Soldiers in Ukraine battle Russian offensive as drones riddle the night sky
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'What The F**k': Jim Acosta Slammed Over 'One Of A Kind Interview' With Dead Parkland Victim
Former CNN host Jim Acosta faced backlash on Monday after sharing what he called a 'one of a kind interview' with an AI version of late Parkland school shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, a bot created by his parents to honor their son on what would have been his 25th birthday. The interview — shared to Acosta's SubStack page on Monday — depicts Oliver, one of 17 victims who died in the 2018 massacre, remarking on the cause of death and stressing why it's 'important' to talk about gun violence in schools. The AI — when asked for its 'solution' to gun violence — emphasized a need for a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support and community engagement. The bot of Oliver proceeded to speak in a noticeably higher tone before discussing the late teen's interests in the Miami Heat and 'Star Wars.' Acosta — who declared that the technology left him 'speechless' — called the conversation 'so insightful,' telling the late teen's father Manuel Oliver that it felt like the first time he really got to know his son. 'I felt like I was communicating with him which is just so remarkable,' Acosta said. 'People say, 'Well, AI, you know, it could be bad, it could cause all these destructive things.' This is an example of how it might actually do some good, it might help some people who have suffered tremendous losses like your family have a way to hold on to hold onto who this person was which I think is a beautiful thing.' Manuel Oliver and his wife Patricia Oliver — co-founders of the gun control advocacy group Change the Ref — have been involved in other projects that demand action against gun violence including a school shooting video game, a play and a site that uses AI to recreate victims' voices for calls to Congress. Manuel Oliver — in a video shared to X, formerly Twitter — acknowledged that the AI was his and his wife's idea, adding that Acosta shouldn't be blamed for 'what he was able to do' in the 'interview.' 'If the problem that you have is with the AI then you have the wrong problem,' he said. 'The real problem is that my son was shot eight years ago. So if you believe that that is not the problem, you are part of the problem.' While Acosta restricted those who could reply to his posts on X, it wasn't the same case on his BlueSky account where a number of critics were stunned by the AI move. 'Hey Jim. Quick question. What the fuck is wrong with you,' replied one user. 'What I want to know is what the fuck is wrong with the PARENTS?!' another user wrote. Check out those reactions and more below. Related... Progressive Ivy League School Adopts Trump's 'Two Sexes' Policy In Exchange For Federal Funding Radio Host Throws Cold Water On Trump's Claims He's A 'Racist Sleazebag' For Epstein-MAGA Remark Texas Dems Prevent Trump-Backed Redistricting Vote Despite Abbott's Threats
News24
3 hours ago
- News24
‘We become more and more divided': Gaza war setting Israel friends and families against each other
Israel and Hamas have been battling in Gaza for nearly two years. Attitudes in Israel have shifted from the start of the war. The country has become more polarised. As it grinds on well into its twenty-second month, Israel's war in Gaza has set friends and families against one another and sharpened existing political and cultural divides. Hostage families and peace activists want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to secure a ceasefire with Hamas and free the remaining captives abducted during the October 2023 Hamas attacks. Right-wing members of Netanyahu's cabinet, meanwhile, want to seize the moment to occupy and annex more Palestinian land, at the risk of sparking further international criticism. The debate has divided the country and strained private relationships, undermining national unity at Israel's moment of greatest need in the midst of its longest war. 'As the war continues we become more and more divided,' said Emanuel Yitzchak Levi, a 29-year-old poet, schoolteacher and peace activist from Israel's religious left who attended a peace meeting at Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Square. 'It's really hard to keep being a friend, or family, a good son, a good brother to someone that's - from your point of view - supporting crimes against humanity,' he told AFP. 'And I think it's also hard for them to support me if they think I betrayed my own country.' As if to underline this point, a tall, dark-haired cyclist angered by the gathering pulled up his bike to shout 'traitors' at the attendees and to accuse activists of playing into Hamas' hands. Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images Dvir Berko, a 36-year-old worker at one of the city's many IT startups, paused his scooter journey across downtown Tel Aviv to share a more reasoned critique of the peace activists' call for a ceasefire. Berko and others accused international bodies of exaggerating the threat of starvation in Gaza, and he told AFP that Israel should withhold aid until the remaining 49 hostages are freed. 'The Palestinian people, they're controlled by Hamas. Hamas takes their food. Hamas starts this war and, in every war that happens, bad things are going to happen. You're not going to send the other side flowers,' he argued. 'So, if they open a war, they should realise and understand what's going to happen after they open the war.' The raised voices in Tel Aviv reflect a deepening polarisation in Israeli society since Hamas' October 2023 attacks left 1 219 people dead, independent journalist Meron Rapoport told AFP. Rapoport, a former senior editor at liberal daily Haaretz, noted that Israel had been divided before the latest conflict, and had even seen huge anti-corruption protests against Netanyahu and perceived threats to judicial independence. Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images Hamas' attack initially triggered a wave of national unity, but as the conflict has dragged on and Israel's conduct has come under international criticism, attitudes on the right and left have diverged and hardened. 'The moment Hamas acted there was a coming together,' Rapoport said. 'Nearly everyone saw it as a just war. 'As the war went on it has made people come to the conclusion that the central motivations are not military reasons but political ones.' According to a survey conducted between 24 and 28 July by the Institute for National Security Studies, with 803 Jewish and 151 Arab respondents, Israelis narrowly see Hamas as primarily to blame for the delay in reaching a deal on freeing the hostages. Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images Only 24% of Israeli Jews are distressed or 'very distressed' by the humanitarian situation in Gaza - where, according to UN-mandated reports, 'a famine is unfolding' and Palestinian civilians are often killed while seeking food. But there is support for the families of the Israeli hostages, many of whom have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war artificially to strengthen his own political position. 'In Israel there's a mandatory army service,' said Mika Almog, 50, an author and peace activist with the It's Time Coalition. So these soldiers are our children and they are being sent to die in a false criminal war that is still going on for nothing other than political reasons. Mika Almog In an open letter published Monday, 550 former top diplomats, military officers and spy chiefs urged US President Donald Trump to tell Netanyahu that the military stage of the war was already won and he must now focus on a hostage deal. 'At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war,' said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service. The conflict 'is leading the State of Israel to lose its security and identity', he warned in a video released to accompany the letter. This declaration by the security officers - those who until recently prosecuted Israel's overt and clandestine wars - echoed the views of the veteran peace activists that have long protested against them. Ahmed Sayed/Anadolu via Getty Images Biblical archaeologist and kibbutz resident Avi Ofer is 70 years old and has long campaigned for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He and fellow activists wore yellow ribbons with the length in days of the war written on it: '667'. The rangy historian was close to tears as he told AFP: 'This is the most awful period in my life.' 'Yes, Hamas are war criminals. We know what they do. The war was justified at first. At the beginning it was not a genocide,' he said. Not many Israelis use the term 'genocide', but they are aware that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is considering whether to rule on a complaint that the country has breached the Genocide Convention. While only a few are anguished about the threat of starvation and violence hanging over their neighbours, many are worried that Israel may become an international pariah - and that their conscript sons and daughters be treated like war crimes suspects when abroad. Israel and Netanyahu - with support from the US - have denounced the case in The Hague.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Two children among injured in Russia's overnight attack on Kharkiv region, Ukraine says
(Reuters) -Two children were among several people injured in Russia's largest air attack on the Ukrainian town of Lozova since the war began, the head of the local administration said on Tuesday. "Critical infrastructure, apartment buildings and private homes have been damaged," Serhiy Zelenskiy, the head of the city's council, said on the Telegram messaging app. "Lozova has endured the largest attack since the beginning of the war," he said, adding several people including two children were wounded in the town in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv. The scale of the attack on the town, which had a pre-war population of about 55,000, was not immediately clear. Reuters could not independently verify Zelenskiy's report. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Kharkiv region, which lies near the border with Russia, has been the target of regular Russian drone and missile attacks since the start of the war. Parts of Lozova, a town in the southern parts of the Kharkiv region, were left without power and water supply, Zelenskiy said. "We will persevere!" he added.
