Drones
Israeli drone attack wounds six in Lebanon near Syria border
What is Lebanon's Beaufort Castle? Why is Israel attacking Nabatieh? An Israeli drone attack has wounded six people in Lebanon's Hermel district, close to the Syrian border, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The ministry said on Friday that the six wounded included five Syrian nationals, two of them women, and one Lebanese. It added the area has largely been spared such attacks since an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire was agreed in June. Israel's military claimed it struck "a Syrian terrorist" who "operated under the direction of the Iranian regime", alleging that the man "planned and advanced attacks" against Israeli forces in Syria's southern territory.
Drone strike kills 30 people in Sudan's Blue Nile region
Drone strike kills 30 people in Sudan's Blue Nile region Share Drone strike kills 30 people in Sudan's Blue Nile region on social media At least 30 displaced people, including women and children, have been killed and dozens of others have been wounded following a drone attack in southeastern Sudan. The governor of Wad al-Mahi province told Al Jazeera on Friday that a drone belonging to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted the centre of the province, killing 26 women and four children. He said the drone was launched from "inside Ethiopia", according to the AFP news agency. Al Jazeera Arabic's Sudan correspondent, Wadah Al-Tahir, explained that the attack was the latest in a wave of drone strikes targeting the Blue Nile region and this time Wad al-Mahi province near the city of Damazin was struck. Friday's attack was just outside a displacement camp, near an informal gold mining site, where women earn a daily wage using chemicals and their bare hands to clear gold nuggets from the earth extracted by men.
Russian search engine Yandex struggles after Ukrainian strikes on data centres
Russian tech giant Yandex has said it was struggling to maintain services after two of its five data centres were struck by Ukrainian drones in the past two days. Often dubbed Russia's Google, the company runs the country's most popular search engine, as well as a food-ordering and taxi app used by tens of millions of people. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks were in response to weeks of Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres. Both sides have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in recent months as the war between the two drags on. Kyiv says its strikes are aimed at revenue streams for Moscow's war machine, and that the latest attacks could force Russia to divert resources to Yandex.
Ukraine takes aim at Russia's AI data infrastructure
Is the war entering a new phase? Ukraine takes aim at Russia's AI data infrastructure Share Ukraine takes aim at Russia's AI data infrastructure on social media Ukrainian drone strikes have partly disabled an AI data centre operated by Russian digital giant Yandex. The strike on Friday followed an attack on another of the company's data hubs the previous day, appearing to signal that Ukraine's military campaign is widening its scope to target Russia's technology infrastructure. Moscow has previously targeted data hubs inside Ukraine. A day earlier, a Ukrainian attack shut down a major data hub in Sasovo in the Ryazan region, where two of the three supercomputers used to develop the company's AI models are housed.
The Download: AI's refusal problem and weight-loss drug side effects
Plus: The US has frozen green cards for Microsoft and other IT firms. We're putting too much faith in AI's ability to say no Today's AI models are trained to refuse a vast number of prompts. If you ask your chatbot how to poison a colleague or how to tie a noose, chances are it'll turn you down. But refusal fails, sometimes horrifically. Some people are attempting to use AI to hone biological pathogens and build autonomous drone swarms. Sooner or later, failed refusals may result in global calamity.
Job titles of the future: Delivery drone air traffic controller
Trevor Wischnewsky is making sure that the sky stays organized as we enter the age of food delivery by drone. The moment Trevor Wischnewsky heard that drones were delivering pizza and sushi around his Texas neighborhood, his mind was made up. "It was super fascinating," he says. "I just immediately wanted to be a part of it." Wischnewsky is now an RPIC, or "remote pilot in command," at a company called FlyTrex. An RPIC is like an air traffic controller.
As freezing winter approaches, Kyiv residents look for shelter elsewhere
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. As Russia's attacks on Ukraine's cities intensify and autumn's cooler temperatures hint at another tough winter to come, Ukrainians are wrestling with how to meet the twin challenges ahead: Russian drone and missile strikes and the biting cold. It was a very difficult winter last year in Kyiv, says mother of two Mariia Shostak, who is now packing her bags and leaving her small flat. With prolonged periods of sub-zero temperatures and frequent power cuts brought about by Russia's attack on the country's power grid, last winter was one of the hardest so far. There were some days and weeks that were unbearable.
Zelenskyy accuses U.S. of inaction as Russian strikes kill over 70 in two days
Zelenskyy accuses U.S. of inaction as Russian strikes kill over 70 in two days One of the two passenger buses struck by projectiles in Kramatorsk, near the front line in eastern Ukraine, on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the U.S. of being unwilling to help Ukraine after a Russian bomb attack on Thursday killed at least 35 people in the east, sending the two-day death toll from Russian strikes to over 70. Hours after the strike on the embattled city of Kramatorsk tore through two buses, Zelenskyy criticized Washington's effort to pursue economic ties with Russia while also seeking to mediate the more than four-year war. City authorities reported a new drone attack in the evening that killed two people. That brought to 35 the total death toll in the city. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
At least 81 US aircraft worth up to 3.3bn lost or damaged in Iran war
At least 81 US aircraft worth up to $3.3bn lost or damaged in Iran war Share At least 81 US aircraft worth up to $3.3bn lost or damaged in Iran war on social media At least 81 United States military aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, have been lost or damaged during Operation Epic Fury, the code name for Washington's military campaign against Iran launched earlier this year. The statistic comes as part of a report released on Monday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan government agency that provides budget-related research to the legislature. The report this week highlights the growing price tag for the war, which began on February 28. A lasting ceasefire has remained out of reach as the conflict continues into its eighth month. "The asymmetries of warfare show that even small countries with small militaries can inflict damage on the world's best militaries," said Harlan Ullman, a former naval officer and chairman of the Killowen Group, a government advisory firm. He told Al Jazeera that Iran has managed to achieve a degree of success in damaging US military hardware and bases in the Middle East.
Syria calls for independent probe into sinking of ship in Black Sea
Is the war entering a new phase? Syria has called for an "independent and transparent" investigation into the sinking of a cargo ship in the Black Sea, demanding answers over the fate of the ship's 10 crew members, including nine Syrians and an Egyptian, who remain unaccounted for. The Togolese-flagged Alfa Watan, went down in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone early on Tuesday, amid a rising number of drone strikes hitting Black Sea shipping during the Russia-Ukraine war. Mazen Aloush, from the Syria's port authority asked the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Bulgarian authorities to find out why a search and rescue mission was called off, before the missing sailors were found. "Their fate is still unknown" said Aloush, adding that "the reasons that led to the suspension of search and rescue operations" had to be established.