Iceland ice cave collapse kills 1 tourist, leaves 2 others missing

A tourist is dead and two others are missing after an ice cave partially collapsed in southern Iceland, as a group was visiting the Breidamerkurjokull glacier on Sunday.

The group of about 25 foreign tourists from several nationalities were exploring ice caves with a guide shortly before 3 p.m., when four people were struck by falling ice, local police said in a statement on social media. 

One tourist died from their injuries, while a second suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to a hospital in the capital, officials said.

About 200 rescuers began tirelessly searching for the two missing people, though the mission was paused after dark due to what local police described as "difficult" conditions, local news outlets reported. The search was to resume Monday morning.

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Rescuers have had to cut through the ice by hand using chain saws as the rugged glacier terrain proved difficult for transporting additional equipment and personnel, Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported.

Chief Superintendent Sveinn Kristján Rúnarsson of the local police told Icelandic TV that there was no evidence to suggest that the guided cave tour should not have happened, according to the BBC.

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"These are experienced and powerful mountain guides who run these trips," Rúnarsson said. "It's always possible to be unlucky I trust these people to assess the situation – when it's safe or not safe to go, and good work has been done there over time. This is a living land, so anything can happen."

The collapse was likely not related to a volcanic eruption in southeast Iceland on Friday, which was around 185 miles away from the glacier.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UK Notting Hill Carnival chaos leaves 3 people stabbed, 90 arrested, 15 police officers assaulted

At least three people were stabbed during the opening day of the Notting Hill Carnival in London on Sunday, with one still listed in life-threatening condition, according to the city’s police.

The London Metropolitan Police Service said on X it was aware of three stabbings, one of which involved a 32-year-old woman who was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Also stabbed was a 29-year-old man and a 24-year-old man, the former of whom was listed in non-life-threatening condition. Police were waiting on the condition of the 24-year-old at the time of the post.

"Hundreds of thousands of people came to Notting Hill Carnival today to enjoy a fantastic celebration. Our officers have been on duty working to keep them safe as part of a very carefully planned policing operation," the police service said. "Regrettably, a minority came to commit crime and engage in violence."

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Police said 15 officers were assaulted when things turned violent, though none of the officers sustained serious injuries.

Police made 90 arrests for various offenses.

Ten people were arrested for assaulting emergency workers, 18 for possession of an offensive weapon, four for sexual offenses, one for theft, four for robbery, six for assault, one for public order offense, eight for possession of drugs with distribution intent, and 30 for possession of drugs – four arrests of which were for possession of nitrous oxide.

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Ahead of the carnival, police announced they had been authorized to order the removal of face coverings being used to conceal a person’s identity. Anyone refusing the order, police said, could be arrested.

The Notting Hill Carnival attracts hundreds of thousands of revelers each year, who pack the streets of west London for two days, during one of the world’s biggest celebrations of Caribbean music and culture.

This year, the festivities take place Aug. 25-26.

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The carnival traces its history back to 1958, when Trinidadian human rights activist Claudia Jones began organizing a gathering to unify the community after a series of racist attacks on Black people in the Notting Hill neighborhood.

Launched in 1964 with a few Trinidadian steel bands, it has grown into a huge annual street party involving colorful floats, thousands of calypso dancers in spectacular feathered costumes, almost 20 steel bands and more than two dozen sound systems.

The carnival returned to the neighborhood’s narrow streets in 2022 after two years when it had to be held online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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IDF strikes Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon after they were seen preparing to fire toward Israel

The Israeli Defense Forces said Sunday morning it launched heavy airstrikes on Hezbollah positions across Lebanon after detecting the terror group was preparing for an "imminent" attack on Israel.

"The IDF identified the Hezbollah terrorist organization preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli territory. In response to these threats, the IDF is striking terror targets in Lebanon," IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement. "Israeli Air Force fighter jets are currently striking targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization that posed an imminent threat to the citizens of the State of Israel."

Civilians in southern Lebanon were urged to evacuate their homes and out of dangerous areas.

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"From right next to the homes of Lebanese civilians in the South of Lebanon, we can see that Hezbollah is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel, while endangering the Lebanese civilians," the IDF said. ‌‏"We warn the civilians located in the areas where Hezbollah is operating, to move out of harm’s way immediately for their own safety."

Public shelters were opened across Israel as new restrictions were placed in northern areas of the country.

Nearly 80,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes near the Lebanon border when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October.

HEZBOLLAH OPERATIVES KILLED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES AS TERROR GROUP FIRES 100 ROCKETS AT JEWISH STATE

Hezbollah leaders have said the attacks will continue to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes. The attacks have killed 26 civilians and 19 soldiers in Israel. 

The terror group has launched more than 6,700 rockets and drones since Oct. 8.

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Judge hands transgender woman win against female-only app in landmark case

A judge in Australia ruled Friday that the owner of a female-only social networking platform discriminated against a transgender woman by removing her from the app because she was born a male.

Reuters reported that Roxanne Tickle sued the Australian app Giggle for Girls, as well as its founder, Sally Grover, for unlawful gender identity discrimination in its services.

The suit claimed Grover removed Tickle’s account from the platform after she saw her photo and "considered her to be male."

In a landmark decision on gender identity in Australia, the Federal Court — considered to be the country’s second-highest court — ordered Giggle for Girls to pay Tickle 10,000 Australian dollars ($6,700 U.S.) plus legal costs.

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Judge Robert Bromwich, who oversaw the trial, did not order Giggle for Girls to issue a written apology, which Tickle had sought.

"Tickle's claim of direct gender identity discrimination fails, but her claim of indirect gender identity discrimination succeeds," Bromwich said.

This is the first time the Australian Federal Court has made a ruling on gender identity discrimination since the Sex Discrimination Act was modified in 2013.

Professor Paula Gerber of Monash University’s Faculty of Law said the court’s decision was "a great win for transgender women in Australia."

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"This case sends a clear message to all Australians that it is unlawful to treat transgender women differently from cisgender women. It is not lawful to make decisions about whether a person is a woman based on how feminine they appear," she said.

The platform Giggle for Girls was marketed as a "safe space" for women to share and discuss their experiences. Reuters reported that court filings show the platform had about 20,000 users in 2021.

The company placed a temporary stop to operations in 2022, but Grover says the platform will be relaunched soon.

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In his decision, the judge claimed the platform considered only sex at birth as being a valid basis for a person to claim to be a man or woman.

The plaintiff was born a male and had sex reassignment surgery before Tickle’s birth certificate was updated, Bromwich said.

"Unfortunately, we got the [judgment] we anticipated," Grover said in a post on X. "The fight for women's rights continues."

Tickle reportedly called the judge’s decision "healing," after receiving hateful comments online and seeing merchandise created specifically to mock her.

"There is so much hate and bile cast on trans and gender-diverse people simply because of who we are," Australian media quoted her as saying outside the court.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Video shows naval vessel cruising famous waterway while blasting iconic Darth Vader anthem

A German naval vessel sailed into London on the River Thames this week, while blasting iconic "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader’s "The Imperial March," though the country’s military branch says there is "no deeper message" in the ship’s commander’s choice of music.

A bystander caught the spectacle on video Monday, before sharing the video clip on social media.

Although the song choice could easily be interpreted negatively, the German navy quickly tried to clear the airwaves.

"The commander can choose the music freely," the country’s navy said in a statement Thursday. "The choice of music has no deeper message."

15-YEAR-OLD ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH KNIFE ATTACK AT GERMAN FESTIVAL, TERROR MOTIVE INVESTIGATED

The warship Braunschweig was in the region for training and dropped its anchor in London to take on supplies, according to the German navy.

Another video of the Braunschweig captured the Clash song "London Calling," playing as it cruised into port.

The 1979 song’s title comes from the BBC World Service station identification in World War II and its lyrics include the lines, "London calling to the zombies of death. Quit holding out and draw another breath."

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When the ship departed, a tugboat reportedly escorted it down the river near Tower Bridge as sailors stood on deck, sans lightsabers.

The Braunschweig was named for a German city in Lower Saxony, which is, as the crow flies, about 420 miles away from London. The ship was also named for Germany’s newest class of ocean-going corvettes.

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This was the second time the Braunschweig visited the British capital, according to a post on X from the German Embassy in London.

Embassy officials also said the commander of the ship "is a big ‘Star Wars’ fan and an admirer of the legendary musical scores of John Williams."

"He chooses a different Williams tune whenever his ship is visiting a foreign harbor," the embassy wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Islamic State claims responsibility in German festival attack as second suspect arrested

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the deadly stabbing spree at a festival in Germany on Friday that left three people dead and eight others injured.

The group said the attacker targeted Christians and was a "soldier of the Islamic State" who carried out the attack "to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere." 

German police previously said that there was no other obvious motive other than terror and that the attacker appeared to be unknown to the victims.

Late Saturday, authorities said that they had arrested a second person, along with a 15-year-old boy, in connection to the attack.

The second suspect was arrested at a home for refugees in Solingen, which is located near Cologne and Duesseldorf in the west of the country. Authorities have not identified the suspects name, age or if they are the main perpetrator of the attack. 

GERMAN RIGHT WING CANDIDATE STABBED IN LATEST ATTACK AHEAD OF ELECTIONS

Authorities previously shared that the 15-year-old boy knew of the attack and failed to inform authorities, but said that he was not the attacker.

Prosecutor Markus Caspers said that the 15-year-old boy was arrested after two female witnesses contacted police. The witnesses said they had listened to a conversation between the boy and an unknown person before the attack, speaking about intentions that corresponded to the events that followed.

The victims were in front of a stage enjoying a live music band playing to mark the town's 650-year anniversary when the attack occurred at around 9:35 p.m. local time Friday.

The three people who died were two men aged 67 and 56, and a 56-year-old woman, authorities said. Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately aimed for his victims’ throats.

Thorsten Fleiss from the German police, who was the chief of operations on Friday night, said that police are conducting various searches and investigations in the entire state of North Rhine-Westphalia that will continue throughout the day.

Police cordoned off the square on Saturday and passers-by placed candles and flowers outside the barriers.

GERMAN POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS STABBED BY AFGHAN IMMIGRANT HAS DIED

Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X late last night that the incident was a "terrible event that has shocked me greatly."

An attacker has brutally killed several people… The perpetrator must be quickly caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law," Scholz wrote.

In a translated social media post late Friday, the city’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach, said that they are in "shock" following the attack. 

"Tonight we are all in Solingen in shock, fright and great sadness," he wrote. "We all wanted to celebrate our city anniversary together, and now we have to mourn the dead and injured. Breaks my heart that there was an assassination attack on our town."

Fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively uncommon in Germany. The government said earlier this month it wanted to toughen rules on knives that can be carried in public.

In May, an Afghan migrant went on a stabbing spree in Mannheim, which is located in the southwest of Germany, where he wounded an anti-Islam activist and several others, including a police officer who died. Days later, a member of the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) was stabbed in the city while canvassing for election. 

The violence comes ahead of three state elections next month in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, in which the anti-mass immigration right wing party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has a chance of winning.

Though the motive and identity of the assailant were not known, a top AfD candidate for one of the state elections, Bjoern Hoecke, seized on Friday's attack, posting on X: "Do you really want to get used to this? Free yourselves and end this insanity of forced multiculturalism".

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Army pushes two new strategies to safeguard troops under 500-day AI implementation plan

The U.S. Army this week announced steps it is taking to safeguard its troops as it looks to bolster its ability to successfully implement artificial intelligence under a 500-day plan.

The Army’s acquisition, logistics and technology (ALT) office on Wednesday released two new initiatives, "Break AI" and "Counter AI," which will test ever-developing AI technologies for reliable in-field use and provide protection from adversarial employment of AI against the U.S., the Federal News Network reported this week.

The Army is not only looking at how to safely implement AI across the military branch but how to develop it safely in coordination with outside parties. 

HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS RESHAPING MODERN WARFARE

"One of the obstacles for the adoption is how do we look at risk around AI? We have to look at issues around poisoned datasets, adversarial attacks, trojans and those types of things," Young Bang, principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army’s ALT, reportedly said during a tech conference in Georgia Wednesday.

"That’s easier to do if you’ve developed it in a controlled, trusted environment that [the Department of Defense] or the Army owns, and we’re going to do all that," he added. "But this really looks at how we can adopt third-party or commercial vendors’ algorithms right into our programs, so that we don’t have to compete with them.

"We want to adopt them." 

Bang’s announcement came as the Army wrapped up a 100-day sprint that looked at how to incorporate AI into its acquisitions process. 

The goal was to examine ways the Army could develop its own AI algorithms while also working alongside trustworthy third parties to develop the technology as securely as possible, the Federal News Network reported.

The Army is now using what it learned over the 100-day sprint to test and secure AI implementation across the board and develop systems for Army use alongside bolstering its defense against adversarial AI employment.  

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The "Break AI" initiative will focus on how AI could evolve under a field known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is the development of software that looks to match or surpass human cognitive abilities, a technology that has the potential to employ sophisticated decision-making and learning capabilities.

This technology, which has not been fully realized yet, aims to improve upon current AI software that, for now, can only generate a predicted outcome based on data that is supplied.  

But this next phase means not only developing but protecting against this ambiguous technology, meaning the Army has its work cut out for it. 

"It’s about the notion of how we actually test and evaluate artificial intelligence," Bang reportedly said. "As we move towards AGI, how do we actually test something that we don’t know what the outcome of or what the behaviors are going to be? 

"You can’t test it the way that we test deterministic models, and we need industry’s help here."

The Army’s second part of its 500-day plan is a bit more straight forward, explained Jennifer Swanson, deputy assistant secretary of the Army’s office of Data, Engineering and Software.

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"We want to make sure our platforms, our algorithms and our capabilities are secure from attack and from threat, but it’s also about how we counter what the adversary has," she reportedly said. "We know we’re not the only ones investing in this. There’s lots of investment happening in countries that are big adversarial threats to the United States."

The Army officials remained tight-lipped on specific details the military branch will be pursuing to develop AI capabilities due to the sensitive operational security nature of the initiatives. 

Though, Swanson said, "As we start to learn and figure out what we’re going to do, there’s going to be things we share."

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