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Showing posts from December 12, 2021

Killer Robots Aren't Science Fiction. A Push to Ban Them is Growing.

  It may have seemed like an obscure United Nations conclave, but a meeting this week in Geneva was followed intently by experts in artificial intelligence, military strategy, disarmament and humanitarian law. The reason for the interest? Killer robots — drones, guns and bombs that decide on their own, with artificial brains, whether to attack and kill — and what should be done, if anything, to regulate or ban them. Once the domain of science fiction films like the “Terminator” series and “RoboCop,” killer robots, more technically known as Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, have been invented and tested at an accelerated pace with little oversight. Some prototypes have even been used in actual conflicts. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times The evolution of these machines is considered a potentially seismic event in warfare, akin to the invention of gunpowder and nuclear bombs. This year, for the first time, a majority of the 125 nations that belong to an agreemen

Bouncer racially abused by drunken woman says her jail sentence is ‘valuable lesson’

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  A bouncer who was racially abused by a drunken woman has welcomed her jail sentence, saying it would provide a “valuable lesson” to racists. Doorman Tristan Price, 26, spoke after 25-year-old  Sharna Walker was handed a 14-week prison term after admitting racially aggravated common assault. She flew into a rage and screamed and spat at him when he booted her out Wetherspoon’s Figure of Eight bar on Birmingham’s Broad Street on 22 May. Her tirade was caught on camera as she pushed the security guard and called him a “black c***” and a “f*****g n*****” in front of shocked onlookers. Sharna Walker arrives at Birmingham Magistrates' Court. (PA) Sharna Walker was handed a 14-week prison term. (West Midlands Police) Mr Price said it was the first time he had been abused when working as a bouncer and was hurt by her words. He told the Mirror : 'People have tried to fight me and punch me and I've even had knives pulled out on me but those incidents have left my head quickly. What

Insurgency: Battle-hardened soldiers resort to alcohol, drugs, others to fight depression

  Nigerian soldiers fighting Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East have devised unusual methods to cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the absence of quality healthcare,  Godfrey George  writes Puffing on a stick of cigarette while standing underneath a pear tree, 28-year-old Olarenwaju  was lost in a Fuji music blasting from his audio device. He stomped his left foot to the rhythm, swaying from side to side. Close to him was a rifle with a red piece of cloth tied around its shaft. Olanrewaju gestured to our correspondent to join him as he increased the volume of the song. “I love Ayinde Barrister’s songs a lot. It makes me forget bad memories,” he said casually as some boys who came to the neighbourhood in Ikorodu, Lagos, to buy food from a vendor hailed him. Olarenwaju had just clocked at 28 a few days ago and was preparing to go back to Maiduguri, Borno State, to ‘replace some fallen heroes’ at the war front, fighting Boko Haram insurgency which has ravaged the region for

Burkina Faso: Can Local Dialogues With Jihadists Stem Violence in Burkina Faso?

  Ouagadougou — The two groups thrashed out their differences as Burkinabé often do - sitting under the shade of a tree, exchanging plates of goat meat, yoghurt, and traditional foamy tea. But this was no ordinary reconciliation meeting: One group was composed of some of the heavily armed al-Qaeda-linked fighters who are waging war across Burkina Faso; the other of unarmed local residents who count among the militants' many victims. "We think that it is important to talk [to jihadists] in order to deal with [the crisis] at the local level, and to preserve human lives," said a community leader from Nassoumbou, a commune in northern Burkina Faso that arranged the recent meeting. Thousands of people have died and more than 1.4 million have been displaced in recent years as militant groups have spread across the once-peaceful country - part of a wider push across West Africa's semi-arid Sahel region. As violence intensifies and patience wanes with the government - which f