An experimental Autonomous Vehicle of the Uber company hit a pedestrian today causing her death. As far as is known, this is the first time an autonomous vehicle has caused the death of a pedestrian. The accident took place in Tempe, Arizona. Bloomberg reported the dead woman was Elaine Herzberg, 49, who crossed the road outside the crosswalk. The vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the accident but was operated under supervision of a human safety driver. Herzberg was transferred to a hospital but died there as a result of her wounds. Uber announced that it is discontinuing all experiments on autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Toronto, and Phoenix. "Our hearts go out to the victim’s family,” an Uber spokeswoman said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident.” Autonomous mode iStock An increasing number of autonomous machines are currently participating in experimental programs around the world, and experts have known for some time that the risk of human injury is increasing. The concern is that such cases will paralyze this developing industry while still in its early stages. The US National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to Tempe to investigate the accident. In May 2016 a man who was operating an autonomous vehicle was killed while driving in autonomous mode. Autonomous car Picture: Reuters
An international Holocaust remembrance conference is taking place this week in Sweden. Running from June 20 to 23, 300 international researchers, experts, diplomats and politicians have gathered in Stockholm to collaborate on Holocaust research and education. As President of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), Sweden is hosting the international Plenary Session. The conference is focusing on fulfilling the promises made at the 2021 Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism. “There are very few remaining Holocaust survivors who can share their experiences with us. We need international collaboration, dialogue and education for remembrance, and to counter the antisemitic and antidemocratic forces that are growing around the world,” Swedish Minister for Culture Jeanette Gustafsdotter said. Related articles: In New York, private tours aim to combat antisemitism UK assumes IHRA presidency Greater legal aid for Holocaust survivors Students may opt out of Holocaust survivor's talk As president of the IHRA, which compromises 35 member countries working together for Holocaust remembrance, research and education, Sweden’s focus is to follow up on the commitments made by 60 delegations at the Malmö Forum and to strengthen the IHRA as an organization. “I have promised survivors to do what I can as prime minister – and as a human being – for Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism today. I intend to keep that promise. The presidency of the IHRA, the Malmö Forum and the coming museum about Sweden and the Holocaust are all important parts of these efforts,” said former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who led the country until November 2021.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) “got it wrong” in its reporting of the massacre of the Fogel family by Arab terrorists in the Jewish community of Itamar, the broadcaster's outgoing director-general admitted at a parliamentary committee hearing. The BBC’ s Mark Thompson acquiesced on June 19 while being questioned by Conservative member of parliament Louise Mensch, the London Jewish Chronicle reported. In complaining about the insufficient coverage of the event on BBC radio and television programs, the newspaper reported that Mensch said, “I only found out, after the event, from an American blog, called ‘Dead Jews is no news,’ and the more I went into it, the more shocked I was.” “There was a feeling that the BBC just didn’t care and that if a settler had opened the home of a Palestinian family, slit the throat of their children, that the BBC would have covered that,” Mensch asserted. Thompson responded by claiming that the story occurred during a “very busy news period,” including the fighting in Libya and the tsunami in Japan and that “news editors were under a lot of pressure.” “Having said that, it was certainly an atrocity which should have been covered across our news bulletins that day,” he added. Mensch said that she was pleased with Thompsons’s response. “I was very satisfied with his frank admission,” she said. “He understood how this had affected the Jewish community.