Stigma and ignorance at heart of India’s diabetes problem
India is seeing a rapid rise in childhood diabetes cases and experts say an assessment of its burden is crucial for developing targeted prevention and treatment approaches.
Knife attack in Seoul leaves 4 injured, 1 dead
Authorities in Seoul, South Korea, arrested a 30-year-old man suspected of stabbing four people Friday. One man died while another went to a hospital for treatment.
A knife-wielding man stabbed at least four pedestrians on a street in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Friday, killing one person, police said.
They said a man in his 30s with a criminal record that wasn’t specified was arrested. The motivation behind the attack wasn’t immediately clear.
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Min Moon-ki, an official from Seoul’s Gwanak district police office, said the victim who died was male but didn’t share his personal details. Moon said at least one of the three who were being treated for injuries was in critical condition.
Court finds British man who killed ailing wife guilty of manslaughter, but not murder
A Cyprus court on Friday found a British man who killed his ailing wife in their home guilty of manslaughter, saying that the prosecution didn’t prove beyond reasonable doubt that the 76-year-old man committed premeditated murder.
In a unanimous decision, the three-judge bench said that David Hunter’s decision to suffocate his 74-year-old wife Janice as she was sitting in a recliner in December 2021 was a spur-of-the-moment decision: he snapped as he could no longer stand seeing her weeping in pain.
The court accepted witness testimony that Janice feared her blood ailment would develop into full-blown leukemia and had repeatedly pleaded with her husband to take her life because she didn’t want to share the fate of her sister who died of the disease.
Hunter attempted to take his own life by consuming a large amount of pills after doing something “he never before thought possible – closing his hands over his wife’s mouth and nose,” the court heard, but medical staff saved his life.
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The court cited expert testimony that Janice Hunter suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer which “to a large degree” — as much as 45% — could turn into leukemia, although there was no proof that she had indeed developed the disease because no definitive tests were conducted.
But the court said both husband and wife believed that Janice would develop it because of her sister’s fate.
The court also accepted that the actions of David Hunter who “loved his wife and took care of her even under the most difficult circumstances without complaint” were motivated only to end her suffering and that Janice had repeatedly asked him to end her life.
David Hunter’s earlier assurances to Janice that he would help her fulfill her wish to end her life and not suffer any more didn’t indicate any premeditation, the court said.
The court will reconvene Jul. 27 for mitigation pleas before passing sentence. The decision means Hunter avoids a maximum life sentence that a premeditated murder conviction carries.
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Michael Polak from Justice Abroad, a group that defends Britons facing legal troubles in foreign countries, said the ruling allows the court to hand down a suspended sentence which would be appropriate given the time that Hunter has already spent in custody.
He was detained immediately after his wife’s death, and has spent the intervening year and a half in prison, awaiting trial.
“This remains a tragic case. Janice and David were in a loving relationship for over 50 years and it is clear that David did what he did out of love for Janice upon her request,” Polak said in a statement.
“We strongly believe that no proper purpose would be served by David spending any further time within Nicosia prison.”
The prosecution said Cypriot authorities didn’t want to set a precedent for any husband to kill his wife and claim after the fact and without proof that the killing was done with the wife’s consent.
State prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou told reporters the Attorney General would examine the verdict with a view to filing an appeal.
He said a key point of scrutiny would be about proof the couple had indeed agreed for David Hunter to take his wife’s life, Hadjikyrou said.
White House gets seven AI developers to agree to safety, security, trust guidelines
The Biden administration announced Friday that seven of the nation’s top artificial intelligence developers have agreed to guidelines aimed at ensuring the “safe” deployment of AI.
Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI all agreed to the guidelines and will participate in a Friday afternoon event with President Biden to tout the voluntary agreement.
“Companies that are developing these emerging technologies have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe,” the White House said in a Friday morning statement. “To make the most of AI’s potential, the Biden-Harris Administration is encouraging this industry to uphold the highest standards to ensure that innovation doesn’t come at the expense of Americans’ rights and safety.”
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Under the voluntary guidelines, companies agree to ensure their AI systems are “safe” before they are released to the public. That involves a commitment to “internal and external security testing” of these systems before they are released.
“This testing, which will be carried out in part by independent experts, guards against some of the most significant sources of AI risks, such as biosecurity and cybersecurity, as well as its broader societal effects,” the White House said.
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Companies agreed to share best practices for safety across the industry but also with the government and academics.
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The seven companies agreed to invest in cybersecurity and “insider threat safeguards” in order to protect unreleased AI systems, and to allow “third-party discovery and reporting of vulnerability ” in their AI systems.
Another major component of the White House-brokered deal is steps to “earn the public’s trust.” According to the announcement, the companies agreed to develop tools to help people know when content is AI-generated, such as a “watermarking” system.
“This action enables creativity with AI to flourish but reduces the dangers of fraud and deception,” the White House said.
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Companies will also report AI systems’ capabilities and limitations, research the risks AI can pose, and deploy AI to “help address society’s greatest challenges,” such as cancer prevention and “mitigating climate change.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has been looking for ways to regulate AI in the Senate, welcomed the White House announcement but said some legislation will still be needed.
“To maintain our lead, harness the potential, and tackle the challenges of AI effectively requires legislation to build and expand on the actions President Biden is taking today,” he said. “We will continue working closely with the Biden administration and our bipartisan colleagues to build upon their actions and pass the legislation that’s needed.”
Dollar Heads for Best Week Since February as Hawks Linger
The greenback is set for its biggest weekly gain in nearly five months as bullish traders offered respite for a currency that has been battered so far in July.
Blaze that killed 77-year-old N.J. woman started in dishwasher
A house fire in Ocean County that left a 77-year-old woman dead on Thursday began in a dishwasher and has been ruled accidental, authorities said.
The fire was reported about 1:50 p.m. at 1 Miles Pond Road in Berkeley Township. Firefighters found the woman dead in the dining room, according to Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Cambodia’s Hun Sen sets stage for son’s succession
In power for almost 40 years, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is Asia’s longest-serving leader. In the run-up to the country’s nationwide election, he is expected to maintain a dynasty by allowing his son to take over.
Amsterdam looks to move cruise ship terminal in latest blow to city’s tourism industry
Amsterdam wants to move a cruise liner terminal out of the heart of the historic capital city as the latest step in its ongoing battle against pollution and hordes of tourists clogging its narrow, cobbled streets.
The Dutch capital is one of the many picturesque European cities — from Rome to Venice to Paris — grappling with how to manage visitor numbers that are again soaring in the aftermath of shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
Aldermen at Amsterdam’s municipality voted Thursday in favor of a motion calling on the city to move the terminal away from its current location close to the central rail station.
“A clear decision has been made by the council that the cruise (terminal) should leave the city,” Ilana Rooderkerk, leader of the centrist D66 party in Amsterdam, told The Associated Press in an email on Friday. “The municipal executive of Amsterdam is now going to work on how to implement it. In any case, as far as we are concerned, large ships no longer moor in the city center of Amsterdam.”
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Dick de Graaff, director of Cruise Port Amsterdam that operates the terminal in the city center, told the AP the company had taken note of the vote and is awaiting the municipality’s next move.
“There is no immediate closing of the terminal. The council’s call is to relocate the terminal – and we await a follow up from the alderman on investigations,” he wrote in an email response.
De Graaff said that the Amsterdam terminal expects 114 ships to stop there this year and 130 next year.
The vote is the latest step in the Dutch capital’s long-running campaign to reduce the impact of tourism. Other measures include banning people from smoking weed in the narrow streets of its red light district and a proposal to move out of the city center many of the windows where scantily-clad prostitutes stand.
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Earlier this year, Amsterdam even launched a campaign titled, “Stay Away,” against what it described as nuisance tourism.
“Visitors will remain welcome, but not if they misbehave and cause nuisance. In that case we as a city will say: rather not, stay away,” Deputy Mayor Sofyan Mbarki said in a statement at the time.
For Rooderkerk, banning cruise ships is about more than just reining in tourism.
“The polluting cruise does not match the sustainable ambitions of our city,” she tweeted after the vote.
She said that towering cruise ships sailing into Amsterdam also prevent construction of a second bridge over the waterway to link the city with its fast-growing northern suburbs.
Cruise liners are not the only mode of transport facing restrictions in Amsterdam. The national government also has announced plans to cut the number of flights at Schiphol Airport, the busy aviation hub that serves the city.