a food crisis.

According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Russia is currently the largest global wheat exporter, accounting for 20% of global grain exports. Against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the country has imposed a number of restrictions on food exports, including a temporary ban on wheat supplies.

Sugar and sunflower seeds are other crucial products whose exports from Russia has been suspended. The restrictions will be valid from April to August 2022. Apart from that, the country has introduced an export quota for sunflower oil in order to curb surging inflation.

Ukraine, the fifth-largest global wheat exporter, also banned overseas sales of some staples. The government refused to export essential products such as wheat and oats.

Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, banned exports of the most widely used vegetable oil. The halting of shipments of the cooking oil and its raw material came as a measure to avoid oil shortage in the domestic market. Retail prices for palm oil skyrocketed by 40% in 2022.

Argentina, the world's fifth-largest beef exporter, temporarily halted its export of beef in a move to quell a runaway inflation in the country. In 2021, inflation in Argentina hit 50.9%, Reuters pointed out.  

Kazakhstan also restricted the exports of wheat and wheat flour following a 30% increase in domestic prices. The ban will remain in force until June 15 of this year. Kazakhstan is the largest exporter of wheat, accounting for 4% of global supplies.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco, Apple’s primary competitor,  surpassed the iPhone maker and regained the top spot as the world’s most valuable company.

Saudi Aramco is a state-owned company generating record profits compared to the largest commercial tech giants. According to Bloomberg, Saudi Aramco’s market capitalization totaled $2.43 trillion. By comparison, the market value of Russia's largest oil company Rosneft is a little over $100 billion. This is 2.5 times less than the Walt Disney Company’s market capitalization of above $250 billion. However, the company is not concerned with the oil industry. 

Apple is ranked second on the list of the world’s most valuable companies and is now worth $2.38 trillion. The key reason for it is a jump in oil prices and high inflation causing a decline in the shares of technology companies. Experts note that if Apple manages to regain its top position, the global economy will change dramatically.

Notably, at the start of 2022 Apple became the world’s first company to reach a market value of $3 trillion. However, this figure dropped significantly after Apple’s shares fell.

According to US Federal Reserve officials, the events taking place in Ukraine pose a threat to the global financial system. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is fueling economic worries and geopolitical uncertainty. Moreover, it is already having a serious negative impact on many countries.

The financial market did not have time to get over the coronavirus pandemic but faced a new tough challenge. The Ukrainian crisis coupled with surging inflation put global economic growth at risk. At present, COVID-19 is no longer seen by the Fed as the biggest threat to the world financial system.

“Further adverse surprises in inflation and interest rates, particularly if accompanied by a decline in economic activity, could negatively affect the financial system,” the central bank said in a statement.

Notably, in early March, the Fed assessed the ability of the US economy to respond to the crisis. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted that amid geopolitical turmoil, it would not be easy for the government to achieve a “soft landing” of the national economy and ensure a fall in inflation while preventing an increase in the unemployment rate.

Japan's national debt ranked first among countries with the highest debt levels in the world, surpassing even the US. 

According to the latest data, Japan is the clear front-runner in terms of public debt growth. The figure is impressive. Japanese national debt has exceeded $9.5 trillion, about 234% of gross domestic product. For instance, in the US, this figure stands at 160%. In the UK, public debt amounted to 144% of GDP, while in the Eurozone it is equivalent to 120.4% of GDP. Japanese internal debt has also hit a new historic high, according to the Ministry of Finance of the country. According to the agency, the total public debt of Japan at the end of the fiscal year 2021 (March 31, 2022) reached 1,241.3 trillion yen (more than $9.5 trillion).

The coronavirus pandemic was the main catalyst for debt growth. Massive economic support measures have led to rising inflation in a number of states. However, even with such borrowing levels, large countries are unlikely to have problems with public debt service in the near future.

In some countries, the responsibility of the president and his administration is thought to be rather limited. However, things are different in the US.

Georgia's Attorney General Christopher Carr said the White House administration was responsible for destabilizing US energy security. Carr addressed the secretary of state, the interior minister, and the energy minister on the situation of high fuel prices and inflation. He accused US President Joe Biden of creating the crisis. Carr said that instead of admitting that his climate agenda was destabilizing the country's energy security, the president would rather blame rising petrol prices on Russia, the coronavirus pandemic, and even the oil companies. 

Georgia Attorney General recalled that Biden had canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, a critical infrastructure facility, limiting oil and gas production, and had announced a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas supplies. “Temporary measures will not solve the problem, and that is why I am calling on the Biden administration to immediately increase and incentivize domestic energy production and to insulate consumers from times of volatile gas prices today and beyond,” Carr said.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is well-known for his ambitious goals. After the acquisition of social network Twitter, he intends to increase its annual revenue to $26.4 billion by 2028. 

Mr Musk shared his plans for the future of the popular social network and made a presentation for investors. The billionaire intends to boost Twitter's annual revenue to $26.4 billion by 2028. Notably, the company's revenue totaled only $5 billion by the end of 2021. The entrepreneur wants to increase it by more than five times. It is also reported that Musk plans “to cut Twitter's reliance on advertising to less than 50% of revenue”. Moreover, he expects the social network to reach 931 million users by 2028.

Earlier, the news came that Twitter could become partly paid. However, Musk noted that “Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial or government users”.

US aircraft giant Boeing Co. made huge financial losses. The company's net loss increased twice at the end of the first quarter and totaled a record $1.2 billion. Currently, Boeing’s shares are plummeting amid this shocking news.

The company’s management reported a net loss of $1.242 billion in the first quarter. It is twice as much as a year ago. GAAP loss per share is $2.06 versus $0.92 for January-March 2021. The core loss per share is $2.75 compared with analysts' expectations of $0.19. Boeing's quarterly revenue fell by 8% to $13.991 billion. The manufacturer's shares predictably collapsed after the publication of the quarterly report. 

However, the company's executives remain optimistic despite the disappointing results. "While the first quarter of 2022 brought new challenges for our world, industry and business, I am proud of our team and the steady progress we're making towards our key commitments," Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in the release.