Iran launches drone, missile attacks on dissident bases in Iraqi Kurdistan


Iran's military forces recently carried out heavy air strikes on bases belonging to Iranian Kurdish militia groups in Iraqi Kurdistan. These unprecedented attacks underscore Tehran’s fear that these militias could become more offensive amid the instability fuelled by the war with Israel and the US.


Issued on: 13/07/2026 - 
By: The FRANCE 24 Observers

An IRGC drone attack on a camp belonging to an Iranian Kurdish dissident group in Iraqi Kurdistan on July 1, 2026. © PDKI_Media

On July 1 and 2, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) hit a Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) camp near Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region with two ballistic missiles and two drones. Fighters from this Iranian Kurdish militia are established in this region of eastern Iraq, near the border with the Islamic Republic.

Videos posted by locals from a distance during the night showed massive fires.

The Iranian IRGC hit camps belonging to at least two other Iranian dissident Kurdish parties in Iraqi Kurdistan with missiles, rockets and drones within a 48-hour period.
A video posted by local residents in the Erbil region shows the flames rising from the PAK camp on July 1, 2026.

The operations followed at least four reported clashes between Iranian forces and Kurdish dissident armed groups in Mahabad, Saravan and Paveh in Iran’s Kurdish region. Five IRGC members were killed during the fighting on June 29 and 30, according to Tehran, while six fighters from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan were killed on July 1, and four men from another Kurdish group, PJAK, reportedly died on June 30.


The tensions come against the backdrop of the US-Israel war on Iran, which broke out on February 28. A New York Times article in May 2026 also claimed that some Kurdish groups were expected to begin attacks and advance inside Iran as part of the initial Israeli-US war plan, but that US President Donald Trump changed his mind at the last moment and did not approve the attack. The Kurdish groups, for their part, denied receiving any weapons.

In the initial days of the conflict, Israeli jets bombed border posts between Iran and the Iraqi Kurdistan region and Iranian military bases near the border – areas where Kurdish militia groups are active. Meanwhile, Iran launched dozens of drone, rocket and missile attacks on Iranian Kurdish militia camps in Iraqi Kurdistan.

According to Kurdish parties, these drone and missile attacks left five dead among the militia and one 17-year-old boy, while the Iranian side claims dozens of deaths. The FRANCE 24 Observers team could not independently verify the real number of casualties of these attacks.

Four Iranian Kurdish groups

There are four primary Kurdish dissident groups in Iran, operating as both political and military organisations. Historically, the two main independent Iranian Kurdish dissident parties with military branches have been Komala, founded in the 1960s, and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, founded in the 1940s. The other two groups are more recent: the PAK (2006) and the PJAK (2004), affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK was the primary armed Kurdish movement active in Iraq and Turkey until it announced its dissolution in May 2025. The EU, the US and Israel have designated the PKK as a “terrorist” group for years.

During the war, the attacks remained unilateral, with Iran targeting Komala and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

After the announced US-Iran ceasefire on June 17, some Iranian Kurdish militia groups began attacks on Iranian forces, including assassinations of IRGC members and ambushes. In recent weeks, several clashes have broken out within Iranian Kurdistan between the IRGC and both the PJAK and forces of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

‘The Islamic Republic appears to feel more confident’

Saman Rasoulpour, a London-based journalist and expert on Iran’s Kurdish region, told our team:

“Following the recent war involving the United States, Israel and Iran, the Islamic Republic appears to feel more confident and has increased pressure on both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to disarm Iranian Kurdish opposition groups. Tehran has also pursued requests against the leaders of these groups through Interpol, while continuing drone and missile attacks on their bases in Iraq.

The attacks have targeted the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, Komala and PAK (the Kurdistan Freedom Party). PJAK, however, has barely been directly targeted, likely because many of its forces are based in difficult mountainous and border areas, and because a significant part of them are present inside Iranian Kurdistan itself.

The Islamic Republic has also intensified pressure on the Kurdish population through some sections of pro-regime Kurdish tribes, alongside a wider security crackdown on civil activists. On July 1, a 19-year-old man was stabbed to death in Mahabad by a member of one of these groups. These developments have contributed to anti-regime protests.”
Protests were held in Mahabad after the death of Siavosh Alak, a 19-year-old man, reportedly killed by members of local pro-regime groups.

‘Iranian Kurdish military commanders who fought ISIS (Islamic State group) in Syria joined PJAK'

Groups such as PJAK, and to some extent the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, are using their increased field activity and these clashes to send a political and military message: that they cannot be easily eliminated or forced into submission.

Some analysts believe this may be an attempt to push the Islamic Republic to recognise that a purely military solution is impossible, potentially creating the basis for dialogue or some form of settlement in the future.

Previously, there was a degree of restraint among Kurdish groups to avoid a full-scale war.

These groups now believe they have greater operational independence to respond militarily, because they feel they can justify their actions without being seen merely as instruments of broader US or Israeli interests.

In the case of PJAK, there is also a specific tactical factor. With the ceasefire between the PKK and Turkey, and the shifting dynamics of the Syrian conflict, some experienced Kurdish fighters have refocused their attention on Iran.

A number of Iranian Kurdish military commanders who fought ISIS in Syria have returned to Iranian Kurdistan and joined PJAK, bringing advanced military experience and a record of field cooperation with international forces in the anti-ISIS campaign, including the US.

The wreckage of an Iranian suicide drone after it struck an Iranian Kurdish dissident camp in Iraqi Kurdistan on July 1, 2026.

‘During the war between Israel, the US and Iran, these groups avoided reckless action’

During the US-Israeli war on Iran in April 2026, Trump claimed that the US had transferred weapons to Kurdish groups, and that they were supposed to move these weapons inside Iran, but “the Kurds kept them”.

The Kurdish groups deny these claims. There is also no record, during this period, of military action by Komala or the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan inside Iran.

Rasoulpour said Kurdish groups remain wary because of past experiences – notably in Syria, where “they felt abandoned after helping advance American interests”.

“Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, which currently cooperate with one another through a coalition of Iranian Kurdistan parties, welcome engagement with major powers. But at the same time, they want to be seen as independent actors with their own clear goals and demands, not as tools of foreign powers.

During the recent war involving Israel, the United States and Iran, these groups deliberately avoided reckless action so they would not be blamed for bloodshed or labelled as part of a US-Israel war package.

Their approach to Israel is more cautious than their view of the United States, because they are still uncertain about Israel’s real long-term plans.

There have been reports suggesting the possibility of US-led military operations against Iran with the participation of Kurdish groups. But as far as I can see, Kurdish leaders have shown no unconditional willingness to take part.

Their cooperation is usually conditional and requires clear answers about the future political structure and the specific share Kurds would have in any future Iranian system.

Without such guarantees, they fear entering a campaign that would only increase the political and military costs for their society.”

On July 3, the PJAK said its guerrilla forces were “in a position of legitimate defence, not in a position of attack”, adding that it was “not in favour of expanding a comprehensive war in the region” because it believed the Islamic Republic intended to use the war “as a pretext to legitimise its internal repressions”.

WHO launches first trial of antiviral to prevent Bundibugyo strain of Ebola

The World Health Organization launched the first clinical trial on Tuesday to test whether an antiviral drug can prevent infection in people exposed to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the outbreak continues to outpace response efforts and spread beyond known chains of transmission.


Issued on: 15/07/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks to the media regarding the epidemic of Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda on May 22, 2026. © Martial Trezzini, AP

The first clinical trial is under way of an antiviral drug's effectiveness in people exposed to the deadly Ebola strain spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the WHO said Tuesday.

The trial, called EBO-PEP, aims to assess the effectiveness of the antiviral obeldesivir in post-exposure prophylaxis, for people who have been in contact with confirmed Bundibugyo cases.

The experimental drug, which is administered orally and was developed by the US pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, has shown efficacy in pre-clinical models against viruses in the wider family of filoviruses that cause haemorrhagic fevers.

Clinical trials mark the stage at which a promising drug is tested in humans.


World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed the launch of the trial in a post on X.

"Every breakthrough begins with hope," he wrote.

"If effective among high-risk contacts after exposure, this could mark a major step forward" in preventing contacts from developing disease, he added.

Daily monitoring

There are no approved vaccines or treatments for Bundibugyo.

According to the DRC's latest official figures, the rare Ebola species has infected more than 1,960 people and killed more than 700.

The outbreak was declared on May 15 after several deaths in Ituri, a mineral-rich north-eastern province plagued by armed groups.

Cases of Ebola, which spreads through close contact and infected bodily fluids, have been found in five DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda.

But more than 90 per cent of cases are still being detected in Ituri.

The first patients for the obeldesivir trial are being recruited at PEP centres set up adjacent to the Ebola treatment centres operated by the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) NGO in Bunia and Rwampara, in Ituri.

It aims to recruit nearly 1,000 participants aged 12 and over who have been in direct contact with a confirmed case within the preceding five days but are not showing symptoms.

Each participant will be monitored daily for 21 days, with a final visit at 42 days.

Cover image: business © France 24
04:42

Fears of wider spread

Earlier on Tuesday, the WHO said the Bundibugyo outbreak in the DRC could be at least two to four times larger than official figures suggest.

Returning from Bunia, WHO emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva that the outbreak "continues to outpace the response efforts".

He said 80 per cent of new cases were outside the lists of known contacts and were "from unknown chains of transmission", and voiced alarm that many newly reported cases were people who died without ever reaching a health facility.

The trial of two potential treatments for patients with Bundibugyo began in Ituri on July 2.

It is evaluating the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir, alone and in combination.

The trial will take months and could even run into next year, and might require more than 1,000 patients to produce definitive answers.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Publishers sue Google over alleged use of books to train AI models

Book publishers sued Google on Tuesday, accusing the tech giant of illegally using copyrighted works to train its artificial intelligence models and generate content that competes with human authors. The lawsuit marks the latest legal battle over how AI developers use books and other creative works to build their systems.


Issued on: 15/07/2026
By: FRANCE 24

People arrive to the recently opened Google building in New York 

© Seth Wenig, AP


Multiple book publishers sued Google on Tuesday for allegedly stealing copyrighted content, using it to train artificial intelligence (AI) models and then generating content that "directly" competes with the original authors' work.

"The scale and speed at which Gemini can create books and compete with human writers is unprecedented," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit, which requests class action status, was filed in New York by Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, Elsevier, author Scott Turow and his publishing company S.C.R.I.B.E.

They allege that "Google secretly copied millions of works" that were provided to Google Books and other services for "limited purposes" and then used that content to train Gemini, its AI model.


Furthermore, they claim the content generated by Gemini directly competes with the authors who wrote the original work.

"Gemini even tailors outputs to mimic the expressive elements and creative choices of specific authors," the lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs requested an injunction and an unspecified amount of damages.

It's the latest copyright infringement lawsuit brought against AI developers.

In May, multiple publishers – including Hachette, Cengage, Elsevier and Turow – sued Meta on similar grounds in a New York court.

A US judge in September approved a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and several authors who claimed the San Francisco company illegally copied their work to train its AI model, Claude.

It was a partial victory for Anthropic – a judge ruled that the company's use of books to train Claude was transformative enough to constitute "fair use" under US law but that other uses of pirated materials were not.

Meta also won a partial victory last year when a US judge in San Francisco ruled that its use of copyrighted materials was "fair use". That case was filed by comedian Sarah Silverman, author Ta-Nehisi Coates and others.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Top US science body readies climate report as Republicans push back

Washington (United States) (AFP) – A leading US science body will launch a major report Thursday on how precisely specific extreme weather events can be tied to climate change, a growing research field underpinning billion-dollar lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry.


Issued on: 16/07/2026 - FRANCE24

Damage from Hurricane Helene is seen in Chimney Rock, North Carolina in October 2024 © Allison Joyce / AFP/File


The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), independent nonprofit institutions operating under an 1863 charter signed by president Abraham Lincoln, will publish "Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts," their first update on the topic in a decade.

"Since 2016, attribution science and applications have rapidly advanced, making this new study a timely assessment of the current scientific understanding and capabilities for extreme event attribution," NASEM said on its website.

Ahead of its publication, Republican lawmakers have sought to cast doubt on the authors' work -- sending, for example, a letter in April to the president of NASEM alleging bias and demanding details on the authors' professional ties.

Separately, Republican Senator Ted Cruz and others have introduced the "Stop Climate Shakedowns Act," a bill that would block climate damage lawsuits from proceeding in court, in a move critics call a de facto immunity shield for fossil fuel companies.


Dozens of such lawsuits are working their way through courts across the country. In one example, Multnomah County in Oregon is suing fossil fuel giants including BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil for more than $51 billion for pollution that fueled a deadly 2021 heat dome in the Pacific Northwest during which hundreds died.

In another, Boulder County and the City of Boulder are suing ExxonMobil and two Sunco entities in a case that will be heard in front of the US Supreme Court this fall.
Rise of rapid analysis

Attribution science seeks to untangle how much human-caused climate change shaped a specific heat wave, storm or flood, and its findings now shape litigation and policy.

The field first emerged in the 1990s and gained credibility as the UN's climate panel incorporated the work into its assessments. It is now more visible than ever thanks to the rise of rapid analysis studies that can detect the signature of global warming on disasters within days, rather than years.

The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) says it expects a coordinated campaign to target both the report and its individual authors.

"The Academies have released reports on all types of different scientific developments and advances. I'm not aware of any that have been subject to this level of scrutiny," Carly Phillips, a senior scientist who works on climate litigation issues for UCS, told AFP.

She added that it comes "on the heels of this growing number of attacks on attribution science specifically by the fossil fuel industry and its allies."

According to Politico, the coordinated offensive includes records requests sent to public universities where some panel members work, including the panelists' internal communications, made by the conservative-tilted opposition research firm Argus Insight.

While Republicans in Congress have introduced an immunity bill, President Donald Trump's administration has sued states pursuing such actions, and sought to kill "Climate Superfund" laws in New York and Vermont that require polluters to pay into a fund used for climate damages.

Canada central bank holds key rate steady, says economy improving

Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Canada's central bank held its key lending rate at 2.25 percent on Wednesday, citing signs of economic improvement with businesses adapting to new trade relations under US President Donald Trump.


Issued on: 15/07/2026 - RFI

Canada's central bank has held rates steady as it assesses the fallout from uncertain US trade and the Iran war © Dave Chan / AFP

Canada's economy had sputtered over the past year, as Trump's tariffs squeezed key sectors like auto-making, forced job losses and sent jitters across the business community.

Canada entered a technical recession earlier this year, after reporting two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.

But the Bank of Canada on Wednesday pointed to signs of a rebound.

"Canada's economy is showing signs of improvement," the bank said.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem noted that while uncertainty surrounding "US trade policy continues to be a headwind, consumers have been resilient and businesses are adapting."

Exports are picking up as businesses explore new ways to get by with US free trade still restricted in several sectors, Macklem said.

"They're reconfiguring their supply chains," he told reporters.

"The other factor is the US economy is strong... they need our exports and you're seeing US businesses increasingly increase their orders for our Canadian exports."

Trump on July 1 refused to renew the North American free trade agreement, but it remains in force while the United States, Canada and Mexico negotiate revised terms.

The survival of the deal known as the USMCA means that roughly 85 percent of US-Canada trade has remained tariff free.

But Prime Minister Mark Carney has warned that US trade will not return to a pre-Trump normal and is pushing Canada to aggressively pursue new markets overseas.

Macklem said there were indications that was happening, pointing to aluminum, a key Canadian sector facing punishing Trump tariffs, where businesses are "finding new customers in Europe."
Iran war

The conflict in the Middle East remains a key risk factor, Macklem added, with hostilities between the US and Iran resuming after a short-lived ceasefire.

The bank has said it would not over-react to energy price inflation caused by the conflict and would only move to raise rates if it saw clear evidence that elevated oil prices were bleeding into other parts of the economy.

"So far, we're not seeing broad spillovers of higher energy prices," Macklem said.

Macklem stressed that a key factor would be how long oil prices stay high.

"The war is ongoing and I certainly cannot predict when it might get resolved," he said.

Any sign that war related inflation was causing generalized price hikes would be "a warning sign," that might require interest rate hikes, Macklem added.

© 2026 AFP

 

French parliament passes assisted dying bill for some terminally ill adults

Copyright AP Photo/Michel Euler

By Greta Ruffino

Published on 15/07/2026 - EURONEWS

After years of debate, French MPs have voted to adopt a bill to establish a right to assisted dying for some adults suffering from an incurable condition.

French MPs voted on Wednesday to adopt a law allowing the right to assisted dying for some terminally ill adults under strict rules.

The lower chamber backed the law, with 291 voting for it and 241 against. The country's highest constitutional authority still has to examine the law.

With its adoption, France joins 11 countries that have also adopted assisted dying laws, each with their own rules and criteria.

The bill was one of the flagship pledges of French President Emmanuel Macron's second five-year term, which he described as "the French model for end-of-life care."

"The bill on the right to assisted dying has been adopted," Macron wrote on X.

"On an issue as personal as it is profound, touching on life, suffering and dignity, only one approach was possible: taking the time to listen, engage in dialogue and debate."

Many French people have travelled to neighbouring countries where assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal.

The bill sets strict conditions

The bill primarily provides for medically assisted suicide, allowing eligible patients to receive and self-administer lethal medication under strict conditions. Only those physically unable to do so would be allowed to receive assistance from a doctor or nurse.

Patients seeking to end their lives would have to be at least 18 years old and either French citizens or legal residents of France.

A doctor would first have to consult a team of healthcare professionals before confirming that the patient has a serious, incurable and life-threatening illness. The patient must be at an advanced or terminal stage, experiencing unbearable pain that cannot be relieved, and requesting the medication of their own free will.

Psychological suffering alone would not qualify a person for medically assisted dying, and people with severe psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's would not be eligible.

Patients would have to submit a request, which would be reviewed by healthcare professionals within 15 days and confirmed after a mandatory reflection period of at least two days.

If approved, they could take the medication at a time and place of their choosing, including at home or in a healthcare facility, with loved ones present if they wish.

On the chosen date, a doctor or nurse would confirm that the patient still wishes to proceed and remain nearby if complications arise. All associated costs would be covered by France's national health insurance system.

In France, supporters say the law would allow patients to end unbearable suffering while keeping control over medical decisions.

However, opponents warn it could place pressure on older people and those with illnesses or disabilities, arguing that access to palliative care should be prioritised instead.

End-of-life options are also being debated in the United Kingdom.

A bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will formally return to Parliament on 11 September, five months after it ran out of time during Parliament's last session.

In Germany, the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, considered two proposals to regulate assisted dying in 2023, rejecting both.

Medically assisted suicide generally involves a patient voluntarily taking lethal medication prescribed by a doctor. Euthanasia involves a doctor or other health care professional administering a lethal injection at the patient’s request.

 

Sudan's war economy fuelling 'self-perpetuating' conflict, UN human rights office says

Copyright Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

By Gavin Blackburn

Published on 15/07/2026 - EURONEWS

OHCHR called on the parties to the war, and corporations involved in the value chain of Sudanese commodities, to ensure compliance with international law.

Sudan's warring factions are profiting from control over the country's resources, with the "war economy" helping to sustain the conflict, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

To fund the growing cost of military operations, the warring parties rely on controlling and exploiting territory, trade routes and commodities, contributing to a conflict that has become "increasingly self-perpetuating," the UN human rights office OHCHR said.

The war between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April 2023.

It has killed 200,000 people by some estimates and displaced upwards of 11 million, while thrusting several areas of Sudan into hunger and famine.

OHCHR called on the parties to the war, and corporations involved in the value chain of Sudanese commodities, to ensure compliance with international law.

"Sudan's vast wealth of natural resources should benefit its people," said UN rights chief Volker Türk.

"Distressingly, what we are seeing today is anything but that. In fact, this wealth is only serving to undermine human rights and drive conflict, bringing pain and suffering on an enormous scale.

"This war economy must be disrupted and the international community must pay much closer attention to the commodities and trade routes that help keep it alive."

Gum arabic trade

OHCHR issued a report focusing on the trade in gum arabic, a key ingredient in products such as soft drinks, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Sudan accounted for 70-80% of global crude gum arabic exports before the war.

Although modest in export value compared with other commodities, it is an important income source for millions of Sudanese, and remains one of the country's most internationally relied-upon exports.

However, the report found that many who depend on the gum arabic trade have faced looting, extortion, arbitrary detention and threats, particularly at the hands of the parties to the conflict and their allies.

The wreckage of an armoured truck in the lobby of a hotel destroyed during the war in Khartoum, 19 April, 2026 AP Photo

In May 2025, the Gum Arabic Exchange and its warehouses, plus part of the local market in El-Nuhud in West Kordofan state, were reportedly looted by the RSF when stocks were full and ready for export.

This severely disrupted local trade and livelihoods, the report said.

Türk urged countries to strengthen accountability, traceability and regulatory oversight and respect human rights.

"Companies cannot continue business as usual when sourcing from conflict-affected value chains," he said.

 

Shark fin trade declines in EU as Brussels mulls total ban

Euronews  By Alessio Dell'Anna   Published on 13/07/2026 - 

EU countries export far more than they import. Europe in Motion breaks down the data.

Good news for conservationists: Europe's shark fin trade is declining.

Export volumes from the EU dropped by 15% from 2024 to 2025, according to the latest data from Eurostat.

Yet numbers remain significant. Last year, member states sold nearly 3,000 tonnes of shark fins outside the bloc, worth around €45 billion.

Blue sharks represent the overwhelming majority (97%) of sharks hunted for their fins and sold frozen by EU countries. The rest are shortfin mako sharks.

The significant decline in exports follows the tightening of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which increased inspections and traceability requirements for producers.

The convention also expanded the list of protected species to 60 more shark species, but not blue sharks.

A blue shark Canva

Spain is by far Europe’s largest exporter, according to a study conducted by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) between 2003 and 2020.

According to the study, during this period, Spain exported at least 52,000 tonnes of shark fins outside the EU.

Portugal, the Netherlands, France and Italy are the other main EU exporters, though in much smaller volumes.

The vast majority goes to Singapore and mainland China, both buying around 40% of the total, and the rest to Japan (2.5%), Hong Kong (13%) and Vietnam (1%).

The EU bloc also imports shark fins, though in much smaller amounts: around 20 tonnes, worth €0.3 million.

The trade remains highly controversial because of its ecological damage, as sharks are apex predators that play a crucial role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems.

It's also contentious because it often involves the cruel practice of slicing off the shark's fin while the animal is still alive, before dumping the body into the sea, leaving it to bleed to death.

The body is typically discarded due to its lower commercial value, while the fin can instead be used for soups.

This practice is already illegal in the EU.

Under the EU's "Fins Naturally Attached" policy, sharks must be brought to shore with their fins fully attached.

The EU is also assessing whether it should ban imports of detached shark fins.

 

‘AI sovereignty doesn’t mean doing it alone,’ says Microsoft's AI responsibility chief

Copyright AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File

By Pascale Davies

Published on 15/07/2026 -  EURONEWS

Microsoft's chief AI responsibility officer, Natasha Crampton, tells Euronews about data centres, bridging the digital divide and her definition of AI sovereignty.

The digital divide in artificial intelligence adoption between the Global North and Global South is widening, Microsoft’s chief responsible AI officer told Euronews Next.

“We cannot let the digital divide become an even greater AI divide,” warned Natasha Crampton, who is also a former member of the UN's High-Level Advisory Body on AI.

Speaking on the sidelines of last week’s UN AI for Good Summit in Geneva, she laid out a vision for bridging the gap.

Calls for AI sovereignty have swept the floors of tech conferences, particularly since the Trump administration forced Anthropic to exclude non-US citizens from using its most powerful AI models, Mythos and Fable, a month ago. The ban has since been partially reversed.

But for Crampton, AI sovereignty does not merely mean “local solutions in opposition to globally provided technologies”.

Natasha Crampton, Microsoft’s chief responsible AI officer Microsoft

Instead, she said, “It’s about making sure that local impact, local cultures, values, and norms are prioritised in these systems, while taking advantage of global technology where possible."

To bridge the digital gap, she pointed to multilingual initiatives, such as the Lingua project in Europe, which has since expanded to Africa in partnership with the Gates Foundation. LINGUA Africa is a joint effort between Microsoft's AI for Good Lab, the Gates Foundation, Google.org and the Masakhane African Languages Hub.

The project aims to collect local-language data so foundational AI models can comprehend idiomatic phrasing and cultural nuances, ensuring communities have the autonomy and technical skills to control their own AI-driven futures.

Crampton also highlighted the importance of connecting to the private sector and government to ensure a safer AI that reaches everyone. The UN held its first Global Dialogue on AI Governance in early July, which aims to ensure that governance reflects the priorities of all nations and that the benefits of AI are shared by all.

Related

• AI for Good summit takes place in Geneva as countries debate global governance

“One really important thing to bed down in the course of the next year is really the connective tissue between these different mechanisms,” she said, referring to the new UN mechanisms, the dialogue on AI and the panel.

“Creating this connectivity between the different pieces of this infrastructure and understanding what everyone's unique role is so that we can make faster progress that's not sort of duplicative or redundant is, I think, one key objective for the year ahead,” she said.

One of the key examples of this connectivity is the “digital emblem,” a partnership between Microsoft, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Telecommunications Union, a UN agency.

The emblem aims to work as a legal shield to protect hospitals and aid workers from cyberattacks, as communication tools, logistics platforms, patient care systems and cloud and data centre infrastructure are increasingly under attack.

Microsoft is calling on governments to back the emblem in policy, on humanitarian and medical organisations to help shape its implementation against the operational reality, and on fellow technology companies to help build it into the tools and workflows defenders already use.

‘Being a good neighbour’

Addressing growing public backlash over the environmental and economic footprint of AI infrastructure, Crampton emphasised that Microsoft is shifting toward a "community-first" approach.

“We want to be good neighbours. We want to be good members of the community when we're building this infrastructure, and so we have been taking steps ahead of many other companies actually to offer a community-first set of commitments,” she said.

Rather than demanding traditional corporate tax breaks to build massive data centers, Microsoft is actively working to expand local tax bases to fund public services such as schools and infrastructure.

Crampton also said that the company is tightly managing resource consumption to prevent its heavy computing demands from driving up local household electricity rates or draining regional water supplies, utilising advanced technology such as closed-loop cooling systems.

What is Europe getting right?

As for Europe, she pointed to the European AI Office's efforts to connect with counterparts abroad, including AI safety and testing institutes in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

That kind of cross-border coordination, she highlighted, is essential given how quickly the science of AI testing and evaluation is evolving.

She also urged humility from regulators everywhere, noting that rules written a few years ago based on the best available information may need to adapt as the technology and understanding of its risks change.

Reducing the lag between what society expects, where the technology stands, and where regulation actually sits, she said, should be a shared priority.

“I do think that type of international connectivity, which I do see the AI office really investing in, is a really important thing to do because while we are rapidly maturing, the state of the art on testing science, having that international signal and being prepared to sort of mature an approach, given new information, given new techniques, is really important,” she said.

But she also urged flexibility from regulators, noting that rules written a few years ago based on the best available information may need to adapt as the technology and understanding of its risks change.

“We need regulatory regimes to adapt alongside and with that change and ideally reduce the lag that we sometimes see between what society expects of regulators, where the technology is at and where the regulation is sitting,” she said.

 

First diagnostic X-rays captured during spaceflight

Copyright AP Photo

By Marta Iraola Iribarren

Published on 15/07/2026 - EURONEWS

Crew members on a commercial spaceflight have taken the first diagnostic X-rays in space, using a portable device that could pave the way for better healthcare on long-duration missions.

As space missions become more frequent and last longer, researchers are exploring ways to bring healthcare closer to astronauts. Portable medical technologies could play a key role, as recent study testing a new X-ray device aboard a spacecraft has shown.

Non-medical crew members on a commercial spaceflight acquired the first diagnostic X-rays taken during a flight in orbit, using a portable wireless digital X-ray generator.

The results, published in the journal Radiology, by the Radiological Society of North America, showed that the quality of images was as good as on land.

All in-flight X-rays were equivalent to those taken before the takeoff in overall image quality, spatial resolution, and contrast resolution, the researchers noted.

One of the main barriers however, remains the challenge of getting a correct positioning of the patient in microgravity — a physical state in which the perceived pull of gravity is extremely weak, causing objects and people to appear weightless.

Central body images, such as the chest, pelvis, and abdomen proved to have worse positioning in-flight than those of the hand or forearm.

The study also found that the estimated radiation exposure to participants was not greater than that associated with standard clinical imaging on Earth.

“It’s been a dream for aerospace medicine to have more than one imaging modality for diagnosing illnesses and injuries in space,” said Sheyna Gifford, lead researcher at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in the United States.

She added that traditional X-ray machines are very large, produce a lot of radiation, and have a tendency to produce a blurred image if there’s movement, which made obtaining diagnostic images in orbit “too technically challenging.”

Relat

The new SpaceXray system allowed non-medical crew members to acquire radiographic images with just four hours of pre-flight training.

The device was tested during a SpaceX commercial flight launched on 31 March, 2025 for a three days and 14 hours mission. During the landing and recovery, the X-ray generator sustained superficial structural damage but the internal hardware components and X-ray output were unaffected.

“A spaceflight-ready radiography system would have profound implications not only for crew health but also for mission-critical nonmedical tasks,” Gifford said.

“For sustained human presence in space, X-rays are critical not just for crew members but also for other mission components like electronics and spacesuits. The only way to look inside these objects without taking them apart is to X-ray them.”

Beyond health applications, the researchers noted that this new system could also be useful in environments such as combat zones or resource-limited communities to expand disease screening, including tuberculosis testing.

Ultimately, the authors wrote, both space-based and Earth-based communities stand to benefit as ultraportable digital radiography technology continues to advance.