Sign in

Bessma Momani

@bmomani.bsky.social
3.4K followers 1.1K following 454 posts

Professor at the University of Waterloo and Senior Fellow at CIGI, interested in International Affairs and Geopolitics of Technology.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 19h
Starting Nov. 1, Russia’s Saratov region will slash its regional death benefit for families of soldiers killed in Ukraine by 90%, from 1M rub to 100k. The move follows similar cuts in other regions. Meanwhile, Saratov is introducing a 450k-rub regional payment for inmates who enlist to fight.
t.me
Новая газета Европа
В Саратовской области в десять раз снизят «гробовые» выплаты С 1 ноября в Саратовской области единовременная региональная выплата для семей погибших на войне с Украиной бойцов снизится с миллиона до ...
0134
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Mohamad Bazzi @mbazzi.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Israel’s Likud party has been whipping up an election frenzy against Mamdani since the summer, when it plastered his photo on a campaign billboard in central Tel Aviv. The poster features Mamdani alongside the leaders of Iran, Turkey and Hezbollah” — my latest for @theguardian.com
theguardian.com
Netanyahu is using Mamdani as a foil in his re-election campaign | Mohamad Bazzi
The Israeli prime minister’s remarks at the UN weren’t just motivated by personal animosity
12917
Reposted by Bessma Momani
The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 19h
An astounding 71 per cent of Americans oppose data-center construction in their areas. 69 per cent are “concerned” about the A.I.’s role in society. A.I. makes “the world uglier” and enables “cognitive offloading,” one skeptic says. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/S79vdc
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
The Humanism Driving the Anti-A.I. Movement
At the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, D.C., attendees talked less about jobs and policy, and more about their philosophy of life.
26825
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 19h
"Scholars of colour described overpreparing for presentations, ruthlessly analysing their own results before exposing them to scrutiny, softening their conclusions or avoiding research on race altogether." The level of checks I go through often astounds some colleagues
120163
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 18h
Per Politico citing 6 diplomats familiar with the matter, Trump admin is excluding the UK, France and Baltic countries from a NATO meeting on alliance’s future next month in Poland — after threatening to deploy a “naughty and nice list” against governments that have run afoul of Trump’s priorities.
58267141
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 30/09/2026
63% of Americans want to pause AI development and the building of new data centers, according to a new poll of 1500 American voters. www.wsj.com/video/new-ws...
wsj.com
New WSJ Poll Reveals How Americans Feel About AI
WSJ’s Aaron Zitner breaks down what the Journal’s latest poll tells about Americans’ growing concerns over AI development, regulation and data centers.
153
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Erica Chenoweth @chenoweth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My team at the NVA Lab has produced a new dashboard for exploring our data on US protests from Jan 2025-May 2026. This snapshot shows the 61k+ protest events (>14.6M+ recorded participants) active in the US since Trump's second inauguration. Link to dashboard in thread.
A platform displaying the data on US protests from the Crowd Counting Consortium. It includes a map of the US with counts of protest events in circular form overlaying the protests' locations. It also includes weekly tallies of protest events and participations, top protest issues, and various filters allowing users to explore events by location, issue, date, political valence, etc. The top of the image shows a total of 61,782 protests with 14,684,201 participants across 55 US states and territories from January 20, 2025 to May 31, 2026.
215669
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 21h
POLITICAL SCIENCE JOB AD: Tenure-track position in International Relations at the University of Waterloo. We're *very happy* to announce this. Applications due Nov. 1st; job start date July 2027. Details here (pdf): uwaterloo.ca/arts/sites/d...
uwaterloo.ca
14136
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 17/09/2026
Literal uterus surveillance
28340152
Reposted by Bessma Momani
404 Media @404media.co · 30/09/2026
BREAKING: The Trump administration is using a grant program from the 1980s to force cities around the US to funnel their ongoing collection of Flock, Axon, and other ALPR data into large federal surveillance centers that fall under the White House’s jurisdiction, 404 Media has learned
404media.co
How Cities Are Forced to Funnel License Plate Data to a Massive Federal Surveillance Program
How the federal government built a massive database of license plate reader data through an anti-drug trafficking program.
6113401062
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 17h
Canada has ‘backup plans’ in case Trump bans diesel exports. financialpost.com/commodities/... The story is short on details. So while Canada is a net exporter of diesel, a US export ban wld still create upward price pressure and logistical problems; for example, there would be regional shortages.
financialpost.com
Canada has ‘backup plans’ in case Trump bans diesel exports
Energy minister Tim Hodgson said Canada has contingency plans for disruptions to diesel supply, including a U.S. ban on exports. Read more.
292
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Semafor @semafor.com · 19h
UK’s PM Andy Burnham floated the possibility of rejoining the EU, an issue that remains politically divisive despite growing numbers of voters voicing frustration over the lasting impacts of Brexit. www.semafor.com/article/09/3...
2142
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 29/09/2026
"China has expanded overseas travel restrictions for top AI professionals in private firms to include the families of key personnel, further tightening measures designed to prevent the outflow of critical know-how and information to the U.S." www.japantimes.co.jp/business/202...
japantimes.co.jp
Beijing broadens travel curbs to encompass family of top AI talent in China
That further restricts the freedom of China’s most influential tech talent — a category that encompasses entrepreneurs, researchers and executives.
177
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
More detailed thread here on northern Gaza demolitions that aren’t yet reflected on Google imagery, and the timeline of how it happened (short answer is that if fall 2023-fall 2024 was the year of the 2,000-lb bomb for the IDF, fall 2024-fall 2025 was the year of the far-more-thorough bulldozer)
1465
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
How Sudan's $200 million gum arabic crop is fueling the country's war and the biggest human disaster of these times. www.businessinsider.com/the-smuggled...
businessinsider.com
The smuggled resource funding Sudan's civil war
Sudan has historically been the top producer of gum arabic. Experts say smuggled gum arabic is funding the civil war.
092
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · 30/09/2026
From 2023 to 2026, Google Earth's updated satellite imagery shows what's left of Gaza. The images reflect what Human Rights Watch has already found: Israel has caused deliberate, widespread destruction throughout Gaza ⤵️
8217179
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Paul Semenza @paulsemenza.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
And now we see how the AI circular-financing scheme is accelerated by evaded taxes
295
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Autonomous AI agents are rapidly creating novel dialects allowing them to converse in an often barely comprehensible language, which risks making it harder for humans to monitor their behaviour.” 9/15/26 share.google/JfzsGjABD6cE...
share.google
AI models chatting in ‘surreal’ dialect mixing poetic language and tech bro jargon
Experts air concern over AI lingo redolent of James Joyce’s prose that is creating barriers to monitoring and oversight
66334
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Voice4Justice @voices4justice.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️Jordan Valley Activists: ‼️Jordan Valley residents refuse to be evicted from their homes. Settlers—backed by the occupation authorities—have spent years trying and failing to seize their land through pressure and violence; now, they have found a "magic solution": detention without cause or trial🧵
166
Reposted by Bessma Momani
mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
it's cool that Bill Gates' own wife thought the Epstein Files stuff was bad enough that she divorced him, but for the Thought Leaders he's still a guy in perfectly good standing
screenshot of thumbnail for the ezra klein show with guest bill gates
151084170
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Voice4Justice @voices4justice.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Netanyahu Files Libel Suit Against Haaretz Following Exposé on Explicit Warning Before October 7 🧵 www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
112
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Molly Quell @mollyquell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
To no one's surprise, the International Criminal Court will be holding its annual meeting in The Hague this year, rather than New York.
1176
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Trump says data center opposition is a Chinese psy-op. Chinese state media says US AI safety calls are a psy-op. Oxford China Policy Lab's Elisabeth Siegel says both accusations point to the same problem: no one can independently verify what AI companies claim.
buff.ly
US, China Psy-Op Accusations Signal Deep Distrust on AI Regulation
Without more checks and balances on AI companies, allegations of “psy-ops” in both the US and China will continue to cloud the waters, writes Elisabeth Siegel.
024
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is partly why “not cool mate” works Because men mistakenly believe their friends hold harmful beliefs about women, and act accordingly Men can correct that mistaken belief and change their friend’s behaviour
0177
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Standing Together @standing-together.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
When Israeli settlers can besiege a Palestinian family, drive them from their home, block their court-ordered return, and face no consequences, that is not a breakdown of state policy, it is state policy. And that’s called ethnic cleansing.
12724
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Ron Skolnik @ronskolnik.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Last month, Maariv reported that senior Israeli military brass fears that Netanyahu is "looking for a pretext to postpone or disrupt the elections". The sources said the IDF wouldn't allow him to start a new unnecessary war. www.jpost.com/israel-news/...
jpost.com
Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel's enemies may attack in the run up to the election | The Jerusalem Post
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot called on the prime minister to brief opposition head Yair Lapid on the matter, "to ensure it is a genuine threat, rather than a political maneuver."
185
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Mike Caulfield @mikecaulfield.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Honestly replace two of the three debates with quizzes
47615
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Jess Davis @jessmarindavis.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is getting super interesting. While I'm not certain yet what exactly is going on, at the moment, it seems like Canada was used to establish the bona fides of an AI "journalist" who subsequently went on to engage in foreign interference in Morocco..... www.turkiyetoday.com/world/exclus...
turkiyetoday.com
Exclusive—Fake AI columnist dupes Canadian press to target Moroccan dissidents, and a Turkish 'middleman' - Türkiye Today
The phantom writer communicated exclusively via email and rarely phoned Canadian publications, who were oblivious until Türkiye Today unraveled the matter
12616
Reposted by Bessma Momani
The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 27/09/2026
Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/kQdKbY1
trib.al
Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees
Under a new rule, if your degree doesn’t make enough money, you won’t be able to get a student loan.
163969660
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 28/09/2026
Trump on Canada: "They have been one of the worst countries in the entire world"
5861311330
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Christian Thiels @christianthiels.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
"Trust in news dropped to a new low globally in 2026, according to the Reuters Institute's latest Digital News Report, which noted that people are increasingly turning to social media and AI chatbots for news." @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
News media must stay relevant or 'society will struggle', says World News Day boss
World News Day aims to highlight the role of news providers in investigating and explaining important events.
073
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The lack of AI regulation is a political choice. Created by tremendous lobbying efforts. But there is no legitimacy for the lack of regulation. Research shows that citizens across the 🌎 🌍 🌏 want regulation, transparency and accountability. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/t...
nytimes.com
As A.I. Accelerates, Governments Are Increasingly Being Left Behind
The gap between technology and policymaking has gotten wider than ever with artificial intelligence, leaving a global policy vacuum as A.I. models rapidly advance.
13121
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Alona Ferber @aloner.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
And we have another one. The WSJ reports that Egypt's intel chief, Abbas Kamel, called Netanyahu with a warning days before 7th October. The Atlantic has reported that Kamel visited Israel to warn that Gaza would "blow up in everyone's faces" www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
haaretz.com
Egypt warned Netanyahu of Hamas attack days before October 7, report says
Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot said the warnings left 'no room for doubt' that Netanyahu led Israel into the 'greatest disaster in its history.' The prime minister has blamed security chiefs for ...
0249
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 28/09/2026
Tucker Carlson tells NPR that Trump dismissed his warnings about a war with Iran in a private Oval Office meeting by replying, "Yes, you're right. But in the end, we all die anyway, so it doesn't matter." Oh. youtu.be/pHhJM3Fg9jw
youtu.be
Tucker Carlson has a new enemy: the politics he helped build | Newsmakers
YouTube video by NPR
2279
Reposted by Bessma Momani
AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 28/09/2026
Tense standoff over flashpoint Northern Ireland parade. Calls for calm as residents block a march by Protestant Orangemen through a Catholic area. It is one of the worst crises for Northern Ireland in recent years u.afp.com/S9Mx
4205
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Unbelievable. Apparently at the same time Trump is withholding a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan approved by Congress, he offered to sell arms to Xi Jinping, despite the fact that China is aiding Iran and Russia. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Offered to Sell Arms to China, U.S. Ambassador Says (Gift Article)
President Trump made the offer to Xi Jinping, China’s leader, said David Perdue, the ambassador to China. The White House later said the U.S. had no plans for such a sale.
1091020553
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 27/09/2026
“Most LLMs (including those from OpenAI) are built on millions of scraped webpages and other large text datasets, and almost none of this content has been obtained with its owners’ knowledge or consent.” This is how tech executives talk when no one thinks they’re listening.
motherjones.com
AI exec: We may have pulled off “the largest theft of labor in human history.”
Documents from our lawsuit reveal how tech leaders talk when they think no one is listening.
7246116
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Once again, I gotta say: you cannot treat anything you’re feeding into an AI as anonymous. There are enormous ethics implications for, e.g. referees who are clearly uploading others’ unpublished papers without consent, let alone health care professionals or law enforcement
14750275
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Noel Healy @drnoelhealy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The assault on US universities didn't start in 2025. Our new paper traces the decades of corporate capture that made it possible, and why climate research is a primary target. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
12698303
Reposted by Bessma Momani
AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 28/09/2026
Residents in a bucolic corner of southwest England say they were 'spooked' by an airbase used by the US military in its war on Iran as bomb experts descend on the area and officials say they arrested five men on suspicion of 'preparing a terrorist act' ➡️ u.afp.com/S9g9
1103
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
nyti.ms
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
892117872
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I just saw a film about the AI-enabled apocalypse. Only it's not science fiction. It's not even in the future. It's in the present. The film is called NAZA. See it. @theguardian.com @us.theguardian.com youtu.be/98xLCdc7t7E
youtu.be
Apocalypse is here
YouTube video by Naomi Klein
11408145
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Tiffany C. Li @tiffanycli.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The default setting on most AI apps is for apps to use the data you input to train their models. So the AI “learns” based on what you put in, and your data influences the AI’s outputs. Deleting your data doesn’t do much, once the AI has already “learned.”
22010
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Mark Kersten @markkersten.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"Myanmar has seemingly tried to erase the Rohingya people. First legally, by taking away their citizenship; then physically, through mass killings and forced displacement & by destroying Rohingya villages and burying traces of their existence in Myanmar." theconversation.com/the-icj-prep...
theconversation.com
The ICJ prepares a landmark ruling on the Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar
The International Court of Justice is expected to deliver its ruling in the genocide case against Myanmar next month.
0119
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Maciek Hamela @maciekhamela.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
With the Strait of Hormuz closed, Iraq has resorted to moving its oil across the desert to Syria in hundreds of tanker trucks, in true Mad Max style. From there, it will be shipped to worldwide markets.
1501945552
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Amir Attaran @amirattaran.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Americans: “Let’s illegally bomb Iran, kill its leaders, and murder some schoolgirls too!” Also Americans: “Why isn’t Iran negotiating in good faith?” 😐
theguardian.com
UN ambassador Waltz says Iran was not negotiating ‘in good faith’ to end war
Waltz says Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to end war because they ‘were asking for everything up front’
041
Reposted by Bessma Momani
My IRL friends call me Chris @christyceeck.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“It’s an absolutely new reality right now. The air raids are almost non-stop. You have to plan your life accordingly. That means children have to study from shelters. That means that you have to plan your grocery shopping or anything else in those very small pauses between air raids.”
02213
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Rebecca L ❌ 👑 @rlen10.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"What we are facing near-term, anyway, is not extinction. And it’s not superintelligence… It’s wholesale deepfaked disinformation, and unreliable but persistent AI systems stealing credentials and launching cyberattacks, at scale." @garymarcus.bsky.social garymarcus.substack.com/p/big-news-a...
garymarcus.substack.com
Big news at the UN
Sometimes, maybe dreams come true?
02110
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Kimberley Johnson @kimberleyjohnson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
But I need to smile more.
714143446306
Reposted by Bessma Momani
Rory Johnston @roryjohnston.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
“Hormuz oil flows can’t possible be above 13 MMbpd bc crude is over $100!” Brother, if you had told an oil analyst in January that Hormuz flows were still down 7 MMbpd after >200 days of war—with the East-West pipeline hobbled—and oil was ONLY $100 they’d have looked at you like
static.klipy.com
Shia La Beouf: Are You On Drugs? (Transformers)
ALT: Shia La Beouf: Are You On Drugs? (Transformers)
915519