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The ceasefire, starting at 4 a.m. local time Wednesday, would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza , where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Hours before the ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities. Another huge airstrike shook Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced. There appeared to be lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted was part of the deal but which Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected. Israel's security Cabinet approved the U.S.-France-brokered ceasefire agreement after Netanyahu presented it, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt . President-elect Donald Trump vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Israel says it will ‘attack with might’ if Hezbollah breaks truce Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” The ceasefire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor compliance. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Netanyahu’s office said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the ceasefire and described it as a crucial step toward stability and the return of displaced people. Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state," he said, referring to Israel's demand for freedom of action. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Warplanes bombard Beirut and its southern suburbs Even as ceasefire efforts gained momentum in recent days, Israel continued to strike what it called Hezbollah targets across Lebanon while the militants fired rockets, missiles and drones across the border. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in central Beirut — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously were not targeted. The warnings sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, with mattresses tied to some cars. Dozens of people, some wearing pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed overhead. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said peacekeepers will not evacuate. Israeli forces reach Litani River in southern Lebanon The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few miles from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 20 miles north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have exchanged barrages ever since. Israel escalated its bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut and Federman from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.Niger: Gov Bago presents appropriation bill of N1.56trn for 2025
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New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said there must be “a foreign policy for Viksit Bharat” as he underlined that changes in foreign policy are needed amid a changing landscape. In his address at the launch of ‘India’s World’ magazine here, he also said “when we speak about changing foreign policy, if there is talk of a post-Nehruvian construct, it should not be treated as a political attack”. Foreign policy expert C Raja Mohan chairs the editorial board of the magazine. The external affairs minister said there are “four big factors” which should cause people in India to actually ask themselves as to “what are the changes which are necessary in a foreign policy”. “One, and I happened, by coincidence, to speak about it yesterday, for many, many years, we had what someone else very pithily summed up as the ‘Nehru development model’. That was book released yesterday by Dr Arvind Panagariya,” he said. A ‘Nehru development model’, inevitably produced a ‘Nehru foreign policy’ and “we seek to correct that abroad”, just as efforts being made to “reform” the consequences of the model at home, Jaishankar said on Saturday, in his virtual address at the launch of the book ‘The Nehru Development Model’. In his address at the Sunday’s event, he reiterated that a ‘Nehru development model’ produced a ‘Nehru foreign policy’. “I mean, it was obvious. And, it wasn’t just what was happening in our country, there was an international landscape in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s which was bipolar. Then there was a unipolar landscape. And, both those landscapes have also changed,” the EAM said. On top of it, in the last two decades or so, there has been a “very intense globalisation”, a strong interdependence with countries. “In a way the relationship, the behaviour of states towards each other have changed,” he said. Finally, if one looks at technology, technology on foreign policy, technology on state capability, “technology on our daily existence, that too has changed”, he added. “So, if the domestic model has changed, if the landscape has changed, if the behavioural patterns of states have changed, and if the tools of foreign policies have changed, how can foreign policy remain the same,” he argued. “So, my point to you today is when we speak about changing foreign policy, if there is talk of a post-Nehruvian construct, it should not be treated as a political attack. I mean, it didn’t require Narendra Modi to do it, Narasimha Rao started it,” Jaishankar said. “So, I think, we need to be grounded, we need to be realistic, we need to be practical in this country, and the foreign policy discourse within track 2, and between track 2 and track 1 will certainly improve, if we move in that direction,” the EAM said. In his address, he also asserted that a vision for a developed India needs a foreign policy for ‘Viksit Bharat’. “If today our aspiration at home is to become a Viksit Bharat, surely there must be a foreign policy for Viksit Bharat. And, that foreign policy in a way, I would say, we had about a decade ago suggested the need for India to start thinking about moving towards a leading power. How to be more ambitious, how to plan ahead,” the EAM said. Now, some of it is also about positioning, a country will have in a sense, if it had the most friends, the least problems. The best relationships, the “minimal baggage”, and in that positioning the concept of ‘Vishwa Bandhu’ came up, he added. The vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ laid down by Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to build India as a developed nation by 2047 when it will complete 100 years as an independent nation. In his address, the external affairs minister also touched upon the aspects of various tracks of diplomacy and the importance of their inter-dynamics. “If we look back the last 25 years, and I grant you, I have a vested interest in that statement, but if you look back the last 25 years in this country, track 1 has been consistently ahead of track 2, when it comes to diplomacy, foreign policy and keeping up with the world,” he said. “In fact, if you look at many of the big ideas, much of the advocacy of change, I would say, really it is interesting that track 1 has outpaced track 2. Because, I do think that this dynamic of track 1, track 2, government, think-tank, official, academic, need changes in our country,” the EAM added. Track 1 diplomacy refers to official, government to government diplomacy while track 2 refers to unofficial contact and interaction in a diplomacy. Jaishankar said “our public space discourse should not be theological, it should not be polemical, it should not come as a defence of the past versus a compulsion to move beyond the past”. “So, to me a platform that signifies realism, which is contemporary, ambitious, I think it makes such a platform relevant,” he added. The EAM said if things are going to change then that begs a different question, “do we defend, manage, advance, or do we do all of the same”. “How ambitious we should be, what is it that we are aiming for. And, what should be the timing for what we should do,” he asked. And, if “we do raise our hedge to what degree and on what issues. I think that’s also a very important concern,” the minister added. “Just like the economic debates and the economic model of this country became more open, I think foreign policy, foreign policy thinking of this country has to keep pace with what is happening in this country, and needs to be more open. And, for that it’s important to have an integrated outlook,” the EAM asserted.None
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The ‘Escape From Tarkov’ 1.0 Release Is Not Coming This WipeTOKYO , Dec. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Representatives from China and Japan shared their insights on promoting artificial intelligence (AI) governance and data sharing at a sub-forum of the 20th Beijing-Tokyo Forum in Tokyo recently. The sub-forum contributed eastern wisdom to AI governance and digital social development, demonstrating the significance of international cooperation for the development of the digital economy, according to Gao Shaolin, advisor at Peking University's Legal Artificial Intelligence Research Center. AI governance framework The participants agreed that the next 10 years will be a critical period for the development of AI. Gao Wen, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), said since China's State Council issued a guideline on developing AI in 2017, the nation has made significant progress in AI research and development and industrial layout, especially in computing power and 5G network construction. By the end of 2023, China had over half of the world's 1.57 billion 5G users, according to the World Internet Development Report 2024. It ranked second globally in AI and computing power scale, which has laid a solid foundation for the rapid development of AI. Tatsuo Yamazaki , project professor at the International University of Health and Welfare, said it was very meaningful for Japan and China to discuss strengthening AI governance rules. Fumihiko Kamio , research director of the Nomura Research Institute, echoed his view. He emphasized that the core goal of AI technology is to improve productivity and eliminate obstacles to social development, and called on Chinese and Japanese experts to work together to build an AI governance framework to cope with the global challenges. Deepening international cooperation China put forth the Global AI Governance Initiative in October last year. In July, the UN General Assembly adopted a China -sponsored resolution on enhancing international cooperation on AI capacity-building. The participants spoke highly of the Global Cross-Border Data Flow Cooperation Initiative recently proposed by China . They agreed that AI governance requires global collaboration, especially in the formulation of international standards and the construction of ethical frameworks, where China and Japan can play an active role. Ding Wenhua, academician of the CAE, said China and Japan have both similarities and differences in technology development and governance priorities, so deepening cooperation will bring unique value to global AI governance. " China and Japan should deepen AI technology cooperation between enterprises, work together in AI security research, talent exchange, and jointly explore more possibilities for the application of technology," Wang Zhongyuan , president of the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, said. Balancing development & risks AI governance refers to the guardrails established to ensure AI systems and tools remain safe and ethical and respect human rights. Xu Zhilong , editor-in-chief of Science and Technology Daily, stressed that AI, as a revolutionary technology, has far-reaching impacts on all areas of society and economy. However, its potential risks such as data leakage and the spread of false information should not be ignored. "Technological progress and security ethics should be developed in a balanced way to ensure that AI technology always serves the progress of human civilization," Xu said. AI governance should not only heed the current technological ethics issues, but also prevent possible long-term risks, such as AI going out of human control, according to Toshio Iwamoto , senior corporate advisor of NTT DATA. He said AI R&D and application should abide by the principles of fairness, transparency, safety and availability. Yuan Yue, chairman of Beijing Dataway Horizon, shared his view from the perspective of regulatory models. "Policy choices should be based on the current status and goals of national technological development," Yuan said, adding that China prefers to provide a more friendly development environment for enterprises while ensuring an effective response to risks. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/science-and-technology-daily-promoting-ai-governance-jointly-302332050.html SOURCE Science and Technology Daily