South Korean lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that criminalizes possessing or watching sexually explicit deepfake images and videos, with penalties set to include prison terms and fines. There has been an outcry in South Korea over Telegram group chats where sexually explicit and illegal deepfakes were created and widely shared, prompting calls for tougher punishment. Anyone purchasing, saving or watching such ...
Israel carried out part of its device attack targeting Hezbollah by concealing explosives inside the batteries of pagers brought into Lebanon, according to two high-ranking Lebanese security officials, who said the technology was so advanced that it was virtually undetectable. Lebanese security officials watched a series of controlled explosions of some of the weaponized pagers, as investigations into who manufactured ...
Multan, Pakistan — Pakistan’s government said Thursday that police had orchestrated the killing of a doctor who was in custody after he was accused of blasphemy. Officers then lied about the circumstances of his death, claiming he was killed in a shootout between police and armed men, a provincial minister said. The statement marks the first time the government has accused ...
It’s one of the biggest security operations in America: Protecting thousands of world leaders and their entourages at the annual high level United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. What is most impressive is seeing a huge wall of monitors in both. It was clear there are cameras everywhere – some well-hidden, scattered all over the UN grounds aimed ...
Israel’s military chief told troops on Wednesday that its airstrikes in Lebanon were aiming to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure and to pave the way for a possible ground incursion by Israeli forces. “You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day,” the head of Israel’s military, Herzi Halevi, told troops while visiting the country’s northern border with Lebanon. “This ...
Despite pledging a “battle without limits” against Israel, Hezbollah’s response to back-to-back Israeli attacks appears to have been carefully calibrated. Its strike Wednesday that was intercepted near Tel Aviv managed to be both unprecedented and understated. It marked many firsts: The first time Hezbollah launched what it said was a ballistic missile at Israel; the first time a missile had ...
The first-ever visit by a president of the United Arab Emirates to the White House took place this week as Israel’s war in Gaza expanded to Lebanon. That war, however, was not at the top of the agenda in talks with US officials. US President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and UAE president Sheikh Mohammed ...
Pope Francis took the unusual decision Wednesday to expel 10 people – a bishop, priests and laypeople – from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered “sadistic” abuses of power, authority and spirituality. The move against the leadership of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, or Sodalitium of Christian Life, followed Francis’ decision last month to expel the group’s ...
A wildfire raging in Quito has forced residents to flee their homes and Ecuador’s president to make an emergency return from abroad, as heavy smoke spreads across whole neighborhoods of the capital city. “I had two refrigerators, stoves, gas tanks, beds, dining tables, everything. As you can see, it’s all on fire … It’s terrible,” said Maria Sarango, who lost ...
A pair of blood-spattered trousers in a miso tank and an allegedly forced confession helped send Iwao Hakamata to death row more than five decades ago. Now, the world’s longest-serving death row convict has a chance to clear his name. A Japanese court on Thursday is set to hand down its verdict in the retrial of 88-year-old Hakamata, who was ...