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AFP

  • Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal

    Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal

    TEL AVIV: Demonstrators took to the streets across Israel Sunday calling for an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release hostages still held by militants, as the military prepares a new offensive.

    The protests come more than a week after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.

    The war was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, during which 251 were taken hostage.

    Forty-nine captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

    A huge Israeli flag covered with portraits of the remaining captives was unfurled in Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostage Square — which has long been a focal point for protests throughout the war.

    Demonstrators also blocked several roads in the city, including the highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where demonstrators set tires on fire and caused traffic jams, according to local media footage.

    Protest organisers and the main campaign group representing the families of hostages also called for a general strike on Sunday.

    “I think it’s time to end the war. It’s time to release all of the hostages. And it’s time to help Israel recover and move towards a more stable Middle East,” said Doron Wilfand, a 54-year-old tour guide, at a rally in Jerusalem.

    However, some government members who oppose any deal with Hamas slammed the demonstrations.

    Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decried “a perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas”.

    APTFV footage showed protesters at a rally in Beeri, a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was one of the hardest-hit communities in the Hamas attack, and Israeli media reported protests in numerous locations across the country.

    Israeli plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition.

    UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.

    According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, Israeli troops shot dead at least 13 Palestinians on Saturday as they were waiting to collect food aid near distribution sites.

    Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

    Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,897 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.

  • Hurricane Erin intensifies offshore, lashes Caribbean with rain

    Hurricane Erin intensifies offshore, lashes Caribbean with rain

    WASHINGTON: Hurricane Erin rapidly strengthened offshore to a “catastrophic” Category 5 storm on Saturday, as rain lashed Caribbean islands and weather officials warned of possible flash floods and landslides.

    The first hurricane of what is expected to be a particularly intense Atlantic season, Erin is expected to drench Caribbean islands with rain and strong winds but not make landfall.

    “The center of Erin is expected to move just north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through Sunday, and pass to the east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas Sunday night and Monday,” the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest report.

    The storm’s maximum sustained winds were blowing at 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour, the report said.

    Hurricane Erin was located about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northwest of Anguilla in the northern Leeward Islands, an area that includes the US and British Virgin Islands.

    Tropical storm watches were in effect for St Martin, St Barthelemy, Sint Maarten and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

    “Erin is now a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane,” the NHC announced earlier Saturday, denoting highly dangerous storms with sustained wind speeds above 157 mph.

    The storm reached the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale just over 24 hours after becoming a Category 1 hurricane, a rapid intensification that scientists say has become more common due to global warming.

    The storm could drench the islands with as much as six inches (15 centimeters) of rain in isolated areas, the NHC said.

    “Continued rapid strengthening is expected today, followed by fluctuations in intensity through the weekend,” the agency said in an earlier report.

    It also warned of “locally considerable flash and urban flooding, along with landslides or mudslides.”

    Climate hazard

    Swells generated by Erin will affect portions of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and the Turks and Caicos Islands through the weekend.

    Those swells will spread to the Bahamas, Bermuda and the US East Coast early next week, creating “life-threatening surf and rip currents,” the NHC said.

    The hurricane is expected to turn northwest on Saturday night, then turn northward early next week. It is expected to weaken from Monday.

    While meteorologists have expressed confidence that Erin will remain well off the US coastline, they said the storm could still cause dangerous waves and erosion in places such as North Carolina.

    The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June until late November, is expected to be more intense than normal, US meteorologists predict.

    Several powerful storms wreaked havoc in the region last year, including Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 200 people in the southeastern United States.

    Human-driven climate change — namely, rising sea temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels — has increased both the possibility of the development of more intense storms and their more rapid intensification, scientists say.

  • 8 dead, 4 missing in north China flash flood: state media

    8 dead, 4 missing in north China flash flood: state media

    BEIJING: A flash flood in Inner Mongolia killed eight people and left four missing, Chinese state media said Sunday.

    A group of 13 people were camping outdoors in Inner Mongolia’s Urat Rear Banner when a flash flood occurred around 10 pm (1400 GMT) on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua said.

    As of Sunday morning, one person had been rescued and search and rescue operations for the missing are ongoing, Xinhua added.

    The Ministry of Emergency Management has ordered full-scale rescue efforts, verification of the status of the missing, and dispatched a working group to the scene, state broadcaster CCTV said.

    Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat.

    The death toll from flash floods and mudslides in northwest China in early August was at least 13, state media said in August.

    Heavy rain in Beijing in the north also killed 44 people last month, with the capital’s rural suburbs hardest hit and another eight people killed in a landslide in nearby Hebei province.

    Scientists have shown that human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.

  • US cancels India trade talks scheduled for August

    US cancels India trade talks scheduled for August

    New Delhi: A planned visit by U.S. trade negotiators to New Delhi from August 25-29 has been cancelled, delaying talks on a proposed bilateral trade agreement, Indian business and financial news network NDTV Profit reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

    Meanwhile, China’s top diplomat will visit India next week for talks about their shared boundary, Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, as the two countries consider resuming border trade after a five-year halt, AFP reported.

    Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India on Delhi’s invitation from Monday until Wednesday for “the 24th special representatives meeting on the China-India border issue”, a spokesperson said in a statement.

    Read More: Trump slaps India with 50% tariff

    Past trade between the neighbours across icy, high-altitude Himalayan border passes was usually small in volume, but any resumption is significant for its symbolism.

    It stopped following a deadly 2020 clash between border troops.

    Indian media reported this week that Wang was expected for talks in New Delhi on Monday.

    He will meet Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval, New Delhi’s foreign ministry confirmed in a statement on Saturday.

    Wang will also hold talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who visited Beijing in July, the statement said.

    The two major economic powers have long competed for strategic influence across South Asia.

    However, they have moved to mend ties after being caught up in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz.

    Chinese and Indian officials have said in recent weeks that the two countries were discussing the resumption of border trade.

    Agreements to resume direct flights and issue tourist visas have also been seen as part of an effort to rebuild their relationship.

  • Netanyahu has become a ‘problem’, says Danish PM

    Netanyahu has become a ‘problem’, says Danish PM

    Copenhagen: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem”, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war as her country currently holds the EU presidency.

    “Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen said in an interview with the Jyllands-Posten daily, adding that the Israeli government was going “too far.”

    The centre right leader slammed the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and new settlement project in the occupied West Bank.

    “We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said.

    Frederiksen added that she wanted to consider “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole,” referring to trade or research sanctions.

    “We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect,” added Frederiksen, whose country is not among those who have said they will recognise the Palestinian state.

    Israel’s offensive on Gaza has killed more than 61,430 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry.

  • Malnourished Gaza woman flown to Italy for treatment, dies

    Malnourished Gaza woman flown to Italy for treatment, dies

    Rome: A young Palestinian woman with severe wasting who was flown from Gaza to Italy this week for treatment has died, the hospital said on Saturday.

    The 20-year-old, named by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, arrived in Pisa on an Italian government humanitarian flight overnight Wednesday-Thursday.

    She had a “very complex clinical picture” and was “in a profound state of organic wasting”, the University Hospital of Pisa said in a statement.

    On Friday, after undergoing tests and starting treatment, she had a sudden respiratory crisis and cardiac arrest, and died.

    The hospital did not elaborate on her condition, but Italian news agencies reported that she was suffering from severe malnutrition.

    Humanitarian groups, UN agencies and Palestinian militant group Hamas have warned of the risk of widespread famine in war-battered Gaza.

    The young woman had come to Italy with her mother on one of three Italian air force flights that arrived this week with a total of 31 patients and their companions.

    They all suffered from serious congenital diseases, wounds or amputations, the Italian foreign ministry said at the time.

    So far more than 180 children and young people from Gaza have been brought to Italy since the war began between Israel and Hamas.

    The head of the Tuscany region, Eugenio Giani, offered his condolences to the young woman’s family.

  • YouTube turns to AI to spot children posing as adults

    YouTube turns to AI to spot children posing as adults

    YouTube has started using artificial intelligence (AI) to figure out when users are children pretending to be adults on the popular video-sharing platform amid pressure to protect minors from sensitive content.

    The new safeguard is being rolled out in the United States as Google-owned YouTube and social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are under scrutiny to shield children from content geared for grown-ups.

    A version of AI referred to as machine learning will be used to estimate the age of users based on a variety of factors, including the kinds of videos watched and account longevity, according to YouTube Youth director of product management James Beser.

    “This technology will allow us to infer a user’s age and then use that signal, regardless of the birthday in the account, to deliver our age-appropriate product experiences and protections,” Beser said.

    “We’ve used this approach in other markets for some time, where it is working well.”

    The age-estimation model enhances technology already in place to deduce user age, according to YouTube.

    Users will be notified if YouTube believes them to be minors, giving them the option to verify their age with a credit card, selfie, or government ID, according to the tech firm.

    Social media platforms are regularly accused of failing to protect the well-being of children.

    Australia will soon use its landmark social media laws to ban children under 16 from YouTube, a top minister said late last month, stressing a need to shield them from “predatory algorithms.”

    Communications Minister Anika Wells said four-in-ten Australian children had reported viewing harmful content on YouTube, one of the most visited websites in the world.

    Australia announced last year it was drafting laws that will ban children from social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram until they turn 16.

    “Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens,” the company said in a statement at the time.

    “It’s not social media.”

    On paper, the ban is one of the strictest in the world. It is due to come into effect on December 10. The legislation has been closely monitored by other countries, with many weighing whether to implement similar bans.

  • US proposed NATO-style joint defence guarantees for Kyiv: source

    US proposed NATO-style joint defence guarantees for Kyiv: source

    KYIV, Ukraine: The US has proposed security guarantees for Ukraine similar to — but separate from — those enjoyed by NATO member countries, a diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday.

    The suggestion was raised during a call US President Donald Trump held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders earlier on Saturday, the source said.

    “As one of the security guarantees for Ukraine, the American side proposed a non-NATO Article 5 type guarantee, supposedly agreed with (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin,” the diplomatic source said on condition they are not identified in any way.

    NATO’s collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence.

    Trump, Zelensky and European leaders — who included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte — spoke early Saturday to discuss Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin held on Friday in Alaska.

    Before that joint call, Trump also had a call with Zelensky as flew back from Alaska.

    “The American side voiced this (joint security proposal) during a conversation with the president (Zelensky) and then repeated it during a joint conversation with the Europeans,” the diplomatic source said.

    Another source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the NATO-like guarantees had been discussed.

    But that source added: “No-one knows how this could work and why Putin would agree to it if he is categorically against NATO and obviously against really effective guarantees of Ukraine’s sovereignty.”

    Kyiv has long aspired to join NATO — but Russia has given that as one of its reasons for its war in Ukraine, and some Western circles have expressed resistance to the idea.

    Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining the Western military alliance.

    Zelensky is due in Washington on Monday for talks with Trump.

    The second source told AFP that Zelensky is to discuss what form a possible Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit would have, the role of Kyiv’s European allies in peace talks, territories, and security guarantees.

  • Trump briefed Zelensky, European leaders on Putin talks

    Trump briefed Zelensky, European leaders on Putin talks

    WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS: US President Donald Trump had a “lengthy call” with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on the flight back to Washington after the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin yielded no ceasefire, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

    Trump also spoke with NATO leaders, Leavitt told reporters on Air Force One. The president disembarked from the plane at 2:45 am Saturday local time (0645 GMT) and did not respond to reporters’ questions.

    US President Donald Trump spoke early Saturday with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders to discuss his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a European Commission spokesperson said.

    European leaders held a second call afterwards to discuss the next steps in the Ukraine conflict, the spokesperson said.

    Trump spoke for more than an hour with Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, the spokesperson said.

    According to the Ukrainian presidency, Trump spoke first with Zelensky and then the other European leaders joined the call.

    After the summit, at which Trump and Putin did not agree on a path to end Russia’s invasion, the European leaders were holding their own telephone diplomacy session to debrief on the talks, the EU spokesperson added.

    There had been unease among European leaders over Trump’s outreach to Putin.

    A call between European leaders regarding the US-Russia summit was underway Saturday following an initial exchange with President Donald Trump, a spokesperson for the European Commission said.

    The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte are among the participants, the same source said.

  • Meta probed over AI chatbot talk with children

    Meta probed over AI chatbot talk with children

    SAN FRANCISCO, United States: A US senator on Friday announced an investigation into whether Meta AI chatbots were allowed to engage in potentially harmful online exchanges with children.

    Republican Senator Josh Hawley posted a copy of a letter to Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg demanding all documents and communications related to a report that its AI chatbots were permitted to have “romantic” and “sensual” exchanges with minors.

    “We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors,” a Meta spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry.

    Hawley said the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which he heads, will start an investigation into whether Meta generative AI products “enable exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms to children.”

    Meta was put on notice to preserve all relevant records and submit them to Congress by September 19.

    The Missouri senator cited a reported example of Meta’s AI chatbot being allowed to refer to an 8-year-old child’s body as “a work of art” and “a treasure I cherish deeply.”