Contested elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Regional parliamentary elections began in the Pakistan-administered portion of Kashmir on Monday, but the first round of voting has been racked with violence. It's the latest flare-up in what’s been weeks of clashes in the region between police and protesters, who are organized by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a civil rights group banned by Kashmir’s local government. At least 30 people have died in the violence since June. The focal point for the JAAC and its supporters is the 12 out of 45 assembly seats reserved for refugees who migrated from Indian-administered Kashmir to Pakistan. Protesters argue that this gives non-Kashmiri political parties leverage to influence local governments, while advocates of the measure say it gives displaced Kashmiris a voice in politics. Thousands of supporters of the JAAC have staged sit-ins, strikes, and demonstrations since last month.
Zelensky and Netanyahu visit Trump
Today will be one of the signature foreign policy days of Donald Trump’s second term, as the leaders of Ukraine and Israel visit him at the White House. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seeking more help to pressure a still-defiant Vladimir Putin into a ceasefire. In recent months, Ukrainian forces have been turning the tide on the front lines, using drones to strike deeper into Russia, and even suddenly winning over some prominent MAGA skeptics. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, arrives amid growing tensions with Trump. Israel’s leader, facing an increasingly uphill re-election campaign, seeks further decisive action with the US against Iran and its proxies, despite the unpopularity of the so-far inconclusive war among the US public. Also on the US-Israel agenda will be Washington’s broadening overtures to the new Syrian government, advanced weapons sales to Turkey, and the actual conditions underlying any US-Saudi nuclear deal.
Jair Bolsonaro can’t campaign for his son – but can his AI avatar?
An AI-generated video of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro shown at this past weekend’s Liberal Party national convention is causing a stir ahead of October’s presidential election. The video begins with a realistic-looking Bolsonaro stating that the video was created with AI, then goes on to endorse his son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who was officially confirmed as the right-wing Liberal Party’s candidate at the convention. The ruling Workers’ Party (PT) quickly filed legal complaints arguing that the video violates Brazil’s ban on the use of deepfakes in election campaigns and breaches the terms of Bolsonaro’s house arrest, which prohibit him from communicating political or electoral messages to the public. Some legal experts believe that the video does not violate the deepfake restrictions because it does not target another candidate, but the case still offers one of the first major legal tests of how AI can be used in political campaigns.
