5 vital stories to know this week
From the U.S. election just two weeks away to rising threats to press freedom in the Middle East, here are five vital stories to know this week.
Early voting for the 2024 election is underway in dozens of states with millions of ballots cast so far
Early voting is underway in all seven battleground states, such as Michigan, Georgia, and Wisconsin, and three dozen other states with 32 million Americans casting their ballots already, according to data from the University of Florida's Election Lab.
Their data also shows that most Americans have voted by mail and that Democrats are outpacing Republicans in casting their ballots early. However, Republicans have cast roughly 452,000 more ballots in person so far, while more Democrats have returned 1.3 million more mail ballots than registered GOP voters. Republicans, contrary to previous years, have embraced early voting after former President Trump permitted his supporters to vote early, even admitting he would do so in Florida.
“It appears Republicans have embraced in-person early voting, and passed the Democrats are the ones who tend to vote in large numbers,” University of Florida Political Science Professor Michael McDonald said.
Mother sues tech company after 'Game of Thrones' AI chatbot allegedly drove son to suicide
A 14-year-old teenager from Orlando, Florida took his own life from a gun after developing an intense fixation with an AI chatbot based on the Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen. Now his mother Megan Garcia is suing its developer, Character.ai, alleging negligence, wrongful death, and deceptive practices.
Garcia says her son, Sewell Setzer III, became deeply engaged with a chatbot he had named and would spend hours alone in his room interacting with it. Setzer grew more and more withdrawn and used the chatbot "day and night" in the months leading up to his death in February. She alleges that “Daenerys” worsened his depression, describing a moment when the chatbot asked if Setzer had a plan for suicide. After he admitted he did, the bot allegedly replied, “That’s not a reason not to go through with it.”
Character.ai responded on social media, expressing sympathy for Setzer's family but denying the lawsuit’s allegations, stating, “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and want to express our deepest condolences to the family.”
The suit also names Google, which has a licensing agreement with Character.ai, though Google maintains it does not own or control the startup.
Rick Claypool, a research director at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy nonprofit, said this case underscores the need for strict regulation of AI chatbots, warning that “tech companies developing AI chatbots can’t be trusted to regulate themselves and must be held fully accountable when they fail to limit harms.”
Biden condemns U.S. Indian boarding schools
On Friday, President Joe Biden apologized to Native Americans for the U.S. role in creating and operating Indian boarding schools that for 150 years aimed to assimilate Native children by taking them from their families and erasing their languages and culture.
“The federal government has never formally apologized for what happened until today. I formally apologize,” Biden said as people yelled out, “Thank you, Joe!”
“It did take place,” the president continued. “Darkness can hide much. It erases nothing. Some injustices are heinous and horrific. They can’t be buried. We must know the good, the bad, the truth. We do not erase history. We make history. We learn from history, and we remember so we can heal as a nation.”
PRESS FREEDOM: Destruction seen in aftermath of Israeli attack that killed 3 journalists in Southern Lebanon
An Israeli attack near the southern Lebanese town of Hasbaya killed three media personnel, local media reported on Friday, October 25, drawing condemnation from press freedom groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists
“The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns Israel's killing of three journalists in southern Lebanon earlier today. The international community must act to stop Israel's long-standing pattern of impunity in journalist killings,” the CPJ said in a statement.
According to an Al Jazeera report, the overnight strike killed Al Manar TV cameraman Wissam Qassem, as well as Al Mayadeen TV photojournalist Ghassan Najjar and broadcast engineer Mohammad Reda.
Another four journalists were injured in the strike, Al Mayadeen TV said in a statement.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement to AFP that the strike is “under review,” according to reports.
Video captured by Sky News Arabia journalist Darine El Helwe shows rubble covering the floor of the compound where the attack occurred and part of the ceiling missing.
Credit: Darine El Helwe via Storyful
PRESS FREEDOM: Al Jazeera condemns ‘unfounded’ terrorism claims from Israel about 6 of its journalists in Gaza, the last ones reporting in the north
Al Jazeera is calling for the safety of its staff in Gaza after Israel claimed that six of the network’s journalists reporting in North Gaza have ties to Hamas, sparking condemnation from press freedom agencies over Israel’s continual ‘targeting’ of journalists.
“The Network views these fabricated accusations as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says Israel has a history of smearing Palestinian journalists with unproven claims.
“There is a pattern of Israel making these kinds of allegations, providing evidence that is, frankly, not credible or, in some cases, no evidence at all,” said Jodie Ginsberg, the Committee to Protect Journalists chief executive officer. “As we have fewer and fewer journalists reporting … we have less and less information coming out of Gaza. And it’s absolutely essential that we have that information, that we have those images, so that the international community can understand the scale of what’s happening.”
Back in July, TUT reported Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul who Israeli forces declared a Hamas militant after releasing documents that showed al-Ghoul had received a Hamas military ranking in 2007—when he was just 10 years old.
One of the journalists listed in the IDF’s list, Hossam Shabat, who has over 475k followers on Instagram, went on social media saying "he isn’t affected” but knows he may be killed in a similar fashion to his colleagues soon. However, he will continue his reporting in North Gaza, which has been under siege for weeks with no food entering the region since Oct 1 and consistent bombardment with the United Nations calling it the ‘war’s darkest moment.’
“Israel’s army has released fabricated dossiers framing us, the last remaining journalists in North Gaza reporting on Israel’s extermination and ethnic-cleansing campaign, as “terrorists.
This public threat was made without any evidence and is part of a systematic propaganda campaign to justify the unjustifiable as Israel continues to target civilians in Gaza, including doctors, aid workers, children and us journalists.
Despite these dangerous and untrue threats made against us, we remain committed to our profession and will continue to report the facts on the ground as the genocide regretfully continues unabated,” Shabat said on X.
By the numbers: Over 128 journalists have been killed since the war on Gaza began, per the CPJ.