Day: March 15, 2024

ISTANBUL: Beijing will ask websites to mark AI-generated information and tag fictional content as China moves to regulate artificial intelligence, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported on Friday. The country's cyberspace regulator will conduct a campaign to regulate AI-generated content on the internet. It includes handling illegal accounts that use generative and/or synthetic algorithm technology to create rumors and marketing hype. Meanwhile, China has called for high-quality development of AI to assist in promoting children's mental health, and protection of children's rights. In a joint statement delivered on behalf of 80 countries at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, Ambassador Chen Xu said artificial intelligence as a new field of human development should 'adhere to the concept of consultation, joint construction, and shared benefits.' Urging joint work to promote governance of artificial intelligence, China's permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, s aid: 'The new generation of children has become one of the main groups using and benefiting from AI technology.' He added that all parties should adhere to fairness and inclusiveness, strengthen exchanges and cooperation and provide technical support to developing countries, share experiences and good practices to bridge the intelligence gap. To strengthen the international governance of AI, Chen called for adherence to 'unity in diversity, respect to national sovereignty, laws, national conditions, and historical, religious, and cultural backgrounds." Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: As the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens, Australia on Friday resumed funding to the UN agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). 'In resuming funding, (the) government is responding to a humanitarian situation in Gaza which is dire, and only worsening,' a Foreign Ministry statement said. Israel started its war on Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by Hamas. It has since killed more than 31,000 Palestinians and pushed the territory to the brink of famine. Australia had joined its Western allies including the US and UK in January in suspending funding to the organization after Tel Aviv alleged a dozen UNRWA workers were linked to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas inside Israel. The statement issued by Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the decision to the temporary pause was taken "following steps to strengthen the integrity of UNRWA operations." Besides unfreezing $6 million to UNRWA, Canberra will also support efforts by Jordan and the UAE to assist with the delivery of vital humanitarian a id to civilians in Gaza. A Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster will deliver a supply of 140 Australian Defence Force aerial delivery parachutes for use in humanitarian assistance airdrops, according to the statement. The press release said the decision is in line with steps taken by Canada, Sweden and the EU, and it is "expected that more countries that have paused will take a similar approach." Canberra acknowledged that only UNRWA has the infrastructure to receive and distribute aid on the scale needed in Gaza, urging Israel to recognize its mandate and work transparently to support its integrity. Australia also reiterated its call for an "immediate and enduring humanitarian" cease-fire in Gaza that will "enable unconditional release of hostages, and the urgent humanitarian relief that is needed." 'The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organization, and that existing additional safeguards sufficiently protect Aust ralian taxpayer funding,' Foreign Minister Wong said in a press conference in Adelaide. 'What I do know is this, I know there's people starving in Gaza ... I know that UNRWA is critical to providing this assistance to people who are on the brink of starving,' she said. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: The Houthi group announced Friday that the US and UK conducted six more airstrikes on the coastal province of Al Hudaydah in western Yemen. 'A US-UK aggression targeted the area of Ras Issa in the Salif directorate and the Al-Faze region of At Tuhayta District in Hodeidah province with five raids,' said Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah. The Al Hudaydah Airport was also attacked, it added. It did not specify the results of the attack and there has been no response from the US or UK. Al Hudaydah is an important Yemeni province, with three vital ports in addition to a long coastal strip. Since the beginning of 2024, a coalition led by the US has been conducting airstrikes that it said are targeting Houthi locations in parts of Yemen in response to attacks by the group in the Red Sea. The counterattacks have been occasionally met with retaliation from the group. In solidarity with Gaza, which is facing a devastating Israeli offensive, the Houthis targeted Israeli cargo ships or those associate d with Tel Aviv in the Red Sea with missiles and drones, expressing determination to continue operations until the end of the war on the enclave. With the intervention of Washington and London and an escalation of tensions, the Houthis announced that they now consider all American and British ships as military targets. Source: Anadolu Agency

An initiative by Cyprus' House President and President of the Democratic Rally Annita Demetriou and Meltem Onurkan Samani, General Coordinator of the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre brought together on Friday women from both communities at the House for Cooperation, in the buffer zone in Nicosia, to discuss peace and exchange ideas on promoting dialogue and cooperation in a divided island. The panel discussion titled "Women for Peace-initiatives to promote dialogue and cooperation" involved prominent women from all scopes of social life, politicians, scholars, journalists, educators, lawyers, artists, activists, environmentalists, members of technical committees and economists. They all shared their common vision for a reunited island and stressed the role of women in the peace process, demanding that they become heard and more visible and actively involved in the peace talks. In her introductory statement, Annita Demetriou pointed out that we cannot find ourselves before an agreement and then decide to t ake action, pointing out that women must be actively participating in the peace dialogue. She said once again that there are no frozen conflicts and underlined the role of the youth and the need to overcome obstacles and address the challenges , bringing trust as well. She also noted that personal relations are essential and play a key role in diplomacy. Demetriou also said that we need transparency in the process, criticizing the fact that the Greek Cypriot side does not yet have, as she noted, a Cyprus problem negotiating team despite the fact that the President asked the parties to give him names of people who could comprise this team. Speaking after the event Demetriou said that today they joined efforts to build the solid foundation that will promote dialogue and peace through the voice of women. She noted that women from both communities are taking action, as emphasized in the very useful and fruitful roundtable discussion, where specific ideas and proposals were put forward for a more active role an d involvement of women in the negotiation process. "The Democratic Rally continues unwaveringly and with even greater intensity its initiative, especially now with the efforts of the UNSG's Personal Envoy, in order to bolster the sense of trust, contributing as much as we can to create the necessary conditions that will lead to the resumption of substantive negotiations and ultimately to the achievement of a solution. We are determined not to let any opportunity go down'', she said. Meltem Onurkan Samani who was special advisor to former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci , former general coordinator of the UN led bi-communal Technical Committees and former Co-Chair of the Technical Committee on Education, said that we need joint efforts to create something concrete that will bring together both communities in view of the solution. She said that this year's 60th anniversary of the UNFICYP presence on the island is a reminder of an unresolved issue. She said that normalization of the status quo is not th e solution and added that we need fresh perspectives and an active women role especially those who are often marginalized. Samani also underlined the role of empathy and consensus and also added that focusing on the external factor and blaming others does not let us see the right perspective and take initiatives. Following the introductory statements by Demetriou and Samani, as the event was under their auspices, the floor was given to women who participated from both communities to give their insight, share experiences and put forward suggestions. They all underlined the role women can play in the peace process, the sensitivities and special insight they could give to the talks, they spoke about gender equality issues, the role of education and media and how important it is to speak to children about the issue, the peace and the things the two communities share. There were suggestions about a pressure group that could be put together just like the one in Northern Ireland, the role of the youth, discussion about how important it is to educate people about the solution and to reach all groups and all ages. All women stressed the gender perspective in the talks and underlined that there is not enough representation of women in the Technical Committees either. Some speakers also noted that women from both communities suffered a lot because of the conflict and they need visibility, and added that both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot women can also talk about other issues such as motherhood or fertility problems. They also underlined the importance of UN Resolution 1325 and the fact that the Cyprus House passed on Thursday a resolution on women's role in peace and security. The role of morality also came up during the discussion and some underlined that if you are a moral and just person you do not need to be taught about the rights of others. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. In January UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Holguin as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue. Source: Cyprus News Agency

ANKARA: Israel has not provided any evidence to support its recent accusations against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the European Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management said Thursday. Speaking to journalists in Brussels, Janez Lenarcic said neither he nor 'anybody else at the EU executive, or any other UNRWA donor had been presented with evidence by Israel," the Times of Israel news website reported. Lenarcic emphasized the importance of UNRWA being able to continue its operations despite the allegations made by Israel, which led some Western countries, including the US, to freeze their donations to the agency. UNRWA terminated the contracts of several of its staff in January after Israeli authorities accused some of the agency's employees of being involved in the Oct. 7 cross-border incursion into Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas. "UNRWA has reacted properly, immediately, effectively. It took several measures. There is an investigation. There is a review. We are sa tisfied so far with all of this," Lenarcic added. Describing UNRWA as an "irreplaceable" organization, he highlighted its critical role in the Gaza Strip, citing its unique infrastructure, warehouses, shelters and logistical capacity. UNRWA, financed by voluntary contributions from UN member states since its inception in 1950, serves as the main organization providing humanitarian assistance such as food, health, education and shelter to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees. Throughout its nearly 74-year history, UNRWA has repeatedly faced attacks from Israel, with its facilities being hit and tons of food and medicine destroyed. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urgently called for an investigation into the Israeli officials' claims. Following the allegations, the US along with several other countries announced temporary suspensions of their financial support to UNRWA. The agency also launched an investigation into the claims. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, in a letter to UN General As sembly President Dennis Francis on Feb. 23, said Israel had not provided any evidence concerning the allegations. Norway, Ireland and Spain have announced their continued support for UNRWA, while Sweden and Canada recently separately announced that they would resume financial assistance to the agency. Source: Anadolu Agency

The Qatar Cabinet approved the draft agreement cooperation between the Cyprus News Agency and the Qatar News Agency. According to the Qatari English speaking daily "The Peninsula" published on 13 March, the approval of the agreement was among the issues at the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. The statement issued after the meeting by Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs HE Ibrahim bin Ali Al Mohannadi, said it approved a draft joint cooperation and news exchange agreement between the Qatar News Agency and the Cyprus News Agency. It also approved a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation and joint news exchange between the Qatar News Agency and the Djibouti News Agency. Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Deputy Minister of Culture, Vasiliki Kassianidou, said the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage is a means of eradicating the identity of a people. She made the remark during an event on Thursday where the results of the project "Digitising the Museums of Cyprus" (CADiP), organised by the Department of Antiquities were presented. The project was funded by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (EEA) and Norway Grants (Programming Period 2014 - 2021), an official press release said. Kassianidou said "the conflicts in the Middle East region in recent years, but also the experiences of Cyprus itself after the Turkish invasion of 1974, have highlighted the scourge of the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage as a means of eradicating the identity of a people". In her address, Kassianidou referred to the digitization of 96,000 ancient objects exhibited in showcases and kept in the warehouses of state museums over the last 36 months. The Deputy Minister praised the importance of digita lisation in the management and promotion of cultural heritage and cultural goods. She said that new technology "is one of the key pillars in efforts to document, protect and recover stolen cultural property, both through the creation of specialised applications to combat illicit trade and through the emphasis placed on high-quality documentation of cultural goods". The project "Digitising the Museums of Cyprus" started in May 2021 and aimed at digitizing all objects exhibited in Museum exhibitions under the responsibility of the Department of Antiquities. Since 2009, more than 100,000 movable finds, 3,581 archaeological surveys and 1,641 ancient monuments have been digitized in the digital database of the Department of Antiquities. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. Source : Cyprus News Agency