Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
Machines gunning
An investigation by The National has revealed serious concerns over the killing of Gazan civilians by Israel's AI war machine with minimal human oversight, and questions how the systems categorise Palestinians with "suspicion scores".
Ali lived in what had been a relatively untouched neighbourhood in eastern Gaza city until the night of October 12 last year, when from nowhere an Israeli bomb struck. Shaken but unhurt, the IT technician fled with his laptop to the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in the north of the city to live with his aunt.
Two weeks later shortly before midnight, the Palestinian was on his laptop working on the roof in search of a stronger signal to upload files through a VPN when he heard a drone circling overhead. “It was closer than usual,” he recalled. Seconds later a red light traced its way along the rooftop and the blast threw him off his chair. He was largely unscathed but the way he was attacked was deliberate and remote, he concluded.
He now accesses the internet under strict security measures and in very short bursts because of how he became a target. “Their AI systems see me as a potential threat and a target,” he says.
Our investigation shows that Israel operates a 20-second decision review known as a TCT (time constrained target) processing a target. Often these machine-driven attacks originate from a match on a data set that includes as many as 37,000 Palestinians.
There are a series of AI systems operating on these lines that are routinely run with a level of confidence as low as 80 per cent to confirm a target that is considered to be legitimate before the seconds tick away to an attack.
Macron feted
You would be hard-pressed not be impressed by French President Emmanuel Macron's address in English in the gold-encrusted splendour of the House of Lords on Tuesday. After all, there was much comment about how King Charles III wowed the French assembly with his address in fluent French last year, too.
After Mr Macron addressed parliament, he and his wife attended a state dinner before the political side of the three-day visit comes to the fore. In his meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the relationship between the countries will be boosted if there is a deal to tackle migrant crossings over the Channel.
Last week, the total number of people crossing the Channel in small boats this year passed 20,000.
The Prime Minister hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link.
Mr Macron seemed positive in his joint address, despite suggestions that he wants the UK to do more to reduce the ‘pull’ factor for migrants such as the ease with which they can find work on the black market.
In a speech to MPs and peers, Mr Macron promised to deliver on measures to cut the number of migrants crossing the English Channel, describing the issue as a “burden” to both countries.
He said France and the UK have a “shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness”.
Decisions at a Franco-British summit on Thursday will respond to “our aims for co-operation and tangible results on these major issues”, Mr Macron added.
Palestine call
Alongside Downing Street talks, Mr Starmer and Mr Macron are expected to attend a reception with UK and French businesses and an event at the British Museum on Wednesday.
Mr Macron will be joined by his foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, who spoke with his UK counterpart, David Lammy, last night.
They reviewed the main topics to be discussed at the summit, particularly regarding the recognition of Palestine and the Middle East peace process, as well as the need to maintain close coordination within the E3 format on the Iranian nuclear issue. A French diplomatic source said that a "robust agreement guaranteeing European security interests must be reached", otherwise, France would be forced to reinstate sanctions by triggering the "snapback" mechanism, echoing words by Mr Lammy when questioned by MPs on Tuesday.
Mr Macron had pressed for recognition of Palestinian statehood in his address to the UK’s Parliament, saying it was the “only path to peace”. He said a ceasefire was a matter of “absolute urgency” and that a two-state solution would bring security to the region.
Muslim Brotherhood
Mr Macron crammed in a big agenda issue on a busy day before he left Paris. New measures to take on the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood have been approved. Drawing a line where few other European countries, including Britain, refuse to tread, Mr Macron set up opposition against the Islamist group and its tentacles across France.
These steps include the disbandment of endowment funds and a new asset-freeze system. Anti-terror laws would provide the tools to intervene against institutions and a new law will be presented to the National Assembly.
The impetus is a 74-page report on the Muslim Brotherhood detailing the rise of extremism in France. One institution feeling the pressure has already had a letter from the local prefect, leading to the closure of its hilltop training centre.
France's European Institute of Social Sciences (IESH), historically linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, has voluntarily disbanded after government accusations of terrorism links and illicit financing, an insider has told The National.
The IESH, in the central region of Burgundy, was officially notified on June 17 of the Interior Ministry's intention to dissolve the institute, which educated about 200 students annually in Quranic studies, Islamic theology and the Arabic language. The ministry simultaneously froze IESH's assets.
It has appealed against the government's intervention but the events have a symbolic feel. The IESH was founded in 1992 on land acquired by the Brussels-based Council of European Muslims. It was identified in a recent report on the Muslim Brotherhood published by the Interior Ministry as one of the group's most important European institutions.
The IESH was the “pilot model” for other institutions that were subsequently created across Europe, according to the report.
A source in the institute told our reporter, Sunniva Rose, that without the IESH at Chateau Chinon, there would be no more institutions in France able to train Muslim religious leaders.
Where that leaves other institutions bearing its name is yet to be seen. Representatives from the multi-storey IESH in the Paris suburb of St Denis told The National that it had not been caught up in the state procedure against IESH in Burgundy. Operations there are not affected.
