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BANGKOK, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Thailand’s foreign minister said Friday he had pressed his Iranian counterpart over the fate of 23 Thais taken hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas in its attack on Israel. Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara travelled to Qatar and Egypt this week for talks on the hostages, and met his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Doha, urging him to use Tehran’s links with Hamas to help secure the release of Thai nationals. Israeli […]
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – YouTube on Thursday said it tweaked its recommendation system in the United States to prevent teens from bingeing on videos idealizing certain body types. The move comes about a week after dozens of US states accused Facebook and Instagram owner Meta of profiting “from children’s pain,” damaging their mental health and misleading people about the safety of its platforms. YouTube’s video recommendation engine has been targeted over time […]
BRUSSELS, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – At least 10 people were killed as Storm Ciaran battered Western Europe with record winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour, causing travel mayhem with closed ports and flight and rail disruptions. Three people died in Tuscany, Italian authorities announced on Friday, reporting record rainfall and the declaration of a state of emergency. Tuscany governor Eugenio Giani said the three dead included an 85-year-old man who was found […]
JERUSALEM, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – The Gaza conflict raged for a 28th day on Friday after the October 7 attacks when Hamas militants stormed the border, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 240, Israeli officials say. Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombarded the Palestinian territory and sent in ground troops, with the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza saying 9,061 people have been killed, including 3,760 children. Here are five key developments from the […]
By Anuj CHOPRA WASHINGTON, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – From fabricated images of Donald Trump’s arrest to a video depicting a dystopian future under Joe Biden, the 2024 White House race faces a firehose of tech-enabled disinformation in what is widely billed as America’s first AI election. Campaigners on both sides of the US political aisle are harnessing advanced tools powered by artificial intelligence, which many tech experts view as a double-edged sword. AI programs […]
SHANGHAI, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – K-pop singer Lisa of megastar girl group Blackpink has been banned from China’s Weibo social media platform, sparking speculation among fans Friday that the censorship was tied to a burlesque performance she gave in Paris. Lisa, whose full name is Lalisa Manobal, disappeared from Weibo this week, with her personal page replaced by an error message saying her account was “not viewable due to being reported for violating laws […]
By Adel Zaanoun with Daphne Rousseau in Jerusalem RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli ground troops encircled Hamas stronghold Gaza City on Friday, after close ally the United States urged “concrete steps” to minimise civilian casualties. Ahead of top US diplomat Antony Blinken’s scheduled visit to Israel Friday, the country’s military said it had “completed the encirclement” of Gaza’s largest city — signalling a new phase in the month-long war against Hamas. […]
BRUSSELS, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – Seven people were killed as Storm Ciaran battered Western Europe on Thursday, bringing record winds as high as 200 kilometres per hour, floods, blackouts and major travel disruption. In the Belgian city of Ghent, a five-year-old Ukrainian boy and a 64-year-old woman were killed by falling branches. Falling trees had earlier killed a lorry driver in his vehicle in northern France’s Aisne region, and French authorities also reported the […]
YANGON, Myanmar, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Myanmar’s junta chief said the military will strike back at ethnic armed groups waging an offensive in the north of the country, seizing towns and blocking trade routes to China, state media reported Friday. Fighting has raged for a week across a wide swathe of Shan state in what analysts say is the biggest military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021. The Myanmar National […]
Israel will return Gazans working inside the country to the besieged Palestinian territory, the government said, almost four weeks after it began striking Hamas targets there in response to a deadly cross-border attack. “Israel is severing all contact with Gaza. There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza,” the Israeli security cabinet announced in a statement late Thursday. “Those workers from Gaza who were in Israel on the day of the outbreak of the […]
BANGKOK, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – Thai officials held direct talks with Hamas in Iran last week over the fate of 22 of the kingdom’s nationals taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group in its attack on Israel, the head of the Thai delegation said. Negotiators met Hamas officials in Tehran on October 26 and were given a pledge that the Thais would be released at the “right time”, Areepen Uttarasin told reporters in Bangkok […]
By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – While the stakes could hardly be higher for American democracy, voters are increasingly turned off by the apparently inevitable rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. “It’s hard to be excited about it,” said Keely Catron, 22, from Arizona, a swing state that Biden narrowly won in 2020. “It’s frustrating that our only two options seem like very old white men.” The education sciences student said […]
