‘Undercurrent' of antisemitism at pro-Palestine protests
Mr Kroger told Sky News Australia there was an 'undercurrent' of antisemitism at the protest.
'And intimidation of the Jewish community.'
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West Australian
15 minutes ago
- West Australian
Australian news and politics live: Treasurer Chalmers backs new stock exchange as ASX faces fresh competition
Scroll down for the latest news and updates. The White House announced Wednesday that it is imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on India, bringing the total levies against the major United States trading partner to 50 per cent. 'I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,' President Donald Trump said in an executive order. 'Accordingly, and as consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent,' the executive order reads. The new tariffs are set to go into effect in 21 days, according to the order, while the previously announced 25 per cent tariffs are set to take effect on Thursday. Read the full story. A helicopter crash in Ghana, has killed eight people including the West African nation's defence and environment ministers, the government says. The military says the helicopter took off on Wednesday morning from the capital, Accra, toward Obuasi, a gold-mining area in the Ashanti region, but went off the radar. The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were killed alongside the vice-chair of the National Democratic Congress ruling party, a top national security adviser and crew members. Ghana's government described the crash as a 'national tragedy'. Read the full story. A man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum has been indicted on federal hate crimes charges. The indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, charges Elias Rodriguez with nine counts, including a hate crime resulting in death. The indictment also includes notice of special findings, which would allow the Justice Department to potentially pursue the death penalty. It accuses him of carrying out a hate crime resulting in death motivated by the 'actual and perceived national origin of any person'. Rodriguez also faces charges of first-degree murder and murder of a foreign official. Elias Rodriguez, 31, is accused of gunning down Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, as they left an event at the museum in May. Read more. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has urged caution regarding Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan's plan to enshrine the right to work from home into law, advising that the government should 'get their constitutional advice spot on' before proceeding further. The proposal has drawn criticism from legal experts and academics, who argue it presents significant constitutional challenges and would be difficult to enforce. Meanwhile, business groups warn the law could encourage companies to relocate to other states. This debate follows the federal Coalition's unsuccessful attempt to limit remote working during the recent election campaign, a move that was abandoned amid widespread public opposition. Though Mr Bragg conceded the Coalition's handling of remote work issues had been 'not well handled,' he stressed the importance of ensuring any legislation is legally sound. 'My view is that work from home is very good, I do it myself and it should be facilitated,' Mr Bragg told ABC Radio National. 'The Victorian government needs to get their right constitutional advice in order, and they need to make sure that whatever they're proposing to legislate, that would actually work … we're very happy to facilitate it, but that's really a matter for the Victorians and their constitutional advice.' Australia's $3 trillion stock exchange looks set for a new competitor as the corporate watchdog readies to approve a bid by Cboe to expand operations Down Under. Cboe Global Markets — which owns the Chicago Board Options Exchange — wants to launch a new platform for local companies to list their shares in direct competition with the Australian Securities Exchange. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed on Wednesday that it was in the final stages of considering the plan, which would give businesses a new place to raise cash. Treasurer Jim Chalmers talked up the benefits of the plan after talks with regulators and big investors on Wednesday. 'Making our markets more competitive will make our economy more prosperous and productive,' he said. Read the full story. Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has urged the introduction of new regulations to protect songwriters and creative artists from the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. This follows an interim report by the Productivity Commission which suggested that current Australian copyright laws may act as a 'barrier to building and training AI models.' The report claimed that existing regulations 'does not adequately facilitate the use of copyrighted works,' drawing criticism from arts bodies who are concerned this will take away the last existing protections artists have. 'I have concerns about artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity, and rather than adopting it, holus bolus and rolling it out en masse across our country, we do need to understand the risks,' Ms McKenzie told Nine on Thursday morning. 'Particularly to our songwriters, our creative artists, to make sure that they're not bearing the cost. We need to protect our artists, and that means putting some regulation in place,' she said.
SBS Australia
2 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Dozens killed in Gaza while seeking aid
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . TRANSCRIPT Health officials say at least 38 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid. Tasmanian Labor to move no-confidence motion against re-appointed Premier Jeremy Rockliff. The National Indigenous Tennis Carnival kicks off in Darwin. At least 38 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip while seeking aid from United Nations convoys and sites run by an Israeli-backed American contractor, according to local health officials. It comes as the UN human rights office reported last week that some 1400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, with nearly all reportedly killed by Israeli fire. Another 25 people, including several women and children, have been killed in the latest Israeli air strikes, according to local hospitals in Gaza. UN Secretary-General spokesman, Farhan Haq, says the duel threat of attacks from Israel and starvation has been catastrophic. "More people are being killed and injured either along convoy routes or where they are staying. The situation is beyond catastrophic. Hospitals are overstretched. Patients are lying on the floor or in the streets, suffering, as beds, medical supplies and equipment are severely lacking. Starvation continues to happen, and today the Ministry of Health reported five new malnutrition-related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to about almost 200 deaths, half of whom are children." The latest killings come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to announce further military action — and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. The Israeli military says troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced toward them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. United States President Donald Trump says special envoy Steve Witkoff made great progress in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting comes two days ahead of a US deadline set for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions. White House officials say the talks went well and that Moscow is eager to continue engaging with the US. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says more announcements on the matter are expected soon. "We'll have more to say about that later on today. We'll be confirming it. Ambassador Witkoff is on his way back now. I just got off the phone with him a few minutes ago. We'll have some other discussions throughout the day and there will be some announcements real soon, maybe positive, maybe not, we'll see." The Tasmanian Labor Party says they will move a motion of no-confidence in the Liberals when the state parliament resumes on August 19. It comes after the state's Liberal premier Jeremy Rockliff was re-appointed by Governor Barbara Baker, following a snap election that resulted in a hung parliament. But Ms Baker also stresses that the parliament will have the final say on who should be the premier. The state's opposition leader Dean Winter says Tasmanians can be assured that the motion won't lead to a new election, but it will decide if whether Liberals and Labor will form the government. "Under the Liberals we've seen three early election in a row, and that's gotta change, which means we need to change the way parliament works, and we need to change the government. The crossbenchers have seen the way that the government led by Jeremy Rockliff has been operating now for the past 15 months, in particular, but even longer than that. It's been a lack of consultation, a lack of respect, and only a couple of weeks ago, the Premier was attacking those independents and crossbenchers through the election campaign." Mr Rockliff and his cabinet will be sworn in next week. Controversial MP Mark Latham has been labelled a 'one-trick pony' after fending off a Labor-led censure bid in the New South Wales state parliament. The censure failed after the coalition opposition, the Greens and minor party MPs voted to adjourn it until October. The failed motion came after the one-time prime ministerial hopeful used parliamentary privilege in the upper house to reveal details about a police commissioner and an independent MP, and amid several scandals, including taking photos of women MPs without their knowledge. The government's upper house leader Penny Sharpe says the result is disappointing. The National Indigenous Tennis Carnival has kicked off in Darwin on Wednesday, with over 160 First Nations players across Australia joining the game. This is the 6th year of the Tennis Carnival, and this year, the Carnival was opened by Tenins icon Evonne Goolagong Cawley. The 74-year-old Wiradjuri woman and 14-time Grand Slam winner says the event means more than just playing tennis. "I can't believe that this has been going for six years, and rightly says, it's one of the most unique programs that I have ever been in. It's not just about Tennis, it's about education, meeting up with friends, making new friends."
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Grok, is that Gaza? AI image checks mislocate news photographs
This image by AFP photojournalist Omar al-Qattaa shows a skeletal, underfed girl in Gaza, where Israel's blockade has fuelled fears of mass famine in the Palestinian territory. But when social media users asked Grok where it came from, X boss Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot was certain that the photograph was taken in Yemen nearly seven years ago. The AI bot's untrue response was widely shared online and a left-wing pro-Palestinian French lawmaker, Aymeric Caron, was accused of peddling disinformation on the Israel-Hamas war for posting the photo. At a time when internet users are turning to AI to verify images more and more, the furore shows the risks of trusting tools like Grok, when the technology is far from error-free. Grok said the photo showed Amal Hussain, a seven-year-old Yemeni child, in October 2018. In fact the photo shows nine-year-old Mariam Dawwas in the arms of her mother Modallala in Gaza City on August 2, 2025. Before the war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Mariam weighed 25 kilograms, her mother told AFP. Today, she weighs only nine. The only nutrition she gets to help her condition is milk, Modallala told AFP--and even that's "not always available". Challenged on its incorrect response, Grok said: "I do not spread fake news; I base my answers on verified sources." The chatbot eventually issued a response that recognised the error -- but in reply to further queries the next day, Grok repeated its claim that the photo was from Yemen. The chatbot has previously issued content that praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and that suggested people with Jewish surnames were more likely to spread online hate. - Radical right bias - Grok's mistakes illustrate the limits of AI tools, whose functions are as impenetrable as "black boxes", said Louis de Diesbach, a researcher in technological ethics. "We don't know exactly why they give this or that reply, nor how they prioritise their sources," said Diesbach, author of a book on AI tools, "Hello ChatGPT". Each AI has biases linked to the information it was trained on and the instructions of its creators, he said. In the researcher's view Grok, made by Musk's xAI start-up, shows "highly pronounced biases which are highly aligned with the ideology" of the South African billionaire, a former confidante of US President Donald Trump and a standard-bearer for the radical right. Asking a chatbot to pinpoint a photo's origin takes it out of its proper role, said Diesbach. "Typically, when you look for the origin of an image, it might say: 'This photo could have been taken in Yemen, could have been taken in Gaza, could have been taken in pretty much any country where there is famine'." AI does not necessarily seek accuracy -- "that's not the goal," the expert said. Another AFP photograph of a starving Gazan child by al-Qattaa, taken in July 2025, had already been wrongly located and dated by Grok to Yemen, 2016. That error led to internet users accusing the French newspaper Liberation, which had published the photo, of manipulation. - 'Friendly pathological liar' - An AI's bias is linked to the data it is fed and what happens during fine-tuning -- the so-called alignment phase -- which then determines what the model would rate as a good or bad answer. "Just because you explain to it that the answer's wrong doesn't mean it will then give a different one," Diesbach said. "Its training data has not changed and neither has its alignment." Grok is not alone in wrongly identifying images. When AFP asked Mistral AI's Le Chat -- which is in part trained on AFP's articles under an agreement between the French start-up and the news agency -- the bot also misidentified the photo of Mariam Dawwas as being from Yemen. For Diesbach, chatbots must never be used as tools to verify facts. "They are not made to tell the truth," but to "generate content, whether true or false", he said.
