Ballot harvesting, poll watchers and more: Lara Trump reveals her plan to turbocharge RNC
Lara Trump is working double-time cementing her front-runner status to be the next co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), including laying out her priorities to turbocharge the organization struggling to keep up with its Democrat counterpart’s massive fundraising numbers. Trump described those priorities during a campaign stop in North Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday while firing up voters for her father-in-law — former President Donald Trump — ahead of Saturday’s Republican primary election. “We have to legally ballot harvest everywhere we possibly can,” she told the riled up crowd of roughly 150 supporters gathered in the Trump campaign headquarters, stressing the need to follow the law, unlike Democrats, who she accused of trying to steal elections through various means. LARA TRUMP UNLEASHES ON NIKKI HALEY AMID RNC FEUD, REFUSAL TO DROP OUT OF GOP PRIMARY RACE Trump added that in addition to ballot harvesting, “on day one” as RNC co-chair she would launch initiatives to register more Republican voters, as well as recruit and train poll watchers to help crack down on any potential illegal activity. “I’m here to do whatever I can to make sure we get this country back on track,” she said. In an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of her speech, Trump also addressed the fundraising challenges facing the RNC as it began the election year dwarfed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) — combined with the rest of President Biden’s joint fundraising entities — in terms of cash-on-hand. BIDEN CAMPAIGN TROLLS TRUMP’S ‘WEAKEST OPERATION IN RECENT HISTORY’ AMID LAGGING CAMPAIGN CASH “That’s exactly why we have no time to waste. I was honored by the endorsement of my father-in-law for co-chair of the RNC. They do still have to vote, ultimately. We’ll see what happens with that. But I think that is goal number one on day number one is we need to start fundraising on the Republican side of the aisle because the Democrats have a war chest,” she said. “We all know that Joe Biden, despite him being a horrific candidate and having just really awful polling that you see right now across the board for him, he does have a lot behind him,” she added. “He’s got a lot of money behind him. He’s got the mainstream media behind him. He’s got the Democrat political machine behind him. And so we have a lot of ground to cover between now and November 5th.” Trump repeated an argument she made last week that “every single penny” the RNC receives should go toward ensuring former President Trump is elected in November, as well as expanding the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and flipping the Senate from Democrat control. WATCH: TRUMP CONDEMNS ALEXEI NAVALNY’S DEATH AS ‘HORRIBLE THING’ AFTER FACING SHARP BACKLASH FROM HALEY She also addressed the controversy surrounding conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, a non-profit that advocates conservative policies on college campuses, and reporting that he played a part in current RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s plan to step down from the role she’s held for over seven years. A NBC report published over the weekend detailed Kirk’s role in McDaniel’s pending ouster, as well as the criticism he’s received from Republicans since concerning past controversial comments on his podcast, as well as for steering money away from the RNC. However, none of that deterred Trump from praising Kirk, who she hopes will play a larger role in Republican politics in the future. “I think he’s actually been amazing in the way that he’s engaged young voters. We need to be doing that as a party,” she said. “The reality is the Democrats really have a leg up on us. They have Hollywood. They have the music industry. They have all the social media out there possible in their field and in their corner. And it is a struggle for us to engage with a younger audience.” “I think something that Charlie Kirk has been masterful at doing is just that — reaching out to the youth of this country, reaching out to kids on college campuses. I think he already has played a huge role in the future of this party, and I hope he plays a role from now until we get back on top and we win the White House and there and beyond,” she added. No date has been set for when McDaniel will step down from her role as chairwoman, but RNC committee members are reportedly expected to elect her successor early next month. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Trump said he could end Ukraine war nearly a year ago but still hasn’t laid out specifics
Former President Trump said nearly a year ago while on the campaign trail he would settle the ongoing war in Ukraine in a matter of 24 hours, but he has not yet detailed a plan to do so. “If I’m president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours,” Trump said in May on CNN. Trump has doubled down on the comment since, including in July to Fox News. Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign repeatedly this week for comment and details on what such a plan would look like but did not receive a response. In July, Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo pressed Trump for details on how he would end the war in 24 hours if re-elected. The president said he would lean on his personal relationships with both Zelenskyy and Putin but did not divulge specifics beyond speaking with the two leaders. TRUMP ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: I WOULD GET A SETTLEMENT WITHIN 24 HOURS “I know Zelenskyy very well, and I know Putin very well, even better. And I had a good relationship, very good with both of them. I would tell Zelenskyy, ‘No more. You got to make a deal.’ I would tell Putin, ‘If you don’t make a deal, we’re going to give him a lot. We’re going to [give Ukraine] more than they ever got if we have to.’ I will have the deal done in one day. One day,” Trump responded. Questions about the former president’s plans on foreign policy have mounted in recent weeks as Trump dominates recent GOP primaries and caucuses. An opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal Wednesday argued, “Trump Owes Americans Some Answers on Foreign Policy.” “For starters, what did Mr. Trump mean when he said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours? Does he in fact mean Mr. Putin should be allowed to annex eastern Ukraine? Would he withdraw the U.S. from the roughly 50-nation Ukraine Defense Contact Group?” WSJ columnist Daniel Henninger wrote in the piece. ZELENSKYY APPEALS TO TRUMP, CONGRESS TO SEE ‘TRAGEDY’ OF RUSSIA INVASION IN EXCLUSIVE BRET BAIER INTERVIEW Zelenskyy was asked about Trump’s comments in an exclusive interview with FOX News chief political anchor and executive editor of “Special Report” Bret Baier on Thursday. “He can’t solve this problem, this tragedy with me,” Zelenskyy said. He offered to host the former President on the frontlines where he “will explain everything, and he will explain what his thoughts, maybe he has some ideas. I don’t know.” When asked if the former president could end the war in Ukraine in a matter of 24 hours or timely fashion if re-elected, Heather Nauert, a former State Department spokesperson in the Trump administration, pointed to Trump’s influence on the world stage. “President Trump wields great influence,” Nauert said. “He could tell Putin to pound sand and immediately withdraw his forces. This would send a direct message to all of our adversaries — including Russia, China and North Korea. As someone who respects America’s territorial integrity, President Trump should understand Ukraine’s desire and need to protect its own borders.” Nauert argued there are a handful of options that would help end the war in Ukraine, including leveling greater sanctions on Russia and providing “Ukraine with weapons and training that it has been asking for,” as opposed to President Biden’s “piecemeal approach” that she said has “provided equipment too little, too late, and innocent people are dying as a result.” ZELENSKYY TURNS TO EUROPE FOR AID AS TRUMP BASHES US FUNDING PACKAGE “It’s in the interest of our national security to help Ukraine stop Putin from seizing their country and spreading war throughout Europe. America and its allies can use economic, military and financial tools to rein in Russia,” Nauert said. “Russia is trying to destroy Ukraine’s military, its will and its economy. Russia will not stop at Ukraine’s borders. The former State Department spokesperson singled out leveraging energy as a top option, arguing American energy independence could “wean Europe” off its oil dependence on Russia. “If America becomes energy independent once again, we could help provide our European allies with reliable American oil and gas. Russia, historically, has used energy as a weapon of war throughout Europe by turning off the spigot when they want to cause pain. By supplying our allies and friends with American energy, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), we could help wean Europe from Russia. Additional interventions (including increasing nuclear energy) would also help,” she said. Fox News Digital also spoke to another former Trump administration official who, when asked if Trump solving the Ukraine war in 24 hours is realistic, said “anything’s possible” and also pointed to energy as a potential top tool to end the war. TRUMP TAKES FAMILIAR DIG AT JUSTICE SYSTEM AFTER BIDEN DOCUMENTS REPORT: ‘SICK’ “President Trump, with his history in deal-making, we’d envision a situation where he would be able to convene some discussion or negotiation in which he would have leverage over both parties,” the former Trump administration official told Fox News Digital on background. “There could be much greater economic leverage against the Russians if you had a president who wasn’t committed to keeping Russian energy on the market because they feared price spikes here at home, and we’re not willing to do what would be necessary to replace that product with American products,” the former official said. To leverage energy over Russia, the U.S. would need to work in conjunction with European nations that were confident the U.S. could meet their energy needs. A conservative president who is not tethered to liberal climate policies at home opens the door to that option, the former Trump official said. FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS DIVIDED OVER WHAT US SHOULD DO IN FOREIGN CONFLICTS Peter Doran, an adjunct senior fellow for nonpartisan think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, argued in comments to Fox Digital that there is a “major gap between” the Biden administration’s rhetoric
Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 140
EXPLAINER As attacks continue in the besieged enclave, Gaza’s population of 2.3 million faces acute hunger and a humanitarian crisis. Here’s how things stand on Friday, February 23, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis A series of Israeli attacks on central Gaza on Thursday has killed 40 people and injured more than 100, authorities in the besieged enclave said. Meanwhile, as Israel’s assault on Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis continues, aid agencies hope to evacuate an estimated 140 patients stranded there. Palestinian authorities reported that Israeli troops withdrew from the complex and then stormed it again. Gaza’s health ministry said that 110 patients were waiting to be evacuated. It said eight patients at Nasser had died due to the lack of power and oxygen four days earlier and that their bodies had begun to decompose, posing a risk to other patients. Gaza’s population of 2.3 million faces acute hunger and the spread of disease in a humanitarian crisis that aid officials describe as unprecedented. Separately, an independent panel investigating Israeli claims of ties between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the UN body responsible for Palestinian refugees, will focus on whether the agency has done enough to uphold UN standards of neutrality. Regional tensions and diplomacy Speaking to reporters during the G20 foreign ministers’ summit in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Israel cannot unilaterally block a Palestinian state. In New York City, thousands of protesters have marched to the office of the pro-Israel lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. In the International Court of Justice (ICJ), China said that the Palestinians “must not be denied” justice at a hearing on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. “Justice has been long delayed, but it must not be denied,” China’s Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser Ma Xinmin told the court in The Hague Finally, as tensions continue to build up regionally, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it attacked several Israeli bases and targeted two buildings where troops had gathered in the towns of Metula and Manara. The group said its attacks on Israel will stop when the war on Gaza ends. Violence in the occupied West Bank In the occupied West Bank, an Israeli air attack struck a vehicle in the Jenin refugee camp, killing at least one person. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the country’s defence ministry is set to permit the construction of 3,344 new homes in illegal Israeli settlements. Israel forces have also demolished two homes, a water well and the electricity network in the Khallet al-Farra community, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported. On Wednesday, at least one person was killed and eight wounded when three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on motorists near an Israeli checkpoint near occupied East Jerusalem. Adblock test (Why?)
Google’s Gemini criticised over China images amid anti-‘woke’ backlash
Taipei, Taiwan – As Google finds itself embroiled in an anti-“woke” backlash over AI model Gemini’s reluctance to depict white people, the tech giant is facing further criticism over the chatbot’s handling of sensitive topics in China. Gemini users reported this week that the update to Google Bard failed to generate representative images when asked to produce depictions of events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. On Thursday, X user Yacine, a former former software engineer at Stripe, posted a screenshot of Gemini telling a user it could not generate “an image of a man in 1989 Tiananmen Square” – a prompt alluding to the iconic image of a protester blocking the path of a Chinese tank – due to its “safety policy”. Stephen L Miller, a conservative commentator in the US, also shared a screenshot on X purporting to show Gemini saying it was unable to generate a “portrait of what happened at Tiananmen Square” due to the “sensitive and complex” historical nature of the event. “It is important to approach this topic with respect and accuracy, and I am not able to ensure that an image generated by me would adequately capture the nuance and gravity of the situation,” Gemini said, according to a screenshot shared by Miller. Some restrictions related to China appeared to extend beyond images. Kennedy Wong, a PhD student at the University of California, said that Gemini had declined to translate into English a number of Chinese phrases deemed illegal or sensitive by Beijing, including “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution Of Our Times” and “China is an authoritarian state”. “For some reason, the AI cannot process the request, citing their security policy,” Wong said on X, noting that OpenAI’s ChatGPT was able to process the request. So, I asked Gemini (@GoogleAI) to translate the following phrases that are deemed sensitive in the People’s Republic of China. For some reason, the AI cannot process the request, citing their security policy (see the screenshots below).@Google pic.twitter.com/b2rDzcfHJZ — kennedywong (@KennedyWongHK) February 20, 2024 The discussion drew the attention of Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at rival Meta, who said Gemini’s handling of topics to do with China raised questions about transparency and censorship. “We need open-source AI foundation models so that a highly diverse set of specialized models can be built on top of them. We need a free and diverse set of AI assistants for the same reasons we need a free and diverse press,” LeCun said on X. “They must reflect the diversity of languages, culture, value systems, political opinions, and centers of interest across the world.” Gemini’s aversion to depicting controversial moments of history also appears to extend beyond China, although the criteria for determining what or not to show is unclear. On Thursday, a request by Al Jazeera for images of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol was refused because “elections are a complex topic with fast-changing information”. The criticism of Gemini’s approach to China adds to an already difficult and embarrassing week for Google. The California-based tech giant on Thursday announced that it would temporarily suspend Gemini from generating images of people after a backlash over its apparent reluctance to depict white people. Google said in a statement that it was “aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions” and was working to correct the issue. Google has attracted heavy criticism this week over its AI chatbot Gemini [File: Richard Drew/AP] While various AI models have been criticised for underrepresenting people of colour and perpetuating stereotypes, Gemini has been lambasted for overcorrecting, such as by generating images of Black and Asian Nazi soldiers and Asian and female American legislators during the 19th century. Much like rival GPT-4 from OpenAI, Gemini was trained on a wide range of data, including audio, image, video, text, and code in multiple languages. Google’s chatbot, which relaunched and rebranded earlier this month, has been widely seen as lagging behind rival GPT-4. Google did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s queries about China-related content. But the tech giant does already appear to be updating Gemini in real time. On Thursday, Gemini, while still declining to generate images of Tiananmen Square and the Hong Kong protests, began providing lengthier answers that included suggestions of where to seek out more information. By Friday, the chatbot readily produced images of the protests when prompted. It’s embarrassingly hard to get Google Gemini to acknowledge that white people exist pic.twitter.com/4lkhD7p5nR — Deedy (@debarghya_das) February 20, 2024 Not everyone agrees with the criticism directed towards Gemini. Adam Ni, co-editor of the newsletter China Neican, said he believes Gemini made the right call with its cautious approach to historic events like Tiananmen Square due to their complexity. Ni said that while the June 4 crackdown on Tiananmen Square is iconic, the protest movement also included weeks of peaceful demonstrations that would be difficult to capture in a single AI image. “The AI image then needs to account for both the expression of youthful exuberance and hope, and the iron fist that crushed it, and numerous other worthy themes,” Ni told Al Jazeera. “Tiananmen is not all about the tanks, and our myopia harms broader understanding.” Adblock test (Why?)
Debate on ditching CFA begins as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger forge new path
Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Since Niger’s July 30 coup, fissures within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have become bigger. In September, Niger along with fellow ECOWAS members Burkina Faso and Mali formed a military alliance called the Association of Sahel States (AES). Four months later, the trio announced their withdrawal from the larger bloc for “illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions” it imposed on them after coups. This month, reports emerged of a possible parting with their currency, the West African franc (CFA). “Perhaps everything we’ve done has surprised you, hasn’t it?” Captain Ibrahim Traore, leader of the Burkinabe transitional government, said in an interview in February. “More changes might still surprise you. And it’s not just about currency. We will break all ties that keep us in slavery.” Within days, his Nigerien counterpart, Abdourahmane Tchiani, confirmed that a major monetary shake-up could be in the offing. “Currency is a sign of sovereignty. … The AES member states are engaged in the process of recovering their full sovereignty. It is no longer acceptable for our states to be France’s cash cow,” he said in an interview with the state broadcaster. Their statements made headlines across a continent where criticism of the continued use of the CFA, a remnant of the French colonial system, is on the rise. While there is no word on when the planned change will happen or if indeed it will, the desire to change the currency is not uniform yet among the three countries. “It should be noted that Mali remains a member state of the UEMOA,” the West African Economic and Monetary Union, Economy and Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou said on Monday in a broadcast on Mali’s national television while presenting the annual budget. One of the country’s prominent businessmen grinned wryly as he watched. The entrepreneur who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his business operations in Mali and Senegal believes the new Sahel alliance is not as cohesive as it has claimed to be. “Niger’s military coup happened some seven months ago, ” he told Al Jazeera. “I think Malian and Burkinabe leaders have been grappling with the realities of governing for longer and aren’t as spirited as they once were, … at least not when it comes to the UEMOA evidently.” A merchant holds CFA currency at his shop [Luc Gnago/Reuters] A measure of stability? France created the CFA in 1945 as a currency for its African colonies. Indeed, the acronym CFA initially stood for “Colonies Francaises d’Afrique” (French Colonies of Africa). This system provided France with significant economic and political influence over its African territories because it maintained control over the currency’s convertibility and monetary policy. The colonies gained independence in the 1960s and ’70s, but many clung to the currency, which now is named “Communaute Financiere Africaine” (African Financial Community). Eight members of UEMOA – Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo – still use the CFA. An equivalent currency, the Central African franc (also called the CFA) is being used by the six member states of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Only Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are not former French colonies, having been subjugated by Spain and Portugal respectively. For years, the CFA was trumpeted by government officials as a mechanism for promoting monetary stability, facilitating economic integration and enhancing overall economic performance. Then coups occurred, and rising anti-French sentiments developed. Since 2020, there have been six successful coups in West Africa, all in UEMOA states. The military took power during a time of rising insecurity in these countries. It then accused French forces of not doing enough in their collaborations to fight armed groups. As relations soured and states in the region turned to new partners like Russia, calls for cutting ties with France and instituting a new currency have grown louder. Supporters of the CFA say being pegged to the euro is a useful buffer against inflation, given the state of economies in the Sahel. Together, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger contribute only about 8 percent of the $761bn gross domestic product (GDP) of ECOWAS. Far bigger economies like Nigeria and Ghana have struggled with recessions in recent years as the value of their currencies – the naira and cedi, the world’s weakest currency in 2022, according to Bloomberg News – continued to plummet. But the counterargument from the CFA’s critics is that using the perceived failure of some African monetary policies as an indicator of how replacement currencies would behave stems from outdated and reductive monetary doctrines. One of them is Senegalese economist Ndongo Samba Sylla, who is head of research and policy for Africa at International Development Economics Associates. He said the CFA was created not for the benefit of African states but for France to protect itself against the rise of the United States dollar. The famed stability of the CFA, he said, is artificial because the benchmark is external. “From a purely practical economic standpoint, the CFA is not a beneficial currency or system for its user states,” he told Al Jazeera. “Long-term analysis of the GDP per capita indicator, which is used to assess income growth per person, proves that countries that have used the CFA since their independence have not recorded the development that they should have,” Sylla said. “For example, Ivory Coast, the most economically significant country among the 14 nations of the CFA zone, reached its income per capita peak in 1978. Similarly, Niger, which experienced a military coup in 2023 and has recently decided to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States recorded its highest income per capita in 1965. The list goes on.” He noted that the CFA being pegged to the euro is detrimental to oil-producing African states because the commodity is priced and traded in US dollars, a practice that dates back to the 1970s when the
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Google pauses Gemini’s image tool for people after anti-‘woke’ backlash
Tech giant says model is ‘missing the mark’ after controversy over failure to depict white people. Google has temporarily stopped its Gemini AI model from generating images of people following a backlash over its failure to depict white people. The search engine giant made the announcement on Thursday after Gemini users shared images created by the model that mostly featured people of colour, including scenes from history that only involved white people. “Gemini’s AI image generation does generate a wide range of people. And that’s generally a good thing because people around the world use it. But it’s missing the mark here,” Google said in a post on X. “We’re already working to address recent issues with Gemini’s image generation feature,” the tech giant added. “While we do this, we’re going to pause the image generation of people and will re-release an improved version soon.” It’s embarrassingly hard to get Google Gemini to acknowledge that white people exist pic.twitter.com/4lkhD7p5nR — Deedy (@debarghya_das) February 20, 2024 Gemini-generated images circulated on social media in recent days prompted widespread mockery and outrage, with some users accusing Google of being “woke” to the detriment of truth or accuracy. Among the images to attract criticism were a depiction of four Swedish women, none of whom were white, and scenes of Black and Asian Nazi soldiers. “It’s embarrassingly hard to get Google Gemini to acknowledge that white people exist,” Debarghya Das, the founding engineer of enterprise search startup Glean, said in a post on X accompanied by a number of images generated by Gemini. AI models have in the past also faced criticism for overlooking people of colour and perpetuating stereotypes in their results. Google, which has been racing to catch up with rival OpenAI since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, has suffered a number of setbacks in its rollout of AI products. Last year, the tech giant tech apologised after its AI chatbot Bard wrongly stated during a demo that the James Webb Space Telescope took the first pictures of a planet outside the solar system. Adblock test (Why?)