Gaza, Uganda, China
Today's three stories you should know
Gaza
An Israeli strike has killed eight Palestinians attending a funeral in Gaza for a person killed in an Israeli attack earlier in the day, health officials said. Three people were also killed in separate strikes on the enclave, bringing Friday’s death toll to 12. Israel said it targeted members of the Islamic Jihad armed group but that it was aware of reports “uninvolved” individuals were also killed. Israel has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 3,500 since an ostensible ceasefire was agreed in October, most of them women and children.
More from the New Arab here.
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Uganda
Uganda has banned school outings after 20 schoolchildren died in a bus crash on their way back from an educational field trip. One adult was also killed. The bus from King David Junior School was returning to the capital Kampala after a trip to Sipi Falls when the accident happened, police said. Ugandan government minister Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi said on X that more than 28 children were in hospital, nine of them in critical condition. Uganda’s roads are among the most dangerous in a region with the world’s worst traffic safety record.
More from Al Jazeera here.
China
Chinese President Xi Jinping today tried to position Beijing as the leader of a new AI world order in a clear challenge to U.S. influence over the quickly emerging technology. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Xi pitched China as a champion of open-source AI and pledged to help developing nations build AI capabilities. Though he didn’t mention Washington directly, Chinese State media has accused the U.S. of leading an attempt to erect what it calls an “AI Iron Curtain.”
More from Reuters here.