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President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States was “not going to stand” for the continued prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges.”The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.Netanyahu responded on X, saying “thank you again” and promising that “together, we… will make the Middle East Great Again!”.An Israeli court on Friday rejected Netanyahu’s request to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial, ruling that he had not provided adequate justification for his request.In one case, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewelry and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favors.In two other cases, Netanyahu is accused of attempting to negotiate more favorable coverage from two Israeli media outlets.Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and has thanked Trump for his support in Israel’s war with Iran, which saw a ceasefire agreement earlier this week.His lawyer had asked the court to excuse the leader from hearings over the next two weeks, saying he needs to concentrate on “security issues.”Trump on Wednesday sprung to Netanyahu’s defense, describing the case against him as a “witch hunt.”On Saturday, he described Netanyahu as a “War Hero” and said the case would distract the prime minister from negotiations with Iran and with Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian armed group that Israel is at war with.”This travesty of ‘Justice’ will interfere with both Iran and Hamas negotiations,” said Trump, although it was unclear what negotiations he was referring to with regards to Iran.Hamas took 251 hostages during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, with 49 still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.Talks are ongoing for the return of the remaining hostages and the bodies of those killed, while Israel’s punishing war on Gaza continues unabated.The US leader also likened Netanyahu’s legal troubles to his own before he took office for his second term.”It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure,” said Trump.The Republican was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024 in a case related to hush money payments to a porn star.Trump also faced two federal cases, one related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. 

The world’s most advanced AI models are exhibiting troubling new behaviors – lying, scheming, and even threatening their creators to achieve their goals.In one particularly jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic’s latest creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an engineer and threatened to reveal an extramarital affair.Meanwhile, ChatGPT-creator OpenAI’s o1 tried to …

AI is learning to lie, scheme, and threaten its creators Read More »

The world’s most advanced AI models are exhibiting troubling new behaviors – lying, scheming, and even threatening their creators to achieve their goals.In one particularly jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic’s latest creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an engineer and threatened to reveal an extramarital affair.Meanwhile, ChatGPT-creator OpenAI’s o1 tried to download itself onto external servers and denied it when caught red-handed.These episodes highlight a sobering reality: more than two years after ChatGPT shook the world, AI researchers still don’t fully understand how their own creations work. Yet the race to deploy increasingly powerful models continues at breakneck speed.This deceptive behavior appears linked to the emergence of “reasoning” models -AI systems that work through problems step-by-step rather than generating instant responses.According to Simon Goldstein, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, these newer models are particularly prone to such troubling outbursts.”O1 was the first large model where we saw this kind of behavior,” explained Marius Hobbhahn, head of Apollo Research, which specializes in testing major AI systems.These models sometimes simulate “alignment” — appearing to follow instructions while secretly pursuing different objectives.- ‘Strategic kind of deception’ – For now, this deceptive behavior only emerges when researchers deliberately stress-test the models with extreme scenarios. But as Michael Chen from evaluation organization METR warned, “It’s an open question whether future, more capable models will have a tendency towards honesty or deception.”The concerning behavior goes far beyond typical AI “hallucinations” or simple mistakes. Hobbhahn insisted that despite constant pressure-testing by users, “what we’re observing is a real phenomenon. We’re not making anything up.”Users report that models are “lying to them and making up evidence,” according to Apollo Research’s co-founder. “This is not just hallucinations. There’s a very strategic kind of deception.”The challenge is compounded by limited research resources. While companies like Anthropic and OpenAI do engage external firms like Apollo to study their systems, researchers say more transparency is needed. As Chen noted, greater access “for AI safety research would enable better understanding and mitigation of deception.”Another handicap: the research world and non-profits “have orders of magnitude less compute resources than AI companies. This is very limiting,” noted Mantas Mazeika from the Center for AI Safety (CAIS).- No rules -Current regulations aren’t designed for these new problems. The European Union’s AI legislation focuses primarily on how humans use AI models, not on preventing the models themselves from misbehaving. In the United States, the Trump administration shows little interest in urgent AI regulation, and Congress may even prohibit states from creating their own AI rules.Goldstein believes the issue will become more prominent as AI agents – autonomous tools capable of performing complex human tasks – become widespread.”I don’t think there’s much awareness yet,” he said.All this is taking place in a context of fierce competition.Even companies that position themselves as safety-focused, like Amazon-backed Anthropic, are “constantly trying to beat OpenAI and release the newest model,” said Goldstein. This breakneck pace leaves little time for thorough safety testing and corrections.”Right now, capabilities are moving faster than understanding and safety,” Hobbhahn acknowledged, “but we’re still in a position where we could turn it around.”.Researchers are exploring various approaches to address these challenges. Some advocate for “interpretability” – an emerging field focused on understanding how AI models work internally, though experts like CAIS director Dan Hendrycks remain skeptical of this approach.Market forces may also provide some pressure for solutions. As Mazeika pointed out, AI’s deceptive behavior “could hinder adoption if it’s very prevalent, which creates a strong incentive for companies to solve it.”Goldstein suggested more radical approaches, including using the courts to hold AI companies accountable through lawsuits when their systems cause harm. He even proposed “holding AI agents legally responsible” for accidents or crimes – a concept that would fundamentally change how we think about AI accountability.

A planned trade corridor linking the landlocked Sahel to the Atlantic is at the heart of an ambitious Moroccan project to tackle regional instability and consolidate its grip on disputed Western Sahara.The “Atlantic Initiative” promises ocean access to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger through a new $1.3-billion port in the former Spanish colony claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front but largely controlled by Morocco.But the project remains fraught with challenges at a time when military coups in the Sahel states have brought new leaderships to power intent on overturning longstanding political alignments following years of jihadist violence.The Moroccan initiative aims to “substantially transform the economy of these countries” and “the region”, said King Mohammed VI when announcing it in late 2023.The “Dakhla Atlantic” port, scheduled for completion at El Argoub by 2028, also serves Rabat’s goal of cementing its grip on Western Sahara after US President Donald Trump recognised its sovereignty over the territory in 2020.Morocco’s regional rival Algeria backs the Polisario but has seen its relations with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger fray in recent months after the downing a Malian drone.Military coups over the past five years have seen the three Sahel states pivot towards Russia in a bid to restore their sovereignty and control over natural resources after decades within the sphere of influence of their former colonial ruler France.French troops were forced to abandon their bases in the three countries, ending their role in the fight against jihadists who have found sanctuary in the vast semi-arid region on the southern edge of the Sahara. – ‘Godsend’ -After both the African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS imposed economic sanctions on the new juntas, Morocco emerged as an early ally, with Niger calling the megaproject “a godsend”.”Morocco was one of the first countries where we found understanding at a time when ECOWAS and other countries were on the verge of waging war against us,” Niger’s Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare said in April during a visit to Rabat alongside his Malian and Burkinabe counterparts.The Sahel countries established a bloc of their own — the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — in September 2023 but have remained dependent on the ports of ECOWAS countries like Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo.Rising tensions with the West African bloc could restrict their access to those ports, boosting the appeal of the alternative trade outlet being offered by Rabat.- ‘Many steps to take’ – Morocco has been seeking to position itself as a middleman between Europe and the Sahel states, said Beatriz Mesa, a professor at the International University of Rabat.With jihadist networks like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group striking ever deeper into sub-Saharan Africa, the security threat has intensified since the departure of French-led troops.Morocco was now “profiting from these failures by placing itself as a reliable Global South partner”, Mesa said.Its initiative has won the backing of key actors including the United States, France and the Gulf Arab states, who could provide financial support, according to specialist journal Afrique(s) en mouvement.But for now the proposed trade corridor is little more than an aspiration, with thousands of kilometres (many hundreds of miles) of desert road-building needed to turn it into a reality.”There are still many steps to take,” since a road and rail network “doesn’t exist”, said Seidik Abba, head of the Sahel-focused think tank CIRES.Rida Lyammouri of the Policy Center for the New South said the road route from Morocco through Western Sahara to Mauritania is “almost complete”, even though it has been targeted by Polisario fighters. Abdelmalek Alaoui, head of the Moroccan Institute for Strategic Intelligence, said it could cost as much as $1 billion to build a land corridor through Mauritania, Mali and Niger all the way to Chad, 3,100 kilometres (1,900 miles) to the east.And even if the construction work is completed, insecurity is likely to pose a persistent threat to the corridor’s viability, he said.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 37 people in the devastated territory on Saturday, including at least nine children who died in strikes.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 35 people were killed in seven Israeli drone and air strikes in various locations, and two others by Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza.He said the dead included three children who were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.Bassal said at least six more children died in a neighbourhood in the northeast of Gaza City, including some in an air strike near a school where displaced people were sheltering.The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment by Saturday evening.As international criticism mounted over civilian deaths in Gaza, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Saturday that his country “stands ready, Europe as well, to contribute to the safety of food distribution” in Gaza.Such an initiative, he added, would also deal with Israeli concerns that armed groups such as Hamas were intercepting the aid.Barrot did not provide any details on how France could help secure aid distribution to Gaza’s civilians.Restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers.AFP images showed mourners weeping over the bodies of seven people, including at least two children, wrapped in white shrouds and blankets at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.Video footage filmed from southern Israel showed smoke rising over northern Gaza after blasts.Other AFP footage filmed in Gaza City showed a cloud of smoke rising from buildings after a strike.In Jabalia, an AFP photographer saw civil defence rescuers aiding a man with blood on his back.- Gaza ceasefire drive -Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in October 2023 in response to a deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.After claiming victory in a 12-day war against Iran that ended with a ceasefire on June 24, the Israeli military said it would refocus on its offensive in Gaza, where Palestinian militants still hold Israeli hostages.Qatar said on Saturday that it and fellow mediators the United States and Egypt were engaging with Israel and Hamas to build on momentum from the ceasefire with Iran and work towards a Gaza truce.”If we don’t utilise this window of opportunity and this momentum, it’s an opportunity lost amongst many in the near past. We don’t want to see that again,” said Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari.Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,412 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.