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Australia's deaths to outnumber births by 2060s, report says

Al Jazeera

Australia's deaths to outnumber births by 2060s, report says Share Australia's deaths to outnumber births by 2060s, report says on social media Australia will see more deaths than births by the 2060s, hitting a milestone already surpassed by advanced economies including Japan, Germany and France, according to a government report. In its latest Intergenerational Report released on Monday, Australia's Treasury forecast that the country's population will hit 39.3 million by 2065-66, 1.8 million lower than projected in its last outlook in 2023. The number of Australians aged 85 or older is projected to triple by 2065-66, with immigration accounting for all population growth as the fertility rate falls to 1.34, the Treasury said. Despite plunging birthrates, the Treasury said it expects the economy to more than double in size by the mid-2060s, citing productivity gains due to artificial intelligence and greater workforce participation by women and older Australians. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that while Australia's economy faces serious risks due to the demographic shift, it also holds "substantial" advantages compared with its peers.


California judge sentences former Syrian prison boss to 60 years for torturing inmates

Los Angeles Times

Things to Do in L.A. Tap to enable a layout that focuses on the article. Former prison warden Samir Osman Alsheikh, left, meets with Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2011. U.S. officials say Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former member of the Assad regime to be tried and convicted in person outside Syria. This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here .


Super Macklemore 64: Video game mocks Sheeran concert controversy

Al Jazeera

In Super Macklemore 64, players are chased by a giant Ed Sheeran, dodge tiny billionaire Robert Krafts and summon musicians to chant "Free Palestine". Creator Jonathan Mann says it highlights the "absurdity" of Macklemore being dropped from Sheeran's concerts and Israel's genocide in Gaza. Trump says Denmark deal gives US security'control' over Greenland'Daughter of Damascus' Assala performs in Syria after 15-year exile Jerusalem Daily: Netanyahu says he will'change the face of the Middle East


Afghan inquiry into alleged SAS war crimes has already cost 58m, MoD figures show

BBC News

An inquiry into allegations British Special Forces murdered unarmed Afghan civilians has cost UK taxpayers ยฃ58m, figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) show. When the inquiry was launched in 2023, its chair Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said it would aim to report, at least on an interim basis, within 12-18 months. However, the inquiry has now been running for more than three and a half years, and has yet to publish any findings. In a statement, the inquiry said its work was greater and more complex than it originally envisaged. It added that delays by the MoD in disclosing information had also affected the timetable.


Assad regime planned US journalist Austin Tice's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds

BBC News

Assad regime planned US journalist's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds US journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, was kidnapped in a calculated operation which was more than a month in the planning, the BBC can reveal. A member of the group which detained Tice has also claimed the abduction was sanctioned by Syria's leader at the time, President Bashar al-Assad. Tice was seen getting into a car with a driver he knew and trusted. For years, many assumed they had stumbled upon a government checkpoint, and that the abduction of the journalist had been opportunistic. But we have uncovered evidence that, in fact, his disappearance was anything but chance.


We Must Defend the Refugee Convention

TIME - Tech

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'Can I take the door?' woman pleads at Syrian prison exhibit

Al Jazeera

'Can I take the door?' woman pleads at Syrian prison exhibit'Can I take the door?' woman pleads at Syrian prison exhibit A Syrian woman spotted her missing brother's name on a prison cell door at an exhibition in Damascus. The display was among artefacts retrieved from notorious prisons run by the Assad regime. Share'Can I take the door?' woman pleads at Syrian prison exhibit on social media Faith leaders say they were'duped' into attending RSS-linked event Egypt's Sisi welcomes China's President Xi in Grand Egyptian Museum tour OpenAI's Sam Altman tells G20 AI will be as essential as electricity Former campaign chair: Trump'cares about Trump the most'


OpenAI says it detected malign activity months before Hugging Face attack

Al Jazeera

OpenAI detected its artificial intelligence models communicating with each other and gaining internet access without authorisation months before they hacked the start-up Hugging Face, the creator of ChatGPT has announced following an internal probe. In a report released on Wednesday, OpenAI said its AI agents exploited vulnerabilities in Artifactory, a software repository tool, to post notes and access the internet without human prompting as far back as May. OpenAI's findings come amid growing concern about the potential for AI to inflict serious real-world harm, including self-directed cyberattacks. OpenAI said in its report that its agents collaborated and delegated work in the lead-up to the attack, sometimes referring to themselves as a "swarm" or "collective". METR and Redwood Research, two security research organisations contracted by OpenAI to investigate the incident, said in a separate report released on Wednesday that about 1200 agents had communicated with each other and roughly 700 participated in the attack.


US removes Syria from list of state sponsors of terrorism

BBC News

The US has removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after 47 years, lifting what it said was the final major barriers for private sector investment in the country and its reintegration into the global economy. US Secretary Of State Marco Rubio said the move was in recognition of the Syrian government's positive actions to fully distance itself from acts of international terrorism. The Trump administration has embraced Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former militant who once had an American bounty on his head as the leader of an al-Qaeda off-shoot. His Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was also removed from the US list of global terrorist organisations. HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, was al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria until Sharaa severed ties with the jihadist network in 2016.


Nearly one in two Ebola patients dying in DR Congo outbreak

Al Jazeera

Almost one in two people infected with Ebola are dying, Democratic Republic of the Congo government figures show. The outbreak is now the deadliest in the country's history. Nathan Cofnas on whether he feels responsible for Jason Arday's death Are humanoid robots the future of warfare? Houses set on fire as fresh violence erupts in India's Manipur'Barrel bomb mufti' sentenced to life in Syria