'We have a responsibility:' Trudeau urges global leaders to support pact for future
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is telling world leaders to either bury their heads in the sand or put differences aside for the sake of future generations.
Countries taking part in UN talks on autonomous weapons stopped short of launching negotiations on an international treaty to govern their use, instead agreeing merely to continue discussions.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and several NGOs had been pushing for negotiators to begin work on an international treaty that would establish legally-binding new rules on the machine-operated weapons.
Unlike existing semi-autonomous weapons such as drones, fully-autonomous weapons have no human-operated "kill switch" and instead leave decisions over life and death to sensors, software and machine processes.
Opponents say they raise the risks for civilians, pose problems for accountability and increase the chances of conflict escalation.
The Geneva talks, ongoing for eight years, have taken on new urgency since a in March that said the first autonomous drone attack may have already occurred in Libya.
"It's a real missed opportunity and not in our view what is needed to respond to the risks posed by autonomous weapons," Neil Davison, a policy adviser in the Legal Division at ICRC, said of the outcome of the week-long talks.
Many countries also expressed disappointment in the outcome.
"At the present rate of progress, the pace of technological development risks overtaking our deliberations," Switzerland's Disarmament Ambassador, Felix Baumann, said.
The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons which has 125 parties has been discussing possible limits on the use of lethal autonomous weapons, or LAWS, which are fully machine-operated and use new technology such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had called for countries to come up with an "ambitious plan" on new rules.
Sources following the talks said that Russia, India and the United States were among the countries who expressed doubts about the need for a new LAWS treaty. Washington has previously pointed to their possible benefits, such as precision.
Clare Conboy of campaign group Stop Killer Robots said the outcome was one that "keeps the minority of militarized states investing in developing these weapons very happy."
She said she expected the many countries in favor of a new law such as New Zealand or Austria to begin negotiations outside of the United Nations.
(Reporting by Emma Farge Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is telling world leaders to either bury their heads in the sand or put differences aside for the sake of future generations.
An Edmonton man says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was injured by members of the Edmonton Police Service last year.
The head of the Air Canada pilots union says she'll step down if members opt not to approve a tentative deal with the airline, raising the stakes as aviators mull whether to accept hefty salary gains or drive an even harder bargain.
Unifor says workers at General Motors' CAMI assembly plant and battery facility in southwestern Ontario have ratified a new collective agreement.
The brother of a 27-year-old man who was fatally shot in Scarborough over the weekend has been arrested and charged in connection with his death, say police.
Comedian John Mulaney and actor Olivia Munn now have a second child, a daughter named Mei June Mulaney.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, made her first public appearance Sunday since she announced she had completed chemotherapy and would return to some public duties.
At least two students at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania have been suspended from the swim team after a report that a racial slur was scratched onto a student's body, officials said.
Body mass index, a long-time tool used to measure a person's health, may soon be out the door as some health professionals push for a system they say is more accurate.
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.