Maternal stereotypes, ‘emotional’ AI jailbreaks and a perfect UFO sighting

1. Asian mothers, bad feelings: notes on an all-conquering stereotype

No matter which continent they are from, mothers are the inexhaustible subject: the inevitable endpoint of a therapy session, the proverbial container of infinite grievances, the shortcut to understanding a person’s idiosyncrasies and insecurities. But there is something about the Asian mother in popular culture that feels both overexposed and underdeveloped.

Rebecca Liu wrote this Guardian long read that explored what’s beneath the stereotype of the pushy Asian Tiger mom.

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2. Meet the AI jailbreakers: ‘I see the worst things humanity has produced’

Illustration: Nick Lowndes/The Guardian

To test the safety and security of AI, hackers have to trick large language models into breaking their own rules. It requires ingenuity and manipulation – and can come at a deep emotional cost. Jamie Bartlett spoke to those on the new frontline in AI safety, which isn’t just about code, but also words.

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3. ‘I don’t want to be part of a dictatorship’: the Americans queueing up to renounce their citizenship

Illustration: Andrea Ucini

Zoe Williams looked at the surge in Americans renouncing their US citizenship, despite the hurdles and fears of retaliation. Severing ties with the US can take more than a year and cost thousands of dollars. But Paul, Ella, Margot and thousands of others feel they have no choice.

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4. The Rendlesham Forest mystery: ‘It’s the perfect storm of a UFO case’

Photograph: Clynt Garnham Suffolk/Alamy

It’s multiple witnesses, including military. It’s sightings over three consecutive nights. It’s physical evidence in terms of radar, radioactivity, ground trace indentations, scorch marks. It’s a case where we have declassified and released documents.

In 1980, two US airmen reported an extraordinary encounter near a military base in the east of England. Daniel Lavelle asked what really happened in Rendlesham Forest?

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5. Curfews, conspiracy theories … and a cancelled concert: Mali’s capital tries to shrug off violence on its doorstep

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Surprise coordinated attack by jihadists and separatists last weekend has rattled the regime and its security ally Russia. Eromo Egbejule and Aisha Down wrote this gripping read on how civilians are trying to maintain a sense of normalcy through curfews and high security following the violence.

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6. Fifty years on, Lam Tac Tam reflects on life in Australia as the first Vietnamese refugee to arrive by boat

Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian

Lam’s father owned an ice factory in Saigon’s Chinatown. Word had spread that wealthy families were being rounded up. ‘We chucked away everything,’ says Lam.’ Life is more important.’ His father made the decision that the family must flee in the family’s fishing boat.

Lam Tac Tam was the first Vietnamese refugee to arrive in Australia by boat in Darwin in 1976. Fifty years on, he spoke to Bertin Huynh about his memories of his extraordinary journey.

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