Last UK and US troops leave Iraq as anti-Islamic State mission ends
The withdrawal of coalition forces, under a deal agreed two years ago, was a key demand of the Iraqi government.
Africa’s richest man launches Kenya oil refinery despite land protests
The Kenya refinery is part of Dangote's ambitious bid to expand and help industralise Africa by 2030.
Russia extends diesel export ban – Financial Times
- Russia extends diesel export ban Financial Times
- Russia Extends Diesel-Export Ban as Global Supply Squeezed Bloomberg.com
- Russia’s Crude Exports Rise as Diesel Ban Limits Gains From Higher Oil Prices The Moscow Times
- Russia extends diesel export ban until end of October reuters.com
- Russia's Black Sea diesel exports fall to zero for first time on record S&P Global
‘Third country’ deportation can resume, US supreme court rules | First Thing
Trump administration can deport immigrants to countries other than their homeland. Plus, 550lb bear returns to LA neighborhood
Good morning. The supreme court has ruled the Trump administration can resume deporting immigrants to “third countries”, or countries other than their homeland, without giving them any opportunity to contest their removals.
The six-justice conservative majority of the high court temporarily lifted a decision by a lower court that required the administration to provide immigrants sufficient notice and the opportunity to claim fear of torture or persecution in the countries where they were being sent.
What has the administration asked the supreme court to rule on about trans prisoners? The administration asked the justices to allow it to deny gender-affirming care to transgender people in federal prisons. The solicitor general, D John Sauer, wrote that gender-reassignment surgeries, hormone therapy and social accommodations such as undergarments, makeup, padding and wigs “could no longer be justified.”
Why is the EPA union suing the administration? The union, which represents more than 8,000 workers at the Environmental Protection Agency, has filed a lawsuit against the EPA and the agency’s administrator, Lee Zeldin, alleging it illegally terminated a collective bargaining agreement.
Which legal battle has Trump appeared to have conceded? The president has agreed to stop fighting the disbursement of E Jean Carroll’s $5m verdict in her 2023 sexual abuse and defamation civil trial against him, a procedural development as the funds had already been distributed to her.
What new product has OpenAI announced? Less than 24 hours after OpenAI said it would scrap the launch of a model over safety concerns, the company debuted a whole new suite of artificial intelligence tools, including “dots”, agents it said were “more ambitious” than ChatGPT and a “whole new way to work with AI.”
Why is Greta Garbo making AI headlines? More than a century after her screen debut and decades after she was laid to rest, the actor has been reanimated by AI for a Swedish advert. Peter Bradshaw has given it a damning one-star review.
Continue reading...Israel-bound passenger plane makes emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after reported fight between pilots
Israeli officials scrambled fighter jets amid fears of possible hijacking before plane landed at Tabuk airport
A commercial plane travelling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel has been forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, after an apparent brawl between its pilots prompted distress signals that briefly raised fears of an attempted hijacking.
The flydubai flight was over Jordan when it diverted to Saudi Arabia, transmitting three emergency signals, one of which indicated a possible unlawful interference.
Continue reading...AI tool that copied actor’s ‘lustrous’ voice violated his rights, Tokyo court rules
Kenjiro Tsuda wins case against TikTok account in landmark Japanese verdict to protect publicity rights
A court in Japan has ruled that the human voice has legal protection after a landmark case involving a well-known actor and a TikTok account that he claimed had cloned his “lustrous” baritone voice in its AI-generated videos.
Tokyo district court said on Wednesday that voices should enjoy the same protection as publicity rights, at the end of a closely watched legal action brought against TikTok by Kenjiro Tsuda – best known for voicing the character Kento Nanami in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen.
Continue reading...Iranian singer’s 74 lashes for performing without a hijab ‘a form of torture’, say rights groups
Iranian court upholds sentence against 29-year-old star Parastoo Ahmadi and other musicians in crackdown on women flouting hijab law
An Iranian court’s decision to uphold a sentence of 74 lashes against the popular singer Parastoo Ahmadi for performing without a hijab has sparked outrage among rights groups, who described it as “a form of torture”.
In June, Ahmadi, 29, and eight members of her production team, including musicians, were sentenced by a court in the city of Qom over a concert that was streamed online in 2024, which went viral and racked up millions of views. The court said the group had violated the country’s “legal and cultural norms” and called the performance “obscene and vulgar”.
Continue reading...What’s behind French student protests that turned violent? – Al Jazeera
- What’s behind French student protests that turned violent? Al Jazeera
- Hundreds Detained in France as Some Student Protests Turn Violent The New York Times
- France: Hundreds of students arrested as protests over school conditions escalate DW.com
- Dozens hurt and hundreds arrested in wave of French school protests BBC
- Hundreds detained as student protests across France turn violent The Guardian
Couple describes relief at rescue after whale destroys their yacht
Jeremy and Gemma Cooper were 500 miles off the coast of New Zealand when their yacht, the Tai Tam, collided with a sperm whale.
California rushes to prepare for massive ‘Kelvin’ wave and predicted sea level rise
Wave nearing southern California expected to reach San Francisco Bay Area by October as it crawls toward Alaska
Communities across California are rushing to prepare for the imminent arrival of the so-called “Kelvin wave”, a massive underwater band of warm water threatening to inundate swaths of the vast North American shoreline.
The wave is nearing southern California and expected to reach the San Francisco Bay Area by early October, as it crawls toward Alaska. Waters could rise by a foot along the California coast, according to scientists, who have warned that this could dramatically double the 8-12in rise in sea levels already caused by climate change over the last century.
Continue reading...Russia taking “heavy losses” with little gain, says Denmark – Axios
- Russia taking "heavy losses" with little gain, says Denmark Axios
- Putin’s shadow war is testing NATO’s restraint | James Stavridis The Seattle Times
- NATO chief calls for calm as intel agency warns Russia may ramp up hybrid attacks AP News
- Europe on edge from threats of Russia's growing escalation. Can NATO defend itself? : Sources & Methods NPR
- Russia could attack a NATO country within months, Danish intelligence warns cnbc.com
We need ‘right to intervene’ in AI amid growing threat, says Bank of England boss
Andrew Bailey’s comments come as fears grow that rogue models could take financial system hostage
The governor of the Bank of England has said authorities must retain the “right to intervene” in the AI industry amid growing fears that rogue models could take the financial system hostage.
Andrew Bailey said the risks posed by the rapid advancement of frontier AI models – a number of which have gone rogue in recent months – were “real and increasingly significant” and reduced the ability of society to supervise and intervene when things went wrong.
Continue reading...Watch: Luxury prison in Indonesia demolished after public outcry – bbc.com
- Watch: Luxury prison in Indonesia demolished after public outcry bbc.com
- Prison Officials Suspended After Inmates Are Found Living in Luxury The New York Times
- Indonesia razes luxury facility inside prison for favored inmates, in photos AP News
- Indonesia suspends five officials over luxury apartments for inmates Al Jazeera
- Is this the plushest prison in the world? Double beds, TVs and swimming pool discovered inside Indonesian jail The Independent
Luxury prison in Indonesia demolished after public outcry
Indonesian lawmakers on Wednesday ordered the demolition of a controversial luxury compound inside a penitentiary near the capital.
At least Burnham doesn’t pretend to care about growth – Financial Times
- At least Burnham doesn’t pretend to care about growth Financial Times
- Andy Burnham, faux heretic The Economist
- Burnham’s wake-up call for the right Financial Times
- I heard one thing loud and clear in Andy Burnham’s landmark speech: the left has won the arguments | Owen Jones The Guardian
- U.K. Prime Minister Burnham Pitches an Unapologetically Socialist Makeover WSJ
UK-France ‘one in one out’ deal to expire on Thursday, say sources
Deal aimed at deterring small boat arrivals set to end as talks stall over French demand for EU-wide scheme
The UK government’s “one in one out” deal with France, which was supposed to help deter small boat arrivals, is expected to expire on Thursday, government sources have said.
It is understood that negotiations have stalled over French demands for a Europe-wide deal instead, and a reluctance to scale up the numbers of people exchanged between the two countries.
Continue reading...Insects play critical role in ecosystems beyond just providing food, new research shows
Insects provide protection, sanitation and even shelter to vertebrates, making them a priority for conservation efforts
For many vertebrates, insects are more than a food source. As “little things that run the world”, insects provide critical functions such as protection, sanitation and shelter across ecosystems, according to a new study.
The study, published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity on Wednesday, sheds light on the various ways insects support vertebrates, ranging from birds and bats to reptiles, amphibians and mammals.
Continue reading...Trump campaign ads paid with public money violate federal law, critics say
White House has labeled ads ‘public service announcements’ and has responded defiantly to criticism
Federal regulators have been urged to stop the broadcast of White House advertisements promoting Donald Trump that critics say amounts to government propaganda and violate laws against using public money to promote partisan causes.
Public Citizen, an advocacy group, called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to intervene and block further airing of three ads it said were “designed to boost the image and character of Donald Trump” as part of the Republicans’ campaign for November’s midterm elections.
Continue reading...As AI images become common, the threat to elections draws alarm: ‘How will voters know what’s true?’
Deepfakes and misinformation driven by artificial intelligence have become a point of deep concern for legislators, advocates and the public
An image of College Park, Georgia mayor Bianca Motley Broom kissing a man – who was not her husband – in a bar spread far and wide on Facebook. The fact that it’s fake is spreading faster, now, but only after it had been seen by thousands of people.
“I think this is a sad commentary about where we are in our democracy, and where we are in our political discourse,” Motley Broom said. “It also seeks to reinforce really tired stereotypes about women in leadership.”
Continue reading...