Category World News

Despite his country’s longstanding alliance with both China and Russia, Venezuela’s leader’s allies, the United States finally arrested President Nicolas Maduro.

Moscow and Beijing have both voiced their opposition to the US attack, but neither has responded.

What effects will China and Russia experience?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Andrey Kortunov, a former member of the Russian International Affairs Council’s general advisory body and the founder of the Russian foreign policy think tank Valdai Discussion Club,

Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory, a strategic consulting firm with an emphasis on global political and economic affairs, is the CEO of Macro-Advisory.

The alleged spread of explicit, child-like material on social media platform X has been condemned by the European Commission, which labeled the content “appalling” and “disgusting.”

Following weeks of complaints about a new feature on X’s integrated AI chatbot Grok that included depictions of children, European Union spokesman Thomas Regnier made the comments to reporters on Monday.

Regnier added that “Grok is now offering a “spicy mode” that features explicit sexual content with some output produced by child-like images. This is not spicy, he said. This is prohibited. This is terrible. This is repulsive.

Regnier claimed that such content has no place in Europe and that the European Commission is “very seriously looking” into it.

In addition, the public prosecutor’s office in Paris, France expanded its scope of the investigation into X to include allegations that Elon Musk’s xAI company, Grok, was used to create and spread child porn.

“Waiting to be armed.”

Users on Grok had the option to edit any image on the platform in the late December when a novel “edit image” feature was released. Some users requested that Grok remove women or children from photos in part or in whole.

Users frequently request that users alter their photos of women so they can be seen wearing revealing outfits, like translucent bikinis.

On Friday, Grok acknowledged there were “lapses in safeguards” and stated that it was “urgently fixing them.” It stated in a post that “Casim[Child Sexual Abuse Material] is prohibited and illegal.

However, according to AI safety experts, the platform ignored months of admonitions that such abuse was on the rise.

According to Tyler Johnston, executive director of AI watchdog group The Midas Project, “we warned in August that xAI’s image generation was essentially a nudification tool waiting to be weaponized.” That is essentially what is being played out, he said.

The EU has already criticized X, which Musk purchased in 2022, for its advertising and content-moderation policies.

For using fraudulent methods for user verification and in violation of the EU’s digital content regulations, Brussels fined the platform 120 million euros ($140 million) in December.

In a probe that began in December 2023, the EU’s Digital Services Act is still being investigated.

Trump ally and hawk, Graham, posted the image on X on Monday, claiming that the president has strengthened both domestically and internationally.

The Republican senator wrote, “God bless our Commander in Chief and all of the brave men and women who serve under him.”

“I’m proud to be an American,” I said. God’s blessing and protection for Iran’s brave citizens who are challenging tyranny.

The hat, which uses Trump’s motto “Make America Great Again,” appears to be a nod to Iranian regime change.

Trump is threatening Iran with the photo as he continues to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is an ally of Tehran.

The photo was taken late on Sunday as Graham and Trump boarded the Air Force One from Florida to Washington, DC.

In an interview with the same hat, Graham had earlier argued for the removal of the Iranian government.

In the midst of frequent anti-government demonstrations nationwide, the senator claimed that Trump “has not turned his back on the Iranian people.”

As Graham put on the hat, which also features an Iranian flag that dates back to the time of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he said, “I pray and hope that 2026 will be the year we make Iran great again.”

Trump reiterated his warning on Sunday that if protesters were killed, the US would use force against the Iranian government.

The US president told reporters that if they start murdering people like they have in the past, they will likely be hit very hard by them.

The Israeli attack in June, which left hundreds of civilians dead, has received support from US foreign policy hawks who claim to be pro-Iranians.

Iranian officials have responded to Trump’s threats by saying they will respond to US attacks in their nation.

After Maduro was seize control in Caracas, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared on X, “We will not give in to the enemy.” The enemy will be brought to its knees by us.

The US bombed Iran’s three main nuclear sites in June, joining Israel’s attack there. Iran responded by firing missiles at a US airbase in Doha, which did the damage to the facility without making any casualties.

Shortly after the Iranian attack, there was a ceasefire.

Trump threatened to rekindle the conflict if Iran attempts to resurrect its missile or nuclear arsenal last week.

Trump said, “I’ve heard that Iran is trying to grow up again, and if they do, we have to knock them down.” We’ll knock them out,” the message is. We’ll “kill” them in the uttermost way.