Nascent Yemen

zion¿st occupation forces have reportedly destroyed a historic hospital in the city of Quneitra as part of their systematic aggression against Syrian sovereignty.

Local sources reported on Tuesday that zionist army bulldozers completely demolished the historic Jolan Hospital.

Reports from Al‑Ikhbariya and Al‑Mayadeen networks indicate that Israeli patrols also stormed the town of Al‑Rafid in the southern countryside of Quneitra.

These incursions have become a daily reality for local residents, often accompanied by arbitrary detentions and the establishment of illegal checkpoints, fueling widespread public anger and resentment.

The destruction of this medical landmark is viewed as a direct violation of international humanitarian law, which strictly prohibits the targeting of healthcare facilities and cultural heritage sites.

The move comes as the Zionist regime continues to exploit the current phase in Syria to tighten its illegal military grip on the region.

Since the fall of the previous Syrian administration in December 2024, Israel has unilaterally declared the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.

Under this pretext, Zionist forces have advanced deep into Syrian territory, far beyond the UN‑monitored buffer zone.

While the current HTS‑led administration, headed by former Al‑Qaeda member Abu Mohammad al‑Jolani, has repeatedly stated that it poses no threat to Tel Aviv, the Israeli military has continued its provocative airstrikes and ground incursions.

These attacks have not only targeted military warehouses but have also resulted in civilian deaths and the destruction of essential urban infrastructure.

The destruction in Quneitra coincides with reports of US‑mediated talks in Paris between Syrian and Israeli delegations.

Damascus, represented by Foreign Minister Asaad al‑Shibani and intelligence chief Hussein al‑Salama, is reportedly pressing for a security agreement that would require a full Israeli withdrawal to pre‑December 2024 lines.

Al Masirah report

No morals, no ethics, lack of integrity; corrupted Americans plenty –

Morgan Ortagus, the Trump administration’s special envoy, is reportedly facing dismissal following allegations of a romantic relationship with a controversial Lebanese businessman.

According to US right-wing political activist Laura Loomer, Ortagus has been placed on “administrative leave” amid increasing scrutiny over an alleged affair with Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui.

Loomer said the White House had taken the step after learning of Ortagus’s relationship with Sehnaoui.

Ortagus, who is married and has two children, previously drew attention for her hardline positions on West Asia, including a public call for Israel to bomb the funeral of late Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

Further controversy emerged after an alleged receipt was leaked online showing over $50,000 in jewelry purchased from Tiffany & Co., with Sehnaoui listed as the cardholder and Ortagus as the recipient.

While neither party has publicly commented on the authenticity of the document, it has fueled speculation about the nature of their relationship.

Sehnaoui is the chairman of the SGBL Group, a prominent Lebanese banking institution. In 2017, he amassed over one billion dollars in profits, reinvesting his wealth to expand his bank, acquire a French banking group, and fund a political project.

That project came into full view in 2025, when Anton Sehnaoui openly declared his Zionism, a first in modern Lebanese history.

Before him, no Lebanese figure, including those who collaborated with Israel, publicly embraced the label, instead hiding behind claims of nationalism and sovereignty.

His declaration did not emerge in a vacuum, as powerful political currents in Lebanon, backed by American and Saudi interests, are pushing the country toward normalization.

Yet while he is not alone, Sehnaoui stands out as the most explicit figure, openly financing and promoting Lebanon’s integration into the Zionist project.

The latest allegations have raised concerns about potential ethical and national security implications, particularly given Ortagus’s diplomatic role and Sehnaoui’s controversial profile.

As of Tuesday, the Trump administration has not issued an official statement confirming or denying Ortagus’s reported administrative leave.

Al Masirah report

US threatens  Venezuela’s security chief next target if uncooperative –

Trump has claimed that Venezuela will send 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the US, with Washington controlling the proceeds, days after it abducted the country’s President Nicolas Maduro.

“I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday.

“This Oil will be sold at its market price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States,” he added.

Trump has threatened Venezuela’s acting leadership, saying officials who do not “do what is right” and allow US access to the country’s oil will face consequences worse than those that befell Maduro.

PressTV report

US warns Venezuela’s security chief next target if uncooperative – PressTV

report.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has reportedly warned Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello that he could become a primary target of US action unless he cooperates with Washington’s plans and backs Interim President Delcy Rodríguez in maintaining order.

Cabello has been informed through intermediaries that defiance could lead to arrest or removal — a fate US officials have pointedly linked to the recent kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro — three sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Despite being viewed as a potential obstacle, US officials currently see Cabello as one of the few senior figures capable of preventing unrest during what Washington describes as a fragile transition.

They fear that his abrupt sidelining could trigger violent reactions from armed groups loyal to the government, risking wider instability.

The latest warning comes as the United States is exerting pressure on senior figures from Venezuela’s former government as it seeks to control the country’s political transition following the kidnapping of Maduro.Another figure under close US scrutiny is Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, who faces US drug-trafficking charges and multimillion-dollar bounties.

American officials believe Padrino’s cooperation is critical given his control over the armed forces and view him as more pragmatic and open to a negotiated exit.

“This remains a law enforcement operation, and we are not done yet,” a US Justice Department official said.

US planning is guided by a classified CIA assessment that concludes Maduro’s senior aides are better positioned to maintain stability than Venezuela’s political opposition.

Washington has determined that the opposition, led by María Corina Machado, lacks the institutional control needed to govern during a volatile transition.

US officials fear that an immediate democratic handover could spark chaos, internal power struggles, or even a coup by sidelined insiders. For now, they are prioritizing stability over political reform, with elections framed as a longer-term objective, according to the report.

Rodríguez is viewed in Washington as central to the transitional arrangement. US officials describe her as a technocrat willing to work with the United States, particularly on energy and economic matters, added the report.

Among Washington’s demands are opening Venezuela’s oil industry on terms favorable to US companies, cracking down on alleged drug trafficking, expelling Cuban security forces, and ending security cooperation with Iran. Officials expect visible progress within weeks.The pressure campaign also includes financial leverage. US authorities are reportedly identifying Rodríguez’s overseas assets, including holdings in Qatar, signaling the possibility of seizure if cooperation falters.

US officials and intermediaries are simultaneously seeking to co-opt mid-level officials to assemble a government aligned with American objectives, aiming to avoid deploying US troops on the ground.

Maduro and his wife were kidnapped from their residence in Caracas on Saturday, flown out of Venezuela by helicopter, and transported aboard a warship some 3,400 kilometers to New York City to face federal charges.

The assault followed months of pressure and military buildup off Venezuela’s coast, including dozens of attacks on alleged drug vessels that left at least 115 people dead.

Caracas has consistently rejected any involvement in drug trafficking, saying Washington used narcotics allegations to justify an illegal assault aimed at overthrowing the government and seizing control of the country’s vast oil reserves.

Hours after the attack, US President Donald Trump said the United States would run Venezuela temporarily and be “very strongly involved” in its oil industry — remarks that reinforced Venezuelan claims about Washington’s true objectives.

“We have to have it.”

Trump said

The White House says President Donald Trump and his advisers are looking into “a range of options” in an effort to acquire Greenland and that using the US military to do so is “always an option”.

“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal.

“And of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” she added, despite the island already hosting a US military base.

The statement comes after Trump said on Monday that Greenland’s annexation was imminent, insisting he wanted the Arctic territory “right now.”

His remarks have already raised alarm in Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland’s defense, especially given Washington’s recent military aggression against Venezuela, including the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

In response, the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and several other countries joined Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, on Tuesday in calling on Washington to respect Danish sovereignty, while stressing that Arctic security is a key priority for NATO, which includes both the US and Greenland.

“NATO has made clear that the Arctic region is a priority and European Allies are stepping up. We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments, to keep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries. The Kingdom of Denmark – including Greenland – is part of NATO,” they said in a joint statement.

“These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them. The United States is an essential partner in this endeavor, as a NATO ally and through the defense agreement between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States of 1951. Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” it further stressed.

Frederiksen warned that a US attack on a NATO ally would mean the “end” of the military alliance and “post-second world war security,” calling it the end of “everything.”

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also urged Trump to abandon his “fantasies about annexation,” branding US rhetoric “completely and utterly unacceptable” and stressing that “Enough is enough.”

Trump renewed his push for a takeover after the overnight kidnapping of Maduro by US forces, saying he needed Greenland “very badly,” a move that sharply escalated tensions.

Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the US, and even within the US the idea is unpopular, as only seven percent of Americans support a military seizure.

However, senior officials doubled down, with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller claiming that Denmark lacks a right to the territory and insisted that “nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland,” while his wife posted a US flag over a map of Greenland captioned “SOON.”

Behind closed doors, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly told lawmakers the administration would prefer to buy Greenland rather than invade it, even as Denmark and Greenland sought an “urgent” meeting to challenge US claims about Chinese and Russian influence.

It remains unclear whether Rubio was trying to calm lawmakers, but the Trump administration has long indicated it prefers to pressure Denmark into relinquishing control of Greenland, even as US and European officials say there is no evidence the White House is preparing a military invasion.

Danish officials rejected Trump’s remarks, with Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen saying, “We do not share this image that Greenland is plastered with Chinese investments … nor that there are Chinese warships up and down along Greenland.”

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, for his part, dismissed claims that Denmark had added only “one more dog sled.”

While some US Republicans tried to downplay the threat, Democrats warned it was real, with Senator Ruben Gallego proposing a ban on funding military action and slamming Trump for wanting Greenland for a “giant island with his name on it.”

“He wouldn’t think twice about putting our troops in danger if it makes him feel big and strong. The US military is not a toy,” Gallego warned.

Trump claims that the US needs control of Greenland to secure the Arctic against what he alleges to be Russia and China’s influence, while also calling for expanded US government and corporate access to the island’s critical mineral resources.

PressTV report

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the United States’ “imperialist aggression” against Venezuela, calling for the immediate release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Speaking on Tuesday in front of a Venezuelan flag at a commemoration for a late anti-apartheid activist in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said his government “reject[s] utterly the actions that the United States has embarked upon and stand[s] with the people of Venezuela.”

The South African president urged the United Nations Security Council to take “decisive action” in response to a grave violation of international law committed against Venezuela by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Ramaphosa also warned that the US military aggression had undermined Venezuela’s territorial integrity as a UN member state.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) called on “progressive forces” worldwide to mobilize against “American imperialist aggression” targeting Venezuela’s sovereignty and natural resources.

In the early hours of Saturday, the United States attacked Venezuela’s largest military complex in the capital, Caracas, as well as strategic sites in other parts of the country.

US forces also kidnapped Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, transferring them to the United States to stand trial on charges including “narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation, and weapons trafficking.”

During an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, the move was widely condemned as a “crime of aggression” by US adversaries and allies.

Maduro, who has long denied the allegations, told a court in New York on Monday that he is a prisoner of war and pleaded not guilty to the drug-related charges.

The military intervention in Venezuela follows a long history of US interventions across South and Central America and the Caribbean region over the past two centuries. However, the recent operation marks the first direct US military attack on a Latin American country — a move many observers have described as “naked imperialism.”

Speaking at a press conference following Maduro’s abduction, Trump declared that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

He also openly acknowledged that a central objective of the military action was to bring Venezuela’s oil sector under US control.

The US president also threatened Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, saying she would “pay a very big price” if she failed to align with US interests.

Rodríguez, who has been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim leader, said “we are ready to defend our natural resources” and insisted that Maduro remains the legitimate head of Venezuela’s government.

PressTV report

“Is Trump losing his sanity?”

I’m not talking about his well-documented lifelong narcissism, his sociopathic inability to feel or even understand the pain of other people, his bullying, or even his compulsive lying, greed, and lechery; this is about whether he’s fit for the job he’s holding or is losing his touch with reality in a way that endangers both our nation and world peace.

When Trump held his press conference announcing the invasion of Venezuela and the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, a reporter asked the most basic question imaginable: Who is running Venezuela now and going forward?

Trump first claimed that he was in charge, but then when other reporters asked for details he waved his hand toward the men standing behind him and said, “They are.” Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, General Dan Caine, and Pete Hegseth.

The expressions on their faces told the real story: Surprise, confusion, and even alarm. This was clearly, visibly news to them. Shocking news, even.

Did he just decide to BS his way through the press conference like he’s done so much of his life? Didn’t he realize this was a violation of both international law and the US Constitution? Did he think for a moment that he’s the king of the Americas? Or the world?

The next day we discovered the truth their expressions revealed; there was no plan for governing Venezuela, or even trying to via an occupation Iraq-style. There was no congressional authorization; in fact, he told the oil companies before the raid but didn’t bother to inform Congress until yesterday. (Although the oil companies now say he’s lying.)

There was no public debate and no involvement of any visible constitutional process involved in this invasion and body-snatch. Under our federal system, the president doesn’t get to just improvise an occupation or administration of a foreign nation from a podium.

Even Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Bush didn’t try to pull that off; all sought congressional authorizations for their wars and each gave explanations that at least gave a hat-tip to the traditional American values of democracy, peace, and the rule of law.

Congress, after all, declares war under our Constitution, as well as controlling the purse that makes that war possible. Even the idea of “running” another country would require massive legal, diplomatic, and military frameworks, and now we discover that none of that stuff existed. Instead, apparently, Trump had an impulsive thought or idea and just blurted it out.

That moment should have set off loud alarms throughout Washington and should have shot across our media like a meteorite. Instead, it drifted by as simply another strange episode in a presidency that’s taught us to pretend the abnormal is now normal.

This also isn’t a partisan observation; I’m describing precisely the scenario the Framers and a later Congress worried about when they designed safeguards for presidential incapacity. The 25th Amendment wasn’t written for removing villains but rather for those moments when a president can’t or won’t reliably discharge the duties of his office but doesn’t have the good grace, insight, or ability to step down himself.

But constitutional tools are only as strong as the people willing to use them.




Modern America, has elections, courts, and a theoretically independent Congress. And we have the 25th Amendment. What we lack right now, however, is courage in the GOP and Trump’s cabinet.

Republican members of Congress know that a president can’t unilaterally invade or administer foreign nations on his own whim or impulse. They know that threatening annexation destabilizes the entire world, and Trump’s handed both Putin, Netanyahu, and Xi the rationalizations they all crave to expand their own empires.

Even Republicans know that governing by impulse isn’t strength but, instead, represents a very real danger to our republic. And yet they remain silent, calculating that confronting Trump is riskier to their careers than indulging him is to the country.

That GOP calculation is the real threat.

Trump’s love of military spectacle also fits perfectly — and dangerously — into this pattern.  Trump treats America’s armed forces as props in his own pathetic personal drama. Rallies, salutes, parades, flyovers, and dramatic announcements substitute for deliberation, applause substitutes for legitimacy, and the human costs, the constitutional limits, and the long-term consequences are all fading into the background.

Mad kings rarely stop themselves: they’re stopped when the people around them decide the country matters more than the crown.

Mad Kings Don’t Stop Themselves. They Must Be Stopped – CommonDreams full report.

An advocacy group has warned that a Palestinian activist on remand in a UK prison is suffering worsening medical complications as her hunger strike surpasses the 60-day mark.

In a statement on Tuesday, Prisoners for Palestine (P4P) said detainees, including Heba Muraisi, face a serious risk of organ failure as their protest enters its third month.



Muraisi told the group she has been “experiencing muscle spasms and twitches in her arm” and sometimes feels “like she is holding her breath and doesn’t know why, like she has to remind herself to breathe.”



P4P said these symptoms could indicate emerging neurological damage.



Muraisi, who has been on remand for more than a year over her Palestine-related activism, has now gone 64 days without food.



She began her strike on November 3, 2025, after being transferred without notice from HMP Bronzefield to HMP New Hall, hundreds of miles from her family and support network.



Muraisi has vowed not to end her hunger strike unless she is returned to Bronzefield and granted immediate bail



Her mother, Dunya, who has been unable to visit her daughter, expressed support in a letter shared by the group.



“We are here behind you, supporting you and loving you without limits,” said Dunya. “No matter how long the night of waiting lasts, the sun of freedom will surely rise.”



Muraisi is one of eight activists linked to Palestine Action who have undertaken hunger strikes to protest the UK government’s decision to hold them on remand and proscribe the direct-action group.



Last week, another striker, Kamran Ahmed, was hospitalized for the fifth time since beginning his protest. Ahmed has now reached 58 days on hunger strike and has reported intermittent hearing loss.



P4P says the treatment of all hunger strikers reflects a broader pattern of punitive transfers, prolonged remand, and inadequate medical care for detainees linked to Palestine activism.



The detainees are being held on remand in various UK prisons over alleged involvement in break-ins at factories owned by the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems and a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire.



Last month, seven UN human rights experts warned the UK government that the activists risk organ failure and death if the hunger strikes continue.



The British government has so far refused to meet the hunger strikers or their representatives despite the escalating health risks. In response, the activists’ lawyers are now launching legal action against the UK government over its refusal to engage.



In July, the British government voted in favor of proscribing Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organization.



The protest group, launched in 2020, has described itself as a movement “committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”.

Al Masirah report

Trump plans to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after US forces abducted its leader, Nicolas Maduro, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing unnamed sources.

The meetings are crucial to the administration’s hopes of getting top US oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of US-led energy operations there, the Reuters news agency report said on Monday.

The three biggest US oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the Trump administration about Maduro’s ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with “all” the US oil companies, both before and since Maduro was abducted.

Hours after Maduro’s abduction, Trump said he expects the biggest US oil companies to spend billions of dollars boosting Venezuela’s oil production, after it dropped to about a third of its peak over the past two decades due to underinvestment and sanctions.

But those plans will be hindered by a lack of infrastructure, along with deep uncertainty over the country’s political future, legal framework and long-term US policy, according to industry analysts.

“While the Trump administration has suggested large US oil companies will go into Venezuela and spend billions to fix infrastructure, we believe political and other risks, along with current relatively low oil prices, could prevent this from happening anytime soon,” wrote Neal Dingmann of William Blair in a note.

Material change to Venezuelan production will take a lot of time and millions of dollars of infrastructure improvement, he said.

And any investment in Venezuelan infrastructure right now would take place in a weakened global energy market. Crude prices in the US are down by 20 percent compared with last year. The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude has not been above $70 since June, and has not touched $80 per barrel since June of 2024.

A barrel of oil cost more than $130 in the leadup to the US housing crisis in 2008.

Chevron is the only US major currently operating in Venezuela’s oil fields.

Exxon and ConocoPhillips, meanwhile, had storied histories in the country before their projects were nationalised nearly two decades ago by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Conoco has been seeking billions of dollars in restitution for the takeover of three oil projects in Venezuela under Chavez. Exxon was involved in lengthy arbitration cases against Venezuela after it exited the country in 2007.

Chevron, which exports about 150,000 barrels per day of crude from Venezuela to the US Gulf Coast, meanwhile, has had to carefully manoeuvre with the Trump administration in an effort to maintain its presence in the country in recent years.

A US embargo on Venezuelan oil remained in full effect, Trump has said.

The S&P 500 energy index rose to its highest since March 2025, with heavyweights Exxon Mobil rising by 2.2 percent and Chevron jumping by 5.1 percent.

Al Jazeera report

“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again, Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”

Trump

Trump, the self-proclaimed “Peace President,” detonated his own America First campaign promise of “no new wars” over the weekend with an act of war in Venezuela.

The U.S. military attacked Venezuela early Saturday morning, abducting its leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who now face narco-terrorism charges in a New York federal court. Eighty Venezuelan and Cuban citizens were killed by U.S. gunfire and airstrikes.

At least one U.S. missile struck an apartment building in the port city of Catia La Mar, killing an 80-year-old woman as she slept, seriously injuring another and displacing residents, according to The Associated Press. Trump described the attack as “successful” and “perfectly executed.”

A growing number of legal experts and lawmakers have called Saturday’s bombing of Venezuela and the abduction of Maduro illegal under both international law and the U.S. Constitution.

And yet, the Trump administration is already threatening further military action against Venezuela and other sovereign nations in pursuit of his so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” the refashioning of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which American leaders with imperialist ambitions have used to justify U.S. occupations across Latin America throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” Trump said Saturday at a press conference following the attack on Venezuela. “Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”

Though Trump campaigned on the promise of ending foreign wars, even before the attack on Venezuela, his second term has been defined by a ruthless and interventionist approach.

He has already ordered military strikes in Iran, Iraq, Nigeria,Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Before abducting Maduro, the U.S. military attacked a Venezuelan port, and killed more than 100 civilians in bombings in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. In addition, Trump continues to arm Israel as it violates the ceasefire with Hamas, grinding the genocide in Gaza into a third year.

Mere hours before the U.S. bombed Venezuela on Saturday, Trump threatened to attack Iran over its violent crackdowns on protesters, writing on social media that the U.S. is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”

And since carrying out Venezuela raid, the Trump administration has taken aim at Cuba and Colombia, hinted at intervention in Mexico, renewed annexation aspirations in Greenland, and reiterated threats to Iran.

Here’s what the administration is saying about some of the other nations where they’re threatening military action, annexation, or regime change.

Venezuela

“If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike.”

Cuba

“Their days are numbered.”

Colombia

On Saturday, Trump said Petro “better watch his ass,” referencing cocaine shipments to the U.S. from Colombia.

Mexico

“We’re going to have to do something,” Trump said on Sunday.

Greenland

“We have to have it,” Trump said.

Iran

“We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

The Intercept full report

Musk response: “Legacy Media Lies” 

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is facing a backlash from governments around the world after a recent surge in sexualized images of women and children generated without consent by the artificial intelligence-powered tool.

On Tuesday, Britain’s top technology official demanded that Musk’s social media platform X take urgent action while a Polish lawmaker cited it as a reason to enact digital safety laws.

The European Union’s executive arm has denounced Grok while officials and regulators in France, India, Malaysia and Brazil have condemned the platform and called for investigations.

Rising alarm from disparate nations points to the nightmarish potential of nudification apps that use artificial intelligence to generate sexually explicit deepfake images.

Image generation
The problem emerged after the launch last year of Grok Imagine, an AI image generator that allows users to create videos and pictures by typing in text prompts. It includes a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.

It snowballed late last month when Grok, which is hosted on X, apparently began granting a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others. As of Tuesday, Grok users could still generate images of women using requests such as, “put her in a transparent bikini.”

The problem is amplified both because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative to rivals with more safeguards, and because Grok’s images are publicly visible, and can therefore be easily spread.

Nonprofit group AI Forensics said in a report that it analyzed 20,000 images generated by Grok between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 and found that 2% depicted a person who appeared to be 18 or younger, including 30 of young or very young women or girls, in bikinis or transparent clothes.

Musk response
Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, responded to a request for comment with the automated response, “Legacy Media Lies”.

However, X did not deny that the troublesome content generated through Grok exists. Yet it still claimed in a post on its Safety account, that it takes action against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, “by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.”

The platform also repeated a comment from Musk, who said, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”

A growing list of countries are demanding that Musk does more to rein in explicit or abusive content.

AP News report