Bangladesh plane crash kills at least 27, including 25 children
20/07/2025
Dozens dead after Ha Long Bay tourist boat capsizes in Vietnam
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Typhoon Wipha batters Honk Kong and brings disruptions
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17/07/2025
Taipei holds annual air raid drill to prepare for Chinese attack
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15/07/2025
India orders airlines to inspect certain Boeing models after Air India crash
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13/07/2025
Taiwan tightens security after spy scandals, prompting rights concerns
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12/07/2025
Investigation into Air India crash finds engines starved of fuel
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12/07/2025
German backpacker found alive after 12 days missing in Western Australian
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11/07/2025
Historian Audrey Truschke retraces 5,000 years of Indian history
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11/07/2025
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to Chinese FM at Asia summit
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France 24
11 hours ago
- France 24
Hong Kong activists face tough compromise over LGBTQ rights blueprint
The city's top court confined marriage to heterosexual couples in 2023 but ordered the government to create an "alternative framework" to recognise same-sex couples' rights by October. Government officials unveiled a proposal on July 2 to allow limited rights for gay and lesbian couples. But it only covers those whose unions are registered abroad, as some same-sex couples have done, including through online ceremonies. The bill covers medical-related matters and after-death arrangements, for example, a person's right to visit their partner in hospital or to claim a dead partner's body. But even same-sex couples whose unions are recognised will still be unable to marry, adopt children or access some spousal entitlements such as prison visits. Nevertheless, it could be one of the biggest advances for equal rights in the city's history. The LGBTQ community is prepared to be pragmatic, said non-binary artist Holok Chen, who read out a statement decrying homophobia outside a marriage registry on Monday. "We are not idealists," Chen told AFP. "We are desperate because we are now in an impossible position. Either we have to accept a discriminatory proposal... or we have to risk nothing at all." Yan Ng, a co-founder of advocacy group Dear Family Hong Kong, said the government should offer "a more inclusive system" with stronger safeguards for more types of relationships. "We appreciate that the government shouldered their responsibility to put forward the bill," she told AFP. "This is a half-step, but can we go a bit further?" 'Bare minimum' The bill has completed preliminary vetting and will likely be sent to Hong Kong's 89-strong legislature for debate and voting after summer recess. Only 12 lawmakers have publicly expressed support, according to a tally by newspaper Ming Pao. No open forum or consultation has been held. Instead, the public was given just seven days, until Tuesday afternoon, to write in with their views. Film director Ray Yeung said it was "unreasonable" for the government to rush the process but would still support the proposal. "If you are a beggar and you're given a bowl, that's better than nothing," he said. In 2024, Yeung directed "All Shall Be Well", an award-winning drama inspired by the legal and administrative headaches faced by same-sex couples in Hong Kong's hospitals, morgues and cemeteries. "If your partner is sick or is about to die, to a certain extent (the bill) can help you, it provides a bare minimum of rights." Films like Yeung's have been credited with helping to shift public opinion over the years. A 2023 survey showed that 60 percent of polled Hong Kong people supported same-sex marriage. Kelley Loper, one of the legal academics behind that survey, told AFP the draft bill will "only grant a very limited number of rights" and failed to satisfy what top judges demanded. "I expect the courts will eventually determine that the partnership scheme is insufficient and the gaps are unconstitutional," said Loper, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Pro-Beijing lawmaker Priscilla Leung argued that there was no consensus on LGBTQ equality, saying that eight out of 10 of her constituents voiced "strong objection". No more 'megaphone' Years of planning and patience by the LGBTQ community have come down to this one month of "chaotic" discourse, according to activist Sean Hau. "The issue went from a snail's pace to the speed of a rocket," said Hau, another co-founder of Dear Family Hong Kong. "Mobilising used to be very visible, because we have a space to speak with a megaphone... We might not be able to do that now." Hong Kong's Pride Parade was first officially held in 2008 and activists once freely campaigned on the streets. But Beijing cracked down on political freedoms in the Chinese finance hub after months of huge and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019. Chen, the artist, was closely watched by police on Monday during their performance art event. A few days before that, they were escorted away by officers after displaying a large rainbow flag outside the legislature. The community has turned to online petitions and letter campaigns, including one initiated by democracy activist Jimmy Sham who recently completed a prison term for subversion. Among the dozens who filed written submissions to the legislature was HKSpectrum, an advocacy group for LGBTQ youth founded in 2021. "Rights related to medical matters and after-death arrangements are not just problems for the elderly. Young people may face them too," said Ash, one of the group's activists. Matthew, another group member, told AFP that discussion was muted among teens on social media, highlighting the need to raise awareness. "We must work harder and try different things so that more people will pay attention." © 2025 AFP
Euronews
a day ago
- Euronews
How can people fight back against AI deepfakes? More AI, experts say
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be needed to fight back against realistic AI-generated deepfakes, experts say. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) defines a deepfake as an AI technique that synthesises media by either superimposing human features on another body or manipulating sounds to generate a realistic video. This year, high-profile deepfake scams have targeted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Italian defense minister Guido Crosetto, and several celebrities, including Taylor Swift and Joe Rogan, whose voices were used to promote a scam that promised people government funds. Deepfakes were created every five minutes in 2024, according to a recent report from think tank Entrust Cybersecurity Institute. What impacts do deepfakes have? Deepfakes can have serious consequences, like the disclosure of sensitive information with government officials who sound like Rubio or Crosetto. 'You're either trying to extract sensitive secrets or competitive information or you're going after access, to an email server or other sensitive network,' Kinny Chan, CEO of the cybersecurity firm QiD, said of the possible motivations. Synthetic media can also aim to alter behaviour, like a scam that used the voice of then-US President Joe Biden to convince voters not to participate in their state's elections last year. "While deepfakes have applications in entertainment and creativity, their potential for spreading fake news, creating non-consensual content and undermining trust in digital media is problematic," the European Parliament wrote in a research briefing. The European Parliament predicted that 8 million deepfakes will be shared throughout the European Union this year, up from 500,000 in 2023. What are some ways AI is fighting back? AI tools can be trained through binary classification so they can classify data being fed into them as being real or fake. For example, researchers at the University of Luxembourg said they presented AI with a series of images with either a real or a fake tag on them so that the model gradually learned to recognise patterns in fake images. 'Our research found that ... we could focus on teaching them to look for real data only,' researcher Enjie Ghorbel said. 'If the data examined doesn't align with the patterns of real data, it means that it's fake". Another solution proposed by Vijay Balasubramaniyan, CEO and founder of the tech firm Pindrop Security, is a system that analyses millions of data points in any person's speech to quickly identify irregularities. The system can be used during job interviews or other video conferences to detect if the person is using voice cloning software, for instance. Someday, deepfakes may go the way of email spam, a technological challenge that once threatened to upend the usefulness of email, said Balasubramaniyan, Pindrop's CEO. 'You can take the defeatist view and say we're going to be subservient to disinformation,' he said. 'But that's not going to happen". The EU AI Act, which comes into force on August 1, requires that all AI-generated content, including deepfakes, are labelled so that users know when they come across fake content online.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
CK Hutchison eyes 'major' Chinese investor for Panama ports deal
The firm said in March it was offloading the ports -- including operations in the vital Central American waterway -- to a group led by asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash. The sale was seen as a political victory for US President Donald Trump, who had vowed to "take back" the Panama Canal from alleged Chinese control, prompting Beijing's ire. China's market regulator said in March it was reviewing the deal. "(CK Hutchison) remains in discussions with members of the consortium with a view to inviting (a) major strategic investor from (China) to join as a significant member of the consortium," CK Hutchison said in a stock exchange filing Monday. The firm added that changes to the consortium's membership and deal structure will be needed for the deal "to be capable of being approved by all relevant authorities". It said the "period for exclusive negotiations" mentioned in the March announcement had expired, but discussions will continue. It did not name the major investor. China's biggest shipping company Cosco was set to join the consortium and was requesting veto rights or equivalent powers, Bloomberg News reported. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Denise Wong told the outlet that "ongoing negotiations and the reported inclusion of Cosco Shipping in the consortium have likely eased concerns over Chinese regulatory hurdles, strengthening investor confidence in the deal's viability". 'Keeping everyone happy' Gary Ng, senior economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, said Monday's developments show that "business deals can be increasingly subject to politics in the new economic and geopolitical reality" as the Hong Kong conglomerate seeks to "keep everyone happy". CK Hutchison said it "intends to allow such time as is required for such discussions to achieve" a workable arrangement. It said it had stated on several occasions that it "will not proceed with any transaction that does not have the approval of all relevant authorities". Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing will "carry out supervision in accordance with the law, firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintain a fair and just market". CK Hutchison's Hong Kong-listed shares fell 0.84 percent on Monday, while Cosco dropped 2.85 percent. The consortium's original structure was designed to pass control of CK Hutchison's two Panama ports to BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners unit, while the remaining ports will go to Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's Terminal Investment Limited. AFP has contacted Cosco for comment.
