Lebanon and Israel’s perpetual war machine

Why Lebanon remains central to Israel’s multi-front wars. Plus, AfrofeminasGPT, a chatbot designed to promote more ethical AI.

The impasse in the US-Israel war on Iran has turned Lebanon into the conflict’s most active front. Israeli forces are entrenched in the country’s south, a de facto occupation, and have reduced entire neighbourhoods to rubble. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump seeks to preserve delicate negotiations with Iran, but, as Israeli support for the war continues to grow, Lebanon remains a key point of contention.

Nicholas Noe – Senior fellow, Refugees International Maya Rosen – Editor, Jewish Currents Randa Slim – Middle East programme director, Stimson Centre

This week, two prominent American commentators, Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker, had their UK visas revoked before scheduled speaking events in London. Both are outspoken critics of Israel, its occupation, its wars and the US policy towards it. The action by the UK authorities has called into question the right to free speech and political expression in the country. Meenakshi Ravi reports.

Artificial intelligence systems are often trained on data shaped by human bias. As a result, discrimination can spread through the systems that increasingly shape our lives. In Spain, one woman is trying to change that with AfrofeminasGPT – a chatbot trained on Black feminist and decolonial thought, designed to challenge racism in AI. But can an alternative, built on the same model that it seeks to reform, ever truly be independent?

Mutale Nkonde – AI Researcher, Cambridge University Safiya Noble – Professor, UCLA Antoinette Torres Soler – Founder, Afrofemin