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☆ Iran says it's discovered what could be the world's second-largest lithium deposit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A lithium mining machine moves a salt by-product at the mine in the Atacama Desert in Salar de Atacama, Chile on October 25, 2022. Lucas Aguayo Araos| Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesIran says it's discovered a massive deposit of lithium — a key element in batteries for devices and electric vehicles — in one of its western provinces. If the claimed figure is accurate, that would make the deposit the second-largest known lithium reserve in the world after Chile, which holds 9.2 million metric tons of the metal, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. watch nowIran's lithium deposit news, if true, would be a lifeline for the country's battered economy. In terms of the global lithium market, such an addition to the world's known reserves could push prices of the metal down further, depending on Iran's capacity to export.

☆ Indonesia to repatriate alleged drug trafficker to Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NUSA DUA, Bali, Indonesia, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities will repatriate alleged drug trafficker Antonio Strangio, an Italian and Australian dual national who was detained in Bali earlier this month, to Italy on Sunday, authorities said. "After coordinating with National Central Bureau in Rome, he must be sent to Italy immediately. He will be delivered from here to Italy, and there he will be called to account on his case until there is a ruling," Anggaito said. Strangio was arrested on Feb.3 in Indonesia's resort island of Bali which he was transiting on his way home to Australia. Reporting by Bernadette Christina and Sultan Anshori in Bali, Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Salman Rushdie releases new novel six months after stabbing attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Since the attack, Rushdie has struggled to write and has suffered nightmares, he told the New Yorker magazine in an interview published this week. "All I've seen is his idiotic interview in the New York Post," said Rushdie, who was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, and raised in a Muslim family. Matar, 25, told the Post in a jailhouse interview shortly after the stabbing that he thought Rushdie had insulted Islam. Rushdie spent six weeks recuperating in hospital and still requires regular medical visits, he told the New Yorker. He said he hoped the attack would not overshadow the novel.

☆ OpenAI makes a ChatGPT-like tool called Codex that can write software. Here's why Codex won't replace developers and will instead create more demand for their skills.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The same company is also behind Codex, a tool that automates the writing of software code. Codex is similar, except that instead of writing English sentences, it writes software code. Tell Codex what type of software problem you're trying to solve, and Codex will suggest a solution with a string of code. Similarly, Codex further simplifies certain software engineering tasks. "Then we'll have more engineers, and more software engineering.

☆ Generative AI is coming for the classroom, whether teachers like it or not. Here's why many in education think it should be embraced rather than shunned.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Fears of generative AI helping students cheat are rampant, and some school districts are banning it. Instead, educators should think about how generative AI can be used as a classroom learning tool. Insider spoke with multiple AI researchers and academics, startup founders, and education-nonprofit leaders to learn how they're approaching generative AI in the classroom. If used effectively, generative AI tools like ChatGPT can help students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are crucial learning outcomes for most teachers. That way, students are actively engaged and wouldn't be able to use generative AI to complete a full assignment, he said.

☆ UAE museum unveils Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust in tolerance push
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Bushra Shakhshir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Visitors attend an event commemorating the Holocaust, in which a 16th century Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust was officially unveiled, at Crossroad of Civilizations Museum, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 28, 2023. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, founder of the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai's historic district, said the display, unveiled for International Holocaust Remembrance Day would help combat "big denial" of the Holocaust in the region. The scroll is on permanent loan to the museum from the Memorial Scrolls Trust, which looks after more than 1,000 Czech scrolls saved from the Holocaust and later sent to London. "I lived in the Arab world when I was young, and the term Holocaust does not exist ... Reporting by Bushra Shakhshir and Abdel Hadi Ramahi; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Iraqi PM walks diplomatic tightrope in crackdown on dollars smuggled to Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ahmed Rasheed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The New York Federal Reserve introduced tighter controls on international dollar transactions by commercial Iraqi banks in November. "Americans are using the dollar transfer rigid restrictions as warning messages to Prime Minister Sudani to stay tuned with the American interests. The new system has slowed down dollar transactions, said Nabil al-Marsoumi, economics professor at Basra University. Meanwhile the price of consumer goods has increased and the Iraqi currency has taken a beating. The Iraqi prime minister replaced the central bank governor after the slide in the dinar, the state news agency said on Monday.

☆ Deadly stampede overshadows rare soccer joy in Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Iraq won the men's soccer Gulf Cup for the first time since 1988 with a 3-2 victory over Oman on Thursday, but the triumph was marred by a deadly stampede outside the Basra International Stadium. Witnesses blamed the deadly incident on what they said was bad organization of the tournament. The deadly incident happened in the southern city of Basra as spectators gathered to attend the final match in the first international soccer tournament held in Iraq in four decades. The official Iraqi News Agency said some of the 60 people who were injured outside the Basra International Stadium were in critical condition. He arrived in Basra from the southern Iraqi city of Najaf three days ago to attend the final match and was not able to enter.

☆ Analysis: Iran executions quash protests, push dissent underground
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

They argue the resort to deadly state violence is merely pushing dissent underground, while deepening anger felt by ordinary Iranians about the clerical establishment that has ruled them for four decades. Executive Director at the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Hadi Ghaemi said the establishment's main focus was to intimidate the population into submission by any means. People are either in prison or they have gone underground because they are determined to find a way to keep fighting," he said. Defying public fury and international criticism, Iran has handed down dozens of death sentences to intimidate Iranians enraged by the death of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22. Ghaemi said the main officials pushing for the executions today were deeply involved in the 1980s killings of prisoners.

☆ Rapper who became the voice of the Iranian revolt is in danger of execution
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Sanam Mahoozi | Sanam Mahoozi Is A Freelance Writer Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Fear for his safety have also grown after Salehi’s official Twitter account posted Friday that despite being in danger of losing his eyesight, he was being repeatedly beaten. Iranian mourners march towards Aichi cemetery in Saqez in Iranian Kurdistan to mark 40 days since Mahsa Amini's death on Oct. 26, 2022. ESN / AFP - Getty ImagesUsing his voice and lyrics, Salehi came out in support of the anti-government protesters from the beginning. At the heart of the protests, and Salehi’s lyrics, is the conviction that the government must go. “This is Toomaj Salehi,” he wrote, reposting a Salehi video supportive of the protesters.

Indonesian lawmakers passed a sweeping new criminal code on Tuesday that criminalizes sex outside marriage, as part of a tranche of changes that critics say threaten human rights and freedoms in the Southeast Asian country. The new code, which also applies to foreign residents and tourists, bans cohabitation before marriage, apostasy, and provides punishments for insulting the president or expressing views counter to the national ideology. “All have agreed to ratify the (draft changes) into law,” said lawmaker Bambang Wuryanto, who led the parliamentary commission in charge of revising the colonial-era code. “The old code belongs to Dutch heritage … and is no longer relevant.”The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia has seen a rise in religious conservatism in recent years. Under the laws, sex outside marriage carries a potential one-year prison term, and the crime of blasphemy, already on Indonesia’s books, could now lead to a five-year prison sentence.

☆ Analysis: Gains for Malaysia's hardline Islamist party a challenge for new PM Anwar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( A. Ananthalakshmi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] A pillion waves a Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) flag on the eve of Malaysia's general election at Permatang Pauh, Penang, Malaysia November 18, 2022. Anwar, who is ethnic Malay and Muslim, addressed race and religion in his first news conference as prime minister, promising to uphold Islam as the official religion of the country and the rights of the ethnic Malay majority, while also safeguarding the rights of all. Race and religion are thorny issues in Malaysia, where Muslim ethnic Malays form a majority in a country with significant ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indian minorities, most of them Hindu, Buddhist or Christian. As the biggest party in parliament, PAS could push for Islamisation and more affirmative action for Malays - a long-standing policy that Anwar has opposed, analysts said. "They see PAS as a clean party and its political leaders have no integrity problems," said Mohd Izani.

☆ Trapview: Can an AI-powered insect trap solve a $220 billion pest problem?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Tom Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN Business —Pests destroy up to 40% of the world’s crops each year, causing $220 billion in economic losses, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Trapview is harnessing the power of AI to help tackle the problem. Targeted interventionsThe automated devices have been used to monitor grapes, tomatoes, olives, tree fruits, and, pictured here, brassicas. Štefančič says that Trapview can significantly reduce the use of chemical sprays and the need for farmers to visit their fields. Trapview says it has sold over 7,500 devices in more than 50 countries since it launched in 2012.

☆ Fact Check-Confusion spreads online about 15,000 people detained in Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

CONFUSION SPREADSOn social media, the picture became blurred. Other social media users cited a Nov. 10 Newsweek article titled “Iran Protesters Refuse to Back Down as 15,000 Face Execution” as their source (here), (here), (here). Posts on social media conflated this with figures by local activist agencies that over 15,000 people had been detained. As of publication, death sentences have not been handed to 15,000 detained people. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .

☆ Facing a wave of public anger, Iran’s regime could be in a fight for long-term survival, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

From anti-government graffiti to students heckling government officials, to women walking in the street without headscarves to workers putting down their tools, Iran’s regime looks increasingly bewildered by events. “It’s like a war, the Islamic Republic versus the Iranian people,” said the woman from Tehran. She and other Iranians say the helmeted police flooding the streets resemble an occupying force, unsure of their position and unable to trust the local population. The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights and the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Friday more than 250 protesters have been killed in the six weeks since protests began. “We all know that this time we will overthrow the regime,” said the woman in Tehran.

☆ U.S. Penalizes Iranian Group Behind Salman Rushdie Bounty
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Salman Rushdie, pictured in 2019, was stabbed several times before a planned lecture in New York on Aug. 12. WASHINGTON—The Biden administration on Friday levied sanctions against an Iranian foundation that has sponsored a bounty on the writer Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed in August on a stage in New York. Mr. Rushdie, who spent years under police protection after Iranian leaders called for his execution over his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses,” was stabbed several times before a planned lecture in New York’s Chautauqua Institution on Aug. 12. Federal authorities are investigating what motivated the suspected attacker, Hadi Matar, a New Jersey man of Lebanese descent. Mr. Matar’s lawyer in New York, Nathaniel Barone, entered a plea of not guilty last month.

☆ Agent says Salman Rushdie has lost use of eye and hand following August attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

After the attack, Rushdie was treated at a Pennsylvania hospital, where he was briefly put on a ventilator to recover from what Wylie told El Pais was a “brutal attack” that cut nerves to one arm. Wylie told the newspaper he could not say whether Rushdie remained in a hospital or discuss his whereabouts. The attack was along the lines of what Rushie and his agent have thought was the “principal danger ... a random person coming out of nowhere and attacking,” Wylie told El Pais. Wylie told the newspaper it was like Beatles member John Lennon’s murder. In a jailhouse interview with The New York Post, Matar said he disliked Rushdie and praised Khomeini.

What is the latest challenge for Iran's cleric-led government as it works to crush weeks of anti-government protests? “It’s an indication that this is a struggle for the future,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran. Last month the human rights group Amnesty International also said it had documented children among the people killed by the government in its crackdown. On Wednesday Human Rights Watch said that Iran's security forces have used excessive force against women protesting peacefully across the country. Human Rights Watch said assault rifles and shotguns have been employed against the demonstrators - even against people fleeing from the police and the military.

☆ Iran's 'trajectory' is another revolution — but the hijab protesters need leaders to topple the Islamic regime, Middle East experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Iran's "trajectory" is another revolution, an expert told Insider, but this won't happen any time soon. The protest movement lacks the organization needed to topple the regime, Iran experts say. Amnesty International said that at least 30 people, including four children, have died amid the Iranian crackdown on the protests. The protests spread across the country, and the Iranian regime has responded by using police and internet censorship to stifle dissent. Iran last underwent a revolution in 1979, which saw the Pahlavi dynasty fall and the Islamic Republic rise.

☆ Ethiopian Airlines consortium wins bid for new Nigeria airline
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Felix Onuah | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File PhotoABUJA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A consortium led by Ethiopian Airlines is the preferred bidder for shares in new Nigerian airline Nigeria Air, the country's aviation minister said on Friday. Ethiopian Airlines will own a 49% stake in the new airline, while the Nigerian Sovereign Fund will take 46% and the Nigerian federal government the remaining 5%. Nigeria Air would have an initial capital of $300 million and plans to have 30 aircraft within four years, he said. Nigeria Air will launch with service between the capital Abuja and Lagos, the commercial capital, and add other routes later. "Nigeria Air is a limited liability company that will have no government intervention," he added.

Amini’s death in the capital has ignited a wave of protests across the country, exposing a raw anger among Iranian women about their treatment by the regime and an unprecedented willingness to defy the government. She invites Iranian women to post their protest videos on social media under her #WhiteWednesdays hashtag campaign. At least four people have been killed so far by police in this week’s protests, according to Iranian-focused human rights organizations. Every prison sentence and arrest meted out by the regime has only radicalized Iranian women and served as a catalyst for more protests, Alinejad and other activists said. To me, I don’t see Iranian women like victims.

☆ Man suspected of attacking Salman Rushdie charged with attempted murder, assault
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterNew Jersey Police officers stand guard near the building where alleged attacker of Salman Rushdie, Hadi Matar, lives in Fairview, New Jersey, U.S., August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Eduardo MunozWASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The man suspected of attacking novelist Salman Rushdie on Friday has been charged with attempted murder and assault, prosecutors said on Saturday. "The individual responsible for the attack yesterday, Hadi Mattar, has now been formally charged with Attempted Murder in the Second Degree and Assault in the Second Degree," Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said in a statement on Saturday. "He was arraigned on these charges last night and remanded without bail," the statement added. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kanishka Singh and Rami Ayyub in WashingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Salman Rushdie off ventilator and 'road to recovery has begun,' agent says
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-15 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"He's off the ventilator, so the road to recovery has begun," his agent, Andrew Wylie, wrote in an email to Reuters. Rushdie was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, for treatment after the attack. Authorities in Iran have made no public comment about the attack, although hardline state media outlets have celebrated it with headlines including "Satan has been blinded" and some Iranians voiced support online for the stabbing. Rushdie was stabbed 10 times, prosecutors said during Matar's arraignment, according to the New York Times. A Hezbollah official told Reuters on Saturday that the group had no additional information on the attack on Rushdie.

☆ Rushdie's stabbing highlights divisions in Iranian society
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-14 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But hardline state media outlets have celebrated it with headlines like "Satan has been blinded". "Through the fatwa, the Iranian regime is responsible for the attack on Salman Rushdie. Washington has charged an Iranian with plotting to murder Bolton, a national security adviser to Trump. Those comments echoed praise for the attacker in other hardline Iranian media on Saturday. read more"I hope you die," tweeted Iranian Mohammad, using the trending hashtag #SalmanRushdie in Farsi.

Wylie did not respond to messages requesting updates on Rushdie's condition on Saturday, though the New York Times reported that Rushdie had started to talk, citing Wylie. In a statement on Saturday, President Joe Biden commended the "universal ideals" that Rushdie and his work embody. Rushdie was stabbed 10 times, prosecutors said during Matar's arraignment, according to the Times. There has been no official government reaction in Iran to the attack on Rushdie, but several hardline Iranian newspapers praised his assailant. A Hezbollah official told Reuters on Saturday that the group had no additional information on the attack on Rushdie.

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