PARIS — French prosecutors on Wednesday freed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov from police custody after four days of questioning over allegations that the platform is being used for illegal activities.
Durov was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a judicial inquiry opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations.
“An investigating judge has ended Pavel Durov’s police custody and will have him brought to court for a first appearance and a possible indictment,” a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
Other allegations against Durov, who is a French citizen, include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, fraud and abetting organized crime transactions, and that Telegram refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.
His arrest in France has caused outrage in Russia, with some government officials calling it politically motivated and proof of the West’s double standard on freedom of speech. The outcry has raised eyebrows among Kremlin critics because in 2018, Russian authorities themselves tried to block Telegram but failed, withdrawing the ban in 2020.
In Iran, where Telegram is widely used despite being officially banned after years of protests challenging the country’s Shiite theocracy, Durov’s arrest in France prompted comments from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weighed in with veiled praise for France for being “strict” against those who “violate your governance” of the internet.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that Durov’s arrest wasn’t a political move but part of an independent investigation. Macron posted on X that his country “is deeply committed” to freedom of expression but “freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.”
In a statement posted on its platform after Durov’s arrest, Telegram said that it abides by EU laws and that its moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving.”
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram’s post said. “Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”
Durov is a citizen of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The UAE Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it was “closely following the case” and had asked France to provide Durov “with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he hoped that Durov “has all the necessary opportunities for his legal defense” and added that Moscow stands “ready to provide all necessary assistance and support” to the Telegram CEO as a Russian citizen.
“But the situation is complicated by the fact that he is also a citizen of France,” Peskov said.
Telegram, which says it has nearly a billion users worldwide, was founded by Durov and his brother after he himself faced pressure from Russian authorities.
In 2013, he sold his stake in VKontakte, a popular Russian social networking site he launched in 2006.
The company came under pressure during the Russian government’s crackdown following mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012.
Durov had said authorities demanded that the site take down online communities of Russian opposition activists, and later that it hand over personal data of users who took part in the 2013-2014 popular uprising in Ukraine, which eventually ousted a pro-Kremlin president.
Durov said in a recent interview that he had turned down these demands and left the country.
The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital space, and Telegram and its pro-privacy rhetoric offered a convenient way for Russians to communicate and share news.
Telegram also continues to be a popular source of news in Ukraine, where media outlets and officials use it to share information on the war and deliver missile and air raid alerts.
Western governments have often criticized Telegram for a lack of content moderation, which experts say opens up the messaging platform for potential use in money laundering, drug trafficking and the sharing of material linked to the sexual exploitation of minors.
In 2022, Germany issued fines of $5 million against Telegram’s operators for failing to establish a lawful way to report illegal content or to name an entity in Germany to receive official communication. Both are required under German laws that regulate large online platforms.
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GENEVA — U.N. agencies warn that refugees and displaced communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries infected with mpox are at particular risk of illness and death because of conditions under which they are forced to live.
The World Health Organization says at least 42 suspected cases of mpox have been identified among the refugee population in DR Congo’s South Kivu Province, one of the regions hardest hit by the disease. Confirmed and suspected cases of the new clade 1b strain also have been recorded among refugee populations in the Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
“Suspected cases are being reported in conflict-impacted provinces that host the majority of the DRC’s 7.3 million internally displaced people,” Dr. Allen Maina, UNHCR public health chief, said Tuesday.
“In these areas, the virus threatens to exacerbate an already impossible situation for a population devastated by decades of conflict, forced displacement, appalling human rights abuses and a lack of international assistance,” the U.N. refugee official said.
He also warned that without additional, urgent international support, the recently declared mpox outbreak “could become devastating” for the DRC and other impacted African countries.
Nearly two weeks ago, the WHO declared mpox to be a public health emergency of international concern following an upsurge in the deadly disease in the DRC and 11 other countries in Africa.
Maina told journalists at a briefing in Geneva that refugees and displaced people are particularly vulnerable to mpox because people fleeing violence “are unable to implement many of the mpox prevention measures” that could keep them healthy and save their lives.
“Displaced families living in crowded schools, shelters and tents, and also in churches, and also in farmers’ fields have no space to isolate when they develop symptoms of the disease. UNHCR staff have found some affected individuals trying diligently to follow preventive measures and protect their communities by sleeping outside,” he said.
So far this year, the WHO reports more than 18,910 cases of mpox and 615 deaths, most in the DRC. “But most of these are suspected cases as they have not yet been laboratory confirmed,” said Dr. Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson, adding that “We are seeing outbreaks of both clade 1a and clade 1b.”
Clade 1a is primarily transmitted through sexual contact, and there also have been outbreaks resulting from zoonotic spillover; while the new strain of the virus, clade 1b, is exclusively spread by contact between humans.
The WHO says a lot of outbreaks in north and south Kivu provinces are caused by clade 1b. The U.N. health agency has recorded 5,400 suspected cases as of August 23, noting that more than 220 cases of the new strain also have been found in neighboring countries.
Harris says scientists do not have the data to know whether clade 1b is more dangerous than clade 1a.
“Studies are underway to understand the properties of the new strain. The available epidemiological data does not suggest that the clade 1b variant causes more severe cases as yet.” She noted, however, that the disease spreads rapidly, putting refugees and displaced people at particular risk.
“You just heard the descriptions of the conditions under which people are living and have arrived already very stressed, hungry, terrified, displaced,” she said.
These difficult living conditions have led to weaker immune systems, she said, “which makes them more likely to become more ill with anything they get, including mpox.”
Mpox is a deadly infection that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. It is spread through close physical contact, which makes children particularly vulnerable “as the disease spreads easily through skin-to-skin contact,” Harris said, adding that children who have close physical contact with an infected adult relative “cannot fight off the virus because of a weakened immune system.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus launched a six-month global strategic preparedness and response plan Monday to stop human-to-human transmission of mpox through global, regional and national efforts.
“The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries can be controlled, and can be stopped,” Tedros said in a statement.
The WHO followed Monday’s launch with an $87.4 million appeal Tuesday to implement critical activities over the next six months, emphasizing surveillance, research, equitable access to medical countermeasures and community empowerment.
The WHO is calling on donors to urgently fund the mpox response “to prevent further spread and protect those most at risk.”
The UNHCRs public health chief, Maina, has no doubt as to who is most at risk and what must be done.
“International solidarity is urgently needed to expand health services, isolation centers, humanitarian shelters, access to water and soap for those forced to flee,” he said. “In conflict zones, peace is also desperately needed, to ensure a sustainable response to stop the spread of the disease.”
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Tehran, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday urged the new government to impose controls over the Islamic republic’s cyberspace, which has already been under heavy restrictions in recent years.
“What matters is for the rule of law to be applied in the virtual space,” said Khamenei during his first meeting with the new cabinet of president Masoud Pezeshkian.
“If you don’t have a law (to regulate the internet), set a law, and based on that law, take the control,” he added.
Khamenei’s remarks come despite vows from Pezeshkian during his campaign to ease the long-standing internet restrictions in Iran.
Iran has over the years tightly controlled internet use, restricting popular social media apps such as Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.
Harsher curbs were enforced following 2019 protests against fuel prices and later demonstrations triggered by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Messaging apps including WhatsApp, Telegram, as well as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have also been blocked.
Iranians have over the years grown accustomed to using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade the restrictions.
During his speech, Khamenei cited the recent arrest in France of Russian-born founder of Telegram Pavel Durov over alleged failings to curb criminality on the app.
“This poor young man is taken by the French… They arrest you, put you in prison, threaten to give you a 20-year sentence, this is because he violated their rule,” said Khamenei.
“Violation of governance is not acceptable.”
Iran has in recent years said WhatsApp and Instagram would only be allowed to operate if they had a legal representative in the country.
But Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has said it has no plans to set up an office in Iran.
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GENEVA — The U.N. health agency on Monday launched a six-month plan to help stanch outbreaks of mpox transmission, including ramping up staffing in affected countries and boosting surveillance, prevention and response strategies.
The World Health Organization said it expected the plan, running from September through February next year, would require $135 million in funding. The plan would also aim to improve fair access to vaccines, notably in African countries hardest hit by the outbreak.
“The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries can be controlled, and can be stopped,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement.
The agency is “significantly scaling up staff” in affected countries, it said. In mid-August, WHO classified the current mpox outbreak as a global health emergency.
Also Monday, German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Germany was donating 100,000 doses of mpox vaccine to affected countries from stocks held by its military, German news agency dpa reported.
Last Tuesday, Congo — the hardest-hit country — reported more than 1,000 new mpox cases over the previous week.
In its latest update on the outbreak, the African Centers for Disease Control reported that as of Thursday, more than 21,300 suspected or confirmed cases and 590 deaths have been reported this year in 12 African countries.
Mpox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox but typically causes milder symptoms such as fever, chills and body aches. It mostly spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual intercourse. People with more serious cases can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.
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Paris — French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the arrest in France of the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, wasn’t a political move but part of an independent investigation.
French media reported that Durov was detained at a Paris airport on Saturday on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offenses. Durov is a citizen of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
In France’s first public comment on the arrest, Macron posted on the social media platform X that his country “is deeply committed” to freedom of expression but “freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.”
Denouncing what he called false information circulating about the arrest, he said it “is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”
Russian government officials have expressed outrage at Durov’s arrest, with some calling it politically driven and saying it showed the West’s double standard on freedom of speech.
Telegram, which says it has nearly a billion users worldwide, was founded by Durov and his brother in the wake of the Russian government’s crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012.
The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital space, and Telegram and its pro-privacy rhetoric offered a convenient way for Russians to communicate and share news.
Telegram also continues to be a popular source of news in Ukraine, where both media outlets and officials use it to share information on the war, and deliver missile and air raid alerts.
In a statement posted on its platform after his arrest, Telegram said it abides by EU laws, and its moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving.”
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram’s post said. “Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”
A French investigative judge extended Durov’s detention order on Sunday night, French media reported on Monday. Under French law, Durov can remain in custody for questioning for up to four days. After that, judges must decide to either charge him or release him.
The Russian Embassy in Paris said consular officials were denied access to Durov because French authorities view his French citizenship as his primary one. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, “We still don’t know what exactly Durov is being accused of. … Let’s wait until the charges are announced – if they are announced.”
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X who has in the past called himself a ” free speech absolutist,” posted “#freePavel” in support of Durov following the arrest.
Western governments have often criticized Telegram for a lack of content moderation, which experts say opens up the messaging platform for potential use in money laundering, drug trafficking and the sharing of material linked to the sexual exploitation of minors.
In 2022, Germany issued fines of $5 million against Telegram’s operators for failing to establish a lawful way to reporting illegal content or to name an entity in Germany to receive official communication. Both are required under German laws that regulate large online platforms.
Last year, Brazil temporarily suspended Telegram over its failure to surrender data on neo-Nazi activity related to a police inquiry into school shootings in November.
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The rapid rise in disposable electronic cigarette, or vape, usage is creating a tidal wave of pollution, and it’s raising serious environmental concerns. Aron Ranen reports from New York City about one woman who is trying to make a difference.
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Beijing — As China seeks to race ahead in humanoid robot development, its supply chains showcased cheaper and innovative parts at the world robot conference in Beijing, but some executives warn the industry has yet to improve product reliability.
Wisson Technology (Shenzhen), known for its flexible robotic manipulators, doesn’t depend on motors and reducers – transmission devices commonly used in robotics – but instead uses 3D-printed plastics and relies on pneumatic artificial muscles to power its robots.
This less expensive form of production allows it to price its flexible arms at about one-tenth that of traditional robotic arms, said Cao Wei, an investor in Wisson through venture capital firm Lanchi Ventures, in which he is a partner.
Pliable technology will usher in robotic arms at a cost of around $1,404, Wisson said on its website.
Wisson’s “pliable arms could be used in humanoids,” said Cao, adding that the company has already provided samples to overseas companies that make humanoid robots, without elaborating.
Yi Gang, founder of Shanghai-based Ti5 Robot, a company specializing in integrated joints, highlighted some of the problems he sees in the robotics supply chain.
“The whole supply chain still needs to address issues with product reliability,” said Yi, adding that, due to defect rates, his company can only make products in volumes of up to 1,000.
Harmonic gear, which refers to machinery that plays a key role in motion-control, was a key issue, he said.
China’s robotics effort is backed by President Xi Jinping’s policy of developing “new productive forces” in technology – a point made in brochures for last week’s event.
Across China, the world’s largest market for industrial robots, the increasingly sophisticated technology is changing the face of traditional industries such as manufacturing, autos, agriculture, education as well as health and home services.
Gao Jiyang, previously an executive director at Chinese autonomous driving start-up Momenta before founding Galaxea AI, a start-up focused on robot hardware and embodied AI, said the ramp-up in smart driving was leading to advances in robotics.
“Autonomous driving means AI-plus cars, which are also a type of robot,” Gao said.
As the conference wrapped up on Sunday, Premier Li Qiang said it was crucial to implement President Xi’s guidelines on the importance of the robot industry.
“The robot industry has broad prospects and huge market potential,” Li said, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.
Describing robots as an “important yardstick for technical innovation and high-end manufacturing strength,” Li called for efforts to maintain supply chain stability and progress on the international stage.
“It is necessary … to promote the expansion and popularization of robots in various fields such as industry, agriculture and service industry,” he said.
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Brazzaville, Congo — Twenty-one cases of mpox have been recorded in Congo-Brazzaville, the country’s health minister told state television Sunday.
Gilbert Mokoki said that the central African country had “registered 158 suspect cases” since the beginning of the year, “21 of which we have confirmed.”
The latest two were reported Thursday, he said.
Cases of the infectious disease — formerly known as monkeypox — have been surging in eastern and central Africa, but the virus has also been detected in Asia and Europe, with the World Health Organization declaring an international emergency.
The virus has been reported in five of Congo-Brazzaville’s 15 regions, with the forested areas of Sangha and Likouala in the north particularly affected.
A new variant of mpox has swept across neighboring DR Congo, killing more than 570 people so far this year.
Mokoki said that the epidemic was not alarming in Congo-Brazzaville, but appealed to people to take preventative measures like regularly washing their hands.
While mpox has been known for decades, a new more deadly and more transmissible strain — known as Clade 1b — has driven the recent surge in cases.
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paris — Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources.
Telegram, particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union, is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat. It aims to hit 1 billion users in the next year.
Based in Dubai, Telegram was founded by Russian-born Durov. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold.
Durov was traveling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.
TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The French Interior Ministry and police had no comment.
App becomes popular during wartime
After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become the main source of unfiltered — and sometimes graphic and misleading — content from both sides about the war and the politics surrounding the conflict.
The app has become preferred means of communications for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his officials. The Kremlin and the Russian government also use it to disseminate their news. It has also become one of the few places where Russians can access news about the war.
TF1 said Durov had been traveling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at around 18:00 GMT.
Durov, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, said some governments had sought to pressure him but the app, which has now 900 million active users, should remain a “neutral platform” and not a “player in geopolitics.”
The Russia Embassy in France told the Russian state TASS news agency that it was not contacted by Durov’s team after the reports of the arrest, but it was taking “immediate” steps to clarify the situation.
Bloggers encourage protesting French embassies
Russia’s representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, and several other Russian politicians were quick to accuse France of acting as a dictatorship.
“Some naive persons still don’t understand that if they play [a] more or less visible role in [the] international information space it is not safe for them to visit countries which move towards much more totalitarian societies,” Ulyanov wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Several Russian bloggers called for protests at French embassies throughout the world at noon Sunday.
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GENEVA — U.N. agencies are scaling up cholera prevention and treatment programs to get on top of a new, deadly cholera outbreak in Sudan that threatens to further destabilize communities suffering from hunger and the ill effects of more than 16 months of conflict.
The recent cholera outbreak has resurged after several weeks of heavy rainfall and resulting flooding,” Kristine Hambrouck, UNHCR representative in Sudan, told journalists Friday in Geneva.
Speaking on a video-link from Port Sudan, she warned, “Risks are compounded by the continuing conflict and dire humanitarian conditions, including overcrowding in camps and gathering sites for refugees and Sudanese displaced by the war, as well as limited medical supplies and health workers.”
She expressed particular concern about the spread of the deadly disease in areas hosting refugees, mainly in Kassala, Gedaref and al-Jazirah states.
“In addition to hosting refugees from other countries, these states are also sheltering thousands of displaced Sudanese who have sought safety from ongoing hostilities,” she said.
The United Nations describes Sudan as the largest displacement crisis in the world. Latest figures put the number of people displaced inside Sudan at more than 10.7 million, with an additional 2 million who have fled to neighboring countries as refugees.
Additionally, the UNHCR says Sudan continues to host tens of thousands of refugees from countries such as Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Sudan’s health ministry officially declared a cholera outbreak on August 12. In the one month since the first suspected cases were reported, the World Health Organization says 658 cholera cases and 28 deaths have been reported by five states, “with a high case-fatality ratio of 4.3%.”
Kassala has reported the highest number of cholera cases at 473, followed by Gedaref with 110 cases, and al-Jazairah with 51 cases. Two other states, Khartoum and River Nile, have reported fewer numbers.
“These cases are not linked to the previous cholera outbreak, which had been declared in September 2023,” said Dr. Shible Sahbani, the WHO representative to Sudan, noting that the outbreak “technically ended” in May 2024 after no cases were reported for two consecutive incubation periods.
Speaking from Port Sudan, Sahbani described the situation in Kassala as very worrisome. He said the state’s health system already was under stress because of the large number of displaced people and refugees living there. “So, the health system is not able to cope with the additional influx of refugees and IDPs [internally displaced persons].”
“But in addition to that, it puts a big burden on the WASH system — the water, sanitation, and hygiene system. So, this makes the situation more complicated in favor of the spread of cholera,” he said.
Besides the dangers posed by cholera, UNICEF representative Hambrouck also warns of an increasing number of cases of waterborne diseases, including malaria and diarrhea, which also need to be brought under control.
“Constraints in humanitarian access are also impacting response efforts. Violence, insecurity and persistent rainfall are hampering the transportation of humanitarian aid,” she said.
She noted that more than 7.4 million refugees and internally displaced Sudanese living in White Nile, Darfur and Kordofan states are having to do without “critical medicines and relief supplies” because of delays in delivery.
The WHO and UNHCR are working closely with Sudan’s Ministry of Health to coordinate the cholera outbreak response. Among its many initiatives, UNHCR says it is working with health partners to strengthen surveillance, early warning systems and contact tracing in affected locations.
“Disease surveillance and testing are ongoing, and awareness-raising and training on cholera case management for health staff are also being conducted,” said Hambrouck.
For its part, Sahbani said the WHO has prepositioned cholera kits and other essential medical supplies “in high-risk states in anticipation of the risks associated with the rainy season.”
He said the WHO was spearheading a cholera vaccination campaign, noting that “a three-day oral cholera vaccination campaign in two localities of Kassala state concluded Thursday.”
He said the campaign already has used 51,000 doses and “the good news is that we got the approval of an additional 155,000 doses of cholera vaccine. So, this is the good news in the middle of this horrible crisis.”
One dose of the vaccine, he said, would protect the population against cholera for six months, while two doses would provide protection for up to three years.
“So, this is really good news because this will help us to contain the outbreak,” he said. Without more funding, however, he warned the good news will quickly evaporate, noting that the WHO has received just one-third of its $85.6 million appeal.
“This will indeed limit our capacity to launch a robust response to reach a larger segment of the people in need,” he said.
His UNHCR colleague, Hambrouck, echoed the sentiments.
“With the humanitarian situation and funding level already precarious prior to this latest cholera outbreak, funds are desperately needed to support the provision of health care and other life-saving aid,” she said.
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BEIJING/SINGAPORE/NEW YORK — State-linked Chinese entities are using cloud services provided by Amazon or its rivals to access advanced U.S. chips and artificial intelligence capabilities that they cannot acquire otherwise, recent public tender documents showed.
The U.S. government has restricted the export of high-end AI chips to China over the past two years, citing the need to limit the Chinese military’s capabilities.
Providing access to such chips or advanced AI models through the cloud, however, is not a violation of U.S. regulations since only exports or transfers of a commodity, software or technology are regulated.
A Reuters review of more than 50 tender documents posted over the past year on publicly available Chinese databases showed that at least 11 Chinese entities have sought access to restricted U.S. technologies or cloud services.
Among those, four explicitly named Amazon Web Services, or AWS, as a cloud service provider, although they accessed the services through Chinese intermediary companies rather than from AWS directly.
The tender documents, which Reuters is the first to report on, show the breadth of strategies Chinese entities are employing to secure advanced computing power and access generative AI models. They also underscore how U.S. companies are capitalizing on China’s growing demand for computing power.
“AWS complies with all applicable U.S. laws, including trade laws, regarding the provision of AWS services inside and outside of China,” a spokesperson for Amazon’s cloud business said.
AWS controls nearly a third of the global cloud infrastructure market, according to research firm Canalys. In China, AWS is the sixth-largest cloud service provider, according to research firm IDC.
Shenzhen University spent $27,996 (200,000 yuan) on an AWS account to gain access to cloud servers powered by Nvidia A100 and H100 chips for an unspecified project, according to a March tender document. It got this service via an intermediary, Yunda Technology Ltd Co, the document showed.
Exports to China of the two Nvidia chips that are used to power large-language models, or LLM, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are banned by the United States.
Shenzhen University and Yunda Technology did not respond to requests for comment. Nvidia declined to comment on Shenzhen University’s spending or on any of the other Chinese entities’ deals.
Zhejiang Lab, a research institute developing its own LLM, called GeoGPT, said in a tender document in April that it intended to spend 184,000 yuan to purchase AWS cloud computing services as its AI model could not get enough computing power from homegrown Alibaba.
A spokesperson for Zhejiang Lab said that it did not follow through with the purchase but did not respond to questions about the reasoning behind this decision or how it met its LLM’s computing power requirements. Alibaba’s cloud unit, Alicloud, did not respond to a request for comment.
Reuters could not establish whether the purchase went ahead.
Moving to tighten access
The U.S. government is now trying to tighten regulations to restrict access through the cloud.
“This loophole has been a concern of mine for years, and we are long overdue to address it,” Michael McCaul, chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters in a statement, referring to the remote access of advanced U.S. computing through the cloud by foreign entities.
Legislation was introduced in Congress in April to empower the Commerce Department to regulate remote access of U.S. technology, but it is not clear if and when it will be passed.
A department spokesperson said it was working closely with Congress and “seeking additional resources to strengthen our existing controls that restrict PRC companies from accessing advanced AI chips through remote access to cloud computing capability.”
The Commerce Department also proposed a rule in January that would require U.S. cloud computing services to verify large AI model users and report to regulators when they use U.S. cloud computing services to train large AI models capable of “malicious cyber-enabled activity.”
The rule, which has not been finalized, would also enable the Commerce secretary to impose prohibitions on customers.
“We are aware the Commerce Department is considering new regulations, and we comply with all applicable laws in the countries in which we operate,” the AWS spokesperson said.
Cloud demand in China
The Chinese entities are also seeking access to Microsoft’s cloud services.
In April, Sichuan University said in a tender document it was building a generative AI platform and purchasing 40 million Microsoft Azure OpenAI tokens to support the delivery of this project. The university’s procurement document in May showed that Sichuan Province Xuedong Technology Co Ltd supplied the tokens.
Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment. Sichuan University and Sichuan Province Xuedong Technology did not respond to requests for comment on the purchase.
OpenAI said in a statement that its own services are not supported in China and that Azure OpenAI operates under Microsoft’s policies. It did not comment on the tenders.
The University of Science and Technology of China’s Suzhou Institute of Advanced Research said in a tender document in March that it wanted to rent 500 cloud servers, each powered by eight Nvidia A100 chips, for an unspecified purpose.
The tender was fulfilled by Hefei Advanced Computing Center Operation Management Co Ltd, a procurement document showed in April, but the document did not name the cloud service provider. Reuters could not determine its identity.
The University of Science and Technology of China, or USTC, was added to a U.S. export control list known as the “Entity List” in May for acquiring U.S. technology for quantum computing that could help China’s military, and for involvement in its nuclear program development.
USTC and Hefei Advanced Computing Center did not respond to requests for comment.
Beyond restricted AI chips
Amazon has offered Chinese organizations access not only to advanced AI chips but also to advanced AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude, which they cannot otherwise access, according to public posts, tenders and marketing materials reviewed by Reuters.
“Bedrock provides a selection of leading LLMs, including prominent closed-source models such as Anthropic’s Claude 3,” Chu Ruisong, president of AWS Greater China, told a generative AI-themed conference in Shanghai in May, referring to its cloud platform.
In various Chinese-language posts for AWS developers and clients, Amazon highlighted the opportunity to try out “world-class AI models” and mentioned Chinese gaming firm Source Technology as one of its clients using Claude.
Amazon has dedicated sales teams serving Chinese clients domestically and overseas, according to two former company executives.
After Reuters contacted Amazon for comment, it updated dozens of posts on its Chinese-language channels with a note to say some of its services were not available in its China cloud regions. It also removed several promotional posts, including the one about Source Technology. Amazon did not give a reason for removing the posts and did not answer a Reuters query about that.
“Amazon Bedrock customers are subject to Anthropic’s end user license agreement, which prohibits access to Claude in China both via Amazon’s Bedrock API [application programming interface] and via Anthropic’s own API,” the AWS spokesperson said.
Anthropic said it does not support or allow customers or end-users within China to access Claude.
“However, subsidiaries or product divisions of Chinese-headquartered companies may use Claude if the subsidiary itself is located in a supported region outside of China,” an Anthropic spokesperson said.
Source Technology did not respond to a request for comment.
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Port Sudan — For the second consecutive year Sudan is in the grip of a cholera outbreak that has left at least 28 people dead in the last month as rains fall in areas crammed with those fleeing the country’s 16-month-old war, officials said.
Since July 22, when the current wave began, 658 cases of cholera have been recorded across five states, World Health Organization (WHO) country director Shible Sahbani told Reuters in Port Sudan.
With much of the country’s health infrastructure collapsed or destroyed and staffing thinned by displacement, 4.3% of cases have resulted in deaths, a high rate compared to other outbreaks, Sahbani said.
Some 200,000 are at high risk of falling ill, he said.
The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises and displaced more than 10 million people inside Sudan and beyond its borders.
The country is dealing with a total of five concurrent disease outbreaks include dengue fever and measles.
The RSF has advanced across swathes of Sudan, where people have been cut off from aid as the army has withheld access and RSF soldiers loot supplies and hospitals. Efforts to deliver aid to the western region of Darfur have been complicated by rains.
International experts have determined that there is a famine in Darfur’s Zamzam camp, an area flooded in the rains and highly susceptible to cholera.
About 12,000 cases and more than 350 deaths were registered in the previous cholera wave between October 2023 and May 2024, health minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said, adding that there had been no major outbreak in the nine years before the war.
The current outbreak is centered in Kassala and Gedaref states, which host 1.2 million displaced people.
In Gedaref, a Reuters reporter filmed pools of water attracting insects and large ponds of stagnant rain water mixing with refuse. A local official said that the vast majority of diseases were caused by insects, poor water quality, and sewage.
Many people fleeing raids by the RSF shelter in crowded, makeshift displacement centers, where lavatories have overflowed as heavier-than-usual rains continue to fall. Cholera is transmitted from food and water contaminated with infected feces and thrives in such conditions.
Sahbani said that states like Khartoum and Gezira, largely controlled by the RSF, had also seen cholera cases, while states in the Kordofan and Darfur regions could likely see outbreaks.
“The challenge is getting supplies to the areas we need them. Due to the rainy season many roads are not usable now, but also there are security constraints and bureaucratic constraints,” he said.
On Friday, he told reporters in a virtual briefing that the International Coordinated Group for vaccine allocation (ICG) had approved delivery of 455,000 cholera vaccine doses to Sudan, some “good news in the middle of this horrible crisis.”
Ibrahim said the army-aligned government had used “unorthodox measures” including air drops to try to get vaccines and supplies into those RSF-controlled areas as well as isolated army-controlled areas.
Both officials emphasized that the need in Sudan far outweighed the aid effort, particularly as the U.N.’s humanitarian appeal for Sudan is only about one-third funded.
BERLIN — The Berlin Zoo announced Friday that longtime resident giant panda Meng Meng has given birth to twins — for a second time.
The cubs were born on Thursday, the zoo said in a statement. They were born only 11 days after ultrasound scans showed that Meng Meng, 11, was pregnant. Their sex has not yet been determined “with certainty.”
“Now it’s time to keep your fingers crossed for the critical first few days,” the zoo said. The cubs are tiny, weighing just 169 grams and 136 grams respectively, and are about 14 centimeters long.
As with other large bears, giant pandas are born deaf, blind and pink. Their black-and-white panda markings only develop later.
“I am relieved that the two were born healthy,” zoo director Andreas Knieriem said. “The little ones make a lively impression and mom Meng Meng takes great care of her offspring.”
The zoo said that giant pandas usually only raise one cub when they give birth to twins, so it will “actively support” Meng Meng’s cub care in cooperation with two experts from China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding who are in the German capital.
“With around 20 births a year, they have much more experience and are better able to assess development,” panda curator Florian Sicks said.
The cubs will alternate being with their mother every two to three hours to drink milk and are otherwise being cared for in an incubator donated by a Berlin hospital.
Meng Meng and male panda Jiao Qing arrived in Berlin in 2017. In August 2019, Meng Meng gave birth to male twins Pit and Paule, also known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, the first giant pandas born in Germany.
The twins were a star attraction in Berlin, but they were flown to China in December — a trip that was contractually agreed from the start but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a “panda diplomacy” policy. The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.
Meng Meng was artificially inseminated on March 26. Female pandas are fertile only for a few days per year at the most.
The new arrivals and their mother won’t be on show to the public for the time being — but visitors can still see Jiao Qing, 14, as male pandas don’t get involved in rearing cubs.
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COPENHAGEN, denmark — A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted on Thursday, the meteorological office said, spraying red-hot lava and smoke in its sixth outbreak since December.
“An eruption has begun. Work is under way to find out the location of the recordings,” the Icelandic Met Office, which is tasked with monitoring volcanoes, said in a statement.
The total length of the fissure was about 3.9 kilometers (2.42 miles) and had extended by 1.5 kilometers (.93 mile) in about 40 minutes, it said.
Livestreams from the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula showed glowing hot lava shooting from the ground.
Studies had shown magma accumulating underground, prompting warnings of new volcanic activity in the area just south of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
The most recent eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, home to 30,000 people or nearly 8% of the country’s total population, ended on June 22 after spewing fountains of molten rock for 24 days.
The eruptions show the challenge faced by the island nation of nearly 400,000 people as scientists warn that the Reykjanes peninsula could face repeated outbreaks for decades or even centuries.
Since 2021, there have been nine eruptions on the peninsula, following the reactivation of geological systems that had been dormant for 800 years.
In response, authorities have constructed barriers to redirect lava flows away from critical infrastructure, including the Svartsengi power plant, the Blue Lagoon outdoor spa and the town of Grindavik.
Flights were unaffected, Reykjavik’s Keflavik Airport said on its web page, but the nearby Blue Lagoon luxury geothermal spa and hotel said it had shut down and evacuated its guests.
Volcanic outbreaks in the Reykjanes peninsula are so-called fissure eruptions, which do not usually disrupt air traffic as they do not cause large explosions or significant dispersal of ash into the stratosphere.
Iceland, which is roughly the size of the U.S. state of Kentucky, boasts more than 30 active volcanoes, making the north European island a prime destination for volcano tourism.
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