Thank you, Madam Chair. Each week in this Council, we confront the reality of what is taking place on the ground in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion. And that is right. As long as it continues to fight this war, we should never stop confronting the Russian Federation with what their so-called Special Military Operation means for the people on the ground; the heroically brave Ukrainian Armed Forces, the first responders to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure or the innocent civilian victims of Russia’s aggression. We should express our opposition and disgust at what is happening…
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On June 11, the United States will chair the Community of Democracies’ (CoD) 38th Governing Council Meeting in Warsaw, Poland. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Allison Peters will lead the U.S. delegation and will underscore the United States’ commitment to and continued collaboration with CoD member states on democracy and human rights priority issues, including a more open and resilient information environment, free and fair elections, defending civic space and freedom of association, and the meaningful inclusion of youth in civic and political processes. On June 10, she will join Guatemala’s Vice Foreign Minister…
Actress Scarlett Johansson released a statement this week expressing anger and concern that OpenAI used a voice “eerily similar” to her own as a default voice for ChatGPT. The voice in question, called Sky, has been available to users since September 2023, but the resemblance to Johansson’s voice became clearer last week when OpenAI demoed an updated model called GPT-4o. Johansson claims that OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman previously asked her if she would provide her voice for ChatGPT, and she had declined the invitation. The warm and playful tone of Sky’s voice bears a striking resemblance to the digital companion…
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently stated in an opinion piece that he’ll only listen to the policy positions of Canadian businesses if they’re favourable to the “workers, consumers and retirees” he meets at rallies, town halls and during door-to-door canvassing. Poilievre’s approach sounds appealing. After all, the federal government is supposed to adopt and implement policies for the good of the Canadian people. By lobbying the government directly, there is a risk that businesses influence policy to benefit corporate executives and shareholders at the expense of the larger population. This risk is a classic political problem. People in the minority…
The Taoiseach said he believes voters knew what Sinn Féin ‘was selling’ in the local elections but didn’t buy it. The race is heating up between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to be the largest party in local government. State of the parties: Counting in the local elections has reached the half-way point with 484 seats filled. Fine Gael is on 22.8% of first preference votes Fianna Fáil is seeing 22.7% of first preference votes Independents and Others are on 28.8% Sinn Féin currently stands on 11.8% Labour: 5.6% Greens: 3.7% Sinn Féin is also looking at-risk of failing to…
Hamas kidnapped some 250 hostages during its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, around half of whom were released as part of a weeklong cease-fire deal in November, according to reports. The four hostages freed on Saturday were released after Israel conducted a special daytime operation in a residential area in Nuseirat, central Gaza. All of them are in good medical condition, officials said. More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict first began in October, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday. Source link
Until around 45,000 years ago, Australia was home to a giant flightless bird called Genyornis newtoni, which was two metres tall and weighed up to 230 kilograms. Palaeontologists first discovered these so-called “thunder birds” in the late 1800s. Yet exactly what Genyornis looked like has remained a mystery, because until now no well-preserved fossil of a Genyornis head has been found. Scientists have instead interpreted its appearance based on large, flightless relatives, such as Dromornis and the more distantly related emus. From the dry salt lakes in north-eastern South Australia, we have now discovered several new Genyornis fossils, including a…
Thank you, Chair. The Director General’s thorough report, which is the only source of objective information about the nuclear safety situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhizhia Nuclear Power Plant, provides another stark reminder of the severe implications of Russia’s war against Ukraine. We are concerned that since the March Board of Governors, the IAEA now assesses that at ZNPP, all of the DG’s “Seven Pillars” for ensuring nuclear safety and security in armed conflict are compromised fully or partially. Each time this Board meets, we see an erosion of safety at the plant and without ZNPP being returned to its rightful owner…
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Qatar from June 10-12, 2024. The Secretary will discuss with partners the need to reach a ceasefire agreement that secures the release of all hostages. He will emphasize the importance of Hamas accepting the proposal on the table, which is nearly identical to one Hamas endorsed last month. The Secretary will discuss how the ceasefire proposal would benefit both Israelis and Palestinians. He will underscore that it would alleviate suffering in Gaza, enable a massive surge in humanitarian assistance, and allow Palestinians to return to their neighborhoods. It would unlock the possibility of achieving calm along…
If a distressed stranger knocked on your door asking to use your phone, would you oblige? How about lending them a fiver for the bus, if they assured you they’d return and pay you back? In today’s fractured world, trust seems elusive and divisions run deep. A lot of people find it hard to trust strangers, perhaps in particular those who are different to us. But why? A recent breakthrough by our international team of researchers, published in Scientific Reports, has shed light on the genetic basis of trust. We discovered that our ability to trust strangers may be more…