‘AI-assisted genocide’: Israel reportedly used database for Gaza kill lists
Two Israeli media outlets report the Israeli military’s use of an AI-assisted system called Lavender to identify Gaza targets.
The Israeli military’s reported use of an untested and undisclosed artificial intelligence-powered database to identify targets for its bombing campaign in Gaza has alarmed human rights and technology experts who said it could amount to “war crimes”.
The Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language media outlet Local Call reported recently that the Israeli army was isolating and identifying thousands of Palestinians as potential bombing targets using an AI-assisted targeting system called Lavender.
No aid arrives in northern Gaza since deadly Israeli strike
- Pressure is growing on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Israel - more than 600 legal experts have written to the PM saying exports must end
- Meanwhile World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder José Andrés has accused Israeli forces in Gaza of targeting his aid workers "systematically, car by car"
- Israeli economy minister Nir Barkat told the BBC it was "nonsense" to suggest Israel would deliberately target aid workers
- Some charities have paused their operations since the strike, increasing fears of starvation
- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for an independent investigation, but stopped short of saying arms sales should end
- President Biden is due to speak with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - their first direct contact since the air strike
Some in Gaza survive daily on less than can of beans - Oxfam
Our last couple of posts have looked at the aid situation in parts of Gaza - particularly the north - following an Israeli strike on Monday that killed seven humanitarian workers.
Meanwhile, the NGO Oxfam has been looking at the realities of what Palestinians in the north of the Strip are facing on a daily basis - including that people have been forced to survive on an average of 245 calories a day (less than a can of fava beans) since January.
It adds that "the minuscule amount of food represents less than 12% per cent of the recommended daily 2,100-calorie intake needed per person, calculated using demographic data considering variations by age and gender".
Oxfam quotes one mother in the region as saying:
Indian government ordered killings in Pakistan, intelligence officials claim
Allegations of up to 20 assassinations since 2020 follow Canada’s accusation of Delhi role in murders of dissidents
The Indian government assassinated individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil, according to Indian and Pakistani intelligence operatives who spoke to the Guardian.
Interviews with intelligence officials in both countries, as well as documents shared by Pakistani investigators, shed new light on how India’s foreign intelligence agency allegedly began to carry out assassinations abroad as part of an emboldened approach to national security after 2019. The agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (Raw), is directly controlled by the office of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, who is running for a third term in office in elections later this month.
Myanmar junta says drones shot down over capital
Myanmar's leadership says drones have been shot down over the capital, Naypyitaw. The attack comes with the ruling military junta fighting battles on several fronts against ethnic insurgents.
The military junta on Thursday said Myanmar's security services had downed seven drones over the capital Naypyitaw.
A military base was said to be the target of the rare attack, which comes as the government struggles to contain a growing armed resistance movement.
What we know so far
Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government (NUG) said the drones had hit military headquarters and an air force base. It said preliminary reports suggested that there had been casualties.
"The synchronized drone operations were simultaneously executed against Naypyitaw, targeting both the headquarters of the terrorist military and Alar Air Base," the NUG said in a statement.
Somalia expels Ethiopia ambassador for 'bluntly interfering' in internal affairs
The announcement comes as Somalia is locked in a fierce dispute with Ethiopia over a maritime deal that Addis Ababa signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland in January -- raising tensions in the Horn of Africa.
The cabinet said in a statement that the foreign ministry was instructed to "inform the ambassador of the Ethiopian government in the Federal Republic of Somalia to return to his country for consultations".
It also said it was ordering the shutdown of Ethiopian consulates in Somaliland and in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland and the departure of their diplomats and staff within two weeks.
4 men accused of brokering Japanese women for U.S. brothels
By SHOKO MIFUNE/ Staff Writer
April 4, 2024 at 18:55 JST
Four men were arrested on April 4 on suspicion of brokering two Japanese women for prostitution in the United States under an arrangement that may have involved hundreds of women.
Yoshio Usui, 52, a “sugar dating” club owner from Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward, and two others are accused of brokering the two women, in their 20s and 30s, to a prostitution agency in the United States last spring.
The three have admitted to the allegations, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
The suspects also said they have brokered 200 to 300 women to the United States, Australia, Canada and elsewhere for prostitution purposes, making about 200 million yen ($1.3 million), according to police.
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