*[Enwl-eng] Renewed violence in Kosovo leaves EU in a quandry

[enwl]

+ is a digital euro possible? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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      Is a lasting peace possible in Kosovo?
      Violence has flared up again in Kosovo, where Serb protesters tried to 
block newly elected ethnic Albanian mayors taking office in the country’s 
northern Serb majority towns. This latest incident is part of a worrying 
pattern that has seen the two communities living at best parallel lives and, 
at worst, coming into open conflict. Fearful of a reprise of the 1990s war, 
the European Union has been trying for years to mediate between Kosovo and 
Serbia. So why is a lasting solution to their dispute still not forthcoming? 
International security expert Stefan Wolff investigates.

      Local elections across Spain this weekend have caused havoc for the 
governing socialist party PSOE, which was trounced by the parties of the 
right. So severe were these regional defeats that prime minister Pedro 
Sánchez has rolled the dice and chosen to call a snap general election in 
July in a bid to reclaim his national mandate. Our briefing explains how the 
establishment came to take such a trouncing and looks ahead to see if 
Sánchez’s gamble will pay off.

      On the financial front, the European Union is looking into whether it 
could launch its own digital currency. Like Bitcoin, the e-euro would be 
held in digital wallets enabled by blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin, it would be 
regulated by a central bank. It’s a bold move with plenty of upsides. More 
people would be able to use a centralised, regulated currency than private 
options and they can have more confidence in its stability. But a key appeal 
of crypto is the anonymity it provides, and that’s potentially the one thing 
an e-euro can’t offer.

      One of the many philosophical and existential questions raised by the 
arrival of generative artificial intelligence tools such ChatGPT and Dall-E 
is whether they can ever be considered creative in their own right. We 
already know how good they can be at producing a hit song in the style of 
existing bands and that they can knock out what looks a lot like a Van Gogh 
painting at the drop of a hat, so how long before they are replacing our 
masters with art of their own? Although generative AI excels at what’s 
called “combinational” and “exploratory” forms of creativity, it falls down 
on a third: “transformational” creativity. That means that while it can 
produce something beautiful in the style of an artwork that already exists, 
it cannot strike out in a bold new direction and create something beyond 
existing structures and styles. And that, dear humans, is where we will 
always have AI trumped.

      AI probably can't, for example, invent a whole new letter of the 
alphabet like medieval scribes did when they found they were wasting too 
much ink on complicated texts. The result was the "ñ". This potted history 
reveals what makes the Spanish character so special.

      We know that regular exercise is good for our health. That’s obvious. 
But a fascinating new study out of Norway suggests it may also increase our 
pain threshold. Researchers tested the pain tolerance of more than 10,000 
people eight years apart and found, by and large, that those who were 
committed to an active regime were better able to withstand discomfort. A 
psychologist from a British university helps us understand the study and its 
implications here.

      - Laura Hood, Politics Editor and Assistant Editor, The Conversation 
UK


      Kosovo government must take most of the blame for the latest violence, 
but any long-term solution will require a constructive response from Serbia 
as well
      Once again ethnic tensions have boiled over in Kosovo.

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      Recap Spanish elections: why devastating local losses to the right 
have forced socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez to call an early national 
vote
       Meet the EU's answer to cryptocurrency:
      the e-euro
       Exercise linked to higher pain tolerance – new study


      For the curious
        a.. AI can replicate human creativity in two key ways – but falls 
apart when asked to produce something truly new

        b.. Where does the 'ñ' come from? The history of a very special 
Spanish letter

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      From: Laura at The Conversation Europe
      Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2023 2:02 PM
      Subject: Renewed violence in Kosovo leaves EU in a quandry

 
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