‘Take it seriously’: UN Security Council meets for first time about AI risks

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2 years ago

July 19, 2023

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The United Nations Security Council has been told to “take AI seriously” as it met for the first time to discuss the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence.

In the first-ever session of its kind at the world’s top diplomatic body, representatives from the 15 member countries heard how AI poses “catastrophic risks for humans” but also a “historic opportunity”.

Chaired by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, the chamber heard from Jack Clark, co-founder of leading AI company Anthropic, and Professor Zeng Yi, co-director of the China-UK Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance.

“No country will be untouched by AI, so we must involve and engage the widest coalition of international actors from all sectors,” Mr Cleverly said.

“Our shared goal will be to consider the risks of AI and decide how they can be reduced through coordinated action.”

The Security Council members heard from two experts who outlined what they believe to be the immense opportunity OF AI but also the serious risks it poses and the urgent need for global unity on the issue.

“We cannot leave the development of artificial intelligence solely to private sector actors,” Mr Clark said. “Governments of the world must come together, develop state capacity, and make further development of powerful AI systems.”

He explained: “An AI system that can help us in understanding the science of biology may also be an AI system that can be used to construct biological weapons.”

He warned of the risks of not understanding the technology: “It is as though we are building engines without understanding the science of combustion.

“This means that once AI systems are developed and deployed, people identify new uses for them, unanticipated by their developers, many of these will be positive, but some could be misuses.”

Professor Zeng Yi, director of the Brain-inspired Cognitive Intelligence Lab, called on the UN as a body to take the subject seriously.

“The United Nations must play a central role to set up a framework on AI for development and governance to ensure global peace and security,” the professor said.

He warned: “AI risks human extinctions simply because we haven’t found a way to protect ourselves from AI’s utilisation on human weaknesses.”

Mr Clark added: “Even more challenging is the problem of chaotic or unpredictable behaviour. An AI system may, once deployed, exhibit subtle problems, which were not identified during its development.

“I would challenge those listening to this speech to not think of AI as a specific technology, but instead as a type of human labour that can be bought and sold at the speed of a computer and which is getting cheaper and more capable over time.”

‘Huge questions’ over AI

The two witnesses raised specific open questions which they said needed urgent answers. Who should have access to the power of AI? How should governments regulate this power? Which actors should be able to create and sell these so-called AI experts? And what kinds of experts can we allow to be created?

“These are huge questions,” Mr Clark said. “Humans go through rigorous evaluation and on-the-job testing for many critical roles.”

Professor Zeng Yi added: “It is very funny, misleading and irresponsible that dialogue systems powered by generative AI always argue ‘I think, I suggest’.”

“Well,” he said, “there are no ‘I’ or ‘me’ in the AI models. AI should never ever pretend to be human, take human positions or mislead humans to have the wrong perception. We should use generative AI to assist but never trust them to replace human decision-making.”

UK to host global AI summit

The UK is seeking a lead global role in driving forward international consensus on how to manage the AI risks with the opportunities. Last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety in the autumn.

As permanent members of the Security Council, China welcomed the gathering.

In brief comments to Sky News before the meeting, Ambassador Zhang Jun said he “welcomed the meeting” which would “help to add understanding to the issue”.

Closing the session, Mr Cleverly said: “Let us work together to ensure peace and security as we pass across the threshold of an unfamiliar world.”

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Riot police clash with protesters calling for end to Serbian president’s rule

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1 hour ago

June 29, 2025

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Riot police clash with protesters calling for end to Serbian president's rule

Serbian riot police have clashed with anti-government protesters calling for snap elections and an end to the 12-year rule of President Aleksandar Vucic.

The protest by tens of thousands of demonstrators was held in Belgrade on Saturday after months of persistent demonstrations led by Serbia‘s university students that have rattled Mr Vucic’s grip on power.

The crowd chanted “We want elections!” as they filled the capital’s central Slavija Square and several streets around it.

Students gave speeches. One, who didn’t give her name, said: “Elections are a clear way out of the social crisis caused by the deeds of the government, which is undoubtedly against the interests of their own people.

“Today, on June 28 2025, we declare the current authorities illegitimate.”

Tensions were high before and during the gathering.

Riot police had been deployed around government buildings, parliament and nearby Pionirski Park, where hundreds of Mr Vucic’s loyalists from across the country have been camping for months.

As the protest ended in the evening, some demonstrators threw bottles, rocks and flares at the police who were preventing the crowd from approaching Pionirski Park and confronting Mr Vucic’s backers.

Skirmishes between riot officers and groups of protesters lasted for several hours, with police firing tear gas to disperse crowds in several locations across Belgrade’s city centre.

Police detained several dozen protesters, while six officers were reported injured in the clashes, Dragan Vasiljevic, the director of police, told a news conference late on Saturday.

Responding to the violence, President Vucic said in an Instagram post: “Serbia always wins in the end.”

University students have been a key force behind nationwide demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people in November last year.

Many blamed the concrete roof crash on government corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurring protests.

President Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the demand for an early parliamentary vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence on orders from abroad, which they have not specified.

A former extreme nationalist, Mr Vucic has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power more than a decade ago. He formally says he wants Serbia to join the European Union, but critics say he has stifled democratic freedoms and strengthened ties with Russia and China.

While demonstrations have shrunk in recent weeks, the large showing for Saturday’s rally suggested that the resolve persists, despite relentless pressure and after nearly eight months of almost daily protests.

Serbian police, who are tightly controlled by Mr Vucic’s government, said 36,000 people were present at the start of Saturday’s protest.

An independent monitoring group that records public gatherings said a total of around 140,000 people were in attendance.

Serbia’s presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027.

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

Published

10 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Thousands defy ban to join Pride march in Budapest

If Hungary’s authorities thought banning this year’s Pride march would keep people off the streets, they were wrong.

Thousands turned out in Budapest, defying a law which said LGBTQ+ events like this should be cancelled to protect children.

The crowd was determined to fight for their rights.

“This is a special march, not just because it was the 30th, but also because it was banned,” said Orsi, who proudly wore a rainbow headband and waved a rainbow flag.

“I mean that’s all the more reason to go out on the street and show that Budapest and Hungary is a place where everybody is welcome, where love is equal,” she added.

Attendees had been warned that just being there could mean a 500 euro fine or prison time for the organisers.

They were told police would use facial recognition cameras to identify them, but they didn’t care.

Orsi said it was worth a fine.

Leonas had travelled from Poland to show his support and was also happy to take the risk.

“LGBT rights are attacked across the whole world, and we need to defend each other and work with each other,” he said.

Viktor Orban’s government has repeatedly pitched family values against LGBTQ+ rights.

“The mother is a woman, the father is a man and leave our kids alone,” he told conservative audiences in the past.

He says he is protecting Hungary’s Christian values, but critics say this is just part of a wider attack on democracy which has happened during his 15 years in control.

The Pride ban is just the latest targeting of LGBTQ+ communities.

In 2020, the country abolished its legal recognition of transgender people, and in 2021, politicians passed a law banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s.

While many were outraged by the attempt to cancel the Pride march, a small number of far-right activists organised demonstrations to show their support:

“Hungary and the Hungarian nation don’t want the aggressive LGBTQ+ propaganda. They are dangerous for our families, they are dangerous for our kids,” said Gabor Kelemen, a member of the 64 Counties Youth Movement.

However, the packed streets showed many disagree.

At one point, as far as the eye could see, the march snaked through streets and across the city’s bridges. The sound of drums and whistles mixing with gay anthems blaring out of speakers.

The organisers said they believed this will be the largest Pride march ever in Budapest.

The crowd was eclectic, with Hungarians from different communities joining a demonstration which many believe is now part of a fight for Hungary’s future.

“This is not only about the complexity of Pride, not only about love or equality… for Hungarians, it’s about sticking together, supporting each other, showing the government that we believe in a different kind of Hungary. We believe in freedom, we believe in democracy,” said activist Adam Kanicsar.

Despite the ban, today Pride attendees were celebrating a victory. But make no mistake, many in Hungary do not support the parade or what they see as an attack on traditional values.

Next year, the country will hold a general election, a vote which will expose how divided Hungary really is.

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Chants of ‘death to America’ at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

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10 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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Chants of 'death to America' at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.

State-run Press TV said the event – dubbed the “funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power” – was held for 60 people, including four women and four children.

It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard’s ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven to Azadi Square on trucks adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags.

Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” could be heard.

Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the fighting and is an adviser to Iran‘s supreme leader.

There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral.

Iran’s president later thanked people for turning out.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you dear people,” Mr Pezeshkian wrote on social media.

“With love, you bid farewell to the martyrs of our homeland, and our voice of unity reached the ears of the world.”

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi called the deaths “hard and painful”.

Seemingly referencing the recent airstrikes, he added: “Institutions and structures, however important and valuable, return with new glory and greater strength over time, even if it takes years.”

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its attacks on Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

The US joined in by launching strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them “obliterated”, however the exact extent of the damage remains unclear.

Iran denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons project.

Over almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire began on Tuesday.