UR MAG

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched India as a central player in the globalartificial intelligenceecosystem, saying the country aims to build technology at home while deploying it worldwide.

"Design and develop in India. Deliver to the world. Deliver to humanity," Modi told a gathering of some world leaders, technology executives and policymakers at theIndia AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

Modi's remarks came as India — one of the fastest-growing digital markets — seeks to leverage its experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure and to present itself as a cost-effective hub for AI innovation.

The summit was also addressed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who called for a $3 billion fund to help poorer countries build basic AI capacity, including skills, data access and affordable computing power.

"The future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries, or left to the whims of a few billionaires," Guterres said, stressing that AI must "belong to everyone."

India aims to ramp up its AI scale

India is using the summit to position itself as a bridge between advanced economies and the Global South. Indian officials cite the country's digital ID and online payments systems as a model for deploying AI at low cost, particularly in developing countries.

"We must democratize AI. It must become a tool for inclusion and empowerment, particularly for the Global South," Modi said.

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With nearly 1 billion internet users, India has become a key market for global technology companies expanding their AI businesses.

Last December,Microsoftannounceda $17.5 billion investmentover four years to expand cloud and AI infrastructure in India. It followedGoogle's $15 billion investmentover five years, including plans for its first AI hub in the country. Amazon has also pledged $35 billion by 2030, targeting AI-driven digitization.

India is also seeking up to$200 billion in data center investmentin the coming years.

The country, however, lags in developing its own large-scale AI model likeU.S.-based OpenAIorChina's DeepSeek, highlighting challenges such as limited access to advanced semiconductor chips, data centers and hundreds of local languages to learn from.

The summit has faced troubles

The summit opened Monday with organizational glitches, as attendees and exhibitors reported long lines and delays, and some complained on social media that personal belongings and display items had been stolen. Organizers later said the items were recovered.

Problems resurfaced Wednesday when aprivate Indian university was expelledfrom the summit after a staff member showcased a commercially available Chinese-made robotic dog while claiming it as the institution's own innovation.

The setbacks continued Thursday when Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates withdrew from a scheduled keynote address. No reason was given, though the Gates Foundation said the move was intended "to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit's key priorities."

Gates is facing questions over his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

By Sabine Siebold and Mike Stone

BERLIN/WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Germany is considering ordering more U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, two sources told Reuters, a move that would deepen Berlin's reliance ‌on American military technology as its joint next-generation fighter program with France falters.

One source said ‌Berlin was in talks that could lead to the purchase of more than 35 additional jets. A second source did not ​specify the number. Both sources cautioned the outcome was still uncertain.

In 2022, Germany purchased 35 of the aircraft, which are due to begin delivery later this year.

The potential acquisition of more Lockheed Martin stealth fighters, at a cost of more than $80 million each, comes as Germany and France are deadlocked on their Future ‌Combat Air System (FCAS) program.

The 100-billion-euro-project, launched ⁠in 2017 to replace France's Rafales and Eurofighters from 2040, has been stalled by industrial rivalries.

Insiders expect Germany and France to abandon the development of a joint ⁠fighter jet but continue cooperation on drones and the so-called combat cloud, the digital backbone linking manned and unmanned platforms within the FCAS system.

Purchasing more F-35 jets would buy Germany time to figure out a solution for ​the ​development of a sixth-generation fighter jet and finding a ​partner for such a project.

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Germany's Defence Ministry ‌did not immediately comment while a Pentagon spokesperson referred questions to Germany.

A spokesperson for defence contractor Lockheed Martin said the company was focused on building F-35s already ordered by Germany.

Expansion of Germany's F-35 fleet would mark a significant strategic shift toward deeper military integration with the United States and away from European defence autonomy, a priority for fellow European Union member France.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz questioned on Wednesday whether developing ‌a manned sixth-generation jet, as FCAS has sought to do, ​still made sense for his country's air force.

"Will we still ​need a manned fighter jet in 20 ​years' time? Do we still need it, given that we will have to ‌develop it at great expense?" Merz said on ​the Machtwechsel podcast published on ​Wednesday.

The F-35 aircraft will succeed the Tornado jets in their role of carrying U.S. nuclear bombs stored in Germany in the event of a conflict.

The F-35 is the only Western fighter ​jet certified to carry the ‌most modern B61 nuclear bombs.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said last week the fate of ​FCAS would become clear within days.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Sabine Siebold ​in Berlin; Editing by Chris Sanders and Cynthia Osterman)

GENEVA (AP) — A "campaign of destruction" in October by Sudanese rebels against non-Arab communities in and neara city in Sudan's western region of Darfurshows "hallmarks of genocide," U.N.-backed human rights experts reported Thursday, a dramatic finding in the country's devastating war.

UN Sudan Genocide

The Rapid Support Forces carried out mass killings and other atrocities inel-Fasherafter an 18-month siege during which they imposed conditions "calculated to bring about the physical destruction" of non-Arab communities, in particular the Zaghawa and the Fur communities, the independent fact-finding mission on Sudan reported.

U.N. officials say several thousand civilians were killed in the RSF takeover of el-Fasher, the Sudanese army's only remaining stronghold in the Darfur.Only 40% of the city's 260,000 residents managed to fleethe onslaught alive, thousands of whom were wounded, the officials said. The fate of the rest remains unknown.

Sudanplunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital Khartoum and spread to other regions including Darfur.

The devastating warhas killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

The RSF and their allied Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, overran el-Fasher on Oct. 26 and rampaged through the city. The offensive was marked by widespread atrocities that included mass killings and summary executions, sexual violence, torture, and abductions for ransom, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office.

They killed more than 6,000 peoplebetween Oct. 25 and Oct. 27 in the city, the office said. Ahead of the attack, the rebels ran riot in the Abu Shouk displacement camp, just outside of the city, and killed at least 300 people in two days, it said.

The RSF did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment. The group's commander, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has previously acknowledged abuses by his fighters, but disputed the scale of atrocities.

At least 3 criteria for genocide were met, team says

An international convention known colloquially as the "Genocide Convention" — adopted in 1948, three years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust — sets out five criteria to assess whether genocide has taken place.

They are: killing members of a group; causing its members serious bodily or mental harm; imposing measures aimed to prevent births in the group; deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about the "physical destruction" of the group; and forcibly transferring its children to another group.

The fact-finding team, which doesn't have final say on the matter, said it found at least three of those five were met in the actions of the RSF. Under the convention, a genocide determination could be made even if only one of the five were met.

The RSF acts in el-Fasher included killing members of a protected ethnic group; causing serious bodily and mental harm; and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction in whole or in part — all core elements of the crime of genocide under international law, according to the fact-finding team.

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The report cited a systematic pattern of ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence and destruction and public statements explicitly calling for the elimination of non-Arab communities.

'Not random' excesses of war, chair says

Team chair Mohamed Chande Othman, a former chief justice of Tanzania, said the RSF operation were not "random excesses of war" but pointed to a planned and organized operation that bore the characteristics of genocide.

El-Fasher's residents were "physically exhausted, malnourished, and in part unable to flee, leaving them defenseless against the extreme violence that followed," the team's report said. "Thousands of persons, particularly the Zaghawa, were killed, raped or disappeared during three days of absolute horror."

The fact-finding mission pointed to mass killings, widespread rape, sexual violence, torture and cruel treatment, arbitrary detention, extortion, and enforced disappearances during RSF's takeover of el-Fasher in late October.

The report documented cases of survivors quoting its fighters as saying things like: "Is there anyone Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all" and "We want to eliminate anything black from Darfur."

The report pointed to "selective targeting" of Zaghawa and Fur women and girls, "while women perceived as Arab were often spared."

A call for accountability

The fact-finding team was created in 2023 by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, the U.N.'s leading human rights body, which has 47 member countries drawn from membership in the world body.

The team called for accountability for perpetrators and warned that protection of civilians is needed "more than ever" because the conflict is expanding to other regions in Sudan.

Over the course of the conflict, the warring parties were accused of violating international law. But most of the atrocities were blamed on the RSF: The Biden administration, in one of its last decisions, said it committedgenocidein Darfur.

The RSF has been supported bythe United Arab Emiratesover the course of the war, according to U.N. experts and rights groups. The UAE has denied the allegations.

The RSF grew out of the Janjaweed militias, who became notorious for atrocities in the early 2000s in a ruthless campaign against people identifying as East or Central African in Darfur. That campaign killed some 300,000 people and drove 2.7 million from their homes.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andrej Stojakovic scored 22 points to lead seven players in double figures and No. 10 Illinois routed Southern California 101-65 on Wednesday night for its 14th win in 16 games.

Illinois USC Basketball

Blue and orange-clad fans were out in force for the Fighting Illini's first game against the Trojans in Los Angeles since 1975. The Illini (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) didn't disappoint, leading all the way to maintain a hold on second place in the conference standings behind No. 1 Michigan.

The Illini were up by 22 at halftime, and poured it on to start the second half. They outscored the Trojans 21-10, hitting five 3-pointers and extending the lead to 75-42. Stojakovic capped the spurt with a steal and one-handed slam that drew cheers.

Stojakovic was 6 of 7 from the floor and made all nine of his free throws. David Mirkovic added 14 points. The Illini hit 24 of 26 free throws while sending USC to its biggest loss of the season.

Illinois made 13 3-pointers, and at one point in the second half was shooting equally as well from long range as from the floor overall (46%). Visiting fans took turns shouting "I-L-L" with the other side of the arena responding "I-N-I."

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Ezra Ausar scored 15 points and Jacob Cofie added 14 for USC (18-8, 7-8), which lost its second straight and fell to 0-4 against ranked teams. The Trojans were without second-leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara (18.3 points per game) because of a strained knee. They committed 14 turnovers that led to 22 points for the Illini.

Up next

Illinois visits UCLA on Saturday.

USC remains in the Pacific time zone for its final five Big Ten games, starting Saturday when Oregon visits.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphereandhere(AP News mobile app). AP college basketball:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

KOLKATA, India (AP) —Italywon the toss and elected to field against high-flying West Indies in its lastT20 World Cupgame on Thursday.

West Indies Italy T20 WCup Cricket

West Indies has already qualified for theSuper 8swith three consecutive wins in Group C and is in Group 1 with co-host India, Zimbabwe and South Africa. New Zealand, England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in Group 2 of the second round.

Harry Manenti continues to lead Italy, playing its first-ever major ICC global event, after captain Wayne Madsen wasruled out of the tournamentwhen he dislocated his shoulder at the same venue while fielding in the opening group game against Scotland.

Manenti hoped his bowlers would get some swing in the day game and take some early wickets.

"Hope there's a bit in the wicket," Manenti said at the toss. "We take some confidence from the England game and West Indies is another powerful team."

Italy was beaten by Scotland and England in group games but shocked much-fancied Nepal with a resounding 10-wicket win in Mumbai.

West Indies top-order batters have scored aggressively with captain Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford scoring half centuries across the three group games.

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Hope said he didn't mind losing the toss because "it's not in our hands" as West Indies went with an unchanged squad that beat Nepal by nine wickets in the last game.

Later Thursday

Zimbabwe, whichknocked out Australiafrom the tournament, concludes its group stage with a game against Sri Lanka in Colombo later Thursday.

Afghanistan, which made the semifinals in 2024 and lost a thrillingdouble tiebreakeragainst South Africa this past week, will meet Canada in its last Group D match.

West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Matthew Forde, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosain, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie.

Italy: Justin Mosca, Anthony Mosca, Syed Naqvi, Harry Manenti (captain), J.J. Smuts, Ben Manenti, Grant Stewart, Gian-Piero Meade, Crishan Kalugamage, Thomas Draca, Ali Hasan.

AP cricket:https://apnews.com/hub/cricket