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Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ministers gather at UN for delayed meeting on Israel, Palestinians
FILE PHOTO: People rally in front of the United Nations headquarters during a \"Stop Starving Gaza Now\" protest amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, U.S., July 25, 2025. REUTERS/Christian Monterrosa/File Photo UNITED NATIONS - Dozens of ministers will gather at the United Nations on Monday for a delayed conference to work toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, but the U.S. and Israel are boycotting the event. The 193-member U.N. General Assembly decided in September last year that such a conference would be held in 2025. Hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, the conference was postponed in June after Israel attacked Iran. The conference aims to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told newspaper La Tribune Dimanche in an interview published on Sunday that he will also use the conference this week to push other countries to join France in recognizing a Palestinian state. France intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said last week. "We will launch an appeal in New York so that other countries join us to initiate an even more ambitious and demanding dynamic that will culminate on September 21," Barrot said, adding that he expected Arab countries by then to condemn Palestinian militants Hamas and call for their disarmament. The conference comes as a 22-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza still rages. The war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Tanjong Katong sinkhole backfilled; road to be repaved after LTA tests Singapore Tanjong Katong Road sinkhole did not happen overnight: Experts Singapore Authorities say access to Changi intertidal areas unaffected by reclamation, in response to petition Singapore SIA flights between S'pore and Cambodia, S'pore and Thailand, operating normally amid border dispute Singapore Police statements by Jipson Quah in fake vaccine case involving Iris Koh allowed in court: Judge Singapore New Mandai North Crematorium, ash-scattering garden to open on Aug 15 Singapore Not feasible for S'pore to avoid net‑zero; all options to cut energy emissions on table: Tan See Leng Singapore With regional interest in nuclear energy rising, S'pore must build capabilities too: Tan See Leng The U.S. will not attend the conference at the United Nations, said a State Department spokesperson, describing it as "a gift to Hamas, which continues to reject ceasefire proposals accepted by Israel that would lead to the release of hostages and bring calm in Gaza." The State Department spokesperson added that Washington voted against the General Assembly last year calling for the conference and would "not support actions that jeopardize the prospect for a long-term, peaceful resolution to the conflict." Israel is also not taking part in the conference, "which doesn't first urgently address the issue of condemning Hamas and returning all of the remaining hostages," said Jonathan Harounoff, international spokesperson at Israel's U.N. mission. The U.N. has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighboring Arab states. The U.N. General Assembly in May last year overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the U.N. Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably." The resolution garnered 143 votes in favor and nine against. The General Assembly vote was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member - a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state - after the U.S. vetoed it in the U.N. Security Council several weeks earlier. REUTERS
UPI
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Netflix reveals it used AI in Argentinian sci-fi series
1 of 2 | The Netflix streaming service said this week it is using artificial intelligence for the first time in order to create realistic effects for a foreign sci-fi series. File Photo by Christian Monterrosa/EPA July 18 (UPI) -- The Netflix streaming service said this week it is using artificial intelligence for the first time in order to create realistic effects for a foreign sci-fi series. The company's revenue is certainly on the rise, which rose 16% during the second quarter of 2025, and is expected to be between $44.8 billion and $45.2 billion, up from a range of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion as per its full-year revenue forecast. Its profits grew from $2.1 billion to $3.1 billion. As for its AI usage, Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos said the Argentinian science fiction program The Eternaut was the first for which generative AI footage was utilized. "We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper," he told analysts Thursday after Netflix reported its second-quarter financial results. According to Sarandos, visual effects artists used AI for Eternaut to show the collapse of a building. "Using AI-powered tools, they were able to achieve an amazing result with remarkable speed and, in fact, that VFX sequence was completed 10 times faster than it could have been completed with traditional VFX tools and workflows," he said. "The cost of [the special effects without the use of AI] just wouldn't have been feasible for a show in that budget." The Eternaut, or El Eternauta, is based on an apocalyptic Argentine comic book and graphic novel about the survivors of an alien invasion.
