Judge prohibits separating migrant families at US border for 8 years
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge is prohibiting the separation of families at the border for purposes of deterring immigration for eight years. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw’s ruling on Friday in San Diego preemptively blocks resumption of a lightning-rod, Trump-era policy that the former president hasn’t ruled out if elected to a second term next year. It ends a long-running lawsuit between the Justic Department and the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued over a “zero-tolerance” policy on illegal immigration that resulted in more than 5,000 children being separated from their parents at the border during the Trump administration.
Europe reaches a deal on world’s first comprehensive AI rules
LONDON (AP) — European Union negotiators have clinched a deal on the world’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence rules. The announcement paves the way for legal oversight of emerging technology used in popular services like ChatGPT that’s promised to transform everyday life and spurred warnings of dangers to humanity. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the bloc’s 27 member countries overcame big differences on controversial points including generative AI and police use of face recognition surveillance. That allowed them to sign a tentative political agreement for the Artificial Intelligence Act. The law still needs final approval and wouldn’t take effect until 2025 at the earliest.
Six French teens convicted over their roles in killing of a teacher
PARIS (AP) — A French juvenile court on Friday convicted six teenagers for their roles in the 2020 beheading of a teacher by an Islamic extremist, an attack that shocked the country and shone a light on the real-world dangers of online hate speech.
Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed near his school after showing his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. Attacker Abdoullakh Anzorov, a young Chechen who had become radicalized, was killed by police.
The court found five of the defendants, who were 14 and 15 at the time of the attack, guilty of involvement in staking out the teacher and identifying him for the attacker. The sixth defendant, 13 at the time, was found guilty of lying about the classroom debate in comments that aggravated online anger against the teacher.
Menu signed by Mao Zedong sells for a quarter million dollars
BOSTON (AP) — An official menu for a state banquet signed by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong has been auctioned for $275,000. Boston-based RR Auction said the menu was for a banquet held in Beijing on October 19, 1956, commemorating the first state visit of Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy of Pakistan to China. The menu was signed in fountain pen by six influential Chinese statesmen, including Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. The banquet featured foods from both nations and included delicacies such as “Consommé of Swallow Nest and White Agaric,” “Shark’s Fin in Brown Sauce,” and “Roast Peking Duck.”