Author: Gulf News Week

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company said Wednesday that it’s taking down “inappropriate posts” made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler. Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI and pitched as alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Musk said Friday that Grok has been improved significantly, and users “should notice a difference.” Since then, Grok has shared several antisemitic posts, including the trope that Jews run Hollywood, and denied that such a stance could be described as Nazism. “Labeling truths as hate speech stifles discussion,” Grok…

LONDON (news agencies) — Iga Swiatek reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over 19th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova that went from a stroll to a bit of a struggle in the late stages Wednesday.“Even though I’m in the middle of the tournament, I already got goosebumps after this win,” said Swiatek, who will face unseeded Belinda Bencic on Thursday for a spot in the final. “I’m super happy and super proud of myself.”Bencic beat No. 7 Mirra Andreeva 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal since the 2019 U.S. Open. The…

The official waived safeguards to fast-track a $30m award to the highly criticised Gaza aid group.A top US Department of State official waived nine mandatory counterterrorism and anti-fraud safeguards to rush a $30m award last month to a controversial Gaza aid group backed by the Trump administration and Israel, according to an internal memorandum. Jeremy Lewin, a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) associate, signed off on the award despite an assessment in the memorandum that the GHF funding plan failed to meet required “minimum technical or budgetary standards”. The June 24 action memorandum to Lewin was sent by Kenneth…

The U.S. is having its worst year for measles spread in more than three decades, with a total of 1,288 cases nationally and another six months to go in 2025.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that the national case count surpassed 2019, when there were 1,274 cases for the year and the country almost lost its status of having eliminated the vaccine-preventable illness. That could happen this year if the virus has nonstop spread for 12 months. This year’s outbreaks, some of them interconnected, started five months ago in undervaccinated communities in West Texas. Three people…

Trump is hosting leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal on Wednesday for with discussions to focus on business opportunities.United States President Donald Trump is meeting with leaders from five African nations as he escalates a trade war that could impact developing countries reliant on commerce with the US. On Wednesday, Trump hosted leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal at the White House for talks and a working lunch, with discussions expected to centre on business opportunities, according to a White House official. During the lunch, Trump said they hail from “very vibrant places with very valuable…

SEOUL, South Korea (news agencies) — A South Korean court has approved the arrest of former President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges related to his brief imposition of martial law in December, accepting a special prosecutor’s claim that he poses a risk of destroying evidence.Yoon, who was ousted in April after the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, is heading back to a detention center near Seoul after four months. He had been released from that facility in March after the Seoul Central District Court overturned his January arrest, allowing him to stand trial for rebellion without being held in custody.Yoon’s…

The White House has sent letters to 20 different countries this week announcing new tariffs.US President Donald Trump has issued a new round of tariff letters to six countries, including Algeria, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova and the Philippines. The letters, which were sent on Wednesday, call for tariffs of 30 percent on Algeria and Iraq; 25 percent on Brunei, Libya and Moldova; 20 percent on the Philippines – the largest of the trading partners announced on Wednesday. The tariffs are expected to start on August 1. Trump posted the letters on Truth Social after the expiration of a 90-day negotiating…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — President Donald Trump sent out tariff letters to seven smaller U.S. trading partners on Wednesday with a pledge to announce import taxes on other countries later in the day.None of the countries targeted in the first batch of letters — the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka — is a major industrial rival to the United States. It’s a sign that a president who has openly expressed his love for the word “tariff” is still infatuated with the idea that taxing trade will create prosperity for America.Most economic analyses say the tariffs will…

LONDON (news agencies) — Jannik Sinner sure didn’t play like someone dealing with an injured right elbow Wednesday, using terrific serving and his usual booming forehand to dismiss 10th-seeded Ben Shelton 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 and earn a second appearance in the Wimbledon semifinals.The No. 1-ranked Sinner wore a white sleeve on his right arm with strips of tape visible underneath — one above the elbow, one below it — two days after he was hurt when he slipped and fell in the opening game of his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov.Sinner said he felt pain when he hit serves…

Recent wildfires have torn through southeastern Turkiye’s Hatay, still recovering from a February 2023 earthquake.Antakya, Turkiye – The darkening sky and thick, acrid smoke carried by scorching winds filled residents of Turkiye’s Hatay province with dread. “It was like waking up, but you’re back in a nightmare,” said Hatice Nur Yilmaz, 23, her voice trembling on the phone as she described seeing flames from her container home in Antakya, Hatay’s largest city. Yilmaz studies at Osmangazi University, in northwest Turkiye’s Eskisehir, almost 400 miles (643 kilometres) away from Antakya. But she was back in her family’s temporary home – Antakya…