Author: ALJAZEERA

The United States surgeon general has called on Congress to require social media platforms to carry warning labels on their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes. In a Monday opinion piece in The New York Times, Dr Vivek Murthy said that social media is a contributing factor in the mental health crisis among young people. “It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly…

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Report by UN experts in January found ‘credible’ evidence that United Arab Emirates has been arming the RSF paramilitary.Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of arming a paramilitary force in the country’s 14-month civil war, prompting a clash at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, Sudan’s UN ambassador, accused the UAE late on Tuesday of arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been fighting Sudan’s army since April 2023 and faces accusations of ethnic war crimes. The Sudanese envoy said Khartoum has evidence of the weapons supply and his government will submit a file…

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Chip giant’s market capitalisation hits $3.335 trillion as stock price continues its stellar rise.Nvidia, the startup at the centre of the artificial intelligence boom, has become the world’s most valuable company, knocking Microsoft off the top spot. Nvidia’s market capitalisation hit $3.335 trillion on Tuesday as shares of the chipmaker rose by 3.5 percent to $135.58. The feat comes just days after the Santa Clara California-based company eclipsed Apple to become the world’s second most valuable company. Shares of Microsoft and Apple, holders of the number two and three spots, fell by 0.45 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. Nvidia’s rally,…

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Fast food giant pulls plug on AI-powered voice-ordering at about 100 outlets after viral videos of order mishaps.McDonald’s is scrapping a trial of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted ordering at select drive-through restaurants after videos of order mix-ups went viral online. The fast food giant’s decision to retire the AI-powered voice-ordering system from about 100 outlets comes as restaurant chains rush to embrace the technology to cut back on mounting labour costs. McDonald’s launched the pilot in partnership with IBM at a select number of drive-through restaurants in the United States in 2021. Trade publication Restaurant Business first reported the news on…

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Israel is ready for an “all-out war” in Lebanon and has plans approved for an offensive targeting Hezbollah, officials have said. The claims from Israel’s foreign minister and military late on Tuesday followed Hezbollah’s release of threatening drone footage. The climbing tension conflicts with United States efforts to avert an escalation amid months of low-level hostilities across the Israel-Lebanon border. The nine-minute drone footage of the Israeli port city of Haifa filmed in daytime, showed civilian and military areas, including malls and residential quarters, in addition to a weapons manufacturing complex and missile defence batteries. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz…

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US prosecutors charge two dozen people over alleged $50m money laundering scheme.Prosecutors in the United States have charged two dozen people over an alleged money laundering scheme involving Chinese shadow bankers and Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel. Chinese underground money exchanges helped the cartel launder $50m in drug trafficking proceeds generated from the import of large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine between 2019 and 2023, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement on Tuesday. The California-based network then allegedly made the proceeds generated in the US accessible to cartel members in Mexico and elsewhere, the DOJ said.…

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The crew abandoned the coal carrier after it was struck by Houthi missiles, which started a fire, on June 12.The Greek-owned Tutor, a coal carrier, has reportedly sunk in the Red Sea a week after it came under attack from Yemen’s Houthis. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which monitors and tracks commercial shipping for owners and the military in the crucial waterway, said in an update on Tuesday that debris and oil had been sighted around the vessel’s last known location. “The vessel is believed to have sunk in position 14″19’N 041″14’E,” UKMTO said, advising other ships to…

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Biden camp hits out at viral videos that have been seized on as evidence of US president’s frailty.United States President Joe Biden’s administration has accused his opponents of spreading disinformation about his physical and mental fitness after a series of viral videos reignited concerns about the Democratic standard-bearer’s age. In a news conference on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the clips purporting to show Biden’s decline had been deceptively edited or misrepresented. “It tells you everything that we need to know about how desperate Republicans are here,” Jean-Pierre told reporters, labelling the clips “cheapfake” videos. Republican…

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