European Union lawmakers signed the artificial intelligence (AI) act in June 2024. The AI act, the first binding worldwide horizontal regulation on AI, sets a common framework for the use and supply of AI systems in the EU. The new act offers a classification for AI systems with different requirements and obligations tailored to a 'risk-based approach'. Some AI systems presenting 'unacceptable' risks are prohibited. A wide range of 'high-risk' AI systems that can have a detrimental impact on people's health, safety or on their fundamental rights are authorised, but subject to a set of requirements and obligations to gain access to the EU market. AI systems posing limited risks because of their lack of transparency will be subject to information and transparency requirements, while AI systems presenting only minimal risk for people will not be subject to further obligations. The regulation also lays down specific rules for general purpose AI (GPAI) models and lays down more stringent requirements for GPAI models with 'high-impact capabilities' that could pose a systemic risk and have a significant impact on the internal market. The AI Act was published in the EU's Official Journal on 12 July 2024. It entered into force in August 2024. Fourth edition. 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages of the legislative procedure. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Within the policy framework of the European Green Deal, the European Climate Law of 2021 has set an EU-wide, legally binding target of 'climate neutrality' or net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. To achieve this target, the European Climate Law also enshrines the intermediate climate target of reducing EU net GHG emissions by at least 55 % by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Following the adoption of the Climate Law and most of the 'fit for 55' legislative revisions, Member States had to update their national energy and climate plans (NECPs) in line with the increased energy and climate objectives by 30 June 2024. Ahead of this deadline, the Commission called on Member States to step up their efforts, as the contributions noted in the draft NECPs were not yet sufficient to deliver the 2030 target and would lead to a net reduction of only 51 %. The 2030 EU Climate Law target is binding at EU level. Its achievement, however, depends on the success of plans and measures at national level, across a range of policy areas. To explore the potential enforceability of the net 55 % EU-wide emission reduction target, this briefing examines the enforcement mechanisms of five legislative acts that form the core of the European climate and energy acquis and will be essential for delivering the European Climate Law's 2030 target. The briefing looks at the enforcement specificities of the nationally binding targets of key climate legislation, including various procedural obligations under the Governance Regulation. Ultimately, nationally binding targets can be enforced by the Commission through the overarching infringement procedure of the EU Treaties. In the case of binding EU-wide targets, however, the situation becomes more complex. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

The arrival of refugees and irregular migrants in the EU in unprecedented numbers in 2015 exposed a number of deficiencies in the EU's external border, asylum and migration policy, and sparked EU action through various legal and policy instruments. Today, even though the EU has been relatively successful in securing its external borders, curbing irregular migrant arrivals and increasing cooperation with third countries, Member States are still reluctant to show solidarity and do more to share responsibility for asylum-seekers. Turmoil in Africa and the Middle East, followed by the war in Ukraine and the armed conflict in the Gaza Strip are forcing more and more people to flee violence and seek a safe haven in Europe. At times spontaneously, Member States have reacted to these crises and showed open solidarity, as with regard to the Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war. At other times their reaction has been more ambivalent: take for instance the ripples of discord caused by the disembarkation in November 2022 of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean by four private vessels, which once again clearly demonstrated the need for a more stable and predictable mechanism to manage irregular migration. International cooperation and solidarity are key in helping to manage migration to and between states. Under international law, states have certain legal obligations to assist and protect the refugees they accept on their territory, but the legal duties of other states, as regards providing help and sharing that responsibility, are less clearly codified. At EU level, the principle of solidarity is set out in several articles, including Article 80 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). However, EU law does not define the notions of 'solidarity' or 'fair sharing of responsibilities' for refugees or asylum-seekers. This has prompted EU institutions, academics and other stakeholders to propose different ways to render solidarity more operational; these include sharing out relevant tasks and pooling resources at EU level, and providing financial and other forms of compensation for frontline Member States. The migration and asylum pact adopted in spring 2024 sets out a new flexible but mandatory solidarity system. This updates and expands on a January 2023 briefing by the same authors. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Mongolia is a geographically remote and resource-rich country with a peculiar location in northeast Asia. An 'oasis of democracy', it is sandwiched between its two expansionist authoritarian neighbours, China and Russia. This has required it to walk a delicate geopolitical tightrope of non alignment and a 'third neighbour' foreign policy to preserve its sovereignty and independence. During the past 35 years of bilateral diplomatic relations Mongolia has not been particularly high on the EU's foreign policy agenda, with only a handful of EU Member States having an embassy there. Since the 1990s, Mongolia has nonetheless benefited from EU development cooperation programmes aimed at supporting its sustainable economic and democratic development and from EU disaster relief for the increasingly harsh socioeconomic implications of its exposure to climate change. Classified as a lower-middle income country, Mongolia has also been a beneficiary of unilateral preferential access to the EU market, first under the generalised scheme of preferences (GSP) and later under the GSP+ scheme, and has been able to draw on additional EU funding programmes to bolster the diversification of its trade towards non-mining products. Currently, an EU-Mongolia agreement on geographical indications is under negotiation with the same objective. The EU-Mongolia political and cooperation agreement (PCA), which entered into force in 2017, has significantly broadened the scope for bilateral, regional and international cooperation to policy areas that were previously not covered by the 1993 trade and economic cooperation agreement. Joint Committee meetings under the PCA have taken place regularly, with strands on political dialogue, human rights, trade and investment, and development cooperation. EU reliance on resilient supply chains for critical raw materials (CRMs) to implement its green and digital transitions and Mongolian efforts to sustainably diversify its economic relations could draw the two partners closer. As the scramble for CRMs is in full swing and major CRM-importing countries have designed economic de-risking policies to find alternatives to China's current quasi export monopoly on processed CRMs such as rare earths, the EU and Mongolia could enter into a CRM partnership, despite the geographical and geopolitical constraints and concerns that may arise over the environment and the investment climate owing to increased sourcing of CRMs from Mongolia. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

A 38-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man were arrested for suspected drugs activities during a raid last Friday (Aug 30). The raid took place at a residential unit in the vicinity of Bedok North Avenue 4, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a media statement on Sept 2.  A total of about 2.8kg of heroin, 385g of ‘Ice’, 51g of ‘Ecstasy’, 24g of cannabis, 9g of ketamine and 13 Emirin-5 tablets were seized.  The drugs, valued at an estimated $343,000, can feed the addiction of about 1,550 drug abusers for a week.  If found guilty of trafficking more than 15g of diamorphine or ‘pure heroin’, the pair may face the mandatory death penalty. Drug situation in Singapore According to the 2023 drug situation report released in March 2024, methamphetamine, heroin, and cannabis were the three most commonly abused drugs, with 94 per cent of those arrested abusing at least one of these three drugs. CNB reportedly seized some $15.37 million worth of drugs in 2023, a slight drop from the $16.66 million in 2022.  

Cairo dismisses Ethiopia's 'unilateral policies' on Gerd project, claiming they threaten regional stability

In the dusty, war-ravaged outskirts of North Darfur, a mother at the Zamzam camp cradles her emaciated child, her eyes hollow with exhaustion and fear. Fatima, a 32-year-old widow, once led a simple but stable life, selling groceries at a local market in El Fasher, the besieged capital of her homeland.

Mogadishu (HOL) — Former Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has condemned the federal government's reported decision to hand over the management of Somalia's airspace to a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company, NAV-PASS.

Over the reporting period, Russian troops destroyed eight Ukrainian tanks, including Abrams and Leopard

According to Russia’s consumer watchdog, the amount of harmful substances in the air does not exceed normal levels and no one has to be evacuated

Ulziibayaryn Zolbayar urged the public to treat any information with caution, check its reliability and trust only official sources

According to Mikhail Kovalchuk, advancements in genetics have now reached such heights that it is possible to modify the genome as needed

SINGAPORE — A 15-year-old secondary school student was taken to hospital after two schoolmates, who accused her of sharing a video of their friend vaping in a school toilet, allegedly assaulted her.  The incident took place after the students were dismissed early from school on Aug 29, the eve of Teachers' Day. The student told The Straits Times that as she was walking home with a friend after leaving school at around 10.40am that day, they were stopped by a fellow student who asked them to go to a nearby void deck, where they found a group of their schoolmates waiting for them. She said they demanded to see her mobile phone, and when she refused to hand it over, they seized it. About 10 people from the group then dragged the student and her friend to a multi-storey carpark, where she was slapped multiple times by one female schoolmate after refusing to unlock her phone. The teenager said her friend left the carpark after being told by the group to leave. 

It's common for parents to get frustrated when teaching or tutoring their child, but one woman has drawn flak from netizens for vulgarly reprimanding a girl in a public space. Taking to TikTok on Saturday (Aug 31), a parent who only wanted to be known as Mrs Lu shared a two-minute-long clip of a mother telling off her daughter while teaching her math, deeming it «mental and verbal abuse». The 44-year-old tertiary lecturer told AsiaOne the incident occurred at a rest area in Buangkok Community Club on Friday evening. In the video, the woman can be heard telling the child: «You better use your brain. If your brain never wake up, you better tell me... I help your brain to wake up (sic).» When the girl later appears to answer a question wrongly, the woman, who was initially calm at the beginning, becomes agitated. «I'm going to tell the whole world you're very f****** stupid,» she says, to which the child supposedly replies «okay». «I'm angry now... You want to piss me off right?» the woman continues. «You tired not my f****** problem okay. I don't give a damn (sic).»

A man took to social media to highlight an «unfair» charge of over $6,000 by a car rental company after he got into an accident, claiming that the brakes of the rental car were faulty. In a post made on Facebook group Singapore Road Vigilante on Saturday (Aug 31), user Aaron Goh recounted his experience with car-sharing platform GetGo. He said he had rented a Honda from the platform on Aug 22 and went to collect it from a car park for what he «assumed would be a smooth drive», he wrote. GetGo told AsiaOne that the incident took place at a car park in Ang Mo Kio.  As he began to drive the car out of the parking lot however, Goh noticed something was «terribly wrong». The man claimed that the car's brakes were not functioning as the vehicle continued to move forward despite him stepping on the brakes. In an attempt to regain control of the car, Goh said that he applied the handbrake and shifted it into park mode. However, the car did not stop and collided with a vehicle parked opposite it.

On September 1, 2024, Vice President Dr. Michael Usi delivered a heartfelt tribute to Bishop Francis Frank Kaulanda, the third Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Lake Malawi, during a farewell worship service held at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe. In a moving address, Dr. Usi commended Bishop Kaulanda for his transformative leadership and his commitment […] The post A spiritual legacy treasured: Usi celebrates Bishop Kalanda’s leadership appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

High expectations abound that services will improve at Mwai Wathu Private Hospital in Blantyre, following a 4-week training in minutes and reports writing for its staff. The training, facilitated by the Malawi School of Government (MSG), Mpemba Campus in Blantyre, aimed to enhance work analysis and output. Speaking during the official closing session, MSG Acting […] The post MSG Mentors Mwai Wathu Hospital staff on efficient minutes, reports writing appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) has underscored the need for the media to be equipped with knowledge on fuel pricing in the country. Director of Economic Regulations at MERA, Patrick Uka, said this in Lilongwe during a media training on fuel pricing and related issues, which the energy regulator held in collaboration with the Ministry […] The post MERA sensitizes media on fuel pricing mechanism appeared first on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.

As many as 103 enemy attacks were repelled along the LPR boundaries last month, 85 less than in July

The game, which had been scheduled to kick-off at 2pm, was called off after Sutton sent an email to their opponents at 11.12am informing them of their inability to field a team.

Tens of thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of Israel, demanding an immediate hostage deal with Hamas Read Full Article at RT.com

According to the Russian president, «The main reason for today’s tragic situation in Ukraine is the deliberate anti-Russia policy pursued by the US-led collective West»

Sergey Ryabkov noted that it was a document that specifies the options and conditions for the use of nuclear weapons

According to the region's governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, this is the third educational facility - after a school and another kindergarten - to have been hit by direct strikes or damaged by attacks targeting nearby areas

Folly Road, Portland At least six single mothers are commending organisers of a back-to-school treat held last Friday at a complex in Folly, Portland. Among those hailing the treat, which was aimed at assisting needy students, was 45-year-old...

Late last year, when Najae Murray submitted his application for the prestigious Chevening Scholarship, he did so with little expectation, being fully aware of the intense competition associated with the award. “I know of others who have attempted...

At the start of the new academic school year, around 28 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students across the country have benefited from a new JPS Foundation Power Up Scholarship Programme. At a recent awards ceremony and luncheon...

It’s one of the most pervasive messages about technology and sleep. We’re told bright, blue light from screens prevents us falling asleep easily. We’re told to avoid scrolling on our phones before bedtime or while in bed. We’re sold glasses to help...

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in his capacity as minister of works, on Saturday announced the launch of the REACH Road Rehab Programme, a comprehensive national road rehabilitation initiative projected to cost $3 billion. The programme is...

[New Zimbabwe] ZIMBABWEAN footballer Brendan Galloway, who plies his trade in Europe, has been ruled out of the senior men's soccer team, The Warriors, fixtures against Kenya and Cameroon.

There were 19 passengers and three crew members aboard the helicopter

The Russian leader said that Moscow and Ulaanbaatar were currently in work on an intergovernmental agreement regarding supplies of fuel and lubricants to Mongolia at preferential prices

Get the latest news from the 2024 campaign trail in the contest between Vice President Harris and former president Donald Trump.

The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual Israeli and American citizen, had become public faces of the ordeal of the hostages taken by Hamas. Other American families of hostages fear time is running out for their loved ones.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections said last week it was impractical to reprint ballots before absentee voting begins.