Author: Gulf News Week
BBCZia and Yusron were both star pupils at a boarding school in Lombok Warning: This story contains details of sexual assaultThe voice on the end of the phone made Yusron Azzahidi’s stomach lurch. He had rung his sister’s number after she had texted, urgently asking him to call. But this was not her on the line – it was Yusron’s former head teacher. He was in Yusron’s family home.”I knew. I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about,” Yusron says.Listen: Ahmad Imanuddin Sumar pleads with former student Yusron to keep quiet about sex abuse claimsSexual abuse in Islamic boarding…
AFP via Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump has announced that he will form an “AI Force” and appoint an artificial intelligence tsar amid warnings about the emergent technology.In a social media post on Saturday, he said his administration “will not in any way hinder or stifle the growth” of the industry, and pushed back against calls to slow down the development of AI until better safeguards are put in place.His post came as a slew of warnings about the potential dangers of AI have spurred calls for coordinated action on the technology’s development.Trump offered no details or a timeline for…
Getty ImagesBritish singer Ed Sheeran opened his latest concert alone onstage and spoke for the first time about the controversy that erupted over American rapper Macklemore being dropped from his tour over pro-Palestinian remarks.”I never wanted to be an activist musician but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about free speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” he said.Saturday’s show at a Philadelphia sports stadium was a stripped down event and there were a number of empty seats in the venue when the concert began.Sheeran went on without opening acts,…
BBCAugust was a brutal month for Ukraine. Russian aerial attacks increased significantly, launching thousands of drones. Kyiv was intensely bombarded, as were the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa. Amid the destruction and loss of life, Odesa reported damage to six Unesco-protected sites, including the salmon-pink 19th Century Alexandru Sturdza House.It raised again the question of why it is so hard to hold actors accountable for the destruction of buildings and objects with real cultural significance.In the last month alone, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture reported that 148 cultural heritage sites were recorded as damaged or destroyed, including in Odesa.Several Ukrainian…
Would Australians support a smart glasses ban?As Australia considers barring the use of smart glasses in government offices, the BBC asks people in Sydney what they think. 24 hrs agoAustralia
Getty ImagesDaisy Edgar-Jones has been well cast in her new film.She plays Elinor, the rational elder sister in Sense and Sensibility, opposite the younger, more romantic sister Marianne.Speaking to the BBC, Edgar-Jones says that in her personal life, she really is like her character.”When it comes to love, I think I am very much more Elinor in every sort of way,” she says.But she notes that one of the joys of the film is seeing Elinor learn to enjoy a “wilder, passionate side” of herself. “And I feel like I learnt to do that too,” she says.Best known for starring…
Getty ImagesGreenlanders protested against Trump’s ambitions for the territory in the country’s capital, Nuuk, earlier this yearThe US and Denmark have announced a deal on Greenland’s security, resolving a diplomatic dispute sparked by President Donald Trump’s threats to seize it by force.Nato said the deal would help stabilise the region, as Trump said Denmark would grant the US “permanent control over security, and all other needs” in the semi-autonomous Danish territory.The leaders of Denmark and Greenland welcomed the deal to “strengthen security”, which they said was expected to be signed next week, but did not outline its contents.The deal comes…
Getty ImagesThe legacy of the shocking death of Diana, Princess of Wales, is still the rawest of wounds for the royals, as demonstrated by the no-holds-barred memoir from her brother Earl Spencer.It might be almost 30 years ago, but Buckingham Palace’s unusually angry rebuttal to the book’s allegations of a callous response to his ex-wife’s death from the then Prince Charles shows how much this still matters.That late summer in 1997 was a moment when the Royal Family looked out of touch, lacking in empathy for Diana’s loss, and at peril of losing public support, as people laid siege to…
EPAPresident Donald Trump has infused his ongoing feud with the White House press with a new level of acrimony.Journalists from three major media outlets – CNN, Politico and MS Now – were denied access and had their press credentials confiscated on Saturday morning as they attempted to enter the White House grounds for work.As media watchdog organisations and the White House Correspondents Association cry foul, Trump appears set to press ahead with a sweeping effort to punish these outlets.In his Truth Social post announcing his decision on Friday, he said he was “banning” the organisations because “of their constant ‘reporting’…
‘Enough is enough’: Women protest after string of murders near JohannesburgThe police have since set up a task team to investigate the murders and have urged women in the Kempton Park area to avoid walking or running alone “particularly in isolated areas”.5 hrs agoAfrica