American Visitors Help Post-Pandemic Recovery of Britain’s Tourism Industry

• 09, 19, 2023
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Tourism industry watchers say one of the top overseas destinations for US travelers this summer was Britain, where Americans helped the recovery of the British tourism industry after the crisis caused by the COVID pandemic. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Umberto Aguiar in London. (Camera and Produced by Umberto Aguiar)
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New York Times: Evidence Suggests Errant Ukrainian Missile Caused Market Deaths

• 09, 19, 2023
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Evidence suggests a deadly explosion at a busy market in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka this month was caused by an errant missile fired by Ukraine, the The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Ukraine has said the Sept. 6 blast, which killed at least 16 people, was caused by a Russian missile.

“Evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system,” the newspaper reported.

It quoted air defense experts as saying missiles such as the one that hit Kostiantynivka can go off course for a variety of reasons, including an electronic malfunction or having a guidance fin that is damaged or sheared off during launch.

It said security camera footage showed the missile flew into Kostiantynivka from the direction of Ukrainian-held territory, not from behind Russian lines.

The New York Times also cited evidence showing that minutes before the strike, the Ukrainian military had launched two surface-to-air missiles towards the Russian front line from the town of Druzhkivka, 16 kilometers northwest of Kostiantynivka.

It quoted two witnesses who said they had seen the missiles being fired from Druzhkivka in the direction of the Russian front line around the time of the strike. One was quoted as saying the missiles went in the direction of Kostiantynivka.

The newspaper said measurements of holes caused by the explosion and fragments found at the scene were consistent with the 9M38 missile, which is fired by the mobile Buk anti-aircraft vehicle.

The Buk system is used both by Ukraine and Russia.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. A Ukrainian presidential aide did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment.

The New York Times quoted a spokesperson for Ukraine’s armed forces as saying the country’s security service was investigating the incident, and under national law could not comment further.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military command referred Reuters to that comment cited in the New York Times story.
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Azerbaijan Announces an ‘Anti-Terrorist Operation’ Targeting Armenian Positions in Nagorno-Karabakh  

• 09, 19, 2023
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Azerbaijan on Tuesday began what it called an “anti-terrorist operation” targeting Armenian military positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and officials in the area reported heavy artillery firing around its capital. 

The Azerbaijani defense ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war over the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought heavily for six weeks in 2020. 

The ministry did not immediately give details, but said “positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenia’s armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.” 

The Azerbaijani statement said, “Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.” 

But ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement that the region’s capital Stepanakert and other villages were “under intense shelling.” 

Earlier Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people were killed in two separate explosions in the region that is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces. 

A statement from Azerbaijan’s interior ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two employees of the highway department died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four. 

Nagorno-Karabakh and sizable surrounding territories were under ethnic Armenian control since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a six-week war in 2020. That war ended with an armistice that placed a Russian peacekeeper contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

However, Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then. The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing severe food and medicine shortages in the region. 

Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, but local officials said road connections to the region were not fully open. 

The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia. Armenia has repeatedly complained that the 3,000-strong Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war. 

Armenia also angered Russia, which maintains a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday denied claims that Russia was informed in advance of Azerbaijan’s intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only “a few minutes” before it began. 
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FBI Echoes Warning on Danger of Artificial Intelligence

• 09, 19, 2023
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Just as many in the United States are starting to explore how to use artificial intelligence to make their lives easier, U.S. adversaries and criminal gangs are moving forward with plans to exploit the technology at Americans’ expense.

FBI Director Christopher Wray issued the warning Monday, telling a cybersecurity conference in Washington that artificial intelligence, or AI, “is ripe for potential abuses.”

“Criminals and hostile foreign governments are already exploiting that technology,” Wray said, without sharing specifics.

“While generative AI can certainly save law-abiding citizens time by automating tasks, it can also make it easier for bad guys to do things like generate deepfakes and malicious code and can provide a tool for threat actors to develop increasingly powerful, sophisticated, customizable and scalable capabilities,” he said.

Wray said the FBI is working to identify and track those using AI to harm U.S. citizens but added that the bureau is being cautious about employing AI itself.

“To stay ahead of the threat at the FBI, we’re determining how we can ethically and legally leverage AI to do our jobs,” he said.

When contacted by VOA, the FBI declined to elaborate on its concerns about employing AI. Nor did the bureau say when or if it has used AI, even on a limited basis.

Other U.S. national security agencies, however, are currently making use of AI.

The Department of Homeland Security is using AI to combat fentanyl trafficking, counter child sexual exploitation and protect critical infrastructure, according to department officials, even as they roll out guidelines governing its use.

“Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement last Thursday. “Our department must continue to keep pace with this rapidly evolving technology, and do so in a way that is transparent and respectful of the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of everyone we serve.”

DHS has also issued directives aimed at preventing its use of AI from being skewed by biased learning models and databases, and to give U.S. citizens a choice of opting out of systems using facial recognition technology.

But across multiple U.S. departments and agencies, the fear of the potential damage AI could cause is growing.

FBI officials, for example, warned in July that violent extremists and terrorists have been experimenting with AI to more easily build explosives.

And they said a growing number of criminals appear to be gravitating to the technology to carry out everything from petty crimes to financial heists.

It is China, though, that is driving the bulk of the concern.

National Security Agency officials have warned that Beijing started using AI to disseminate propaganda via what they described as a fake news channel last year.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” David Frederick, the NSA’s assistant deputy director for China, told a cybersecurity summit earlier this month.

“[Artificial intelligence] will enable more effective malign influence operations,” he added.

Such concerns have been bolstered by private cybersecurity companies.

Microsoft, for example, warned earlier this month that Chinese-linked cyber actors have started using AI to produce “eye-catching content” for disinformation efforts that has been gaining traction with U.S. voters.

“We can expect China to continue to hone this technology over time, though it remains to be seen how and when it will deploy it at scale,” Microsoft said.

For its part, China has repeatedly denied allegations it is using AI improperly.

“In recent years, some western media and think tanks have accused China of using artificial intelligence to create fake social media accounts to spread so-called ‘pro-China’ information,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told VOA in an email, following the publication of the Microsoft report.

“Such remarks are full of prejudice and malicious speculation against China, which China firmly opposes,” Liu added.
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Italy Toughens Asylum Laws Amid Surge in Migrant Arrivals

• 09, 19, 2023
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Italy’s government Monday passed measures to build new migrant detention centers and allow for the rapid deportation of failed asylum-seekers. Italy is facing another surge in migrant arrivals on the small island of Lampedusa. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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Italy Toughens Asylum Laws Amid Surge in Migrant Arrivals

• 09, 19, 2023
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Italy’s government passed toughened asylum laws Monday as the country faces a surge in migrant arrivals on its southern shores.

The new measures will allow for the extended detention of migrants awaiting asylum decisions, from the current three months to an initial six months — with the possibility of an extension up to 18 months.

“That will be all the time needed not only to make the necessary assessments, but also to proceed with the repatriation of those who do not qualify for international protection,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at the start of the meeting, according to Reuters. The Cabinet also approved the creation of more detention centers in remote areas.

In the past week, almost 10,000 migrants have landed on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, which has a population of 6,000 people. Most have crossed the Mediterranean Sea on small boats from Tunisia, a journey of just over 100 kilometers. Italian authorities say a further 180 migrants arrived on Monday. Conditions are dire, with migrants sleeping on the streets because the reception centers are full.

Claudine Nsoe, a 29-year-old mother of two young children from Cameroon, arrived on Lampedusa on a small boat last week, after an arduous two-day journey.

“I hope that the situation improves and that they let us leave from here, because the living conditions are not easy. We sleep in the open air, in the sun and in the cold. There is no food … and there are children,” Nsoe told Reuters.

EU plan

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined Meloni on a visit to Lampedusa on Sunday and promised a tough response.

“We have an obligation as part of the international community. We have fulfilled it in the past, and we will do so today and in the future. But we will decide who comes to the European Union and under what circumstances, and not the smugglers and traffickers,” von der Leyen told reporters.

The EU commission president outlined a 10-point plan to try to ease the pressure on Italy, including a bigger role for the bloc’s border agency Frontex in identifying and repatriating migrants who don’t qualify for asylum.

The plan is unlikely to have a big effect, said Camino Mortera-Martinez of the Brussels-based policy group the Center for European Reform.

“When it comes to substantive points and content of things that the Commission can do — or the European Union even can do — about this problem, there is absolutely nothing new. We see von der Leyen’s 10-point plan that she offered Italy, and we see the same things that we’ve been seeing for the past 10 years,” Mortera-Martinez told VOA.

Naval mission

Italy’s prime minister said the migrants must be stopped at the source “with a European mission, including a naval one if necessary, in agreement with the North African authorities to stop the departure of the boats.”

“Assess in Africa who is or is not entitled to asylum and accept in Europe only those who actually have the right according to international conventions,” Meloni said in a televised statement on Sunday.

The European Union signed a strategic partnership with Tunisia in July worth $1.1 billion in return for a crackdown on human traffickers and tightened border controls.

Human rights concerns

Human rights groups have expressed concerns over Tunisia’s treatment of refugees and say Europe must offer a more humane response. In 2023, alone, more than 2,000 people have died attempting the crossing between North Africa and Europe, according to the United Nations.

Andrea Costa, manager of the Baobab Experience charity, which offers support to migrants in Italy, said the tightened laws will only force migrants to make riskier journeys.

“The key is to invest in reception rather than rejection. These people have set off on a very difficult and harsh journey with a high mortality rate. You don’t stop them by putting up walls. You don’t stop them by closing borders or with naval blockades. Welcoming them is the best answer you can give,” Costa told Reuters.

EU disunity

EU member states are struggling to agree on a New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which the bloc says would create a “fairer, efficient and more sustainable migration and asylum process.”

Under current EU laws, migrants must apply for asylum in the country where they first arrive, adding to the pressure on front-line states. Several Eastern European countries, such as Hungary and Poland, are refusing to accept refugee quotas to share the burden of countries like Italy.

“We are a continent united in many things. Migration is not one of them. Or if it is, it’s basically on the consensus that we have to protect the borders,” said Mortera-Martinez.

“But if we don’t agree on something beyond that, then we will basically damage our own [European Union] project and that’s going to be, in my view, particularly visible after the elections in 2024,” she said.

With those European elections scheduled for June, analysts say right-wing populist parties are looking to capitalize on voter discontent over Europe’s handling of migration.
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