By Strive Masiyiwa  Always treat the future as now! ____"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success..."* The other day as I read your comments here, I came across this question: “Strive Masiyiwa what's the current position of Liquid Telecoms with regard to Artificial Intelligence? What's your word to Africa regarding Artificial Intelligence and the need to fast follow it?” I’m sure some of you who saw Innocent Madanhire's question thought to remind him about the extensive interview I did with James Manyika, Senior Vice President of Alphabet, the parent company of Google last year. Just in case, he didn’t see it, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXiVw1jZybA As James noted in the interview, I have been talking about Artificial Intelligence in my own tech circles for at least 15 years. As a professional engineer, I make it my business to stay current in developments in my field, as you would expect say a doctor to remain current in

Russia  has threatened to shoot down  NATO  planes in the Black Sea as tensions over a possible  World War 3  explode further to worrying levels. French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, told  RTL : " Russia 's behavior in 2024 is no longer at all the same as what we experienced in 2022. This can be explained by the fact that  Russia  is in difficulty on the battlefield in  Ukraine . "You have Russian takeover attempts. A month ago, a Russian air control system threatened to shoot down French planes in the Black Sea. It's as old as the Cold War, we have the return of Russian positioning particularly aggressive.  Russia  plays with thresholds of aggressiveness." He also warned that Putin could interfere with the European elections this year by "injecting false content" or "attempting to approach the candidates."