Talks to start on recognition of state of Palestine by western states
Talks will start on Friday at an official level about the possibility of recognising the state of Palestine.A senior Arab diplomat in London said:“If you asked me a fortnight ago if there will be wider recognition [of Palestine] by western states I would have said no, but now I am not so sure.”The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, suspended trade talks with Israel on Tuesday and described its refusal to lift a blockade of aid into Gaza as “abominable”.Lammy spoke to the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, on Wednesday about the barriers blocking aid.The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said this week: “We cannot leave the children of Gaza a legacy of violence and hatred.
So all this must stop and that’s why we are determined to recognise a Palestinian state.”The developments come ahead of a UN-sponsored conference in New York starting on 17 June, co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France.Officials at the conference will have to discuss the context for such a recognition of the state of Palestine.One question is whether there would need to be parallel recognition of Israel by states such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, something that is regarded as impossible in the absence of a clear path to a two-state solution.Israel is adamantly opposed to a two-state solution.
The new US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, in an interview in Haarezt newspaper resisted the idea, saying: “I am asking whether there truly needs to be a Palestinian state.”One of the issue under discussion is whether recognising Palestine would have implications for companies or individuals who trade in the occupied territories.UK ministers are not expecting to announce further measures in the near future, but neither Jordan nor the UK has ruled out using air drops as was attempted last year.MPs are concerned that arms companies may be using the partial nature of the arms export ban imposed last September by the UK to send weaponry to Israel for use in Gaza, in breach of an undertaking by ministers.Three ministers responsible for arms exports to Israel have been summoned by parliament’s committee overseeing UK exports to explain possible loopholes in the rules.
Liam Byrne, the chair of the business select committee ordered the trade minister, Douglas Alexander, and the relevant ministers from the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence to offer urgent explanations,In his letter, Byrne raises concerns about statistics published on Friday that showed that in the fourth quarter of 2024 – after Labour’s partial arms export ban to Israel was imposed – the UK government approved licences for £127,6m of military equipment to Israel,This is greater than the combined total for 2020-23, according to Campaign against the Arms Trade,Challenged on these figures by the independent MP Zarah Sultana in the Commons on Tuesday, the foreign secretary, Lammy said he did not recognise the number and accused her of sensationalising the issue.
He assured MPs: “Arms are not getting to Israel that could be used in Gaza.”However, the latest figures show the government authorised more than £61m in single-issue licences for military goods with an end user in Israel.These included licences for goods categories covering targeting systems, munitions and military aircraft parts.In his letter, Byrne pointed out that ministers assured MPs that the ban covered “equipment that we assess is for use in the current conflict in Gaza, such as important components that go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as items that facilitate ground targeting”.He has asked for an explanation for the increase and the proportion of arms going to the Israeli state.
He has also asked for the release of statistics on the number of licences that have been changed to remove Israel as the end user.The high court last week conducted a four-day judicial review of the UK government’s claim that it was lawful for the UK to sell components for F-35 fighter jets indirectly to Israel even though there was an acknowledged ministerial acceptance that those parts could be transferred for use in planes to bomb Gaza.
‘Every person that clashed with him has left’: the rise, fall and spectacular comeback of Sam Altman
From Elon Musk to his own board, anyone who has come up against the OpenAI CEO has lost. In a gripping new account of the battle for AI supremacy, writer Karen Hao says we should all be wary of the power he now wieldsThe short-lived firing of Sam Altman, the CEO of possibly the world’s most important AI company, was sensational. When he was sacked by OpenAI’s board members, some of them believed the stakes could not have been higher – the future of humanity – if the organisation continued under Altman. Imagine Succession, with added apocalypse vibes. In early November 2023, after three weeks of secret calls and varying degrees of paranoia, the OpenAI board agreed: Altman had to go
Elon Musk claims he will step back from political donations in near future
Elon Musk claimed on Tuesday that he would decrease the amount of money he spends on politics for the foreseeable future. If true, the reduction would represent a significant turnaround after the world’s richest person positioned himself as the Republican party’s most enthusiastic donor over the last year.“I think, in terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said during a video interview with Bloomberg News at the Qatar Economic Forum.Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain asked the Tesla CEO if he had decided how much to spend on midterm elections, which elicited Musk’s response. When asked why he was pulling back, Musk said flatly: “I think I’ve done enough” – drawing laughs from the audience, although it was unclear if he was joking
Almost half of young people would prefer a world without internet, UK study finds
Almost half of young people would rather live in a world where the internet does not exist, according to a new survey.The research reveals that nearly 70% of 16- to 21-year-olds feel worse about themselves after spending time on social media. Half (50%) would support a “digital curfew” that would restrict their access to certain apps and sites past 10pm, while 46% said they would rather be young in a world without the internet altogether.A quarter of respondents spent four or more hours a day on social media, while 42% of those surveyed admitted to lying to their parents and guardians about what they do online.While online, 42% said they had lied about their age, 40% admitted to having a decoy or “burner” account, and 27% said they pretended to be a different person completely
Microsoft employee interrupts CEO’s keynote with pro-Palestinian protest
A Microsoft employee disrupted a keynote speech by the company’s chief executive with a pro-Palestinian protest at the company’s annual developer conference on Monday.Joe Lopez, a Microsoft firmware engineer who worked on parts of the company’s cloud-computing platform, Azure, was escorted out the Build conference by security nearly immediately after he confronted Satya Nadella.“Satya, how about you show how Microsoft is killing Palestinians,” Lopez yelled. “How about you show how Israeli war crimes are powered by Azure?”After the disruption, Lopez sent an all-staff email explaining his decision to stage a protest.“As one of the largest companies in the world, Microsoft has immeasurable power to do the right thing: demand an end to this senseless tragedy, or we will cease our technological support for Israel,” read the email, which has also been published on Medium
How to protect your data after a cyber-attack
Another cyber-attack has hit the headlines – this one involving the personal data of hundreds of thousands of legal aid applicants in England and Wales.It comes hard on the heels of recent cyber-attacks that caused huge disruption at Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, and has prompted fresh reminders for people to be extra-vigilant for any suspicious activity.If you’re worried your data may have fallen into the wrong hands somehow, here are some tips for protecting yourself.Always make sure you have strong passwords, and don’t use the same one on more than one account.If you have had any dealings with a company or organisation that has suffered a cyber-attack, change the password that you use for that website or app immediately
Bankrupt DNA testing firm 23andMe to be purchased for $256m
The drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy the genetic testing firm 23andMe Holding for $256m through a bankruptcy auction, the companies announced on Monday.Regeneron said it will comply with 23andMe’s privacy policies and applicable laws with respect to the use of customer data and that it is ready to detail its intended use of the data to a court-appointed overseer. The companies expect to close the deal in the third quarter.“Regeneron Genetics Center is committed to and has a proven track record of safeguarding the genetic data of people across the globe, and, with their consent, using this data to pursue discoveries that benefit science and society,” said Aris Baras, the senior vice-president and head of the Regeneron Genetics Center. “We assure 23andMe customers that we are committed to protecting the 23andMe dataset with our high standards of data privacy, security and ethical oversight and will advance its full potential to improve human health
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