Ukraine unveils AI-generated foreign ministry spokesperson
Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukraine has an AI-generated spokesperson called Victoria who will make official statements on behalf of its foreign ministry. The ministry said on Wednesday that it would “for the first time in history” use a digital spokesperson to…
Russia uninterested in Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland
Russia said Thursday that it saw no point in attending a conference in Switzerland to discuss how to end the conflict in Ukraine. Switzerland is expected to host the talks June 15-16 at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy….
UN rights chief urges Georgia to scrap ‘foreign influence’ bill
Thousands of people have taken to the streets for days to protest the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, which would require media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving more than 20 per cent of funding from abroad to register…
Is social media access a human right? Norway’s Supreme Court to decide
STAVANGER, Norway — A convicted sex offender is asking the Norwegian Supreme Court to declare social media access is a human right. The case before the court Thursday involves a man who molested a minor and used the Snapchat messaging…
Macron says ruling out actions in support of Ukraine weakens resistance to Russia
French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published Thursday it would be wrong to rule out any particular actions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that doing so weakens the capacity to deter Russia. In the interview…
Drone footage shows how Russian airstrikes devastated Ukrainian city
KYIV, Ukraine — Months of relentless Russian artillery pounding have devastated a strategic city in eastern Ukraine, new drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows, with barely a building left intact, homes and municipal offices charred, and a town…
Russia displays Western equipment captured from Ukrainian army
moscow — An exhibition of Western military equipment captured from Kyiv forces during the fighting in Ukraine opened Wednesday in the Russian capital. The exhibit, organized by the Russian Defense Ministry, features more than 30 pieces of Western-made heavy equipment,…
Russia breached global chemical weapons ban in Ukraine war, US says
washington — The United States on Wednesday accused Russia of violating the international chemical weapons ban by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and using riot control agents “as a method of warfare” in Ukraine. “The use of…
Explosives clearance enables aid to reach victims of war in Gaza
GENEVA — More than 800 mine action leaders attending a U.N.-sponsored conference in Geneva this week are warning of the ongoing dangers from unexploded ordnance and landmines in countries affected by conflict. A focus of the conference is on the…
US issues sanctions targeting Russia, takes aim at Chinese companies
WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday issued hundreds of fresh sanctions targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine in action that took aim at Moscow’s circumvention of Western measures, including through China. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on…