SILICON VALLEY HEADS TO EUROPE, NERVOUS ABOUT NEW RULESFirst came Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google's parent company,Alphabet. Then Apple's senior vice president for artificial intelligence,John Giannandrea, showed up.And Monday, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, is joining in withhis own trip to Brussels to meet with officials like Margrethe Vestager, theexecutive vice president of the European Commission.The main reason so many Silicon Valley executives are paying court in theEuropean Union's capital: EU lawmakers are debating a new digital policy,including first-of-its-kind rules on the ways that artificial intelligencecan be used by companies. That has far-reaching implications for manyindustries - but especially for tech behemoths like Google, Facebook andApple that have bet big on artificial intelligence."While AI promises enormous benefits for Europe and the world, there arereal concerns about the potential negative consequences," Pichai said in aspeech last month when he visited Brussels. He said regulation of AI wasneeded to ensure proper human oversight, but added "there is a balance to behad" to ensure that rules do not stifle innovation.Silicon Valley executives are taking action as Europe has increasingly setthe standard on tech policy and regulation. In recent years, the EU haspassed laws on digital privacy and penalized Google and others on antitrustmatters, which has inspired tougher action elsewhere in the world. The newAI policy is also likely to be a template that others will adopt.JEFF BEZOS LAUNCHES $10 BILLION FUND TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGEJeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and the world's richest man, said he wascommitting $10 billion to a new fund to tackle climate change.In a post to his 1.4 million followers on Instagram on Monday, thee-commerce tycoon said the Bezos Earth Fund would "fund scientists,activists, NGOs- any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserveand protect the natural world.""Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," said Mr. Bezos, whosenet worth is estimated to be around $130 billion.Hundreds of Amazon employees last month signed a blog criticizing the onlineretail giant's climate policies and demanding it do more to tackle climatechange.Amazon has been accused of creating vast amounts of waste from the packagingit uses for doorstep deliveries, as well as for the greenhouse gas emissionsfrom huge fleets of vehicles.The company, which in December said its workforce had hit 750,000, has alsobeen denounced over its carbon footprint because of the high energyconsumption of its server farms for its lucrative cloud computingactivities."I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explorenew ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planetwe all share," Mr. Bezos said in his announcement on Monday.Mr. Bezos said his new foundation would begin issuing grants later thisyear.UAE BECOMES FIRST ARAB NATION TO ISSUE N-REACTOR LICENCEThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Monday it has issued a licence for areactor at its Barakah nuclear power plant, the first in the Arab world,hailing a "historic moment".The national nuclear regulator "has approved the issuance" of the operatinglicence for the first of four reactors at the plant, said Hamad al-Kaabi,the UAE representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency."This is a historic moment for the UAE, making it the first Arab country inthe region to operate a nuclear power plant," Kaabi told a press conference."This milestone was achieved due to the UAE's vision and its leadership tobuild a peaceful nuclear energy programme to cater for the future needs ofenergy in the country." The Barakah plant, located on the Gulf coast west ofthe UAE's capital, had been due to come online in late 2017 but faced anumber of delays that officials attributed to safety and regulatoryrequirements.Abu Dhabi authorities said in January that the plant would start operatingwithin a few months. "The full operation of Barakah plant in the near futurewill contribute to the UAE's efforts for development and sustainability,"Kaabi said Monday, without giving a new date.