BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emannuel Macron are prepared to work with the Syrian rebel groups who ousted President Bashar Assad on certain conditions, a German government statement after a phone call between the two leaders.
The leaders of the European Union’s two largest powers welcomed the departure of Assad who had caused “terrible suffering to the Syrian people and great damage to his country.” The Syrian leader fled Damascus for Moscow on Sunday, ending more than 50 years of brutal rule by his family.
“(Scholz and Macron) agreed that they were prepared to work together with the new rulers on the basis of fundamental human rights and the protection of ethnic and religious minorities,” according to the German government statement published late on Monday.
The statement came as governments worldwide are scrambling to forge new links with Syria’s leading rebel faction Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a group formerly allied with Al Qaeda and which is designated a terrorist organization by the US, European Union, Turkiye and the UN
Scholz and Macron agreed to work together to strengthen EU engagement in Syria, including support for an inclusive political process in Syria, and would discuss the way forward in close coordination with partners in the Middle East, the statement read.
Scholz, Macron prepared to work with Syrian rebels after Assad ouster
https://arab.news/c82cd
Scholz, Macron prepared to work with Syrian rebels after Assad ouster
- The statement came as governments worldwide are scrambling to forge new links with Syria’s leading rebel faction Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham
Ukraine’s drone attack on Moscow forces airports’ closure, officials say
Ukraine launched an overnight drone attack targeting Moscow for the second night in a row, forcing closure of the capital’s three major airports, Russian officials said early on Wednesday.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app that at least six Ukrainian drones were destroyed on their approach to Moscow.
According to preliminary information, there was no “serious damage or injuries” at the site of the falling debris from the destroyed drones at one of the key highways leading into the city.
Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said on Telegram it had halted flights at all four airports that serve Moscow, a move designed to ensure air safety.
On Tuesday, Russia’s air defense units destroyed four Ukrainian drones on their approach to Moscow, with no damages or injuries reported.
The war began more than three years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine, a move Moscow described as a special military operation. Since then, Kyiv has launched several drone attacks on Moscow. Its biggest ever attack in March killed three people.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv about the Wednesday attack. Ukraine says its drone attacks are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow’s overall war efforts and are in response to Russia’s continued attack on Ukrainian territory.
OpenAI abandons plan to become for-profit company
SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced Monday that the company behind ChatGPT will continue to be run as a nonprofit, abandoning a contested plan to convert into a for-profit organization.
The structural issue had become a significant point of contention for the artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer, with major investors pushing for the change to better secure their returns.
AI safety advocates had expressed concerns about pursuing substantial profits from such powerful technology without the oversight of a nonprofit board of directors acting in society’s interest rather than for shareholder profits.
“OpenAI is not a normal company and never will be,” Altman wrote in an email to staff posted on the company’s website.
“We made the decision for the nonprofit to stay in control after hearing from civic leaders and having discussions with the offices of the Attorneys General of California and Delaware,” he added.
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 and later created a “capped” for-profit entity allowing limited profit-making to attract investors, with cloud computing giant Microsoft becoming the largest early backer.
This arrangement nearly collapsed in 2023 when the board unexpectedly fired Altman. Staff revolted, leading to Altman’s reinstatement while those responsible for his dismissal departed.
Alarmed by the instability, investors demanded OpenAI transition to a more traditional for-profit structure within two years.
Under its initial reform plan revealed last year, OpenAI would have become an outright for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC), reassuring investors considering the tens of billions of dollars necessary to fulfill the company’s ambitions.
Any status change, however, requires approval from state governments in California and Delaware, where the company is headquartered and registered, respectively.
The plan faced strong criticism from AI safety activists and co-founder Elon Musk, who sued the company he left in 2018, claiming the proposal violated its founding philosophy.
In the revised plan, OpenAI’s money-making arm will now be fully open to generate profits but, crucially, will remain under the nonprofit board’s supervision.
“We believe this sets us up to continue to make rapid, safe progress and to put great AI in the hands of everyone,” Altman said.
OpenAI’s major investors will likely have a say in this proposal, with Japanese investment giant SoftBank having made the change to being a for-profit a condition for their massive $30 billion investment announced on March 31.
In an official document, SoftBank stated its total investment could be reduced to $20 billion if OpenAI does not restructure into a for-profit entity by year-end.
The substantial cash injections are needed to cover OpenAI’s colossal computing requirements to build increasingly energy-intensive and complex AI models.
The company’s original vision did not contemplate “the needs for hundreds of billions of dollars of compute to train models and serve users,” Altman said.
SoftBank’s contribution in March represented the majority of the $40 billion raised in a funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, marking the largest capital-raising event ever for a startup.
The company, led by Altman, has become one of Silicon Valley’s most successful startups, propelled to prominence in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, its generative AI chatbot.
Ukrainian forces attack substation in Kursk region, regional governor says
- Two teenagers were injured in the attack
- Russian war bloggers reported a new Ukrainian land-based incursion into the area backed by armored vehicles
MOSCOW: Ukrainian forces attacked a power substation in Russia’s western Kursk region, the regional governor said early on Tuesday after Russian war bloggers reported a new Ukrainian land-based incursion into the area backed by armored vehicles.
Officials on both sides of the border reported deaths from military activity and ordered evacuations of several settlements.
Kursk Governor Alexander Khinshtein’s report, posted on the Telegram messaging app, said Ukrainian forces had struck the substation in the town of Rylsk, about 50 km (30 miles) from the border, injuring two teenagers. Two transformers were damaged and power cut to the area.
“Dear residents, the enemy, in its agony, is continuing to launch strikes against our territory,” Khinshtein wrote.
Ukraine made a surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024, hoping to shift the momentum in Russia’s full-scale invasion and draw Russian forces away from other sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s top general said last month that Ukrainian troops had been ejected from Kursk, ending the biggest incursion into Russian territory since World War Two, and that Russia was carving out a buffer zone in the Ukrainian region of Sumy.
Kyiv has not acknowledged that its troops were forced out. President Volodymyr Zelensky says Kyiv’s forces continue to operate in Kursk and in the adjacent Russian region of Belgorod.
Russian bloggers had earlier reported that Ukrainian forces firing missiles had smashed through the border, crossing minefields with special vehicles.
“The enemy blew up bridges with rockets at night and launched an attack with armored groups in the morning,” Russian war blogger “RVvoenkor” said on Telegram.
“The mine clearance vehicles began to make passages in the minefields, followed by armored vehicles with troops. There is a heavy battle going on at the border.”
Popular Russian military blog Rybar said Ukrainian units were trying to advance near two settlements in Kursk region over the border — Tyotkino and Glushkovo.
The head of Glushkovo district, Pavel Zolotaryov, wrote on Telegram that residents of several localities were being evacuated to safer areas.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with Moscow calling it a special military operation.
DRONE ATTACKS INCREASE
“Over the past 24 hours, there has been an increase in attacks by enemy drones,” Zolotaryov wrote. “There have been instances of people being killed or wounded, of houses and sites of civil infrastructure being destroyed.”
The Ukrainian incursion into Kursk was reported by other Russian bloggers, including “the archangel of special forces” and Russian state television war correspondent Alexander Sladkov.
Ukrainian officials did not comment on any advances.
But Ukraine’s Prosecutor’s Office said Russian forces had subjected two settlements in the border Sumy region — Bilopillya and Vorozhba — to artillery fire and guided bomb attacks, killing three residents and injuring four.
Earlier, local authorities in Sumy region had urged residents to evacuate their homes in the area, about 10 km (six miles) across the border from Tyotkino in Kursk region.
The Ukrainian military said on Monday that its forces struck a Russian drone command unit near Tyotkino on Sunday.
Trump’s Alcatraz prison restoration plan gets cold reception from tourists
- Site known as ‘The Rock’ draws 1.2 million tourists a year
- US closed prison in 1963 due costs of operating on an island
SAN FRANCISCO: US President Donald Trump’s plan to turn Alcatraz back into a federal prison was summarily rejected on Monday by some visitors to the tourist site in San Francisco Bay.
Trump revealed a plan over the weekend to rebuild and expand the notorious island prison, a historic landmark known as “The Rock” and operated by the US government’s National Park Service. It’s “just an idea I’ve had,” he said.
“We need law and order in this country. So we’re going to look at it,” he added on Monday.
Once nearly impossible to leave, the island can be difficult to get to because of competition for tickets. Alcatraz prison held fewer than 300 inmates at a time before it was closed in 1963 and draws roughly 1.2 million tourists a year.
US Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall said on Monday he would vigorously pursue the president’s agenda and was looking at next steps.
“It’s a waste of money,” said visitor Ben Stripe from Santa Ana, California. “After walking around and seeing this place and the condition it’s in, it is just way too expensive to refurbish.” he said.
“It’s not feasible to have somebody still live here,” agreed Cindy Lacomb from Phoenix, Arizona, who imagined replacing all the metal in the cells and rebuilding the crumbling concrete.
The sprawling site is in disrepair, with peeling paint and rusting locks and cell bars. Signs reading “Area closed for your safety” block off access to many parts of the grounds. Chemical toilets sit next to permanent restrooms closed off for repair.
The former home of Al Capone and other notable inmates was known for tough treatment, including pitch-black isolation cells. It was billed as America’s most secure prison given the island location, frigid waters and strong currents.
It was closed because of high operating costs. The island also was claimed by Native American activists in 1969, an act of civil disobedience acknowledged by the National Park Service.
Mike Forbes, visiting from Pittsburgh, said it should remain a part of history. “I’m a former prison guard and rehabilitation is real. Punishment is best left in the past,” Forbes said.
No successful escapes were ever officially recorded from Alcatraz, though five prisoners were listed as “missing and presumed drowned.”
Today a “Supermax” facility located in Florence, Colorado, about 115 miles (185 km) south of Denver, is nicknamed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.” No one has ever escaped from that 375-inmate facility since it opened in 1994.
Congress in fiscal year 2024 cut the Bureau of Prisons infrastructure budget by 38 percent and prison officials have previously reported a $3 billion maintenance backlog. The Bureau of Prisons last year said it would close aging prisons, as it struggled with funding cuts.
18 British student groups support legal action to remove Hamas from UK terror list
- The groups, some of which are affiliated with student unions at leading universities, say the ban ‘creates an atmosphere where advocacy for Palestine becomes a legal risk’
- The prohibition of Hamas means it is a criminal offense for anyone in the UK to have links with the organization or show support for it
LONDON: Eighteen student groups at British universities have supported legal moves to remove Hamas from the UK’s list of proscribed terrorist organizations.
Some of the groups are affiliated with student unions at leading UK academic institutions, including the London School of Economics, the University of Edinburgh, and University College London.
The groups said the legal petition “defends the right of students, academics and communities to think freely, speak openly and organize without fear of being criminalized,” The Times newspaper reported on Monday.
In April, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk instructed British firm Riverway Law to take legal action with the aim of removing his organization from a Home Office list of terrorist groups. The military wing of Hamas was banned by UK authorities in 2001. The ban was extended in 2021 to include its political bureau.
Lawyers from the firm said in April that by banning Hamas, “Britain is effectively denying the Palestinians the right to defend themselves.” The organization “does not pose any threat” to Britain’s national security, they added, and the ban was therefore “disproportionate.”
The prohibition of Hamas means it is a criminal offense for anyone in the UK to have any links with the organization or show support for it.
The student groups said the ban on Hamas “creates an atmosphere where advocacy for Palestine becomes a legal risk,” and students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism faced intimidation and threats.
“We therefore stand in support of Riverway Law’s application to deproscribe Hamas, not as an endorsement of any group, but to protect the civic space essential for academic freedom and open inquiry,” they said.
The student organizations backing the legal challenge include Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society, LSE Divest Encampment for Liberation, University of Birmingham Friends of Palestine, Newcastle Apartheid Off Campus, and the Students Against Apartheid Coalition at the University of Leeds.
