Author: AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on Saturday for pressure to stop Israel’s “massacre in Gaza” and said Madrid plans a UN resolution requesting a world court ruling on aid access to the Palestinian territory. Sanchez told an Arab League summit in Baghdad that the war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel has led to “unacceptable numbers” of victims in Gaza, violating the “principle of humanity”. “The extremely grave humanitarian crisis Gaza has endured since October 2023 has caused more than 50,000 dead, 100,000 wounded and two million displaced,” said Sanchez, who has sharply criticised the Israeli offensive.…

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup has blamed an “unauthorized modification” for causing its chatbot Grok to generate misleading and unsolicited posts referencing “white genocide” in South Africa. The chatbot, developed by Musk’s company xAI, ignited controversy this week by answering multiple user prompts with right-wing propaganda about the purported oppression of white South Africans. “How many times has HBO changed their name?” one X user asked the bot, according to online screen shots. The bot gave a short reply about HBO, but quickly launched into a rant about “white genocide” and cited the anti-apartheid chant “kill the Boer.” In response…

Arab leaders on Saturday urged the international community to apply pressure for a Gaza ceasefire and humanitarian aid access to the besieged Palestinian territory. “We call on the international community… to exert pressure to end the bloodshed and ensure that urgent humanitarian aid can enter without obstacles all areas in need in Gaza,” the leaders said in a joint final statement at a summit in Baghdad.

The Kremlin on Saturday said a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be possible only after both sides reach an agreement, a day after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct talks in more than three years, which did not result in a truce. The morning after the talks, a Russian drone attack on a minibus carrying evacuated civilians in the eastern Sumy region killed nine people and wounded five, local authorities said. “Yesterday, as on any day of this war, there was an opportunity to cease fire,” Zelensky wrote on social media following…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged his US counterpart Donald Trump on Saturday to apply pressure for a Gaza ceasefire. “I call on President Trump, as a leader who wants to consolidate peace, to apply all necessary efforts and pressure for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” which would pave the way “for a serious political process in which he would be a mediator and a sponsor,” Sisi said in an address to an Arab League summit in Baghdad.

Several people died Saturday when two helicopters carrying a total of five people collided mid-air in Finland and crashed to the ground, police said. “The accident has resulted in several fatalities. The exact number of victims and the identities of the passengers are still being determined,” the police said in a statement.

Italy’s government on Saturday upped its exhortations to Israel to stop deadly military strikes in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: “Enough with the attacks.” “We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said during a trip to Sicily, in remarks relayed by his spokesman. “Let’s come to a ceasefire, let’s free the hostages, but let’s leave people who are victims of Hamas alone,” he was cited as saying. Israel’s military has announced it is in the “initial stages” of a new offensive in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas. Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on…

Türkiye has seen an easing of US sanctions on its defence sector since Donald Trump became president, with steps towards ending the measure advancing quickly, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Saturday. “We can easily say that there is a softening in CAATSA,,” he told reporters while returning from a European summit, referring to US sanctions legislation. In 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara over its purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defence system under a 2017 law known as CAATSA, which aims to limit Russia’s military influence. The move soured ties between the two NATO member countries. It also…

Three Iranian nationals have appeared in court in London charged with suspected espionage for Iran’s intelligence services, UK police said, as the government vowed to boost national security powers. The charges come amid heightened concerns about Iranian activities on UK soil. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said following the charges that “Iran must be held to account for its actions”. “We must also strengthen our powers to protect our national security as we will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil,” she said. The three were all remanded in custody following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.…

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence handed down against pop singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, on blasphemy charges, the judiciary spokesman said Saturday. Tataloo was initially handed a five-year prison sentence for blasphemy by the Tehran Criminal Court. However, the Supreme Court overturned that verdict and referred the case to a different court, which later sentenced him to death. “This ruling has now been confirmed and is ready for execution,” judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters. He added that the singer’s lawyer has filed two requests, typically a retrial request and a clemency plea, which are…