Italy suspends Schengen agreement with Spain
Italy said on July 31 it had suspended its Schengen agreement with Spain, following the influx of migrants into Madrid’s Ceuta enclave in north Africa, bordering Morocco.
Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the one-month suspension an “extraordinary measure” intended to “safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation”.
Italy’s interior ministry confirmed to AFP that Italy had closed to Spain its maritime and air entry points but cautioned it would not impact travel for Spanish and European citizens to Italy.
On July 30, Meloni called for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen area, describing the images from Ceuta showing thousands of arriving migrants as “shocking”.
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US, allies issue alert over North Korea IT workers
The United States and 10 Asian and European allies on July 31 warned companies against employing North Korean IT workers whose labour was generating crucial foreign currency to fund Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
In a joint statement, they said the country was using skilled workers under false identities “to fund North Korea’s unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.”
In addition to the US, other countries issuing the alert included Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Britain.
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Google rolls back satellite image AI tool after backlash
Google rolled back on July 31 a new feature allowing Google Earth users to generate AI visualisations on top of the service’s satellite imagery, following a furious backlash from researchers and open-source intelligence experts about the potential for disinformation.
“We’ve seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes. However, we’ve also seen people sharing screenshots of generated imagery that appear to violate our policies,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to AFP.
“So we’re rolling back this feature in Google Earth while we work on implementing stronger guardrails.”
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Magnitude 4.7 quake strikes near Italy’s Naples
PHOTO: EPA
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Campi Flegrei area near the southern Italian city of Naples on July 31, causing power outages, disrupting train and metro services and damaging some buildings, authorities said.
The quake, recorded at 7.46pm (1.46am on Aug 1 in Singapore), had its epicentre in the Campi Flegrei area to the west of Naples at a depth of about 3km, Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said.
The Italian fire service said there were reports of minor damage to buildings in and around Naples, but added that their crews had not received any immediate requests to help or rescue residents.
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Shanti Pereira finishes eighth in women’s 200m final
PHOTO: COMMONWEATH GAMES SINGAPORE/LIM WEIXIANG
Racing in her first final at the Commonwealth Games, national sprinter Shanti Pereira finished eighth after clocking 23.21sec in Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium on July 31 (Aug 1, Singapore time).
Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands – who set a Games record of 22.01sec en route to the final – stormed ahead of the field to claim gold in 22.07sec. Trinidad and Tobago’s Shaniqua Bascombe (22.35) and Alana Reid of Jamaica (22.56) took the silver and bronze respectively.
On July 30, Pereira became the first Singaporean runner to qualify for an individual final at the quadrennial event after posting 22.81sec in the semi-finals to finish eighth overall.
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