September 15, 2024 No comments
Unchecked AI threatens democracy, warns UN chief
INTERNATIONAL, By Vibhu Mishra 15 September 2024 Peace and Security - Left unchecked, artificial intelligence (AI) could destabilize democratic systems by spreading disinformation, fueling hate speech and distorting public opinion through deepfakes, the UN Secretary-General has warned.These risks are particularly critical this year, as over 50 countries – representing half the world’s population – hold elections. In a message for Sunday’s International Day of Democracy, Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated the importance of upholding free speech, civil liberties and the rule of law, as well as ensuring accountable institutions and protecting human rights. “Yet, these rights and values are under attack around the world. Freedoms are being eroded. Civic space is diminishing. Polarization is intensifying. And mistrust is growing,” he said. A tool for good governance Despite the dangers, artificial intelligence has the potential to...
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September 15, 2024 No comments
Health teams brave war conditions in Sudan to save newborn babies
INTERNATIONAL, 15 September 2024 Health - The civil war in Sudan has brought to country’s health system to its knees. UN mobile health teams are attempting to plug the gaps, crossing conflict zones to help pregnant women to give birth in safety. Under shelling and gunfire, Esraa cradled her newborn son. As the war in Sudan broke out in April 2023, she was trying to reach a health clinic for treatment for her baby, who had been struggling with infections and breathing difficulties. But with the roads blocked by fighting, the young mother never made it to the clinic; her son died in her arms. When she became pregnant again in August last year, she was haunted by the fear of losing another child. “There's...
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September 13, 2024 No comments
Gaza: WHO chief hails ‘massive success’ of polio campaign amid tragic reality
INTERNATIONAL, 13 September 2024 Peace and Security - Around 560,000 children under ten have been successfully vaccinated against polio during the first round of an emergency campaign in the Gaza Strip, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that it had been “a massive success amidst a tragic daily reality of life” for more than two million Gazans who have been caught up in the intense fighting since last October’s terror attacks by Hamas unleashed the war in Gaza. In three phases over twelve days, from 1 to 12 September, UN agencies and partners provided novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to some 558,963 children, reaching families living in shelters, tents and camps for the displaced. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative...
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September 13, 2024 No comments
UN warns of continued prohibited weapons transfers to Ukraine, Russia
INTERNATIONAL, 13 September 2024 Peace and Security - Amid continuing prohibited weapons transfers to Ukraine and Russia during the ongoing war, top disarmament and legal officials issued calls on Friday for parties to the conflict to abide by international law and protect civilians. Warning the Security Council, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu said that since the last briefing on weapons transfers only two weeks ago, the provision of military assistance and transfer of arms and ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces have continued in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in violation of the UN Charter and of international law. “Any transfer of weapons and ammunition must be compliant with the applicable international legal framework, including of course, relevant Security Council resolutions, which in certain instances...
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September 13, 2024 No comments
Iran: Repression of women ‘intensifying’, two years on from mass protests
INTERNATIONAL, 13 September 2024 Human Rights - The Iranian Government has intensified its efforts to suppress the fundamental rights of women and girls and crush remaining initiatives of women’s activism, UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent investigators warned in an update released on Friday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran relies on a system, both in law and in practice, that fundamentally discriminates on the grounds of gender,” the update noted, highlighting the far-reaching impacts on women and girls’ bodily autonomy, freedom of expression and religion, as well as a wide range of economic, social and cultural rights. The heightened repression comes two years after the unlawful death in custody of 22-year-old Jina Mahasa Amini, arrested by Iran’s “morality police” in Tehran on 13 September 2022 for alleged non-compliance with...
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