Author: Justin M. Larson
Pedestrians crossing street at night in Hong Kong, China Nathan RoadNikada | E+ | Getty ImagesAsia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Tuesday, as traders shrugged off ongoing geopolitical flashpoints going on in Iran and Venezuela, as well as a criminal investigation into the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.Investors will be keeping a close eye on oil prices amid ongoing protests in Iran. President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing options for intervention in Iran, according to multiple reports Sunday.Trump on Monday said any country doing business with Iran will face a 25% tariff “on any and all business being done with the United…
Even accepting the Trump administration’s claim that there is an armed conflict with suspected drug runners, the laws of war bar “perfidy.” Source link
Sir Keir Starmer has threatened to “control” X’s AI chatbot Grok if Elon Musk’s social media platform continues to create sexual images of women and children.The prime minister told his MPs the actions of Grok and X are “absolutely disgusting and shameful”. “If X cannot control Grok, we will – and we’ll do it fast because if you profit from harm and abuse, you lose the right to self regulate,” he told a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.Images are being generated by Grok, X’s AI tool, that sexualise women and children, manipulating photos of people to remove their clothes…
Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran, said his government was ready to negotiate with the United States. Iranian security forces are cracking down on protests. Source link
She sits among a multilingual team of 40 colleagues, speakers of Pashto, Dari, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and English, in a room filled with monitors and headsets. Each colleague is connected to a different life, a new fear, a unique story.Many callers are women, mothers with young children, widows, single women who have built their entire lives in Pakistan but now fear everything could change overnight. Sumaya’s job is to help them through their most vulnerable moments.Return to Afghanistan Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled across the border into Pakistan, joining an…
The proceedings, held at the Peace Palace in The Hague, mark the start of the merits phase in the case, after years of preliminary legal arguments.Over the next three weeks, ICJ judges will hear oral arguments from both sides, examine witnesses and experts, and consider whether Myanmar breached its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which the country is a party.Opening the hearings, Judge Iwasawa Yuji, President of the Court, outlined a detailed schedule that includes two rounds of pleadings by Gambia and Myanmar, as well as closed sessions to hear…
The backdropVenezuela has endured years of economic collapse, political instability, hyperinflation and economic sanctions from Washington, compounded by floods, landslides and other climate shocks.The recent seizure of President Nicolás Maduro by US special forces has added a new layer of uncertainty to an already volatile situation.According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, 7.9 million people — more than a quarter of the population — need urgent humanitarian assistance. UNHCR Provides Legal and Health Assistance to Venezuelan Refugees in Tacna, Peru. A large UN footprintThe UN maintains a broad operational presence in Venezuela, with most agencies active on the ground.Work…
“Any step that restores liberty to individuals who have been arbitrarily detained is significant for those concerned and for their families,” independent UN human rights investigators said in a press release on Monday.The Human Rights Council-mandated Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela estimates that there are around 800 political prisoners in the country and said the partial release fell short of the Government’s human rights obligations for their immediate and unconditional release. The move comes as the country is adapting to new leadership under Acting President Delcy Rodríguez. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) has called on the Venezuelan authorities and the United States to…
The case was brought to the World Court by a country not directly affected by the alleged genocide of the Rohingya, a precedent for similar claims against other countries, including Israel. Source link
Russia has used the Oreshnik ballistic missile as part of a massive overnight strike on Ukraine.Four people were killed and 25 others injured in Kyiv on Thursday night, where loud booms could be heard for several hours, setting the sky alight with explosions.It is only the second time that Moscow has used the Oreshnik, which was first deployed to hit the central city of Dnipro in November 2024.Russia’s defence ministry said the strike was a response to a Ukrainian drone attack targeting Vladimir Putin’s residence in late December, which Kyiv denies carrying out.While the ministry did not specify what had…
Venezuela’s new leaders and President Trump have alluded to a major release of political prisoners, but the liberations have been slow to come. Source link
Xabi Alonso has left his position as Real Madrid manager after just eight months in charge, with his former Liverpool team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa taking over.The La Liga side said former Bayer Leverkusen manager Alonso, 44, had left by “mutual consent” and minutes later announced Arbeloa’s appointment.The former Spain and Real full-back has been promoted from coaching Real’s B team.Real were beaten by rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday and trail Barca by four points in La Liga.Alonso – who spent five years with Real as a player – won the Bundesliga with Leverkusen in 2024 and replaced…
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Touch something hot, and your hand snaps back before you even think. That split second matters.Sensory nerves in your skin send a rapid signal to your spinal cord, which triggers your muscles right away. Your brain catches up later. Most robots cannot do this. When a humanoid robot touches something harmful, sensor data usually travels to a central processor, waits for analysis and then sends instructions back to the motors. Even tiny delays can lead to broken parts or dangerous interactions. As robots move into homes, hospitals and workplaces, that lag becomes a…
Sergio Gor, a confidant of the U.S. president, took up his post as ambassador in New Delhi with ties between the countries at their lowest ebb in decades. Source link
The UK will bring into force a law which will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, following widespread concerns over Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot.The Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the government would also seek to make it illegal for companies to supply the tools designed to create such images.Speaking to the Commons, Kendall said AI-generated pictures of women and children in states of undress, created without a person’s consent, were not “harmless images” but “weapons of abuse”.The BBC has approached X for comment. It previously said: “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer…
The deal would cut tariffs and include a commitment from Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, the island’s chip giant, to build more manufacturing plants in the United States. Source link
Tech investors are sounding out how the U.S. taking Greenland would affect the viability of critical and rare earth minerals mining there, CNBC has learned, as Washington ramps up its pursuit of the Arctic island.Greenland has found itself at the center of a geopolitical firestorm over the past week as the U.S. has threatened to annex the self-governing Danish territory, citing national security concerns. Commercial opportunities have also come into the spotlight.In the past week, Critical Metals Corp, a company with a mining project in development on the Arctic island, has fielded questions from tech investors about how the U.S.…
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Android TV streaming boxes that promise “everything for one price” are everywhere right now. You’ll see them on big retail sites, in influencer videos, and even recommended by friends who swear they’ve cut the cord for good. And to be fair, they look irresistible on paper, offering thousands of channels for a one-time payment. But security researchers are warning that some of these boxes may come with a hidden cost.In several cases, devices sold as simple media streamers appear to quietly turn your home internet connection into part of larger networks used for…
Adam EastonBBC News Warsaw correspondentReutersZbigniew Ziobro says he is a victim of political persecutionHungary has granted political asylum to Poland’s former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro who is facing charges of embezzlement.Ziobro is facing 26 charges related to embezzling money from a fund meant to be spent on crime victims and rehabilitating criminals.Instead, he is accused of authorising the purchase of spyware that was allegedly used to hack political opponents’ phones. He says he is a victim of political persecution.Granting asylum to a citizen of a fellow EU member state goes against the spirit of EU standards.But in the case of…
Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into X’s AI tool, Grok, over it being used to create sexualised imagery of women and children.The media watchdog said it contacted the social media platform on Monday last week and set a firm deadline of last Friday to “explain what steps it has taken to comply with its duties to protect its users in the UK”. The company replied by the deadline, and Ofcom has since carried out an “expedited assessment of available evidence as a matter of urgency”. It added the formal investigation will look into whether X, owned by tech titan…
Michelle Roberts and Sophie HutchinsonBBC NewsBBC NewsNicki says the results have been life-changingDoctors say they have achieved the previously impossible – restoring sight and preventing blindness in people with a rare but dangerous eye conditon called hypotony. Moorfields hospital in London is the world’s first dedicated clinic for the disorder and seven out of eight patients given the pioneering treatment have responded to the therapy, a pilot study shows. One of them – the first-ever – is Nicki Guy, 47, who is sharing her story exclusively with the BBC. She says the results are incredible: “It’s life-changing. It’s given me…
Since an interim government began the releases last week, at least 41 people have been let go, according to Foro Penal. Source link
EPA/ShutterstockJacques and Jessica Moretti, French owners of Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, say they are co-operating with the investigationA judge in Switzerland has ordered that one of the two co-owners of the ski resort bar where 40 people died in a fire on New Year’s Eve be kept in detention for 90 days.Swiss prosecutors have argued that Jacques Moretti, a French national, is a potential flight risk. He and his wife Jessica, who is also French, are suspected of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.The blaze at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana also left 116…
Bathers found five decapitated heads displayed on a beach in Ecuador in what appears to be a warning to gang members who have been threatening local fishermen.The gruesome discovery was made on Sunday on the beachfront in Puerto López, a town which has been wracked by gang violence.Next to the body parts, locals found a sign threatening those stealing from and extorting fishermen with the same fate.Ports and towns by the Pacific Ocean are among those worst hit by gangs which smuggle cocaine from Ecuador to the US and Europe.Police have identified the remains as those of five men who…
