War, Climate, & AI: World's Three Big Challenges of '25

Trump's win could weaken the effort to tackle the climate change challenge

- Shashi Shekhar

Let us look at some events that made headlines this New Year's day. In the US city of New Orleans, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a former US army personnel, rammed his car into a group of revellers, killing 15 people and injuring dozens. The police gunned him down when he tried to open fire at the crowd. Jabbar had a criminal past, but escaped scrutiny. Innocent US civilians paid the price for the laxity on the part of American intelligence agencies.

For the US, tragedy didn't end here. Within hours, a truck exploded in front of a Las Vegas hotel, where president-elect Donald Trump had been staying. A passer-by was killed in the explosion. Interestingly, the truck involved in the explosion was a Tesla, manufactured by Trump's close associate Elon Musk. The third incident was a shootout at a night club in Queensborough, New York, which left 11 people injured. Both incidents are being investigated.

The US police hadn't declared the last two incidents as terrorist acts till press time, but they have once again brought to light the growing unease in American society.