Eyes on the Road
NEED TO KNOW
Eyes on the Road
INDONESIA
American tech giant Apple is planning to build a $1 billion tech hub and smartphone-manufacturing plant in Indonesia. That announcement came after newly elected President Prabowo Subianto banned sales of the iPhone 16, saying that Apple was flouting Indonesian laws requiring them to use more Indonesian-produced components in their products.
As the Asia Times reported, Apple initially responded with an offer to build a $10 million factory, then raised the offer to $100 million and included research and development and other facilities. But Prabowo rejected those offers. Government officials announced the planned investment, even as Apple did not confirm the report, noted Reuters.
The president’s tough stance might reflect his goal of making Indonesia, a massive archipelago in Southeast Asia that is also the world’s largest Muslim country, a world power, as Newsweek wrote. It certainly is about extracting concessions from foreign tech giants as a way for Prabowo to demonstrate his effectiveness, and dispel the pall that World Politics Review described as hanging over his new presidency because of his past.
In the 1970s, as a young army lieutenant, Prabowo fought in East Timor, the Portuguese colony that Indonesia invaded. To prove that he killed a rebel leader named Nicolau Lobato, he cut off Lobato’s head and sent it to Indonesia’s then-President Suharto. Prabowo allegedly committed other atrocities and war crimes as he pursued his military career. He even allegedly helped carry out the massacre of 300 Timorese people, mostly civilians, in a settlement called Krakas.
Indonesians might not care about his past. Prabowo’s Onward Indonesia Coalition recently won in local elections, suggesting that his mandate is strong, even though opposition candidates with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle won control of Jakarta, the country’s capital and its largest city, according to Nikkei Asia.
Prabowo is allied with former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who ran the country from 2014 to this October, when Prabowo took office, explained a University of Melbourne article. Jokowi is a former member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle but has since broken away to found his own political dynasty. Jokowi’s son currently serves as Indonesia’s vice president. His other son runs a youth-oriented political party. His son-in-law successfully ran for local office in the recent election, too.
The president appears to have consolidated support from Muslim organizations by offering them mining concessions to fund their activities, the New Mandala reported. But his upholding of Muslim laws has fueled illegal alcohol smuggling that has resulted in young Indonesians drinking toxic brews, added the South China Morning Post.
Still, some believe that the new leader will be a shot in the arm for Indonesia. “Prabowo Subianto harbors an ambition to elevate Indonesia’s global standing, an ambition that reflects his strategic vision for the country,” wrote commentator James Van Zorge in the Diplomat. “As Indonesia faces new challenges, Prabowo’s military, political, and global experiences offer a unique perspective that may guide the country toward progress, both domestically and internationally.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Much Ado About Everything
ROMANIA
Romanian pro-European Union parties said they are coming together to head off any future bid from the far right, following the victory of the far-right candidate in a recent election that was invalidated by the country’s high court because of irregularities, setting off massive upheaval in the EU member state, the Guardian reported.
The parties, which include the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the opposition centrist Save Romania Union (USR), and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR, said on Tuesday they would create a coalition government and field one candidate in new presidential elections expected early next year.
In legislative elections on Dec. 1, the PSD won the most parliamentary seats but were closely followed by three far-right, ultranationalist parties, all holding pro-Russia positions, which together garnered more than a third of the vote.
A week before, however, Călin Georgescu, an ultranationalist independent, shocked the country by winning the first round of the presidential elections. Georgescu’s success drew accusations of foreign interference – specifically, Russian interference.
As a result, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the presidential first round last Friday two days before the runoff, ruling that it was “marred … by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation.” Georgescu was set to face the pro-European USR leader Elena Lasconi in the second round. It is unclear now if he will be able to run in the do-over vote with prosecutors still investigating his campaign.
Intelligence documents that were released ahead of the annulment included information about cyberattacks and a “massive” campaign of thousands of social media accounts, implicating Georgescu with links to Moscow. The evidence suggested that the far-right candidate was promoted on TikTok through coordinated accounts, altered algorithms, and paid promotion, reported the Guardian.
The new administration of the center-left coalition is expected to set the new dates for the first and second rounds shortly. Klaus Iohannis, the outgoing president, will serve as interim head of state until the elections are over and will nominate a new prime minister.
The outcome of Romania’s general and presidential elections are crucial to deciding its future direction, especially as it concerns the EU and NATO – the country holds membership in both blocs.
Since the election, there have been nationwide protests over the far-right candidate’s victory and the alleged foreign interference, while Moscow has denied meddling in the elections.
Meanwhile, last weekend, Romanian police stopped 20 people headed to the capital of Bucharest in vehicles containing weapons, with officials saying this group planned to disrupt the protests against Georgescu. Among those taken in for questioning was the former leader of a mercenary group operating in Africa and local political figure, Horaţiu Potra, who allegedly has links to Georgescu, according to Politico.
The group had planned to initiate an “intimidation operation” targeting politicians and journalists, officials said.
An Unabated Fury
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea’s authorities attempted to raid President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office Wednesday, arrested two senior police officials, and announced that the former defense minister had attempted suicide in detention, the latest fallout from Yoon’s attempt to implement martial law earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Last week, Yoon invoked martial law during a nationally televised address, saying the country was vulnerable to North Korean “communist forces” because of the “den of thieves” blocking laws and impeaching officials in his administration.
While the measure only lasted six hours, it has sparked widespread public protests, legal scrutiny, and calls for Yoon’s impeachment. One attempt by lawmakers failed last week but the opposition, which holds a majority, is trying to make a second attempt. Meanwhile, the president said earlier in the week he would step down voluntarily, France 24 reported.
Even so, on Wednesday, he appeared defiant: In a pre-recorded address, he said, “I will fight to the end,” implying that he would not resign voluntarily.
On Tuesday, South Korean officials announced that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun – who resigned after the martial law crisis – attempted to hang himself at the detention center where he is being held on charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
Kim was arrested Sunday after voluntarily appearing for questioning. He is accused of proposing the martial law plan to Yoon, which sought to curb political activity, suppress media freedoms, and impose restrictions on health services. Officials are exploring whether they can bring similar charges for Yoon.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, South Korean police arrested National Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho and Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong-sik for allegedly ordering officers to block lawmakers from entering the country’s parliament, the National Assembly, for a vote on overturning Yoon’s martial law decree, ABC News noted.
Both individuals face insurrection charges, and the arrests come just days after the officials –and also the president – were placed under a travel ban.
On Wednesday, police also conducted a raid on Yoon’s presidential office but faced resistance from his security team.
Meanwhile, across the border, North Korean state media, which had been quiet during the turmoil in South Korea, mocked the crisis as a “shocking incident” of the “puppet Yoon Suk Yeol regime,” accusing it of bringing chaos through a “fascist dictatorship.”
Yoon, who is halfway through his five-year term, earlier this week apologized for his decision to implement martial law. Regardless, Yoon’s approval rating has plummeted to 13 percent, with three-quarters of South Koreans supporting his removal.
The crisis has paralyzed South Korea’s government and raised concerns internationally about the stability of a key US ally and Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Big Targets
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan’s Minister for Refugees Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani was killed in a suicide bombing in the capital Kabul Wednesday, the latest high-profile attack against Taliban officials more than three years after their return to power, CBS News reported.
Taliban officials said the assailant detonated an explosive device as Haqqani exited his office to attend prayers, killing him and four others. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) of orchestrating the attack.
Observers said the explosion underscored the Taliban’s ongoing security challenges as it governs Afghanistan amid internal power struggles and persistent violence.
ISIS-K, the regional branch of the Islamic State, has increasingly targeted Taliban officials, civilians, and foreign nationals since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, which has undermined the group’s claims of stability.
Haqqani’s death is a significant blow to the Taliban: A key figure in the regime, he was closely affiliated with the Haqqani network, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.
The network is remembered for its violent tactics during the Taliban’s two-decade insurgency and has wielded considerable influence within the Taliban government.
Khalil Haqqani was the brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the group’s founder, and the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan’s Interior Minister.
Meanwhile, as the Taliban grapples with ongoing security threats, Russia moved to formally remove the Islamist group from its list of terrorist organizations, Newsweek wrote.
A bill approved in the first reading by Russia’s lower house of parliament would allow courts to temporarily suspend terrorist designations upon request from the prosecutor general or their deputy.
Russia labeled the Taliban a terrorist group in 2003 but has engaged with Afghan officials since their return to power, citing regional stability as a priority.
Analysts explained that if the bill passes, it could pave the way for deeper cooperation between Moscow and the Taliban.
DISCOVERIES
Machine Bards
AI is giving poetry a high-tech twist.
A new study found that readers can’t reliably tell the difference between poems written by human literary legends such as William Shakespeare and those generated by AI.
Even more surprising? Many readers prefer the chatbot’s work, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
A research team gathered more than 1,600 participants and asked them to identify whether a series of 10 poems – five by humans and five written by AI imitating a human poet’s style – were real or machine-generated. The results showed participants guessed correctly only 46 percent of the time, slightly worse than chance.
“It is quite a weird phenomenon,” Edouard Machery, a philosopher at the University of Pittsburgh and co-author of the study, told the Washington Post.
The AI behind the verses, OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5, demonstrated a knack for emulating the styles of great poets such as Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, and T.S. Eliot. Researchers believe this skill stems from the chatbot’s training, which likely included large datasets of the poets’ original works.
But in a second experiment, the team asked 696 participants to rate poems on qualities, such as rhythm, originality, and emotional impact. They divided the volunteers into three groups – one group was told the poems were written by humans, another was told they were reading AI-generated poems, and a third received no information about authorship.
Unsurprisingly, those who believed they were reading human-written poetry gave higher ratings, regardless of the actual author. However, participants who didn’t know the poems’ origins consistently rated the chatbot’s creations higher than the human-authored ones.
The scientists suggested the chatbot’s straightforward style makes its poetry more accessible.
That’s because AI-generated poems lack the complexity of human-authored verse, which means they are better at “unambiguously communicating an image, a mood, an emotion, or a theme to non-expert readers of poetry,” the study explains.
However, this simplicity comes at a cost. Human poets often embrace quirks and complexities that challenge readers to think deeply. T.S. Eliot’s “The Boston Evening Transcript,” a satire on a bygone newspaper, was the most frequently misidentified as AI because readers found it confusing.
While the study has strengthened fears that AI will replace human artists and writers, Dorothea Lasky – the only living poet in the study – welcomed readers’ preferences.
“Poetry will always be necessary,” she told the Post. “If these people in the study read AI poems and liked that poem better than a human-generated poem, then that, to me, is beautiful. I feel there is room for all poets – even robot poets.”