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These Are The World's Safest (And Least Safe) Cities
Doha ranks as the safest major city in the world in 2026, while Caracas sits at the opposite end of the ranking.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, compares the world’s safest and least safe major cities using Numbeo’s 2026 Safety Index. Scores are based on five years of user submissions covering perceptions of crime, personal safety, property crime, and violent crime. They do not measure official crime rates or exposure to geopolitical conflict.
The Cities With the Highest Perceived SafetyHere are the 10 highest-scoring major cities with populations of two million or more.
Rank Most Safe Cities Country Overall Score (0-100) 1 🇶🇦 Doha Qatar 84.6 2 🇦🇪 Dubai UAE 83.8 3 🇹🇼 Taipei Taiwan 83.4 4 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China 78.2 5 🇸🇬 Singapore Singapore 77.7 6 🇯🇵 Tokyo Japan 75.9 7 🇨🇳 Shenzhen China 75.5 8 🇸🇦 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 75.4 9 🇸🇦 Jeddah Saudi Arabia 75.1 10 🇰🇷 Seoul South Korea 74.6Four of the top 10 cities are in the Middle East, including two in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh and Jeddah.
Gallup’s latest Global Safety Report reinforces the pattern. Singapore had the world’s highest share of adults who said they felt safe walking alone at night, at 98%, followed by Saudi Arabia at 93% and the UAE at 90%.
Asia dominates the rest of the top 10. Outside the Middle East, every city represented is in East or Southeast Asia, while European cities are notably absent despite routinely leading global livability rankings.
The Cities With the Lowest Perceived SafetyAt the opposite end of the index, the 10 lowest-scoring cities are concentrated in just two regions.
Rank Least Safe Cities Country Overall Score (0-100) 1 🇻🇪 Caracas Venezuela 18.5 2 🇿🇦 Johannesburg South Africa 19.2 3 🇿🇦 Durban South Africa 19.5 4 🇧🇷 Salvador Brazil 23.5 5 🇧🇷 Fortaleza Brazil 24.1 6 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 24.6 7 🇧🇷 Recife Brazil 25.0 8 🇪🇨 Guayaquil Ecuador 25.3 9 🇿🇦 Cape Town South Africa 26.4 10 🇨🇴 Cali Colombia 29.1The bottom of the ranking is heavily concentrated by country. Brazil accounts for four of the 10 cities, while South Africa accounts for three, including Johannesburg and Durban. South Africa also has one of the world’s highest homicide rates.
Gallup data show a similar geographic pattern. Of the 10 countries where people felt least safe walking alone at night, nine were in sub-Saharan Africa or Latin America. South Africa ranked lowest globally, with just 33% of adults saying they felt safe walking alone at night.
Guayaquil’s low ranking also comes amid a sharp rise in violence. Guayas province, where the city is located, recorded 4,106 homicides in 2025, the most of any province in Ecuador and up 26.5% from 2024.
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on America’s most dangerous cities.
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Central Asia Resists US Pressure To Choose Sides In AI Race
Authored by Eurasianet via OilPrice,
- Kazakhstan is continuing to expand AI cooperation with China even after joining the US-led Pax Silica initiative.
- Uzbekistan says it wants access to both cutting-edge American technology and lower-cost Chinese AI models rather than choosing between them.
- Their positions illustrate the difficulty Washington faces in persuading Central Asian governments to take sides in the intensifying US-China technology rivalry.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are tossing figurative darts at a US trial balloon connected to the intensifying race between the United States and China for leadership in AI development.
Reuters reported on August 14 that the US State Department had drafted a note stating that any nation interested in widening access to advanced American know-how and technology in the AI sector under a program known as Pax Silica must refrain from participating in a rival Chinese initiative known as the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO).
Kazakhstan is a member of both Pax Silica and WAICO, while Uzbekistan is a signatory to the Chinese initiative while expressing keen interest in expanding cooperation with the United States in AI development. More broadly, the United States has taken steps over the past 18 months to expand economic ties with all five Central Asian states.
Actions and statements by Kazakh and Uzbek officials since news of the draft State Department note began circulating indicate that both states are disinclined to adhere to what amounts to an American demand.
Kazakh officials have not publicly commented on the issue of the country's participation in both Pax Silica and WAICO, but recent developments suggest Astana is intent on maintaining close contacts with China in the AI sphere.
On August 18, experts from the countries' respective academies of sciences agreed to jointly develop a science-focused AI platform to analyze "scientific literature and large data sets, identifying patterns, formulating and testing hypotheses, modeling complex processes, planning experiments, and predicting results," according to a Kazakh government statement. The Kazakhstan and China are also working on an AI initiative called DeepBas, which aims to develop "specialized models" enabling the more efficient management of water resources.
Exchange programs are likewise proceeding. Kazakh engineers from the national space company recently participated in a training program in China on using AI to analyze satellite data to improve natural disaster early warning capabilities. In addition, at a recent symposium in Almaty, Chinese and Kazakh researchers discussed AI applications in medicine and agriculture, as well as joint research and training for young AI specialists.
Uzbekistan has perhaps been more direct in addressing the brewing AI issue. Speaking at a technology forum in Tashkent on August 24, Bobur Khodjaev, an aide to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, issued what could be considered a veiled plea for the US to abandon an "us-or-them" stance on AI development. He also stated that Uzbek officials would continue to opt for the best available AI solutions, regardless of national origin. He acknowledged that American tech may be superior but also stressed that China offered more affordable options.
"As a developing country, we want to have access to all available technologies," Gazeta.uz quoted Khodjaev as saying. "Specifically referring to the US and China, obviously American tech companies offer cutting-edge AI chips and AI models. China, in turn, offers open-source models that are significantly cheaper than American ones. And we would like to have access to both."
"We are open to collaboration with all partners and interested parties and strive to implement artificial intelligence technologies not only in finance but in all areas of our economy," Khodjaev added.
Tyler Durden Sun, 08/30/2026 - 19:50Eva Mendes says her tattoo — seemingly inspired by partner Ryan Gosling — is the ‘only one I’ve ever wanted’
Eva Mendes says her tattoo — seemingly inspired by partner Ryan Gosling — is the ‘only one I’ve ever wanted’
Russia Hits Kiev Ammo Dump Next To Homes; Ukraine Admits 90% Of Retail Food Logistics Wrecked
A Russian drone struck a Ukrainian Defense Forces ammunition storage site in the village of Myla Friday evening, just west of Kiev. The resulting fire and hours of secondary detonations killed at least 37 people, injured dozens more, damaged around 50 residential buildings and a care home for the elderly and disabled, and forced the evacuation of hundreds. Among the dead was the local community head who had gone to help.
Here are some close-up shots from yesterday's explosion at an ammunition depot in the village of Myla, in the Kyiv region. The local population is understandably unhappy. pic.twitter.com/TWJudPFh6j
— Z.O.V Military (@WarHunter2222) August 29, 2026 Smoke rising after a Russian air attack on Kyiv on August 29, 2026.Serhii Okunev/AFP/Getty Images
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the placement of a weapons depot next to civilians was "terrible negligence." The first impact, he said, hit a depot storing shells, mines, other munitions, and drones that "definitely shouldn't have been there" - while prosecutors in Kiev opened a criminal investigation into the legality of storing explosives next to civilian housing. This is the second such incident in two months. A July strike on a depot in nearby Vyshneve produced similar secondary blasts, deaths, and later detentions of state defense-company executives.
Footage showing the moment of the secondary detonation at an ammunition depot in Kyiv Oblast following a Russian Geran-4 jet-drone strike. pic.twitter.com/xH7IFTrnk3
— AMK Mapping 🇳🇿 (@AMK_Mapping_) August 28, 2026 Residents pass by the site of a Russian drone strike as smoke rises, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, August 29, 2026. REUTERS/Alina SmutkoDevastating aftermath in the Bucha district following a Russian strike on an enterprise in the Kyiv region.
The attack triggered secondary explosions, killing at least 27 people and destroying local infrastructure and homes.
Photos: Kostiantyn Liberov and Vlada Liberova pic.twitter.com/RO2QhMbocl
Russia's Defense Ministry said the Myla site held components and launch boosters for long-range drones. It also claimed strikes on Flamingo cruise-missile related facilities in the Kiev region and on the ports of Mykolaiv and Izmail. Social-media claims that Patriots were stored there remain unconfirmed by official Ukrainian statements.
Some unlucky fella got caught at the epicenter of the explosion at the ammunition depot in the Kiev region and filmed everything. You can hear the ammo going off. The Ukrainian military has consistently used civilians as human shields, but it looks like Putin has run out of… pic.twitter.com/HQmiphLNu4
— Gabriel (@GabeZZOZZ) August 29, 2026Friday night's blast came amid a multi-day Russian campaign of jet-powered drones and missiles that has produced near-continuous air-raid alerts over Kiev and hit warehouses belonging to supermarket chains, postal operators, retailers, and logistics firms. Ukraine Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi told reporters that, "roughly speaking," about 90% of the food-logistics infrastructure used by major retail chains (large distribution centers serving networks such as Fora, Silpo, NOVUS, and Varus) has been destroyed. That said, Vysotskyi insists this won't result in famine - as chains are switching to more expensive direct-from-producer "on wheels" deliveries. Yet, stores in Kiev are reporting empty shelves for produce, dairy, and staples.
Via CNNThe last operating Epicentr hypermarket in Zaporizhzhia was also hit Friday morning, hours before the Myla blast.
Both sides have been systematically striking each other's logistics and dual-use commercial infrastructure. Ukraine has targeted Russian refineries, energy sites, and online-retailer warehouses. Russia has answered by going after the warehouses that keep Ukrainian shops stocked. Kiev's air defenses remain constrained by a well-documented shortage of Patriot interceptors - the only system that reliably stops ballistic missiles. Jet-powered drones have added another layer of pressure.
Zelensky's government has framed its own long-range strikes as a way to force Russia to negotiate. The immediate result is visible in the suburbs of Kiev: another poorly sited ammo dump cooking off next to civilians, a retail logistics network that Ukraine's own minister says is 90% gone, and winter approaching. The investigation into who decided to store explosives next to homes will tell one part of the story. The empty shelves and the sirens will tell the rest.
Tyler Durden Sun, 08/30/2026 - 19:25