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☆ Biden to Allow Ukraine to Use U.S. Weapons to Strike Inside Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Edward Wong | More About Edward Wong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A senior American official in Washington said the administration’s policy prohibiting Ukraine from using U.S.-made weapons for “long range” attacks inside Russia had not changed. He was responding to a question about whether Mr. Biden would soon allow Ukraine to use American-made weapons to strike in Russia. The Pentagon is charged with giving Ukraine the exact guidelines of what it can strike in Russia, U.S. officials said. In addition to artillery and missile launchers, the Ukrainians are concerned about Russian aircraft releasing glide bombs at Kharkiv from inside Russian airspace. Ukrainian officials say they want to use American-made weapons to attack Russian aircraft in Russia’s airspace and air bases inside Russia.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Mr, Biden Organizations: American, NATO, Politico, Pentagon Locations: Washington, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, United States, France, Germany, Prague, U.S, Kharkiv

But aid officials expressed concern. The sanctions that come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups from their sources of financing. Aid groups during the height of Yemen's war issued repeated warnings that millions of Yemenis were on the brink of famine. Aid groups said that step could have the effect of criminalizing ordinary trade and assistance to Yemenis. At home, the designation helps the Houthis' message to Yemenis that the U.S. is the cause of their suffering, Al-Omeisy said.

Persons: Scott Paul, Jared Rowell, Biden, “, Hisham Al, Omeisy, ’ ” Organizations: Oxfam America, U.S, Nations, International Rescue Locations: Iran, Saudi, Britain, Yemen, Israel, U.S, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Washington

Now Biden's only stop will be Israel, where he's expected to huddle with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has been preparing for a potential ground invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas' attacks on Oct. 7, which killed 1,400 Israelis. Outrage over the hospital explosion scuttled Biden's plans to visit Jordan, where King Abdullah II had planned to host meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. He said Biden would have an opportunity to speak to the Arab leaders by phone as he returned to Washington. The visit to Israel coincides with rising humanitarian concerns in Gaza, where Israel has cut off the flow of food, fuel and water.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Jordan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, John Kirby, Biden “, ” Kirby, ”, “, King Abdullah II, Mahmoud Abbas, Abdel Fattah el, Abbas, Kirby, Ayman Safadi, It's, Antony Blinken, Blinken's, Matthew Lee Organizations: WASHINGTON, White House, Air Force, Al, Hamas, Gaza Health Ministry, Bank, Embassy, Associated Press Locations: Israel, Gaza, Washington, Ahli, Al Ahli, Ramallah, Beirut, Lebanon, Amman, Jordan, Iran, Ukraine, Tel Aviv, —

Biden's travels will be rife with security concerns, and visits by other U.S. officials have been disrupted by rocket launches into Israel. ... And if we don’t, who does?”In Israel, Biden was expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials before heading to Jordan. However, Abbas has withdrawn his planned participation because of the destruction at the hospital in Gaza. Abbas has been Palestinian president for nearly 20 years. Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 2,700 people and wounded more than 9,700, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Mahmoud Abbas, Abbas, Biden, Jordan, Ukraine —, Joe Biden, ”, Jon Alterman, There's, ” Alterman, Biden's, Antony Blinken, “, Benjamin Netanyahu, King Abdullah II, Abdel Fattah el, it's, Netanyahu, Abdullah II, — Biden, Richard Hecht, haven’t, Josh Boak, Josef Federman, Matthew Lee Organizations: WASHINGTON, Hamas, Ministry, Palestinian, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Senate Foreign Relations, Hezbollah, Associated Press, Israel, Republicans, CBS, International Monetary Fund, Gaza Health Ministry, United Nations Locations: Israel, East, Gaza, Palestinian, Ukraine, United States, Iran, Southern Lebanon, “, The U.S, Tel Aviv, —, U.S, United States of America, Jordan, The Israel, Jordanian, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Washington, Jerusalem, Amman

Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was at the White House for meetings and spoke to Israel's president and foreign minister, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israel's defense minister. But given the scale of the Hamas attacks and Israel's military response, the officials said they were not optimistic about any short-term solution. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish and had relatives who died in the Holocaust, said “Israel’s right to self-defense cannot be questioned." In Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps, hundreds took to the streets to celebrate the operation by Hamas.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, United States “, There’s, ’ ’, ” Biden, Netanyahu, King Abdullah II, Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Israel, ” Netanyahu, We’ll, ”, – “, It’s, ’, Blinken, “, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ursula Von Der Leyen, OIaf Scholz, Karl Nehammer, Rishi Sunak, ” Nehammer, Mikhail Bogdanov, Bogdanov, Israel ”, Nasser Kanaani Organizations: WASHINGTON, Hamas, Israeli, White House, Defense, Pentagon, ”, United Arab, Telegram, Jewish, British, Austrian, Foreign Ministry, Tass, Saudi Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Ministry, Associated Press Locations: Israel, United States, U.S, Kippur, Gaza, ’ ’, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Austrian, Vienna, Moscow, Iran, “ Israel, Palestine, Beirut, Tripoli

And France pledged a shipment of the same missiles, which it calls SCALPs, as NATO leaders gathered in Lithuania on Tuesday. Like the United States, France had previously ruled out providing Ukraine with longer-range missiles, over concerns they could be used to attack targets in Russia, escalating the conflict. The ATACMS are among the last major weapons systems that Kyiv wants and the United States is reluctant to give. France’s announcement on Tuesday could either fuel the pressure campaign or, conversely, ease it now that Ukraine is receiving long-range missiles from other countries. Mr. Reznikov made clear that he would not stop asking for ATACMs or long-range missiles from any ally.

Persons: Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Mr, Macron, Abrams, America’s, Lockheed Martin, ATACMS, what’s, ”, Franklin D, Kramer, Oleksii Reznikov, Reznikov, “, Eric Schmitt, Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Zolan Kanno, Youngs Organizations: NATO, Tactical Missile Systems, Pentagon, Russian, United, Kyiv, Lockheed, Republicans, Taurus Locations: Ukraine, France, Lithuania, United States, Russia, Britain, Crimea, Vilnius, Lithuanian, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Romania, Korean, “, Washington, London

☆ Portugal plans to trial answering emergency calls using an AI chatbot based off ChatGPT, and it could be rolled out by 2025, government official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Portugal is trialing a ChatGPT-based AI that can respond to emergency calls in busy periods. Callers to Portugal's 112 emergency line sometimes wait five to six minutes to get a response. If the trial periods goes well, the AI will come into wider use by 2025, a senior politician said. Portugal is planning to test a new artificial intelligence system based on OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to see whether it could be used to take emergency calls in the country during busy times. Instead, the AI system will respond to the calls first in "natural language response" to "assess what kind of problem" the caller is reporting, Portugal News' report added.

Persons: ChatGPT, António Pombeiro, Lusa, Pombeiro Organizations: Morning, Internal Administration Locations: Portugal, Porto, Colombia

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