Muslim & NATO Nations BOIL Over Netanyahu Minister's Israel Dare: 'If You Recognise Palestine...'
/ Aug 15, 2025, 08:21AM IST
Arab nations, the UN, and European countries have strongly condemned Israel's recent settlement plan in the E1 area of the West Bank. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to construct over 3,000 housing units in this contentious region, a move he claims will "bury the idea of a Palestinian state." Critics argue that this development threatens the viability of a two-state solution by fragmenting Palestinian territories. The United Nations has called for Israel to reverse its decision, labelling the settlements as violations of international law. European leaders, including those from the UK and Norway, have echoed these concerns, warning that the plan could further entrench the occupation and hinder peace efforts. The situation remains tense as the international community watches closely.#IsraelSettlements #TwoStateSolution #WestBank #MiddleEastPeace #InternationalLaw #UNCondemnation #ArabNations #E1Settlement #PeaceNow #BezalelSmotrich
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First Post
28 minutes ago
- First Post
Trump departs to Alaska for high-stakes meeting with Putin on Ukraine
President Donald Trump 's face-to-face high-stakes summit with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday could determine the fate of European security as well as the trajectory of the war in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One as he departs Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on August 15, 2025, en route to Anchorage. Image- AFP US President Donald Trump departed for Alaska on Thursday ahead of a closely watched meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a high-stakes encounter that could shape the future of European security and influence the course of the war in Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the Trump administration officials joining the president for his flight to Alaska. Trump will also be accompanied on Air Force One by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and top White House aides, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Monica Crowley, a former Fox News commentator serving as Trump's chief of protocol, also are making the trip. Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday in Alaska in a high-risk summit that could prove decisive for the future of Ukraine. Putin will step onto Western soil for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a relentless war that has killed tens of thousands of people and has seen Russia make rapid gains just before the summit. Trump extended the invitation at the Russian leader's suggestion, but the US president has since been defensive and warned that the meeting could be over within minutes if Putin does not compromise. 'HIGH STAKES,' he posted on his Truth Social platform shortly before boarding Air Force One and taking off for the near seven-hour flight to Anchorage. With inputs from agencies
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Mission Alaska: As Trump and Putin meet, Ukraine's redlines are clear and unmoving
Trump's and Putin's summit in Alaska today is being keenly watched around the globe. But the first face-to-face meeting between the two since 2021 is already mired in uncertainty. From the moment it was announced, disagreements emerged over who initiated the talks. While the White House insists the proposal came from Moscow, the Kremlin has denied this, and Putin himself has downplayed the dispute by claiming both sides are 'equally interested'. This minor diplomatic manoeuvre highlights a bigger truth: the Kremlin was eager for the meeting but also intent on portraying Trump as the one who needed it more. The talks come amid growing US frustration with Russia. After months of outreach through Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump had publicly condemned Moscow's continued strikes on Ukrainian civilians and warned of secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian oil. Washington has already imposed new tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian energy. The White House officials expect the agenda to touch on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine and the parameters of a future peace agreement. They have described the meeting as a chance for Trump to hear Moscow's position on ending the war. Yet the danger is that the meeting would resemble the Cold War-era Great-Power deals – decisions made over smaller nations without their participation. For Ukraine, this is a big issue. In fact, Kyiv and European partners have agreed on red lines ahead of Trump-Putin talks in Alaska. At the initiative of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on Aug 13 negotiations were held on the eve of the Trump-Putin summit. In those negotiations, for the first time in recent weeks, the West delivered a comprehensive joint message with clear conditions for the peace process. Any talks on ending the war must start with an immediate ceasefire along with new prisoner exchanges and the release of kidnapped childrenUkraine must be a direct participant in further negotiations after the Alaska talks Broader dialogue must be part of a single transatlantic strategy based on strong military and financial support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia Occupied territories cannot be a subject of discussion at the Anchorage summit Kyiv must receive reliable security guarantees with no demilitarisation envisioned. Although Trump has made it clear that Nato should not be part of those security guarantees, US and all willing allies should be involved in security assurances. If no progress is to be made, sanctions and other pressure on Moscow would intensify. Merz acknowledged that Ukraine is ready to discuss territorial issues, but only starting from the current line of contact, without legal recognition of the occupation. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has stressed that a withdrawal of Ukrainian armed forces from Donbas 'in exchange for silence' is not under consideration. He also conveyed to Trump that Putin is bluffing – both regarding his military plans and on sanctions. French President Macron confirmed that no discussion of territorial issues is possible without Ukraine. And Trump promised to call Zelenskyy after his meeting with Putin to determine the next steps. According to some American reports, US is already looking for a venue for a potential trilateral meeting at the end of next week. These statements are important, as the principle of 'nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine' must remain key. European countries also agreed to work to arrange a future trilateral meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy. It should happen in Europe in a neutral country acceptable to all parties. Notably, Zelenskyy also held a constructive call with Indian PM Modi this week. He briefed Modi on ongoing Russian strikes, including a recent attack on a Zaporizhzhia bus station that injured dozens of civilians. Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine's participation in all talks is essential – 'other formats will not deliver results' – while welcoming India's engagement in peace efforts. Sanctions were also discussed. Zelenskyy urged reducing Russia's revenues from oil to weaken Moscow's war financing. 'Every leader with tangible leverage over Russia should send the right signals to Moscow,' he said. The two leaders also agreed to meet in person during Sept's UN General Assembly. The coming days will be decisive in shaping the positions of the parties at the negotiations. Worryingly for Ukraine, the likelihood that Putin will be able to persuade Trump to make excessive concessions remains quite high. India, with its global influence and growing partnership with Ukraine, can play a vital role in ensuring that international law is the foundation for negotiations. The UN Charter cannot be bent for political convenience without undermining all nations' sovereignty. Ukraine expects the summit to deliver real progress towards a stable, just peace that fully respects its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Any proposal that demands giving up Ukrainian land is off the table. And if US military aid slows or stops, Kyiv will waste no time locking in deeper defence ties with European partners — securing weapons, air defences, intelligence, and training to keep its defences strong and its territory protected. For Ukraine, and for the international community, the message ahead of Alaska is clear: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. Ukraine will not accept peace made without it – and neither should the world. A peace that compromises Ukrainians is not a peace that will last. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
The Hindu
28 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Indigenous Peoples and AI
More than 470 million Indigenous Peoples live across the world, distributed across 90 countries and splintered into unique communities with their own culture and traditional knowledge. Although they make up less than 6% of the world's population, indigenous individuals account for at least 15% of the poorest individuals in the world. As new, often disruptive technologies take over, and native lands are encroached upon, concerns arise over both how this would impact traditional knowledge ecosystems, and how they may be pressed into service for the benefit, rather than the exploitation, of Indigenous Peoples. Touching on these concerns, Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures was the theme at the centre of this year's observance of International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, celebrated each year on August 9. This day was selected for the observance to commemorate the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations held in Geneva in 1982. 'Indigenous Peoples are guardians of ancient knowledge, defenders of cultural heritage, stewards of biodiversity, and essential to our shared future,' UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement issued ahead of the observance. An online discussion too was organised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) on August 8, delving into how Indigenous people's rights can be ensured in the age of AI and how to include them in AI development and governance frameworks to further inclusive and non-exploitative use. We dive into some of the many concerns associated with Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous Peoples, highlighting what experts have recently shared about these issues. Concerns about Indigenous people and AI In 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/78/265 ) which stressed that human rights and fundamental freedoms should be respected, protected and promoted throughout the life cycle of artificial intelligence systems. Several concerns have emerged about AI and how it may, directly or indirectly, contribute to the attrition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The note on the UNDESA website pertaining to this year's World Indigenous Peoples day highlights that while AI could promote 'cultural revitalization, youth empowerment, and adaptation to climate change', it runs the risk of reinforcing bias towards and exclusion or misrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples, among other challenges. One major theme is the potential for exploitation of native knowledge and language. Danielle Boyer, a Anishinaabe robotics inventor working for the revitalization of Indigenous languages, urged that AI should be used with great care, and that if it was not used carefully then it should not be used at all, so as to prevent the systemic disappearance of indigenous languages. Ms. Boyer is the founder of the equitable tech education charity The STEAM Connection and inventor of Skobots, a robotic aide to learning indigenous languages such as the endangered Anishinaabemowin, and she took part in UNDESA's August 8 commemoration event as a panelist. She highlighted that AI was being used to exploit native knowledge and language, pointing to non-native authors using AI to create books about native culture. The way to fight back, she said, was by Indigenous Peoples developing their own technologies. She stressed that the skobots used internally developed AI,. functioning not as translators or Large Language Models (LLMs), but by breaking down words and using the voices of Indigenous persons. 'Technology sparks fear in our community for good reason,' she said, suggesting that being able to have self-determination in technology would help allay these concerns and ensure progress by Indigenous Peoples on this front. Another panelist at the event was Pyrou Chung, the founder of Knowledge for Development (K4D) and Director at the East-West Management Institute, who works with indigenous people in South- east Asia for the preservation of rights in the face of climate change. While Ms. Chung acknowledged the potential of AI to support justice, she also highlighted the presence of agendas driven by larger powers, and the presence of colonial and westernised approaches in AI. Calling much of the AI being developed a distraction, Ms. Chung said there was a lack of real-world interaction and context in its creation. Another key concern is that native land may be encroached upon for building the massive data centres that are integral to AI systems. Sites around AI data centres can see environmental degradation and negative impacts on the local ecosystems on which the Indigenous people depend. Further, AI data centres consume massive amounts of electricity, contributing to the depletion of finite natural resources and adding to the pressure caused by climate change, according to the UN. It is to harness the power of indigenous knowledge for AI without exploitation or environmental impacts that the research programme Abundant Intelligences was created. It 'conceptualizes, designs, develops, and deploys Artificial Intelligence based on Indigenous Knowledge systems' and aims to take an approach 'grounded in Indigenous epistemologies' to create technology that integrates into 'existing lifeways.' An international team , co-directed by Prof. Lewis at the Indigenous Futures Research Centre at Concordia University, Montreal, and Prof. Hemi Whaanga at Massey University in New Zealand, is a part of the programme, which comprises 13 universities and 8 community-based organisations across the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. The programme kicked off in March 1, 2023 and will run till February 29, 2029. A real world example of this kind of collaboration was a pilot AI model created by PolArctic in an Inuit community in Nunavut, Canada combining Indigenous Knowledge and scientific data, to help deal with inshore fishing challenges resulting from climate change. The project, which was conducted at Sanikiluaq, was funded by the Nunavut Fishery Association, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation and the World Wildlife Fund. The project identified areas likely to be abundant in scallops, clams and kelp, using research interviews, maps, and material from the Nunavut Coastal Resource Inventory (NCRI). As seen in this project, AI projects often see the collection of vast pools of data to train models. This leads to a second concern: the gathering of data or the extraction of resources without consent. Such consent must be free and informed, in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples. Fernando Marani, Programme Director of Justice, Inclusion, and Equality at New York University's Center on International Cooperation, spoke about the history of not respecting ownership of Indigenous people, and stressed that it was important to protect data related to indigenous culture and knowledge, ensuring that access is shared only to those who need it. Ms. Boyer too, highlighted that working on creating ethical AI frameworks, being able to have the right to refuse to share data, and informed consent were other necessary factors. In the world of the tech, the mantra is to 'move fast and break things,' but here the 'things' being broken are people and communities, she pointed out. At the other end of the spectrum, the exclusion of data from Indigenous peoples and a lack of representation of their views can also create challenges in the creation of equitable AI models. The need to ensure that indigenous people are included in the data used in AI was a point raised during Friday's discussion by Anne Torill Nordsletta, Director of the Health Analytics Department at the Norwegian Centre for E-health Research. She highlighted that AI was now being used for healthcare and public decision-making, and that without including data about indigenous peoples, there was the risk of building systems which reinforced inequalities. Ms. Nordsletta, who also lectures part-time at the Sami University, stressed that indigenous self-determination must be built into AI governance. At the base of the challenges associated with AI is the very fundamental one of who gets to access these tools and how. Mr. Marani highlighted the need to close the existing digital gap for indigenous people and ensure equal access to the digital realm. The barriers to access of new tech, particularly in rural areas, has also been recognised through the World Summit of the Information Society process. With access comes awareness as well. Moi Guiquita, an Indigenous Waorani based in the Amazon in Ecuador, uses technology to promote Indigenous land rights, environmental conservation and human rights, creating content which has reached millions through the internet, both through social media platforms and collaborations with international organisations such as Amazon Frontlines, the Pulitzer Centre and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. Ensuring the presence of Indigenous Peoples in AI governance frameworks might enable the formulation of policies which are responsive to the needs and concerns of various communities. A need for such meaningful inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in the development, governance and application stages was part of the recommendations of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in its 24th session held in April-May 2025. Hernán Vales, Chief of the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section at UN Human Rights, said, 'Data sovereignty and governance are critical challenges that must be addressed in order to mitigate risks,' He was speaking on the occasion of a side event focused on AI at the 18th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) on August 7, 2025. Mr. Marani emphasised that indigenous people should be part of AI oversight and governance, and mooted the creation of Indigenous People-led ethics boards. He also stressed that traditional inequalities should not reflect in AI, for which owning one's data and creating one's own solutions was a good way forward. An example of this: Shani Gwin is the founder of Pipikwan Pêhtâkwan which developed an indigenous powered AI called 'wâsikan kisewâtisiwin', or AI With Heart. It seeks to correct unconscious bias or racism directed to Indigenous Peoples in written materials. Ms Gwin is a sixth-generation Métis Canadian and descendant of the Michel First Nation, who also participated in the 18th session of the EMRIP. And at times, AI may not be the solution at all. Ms. Chung questioned the premise that AI could solve all issues, highlighting that traditional knowledge or technologies could be used by environmental defenders to combat climate change. She noted that her organisation focused on capacity-building for indigenous women leaders, thus enabling them to gather and use their data in a way that was contextual to their lived realities. Other initiatives and projects In addition to this year's thematic focus, several other initiatives pertaining to Indigenous knowledge, its preservation and promotion continue to be undertaken by the United Nations and its organs. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) gave out ten 2025 Equator Prizes to community-based, Indigenous-led organizations which created sustainable solutions for development issues. The theme for the prize this year was 'Nature for Climate Action,' with a prize of $10,000 and the opportunity to join global events like the UN General Assembly and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil. Winners include Bibifathima Swa Sahaya from India, which works to support farmers through initiatives like seed banks, multi-cropping, and processing which harness solar power, and the Mitra BUMMA and Ranu Welum foundations from Indonesia, which promote rainforest conservation in different ways. Groups from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Kenya and Tanzania also won the prize for their work combining indigenous knowledge and sustainable development. Besides this, the UN has sought to promote the conservation of indigenous languages, designating the decade from 2022 to 2032 as the Decade of Indigenous Languages. The Equator initiative, a global network promoted by UNDP, seeks to recognise the wisdom and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities around the world. Along with the International Day of World's Indigenous Peoples, several nations also have their own observances, in keeping with local customs. The United States, for example, observes Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday of October. The festival, which honours the native populations of the Americas, including American Indians, Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiians, arose as a response to Columbus Day, which felicitates Christopher Columbus— the man who discovered America and thereby led to its colonisation.
