Global AI summit tackles misinformation and deepfakes with a little ‘bot’ of help

Global AI summit tackles misinformation and deepfakes with a little ‘bot’ of help

The annual AI for Good Summit has been described as the leading UN platform promoting this technology to advance health, climate, gender, inclusive prosperity, sustainable infrastructure, and other global development priorities. Frederic Werner, Head of Strategic Engagement at the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) underscored the need to develop standards to combat misinformation and deepfakes. “You…

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Sudan: Security Council members call for immediate halt to military escalation in El Fasher

Sudan: ‘Noose of war’ tightens on civilians in El Fasher, UN official warns

Fighting between the Sudanese army and rival military the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been battling for more than year, recently intensified in the North Darfur city.  Civilians are under attack from all sides and the news of reported casualties and human rights abuses are appalling, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan Clementine…

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Cabo Verde beats back climate change through South-South cooperation

Cabo Verde beats back climate change through South-South cooperation

The UN agency facilitates experts from China who share their knowledge and skills with farmers in the West African nation through a collaborative process known as South-South cooperation.*  Cabo Verde consists of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, nine of which are inhabited.  Although the country’s name means “Green Cape” in Portuguese, it…

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Top UN officials urge comprehensive approach to Syria’s protracted crisis

Top UN officials urge comprehensive approach to Syria’s protracted crisis

Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis, noting that 16.7 million people now require humanitarian assistance – the highest number since the conflict began 13 years ago.   He stressed that the situation is deteriorating year by year, with a particular emphasis on the ongoing protection crisis, as children continue…

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World News in Brief: Hunger grows in Haiti, Gaza aid blocked, World Potato Day

World News in Brief: Hunger grows in Haiti, Gaza aid blocked, World Potato Day

The World Food Programme (WFP) distributed more than 74,000 hot meals to over 15,000 displaced people in the besieged capital, Port-au-Prince, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, told journalists at UN Headquarters on Thursday, providing an update on the gang-ravaged Caribbean nation. In addition, about 2,400 children received mental health and psychosocial support from…

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AI for Good Summit: Digital and technological divide is no longer acceptable

AI for Good Summit: Digital and technological divide is no longer acceptable

Organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the annual forum is the place where humans meet artificial intelligence. It is popular to the extent of being oversubscribed for attendance, with the queue to enter stretched for hundreds of metres, along one of Geneva’s biggest conference centres, and internet bandwidth barely coping with the flood of…

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Human rights experts highlight threats to journalists covering Iran

Human rights experts highlight threats to journalists covering Iran

The experts highlighted recent incidents targeting the Persian language news service Iran International, its journalists and staff, and its owner Volant Media UK Limited. Death threats and intimidation against the staff escalated into the violent stabbing of journalist Pouria Zeraati outside his home in London on 29 March. Since 2017, Iran International has faced ongoing…

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SIDS go forward with ‘new sense of hope, solidarity and determination’

SIDS go forward with ‘new sense of hope, solidarity and determination’

Speaking at the closing of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island States (SIDS4), Amina Mohammed stressed that despite increasingly existential threats to SIDS, “we do have reasons for hope and optimism”. More than 20 world leaders and senior ministers from over 100 nations joined close to 4,000 other participants on the lush campus of…

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