Locals in the Lebanese capital have labeled a US-brokered framework peace deal with Israel “a disgrace and humiliation” for their country Residents of a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut have said they will not trade the group’s weapons for reconstruction money, while decrying a US-brokered framework peace agreement between Lebanon and Israel. The Dahiyeh neighborhood in the south-western part of the Lebanese capital has suffered extensive destruction from strikes by West Jerusalem since the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2023 and its subsequent spillover into Lebanon. The deal, signed between the Lebanese and Israeli governments in late June, envisages the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pulling out from southern Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese military, which would oversee the disarmament of Hezbollah. Read more Isra...
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One of the company’s models escaped its testing environment and hacked another firm’s database ChatGPT maker OpenAI has announced it is decelerating the development of its AI models, citing security risks. In July, one of the company’s advanced AI bots unknowingly escaped its testing environment, gained internet access, and hacked into the servers of the Hugging Face online repository for AI models and datasets. OpenAI said in a statement on Tuesday that the Hugging Face incident and the overall rise in the capabilities of its artificial intelligence models “have added urgency to our work on strengthening our monitoring, alignment and containment safeguards across all stages of the training process.” “As models become more capable, the risks associated with developing and testing them internally also grow. Our standards for monitoring, alignment, and security must stay ahead of tho...
Emir Kusturica says the Google-owned platform is seeking to suppress any dissent contradicting the mainstream narrative Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has accused YouTube of waging a “war” against people who think independently and “tell the truth,” after the Google-owned platform deleted his channel without any warning. YouTube removed Kusturica’s ‘My Life’ channel on Wednesday, without publicly elaborating on the decision, according to several media reports. The project, produced with Sputnik’s Serbian service, contained more than 200 videos and had roughly 30,000 subscribers. Some of the videos are dedicated to the fate of Yugoslavia, the clash of civilizations, and the collision between Christian and Western values. After the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, YouTube banned both Sputnik and RT as the West imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia...
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sanctioned Tomoko Akane and a senior trial lawyer amid a dispute over the Netanyahu arrest warrant The US has imposed sanctions on two senior International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, accusing The Hague-based institution of overstepping its authority. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday designated ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, describing the court as a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate.” The designations are a part of a campaign announced by Rubio last month to “systematically dismantle the threat posed” by the ICC to US sovereignty. Rubio has accused the court of targeting nationals of countries that have neither consented to its jurisdiction nor ratified the Rome Statute. The ICC previously investigated alleged cr...
Hundreds of flights have been canceled due to volcanic ash, stranding thousands of passengers at Catania airport during peak holiday season Sicily is facing its worst aviation disruption in more than two decades as a prolonged eruption of Mount Etna forces hundreds of flight cancellations, stranding thousands during the peak summer holiday season. Europe’s tallest and most active volcano has been erupting continuously since August 6, producing lava fountains, fresh flows, and persistent ash emissions. Experts say the activity could continue for weeks or even months. Volcanic ash has caused the greatest disruption, with shifting winds carrying it toward Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, about 30 km south of Etna. On Tuesday, the airport extended restrictions due to “Etna’s eruptive activity and the simultaneous emission of volcanic ash,” limiting arrivals to ten per hour. In recen...
Jordan wants to attract more Christian pilgrims for the 2,000-year anniversary in 2030 Jordan is preparing to mark the 2,000-year anniversary of Jesus Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River, with the Muslim nation investing more than $100 million to draw Christian pilgrims to one of the world’s holiest sites. Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan met with Christian leaders this month and signed agreements to develop the baptism site by building a village for Christian pilgrims and visitors, a museum dedicated to the baptism, a green corridor, and infrastructure upgrades leading to the site. The project is expected to cost $120 million, Vatican media reported. The year 2030 is widely accepted as the two millennium anniversary of Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist, a moment that marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. The ceremony took place at Bethany Beyond the Jordan on the...