Kiev, May 13 (IANS) More than 4,000 people have been evacuated in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region since Russia launched the latest round of missile attacks three days ago, Regional Governor Oleg Synegubov said.

Among them, 2,097 people from the Kharkiv district, 1,377 from the Chuguev district, 29 from the Bogoduhiv district, and 570 others have been evacuated, Synegubov wrote on social media Telegram on Sunday.

The Ukrainian authorities have provided temporary accommodation, as well as humanitarian, medical, psychological and legal assistance to the evacuees, the Governor said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

In the past 24 hours, Russia struck 27 settlements in the Kharkiv region with artillery and mortars, killing three people, while the Ukrainian military repelled 31 attacks, he added.

On Friday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said battles were underway in the Kharkiv region after Russia launched a fresh offensive.

–IANS

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Amman, May 13 (IANS) Jordan’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has said that it has sent a letter to Iraq’s Oil Ministry demanding the extension of an oil supply deal, under which Jordan imports around 10,000 barrels of oil daily from Iraq.

Iman Awad, Director of Oil and Natural Gas at Jordan’s Ministry, said Jordan requested the extension of a memorandum of understanding, which ended on May 4, for three additional months, according to a statement by the Ministry released on Sunday.

Awad added that the Ministry is closely following up with the Iraqi side and the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad to obtain the necessary approvals for the extension, Xinhua news agency reported.

She noted that oil imports from Iraq under the deal constitute about seven per cent of the kingdom’s crude oil needs.

–IANS

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London, May 12 (IANS/DPA) A range of organisations including Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action could be banned in the UK as “extreme protest groups” under new proposals tabled by a senior government advisor.

The approach currently applied to terrorist organisations should be used as a model, according to advisor on political violence John Woodcock, also known as Lord Walney, the BBC reported on Sunday, citing extracts from the report.

In recommendations now due to be presented to the Cabinet, Woodcock backs proscribing groups that “routinely use criminal tactics to try to achieve their aims.”

“Militant groups like Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil are using criminal tactics to create mayhem and hold the public and workers to ransom without fear of consequence,” he said.

“Banning terror groups has made it harder for their activists to plan crimes – that approach should be extended to extreme protest groups too.”

If adopted, the measures could restrict a group’s ability to fundraise and its right to assembly on British soil.

Climate activists from Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion have repeatedly paralysed public life with large protests in which people have glued or chained themselves together.

Just Stop Oil rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing instead that the government were the “dangerous radicals that are endangering all of us” through their climate policies.

According to the BBC, the government is considering the report’s recommendations.

A small number of protesters had in recent months displayed “violent and hateful behaviour,” the Home Office told the broadcaster.

“Extremism of any kind has no place in our society and we will not tolerate tactics that set out to intimidate, threaten or cause disruption to the law-abiding majority.”

–IANS/dpa

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Aden, May 12 (IANS) Ten people were killed in fierce clashes between joint Yemeni forces aligned with the internationally recognised government and the Houthi fighters in Yemen’s central province of Marib, a military official told Xinhua News Agency on Sunday.

The military source said on condition of anonymity that “ferocious confrontations took place between a force from the ‘Giants’ brigades, part of the joint pro-government forces, and Houthi fighters” on the Harib front south of the strategic city of Marib, adjacent to the oil-rich Shabwa province, on Sunday night.

Marib has emerged as the primary battleground of the protracted Yemeni conflict since the Houthis launched a major offensive in early 2021 aimed at seizing complete control of the energy-rich Marib province.

The government-controlled Marib city holds great political, military, and economic significance. It is home to the defence ministry headquarters, the pro-government Yemeni army leadership, the key Safer oil fields and refinery, and the country’s largest power plant.

The source said that the hour-long clashes involved the use of heavy weaponry, leading to the deaths of four government forces members and six Houthi fighters, with nine more sustaining injuries on both sides.

In a separate incident, the military source said an unidentified projectile, believed to be a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis on Sunday, exploded in the airspace over the Wadi district east of Marib city, though no casualties were reported.

Yemen has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Saudi-backed internationally recognised government and the Iran-aligned Houthi for a decade. According to the United Nations, the conflict has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Since September 2014, the Houthis have controlled vast swaths of territory across northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in support of the government after the Houthis ousted it from Sanaa.

–IANS

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Dallas, May 12 (IANS) A small robot ran around the field, turning back and forth and then swiftly from left to right, picking up triballs, a ball in the shape of a triangle, and moving them into a net goal zone, then climbing a pole and lifting itself vertically off the field.

Amazingly, it was all done in less than two minutes with great speed and precision!

Students at the AI Robotics Academy in Plano, a suburban city in Dallas, Texas, were rehearsing a global robotics competition project for the 2024 VEX World Robotics Championship concluded in Dallas on May 3.

Instead of retelling the refined and themed knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) that students learn in classrooms, the after-school club inspires and guides robotics learners to find out the original point of the knowledge and theories through realistic explorations, trials and experiments, Kan Xu, head coach of the club, told Xinhua News Agency.

Robotics education can help students understand other similar devices they see around them, Xu said.

“They find out what sensors and electric motors do and how they work in real life,” he added. “We provide 3D printers and drawing tools. Students can design and draw anytime anywhere.”

Through small contests and games embedded in the coaching process, the children gradually make progress and complete targeted tasks.

In his club, depending on the level of understanding, the training could be one-on-one or team work, Xu said. The coaching time could range from two hours to over six hours a week.

Robotics education is getting increasingly popular in the United States, Xu said.

It seems that in recent years, public and private schools, as well as professional clubs, have been getting into robotics education after class across the country.

With government funding, coaches at U.S. public schools lead, supervise and organize extra-curricular activities. Private clubs and schools fundraise themselves and set up students-oriented goals of all ages from elementary schools to high schools.

Likewise, the Innovation Station, a portable classroom with 3D printers and other equipment designed to make STEM education more accessible to students, is booming across U.S. schools, according to Xu. He thinks the trend could help establish an interdisciplinary connection to tap the talents of all ages in learning AI robotics.

Also, over the past three decades, a bunch of state and regional competitions, as well as nationwide open games across the United States, have all helped show off what the robotics learners have achieved.

For instance, the annual VEX World Robotics Championship, sponsored by a number of U.S. tycoons including NASA, the U.S. Air Force, Microsoft, Google and Tesla, has already been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest robotics competition in the world.

Xu was very excited that AI Robotics Academy was crowned World Champion of Skills during the championship. “It means a lot to our team,” Xu said.

In addition to the VEX tournament, a series of high school competitions at the state, national and international levels organized by FIRST Robotics Competition have been widely recognized as a significant factor in the admission of students to U.S. universities, according to Xu.

Winning the awards is a testament to the students’ STEM skills and knowledge, he added.

Experts say that robotics education is set to change the way children learn by giving them the skills they need to succeed in a future where AI and robotics are an integral part of their lives.

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the demand for education technology solutions and services is quite high in North America owing to the huge presence of educational robot manufacturing companies, smart device manufacturers, cloud service providers, and a high adoption of advanced technologies such as robots among schools and educational institutions.

It’s possible that in the future, children will learn from educational robots on how to design, make and play with robots, local observers said.

–IANS

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