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More than 2,400 people have been killed in Haiti since the start of 2023 amid rampant gang violence, including hundreds killed in lynchings by vigilante mobs, the UN said Friday.

The toll comes as gang violence in Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince this week left 30 residents dead and more than a dozen injured.

"Between January 1 and August 15 of this year, at least 2,439 people have been killed and a further 902 injured," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

In addition, she said, "951 people have been kidnapped" during the same period.

And as anger grows over the gang violence, she warned that a rise in popular justice movements and self-defence groups was spurring further violence.

"Since April 24 up to mid-August, more than 350 people have been lynched by local people and vigilante groups," she said, adding that of those, 310 were alleged gang members and one was a police officer.

The remainder were members of the public.

Houses in Port-au-Prince's Carrefour-Feuilles neighbourhood were set on fire in the attacks and two police officers also died, according to a provisional toll provided to AFP by the National Human Rights Defense Network.

The neighbourhood is a strategic area for the gangs, which control about 80 percent of Haiti's capital.

Violent crimes including kidnappings for ransom, carjackings, rapes and armed thefts are common.

In recent days violence in the neighbourhood has caused some 5,000 residents to flee, authorities said.

"Reports from Haiti this week have underscored the extreme brutality of the violence being inflicted on the population and the impact that it is having on their human rights," Shamdasani said.

She said that her boss, UN rights chief Volker Turk, was calling for urgent action to be taken on an appeal for a non-UN multinational force to be sent in "to support the Haitian police in addressing the grave security situation and restoring the rule of law".

China Evergrande (3333.HK), which is the world's most heavily indebted property developer and became the poster child for China's property crisis, on Thursday filed for protection from creditors in a U.S. bankruptcy court.

The company sought protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, which shields non-U.S. companies that are undergoing restructurings from creditors that hope to sue them or tie up assets in the United States.

An affiliate, Tianji Holdings, also sought Chapter 15 protection on Thursday in Manhattan bankruptcy court.

A lawyer for Evergrande did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Evergrande's filing comes amid growing fears that problems in China's property sector could spread to other parts of the country's economy as growth slows.

Since the sector's debt crisis unfolded in mid-2021, companies accounting for 40% of Chinese home sales have defaulted.

Late last week, MSN.com's Microsoft Travel section posted an AI-generated article about the "cannot miss" attractions of Ottawa that includes the Ottawa Food Bank, a real charitable organization that feeds struggling families. In its recommendation text, Microsoft's AI model wrote, "Consider going into it on an empty stomach."

Titled, "Headed to Ottawa? Here's what you shouldn't miss!," (archive here) the article extols the virtues of the Canadian city and recommends attending the Winterlude festival (which only takes place in February), visiting an Ottawa Senators game, and skating in "The World's Largest Naturallyfrozen Ice Rink" (sic). Ars Trending Video

As the No. 3 destination on the list, Microsoft Travel suggests visiting the Ottawa Food Bank, likely drawn from a summary found online but capped with an unfortunate turn of phrase.

"The organization has been collecting, purchasing, producing, and delivering food to needy people and families in the Ottawa area since 1984. We observe how hunger impacts men, women, and children on a daily basis, and how it may be a barrier to achievement. People who come to us have jobs and families to support, as well as expenses to pay. Life is already difficult enough. Consider going into it on an empty stomach."

Mt. Fluchthorn's tallest peak, on the Swiss-Austrian border, collapsed in June.

Experts say peaks in the European Alps and Southern Alps of New Zealand are at risk of collapse, too.

The damage and dangers from mountain collapse disproportionately impact indigenous communities.

On June 11, the main peak of Mt. Fluchthorn, on the border of Austria and Switzerland, collapsed without warning.

Roughly 3.5 million cubic feet of earth tumbled down, filling the valley below with 40 Olympic swimming pools' worth of rocks, mud, and dirt, LiveScience reported. While no people got hurt, a religious cross marking the summit was destroyed.

Fluchthorn had three peaks, and the main, southern one used to be the tallest. With the south peak collapsed, the middle peak is the new summit at 11,145 feet — the second-highest summit in the Silvretta Alps.

Overall, Mt. Fluchthorn is 60 feet shorter than it was earlier this year, per LiveScience.

Why did the peak collapse? Well, like many mountains in the far north, Fluchthorn had a lot of permafrost — a permanent layer of ice and dirt under the mountain's surface.

"Permafrost is important because frozen water within the ground holds the ground surface together and prevents it from moving. But when that ice melts, the liquid water can flow away. The ground surface becomes less stable and can move, often very quickly," said Jasper Knight, a geoscientist at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

When a big chunk of mountain moves quickly, like with the mudslide at Fluchthorn, that's called a mass movement.

"Global warming is causing the permafrost to melt, which is the trigger for these mass movement events to take place," Knight said.

Social networks in Iran have been flooded with compromising footage featuring several known ultra-conservative officials engaging in homosexual activities. While homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran, the Iranian regime has attempted to deny the videos and cover up the scandals. We spoke to a former religious authority who says authorities are trying to “save face” by refuting the wave of videos.

The Ministry of Culture in Lebanon may decide to ban the film "Barbie" after it accused the film of "promoting homosexuality" on Wednesday. Lebanon, normally perceived as relatively open and free in the Middle East, has seen its ruling elites gather around hardcore conservative values.

For some women in China, "Barbie" is more than just a movie — it's also a litmus test for their partner's views on feminism and patriarchy.

The movie has prompted intense social media discussion online, media outlets Sixth Tone and the China Project reported this week, prompting women to discuss their own dating experiences.

One user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — a photo-sharing site similar to Instagram that's mostly used by Gen Z women — even shared a guide on Monday for how women can test their boyfriends based on their reaction to the film.

According to the guide, if a man shows hatred for "Barbie" and slams female directors after they leave the theatre, then this man is "stingy" and a "toxic chauvinist," according to Insider's translation of the post. Conversely, if a man understands even half of the movie's themes, "then he is likely a normal guy with normal values and stable emotions," the user wrote.

The International Fencing Federation (FIE) also said it was reinstating Kharlan, allowing her to take part in the team competition at the world championships in Milan.

Emmanuel Katsiadakis, the Greek president of the FIE, said the decision had been taken "after consultation with the International Olympic Committee".

Kharlan, the first fencer to face a Russian or Belarusian since the former's invasion of Ukraine, won 15-7 against Russia's Anna Smirnova on Thursday.

The 32-year-old four-time Olympic medallist refused Smirnova's handshake afterwards, instead offering her sabre to tap blades, but FIE rules state that the two fencers must shake hands.

Smirnova staged a 45-minute protest and refused to leave the competition strip.

Kharlan was disqualified, claiming afterwards that Emmanuel Katsiadakis, the Greek president of the FIE, had even assured her that it was "possible" not to shake hands and offer a touch of her blade instead following her victory.

"I thought I had his word, to be safe, but apparently, no," Kharlan said.

In response to her disqualification, the International Olympic Committee called for Ukrainian athletes to be treated "sensitively".

Then on Friday, IOC President Thomas Bach, a former Olympic fencer himself, sent Kharlan a letter saying she would be guaranteed a place at next year's Olympics in Paris regardless of whether she gained the qualification points.

"The North Atlantic just completely destroyed its June average temperature record, breaking the previous record by more than 0.4 °C (0.7 °F).

A stunningly sharp excess for such a large body of water."

https://berkeleyearth.org/june-2023-temperature-update/

xAI, Elon Musk’s newly formed AI company, has revealed itself with a new website detailing its mission and team at https://x.ai/. Musk tweeted the company’s intent is to “understand reality” without any other details or explanation.

“The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe,” according to the website. The team is headed up by Elon Musk and includes team members that have worked at other big names in AI, including OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft Research, and DeepMind (which was recently folded into Google).

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