International

OpenAI disbands team devoted to artificial intelligence risks

SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2024 (AFP) – OpenAI on Friday confirmed that it has disbanded a team devoted to mitigating the long-term dangers of super-smart artificial intelligence. OpenAI weeks ago began dissolving the so-called “superalignment” group, integrating members into other projects and research, according to the San Francisco-based firm. Company co-founder Ilya Sutskever and team co-leader Jan Leike announced their departures from the ChatGPT-maker this week. The dismantling of an OpenAI team focused on keeping […]

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North Korea confirms missile launch, vows bolstered nuclear force

SEOUL, May 18, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea has test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a “new autonomous navigation system”, state media said Saturday, with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to boost the country’s nuclear force. Kim oversaw the Friday test-launch into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, on a mission to evaluate the “accuracy and reliability of the autonomous navigation system”, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. […]

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‘Dad’s going up in a rocket!’ French businessman set for launch

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2024 (AFP) – He arrived in Texas, tried on his flight suit for the first time, and is now preparing to live out his childhood dream. On Sunday, French entrepreneur Sylvain Chiron will board a Blue Origin rocket and blast off into space, joining the select group of humans who have ventured beyond Earth’s bounds. “I never thought I’d get to do this,” the 52-year-old, who hails from the mountainous southeastern region […]

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Philippines to buy 5 Japan-made coast guard ships in $400 mn deal

MANILA, May 17, 2024 (AFP) – The Philippines has agreed to buy five coast guard patrol ships from Japan in a deal worth more than $400 million, Manila said Friday, as the Southeast Asian country faces growing Chinese pressure in the South China Sea. Japan will loan the Philippines 64.38 billion yen ($413 million) to buy the five 97-metre Multi-Role Response Vessels and pay for the “development of the required support facilities”, the foreign ministry […]

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Putin in trade push on final day of China trip

BEIJING, May 17, 2024 (AFP) – Russian leader Vladimir Putin was in the northeastern city of Harbin on Friday, the final day of a visit aiming to promote crucial trade with China and win greater support for his war effort in Ukraine. Putin arrived Thursday on his first trip abroad since his March re-election, meeting President Xi Jinping for talks in which the leaders framed their nations’ ties as a stabilising force in a chaotic […]

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N. Korea fires at least one ‘unidentified ballistic missile’: Seoul

SEOUL, May 17, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea has fired at least one “unidentified ballistic missile”, Seoul’s military said Friday, hours after leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister denied widespread allegations that Pyongyang is shipping weapons to Russia. North Korea “fires unidentified ballistic missile toward East Sea”, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. Japanese broadcaster NHK, citing government sources, said the missile […]

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French police kill Algerian trying to set fire to synagogue

ROUEN, France  (AFP) – French police on Friday shot dead an Algerian man armed with a knife and an iron bar who tried to set fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen, adding to concerns over anti-Semitic violence in the country. The French Jewish community, the third largest in the world, has for months been on edge in the face of a growing number of attacks and desecrations of memorials. Emergency services […]

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Art market rebounds despite challenges, with Monet at $34.8 million and Basquiat works surpassing $46 million

  NEW YORK, May 16, 2024 (AFP) – A Monet sold for nearly $35 million at auction Wednesday evening, Sotheby’s said, marking a solid start to New York’s spring art sales. Both Sotheby’s and rival auction house Christie’s launched their spring season Monday. Though the global art market softened last year, strong sales in London and Paris have sparked optimism for 2024. Claude Monet’s “Meules a Giverny,” which the French impressionist painted in 1893, went […]

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China and Russia present united front as stabilizing force

By James EDGAR, Oliver HOTHAM BEIJING, May 16, 2024 (AFP) – Leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin framed their nations’ ties as a stabilising force in a chaotic world as they met Thursday in Beijing, where the Russian president is seeking greater Chinese support for his war effort in Ukraine and isolated economy. It is Putin’s first trip abroad since his March re-election and the second in just over six months to China, an economic […]

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Slovak PM fights for his life after assassination attempt

BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia, May 16, 2024 (AFP) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico fought for his life in hospital Wednesday after being shot multiple times in what the government called a “political assault”. Surgeons spent hours battling to save the 59-year-old populist leader after the attack, which has been condemned around the world. Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC he believed the leader’s hospital procedure had gone well. “I guess in the end […]

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Philippine boat convoy won’t proceed to China-held reef: organisers

MANILA, May 16, 2024 (AFP) – A convoy of boats carrying Philippine civilians bearing supplies for Filipino fishers has abandoned plans to sail closer to a China-held reef off the Southeast Asian country, organisers said Thursday. The convoy set sail Wednesday to distribute fuel and food to fishers and assert Philippine rights in the disputed South China Sea. The trip comes two weeks after China Coast Guard vessels used water cannon against two Philippine government […]

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‘Ready to rumble’ – Biden, Trump agree to two election debates

By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, May 15, 2024 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreed Wednesday to hold election debates in June and September, with the rivals trading barbs about their first on-stage meetings in nearly four years. The sudden agreement, ending months of uncertainty over whether the debates would happen at all, came after Biden, 81, challenged his scandal-tinged Republican rival to “make my day.” Trump, 77, quickly responded that he was […]

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