December 28, 2023

*) Russia calls for end to historic injustices endured by Palestine Russia has said the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East is a result of the longstanding failures of US foreign policy and called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for de-escalation of the Middle East conflict, denouncing as "unacceptable" both acts of terror and "collective punishment". *) US proposes G7 explore ways to seize $300B in Russian assets The Financial Times has reported that the United States proposed that working groups from G7 countries explore ways to seize 300 billion dollars in frozen Russian assets. The US, backed by the UK, Japan and Canada, proposed moving forward with preparatory work so that options would be ready for G7 leaders to consider at a potential meeting around February 24. *) High-level talks between US and Mexico in effort to end migrant crisis A US delegation has met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to discuss the unprecedented flow of irregular migration on the border between their two countries and to identify ways to address challenges to border security. Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Barcena welcomed the US top officials ahead of their meeting with Lopez-Obrador and the Mexican Security Cabinet. Barcena noted the US government did not request changes in the country's current immigration policy or strengthening security measures. *) Gas tanker blast in Liberia kills dozens, many injured At least 40 people have died following the explosion of a gas tanker in north-central Liberia, the West African country's chief medical officer, Francis Kateh has said. The fuel truck crashed late on Tuesday in Totota, Lower Bong County, and soon after exploded, killing and injuring many who had flocked to the scene. Dozens of people are still in hospital with serious burns, and the death toll could rise. *) New York Times sues OpenAI, Microsoft over chatbot training The New York Times struck back against the threat that artificial intelligence poses to the news industry, filing a federal lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft seeking to end the practice of using its stories to train chatbots. The Times says the companies are threatening its livelihood by effectively stealing billions of dollars worth of work by its journalists, in some cases spitting out Times' material verbatim to people who seek answers from generative AI like OpenAI's ChatGPT.