Sunday, September 20, 2026
Home Blog Page 106

Hundreds feared dead in Lebanon strikes

0
Hundreds feared dead in Lebanon strikes

The attacks came within hours of the ceasefire announced between the United States and Iran following weeks of deadly hostilities that have disrupted lives, global trade and humanitarian operations in the Middle East and beyond.  

Today’s wave of IDF strikes came just as hopes for an end to violence and destruction were rising,” the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert tweeted. 

“This cannot go on. Neither side can shoot or strike their way to victory.”  

Hospitals under strain 

Israeli forces reported carrying out over 100 airstrikes in roughly 10 minutes, the top UN aid official in Lebanon, Imran Riza, said in a briefing to journalists in New York. 

He described the scale of bombardment as “dramatic,” saying “it’s been enormous, the level of these strikes.” 

Although casualty figures were not yet available, he said it was believed that hundreds may have been killed and many others injured. 

The hospitals are overwhelmed, and of course, there’s a huge, huge call out for blood donations throughout the country,” he added. 

An ‘extremely critical’ situation 

Another senior UN official, Blerta Aliko, was speaking to UN News during a pre-arranged interview when shelling intensified in Beirut. She and other staff from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) left their offices and took shelter in the basement.  When the interview resumed, the situation had “become extremely critical.”  

I personally heard the sound of nine strikes. There have been over 40 strikes in Beirut, and hundreds more across the country,” said Ms. Aliko, UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon. 

“As of this moment, the Director General of the Red Cross has confirmed more than 300 casualties.”  

Rising displacement 

The assault occurred amid renewed fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, which is taking place within the wider conflict between Israel and the United States against Iran that has also impacted several Gulf States.

Mr. Riza said that since the start of the escalation when Hezbollah launched strikes into Israel on 2 March, more than 1,500 people in Lebanon have been killed, including 130 children, according to the health ministry. 

Displacement has also reached “an unprecedented scale.” Some 1.2 million people, or nearly a fifth of the population, have been uprooted.  This exceeds the scale of displacement following hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted in 2024. 

“A lot of the strikes that happened today did not have displacement orders, did not have warning orders,” he said. 

Maternal care under fire 

Women and girls account for roughly half of those displaced in Lebanon and they are “bearing an unprecedented and intolerable burden,” said Laila Baker of the UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA, speaking from Beirut.

I met mothers fleeing under the bombardment, carrying their children with nothing but the clothes on their back; pregnant women who spoke of searching desperately for care under fire, or giving birth in shelters without support or privacy.” 

UNFPA estimates that some 13,500 pregnant women are among the displaced. In southern Lebanon, 1,700 expectant mothers are cut off from any essential maternal care and 200 will give birth in the next 30 days at a time when the health system is also under attack. 

Speaking from Cairo, the Regional Director for the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Hanan Balkhy said that “emergency, surgical and intensive care services are under severe pressure” in Lebanon, where the agency has also verified 106 attacks on healthcare to date. 

Ceasefire opportunity 

The UN continues to push for an end to the fighting in Lebanon and the wider region, and the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for the Middle East Conflict arrived in Iran on Wednesday to support peace efforts. 

“The ceasefire between the US and Iran offers an opportunity to prevent further loss of lives between Lebanon and Israel,” UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said in New York.

“Now is the time to pursue talks to resolve outstanding differences and work towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the conflict. There is no military solution to the conflict.” 

Source link

Washington federal court refuses to stay Pentagon’s ban on Anthropic technology

0
Washington federal court refuses to stay Pentagon’s ban on Anthropic technology

This is a partial setback for the Californian nugget of artificial intelligence (AI). A federal court in Washington refused, Wednesday April 8, to suspend the Pentagon’s ban on Anthropic, which had obtained its first legal victory in San Francisco against the Trump administration at the end of March.

The decision, consulted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), maintains in force a measure which aims to force Pentagon subcontractors to certify that they do not use technologies from Anthropic, creator of the Claude chatbot.

The move, which designated Anthropic a “supply chain risk” to the Pentagon, was taken on February 27 in response to the company’s refusal to have its artificial intelligence tools used for mass surveillance of US citizens and to make weapons fully autonomous.

Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Anthropic Blocks Pentagon’s Use of Its AI for ‘Mass Domestic Surveillance’ and ‘Fully Autonomous Weapons’

Until now, only non-American companies had been targeted by such a designation.

The effectiveness of this sanction, which falls under the federal public procurement code, is however debated, with some lawyers believing that the regulatory texts necessary for its implementation are still lacking.

“The best marketing investment”

On March 26, in a parallel appeal, Anthropic obtained a first victory against a similar sanction, this time taken within the framework of the military code: a judge in San Francisco suspended the directive of Defense Minister Pete Hegseth who designated Anthropic as a “risk” for the classified operations of the Pentagon. The suspension lasts until the case goes to trial in the coming months. The California judge also suspended a directive from Donald Trump which ordered all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic technologies.

Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers San Francisco judge puts Pentagon in difficulty against Anthropic

The government appealed the California decision, but it is the procedure in Washington which will return to the forefront first: the federal appeals court agreed to examine the merits in an accelerated manner and set the hearing for May 19.

In their decision on Wednesday, the three judges considered that the balance of interests tilted in favor of the government: if Anthropic suffers “likely irreparable harm”, this is “primarily financial”, while the issue for the government concerns the security of the Pentagon’s operations “in the context of an active military conflict”.

The court suggests that the company was also able to make a profit, citing statements from its boss, Dario Amodei, to his employees – “the general public and the media see us as the heroes (we are number 2 in the App Store!)”, and an article from the specialist media Digiday estimating that Anthropic’s opposition to the Pentagon “could turn out to be Silicon Valley’s best marketing investment in years”.

Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Anthropic restricts launch of its latest AI model to prevent cyberattack risks

On Monday, Anthropic announced “exponential” growth in revenues, tripled in one quarter, claiming $30 billion in annualized revenues, for the first time above the performance posted by its great rival OpenAI.

The World with AFP

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

Saint-Étienne: a man claiming to want to “die as a martyr” indicted and imprisoned

0
Saint-Étienne: a man claiming to want to “die as a martyr” indicted and imprisoned

A 35-year-old man, who said he wanted to die as a martyr on social networks, shooting in the air with a firearm, was indicted for “criminal conspiracy”, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office (Pnat) said this Wednesday, confirming information from franceinfo.

Placed in pre-trial detention, the suspect is of Algerian nationality, in an irregular situation, adds a source close to the case. Unknown to the police, he was arrested on Saturday afternoon in Saint-Étienne (Loire), where he had been living for several months, in the working-class district of Beaubrun.

The investigations “made it possible to identify a man, aged 35, appearing on two videos broadcast in short order on social networks, on the one hand evoking his wish to die as a martyr and using a firearm, shooting in the air in the street, on the other hand”, according to the anti-terrorism prosecution.

Five people were taken into custody in this case, but the others were released, said the Pnat.

VideoParis: an attack foiled in front of the Bank of America

[2/2] Christophe Fauviau, victory at all costs

Listen

Reinforced security around places of worship

The Pnat opened an investigation on Friday, the start of the Easter weekend, into “terrorist criminal association with a view to preparing one or more crimes of personal injury”.

The investigations, also relating to “possession of weapons, elements of weapons and ammunition of category B in relation to a terrorist enterprise”, had been entrusted to the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) and the National Directorate of the Judicial Police (DNPJ). A judicial investigation was opened this Wednesday for these same leaders.

At the end of March, the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, asked prefects and police and gendarmerie officials for “extreme vigilance” to ensure the security of places of worship during the Christian festival of Easter and the Jewish Passover, Pessah. For the moment, the Pnat does not mention a place of worship which would have been targeted by this suspect.

The Minister of the Interior stressed that these celebrations are taking place in a context of “a very clear increase in tensions at the international level” and a “high level of the terrorist threat” in France.

Passover takes place this year from the evening of Wednesday April 1st to Thursday April 9th. Easter fell on Sunday April 5 for Catholics and Protestants, with celebrations starting on the evening of Saturday April 4, with the Orthodox celebrating the resurrection of Christ on April 12.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

We do the session again: “Emeis, Eramet, Remy Cointreau” – 08/04

0
We do the session again: “Emeis, Eramet, Remy Cointreau” – 08/04

We repeat the session: “Emeis, Eramet, Remy Cointreau” – 08/04

On the same subject

We repeat the session: "Emeis, Eramet, Remy Cointreau" - 08/04
reading

We repeat the session: “Emeis, Eramet, Remy Cointreau” – 08/04

BFM Bourse - Wednesday April 8
2:18:00

BFM Bourse – Wednesday April 8

Traders alert: the essential technical thresholds on the markets and values ​​- 08/04
4:55

Traders alert: the essential technical thresholds on the markets and values ​​– 08/04

Bullshitometer: "The revival of French growth will go through demography" - FALSE responds Thibault Prébay - 08/04
7:34

Bullshitometer: “The revival of French growth will go through demography” – FAUX responds Thibault Prébay – 08/04

The Data Room: 23 = Microsoft's PE valuation level currently 23x, a particularly attractive level in our opinion - 08/04
2:49

The Data Room: 23 = Microsoft’s PE valuation level currently 23x, a particularly attractive level in our opinion – 08/04

Le Club: Iran, the ceasefire causes the market to jump - 08/04
23:43

Le Club: Iran, the ceasefire makes the market jump – 08/04

"The social risks of AI" - 08/04
8:06

“The social risks of AI” – 08/04

The world's economy: FED minutes to come, what can we anticipate? - 08/04
2:56

The world’s economy: FED minutes to come, what can we anticipate? – 08/04

Emeis, Eramet, Remy Cointreau - 08/04
9:41

Emeis, Eramet, Remy Cointreau – 08/04

Added value: They appreciate Virbac - 08/04
2:39

Added value: They appreciate Virbac – 08/04

Culture Stock market: Vietnamese stock market, an unprecedented rise!, by Julie Cohen-Heurton - 08/04
3:32

Culture Stock market: Vietnamese stock market, an unprecedented rise!, by Julie Cohen-Heurton – 08/04

Stock Market Culture: "If we consider that at this stage of the crisis, the markets are showing an initial decline, what would you recommend? In luxury: LVMH, Hermès or Ferrari? In industry: Safran or Airbus?"by Julie Cohen-Heurton - 08/04
3:59

Stock Market Culture: “If we consider that at this stage of the crisis, the markets are showing an initial markdown, what would you recommend? In luxury: LVMH, Hermès or Ferrari? In industry: Safran or Airbus? », by Julie Cohen-Heurton – 08/04

The cash purse: "End of crisis in sight, outperformance of European stocks" - 08/04
7:39

The cash stock market: “End of the crisis in sight, outperformance of European stocks” – 08/04

USA Today: "The return of the TACO"by John Plassard - 08/04
16:14

USA Today: “The return of the TACO”, by John Plassard – 08/04

Video preview

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

“We see the hedges, the apple trees, the pear trees, it’s magnificent”: the spectacle of pear trees in flower, a springtime pleasure for the Normans

0
“We see the hedges, the apple trees, the pear trees, it’s magnificent”: the spectacle of pear trees in flower, a springtime pleasure for the Normans

In Normandy, the spectacle of spring flowering is offered to visitors: hundreds of pear trees from the Domfrontais orchards. France Télévisions invites you to skim over them. An ephemeral landscape, which attracts many curious people every year at the same time.

This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in full.

Seen from above, all the poetry of spring is visible. The white flowers of the pear trees on the tender grass of the orchards: “It’s magnificent! I love this season every year,” confides an amateur photographer. Precious images that must be captured during flowering, just a few days.

From a human perspective, it is probably also the most beautiful season to discover Normandy: “We are really in a country […] Magnificent. The Normandy countryside has remained a little as it has always been. We see the hedges, we see the apple trees, the pear trees, it’s magnificent,” rejoices a walker.

“In an orchard like this, you have about fifteen varieties despite everything, because there are old trees that have been there for 100 or 200 years,” explains Frédéric Pacory, producer of perry, the famous pear cider. He planted most of these trees himself. And this year, the harvest promises to be exceptional.

“Look, there, on a handful, I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven flowers. So, it’s almost too much. Okay, so not everything will fertilize. Not all pears will get bigger. But to have a good perry, there must be one in two, one in three which fertilizes,” specifies the producer.

A single tree can yield up to a ton of pears. Within ten days, the white petals will fall and the fruits will begin to grow until they are harvested at the end of summer.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

What can dogs tell us about how robots can locate objects? Gestures may be as important as words

0



By incorporating insights from canine companions, researchers enable robots to use both language and gesture as inputs to

Source link

BFM Crypto, the Club: Taxes, tax audits are increasing – 08/04

0
BFM Crypto, the Club: Taxes, tax audits are increasing – 08/04

This Tuesday, April 7, the deadline of June 30, 2026 for crypto market players to obtain European MiCA approval and the probable number of players who will disappear with, the 14 out of 90 players approved MiCA by the AMF in France, the start of the tax declaration campaign, the increase in tax controls for taxes, as well as the ongoing discussion of an anti-fraud bill, were addressed by Tangi Le Calvez, founder and president from GOin, Stéphanie Nemarq Attias, founder of Qomit, and Alexandre Stachtchenko, director of strategy at Bitstack, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, le Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

This Wednesday, March 25, the debate between the digital euro and the stablecoin, the question of the stablecoin as a tool of sovereignty, as well as the possibility of the sovereignty of the digital euro against the USA, were addressed by Jean Marc Stenger, general director of Société Générale Forge, Erick Lacourrège, general director of means of payment at the Banque de France, and Hubert de Vauplane, partner at Morgan Lewis, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, the Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

Tuesday March 24, the enthusiasm of users for Bitstack’s fundraising, the rise in the price of Bitcoin due to the conflict in the Middle East, Kraken’s obtaining access to payments from the Fed, and the rapprochement between finance and crypto in the USA, were discussed by Louis Alexandre de Froissard, associate manager at Montaigne Conseil & Patrimoine, Nathalie Janson, economist, professor at Neoma Business School, and Alexandre Roubaud, founder and CEO of Bitstack, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, le Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

This Monday, March 20, with bitcoin losing 22% since the start of the year, the possibility of a Ponzi pyramid at Strategy, the institutionalization of the crypto sector, as well as the reclassification of cryptos by the SEC in the United States, were discussed by Pauline Armandet, BFM Business journalist, Yves Choueifaty, founder of TOBAM, and Louis Laszlo, CTO at Meria, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, le Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

Thursday March 19, the steps to follow for a first crypto purchase, the consequences of the evolution of quantum technology on the viability of the blockchain, the value of a Bitcoin, and all the questions asked by the listeners, were addressed by Maurgane N Landu, founder of Cryptos-360, and Enzo Hallot, CEO of Crypto-patrimoine, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, le Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

Wednesday March 18, the distinction between purchasing and holding Bitcoin, the role of notaries on digital assets, the creation of a notarial institute, and the deadline for the obligation to have MiCA approval for all service providers on crypto-assets were discussed by Jonathan Herscovici, founder of StackInSat, Julie Bader, lawyer at De Gaulle Fleurance, and Gwendal Texier, associate notary at AP Notaires, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, the Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

This Tuesday, March 17, the rise of bitcoin, the purchase of 11,000 bitcoins in one week by Strategy, nuclear reactors producing too much electricity according to the latest EDF report, as well as mining and surplus energy as a possible subject for 2027, were discussed by Florent Gabriel, founder and CEO of Blobb.io, Marvin Scaringella, founder of VenaLabs, and Enzo Hallot, founder of crypto-heritage, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, le Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

This Monday, March 16, the launch of a bitcoin fundraiser at Planète EDD with certain donations sent on-chain, bitcoin serving the most vulnerable, as well as mining generating crypto for NGOs, were discussed by Nathalie Janson, economist and professor at Neoma Business School, Alexandre Stachtchenko, director of strategy and communications at Bitstack, Mylène Massé, philanthropy manager at Planète Enfants et Développement, and Saimi Barragan, founder and CEO of StartMining, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, le Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

Thursday February 26, the evaluation of broker-type platforms, platforms for futures contracts for French residents, the purchase of cryptos directly on blockchain, the transmission of a Ledger key, and all questions from listeners, were addressed by Maurgane N Landu, founder of cryptos-360, and Enzo Hallot, founder and CEO of Crypto-patrimoine, received by Sandra Gandoin in the show BFM Crypto, le Club on BFM Business. Find the show from Monday to Thursday and listen to it again as a podcast.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

Iran: the Basijs play the policy of terror to dissuade any demonstration

0
Iran: the Basijs play the policy of terror to dissuade any demonstration

An extension in your browser appears to be blocking the loading of the video player. To be able to watch this content, you must disable or uninstall it.

Try again

Iran: the Basijs play the policy of terror to dissuade any demonstration ©France 24

To be found in the show

The Observers

Reading time
1 minute

Since the start of the war, the men of Basij, an armed wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, have appeared in the Iranian streets with heavy weapons, in combat gear, showing off photos of the new supreme leader. The message is clear: dissuade Iranians opposed to the regime from taking to the streets to demonstrate. Our Observer believed the fall of the regime was possible and today testifies to his disillusionment

Originally published at Almouwatin.com

Research finds rare evidence for aesthetics and cognition among early humans

0



A survey conducted by a Tel Aviv University (TAU) archaeologist and a resident of the Arab city of Sakhnin recently

Source link

وقف إطلاق النار بين إسرائيل والولايات المتحدة وإيران: هدنة هشة في أزمة لا تزال قابلة للانفجار

0
وقف إطلاق النار بين إسرائيل والولايات المتحدة وإيران: هدنة هشة في أزمة لا تزال قابلة للانفجار

تم الإعلان عن وقف إطلاق نار لمدة خمسة عشر يوماً بين إسرائيل والولايات المتحدة بعد أسابيع من التصعيد العسكري المتبادل الذي شهد ضربات جوية، واعتراضات Remove the water from the water. هذا التوقف المؤقت للعمليات العسكرية يعكس محاولة لاحتواء التوتر ومنع انزلاق الوضع نحو مواجهة أوسع قد تشمل أطرافاً إقليمية إضافية

ورغم أهمية هذا الإعلان، فإن هذه الهدنة لا تعني نهاية الصراع أو التوصل مرحلة مؤقتة تهدف إلى تخفيف حدة المواجهة وخلق هامش زمني لاحتواء التصعيد. فالأسباب العميقة للأزمة لا تزال قائمة، والخلافات بين الأطراف المعنية لم تُحلّ بعد، سواء على المستوى الأمني أو الاستراتيجي

على أرض الواقع، لا تزال القوات في حالة تأهب، كما أن أنظمة الدفاع الجوي تواصل عملها بشكل طبيعي، وهو ما يعكس مستوى الحذر العالي وعدم الثقة بين الأطراف. هذه الوضعية تؤكد أن وقف إطلاق النار الحالي هو إجراء تكتيكي أكثر منه تحولاً جذرياً في مسار الصراع

من جهة أخرى، قد تفتح هذه الفترة القصيرة المجال أمام تحركات دبلوماسية، سواء بشكل مباشر أو عبر وساطات دولية، بهدف تهدئة Remove the water from the water. غير أن غياب اتفاق واضح أو إطار تفاوضي رسمي يجعل من الصعب التنبؤ بإمكانية تحويل هذه الهدنة إلى مسار طويل الأمد

كما أن لهذه التطورات أبعاداً تتجاوز الجانب العسكري، إذ تؤثر بشكل مباشر على الاستقرار الإقليمي، وعلى حركة التجارة خاصة في المناطق الحيوية المرتبطة بالطاقة. لذلك، فإن أي تصعيد جديد قد تكون له تداعيات واسعة تتجاوز حدود المنطقة

في المحصلة، تمثل هذه الهدنة استراحة مؤقتة في أزمة معقدة لم تُحلّ بعد. الأيام القادمة ستكون حاسمة في تحديد ما إذا كانت هذه الفترة ستؤدي إلى تهدئة مستدامة، أم أنها مجرد توقف قصير قبل عودة التوترات من جديد.

Originally published at Almouwatin.com