Syria, South Africa, Mexico

Today's three stories you should know

Syria

At least 13 people were killed, including children, when Israeli soldiers raided a village in southern Syria and were confronted by residents, according to Syrian officials. The Israeli military confirmed the assault and said it was targeting members of the Jamaa Islamiya group, who it claimed were using the village, Beit Jin, as a base from which to attack Israeli civilians. Israel has launched hundreds of air raids and incursions into Syria since the government of President Ahmad al-Sharaa came to power after toppling former President Bashar al-Assad after years of civil war. The Syrian government called the attack “a horrific massacre.”

More from AP here.

South Africa

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a daughter of South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma, has resigned from parliament after being accused of luring 18 men to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Zuma-Sambudla and her MK party, founded by her father, denied the allegations, which were made by her half-sister. The men say they were told they were traveling to Russia to train as bodyguards but that they ended up fighting for a Russian militia on the front lines. The government said it is working with international law enforcement agencies to bring them home.

More from News 24 here.

Mexico

President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that Mexico is building Latin America’s most powerful supercomputer as it attempts to harness AI. A privately owned supercomputer in Brazil is the continent’s biggest. The Mexican machine is to be named “Coatlicue” after an Aztec goddess and will take two years to complete at a cost of $326.6 million. The country’s current most powerful computer is working at 2.3 petaflops, which means it can perform one quadrillion operations per second. Coatlicue will operate at 314 petaflops.

More from ScienceAlert here.