Source: BBC
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Tuesday 11 April 2023 13:47:10
Kuwait News Outlet Unveils AI-Generated Presenter Fedha
A Kuwaiti media outlet says it has created a virtual news presenter using artificial intelligence (AI).
"Fedha" made her debut on the Twitter account of Kuwait News, an affiliate of the Kuwait Times.
She appears as an image of a woman with light-coloured hair, wearing a black jacket and white T-shirt.
Abdullah Boftain, deputy editor-in-chief for Kuwait News, told AFP news agency the move tested AI's potential to offer "new and innovative content".
"I'm Fedha, the first presenter in Kuwait who works with artificial intelligence at Kuwait News. What kind of news do you prefer? Let's hear your opinions," the AI-generated presenter said in Arabic.
أول مذيعة في #الكويت تعمل بالذكاء الاصطناعي
— كويت نيوز (@KuwaitNews) April 8, 2023
• #فضة.. مذيعة #كويت_نيوز الافتراضية
• ما هي نوعية الأخبار التي تفضلونها بتقديم #فضة زميلتنا الجديدة؟ .. شاركونا آراءكم pic.twitter.com/VlVjasSdpb
Mr Boftain said Fedha may develop to have a Kuwaiti accent and read online news bulletins.
"Fedha is a popular, old Kuwaiti name that refers to silver, the metal. We always imagine robots to be silver and metallic in colour, so we combined the two," he said.
The presenter's blonde hair and light-coloured eyes reflect the country's diverse population of Kuwaitis and expatriates, Mr Boftain said.
Kuwait is not the first country to unveil an AI-generated news presenter: in 2018, China's state news agency unveiled its own virtual newsreadersporting a sharp suit and a somewhat robotic voice.
A report last month by investment bank Goldman Sachs said AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs.
The report suggested the technology could take over a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe, but that it may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom.
