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Who owns India's textile traditions in age of AI-enabled mass production?
Who owns India's textile traditions in age of AI-enabled mass production? Share Who owns India's textile traditions in age of AI-enabled mass production? on social media Bitupan Deka was out shopping for a "gamusa" (traditional scarf) with his mother in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya when he noticed something unusual. "Every shop selling the scarf had the same handful of patterns repeated over and over," he told Al Jazeera over the telephone from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. Cutting down the number of designs they produce was a cost-saving practice followed by the manufacturers." This discovery prompted Deka, an assistant professor of computer technology at Shillong's MIT University, to create a system that can produce infinite new designs for such fabrics. "My work isn't meant to replace the traditional designers.
How HSBC's Sharia fund invested millions in Israeli war-linked firms
'This is an apartheid regime' Does Trump have real leverage over Netanyahu? How HSBC's Sharia fund invested millions in Israeli war-linked firms Share How HSBC's Sharia fund invested millions in Israeli war-linked firms on social media The United Kingdom's biggest so-called Sharia-compliant fund spent more than $130 million to buy shares in several companies linked to the Israeli military amid an ongoing genocide in Gaza, pogroms in the occupied West Bank, and occupation of southern Lebanon. HSBC, Europe's second-largest bank, invested the funds through its Islamic Global Equity Index Fund in companies linked to Israel's military supply chain - from components used in weapons to technology and equipment with military applications. The firms range from US tech giant Palantir to the world's second-largest arms company, RTX. Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 74,300 Palestinians since October 2023, including nearly 1,500 killed since a "ceasefire" was agreed upon last year.
California Gov Newsom boosts AI regulation as he eyes 2028 presidential run
In his last few executive orders signed as California governor, Gavin Newsom, whose final term ends in January, issued one asking for independent verification of artificial intelligence models and set up an expert committee to create kill switches for AI agents that could go rogue and cause harm. In 2024, Newsom vetoed a bill, passed in the state assembly, asking for similar requirements that the governor has now called for in his executive order. Newsom said at the time that it would amount to "thwarting the promise of this technology". "He is in a lame duck period here," says Alex Hanna, director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), unsure that the measures will pass in the remainder of his term. "He is setting up his next thing."
The chatbot murder guide: AI's struggle between privacy, reporting violence
For months before carrying out Canada's deadliest school shooting in almost four decades, Jesse Van Rootselaar was consulting an unlikely adviser on how to perpetrate mass murder. "In a hallway, indoors, or a crowded classroom, the 870 [Remington shotgun] is brutal Close quarters is its playground," OpenAI's ChatGPT guided the 18-year-old, according to reports. Earlier this week, on October 14, US authorities charged a Washington State man with allegedly conspiring with Van Rootselaar to plan the attack. But the mass shooting incident has raised questions that go beyond the traditional legal understanding of culpability. The British Columbia government in September filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing them of failing to prevent the incident and claiming they were aware of the conversations that turned deadly.
Ukrainians fear US intelligence cuts as Russian strikes intensify
Is the war entering a new phase? The supernova-like blasts of exploding Russian ballistic missiles are followed by thunderous thumps, shockwaves, fires and deaths - and the staccato of Ukrainian air defence systems. This week's nightly attacks on Ukraine that killed at least 15 and wounded dozens resembled hundreds of previous raids - with one exception. But Ukraine's partners did not provide the country with intelligence data from NATO's early-warning satellites, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday, as tensions between Washington and Kyiv rise. He did not name the United States and President Donald Trump has denied that Washington has stopped sharing intelligence.
Iran threatens Gulf data centres: How exposed is the region's internet?
Did Iran capture a US submarine? Iran threatens Gulf data centres: How exposed is the region's internet? Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, has warned that cables, data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) facilities across the region could be attacked if war with the United States erupts again. The warning comes as the capture of Yemeni territory along the Red Sea coastline last month by the Iran-backed Houthis has raised concerns over the safety of internet cables linking Europe and Asia. Fierce fighting is under way between Yemen's internationally recognised government and the Houthis at several locations, including Bab al-Mandeb, through which nearly one-fifth of global internet traffic passes.
More killed in Kramatorsk as Russia targets Ukraine's transportation system
Is the war entering a new phase? More killed in Kramatorsk as Russia targets Ukraine's transportation system Share'New tactic': Russia expands deadly attacks on Ukraine's transport system on social media Russian glide bomb hits buses in Ukraine's Kramatorsk, killing at least 30 A Russian glide bomb struck two passenger buses in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk on Thursday morning, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18, regional authorities said. Ukrainian officials said the attack was deliberate. When dropped from planes on the Russian side of the front line, such bombs can glide to fixed coordinates on the ground, in this case, a street in the town that lies about 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) from the front line. "For them, a bus full of passengers is an attractive target precisely because a single strike can kill the maximum number of people."
US pulls bombers from UK base: Is Iran manoeuvring Trump's war plans?
Did Iran capture a US submarine? US pulls bombers from UK base: Is Iran manoeuvring Trump's war plans? Share US pulls bombers from UK base: Is Iran manoeuvring Trump's war plans? on social media Last week, a British bomb disposal robot roamed the area near the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fairford and 85 homes were evacuated as the threat of an attack appeared imminent. Days later, the United States speedily sent B-1 bombers stationed there, which were used to strike Iran in its ongoing war, back home. About a dozen had been stationed at the air base.
In Russia-occupied Oleshky, Ukrainians face hunger, drones and landmines
Is the war entering a new phase? On the day of her 41st wedding anniversary, Vera Gulyaeva recalled her husband's life and death. In March, a Russian drone plunged into a bread line in the southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky, killing several people and wounding Serhiy Gulyaev, a retired 63-year-old driver. The Gulyaevs, who had met at a friends' wedding in 1985, lived in a small house they had built. They were reluctant to leave even after their children fled to Kyiv-controlled areas.
Pakistan installs fishing nets at security outposts to block drone attacks
The April 16 attack was claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistan Taliban, and its fighters then opened fire from all sides of the Sarki Piyala police checkpost in Hangu district, about 30km (18 miles) from the border with Afghanistan and a hotbed of deadly attacks by armed groups, mainly the TTP. "There was a great deal of fear because we were in the middle of a battle. At that moment, we did not even know whether we would make it back home alive," Khan told Al Jazeera. To defend against such attacks, the police in Hangu came up with an unlikely, low-cost solution - fishing nets strung several metres overhead between the checkpost's rooftops and perimeter walls, forming a kind of aerial ceiling. Simple in construction and resembling what fishermen use for their work, the netting was first installed two months ago, according to the local police.