内容摘要：Al Jazeera was unable to confirm the specific dollar amount for the Avelo contract.

Al Jazeera was unable to confirm the specific dollar amount for the Avelo contract.

(AI) as one of the most crucial issues facing humanity., the first American pope, laid out a vision of his papacy at the Vatican on Saturday, telling the cardinals who elected him that AI poses challenges to defending “human dignity, justice and labour” – a view shared with his predecessor, the late

Explaining his choice of name, the pontiff said he identified with the late Leo XIII, who had defended workers’ rights during his 1878-1903 papacy at the dawn of the industrial age, adding that “social teaching” was now needed in response to the modern-day revolution brought by AI.The late Pope Francis, who died last month, warned that AI risked turning human relations into mere algorithms and called for an international treaty to regulate it.Francis warned the Group of Seven industrialised nations last year that AI must remain human-centric, so that decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools would not fall to machines.

In his speech, delivered in Italian, Pope Leo made repeated references to Francis and the mourning over his death, saying the late pontiff left a “precious legacy” and signalling that he would continue with his vision.Later on Saturday, Pope Leo made a surprise visit to a sanctuary south of Rome that is dedicated to the Madonna and of significance to his Augustinian order.

People gathered in the town of Genazzano, in the square outside the main church housing the Madre del Buon Consiglio sanctuary, waiting for Leo to emerge. The pontiff shook hands and offered blessings to a few people in the crowd before entering the shrine.

Leo previously visited the sanctuary, which is managed by Augustinian friars, last year, when he was a cardinal. It has been a place of pilgrimage since the 15th century.So what are human shields? How widely have they been used by the Israeli military? And is Israel likely to launch a crackdown any time soon?

What are human shields, and how has Israel used them?Under international humanitarian law (IHL), the term “human shields” refers to the use of civilians or other protected persons, whether voluntary or involuntary, in order to shield military targets from attacks.

The use of human shields in warfare is prohibited under IHL, but Israeli soldiers have allegedly employed it widely during the Gaza genocide.Earlier this year, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published the first-hand testimony of an Israeli soldier who said that the practice had been used “six times a day” in his unit and that it had effectively been “normalised” in military ranks.