Free Republic

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is quietly developing an artificial intelligence system that could dramatically speed up asylum approvals worldwide. While publicly marketed as an “efficiency tool” to identify bottlenecks in the refugee process, this AI system gives the UN something it has never had before: real-time control over the pace and volume of migration flows. According to UNHCR, the AI is designed to: Analyze global refugee case files in bulk. Flag points in the process where applications stall. Alert UN staff to “optimize” workflows in near real time. Western countries are already under enormous political pressure to expand...

Home to the world’s largest elephant population, Botswana has already gifted 8,000 of the animals to Angola and offered another 500 to Mozambique. For the second time this year, Botswana has threatened to send thousands of elephants to Europe. In March, the southern African nation warned it would fill one of London’s parks with the animals. Now, the president has said his country will send 20,000 elephants to Germany. The warnings have been sparked by a diplomatic row as the UK and Germany mull the idea of stricter limits on the import of hunting trophies amid concerns over poaching. Why...

The Huns were nomadic warriors who terrorized much of Europe and the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. They were impressive horsemen best known for their astounding military achievements. As they plundered their way across the European continent, the Huns acquired a reputation for being ruthless, indomitable savages.