JERUSALEM: Israeli police in riot gear pushed a Palestinian protester to the ground in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, a moment captured on the smartphones of people looking on.
“See what they’re doing! They’re beating up women!” Aya Khalaf, a Palestinian social media influencer, screamed in the background as she caught the May 9 incident on a live stream to her 187,000 Instagram followers.
The scene is one of several shared on social media from the near-nightly confrontations between Israeli police and protesters against the expulsion of eight Palestinian families from the neighborhood, which is claimed by Jewish settlers.
The hashtag “#SaveSheikhJarrah” has gained momentum overseas, with British singer Dua Lipa and Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis among those expressing solidarity.
In October last year, an Israeli court ruled in favor of settlers who say the Palestinian families are living on land that used to belong to Jews.
Palestinians are appealing the decision at Israel’s Supreme Court.
But a court hearing was delayed earlier this month amid rising tensions at Sheikh Jarrah — which lies just a few minutes’ walk from the Old City’s Damascus Gate, another recent flashpoint.
Anger over the proposed evictions was a key factor behind tensions in Jerusalem over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which last week escalated far beyond the holy city into the worst hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians for years.
Portraying itself as the defender of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the militant Islamist group Hamas launched a rocket assault on Israel, which hit back with multiple air and artillery strikes on Gaza.
A week later, nearly 200 people have been killed in Gaza, including 58 children, Gaza’s health ministry said, and 10 people have been killed in Israel, two of them children, according to authorities.
On Sunday in Sheikh Jarrah, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian driver who had crashed his car into a police roadblock, injuring six officers.
How East Jerusalem flashpoint Sheikh Jarrah got its own hashtag
https://arab.news/94sha
How East Jerusalem flashpoint Sheikh Jarrah got its own hashtag
WEF report spotlights real-world AI adoption across industries
DUBAI: A new report by the World Economic Forum, released Monday, highlights companies across more than 30 countries and 20 industries that are using artificial intelligence to deliver real-world impact.
Developed in partnership with Accenture, “Proof over Promise: Insights on Real-World AI Adoption from 2025 MINDS Organizations” draws on insights from two cohorts of MINDS (Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions), a WEF initiative focused on AI solutions that have moved beyond pilot phases to deliver measurable performance gains.
As part of its AI Global Alliance, the WEF launched the MINDS program in 2025, announcing its first cohort that year and a second cohort this week. Cohorts are selected through an evaluation process led by the WEF’s Impact Council — an independent group of experts — with applications open to public- and private-sector organizations across industries.
The report found a widening gap between organizations that have successfully scaled AI and those still struggling, while underscoring how this divide can be bridged through real-world case studies.
Based on these case studies and interviews with selected MINDS organizations, the report identified five key insights distinguishing successful AI adopters from others.
It found that leading organizations are moving away from isolated, tactical uses of AI and instead embedding it as a strategic, enterprise-wide capability.
The second insight centers on people, with AI increasingly designed to complement human expertise through closer collaboration, rather than replace it.
The other insights focus on the systems needed to scale AI effectively, including strengthening data foundations and strategic data sources, as well as moving away from fragmented technologies toward unified AI platforms.
Lastly, the report underscores the need for responsible AI, with organizations strengthening governance, safeguards and human oversight as automated decision-making becomes more widespread.
Stephan Mergenthaler, managing director and chief technology officer at the WEF, said: “AI offers extraordinary potential, yet many organizations remain unsure about how to realize it.
“The selected use cases show what is possible when ambition is translated into operational transformation and our new report provides a practical guide to help others follow the path these leaders have set.”
Among the examples cited in the report is a pilot led by the Saudi Ministry of Health in partnership with AmplifAI, which used AI-enabled thermal imaging to support early detection of diabetic foot conditions.
The initiative reduced clinician time by up to 90 percent, cut treatment costs by as much as 80 percent, and delivered a 10 time increase in screening capacity. Following clinical trials, the solution has been approved by regulatory authorities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.
The report also points to work by Fujitsu, which deployed AI across its supply chain to improve inventory management. The rollout helped cut inventory-related costs by $15 million, reduce excess stock by $20 million and halve operational headcount.
In India, Tech Mahindra scaled multilingual large language models capable of handling 3.8 million monthly queries with 92 percent accuracy, enabling more inclusive access to digital services across markets in the Global South.
“Trusted, advanced AI can transform businesses, but it requires organizing data and processes to achieve the best of technology and — this is key — it also requires human ingenuity to maximize returns on AI investments,” said Manish Sharma, chief strategy and services officer at Accenture.
